Sermon Outline July 27, 2008 Evening Service

Topic: Please Pass the Salt  

Text:        2 John 1-13 

Introduction

I.        It’s hard to lose something you’ve worked hard for.

A.       Losing something that you work hard for is frustrating (Vs. 8).

B.       People losing what they work for is not a new problem to us.

II.       Apparently some 1st century Christians lost what they had “worked for”.

III.      How does John instruct us to keep from losing what we have “worked for”?

Text

I.        Walk – walk in obedience to his commands (Vs 6).

A.       His command is to love one another.

B.       Why would God have to make that a command?

1.       He knows that we are self-centered by nature.

2.       And there are people who are hard to love.

C.      God says that in all of these situations, love must take control.

1.       Love is the same way.

2.       Love is not something you feel, it is something that you do.

D.      We walk in His commands, and He commands us to love.

II.      Watch – watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for (Vs. 8).

A.       We guard ourselves with truth (Vs. 9).

B.       If we know the truth, we will also know what is false.

C.      Not knowing the truth can be harmful.

D.      So John tells Christians to “Watch Out”.

1.       Some people are very convincing, but are teaching falsehood.

2.       You have worked hard to get where you are.

3.       Don’t blow it by being taken in by a group of con men.

4.       They are against everything that Christ teaches.

III.     Don’t Welcome – don’t welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching (Vs 10).

A.       First we walk with God and learn his truths, then we use his truths to critique belief systems, now we critique others based on those truths.

B.       If they don’t bring this teaching, don’t take any chances; don’t even let them into your house.

1.       This is an interesting admonition to make to people already noted for their hospitality.

2.       It seems that we often go to extremes when it comes to false teachers.

3.       As hard as we have worked to get to where we are, John would suggest not taking any chances.

E.       When we encounter those who are teaching the wrong things, we must speak the truth, but we must speak in love (Vs. 5-6)!

Conclusion

I.        Love without truth is flighty, sometimes blind, willing to combine with various doctrines.

II.       On the other hand, truth by itself can be offensive, sometimes even poisonous; spoken without love, it can turn people away from the gospel.

III.      When truth and love are combined in an individual or a church, then we have what Jesus called “the salt of the earth” and we’re able to preserve and bring out the beauty of our faith.