The Blessings of Truth, Part 1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. 3 John 1 Truth is a space in which love flourishes. 3 John 1 John specializes in two aspects of truth: • What Christians believe. (Orthodoxy) o Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. John 3:33 o For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 o And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20 • How Christians live. (Orthopraxy) o 5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. 3 John 5 o 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. 2 John 7-11 Self-sacrificing, unconditional, Jesus-like, brotherly love is our testimony and lifestyle. • For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth • as indeed you are walking in the truth. 3 John 3 Christian relationship joy is calibrated to truth. • I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 4 In times like these, Christian hospitality will be as essential as it was in John’s day. We must maintain, at all costs, our congregation’s gift of hospitality. In the context of the early church, hospitality was indispensable for traveling Christians and missionaries. The few inns that did exist functioned as brothels or were otherwise unsafe; thus, for missions work to be carried out, hospitality was needed. Indeed, in the Bible we read the following mandates concerning hospitality: o Church leaders are to be characterized by hospitality (cf. 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8) o Widows to whom the church ministers must be known for showing hospitality (cf. 1 Tim. 5:9-10) o Christians are to show hospitality to strangers in need (cf. Heb. 13:2); o God’s people are to show hospitality to the poor and needy (cf. Isa. 58:7; Luke 14:13) o Believers are to show hospitality even to their enemies (cf. 2 Kings 6:22–23; Rom. 12:20) o Christians are to show hospitality to one another (cf. 1 Pet. 4:9) o Furthermore, we see hospitality practiced by many individuals in Scripture, including: Melchizedek, Lot, Laban, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Jethro, Elisha, Samuel, Nehemiah, Job, David, Zacchaeus, and Lydia, among many others. https://redeemedmind.com/2020/04/03/christian-hospitality-3-john/ To walk in truth is to: • know and believe Christian truth • and to know and do Christian truth. The Old Roman Creed I believe in God the Father almighty; and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord, Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, whence he will come to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and life everlasting.

Seeking to Understand the Times Expect extreme pressure to not name or to misname or to rename. Genesis 2:18-25 18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed[f] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. Isaiah argues against the dangerous notion of misnaming. Isaiah 5:13-23 13 Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst. 14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her. 15 Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. 16 But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. 17 Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. 18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, 19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!” 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! In 2021, expect the most severe battle for Christian naming, maybe in all of history. One of the ways society falls into wickedness is to rename their sins. Sin used to be called sin and people actually felt bad and convicted about it, and tried to change their ways. Today, we have so many new names for sin so that we can keep from feeling bad and convicted. Instead of sin, we now call it a complex, an addiction, a dependency, a mental disorder, a chemical imbalance, an obsession, a phobia, a disease, a quirk, an indiscretion, a mis-spoken word, a mistake, an issue, etc. Just notice how America has changed the names of its sins. If they are rich, they don’t steal, they confiscate. They are not greedy, it’s just business. If they are poor they are not thieves, they are kleptomaniacs. They are not called gossipers. they are speedily transmitting partially factual information. They are not cursing anymore, but rather speaking adult language. They are not drunks, they are alcoholics. They are not called liars, but rather are creative. They are not baby killers, they are abortionists. They are not fornicators, they are cohabitators. They are not homosexuals, they are gay. https://biblicalproof.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/sin-no-matter-its-name-is-still-sin/ The Christian’s assignment is exceptionally clear. • Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Ephesians 5:11 • As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 1 Timothy 5:20 • Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:2-4 • If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Ezekiel 3:18 • 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 • Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ… Ephesians 4:15 • “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. Ezekiel 33:2-9 • The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. Romans 14:22 Some action steps to consider. 1. Begin (Immediately) to home school your children and grandchildren. 2. Carry your bible everywhere, all the time, and fact check everything with the Word of God! 3. Cut off, 100%, the influence of the world’s definitions. 4. Prepare for a new mechanism of finance, banking, exchange, etc. 5. Be on your guard for those building a case against you. John 16:2 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.