A Credible Lifestyle
Nov 30
At times we tend to think of John the Baptist as a wild man, one who would have been either an offense or a laughingstock to those he was trying to reach, but in reality quite the opposite was true. He was greatly respected and believed; some even wondered if he should have been worshiped as “that prophet” (i.e., the Messiah), or revered as Elijah (John 1:21).
When not to say, "God speed!"
Dec 02
"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed." (2 John 10) This apparently harsh instruction seems at first to conflict with the many biblical exhortations to show hospitality, but it needs to be placed in context. The one-chapter epistle of 2 John was addressed to "the elect lady and her children" by John, who also extended greetings from "the children of thy elect sister" (vv. 1, 13). These unusual phrases, together with the general tone of the epistle, make it almost certain that John was not referring simply to two individual Christian women, but to two churches, symbolically personified as two noble ladies with the "children" being the new converts in the churches. The warning, then, is primarily against the danger of allowing a false teacher to come into the church, as a pastor or a teacher or even as a visiting speaker, who would not bring "this doctrine."
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