Hosea 4:1-5:15, 2 John 1:1-13, Psalms 125:1-5, Proverbs 29:9-11
Today is the 6th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we move into the weekend and continue the voyage that we are on together through the Scriptures. So, we began the minor prophets and are working our way through Hosea in the Old Testament. We concluded the first letter of John, also known as first John yesterday, which means we get to the New Testament today we’ll be talking about second John. Actually, we’ll read that entire letter today. But first, Hosea chapters 4 and 5 and we’ve been reading from the English Standard version this week.
Introduction to second John:
Alright. So, like we mentioned a couple minutes ago, we’re going to read in its entirety a letter from the apostle John that we know as second John. And this letter was…was probably written just a little while after the first one, the one we just finished yesterday and it was probably written to these same people because the letters are similar, and these similarities are one of the reasons that most biblical scholars accept John as the authentic author. And since it’s believed that John spent the later part of his life in the city of Ephesus, then it’s probably from Ephesus where he wrote this letter that we call second John. And the letter’s short, it’s 13 verses and the first three of those verses are…are greeting and then the next three verses remind us of the importance of love which is something that we…we got in spades while reading first John specifically involving each other. And then the next three verses speak against the false teaching of Docetism which…which was what…which we talked about in first John. And then the next two verses are giving instruction that’s not in the first letter. And these verses tell the readers and tell us how to behave toward a traveling teacher or preacher who tries to come in and introduce false teaching into the church. And the church is not to encourage or offer hospitality in those situations. And then the last two verses conclude the letter. So, we’re gonns read it and it’s gonna go by and it’d be easy to let first and second John kinda blur together because we’re just covering…it’s like we’re covering the same territory. But let’s just imagine that between the conclusion of first John yesterday and our reading that we’re about to do of second John today that months have gone by and the impact of that first letter has reached its peak and is beginning to fade and diminish because the challenges go on in life and we keep facing them and then this second letter comes along a few months later when the readers needed the encouragement, needed the boost and…and clarity, a reminder of what the first letter had instructed. And then we will see that we are again being reminded to love one another and we should get in the habit of reminding ourselves of that on a continual habitual basis. And, so, with that we read second John.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we’ve already said on a number of occasions just…just the observance of the fact that the year is speeding up and…and that is happening here in the Scriptures as well as we move through shorter letters and shorter writings. And, so, we’re moving at a quicker pace as we move through this final month. And, so, once again, our prayer remains constant, that You would lead us into all truth and that we would stay fixed upon this rhythm that we began all of these days and months ago when we set out on the journey of a lifetime to move through the Scriptures this year. And, so, come Holy Spirit, plant the words that we’ve learned from first and second John this week into our lives that we must love one another and that this…this isn’t something that we just simply say. And really for that matter, it’s not just simply some things that we do that are kind or benevolent, it’s who we are, it’s what we are. You are love, we were told this week and You abide within us, we were told this week, which means that love abides within us and must overflow out of us so that You can love the world through us. And as we move into the weekend this really fundamentally begins with those who are closest to us. So, may Your love pour out of us flooding those that are near us that we love as we move into the weekend. And may we consciously realize that it’s not just us trying to be sacrificial or it’s not just us loving those that we love, but it’s You loving through us. And as we begin to sense You loving through us we realize how loved we are. So, come Holy Spirit help us participate and collaborate in loving the world in the days ahead we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
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And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.