2 John 12, 13

Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.

John closes this little letter so warmly. After warning and cautioning and drawing such a plain line between truth and error, he ends by saying there is more he wants to say, but he would rather say it face to face. I love that, because it reminds me that the Christian life is not merely about collecting answers. It is about walking with the Lord until the day we see Him.

And that is a comfort.

Because if we are honest, there are things we still wonder about. We think about people who were misled. We think about those who seemed sincere, yet were drawn into error. We think about places where the gospel was barely heard, or heard in a twisted form. And sometimes those questions can become so heavy that they distract us from what the Lord has already made plain.

John does not end this letter by solving every mystery. He brings us back to obedience.

Walk in truth.

Do not make peace with heresy.

Love people enough to care deeply about where they are headed.

That is such a needed word. We can spend so much time staring at what is hidden that we neglect what is revealed. But the Lord has not asked me to carry the secrets that belong to Him. He has asked me to obey the truth He has already spoken.

There is real peace in that.

Sometimes a person says, Since I do not understand how every case will be judged, maybe I should just stay quiet. Maybe I do not need to witness. Maybe I do not need to warn someone I love. Maybe I do not need to speak to my neighbor, or my children, or my friend who is drifting. But that kind of thinking does not come from faithfulness. It usually comes from hesitation.

John will not let us hide there.

This apostle of love is full of tenderness, but he is not vague. He draws a real line between Christ and antichrist, between truth and deception, between light and darkness. He knew that love does not erase those lines. Love honors them. Love tells the truth. Love warns. Love refuses to bless what denies the Son.

So while there are still questions we cannot settle, there is plenty we can do.

We can walk in truth.

We can stay near to Jesus.

We can guard the gospel.

We can speak of Christ with urgency.

We can trust God with what we do not understand.

That is how faith often works. A child does not need to understand the whole road if he trusts the hand that is leading him. In the same way, we do not yet understand everything, but we do know the One who does. And knowing Him steadies the heart.

What John says here also points us to something bigger. Face to face. That is where this is going. One day all the unfinished conversations, all the troubling questions, all the things that now seem tangled and hard, will be seen in the light of Jesus Christ. Not merely answered, but settled in His presence. Our joy will be full because we will be with Him.

That is where the heart can rest.

So until that day, do what you know.

Walk in truth.

Refuse what denies Christ.

Love people enough to speak plainly.

And leave the hidden things in the hands of the Lord who is coming soon.