Seeking once more the Lord's
gracious help to grant me the words to speak to this evening,
I'd like to direct your prayerful attention to 3rd John and verse
4. I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in truth. in thinking about all that the
Apostle Paul wrote to the different churches that he had visited
and had the pleasure of planting. And then as he wrote back to
them and as he visited them and as he heard back from them from
various sources we looked at that he was filled with joy with
their perseverance under great opposition and difficulty. And
not only was he filled with joy, he was thankful to God for enabling
them to continue. And he was thankful to God that
God really did a work of grace within their hearts that what
was done was a true, we could say, done by the true finger
of God touching those hearts and birthing them into new life
and giving great joy to the apostle that he was able to witness a
real transformation of a person or people even. And as I considered
The verse before us this night, there is no greater joy than
hearing of a person saved by grace. We may hear of people
who achieve great things in life We may hear that one of our children
or one of our loved ones has excelled at work and been promoted
to the top of a great company and been given a great, you know,
a great car and a great salary and everything is going seemingly
smooth for them and that may bring us joy. But if that person
doesn't profess faith in Christ, that joy that we have for them
is always tarnished with the sadness. And recently, someone
we know rode across the Atlantic Ocean and there was great You
know, there was great involvement. There was many people involved
in it and there was a great joy at someone and many people undertaking
such an event. And when this one won the race,
They beat a world record in rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. There was a great joy by so many
and it was such a great achievement that somebody could do such a
great thing in the sight of man. And yet to those who believe that joy is tarnished because
that one is in unbelief. To the world it was a great victory
but to the believers it was a pointless effort. Tarnished by the fact that those
in the boats rejected the existence of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the world joys at these
things, rejoices at these things. Yet the believer, his joy is
subdued because there's something far deeper which he knows is
far more valuable and far more great which is a transformation
of the heart of a person. Now if that person or if any
of our loved ones whom who we love and are far out in the world
was to call us one day and say you know, brother or mum or dad
or friend. The Lord has done a great work
in me and I've been born again and I want to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. The joy that we had then would
far excel all other joy. The world would not rejoice at
that but the believers would rejoice And so we can understand
that the Apostle John, the elder, well-beloved to Gaius, it was
so joyful that he was able to continue to witness one who had
been birthed into new life, continuing to walk in the ways of truth. He says, I have no greater joy
and to hear that my children walk in truth. And we know that
it is obviously not his physical children, but it is those whom
he deems under him. as an apostle, as an elder, having
that pastoral love to the believers. He has that intimate relationship
and connection with them and he sees them as his children
and he delights to see them walk in the ways of Christ. Every
believer delights to see God at work in the lives of people. It is the most wonderful thing
to witness, a transformation of the heart, someone being born
again, turning from darkness to light, being taken from the
broad road that leads to destruction and being placed onto the narrow
way that leads to life. Especially if we have been praying
for that person for some time or many, many years. And we see
the Lord answering prayer and beginning to work in the life
of that person. What joy it brings that their
eyes are opened and we see God at work in his people, taking
people from lies to the truth. In John chapter eight, as the
Lord Jesus is speaking to the Jews. He reminds them and us
of what we were by our natural nature. And this is why the work of God
is so wonderfully wonderful to see. When the believer understands
by experience what they were and they see all that what God
has done and they know by themselves all that Christ has done for
them and then they see that taking place in the life of another
person. It is a wonderful thing to witness. In John 8 from verse 39, Jesus
answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto
them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth,
which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham. You do
the deeds of your father. Then said they unto him that
him We are born not of fornication. We have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God
were your Father, you would love me. For I proceed forth and come
from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. Ye are of your father the devil.
the lusts of your father ye will do he was a murderer from the
beginning and a bird abode not in truth because there is no
truth in him when he speaketh a lie he speaketh his own for
he is a liar and the father of it and because i tell you the
truth you believe me not And then he goes on. We see there
that balancing out of what Christ is saying. You are of your father
the devil. You cannot hear me because you're
of the father, your father the devil, and you love lies. Therefore
you cannot hear the truth because your ears are shut, your eyes
are shut, and your heart, it is hard. He says you can't hear
truth. because you're tuned in only
to lies, you're tuned into the darkness, that you cannot see
me as to who I am, and so you follow Satan, your father, the
father of lies. The scripture tells us that Satan
has blinded the eyes of the unbeliever. darkened their minds so they
cannot believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And so then it
is a great, a wonderful thing to witness when those eyes are
opened and that heart is softened and those ears are enabled to
receive the truth of the Word of God. You remember in the Gospels
when those who were blind and those who were deaf were made
to hear what rejoicing there was, that natural miracle being
done. But how much greater is the fact,
how much greater is the miracle, the miracle of grace, that breathing
in of the Spirit of God into the heart, that opening the understanding
so that we are able to lay hold of the truth of the Word of God. the truth of the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel according to Luke
we have that very well-known parable of the prodigal son. Luke chapter 15. We all know it so well and as
the prodigal son, as he goes off into the world He takes all
of his money and he goes off into the world and he blows all
of his money on a party lifestyle and enjoying himself. And while
everything is going well, he has friends all about him and
he's enjoying their company. listening to their lies and he's
enjoying the lies of Satan he's enjoying that false happiness
that is experienced through the party lifestyle which all has
an end and he's relishing, he's absorbing it all up But it's
all just a lie. It's all just a veneer of happiness. Underneath is rottenness. And then as his money runs out,
he realizes that his friends weren't really friends. He realizes
he's left alone. He's got nobody. He's got nothing. And so he goes
and he feeds pigs. And then he remembers his father's
house. He came to himself. And he goes back to his father's
house. Now, if we know this is a parable. But you would think all of the
time that the father didn't have his son. Naturally speaking,
he would be praying for him. He would be weeping over him,
saying, my son, my son is wasting his life, destroying himself. But when he comes back, there's
joy. Not just that the son has come
back, but that he tells the other brother that your son, your brother,
he was dead and was alive again. Chapter 15 and verse 24, he says,
for this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and
is found. And they began to be merry. It was not just that the son
came back. that the father understood all
that had taken place, that his son in his rebellious condition
was in a dead condition. The scripture tells us that when
we are separated from God we are dead, we are spiritually
dead in the darkness and at enmity, at war against God and the father
knew that As his son was relishing and delighting in sin, he knew
that his son was in a condition of deadness and rebellion against
God and at war with God. And if he died in that condition,
there was no hope for him. But when he comes back, yes,
he delights to see him as an individual, but greater still
He delights in this spiritual work that has taken place. He
was dead but now he's alive again. He was lost and has now been
found. In verse 10 of the same chapter
we see also of the joy that is in heaven. You see, as the father received
the son with joy, so heaven rings with joy over one sinner that
repents of their sin. Likewise, I say unto you, there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repents or repenteth. And so the angels rejoice when
a sinner is turned from darkness to light. The angels rejoice
when one is taken from the broad road that leads to destruction
onto the narrow way that leads to life. As the Spirit of God
begins a work of grace in the heart of a person, the angels
sing. Because heaven is being another
one is added to the number. The work of Christ is advancing. The kingdom of God is going forward. The kingdom of light is gaining
a victory over the kingdom of Satan. And the angels rejoice
over one sinner that repents of their sin. Paul rejoiced for
the fact that the church persevered in ongoing opposition and John
rejoices that his children walk in the truth. If any of you watch football
or any sports program you will notice that when there is a goal
there is a lot of rejoicing People jumping up and down, people shouting
and filled with excitement. But the other team, there is
sadness. And so when Christ lays hold
of a sinner and saves them by his grace, changing them, so
heaven erupts in joy. And so the believers also, We
erupt in joy that a work has been done, an impossible work,
a work that we cannot do. Our work is to look on and to
pray on and to see God work in the lives of one and another.
And it is a joy when it does take place that one is snatched
from the brink of hell and brought into to be an heir of the kingdom
of God. And so John was filled with joy
that Gaius was continuing in the truth that his life manifested
evidence of a changed heart as he was able to take care of those
who were on missionary journeys, and that he was encouraging the
church by his Christian behaviour. But we see also over on 2 John,
the same, the elect lady. John also rejoiced in her. In
verse 4, I rejoice gladly that I found of thy children walking
in truth as we have received a commandment from the Father. Now you can imagine in the time
of the early church when there was so much persecution and difficulty,
when things were just working themselves out and so many were
falling away because of opposition and there was much disappointment
and discouragement, you can well imagine how joyful it was to
see those who were excelling or continuing to persevere in
the truth of the Word of God. And so the apostle delighted in seeing those who
had come to faith, maybe under his own ministry, persevering
in that ministry. It's a great disappointment when
one is baptised and they continue for a little while and then they
fall away. It is very disappointing and
hurting that you feel that you have been deceived. You've listened
to a testimony and you may have been touched even by what has
taken place and then over a period of time that one falls away. And so there's great joy when
one perseveres to the end. And his joy was that they came
to know the truth. If we turn to John, the Gospel according to John, chapter
14, verse 6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If you had known me, you should
have known the Father also. And from henceforth you shall
know him and have seen him. And so John rejoiced in the fact
that these people had come from being under the authority of
Satan, being in the darkness, being suppressed by lies and
following after lies. and now they had come to the
truth. Jesus says I am the truth. I am the way. I am the life. We know in our world in which
we live truth is always changing. Something may be true today and
it may not be true tomorrow. If we look at science, things
that scientists believed maybe 20 or 30 years ago and they counted
them as the truth. Today they are not truth. They've
been undermined by further investigation and that truth has now altered. But there is one truth that never
changes. Jesus says that he is the truth.
That is the unaltering truth. And he will always be and he
has always been the truth. But it's not him and him alone
who is the truth. We continue reading in that same
chapter. We see there that the Holy Spirit
is also called the truth. Jesus says, I am the way, the
truth and the life. In chapter 16 and verse 13, it says,
Howbeit, when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you in all truth. Back to chapter 14 in verse 26
it says, But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring
all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world
giveth I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. you have heard that it was said
i go away but i come again if you love me you would rejoice
because i said i go into my father for my father is greater than
i sorry i had that uh wrong so it's verse 17 Even the spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him
not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth
with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless,
I will come to you. And so as Christ is the way,
the truth and the life, so the Holy Spirit is also the spirit
of truth. and the spirit of truth takes
the things of truth, the things of Christ, and he reveals them
unto us. He will guide us in all truth.
That is the word of God. And if you go all the way back
to Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 32, we will see here that God is
a God of truth. Deuteronomy 32, verse one. O give ear, O ye heavens, and
I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine
shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as
the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon
the grass, because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe
ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock, His work is perfect. All his ways are judgment, a
God of truth. And without iniquity, just and
right is he. So Christ, we could say then
the whole Trinity is a Trinity of truth. God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit, a God of truth. Christ is truth
and the Holy Spirit of truth. if all three are truth then what
comes out of them is also truth. John 17 17 tells us sanctify
them through thy word thy word is truth And so we have the revealed will
of God found in the holy scriptures that has come forth from the
spirit of God who is truth who tells us about the truth which
is Christ who has come from the truth which is God and his truth
is laid bare in the pages of this book. And so the source of the joy
of the apostle is that he had seen God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit working within the lives of his beloved
friends, his beloved children and he's seen the truth overtake
the lies It's in the light overtaken the darkness and it's in them
ushered into a life of following the Lord Jesus Christ and it
brought him great joy, more joy than to have heard that they
had brought the greatest chariot or the most beautiful horses
or a most wonderful house, the greatest joy that he had. was
that they were walking in the truth under the shadow of the
truth of God's holy word. Walking and following the Lord
Jesus Christ. They were walking in truth. What does that mean? We can quite easily understand
when we can say that someone has been born again. We can quite
easily understand that someone has been taken from the darkness
into the light. We can easily understand that
one is taken from being an orphan without a father and to be brought
into the family of God. What does it mean to walk in
truth? Well simply it's just walking
in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and following him. When we looked at Galatians and
we saw the fruit of the Spirit there he said that we are to
walk in the Spirit and not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh.
And as we looked at recently of that conflict which takes
place in the life of a believer There's that resistance from
the Spirit of God and the Spirit that has been made alive and
that person desires to walk in obedience to the revealed truth
that is found in the Holy Word of God. To walk in step with
the Spirit, in sync with the Spirit. The scripture tells us, if you love me, you will keep
my commandments. As Christ, as we saw this morning,
loves his people, he reveals himself to them. They respond
in a love to him. They respond in a desire to walk
in obedience to him. They desire to follow him, to
walk in his ways and to walk in his commandments. Jesus said,
deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. That is not just
a one day event, is it? To follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is an ongoing following. to the time when our bodies fail, we die and we
come to see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. When faith and hope are taken
away and we see Christ face to face. And so John, delighted in the
fact he saw his children not only birthed into new life but
continue to walk in continued obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt they would have been
baptised and then continued following the Lord Jesus, their lives being
conformed to the image of Christ, walking worthy of their calling,
shining as lights in a dark place, seeking to be sensitive and obedient
to the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit of God. As
John says to the elect lady in verse 6, and this is love. that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment that
you have heard from the beginning. You should walk in it. We know
the commandment that Christ gave was to love one another. And by this, people will know
that you are my disciples. To love God and to love your
neighbor as yourselves. And so as he viewed those who
were following Christ, he delighted in the fact, it gave him great
joy that they continued walking in the truth. Especially this
man, Gaius, who he witnessed was a fellow helper in the ministry
of the Word of God. That brings us then to ask the
question, Do we as individuals desire to walk in the truth?
Do we know at this moment in time whether we're walking in
the truth or whether we're walking in lies? Do we know at this time which
side are we on? Are we in the darkness or are
we in the light? as Christ looks at us. How does he see us? Does he joy
over us as walking in the truth? Or does he see us as an enemy
from the father of Satan, the father of lies, walking in the
darkness? What delights Christ is to see
his children walking in the truth and not in rebellion against
him. What delights every minister
of the Word of God, every pastor, is to see the congregation walking
in the truth and in the light of God's Word. Every minister
that preaches the Word of God, every parent that has children,
delights and desires to see their children walk in the truth. Yes we want them to do well in
life. We don't want them naturally
to struggle and to have to worry about them every single day.
But what gives us the greater joy, the greater joy is to see
that they have turned or they've been turned from darkness to
light and are following the Lord Jesus
Christ. I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in truth. Well may we be enabled
by God's help to turn from lies, the lies of Satan, and to walk
in the truth, following Father Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity
of truth, governed by the word of truth. Amen. Our closing hymn here today is
from Hymns for Worship, number 184. when this passing world is done,
when I sunk yon radiant sun, when I stand with Christ on high,
looking o'er life's history, then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then, how much I owe. Hymns Worship 184, Tune 507. you ? I know thy tears are real, and
you shall rise again. ? ? Waken now from wrong to be ?
? Hidden in the Savior's sight ? ? While the spirits sanctify
? ? Teach me, Lord, how thou dost shine ? ? Of joy and hope ? ? Of joy and
hope ? ? He laid the ground ? ? And at midnight to be shown ? ? God
will fill his land of light ? ? When I stand before the throne
? ? Distributed of my own ? ? When I see thee against the world
? ? Rise and shine ? You are my home Almighty God, God of truth, we
thank thee for the truth of thy holy word. We thank thee for
thy son, the truth, and we thank thee for the spirit of truth.
And we pray that he may come and do a wonderful work within
each of our lives. Help us, Lord, to turn away from
the lies of Satan and the lies of this world and to follow after
the truth that is found within thy holy book. We pray that thou
be with us now. As we depart from each other,
do bless us, Lord, with a good night's rest and do help us to
continue on in this week. Help us, Lord, to be faithful
witnesses to thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and do bring us
here on Wednesday, if it could please thee, to come to the prayer
meeting. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father With the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, do rest and abide with
us each, now and for evermore. Amen. Thank you.