Walking In The Truth

Transcript

Good morning. This morning we’re going to just have a one-off sermon before we start a new series next week. We just finished a little series last week. So today we’re going to be in the little letter known as 3 John. And this little letter only has 15 verses, but there is a lot going on inside those 15 verses. There’s a lot in this letter that applies to us and that we need to hear. So why don’t we do this? This morning we’ll read this together, and then we’ll pray, and then we’ll jump in. So, turn in your Bibles to 3 John. It’s almost to the end. If you get to Jude or Revelation, you’ve gone too far. 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. It’s page 963 of the Pew Bibles, which should be under the seat in front of you if you don’t have a Bible with you.

And I’m going to read all 15 verses. So please stand if you will as you’re able for the reading of the Word of God. I read now the Word of the Lord to you, the Elder, to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul. I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.

For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God. Whoever does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. I had much to write you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink.

I hope to see you soon. We will talk face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends each by name. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Well, let’s pray together. Our Father and our God, as we come to this very important text on the truth and on walking in the truth, which is Your will for us, will You give us attentive hearts and minds? Will You empower us by the Holy Spirit to listen and to learn and to respond in worship and obedience? Help my own words to be clear in what You would have these dear people to know this morning. And we commit our time in the word to You. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Well, Ranald Macaulay tells the story of the conversion of a young man who would go on to become

Truth and Love Connected

one of the most influential evangelical leaders of the 20th century. He says the following, as a young man, he came in contact with the Christian faith in an almost unique way. During his late teens, he happened to be reading classical philosophy. This showed him that he had found the field of interest in which he felt most at home. Ideas. And that philosophy had no answers, despite the fact that it dealt with what he later called the basic philosophic questions. Plenty of questions, but no answers. Then he found the Bible. Or rather, the Bible found him. He read alternately from the classical philosophers and from the Old Testament, with the latter steadily displacing the former as he went along. Before I left Genesis 3, he once told me, I knew that this book had the answers to what the philosophers were asking. Simply through his reading of Scripture,

he was born again. No one on the outside was helping. Before I reached the New Testament, I was virtually a believer in Christ, he once said. It was a somewhat lonely experience, but it marked him forever. The Bible was sufficient in and of itself. Not surprisingly, his life began to move in an entirely different direction. From the very beginning then, he had a mind for what he called true truth. He loved the Bible and its message of salvation first and foremost, because it is true. It accurately reflects the reality within all human beings find themselves, and against which ultimately, they cannot revolt, try as they may. Well, the man being spoken of by Ranald Macaulay was the late Francis Schaeffer. He came to faith as a young man, and he would go on to be a stalwart defender of the Christian faith. And he helped many young people

with biblical answers to the questions they had during those difficult times, the revolutionary times of the 1960s. Schaeffer would go on to speak rather prophetically about the ways Western culture would revolt against the truth, and we are living in our day and age now. With this short 15-verse letter, 3 John speaks a lot about truth and a lot about walking in the truth. It was written by the Apostle John, sometimes known as the disciple whom Jesus loved. John wrote a fair amount of your New Testament. He wrote the Gospel of John. He wrote Revelation in three letters. First John, which we went through, I believe, a couple of years ago. Second John, which I hope to do in the future. And third John. Now, a few things really spoke to me from this letter as I was reading it and deciding whether or not to preach it this morning.

And it was especially this idea of truth and walking in the truth and how important that is for us today. And John’s delight in saying that he had no greater joy than that his children were walking in the truth. And in our day, just as in earlier generations of the church, there’s an assault on Christian truth. Consider the constant barrage that comes against the truths that we believe. Truths about God. Who is God? What is God like? Who is Jesus Christ? Salvation. How is a person made right with God? Scripture. That’s one that is constantly assaulted. And many other very important truths that are in our Bible that we believe in our faith that affect how we live in the church, how we care for one another, how we interact with our neighbors, whether we will live in unity, whether we will persevere to the end.

There’s even an assault on just truth in general versus false or fake news. You’ve all heard of fake news. It’s hard sometimes to even know what we can believe. It’s so bad that we have high-ranking government officials who cannot answer a basic question whose truth is so obvious that it boggles the mind. What is a woman? Many of the core doctrines of the Christian faith are under constant attack from both aberrant and heretical false teachers. We have media campaigns, multi-million dollar media campaigns, and popular streaming programs that misrepresent Jesus. They misrepresent His message conveniently, neglecting to call people to repentance and faith. Listen to what the Apostle Peter said. False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality,

and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. We see this around us constantly, which is why this letter is very important to help us see that we must walk in the truth, because it matters. It is important. And truth is connected to love, and it will affect how we live the Christian life and how we will serve in the church. So let’s look into this letter now. And I have divided it up into three sections, and these three sections represent the three primary things that I want you to see in this letter this morning. The first one is that truth and love are inextricably connected. The second is that love provides for those who are called to gospel ministry. And the third thing is that those who are faithful to the truth will face opposition. So let’s look at the first section this morning.

Walking in Truth

Truth and love are inextricably connected. Look with me at verse 1. The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. So John is writing to this man Gaius who is a Christian. He was likely a convert from John’s gospel ministry. Remember, John was an apostle. One of the twelve. And he says beloved to him. He uses this term here. He uses it actually twice in these first two verses. He uses it four times in the entire letter. This is John’s way of just using maximum affection in writing for Gaius. Beloved. And he loves Gaius because they both share the most important thing that two people can share. Saving faith in Christ. How often do you stop and think about the people that you live around, the people that you know who are Christians, people in your church, other church members, people maybe in your community group,

people that you’ve developed a close relationship with. This bond you share with them is your common faith in Christ. You are both in the truth. Otherwise, most of us in this room wouldn’t be hanging out together. We wouldn’t probably know each other if we didn’t live in the same neighborhood. It is this incredible bond that brings people from many walks of life together on a Sunday morning, on a Wednesday night, and hopefully other times throughout the week. Now because of John’s love for Gaius, he says in verse 2, look at it with me. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul. Gosh, what a wonderful thing to wish for a brother or sister. That it may go well with them. That they may be in good health. The same as it is with their soul.

John knows that because of the saving faith that Gaius has, which is based on the truth he’s walking in, the truths of the faith, the Gospel, he knows it is well with his soul. You must remember that it will always be better to have soul health than physical health. Most people in our culture don’t ever consider the condition of their soul. This is a bit shocking, but George Whitefield once commented that the sad condition of many people in his day was that they were more concerned about a pimple on their face than the rottenness in their heart. Ouch. And you compare that attitude to the mainstream attitude, and you think about how it is that a guy like Horatio Spafford could write the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul, after having lost his four daughters in a shipwreck crossing the Atlantic. They were ages three to nine.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows, like sea billows, roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul. It’s almost unfathomable. So let me ask you this morning, how is your soul? How is your soul? Would your closest friends speak this way of you? Would they say that it goes well with your soul? If you cannot say that to be true of yourself, or you know yourself not to be a Christian, let me share with you that you can be confident in the state of your soul by coming to believe in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Because if you have not done that, your soul is in peril. You must repent of your sins, which means to stop the direction that you’re going, the sinful direction you’re headed.

Stop and turn toward Christ. Ask Him to forgive you. Ask Him to make you right with God, so that you may be able to know that it goes well with your soul. If you find yourself in that position this morning, I want you to know that you could ask anyone you’re seated near this morning after the service, and they would be delighted to share with you the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help you understand what it means to become a Christian and how a person does that. I’ll be available after the service as well, and I’d love to speak with you about this more if you have questions. John has also evidently received word from some common friends in the faith that have shared with him that Gaius is walking in the truth. Look at verse 3. He says, For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers

came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. Walking in the truth, it is practical. It is the works. It is the good works he is doing. Because he knows the truth. He believes in the Lord Jesus, and he believes in the apostles’ authority and what they taught. Listen to what John Stott says about this. Listen very carefully. This is profound. He says, To walk in the truth is more than to give assent to it. In other words, mental. It means to apply it to one’s behavior. Whoever walks in the truth is an integrated believer in whom there is no dichotomy between profession and practice. On the contrary, there is in him an exact correspondence between creed and conduct. Do you get that? Walking in the truth means you will live out the Christian life in love and good works.

John 4. John says, I have no greater joy, no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. His use of the word children there doesn’t mean little children. It means those people that came to faith because of his ministry, because of his preaching. There were a lot of these itinerant teachers that traveled around in this day. And they would teach heresy. They would try to gain their own following of people. Kind of like we see cults today. And he warned about this in his previous letter in 2 John. He said, many deceivers have gone out into the world. Watch yourselves. But he tells Gaius, nothing gives him greater joy than to hear that his children are walking in the truth. This is the fact that they have not been deceived by the heretics. And you think about this. This is true in a lot of different relationships.

I mean, think about the teacher and the student. When a student ends up putting into practice what he’s learned, it makes the teacher very proud. You think about parents and children. There is probably nothing more comforting to a parent than to see their children living out the things they were taught. Especially gospel things. And when you are blessed to see someone who you love, abiding in the truths of the faith, it gives you great joy. It should give us great joy. Would your closest friends or your spiritual mentors or your pastors say about you that you are a person who is walking in the truth? Or are you a person who is argumentative? The person who’s always looking for a loophole? Seeking to try to know just how little you must believe? Or are you, as Francis Schaeffer did, relying on the revealed Word of God

to be your final arbiter in all matters of faith and life? Let me encourage you, friends, you must stay close to the truth of the Lord. The Word of God. Consider what James says in chapter 1. He says, Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness.. That’s humility. The implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. Now look with me at verse 5. This is where we see the truth and the love inextricably connected. John says, Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. So Gaius, we don’t know exactly what his position is in the church. May have been an elder. We don’t know for sure,

but he is being commended by the Apostle John for being faithful in love, for receiving and sending what are likely itinerant teachers on their way. So just as there were heretics traveling about, itinerant teachers, false teachers, there were also teachers who were traveling about from church to church, teaching and building up the body. Preaching the Gospel. Teaching Christian truth. You think about Jesus practiced this model, right? He sent out the twelve two-by-two. He later sent out the seventy-two-by-two. And they went out teaching as they went. Gaius was quite literally living out Romans 12.13 which we saw last week. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. This love and this truth connection is so vital. And John is an old man. He’s an old man writing this letter. He knows it well. That to be in the truth of the faith

Supporting Gospel Ministry

will manifest itself in love. Love for God and love for others. Which brings us to our second section. Love provides for those who are called to Gospel ministry. John reiterates the importance of sending out the itinerant teachers. Look at verse 6. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, for they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these that we may be fellow workers for the truth. Now, not everyone is called to go to the mission field or to be some sort of itinerant Gospel minister. But everyone is called to support those who go. And being hospitable and being generous to those going and doing the traveling work of Gospel ministry is John’s emphasis here. Think of what the mission is that Jesus gave to the church

in Matthew 28.

Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

— Matthew 28

(ESV)

John himself would have seen this done by Jesus as he sent out the 12 disciples and later the 72. They would go out and preach the Gospel to these towns and then Jesus would follow behind them. Just imagine how many people received John and the other apostle that he traveled with. We don’t know who it was. But think about it. How many towns he went to? How many homes he must have stayed in? He knew a thing or two about being received and sent. And he’s commending this to us. Listen to what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 10.

He said, whoever receives you receives Me. And whoever receives Me receives him who sent Me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. And the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. There is great reward for being a Christian who will sacrifice to see the Gospel, the true truth, go forward by sending and sometimes receiving righteous people who have devoted their lives to this kind of work. Notice John says these teachers have gone out for the sake of the name. That’s just simply his way of saying Jesus and all He accomplished in the Gospel. And those who go and preach the good news like this are doing something beautiful. Offering Christ and His Gospel to the lost. Paul speaks to this in Romans 10. He says, how will they call on Him

in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent as it is written? And he quotes Isaiah 52. How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. Look at verse 8. John says, therefore, we ought to support people like these that we may be fellow workers for the truth. By supporting and showing hospitality to Gospel work, we kind of like in a unique way, get to participate in their efforts. We become fellow workers for the truth with them. The author of Hebrews said, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for some have entertained angels unawares. I couldn’t find who did this quote, but someone has rightly said this, biblical hospitality forefronts our neighbor, not ourselves.

Hospitality is about making someone else feel honored, loved, and comfortable. This is hospitality, whether it occurs in your home or in another place. It is generously offering your neighbor your attention, honor, and care. And that is what Gaius was doing as he received and sent out these Christian workers. Would you say that you are a person who delights to sacrificially give of yourself and your resources generously to people doing ministry like this? Do you have a personal missions budget? If not, you probably should. If you are doing that, praise God, continue what you’re doing. And if you are not doing that, you should seek to find ministries or people that are doing good work in this area and support them. The context here is specific to the sending of teachers, which for our culture, would be most closely related to missionaries. Sending missionaries. But I do think there’s a broader application here

that could support ministries whose end result is to see people hear the Gospel and support discipleship. It’s that Matthew 28 mission of the church. And you have many, many options to live this out. So friends, let us be the kind of people who are like Gaius. We’re walking in the truth and we’re displaying love for those doing Gospel ministry. Especially in this area of supporting missions and Gospel ministries. Now let’s look at our last section. Those faithful to the truth will face opposition. Look at verse 9. John says, I have written something to the church. He’s referring to another letter he had written. But Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and also stops those who want to

Facing Opposition

and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God. Whoever does evil has not seen God. We don’t know much about this guy Diotrephes. He clearly had some sort of authority in his local church. Maybe he was an elder. Maybe he was self-appointed in some way. But John has no problem calling him out by name. John says he wrote this other letter where Diotrephes was a member of the church. And the first thing he says about Diotrephes, he likes to put himself first. What is that? Putting yourself first? It’s pride. It’s the failure of living the way the Lord Jesus lived and requires His people to live, humbly considering others first. But not Diotrephes. He’s driven by pride and he refuses to acknowledge apostolic authority, even going so far as to speak what John says is wicked nonsense against him.

Well, John actually finds himself in really good company because similar challenges to their authority happened to Moses, to Joshua, to Nehemiah, David, Daniel, Paul, and of course, Jesus. And most of us at some point will face opposition from the world and even within the walls of the church if we stand firm for the truth. Paul, when he was laying out the Christian armor that we are to put on, in Ephesians 6.14 says, Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Are you a person who is seeking the Word of God and His truth to be the primary thing that informs your world view? Or do you make yourself the final arbiter of what is true and what is right based on how you feel or how you see the world? Well, we must be people of the Word.

Paul Spurgeon said the Word of God will be to you a bulwark and a high tower. A castle of defense against the foe. Oh, see to it that the Word of God is in you. In your very soul. Permeating your thoughts and so operating upon your outward life that all may know you to be a true Bible Christian. As they perceive it in your words and deeds. May it be said of Trinity Church that we are Bible Christians. Notice in verse 10, John says, so if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. John was going to confront Diotrephes if he was able to get there in person. If not, he wanted Gaius to know that Diotrephes was not a person to be trusted and that he opposed apostolic authority. John also said, and not content with that,

he refuses to welcome the brothers and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. So this guy just goes from bad to worse. He’s inhospitable. He won’t acknowledge apostolic authority. And now he won’t receive these missionaries, these teachers. And even worse than that, the people who want to practice hospitality, he’s kicking them out of the church if they try to do that. In verse 11, John says, Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God. Whoever does evil has not seen God. It’s kind of like John’s reminding Gaius. Brother, you have the truth. Keep walking in it. Keep going. Don’t be influenced by Diotrephes and other wicked men. Skip down to verse 14. Look at what John tells him. He says, I hope to see you soon and we will talk face to face. This must have been a huge encouragement to Gaius.

Imagine he’s knowing that the great Apostle John wants to come and be with him. He was on his side. He’s trying to get there. We don’t know if that ever happened. Back up now and look at verse 12. It’s really interesting that John says this, just kind of sandwiched in here. He talks about this guy named Demetrius. He says, Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. Also, add our testimony and you know that our testimony is true. We don’t know much about this guy Demetrius. I kind of had this thought as I was studying this and thinking about it. Maybe he was in Gaius’ church there to be able to give encouragement. But this guy’s doing good works and everyone affirms him. John says the truth affirms him. This guy’s got fruit. John affirms him. And isn’t it interesting that so often

is the case in this world in which we live, we see contrast of two sides. We see good versus evil. Truth, false. Right, wrong. So on one side here you have Diotrephes. He’s a bad guy. He’s not accepting the authority of the Apostles. He’s full of pride. And then we have Demetrius and Gaius. They have a good testimony. They’ve received the truth and allowed it to impact their Christian walk. And it is true that a person who is seeking biblical truth and who will submit to that truth will be changed by that truth. It will have its effect on them to grow them in maturity, to grow them in love for God and love for others. John concludes his letter with this beautiful benediction of peace. Look at verse 15. He says, Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends each by name.

I just love this that John says, greet the friends each by name. This is because in the church, everyone is important. It says Francis Schaeffer said, With God, there are no little people and there are no little places. Most of you are way too young to know about this, but there was a sitcom in the 80’s called Cheers. And it was about a bar in Boston. And there were all these different funny characters that hung out in this bar every day after work. They all of course knew each other. But the theme song had this line in it that came to my mind and it said, You want to go where everybody knows your name. It’s a really catchy theme song. We should know each other’s names. Shouldn’t we? When you meet someone and you’re just getting to know someone, nothing tells a person you care about them

like remembering their name. It’s important. And as we stand for the truth, it means we’re going to face opposition. And that’s okay. The Lord is with us to the end. We have the Holy Spirit. It’s too important to compromise the truth. We can’t do it. In his previous letter in 2 John 4, he said this, he said, I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father. This is not optional. This is God’s will for us to walk in the truth. Jesus is said to be full of grace and truth. He’s the very embodiment of truth. Grace and truth came to us through Jesus. And He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Let me conclude this morning with a quote from Francis Schaeffer

Three Concentric Circles

about how we can do this. And I’m hopeful there’s going to be a slide on the screen. Yes! Yes! Pay careful attention to this. It’s a little bit long. Schaeffer says, as I see it, the Christian life must be comprised of three concentric circles, each of which must be kept in its proper place. True biblical orthodoxy and the purity of the visible church, this is first. But if that’s all there is, it is just one more seedbed for spiritual pride. In the second circle, must be good intellectual training and comprehension of our own generation. But having only this leads to intellectualism and again provides a seedbed for pride. In the inner circle, must be the humble heart, the love of God, the devotional attitude toward God. There must be the daily practice of the reality of the God whom we know is there. These three circles

must be properly established, synthesized and related to each other, and at the center must be kept a living relationship to the God we know exists. End quote. Let’s unpack this a little bit. First circle. We have to know the truths of our Bible. We have to. He uses this word biblical orthodoxy. Orthodoxy just simply means that we adhere to the traditional, historic doctrines of the faith. That’s all it means. This is what Schaeffer called the true truth. And this will in turn lead to the purity of the church. Because the church is being informed first and foremost by Scripture, not what the world is saying and doing. Second circle. Friends, we have to understand the times in which we live. And right now we are in a war. The enemy is pressing in on us. Tom said this really well the other day in one of our elder meetings.

I thought this was a great illustration. He says the waves of culture are crashing into the church. Think about these videos of all these storms that have happened in California this winter. You see these huge, giant waves crashing into these homes and just wiping them out. That’s the church. That’s what we’re up against. Third circle. You must come to God with a humble heart daily. Daily. You must spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word. And you must rely upon the Lord Jesus for everything. Now, if this is new to you, or you find yourself being a little more like Diotrephes than Gaius, then go to Jesus this morning and ask Him to forgive you. The Gospel covers all sin. Ask Him to help you, to give you a love for His truth, and to change you with His truth into a mature Christian

who can then be a useful instrument to carry forth the Gospel to the lost. I’ll be around after the service. I’d be glad to talk with any of you about this if you have questions. In John 17, Jesus prayed to His Father for His disciples and for those who would later become disciples. That’s all of us. He said, sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth. And God has given us these true truths in His Word, and therefore, we must walk in the truth because it matters. It is important. And truth is connected to love and will affect how we live the Christian life and how we serve in the church. May we have hearts like the psalmist who said, teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth. Unite my heart to fear Your name. Amen? Let’s pray. Our Father and our God,

Help us as we come into contact with the truth of Your Word. God, whether we are hearing it or reading it, may we listen, may we have good focus, may we pay close attention, may we remember and retain truth. We pray the Holy Spirit will be our teacher. Give us wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment, good judgment, and remembrance from the Scriptures. May we apply it to all of life in our hearts, in our minds, and put it into practice. Father, for those here this morning who may struggle to submit to truth, I ask You to work in their hearts by the Holy Spirit that they would not only submit to it, but they would love it, that they would obey it, and that they would let it transform their lives. God, always in learning truth, may it help us to grow, to better know and understand

and love You more, to have softer hearts, to be humble, to walk worthy of the Lord Jesus. Make us people who daily come into Your presence with humble hearts, seeking to have lives of devotion and closeness with You, the God we know exists, the God we know is there, and You are the God who cares about even the smallest details of our lives. Father, we thank You so much for Jesus and what He has done on our behalf as proclaimed in the Gospel, the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, and it is in His name we pray always. Amen.