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Sermon: Living In The Truth Date: July 2, 2023, Afternoon Text: 3 John Series: 3 John Preacher: Josh Sheldon Audio: https://storage.googleapis.com/pbc-ca-sermons/2023/230702-LivingInTheTruth-a.aac
The preaching this afternoon will be from 3rd John.
And I will read the entire Letter.
We won't go through every verse, but we'll get the upshot of this short letter this book of the Bible.
3rd John.
Please when you have that please stand with me for the reading of God's Word.
The elder to the beloved Gaius whom I live 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.
For I rejoice 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 that 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've written something to the church, but.
But diatrophies 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 Would rather not write with pen and ink.
I hope to see you soon and we will talk face to face.
Peace be to you.
The friends greet you greet the friends each by name.
God bless the reading now the proclamation of his holy word.
Please be seated.
You don't read this short letter.
What we come away with very often what we hear John telling us is something like the command
to show hospitality to traveling evangelist to send them away in a manner worthy of the God the
Jesus who they represent.
Now, it's true that we should be hospitable.
But you know, there's an underlying principle in print in play here in 3rd.
John.
Now we should be hospitable.
We should send away Legitimate traveling evangelists in a manner worthy of God himself who
they proclaim but still the letter has this underlying ethos a
Something behind it that is more than that.
So what causes the Apostle John to rejoice is more than just guys's care for the traveling missionaries.
What he rejoices in is what is behind that care?
What led guys to provide that care?
To act in this way that gives John this great rejoicing.
Well, John rejoices that guys has found walking in the truth guys his entire life.
He says walking in the truth.
It means his entire life was structured on God's Word on the truth.
The singular truth of God given in such a multifaceted way in his scripture.
He's walking he's ordered his life.
He's arranged himself around that word.
He's walking in the truth and this is the cause for the Apostle John's great rejoicing.
Hospitality and acknowledgment of the apostolic authority were the outworking of
This walking in the truth, but the truth by which he lived was more than a single action.
More than providing hospitality to the evangelists.
It was his guiding principle and in this John the evangelist rejoiced
greatly.
Is everyone has a Truth by which they live.
Everyone has a guiding principle a worldview that informs all of life the
truth.
We have a truth.
We have God's truth.
We have more than a set of rules.
We have an ethos.
We have a worldview through which all decisions can be filtered
in third John.
There's four characters.
There's John our author the disciple whom Jesus loved as he describes himself in his gospel.
There's Gaius of whom we have just enough detail to make some informed speculation and then
there's Demetrius and he's probably one of the missionaries who benefited from guys as faithfulness and.
Finally, there's diatrophies of whom like the others.
We have very little to go on.
Just a little bit enough to give us informed speculation.
We do know that guys obeyed the principle of God's truth by hosting the apostolic Lee
commended Demetrius.
Despite the wrath of the domineering gotta be first diatrophies.
You say that one more time.
This is something we know that guys obeyed the principle of God's truth walking in the
He obeyed the principles of God's truth by hosting the apostolic Lee commended Demetrius.
Despite the wrath the possible wrath of the domineering want to be first.
Diatrophies as we go through this message when I speak of apostolic authority being acknowledged by Gaius.
How does that relate to us today?
Well apostolic authority is what we have in the scripture.
This is the apostolic authority from just through Genesis to Revelation this is the truth in which
we walk and So much of it as was known by Gaius at the time that this letter was written during John's life
and what he knew.
Probably as a student a disciple of John was the truth around which he arranged his life.
A man named Robert Morrison.
I don't quite know when he wrote this but he kind of summed it up this way.
He said by the indwelling of God's truth living principles are implanted in the soul.
They are fountain spring whence well forth love benevolence active well -doing and
the end is eternal life and glory.
A Guiding principle that Controls our life.
Implanted by God in the soul upon conversion the Holy Spirit witnessing to us of the truth of God
by the indwelling of that truth.
Principles are implanted within the Christian.
The fountain spring as Morrison says whence well forth love benevolence active well -doing
and the end is eternal life and glory.
Let's see what it means to us about this living in the truth.
And what it means to each other to find one another doing this living in the truth of God living
according to God's Word.
Growing and growing evermore into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
See.
John encourages Gaius to continue this.
And we need to understand that when we walk in the truth.
When you walk in the truth you bring joy to others.
You're walking in the truth brings joy to others.
The elder to the beloved guys 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.
For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified your truth as indeed you are walking in the
John rejoiced to hear that Gaius is guiding principle and the actions that that
principle resulted in.
Were from the truth.
Obviously John means the truth of God not just some general truth.
The truth as it is in Jesus.
You see the benefits that come from faithful living in God's truth.
Extend further than we often think.
The Apostle Paul writes often about how we encourage one another.
How we build one another up.
How we are an organism as it were.
We're a body that grows in strength and health and spiritual vitality.
And how so?
By the encouragement that we have and seeing one another grow.
Seeing the holiness in us expand and Inform more and more of what we do.
You see when you live that way.
We don't often think how far that might extend.
How it would bless your pastor?
All three of your pastors who stand up here and as we're plead with you to hear this word of God plead with you.
To grow in the Lord Jesus Christ, or if you don't know him to come to him.
What greater joy could we have as?
Christ's under shepherd than to see you growing and walking and living in that truth that we
proclaim to the best of our ability and then.
That truth in which you live is an encouragement to everyone else around you.
Now this doesn't make it like some dreadful responsibility to provide guilt upon you.
See you're not encouraging others because you're not living in the truth.
That's not at all where we're going.
Just so you know.
That living in the truth when John saw this from one of his children.
Clearly he was the one who was active the agent of converting Gaius
the one that Christ sent to guys to convert him.
It gives great joy.
It encourages me to grow more and more myself into the image of Christ Jesus.
Well, I know I'm the pastor so I know it all.
I'm there right?
No, not even close.
I'm with everybody else just called in humility to this position.
With with Brian with Conley.
No greater joy than a word that we proclaim.
That gets through and Changes you and gives you that increment if you will
closer to Christ walking more and more in the truth.
Christians rejoicing the truth as 1st Corinthians 13 6 says we don't rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoice when
Not truth as an esoteric idea not rejoicing as a mere affirmation.
John rejoiced greatly to see God's truth being lived out.
From first and second John the truth that ordered guys his life was a truth of God as it is in
Jesus Christ.
The Lord came in the flesh.
That God became flesh God the Son not God the Father.
God the Son a distinct person from the Father and Spirit.
He became flesh.
That's the truth that John worked so hard to infuse into his church and
to solidify them in Christ took on
human flesh.
Christ lived as we do.
This truth is historical.
Christ really lived.
Christ really died on the cross.
This truth is regulative.
It tells us how to live.
It tells us how to worship.
God's Word tells us what must be our necessary response to this truth as it is in
Christ.
Now what did John actually do when he rejoiced greatly.
I mean did he dance like David before the ark.
Did he sing a hymn.
Did he weep for joy?
We just don't know.
But we can surmise that deep in his spirit.
John had this overwhelming experience of joy that continued.
When he thought of Gaius.
He felt joyful.
Now again, he didn't spring up and sing hymns or go into a rapture of prayer though.
That's possible.
He's felt a deep -seated joy within that God used him to do
good for another sinner for Gaius.
You ever consider how your life when arranged according to God's truth benefits others.
Gotta tell you I'll tell you again.
It does it benefits me to see him the implanted Word of God having its way with you.
It brings joy to all three of your pastors to hear that our priest word our counsel our Friendship has any
part of you walking more and more the truth and what does that benefit?
It's just rejoicing with joy inexpressible first Peter 1 8.
Rapturous joy a joy that is the sole possession of a Christian.
Joy, there's a sole possession of one who loves Jesus Christ and therefore rejoices to see Jesus
Christ growing in you and me and others around you.
A Joy, you must feel when you see a brother or sister in the Lord walking in that truth and growing more
and more into Christ.
You see we need encouragement to stay on track.
Don't we we know the truth.
Most of us can read very very well.
We've been to school been to universities went through high school.
We can open this up.
We can read these letters.
We can read these books and understand what's being brought to us.
But we still need encouragement from each other to stay on track beloved.
Verse 5.
It's 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 do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.
They have gone out for the sake of the name accepting nothing from the Gentiles.
Therefore we have to support people like these that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
Jesus said the way the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and
those who find it are few.
Guys can be sure he was on the right path.
Now.
How could he be sure the same way that we can be sure?
How do you know it's the right path?
Well, here's just one test one of many I'm just gonna focus on this one thing.
It's a hard path.
It costs you something.
It's a narrow and hard path to stay on in pilgrims progress.
Christian and faithful had a hard time even seeing the path much less staying on it.
So one piece of evidence that guys was walking in the truth is that it cost him something.
Here in this case he had to face down to atrophies anger His wrath.
We don't know much about this domineering man who put himself first but.
Maybe some of guys his friends remained loyal to Diatrophies, maybe he was gonna lose
friendship because he was hosting missionaries who died if he says no you can't and drive doctor visa would put them at
him out of the church and He would lose friends.
It costs something.
But guys walking in the truth the catalyst for great joy in John the Apostle it was
hard.
It was hard to stay on the truth brethren.
It's hard to stay on the truth.
It's hard to resist temptation.
Is it not it's hard to not fall back on besetting sins.
It's difficult.
It's a tough path.
It's as we've preached this morning a suffering path.
It's just tough.
And one of the things that helps us along is That we have each other and
As you walk more and more in the truth.
And as I see holiness growing in you and you see Christ being for more and more in me.
It encourages all of us that we're on the right path and that we can continue on that path.
It's Christ who works in you to will and to do for God's good pleasure.
So as Christ working in you as God who's working in you.
It's the Holy Spirit's power within you and it's you doing it's both and.
And when I see you doing it encourages me that I can do it, too.
I mean if this one can do it I can and if I can do it, then you'll see it in another and it just grows
and grows and grows.
It gave John great joy to see this in that one man, and it's an encouragement.
This walking in the truth though.
It exposes the opposite number.
You know Billy Budd sailor if you've ever read that story you have claggert the master -at -arms
a Very stern disciplinarian to the point of cruelty who would have been flogged awful
punishment for the slightest Crime and then along comes Billy Budd a sailor who was pressed onto there and
he has he in the story.
He's kind of a messianic Christ like figure by analogy.
But he's just so pure and so good and he refuses to think bad of anyone including claggert.
And the more claggert tries to get him to hate him the more Billy Budd refuses to hate him and That makes
claggert madder and angrier and more cruel.
There's nothing that exposes sin quite like one who's walking in the truth.
One who follows Christ and those around will be exposed.
He says here in verse 9 I've written something to the church, but diatrophies who likes to put himself first does not
acknowledge our authority.
So in our day a pastor who wants to be first and does not acknowledge the authority of the scripture.
Who says it's a really good word, you know, we like this word we're gonna kind of follow this word and we'll take it as it
pleases us and Most of those men who would say something like that say and you'll take it as it
pleases me for you to understand it.
Run battle cry in this case is run away run away get out of there.
Diatrophies will soon find out why Jesus gave John the name son of thunder.
We think of John as the disciple who's leaning on Jesus bosom in John 13 23.
He's such a soft gentle man the disciple who wrote so much about love.
Oh, he's he's like the love apostle.
We forget that Jesus.
Jesus gave him a name that denotes power and strength and courage.
He's a son of thunder because Jesus said so.
Like Paul he was gentle in his demeanor he learned from his master what it means to keep power and authority under control.
And Diatrophies is going to learn that you don't run around spreading lies about a man of God.
Chosen by name to be an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says he's talking wicked nonsense, you know.
Nonsense gets back to a Greek word that has at his core the idea of bubbles.
Like the soap bubbles the kids use the wand.
You know where they get the soap on there and they blow it out or they wave the wand.
And those pretty little bubbles come out.
And what happens when they hit a little bit of wind or brush against something solid like a tree or a leaf?
Or a tiny little twig.
What happens?
They're gone.
No substance doesn't mean anything.
A little bit of soap on the sidewalk.
And how long does that take to dry up?
Seconds.
Well, that's Nonsense.
That's the kind of thing John says diatrophies is speaking
bubbles.
No substance.
And when the son of thunder comes when he got there He would be exposed.
Diatrophy would be exposed as the lightweight that all domineering bullies are.
One of the great advantages of plurality of elders is that it prevents exactly this.
It prevents one man from standing and saying I'm right and you will believe everything
the way I say.
Like I'm reading in a little bit.
I admit that and I said it's all informed speculation.
It's a little speculative about diatrophies.
This seems to match the tone and tenor of what John says of him.
See everyone lives according to a truth.
Everyone lives according to a truth and for most of the world that truth is a self -made truth.
It's like the idols that Jeremiah and Isaiah condemned.
So so.
You know, so certainly.
Made by man to serve man idols that tell us just what we want them to tell us.
We tell you this idol.
Here's what you can tell us.
Here's your code of ethics that I will choose to follow.
The gods of religions like the Hindus are really just visible manifestations of men's creation.
But everyone lives according to some truth.
Like diatrophies the majority today follow a self -made self -serving truth and we hear this all the time
something like this.
Well my truth works for me and your truth seems to work for you.
And I'm glad that you have a truth that works for you, but you know, let's not let the two conflict.
I'm gonna do my thing you do yours, but I have a truth and you have a truth and aren't we all so happy together and
the problem is that Their truth doesn't really work the worldly truth and we
find that if they have a truth that is diametrically opposed to another truth well.
Can we say this is the simplest of logic?
They can't both be right.
If they conflict with one another one of them has to be and this is an awful word in the world.
And here it's being recorded and I'm gonna become an anathema and that's okay.
They're wrong.
It's incorrect.
It makes no sense.
One of them has to be wrong and one of them has to be right or as we as Christians Understand
it.
You know what?
Logically one's right one's wrong, but really you're both wrong because the truth that you follow is a worldly not a
biblical Christendom truth.
I Asked you have you fallen victim to any worldly truth.
Have you followed a diatrophies?
There's an easy test who comes out first when the truth you live in is applied to a circumstance
the circumstance involving others.
Who comes out first?
Is that others who come out ahead?
Philippians 2 2 through 4 said think of others needs as more important than your own.
That's biblical truth.
That's the truth that guys walked in and John rejoiced to see how often does our truth
Lead us to really truly believe and act as if that brother or sister is more important than me.
Those needs need to be met now by me.
Does your conclusion when you follow your understanding of truth?
Follow the other serving mind of Christ.
Philippians 2 5 through 8 have this mind in you also, which was in Christ Jesus.
Thinking of others is more important than yourself and it goes on through the cross.
And we humble themselves to the point of death even death on the cross.
Does that truth?
Inform your decisions.
Because if it doesn't we need to look and say I've allowed allowed an incursion.
There's some worldliness here.
I've got some diatrophies in me and I need to repent of that and Follow the
truth the truth that gave John such rejoicing.
See our truth is not subjective.
The world attributes absolute truth to your own truth particular truth to your worldview to whatever works for you and makes you
happy.
Another worldlings truth is opposed and opposite to yours and that's okay and they lead to different decisions.
And that's all okay because we'll accept it all in this mode of thinking
the worldview.
Truth of the mass shooter cannot be judged as inferior to the majority truth.
It really can't in this mode of thinking.
With the individual custom -made truth, they would agree that murder is wrong, but on what basis.
We would say murder is wrong first because God said so and why is God say it's wrong?
Well, you can go back to Genesis because man is made in the image of God and.
So shedding blood is an offense against God and so we can objectively say we know why murder is
wrong.
But if truth is subjective.
They really have no basis to deny the moral rightness of the murderer
pedophilia any number of perversions.
It's only wrong because of the force and majority and law.
They cannot judge it wrong by their ethos that says that your truth is as good as any others.
And they sort of pick and choose we don't do that.
We have a truth given to us in the scripture 66 inspired books.
You see the point here is that God's Word applies to your circumstance.
God's Word applies to every circumstance, but it doesn't bend.
It doesn't yield to circumstance.
Psalm 119 89 forever.
Oh Lord.
Your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
God's Unchanging unerring truth provides a solid framework for all of life.
So we can walk in that truth a worldview that's based on the life and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
That informs everything.
So finally Christian.
Stay on course.
Walk in the truth.
Give me.
Give calmly give the brother sister next to you your husband wife cause for great
rejoicing and Cause to look at a sinner like me and see you or her.
Growing in the truth and saying well if she can if he can I can I'm gonna follow
those ways and rejoice greatly and grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says in verse 11 do not imitate evil, but imitate good.
Whoever does does evil.
It's not seen God.
Again to Demetrius he has received received a good testimony from everyone.
He was probably the traveling evangelist that brought the good report and From the truth itself.
He's not telling guys to stop following an evil example rather he's affirming guys his faith that he is doing what
is right as Dominant as persuasive as doctor fees probably was.
Gaius was right to resist even to ignore him.
Demetrius probably that traveling missionary.
He risked the wrath of Khan the wrath of Khan if you will the wrath of diatrophies.
He was a good man.
He was well attested by others who saw his endurance in the Lord.
And stay on course.
It's hard.
It's meant to be hard as Conley preached this morning.
It's a suffering and Yet, it's a good suffering because as we suffer as we see our sin
as we repent as we go to God.
We would confess our sins.
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We grow that much more and I rejoice to see it and you rejoice to see it and we all
rejoice together and grow together.
I Have much to write to you to close this out, but I would rather not write with pen and ink.
Now I'm on less than two years away from 70 years old.
So this one really spoke to me and so I'm resisting.
Well, I'm not resisting.
Texting is not face -to -face.
Distance is not face -to -face.
I Want to see you.
I want to look in your eyes.
I want to hold your hand when we shake hands and greet one another.
John wanted to see them and we would say well all they had was expensive papyrus and
Being able to talk in person.
That was the technology of the day fine.
But I'm old.
I'm old -fashioned.
I Like what he says face to face.
But the idea is that we have a tightness together.
We are a close -knit group into the body of Christ.
We need to have a fellowship that is personal that is intimate so that I know that you're walking in the truth.
And you know that I'm walking in the truth so I can tell you, you know, there's part of this truth.
You seem to be missing here.
Let me tell you as a brother or sister who rejoices to see you grow a Better way
in one aspect in this or that manner of your life.
Everyone lives in a truth Christian.
Your truth is the truth.
God's truth as it is in Jesus Christ a living word that applies to all of life, but does not bend to life.
It informs our life.
The truth that answers your circumstance, but never yields to it.
Amen.