2 John 1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of your children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. The affairs of the soul are not so entirely hidden as we may sometimes imagine. I do not see the roots of my plants; but if they grow, and are fragrant, and bear fruit, I know better than if I could look at them that the roots are thriving. Nothing is easier than to tell whether a man is walking or standing still; and again, whether firmly or with weary and fainting steps; and again, in what direction. Walking in the truth is that which is expected of all Christians; yet it does not so uniformly or so fully accompany a Christian profession but that the seeing of it and the hearing about it cause lively joy. It brings into the relations of friend and friend the best kind of gladness; for friendship is more concerned about the inside than the outside, and a good walk seen is taken as hopeful evidence of a prosperous state within, sure to end well. 1. For one thing, the life of one who walks in the truth will be governed by Divine principles. The standard of the new life is fixed by God, not by us; the reason of it is the will of the Father, not our will; the strength to enter on and to keep going forward in it is His strength, not ours. 2. For another thing, if a man is walking in the truth, his life will be pure and consistent. Veracity in speech, integrity in all dealing with man, a sense of honour, are sure fruits of a life governed by Christ. Such clear, sterling integrity before man is not all by any means that is intended by "walking in the light as God is in the light," but — it certainly is part of that. No; not all. For mark in what terms John expounds to the elect lady his conception of what walking in the truth means (vers. 6, 7). For a man to have ascertained the due balance of truth and love in the government of his conduct is to have made the most important of all discoveries. Love, without the backbone of truth, is weakness and sentimentalism. Truth wanting love is a grinning skeleton, is not true. 3. Looking to the case of the elect lady we find, for one thing, that walking in the truth means careful orthodoxy. 4. For another thing, it appears that walking in the truth means the maintaining of Christian influences at home. (A. M. Symington, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. |
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