I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
It is my conviction and understanding of the Word of God that this should be viewed as a correspondence to a church, rather than to an individual. What I notice is that the Apostle rejoices not merely because the reader walks in truth but because the reader’s children do the same. I suppose the Apostle, having had personal ministry among this audience, could expect that they walked in the truth he had communicated to them. His experience with them, his observations of them might have led him to this expectation. But this, this is another matter. They not only had received the truth, obeyed the truth, and continued in the truth; they had reproduced that truth to another generation.
Of course, it is a blessing to see parents who can effectively reproduce their faith in their children. It doesn’t always happen, and because of the influences of the world and the draw of the flesh, it is not always the parents’ fault if they do not. But the real lesson goes to the churches, the pillars, and the ground of truth. If these churches had not been able to reproduce themselves, there would have been no hope of the saving gospel during these two thousand years.
No wonder the Apostle rejoiced. He had evidence before him that the labor Christ had committed to him and the others, the labor for which all the other apostles had died, was not in vain. Now an old man, having served the Lord and suffered for Him, John must have known his days on earth were but a few. He could rest easy knowing that the message of Christ and the truths He, and the other apostles, had delivered would not die with them.
We may rejoice in the same.
#GenerationsInTruth #ChurchLegacy #TruthPassedOn #FaithfulChurches #ApostlesJoy #missiology #ecclesiology
Ground of Truth: The Enduring Impact of Churches
To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
For this and, more than 6200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.
If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.
For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.
My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org
Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/
Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more
Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give.
No comments:
Post a Comment