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This is little more than a repetition of a declaration made by the apostle in the foregoing epistle. He is addressing there a pious mother, and he congratulates her on the spiritual prosperity of some of her family. Here he is addressing a beloved friend, and he congratulates him on the prosperity of his soul in nearly the same words.

I. TRUTH. "What is truth?" said Pilate to our Lord with a mixture of incredulity and scorn, as though truth were a thing nowhere to be discovered; and the same question has been asked by the wise men of the earth with the same feelings from Pilate downwards to our day. The real Christian knows where it is to be found, for he has found it. His God has not only made him feel its importance and enkindled in him a desire for it, he has shown him the thing itself, revealed, communicated His truth to him: so that the man has it; has it in his hand whenever he takes up his Bible; has it in his mind and heart, for he has read his Bible, and by God's help has understood and believed it. That is the truth the apostle speaks of in this text. It is the revelation which God has made to us concerning spiritual and eternal things in His holy Word, and more particularly the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which forms so main a part of that revelation.

II. WALKING IN IT. The term "walking" in Scripture, when used as it is here, is always expressive, not of an act or two, but of a continued course of acting. To walk in the truth, then, means more than for a man once in his life to discover and embrace the truth; it implies besides this a daily familiarity with it, having it constantly before his mind, and his mind and his life being as constantly influenced and acted on by it.

1. That we hold fast Christ's truth; having had our minds enlightened to discover and opened to receive it, that we retain it in our mind, and this in its pure, simple, unadulterated form.

2. A continued profession of Christ's truth.

3. To live in the habitual practice of it.

III. THIS APOSTLE'S JOY WHEN HE HEARS OF HIS FELLOW-CHRISTIANS THUS WALKING. He expresses this, you observe, in very strong terms. He does not say that he has no joy equal to this, but he does say that he has none above it: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." And this strong language plainly shows us two things.

1. The loftiness of his own character. This favoured, this honoured apostle, with all his remembrances of the past and all his glowing anticipations of the future, with heaven almost opening upon him, says he gets as much happiness from the holy walk of others as he does from any other source. We know where he learnt this. We see the Master's spirit shining forth again in the disciple. What was self to the blessed Jesus when the good of our lost souls was at stake?

2. The high importance of this holy walking in the truth. Such a man, we are sure, would never have rejoiced in a trifle.

(1) It is important, first to ourselves.

(a) It is the best test we can have of our belonging to Christ, of the sincerity and reality of our faith in Him.

(b) Our enjoyment of the gospel, our spiritual comfort and happiness, depends on it.

(c) Our sanctification or holiness depends altogether on the permanency of the place Christ's truth has within us.

(2) Our continued walking in the truth is important also to our fellow-men. Every undecided, wavering professor of Christ's gospel among us diffuses a bad influence around him — he does mischief in the world though he may not aim to do it; while every consistent follower of the truth does good in the world, though he may scarcely see it.

(C. Bradley, M. A.)

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KJV: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

WEB: I have no greater joy than this, to hear about my children walking in truth.