Open your Bibles, if you would,
to 3rd John. 3rd John. The name of the message
is, Well Beloved. Well Beloved. Well Beloved. 3rd John. We went through 1st
John. We went through 2nd John in Lord
Willen. We'll go through 3rd John. It's
been wonderful. Wonderful little study of these
epistles by John. Let's read the whole epistle
here. 1st John and 2nd John being such a great blessing to us,
and let's pray that the 3rd John will be a blessing to we who
are his people. The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom
I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things
that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly when the
brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even
as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully
whatever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers, which have
borne witness of thy charity before the church, Whom if thou
bring forward on their journey after godly sort, thou shalt
do well. Because that for his name's sake
they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore
ought to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the
truth. I wrote unto the church, but Dioprates, who loveth to
have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will
remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious
words, and not content therewith, neither doth he receive himself
the brethren, and forbidding them that would, and casteth
them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which
is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God,
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath good
report of all men and of the truth itself, yea, and we also
bear record, and ye know that our record is true. I had many
things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee,
but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face
to face. Peace be to thee." What a wonderful,
peace be to thee. Oh, that's wonderful. Our friends
salute thee, greet the friends by name. Now this final epistle
in the letters of John, which we've been studying, is from
John the Apostle, who's called the Elder in verse 1. to a beloved
brother named Gaius, a beloved brother named Gaius, whom he
loves in the Lord. He just loves this brother in
the Lord. And we see that John practices what he preaches, doesn't
he? Because we saw in the first epistle that we were told by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God through John, though,
to love the brethren, to love the brethren. So he practiced
what he preaches in love in the brethren. And he knows as well
as we know that this is a work of the Holy Spirit in us. It's
the love of God shed abroad in our heart. That's why we love
the brethren. We love those who love the truth.
We love those who love the truth. Now the name Gaius appears in
the New Testament four times. It was a very, very common name
in the Roman Empire. It was like Michael Smith. It
was that, I looked up today, Michael Smith is the second most
popular name in all the US. That's what this name was. The
name Gaius in the Roman Empire was like that, like Michael Smith. It was just a very common name,
very common name. Or I looked actually at the most
ones, it was Michael Smith and Mary Smith. So it's a common
name like that. 36 million people or something
like that. Just a real high number of people,
I can't remember. But it was a high number of people named
that. Now Gaius here, who this epistle
is addressed to, is not the brother Paul baptized. This is a dear
brother of John's who was converted under his ministry. In this short epistle, John is
writing to his dear brother Gaius. And we will see him encourage
fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters in Christ. The second
epistle was a personal letter written to the elect lady. This
is a personal letter written to a dear brother in Christ named
Gaius. In the second epistle, the second
epistle written to the elect lady used the words truth and
love frequently. They cannot be separated. They
are constant companions. Truth and love are constant companions,
beloved. They cannot be separated. If
you love the truth, then you will love those who love the
truth. Those who know the truth, you both will love the object
of the believer's love, who is Christ the truth. And this is because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts, beloved. That's why. But truth and love are our constant
companions, constant companions. Now, think of this. Not only
do we love the truth, we who are the elect of God, born again
by God's almighty power, but beloved, we believe the truth.
We believe what's in this word. We believe the truth. And we have to have it, don't
we? We won't settle for anything else. We have to have it. We
have to have the true gospel preached and proclaimed to us.
We won't settle for anything else. We love to hear it proclaimed. We love to hear Christ preached.
We will see in this epistle the emphasis is on truth and deeds. Truth and deeds. Turn if you
would to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. Turn there
if you would. Galatians chapter 5. Truth and deeds is really the
same for faith worketh by love. It's really the same. It's really
the same. Galatians chapter 5. Look at
this in verse 6. Let him that is taught in the
Word, meaning the Scriptures, communicate unto him that teaches
in all good things. Galatians chapter... I'm in the
wrong verse there. I got Galatians 5, 6 here. I
got the wrong verse. It's for in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth anything or uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. Which faith that worketh by love. Oh, I was in 6-6, I'm sorry.
Go to 5-6, yeah. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. That's the same as saying Truth
and deeds. Faith worketh by truth and deeds.
We love the truth. We love the truth. And that love
is manifested. That love of God shed abroad
in our hearts is manifested by the fact that we love the truth
and we love the brethren. And that'll leak out of us, beloved.
It'll leak out of us. It'll come out. Truth as opposed
to false faith. True faith, as opposed to false
faith, works by love. True faith, as opposed to false
faith, works by love. False faith is motivated by what
it can gain. By what it can gain. We all came
out of that. True faith, though, is motivated
by love. Love for Christ. Love for Christ. It's motivated by that love that
we have for him. And what does true love do? Does it expose a multitude of
sin in our brothers and sisters? No, the scripture says love covers
what? A multitude of sin, doesn't it? A multitude of sin. Doesn't expose, look, look, you
want to expose my faults, it's not hard, right? And any one
of us can look at anybody else and expose their faults. It's
not hard. We all got faults. We're all sinners. We all are. That's why the gospel preacher
is constantly telling you to look to Christ. Look to the one
who is no fault at all. No fault at all. But love, true
love, the true love of God should have broadened our hearts. It
covers a multitude of sin. We don't look at each other and
say, well, look at what that person's like. No, we look at
ourselves and go, man, I'm the chief of sinners. We see ourselves as the chief
of sinners. That's what Paul was writing
about, too, in those texts. when he says that. He knows what
he is by the grace of God. And he says, I am what I am by
the grace of God. So we can say, I'm a saved man,
and you ladies can say, I'm a saved woman by the grace of God. Plus
nothing. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Left to myself, I'd be lost and dead in trespasses and sins
and have no hope. But oh, what a hope we have,
beloved. What a hope we have in Christ.
Oh, my. He's everything to us. So true
faith as opposed to false faith works by love. False faith's
motivated by gain, by gain. Again, love covers a multitude
of sin. It doesn't expose it, but it covers it. And it loves
those who love and believe the truth. We've seen that emphasized
in all three of these. We see it emphasized in this
epistle too. We've seen it emphasized in the first and second epistles
of John. Now this beloved brother of Gaius is very dear to John. And look what he pens here in
verse one. He pens this letter by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God to Gaius, to Gaius, to Gaius. Look at this. The elder unto the well-beloved
Gaius. whom I love in the truth." We see that John writes to Gaius,
again calling himself the elder, just as he did when he wrote
to the elect lady. And we know that this is a reference
both to his age and to his office. To his age and to his office. His office in the church is to
live in God. He's one of the last of the apostles. And he addresses Gaius as well-beloved. Look at that. Well-beloved. The elder unto the well-beloved
Gaius. This is the same Greek word for
beloved. See, in verse 2 it says beloved.
He's writing to Gaius. He's calling Gaius beloved. It's
the same Greek word, though, that's used for well-beloved.
And four times in this short epistle, four times the Apostle
John calls Gaius beloved. Beloved. Look at this. Look at
verse one there. The elder unto the well-beloved
Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Look at verse two. Beloved, same
Greek word. I wish above all things that
thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospers.
Again, he's writing to Gaius, verse five, writing to him again.
Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the
brethren and to strangers. Same Greek word. Verse 11, same
Greek word. Beloved, fall not that which
is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God,
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Four times he calls him, in this
short epistle, beloved. And this title distinguishes
him as a brother in Christ and a fellow laborer in the gospel.
And we see that he continues to declare that he loves Gaius
in the truth. In the truth. And he loves him,
he's saying he loves him truly. I truly love you. In Christ. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
1. Romans chapter 1. Look at this. I want us to look
at this. Now when John calls Gaius well
beloved, and the one whom I love in the truth, This is the same
as he said to the elect lady. The same as he said to the elect
lady when he said that he loved her for the truth's sake. He's
saying the same thing to her. He loves her in the Lord. And
this is a sincere love. This is a love God shed abroad
in his heart. We see here in our text that
we are again reminded by the Holy Spirit of God, because remember,
that's who is the true author of this epistle. In these three
epistles we were reminded by the Holy Spirit of God, we've
been studying that the love we have for the brethren resides
in the truth. Who is the truth? The Lord Jesus
Christ. And it's shared among those who
believe, those who have been given like precious faith. Those who have been given like
precious faith. passed from death to life. And. And we know that we've passed
from death to life. Because we love the brethren. You guys know, did we love the
brethren before the Lord saved us? Not at all. Didn't even have Any desire to
be around any believer or anyone who even professed Christ. Didn't
even want to be around them. Do you know though, John writes
here and he says he's well beloved. That Gaius is well beloved. Do
you know who Gaius was well beloved of though? Do you know who he was loved
of? Look at this in Romans chapter 1. He was beloved of the Lord. He was beloved of the Lord. The
Lord loved him. The Lord has loved him from eternity. When Christ loves someone, he
loves them from eternity to eternity. Look what it says over here.
Look at this in Romans 1. This is magnificent. Romans 1,
verse 7. Paul's writing to born-again
believers. He says this. To all that be
in Rome, beloved of God. Beloved of God. To all that be
in Rome, divinely loved ones. Doesn't get any sweeter than
that, does it? Beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at that. To all that be in Rome, that's
not all the people in Rome. No, that's to the church that's
in Rome. Paul's writing to the born-again
believers, just like John wrote to the born-again believers,
and just like John's now tonight writing to one born-again believer.
Look at this, though. To all that be in Rome, all the
people of God, beloved of God, from when? From eternity. Divinely,
I love that one, divinely loved ones. Divinely loved ones. Called to be saints. Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. My! The same Greek word that's used
in verse 7 here in Romans chapter 1 is the same Greek word that's
used in what we just read in 2 John 1 Second John verse 1 2 & 5 & 11
same Greek word The saints of God are called
beloved of God Beloved of God Divinely loved gaze John is writing to him to He who is called the Divinely
Loved One. And all of God's people are called
Beloved of God. The ones who are dear to God. Think of that. You have been
dear to God from eternity. It's almost too much for my mind
to handle. I can't grasp that. Not fully. I believe it though, because
that's what the scriptures declare. But oh my. Oh my. Let that term sink in for you
who are the child of God. Divinely loved one. Paul was writing to people, and
there in Romans chapter 1, he was writing to people who God
loves, called the beloved of God. The ones who are dear to
God. And I was thinking about this
this afternoon. This could be called, this could
be said of all of God's people. To the beloved of God in Almonte,
Michigan. called to be sinners to the divinely loved ones in
Elmont, Michigan. My, my oh my. So we see then that not only
was Gaius beloved of the Lord, but he was loved by the apostle
and loved by the brethren. Everyone who knew him loved him.
He was a man of great faith, integrity, and generosity. And
we should not only strive, beloved God, to believe in the grace
of God, but we ought to strive to be gracious. To be gracious. Not only strive to be sound in
doctrine, but to strive to be a loving and lovable person in
Christ. Oh, isn't this wonderful? Isn't
it wonderful to contemplate the divine love of God for His people? The divine love of God which
is set upon His people for eternity. And what should it cause us to
do? It really should cause us to
be more loving. You know, in religion they strive to be, well,
I've got to work this, I've got to be more loving. The believer
just reads the scripture and we just melt. Oh, my. Oh. Melt my stony heart, give
me a love for your people. Oh. Oh, my. And he does and he gives
his people a love for his people. Let's read verse two now. Beloved,
divinely loved one, again he's writing to Gaius, I wish above
all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy
soul prospereth. Now we see the word wish there
in verse two, in the Greek it's pray, it's pray. He's saying
beloved I pray above all things that thou mayest prosper and
be in health even as thy soul prospereth. It's pray in the
Greek. Again, he's not wishing that
this was so. He's praying that God would make it so. Also notice
how John's prayer for his dear brother is centered singular.
A centered singular prayer for the welfare of this beloved brother. It's a centered singular prayer
for the welfare of his dear brother. And we see here in this text
that John prays for the welfare of his dear brother. This is
true of all believers. We pray for one another. We pray
for one another. We lift one another up to the
Lord. We pray that they would prosper in their growth and grace. Now this text, beloved, has been
misused by false health, wealth, prosperity teachers. They take
these verses like this and they run with them. They twist the
scripture, beloved, as they do all the time to support their
false damning doctrines. That's what their doctrine does.
It damns. That's exactly what it does.
And note through their error how the scriptures can become
a snare to those whose emphasis is on things other than Christ. That's what they do. Their emphasis
is on health and wealth rather than on Christ, because they
don't know Christ. They don't know him. John is certainly not putting
success in temporal affairs in the business of life or good
health above all things. He's not doing that. But this
is what the false teachers do of the health, wealth, prosperity
gospel. Or even a social gospel. They try to imply that this text
means something that it doesn't. They proclaim that if your soul
prospers, then you will have health and wealth. You know, some of the dearest
saints I've met had nothing. Mine were very little. And they proclaim, this is what
the false health wealth people do, they proclaim that if your
soul prospers, you'll have health and wealth, and they trap and
they ensnare men and women and they make merchandise of their
souls, beloved. They inflict guilt, suggesting
that if you're in ill health and if your coffers are not stuffed
with cash, it's because your soul's not flourishing, you must
have some secret sin in your life. I've heard these folks say this
stuff. It's awful. It's awful. They say that if that wasn't
the case, then you'd be prosperous and healthy. And that the way you become prosperous
and healthy is to send them money. That's the way you become poor,
financially, is to send those hucksters money. Because that's
all they are, is religious hucksters. That's all they're doing, making
merchandise out of me. They're bandit false preachers,
beloved. That's what they are. Oh, my. No, here John is praying
that the soul of Gaius or Gaius would prosper, that he would
that he would grow in grace, beloved. And John's prayer for Gaius was
that What we pray for others whose soul prosper in grace.
We pray that life would be sweet for them because we love them
and love is about the welfare of the loved one always. It doesn't center upon itself.
It centers upon the one who's loved. And the prosperous soul is the
soul whose sins are forgiven, beloved. Your sins are forgiven in Christ.
You have a prosperous soul, beloved. You are rich in grace. You are
rich in grace. The prosperous soul is one who
has a right standing before Christ, clothed in the perfect, spotless
righteousness of Christ. Oh, my. And being in Christ is
no way a guarantee of natural or temporal health or wealth.
No. Some the Lord blesses with more
than others. Some the Lord blesses with better
health than others. But we all have the same reward,
beloved. Christ. Christ is our reward. So John is praying that Gaius
would grow in the grace and knowledge and truth of Christ. Now, in light of this truth,
listen to what Paul pens over and turn, if you would, actually,
Philippians chapter 4. Turn, if you would, to Philippians
chapter 4. Look at this. Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Look what Paul writes over here
in verses 11 to 13. And then we'll look at verse
19, 11 to 13. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I've learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Now remember, Paul as a Pharisee
was a very wealthy man. Very, very wealthy man. He had
prestige, he had honor, and he lost all that. When the Lord
saved him, he lost that wealth. But, it says here that he knows
how both to, look at verse 12, I know how to be abased and I
know how to abound. He knows how to live in poverty,
he knows how to live in riches. Everywhere and in all things
I am instructed to be both full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me. He found true contentment in
Christ, no matter what his stature was in life. And that's what the believer
finds. Whatever state the Lord has us in. We are content. We are content. And then look
at verse 19. And this these now notice what's
written here. It's not God shall supply all
your wants. Because oftentimes the scripture
tells us we ask a miss. We ask a miss. We ask according
to our own flesh. But look what it says, God shall
supply all my needs, right? But my God, my God, it's personal
to Paul, it's personal the way he believed, my God, my God,
he's mine, he saved me, he's my God, he's my savior. My God
shall supply all your need, not wants, but need, all you need,
according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Again, you heard
me say this many times, all that a sinner needs is found in Christ. God supplied all our needs, didn't
He? He supplies our needs here, not
always our wants, but He supplies our needs. Exactly what we need. And He's never failed us, has
He? He's never failed His people. Never. Job had a prosperous soul. He was born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, and he trusted God. He had riches and poverty,
health and sickness, didn't he? And you know who Job's counselors
sound like? They sound a lot like those health, wealth, prosperity
guys. You must have some secret sin in your life, Job. All the
time, God was just putting him through it. And sustaining him. And sustaining him. Isn't that
amazing? That's absolutely incredible. Sustaining them. Let's look at verses 3 and 4
in this wonderful little epistle. Again, John's writing to Gaius.
For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of
the truth that is in thee. Even as thou walkest in the truth,
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in
truth. We see here again in verse 3 and 4 that John rejoices for
the truth's sake. For the truth's sake. As I mentioned
earlier, Gaius was evidently converted under the gospel preaching
of John because he refers to him in verse 4 there as one of
his children. In truth. One of his children. Look at that. I have no greater
joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. He speaks like Paul did of Timothy and of Titus, who both were his
spiritual children, born under his ministry and through the
preaching of Christ and him crucified. 1 Peter says this, being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, born again
by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible. power of God by the Word of God
which liveth and abideth forever through the preaching of the
gospel for all flesh is as grass and the glory of man is a flower
of grass the grass wither and the flower thereof fadeth away
and beautiful flowers that came up in the spring in the summer
for us they're all fading away here yesterday gone today But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. It doesn't change and it endures,
beloved. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you every week. Four times a week
here. And it is evident that Gaius
sincerely embraced the truth as it was proclaimed to him.
And he did this, of course, by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God. The word came to him not in word only, but in the
power of the Holy Spirit of God. With much power and much assurance. And he was granted faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And he declared it. We see he
spread the truth. We see that in verse 3. When
the brethren came to John at Ephesus, they testified of this.
It says, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that
is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. We can see here
in verse 4 that the fact that the truth was not only in Gaius,
which is always the case, as Brother Scott Richardson used
to say, when a person is saved, it will leak out. Let me tell
you about Christ. Let me tell you about the one
who died for me on Calvary's cross. Let me tell you about
the one who shed his blood to cleanse me from all my sin. Oh,
let me tell you about him. May God give you faith to believe
on him, too. Oh, my. My. Well, let me tell you about
the one who was wounded for my transgressions, who was bruised
for my iniquities. Chastisement of my peace was
upon him. Let me tell you about the one
who was raised for my justification. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what Gaius proclaimed. He proclaimed, he believed, he
trusted in Christ. And our dear brother John's heart
was full of joy when he heard this. Other brethren had related
to John the truth that was in Gaius. And that could not have
been no one save that Gaius declared it. He declared it. He loved
the truth. He loved Christ. And we see he
walked in it. He's one who abided in the doctrine
of Christ, which we read about and we studied about in 2 John. And take note, too, that this
was not Gaius' report of himself. Guess didn't report this of himself. He didn't say, well I'm walking
in the truth, look what I'm doing, look at all these things I'm
doing, did he? When I was in religion, that
was done all the time, I did it myself too, to my shame. But
he didn't do that. Others gave a report of him.
Look at him walking in the truth. That's why it brings preachers
great joy when we see those who we preach to walking in the truth.
It fills our hearts with joy. It does. So John had got word of Gaius'
report of him walking in the truth, but he didn't report it
himself. No, it was reported to him by those who were around
him week by week. or those who visited him in his
house and stayed with him. These things were reported. Those who were with him day by
day. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
18. I want us to look at this. In light of the doctrine of Christ,
which is what we proclaim, that salvation is only in Christ and
Him alone. Turn if you would to John 18. John 18. Our Lord was asked. Our Lord
was asked what his doctrine was. And he proclaimed, ask them that
hear me. That's what he said. Look at
our Lord's words here in John 18 verses 19 to 21. Look at this. This is wonderful. John 18 verses
19 to 21 the high priest then asked
Jesus of his disciples and of his doctor. What's your doctor? Here's the master's reply to
them Jesus answered I spake openly to the world He spoke openly
didn't he didn't preach in hiding He spoke openly They knew what
he was saying He says, I spoke openly to the
world. I ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple, whether the Jews always resort, and in secret
have I said nothing. He didn't hold nothing back.
He didn't give everybody an understanding of the things that he said, eh? We know that those who are his
people, we receive an understanding. What he says because before the
Lord saved us we didn't have an understanding But now what do we do now we
testify right of his doctrine of who he is Look at this. He says why askest thou me verse
not 21 Ask them which heard me Oh What I have said unto them, behold,
they know what I said. Oh my goodness. By the grace of God, they know
what he said, beloved. By the grace of God, we know
what he said. We know what he said, beloved.
And it'll leak out of us. We can't keep quiet about it.
We don't want to. Oh my. It's wonderful. So John, our
dear brother John, his heart was rejoicing. His heart was
rejoicing. It's full of joy when he heard
the testimony of Gaius from those who had fellowship with him.
Now let's read verses 4 to 8, 2 John, where we see a testimony
to the heart of one who has been saved by grace. His name is Gaius. He's been saved by the grace
of God in Christ. He's experienced the forgiveness
of all his sins in and through Christ Jesus alone. And look
what's written of him in verses 48. I have no greater joy than
to hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, divinely loved
one, again, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the
brethren and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity
before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey
after a good godly sort, thou shalt do well, because that for
his namesake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles,
We therefore ought to receive such that we might be fellow
helpers to the truth. Now these men testified of Gaius. They were not jealous of how
Gaius walked. No, they weren't jealous of how
he walked. Actually, they weren't jealous
of how he walked in the truth. No, they were filled with joy,
just like Joan was. just like John was. Oh my, full of joy that they
walked in the truth. And again, this is true of every
gospel preacher, to those we preach to, to those who we know
are born again by the Spirit, who walk in the truth. It fills
us with joy. It fills us with joy to see that. And John rejoiced whenever he
found someone walking in the truth, as Gaius did. And it troubles believers. It
hurts. And we weep when we see professing believers not walking
in the truth of the grace of God. It hurts. It hurts. And we rejoice, as John did,
when we see them walking in the truth, in the grace of God. And
we see here in these verses a testimony of Gaius walking in the truth.
Walking in the truth. Whatever Gaius has done, Or does? He's been faithful. He's been
faithful. And we know that what he has
done, what has been testified of what he's done, he's done
it in faith. In faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because what? Faith works by what? Love. Love. And again, this is in reference
to a way of life. And note that Gaius is known
for his faithfulness. He's known for his faithfulness.
And this is revealed in verse five in a very specific way.
Look, to the brethren and to strangers. To the brethren and
to strangers. This may be applied generally
as the love and hospitality exercised by those who are in Christ, but
we see in our text that it's more specific to those brethren.
Brother Tim James brings out Jewish believers, preachers,
and strangers, Gentile believers and preachers. He showed, he
showed, Gaius showed love by showing, by taking in, opening
his house in hospitality to preachers who were going around preaching
the gospel and having them stay in his house. My! He had a general love for God's
people and for hospitality to God's people. And we see in verse
6 that those who have brought word to John, they've testified
of gayest love for the brethren. They've experienced it. Look
at verse 6 here. Which hath borne witness of thy
charity, of thy love, before the church, whom if thou whom,
if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou
shalt do well." They've borne witness that Gaius has shown
them great charity, which is love, great hospitality, support,
and comfort. As they have sojourned to various places to preach the
gospel, where they were called to go to, when they stopped Where
Gaius was, they were always treated well. They were always treated
well. And we see then that by the grace
of God, and we know, we know that it's only by the grace of
God, right? The only way one can be like
this is by the grace of God. Loving the brethren, loving the
truth. My goodness. But he had opened his home up
to the needs of the brethren and friends, and he'd opened
his heart and his home to strangers, people he didn't even know. These
traveling preachers were strangers to Gaius before they came to
his town. And they testified to John at
the church of Ephesus of his love, of his love, of his friendship,
and of his care for them. And they were greatly moved by
his spirit of grace. And they could not refrain from
praising the grace of God in him. And he did this faithfully. He
didn't do it in a hypocritical or pretentious way. He didn't
do it to be seen of man. He didn't do it to be seen of
man. He didn't do it to gain applause or to gain notoriety. He didn't do it for those purposes,
beloved. He served from the principle of love. And that love is the
love of God which has been shed abroad in his heart. He's a new
creature in Christ. He's not the same as he used
to be. And the only one who's made him to differ, the only
one who's translated him from the power of darkness to the
kingdom of the dear son, is our great God. And that can be said for every
single child of God. The only reason we love the truth,
the only reason we love the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only
reason we love the brethren, is because of the work that God's
done in us. It leaves no room for us to boast,
beloved. No room for us to boast, but
to boast in Christ. But to boast in Christ. Because
Gaius, again, is a new creature, as I said, just like we're new
creatures in Christ, we who are his people. Gaius is being born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, just like every born, blood-bought
child of God, born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Gaius is
resting and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, just like every
child of God. Gaius loves the truth. He loves
the preaching of Christ in him crucified, of the only one, the
only savior of sinners. He loves that. Just like every
born again, blood bought child of God. Yes, loves the brethren. In Christ. Just like every believer in Christ.
Just like everyone. All his sins are washed away. All his sins are washed away
by the precious blood of Christ. And so he wants to tell others
about it. He wants to tell others about what he's done. He testifies
of Christ's greatness, beloved, just like we do. When we talk
to people, we testify of the greatness of our God, don't we?
We testify the only one who can save sinners in his name is the
Lord Jesus Christ. We testify of him dying on Calvary's
cross and fully paying our sin debt. The sinless one, dying
for sinners. The just one, dying for the unjust. That's Him. His name is the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is a man, Gaius is a man
who's been changed by the grace of God in Christ. And you know
what? His life proves it to be so. His life proves it to be
so. The Holy Spirit has by His almighty
power shown forth the fruit of the Spirit in Gaius' life. And it's only by the work of
the Holy Spirit of God. May God give us grace to be one
who loves the brethren and is lovable as I mentioned earlier.
May God give us that grace too. Now note in verse 7 that those
who had stayed with Gaius to ask nothing of the Gentiles,
to whom they preached the gospel. And they suffered, they did not
suffer, because Gaius had helped them, having them in his home
and sending them away with ample means to aid them, so that they
had no need to ask the Gentiles for anything. So not only did
he receive them in his house, but he sent them away full. Sent
him away full so that they need not ask for anything from the
Gentiles Sent them forth with ample means
to aid them and protect them in their journey. Oh my You know our Lord Gives us ample
need for our journey doesn't he My God, so supply all your need
according to his riches in Christ Jesus. Our God supplies all we
need in Christ. All we hear nothing we don't
need. Nothing that we don't need that hasn't been fulfilled in
Christ for the believer. We have a lot of needs, but they're
all fulfilled in Christ. They're all fulfilled in Christ.
Look at verse seven and eight, because that for his name's sake,
they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles. We, therefore,
ought to receive such that they that we might be fellow helpers
to the truth. All believers ought to do the
same because all believers are in this together. We are here
for the furtherance of the gospel. to proclaim Christ and Him crucified.
That's what this church exists for, is for the spreading of
the Gospel in a place where God's people can meet and we can rejoice
in the truth. We can rejoice in the truth.
And it is a great privilege to preach the Gospel. I can't tell
you how much of a privilege it is to preach the Gospel. But
it's an equal privilege and a blessing to provide for those who preach. And for in doing so, We also
minister the gospel. So let us close with that truth,
with this truth. The truth in love is the life
of the brethren. Christ is our life. And His love
is shed abroad in our hearts, beloved. He is the truth. He is the object of the love
of God shed abroad in our hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ. Glory
to His name. Heavenly Father, again we thank
you for allowing us to get together, to be able to gather together
tonight to look into thy word. And oh, what a blessed little
letter that our dear brother John has wrote to our dear brother
Gaius. What a wonderful, wonderful little
letter. And oh Lord, there's so much, so much in thy word
for us to profit by. Lord, we pray that we would take
the things that we heard today, tonight. Oh Lord, that they'd
minister to our hearts this week. And we'll give you all the glory
and honor and praise. And oh Lord, may you take us
home safe and bring us back on Sunday to worship and adore you
who are our great savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in your
name we pray, amen.