So let's begin our reading now. We're in the third epistle of
John and verse one. Third John, verse one. 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
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 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
Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth
us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will
remember his deeds, which he doeth. Pratting against us with
malicious words, and not content therewith, neither doth he himself
receive the brethren, and forbiddeth 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. Our friends salute thee. Greet
the friends by name. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
that reading from his word. Well, it is good to see a number
of you back again. My apologies for that little
glitch there. And I think we're back and we're
running again. So we will begin our thoughts
on this little passage, 3rd John, and the reading that we have
just made. This little epistle that we have
before us today is primarily a personal letter and that to
a private individual. a friend, no doubt, and perhaps
a convert of the Apostle John. I draw that from the fact that
he speaks of my children in verse four, and he is perhaps referring
to the fact that he is a child of the Lord, having been born
again under the preaching of the Apostle John. And it's impossible
to read this little epistle without being struck by the respect and
the affection that John fuels towards this individual, this
man called Gaius. He calls him beloved four times
in these few verses that we have before us. John writes to this
man that he is a man whom I love in the truth, which was also
a phrase that he used in his second epistle, the letter that
was written to the elect lady, that he loves them in the truth. And this is Christian love. This
is the love which is part of that bond of affection and fellowship
that the Lord's people feel one to another because of the love
of the Lord Jesus Christ to us. It's Christian love born of a
mutual spiritual union that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. A love for those who are loved
of God, who are loved by the Lord Jesus Christ, who are loved
by the brethren, by the church, and love for their works of kindness,
for their works' sake. Christian love, the one for the
other in this union that we have with Christ, is a spiritual gift. It's a Holy Spirit gift, a fruit
of the Spirit, and it flows to those who possess the common
salvation of believers who have the grace of God and the love
of God dwelling in them. We know nothing of this man,
Gaius, other than what is here recorded. That is not to say
that there are not other Gaiuses in the Bible. Indeed, there are.
It's a fairly common name. But it does not appear likely
that any of the other people who are called Gaius, even one
who by the Apostle Paul is regarded as a man of much hospitality,
is this Gaius to whom John is writing. The timings don't seem,
and indeed perhaps even the locality, don't seem to fit well together. But this Gaius seems to be a
man of means. a man who is able and willing
and active in supplying gospel ministers and preachers with
hospitality as they go out to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He is a man who gives practical
help in travelling and in ministry and he is a man whom John is
commending for his generosity in this way. What is recorded
here in this little epistle? Remember, as what we said, it's
a personal letter to this private individual. But what is recorded
here show some features of Gaius's character, which we all might
find helpful to know about. And we must be grateful that
John was inspired to write this letter, and grateful to the Holy
Spirit for including it in Scripture and preserving it for us, that
we might learn something of this man whom John writes to. So may
the following thoughts speak to all of our hearts today and
may they challenge us and encourage us in our own Christian walk
and experience. The first thing that I want us
to notice is that Gaius had a prosperous soul. We read about that in verse
2. And I've drawn this to your attention
already. He had a prosperous soul. Now this might sound a little
peculiar. It's not a phrase that we might
use or indeed hear very often. What is a prosperous soul? Can I apply that to myself? Is
my soul prosperous? Is yours? Are our souls prospering
today? Prosperous means successful and
healthy. And what we are referring to
when we speak of soul prosperity is a healthy soul and a successful
soul. The success and health of our
soul, the prosperity of our soul has to do with its condition. and it has to do with a gospel
knowledge of our sins forgiven and of peace with God through
the forgiveness of sins. If our sins are forgiven, if
our sick soul If our sinful soul has been forgiven of its sinfulness,
then it is a soul that is healthy as opposed to being a soul that
is sick and a soul that is dead. When we think about the gospel
truths, when we think about the doctrines of the Word of God
which he has revealed to us, we are taught there about the
sin that is in our soul and we're taught something of the nature
of our soul. But we are also taught by the
Gospel and by knowledge of the Gospel that the Lord God has
a people that he is pleased to bless, that he has chosen to
bless, that he comes to with grace. and he applies that grace
in the forgiveness of their sins. So while we are sinners by nature,
God is gracious and good to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And we learn from the Word of
God that the means by which that cleansing takes place is by the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. That the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, lived a life in this world that was perfect
and pure and holy, and yet at the end of that life bore the
sins of his people before The Lord God died for those sins,
carried the punishment for those sins, and by his shed blood cleansed
those sins. And we learn that God the Holy
Spirit takes the benefits and the blessings of Christ's substitutionary
death and applies it to those whom God loves and those whom
he chooses to bless by the sacrifice of his Son. So that God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit engage together in this
great covenant of salvation, covenant of peace and purpose
to the blessing of sinners like you and like me. And that we
will possess everlasting life because of the goodness and grace
of God towards us. Now this is gospel knowledge.
This is what the Word of God proclaims. This is what the gospel
teaches. And soul prosperity is knowing
gospel truth and having it applied by God the Holy Spirit to our
personal experience, to our souls. You see, when we think about
gospel doctrine, sometimes that can be a little bit intimidating
and we think about large, dusty tomes on a shelf that speak with
big words about theology and the systems of theologians of
past years, but that's not what doctrine is about. Doctrine is
simply the teaching about God. And it's more than a teaching
even, it's about a relationship that we have with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ, by the work of God, the Holy Spirit. Indeed it is enjoying God. There is a little phrase which
sometimes children used to be taught and perhaps they should
be even yet, that the chief end of man is to glorify God and
to enjoy him forever. And this is what we are talking
when we are talking about soul prosperity. It is an enjoyment
of God. It is a healthy, successful and
spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ so that we
are content in heart and mind in this life that God has granted
us forgiveness of sins and peace with him. This Soul prosperity
transcends physical and worldly prosperity. Indeed, those two
things, physical and worldly prosperity, the riches that we
amass and gain for ourselves in this world, may even be detrimental
to our soul prosperity. There's much warning in Scripture
about the love of money being the source of evil. But this
soul prosperity speaks of spiritual desire, spiritual appetite for
the gospel of Jesus Christ. It speaks about feeding on Christ,
being nourished by Christ, growing and developing in our soul and
in our spirit. and knowing something of the
joy of salvation, and the evidences of that relationship that we
have with God in the fruitfulness of our lives, in the witness
that we make, in the testimony that we bear, and in our service
of good works towards God. It's exercising faith and hope
and love in our lives. And sometimes that comes by trial. Sometimes that comes by hardship. So the point that I'm making
is that we are not to equate soul prosperity with ease of
life. Because sometimes our souls benefit
most when we are tried and tested and we have to endure hardship
for the sake of Christ and for the cause of gospel truth. It is such means that God uses
to grow our individual experience of grace and enable us in the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as our saviour. Now apparently,
Gaius' soul was doing very well. It was prospering, as I trust
indeed your soul is and mine also. So much so that John says,
I hope that your business affairs and I hope that your employment
and I hope that your physical health and well-being are doing
as well as your soul seems to be doing. And I think there's
something very practical in John's approach to this matter. He is
desiring peace and prosperity in worldly affairs commensurate
with the peace and prosperity that he has in spiritual matters. And that teaches us that there
is nothing wrong in us wishing well for one another in the affairs
of this world. Yes, we are pilgrims, but pilgrims
have needs and wants as well. John's greeting here to Gaius
shows that we have good authority for wishing well for one another
in health and in business and in relationships and in our life
here upon earth. Now it is true that trials in
this world often manifest themselves in assaults on our physical and
economic well-being. Sometimes we fuel those trials
because the things that we value, the things that we possess, the
things that we lean upon and depend upon for our earthly life
are taken away from us. And we construe that as being
a challenge and a trial and a time of testing. might be our liberty
is removed, it might be our health is touched, it might be that
those that we love are taken from us. And so it is encouraging
to see that John has liberty to desire above all things health
and happiness for needy brothers and sisters in Christ. even if they don't always seem
to be experiencing those things. Now let me be clear, I am not
advocating what is sometimes called prosperity gospel. That is a widespread teaching
which says that we've got to give to get, that if we give
to God we get from God and that the more that you give the more
that you'll get. That teaching plays to the very
worst kind of greed and exploitation and John and Gaius cannot be
held forth as representative of the thieves and the liars
that today ply their naive congregations for money to be sent to them
to buy big houses and fancy cars and even jets and aeroplanes.
Paul distinguishes between the good gifts of God's grace towards
his people and covetousness when he writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy
chapter 6. And if you just want to take
a little note of 1 Timothy chapter 6, it's a fine passage to read
in the context of what we have to say today. But mistaking that
prosperity is the means by which men have pierced themselves through
with many sorrows, says Paul in that passage. We don't envy
or begrudge the Lord's people doing well. They are our family
in the faith. And just as we long for our own
families to prosper in this world's goods, so we long for our brothers
and sisters in Christ also to prosper. And especially that
is the case when, as in Gaius' situation, it provides the means
for helping and supporting the Lord's people, our brothers and
sisters in Christ, and the furtherance of the gospel. We remember, as Paul tells us,
not to trust in uncertain riches, which are the riches of this
world, but in the living God. But John's statement nevertheless
is helpful and it allows us to remember that soul prosperity
is to be the measure of all other blessings. If our souls prosper
in the things of the Lord, then we shall prosper in all other
aspects. And if our soul starves, then
every earthly measure of prosperity will be no more than a temptation
and a snare to us. And all of these things are beautifully
summarised in the words of the master, when he says to his disciples,
how hard it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God. But seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you. The next thing that we discover
about this man Gaius is that he was a fellow helper to the
truth. So he was a man of prosperity
of soul and he was a fellow helper to the truth. What is a fellow
helper? Well, my Australian friends would
tell me that a fellow helper is someone who helps a fellow. And that's pretty much it. Here
we are told that he helps the truth. Gaius, as far as we can
tell, was not a preacher. He was not a pastor. He was not
an evangelist. He was not a missionary. But
he was an enabler and he was a facilitator. He was a helper
of the truth because he used his resources. He used the good
gifts that God had given him. to enable and further the truth
of the gospel by helping those who were in need and specifically
by helping those gospel preachers who went out carrying the gospel
truth to the Gentiles and who would not take from the Gentiles. There are those whom the Lord
equips and sends out with the gospel, to preach and to teach
those who go forth for his name's sake, in order to lift up the
Lord Jesus Christ and glorify his name, declare his name, as
it were, to those who have not heard it and those who have still
to hear it. In the name of the Lord, in the
name of Jesus Christ, is how we are to preach the gospel. And these men went out resolving
to take nothing of the Gentiles, but that the Lord himself might
uphold them with his hand. How did the Lord do that? by
giving gifts to men and women like Gaius and laying upon their
heart the need for the upholding and maintaining of gospel preachers
and those who carried the word of truth to their generation. You see, the Lord supplies ways
and means. He supplies the man and he supplies
the method. He supplies the fellow and he
supplies the fellow helper. God will not leave himself without
a witness. And it is our privilege to be
fellow helpers to the truth. It is a privilege to support
the Gospel, and supporting the Gospel is not a sacrifice, but
an expression of gratitude. Being a fellow helper to the
truth is not a hardship, but a vehicle for our worship. We're not giving in the first
instance to the preacher, but to the Lord. After all, what
good thing have we that we have not received at his hand? And we are merely giving back
to the Lord a proportion of the good that he has given to us. The Lord doesn't need the wealth
of the Gentiles, but he graciously receives the free will offerings
of his people. and Gaius was a fellow helper
to the truth by giving freely of his substance for the promotion
of the gospel and the help and support of those who went forth
declaring the word of God. The third thing that we learn
from this little epistle and I want to draw your attention
to today is concerning this man Deutrophes and another called
Demetrius. These two men are set before
us by John in this letter in stark contrast the one to the
other. Both of them claim to be Christians,
but the name of the first, Deutrophis, is shrouded in shame. for as
long as the word of God will be amongst men, as one who resisted
John and who resisted the gospel, who prohibited others from showing
hospitality and even excommunicated them if they did. Prating is an interesting word. It means speaking nonsense. And those who speak against the
gospel speak nonsense. Those who speak against gospel
preachers don't know what they're talking about. Those who speak
against the Lord Jesus Christ will be exposed for their foolishness. I'm always intrigued when I see
these I don't know, professors or academics or celebrities,
speaking about religion as if they knew, as if they had some
wisdom and insight. Don't they know that the foolishness
of God is wiser than the wisdom of men? Men prat. They prattle on as if they know
something about the gospel. And so Diotrephes pratted against
John and against the gospel witness. He was bad-mouthing the disciple
whom Jesus loved. I fear that Diotrephes' soul
was not prospering, and I wonder where it is today. But Demetrius was a man of a
different mould. He may have been a church member
with Gaius or he may have been the bearer of this letter. Again, there are many Demetriuses
in scripture, and it is just, I suppose, possible that this
is the same Demetrius that we've met before, but I don't know. It's more likely that he was
just someone whom John was aware of, and Gaius now was aware of
him too. Whatever it may be, His memory
is sweet to the church and his testimony is honourable. Both to John and to the Lord,
the testimony of Demetrius is a testimony that was worthy of
note. John says, all who love the truth
must speak highly of such a man. Now let us remember that our
gospel is not a gospel of works or merit or indeed reputation. But God the Holy Spirit changes
people. And when he changes, when he
converts, he places in the hearts of men and women a desire to
honour the Lord. And he who gives Christ preeminence
in his life cannot seek preeminence for himself, does not seek preeminence
for himself, as Diotrephus indeed did. Diotrephus sought preeminence
and he found disgrace. Demetrius served wherever he
could. and he found honour with God
and with men. How should we live? The things
that John has said here to Gaius about prosperity of soul, about
being a fellow helper to the truth, in the contrasting comparisons
that are made by Deutrophis and Demetrius, how should we live? This little epistle by John is
perhaps the last thing that John wrote that has been recorded
in the Word of God. Yes, he wrote the Book of Revelation,
which comes after this book in the Bibles that we have. But these are probably the very
last words that John actually wrote, which we have recorded
in the Word of God. And John's closing thoughts in
this little letter are his closing words to us as the old apostle
comes near the end of his life. And they shall be our closing
words also. But look at the beautiful simplicity
of his pastoral advice. His words are simple and delightful. He says in verse 11, 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. Beloved, Beloved. He begins by addressing Gaius
as beloved. But it is all who are beloved
of God. Those loved of God, loved in
the Lord Jesus Christ are beloved indeed. We love him because he
first loved us and our love grows as our soul prospers under the
guidance of God the Holy Spirit, under the care of Christ and
the teaching of the word, the gospel. You see what John does
here? He doesn't... His last words
to the church is not to point them to Moses or to some Old
Testament structure of obedience and law. He doesn't turn us to... ways of structuring our lives
that we, he simply says, follow that which is good. Follow that
which is good. Let good men be your example. Follow Christ. Follow that which
is good is to follow Christ who went about doing good. Luke tells
us in Acts chapter 10 verse 38, John, the apostle here speaking,
had personally heard Christ's call many, many years ago when
he was a young man. The Lord Jesus Christ said to
him, follow me and I will make you a fisher of men. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest
for your soul. And John says, beloved, he says
to you and me, as he said to Gaius, he says to you and me,
follow that which is good. Do you remember what we've often
said together as we've been sharing together in this gospel that
we fellowship in? We have said often that God's
requirements are his provisions. God's requirements are his enablings. And when God tells us to follow
that which is good, he enables us to do that. He requires purity
in his people and he supplies cleansing blood to that end. He requires holiness and he supplies
his own perfect righteousness. He calls us to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ and he gives us enabling grace to do so and life,
new life, liberty to follow after him, not being controlled and
managed by that old man and by Satan. He gives us leadership
by which we may learn and follow after the footsteps of our Saviour. And He gives us a passion in
our heart to follow after the truth as it is in Jesus. What our God requires of us,
He supplies to us. And Gaius is a beautiful example
of this principle. He prospers our souls and He
calls us to follow after Him, which has become a pure delight
to the child of God. We delight to follow our Saviour
and we delight to serve Him and worship Him and honour Him in
all that we do. Beloved of God, May your soul
prosper. May your health and well-being
likewise prosper. May you walk in truth, serve
at his behest, follow after good, bear testimony always in word
and deed to the grace of God in Christ. And may you and I With the psalmist, in Psalm 115
verse 1, declare, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Amen.