Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 3rd John. 3rd John. I looked at the first four verses
of this book a month or so ago. And tonight I'd like to finish
the book. I'm going to make a few comments.
on the first four verses just for a reminder of what was said. Third John. The Holy Spirit moved upon the
Apostle John to write a letter to a brother in Christ. It was a brother that he dearly
loved, and the church loved him. His name was Gaius. It says in
verse 1, the elder, unto the well beloved Gaius, whom I love
in the truth. He loved him. He loved him in
Christ. And John bore his heart to his
brother, Gaius, expressing that which he truly longed and prayed
for concerning his dear friend. He said in verse 2, Beloved,
I wish, I pray above all things that thou mayest prosper and
be in health even as thy soul prospers. As a dear friend, John wanted
the best for him. We prayed for him knowing that
health was a precious thing. Now we know that the great physician,
the Lord of glory, is the one who does as he will, with whom
he will, when he will, and we pray for him. We pray for one
another. I pray that God give us health. physical health according to
His will. I've heard people say it's never
the Lord's will that anyone be sick. Now that, you know that's
not so. Almighty God does as He will. And even as Paul, I
don't know what Paul's affliction was. Thorn in the flesh. I don't know. Nobody knows what
it was. The Spirit of God didn't say what it was. But He asked
the Lord, thrice He said, to remove it. The Lord said this,
my grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient. I told
you, I know I've told you this, but I'll remind you, I remember
Todd Nyberg telling me, when he was going through the treatments
for cancer, he told me, he said, Marvin, that was the absolute
closest that I ever truly felt to the Lord during that time. And he said there was something
about that period. You know what he's talking about.
You that have suffered some physical ailments, you know what it is.
The Lord knows how to get our attention. John wrote to Gaius
and he said, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper
and be in health, even as thy soul prospers. He said, I want
you to be healthy according to God's will. Oh, but that your
soul would prosper. That you might be found growing
in grace, rejoicing in the truth as the Lord guides you and orders
your steps and teaches and directs for His glory and for our eternal
good. That the soul might prosper. That's what we desire for one
another. that our souls might be fed,
growing, learning, and God teach us. And then John rehearsed to
Gaius that which thrilled his heart. He said in verse 3, For
I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth
that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. It was reported to John from
some brethren that had come through. They were traveling through and
they stopped here at that church where Gaius was and they reported
to John what actually had happened, what was going on there, how
Gaius' love for the gospel And his faithfulness and adherence
to the steadfastness of the truth was just evident. What had happened,
the scripture says the truth was in him. He said, I rejoiced
greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that's
in thee. But how did they know that the
truth was in him? Even as thou walkest in the truth. You know, a head knowledge of
the gospel is not a hard thing to possess. I mean, you can listen
to it and you understand it. I've had people that have no
evidence whatsoever of being a believer. No interest in the
gospel at all. But they tell me things concerning
the gospel that makes perfect sense. And they know, they have
a good head knowledge of what's going on. But what happens is
when the gospel, when God truly gives a heart for the gospel,
it's evident in their walk, in their conversation, in their
manner of living. It's just going to come out on
you. Faith, James said, without works is dead faith. know the understanding, they
understand the gospel. Whenever that demoniac of the
Gadarenes, Lord willing, I'm going to try to preach on that
this Sunday. Whenever the Lord came to Gadara, and that man
that had a legion of demons in him, it said he ran up and worshipped
the Lord, and it was the demon that spoke. The demon spoke. That demon was
the one that moved that man in adoration. Every knee is going
to bow. Every tongue is going to confess. And that demon just
did exactly what God said every one of them is going to do. But
he didn't have a heart for Christ. No, he had an understanding.
I know who you are. You come to torment me before
my time. John said concerning his friend. I rejoiced greatly,
oh, when I heard what they had to say concerning your walk,
which proved that the gospel was truly in you. And then he says, I have, verse
4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk
in the truth. Nothing makes me happier. and thankful to the Lord of all
grace in this life than to hear of those that I was able to preach
to. And the Lord was pleased to bless
the message and call out of spiritual darkness and unbelief those that
he everlastingly loved. And they continue to evidence
that because they're still here. John said, nothing thrills me
more in this life than to see consistency in the gospel. John didn't find any comfort
in himself, thinking that he was something to be bragged upon. He wasn't looking for men's praise,
but he rejoiced in the Lord, giving him, as God's servant,
the blessing to be the means of the conversion of God's elect.
Then John, as a word of encouragement, commended the brethren concerning
their treatment of those preachers that had come their way. Actually,
what John did was tell them that they truly adorned the doctrine
that they believed. He said in verse 5 to 7, Beloved,
thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and
to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity or thy
love before the church, whom, if thou bring forward on their
journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well, because that for
his namesake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles."
Now, in that first verse I read there, verse 5, the word doest
is in there twice. Listen. Beloved, thou doest faithfully
whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers. Now,
those two words right there, they're the same in English,
but they're not the same in Greek. The first word, doest, beloved,
that thou doest means actually to execute. That means what you
think it means. To do something. To actually
execute a matter. to act upon. He said, what you
do to those brethren, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest. But that second word, doest,
actually it means a work. It means a labor. Something that
you performed a work, is what he said. He said, he was actually
saying that his hospitality to those strangers. Not strangers
so much that he didn't know them, but they weren't from that part
of the country. They weren't from that assembly coming through. He was saying to guys, your hospitality
and your expression of love to the brethren who were strangers
was truly a labor of love. I know it was. Because of the
fact of what I heard reported concerning you about the truth
that was in you, and that you walked in it. And what you did
was evident. You were kind to them, you were
generous to them, you ministered to their needs as His heart was
opened unto them. And this, He said, you did faithfully. That's what He said. Beloved,
thou doest faithfully, faithfully, as an evidence of the fruit of
God's Spirit. That's an evidence. That's a
fruit. That's the evidence of God's
Spirit. You did it faithfully. You didn't
do it that men pat you on the back, you know, and say, oh,
I tell you what, that guy, he is, oh, man. No, he said you
did it because God put a love in your heart for him. That's
what you did. And he said, what you did, that
was a That was a labor of love, a work of faith. He did it toward
them, but you also did it to the Lord. And much as you've
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you've
done it unto me. I mean, when we forget, it's easy for all
of us to forget. We're the body of Christ. There's one body. There's one
body. All these bodies, and we have
different congregations. Well, there's different people
in this congregation. But all the believers in this
congregation, we're one. We're one in heart. A man and
his wife, they're spoken of being one. They're together. They're
one in spirit, one in love. They're each other's. And that's
the way we are here. I mean, we're each other's. You're
brethren. Me and you, Mitch, we're right
here. We love each other. He said,
what you did, you did it faithfully. And then John declared that what
Gaius had done was a great witness to the grace of God that had
been wrought in God's people. Those strangers, the recipients
of the kindness of Gaius toward them, they just could not refrain
from praising the Lord. for His grace that was found
to be working in His people. Here's what they were doing.
They were doing what they were doing. The Scripture says in
verse 7, for His name's sake they went forth. They were doing
what they did because they wanted to. Every one of every believer
is here because he wants to be here. He comes, you say, I'm
coming here, I want to hear, I want to meet, I want to be
with God's people, that's what I want to be. I want to be with
the brethren, that's what I want to be. Sheep with sheep, you
know. I want to be where the gospel
is preached. I want to hear some truth. I want to hear, that's
what we just sang. Tell us of the Lord. Tell us of His sovereignty.
Tell me who I am. Tell me who He is. Tell me about
redemption. Tell me about predestination.
Tell me what God has to say about what He's done for me again.
He said, what you're doing, they're doing for the Lord's sake, for
the Lord's honor. Whether you eat, whether you
drink, whatever you do, help me to remember this. Lord, help
me do it to the glory of God. Lord, what would you have me
to do? That's what Saul of Tarsus asked the Lord. Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? Who are you? I'm Jesus that you're
persecuting. Lord, what would you have me
to do? Is that not the heart of a believer? What do you want
to do? I want to do whatever the Lord
wants me to do. That's what I want to do. I don't want to be disrespectful. There's enough disrespect in
everything that I do, but I don't want to. So Gaius' help was beneficial
to these believing strangers Because John says that for His
namesake, verse 7, they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles. Nothing of the Gentiles. Someone asked me one time, wanted
to know if I could come preach. And I said, yeah. They said,
how much do you charge? I said, I don't charge anything. I don't charge anything. I say
I'll just leave that up to you. You just, whatever you think
is best. You know. They didn't take anything from
the Gentiles because they didn't want the Gentiles to think that
they were in this as nothing more than a job. Just a way to
make a living. What do you do for a living?
Well, I'm a traveling evangelist. Well, that's just not the right
answer. It just, no. What do you do? I preach the
gospel of God's grace. Where? Wherever the Lord opens
the door. When? Whenever He opens the door. How
far will you go? As far as I can. They were doing
what they were doing because the Lord had given them a heart
to do it. And then John says in verse 8,
We therefore ought to receive such. These men that had come
through doing what they were doing. He said we ought to receive
such that we might be fellow helpers to the truth. John said we're bound. The love of Christ constrains
us. These fellows had come through
and they had given themselves to the ministry. They had forsaken
their former livelihoods, they had forsaken all the former pleasures
for Christ's sake, trusting the Lord for the next meal. And John was saying, he said,
we therefore ought to receive them. We need to support them. We need to welcome them and encourage
them because they are our brethren. Because the Lord sent them. The
Lord sent them. These guys, they didn't just
come on their own decisions. John said, let's be supportive
of the ministry to which we've all been called. We're all in
this together. Then the Spirit of God moved
upon the Apostle John to address a situation that was found within
that assembly that he needed to address. He said in verse
9, he said, I wrote unto the church. He's now telling Gaius, he said,
I did something previously. Other than this letter he had
already written. I wrote unto the church, but Diotrephes, who
loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. authority and direction. John
was an apostle that had been given apostolic direction and
commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. The Lord used apostles to raise
up these churches and to be helped. They didn't have these scriptures.
These scriptures were being written at this time. I mean when he
wrote that letter right there, it wasn't in a book like we have
right here. And so there was no New Testament. What the Lord did was He raised
up some men He called them, qualified them, taught them the gospel
personally, personally, and commissioned them. And He told them, He told
them, He said, which He's with all of us, but He personally
told them concerning what He told them to do. He said, Lord,
I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. I'll be with
you. Told them like He tells us, I'm not going to leave you.
I'm not going to forsake you. Well, John, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, wrote a letter. He wrote a letter to this church
and there was a man named Diotrephes and obviously the man who loved
the preeminence means he was lifted up with pride. He coveted
more authority than he had. He didn't have the authority.
given to him by God. He didn't have the authority
to do what he was doing. He desired to be looked upon
as a man of authority. He wanted the preeminence among
the people. And he didn't want to receive
those that John and some of the others had sent. Now listen,
he said he received us not. He didn't receive the authority,
he didn't receive the instruction, he didn't receive, you know,
in that next verse it will bring it out where he didn't receive
some men that John had sent. So this man, Diotrephe, he's
remembered in the scriptures one time. One time right here. And he thought himself capable
of leading and directing that local assembly and what he was
wanting to do was to lord over God's heritage. That's what he
was doing. Now, here's the way it is. Diotrephes loved it to have the
preeminence. But who has the preeminence? the Lord. He has the preeminence. And concerning the authority
in the local assembly. Hold your place right there.
Turn to Ephesians 4 verse 8. Ephesians 4 verse 8. Here's where all the authority
in the local assembly originates. Ephesians 4 chapter 8. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8. when He ascended up on high,
He led captivity captive, gave gifts unto men. Now that He ascended,
what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above the heavens that He might fill all things. What
Paul was saying right there, the Lord who came from glory
and descended into the lower parts of this world which we
live He's the same one that went back. The Lord that came is the
same Lord that went back, is what He said. Now, verse 11. And He gave some apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ. Now, the Lord alone gives gifts
to his church. And he gave to the church as
gifts. He gave apostles. He gave evangelists. He gave
pastors and teachers. And he did what he did for the
work of the ministry. Now the Lord alone raises up
and makes useful those that He calls, qualifies and sins, He
makes them useful to the body for His glory and for the good
of His church and He blesses only that which He raises up. Now that makes perfect sense,
doesn't it? The Lord is going to bless what the Lord establishes. Well, this man diatrophies He
decided that he was going to have the preeminence in the church. And now here's the Lord who called
the apostles, qualified them with miracles and signs and wonders
to prove that these men were of God. He called some prophets
that he had gifted, qualified to interpret the scriptures and
foretell things to come. These prophets, they were taught
of God. They knew God would tell them,
this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to put Israel in bondage
for 400 years. Then I'm going to deliver them
out of Egypt. I'm going to send them to the promised land. How
did they know that? Why did God do that? For the
edifying of the body, for the work of the ministry, for the
encouragement of God's saints. And so, whether he sends an evangelist,
like Brother Walter and Brother Cody was, whether he raises up
a pastor, a teacher, an under-shepherd, whatever the Lord is pleased
to do, the Lord places in authority men of His choosing. And He blesses only that which
He raises up. And any time Someone like this
Diotrephes, who loved to have the preeminence, anytime that
he exalts himself and tries to start lording over God's heritage,
the Lord's not going to bless that. It's going to be a mess. Here's what 1 Corinthians 12,
18, But now hath God set the members, every one of them in
the body, as it hath pleased Him. So those that the Lord calls,
are the ones that he blesses, and this diatrophies he covenanted,
not not not, he coveted, not covenanted, he coveted the authority
that only God bestows and took upon himself, listen to this,
to not receive the instruction of John. Now that's a dangerous
thing. I mean, just what John said,
I wrote in the church, but diatrophies who love to have the pre-emments
among them receiveth us not. I wrote, and he said, I'm not
doing that. I'm not, you know. Well, John
said in verse 10, well, wherefore? Well, with that being the case,
if I come, of course, According to the Lord's good pleasure,
if the Lord allows me to come, he said, I will remember his
deeds, which he doeth. Prating 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. Now he said, now if the Lord
allows me to come, the Lord wills, he said, I tell you what I'm
going to do. with this diatrophies, this one that desires to have
the preeminence over God's heritage. He said the one that doesn't
receive the word that the Lord gave this apostle to tell the
church there, he said, what I'm going to do, he said, I'm going
to expose him. I'm going to call him out. I'm
going to call him, here's what he said, I will remember his
deeds which he doeth. I'm going to remember them, I'm
going to rehearse them, is what he's going to say. I'm going
to bring it out in the open and we're going to get all this out
in the open and we're going to get this taken care of. He said,
here's what he's doing. He said he's prating against
us with malicious words. Prating against us. What he's
actually doing, he's saying words that, this is just the definition.
An overflow of evil. It's just a silly, uncomplimentary
words against God's apostle to cause injury and hurt the witness,
the reputation, and the usefulness of God's preachers. That's what
he was doing. Prating, silly, useless, rambling nonsense. What he was exactly saying the
scriptures doesn't dictate. But whatever it is, John said
it was just useless, hurtful, harmful things being said. He
said he's been talking much about us with no weight, no sustenance,
no truth of. Whatever he's saying, a mischievous
babbler that trifles in things of which he absolutely has no
business, no authority. He has no place where he is. And he said, he's not content
only to rail on us, pray against us, but also refuses to receive
the brethren that were obviously led of God to be sent to that
place and said if he found anybody in the congregation receiving
him, treating him kindly, you know, trying to help him a little
bit, he told him he was going to kick him out of the church.
Now let me ask you something. Who does he think he is? John
said, I'm going to take care of this. We're going to handle
this matter. And then he said in verse 11,
he said, 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. What he's saying is,
believer, don't follow that kind of unkindness and evil, that
pride and self-ambition and love of preeminence. being inhospitable
to God's preachers and to other believers? He said, that's not
of God. He said, you follow that which is good. Follow that which
is concerning love and forgiveness and kindness and humility. He
said, those that manifest the grace of God and the Spirit of
Christ in attitude and action are of God. And those who habitually
practice An attitude of spite and envy and malice against God's
Word, against God's preachers, against God's people, those who
do evil. He said, they've not seen God.
They don't know the Lord. But there was another man in
the congregation that John mentioned. Verse 12, Demetrius was his name. Demetrius had good report of
all men. and of the truth itself. Yea,
and we also bear record, and you know that our record is true. The Spirit of God was pleased
to move upon John, not only to bring out the spirit of resistance
and rebellion and evil concerning a man named Diotrephes, but he
brought out the character of another man that was there. Demetrius. He said this man hath a good
report of all men and of the truth itself. Now here was a
man that obviously exhibited the characteristic of a believer
and therefore it was said of him that he had a good testimony
of all men. Now obviously not all men without
distinction because you know that God's people, the scripture
says, you'll all be hated. You'll be hated of all men. For
my namesake, but all men concerning the brethren. You know, I mean,
we think about men, women that we have known faithful, faithful,
faithful. I'll just go ahead and just say
it. How about Brother Scott and Martha? I mean, now listen, you
know, they were two sinners saved by the grace of God. But I'm
going to tell you something. two people that were, like this
man right here. He has a good report of all believers
that knew him. What are you going to say about
Brother Scott, Martha? What are you going to say about
these believers? Brother Henry, Doris. I'll just
pick out them. I can start saying other people
right here, but I'm not going to, you know, I'm going to just
use them as examples. You know what I'm saying? But
what it is, the Lord had taught them something. And they had
a good They had a good report, you know, they were like those
when the Twelve said to the other disciples, look ye out among
you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. Men who had given by their profession
in Christ a walk that was a clear evidence to them being a possessor
being a believer. They walked like a believer walks. They say, well, how does a believer
walk? They just walk. They don't have any confidence
in themselves. They'll tell you. They'll tell
you. In me, I see in me no good thing. Every believer says that. That's integrity right there.
That is integrity. When someone says, there is in
me, that is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. That's
an honest report. That's a good report. You know,
I am what I am by the grace of God. That's integrity right there. No bragging on yourself. He had
a good report. Of all men, all believers that
knew Him, He walked with consistency. He loved for the brethren, loved
for the gospel, loved for God's preachers, supportive, helped,
just building up, building up. Wanted to be around Him. Wanted
to be around Him. And also He said not only did
He have a good report of all men, and of the truth itself. What do you mean, and of the
truth itself? Well, hold your place right there
and turn to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse
4. Now let's see what the truth
has to say. What does these scriptures have
to say? He had a good report among all men, and the truth
itself, the truth too. 1 Thessalonians 1-4, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. What does the truth have
to say concerning the evidence of a believer? Our gospel came
not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy
Ghost, in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we
were among you for your sake. You became followers of us. There's
the evidence of the truth. That's what the truth says concerning
God's people. The gospel doesn't come in just
word, not in the head only, but there's a heart knowledge and
a heart reaction. And you became followers. You
did something. It moved you to do something.
You became followers of us as we followed the Lord. and you
received the Word in much affliction, what did it cost you? It cost
you everything with joy of the Holy Ghost. And you were examples
to all that believe in Macedonia, Achaia, from which you sounded
out the Word of the Lord. You weren't embarrassed about
the Gospel. You sounded it out in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God were
to spread abroad so that we need not speak anything. Your walk
is evidence. People know. They'll be around
you. You know people like that. I
mean, they're just a joy to be around. You know, they just...
For they themselves show of us what manner entering in we had
unto you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living
and true God. So John was saying, Demetrius,
here's the evidence. He's got a good report of all
men. and of the truth itself concerning God's Word. But I'll
tell you this, according to the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord's going to give a good report. The Lord, in that day,
in the day of the Lord, in the day of judgment, in the day of
the final salvation, here's what the Scripture says concerning
what the Lord is going to attest. concerning his sheep. He's gonna
divide the sheep from the goats. Sheep on his right hand, goats
on his left. And here's what he's gonna say to the sheep.
Now listen to the report that Christ is gonna give to his people. Come, all right, and these next
words are gonna be the report. You blessed are my father. What do all the believers have
to say about Demetrius? Oh, he had a good report. He
was a faithful man, consistent with the scriptures. What's Christ
going to say? He said, you've been blessed
to my father. Come, you blessed to my father. Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Demetrius, he got
a good report from all men of the truth that said, yea, and
we also bear record You know that our record is true. Here's
what John was saying. John said, I know him. We know him. And we agree with
you. We agree with what all the brethren
say concerning this Demetrius. And then John ends this letter
with these last two verses. Verse 13, he says to Gaius, I
had many things to write. But I will not with ink and pen
write unto thee. Now, obviously, there were still
some things on John's heart that he wanted to express to Gaius,
but the Spirit of God, and for reasons known only to the Lord,
would not allow John to write them down. The Spirit of God
didn't see fit to write them down. Deuteronomy 29.29, the
secret things. belong unto the Lord our God.
But those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children
forever that we may do all the words of this law. Whenever the
Lord is pleased to reveal something, He reveals it in His Word. And
when He's pleased to not reveal something, He doesn't reveal
it in His Word. And whatever the Lord reveals, that's what
we grasp hold of. That's for us. And what He doesn't
reveal, well, I wonder what John wanted to say to guys. I don't
know. But whatever it was, he said,
I got a lot of things to write, but I'm not going to write them
down. Then he said in the last verse, verse 14, 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. John said, I hope to see you
soon. You miss. We miss seeing God's
people, don't we? We get to see each other weekly
here. And that's such a joy. It just
does my heart so much good to be able to see. I'm just looking
at some people that I dearly love. And I'm so glad to be here
with you. But you know we've got some other
brethren in other churches. We don't get to see them too
often, but when we see them, it's just like we just picked
it up right there, you know? It's been a year, two years since
we've seen them, but when you see them, you're glad. John said,
I trust I shall shortly see thee. And we can speak face to face
and look at each other. I want to hear your voice. And
then he said unto him, he said, peace be unto thee. This was
his desire. I pray that peace be with you. Peace in your heart from a good
conscience. I pray that you might have peace
with the brethren and I thank God for the eternal peace that
the Lord has established for you, for me and our brethren
through the shed blood of our precious Savior. And then he
says, our friends, We salute you. We give you our warmest
regard. And then he says, greet the friends
by name. You know, it's so personal whenever
you go somewhere and I hear somebody. I'm wherever. Somebody will ask
me, how's Carl and Avalu doing? I said, they're doing good. Oh,
tell them I said hi. Would you tell them that I said
hi? You tell them Todd Nyberg said hi. Come back and say Todd
Nyberg said hi. Greet them by name. Let them
get personal. You just tell them that I'm thinking
about them. Tell them I'm praying for them.
Tell them that they're precious to me. Would you greet the brethren
by name? I pray that the Lord bless this
one book, one chapter in this book, 3 John. I pray that He
would bless it to our heart and teach us the joy of being together
and the watchfulness for any that would try to take the preeminence
and just be careful, watch all but those that the Lord has raised
up. Those Demetriuses. Pray for them. Encourage them. People traveling through, coming
through here, brethren right here, let's help them. Let's
do what we can. Let us do unto them as we would
as unto the Lord. For Christ's sake, our good.
Amen.