Alright, let's turn back in our
Bibles to 3 John. 3 John. Another very, very short epistle.
But it's the closing of the epistles of John the Apostle. It's not
the last book that he wrote. God the Holy Spirit, by the Apostle
John, wrote the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.
While he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos, and just before his
death. But this is the last of what
is known as the pastoral epistles of John. Pastoral meaning that
they are written with a pastor's heart and from a pastor's view,
instructing the church here on earth, the local body of believers
in various places, of things that are so important for us
to recognize as we walk in the wilderness of this world. I have
two messages that I want to preach from this short epistle. And
I've entitled both of them this way, Together in Truth and Love. This will be part one. I'm not
going to try to do the whole thing this morning. Together
in Truth and Love. In this epistle, there are three
men mentioned. Three names. Two of these men
are listed here and described as shining examples of the grace
and the love and the glory of God in Christ. And those are
the two that we like to emulate. We follow Christ as our supreme
example, but sometimes some of his children are listed or identified
and described as examples to follow, examples of love and
grace and glory. And then there's one man, an
infamous man named Diotrephes here. Him you don't want to follow. You don't want to be like Diotrephes. I'm really not going to get to
him until next week. But you can just look at it this
way for today's message. Everything that I'm going to
say about togetherness in truth and love, diatrophies is the
opposite. And we'll look at that next week
in detail. Don't get too caught up with
what a lot of different preachers say about diatrophies because
it's been my experience that most people, most preachers rather,
will label anybody who disagrees with them as to be diatrophies.
I've been called diatrophies. I had a fellow who wrote me an
email one time, called me a diatrophy, because I disagreed with him.
But the problem of diatrophies was not disagreement, just flat
disagreement. And as Brother Joe read that,
you could see what his problem was. He wouldn't receive brethren.
But this third epistle of John, now think about this. Remember
that 1 John, John's first epistle, set the boundaries of Christian
fellowship. Now, remember what Christian
fellowship is. It's fellowship in truth, in
the gospel of God's grace in Christ that mainly revolves around
the glorious person, the doctrine of Christ, and the glorious finished
work of Christ on the cross, who he is, what he did, why he
did it, where he is now, what he accomplished on Calvary to
save his people from their sins. It's the gospel wherein the righteousness
of God is revealed. And this fellowship is something
we're brought into by the power and grace of God. It's not just
something you have. You know, we sometimes get caught
up in talking about having fellowship, and that's okay for its purposes. But remember, fellowship in the
faith is not socializing together as a religious group. Fellowship
is a family. You're born into it. You're actually
in this family, the spiritual family, you're chosen into it,
redeemed into it, and called into it, brought into it by the
power of God. You have a fellowship with your
physical family in a physical way. Now, you may not be together
on everything. You may not even speak to each
other. I know family members won't even
speak to each other. But they're still family members.
And in the spiritual family, in the family of God, you're
brought into this family. It's a fellowship that you're
brought into by the power and grace of God. And the togetherness
of that family is founded upon the truth of which Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. And it's exemplified and manifested
in the love of God that is shed abroad in the hearts of God's
people. As John wrote in 1 John 4.10, and I've quoted so often,
herein is love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us. That's our fellowship. The love
of God towards us in Christ sent His Son to be the propitiation,
the satisfaction to God's justice for all our sins. And so a believer,
a child of God, is in the fellowship of a family, a spiritual family. Now this spiritual fellowship,
this spiritual family, In the Scripture now, now listen to
me very carefully. This spiritual relationship,
this fellowship and family, is to take precedence over any relationship
you have here on this earth. I don't care what it is. I've
had people say, well, I left the church because mom and dad
left the church. Or mom and dad left the church
because I left the church. Now what's happening there? Well,
if they are truly members of a spiritual family, They've let
the earthly family take precedent over the spiritual family. And
that's not to happen. And one of the reasons that that's
true is because physical relationships do not mean a right relationship
with God. Now, you children, you're to
love your mother and your father. You're to respect your elders
and your family. But that doesn't mean that they're
saved or you're saved. Or just because they're saved,
you're saved or vice versa. That physical relationship is
important. It's not to be neglected. It's
to be nurtured in love and care and kindness and gentleness.
All of that. But it is never to take precedence
over the spiritual family. And another reason is this. The
physical family will be dissolved. It's not a forever relationship. But this spiritual family is
forever. Forever and ever and ever. So think about that. Now,
John had a lot to say about that in 1 John. And then in 2 John,
he dealt with false preachers who sought to have fellowship
with believers throughout the regions that he was writing to. We don't have fellowship with
such. We're not to have fellowship with those who are outside the
truth. If a person comes believing,
promoting, preaching another gospel, a gospel that is not
the gospel of God's grace in Christ, one who misrepresents
the true Christ, one who misrepresents the way of salvation by God's
grace and preaches another way. We're not to seek or recognize
or establish any fellowship with such a person. We cannot have
religious fellowship with such people in the name of love and
unity and kindness. And I'll tell you, I know that
people, when we refuse to have that kind of religious fellowship
with ones that do not preach this gospel, the gospel as God
has revealed it to us. You know, they'll say that you're
unkind, they'll say that you're mean, they'll say all kinds of
different things, but you can't listen to them. You have to go
by God's Word. Any love or unity or togetherness
that is not founded upon the truth is a deadly relationship. It's a deadly alliance. It's
a deadly confederation. You know, back in the Old Testament,
Israel, under the Old Covenant, they were, as a nation, forbidden
to make confederacies and unions with other nations that were
idolaters. And that was a spiritual lesson
there. We're not to make any confederation with those who
do not worship the Christ of this book. And so we see that
love and truth is the foundation. Now, here we come to 3 John.
It deals with the opposite. As 2 John said, don't have fellowship
with those who preach not this gospel. You know, Paul said it
in Galatians chapter 1, if they come preaching any other gospel
than that which we've preached unto you, let them be anathema.
And so as 2 John says, we're not to have fellowship, we're
not to have any religious fellowship with those who preach another
gospel, another Jesus by another spirit. 3 John is the opposite. 3 John says this, that those
who do believe and love the truth and trust in the true Christ
and preach the true gospel, true preachers, true ministers of
Christ with whom we have fellowship as brethren in the faith. We're
to support them. We're to love them. We're to
support them in the truth. We're to pray for them. We're
to bid them Godspeed. You remember over in 2 John 11,
he said, those who bid them Godspeed, they're a partaker of their evil
deeds. Well, here in verse 8 of 3 John, He says, we therefore
ought to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the
truth. So that if you seek religious
fellowship with a false preacher or a false teacher and promote
them, you're a sharer or a fellowshiper with their evil. But when you
seek fellowship and promote those who preach the truth, the same
gospel that God has revealed to your heart and our hearts,
were fellow helpers of the truth. And that's what 3 John is about.
And let's just take it verse by verse. Look at verse 1. He
says, this is John writing, he says, "...the elder unto the
well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth." You might have
in your concordance there, it might read this way. It says,
"...whom I truly love." And it could very well read that way,
but it doesn't matter. It means the same thing. Love
in the truth. We truly love those whom we love
in the truth. John identifies himself here
as the elder, not only in the faith. Certainly he was an elder
in the faith. He was an apostle. He's one who
walked with our Lord, who received the truth from the Lord himself.
But he was also elderly in his physical years. Most people say
that John was about 90 years old when this was written. He
says, unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. This
is written to a Christian. It's written to a brother in
Christ. about how to take care of true ministers, true preachers,
traveling about, ministering the Word of God. Back in that
day, they traveled, and traveling wasn't like it is today. It wasn't
as easy. Of course, some people might
say, well, it's not as easy today with gas prices, but whatever.
It was hard traveling back then. And they would go from place
to place as evangelists, preaching the gospel. And they would go
into places where there were churches already established.
And they would seek help, lodging, food, clothing, even financial
support from these people in order to continue preaching the
gospel. And that's what he's saying here.
Notice John emphasizes here, love in the truth again. This
is what was emphasized in 1 and 2 John. As I said, love without
truth is deadly, and certainly not divine, godly love. You know,
the greatest expression, listen to me very carefully here, the
greatest expression of love that we can show to any person in
this matter of salvation, in this matter of eternal life,
is to tell them the truth. Don't lie to them. Somebody says,
well, the truth might make them mad. Well, it usually does. If
God doesn't do His work, men hate the light. The scripture
says in John 3, 19, "...and loves darkness." We're to tell them
the truth about who God is. Who is God? He's the sovereign
God of this universe who does as He will, as He pleases. He's
a God who is holy, and He must punish sin. I had a fellow tell
me one time, he says, well, I enjoy reading about the loving God
of the New Testament, but I don't really enjoy reading about the
hateful God of the Old Testament. And I took him to some passages
of scripture in the New Testament that would curl your hair about
God's wrath upon people. You see, it's the same God of
the Old Testament as it is of the New Testament. He didn't
change. God has not changed. God is holy in the Old Testament. God is holy in the New Testament.
God has always, is always, and always will be holy. God must
punish sin. The Bible says God will by no
means clear the guilty. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. You say, but where's God's mercy
and God's compassion and God's love? I'll tell you exactly where
it is. It's in Christ. who went to the
cross and who was punished for the sins of his people. God is
holy. That's why Christ went to the
cross. You see, in Christ, the substitute, the mediator, the
surety, the redeemer, God's love provided what His holiness demanded. How can God be both a righteous
judge and punish sin, which is only right, which only He can
do, and still be a loving Father? That's who God is. That's the
God of this book. The God of this book is not the
God of this religious world today who preachers going up and down
the country just telling people, smile, God loves you. Some preacher
said one time, couldn't you see that bumper sticker on the back
of Noah's Ark? Now think about this. Yes, God
is a God of love and compassion. He's a God of mercy. And God
has never and will never turn away a sinner who comes to Him
begging for mercy. But my friend, any notion of
His mercy and His grace and His love that denies or ignores or
excludes His holiness, His justice, is not the God of this book.
Now, let's tell the truth. Somebody told me one time, said,
well, I never heard of a God like that. And I said, well,
you've been worshiping an idol all your life. How do you think
they reacted? And I'm not saying those things
just to be mean or unkind. I'm saying because it's the truth,
the God of this book is a very different God than what most
people think him to be. He said it even in the Old Testament.
He said, Thou thoughtest I was altogether one such as yourself. He said it in Isaiah 55. He said,
My thoughts aren't your thoughts. My ways aren't your ways. What
we need to tell people is to look into the Scriptures and
see who God is. He must punish sinners. My friend,
without Christ and His blood and His righteousness, There
is nothing but justice and wrath for you from a holy God. Now
that's what I'm telling you. And it's not going to be a God
who's hanging over the banister of heaven crying tears because
you wouldn't accept Him. No sir, you don't see that God
in this book now. You want mercy? You want grace? You want love from God? Run to
Christ! Isn't that right? Run to Him. Beg for His mercy. Cast yourself
at the foot of the cross. Because that's the only way you're
going to escape the wrath of a holy God. This is not just hell, fire,
and damnation. People say, well, He's a hell,
fire, and damnation. No! No! It's the gospel of the
cross. It's the gospel of Christ and
Him crucified. What was Christ doing on that
cross? He was taking the punishment and the wrath and the judgment
that I deserve and that I earned, so that I wouldn't have to. But
I'm going to tell you something. Here's the God of this book.
Somebody's got to. And I'll tell you, there's no
other way. Tell the truth about God. He's
sovereign. He's holy. Yes, He's merciful,
but only in Christ. Only in Christ. Tell the truth
about our sin and our need of grace and mercy. You know, that's
what brings God's people together right here. Who God is and who
we are. That I'm nothing but a sinner.
I cannot earn God's favor and I don't deserve God's favor even
at my best. At my best moment and my best
day. I hope I haven't had it yet.
I hope that day's yet to come. My best one. But when I get there,
I'm going to tell you right now, I still will not even inch toward
earning God's favor or blessings or deserve it. Because I'm still
man at his best state is altogether what? Vanity. Worthless. That's the way we are. You know
what binds God's people in this building here today together?
We're sinners saved by the grace of God. And there's not one of
us better than the other in that realm. Now, there may be some
better mathematicians. There may be some better teachers. There may be some better builders. You all can do a lot of things
better than I can do. But when it comes to your relationship
before God and my relationship before God, we're in the same
boat equally. Equally in need of grace. Equally
in need of mercy. Equally in need of Christ. And
your righteousness is no better than mine. You have the best
one. The best one that you could ever have is Christ and Him crucified. My righteousness is no better
than yours. We all have Him if we're in Christ. Now, let's tell
the truth. Who are we? What are we? We're
nothing. And He's everything. Isn't that right? We're not even
worthy like John the Baptist. You know what connects me with
John the Baptist? I'm in fellowship with John the
Baptist. I'm together with him. Never met the fellow. I'm going
to one day, I hope. But I'm in fellowship with Him
because I'm not worthy to scoop down and untie the shoes of our
Lord just like Him. Christ must increase, I must
decrease, just like John. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sins of the world. We're together there. I'm together
with Abel. I'm in fellowship with Abel,
because when Abel came to worship God and to be accepted with God,
he had one thing to bring, the blood of the Lamb, and that's
all I've got. How about you? Do you have anything else? You
say, well, I've been through a lot. Well, you may have, but
it's not going to do you any good at the throne of God. You
say, well, I was baptized. Well, good for you. But if that's
your hope and your stay and your righteousness, your baptism was
a sham. You just confessed nothing. I baptized two people last week
who confessed Christ. They confessed Christ, just like
Abel. And that's what binds us together.
Let's tell the truth of salvation only in him. That He is the way,
the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Him. I have no, no hope of my sins
being pardoned but the blood of Christ. I have no righteousness
but His. If that's your hope, we're together.
That's love in the truth. Paul, when he was writing to
the church at Galatia, or the churches, there were several
in that area, that region. They had been infiltrated with
false preachers who come in preaching works that were aimed at either
saving a sinner or keeping that sinner saved, making him holier.
And that was a denial of the gospel. Do you know that's a
denial of Christ? When preachers come in and promote
that stuff, they're denying Christ. You say, well, they don't mean
to, or they don't think they are. No, they don't. They're
deceived. But that's what they're doing. But Paul, he wrote them
a letter. He told them the truth. He said,
these fellows are false preachers. Do not follow them. And he realized
that that would make some of the Galatians mad because some
of these preachers, evidently these false preachers, were men
of high esteem. Men of eloquence. Men who had
great following. And you know, in Galatians chapter
4 and verse 16, he had to ask them this question. He said,
am I therefore become your enemy? Because I tell you the truth. When you tell your children,
parents, the truth about what they need and what they should
do and what they shouldn't do, are you being their enemy? You know why you do that? Because
you love them. Am I right? When the doctor tells
you that you have a disease and you need to seek the cure, is
he being your enemy? Or is he being a competent doctor
who has your best in mind? If he would refuse to tell you
about that dreaded disease and just let you go on thinking that
you're physically okay, what would he be? Well, we call that
a quack. Don't you? Would you go back
to Him and pay the money? No. Christ said He's the Great Physician,
and He came to heal the sick. Well, let me tell you something
about this preacher. I'm sick. And I'm not just talking about
physical. I'm sick with sin. And I need a Great Physician
who will tell me the truth and show me the only cure. And that's
Christ on the cross. Proverbs 27, 6, it says this,
faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are
deceitful. Jeremiah 5, 31, he spoke of false
prophets. He said the prophets prophesy
falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and my people
love to have it so. And what will you do in the end
thereof? Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, preach the Word, do
the work of an evangelist. There's coming a time when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but they'll seek after, having
itching ears, they'll seek after teachers who will scratch that
itch. Tell them what they want to hear. Let me tell you something,
the worst thing that we could have, me and you included, is
a preacher who'd stand up here and tell us what we want to hear
in the flesh. What makes us feel good in the
flesh? Somebody told me a lady that
left here said that she was tired of being called a sinner. And
I'm telling you now, where is that coming from? The flesh. The flesh. This is a faithful
same worthy of all acceptation. This is what brings us together.
All acceptation. In other words, believers don't
debate over this. They don't argue and divide over this. This
is a faithful same worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save. sinners of whom I'm chief. Go ahead and call me a sinner
because that's who he came to save. Love is the crowning grace of
true Christianity, but not without truth. Look at verse two. He
says, beloved, I wish now the word wish there is prayer. He's
still I pray. He's not just wishfully thinking
here. He's not trying to pull a genie out of a bottle here.
He said, Beloved, I pray above all the things that thou mayest
prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. John
prays for Gaius here, this man Gaius, apparently a prominent
member of the church there. Some say he was the pastor. I
don't know. It doesn't say. But he prays
for Gaius to have physical health and physical well-being, that
he would prosper and be as strong in physical things as he was
in spiritual health and well-being of his soul in Christ. You know,
listen to this, in Christ, based on his shed blood and his imputed
righteousness, we have all things in abundance spiritually and
eternally. All that God requires of me I
have in Christ. All that I need and more I have
in Christ. Blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, many times we fail
to cultivate that in our minds, in our consciences, in our hearts,
and even our habits. Sometimes we can get spiritually
sick. But here's the question. If our physical appearance reflected
our spiritual state, how would we look? That's a good question
to consider, isn't it? So John says, well, I pray that
you prosper physically in health, in wealth, just as you prosper
spiritually. There's nothing wrong with praying
for physical health. Now, we know it's in God's hands.
We know there is a time appointed of God for men once to die. Somebody said, you're not going
to get out of this world alive. And that's right. Some people
say, well, I hope that I'll be living when the Lord comes back.
Well, that would be good. And I hope that too for me. But
we'll still experience the equivalent of physical death, and the reason
is, is this corruptible has to put on incorruption. We'll be
changed, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, in the twinkling of an eye.
But there's nothing wrong with praying for health and wealth. But here's the prayer, thy will
be done. You see, it's in God's hand.
He knows what I need better than I know. He knows what you need
better than you know. But this is not teaching the
modern-day perversion of the health and wealth gospel that's
going around today that says, well, if you know Christ, there's
no reason for you to ever be sick, and there's no reason for
you to ever be poor. We know from the Scripture that
many of God's choice servants were poor people and sick people.
Many times the physical state of a person does not reflect
their spiritual state. But we do pray for one another,
not only in spiritual matters, but also in physical matters.
God's will be done. But don't be like these false
preachers. They'll go back to Isaiah 53, and they'll take that
verse out. By his stripes ye are healed.
And they'll apply that to physical healing. It does not apply to
physical healing. What Christ did on the cross
does not ensure my physical health. Paul the Apostle was a great
example of that. He had a thorn in the flesh that
God would not remove from him. If God makes me physically healthy,
then thank God for it. But if we suffer the trial physical
illness, then thank God for that. He'll bring us through. But what
Christ did on the cross heals me from my spiritual disease,
not my physical disease. It removes my sin, pays my debt,
justifies me before God. So remember that. Look at verses
3 and 4. He says, 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 the truth. John refers here to
them as his children in the sense that he is their elder. And he
taught them in the gospel. Now, God alone is our Heavenly
Father, and no man is to be referred to as the Holy Father. Mark that
down. There is no man who is ever to
be referred to as the Holy Father. There is only one Holy Father,
and that's God Himself. Only God in Christ is the Holy
Father, the Heavenly Father. But Gaius' faith was more than
just mere profession. That's what he's saying here.
He showed the truth in his life. He followed the truth and he
lived it. Set forth by example, the principle of grace. He says,
the truth that is in thee, that's the truth implanted by the Holy
Spirit in the new birth. In other words, the truth is
not just something you talk about, read about, study about, and
say the truth is something that is part of you. It's in your
heart. It's the unction, the power of
God unto salvation. And that truth will be accompanied
by faith and obedience. Faith works by love. Salvation
is not doctrine or obedience. It is doctrine and obedience. See what I'm saying? It's truth
and love and obedience. Now, no obedience saves us or
makes us righteous or holy. Christ alone is our salvation. Christ alone is our righteousness
and our holiness. Salvation is by his work for
us and it results in his work in us and which results in our
faith in him and our love for him and our brethren and obedience
to him motivated by grace and love and gratitude. But John
says, I have no greater joy than to hear this. Verse 5, look at
this. He says, Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou
doest to the brethren and to strangers. He commends Gaius'
loyalty. That faithfully there, that's
loyalty. You do it loyally. You do it faithfully, continually. In receiving and supporting brethren
in the faith. Ministers. Evangelists preaching
the gospel of God's glory in Christ, the gospel of salvation,
and even strangers. All he's simply saying there
is people that Gaius had never met before. They come down, they
are established in the fellowship of doctrine and the truth and
the love of Christ, and he says, you receive them. You receive
them. You support them. You pray for
them. These ministers of truth, he
says in verse 6, now listen to him, these strangers who you
have not met, but here's the key. Now look at verse 6. Which
have borne witness of thy charity before the church. They spoke
of Gaius' love. That's what he's saying. Whom
if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort. There it is. Worthy of God. Thou shalt do well. These ministers
of truth that Gaius had helped, they bore witness. They spoke
of his love before the church. Now, this is a witness not to
glorify Gaius or bring attention to him. This is not Gaius tooting
his own horn here, you see. It's a witness of thanksgiving
to God by these ministers for this man. It's just like me. I thank God for you. I thank
God so much for you and for your support of this ministry and
for your love for me as the pastor and support of me as I preach
the truth. I thank God for you. I'm not
going to build a monument to you. I'm not going to put a plaque
on the wall. I'm not going to do that. And
you know what? If you're like Gaius, you don't
want me to. Because you know this church
is not going to be a memorial to any man. It's a memorial to
Christ. Now that's what it's meant to
be. That's what he said, my church, Christ said. He said the gates
of hell will not prevail against it. Why? Because of you or me? No, because it's built upon the
rock. And Christ is the rock. It's
not built upon Peter. Peter was just a little stone
just like us. He's just a brick in the wall
in that sense. But he says, Gaius, they testified
of your love before the church. And the reason John mentions
this here is that there's a problem in the church, and we're going
to look at that next week, with another man who wouldn't receive
the brethren. But now he mentions charity here. Charity is love,
loyalty, generosity expressed to brethren. And he says it's
after a godly sort. That means it's worthy of God.
In other words, this love and support that Gaius gave to these
ministers, he wasn't doing it in order to be saved. He wasn't
doing it in order to gain. He was doing it for one reason,
out of love and gratitude to God for all that he's freely
given us in Christ. That's the motive. That's the
essence of thou shalt do well. He says, Thou shalt do well.
You know, back a long time ago in the book of Genesis chapter,
well, it's actually established before this, but it's stated
in Genesis chapter 4. What is it to do well? You know,
the first time that phrase is used is when God was speaking
to Cain. And he said, Cain, why are you
angry? Why are you wroth? It says in the King James Version.
Why is your countenance dropped? Your face shows your anger. That's
what that means in the Scripture. Why? Because you know this, Cain. If you do well, you'll be accepted.
Do you know this? I can look at you right now and
I can tell myself this. If we do well, we will be accepted
before God. Now, here's the question. What
is it to do well? Well, the first step in doing
well is to come as a sinner-like able, bringing the blood of the
Lamb. In other words, there's nothing we do well in order to
earn or gain or attain salvation. We come as a mercy beggar. God be merciful to me, the sinner.
And any well-doing we do after that is the work of Christ in
us, isn't that right, as motivated by what? Grace, love, gratitude,
not law. And that's what he's talking
about here, thou shalt do well. Look at verse 7 and 8, and I'll
close. He says, because that for his namesake they went forth
taking nothing of the Gentiles. Now, for his namesake just simply
is another way of saying for his glory. In other words, it
is not for my own recognition, it is not for my own glory, But
it's for His namesake. It's to glorify Christ. It's
to recognize Him. It's to present Him and represent
Him as the glorious Savior and Redeemer who He is. That's what He's saying, for
His namesake. This is why Gaius did it, not for his own glory,
not for his own recognition, but for the glory of Christ.
It's like the Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount, So shine
before men that men may see your good works and glorify your Father
which is in heaven." The light being the gospel of Christ, the
good works being that which God does in us by his grace and through
his love so that men might glorify God and not us. So he says, for
his namesake they went forth. These preachers went forth preaching
the gospel. Not trying to make a name for
themselves, but to glorify Christ in the salvation of sinners and
the edification of the church. And they went forth, he says.
They left their homes and their families to fulfill their calling
as missionaries. Taking nothing of the Gentiles.
Now that's not, you know, a lot of times the Jews would not receive
any help or support from Gentiles because of Jewish prejudices.
But that's not what is being said here. Salvation has nothing
to do with being a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised.
Salvation has to do with the grace of God in Christ. Every
saved sinner, Jew or Gentile, is saved the same way, on the
same ground, the same way, and that's through Christ. We're
all spiritual Jews in Christ, the Scripture says, spiritual
Israel, spiritual children of Abraham. But what John is saying
here, many to whom John wrote, and that's another thing, Gaius
himself was a Gentile. That's a Roman name. And many
to whom John wrote were Gentiles. But in this early time of the
church, Gentiles, this was a way of referring to unbelievers.
That's all he's simply saying. And what he's saying is this,
these faithful missionaries refused to be supported by unbelievers. They didn't seek the fellowship
or the help of unbelievers. They sought and they deserved
support from their brethren in the faith. That's what he's saying. So he says in verse 8, we therefore,
based on this, because they preach the gospel of Christ, because
they are set as missionaries, called missionaries of the gospel,
we therefore ought, we're obligated, Not by law, but by love to receive
such. Let's receive them. Let's recognize
our fellowship with them, that we might be fellow helpers to
the truth. Isn't that precious? Fellow helpers. We don't want to support and
receive and support false preachers. We don't want to be partakers
of their evil. But when it comes to God's ministers,
His evangelists, His preachers, His missionaries who preach the
glorious gospel of God's grace in Christ, we owe a debt of love
and gratitude to God and to these men to support them and receive
them so that we can be part of that ministry, fellow helpers
to the truth. That's the love. That's the togetherness
in truth and in love.