13 verses long and 3 John 14
verses long. And I am going to deal with the
first 8 verses this evening if the Lord will enable me. First
8 verses. It said, Hear 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 of the
truth. All right, here in 3 John, I
want to get my title from the first verse. The well-beloved
Gaius, well-beloved Gaius. We have lots of people that we
well beloved. We well beloved. And here's a
man who was well beloved. But the name Gaius appears in
the New Testament four times. Four different times. It was
a common name in the Roman Empire like Smith or whatever. And the Gaius here, you remember
John baptized, I mean Paul baptized a man named Gaius in Crispus. And he says, whether I baptized
any other, maybe the household of Stephanus, but this Gaius
here is not the one that Paul baptized in 1 Corinthians 1.
But he's a well-beloved brother that was converted under John's
ministry. And remember, John's an old man.
And remember that 2nd epistle was read under the elder and
the elect lady and her children. He wrote that 2nd epistle to
the elect lady. And he used the words truth and
love, truth and love, over and over and over again. Truth and
love. And these are natural companions. Truth and love go hand in hand.
If you love the truth, if you know the truth, you love the
truth. And if you love the truth, if you love, then you love the
truth and you love those who love the truth and who know the
truth. You love them. And that's what
she's talking about. And you can't separate love and
truth. You can't. There are those who receive the
truth, receive not the love of the truth. But God, in His sovereign
mercy, He opened our hearts to where we not only believe the
truth, but we absolutely love it. I mean, we love it. We have to have it. And so in
this epistle, this third John, this epistle's emphasis is on
truth and deeds. which is really saying the same
thing as faith worketh by love, as Paul told the Galatians. And
so it has to do with truth and deeds. And John calls himself
here in verse 1, an elder, an elder. On account of his age,
he's an elder man. He's an elderly man. And then
on account of his office, he is an elder in the office. And
so there's lots of men called elders in the scriptures. And
then he's called the well-beloved Gaius. Well-beloved. Well, he
was well-beloved. You know who he was all well-beloved
of? He was well-beloved of the Lord. The Lord loved him. The Lord
loved him. I remember years ago when we
was down at the other building, look with me over in Romans chapter
1. I remember over there, I preached
a message one night from this verse of Scripture. I don't even know if I have it,
and it would have been twenty-five, twenty-eight, thirty years ago.
But oh, listen. He said, Well-beloved. He was
well-beloved. Oh, he was loved of the Lord.
Having loved his own, he loved them unto the end. That disciple
whom Jesus loved in Christ, when he loves somebody, oh, he loves
them from eternity to eternity. Look what it says in Romans chapter
1 and verse 7. to all that be in Rome, beloved
of God. Now that's not everybody in Rome
to all that be in Rome who are beloved of God. That's who he's
writing to, people that God loves. And called to be saints, grace
and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, and I'll tell you what, they
could write a letter to us to the beloved that are at Grace
Church in Cumberland County, the beloved there. Beloved of
the Lord, and then beloved, and all believers are loved of the
Lord. All believers are, not just John, all of us are. Our
Lord, you know, it says we're bound always to give thanks for
you, brethren, because God hath from the beginning chosen you,
chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. So God loved his people. And
then not only was he loved of the Lord, well-beloved of the
Lord, but he was well-loved by the apostle. He was well-loved
of John, the well-beloved Gaius. And he said, whom I love in the
truth. I love him for the truth's sake,
for I truly, truly love him, is what he said. He was loved
by this old, old apostle. And then he was loved by the
brethren. All the brethren there loved him, and everybody who
knew him loved him. You know, he was a man of great
faith, integrity, liberality, and generosity. And so he was
loved by God, loved by the apostle, loved by the brethren who knew
him, loved, loved, loved. And I tell you, beloved, we should
not only strive to believe in the grace of God, But we ought
to strive to be gracious. Not only strive to believe the
grace, but grace of God, but also strive to be gracious. Not
only to be sound in doctrine, but have a loving, to be a loving
and lovable person. Now, wouldn't that be a wonderful
thing to be a loving and lovable person? And then he said he loved
him truly. It's one thing for us to be sound
in doctrine. But oh my, to have this blessed
truth and be loving and lovable and generous and kind and gracious. And then look what he said in
verse two. And he says, beloved. Then again, he calls him beloved.
He said, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and
be in health, even as thy soul prospers. And now you look in
the margin where it says wish, it says pray. I pray that you
prosper in health, that thou mayest prosper and be in health.
And what he's saying is, now listen to what he's saying here.
He said, I want you to prosper. I pray that God would prosper
you as your soul prospers. You see, he said, I want you
to prosper like your soul prospers. You see, that's what he says.
Even as thy soul prospers. And he was interested in seeing
how his soul prospered. and how spiritual healthily his
soul was. And he says, when I see the prosperity
of your soul, and the health of your soul, and the spirituality
of your soul, and what God has done for you in your soul, I
pray that God as he's prospered you in your soul, he may prosper
you in life like he's prospered you in your soul. And may he
prosper you in health as he's prospered you in his soul. And
so he's not one of these health and wealth preachers, Now these
here, you know, if you listen to what I say, God will bless
you with health and you know, get this anointing oil for me
and this prayer cloth for me and put your hand on the television
as I pray for you. That's not what John's saying
here. He said, your soul is prospering. Now, my soul don't seem to prosper. Oh, my. My, my. But he said, oh, listen, God's
blessed your soul to prosper, Gaius, healthy soul. And I pray that God will take
what he's done for your soul and prosper your life, make you
healthy. And how valuable is health? Oh my goodness, if you could
prosper and not have health, it wouldn't amount to nothing.
But boy, to prosper and have health at the same time, But
I'll tell you something, prosperity and health and spiritual things
all depend on God. Success depends on God. I'll
show you that from the scriptures. Look in 1 Samuel. Look in 1 Samuel. Show you that from the scriptures
over here. 1 Samuel chapter two. 1 Samuel chapter two. I'll show you that in here in
the scriptures. And, If everything that we have, and that's what
we say, whether a man prospers or succeeds or have health or
whatever it is, God said the hearing ear and the seeing eye
comes from the Lord. And look what He said here in
verse 6 and 7 of chapter 2. 1 Samuel 2, 6 and 7. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. The Lord makes poor and the Lord
makes rich. He brings low and He lifts up.
So whatever God gives us, whatever we have, we know that God gave
it to us. And we want to be good stewards over what God's blessed
us with. But I would rather, and I'm sure you would too, most
of us has prospered beyond our imaginations when we were young. And we couldn't dream this big.
But I'll tell you this, to prosper in your soul, to prosper in your
soul. If you're not prospering in your
soul, you can't even enjoy what the things that you do have.
If you're a believer, you can't enjoy all the things that you
have unless God's blessed your soul. That's why we keep coming
over and over and over to the services nearing the gospel.
And oh, and he says, oh listen, that's what I want you to do.
He said, oh, as your soul prospers. And I'll tell you something,
Success and prosperity in the hands of a wise man and a gracious
man are a great blessing. Oh, for God to prosper a man
who's the grace of God's end and is a wise man, because that
God will make that man or that woman a great blessing to the
church of which he's a member. And there's nothing, one of the
best gifts and greatest gifts God can give anybody is a healthy
body, a healthy body. healthy body. Ain't that right?
And oh as your soul prospers may the rest of your life be
as prosperous as your soul. That's what he says. Now look
what he says in verse 3. For I rejoiced greatly when the
brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee as
thou walkest in truth. Now there's some brethren came
down to where they lived and they came back and we'll see
it as it goes on here. He said I rejoiced greatly The
brethren came to John from where Gaius lived. They had been down
there preaching. And when they got back, they
told John, John, we testify of the truth. You
would not believe how Gaius is. Oh, how blessed he is and the
truth that he walks in and the graciousness that he has. And
they testify the truth of the gospel and the gracious spirit
that dwelt in Gaius. They told him that Gaius was
truly a man in whom Christ was formed, and that he walked before
God. Look what it says here, the truth
is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. He not only professed
it, but he walked it. He lived to the grace of God,
lived Christ formed in him, lived graciously, lived to the glory
of God. And he walked before God and
men in such a way, which gave glory to God. The brethren came
and testified. talked about you, Gaius, and
all of how much truth was in you, and how you knew the gospel,
and how you understood the gospel. And not only that, but you walked
in that truth. You walked in that truth that
you profess. You walked before men and God,
and people could see God's with that man. And these men come
down there, and they look back and said, that Gaius, that Gaius,
and that's people that I talk about like that, and you do too.
You do too. Oh my. And I'll tell you something.
These men and these brethren, they didn't envy the gifts and
grace of Gaius, but they rejoiced greatly in the truth and the
blessings of God upon him. That's what they did. Look up
in verse 4 of John 2. Here's what, here's another time
John said, I rejoice greatly. I rejoice greatly that I found
of thy children walking in truth as we have received a commandment
from the Father. Oh, whenever he found someone
walking in the truth and believing the truth and walking in that
truth, walking in that truth. Now, I tell you something, I
tell you something, we weep and it hurts us and it grieves us
and it troubles us. When professing believers don't
walk in the truth of the grace of God. Very troubling, very
troubling. When we see professing believers
stray from the grace of God, walking in the truth of grace.
But oh, how we rejoice when they do. When people walk in the truth
of the grace of God. Walk in it, live in it. We rejoice
when they do. And then look what he said in
verse four down here. He said, I have no greater joy
than to hear that my children walk in truth. Now O'Perry said
the elect's lady's children. Here he says my children. So
evidently Gaius was begotten, used of God. John was used of
God to for Gaius to be converted, to be saved. And oh, listen,
he said, I have no greater joy. And what he's saying, nothing
makes me happier than to hear those of whom I've preached the
gospel and been used of God to be the means to bring them to
a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we do. That's our whole purpose of being
here. is to instruct men in the things of the scriptures instruct
things men in the knowledge of christ and he says nothing makes
me happier than to hear that those to whom i've preached the
gospel god used me to bring them to a knowledge of christ a knowledge
and a worship of the lord jesus christ as they are believing
and walking in the truth nothing calls me greater happiness than
to see them walking in the truth loving the truth and walking
in that truth Oh, that's just something that, and I, there's
a lot of people that do that, but there's no better gift, no
better gift to our friends nor greater inheritance than we can
leave to our family than the priest, the gospel to them. to
tell them about Christ. And there's not a greater gift
that we can give to anybody than to preach the gospel to them.
And you know what the rest and heritage we can leave for our
children is the belief of the gospel. Wouldn't it be something
that, you know, some men after they're gone, that's when their
children believe. Some men while they're alive,
their children believe. But I don't care alive or gone
to be with Christ as long as my children are bought to faith
in Christ. If they'll hear somebody, tell
them the truth about Christ. and all to believe that gospel
to believe it and to walk in it what joy what joy you remember
when when when uh uh john and peter was going up to pray at
the temple beautiful and there was a lame man that they brought
and they brought him up there and set him down and he was sitting
there begging alms and peter and john walked up there and
he fixed his eyes on those two men The scripture said he fixed
his eyes on expecting to receive some alms. Old Peter looked at
him and said, just looked at him and said, silver and gold,
I ain't got any of that. I can't give you, I can't give
you no money, I ain't got any. That's what he said, I ain't
got no money to give you, if I did I would. But he said, silver
and gold, I have none. But what I am gonna give you,
I'm gonna give you in the name of Jesus Christ. Walk up, stand
up, and walk. And he jumped up and leaped and
went to shouting God. You see, that's what we're talking
about. Walking in the truth. Ain't got no money, but boy,
they walked in the truth. And that's what we're talking
about. What I ain't got nothing to give you but Christ. And ain't
that be something to have nothing to give men and women but Christ.
Oh my. And then John, look what he says
here in verse five. John commends Gaius for his hospitality
and charity to the brethren. He said, Beloved, thou doest
faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers. Now look what he says here. He
said, you do it faithfully, whatever you do, you do it faithfully.
to the brethren and to strangers, not only to them that are in
the fellowship, but them are strangers to you. And he, John's
telling him, said, Gaius, you're faithful in this thing. He said,
you're faithful with hospitality and charity and love to the brethren
whom he fellowshiped with. And then to strangers and to
the brethren and to the strangers it caused his pain. He was a
kind and generous man who cared for the needs of his friends
and the needs of others that he run across. And he opened
his heart and his home to strangers. Look in Hebrews, right back to
your left, look in Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. And then he says, you do this
faithfully. You don't just do it every once
in a while. And I tell you something, he
did it faithfully out of love for Christ, out of love for the
gospel, and out of love for people. He didn't do it to be seen of
men. He didn't do it to be seen of men. And he said here in verse
2 and 3, But verse one, let brotherly
love continue. Now look what he says, be not
forgetful to entertain strangers. Don't be forgetful to entertain
strangers. And look what he says, for thereby some have entertained
angels unawares. You know, when those three men
walked up to Abraham, sat down at his door, and he said, I'm
going to fix y'all something. Sarah, get him something to eat.
As far as he knew, they're strangers. But you know who they was? They
was the Lord and two angels with him. That's who it was. And then
look what he says, And then remember them that are in bonds, or in
his afflictions, as being bound with them. When they suffer,
you're suffering. When they hurt, you hurt. You
remember that you're bound with them. And them which suffer adversity,
as being yourselves also in the body. I mean, you treat them
and their adversity as if it's happening to you. That's what
he's saying here. And then that's what he said.
Look what he said here in verse 5 over again in John 3. Beloved,
thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and
strangers. You are faithful in this. Faithfully do it over and
over and over. Faithfully do it. Not just a
passing fancy. And then look what he says. And
he says, which have borne witness, the brethren and the strangers,
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. And that, after a godly sort,
means worthy of God. That's what he means. And these
traveling preachers, those who rejoiced greatly and come back
and testified of it, these traveling preachers who were strangers
to Gaius, before they came to his town, they testified before
the church in Ephesus. That's where John was at. He
was at the church of Ephesus. And they came back and they bore
witness of thy charity before the church. They came back to
the church and they bore witness to the charity and love of Gaius. These traveling preachers did.
They witnessed to his love, his friendship, and his care for
them. And they were greatly, greatly moved by his spirit of
grace and love. And they could not refrain from
praising the grace of God that was in him. He says, which have
borne witness, these brethren and strangers have borne witness
of your charity before the church. Before the church. Oh my, they
just had to tell. Just had to tell. And then look
what he says. Whom if thou bring forward, whom
if thou bring forward, after a godly sword, or worthy of God,
thou should do well. And he said, bring forward on
the journey. What he says was, is that you enable them, you
help them, and you do what you need to do to help God's children. And we do well, and that's what
he said, we do well to help God's children in this world, to make
their journey in this world to be more pleasant, especially
traveling missionaries and traveling preachers. I want you to, you
know, it's like that widow woman. This is what I'm talking about.
This is what, that widow woman, she had one meal left in her
barrel. One meal. That's all she had
left. She had a son. She's going to fix that last
meal for herself and her son, and then she's going to die.
She's going to sit there and starve to death, wasn't she?
She will die. Well, an old preacher come along
named Elijah said, I'm hungry. I ain't got but just a little
bit of meal in my barrel. I was going to fix it. And I
got a little stick of bread, fire here, and I'm going to burn
it, fix this meal. Me and my son's going to die.
He said, you give that to me. Give it to me. And that woman,
that woman said, well, he's a man of God. So she did. And every
time she went to her meal bearer after that, she had enough to
eat. She had the whole, she had the
meal. It never did go empty. Because,
you know, and over in Matthew 10, 42, it says this, to give
a cold water to a disciple is like giving it to Christ. Let
me tell you a true story. I heard it last week. Paul and
Mindy, there was a couple that's in that church up there at Central
Grace for years and years and years and years. And they both
went to a nursing home together. And they were far, far away. And they wanted to go over there
and see them in the nursing home. And when they go over there,
they've got to stay in a motel because it's so far. Well, they
couldn't go because they didn't have enough money and said, we
gotta go, we gotta go. So they wanted to go, but they
didn't have the money to stay in the motel and do what was
necessary to go. That day they was talking about
going, somebody, a dear sister from Georgia, sent them $100
in the mail. And they got it that day. They
got it out and said, well, we'll get to go over there. And they
called her to thank her. And you know what she said? You
know what she said? It's just a cup of cold water.
That's all it is. It's just a cup of cold water.
God bless my heart so much. It's just a cup of cold water.
But it enabled them to go visit them two old saints in that nursing
home and spend the night over there. It's just a cup of cold
water. That's all she said, just a cup
of cold water. Oh my. So that's to help the president,
make their journey easier in this world. Because it's tough
enough, but boy, to make the journey just a little bit easier.
Just a little bit easier. And then look what he says in
verse 7 and 8. Because for his name's sake they
went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We there ought
to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the truth. And he says, these men that came,
these preachers that came, these traveling preachers, these missionaries,
they went out from their home They went out from their family,
and they said they went out for Christ's sake. They went out
for Christ's sake. And they were supported by the
Gentiles and the heathen to whom they went to preach. Taking nothing
from them, because that's what most preachers, you know, they
won't, you gotta have this much money, or they just all the time
have to, but these fellows, we're not gonna take anything from
these people we're preaching to. We're not gonna take anything.
Not take nothing. And so they took nothing from
the Gentiles. Nothing from them. No help. And
then he says, we there ought to receive such, them that's
out preaching for Christ's sake. Missionaries, traveling preachers,
and the people, and that we, look what he says, receive these
men. They're not out here for this.
for gain in this world, we thereof to receive such that we might
be fellow helpers of the truth. So we ought, since they're not
getting this support, so we ourselves ought to support such people,
welcome them and provide for them. And he says that we'll
be fellow helpers with these, we'll be fellow helpers with
them and we'll labor in the truth with them. I can't go to Mexico,
but I can sure help somebody that is down there. I can't go
to New Guinea, but I can help them people that over there are
preaching the gospel. I know churches that can't hardly
pay their bills right now. We can help people like that.
And that's what he said, that we can be fellow helpers. We
can't go, but we can help them who do go. So we're fellow laborers
with them. Whatever they're in the gospel,
whatever they do in the gospel, God says it's us doing it with
them because we're helping them. He said, send them on their way.
And oh, that we might be, and it's a great privilege. Oh, what
a great privilege to preach the gospel. But it's an equal privilege
and blessing to provide for those who do preach it. And he says,
and we're helpers and laborers with them. Can't do enough. We just can't do enough. I just
can't. And I tell you what, there's
a lot of places you and I can't go, but we can help send the
people and pay the way for the people that are going. If God's
prospered us, that's what we do. And God says, we're fellow.
Receive such, receive them. Welcome, provide for them, and
say, go on your way preaching the gospel. Amen. What a blessing,
what a blessing. Our Father, in the blessed name
of Christ our Lord, thank you for allowing us this time. Thank
you for this blessed gospel, this blessed truth, these things
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and the privilege we have to
support those who preach the gospel, those who labor in the
gospel, provide for those who labor in the gospel, who labor
for Christ's sake. What a blessing, what a privilege.
And O Lord, and help us always to be faithful to witness of
our Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work and what he did
to save sinners like ourselves. O God, send out the gospel to
our children's hearts, our grandchildren's hearts, our husbands and wives,
brothers and sisters, Lord, whom we have such a burden for and
such a weight upon us for them. God, please go after them, stir
up their heart, for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.