In 3 John, verse 1, the elder,
under the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Now
this letter is written by John, very similar to the letter he
wrote in 2 John to the elect lady. He mentions a lot of the
same things. He talks about love and the truth.
He talks about a joy that a pastor has when he finds his children
walking in the truth, when he finds them walking in faith and
love. He talks about false preachers and he talks about the desire
to talk face to face, not just in a letter. And again, John's
the writer and he calls himself again, this letter, just like
he did in the previous one, the elder. And certainly that he
is the elder. He's an old man. He's, about
everybody agrees, he's over 90 years old at this time that he's
writing this letter. And certainly he's an elder in
the church. And I thought about this this week. The Apostle John. He could have used a lot of impressive,
flowery titles, and nobody could have argued with him. He could
have said a lot of things about himself that have been very true.
He could have called himself the last surviving apostle. He
could have, you know, talked about himself being the last
defender of the truth or something, you know, the most wise preacher
alive, the only one left who'd been taught from the Lord directly.
But he didn't use any of those titles. He just said Galder.
And you know, all the apostles were this way. They called themselves
the servants of Christ. They said, we're your servants
for Christ's sake. They called themselves the prisoner
of Jesus Christ or simply the apostles. Sometimes they didn't
even name themselves at all. And that's the mark of a mature
believer. Humility. And John's been around
long enough now and he's got some humility. He just calls
himself the elder. And he's writing to this man,
Gaius. Now there are several different men named Gaius mentioned
in the New Testament. In Henry's outline of this, he
says that the name Gaius was as common in the Roman Empire
as John Smith is in our day. A very common name. There is
a man Gaius who Paul baptized in the church at Corinth. And
this Gaius is a different man. He's converted under the ministry
of John. And John calls him Beloved Gaius. Now he's beloved for three
reasons. He's loved by God, like every
child of God, every believer, loved by God. Loved with the
same eternal, without beginning, without ending, infinite, unmeasurable,
unchanging love of God. Now you think about that. It's
impossible to understand why a holy God would ever love a
sinner like you and me. We couldn't believe it if Scripture
didn't tell us. Beloved. Loved of God. Secondly, he's loved by John.
He calls him well-beloved Gaius. You can't explain the love, the
feeling that you have for someone who first believes Christ under
your ministry. Preacher didn't do anything.
He didn't do anything at all. The Lord did it all. Yet there's
something special when someone looks to Christ. When they first
look to Christ, if you happen to be the one at that moment
pointing to Him, there's a special love. And that's what John has
for this brother who's walking in the truth, who first came
to saving faith in Christ under John's ministry. He's beloved
of John. And third, Gaius is beloved by
all the brethren who know him. Gaius is known to be a man of
faith. Known to be a man of integrity, generosity. And you see, you
can never get away from this. That true faith and conduct go
hand in hand always. Where there's faith in Christ,
that faith will govern our conduct. And that's what it did with this
man Gaius. And this love for the brethren is genuine. It's
not faith. It's not something you just put
on. It's true. That's what he says here. Loved
in the truth. And that means truly, genuinely
loved by all the brethren. And that kind of love will last.
It's not fake. It's not something that's just,
you know, here today and gone tomorrow. It's true love. Now,
every one of us can appreciate and love someone, admire someone
like Gaius. We all know people who are like
Gaius. We all are thankful to know someone
like Gaius. And I'm thankful to know some
people like this. But you know, every believer
ought to strive not just to know someone like this, but to be
a man. Be a woman like Gaius who walks in faith and truth. Not just that we believe the
truth, but that we walk in it. Not just that we believe in God's
grace, but that we're gracious people. Not just that we believe
in God's mercy, but that we're merciful people. Not just that
we believe in the love of God, but that we're loving people.
Not just that we appreciate kindness, but that we're kind people. Not
just that we believe sound doctrine. That's important. You can't stress
that enough that we believe sound doctrine, but that we're loving
and lovable people. That's the kind of man Gaius
was. Well-beloved Gaius. And John tells you in verse 2,
he says, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper
in being in hell, even as thy soul prospereth. Now, John is
not putting more importance on physical health and material
wealth than he is spiritual blessings, spiritual health and spiritual
wealth. What he's saying is, is I hope you continue to succeed
in all things, that you have health just as much as your soul
prospers. You know, there's nothing wrong
with earthly riches or material blessings and physical health.
Nothing wrong with those things at all. Now, you wouldn't want
those things, those physical, material things, at the expense
of spiritual blessings, spiritual wealth and health. But there's
nothing wrong with having both at the same time. When the Lord
is pleased to make one of His children prosper materially,
that person will use those things to help others, to be a blessing
to the church. The Lord doesn't give those material
blessings to His children so we can whore it all up for ourselves
and live on easy street. He gives us those things to help
others. No believer would ever want to
live on easy street, just have everything their heart could
desire and have their brother be in need. The Lord gives us
those things to relieve our brother who's in need. And Gaius is that
kind of person. And it's a blessing when the
Lord gives physical help. If you don't believe it, wait
until you don't have it. Then you'll know that's a blessing.
If you're in good health, you can attend the worship service.
When you can listen better because you're not worried about pain
and the things, you know, ill health you're going through.
You have the strength to be of help to others. Physical health
is a blessing. But how can that compare? And
that's a blessing. But you think about the prosperity
of the soul of God's elect. We're born with a soul that's
diseased. It's bankrupt. It's a soul that's
born hating God. A soul that's born not just diseased,
but dead in trespasses and sin. A soul that's totally worthless. All it's fit for is to burn.
But by God's grace, His children have been given soul prosperity.
We've been washed in the blood of God's Son. Your sin's been
forgiven. You've been given righteousness.
You've been regenerated. Given the life of Christ. You've
been made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I'm telling
you, that's a ledger that equals prosperity. Soul prosperity. You can't have more wealth than
that. And we've been given health.
A person said to be in good health when they have an appetite. Back
when Andy was going through his chemo treatments, the first question
everybody asks is, does he have an appetite? Does he feel like
eating? Because if he has an appetite,
and his health is improving. That's what we all ask. We've
been given a soul that has an appetite for the gospel. Has
an appetite for the sincere milk of the word. We've been given
a soul that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. A soul that
pants after Christ like that hungry deer pants after the water
brook. That's a healthy soul. When they
have an appetite. And a person is said to be in
good health when they're growing. Not when they're just laying
in a bed, wasting away, constantly losing weight, but they're growing,
they're gaining strength. That's God's children who grow
in grace because they feed on Christ, the living bread, the
Word of God. And it's an added blessing if
for a while your body will be in good health too. But after
some time, no matter how long that blessing, if your body health
lasts, it's going to go away. But the soul prospers forever.
It's eternal. That's health and wealth. So
he says, for a while, I hope your body is in health and you
have prosperity physically, just like your soul prospers. Now,
verse 3, he says, for I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came
and testified of the truth that's in thee, even as thou walkest
in the truth. I have no greater joy than to
hear my children walk in the truth. Apparently, there are
some brethren who are traveling, visiting the city where Gaius
And they impressed with this man's faith, with his graciousness,
how graciously and generously he treated them. And they, maybe
they came back to the town or church they came from, maybe
they continued on their travels to the next churches and they
told everyone they met about what a blessing it was to meet
this man Gaius and how much they enjoyed getting to spend some
time with him. They could tell this man believed God. The truth
was in him, that Christ had been formed in him. Now how could
they tell that? Was there a mark on his forehead
some way? Did he look different than everybody else? How could
they tell that? Because he walked in the truth. That's how they
could tell. He showed his love and kindness to these brethren.
Even though he may have never met them before. Probably he
never had. He probably never met them before.
They may have been old friends or they may have been new friends.
But he was kind and generous to them. And they appreciated
it. And these travelers They didn't
envy his gifts. Suppose he was a rich man. They
didn't envy his material riches. He was a man of great faith.
They didn't envy his spiritual blessings. They rejoiced that
the Lord blessed this man this way. They gave thanks that the
Lord blessed him this way because of love. What did Paul say in
1 Corinthians 13? Love, envy it not. They didn't
envy him. They rejoiced. They gave thanks.
I give thanks. When I hear the Lord's blessed
one of you with a good job or new babies, new children, oh,
we give thanks. Nobody's not jealous. You give
thanks. What a blessing. Because of love and be a smile.
That's what we pray for you. That the Lord will bless you.
He just got done praying, the Lord will bless him. We give
thanks when the Lord does. That's what he's giving thanks
for. And he said, I had a lot of joy when I heard about your
faithfulness, that you're walking the truth. This is the The love
that John felt for this man, Gaius, he calls him one of his
children. The love that a man has for his children, that's
the deep affection he has for this man, Gaius. He said, I had
a lot of joy when I heard about someone who'd been converted
into my ministry, walking in faith, walking in truth and love. He said, I had great joy. And
parents know that kind of joy. When you hear a good report about
your children having good behavior, when they're away from you. Now,
it's easy to have them kind of, well, maybe it's not easy. It's
easier when they're right under your thumb to have good behavior. With my girls, especially when
they were little, they're in the same zip code as Janet. They
didn't have much opportunity to misbehave because, I mean,
she appeared out of nowhere. She was on them. But what about
when they're away and they think they could be doing something
they think? Now, parents always know. You little ones remember
that parents always know. They always find out. But when
you think nobody's watching, and they have good behavior,
they do the things that you taught them. Oh, it gives you joy. That hard work wasn't in vain.
They listened sometimes. Well, John had reason to rejoice.
He had good reason to have joy because his preaching hadn't
been in vain. Gayest profession wasn't just
in words. He walked in truth. His profession wasn't just to
please the elder John. Because he was this way, walked
in the truth when John wasn't around. John's a long way away.
Because he wasn't doing it to please John. He was following
Christ. That gave John joy. That gave
him joy. His preaching wasn't in vain.
And you know, I am so thankful for a faithful pastor. I give
thanks for a faithful pastor every day. I pray for him in
the ministry. This work that God's called him
to is more than any of us really can understand, the greatness
of it. And I pray for him through the
week. I know he's studying. I pray for him. He's preparing
to preach to us. And I pray for him because I
want our Savior to be glorified. Don't you? I do. I honestly pray
for that. But I tell you the truth, a lot
of my prayer is because I need blessing. I need the Lord to
bless me while I study Him. Because I need a blessing. I
need to be fed. I do. But more than that, I need
a blessing. We all do. I'd like to be like
this man Gaius. I don't want to just get a blessing
and go on home. I'd like to be a blessing to him and to you
too. And you know how you do that?
The same way Gaius did. Walking in the truth. It would
break my heart. If years down the road, John
found out all the sweat and toil he put into preaching to me was
in vain, that would break my heart. But when it's not in vain,
John says there is great joy. To find my children are walking
in the truth. Now verse 5, Beloved, thou doest
faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and the 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." Now John's commending his son Gaius for the hospitality
and the kindness he shows to other believers. They could be
old friends or they could be strangers. That's why I think
he's talking here about these travelers who came through town
were strangers to Gaius. He didn't know them before. Or
maybe he heard they were believers traveling through. Or maybe he
heard they were preachers. He heard them preach. And after
he heard that, he opened his home to them. He gave them food. He gave them a place to sleep
and rest on their travels and spent some time with them, fellowshipping
with them, getting to know them. And then before they left, he
gave them some provision for the way. Maybe some money for
their travels or some sandwiches for the road and sent them on
their way. And these travelers received
such a blessing. They told everybody they knew
about them. This was such a blessing to them. I remember years ago,
Probably a teenager. And Don Fortner would come to
preach. And he would stand back there at the back. And I heard
Charlie Payne ask him, he said, now before you go, let's go get
a burger. That's what kindness is to someone. Just making sure
he's got everything he needs before he travels back. There's
been times I've traveled a long way away to preach. And then
you preach in the morning and then again in the evening. And
in the afternoon, you go home with someone. They feed you.
You fellowship with them, get to know them. Then before you
leave, frequently, some of the ladies will bring you a little
bag of goodies. Sandwich maybe, or what I'm really interested
in is cookies or candy or something, you know, on the way. Give you
a nice cold Pepsi to take with you. And I'm telling you, when
you're driving home late at night, boy, you'll like that. That sugar
rush helps keep you going. It tastes good. And that thoughtfulness
and that effort is really appreciated. Now, he's given us this as an
example for us to follow. And John tells Gaius, you did
this faithfully. This is an act of faith. I think
one of the greatest compliments that you can give a believer
is he's faithful, faithful to Christ, faithful to the cause
of Christ, a faithful servant of Christ. And if you're faithful,
You don't do those things to get recognition of men. Gaius
wasn't doing this so he could get a pat on the back by John.
He was doing it because he's a faithful servant. He's just
doing what a good servant does. Look over Matthew chapter 6.
Our Lord gives us instruction here. This is how the servant
is to conduct himself. In Matthew chapter 6, verse 1, he says, that you do
not your alms, your righteousnesses, your good deeds, before men,
to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward
of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets. They do that that they
might have glory to men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But when thou doest alms, when
a faithful servant, when you do your alms, let not thy left
hand know what thy right hand doeth. that thine alms may be
in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward
thee openly." That's the way a faithful servant does, not
to get recognition, just doing it because he's a faithful servant.
And you know, a faithful servant doesn't keep a ledger so he can
get rewarded. You know, I did this, I did this,
and this. At the end of the year, I better get a good bonus for
this. That's not why a faithful servant They do it just because
that's what they're supposed to do. They're being a faithful
servant. Look over Matthew 25. This scripture is always striking
to me. Matthew 25, verse 34. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was in hunger, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty,
and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited
me. I was in prison, and you came unto me. Now look at verse
37. Then shall the righteous, the
faithful servant, answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see
you hungry, and feed thee? When did we ever see you thirsty,
and gave you drink? When did we see thee a stranger,
and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? When did we see
you sick or in prison and came unto me? They didn't know when
they did these things because they weren't keeping a ledger,
just being a faithful servant. And the king shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, as much as you've done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, you've done it unto
me. That's a faithful servant. But
the mercenary, they say, Lord, look what we've done. We've preached
in your name. We've cast out devils in you. We've done many
wonderful works in thy name. They're keeping a ledger. That's
a mercenary. That's not a faithful servant. And Gaius had been faithful,
just a faithful servant, by sending these men on their way, treating
them with kindness and generosity. Now, verse 7, in 3 John, 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. That's the title of the lesson
this morning, Fellow Helpers to the Truth. Now apparently
these travelers were preachers. They were traveling missionaries.
They left home to go to places out to the heathen, places where
Christ had never been preached before. And as they went, they
didn't ask for any financial help from the Gentiles, from
the heathen, from the people, from unbelievers. They went being
supported by the church, by believers. Now everyone's not a preacher.
Everyone certainly isn't a missionary. My guess is nobody in this room
will ever be a missionary. I stand in awe of men, of families,
who God gives the grace to, so they go be a missionary. Go to
places that preach a different language, have totally different
customs, live in much less comfortable surroundings than we live in,
so they can preach the gospel to God's sheep. And I'll never
be one. But I can be a fellow helper
to the truth. We can be a fellow helper by
supporting them financially. You know, we want to support the
gospel here, but also in other places that as men go forth to
preach the gospel, be fellow helpers to the truth. There's
an article in the Bulletin a couple of weeks ago. I thought of it
as I was looking at this verse this week. It's an article by
Spurgeon. He says this, he says, I remember
Pastor Edward Irving once preached a sermon to a vast congregation
on missions. I think he preached for four
hours. And the object of his sermon was to prove that we're
all wrong to support our missionary friends, that we ought to send
out our missionaries without purse or script, giving them
nothing so they can live by faith. That's kind of us. We won't support
you so you can have a blessing. You can live by faith. Of course, Spurgeon says, Edward
never volunteered to go himself. If he had done so, I would have
endorsed his philosophy and been glad to send him. But Edward
stayed home and didn't go. Now, we're not believers in Edward's
philosophy. No, I say, brother, if you're
going to go to a foreign land and preach Christ, if you're
going to give your life and your health and renounce the comforts
of your country, let us provide for your needs as God enables
us. What a privilege and blessing
it must be to be sent of our Master to preach the gospel of
Christ in another language to people who have not heard. But
do not we, here in our country, also share in that privilege
and blessing when we are enabled of God to provide food and clothing
and transportation for that missionary? I say we are. Gaius found just
that out. And when you do, John says you
do so faithfully. The Lord give us that same grace
to be fell helpers of the church, don't you? Alright, well, the
Lord bless you.