As she has time, Shelby will
periodically type some of the handwritten notes of messages
I preached over the years and save them for me in the computer
for use as however I have opportunity to use them. Last week, after
finishing one of the messages I had preached 35 years ago back
in 1979, we sat down to have lunch back here in the office
and she said to me, You preached that sermon 35 years ago, but
your doctrine hasn't changed one bit. You could just as well
have preached it yesterday. I'm thankful that's true. I hope
I have grown in my knowledge of the doctrine and in my love
for the gospel of God's free grace, but my doctrine hasn't
changed, not in hair's breadth, in the years that God has been
pleased to give me for preaching the gospel. It is exactly the
same now as in the beginning. Tonight, I'm going to preach
a message to you that I preached to you 33 years ago, just about
a year after I became your pastor on one Sunday evening, 33 years
ago. The title of the message is Four
Men in the Church. Actually, the message is very
fresh. I've been working on it all day. But the outline, the
doctrine, is just exactly what you had 33 years ago. Our text
will be 3 John, verses 1 through 14. 3 John, verses 1 through
14. Four men in the church. That's my
subject. Let's begin reading at verse
1. 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 the truth, or in truth. Beloved,
thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and
to strangers. What a commendation. What a commendation. Beloved, thou doest faithfully
whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers. which
have borne witness of thy charity before the church, whom if thou
bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt
do well. Because that for his name's sake
they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles, we therefore
ought to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the
truth. I wrote unto the church, But
Deotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth
us not. Wherefore, if I come, 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. Beloved, follow not that which
is evil. He's talking about all the behavior
and the conduct of this man, Diotrephes. Follow not that which
is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God,
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath a good
report of all men and of the truth itself. Yea, and we also
bear record, and you know that our record is true. I had many
things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee.
But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face
to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends
salute thee. Greet the friends by name. I just told your hands and you
buy it. Hold your hands right here in
third, John. And let's look at these 14 verses
of this, the shortest epistle, the shortest book in the Bible.
If things are as they ought to be. There is nothing on earth
sweeter and more delightful than a church family. The bonds of
flesh and blood are neither as strong nor as precious as the
bonds of love and grace in Christ in the blood of God's darling
son. True fellowship, true fellowship. People talk about fellowship.
They get together at the Masonic Lodge in have fellowship, or
they get together at the bar and have fellowship, or they
go to church and have fellowship. That's not what we're talking
about. That's not what we're talking about. True fellowship, true fellowship
is built upon love and trust in the truth. It is built upon
love and trust in the truth, in Christ Jesus, in the gospel. This love and trust is a love
and trust that must be cultivated like any relationship of love
and trust. It must be cultivated. A man
and wife married must cultivate love and trust for one another
so that they live together in comfortable peace, loving one
another and trusting one another. You and I ought to be genuinely
thankful for the blessed fellowship God's given us in this place.
We ought to do everything we can to protect it and promote
it. There are few places, few places
where you can find such delightful fellowship as we have enjoyed
these many years. It's fellowship built upon the
gospel. And it reflects itself in love
and trust. Love and trust. You're to be
commended. for behaving in such a way. And
yet you're to be admonished. Let nothing disturb this blessed
fellowship. If we cease to love and trust
one another, we may have our name on the same church register,
but there's no longer fellowship among believers. When things
are as they should be, the relationship between a pastor and his congregation
is not like that of an executive who runs a business and is responsible
for running the business. Rather, it is a relationship
of a father to his household. To be sure, the father and his
household, a husband and wife, a father and children, is just
exactly how this relationship is described and illustrated
in the New Testament. This father-child relationship,
is especially true when a particular man has been the instrument by
which God has been pleased to bring you to life and faith in
Christ in the preaching of the gospel. I had a man call me aside
just before they left after a conference, and he said to me with his family
standing beside him, standing around him, the Lord used you
to teach us the gospel. to reveal Christ in us, to save
us by his grace. We'll never forget that. That's
a peculiar relationship, a precious relationship. But this relationship
is not to be limited just to that. Every pastor, every faithful
pastor, every man who truly is the servant of God watches over
God's people committed to his care as a loving father watches
over his house. He does the things he does for
the benefit of the household, to protect the household. He
labors for their good, nourishes and cherishes them in the gospel.
A faithful pastor must rule the house of God. He must take the
oversight of God's church. That's his responsibility. He
dare not relinquish that responsibility. I have a responsibility in my
household to be the head of the house. That means I'm responsible
for the house. I'm responsible for everything
the household does. I'm responsible for everything
that goes on over there. I'm responsible for what she
does and what I do and what we do together. That's my responsibility. That's exactly the responsibility
a pastor has in a gospel church. He doesn't rule by force like
a tyrant or by cunning craftiness and deceit like a politician.
The faithful pastor rules in love and faithfulness by the
word of God, like a husband and a father. It is my prayer that
this very hour, you who are yet dead in trespasses and sins will
be born into the family of God, born again by the power and grace
of God, the Holy Spirit. This is a great privilege to
be a member of the family of God. saved by God's free grace,
washed in the precious blood of Christ, living in union with
the Son of God by faith in Him, as one with Christ, one with
His people, one with God. It is in this relationship And
with this attitude of fatherly love that John wrote to his dearly
beloved Gaius, this man who he speaks of so tenderly in this
short epistle. The relationship between these
two men was one of love and trust built upon their fellowship in
the gospel. Therefore, when John writes to
Gaius, he doesn't have to explain himself. He doesn't have to explain
himself. He knew that Gaius was aware
of and convinced of his love for Gaius, his love for the church
he served, his love for the Christ he served. So when John writes
to him, Gaius obviously is fully aware of the conflict that Deoctaves
has raised He's fully aware of it and John never speaks of what
the conflict is with any detail He just states it goes all he's
as if to say Merle I know you trust me enough to understand
this. I Know you I know you trust me enough to understand why I've
done this and so he deals with it in just that way. I The relationship
was built upon the gospel, upon love and trust. And it was enough
for Gaius to know John's love for Christ, for the gospel, for
his church and for him. And so he gives these words of
instruction to Gaius and by divine inspiration to you and me. They're
brief and clear, but needful instructions. Why did John write
this epistle? Why did he write this epistle?
Why do we have this short but pointed, pointed epistle and
the instructions it gives? In the early church, most of
the pastors and all of the apostles were itinerant preachers. There
were men who went from place to place preaching the gospel,
seeking the salvation of God's elect, establishing gospel churches
wherever God gathered his people, and establishing those established
churches in the gospel, strengthening their hands in the work of the
gospel. Pastors were required, as God requires every faithful
pastor, as they have opportunity to make full proof of their ministry. full proof of their service to
God doing the work of an evangelist. That's the requirement of God
given in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 5 to every man who has
the responsibility I have as your pastor. As God gives opportunity
Do the work of an evangelist, making full proof of your ministry. Faithful pastors are to be both
pastors and missionaries, pastors and evangelists. Now, as these
pastors travel from place to place preaching the gospel, the
churches receive these men as honored guests. honored guest
they they received them and were honored to have them in their
midst and Because they were received as honored guests They supplied
them with whatever they needed while they were with them and
with whatever was needed to carry them on their way Preaching the
gospel to someone else John wrote this postcard epistle to Gaius
both to commend him for his generosity in this matter and to give him
instruction concerning it But there was a problem And second,
John, the apostle tells us there were false prophets, men who
went about masquerading as the servants of Christ, men who went
about masquerading as the servants of Christ, who denied the gospel
of Christ. They denied the incarnation and
deity of the Savior. They denied the efficacy of Christ's
obedience and sacrifice as the sinner's substitute. And those
men, he told us plainly in 2 John, are not to be received by us.
And another problem arose. In the church of which Gaius
was a member, there was a proud, ambitious, self-serving man by
the name of Diotrephes. This proud, ambitious, self-serving
man despised John. despised God's Apostle despised
God's messenger to the church and he did everything he could
in opposition to this man John this faithful servant of God
and He despised John Probably principally because he couldn't
be John that's usually the way it works this man was causing
horrible disturbance in the church and The fact is, it only takes
one contrary person, one slanderer, one whisperer. One whisperer. See folks get corner whisperers. They're seeking to divide friends.
Just takes one. Just takes one. The slanderers.
Seeking to divide friends and they cause disturbance in the
family just takes one as you read the New Testament it becomes
obvious that there are There's no such thing as a perfect church
So that's an ideal church never has been one never has been one
all the early churches had problems Every last one of some of them
had severe problems. I mean radically severe problems
and Painful as it is to see folks get upset and leave the church
and it is painful because it always causes disruption in the
family Because someone's I didn't sparkle and light up just like
they thought it should when they entered the room they get upset
And that's just about all that amounts to Every time every time
and they get upset they upset And they, like spoiled little
boys, take their ball and glove and say, we'll go to another
team. And so they do, but they can't do so without causing disruption. The fact is, no church is quite
good enough for such humble, meek, loving whisperers and slanderers. So like pouting little boys,
they take off. We have in this epistle here,
a description of just such characters and of others exactly the opposite. Four men in the church. There
are three things which ought to motivate us in every aspect
of life. I hope you'll get these. Three
things that ought to motivate us in every aspect of life and
in every endeavor as a gospel church. The glory of God. Does this glorify God? If it
doesn't, don't do it. If it doesn't, don't say it.
If it doesn't, don't participate in it. The truth of God is this
helpful to and consistent with the gospel of God's grace. If
it's not, zip your lips. If it's not, don't participate
in it. Number three, the people of God. the good, the spiritual good,
the benefit of God's church and God's people, his kingdom, his
family. Now, here are the four men we're
going to look at this evening very briefly. John, the beloved
elder. Gaius, the faithful disciple. Diotrephes, the proud deceiver. And Demetrius, the good example. Now, I'm certain I will come
back to these things in a few weeks, so let me just give you
the highlights of them. Our first character is the author
of this epistle. He is that disciple whom Jesus
loved, John, the beloved disciple. Three words are used in the New
Testament to describe a pastor. Pastors are called elders, pastors,
and bishops. The word elder refers to the
man. The pastor must be a man of maturity
and sobriety in the house of God. Not one who strives, not
one who enters into conflict and likes to have his way. Man of maturity and sobriety. Paul said to Timothy, let no
man despise thy youth. He was an elder, but he was a
young man. That meant that he had to act like an old man. I
say to young men all the time, if you're going to do what God's
given you to do as a pastor, you will be wise to dress like,
talk like, look like, and act like an old man. Folks, don't
pay any attention to boys. Behave as a man, an elder, one
of maturity and sobriety in the house of God. He's called a bishop. The word bishop refers to the
man's office. It means superintendent. the
man in charge, the man responsible for the work. And then the word
pastor refers to the work of the ministry, the work of shepherding. A shepherd feeds and protects
and leads the flock of sheep. That's what a shepherd does.
He feeds and protects and leads God's sheep. That's his business.
He does so by study, by prayer, and by preaching. By study, by
prayer, and by preaching. Paul's words to the church at
Ephesus, or to the elders at Ephesus, speak of this very thing.
Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church
of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Not only
was John the elder beloved of Christ, he was beloved of Christ
Church as a pastor. His behavior was such that it
won for him the love and respect of God's church and people. John
was a pastor whose heart was full of love. Here he simply
calls himself the elder. Unlike the other apostles, I
don't think this was typical of the others, John remained
at one place as a pastor for a long time. And he learned to
prefer the title elder to that of apostle. In the church family,
John was the loved and loving elder. As the servant of Christ,
Elder John had great desires that motivated him. His concern
was for the glory of God, the truth of Christ, the good of
God's people. And it was that he wanted to
see the love of God, the love of Christ reflected in the people
of God in his church. Nothing pleased him more than
to see the saints of God walking together in truth and in love. How sweet, how heavenly is the
sight when those who love the Lord in one another's peace delight
and so fulfill his word. John was the model pastor. He was the model pastor. He was
an elder worthy of imitation. It is a bright day for Christ
Church when God gives her such pastors. It has been my prayer
every day for nearly 45 years since God gave me the responsibility
and the high honor and privilege of this work that he would make
me such a pastor, a pastor of knowledge and understanding to
feed you as a man after God's own heart. All right. The second
man we meet with in our text, is the one to whom it was written,
Gaius, the faithful disciple. Who was this man, Gaius? We don't
really know. He was not the same Gaius that
Paul mentions. It's another man altogether.
Gaius in that day was as common as John is in our part of the
country today. Gaius was not an elder or a deacon. At least he's not identified
as such. We simply don't know much about it. About all that's
clear is that he was one of John's disciples, a familiar friend
of John's. He was apparently a man of some
influence in the church. He apparently had been around
a while, had some influence in the church. He was the man when
folks came to town, when preachers came to town, they'd look Gaius
up. They'd stop by Gaius' house first.
He was a man well known, some influence in the church. Here,
John commends this man for his faithfulness to the gospel and
for his love to the saints and to God's servants. Look at Gaius'
testimony. This is not one of those silly,
sentimental, self-flattering testimonies that men give of
themselves or of others. This was John's testimony of
what was commonly reported about this man, Gaius. Verse 3, I rejoiced
greatly When the brethren came and testified of the truth that's
in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth, I had no greater
joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou
doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest. What a testimony. What
a testimony. Now there's somehow a, I suppose it's sincere,
fear among some folks of inflating people so they never compliment
them for anything. They just, oh, I don't want to
puff his head up. I remember back years ago, shortly
after Doug and Faith were married, Doug was sitting in the living
room or in the den one day and he asked me, he said, how do
you speak to, he was talking specifically about speaking to
Brother Todd after the message, how do you speak concerning that?
I said, don't ever be afraid of giving a man a word of appreciation
for his service to your soul, for the word of God spoken by
him by which your soul is profited. Don't just speak casually and
off the cuff meaninglessly. Call his attention to something
specific, say it, that profited your soul and express yourself
with honesty and sincerity, and that's altogether proper. Altogether
proper. John here commends Gaius for
his work. And when the commendation comes,
don't put on air of great piety. Man, that was a good meal. Well,
give praise to God. I did that. That's reason I'm
complimenting you. That was good. The compliment's proper. It's
altogether proper. Proper to encourage folks in
a good thing. Gaius was a man faithful to the
truth, faithful to the doctrine of Christ, the gospel of Christ,
the word of God, a faithful witness of the truth. This man, Gaius,
was a man whose life reflected what he believed. He held the
truth in love and lived it. There was no dichotomy between
his profession and his practice. There was an exact correspondence
between his creed and his conduct. What he believed, he lived. Gaius knew the love of God and
he walked in love. Gaius knew the gift of God. and
he gave generously. Gaius knew how God received him
and provided for him, and he was hospitable to others. And
Gaius demonstrated this love for Christ and the gospel by
that faithful kindness and generosity he expressed toward others in
the way he dealt with them. Whenever a man came through town
preaching the gospel, Gaius made it his business to take care
of him. Now let's look at John's instructions
in verses 6 through 8 about caring for God's servants. John commended
Gaius for what he had done, and he tells him what he should do. He encourages him to continue
in this good work. As individuals and as a church
of Christ, you and I ought to take care of those who preach
the gospel. John says this is a godly sort
of work, that is, it is a work worthy of God, a godly sort of
work. Those who preach the gospel are
to live by the gospel. It is the privilege and responsibility
of every local church to take care of their pastor's material
needs, of his financial needs, so that he doesn't have to concern
himself with those things. First Corinthians chapter nine
is all about that. 1 Timothy chapter 5 speaks specifically
concerning this. If a pastor has to be concerned
about his present or the future needs of his family, he simply
can't give himself to the work of the ministry. Now, I know
a good many men who choose to work a secular job and preach
the gospel, and I don't call into question their faithfulness.
Please understand that. But it is wrong, it is wrong
for a pastor not to be supported by the church he serves. And
if that church can't support him as they should, all churches
together should take care of those who preach the gospel.
If a pastor has to concern himself about his livelihood and work
public jobs simply can't, give himself sufficiently to study
and preaching the word. As a young man, I could go out
and work, work third shift and take on another job and do that
and stay up late at night and work and study when my body was
tired. And I did that when I was in college and preaching different
places. But I'm going to tell you something. Most of you know
this. When you're physically tired,
after you reach a little age, get a little age on you, when
you're physically tired, your mind just stops. You can't do
what you used to do mentally. It just can't be done. But John's
not just talking about churches supporting their own pastors.
He's talking about churches supplying the needs of other pastors, preachers,
missionaries, and evangelists. Well, why should we be concerned
about that? You will recall shortly after I came here, I started
talking to you about a responsibility. We have a responsibility to the
kingdom of God outside these four walls. Our responsibility
reaches to the whole church of Christ, to the whole cause of
God in the generation in which we live, so that every faithful
church, every faithful preacher, every faithful pastor, every
faithful missionary is our responsibility. John here gives us three clear
reasons why we should be concerned about taking care of such men.
Three very practical reasons for generously supplying the
needs of God's servants. Number one, they're sent in the
name of Christ. They come in Christ's name. I
don't mean by that they just pretend to. Faithful men come
to you in Christ's name, representing Jesus Christ. And our Savior
said as He sent out His disciples, He said, if a man receives you,
he receives me. If he despises you, he despises
me. That's what the Savior said.
Now, I know people object to that, but that's what the Savior
said. The second reason is this. Those who preach the gospel have
no means of supporting themselves other than by the generosity
of God's people. They went forth taking nothing
of the Gentiles, John tells us. During the days of the Roman
Empire, men who were promoters of various forms of religion,
heathen, idolatry, used to go about collecting money from the
masses for their gods. The Papists of Rome followed
their example and they sent friars around the world to collect money
for the church so that you bought indulgences and you bought forgiveness
if you put a little money in their cup. The practice of begging
for God is common in every age. Men are forever inventing ways
to raise money in the name of religion. But when our Lord Jesus
sent his disciples out to preach the gospel, you remember what
he specifically told them? He said, don't go from house
to house. Don't go from house. Don't go begging. Don't go begging. I'm not about to. God's servants
don't. No, sir. No, sir. I am the servant
of the king of the universe. Do you reckon it honors him when
we go begging? That's absurd. That's absurd. I, uh, I would
be embarrassed. I would be embarrassed if my
wife ever indicated to anyone that she couldn't do something
because, uh, she couldn't afford it because her husband hadn't
provided for her, which is what it means when it says I can't
afford that. Now, perfectly all right for me to say I can't afford
that because I'm the one who does the providing. But I'd be embarrassed
if my wife, my children say anything like that. We can't afford that.
Daddy doesn't make enough money. He doesn't provide for us. No,
just say I can't do that. They don't have to know why.
They don't have to hear why. To speak dishonorably of the
provider is never proper, never proper. And for a man to go begging
in God's name is to speak dishonorably of God. The fact is, if God's
in a work, God will support it. The work must be done by God's
man, in God's way, maintained by God's people. Just that simple. Just that simple. Men who preach
for gain are not God's servants. God's servants are supported
by the faithful gifts of God's people and ought to be, but men
who preach for gain and seek gain are not God's. Still, I
repeat, no servant of God should ever have to provide a piece
of bread for himself. Here's the third reason for us
to receive and support those who preach the gospel. In doing
so, we are helpers to the truth, allies to the truth. Brother Bob Ponce is sitting
here. I can't begin to calculate the number of times we have heard
him say, in prayer and to others, speaking to me. Lord, we can't
go, but we can send our pastor. And we are allies in this thing. This work, oh, how honored we
have been these many years together. This work, what great things
God's allowed us to do. But it's not mine. It's not mine. I couldn't do it without you
who are allies in the truth. Couldn't be done. All right,
here's the third man we meet with, Deotrephes, the proud deceiver. Verse nine, I wrote unto the
church, but Deotrephes, who loves attention, That's, that's exactly what I'm
saying. Diotrephes, who loves attention. Diotrephes, who loves
for you to know his name. Diotrephes, who loves for folks
to talk well of him. Diotrephes, who loves for folks
to see him and brag on what a fine fellow he is. Diotrephes, who
loves to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will
remember his deeds which he doeth. What deeds? Prating against us
with malicious words. The malicious words of prating
men against God's servants always are cloaked with indications
of humility and love and kindness. I love you, brother. I've felt
the dagger often enough to know it. Always cloaked in such but
a prating words. Proud words of prating jackasses. Prating words. Malicious words. And not content therewith. Not
just content to yak. Neither doth he himself receive
the brethren and forbiddeth them that would. He not only, he not
only doesn't receive these brethren, he tells other folks not to.
Casting them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which
is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God,
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Gaius and Diotrephes
were members of the same church. Gaius was a believer, a follower
of Christ. He loved the gospel, walked in
truth, loved the brethren, was a generous and hospitable man.
Diotrephes was a proud hypocrite. jealous, envious of God's servants. He loved neither Christ, nor
the gospel, nor the people of God. Deatrophies loved nobody
but Deatrophies. He was a proud, wicked, deceitful
man. Apparently, by deceit and force,
he had gained some place of prominence and influence in the church.
He angrily excommunicated or forced others to excommunicate
men from the church. No doubt his outward conduct
was very moral in the eyes of men. He was no heretic. He was in some ways even worse.
There appears to have been no theological error on his part,
but Diotrephes was a self-serving man. Not all heretics are. He was a proud, wicked, malicious-hearted
man. There seems to have been just
one thing that ruled everything he did. He loved attention. He loved the preeminence. And
his love of preeminence displayed itself in many ways. He loved
place, position, and power. He wanted influence. He wanted
folks to look to him. He wanted recognition. He wasn't
an apostle, but he wanted to be. He wasn't a preacher, but
he wanted to be. He wasn't a pastor, but he wanted
to be. And he reflected the spirit of the Greeks in his day and
of ours, of intellectual arrogance and personal aggrandizement.
He loved position and he held authority in contempt. Those
are two marks of pride and self-righteousness in every place. love of position,
and contempt of authority. Out of jealousy, Deuteronomy
maliciously slandered John and the servants of God. Listen to
this. Solomon warns us of such men.
A forward man soweth strife. A perverse man. Only a perverse
man sows strife. and a whisperer separateth chief
friends, a slanderer separateth chief friends. There wasn't a
chance that Deocrates would cover another person's pimple, let
alone his transgressions, but he that covereth transgressions
seeketh love. He that repeateth the matter
separateth very friends. John solemnly warns us not to
follow the bad example of deatrophies. Now, here's the fourth man, Demetrius,
the good example of faith. Verse 12, Demetrius hath good
report of all men and of the truth itself. Yea, and we also
bear record, and you know our record is true. Demetrius, oh,
he's a faithful man. Demetrius, he's a remarkable
man. Demetrius, what a man Demetrius
is. The beloved apostle says to Gaius,
like a father would to a son. He says, son, see that man? You
see, brother Demetrius, I've known him a long time. I've known
him a long time. That's the man you want to be.
That's the man you want to be. You be like that man. You follow
that man's example. That man is a follower of Christ.
That man is a servant of God. That man serves the people of
God. But daddy, nobody knows who he is. God does. But daddy, nobody thinks he's
important. God does. Demetrius. Demetrius. What a remarkable
man. Let us be careful. to avoid the
spirit of Deoctavis and covet and follow after the spirit of
Demetrius. Pray for me that I may be an
elder like John, a faithful pastor, evangelist, servant of God, seeking
God's glory, holding fast the truth of God, utterly devoted
to your souls. Utterly devoted to your souls. That's what a pastor is. You
may or may not recognize how, but if he's a pastor, he's utterly
devoted to your souls. Children of God follow the example
of Demetrius and Gaius. Love truth, generosity, hospitality,
and God's people. Live in honesty. Behave yourselves
uprightly. Now, this is my prayer for you,
all of you. May you prosper and be in good
health. And may the God of peace keep
your hearts in Christ Jesus. To that goal, before God for
your souls. I again devote myself that you may prosper and be in
good health in your souls and walk in the peace of God in Christ
Jesus. To that end, I'm committed to
live and give my life for Christ's sake. Amen.