The Beloved Gaius

Q: What does the Bible say about church leadership?

The Bible teaches that church leadership involves respect and obedience to elders, as they care for the souls of the congregation. Scripture emphasizes the importance of leadership within the church, where elders are to be respected and honored for their service in the Word and doctrine. In 1 Timothy 5:17, it states that 'Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor.' This underscores that while all believers are equally children of God, there is a God-ordained structure of authority in the church. Elders, being more experienced and knowledgeable, are entrusted with the spiritual care of the church, which includes guidance and discipline. The call for the congregation to support and respect their leaders is essential for maintaining peace and order within the church community, as highlighted in Hebrews 13:17 where it says to 'Obey them that have the rule over you.'

Q: Why is loving one another important for Christians?

Loving one another is essential as it demonstrates the evidence of our faith and reflects the character of God. The importance of love among Christians is a central theme in the New Testament. John emphasizes that love is the manifestation of true faith, stating that 'He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love' (1 John 4:8). A genuine believer will demonstrate their faith through acts of love and kindness within the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:1-3 encourages believers to walk in humility and love, striving to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Without love, our doctrine is incomplete, as true faith naturally results in loving behavior toward others. This relational aspect of love among believers not only fosters a healthy church environment but serves as a testimony to the world of Christ's transformative power in our lives.

Q: How do we know our faith is genuine?

Genuine faith is evidenced by living according to God's truth and demonstrating love for others. According to John, the evidence of true faith is not merely in what one professes but in how one lives. In 3 John 3, he expresses joy in hearing that Gaius is walking in the truth, illustrating that living in accordance with God's word is a hallmark of genuine faith. This belief aligns with the biblical principle that true faith produces fruit, as clearly stated in James 2:17, 'faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.' A genuine believer will display characteristics such as love, generosity, and kindness, thus reflecting the grace that has been extended to them. The testimony of others about our actions further confirms our faith's authenticity. Relying on God's grace, Christians strive to live out their faith, allowing it to be evidenced through their daily conduct.

Now let's open our Bibles this
evening to the book of 3rd John. I don't know exactly why, but
I felt impressed tonight to speak from this little neglected epistle
in the New Testament, 3rd John. Now for the benefit of you who
were here last Wednesday night, I will strive not to speak sixty-one
minutes and twenty-five seconds. Two of my dear elders informed
me that that's how long I preached last Wednesday night. They wouldn't be any use telling
you who they were because you know who they are. All right, 3rd John. Now, beginning with verse 1, the elder,
and I talked about this recently, John calls himself the elder,
and he does so in regard to two things. One, his age, and with
that age comes great experience. And secondly, his office. He
was an elder. He was the old man, and he was
the elder. He lived longer than the other
apostles. All of them were martyred except
John. John lived, some believe, he
lived somewhere between ninety and a hundred years. But he calls
himself the elder. I would remind all of us, and
this is something of which we need to be reminded on occasion,
and the things that I give you tonight are not in the manner
of rebuke at all, but they are instruction and reminders and
encouragement. But I would remind all of us
that while we are all brethren, brothers and sisters, same father,
the one family, we're equally, equally children of God, and
in Christ there's neither male nor female, old or young, bond
nor free, rich nor poor, learned or ignorant, great or small,
but we're all blessed with the knowledge of Christ. And we don't
have to say one to another, know the Lord, because he said they
shall all know me from the least to the greatest. We have one
Lord, one Father, one Mediator, we're one body. But the Lord
is pleased in the church and in the ministry to speak through
and to use for his glory and the good of the church both of
these things. age and authority. He's pleased
to bless and to use experience and authority in the body of
Christ. You know, John also in the first
epistle wrote that there were babes in Christ, and there were
young men in Christ, and there are elders in Christ. And as
I say, while we are brothers and we're equally children of
God, yet there is an authority, and there is a submission to
leadership, and there is a recognition of age and experience. Now, let
me show you a few scriptures. Just place your hand there on
3 John and turn to 1 Timothy, chapter 5, verse 17. This is one of the things, I
believe, that are detrimental, one of the things that is detrimental
to church life and church growth today is everybody's their own
authority. People don't hesitate to argue
and debate with those who are of experience and age and authority. But we notice that's not meant
to be. It's not meant to be that way.
In 1 Timothy 5, 17, it looks at this. Let the elders that
rule well, and ours certainly do, be counted worthy of double
honor. Now, all of God's children are
worthy of honor, but the elder double honor, especially, especially
who labor in the word and doctrine. Verse 19, Against an elder, receive
not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Now turn to 1 Thessalonians 5,
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 12 and 13. 1 Thessalonians 5,
12, And we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among
you, that is to respect them, to listen to them, to honor them,
to know them, that is to give them your ear and your respect
and follow them, and are over you in the Lord and admonish
you and to esteem them very highly in love. for their work's sake
and be at peace among yourselves. This is necessary for that peace. Leadership, authority. It's so
in the home, it's so in the job, it's so in the school, it's true
wherever you go, there's got to be leadership. There's got
to be authority, got to be submission of that authority. Got to be
cooperation with that authority. Got to be. All right, one more
verse, Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. And what I'm pointing
out is that when John wrote John, Paul, Peter, whomever, wrote
these epistles, they, in their salutation, they preceded with
their office and their experience, expecting the people to hear
them, expecting to be given an ear because of where they were
coming from. Hebrews 13 verse 17, Obey them
that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they
watch for your souls, as they that must give an account, that
they may do it with joy. That is, give that account with
joy and not with grief. If they had to account for your
response with grief, that would be most unprofitable. for you. All right, back to the third
John, and we will move on. He says, John the Elder, unto
the well-beloved Gaius, well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
Now this epistle, you remember I told you 2 John was addressed
to a particular woman, the elect lady. This epistle is addressed
to a brother. What an honor. that a holy, inspired
word of God, penned by the Apostle John, should be addressed to
an individual. His name is Gaius. This is not
the one Paul said he baptized. This is another one. Gaius, I
learned this, Gaius was a common name like John or Ronald is today,
just a common name. It occurs four or five times
in the Scripture, Gaius. But this Gaius was converted
under the ministry of John, and he was beloved of the Lord, as
all of God's children are. But he was beloved of John. John
loved this man. And John was his father in the
faith. And I learned in reading this
epistle that this man was also loved of the people. John called him the beloved,
beloved of the Lord. beloved of John, but this word,
beloved, the beloved gave, he was loved by all the people in
the kingdom of God, whom I love in the truth. You know, oh, to
strive not only to believe the grace of God, but to be gracious. not only to be a grace believer,
but be a gracious person. This is what this man Gaius was.
He was a gracious person. Let us strive not only to be
right in our doctrine, but to be loving and lovable. Paul talked
about that over in Ephesians 4. I wish you'd turn over there
a minute, Ephesians chapter 4. And you know, when I'm talking
here, I'm talking about the relationship between people who love Christ. Above all things, put on charity,
you read a while ago, love, which is the bond of perfectness. I
know it's difficult to get along with a lot of people in this
world. I know, I realize that. Our Lord said they'll hate you.
They hated me before they hated you. He said, I didn't come to
send peace. That is, peace with the world
or among worldly people. There's peace among believers.
Something's wrong if there's not peace among believers. Something's
dead wrong if there's not peace among believers. But I'm not
talking here about people who hate God and hate his gospel
and hate the truth. I'm talking here about people
who love Christ and love the gospel and love the truth, they
ought to love each other. And this is what he's saying
here in Ephesians 4. You know, I said they ought to love each
other. They will love each other. I don't think there's an ought
to about it. I believe they will. Because
John said this, he said, How can a man love God and hate his
brother? He that loveth not knoweth not
God. God is love. Look at Ephesians 4. I therefore,
verse 1, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk,
your daily walk, the tenor of your life, the bend of your will,
the direction you walk, worthy of the vocation wherewith you
are called, with all lowliness and humility and long-suffering
Forbearing one another in love. Now, that's not talking about
those folks out there that hate the gospel, hate you because
they hate God. I'm talking about people who
love Christ. Preachers and deacons and elders
and church members and brethren in this church, other churches,
all grace believers. Look at verse 3. Endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Oh my, strive not only to be
right in doctrine, but to be right in attitude. Not only to
believe grace, but to be gracious. Not only to talk about loving
the Lord, but loving one another. Now look at verse 2. Beloved,
beloved John the Gaius, I wish above all things that you may
prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers." Now,
I'm just sure, let me say this, I'm confident, I'm sure that
John is not putting success in business and health of body above
all things. I just don't think this reads
in the King James like it ought to read. Beloved, I wish above
all things, above everything, that you may prosper and be in
health. That's not, we're reading it wrong or something. The amplified
translation helped me a lot in this today. Listen to this. This
is a better translation. Beloved, I pray, and that word
wish is pray. It's in your center reference
there. I pray that you may prosper in
every way, and that your body will keep well, even as I know
your soul is well and your soul prospers." I believe that's what
he's saying. Now, just don't believe you,
John, that this John is putting prosperity and material things
and body above all things. He's saying, I wish, I pray, that you will
prosper, and that you will be in good health even as your soul
prospers, and even as your soul is in good health. I pray that
you, physically and materially, may be blessed of God, even as
he's blessed you spiritually. I'll tell you two things here,
now listen to me. Success, success in business,
in what we do, success and prosperity are wonderful. They're wonderful
powers for the gospel, for the preaching of the gospel,
for the spreading of the gospel. They're wonderful. Success and
prosperity are wonderful powers for the gospel, and they're The
blessing, money's not the root of all evil. The love of money
is the root of all evil. The wrong use of prosperity is
the root of all evil. Not the money itself. Prosperity
and success are wonderful powers if they're in the hands of a
person who's wise and generous and gracious. If God Almighty
calls you, here's a man, Gaius. friend of John, converted under
his ministry, a companion in the gospel, and God has prospered
this man and blessed this man, and he's a wise man and a generous
man and a gracious man who uses what God gives him to help others,
and to help John, and to help the gospel, and to send the gospel
out. So this prosperity, this is one
of the reasons John prayed that he might prosper and continue
to prosper. And I'll tell you something else,
good health and strength of body are important to one who's engaged
in the work of the Lord's kingdom, who's putting forth, I need good
health, you need good health, if you're engaged in the ministry
of the gospel and the work of God, or in helping others. I
don't need prosperity just to splurge it on myself. And I don't
believe John would pray for me, that I would prosper, because
it really becomes a hindrance to me rather than a help. I don't
need good help just so I can use it for my own gain. But now, if I'm in the gospel
business, if I'm in helping others, if I'm into being a blessing
to others, if I'm into this thing of of serving God and glorifying
God and helping missionaries and preachers and those who take
the gospel out and praying for them and encouraging others and
worshiping God, coming to the house of God, going to other
places. I need health and I need prosperity. But if I'm not engaged
in that for the glory of God, I don't need it. I really don't
need it. And I believe that's why. The
reason John prayed this for this man is according to the testimony
we're going to read in the next verse, the testimony of others.
This man was committed to Christ, and he was committed to John,
and John prayed that God would bless him, bless him materially,
bless him physically, that he might continue this labor of
love. and continue these works of faith. That's what John's
praying for him. He's not praying for an idle
man. He's not praying for a selfish man. He's not praying just that
this man might be able to do 21 push-ups to show others how
strong he is. He was praying that this man
might prosper and be in health, even as his soul prospered and
was in health, so that God Almighty continue to use him for his glory.
I pray for you, God will continue to bless you, I need you. This
gospel needs you, this tape ministry needs you, and all the rest of
you who are engaged in the, you and all the rest of you, I say,
that are engaged in this ministry, I pray for you, that God will
cause you to prosper and be in health for the gospel's sake. Whatever we pray for, if we can
pray for it, for God's sake and for Christ's sake and for gospel's
sake, I feel pretty free to pray for it, don't you? I really do. For the gospel's sake. But just
to pray that somebody might not hurt, maybe he ought to hurt. Maybe it'll help him. Maybe he ought to hurt. Maybe
that work will bring him down to see who he needs most of all.
And here's the reason, verse 3, Paul's so confident here in
verse 3, he said, I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came
to me and they testified of two things. They testified of the
truth that's in you and the fact you walked in that truth. Isn't
that something? And listen, Gaius didn't tell John, the brethren
told him. A committed believer, a man who's
committed to God, walking with God, and blessing to others,
he doesn't have to toot his horn. He doesn't have to broadcast
his deeds, his faith and his love. Others will praise him.
The word will get out. The word will get out. Let me
show you that. Turn to Proverbs chapter 27. Proverbs 27. You know, Matthew tells us when
we do our alms, don't do them to be seen of men. Don't do what
we do to be seen of men, to be recognized, because God's not
going to bless that. He said people who do their alms
and good deeds to be seen of men, they have their reward. When men see them, that's it.
When men say, well, you did good. But that's it. Do it as unto
the Lord. Do it in secret. Let not your right hand know
what your left hand doeth. Do it in secret as unto the Lord,
and the Lord which seeth in secret will reward you openly. That's
what this man Gaius was helping this one and helping that one,
helping the other one, and he wasn't saying a thing about it,
and these fellas got together and went to Johnson. Do you know
what he did? Do you know what he's doing? He loves the truth. He loves the gospel, and he's
walking in truth. He loves the gospel and he's
walking in the gospel. Look at Proverbs 27.1. Proverbs 27.1, Boast not thyself
of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth. A stranger. not thine own lips."
So these brethren, John writes to this beloved man and he says,
I rejoiced so greatly when the brethren came to me, verse 3,
and testified of two things, of the truth that's in you and
the fact you walked in it. All right, verse 4, verse 4,
he says, I have no greater joy than to
hear that my children walk in the truth. There's no greater
joy than those to whom he preached actually walked in the truth.
Actually, you see, John, I think some preachers today, even what
we call sovereign grace preachers, their ambition is that folks
know the truth, know the truth. and clean the doctrines. But John says his greatest joy
is not, and a man has to know it to walk in it, but a man can
know it in his head and not know it in his heart. If he knows
it in his heart, he'll walk in it. So John says my greatest
joy is to learn that my children are walking in the truth, because
when they're walking in it, I know they know it. You understand
what I'm saying? If there's evidence, if there's
grace manifested and grace evidence and grace outlived and grace
practiced, then evidently there's grace in the heart. Isn't that
right? And that's the reason he says
my greatest joy is to hear that my children walk in the You know,
that's when I talked on 2 John a few days ago, those were the
two words that John talked about to this elect lady, truth and
love, truth and love, truth and love. You can't separate truth
and love. You can't separate faith and
obedience. You can't separate faith and
conduct. You can't do it. As a man thinketh
in his heart, so is he. That's what he is. And, you know,
I know people who believe the doctrines of grace. I've traveled
all over this world preaching the gospel of grace. And I've
met a lot of people. And through our ministry, our
tape ministry and meetings and Bible conferences, I know a lot
of people. And there are folks who believe
the doctrines of grace. Calvinism, the five points of
Calvinism, straight as a gun barrel, straight as a gun barrel. But as far as being useful, as
far as being generous, giving, as far as being on the front
lines, encouraging other people, contacting
other people, showing evidence of the grace of God in their
hearts, their demise would mean nothing except to a few close
kinfolks. Now that's just a fact. They just, they talk grace, but
they don't act grace. You see what I'm saying? They
talk grace. And then I know a lot of folks
who are like Gaius. They're like Gaius. They're gracious,
and they're giving, and they're generous, and they're kind, and
their hearts, not only their hearts reach out, but their hands
reach out to help and to aid. And that's what John's saying
here, walk in the truth. Verse 5, 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." What he's saying here is this. He's saying to
Gaius, he's saying, beloved Gaius, it's a fine and faithful work
that you're doing. And I say that to this church
and to every one of you here tonight. what you're doing and
what you're giving, the service you render to the brethren, to
one another, ministering to one another, and also he said to
strangers. You notice that here, verse 5,
you do faithfully whatever you do to the brethren and to strangers.
Who are these strangers? Well, I'll tell you who they
are. They're folks from other congregations, folks from other
churches, folks in other parts of the world. missionaries, preachers
of the gospel who passed through. You'll see that in a moment,
that's who he's talking about. This man gave us, was a man who belonged
to a local congregation, and he was a blessing to the people
there. He was a servant of the Lord, he was a gracious, giving
person. But people who came through,
strangers, he helped them on their way. That's what he said. He helped them on their way.
He encouraged them. He was a blessing to them. He
reached out to other congregations and other places. And he says
down here in verse 6, this is after a godly manner. This is
worthy of God, and you do well. You do well. And he says in verse 7, because
for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the
Gentiles. Now the Amplified version says
this, verse 7, these traveling preachers and missionaries have
gone out for Christ's namesake and are not supported or helped
by the people to whom they are sent and to whom they preach. So, verse 8, we therefore ought
to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the Now
all of those verses, 5, 6, 7, and 8, here's folks right here. There are plenty of gayesses
right in here tonight. And this is what I've tried to
emphasize to you here. Let's care for our own vineyard,
and care for one another, and minister to one another, and
help one another. But let our love and generosity
reach beyond our inner circle, and reach beyond our own local
church as it does, and reach out yonder. to the missionaries,
the Lord's given us faithful missionaries, Bill Clark, Danny
Parks, Walter Gruber, Milton Howard, Ken Wymer, these other
men, faithful young pastors, out trying to preach in the gospel.
Let's help them. That's what Gaius did. He helped
them. That's what he's talking about.
He was He was a man who helped others, whose life was lived
for the glory of God and to be gracious and good and kind and
giving to other people. And there's not a church, and
I'm encouraging you here now, there's, we ought, he said we
ought to, verse 8, we ought to receive these men that we might
be fellow helpers to the truth. And see, we ought to support
these missionaries and these young pastors. Help them, provide
for them, welcome them, encourage them. In so doing, we're fellow
helpers to the truth. You can sit right here in this
congregation, worship God right here, live in your house where
you're living, and minister in Africa. You know something? Tell
you what I've got today. Bill Clark called me from England. And this is the 13th Street Baptist
Church. It's amazing how God blesses
this church. We don't, without promoting it,
without even trying, just by being what you are, by loving
God and loving Christ and loving the gospel and sharing it. Bill
Clark called me today, this morning from England. He said, two friends
of yours in Australia, Bruce Boots, and Paul Boots, who have
a publishing company over there. Bruce is pastor of the Smithfield
Baptist Church. I preached for him both trips
to Australia. We're good friends. But they
called Evangelical Press this past week, and they said, we
want to publish the 13th Street Baptist Church commentaries.
We want to publish 10,000 sets in Russian and send them to Russia. We've got a contact in Russia,
we've got a distribution point in Russia, and we're going to
make 60,000 books, 10,000 copies of this commentary and send it
to Russia, the gospel of God's grace." He said, we want permission.
I said, give him permission. See, evangelical press owns them,
they own all the rights to them, and I being the author that he
has to get permission from them and from us. He said, all we're
waiting on is permission. When we get permission, we print
the commentary. You know, we have fellow helpers
to the truth. And you know, when I started
writing these, Marty started typing them, and we put them,
mimeographed them, and ran them off on the copier, we never thought
we'd preach to the Russians. Never thought there'd be thousands
of those people reading these. But if you just do what your
hand finds to do, without any self-seeking or self-glory, but
for the glory of God, and give and be involved, be involved
with others, God will bless it. He'll bless it. He'll bless it
if it's for his glory, won't he? And that's, don't be discouraged
with well-doing. Don't be discouraged. I preached
on that not long ago, but don't be discouraged. Keep, he said
I, right in the gaze here, God help you to prosper physically
and materially in order that you might be a blessing to somebody
else. Let's keep, for Christ's sake, be it a blessing. Well,
here's a sad note, and I'm going to close. He said, verse 9, I
wrote to the church, but diostrophes, who lust to have the preeminence
among them, wouldn't receive us. Can you imagine that? John
wrote a letter to the church, and this fellow diostrophes,
he was wanting more than he was due. He wanted to have the preeminence. He wanted self-glory, and so
he wouldn't receive. John's letter and wouldn't share
it with the church. John said, well, when I come,
verse 10, I'll remember his deeds, which he doeth. This is the thing,
those things that are done for Christ's sake, in the name of
Christ, for the glory of Christ, will be remembered by the Father.
Those things that are done selfishly, to harm and to hurt, they'll
be remembered too, but for a different reason, for judgment. I'll remember
them, he said. What he does, 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, don't follow that sort
of fellow. You know, things are God's blessing,
blessing the missionaries, blessing this church, blessing the ministry.
Help it. Don't follow the evil. Don't
follow the fellow prating with malicious words and saying things
that aren't so. He that doeth good is of God.
He that doeth evil hath not seen God. Now here's the fellow that
followed, Demetrius. He has a good report of all men
and of the truth itself. Yea, and we bear record. You
know my record's true. The old Demetrius, folks speak
well of him. You follow him. That's the thing
to do. I have many things to write. I'll not with ink and
pen write them unto thee. Thou trust I'll come see you,
and we'll speak face to face. Peace to you. Our friends salute
you. Greet the friends by name. All right, that's a blessing,
isn't it? Mike, come lead us in a hymn.

The Beloved Gaius

What does the Bible say about church leadership?

Why is loving one another important for Christians?

How do we know our faith is genuine?

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The Beloved Gaius

What does the Bible say about church leadership?

Why is loving one another important for Christians?

How do we know our faith is genuine?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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