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Friends and Foes in the Church, Part 1 (3 John 1–8) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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Speaker 1: As I mentioned this morning and last week, we're going
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Speaker 1: to look at the last of John's epistles, the third
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Speaker 1: epistle of John... the third epistle of John. A wonderful, wonderful
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Speaker 1: brief book. In fact, let me read it to you.
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Speaker 1: Rarely do I have the opportunity to read an entire
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Speaker 1: book of the Bible. But I want you to catch
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Speaker 1: the flow. The elder to the beloved Gaius whom I
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Speaker 1: love in truth. Beloved, I pray that in all respects
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Speaker 1: you may prosper and be in good health just as
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Speaker 1: your soul prospers. For I was very glad when brethren
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Speaker 1: came and bore witness to your truth, that is how
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Speaker 1: you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy
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Speaker 1: than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.
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Speaker 1: You are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the
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Speaker 1: brethren and especially when they are strangers and they bear
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Speaker 1: witness to your love before the church. And you will
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Speaker 1: do well to send them on their way in a
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Speaker 1: manner worthy of God. For they went out for the
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Speaker 1: sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles, therefore
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Speaker 1: we ought to support such men that we may be
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Speaker 1: fellow workers with the truth. I wrote something to the church.
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Speaker 1: Deatrophies who loves to be first among them does not
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Speaker 1: accept what we say. For this reason, if I come,
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Speaker 1: I will call attention to his deeds which he does,
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Speaker 1: unjustly accusing us with wicked words and not satisfied with this,
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Speaker 1: neither does he himself receive the brethren. And he forbids
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Speaker 1: those who desire to do so and puts them out
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Speaker 1: of the church. Beloved. Do not imitate what is evil
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Speaker 1: but what is good. The one who does good is
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Speaker 1: of God. The one who does evil has not seen God.
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Speaker 1: Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone and from
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Speaker 1: the truth itself. And we also bear witness and you
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Speaker 1: know that our witness is true. I had many things
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Speaker 1: to write to you but I am not willing to
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Speaker 1: write them to you with pen and ink. But I
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Speaker 1: hope to see you shortly and we shall speak face
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Speaker 1: to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you.
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Speaker 1: Greet the friends by name. Personal, isn't it? Very personal. Gaius, Diotrephes, Demetrius, friends.
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Speaker 1: This is John's most personal letter. In fact, it is
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Speaker 1: so personal one might wonder why it ended up in
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Speaker 1: the canon of Scripture. And the answer to that becomes
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Speaker 1: clear once the message unfolds. Again you can see the
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Speaker 1: emphasis here on the truth. Some form of the word
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Speaker 1: true appears seven times. Everything in the church is always
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Speaker 1: built on the truth, always. John loves in truth. He
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Speaker 1: affirms the importance of bearing witness to truth, of walking
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Speaker 1: in truth, of being fellow workers with the truth, of
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Speaker 1: receiving a good testimony from the truth. at the foundation
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Speaker 1: of everything in the church is the truth. That was
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Speaker 1: our emphasis in the second letter and it certainly spills
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Speaker 1: over here. This is about how to live and love
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Speaker 1: in the truth. Now as I told you when we
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Speaker 1: studied 2 John, in the ancient world, hospitality was a necessity.
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Speaker 1: You didn't have all of the fancy hotels and motels.
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Speaker 1: and inns and resorts that we have today for people
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Speaker 1: to stay in, in the lap of one level of
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Speaker 1: luxury or another. People were largely dependent upon somebody opening
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Speaker 1: their home to them. On the Day of Pentecost, you
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Speaker 1: remember there were all kinds of pilgrims in Jerusalem who
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Speaker 1: had come to celebrate the Passover. They stayed through Pentecost.
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Speaker 1: When Peter preached, three thousand of them were saved, three
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Speaker 1: thousand of them then brought into the church of Jesus
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Speaker 1: Christ and that was the only church that existed on
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Speaker 1: planet earth at that time, the one and only. They
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Speaker 1: didn't want to go back to where they came from
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Speaker 1: because they now were a part of the body of
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Speaker 1: Christ and the only place they could meet in fellowship
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Speaker 1: was there with the Apostles in Jerusalem. And so the
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Speaker 1: church there, those that had come to Christ prior to
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Speaker 1: the Day of Pentecost, the And those who came to
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Speaker 1: Christ on the Day of Pentecost had to absorb all
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Speaker 1: those believers and care for them and meet their needs.
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Speaker 1: That's why later on the Apostle Paul took a collection
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Speaker 1: in order to help the church support the strangers who
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Speaker 1: never went back to where they came from because their
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Speaker 1: new reason to live was singularly located in Jerusalem. And
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Speaker 1: from then on... As the church had expanded and moved
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Speaker 1: and grew and went from city to city and town
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Speaker 1: to town and place to place, believers began to move
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Speaker 1: and travel and itinerant preachers did the same and they
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Speaker 1: had to be embraced by the believers as well who
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Speaker 1: were in every locale and be given a home and
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Speaker 1: a place to rest and food and support. This wasn't
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Speaker 1: really anything completely new in the ancient world, hospitality was
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Speaker 1: really Even in the secular side, strangers were supposedly under
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Speaker 1: the protection of Zeus Xenias who was known as the
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Speaker 1: god of strangers. Xenos means stranger. And the ancient world
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Speaker 1: understood that there was a deity in their own mind
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Speaker 1: that was sort of a sign to take care of
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Speaker 1: strangers and if they wanted to have that deity on
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Speaker 1: their side, and not against them, they needed to be
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Speaker 1: kind to strangers. The ancient world even had a system
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Speaker 1: of guest friendships whereby families in different parts of the
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Speaker 1: country undertook to give each other's members hospitality in their
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Speaker 1: parts of the country when they traveled. It was reciprocal.
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Speaker 1: People carried what was called a sumbalon, they carried a
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Speaker 1: token to identify themselves to their hosts. would know the
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Speaker 1: token that belonged to him and open up his home
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Speaker 1: to show hospitality. If the heathen did that, if the
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Speaker 1: pagans did that, how much more importantly should the Christians
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Speaker 1: do that? And that is why when you look at
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Speaker 1: the New Testament, you see this emphasis on hospitality, 1
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Speaker 1: Peter 4 and 9, be hospitable to one another without complaint.
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Speaker 1: The Greek word for hospitality is love of strangers... love of strangers.
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Speaker 1: It's just basic to the Christian responsibility to open up
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Speaker 1: our home to those we don't know, particularly other believers
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Speaker 1: who are strangers to us. In Romans 12, 13, it
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Speaker 1: says we are to be practicing hospitality. In 1 Timothy
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Speaker 1: chapter 3, in verse 2, you have the qualifications for
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Speaker 1: an elder. And the qualifications for an elder include this
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Speaker 1: very directive. You are to be an overseer above reproach,
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Speaker 1: the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable. And
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Speaker 1: in Titus 1.8 it says the same thing, they are
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Speaker 1: to be hospitable. Elders, pastors, shepherds needed to be the
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Speaker 1: first to open their homes and embrace strangers in order
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Speaker 1: to set the pace for everybody else. This was a
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Speaker 1: basic responsibility, a basic expression of Christian love. In fact,
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Speaker 1: in the early church, the home was the center of everything,
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Speaker 1: absolutely everything. As you read the New Testament, you don't
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Speaker 1: find any church buildings. You finish the New Testament and
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Speaker 1: there hasn't been a church building built. They met in
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Speaker 1: homes for prayer. They met in homes for fellowship. They
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Speaker 1: met in homes for teaching. They met in homes for evangelism.
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Speaker 1: They met in homes to break bread and to have
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Speaker 1: the Lord's Supper. They met in homes to worship. They
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Speaker 1: met in homes for personal discipleship. They even met in
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Speaker 1: homes for preaching. They met in homes for discussion and dialogue.
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Speaker 1: Everything happened in a home and so the home was
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Speaker 1: the church, the place that it gathered. And so it
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Speaker 1: was very natural for them to open their homes to
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Speaker 1: the traveling believers who came their way even though they
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Speaker 1: didn't know them. This is behind both 2 John and
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Speaker 1: 3 John. this reality... this reality. And as we learned in
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Speaker 1: 2 John, you have to be very careful who you
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Speaker 1: welcome in, remember? Very careful. And again, the truth is
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Speaker 1: the essential ground. on which your hospitality is built. Hospitality
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Speaker 1: is a form of Christian love. We are called to
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Speaker 1: Christian love, to love other Christians in a unique and
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Speaker 1: special and embracing way. But we have to be very careful. Why?
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Speaker 1: Well it all came down, didn't it, to verse 7
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Speaker 1: and following in 2 John, many deceivers have gone out
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Speaker 1: into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ
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Speaker 1: is coming in the flesh, or for that matter, any
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Speaker 1: other heresy. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Verse 8,
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Speaker 1: watch yourselves that you might not lose what we have
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Speaker 1: accomplished but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone
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Speaker 1: who goes too far doesn't abide in the teaching of Christ.
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Speaker 1: does not have God, the one who abides in the
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Speaker 1: teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone
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Speaker 1: comes to you, does not bring the teaching, that is
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Speaker 1: the true teaching of the gospel, the fullness of the
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Speaker 1: truth revealed in Scripture, do not receive him into your
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Speaker 1: house and do not give him a greeting for the
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Speaker 1: one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
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Speaker 1: Pretty serious. So we saw the restraint, the constraint, the
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Speaker 1: limitation put upon Christian love and hospitality. And the limitation
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Speaker 1: comes in regard to a false teacher. It doesn't mean
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Speaker 1: you shouldn't let an unconverted person in your home. You
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Speaker 1: are not, however, to harbor a false teacher. Your love
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Speaker 1: does not go to that extent, even though you may
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Speaker 1: claim Christ, you may claim Christianity, he may claim to
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Speaker 1: be a brother or sister. That theme then is continued
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Speaker 1: in 3 John... in 3 John. 2 John is sort of
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Speaker 1: the negative, who not to receive. 3 John is the positive,
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Speaker 1: who to receive. And so together we get a great
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Speaker 1: insight into how we deal with those who say they
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Speaker 1: represent Christ and who come to us for support and help.
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Speaker 1: and need. There are some we reject, there are some
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Speaker 1: we accept. Now another way to look at 3 John
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Speaker 1: is to look at it in comparison to not only
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Speaker 1: 2 John but 1 John. 1 John was written generally
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Speaker 1: to the whole church. It was generally written to all
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Speaker 1: Christians telling them how they could test the validity of
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Speaker 1: their faith. how they could be sure they were saved
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Speaker 1: and the tests were given, doctrinal tests and moral tests.
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Speaker 1: John pictures that on the broadest scale in his first
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Speaker 1: epistle written to all believers. The second epistle narrows the
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Speaker 1: audience and it's written to a family, a family in
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Speaker 1: the church. The family is identified as the chosen lady
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Speaker 1: and her children. and the children of her chosen sister
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Speaker 1: also mentioned in the last verse. So the first epistle
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Speaker 1: is broad and general to all the family of God.
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Speaker 1: The second epistle is to a family and the third
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Speaker 1: epistle is to an individual, to the beloved Gaius. The
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Speaker 1: second epistle calls for families to be loyal to the truth.
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Speaker 1: The third epistle calls for individuals to be loyal to
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Speaker 1: the truth. In 2 John and 3 John, truth and
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Speaker 1: love are always related, always. Hospitality is limited. It is
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Speaker 1: limited to those who are in the truth. And here
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Speaker 1: in 3 John, we further see those who are in
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Speaker 1: the truth are not to be forbidden to have that hospitality.
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Speaker 1: But you were there when I read it. He forbids
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Speaker 1: people who desire to help those who represent the truth
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Speaker 1: and He puts them out of the church. This is unacceptable.
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Speaker 1: This is evil. The third letter is also more personal.
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Speaker 1: First John has no personal references at all to anyone.
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Speaker 1: Second John has an anonymous personal reference to the chosen
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Speaker 1: lady and her children and her sister and her children.
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Speaker 1: Third John is totally personal. For the first time in
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Speaker 1: his epistles, actual people, Gaius, Diotrephes, Demetrius. So John starting
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Speaker 1: at the widest level speaking to all believers narrows it
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Speaker 1: down to a family and then to a man. And
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Speaker 1: the themes are always the same, truth and love. In
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Speaker 1: the general epistle, truth and love, sound doctrine and love
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Speaker 1: are what define a true believer. In the second epistle,
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Speaker 1: sound doctrine is the essential for showing love. And in
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Speaker 1: the third epistle where someone is sound, that love is
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Speaker 1: to be shown and never, ever withheld. Now the third
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Speaker 1: epistle is easy to outline. You just outline it by
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Speaker 1: the three people, Gaius, the one who gave hospitality, Diotrephes,
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Speaker 1: the one who refused hospitality, and Demetrius, the one who
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Speaker 1: is to receive hospitality. John oversaw the church at Ephesus
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Speaker 1: and probably had oversight over daughter churches. That had literally
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Speaker 1: been founded out of the church at Ephesus. John was,
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Speaker 1: of course, the last living apostle. You're now in the
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Speaker 1: last decade of that first century A.D. And though he
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Speaker 1: is an apostle and though they aren't many years from
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Speaker 1: the very life of Christ and although he's an eyewitness
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Speaker 1: to all of the events of the life of Christ,
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Speaker 1: he has problems. somewhat comforting. He's a pastor of pastors,
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Speaker 1: an apostle, and yet he has to deal with people
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Speaker 1: in the church who make life in the church difficult,
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Speaker 1: some too loving, too embracing, some too harsh, too narrow,
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Speaker 1: too unkind. And in the second epistle, he dealt with
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Speaker 1: the one who was too inclusive and too embracing and
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Speaker 1: too tender-hearted and too compassionate, too hospitable, threatened to open
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Speaker 1: the arms of the church and let antichrist in. Here,
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Speaker 1: he's going to deal with one who is the very opposite.
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Speaker 1: It's what you struggle with in the church. You know,
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Speaker 1: when you try to build a ministry on truth, when
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Speaker 1: you try to found everything on truth, you always get people.
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Speaker 1: who whether it's because of their sentimentality, whether it's because
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Speaker 1: they're generally compassionate people or whether it's because of their
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Speaker 1: lack of discernment or whatever, they always want to kick
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Speaker 1: the door wider than it should be and let people
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Speaker 1: in that shouldn't be let in. And there are those
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Speaker 1: of us who always want to make sure we're there
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Speaker 1: to close the door when it needs to be closed.
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Speaker 1: And we become sort of the bad guys. We're the
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Speaker 1: ones who are accused of being unloving. And then on
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Speaker 1: the other hand, you have those narrow-minded, self-important, loving to
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Speaker 1: have the preeminence kind of people who want to make
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Speaker 1: the things so narrow that only the things and the
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Speaker 1: people that they approve of can be accepted. I mean,
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Speaker 1: it either goes one way or the other. And as
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Speaker 1: I said, it's comforting to know that even the Apostle
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Speaker 1: John had trouble in the church. At least are two
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Speaker 1: of the extremes we have to deal with. We are
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Speaker 1: called to love. It's in our hearts to love. The
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Speaker 1: love of Christ is shed abroad there. We want to
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Speaker 1: extend that love. And there's always that temptation by those
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Speaker 1: who are committed to that love to be too embracing
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Speaker 1: and the temptation by those who are so strongly committed
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Speaker 1: to doctrine to be too narrow. And so we come
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Speaker 1: to this balance. Well for tonight, let me see if
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Speaker 1: we can get a little ways into 3 John. And
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Speaker 1: we'll take the first point, Gaius, the one who gave hospitality... Gaius,
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Speaker 1: the one who gave hospitality, the elder to the beloved
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Speaker 1: Gaius whom I love in truth. Letter, as I said,
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Speaker 1: is from John the Apostle to Gaius, a member of
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Speaker 1: a local church somewhere in Asia Minor, modern Turkey. John
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Speaker 1: is probably writing from Ephesus, which was the mother church
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Speaker 1: for that region. And he starts out in a very typical, traditional,
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Speaker 1: normal sort of letter pattern. They didn't do it the
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Speaker 1: way we do it today. I get a letter and
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Speaker 1: it says, Dear John, I know that. And I always
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Speaker 1: have to go to the bottom before I go anywhere
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Speaker 1: else and find out who it's from. It's really backwards.
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Speaker 1: It should be like a phone call. Hello, this is Bill.
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Speaker 1: That's very helpful. Is it not? You wouldn't want to
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Speaker 1: have a phone conversation with somebody who didn't tell you
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Speaker 1: who they were until the end because you would have
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Speaker 1: such a guarded approach to the conversation, not wanting to
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Speaker 1: say anything that was offensive or revealing. But they did
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Speaker 1: it right in those days, the elder who needed no
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Speaker 1: further definition. Everybody in that part of the world and
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Speaker 1: certainly Gaius knew who he was, John. The elder, as
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Speaker 1: he calls himself also in 2 John, literally means the
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Speaker 1: old man. Perhaps it is a reference to his age.
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Speaker 1: He was aged at this time. It could also well
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Speaker 1: be that he was assigned that title, elder, in the
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Speaker 1: church at Ephesus, although he more than likely would have
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Speaker 1: been called an apostle. He is the old apostle is
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Speaker 1: who he is and everybody knows him. He's the only
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Speaker 1: one still alive. So it's me, he says, the old apostle,
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Speaker 1: to the beloved Gaius. That's a pretty typical way to
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Speaker 1: start a letter in ancient days. Now just who is Gaius?
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Speaker 1: I wish I could tell you. There are a number
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Speaker 1: of men named Gaius in the New Testament. There is
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Speaker 1: Gaius of Corinth who was the host of Paul and
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Speaker 1: the church in Corinth. That's not this Gaius. There was
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Speaker 1: Gaius of Macedonia who was one of Paul's companions. suffered
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Speaker 1: in the riot at Ephesus. And then there was Gaius
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Speaker 1: of a town called Derbe who traveled with Paul on
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Speaker 1: his last missionary tour. These are not the Gaius being
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Speaker 1: addressed here. Gaius, I found out, was one of the
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Speaker 1: most common of all names in the Roman Empire. It's
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Speaker 1: like going to Russia and having somebody be introduced to
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Speaker 1: you as Alexei. There are only about eight male names
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Speaker 1: in Russia. Gaius was a very common name and there's
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Speaker 1: no way to identify this man. He was some leader
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Speaker 1: in the church, some important man in the church and
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Speaker 1: visiting evangelists and visiting preachers had stayed with him and
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Speaker 1: he was highly respected and beloved, no doubt by all
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Speaker 1: who knew him. And that's why he is addressed this way,
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Speaker 1: the elder to the beloved Gaius. And the beloved, agapētos,
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Speaker 1: from agapao, the noblest kind of love, this simply identifies
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Speaker 1: his familiar character. Everybody loved him. He was loved by
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Speaker 1: the community. He was the beloved Gaius. He was a
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Speaker 1: man of love. He was not only loved by the
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Speaker 1: community but He was loved by who else? By God.
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Speaker 1: And as John had addressed the lady to whom he
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Speaker 1: wrote his second letter as the chosen lady, he addresses
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Speaker 1: this as the beloved Gaius. And all who are Christ's
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Speaker 1: are both chosen and beloved. Is that not true? Colossians 3...12
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Speaker 1: says that Christians are the elect of God, holy and beloved.
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Speaker 1: So John, while he certainly could be referring to the
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Speaker 1: man's well-known character as a loving man, is also pointing
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Speaker 1: out that he belongs to God in Christ and therefore
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Speaker 1: is the beloved of Christ. He is beloved of the
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Speaker 1: Lord as the lady was elect of the Lord. And
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Speaker 1: so this identifies him as a saint, as a believer, beloved.
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Speaker 1: But he was not just loved by the Lord and also,
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Speaker 1: we could add, by the community of believers, he was
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Speaker 1: loved by John because John adds immediately in verse 1,
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Speaker 1: whom I love. But he qualifies it in what? In truth... in truth.
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Speaker 1: You see, the truth was the sphere in which their
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Speaker 1: love existed. I really do understand that. I really do
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Speaker 1: understand that. You bring somebody into my life that has
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Speaker 1: the same passion and devotion to the truth and I
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Speaker 1: find myself irresistibly drawn to their well-being and their fellowship.
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Speaker 1: You bring someone into my life and try as I may,
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Speaker 1: if they do not affirm and hold to the truth
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Speaker 1: of the gospel. If they deviate somewhere from the truth
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Speaker 1: of God, it's like turning the magnet around. There's something
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Speaker 1: that pushes me away. I can go anywhere in the
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Speaker 1: world and find strangers that I've never met, but if
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Speaker 1: they love the truth, there is a bond, there is
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Speaker 1: a magnetism that draws us together with a divine force
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Speaker 1: Love and truth are inseparable. And love is built upon truth.
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Speaker 1: Truth always governs the exercise of love. That's why truth
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Speaker 1: is spoken of in verse 1, 3, 4, 8, 12.
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Speaker 1: They were both in the truth. Now we are to
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Speaker 1: love all people in the world in an evangelistic way.
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Speaker 1: to love them in the sense that we care about
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Speaker 1: their souls the way God loves the world. But that's
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Speaker 1: not what we're talking about. We're talking here about a
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Speaker 1: love that is unique to those who are in Christ
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Speaker 1: and in the truth, special love, a unique bond, a
26:06
Speaker 1: family love among Christians. And if you deviate from the truth,
26:13
Speaker 1: try as I may. I find myself being pushed away
26:17
Speaker 1: from You. I don't know if any of you saw
26:19
Speaker 1: that article in the L.A. Times about Fuller Seminary, started
26:24
Speaker 1: many years ago by Charles E. Fuller and the Fuller
26:27
Speaker 1: Evangelistic Association. It was in the Times today that Fuller
26:31
Speaker 1: Seminary was announcing that they have received a $ 1 million
26:35
Speaker 1: grant from the federal government which they initiated in order
26:40
Speaker 1: to bring about a conciliation with Islam. since they worship
26:45
Speaker 1: the same God. They have abandoned the truth. The God
26:52
Speaker 1: of Islam is not the God of the Bible. The
26:54
Speaker 1: God of Islam is Satan. They have made a deal
26:57
Speaker 1: with the devil. This is Faust revisited. They have made
27:02
Speaker 1: a deal with the devil. They have agreed over a
27:05
Speaker 1: two-year period not to evangelize Muslims. And so they have
27:11
Speaker 1: abandoned the Great Commission. in their deal with the devil.
27:17
Speaker 1: And I'm always glad when institutions or people who think
27:20
Speaker 1: that way make it public because it removes any doubt
27:24
Speaker 1: about the direction. I don't rejoice in that, I grieve
27:28
Speaker 1: in that. But I find myself pushed hard away when
27:36
Speaker 1: someone abandons the truth. No matter what I say, I'll
27:39
Speaker 1: be accused of being unloving and the truth of the
27:42
Speaker 1: matter is at that point By this definition of love,
27:44
Speaker 1: I am unloving because I am constrained not to love
27:49
Speaker 1: outside the bounds of the truth. And so John loved
27:54
Speaker 1: in the truth. This is the tone that he sets
27:57
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the letter, I love in the truth.
28:01
Speaker 1: So the introduction of Gaius. And then comes the concern. Beloved,
28:07
Speaker 1: and I love that, he already called him beloved Gaius
28:10
Speaker 1: but he was talking about belonging to God, his being
28:13
Speaker 1: loved by God, if you will, his election, his being chosen,
28:17
Speaker 1: his being predestined, his being justified, he was talking about
28:22
Speaker 1: the relationship that he had as the beloved of the Lord,
28:25
Speaker 1: now he's talking personally and he says, I love in
28:30
Speaker 1: the truth. And then he says, beloved, and it's personal.
28:35
Speaker 1: And then in verse 5 he says it again, beloved.
28:39
Speaker 1: And then in verse 11 he says it again, beloved.
28:42
Speaker 1: I like that. John is often called the apostle of love.
28:48
Speaker 1: He was once the son of thunder praying judgment down
28:53
Speaker 1: on people's heads. He's become the apostle of love. And
28:56
Speaker 1: here's a perfect illustration of it. He can't stop saying beloved.
29:00
Speaker 1: when he talks in this letter to this man, Gaius.
29:05
Speaker 1: He loved him. And what it tells me is that
29:08
Speaker 1: Gaius was committed to the truth because John was committed
29:12
Speaker 1: to the truth. Beloved, I pray that in all respects
29:21
Speaker 1: you may prosper and be in good health just as
29:25
Speaker 1: your soul prospers. That's a wonderful sentiment. That is a
29:31
Speaker 1: wonderful sentiment, isn't it? A great way to begin a letter.
29:33
Speaker 1: It's something you ought to do. I mean, it's a
29:37
Speaker 1: wish for physical health. I want you to prosper. That
29:46
Speaker 1: is a word that refers to a state of well-being,
29:49
Speaker 1: a condition of well-being. And by the way, that statement
29:55
Speaker 1: that you may prosper and be in good health is
29:57
Speaker 1: found in a lot of ancient letters. Frequently doesn't necessarily
30:01
Speaker 1: mean that Gaius was ill. It was just well-wishing. It's
30:06
Speaker 1: like we say, I hope you're feeling well. A gentleman
30:10
Speaker 1: came to me this morning from Ireland and he said,
30:13
Speaker 1: are you well? And I said, I'm well. And he
30:16
Speaker 1: was really saying to me, I pray that you're in
30:21
Speaker 1: good health just as your soul prospers. That's a gracious
30:26
Speaker 1: and kind word. affirmation of one's concern for well-being. He
30:34
Speaker 1: is talking about his physical well-being. He wants the physical
30:39
Speaker 1: health of Gaius to match his spiritual well-being. And so
30:45
Speaker 1: he says, in all respects, across the board, in everything,
30:53
Speaker 1: and this is used only here and in Romans 1...10.
30:57
Speaker 1: Once I think of 1 Corinthians, I just want in
31:00
Speaker 1: everything that you would prosper and be in good health
31:06
Speaker 1: just as your soul prospers. This is the greatest insight
31:11
Speaker 1: we could have into Gaius. He has a prosperous soul.
31:14
Speaker 1: The word prosper can mean successful. He has a successful
31:19
Speaker 1: spiritual life. That's the idea. He has a successful spiritual life.
31:27
Speaker 1: He's flourishing spiritually. It is the same term used in
31:35
Speaker 1: Titus 1.13, translated sound in the faith, healthy. He has
31:43
Speaker 1: spiritual health. And John says, I would wish that your
31:49
Speaker 1: physical health would be as good as your spiritual health.
31:54
Speaker 1: That's a good prayer. We pray that the spiritual health
31:58
Speaker 1: of someone would be good, but I think we pray
32:03
Speaker 1: much more often that the physical health of someone would
32:07
Speaker 1: be good, don't we? Don't we more often pray about
32:10
Speaker 1: people's physical ills than we do about their spiritual health? Well,
32:15
Speaker 1: the inner life of Gaius was strong and robust and
32:20
Speaker 1: prospering and John had heard about it, knew about it,
32:24
Speaker 1: knew him. And He wishes the same blessing for his
32:27
Speaker 1: physical life. And that does lead me to say that
32:30
Speaker 1: God is concerned about physical health. He really is. If
32:35
Speaker 1: you're going to be engaged in effective ministry, you've got
32:37
Speaker 1: to take care of yourself. Food is important. That's why
32:41
Speaker 1: God gave laws to the people of Israel in the
32:44
Speaker 1: Old Testament to keep them from diseases. He told them
32:47
Speaker 1: how to eat, what not to eat in order not
32:50
Speaker 1: to expose themselves to things that would take away their health.
32:56
Speaker 1: Care of the body is important in the New Testament.
32:59
Speaker 1: First Timothy chapter 5, Paul is concerned about Timothy's health.
33:04
Speaker 1: No longer drink water, he says. Don't be drinking water. Why?
33:09
Speaker 1: They didn't have any way to purify the water in
33:10
Speaker 1: those days. Everything lived in the water. Every imaginable bacteria
33:14
Speaker 1: lived in the water and water was very dangerous. One
33:16
Speaker 1: of the things that they did in order to prevent
33:20
Speaker 1: the kinds of things that came from bad water was
33:23
Speaker 1: to mix it with wine and wine fermented becomes alcohol
33:26
Speaker 1: and alcohol mixed with water purifies the water. And when
33:29
Speaker 1: they drank wine in those days in Bible times, it
33:32
Speaker 1: was diluted wine, sometimes as many as eight to one
33:34
Speaker 1: with water, somewhere between five to one to eight to
33:37
Speaker 1: one to water. You couldn't just drink the water and
33:40
Speaker 1: if you're out in the middle of the day and
33:41
Speaker 1: it was 110 degrees and you're working in a field
33:44
Speaker 1: and you're trying to replenish the fluid in your body,
33:46
Speaker 1: if all you could drink was wine, it was complete wine,
33:49
Speaker 1: just the fruit of the grape, you'd be drunk in
33:51
Speaker 1: an hour. And so it was diluted. It was the
33:55
Speaker 1: difference between wine and strong drink which was undiluted. And
34:01
Speaker 1: exercise was even important. 1 Timothy 4 says bodily exercise
34:07
Speaker 1: profits a little... a little. It doesn't profit like godliness because
34:13
Speaker 1: bodily exercise is only good for this life and godliness
34:16
Speaker 1: is eternal. But bodily exercise does have benefit. So food
34:22
Speaker 1: is important. And God has given us a wonderful opportunity
34:26
Speaker 1: to gain a measure of health by what we eat.
34:29
Speaker 1: He's given us the kind of food that, eaten in
34:33
Speaker 1: the right proportion and in the right kinds, can sustain
34:38
Speaker 1: our health. God does care about our physical health because
34:42
Speaker 1: it's important if we're going to serve Him to be
34:44
Speaker 1: as healthy as we can. And so it's wonderful to
34:49
Speaker 1: wish someone good health. And then in verse 3, Continuing
34:54
Speaker 1: as John talks here to Gaius,' I was very glad
34:58
Speaker 1: when brethren came and bore witness to your truth.' That
35:04
Speaker 1: is how you're walking in truth. Here is the commendation
35:11
Speaker 1: that John gives, what had happened was some traveling preachers
35:16
Speaker 1: had come to wherever Gaius was and Gaius had opened
35:19
Speaker 1: his home to these traveling preachers, these traveling proclaimers of
35:25
Speaker 1: the gospel and he had given them hospitality and taken
35:29
Speaker 1: them in. It wasn't easy because there was a man
35:35
Speaker 1: in the church who tried to prevent it and we'll
35:37
Speaker 1: learn about him next week, Diotrephes. He literally tried to
35:40
Speaker 1: prevent it, the ugly rejection of Diotrephes. But in spite
35:46
Speaker 1: of that, Gaius had treated them with love. But John
35:52
Speaker 1: does not... notice this... John does not commend Gaius first of all
35:57
Speaker 1: for his love, he commends him for the truth. I
36:01
Speaker 1: was glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth.
36:06
Speaker 1: The people that you showed hospitality to who were faithful
36:11
Speaker 1: to the truth knew that you were faithful to it
36:15
Speaker 1: as well. And you were not... restrained from doing what
36:21
Speaker 1: was right by the narrowness of diatrophies because you knew
36:25
Speaker 1: the truth and you're committed to the truth. And when
36:30
Speaker 1: he says, to your truth, that's probably a bit of
36:34
Speaker 1: a strained translation. It should be literally the truth that
36:37
Speaker 1: is in you. I was very glad when brethren came
36:41
Speaker 1: and bore witness to the truth that is in you,
36:43
Speaker 1: that is how you are walking in truth. You don't
36:46
Speaker 1: only know it, it isn't just doctrine, you live it.
36:49
Speaker 1: You live it. Same thing is said in 2 John
36:53
Speaker 1: verse 4, I was very glad to find some of
36:56
Speaker 1: your children walking in truth. It all starts there. And again,
37:00
Speaker 1: we come back to this. It all starts there. And frankly,
37:03
Speaker 1: I will tell you, folks, this is the broadest and
37:06
Speaker 1: best commendation that a Christian could ever receive. This is
37:11
Speaker 1: what you want to hear when you get to heaven
37:12
Speaker 1: and the Lord says, well done, good and faithful servant.
37:16
Speaker 1: Faithful to what? First of all, faithful to the truth.
37:20
Speaker 1: faithful to the truth. He doesn't just jump to commend
37:25
Speaker 1: Him for love, that will come, but He starts by
37:30
Speaker 1: commending Him for His loyalty to the truth. He not
37:36
Speaker 1: only knows the truth, He lives it. He walks in it. Walking,
37:43
Speaker 1: of course, is the emblem in the New Testament of
37:46
Speaker 1: daily conduct. He knows the doctrine, believes it, walks in it.
37:57
Speaker 1: This is the greatest commendation. He possesses the truth and
38:03
Speaker 1: it controls His life. Then in verse 4, John adds
38:09
Speaker 1: this general comment,' I have no greater joy than this,
38:15
Speaker 1: to hear of My children walking in the truth.' You say, well,
38:18
Speaker 1: why isn't He concerned about love? Because if you walk
38:20
Speaker 1: in the truth, what's going to happen? you're going to
38:23
Speaker 1: love because it's part of the truth... it' s part of the truth.
38:29
Speaker 1: Now it is interesting to note the phrase, my children,
38:33
Speaker 1: very personal. Could it be that Gaius was a child
38:37
Speaker 1: of John in the sense that John was his spiritual father?
38:42
Speaker 1: My here is in emphatic position in the Greek. It
38:48
Speaker 1: literally is my own children. I have no greater joy,
38:55
Speaker 1: he says, this is my highest joy. I understand this, folks,
38:57
Speaker 1: I really do. I really understand this. I have no
39:02
Speaker 1: greater joy than this, to hear of my own children
39:06
Speaker 1: walking in the truth. Whether you're talking about physical children
39:10
Speaker 1: or spiritual children, anybody who's been a part of the
39:13
Speaker 1: ministry that God has given to me, there is no
39:15
Speaker 1: higher joy, there is no greater joy than to know
39:21
Speaker 1: They know the truth, believe the truth and walk in
39:25
Speaker 1: the truth. That's what you're after in ministry. That's what
39:29
Speaker 1: you're after. That's what everybody's at. That's what our Lord wanted,
39:33
Speaker 1: that you know the truth, believe the truth and live
39:35
Speaker 1: the truth. And in Gaius there was every minister's dream,
39:41
Speaker 1: every minister's greatest joy. There was an exact correspondence between
39:49
Speaker 1: His creed and His conduct. He knew it, He believed it,
39:54
Speaker 1: and He lived it. No dichotomy between profession and practice.
40:00
Speaker 1: And it starts with not being doctrinally confused. The greatest
40:06
Speaker 1: joy in the ministry is not to teach the truth.
40:10
Speaker 1: The greatest joy in ministry is not to know that
40:14
Speaker 1: your people understand the truth. The greatest joy in ministry
40:17
Speaker 1: is to see your people, what, walk in it. And
40:23
Speaker 1: all of us in ministry spend time grieving over those
40:26
Speaker 1: who don't, as well as rejoicing over those who do.
40:32
Speaker 1: You want to keep the preacher happy? Don't raise his salary.
40:36
Speaker 1: Don't give him a nicer office. Don't increase his vacation time.
40:43
Speaker 1: Just walk in the truth. There is no greater joy.
40:52
Speaker 1: So the introduction of Gaius, an expression of affection for him,
40:57
Speaker 1: a commendation of him with a specific reference to his
41:02
Speaker 1: hospitality which revealed how faithful he was to the truth.
41:10
Speaker 1: And then John adds in verse 5,' Beloved,' again, you
41:14
Speaker 1: are acting faithfully. in whatever you accomplish for the brethren.
41:21
Speaker 1: That is such a wonderful commendation. You are acting faithfully
41:27
Speaker 1: in whatever you literally labor in, work in on behalf
41:32
Speaker 1: of the brethren. Now that would be who knows what,
41:34
Speaker 1: but certainly would be lodging them, feeding them, supporting them.
41:40
Speaker 1: And he says in verse 5, and especially strangers. Those
41:46
Speaker 1: you don't even know, but because they're loyal to the truth,
41:50
Speaker 1: you embrace them. This is what ties us together. This
41:55
Speaker 1: is what binds us. And verse 6 says, they bear
42:00
Speaker 1: witness to your love before the church. There comes the love.
42:06
Speaker 1: But the love is within the framework of the truth,
42:09
Speaker 1: if you're committed to the truth, Then you express true, divine,
42:14
Speaker 1: spiritual love. You could call it love, but if it
42:20
Speaker 1: ignores the truth, it's not the real thing. It's foolish
42:24
Speaker 1: human sentimentality. And we hear that all the time, you're
42:28
Speaker 1: not very loving, you're so narrow, you're not loving. Our
42:32
Speaker 1: love is the product of union in the truth. It
42:39
Speaker 1: is there that we live our lives. It is there
42:41
Speaker 1: that we demonstrate our love and our hospitality in the truth.
42:48
Speaker 1: And apparently in verse 6, whoever these strangers were, these preachers,
42:54
Speaker 1: they got up in front of the whole church and
42:57
Speaker 1: gave a testimony to the love that Gaius showed them.
43:00
Speaker 1: Isn't that wonderful? He loved them because they were faithful
43:05
Speaker 1: to the truth. He opened His life to them. He
43:08
Speaker 1: acted faithfully in whatever He could do for them, even
43:11
Speaker 1: though they were strangers to Him. And then they got
43:14
Speaker 1: up in front of the whole church and told the
43:17
Speaker 1: whole church about His love. And then John adds this
43:22
Speaker 1: further commendation, and you will do well to send them
43:25
Speaker 1: on their way in a manner worthy of God, as
43:28
Speaker 1: if to say, you know you're not done yet because
43:31
Speaker 1: when they leave you, they're going to need some support.
43:35
Speaker 1: And John here has some counsel as well as some commendation.
43:41
Speaker 1: And the counsel is, you've done absolutely everything you could
43:46
Speaker 1: possibly have done. You've acted faithfully in whatever you had
43:49
Speaker 1: done for the brethren and even though they were strangers
43:52
Speaker 1: and they gave testimony to that and that is good,
43:54
Speaker 1: but you're not done, you will do well future to
43:57
Speaker 1: send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.
44:01
Speaker 1: Keep up the good work, Gaius. You will do well
44:07
Speaker 1: is an idiom equivalent to the English word please. Please
44:12
Speaker 1: send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.
44:19
Speaker 1: That is to say, give them the support they need.
44:24
Speaker 1: Send them on their way is a technical term in
44:26
Speaker 1: the early church for missionaries. These are missionaries. Now we're
44:30
Speaker 1: getting down to where we live, right? We understand that word,
44:33
Speaker 1: don't we? It implies receiving them, caring for them, meeting
44:38
Speaker 1: their needs and then giving all that is required to
44:43
Speaker 1: send them on their way to accomplish their next objective
44:49
Speaker 1: in the next stage of their journey. This is why
44:52
Speaker 1: churches support missionaries. This is where this comes from. This
44:57
Speaker 1: is a real part of the early church, traveling preachers,
45:01
Speaker 1: going everywhere, proclaiming the planting churches, strengthening churches. And they
45:08
Speaker 1: had to be supported. They had to be cared for.
45:11
Speaker 1: They needed money and clothing and supplies. And the standard
45:18
Speaker 1: is high. Look at the standard, verse 6, send them
45:22
Speaker 1: on their way in a manner worthy of God. What
45:27
Speaker 1: do you mean by that? Treat them the way you
45:28
Speaker 1: think God would treat them. It's pretty clear, isn't it?
45:32
Speaker 1: How would God treat them? Treat them the way God
45:37
Speaker 1: would treat them. I would think He would be generous,
45:40
Speaker 1: wouldn't you? I would think He'd give them everything they
45:43
Speaker 1: need and probably more. Listen to this, Jesus' words, Matthew 10, 40,'
45:52
Speaker 1: He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives
45:57
Speaker 1: Me receives him who sent Me. He who receives a
46:02
Speaker 1: prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a
46:04
Speaker 1: prophet's reward and he who receives a righteous man in
46:07
Speaker 1: the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous
46:09
Speaker 1: man's reward. Did you understand that? The way you treat
46:13
Speaker 1: a missionary is going to determine your eternal reward. You're
46:18
Speaker 1: literally going to share in their eternal reward by supporting them.
46:23
Speaker 1: You know, we didn't just invent this whole missionary idea,
46:27
Speaker 1: here it is. You see, the key to hospitality is
46:32
Speaker 1: the truth, loving in the truth and loving the way
46:37
Speaker 1: you believe God would love. So send them on their
46:42
Speaker 1: way in a manner worthy of God in the future.
46:47
Speaker 1: Give them the best. Be generous. Why? Verse 7, and
46:54
Speaker 1: this is the climax of all of it, for they
46:56
Speaker 1: went out for the sake of the If you can't
47:01
Speaker 1: support this, what in the world could you think of
47:02
Speaker 1: that would be more important to support? They went out
47:07
Speaker 1: for the sake of the name. What is that? The
47:13
Speaker 1: name which is above every name. The name Lord. They
47:23
Speaker 1: went out for the sake of the name. That is
47:27
Speaker 1: a great truth. I wish I had time to develop that.
47:29
Speaker 1: I don't. Romans 1.5 says Paul received grace and apostleship
47:39
Speaker 1: to preach the gospel, to bring about the obedience of
47:42
Speaker 1: faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake. Why
47:47
Speaker 1: do we evangelize? Not just for the sake of the sinner,
47:50
Speaker 1: but for the sake of the name, for the glory
47:53
Speaker 1: of God, for the honor of God. We evangelize because
47:57
Speaker 1: it is an affront to God not to believe in
47:59
Speaker 1: His Son. We evangelize because we love the Lord Jesus Christ.
48:04
Speaker 1: We evangelize because He's worthy to be loved and worthy
48:07
Speaker 1: to be praised and worthy to be honored and worthy
48:10
Speaker 1: to be confessed as Lord. We go for the sake
48:13
Speaker 1: of the name, all that He is. In the fifth
48:18
Speaker 1: chapter of Acts in verse 40, And they took His
48:21
Speaker 1: advice and after calling the Apostles in, they flogged them
48:25
Speaker 1: and ordered them to speak no more in the name
48:29
Speaker 1: of Jesus. They said, don't you ever speak in the
48:32
Speaker 1: name of Jesus again and they released them. So they
48:34
Speaker 1: went on their way rejoicing. They had been considered worthy
48:39
Speaker 1: to suffer shame for the name... the name, the Lord Jesus
48:46
Speaker 1: in all that He is. They went out for the
48:49
Speaker 1: sake of the name. They went out to do the
48:53
Speaker 1: work of God. They went out to exalt the Lord
48:56
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. There is no greater enterprise. There is no
49:00
Speaker 1: higher calling. And verse 7 says, they accepted nothing from
49:05
Speaker 1: the Gentiles as if to say the world is not
49:07
Speaker 1: about to support them. The world will support its own.
49:14
Speaker 1: But unbelievers are never going to support the true preachers
49:17
Speaker 1: of the gospel. The federal government is never going to
49:23
Speaker 1: give them money. They went out for the sake of
49:26
Speaker 1: the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Let me tell
49:29
Speaker 1: you about a false prophet. They go out for their
49:31
Speaker 1: own sake and take money from everybody they can find.
49:37
Speaker 1: And how did the true apostles of Jesus Christ, the
49:39
Speaker 1: true preachers of the gospel, distinguish themselves from the endless
49:43
Speaker 1: myriad false teachers? By not taking money for what they did.
49:52
Speaker 1: Paul said, I have a right to support, but I'll
49:54
Speaker 1: never make the gospel chargeable. If need be, he said,
49:57
Speaker 1: I'll work with my own hands, but I will not
49:59
Speaker 1: become a huckster, a conman, a peddler of the Word
50:02
Speaker 1: of God. I will not sell my soul. We don't
50:08
Speaker 1: want money from the world. There was another article I
50:13
Speaker 1: was reading in the Times about a man who embezzled
50:15
Speaker 1: millions and millions of dollars. And there was a comment
50:19
Speaker 1: in there by a false teacher saying he was appalled
50:22
Speaker 1: that anyone could represent Jesus Christ for money. And he
50:28
Speaker 1: himself is probably the most well-known example of one who does.
50:34
Speaker 1: Some kind of hypocrisy. These people went out for the
50:37
Speaker 1: sake of the name. They went out for the glory
50:39
Speaker 1: and honor of Christ. They didn't take any money from
50:42
Speaker 1: the pagans, the heathen, the Gentiles. Verse 8 says, therefore,
50:47
Speaker 1: we ought to support such men. They don't have any
50:49
Speaker 1: other support. And that's just another term for hospitality. So
50:55
Speaker 1: the first reason for giving hospitality to traveling missionaries is
50:59
Speaker 1: that they are our brothers. And we honor them because
51:03
Speaker 1: they go out for the sake of the name. And
51:05
Speaker 1: the second reason is they don't have any other means
51:07
Speaker 1: of support. If we don't support them, who will? Can't
51:12
Speaker 1: ask the heathen to do it. There's a third reason
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Speaker 1: to support them. How about this in verse 8? That
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Speaker 1: we may be fellow workers with the truth. Not all
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Speaker 1: of us can go, but all of us can give, right?
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Speaker 1: I looked at our little list of... Fifty-five missionary families
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Speaker 1: spread out all over the world, sacrificially giving. The world
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Speaker 1: isn't going to support them. They've gone out for the
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Speaker 1: sake of the name. They are faithful to the truth
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Speaker 1: and we are called to support them. It's that simple.
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Speaker 1: That's where all this comes from. And you didn't know
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Speaker 1: it was all here in 3 John, tucked away and hidden.
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Speaker 1: You just thought we invented that thing, huh? Here it is.
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Speaker 1: This is a model taken right out of the pages
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Speaker 1: of Scripture. And the wonderful thing is that when we
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Speaker 1: do that supporting, we become fellow workers with the truth again.
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Speaker 1: We literally, when we support a prophet, share in a
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Speaker 1: prophet's reward. When we support a righteous man, we share
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Speaker 1: in a righteous man's reward, Matthew 10 41. We can't
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Speaker 1: all go, but we can all be fellow workers. And
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Speaker 1: so we meet Gaius. Gaius, beloved by God, beloved by John,
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Speaker 1: called that three times in a short little letter, Beloved, why?
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Speaker 1: Because he lived his life in harmony with the truth
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Speaker 1: which meant that he would love in the way that
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Speaker 1: God wants us to love and that that love would
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Speaker 1: show up in hospitality to strangers who were also faithful
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Speaker 1: to the truth. This is what it means to live
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Speaker 1: in love and to walk in truth. This is so
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Speaker 1: right and so good. In the middle of this church,
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Speaker 1: there is a man who wants to stop this love
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Speaker 1: and his name is Diotrephes and we're going to meet
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Speaker 1: him next Sunday night. Father, this is so practical and
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Speaker 1: foundational to the life of the church and we thank
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Speaker 1: You for it. These great principles and truths tucked away
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Speaker 1: in this little epistle, easily lost, are so important to us.
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Speaker 1: Thank You for calling us again to the truth and
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Speaker 1: calling us to love in the truth and out of
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Speaker 1: that love to show hospitality to those who go out
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Speaker 1: for the sake of the name, who have no other
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Speaker 1: means of support. And by our loving hospitality and support
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Speaker 1: of them, we too become fellow workers, literally partners in
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Speaker 1: the enterprise. How wonderful. How wonderful. And someday when we
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Speaker 1: come to heaven, we'll receive the prophet's reward, though we
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Speaker 1: never preached. We'll receive the missionary's reward, though we never went,
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Speaker 1: but we made it possible for them to go. Thank
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Speaker 1: you for this church and the way it has always
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Speaker 1: supported the missionaries. Thank you for our new missionary adoption opportunities.
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Speaker 1: We pray, O God, that You will fill our hearts
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Speaker 1: with a greater love and a greater passion and a
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Speaker 1: greater faithfulness and a greater desire to support those who've
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Speaker 1: gone out for the sake of the name. We hate
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Speaker 1: to think that there are always people in the church
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Speaker 1: who would try to prevent what is right. But we
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Speaker 1: thank You, Lord, that this church has expressed this love
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Speaker 1: so relentlessly for so many years. And we pray that
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Speaker 1: You'll protect us from those who on so many occasions
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Speaker 1: in so many churches, past and present, do harm to
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Speaker 1: faithful servants who go out for the sake of the name.
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Speaker 1: Keep us faithful to this end that the gospel may
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Speaker 1: spread through our love of the truth and sacrificial love.
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Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen. You've been listening to John MacArthur,
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Speaker 1: Bible teacher with grace to you. For free access to
55:20
Speaker 1: all of John's lessons and a listing of study Bibles
55:24
Speaker 1: and books available for sale, visit Grace2U' s website at gty.org.
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Speaker 1: John MacArthur and Grace2U reserve all copyright protection under applicable law.
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Speaker 1: Our copyright policy is available at gty.org, and it includes
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Speaker 1: instructions for and limitations on duplicating this digital file.