3 John

3 John 1–2 KJV 1900

1 The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

3 John is another book of encouragement, somewhat similar to 2 John

He will be exhorting his recipient to really stay strong in the faith, even though others aren’t

“the elder” - he called himself this in 2nd John

“beloved/whom I love in the truth” - this is the first thing that he says

often you can see where priorities are by “first things” - first thing he says is beloved..

this is the Christian message, love

a look into the word “love” used here

ἀγαπάω - to have a warm regard for and interest in another, cherish. to have high esteem for or satisfaction with something. to practice/express love, prove one’s love

there are different words used for love in the new testament. this one is for a warm brotherly love and is the most often used

we see that John is in the right mindset and where his priorities are

this is the mindset that we should try to achieve, a “loving” first mindset

it’s our responsibility to show love to the world, we’re to be a mirror of God’s love

We are God’s agents on earth, sent from Him to do a mission

Christ’s message was based on love, His mission was also based on love

we’re to be conformed to His image

the word “Gospel” means good news, so we are good news spreaders to the earth

the gospel gives life, it lifts up the downtrodden

Jesus often talked to the poor, oppressed, and downtrodden

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“be in health, even as thy soul...”

John not only cares about about the physical health of Gaius, but also about his soul’s health

we should be more concerned about our spiritual health than anything

sometimes it’s hard to truly apply this like we should, but this is the thinking that we need to have

the spiritual world is very real, and it’s always going on around us and in the background

2 Kings 6:14–17 KJV 1900

14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. 15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

so we see here what is happening “behind the scenes” if you will

essentially, we have been given new life by Christ, not only here but in the hereafter

this life is MUCH more valuable than our physical life.

God has blessed us with this by His grace and mercy, we don’t want to just put it on the shelf

3 John 3–4 KJV 1900

3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

We see that Gaius not only has inward light as a believer, but it’s also coming out of him, people can see that he has a good testimony

not only is he putting on a good testimony for the Lord, but he is also helping people at the same time

so he is being a doer, and not just a sayer

his light is shining, he’s reflecting God’s love onto the world, he’s taking it seriously

“i have no greater joy...” - that is a strong statement, think about it

like we talked about last week, John is truly concerned about the spiritual state of those whom he knows

because John realizes how important these things are

he loved people genuinely therefore he doesn’t want to see them eternally damned to hell

we should strive to see people in this way, we should try to see someone and say “poor soul, i hope they’re not on their way to perishing and to living their life full of destructive sin”

“walk in the truth”

“Gaius is walking in the truth because he is following the gospel in all its pure simplicity.”

we need simplicity of heart and soul

this means to not be double minded, just simple in our approach to follow Christ’s commands and that’s it

3 John 5–6 KJV 1900

5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; 6 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:

We see that Gaius is faithful in not being a respector of persons or anything like that

what is going on here is that whether or not a visit to gaius was from a believing stranger, or someone he knew

we know it’s talking about believers because they were talking about his good testimony

Hebrews 13:2 KJV 1900

2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

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the end of the verse is telling gaius that he’d be doing good by sending them on their way in a Godly way

3 John 7–8 KJV 1900

7 because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. 8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.

so these people had set out in the name of Christ, John says.

John tells Gaius that he should take care of them, not only as fellow brothers, but as supporters of the cause

we can help “the church” in many ways, we can do something at the building itself, we can go out and spread the gospel, we could take care of the people in some way, we can support others who are going on mission trips, etc

so we need not think, “oh there is nothing that I’m able to do”, almost anyone can do some sort of something, right?

John wants to be part of the spreading of the gospel. He was likely really old at the time he was writing this letter, so it’s not as if he could walk

but what we see from him was providing some leadership in his local church, sending out letters of encouragement to some, helping missionaries as they go on their journey, and likely more

3 John 9 KJV 1900

9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

what we see is that this diotrephes is the leader of a church that John tried to write to

however, he didn’t want John or people associated with him coming around to his church

diotrephes has let what bit of power he had go to his head

we’ve all probably heard the phrase, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

this is what satan desired, right? he wanted to be on top, wanted to be number one, it’s a powerful temptation to some

He’s not only let the power go to his head, but he’s lording it over people, abusing his power

he’s started actually thinking he’s above everyone, when we are called to be humble as Christians

Christ talked about being humble a lot, about being a servant to others. “the greatest among you will the servant of all”

diotrephes was in bad shape, imagine, he wouldn’t even receive an apostle or the apostle’s people! it goes to show how much he really cared about that stuff at that point

power got to his head, and totally flipped what he cared about.

look at many of the rich and powerful in the world, the “elite”, power has gotten to many of their heads badly

3 John 10 KJV 1900

10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Diotrephes has been prating (talking nonsense/disparaging) against John and the believers around him.

he is essentially rebelling against the church, not just a single church, but true beliving

that is not a place you want to be, rebelling against true belief, the church, the bride of Christ

“malicious words” - anyone remember where we’ve heard about this before? JAMES

James 3:3–5 KJV 1900

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

James basically makes the point that it’s amazing how such a small thing, such a little thing, like the tongue, can cause so much damage

think about how damage can be done by someone spreading a rumor, spreading a lie, disparaging someone’s reputation, gossiping about people in a negative way, etc.

the silverlining here is that the tongue can be a double-edged sword, after all, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God

we can use the tongue to spread the gospel, to build people up, to spread light to a dark world

Jesus used the tongue to spread the gospel, right? look what a world changing thing that was!

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“neither doth he receive the brethren” - so not only is he talking about people, but he will not receive belivers. and not only that...

“and forbitteth them that would...” - now that is a bad place to be spiritually

could you imagine trying to prevent someone from finding God? from coming to church? diotrephes has totally strayed from the course in a huge way

3 John 11 KJV 1900

11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

what John is saying is that those who truly are following God and want to know God will be trying to do good and repent when they are in error

they have seen what Christ has done for us, they have seen how much He loves us, and once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to go back

once you fully understand and see what the gospel is all about

John isnt’ saying that if you are a believer who sins once in a while that you’re not of God, it has to do with you’re walk and if you’re repenting

Someone who is doing evil and who doesn’t repent or care about their evils and wrongdoings, they have not really seen God

3 John 12 KJV 1900

12 Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.

so we see a new character, Demetrius, who is perhaps one of the people sent out by John

John says that he bears record, and that gaius knows that his record is true

this is because John has a habit of telling the truth and that John obviously knows and is following the true gospel

we should strive to have this kind of testimony, one where people know that our word is true and that we’re coming from the right place.

3 John 13–14 KJV 1900

13 I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: 14 but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.

like the end of 2 John, we likely see a reminder of the persecution that the early Christians went through.

there must have been a lot going on for John to not want to write things down, you have to be being incredibly cautious or the romans were really hunting Christians