The Good, The Bad and the Faithful

3 John: The Good, The Bad and the Faithful

We have finished 1 John and 2 John and now we come to 3 John. Don’t worry there is not a 4 John. I told you that 2nd and 3rd John would be three sermons each and I was successful with 2 John in that respect. But here we are in 3 John and things have changed a bit. I believe, unless something happens, I will finish 3 John today; but it may take three hours.

Today we are going to look at the lives of three men. I don’t usually name my sermons but I’m calling this one; “The Good, the Bad and the Faithful”. We won’t be looking at them in that order but that is the order they are presented in Scripture. Like 1st and 2nd John there is no reason to believe that 3rd John was written by anyone other than John the last living Apostle. 1st and 2nd John was written to show a strong connection between truth and love correcting some false teachings that were attacking the Church. However 3rd John shows no such conflict. Instead the conflict exposed in 3 John is concerned with people and their behavior both godly and ungodly. Unlike 1st and 2nd John that was written to a church this letter was written to an individual named Gaius; more about him later. In this short letter (14 verses, a few words shorter in the Greek than 2 John) the Elder (John the Apostle) commends one man’s lifestyle, recommends another man due to his lifestyle and condemns another man’s lifestyle. Let’s pray then we will read our passage for this morning; 3 John.

3 John 1-14 1 The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, 6 who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, 7 because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. 8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.13 I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.[1]

This letter as I noted earlier is written to an individual named Gaius. There are three other men mentioned in the New Testament named Gaius and all of them are associated with the Apostle Paul. There is one from Corinth mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:14 and Romans 16:23. There is one from Macedonia mentioned in Acts 19:29 and one in Derbe mentioned in Acts 20:4. There is no evidence that John is writing to any one of these three men not to mention that Gaius was possibly the most common name in the Greco/Roman world; it was as common as John is today in our word. With that explanation let me say that we have no idea who Gaius is nor do we have definite information as to where this Gaius lived except to say that it was probably in the area of Asia Minor since John was the pastor in Ephesus and tradition says he was the bishop over all the churches in the area. There are several things we can learn about Gaius in this passage, for one he is most likely a leader in the church where he lives. We can see that he took care of traveling missionaries in his home at his expense plus the fact that John spoke very openly to him concerning Diotrephes and he would not have done so if Gaius were not a church leader. We can also see that Gaius was very close to the Apostle John because four times (vs. 1, 2, 5, 11) John calls him “beloved”. In verse 1 John says: To the beloved Gaius, whom I have loved in truth. This can be construed to mean either that he truly loved him or to mean that John loves him in the mutual love of the truth that they both hold to, the truth of Jesus that they have known from the beginning. I believe that is the proper understanding because of what we read a moment ago in verse three.

Verse 2 is just a common greeting like we learned to write back when people actually wrote letters. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health…that is not unusual at all until you get to the last part where he says: just as your soul prospers. Many in the prosperity gospel heresy believes this is referring to the health and prosperity of the believer; “if your soul is prosperous (saved) then you will be healthy and prosperous or wealthy. Of course we know that view discounts Jesus’ call to suffering, taking up our cross and following Him, that following Him may mean that we have no place to lay our heads and the fact that He promised tribulations. It also ignores the plight of many hungry, suffering Christians around the world. I think instead what John is saying is from his knowledge of Gaius and from the evidence of his lifestyle (verse 3 again) that demonstrates the “prosperity” of his soul John wishes or prays that his health and prosperity would be strong. Or more simply put: “I pray that you physical life and well being is as strong as your spiritual life.” To have someone notice that your spiritual life is strong is a really great thing but how would you feel if this were reversed. “I pray that your spiritual life would be as strong as your physical life.” Folks I work hard to maintain this lean lithe body, keeping it in top physical condition. Obviously that is not true but perhaps sometimes we work harder on our physical lives than we do on our spiritual lives. The Apostle Paul said this to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:8 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.[2] Being in good physical condition right now is only helpful right now but being in good spiritual condition is helpful now and for eternity. I think John is commending Gaius on his obvious good spiritual health and is praying that his physical life will follow.

In verses 3-8 John gets into the lifestyle that he is commending Gaius for. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, 6 who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, 7 because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. 8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth. From what we can draw out from this, men who had visited the church where Gaius was a prominent member had given a glowing report of him to John and the church where John served. Their report had been that that Gaius not only knew the truth but also walked in the truth or lived out the truth. Like I said a couple of weeks ago; nothing brings greater joy to one who is responsible to teach and convey the truth to others than to see those he taught walk in the truth. The teacher himself may see it easily because he is looking for it but these are strangers who do not know Gaius well and they see in his lifestyle the love of Christ being lived out. Wouldn’t it be great for others to look at our lives and see no break no inconsistencies between what we say we believe and what we do?

In this passage we can see that love is borne out in many ways. One of the ways it is borne out is in hospitality for brothers in Christ who are also strangers. Hebrews 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. [3] 1 Peter 4:8-9 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God[4] Obviously Gaius demonstrated love by being hospitable to strangers who had come to minister the Word of God. This work of hospitality was an overflow of love due to the truth he knew and believed. Evidently his love was not just a warm fuzzy feeling but a genuine act because John says that because of his actions the brethren/strangers bore witness of the love. He did something out of the overflow of love.

Then John turns from what Gaius has done to what he should do and why. Once the brothers/strangers had finished their service it was incumbent on Gaius to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. These men were servants of God and should be treated as such. The custom would have been to give them support while they were there but upon their departure they would be provided with food and supplies, including money. When Paul wrote the Romans he said that was what he expected of them when he headed on to Spain (Romans 15:24) and when Paul wrote Titus he told him to do the same thing with Zenna and Apollos (Titus 3:13). The reason for doing this, for helping these men was because they “went forth for His names sake”. They were missionaries who were going out to proclaim the Gospel to people where the Gospel had not reached or had not taken a strong hold.

An interesting note is made by John that they were sent forth “taking nothing from the Gentiles”. I see this as another reason for the church to provide for those who are sent out as missionaries. This statement by John does have a little bit of difficulty involved because most of the people in the region John pastored, Asia Minor, were in fact not Jewish so they were technically Gentiles. So who is it that the missionaries did not receive help from? Some translations make this simpler by translating the word Gentiles as pagans. What John is intimating is that these missionaries did not seek or take help from those who were not believers. This is not a prohibition from taking support from those outside the church but we should seek our ministry support from believers, if the lost want to help then great, it is an opportunity for us to share the Gospel. In verse 8 John tells us that we ought to help those who go forth because in doing so we are fellow workers for the truth. That is why we take up our special offerings (Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong, Ruben L. Sourth). It is necessary that we be fellow workers for the truth. How do we know who are the ones going forth with the truth that we should be fellow workers with? We looked at that in 2 John. Only if they confess that Jesus came in the flesh, shed His blood to cleanse us of our sin, that He is our propitiation, that He takes our sin away as the perfect sinless sacrifice, and that God the Father sent Him as our substitute, and that He died and rose again, only then do you give them aid and send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. If they contend that He came for any other reason in any other way then we are not to receive them and we are not to help them.

Let me stop here and say that not everyone is called to go forth. Evidently Gaius was not, he was at home doing what God had called him to do in the aid of those who were sent away from their homes for the sake of the name of Jesus. People of God, if you are not called to go forth as missionaries then it is your and my responsibility to support those who are, in any way we can; as good stewards of the manifold grace of God as Peter said. But let me interject that this does not relieve you of the responsibility to be missionaries where you are, in your homes and in your community. I don’t think I need to refer you back to Acts 1:8.

We have taken a look at Gaius and I am sure that you can conclude that he is the Good as it relates to the title of the sermon; The Good, The Bad and the Faithful. I am going to come back to the Bad and go on to verse 12 and look at the Faithful. 3 John 12 12 Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true. There is only one other Demetrius mentioned in the New Testament and a Demas which could be short for Demetrius. But the Demetrius that is found in Acts 19 was the silversmith that made the idols of the goddess Diana and stirred up a riot against Paul in Ephesus so unless he became a believer it is not him and Demas is reported to have deserted Paul in 2 Timothy so it probably is not him. So just like Gaius we do not know who Demetrius is but we do learn three things about him. First: He has a good report from everyone. He has a good reputation among all the people who know him. Second: His life demonstrates the truth of Christ and who He is. His life has been changed and it is borne out in his lifestyle. Third: John knows Demetrius and recommends him to Gaius. Demetrius is a faithful follower of Christ Jesus. Folks, Demetrius is a picture of what every believer should demonstrate. Now for the question: So what? Why is Demetrius even mentioned? First because he is a good example to us. Second; Gaius was known to help missionaries on their journey in a way that is worthy of God. Possibly Demetrius is the one carrying the letter from John to Gaius and most likely Demetrius is one of those missionaries who will be in the area where Gaius is and John is letting him know that Demetrius is a true minister of the word of God and not one of the false teachers that were always traveling around seeking to turn people away from the Lord. Gaius would have known to turn away those who were false teacher and he wants him to know that Demetrius is not one of them; he is faithful.

Another reason John may have mentioned and introduced Demetrius to Gaius is because he may just meet the Bad. Let’s meet him by looking at verses 9-10. 9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Let’s look at the contrast here between the Good and the Bad. Gaius humbled himself and helped those on their way who were going forth to minister the Gospel of Christ. Diotrephes, there’s no humility there, he wanted to be preeminent, he wanted to be the top dog, the one everyone bowed down to so when John, probably the last living Apostle, sent him a letter most likely instructing him to help the missionaries he refused. Because he wanted the preeminence he would not accept the authority of one who had walked and talked with Jesus. It is clear from the book of Acts that the Apostles had authority over the churches during the Apostolic age. But Diotrephes would have none of it. Not only did he refuse to do what John told him he began a campaign to smear John. He was gossiping against John with malicious words (prating). He was playing politics with the church, building himself up while tearing down the Apostle John. He was so opposed to John that when some of the people in the church decided that they would do what John said he put them out of the church. Now church discipline is a real thing and there are times and reasons to remove people from fellowship but for helping missionaries spread the gospel is not one of them. Diotrephes was doing all he could to stop the work of the Gospel. You may be thinking; “but he just wanted to make sure the gospel work was done in the church first instead of sending resources outside.” Let me just make this perfectly clear, if you hinder the work of God outside the church then you are hindering the work inside the church. Acts 1:8 says we are to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth, not Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then the ends of the earth. But to be honest I don’t think that is what Diotrephes was doing, I think he just was so full of himself wanting to be the most important person that he did not even know who Jesus was. Why do I say that? Because of what John says in verse 11.

3 John 11 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. 1 John and 2 John both had warnings, verse 11 is the closest thing we have to a warning. John had commended Gaius and recommended Demetrius and now he warns Gaius and us not to imitate the evil because the evil has not even seen, not been changed by God. I wanted to save this verse till last because I think it brings everything John is trying to say in this letter to the front. The “good” will do everything in their power, in their ability to make sure the Gospel is made known because when the Gospel is made known God is glorified and people are converted, believing and repenting. John says we are to imitate that and he gives us two really good examples. One supports the Gospel going forth and the other takes the Gospel forth. Imitate what is good. But the bad (evil), is self centered and will not obey God because he has not even seen God, in other words he does not recognize God and His authority in his life, he only lives for his own glory; not the glory of God. Do not imitate the bad. Imitate a lifestyle that folks recognize your spiritual health, that the truth is lived out before not just people who know you well but people who just see a glimpse of your life. Be hospitable to those who are ministers of the Gospel, discerning their mission. Take every opportunity to further the Gospel in support of other and in your own words. That is the call that the believer has, that is the lifestyle that is good and faithful, imitate that. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (3 Jn 1–14). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Ti 4:8). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Heb 13:1–2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Pe 4:9–10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.