Sermon Tone Analysis

|OPENING SLIDE|

As an introduction, I invite you to open your Bibles to the book of John.

John chapter 13.

PAUSE

The setting is the night before the Passover, it is the night before Christ’s Crucifixion and Jesus is providing His final instructions to the 12 disciples before He goes to the cross.

What takes place in these verses needs to be understood by us as incredibly important instructions, guidance given at a critical time when the disciples needed to hear Him clearly… We as well need to hear Him clearly SHORT PAUSE and these instructions involve how we are to humbly serve each other...

In this passage, the Christ, the Son of God Most High acts out the very character of God and what He expects our character to be as well… starting in verse 3....

John 13 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

LOOK UP

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Creator of the Cosmos, has gotten down on His knees and wiped the filth off of His disciples and onto the towel which He had wrapped Himself with.

LONG PAUSE 3 seconds or more

SOMBER The flawless Passover Lamb took upon Himself the dirt of the world and made His disciples perfectly clean… This is astonishing, there is nothing normal about this Messiah.

Drop down to verse 12

12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

It was as if He was saying, “Are you alert, are you aware, did you see this?”

How could they not?

The precedent that was set by the religious leaders of the day was that of total ceremonial cleanliness… Their teacher had just humiliated Himself to scrub them and make them clean.

“Do you know what I have done to you?”

The question must have hung heavy in the candlelight… PAUSE… Verse 13

13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.

14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

VERSE 15 IS KEY - CATCH THIS...15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

PAUSE

17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

PAUSE

|INTRODUCTION SLIDE|

Jesus, chose this last most significant night to provide a lesson that could not be missed by His disciples...

The Christian life is one of service before self

|INTRODUCTION SLIDE 2|The Christian life is not about making ourselves first, it is not about elevating ourselves, it is not about making ourselves pre-eminent, but serving our brothers and sisters and We learn how to serve one another by learning how Christ served His church PAUSE

Today, we are going to be in the book of 3rd John.

The last of John’s letters.

Last week, we read John’s letter to a body of believers that reminded us to walk faithfully in the truth not contenting ourselves to be misled by the world but believing Jesus Christ and loving one another - this is what we had been commanded.

|CONTEXT|

This week, in 3rd John, the elder John is writing to a particular individual - a dear friend of John’s, a man by the name of Gaius.

He has received a report of Gaius’ conduct as well as that of a man by the name of Diotrephes.

The themes in the letter are incredibly similar, walking in truth and loving one another but in this instance, in this letter, John gives a clear cut example that Gaius could see with his own two eyes that John was talking about both a good example and an example of what he should not emulate - and what I hope to make this example abundantly clear as well.

We are to follow the good example and not imitate that which is evil.

Because this is the core message of the letter I have chosen it to be my main point and it comes from verse 11 of 3rd John.

|MAIN POINT|

SPEAK SLOW Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.

The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God (3 John 11) PAUSE

Christ, has provided us an example, that we should do as He has done.

Humbly serving one another, this is what is good, this is what is right, this is what is required.

The one who is known by walking in the truth, known by humbly serving the church is of God and knows God and understands what God requires of His servants.

PAUSE The one who is self exalting, self magnifying, using words as weapons and is inhospitable has no relationship with God and does not know God’s Messiah.

Let’s go to prayer.

|BLANK|

PRAYER

Father, I am overwhelmed that You deemed fit to provide us instructions on how to live as You require.

You are so gracious to Your servants, You have generously provided us everything that we need.

A Messiah to make us clean, Your Word to instruct us in the good, right way and Your Holy Spirit to empower us to live as You desire.

Please make us especially sensitive to Your Word today and give us an appetite for it, that defines our life.

May we be known as those that walk in truth and love.

Help us as we seek to imitate Your cherished Son.

It is in His precious name that we come to You, amen.

SERMON

If you have not already opened Your Bibles, please do so to 3rd John.

I will begin in verse 1 with the elder John’s exhortation to Gaius.

|SLIDE|

I. Gaius Exhorted (v1-8)

A. Walking in truth* (v1-4)

3 John | 1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. 2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

3 For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.

4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

ONE SECOND PAUSE

The elder and last surviving apostle, John, is writing to a man in one of the churches - likely in Asia, what we call Turkey today.

ROLL HANDS He has been stimulated to write to Gaius, a man whose name means “one who makes glad,” because some itinerant traveling missionaries have returned to John and spoken well of Gaius - they had told John, that Gaius was walking in the truth, not deviating into heresy not falling into falsehood but standing in the truth of the Gospel and in verse two, almost as if he cannot help it John bursts into prayer, |VERSE SLIDE|

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

A beautiful prayer full of kindness and love, praying that Gaius be blessed abundantly even as he has evidently been blessed of God spiritually…

John is so happy that Gaius is walking in the truth that John goes so far in fact, to say he has no greater joy, nothing makes John happier than to hear that those he has nurtured in the Gospel are remaining in it… |APPLICATION SLIDE|

This is in stark contrast to some health and wealth preachers, whom I will not name, who have built whole doctrines upon this verse, which is so ironic because John is so happy that Gaius is walking in the truth, something health and wealth preachers deviate from, when they manipulate this text.

Health and wealth preachers have taken verse 2 out of context and distorted the truth of this verse, what the context clearly tells us it says, to justify a lifestyle of opulent luxury.

Health and wealth preachers are not known for walking in the truth and their conduct couldn’t be further from the example that Christ demonstrated before going to the cross.

|VERSE SLIDE|

SPEAK SLOWLY This is what I take from verse 2… It is good, it is fine, it is ok to pray that God bless those whom we love physically, materially - even financially, there is nothing wrong with that but more importantly than all these things it is good to pray for other’s spiritual health.

ONE SECOND PAUSE

SPEAK SLOWLY Sometimes, on Sunday mornings, I am overwhelmed by the volume of prayer requests for physical healing... would to God that we were that concerned over the spiritual health, the salvation, sanctification and holiness of those that are around us.

The physical cannot be divorced from the spiritual and our prayers for blessing can include both, but I desire to hear from the body impassioned prayer requests for salvation and sanctification in addition to requests for healing.

I desire to implore God to aid us in our particular struggles against the world, the flesh and the devil in addition to our weekly reports on our individual health.

Our life is but a vapor, let us pray for that which is eternal.

Verse 5 |SLIDE|

B. Faithful actions with brothers (v5-6)

5 Beloved, (REMEMBER JOHN IS WRITING TO HIS FRIEND, TO GAIUS) you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church.

You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

Gaius has manifested a key Christian character attribute.

Hospitality, hospitality…

Gaius, received these fellow believers, itinerant missionaries even though he did not know them personally and cared for them.

Gaius is hospitable.

Hospitality, is indicative of a person that is more concerned with others than themselves.

Hospitality is a key Christian character attribute, it is so fundamental that it is a requirement that elders in Christ’s church posses it.

It is so critical that a man cannot take a leadership position in the body unless they are more concerned with others than themselves.

John, is overjoyed at the report these traveling missionaries have returned about Gaius.

He is encouraged and so he reaches out to him and tells him this is well noted, recognized and it is appreciated.

Gaius’ love for the church, regardless of whether he knew these missionaries personally, has been well spoken of for 2,000 years now.

His care for strangers that claim the name of Christ is a model for us.

Verse 7 |SLIDE|

C. Proper hospitality (v7-8)

7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.

8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.