So the title of the message is Part B, Love for the Faithful. Love for the Faithful there, Part B. Our scripture is 3 John 1, verses 5 through 8 in our series, Christian Hospitality. As soon as you have it, if you can stand with me, if you're able to, in reverence to God's word. So beloved, we have worshipped God. We have prayed. We have come to the Lord's table today. What a blessing that was. I pray that your heart is just filled with gratefulness to God and love for our Lord and Savior. And now let us read the word of God and may God instruct us through his word. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testify to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. Father, bless the reading of your word. Bless our understanding. The Reformers believed, oh Lord, and taught that this time was a holy time in which you spoke to the people. Not because the minister is anything, but because you're everything. And that this was a time not to listen to men speak, but to listen to God. I truly believe, Lord, that that is the case. Not because I'm up here, Lord, but because you have ordained preaching the word as a way for the Christians to grow. Feed us, Lord, from your table. correct us in the areas that we need correcting, teach us that which we don't know, and allow us through your grace to leave this place, Lord, knowing you better. Father, for anyone here unconverted, may they leave this place in relationship. We pray these things, Lord, in Christ's name and for his sake, amen. And amen, you may be seated. Last week we talked about love for the faithful as a continuation, 3rd John was, of 2nd John. in which John instructs the Church of God to love God, to love the brethren, to extend hospitality to the brethren, in so doing, to make sure that when they extend it, that love, that mercy, that openness, that hospitality, that they make sure that the person they were extending it to was truly a believer. We're under no compulsion to extend that hospitality to someone who says they're a believer but actually undermines the gospel of Jesus Christ. John makes the case in 2 John that there are many people who call themselves Christians that are not. and that are actually subversive, they're actually, if you would want to think about it this way, double agents for the enemy. We are under no obligation to open our home and our lives to someone whose teaching leads away from the cross of Jesus Christ. Now that goes very contrary to the things that we have learned in our modern day culture. We are told never to judge. If someone says they're something, we have to believe that they're that something, because they say they are, and we have no right to pass any judgment. So if anyone says they're a Christian, they are. Who are you to say that they're not? But not so in the New Testament. In the New Testament, we evaluated someone's confession based upon their life and their doctrine. We made those judgment calls. And, according to the Book of Revelation, When the Ephesian church evaluated some men, they found them to be liars and not really of the truth, and forbade them not only from fellowshipping with the believers, but from teaching, because they knew their doctrine would lead the believers away from Christ. So in scripture we are commanded then to be very careful. If you are a believer and I am a believer, then we're united in Jesus Christ. We are to hold each other up. We are to welcome one another. And opening our home. We're not only opening our homes. In the New Testament, we're opening our churches, because our churches were meeting in homes. And so you were opening your church to someone and saying, this person is a believer. This person is in good standing. And so then we had to make sure that when we said such a thing, it was true. That we weren't allowing wolves in sheep's clothing, in other words, into our midst, to destroy the sheep of God. That is called biblical discernment. And I think, and I lament the fact, that the church has lost a lot of that. Now we say, anyone who says he is a Christian, by virtue of their confession, is a Christian. As a matter of fact, we'll preach a sermon, we'll invite people up to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And then we will tell them, pray this prayer after me. And when they are finished, we say, by the fact that you prayed those words, you are now a what? Christian. Not so. Not anywhere in scripture. Never been the case. Never has the church practiced such things. A magic incantation does not make you a Christian. Attending church does not make you a Christian. You saying you're a Christian does not make you a Christian. What makes you a Christian is that you love God, that you are in obedience to Him, that you have realized who you are, you've submitted yourself to Him, and He is the Lord and Savior of your life. that you love the brethren. If those things are happening, then you can call yourself a believer. And the church was very choosy who they allowed in and who they proclaimed to be a believer. And we need to have some of that discernment too, in what we watch, in what we say, and whom we invite in. So after a general tribute to Gaius, John now mentions the hospitality and love that Gaius has shown to traveling missionaries. John endeavors to affirm to Gaius that he is on the right track spiritually and that he should even go beyond what he has done to ensure that the gospel goes forth throughout the world. To John the purpose of life, listen to this, to John the purpose of life was to make Jesus known. I wish and I pray that that will be your purpose today here, when you leave this place, that you would say, my purpose from now on, if it hasn't been up to this point, is to make Jesus known in all that I do. That is the epitome of what life is. As I've studied this portion of scripture, as I've prepared for this sermon, I have come to the conclusion that what John is telling Gaius is, Gaius, in your best effort, Make sure that you allow the gospel to be preached. Never hinder the gospel. If missionaries come to you, open your homes if they be true missionaries of God. Make sure that you do everything that you possibly can to ensure that the gospel goes forward. And when they leave, make sure that you bless them in such a way that they can go forth and continue to do that work that God has called them to do. Gaius, the gospel is of utmost importance. As I read through this part, I felt like John was telling me the very same thing. What is it that this world needs above anything else? It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is it that every human being needs more than anything else? It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're praying for presidents, and we're praying for congresses, and we're praying for governments, and we're praying for the world, and we see the evil that is happening in our world, and we come to the conclusion that this world needs Jesus Christ. And as Christians, we cannot get so self-involved with our lives that we lose sight of this. Gaius was not so. Gaius was spending his life in making sure that the Gospel went forward. Accordingly, it is incumbent on the Christian to make sure that all his best effort and all his best sacrifice, as everything he has, is done to ensure that the Gospel goes forth throughout this world. Without the Gospel, there is no hope. Without the Gospel, there is no salvation. Without the Gospel, there is only the darkness of the human heart. Without the Gospel, there is no light. Without the Gospel, there is no salvation. I remind me and I remind you that as I preach this sermon, the very words of Jesus Christ, when we see Christ speaking for the first time in a preaching sense, in the Gospel of Mark, the message of Christ was, repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. That's the first sermon we hear preached by Jesus. When we see in the Gospel of Mark, we know that Jesus spoke other words, and we know that Jesus said other things. And we know that He was involved in the calling of the Twelve. But when Mark sets forth to talk about the life of Jesus Christ, when the Gospel of Mark sets forth, it says, Jesus came preaching Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. The first thing that came out of our Lord and Savior's mouth in a preaching sense was the Gospel. Repent from your sins, turn to God, come to me, and I will save you. The Kingdom of God is at hand, and you should do everything within your power to make sure that you're in. That's the Gospel. So when Christ preached, He preached The gospel, we need to be about the gospel of our Savior. So this is a point of application for you and I, that we need to look at Gaius as our example, and then put into play the things he's doing. Let's look at him at verse 5. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers. strangers as they are. Let me remind you first of that word beloved. This is the second time now that he's used that word. He will use it two more times in this epistle to talk to Gaius. I remind you of the purpose of the word beloved, and it's to remind the person that they're in relationship first with God, God loves them, and second with the apostle, the leader of this church, right, this fellow Christian. He loves them as well. Throughout 1st John and 2nd John, John has given us two tests by which we can administer into our life to see if we're really in the faith. And I hope that you remember them by now, because we've been talking about them over and over and over again. Test number one, are you in love with God by following Him in obedience to His Word? That's number one. And number two, do you love the people for whom He came to die? And if you answer no to any one of those questions, you are not a Christian. Plain and simple. Now that's hard for me to say to you, and you might get upset at those words, but those are the words of John the Revelator here when he says, anyone who says he does not love his brother or hates his brother, he says the truth of God is not in him and he is a... Liar. He further goes on to tell us, he says, anyone who says he loves the Lord but does not walk as Jesus Christ walked, is a liar and the truth of God is not in him either. So then he makes the starting claim that to love Jesus is to walk after him. To love Jesus is to love his people. And he says, if those things are present in anyone's life, they are welcomed into the church of God as brothers and sisters. Amen? And so we see this here and we understand it to be so. Here we see John the revelator. He loves Gaius. He is practicing what he preaches. What does he say to Gaius? He says, Beloved, he said, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers. Gaius was demonstrated a concerted effort for the gospel in not only opening his house, but in essence opening up his life. We talked about it in the New Testament times when a traveling missionary came. You didn't want to put them in an inn. A lot of the inns were filled with debauchery and evil. You didn't want them to be taken care of by the Gentiles who were receiving the Gospel. Lest the Gentiles would believe that the only reason they came was so that they wouldn't have to work or that they would be taken care of. It was incumbent upon the Christians to open up their homes and open up their churches to these traveling missionaries that they be true ministers of God. Gaius was giving a concerted effort to allow these people to welcome them in and to give them a home base so that they can preach the gospel. Why? Why would Gaius spend his time, his effort, and his money? Why would he put his family out and allowing all these people to use his house as a hotel? As they came in and out, he was opening his heart. Why would he do such a thing? Because he loved his community. Because he loved his church. He knew that these men brought the gospel to the unbeliever. And he knew that these men brought the gospel for the growth of the believer. And so he was concerned with souls. That's why he did what he did. And the question then, as I read through scripture, for me was, how concerned am I for souls? Maybe it's a good question for you to ask of yourself today. How concerned are you for souls? How apt are you to get so stuck in your life, and the little problems that we have, they might be big to you, but in the grand scheme of things, and all our little problems, and all our little things, and all our little livings, running in our little hamster wheel. How concerned are you with the people around you and with the gospel being proclaimed both in this church and outside these walls as you go out and you preach the gospel to Jesus Christ. This is a good question for me to ask on a Sunday for you to consider. How concerned are you that the gospel goes forward? We tend to think of the church as this stagnant place that we come to. This building is God's garden church. When we forget that the church is the people and that Jesus Christ said about the church that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church of God. When I think of what Jesus says, I see an army victorious, marching forward. The church is not this stagnant pool. It's not this building. The church is a people who are gaining territory in the kingdom of God, taking territory away from the enemy. How concerned are you with the gospel of Jesus Christ? How active are you in this warfare? We used to sing a hymn, onward Christian soldiers. Marching as to war with the cross of Jesus, right? Going on before. It was a picture of the church marching forward. It was a picture of the church waging spiritual warfare. It was a picture of the church taking what belonged to the enemy and converting it and giving it to Christ. It was a picture of the gates of hell trembling at the sight of the Christian marching forward. Beloved, how concerned are you with the kingdom of God and the gospel? Gaius was super concerned. Notice he says, it's a faithful thing that you do in all your efforts. Your efforts have been duly noted for these brethren. According to the Apostle, what was being demonstrated then was a faithfulness. A faithfulness to whom? To himself? No. But to Jesus Christ. Gaius took the words of Christ at face value. That the Gospel needed to be preached. That the message of Christ was first repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. That Jesus spent all that he had to make sure that the Gospel would be preached. And so Gaius demonstrates faithfulness to Jesus Christ. This is then a moving away, listen, from a mere intellectual understanding to the application. If you walked in and I gave you Christian Test 101, right? That said, how important is the Gospel? You would all mark, highly what? Important, or of utmost importance on the test. You know the right answer. How important is it for you to be engaged in the Gospel and the preaching of it, and ensuring that it's preached? You've all marked the box, hopefully, saying this is absolutely of high level of what? Importance. So we might know the right thing, but the question begs to be asked. Is there a doing of it? This is what Gaius was doing. He knew that the Gospel was important. But more importantly, he was doing something about it. This would have a cost associated with it. Imagine, he's feeding all these people. He's lodging all these people. There was a monetary cost to the Gospel to him. But there was also an emotional cost. Remember, diatrophies. The leader of the churches in that area is kicking out anyone who's receiving these missionaries. Excommunicating them. Because he wants to have preeminence. He's a false teacher that's taken over. So Gaius is on the verge of excommunication from his church, from his church family, from the people whom he loves. So it would have a monetary cost for him, and it would have a relational cost for him. But Gaius says, no cost. is big enough that I would not spend in order to make sure that the gospel goes forward. Beloved, what a beautiful picture of a godly man for you and I to emulate. Right? What is it going to cost me? It doesn't matter. Everything I have belongs to God. As long as the gospel goes forward, that's all that matters to me. What is it going to cost me relationally? It doesn't matter. As long as the gospel goes forward, that's all that matters. Gaius loved the Lord. Gaius demonstrates his love for both the brethren and more importantly to the Lord. Which is what John was commanding all of us to do in his demonstration of Christian hospitality. Notice, Gaius didn't know who these guys were. The Gospel says, strangers as they are. It wasn't like Gaius was like, okay, I know this missionary, he's a great guy, and you know, he's a brother, we grew up together in the church, we have family relationships, so of course I'm going to open my home to him. These were perfectly good strangers. But when they came to Gaius, he saw in them Jesus Christ, he saw the true witness, they came with high recommendation from the apostles, they came with letters saying, this is who we are, and we're here to preach the gospel. He heard their message, he saw their doctrine, he saw their life, he concluded these men are true men of God, And even though they were strangers in the flesh, they were brothers in the Lord. Amen? And He opened up His life to them. Do you know that you have brothers and sisters preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ all throughout this world? People whom you don't know. Maybe you don't even speak the same language. Right? Don't share the same culture. One of the most beautiful things I saw was a church in Africa, and they were singing Amazing Grace. I couldn't sing along with the words. I could only do it in English, because they were singing it in some sort of African dialect. I recognized the melody. I said, we're singing to the same God, just in different words, right? So these were strangers to him. He didn't care. Do you preach Jesus? Do you love the Lord? Are you walking with Christ? Are you here for the sake of the Gospel? Have you been recognized by the Church as one who preaches the Gospel? Come on in. Welcome to my home. My whole concern is for this city to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What an amazing man he was. They were strangers. These missionaries were doing the work of Christ. He didn't care that they were strangers in the flesh. They were beloved brethren in our Lord. I want to bring your attention to Ephesians 4 verses 15b and on, where the Apostle Paul says, in every way into him who is the head into Christ from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Gaius understood this. We're all part of one what? Body. So I might not know you. But I know that you are a true minister of God. Guess what? You're part of the body of Jesus Christ. Welcome into the church. Beloved, it is a beautiful thing when we realize that the thing that binds us together is not culture. Can you say praise God to that? Isn't it amazing? It's not ethnicity. It's not the color of our skin. Right? It's not that we all went to the same school, although some of you did. Right? Sometimes I feel, when I first started here, I was like, does everybody know everybody here except for me? You know? It's none of those things. What binds us together is Jesus Christ. So that some of you I would never have relationship with, I would never come across. We don't have anything else in common except for Jesus. And if we have Jesus in common, we have everything in common. Praise God. If we have Jesus in common, we're family. We're going to spend eternity together. You better like me, because you don't have a choice. We're a family in God. We're seeking the same God together. That was Gaius. He's like, these guys were strangers to him, but they were a part of the body of Jesus Christ proclaiming the gospel. Welcome to my home. Welcome to my life. Diet or feast is going to kick me out of church, so be it. This is going to cost me money, who cares? Is the gospel being preached? Are people coming to Jesus Christ? Is the church being edified? Yes, then I am happy, says Christ. I will spend my life that way. Beloved, what an amazing thought that is. It's not your house. If you are a Christian, it doesn't belong to you. Everything that you have belongs to whom? To God. It's not your finances, it's not your money, it's not your house, it's not your wife, it's not your kids, everything belongs to the Lord. Hence why Abraham could take his son and take him up to the mountain and say, okay, I'll do what you called me to do, because he's not mine. If he were mine, I wouldn't be able to do, I would tell you, no, this one's mine, but it's yours. It's what Hannah tells the Lord, right? If you give me a child, I'll give him back to you, he's yours anyway. It all belongs to the what? Lord. His kingdom come, His will be done. Not my kingdom, not my will. Beloved, this is what Gaius believed. Let's look at verse 6. Gaius was opening his house to these strangers. And these strangers testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. Notice, these strangers came, they saw Gaius, say that he was going to take care of them. They recognized Gaius as a true believer. Gaius recognized them. And then they witnessed first hand the love of Gaius for Jesus Christ. Not for them, for Jesus Christ and opening their home to him. And when they came back home they said, this Gaius guy, this Gaius guy, he loves Jesus Christ. He opened up his home, he opened up his life to us, so that we would preach the gospel. When we were with him, we were well taken care of. We didn't need to worry about where we were going to sleep. We didn't need to worry about what we were going to eat. We're not going to worry about that. We were worried about preaching Jesus because He took care. He took all the worries out. He took all the worries out. I've experienced something like this, not from a fellow believer, believe it or not. Although my aunt was a believer, my uncle was not. And my uncle told my aunt, when I went to Puerto Rico to preach, he said, he can stay with us, but the moment he talks to me about Jesus, I'm kicking him out. I didn't know that. So the first night we stayed up until about three o'clock in the morning speaking about Jesus. And he went to bed telling my aunt, this guy, he really believes what he's talking about. And he told me, and I was falling asleep, I mean, 8 hour flight or whatever, 15 hour, I don't even remember what it was. Jet lag, he says, why don't you go to bed, can we finish talking about tomorrow? He tells me this. The next morning when I'm talking to my aunt, she's crying, because he's never talked to anybody about Jesus Christ. He's excited to come home so he can speak to you this evening. 30 days in Puerto Rico, he opened up his home. They fed me. They gave me a place to lodge. I wasn't worried about anything. I landed in Puerto Rico not knowing where I was going to go, whether the money would hold out. They picked me up and for 30 days, they took care of me. And every morning when I was leaving to go preach the gospel, to go walk the streets, my aunt who was a Christian says, I'll be praying for you. I'm here for you. I want you to go forward. And when you come back, don't be too tired to speak to my husband about Jesus. 30 days later, when I left, I left the Bible in my uncle's hands. I gave it to him and I said, I love you in Jesus Christ, it's the best gift I can give you. And he said, I promise I'll read that. A few months later, I get a call saying he's come to Jesus Christ. He's serving Jesus. But a year later, I get a call saying he dies and he goes to be with the Lord. He was getting ready to go to church. Beloved, when you opened the home, my aunt says, when I opened my home to you, I thought it was opening it to you as a family member. I didn't understand that I was opening my home to Jesus Christ doing a work. And by opening that home, God blessed me more than he could have blessed anybody else. I don't know if anyone in the street came to Jesus Christ. She said, but your family did. And this is what Gaius did. So when I read this, I'm like, I get what Gaius was doing and it's hopefully something I can do as well. Opening my life so that the Gospel will go forward. Beloved, this is what God is calling you to do. Amen? And maybe it's not housing missionaries. But maybe it's about spending yourself, in some way, making sure that the Gospel will go forward. And supporting those who do preach the Gospel. Look at what Paul says to them, in that same verse in verse 6. You will do well to send them on their journey. Here, in essence, he is saying, this is a request, a please. What is he saying? Do more than you've already done. You would have thought that it was, that's great what you're doing, keep it up, I'm glad, praise God. But he says, if you can do more, what does he say? Then do more. The gospel is that what? Important. That's kind of bold, isn't it? He's opening his home, he's opening his house, he's opening everything. But in essence he says, if you can do even more, When they leave, make sure that they have enough food. Make sure that they have enough money. Make sure that they have what they have to have so that they can travel to the next place and preach the gospel. Don't only take care of them there, but as they leave, make sure that you go beyond. Send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. What would you do for Jesus? Is what he's saying. If Jesus was among you preaching here, would you take care of him, everyone? Amen. But as Jesus left, would you say, well, I was only concerned with my city. Go ahead and go. I hope it all works out for you. Or would you send him in a way worthy of God? Would you bless him? Would you give unto him so that when he can go on his way and continue proclaiming this gospel to other people, you would, wouldn't you? And this is what he's saying. Make sure that you do as much as you can. Your generosity to those that proclaim the truth should not be hindered, but instead it should go further money, food, companionship, whatever you can give them, give them. All that matters, all that matters, is that this world hear the gospel. Oh beloved, by the sheer mercies of God, I beseech you, listen. All that matters is the gospel would be what? Proclaimed. Make that your mantra today. Walk out of here saying, I need to make sure that the Gospel is proclaimed. Send them away in a manner worthy of God. They're working on behalf of God. They should be treated in the most honorable way. In other words, make sure that you do things to the praise of God. He was to give. How many of you have been coming to His church for a long time? A bit, right? Longer than me. Some of you. Most of you longer than I've been here too. You know that I normally don't speak about giving, only when I get to it in Scripture. It's not the every Sunday sermon. But here we are. What is He saying? Make sure you give. And make sure you do it with a willing heart. So what is this giving? What is it He was supposed to provide for them, for their needs, so they would preach the Gospel? God wants us to give our gifts in the context of love. And not out of compulsion, or out of guilt of conscience. If you're giving to the work of God because you feel like everybody else is watching and I have to, it profits you nothing. If you're giving going, you know, I'm a pretty bad person, I need to give to make sure that, you know, one offsets the other, you know, trust me, you can never give enough to offset the sins that you've committed in your life. It doesn't profit you anything. But if you're giving because you love God first, and you love His people second, then that's the place you want to be in. And that's why Christ was giving. He loved God and He loved people. He wanted them to come to Jesus Christ. So He was going to give. And John says, give even further. And he said, I'm sure if we know His character by now, He says, I'll give up to the point I can't give anymore. But I want to make sure that the gospel goes forward in the name of Jesus Christ. Why should we give this way? There are three reasons. And I think you should write these down. Two of them are found in verse 7 and one is found in verse 8. Let's look at verse 7. Ready? There are three reasons. Two in this verse. Reason number one. The thing they're doing, they're not doing because they want to be popular. The thing they're doing, they're not doing because they want to be liked. The thing they're doing, they're not doing because they didn't want to work. The thing they were doing, they were doing for the namesake of Christ. They weren't representing themselves. These men had lives. These men had families. These men had jobs at one point. And they felt the burning call to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others. God confirmed that it was Him calling them to this work. And they left everything they knew for a life of hardship in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were representatives of Jesus Christ Himself. Do you see that? They were suffering indignities. Can you imagine what kind of life it was being constantly on the road in this type of atmosphere? The dangers they faced on the road from robbers and marauders and people trying to abuse them, right? Can you imagine? Everywhere they went they preached the gospel and the gospel says this, you're not a good person. You're a sinner and unless you repent you're going to go to hell. You need Jesus Christ. I'm sure that was received really, really well everywhere they went. I'm sure people are like, oh, thank you so much. We read of riots, do we not, beloved? We read of riots, of people, of a group of people taking the apostle Paul out and stoning him unto death. We read of people plotting and scheming to destroy. It wasn't like they were, it wasn't like, oh, I'm going to be a pastor so I can fly around in a $57 million jet, like some of these guys on TV. It was that we're going to become ministers and suffer every indignity there is, as long as the name of Jesus goes forward. Do you understand? And because of this, He says, they went forth out in the name. They had a burning desire to reach the lost. They left home, they left comfort, they left family, they left ease. In consideration of this, what's your duty to them? There are people that labor for your souls. Would you agree with that statement? What kind of consideration should you give to those people? There are people that labor for the souls of the lost. What kind of consideration should we give to these people? How easy is it to be one of these people? It's incredibly difficult. It'd be easier to say, forget it. I'm just, I'm going to live my own little Christian life. I'm not going to worry about anybody else. What kind of consideration should we give to these people? Says the Apostle John, every consideration you can possibly give them. They're not working for themselves, they're working for Jesus Christ. That's reason number one. Reason number two, they're accepting nothing from the Gentiles. When they went and preached to the Gentiles, if the Gentiles wanted to bless them in a way, give them something, they would refuse. Why? Because they didn't want the Gentiles to think that they were preaching to them, in order to get something from them. So when they came to the Gentiles, they preached the Gospel for free. In other words, right? Because they didn't want the Gentiles to think that they were in it to get something. How vastly different is it than some of these guys that we see on TV, right? How vastly different. God wants you to be rich. God wants you to have everything you want. How vastly different is that message from these guys who says, I refuse to take a dime from the Gentiles. I want them to see that I love them and that I'm preaching the gospel not because I'm going to get something, but because they need something. They need Jesus Christ. Completely different, isn't it? I read this and I'm like, Lord, what happened to this? Where did it go? And the Lord says there are still a few. There are still faithful men out there who are preaching this way. And so they would refuse. They trusted that Christ would provide and that Christ would provide through His church, through His people. It is their duty to provide for these men. And so they trusted. They would not take money from the unconverted in order not to hinder the work of Christ. Listen to 1 Corinthians 9.12. If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more. Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right of collecting, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. This is Paul the Apostle saying, listen, I have a right, you're a church now. You say you're believers, I have a right to say, you know what, you should support the ministry. But if that's going to cause a hindrance in you, he says, I will work my fingers to the bone on the side in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the truth of God. How different, amen? How different is this heart? That I want people to see Jesus. And if anything's going to stumble them, I'm going to take a step back. Even if I have a right, I will not exercise that right. This is what He's saying. This is what he means. So that was reason number two. Reason number one was, they went out in the name of Jesus Christ. They're not doing this for themselves. They're doing this for the name of Christ. Reason number two was, they didn't want to stumble the Gentiles. So they went out, hoping that the church would do that, which it's supposed to do. Reason number three is found in verse 8. Let's look at verse 8. Therefore we ought to support people like this, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. The last reason is that last clause. Let's look at the first clause though. Therefore we ought to support people like this. What does he mean by this? As Christians, we should make provision. I guess one good way of looking at it is if you hoard everything that God gives you for you and never for the gospel, then you really show where your heart is, right? For where your heart is, right, where your treasure is, there your what? Heart will be also, Matthew chapter six. So the way you generously bless those. So how can you help people like this? There are people right now preaching the gospel all over this world who are in dire straits, whom you could bless, amen? And as a church, at our next board meeting, we're going to sit down and try to find a missionary or two that we can bless somewhere, somehow, so that your giving here is going forth out throughout the world. I will tell you this. How many of you have been to Sermon Audio? Yeah? On Sermon Audio, we found out last month that this pulpit, the messages from this pulpit went through, I think, 20-something states and almost 20-something countries around the world. So that people are hearing the Word of God, because of your contribution here, it goes forth out there. But you personally can, it's not your job to say, well the church will take care of it. You personally can take care of someone who is preaching the true Gospel. And then the church, together, we can take care of someone that way as well. Amen? So the work of God goes forward. Look at 1 Corinthians 9, verse 14. In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the what? The gospel. If I am preaching the gospel, then I should make my living by the gospel. Now we understand that sometimes the church cannot do that for their minister. It's just financially not possible. We get that. But we can make sure that the gospel goes forward from that church. Amen? And this is what it's supposed to be doing. I found this little quote that I thought would be helpful. Take no support, this was from the early church, take no support from unbelievers, because believers have undertaken to support the ministry. I like that. Take no support from unbelievers because believers have undertaken to support the ministry. Beloved, that is incumbent upon us. Here's third reason that we may be fellow workers for truth. That one should floor you, beloved, if you read that carefully. That should floor you today. What does it mean that I could be a fellow worker of the truth? What he is essentially saying is, I invest myself, open my home, make sure that the gospel goes forward. The fruit of what these men are doing is also my fruit. What a thought that is, amen? That as I allow a minister to do the work that God has called him to do, that work that he does, God looks at it as if I did it as well. Because I made it possible for that work to go. What a wonderful thing this is. This should cause you to rejoice. Amen? People are coming to the Lord. You don't even know who they are. You're supporting some missionary in Africa. Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You have no idea. You know that he's a true minister. You know that he's preaching the true Gospel. And you don't know what... But all the work that's happening there, God is taking note as if you are doing it too. That's a good reason to support, right? The work of God. It comes from Scripture. If we look at Matthew 10.42, and whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water, because he is a disciple, truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his what? Reward. God says even if you Don't have anything else but a cup of cold water for a disciple who's preaching the gospel. Says, I got nothing else but here, have a cup of cold water because you've been preaching all day. And he drinks that cold water and says, thank you. And is able to continue to preach. God says, you have not lost your what? Reward. I will notice even the cup of what? Water. What an incredible thought that is, right? That every little, medium, big thing we do for the gospel, the Lord takes note. I had someone tell me, you can't out give God. In the right context, that's true, right? When you're blessing the ministers, when you're spending of yourself, God takes note. I want you to notice this next verse. I think it's important. Many of you have read this passage before, Matthew 25, 40. And the king will answer them, truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to what? Me. So, Jesus says, as you bless one of the least, you are blessing me. It's the same thing we see in the book of Acts, when Saul of Tarsus is killing Christians, and Jesus interrupts them on the way to Damascus, and Jesus says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Well, Saul could say, I'm not, I'm going to go kill those people over there. Well, what does Jesus say? In picking a fight with them, you're picking a fight with me. In hurting them, you hurt me, but then there's also the opposite of that. In blessing them, you're blessing what? Me. Beloved, take this to heart. Let it sink and marinate into your heart and your mind and soul. God wants you to open your heart, your home, your life. Your finances. So the gospel would go forward. So the gospel will do that which it needs to do. What man needs most above everything else is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And you need to understand that. That needs to be your primary goal. I want the gospel to go forward. I want to be a Gaius. Making sure that even though it costs me. I'm spending everything I have to see the kingdom of God come. I close again with the words of the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. It's not about me. It's about Him. Amen? Let us pray. Father, we thank You for these words today. Words of truth.