Let's open our Bibles up to the book of 3rd John. 3rd John. I'm kind of sentimental to thirds. I am a third. And I'm Harold Wayne Smith III. And so 3rd John has always been a special book to me because we shared the same name. Third. So let's look at this rather short book. And well, I want us to just continue since we're so close. to covering all three of these epistles in order, we ought to just go ahead and tackle third John. And I want us to focus our attention this morning on verse one. I want to give a short introduction to the book, say a few things about it, and then I want to primarily spend the rest of our time together looking at verse one. So let's read verse one. We'll get that out of the way and then we'll go back and deal with it. the elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth." Now, as we said, this is a short book. There are three main characters in the book. The first one is found there in verse 1, the praised Gaius. And John is full of praise for Gaius. Also, we have the prideful Diotrephes. He always seeks preeminence among the brethren. And then lastly, in the latter part of this short book, we have the promoted Demetrius, who is a man worthy of our acceptance. So these are the three main characters. And the theme of the book seems to be brotherly love and dealing with contentious people. John is praising Gaius for his service to the church. He recommends Demetrius to the church, but he says, I'm going to deal with diatrophies. People like diatrophies have to be dealt with. So there's brotherly love, but there's also dealing with contentious people. This is an interesting book because it is a personal letter. This is John writing to an individual person, just as we saw in the epistle of 2 John, where he wrote to a lady. Here, he writes to Gaius. That's who the letter is addressed to. Now, you'll notice that the beginning and the end are very much the same. He writes and he addresses himself in 2 John. He doesn't say, I'm John the Apostle. He says, the Elder. You notice in 3 John he also says, the Elder. You'll notice at the end of 2 John that he says, I have a lot of things to say to you, but I don't want to do it with pen and ink, with pen and paper. I want to do it face to face. He closes 3 John with the same desire. I have a lot of things to say unto you, verses 12 and 13, but I want to say it face to face. So there are some similarities there. So let's establish who wrote the book. Anytime someone doesn't attach their name to it, all the skeptics come out and go, this wasn't the Apostle John, this was somebody else. If it was the Apostle John, he would have wrote, I John the Apostle. He wouldn't have wrote the elder. There's a reason for John to use the title, The Elder. He uses it because in the first century, it was hazardous to your health to be considered a Christian. It would be extremely hazardous to your health to possess a letter written by an apostle of Jesus Christ. This could be considered a form of treason to even have a letter written from one of the apostles. So by John using the word the elder, he is referring to himself so that everyone in the church would know who he was, but to conceal his identity. Not because John is scared of dying, but because John doesn't want to bring harm on anyone else. John is the last living apostle. He lives to almost the end of the first century. He was the youngest of the apostles in Christ's ministry, and he's the only apostle that we know of that doesn't die at the hands as a martyr, at the hands of the enemy as a martyr. So here's John, and when he refers to himself not as a elder, but the elder, this is somebody that everybody would know. So he says, the elder, this is John. Now we have a much more difficult task before us. Who is Gaius? Do you know? Let's do a little digging around and see what we can come up with who this fella is that John wrote to. Gaius is a rather common name in the first century Roman Empire. Gaius is a name that's used throughout secular Greek literature. It's very common. It would be as today we would say John or Robert or Bob. This would just be a common regular name that you knew several people named Gaius. But in Scripture, There is about four different times when a Gaius is mentioned. Or five different times, excuse me, let's look at the other four and we won't take time to turn there. Just if you don't believe me, write write the chapter and verse down and double check me. In Acts chapter 19 verse 29, there is a Gaius that is arrested when the silversmiths cause an uprising in Ephesus because Paul is putting the idol makers out of business preaching the gospel. And so they couldn't get a hold of Paul, so it says that they lynched Aristarchus and Gaius. They arrested them. So this is the first time chronologically in the book of Acts that we see a man named Gaius. And then in the next chapter of Acts, in Acts chapter 20 verse 4, we see a group of people traveling from Macedonia to Jerusalem carrying offerings from all of the churches. Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. where he said when he went through the churches around Corinth for everybody to lay aside an offering so that when he came he could take it and carry that to Jerusalem to help the Christians there. And so each church was to appoint one man to carry their offering to Jerusalem. Now what Paul was intending to do here was to give each church a delegate. And that church would have an agent who ensured that the money they took up was spent the way the church intended it. And it was also intended to show the Jewish believers in Jerusalem that God was saving Gentiles and they were all one family. And these Gentiles loved these former Jews enough to be concerned about their well-being and to send an offering to strengthen that church. In Acts 20 verse 4, one of the men selected by the churches of Macedonia is Gaius of Derbe. Now, I don't know if that's the same Gaius. that's mentioned in other places in scripture, but they're all traveling together in Acts 19 when he is arrested, and he continues on to Jerusalem with them in chapter 20. So there's that Gaius. Now, in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 14, Paul mentions that he baptizes in Corinth a man named Gaius. Now, that very well could be the same Gaius. Because that could be the same Gaius because Corinth is in the region of Macedonia that took up the offering for Jerusalem and Gaius was in that group from that region. Now that could very well be the case. But the problem that we have is John primarily is ministering in the region of Asia, not the region of Macedonia. John, late in his life, the Lord appeared to him on the Isle of Patmos and told him to the seven churches of Asia. Right? Right? You remember that? Now, this could be the same Gaius that ministered in Macedonia and moved over to Asia, but we don't know that. And here's what's interesting. If it was Gaius of Derbe, why doesn't John go, Gaius of Derbe. Why doesn't John use the city that Gaius is from to distinguish who he is? That's how they distinguished who Saul was. There was a lot of young Jewish boys named Saul because Israel's first king was named Saul. So they would say this is Saul of Tarshish and Tarshish was his hometown because they didn't have last names back then. Y'all remember that time we had question and answer with the preacher? And my little smart-aleck son put a question in the box that said, what was Adam and Eve's last name? Last names didn't exist back then. So people said, you are so-and-so of Derby, you are so-and-so of Tarshish, we know of a Gaius that's from Derby, but John doesn't say Gaius of Derby. Also in Scripture, people are known by their father's first name. Most famous being Simon bar Jonah. Simon, son of Jonah. James of Altheus. These are descriptors of the person's name and their father's name so we can narrow down who it is. But John here just says Gaius. That's a very common name. And he doesn't use your father's name. He doesn't even use the city that he's from. But John uses a descriptor that I think is better than your father's name or the town you're from. Let's go back and look at verse 1 again. the elder unto thee, well-beloved Gaius. Now, how would you like that for a last name? If I were to call out a first name in a crowd, everybody with that common first name would look up, but if I were to call out so-and-so and their last name, then that would cut it way down. If I was mad like my parents, I might even call out their middle name, just to get their attention. John here, instead of using the city or the father, uses an adjective, but he puts the word the in front of it. Well-beloved is describing Gaius, but he doesn't say a well-beloved Gaius, meaning one of many Gaius that are well-beloved. What does John say? The well-beloved Gaius. Now, what does THE do? It kind of implies one and only, don't it? THE. You know, in college football, Ohio State calls themselves THE Ohio State University. That makes people mad. Like, who are you? The only college football team out there? Well, last year they seemed to be the only one that showed up in the playoffs and won it. But they go around going, we're from THE Ohio State University. And people get mad, oh, you called yourself THE. Hey, listen, John here says he is THE well-beloved Gaius. So everybody, when he said well-beloved, said, oh, that Gaius. Yeah, I know him. Wouldn't you love to have that for a last name given to you by your fellow friends and neighbors, fellow Christians? Well-beloved. Notice that well-beloved's all one word. When's the last time you ever used three words put together that long? Well-beloved. Now, let's ask ourselves, what do you have to do to be well-beloved? What does it take to be well-beloved? How could you and I be described later in life as the well-beloved? Wouldn't that be a great thing to say at your funeral? Here lies the well-beloved so-and-so. Gaius had that reputation. Let's look at some of the characteristics that would get us the title of the well-beloved. Are you interested? Would you like to learn what he had that everybody else loved? Would you like to exhibit that kind of behavior to other people? Would you like to be loved? He didn't say amen. I guess you want to be hated. You're prone to lie. Don't brag. You want to be loved. You want to be loved. Let's look at this text and let's see what it is. that made Gaius beloved. And let's see what we can learn so that we also are referred to as the well-beloved. The first thing is a relationship in the truth. Would you look with me in the latter part of verse one, the only part we haven't talked about yet, whom I love in the truth. Whom I love in the truth. whom I love in the truth. John says, I love Gaius, but I love him in the truth. Now, we talked about this in 1 John, we talked about this in 2 John, and I guess we're going to talk about it in 3 John. When God repeats something three times, evidently we have a hard time getting it. Have you ever told your children, don't make me tell you again? It seems to me that that's what the Apostle John is trying to convey to the church. Whom I love and the truth. Whom I love and the truth. Whom I love and the truth. Think about this. The Christian bond is love and that love is built around the truth. No one outside of your immediate family can experience the love that Christians have for one another unless they themselves are a Christian. There is a unique bond of love that goes on between believers based on the truth. Now, John, I'm sure, loved his mother. John, I'm sure, loved his brother James and his father and his grandma and his grandpa. But he had a unique bond of love with Gaius that is built on the truth. Now, truth is our unity. Truth is our unity. The only thing all of us in this room have in common is unity in the truth. We don't all have the same hair color. Not everyone has my striking good looks and figure. We all don't have the same interest. Same hobbies. Some of you probably like lap quilting. I'm out. I like hunting. You're out. You like NASCAR. I like football. Who cares? The reason we're here is not because we ride horses together or motorcycles together or like to hunt and fish together. We're here on one basis, the unity of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that truth is what brings a relationship. And here's what's interesting about this relationship. We love each other on this ground alone and we may not have anything else in common. I spent 45 minutes on the phone talking to a 75-year-old woman yesterday who was of no kin to me, had the best time. You say, Preacher, how in the world did you do that? Oh, we are united in The truth. We share a love for the gospel. We have a common bond. And so even though this old lady ain't any kin to me. Even though we don't have any of the same hobbies. We can talk and talk and talk and have the best of time because we love one another in the truth. Now, why is that important that we love one another in the truth? Because if you love the truth, the world's going to hate you. If you love the truth, the world's going to hate you. Jesus said it plainest and simplest. The world will hate you because you love me. Now, if we love God and the world hates us, why in the world would we want to run around in the world that hates us? Why wouldn't those who love God and the world hates want to get together and love one another? Doesn't that seem obvious to you? If everybody in the world hates you, but one group of people and they love you like no other love, let me ask you a question. Then why in the world is it so hard to get professing Christians to come to church where that's the only group of people on the face of the planet that love them? I'll tell you why. Because the world doesn't hate them, because they love the world, they act like the world, they look like the world, and there's no difference between them and the world. Do you know what all that implies? They're not really a Christian. They're an imposter. I know, when you add all that up, you don't like where it lands at, but it's true. You can't love both. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. You'll love one and hate the other. John warned us in 1 John, love not the world, neither the things of the world. For he that loveth the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So true relationships are built on truth. Now I have some hunting buddies. And I love them, and I see them at deer camp, and I see them around hunting season, and we'll be good hunting friends, and we'll share some stories together, but I don't have the same kind of bond that I have with the people in the church I serve, and the difference is this. They, like me, have a love in the truth, and that truth builds a stronger unity than a campfire builds. That unity builds a stronger love than a biker jacket with the same patches on it built. Because this love is built on God's truth. When a soldier of the cross is in trouble, I feel his pain. And I can understand and resonate and mourn with him and rejoice with him because I'm united with him in the truth. The love that is built in the church is not built on a personality or a common interest, but rather it's built on a love for God and a love for his word. You want to be well beloved. You need a relationship with others in the truth. Won't happen any other way. Look down with me at the beginning of verse three. For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee." What do we need to do to be well loved? We need a relationship in the truth and we need to be a repository of the Word. A repository of the Word. Repository is a big word for a fellow like me. I looked it up to verify its meaning. A place of safe keeping. Y'all didn't think I studied. Y'all thought I just got up here and rambled around for 45 minutes. I study a repository of the Word. John here in verse 3 rejoiced greatly when someone testified that he had the truth in him. In other words, Gaius was a source of truth. What happens when you're a source of truth? You have the ability to share it with others. Have you ever known someone that had a unique knowledge? I have a unique knowledge. I know swimming pools. You know when people call me? Springtime. Brother Harold, I really hate to bother you on a Saturday afternoon, but I'm out here trying to start my swimming pool and my motor's just humming. What do you think I should do? I'm like, What did you call me for? Well, I need help with my swimming pool and I don't know anybody else that knows swimming pools. You know what that means in the springtime? I'm not useless. I get new friends, people that I haven't seen in a year call me up. Can't remember what you told me to do last year. And when you have a unique knowledge, people will seek you out in a time of need. Let me share something with you. If you're like Gaius, and the truth is in you, and you have stored the word of God up in your heart, and you are ready to give a biblical, God-centered answer, when people need answers, they'll come to you! And you won't be useless! And when people need real answers, you won't give them your opinion. You won't tell them what they ought to do. You'll tell them what the Word says. And you know what they'll walk away from that experience saying? I love that guy. He helps me when I'm in need. He is a source of truth for me. Now here is Gaius. John says, man, I just couldn't stop rejoicing when everyone told me how the truth of God is in you. He's not useless. Think of how great people would love Gaius when he was a source of encouragement with the Word of God. Think about how much people loved Gaius when he was a guide to them in troubled times. Think about how much people loved Gaius when he was warning them of coming danger. The only way you can be an encouragement, the only way you can be a guide, and the only way you can be a warning is to have the Word of God in you. Paul instructed Timothy, study to show thyself approved, a workman that needeth not be ashamed. He said, Timothy, be prepared, store the Word, be a repository of God's Word so that when someone asks, you can give them. Paul also told Timothy, be instant in season and out of season. Sometimes we treat our Bible like a magic eight ball, don't we? I need an answer. I've got to go to God's Word. Now, where would I look for that? And we start doing all these speed reading, and we're flipping through here, and we're praying, God, let me open up to it. No, that's Job 41. That's not going to help me. Let me open it this time. No, no, that's John 2.24. The Bible is not an eight ball that we ask a question and turn over and get a yes, no, maybe ask again later. The Bible is something that we store up in us. And when we find ourselves in time of trouble and need, the Spirit of God goes to the file cabinet of my mind and drags open a door and reaches back in the back and pulls out a file that I'd stored away years ago, recalls to my mind a scripture that I haven't thought of in years and says, this applies Harold, plug it in. But Gaius did. He had the truth of God in him. He had an understanding, a working knowledge, if you will, of God's Word. And when people needed that, they could go to him and he poured out the Word of God to them. And they said, man, that Gaius, I love that guy. You want to be well beloved? Be a repository of God's Word. Study now. Make hay while the sun shines. Fill your barn with God's Word. When the time comes, you'll be ready to roll the cover off of it and expound it to someone. So we see the relationship in the truth is required, a repository of the word is required, but also in verse three, there's a reputation for holiness. The latter part of verse three says this, even as thou walkest in the truth, John heard a testimony that Gaius was walking in the truth. Now that word walking applies and means everyday life. In other words, Gaius lived a holy life. Every day guided by the word of God. Think on this for a moment. When Gaius went to work, on the job, he looked like a Christian. Well, I've been guilty of not doing that. On the job, I've sounded like a sailor, not a Christian. You don't have to admit to doing that, but I will. I've sounded like a sailor, not a saint on the job before. But Gaius walked in truth. So on the job, he thought, acted, and talked like a Christian. In the home, Gaius. lived like a Christian. He walkest. That means constantly ongoing every day. He was a Christian husband. He was a Christian father. He was a Christian neighbor. Everything that Gaius did, he was a Christian. On the town. Have you ever had to wait 20 minutes to get your food at McDonald's? That's called fast food for a reason, isn't it? Sometimes, sometimes you'll say, you know what, I'm going to go up there and tell that little 18-year-old kid to cook my hamburger, I'm tired of waiting. That's not what a Christian would do. Why? Because the fruits of the Spirit is patience and long-suffering and you evidently don't have any. But Gaius, the reason that people said he is well-loved is because no matter whether he was in town or on the job or at the home, he lived, acted, talked, thought, walked like a Christian. You want to know how to make people call you the well-beloved? Act like a Christian every day and people will have a hard time not loving you. Peter said, though they speak evil of you, they may see your good works and glorify God in the day of his visitation. Live such good lives among the pagans. Though they talk evil of you, people will look at you and go, wait a minute, that person is a saint. I've never seen them do anything out of line. I've never caught them in anything immoral. I've never heard any unwholesome speech come out of their mouth. You can't be talking about Gaius. Everybody loves Gaius. Why? Because he had a reputation of holiness. You know what we call that in today's time? He's a genuine person. Now, why do we have to call someone a genuine person? Answer. Because we have a lot of phony people running around. Be genuine. If you're genuinely a Christian, act like it. Hey listen, don't act like it. You go out and live however you want. I tell you what, you just go out and do whatever you want to do. You say, Brother Held, are you really going to say that? Yeah, I know the shepherd and he has a staff. You'll get tired of living however you want. You'll live how you're told to live. It won't be some preacher ramming it down your throat. It'll be the Word of God and the Spirit of God convincing you this is not how we should act. They're looking at me like you don't believe that. Does Jesus not call himself the shepherd? Did David not say thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me? You know what the rod was for? Fool's back and the sheep's leg. I'm not going to chase you down and beat you up, but I'll trust your shepherd to do what only your shepherd can. You want to be well beloved, have a reputation for holiness in all areas of life. Let's look down at verse five. What to do to be well-beloved? Number four, have a role in the church. Would you look with me at the first part of verse five? Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren. That word brethren there is implying to the church. Do you know what this means about Gaius' life? He was actively involved in the church. He's what we would call today a church worker. Isn't that an interesting title? He used to be called church member, but somehow we got away from being a church member and a church worker. They were originally designed to be the same thing. If you were a member of the church, you worked in the church, but now we have two categories of membership. Those that show and those that go. You can be slow and still go. But if you're going to be well-beloved, you've got to do more than just show. Gaius had a reputation in the church. He had a role in the church. He serves the body. I want you to know something about well-beloved Christians. All of them are active at the church they serve. All of them are active in the church they serve. The people who are active in the church are missed when they're not there. I get tickled when someone says, well, I haven't been to church in a month and nobody's contacted me. Honey, nobody knew you were gone. Nobody knew you weren't here. The church trucked right on without you. But that's not the way the Bible describes the church. The Bible describes the church as members of one body fitly joined together. As the hand cannot say to the eye, I have no need of you. Nor the hand to the foot, nor the ear to the nose. An active member of the church. People notice when they're not there. Hey, hey, where's this person at? They're not doing what they always do here. Notice what John said, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren. Whatever the church asks you to do, you do it and the brethren take notice and they love you. You can't serve here in the church. I'd venture to say you're almost useless out in the world. If you can't serve your brothers and sisters in Christ, how in the world are you going to humble yourself before the pagans that distaste you? I hate to talk about this, but it's such a bad problem today, I ain't got no choice. There's a group of rogue Christians running around the world today. There's a group of people going around today that have no affiliation with any church whatsoever. They are their own authority and they see no need in church today. They think they can serve the Lord and do their own thing and have no part of a local congregation. Can I tell you something? The Bible doesn't know anything of that person. The Bible is very clear that the Christian is to be a part of a local church. Why? Who built a church? Was that my design? Did I dream up this great glorious scheme for the church? Did our Baptist forefathers design the church? No. Did the first century Christians design the church? No. Jesus Christ built his church. And Paul said he built it on the foundation of the apostles. He gave them doctrine. Paul also said he gave to some to be apostles, some preachers, some teachers. And all of these uniquely gifted people are what? For the perfecting of the saints for the ministry. How can you go out and roam around the country and have no part in a church that God, through Jesus Christ, designed to equip you? You're the kid who got smart in the eighth grade and said, I don't need school anymore. When you say you no longer need the local church. How are you going to do what the writer of Hebrews instructs you to do? Submit yourself to those that have the rule over you, for they keep watch of your soul as it's those that must give an account. How can you obey that command of scripture if you no longer go to church? How can you dismiss the passage that says, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as is the manner of some? Folks, when you get to the point that you don't think you need the church anymore, you've just went into an area where scripture says Christians don't exist. Well, I got out of the church because the church was holding me back. Really? Yeah, they wouldn't let me do what I wanted to. Maybe you weren't ready to do what you wanted to. You know, that sounded like me when I was a teenager. Mom and Dad won't let me do what I want. Well, you know, Mom and Dad knew a little more than me when I was 16, 18, 20, 25, 30. They'd already been there. You can look at your kids and laugh if you want to, but you ought to look at yourself and thank God that Mom and Dad was there for you. Church ain't holding anybody back. The church is there to take care of people like that who get above themselves. Don't lay hands on any new person. You bring the condemnation on them when you lay hands on them too soon. They get puffed up. You know, the church is good about that. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. The church has the right to make some judgment calls. Church discipline is one of them. Just one of them. Well, I just don't have time for church. Oh, really? You don't have time for church? No, I'm just too busy with the kids and all. You've got your priorities so out of whack. You need church more than anyone else. That's like saying, I don't have time to get my cancer treated. I'm just too busy living life. Your life's short. Here, Gaius had a role in the church. He did everything faithfully for the brethren. In other words, he was beloved because he served his local brothers and sisters in Christ. You want to be called the well-beloved? Start loving the people right here in this room. The beloved. make time for church, and the beloved never feel like the church is holding them back because the beloved are tickled to death to be a part of it and have an opportunity to do something for somebody else. He that is greatest among you will be the least. What Christ said, and it hasn't changed. Gaius served the church. Let's look at our fifth and final point. Let's look at our fifth and final point. Readiness and hospitality. We've seen a relationship in the truth, the repository of the Word, the reputation of holiness, a role in the church, and now a readiness in hospitality. The latter part of verse 5, where we left off. Everything that he was faithful to do to the brethren, it says, and to strangers. Now the implications here is not just somebody that walked up, but these were people who were not part of the local church. And keep in mind what's taking place at this time is there are missionaries who are going about teaching local churches because we don't have a complete Word of God. We're sending out missionaries. We're sending out prophets. The church is doing this and they're strengthening and answering questions and taking questions back to other churches. The doctrine of the church is being worked out practically while God is inspiring men to write scripture. And when these traveling prophets like Titus or Timothy or Apollos or Silas or Barnabas or Priscilla and Aquila, when these traveling people came by, you know what Gaius did? He said, you're staying at my place tonight. You're not going down to the Shonis and eating. You're eating in our living room. My wife's cooking dinner tonight. She makes the best hot rolls you ever had here in Asia Minor. I might have just made that part up, I'm not sure. It wasn't in my notes. What I'm trying to say is that he loved these traveling preachers just as much as he loved those within the church. He never met a stranger. You want to know the key to being beloved? Don't be standoffish. If you want people to love you, you know what that's going to require of you? You've got to take the first step. You've got to make initial contact. You've got to take these people under your wings. You've got to be able to greet the stranger if you're going to love the stranger. Unless you're Cupid and you can shoot love through a bow from a long distance, I don't believe in Cupid, do you? And you've got to get personal. You've got to, as the politicians say, press the flesh. You've got to shake hands. I'm a germaphobe. Get yourself some Germ-X and get cracking. I shake hands with everybody here and I seldom ever sick. It ain't handshaking that puts people sick. It's a sour attitude that gets most of them sick. He's greeting a stranger. I'll tell you something. I won't tell you about a fella that had all kinds of problems. I mean, this guy, he had more flaws in the flesh than anybody I know, but everybody loved him. Many of y'all know who he is. I'll tell you his name. He won't even mind me telling you. Y'all remember Wayne Williams, Wayne and Marcy? Remember old Wayne Williams? And that guy would argue with a fence post. He'd never been wrong a day in his life. He had an opinion on anything that was talked about. But all of you know who Wayne Williams was. Why? Because, man, he walked up like a Banny Rooster. Chest stuck out, bounced right up to you, stuck a hand in your face, put a hand on your shoulder, started talking to you, telling you how much he loved you. Did he not? You that have met him, did he not do that to you? I love that old Wayne Williams. Why? He argues. He's never been right. I mean, he's never been wrong. He's got an opinion on everything. He's like a little bulldog running around barking and biting at everybody. Why do you love him so much? Why is he so well beloved to you? I'll tell you why. He ain't never met a stranger in his life. That's the way Gaius was. John said it right. The same way you're treating the church is the same way you treat visitors that come into the church. These traveling preachers that come in. Now hey, you ought to exercise a certain amount of caution with these traveling preachers because John said that in 2 John. He said that in 1 John. In 1 John, he said, Believe not every spirit, but test them and see whether they be of Christ. In 2 John, he said, If anybody comes that does not bring the doctrine of Christ, don't receive them into your home and don't even bid them God's speed, because you'll be a partaker. Now, you say, Well, how can Gaius be so friendly with these people and do that? He was already a repository of the Word. He had a knowledge of God and a knowledge of His Word. He was saved, loved other people in the truth, well-respected in the community, had a reputation for holiness, lived as a Christian every day. He didn't have problems spotting a phony when he saw one. We talk all the time today about the church, why you just can't even tell the false ones from the real ones. I don't even know if they're real. Do you ever think about that? The church today is so deceived. Hey, the church today doesn't even look like the church. Hello? They don't. The readiness and hospitality. When I was a supply preacher, I surrendered to preach in March 2006. And I was pastoring in November of 2006. But probably the most fun time in my preaching from March 2006 to now, the most fun time I ever had was that first six months between March and November. I was too dumb to know I was doing it wrong. And God was putting me in a different church every Sunday. I literally preached every Sunday from March till they called me as a pastor except Father's Day. I mean, for like six, nine months there, I was preaching here and here and here, and I'd walk into these churches with no soul in there. I don't even know how they got my name. I mean, it had to have been God putting me in these places. And I'd walk in, and this church of holy people would look back at me and look down their nose. I'd walk up to what I thought was the song leader, and I'd say, Hi, how you doing? Boy, he'd look down at me and he'd say, I'm fine, how are you? I'm great. What time we going to get started today? We're having a visiting preacher today. Sir, I happen to be him. Oh, oh, oh, I'm sorry, Brother Smith. Come up here. Let's get you a seat. And all of a sudden, everybody that was looking down at me was smiling at me. I caught on to this. The first church I went to, second church I went to, third church I went to. You know what I discovered? When people found out I was a preacher, I got treated different other than if I was just another run-of-the-mill, short, fat guy walking into a church service. I even had a song leader. Looking down at me one time and I said, I'm the supply preacher today. Oh, praise God. He said, where'd you go to college at? He said, where'd you go to seminary at? I said, I didn't go to seminary. He said, well, what college did you graduate from? I said, sir, I've never been to college. I said, I barely got out of high school. And man, with every answer I gave him, his old countenance just sunk and sunk and sunk. And he said, well, I'll nod at you when it's your turn." And he turned around and walked off. I already had my sermon notes in my Bible. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Hit him like a two by four right between the eyes. Didn't even know who he was before I walked in. You see, we're quick to judge and slow to be hospitable. You want people to love you, to think highly of you. You've got to be ready. I'm not saying you got to put them up in your spare bedroom. You've got to go shake their hand. You've got to go introduce yourself. You've got to ask who they are and how they are. No, you don't have to. I take that back. You don't have to do any of that. You just sit over and look like you've been eating green persimmons. The rest of us will figure it out. Today, it's said that people just want to be loved. You ever heard that? All people today want us to be loved. Christian, I have good news. You don't have any excuse not to be loved. Christian, you have no excuse not to be loved. Why is that, preacher? Well, number one, you've been made lovable by the blood of Christ. Behold, you have became a new creature. You're not who you used to be. You're not that ugly, hateful person that sin made you. You have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. You've been regenerated by the Spirit of God. And Christian, you've been selected by God the Father to be His glory bearer in heaven. He has put within you a number of things. A love for the Word, a love for the Son, and a love for His Bride. You, naturally Christian, love other people. So if all you really need to be is loved, why don't you show up where the people already love you? Oh, I go to church, but they don't love me there. Well, I'm telling you how you can not just be loved, but you could be well-beloved. You could even have the reputation of a most lovable person. Well, how would that be? How could I be called the well-beloved when I don't feel loved now? Do you have a relationship in the truth? What Gaius had. He built his relationships on those who had a unity in the Scriptures. Are you a repository of the Word? Gaius had the truth in him. You want to know why people don't love you? They don't really have a use for you. You don't have anything to help them with. I've got five minutes. I need an answer. Well, I can't call them. They don't know a darn thing. If you want to be well-beloved, you need to be a repository of the Word. If you want to be well-beloved, this would be a great step in the right direction. I have a reputation of holiness. I've never had trouble loving people that live their life as a Christian. I've had trouble loving people that live their life as a devil. If you act differently here than you act in the neighborhood, it's going to be hard for people here to love you and it's going to be hard for people there to love you. But if you have a reputation of holiness. It won't be hard for people to love you. Have a role in the church. I just don't have time for that, I thought all you wanted to be was loved. I thought all you wanted was to fit in. Find your role in God's local church. I didn't say you had to be the pastor of it, the deacon of it, the Sunday school teacher. Find something that you can do in your church. Hey, it may be clean toilets. It may be wash windows. It may be hold the door for the old folks before church. I don't know what needs to be done. But if you pick out something that needs to be done in the local church and take care of it, people will love you. Larry Sizemore's been holding the door open for me ever since I've been a pastor here. When he has to work out of town, I know he ain't here. Now, I know Bob or somebody else will step up and open the door, but you know what I notice? That's what Larry does. When people find their role in a church, Other people appreciate that and love them for it. Readiness of hospitality. This may be the hardest for some of you to overcome. You're naturally shy. You naturally have kept to yourself. But if you're not willing to stick your hand out first and walk out in the center aisle, bump into a few people and shake their hand as well, People aren't ever going to see you as well, beloved, even if you're serving in the church. You know why? It's going to take them longer to get to know you. If you'll be forward, you'll be friendly and you'll treat everyone just like you treat everyone else in the church to start with, you'll find that people will look at you and begin to love you. So preacher, I don't know if I can cover all five of them. I bet if you get three out of five, we'll love you and forgive you for the other two. You know why? Love covers a multitude of sins. That's the good thing about being a Christian. You don't have to be 100% on these because the other side of the coin loves you back. Oftentimes in the church, we're not loved. Because we're not doing what Christians are supposed to do. When we simply do what God has called us to do, we will find a love that's in the truth. A love that's not built around emotion, or interest, or personality. We'll find a love that's built around God's love for us. And it's a meaningful love. And it's a love that can't be found anywhere else this side of heaven. Do you experience that love? Do you want to experience that love? Live your life like Gaius lived his. Store the word up. Find a relationship with others in the word. Store the word in your heart. Have a reputation of living holy. Find a little something that's yours in the church. Put your hand out first when you see someone. You know what will happen and before you even know it, people will start going, I like that lady, I like that guy. Even if you like old Wayne Williams, they'll love you anyways because you'll have that part down. I pray to God that we'd all learn to live that way.