Good morning. Welcome to Walking With Jesus Through the Word, one chapter per day. I'm Michael Telercio, pastoral intern at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, and I've missed being with you guys in this capacity here. It's been a while. That's in part due to a transition I've been making from the internship here at Forest Hill, which is coming to an end. It's a one-year internship and it comes to an end at the end of this month. And the transition to a new position that God kindly provided, such that my family and I will be able to stay in the area here and continue worshiping at Forest Hill. So, you know, who knows, perhaps Pastor Jason will allow me to pop in from time to time for these devotionals still. even after the internship ends. But yeah, I'm glad to be back with you for today, if nothing else, and to look at the book of 3 John with you. That's right, the whole book of 3 John in one devotional. It's a short one, just like 2 John was, but looking forward to that. So let's ask for the Lord's help as we go into the Word. God, you have been so gracious to provide what is needed for your people. At every stage of every one of your people's lives, you've given them what they need. And part of that includes this book of 3 John. And so as we look at it today, we ask for your provision to speak to us through it by the power of your Holy Spirit. That He, the Spirit, would bring the words of 3 John to life in us, Lord, that we would see the application for us, even as this letter was written to a specific person. It does apply to us as well. We're grateful for that. Only you could do something so amazing that you would give your word life in us, even those to whom this letter wasn't explicitly addressed. Would you do that today? And would we give Jesus the praise in all of this? In his name we pray. Amen. Third John, beginning in verse one. The elder to the beloved, Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified 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. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God. Whoever does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace be to you. Friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name." Here we see that this is indeed a personal letter written by the Apostle John, called here the Elder, to a man whom he loves. A fellow brother in the Lord. And he loves this man in truth. I think that's helpful for us as we begin the book, because all that John is going to write about has to do with the truth, especially relational truth. Truth and love are really, as we said, at the heart of this letter. And that's why John is helping us, as he writes to Gaius, to see that walking in the truth is the most important thing. It's actually what brings him joy. He is rejoicing, that Gaius is walking in the truth, and that he says in verse 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. This makes me think immediately of 1 John, chapter 1, the first chapter of 1 John, the same verse number, verse 4, in which John says, We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. So the letter of 1 John is all about joy, love, truth. The letter of 2 John is very similar, and the letter of 3 John as well. All of these letters written by the same author have to do with truth and love. And that's important, especially as we continue through this letter, because what happens is we start to see some opposition. Now, first thing we see is the Apostle John in the body of the letter encouraging Gaius to continue to support true ministers of the gospel. These are likely evangelists, perhaps, or missionaries of some sort that are coming to the church of which Gaius is a part. And John is acknowledging that what Gaius is doing in interacting with these men and supporting them is a good thing. They have testified before the church of Gaius, and Gaius is being encouraged by John to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. So support them however you're able to. Stay connected to them. Show your love and support to these people. before all of the church, let that happen. And then he says in verse seven, they have gone out for the sake of the name. accepting nothing from the Gentiles." This makes me think, actually, of Paul and how, in the Church of Corinth, I don't know that John is referring to Paul here, but in the Church of Corinth, Paul refused to accept payment from those to whom he was ministering. I don't know if that's the similar sort of situation here, or if John, perhaps, is using the term Gentiles to refer to non-Christians, not Gentile Christians. The Bible sometimes uses that term Gentiles to mean Gentile Christians, non-Jewish Christians, or non-Christians as a whole, Gentiles. I'm not sure which John is referring to here, but it did make me think of Paul at least. made me think that this is a situation in verse 7 here that is actually good. It's a good thing that these evangelists, these missionaries, these Christian ministers have gone out for the sake of the name. Because back in chapter 2 of 1st John, John writes that those who have gone out from the community are of a different character than these men here. They, in 1 John 2, who had gone out of the community were what we might call apostates, people who leave the faith. Here, the going out is a missionary type of going out. Going out to spread the good news for the sake of the name. And because these men are accepting nothing from the Gentiles, probably non-Christians is what John means here, they need the support of the church. And this man, Gaius, to whom this letter is addressed, has been supportive. at least in some ways, and so John here is encouraging him to continue to support, perhaps to further support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. Interesting that John notes that Gaius is connected to these men. They're workers for the truth. They're fellow workers for the truth. And that's true for you and I. Again, we are not Gaius. We are recipients of this letter to Gaius, and it applies to us in the same way that it applies to Gaius. We as well are workers for the truth, along with those missionaries, the apostle that wrote the letter, along with Gaius, who did the work of supporting, under the apostle's encouragement, these missionaries, these Christian ministers. We are in that same family. We are part of the same Team, we are fellow workers for the truth as we support the truth and as we love those who stand for the truth and share the truth. We are all part of that family, that group of people. Now that's important that John sets up this letter in that way because then he's going to talk right after that about those, at least one person, who is not doing that sort of work. This man, Diotrephes. And John notes that he has written something to the church. So a letter, perhaps 1 John or 2 John or perhaps another letter that we don't have as part of the scriptures that was lost. John had written a letter to this church that Gaius is part of, but Diotrephes, another person in that same church, it seems, likes to put himself first. And so it seems he, in not acknowledging John and the other apostles' authority, he has kept the church from reading this letter, be it 1 John, 2 John, or another writing. And so John is not okay with that. that is keeping the church from receiving the words of the Lord, the Word of God. At least, ostensibly, words that would accord with truth from this Apostle of God. And so, John wants to address this. And it's not just this. It's that this man, as John says, this man Diotrephes, is talking wicked nonsense against the apostles. It's not just that he's keeping, you know, this isn't a matter of Diotrephes not knowing if the letter that he received was really from John, and him being concerned, perhaps, that this is a fake written by somebody else claiming to be John. This is a man who knows very clearly that this letter came from John, and he's refusing to allow it to be read in the church. And, in fact, he's talking wicked nonsense against John and the other apostles. But that's not all. He's not content with just that. He also refuses to welcome the brothers, and he stops those who want to welcome the brothers, and he puts them out of the church. This is probably a leader in the church. He has to be a leader in some way, because he has the authority to actually carry this sort of evil behavior out in the church. So what we have in 3 John, it seems, is a letter to help address Issues within the leadership of a church. An issue where a leader of the church was putting people out of the church who deserve to be in the church, who belong to the church, because they're part of Christ. They're part of Christ's body, part of his beloved people. So John gives Gaius a charge, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. And again, it's interesting, isn't it, that he continues to call him beloved. John is about truth and love, and he expresses that even in how he addresses Gaius throughout the letter. Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. And then he reminds him of this principle. Whoever does good is from God. Whoever does evil has not seen God. So you can know a person's doctrine, what they believe to be true, based on what they do. If they're putting people that hold to the name of Jesus out of the church, if they're unwilling to allow God's Word to be read to a community, or they downplay even God's Word, the importance of God's Word, if they talk poorly about God's servants, those who care about God's Word and intend to teach God's Word, like John, If they're doing these things, then they're not of God. They have not seen God. Verse 12 is also rather important, because it's a move that John makes in this letter, away from the evil and toward the good. John knows that in this specific situation that Gaius is in, there needs to be a consensus amongst leaders in the church, that truth and love go together so foundationally, so relationally linked are they, that there needs to be a true testimony to help guide the people of this church, particularly its leaders, in love. There needs to be loving truth involved here. And so verse 12 comes into play. Demetrius, here is a man who has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself, and then he says, we also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. again, I think he's speaking there of himself and the other apostles or the other apostolic men with him, who are confirming for Gaius that Demetrius is a solid believer and who, I think, by implication here, would be somebody to work with and to support and to continue to fight the battles that are in this church alongside of. I think that's what John is doing. He's saying to Gaius, hey, that man there, he's somebody to work with to deal with the problems in this church. He's received a faithful testimony, especially from us. And you know that our testimony for him is true. I mean, John, after all, is writing scripture here. So if he says that Demetrius is trustworthy, It must be, because his words are scripture. And so that's an encouragement to Gaius. It should be an encouragement to us that God's church is meant to be cared for by elders, plural, by overseers, by not just one man, like probably this man Diotrephes was Like the role he was probably trying to assume. God's church is meant to be cared for by multiple men, multiple leaders, multiple overseers, elders. And that should encourage us. It should give us caution about churches that only have one leader, where one person makes all the decisions. like diatrophies in this case. And it should encourage us that, as God's people, we're meant to do things in community. We're meant to support the truth in love. Now, as we come to the end of our passage, it's important for us to know that even though Jesus isn't mentioned by name here, He is mentioned. Because Jesus is truth, and He is love. And so what John is actually encouraging of Gaius and all who would read this letter in faith, is that we walk in the way of Jesus. That we hold fast to Jesus. That we imitate Jesus. That we do good in Jesus. We are only from God because we are in Jesus. He is the truth and the love. And John, I think, would encourage us to walk in him. That's what he says there. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Let's walk in the truth by walking in the Son, holding fast to Jesus, remembering His love and the fact that He is truth itself. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you have given us these words from John that are really meant to push us back to Jesus. When we have issues that we face in life, especially perhaps principally here in the church, we pray that we would go back to Jesus. There are inevitably going to be issues that we face in life, even in the church. And we ask that you would help us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the truth in love. May we follow after him, but even as we sometimes fail, as we're bound to do, would you help us to remember that Jesus didn't. He wasn't simply walking truth and love out. He is truth and love. He is that line. And he's not just a line, he's a person. He's a person that holds us to himself. So even when we fail, we can rejoice that Jesus loves his own in truth. The truth of a life laid down to save souls and bodies forever. We pray all this for his glory, for our good as the church, that you would bless our relationships into the future, and that we would fight to love people in truth. that we would be on guard against lies and liars for Jesus's glory and for our good. Amen. Somewhat roundabout there toward the end of the prayer and this devotional, but I'm glad that you were with me for today. I hope to be back with you at some point soon. But either way, I hope you'll be able to continue joining us as Pastor Jason walks us through the word one chapter per day with Jesus, the truth and love. God bless you.