Let's take our Bibles and stand together and turn to 3 John 1. I know I took quite a bit of time on the report of Western Europe, but I really want to touch on three things in this passage of Scripture that I believe will help us to understand three things. That we are fellow laborers, that's number one. Number two, that there are foe that want to destroy the work of God. But then we've got a great future. That's what I'd like to speak on this evening. The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou wouldest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that was in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well. Because that, for his name's sake, they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles, We therefore ought to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the truth. I wrote unto the church because deatrophies, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore I am come, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words, and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God. But he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself. Yea, and we also bear record, and ye know that our record is true. I have many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee. But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be unto thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, speak to us this evening as we look into your precious word. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. I really believe that there are three great truths that we must constantly be reminded of as we think about the work of God. I believe that church members in particular ought to think a lot about the work of God. How can God use me as a vessel in his hand? Often people are enamored with, you know, the preacher or certain people in the church that may have what we would say special gifts and often the majority of the church never connects with really getting involved and really being used of God themselves. To be used of God ought to be our greatest desire. I was challenging some of the young people in France about give God the first option in your life, not the last resort. Let God have his way in your life. There's a great dearth in Western Europe of young men and women surrendering their lives for the cause of Christ. And in this passage of Scripture, we see three people that I want you to look at. I'm going to give you a statement about each of them. The first man is Gaius. And I want you to write down there, if you would, there by verse 1, a healthy brother. A healthy brother. I think the greatest desire of the Christian is to be spiritually healthy. Spiritually healthy. And we find in this passage of Scripture, there in verse 1, this man is a healthy brother. Notice, beloved. I love that term, beloved, or beloved. That's a very intimate term that God uses when He's speaking to those that He loves and cares for. You know, we are very special to God. We say God is special to us, but He created us for His glory. And we are very special to Him. And if God would be willing to go to Adam and Eve in the garden after they had taken what He had said and thrown it out for their own desires. And He would say, Adam, where art thou? There's a God that is not done with us. Isn't that beautiful? He loves us so much that He wants what's best for us. And He is thrilled about the life of Gaius. And He understands, God is helping us to understand that we must first of all be healthy. Did you know your worship is always supposed to come before your work? You can't work correctly unless you've worshipped God and walked with God personally and intimately. Then your work will work. Amen? Have you ever tried to do the work of God and it wasn't working? It's not God's fault, it's our fault. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won't hear me. I must stay in tune with God that I might have His divine presence and power and His glory in my life. And here's what we find about Gaius. Notice what he says about Gaius. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy, what? Thy soul prospereth. The truth is that a healthy Christian is a useful Christian. It was Christmas Evans, a man that had been wonderfully saved, born on Christmas Day, so mom called him Christmas. But he'd lived a vile life of sin, but when he got saved, he made an 11-point covenant with God, and one of the points was, don't let my days be any longer than my usefulness to thee. Otherwise, I want to make sure that as a Christian, I'm useful. Well, how can you become useful? You must be healthy. Spiritually healthy. And you'll notice the word truth is mentioned two times here in verse 3 and also in verse 4. It says, For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee. How would we know if somebody has the truth? They'd be talking about it, wouldn't they? We are not to be silent Christians. We're to be proclaiming truth. And you'll notice here that the brethren testified of truth that was in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. So not only was he one that spoke of truth, but he lived truth. He lived it. He wasn't a hypocrite. And Gaius was one that God could say, now everybody ought to Follow him as he follows me. You know Paul said follow me as I follow Christ right so as Gaius is following the Lord, and he's living in truth, and he's he's exercising a healthy Christian walk with God People take note of those things It's interesting in that when a person has a they're good at what they do They get a reputation don't they? I mean, if you need plumbing work at your house, don't call me. But there's somebody that has that ability and knows how to do it. Some people are good roofers. Some people are good computer tech people. And boy, if you need to know the answer, they've got it. See, what happens is when you know your God, you know His power, and you know what can help people. And I want to tell you something. Truth is where it's at. more than anything else. I'd rather have truth than have nothing else than to have everything else and not have truth. May God help us in this area. So Gaius was a healthy brother. Notice secondly, we see that we have a man by the name of Diotrephes who is a hindering brother. He's a hindering brother there in verse 9. In verse 9. Truth is mentioned again in verse eight, before we go to verse nine, let's go to verse eight. We therefore ought to receive such that we might be fellow what? Helpers to the what? Do you have the truth? Yes or no? We have the truth, don't we? Well, we are to be fellow helpers in the truth. when your pastor talks about evangelism and getting the gospel out, and I see that, man, you guys are getting that area covered, and going door to door and leaving flyers and talking to people as you're able to. That's wonderful, isn't it? That's what laborers do. What we've received, we share with others. See, that's so important, and those that can't do it, they pray. Oh God, speak to people's hearts, You know, I don't believe that you have to have a gift in order to give out the gospel. It's not a gift to give out the gospel, it's a command. And as we give out the truth, as we sow the truth, like a farmer would sow a seed, it's going to hit on some good ground and we're going to see some results. And we must be patient and wait upon God for results. Oh, I want to tell you, God's Word is true, and if we abide by it, the truth of God's Word is going to come to fruition. And you're going to reap a harvest. Many Christians quit before they ever reap the harvest. They sow some seed, then they quit. And sometimes that seed is germinated and a soul is won, but they never know about it because they quit. And they didn't continue on. Now, I want you to notice, that these fellow laborers and these fellow helpers that are trying to get the work done can run into a problem. And that is there are foes that can get in to the work of God. The Bible refers to them as wolves in sheep's clothing. You've heard that phrase before, haven't you? You'll notice there in verse 9 it says, Deatrophies, he loved to have what? Underline that word preeminence. The Bible says in the book of Colossians about the Lord Jesus that in all things he might have the preeminence. Not Deatrophies. Hello? We are not to seek prestige or We're not to be gloating over who we are or what we think we can accomplish. I know that some pastors have fallen because they got their eyes on themselves instead of their eyes on the Lord Jesus. And this man was a hindering brother to the church. Notice what happened here. Notice the qualifications of a hindering brother. Notice it says, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, pratting against us with malicious words. So he was very contentious. He was argumentative. He was one that was hindering unity. Notice what it says, and not content therewith. Things had to be his way or he just could not get along. Neither doth he himself receive the brethren. He wouldn't receive brethren that didn't dot their I and cross their T just like he did. Now let me tell you something. All of us are different. Aren't we? Not all of us believe exactly the very same things. We may differ on colors, we may differ on carpet, we may differ on decorations, we may differ on the car we drive, we may differ on even some of the, what we would call the philosophies of life and some of the things that we do. But it doesn't mean we hate everybody that doesn't agree with us. Now when it comes to religion, truth stands alone, doesn't it? One of the things in Western Europe is Western Europe has gotten to the place where it's atheistic. We were at a park there sitting there in Scotland, my wife and I took a walk along the North Sea, and we sat down, and this lady came by with a dog, walking her dog, and she said, where are y'all from? And we told her, and she said, she made a derogatory statement about our country, and I didn't think anything of it, because that's not important. But I said, well, I said, you know, we're here. She said, then she said, well, what are you doing here, you Americans? And I said, well, I'm preaching over here at the church. I'd love for you to come. She goes, I'm not coming there. She goes, I'm a humanist. A humanist. And she said, we, we humanists, determine our own destiny. I said, wow, that is so true. That is true. I said, it's either heaven or hell. That's the choice. And I said, Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Woo, it got interesting right about that time. Amen. Am I your enemy because I tell you the truth? Truth stands alone. And it doesn't matter what I, you know, it really doesn't even matter what I believe. If I get up and say to you, I believe, and I say what I believe, that's like water off a duck's back. But if I say God says, that changes everything, doesn't it? See, truth stands alone. Now, here's a man that is thinking that everything has to be just his way because he wants the preeminence. Whenever a person wants the preeminence, they're putting Christ down. They're putting the Bible down. They're putting truth down. In fact, If you look over in, let's go right over to 2 John for a moment. Verse 7, For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and a what? on Antichrist. So we understand that I could even think things that are against Christ if I seek to lift myself up above Christ. Correct? So, Deiotrophes, what he was doing was he was putting himself in the place of Christ. To where he had to have the... He had to be right. You know, Christ is right whether we want to be right or not. He is always right. But you know what? When we try to replace Christ, we are always wrong. And it does great damage to the cause of Christ. I've seen churches broken and split and splintered. I've seen lives wrecked and homes wrecked because people wanted to have the preeminence in their life and did not want to submit themselves to the Lordship of Christ. Dangerous place, isn't it? Notice also, he goes on to say, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbid of them that would and cast them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is, what? You know, there are some things that are really evil. And they can enter even into the life of a believer. Does it surprise you some of the terrible things that Christians are doing today? It doesn't surprise me. Why? Because they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And we must come to grips with that reality. I'm not going to have an opinion except what God says. Amen? I don't have to be right. I don't have to be first. I don't have to be regarded. I do not have to be rewarded. But He does. God must have the preeminence. So Demetrius, or Deatrophes rather, was a hindering brother. May God help us never to hinder God's great work, amen? May we always be right there to do what is right. And then verse 12, we have the third helper. This is a true helper, Demetrius. And Demetrius had a good report of all men. Now that is a statement there, isn't it? Have you ever heard the phrase, beware when all men speak well of you? I was preaching in a church, this goes back a year or two ago, and the pastor got up and he said, I want to tell you one thing about Brother Knickerbocker. I've never heard anybody say anything bad about Brother Knickerbocker. And I went, uh-oh, beware when all men speak well of you. But then I found this verse. Oh, this is a good one, huh? Look at this. Hath good report of all men. Wow. Did you know that you can have a reputation of being good when you preach against people's evils. I'm going to give you an illustration of it. There was a Jewish man that I met and he asked me this question. Do you believe that all Jews will go to hell if they don't accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah? I said, you're right. They will go to hell if they reject Jesus as a Messiah. And then he asked me some other very interesting questions about other people and lifestyles and things like that. And I gave him the Bible answer every time. And then, there's no doubt in my mind that people can take offense to the truth and can really get upset with Christians. But you know, My wife handed me a couple gospel tracks. I gave them to him the next day when I saw him He came in and where we were and I was kind of bracing myself because I was like, oh man He had all night to think about what to say now and he's gonna let me have it, right? He said you are I read those tracks. He said you are doing a great work. I Mean I literally gave him all the wrong answers and as far as he was concerned, but they were all the right answers as far as God was concerned. And he said, I'm doing a good work and he's not even saved. And I looked at him and I said, you complimented me. He said, I know I did. Now that was really unusual, but it tells you something. People, you know, there's a lot of people that know they're wrong, they just don't want to admit it. And when you love them and you speak the truth and love to them, they're blown away. And they're saying, this person's not mad at me, but they did tell me the truth. And you know, some people, it's not what you, well, it is what you said to them, but it's what they think about after you said it. And they mull that over in their mind. They say, well, according to what he said, I'm a hell bound sinner in need of a savior. And Jesus Christ is the free gift. And if I put my, oh, I'd have to give up everything. But eventually what God does is brings them to the place where they want Him instead of what they had. Pretty interesting, isn't it? Pretty interesting how God can bring people around. Now, He had a good report of all men because He gave them the truth. I've had people say to me, I don't agree with what you say. but I respect you for what you believe." Now, isn't that worth sharing? If a person doesn't agree with you, but yet they respect you for what you believe, that's the first start of bringing that person to the Lord. That ought to thrill you when somebody says that to you. Because what they're saying to you is, I don't agree with you, but I respect you. He had a good report of all men and of the truth itself. He never dishonored the truth, ever. Yea, and we also bear record, and ye know that our record is true. I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee. But I trust I shall shortly see thee. Notice what Paul is saying as he closes out this book. John finishes out this book. He uses the word peace. Peace be unto you. Peace. God to God of peace. Now he's a God of a sword also, but he comes to us with peace and he wants us to experience the truth of his word and may the result be that he is, that we be helpful, that we be helpful, that he was a helpful brother. So if you've got a healthy brother and a helpful brother, you're gonna get something done for God. This church may be small in its infancy, but I don't think that we should be thinking about a big church. I think we ought to be thinking about a clean church, a church that glorifies God, a church where we can come and be fed, to where people can come and get truth and get out of their sin and their evil and know the Lord that we know. Amen? Let me tell you, I met a young man in Pete's church. He got saved there and was baptized there. He had, there were 80 people in the service. Now that church runs in the 20s, 30s maybe. They had 80 people there for that young man's baptism. He got saved. This guy is on fire for God. I mean, I believe that God could call him into the ministry and I even told him, you've got an excitement about the Lord. He goes, oh yes. And he was at the other, he moved up to Paris, so he's no longer in Pete's church. But he moved up to Paris, because he's working a job, going to finish up his education. But he went to another church I preached in, and that was the church I preached on finances. He came up to me, and here's what he said. This is so great. And I told him, you tell that other brother that told me he didn't like being convicted. Anyway, feeling guilty. He said this, he said this. Brother Knickerbocker, he could barely speak English. He goes, Brother Knickerbocker. He said, I remember when I did not give God anything. He said, I never had money for the bus. I never had money for the train. I was always scrimping. He said, since I started giving to the Lord, I have money. I can do what I need to do because I put the Lord first. I said, go talk to that brother. Amen? Amen. And what a thrill it was. What I'm saying is that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Don't get ever discouraged. That's a sin. Stay encouraged, and stay in prayer, and say, Oh God, use me to help the First Saint Baptist Church to be all that God wants it to be, so that we can reap a harvest of souls. Amen? Much seed planted, great results will come as a result of it. And most of all, we will be in the center of God's will. Isn't that where we want to be? Be healthy. Be helpful. don't hinder the great work of God. Amen? Let's pray together.