No, no thanks. All right, question. Let's begin with the question. What example are you setting for others? As we get ready to study God's Word together, the question before you and me is, followers of Jesus Christ, what example are you setting for others? If others would pattern their lives after ours, would that be a good thing? If you and I know Jesus Christ because of God's grace toward us and we enjoy all that God is for us in Christ, and if we walk with Him and obey Him and love Him, if others were to see that and mimic and imitate us, would that be a good thing? Keep that in mind as we study what we have before us this morning. We continue with what I've called New Testament postcards. We began last week. New Testament postcards are those short one-chapter books or letters found in the New Testament that really are right there, they're concise. But just because they have few words doesn't mean that they don't have a big, big message. Last time we studied 2 John for this morning. I invite you to turn to 3 John, 3 John, even shorter. The original language of the New Testament, 3rd John is the shortest book or letter in the New Testament. 3rd John, I'm going to read it, it's 15 verses, and then we're going to dig in. 3rd John, I read you follow along. 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 they 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'll talk face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name. Here's my sermon in a sentence so we can get down to it. Brotherly love, that's loving care for other Christians, is the product of knowing the truth. It's the product of loving the truth and walking in the truth. Therefore, you provide an example for others to imitate. Let that sink in for a little bit. There's a direct correlation between knowing the truth, loving the truth, living the truth, and setting a good example for others. You cannot Do it without knowing, loving, living. It doesn't just happen. There has to be an intentionality about it. The day when John wrote these, it was common for people, fellow Christians, and we mentioned that last week, to leave where they were, sensing a prompting of the Spirit, and leave their lives, leave their vocations, and go into the frontiers, and take the message of the name, what Jesus the Christ, what Jesus the Messiah, had done in their lives. This was way before missionary boards, this was way before mega churches, this was way before you and I and a GoFundMe page. So these folks depended on the hospitality shown by fellow Christians. And this is what he's writing, he's writing to them and saying, hey listen, you need to support these missionaries. Now remember, as you and I study 3rd John, we have 2nd John in the background, because in 2nd John, the apostle, which by the way he considers himself here again, the elder, the old man, the old man, he writes to a church and says, listen, the false teachers have picked up on the MO. modus operandi, how you guys are operating. And they're picking it up, and they're saying, listen, they're showing up to churches, and they're making friends, but then they're propagating, they're sending off, or pushing, peddling a false gospel. Be aware of them, and in fact, treat them nicely, 2 John, but do not authenticate their message. You want to treat them as fellow human beings. We're all cut from the same cloth. Doesn't matter the shade of color. Listen, there's only one race and it's called human. Okay, so stop with this little whatever you and I have and the politicians. Stop drinking that Kool-Aid. Out of one people, Acts 17, He has created all. We all trace ourselves back to Genesis chapter 10. You want to know where you're coming from? Go read Genesis 10. So we're all humans, and because we're all humans, we must respect one another. We're cut from the same cloth. Here, he says and he goes, listen, so treat them nicely, receive them in that you're not going to be a jerk. However, do not authenticate the message. Don't let them just come in and give them a platform. to spread that false gospel. Well, the thing here is in third John he says, well, listen, I don't want you to go overboard and then every Christian missionary is like, no. We don't welcome anyone now. You know, there's a pendulum effect. We tend to do that. He says, no, no, no. He's saying, listen, when he writes here now in 3 John, he goes, listen, I want you to show hospitality. You need to show hospitality. These true faithful Christian missionaries, these fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, they need you and they need me to show proper hospitality. He writes with a church in mind, obviously. We don't know a lot about Third John. What church is he referring to? We don't know. Where's the church located? We really don't know. We can guesstimate. We can make him some informed decision. We probably think it's somewhere in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. You know, when did he write? Probably towards the end of the first century. But we do know certain things, and that's the name of three people. Three men in a church. It's almost like three men and a baby, but it's three men and a church. Okay, and these three men are representing men and women perhaps here this very morning So he writes to them, and he says listen. This is what I need to share with you They provide these names help guide our study So let's get to the names the first one that you mentioned that you see their mention is Gaius He's a man that's admired, and he's worth. He's worth encouraging a leader in the church. In fact, you know, probably these three men mentioned here would be leaders. in the church. Gaius might have been one of the main leaders, it may have been his home where they met, but he's a man that's admired. The first four verses, the elder, the old man to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, he's addressing him, 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're walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Again, evidently a Christian leader, well-known, well-loved, probably, perhaps, a disciple, someone that the Apostle, the Elder, had led to Christ and discipled. And that's why he says, I have no greater joy than when I hear someone that I appointed to the cross is living by the cross. He says there is no greater joy. And He tells them in verse 2, you know, I pray that all goes well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes with your soul. And I need to stop here and do a sidebar for just a moment. Verse 2 is a greeting. Just keep that in mind. It's a greeting. Sadly, the charlatans that you see on TV take this verse and they use it to promote a gospel that's no gospel. They take this and they misapply it, they misinterpret it, and they say, listen, what we're after is, hey, you know, you should be enjoying the best of the best in life. And again, be reminded that this is simply just a way of greeting. The traditional greeting would have been, be well, may the gods give you health and prosper you. That would have been a Greek, you know, in the Roman Empire, using the Greek parlance. It would have been saying, hey, listen, be well, May the gods give you health and prosper. John takes a look at it and says, no, no, no. Listen, I know that you're doing spiritually well. And what I'm asking before the Lord, that's evident because people are telling me. And my prayer for you is that you physically will enjoy good health and your labors will be prosperous. That doesn't mean that you're going to be healthy, wealthy and all the days. That just means a desire that he's expressing to you. The reality is that you and I need to keep an eye on this prosperity gospel that still rears its ugly head. You thought it would leave, but it doesn't. Because it feeds your pride, it feeds mine. You know the reality is that this verse, I've heard it on a certain TV channel being peddled by these charlatans saying this is exactly just like he was filthy rich spiritually, that's how God wants you physically and for your money. No, that's not true. It's not true. The reality is that this prosperity gospel continues to propagate. And this is the sad thing, that we tend to export it. And it doesn't work when you export it. Who are you going to tell in Africa? That in Christ you're going to be healthy, wealthy, and unendingly just rich. Who are you going to tell that to? As they're struggling to get a gallon of clean water. But yet, Christianity in America, that's what it peddles. And you and I should stand firm against it. I don't care if they're your favorite preachers. I don't care if they're mine. If John McCarthy, one of my favorite preachers, started peddling this gospel, I'd stop listening. So I don't care who has the ministry. I don't care what prime time channel they have. reality is that These charlatans they say this is how you should be you should be you know wealthy and healthy and and glad all the time And if you don't have that it's your fault, so they had insult to injury. It's your lack of faith These charlatans will also say you know money makes more money So give me your money, and I'll make money for you, and if you need to give somebody money. Let me have it I'll take it But the reality is that's not what the scriptures are saying. The prosperity gospel is no, no good. But you know, I could keep on saying, but I invited a good friend of mine to say it. My friend is called John Piper. He doesn't know me from Adam, but I know him because he's all over. And I want you to listen to a two minute video and just his take and his reaction. So if you can cue that up up there and hit the lights whenever you're ready. And as soon as you're ready, here's Piper and his two-minute take on the prosperity gospel. I don't know what you feel about the prosperity gospel, the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, but I'll tell you what I feel about it. Hatred. It is not the gospel. And it's being exported from this country to Africa and Asia. Selling a bill of goods to the poorest of the poor. Believe this message. Your pigs won't die. Your wife won't have miscarriages. You have rings on your fingers and coats on your back. That's coming out of America. The people that ought to be giving our money and our time and our lives. Instead selling them a bunch of crap called gospel. And here's the reason it is so horrible. When was the last time that any American, African, Asian ever said, Jesus is all satisfying because you drove a BMW? Never! They'll say, Jesus did do that? Yeah, I'll take Jesus. That's idolatry. That's not the gospel. That's elevating gifts above giver. I'll tell you what makes Jesus look beautiful. It's when you smash your car and your little girl goes flying through the windshield and lands like dead on the street. And you say, through the deepest possible pain, God is enough. God is enough. He is good. He will take care of us, He will satisfy us, He will get us through this. He is our treasure, whom have I in heaven but you, and on earth there's nothing that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart and my little girl may fail, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever. That makes God look. as God, not as giver of cars, or safety, or health. Oh, how I pray that America would be purged of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, and that the Christian church would be marked by suffering for Christ. God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him in the midst of loss, not prosperity. Those are powerful words. They're needed words to remind us that we, as Christians in America, if we're not careful, we tend to be idolaters. And what we want from God is not Him, but we want His gifts. And what the church around the world reminds us is that God is enough. That this health and wealth, prosperity... Did John Piper say crap? Unbelievable. I just said it too, from the Pope. It's a way to say it right, but listen he gets passionate, and I'm sure he could have said something else But the reality is deserves every word that he addressed and he he aimed at it If you subscribe to that and you hear this morning, I would ask that you would repent I Would ask that you would search the scriptures and allow the Spirit of God to lead you to what the scriptures say about a Savior who was described as a man of sorrows and Jesus is the one who describes himself as the one who did not have a place to live. All the apostles suffered loss. Christians around the world, Christians today have suffered loss because of the gospel. It doesn't mean that God's not going to provide for you. It doesn't mean that you might enjoy a lot of wealth. What it does mean is that it's not promised to you. And if you link that to the gospel, as these charlatans take 3 John 2, and they link it, and because you're spiritually prosperous, that's what you need, that's God's will for you. No, that's not true. Back to the text, basically what he was saying is, hey listen, listen, I wish you well. I know you're well spiritually, I wish you well physically, and I wish you well professionally. Can we not just say that amongst each other? Without indicating and giving this false impression that God wants us to be, you know, living the fantabulous life? Fabulously wealthy, deliriously prosperous, and unendingly healthy. Every charlatan will die. What do they say then? Where's the prosperity gospel then? Again, John, the elder, the old man, looks at Gaius and says, hey listen, I just want to pray and beloved, I pray that just like you're doing well spiritually, you will do well physically and professionally. And then he gets down to it. If we take a look a little closer to the text, we discover that this man, Gaius, was a really good man to follow, to pattern our lives against. or after. Number one, look at it, he's balanced. We talked about truth and love, okay? Twice in verse four, once in verse six, he mentions the walking in truth and walking in love and exercising it and being balanced. And we learned last time that in order to balance it, you embrace it. It's not an either-or, it's a both-and. Christ calls you, Christ calls me, Christ calls each one of His own to balance, to embrace, and to walk in truth, and to walk in love. And He does that. Listen, it's on the screen there. To walk in the truth involves knowing truth. You cannot walk in that which you don't know. Walking in truth involves knowing truth. To walk in the truth involves growing in truth. You just don't walk and walk in the same way. You have to be growing and to grow in truth results in love and love manifests itself in good deeds. You see it there in the life of Gaius. He knew the truth and it affected how he lived. Oh Christian, that's the great disconnect for you and me in 2020. We know so much and apparently there's disconnects in areas of life where we claim that Jesus is Lord but we don't live like Jesus is Lord. And people are watching. People are watching. Every decision you and I make says something about our Lord. Every way you live, every time you vacation, every time you do this, whatever you do, whatever I do, that makes a statement about the Lord that you and I revere. Should feel heavy, because it is. Because to know the truth is to love the truth. And to love the truth is to live by the truth. And when you got all three lined up, then and only then, your life perhaps and someone else will go, I like that. I want to follow. I want to pattern my life after that right there. balanced he was also a man who was faithful in verse 3 and in verse 5 there's there's a faithfulness being mentioned not not only does he know the truth but he also lives the truth here's a man you can trust with your life he is faithful Faithfulness is known. Again, not just knowing it, but living it. He has the courage to stand behind it. And as my wife reminds us in our family, listen, you got to stand for the truth, even if you have to stand alone. And the day will come where you, as a child of God, will be in a place where you better be ready to stand firm, even if that means you stand alone. No double talk from this guy. No veiled messages. If he says it, you can count on it. So he's balanced, he's faithful, he's generous, verses 5 through 8. Talks about him his hospitality you you have opened yourself to people you you know them you know them that they go off for the name for the sake of the name and and and you welcome them The word in the original language for hospitality is the Greek word that means love for strangers This is a man who you would show up as a Christian. Again, this is before Airbnb. This is before all the creature comforts of the 21st century. This is the creature comforts of the 1st century. Where you show up to Pembroke Pines and you know no one. Except you know that there's a church, Pines Baptist Church, that meets on the Lord's Day. You walk in through those doors, you make yourself known, you get to know the brethren, the brethren get to know you, and you don't know where you're gonna sleep that night. And then by faith, we have to then decide, do we extend hospitality? Foreign to you and me, foreign! But to the first century, it was common. It was common. And to this church leader, he says, you've exercised, you've done right, you've done well, you're generous, you're generous, and you should support them. These are fellow workers at the end of verse 8. These are fellow workers for the truth. He welcomed God's workers into his home. He supported them. He was a good man that the elder, the old man, John, admired. He says, I want to encourage you. You're doing well. Child of God, this is where you and I, when we get to know each other, this is why you and I need to know each other so when we see each other, we can encourage one another. But if we decide to remain strangers under the same roof, you'll never get to the point where you can encourage someone. Because you'd rather live in isolation than connect, than risk relationships. Any relationship is risky. Any relationship is risky. To give your life out, to extend your love can be misunderstood, can be trampled on. But if you want to hide your love in a safe place, dark, and nobody can touch it, just wait. Think it's called hell. So you just stay there, unapproachable. But yet the New Testament will come against you and me and say, you need to be known. You need to dare. You have to risk the relationship. Gaius, you're a man to be encouraged. But in the midst of this, again, so if you're a Gaius type of person today, listen, be encouraged. Be encouraged. If you're balanced, if you're faithful, if you're welcoming. Listen, potlucks for you and me in Baptist life. You know, when was the last time you sat with someone other than your best friend, than your little clique? of Pines Baptist Church. When's the last time you looked at the person that's sitting by themselves at a table in the back or in the side and you go, you know what, I see this guy all the time, I'm gonna go sit with that guy all the time now. Instead of getting your pile of food and going over here and hoarding it with all your hoarder friends. Find someone else and hoard with them, okay? But don't stick to the same old, same old. That's built into the church, just an opportunity to know and to be known. So take advantage of it next time. It will be at the end of March. But in the midst of this, you have a person like Gaius who says, man, I'm going to go all out. Then you got a person like Diotrephes, the second one, a divisive man worth confronting. Verses 9 and 10. I have written some to the church about diatrophies. The next time anybody has a kid and my money is on Jen. It's just easy money baby. Easy money. No diatrophies. No diatrophies. Verse 9, 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. Yeah, yeah, there's some modern day Diotrephes around too. Listen, we can sum up saying that he is as bad as Gaius is good. This is just the complete opposite. He describes him five ways, five-fold indictment. Number one, he's self-willed. You see it there? He loves to be first. This is the kind of guy that pushes his way to the front of the line. Loves, listen, it was one thing to be first. Another thing to say, he loves to be first. Yeah, you want to be first, you want to be first. But to love to be first, that's an act of the will. That's like, and going in. He loves to be first. His motivation is egotistical. It's not that he just, it's okay for him to be first. He has to be. He has to be first. The next thing, he's rebellious to spiritual authority. Will have nothing to do with us. Remember, this is the elder. This is the Apostle John. One of the twelve. This is not just third generation. This is Apostle John, talking to the second generation. This is the guy, John, who walked with Christ, who saw Him, witnessed to the resurrection, rebellious to spiritual authority. Deuteronomy says, no, I don't want anything to do. So his mind is unteachable. His mind, his motivation, ego. Love to be first, have to be first. When it comes to the mind, unteachable. I got nothing to learn from none. But listen, the day you stop learning is the day you stop growing. He says up there, this guy in particular, John has nothing to do. Thirdly, he's a slanderer, talking wicked nonsense or gossiping maliciously. It's just a babble. His mouth, disgraceful. Disgraceful. And then his attitude toward others is the last two. He's ungracious, refuses to welcome the brothers, okay? Listen, if he said, nah, yeah, there's them, there's that family over here, yeah, I don't like how Ricky's looking at me right now, no. And he gets the buzz out, okay, through the text messaging of the first century, I don't know if it was pigeons or whatever they used, all right? And nobody's taking care of the Garibond family. They're on their own. But they look over here and they go, oh yeah, Kumar's in the house. And we say money. I like him. Get the word out through the pigeons again. They get to stay. He's ungracious. He's ungracious. He's like, ah, no. I reject the apostle. I reject his representatives. Lastly, he's an abuser of power. He stopped those who want to and puts them out of the church. So now it's like, OK, so no one over here says, hey, I want to do this. I want to do this for the Garibans. And I go, oh, yeah, because I'm deatrophies. Oh, really? Not only am I going to put you, I'm going to stop you, I'm going to get you out, too. You don't think that happens in Baptist churches? Welcome to the South. Welcome to the South. Just ask any PK. There's about five of them right over here in this one. That doesn't happen in churches. any, and if you've been around long enough, you may bear witness to this disgraceful action. Abuser of powers. His attitude towards others? Inhospitable and inflexible. You know, listen, if Gaius represents the prosperous soul, Diotrephes represents the destitute soul. And listen, here's a profile. So if you catch yourself going there, stop it. Repent. Here's the profile. Number one, the destitute soul loves to be first. Loves to be first. So again, if you find yourself that in your interactions you have to be first, beware. Secondly, the destitute soul uses gossip and slander to run down his or her opponents. Gossip works in two ways. Gossip works in two ways. Gossip means that I say something behind your back that I would never say in front of your face. That's how gossip operates. I talk behind your back in such a way that I would never talk in front of your face. I mean, the opposite of that is what we call flattery, right? Flattery is saying something in front of your face that would never mean behind your back. So gossip is used in a way that way. I say things behind your back that I would never say in front of your face. Slander, as you see it here, is using partial truths or flat-out lies to damage someone's reputation. And that was the Atrophies. That's the destitute soul. The soul that wants to be first and then reverts, reverts and hides their gossiping under prayer. Prayer requests. Beware of prayer requests. You know what's the beautiful thing about phones? They hang up on either end. You don't have to follow the gossip. You know how I put gossip to end? They come by, I got Sandy so I can pick on them. So I got Alberto who comes into my ear and goes, Sandy this, and Sandy that, and Sandy this, and he's gossiping. He's telling me things about Sandy behind his back that I know he hasn't said in front of his face. He hasn't talked to him, man to man. So he's coming as a coward to me here. You know what I do? I go, listen, listen, listen, listen. Let's go talk to Sandy right now. You and me, I'll go. You know what happens? If it's true, truth is never afraid of scrutiny. Truth is never afraid of scrutiny. But if he's just talking trash, all of a sudden, he'll backpedal. And he'll give me all the vowels. A, E, I, O, U. But that's how you put it. You want to stop gossiping? Don't gossip. Don't listen to it. And in fact, out of love, say, you got an issue with someone? I'll go with you. I'll go with you. Let's go talk to this person. Let's stop gossiping. Let's stop talking behind their back. Things that you need to tell them in their face. Because if it's something you need to tell them in love, in their face, you won't have a problem with it. Oh, but I hate confrontation. You're like the guy in Toy Story, the dinosaur. I hate confrontation. Okay. Well, too bad. Too bad. That's why I'm walking with you. I'm going with you just to help you out. And that's how you put it. But this guy, the destitute soul, just uses gossip and slander. The destitute soul uses relationships for power. You know why? Because they don't value people. They don't value relationships. They just use people and they use relationships. And that's when you and I know that our soul is not well. When I see a person and all I do is there are means to an end. There are means to an end. My soul is drying up. My soul is drying up. Lastly, the destitute soul bullies others through intimidation. And how do these people emerge in the congregation? Well, most of the time in, let me call it Baptist life, because I'm Baptist, so I'm going to pick on Baptists, it happens through money. The power brokers. You may not think it happens, but people think that because they give and they need to be letting everybody know that they're the top giver, the top dog, and they deserve special treatment. That doesn't happen. It won't happen here. It shouldn't happen anywhere. Through serving. Because they become so involved in the life of the church that that's their means to an end. They want to leverage their volunteering. And you don't leverage your volunteering. You've served the Lord because you love the Lord. Nothing means to an end. Listen, but at a deeper level, deatrophies arises because godly people refuse to confront this evil. That's the reality. In love. In love. That's why deatrophies is still alive and well in churches. Because in love people don't, they rather continue to talk behind and murmur than say, hey listen, let's sit down and talk. Let's just sit down and talk. Let's clear the air here. What's going on? Is it easy? No, but I'm not telling you it's easy. I'm telling you it's best. Again, how do you spot these modern day diatrophies? Ray Pritchard from Keep Believing Ministries shares the following 10 points. It's on the screen there. You know, he talks too much, dominates every conversation, has a critical spirit toward those who disagree with him or her, always takes sides and continues counting noses to see who has the power, thinks he can do things better than those currently in leadership. has a rebellious attitude toward the leaders who are over him, focuses exclusively on his group of friends, argues endlessly over minor details of church life, takes it personally when their advice is not followed, clings to positions of authority at all costs, sees new people as a threat to their power. How do you deal with these? Well, how did Paul deal with his detractor? How did Paul deal with his diatrophies? Look at verse 10. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing. I will confront the issue. That's how you take care of it. You don't make excuses. You don't do walk-arounds and run-arounds. You talk. You talk. You confront in that, hey, let's sit down and talk. I've heard these things. This has come to my attention. Let's talk. He said, so if I get to come, I will mention it, I will deal with it. See, here's a divisive man that's worth confronting. And then he ends the letter by mentioning Demetrius. Demetrius, a godly man worth imitating or emulating. Verses 11 and 12. 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. And listen, here's the catch. That's, again, what is your life saying? Demetrius was a godly man worth imitating. People had a good, good, you mentioned his name in the church, obviously to diatrophies, he was still dirt, right? So when he says they're everyone, everyone is qualified. Everyone who knows Demetrius for who he really is, not diatrophies that has a problem with him. You'll always find someone to talk trash about you. If you don't think somebody's talk trash about you, you better wake up. You better wake up. You don't always smell like roses. To some, you smell like poopy. Okay? Some people can't. You know, there's a saying in Spanish, I can swallow, but I don't, you know, I can chew them, but I don't swallow it. It doesn't make any sense in English, but in Spanish, yeah. You know it. You know it. I'm sure you have your own there. It's just I tolerate them. I tolerate them. Listen, we're all gonna be. That's part of being human. But part of being God's kids is, when that thing happens, if that were to happen between Paul and myself, I would hope that either Paul or myself would come to each other and go, hey man, let's clear the air. I've had people here call me out. I've had some sisters, older than I am, they've called my office. Said, hey, do you got a problem with me? I'm like, what? You want to feel this small? Get a sister in the Lord, call your office and go, you got a problem with me? Love that sister for doing it. Hey, you haven't said hi to me, you walked by me, you didn't say... Okay, listen sister, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to make amends. Thank you for giving me an opportunity. Thanks for not going on that prayer chain. Thanks for having some of the backbone to call the pastor. Say, hey, bro, what's up? I mean, I will never forget. You got something against me? But I'm glad. I'm glad. See, Demetrius, Demetrius. The goodness was well known, it was evident. When compared to the standard of truth, which involves acts of love, real acts of love and hospitality, they listen, they say, that's emulate, imitate, imitate. What should you and I look for in a life that's worth imitating? Well, first of all, it has to look, you gotta look for the character. See if the fruit of the Spirit is there. Because if the fruit of the Spirit is there, the Spirit is there. To what extent do they bear fruit? To what extent is the love of Christ, the character of Christ, the person of Christ being exuding, it's coming out of them, as a by-product of their walk with the Lord? Because to the degree that the Spirit of God controls me, to that degree I bear fruit. So it's character. Look at their deeds. Verse 11. They did in verse 11. Do not imitate what is evil. Imitate what is good. Whoever does good deeds, whoever does good is from God. Whoever does evil is not seeing God. So check their life out. They can talk a good game. I can talk a real good game. I can talk a super basketball game. Straight up. But you get me in the court, you'll outrun me in the bike. I'll have to cheat against all these youngs and whippersnappers over here. Even Caleb beat me up. He's like, bam, bam, goes up for the layup. I can talk a real good game, but you know what? I need to live it up, too. So you look at this person, you go, character, actions, and then, yes, reputation, and in that testimony, what do others say about this person? Then and only then do I want to, okay, do I want to consider, you know, imitating, using their life as a pattern for mine. It doesn't matter where they live, how much money they carry. Listen, don't look for the externals. You can fake it. It's the internal stuff. It's the internal stuff. So what can you and I take with us this morning as we land this plane? Listen, Gaius and Diotrephes and Demetrius, they're amongst us. They're amongst us. You may know them. What lessons can we learn? Let me just give you a few as we walk away. Number one, there's no such thing as a perfect church. You know why? Because there's no such thing as a perfect Christian. Oh, but you don't know. I can't pattern my life after anybody here. They're all hypocrites. Well, welcome to the club. Welcome to the club. In fact, why don't you sit in the front row. These are the real, okay, like Jessica and David. Yeah, look, right there, front row. That's the splash zone. Everybody stays away from the splash zone. Everybody likes the back row Baptist back there. Yeah, I'm safe, I'm safe. He can't even throw anything that far. Listen, there is no perfect church. You know why? Listen, listen, when you join a church, you're actually joining three churches. You're joining, you know, the church you think you're joining. It's like getting married. You're joining the church you think you're joining. Then there's the church you are joining. And then there's the church that will become. And that's why you don't walk in just with preferences because it doesn't work in marriage, it doesn't work in church. You walk in with a deliberate willingness to stay the course over the long haul as people, as Christ is being formed in people's lives. And then we stay with it. We don't bail out after one year or whatever it is. Joining, being part of the fellowship is a big deal. Number two, we become like the people we follow. Somebody should have said hello. Yeah, there we go. Amen or ouch, something. Yeah, there we go. Listen, listen. You and I are being influenced, and you and I influence. We're being influenced, even without you knowing. I started listening to a lot of John Piper, watching him on YouTube, and all of a sudden I start using my hands like John Piper. Like looking into that. And you'll catch it every so often. When you catch me doing this, I've been watching Piper too much. The mannerisms. Same thing with you. Listen, shortly after Billy Graham came onto the scene, a lot of Baptist pastors held their Bibles like this. The Bible says. the Bible. Nothing necessarily bad. That's the good stuff. The problem is when the influencer is a bad example. And you become that who you follow. Be careful. Be careful. You hang out with a gaius or gaius type of guy, you end up being a generous, admired person. You hang out with, you know, Demetrius, it's a godliness. You hang out with Diotrephes, troublemaker. Malcontent. So listen, listen, we become like the people we follow. So this is, if you're here, for Alberto and Danielle, you're new and you walk with this thing called marriage. Listen, the first hundred years, tough. After that, smooth sailing, baby. Smooth, like whoo. Okay? First hundred years is tough ones. So, what are you gonna look for? Well, I'm gonna look for and I'm gonna see if, you know, I'm gonna look over here and I'm gonna see Gertrude Jones and, you know, 63, 64, how many? 68? You wanna get to know her. Because I guarantee you JB wasn't always just beautiful. I just got that one right now, boom, JB, okay? You don't get to 68 without a desire to get there. So you pattern your life, you look at a marriage, you look at lives. Listen, I've told the leaders, my best business card is sitting right there. It doesn't matter how much I can make you laugh right now. It doesn't matter how much I can speak, how well I can exegete the passage. It doesn't matter I can go into the original languages and sentence diagram. Who cares? If my wife is miserable and everybody knows that I don't love her, don't care for her. My best business card as a husband, as a pastor, as a Christian sits right there on that second row. Child of God, if that same thing should apply to you. Follow people who you look for and you go, if I pattern my life after them, I'll look just like them. Question, if everyone in this church grew up to be like you, what kind of church would we have? Greatest, one of the greatest admonitions. from the mouth of Paul is, follow me as I follow Christ. Pattern your life against mine. Pattern your life after mine as I pattern mine after Jesus Christ. Who here is willing to say that to that generation, and to that generation, and to that generation, the young ones? Where is that generation going to come up and go, listen, look at me, spend time with me, and as I follow me, as I follow Christ. Number three, the spirit of diatrophies is alive and well today. Listen, I've seen my fair share of church problems and most of the time it's money and power. But sometimes it happens because good people just don't do what's godly. And you and I are called to be godly. And last, the important thing to know, or the most important thing, is to know Jesus Christ personally. See verse 7 is all about these people who have taken that treasure they have found in Jesus Christ and they have left the confines and they have left what's comfortable and taken the name with them. So child of God, are you that person that God can use for you in your fear of relationships, in your fears of influence? He may not call you to go around the world, but He may just call you to go across the street. Will you be that one to take and to go out for the sake of the name? If you don't know Jesus Christ today as Lord and Savior, that's step one for you. God is much more holy than you think. And you're much more of a sinner than you think. And God must punish sin. He punishes sinners. He punishes people who think they can make it on their own and they cannot. It's not designed that way. So will you turn? Are you tired of just trying to get God's attention? The only way you can do it, if you don't know Christ, is by crying out to Christ. And then you have God's ear for an eternity. For an eternity. So will you do that this morning? And for you, child of God, where are you? In light of 3rd John, where are you? Next week, we turn to Jude, the Acts of the Apostates. Jude is a strong 24, 25 verses. I urge you to read it, especially the verses 24 and 25, and I'll to him, and he goes into this glorious doxology. Little books with big messages. What has God spoken to you about this morning? Let's bow our heads and close our eyes to pray for just a moment. And I ask you to do that. It's not so you can seem more religious. I just don't want you as distracted. So you bow your head. You close your eyes. And now you cry out to the Lord. You cry out. What would He have you do? Will you take the necessary steps today to be the example that others need so they can pattern their lives after you. Imperfect, yes. But by the grace of God, there go I. So as imperfect as it is, it reflects a perfect Savior. And that's what I want anyway. I want to show you that in the midst of imperfection, yes I'm a sinner but I'm a sinner redeemed by grace. Redeemed by the Lord Jesus and the Lordship of Christ is displayed in every area. Follow me so you can see that. How I fight against sin. How I fight against this world's system. The lure of that fleeting pleasure of sin. Father, do your work as only you can, so that your people would respond. And we pray especially for that one, that one that you've worked on this morning and needs to surrender. We ask that your hand would not be shortened, but that you would finish the work you've begun. Father, for your own, that you would help us. In light of the Word, you would help us to be the type of people that bring glory to your name, that you could use to tell others that you're great, that you're good, that you're all satisfying. We ask this in Jesus' name. And God's people said, let's stand.