The following sermon is brought to you by Capitol Community Church, located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol Community Church is a people awakened to a holy God. If you are searching for a new church home, or from out of town looking for a church to worship with, or simply seeking for answers. Please join us for worship at 1045 a.m. every Sunday morning and 6 o'clock p.m. for our evening service. If you have any questions, please email us at info at CapitalCommunityChurch.com. We pray this sermon will help you grow deeper in your walk with Jesus Christ. Good evening. It's good to be with you again tonight as we walk through God's Word together. And if you have your Bibles, I'm going to ask, if you will, turn to 3 John. 3 John. And if you are new to the Bible, go to the back, go over just a couple of chapters, and you will find 3 John. Revelation, Jude, and the short little book of 3 John. Well, if you were with us last week, or maybe you caught it online, we are concluding our two-part sermon series tonight through this short letter of 3 John. And last week, we looked at verses 1 through 8, and we really held out this question of what does it look like to be a faithful Christian? What does it look like to be a faithful Christian? And what we did is we held up before us the lens of a man named Gaius, or Gaius, depending on what part of North Carolina you're from. And we held up this idea of Gaius for us to see what a true disciple of Christ looks like, what a true faithful follower of Christ looks like. And the reason why we looked at Gaius is because John is commending him in the faith. And what he did was two important things for us to look at in verses one through eight, to give you a brief summary. Number one is that he was helping fellow missionaries continue their walk or continue their journey by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to wherever they were going. So these missionaries had come from John. John, remember, he's writing from Ephesus to these churches. And these missionaries had come into the region of where Gaius is, and he's helped them. Simply put, he's helped them with his time, his resources, and other means. And John commends him, saying, you've done well, you've been obedient. Thank you for taking care of these missionaries. The second thing he does, and we see this right in the first couple of verses from 2 to 4, is that he commends them of walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. There is no greater recommendation, no greater commendation of someone, especially from the Apostle John, an eyewitness to Jesus Christ, an eyewitness to the sufferings of Christ, there at the foot of the cross. There, remember, as we talked about last week, he was commissioned by Christ to take care of his own mother. And what a greater, no greater word can be said than to say thank you for taking care of these missionaries, and thank you for being faithful. Thank you for being faithful. And so that's where we were last week. And so what we're gonna be looking at this morning, excuse me, tonight, is looking at verses nine through 15. And so if you were with us last week, we looked at this question of what does it mean to be a faithful Christian? So we looked at Gaius. And so now I wanna flip the coin a little bit. I'm gonna turn the corner in the bank, and I want us to look at something that is taking place in this church, and that is opposition. It's opposition. And so when we say opposition, we have to look at another character coming onto the field. And this, we're gonna look at two people, but this character that's bringing opposition is a man named Diotrephes. And he's doing horrible and dangerous work for the cause of Christ, for this church. And the other person we're gonna look at is we're gonna look at a man named Demetrius. And he is another example of faithfulness. And so, again, if you have your Bibles with you, let's read together Briefly, 3 John chapter 1, looking at verses 9 through 15. If you will, listen along with me in God's Word, and let's look at these remaining verses. Starting in 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 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. Verse 13, I'd much 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. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name. If you will, let's go to Lord in prayer, and then we'll start walking right through it. Bow your heads with me. Let's go to him now. Lord, this is your word. It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. Father, it is infallible, it is without error, it is sufficient for all of life. So I pray now, and as we're closing in our time in 3 John, I pray that you will teach us, I pray that your word will do the work within our hearts, convicting us of sin, encouraging us in our walk of faith, and I pray, Lord, that it would just continue to transform us more in the image of Christ. So Father, now teach us through your word, and it's in Christ we pray, amen. Tonight we're gonna look at three points in these last remaining verses in nine through 15, and so if you got a pen and paper with you, you can write down this first point. The first point I'm gonna call it a direct warning. A direct warning. Look with me in verse nine. John says, I have written something to the church, but Deutrophes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So when you look at verse nine, John is stating the public actions of this man, Diotrephes, has been made known to him and the churches where John is currently sitting, and basically what he is saying, this is antithetical work to the gospel that this man is doing. Everything he's doing is going against the faithful work that John has planted with these churches, and he's thwarting the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what he's calling out for us to see. And so what John is doing in this last few verses is he's firing off a warning shot to Gaius and the church. Y'all know what a warning shot is? If you know, it's a warning shot is if you're a police or maybe in the military, it's when you fire off like a harmless shot or artillery shot. It's basically, you're trying to get those people to comply. You're trying to get them to follow an order. And what John is doing is he's firing off pretty much a twofold, so to speak, warning shot. It's one, to commend the work of Gaius, commend the church for their faithful ministry, but also be watchful. Be watchful of what's going on. And that's the warning shot he's showing us here. And I have to say this, and because you may remember last week, you remember when we were talking about in verse one, how John starts off saying the elder to the beloved Gaius, and we looked at how John qualifies to be an elder. We looked at the qualifications of what an elder looks like in 1 Timothy 3 and as well as in Titus. But here is something I think is very important for us to see in this one verse. John is fulfilling his role as an elder by warning the flock of false teaching. He is warning his church that there's a man who's going against what we have taught. taught according to the Word of God. You catch that? That warning shot is what John is boldly proclaiming in this verse. And in fact, this entire letter, and as well as second and first John. And this is exactly the role of a pastor. this is exactly the role of an elder. And this is something that you don't see very often in this day and age. A lot of times, sadly, pastors and elders of churches allow anything and everything to come into the life of the church. Whatever feels good, whatever looks good, if it has the most bells and whistles, that's what comes in because it brings the most people in. It brings the bigger building, the bigger budget, the more staff, and the like. What they don't concentrate is what does God say is supposed to go on in the life of the church. What is thus saith the Lord versus man's opinions and wants? Does that make sense? It's clear directive here. And John is a great example of calling out to the brethren, watch out. Watch out. You know, one of my favorite quotes, many quotes actually from John MacArthur, and I think it's timely, is he says, one of the biggest issues in the life of the church today is the lack of discernment. is the lack of discernment. You don't find pastors when they hear of a man or hear of someone coming into the life of the church like a deatrophys and doing things that are anti-gospel. Most of the time you see them quiver and go into the foxhole and not fire off the grenade. But what we have to do as pastors, part of my job, part of Grant's job or Elder's jobs, is to guard the gate. You see the command clearly from Scripture, that's what we're supposed to do. Titus 1.9, to rebuke those who contradict it. What are they contradicting? The Word of God. You see in 2 Timothy chapter, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 15 through 18, Paul calls out two people who were doing the same things, Hymenaeus and Philetus. Their talk is like gangrene. What a descriptor there. Like gangrene. They've swerved from the truth, saying the resurrection has already happened, upsetting the faith of son. But the idea of watching out for this false teaching are two other bold pictures in the Bible that we've seen. This is the job of an elder. Number one, it comes from Habakkuk. You know the prophet Habakkuk, going through a hard time. But what does he do in chapter two? I will stand on the watch post. He's keeping watch. And then I think one of my personal favorite Bible verses, Ezekiel 22, I sought a man among them who should build a wall and stand in the breach before me, before the land. What is Ezekiel saying? You've got to come through me in order to infiltrate the church. It's a pretty bold statement, isn't it? But that's exactly what we see John is doing. Watch out for deatrophies. Firing the warning shot. And I think as a pastor, we've got to warn the sheep over and over and over and over and over again. It's not a one-time thing and you move on. It's a constant reminder, watch out for people like deatrophies. And let me tell you this, it's not easy. But here is the beautiful thing of the church. Yes, it's the job of the elders, but this is the job of you too. When you were hearing false teaching as well, I pray that the Holy Spirit allows your radar to go off within your mind and in your heart to go, you know, that doesn't sound right. And the great thing is, you have a book, a living and active book to go to and say, you know what, I'm gonna look at this on my own accord and see what the Bible says. Thanks be to God that we have a word that is without error and sufficient. that we can go to. And so this is exactly what we're supposed to do. So let's look at this man named Diotrephes. Look with me in the remaining half of verse nine. So who is he? All we know is this. It's the only time in scripture he's named. He's got a Greek name, he's got Gentile roots, and that's what we see from scripture, so he's not from a Jewish line or heritage, so to speak. But what we know of this man is what Jesus tells us to do in Matthew chapter 17, that we can only judge them by the fruit that they are bearing. And so this is what we need to look at tonight in the first half of the closing part of this letter. So let's look at the fruit that Diotrephes is bearing. Number one, look with me in verse nine. He likes to put himself first. The Greek word, that phrase there, likes to put himself first, is that he loves the chief place. He loves the chief place. Diotrephes is a man who is seeking the head of the table. This is polar opposite of what Jesus talked about in Luke 14. Remember, when you go to the wedding, sit at the low place, don't sit at the high place. Let the one who is basically in charge of the event, the wedding, let him call you up. This is polar opposite of what we see the Bible calls the Christian to be. And so, Deuteronomy is depicting for us pride, He's depicting for us sinful behavior, dictatorial behavior. He's wanting the chief place for himself. He likes authority for authority's sake. Authority comes not by you just wanting it, it comes by earning it, by being qualified, as the Bible teaches us. We see over and over and over again, though, most importantly, that who is the head of the church? Christ. Christ is the head of this church. And that's where the biggest issue is. What Deiotrephes is doing, he's usurping that Christ is the head of the church. He wants to be the head. Matthew 16 and Colossians 118 makes it clear, Christ is the head of the church, not Deiotrephes. And that's what it means there when he puts himself first. And by the way, we have to see the opposite side of this. You may remember last week, and even if you didn't, you can catch it online, but where we saw how we are called to act is the posture and the obedience of Gaius. The fact that he is bringing in these missionary brothers shows us that he is a very selfless individual. You know, when you're going to show hospitality to others, you've got to give of yourself. You've got to give your own time. You've got to open up your own house. You've got to, however the means it is to show hospitality, you've got to say no to self and serve that other person. That's the main core of what hospitality is. And that's what Gaius shows us. But he also is what? Walking in the truth. So his beliefs, his actions follow his beliefs. And so when we see this idea of how we are supposed to walk like Gaius is, it's very much the fruits of the Spirit. It's love, it's joy, it's peace, it's patience, it's kindness, it's goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And let me say this to us. Christian, you have to be watchful in your own life of being at the atrophies with this first characteristic of putting ourselves first. It is quickly known to us that pride wants to creep in at every single moment of our lives. Pride is silent a lot of times, we don't see it, sometimes we don't smell it, but it's there, whether we realize it or not, and we have to be watchful. The moment we want our egos massaged is the moment we are not fit for ministry. The moment that we want our egos massaged is when we can't serve the church faithfully. Because if you're going to serve the church, you have to give up on yourself. And you have to be watchful within your own life. Because even if you think about it on a basic level, a kid's volunteer, an usher, hospitality, missions team, whatever the case may be here at Capitol, you've got to give your time. You gotta give your body, you gotta give your mind to it, you gotta give your prayer life to it. If you're walking in pride, you're not gonna wanna do those things. That recipe is of destruction if you try to concoct something in your mind thinking that I want the place of honor. It doesn't work in the life of the church. And that's what we see from this first point. The second point is this, number two. He doesn't respect the authority of the church. Look with me in the tail end of verse nine. It says, does not acknowledge our authority. What John is not saying is that he is trying to control the daily activity and routine of his people in this church. That's not what he's saying. What he's getting down to is that Deiotrophes is saying, listen, this is how the church is supposed to run, and I'm going to go counter against it. He's not being obedient to the Word. John, of all people, knows. He remembers there being there when he heard it from Matthew 16 that Christ was the head of the church. He did begin to see in Jesus' ministry that there is a rubric, there is a guide, how the church is supposed to function. John knows this. He's an elder. He's planted churches. So he knows this on first-hand account what a church is supposed to look like. By the way, a faithful church. But what we find here of Deutrophes is that he says, no, that's not what this is. This is my show, putting himself first, and we're not going to be obedient to the word. He has no respect for the church. He has no respect for the ministry of the church and the people within the church. That's what John is saying. And by the way, This is all throughout John's message. John, over and over and over again, wants us to see that it is very important for us to respect the authority of the church, because who, again, is the head of the church? Jesus. It's Jesus. And that's the picture we see here. Flip over one page to 2 John, just for a moment, in chapter one, verses seven through nine. And he warns us over and over again for the actions of like deatrophies. trying to usurp the authority of Christ's church, not being obedient to the word of God. Starting in verse seven, for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, such as one is a deceiver, an antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we work for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son." You can flip back to 3 John. You can even look in the Gospel of John chapter 5, all that honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Deuteronomy is not being obedient to the Word, and we see this. by even by Him not welcoming these missionaries. Remember what Jesus said also in John 13, 20, truly, truly, I said to you, whoever sees the one that I send receives who? Me, receives me. And Deuteronomy is obviously going the opposite direction. Look at this other attribute that He is doing. Talking wicked nonsense. Talking wicked nonsense. I love that word because my grandmother used that word all the time. Wicked nonsense. When us grandchildren would misbehave. I wouldn't misbehave, but my cousins would. And I would hear her and agree with my cousin's disobedience. And so, it acknowledged the truth of that. And so, anyway, but talking wicked nonsense, another way of saying it, he's a gossip. He's a slanderer. The words that are coming out of his mouth are malicious. They're doing nothing of building up the church, they're tearing down the church. And let me tell you this, you can see it here in verse 10, that even though he's talking wicked nonsense, you can see within this verse that John understands that this wicked nonsense carries no weight. There's no meaning to it. It's false. It's not true. And you can find that when Johnson's is talking wicked nonsense. It's no good. It's no good. And that's exactly what gossip does, by the way. And we also have to be watchful with gossip, don't we? We have to be watchful with our words. Let no foolish talk come from our mouths. And listen, gossip is one of those things I believe goes right hand in hand with pride. We see somebody do something, we judge, and most of the time, we gossip. We have to be watchful, have to be watchful with our words. Number four that we find here is he doesn't support the brothers, doesn't support the brothers. He's not helping the missionaries, simply put as that. He's not helping the missionaries. And that's charged from what John committed Gaius that he's doing. We saw back in John chapter 13 as well. And so we have to see that we are called to show hospitality and care to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pretty simple. The other thing that we see here, and this is clear for us to see, is this idea of going back just for a moment. This wicked nonsense Whether you realize it, it's very much like gangrene. Very much like gangrene. And I'd be remiss to say here, just for a second, that we also have to be watchful like John, because though he is spreading gossip, malicious words, things that are tearing down the church, it's the same thing that goes hand in hand with false teaching. And we have to be watchful of that. That came to my ease, and even as I was reading over the text, we have to be watchful, but this malicious talk is just like with false teaching as well. But also, move forward just a little bit further. We have to also see this word of encouragement. So this is a word of encouragement. And this is in the life of a man named Demetrius. You can see a little bit further on this idea of the example of encouragement of Demetrius. Who is he? Bible commentators say that he is the man who carried the letter to Gaius. He carried the letter to Gaius. John trusted him as his own disciple, that he's bearing the news of this letter, but this is also not the same Demetrius that we find in Acts chapter 19. You remember there was a silversmith there, this is a different Demetrius, and so this Demetrius, of what we know about him, is important for us to see in regards to finding encouragement. This is the same commendation and encouragement that we find with Gaius. So we're seeing two examples of faithfulness in this letter. So let's look at Demetrius for a second. Number one, we have to see that John is giving him a three-fold testimony of his faithfulness. A three-fold testimony of his faithfulness. Why is that important for us to understand? The reason why is this. It's testifying to truth. It's testifying to truth. This idea of a threefold witness is all throughout Scripture. If you have your Bibles, you can flip over there with me. But in Deuteronomy chapter 17, we find this first example of a threefold witness in Deuteronomy 17, 6. And it says this, on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, the one to whom shall die should not be put to death. A person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. On the evidence of one witness. We see, if you still have your Bible there, you can flip over just a couple of pages to Deuteronomy chapter 19. It says this, a single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or any wrongdoing in connection with any offense that he has committed. only the evidence of two or three witnesses of a charge shall be established. We see this as well with the charge of an elder. If just one person's coming after it, the Bible says, no, need two or three. And it's clearly there in God's command. The reason you have more people coming, the two or three witnesses, is like I said, it's biblical validation of the truth. And think about it on the other side of Demetrius. This is a threefold commendation that we find from the Apostle John, commending his work. What a testimony. Let's look very briefly at this commendation. Number one, he is spoken well by outsiders. He's spoken well by outsiders. First Timothy chapter three, verse seven, the qualification of an elder is the same. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Being well thought of by outsiders is something that we don't necessarily think a lot, do we? Now, it's not living in fearful judgment of those. That's not what John is saying for us. But what we see is that just like Gaius, if our actions are following our beliefs, we're going to be well spoken of. I once knew a church down south that whenever someone was going to be recommended as an elder or a deacon, they would put that person's name in the paper. How would you like that? And the reason why they did that is to make sure that man who was being raised as an elder or deacon, that if someone was reading the paper, they wouldn't say, oh, there's Bob. Man, he's at a church. He's far from it. But here's the question you have to ask yourself. If I were to go into your workplace, if I were to go with your friends or your family, would they have good things to say about you? Pretty convicting statement, isn't it? To be well thought of by outsiders. Number two, his testimony is true. His testimony is true. What John is saying is that his life is consistent with his belief. Just like Gaius. Just like Gaius. His life is consistent with his beliefs. He's walking in truth. He's very much embodying what John said of Gaius. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. His testimony is sure. His testimony is sure. This goes back to what I just said about being thought well by outsiders. Because again, going back to the qualifications of an elder in 1 Timothy chapter three, even though that is for men only, to be an elder, to be a pastor. The application is for everybody. Every disciple should be aspiring to those qualifications. Are you living a life of integrity? Are you living a life that your household is put in good order? Are you living a life that is apparent that you are being obedient to the word of God? All those qualifications, in Timothy and as well as in Titus, can they be said of you? And as well as this, can it be said also to your service to the church? This is the every member ministry. We're all called to do this together. And so if you are truly following Christ, you're called to serve the church. And the great thing about the kingdom of God is that all of us are called to serve. You all have gifts and talents that are perfect for a specific part of the kingdom. Some of you are good in music. Some of you are good in serving. Some of you are good in hospitality and the like. And the great thing is, if your testimony is true, like Demetrius, you're gonna serve like Demetrius. You're gonna serve like Gaius. The two go hand in hand. They're shaking hands with one another. But here's the other side that we have to ask. When you think about your Demetrius, Has received a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself there in verse 12. What we see? Is a call to make sure most importantly that you're walking in personal holiness? That you're taking serious the things of God. Your testimony is true means that you are going to be obedient to God's Word. that you're gonna take serious your call of Christ. You're going to make sure your election, as it says in 2 Peter. It's a high calling to be a Christian, isn't it? It's not always easy. Sure, we make mistakes. Sure, we all fall short of the glory of God. Now, what John is saying here is you're not supposed to be perfect. Demetrius wasn't perfect. Gaius wasn't perfect. But what he is saying is are you walking in grace? Are you walking with the knowledge and within your heart of hearts that Jesus is Savior and Lord, and you're taking serious that Jesus truly is Lord over your life, that every aspect of your life is ordained and being under the authority of Scripture. It's a clear command we see here with the threefold witness. Number three, we see that John testifies to Demetrius' faithfulness, to his faithfulness. What John is saying here is that he testifies, he testifies to Demetrius' true walk of Christ, his true walk of Christ. It's pretty interesting when you think about it, that the Apostle John is saying, this guy, he's good. He's doing a good job. Think about it this way. You know what a recommendation letter is? You apply for a job, you seek those who maybe have been your former employees, or people to maybe mentors, someone that can write you a recommendation to the job you're applying so that you can get it. And the employer's reading those recommendations or maybe calling those references, and they're hearing about how you've worked, your work ethic, character, all that. Let me flip it back here in the example of Demetrius. What would your spiritual recommendation letter say? Seriously, if someone were to hand it in to me, would it read off? Faithfulness? Would it read off someone who is welcoming brothers and sisters in Christ, missionaries in the ministry work? It's a hard question to ask. And let me just say this pastorally as we're looking at this. The command from John is a clear command. But this is something John has been hitting over and over and over again. Because within, as we look at this point, this point two, which, by the way, I think I forgot to give it to you, but this point two is, again, a direct warning and a direct encouragement, but here is where we see John. This idea of if you're walking in truth is repeated over and over and over again with John. And I've been giving these back and forth with you, if you've seen it, as if you're being faithful. It's a question I asked just a moment ago. But this has been John's beat the entire time. This has been John's message the entire time. Are you walking in the truth? And if you were to go back and read the previous letters, you would see from 1 John that he says over and over again that you have to test the spirits. You have to test the spirits. And this is something that we have to see. If you flip over in your Bible with me to 1 John, just for a moment, 1 John chapter two, verses three through six, He says this is idea of testing the spirits. And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps the word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him. Whoever says that he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which we walked. Pretty clear, isn't it? Flip over one page to 1 John chapter three. 1 John chapter three. Look with me in verses four through 10. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. This is a repeated message over and over and over again. And that's what we have to see. And this is the clear message. Are you walking in the truth or you're not? Because John also, if you look with me in verse 11 just for a moment, we also have to see within 1 John, he understands that we are going to be following something. When he says in verse 11, beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good, he understands pretty quickly, even though he starts off first by saying this idea of beloved, again, it's this term of endearment. But then look at the word here, this idea in 3 John, imitate, imitate. We're going to imitate something. We are going to mimic something. And what John is hoping us, helping us to see, is he's hoping that we're gonna imitate or mimic Gaius or Demetrius, not Diotrephes. but we're all going to mimic something. That's where we get our Greek word, mimic. And this is not, by the way, like I used to when I used to watch I Love Lucy episodes with my grandma. And you remember that episode when she dresses just like Harpo Marx? Remember that? And she begins to mimic his actions, and they're dressed in the same manner, and they're just moving their hands like this, almost like a mime. And they're going back and forth, and the funny facial expressions, the whole nine yards. What John is saying, it's not that type. But what John is getting to is very much like Gaius, just very much like Demetrius, that your actions are gonna follow your beliefs. And so what John is saying is that the mimicking, the imitation starts here. It's character that John is concerned about. And so that's why John holds up for us this idea of testing the spirits. You're either mimicking the way of truth, being children of light, as John says, or you're not. Now again, it begs repeating, John is not calling out for perfection, but what he is calling out is if you are taking serious your walk with Christ. That's the call that we see here. Are you taking serious your walk with Christ? And clearly scripture paints for this, paints this picture over and over and over again. Because this evil is pretty clear for us to see. We can see it in Galatians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 5, the idea of pride, sexual morality, all those things. That's what evil is. And that's what deatrophies is. The flip side, when he says, do not imitate evil, but imitate good, good is faithfulness. And I know you're probably thinking, Kenny, you've been belaboring this point for a while, but that's what the Bible belabors over and over and over again. Are you taking serious your walk with Christ? And that's the hard fact that we face. And I would be remiss to say this because John clearly understands the severity of what's going on in the life of this church. And this also calls us today, Christian, that if there is something in your life now that you feel the Holy Spirit bearing on your conscience, to confess, confess it now. 1 John 1 reminds us that He is just and faithful to forgive us of our sins. Repent of it now. Turn from it now. Because we find apparent grace, even in 3 John, to flee sin and to walk with Christ. Because the call to serve the church, the call to be a faithful follower of Christ, is a serious and high calling. A serious and high calling. So look with me within our third point, just briefly. Our third point is a direct hope and farewell. A direct hope and farewell. Look with me in these remaining verses. The letter, the end of the letter continues to show us Pastor John, so I'm gonna call him Pastor John for just a second, his heart. He's desiring to see Gaius continue the faithful work of the ministry. Look at this pastoral tone that we get here from these last remaining verses. Verse 13, it says, I had much to write to you, but I'd rather not write with pen and ink. No paper can come close to seeing someone face to face. He wants to see his brother in Christ. Don't you love that? Don't you love that pastoral tone there? There's nothing like seeing someone face-to-face. I said this last week, and it begs repeating, if COVID robbed us of anything, it's doing this, in-person worship, seeing someone face-to-face. And that's also, again, going back to very much what Gaius did. That's the beauty of hospitality. because you're engaging someone face to face a lot of times, or maybe even just picking up the phone and calling somebody. Regardless, there's communication, there's a physical presence that is carrying the love of Christ to that brother and sister in Christ. That's a gift from God. And that's what we see in that short little verse of 13. I'd rather see you. Look with me in verse 14. I hope to see you soon. and we shall talk face to face. And then in verse 15, he says this. Peace be to you. Peace be to you. That idea of peace that John is praying over Gaius can only come through the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a peace, as Philippians 4 and 9 reminds us, that passes all understanding. And if you don't know this peace, this peace only comes through a saving faith in Jesus Christ. If you're watching online, or maybe you go back, person who's hearing my voice and you're gonna re-listen to this, or maybe you're in this room, you don't know Christ, do not harden your heart today. Hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. here that Jesus was sent on this earth to die on the cross, to seek and to save the lost, to die on the cross for our sins, your sins, my sins, the sins of the world, paid the penalty that we deserved. And through the redemptive work of Christ, through the redemptive work of Christ, we can know this peace. And Jesus understood this when he said it in John 14, 27, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, Not as the world gives, but do I give. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. This is a peace that only comes through Christ. And this is what he's praying over Gaius. This is what he's praying over the church. And this truly is a peace that passes all understanding, especially in a time where we see over and over and over again that the church is being trying to be taken down left and right by people who hate the message that we proclaim. And this is what we see from scripture. People like deatrophies, by the way, are still taking place today. It doesn't take you long to flip over the news, to look on social media, whatever medium out there you find, people are constantly trying to, when you say, thus say the Lord, they're asking you to take it down. That's hate speech. Get it out of here. You can't bear your cross. We see it over and over and over again. And Jesus warns us of this. Matthew 16 is clear when he says that persecution will come. Persecution will come, and it will. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when. And so even in verse 15, that peace to you is a bold ending for John, giving us a heart of assurance, not in our own doing, nothing on our own effort, but all through the power and the work of the cross, all through the redemptive power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, yes, this letter ends. John's writing it. Diotrephes is causing harm. And John, like he says, is seeking to meet with him. But also you need to see this. John also knows that even though Diotrephes, and John has seen more people like this in his life already, Even though he has seen people do this, remember, John was there when Jesus said, not even the gates of hell will prevail against the church. Remember that in Matthew chapter 16? Nothing will thwart the work of the church. So John knows, and he ends very much like a father to a son, assuring his protection, his love, his wisdom will be there, and that the situation will be handled. What a way to end it. What a way to end it. And so let me close our time tonight with this. The letter ends very much as it begins, with pastoral love and authority. Giving oversight to the church that John gives, giving warning, giving encouragement, and as you look at it, And as you're looking at even the characters that are coming off the page, these men, just like when you're reading a good book and when you think deeply of how they are acting and working, it makes you really reflect on how you're doing with your walk of Christ. How are you doing? Are you a faithful follower of Jesus Christ? If you were to leave this place today and if I were to meet one of your friends, could I hear the attributes of like a Gaius and a Demetrius? And that's something for us to take serious. You're either, like John says, like one of these men, or you're not. You're either imitating evil, doing bad things, thwarting the work of the church, or you're gonna be found faithful. But the two cannot mix. And that's what John helps us to be able to see. And this is also something pastorally that we need to understand. Christian, we have to take serious how God wants the church to be cared for. And as you're serving the church of Christ, take serious how you are currently serving and do it with a heart of joy and love and for the glory of King Jesus. But also the reality is this, when you're going out in this world, people are wanting, trust me, are wanting to see people who are standing on the truth. Seriously. I gave the example last week, you remember I told you the example of my grandfather worked for a funeral home back in New Bern, and so I was very much around funerals all the time, and I think this example begs repeating again. The people that leave the lasting impact are the people who cared for others with a selfless love, very much the love that John is describing to us. What impacts people at the funeral are the attributes, the godly attributes that are listed. It's not success. It's not the pat on the back. It's not the massaged ego. It's faithfulness. It's godliness. I think about men in my life that have impacted me in a huge way, that have helped me in my life. I think about my father-in-law, I think about I think about a man back in New Bern who is still alive today who, when I think about him, I think about, man, that Leroy Alligood, he's been with God. Those are the people you want in your foxhole. Those are the people you want in the church. And for you, that's the people who God is calling us to be. Is to be a person when you're with them and you just know it, you know what I'm talking about, those people? When you just almost feel it, man, that person's been with God. It's very much like a Moses feeling. That's who we need to be. That's who we need to be. So we need to take serious, again, the call to be a Christian, the call to be faithful, and truly taking serious the things of God. That's Gaius. That's Demetrius, and that's what a faithful church looks like. If you will, let's go to Lord in prayer, and we'll conclude our evening. Heavenly Father, we thank you for tonight. We thank you for this opportunity to walk through your word, and we thank you, Father, for, Lord, seeing clearly from your word what faithfulness looks like. Father, I pray that we will take heed your words tonight, that Father, that we will understand the serious call, the imperative of what it means to be a faithful Christian. Father, I pray that as we are praying now before you, Lord, if there is something in our life that we need to confess, if there is something in our heart that we feel that is bearing weight on our conscience, that is hindering our walk, hindering our faithful service to the church, I pray that, Lord, we will confess it now, confess it now to you as sin, and repent and flee, and walk and grow in grace. Lord, you care much about your church. You care much for it to be a pillar and a buttress of truth. And so, Lord, I pray, help us Help us, oh Lord, by the power of your word, the power of your church, prayer, Lord, to take serious our walk with Christ, to make sure our election. We pray all these things in Christ's good and holy name. Amen. Thanks for listening. For more sermons, information, and events, check out our website at capitolcommunitychurch.com.