3 JOHN 1 FELLOW WORKERS FOR THE TRUTH2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 3 John 1 Fellow Workers For The Truth

It's a very short but powerful letter that John writes. It's a personal letter that he writes to a man named Gaius. And Gaius was a man that we don't know much about, but John knew him. He knew him closely. He loved him dearly, as we can see in the opening verses. And so he writes to him some things that we would do well to pay attention to.

And there's four things I want to point out this morning about this book and four things I think that God would speak to our hearts in line with the things that John was speaking to the man Gaius. The first point this morning is that we ought to rejoice over those who walk in truth. We are to rejoice over those who are walking in the truth. Let's pick it up in verse 1. It says,

Here as we begin this letter, as John is writing to this man, Gaius,

We can see the closeness between these two as John uses these words of affection. He says, He also then in verse 2 calls him beloved. And throughout the epistle, throughout this letter,

He calls him beloved several times. He is someone who is close to John, someone that he loves, someone that he has known and has a relationship with. And so he's writing to this man who is there in a tough situation, as we'll see later on in this letter, that he's in a difficult situation and that the church context is not what it could be or what it should be.

But here he is, he's serving the Lord, and John gets news about this man. He receives back word about what is going on in the church and in the household of Gaius.

Now Gaius was a common name at that time and so it's very difficult to determine who exactly this is and what type of things he did there in the beginnings of the church age. There was several different times that men by the name of Gaius are mentioned throughout the New Testament.

And that is because it was a common name. And so we don't know if he was one that was already mentioned or if this one is a new Gaius that hasn't been mentioned before. But regardless of whether we know who he is or not, it's clear that John knew him. And he loved Gaius. And he had this place in his heart for him. He was dear to him.

And it caused him to rejoice as he received back news about how he was doing and as he learned that he was walking in the truth.

Here in verse 2 we have John's prayer for this man Gaius. He says, Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. And so John's prayer for him was really for prosperity and for prosperity in the same way that his soul prospers.

Now the soul of a Christian prospers greatly and abundantly. Remember Jesus promised in John chapter 10 verse 10 that he came so that we might have life and life more abundant. In Jesus Christ, you and I can have a soul that prospers. Instead of being empty and unsatisfied and miserable, which is how we are without Jesus Christ,

Instead of being those things, we get to be satisfied and full and have abundant life. And so his soul is prospering because he's walking with God. He's walking in the truth. And John says, my prayer for you is in the same way that your soul prospers, that you would be prosperous in all things and that you would be in health. And John says, that's what I'm praying for you, Gaius.

Now some will take this verse and begin to hold tightly to this verse and camp on it for quite a while and sit here and focus only on this verse and begin to teach a doctrine that God wants everybody to be wealthy and prosperous and healthy and that's something that God has for every believer and they'll go on to teach that if you are not those things, if you're not prosperous and wealthy and if you don't have health,

If you have a sore throat and have to have a cough drop while you teach, you must be in sin, you must be in some type of rebellion, and you're missing out on what God has for you. But understand here as we look at verse 2,

This is John's prayer for Gaius. He's not saying, this is what God has for everybody. Now, we can easily just look at Jesus, who was a man who walked with God, who knew God, who had a perfect life. He didn't sin. He never rebelled against God. But he suffered. And he had want. He had limited resources. And he had a lot of money.

He was put to death upon the cross. And so we know that God's plan for every believer is not luxurious life with no problems. Although sometimes God gives that to people.

But that's not a promise for every believer. But it is our prayer, right? If you and I were to pray for one another, we'd be praying things like, Lord, bless them. You know, we love one another. We want to see God work. We want to see those needs met. And so we pray that God would bless one another in the same way.

John, as he's writing to Gaius, he says, hey, I'm praying for you that God would bless you, that he'd provide for you and meet your needs and give you health and that you'd be able to continue on the work that God is doing in your life. Well, he goes on in verse 3 to explain that the reason why he's rejoicing is because he's heard back news about Gaius. He says, I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you.

The situation is that some people had been around Gaius. They'd been perhaps at his household or been at the church that he was a part of. And they've come back to the Apostle John and they're relating to him what the situation is like and what is going on and what is happening in Gaius' life. And so this letter is a response to that information that John received, to that report that came back with those brethren

That had been with Gaius. They shared about their experience and their time there. And so John is writing this letter as a result. That's how he hears about Gaius. And it's also how he hears about Diotrephes, who we'll look more at later in the coming verses. And so he learns about these things and these situations later.

And it causes him great joy. Now there's some difficult things going on. There's some problems that he's going to have to address when he comes. But it's interesting to me that he doesn't focus his whole letter on that. Instead, he really lets the joy of knowing that Gaius is in the truth captivate him. And he's letting that be the focus of his heart and this letter.

And so he says, these people, they came and they testified about the truth that is in you just as you walk in the truth. And then he goes on in verse 4 to say, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

repeatedly here in these first four verses John mentions this idea of truth and it's something that he refers to quite often in all of his writings truth is something that is very important to John and it's something that should be important to us how important is this idea of truth well

Truth, it really means reality or an agreement with reality. The truth is what is real. Anything else is a lie, it's an illusion, it's a delusion, it's a deception. The truth is what is actually real. And we can learn, we can know what is actually real because God declares to us those things that are real. God who is not limited by physical sight or

He's not limited by, you know, our finite understanding or guesswork at what's going to happen ahead. God knows. He's outside of time. He knows the beginning from the end. He knows all things. He can see all things clearly. He knows what's happening in the spiritual realm. He's not confused about anything. And God has declared to us, this is reality. And

And he gives to us the reality of who we are without Christ. He gives us the reality of who we are in Christ. He gives us the reality of the spiritual warfare that's taking place. The destiny of this world. The destiny of the devil and his angels. God gives us the reality.

There's much more that is offered as a substitute for God's reality, much more that is offered instead of God's reality to us. And there's many times great deception and great pull to believe those things instead of what God has declared. But the truth is what is real, and we know what is real because God has declared it.

Now, the rest of the world, those who do not have Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, they do not have the truth. And so, instead of living in the truth and walking in truth, they're living in a delusion. They're being deceived. 1 John 5, verse 19 tells us that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

The whole world is deceived. There's this great worldwide effort. It's a conspiracy theory, but not by humans. Well, it's a supernatural conspiracy where the devil, the enemy against God, is striving and planning and plotting and scheming how many ways he can keep people from finding out the truth, which is that God loves you.

And He sent His only begotten Son to die upon the cross for you. That you would not have to die in your sins and spend eternity in hell, but that you could have the hope of eternity with God in heaven because of what Jesus Christ did for us upon the cross. That is the truth. But the enemy does not want that to be known. And so his whole agenda, his whole plan is to keep people

From that truth. From accepting and receiving the salvation that God offers to us in Jesus Christ. Now for those who have received the truth...

For those who have received Jesus Christ, there's a confidence that comes with that. There's a comfort and a security in knowing that we are in the truth, knowing that we've grasped hold of reality and we know what lays in store for us and we know what God is doing. Outside of Christ, consider what confidence can you really have?

What confidence is there for your life, for eternity, without Jesus? There is no confidence that you can have. You hope a lot of things, but you can't have the confidence that you and I can have in Christ Jesus. You hope that you marry the right person, but you don't know for sure. You hope that you have the right career, but

But, you know, that's questionable and skeptical. You're hoping that you're making good choices. You're hoping that the things that you're doing will lead to your happiness. You're hoping a lot of things, but you do not have the confidence that we have in Jesus Christ. Any confidence that exists outside of Christ is a delusion. So you might be really confident, even without Jesus,

But if you don't have Jesus, that confidence is based upon lies, deception, and delusion. But in Christ, we have confidence. We see clearly. We know what is deception and delusion because God has declared it to us.

We know what satisfies and we know those things that leave us feeling empty. We have the confidence that God will finish the work that he began in us, Philippians 1.6 tells us. We have the confidence that God will work all things together for good, Romans 8.28 tells us. We have the confidence of eternal life that no matter what happens to us and how miserable our life is on this planet, we have the hope of eternity with God.

And so there's great confidence that comes because of the truth, because we've embraced reality. Instead of burying our head in the sand and trying to avoid reality and run away from the truth and live the lie and live the delusion, we've embraced reality. Yes, I am a sinner, but Christ has set me free because of His work upon the cross. And by faith in Him, by walking with Him, I have eternity with Him. I have eternal life with Him.

An abundant life. And so knowing what the truth does in a person's life, John says, there's no greater joy for me than to hear that my children walk in truth. John refers to Gaius as his child and perhaps he was converted under the ministry of John. That's a possibility, but we don't know for sure.

Whatever the case, he says, look, I love you, Gaius. I want what's best for you. And to hear that you're walking in the truth, there's no greater joy than that. To know that you're walking with God. To know that you have a relationship with God. That you're with Him. There's nothing better than that. There's nothing better than knowing that you're not living in a delusion and walking away from God and destroying your life.

You know, in the past couple of weeks, I've learned of a situation where there's someone that I know, and at one time they were walking with God, but they've come to a place in their life where they've decided, I'm not going to walk in the truth any longer. They want no part of walking in the truth. And it's so clear that

It's destroying their life. And they're miserable. And they're just tormented and empty because they walk away from the truth. And this person has decided, I don't want to continue walking in the truth. I want nothing to do with the truth. And it's destroying his life.

And it's heartbreaking to watch. And you kind of just want to hit him over the head with the Bible and make him, you know, don't you see what's going on? But it doesn't work that way. And so I just pray that God would pierce through, that the truth would be seen, that there would be clarity instead of the blinders that have been placed and the deception and the lies that have got them twisted up, that he would see the truth.

Of what is happening and what is taking place and the truth, the restoration that God offers to him. And with that heavy on my heart and in my mind, that situation, I really understand what John is talking about here, having no greater joy because in contrast to this one who's decided I want nothing to do with the truth and how heartbreaking that is. Oh, there's great joy when there's those around you who've decided I want to walk with Jesus.

And I want to go full on for the gospel. And I want to do what God wants me to do. And I want to get to know Him. And I'm going to spend time with Him and learn to walk in His ways. Oh man, it brings great joy. And so we are to rejoice over those who walk in the truth. Oh, we might have differences. Sure, we might have different opinions and different styles and different personalities and lots of those things. And we could discuss and debate and argue.

If we want to, but we can also rejoice that we walk in truth. We can rejoice over those around us. Rather than focusing so much on the differences that we have. We have unity in Jesus Christ and we can rejoice in that and the truth that we found in Him.

And so John begins with great joy talking with Gaius. Joy because he's heard back from these messengers who were with Gaius about how he is walking in the truth. Well, as we continue on, the second point this morning is that we are to send brethren forward. Send brethren forward. Look at verse 5 and 6. He says, Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers.

I'm sorry. Yeah. John says, Hey, Gaius, not only do I rejoice because you've been walking in the truth, but Gaius, I've heard that you're very hospitable. And that's awesome. That's wonderful, Gaius. And I'm going to tell you something.

You do well. You do faithfully, he says, whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers. He says, I've heard back and you're a faithful servant. You faithfully minister to the brethren and to strangers. John is saying, these are the reports that I've heard. Gaius is known for his hospitality.

He's known for meeting the needs of both brethren and strangers. Now, the brethren would be those who are believers, those who believe in Jesus and are a part of the church and the people that are close to him.

The strangers he makes reference to would probably still be believers, but not the ones that are locally there with him, but those who are traveling through. Those he didn't know personally, but they're traveling evangelists, traveling missionaries, traveling teachers, and they're going forth and sharing the gospel. And as they come through town, Gaius opens up his home, he ministers to them, he meets their needs. And so this is what John is talking about, that...

In both cases, those who are around him, even those that he doesn't really know, he ministers to them and he's faithfully serving them and meeting their needs. This was a great need, especially in John's day because

Well, there was no good places for people to stay at that time. If you went to a city and they did have some type of inn or hotel or something, those were places that as a Christian, you would not want to stay there. You would not be comfortable there because those were places where there would be an abundance of sexual immorality and all types of other wickedness. And so it wasn't a scene that you would want to be a part of as a Christian.

And so there was a need and what would happen is that Christians would open up their home. As Christian teachers and evangelists and missionaries would pass through, Christians would open up their home, invite the family in and minister to them and provide for their meals while they were there. And then they would send them on their way as they went on continuing the work that God had called them to.

And so he says, Gaius, good job, man. Great job faithfully serving those who are passing through, those who are around you and are in need. And he says, you know what you need to do, Gaius? You're doing really well. You're doing a great job. Listen, send them forward on their journey. As they come through, help them, propel them on the path that God has called them to. And he says, if you do this, you do well.

You're doing a good thing, Gaius. You're doing a wonderful thing. Why? Verse 7, he says, because they went forth for his name's sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. He says it's really good if you do this. You're faithfully doing this. Continue to do it. Because they're going forth in the name of Jesus.

And they're not receiving from the Gentiles. Now, as we look at these verses and the next couple of verses that we'll be looking at together, I want you to know, I'll probably say it more than once, these things absolutely amaze me. It really just boggles my mind. It's hard for me to comprehend and it blows me away that this is the way that God has invited us to participate in His work. John here is explaining to Gaius...

That when we help out and support those who are doing the work of the kingdom of God, that we become their partners and share in their eternal reward. As we minister to those who are passing through, as we provide needs for those who are doing the work of God, as we help out and pray for and support those who are called out by God,

We participate in their ministry and reap the rewards along with them. This is simply amazing. And that's what John is talking about here.

He says, you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God. And if you do that, man, you're doing really good, Gaius. That's a really wonderful thing. The idea of being, you know, after a manner worthy of God is a way or a manner that God approves of. And so to support them and bless them and minister to them in the way that God approves is the right thing to do. It's a good thing to do, Gaius.

Because they're going forth for his name's sake. You know, they're not going forth and he's not just talking about traveling business people. You know, they're going out for their own name's sake or to accomplish their own agenda or they're accomplishing their own goals or pursuing their career or anything like that. No, these are people who are going out for the name of Jesus. They're going out to spread the gospel. They're going out to teach the truth.

And so you do really well, Gaius, to support them and to minister to them and meet their needs. And he says, they're going out, they're taking nothing from the Gentiles or they're not taking anything from unbelievers is the idea here that John is communicating. In those days, Christian missionaries weren't the only ones who were traveling from town to town.

There were other teachers and preachers of various religions and philosophies and ideas. And they would go around and spread their ideas, spread their thoughts, spread their false religions. And what they would do is they would take public collections. And so they would go from place to place and support themselves by the generosity of whoever happened to be there.

What John is saying is that Christian missionaries were different. They didn't do that. They didn't rely upon the unsaved to meet their needs and provide for them. No, those are the people they were reaching out to and trying to minister to. Instead, he says, look, the responsibility is

of provision for those who are sent forth with the gospel falls upon the church. The responsibility falls upon believers that they would support those missionaries, that they would support that work and participate in the work in that way. They're going forth in Jesus' name. And as believers, we are to invest in

in their work and be a part of it. And if we do it in a manner worthy of God, we do well. It's a good thing for us to be a part of. Now to continue on this thought for a few moments, would you turn with me please to Philippians chapter 4. I want to share something here that the Apostle Paul writes and brings a little bit of clarity for us on this idea so you can get a good understanding of what John is talking about and as well what I'm trying to share with you this morning.

Philippians chapter 4. Here in Philippians chapter 4, Paul is writing and he's thanking them because they had just sent him a gift and were able to bless him financially and meet his needs as he was in a difficult situation. In Philippians chapter 4 verse 10 it says,

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

He says,

Verse 17, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Here the Apostle Paul is writing to the Philippians. He says, thanks guys, that gift you sent really blessed me. But he's making it clear, listen, he says, I'm not soliciting gifts. I'm not saying that

If you didn't send that gift, then I would have died. You know, sometimes on television or certain things, you know, you'll see the ministry is going to die. It's going to be over. Unless you send your money, you know, it's all over. Paul's saying, no, no, it's not like that. Listen, God's going to provide for me with you or without you.

You get to participate if you want to, but you don't have to. He says, look, I know how to have nothing. I know how to have everything. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So God's meeting my needs. He's the one who's supplying my needs and giving me the resources that I need. He says, but look, guys, you've done a good thing in participating with God and providing for my needs.

You've done a wonderful thing in ministering to me in this way and sharing in my distress, he says there in verse 14. Again, he says in verse 17, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.

You see, Paul's point here is the work's going to go on. God, you know, He can accomplish His purposes with us or without us. But He's giving us the opportunity to participate. God gives us the opportunity to invest in His work and reap the benefits of the work that is being accomplished. And so Paul says, you've done well in sharing with my distress because I'm seeking the fruit that abounds to your account.

And so John is saying the same thing. Send them forward, Gaius. Propel them on their way. Help them accomplish those things that God has called them to accomplish because you reap the fruit that abounds as a result of that work. You get to participate and partake of the eternal rewards that come from that work that they are accomplishing.

Now again, I want to share with you, I'm not trying to put any burden. John's not putting any burden. Paul's not putting any burden. You're not meant to feel guilty, you know, whatever your status of giving to the work of the Lord is. That's between you and the Lord. Really, it's not a, you know, hey, you need to give big burdening message. But instead, it's look, you get to have this opportunity, this incredible opportunity to

To give and be a part of the work of God. And you get to reap the rewards of that work. We'll deal with this more as we go on. But let's look at verse 8 and the third point, which is to receive brethren. So we send forth brethren and we receive brethren. Verse 8 says, We therefore ought to receive such that we may be fellow workers for the truth. Fellow workers for the truth.

We get to become fellow workers for the truth by receiving those who have been sent out by God, by sending them forth, by participating in the ministry and meeting the needs of those who have the call of God in their life. He says, receive them. This is what we ought to do so that we become fellow workers. We become fellow workers. Why ought we to receive people

Those who are about the Father's business so that we can be a part of the work that they are doing. Again, this is so amazing to me. Are you able to drop everything, move to Okinawa, and preach the gospel to the Japanese who have never heard the name Jesus? Probably for most of us, that's not something that we can do. Maybe for some of you, and if God has that call in your life, great, go. We'll send you forth. But for most of us,

That's not something that God has called us to. It's not something we're able to do. And yet we're able to participate in the work that is going on there and in the gospel being spread to those who've not heard the name and not known the name Jesus by ministering to and providing for and meeting the needs of those who are there.

Are you able to go and establish yourself and teach a home Bible study in an underground church in China? Probably for most of us, we're not able to do that. That's not what God's called us to. Maybe God has called you to that and we'll send you forth. Go, be blessed. We'll support you and pray for you. But for most of us, we can't be there.

But we can reap the rewards of that work that is going on there by participating, by being fellow workers for the truth. Are you able to spend several years establishing a church in Watsonville, California? That's what Pastor Dylan's doing, right?

Most of us aren't called to that. He was. And we can be a part of that work. We can be a part of the ministry that is going on. We can reap the rewards of the work that God is doing up there by involving ourselves and investing in the kingdom of God. And so we find that God's economy is set up in such a way that those people

who are supporting and ministering to and meeting the needs of the people that are doing the work, that are on the front lines, that are preaching the gospel, they get to participate in the rewards of that ministry. If you remember back in 1 Samuel chapter 30, King David was with his men. He wasn't king yet.

They went out of their city. They were away. And as they were coming back to their city, they realized it had been raided. All their stuff was taken. Their wives were taken. And so they now begin to pursue those who raided their village. And as they're pursuing...

A group of them got tired. They got to this river and, oh man, it's going to be tough to cross. And so a group of them said, hey, we're just going to stay here. Why don't you leave your stuff, lighten your load, you pursue after them, bring everything back, and we'll take care of this stuff here. And that's what happens. They go, they conquer, they get everything back, and as they're on their way back...

Men in the army began to say, hey, this guy stayed back at camp. Those lazy bums, we'll give them their wives back, but we're not going to give them the rest of the stuff. We're going to just share that between us. And David heard of it. He said, no way. That's not how it's going to be. He says, look, as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies. They shall share alike. 1 Samuel 30, verse 24 says,

They're going to share alike. It's going to be the same portion. The person who stayed with the supplies, the person who went to battle, they share the same reward. That's how God works. And you say, well, that's just David in an army. How do you know that works for missionaries and things like that? Matthew chapter 10, verse 41. Here's what Jesus says. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. Did you catch that?

Jesus said, if you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, that's the idea that you know this person's a prophet, and because they're a prophet, you're receiving them, you're supporting them, you're ministering to them, you're meeting their needs, you receive a prophet's reward. You share alike. You may not be the one preaching the gospel to the masses, but because you're participating in helping and ministering to them and meeting their needs, you share the same reward.

God has it set up so that we all can share the reward of what is going on around the world by investing ourselves in the work of God that is taking place. Now it is important that we use discernment and good judgment because there are false prophets and false teachers.

In the book of 2 John, which we saw three weeks ago, he was dealing with that. He says, look, don't just receive everybody into your house because, well, if someone is preaching a false gospel, then you're participating and you're sharing in their reward, but that's not a good reward to share in. So you want to make sure that those that you're supporting and ministering to are preaching the gospel, that they hold fast to the truth of who Jesus is. But the important thing here is we have this opportunity.

Now for us as a fellowship, missions has been something that's prominent in our hearts for a long time. And we have an opportunity coming up in the month of June. Every June there's the Calvary Chapel Senior Pastors Conference that takes place in Murrieta.

And so over the next couple of weeks, we're going to have some of the pastors that have been sent out from this place coming back to attend this conference. And we have a unique opportunity to meet with them face to face, to encourage them and to minister to them, to receive them, to send them on their way, to participate in the work that they're doing around the world by coming in contact with them while they're here.

Pastor Tom and his family, the Reese family, will be here on Tuesday and they're going to be here for just under a month. So we have a good long time to look for those opportunities to minister to them and I would encourage you to do so. Seek out those opportunities. Seek out ways that you can minister to this family.

Tom Hallman will be down as well. He'll be sharing the Sunday, June 6th here at the fellowship. And so there'll be opportunity to minister to him. Pastor Dion will be down. I believe he's bringing his family. So they're going to be available and you'll be able to minister to them. Pastor Dylan's going to be down. Pastor Rick's going to be down. Several of other pastors who are traveling with these guys will be coming and being around us as well. And

I would encourage you, as they do, to seek out opportunities, show hospitality, provide a meal for them, supply them with necessities, bless them with luxuries. Whatever God enables you and leads you to do, meet their needs, not just financial needs. And I'm talking a lot about that because that's where John is focusing. But, you know, we can love them.

They need to know how much we love them. They've got difficult lives and they live on the edge. There's a lot of battles going on. And so we need to let them know that we love them, that we're praying for them. Take some time to pray for them, to lift them up, or even just to allow them to share about what God is doing and let them know how much you care. Also, we can be a part of their work by praying for them. You remember in Romans 15, verse 30,

Paul says, I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me. Paul says, you can be a part of my work. You can be a part of what's going on, the ministry that I'm involved in, by praying for me. And so we can lay on our backs and reach the world and be a part and reap the reward of God's work that is going on all around the world by praying, by striving together.

with those who are on the front lines, those who are doing the work. And so I encourage you to pray for those that God has sent out. Now, I'm specifically dealing with those who God has sent out from this place, but there's so many more that are doing the work of God.

You know, even again in our own midst, they haven't exactly been sent out, but they're here and they're doing the work. You know, Rick over here, a fire department chaplain, pray for him. And you get to be rewarded eternally with those calls that he goes on. And he goes and ministers to people and you get blessed. You get rewarded. Pray for him, encourage him, spend time with him. Lift him up before the Lord.

Jesse and the Rodriguez's, you know, they go down on Saturdays, they minister in LA, doing a Bible study down there, seeing what God might do, what doors God might open. Pray for them, encourage them, invest yourself in the work that God is doing there. And you get to reap the rewards and the benefits and the blessings of those things that God is doing. And so I encourage you to consider these things. Again,

It just blows my mind, this concept that God allows us this opportunity to accomplish His work and be a part of His work and be rewarded for the work that is going on, even though we may not be able to be out there doing it ourselves. In my mind, it would be the same. I'm going to give you kind of a silly parallel.

You know, if you went to Best Buy tomorrow and they put up a sign in the window that says, now accepting Monopoly money, that would be an awesome day, right? You go to Best Buy, you pull out, you know, your Monopoly game, you pull out all the money. All right, how much, how many thousands of dollars do I have here? All right, I'll buy this and I'll buy that. I'll take a couple of those. I can get anything that I want.

I think after my first trip, I'd go next door to Target, get the rest of the Monopoly games that they had there, take all the money out of that, go back to Best Buy, and get as much as I could. It's play money, right? It's not going to happen. Man, I wish it would, but it's not going to happen. In the same way, God says, hey, you got those dollars and cents in your account, those dollars and cents in your wallet. Eternally, it's like Monopoly money. It's play money. It's worthless. It's valueless money.

In the eternal perspective, you don't take it with you. It doesn't help you. You know, you don't get any heaven credits because of how much money you have in your account or anything like that. It just goes to whoever you leave behind when you die. So it's worthless. You can't take it with you. However, you can trade it in for things that will last for eternity. It's the same concept. Trading in monopoly money for this world's valuables.

And trading in this world's money for eternal valuables. It's the same thing. God says, look, I'm going to allow you to take what is eternally useless and worthless and make it something that will last forever. That you'll be blessed by for the rest of eternity. And he gives us this opportunity to invest in his kingdom and to be a part of his work and to use this useless play money to accomplish things

of eternal value and to receive eternal rewards. Now again, like Paul says in Philippians 4.17, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. You know, for service, I was really struggling with my voice as well and so someone between services brought me a bunch of cough drops.

Hey, whatever God desires to do with this message, you get to reap the reward, whoever it is that brought these cough drops for me. You get to reap the reward because you supplied a need and you ministered to me so that I'm able to share what God's put on my heart. And whatever God chooses to do, I just want you to know you're going to get blessed too. So eternal value for cough drops. You know, what a great exchange rate. God's awesome. All right, well, let's finish this up.

The fourth point this morning is to imitate what is good. Look at verse 9. He says, I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. He says, I wrote to the church. I wanted not just to speak to you, Gaius, but the rest of the church. But there's this guy, he won't receive us. His name is Diotrephes. And he's going to be telling Gaius, you know, don't be like him. Don't be like this guy. Instead, imitate what is good.

This man, Diotrephes, we don't know much about him. We just know what John tells us here, that he loves to have the preeminence among them. In the church, we will always have good examples of those who walk with God and follow Jesus and

and are about the Father's business, and we will have those who are bad examples, and those who are full of themselves, and have their own agendas. It's not new. It's something we experienced today, and it was something that was happening in John's day too.

Here's Diotrephes. He loves having the preeminence. He loves to be first and foremost. And it's really not surprising since in heaven, that's what Satan desired. Here on earth in our churches, we have similar situations where there are those who desire and love to have preeminence. They want to be important. They want to be held in the highest esteem. They want to be the center of attention and everything revolves around them.

And so he does not receive John. He says, no, I refuse that letter. Return to sender. We don't want to hear from the Apostle John. Can you imagine, you know, Apostle John writing a letter to you and to your family? And he said, oh no, forget that guy. We don't want to listen to that. But that was the state and the condition of deatrophies.

And so John says in verse 10, And so he says, this guy, he loves preeminence. He wants everything to be about him. And so what he does is he talks against us with malicious words.

The idea of prating here is to talk excessively and pointlessly, to babble on and on. And he's talking on and on against the Apostle John with malicious words. And so he's really coming strongly against John. He's speaking severely and critically of him.

Because he's loving preeminence. He's full of himself. And, you know, I think it's a good heart check for us whenever we're very critical of people around us. We should check our hearts because it's a statement of, you know, I think I'm better than that person and it gives me the right to speak about them this way. It's something that we can use to check our own hearts against that attitude and that loving of preeminence which can creep up within us.

So he speaks against John. He says he does not receive the brethren. While Gaius was hospitable and received those who were passing through, Diotrephes was like, no way, you can't speak here. You don't have any part in this church. Just go along your way.

He not only does that, but he forbids those who desire to minister to those who are passing through. And he says, look, hey, if you guys, you know, house those missionaries, and Pastor Tom comes by, and you allow him to stay at your house, oh, you're out of here. You can't come to church here anymore. He's excommunicating people who desire to reach out and to minister to those who are passing through, to those who are about the kingdom of God. This guy was out of control.

And really what we see here are the symptoms of a cult. The idea here that I'm the only authority. No one else has authority. The idea of controlling the followers with the threat of excommunication and those types of things. It's like a cult that Diotrephes was trying to form and to accomplish. And John says, look, when I come, I'm going to take care of this.

When I come, Gaius, you don't worry about it. I'm going to accomplish that which God sends me to accomplish. Verse 11. He says, Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. And so he says, don't follow his example. There's many good examples. Follow those. You know, it's easy to focus on the negative. I was thinking about it this way.

So you can imagine Diotrephes saying all these crazy malicious things against John, right? So if someone was speaking against you that way, and you were friends with their neighbor, what kind of letter would you write to their neighbor? Probably 10 pages of, can you believe what this guy said? And can you believe he's acting this way and saying those things? And on and on about this other guy who's speaking maliciously.

But John doesn't do that. He says, Gaius, I'm rejoicing that you're walking in the truth. I'm so blessed by you. Keep up the good work. Man, you're doing great. And so he keeps the focus not on those negative things that need to be dealt with. He's going to deal with that when he comes. But instead he says, I'm excited about you and the work that God is doing in you, Gaius. Verse 12.

He says, Here he says, look, here's a good example. You want to follow a good example, imitate what is good, follow Demetrius and his example. He's probably the one who brought the letter to Gaius. And so,

He says he's a good example. He has a good testimony. He holds fast to the truth, and we support him. Verse 13 and 14, he finishes up. He says, I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink. But I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name. And so he concludes saying, I'm going to come, so I hope to see you soon.

But until then, here's the things that are important. Rejoice over those who walk in the truth. Send brethren forward. Receive brethren. Invest in the kingdom of God and imitate what is good. The worship team is going to come up and close us in the last song. And as they do, I would encourage you to reflect and consider these things that God is speaking to your heart and seek how he would have you to respond and be obedient to him.