In the Word

Pastor Mike Warren: Let's turn to Third John. Father, we thank You for Your word this morning. And we believe that it is inspired. All of it. Even the spaces between the words, every jot and tittle of it. God-breathed, inspired, Lord. And we also believe that it's inerrant in its original autographs.

If there's any problem, it's always a language problem. It's always a translation problem. But You can even bypass that and speak that truth into our hearts. We also believe as we're going to see this morning that it is authoritative. It challenges us. When we read it, when we study it, when we hear it taught, there is a challenge that goes forth from it that calls us to a different way of living.

It stirs in our hearts. It burns as Jeremiah said in my belly. And it does something. It affects us. And so this morning as we look at this little pithy epistle, short, 14 verses, 299 words in the King James, one chapter, speak to us this morning we would pray. In the mighty name of Jesus we would ask, and all God's kids would say: Amen.

Again, I could be wrong about this, but I've read enough evidence concerning this that no doubt at this time when John is putting pen to the paper under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he is now with his disciple Polycarp in Ephesus. That's where he'll spend the remainder of his years. Now he's going to mention about wanting to travel to where Gaius is at. We don't know if he ever made that trip.

But the chronology of this is, and most scholars have confirmed this if you read carefully, that no doubt probably Third John was written first in this trio of First, Second, and Third John. He's writing to an individual. In fact, we're going to see this morning that he's going to stand up before us three men. And he's going to stand up those men before us as examples. One bad example sandwiched in the middle of a good example and another he'll end with another good example.

But the theme of this book is truth. As he said in Second John as he speaks about the truth, in Third John he's going to talk about how the truth should impact our lives, how it should change us. And again, we'll have these three examples of these men. But no doubt John is writing to this man. This is a person. Second John was I believe to another church, maybe Smyrna.

But as he's writing to this individual, he's going to give him commendation for how the word of God has affected him, and how it worked out in his own life, and how he stepped in and was a servant. He was a good example to us this morning. And then he's going to talk about a guy that's filled with pride who seems to be the head of the church wherever this is going on. Wherever he's writing, he seems to be somebody in a position of authority, but he's abusing that authority. In fact, people that are in leadership in churches can abuse that. And we have to be very careful about that. And then he's going to give us the last example. We're going to end on a good note.

So let's just dive right in. Again, like I said, it's just one little chapter. It's 14 verses. In the King James, it's 299 words. We should be able to get through it this morning. But if you're a note-taker, get your pad and pen out. There are three men that he's going to introduce. The first of which we're going to see is Gaius. And Gaius' name means to be glad. And the idea would be that everywhere Gaius goes, he brings joy to people.

We're going to see that this morning. In fact, that's the example that John is going to bring to the fore when he writes this servant of the Lord. That he was just a servant. He was hospitable. He cared about the body of Christ. He cared about the ministers and he took them into his own home. He fed them and sent them on their way in a good way. So you have Gaius and then Diotrephes, if I said that right. I can't say it this morning.

His name means nourished by Jupiter or Zeus. And he was the god of thunder and of lightning. So this guy thinks he's all of that and some more. In fact, it's going to tell us that he seeks the preeminence in the church. He's so full of pride. He thinks he's in control of everything and listen, if you think you're in control of everything, you're delusional. Can I say that this morning? You're delusional.

The steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord. And again as John puts this man before us, there are some lessons we can learn from this man's life just like we can learn from Gaius. And Demetrius, the last where we're going to see which means lover or lover of the earth or just a down-to-earth person who just loves people.

So we have these three men before us and John begins by saying the elder. And again it's in the emphatic in the Greek because at this time John is the last of the apostles. He's the last eyewitness of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. He's lived to a large age of about 90 years old. He served the Lord for about 70 years at this point. And when you mention the elder, everybody knew who you were talking about. It was John.

Unto the well-beloved Gaius whom I love in the truth. The King James says in the truth but actually maybe you have a different translation with you this morning, it says I love you truly. I love you completely. There's a fondness, there's an affection, there's an intimacy in our relationship as co-laborers for Christ. There's just this connection and I think in the body of Christ we should have that.

Here's one man writing another man saying I love you truly. And it's okay. Even in this church, men hug men. We don't hug women unless it's by the side but we'll hug each other because we need to love in that kind of way. Listen, the fruit of the spirit is love. And John is saying to Gaius, I love you and I love you truly.

Now some would say, and I don't think it's the truth, we're going to look at it in a few moments, some would say because of that statement that Gaius was probably a convert of John. We only find this name Gaius mentioned a couple other times in the Bible and if it's the same Gaius, then that wouldn't be true. Paul would have been the one who led him to the Lord. In fact, in First Corinthians chapter one verse 14, Paul mentions a Gaius when he's there in Corinth and there's all this carnality going on in the church and all this bickering and fighting and some saying well I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos and others were waxing real spiritual say well we're of Jesus and all these fractions and following of people in the body of Christ which should never happen.

So Paul when he writes to this church, he says I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius. So we have Gaius here no doubt was a convert of Paul if this rolls out this way. He was a convert of Paul when Paul was in Corinth. And then the next time we see this man mentioned, if it is the same man and I kind of think it is the way the Holy Spirit would give us this pattern, in Romans 16:23, Paul is signing off, he's in Rome, he's there with the church in Rome. He will die in Rome. He will be taken out on the Appian Way and beheaded. He's probably there with Peter at the same time. They may have even shared the same prison at the same time because they were martyred not too far apart from each other.

But we have this guy Gaius mentioned again. And it says Gaius my host. And not only my host, the host of the whole church. Salute you. So no doubt in Rome, part of the church, at least one of the groups of the church met in this man's house. And that when missionaries or apostles would travel to a certain city, especially Rome now because Gaius is there, Gaius would put them up. He would support them, he would take care of them, he would feed them.

You see in those days you couldn't go to a motel, they didn't have those kind of things. You relied on the church to take you in when you came into a certain city, feed you, support you, bless you and then send you on your way with God's speed to continue to do your ministry. And it would seem that Gaius is of this sort. He was one of those kind of guys from the moment that he got saved that Paul wasn't ashamed to be associated with him.

He said you know I'm glad I didn't baptize any of you but this Crispus and Gaius. And then when I was in Rome, he became my host. He took care of me. He fed me. He put a roof over my head. He clothed me. And then no doubt sent me on the way. And so this is I believe the Gaius that is before us. And it'll bear it out as we go through the text. The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius whom I love in the truth.

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as your soul is prospering. Now listen, those people that are in a prosperity movement have grabbed onto that verse and that's not at all what it's saying. It's a common greeting. It would be like John saying to Gaius, I wish you well. I wish you health, I wish that all of your needs are taken care of, I wish that your physical life would prosper like your spiritual life obviously is.

We can't make a doctrine out of that, it's just a greeting. It would be like us seeing somebody we haven't seen for a long time and saying man I hope things are well with you. I hope things are going good, I hope that you're being taken care of, I hope you're spiritually growing, I hope good things are happening. It's just a greeting.

So if you have heard people take this out of context and make it into a health and wealth doctrine that God wants you to never be sick, always live in a mansion, always be wealthy, that's not here. In fact, Jesus said that he didn't even have a place to lay his head. And so the Lord has promised to take care of our needs but not our wants. And so he says this in verse three, For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and they testified, now we're going to hear they testified, they gave report, they gave witness of this man's character.

The Bible says let another man sing your praises. It's interesting as this man just, and here's the deal, we wouldn't even know Gaius existed if John didn't write this letter to him. This is a man that just went about the Lord's business and didn't need a spotlight, didn't need a microphone, didn't need a stage, didn't need a platform. He was a man from the moment that he came to faith in Jesus Christ, no doubt probably under Paul's ministry in Corinth, that he was of that character who just wanted to serve. And whatever capacity the Lord called him to serve, he just wanted to serve.

We would have known nothing about this guy had not John wrote this letter to him. He says listen, for I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and they testified of the truth that is in thee. That the gospel came to you, that you were born of the spirit, that you have recognized that Jesus Christ is the son of God, the eternal word that took on human form, that was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death on Calvary's cross, rose again the third day, ascended to the Father and he's there making intercession for us. That stirred in you Gaius. You were born of the spirit but now you are walking in the spirit.

This is the idea here. Listen, he said I greatly rejoiced when the brethren came to me and they testified of the truth that is in thee, even that thou walkest in the truth. Not that you have just in some ethereal way, some intellectual way, have acknowledged the truth. You know and that's what religion will do, you can have an ethereal intellectual understanding of the historical Jesus. You might even have an understanding somewhat of God's word.

You could even acknowledge there's a God, you can acknowledge there was a Jesus, you can even acknowledge some other things about him and you can say those things are true. But until those things go past your mind into your heart, you're not saved. You say how can you say that pastor? Well the Bible says with the heart man believes unto salvation. With the mouth he confesses what's come through his mind into his heart that he believes and that he's put his faith in what Jesus Christ did on Calvary's cross for his salvation. And he rests in that.

The true redeemed person does not rest in their own efforts. They don't rest in their own abilities, they don't rest in their own works. In fact, the true born-again person realizes they were nothing and Jesus was everything. It's not just something that you mentally ascend to, it's something that has ripped open your heart. You are born of the spirit. There's been a change taking place in you where the Holy Spirit has come in and you understand to God be the glory great things he has done. You didn't do anything.

John Bunyan once said that on your worst day, when you fall into the worst sin you can ever fall into as a believer in Jesus Christ, you're not any less righteous. Now let me finish the statement before you start making judgment. Let me say it again, John Bunyan the writer of Pilgrim's Progress once said that on your worst day, how many have had some worst days where you've fallen into the worst thing you think a Christian could ever fall into? And you've sinned against the Lord and you've sinned against His word and maybe you sinned against some other people. On that day you are no less righteous nor are you more righteous on your best day.

When everything has gone swimmingly well that you never sinned, I don't know if you fell asleep the whole day but you just went through the whole day without ever transgressing God's law or breaking his commandments, you're not more righteous for that because John Bunyan said our righteousness is in the person of Jesus. And that person stands before the throne of God day and night and intercedes for you and me. We have become the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus. You are saved by grace through faith. That's not of yourself, it's a gift from God, not of works lest you could boast.

The problem is is we think sometimes we're all of that when we're nothing. That's why James has to tell us that God resists the proud. If you think this morning you can earn a right standing before God by your own efforts and that's what religion teaches, you're sadly mistaken because the standard is perfection. The standard to stand before a holy God is perfection. And if you sin in one area, you're guilty of all of it. And you're condemned by a holy God as being an absolute wretch.

And what is necessary? What is necessary is there has to be a transformation. And God the Father knew what that transformation was to be, he would have to send his son. And his son would have to take upon himself the penalty of our sin and our trespass, that he might take away the power and the penalty of sin, put it upon his son and put his righteousness, Christ's righteousness on us if you can wrap your hands around it.

That's why when Paul writes to the Hebrews scattered abroad in chapter 10, he says listen, by one sacrifice God the Father has made you. You didn't make you, he made you perfect and holy forever. Forever. And then as you read down a few verses later he says and your sin and your iniquity he remembers no more. That's truth.

Now John is writing in a time where gnosticism was coming in, antinomianism, these false teachings were coming in. The church was cooling in their relationship with the Lord. And so he is standing up Gaius before us to say Gaius not only did you hear the truth, not only did you respond to the truth, but that truth is cooking in you. It has changed you, it's still changing you, and the fruits of it are being born out in such a way that the church is testifying that this is what's going on in Gaius. Can you imagine?

Gaius has not bought into this gnostic teaching that it's a mental thing. I don't know if you know what gnosticism teaches, but the gnostics taught that the spiritual world is right and the carnal world is wrong. The spiritual world is good, the carnal world is evil, and so it doesn't matter what you do in the flesh, it doesn't matter what you do with your body because it's evil anyway as long as you acknowledge God mentally or somewhat spiritually, you have this ethereal kind of a concept of who God is then you're okay. The Bible knows nothing of that.

The Bible talks about the kind of grace that changes us and that change can be a process but it just changes doesn't it? That's why Paul writes to this young pastor Titus, listen this grace, this salvation by this grace has appeared to all men. It's offered to everyone. But when it comes to you, when you are saved by grace, then it teaches you to live godly and righteous and holy in this present age. It rearranges your whole way you think because now you have an eternal perspective, not a temporal one. Your focus is on things above like Paul writes to the church at Colossae. If you then be risen with Christ you set your affections on things above, not the things of this earth.

You know that's who we are in Christ. And so as John holds this man Gaius before us, he's saying that's what you're like Gaius. You know I rejoiced greatly because not did you testify, but people were testifying of you when word would come back to me. I hear about this Gaius who's embraced the truth, the truth is in him, but he's also walking in the truth. He has his manner of living in truth. Then John says because I have no greater joy than that hear that my children walk in truth. I don't think the Father has any greater joy about us His children than when we're walking in the truth.

And then he tells us how this is manifested, how it's coming out of him. The reason why they were testifying of Gaius is because this is part of Gaius' behavior. He said beloved, thou doest faithfully. I love that word. How many from the moment you were born again were faithful and obedient at all times? Where's Gary? He raised his hand he must be not here this morning. How many would say that you're faithful most of the time? Some of the time? A little bit of the time? Okay.

But this man, watch this. In fact, Paul will tell us that the criteria for ministry is faithfulness. Not perfection. Those are two different things. Paul would say and he writes to us in Romans chapter seven that sometimes the things he shouldn't do he found himself doing. Any of you been there? Go ahead and raise your hand. Any? And then the things you ought to have been doing you don't do. Any of you been there? And then of course Paul's cry is oh wretched man who will deliver me from this body of sin of death? He says I thank Jesus that he's already done that.

And then Paul mentions there's two guys living in us, he says so that with the spirit man I serve the Lord, with this flesh man he wants to serve sin and there's this great struggle in Romans chapter seven in my Bible I have at the very top the great struggle. How many are in the great struggle? But how many know that Jesus already won that great struggle for you so that he could say to you you're more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Amen.

But listen there ought to be fruits born out in our lives. And listen, Spurgeon once said I'm not what I ought to be. How many can say you're not what you ought to be? Raise your hand this morning. I got both of them up. But you're not what you once were either, right? You're in the process, you're being conformed into the image of Christ and old things are dropping off and new things are being added and we're growing in grace and we're growing in the knowledge of the Lord and it is a growth process.

But faithfulness means when you get knocked down you get back up again. Amen? You don't lay there. You don't throw up your hands and say it's too much. Grace is the most demanding doctrine in the Bible. Some people will think the law is, the law is not. Grace doesn't let you fail. Grace says you get knocked down you get up and you keep moving forward. That's why Paul wrote that verse forgetting those things are behind we press forward to the upper calling of Christ Jesus our Lord. I gotta move on and we're not going to get through this book this morning.

Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest. You are faithful. Whatever the Lord puts in front of you Gaius, you're faithful to it. You're consistent about it. There's no quit in you, there's no murmuring, there's no complaining, you just go about it as a servant. This is what John is saying. You do it faithfully. And not only do you do it faithfully to the brethren, the people you know, that's easy, but you do it to those people you don't know. And the word for stranger doesn't mean somebody that's not saved.

Because we're going to see in a few moments when traveling ministers would come to probably Rome, I think that's where Gaius is at right now, he would seek them out and house them. He would feed them. He would provide all of their needs while they were in Rome and when they left to go wherever God called them to go, he would make sure that they had the sufficient means by which to get there. This is what we're going to see about this man Gaius. A real servant of the Lord. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatever you do to the brethren and to the strangers.

And listen, they have borne witness of your charity before the whole church. And so the next church they go to as they're introducing themselves as said man pray for Gaius. When we came into Rome, he housed us, he fed us. We're here in this city because he gave us the means to get there. And so John would also say that those people that traveled and encountered you they are bearing witness to the charity before the church whom if thou bring forth in their journey after a godly sort you do well. Now he's talking about the traveling ministers. If you bring them in a godly sort forward you've done well.

And so he's writing and he's holding Gaius up before us. And here's what you need to understand. Well let's just read this next verse and then I gotta a verse I want to encourage you with this morning. Because it says because that for his name's sake, this is why Gaius was doing it. Not to be seen of men. Not to get the accolade or the pat on the back from men. Probably most of the church would not know the ministry of Gaius had not those who had experienced it talked about it. They bore witness, they gave record, they gave testimony that this Gaius, this servant of the Lord had the gift of hospitality. Took us in, took care of us, sent us on our way.

And you did it Gaius not out of a prideful thing. I wonder how much ministry today is done to be seen of men? I wonder sometimes. In fact, I've often considered when we get to heaven the people you think will get the greater reward because they're out front won't. And the people that are part of the body that just go about the Lord's business and you never see them will get the most.

Jesus was watching at the end of a service in a synagogue as rich people were passing by the offering box and putting in a lot of money. And a widow came by and I have a widow's mite that was circulated in my office at the same time that Jesus lived. And sometimes I'll hold it and think could this be the widow's mite that she put in? It's like it's less than a quarter of a penny. And when she put it in, Jesus said to his disciples, she gave more than all of the rest.

And no doubt they were baffled. They said well what do you mean? They gave out of their riches, she gave out of her necessity. They gave some, she gave all. And great will her reward be in heaven. Because for his name's sake they went forth taking nothing from the Gentiles. You know again we're privileged here because of your giving that the school is under the covering of this church. This church supports absolutely all of the overhead of the school. The tuition that comes in only pays for the teachers.

Because we don't want, and we get offered grants from the world, they want to give us money to get in here to tell us what we can teach. We tell them pound sand and kick rocks, you're not doing it. We don't seek things from you. Listen, God has blessed us. He has blessed us and we can take care of that. Can I get an amen? And that's on you guys, your reward in heaven.

But then he goes on to say, listen, we therefore ought to receive such that we might be fellow helpers or your Bible might say co-workers or fellow laborers in the truth. Now David made an incredible statement in First Samuel chapter 30. They're going to put it up on the screen, don't turn there real quick for the sake of time. But in First Samuel chapter 30 verse 24, in then this became a law in Israel. It became the law of sow and reap. And so David is actually making a decree when this when Samuel puts pen to paper on this one.

He said for for who will harken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff. And he says they shall share part alike, equal share. Many of you, Doug and Destinee are here this morning, they're getting ready to go back to Africa to visit. We supported Africa. Many of you have never been there. You've never been to Belize, we still support that. We still support Africa.

Many of you have never been to India, we bought two acres there, you did. We have five house churches now and a complete orphanage that's paid for in Rupauli, India. You may never go. But when you get to heaven you will share in the reward of whatever ministry took place in those places we've sent. The radio. We had a guy come up here right after we went on the radio in Sacramento on a Wednesday night, came in the building in tears thanking me.

And I said I've never met you. He said well I heard you on the radio and it changed my whole family's life. And we're back serving the Lord. We get those reports all of the time. You're going to meet people because of your faithfulness like a Gaius to give of your resources when you get to heaven are going to thank you and you'll not even know who they are.

But because of you. This is what's going on with Gaius. And John is saying to him, listen you're going to be rewarded for this Gaius. I know you're not looking for reward, you're not looking for the accolades of men, but listen God will not be a debtor to any man. If you have been faithful to the Lord, He will be faithful to you. And one day when we stand before him at the Bema seat judgment, you will be rewarded, not that you're seeking one. But God will make sure that you're acknowledged.

Listen, those people came to faith because of your giving there in that little church in Gold Country Calvary Chapel Grass Valley. We have 22 satellite churches. We didn't even start it. I don't even know how. We've had people want to organize it around here. We don't want to organize it. From Kamloops, British Columbia to Alaska to Florida to to New York to look it up, this little place called in Wisconsin, Grand Marsh, Wisconsin. That was a it's a hole, it's a it's a bus stop basically. It's got a post office, a store and a and a tractor supply and all the farmers that live around there and now we have a little satellite church there. You guys.

And then verse nine. So that that is what's offered before us. Just serve the Lord, go about the business that the Lord has given you to do. Whatever God puts in front of you do it faithfully, do it as unto the Lord, do it for his name, do it without recognition, just do it because you love Jesus. Amen?

Well then we have the second person. I wrote unto the church but Diotrephes, there you go, I got it that time, Diotrephes who loveth to have the preeminence among them received us not. We're going to find out in a few moments that John wrote to this church that Diotrephes no doubt was one of the leaders in and the letter was destroyed. What kind of ego do you have to have to reject an apostle? I mean what is cooking in you to make you think that you're all that?

That you can isolate a group of people unto yourself and think that you're wiser than God and don't need the community of the church. It's amazing to me and in fact, in First Corinthians, they kind of had this mentality and Paul has to address it and I'm glad he did because in First Corinthians chapter four verse seven, listen to what Paul says. For who maketh thee to differ from another?

You know we should never be in awe at the person of man. I had a lady call here last week, she got a hold of our youth pastor, I was doing something in the office with I can't remember but he answered the phone. And she told him that she was my best friend, that she's known me forever and wrote down a name and wanted me to call her back and I've never even heard the name. Well come to find out she was in jail and got saved through our radio program and listened to it all the time she was in jail so she thinks she knows me now.

And so when I called her back she started oh I can't believe you called me back. Well why wouldn't you believe I would call you, you called right? Yeah, I called you back. Okay. But this is Mike Warren. I go yeah. Oh I can't believe, I said listen sister, I put my pants on one leg at a time like everybody else. Listen if you think you're in awe of me, you need to call my wife. She will straighten you out.

We should never be in awe of the person of man because the best of men are just men. We should be in awe and awe of God, our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And when you think you're all of that, when you want to be the head and not the tail, when you want to be at the top and not the bottom, when you want to be the leader and not the servant, you're disqualified. You're disqualified.

Paul often said that he was the abject slave of Jesus Christ. He didn't do what he was doing because he sought the glory, he did it out of necessity because God had called him to it. And so God resist the proud as we're going to see this morning, but he gives more grace to the humble. Whatever you do just do it faithfully like Gaius. Do it as unto the Lord. Whatever ministry God's given you be faithful to it. And don't seek the accolades of men.

Men are fickle. Just think about Jesus. One day they're saying hello King of the Jews, Hosanna Hosanna, and the next day crucify him. So don't worry about what people think about you. Chuck Smith used to tell us, Pastor Chuck, that if there's 20 people in your congregation at any given time that are for you, you're doing well. The other 80% will be ticked off at any given time, so don't worry about it. Just speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God.

Because again, who makes you to differ from another? And then Paul would say and what hast thou but what thou didst receive? Every gift, your salvation, even the faith to believe, that measure of faith was given to you when you were still a sinner. The Holy Spirit worked on that faith to convict you of your sin to lead you to Christ.

You know when you came in, J. Vernon McGee used to say that people would get up sometimes on Sunday morning say I'm going to church, I'm going to give my life to Christ, I choose you Lord, and they walk in the door and they give their life to Christ. But when they walk out there's a sign above the door that says you didn't choose me, I chose you. And I chose you before the foundations of the world. That one day you would stand before me perfect in love.

We can't even take credit for our faith. He gave us that measure, he stirred in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, he drew us to Christ. And then he cleansed through the blood of Christ and he made us a son and a daughter of God. What do you have but what you've received? And if you received it then why would you glory or boast when it didn't originate from you? We're just servants. We ought to be glad to be here.

And whatever position God puts us in we ought to be glad to serve in that position. It's unwise to compare yourself one to another, don't do that. Just do what the Lord tells you to do and be happy about it. But that wasn't the case with Diotrephes. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 10, only by pride, he didn't just say by pride, only by pride cometh contention. But with the well-advised there is wisdom.

James puts it this way in James chapter three verses 14 through 16, but if we have bitter envy and strife in your heart, if there's jealousy and pride and why am I not up there and why can't I get on this stage, if there's that stuff and then you're jealous of other people, listen carefully. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not. In other words don't deceive yourself, glory not and lie not against the truth.

This wisdom, this thing that's cooking in you, it descends not from above. It doesn't come from a heavenly place, it's earthly, it's sensual, it's demonic. For where envy and strife is there is confusion and every evil work. Find your lane and run in it. Find your calling and be obedient to it. Find what it is God wants you to do to benefit the body of Christ and be faithful at it. And run it to the end and don't give up.

You may be obscure, you may be one of those people working behind the scenes that nobody sees. In fact, when Paul's talking about the body of Christ, he says the more comely parts, your heart, your liver that nobody sees are more important than the parts we see. You can live without an arm or a leg. But the part you don't see, your heart, your liver, your lungs, can't live without those.

So be careful that you don't judge before the time and be careful that you don't seek something God has not given you but whatever he's given you, run it on out. Don't be like Diotrephes who loveth to have the preeminence among them and doesn't even receive us. Wherefore if I come, I like John, he's like 90 years old, but he says if I come I will remember his deeds which he doeth prating against us with malicious words and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brother. He doesn't receive those ministers that are traveling to his area and he forbiddeth them that would.

Absolute narcissist. Absolute needs to be in control of everything. You know we have people who come here and they'll ask me okay can I take a look at the financial report? I'll say well you have to talk to one of the board members. What do you mean? I am on the board but I'm one member on the board. We have a group of men that have done this great service for me, they have taken away from me any responsibility with the finances of this church.

I sit in the board meeting every month when we get the financial report, I see the bottom line and I say God's blessing us, let's do this. And we pray and then we say in fact sometimes they've dragged me along. Radio ministry, I will just say this right now was never my deal. I was against it from the get-go. There's no way to measure it. We can measure our website, we can measure other things how we're spending money. And me just being frugal, it wasn't, I wasn't the visionary for it.

The board members were and they drugged me along until finally the report started coming in and then I finally woke up to think well maybe God is using this. So you know sometimes you just get drug along with other people that have more faith than you do. Amen? So but Diotrephes, listen he wants to be the center, he wants to be the head. He doesn't want to be a team.

When we get together on Tuesday morning, the elders of this church and we pray, we're a team. It's a round table. Jesus, if it were not a round table, it would be Jesus sitting at the head. We're just his servants. We're just his under-shepherds whom he has entrusted this flock and this ministry as far as it goes. You know they tell me we're in 25 different countries, Carl keeps informing me that we get like four hits every service from Iran and seven from China.

But that's Jesus, we're just under-shepherds. We're just trying to find out what the chief shepherd wants us to do and we want to do it faithfully. And we want to do it to the best of our ability. And every one of you are part of this ministry. It's not the board, it's not the elders, it's not me, it's not the work. We're all in this together. And when we stand before God as Gold Country Calvary Chapel, we'll all be rewarded together for for what God did through this church.

Wherefore if I come, I'm going to deal with his prating words, his malicious words. And not only was he not content with that, he doesn't receive the brethren, he forbids them that would. In fact, he kicks them out of the church. Anytime you're in a church that thinks it has the right to, I won't get into that, there are denominations that do that.

But then we have this exhortation in verse 11. Beloved follow not that which is evil. Don't follow that example. But that which is good. He that doeth good is of God. But he that doeth evil has not seen God. And then we have our last person that John brings to the fore. We have Gaius, Diotrephes and now we have Demetrius. Demetrius, down to earth, just a lover. And there's something you won't see in the scripture but if you look it up, if it is true, and a lot of commentators and scholars believe it is, that John at this time is in Ephesus, Gaius is in Rome.

And he's tending to the church in Rome and now John wants to write to Gaius to encourage him. What you're doing is right. And then to remind him don't be like this other guy full of pride and ego and controlling what's going on in the church. Again, you're delusional if you think you're even in control of your own life. The Lord's in control. Can I get an amen? He orders your steps. Sometimes your steps go through the valley of the shadow of death and you don't like it. But there's where the flesh dies and faith grows. Amen? That's where your trust is tested, your faith is tested. And listen, the valley of the shadow of death are necessary in all of our lives. Can I get an amen?

But there's always a banqueting table at the end and the Lord is always with us through it. But if this is true, then it would have been about a 1500 mile journey from Ephesus to Rome. And when John gave charge of this letter to Demetrius, just a lover of what's good, down-to-earth kind of guy, he set out on foot. And then when he came to the ocean and Jews at that time feared the ocean, he crossed over because he knew that this letter was important and that God had called him to be a mailman and to deliver the mail at whatever cost.

Can I say this morning, you're mailmen. We didn't write the letter. We're not responsible for how you respond when you read the letter. But we are responsible to deliver the letter at whatever cost. And so Demetrius had good report, no doubt of all men and of the truth itself, yea and we also bear record and you know that our record is true. Demetrius is a servant. We wouldn't even know who this man was if it wasn't recorded here.

And and again he's introducing Demetrius because no doubt nobody in Rome knows who he is. He's just not a prominent person in the church at Ephesus, he's just a servant. John entrusted Third John to and said Gaius is in Rome, go find him, deliver this letter. And so he sets out, we don't know how long it took, probably a great while. And so he says we bear record, I have many things to write into you but I will not do it with ink and pen. And then he says but I trust I shall shortly see thee. You know here, there, in the air, he's going to see them.

And we shall speak face to face. Peace, peace. You know today there's not a lot of peace in this world is there? And there can and there might not be a lot of peace in the circumstances around you. How many would say that there's not a lot of peace to be found in the circumstances around you or in this world this morning? Just raise your hand. How many would say that? But you know the prince of peace is always with us and he gives us a peace that passes all understanding. No matter how difficult the outlook is, we have an up-look. We can look up and say I know from where my help comes. Amen?

Then he says this, Peace be be to thee, our friends salute thee, greet the friends by name. Make it personal. Greet them by name. You know I have to tell the other pastors there are times, and I have it up here the bell, that you guys are so busy fellowshipping and you're getting into my time. See I've got two minutes left. You get into my time I have to ring the bell. Sit down! Recess is over so that we can open God's word.

But I want to encourage you as we end this letter and I think it's appropriate that I do that this morning, not that I'm trying to steal away your blessing. But you are the most giving church. If we were to change the name of this church we would have to change it to the church of Gaius because how you give is remarkable. It's beyond remarkable. We spent, you spent almost a million dollars in the 14, 15 years Doug and Destinee were in Uganda. You built an orphanage in India. We still support the work in Belize. We supplied them with everything they had need of although there was a church building already built down there that they could use. It's you. And you've done it faithfully.

And now the radio ministry and that's on you guys, that's you. That's what you have done. Just silently moving for 30 years, just in a few weeks, we'll have been here for 30 years. Just putting one foot in front of the other, doing what the Lord called you to do, praying and trusting the board members and the elders of the church to spend the money wisely.

And when we get to heaven our prayer is many, many, many souls will be there because of you. Because of you. Not because of me. I'm just one cog in the machinery in this church that God is using. In fact, if any praise was to go, it'd be to my wife, I wanted to quit too many times. I'm serious! And the Holy Spirit would show up in a voice like Kyle's and say, what are you thinking? God tell you to quit? No, but I don't want to do it anymore. Suck it up, cupcake!

Father, we thank You this morning. And again it's good to have examples. It's good to have an apostle, the elder, John, lift these men before us this morning. Give us examples of what is good, what is faithful, what a servant looks like, and then what one doesn't look like.

And so Lord, I would just pray as we close our service this morning that You would search our hearts. You know I personally believe that pride is the most insidious of all sin. Pride comes at us in so many different facets and directions. It can make us think that we're more than we are or it can give us false humility and be susceptible to the condemnation of the devil. It's still pride.

Pride can cause us to rest in our own abilities. Pride can make us think we can do it ourselves. Pride can also make us think that, you know, the Lord started a church and now we got it. When the truth of it is, we need You more today than we've ever needed You, Lord. We need that work of the spirit more today than we've ever needed it.

Lord, before there can be revival, there has to be brokenness. And so we're praying Lord just get us out of the way. Help us to decrease that You might increase. Lord, speak, put an anointing and an unction on Your words and draw people to You, not to a religion, not to a man, but to the person of Jesus Christ who is our righteousness.

John Bunyan had it right. We're never worse off when we fail, never better off when we succeed because our righteousness is in the person of Jesus Christ who ever lives to make intercession for us. So thank You this morning, Lord. And again, give us eyes to see and ears to hear what it is the Holy Spirit is saying and hearts to understand that. And we ask in Christ's name and all God's kids would say: Amen.