Holy Scriptures and Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: Shabbat Shalom. Today, I would like us to turn to the third epistle of John. This will be the final ministry meeting on the epistles of John. We covered the first and second epistle that Yohanan, that is John, wrote. And today in this ministry meeting, I would like to cover the third epistle of John. It is a very important letter that Yohanan wrote to the family of God, Mishpacha Elohim. And in this letter, Yohanan is writing about three men here in this passage. And every one of us have to ask ourselves the question, which man, which individual that John is writing about, is the one that I would like to be like as I'm following my Messiah, my Savior, our Lord Yeshua himself?

Please follow me as I'm reading this third epistle. And I'm reading: "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 thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity or thy love before the church, the assembly. Whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well. Because that for His name's sake, they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.

We therefore ought to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the truth. I wrote unto the church, but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words and not content therewith, neither does he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and castest them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God, but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius has a good report of all men and of the truth itself, yea, and we also bear record, and ye know that our record is true. I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee, but I trust I shall shortly see thee and we shall speak face to face. Peace, Shalom be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name."

This is the last verse of 3 John. And again, I would like to mention Yohanan was the last apostle that remained alive. When he met Yeshua the Messiah in the Galilee and accepted Yeshua the Messiah as his Mashiach, Messiah, and Savior, he was rather young. But Yeshua the Messiah had died, was buried, and rose and ascended to heaven and sitteth on the right hand of the Father on a majesty on high. The church, the assembly, was founded. And now the apostles were scattered through the nations of the world to preach the message of the gospel. And here is this man by the name of Yohanan remains still alive. He was at about 90 years of age, if not older.

And as an elder, as a zeken, he's writing to the Mishpacha, to the family. And every believer in Yeshua the Messiah is part of this family, even though the church is scattered and dispersed and divided and have all sorts of fractures in this professing church. Every true believer is part of this Mishpacha, the family of God. Everyone who truly confessed that his or her sins have been paid by the precious blood of Yeshua the Messiah, he or she a part of the family of God. And out of concern for the people of God and the family of God, here John is writing.

Can you imagine, brothers and sisters, he's old? He might soon going to be taken out of this scene to his Mashiach, to Yeshua. But he loved the brothers and sisters. And he was writing to them and he really wanted them to walk in the emet, the truth. You will notice in this letter how many times again, like the second epistle, the word truth is mentioned. In verse three, he says, "brethren came and testified of the truth." Verse 3b, "even as you walk in the truth." Verse four, "I have joy in my heart when my children walk in truth." Verse eight, "be fellow helpers in the truth." Verse 12, it says, "Demetrius have a good report of all men and of the truth itself." And then he said at the end of verse 12, "and ye know that our record is true."

The truth is important. Paul said, "let God be true and every man a liar." Yeshua said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And we need to hold on to the emet, the truth, and also seek to live in the light of the truth of the word of God. So notice there are three men mentioned here in this passage that we read. The first eight verses is Gaius. The second one in verses 9 to 11 is a man called Diotrephes. And the third one in verse 12 to verse 14, his name is Demetrius. All of these three men were part of the assembly, the local church, to which the apostle John wrote. We are part of a fellowship. Of course, we are part of the large body of Messiah, but we are part of a local fellowship. And how do we behave? How do we conduct ourselves among the people of God? Here we really learn of three individuals, which each one of them conducted themselves in some manner in which John is speaking about here in this passage.

You and I have to ask ourselves the question, really beloved brothers and sisters, am I a help or hindrance? Am I a blessing to the people of God or am I a stumbling block to the people of God? Am I a builder or am I a destroyer? Am I acting in the flesh or am I acting in the spirit? Am I humble before the Lord and seeking to be used by the Lord, or am I as a believer who is acting in the flesh and really not enjoying what God has for me? So he began with this man by the name of Gaius to whom he writes this letter.

Notice in verse one, he said "the elder", the Hebrew word is zeken, in Greek, presbyteros. And it's really speaking about an elder who is an older, but also an elder among the people of God. And he's saying to Gaius, "the elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth." Gaius, he's writing this note and he said to him, "Gaius, I'm an elder, but also an older," because the Hebrew word oftentimes zeken means not only elder but also older individual. He rose up in age, he was getting up in age there and he says, "I'm writing to you Gaius." But look at what he's saying to Gaius. He says, "you are well-beloved, whom I love in the truth." You see, John was a real servant of the Lord. He was so burdened for the work of the Messiah and then he so much wanted to see the believers are built and are growing spiritually and growing in the truth. And he says, "I love you Gaius." And he said to him not only that I love you, "you are well-beloved."

You know, in Hebrew the name David, David, is come from the same root word, beloved, Yedid or Yedidi in Hebrew. And I love you in the emet, in the truth, because you are part of the family of God. Perhaps John, that is Yohanan was used to share the gospel with Gaius. He led him to Yeshua the Messiah. And now he wants to see him growing spiritually. He perhaps invested a lot of time and prayer on behalf of Gaius, talking to the Lord, and he led him to Yeshua the Messiah. And now he's writing to him. He said to him in verse two, notice that John wishes for Gaius' physical health. You see, apparently Gaius might have been a sick person. And you know, sometimes we think that if we are sick, we cannot be spiritually healthy. You see, our spiritual health does not depend upon our physical health. And here we see, look at what he says to him in verse two, "beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospering."

Apparently Gaius must have been a very spiritually minded man, but he was not as healthy. Maybe he had some limitation. Maybe he has some sickness in his body. Nobody tells us what we had here. But what we really learn here that even though he was not healthy physically, his soul prospered. You know sometimes, brothers and sisters, the Lord allows us in our lives to experience trial, tribulation, even sicknesses in our lives in order to teach us lesson. Because you see, when everything is fine with us and we are healthy and we are wealthy and everything is well with us, it usually what happen in a time such as this is that we say to God, "I don't need you in my life, I'm okay right now." But what we really learned that God want us to grow spiritually and as it says here, "as your soul prospereth." Apparently Gaius' soul prospered. He was occupied with the Lord. He was reading the word of God. He was seeking to live for Yeshua the Messiah and his soul prospered.

When we are close to the Lord, maybe our bodies will not be in the best shape in the world, but the soul is being refreshed and encouraged in the things of the Lord. And there is a spiritual prosperity in the life of a person who is occupied with Yeshua the Messiah. Paul wrote it like this in 2 Corinthians chapter four and verse 16. He says, "for which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." Now, you notice this, beloved brothers and sisters, look at your life and my life. 20 years ago, 30 years ago, we were much more we had a better health condition. We were in a better shape, but time passes by. The body grown within ourselves because the body is not improving as we age. In fact, the opposite happen. And so what we really learn from this that even though the body does not improve, the inner man, the soul, can be prospering. And spiritual prosperity is important for the people of God.

And John, that is Yohanan, wishes this for Gaius and he say, "Gaius, I pray that you also will have, even as your soul prospereth." Well, apparently Gaius' bodily health was not as good as his soul health. Now, that does not mean that we should look to get sick and not well and so on. We do not search for this. We wish to be healthy and well in our physical bodies. But nevertheless, beloved brothers and sisters, that does not make a person spiritual because the body is healthy. What we need is an inner man that is growing in appreciation of the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

This morning I got a call from my sister from Israel and I had an opportunity to share with her. And I said to her, "Noga, you know what, look how life is changing. Abba is not here anymore, he passed. Imma is not here anymore, she passed away. Many of members of family is not here anymore. Things are changing in this world. But God never changes. You and I used to be young. I told her, I remember when you and I were young in Jerusalem where you used to go to take the garbage outside and put it in the garbage pen outside. I remember we look back and we see we are talking now about 50 years ago. Everything, you might say we were healthy and strong, but time passes by. The body is not the same. But what about the soul? And I told her why I believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. Because we're going to leave this scene. We're not going to stay here forever. What about our eternal destiny? And the only way to be able to be right with God, that there will be something for us for eternity, I must confess my sins. I must repent and accept that Yeshua is the one who paid for my sins that I have committed.

Praise God he did for each and every one of us. But time is passing by. The body is not getting improved, but the soul can prosper of a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. There is one thing for sure for all men, everyone will have to have an appointment with death. But a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, for us death is becoming a servant to take us to the immediate presence of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to live eternally without any pain or sorrow or any suffering in eternity. And so John is saying, "I wish for you to be healthy, Gaius. I wish your bodily will prosper, you might say, and be healthy as your soul had been prospering." But what is important that the soul is being prospering. And so he is writing this to Gaius.

And then he says in verse three and four, John rejoiced in the way that Gaius conducted himself and the testimony that Gaius have been to many people around him. 3 John, verses three and four, Yohanan is saying to him, notice those two verses. He says, "for I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." You see, John says, "some people came and they told us about you." And you see what he says in verse three, he says, "I rejoiced greatly that the brethren came and testified of the truth that was in you, Gaius, as you walk in the truth."

You see, apparently, you see, Gaius never needed to go to someone and said to him, "look at me, am I okay?" He didn't have to do so. You know why? Because he was walking in the truth. And it was evident in his life. So when people got in touch with him, they say, "you know what, I've just visited brother Gaius. And boy, he left an impact upon my life. He spoke to my heart the way he conducted himself. His behavior was pleasing to the Lord. I've been encouraged by Gaius." I wonder sometime about us when somebody passes by us and rubbed shoulder with them and when they leave, they can say, "boy, I spent some time that I benefited from this, my visit with this brother or this sister. I've been encouraged in the Lord. He or she helped me to grow spiritually." That's what Gaius was.

He was a man that was a faithful man. Paul said in the book of Corinthians, "it is required from a servant that he may be found faithful." And how oftentimes we look at ourselves, we says, "Lord, I haven't been faithful, I haven't been where I should have been." And yet the Lord says, "listen, you fail, you confess it before the Lord, you turn to Him, get up and continue to walk." And Gaius, he was not the perfect man, but he sought to be faithful. And so Yohanan saying, "Gaius, you know, I have such a joy when I heard about your testimony. Other people came and they testified of the truth that is in you."

But now notice that, it was not only a theological truth in the head because he says, "even as thou walkest in truth." You see, it's very easy to know the Bible, to read the text from the Bible and to say, "hey, I memorized this verse." But there's another thing, beloved brothers, to make it applicable to our day-by-day living. It is there where we fail, right? We all can say, "well, I memorized this verse and my family taught me this and my father told me this, my mother told me that." But how about making it real in our lives? You see, a person become a believer in Yeshua, he or she going to be tested. God is going to test them when opposition come, when rejection come, when friends are being lost and so on. He's going to test it, not because he want us to fail, but because like a teacher, he want us to prosper, to grow spiritually, to be useful. And so Gaius was such a great testimony, not only that he knew the truth in his head, but notice his expression, "walketh in the truth." Amazing thought that we have here about Gaius' testimony, to walk in the truth.

Go with me to Psalm one for a moment, Mizmor LeDavid. We read in chapter one, verses one to three: "Blessed is the man, ashrei haish, that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." You notice the word prosper come here again? Now, the word prosper here does not speaking about necessarily physical prosperity but spiritual prosperity. Whatever this man or this woman will do when they are walking with the Lord, when they are waiting on the Lord, there is a promise of spiritual prosperity. It might link with it some other prosperity that God will provide for them, but definitely we can see in connection with 3 John and verse two where he wishes for him that his health will prosper even as his soul have prospered. Wonderful truth to learn this about this man by the name of Gaius.

So John, Yohanan, continue to speak to Gaius and I want you to notice in the next verses, verses five to eight, there are four things that Gaius was faithful in his service. Notice that what Yohanan is pointing out about Gaius. The first one that we find out about this man by the name of Gaius, in verse five, Gaius was a hospitable man. It says in verse five, "beloved," he call him I love you Gaius, "thou dost faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers." You see, remember what I told you, beloved brothers and sisters, that already in the first century, in the early days of the church age, there were itinerant preachers who were passing from home to home. They were visiting various brothers and sisters, various assemblies. And so a preacher come to town, he need to stay someplace. Apparently Gaius says, "come, I'll host you." He brought him into his own home, that preacher. He hosted him, took care of him, provided for him, gave him a place to sleep, fed him so that particular itinerant preacher can move on to another location.

Gaius was a very hospitable man. It's remind me of what Abraham, our forefather, who have hosted the Lord himself and those two angels in this tent many, many years ago, over about 4,000 years ago, Abraham, our forefather, have been a hospitable man in the Middle East. Hospitality is extremely important. And so Gaius was inviting these brothers who were coming to share the word of God, but also some strangers that he didn't know who they were. And you remember what Hebrews 13 says in verse one and two? "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Now, you know, when we are being guests in somebody's home, we not always behave as angels, right? We sometimes becoming more like a burden at times we can be. But nevertheless, it is amazing how wonderful to see that Gaius was entertaining, he brought them in, he was hosting them. And John said to him, "you have done that faithfully, Gaius. You have done it faithfully in verse five. Thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and also to strangers."

Hospitality is very important, beloved brothers and sisters. Of course, we need to be careful in today's society in which we live in, because there's all sorts of things. Remember in the previous epistle in 2 John...

Guest (Male): You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, Shalom.