Holy Scriptures and Israel

Announcer: 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: The study of 3 John. But what is important that the soul is being prospering. And so he is writing this to Gaius. And then he said in verses 3 and 4, John rejoiced. In a way that Gaius conducted himself and the testimony that Gaius had been to many people around him.

3 John, verses 3 and 4, 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 3? 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 say to him, "Look at me. I'm 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 we rub shoulder with them, and when they leave, they can say, "Boy, I spent some time there. 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 often time we look at ourselves, we say, "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 a perfect man, but he sought to be faithful. And so, Yohanan said, "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 it'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 that and my mother told me that." But how about making it real in our lives?

You see, a person becomes a believer in Yeshua, he or she is 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 is going to test it, not because He wants us to fail, but because like a teacher, He wants 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's testimony, to walk in the truth. Go with me to Psalm 1 for a moment. Mizmor le David. We read in chapter 1, verses 1 to 3, "Blessed is the man, ashrei ha ish, 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 speak 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 2, where he wishes for him that his health will prosper even as his soul has prosper.

Wonderful truths to learn this about this man by the name of Gaius. So John, Yohanan continued to speak to Gaius, and I want you to notice in the next verses, verses 5 to 8, 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 5, Gaius was a hospitable man.

It says in verse 5, "Beloved," he called 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 came to town, he needed 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. So Gaius was very hospitable.

And we find out in this verse 5, he says, "Look, beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and," notice, "not only the brethren, but to also to strangers." Gaius was a very hospitable man. It reminds me of what Abraham, our forefather, who had hosted the Lord Himself and those two angels in his tent. Many, many years ago, over about 4,000 years ago, Abraham, our forefather, had 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 1 and 2, "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 are not always behave as angels, right? We sometimes become 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 5, 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 are all sorts of things. You remember in the previous epistle, in 2 John, John warned this woman, that elect lady, if you remember in the epistle of 2 John, he said to her, "Many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Yeshua, the Messiah, is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist. Look to yourself that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward."

And then he said, "Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of the Messiah has not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of the Messiah has both the Father and the Son." And then he said to this elect lady, "If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house. Neither bid him Godspeed." We are talking about false preachers who confessed not that Yeshua was God and man in one. The divine person had entered this world by taking union, humanity with divine nature. Well, there was a warning to the elect lady not to bring them in. But here we have an encouragement to Gaius for what he was doing. He was bringing in to his own home those that came to truly, sincerely preach the Word of God. So he was a hospitable man.

Secondly, in verse 6, Gaius was also a man who loved God's people. See, God's people are not always lovable, but God's people need love, the love of God, the love of the brethren. And so we read in verse 6, "which have borne witness of thy love before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shall do well." He's saying to Gaius, "Gaius, you see, many who pass by your home, whom you hosted in your house, and they continued on to a next place, they bore witness of how you have loved the believers, you loved the people of God. They bore witness before everyone about your love for the people of God."

Now, brothers and sisters, the love among the people of God is so important. You see, we live in a world that is so unlovable. We live in a world that is finding itself in many conflicts. There is a hatred here in this world. Satan hates the people of God, and those who follow him do not love the people of God. But if we don't have among the people of God love as Yeshua said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one towards another." If we don't practice this, we are not showing that we are followers of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

And so it was a beautiful testimony about Gaius that not only that he was hospitable, but he was a man who loved God's people. And it was evident in the way he conducted himself. And you notice what he did? It says in verse 6, "These people who visited you bore witness of thy love before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shall do well." Apparently, brothers and sisters, what Gaius did, those preachers, sincere missionaries you might call them, Bible teachers, came to his home, he took care of them, he fed them, he put them to sleep, he took care of them, and then he sent them, notice it says here, "after a godly sort." He says if he brought them forward after a godly sort, he provided for their needs and sent them to continue on.

You know what an encouragement it was for such a man in those days, when there was so much opposition to the person of Yeshua the Messiah. What an encouragement it was to have a man such as Gaius. And this is an encouraging thing. He took care of the servants of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. But not only that, look at this what it says in verse 7. Gaius also was aware of the needs of God's servants.

Look what it says in verse 7. "Because for his Name's sake they," these are those preachers who came to visit Gaius, "went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles." In other words, these itinerant preachers came to their homes, they didn't go and raise support by the unbelieving world. But they were taken care of by the people of God. You see, it says here, "They went forth taking nothing of the goyim, of the nations, of the Gentiles."

You remember Abraham again, in chapter 14 of the book of Genesis, when the king of Sodom wanted to give him, to enrich him, and Abraham said, "No, I'm not going to take this from you." You remember after Abraham won the battle and released the people of Sodom who lost the battle, he brought them back. And the king of Sodom and all the things that belonged to the king of Sodom, and the king of Sodom, Sodom in Hebrew, wanted to pay him for that, to enrich him for that. And he said, "No."

He says, "No, lest it had been said that I received this gain from you, from the king of Sodom." And he trusted in the Lord. But God provided for Abraham. And it is always such a privilege to participate in the ministry by taking care of the servants of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

And he says, "For the Name of Yeshua, for His Name's sake, they, those preachers, went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles, of the goyim, of the unbelieving world." And this is important to see that Gaius was not only hospitable, he did not only love the brethren, but he also was aware of the need to minister to the servants of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Now, I can read many verses. Yeshua said that the labor is worthy of his hire. Even the Lord Himself in the book of Deuteronomy said, "You shall not muzzle the ox that work in the field." Humanly speaking, can you imagine when a servant had an ox that is working on the field, and when he's coming to eat something as he work, that he muzzles his mouth and don't let him eat, and says, "No, you carry on to do your work."

Biblically speaking, we learn from here that the care of the servants of the people of God, in those days they had to learn that just the same like in any days, to minister to the people of God. It's not done by force, it's done out of love and appreciation for the work of the Lord. Let me just read you for a second a passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in verse 7.

He says, "Who go to warfare at any time at his own charge? Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock? I say these things as a man," he said. "Or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moshe, Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?" Well, if he does take care of the ox, he would definitely take care of his servant.

Verse 10, "Or saith he, it is altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope. And he that thresheth in hope should be partakers of his hope. If we have sown in your spiritual things, is it a great thing that we shall reap of your carnal things? If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power, but suffered all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of the Messiah."

Paul was writing this to the Corinthians, and he's saying to them the very same thing that John is saying about Gaius. Gaius, you were aware of the need of those itinerant preachers. You took care of them when they were passing by. Now notice back, back to 3 John, and this time verse 8, look what he's saying about Gaius. "We rather therefore receive such that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth."

John is saying to Gaius, "You see, Gaius, this is a commendable thing to do, because what happened with Gaius, even though Gaius was not an itinerant preacher, he remained at home, he did his work at home. But you know what he became? He became a fellow helper to the truth." I read this morning in 1 Samuel chapter 30, Shmuel Alef. And there David went to fight against the Amalekites. He had 600 men.

400 of them went with him to fight. 200 of them remained behind. And so when he fought, and he fought against the Amalekite, he brought back all what the Amalekite took from the people of David, the Ziklag. And you know, those 400 men who went forward to fight with David, they said to him, "No, no, no, no." Not all of them, some of them said, "Don't give the 200 any of their portion because they didn't fight with us." David says, "No."

"No," David says in 1 Samuel chapter 30. Look what David says, very, very wise statement. David said, "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff. They shall part alike." David says, "The one that went forward to fight and the one that remained behind, both are benefiting from the very same ministry." Because what happened here? Gaius became a fellow helper in the truth.

And thank God for those servants of the Lord, missionaries who have gone out to many countries and many places to serve the Lord, whether it is among our Jewish people or whether it is among the nations of the world. Praise God for those Bible teachers, missionaries, servants of the Lord who go to many, many areas to spend their time and their energy. And it's so needful not only to pray for them, but also practically to support them so they can continue on in their ministry, so they can be faithfully doing the ministry that the Lord had called them to do. We become automatically fellow helpers in the truth.

And how important it is, beloved brothers and sisters, to hold on to this. So Gaius, a faithful man. He was hospitable. He loved God's people. He was aware of the need of the servants of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And he was commended because he received godly servants and had fellowship in their ministry by supporting them practically.

What an amazing person that Yohanan is presenting before us in this passage. But then again, notice that he continued, and he speak about another man. In verse 9, 10, and 11, he shifted away from Gaius to another man. He was also part of the local church where Gaius had been, local assembly, local congregation. And I want you to notice that he says here six or seven things about this other individual. His name was Diotrephes. He is now ministering, Diotrephes. And notice what he's saying about him in verse 9. First of all, he says in verse 9, "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, parting against us with malicious words. And not content therewith, neither does he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would and casteth 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."

Now, notice this, beloved brothers, what he says about another man by the name of Diotrephes. First of all, notice that he had a real problem that we have to say we always have to guard against it. He says here in verse 9A, "Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence." The word for preeminence is really simply mean he wanted always to have the first place, number one.

Imagine a local assembly, local congregation, and one person said, "I'm going to have my way, I'm going to be number one. I'm in charge." In other words, he placed himself as a person that was in charge. But notice this expression, it's found three times in the Scripture. The word preeminence. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Kohelet in Hebrew, Solomon, Shlomo, the king of Israel, says that a man does not have preeminence over a beast. A beast dies, a man dies. In this world, an animal will die, a human being will die. There is no preeminence, even though we do have, but really what Solomon is saying, a man is not preeminent over the animal because he himself dies. He is finishing here in this scene. That's it. That's the first time it's used in Scripture.

The second time it's used in the Scripture is in connection with our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah in the book of Colossians chapter 1, and verse 18. This is a beautiful verse in connection with Yeshua, Jesus, our Messiah. We read, "He is the head," namely Yeshua, "of the body, the church, the ekklesia, the called out ones, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence."

You see, beloved brothers and sisters, God wants that we all recognize among the people of God, He must have the preeminence. He is number one. He is the one that is supposed to receive the glory and the honor and the praise from among the people of God. He is the head of the body and to the body. He has the position of number one, of the first one.

But you see, the problem is with us, and apparently Diotrephes had this problem, and we at times have this. If we are not watching ourselves, we always seem to want to be the first one. And you see, when we seek that place and force it.

Announcer: 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.