Love in the Truth - 2&3 John
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
January 12, 2025 :: 3 John 1:1-14
The “Old Man” wrote another letter.
Last week, we said that the author of 2 John and 3 John–who I believe is also the author of 1 John and the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation– refers himself as “The Elder.”
And that could be because he is now old. I think he probably is old, but he’s also an elder, meaning a mature church leader (Greek: “presbuteros”). Perhaps a leader of leaders. He’s “the elder” meaning in his role as an apostle, he’s helping to oversee several churches in that part of the world. He’s the Grand Old Man who has been keeping on his eye on the churches.
Last week, we read a letter the Old Man sent “to the Chosen Lady and her children” which was probably a fancy way of addressing a particular local church and its members.
But now the Old Man has written another letter (perhaps bound up in a packet with 1 John and 2 John, we don’t know ), and this letter (which we call 3 John) is addressed to just one person. Look at verse 1.
“The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.”
There’s that phrase again, “whom I love in the truth.” John loved the whole church in the truth in 2 John. Here he loves Gaius in the truth.
And, boy, does he love him! He calls Gaius, “my dear friend” or in Greek it’s one word “agapayto” which means simply “beloved.” Somebody I love. Not romantically but genuinely from the heart.
He cares deeply about Gaius. He calls him this four times in this short letter! Verse 1, verse 2, verse 5, and verse 11.
“Dear friend.”
“Dear friend.”
“Dear friend.”
“Dear friend.”
Agapayto! “I love this guy!”
We don’t know much about Gaius in general. That was a very popular name in the Roman empire. Like “John” is to us! There are at least four guys with this name in the New Testament (Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians), and we’re not sure that any of them are this Gaius.
What we do know is that John loved him! And he loved him in the truth.
Remember, truth and love go together like peanut butter and what? Chocolate!
You can’t have real love without the truth. And you can’t have real truth without real love. Sometimes we like one of those things more than the other. But both are crucial. John says that he loves Gaius in the truth. Meaning he truly loves him, that’s going to be obvious. But also that he loves Gaius with the truth, or because of the truth, because they have the truth in common. They are both IN the truth. They live in the truth. They live on the truth. The love that John has for his friend Gaius is completely based upon the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We’re going to see that John uses that word “truth” again and again in this short letter. Shortest book in the Bible and the word “truth” appears six times! The Old Man has written a letter to his dear friend Gaius whom he loves in the truth.
He really loves him. It’s obvious from the beginning of the letter and the end (and everything in between). Let’s look at the end first because we said last week that it was very similar to the end of 2 John, but we ran out of time to look at it closely there. John says pretty much the same thing to the Chosen Lady and to Gaius. Verse 13.
“I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.”
John sure wishes that he could be with Gaius. He’s got lots to say, but he doesn’t just want to use social media! He doesn’t just want to text Gaius or comment on Gaius’ Facebook or Zoom with Gaius. He doesn’t just want to write Gaius a letter and put in the mail. Those things are good! But they are not as good as face to face.
By the way, that’s one of the reasons why I’m not a big fan of trying to put church online. It’s okay to do that. Technology can help with all kinds of things. John was using the technology of his day (v.13)–pen and ink. It’s okay if you have to use that for a time. I love our radio station out to the parking lot. The bulletin says we’ve been doing it for 4 years now! If you are sick or if you are very concerned about catching something or if you need for a short time to just listen and not be overwhelmed by people, then it’s there for you. I’ve used it several times myself.
But it’s no substitute for “face to face.” John knew that in the first century, and we need to remember it in 21st.
John wanted to be with Gaius. And wanted peace for him. Like last week for the whole church, “grace, mercy, and peace.”
And John sends his greetings and the greetings of the whole church. Verse 14. “The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.”
Personal greetings! Those are so important. The older I get the more I understand how important and powerful personal greetings really are. By name. John might not use his own name, but he names four guys in this short letter.
There is so much genuine Christian affection here. Do you greet other Christians both here at church and at other times? Do you learn the names of the Christians around you and greet each other with them when we meet? And the rest of the week when you see each other around town? That’s all part of loving one another in the truth. You see how it’s a command here? It’s not optional!
Some Sunday, I might just stand up here and greet each of you by name and that be the message for that Sunday!
You see what John prays for Gaius? Look at verse 2. John loves Gaius in the truth, and this is what he prays for him. Verse 2.
“Dear friend [Agapayte, Beloved], I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”
John prays for Gaius' health–both his physical health and his spiritual health. His physical well-being and as well as his spiritual well-being. Do you see that? That’s what it means to pray in love in truth.
I think a lot of us like to pray for one or the other of those. We like to pray for everybody’s health. There are a lot of health related prayer requests, aren’t there? Cancer, infections, broken bones, dementia–all of that. And sometimes we can so fixated on praying for someone’s health and miss their heart! We can forget that our all of our bodies are going to break down at some point and die. Every one of us. But our souls will continue forever. So we should be praying about our souls! We should be praying for each other’s hearts.
At the same time, our bodies matter, too! John prays for Gaius’ physical health in verse 2. Sometimes, we act like our bodies don’t matter, and we look down our noses at prayer requests for physical health and healing. But John just does them both together. The soul is more important, but they are both important to pray for. That’s what Christians do when we love in the truth.
John is so glad that Gaius is doing so well. Especially spiritually. John has recently heard some stories about Gaius, and they were very very very encouraging to the Old Man. Look at verse 3.
“It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
I have three points today to summarize what I think John wants for and from his “dear friend Gaius,” and this is the first one:
#1. WALK IN THE TRUTH.
Which was the first point last week, too, in 2 John. The Old Man wanted this for the Chosen Lady and her children, and he was so happy to find out that Gaius was doing it, too!
“It gave me great joy...how you continue to walk in the truth.”
“Keep it up, Gaius! You are ‘doing the thing.’ Your life matches the truth. Your ethics correspond to the truth. You have integrated the truth into your life. You’ve found out what the truth is and you are living as if it’s true (which it is!). Well done, you!”
Apparently, John has been visiting with some brothers in Christ who had recently been with Gaius, and they were telling John all about Gaius and how he lived.
By the way, that’s not gossip. These were loving reports to someone who was a kind of spiritual parent about their spiritual children. It wasn’t bearing bad news behind someone’s back out of a bad heart.
And, in fact, it was good news! Gaius has been living the Christian life, and it’s been obvious.
Wouldn’t you love it if someone was giving a good report about your life to your spiritual parent? I sure would! And it just filled the Old Man’s heart with joy! V.4
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
Now, I don’t think that Gaius was John’s biological son, though I suppose it’s possible. If so, I think he would have actually called him, “son.” I think that Gaius was John’s spiritual son. Perhaps John had introduced Gaius to Jesus in the first place. Perhaps he had been discipling him. Either way, he thought of Gaius and people like him as his children in the faith.
Do you have people like that in your life? People that you have been responsible for spiritually? It could be your own biological children, your adopted children, a Sunday School class you taught, someone you met with one-on-one to for prayer and encouragement.
I hope that soon everyone here would have someone that you have influenced enough that you would be full of joy to hear that they are walking in the truth!
And to be sadly disappointed to hear that they are not. Let me say this. As your pastor, I have no greater joy than when I see or hear of you walking in the truth. It’s fun to have a big full building on a Sunday morning. Praise God for how we have grown in attendance. But that doesn’t matter if we aren’t living it out Monday through Saturday.
If we are sinfully gossiping about each other.
If we are stealing from our employers.
If we are having sex outside of marriage.
If we are cheating on our taxes.
If we are fighting with other Christians.
If we are accessing porn.
If we are worshiping idols like money and popularity and power.
I have no greater sadness than to hear that my children are not walking in the truth but are walking in lies.
It makes a pastor sad when one of his sheep die, yes, but it is so much more heartbreaking when one of his sheep run away from the path of righteousness. If you are not walking in the truth, now is the time to repent and start. If you are walking in the truth, praise God from Whom all blessings flow! I have no greater joy as a pastor than to hear and see that.
Now, what exactly was Gaius doing that got reported back to the Elder? It sounds like Gaius was showing Christian hospitality to other disciples of Jesus who were traveling through the area carrying the gospel to the world. In other words, he was supporting missions.
If you remember, last week we said that the church when it was young sent brothers and sisters in Christ all over the place sharing the good news about Jesus Christ. It wasn’t just Paul and his team, though he was probably the greatest of them in that era. And there were no “Embassy Suites” or “Courtyard by Marriott” back in that day. When you visited a town, you often stayed in homes.
And if you stayed in a home, we said last week, that meant that your hosts were endorsing you, supporting you, giving credence to your message. John warned the Chosen Lady and her children to not receive or welcome or support false teachers who said that Jesus Christ had NOT come in the flesh.
But the opposite is also true! Here John says that we should receive, and welcome, and support those who believe and teach the truth! Look at verse 5.
“Dear friend [Agapayte, Beloved], you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. [He didn’t know them until now. But they believed the truth. And so Gaius took them in. And they have come back to John with a good report. Verse 6.] They have told the church about your love.”
Remember that point number two last week was “Walk in Love?” Gaius was doing that! He was loving these Christian brothers in a tangible way, and John wanted to encourage that more and more. Verse 6.
You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. [What a thing to say!] It was for the sake of the Name [Jesus Christ!] that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth” (vv.6-9).
That’s point number two this morning of what the Old Man wanted from his dear friend Gaius.
#2. WORK TOGETHER FOR THE TRUTH.
Walk in the truth and work together for the truth of the gospel.
Gaius knew that we have all been given a mission, and we all have our own part to play in that mission.
You know we have a mission, right? Jesus gave us the Great Commission. To make disciples of all nations, baptizing new disciples in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching the new disciples to “walk in the truth” (to obey what Jesus has commanded us) (see Matthew 28:19-20).
That’s our mission, and it’s all of our mission–not just the missionaries. Not just the pastors. Not just the elders. Every single disciple!
And some of us are called to GO. About 17 of us are planning to go this summer to Kentucky, taking the gospel and rolling up our sleeves and getting to work on flood relief.
I’m praying that more of us would be called to GO in the days to come. But even when we are not called to go, we are called to SEND. Verse 6 again.
“You will do well to SEND them on their way in a manner worthy of God.”
For those Christians, it was Gaius having them in his home, and then giving them something to get to the next town on. Maybe for you and me it’s giving our regular offering to the church here to speed those people on the back wall to their next town. Darla could tell you the exact numbers, but it’s between 25 and 30 percent of all the money given here goes out into missions from this church. So if you gave a dollar today when you came in, at least a quarter of that won’t stay here even to fund my salary or Jordyn’s or to keep the lights and the heat up. It’s leaving here and going to support the work of the gospel “in a manner worthy of God” out there.
Or maybe on top of your giving through this church you have missionaries that you support personally.
Missionaries go out for the sake of the Name (v.7). And they need us to support and SEND them. And when they are coming back through to show them hospitality.
That is so important! Have you ever taken a missionary out to dinner? Have you ever had one in your home? If not, you are missing out. You are missing out on a blessing. You are missing out on being a blessing and working together for the truth. And you are missing out on receiving a blessing, too. What a blessing it was to have Fred and Cindy here back in October, wasn’t it?
Hospitality so important in the New Testament. It often gets overlooked, but do a word search some time on “hospitality” on your Bible app, and you’ll see that Christians are supposed to use our homes and other resources for the sake of our gospel mission. And we are missing the mark and missing out if we don’t.
Sadly, that was true of a man named “Diotrephes.” He was not working together for the truth. Look what John says about him in verse 9.
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us.”
Yikes! How would you like to show up like that in a letter from the Old Man?!
John has sent a letter to this church (probably the same one as Gaius was in but it’s not clear, perhaps it’s the letter of 2 John to the Chosen Lady and her children, we’re not sure), but what we are sure about is that this guy Diotrephes has ignored the letter and the Elder who wrote it!
“Diotrephes...will have nothing to do with us.”
In fact, it’s worse than that. He’s been bad-mouthing the Old Man. V.10
“So if I come, I will call attention to what he [Diotrephes] is doing, gossiping maliciously about us [talking nonsense, spreading destructive lies about John]. Not satisfied with that, he [[Diotrephes] refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church” (vv.9-10).
He’s not just “not working together for the truth,” he’s actively doing the opposite!
He refuses to support the gospel-sharing missionaries, and he gets in the way of fellow Christians who want to support them! He actually kicks them out of the church. That’s what we call “a church boss.”
These are some of the worst kinds of unhealthy Christians. Those who actively oppose the true work of the true gospel while still trying to act like a church leader. Ugh and Yuck!
What was his problem? In verse 9, John diagnosed his heart. He says that Diotrephes loved to be first. e loved prominence and preeminence and power. And nothing will tear apart a church faster than that.
And you know what I worry about when I read verses 9 and 10? I don’t worry about encountering a Diotrephes at Lanse Free Church. I worry about BECOMING a Diotrephes at Lanse Free Church. Because I know how tempting it can be for me to love to be first.
That’s why John says what he says in verse 11.
“Dear friend [Agapayte, Beloved], do not imitate what is evil but what is good.”
Don’t be like Diotrephes.
The biggest reason why John brings this guy up is to warn Gaius to not become like him. John will deal with him. When he gets to be with them face-to-face, he will call him out. They will get this sorted. But John is most concerned about Gaius. He doesn’t want Gaius to (v.11) “imitate what is evil but what is good.”
Let’s make that point number three and last.
#3. WATCH FOR GOOD EXAMPLES OF LIVING OUT THE TRUTH.
And imitate them! V.11
“Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”
That’s how important it is to walk in the truth. Because it shows whether or not we are actually the children of God. John says this kind of thing over and over again both in his Gospel (quoting Jesus) and in his letters, especially 1 John. The point is that if we genuinely are the children of God, it will show in how we live our lives. And so we should keep our eyes open for good examples of godly living and follow their example!
Like Demetrius, for example. Verse 12.
“Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone–and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.”
Now, we don’t know much about this Demetrius guy either. My guess is that he’s the one carrying this letter to Gaius. He’s the courier. And John is saying, Gaius (my beloved buddy), don’t be like Diotrephes, but do be like Demetrius. He’s one of the good guys. He’s a “good egg.” We all agree. He walks in the truth! So much so that you could say that the truth itself speaks well of Demetrius!
“And I, John, the Elder speak well of Demetrius, and you know I tell the truth!”
Do you see how important reputation is here? What everybody says about everybody else and whether or not it’s good? That’s really important. You can’t control your reputation. But you can you live in such a way as to gain a good one.
And keep your eyes out for those who have a good one. And learn from them.
Let me ask you this question as we close today:
Beloved, who are you imitating these days?
Who are you keying off of as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Whose life are you watching? Whose reputation are you paying attention to? So many are following some “celebrity influencer” out there. Some talking head on cable news, on social media. Is their example worth following? Pick your heroes carefully.
Are they a Diotrephes or a Demetrius?
I ask you this because I love you. I love you in the truth.
***
Messages in this Series:
01. To the Chosen Lady and Her Children
02. To My Dear Friend Gaius
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