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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-skates/4-men-of-3-john/
John's third letter, and we'll read the 14 verses. The elder, unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth, beloved, I wish above all things that thou must 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 before the church, 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 on to the church, but diatrophies 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 doth 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. Demetrius, which hath 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 on to thee, but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee, our friends salute thee, greet the friends by name.
And the Lord will bless to us the further reading from his word. Now, there's a discouraging situation here in this little epistle, and John is focusing in on it. This is the third letter coming near the end of our Bibles, smallest book in the New Testament, but it is full of teaching for our learning, and we want to notice some lessons that we can pick up on in this little book when difficulties and discouraging situations arise in God's assembly.
In 1st John, we have the togetherness of love. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren, and then again he says we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. The togetherness of love in 1st John.
In 2nd John, it seems we have tough love set out. We love his commandments, but we are to refuse those that reject the truth and do not bring the truth. So we have tough love in 2nd John, but here in 3rd John, we have tender love seen, and it is seen by this man by the name of Gaius, who is helping those who have gone forth with the truth, taking nothing of the Gentiles, and it is John who is writing this.
He describes himself as the elder, a man of maturity, a man with discernment, a man who's able to discern the difference. John is a man of spiritual experience and linked with discernment, will be a life that is lived in the truth, loving his commandments.
On the other hand, a dearth of discernment would indicate a lack of knowledge of the truth, and I would take it that today assemblies need above all things elders with discernment, men who not only know their book, but know their God, and are able to discern between things that differ, and when the saints are taking a course that is off the mark, to carefully steer them back to the right course.
That's shepherd work, and like the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, who knows the sheep, they will know the sheep, and they are known of mine, he said, and just like the Lord himself, the saints know who they can go to.
They know those who have a shepherd's heart. So there are four specific men that appear here in the little epistle. There's John himself, then there's Gaius, there's this man Diocletes, and then finally we have this dear brother called Demetrius.
So there are three good, one bad. I couldn't help but think, following Brandon's message linking the spies there, there are four men that appear in John's third letter. One was bad, and three were good.
Out of the four in John's third letter, one was nice and one was rude. You can add that to your Sunday school course. But I was linking it as well with the four trees you remember in Jotham's parable in the book of Judges.
There were three that were beneficial and of profit. There was the olive tree, there was the fig tree, there was the vine, but then there was the bramble, good for nothing. But the funny thing is the bramble wanted to rule over the rest.
You see, that would link in with theatrophies here. There's another link. I'm not going to pursue that any further. But we have judicious John, the man who is wise. We have Gaius who is gracious and hospitable.
We have theatrophies who is dictatorial and abominable. And then we have Demetrius, and he is dependable and commendable. And so we don't want to be like theatrophies, but there are lessons that we can learn from the other three that we would want to be emulating in our lives.
Now, John, judicious John, we'll call him, he's a whole character study in himself. He is the disciple whom Jesus loved, and he became the apostle of love. His personal appreciation for the Lord Jesus fully fitted him then to be sent with that same love to others.
And so he's the apostle of love. We find in John's gospel, he is the scribe and he is recording. He's a witness and he's recording. In Acts, he's seen as the servant. In the epistles, we find him functioning as a shepherd.
And then in Revelation, he is the seer, as he brings our Bible to a close. He goes from being a young disciple following the Lord Jesus to being given a special service. You remember at the cross, the Lord entrusted Mary to his care.
Then that service widens out in the book of Acts. And we find that he becomes a man who is functioning in the assembly at Ephesus in the work of God. And then he has a message to seven churches in Asia.
And then that message itself will cover the whole of the church age. So here's a man who begins being faithful in little things, and he goes on to great things. There's a lesson we could pick up on right now when there's difficulties in the assembly.
We could just be like John in this regard, be faithful in little things, keep on being faithful in little things. And in the big things too, don't let them go. But John was a man that was marked by discernment, he is judicious, and he is faithful in all things.
Gracious Gaius. Verse one, the well-beloved Gaius whom I love in the truth. So Gaius was a beloved brother in the Lord, and he's walking in truth, verse four. He has priorities in life that are spiritual, and he is a man who is interested in serving the Lord.
The truth was in him, he lived it, and so the apostle could express heartfelt fellowship with Gaius. He appreciated him. You know, it's a wonderful thing, and it's a wholesome thing to enjoy fellowship in truth with brothers and sisters.
And that's what the assembly is about, isn't it? With like-minded believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, giving him place as Lord in our lives. And that is something that we appreciate and love. There's so much out there that is grieving to our souls, and it could be discouraging, but we'll not go there right now.
Notice his personal life. There's a hint of ill health, perhaps, in verse two, when John says, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. I can't help but think that perhaps the strain of having diatrophies in the company was actually having a bearing upon his health.
You know, we're all just human, and there's only so much that the human frame can stand in terms of strain and stress. We're liable to be brought down by that. And we can reach a point in a believer's life where he may need professional help.
I'm just leaving that there. So, Gaius likely didn't have things easy, certainly didn't, in the assembly. But there was a principle controlling his life. Notice verse four. John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
So here was a man who walked in truth habitually, continually. It controlled him. Not so much that he held truth, but I take it Gaius was a man who was held by the truth. And John, then, he expresses his joy in this.
He looks upon Gaius, and he sees a man going on faithfully with God, and it causes joy to arise in his heart. And you know, that causes joy in our hearts too, doesn't it? When we see brothers and sisters, and they remain faithful to God through thick and thin, they go on faithfully.
It causes us joy as well as we see that. So there was a principle controlling his life. Then the practice in his life, verses five through eight. His faithfulness to the Lord was seen in very practical ways.
And I take it that Gaius was a man that was faithful in hospitality to the brethren and to strangers, verse five. So he communicated his faithfulness to the Lord, his love to the Lord in very practical ways, and even showing hospitality to the brethren and to strangers as well.
Studies have shown that 55 of personal communication is body language, 38 is tone of voice, and only 7 is the actual words that are spoken. So I guess that's why preachers wave their arms around, because they're trying to communicate to you with their body language, but only 7 are the actual words spoken.
But Gaius, he expressed practically, using what he had to express his love for Christ. Verse six, whom if I bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well. He rendered practical assistance to the work of the Lord by helping others.
I take it, likely giving them a roof over their heads at night, giving them a bed to sleep in, helping them in practical ways, speaking a little word of encouragement. And by the way, there is a role for social media in that regard too.
Some of our brethren don't indulge in that, but Facebook is a useful tool when it's used properly. Thank you very much. Okay, moving on. Hospitality. It's a dying art. It's becoming a dying art. And you know, this is being commended here in the third epistle.
They tell us that second epistles are for last day condition, so when you come to the third condition, we're right at the end of the dispensation, and here's a man who is being commended for hospitality, so it should continue right to the end, shouldn't it?
Verse seven, because 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 think today, generally speaking now, generally speaking, Christians attend church publicly, and then they leave church, and they go home to the cocoon of their private lives where they don't want to be interrupted, and it seems almost that the open home concept is regarded as a invasion of privacy.
Maybe there's something to hide. I don't know. But what a missed opportunity it is for service if we don't open our homes to the brothers and sisters and to strangers. This is something that we can do, and we should be doing right to the end, and if we don't do it, we lose out on the joy of it now, and we will lose out on the reward for it eternally.
So even when there's difficulties at times amongst God's people, we should remain hospitable, and John encouraged Gaius in this regard. So moving on from gracious Gaius, let's take a look at dictatorial diatrophies.
Verse nine, I wrote on to the church, but diatrophies who loveth to have the preeminence among them receiveth us not. Now, how a man is summed up in one sentence. Here he is. He loveth to have the preeminence among them, and he receiveth us not.
His name, diatrophies, literally means cherished by Zeus, so his name is linked with idolatry, and I would take it he's likely not a believer, but he's taking a place of control in the assembly. He loves to have the preeminence, and maybe not even a believer himself.
John calls him evil. That would speak to our hearts about conditions that will apply. To the end of the age, the people of God that came out of Egypt, they were plagued with a mixed multitude, and because a person is in assembly, fellowship is no guarantee that they're really saved.
We should each one search our hearts here today, shouldn't we, and think about what the Lord Jesus means to me. What a wonderful thing to appreciate. He's my savior. The Lord is my shepherd. He died for me upon the cross.
He took away all of my sins, and we love him because he first loved us. So here's a man taking control, a one-man ministry type of deal. He coveted that. He went after that. He has actually become a rival to Christ in the company, and he's brutalizing the flock of God.
He's not receiving the brethren, and he's putting those that would out of the assembly. That might be a hint that maybe he had put Gaius out. Can't be sure of that, but the assembly to Diotrephes was a place not where the Lord is being honored, but it was a place to him where he had his needs met, his need to be in control.
That was his priority. He's opposing the apostle, and he's practicing unscriptural excommunication and reception. Neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
Verse 10. Now, there's no evidence here that this man was actually teaching wrong doctrine. Well, one thing is clear. He was not subject to apostolic authority. He was not bowing to divine truth. And verse 11, he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
He was a carnal man, but he thought he was very important. Now, there's much of that in Christendom, but the danger is right here in our Bibles, it can come in to God's assembly. He was known for his malicious words, known for his covetousness, taking a place that's not his.
There are three individuals in the Old Testament that stand out. One was Miriam, who murmured, used wrong words. One was Gehazi, a man that was greedy, covetous. And a man called Uzziah, who tried to function as a priest, wasn't his place.
So, you have murmuring Miriam, greedy Gehazi, usurping Uzziah, and all three of them, the Lord smote them with leprosy. And here's a man, Diodrophes, and he fits the bill, and he's a plague to the people of God.
They're not all dead yet. You know, the strange thing is, as you read this little epistle, there's no solution given to Gehazi, apart from apostolic intervention. I would learn from that some things can arise that have no solution, apart from divine intervention.
And so, it's a very solemn thing to read about a man like this, dictatorial Diodrophes. Let's take a look quickly at another man, the name of Demetrius, verse 12. Demetrius has good report of all men and of the truth itself, and we also bear record, and ye know that our record is true.
So, here's a man who stands now in contrast to Diodrophes. And again, there's no mention made of anything that Demetrius actually says. He's not proclaiming his own faithfulness, his own good. Proverbs 20 and 6, most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man who confine.
But here's a good man. And the apostle John commends him. He's commendable. He's dependable. And everyone that knew Demetrius could only say good about him. He is a good report of all men. So, there's a valuable man in the assembly, a man with a good testimony.
And you'll notice that his testimony is linked again with truth itself. So, here's a man who is governing his life by the very truth of the word of God, and the truth bore witness to him. It's not that he was the standard of truth, but the truth of God was the standard by which he sought to live.
You know, we do well to remind ourselves that in a day of relativism and new age thinking, where people think that they themselves can determine what truth is, what works for them, we got to leave that attitude out there at the door.
There's no place in God's assembly where we bow submissively to the absolute truth of the word of God. It is absolute. God himself is absolute. You and I are not given the responsibility of judging what is truth and what is not.
You and I are given the responsibility to believe the truth that God has stated in his word, and carry it out, and be dependable in carrying it out in our lives from day to day. So, the truth was the standard by which Demetrius was tested, and by that standard he was approved.
You and I today ought to be known as well as those who are marked by truth, and standing for truth, and standing on that holy ground, and for holy ground, that which is devoted to God, God's assembly, that temple of the Holy Ghost that has his presence.
And you and I have the privilege of being a little part of that which is dear to his heart.