John’s theme in each of his three letters is the treasure of fellowship with God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. He writes to combat false teaching, to provide reassurance, to constrain sin, and to make the joy of his audience complete.

We'll open your Bibles to 1 John, and we're going to start in 1 John, go to 2 John, and finally conclude with 3 John. And so we'll begin with 1 John. This will be the longest part of our time together, but I want us to reserve some good time to get into 2nd and 3rd John as well. But let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you for your Word, for its power, for its beauty.

We pray that you would give us such an affection for all the things that are here so that our hearts would be shaped so that we could walk in the truth and walk in love and to find ourselves being changed by these things that you've given to us. Amen. Well, John, 1 John. The message of 1 John is to declare what a treasure it is to have fellowship with God the Father, with God the Son, and with the Holy Spirit. And John begins with really his most powerful argument, and his argument in the first two verses is this, Jesus is real and when you are connected to Jesus you are connected to something real and so he goes back and he says that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon in our hands of handled concerning the word of life and the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.

So John is talking about what he's seen. It's real. He's saying that Jesus Christ is real. He's not a phantom and he's not a philosophical concept that somebody made up. He's real.

We touched him, we heard him, we watched him, we saw him heal the sick, raise the dead, walk on water. He's real. And when you're connected to Jesus Christ, you are connected to the power of God. So John's primary focus is what does it mean to have fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with the Spirit of God. And what he is declaring is that fellowship with God is the most precious thing you can ever experience.

It's actually the only thing you really need because if you have fellowship with God and with his Son Jesus Christ, you'll always have whatever you need for whatever situation you're facing. So at the same time, John makes some very explicit statements about why he wrote what he wrote, and there are four reasons for writing that he declares. And the first is to combat false teachers. And he talks about this in chapter 2 verse 26. He says, I am writing these things to you.

There you go. How clear is that? I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray because his children in this church in Ephesus are under attack by false teaching. Docetism, which was a declaration that Jesus Christ was a phantom, not a person with a body. It was a philosophical system that declared that matter and spirit were at odds and spirit was superior to matter and matter was bad.

And there was Gnosticism. Gnosticism declared that you could have special knowledge, just you and you alone. And by the way, that knowledge trumps revealed truth. And there was a teacher, Sirinthius, who contended that Christ's Spirit descended on the human Jesus at his baptism but then left him just before the crucifixion. And so John is saying, no, he's real.

John was there at the beginning of his ministry and observed him being crucified on the cross. So combat false teachers, that's the first purpose. The second explicitly stated purpose is to provide reassurance or really assurance of salvation for the child of God, to help them to know that they can rest in the knowledge that they are children of God. So he says, I write these things in chapter 5 verse 13, to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. He wants his little children to understand that they have eternal life.

And so there are various tests of eternal life that he delivers. There's the Christological test, In other words, what you believe about Christ, there's the moral test, how you relate to his commandments, and then there's a relational test, how you love. And if you don't believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, if you do not obey His commandments and walk in the light, and if you do not love your brethren, you should have no assurance at all. But if you do love the brethren, and if you do desire to keep His commandments, and if you do believe that Jesus Christ is who He said He was, then you should have full assurance of your salvation. And then the third reason that he writes is found in chapter 1 verse 4, and he writes very clearly that everything that he has written is designed to do something to your heart.

He says we write this to make our joy complete. In other words, to promote the joy of the child of God. He says our joy and he means his own joy and the joy of those he's writing to, whom he calls his little children. And then the fourth reason he writes is to keep them from sin. In chapter 2 verse 1 He says, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

So he writes in order to protect his church from sin so that they would turn away from sin. And of course he ends the letter with these words, little children, keep yourselves from idols. He wants to protect them from the most harmful thing that can happen in their lives, and that is to make friends with their idols. So John is all about those four very particular objectives. And he talks to his readers like they're his family.

So he calls them little children. He's well on in years. He's an old man. In many ways, he's like a grandfather in Christ, and he's talking about the fact that after so many years of walking with the Lord, What does he see? He sees the love of God in Christ Jesus.

And he sees that our fellowship with God is a treasure and he also speaks very clearly that our fellowship with one another is also a treasure. And it's the kind of fellowship that you can't have in any other sector of society. It's a different kind of fellowship than you have Like if you're on a sports team or you're working in a company, there's a certain kind of fellowship you can have in those kinds of environments. But it's nothing like the fellowship that you have in the church where the Spirit of God binds you together in love. So he's speaking of this matter of family life.

He is talking to his little children. And you can tell a lot about his priorities. After all those years, what does he think is the most important thing? Love. That's it.

You know, when you go through all the phases of your life and you live many years, you end up realizing that love really is the most important thing. And so John is dealing with that. Now let's talk about the authorship of this letter. Well the undisputed author of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John is John the Apostle. John the Apostle, the disciple whom Jesus loved as he refers to himself in the Gospel of John.

He's one of the sons of thunder. He is the one whom Jesus charged with to care with his mother Mary while he was on the cross. He's the author of the Gospel of John. He's the author of the book of Revelation. But what's his history?

Well, most scholars believe that he began to follow Christ at maybe 16 or 17 years old, that he might have been the youngest disciple of Jesus. And the Lord changed him dramatically. And you see this in his role as one of the sons of thunder, you know, where they wanted to call down fire upon men. He was probably brash, probably outspoken and a loudmouth. He definitely was very aggressive and wanted to call fire down upon some, and the Lord Jesus Christ had a different way in dealing with men.

Some people say that you can tell it was written by an old man who repeats himself because John, he tends to loop back. He brings up a subject, goes on to another one, comes back to that subject. Maybe gives a little bit more illumination, But the letter has been described as having kind of concentric circles that where there's a return to various layers of the circle, almost like a spiral in a sense. But John sounds like a man who's looking back on his life, and he has his little flock in front of him, and he's counseling them. He's helping them to understand what's true and what's right.

And it's very clear that he's amazed at the love of Jesus Christ. So the other thing about John is that he's a disciple maker. John was discipling Polycarp in his later years. Polycarp, that great martyr of the church, who discipled Irenaeus and who discipled Ignatius. So John was a friend of these men, and Irenaeus quotes 1 John regularly in his writings.

And the first epistle of Polycarp is full of quotations from John. He cannot get over the words of John, particularly the words of John that he recites that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke. So that's John, and he is the indisputable author of this epistle. Let's talk about the time and the place of the writing. This was written late.

It seems to be written far after the Gospel of John. It's quite possibly the very last New Testament letter that was written in chronological order. When you get to the end of 1 John or 2 or 3 John, you may very well be reading the final witness of the apostles as they were written down. You also notice the simplicity of the language. You know, when I was in seminary, I learned that first-year Greek students translate a particular book of the Bible.

It's 1 John, because the vocabulary, the sentence structure is easier than most of the other books of the New Testament, far easier than the Apostle Paul, but very beautiful. And he doesn't use very many words. He has a, in a sense, a smaller vocabulary and very easy to translate. Where did he write it? Most likely from Ephesus.

He was ministering in that church, in that city, but also to churches in the region. And so he was making his residence in Ephesus. Irenaeus reports this and so perhaps It is true. So I just want to suggest that he wrote these three letters from Ephesus. He had already been on the island of Patmos, most likely.

You know, John didn't die as a martyr. He was almost killed. The tradition says he was boiled in oil, but he survived. Imagine what he looked like. But there he is.

He's an older man, a grandfatherly man, giving wisdom to those who haven't been alive as long as he has. Now, 1 John is full of rich doctrinal truth, and in your outline you'll see I've itemized many different doctrines. Let's just stop along the way at a few of these. Sin, the doctrine of sin. John makes it very clear regarding the origin of sin.

He says that the devil is the one who sinned from the beginning. He says that sin is like darkness. He says that sin is lawlessness, that sin is unrighteousness. You can read about that in 1 John chapter 1 verses 5 through 7, 1 John 3 verse 4, and 1 John 5 verse 17. And he makes it very clear that every person is a sinner.

And if you say that you have no sin, you're a liar. That's the doctrine of sin. Then there's the whole doctrine of life and death. And in 1 John 2 25 he says, And this is the promise that he has promised us, eternal life. And in chapter 3 verse 14 he says, We know we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.

He who does not love his brother abides in death. Now John also speaks of light and darkness as he does in his gospel. And so in 1 John 1 5 he says, this is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. In chapter 2 verses 8 through 11, he talks about what's happening in the life of the believer, and he says that the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. In other words, when you become a Christian, it's like a reverse eclipse where the light keeps shining more and more and the darkness is fading away as this reverse eclipse advances.

He's talking about what happens in a person's life, that they are ever increasingly breaking out light. Truth and lies. He speaks of these matters in 1 John 1.6. He says, if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we do not practice the truth. In chapter 2 verse 4, he says, he who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

John's making it very clear that there are posers in the church. They say one thing, but they actually do something different and it makes them liars. John is saying over and over again, it's not really what you say, but it's who you really are. It's the real you that defines who you are. Not necessarily just your thoughts or your positions or your knowledge about doctrine or theology.

These things aren't the most important things. The most important thing is who are you really? It's not what you say. It's who you are. Now one of the great doctrinal elements of 1 John is the doctrine of love and hate, and he speaks about hating your brother, And he speaks of the fact that if you do not love, you do not know God.

If you hate your brother and say you love God, you're a liar. And the truth is not in you. John talks a lot about love. He speaks of the incarnation of Christ and the fact that the incarnation of Christ opens the door to fellowship with Him. He talks about the Holy Spirit.

He talks about the Trinity. He speaks of Jesus Christ as our advocate in 1 John 4, 10 and 1 John 2, 1 and 2. He says that if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father. This is the greatest blessing to know that, because you will sin. And when you sin, you have an advocate with the Father.

You have someone who's defending you before your Father's throne. Also one of the most encouraging doctrines letter is the matter of the doctrine of the devil that Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. He came to destroy the works of the devil in you and in me, and he does it by degrees, as in the same way that this matter of the light is shining and it's gobbling up the darkness. It's a devil destroying power that's in your life. He speaks a lot about the doctrine of sanctification.

In 1 John 3, he says, everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. So there's this ever purifying process that's taking place. It's called sanctification. He talks about perseverance and that whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. He's saying that if you're born of God, you will overcome the world, that He will keep you.

He'll hold you. He'll see you through. You can guarantee it because He who is born of God overcomes the world. There's the doctrine of adoption. There's the doctrine of the likeness of Christ in the believer.

In 1 John 3, 2, he says, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." This is a promise that you'll be like Him. You won't be like yourself. The things that you hate about yourself, those things will go away. And you will be like Him.

You will be like the most wonderful being who has ever walked the face of the earth. You will be like Him, and you'll have His qualities. You know, he speaks of the fact that true Christianity is not a one-time confession, but it's an ongoing abiding. In 1 John 2, 6 he says, He who says he abides in him ought also to walk, just as he walked. And so, there are so many areas that John covers, two final areas I'll mention, that the sum of Christianity is love.

In 1 John 4 20 he says, If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him that he who loves God must love his brother also and then he also speaks of obedience that that the outflow of love is always obedience in first John 5 2 & 3 By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and His commandments are not burdensome. So if you love God, you'll keep His commandments.

The love always comes first, and it's when you look at His commandments and you don't think they're burdensome, You think they're wonderful, and so you want to obey them. That's how it works. That we love Him because He first loved us, and because we love Him, we keep His commandments. That's the progression that takes place in the life of the believer. The love comes first and then the commandments are kept.

So that's the deal with 1 John. Now he talks quite a bit about the matter of loving your brother. He wants his little children to understand how critical that is, how critical love is in the church. When you get right down to it, love is the summary of Christianity. It's the summary of every law of God.

It's the summary of God. And so loving one another is critical. When you find someone who doesn't love another Christian, It bears witness that they may not love God. So there are many tests of salvation in John. Now I have listed 16 of them, and I'll just read them to you quickly, but John is very gentle in his letter.

He has very few commands. He's not really confronting people very often. He's really just stating truths, and he's mainly saying, we love God and here's what it looks like. That's basically how he's saying it. He's not saying, test yourself, test yourself, test yourself, but he's saying, this is who we are and these are the things that bear witness that we love God.

That's how He presents it. But you can read them and say, am I a Christian? Am I like that? So in a way they are tests, but he doesn't really present them as tests. He really presents them as realities that are already existing.

But they are helpful for us to say, does that reality exist in my life? So I'm going to list these tests. Test number one, do you walk in darkness? 1 John 1.6, if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. The second test, do you claim to have no sin?

1 John 1.8, if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Test number three, do you keep his commandments? 1 John 2.3, Now by this we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. Test number four, Do you hate your brother? 1 John 2 9, He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now.

Test number five. Do you love the world? First John 2.15 says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. And the sixth test is do you deny Christ?

In 1 John 2 23 John writes, whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Number seven, do you purify yourself? 1 John 3 3 and everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself just as He is pure. Number eight, are you cleansed from sin?

1 John 3.6, whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him or known Him." Of course, he's talking about repetitive sin that's never turned away from. It's a pattern of your life he's talking about. And then the ninth, do you practice righteousness? First John 3, 7 says, Little children, let no one deceive you.

He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Number 10, are you a murderer? 1st John 3, 15, whoever hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Number 11, do you shut up your heart to your brother? 1 John 3.17, Whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

And then number 12, do you have the Spirit? 1 John 3.24 says, Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. And then number 13, do you hear the preaching of the Word? 1st John 4 6, we are of God.

He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error. And then number 14, do you love one another? 1 John 4, 7, and 8.

Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." And then number 15, do you confess Christ as the Son of God? 1 John 4, 15, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God abides in him and he in God. And then number 16, the last one, do you claim to love God, yet hate your brother?

1 John 4 20. If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom He has seen, how can He love God whom He has not seen?" So those are various tests, but remember John doesn't deliver those tests by saying, check yourself. He communicates it in a veiled way by saying, here we are. We do these things and it's a mark that we love God.

John wants His disciples to know. He really wants them to know. Twenty-two times in this letter John says, we know or you know. And for example in 2-3 he says, by this we know we are in Him if we keep His commandments. In chapter 2 verse 18 he says, by this we know that it is the last hour.

Well he wants his readers to have assurance of things, to have a confident faith, not to be tentative, not to wonder who they really are, but to know. I think John wanted to affirm those in that church who had been afflicted by false teachers, and he wanted them to know that they know that they know Jesus Christ and they could rest in it. It's a letter that really is designed to bring about an assurance of your salvation so that you know. And John ends with something that's really very consistent with everything that he said. He says, little children keep yourselves from idols.

And what John is saying is, brothers and sisters, the worst thing that can happen to you is to be separated from God. The worst thing that can happen to you is not to have fellowship with Him, to not have an awareness of Him, to not know that He's there, to not be a partaker of His divine nature. This is the worst thing that can ever happen to you. And there is only one thing that can divide you from the Lord, your idolatry. And so He says, keep yourselves from idols so that you would have such a fellowship.

So that you would always have everything you need everywhere you go and in whatever circumstance you face because all you need is fellowship with God. When you have that You can navigate any river, you can cross any ocean, you can go through any storm, you can meet any enemy. Fellowship with God is the most important thing. So that's 1 John. Now let's go to 2 and 3 John.

Now 2 and 3 John are the shortest books in the New Testament. 2 John is the second shortest book and 3 John is the shortest book in the New Testament. And 2 John is addressed to the chosen lady or the elect lady, and the question that scholars struggle with is, is this literal or symbolic? Is it a real woman? Is he writing to a woman in this church?

Or is he writing to the church? Because we know that the church is a picture of a bride and so it's possible that this woman is just a representative figure of the church. So is he writing to the church? I think he probably is writing to the church because later on he says he uses the plural and he says you. And if he's talking just to this woman I don't know why he would be using the plural.

But, you know, many scholars believe that it's written to a church, some believe it's written to a woman. I think it's probably written to a church, but I'm not sure it really changes how we should view the message. So let's walk through 2 John. And of course we find here, first of all, the elder, John speaking of himself, we don't know if he's talking about that he is of the office of the elder or whether he is an aged man. We know he's an aged man, but he says the elder, to the elect lady and her children whom I love in truth, and not only I but also all those who have known the truth because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever." So that's the salutation.

And then He speaks about walking in love and obeying His commandments in verses 4 through 6. I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth as we received commandment from the Father. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning that we love one another this is love that we walk according to his commandments this is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning that you should walk in it now if you've read first John you know that this occurs in 1 John. He's already spoken about this, and what he's saying again is that God defines what love is. His commandments define love.

All of His laws are laws of love. All of His commandments lead you into love. And I think what John is doing again is he's recognizing that we're always in need of deliverance from our own definitions of love, That God defines what love is. And we often learn things that contradict love. We grow up in homes and we often learn wrong things about love, and we have wrong thoughts about what love is.

And so John is saying, no, don't rely on yourself, don't rely on your background, rely on the Word of God. Keep His commandments. That is love. And so the way to love is not to find your feelings, it's not to find the way you connect with people. That's not love.

Love is keeping His commandments. You've got to always be being delivered from your vision of love because it's usually off course. And so He says this is love if we keep his commands. He says that in 1 John chapter 5 verses 2 and 3 as well. But he also wants us to recognize that Christianity, while it is about love, it's also about truth, and that's what we encounter in verses 7 through 11.

And so he's saying, yes, we ought to love one another, but beware of Antichrist deceivers. Verse 7, for many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist. Look to yourselves that we do not lose the things we have worked for but that we may receive a full reward." So there are deceivers that are coming into the church. He uses the word transgressors or deceivers.

Here they do not confess that Jesus Christ has come into the church. Now, when he says that they transgress, he uses a word that means to run ahead. He's talking about people who view themselves as advanced, going beyond the basic things. They have super knowledge. They have super gnosis.

And they're progressives. They are inventors. They go further. They create a more compelling and contemporary vision of Christ. They want to appeal to a certain group.

In this case, I think that there were the Docetists, and there were people who wanted to appeal to the Docetists, the Gnostics and Syrenthias, and they were the popular movements that people could identify with and they wanted to mix Christianity with their philosophy so that they could have a broader religion, really probably a cooler religion. They wanted something more advanced, something more interesting, something better than what was already revealed. They wanted a more exciting religion that connected with the cultural things that were happening at that time. But what's Christianity? Christianity is obedience.

You go forward in Christianity through obedience to things that are already revealed. You don't go forward in Christianity by becoming to having this new great hot vision because Christianity isn't about your vision. It's not about your passion. It's about obedience to God. This is really critical, particularly in our times.

You know, everybody wants to be so radical today. Young people especially. They want something radical. They want something more exciting, and the truth is often it's a longing for something other than Christianity which is defined by obedience to God and so he says he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him.

For he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." So John is saying, look, you do not promote, you do not practice hospitality with those who contradict Christ. It's not loving. He talked about love, now he's saying it's not loving to practice hospitality. Do not even greet them. Don't bring them into your house.

Don't bring heretics into your house. Don't bring false teachers into your house. And then he gives a final greeting after talking about this matter of the truth and love, which he'll continue to talk about later in the next episode. But in verses 12 and 13, he gives us farewell. And he says, having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak to you face to face." What's John saying?

I have so many more things I want to write, but I want to come and talk face to face. Okay, so that concludes second John. Let's go to third John, and there are various characters here. There's Gaius, there's Demetrius, and there's Diotrephes, three critical characters. He's greeting Gaius.

Again, 13 verses. It's the shortest book in the New Testament in the Greek text. There are two words here that are critical, truth and love. Truth is mentioned six times. Love is mentioned four times.

And then there's another word, walk. It's mentioned three times in verses four through six. It's about walking in the truth and walking in love. And he's talking about the balance of truth and love and how they work together. They're not contradictory.

He's talking about, and this is really important, how love can be loveless and downright worthless and lawless, and how truth can become loveless and downright harsh and also lawless. He's talking about the mix of truth and love. Now everything in 3 John can be found in 1 John except verses 9 through 11. This is new stuff in 9 through 11. And so when you get to verse 9 you read this, I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.

Therefore if I come, I will call to mind his deeds, which he does, prating against us with malicious words, and not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. And then in verse 11 he says, don't imitate him. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. So there's this person in the church named Diotrephes.

He's not a good man. He hasn't really seen God. He uses malicious words. And the essence of the message is this. Those who love the truth do not promote or help the enemies of Christ.

There are deceitful teachers, there are false teachers, there are self-proclaimed apostles, there are people who are in the ministry but they're not really in the ministry of Christ. They're doing something else and He's saying don't show hospitality to them. We live in a day now where people, you know, evangelicals want to get unified with Roman Catholics and they want to get unified with Jewish rabbis and things like that and they want to bring people like Benny Hinn into the fold and TD Jakes and other mystics and false teachers. And what he's saying is don't show hospitality to them. It's not loving to do that such a thing.

Okay, so let's begin at the beginning here. There's the greeting, the elder to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth so we were introduced to Gaius remember there are three characters here Gaius is the first one four times John refers to Gaius as beloved so he's a beloved brother This is the first person we meet. And he says, Beloved, I pray that you prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. For I rejoice greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you. Just as you walk in the truth, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth." Gaius is walking with the other children of God And John says that Gaius' soul is a soul that prospers.

He's doing well in his soul and that he does love the truth. And then in verses 5 through 8, Gaius is commended for his faithfulness and his hospitality. Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers. So Gaius was a lover of strangers and he faithfully cared for strangers who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God you do well because when they went forth for his name's sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles, we therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers with the truth." So John is talking to Gaius and he's just recounting about the hospitality that he had.

That there are people that are traveling, there are ministers, who go forth for His namesake. There are preachers, and in the ancient world there were inns and things like that, but what happened in the churches, people began to take care of the preachers in their homes. Gaius was doing that. He was bringing them in and he was giving them provisions for the journey. He did it faithfully.

He did it out of love. He did it before the church. He was a blessing to the church. And these men are traveling for His namesake or for the sake of the name. The sake of the name.

And, you know, in the Dita Kaye, which was one of the early writings of the church fathers, which spoke about church polity and church practices and things that were happening in the early church. The Deedah case says that a preacher should be given lodging and food to reach the next night's lodging, but if he asks for money, he's a false prophet. If he asks for money. Now, the Bible is full of hospitality commands, and so we could go off in that rabbit trail, but Gaius was a hospitable man. Then we meet the next person, Diotrephes.

This is a divisive man and he does not see God. In verses 9 through 11 we read about Diotrephes. And Diotrephes' name means nourished by Zeus and he loves to be first. You see that in verse 9. Take a look at verse 9.

I wrote to the church that Diotrophy's who loves to have the preeminence among them. Here is a person in the church. He loves to have preeminence. He has a strong personality. He's a bully.

He's always right. He's cantankerous. He's intimidating. He's abusive. He's oppressive, and he is discrediting the apostles, and he gains supporters with smooth words like Romans 16, 17, and 18 says.

We know that he is at odds with John and the church. At the end of verse 9 he says he does not receive us. He's written us off. Therefore if I come I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. So he's doing deeds against John and the church.

He is coming against the brethren with malicious words and not content with that, he does not receive the brethren and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. So he's personally dissected the church and said, you're out and we're in. He's done that personally and he's slandering John, he's slandering the other believers in Ephesus, and he's using malicious words, speaking evil of the brethren. He's talking about men who set themselves up as protectors of the church and guardians of the truth and that they gossip about people that they disagree with and they don't receive the brethren. What does John say in verse 11?

Do not imitate what is evil. Don't imitate it, but imitate what is good. He who does good is God, but he who does evil has not seen God. And so it's easy to be influenced by forceful and brilliant people who are divisive around us. It happens, and they're often impressive.

They communicate their positions powerfully, and it's easy to capitulate to them and follow them. And that's, and John is saying, don't follow them. Only follow what is good. But then he says, don't imitate diographies, but imitate Demetrius. That's verse 12.

Now Demetrius is a whole different kind of person. What a dear brother he must have been. Verse 12, Demetrius has a good testimony from all and from the truth itself and we also bear witness and you know that our testimony is true." So Demetrius was different. And so with these three characters, Gaius, this exemplary hospitable brother, Diotrephes, this abusive and oppressive person in the church, and then Demetrius, who had a good testimony and is full of the truth. And then there's this farewell greeting.

It concludes 3 John in the same way that he concluded 2 John, where he said, I wanted to write so many things to you, but I want to tell you face to face. He does the same thing in third John. He had a longing for that kind of communication, and he says, peace be to you. You know, Demetrius was stirring up strife. John was calling for peace.

And his final words speak of the fellowship that the saints enjoy when they have fellowship with God. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name. This is friendship. This is the friendship and the fellowship that exists in the church where there is friendship that develops, and in God's grace, they are lifelong friendships.

But what John is saying in in 3rd John here is that be very careful to practice hospitality in godliness and that you have a proper understanding of truth and love. And love doesn't mean that you show hospitality to everyone, particularly the enemies of Christ. Love does mean that you find yourself like Gaius and very much like Demetrius, who had a good testimony and who is filled up with the truth. So there it is, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. The glory, the joy, the beauty of fellowship with God that creates all these things that John speaks of in these three letters.