BOOK OF 3 JOHN

By David J. Riggs

Intro.
   A. John gives his own brief introduction.
   B. "THE ELDER" - This is the same title as given in the book of 2
      John. John is now older.
      1. No one knows the date of 3 John, but it is thought to have
         been written near to the close of John's life around the    
         close of the first century.
   C. "To the beloved Gaius" - There are five individuals by the name
      of Gaius who are mentioned in the N.T. Acts 19:29; 20:4; Rom.
      16:23; 1 Cor. 1:14; 3 John 1
      1. No one knows if any of these were the same person to whom
         John was writing.
   D. "Whom I love in truth" - John mentions Gaius as the "beloved"
      four times in this short epistle.
      1. Gaius was, no doubt, a close friend to John, and a fine
         Christian that John truly loved.

I. Verse 2
   A. John and the N.T. writers set the example of praying for fellow
      Christians.
   B. John prays that Gaius might enjoy good health to the degree:
      "just as your soul prospers."
      1. Sadly, with many the opposite is true. Their spiritual      
         health does not measure up to their physical health.

II. Verses 3-4
   A. The tense of the word "came" in the Greek is "were continually
      coming."
      1. Gaius had a good reputation (a good name) in the
         brotherhood. Prov. 22:1
   B. Verse 4 indicates that Gaius was one of John's spiritual       
      children. 
      1. Paul had spiritual children. 1 Cor. 4:15; 1 Tim. 1:2
   C. The good reports about Gaius (that he was walking in truth)
      caused John to have the greatest joy.
      1. 1 Thess. 2:19-20 - To keep ourselves faithful, and to       
         convert some lost soul to Christ is the greatest work we can
         do on this earth.

III. Verses 5-8
   A. "And for strangers" - Heb. 13:2
   B. The phrase "send them forward on their journey" is one word in
      the Greek, and it involved "practical assistance to servants of
      God in their journeys" (Vine), "escort or aid in travel"       
      (Strong).
      1. By Gaius' example, we are encouraged to individually
         support preachers of the gospel. Titus 3:13; Gal. 6:6
   C. "Because they went forth" - They left the comfort and security 
      of their homes to preach the gospel.
      1. "For His name sake" - For the sake of the name of Christ
         they went forth.
      2. "Taking nothing of the Gentiles" - It is not wise to take
         money while trying to make converts, or from new converts.
         a. Consider Paul's example while at Corinth. 2 Cor. 11:8-9
   D. Verse 8 - When we support preachers, we share with them in the
      rewards. Phil. 1:3-7; Matt. 10:41

IV. Verses 9-12
   A. In these verses Diotrephes is condemned, and Demetrius is
      commended. Probably, all three of these men (Gaius, Diotrephes,
      and Demetrius) were members of the same congregation.
   B. "I wrote to the church" - Some letters were not preserved by
      God; however, we have sufficient Scriptures to make the man of
      God perfect. 2 Tim. 3:16-17
   C. "Preeminence" - Diotrephes loved to have first place.
      1. This is a very real problem in many congregations today,
         especially in the smaller ones.
      2. Usually, a good teacher is well liked, and he can become    
         inflated with pride and step out of place.
      3. "Does not receive us" - Diotrephes rejected the authority of
         the apostle John.
      4. "Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds" - John
         was willing to take his stand against Diotrephes. To
         withstand strong, prominent leaders is very hard to do.
      5. "Prating" - This refers to empty, meaningless talk; wild
         charges which cannot be proven.
      6. "With malicious words" - This refers to words marked by
         malice or ill-will. It refers to words intended to hurt or
         destroy.
      7. "Putting them out of the church" - This shows that
         Diotrephes was a man of peeeminence and power.
         a. He cast out the church those whom he did not favor.
   D. "Do not imitate what is evil" - Do not imitate deeds similar to
      those of Diotrephes. Rom. 16:17-18
      1. "But what is good" - Imitate those who follow in the way of
         righteousness. Phil. 3:17
   E. Nothing further is known of Demetrius. He had a good testimony:
      1. "From all" - From all who knew him.
      2. "From the truth itself" - The truth bore witness of what    
         kind of person he was, which means he lived in harmony with 
         it.
      3. "And we also bear witness" - John and his companions bore
         a good testimony of Demetrius.
   F. "And you know that our testimony is true" - Gaius knew that
      John would give a true testimony. John 19:35; 21:24

V. Verses 13-14
   A. Like his words in 2 John 12, John had many other things to say,
      but he wanted to visit Gaius instead.
      1. Letters or phone calls are good, but a personal visit is
         better.
   B. "Peace to you." To have peace within our hearts, family, and
      congregation is a great blessing.
   C. "Greet the friends by name." - We need to work at learning the
      names of our brethren. There is something warm about hearing
      one's own name called.

Concl.
   A. Lessons from this short epistle:
      1. Let us do our best to support preachers.
      2. We need to always be humble, not like Diotrephes who loved
         preeminence.
      3. To have a good reputation like Gaius and Demetrius is what
         we need to seek after.
         a. This comes by godly living.