 All right. So we have completed second John. So now we will look at the third letter of John. Now this third letter of John is written to a person named Gaius, G-A-I-U-S. And it basically touches upon three things. It praises Gaius for some good thing which he has done. And then it criticizes another person named Biotrips for something bad that he has done. And there is a request made regarding a person named Demetrius. So these are just the basic three things that are dealt with in this particular letter. So to begin with, if we could have someone read out for us the first four verses of third John. If someone could read out for us the first four verses of the third epistle. Third John, the first four verses please. To the beloved Gaius, who I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. For I received, I rejoiced 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 truth. Amen. Thank you. I really appreciate your reading. Yeah, I know because it helps me when someone reads. So in this third letter as well, you have John just simply addressing himself as elder. He doesn't use his bigger title of apostle just simply refers to himself as an elder. And so he is writing to Gaius whom again he says I love in the truth just like he did in the previous letter. He's emphasizing the fact that all that they are doing, all that they feel for each other, all that they are accomplishing. It's all in the truth of Jesus Christ. So now who is this Gaius? There are basically two persons bearing this name in the New Testament. The first one would be in Acts chapter 1929 and also Acts 20 verse 4. So in these two chapters 19 and 20, this is the name of a person who was Paul's traveling companion. He was from the region of Galatia from a place called Derby and his name was Gaius. So this could be Paul's traveling companion who is being referred to over here. On the other hand, it could also be someone else who is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 114. In 1 Corinthians 114, when Paul goes to Corinth, he stays in the home of a person named Gaius. And in fact, he's the only person whom he personally baptizes in Corinth. So it may be referring to that person and then again it may be referring to just about somebody else named Gaius. But as far as we know, there are two Gaiuses mentioned in the New Testament, one in Acts and one in 1 Corinthians. So it could be one of those two persons or it could be somebody else altogether. So we have no knowledge regarding that. But one thing we get to know about this man Gaius, what an amazing compliment is given to him by John. It says in verse 2, Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you even as your soul is getting along well. Basically, what John is saying over here is that, you know, let your external health and all the things in your life may be as good as your internal health. So this man's internal health, his spiritual health must have been in excellent condition. So John is saying, you know, may your external health and may all the things in your life go as well as your internal life is going. And when I was just reading this yesterday, you know, in the night and I was meditating on the scriptures, the thought that came to me is, can someone give me a compliment like this? You know, because for most Christians, if you were to give them this kind, speak this particular sentence as a blessing over them. You know, and if you were to say to them, you know, let your external health be as good as your internal health. Goodness knows what condition they would be in because you see for many Christians, their internal condition, their spiritual condition is so bad. It is so pathetic that if their external health was the same as their internal health, they would probably be in a hospital ward, you know, connected to IV tubes. So over here, for John to so confidently say, may the rest of your life and may your health be as good as the way your soul is doing on the inside. What a compliment that is. Here is a man who is walking in God, who is renewing his mind on a daily basis, who is strengthening himself in his inner man. A person like this, because he is so healthy on the inside, John is able to say to him, may your external health be as grand as your internal health is. What a great compliment. So it's something that maybe we all need to ask ourselves, in what condition is my internal spiritual health? Can someone actually say this to me? Can they say to me, may your external health be as good as your internal health? So, you know, we kind of need to ask ourselves, what condition are we in? Now this man, why was his internal health, his spiritual health that great? It is because he was faithful to the truth is what we get to know in verse 3. John says, people have been testifying about how faithful you are to the truth, he says. And they've been telling John how this man is continuing to walk in the truth. And so he says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. So he refers to Gaius as my children. So maybe, you know, he, John had been mentoring him and, you know, speaking the scriptures to him. So he is so happy now to see this Gaius having grown up so well in the faith and he's walking in the truth. Not only is he just, you know, listening to the truth, it says continue to walk in it is what he says. People have been telling him how Gaius is continuing to walk in this truth, which means on a daily basis is applying it. So it actually basically comes down to that. If you and I want to have a really great internal health, spiritual health, we should be people who are not just listening to the truth, which is easy enough to do. You know, you just need to stay awake and keep your ears open and you'll be able to hear the truth. But are we practicing it? Are we literally walking in it? Are we applying it? Because then our internal health is going to be really good. So here is a man who was actually doing that and he was walking in the truth to the extent of showing kindness to strangers. This is what we find out in verses five, six, seven, eight. So, you know, if someone could read out for us, most probably to be Collins who will be doing that for us. Verses five, six, seven and eight, you know, if you could read out for us, please. Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers who has borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well because they went forth for his name in sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth. Amen. So in the earlier letter, we saw John very strictly warning the believers and telling them do not take people into your home who are false teachers. Now here it's the exact opposite. He's saying those who are true teachers of the word, those who are true missionaries of the gospel, please welcome them into your home. So, he's so glad that Gaius is doing this. Okay, so he says, dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brethren. He says, even though they are strangers to you, you have been willing to take them into your home. And so, he's so glad that Gaius has done this. And he says, you know, these people whom you took into your home and you know, you gave them hospitality while they were doing their ministry. They have told the church about your love. So when they came back, they told all of us about the love that you showed, you know, the way you treated them. And so John is so happy about it. And he says, you know, when these people come to you, he says, he sent them on their way in a manner that honors God. So because basically you see from here, from Gaius home, they'll be now be going to another town and over there, again, they will be sharing the gospel. So what does he mean by when he says, send them in a manner that honors God? Maybe he's referring to the fact that, you know, when they move on to the next place, they may not have finances. So maybe he would need to give them a contribution when they are leaving so that they will have enough in their hands to, you know, travel to the next place and stay somewhere till they can find a home which will be willing to take them in or maybe he's also saying send a letter of recommendation with them because this is basically how it operated in those days. So if you want to go and stay in a place, a lodging house is not going to be safe. So what you would do is you would take a letter of recommendation from someone that you know over here and they know somebody in that other town. So you take a letter from this person to that person over there and you give them that letter. So that person would read the letter and say, okay, fine. Someone that I know is recommending this person. So maybe this person is somebody acceptable. So then they would be willing to take you into their home and shelter you for a period of time. So John is probably referring to something like that. So when he says send them on their way in a manner that honors God is probably saying, you know, put something in their hands, put some money in their hands, you know, when they're going to the next place, they will, you know, their needs will be taken care of. Also, if they need a letter of recommendation and you know someone that you can recommend them to, then you know, please send a letter along with them so that when they go over there, they'll have some shelter, you know, in somebody's home. So John is very pleased with what Gaius is doing because he says, you see these people, these missionaries who are going from place to place, they are doing it for the sake of the name. You know, the name that has been rejected by these false teachers, you know, because these false teachers have corrupted the name of Christ. They're not teaching the true Christ. They are teaching an anti-Christ. They're teaching false Christs. So these people, they are traveling from place to place, you know, and living amongst strangers for the sake of the name. And obviously, they're not receiving any help from the pagans. You know, is what he says in verse 7. So it's basically us believers who should be helping because who else will they turn to? And then he says, we ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth. So when we, you know, show hospitality to such people, it's like as if along with them, we are doing the ministry work which they are doing. So I may not be an apostle or a teacher, you know, going from place to place, preaching the word and sharing the gospel. But at least I can open my home, you know, and I can maybe shelter them. I can provide them with a bed. I can provide them with food. And when I do that, I'm actually participating in the Great Commission. I'm actually fulfilling the Great Commission, you know, because I opened my door, now the Great Commission is getting fulfilled in my town. So what I am doing by just showing hospitality is almost as great as preaching and teaching. You see, so while those people who are traveling from, you know, place to place are actually speaking out the words because they have been given that gifting to, you know, explain the scriptures. This guy is who maybe has no ability to teach and preach just by opening his doors. He's participating in the Great Commission and bringing about its fulfillment. So imagine the reward that he would receive in heaven. He would receive a reward equal to the teachers and the preachers, you know, because he was, he fully participated in the Great Commission and did his part by giving hospitality to those people. So John is very pleased regarding these things. And then we also get to know why he is so pleased with Gaya's conduct because we get to know another aspect of this whole story in the next few verses. So if we could have, you know, one of us read out verses 9, 10, 11 and 12, 9, 10, 11 and 12, which opens up the next part of the story to us. I will write to the church. I wrote to the church, but diatrophies who loves to have the permanence among them does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, parting against us with malicious words and not content with that. He himself does not receive the brethren's and forbids those who wish to put them out of the church. 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. 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. Amen. Thank you. So here we get to know that there's this person named Diotryphus who seems to have some kind of an important position in the church. So here John is saying, I wrote to the church, but Diotryphus who loves to be first will not welcome us. So it looks as though John has sent a letter of recommendation to Diotryphus saying, please accommodate these missionaries whom I'm sending. Open up your doors to them. Welcome them, shelter them so that they can do their work. But this Diotryphus was not willing to welcome them. He rejected the recommendation letter which was sent. Why? Because he loves to be first. Maybe he regarded these traveling preachers and missionaries as competition because maybe he liked being prominent in the church and having an important position in the church and how everyone looks up to him and admires his teachings and all of that. And now here you have outsiders coming in and they know when they start preaching and teaching, then the congregation receives new truths from them and they are happy to learn more and he doesn't want to share the glory. He wants it all for himself. So it looks like he's a man, a very narrow-minded person who loves being praised, who loves being popular and he doesn't want to share his personal glory with others. So when these missionaries come over there, you know, sent by God to minister, he does not want them to come in. So what does he do this man? In verse 10, this is what John says about this man. He says, So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us, not satisfied with that. He even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. So this man, he seems to be an important person. So when someone tries to entertain these missionaries who are coming, he threatens them and says, I'll have you excommunicated from the church if you entertain these missionaries. So he's gone to that extent. And plus, he's spreading malicious wrong information regarding John and the others. And he's doing all of this because he loves to be prominent. You see, for him, self-promotion has become so important, that he's willing to go to the extent of throwing out people who are willing to entertain the missionaries. So actually, when Gaius took the step of taking people into his home, he did it at a great risk. He actually ran the risk of being thrown out by Diatriphus from the church, which basically indicates that Diatriphus must have had the support of the majority of the other members. Because if he was on his own, he would not have been able to excommunicate people, which means everyone held him in such high regard that they were willing to agree with him and participate in excommunicating people who are going against his orders. So which is why John says, when I come, I will call attention to this and I'll let people know what kind of a person he is. Then the congregation will realize what he is like and they will stop supporting him, because he is presenting himself as somebody that he is not. And then the congregation will realize what kind of a person he is, their eyes will be opened and he will lose the support which he has and he will be brought down to the place where he should be rightly put. So that is what John says. Now think about it. In the earlier letter when John said, do not entertain false teachers in your homes. He never added the threat and said, if you entertain false teachers in your home, then I will have you excommunicated. Imagine John himself did not make any threat like that. An apostle who was a disciple of Jesus, even he never made a threat like that and said, if you entertain false teachers, I'll excommunicate you. And here is somebody who is not even as great as John, who is going around excommunicating people as he wishes. It clearly shows that he is abusing his leadership position. And so a person like this, John says, I will put him in his place when I come there. I will warn everyone about what he is doing and so he says in verse 11, dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. So don't be like this dietary face. Don't follow his evil example. Continue to do what is good because he says, anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. This man, even though he is presenting himself as somebody very religious and spiritual, he has not seen God. He does not know the love of God. If he did, he would entertain the missionaries. He would not excommunicate people who are showing love towards the missionaries. So this is a man who has not seen God is what he says. And now he brings up this other issue, this third issue which he wants to talk about. So he speaks about a person named Demetrius. And he says, Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone and even by the truth itself, even the truth is speaking well about this man. We also speak well of him and you know that our testimony is true. So there are three categories of people or things which are testifying to the goodness of this Demetrius. Everyone is saying good things about him. The truth, the very truth, Jesus and his word, they are speaking well about him and John is also speaking well about him. Which means here is a man who is walking in the truth, is committed to the teachings of Jesus and he is following them and practicing them. So maybe, why is this Demetrius being mentioned at the end of the letter? Probably Demetrius is the man through whom this third letter is being sent to the church that is receiving it. So maybe John is telling Gaius, please shelter Demetrius, he is a good man and even the truth itself is speaking well of him. So maybe he is saying you need to shelter him and put him up at your place because everyone is speaking well about him. So Demetrius is probably the person who carried this third letter and went to that church in which Gaius was a member. And so with that, he ends this letter. He says, I have much to write you but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. He is kind of repeating what he has said in the earlier letter and then he says, I hope to see you soon and we will talk face to face. And then he says, the friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name. In the previous letter, it was talking about sisters. If you look at the very end of your second John, these are the words over there. It says, the children of your chosen sister send you their greetings. Over there, the churches are addressed as sisters. So they are all sister churches all belonging to the same family. So one sister church is greeting the other sister church. Here, the church communities are referred to as friends which is actually not a very common way of referring to the church. At that time, the term family sister was more common but probably these believers were thinking in terms of John 15 where Jesus says, you're no longer my servants but now you are my friends. So maybe they regarded themselves as friends of Jesus. So maybe that's the reason why the church community is being referred to as friends. So here, he says, the friends here greet the friends over there. So one church community is greeting the other church community and they are referring to themselves as the friends of Jesus. So just to touch upon that verse 12 where it says that even the truth is speaking well of Demetrius can we say that about ourselves, Jesus, the truth and the truth which he proclaims in his teachings. Can they speak well about us? Are we following the truth and living by it to an extent where Jesus himself is impressed and he's speaking well about us? Does he testify and say, yes, this is one person who's really committed to what I have taught and they are following my teachings and they are walking in love? So there are many interesting compliments which are scattered about in this letter. So can people give us such compliments? It's a question which we would need to ask ourselves even as we meditate on this particular letter. So this is about it. We looked at the Gospel of John and now we have looked at all the three letters that John has written. Lot has been conveyed as information but information becomes reality only when we practice it. So our goal should be whenever possible to meditate upon maybe some chosen passages from these letters and Gospel of John. Just meditate on some portions that the Lord has led us to and actively try to implement those in our lives because then the beauty of what God wanted to accomplish through those verses becomes a reality in our lives. Otherwise it just stays as information somewhere in the corner of our head and maybe someday when we have to preach maybe we will dig into our notes and take out those notes and preach but there's no real joy in that. On the other hand when we practice any of these scriptures it literally becomes Jesus living out his life in us and that kind of it adds value to our life, to our existence. So we should never just be hearers but we should be doers of all that we have heard. So let that be our goal even as we are ending this entire teaching. So let's just close with a word of prayer. Lord we are just committing ourselves into your hands. When John wrote his Gospel and when he wrote these three letters there was so much passion with which he wrote a lot. He really believed in what he was writing and it was so important to him that whatever he is saying should be imprinted on the hearts of his readers and so Lord even as we have gone through these things and had some revelations and learned some new things Lord we pray that through your Holy Spirit you would imprint these things upon our hearts and minds so that Lord they will not just be information in our heads but they will become things that we actually practice so that you the truth, the living word will literally live your life out in us and Christ will start getting formed in us Lord as a result of that. Lord we pray that that would happen for every one of us who has attended this course. We just commit all of ourselves into your hands so Lord bless each student, bless them in their lives so Lord bless them in their ministry so Lord and also bless them in all of their future studies we commit all of ourselves so Lord into your hands thank you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Amen. You're welcome Pastor. Thank you.