 today and so let's begin here in third John at verse one and I'll read the chapters only 14 verses we'll get into our study third John beginning at verse one the elder to the beloved Gaius whom 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 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 beloved you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and 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 will do well because they went forth for his namesake taking nothing from the Gentiles we therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth I wrote to the church but diatrophies 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 prading 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 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 we also bear witness and you know that our testimony is true I had many things to write but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink but I hope to see you shortly and we shall speak face to face peace to you our friends greet you greet the friends by name all right here we go third John third John centers on three people we just noted them three people in a local church the three people that we just read about our our Gaius diatrophies and amend by the name of Demetrius as we went through this I want you to remember that we just noted that Gaius and Demetrius were mentioned in a very positive way but diatrophies was mentioned in a negative way and we'll be seeing him again in just a few moments when we look at verses 9 through 11 as you look at this there are parallels between second and third John and because there are certain parallels between the two books that gives reason to scholars to date this book around the same time as second John was written and second John was written around the year 90 AD the purpose of this book is to encourage a man by the name of Gaius that he might continue in his Christian service to those who are in need so the question has to be asked why would John be writing a letter to a man by the name of Gaius with the intent of encouraging him to continue serving the Lord in the manner that he had why would that kind of encouragement be necessary I mean there are those who would think that serving God in and of itself is not only fulfilling but is a lot of fun and indeed it is there there's a whole lot of fun and joy in serving the Lord but there are those who would who would say I isn't that what you're supposed to have every day I mean walking with the Lord it isn't it just every morning is just a great morning you know you wake up and and you know the sun is shining and there are birds singing outside your window and and if your marriage your wife turns and says oh baby I love you and she doesn't have morning breath I mean it's just a great isn't life great serving Lord indeed it is of course I mean what other life is there that is more fulfilling than the life of serving Jesus Christ there is no there is nothing there is no other thing in life that is as fulfilling but that doesn't mean that serving the Lord is always fun because sometimes it's just plain difficult isn't it sometimes walking with the Lord isn't as easy as we would like it to be sometimes it's real tough sometimes it's it you can go through pain and you can go through sorrow and disappointments you know ministry and we're looking at ministry here when he's speaking to Gaius a man who's walking in truth is truly loved by John and and oh he's a man who was serving the Lord ministry in the context of speaking of Gaius and diatrophies is one who is also serving the Lord in a proper way ministry can be very very tough ministry very often is thankless it's not that you do ministry to hear thank you as a matter of fact the one thank you that you want to hear is from Jesus and it's not even a thank you it's a well done that you want to hear from him but it really is in many ways a very thankless way of life you see those who enter into a deeper service to the Lord sometimes can be overwhelmed and you can be overwhelmed by the problems that people have oh we all know this we know that people can be demanding we know that they can be mean we know that people can be cutting and bitter we know that people can be judgmental and vulgar they can be angry and self-righteous they can say what is on their mind they can complain and criticize they can be intentionally hurtful and that's just that's just my staff you ought to see it other people you see instead of dying to self which is what we're called to do there are many who profess to know Jesus Christ and I'm not saying that they don't by the way but there are many who profess to know Him who are expecting others to always serve them who expect others to make their lives better for them and in churches there are people who can be hurtful and can make serving the Lord very difficult in many ways it's interesting how when the apostle Paul was writing to the church of Galatia how he spoke to them and gave them a warning it's found in Galatians chapter 5 verses 15 and 16 there the apostle Paul said if you bite and devour one another be aware lest you be consumed by one another I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh if you bite and devour you may consume each other and he had to speak to a group of people who who who are Christians but he says you need to walk in the spirit you need to be careful that you don't destroy one another you see people sometimes in in churches just like this can make unreasonable requests and and if you don't do what they want you to do then they are very quick to say well you're not a Christian because if you were a Christian you would have done what I needed you to do for me and there are people who will make demands that are improper and and you may have this heart to want to do the right thing and all and and sometimes they will ask you to do something that is really not necessarily the thing you're supposed to do but you can actually begin to feel that you're obligated to because somebody needs you to and after all you want to serve the Lord with all of your heart and it could be a trap I was a young man and I was in ministry I was in my late 20s at the time and I got a phone call at my house from a lady who was in the church that I was the assisting pastor in and she had called my house she had somehow gotten my home phone number and she called my house and she said you know my husband is a is a truck driver he's one of these long-haul drivers who leaves out a state and she says and I'm here alone and I'm afraid I'm afraid to be here by myself and she's speaking to me on the phone and it's a Saturday evening and she says can you come and spend the night at my house so I I said well let me ask Marie that's a true story that's true this it's true I'm not teasing you it's true let me ask my wife so I call Marie over I said baby I said there's a lady who's afraid to be alone and she wants me to come and spend the night at her house she's gonna have me sleep on her couch because she's afraid now listen I'm wanting to serve God I'm wanting to be there for somebody in need that's the whole motivation I don't know who this woman is she told me her name and but I didn't know who she was but she was in need so I tell my wife baby should I go over there and spend the night and Marie is very innocent my wife is innocent too and she says well whatever the Lord leads you to do honey she says but why didn't you call Marco now Marco was the pastor of the church that I served so I said okay I tell the lady I said let me call the pastor and see what his advice is on this she says okay what's your phone number I say she gets it to me and I said I'll call you back in a few minutes and I called Marco and he said Marco there's a woman who's afraid her husband's a long haul driver he's not around she wants me to sleep on her couch to protect her because she's afraid no I'm stupid I mean I'm gonna leave my wife and my small children alone unprotected but at the same time I'm thinking this woman's in need see that's what happens so Marco says no no no he said you know that can be a trap and you know that you could get maybe have a problem and I hadn't thought about it and so I didn't go I didn't go but I'll tell you those things come up you know if I ever sat down and wrote a book I could tell you stories that are are not like that but similar in so many ways where you want to serve the Lord but sometimes the demands that are made can be so difficult and when you don't yield to the demand then immediately the person who didn't get their way with you in whatever way it was that they wanted to get their way you're the bad person and you can feel bad you can feel bad because you didn't do it people can be very demanding and that's a fact and so John is writing and John is writing to a man by the name of Gaius and he's encouraging him he's encouraging him to continue his service to the Lord and he wants him to remember that the work that he's doing for the Lord is not going unnoticed in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58 Paul said therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord and so John is encouraging him to remain faithful you see doing good can sometimes seem to be thankless job but we look forward to the reward in Galatians again in chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 Paul said let us not grow weary while doing good for induced season we shall reap if we do not lose heart and therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all especially to those who are of the household of faith in 2nd Thessalonians 3 13 as for you brethren do not grow weary and doing good and so he's writing to encourage this man to remain faithfully doing that which he has been called to do and so one he's writing to encourage Gaius to remain faithful in his service to God and secondly and we'll see this in a moment he writes to expose the prideful power hunger of a pastor named diatrophies diatrophies was arrogant he was a proud pastor he was what we would refer to as a control freak he was a total dominator is what he was and he was using his position to undermine John the apostle the last remaining one the last one standing the last one alive he's using his position to undermine the apostolic authority of the apostle John he's controlling the church in order to elevate himself now here's another thing for us as I'm introducing this in Lane a foundation we need to remember that ministry is not a pecking order of spiritual greatness and it is not a position that is intended to be exercised in the manner that power positions can be exercised here in the United States it isn't that way you you we have public servants in our church and there are those who who you know police officers of public servants you know and various people in political positions originally and for the longest time have been referred to as public servants and that's what they're supposed to be the number one servant of the public is really supposed to be our president public servants that's what they're supposed to be in the longest time there has been a acknowledgement of that that fact and yet what have we seen over the history of this of this great country of ours if it isn't that people who enter into politics eventually become people who get rich off of politics and see somewhere along the line seeing themselves as being the servants of the people and begin to dominate I mean that's something that that happens and we've seen it take place ministry is a place of service and and care for others is what is supposed to be done and is to be occupied this ministry is to be occupied by those that are referred to as servant leaders in in Matthew's gospel in chapter 20 in verses 25 to 28 Matthew writes Jesus called them together and said you know that in this world kings are tyrants and officials lorded over the people beneath them but among you it should be quite different whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant whoever wants to be first must become your slave for even I the son of man came here not to be served but to serve others and to give my life as a ransom for many it has been said that the kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom when you look at corporations and you look at the executive positions and all they're usually in a pyramid and at the very top of the pyramid you'll have the CEO president or whatever that office whatever the title may be and then you have the echelons of others to the foundational workers who are the minimum wage workers and all the kingdom of God isn't supposed to be a pyramid of that nature it's actually reversed because the greatest in the kingdom is the servant and Jesus said the son of man didn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Theotrophies doesn't understand that he wants the preeminence he wants to be well known he wants to exercise authority and he's become a bully and he's become a tyrant he didn't understand the heart of ministry it's interesting how it says notice in verse nine how it says he loves the preeminence now when it says he loved the preeminence he might have grown to enjoy being the center of the attention in that church it doesn't say but that there are there are ways let's see okay I know that I may have pastors in here right now sometimes we have pastors who are taking vacations and come and visit us perhaps I have a pastor here or somebody who is a staff member in a church somewhere else and all perhaps it's happening in the past it could happen tonight when you begin a ministry very often what happens is I mean you you do everything everything you know one of the reasons why Calvary Chapel ministries can be successful is because they're uncomplicated our ministries are uncomplicated you know when this church first began anything that needed to be done needed to be done well it wasn't that tough to do I mean Marie was the first children's ministry overseer I mean if you go into the into the main sanctuary and you look at the little calendar that we have there and you start looking at the different pictures perhaps some of you have already done this there's one picture there were there's a young woman who's who's ministering to some children perhaps you've seen that picture if you look at that picture closely that's Marie Marie's in that picture and the first kid that you see sitting there is my son David when he was a little boy and next to him is my niece charity and next to him is one of the little boys in the church named Adam who my new since he was eight months old and so what you have is a very basic church when we started our church we you know we we didn't have really what you'd call a worship team we had a guitar player and two guitar players and vocalists we we didn't have our first bulletin I'm the first bulletin I still remember it because a guy named Steve read it and he said events of the week and he said Monday nothing Tuesday nothing then he said Wednesday we have a home Bible study everybody cheers I mean all 30 of us yeah you know Thursday nothing Friday nothing Saturday nothing Sunday we're going to get together again yeah that was it that was our bulletin that was it I remember Marie taking the kids out for a walk as part of their curriculum I guess I don't know for a Sunday school there were only about 10 of them and she came running back to the house because they had upset a hive of bees and the bees were chasing them down the street so so things started out very small don't have worship teams don't have buildings don't have multiple staff I remember when my board said to me we want to buy a tape duplication machine and I said why so that we can duplicate the tapes I said why who's going to want to hear it more than once that's a fact who's going to want to hear this more than once well they're asking for tapes I don't think so why would want and I don't think so why would we do that how much how much will it cost for a tape duplicator it was several hundred dollars I said I don't think so that's too expensive and and I thought it was and I also said if we spend that money on a tape duplicator so we can see one or two tapes go out you're spending my salary because we don't have any money in the bank you're going to bankrupt us buying a tape duplicator so I said to them do you really feel the Lord is in this yes we do is this something the Spirit of God is telling you to do yes it is I said then if that's of the Lord then you need to get it and do you know the next week and we had a very small church the next week the next day this was a Saturday the next day when they received the offering which we didn't take offerings you know we didn't receive offerings we just had a coffee boxes the amount of money that was necessary to pay for that tape duplicator the offering was increased that one Sunday they covered that tape duplicator and you learn these things this is how these kinds of things have happened many times you learn how when God guides God provides but when you when you start thinking well look at we've got 30 people listen you don't run around boasting because you have 30 people in a church and you don't run around boasting of how important and powerful you are because you have 60 people in a church you don't do it when you have 200 even though you may not know this the average church on a Sunday morning in the United States has a membership of 65 people I don't know if you knew that that's the average in the United States on a Sunday morning the average church are the 500,000 plus churches here in our great nation the average church has 65 people in it churches with over 65 people are actually unusual you may not realize that because of where you live but that's just a fact and so you have a hundred you have two hundred you have five hundred you have a thousand you have two thousand whatever the case may be you can begin to start thinking that you are very important and that's what happened to diatrophies he loved to have the preeminence it may be that diatrophies was a younger man and John was an older man and that diatrophies is saying I don't want to hear some old man why would I listen to an old man listen today we have people I've had people refer to me and some of my friends is the dinosaurs of Calvary Chapel because we're older men to them and they're basically saying get out of the way so we can lead get out of the way we've got plenty to say and that's not unusual that that happens and it's even happening as I speak get out of the way so we can lead and diatrophies is a man the scripture says loves the preeminence and so because of that John has to deal with them you see church church members need to be aware that they can contribute to that kind of self-importance that a pastor can have the Corinthians when you read first Corinthians the Corinthians were men who were the people who were caught up with with comparing men and and when you read it from the very beginning in the first chapter the apostle Paul writing a word of correction to the Corinthians tells them there are divisions amongst you because some are saying I'm a Paul I'm of Apollos I'm of Cephas and and some are even going so far saying and I'm of Christ I don't need any of you I'm just going to be a pure Christ follower and so he says this is what's taking place in chapter 3 he says this kind of spirit is a spirit of carnality because you're exalting men and if somebody has a weakness a weakness of disposition where he needs to be the center of attention there will always be somebody who will place them there there will always be somebody who will say oh nobody preaches like so and so nobody is like so and so he's just amazing the voice of a God that kind of thing and if you aren't careful you can buy into it the same voices crying out one day who's Zana the next week are saying crucify and that's why long long ago and I share this with pastors and pastors conferences and all you never I learned this a long time ago you never take the worst thing people say to you because they don't know and the best things that they say don't listen to them because you're not as bad as they say and you're not as good as they say either you're somewhere in the middle so just enjoy serving Jesus and don't worry about being free a minute see diatrophies had that problem and that's one of the things I have to tell you in ministry that destroys churches no as we begin that's your introduction Gaius has welcomed ministers into his home Gaius has has cared for their needs he's given them meals he's lodged them he's given him financial aid he's taken care of their necessities and in doing so Gaius is simply living a Christian life he's being obedient to scriptures command he's caring for people who are sacrificially serving the Lord in Galatians again in chapter 6 verse 10 it says we have operate as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers do good do good to all people Hebrews 13 verses 1 and 2 keep on loving each other as brothers do not forget to entertain strangers by for by by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it you know the Bible says let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially those who labor in the word and doctrine scripture says you shall not muzzle and ox well it treads out the grain and the labor is worthy of his wages and so diatrophies the pastor of the church is opposed to Gaius performing this kind of ministry because he wants to maintain his preeminence you see selfish ambition and a longing for power motivates his response now Gaius was acting responsibly and helping these people because they were the genuine article on the other hand diatrophies is in the wrong because his motives are impure he's not acting as a shepherd he's acting as a bully he's not serving the people with humility he's actually overbearing in 1st Peter chapter 5 verses 2 and 3 the apostle said care for the flock of God entrusted to you watch over it willingly not grudgingly not for what you will get out of it but because you're eager to serve God don't lord it over the people assigned to your care lead them by your good example and so with that in mind we can see why John chose to use certain words repeatedly in this letter he uses the word beloved in love seven times he uses the word truth and true seven times and so he's saying this in verse 1 the elder to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth this is a very simple introduction he's the elder the last surviving apostle of the original 12 he is the leading elder in the body of Christ and so he's writing Gaius notice how he says whom I love in truth so that tells us this is a personal letter it's to a member of the church that is pastored by diatrophies it's a simple affirmation he says I love you sincerely now verse 2 is an interesting verse because it's been miss misinterpreted a lot of times and perhaps some of you have heard this misinterpretation it says beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers this is this is a general blessing this is not a guarantee that you will be in health and that you will be financially prosperous I say that simply because this has been taken out of context many times it was a common greeting during that period it isn't a guarantee of health it's not a guarantee of prosperity what it is is a prayer a blessing a prayer blessing for spiritual growth and what John is saying here is this he's saying may God bless you in every aspect of your life may he bless you physically may he bless you spiritually and may he bless you materially every aspect of your life may God have his hand on you but it's not a guarantee it's not that if you read this and say oh check it out I'm supposed to prosper in all things so I'll go out and maybe I'll be the next you know mega millionaire and that kind of thing that's not what he's saying here at all he's saying may God bless your life keep that in mind because sometimes you'll hear somebody on TV who will give you a guarantee that you're gonna be perfectly healthy and always rich and that's just not what the scripture teaches I didn't prepare a study to show you why but Paul had said I've learned to have much and I've learned to have little but in all things I've learned one lesson that's to be content so whether I found or whether I'm a based in the center of the will of God I'm always blessed and so he says that now in verse 3 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 truth John rejoices he rejoices that Gaius is maturing in his walk with the Lord this by the way is the sincere prayer of every shepherd what would cause is a pastor's heart to rejoice that is children and talking about spiritual those whom God has placed are entrusted in their care it causes the pastor's heart to rejoice that his children walk in truth there are times when I have people approach me and they'll say I met so-and-so from your fellowship and I want to tell you what a blessing they are and I can't tell you I can't tell you what would joy that causes my heart to have it's a fact I say really yeah oh they're such a blessing and I'll say oh that's that's great praise the Lord and then there's been times when people said you know I ran into a little stinker from your church and any causes your heart to have sorrow for every on every level for every reason so you rejoice greatly when the children walk in truth you rejoice greatly but it's it's interesting that his greatest desire is that they should have a habitual walk in their faith you see he's rejoicing because his Christian faith John is rejoicing because guys his Christian faith isn't simply intellectual but it is practical it's something that is that has worked out this is this is a man who has been showing compassion for somebody in need like the Good Samaritan who when he saw somebody in need took some time and took some money and took some care and help this guy and you know it's it's a simple things like that though that took great sacrifice by the way for the Samaritan to do that but it's the simple things like that that demonstrate the depth of a person's faith whether it's very real or whether it's just something that is is intellectual because there are a lot of people who have an intellectual faith but not a practical faith they're able to talk about Jesus and talk about the Bible and talk about doctrine and and all of that but they don't love people very much and and so you have to you have to have the knowledge of the things of the Lord of course because that's the sword of the Spirit the Word of God and that with that sword we wield it in a variety of ways we use it sometimes as a as a combat weapon in spiritual warfare but it's also used as a as a surgeon's scalpel that removes things that are deadly to the body of Christ and it's always done with compassion it's always done with love you always minister at the love of the Holy Spirit and that's what Gaius was doing so he rejoiced he says in verse 3 when brethren came and testified of the truth that's in you there their his life was was so obvious that people actually came and spoke and said this man is a true a true follower of Jesus Christ you know the things that cause people to give testimony very often are the small things it's the simple courtesies the simple acts of kindness that speak to people's hearts now how was this shown well he says in verse 5 you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers who have born a 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 namesake taking nothing from the Gentiles the love was demonstrated by Gaius taking care of and supporting Christian ministers who had visited the church here's something for you that perhaps you already know or maybe you didn't know but hospitality hospitality in the ancient world was looked at as a sacred duty you read about the inns you know inns were generally dirty and flee infested and in the society in keepers really inhabited the lowest rung within that society and here's the reason why it's because they charged people for what should be given freely what should be given freely is hospitality and yet these people were making money off of those in need Plato called in keepers pirates who held guests for ransom before they allowed them to escape so he probably stayed in a motel six the ancient world the ancient world had a system of what is called guest friendships families would actually open their homes to family members from other countries all the traveling family member had to do was to bring a token of some kind of proofs my identification that they were part of the family and they were automatically to be sheltered that's how it worked and so if heathens were generous in caring for traveling strangers should not the church be more so in 1st Peter 4 9 it says offer hospitality to one another without grumbling I'll know your mom's gonna stay a week offer hospitality without grumbling Romans 12 13 share with God's people who are in need practice hospitality and so he said you've done well because they went forth in verse 7 for his namesake taking nothing from the Gentiles you've taken care of them now here's a couple of things I want to share with you notice in verse 6 how he says if you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God you will do well because they went forth for his namesake taking nothing from the Gentiles one he said if you send them forward on their journey the church's responsibility towards genuine ministers was to care for them generously they would shelter them they would feed them they would encourage them they'd provide funds for their for these traveling evangelists because they were worthy he says do so in a manner worthy of God in other words treat them as you would treat God himself so the church had responsibility towards these people secondly he says they went forth for his namesake when it says they went forth for his namesake they went out for the sake of the Lord they went everywhere for the sake of the Lord Billy Graham many years ago when he could still drive was in in one of the African nations that he was he was driving on one of the paths and decided that he was going to make a u-turn and a dirt path and so as he tried to navigate a u-turn you know he's trying to move his car here comes a car up the same path and the person in the car that was traveling in the same path was an American journalist and he got mad because here's this guy blocking the lane and so he sticks his head out the window and he yells at the driver of this car blocking him and he says this is what he says this is a quote he says where are you going for Christ's sake and Billy Graham sticks his head out the window and he says I go everywhere for Christ's sake well see that's the whole point it says they went forth for his namesake now when it says for his namesake their motives were pure they went out so that the name of Jesus Christ would be glorified listen one of the things that's really important in especially in a day when people are looking for heroes is there's really only keep this in mind and this is so practical that I think it can be lost on us as a church there's only one hero that I know of and that's Jesus Christ there's only one there's only one and and I say that's I say that's sincerely because a lot of times people can actually elevate a pastor who at one time had just been a humble servant to the position of a diatrophies by simply exalting him constantly oh there's nobody like you you're the best you know and bragging and boasting and that's just that's just not the proper thing to do you have to be careful with those kinds of things and you need to understand that we're all the same in the in the face of the Lord we're all the same we're just basically taking the gifts that God gave to us in use in them for his namesake and that's the way it should be everything that we do really ought to be for his namesake it's like what Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 4 5 when he said we don't preach ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your bond servants for Jesus sake see remember the false teachers had gone out in their own authority and they were making a profit off the people but these ministers went out for the name of the Lord and so he says in verse 7 they went forth for his namesake notice taking nothing of the Gentiles they were ministers not mercenaries and the church does have an obligation to support the spread of the gospel the world does not have that responsibility to support the spread of the gospel the church does trying to remember some details of something that happened a long time ago that could probably fit into this as an illustration many many years ago we were invited by group of churches when we were in Ontario so it's been a long time ago we were invited by a group of churches to be part of a of an outreach that they were planning to do in the city of Chino they were going to be renting the Chino high school stadium and it was going to be on 4th of July and apparently they had done it before and and they wanted the community to come as a community event and they wanted to have preaching of the gospel and this and that and they invited me to come and to join it on their meeting while we were there they began to speak concerning a variety of things and and apparently they had done it before and one of the pastors who was part of the meeting said he had said something like well last year we had this event and when we received the offering two young men came walking past me and one said under his breath I knew nothing's free and walk past and the pastor said something to the effect of I wanted to tell him then just get out of here if you're not willing to pay for it and that's what the pastor said in this meeting with other pastors and I am very quiet when I go to meetings I don't talk I just kind of sit there and I listen kind of creeps them out but I just I just sit there I have anything to say so I just sit there and if they ask me to speak I do if they don't then I remain quiet and so that's what I was doing and finally one of the pastors was there said to me they said David can you tell us how you receive offerings well at that time we didn't receive offerings and so I said you're asking the wrong person about receiving offerings so why is that I said we don't receive them at our church well then how do you how do you support your ministry I said I teach the Bible and people love Jesus and they give kind of a novel ideas in it they didn't know what to do with that and so when I said that it got kind of quiet I said but I want to say something and I pointed to the pastor who had just made that comment I said what you just said really disturbed me I said because I said we've got enough people in this room here that if we wanted we could pool our resources and put this outreach on for free we could do it as a gift to the community I said because what you just said when you said there's nothing free I said salvation in Jesus Christ is free and we as a group of people we could put this on then and they didn't they didn't they didn't go for that idea for some reason I'm not sure exactly why and I wasn't invited to the next meeting so I don't know what they did after that I got disinvited to many meetings at the beginning of our ministry but but it's still the truth isn't it it's still the truth I mean the gospel of Jesus Christ when you're evangelizing you they said well we're not just remember they said we're not charging for the fireworks were we're no we're not charging for the gospel we're charging for the fireworks because it was a fireworks display and I said so what you're gonna do is you're gonna charge the the fish for the bait that you use to catch them they didn't like that but it was true but it was true because freely you have received in evangelism freely give freely give because that's how it works I best of the I believe best at least in the general local area for the glory of God and so they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles you see there's a Calvary Chapel thing that I'll give you right now everybody whose Calvary knows this where God guides God provides if God's in it he'll take care of it in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 13 and 14 do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar even so the Lord has commended that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel there's nothing wrong with supporting those who are going out because God provides in that fashion so he says in verse 8 we therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth in giving to them notice fellow workers for the truth in giving to them supporting them we are partaking in the work and the fruit as well as the rewards you may not be a missionary you may not be a full-time minister of any sort you may be volunteering and doing all or maybe they're very little that you actually are free to be able to do at this season in your life but in your prayerful support in your giving in your prayers you receive the reward along with others you receive my mama when she was very ill my mama was very frustrated because she she was so crippled so she couldn't do anything and and she her last year of life she'd just lay in a bed until she till she died I mean my mom was unable to watch it broken back and and and all and she's just unable to to function anymore and she was so so upset that she couldn't speak and she couldn't go and she couldn't share because she was just a go-getter my mom and I used to encourage her and I'd say mama mama you are a prayer warrior though if ever I have a need Marie has a need my children have a need I know who to go to for prayer you're always there and my mom was one of these who prayed all the time that's what she did you know so you do what you can and and in your ministry very often when when you're giving it all of that which is what he's talking about in the support you partake in the reward because as you've given you actually reap the reward also with that said we get to this man diatrophies I wrote to the church but diatrophies who loves to have the preeminence among them doesn't receive us therefore if I come I will call to mind his deeds which he does prading 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 beloved do not imitate what's evil but what is good he who does good is of God but he who does evil hasn't seen God diatrophies didn't want any teaching in the church but his own is a tyrant and John was careful because he's now exercising ministerial authority and he's basically saying when I see him I will correct him I will deal with them notice what he says in verse 10 if I come I'll call to mind his deeds which he does that's a very very strong statement by the way what he's literally saying is I will take up the matter with him so John is going to exercise authority he will personally correct this man now if diatrophies is a genuine man of God he will receive the correction and he will move forward one of the models for for us in scripture of a man who knew how to receive instruction is a man by the name of Apollo's Apollo's is mentioned in the book of Acts and in other places but in Acts 18 Apollo's was a man who the scripture refers to as being very eloquent and very powerful in scripture but he only knew the baptism of John but that which he knew and he was very very again very very well spoken very intellectual he had charismatic gifts in the sense of personal charismatic gifts he was a kind of young man that that you heard him speak and you would say and this guy this guy really he's spell binding the way he speaks and he's so he speaks so well and he's so studious he's just greatly to be admired and listen as an older guy I I admire the fire that I see in some of the younger preachers I really do I admire it I said boy those guys you know they are on fire well that was Apollo's that was Apollo's he was that guy that when he spoke you are on the edge of your chair and you were listening to this guy because he was eloquent and studious and those two combinate that that combination it's amazing it really is because it makes for a spellbinding communicator but there was a couple in the church if you will in the synagogue listening to him speak and they realized that all he really knew was the baptism of John in other words he didn't have the full understanding of the gospel and its consummation in Christ or anything like that he just knew some of the essentials and when he spoke he spoke with the power and eloquence and charisma that was spellbinding but he was lacking and so the Bible tells us something the Bible tells us that this man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla took him aside and spoke to him and it says in Acts 1826 he began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Aquila and Priscilla heard him they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately that were you any young teacher I have in this room that is a very very important scripture because Apollos listened to what they had to say and as a result became even more powerful in his presentation of the gospel when you're a young guy and you think you've got it all together and look at all the people who come to listen to me now you don't know as you ought to know not yet old couple driving through town on the way to a church that the older man the older pastor was going to preach had stopped in this small town and went to church a young man was up there spellbinding great communicator and so when the couple leave the church and they're driving away the the older man's wife turns to him and says to him that young man is a great pastor and the older man says no he's not not yet she looks at him like what are you jealous what do you mean he hasn't suffered yet years later they were going through the same town they went in and they heard the same guy he was still there but he'd gone through a lot of pain he'd gone through hard times heartaches at the end of that message when the old man and his wife were driving away he turned to his wife and he said now he's a great preacher anybody can get into a commentary and make a great message from it isn't hard to do it's harder to live that message anybody can speak about sorrow when they've had very little bit and many people can talk about how to overcome suffering when they haven't suffered very much but when you've gone to the doctor and the doctor has said to you these things that shake you to the core when you put your hands on a steering wheel on the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock position and you grip it and you say what am I gonna do that's when you begin to learn how good God is and how deep God is and how powerful God is and how true God is to his word because when I was a younger man I was an expert at raising kids because I didn't have any I could tell you I was in a social social psychology class and and my Corini at that time was several months old and I said in the class it was at Cal Poly Pomona I said we were talking about difficult teenagers and I've got a baby less than a year old and I'm saying I'm not gonna have those problems I told the class that I'm not gonna have those problems and they looked at me like oh really and I said no I'm a Christian I'm raising them in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and I did raise them in the knowledge of Jesus Christ all four of them but I did have some problems too and you learn humility and you learn patience and you learn faith and you learn trust and you learn that you walk into the valley but you come out on the other side and that God never leaves you nor does he ever forsake you and you learn that God is good to his word and even though it doesn't happen immediately it does happen and you learn that you learn that and that's that that's something that's part of growing up in Christ that's a bottom-line thing and many times I have I have had as an as a pastor I've got many years experience now and I've had young pastors instructing me on how to pastor churches and sometimes they're right there are things that I need to learn from them and I will because you better be humble enough to learn but on the other hand sometimes they just haven't learned themselves yet and what they think is true well they're going to discover isn't you see it isn't one of the marks of a genuinely spiritual leader is humility the humility to receive instruction it's understanding that you are person under authority and as such can receive instruction diatrophies desired to be the most important person in the church he needed correction now I'll close with a couple things and notice his tactics we don't use the word prading do we when's the last time we're talking to somebody today and say you know he was prading against me today that's another word that we use the word prading means to utter nonsense to utter nonsense to bring forward idle accusations to make empty charges he said he's making empty charges against us and there are things here's something for you there are things that we in ministry learn that people very often will make empty charges I would say that I quote Paul the most because I identify with Paul a lot and the most open-hearted book that Paul writes is second Corinthians and if you're a young minister if you have a heart to serve the Lord in a ministry and I know that there are some perhaps who are here tonight if not we'll hear this message someday when you look at second Corinthians second Corinthians is Paul's most open-hearted letter people have asked me what is your favorite New Testament book outside of the Gospels second Corinthians why because it is Paul's most open-hearted book he dealt with so many prading words when you go through it you'll see these are charges that were lodged against the Apostle Paul he is selfish he is not forthright he changes his mind easily he is self-appointed he dominates people's faith he is an unemotional intellect he is realistic he prospers from the gospel personally he has no credentials he's self-righteous he is deceitful he preaches himself he's crazy he defraud the church he uses guilt to get money he's a coward he walks in the flesh Paul is a failure he's untrained in speech he's unattractive he's not equal to the super apostles he's not worth supporting and he uses guilt to trap people these are all accusations Paul deals with in second Corinthians when somebody says oh you know the ministry is an easy way of life that's only because that person's not a full-time minister they don't know but Paul had a deal with that in 13 chapters over 20 accusations that he dealt with people to use that they will make the most unkind mean comments and that's what was going on it says he does not receive the brethren he doesn't receive the brethren which is another way of showing his authority he refused to show hospitality third he puts out of the church those who who are recognizing these ministers as being of the Lord so what he was doing is he was usurping John's biblical authority and was actually revealing his rebellious heart and that's why it says do not imitate what is evil but what is good he who does good is of God he who does evil hasn't seen God don't follow his pattern and finally Demetrius has a good testimony from all from the truth itself we also bear witness and you know that our testimony is true I had many things to write but I don't want I don't wish to write to you with pen and ink I hope to see you shortly and we shall speak face to face peace to you our friends greet you greet the friends by name don't imitate what is evil imitate what is good follow a better example follow John's you see Demetrius is a good testimony he's a good example follow his example he's blameless and the facts speak for themselves with this man and thus we give him a recommendation and when I get there and I hope to I will take care of the problem and as I do with diatrophies I will also fellowship with you and the last couple things he says peace to you our friends greet you greet the friends by name be very careful that you now you may be a visitor here in this fellowship and you're more than welcome as a visitor of course but if you're a visitor to every church you go to and not planted there it's unhealthy for you it's unhealthy for you people sometimes will plant themselves in one place and then uproot themselves and it's just not healthy anybody here who has ever planted any kind of plant of any sort knows that if you plant it you begin to let it root and then you uproot it and then plant it somewhere else eventually what happens that plant is it goes into root shock becomes unhealthy and me even die because it has to be rooted it has to be grounded in it has to be placed in that and it has to allow the roots to go deep so that it can begin to bear fruit and in the Christian church there are a lot of people who uproot themselves from place to place so it's interesting to me how he says greet the friends by name because that shows us something about the early church they actually knew each other so he who has friends must first prove himself to be friendly when you go to church a church like this if this is your home church it's a good thing for you to learn other people's names if you can it's a good thing to to smile and to nod and to greet people those are all good things and it's a good thing to become friends with others because we bear one another's burdens we pray for one another we love one another we encourage one another there are so many one another portions of scripture and it's very unhealthy today where people will have a Wednesday night church here a Sunday morning church there a Sunday night church here and a Tuesday night fellowship there and they move from place to place part of it is because I think that we're the church on wheels we're nomadic in many ways sometimes it's because now we don't have stability in our own lives because we didn't have stability when we grew up we didn't have a place that we saw as a permanent home with permanent family I understand those dynamics but the bottom line is is a church is more than just a group of strangers sitting in an auditorium and that's why John would say read them by name get to know them and give them love