How to Serve Faithfully 3 John Rev. Min Chung (Lord s Day Service, July 30, 2017)

Transcription

1 How to Serve Faithfully 3 John Rev. Min Chung (Lord s Day Service, July 30, 2017) 3 John Greeting 1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. 2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers[a] came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Support and Opposition 5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. 9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. 11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. Final Greetings 13 I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. 15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name. Introduction We are going through the letters of John. John- How can I be saved? [Birth] 1 John- How can I know that I am saved? [Identity] 2 John- How can I grow in my walk? [Growth] 3 John- How can I faithfully serve? [Faithfulness] Revelation- How can I be faithful until the end? [Perseverance] John is concerned about a child of God being born and knowing his identity, and then growing to be faithfully serving until the end. Especially as we consider 2 nd and 3 rd John, John is concerned that we become lovers with the foundation of truth. He is drilling into us that our foundation is the truth, but our expression is love for others, as these go together. The elder that is mentioned in this letter is the apostle John and he is writing a letter to an individual named Gaius. In 2 John, he writes in order that the church will say no to the false teachers coming into their house and church.

2 In 3 John, he is writing so that they will say yes to the true teachers, to invite these true teachers into the body, into their homes, showing hospitality to them, as well as financially supporting them. There are four names you need to be aware of in the passage. Gaius is termed a fellow worker by John, and is a member of the church he is writing to. Diotrephes is the bad guy who causes problems in the church, despite probably being a leader in the church. He attacks even the authority of the apostle John and denies hospitality to traveling Christian teachers, workers, and missionaries, by telling people in the church not to support these other Christians. In fact, he kicked some of the people out if they supported these missionaries. From him we will learn what not to do. There is also Demetrius. He might be the one that is carrying this letter, or a person in that church who is to be an example to the church. Then there is John who attempts to solve the problem, as well as being an example as he pastors and takes care of other people. These are the few names we need to know. This book will teach us how to concretely serve and to love others. Often we think love is a feeling when you do not feel it, you do not think you are loving someone. The Bible says love your enemies. We do not feel like loving enemies, but there is a desire in us because we want to love God. So even without feelings, we can love others. This passage is going to teach us that love is not always associated with feelings (often but not always), but always with serving other people. I. How to care spiritually- John [1-4] We often have different definitions of caring for others, but this passage teaches us how to care for others spiritually. A. We need to learn to love others in truth [1] What does it mean to love others in truth? I believe love in truth means loving others with the foundation of the truth love that has the Bible as the foundation. That means love that is guided by the truth of the word of God, because the Bible teaches us how to love others. It is love that is empowered by the truth. As we meditate on the truth, God uses the truth to empower us, to stimulate our spiritual nature to love. Love also because of the truth, that as we love other people, those people who are in Christ can spread the truth, and ultimately God can be glorified. It is a love that leads to Christlikeness. As we love in truth, through truth we become more like Christ and we help others to become like Christ, to know Christ, love Christ so that God can be glorified. This is love that is not merely emotional, but practical service in love for others. It is serving and loving them until they are able to grow in Christ to serve. More strongly put, loving in truth is not one out of many types of love, but rather it defines what true love is. True love has the foundation of God s word, more than our feelings. If the truth is our foundation, love will be our expression. People who usually know the truth judge others; that is not love. If you truly love with Truth, you will love more than judge others that are different not only accepting them, but helping them to grow. We need to learn to love in truth better. B. We need to pray for the physical and spiritual health of others [2] v.2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. If you read this verse carefully, it assumes Gaius was doing well spiritually. John is saying just as you are doing well spiritually, I pray that you will do well physically. It says as it goes well with your soul that your physical health would catch up.

3 Often, people who are into prosperity theology distort this verse to say you need to do well physically and materially as well. That is not what this verse is about, rather, it is talking about our spiritual prosperity for his glory. That is, in order for us to prosper spiritually and love other people, it helps if we are healthy. In the long run, if we live longer, we can take care of even more people. We can serve and love in our sickness of course, but when we are healthy, we can more ably focus on others. Our spiritual and physical health are often related, as it helps us spread the truth, and love others in that same truth. He prays for their health, so that they can ultimately serve others in love, facilitating the spreading of the word of God. C. We need to have concern for other s walk in the truth [3-4] Thirdly, we need to have concern for others walk in truth. Verse 3 to 4 says For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth Gaius lived the truth in such a way that he was observed by others who in turn reported his conduct and character to John. When John heard it, he was so happy. What does it mean to walk in the truth? It means that they know the truth, and it implies that they are growing in the truth. Their growth in truth, as well as the expression of their lifestyle results in love. It helps them to express this in good deeds. It does not say that we should sit and rest in the truth, just studying the Bible. We need to do that, but we also need to walk in it. Walk implies steady movement in a purposeful direction. Especially following what the word of God is talking about, which is Christ. It requires discipline and effort to walk in Truth. Walk is not as quick as running, but if you keep at it, walking will get you where you are going. You won t grow in knowledge of Christ by an accident. You need to be intentional in understanding, knowing and meditating on the truth. Have wisdom through it so that you can apply it and have insight to teach others. Be able to influence others even without teaching because that is how we live. We must strive to walk in the truth, studying and learning to apply the truth of God in our daily lives. When John heard this about Gaius, this gave him such joy the spiritual father for these members. What is your greatest joy for other people? What is your greatest joy about your children or spiritual children? Often even for Christian parents, it is when they are successful in the world. What gives us joy indicates what we love. Our greatest joy ought to be for other people, as John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Loving in this manner entails loving them eternally. II. How to support concretely- Gaius [5-8] These three verses talk about how we have to practically love others, especially those who are serving the Lord. Two characteristics of Gaius stand out. He loves them in Truth and in Love. This is the theme of 1 John. That Jesus is full of truth, grace and love, and these characteristics should reflect in the life of a believer. After initially speaking on this in 2 John, he now talks about it utilizing Gaius and the Christians in this church. A. Hospitality of love [5-6] Verse 5 says, Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do This is one of the things you do faithfully as a Christian. There are so many ways to describe faithfulness. One thing that characterizes it is hospitality. Then it says in verse 5, strangers as they are. They could even be strangers, however hospitality must be shown as observed in the statement, testified to your love before the church meaning, these traveling missionaries were strangers, yet Gaius entertained them in his house, and so these traveling teachers were so thankful that they were saying these things in the local church as they were speaking to other people or even in the process of ministering to others.

4 Verse 6 talks about, in a manner worthy of God. This simply means that whenever we show any form of hospitality to anyone, it reveals the generous hand of God, especially when you are serving the servants of God. This is because, in such a case, you are participating in their services to God. B. Financial support for the truth [7-8] For they have gone out for the sake of the name, these are the people who have gone out for the sake of His name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. It is not wrong to receive money from those who do not receive Christ. However, that is not what he is talking about. Here, he is concerned mainly with the body of Christ, as their acts of giving and hospitality does help them to grow, as the giver is, in fact, ministered to. That is why in Verse 8 it says Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. Again, the concern here is for the truth, however, we need to learn to be generous, in addition to striving to live with necessity such that the rest of our money can either be shared with those in need or we are ready to share wisely, or give what remains to an organization, like a Christian Organization. Then, they can minister the Gospel to others. Matthew 10:41-42 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. Receiving means hospitality. When you support them, the reward they will receive, will be yours as well. That means you are participating in their work just as much in God s eyes. Verse 42 is one of the most misunderstood verses, especially as it relates to helping poor people, as it says, And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. Is it saying that we need to give a cup of water to everyone? Here it is talking about a believer because he is a disciple. Some people use this verse to say that we need to help poor people. Now, helping the poor is biblical, but the priority goes to the ones in Christ. But why do we need to help Christians first? Simply because they can spread the truth, so that they can live out and love in truth. Now it is not wrong to support unbelievers. But if we are going to do that, it is much better to serve Christian organizations that are helping the hunger crisis, so that as they love those people, they have opportunity to build relationships and share the truth with people. I believe that is what the Bible is saying in general. Often, it is us that is giving to unbelievers and helping them, and that is okay because we have opportunity and can build relationships. Our thoughts must be more in line with the kingdom perspective. It is much better in terms of priority to help the Christian organizations if they are helping the unbelievers, so that they can directly minister to them. However, as individuals, we must learn to be more generous and helpful to all. Show generosity so they can see the hand of God so we can build relationships. III. How to serve selfishly- Diotrephes [9-10] Look at the essence of what he is doing in his heart. We might not be like this, but we are often like this in our hearts. A. Be proud [9] Verse 9, Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first

5 John argues that the struggle came about with Diotrephes. When you talk about the essence of this, this is the sin of Satan who likes to exalt himself. This is the opposite of Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, according to Philippians 2:6-8. So humility is the essence of what we need at every moment in our lives. We need to be humble, because when you want to exalt yourself there is conflict with exalting God. When that conflict is there, we sin to exalt ourselves, and hinder the kingdom of God. Diotrephes may have had the truth, but the only person he loved was himself. B. Be rebellious [9] It says does not acknowledge our authority. His problem was not his theology, but personal ambition and pride that led him to even oppose the Apostle John. What does it mean by oppose? I believe John was using the whole of scripture that he knew to convince Diotrephes. But he is rejecting John, probably rejecting the Word of God that John is teaching, maybe because he thought he knew the Scripture. He was rejecting the leaders who were counseling him. He was being rebellious towards spiritual authority, and therefore rebellious towards God. It is not always wrong to go against spiritual authority unless they are saying wrong things form the scripture. But we need to listen and be submissive in general, but especially listen to the Word of God they are teaching. Because if we are being rebellious towards them, apart from them being outside the Word of God, we are rejecting God who speaks to the church through them. C. Gossip about others [10] So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, there will come a time that Diotrephes will be judged. But it says talking wicked nonsense against us. The root of the word gossip was used in the action of water boiling off and throwing off bubbles. The point is that it is useless and groundless. Diotrephes disagreed with John and was rebellious against he is sayings, perhaps even saying bad things about John, the spiritual father to these people. What he was saying was groundless, but definitely not empty in effect. He unjustly accused John with wicked words. He wanted everyone to look up to him and not toward John who is speaking to them about Christ. As I have gotten old, and counseled more churches going through hardships and separation, I have found that the big problem is not from outside, but in most of the cases it is from people in the church, especially from leaders within the church either the pastor or other leaders. We need to always examine ourselves and put ourselves under submission of the Word of God. Most of you will become some kind of leader in the church. Be careful of slandering other leaders, because then others will look at them and not want to hear God s Word through them. You will be hindering their growth. In fact, the word devil means slanderer. It is a tactic of Satan in the spiritual realm. D. Refuse to serve others [10] He refuses to welcome the brothers Diotrephes is said to have specifically defied John especially in duty in receiving traveling missionaries and Bible teachers, and helping out other Christians, no he refused to do that.

6 E. Hinder others from serving [10] He also hindered other people. It is bad enough that you sin, but you also cause others to sin. You need to really be cautious about your influence. If you are not growing in Christ, you are probably influencing them negatively. Verse 10 also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. He was sinning and causing others to sin in the same way. He bullied them, used them to exalt himself, and cut them off especially kicking them out of the church of Jesus Christ. In the passage, it does not list the specifics of why he was leading them this way. Why did not Diotrephes welcome the godly workers who are preaching the Word of God, and be hospitable? My guess is that, since in 2 John, bad teachers were coming into churches and home, perhaps that became the principle in his mind the idea that bible teachers could be dangerous, hence he would not be hospitable. Hence, in 3 John rather than welcoming missionaries, he sees them as dangerous strangers and they look to protect themselves. I encountered a tough problem when I was a youth pastor, as one elder did not want us to clap hands during worship. The reason was because, when he was younger, he was in a cult group and they clapped hands excitedly. He was reacting to the negative experience rather than seeing the essence of what it means. Diotrephes was possibly like this as well. Although John was convincing him through the Scripture, he perhaps was saying no. His pride made him insist that he was right. John was saying this is ok, receiving these traveling teachers is for the Word of God, but he disagreed because he thought he was right. Gossiping commenced and he then refuses to serve others to protect the church, instead, he tells others to act in the same way. They could be spreading false doctrine in the body of Christ. He was proud, and became rebellious against the spiritual authorities in gossiping to other people. All of these so that he can get what he wanted, which is him being right. He refused to serve others, as well as causing others not to serve others. A leader must be submissive, humble, and keep the secrets of other people. Do not say things unless it is edifying or helpful. Leaders need to serve others, and help others to serve in addition to leading with the word of God. There are many bad leaders like Diotrephes. If they know the truth, but are not acting in love, or they are so caring, but not teaching the truth, they might not be good teachers. They might lead you astray. IV. How to live edifyingly- Demetrius [11-12] The point is that we all need godly examples to follow, but we need to be careful in choosing those examples. The word imitate is going to be very important in these examples. In Greek imitate can be translated as follow. This is used several times in the New Testament. Follow is used about 4 times in the New Testament, seven times as followers, the noun form. A couple times it says be an imitator of God and what is good. The rest of the times it is about imitating certain people. Three times Paul says imitate us, the apostles. Two times, he says imitate me. Once it says be imitators of God s churches people in the church. Twice in Hebrews, it speaks of imitating those who live by faith. So these tests convey a great lesson. Basically we need to look at the people around us who are following Christ, and we need to imitate them. That is the best way to grow. Christian people must be careful who they imitate. But you need to look at people who you can imitate. One way to choose a church is try to choose a church that has people you can imitate, love God s word, and will teach God s word. Demetrius may not have had the prestige of Diotrephes, but Demetrius is important nonetheless. For it is rather him, not Diotrephes, who John tells the church people to imitate. A. The truth was the foundation of his life [12] Verse 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself

7 I believe that this was his nature. The truth was his default way of life and he even kept at it when no one was watching. In other words, he had integrity in the truth. B. The testimony of others confirmed his life [12] Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone. People here can see how he lives, how he walks, his integrity, how he tries to walk in the truth, and I believe everyone, as herein used, includes unbelievers as well, because usually when he talks about the believers he talks about us. But here it says everyone which could include unbelievers. Whether we are in the church or out of the church we need to live out the truth. C. The testimony of leaders credited his life [11-12] We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. The people who knew the word of God confirmed his integrity that he lives out the truth. He was walking in truth. D. The transparent life he lived is to be imitated [11] I believe verse 11 is related, Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Do not imitate evil people, but good people. Because it says whoever is good is from God. It is talking about people. Whoever does evil has not seen God. So in the context of the letter, Diotrephes is not from God. Demetrius is from God, because he has a relationship with God. God s good is given to him, so his good is from God. That translated to godliness in his life. So they were to watch him and imitate him. For him and spiritual parents, your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise. Be kingdom examples that people would want to follow you. If kids do not understand how to follow Jesus, you can say I am following Jesus, so follow me. How do you discern whether the person is worthy of imitating or not? Just look at these characteristics - someone who lives out the truth with his integrity. When he does not know what to do, he ll look at the word of God. Truth was the foundation of his life. Others who are close to him and those who did not know him confirm his life. The testimony of the leaders confirms him. If you find those people, be close to them and imitate them. Some people suggest reading the biographies of Christians if you do not have anyone you can imitate. V. How to keep in touch continuously- John [13-15] There is a debate about what it means to love. Is it just during one year of small group, or for life? What is the right way to keep a relationship? Is the goal to build lifelong relationships? Or just love them while we are with them, but out of mind out of sight? We need to learn to build kingdom friendships. When we say we want to have a friend for life, what we are saying is we want someone who will be there all of my life. There s a positive aspect to them, but also a selfish aspect someone to rely on and to always give me what I want. We have so many people in our lives, so it is impossible to keep everyone that we meet and keep them for life, and easy to only focus on those people who will be there for the rest of our life. That is being selfish. Naturally we will have some of those people, but as much as we can, we need to love in the kingdom way, help them as much as we can so they can live for Christ. I herein suggest three ways to keep in touch as inferred from the passage: A. Writing [13]

8 Verse 13 I had much to write to you Just write to people, by texting for example. B. Meeting [14] Another way of keeping in touch is by visiting, or having a meal together, as it says, I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. C. Remembering [15] Verse 16 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name. We have about 10,000 alumni of CFC, many of whom I do not remember by name. However, if we can add one sentence of prayer, it can minister to them and their needs right now. This is because it is a kingdom friendship. It is not so that we can keep it for the sake of keeping it for life. It is not a case of, I am in trouble and you d better be here with me, rather it is about the kingdom of God and serving faithfully together so that the Word of God can spread and one heart at a time can know and exalt Christ. With respect to the statement, Peace be to you, it is what Jesus said to the disciples as soon as he saw them shalom. It is a resurrection greeting, for the wholeness of a person. In summary, we must learn to pray for people even as we remember them. However, sometimes you cannot pray for everyone, so you have to have specific and general prayers. General prayers like Lord be with all the alumni, but really meaning it as you pray it. There are specific people groups as well missionaries, different workers, and I pray for them as much as I can. Then there are also those for whom I ask for specific prayers requests. Learn to pray for anything that can contribute to the spreading of God s word, so that people can live out their faith. You have to have some type of general small group, but also perhaps someone you met recently, for whom you pray specifically. If you cannot pray for your small group every day, perhaps consider a two-day special or somehow spread it across the week. This is what Kingdom friendship is. It is about whatever you can do to love, serve, and add to their lives, so that God s kingdom can expand in and through them. Conclusion After studying 2 nd and 3 rd John, we must be encouraged to be faithful in small things. If you look at this chapter, nothing great or extraordinary quite happens. The final message of 2 and 3 John is the need to be faithful in the responsibilities we already have, particularly in little things. Neither letter is dealing with important things, as we might wish to evaluate them. No campaigns to be conducted or books to be written or confrontations with the world to be launched, rather Christians should learn to be faithful in that which they have already learned, and to express those convictions consistently as they serve and conduct themselves with one another in their daily lives showing hospitality and even financial support. In a certain sense these are little things, but in another sense terribly important, for it is here that most battles are. We need to learn how to do the little love loving concretely and ultimately serving faithfully. A lot of this little loves makes up faithfulness. Malcolm Muggeridge said Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message. God is always speaking to us. Art of life is to get the message in the small things. Jesus often used everyday life stories to teach people. When the people heard, they learned and grew. He still speaks to us in the normal stories of our lives. Those who have an ear to hear will grow in big and small situations in life. This can lead a victim to become a victor. This skill is what separates the spiritually immature and the spiritual giants. We need to see what God is doing in the small things, and to see God s love in the small ways. He speaks to others through our small acts of love and services, which constitutes our faithfulness. Be used as the

9 parable of God, even as you are used in small ways. God will use us in a big way for the kingdom of God through our small acts of love.