3 John verses 1-8 (Teaching)

[0:00] The third John this morning. First and second just don't seem right unless we've done third John.

[0:14] Burned McGee has a kind of funny story about the three little epistles of John.

[0:25] What we call the little John letters. He said that there was a certain black preacher from the south.

[0:36] If y'all have ever listened to Burned McGee, you know he spent most of his ministry in California. So he specified this was in the south. But he said there was a minister that referred to first, second, third John.

[0:49] One I John, two I John, and three I John. And that was because of his Bible he used, used Roman lettering for first, second, and third.

[1:02] So that's how he referred to him. And so that's how his congregation understood him as well. And I just think that's a funny little story that I've either read or heard. Brother McGee stayed on the radio or read and his commentary said that I've got it at the house.

[1:19] Regardless we'll be in third John. We wrapped up second John last week. We only spent two Sundays at it. It's a very short letter though. And second John we discussed it. We discussed, or we brought up second and third John together.

[1:36] And I told y'all it's my opinion. There's no real Bible to back it up. It's my opinion these were the last two letters ever written off the New Testament. And there's reasons for that, reasons for that that I have. But I said that's my opinion. You can develop your own.

[1:55] Even a use of a church historian, he concurred on that or I should say I concur with him. He came up with it 2,000 years ago.

[2:07] Or a little less than 2,000 years ago. So I should say I concur with him. He said second and third John were written after the exile of John to the island of Patmos, which was a rock quarry island that was, people were sent to for punishment.

[2:24] Really, and to go there in labor. But second John, another opinion that I gave you all that I have on second John is that I know it begins with the to the elect lady.

[2:39] And I'm of the opinion that he is writing to a church. And the main reason that I believe that we find in third John. Not only do we find in third John that this third John is directed toward a specific person named Gaius.

[2:58] And there are several Gaiuses brought up in the scriptures. There's a Gaius brought up in Romans chapter 16. There's a Gaius brought up in Acts chapter 19. And there's another Gaius brought up in Acts chapter 20. That's two different Gaiuses.

[3:13] So this was apparently a popular Roman name that was used much like we read the name John. How do we usually refer to people as an everyday average Joe? We either call them John Doe or John Smith or something along those lines.

[3:33] Something that was very common. And third John was written to a man named Gaius. The second John was only was written to the elect lady and the children of the elect lady.

[3:48] Then toward the end of that letter we find that the elect lady's sister and her children. And so I said I'm of the camp that thinks that that was written to a church instead of a specific woman.

[4:02] If you think it's a specific woman, they's writing to. I won't have all against you. I won't argue with you about it. I'm just of the opinion you're writing to a church. Second John leads us into third John. I said this was written to a specific man named Gaius.

[4:20] And it begins, the very first words of third John began exactly the way that second John does. He introduces himself, John introduces himself as the elder.

[4:33] And so Gaius is a friend, he's a very close, very intimate friend of John. There was no reason for John, much like second John, there was no reason for John to assert his apostol should.

[4:46] He just introduces himself as the elder. And we discussed in second John how that not only referred to age, the word presbyteros in Greek, but it also referred to an office in the church and later referred to an office in the church.

[5:03] And it would have at the time that John would have been writing these two letters. Both of these letters were probably written sometime between 80 and 95 AD.

[5:14] And I'm of the opinion that they were written closer to the 95 than they were of the 80. And like I've told you, I wasn't there, I wasn't there when the letters were written.

[5:28] But I've developed some opinions over the years on these. So we'll begin with verse one and third John says, The elder unto the well beloved Gaius whom I love and truth.

[5:40] So again, John introduces himself as the elder to the well beloved Gaius whom I love and the truth beloved. I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thou soul prospereth.

[5:54] So he begins his letter introducing himself, which is a very common way of writing letters during this time. It's quite the opposite how we write letters nowadays because nowadays we address whom the letter is written to, which he does here. It's written to the well beloved Gaius.

[6:14] He begins with himself. We normally wait till the end of a letter for the end of an email nowadays to state who we are. We'll say sincerely or love always or regards or something along those lines.

[6:29] And then we'll put a comma and we'll put our name down at the end of the letter. This was the classic style of writing a letter in these days. This is the elder to the well beloved Gaius whom I love and the truth. What is the truth?

[6:44] We know from John 14, Jesus said, I am the wave, the truth and the life. So as John's saying here, whom I love and Jesus Christ, in a sense, yes, he is.

[6:56] But if we go on down through this letter, we'll understand what John is referring to as the truth. And then in verse two, he says, beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospers.

[7:12] And I've seen and heard many prosperity preachers and teachers, if you'd like to call them that, use this very verse to say, see, God wants you to be healthy. God wants you to be well off. God wants you to be rich.

[7:29] God wants you to have money in the bank. God wants you to have yachts and limousines and Lamborghinis and all these other things. And they'll use this very verse, verse number two and third John to substantiate that, folks.

[7:43] That's not what John is saying here. John says, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. It doesn't say God wishes above all things that you may prosper.

[7:56] Now, listen, God does want us to be in good health. What good are we to the kingdom of God if we're in such bad shape that we cannot go forth as the word of God tells us to, that we can't go out and preach the gospel.

[8:14] What good would I be as a teacher or as a preacher if I could not stand here today and expound the word of God? I wouldn't be much good in that office or in that regard.

[8:25] So yes, in that sense, God wants us to be in good health. Yes, does God want us to be rich? Not necessarily. God wants us to be rich of heavenly things. God wants us to be rich spiritually.

[8:38] God wants us to be rich in grace. He wants us to be rich in mercy. He wants us to be rich in love toward our brothers and our sisters in Christ and of course toward him.

[8:49] But as far as monetarily, God doesn't necessarily want us to be rich. It's not that he's against us having money. God wants us to be able to pay our bills, I'm sure.

[9:01] God wants us, you know, when the light bill comes to be able to pay it. God wants us to be able to do these things, yes. But this verse does not say anywhere in it that God wants us to have money flowing out of our ears to do with anything at any time that we want to.

[9:21] He says, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. I taught this book years ago at another church and I asked this question then and I'll ask it now.

[9:37] We'll read it again. He says, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. He is saying, Gaius, you are well off spiritually.

[9:51] He's saying, I'm loving you in the truth and you're well off spiritually. You're in good shape with God. You're in good standing with God. You're well off then.

[10:02] He says, I wish you prosperity in your health. He's saying, even as your soul prospereth. I'm wishing, I'm hoping, I'm praying that your health prospers as your soul prospers.

[10:20] What's he saying? He's saying, I'm praying that your physical health is in as good a shape as or will be for that matter, in as good a shape as your spiritual health is.

[10:34] Now the question I'll ask you is if I prayed that prayer for you or when you turn around and put the spotlight on me, if you prayed that prayer for me and God answered it, what kind of physical shape would I be in?

[10:49] If you prayed the prayer for me, God, I pray that Spencer's physical health is in the same shape that his spiritual health is in.

[11:00] What kind of shape would I be in? You know, I have to call 911 right now. Would you have to rush me to the hospital? Would they have to throw me in ICU and put tubes in me and on me and everything else?

[11:14] That's a question that all those can ask ourselves. If someone prayed that prayer for me and God actually answered that prayer, what kind of shape would I be in?

[11:25] If I was in as good a shape physically as I am spiritually, would I be in awesome shape? Would I be like Tony Atlas, able to lift hundreds of pounds? Or would I be incapacitated?

[11:39] Would I be not worth a dime physically? That's a good question. All of us can ask ourselves, what kind of shape are you in spiritually? And if your physical health was in the same shape that your spiritual health is in, what shape would you be in in general?

[11:59] That's the question that I'll ask and I'll leave for you all to ponder. For I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou wakest in the truth.

[12:11] John says, I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee. What truth? John's already said that he loves Gaius in the truth.

[12:23] He says, and I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee. So he's loving Gaius in the truth. He's saying, I'm rejoicing that others have come to me and testified of the truth that is in you, even as thou wakest in the truth, even as thou wakest in the truth.

[12:47] So we come back to the original question that I presented in verse 1. What is the truth? What is truth? Truth is Jesus Christ.

[12:58] Yes, there's no denying that Jesus Christ said that himself. What else is the truth? The world of God is the truth. God himself is truth. He's not a man that he could lie.

[13:09] There's no God was ever found in the mouth of Jesus Christ. What is truth? The gospel is the truth. And what we're seeing here is John saying that he loves Gaius in the truth.

[13:26] He loves Gaius in Christ, yes, and in the truth of the word of God, in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says that these people have come, they've testified to John of the truth that is in Gaius, the truth of the gospel that is in Gaius, the truth of Christ that is in him.

[13:46] He says even as thou wakest in the truth. In other words, he's not only teaching or preaching the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, but he's also walking the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[14:00] He is living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Folks, there's a huge difference between someone that will profess faith in Jesus Christ and someone that will actually show faith that they believe what this Bible says.

[14:12] They believe the gospel which they are teaching and which they are preaching, that they believe the words of God to be true. I've seen too many people over the years that have come forward and they have made some kind of profession of faith, but their life does not reflect the confession that they have made or the profession of Christ that they have made.

[14:35] In this man Gaius here, he was walking in the truth, the same truth that John loved him in. He was walking in the gospel and these people testified that the goodness of God was flowing out of this man Gaius.

[14:49] He was showing the truth of God in his life, in his actions, in his speech. In every fiber of his being, this man Gaius was letting his life so shine before men that they could see his good works and glorify his Father which is in heaven, which is the same thing that all of us should be doing if we profess Jesus Christ as Lord.

[15:11] We need to live the truth that we profess to believe. If we're not living that truth, folks, are we really Christians? Are we really saved if we're not living the truth, if we're not living the gospel out before our lost family, before our lost friends, before our lost loved ones and co-workers, and anyone else that we come into contact with?

[15:34] What we do publicly is what the world is going to see and what we do publicly is what the world is going to determine our reputation on. When people look at you and they say, that's a follower of Christ, when they talk to you, do they say that must be one of them Christians or do they say, well, they're just like me?

[15:56] They're exactly like me. Yeah, I know they go to church. That's all fine and well, but my goodness, if they're good enough to go to heaven, surely I'm good enough to go because your life's no different than what the world is.

[16:09] Folks, that's dangerous ground. That's very dangerous ground. The worst deception is self-deception. This man Gaius was not self-deceived. He was living the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[16:23] He was showing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. We're seeing this word truth over and over.

[16:35] In fact, I believe it's seven times that we find it in just a few verses here. The word truth that John keeps bringing up. He says, there's no greater joy to me than to know that my children walk in truth.

[16:47] This is one of the reasons that I believe that second John was written to a church and third John was written to this individual. Both of them refer to children, but John says, I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth.

[17:04] Gaius evidently was a convert, someone that was converted to Christianity, very likely under John's preaching.

[17:16] You remember John was a pastor of the church of Ephesus. That's nowhere in your Bible, but it is found over and over again in church history that John pastored the church of Ephesus.

[17:28] This is likely where he met Gaius. This is likely where Gaius was converted. I'm not saying it is for 100% sure. Once again, I wasn't there. I don't know.

[17:39] But he says, there is no greater joy to him than to know that his children walk in the truth. Do you think that Gaius was a literal physical son of John?

[17:50] I don't think so. Was he a spiritual son? Much like Timothy was a spiritual son to the Apostle Paul. Was he a spiritual son of John? That's exactly what I think he was talking about.

[18:01] But he says, my children. So he's not only addressing Gaius, he addressed Gaius in the previous verse to this one. But this verse he says, my children. So in other words, it brings him great joy to know that not only Gaius, but other people of the congregation that Gaius was affiliated with, it brings him great joy to know that they are all walking in the truth.

[18:24] Now this comes to an application that all of us should be able to relate to. If we have children, if we have nephews, we have nieces, anything along those lines, grandchildren?

[18:39] Does it bring you great joy to know that they're walking in the truth? Or do you think about them at night and think, well, they're doing well for themselves?

[18:51] They're making good grades in school? Or if they're older, they're going on to college, they're doing well in college. Maybe they've done graduated college. They've got a job paying $150,000 a year and you're saying, well, they're doing well for themselves.

[19:05] Folks, that don't matter. It does not matter. What matters is are they walking in the truth? That's what should bring you joy. Yes, it tickles me to death to know that both of my sons are doing well for themselves.

[19:21] It tickles me to know that they'll be all right physically, even after I'm dead and gone. At least it's shaping up to look that way. That gives me great peace.

[19:32] But are they walking in the truth? Are they spiritually sound? Are they saved in other words? Do they know God? Have they been redeemed? Have they been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ?

[19:44] That's what will bring me the greatest joy. I know one son that I have that is. And the other one, I don't. And folks, yes, that worries me.

[19:56] Yes, that concerns me. And yes, you better believe I pray for that, even though he's doing well physically for himself. He's lost. And what joy I have as far as his physical life goes doesn't hold a candle.

[20:14] But what I'll feel one day if he calls me and says, Daddy, I've got saved. That's what counts. That's what will bring me joy. John here says it brings him no greater joy than to know that his children, and he talks about a church congregation, his children are walking in the truth.

[20:32] In other words, what I've preached to them, what I've taught them, when I told them little children, love you one another. That's what John said over and over. And first John and church history has it that during his last last years on earth, that's basically all he preached was little children love you one another.

[20:54] And preaching to the congregations, preaching to professing believers in Jesus Christ. And John says it tickles him. It brings him the greatest joy to know that they are walking in that truth.

[21:09] They're walking in the truth of the gospel. That's the greatest joy that any of us could have, whether it's physical children, whether it's step children, whether it's adopted children, whether it's spiritual children, the greatest joy in our lives should be to know that we have told someone about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[21:29] We have told them about redemption. We have told them about salvation and they have accepted that and they have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and they are still currently walking in that truth.

[21:42] That's what should bring us the greatest joy. The greatest things, the greatest things will happen in your life and in my life when we don't care who gets the credit for it.

[21:56] John wasn't looking for credit in this letter to Gaze. He didn't say it brings me great joy to know that these children walk in the truth that I talked in.

[22:10] He didn't say it brings me great joy to know that my children are walking in the truth and because they're walking, and they wouldn't be walking in that truth had it not been for me.

[22:24] We don't read that in John. John's writing here. He just says it brings him great joy to know that his children, his spiritual children are walking in the truth.

[22:36] John doesn't look for credit and we don't need to look for credit either. It's all the credit. If someone's been redeemed and someone's living the life, someone's living the gospel, all that credit goes to God.

[22:49] It ain't nothing that you've done. Yes, we can teach and yes, we can preach and we can present the gospel. We can tell people their centers and that Christ is a wonderful, glorious savior. But ultimately, it is God Almighty that gets the credit for salvation and it is God Almighty that gets the credit for keeping those souls.

[23:09] It is not us. Verse 5, Beloved Thou doest faithfully whatsoever Thou doest to the brethren and the strangers which have borne witness of Thy charity before the church whom if Thou bring forth on their journey after a godly sort, Thou shalt do well because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.

[23:33] Back to verse 5, Beloved Thou doest faithfully whatsoever Thou doest to the brethren and the strangers. So he's referred a couple of times at this point to Gaius as beloved or beloved.

[23:45] Once again, showing his love and his affection and his intimacy that he feels towards this man Gaius. It's a true brotherly love that he feels towards him.

[23:57] He says, Thou doest faithfully whatsoever Thou doest to the brethren and to strangers. But notice the verse before this, or two verses before this, I'm sorry, he said, I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee.

[24:15] And then in verse 5 he said, Beloved Thou doest faithfully whatsoever Thou doest to the brethren and the strangers. This was an exhibition and an example of the truth that was in Gaius at this time.

[24:32] He says Thou doest faithfully whatsoever Thou doest to the brothers when they come to you. Evidently Gaius was a pretty well-to-do fellow.

[24:44] He had means, he had resources, I don't know how rich he was or whatever, but he was able to support people, to support the missionaries and the emissaries and people that were going about preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

[25:00] Now remember if you were here when we were going through 1 John, there was a lot about false teachers and false prophets that was brought up in 1 John. There were some that was brought up in 2 John that we finished up just last week.

[25:13] Remember in 2 John when he basically said, when someone comes to you holding the doctrine of Christ, holding this doctrine that you're not to help them along their journey, you're not to take them in, and you're not even so much as to wish them Godspeed.

[25:28] That's in 2 John. Here, instead of telling what not to do in 3 John, he's telling Gaius what he should do. And he's commending Gaius for what he is doing.

[25:41] He's telling him, continue in this thing, continue in what you're doing. When these brothers, when they're carrying the true gospel of Jesus Christ and they're preaching and they're teaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ, you continue to help them, you continue to support them, take them into your home, take them into your church, feed them, give them money if need be, whatever the case is.

[26:05] He says, you keep doing what you're doing, Gaius. This is exactly what John is saying. He says, which are born witness of thy charity before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sword, thou shalt do well.

[26:21] He says, these brethren have evidently come back to where John was, which was more likely in Ephesus, that they've come back to where John was.

[26:32] And he says that they have born witness of thy charity before the church. So these men, it's much like what we do nowadays. During prayer requests, a lot of times people have a praise report instead of a prayer request.

[26:48] It was much like that evidently in the early church days, in the first century church. Because he says, these people have born witness within the church or inside the church to the congregation of the truth that is in you, Gaius, and what you have been doing.

[27:03] These men have gone, they've said, hey, we went on our journey, we went without script, we went without purse, we went without anything, and this man Gaius took care of us. When we got to whatever congregation it was, whatever church it was, that they were going to, whatever area or region that this Gaius was in, it said Gaius took us in.

[27:24] And they're testifying that Gaius took good care of them. He said, which are born witness of thy charity before the church, which are whom, if thou bring forth on their journey after a godly sword, thou shalt do well.

[27:38] Those last four words there, thou shalt do well, shows us that he is commending Gaius for what he's done. They say, but continue this into the future.

[27:49] Don't give up what you do. Don't stop what you do. And he may have very well been saying this, we're not going to get to it this week. We won't have time to, but this man toward the end of this letter, there's a man named Deotrophes that has brought up.

[28:04] And Deotrophes may have very well been trying to convince Gaius to stop doing what he was doing, to stop taking these people in. I don't know that for a fact, but that very well could have been the case.

[28:18] Either way, John is encouraging Gaius to continue what you're doing, continue walking in the truth, continue exhibiting the love of God, continue taking these people and continue supporting them on their journeys.

[28:32] And folks, the church 2,000 years later is no less responsible for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ than it was here in this letter that John is writing. We are responsible for doing this.

[28:45] We are responsible for supporting the missionaries. We're responsible for supporting the evangelists as long as they are preaching the true word of God, the people of God, or the very ones that should be supporting them.

[29:01] I'm not saying that I expect a big fat check for standing up here Sunday after Sunday and preaching. That's not what I'm saying. But folks, not all those can be missionaries.

[29:12] Not all those can cross the water. Not all those can go to the different towns right here in the United States. And the United States is a huge mission field.

[29:23] But not all those can go, but we can support. In other words, every one of us, if we're a born again child of God, every one of us has a great mission. We can pray for these people. We can pray for the missionaries.

[29:35] We can pray for the evangelists. We can pray for those that are going around and preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And if it is within your means, you can support them monetarily.

[29:47] You can support them by feeding them, by clothing them, by doing all kinds of different things for them. It's a unique event when I found out that this church here supports the evangelists. It's a unique event when I found out that this church here supported missionaries and missions in general.

[30:04] Because there's a lot of churches out there that don't do that. And we are responsible for this. It ain't the last folks that do it. We get into it here in just a second. Because as far as namesake, they went forth as taking nothing of the Gentiles.

[30:19] Now when he says Gentiles, he's talking about the pagans. There's those that haven't been born again. I could look around now and tell that nobody in here has Jewish descent.

[30:30] Even with my glasses off, I know that because I've seen you all with my glasses on. But none of us in here are Jewish by descent. Every one of us in here are Gentiles.

[30:43] But hopefully everybody sitting in this room right now is saved and born again. So when he says Gentiles, he's not talking about those that are not Jewish. He's talking about those that have not been born again.

[30:56] When he refers to them, he says, because of that, for his namesake, they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles. Something else peculiar about this, he says, because of that, for his namesake, this is the only time Jesus Christ is brought up in this little letter.

[31:11] And it doesn't even mention Jesus by name, but we know who his name, who that's referring to. Some of the other English translations of the Bible have for the sake of his name.

[31:23] And the word name is capitalized there. So they have that translation. We have this one. But we all know that he's talking about Jesus, but for his namesake, they went forth.

[31:35] But they took nothing of the Gentiles. Folks, that tells me it is the church's responsibility. It is the people of God's responsibility to support the men of God that go about teaching and preaching the true Word of God.

[31:51] This also tells me you be careful what missions you're supporting. You be careful what preachers you support. You be careful what teachers you support. And go back to 2 John to get in that word.

[32:05] John, we've actually already brought it up once this morning. John says not to take them into your house, not to support them, not to wish them God's favor. That's what we don't do with false teachers.

[32:18] You be careful though, because there's some of them out there that all they're doing is trying to squeeze every dime that they can out of everybody that they run into. They get $25, $30, $50 a month from a church, but they do that to 500 different churches.

[32:34] They're sitting pretty large as far as I go. Not to mention a lot of them go plumb around the world with the use of the Internet now. People make hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, just by setting up a website, which you can do for a little bit of nothing, and saying it's for Christ.

[32:55] But we've been through this with 1 John last week and the week before with 2 John. One of the things we need to look for for people that are teaching and preaching the word of God, do they believe in the deity of Jesus Christ?

[33:13] Do they believe that Jesus Christ is God, manifests in the flesh? Do they believe in the virgin bird? Do they believe in the sinless life? Do they believe in the substitutionary death that Jesus Christ suffered?

[33:29] Do they believe in the burrow? Do they believe in the resurrection? Do they believe in the ascension? Do they believe in the coming again? But ultimately, do they believe that Jesus Christ was and is God?

[33:42] That's the main thing to look at. And there's so many things that will say, well, I do, but. I do believe that, but this, and I do believe that, but that.

[33:53] Folks, there are no buts. Either you believe that Jesus Christ is God or you do not believe that Jesus Christ is God. The Bible is very plain. It is very black and white in the scriptures that Jesus Christ is God.

[34:09] And we must believe that. We have to believe that. And any teacher or preacher needs, and must, and needs to believe that. And anyone that doesn't believe that, they cannot be a preacher or a teacher of the true gospel.

[34:23] Of Jesus Christ, folks, if he, if he wasn't God, his death was in vain. If he wasn't God, you and I would have no chance for redemption. If he isn't God, we have no chance of being kept now.

[34:38] If he isn't God, but he is God, praise God for it. Because for his name's sake, they went for it. They went for it. He says they didn't go forth for themselves.

[34:50] They didn't go forth for popularity. They didn't go forth because they wanted to be known as a great rabbi or a great teacher or any of these other things. They went forth for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ.

[35:04] Taking nothing of the Gentiles. Verse 8, we therefore ought to receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the truth. We therefore ought to receive such.

[35:15] We might be fellow helpers of the truth. It says we include, and John's including himself in that statement. It says we ought to receive such. In other words, we should take these people and we should support them.

[35:30] As long as they're walking in the truth, as long as they're preaching the truth, as long as they are living the truth, we should receive such that we might be fellow helpers to the truth.

[35:42] Once again, I just stated it, and I'll state it again. Not all of us can be missionaries. Not all of us are called to be a missionary.

[35:53] Not all of us are called to go all over the country. Or all over the world, or wherever the case is. We are all told to go. We are all told to go. But where we go to is up to God.

[36:07] Not all of us are called to go to the world over. But when we receive such, and we help such, we support such, whether it's by money, whether it's by prayers, we become fellow helpers in that ministry.

[36:23] It may not be, we may not feel that it's us directly involved in that preaching, or that teaching, or whatever the case is, but we're supporting a true man of God as he goes out and preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of if it's here in Kingsport, or if it's somewhere else in the state of Tennessee, or somewhere else in the United States, or somewhere in Uganda, or Rwanda, or Zimbabwe, or anywhere else.

[36:54] If we're supporting that ministry, we are fellow helpers in that ministry, if we are supporting it. Regardless of whether it's with your prayers, or whether it's with your money, maybe it's with your time, maybe it's when they're on furlough, they're back here in the states for a little while.

[37:12] They need some place to stay, and you put them up in your house. I mean, this letter addressed to Gaius here, John's already said, you know, the brethren, and he's referring to some of them, even though they were strangers, people you never met, you took them in.

[37:28] But I have a feeling Gaius had some questions for him before he took them in, if he didn't know who they were. And one of those questions, looking at 2 John and the 1 John, would have been, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God?

[37:45] Don't know that for a fact, but Gaius walked in the truth, Gaius believed the truth and he lived in the truth, and therefore Gaius would not have been one to put up false teachers.

[37:59] So I think that he would have some questions for these folks. We become fellow helpers if we support these ministries. And folks, I'm going to end it right there at verse 8.

[38:12] We'll finish off that, the rest of that book, the rest of that chapter. Anybody got any questions or comments on any of that?

[38:23] All right, if you don't, we'll finish it up next week. God bless you all. Thank you.