these tendencies. Pastors pray to be rid of them if they refuse to change. Denie- trius is the faithful witness to the truth, even at the cost of persecution. Every church worthy of the name has men of this type who bring encouragement to pastor and membership. “Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gen tiles” (v. 7). In this verse are found the motive which energized Christian service in apostolic days and the means whereby the servants of the Lord were supported. The love of Christ constrained them; that is always the primary motive for Christian service; nothing can take its place. These servants of the Lord recog nized that the Lord’s work should be supported by the Lord’s people. They re fused to be dependent upon the Gentiles. The church of today will do well to prac tice these principles. “ Who loveth to have the pre-eminence” (v. 9). When men delight to give Christ pre-eminence (Col. 1:18) in their lives, they will be utterly unlike Diotrephes. M emory V erse : “ The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious” (Eccl. 10:12). Have you some friends to whom you enjoy writing letters? What do you say in your letters? Are they just written to tell the things you have been doing, and how you are feeling? Christians should always include in their letters something about their Lord. Some of the books in the Bible are letters which men of God wrote to their friends. John, the beloved disciple of the Lord Jesus, wrote several letters which are printed in God’s Word. One of these letters was written to Gaius, a man whom John dearly loved. Notice that John wished Gaius to be as well physically and financially as he was spiritually. If some of us were no better financially and physically than we are spiritually, we would be very poor. John was very happy because of the report that he had received about Gaius’ .faithful Christian life. Sometimes peo ple gossip about their friends, but the friends of Gaius told how he honored his Lord in his life. John’s greatest joy was to hear that his Christian friends were walking with the Lord. He was also glad to hear of the kindness which Gaius had shown to strangers who had visited his church. John urged his Christian friend to imitate that which was good rather than that which was bad. He told Gaius that those who do good are of God, but that those who do evil have not seen Him. John’s letter was written in a spirit of love rather than in a spirit of criticism. Can you think of a friend to whom you could write such a letter? Perhaps there is a sick friend to whom you could send some promises of cheer from God’s Word. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S For the Children J ohn ’ s F riendly L etter (3 J ohn 1-3, 11-14)
DECEMBER 7, 1947 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP T hird J ohn
verse less. But in it most precious truth is revealed. By it is given an insight into the inner workings of the early church and the character of its fellowship. Here is a simple, but inclusive six-point out line: The Apostle’s Love (1) ; The Apos tle’s Prayer (2); The Apostle’s Joy (3-4); The Apostle’s Commendation (5-8); The Apostle’s Denunciation (9-11); The Apostle’s Witness (12-14).
Outline and Exposition W alking in T ruth (3 J ohn 1-4)
The Apostle John, who wrote this Epistle, prayed that Gaius’ physical health and material prosperity might measure up to his soul’s prosperity (w . 1, 2). How many today would like such a prayer answered for them? It was proper to ask such a blessing from God because of the true Christian character of Gaius, who was “well beloved” (w . 2, 5, 11). The character of Gaius had grown out of roots in the truth, which is Christ, the Spirit, and the Word (John 14:6; 1 John 5:6; John 17:7). From these three, Christian character develops and is man ifested by a walk in truth. The mind of Christ directs the life and deeds of one who so walks (Phil. 2:5). Such a manner of life brings joy to spiritual fathers, who desire not only to have souls saved, but saved souls ex pressing their salvation by their outward lives. S erving with T ruth (3 J ohn 5-10) In this section, much concerning the Christian service of Gaius is related. It was “faithful” in character, the much- needed grace for all Christian work; its motive “ charity” or love, (v. 6), both to God and man; its manner was with “hu mility” (v. 6). Gaius had not boasted of it, but those to whom he had ministered bore testimony of it. Its method was “worthy of God” (v. 6), that is, doing as God Himself would do; its purpose was for “his name’s sake” (v. 7), with no profit from the Gentiles or the un saved. The missionary enterprise is far from being a monetary matter.Gaius be came a “ fellow-helper” with truth (v. 8). Always there is opposition to such serv ice and, in this case, the opposition rose from pride manifested by a fellow-work er, Diotrephes, who loved the “pre eminence” (w . 9, 10). C ontinuing in T ruth (3 J ohn 11-14) Here the Apostle turns from commen dation to exhortation. He desires that Gaius should grow more and more, in creasing in the knowledge and manifes tation of truth. There are no limits to growth in truth; all Christians are to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18). Wheth er John ever saw Gaius face to face on earth we are not told, but we can be assured they have already met in the glory. Points and Problems Evaluation of Epistle. It is a trite, but true, maxim that some of the most precious things in the world are wrapped in small packages. This is true of Third John, which is next to the shortest book in the Bible, Second John having one
Gaius, Diotrephes, Demetrius. These three men who are mentioned in this ep istle are quite un like, but are representative of the same types of men in churches today. Gaius is the depend able layman in the church, a deeply spiritual man, a man with zeal for the truth, the kind of a man who will be a blessing to any church. Every pastor longs for more men like him. Diotrephes is the dominating official, self-seeking, arrogant, possessing a magnified sense of his own importance. He delights to lord it over his fellows. Nearly every church has one or more members with
Outline and Exposition B. B. S utcliffe Points and Problems H omer A. K ent
j J ( t |
For the Children
A llison A rrowood
Lesson material is based upon j outlines of International Sunday | School Lessons, copyrighted by the ! International Council of Religious Education; used by permission.
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