Walking in Truth with Gaius: 3 John 1:3-7

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The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.

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Welcome to Through the Bible. I’m Steve Schwetz, your host. And in this study, our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, is going to take us through 3 John, verses 3 to 7, where the Apostle John rejoices over believers who walk in the truth. Before we begin, though, here’s more from Dr. McGee about the third great truth in the New Testament, the coming of the Holy Spirit.

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Now the three great truths that we’ve seen in the New Testament was first of all the gospel. And we saw what the gospel was and our appropriation of it is by faith. Our word properly today would be trust. Trust is the Old Testament word and faith the New Testament word. But the important thing is a personal trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the gospel. And then we wonder why it was necessary for Christ to die. and be raised again. Wasn’t that an overkill in order to provide a gospel or a God to save man? Well, of course it was not because of man’s condition. Man was a sinner, totally incapable of doing anything for himself at all. And the scripture just contradicts all of this that we have been taught recently by the psychological preachers, and it contradicts not only the Scripture, but some of our music. Isaac Watt’s great hymn, Alas, and did my Savior bleed, and did my Savior die, to save a worm like I. Well, may I say to you that this new way of thinking, according to Dr. John R. Scott, is a chorus of many voices chanting in unison today that I must at all costs love myself. That self-love needs to be added to love for God and neighbor as a much neglected commandment and that dire consequences will overtake me if I refuse. May I say to you, all these books that appear today, this self-esteem, it’s called the New Reformation and it’s really a new deformation. And there’s a real danger in self-love. And now the third great truth is the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Someone has divided the Scripture in this fashion. The Old Testament puts an emphasis on God the Father, the first person of the Godhead. And the Gospels put the emphasis upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead. And the Acts and Epistles put the emphasis upon the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead. And we’ve had a great emphasis put upon that, as I’m sure you’ve noted as we’ve been in the New Testament. Not only does the New Testament record the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, became man, but also that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, became flesh, took upon himself humanity. Now notice what the scripture says. Even the Lord Jesus was the first one to mention this. He says in John 14, 16 and 17, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and he shall be in you. And apparently, The apostles, being taught from the Old Testament, knew about the Holy Spirit with them. But this is brand new that the Lord Jesus introduced here. He says, and he shall be in you. In other words, the Holy Spirit would come. tabernacle in the church. And you find in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John at verse 26, the Lord Jesus again says, “…but when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” And so we have given here the fact that the Holy Spirit will be taking a new relationship to mankind. And the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and he began the indwelling of mankind. That is, the indwelling of certain individuals. He became resident in the church.

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In our next study, Dr. McGee tells us more about the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and why it’s important to us today. To prepare, read ahead in 3 John. And in fact, reading the corresponding scripture before each lesson is one of the best ways to get the most out of your Bible bus journey with us. And we make it super easy. If you’re on our mailing list every month, you get a bookmark. with each day’s reading for the whole month. And if you’re on our app, you can always go to the daily program and quickly get to the Bible passage that we’re going to study. And if you haven’t already signed up for our mailing list, you can do that over at ttb.org and then go to subscribe or just call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE. Again, that’s 1-800-65-BIBLE or ttb.org. And speaking of the Bible bus journey, we’re so grateful for those who pray for Through the Bible’s reach and effectiveness. The fruitfulness of this ministry really is a result of your prayers. And we’re grateful for those who, as Dr. McGee used to say, provide gas money for the Bible bus or help us replace a tire or two along the way. Your prayer and your financial support are the pillars of this ministry, and we’re grateful for them. And we don’t talk much about it, but Dr. McGee will explain more about our philosophy of giving later in his message. Let’s pray together and then turn to our study. Heavenly Father, may your Holy Spirit make your word clear and plain to us as we listen now. In Jesus’ name, amen. We’re off to 3 John on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

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Now, friends, we’re back at 3 John today, the third epistle of John, our three-eyed John, if you want it that way. And we will pick up at the third verse. Now, this little epistle is like 2 John in many ways and then very much unlike it. In fact, the great contrast is that in 2 John, he’s warning there a lady named and probably a church, that there were so many deceivers in the world that they were not even to entertain a deceiver, a false teacher, even in their home. And if they did, they were a partner with him. But now in 3 John, he encourages us. Actually, he encourages here this man Gaius to entertain those in his home that come by, that are Bible teachers. Now, Gaius had real spiritual discernment. And if he found out that the brother that came through was not walking in the truth or walking in love, either way, why, he didn’t receive him into his home, but his home was wide open to the real teachers of the Word of God. This is a very wonderful picture, as we said last time, of life. in the first century, in the Roman Empire, when it was very difficult to live for God. And so we find that he calls Gaius his well-beloved. Evidently, Gaius was a convert of John. He was a man now approaching senior years, but not as old as John, as John was apparently about 90 years of age at this time, if not older. And he calls him here, my well-beloved Gaius. That’s a very wonderful way of addressing a brother. And now he says here in verse 3, for I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. Now, this is very important to see here. The truth actually is the doctrine and the teaching of the apostles. And the word thee here, in many places, it’s not included. In some places, it’s included where It ought not to be. And it should be just truth here, which walkest in truth, which refers not only to doctrine, but also to his conduct. You see, the mark of the believer was in that day truth, which was dominant. That was the summum bonum of a Christian, whether he’s walking in the truth or not, or walking in the light. That was all important. As we said in the first epistle, it wasn’t how you walked, it’s where you walk that’s important. Are you walking in the truth? Now, walking in the truth also means walking in the right conduct. are walking in love, and that means love of the brethren, so that the brethren were coming, those that were out and had a teaching ministry in the early church. They would come into Gaius’ town and to his church, And his home was wide open to those true brethren of the faith. And he had a spiritual discernment that he could tell who was the genuine and who were not. Well, after all, all you had to do is to make sure about their relationship to the person of Jesus Christ. What think ye of Christ is the test. You cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of him. You must think rightly of him in order to be right in everything else. And these brethren were saying, Brother Gaius over there, he tested us out. He found out whether we believe in the deity of Christ. He found out whether we believed in the virgin birth, whether Christ died a redemptive death upon the cross, whether he was raised bodily from the grave. And when he found out we did believe those things, then he opened his home and received us and discovered whether we had love for the brethren or not. And then his heart was opened to us. What a marvelous testimony Gaius had. Now, John says in verse 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. And that is a great comfort. That is actually wonderful encouragement. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. And these were ones that John had led to the Lord. And to hear that his converts out over the area of Asia where he had been, he became pastor of the church in Ephesus, to learn. when he’s now an old man, that they’re still walking in truth. And here again, walking in truth means in doctrine and in love for the brethren. They manifested that. And that is a great joy to me today as a minister who’s now supposed to be retired to look back over my pastorate, and I get letters. I’ve shared some of them with you. I have a letter. I haven’t read that letter yet. It’s in my file here, and I hope to get to it from someone that was led to the Lord during my ministry in Nashville. I wasn’t even married then. I was just a single fellow. And they say we’re still walking in the truth. They tell about how they’re in a Bible church and how they’re attempting to serve the Lord. Well, that brings joy to my heart. And when I hear of young ministers that used to be in my classes, and I share some of those letters with you of how they’re standing for the truth, that brings joy to your heart. My daughter, I think, is like a great many other young people today. She thinks her dad is just a little old fogey that I’m, you know, more or less of a back number. And I was rather amused. She went out to hear a young man that I had the privilege of teaching. In fact, all of his Bible training, he took under my teaching many years ago. But he’s a young man. And my daughter and her husband went out to hear him. And she came back to tell me how wonderful he was and what a glorious message that he brought. And she wanted to tell me what the message was. And she gave it to me as if it was something I’d never heard before. It did sound strangely familiar to me, but I never said anything to my daughter. I just listened to it. And she says, wasn’t that a wonderful message? And I said, yes. And then she made this statement. She says, you know, Dad, you may not be able to speak to the young people, but this young preacher, he’s able to speak to young people. And they listened to him. And his church was filled with young people. Well, I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t really want to tell her the truth that the message that that fellow had given just happened to be one of my messages. I was glad that he gave it. And my daughter, I’m sure, has heard me give it. But see, it didn’t mean anything when dad gave it because I’m an old fogey. But this young sharp boy, he put in a lot of new words that young people use today that are actually not in my vocabulary. And of all things, it’s just a brand new message. And do you think that I feel badly over that? You do not know what great joy that brought to me in my heart. And I know exactly how John felt. John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Isn’t that great? That’s wonderful to find that out. And you can’t help but rejoice in that. And especially when you have come to the sundown period of life and you know that your future is not ahead of you. My future is back of me. And I rejoice in these that are coming along. And to feel like, well, maybe I had a little part in the training of these young ones today. And to know that young people are crowding in to hear them. My, that’s a wonderful thing. Now, let me move on down. Verse 5. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatever thou doest to the brethren and the strangers. Now, this man here, Gaius, was evidently one of the children of John. I’m sure that is the thing that is true. And his conduct conformed to his doctrine. And it’s marvelous when that takes place, you see. Now, he goes on to say here in verse 5, he commands Gaius from here on through verse 8, for having received and entertained the true teachers of the word. Let me draw the contrast. Second John, the apostle warns against receiving false teachers. Now, third John, he encourages the believers to receive the true brethren. And just because you’ve been deceived and stung for a while, may I say to you that that ought not to keep you from receiving the true brethren today. Now, you may have been deceived. I received letters like that also. And one lady who really supports our program in a very wonderful way, she’s down on the church. And I found out recently why she’s down on the church. Well, she went to a couple of churches. She’s a very aggressive person herself. And she happens to be a widow. And the pastors at these two churches made a pass at her. She is a very attractive person. They made a pass at her. And believe me, that turned her off. And she has nothing to do. Well, frankly, I have urged her to get in a good Bible church where there are real men of God that won’t be doing that sort of thing, I can assure you. That which is false or that in which you’ve been taken in, and many of us have been, Many of us have been disappointed and deceived by false brethren. Don’t let that deter us from supporting and giving our support to that which is, we believe, of the Lord today. Now, this woman gives support just to radio. Well, I think she’s wrong. I don’t think she’s wrong in supporting radio. Don’t misunderstand me. But I do feel that one or two sour experiences ought not to sour you against the church. at all because many deceivers, John told us in the last epistle, have gone out in the world. And why not be like Gaius, exercise a little spiritual discernment and don’t support anything? And that includes a church and a radio until you are sure that this is of God, that the word of God is being given out and that they love the brethren. and that they don’t love the cistern too much. That’s the thing that apparently this party encountered. Now, let me move on from that, because we’re talking about things that are very practical today. We are really getting down to the nitty-gritty, right down where the rubber meets the road, right down where the ball hits the bat. That’s the place. This is where we live and move and have our being today. Now he says, Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers. Now, you see, he’s encouraging him. Verse 6, who have borne witness of thy love before the church. Now, in John’s church, These brethren would get back off of a trip. And I have a notion that when they came together for the purpose of worship, that John would say, well, I see brother so-and-so. He’s been out evangelizing in a certain area, and we’d like to have a word from him. We’d like to have a report of how the Lord led him and how the Lord blessed him. And brother so-and-so would get up and he’d give his report. And he said, and I came to this place and there is a brother there by the name of Gaius as one of the choice servants of God. He opened this house and he doesn’t do it for everybody because he certainly examined me and he made an inspection of me to make sure that I was teaching the word of God, whether I believe the word of God, whether I was walking in love or not. And he tested me, and he found out that I was. Then he just opened up his heart and his home to me, and we had wonderful fellowship. Now, John’s writing, guys, and he said, you know, I’ve heard that now from several, and I want you to know how it delights my heart. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers, verse 6, who have borne witness of thy love before the church. Whom, if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shall do well. Now, before, you remember in the second epistle, he says that if you bid Godspeed to these false teachers, you are a partaker with them. You’re guilty. But now, if you help those who are giving out the word of God, who do believe it, who are walking in love, he says here, you do well. This is something that actually you should be doing. Why? Verse 7, because for his name’s sake they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles. Now, he says, these brethren, they went forward trusting the Lord. And you opened up your house and home to them. And they’re genuine. They’re real. And you receive them. Now, he makes a tremendous statement here. He says, taking nothing from the Gentiles. And that, my friend, is another way of testing that which is really genuine or not. Is it a religious racket for money that’s trying to get every Tom, Dick, and Harry to donate, to give to the cause? Or is it a work of the Lord that depends on the Lord’s people? Now, John says these men that were true men, they would take nothing of the Gentiles. And he means unbelievers here, those that are unbelievers. He would take nothing from them. And I’ve tried to make it clear on this broadcast. I don’t always, I guess, make it clear, but I try to say that we’re just asking believers to support the program. If you’re listening in today and you’re not a Christian, you may be a church member. Frankly, we don’t mean you. We’d rather for you not to give. We hope you’ll listen. We even hope you’ll send and get the notes and outlines. But very frankly, friends, I don’t really believe God can bless what an unbeliever gives. And even if you gave to us, I don’t think God could use that. And that’s the reason we encourage that. And this is, we believe, the scriptural method. These men went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles. They would not appeal to unbelievers to give to the Lord’s work. And now I’m just speaking for myself, and I know there’s a lot of disagreement, but I do not believe that unbelievers should be asked to support the Lord’s work. I think that as the ark went through the wilderness, carried on the shoulders of priests, you couldn’t even put it on a cart. God says the priests are to carry it. And God’s priests are his believers. Every believer is a priest. And you and I are to carry the Lord Jesus Christ into this world today. And therefore, we do not ask unbelievers to give, but we do ask believers, and especially those that not only believe in Christ, but believe that we are giving out the Word of God today and believe that this is God’s method. Those we do ask, we don’t apologize for that because we believe the Lord’s work is to be carried forward in that method. This is a tremendous little epistle. Is the shoe beginning to pinch anybody’s foot yet? Well, it’s pinched mine a little, but wait till we get the next time because we’re going to talk about a fellow that really was a rascal in the early church, old Diotrephes. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

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As Dr. McGee said, Diotrephes is an interesting character. Be sure to listen next time as we take a closer look at this man Dr. McGee calls a rascal. We’ll learn some valuable lessons by examining his life. If you’ve been enjoying these epistles of John and you want to listen again or maybe share them with someone else, Amen. Amen. Amen. Plug that flash drive into any USB port of your computer and it’s ready to go. It’s super small, it’s affordable, and it’s pretty fun too. It’s shaped just like a mini Bible bus, so it makes a great gift. To get more details on the Bible bus flash drive, place an order for it, or to look through our entire collection of Bible study materials… Some for purchase and many for free. Look in our app or visit ttb.org. Or if we can help you find a resource that you’re looking for, call 1-800-65-BIBLE. Thanks for spending time with us in God’s Word today. I’m Steve Schwetz, and it’s a privilege to save a seat on the Bible bus just for you. See you next time.

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Jesus came home All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

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