3 John

This is John's third letter. He wrote it to a loyal Christian worker. John wanted to encourage him. This worker had some difficult problems. The book of 2 John deals with principles. The book of 3 John is about people. These two letters are the shortest books in the New Testament. And they both deal with something similar. It is a practical matter. It is about the welcome of people into the home.

The book of 2 John dealt with false teachers. They travelled from place to place. And they were trying to spoil and destroy the life of the church. This book of 3 John is about genuine Christian teachers.

The book of 3 John is a friendly and honest letter. It came from the church members’ Christian leader. And John dealt with things as they were. He encouraged and praised the church leaders when they deserved it. And he did this in a generous way. However, he dealt with things in these leaders that were not good. And he did this in a clear and definite way.

This little letter has something to say to us all. It speaks about love for each other and about discipline. We may be afraid that people might leave the church. So we allow certain bad things to continue. But when we do this, it is against the Bible. It also shows a lack of true love.

Some people are in the church from childhood. They might do things that annoy other people. Or there might be things that are wrong in their lives. But nobody corrects them. And these faults cause great emotional pain. They can even cause serious damage to God's people. If only someone had spoken to these people years ago. If only someone had corrected them. Then they might have been great Christians today.

The apostle described three people. And what he says about them forms three natural parts of the letter.

Gaius Served Other People (Verses 1-8)

Gaius had good spiritual health. John knew this. And so did people who visited the apostle. Other Christians said good things about Gaius. And that was wonderful. God saved him (verse 2). God was using him in his work (verses 5-8). And his part in God's work was to welcome people into his home.

In his second letter, John warned the church about this matter. He warned them not to welcome false teachers into their homes. (Read 2 John verses 10-11.) But, here he praised Gaius. Gaius was eager to welcome genuine Christians into his home. And our homes should be like this. Homes can be a great blessing to people. And this would be true for believers and for those who are not Christians. We could invite our neighbours into our homes. There could be a film, a talk or a discussion.

Verses 6-8 suggest that Gaius was generous with his money too. It seemed that local Christians paid for the next part of a preacher's journey. We should do our best for our missionary friends too. For the sake of Christ, ‘they went out’. Therefore, said John, ‘we should...’ (vs.7-8a.) ‘When we help them, we share in their work for the truth’ (v.8b). We can prove that we are loyal to God's truth. And we do this by caring for God's servants.

[Note: A missionary is someone who tells people about Jesus. Often it means going to a foreign land.]

Diotrephes Stopped the Progress of Other People (Verses 9-10)

What a great church it would have been if everybody were like Gaius! But John dealt with things as they were. So there was a complete contrast. Here was someone who did not have discipline in the church in former years. Notice that:

He was proud (v.9). Diotrephes liked to put himself first. He seemed to be leader of a local Christian group. Leadership is a serious responsibility. And to be proud is like a disease. It was easy to be proud in this sort of job.

This leader was causing much damage to the local Christians. He must always be the most important person. And he would be unhappy if people did not show this all the time. If they thanked anybody, he must be the first. How sad this is. Think about the Lord Jesus and his apostles. How humble they were. (Read Mark 10:45 with Mark 10:35-44; John 13:1-5, 12-17; Acts 20:19; Romans 12:16; 1 Corinthians 15:9; 2 Corinthians 10:1; Philippians 2:3-11 and 1 Peter 5:5.)

He accused other leaders (v.10a). John said, ‘He lies and says evil things about us’. A person like this tries to make other people seem bad. In this way, he makes himself feel more important.

He was bitter (v.10b). What an unpleasant person he was. He was against John. And he seemed to oppose everyone else too. Gaius welcomed other Christians. Diotrephes made them leave (v.10). There is a serious lesson here for us. It is about when we are bitter or angry. It may be against one other Christian. But we soon lose our love for them all. And this happened to Diotrephes. He sent away good teachers. Then he was angry when other people helped them.

Demetrius Attracted Other People (Verses 11-25)

Demetrius always lived a good Christian life. And we should try to be like this (v.11). He was sincere and he was holy. The apostle said that there were three witnesses to prove this. The witnesses were:

Everyone. Demetrius had many attractive spiritual qualities. ‘All the people say good things about him’.

The truth itself. His life followed all that we read about in God's word. The principles of the Christian life were part of his character.

The apostle himself. Believers knew that they could trust what John said.

There were two final thoughts in this short letter.

• Peace (v.15a). Diotrephes was fighting against God's children. How much the members of this church needed the peace that Christ could give them.
• Love (v.15b). ‘Greet the friends by name’. This does not just refer to people whom we like. Sincere Christian love is for everyone.