The Apostle's Last Letter

Title: Scripture: III John

Type: Expository Where: GNBC 8-7-22

Intro: John Wooden was the legendary head basketball coach at UCLA from 1948 to 1975. Does anyone know where he coached before his tenure at UCLA? Indiana State University, 1946 to 1948. Wooden was one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, compiling a .813 winning percentage over 40 years of coaching! As great of a coach as Wooden was, he was an even greater man. Coach John Wooden is one of the most revered coaches in all of sports. But perhaps he'll be best remembered as a mentor, a friend, a loving husband and father, and a source of endless wisdom and grace to hundreds of players, thousands of coaches, and millions of fans and admirers through the decades and around the world. Wooden has long said that his wisdom came primarily from two sources—his earthly father and from his heavenly Father. Wooden was a devout Christian. Wooden once said, “Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” Today in 3rd Jn we’ll see 3 men mentioned, one was concerned about his reputation whereas two were concerned about their character. Important and challenging letter.

Prop: Today we’ll divide III John into 3 specific sections to easily understand.

BG: 1. III Jn is the shortest letter in the NT. It is 219 Greek words.

2. Some similarities b/t IIJn and III Jn, however, more personal. Same designation: “The elder”

3. II Jn. was a warning about showing hospitality to false teachers. III Jn. is a warning against not showing hospitality.

Prop: Let’s examine 3 specific sections of III John.

I. Section I – A Greeting to Gaius. Vv.1-8

A. John Begins this Letter by Writing to a Specific Person.

1. In this Letter, John writes to a Specific Person, rather than a Specific Church.

a. Who is this Gaius? Several men by that name in the NT. Gaius of Corinth (I Cor. 1:14; Rom. 16:23) (Origen said he was the Bishop of Thes.). There was a Gaius of Macedonia who suffered at the riot of Ephesus (Acts 19:29). There was a Gaius of Derbe who traveled with Paul to Greece and Macedonia (Acts 20:4). An extra-Biblical source (Apostolic Constitutions, 7.46.9) says that this Gaius was the Bishop of Pergamum, appointed by none other than…John! Some ambiguity. Why? Well, Gaius just happened to be the most popular name in the Roman world at that time! Illust: Like “James in the USA. In the past 100 years 4.6 million “James” have been born in the USA.

b. Although we may not exactly know who Gaius was, we know exactly what he was! He held a position of responsibility and authority in a local church. Pastor/elder. As a result, visiting evangelists and teachers were prone to stay with him. We know that the Apostle was affectionate towards him as he referred to him as “beloved” or “dear friend”.

2. John’s affection towards Gaius is Observed in his Prayer for Him.

a. 3 of the 1st 11 Greek words in this letter refer to “love”. John loves Gaius in the Lord and offeres a prayer for him. That prayer 3 parts: 1. Gaius’ material well being. 2. God to grant Gaius good health. 3. Recognition of Gaius’ spiritual progress in the Lord.

b. Illust: Consider your and my prayers for loved ones. Not all that different from John’s prayer. We often pray for God to bless our loved ones financially. (Illust: When the kids were young pray for people in the church, those who had businesses. When got to Dana Greer, one of the kids would say: “Please please Mr. Greer’s business. Another would chime in: “With someone else’s car!” But we commonly pray for financial blessing. We pray for physical health and protection. And of course, we pray that people will grow spiritually.

B. The Evidence of Gaius’ Spiritual Well Being Brought John Joy.

1. Seeing another Believer growing in the Lord brings every Christian Joy.

a. V.3 – John heard a positive report about Gaius from other believers (Read v. 4). Whatever Gaius’ position in the local church, other Christians recognized his consistent faithfulness to the saints and steadfast commitment to the truth of God’s Word. There is nothing that does a parent’s heart good like hearing positive reports about your children from others. Gaius was his child in the Lord and was encouraged to know doing well in the face of severe trials.

b. Illust: Christian parents let me ask you. Can you relate to John’s cause for joy? It is great for children to have multiple lessons and be well rounded. It’s great if they do well academically, athletically, play music or attain notoriety for acting or speech or drama. But all of that is for naught if they are not walking with the Lord! One day in each of your children’s lives the last recital will be performed, the last pitch will be thrown, the last race will be run, the last class taken, the last play performed. Realize then it is more important that they walk in the truth than they were Divisional Champion or played D1 or were principal at some orchestra. Sunday School. Youth Group. College. (Don’t come to me in 5-10 years and say: “The Church let my …down. Your traveling teams had little junior out of church 30 wks of the year.