Tweets From God (Part 4: 3 John) Series

Tweets from God: 3 John

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 6/5/2016

A few weeks ago I began a series I’m calling Tweets from God. What we’re doing is going through the five shortest books of the Bible. Each of these books is a single chapter and can be read in less than three minutes. Similar to a tweet on Twitter, these bite-size books of the Bible are short, to-the-point, messages from God to his followers.

The first of these brief books is Obadiah. If we summarized the book of Obadiah in one tweetable sentence, I think it would be this: God always sticks up for his children! Furthermore, the book of Philemon could be summed up: Faith in Jesus leads to true freedom! Finally, the second epistle of John—which we looked at last week—can be summarized: Walking in truth, love and obedience leads to a happier holier life.

That brings us to 3rd John. At just 219 words, this little letter is the shortest book in the entire Bible. 3rd John gives us a glimpse into an ancient church, its people, and its problems. As you read this brief letter, you might find yourself saying, “Not much has changed!” We still have similar people and similar problems.

Because the church consists of people from every walk of life, the church is filled with a variety of personalities—some good and some not so good. In this letter John introduces us to three different people—Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius. Even though none of them live in our community, you’re likely to meet people with similar personalities in any church you might attend.

So here we have three people you might meet at church. The first is Gaius, who was a joy!

• A JOY

Gaius is the one to whom this letter is addressed and it’s evident that the Apostle John dearly loved this brother in Christ. Here’s what John says:

“I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth. Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.” (3 John 1-4 NLT)

Gaius brought John great joy for a couple of reasons. First, as we can see here, Gaius was learning and living the truth of God’s Word. In his previous letter, John emphasized the importance of walking in truth and walking in obedience; here’s someone who was doing just that. Gaius was the kind of guy who listened to God’s Word and lived God’s Word.

I cannot overstate the value of getting into God’s word—whether that’s in a Sunday School class here at the Grove or in a small group that meets throughout the week. We always learn from others truths we would never learn on our own. Other people will help you see insights you would miss and help you apply God’s truth in a practical way.

I also hope that some of you are making use of the church’s subscription to Right Now Media. There are thousands of video Bible studies that you can watch and absorb from the comfort of your couch. But at some point we have to get off the couch and put what we’ve learned into practice. We must become “doers of the word” (James 1:22).

This is a hard step, because Satan fights it so intensely. He doesn’t mind you going to Bible studies as long as you don’t do anything with what you learn.

Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24 NIV). Jesus also pointed out that God’s blessing comes from obeying the truth, not just knowing it. He said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17 NIV). That’s what Gaius did.

And one of the ways he did that was by supporting and encouraging traveling missionaries. John continues, saying: “Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers. So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.” (3 John 5-8 NLT).

Gaius joyfully opened his home and his wallet to these missionaries and, in so doing, joined them in their work for the Lord!