Alright, we're here in 3 John, and this is to kind of finish up as we did the memorization challenge.
And, you know, I'm sorry I know there's a little bit of noise here this morning,
and we should be happy to get a loud preacher that I like to yell.
We'll see what's louder, the chat camera or we preach.
It's gonna be a nice battle here.
But we're here in 3 John, and let's just start off here right at the beginning,
where the Bible says,
the elder, unto the well-beloved, the goddess, whom I love, and the truth.
And notice how it says right off the bat, the elder, okay?
Now, the word elder means a few different things in the Bible.
One thing it refers to is people that are a little bit older.
They have a little bit more age, they're not young, okay?
Now, when it talks about being elder, or being a little bit older,
it could be older in the faith, or just older in general, okay?
The Bible speaks about having respect for your elders.
We should obviously respect those that are older,
but also people that are older in the faith, okay?
So when he's saying elder,
I believe what he's saying is that he's not a young man at this point.
John is coming towards the end of his life.
This is 3 John.
It's after 1 John, it's after 2 John, okay?
This was probably written on the Isle of Patmos,
because it's probably happening toward the end of his life, okay?
He's saying he's a little bit older, okay?
But that's not the only thing elder refers to in the Bible.
Elder also is a term given for a pastor, okay?
There's basically three terms in the Bible,
and they are synonymous.
A pastor, a bishop, and an elder, okay?
These terms are the same,
but they're highlighting different aspects of the same position, okay?
So it's the same position,
but there's a reason why it says elder instead of pastor.
There's a reason why it says elder instead of bishop.
You say, well, what does elder really refer to?
Well, it basically refers to you being more aged in the faith.
Basically, you're not a novice.
You're not a new believer.
You're someone who's been saved for a while.
You have experience.
And see, John was not someone who got saved last week,
and then he's writing books to the Bible.
He didn't just get saved last week and he's preaching sermons.
No, he's actually been saved for a while.
He's a little bit elder in the faith, okay?
But he is a pastor, and that's why we're seeing the elder, okay?
Now, I want to prove to you that elder, pastor, and bishop are synonymous.
Turn to Titus 1.
Titus chapter 1.
Because quite honestly, most people don't agree with that.
You'll hear a lot of different things about, you know, elders, pastors, bishops.
There's a lot of different opinions out there.
But honestly, you're going to see in the Bible, these things are the same, okay?
Now, let me also say this, that there's another word given
which is 100% synonymous with pastor, and that is shepherd, right?
And so, pastor and shepherd, when you see shepherd appearing in the Old Testament,
not only is it the same, you know, synonymous as the same position,
but it's the same role of that position as well.
Shepherd and pastor, we're going to see that later on.
But notice what it says in Titus chapter 1, verses 5, 6, and 7.
So, in verse number 5, it's talking about ordaining elders, okay?
For somebody to be a pastor or an elder or a bishop, they must be ordained.
Don't ordain yourself. No, it says they were ordained as elders.
It's not just a free-for-all where everyone can just say,
hey, I just decided to start a church.
I mean, do you know how that would work in the secular world
if you started advertising, hey, I know how to perform surgery.
I'm opening up a surgery business, you know, I can operate on it.
It's like, man, you need some experience.
You need to learn how to do it, okay?
And so, to be a pastor or an elder or a bishop, you need to be ordained, okay?
That's what you see in verse number 5. Notice verse 6.
So, in verse 5, it's saying ordain elders in every city,
but what does it say in verse 7?
For a bishop must be blameless.
So, I thought we were talking about elders,
but now it's saying an elder is the same as a bishop.
Why? It is the same.
Elders and bishops are the same.
That's why they're being used interchangeably,
but they highlight different aspects of that position, okay?
Elder obviously highlights basically being more aged in the faith
and a little bit older.
You have experience.
Obviously, to be a pastor, you need to have kids,
which we'll hit that here in a second.
But basically, you have some experience.
You're having children and a family.
It basically gives you experience, you know?
It teaches you things that you're not going to know
until you have a family and have kids, okay?
That's kind of what elder is highlighting.
A bishop, on the other hand,
the Bible speaks about the office of a bishop,
basically the position of ruling, making decisions, okay?
Where you decide what's going on at the church,
you decide what to buy, what to do, what activities.
If somebody gets kicked out of the church, things like that,
that's something we're basically in the position of a bishop.
You're an overseer, and you're making sure
things are running properly, decently, and in order.
So that's what bishop is highlighting,
but it's still the same thing, okay?
It's highlighting different aspects of the same position,
different roles within that position.
But you see here that elder and bishop,
they're synonymous.
They're being used interchangeably here.
Turn to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2.
And so we see that elder and bishop are the same,
but I'm going to show you that pastor or shepherd
is the same as bishop, okay?
And it says in 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2, verse 25,
For ye were a sheep going astray,
but are now returned unto the shepherd
and bishop of your souls, okay?
Notice how it says the shepherd and the bishop.
You say, why does it use both of those things?
It's showing those things are basically interchangeable.
They do highlight different aspects of that position
because we know a bishop is the overseer,
the office of a bishop,
an actual job or role you're performing,
but they're used interchangeably here
because it's still the same position.
It's just different aspects within that position.
So here, shepherd and bishop are used interchangeably, okay?
Turn to Jeremiah 23.
Let's go to the Old Testament, Jeremiah 23.
And so in Jeremiah chapter 23,
this is a famous chapter where basically
God is speaking against the false pastors
and the false prophets.
You know, I was preaching the gospel to someone yesterday.
It was really interesting
because I'm going through the gospel
and like 15 minutes in, this girl tells me this.
She's like, so based on what you're saying,
she's like, it seems to me that somebody
that preaches like a false gospel
is more wicked than someone that does something evil.
I wasn't really talking about that,
but I was like, I agree with that.
I was like, yeah, if somebody's preaching
a false way to get to heaven
and they're leading people to hell,
yeah, that's pretty wicked.
It doesn't really get any more wicked than that, okay?
Because you're leading people to hell.
There's nothing worse than that.
There's nothing worse than a false prophet in this world.
That's definitely true.
Jeremiah 23 is highlighting the phonies, the false prophets.
And notice what it says in verse one.
Woe be unto the pastures
that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,
saith the Lord.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
against the pastures that be my people,
ye have scattered my flock and driven them away
and have not visited them.
Behold, I will visit upon you
the evil of your doing, saith the Lord.
So here in these verses, it talks about pastures
destroying and scattering the sheep, okay?
What is a shepherd?
Someone who takes care of sheep, right?
You see, pastor and shepherd
are completely interchangeably, okay?
Quite honestly, the word pastor
doesn't really appear in the Bible very much.
That's kind of the more common thing that you're gonna call someone.
But honestly, bishop or elder appear more often than pastor.
But honestly, you know, we live in a day
where obviously pastor is the most common term,
and there's nothing wrong with it
because it is a biblical term.
But here, shepherd and pastor, you can see,
are interchangeable.
Because a shepherd takes care of sheep
and is talking about a pastor
not taking care of the people like they should
and gives the analogy of basically taking care of sheep.
Now turn to 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5.
We're looking at a lot of verses here to start up.
Then we'll go to 3 John and just kind of go verse by verse.
But this is an important topic
because there's a lot of confusion on what is an elder,
what is a bishop, what is a pastor.
Even in this room, there might be some people
that are confused by this.
Say, what's the difference between them?
Well, I mean, they're all highlighted
in the exact same position.
They're just different aspects.
See, a shepherd or pastor takes care of the sheep.
See, if you're a pastor,
you need to actually care about your members.
That means you don't just care about the almighty God.
It's not just preach something that's popular,
so you get money and he beloved you.
No, you actually preach the truth
because you care about your members.
And quite honestly, in Jeremiah 23, that's the problem
because there's a bunch of pastors
that don't care about their members.
They don't care about feeding the sheep.
They don't care about feeding the people of God.
They only care about getting money.
You know what the secret is to getting a lot of money?
All they need to do is just preach
positive, only preaching.
Just say nice things.
No matter what sin you're doing,
hey, you know what, it's great, no problem.
You know, no problem.
There's nothing wrong with doing that.
It's okay, you know, we all sinned, no big deal.
No, you're expected to actually preach the Bible.
This is the pillar and the ground of truth at church.
And any church where the pastor
is not preaching what the Bible says,
that is the wrong church to go to.
I should be learning the word of God.
And your pastor ought to have some guts
to actually say what the Bible says.
And if he doesn't have any guts,
he's not a pastor in God's eyes.
It's a joke, okay?
But that's what most pastors care about.
They care about money.
See, a lot of people get into religion
because it's a way to make some money.
That's the truth.
They're willing to lie and say whatever
because they end up getting a lot of money.
Was Jesus loved in this life by everybody?
No, how did he die crucified?
Guess what, his first sermon, what did they try to do?
They tried to throw him off a cliff.
Does that sound like he was just saying positive things?
What happened to John the Baptist?
He was beheaded.
What happened to a lot of the people in the Bible?
They were killed, they were crucified.
Look, if people around today are preaching the truth,
the world will hate them and reject them.
But people don't like being told no.
They don't like being told,
hey, you know what, it's wrong
to be living with your girlfriend.
It's wrong to be committing adultery.
It's wrong to get drunk.
They don't like hearing things like this.
And so they get offended by things such as this, okay?
What does it say in First Peter chapter five verse one?
The Bible reads, the elders which are among you
I exhort to them also an elder
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ
and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Fain the flock of God which is among you, okay?
It talks about fainting the flock of God.
An elder, the main thing is highlighted
as someone who's more aging.
But if you're more aging,
you should have more knowledge
and be able to feed better.
But when it comes to feeding and taking care of the flock,
the main thing, the term would be pastor or shepherd,
but you're seeing these are interchangeable though, okay?
It says, feeding the flock of God in verse two
which is among you,
taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint
but willingly, not for filthy lucre
but of a ready mind.
Neither is being lords over God's parities
but being examples to the flock.
So the Bible says not for filthy lucre in verse two.
So basically, don't just be a pastor or whatever
in order to make money.
Don't lie to the people in order to make money.
You say, why does God always talk about that?
Because it happens a lot.
You wouldn't have to talk about it if it didn't occur
but it occurs a lot and so he talks about that.
Also in verse three, he talks about
not being lords over God's heritage.
What does that mean?
Basically, lording over somebody's life
is basically making all their decisions for them.
I went to a church one time
where the pastor said, before you buy a car,
you should consult your pastor
to see if it's a good idea.
And it's just like, before you do anything,
you should consult your pastor.
Now here's the thing.
If my pastor was a mechanic
and really knew a lot about cars,
then that's great advice.
But you know, if he's just an ordinary person,
I'll probably consult someone who knows a lot about cars.
Should I, you know, if I have a problem,
you know, you're in school
and you don't know how to solve this capitalist problem,
just come to your pastor and say,
hey, I don't know how to solve this problem.
Can you help me with this?
Look, there's some things you need to figure out on your own.
Right.
You don't have to run every single thing by me.
Look, I don't want to run people's lives.
Does that mean I agree with every decision people make?
Of course not.
But do you agree with every decision I make?
Probably not.
Right.
But it's not my place to make your decisions for you.
Okay.
Look, plenty of people in this room,
you have kids that you're raising.
I have a son and a second one on the way as well.
And guess what?
I don't want you making the decisions for my kids.
And I won't make the decisions for your kids.
Now, here's the thing.
It's my job to preach what the Bible says.
But see, here's the thing.
When I leave the pulpit,
I don't go up to you and say,
hey, you need to make this change in your life.
That's your decision to make.
Right.
I preach what I believe the Bible says
and I show the Bible verses.
And I try to give you wisdom from the Bible.
And at the end of the day,
I let you make your choices in life.
You say, why do you do that?
God gives us free will.
Yep.
Even when we do things that are wrong.
You have the free will to leave this room today
and get drunk after the service.
You have the free will to do that.
God's not going to stop you from doing that.
Now, should you do that?
Well, of course not.
But it's your decision to make.
I'm not going to make your decisions for you
just like you're not going to make your decisions for me.
Okay.
Because I don't want to lure over God's heritage.
And that is something that happens a lot of times in churches.
Okay.
Turn back to Titus 1.
Titus 1.
So far we've covered two words in 3 John.
It's going to be a long sermon.
We've covered just two words.
It's going to be a lot quicker after we get through the first verse.
But I do want to highlight one other thing
that I kind of skipped here in Titus chapter 1.
So the Bible speaks about elder in verse 5
or a bishop or a pastor.
The Bible says there's actually qualifications in order to be a pastor.
Right.
What does the Bible say here in verse 6?
If any be blameless, so the Bible says you need to be blameless.
Okay.
The husband of one wife.
What does the husband of one wife mean?
It means you're a man married to a woman.
Right.
Okay.
It means you're not a woman because you're the husband of one wife.
Yup.
And look, I grew up in a church where basically women can be ministers and ordained.
And it's just like well that's not biblical.
Because the Bible says you're the husband of one wife.
That's what the Bible says.
You say well I have a problem with that.
Well your problem's not with me though because that's what the Bible says.
Yup.
The husband of one wife.
And look, you know, obviously we just went through the series on the Catholic Church.
But you know the Catholic Church has got that right.
Because it's a man, it's not a woman.
That's what the Bible teaches very clearly.
The husband of one wife.
Okay.
It's not a woman who's married to another woman
or a woman married to another guy
or a guy married to another guy.
It's a crazy world we live in.
Yup.
It's a husband married to a woman.
And yet, aren't there a lot of Baptist pastors running around here that don't have a wife?
Right.
They're not married?
Yup.
Well I'm sorry, I'm not a pastor then.
Amen.
The husband of one wife.
You must be married.
That's what the Bible clearly teaches.
There's no gray area in that.
You are the husband of one wife.
What does it also say here?
Having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
So here the Bible says having faithful children.
So to be a bishop, a pastor, an elder, you must have faithful children.
Right.
Okay.
Now let me just say this that there's kind of two different arguments you have on this.
Okay.
Some people say that you need to have at least one child.
And some people say you need to have at least two children.
I believe you have to have at least two children.
Right.
Amen.
But I will show you what their argument is.
And you know what, I can see where they're coming from even though I'll show you why
I'm not going to be wrong.
I don't think it's completely vocal.
Actually, I do know people who think if you have one child that's okay.
And I'll show you their argument for it.
Okay.
Their argument is this.
If I were to say here today that your children need to obey, it doesn't necessarily
mean that you have two children.
You might just have one.
And basically their argument is this, that basically you're preaching to a lot of people
and it's just generic children which means you have at least one child.
Okay.
Now here's the reason why I don't agree with that.
I understand where they're coming from.
But here's the problem with this.
In verse 7 it says, a bishop.
It's highlighting a specific single bishop.
It's not talking to, hey all of you bishops, he's saying a bishop.
Okay.
It's using one to represent the whole.
It's not talking about the whole.
It's using one to represent the whole.
So when he says a bishop, a bishop must have faithful children.
That's what it teaches.
Okay.
I understand your argument but honestly I don't agree with that argument.
Because you look at an individual, a bishop, and you must have to have, you must have
faithful children.
Say, Brother Stuckman, why didn't we call you Pastor Stuckman?
You don't call me Pastor Stuckman.
Right.
You know I have one child and a second one on the way but the Bible also speaks
about faithful children and quite honestly, you know, when your child is one year
old or one and a half, you know, they're already faithful.
They haven't proven themselves to be unfaithful.
But look, you have to let those children grow up a little bit to find out if they're
going to be faithful or not.
Right.
You say, do you have to wait until they're full grown adults?
No, you don't.
You say, why don't you have to wait for that?
Because the other day I was waiting at an elevator and there was this five or six
year old boy who was basically just sitting down like this and just whining and
yelling and complaining in public where there's plenty of people around.
His dad was completely embarrassed.
He said, oh, do you want this snack?
Do you want this?
And it's like, look, that child is not a faithful child.
They're disobedient.
They're not obeying.
You say, well, how do you fix that?
You fix that by doing what Bible says.
Take that child outside and you spank that child.
That's what you do.
Right.
And the reason why that child is acting like that is because when the child was
four, that child was never spanked.
When that child was three, it was never spanked.
When it was two, it was never spanked.
Look, that's the reason why the child is acting like that.
That's the reason why kids today are disrespectful to authority because their parents
are not teaching them to respect authority at a young age.
That is the job of parents to teach your kids to be obedient.
Look, you know, I loved to play sports and I was a very active kid,
but I knew there was a time to basically be quiet and not to be quiet.
Now, look, we went through kind of seasons of going to church growing up,
but when I was in church, I was always extremely quiet.
You say, why?
Because the one time I wasn't quiet, my dad took me outside and spanked me.
You know what that teaches you?
It teaches you I've got to be quiet at church.
Now, obviously, when children are very young, they need time to get used to this.
You say, brother, why is it that one of their own are crying?
That's what babies do.
A newborn baby, babies cry aloud.
That's what they do.
When people are new to this church, also, sometimes the kids are disobedient
because honestly they're not really following the rules of the Bible
and it might take them time to get adjusted.
That's one reason why we have the mother baby room back there
is for young children and babies so they basically can be used to the services
and eventually the goal is that they'll be able to be out here
and be quiet and pay attention.
Look, my son is 18 months old.
Sometimes my son acts up.
He's still at that age, one and a half years old,
where they're going to act up sometimes.
But if he was five years old and crying in the middle of the service,
you'd be saying, brother, you're not doing a good job running your home.
Your child is acting up.
Here's the thing.
You have to wait until your children are old enough
to see if they're going to obey or not.
If your children are five years old, three years old,
and they're just really disrespectful and they throw things at you
and they swing at you, which you see kids doing today,
you're not qualified to be pastor.
Why?
Your children aren't faithful.
Honestly, they're on a fast track of spending their life in prison
unless you start actually disciplining them, like the Bible teaches.
Look, I know the world likes to tell you, just say,
just give them nice toys and things like that.
No, there are periods of time where you've got to spank them.
Otherwise, guess what?
They're not going to obey.
That's what the Bible teaches.
When people say, I'm a pastor, and they're not married,
where they only have one child,
or they have two children that are twins that are one week old,
well, they're not qualified to be a pastor.
You have to actually wait.
So you say, what is the proper term to call you?
The proper term is brother stuff.
I'm an evangelist, you know, sitting here, a missionary, whatever,
but brother stuff is probably the best term to call you.
Now, sometimes people say pastors.
I don't get offended when people call me pastor
because I understand they're trying to be respectful.
I don't stop them.
I will say this, that from time to time,
some of the young kids will call me father stuffy.
And then it's like, whoa.
Brother stuffy's fine.
But people will call me pastor.
I don't get mad at them or yell at them or whatever, correct them immediately.
Why?
They're just trying to be respectful.
When people are trying to be respectful,
you don't want to just rip them apart
because they said something wrong in the future.
But the best way to call me would be brother stuffy.
That is a respectful term.
That's a term that's in the Bible.
That would be the most appropriate term.
Now go back to third John.
Go back to third John.
Now, is there a need to get churches started?
Well, absolutely.
Because in Titus chapter 1 it says,
we're dating elders in every city.
There's a great need for churches all across this world.
But look, you have to wait until people are actually raised.
There's a great need for a million things in this world.
But look, if people aren't ready for the job,
then they can't do it.
So you have to actually wait and do what the Bible actually says.
And look, throughout the Philippines, Baptist churches,
they don't really care what this verse says.
They don't care what the Bible says.
They won't call anyone a pastor.
But according to the Bible, you must actually be married.
You must have faithful children.
And look, there's also a lot of other qualifications.
It's not just the fact that you're married with kids.
It's actually that you're filling everything that is said there in Titus chapter 1.
And so to be ordained, you have to actually meet qualifications.
Now look, there's people that can find unsafe people to ordain them.
And if that's the method they want to use, then go for it.
There's people in this room that, you know,
people would have ordained you as a pastor before this church started.
Even though you didn't meet the qualifications of the Bible.
Is God going to bless that, though, if you're just disobeying what the Bible says?
I don't believe that.
We need to do things the right way, the proper way.
And Lord willing here, in a few years, two, three, four years, or whatever,
you know, I will be ordained as a pastor, but that day is not now.
You say, well, who is the pastor?
The pastor of Jimenez in Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento is the pastor of this church.
He sent me here because he trusted me to run the church
and because I've been preaching that church for a couple of years
and I've worked at that church and things such as that.
But I don't need the qualifications to be ordained as a pastor.
Now, honestly, 95% of the decisions here, you know,
I make and I don't have to ask because they're not the biggest things in the world.
But from time to time, I do run things by them.
You say, why?
If you have a boss at work, even if you oversee a group of people,
if you have a head boss, you have to run things by them from time to time.
So that's the way it works.
But honestly, most of the decisions I make, but I'm not a pastor yet.
And you know, the Bible Baptist and all these other, you know,
Baptists here in the Philippines, they can call themselves pastors all they want,
but you know what?
I'm going to call them, if they're saved brother, if they're not saved,
well, I don't know what I'm calling them.
But I'm not going to call them pastor if they're not an ordained pastor.
I'll just call them brother.
Because that is what would be the biblical term.
Now let's look here at 3 John where it says,
the elder, let me say this, as I mentioned earlier,
I believe that this is when he is on the Isle of Patmos.
Because it is highlighted as he's older in life.
And if this is the case that it's written on the Isle of Patmos
where he also wrote the book of Revelation,
I want you to notice that he's still an elder,
even though he's no longer actually pastoring the area he was at.
You say, why does it work that way?
Because he was successful, he didn't fail, okay?
He got basically persecuted and he was put on the Isle of Patmos,
but he didn't fail, okay?
He was successful at what he did.
See, when you get ordained, you get ordained for a specific mission.
You're ordained to start a church in such and such city.
Now if you fail at that, then yeah, you know,
probably you wouldn't be a pastor anymore.
But John didn't fail, okay?
He was persecuted.
So what's the application?
If I had been thrown in prison tomorrow,
I'd still be, you know, why this brother should I be your evangelist?
You don't lose that term, okay?
And so if somebody's a pastor and they don't do anything wrong,
they basically are persecuted, they would still be a pastor.
It's not just taken away.
Or if you're married and your wife dies,
it's not like the next day you're no longer a pastor, okay?
It's just completely removed.
You can no longer preach discernment.
Or if you know you have two kids,
one of your children dies at a young age or something like that.
It doesn't mean, well, now all of a sudden you're no longer a pastor, okay?
There could definitely be some gray areas in there,
but what I'm trying to show you is that just because, you know,
if you're ordained and then later on you fail one of the qualifications,
it doesn't mean that you're no longer ordained.
Now here's the thing about this, though.
You can't really help the fact that tragically your child dies.
You can help the fact, though, if you divorce your wife.
And so if you divorce your wife,
then obviously you would no longer be qualified
because you're proving you can't run your home.
And if you can't run your home,
how are you going to run the house of God?
That is what the Bible teaches.
So it says here in 3 John verse 1,
the elder unto the well-beloved guys who might love in the truth.
Notice how it says the well-beloved guys.
What does that mean?
It means people liked guys.
Everybody liked him.
He's the well-beloved.
Basically everybody had good things to say about him, okay?
That should be our goal as Christians.
It's not just that you read the Bible a lot and you love soul winning.
You should have a goal that people actually like you.
The well-beloved guys.
That's what the Bible says.
One thing I said before, you know,
I came here to serve this church,
and I believe this,
is that if you're going to be ordained,
the church itself must actually like you
and believe a good decision is being made.
You know, if you're being ordained as a pastor
and nobody likes you at church,
there's a problem there.
Because it's not just being married and having kids
or knowing how to purchase a sermon.
No, it's actually being a nice person.
That's part of it.
Because it mentions a lot of characteristics.
And see, guys was someone who was well-liked.
The well-beloved guys.
Now we can overlook that,
but honestly it's pretty important
because, look, it's important that people actually like you, okay?
Outside of church, the Bible says
you should seek to be at peace with all men.
As best as you can, you want to try to get along with you.
Look, you know, if you go to some restaurant
and they've got a big statue of Buddha in there,
look, don't just pick up the statue
and smash it in front of the owner's face.
That's a good way to get arrested.
That's a good way to act.
People should say, why?
Because, yeah, is it idolatry?
Yeah.
Is it wrong?
Absolutely.
But look, you're trying to be at peace with all men.
And look, if you stop to smash all the idols
here in the Philippines,
I mean, man, you've never even made it, you know,
fighting down the streets, okay?
Look, you know, people don't know any better
is it's not really their fault, okay?
So, you know, you should seek to be at peace with people, okay?
Not to try to get into fights
just because somebody's an unbeliever or whatever.
Try to get along with people.
Guys is the well-beloved.
Well-beloved, but even more so in church, obviously.
You want to try to be well-liked by people, okay?
You want to get along with people.
Now the issues come up from time to time.
Of course issues come up.
Look, when you're around people all the time,
issues are going to come up from time to time.
Ask anybody who's married in this room
if they fought with their wife before.
Everyone's going to say, if they're honest,
yes, from time to time,
I get into arguments with my spouse.
I remember when I was at Verity Baptist Church
and somebody at that church was talking to me
and they were kind of having some problems in their marriage
and then they said to me, they're like,
of course, you and this can never fight, do you?
Just thinking.
I mean, are you joking?
There's no temptation that is taken,
but such is as common demand.
And see, the same things that you struggle with
are the same things I struggle with.
You know, why?
Because everyone goes through those same things, okay?
But see, we should seem to be well-liked at church.
Look, do some people's personalities
rub each other the wrong way?
Absolutely.
Of course.
We've got 50 people here today,
or however many people.
Look, we're not the same types of people.
We have different personalities.
From time to time,
we might rub each other the wrong way,
but our goal in the end is to be well-liked
and to get along with you.
And so if issues come up,
basically you just talk it over, you settle it,
and you know, you just move on.
You forgive your brother in Christ, your sister in Christ.
Even if they did something really bad,
you say, well, what if they don't deserve it?
Well, we were forgiven by God
when we don't deserve it.
Right.
And see, we should at the end of the day.
Now, if you're the person who's done something,
you should say, I'm sorry, okay,
if you've offended somebody.
Even if you don't really think
you did something completely wrong,
look, in fights, there's always two sides to the story,
and neither side is 100% perfect.
Every time something happens, I can say,
you know what, I could have made it any better,
and so I could always apologize at least for that.
But basically, you apologize,
and you just move on from it.
And then if somebody apologizes to you,
you forgive them, and you move on.
And it's, you know, a new day.
Because if we don't forgive one another,
you know what, at the end of the year,
you're gonna have a lot of people be a punk, okay?
So we should seem to be well-liked,
a well-beloved Gaius, as the Bible says.
Also in verse number one, the Bible says,
whom I love in the truth, okay?
So Gaius, he says, I love in the truth.
The reason why he loved Gaius
was because Gaius believed the same things as he did.
That's what it says, I love in the truth.
I understand this world tells you,
just love everybody, okay?
You're supposed to love everybody unconditionally
no matter what, okay?
Mostly that is true.
But the Bible is not,
you're supposed to love a pedophile.
You say, brother, I love the pedophile,
and I love the young baby.
How do you love the young baby
if you love a pedophile?
Explain that to me, okay?
It doesn't make any sense.
And so there are some people that the Bible says,
you know what, I'll love them no more.
That's what God says.
And the big reason why he loved Gaius, though,
because Gaius believed the same things he did.
Because honestly, what we believe is very important, okay?
And if you believe completely different things from someone,
it's hard to really have a good fellowship with that culture.
And so at our church,
look, our church is very united,
and honestly the big reason why it's really united
is because we believe the same things.
Everybody in this room,
you know what our position is on the end times.
You know what our position is on salvation.
You know what our position is on the King James 5
and we're on soul winning.
And you know if you're kind of new to this church,
you know it won't take long to figure it out.
And you don't even have to ask me.
You could ask anybody in this room,
and they'll tell you,
hey, this is why we believe the King James Bible is perfect.
This is why we believe salvation is a free gift
and you don't have to repent of your sins.
This is why we believe one's safe and always safe.
In this room, people know that.
You say, why?
Because it's a bridge,
and because people read their Bibles for themselves.
And so we're very united because we have the same truth, okay?
Look, I understand they want to bridge all these religions together,
but what do I have in common with someone who's Islamic
that believes Muhammad and Allah is the way to heaven?
Now I'll be nice to them in public
if I was a coworker with them.
You know, I'd have lunch with them on lunch break.
I'd say hello to them.
I'd be friendly.
I wouldn't be rude.
I wouldn't be a jerk.
But at the same time,
I'm not going to spend all my time being out with someone
who believes completely different things.
My closest friends believe basically the same things I do,
at least about salvation and the important things.
You say, why?
Because that's what's important to me.
And so I want to be around people
that that's important to them as well, okay?
Look, when I was younger,
the people I hung out with were all soccer players,
every single one.
You say, why?
Because that's what I spent all my time doing.
I would basically either be playing soccer
or playing FIFA on PlayStation.
I was either playing soccer
or I was playing FIFA on PlayStation.
It was always soccer, soccer, soccer.
I was always on the road during the weekends,
going to tournaments, playing games.
I was always either playing soccer
or watching soccer
or playing the video game with soccer.
So the people I hung out with
were people that loved soccer.
See, the people you hang out with
are going to be the people
that you have things in common with, okay?
And he says he loves guys
because he has the same truth,
the same belief,
the same belief on Jesus Christ,
but also the main things of the Bible as well, okay?
Now let's move on to verse number two.
The Bible reads,
Beloved, I wish above all things
that thou mayest prosper in being held,
even as thy soul prospered.
So what he says about Gaius
is his soul prospers.
Basically, spiritually,
Gaius was very strong.
He was a Godly person.
He read his Bible.
He prayed.
He went soul-willing.
He lived a Godly life.
He did what he should do, okay?
His soul was prospering,
but just because your soul prospers,
that doesn't mean you're financially going to prosper
or have good health,
as you were always talking about.
He says,
I want you to not only your soul to prosper,
I want you to financially prosper
and be in health.
That's not a guarantee though.
This health and wealth gospel
that if you're living for God,
you're automatically going to have lots of money
and have great health,
that's a lie.
Where does the Bible teach that?
Look, when you're living for God,
that does not mean
that everything in your life is perfect.
You can be living for God
and lose your job.
You can be living for God,
and you know what?
Your health is bad, okay?
There are plenty of Godly people
that have bad health.
There's plenty of people in the Bible
that were Godly people,
and you know what?
They felt ill.
They had sickness, okay?
Just because you're living a Godly life,
that does not mean
that you're going to have perfect health.
Now, in general,
I believe with the rules of organic eating,
but just because you need old organic food
doesn't mean you're going to have perfect health either.
You can still get a disease,
and you can still die from that disease, okay?
It doesn't guarantee
you're going to have perfect health, okay?
And so what the Bible says is
he wants them to prosper
and to be in health.
I would wish the same thing
upon people in this room.
When I pray for people in this room,
I want them to have good health.
We have a lot of soon-to-be moms in our room,
and I pray for those wives
to basically have good health
and to do good things,
and not just my wife,
but the other ladies in this room.
And also, you know that
people financially are prosperous.
Now, I'm not saying that
we need to be rich,
but at the same time,
we want people to be able
to take care of their needs,
and that's what John is saying.
I want you to be able
to prosper,
and I want you to have good health.
And that's one reason why
at this church,
I often preach about
taking your career seriously.
I say, why?
Because I want you to
financially be in good shape.
I don't want you to just
forsake all of everything
to just go soloing every single day
and just,
well, you know,
I'm just going to live by faith.
No, I mean, in a day,
you need to work
and make money
and things such as that.
You need to balance
in your life
because you're in this
for the long haul.
It's not just for five years.
It's for 50 years.
It's for 60 years
of serving God,
raising your kids
and teaching them, okay?
Verse number three.
For I rejoiced greatly
when the brethren came
to testify to the truth
that is in me,
even as thou walkest
in the truth.
And so what does John say here?
He rejoiced greatly.
He was very happy
because the brethren,
other saved people,
told him of the truth
that is in guidance.
How did they know
the truth that was in guidance?
Because he walked in the truth, okay?
What is that saying?
It's not just saying that,
hey, you know,
he went to church
and in his mind
he really loved God
and he came into the church.
No, he actually
was walking in the truth,
which means
he was out there solely,
partially.
He was actually walking
in the truth,
living a good life
and doing the things
the Bible says.
It wasn't just
a mental ascent, okay?
Look, most people
or everybody's gonna say
they love God.
Right.
Yeah.
But just because you have
a feeling that you love God,
that doesn't mean
that you love God.
Yeah.
Just because you listen to,
and I don't know
what the Christian rock music
is today, Jeremy Camp,
Third Day, are they still around?
Just because you listen
to Third Day or Jeremy Camp
or the Newsboys
or whatever the bands are today,
that doesn't mean
that you love God.
Yeah.
Just because you get
this fuzzy feeling
when you listen
to a rock song.
Look, before I was saved,
I got a fuzzy feeling
when I listened to
Arrowsmith.
That doesn't mean
that I'm living
a godly life.
Right.
Just because it felt good,
okay?
Just that I like
the sound of the music.
That doesn't mean
that I'm living
a godly life, okay?
And so, look,
just because you're
listening to music
and getting all emotional
and you're speaking
in tongues,
that doesn't mean
that you're anything about me.
Okay?
See, the Bible says
you walk in the truth,
so the evidence
is basically that
you're doing the work,
that you're out there
soul-winning,
that you're obviously
reading the Bible,
that you're doing
the work that you're doing
and what your concerns are
and so there's actual evidence, okay?
Verse number four,
I have no greater joy
than to hear that
my children walk in truth
and so John is saying here
that he led Gaius
to the Lord, okay?
And his greatest joy
is that his children
are walking in the truth.
I mean, he's so thankful
that Gaius is living godly.
Why?
Because he led him
to the Lord
and I'm sure
he trained him
to some degree
and it's great to see
that the person
he led to the Lord
is living godly.
Why?
Because he led him
to the Lord
and the person
he led to the Lord
is still going
soul-winning
and still doing
the work of God.
Look,
if joys in life
come from being saved,
that's a joyous experience,
okay?
But also that,
you know,
if you have children
that are walking in the truth,
like spiritual children
is what we're talking about,
that you meet people
in the Lord
and bring them to church
and they grow,
there's no greater feeling
because it validates
everything you do
and that is why
recently we've been trying
to do a follow-up program
and try to bring people
to church,
and it's like that.
Why?
It's going to make
your soul
into a lot more excited.
When you actually have
people at church
that you've brought
and you've taught
the things of God
and that is how
this church is actually
going to grow
when we're all working
on this to bring
people to church.
So he says
he has no greater joy
than that his children
walk in truth.
Isn't it true
that when you have kids
that you want your kids
to be good kids
and be obedient kids?
Look,
if you have a child,
if little Zach
grows up
and he's a rebellious kid
and is in prison
and is drunk
and things like that,
I'm not going to be
very happy.
I'm going to be
pretty disappointed
and I'm going to wonder
where did I go wrong?
Okay?
You want your children
to actually be obedient
and to live Godly,
especially spiritually speaking,
people you get saying
it's exciting
if you've got people
saying they're in church
and they're serving God
as well
and that's what he's
saying to you.
Verse number five,
Beloved,
thou doest faithfully
whatsoever thou doest
to the brethren
and to strangers
and so he says
thou doest faithfully.
What does it mean
by faithfully?
Basically,
that you keep your word
is what he's saying.
You're faithful.
Okay?
Basically,
you say you're
going to do something,
you actually keep it.
Okay?
You're walking the walk.
You're not just talking.
Okay?
But it says to the
brethren and to strangers.
So it's not just
people that are
at the church,
that are fellow soul winners
where basically
you're doing this
faithfully,
but also just
to other people as well
and in our lives,
to the best of our ability,
we should try to get
along with people
as we talked about
and you know,
you're doing things faithfully.
You should be someone
that can be trustworthy.
Okay?
You say you're going
to do something,
you do it.
You know,
you don't break your word.
It's very easy to
make a lot of promises
and then just kind of
change your mind
and not do it
but see,
the Bible says that
we need people
to be faithful
and this is not
just men.
Men and women
need to be faithful.
We say we're
faithful.
It's better to not
say it
if you're not going
to do it.
Basically,
that you're trustworthy.
You can be pounded on
and see guys
with someone
who's like them.
Verse number six,
which have worn
witness of thy charity
before the church
who if thou were
in court on
her journey
after the godless Lord,
thou shalt flow
and what it says
in verse six is
have worn witness
of thy charity.
Okay?
Now,
the word charity
we usually associate
with money
is a lot more
than just money.
Look at,
turn to Colossians
three.
Colossians three.
Because charity
actually is referencing
basically the full picture.
Remember
first Corinthians
the chapter
that's known
as the love chapter?
It's actually
the charity chapter
and again,
it's a charity chapter
and charity
is basically
the full
everything
put together
and notice
what it says
in Colossians
three verse 14
and above all,
it says
put on charity
which is the bond
of perfectness.
What does perfect
mean in the Bible?
Perfect basically
means complete.
Okay?
So the bond
of completeness
or perfectness,
okay?
Bond is when
things are basically
put together.
So charity
is basically
everything
put together.
What I believe
is that love
is part of charity
and that joy
is part of charity
is basically
the bond of perfectness.
Okay?
You can look at
the fruits of the
Spirit or other
places in the Bible
and those characteristics
are 108 charities.
I believe that
encompasses basically
everything
because it's
the bond of
completeness
or perfectness.
Now turn back
to 3 John.
But I will say
in this context
the main thing
I believe he is
talking about
is referring to money
because it says
whom if thou wert
on their journey
after a godly sword
thou shalt do well.
What does it say?
It's basically
saying people
are here,
they're starting
to have money
referring to
financially.
Now we have to
understand the context
here because
the truth is
if you're at a church
people will always
ask you for money.
That's the way
churches are.
We have had
so many people
at this church
that aren't members
and just kind of
show up
and they just
ask for money.
They always have
their story about
how their son
like 5 years ago
something happened
and they just
need that
one little ride
to be able to
say why does this
sound really good?
Because they
practice it
a hundred times.
I mean when you
practice something
over and over
and over and over
and over again
you get pretty
good at it.
The things you're
good at in life
you've probably
done a lot of times.
You have a lot
of experience
and you know
honestly people
will come in here
that are
just lying
half the time
and they ask
for money
and they always
have their story.
Now are they
asking for money
just because
they need money?
The Bible also talks
about whether or not
that person deserves
money as well.
Say what are
you talking about?
Look you know
drunks will come
in here and
ask for money.
They need money.
Why?
Because they can't
afford anything
because they're
spending all their
money on liquor
and you give them
money you're
basically helping
them be drunk.
That's the truth.
Now here's the truth
living in America
I've lived in
West Virginia
and I have a lot
of homes.
The reason why
we don't is
because it's
pretty cold in
West Virginia.
But I remember
I was in college
one time and
this guy came
with his story
I was a freshman
in college and
I felt really bad
that he was homeless
and I remember
I gave him
$20.
I gave him
$20 which would
be basically like
1100 pesos.
I gave him
$20 because
I felt really
bad about his
story.
I thought man
I'm going around
drunk.
I'm going to
help him get
that alcohol.
You think God
wants me to
help get
somebody drunk?
No.
See what
the Bible teaches
is you need
to make sure
that people
actually have
a real reason
for why they
need the money
and the truth
is sometimes
you reap what
you sell.
And quite
honestly then
once I moved
to California
you get a
drug addict.
If I give
you money
what are you
going to do
with that?
You're going
to be hooked
on drugs.
Are you saying
you don't
care about
the homeless
people?
Look I
remember somebody
I got saved
in California
someone who
was homeless
and I let
him sleep
in my backyard
in a tent
for a week.
Don't tell
me I don't
care about
the homeless
I got arrested
for trying to
rob a house.
And look
that's the sad
reality.
I'm glad I
put in an effort
to try to bring
him to church
and he did
come to church
but you know
eventually
honestly
sometimes your
bad habits
are going
to get the
best of you
and if we just
give money
to people
that are asking
we're going
to get out
of money.
Now God
has blessed
us with the right
reason.
There are a
million people
that would
love to be
full time
missionaries
and just
give money
from us.
But you
know honestly
you don't
see this
in the Bible
where basically
you just have
all these
full time
missionaries
and they're
just kind of
doing this
vigilante
soul winning
and just
living off
other churches.
So we've
started
and we
trusted
we knew
we've
done
so many
with them
and yeah
we'll try
to help
them out.
If somebody
from our
church one
day gets
ordained
to start
a church
somewhere
our church
will try
to help
them
share
those
financial
words
that are
Baptist
missionaries
and it's
like I've
never even
met you
before.
I mean
I've never
even met you
and you're
asking me
for money.
It's like
I'm not
going around
asking people
for money.
Do I even
really preach
on money
much in all
of this church?
No.
I've not
preached a
single
church
before.
I've
never
even
been
a
Christian
and
I've
never
even
prayed
any
prayer
I've
never
even
ever
even
prayed
and
prayed
I've
never
even
prayed
Here's my $2,000 pledge.
And until they got $10,000, they just kept home service.
You're basically in prison for a couple hours
until somebody just gave a lot of money.
I mean, what a joke.
That's not what you see in a bottle.
Here what's happening, though,
is that speaking about people that are Godly
and doing a great work,
and there are people like that from time to time,
that honestly, you know, we would help.
But quite honestly, that's the rare occasion
because most people that ask for money
are people that just don't deserve money.
That's the reality.
Verse number seven, because that, for his namesake,
they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles.
So when it says taking nothing of the Gentiles,
it's speaking about someone
who's doing a great work for God,
but not taking money from people
that are unbelievers or people that aren't Godly.
Think of the modern-day mission system
where you go into deputation.
Who knows what deputation is?
Deputation is a two-year process in America, at least,
where you go around every Baptist church
and beg for money, okay?
Now, look, we didn't do that when we started our church.
It was funded by a very Baptist church,
and quite honestly, we're basically
making it self-sufficient.
God is definitely blessed us, okay?
That's the system that's in the Bible, okay?
And so in deputation, you go around for two years
and you beg people for money.
Well, look, if you go to a church
and you wanna get money from them, here's the secret.
Don't say anything negative that will offend you.
And if you say something negative,
you're not gonna get money.
So what do they do for two years?
For two years, they learn how to be watered down.
That's what happens for two years.
And honestly, I've seen a lot of people
when they were young and they preached, man,
they had some fire when they were 16, 17, 18 years old,
a young person, but they let it rip behind the pulpit.
But after two years of deputation
where you learn to be watered down and not say anything,
guess what happens after two years
when you start your church?
You don't start preaching hard.
You preach watered down
because you've trained yourself for two years,
I don't want to offend anyone, money, money,
I want the money, money, money, money.
And so you learn to basically say nothing negative
because you see somebody negative
because they get offended and you're thinking,
oh, man, this person's got a nice job.
I got a lot of money, that's gonna hurt my wallet.
I've gotta make sure I never say anything about that again.
That's the reality.
And it's not just Baptist churches,
it's just about any church.
That's the reality.
Be careful, feel free in what you say.
And so you're speaking about someone though
who is not a watered down phony.
They're not going around and preaching a positive message
to get money from people.
It's someone who's doing a great work
and so it's like, well, that's someone
who would want to help out
because those are few and far between.
Verse number eight,
we therefore ought to receive such
that we might be fellow-fellowed,
verse two, in the truth.
And so he says we gotta receive this person
who's a godly person.
We need to help them spread the message of truth
as they walk in the truth.
Verse nine, I wrote unto the church
but dioceses who love the devil
bring eminence among them, receiveth us not.
And so diotropies I believe is basically a false prophet.
Any church that's not a bad church,
it's an interesting situation.
You say, why is it or how is it
that there's a false prophet in a good church
and John is aware of it but maybe other people are not.
Look, I've been to a lot of churches
and I know churches that I've been to
where there's bad people in those churches
and you know what, those people don't think they're bad
or whatever.
My church I went to in West Virginia,
our piano player was an open sodomite.
But you know, people assumed he wasn't a sodomite
because well, he grew up in the church.
So he must not be a sodomite.
But every single time people visit the church,
we bring people to church and the first question
they always ask, is that piano player a sodomite?
And it's just like, this is very obvious to everyone.
And so what I'm trying to say is this,
it would be like if I was writing back to that church
in West Virginia and I was saying, hey, so and so
is basically a false prophet in the church.
That's what I believe is going on here.
John is aware of this and obviously,
John was a god of the person.
He's mature in the faith.
He's an elder of all dimensions in verse one.
He's gonna be more aware of these sorts of things,
these red flags and he's basically warning his convert.
It makes sense that he's able to warn his convert.
Gaius is someone he led more.
It's not that they're writing to a random church
and saying, hey, I'm gonna be so and so
in your church as a false prophet.
No, it's his convert that he's trying to warn.
There's nothing wrong with that.
It's his spiritual type.
Verse 10, wherefore if I come,
I will remember his deeds which he doeth,
praying against us with malicious words
and not contenteth with,
neither doth he himself receiveth the brethren
and permitted them that would
and casteth them out of the church.
And so Diatrophes obviously has some power
because he has some ability
to cast people out of the church.
Now I don't believe this is the head pastor
of this church but he obviously has some power
or influence to cast people out of the church
and so basically John is warning Gaius about this
and he says basically if I come,
hey, that guy's a false prophet.
I know he's a false prophet.
He's been rejecting us.
He won't receive the brethren.
He's against anybody who's a soul winner
because the context here is people
that are doing a great work for God,
going soul winning, spreading the truth
and Diatrophes hates these people.
Say why?
Because don't unbelievers that are false prophets
hate true believers.
False prophets hate true believers.
That's the reality.
It doesn't really matter what the false religion.
You can better believe that the heads
of those false religions, if they're not saved,
they're gonna hate the truth.
That's the reality.
That's what we see here.
Verse 11, beloved, follow not that which is evil
but that which is good.
He that doeth good is of God
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Demetrius hath good report of all men
and of the truth itself.
Gaius would also bear record
and we know that our record is true.
So what he's telling his convert Gaius is this.
Hey, at that church, don't follow Diatrophes.
Follow Demetrius.
Demetrius loves the Lord.
Demetrius is a soul.
Demetrius is serving God.
He's a good person.
He's telling his convert of that church,
hey, watch out for Diatrophes.
Demetrius is a guy you should learn from,
you should grow from.
The sad reality is that even at good churches,
there's false prophets
and there's good people at those churches.
Now on this one, John's very aware of this
but honestly, even at churches,
you know, sometimes you're not aware
that people can act like good people
and there are false prophets within the church.
There's gonna be good and bad people at churches.
That's just the way it is
because the devil likes to fight against
what the truth is, okay?
He's warning his convert,
hey, watch out for Diatrophes,
follow Demetrius, okay?
Verse number 13, I had many things to write
but I will not be thinking in writing.
So basically John is saying,
this is a really short letter
but I have a lot I want to say
but basically, you know what?
It's a lot harder than just typing up a letter in this day
so with ink and pen, it's a lot of work
to send that letter.
Here, it's very easy.
You just go on your phone
and then just send that Facebook message like that.
It's pretty easy.
Back then, it probably wasn't as easy
so he says, you know what?
I wanna write a lot right now
but I'm just not able to right now
so I'm not gonna write with ink and pen
but when we talk face to face,
then I'll explain all of these things
and so that's what he's saying here in verse number 13.
But I trust I shall shortly see thee
and we shall speak face to face,
peace be to thee, our friends salute thee,
three with their friends by name.
So the book of 3 John, I love this book.
There is a lot of information packed in
and I understand this is not our typical
Sunday morning sermon.
This is one on a Wednesday sermon
which is part of our Bible memorization challenge
and next week, we'll start
a new Bible memorization challenge
and then I'll eventually preach on that
once we're done with it
and so honestly though, every chapter in the Bible,
even 3 John, because this is a chapter
where you just kind of quickly read
and not pay attention to anything you read.
Basically, it's only 14 verses
and you just read it in one and a half minutes,
you're done, you got through one of your chapters
for the day but honestly, we need to stop
and pay attention to every word
because there's a lot of information
about where you're just in 3 John.
Let's close in word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us
to be in your house here this morning
and getting to see your word
in this wonderful show of the book 3 John got.
Help us to just profit from this
and keep the knowledge that we learn here today.
God will pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
Amen. Amen.