3Jo 7 | KingComments | STEP | . After addressing Gaius as “beloved” in , John does that again here. In he will do that once more. By that he convinces Gaius of his love for him. There is indeed a reason for that. Gaius has much that is commendable and therefore worthy as an example for you to follow. But what John mentions firstly, is his “acting faithfully”. Of all services the main characteristic is faithfulness, which is also appreciated and rewarded the most by God ( ). Not your gift or the results of a certain work that you do for the Lord, but the faithfulness with which you do everything, is important to Him. Gaius has acted faithfully towards believers, brethren, whom were totally unknown to him. They unexpectedly stood on his doorstep. He did not get rid of them, but he did faithfully to them “whatever” he accomplished. In reality, the hospitality that Gaius showed to the brethren he showed to the Lord ( ). Hospitality is a responsibility and privilege for us all ( ; ), but especially for overseers ( ; ) and widows who are supported by the church ( ). Hospitality is not to be supplied reluctantly, grumbling, but wholeheartedly ( ). These “brethren” were welcomed because they brought the truth. Probably they were poor brethren who came from a modest background and were uneducated, who were travelling in complete independence on the Lord. They looked upon Him for Whose Name’s sake they went forth. They were not appointed preachers. They travelled without formal sending out and without visible source of income. John does not address his letter to them, but to Gaius and over his head to all believers who want to be used by the Lord in order to support such travelling believers. They enjoy their ministry and they owe them to support them in their needs ( ). Gaius acted according to the principle that “you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing” ( ). Although the church that Gaius joined seemed not to act accordingly and failed to do so, Gaius was still able to act like that in personal faithfulness. The Scripture shows here that God attaches importance to proofs of love towards strangers. Many believers show love to workers for the Lord whom they know and admire, while they have a reserved attitude towards brothers of whom they have never heard, whom they do not know. When we discover that attitude with ourselves we are to confess and judge it. . Beside the testimony that was given of the truth of Gaius ( ), also a testimony of his love can be given. “Your truth” ( ) and “your love” indicate that Gaius is balanced in living out his faith. It is a good thing to have the truth in us , but it is a better thing when the truth manifests itself in our life. We must not only keep the truth, but the truth must also keep us. We often fail in one of both sides. We either stand resolutely behind the truth, but are tough, without love, or we only talk about love, while we fail in maintaining the truth. Gaius has welcomed the strangers in love and truth and has helped them further (cf. ). These strangers in their turn have testified of it. There is reciprocity in it. Hospitality causes a testimony. The brethren who were helped by Gaius testified before the church where they belonged of his effort for their sake. In their report of their journey they also told about how they were received by Gaius and how he assisted them in going forward (cf. ). They have testified in the meeting of God’s work which they have observed at other places and the service that was done to them by other believers. It must have been a joy for those brethren to tell about the love of Gaius, who loved in deed and in truth ( ). With the words “you will do well” John exhorts him to continue with this good work of assisting travelling brothers forward. In that way Paul exhorts the Philippians to add to the good that they already did ( ; cf. ). Gaius must have needed this exhortation too, because he was facing resistance from Diotrephes. Let this also be an exhortation for you when you are facing people who are trying to stop you from helping those who testify of the Lord. “Send them on their way” means that he had to provide them with everything they needed to continue their service. When they departed from his place, after they enjoyed his hospitality, he must give them some money and goods for the journey. Gaius had to do that “in a manner worthy of God”. That excludes on the one hand dishonest motives and wrong intentions and on the other hand the Name of God becomes visible and is being glorified in his act, for he acts in the Name of God ( ). The Lord does not assist His servants with wages or a salary or a guaranteed income. They can trust in Him, Who is faithful. Whoever trusts in Him will be able to testify that he had never lacked of anything ( ). The servant of Christ must be supported by the saints ( ; ), but not with a secure income ( ). They are in the service of the Lord and He determines where His servants go and how long they are to stay somewhere. People are not allowed to determine that, although believers of course are allowed to give some advice (cf. ), when they for instance hear about a certain spiritual need. When the servant goes, he will do that after he had received clarity from the Lord that it is alright. There is another thing that is attached to this ‘worthy of God’. Wherever this expression appears in the New Testament it has got to do with the character of the letter ( ; ; ; ; ). That also is the case here. The main point in the letters of John is the eternal life, which is the Lord Jesus, Who also is the true God ( ). Therefore when John exhorts Gaius to continue to assist others forward in a manner that is ‘worthy of God’, it means a way that is in accordance with God Who is light and love. That excludes that we would praise servants by only looking at them for what we love about them and therefore look at them only from the perspective of love. It also excludes that we reject servants by only looking at them for what we do not like about them and therefore only from the perspective of the light. Worthy of God means that we approach servants and judge their service in accordance with light and love. Of course we are allowed to encourage or admonish servants, but the balance is important. Briefly said ‘worthy of God’ means that the life of God in you and me towards the servant reveals itself in an honorable manner. . The reason for appreciating the act of Gaius and the exhortation for him to continue that is that these strangers have gone forth “for the sake of the Name”. I think that you may say that in ‘the Name’ everything is expressed about what the Son of God is. John does not need to declare to Gaius what he means. It is totally clear. It is all about that Name. In this letter the name of the Lord Jesus or of the Father does not appear at all. There is no need to mention Their names, for it is totally clear to both John and Gaius that it is only about the Father and the Son. When you talk with somebody about a person who is precious to both you and the other one, you do not mention his name all the time, for by everything that you say you both know of whom you are talking about. The most important thing for you and me should be His Name as the only Name. It must not be the name of a church or one or another person (cf. ). His Name is the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Because of Him these travelling brothers have forsaken their profession to heed His call, just like John himself also did formerly ( ). They were not sent by or in the name of men. The church has no authority to choose, consecrate or send out servants of the Lord. Only the Lord Jesus has that right. The church will surely acknowledge those with joy who are called and being sent out like that ( ). Those who are gone forth for His Name’s sake are not dependent on those to whom they are sent out. The Lord finances His own work. Fundraising is not in accordance with what we find here. We must never give the impression that money plays a role in the preaching or that it is about financial profit. That will cloud the preaching or even destroy it. On the other hand it is indeed important to realize that you have an obligation towards preachers who go forth with the confidence in the living God and who tell their needs to no one else than Him alone. The preachers about whom John writes here do not accept anything from those who belong to the Gentiles. They leave it to God to care that they will be received by those who attaches great importance to the truth. The truth is and still is the only letter of faith among the Christians and also the only means through which the apostle can protect the believers. Now read 3 John 1:5-7 again. Reflection: What do you pay attention to with those who say to preach the truth and how do you help them forward who preach God’s truth?

‏ 3 John 7

Go Forth for the Sake of the Name

3Jn 1:5. After addressing Gaius as “beloved” in 3Jn 1:2, John does that again here. In 3Jn 1:11 he will do that once more. By that he convinces Gaius of his love for him. There is indeed a reason for that. Gaius has much that is commendable and therefore worthy as an example for you to follow. But what John mentions firstly, is his “acting faithfully”. Of all services the main characteristic is faithfulness, which is also appreciated and rewarded the most by God (1Cor 4:2). Not your gift or the results of a certain work that you do for the Lord, but the faithfulness with which you do everything, is important to Him.

Gaius has acted faithfully towards believers, brethren, whom were totally unknown to him. They unexpectedly stood on his doorstep. He did not get rid of them, but he did faithfully to them “whatever” he accomplished. In reality, the hospitality that Gaius showed to the brethren he showed to the Lord (Mt 25:40). Hospitality is a responsibility and privilege for us all (Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2), but especially for overseers (1Tim 3:2; Tit 1:8) and widows who are supported by the church (1Tim 5:10). Hospitality is not to be supplied reluctantly, grumbling, but wholeheartedly (1Pet 4:9).

These “brethren” were welcomed because they brought the truth. Probably they were poor brethren who came from a modest background and were uneducated, who were travelling in complete independence on the Lord. They looked upon Him for Whose Name’s sake they went forth. They were not appointed preachers. They travelled without formal sending out and without visible source of income.

John does not address his letter to them, but to Gaius and over his head to all believers who want to be used by the Lord in order to support such travelling believers. They enjoy their ministry and they owe them to support them in their needs (Gal 6:6). Gaius acted according to the principle that “you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing” (1Cor 9:9). Although the church that Gaius joined seemed not to act accordingly and failed to do so, Gaius was still able to act like that in personal faithfulness.

The Scripture shows here that God attaches importance to proofs of love towards strangers. Many believers show love to workers for the Lord whom they know and admire, while they have a reserved attitude towards brothers of whom they have never heard, whom they do not know. When we discover that attitude with ourselves we are to confess and judge it.

3Jn 1:6. Beside the testimony that was given of the truth of Gaius (3Jn 1:3), also a testimony of his love can be given. “Your truth” (3Jn 1:3) and “your love” indicate that Gaius is balanced in living out his faith. It is a good thing to have the truth in us, but it is a better thing when the truth manifests itself in our life. We must not only keep the truth, but the truth must also keep us. We often fail in one of both sides. We either stand resolutely behind the truth, but are tough, without love, or we only talk about love, while we fail in maintaining the truth.

Gaius has welcomed the strangers in love and truth and has helped them further (cf. Tit 3:13). These strangers in their turn have testified of it. There is reciprocity in it. Hospitality causes a testimony. The brethren who were helped by Gaius testified before the church where they belonged of his effort for their sake. In their report of their journey they also told about how they were received by Gaius and how he assisted them in going forward (cf. Acts 14:27). They have testified in the meeting of God’s work which they have observed at other places and the service that was done to them by other believers. It must have been a joy for those brethren to tell about the love of Gaius, who loved in deed and in truth (1Jn 3:18).

With the words “you will do well” John exhorts him to continue with this good work of assisting travelling brothers forward. In that way Paul exhorts the Philippians to add to the good that they already did (Phil 2:1-2; cf. 1Thes 4:9-10). Gaius must have needed this exhortation too, because he was facing resistance from Diotrephes. Let this also be an exhortation for you when you are facing people who are trying to stop you from helping those who testify of the Lord.

“Send them on their way” means that he had to provide them with everything they needed to continue their service. When they departed from his place, after they enjoyed his hospitality, he must give them some money and goods for the journey. Gaius had to do that “in a manner worthy of God”. That excludes on the one hand dishonest motives and wrong intentions and on the other hand the Name of God becomes visible and is being glorified in his act, for he acts in the Name of God (Phil 4:19).

The Lord does not assist His servants with wages or a salary or a guaranteed income. They can trust in Him, Who is faithful. Whoever trusts in Him will be able to testify that he had never lacked of anything (Lk 22:35). The servant of Christ must be supported by the saints (1Cor 9:1-18; Gal 6:6), but not with a secure income (Phil 4:11-12). They are in the service of the Lord and He determines where His servants go and how long they are to stay somewhere. People are not allowed to determine that, although believers of course are allowed to give some advice (cf. Acts 16:9-10), when they for instance hear about a certain spiritual need. When the servant goes, he will do that after he had received clarity from the Lord that it is alright.

There is another thing that is attached to this ‘worthy of God’. Wherever this expression appears in the New Testament it has got to do with the character of the letter (1Thes 2:12; Col 1:10; Eph 4:1; Phil 1:27; Rom 16:2). That also is the case here. The main point in the letters of John is the eternal life, which is the Lord Jesus, Who also is the true God (1Jn 5:20). Therefore when John exhorts Gaius to continue to assist others forward in a manner that is ‘worthy of God’, it means a way that is in accordance with God Who is light and love.

That excludes that we would praise servants by only looking at them for what we love about them and therefore look at them only from the perspective of love. It also excludes that we reject servants by only looking at them for what we do not like about them and therefore only from the perspective of the light. Worthy of God means that we approach servants and judge their service in accordance with light and love. Of course we are allowed to encourage or admonish servants, but the balance is important. Briefly said ‘worthy of God’ means that the life of God in you and me towards the servant reveals itself in an honorable manner.

3Jn 1:7. The reason for appreciating the act of Gaius and the exhortation for him to continue that is that these strangers have gone forth “for the sake of the Name”. I think that you may say that in ‘the Name’ everything is expressed about what the Son of God is. John does not need to declare to Gaius what he means. It is totally clear. It is all about that Name.

In this letter the name of the Lord Jesus or of the Father does not appear at all. There is no need to mention Their names, for it is totally clear to both John and Gaius that it is only about the Father and the Son. When you talk with somebody about a person who is precious to both you and the other one, you do not mention his name all the time, for by everything that you say you both know of whom you are talking about.

The most important thing for you and me should be His Name as the only Name. It must not be the name of a church or one or another person (cf. 1Cor 1:10-13). His Name is the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Because of Him these travelling brothers have forsaken their profession to heed His call, just like John himself also did formerly (Mk 1:19-20). They were not sent by or in the name of men. The church has no authority to choose, consecrate or send out servants of the Lord. Only the Lord Jesus has that right. The church will surely acknowledge those with joy who are called and being sent out like that (Acts 14:27).

Those who are gone forth for His Name’s sake are not dependent on those to whom they are sent out. The Lord finances His own work. Fundraising is not in accordance with what we find here. We must never give the impression that money plays a role in the preaching or that it is about financial profit. That will cloud the preaching or even destroy it. On the other hand it is indeed important to realize that you have an obligation towards preachers who go forth with the confidence in the living God and who tell their needs to no one else than Him alone.

The preachers about whom John writes here do not accept anything from those who belong to the Gentiles. They leave it to God to care that they will be received by those who attaches great importance to the truth. The truth is and still is the only letter of faith among the Christians and also the only means through which the apostle can protect the believers.

Now read 3 John 1:5-7 again.

Reflection: What do you pay attention to with those who say to preach the truth and how do you help them forward who preach God’s truth?