Overview

• First centrury early chruch life
• Keywords: Love and Truth
• Contrast between 2 different people. People who are part of the problem and people who are a part of the solution

People

• Well beloved
• Leads a christian life ("Soul pospereth")
• Not intimidated by corrupt church leader
• Feared God first
• Was a testimony - he bared record
• Genrous to everyone in the Church even opening his home

• The man who hindered God's work
• Love preeminence. Be first
• Prideful

• Example or role model to follow. Example is more powerful then precept/rules?
• Good testimony of all
• Truth - the standard by which Demitrious was tested

Study Questions

• Who is the Elder?
• What does it mean to love "in the truth"?

Content

• First thing the Elder does is comment Gaius. We spend so much time condemning the wrong we forget to compliment and encourage the good
• Wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health. -Ok to want good health and prosperity, but spiritual was first
• Hopes physical should match spiritual. How many of us would want are physical condition to match our spiritual well-being.
• Contradicts faith healers. Spiritual conditions was great while physical was ok. Illness is not caused directly by spiritual condition
• You can call it love, but if it ignores the truth, it's not really love. Our love is in the Truth. A truth defined love.
• The Elder - Prespetyr. Someone older in the faith. Looked at spiritual family. Talking about his "children" and "brothers" implied "and sisters". There is a spiritual family/kingdom.
• Gaius is loved by many (several references in the book). Example John loves with sincere, not just in tongue Love (1John).
• Truth very important. We are to be concerned with the Truth. Is it all about love or truth? Truth more. out Love is constrained when it wars with Truth. The boundaries of Love are defined by Truth.
• * Ok to say someone is loved. ok to be proud of someone's faith walk and call it out. In fact, I would say we should go out of our way to praise this, just like we do other things
• * Physical health (or financial, etc...) is not necessarily an indicator of spiritual condition. You can't simply say you are sick, because of lack of faith
• * And it's ok to want physical health and/or to prosper in other areas. And to want that for others.
• * But the soul comes first. How many of us would want our physical or financial health to match that of our spiritual health?
• * Walking in the truth -> putting faith and obedience into action. But still calls them children. walking is something we are supposed to do after we become children and we can lose sight of that sometimes

• Testified of truth in you, even as thou walkest in the truth? - Mean he does what he says?
• My children walk in the truth - Christian life must be lived and not just believed
• Others can be proud of you for walking in the Truth
• Does to brethren and strangers? Are the strangers brethren or not?
• We should bring forward other Christians on their journey
• Taking nothing of the pagans - Testimony to lost when believers support church. Takes away perception Church is after money
• Fellow workers in the Church. -We all have gifts to accelerate the mission of the Church
• True in Christ should be given to hospitality
• Strangers/Missionaries are coming to the Church ->
• * "for the sake of the name". The name. All power, glory, worthy of worship and praise. No greater or higher calling.
• * Support missionaries, by opening up your homes and providing for them, because they took nothing from the Gentiles. Hospitality.
• * When doing mission work we should also seek to not be paid or take from the world. We are here to give.
• * Take care of them "in a manner worthy of God". Merit and Quality that would satisfy God. Rewards in heaven are tied to this type of work.
• * We should consider self sufficient missionary work, so that it's understood we are here to give/provide not to take
• * By supporting missionaries, we are fellow workers in their mission. Every person's work is important and needed and a part of the mission.

• Elder wrote to the Church already and then sent others to the Church
• Was he talking to a Christian Church or Jewish congregation?
• Early church had problems as well. They were not the ideal Church
• The Elder was a threat to Diotrophes monopoly of power
• Diotrophes - Spread malicious, false, and empty charges against the Elder and those that follow the truth
• Forbid others from receiving the missionaries
• The Elder was willing to talk with Diotrophes - His painful visit?
• Doesn't acknowledge Paul's authority -
• * Don't love preeminence. Power. Seek man's eyes on you. He was so busy with his preeminence, he was busy rejecting Christ and people of Christ.
• Sees everyone as a threat to his power. Saw traveling preachers as a threat. How many new Christians desire to go after God, but then are met with a Diotrephes that loves the power/attention on him
• * Nothing is as ugly as spiritual pride. Are you ok with someone supplanting your bible study. Your work in the Church? Loving self over others. Personal ambition.
• They get the trust of the people by destroying the trust of everyone else. Go around telling malicious tales. To push themselves up as the only ones that are righteous.
• * We can rebuke people teaching heresy and treating people wrongly. Ok to call out people acting badly in the Church.

• Follow good and not evil
• He who does evil has not seen God
• Those who do good are of God
• * building report of knowing who to trust is important, as noticed he says we also add our testimony and "you know that our testimony is true"
• * Do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. (Spiritually not connected with God. Holy Spirit.)
• * OK To assume there are good people. Or stated another way their might not be perfectly "good" people, but people who have good intentions and actions.
• * IF not, who would you imitate?
• -- We can't be talking about at single act of a goodness or single act of evil, as then everyone would qualify for both, but a distinction is created
• -- Therefore it goest back to a person's "walk". What do they manifest on a consistent basis good or evil.
• follow not that which is evil — as manifested in Diotrephes (3Jo 1:9, 3Jo 1:10).
• but ... good — as manifested in Demetrius (3Jo 1:12).
• Yes, imitate the others around you. Ok to look up to others. In fact mentors and mature believers are very important in ones life.
• * but he that doeth evil hath not seen God -- And since we were all evil, before were good. We had not seen God. And we are seeing him spiritually now.
• * The moral test to determine who is a Christian. Yes you can look at the good/evil someone does as part of Christian state.

• Greet other believers by name. Be personal with everyone.
• * 3 reasons to support missionaries. 1) they are our brothers, we love them. 2) The world will not support them. They take nothing from it. 3) We are fellow workers in their mission.
• What does this tell us about God? He is concerned with the Truth. God is good. We are part of a spiritual family. He loves us. Well-beloved. Evil cannot be near God.