Well, good morning to everyone. We're going to wrap up our study of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John this morning in kind of a summary message of the salient points that John's been teaching us. I really find it to be a sad thing to come to the end of a book, or the end of a series of books in this case. I feel as though there's so much more to say, so much more to learn, to reinforce, to repeat, and repeat, and repeat, so that we get it, so that we get hold of the message that God is teaching us in His Word.

And I was thinking as I looked at the verses before me this week that I probably should have just wrapped the last couple verses into last week's message and ended this series, but I didn't feel like I was done, that I could leave it without spending one more Sunday just contemplating the great lessons that John has for us in these short epistles. 

I want you to remember that the goal of John in his first epistle was to give us assurance to help the true believers to focus on Christ and His sufficiency and nothing else, so that those who believe might know that they have eternal life. This really entailed two major lessons. One was to believe Jesus and to love one another, to set ourselves on the simplicity that is in Christ, to look to Him alone as our fullness, as our life, and as our provision. 

And the other was to avoid false teaching, to reject all distraction that would lead us from Christ and into a search or need for something more. And that's really what John's been getting at, this idea of needing something more. Rather, the truth is that we need Jesus, and He's all that we need. 

The next two epistles build on this in a practical way with a negative and then a positive admonition concerning who we should welcome into our homes, into our fellowship, and into the sphere of influence among the believers. Second John was the negative. Do not welcome those who do not bring the doctrines of Christ, who do not preach and teach the truth. And third John is the positive. Do wholeheartedly, fervently, and eagerly welcome and assist those who minister to the brethren, who preach the truth, who bring the biblical truth doctrines concerning Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He's done. 

So John has laid out for us two paths, and that's kind of what I want to talk about this morning. One is a life of focus and dependence on Jesus and Jesus alone, a pursuit of the truth about Him, of knowing Him and making Him known. It's what Paul calls the simplicity that is in Christ, what John also called abiding in Christ as a branch abides in a vine. It is the life lesson of the new covenant, Christ in you, the hope of glory, His life in me, one day at a time by faith. 

The other path is a path of seeking our own wisdom, the wisdom of men in this world of seeking a higher knowledge, a new method, a better way. Men often couch this path in biblical language, in fine-sounding arguments with great motives, but at the end of the day, the ends do not justify the means. You see, God is all about the means for us. He's given us and prescribed for us what to do, the message to preach. We don't need new means. We don't need new methods. We don't need anything more than Jesus. 

We don't need a better way than God has prescribed, a way that leads us away from the truth and into vulnerability to lies and the false teachers that abound without and within the church. So what I want to do in our message this morning is to see in 3 John, in these closing verses, the result, the outcome of a choice made, of a decision determined to follow a path, to seek a way, either following Christ and God's Word, the truth, or a choice to compromise and go the way of men, choose the path of something more than Jesus and His gospel truth. 

And I want to draw on the message of the whole of the three epistles of John and make application for us as we take away the important truths that John has been teaching us these many months. 

So if you look with me in our text at 3 John, at verse 11, we're going to see Demetrius, who has a good testimony before all. And we're going to talk today about how we can have a good testimony in all these details we've been discussing. 

Verse 11, "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has a good testimony from all and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true. I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink. But I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name." 

I've given you three points on your outline this morning. First, the true path. Second, the false path. And third, a good testimony. I'd like to begin by asking you to turn to John 14, a familiar passage. 

John 14 at verse 1. Jesus talking with His disciples about His crucifixion, His death, burial, and resurrection, His ascension into heaven. In verse 1, He says, "'Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know.' 

Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also, and from now on, you know Him and have seen Him.'" 

So many times in this life of trouble, and heartache, and confusion, we do not know the way. We do not know what to do, where to go, how to handle the details, and work out the difficulties. We find ourselves broken, on our knees, in despair. And where do we turn? What do we know? 

Thomas said, "'Lord, we do not know the way. You are leaving us. This was not the plan. This is not what we thought was going to happen. What about the kingdom? What about overthrowing Rome and releasing Israel from bondage? What about David's throne? Aren't you the Messiah? Aren't you going to bring the kingdom now? We don't understand. We don't know where You are going. We don't know the way.' 

And how does Jesus answer him? My brothers and sisters, Jesus was leaving them. He was going to prepare a place for them. He was going to the cross, and then having risen from the dead, He was going to ascend to His Father's right hand, and He would not be with them on earth in His physical body any longer. And this was so frightening and confusing for them. They did not understand. 

You see, they did not know the plan of God. It's easy for us to look back on the disciples and say, "Wow, they really didn't get it. They were so slow on the uptake." But my friends, they did not have the Holy Spirit. They did not have new hearts and a new spirit. They did not have Jesus living in them. He'd been with them for three years, day in and day out. And whenever there was trouble or questions or confusion, He was there to deal with demons and sickness and calm the storm and settle the waves and feed the masses. He was always there. But now He was leaving. He was going to die the death of a criminal, to give Himself His life on the cross to save us from our sins, to take the wrath of God in our place, in our stead. 

They did not understand this at all. They were fixed on the earthly kingdom. There was confusion. The kingdom for Israel was true biblical doctrine. It would come, but they did not understand all the revelation. They did not understand the mystery of the church, which had yet to be revealed. They did not know the mind, the plan, the sovereignty of God in all the details. And they were afraid and they were doubting, and they did not know what they were going to do without Jesus beside them. 

They didn't know that Jesus would be in them. As Thomas expressed out of a sincere and broken heart, we do not know the way, Lord. And what did Jesus tell him? How did Jesus comfort him? I am the way, the truth, and the life. Thomas, it is me. I am the way. It is me that you need to follow, to focus on, to depend on, and trust in. And that is the point, my friends. Jesus is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. There is nothing new that we need. There is nothing more that we require. Jesus is the way. 

The way out of darkness. The way through trials and tribulations. The way of life every day, every moment. Faith in Him. Trusting Him. Knowing that even when I don't know and I am confused and I am sad, that He is the way. True believers know this. True believers keep coming back to this. They continue in the faith. It may be a winding path. It may be a hard road of learning to depend on Him and trust in Him. But this is the heart of the true believer. The heart to know Jesus. Because God has put that heart in him. And this is the message for every believer. This is the message of the Scriptures. Jesus is the way to life. And, my friends, Jesus is the way of life. 

The Word is all about Him. The exhortation of the Word is to know Him, to believe Him, to trust Him, to obey Him. You see, no matter what your question today is in life, no matter what your confusion, heartache, or great despair, Jesus is the answer. And I don't mean this as some pious platitude or some shallow saying. My friends, what John has been teaching us is that a seeking of Jesus through the truth, through the Word, through diligent continual study and renewing our minds to God's Word over and over and over every day, and choosing to believe Him, to reckon what He says is true about salvation, about the Christian life, about who I am in Him and what He's done for me, what He has in store for me. This is an agonizing, a striving to study, to know, to experience the life of Christ through faith. 

Jesus is the way. This is what John has been telling us. But, my friends, it is a narrow way. Certainly, it is a narrow way in the world. The road that leads to life, faith in Jesus, is taken by very few. The broad road leads to destruction, and many go in thereby. But, my brothers and sisters, Jesus is also a narrow way in the church. We've seen this so clearly in the letters John wrote to the churches and to these individuals. 

In John's day, and perhaps 95 A.D., there were problems in the church. False doctrines sneaking in. Even in Paul's day, early in the church, we see him dealing with all kinds of false teaching, false doctrine, the pressures of the world, and the influence of the wisdom of men. The church is certainly not immune from all of the lies and error, the wiles of the devil. And there's a tendency among men, among us, to take the broad way. To listen to the wisdom of men. To deceitful doctrines that lead away and astray from the simplicity that is in Christ.

I'd like to just look at an example, a passage in Luke 22. Such a profound text. Luke 22, verse 7. I'm going to read a lengthy passage. 

Luke 22, 7. "Then came the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John saying, 'Go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat.' So they said to him, 'Where do you want us to prepare?' And he said to them, 'Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house which he enters. Then you shall say to the master of the house, The master says to you, Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Then he will show you a large furnished upper room. There, make ready.' So they went and found it just as he said to them, and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come, he sat down and the twelve disciples with him. Then he said to them, 'With fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.' 

Then he took the cup and gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it. And he gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of my betrayer is with me on the table. And truly, the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.' 

Then they began to question among themselves which of them it was who would do this thing." 

Keep your finger there for a second. But what an amazing time. What an amazing event. Jesus is fulfilling the Passover, the sacrificing of the Lamb as a substitute, ending this old covenant commemoration, celebrating the last Passover and bringing in the new covenant in His blood. Establishing the Lord's Supper as a commemoration of what He was about to do on the cross. 

And we see in this last evening spent celebrating the Passover and instituting the Lord's Supper, many lessons given to the disciples. In John, we see that Jesus washed their feet as a lesson of humility and servitude. We see Him teaching them about the institution of the new covenant, the communion table, and the significance of His blood sacrifice, His giving of Himself for the sins of men. 

But what I want you to notice is the next set of verses in Luke 22. Verse 24, "Now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, 'The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table? or He who serves. Is it not He who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.'" 

In the midst of all these lessons, in the profound gravity of the situation and what was about to happen, in the presence of God's Passover Lamb, the Lamb who would take away the sins of the world in the greatest act of self-sacrificial love, unconditional love for the world, the disciples, the ones who had been with Him for three years, who had heard all of His teachings, seen His great and amazing example to them, are having an argument over who among them is the greatest. And Jesus tells them the way up is down. Exaltation comes through humility.

And they would learn that lesson, my friends. They would learn it at the cross. They would learn it in their ministry in the world, preaching the gospel of grace, of salvation by faith in Christ, as they were persecuted, stoned, drugged to death, crucified and killed in every way imaginable for their testimony, for their witness, for Jesus Christ. The greatest is the One who serves, who knows who He is, who has humility before the Lord. And my friends, only grace can teach us that. Only Jesus can show us this narrow way. 

And we have such a tendency to go the broad way, to seek to be great, to be somebody, to come up with some new way, some better way. What we need to know, what we need to understand and believe and come back to every day is that Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life. This is true for each of us as individuals, and it's also true for the body, for the church. We have to choose as individuals whether we will focus on Christ, the truth of His Word, whether we will take each thought captive to the obedience of Christ, judging all things by the truth of His Word, which points us to Him. 

And we also must continually make this decision as a church. How will we do church? What will be the emphasis of our Sunday morning service? What will be the goal, the mission of our church? And how will we spend the Lord's resources? What will be our methods for reaching the lost, building believers, or will this be our goal at all? These are all narrow way, broad way decisions, my friends. Jesus, or something more, questions. 

In John's day, he was dealing with these questions in the churches which he was associated with. There was a kind of Gnostic heresy that had come into the church through false teachers. Gnostic, gnosis, means knowledge. They were teaching that they had a higher knowledge, a secret wisdom, but the believers could only get it from them. And you can give it all the fancy names you want, but the essence of it was that they taught you that you needed something more than the gospel truth, the doctrines of Christ, something more than Jesus. 

And we see this same type of heresy infiltrating the church today. We need the knowledge, the wisdom of men to deal with our emotional, relational, and spiritual difficulties. God's Word is not enough. Jesus is not enough. And when it comes to reaching the lost, we need all kinds of new methods that Paul didn't have. We need slick business models and modern plans for the church and for evangelism. We need programs upon programs and systems and ten-step plans and emotional speakers and entertainment and coffee bars and rock bands complete with light shows and fog. We need something new. We need something more to reach this generation. Something more than Jesus. 

Vance Havner said, we don't need something new, we need something so old it would be new if somebody would try it. But the church pines today if we could just come up with the right method, the right package, the right presentation. My friends, what you win them with, you win them too. The message is the method. The message is the method. 

There's a core problem with all of this thinking in the church, and it's not necessarily that all these things are wrong in and of themselves. It is that these things, and especially the motives behind them, listen now, are man-centered and not God-centered. They are not the doctrines of Christ. They fall short, they miss the mark in their motive because they're designed to draw men in, to draw carnal men in, and to minister to their needs and to design the whole system to facilitate men coming in and growing numbers. 

The doctrines of Christ, the whole Word of God, are all about who God is and who man is. They're all about holiness and the justness of God, the sinfulness of man and God's plan for redemption for being brought back into a right relationship with Him. About salvation by grace through faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross, His death in my place for my sins, His burial and His resurrection from the dead. The doctrines of Christ are all about Jesus, who He is and what He did and His life in me now by faith and His promise of His coming and the truth that I will be with Him forever in heaven. 

My brothers and sisters, this is not what the rock band and the coffee bar are all about. This is not what the funny stories and illustrations in the sermonette consist of. Because the motive and the belief of many in the evangelical church is that we need the world's means to reach the world. We need something more than Jesus to meet the needs of carnal men. As I heard one pastor say in a Bible church as I sat there listening to his message, just preaching the gospel is no longer good enough. 

There's a narrow way, my friends. And there's a broad way. We have to decide what we will choose, what we will believe, who we will trust. If we're going to bring the doctrines of Christ, if our motive is to know Him, to build believers, this must come through the preaching and teaching of God's Word. This is the only way that we can know God, that we can know Jesus, that we can understand our salvation and Him and how He would have us to live. 

If we're going to reach the lost, it must be through the preaching of the gospel truth. It's not about methods, it's about a message about Jesus Christ. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing, hearing a message about Jesus Christ." Our sin, our need for a Savior, and His full provision at the cross, and that we can receive His righteousness through faith alone in Him alone. That's what these books are all about. That's what John's been teaching us and telling us, is you need Jesus. You need to bring the doctrines of Christ. And if a man doesn't bring the doctrines of Christ, then reject him. 

We need to be careful, we need to walk circumspectly lest we fall into the broad way deception. That there's something more than Jesus, more than God's Word, some better way or higher knowledge. I write to you about those who try to deceive you, he said, who deny Jesus, who He is and what He's done. If a man does not bring the doctrines of Christ, he said, do not give him a greeting, do not welcome him into your home, do not give him any affirmation or assistance lest you share in his evil deeds. Do not imitate diatrophies, what is evil, but imitate what is good. 

John was dealing with these things in the church. And the essence of his message was that if we do not restrict ourselves to the narrow way, if we do not continually renew our minds to the doctrines of Christ found only in the Word of God, then we will not grow. We will not be discerning. And we will be drawn away by false teaching, the wisdom of the world and the means of the world. 

And so the main thrust, the main exhortation, the new covenant command is to believe Jesus. And then to experience the fruit of loving one another. Agape love for others springs out of believing Jesus, abiding in Him, trusting Him as He lives His life through us. 

So we see a true path, the narrow way that is Jesus. And we see a false path, the broad way that is the way of the world. And here in 3 John in these last verses, we see the implications of which path we choose. The broad way leads to the fruit of distraction, confusion and selfishness as we see in diatrophies. The narrow path leads to the fruit of service and sacrifice, agape love, and a good testimony before all. 

Look at verse 5 with me in 3 John. I want to read in context here the verses we're looking at. "Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, speaking to Gaius, who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well. Because they went forth for His namesake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth." 

"I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds, which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God." 

"Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true. I had many things to write to you, but I do not wish to write with pen and ink. But I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name." 

John has been appealing to the believers to keep hold of the doctrines of Christ, to focus on Him, to believe Him, to know that He is our sufficiency. And he wants this for them, so that they will discern false teachers and reject the idea that they needed something more. Gaius is a brother who understood this. He was abiding in Christ. He was fruitful. He was showing the love of Christ by ministering to those who were truth teachers. 

The contrast came in Diotrephes, the one who loved the preeminence, who chose the broad path to self-exaltation of being first, and loving the praise of men, and lording his power over men. The fruit of this was selfishness, worldliness, and an example of what is evil and not what is good. Diotrephes was a false teacher, an evil man according to John, who actively opposed the apostles, the ministers of Christ, and the truth. 

But we need to be careful as believers to not be drawn away by the wiles of the devil, by the seducing voices that say that they have a better way, a new way, a fresh way, to reach the world, to grow to a higher level of spirituality. Because choosing the broad path, the ways of the world, is a slippery slope that is difficult to climb up from. And this choice, these little choices along the way, have implications, have fruit in our lives, and not the fruit of the spirit, but the fruit of the flesh. 

In the end, these choices hurt our testimony, and they hurt the testimony of Jesus Christ and His saving gospel. This is not what we want, my brothers and sisters. Our deepest desire in our heart is to have a good testimony, to be a witness, to be a faithful believer who brings glory to God in all that we do. 

God gives us favor with men. When I worked for the USDA for all those years, I prayed for favor with my bosses, with my co-workers, so that I could witness to them. And every man that ever got in my truck, including the state director, the regent, every man that ever rode in my truck heard the gospel. Because I was praying, I was looking for that opportunity, and I was asking for favor, and they never stopped me. They never shut me down. I was always amazed that I had freedom to do that. 

This is what we want. This is our deepest desire. And this comes only by daily abiding in Christ and His words abiding in us. And this was the testimony of a man named Demetrius. He was a faithful brother, an encourager. He was fixed and focused on Christ, the doctrines of Christ, the power and provision of Christ through faith in his life. And this was evident to all. John says he had a good testimony before all. And John says from the truth itself. And he continues from us also. And you know that we tell the truth.

Demetrius had a good testimony before all. I have to tell you, I had a burr in my saddle, as my mother used to say. This burr, this nagging thing is the idea that we should be pursuing happiness. My friends, this is a worldly idea that has crept into the church. I find that many times when people talk to me about their pursuit of happiness, their desire to be happy, it's often associated with them justifying sin and bad decisions, and it's always associated with self-centeredness. 

I'm really down on this idea that we deserve to be happy, or even that we should be happy, or that we should ever even really think about being happy. Happy has to do with happenstance, the circumstances of this life. And the circumstances in this cursed world very often are less than perfect, in case you haven't noticed. 

I've determined that the pursuit of happiness is one sure way to make yourself miserable, and lead yourself into all kinds of trouble. But you know what makes me happy? What makes me happy is doing what is right. Pleasing God, ministering to others, believing the truth, and living the truth by God's power. 

What makes me happy is when I see the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life, when I see the power of Christ living in me through faith as I abide in Him, as I am continually amazed at what He will do through my life. What He can do with someone who has nothing to offer. Just by trust, just by faith. When I choose to do what is right, what is often very hard, what is often very unpopular, but what is right, what God tells me is right and true and just and noble, it gives me great joy to see the gospel truth, men's lives changed in Jesus Christ glorified. 

And my brothers and sisters, this is what gives us a good testimony before all. Integrity, responsibility, self-sacrifice, agape love, genuineness in our lives, a genuine love for men and a desire for them to be saved that God put in us. These things are not found in the world, my friends. And as the church becomes more worldly, more influenced by the ways and the thinking of the world, they are found less in the church as well. 

But if we choose to make God's Word, His written Word and the living Word, Jesus, the center of our individual lives, the focus of our study and knowledge and passion, the basis of our daily life, and if we choose to make these things the centerpiece of Living Hope Church, of our fellowship and our worship and teaching, then my brothers and sisters, the fruit of this will be a good testimony before all. 

A group of passionate, genuine people who want to love others, help each other, and bring the saving gospel to those who are lost in our communities, in our world. I remember when I first went to the Bible study up at Maxinoski's and it was a difficult thing for me to go in there, I've told you that before. But the thing that struck me was that these people were genuine. They didn't want anything from me. And they had this great joy, this love, this passion for Jesus and for people. I never saw that in religion. I never saw that in the world. I never saw that, period. 

That's the kind of people we want to be, to have a good testimony before all. Demetrius, Gaius, John, these were faithful brothers who stood for the truth, guarded the truth, and showed the love of the truth to God and men. And this was because Jesus was their all in all. Jesus was their salvation. He was their life, their sufficiency, and their hope. And nothing could move them from that. Nothing could draw them away. Because they were continuing in the doctrine. They were continuing in the Word. And they were just trusting Him. 

John wrote many amazing, profound truths to us. In these little letters. But he says here at the end, I have so many more things to teach you. Many things to say to you. And I don't want to do that with a pen and ink. I want to come and do that face to face. To continue to teach you about our great Lord and Savior. To give you truth, to point you to Him so that you might believe Him and love one another. 

And this in order that your life might be traveling down the center of that narrow path. The one fixed on Jesus. And that you might have a good testimony before all for the cause of the gospel and the glory of Jesus Christ. And Lord willing, my friends, this is what we will continue to do here as well. Study and teach and preach the Word, the truth about Jesus. For our growth, for our fruitfulness, for His glory. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're thankful that you're so patient. That you're long-suffering. That you continue to work in us and to work all things together for our good. Thank you that you use us. That you've chosen not many wise and not many noble to put to shame the wisdom of this world. To show the foolishness of men. And to bring glory to yourself. And we just pray that you would help us to understand and know and believe every day that Jesus is all we need and that we have Him. That He is ours, we are His, and that we can trust Him and depend on Him and believe Him. 

Help us to believe the truth as John has exhorted us to do and help us to reject those who don't bring the truth. In order that this church and the believers here might be fruitful, might be abiding, that men would be saved and that you would be glorified and that we would have a good testimony before all. In Jesus' name.