Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 463
3 JOHN
This letter is from John, the elder.
I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.
Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body
as you are strong in spirit.
Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy
by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to
the truth. I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are
following the truth.
Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the travel
ing teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you.
They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue
providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. For they are
traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not
believers. So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their
partners as they teach the truth.
I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the
leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. When I come, I will report
some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against
us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells
others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the
church.
Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what
is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s
children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
451