3 John

August 20, 2022

Thank you! – 72

August 20, 2022

Thank you! – 72

In a little over a week, I have finished reading and commenting on the Letter of 3 John.  I have now finished the New Testament four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, plus the Acts of the Apostles, and Paul’s letters to the Romans, as well 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews.  I have also finished the Letter of James, 1 Peter and 2 Peter, and now 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John.  Every time I finish commenting on a book of the Bible, I send a thank you blog.  I usually post five blogs a day covering a verse of the biblical books.  So far, I have posted over 15,765 blogs about the individual paragraphs of all the 46 books of the Old Testament, plus the individual verses of the first 25 books of the New Testament.  It has taken me nine years to get this done, since I first began in 2013.

262 people follow this blog every day.  Many people have visited this site.  There have been over 83,000 hits on this blog since its inception.  I just want to thank all of you.  Word Press sent me a compilation that showed that about 52,200 people from 174 other countries have visited this web site since its inception.

I realize that over 14,500 people have left comments in 2021, but I have not responded to them.  Some of you might want to moderate my comments, which is fine with me.  If you want to contact me directly, my email is efinne1540@gmail.com.

I want to thank all of you who have sent emails to me this past month, especially

 Rev Canon Dr Ishanesu Sextus Gusha 

Ccoutreach

Yuval Bloomberg  

mosckerr

Stuart M. Perkins 

Pure Glory

GS

 The Alchemist

marionnecolakinskys

Thank you to everyone.

Peace – love – joy

Eugene Finnegan

August 19, 2022

Gaius was commended for his service (chapter 1)

This author was very happy when someone told him that Gaius was walking in the truth.  He was always happy to hear that his children were walking in the truth.  Gaius had been faithful even to strangers.  They had testified about the love of Gaius for the church.  He had sent the strangers on in a manner worthy of God.  These travelers had begun their journey for the sake of the name of Christ, without any support from the pagan gentiles. Thus, when we support those preachers for Christ, we actually become their co-workers.  Do you give financial support to traveling Christian preachers?

August 18, 2022

Who is Demetrius?

The end of this letter introduced another man named Demetrius.  He may have been ordained a bishop of Philadelphia (now Amman, Jordan).  Demetrius was probably a member of the group of missionaries discussed earlier in the letter.  This elder wanted to recommend him to Gaius.  Recommendation letters were quite common in the early church, since Paul often used them.  Have you ever written a letter of recommendation?

August 18, 2022

Opposition of Diotrephes

This elder described his conflict with Diotrephes, who does not acknowledge his authority.  This Diotrephes was excommunicating those people who welcomed missionaries.  There was also a mention of a previous letter written to this church.  However, Diotrephes suppressed this letter.  This elder intended to visit that church and confront Diotrephes.  The dispute between Diotrephes and this elder seemed to be based on church leadership and authority rather than doctrine.  This elder never accused Diotrephes of teaching any heresy.  Most scholars do not connect the letter that the elder mentioned in 3 John with the letter of 2 John, since there is nothing about a doctrinal controversy.  Have you ever been involved with a church dispute?

August 18, 2022

Missionaries

This elder in 3 John commend Gaius for his loyalty and his hospitality towards a group of traveling “brothers”.  These “brothers” were brothers in the faith or missionaries.  They were following the command of Jesus in Mark, chapter 6:8–9 to set out on a journey without any money.  This elder requested that Gaius provide for these brothers to help continue them on their journey.  Have you ever been a missionary?

August 18, 2022

The other people named Gaius

The name Gaius occurs four other times in the New Testament, other than in his epistle.  First, a Christian Gaius is mentioned in Macedonia as a traveling companion of Paul, along with Aristarchus.  One chapter later, a Gaius from Derbe is named as one of Paul’s seven traveling companions who waited for him at Troas.  Next, a Gaius is mentioned residing in Corinth as being one of only a few people there who was baptized by Paul.  Lastly, a Gaius is referred to in a final greeting portion of the Epistle to the Romans, as Paul’s host in Corinth.  However, there is no strict reason to suppose that any of these men were the same Gaius of 3 John.  Nevertheless, it is still a possibility.  How many people do you know named Gaius?