Enjoying Good Health

3 John 1:1-8

Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/enjoying-good-health-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-aging-150916.asp

3 John 1:1 NET From the elder, to Gaius my dear brother, whom I love in truth. 2 Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, just as you are

living according to the truth.

4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth. 5 Dear

friend, you demonstrate faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers (even though

they are strangers). 6 They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

7 For they have gone forth on behalf of "The Name," accepting nothing from the pagans. 8

Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we become coworkers in cooperation with

the truth.

1 From the elder, to Gaius my dear brother, whom I love in truth.

As in his 2nd letter John identifies himself as The elder. This letter is written to Gaius my dear brother. It is not certain who this Gaius is.

Several people named Gaius are in the New Testament. All have interactions with the Apostle Paul. (Rom 16:23, 1Cor 1:14, Acts 19:29, Acts

20:4) Gaius was a very common name.

“whom I love in truth” It’s almost like we’re reading from either his 1st or 2nd letter. Again, two

of John’s favorite words, love & truth.

These are the bed rocks of our relationship with God! The truth of His love for us shown by

Jesus death for our sins. Then our sharing that love with others so they can know the truth of

God’s love.

Recently, a preacher wrote another about all the illness he’s seen in his church. Here is what he

wrote: “You know, there are more suffering people today than I’ve ever seen in my 55+

years in ministry. It may be that people are living longer, but many of these for whom I request

prayer are not really old people.

I think our lifestyle, our eating habits, et cetera contribute a great deal to our downward health trend in this country. And I really wonder about

medications, too. It seems the more medications that medical science comes up with, the more debilitating illnesses increase. I may be wrong and certainly have no proof, but I just wonder!”

I wonder too. The important thing is that we must learn to take care of ourselves as best we can if we want to be able to serve the Lord. This

is why we are were created. This preacher, at age 75, is still preaching in a fairly large church and doing a good job. God

has blessed him with good health. He mentioned that he’d only been in the hospital one time in his entire life. That’s a pretty good

record.

Have you ever heard it said of someone who just passed away, or perhaps you said or

thought it yourself, “They sure didn’t take care of themselves. They could of probably lived

another 10 or 20 years if they wouldn’t have smoked, or drank so much. Their eating habits

weren’t any good either.”Why should we take care of ourselves? Because our bodies belong to the Lord.

Consider the secret to good health and soul prosperity.

1- Minister to one another

2- Be faithful to God’s truth

3- Demonstrate love to all

MINISTER TO ONE ANOTHER2 Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with

you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.

Acquiring good health is big priority with most people. Of course, we can’t work and function in

life if our health isn’t good.

When a physician remarked on a new patient’s extraordinarily ruddy complexion, the patient

said, “High blood pressure, Doc. It comes from my family.“

“Your mother’s side or your father’s?” “Neither,” he replied. “It’s from my wife’s family.”

“Oh, come now, how could your wife’s family give you high blood pressure?” He sighed. “You

oughta meet ’em sometime, Doc!”

The doctor took his patient into his office and said, "I have some good news and some bad news." The patient said, "Give me the good

news." The doctor said, "They’re going to name a disease after you.“

Don’t we all pray for things to go well with others & they be healthy, just as John prayed for them. It’s called ministering to one another in prayer. And it could well be that the greatest thing that

we do for one another is to pray for one another.

Ephesians 6:18 NET With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests

for all the saints.With all kinds of prayers and requests. Any kind.

For anything. We should pray for good health and healing for people. WE SHOULD ALWAYS PRAY FOR OTHERS!

Do you know of anyone who has been put in jail for fooling around with drugs or abusing

alcohol? Have they been put in rehab before and may go

back unless something worse happens.

THEY NEED PRAYER!

Colossians 4:2 NET Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the

same time pray for us too, that God may open a door for the message so that we may proclaim

the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may make it known as I should.

James 5:13 NET Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone

among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up — and if he

has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The

prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.

Do you see qualifications of prayer? “Be devoted to prayer” That is to be: loyal, dutiful,

constant, committed to prayer. “And the prayer of faith” Are we praying with faith, assured God

will answer according to His will? “The prayer of a righteous person” This stings a

bit! Am I “righteous, observing divine laws?” (Thayer)

If I’m not listening to God & walking in his ways can I expect Him to listen to me and grant my

request?

Does it really do any good to pray for people? What do you think?

I think when we are living righteously, devoted to & praying in faith the Lord is quick to answer our prayers that are people-centered. It shows that we are not selfish, that we care about others.

A preacher received a note via email from a retired school principle: “May the Lord continue to bless you and your family in all that you and

they are used to do to encourage, uplift and bless others. End of one year. Ready for

another, Lord-willing. That preacher continued to share the daily prayers with fifteen others (some of whom, almost assuredly, pass them to their

friends). Sort of like a rock, cast into a previously motionless pond.

>>>great ripple effect<<<

Gayla & I receive letters from missionaries we support & inevitably we are thanked for our prayers & asked to pray for certain people,

evangelistic efforts or circumstances.

THERE IS POWER IN PRAYER!

We shouldn’t stop with prayer, however. If there are other things we can do to minister to one

another we should do them also: go visit someone in the nursing home. Call someone on the phone and LET THEM TALK! Some people are lonely and need someone to talk to. Run an

errand for a shut-in person. Baby sit for a working mother. Do it all without even

considering compensation.

I believe that as we minister to one another in various ways, God will take care of us physically

and spiritually.

Proverbs 11:17 NET A kind person benefits himself, but a cruel person brings himself

trouble.

Galatians 6:9 NET So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we

do not give up.

BE FAITHFUL TO GOD’S TRUTH3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, just as you are living according to the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living

according to the truth.In our lesson on 2nd John we talked about

walking in the truth. I think God always blesses us when we are faithful to Him and walk in His

truth.

Ben Merold retired as the Senior Minister of the Harvester Christian Church, St. Charles, MO, at

age 83.

Ben has been one of the most beloved leaders in Christian churches and churches of Christ

over the past half-century. He began preaching in 1948, and beyond serving churches in four

states, he has preached the gospel in 47 states and seven foreign countries.

He received his education at Johnson Bible College, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Lincoln Christian College in Illinois. Ben had been

senior minister at Harvester Christian Church, St. Charles, Missouri, for 18 years. He and Pat

recently celebrated 60 years of marriage.

Here is what Ben said of the Harvester Christian Church in 2007: We don’t know what the

attendance was the year before I came, but it was probably a little less than 200. I was 65 years old at the time. I had a vision of getting the church up to 600 to 700, and now we’re

averaging close to 3,500—it’s been pretty good for a “country church.”

He also said: “I have just had my 83rd birthday and I’m feeling a deterioration of energy. I’m

finding it more difficult to preach Saturday night and three times on Sunday morning.”

Now how could Ben keep on preaching and experience such great growth in his church at

his age? IT’S CALLED GOD’S BLESSING ON A FAITHFUL MAN OF GOD. He sounds like John

Wesley of old.

It was said of John Wesley : He traveled two hundred and fifty miles a week for forty years; preached forty thousand sermons; produced

four hundred books; knew ten languages. At age eighty-three he was annoyed that he could not

write more than fifteen hours a day without hurting his eyes, and at eighty-six he was

ashamed he could not preached more than twice a day.

He complained in his diary that there was an increasing tendency to lie in bed until 5:30 in the

morning.

I don’t know if this is true or not. It sounds good and I do know that Wesley lived to be 87 years

old. Could serving the Lord faithfully have something to do with it?

I think any time that we put the Lord and His church first in our lives we will be blessed in

many ways, which may well include good health.

It appears that when we are faithful to the Lord He is faithful in blessing us in various ways, including good health. This certainly sounds

good to me. I don’t mind living to be 100 years old if my health is good. What about you?

DEMONSTRATE LOVE TO ALL5 Dear friend, you demonstrate faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers (even though

they are strangers). 6 They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7

For they have gone forth on behalf of "The Name," accepting nothing from the pagans. 8

Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we become coworkers in cooperation with

the truth.

5 Dear friend, you demonstrate faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers (even though

they are strangers).

Faithfulness to strangers. Sounds like demonstrating love to all.

Here’s a story that took place in January, 2010. Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson

was found dead Monday, Jan. 4th at the age of 30 amid a public romance with bisexual reality star Tila Tequila and constant Johnson family

drama over money. After refusing to seek treatment for drug abuse, Johnson was cut off

financially by her family.

"Casey has been wild since her teenage years and never really slowed down," said a pal, who has known her for years. "Her family often cut

off her money and asked her to get help and get her life together. She loved going out in NYC or

LA. She used to frequent Bungalow 8 with friends in New York. Casey loved being around her friends, dancing and forgetting about her

family and her personal problems."

“Leading up to her tragic death from a diabetic coma, Casey was borrowing money from friends and lying about her daughter,” said the friend. In 2007, Casey adopted a baby from Kazakhstan she named Ava. In 2008, her mother removed the child from Casey’s custody after finding her

living in squalor.

"Recently she was reaching out to her friends for money," the source said. "Casey would claim she needed the money for baby Ava, but all of

her friends knew that her mother had taken Ava to live with her. Her life was out of control, and

she couldn’t take care of Ava.”What a sad, sad story. And it’s a story about selfish living. Could it be that selfish living

contributed to her early death?

President William McKinley (1897-1901) was considering the appointment of a minister to a foreign country. There were two candidates,

their qualifications almost equal. Which one did he appoint? The President related a story of an

incident that had decided his choice. Years before, when he was a Representative, he

boarded a streetcar one night and took the last vacant seat.

Shortly afterward, an old wash-woman entered carrying a heavy basket. She walked the length of the car and stood in the aisle, no one offering

her a seat.One of the men, whom the President was to consider later, was sitting in a seat opposite

where she was standing. He shifted the paper so as not to see her. Mr. McKinley walked down the aisle, picked up her basket of washing, and

gave her his seat.

The candidate never knew that this little act of selfishness had deprived him of perhaps the

crowning honor of a lifetime.The moral of this story is that much of the time

we look out for ourselves at the expense of others and it generally backfires. Why is that?

Because you reap what you sow. And if you sow good stuff you’ll reap good stuff. But if you sow

selfish stuff, you’ll reap such or else good will be withheld from you.

Selfish living can only destroy a person, both spiritually and physically. Whereas when we live for others and demonstrate love to all God will

strengthen our spirits and bless us in other ways!

I’m not into this “health and wealth” gospel business that some preachers present, but I do believe that God blesses His people with good stuff when we seek to please and obey Him.

Matthew 6:33 NET But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things

will be given to you as well.

When we seek the Lord and seek to be righteous, minster to others, be faithful, and love

others, God will indeed take care of us in all ways!

Perhaps physical health is not our problem. Do we need a spiritual check up?

The Great Physician can heal both!