3 John 9-12 - Of God or Not?

Introduction

In life, there are opportunities and there are scams.

We want to seize opportunities and avoid the scams.

But sometimes fear of being scammed can make us miss some great opportunities.

In 2 John, the Apostle John warned his readers about being scammed.

In 3 John, he writes to a brother named Gaius about a man named Diotrephes who I think was missing some great opportunities because he feared being scammed.

Follow along as I read, 3 John 9-12…

[READING - 3 John 9-12]

3 John 9–12 NASB95

9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church. 11 Beloved, 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. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.

[PRAYER]

[TS] In this passage, I want you to see…

…The Bad Example…

…The Principle…

…and The Opportunity.

Major Ideas

#1: The Bad Example: Diotrephes (3 John 9-10)

3 John 9–10 NASB95

9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.

[EXP] Before Jesus ascended to Heaven after His death and resurrection, He said to His disciples…

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The early church rightly understand that command as not only applying to those who actually heard those words but also to all those who trusted in Christ afterward.

In other words, it wasn’t just the likes of John who were to make disciples of all nations but also all those who were discipled by John.

They too were to make disciples of all nations.

Some of them would make disciples at home and some would go to other places proclaiming the Gospel, making disciples, and seeing churches form.

As they went, they were supported by the folks back home, but they would also need support along the way.

They would need hospitality.

Although He didn’t use the word, hospitality is what Jesus spoke of Luke 10:3-7…

Luke 10:3–7 NASB95

3 “Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 “Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. 5 “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 “If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 “Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.

The disciples of Jesus were to look for hospitality when they went out proclaiming His message, and they were to honor that hospitality when they found it.

But not everyone who went out belonged to Jesus.

First John tells us that some false teachers went out calling themselves Christians when they were anything but.

Second John tells us that some false teachers had came back looking for support (i.e., hospitality in the homes of those who had remained faithful).

John said to show hospitality or give support to these false teachers would be the same as joining in their false teaching.

But Third John tells us that we must still show hospitality/give support to those who deserve it…

…to those who got out for the sake of the Name of Jesus…

…to those who depend on the support of brothers and sisters in Christ to meet their needs.

But some like Diotrephes didn’t take that approach.

Diotrephes seems to have thought that the best way to protect the church from supporting false teachers was to prevent the church from supporting any teachers.

Thus, when John sent some disciples his way, he didn’t receive them, support them, show them hospitality in any way.

John sought to correct this, as v. 9 says, by writing to the church that it seems both Diotrephes and Gaius were apart of—the same church that at least one time considered John an elder, a pastor of the church.

Diotrephes ignored what John wrote.

He ignored the brethren sent from John in need of help.

He forbade others from helping them.

And because he had a lot of power in the church, he had those who did help the brethren excommunicated or kicked out of the church.

It doesn’t seem that Diotrephes was a supporter of false teaching or else John would have brought that up.

It does seem that in trying to protect the church, Diotrephes had gone too far.

He became a "Me first” person, perhaps viewing himself as the sole protector, as the hero of the church.

He became an "I know best” person, even having the audacity to ignore the instructions of the Apostles.

He became an “Others bashing” person, slandering John and possibly other Apostles with wicked words.

He became an “Us four and no more” person, not welcoming anyone into the church and removing anyone from the church who didn’t recognize his supremacy in the church.

That saying “us four and no more” apparently comes from a famous prayer in which a man prayed, “Lord, bless me and my wife, my son and his wife; us four and no more.”

It has been revised as a slogan for inhospitable groups or churches as “Us four and no more… and close the door!”

That seems to describe Diotrephes well.

He was not into hospitality in the church.

He was not into supporting missionaries as they preached the Gospel.

He was into isolation.

He may have called it protection…

…but it was isolation.

John will come and confront Diotrephes concerning these things.

Diotrephes is a bad example of hospitality among the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ.

[ILLUS] In our Bible lessons at home, we’ve been talking about Galatians. Not too long ago we talked about Galatians 2 where Paul tells about a confrontation with Peter.

Peter, Paul, and other Jewish and Gentile Christians were eating together until some other Jewish men showed up.

Then Peter’s behavior changed. He stopped eating with Gentile Christians because he was afraid of what the Jewish men would say.

Paul confronted him by telling him to his face that he was not living in line with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which erases divisions like “Jew” and “Gentile” by making us all one in Christ.

John would likewise confront Diotrephes to his face because he wasn’t living in line with the Gospel of Jesus either.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to be hospitable to one another without complaint (1 Peter 4:9).

[APP] We cannot be hospitable in our homes… we can’t support missionaries, evangelists, or preachers around the world if we are like Diotrephes.

I should ask myself, “Is my lack of hospitality because I’m a ‘Me first’ person?”

I should ask, “Do I ignore the clear commands in Scripture to support faithful ministries and to show hospitality because I’m an ‘I know best’ person?”

“Do I invent excuses for not supporting the brethren by being an ‘Others bashing’ person?”

"Am I an ‘Us four and no more’ person, driving the church into isolationism by centering the church on me and those who submit to me?”

I should ask myself those questions.

You should ask yourself those questions.

[TS] That’s Diotrephes: The Bad Example.

As we see in v. 11, we are not to follow the example of Diotrephes.

Let’s look at The Principle: Imitate What is Good.

#2: The Principle: Imitate What Is Good. (3 John 11)

3 John 11 NASB95

11 Beloved, 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.

[EXP] These are heavy words from the Apostle John. Although he doesn’t name Diotrephes specifically, there is no doubt that he is talking about what Diotrephes is doing when he says, “Do no imitate what is evil.”

The actions of Diotrephes were evil, but John goes further by saying, “The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”

The Christian sees God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Jesus has made God known to us.

As we trust and follow Him, we know God more and more.

As we trust and follow Jesus, we know that God is good, and we begin to do good in obedience to Him.

John is saying that Diotrephes does not do good. Diotrephes does evil, so there is a real question about whether Diotrephes even knows God through faith in Christ.

But Diotrephes is still influential, perhaps even having some measure of influence over Gaius.

So John encourages Gaius to “not imitate what is evil, but what is good,” (v. 11).

What’s good is what’s like God, and God is hospitable.

What’s good is what’s like Jesus, and Jesus supports those who go out in His Name.

[ILLUS] The word “imitate” in v. 11 is where we get our word “mimic” or “mime”.

Sometimes to mimic an action or to mime a behavior can be sarcastic.

Sometimes to mimic an action or to mime a behavior can be accidental.

But John is not calling for sarcasm or accidental imitation.

John is calling for serious, intentional imitation of what is good.

One person said to me recently, “Dalton is just like you. The way he stands and sways side to side when we’re singing in church. He acts just like you.”

Another person said to me on a separate occasion, “Dalton has mannerisms just like you. I was watching his facial expressions and hand gestures, and I thought, ‘Rocky does that all the time.’”

Now, in all those things Dalton is imitating me accidentally. They’re just the natural result of him being my son, but some other things don’t come so naturally.

For example, Dalton is trying to make his cursive ‘D’ like I do because my cursive ‘D’ looks so cool at the beginning of his name.

But that imitation will require intentionality; it will require intentional practice.

It won’t be learned by accident.

[APP] When we identify what is good—things like showing hospitality and supporting brothers and sisters in Christ—we ought to imitate it.

But that imitation will require us to be seriously intentional.

Instead of saying, “I want to be like Gaius, showing hospitality to the brethren,” ask yourself, “What’s my plan for showing hospitality to the brethren? What’s my plan to support the faithful in their ministries?”

[TS] Now, let’s look at the opportunity Gaius has…

#3: The Opportunity: Demetrius (3 John 12).

3 John 12 NASB95

12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.

[EXP] John wasn’t telling Gaius or anyone else to just support anyone who showed up on the doorstep. If he was saying that, he wouldn’t have warned about supporting the wrong people in 2 John, and he wouldn’t have said in 3 John 7-8…

3 John 7–8 NASB95

7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.

John told Gaius that we should support such men—not all men—but men who go out for the sake of the Name of Jesus receiving their support from fellow believers in Jesus.

One such man, Demetrius, Gaius now has the opportunity to support by showing him the needed hospitality.

Notice that Demetrius is not just anyone, but he has…

…received a good testimony from everyone.

Talk to anyone who knew Demetrius and they would all say, Demetrius is the real deal. He’s a true believer and faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

…received a good testimony from the truth itself.

Not only would everyone who knew him say that Demetrius was the real deal, compare him to the truth itself and the truth would identify him as the real deal.

…received a good testimony from the Apostle John and those with him.

This testimony wouldn’t have mattered to one like Diotrephes who didn’t accept what the Apostle John said, but to one like Gaius this was a trustworthy testimony.

If the Apostle John said Demetrius was the real deal, then Demetrius was the real deal.

If a charge is established on the testimonies of two or three witnesses, then Demetrius is legitimately charged as faithful and worthy of support on the testimonies of everyone, the truth, and the Apostle John.

[ILLUS] The other day I received a phone call, “This is Amazon. We are calling concerning an order of an Iphone 11 for $999. Press 1 if this is a legitimate charge. Press 2 if it isn’t, and please stay on the line.”

I figured it was a scam, but I pressed two anyway but then I hung up.

Then I went online and looked up the number and the phrase “Amazon Iphone scam”.

Sure enough scammers call people with that story and then try to get all kinds of other information so they can rip them off.

And sometimes it works because people don’t ask, “Is this legitimate?”

[APP] When it comes to the ministries we support, we should ask, “Is this legitimate? Is this a ministry that preaches Christ and Him crucified? Is this a preacher, evangelist, or missionary testified to by those close to him, by the truth, by the teaching of the Apostles in the NT?”

Many times we have been scammed into supporting the wrong ministries.

Let’s repent of that and take the opportunities that God brings our way to support the right ministries—ministries that are faithful.

[TS] …

Conclusion

[PRAYER]