Imitate Good

Read 3 John 9-15

PRAY

Introduction

Believe it or not, we are FINISHING the book of 3 John tonight! This is the shortest book in the Bible. But, like we saw last week, there are incredible gems within this letter for us to mine out together.

We covered the first part of this letter last week, where I stated that that passage is one of the most overlooked missionary passages in all of Scripture. Tonight, we will wrap up with some important truths that we ought to grab on to.

The title of my sermon is “Imitate Good”. This is the main point that John is getting across to the readers here. In light of a very poor example within the church, John commands Gaius to imitate good in light of God, not evil.

We’ll look at this text in two sections: Calling Out and Calling To.

Calling Out

We pick up this evening with John calling out. That is, he calls someone out by name, Diotrephes. Why’s John doing that though? Isn’t that mean? Is he just putting this guy on blast for no reason?

Well, lets see the reasons that John gives: Diotrephes puts himself first, rejects the apostles authority, he’s talking “wicked nonsense” about John and the other apostles, AND this guy does not welcome the missionaries that are coming through town and excommunicates those within the church that do!

Needless to say, this man is prideful, desperately wants power within the church, and will do what it takes to get it!

Anyone seen Avengers Endgame before? Who’s Thanos? He does whatever it takes to rise to power, get the stones, and wipe out half the universe, for what he thought was best for the universe. At the cost of millions of lives!

Diotrephes is a type of Thanos! He’s doing whatever it takes in order to have a position of authority within the church. On top of that, he doesn’t care who he tramples over to do it!

This is not at ALL how the church of Jesus Christ works. Jesus taught by word and example that leadership is not abusive authority but loving servanthood.

Positions of authority in the Kingdom of God means putting the needs of others above your own. It means serving, helping, guiding, and assisting the people of God to greater intimacy with their Savior.

Unfortunately, we see this often within the church. Pride and desire for power and influence take over and people get incredibly hurt in the process. John speaks directly against this.

John tells Gaius that he will speak directly against this when he comes to see him. Addressing conflict and wrongdoing should always be done in person. Posting on social media, most of the time, only adds hurt to the situation.

Gossiping about an issue is SIN and ONLY negatively affects the situation. Every time.

John mentions in verse 9 that he wrote to the church where Gaius is at, but Diotrephes selfishly rejects the letter. He does not accept the authority of the apostles.

As Christians, we are a people that have placed faith and trust in Christ, follow Him, and acknowledge and celebrate the authority that HE HIMSELF has given to the apostles!

To reject them is to reject Christ.

Remember verses 5-8 last week. John commended Gaius for welcoming the brothers and encouraged him to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. These were missionaries, going out for the sake of the name of Jesus.

Diotrephes does the exact opposite. Because of his pride and desire for leadership, he rejects these brothers and punishes those within the church that accept them.

To put this in perspective for you: Diotrephes was so self consumed that he could not fathom that there was work taking place outside of him for the name of Jesus. He was too self absorbed to and insecure to embrace the missionaries that came.

Let us be careful friends, that we don’t get too caught up in FBC Hilliard, or our own youth group, or our own lives that we either forget about or flat out don’t care about the work of God going on all around us and all around the world!

Calling To

After calling out Diotrephes, John calls Gaius to something. Namely: to imitate good, not evil. For, those who imitate good, who DO what is good, they are from God. Those who do evil, who imitate it, they have not seen God. They have not been born of God.

Whether y’all want to admit it or not, y’all imitate or eventually will imitate what your parents do, what your older siblings do. You look up to them, you respect them, and in at least some ways you want to be like them. Whether you admit it or not this is true, to some degree.

I catch myself today, 27 years old, using some of my dads sayings, doing some of the same things he did, cracking the same jokes.

The same is true for the believer. We don’t do good before God because it is IMPOSSIBLE. Dead in our sin, we have no idea what good even is!

However, it is through Christ’s completed work on the cross, therefore the regeneration of the Holy Spirit that we have been renewed, changed, resurrected, placing faith in Christ unto salvation.

With this salvation comes sanctification. This is a progressive process, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the believer takes part in. The Holy Spirit is the one that makes a person willing to kill sin and desire holiness.

The question though is how? What does this practically look like for us in our fight to imitate good everyday? It should look like the opposite of Diotrephes.

Not putting ourselves first, but last. Not rejecting the apostles authority, but celebrating it. Not dismissing missionaries and declining hospitality, but participating in this work and welcoming in the brothers.

That is what John is calling Gaius, and us, to here. We must work everyday, by the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, to imitate good. John says that those who imitate good are from God.

That is because God is our standard of good. Psalm 16:1–2 “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”” David recognized that every good thing he had was connected to the Lord God.

God is the only source of goodness. He is our standard of what is good and what is evil. It all holds upon God and His word. His Law reveals what is good and true and what is sin.

This is because the first function of the Law is to reveal His righteous character- R.C. Sproul. It also acts as a mirror that reflects our sinfulness. Which therefore, as Sproul also says, drives us to the Gospel of our good and righteous God.

It is impossible to have seen God, been revealed to His wondrous grace, and continue on in evil. The gospel of Jesus Christ saves and sanctifies. It redeems and transforms.

John tells Gaius that a man named Demetrius is a good example to imitate. He is a follower of the truth and is approved by John and others.

Our text and this letter ends with a final word from John to Gaius. He hopes to come see him soon and wishes him peace and gives a final greeting for the believers around Gaius.

Conclusion

Through a Calling Out and a Calling To, John calls Gaius to imitate good. Since God is our standard of good, this is a call to imitate God. Not the world. Not sin. Not evil.

Let us, followers of Jesus, fight everyday to model our lives after the only good. To put others before ourselves, celebrate the apostolic authority, and support missionaries.

This is the model of the Lord Jesus Christ.