Gospel Friends and Gospel Foes: Part 2

The second half of John’s third epistle moves away from his wonderful commendation and encouragement to Gaius, and moves toward the other two main characters: Diotrephes and Demetrius. John writes about them for several reasons.

They both were part of or would soon be part of the church that Gaius was serving in.

Diotrephes clearly had a major role in the church, as is noted in his power over the people there. It seems from John’s letter that Demetrius would soon be part of or present in the church, because the writing john does about him is that of commendation or reccommendation.

They served as a contrast that was helpful for the teaching in John’s letter.

We will see that Diotrephes clearly took up a role as one who was a foe of the Gospel, while Demetrius had found a good reputation and a good testimony among those in Christ.

Their respective testimonies serve as an example for the Gaius, the church that John was writing to, and to us today.

They both demanded attention from the church elders and congregants for different reasons. Diotrephes because he was an example not to follow and was in sin that needed to be dealt with, and Demetrius because he was an example to follow and his character should be accepted by the church.

If we do not know much about Gaius, about whom John wrote just a few verses, then we know even less about Diotrephes and Demetrius. Again, John does not take time to give us background information about the two, but rather to give us only the necessary information for our spiritual discernment. He gives us only that information which is pertinent to their standing in the truth.

As we noted in the title of the message, the contrast that we are going to be seeing boils down to the contrast of pride and humility. Not that the two words are explicitly stated, but the fruits of their presence are clearly evident in the lives of the two men.

The bulk of the material goes to warning against and putting to shame the prideful character of Diotrephes, whom we will look at in detail.

But by way of introduction, i want to explore a bit about what the Lord says concerning pride.

Pride is one of the defining characteristics of every sinful heart.

Proverbs 21:4 ESV

Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

That verse says that the lamp of the wicked are haughty eyes and a proud heart. That is what lights their perspective and guides their decision making process.

2. Pride causes people to forget about God.

Deuteronomy 8:14 ESV

then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,

Hosea 13:6 ESV

but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

When our hearts are lifted up, we begin to credit our success to ourselves, and we forget the one who has brought us this far.

3. Pride leads us to be unfaithful to God.

2 Chronicles 26:16 ESV

But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

2 Chronicles 26:16

Of King Uzziah, the Scripture says he grew strong, he grew proud, and he grew in unfaithfulness.

4. Pride leads to ungratefulness.

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 32:24–25 ESV

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.

Hezekiah directly ignored the miraculous hand of God because of his pride.

5. Pride ultimately is an abomination to God.

Proverbs

Proverbs 16:5 ESV

Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

We could go on and on, and let us not forget that it was through pride that sin entered into the universe. First Satan, who sought to lift himself up above God, was struck down for the sin of pride and took 1/3 of the angels in heaven with him in his pursuit of self-glory, and then Adam and Eve, who chose the sin of pride in breaking the one law God had given them because the forbidden fruit seemed good to them, and the benefits of it seemed to them better than all the blessings God had provided.

1 John 2:16 ESV

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Pride is not just the root of sin in the world, but it is at the heart of every sin. For in every sinful decision, we make a judgment that what we are choosing is better and more beneficial than what God has prescribed.

To the contrary, humility is highly praised in scripture, and is befitting the children of God.

Humility is a mark of wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2 ESV

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

2. While pride ensures a downfall, humility keeps on the road of faithfulness.

Proverbs 18:12 ESV

Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

3. God uses the humble to shame the proud.

1 Corinthians 1:28–29 ESV

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

4. Scripture speaks clearly of God’s preference for humility over pride.

James 4:6 ESV

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

With all that being said, I want to look today at the contrast between Diotrephes and Demetrius. The contrast between a friend and a foe of the truth, and the contrast between pride and humility in what the scripture says of them. Because:

A distinguishing contrast between friends and foes of the Gospel is that of pride and humility.

1. Diotrephes: An Example of Pride - Vv. 9-10

As John outlines Diotrephes, we see two major themes, both coming from pride. First we see his prideful heart, and from that we see his prideful hurt.

A. His prideful Heart.

John was writing to Gaius, so as he is writing about diotrephes, Gaius is in his mind.

While Gaius was gracious and hostpitable, Diotrephes was ungracious and inhospitable. While Gaius was a lover of the truth, Diotrephes was dismissed those who loved the truth. While Gaius was submitted the the truth, Diotrephes was submitted only to his own ambition.

3 John 9 ESV

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.

John starts his section on Diotrephes by saying that he had written something previously to this church, but Diotrephes did not accept it. We have no record of what John wrote in that letter. It most likely could not be 1st John, because that letter was written about entirely different subjects, it also could not be 2 John, because that letter is written to an individual lady and not a church. Many scholars believe, and it seems entirely possible, that the letter john is referring to has been lost, not just in history, but directly because of diotrephes, who had some amount of authority in this church, therefore he very well could have intercepted the letter and destroyed it, or led a rebellion against John’s teaching in it.

The main indictment against Diotrephes, and the greatest show of his prideful heart is John’s words “who likes to put himself first.”

This is translated a couple different ways, It could be “loves to be first” “seeks to be ahead of others” “desires to be a leader” all those are bring out different nuances of the word John used, which is a unique word that is only used here in scripture. it is “Philo-Proteuon”

“Philo” comes from the word “Phileo” which has to do with love. The city Philadelphia draws the first part of its usage from that word.

the second part, “Proteuon” comes from the word for first. Proteuon is used in one other place in scripture, and from that we get a better idea of what is going on here.

Colossians 1:18 ESV

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

The last word there, “Preeminent” is the word “proteuon.” This is the only other place where this word is used, and who is it used of here?

Of Course, Christ, very God of Very Gods, is preeminent. He deserves preeminence, he is to be revered as the preeminent one, He alone is to be first, the leader, number one not just in priority but in importance and focus of our lives.

This makes John’s use of this word so much more significant, because what Diotrephes is desiring is not just to be somewhat elevated, but Diotrephes wants to be first in importance and in focus. He wants to be first in leadership, first in peoples minds, first in their way of thinking about the church. When people consider their church, Diotrephes was most pleased when his name came into consideration as being the main part of that congregation.

This strikes at the root of what pride actually is. Pride is not just to think a bit more highly of ourselves than we deserve, pride is to think of ourselves as first before the only one who deserves that place, and that is Christ.

The sin of pride in the church is so poisonous, because when pride enters the church, whether in leadership, in teaching, in friendships, in ministries, what enters in is a diminishing of the importance of Christ, who is the head, and a magnifying of the role of people, who are to be submissive.

Pride is a sin that places us up against God, but it also causes us to be unsubmissive to Him. Diotrephes “does not ackgnowledge our authority.” Who’s authority? John and the Apostles. Of course, the writing of the New Testament had not been completed and collated as of that point, and the Apostles’ teaching was the authoritative rule of the church in that unique age. In essence, it would be like us saying that we don’t accept the scripture, yet we still desire to be members and leaders of the church. That sounds foolish, but yet it happens all the time.

Pride causes us to lift ourselves above others, to lift ourselves up above leadership, to lift ourselves up above God’s Word, which is to lift ourselves up above and seek preeminence over Christ Himself.

B. His Prideful Hurt.

What is in our heart eventually comes out.

John promised, when he came personally, to bring up what Diotrephes was doing. What was in Diotrephes prideful heart came out in the way he hurt the church with his words and actions.

3 John 10 ESV

So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

“Talking wicked nonsense against us.”

Diotrephes was downplaying the authority that was before him with his words. In doing so he was seeking to undermine it, of course to make place for himself to step into it.

A common ploy of those who seek to elevate themselves is character assassination. You can’t prove a point with actual truth and factual arguments? Then use what is called an ad-hominem. This is where one seeks to destroy a person’s character through slander and misuse of information rather than to make a case for their point. In this case, Diotrephes was slandering the Apostles rather than trying to prove why he thought their teaching was false.

This is directly related to Gossip, which Paul deals with in

1 Timothy 5:13 ESV

Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

Proverbs 20:19 ESV

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

“And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers.”

Diotrephes was not content with downplaying and dismissing the authority in his life, he went on further to dismiss anyone who could be seen as a threat to his own power.

This happens often in the church. When someone has dismissed the authority in their life, first Scripture and then church leadership, they move on to dismissing fellow church members and other believers. This is a result of fear - fear that someone else will get that place of respect that they desire, fear that someone else may be seen as more gifted in a certain way than they are, fear that someone else will be blessed by the Lord, fear that someone else will have the preeminence.

This is direclt dealt with by Paul.

Philippians 2:3 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

This is the opposite of prideful ambition, this is humble submission to one another in love.

Diotrephes did not stop with just his treatment, but he then abused the authority that he did have.

“also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.”

Diotrephes saw others’ disagreement with him as a personal attack and a sin against himself, and he went to the point of putting them out of the church. Whether this was done by a formal vote, or simply driving them off by way of force, we do not know, but either way, we see the severity of the consequences of pride. Pride takes us from being humble servents, submissive to the Word of God and authority in our lives, to those who now make our personal preferences matters of church discipline.

This all stems from pride, which is in every human heart. May we be quick to repent of pride in our own hearts. May we seek to squash its root before it blossoms into dissention and rebellion. May we reserve the place of preeminence for the only one who is deserving of it, and may we rather seek humility.

2. Demetrius: An Example of Humility - Vv. 11-12

In contrast to Diotrephes stands Demetrius. Now, Demetrius would have been one of the men that Diotrephes would not accept. He would have rallied support in his dismissal of him. Not because Demetrius was ill-behaved, or showed signs of sinful behavior, but rather because Demetrius’ humble, truth loving personality would have been an offense to Diotrephes race to the top.

To seek to bring out John’s teaching here, let us see The source of Demetrius’ humility, and then the sign of Demetrius’ humility.

A. The Source of His Humility

John starts this section in a way that seems to break up the flow of his writing, but verse 11 is an introduction to his brief sketch of Demetrius’ character.

3 John 11 ESV

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

This verse is a sentence-long conjunction between Diotrephes and Demetrius. He speaks of the principle of immitation here. Not of blindly immitating those we like or those who are influential in our lives, but those who are good, and who are of the truth.

First he contrasts good and evil.

Diotrephes was an example of one who had an evil heart, and from that evil heart came evil actions.

Demetrius, as we will see, is one who is an example of Good. Not because of his own character, but because of God’s work in his life.

The Contrast of Evil and Good reveal not just behaviorism, but the fruits of regeneration.

an implication of what John is saying here is that the pattern found in Diotrephes’ life may be an indication that he is not of God. Even if we cannot make a clear judgment about his regeneration, we can make a clear judgment about the fact that he was in direct rebellion against God, refusing to obey his word, and seeking to place himself above Christ, the preeminent one.

On the contrast, when we see the fruit of the Spirit that evidences itself in Demetrius’ life, we see the work of God taking place in his heart and life. This is the difference between the miraculous work of God and the detrimental effects of sin.

The Bible is clear that Good works do not save a man, and we have no doubt about that.

Romans 3:20 ESV

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

However, the scripture is clear that the fruit of the Spirit is evidence of our salvation, and that we should be thankful to God for the fruit of regeneration in our life.

Why is Demetrius an example of Good? Not because of his stalwart persistence in truth and his behavior, but because God was working in his life and the fruit of that was evident.

The Source of his humility

B. The sign of his humility

Demetrius fruitful life was evident to all around him, much like Gaius. He did not have to puff himself up and seek his own favor, because the testimony of his own faith preceded him.

3 John 12 ESV

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

But the good testimony is not just when people approve of a person, or like a person, or promote a person. There are many people who recieve the adoration and approval of the masses who do not have a testimony of truth and humility, and this is not just in the world, but in the walls of the church as well.

The crux of Demetrius’ good testimony was that the testimony was of the truth itself.

Demetrius was commited to living the truth, and the fruit of that truth was evident in his life. Again, he didn’t have to prove to others that he was a good person, he didn’t have to promote himself through self-righteousness and pride, but rather the testimony of the truth bore witness to his character, and that is the best testimony a person could have.

This is why John could speak of him so simply as an example to follow. He was not pridefully boasting of his own goodness, he was humbly submitted to the truth, and the truth bore witness that he was a child and a servant of God.

3. John’s Prayer of Peace - Vv. 13-15

John closes his letter in a way that is similar to 2 John, he states that although he could write much more, he wished rather to see his fellow believers face to face.

He gives Gaius greetings from their mutual friends, and wishes that Gaius would greet the friends for John by name. we see the Apostl’es heart of love for the brethren here.

But importantly, and simply, John gives a prayer of peace. John knew the turmoil that was being faced in the church and in Gaius life. He knew the hurt that came from pride, and he wished rather for peace, which is a fruit of the spirit and a fruit of humility. May we, too, seek peace in our body. May we, too, seek the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of humility, and may we seek to follow that which is good, and not that which is evil.

May we seek to be friends of the Gospel, promoting Christ in his preeminence and not our own.

A distinguishing contrast between friends and foes of the Gospel is that of Pride and Humility.