Third John 9

In previous verses in the book of Third John the Apostle John had been instructing believers on one of the great themes that John spoke of in all of his writings: the importance of Christian brotherly love. John pointed out that true brotherly love would be manifest by believers helping other believers, especially helping those who had been traveling for the sake of the name of Christ. John especially knew the importance of love and hospitality and assistance from other believers not only because he had personally heard the teaching from Jesus’ own lips on the subject, but also because of what John himself had suffered from those who did not show that kind of Christian love to him. The Apostle John wrote in Third John verse 9, “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.”

This is almost hard to believe that already in the lifetime of the apostles people were coming into the church, gaining positions of power, and then using that power to oppose the true servants of Christ. Verse 9 tells us the sin that Diotrephes committed, and it also tells us what motivated Diotrephes to commit that sin. John said that Diotrephes “receiveth us not.” Diotrephes was not showing Christian love to the Apostle John. If someone is serving Christ, and you do something against that person, you have committed a great sin. One of the most important commandments for a Christian is to love other Christians. Anyone who claims to be a Christian and who fails at that commandment has committed a grievous sin, and may very well be proving himself to not be a Christian at all.

If someone is serving Christ, who is in opposition to them? The forces of evil are against anyone who is serving Christ. The antichrist is against anyone who is serving Christ. Therefore, if you are against anyone who is serving Christ, guess whose side you are proving yourself to be on? The Bible says in First John 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”

It is very important to understand why Diotrephes opposed the Apostle John. It is very important to understand why this happened because unfortunately the same problem is very widespread today in religious organizations. John said that Diotrephes “loveth to have the preeminence among them.” The phrase “loveth to have the preeminence” means literally “to love first place.” What is wrong with loving first place? There is a lot wrong with that. We are talking about the negative side of competition. If you are competing with someone in the wrong way, you will regard that person as your enemy. Your desire will be to see them lose while you gain. Many people use deception, dirty tricks, and dishonesty in order to come in first place. Such things would not happen if they did not love first place so much. What they should love is to do their best and to dedicate what they do to the glory of Christ. “Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do with your might.” “Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do as unto the Lord and not unto men.” When you do your best and do it for the glory of Christ, you are not competing with others. What you are doing is performing at your best level, and that is what your goal should be.

Evidently Diotrephes was a leader in the church. What a horrible leader. That is the kind of person that tends to come into power in churches as well as all the organizations of the world. If it happened in the days of the Apostle John, it certainly is happening now in our day. “The times shall wax worse and worse.” Ego-driven people that are power hungry look for power in every circumstance that comes their way. They want to come in first place whether it has to do with finances, privileges, popularity, or control. How can it be that a church leader would oppose a spiritual teacher that is called of God? It will always happen that way when the church leader “loveth to have the preemininence.”

In Third John verse 10 the Apostle John went into even more detail about the sins being committed by Diotrephes. The Bible says, “Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.” Diotrephes had horrible deeds against the true servants of God. He also had horrible words against them. He had “malicious words.” Listen carefully to what religious leaders say. If in any way they show opposition to the people of God, then watch out. God’s most tender affection is always towards His people. Anyone who has a position as a religious leader, but who speaks in any way against any of the people of God will prove to be a person capable of doing great harm against God’s people.

But in spite of how these hard-hearted religious leaders speak and act, true believers must still avoid their methods and do the things that please God and Christ. Be careful. We live in difficult times. Many attack each other in word and in deed. Many cast out the brethren. Many fail to show love to all the children of God. Do not follow them. Do not make their mistake. That is what John was saying in verse 11 by the Holy Spirit. John wrote, “Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God, but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.” Human beings are followers. That is one reason that people are compared to sheep in the Bible. But remember that you have the choice. Everyone is influenced by some evil and some good and then a choice is made. You will choose which one you will follow. Be careful which religious leader you follow. If you follow one who opposes the children of God, then you will be following that which is evil. If you show love to the children of God and hospitality, then you will be following good. Anyone who continually does evil, in other words anyone who continually opposes the children of God, is a person who is proving that he does not even know God or understand what God is all about.

In contrast to Diotrephes, a man by the name of Demetrius is referred to. John wrote in verse 12, “Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.” Demetrius was commended because of his reputation. Your reputation is what people think of you. Of course, sometimes people are wrong. But usually if you hear the same thing from more than one source, there is some truth to what is being said. Someone has said that every person is really three people: who you think you are, who others think you are, and who God knows you are. If you do have a bad reputation among men, make sure there is no truth to what is being said. You can at least do that. You are responsible for doing that.

Never forget that one reason that you do what you do is because you know that you have a reputation to guard, and you want to guard it for the cause of Christ. That is what Jesus was talking about when He said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Do not do things just because you have a right to do them. Think also of your testimony and of the affect your actions will have on others. The Apostle Peter wrote in First Peter 4:14-16, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

The Apostle John wrote in Third John verse 13 and the first part of verse 14, “I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee. But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face.” The fact that John wanted to talk with these believers face to face is evidence of his close relationship with them. Some things can be said with the written word, but other things also need the spoken word. Perhaps this is a statement of the need for preaching and teaching. You need to read your Bible and feed upon it, but you also need to hear good sermons from someone who has been gifted and sent by Christ to teach His Word.

The Bible says in Third John verse 14, “Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.” The Apostle John expressed his desire and hope that these believers would have peace. Peace has always been one of the great benefits to being a follower of Christ. The word “peace” is used almost one hundred times in the New Testament, and of course the word “peace” was used many times by Jesus Himself. For example, in Mark 4:39 the Bible says of Jesus, “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” And in John 14:27 Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

There are several ways in which we all need peace that only Christ can give. Many people have a troubled conscience or at least they should have. People commit sins, and they need peace. Christ can give that kind of peace because He can forgive sins. Some people also have a natural enmity against God. There is something wrong between them and God. They do not have a right relationship with God, and therefore they do not have peace with God. Once again Jesus Christ can bring peace between the spirit of a man and the Spirit of God. Jesus Christ can do away with the enmity between God and man.

Of course, if you have had the salvation experience, then you already have this kind of peace. But you still might need more peace, or at least peace in another way. Every believer needs peace in regards to the things that happen to them. This kind of peace comes through prayer and through faith. If you pray about all of the circumstances in your life and all of the events, then you can have confidence that Jesus Christ is going to answer your prayers and take care of things according to His will. Do everything that you can to fulfill your responsibilities, but also pray about everything, and then “the peace of God will fill your heart and mind,” as the Bible says in Philippians 4:6-7.

The Apostle John ends the book of Third John by saying, “Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.” The word “friend” comes from the word that means to love or to like. Someone that is your friend is a person that you take delight in and take pleasure in. You like being around them. You like talking to them and being around them. If someone is your friend, you have things in common. You do things together. You understand each other. God wants you to have friends. It is good to have friends. If you are married hopefully your spouse is your friend. “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” God’s will is that all other Christians be your friends. As you look back over your life, if you are a follower of Christ, then surely most of your best friends have been Christians. The Word of God does say, “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” You want to be close enough to unbelievers to be a testimony to them, but you do not want to be too closely tied to them because they just might draw you into some inappropriate activities. John said that the other believers were his “friends.” John liked them because they were the followers of Christ, no matter what their individual traits or weaknesses were. Go and do the same. Make sure that the believers are your friends.

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