Sunday October 6, 2013 Phone: 570-829-5216
Pastor David Miklas e-mail:
Message #20 “Saints Fellowship with God” Text: III John 1-14
Am I a Part of the Problem or a
Part of the Blessing?
Introduction: About 14 years ago, I made the statement, "If it weren't for people, we wouldn't have any problem in the ministry." The retort came back just as I expected, "If it weren't for people, we wouldn't have a ministry." How true that is! For this ministry to effectively flourish, it needs to focus upon:
.
People who need eternal redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ.
People who need to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.
People who need to be loved and cared for in the family of God.
And as such on this Sunday, our last Sunday in the study of I, II and III John, I would like to focus upon three people found in the very short New Testament book of III John.
This one-chapter letter gives us a glimpse into an early church, its people and its problems. As you read this brief letter, you find yourself saying, "Times have not changed very much!" We have similar people and problems today. We certainly do!
This third letter is similar to John's second epistle. It is personal in character, and carries the same theme of truth. However, there are some contrasts.
II John states that truth is worth "Standing for."
III John states that truth is worth "Working for."
II John is written to a godly WOMAN about her family,
III John is written to a godly MAN about his church.
II John warns "the elect lady" about false teachers from the outside.
III John warns Gaius about dictatorial leaders inside the church.
II John warns that false teachers appeal to LOVE so that they might deny the TRUTH.
III John reveals Diotrephes, who appeals to the TRUTH in an UNLOVING way.
This letter is addressed to Gaius, the encourager, one of the leaders in his church. But John also discusses two other men in these verses: Diotrephes, the egotist, and Demetrius, the example. You would agree that wherever there are people, they can be a tremendous blessing. On the other hand, wherever there are people, there can be problems and the potential for either solving the problems or having them erupt into virtual explosions! As members of this ministry, each of us must honestly respond to the question posed in this message, "Am I a part of the problem or a part of the blessing?" Let’s take a look at these three men.
NUMBER 1: Verses 1-8 GAIUS, His prosperity as the ENCOURAGER:
“The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. (2) Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. (3) For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. (4) I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (5) Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; (6) Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: (7) Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. (8) We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.”
There is no doubt that the apostle John loved this man. He called him "the well beloved" in verse 1, and "beloved" in verse 5. Here is a man with whom I would certainly have no trouble associating. Let’s consider his personal qualities.
First: This man is in good spiritual health but perhaps bad physical health, verse 2: The Greek word for "wish" in other places is rendered "prayer." So John is praying for his physical health that it may prosper as his spiritual health is prospering.
Second: This man has a good testimony, verses 3-4: Gaius is recognized as a man who obeyed the Word of God and "walked in truth." I specially call verse 4 to your attention, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
I deeply appreciate all that people do in this ministry and for the work of the Lord. For me, the greatest thrill is to watch people grow in the things of Christ; to watch them, upon hearing the Word of God, begin to practice or walk in that truth in their everyday experience. I have always said the greatest thrill is not your work in the ministry, but your growth in grace.
Third: This man has a very practical ministry, verses 5-8: Gaius is an encouragement to fellow believers. He opens his home, his heart and his hand to give financial help to his guests.
Now for a few minutes I want to ponder the words in verse 6, where those who Gaius encouraged, "have borne witness of thy charity (love)." This man has a "compassionate ministry." The Greek word for love is the word "agape." It speaks of the sacrificial love of Calvary.
Someone defined agape "as having your interest inside of me."
Another said, "Love is compassion for your pain in my heart."
Another said, "Real agape love is the visible compassion in my heart to meet another's needs."
I would like to talk to you about something important to keep in our ministry.
We can preach hard against sin and the evils in the world.
We can preach about standards and convictions needed to fight against worldliness.
We can fight battles against ecclesial and ecumenical wrong and take a stand on biblical separation.
We can shed lots of blood, sweat, and tears to raise money and institute programs.
But if we lose the moist spot in our eyes, our compassion for people, we have lost our right to exist as a church. "Compassion makes a difference!"
I challenge you to have COMPASSION for your family.
If God has given you a wife, care for her with agape, love.
If God has given you a husband, then love him wholeheartedly.
If God has given you children, as someone well said, "Learn them, Love them and Lick them!" Don't lose your children because you are a spiritual hypocrite - one way at church and another way at home. Shower them with love, prayer and attention.
If God has given you grandchildren, then love the fire out of them for Christ's sake.
I challenge you to have COMPASSION for your friends. In Proverbs 17:17 we read, "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born in adversity."
May God teach us to help each other in the good times as well as in the bad times!
May God teach us to care for one another in the delightful times as well as in the times of great despair!
I challenge you to have COMPASSION for God's men, including your pastor, as well as others in this ministry.
Reach out and serve them.
Reach out and pray for them.
Reach out and accept them as they strive to serve you & your family.
I challenge you to reach out with COMPASSION for souls that need the gospel. In Luke 14:23 Jesus said in the parable of the great supper, “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” The challenge is to go into the highways and by-ways of this area and proclaim the Gospel. Reach out to the down and out as well as the rich. Include the older folks as well as the younger generation.
I challenge you to reach out with COMPASSION for those who have fallen into sin. Reach out and help to pick them up and not kick them while they are down. Reach out as the Good Samaritan, and bind their wound in love, instead of passing by on the other side with words of criticism. Remember Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
I challenge you to reach out with COMPASSION to the sick and the hurting. Someone asked:
'Has the Christian community lost its sensitivity to the hurting all around us? Dear heart, a warm handshake, a hand laid gently on the shoulder, a quick little hug can give more encouragement than many hours of counseling. Little boys and girls, big boys and girls, college students, lonely shut-ins, men and women, all people in our ministry need to hear: "I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I CARE ABOUT YOU!"
Find someone this week and then reach out and do something to say I CARE FOR YOU FOR JESUS’ SAKE. "Compassion makes a difference!" This man Gaius cared. I challenge the people of this church to care.
NUMBER 2: Verses 9-11 DIOTREPHES, His pride as the EGOTIST:
“I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. (10) 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. (11) 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.”
Wherever you go, in some churches there seems to be someone:
Who insists on "being boss,"
Who assumes "dictatorial powers," or
Who thinks they have "the right of seniority," and
Therefore, forgets that the word minister means to be a "servant." This was the "egotist," Diotrephes. Instead of giving the pre-eminence to Jesus Christ, he claimed it for himself. He had the final say-so about everything in the church, and his decisions were determined by one question: "What will this do for Diotrephes?" He was unlike John the Baptist who said in John 3:30, "He (Jesus Christ) must increase, but I must decrease." This man was guilty on 5 charges.
First: He attempted to occupy the leading position in the church.
Second: He refused to receive John the Apostle.
Third: He slandered the apostles.
Fourth: He refused to entertain missionaries.
Fifth: He attempted to excommunicate believers.
People like Diotrephes are dangerous. Fortunately, they are easy to recognize.
THEY talk about themselves and what they have "done for the Lord."
THEY have a habit of condemning those who disagree with them.
THEY are experts in putting labels on other Christians and classifying them into neat little categories of their own invention. They base their fellowship on personalities, not on Doctrinal truth.
I believe most of the distress and division in Bible-believing churches comes from PERSONALITY DIVISION, NOT DOCTRINAL DIVISION.
Concerning Diotrephes, please notice verse 11, "Beloved, follow not that which is evil but that which is good." It's unfortunate, but none the less true, that good people in the church can become like Diotrephes. How does this happen? "It happens when good people seek to do good things, but sometimes they do it in a bad way." Allow me to explain what I mean:
Good people go bad when they become involved in bad company. Good people, who hang around the wrong crowd even the "Spiritual crowd" that loves to talk about people, but do no soul winning, will eventually go bad.
Good people who start to live their lives and offer service in the energy of their human flesh, and forget that it's in the energy of the Spirit of God in which we are to live and serve, will begin to do good things, but in a bad way.
Good people who are seeking to do good things often stop serving and start ruling. In so doing, they cease to see the needs of people and start to criticize people.
Good people who are doing good things in a bad way start skipping church here and there, stop reading their Bibles in devotions, stop praying, stop giving of time and tithes and start to pat themselves on the back. In essence, they are saying they are better than the rest.
Good people who become what we might call Bible educated go bad when they begin to use the Bible as a whipping tool on people instead of using it to instruct, build up and win others to Christ.
Now our text tells us "to follow not that which is evil but that which is good." We must take our example not from Diotrephes but rather from the Lord Jesus who went about doing that which was good.
He visited and healed the sick and fed the multitudes.
He went on soul winning visitation to Zachaeus, to the woman taken in adultery, to the woman at the well and others.
He cared for the needs of people.
He took time to bless the little children.
The key to Jesus’ ministry was serving. He came not to be served but to serve. He went about doing good by serving others.
DON'T you think in a world of tears somebody ought to have handkerchiefs with which to wipe the tears away?
DON'T you think in a world of loneliness somebody ought to have words of comfort and strength?
DON'T you think in a world that is hungry for soul food somebody ought to go and share the living bread with them?
DON'T you think in a world that is sometimes naked and destitute of food somebody ought to cloth and feed them?
DON'T you think in a Christian world in which we have fallen ones that somebody needs to go to them, put their arms around them, and help to restore them?
Would you characterize yourself like the evil Diotrephes or like the Lord Jesus who went about doing good?
NUMBER 3: Verse 12 DEMETRIUS, His praise, the EXAMPLE: Demetrius was a fine example of a good Christian. Perhaps you wonder if it is right to imitate human leaders? Yes, if they in turn are imitating Jesus Christ. Note what Paul said in I Corinthians 11:1, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." You and I cannot see God, but we can see God at work in the lives of His children.