Title: Turn from Evil and Imitate Good
Contents
Title: Turn from Evil and Imitate Good
Bible: 3 John 1:9-15
Starting Point of the Word>>
This time, we would like to share the sermon with the title of “Depart from evil and imitate good” through the verse of the text.
If you look at the saints who go to church today, you often see people who go to church to reveal and boast about themselves, and to achieve their goals.
But the problem is that these people are very likely to cause problems in the church.
This is because not only do they not want people who do not agree with their will to come to the church, but even the members of the church do so easily for their own benefit.
The Bible refers to these people as “followers of evil.”
Therefore, as saints, we should not be followers of evil, but believers who follow the faithful Lord.
The name of the church that receives this letter from John today is not recorded, but the person who governs this church is Gaius, a friend of John.
But now, there was a problem with the church that Gaius is ruling.
The problem was that a man named Diotrephes, who likes to be first, had a high position in the church and was running the church incorrectly.
He ignored the apostles' instructions and counsel and ran the church on his own accord.
Through today's message, we ask in the name of the Lord that we will not be foolish people who commit evil deeds in the church because we like evil things, but that we will become believers who work together with faithful servants of God.
Go to Word>>
In the text, ‘Diotrephes’ who does evil and ‘Demetrius’ who does good appear.
First, they rebuke Diotrephes for doing evil with the Word.
Little is known about the position of Diotreve, and what kind of person he was in the church.
However, judging from the words in the text, it can be seen that he was a person who did not use his position in the church for good, but ruled the church arbitrarily and led the church in an evil direction.
If we look at the words of verse 9,
“Diotrephes did not welcome us.”
Says.
But looking at the words of verse 10, not only did Diotrephes not welcome them, but
It is said that they slander them, do not welcome the present priests, and drive out even the saints who want to welcome them.
The Apostle John sent these evangelical brothers there, and wrote a letter to Diotrephes, a leader of the church, asking them to treat them well and make it easy for them to share the gospel with them.
However, this Diotrephe was tyrannical, refusing to even provide hospitality and kicking out even the members of the church who wanted to do so.
Regarding the evil actions of Diotrephes, the Apostle John said, “He slandered us with evil words, and was not enough to welcome the brothers.”
Diotrephes knew the authority of the apostles.
Perhaps he too was placed in the church by the apostle John or another apostle.
However, he did an evil thing that slandered the authority of the apostle and did not welcome him with his evil words.
And there must have been people who did evil with Diotrephes in that church.
As saints, we should not become evildoers like Diotrephes, nor should we become sympathizers.
Evil has the power to bring us into death.
The following is talking about ‘Demetrius who does good’.
In the text, Demetrius is portrayed as a person who does good and turns away from evil and should be imitated by the saints.
If we look at verse 11,
“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but imitate what is good. The one who does good is of God, and the one who does evil has not seen God.”
I did.
Evil means those who practice evil deeds like Diotrephes.
To imitate Diotrephes's evil deeds is to divide the church and create factions.
So John mentions Demetrius in verse 12.
If we look at verse 12,
“Demetrius has received testimony from all men and also from the truth, and we also testify, that you know that our testimony is fulfilled.”
I did.
John introduces Demetrius as a man who was witnessed by all men, and he also received a witness from the truth.
It means that many people have witnessed that he is a man of God.
Unlike Diotrephes, he has been living a life of being an example of faith in the Church of God, receiving the apostles with sincerity, serving the brothers who preach the gospel, and setting the example of faith in the Church of God.
Because all the saints knew this fact, it was said that they received a witness.
He also said that he received a witness from the truth.
The fact that he received the evidence of the truth means that all his right deeds came from the Word of God.
Diotrephes's evil deeds were not witnessed by anyone or the truth. His wickedness and arrogance led him to run the Church of God with his own arbitrary judgment and insist on his own will.
And John says to testify about Demetrius, 'We also testify.'
Demetrius' good deeds were recognized even by the apostles.
Such conduct is a form of good good that is recommended.
Christians set the standard of their religious life on Jesus or the Apostle Paul, but in reality, they follow the model target who lives by seeing them realistically.
Therefore, we are teaching here that we should imitate a good Christian like Demetrius, but not an evil person like Diotrephes.
At the end of the speech>>
If we look at verse 10,
“Therefore, when I go, I will not forget what I have done.”
I did.
And in verses 13-14,
“I have many things to write to you, but I do not want to write with ink and brush, but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face.”
I did.
You can see that John is very angry with Diotrephes, who is doing evil in the church now, and wants to find the church as soon as possible and discipline Diotrephes with the authority of the apostles and raise a new leader of the church.
We who are members of the church should not be disciplined by God and God's people for doing evil in the church, but we should become believers who receive praise and approval for doing good.
Today, I pray in the name of the Lord that you and all of our saints will be praised as good servants of God through our lives.