Date Written: September 4, 2006
Date Preached: September 6, 2006
Where Preached: OZHBC (Wed - PM Service)
Series Title: Basic Bible Study
Sermon Title: The Importance of Christian Maturity!
Sermon Text: 3 John 9-11
9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.
10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
3 John 1:9-11 (NASB)
Introduction:
Our Christian life is to be a joyful life! In fact, when looking at the alternatives to Christianity there is simply NO comparison! Paul told the Philippian believers not only to rejoice, but to rejoice in the Lord, and not only to rejoice in the Lord but to rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS! Whatever our lot here in this world, believers are called to a joy that comes from our relationship with Christ and not from the circumstances and situations of our lives…
I want you to ask yourself “What brings me joy?” Now as your pastor, I would hope that your walk in Christ would be the central focus of whatever it is that brings you joy!
In our passage this evening, we can see John admonishing the believers to whom he has authored this letter. His letter is addressed to one particular believer named Gaius, however, the principles set forth here are timeless in nature and universal in application for all believers!
The overall implied message in this letter is Christian maturity. As believers we all struggle with forces OUTSIDE the church that make our lives difficult…
BUT… when believers have to struggle against forces INSIDE the church, the struggle is infinitely greater and can be devastating on the fellowship and actually lead to the destruction of the fellowship.
This letter from John was a very specific letter to address a very specific problem within a particular fellowship of believers. But as I mentioned earlier, this letter contains timeless teachings that are applicable to all believers in every fellowship… in other words we ALL can learn from what John is teaching in this letter.
Within the human experience, there are certain things that lead us in the wrong direction and in this letter we can find that John touches on at least 2 of them…
Diotrophes was a man who had gained considerable influence in the fellowship of this church. How he gained that influence is not the issue, but John simply states the mere fact that he had a great deal of influence.
I will not come out and say what was in the heart of Diotrophes or whether or not he was a true or false convert to Christ, but what we are going to look at are his actions that were in direct conflict with the man of God and the church of God.
Now at this time it was the custom for itinerant ministers or evangelists to travel from city to city as the representative of one of the Apostles. This minister would come into a fellowship and teach doctrine and build up the fellowship with sound teaching.
They were not necessarily considered to be the pastor of the fellowship, but they did represent the voice of the Apostles who were teaching what Christ had taught them…
These ‘traveling’ ministers were then taken care of by the local fellowship of believers who would meet his needs. When traveling, it was also customary for any fellowships along the path of travel to minister to the one traveling from one fellowship to another…
Ministering to these evangelists was meeting the physical needs of the minister, but also praying for them as they traveled and as they preached.
Let’s get back to the man Diotrophes that John has spoken about. He was a man of great influence in Gaius’ church and he had begun to spread the word and influence people to NOT support these itinerant ministers. He would not allow the fellowship to host or to meet the needs of these traveling ministers.
If anyone rose up and went against him, he used his influence in the fellowship to have that person removed from the fellowship. He began to drive away those who desired to be a support system for the traveling ministers in their area…
This was a NOT a disagreement in doctrinal teaching, but Diotrophes suffered from a greater problem… MORAL FAILURE! He was unwilling to do what was the right thing to do. God had placed someone before him and he had refused to meet the needs of that person…
The moral failure that I believe he exhibited was a vanity or exalted view of his importance in the fellowship. He began to believe that he was better than others and began to “lord” over them as a master and not as a shepherd or servant…
This attitude led to his 2nd evil action and that was a result of the sin of pride. Diotrophes simply refused to believe that he could be wrong and would NOT accept other counsel on the matter. He began to act on his rebellion and joy departed from the fellowship!
But what John is emphasizing here in this letter is… internal strife with the fellowship of Christ can and will destroy a fellowship if it is left unchecked or ignored…
Diotrophes not only insisted on his way, but he also was speaking out against the ministry and authority of the Apostles, like Peter, Paul and John. He was basically saying that he had more authority than that of the Apostles…
His pride made him lift himself up and his malicious words helped him to hold others down. I believe that it is also very clear in Scripture that Diotrophes’ actions were NOT seen as good but looked upon as against Christ and evil.
John’s teaching goes onto share in v.11, “…beloved, do not imitate what is evil…but what is good…” Then we see John repeating what he had said in 1st John… “those of God do good – those doing evil do not know God…”
This brings it back to us in the church today – there are MANY people not in leadership positions in our churches today who insist on having things their way or doing things the way they consider the ‘right’ way. This could be a single individual or a group within the fellowship.
God has called ALL believers to a higher calling and we are supposed to live a life worthy of that calling. Believers are expected to lean on Christ, trust in God and allow Him to help them rise above the pettiness of self-importance and control issues and prideful attitudes…
As believers, we are imbued by the Holy Spirit and He is our guide and conscience. Gal 5:22-23 reveal what the H.S. brings into the life of the believer who surrenders all to the Lord…
• Love – that is an unconditional “agape” type love for fellow believers and the lost of this world.
• Joy – We rejoice because Christ has saved us, because Christ keeps us, because Christ is with us all the time!
• Peace – we have a peace that calms us even when the world around us seems to be chaotic and coming apart!
• Longsuffering (Patience) – in Christ and under the guidance of the H.S., we are able to deal with people and situations greater than our own ability and patience would allow, and this is a great witness for His Kingdom!
• Kindness – As believers, our calling is based on the agape type love of Christ and because we have the love of Christ within us we can treat others with kindness, even though they mistreat us…
• Goodness – the love of Christ in us drives us to do good works to glorify God in heaven. We are good because of Christ in us – We do NOT have Christ because of our good works…
• Faithfulness – As believers, we are called to be faithful in all areas of our walk with Christ and we are called to allow the H.S. to guide us in all matters of life…
• Gentleness – In Christ we can speak the truth in love and yet still be gentle. Another definition for gentleness is power under control. In Christ we are empowered by the H.S. and controlled by the H.S….
• Self Control – In Christ we are able to turn away from evil and the things that would lead us astray from our walk with Christ. The paradox of the believer is that we have self control because we have given all control to Christ and He directs our path…
So what I am saying here? Or better yet… what is God saying here for the believer? God’s word is telling us that if we profess Christ as Savior we must also submit to the Lordship of Christ by being obedient and submissive to His commandments.
And if we refuse to obey… if we refuse to submit to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, God’s Word says in 1 John 2:4 that you are NOT part of Him…
Being saved is being called out of darkness into light by a sovereign and loving God…
Being called out of darkness by a sovereign and loving God requires that we submit to obedience to that call…
Obedience can only occur when we submit totally to His Lordship in our lives…
Submission to Christ brings about a maturing of our faith and walk in Christ and brings us closer and closer to God!
Are you willing to submit tonight? Or are you another Diotrophes? Are you willing to submit to God’s direction and purpose? Do you demand things YOUR WAY or are you willing to be led by those God has placed in authority over you?
Let’s pray…
