Read the book of 3 John. I've
entitled the lesson this morning, Follow not that which is evil.
The apostle tells us that in verse 11. He says, 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. Now John
says follow not that which is evil. The word follow, it means
to imitate. Don't imitate that which is evil. follow an evil example. And the
word also has to do with acceptance. Don't accept that which is evil. Don't get so desensitized to
the evil that's in our world that you just accept evil as
something that's OK. Don't just accept and follow
evil that's in the world and don't accept it in yourselves.
Let's not give an excuse for evil in ourselves. But I'll tell
you what John's primarily talking about here. Don't follow the
evil example of a man named Diotrephes. He was there in the church. We
read of him in verse nine. I wrote under the church, but
Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth
us not. This is the event that John's
referring to. John had written a letter to
the church, whatever, I don't know what town it is, whatever
town this man Gaius lived in. John wrote a letter to that church.
This epistle of third John is addressed to Gaius who lived
in this town. And this man Diotrephes, he was probably the pastor. Certainly
he was a man that had a lot of influence in the church. And
he refused the letter from the Apostle John. I mean, you imagine
such a thing. He wouldn't allow that letter
to be read to the church. You know, John wrote that letter
and he meant for it to be read to the church. Dr. Fees wouldn't
allow it. And he wouldn't allow it because
he didn't want anybody to hear from John. And you know why? Diotrephes wanted to be the only
voice that people heard. He wanted to be the big important
guy. He wanted to be the only spiritual
guide to the congregation. He wanted to be everybody's theologian.
He wanted everybody looking to him to find out what's what.
And Diotrephes went so far as to kick people out of the church
if they did read the letter, or if they did have fellowship
with John. Look at verse 10. Wherefore, if I come, I will
remember his deeds which he doeth, priding against us with malicious
words and not content therewith. Neither doth he himself receive
the brethren and forbid them that would, and casteth them
out of the church. Diodorophis didn't want anybody
loving John. And here's the reason. He only
wanted the people to love him. He thought, well, there's not
enough love. People couldn't love me and John both. So he wanted
to turn people against John so that he'd have all of their love.
And John knew why he was doing it. It was pride. Simply, it
was pride. Diotrephes loved to have the
preeminence in the church. And that's what John's telling
us here when he primarily, when he says don't follow that which
is evil. What he's talking to us about
is don't follow this evil example of pride and desiring to have
the preeminence in the church. I tell you this, the moment that
each of us begin to have our own agenda that's puffed up with
pride and wanting to promote our own agenda, we will ruin
this ministry because God won't bless it. Look at Proverbs chapter
six. You know this well, pride, wanting
to have the preeminence is a sin that God hates. Proverbs chapter
six, verse 16. These six things doth the Lord
hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying
tongue and hands that shed innocent blood and heart that deviseth
wicked imaginations, feet to be swift and running to mischief,
a false witness that speaketh lies and he that soweth discord
among the brethren. Now these seven things does the
Lord hate and number one on the list is pride. But I'll tell
you this, wherever you see pride, The other six are sure to follow. Sure, they're going to follow
because of pride. Look at 1 Peter 5. And because of that, there is
no room for pride in the family of God. Because pride pits us
against each other. Puts one above the other. If
we love to have the preeminence, if we're seeking the preeminence,
what we're trying to do is put ourselves above somebody else. Well, that can't be in God's
family, because we're all equal. We're all equal. We're all equally
ruined in sin in Adam. We're all equally righteous in
Christ. We're all equally loved by God as his children. So one
can't be above another. 1 Peter 5, verse 5. Likewise, ye younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud and giveth grace to the humble. See, there's no room
for pride in God's church because we're not here to promote ourselves. We're not here to do that at
all. What's the purpose of the church? The purpose of the church
is to promote Christ the Savior. The purpose of the church, the
purpose of the church is to preach Christ, to promote Him, to glorify
Him. David said in Psalm 34 verse
18, the Lord is nigh unto them who have a broken heart. Not
a proud heart, a broken heart. He save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. Well, I want God to be with us,
don't you? Wayne prayed for that, that the Lord be with us as we
worship. I want God to save us. I want God to save people. Then
tell you what we ought to do, pray for a broken heart and a
contrite spirit and shun pride at all costs because The Lord's
nigh unto them. He's close to them that have
a broken heart, and save us such as be of a contrite spirit. So
rather than pushing our own agenda, we should be all subject one
to another. We shouldn't have our own agenda
and promoting our own attitude. Tell you what the right attitude
is, just to serve and not be seen. David said in Psalm 84,
I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell
in the kinship I'd rather be an unnoticed servant who just
keeps the door rather than have the place of preeminence and
applause and recognition in the house of wickedness. I'd rather
do that. That ought to be our attitude.
Now, there's no room for pride in the church. And especially
there, if I could say it that way, there's no room for pride
and ambition in the pulpit. That was a Diocletian's problem.
in the pulpit will always pave the way for Satan to get a foothold
in the church. When that happens, it'll lead
to disaster every time. The pastor, everything he does,
it's not his own agenda. He's not there to promote himself.
He's not there to have the preeminence. I know one thing Brother Todd
Nybert always stresses in his preacher's class is there's no
such thing as clergy and laity, you know, where the clergy is
above everybody else. No, we're all equal. There is
no room for that kind of pride and seeking the preeminence in
the church. God's pastor is seeking the glory
of God and seeking the good of the people, even if it's at his
own expense. That's the way it is. And the
reason Diotrephes wouldn't let John's letter be read in the
church and the reason he wouldn't have fellowship with John's friends
is he felt like he was in competition with John. He was afraid that
somehow the Apostle John would outshine him. Of course, this is the Apostle
John. And that's OK. It's perfectly OK. I was I'm going to go preach
at a conference this summer for Don Fortner. Brother Don and
I are going to be the only two speakers. And somebody said,
aren't you nervous about preaching with Don every day? I said, no,
we're not in competition. I hope he preaches the best messages
he ever preached. We're not in competition. And
that applies to all of us, not just preachers, but all of us.
Don't worry about what God does with another servant. You serve
the way God's given you to serve. Isn't that honor enough? However
it is that the Lord's given you the opportunity to serve him,
that's an honor. Isn't that honor enough? It ought
to be. And if God blesses someone else,
if he blesses another person, he blesses another congregation
in an extraordinary way, we ought to give thanks. We ought to be
thankful because the cause of Christ has been advanced and
that ought to be all that matters to us. Now the pastor, he has
real authority in the church. There's no denying that. But
now that authority can't be abused. We're not to lord our authority
over God's flock. And that's just exactly what
Dr. Feast did. Now you remember this. You follow a man as he follows
Christ. And you quit following him the
moment he quits following Christ. Don't just blindly follow a man
because he's a pastor. Say, well, you know, I got to
support the pastor. No, you follow him as he follows Christ. And don't follow him if he sets
this evil example of diatrophies. Seeking his own fame, his own
notoriety, serving for his own belly. And unfortunately, this
is an important lesson. Unfortunately, the evil example
of diatrophies is rampant in our day. It's rampant. People
love to picket preachers and tear them apart. I'm not talking
about loving to pick at false prophets whose error, you know,
should be pointed out. It's the job of God's servant.
We always have to point out. We have to warn about the false
prophet. But what I'm talking about here is picking at God's
servants who preach the gospel of God's free grace in Christ.
People love to pick them apart. They just love to. And often
it's unbelievers, usually, but not always. Not always. And they almost always do it
by either lying outright or by picking at small things that
just don't matter. Small things that are not central
to the doctrine of Christ. Just insignificant things that
really don't matter to salvation but grace. And that's exactly
what Dr. Fees is doing. John says he's
prating or pratting against us. And that word prating just it
means silly, empty words. He's just using these silly,
empty words. They're malicious words. And
I tell you, people tend to believe that stuff. I guess we tend to
believe that stuff because that's the fleshly nature that we carry
around with us. That fleshly nature wants to
believe the worst. Instead of always wanting to
believe the best, our nature of flesh always wants to believe
the worst. And Geographies was taking advantage
of that. And all he was trying to do is
tear John down to make himself look better. Look at 1 Timothy
chapter 5. Like I said, this example of
diatrophies, unfortunately, is rampant in our day. So when someone
does that, when they try to tear down one of God's servants, I
tell you the first thing we ought to do. Find out if it's true. Is that true? 1 Timothy 5 verse
19. Against an elder, receive not
an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Let every
word be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. Find
out if those accusations are true. So here's the lesson that
John is teaching us. Avoid this attitude of self-promotion
through pride. Avoid this hypercritical attitude
that causes strife and division among brethren. Avoid those things,
John. Avoid that evil example. Don't
follow that evil, but follow that which is good. Look at Ephesians
chapter four. The apostle Paul tells us the
exact same thing. Avoid that which is evil and
follow that which is good. Ephesians four verse 31. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. Follow that which is good. Just
like our Lord told the rich young ruler, there's none good but
one, and that's God. If you would follow good, follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow Him. Look to Him as your
only righteousness. Look to Him as your only obedience
before the law. You know, if we understand we've
got no righteousness, that in and of ourselves, the very best
thing we can do is a defiled, filthy rag. That ought to kill
pride, shouldn't it? Just follow Christ as all of
your righteousness. Look to Him as all of your obedience.
Look to Christ as your sacrifice. If we do that, that ought to
kill pride. Look what it took. Look at the sacrifice it took
to put away the sin of God's people. It took the sacrifice
of God's own Son. That ought to tell us something
about how vile we are by nature, how vile our sin is. Just look
to Christ as all of your salvation. Just look to Him. and also look
to Christ as your Savior and also look to Him as your example
of how to walk through this world. Walk through this world walking
in the steps of our Savior. Follow that which is good. Follow
after love. The only way we know anything
about love is by looking to Christ. Herein is love. Not that we loved
Him, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sin. Follow after love. in a self-sacrificial
way for others. Follow after grace. That's a
good thing. Follow after grace. We know something
about grace because God's been so gracious to us. Everything
he's given us is undeserved, isn't it? That ought to make
us desire to be a gracious people. Follow after kindness. Follow
after the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ. What kindness.
He has shown His people kindness and pity. That ought to make
us be a kind people. Follow after patience. It's difficult
to be patient with people. You just think about how difficult
it must be for the Lord who is infinitely above us in His glory
and His holiness and His wisdom to be patient with a worm like
me. We know something about patience. We know something about it because
God's been so patient with us. Then let's seek to be patient
with other people. Follow after goodness. We know
something about goodness. It's not in us by nature, but
we know something about goodness because of how good the Lord's
been to us. And here's one that'll kill pride. Don't follow this evil example
of pride. Follow after meekness. Follow
after the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody was as meek as the Lord
Jesus. Even though he's almighty God,
he was such a meek man. Follow after meekness. Follow
that example of meekness. Don't follow after that which
is evil, but follow after that which is good. In the church,
among the brethren, as we deal with one another, as we support
and work in this ministry, Don't follow after evil. Don't follow
after this example of self-promotion, but follow after that which is
good. When we follow after the Lord Jesus Christ, we're going
to have to follow an example of self-sacrificing, how he sacrificed
himself to save his people. That's the example that we're
to follow after in dealing with each other, self-sacrificially
serving one another. We're not to seek to be the masters.
We're to seek to be just like our Lord. the servants of men,
servants. Don't follow after that which
is evil, self and pride in the church with each other, but follow
after that which is good. But let me give you this. Also,
don't follow after that which is evil, but follow after that
which is good when you're out there in the world too. When
you're not just in these four walls or dealing with your brothers
and sisters here, but when you're out there in the world, don't
follow after that which is evil, I like that which is good. Now,
it's very important that we learn sound doctrine. We must have
sound doctrine. We must learn the doctrine of
God's grace. But this is equally important,
too. There must be grace in the heart. We've got to learn this
grace in the heart and in our daily walk. The person who shows
love, the person who shows grace and kindness and mercy in his
everyday life, you know, he's showing evidence of He's showing
evidence he's a child of God. He's showing evidence that he's
received a nature in the new birth that's the nature of God.
So when you're in the world, and it's difficult to be in the
world and not be influenced by it, isn't it? It's very difficult.
So keep this in mind. When you're out there in the
world, don't follow the evil way of the world. How the world
says to get ahead today. You got in the workplace, you
got anywhere in the world, and you'll find that this is so.
Honesty is not something that's esteemed at all in our society
anymore. The world admires a person who
gets ahead, no matter how they did it. If somebody, they cheat
in business, they cheat their vendors, they cheat their customers,
they just cheat anybody they can to put an extra dollar on
the bottom line, They stabbed somebody in the back to get what
they want. They lied to get promotions and raises and get advantages,
you know. The world admires that, don't
they? When the world sees a businessman
like that, they say, there's a shrewd businessman. Somebody
who operates like that says, no, they're just looking out
for number one. That's what you got to do because nobody else
can look out for you. That's the evil way of this world.
Don't follow the way of this world and try to get ahead through
dishonesty. When you got to work, you give
an honest, hard day's work for the pay you receive. Don't do
the bare minimum. This is something that drove
me crazy when I was in the workforce. Seeing people laugh about how
little they did, how little they could get away with doing, you
know. Don't do that. It's evil. Go out there and do
the most you can do. Do the best you can do. And I
wish I'd never heard this phrase on the work. That's not my job. They don't pay me enough to do
that. Well, they probably do. But even if they don't, do it
anyway. Just do it anyway. I'll tell
you a good secret to job security. Be more valuable than what they
pay you every week. If you do that, you produce more
than what they pay you. You made yourself worth keeping
around. And more importantly, when you do that, you go out
on the job, you'd be the best worker out there. You know what
you've done? You've adorned the gospel of our safety. You sure
have. You adorn the gospel that you
claim to believe. Then don't follow evil. The self-centered
selfish attitude of this world. Maybe the world's always been
as selfish and self-centered as it is now, and we just know
it because there's more communication and things. But don't follow
that way of self. Self is the way of sin. That's right. Adam in the garden,
what was his sin? His sin was a desire to have
the preeminence, to promote himself, to be his own God. And when he
tried to promote self, what did he do? He destroyed himself,
and he destroyed his entire race. Don't follow that way of selfishness. Brother Tim James made this statement
once. I like it. He says, the way of
the world is to get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the
can. Self is selfishness. Don't follow that evil way. Think
about somebody else. Be generous in your giving. I'm
not talking about only with money. Be generous in that way. Be generous
with the money and the means that God's giving you. But also,
be generous in kind words to somebody else. Be generous in
compliments to somebody else. Instead of just always trying
to promote yourself, when somebody else on the job does a good job,
promote them. Seek to promote them. Seek to
compliment them. They deserve recognition, don't
they? Seek an opportunity to help somebody else shine. That
attitude is Christ-like. Look at Philippians chapter 2.
Aren't you glad Christ the Savior wasn't selfish? But instead of
thinking of his own personal comfort, he strove. He gave himself
for the good of his people. Philippians chapter 2 verse 3. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. Not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. What, not
robbery for him to say he's equal with God? Because he is God.
But what did he do? He made himself with no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. But things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. See, that's the way it works
in God's church. It's the opposite of the way
of the world. The way up is down. Let's just operate and think
about somebody else, not be so selfish. Then don't follow the
way, the evil way of the world, the combative attitude of this
world And the example of today, talk about this combative attitude,
you see it so clearly in politics today, don't you? Now, I am a
dyed-in-the-wool conservative. Even a dyed-in-the-wool conservative
can honestly say this. Somebody can disagree with your
politics, and they don't have to be the scum of the earth.
There can be a good idea from the other side of the aisle.
And that attitude of just being combative for no reason, just
always to promote self, has bled over into every aspect of our
society. Where does all that combativeness
come from? Where does all this desire to
war all the time come from? Look at James chapter 4. James 4 verse 1. For whence come
wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your
own lust, the desire for your own pride, your own gain, that
war in your members? You lust and have not. You kill
and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet
you have not because you ask not. This is the way of the world. Somebody will say, well, I'm
never going to get anything from anybody unless I fight them for
it every step of the way. I've got to fight for everything
I'm going to get. Well, that's the way of the world.
That's the way of an unbeliever. But that ought not be the way
of a believer. You got to fight for everything you're going to
get? Really? James says you have not because
you ask not. Believers ought to be men and
women of peace. We ought to be men and women of prayer. You
don't have to be combative all the time. You have to fight for
everything you're going to get. Everything you got, God gave
you freely. Do we believe that? And we ought
to live it, shouldn't we? We should. And lastly, let me
give you this. Don't follow the evil way of
this world in the way that you order your home. Parents, you
be parents. Be the parent in the home. You
have authority over your children. You have control over your children.
What I'm telling you is best. You know, your child acts up
and you whip them. You think, oh, that's the worst
thing. No, that's the best thing for them to teach them not to
act that way. Don't be their friend. They don't
need another friend. You be the parent. And don't
let them run you. The way of this world today is
to laugh and say, well, nothing I can do about it. You know,
they just run all over me. That's not funny. Don't let them
run you. You be the parent. You don't
follow the evil way of this world. It's best for your children,
I'm telling you. And husbands, be the husband. Be a godly man in every sense
of the word. You be the strength of your home. You be somebody that your wife
and your children can depend upon. Because you remember this,
husbands, in the home, you're the picture of Christ the Savior.
Be that example. You have a midlife crisis and
want to run off and leave them? Get over it. Just get over it. You tough it out and be the man
that provides stability for his family, that puts the need of
his wife and his children ahead of his own needs, ahead of his
own personal comfort, just like our Savior did. And husbands,
have a little sense about you. Be the source of wisdom in your
home. The way of the world portrays
husbands as a clown. Don't be that. Be a source of
wisdom in your home. And be the spiritual leader in
your home. Lead your family in prayer. Lead your family to the
worship service. Lead your children to Christ.
Show an example of a life lived in faith and love. And wives? Be the wife. Oh, how a home needs
a wife and a mother. Be a godly woman in every sense
of the word. Be keepers at home. Provide a
loving home where your children are taught what to do and what
not to do. Where they're disciplined always
in love. Provide a home that's a safe
place from the world that your family can come out of the world
and have a safe place. Your children need that. Your
husband needs that. And you need that. You provide
that. You be the loving force in your
home. You'd be the best. Help me. You
know how to beat your husband. Now, that's not the way of this
evil world, but it's God's way. Then it's best way, isn't it?
It's the way of our happiness. Be a loving wife, a godly woman
in every sense of the word. Let's instead of following the
example, look here back in our text at third John. Instead of
following this evil example of diatrophies, let's follow the
example of our brother Demetrius, verse 12. Demetrius hath a good
report of all men, and of the truth itself. Yea, and we also
bear record, and you know that our record is true. This man
Demetrius was well spoken of in the church. And I'll tell
you where else he was well spoken of. Out there in the community.
You got there where he works, people say, I like that fella.
He's a good man. He does a good job. He's kind.
He's easy to work with. I like seeing him coming. You
go talk to his neighbors. His neighbors say, he's a good
neighbor. He never causes any trouble. He's helpful. Let's
follow that example. Follow that example to adorn
the doctrine of Christ, to adorn the gospel of our Savior by living
an honest, a kind, and a gracious, and a holy life so that other
people will see God's grace in your heart and glorify your Savior. Don't do this so you can come
right back to this pride issue. Don't do this so people talk
good about you and you try to puff up your own reputation.
No, do it for the sake of your Savior. So somebody will see
God's grace in you and glorify your Savior, which isn't happening.
All right, I hope the Lord will bless that to you.