3 John 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.
And Friends, if that isn’t the living truth, I don’t know what is. But I’ve got to sigh and refrain from some rather inappropriate language, cause just before I began writing this message, their was a power blip, and I thanked God that I missed it, for I don’t usually save stuff as I go along since the power is usually very constant. But foolishly, I ignored the warning, began to type, motored along cheerfully until two thirds of the way through, another so and so blip occurred and I lost everything. Ah well, I guess the Lord sends these trials to test us, and I’m going to learn from it and start saving stuff as I go along. Wow! I’ve saved it. But there’s nothing there that I really wanted to say. Chuh! Anyway, this 3rd Epistle of John is a missive to a personal friend named Gaius, at a not too distant church, since John promises to see him shortly, (vs.13) and he was by then too old to make any long trips. It seems Gaius took good care of the missionaries and other church folk who came to town. Remember, in the early days there was no building called a church, it was held in members homes, and visiting Christians depended on the towns folk to put them up. John commends Gaius for his noble efforts and hopes that he continues the good work. Apparently he had written an earlier letter to the church at large, but got no reply because one egotistic member, Diotrephes, was not only trying to run it, but was spreading malicious gossip against John, plus he wasn’t receiving Christian brethren in his home, and also forbade other members to do so, on risk of expulsion. Hn! What a lovely Christian fellow! No wonder others view us with distaste and scepticism! It’s people like that who make it even more difficult for unbelievers to come to Christ. And I’m sure he considered himself a genuine and wonderful Christian. Oh Friends, today, too many like Diotrephes still exist. That’s why the church is in such a divisive and unpopular situation. Too many people want to be prominent, to be seen, and have a voice in everything, then they get upset and self-righteous if they don’t have their way. But their very behaviour; their acts of selfishness, egotism, and lust for power in high places, paints them as being very un-Christian. True Christians aren’t selfish, egotistical, or greedy for power. Like Jesus, they’re selfless and giving, listen to others, and don’t always need to have their own way, or run the show, they’re quite willing to serve. John probably had to write a personal letter to Gaius cause if Diotrephes had gotten hold of the one to the church, no information would be forthcoming to anyone. He then advises Gaius; ‘Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.’ Friends, that’s nothing new; men of God have shouted it from the rooftops for eons. ‘Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.’ (Ps.34:14) ‘Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.’ (Ps.37:27) Yes Friends, Bruh David declared that if we did good, instead of evil, we’d live for evermore; right through eternity, and that was long before Jesus came. And after Jesus, Bruh Paul exhorted the early churches likewise: ‘Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.’ (Rom.14:19) ‘See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.’ (1 Thess.5:15) ‘But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.’ (1 Tim.6:11) Oh Friends, is it really that hard to do good rather than evil? I don’t think so. Now, I’m no saint, somewhat naive yes (smile) but if we truly put our hearts and minds to it, with God’s help, through His indwelling Holy Spirit, we can surely do much better than we’re currently doing. If we simply followed the adage to treat others the way we want to be treated, it would make such a marvellous difference, create such a wonderful improvement in human relations and reduce the overwhelming negativity now engulfing our beautiful planet. As John points out; ‘He that doeth good is of God.’ There are no two ways about that people. If you have it in your heart to do good, then God occupies a part of your soul. ‘If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him.’ (1 John 2:29) The opposite also holds true Friends; ‘but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.’ How could one eh? For God isn’t evil. According to the ole people, He doesn’t have an evil bone in His body. ‘In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.’ (1 John 3:10) That’s it in a nutshell Friends. We can’t claim to LOVE God and follow Christ without doing good and LOVING our fellow man. That’s hypocrisy! Oh Friends, all of us have a touch of the hypocrite in us, and I don’t know if we can ever fully eradicate it, being of a sinful, human nature, but at least, let’s try and reduce it to it’s smallest possible size nuh. The world will be such a better place for it. Whew! We finally finish, after plenty saving, and obviously no more power blips. Much LOVE FRIENDS!…faith is great…but faith without works is dead…
And Friends, if that isn’t the living truth, I don’t know what is. But I’ve got to sigh and refrain from some rather inappropriate language, cause just before I began writing this message, their was a power blip, and I thanked God that I missed it, for I don’t usually save stuff as I go along since the power is usually very constant. But foolishly, I ignored the warning, began to type, motored along cheerfully until two thirds of the way through, another so and so blip occurred and I lost everything. Ah well, I guess the Lord sends these trials to test us, and I’m going to learn from it and start saving stuff as I go along. Wow! I’ve saved it. But there’s nothing there that I really wanted to say. Chuh! Anyway, this 3rd Epistle of John is a missive to a personal friend named Gaius, at a not too distant church, since John promises to see him shortly, (vs.13) and he was by then too old to make any long trips. It seems Gaius took good care of the missionaries and other church folk who came to town. Remember, in the early days there was no building called a church, it was held in members homes, and visiting Christians depended on the towns folk to put them up. John commends Gaius for his noble efforts and hopes that he continues the good work. Apparently he had written an earlier letter to the church at large, but got no reply because one egotistic member, Diotrephes, was not only trying to run it, but was spreading malicious gossip against John, plus he wasn’t receiving Christian brethren in his home, and also forbade other members to do so, on risk of expulsion. Hn! What a lovely Christian fellow! No wonder others view us with distaste and scepticism! It’s people like that who make it even more difficult for unbelievers to come to Christ. And I’m sure he considered himself a genuine and wonderful Christian. Oh Friends, today, too many like Diotrephes still exist. That’s why the church is in such a divisive and unpopular situation. Too many people want to be prominent, to be seen, and have a voice in everything, then they get upset and self-righteous if they don’t have their way. But their very behaviour; their acts of selfishness, egotism, and lust for power in high places, paints them as being very un-Christian. True Christians aren’t selfish, egotistical, or greedy for power. Like Jesus, they’re selfless and giving, listen to others, and don’t always need to have their own way, or run the show, they’re quite willing to serve. John probably had to write a personal letter to Gaius cause if Diotrephes had gotten hold of the one to the church, no information would be forthcoming to anyone. He then advises Gaius; ‘Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.’ Friends, that’s nothing new; men of God have shouted it from the rooftops for eons. ‘Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.’ (Ps.34:14) ‘Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.’ (Ps.37:27) Yes Friends, Bruh David declared that if we did good, instead of evil, we’d live for evermore; right through eternity, and that was long before Jesus came. And after Jesus, Bruh Paul exhorted the early churches likewise: ‘Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.’ (Rom.14:19) ‘See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.’ (1 Thess.5:15) ‘But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.’ (1 Tim.6:11) Oh Friends, is it really that hard to do good rather than evil? I don’t think so. Now, I’m no saint, somewhat naive yes (smile) but if we truly put our hearts and minds to it, with God’s help, through His indwelling Holy Spirit, we can surely do much better than we’re currently doing. If we simply followed the adage to treat others the way we want to be treated, it would make such a marvellous difference, create such a wonderful improvement in human relations and reduce the overwhelming negativity now engulfing our beautiful planet. As John points out; ‘He that doeth good is of God.’ There are no two ways about that people. If you have it in your heart to do good, then God occupies a part of your soul. ‘If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him.’ (1 John 2:29) The opposite also holds true Friends; ‘but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.’ How could one eh? For God isn’t evil. According to the ole people, He doesn’t have an evil bone in His body. ‘In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.’ (1 John 3:10) That’s it in a nutshell Friends. We can’t claim to LOVE God and follow Christ without doing good and LOVING our fellow man. That’s hypocrisy! Oh Friends, all of us have a touch of the hypocrite in us, and I don’t know if we can ever fully eradicate it, being of a sinful, human nature, but at least, let’s try and reduce it to it’s smallest possible size nuh. The world will be such a better place for it. Whew! We finally finish, after plenty saving, and obviously no more power blips. Much LOVE FRIENDS!…faith is great…but faith without works is dead…
SCRIP-BITS 