QT 2/14/2025 3 John 5-15, The danger of straying from the word

3 John 5–15 (ESV) —

5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.

13 I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.

 

NOTE: Churches can be wrong. John wrote something to this church that was apparently intercepted by Diotrephes and was squashed. Diotrephes is what I would call a bird, one of the ones that nestle in the large tree (parable of the mustard seed), and take away the word from those who might hear (parable of the 4 soils). I am probably stretching those parables a bit, but every church has false teachers and some rise pretty high, as is the case at this Gaius' church.

 

What do you do if you have a false teacher in the church? First, take any concern to the elders. Second, do not gossip, leave it to God, pray. Third, if you do not see any action taking place, it is not wrong to seek another place of worship.

 

A more difficult question is, how do I know that I am not the false teacher? I can't give a good answer except to say that if you are in the word of God every day and are memorizing scripture, reading the bible, and studying the bible, my opinion is that God will protect you from becoming a false teacher.

 

PONDER:

Where do I get my source of information about God and life? If not from the bible, there is an exceedingly great danger that I am a false teacher (and an antichrist).

 

PRAYER: Father, I pray for your protection so that I am not lured into false doctrine or teach things that are opposed to the truth. Continue to fill me with the word of God, the only standard of truth that mankind knows or has.