3rd John 10 TALKING NONSENSE In the universal body of Christ in which the Holy Spirit places each believer, there are no false Christians. Only divine Persons know without a doubt those who have been born again and who has the new nature implanted by the Spirit of God. Not everyone who says they are a Christian is a child of God. To a certain extent, "by their fruits" we know them. In the local assemblies of God's people there are those who we believe to have divine life and a testimony of salvation and a desire to follow the word of God. But there are also some who had the right words to say and seemed to be genuine, but later they begin to demonstrate a different character. They reveal evidence of carnality and a desire for the things of the world or an ambition that is not spiritual at all. This is not characteristic of a genuine child of God.
Others may have divine life, but pride, jealousy and ambition are allowed to flourish and continue and are not faced as sin. Unconfessed sin that is not forsaken changes the way a person lives and soon even the way they think about spiritual things. Compromise and inconsistency in their spiritual life soon makes it difficult to know if they are away from the Lord or are unconverted. Sometimes these same people find a kind of satisfaction in trying to control other people. Whether one is not saved, or one is away from the Lord, they both have a need to feed their ego and cover their lack of spiritual joy by being recognized as being in authority over other people. Diotrephes was that kind of man. He found some kind of personal significance by controlling other people and making them do what he wanted. That attitude and those actions have all the signs of the devil himself.
This self-opinionated, self-centered and selfish man who loved first place, spoke against the authority of those who had a higher position of responsibility than he had. He not only rejected John's letter but by doing so rejected John himself. He wanted to control the assembly of God's people. He wanted to be the leader who "called all the shots." He went so far as to denounce true spiritual leaders. "His deeds" were active opposition against those he considered a threat to his self-appointed position of authority. His "prating" was talking nonsense by making baseless spiteful charges against those who did not submit to him. His senseless, wicked false talking and refusal to have anything to do with spiritual leaders exposed the kind of man he was.
Any who mock the truth of God and slander those who faithfully teach it, have the features of the devil. Malicious words and foolish babble reveal the inner character of one who is a false teacher/leader. At the very best they are a bad example of one who is a child of God, and their words and actions must be stopped. When one who is in the place of leadership creates an atmosphere of discontent and discourages that which is right; when that person encourages sin, he must be stopped and dealt with. An uncontrolled, dictatorial spirit cannot be allowed to have its way among the people of God. Some may say, "What can we do?" The biblical teaching is that sin is confronted by one person, then two or three witness and ultimately the church in that order. If it is not confessed and forsaken than that person is to be "as a heathen man and a publican." "A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump."
Diotrephes was a back-biter who talked nonsense against John. He would not receive the Lord's servant who "labored in word and deed." He was inhospitable himself and tried to prevent those who were real Christians from showing Christian love toward others. In his spirit of animosity, he even took it upon himself to excommunicate those who supported the workers in their work. Likely he would charge them with "rebellion" because they did not do what he said. He commended inhospitality and cast out those who were hospitable. The more John wrote about this man, the more evidence there seems to be that he was a false teacher who had found his way into an assembly of God, and was not even a child of God.
It is sad but true that some believers do have some of these characteristics. But when there is so much about a person that there is no sign of spiritual life, then likely there is no life in them. An old adage says, "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck, has feathers like a duck and associates with ducks - likely it is a duck." If one speaks slanderous, nonsensical talk, opposes that which is right, has a vindictive spirit toward towards those who want to do what is right and demands that people follow him and his wrong dictates - he is likely of his father the devil.
Position is just that - a position To use that in open opposition s12 That promotes strife and creates division Indicates one's spiritual condition - Is not that of a child of God.
When doing right is by a man condemned And he insists on his word you depend And this position he will not amend But forces his own way right to the end - There's no evidence he is a child of God.
When he insists others must yield to his opinion And he thinks over others he has dominion So they cannot carry out the exercise in them Or he puts away those who disagree with him - Such a person is not a child of God.
We are to receive believers to our place It is our privilege to demonstrate grace When the joy of the Lord is in one's face And the righteous course of his life we can trace - Those are characteristics of a child of God.
"Holy Father, when there arises among Thy people who gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ those who exhibit the characteristics of Diotrephes, please give to those who lead the assembly the courage to confront that person, to stop his nonsense and to deal with him in a scriptural way. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."