In the sermon 'Abusive Church Leadership', Peter Allison discusses the impact of prideful and abusive leadership within a church, drawing examples from the book of 3rd John. He emphasizes the metaphor of small vibrations, akin to minor sins, that can destroy a church over time much like continuous small vibrations can weaken and collapse a building. The speaker highlights the commendation John gives to Gaius for his ministry of hospitality, despite his poor health and finances, which contrasts sharply with the behavior of Diotrephes. Diotrephes is criticized for his pride, malicious use of the tongue, and abuse of authority - charges that the speaker refers to as the 'spirit of Diotrephes'. John’s letter serves to encourage Gaius in his humble service and to stand against Diotrephes' actions. The sermon concludes with a call for self-reflection and the need for addressing sin within the church, underscoring the potential for victory and restoration through Christ.

Let's turn now to 3rd John for our scripture reading. I'd like to read these 14 verses. Third John. The elder to the beloved gayest whom I love in truth. Beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.

For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth. Beloved you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well. Because they went forth for his name's sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles.

We therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth. I wrote to the church, but Diatrophes, who loves to have the preeminence among them does not receive us. Therefore, if I come I will call to mind his deeds, which he does of trading against us with malicious words." And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God.

But he who does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has a good testimony from all and from the truth itself and we also bear witness and you know that our testimony is true. I had many things to write but I do not wish to write you with pen and ink but I hope to see you shortly and we shall speak face to face peace to you our friends greet you greet the friends by name may We love and treasure His commandments more than the finest gold. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word, for its richness, its fullness, for its truth. We pray that you might apply it to us this morning.

We pray that this word that we have heard might be mixed with faith, and that you would edify and instruct us this morning through Jesus Christ. Amen. Through Jesus Christ, Amen. The church is likened to many things in the scriptures. It's compared to many different things like the church is called the bride of Christ.

The church as a body is the bride of Christ. We're not Christ's bride, these individuals. There are people that teach that and that's certainly a heresy. But the church as the body, all of us together, is in the Scriptures called the Bride of Christ. The church is compared to an army, the Lord's army.

The church is called a body. A body that has many different parts. Some that are more prominent than others, but every part is necessary. And every part is important. But the church is also compared to a building.

A building that's fitly joined together, nourished by what every joint and ligament supplies. Now, I'd like to think a minute about this metaphor for the church as the temple. Buildings can be destroyed in a very short time by very powerful forces like earthquakes, large tremors in the ground that can shake a building apart in a matter of seconds or in a moment, in minutes, and caused the building to collapse. Massive power that unleashed very quickly, shaking the very earth that things stand on and causing many things to collapse. You remember the bridges that collapsed in the San Francisco Bay area at an earthquake there in the late 80s.

Entire bridges, upper decks, just collapsed down on the lower decks, trapping many cars and people. It happened in a moment. Nobody expected it, Nobody saw it coming. A moment later, everything was a mess of jumbled steel and iron. Bombs or tornadoes and hurricanes.

Tornadoes can come through. Incredibly strong forces in very short time, and entirely blow away an entire building, so that there's nothing there but a hole in the ground, or perhaps a slab for the foundation. The whole building is gone, never to be found, the pieces strewn about. But see, buildings can also be destroyed slowly by tiny forces whose cumulative effect over time results in the exact same destruction of the building. It can be destroyed by rust.

If it's wood by termites, but the buildings could also, structures can also be destroyed by just small vibrations. It doesn't take a big earthquake. Small vibrations, over time, can bring failure to buildings, particularly metal. It's called fatigue failure. Just small vibrations over a long period of time eventually fatigue the metal and it breaks.

Maybe you've done that with a piece of metal that you bend, maybe you use big bending moments. You do it for 30 seconds and you can break a piece of metal. Fatigue, small vibrations that over time are just as destructive as these large forces. And the sins that John accuses diatrophies of are analogous to these types of small vibrations that over time wreak havoc in the body of Christ, destroying the church and bringing great harm to many people. There doesn't have to be, and maybe isn't, some gross moral scandal, or some blatant apostasy, which we might call the moral equivalent of an earthquake or a tornado.

But it's just these small, seemingly small, seemingly small, but incessant, persistent, and ultimately destructive vibrations of a collection of sins that we'll call this morning the spirit of diatrophies this collection of sins that over time can destroy utterly destroy and tear apart a church. John, I believe, is writing this letter to Gaius to address this sin and its impact upon Gaius in his ministry of hospitality. This letter is to a man by the name of Gaius. Someone who is personally known to the Apostle John, someone that he says he loved in truth. He's beloved to John.

Somebody that was dear to him, a dear friend. John writes this simply as identifying himself as the elder. The elder. To the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth. This is somebody that presumably knew John.

John expects Gaius to be very familiar, such that he doesn't even have to identify himself by name. The apostle brings very warm greetings and he brings high commendation for Gaius. Some have supposed that Gaius might be poor in health and poor in finances. From John's salutation, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. I don't know for sure, but it's very possible.

Probably likely that he was of poor health and poor finances. But whatever the condition of his body and his finances, Gaius was prospering spiritually. Gaius' soul was prospering even though he apparently was poor and didn't have good health because John praised that these other things his health and his finances would prosper just as his soul is prospering. Gaius' soul is prospering because he practices hospitality. His good works and his reputation have reached John through the testimony of other people.

They've talked about this poor man in not good health. These brethren that were talking to John testified that Gaius was walking in the truth, that he was a servant of the Lord. He showed hospitality both to the brethren and to the strangers. And this report about Gaius' hospitality, his ministry, Even though he was poor and didn't feel very good many days, he was hospitable, ministering. And this report brought great joy to John.

Gaius' humble service brought great joy. John says in fact that there is no greater joy than to know that His disciples are walking in the truth. That they are humbly serving and showing hospitality to brethren and to strangers. John isn't rejoicing here that Gaius is mighty in the Scriptures, that he's an eloquent speaker like Apollos, or that he's a great evangelist, or that he's how many people that he's witnessed to and have been converted under his ministry and have been added to the church through his service. That's not what brought John joy in this case.

John says he has no greater joy than to hear how His beloved friend had ministered to the physical needs of strangers and brethren alike, providing housing and food for them. And if he was poor in finances and not in good health, then he probably wasn't entertaining them. He was simply showing hospitality to them. That word for hospitality is a compound word in the Greek comes from phileo, which is a friendship, comradeship, and the word for strangers. So he's saying this, it's friendship of strangers, such that they're no longer strangers, such that you invite them into your home and into your life and into your heart and minister to them.

And that doesn't take a lot of money or great health. In the body of Christ there are many gifts. You know, some are prominent and some are not. Some, you know, like the mouth, get a lot of attention. Or the eyes, you know, you might, providing sight.

But others are more hidden. They're not so prominent. But they are equally important. And the gift of hospitality, providing a warm and inviting home. And it doesn't take great wealth to provide a warm and inviting home.

It takes simply attention to it and a warm and loving heart. Providing a gracious and beautiful meal that served in kindness. That doesn't again take great wealth. It's simply sharing With an open heart the food that you are eating sharing it with strangers Now we know that there is a there has to be a care. We don't share that with everybody As John mentions in an earlier letter, not to do that with everybody, there is some discernment.

But there is a place for showing this hospitality to brethren and to strangers. And when we do that, you see, they're no longer strangers. Hospitality is to invite people into your heart and sharing what you have with them such that they become friends if they were not before. And they become closer friends and deeper friends if they were friends before. You see, where entertainment can be costly and exhausting, Gaius, who wasn't in good health and didn't have great finances, excelled at it.

Because he was walking in the truth. And he loved the Lord with a sincere heart. And that was what he ministered to people. So if Gaius can excel at this hospitality, Not having an expensive house and fine furniture, and not having great wealth, then not having these things is no excuse for not showing hospitality. The name Gaius is mentioned several times in the Scriptures.

And there are probably different people that are being mentioned. There was a Gaius that was a traveling companion of Paul. He's mentioned in Acts 19 and one other place in Acts. But there's also a Gaius that was in Corinth. And this I think may have been the Gaius to whom John wrote this letter for a couple reasons.

This Gaius that was at Corinth was noted in Paul's letter to the Roman church as not only Paul's host, but the host of the whole church. Paul said in Romans 16, 23, Gaius, my host, and the host of the whole church greets you. And given that this letter is about hosting and hospitality and that Paul singled out Gayus in the church at Corinth calling him a host and the host of the church seems to make this a likely match. But there's another reason as well. In the first letter to Corinth, a place where Paul spent some time, according to Acts, so it would be reasonable that he would have gotten to know people at the church, Paul said, well In that letter, Paul addresses sectarianism in their midst.

Remember how he opens the letter in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians. Some people were following Paul. Some people in the church were following Paulus. Paul said, now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, Paul says, are you not carnal?

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? But ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one I planted Paulus watered but God gave the increase and so Paul is is is rebuking this sectarianism this hero worship where people had singled out a leader in the church, somebody who was prominent for their gifts and who they favored and they said, well, I'm on his team. He's the guy I listen to. I like him. When he listens, then I come to church.

Or when he's speaking, then I go listen. These people had their rock stars equivalent. So Paul rebukes that attitude. But then he says this, I thank God that I baptize none of you. Meaning so you're not going to follow me when you should be following Christ.

He says, but I think I baptize none of you except Crispus and Gaius. And Gaius. And I think that Gaius was not apparently caught up in this pride of sectarianism, of following a given leader. Given what John says about diatrophies in this chapter, in 3 John, not receiving people whom John had sent and putting people out of the church who opposed Diotrophes and wanted to receive the people that John had sent. I think Gaius was someone who was just trying to serve.

He was just a humble man who excelled at the gift of hospitality and he wanted to follow diatrophes because dot fees was apparently a leader in the church and elder and and that and And Gaius as a humble man was seeking to do what the scripture says and be in submission and follow his elder. But he was facing opposition for his hospitality. Others that had stood up to diatrophies, abuses, had been put out of the church. But I see Gaius as someone who was reluctant to do that. He was trying to live in submission.

And so the apostle John writes to Gaius, first highly commending him for his ministry of hospitality. That's a humble ministry. It doesn't have the prominence of teaching and of leadership, of speaking and so forth. But John is profuse in his praise and commendation of Gaius for this ministry. And says, I have no greater joy than to see you walking in the truth in this way.

I don't think that John would have said all these things if Gaius was somebody that was given to pride. But Gaius in his humility and his desire to be submission was being opposed by the atrophies and so John writes to him And he firmly tells Gaius, as an apostle, we therefore ought to receive such that we may be fellow workers for the truth. These are people that had been sent out in truth. He said, Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers who have borne witness of your love before the church." These were people that had been blessed by his ministry, his hospitality, and they spoke about it to others in the church to edify him. He said, if you send them forward on your journey in a manner worthy of God, you do well.

You do well. Those who give a cup of cold water in the name of Christ receive the reward of the prophet. Jesus said, He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet receives a prophet's reward. And He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And John is telling Gaius here, that if you send these people forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you do well, because they went forth for His name, taking nothing from the Gentiles.

We ought therefore to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth. You say in Gaze when you show hospitality to these people and when you send these people on having blessed them with your fellowship, with food, with a home, with a place to stay, You become a fellow worker in the truth. You become a fellow laborer with them in the gospel. And as Jesus says, you receive their reward with them because of this ministry and this service. That's huge encouragement to Gaius.

And ought to be a huge encouragement to us not to neglect this very vital and important ministry of hospitality, even though it's a humble one. It's an unseen one. It's big. It's big. In the church, and gave John no greater joy.

So, I think Gaius was experiencing opposition from diatrophies, and John writes to him to affirm him in his work. And then he condemns diatrophies in a letter to this man. He says, I wrote to the church about diatrophies. Who loves to have the pre-eminence among them does not receive us. I wrote to the church, but the diatrophes who loves to have the preeminence among them does not receive us.

Therefore John said, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, preying against us with malicious words. John says, if I come, I'm going to bring charges to the presbytery. I'm going to expose what he's doing. Praying against us. Not talking nonsense.

The stuff he's saying is not true. It's gossip. It's slander. And I'm going to expose that. I'm going to charge him.

I will call them to mind. It means he's going to bring them up. He's going to remember them. That's the exact opposite of forgiveness is to bring something to mind. John is not speaking in terms of his personal relation to diatrophies, but he's speaking as an elder here, in his duty to protect the church from people like diatrophes by raising charges if diatrophes continues in his sin.

Basically, John brings three main charges against diatrophies. And I'll call this package of sinful behavior, because it's all kind of connected, and When I say there's three things, they're really connected. And underneath all of this, what I'll call the spirit of deatrophies, is pride. That's the first charge that he brings against deatrophies. He is arrogant.

He loves to have the preeminence in the church. He loved to be first. I wrote to the church, but the atrophies who loves to have the preeminence among them didn't receive what John wrote, and he didn't receive the people who were sent by John with his commendation. He wanted to be the man. The church was his church.

It was his ministry. The name on the sign, he wanted to be his. The radio personality, that was his. Jesus said of the Pharisees that they loved the greeting in the marketplace. They loved the honorary titles to be called by honorary titles.

And when other people came, other labors in the truth, the atrophies did not receive them. He didn't want to share his position of prominence in the church with anybody else. He didn't want to let anybody else into his pulpit to preach, or He didn't want to let anybody else into his pulpit to preach, or he didn't want to let anybody else teach the people. He wanted all that for himself because he wanted the glory to go to him. The Lord says every person struggles with pride, and certainly so does every minister.

And God told Paul that he was afflicted with a thorn in the flesh so that he might know the grace of God and its sufficiency that that God's strength might be made perfect in weakness and God says that he entrusted the gospel to vessels of clay so that the glory would be the Lord's and no man's. And so great gifts can sometimes be a great weakness. And Paul had to learn, he said, that it is when I am weak, then I am strong. When I am weak, then I am strong. He would boast then in his weaknesses, in his infirmities, so that the power of Christ would rest upon him.

But see, this wasn't diatrophies. He boasted in his strength, in his preeminence. He liked to be in authority, but he was unwilling to be under authority himself. There's nothing wrong with authority. There's nothing wrong with gifting.

But all those who are in authority also need to be under authority. Every person needs to be under authority. We need, we all need, authority in our lives. Elders, I need authority in my life. I need the presbytery and their authority over me.

Husbands and fathers need authority in their lives. We all need authority in our lives to be under authority, but not the geographies. He didn't even accept the authority of the Apostle John. And when John would write a letter commending people, he didn't receive those people. He acted unilaterally as a lone ranger and lived without accountability.

And those are all characteristics of pride. And pride in leadership is destructive to anybody, pride is destructive for anybody. Pride goes before destruction and before a fall. But pride in leadership is devastating to the church and can destroy a church. And that's why teachers have a stricter judgment because there's a greater damage from their sins than from others the sins of other people the second charge against diatrophies The second charge against diatrophies is the malicious use of his tongue.

John says, Therefore if I come I will call to mind his deeds, which he does, praying against us with malicious words, praying, talking nonsense. The stuff he's saying isn't true. There isn't substance to it. It's slanderous gossip. The Ninth Commandment is an incredibly broad commandment.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. John describes it as the malicious words, the malicious use of the tongue. James says that the tongue defiles the whole body. And a malicious tongue in an elder and a minister can defile the entire church.

James says that the tongue sets on fire the course of nature. And that it is set on fire by hell. What are the sins of the 9th commandment? What is involved in the malicious use of the tongue? Well I'd like to just read what the catechism includes under this commandment.

In summing up, what's in the malicious use of the tongue? Well, it's prejudicing the truth, shading the truth, just a little bit, to change it just enough that you communicate a little different message. Oh, maybe everything you say is true, but you've prejudiced it to communicate the opposite message. I love this little GIF that shows a picture of a TV screen. Actually, it's the video camera, TV camera, actually, the actual camera, shows the picture on what that camera is filming.

And in that picture you see what appears to be two men. And it seems like one guy is trying to stab another guy in front of him with a knife. That's what it looks like. Maybe some of you have seen this. And So here's this picture of a TV camera.

There's a guy, you know, oh well, it's a TV camera. And there's a screen, a guy stabbing another guy. The next picture just zooms out on that. And you see that this is a TV camera, and there's a man standing behind the TV camera and he's he's got the camera aimed at two people. But where you thought one guy was stabbing the other guy with a knife when you see the whole picture you realize that the guy you thought was stabbing the other guy with a knife is actually the guy running away from the guy who's trying to stab him with a knife.

Now, was there anything false about the picture that you saw first? No, not at all. You just didn't see the whole picture. When you see the whole picture, you realize it's exactly the opposite of what you were led to believe in the first picture. That's prejudicing the truth.

You're shading it, and you're actually communicating a different message from reality. Prejudicing the truth, which can involve the good name of our neighbors. We can do the same thing to our neighbor. We can say something that's true, but communicate the opposite of what reality is. And to the injury of the good name of our neighbor, as well as our own.

Of course, you can also give false evidence, false, suborn false witnesses. You can wittingly, I mean knowingly, appear and plead for an evil cause, out facing and overbearing the truth. Out facing and overbearing the truth. Passing unjust sentence, calling evil good and good evil, rewarding the wicked according to the work of the righteous and the righteous according to the work of the wicked, Dr. Fees was doing that.

We'll see in a minute. Forgery, concealing the truth, those we understand as lies, but also not speaking unjust silence in a just cause, not saying anything when you need to say something. Holding our peace when iniquity calls for a reproof from ourselves or others. Speaking the truth unseasonably or maliciously to a wrong end. Perverting it to a wrong meaning or in doubtful or equivocal expressions to the prejudice of the truth or justice.

An equivocal expression is one that can be taken in different ways. And so you use the word in one way and then you use the word another way and so it's called equivocating. You're not clear, you're not speaking what is true, but you're equivocating. You're saying you did something and you didn't do it at the same time. Speaking the truth unseasonably.

Everything you say is exactly true, but it is a lie. So I think if you want a definition of what is the sin that is breaking the ninth commandment it would be this it would be the unjust Handling of the truth the unjust or the improper handling of the truth So a lie by definition is the unjust handling of the truth. So we ask the question, did Rahab lie for example? Well no. She did not unjustly handle the truth.

Did Doeg lie when he told Saul that Abimelek had given food to David when David was fleeing from Saul. Did he lie? Yes. The psalm says that he lied but everything he said to Saul was true. It was an unjust handling of the truth.

See, Not all killing of people is murder. Sometimes it's necessary and just to do so. Murder is the unjust killing of people. Not all sexual activity is fornication. There's a proper use of it in marriage, but when it's improperly done outside of marriage then it's adultery or fornication.

You see It's the same thing with the handling of the truth. Not every instance of saying something that's not true is a lie. It's on the unjust handling of the truth. God hides the righteous from the wicked. And he exposes the wicked to the justice of the righteous.

And so when Rahab hid the spies, the Bible never says she lied. It says she hid the spies. She concealed the righteous from the wicked. When Doag told what was true to Saul, he exposed the righteous to Saul. And it resulted in the death of the Bimalat.

Now that was all according to God's sovereign plan, but it was wickedness on the part of Doeg. And so diatrophies, prates against even the Apostle John with malicious words. Gossip. Slander. Prejudicing the truth.

Speaking the truth unseasonably. Or speaking the truth maliciously to a wrong purpose, for a wrong reason. Backbiting, detracting, tail-bearing, whispering, scoffing, reviling, rash, harsh, and partial, partial meaning not impartial, partial meaning prejudice in a wrong way, partial, censuring, censuring, the geotrophies did this, We'll get to that in a minute. Misconstructing intentions. See, we're to have, we're to think good of people, we're to assume good of people, and have charitable thoughts towards their intentions.

But when we misconstrue intentions, or misconstrue their word, we're to have a charitable interpretation of people's words and communications to us, and understand them in the best possible light. But misconstruing their intentions, their words, or their actions is a form of unjust handling of the truth. Breaking the ninth commandment, its malicious words. Flattering, vain, glorious, boasting, thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others, speaking too highly of ourselves. Another sin are diatrophies, denying the gifts and graces of God.

Diatrophies was denying and preventing people from showing hospitality, Aggravating smaller farts, hiding, excusing, or extenuating of sins. Hiding of sins when called to a free confession. Unnecessary discovering of infirmities. So it's either way, unnecessary discovering of infirmities, or hiding the sins that ought to be exposed. Raising false rumors, receiving incontinency in evil reports, and stopping our ears against just defense.

Dr. Vies has done this. Letters of John commending people came and Dr. Ves refused to receive those letters. He stopped his ears.

Evil suspicion, envying or grieving at the deserved credit of any endeavoring or desiring to impair it Rejoicing in their grace and infamy scornful contempt fond admiration breach of lawful promises Neglecting such things are as our good report. That's exactly what the atrophies did these good reports that John was sending He ignored them. He refused to receive the Ministers evangelists that John had commended. Neglecting such things as are of good report and practicing, or not avoiding ourselves, or not hindering what we can in others, such things as procure an ill name. Now John has some very negative things to say about diatrophies.

John is here in the pages of scripture saying that diatrophies is proud, he's arrogant, he's A liar, he's an abusive elder. Is John engaging in malicious words against deatrophies? He's not saying very complimentary things about him. Well, no, of course not. John is using the truth rightly.

He's justly handling the truth. Deutrophes is unjustly handling the truth. And what's the difference? Well, the just handling of the truth always conceals the righteous from the wicked. The unjust handling of the truth exposes the righteous to the wicked.

You see, lying is always wrong. Lying is always wrong. It's a sin. It's a sin of the devil. Satan, Jesus said, is a liar and the father of lies.

It is impossible for God to lie. If it's impossible for God to lie, if it's contrary to his very nature, if it's who Satan is, then how could a lie ever be right? A lie is the unjust handling of the truth. And so the words that the atrophies brings here are not malicious words, sorry, that John brings against the atrophies, they're not malicious words, they're the truth. And they're necessary.

They're necessary to encourage Gaius in his very important ministry of hospitality. They're necessary to encourage Gaius to stand against and oppose diatrophies because Gaius apparently wasn't a man willing easily to do that. And that was just who he was. He's a humble man. And so John writes these strong words to condemn diatrophies and the spirit of diatrophies.

See the malicious use of the tongue especially by those in leadership sets a church on fire. Slander, gossip, deceit, minor, you know, predicing the truth can seem very small at the moment. But James says, see how great a forest a little fire kindles. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, Proverbs says, and those who love it will eat its fruit. See, these kinds of sins, they're ongoing.

They seem small. Any one of them, all by itself at one time, we may easily overlook. But when these things come together in a pattern of living, in a pattern of speaking, in a pattern of life, they are the little vibrations that destroy a building and they destroy the church. The third charge against the deatrophies is abuse of authority. He removed those who wanted to receive these ministers, he removed those who saw his sins and refused to participate in them, who stood up to him.

He just put them out of the church. Says he does not receive the brethren and forbids those who wish to receive the brethren, putting them out of the church. He used his authority as an elder to excommunicate people who were confronting him about his sin. That's abuse of authority. And it's another critical piece of the spirit, the spirit of diatrophies.

You see, the church was his fan club, consisting only of those who agreed with him. And the minute somebody sought in humility to confront his sins, he cut them off and kicked them out of the church. And that's a problem that's with us today. I can't tell you how many situations I'm personally aware of where ministers, prominent men, are confronted by sin, and their response is to put out of the church the person who confronted them their grievous Abuse of authority and it needs to be addressed. It needs to be publicly rebuked.

The scriptures say that the elder who sins is to be rebuked in the presence of all, publicly. The spirit of diatrophies is a package of pride that seeks the preeminence, is unwilling to listen to others, is divisive, and is highly destructive to the church. Now there's one characteristic that is implied in this passage but it's not explicitly stated. And that is some people that saw these signs and sought to expose them who were put out of the church but he didn't put everybody out of the church. So I think their implication is that there were some people in the church who were under the delusion that Deutrophes was this good man who maybe had a few sins, but who doesn't have sins.

Who doesn't sin occasionally? And maybe even David, right, is that example of a man of God, the sweet psalmist of Israel, who committed great sin. And so there are people who are just willing to continually overlook these sins. They're willing sometimes not even to just overlook these little sins. I say little in quotes, but even big gross sins.

John says, no, no. I'm going to call these things to mind. Or if I come. But you see this is a characteristic that is also present with the spirit of doctrrophies is the effect it produces on the church. Some see these sins and they seek to address them biblically and they often are the ones that get put out of the church and others excuse those sins and they justify them.

And that isn't right. And so what happens is it divides the church between the people who see the sins and want to oppose them and address them, and the people who want to forgive, quote unquote, forgive them. And the people who want to address them are seen as harsh and unforgiving and ungracious. And the people who want to overlook them are seen as gracious and forgiving. And I think John is saying, not with the spirit of doctrines, not when you're encountering this kind of pride and this kind of malicious use of the tongue.

That needs to be addressed. Because it does divide the church. Divides the church. And pits people against each other. And it's a very sectarian spirit that Paul was addressing in 1 Corinthians 1.

1 Corinthians 1. Now why should we need to study this spirit of diatrophies? I think there's two reasons I can give. The first is that we need to be able to recognize the spirit of the atrophies and not be deceived by it. It's wrong for us to remain naive about this pattern of sin in the church or in the home.

Because you can have this in any institution, the family or the church, or even the civil government. Now husbands can act this way in the home. And wives can put up with this kind of abuse improperly. It can be easy to just overlook these things and to put up with them and say well that's just the way they are. Because we don't want to confront it.

That's difficult. You might get put out of the church. You might incur their wrath against you. And some of us just rather don't want to do that. Especially in the church where it's somebody that's prominent and famous and well known for their teaching.

Paul addressed this in 2 Corinthians. He says, you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, and puts you in this way. This is how wicked people act in the church, and we need to be able to recognize it. But we also need to be able to recognize these sins in us, because these are just, you might say, ordinary sins that are all present in us, in all of us. Pride, malicious use of words, not submitting to authority, we all wrestle with those things.

And so We need to recognize these sins before they become life-defining patterns. So that we can be continually mortifying them and putting them to death. Because there is victory in Jesus, even over these sins. As we saw last week, the importance of dealing with the sin of pride even as it's a thought before it's worked its way out into our actions and words But even when these things have become life-defining sins, there is salvation in Christ. There is the power and the resources in Christ to overcome these sins and to change even when they become life-defining.

So the world will often tell us with these people, well they're hopeless, there's nothing that can be done for them. But the Bible says otherwise. Jesus died so that even these who have the spirit of the atrophies can be healed and restored. He died so that we who daily have our own pride and our own in submission to authority so that we can put those sins to death as well. Praise the Lord.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your blood that is greater than all of our sin, for your grace, your marvelous grace that reaches even to those with the spirit of the atrophies, to have life-defining sins. Oh Lord, we pray for wisdom and discernment, that we may justly handle the truth in all things. Lord, we know that we can never do this on our own. So we ask Lord for a conscience that is tender, for the prompting of your spirit, especially in the area of our pride, in the area of our words, and the things that we have said. Oh Lord, may you bring conviction where we are wrong, and may you bring forgiveness that we might know the cleansing power of your blood to wash us from all iniquity and to present us as spotless without blemish or wrinkle.

And Lord we pray that we might know the power of Your grace to keep us from stumbling, for Your grace is sufficient to do that as well. We ask these things In Jesus' name, Amen.