Ver. 10.-For this oe.u,e, if I oome, I will is a person of whom Gains has nr,t hitherto bring to remembranoe Ha works whioh he known much; otherwiso this clt1bomto doeth. The e.poetle is proceeding on the commendation would scarcely be necessary. lines proeoribecl by Obrist. He has remon. Conjectures e.bout him a.re (l) that he was stre.tcd with Diotrephes privately ; he has ~he bee.rer of this Epistle to Ge.ius,-which sent messengers to him to speak in his name, IS not improbable; (2) that he was a member n.nd Diotrophes he.a declined to receive them. of the so.me Church e.s Diotrephes, oncl harl Thore remains one step more, n.nd St. John ?one g~otl servi~o in opposing him,-which means to take it. "If he refuso to hear 1s possible; (3) that he is the silversmith them, tell it unto the Church: and if he of Artemis (Acts xix. 24), now" preaching refuse to hee.r the Church also, let him be the faith of wliich he once maria havoc,"- unto thee as the Gentile [6 i8v,,c&,, e.s in ver. 7) wbich is not probable. The name w"s a and the publican" (Matt. xviii. 17). Juet common one. It is not easy to determine e.s th" missionary brethren bore witness the meaning of the statement that Demetrius before the Church to the Christian love of hath the witness of ail men, and of the troth Ge.ins, so the elder will bear witness before itself. Perhaps it means that those who the Church to the arroge.nt hostility of bore testimony lo Demetrius were s0me- Diotrephes. Once more we see that words thing more than a large hotly of unanimous me.y be works. He who sanctions teachers human witnesses, strong 1u such testimony of false dootrine shares in their "evil works " would be; in giving their witness they were (2 John 11); and the" works" of Diotrepbes gnided by "the Spirit of truth." Or it pe.rtly consist in " prating against us with may mean that the facts speak of them- evil words." The same word for " evil" is selves: e.s soon as Gains knows Demetrius used in both cases (1rov71pos)-the word used ho will see that the universal commendation to express "the evil one; " the coincidence of him is amply justified. The true rending is significe.nt. The insolent opposition to in what follows is, "and thou knowest that the apostle on the po.rt of Diotrephes, and our witness is true" (comp. John xix. 35; the severe le.ngue.ge used by St. John in xxi. 24). The calm confidence with whirh condemning him, ste.nd almost alone in the the writer asserts his author ty, both over New Teste.ment. For a parallel to the Diotrepbes and also as e. witness, confirms latter we must look to our Lord's denuncia- us in the belief that "the elder" is no less tion of the arrogant and hypocritical Phari. than the apostle. sees who opposed him. The Pharisees, like Vera. 13, 14.-3. CONCLUSION (see notes Diotrephes, not merely refused to walk in on 2 John 12, 13). Here the pen or reed the right pe.th themselves, but hindered (,c&>.11µos) is mentioned instead of the po.per, those who were enterillg upon it (Luke xi. e.s a means of writing. The word is found 52). They also" cast out" those who pre- nowhere else in the New Testament in this sumed to tiike e. less ne.rrow view the.n sense Note the a.M.a and the a., each with themselves (John ix. 34, 35). its right force, the former expressing a Ver. 11.-This is the moral to which St. stronger opposition th,m the latter: "I John be.a been lee.ding up. Diotrephes will had many things to write to thee; never- at least serve ns e. we.ming. A Christian theless, I do not care (ciM' otl Oh1.o.•) with ink gentleman will note such behe.vionr in order and pen to write to thee: but I hope (e;1.1r((w to ovoid it. Strengthened by his own pre• lle') straightwe.y to see thee, and we she.11 vious walk in the truth (ver. 3), and en• speak mouth to mouth." "'fhe friends" couraged by the apostle (vers. 5--8), with are perhaps so called in contrast to the Diotrephes as a warning on the one be.nd, hostility of Diolrephes and his l)O.rty. In- and Demetrius as on example on the other, stead of warfare, "peace be to thee;" instead he ought not to fail in proving bis heavenly of the wicked prating of e,1emies, the saluta- birth by doing good and avoiding evil (see tions of friends. The elder concludes with on 1 John iii. 6). his own personal salutation to all the Ver. 12.-Respecting Demetrius wo know members of his flock who reside near to no more tbe.n is told us here. All tbe.t we Gains (comp. John x. 3). oon se.fely infer from what is stated is the.t be
HOMILETICS. Vers.1-14.-An apostolic pastoral to a Christian man. We have here another price- less fragment, giving us a glimpse into the actual Church life of the first century, and of the Christian de,ids and difliculties of one of its honoured members. We Lave n<J other inspired letter to a private Church member. This serves a double purpose. It enables us to picture, in outline, Gains, with his Christian work, his character, and hie trials. It enables us also to picture a Church as to its lellowship, its constitution, and 4 THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN. [1-14,