Judges 9 and 3 John

Turn with me please to the book of Judges chapter 9, verse 6. Judges 9 and verse number 6. And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Milo, and went and made a Bimelech king by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint the king over them, and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the tree said to the fig tree, Come thou and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou and reign over us.

And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow. And if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made a Bimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jeroboam, that's Gideon, and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands.

Now turn to the New Testament, please, for a reading of 3 John, the third epistle of John. The third epistle of John, verse 1. The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth, Behold, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity, thy love, before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well. Because that for his name's sake they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles, we therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the truth.

I wrote on to the church, but Diotrephes, who loved to have the preeminence among them, received us not. Wherefore if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, fretting against us with malicious words, and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. 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. Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself. Yea, and we also bear record, and you know that our record is true.

I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and with pen write unto thee. But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be unto thee.

Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name. Now we know that God will bless the reading of his precious word.

Now I want to use this parable of the trees and judges to illustrate some truth that we have read off in 3rd John. The best illustrations really that we can get as we minister the Word of God, or try to minister the Word of God, are from the Old Testament. I know there's lots of good stories in the Reader's Digest, and I read the Reader's Digest once in a while.

I don't subscribe to it, and you might know, if you know me, I like to read the funny parts of it more than all the rest of it. But the best illustrations really that we need, we can get right in our Bible. And I think this is a wonderful illustration.

Now I'll tell you a little bit about the background, if you don't know, in Judges chapter 9. We read about a man called Abimelech. Abimelech was a son of Gideon by a concubine, but Gideon had many other sons, 70 other sons, and by his wife, and this man Abimelech, he decided that he wanted to reign over the people of God on that day. And in order to do that, he slew all the sons of Gideon.

Imagine, some awful things in the book of Judges. It's a book of mountains and valleys, and God would raise up deliverers for them, and then they would forget God, and God would raise up someone else, and it's just ups and downs, just like life today. And of course, the big thing, you know, you could write over the whole book of Judges as every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

They weren't going according to the Word of God. They wanted to do what they wanted to do, and they had it all figured out, and there are many among us today that have the same ideas, the same thought, same desires. They want to improve on the Word of God.

We can't improve on the Word of God. God has the best for His people. So anyhow, this man, Jotham, he stands up, and he recites this parable.

And of course, you can see in this parable that the bramble, or the thorn bush, would refer to Abimelech. But I want to look at this and at these scriptures in a more positive way. I know we often speak about the diatrophies and what an awful character he was, and he was.

But that's not going to encourage our hearts too much, and I hope there aren't any diatrophies among us that want to lord it over God's people and be the whole chief cook and bottle washer and do everything and make all the decisions. No, we don't want to do that. We want to enjoy the things of God.

Now, when it comes to the trees, the first tree that's mentioned is the olive tree. Should I leave my fatness? And it says, we're with the honored God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees. And you know, the olive tree speaks of light.

And here's a—light really is testimony, isn't it? I know the Lord went into the northern part of the kingdom, and it says to them that sat in the shadow of death—darkness in the shadow of death—is a great light sent. The Lord brought some of the light of heaven into this dark world. And I think that's a good example for you and for me.

We're here, and we have a testimony. Light doesn't shout. It shines.

So my testimony isn't just what I say. My testimony is what I am. And here's a tree, and we're likened, of course, to a person, and they have a testimony.

Light in this dark world, and illumination. Light brings illumination, and that's what we need—illumination by the Spirit. And we know that all these things really come together, and it makes the face to shine.

I don't know if our faces shine too much, but you know, some Christians we have met—and usually older Christians, but we maybe shouldn't limit it—and there's something about them. Their face really shines. You can tell, well, I think, if you think of Moses being in the presence of the Lord, his face shone.

That's where our testimony begins—spending time in the presence of the Lord. And his face shone so much, he had to cover it. Of course, it was because the glory was fading away.

And I think maybe when he went into the presence of the Lord, he got recharged. I'm not sure about that, but I know we do if we spend time in the presence of the Lord. That's so important.

That's where the hidden manna was—in the sanctuary. And that's where we need to get into the sanctuary and get into the presence of God. But then he says now, he said, no, I'm so busy— let's put it that way—or so occupied with being a testimony.

My desire isn't to lord it over God's people. I just want to be like the Lord. He's the light of the world, and I want to be able to show these things in my life.

And then they said to the fig tree, come and reign over us. But the fig tree said, should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit? So here's the two things that we would link with the fig—sweetness and truth. It's nice to be sweet, isn't it? I'm not talking about myself.

I'm diabetic, but I'm not talking about that sweetness. But it's more the sweetness of grace, just to be so gracious among God's people and have a care for them. And all these things that we have in these trees, all for the good of others.

And the fig was used for healing as well, and I suppose that would be included. But good fruit, bearing fruit for God. Remember, the Lord went to the fig tree, and it didn't have any fruit.

And this may be a picture of the nation of Israel there, but there was no fruit. So the fig tree was cursed, and all the leaves withered. Nothing for God.

It looked something of a show, but not really fruit for God. We can do things in an outward way, can't we? And really, God gets nothing from them. Others might see it and say, well, it looks really good, but you know, a fruit tree's not much good if it doesn't bear fruit.

And then he said to the vine, come thou and reign over us. What about the vine? What does it do? The vine said, should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Here's a joy. That's a great part of our testimony, isn't it? A joy.

And to bring joy to others, that's the thought. Wonder how much joy. You know, wine speaks of joy.

The context would tell us whether it's joy in the things of the world, I hope not for us, or whether it's joy in the things of God. So here's a vine, and I don't want place. I just want to be a help.

I hope that's our attitude among God's people. We just want to be a help, to bring some joy and some cheer to God's people. And there's different ways we can do that, and I won't go into the ways.

You apply these things to yourself. But then, you know, the vine, should I leave my wine, then the trees, verse 14, they said unto the bramble. That's the thorn bush.

Come and reign over. Imagine a bramble. Thorn bush, that's a product of the wilderness.

But, you know, I think here the idea is really that it didn't have a part in the original creation. Here's something that was brought in because of the curse. The land was cursed, and it was going to bring forth thistles and thorns and so on.

It really had no part in God's creation, and yet it said, I'll take the high place. You come and I'll tell you, if you're near the thorn bush, that's where pain comes from, isn't it? And a lot of pain, a tree like this would reign over the rest of the trees. He who loves best, or he who serves best, loves best.

What do you get from a bramble? Not very much, really. Not any fruit that you would enjoy, I don't think, anyhow. And this is the one that wants to serve.

You know, just as I leave this portion, the Lord Jesus Christ is ahead. Do you know where he was found? At the feet, at the feet of the disciples. Ahead, over all things.

There are many headships in the Word of God. And here's the Lord, and where is he? He's taken that humble place. He wants to serve God's people, and there's things we could say about that.

But now, when we come to the third epistle of John, I hope I'm applying this in a right way. You might want to do it in a different way, but I think it'll fit in. And here we have this man.

Well, it's written by John. And I think of John, I think of the old olive tree. John was an old, old man.

He's going to say the same age as Brother McCullough, maybe. Oh, he's 100? He said he was 100. I don't know.

But anyhow, he was an old man. But I'll tell you, we've heard the admonition, to take heed to the old men. And I'm not talking about myself, you know, I'm not old.

But thank God for old men that were a help to me, and an encouragement. And I would like to be the same. I don't know if I have been, but I'd like to be the same, to encourage the Lord's people, to encourage them in a right way.

Oh, people can encourage the preachers, you know. Are we going to hear you this afternoon? And then, oh, that was a wonderful message. You know, you think you did pretty good.

And then you hear somebody else, and you thought they had nothing, and they're telling them the same thing. That was wonderful. Well, we all hear different from different people, and it takes all of us, doesn't it? Good thing there was more than one of us.

Anyhow, I think of John as the old tree, guided by the Holy Spirit. Tremendous man, wasn't he? He wrote to a woman in 2nd Epistle. He writes to a man here.

He writes to assemblies in the book of Revelation. In 1st John, he writes to the family of God. In John's Gospel, he writes to the world.

What a tremendous man, I'll tell you. He contemplated these things over many, many years. And here he is.

And what does he say? He says, here's this man, Gaius, the elder, that would be John, unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. Here he is.

The truth. That's what we're here for, isn't it? To teach the truth. And the greatest truth, of course, is seen in the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And we read, you know, about the truth that is in Jesus, I think is the expression. And I've been thinking about that lately.

And I thought that's a wonderful thing. The truth that is in him. I think in him would be the perfect example.

That would be the idea, likely. But I've been thinking recently about the Mount of Transfiguration. And you remember on the Mount of Transfiguration they had Moses and Elijah and the Lord.

And Peter, he thought, well, this is quite a gathering. Let us build here three tabernacles or three booths. He thought that the kingdom was going to be set up right away.

After all, here's the king in his glory. We're going to set up the kingdom. We have arrived.

But you know, the kingdom couldn't be set up without the great price of redemption being paid. But anyhow, what I was thinking about, and I've thought about this, and there's so much involved in that beautiful scene. But here's what I want to bring out now.

Here's Moses. Who's he? He's a lawgiver. He represents the law.

Here's Elijah. Whom does he represent? Well, he represents the prophets. And that's the scriptures they had in the Old Testament.

The law and the prophets. And he's all taken up with that. But God's saying, no, they're finished.

The law and the prophets, they're being replaced. I'm not saying we don't, I've gone into the Old Testament. We're not saying we don't use.

But what I'm saying is this. A bright cloud overshadowed them. And they saw no one save Jesus only.

He said, now there's a whole different dispensation coming in. Here's the one grace and truth subsist in Jesus Christ. A great change taking place.

And while we love Moses and we love Elijah and all these Old Testament illustrations and so on, and we should. But yet we need to get our eye on the Lord. That's the important thing.

And here's a man, Gaius. And I think Gaius, he's a prosperous one, devoted to God. And I think he would represent the ministry of the fig.

And it is interesting. I don't know how it would just fit in, but figs were used in the days of Isaiah to heal the boil and so on. But here's a man that's sick.

Sick in body. Quite a few of us like that. We get older, you'll find out.

But I'll tell you something that sick in body is bad, but it's a tremendous thing to be healthy in spirit. And that's what this man, his soul prospered. The sickness wasn't bringing him down.

He's going on for God. He's not complaining and moaning. And he said, I still want to be a help.

And all of us want to be a help. Don't be to God's people and bring a little bit of sweetness to them. And here John says, I rejoice of the truth that is in thee, and even as I walkest in truth.

The best way to teach, you know, is example. Maybe that's where many of us fail. The best teacher is example.

We've heard that already. Be an example to others. And our assembly should be an example to other assemblies.

Would we like them all to be like us? Like the group that I'm part of or that you're part of. We should realize that we're an example. We're a lampstand in the world as well.

But anyhow, here we have again, what a beautiful character he is. I have no greater joy. I don't know if he was one of his John's converts, but he talks about to hear that my children walk in truth.

It's a great thing to see souls saved. Some of us have seen a few souls saved. I'll tell you, they all haven't gone on.

But it's a wonderful thing to go anywhere, conference or a meeting, and see someone that professed to be saved. And you were a link in the chain maybe many years ago, and they're still going on for God. That's what we want.

We don't want strange children. That's why sometimes we have meetings for weeks and weeks, and you wonder why we don't see work done. Well, maybe that's not the worst thing.

We'd love to see true, real work done. But I think the fact that they're not coming in in droves is maybe showing us that the brethren are handling things all right. We have to be very careful with souls when we're dealing with souls.

We want to see them not only saved. The reason we want to see them saved, at least I would say for myself, is not just the fact that they'll never be in hell. I'd like to see them saved that they might be part of an assembly, go on for God and be a testimony.

That's what we're looking for. We're looking to either build up assemblies or for somewhere else to try and see an assembly established. So that's why we're, well, I must go on anyhow.

So here he is, hospitable, even though he's not well, but he's prosperous in soul. And he borne witness to his love for the Lord's people and for those that would come with the truth. And he said, we try to help them as they go on, a little different than today.

They didn't have credit cards they could rely on if they didn't have sufficient funds. They cried out to God and God provided for them, and he still provides today. Well, he said, we ought to receive such.

Second John tells them who not to receive, but here's who they should receive. But he wrote to Diotrephes. Now, you don't need to have great intelligence to see that he's a bramble.

He's a thorn bush. And as far as I'm concerned, and I believe this bears it out, he doesn't have a part in God's new creation. Because he goes on to say, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.

He that doeth good is of God, and he that doeth evil hath not seen God. So here's Diotrephes. He's not the prosperous one.

He's a preeminent one. And he's dictatorial. He wants to run the whole show, the whole assembly.

You say, could there be people like that today? I have known men. Now, I'm not saying they weren't saved. I would say they were saved.

But yet they have the same spirit. That's the point. We might have the same spirit, want to be number one and everything.

The only time I was number one was when we lost our house in the tornado, when I went to the post office to get a box number, and they gave me number one. I'm better careful what I say. I'm not number one at home, but really I am.

I am. We share things. So I better be careful.

Anyhow, here we are, and here's a man, and he's lording it over God's people. No part in the original creation, no part in God's creation. That's sad.

May God keep us from that sort of a spirit. Instead of lording it, we want to be a help. Just go on humbly for God.

Doesn't matter whether anybody notices or not. We just go on for God. But then when we come to verse number 12 of Demetrius, and I thought, well, at least we'll have to make him the—he's the pattern of the truth.

He's devout. And of Geas would speak about the teacher, maybe, and the sweetness of the teaching, and so on. Here's a man then who would likely represent the gospel, bringing fruit for God, the true—being in the true vine, so the testimony of the vine.

And that's what we need to reach out to the lost and the perishing. I love to preach the gospel. I'm getting older now.

I don't know why it is. Maybe I can't preach it the way I think I can, but I'm asked for a lot of ministry meetings, and I know that's needed, but I hope I'll never retire preaching the gospel. That's what keeps our heart warm.

And an older preacher told me years ago, he says, Bill, nobody listens to you like your own children. So it's good to go out there, and Mr. McBain, some of us will all remember that he said, if a cow doesn't have a calf, it doesn't give milk. Well, I don't know.

There are different gifts, but it's good to stick at the gospel and see souls saved and keep our hearts warm. And here's a man, Demetrius, and I would liken him to the vine. He's abiding in the vine.

That would give him the power and bringing some of the truth of the vine, the joy. What joy there is in preaching the gospel, seeing souls reached and saved. And I hope there's plenty of joy here, not only in preaching it, but there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over a sinner repenting.

Now the time is just about gone, and it's time for me to wind up. I haven't said anything about the sisters. We appreciate the sisters, and if I did, I would tell you that they can be a tremendous testimony.

I know I shouldn't, I'll get into trouble for this, but my wife went into an old folk's home, and she asked for one of the sisters, her room, Mrs. Snyder. And the person on the desk looked at her, and they said, you'll probably want to go and visit the junkers as well. How did they know? Just by the way she was dressed, by her long hair and modest and proper dress.

And I say, I know I'm going to get into trouble for mentioning her, but you see, that's what God's—women can be a far greater testimony than the brethren, just by their appearance, a meek and a quiet spirit. You know, all the Christian women, they're all beautiful. Did you know that? You're beautiful.

Beauty isn't just what you look at outwardly. There's an inward beauty, and I know some women, I would judge they're not any Miss Americas or Mrs. America or whatever you call them, but I tell you, they're beautiful. There's something about them.

The ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit, just taking the place that God has given them. I was thinking of a woman at one time when the preacher was talking about pride. She said, well, you know, before I go to work in the morning, I look at myself in the mirror for about half an hour, and I admire myself.

She says, is that pride? He said, no, that's imagination. So we're not talking about the outward thing. We're talking about you don't need to look for half an hour.

Men are just as bad, I'll tell you. Young men stand with you, you can forget the shower, so on. I'm not just pointing it, but it's a quiet beauty.

And to be a help. That's the point. How can I be a help? By taking the place that God has given me.

And I'd rather be a help than trying to lord it over God's people. I know there's elders, they're not lording it over. They're taking care of God's people.

But here are these, he said, no, I'm too busy to be a help to God's people, to have that in my mind, to be over them, and to lord it over them. So may the Lord bless his word for his name's sake.