Words can cut! Words can kill! Words can wound!
But words can also HEAL!
Now, we have two men mentioned in 3rd John: Diotrephes and Emetrius. John wrote an epistle to Gaius concerning these two men:
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, 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, PRATING (Greek phluareo, ‘a babbler, berate mischievously) 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” (3 John 1:9-10, NKJV).
Diotrephes represents a false brother who spreads false/evil nonsense about others. John in 1 John 2:18 wrote about “Many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us” (1 John 2:18-19). Since the resurrection of Christ, antichrists had infiltrated the churches. These “false Messiahs” or “pseudo-christs” were on the move as well as false brethren (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22). John wasn’t addressing the AntiChrist in 3 John as he did in 1 John. In 1 John 2:18, John wrote, “you heard that THE AntiChrist was coming.” Paul referred to the AntiChrist as “the man of sin, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This man was also called “the lawless one” (2:9).
Prating
We find the word “prating” mentioned twice in Proverbs:
“The wise in heart will receive commands, but a prating fool will fall” (Proverbs 10:8).
The Hebrew reading says, “…but the foolish of lips will be thrust down (i.e., ruined).” Then in Proverbs 10:10 we read, “He who winks with the eye causes trouble, but a prating(Hebrew, saphah) fool will fall.”
Even idly and foolishly chattering about someone can become a form of character assassination. One can become snared by his/her own words of their mouth, be it prating or mere prattle (Proverbs 6:2). Proverbs 6:12 says, “A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth.” “Walking” with the mouth? Yep! Proverbs 6 continues with what the LORD hates: “A false witness who speaks lies and one who sows discord among brethren” (6:19, like Diotrephes in 3 John).
Read the whole book of Proverbs – see how much relates to what one SPEAKS.
Proverbs 12:18 — “The words of the wicked are, ‘Lie in wait for blood,’ but the mouth of the upright will deliver them” (12:6).
Proverbs 12:18 — “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.”
Proverbs 12:22 — “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.”
Proverbs 13:3 — “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.”
Proverbs 15:2 — “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.”
Proverbs 17:4 — “An evildoer gives heed to false lips; a liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.”
Proverbs 18:6-8 — “A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for blows. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.”
Proverbs 21:6 — “Getting treasures by a lying tongue Is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.”
Proverbs 26:23 — “Fervent lips with a wicked heart are like earthenware covered with silver dross.”
We live in a generation in which words are weapons. The government calls piercing/convicting words of truth “hate speech” when it comes against their agenda; but the government is hateful, even murderous. The powers that be (Democratic Party / Political Correctness / Wokeism / et al.) are the powers that identify who is guilty of “hate speech.” Guess who they point out? Certainly none of their own. (Christians who teach the Bible are among their favorite targets!) This “cancel culture” (consisting of “antichrists”) is exactly what the writer of Proverbs referred to:
“There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not WASHED from its filthiness (i.e., feces)” (30:12). He goes on, “There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up (i.e., in arrogance)” (v. 13).
The author adds one more: “There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and whose fangs are like knives, to devour…” (v. 14). (Could the author be thinking of a vampire, that is, blood sucking? Isn’t this what this generation is doing – sucking our national blood out, leaving us listless and pretty much lifeless?)
Our generation is one PLAGUED with HUBRIS pride-balls and RAPACIOUS devourers (“arrogant and excessively greedy/covetous, ravenous for whatever satisfies their appetites”). The present generation is PLAGUED with:
“Give me the BIGGEST! Give me the MOST!”
“The leech has two daughters – Give and Give” (30:15). WOW!
The leech is a bloodsucking worm which is insatiable in its desire for blood: so is the netherworld (i.e., world of the AntiChrist/antichrists) hungry for victims (Sheol is mentioned in v. 16; it is the home of the wicked!).
Sharp Words
While evil men speak evil cutting words to WOUND or KILL, ALL FOR THEIR OWN AGENDAS, we find in Revelation 19:15 another kind of person speaking:
“Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
That “sharp sword” represents words that CUT and DESTROY?! We read in Revelation 19:21 (NKJV), “And the rest were KILLED with the SWORD which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.” Other versions read, “The remnant were STAINED with the SWORD, which SWORD proceeded out of His mouth.” So, who is He? He is “KING OF kings and LORD OF lords” (v. 16), Jesus Christ: “His Name is called THE WORD OF GOD” (v. 12).
We see this “Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last” (1:11) whom “out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword” (1:16). We see Him again in 2:12, 16. Verse 16 says, “REPENT, or else I will come to you quickly and I will FIGHT against them with the SWORD of my mouth.”
Isaiah the Prophet wrote about the “Word of God” being likened to a rod: “He shall STRIKE the ruthless with the ROD of HIS MOUTH, and with the breath of His lips He shall SLAY the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4).
We find this in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 – “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord (Jesus) will KILL with the breath of His mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of His coming.”
Job wrote, “by the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His WRATH they are CONSUMED” (Job 4:9).
While evil men and women RANT, RAVE AND ENSLAVE with words of their mouths, God has His mouthpieces in earth as well … speaking LIFE and DEATH! All this will continue until Jesus’ coming, His literal coming (the Lord’s parousia).
The Biblical concept of the “Holy War,” eschatologically conceived, is found all thru the Bible. We are to take the “Sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17), which is the Word of God.” The “Sword of the Spirit” is our weapon of defense and offense. Sadly, too many use it against one another in the Christian camp.
Back to 3 John
We learned about Diotrephes, who loved to dominate and spread evil nonsense and prating against the Christians with MALICIOUS WORDS, cutting words. John writes, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good” (3 John 11). Then John mentions Demetrius (v. 12), who “has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself…”
Jude wrote about fakes, flakes, and snakes that occupied positions in churches and were causing much trouble. Paul wrote them also. Jesus Himself denounced the “religious” scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23 for Jesus’ CUTTING denunciation), who were HATERS of Spirit Truths. Jude calls them “scoffers who live according to godless desires, who cause divisions, devoid of the Spirit.”
LET US STRIVE TO FULFILL THE WILL OF GOD. Be warned: in doing so, we will be persecuted and prosecuted, hated and hounded, slandered and smeared. Amen!
~ Gen. Jim
