The Weekly Pulpit 3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that does good is of God: but he that does evil has not seen God. 1. He that doeth evil — willingly doeth it — cannot have seen God in the sense of having seen and felt the claims and the force of His commandments. Diotrephes could not have seen God in the commandments, or he would not have forced his way to the "pre-eminence," withheld kindly hospitalities, or spoken untrustful things of the apostle. 2. He that doeth evil — willingly doeth evil — cannot have "seen God" in the example of His Son. 3. He that doeth evil — willingly doeth evil — cannot have "seen God" in the illuminations of the Divine will through the Holy Ghost. All evil resists His in-workings. Or, to use the figure of our text, all evil blinds us to His presence, and leaves us to grope our way in the darkness of our self-seeking. (The Weekly Pulpit.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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