We are not going to study all of this letter. In fact we aren’t going to study any of it. I just want to point you to a man mentioned in verse 12 – “Demetrius.”
If you look up that name in your complete Bible Concordance, you’ll find three references. In other words, this man narrowly escaped oblivion. But here he is included – and honored – in the most widely read book ever published. “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” And a good name in the Good Book is greater than gold. Heaven and earth shall pass away before this man’s name is erased from the public record. But who was this man? When and where did he live? What did he do to earn this commendation? Nearly all of his surroundings are swallowed up in darkness. And yet there is one little pinpoint light: “Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself.” A great many people with brilliant reputations will one day wish they could exchange places with Demetrius. Alfred Nobel, Albert Einstein, Alexander the Great may be nothing compared to this man. Dempsey, DeMille, Demosthenes probably will all be forgotten before Demetrius.
What do we know about the man in this verse? Admittedly very, very little. This may not be the case, but what if the man of Acts 19:23-28 is the same fella that we find here? “And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Could these two passages refer to the same man, before and after the work of the grace of God? That is a possibility, although not a certainty Where was the Apostle John pastoring when he wrote this letter? History says that he pastored in Ephesus. And where did the events of Acts 19:23-28 take place? Ephesus. If this is the same man, then, oh, what a change has taken place. Truly, “old things have passed away, and all things are become new.” The wretched worm has metamorphosized into a beautiful butterfly, marvelous enough fly about the throne-room of God. Perhaps Paul had persuaded him – “they be no gods, which are made with hands.” If this is the same man, I wonder what line of work it was that he took up? Did he leave the skilled work of silver-smithing and take up preaching? Whoever this Demetrius might have been, people were talking about him, and these were the things that they were saying.
First there was the witness of COMMON opinion.
What should we think of the Christian who seeks after worldly fame – fame of any sort? Doesn’t that attitude tell us that he loves World, which this same Apostle told us not to love? On the other hand, if the world despises us, we’d better be able to explain why. Christ told us that if we follow Him as we should, the world would hate us. But it is not so much us as individuals so much as it is the Saviour that we serve. If the world hates us because we are obnoxious, uncharitable, social misfits then we have the Lord to answer to, because we are not His friend either.
If you were put on trial as a Christian, could your lawyer subpoena your neighbor on your behalf? It may be that as an unbeliever, your neighbor is far from being your best friend. But under oath, before the Judge, would honesty force him to say, “I find no fault with my neighbor?” Or would he say, “I heard that hypocrite swearing, when he hit his thumb with his hammer. You should have seen the way he behaved when that kid down street hit a baseball denting his car. He often makes promises which he doesn’t keep.” What sort of reputation do you have before the unsaved neighbors or fellow-workers? There was a prosperous Wall-Street broker who fell in love with a wonderful young lady. They were talking about marriage, when a friend told man to check her background. He decided that the suggestion was a good one, so hired an investigation agency. He told the manager not to let the agent know who had commissioned the job. When the report came back, it said the young lady had an unblemished past. She had a spotless reputation, and her friends and associates had been above average. But the report concluded, “The only shadow in her life is that she is often seen around town in the company of young stock broker of dubious business practices and principles.”
Every Christian needs to remember that even the unsaved world has lofty standards for Christians. When the average person is caught shop-lifting, there isn’t mention of it outside of the store. But when the local preacher is caught, you can hardly keep it off the front page. Tens of thousands of people are seen in motels with prostitutes, and society only winks. But when a sleazy Pentecostal preacher or two are spotted there, it’s national news. Sure that corrupt politician smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, but he’s only human. And that is fine in the eyes of the non-redeemed. But for a Christian to smoke a single weed in a single week is a shame and sham. And that’s not my opinion, that is what the world thinks. Lost people have the strange idea that saints should live like saints. They often have higher standards for Christians than the Christians have for themselves. Some may think that is a double standard which ought to be abolished. But I agree with the world in this case.
There are Christians who have few non-Christian friends, thinking that it is because they are saints. But sometimes it is because they lack the qualities of being friends with anyone except those who are extremely gracious – ie. a few other Christians. That Christian needs to wake up – look around and look within. If we wrap up our faith in dirty garbage sacks, even the garbage man will refuse it. So many Christians are sour, dour, self-righteous, pompous, critical, obnoxious people. It is not because they are good, but because they aren’t better that they are evil spoken of. Do you remember Daniel’s testimony? “We’ll find no occasion against him except it be concerning the law of His God.” So it was with Demetrius.
That man’s second witness was the Apostle John – another Christian.
What the world says about you and what the Christian says may be the same thing. But what if the Christian testifies even worse things about you? Then God have mercy on you.
What if one of the members of your church was called by the prosecuting attorney to witness against you? “I was there when that man went forward in church dedicating himself to God, but he hasn’t raised a finger to serve the Lord since. He says all the right words, but his actions are contrary to what he says.. That man is an expert criticizer, a grumpy complainer, a crabby creature in Christ. He is a spiritual coward; he has been a spiritual baby for last 15 years.” What a disgrace it would have been if the Apostle John had to say such things about Demetrius Fortunately that was not John’s testimony – “We also bear witness that he is a good man.”
What if members of your own family were asked to testify about you? No one knows you better than your spouse. What would he say, she say under oath before God? Your children have seen you at some of your best and your worst moments. What do they hear you say as you’re driving to church? What do they hear as you’re driving home? They know when you aren’t paying the least bit of attention to the Sunday morning message. And you blame the preacher for their poor spiritual condition.
Have you heard about the wicked man that died, and no local pastor would conduct his funeral? Finally, for a fee, a “reverend” from the next county was coaxed into performing the service. As some unscrupulous preachers do, this man said the most wonderful things about the deceased. It just went, on and on, until the grieving widow, leaned over to her little boy. “Son, I need you to go up and look inside that coffin; make sure that it’s Pa in there.”
Remember that whatever your neighbors, family and friends might say, those things could be multiplied a hundred times by the omniscient God. Forget about what the stranger might say; check with those you know you. And ask the Lord what it is He thinks about you.
The third witness mentioned about Demetrius was that of the Truth itself.
The gospel witnesses for the man who witnesses for it. If a law broken rises up against he law-breaker… If the blood of Abel cries out from the ground where it was spilt… If the direction of our lives is towards the Truth, then the truth will stand beside us.
Let’s go back to our conjecture about Demetrius. If this is the Demetrius of Acts19, the first thing truth required was a new life. No matter who we talking about, when a person is saved, they saved from the inside out. There is indeed a new creature in Christ Jesus. But if there no outward changes, to match inward changes, the Truth will give its testimony. Truth says, repent and be baptized, if we disagree, truth will witness against us. Truth says, “Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together.” Truth says, If you love Christ you will keep His commandments. Truth says, Whatsoever things are true, honest, just and pure, these will permeate your thinking. Truth says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
There was a man who loaned a lot of money to an acquaintance. But there was no witness and no papers were signed, so when it was required there was no repayment. The matter was sent to a judge, but there wasn’t anything he could do. Yet he asked: “Was there nothing at all there when loan was made?” The creditor replied – “Only the stump we sat upon.” Then the judge issued a really stupid order – “Go bring the stump maybe it will witness in this case.” As the creditor went off to dig up the stump, the governor chatted with the accused debtor. Eventually, it was noted that the creditor had been gone a very long time. The thief replied, “But that stump was pretty good size; it will take a long time to dig it up.” Sizing things up the judge pressed the issue, “What sort man lends lot of money without any witness? Was that stump the only witness to the transaction?” The thief then replied, “Yes sir, there were no witnesses but the stump.” Immediately the Governor declared, “Well that stump is an excellent witness; you must pay the said amount, plus interest, plus the expense of digging up the stump.” He admitted that the stump saw and heard – witnessed – the transaction. You could say that the stump was a material witness.
When the Christian shall stand before the Lord, the book shall be opened, along with other books. The Bible, which is the Truth of God, will be the standard upon which we will judged. And then the facts – our acts – will speak for themselves.
Do you see the word “truth” in verse 12? I remind you that Pilate asked, “What is Truth?” It would have been better to ask, “Who is the Truth?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” “The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten son of God, full of grace and truth.”
In I Corinthians 4 Paul said, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.” There will undoubtedly be a future judgment at Christ’s Bema. But the words of this text refer to moment, by moment, judgment by the Lord today. “Thou Lord, knowest the hearts of all men.”
This is the testimony that really matters. What the world thinks is important, but what is the Saviour thinking of you today? Above all else we must want to hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” He has assured us that He will not forget any of our works.
It is good to have a positive witness from men, but the witness of God is better.