2 JOHN LESSON 1
We will begin this lesson by looking into the person this letter
was written to. We know that John, the apostle, was the author of this
letter. There are three different opinions who this letter was written
to. I will touch on all three and see if any of them agree with what
you believe. Some believe this letter was written to a lady in John's
time. Some believe this is written to a lady in our time. There are
others that believe this was written to the church. They may all be
right. Scriptures are many faceted. The message is the important
thing more than who it was written to. I would tend to believe this
is a personal letter from John to a Christian lady he knew.
We will begin now in II John 1:1 "The elder unto the elect lady
and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also
all they that have known the truth;"
The elder, in the verse above, is John. The elect lady {whoever
she is} is someone or group that believes in the Lord. The word
"elect" tells us that. The children are not spoken of as elect. It,
perhaps, was like Noah and his sons. Noah pleased God, but the
blessing came through Noah to his sons. It appears that John knew this
lady and her family personally. He even speaks of loving them. This
seems to be a woman who had Christian influence, because it speaks of
others loving her, who loved the Lord.
II John 1:2 "For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and
shall be with us for ever."
We know that "truth" in the verse above, is speaking of Jesus who
is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus does dwell within the
believer, and He will never leave us, or forsake us. He is with us
even unto the end.
II John 1:3 "Grace be with you, mercy, [and] peace, from God the
Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in
truth and love."
John was known as the apostle of love. Love is the theme in all
of his writings. John is speaking a blessing from the Father and the
Lord Jesus on this lady and her family. This is perfectly alright for
an apostle to do. She was undoubtedly of great value to the church,
even though her name is not mentioned. Stephen was not very well known
in the Bible, but was one of the first martyrs. It is not necessary
for someone to be named in the Bible to be of great value to God and
the church.
II John 1:4 "I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children
walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father."
Notice that this family was not a Christian in name only, but
were walking the Christian life every day. The fact that they were
living their Christianity greatly pleased John. Probably, this was a
family whom John had influenced. We are all commanded of God to live
upright lives. In fact, if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.
II John 1:5 "And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote
a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning,
that we love one another."
It seems each minister has a message that is uppermost. John was
no exception. He based love very high on the list. First John has a
great deal to say about the commandment of God to love Him and our
fellow man. It is not new for John to bring up the subject of love.
II John 1:6 "And this is love, that we walk after his
commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the
beginning, ye should walk in it."
My own way of expressing this is, that we must walk in the
salvation the Lord has provided for us. Jesus said; If you love me,
you will keep my commandments. The commandments He was speaking of
were in the next Scriptures. Matthew 22:37 "Jesus said unto him, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind." Matthew 22:38 "This is the first and great
commandment." Matthew 22:39 "And the second [is] like unto it, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matthew 22:40 "On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets." If we were to sum up
these two commandments in just one word, it would be love. Walk in
love to God and man.
II John 1:7 "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who
confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver
and an antichrist."
These deceivers are probably leaders with a false doctrine who
are trying to lead others astray. A "deceiver" would be pretending to
be a Christian, when in reality he is opposed to God. Anyone who does
not believe Jesus to be Messiah, and in fact, believes that Jesus was
God manifest in the flesh, is of the spirit of the antichrist. They
are opposed to the truth of Christ.
II John 1:8 "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things
which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward."
He is saying, be careful to stay with the true gospel you learned
from the beginning. The main message is to gird up the loins of the
mind, and do not listen and believe a false message. The danger would
be in falling away from God.
II John 1:9 "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of
Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."
This is saying, to have the truth and lose it would be very bad.
This means that we must guard the Truth. We must continually dwell in
the Truth of Christ. We must not let our salvation slip away believing
a lie. He that endures until the end shall be saved. We must guard the
gospel message, as it was first given to us. Remain saved, after you
get saved.
II John 1:10 "If there come any unto you, and bring not this
doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God
speed:"
Our mind is like a computer. The things we hear are recorded in
our brain. We should not listen to a false message at all. If you
invite these people in, you will remember some of the things they say.
The best policy is do not let them in your house. To wish them God
speed would be blessing them and their false message. Just get rid of
them is the best policy. Do it with Christian compassion, but get rid
of them.
II John 1:11 "For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of
his evil deeds."
To wish them God speed would be saying, you approved of their
message. You could see that would be an error.
II John 1:12 "Having many things to write unto you, I would not
[write] with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak
face to face, that our joy may be full."
This is just saying, that he will not write more, but will come
to see her when he can. This lady is someone John enjoyed being
around. Perhaps, she and her family had been part of John's spiritual
family.
II John 1:13 "The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen."
The greeting from a Christian lady near unto John to this lady
the letter was written to, speaks of her children. This tells us that
both the lady who the greeting is from, and the lady the letter was
addressed to, had children. They were not nuns, but mothers. Many
married women led their families to the knowledge of God.
2 John 1 Questions
1. Who are the three possibilities this letter could have been
written to?
2. Who does the author tend to believe it was written to?
3. Who is the elder in verse 1?
4. How was the person addressed that the letter was written to?
5. Were her children spoken of as elect?
6. Who does John say loves this lady?
7. What does the word "elect" tell us?
8. What is the "truth" speaking of in verse 2?
9. What was the blessing John spoke on the lady?
10. John was known as the apostle of _______.
11. What is the theme in all of John's writings?
12. What explanation is given of the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 3?
13. What condition had John found her children in?
14. If we love Him, we will keep His ________________.
15. What was the commandment, from the beginning?
16. Verse 6 says, what is love?
17. Quote Matthew chapter 22 verses 37 through 40.
18. Who are those that confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh?
19. What warning did he give them in verse 8?
20. We must ________ in the doctrine of Christ.
21. What harsh instruction are we given regarding listening to false
doctrines, in verse 10.
22. If you wish the evil one God speed, what have you done?
23. What does the word "children" tell us about the elect lady?
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