2 JOHN
John: one of the 12 men Jesus chose to be Apostles. John wrote the gospel of John and wrote the
letters of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John
Mat 4:18-22 Jesus told John to follow him John was a fisherman by trade like Peter and Andrew.
Luke 5:2-11 When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus
John was an eyewitness of Jesus Christ as a man. He saw the miracles and glory of the Christ.
John 21:25 John ends his gospel account with this:
Though out the gospel of John, John never uses his name. He always referred to himself as “the disciple or follower whom Jesus loved.” references John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7
Remember how John began his gospel? John 1:1-4, 10-14
Again remember how John began his 1st letter? 1 John 1:1-4
2 John is a short letter of only 13 verses to a woman that isn’t named.
Verses 1-4: To the chosen lady and her children…. Note: some scholars say “To the chosen lady and
her children” really the lady was a church – and the children were the members.
verse 4 makes me lean toward that this was a woman John knew – that she was a believer in Christ.
And that some of her children were believers also. Perhaps a dear friend – obviously he
wrote her a letter.
Verses 5-6 John writes: not a new command – one we have had from the beginning
I ask you that we all love each other. And love means living the way God commanded us to
live. …. Live a life of love
1 John 3:11 This is the teaching you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other.
23-24 This is what God commands: that we believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we
love each other, just as he commanded.
Rem: John writes in 1st John 2:3-6 We can be sure that we know God if we obey his commands.
Whoever says that he lives in God must live as Jesus lived.
Phil 2:5 says we must think and act like Jesus 8 when he was living as a man,
he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God.
1 John 5:3-5 Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us
John writes in John 6:28-29 What are the things God wants us to do? Jesus answers….
Remember Mark 12:29-31 Jesus was asked “what is the greatest commandment” Jesus says
“there are no commands more important than these”
Mat 22:40 All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.
Gal 5:14 Paul: The whole law is made complete in this one command: Love your neighbor as …..
2nd John 6 again: Live a life of love. All other commands of God are under this umbrella :
no commands more important than these
Luke 6:36-38a these direct commands of how we are to act are all under the love umbrella
John writes in 1st John 4:7-12 if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made perfect in us
1 Peter 4:8 Most importantly, love each other deeply, because love will cause people to forgive each other of many sins.
Eph 4:30-5:2 do not make the Holy Spirit sad…. You are God’s children whom he loves, so try to be
like him.
2 John 7-8 Many false teachers are in the world….
Heb 13:9 Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you into the wrong way…..
Be careful yourselves that you do not lose everything you have worked for….
Heb 2:1 We must pay more careful attention to what we have heard , so that we do not drift away
Luke 8:18 nlt Jesus saying:
Col 2:8 Be sure no one leads you away with false and empty teaching that is only human
Col 2:16 do not let anyone make rules for you to follow
1 Tim 6:20-21 Stay away from foolish, useless talk and from arguments of what is falsely called “
“knowledge”
1 John 5:9-13 We believe people when they say something is true. But what God says is more
important
2nd John 9-11 nlt Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God.
Do not encourage people who have wandered away from Christ’s teachings
This is John’s warning to the lady and her children and to us today
The teaching John is warning us about not to go beyond is Christ’s teachings which is Love
2nd John 12-13 John ends his letter He hopes to come and talk face to face so we can be full of
joy. We assemble together to encourage each other and grow our faith and love so we can…..
From this letter I believe John makes it very clear The only rule that matters – the only command that matters – that no command is greater than – is LOVE EACH OTHER as God loves you.
1 John 4:14-21 read it
John 3:18
Romans 4:25-5:1
We worship a “risen savior” and if we follow the commands of Christ by being humble as He was humble and are obedient to God’s commands of Loving each other – we will be like Him and we can be without fear on the day God judges us.
This is encouraging stuff and gives us great joy when we grasp it.
2 John 9 Whoever continues to follow the teaching of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
Thats the lesson if you need prayers or know you need to be baptized we invite you now
Stand and sing