Outline of II John

Dr. Wesley K. Smith
Pastor of Kirby Road Baptist Church, and President of Temple Baptist College, Cincinnati, Ohio

1. Introduction to II John, III John, Jude: warnings against false doctrine in the church.
   1. As the quote, Great treasures are often found in small packages, so is the true value of II John, III John, Jude.
      1. Each consists of only one chapter.
      2. III John – smallest book in Bible with II John only a line larger in the Greek.
      3. Length – each would fill only a single sheet of ordinary papyrus paper.
      4. Each is a proverbial nugget of gold.
   2. One very valuable contribution of these small epistles is their picture of conditions typically found in the Lord's churches.
      1. There are saints walking in the truth among deceivers as in II John.
      2. There are professed believers who greatly vary in their attitudes of service as found in III John.
      3. There are situations that exist in our churches where the saints need to contend for truth as Jude explains.
   3. Each letter contains a message, is written within a historical setting, and is relevant in application to each of the Lord's churches today.
   4. Each letter contains warnings against false doctrine in the church.
   5. Consider warnings in these three books with the following outline for each:
      1. Background for the letter.
      2. Contents of the letter.
      3. Applications from the letter.
   6. May the Lord strengthen His churches through this study of His Word.
   7. Prayerfully study – then pass it on to others (II Timothy 2:2).
   
   
2. Background of II John.
   1. Author: Verse 1 identifies the author only as the elder. The style of writing and traditions points to the aged apostle John as this elder.
   2. Addressee: the elect lady and her children. Two popular interpretations:
      1. Figurative-elect lady - a church; children-members of that church.
      2. Literal-elect lady – a real person of the following (based upon whether the Greek words are interpreted as common or proper nouns):
         1. An unnamed saint of the Lord
         2. Elect Cyria.
         3. The lady Electra.
   3. Date and place of writing:
      1. No internal statement.
      2. Possibly written the early date of 80-81 AD., or a later date of 97-98 A.D.
      3. Written from Ephesus – the place of John's ministry during those years­ just before setting out on a journey to visit the churches.
   4. The occasion and purpose: Knowing this Christian lady was given to enter­taining itinerant preachers and being aware that false teachers were trying to get entrance into such homes, John writes this letter to warn her about helping such. Plus it gave him an opportunity to commend and encourage them to continue in her practice of the truth in love.
   
   
3. Contents of II John: a short letter of only 4 paragraphs. The para­graphs begin with verses 1,4,7,12.
   1. The salutation, vs. 1-3 – author, vs. 1a; readers, vs. lb-2; greeting, vs. 3.
   2. The message, vs. 4-11.
      1. Words of commendation for the lady and her children, vs. 4-6.
         1. Concerning the children – walking in the ways of truth, vs. 4.
         2. Concerning the lady – continue her expressions of love and truth, vs. 5-6.
      2. Words of caution concerning false teachers, vs. 7-11.
         1. The reason for the warning, vs. 7.
         2. The appeal of the warning, vs. 8.
         3. The explanation of the warning, vs. 9.
         4. The prohibitions of the warning, vs. 10-11.
            1. The 2-fold statement, vs. 10.
            2. The main reason for the statement, vs. 11.
   3. The close, vs. 12-13.
      1. The hope to visit shortly and talk some more about this, vs. 12.
      2. Others say hello , vs. 13.
      
      
4. Applications from II John.
   1. For us-individually – as a member of a church.
      1. Are our lives such as to receive a commendation like this lady?
      2. Have we transferred the truth to our children to where they feel as strongly about it as we do?
      3. How open are our homes to others such as itinerant preachers to mis­sionaries?
      4. What is our attitude concerning people who claim to be Christian leaders but teach error?
      5. How much of our reward has been lost because of our acceptance of unsaved preachers into our homes (via TV and radio) or into our churches?
   2. For us – collectively – as the members of the church.
      1. How much love do we express to missionaries that come into our area?
      2. Do we claim to stand on truth when we do not exercise that truth in love?
      3. How much real Christian education is going on in our Sunday Schools­ – Are our children walking in the truth? (Real learning does not occur until a change takes place).
      4. How aware are we of error in the practices of our church?
      5. How aware are we that demonic influence is always present to attempt destruction of the Lord's work?
   3. For us – personally – as the Holy Spirit has illumined in this study.