Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
2 JOHN SUMMARY: OBEDIENCE TO TRUTH BRINGS REWARDS
1. 1:1-3 LOVE'S LOYALTY TO TRUTH
Ho presBUte-ros [4245] e-klekTE [1588] KuRIa [2959] kai tois TEKnois auTES, hous eGO a-gaPO en a-leTHEIa;
The elder to elect Kyria and her :children,whom I love in truth;
kai ouk eGO MOnos, alLA kai PANtes hoi eg-noKOtes ten aLEthei-an;
and not I only, but also all that know the truth;
diA ten aLEthei-an ten MEnou-san en heMIN, kai meth' heMON EStai eis ton aiOna [165]:
2 for the truth's sake which abides in us, and shall be with us unto the age:
EStai meth' heMON CHAris [5485], Ele-os [1656], eiREne[1515], paRA TheOU paTROS,
3Grace, mercy, peace shall be with us, from God theFather,
kai paRA IeSOU ChrisTOU tou huiOU tou paTROS, en a-leTHEIa kai aGApe.
and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2. 1:4-11 NATURE AND DEFENSE OF TRUTH
a. 1:4 SOURCE OF APOSTOLIC JOY: DISCIPLES WALKING IN TRUTH
E-CHAren LIan [3029]HOti HEUre-ka ek ton TEKnon sou pe-ri-paTOUNtas en a-leTHEIa,
I rejoice greatly that I have found certain of your :children walking in thetruth,
kaTHOS en-toLEN [1785]eLAbo-men paRA tou paTROS.
even as we received commandment from the Father.
b. 1:5 COMMANDMENT OF CHRIST: LOVE ALL SINCERE DISCIPLES
kai nun e-roTOse, KuRIa, ouch hos en-toLEN GRAphon soi kaiNEN [2537],
And now I request you, Kyria, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment,
alLA hen EIcha-men ap' arCHES [746], Hina a-gaPOmen alLElous.
but which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
c. 1:6a And this is :love, that we should walk after his :commandments.
kai HAUteesTIN heaGApe, Hina pe-ri-paTOmen kaTA tas en-toLAS auTOU.
d. 1:6b This is the commandment, even as you heard from thebeginning, that you should walk in it.
HAUteheen-toLEes-tin, kaTHOS eKOUsa-te ap' arCHES, HIna en auTEpe-ri-paTEte.
e. 1:7a JOY FROM DISCIPLES: WHEN THEY TURN FROM ERROR
HOti polLOI PLAnoi [4108]eXELthan eis ton KOSmon:
For many deceivers are gone forth into the world:
hoi meho-mo-loGOUNtes [3670]IeSOUN ChrisTON erCHOme-non en sarKI [4561].
they that confess not Jesus Christ coming in theflesh.
f. 1:7b This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
HOU-TOS es-tin ho PLAnos kai ho anTIchris-tos [500].
g. 1:8 REWARD OF THE SOUL-WINNER: WHEN CONVERTS PERSEVERE
BLEpe-te he-auTOUS, HIna me a-poLEse-te [622] ha er-gaSAme-tha [2038],
Look to yourselves, that you lose not what thingswe have wrought,
alLA misTHON [3408]PLErea-poLAbe-te.
but that you receive a full reward.
h. 1:9 TO REJECT GOD'S WORD - IS TO REJECT GOD
pas ho proAgon kai meMEnon en tedi-daCHE[1322]tou ChrisTOU, TheON ouk Echei:
Whoever goes onward and abides not in the teaching of the Christ, has not :God:
ho MEnon en tedi-daCHE, HOUtos kai ton paTEra kai ton huiON Echei.
who abides in the teaching, the same has both the Father and the Son.
i. 1:10-11 RULE OF HOSPITALITY: NOT TO BE SHARED WITH THE FALSE
ei tis ERche-tai pros huMAS, kai TAUten ten di-daCHEN ou PHErei,
If any comes unto you, and brings not this :teaching,
melamBAne-te auTON eis oiKIan, kai CHAIrein [5463]auTOmeLEge-te:
receive him not into yourhouse, and give him no greeting:
ho LEgon gar auTOCHAIrein koi-noNEI [2841]tois ERgois tois po-neROIS.
11for who gives him greeting partakes in his :evil :works.
3. 1:12-13 FELLOWSHIP OF TRUTH
a. 1:12 JOY: THE FRUIT OF DETECTING DECEIVERS
PolLA Echon huMIN GRAphein,
Having many things to write to you,
ouk e-bouLEthen diA CHARtou kai MEla-nos: alLA elPIzogeNESthai pros HUmas,
I would not with paper and ink: but hope to come unto you,
kai STOma [4750]pros STOma laLEsai, HIna hechaRA huMON pe-ple-roMEne[4137]e.
and speak face to face, that your :joy be made full.
b. 1:13 The children of your :elect :sister salute you.
AsPAzeTAI [782]se ta TEKna tes a-delPHES sou tes e-klekTES [1588] .
NOTE: It appears that John is pretty strict about having fellowship with those who depart from truth. We know that this has happened often in the past 2000 years. In 1951 at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary of Chicago, we had a guest speaker, Dr. Nels Ferre. He had a position with the American Baptist Convention, and had departed into a very liberal, modernistic position. Our Seminary under Dr. Charles W. Koller of Waco Texas, was at the time the most conservative of all our denominational seminaries.
One of our doctoral students, Dr. William Niger Kerr, shared with a number of us his view-point on our speaker of the morning. “That man would never put his knees under our meal time table in our home,” he clearly stated. Some of the listeners took exception to his strong position, and sought to argue with him. “No,” he replied, “If we are disciples of Jesus and stand with Him as seeing Him and His Word as one -- then according to 2 John, we have no choice -- we must refuse hospitality to those who have by an act of self-will departed from the Truth, and Jesus as the Truth.”
I have been unable to forget the above clear and forthright statement of conviction.
Later one of my best friends departed from the clear mandate of Scripture, and took up with the extreme liberal and modernistic view held by the the majority of the United Church of Canada, my former denomination. As I out of conviction resigned 4 positions with this denomination and departed from it -- I felt I had to clearly confront my former friend who departed from the Plumbline of the Word of God -- and reason with him concerning his decision of compromise toward God and His Word.
I have not heard from him since.
Jesus did not seek to reason with people who couldn't meet His standards of discipleship. He sorrowfully let them go! Remember the rich young ruler!
So let us remember 2 John 10 & 11. John was called the Beloved disciple, and the apostle of love. Yet he was the one, who led by the Holy Spirit wrote these words. And let us also remember that according to Bible Numerics as discovered by Dr. Ivan Panin, all 66 books of our Bible are signally set forth as God's word to man, not merely man's word to man! See 1 Corinthians 14:37 for Paul's confirmation to this, and Peter's double confirmation in 2 Peter 1:21. J.A.W.