(BC 110) Epistles of John


Course Description

Ten lectures surveying the three general epistles of John. The first epistle is approached through the theme of the realization and confirmation of our fellowship with God and other believers through Christ. His second epistle is a personal letter with a message to all believers concerning enemies of the Gospel. The Third epistle deals primarily with three men and the examples they project.

Introduction To The Course


What are the Epistles of John?
The Bible is divided into two main divisions: the Old Testament (Genesis- Malachi); and the New Testament (Matthew- Revelation). The Old Testament is divided into four parts: The Law or Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy); History (Joshua- Esther); Poetry (Job- Song of Solomon); and Prophecy (Isaiah- Malachi). The New Testament is divided into four parts: The Historical Books (Matthew- Acts); The Epistles of Paul (Romans - Philemon); The General Epistles (Hebrews - Jude); and Prophecy (The Revelation). The Epistles of John are classified as General Epistles and are refered to as the Johannine Epistles by scholars.

Assignment for lecture One:
1) Copy and print out a set of these notes before Lecture One. Notes may need to be spaced into outline format.
2) Read I John Chapter 1


Notes on the Epistles of John

Note: All material marked by * should be studied in preparation for the course evaluation.


The First Epistle of John
General Outline

Introduction (1:1-4)

I. Our Fellowship with God Manifested by Our Relationships (Chapters 1:5-4:21)

A. Manifested by Our Relationship to Sin (1:5-2:2)
1. False and True Fellowship Compared (1:5-7)
2. False and True Confession Compared (1:8-2:2)

B. Manifested by Our Relationship to the Word (2:3-8)

C. Manifested by Our Relationship to the Brethren (2:9-11)

D. Manifested by Our Relationship to the World (2:12-17)

E. Manifested by Our Relationship to the Deity of Christ (2:18-29)

F. Manifested by Our Relationship to Responsibility (3:1-24)
1. The Believer’s Responsibility to Live Righteously (3:1-10a)
2. The Believer’s Responsibility to Love Rightly (3:10b-24)
a. Love the Brethren (3:10b-17)
b. Love for the Truth (3:18-24)
3. The Believer’s Responsibility to Recognize Error (4:1-6)

G. Manifested by Our Relationship to the Love of God (4:7-21)
1. The Source of Love (4:7-8)
2. The Manifestation of Love (4:9-21)

II. Our Fellowship with God Confirmed by Our Realization (Chapter 5)

A. Confirmed by Our Realization of the Love of God (5:1-3)

B. Confirmed by Our Realization of the Victory (5:4-5)

C. Confirmed by Our Realization of Jesus Christ (5:6-10)

D. Confirmed by Our Realization of the Record (5:11-13)

E. Confirmed by Our Realization of the Confidence (5:14-20a)

F. Confirmed by Our Realization of the True God (5:20b-21)


The First Epistle of John

*1. The First Epistle of John was written to combat the false teaching of ____________________________.

*a. The Gnostics believed that all __________________ was evil,

b. God being _________, could not have created all things.

c. Some _____________________________________________ was responsible for the creation of all material things.

2. This philosophy is dangerous because it denied the possibility of God ever ____________________________________.

3. This denied the _________ of Christ and His redemptive work at Calvary.


Introduction (1:1-4)


*1. John simply states the truth concerning the __________________ and __________________ of Christ.

2. Christ is presented as the _________ in both John’s Gospel and this letter.

a. As a true word perfectly reveals a man’s ____________________________________, Jesus perfectly revealed the nature and intent of the ___________________________.

b. The Son of God became a man for two reasons: to __________________ God and to __________________

*3. The Gnostics taught that it would be impossible for God to dwell in a ___________________________.

4. John denounces all of these errors with the direct declaration of the __________________ and __________________ of Christ.

a. Although Jesus became a _________, He remained _________.

b. Those who reject the deity of Christ will also deny the ___________________________ of Christ for salvation.

5. Regardless of the intent or purpose of man, when the deity and sufficiency of Christ are denied, the power of ___________________________ is absence.

6. The word fellowship means to have a common _________ or ___________________________.

*a. The great theme of this letter is ____________________________________.

b. This fellowship is in __________________ with the person and purpose of God in Christ.

7. John wants the believer to have a __________________ in having true fellowship with God, Christ and fellow believers.

I. Our Fellowship with God Manifested by
Our Relationships (Chapters 1:5—4:21)


Manifested by Our Relationship to Sin (1:5-2:2)


False and True Fellowship Compared (1:5-7)

1. John helps us to evaluate our relationship to God by having us evaluate our relationship to other various things. The first of which is our Relationship to Sin.

2. There are certain types of love that require __________________.

a. God loves ______________________________________________________.

b. God hates _________.

3. Light and darkness cannot __________________

4. In order to have fellowship with God, we must go ___________________________

5. To say that God is our __________________ in sin is to tell the worse kind of lie.

False and True Confession Compared (1:8-2:2)

1. In the light of God’s presence, no child of Adam can hide the fact that he is a ___________________________.

a. What is more serious is that we sin by __________________— “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth”.

b. Anyone who denies these sobering facts concerning the nature of man is described in these verses as a _________ and a __________________.

2. Whoever agrees with God’s ___________________________ of man, and cries out with agony of soul for cleansing, shall find it.

a. God is love, and mercy offers a cleansing that is __________________.

b. The certainty of this cleansing is based on several things:

(1) The faithfulness of God’s __________________.

(2) The righteousness of God’s __________________.

(3) The completeness of God’s ___________________________.

*(a) The word rendered forgive means to __________________ or to _________

(b) God not only removes our sins to the place of no ___________________________, but also to the place of no __________________.

(c) God has removed our sins to the place of no __________________.

3. Not only is there pardon and forgiveness, but cleansing from the __________________ and __________________ or sin.

*a. The blood of Jesus Christ ever abides upon the mercy seat, speaking on our behalf of its eternal __________________.

b. Our responsibility is to __________________, God’s responsibility is that of ___________________________.

c. This confession involves three steps:

(1) _________ God about your sins.

(2) __________________ God about your sins.

(3) __________________ God for taking away your sins .

d. Upon confession of sin, we can know the ___________________________ of sin forgiven and forgotten.

4. If a person truly recognizes _________ for who He is, he will recognize _________ for what it is.

a. No person ever got saved until he first saw himself as a __________________ sinner.

b. No believer has ever restored his fellowship with God until he recognized his ___________________________ as sin.

5. The confession here is confession directly to _________ through __________________.

*a. The Greek word used here means “to ____________________________________.”

b. When we confess our sins, we are saying that we feel the same way about sin that __________________.

c. Before we can enjoy this forgiveness and cleansing, we must ___________________________ our sin and __________________ Christ by faith.

6. If we say that we have not sinned, we call God a liar because __________________ declares that all have sinned.

7. John challenges them not to sin, but if they did sin, he reminds them of the ___________________________ of Christ.

*a. An advocate is one who is called to our side to __________________ and __________________ us.

*b. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins because the death of His Son is the only ____________________________________ for the sins of the world.

c. Decision without conversion is ___________________________.

d. In Christ we have _____________________________________________.


Manifested by Our Relationship to the Word (2:3-8)

1. According to the Word of God, a person who is pure in ______________ will live a pure _______.

*2. The best test for determining if we know Christ is do we seek to ____________________________.

a. In the Old Testament, obedience was according to a ___________________________________;

b. In the New Testament, obedience and fellowship with God are according to power.

c. Both New and Old Testament saints were commanded to look to the ___________________________________ of God for salvation.

*d. The New Testament saint is commanded to walk in the ______________ of the Spirit rather than the _____________________ of the Spirit.

Manifested by Our Relationship to the Brethren (2:9-11)

1. Some have believed that the darkness here is merely being out of ____________________________ with God.

2. Others believe that these haters of the brethren are ______________ brethren.

3. A true believer will _______ fellow-believers.

*4. The Greek word for “occasion of stumbling” is the word from which we get our English word “_____________________,” meaning “__________________________________________.

a. The true believer who walks in light would be less likely to _____________________ into a trap.

b. A false professor of Christ who walks in darkness will fall into every __________________________________________.

Manifested by Our Relationship to the World (2:12-17)

1. There are three groups of people that John addresses here:

a. little children (____________________________)

b. Fathers (____________________________ believers),

c. young men (____________________________).

2. John gives each group a note of confidence.

a. The little children can ______________ in the fact that their sins have been forgiven.

b. The fathers can affirm that God is ___________________________________.

c. John expresses his confidence in the young men’s strength in the ____________________________.

*3. When speaking of “the world” here, John is referring to the ___________________________________.

a. The Greek word means, “_____________________ or _____________________.”

b. Those who love the world will seek to ____________________________

c. You can identify Christians by:

(1) Who they _____________________, who they _______, who they ____________________________ with,

(2) what they _____________________, how they _____________________, how they _____________________.

d. Jesus died for dead men that they might rise to live _______ and _____________________ lives.

*4. There are three basic temptations that will always be in the world:

*a. The lust of the flesh - _____________________

*b. The lust of the eyes -____________________________

*c. The pride of life - ______________

5. The devil used all three on ___________________________________ (Genesis 3:6).

6. The devil tried to use all three on _________________________________________________:

7. Eve fell to _____________________, while Christ overcame ____________________________.

8. Every person has a ____________________________ that he must, by God’s grace, ___________________________________.

9, The three classes of believers that John addresses are _____________________ with those three temptations...

a. a child is tempted to live in _____________________,

b. a middle aged person seeks ____________________________

c. an older person falls under ______________.

Manifested by Our Relationship to the Deity of Christ (2:18-29)

1. During the Tribulation Period, the actual _____________________ will come and deny the true Christ by claiming himself to be Christ (II Thess. 2:3-4).

a. There are many _____________________ in the world today.

b. These false teachers are antichrist; they are _______.

2. We who are truly saved and in fellowship with God through Christ have an _____________________ from God.

a. In the Bible, to be anointed means to be placed into a ____________________________ such as prophet, priest or king.

*b. The anointing spoken of here is the fact that the true believer is preserved by and in the ______________.

c. The false professor who becomes a false teacher is led away by _______.

3. Here, John conveys the divine union between ______________ and _____________________.

*4. The expression, “ye need not that any man teach you” merely means that the true believer knows ____________________________.

5. When Christ appears, there will be no doubt as to _____________________.

6. Our relationship to the deity of Christ manifests our ____________________________ with God.

Manifested by Our Relationship to Responsibility (3:1-24)

The Believer’s Responsibility to Live Righteously (3:1-10a)

1. Jesus is God the Son, and the believer is _____________________.

2. In Christ, we are the _____________________ of God; we are born of the ______________and the ______________ into the eternal family of God.

a. The people of the world are children of the ______________ and in the ___________________________________.

b. The believer, on the other hand, is in the ______________.

c. We, who are saved are the ____________________________ this very moment.

(1) We are sons of God, but we are still in a ____________________________.

(2) At the rapture, these mortal bodies will be changed and fashioned like __________________________________________.

*(3) We face two possibilities at the coming of Christ: either _____________________ or______________.

(a) Our confidence will be the result of ______________.

(b) ____________________________ brings shame at His appearing.

(3) This righteousness a ____________________________ of life.

3. We are the object of two contrasting attitudes:

a. God loves us - We share heavenly _____________________ in His family. We are the object of His _____________________ care.

b. The world’s attitude is one of ____________________________ - It “knoweth us not.” The world notices us but does not ____________________________ us.

c. At Christ’s first coming Jesus became incarnate that He might ____________________________.

d. At His second coming we shall be glorified that we might ___________________________________.

e. The true state of the Christian cannot be judged by ______________ .

f. Whoever gives serious thought to the Lord’s coming will also make ___________________________________.

4. With the privilege, proclamation and promises concerning the sons of God, come many ____________________________.

a. First the responsibility of ___________________________________.

*(1) The expression “purifieth himself” means that the true believer is practicing __________________________________________.

(2) Sin this the transgression (to ____________ over, go __________________) of the law.

(3) Whosoever committeth (_____________________, _____________________ practice) sin is in the darkness of disregard for the desires and commands of God.

(4) Christ came into the world to take away _____________________ and bring us under respect for the _____________________ of God.

(5) There is a difference between being ______________ by by sin and ______________ in sin.

(6) Notice the contrast.

(a) Those who continually, habitually practice righteousness are _____________________ because of their _____________________ of abiding in Christ.

(b) The person who committeth (continually, habitually practices) sin is a ____________________________.

*(c) A person who is born of God is not trapped in a ___________________________________ of sin.

b. Secondly, “for His seed remaineth in him.” The “His” is referring to ____________.

(1) The “seed” is the _____________________ (I Peter 1:22-23, James 1:18).

(2) Because the Word of God and the Holy Spirit now abide in the believer, he becomes more _____________________ about sins, that he once had no ____________________________ against.

c. Thirdly, “and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Again, the idea is a __________________________________________ practice of sin.

(1) The old nature, the flesh, is still _____________________ to the things of the world, but the new, divine nature gives the believer the _____________________ over the flesh.

(2) The old nature is _____________________, but the believer must grow in grace to _____________________ the old nature and claim the victory.



The Believer’s Responsibility to Love Rightly (3:10b-24)

Love the Brethren (3:10b-17)

*1. Cain was of the wicked one; he sought glory in ________________________.

a. Out of ________________________ came jealousy.

b. Out of jealousy came ____________.

c. From this ultimately came __________________

*2. Abel was of God and sought the ________________________; therefore, Cain ____________ him.

3. Hatred wishes another’s ____________.

4. The true spirit of Christianity is ______________________________ of others.

Love for the Truth (3:18-24)


*1. Love is more than just words; love is ______________________________.

2. The lost man seeks to ______________________________ the truth.

*3. Acceptance of the truth is a growing process which we call ________________________.

a. The new nature in the heart __________________ the old actions of the old nature in the ____________.

*b. As we are convicted by the truth and surrender to the truth, we grow in ____________________________________.

4. Our love for the truth affects our __________________ life.

a. We __________________ God’s answer, because we have learned to ____________ and love the truth.

b. If we are willing to accept the truth and pray in His will, we will accept even ____________ as God’s blessed answer.

5. The primary truth is the truth of __________________ which is truth in its ____________form.

6. The Holy Spirit ____________ the new nature and __________________ the new nature to love the brethren.



The Believer’s Responsibility to Recognize Error (4:1-6)


1. Gnosticism rejected the __________________ of spirit and matter, thus denying that God could ever dwell in __________________.

a. This would directly deny the ________________ of Christ.

b. John warns that we are to “try” (____________) every spirit.

c. The first question should be, what does the teaching say about ________________?

d. No ____________________________ would deny that God the Son came in the flesh.

e. The false teacher is one of the forerunners who will pave the way for the __________________________________________.

2. A person who is truly saved will not be led away by false teaching concerning the ____________________________.

a. Denying the deity of Christ is not a sin of the desires of the ______________, but a sin of the ______________.

b. Those who are of the world are at the mercy of ____________________________.

c. The greatest distinguishing factor is the true believer’s understanding of the ______________ and ____________________________ of the true love of God.

Manifested by Our Relationship to the Love of God (4:7-21)

The Source of Love (4:7-8)


1. Real love is the ___________________________________. It is not sensual, base and mushy.

a. Three Greek words:

*(1) _______ love is sensual, base, lustful, and is mostly what the unsaved world understands.

*(2) ______________ love speaks of a friendly affection.

*(3) ______________ love is love that gives itself completely.

b. There’s a fourth kind of love is ecumenical love which has the root meaning of compromise.

c. This world system is governed by _____________________.

2. God’s love can only be inherited through the _____________________.

a. The child of God is a partaker of the ____________________________, which has ____________________________ (II Pet. 1:4).

b. Those who lack ____________________________ do not know God.

The Manifestation of Love (4:9-21)

1. Divine love is manifested in ______________.

a. Divine love is not a selfish love, but a ___________________________________ love.

b. Divine love gives for the benefit of the _____________________.

c. The attribute of divine love prompted God to ___________________________________ for the sins of His enemies, even at the expense of ______________ His only begotten Son.

2. Love is an ______________ word.

*a. The love of God is seen in _____________________ giving.

b. Our love for each other is a ___________________________________ of God’s love before the world.


3. Those who acknowledge Christ as God the Son and Savior are placed into a unique position by ______________.

a. The position of being in _______ and _______ being in them.

b. No one can come to God without realizing the ______________ that God had for them.

*4. The “day of judgment” mentioned here is the Judgment Seat of Christ, where all believers will give account of the their ____________________________.

a. Each one of us will give account for how we used our ___________________________________ at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

b. In I Corinthians Chapter 13, Paul made it clear that gifts without love are ____________________________.

(1) Love is the _______ on which all gifts must travel.

(2) Love is the media through which we _____________________ by faith.

(3) God loves everyone, but that love is not _____________________ until that sinner turns from his sin to Christ.

5. If we love God, we will manifest the attitude of divine love, which is ____________________________.

a. Those who rejected Christ rejected _____________________.

b. Those who reject and hate the brethren are not in _____________________ with God.

6. This true understanding of God’s love will free us from the trap of worldly “love” in the area of spiritual _____________________.

a. Compromising evangelism violates the first principle of divine love, which is ____________________________.

b. Sentimental human love may draw people to _____________________,” but only Godly love can draw them to _____________________.



II. Our Fellowship with God Confirmed by Our Realization (Chapter 5)


1. Doubt will ______________ our service to God, because doubt is the opposite of ______________.

2. Our confidence can be no greater than our realization of the fact that God is (His _____________________) and who God is (His ____________________________ and ____________________________).

Confirmed by Our Realization of the Love of God (5:1-3)

1. The absolute evidence of the love of God is that we keep His commandments (____________________________), and His commandments are not grievous (____________________________).

*2. The first absolute proof of fellowship with God is summed up in two words: ______________ and ____________________________.

Confirmed by Our Realization of the Victory (5:4-5)

1. Those who are born of God have ____________________________ the world.

2. The second absolute proof of fellowship with God is that the true believer is _____________________ from the ____________________________ of the world.

Confirmed by Our Realization of Jesus Christ (5:6-10)

1. The third absolute that confirms our fellowship with God is our realization of the ______________ and ______________ of Jesus Christ.

2. Jesus Christ came by water and blood.

a. Water represents the _____________________ work of Christ .

b. Blood represents the _____________________ work of Christ.

*c. Both baptism and communion are but ___________________________________ of our spiritual fellowship with the cleansing and life-giving work of Christ.

3. God the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit bear witness in heaven of our fellowship with the ____________________________.

*a. The Spirit assures us that we are the ____________________________ (Romans 8:16).

*b. The water assures us that __________________________________________ (I Cor. 6:9-11).

*c. The blood assures us that we have __________________________________________ (Romans 8:9-14).



Confirmed by Our Realization of the Record (5:11-13)


*1. The fourth absolute is the Record of God, which is the ____________________________.

a. The Bible makes it clear that we can __________________________________________ that we have eternal life.

b. It is an ____________________________ that those who have received Christ have (present tense) eternal life.

2. Since John wrote for the purpose of _____________________, we can be sure to find the proofs in this epistle.

a. First, there is the proof of _____________________ (2:3-6).

b. Secondly, there is the proof of _______ (3:14-19).

c. Thirdly, we must never overlook our relationship to ______________ (4:1-6)

d. The ____________________________ of the Holy Spirit (4:13) is a definite proof of eternal life.

e. What we ______________ is a definite proof of eternal life (I John 5:1).

f. Then there is an ____________________________ (5:9-13) of our eternal life.

(1) This inner witness also brings Peace of _______ and ______________.

(2) When the conditions of peace are fulfilled as they are in Christ, the feeling of peace is ___________________________________.

g. Finally, but of utmost importance is the proof of eternal life manifested in the believer’s ____________________________ (3:6-9).

(1) He who has eternal life will live a life which is marked by an absence of _______.

(2) The answer to a believer’s sin is two fold:

(a) The difference between _____________________ acts of sin and _____________________ acts of sin; a single occurrence of sin and the _____________________ practice of sin.

*(b) Sin comes from the _____________________; and when it does, the new nature _____________________.

*-1- The divine nature, grafted in, brings forth the _____________________.

-2- It takes continual _____________________ of the old nature to keep the fruit right.



Confirmed by Our Realization of the Confidence (5:14-20a)

1. The fifth absolute is that the believer who is in fellowship with God has confidence in ____________________________.

a. Those in fellowship with God, recognize and desire _____________________.

b. They also recognize God’s power, and with that recognition comes _____________________ that God will answer our prayers.

*2. The sin unto death brings the chastisement of ____________________________ upon a believer.

3. Verse 18 reminds us that the divine nature of the believer cannot sin, but the _____________________ of the flesh can.

a. The new man keepeth himself (“the flesh”) from being _____________________ by the devil.

b. We know the truth and are freed from the possibility of being ____________________________ from God (Romans 8:28-39).

Confirmed by Our Realization of the True God (5:20b-21)

1. The true God is the giver of ____________________________.

*2. Hebrews Chapter 11 uses the words “he is” which carry a twofold message.

*a. First, we must believe in the _____________________ of God.

*b. Secondly, we must believe that there are ____________________________ that he is.

(1) He is ______________ of all men.

(2) He is not willing that ___________________________________.

(3) He is _____________________ to all who receive Christ by faith.

(4) He is _____________________ to all who live by faith.




The Second Epistle of John
General Outline


Introduction And Commendation: (1-4)

I. Exhortation (5) Continuance In Love

II. Explanation (6) Identification Of Love

III. Enemies (7)
A. Their Mission
B. Their Identification

IV. Examination (8-11)
A. Examination Of Self (8)
B. Examination Of Others (9-11)

Conclusion: (12-13)


The Second Epistle of John


Introduction And Commendation (Verses 1-4)


*1. Identities given to “the elect lady: “

a. the ______________ church,

b. a _____________________ church,

*c. an _____________________ woman.

2. In the context of the entire letter, it seems that John was writing to an _________________________________________.

a. Some see the expression “her children” as referring to _________________________________________________ of this woman.

b. Others believe that this elect lady is a local church and “her children” are the _____________________.

c. Verse 13 seems to imply that this lady had children who ____________________________.

d. John’s love for her was that of a _____________________ for a sister.

e. She was well thought of and loved throughout the _________________________________________________.

3. Verse 2 assures us of the ____________________________ of truth.

a. Truth is eternal, and truth is the ____________________________ of the church.

b. Truth is the basis of all ____________________________.

c. The righteousness of Christ is ours through our ____________________________ of the truth of the _____________________.

4. When we receive the truth of the Gospel, we enter into a __________________________________________ with God.

a. Out of this, we receive ______________.

b. In this we find ______________.

c. Through this comes ______________.

5. In verse 4, John commends this woman for the ____________________________ she had given to her children.

6. John is very _____________________ in his approach to instruct this woman whom he loved in the truth.

*7. John’s motive to help this woman was one of sincere ______________ and ___________________________________ concern.

The Exhortation (Verse 5)

1. ______________ and ______________ go together.

2. Love must be ____________________________ by truth.

3. Both the love for the ______________ and the ______________ are according to the truth.

The Explanation (Verse 6)

1. The basis of all love is our ____________________________ with God through _____________________.

2. Love is an attribute of God which we inherit through the ____________________________.

3. The sign of divine love was _____________________.

4. The ______________ of Christ is the very basis of truth.

5. The ______________ of Christ is the ultimate truth.

The Enemies (Verse 7)

1. The devil has his servants working to _____________________ and ______________ the truth.

2. An antichrist will not deny Christ ____________________________ because his mission is to pave the way for the Antichrist to come and claim to be the true Christ.

3. The Antichrist will deny the ______________ and _____________________ of Jesus, the true Christ.

The Examination (Verses 8-11)

1. Christ has promised a ______________ to those who serve him according to truth.

2. There is no reward for any effort that is _____________________ to God’s ______________.

3. Paul challenges the believer to examine himself before he __________________________________________ (I Cor. 11:27-32).

a. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, the ______________ of the believer will determine whether or not the action receives a reward.

b. Even a good thing can be done for the ___________________________________ and not be rewarded.

*4. Those who abide not in the _____________________ of Christ are to be _____________________.

5. Those who teach a false and perverted Gospel are not to be ____________________________ or given an _____________________.

a. We should not invite them in for ____________________________.

*b. The expression “God speed” means “to acknowledge a _____________________ or _____________________.”

Conclusion (Verses 12-13)

1. These other things John wanted to write about were matters dealing with _______.

2. John wanted to assure her that his love and concern for her had not been _____________________ by her ____________________________ receiving these false teachers.


The Third Epistle of John
General Outline


I. Gaius - The Example Of Charity (1-8)
A. His Prosper
B. His Stewardship

II. Diotrephes- The Example Of Pride (9-11)
A. His Actions
B. His Rebuke

III. Demetrius - The Example Of Respect (12)

Conclusion (13-14)


*Gaius - The Example Of Charity (Verses 1-8)


1. Gaius was a common name which meant “__________”

a. This man was a ______________________________ to the Apostle John.

b. A true friendship is one of ____________________.

2. In verse 2, John wishes for the ______________________________ of Gaius.

a. The word “wish” is the Greek word meaning “____________________.”

b. The only personal goal for any believer should be to find ____________________ and do it to the ______________________________,

c. John prayed for Gaius to prosper more because he was full of ____________________.

3. Gaius had a testimony of having the truth ____________________ and __________.

a. Gaius ____________________ what he ____________________.

b. The words “my children” in verse 4 could mean:

(1) that Gaius had been ______________________________ by John,

(2) John considered all those whom he taught as his ____________________ children.

*4. Stewardship is how we use and ____________________ what Christ has given us.

a. Stewardship is what we will give account of at the ________________________________________.

*b. The three major areas of stewardship are:

(1) responsibility to the ____________________

(2) responsibility to ____________________

(3) the furtherance of ______________________________

5. John’s second letter cautions against supporting ______________________________, while here he encourages us to support the ______________________________.

*Diotrephes - The Example Of Pride (Verses 9-11)

1. Out of pride comes three major problems in church work.

a. First, proud people will expect others to cater to their ____________________ desires and tastes.

b. Secondly, proud people are ______________________________ of others.

(1) Because of Diotrephes’ selfish desire to have ______________________________ in the church, he rejected John and the other apostles.

(2) Many times a church will be weak in discipling and allow ______________________________ people to gain control.

c. Thirdly, proud people ____________________ others to __________ them to their side.

2. Pride is the ____________________ of faith.

a. Faith relies on the ____________________ of God

b. Pride __________ authority.

3. Pride has two characteristics that cannot be hid:

(1) Pride cannot ____________________

(2) Pride cannot ____________________ with harmony

3. John assures them that he will exercise his ________________________________________.

4. John assures them that those, who through pride, spawn and promote discord and evil among the brethren, do not ____________________.

5. What John had seen in Christ was a love for the ____________________ and its ________________.

*Demetrius - The Example Of Respect (Verse 12)


1. There are three respects given to Demetrius:

a. the respect of ____________________,

b. the ____________________,

c. the ____________________.

2. Demetrius did not gain respect at the ____________________ of truth but rather through his tenacious determination to ______________________________ to the truth.

3. Demetrius had obtained respect without ______________________________ the truth.

Conclusion


1. John concludes with the hope of ______________ Gauis and sharing some other things with him.

2. John closes the letter with a final ____________________.