2 John 1:4

I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. I FOUND - probably in one of his tours of superintendence. See 'Introduction,' and ; ; . OF THY CHILDREN - some, in truth; i:e., in the Gospel truth. AS - even as. 'The Father's commandment' is the standard of "the truth....

4-6 It is good to be trained to early religion; and children may be beloved for their parents' sake. It gave great joy to the apostle to see children treading in their parents' steps, and likely in their turn to support the gospel. May God bless such families more and more, and raise up many to copy their example. How pleasing the contrast to numbers who spread irreligion, infidelity, and vice, among their children! Our walk is true, our converse right, when according to the word of God. This commandment of mutual Christian love, may be said to be a new one, in respect of its being declared by the Lord Christ; yet, as to the matter, it is old. And this is love to our own souls, that we obey the Divine commands. The foresight of the decay of this love, as well as of other apostacies, or fallings away, might engage the apostle to urge this duty, and this command, frequently and earnestly....

Verse 2 John 1:4. _THAT I FOUND OF THY CHILDREN WALKING IN TRUTH_] I have already supposed this Christian matron to be _mother of a_ _family_, probably a _widow_, for no mention is made of her husband; and that she was also a _deaconess_ in the church, and one in those house the travelling evangelists preached, and there they were entertained. The _children_ mentioned here may either be _her own_ _children_, or those _members of the Church_ which were under her care, or some of _both_. The apostle was glad to _find_, probably by an epistle sent from herself to him, or from the information of some of the itinerant evangelists, that the work of God was prospering in the place where she lived, and also in her own household. He does not say that all were walking in the truth, but εκτωντεκνων, _some of her children_; there was a growing an...

I REJOICED GREATLY THAT I FOUND ... - That I learned this fact respecting some of thy children. The apostle does not say how he had learned this. It may have been that he had become personally acquainted with them when they were away from their home, or that he had learned it from others. The word used εὕρηκα heurēka would apply to either method. Grotius supposed that some of the sons had come to Ephesus on business, and that John had become acquainted with them there. OF THY CHILDREN WALKING IN TRUTH - That is, true Christians; living in accordance with the truth, for this constitutes the essence of religion. The expression used here, “of thy children,” (ἐκ τῶν τέκνων ek tōn teknōn,) means some of thy children; implying that he knew of a part of them who were true Christians. This is cl

I REJOICED GREATLY THAT I FOUND OF THY CHILDREN,.... Not all, but some of them; for good parents have not always good children, or at least not all of them; Adam had a Cain, Abraham an Ishmael, and Isaac an Esau: God is pleased to show his discriminating grace in tribes and families, by taking some, and leaving others: it is a great mercy when any are called by grace, and instead of the fathers are the children: and this was the case of some of the children of this elect lady, they were WALKING IN THE TRUTH: in Christ, the truth, by faith, as they had received him; and in the truth of the Gospel, as they had embraced and professed it; they abode in it, and by it, and made a proficiency in the knowledge of it, which may be signified by walking, that being a progressive action: as also they walked according to it, and as became it; and likewise they walked in the truth of Gospel worship,...

THE SECOND EPISTLE The Second Epistle is addressed by the elder unto the elect lady and her children. The word elder has the same meaning as it has in 1 Peter 5:1. Some take it that the elect lady means an assembly, and her children the members of the assembly. But this is a very strained application. The word “Kyria” (lady) excludes this meaning, besides other reasons which we do not follow here. She was a Christian woman of note generally known and beloved, having children, whom the apostle had found walking in the truth. She had also a sister with children, who seems to have been in the same place where the apostle was, probably in Ephesus. This is indicated by the last verse of the Epistle, “The children of thy elect sister greet thee.” The keynote of this message to the elect lady, unknown by name, is the word “truth.” The apostle lets them know that he loves them, as well as

EXHORTATION AND WARNING. The commandment of love given by Christ to His Church from the beginning must be faithfully observed. Loyalty to Christ meant that His followers must beware of the false teachers, the embodiment of Antichrist, who denied the reality of His Incarnation. Ground already won for the faith might be lost. Those who, under the lure of advanced thought, sought to beguile others from Christ's teaching, were not Christians, and must receive neither countenance nor hospitality. 2 JOHN 1:4. In some way, possibly through a visit from some travelling evangelists belonging to the church addressed, John had ascertained the fidelity to the truth which many of its members exhibited. 2 John 1:5 f. 1 John 2:7

THE ELECT LADY (2 John 1:1-3)...

REJOICED. Compare 3 John 1:3. Several of Paul's epistles open with thanksgiving. GREATLY. Greek. _lian._ Only here and 3 John 1:3 in John's writings. OF. App-104. Not implying that there were others who did not so walk, but referring to such as he had met. HAVE. Omit....

The Occasion of the Epistle 4. The Apostle has met with some of the elect lady's children (or some members of the particular Church addressed), probably in one of his Apostolic visits to some Church in Asia Minor. Their Christian life delighted him and apparently prompted him to write this letter. _I rejoiced greatly_ Or, _I_ HAVE _rejoiced greatly_, or perhaps, as R. V., _I_ REJOICE _greatly_, if it is the epistolary aorist, as in 1 John 2:26; 1 John 5:13. The same phrase occurs 3 John 1:3 and Luke 23:8. The word for -rejoice" (χαίρω) is cognate with -grace" (χάρις) in...