JOHN, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, Sylvester Hassell The first epistle of John is a postscript of the fourth Gospel. It is a practical application of the lessons of the life of Christ to the wants of the church at the close of the first century. It is a circular letter of the venerable Apostle to his beloved children in Asia Minor, exhorting them to a holy life of faith and love in Christ, and earnestly warning them against the Gnostic antichrists, already existing or to come, who deny the mystery of the incarnation, sunder religion from morality, and run into Antinomian practices. The second and third epistles of John are short private letters, the second to a Christian woman (some suppose to a Christian church), and the third to Gaius (whether in Macedonia, Acts 19:29, or in Corinth, Romans 16:23, I Cor. 1:14, or Derbe, Acts 20:4, is unknown). The second epistle greatly resembles the first, and so does the style of the third. In both the Apostle calls himself “the Elder” as Peter had done. True grace produces modesty and meekness.” (Hassell’s History pg 212)