296 SECT. verse 8,5,8 They are reminded, that they should love one another; in the mean time, we may all feel the energy of this blessed hope iv. to purify our souls, that our hearts and dispositions may correspond to our expectations! When Christ came in human flesh, it was with this important purpose, that he might take away sin, that he might destroy the works of the devil, and reduce to order and harmony that confusion and ruin, which Satan by his malicious insinuations had introduced into the world. Blessed Jesus! may this thy benevolent design be more and more effectual. May the empire of sin and corruption, which is the empire of hell, be entirely subdued, and thy celestial kingdom of grace and holiness advanced. And may none deceive themselves, nor for7 get, that he alone is righteous, who practiseth righteousness. By this let us judge of ourselves, whether we are the children of God, 9, 10 or of the devil. And instead of flattering ourselves that though we do commit sin with allowance, yet there may be some secret seed of God still concealed in our hearts; let us judge of our having received this regenerating seed, by its tendency to preserve us from sin, and the victories it enables us to gain over its destructive wiles and insufferable tyranny. SECT. V. 1 John SECT. V. The apostle discourses of the necessity and importance of brotherly love, as a distinguishing mark and characteristic of the children of God. 1 John III. 11, to the end. 1 JOHN III. 11. MENTIONED the want of brotherly love; F 1 JOHN III. 11. OR this the we message that ye and a little consideration may persuade you, ginning, that heard from the beiii. 11 that it is indeed so. For this, as you know, is should love one anthe message which you heard of us the apostles other. and ministers of Christ, from the beginning of our appearance among you, as our Lord had frequently in person inculcated it, and almost with his dying breath, that we should love one 12 another; And that we should not be as Cain, 12 Not as Cain, [who] was most apparently of the wicked one, who was of that and barbarously slew his own innocent and pi- slew his brother. wicked one, and ous brother. And for what cause did he slay And wherefore slew him? truly for this, because his own deeds were he him? Because evil, and those of his brother righteous; in con- his own works were sequence of which he was disapproved, and evil, and his broth er's righteous. his brother approved by God; and this excited not his repentance, but his envy and hatred, which at length settled into the most rancorous for he who loveth not his brother, abideth in death. 297 malice, and produced that horrible effect. SECT. 13 Marvel not, And as there is a great deal of the same malig- v. my brethren, if the world hate you. nant temper remaining in the world, and there 1 John are many, in that sense, though not by natural iii. 13 descent, of the seed of Cain, wonder not, my brethren, if, under this influence, the world 14 We know that hate you. But we, on the other hand, know 14 we have passed from that we are passed over from the boundaries death unto life, because we love the and territories of death, to those of life, because brethren. He that we unfeignedly love the brethren; as they are loveth not his broth- the children of God as well as ourselves, and the members of one body with us. He that loveth not [his] brother, can have no good principle, but necessarily abideth in spiritual death, and must for ever continue in that miserable state, if the frame and temper of his mind be not entirely changed. er abideth in death. 15 Whosoever ha And this you may easily apprehend, if you 15 teth his brother is a consider, that every one who hateth his brother, murderer and ye is a murderer; and were it not for the restraint derer hath eternal of human laws, that private malice which is life abiding in him. harboured in his thoughts would produce, as it know that no mur. did in the instance of Cain, actual murder. And ye assuredly know, that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him, nor can any person of that detestable character enter into the celestial kingdom, the region of perfect love. 16 Hereby per- Jesus Christ, who reigns in that blessed world, 16 ceive we the love of has given us various and numberless proofs of God, because he laid down his life for us: an unparalleled charity; and it is in this, above all and we ought to lay the other instances of it, that we know by experidown our lives for the ence the greatness of his love, as he hath laid down his life for us and we in imitation of such an example ought to be ready to lay down [our] lives for the brethren, when the good of his church brethren. Passed over from death to life] This as equivalent to Acts xx. 28, in which, as is said even of the best of men; which he who laid down his life for us, is God, implies by a strong consequence, that as well as man, God is said to have done they are, as it were, born in the land and that which the man united to him did. territories of death; or that the gospel finds But it is not to be denied, that many them in such a condition, as to be liable copies, which I here follow, read only to condemnation and destruction, to the aux instead of Ox: hereby we perceive HIS execution of a capital sentence. And it love. And there are many places, where the relative evidently refers to a remote antecedent. Compare Heb. vii. 2. note *. seems to me, that such oblique expressions speak such truths as these, in a manner peculiarly convincing and affecting. We know his love, as he hath laid down his life for us.] This text, as it stands in our version, has generally been mentioned Lay down our lives for the brethren] That is, when the life and happiness of many are concerned, we ought to be willing 298 Therefore they should not love in word, but in truth. SECT. or of any number of our fellow Christians re 1John iii. 17 how V. quires it. And if we ought to be willing to 17 But whoso die for the good of others, how much more to hath this world's relieve them in any of those necessities, which good, and seeth his brother have need, require us only to impart to them a little of and shutteth up his our substance? Whosoever therefore hath the bowels of compassion him, good things of the present world, and when he from dwelleth the love seeth his brother in necessity, shutteth up his of God in him? bowels from him; so that he will not impart any thing out of his own abundance for his relief; how dwelleth the love of God in him, or with what face can he presume to call himself a Christian? ; 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts 18 My little children, let me speak freely to you 18 My little chilon this head, and let us not love, merely in word, dren, let us not love in word, neither in or in tongue, nor content ourselves with any ex- tongue, but in deed ternal and complimental expressions of regard; and in truth. but let our affections prove the sincerity of our professions, and shew that we love in deed and 19 in truth. And in this we know, that we are of the truth, and that we are real Christians and in the conciousness of this shall assure our hearts before him, when we draw nigh in the before him. 20 exercises of devotion. For if our own heart 20 For if our heart condemn us of any evil which we secretly in- condemn us, God is dulge, while we preserve our characters in the greater than our sight of men unsullied, we may well be thrown all things. into terror and anxiety; knowing that God is infinitely greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things without exception; so as continually to view numberless follies, which we never observed, or have entirely forgotten, and numberless aggravations attending each, which it was impossible for us fully and distinctly to con heart, and knoweth 21 ceive. But, beloved, if our hearts condemn us 21 Beloved, if our not, but we have the testimony of our conscien- heart condemn us ces beforehim, as to the sincerity of our repent- confidence towards not, then have we ance and faith, and the integrity of our gen- God. eral walk and conversation, [then] have we that confidence and freedom of speech before God, in our addresses to him, which nothing else to sacrifice our own. If one only were to be rescued on such terms, the argument would in a great measure fail, unless that one were of so great importance, that in dying for him we died for many; and the heathens themselves saw the obligation to submit to death in such a case, though they were unacquainted with that noble motive to which the apostle here refers. Compare Cicero de officiis, lib. i. cap. iii. p. 34. We should love one another. 299 1 John iii. 22 could give us, and which it is impossible sECT. we should have, while we know that we deal V. deceitfully in any instance, either with him or 22 And whatso- our fellow creatures. And we know, that ever we ask, we re- whatever we ask, we shall receive of him, if we keep his com- subservient to our truest good, because we are mandments, and do conscious of a prevailing care to keep his comthose things that are mandments, and to do the things which we have pleasing in his sight. reason to apprehend are pleasing in his sight; ceive of him, because we should believe on which he, as the righteous God, will be pleas. ed with, when proceeding from a sincere principle of faith in Christ, and attended with those humble regards to him, which the imperfections of our own obedience, in its best estate, 23 And this is his will require. And this is his great command, 23 commandment, That That we should believe in the name of his dear the name of his Son Son Jesus Christ, and endeavour to grow more Jesus Christ, and in that blessed principle of faith in him; and love one another, as that we should unfeignedly and cordially love he gave us com- one another, as he hath so strongly and affec24 And he that tionately charged us to do. And this is the 24 keepeth his com- true way to have that communion with God, mandments, dwell to which I expressed, in the beginning of my in him and hereby epistle, such a desire to introduce you: for he we know that he a- that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and bideth in us, by the he, that is, God, abideth in that man: and in Spirit which he hath this we farther know, that he abideth in us by given us. mandment. eth in him, and he such an intimate union, even from the spirit IMPROVEMENT. 12 O THAT the Divine Spirit which God hath given to dwell in verse believers, and by which he himself resides in them, may teach 11,24 us more effectually this great lesson of love, which is so agreeable to the purposes for which he was conferred! Let us abhor the temper of Cain, as much as we abhor the actions it produced, and dread the doom they incurred. As for that hatred of the 13 world, which, in a steady adherence to our duty may probably fall to our lot, let it by no means surprise or discourage us. It is surely enough to support our spirits under the malice and outrage of a wicked world, that if we are steady and consistent Christians, we may know, that we are passed from death to life. O 14 blessed transition! O the adorable riches of Divine grace to VOL. 6, 38 300 V. verse Reflections on the obligations to Christian love. SECT. which it is owing! May the ardour of our love to our brethren render this happy change more and more apparent; and may this Christian benevolence be so ardent in our hearts, as to make us willing, when certain duty requires it, even to lay down our 16 lives for them: having been ourselves distinguished with the like token of the love of our Divine Master, who spared not his own life for us; and O, what are even thousands of our lives in comparison of his! And shall we then, while our brethren in 17 the Lord are in necessity, be tenacious of our substance? When we are surrounded with plenty, shall we be unwilling to impart a little of our abundance for their relief, or content ourselves with 18 the charity of words, which cost us nothing, while we withhold the things that are needful for them? How will such shameful, detestable hypocrisy disgrace all our pretensions to the love of God: but let us treat all hypocrisy, either towards God or man, with detestation and abhorrence. Let us love, not only in word and in profession, but in deed and in truth, and rather choose that our actions should exceed our engagements, than disappoint in any instance the expectations we have raised. 19 20,21 Of what infinite importance is it to have confidence towards God in all our addresses to his heavenly Majesty! And if we desire this to be the case, let us reverence our own consciences; avoiding every thing which would cause our hearts to condemn us, in the presence of him who is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things. And while we rejoice in this, that they do not condemn us, let us be very careful that we examine them thoroughly, that we be not imposed on by a false answer, as it is to be feared many, through a superficial inquiry, are, whose expectations are the most sanguine, and whose pretensions are the loudest. Let us remember this great summary of Christian duty, that we 22 believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we keep his commandments, and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. An obedience, springing from such a faith, a faith, verified by such an obedience, will give us a comfortable hope, that our prayers shall be accepted of God now, and our persons accepted hereafter to eternal life. Amen. 23 SECT. VI. The apostle cautions the Christian converts against being deceived by seducing spirits; and directs them how they may distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John IV. 1-12. 1 JOHN IV. 1. 1 JOHN IV. 1. It is |
