PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Expositor's Bible: The Epistles of St. John
Alexander, William · 110,912 words · 190 reading sections
Footnotes:
But, above all things, let us hear how St. John sings us the sweet low hymn that breathes consolation through the terrible fall of the triple hammer-stroke of the rhyme in the _Dies iræ_. We must seek to lead upon earth a life laid on the lines of Christ's. Then, when the Day of the Judgment comes; when the cross of fi…
687 wordsSECTION 122Greek. Latin.
[271] ελευθεριας ἡ πολις μεστη και παρρησιας γιγνεται. (Plat., _Rep._, 557 B). The word is derived from παν and ῥησις. [272] Ephes. i. 18. [273] Cf. Matt. v. 48. [274] Ver. 18. [275] Bengel. The writer must acknowledge his obligation to Professor Westcott, whose exposition gives us a peculiar conception of the dept…
603 wordsSECTION 123Authorised Version. Revised Version.
And His commandments And His commandments are not grievous. are not grievous. For whatsoever is born For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the of God overcometh world: and this is the the world: and victory that overcometh this is the victory that the world, _even_ our hath overcome the faith. Who is he t…
717 wordsSECTION 124Another Version.
And His commandments are not heavy, for whatsoever is born of God conquereth the world: and this is the conquest that hath conquered the world--the Faith of us. Who is he that is conquering the world, but he that is believing that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He that came by water and blood--Jesus Chr…
342 wordsSECTION 125_Birth And Victory._
"And His commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"--1 JOHN v. 3, 4, 5. St. John here connects the Christian birth with…
520 wordsSECTION 126I.
The Apostle introduces the idea of the birth which has its origin from God precisely by the same process to which attention has already been more than once directed. St. John frequently mentions some great subject; at first like a musician who with perfect command of his instrument, touches what seems to be an almost …
894 wordsSECTION 127I.
But, it will further be asked, whether we bring the Saviour's saying--"except any one be born again of water and the Spirit"--into direct connection with the baptism of infants? Above all, whether we are not encouraging every baptised person to hold that somehow or other he will have a part in the victory of the regene…
775 wordsSECTION 128I.
In leaving this portion of our subject we may compare the view latent in the very idea of infant baptism with that of the leader of a well-known sect upon the beginnings of the spiritual life in children. "May not children grow up into salvation, without knowing the exact moment of their conversion?" asks "General" Bo…
515 wordsSECTION 129Ii.
The second great idea in the verses at the head of this discourse is _Victory_. The intended issue of the new birth is conquest--"all that is born of God conquers the world." The idea of victory is almost[290] exclusively confined to St. John's writings. The idea is first expressed by Jesus--"be of good cheer: I have …
803 wordsSECTION 130Footnotes:
"soul unto his captain Christ, Under whose colours he hath fought so long:" --that we may know something of the great text in the Epistle to the Romans, with its matchless translation--"we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us"[298]--that arrogance of victory which is at once so splendid and so saintly. …
460 wordsSECTION 131_The Gospel As A Gospel Of Witness; The Three Witnesses._
"It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son. He t…
997 wordsSECTION 132Footnotes:
In this ever-memorable passage, all scholars know that an interpolation has taken place. The words--"in heaven the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth"--are a gloss. A great sentence of one of the first of critics may well reassure any weak belie…
523 wordsSECTION 133I.
"If we receive the witness of men."--1 JOHN v. 9. At an early period in the Christian Church the passage in which these words occur, was selected as a fitting Epistle for the First Sunday after Easter, when believers may be supposed to review the whole body of witness to the risen Lord and to triumph in the victory of…
872 wordsSECTION 134I.
That which is true of St. John is true of all the Evangelists. They take that Gospel, which is the life of their life. They bare its bosom to the stab of Celsus,[317] to the bitter sneer plagiarised by Renan--"why did He not appear to all, to His judges and enemies? Why only to one excitable woman, and a circle of His…
717 wordsSECTION 135I.
There are other, and more than sufficient refutations. One from the character of the august Sufferer, who would not have deigned to receive adoration upon false pretences. One from the minute observation by St. John of the physiological effect of the thrust of the soldier's lance, to which he also reverts in the contex…
381 wordsSECTION 136Ii.
Too often such discussions as these end unpractically enough. Too often "When the critic has done his best, The pearl of price at reason's test On the Professor's lecture table Lies, dust and ashes levigable." But, after all, we may well ask: can we afford to dispense with this well-balanced probability? Is it wel…
780 wordsSECTION 137Ii.
"The disciples," John tells us, "went away again unto their own home. But Mary was standing without at the sepulchre weeping."[328] Weeping! What else is possible while we are _outside_, while we _stand_--what else until we _stoop_ down from our proud grief to the sepulchre, humble our speculative pride, and condescend…
592 wordsSECTION 138Footnotes:
[314] The writer is entirely persuaded that St. John in chap. xx. 30, 31, refers to the _Resurrection_ "signs," and not to miracles generally. [315] Acts x. 41, 42. It is to be regretted that the R. V. has not boldly given us such an arrangement of the words in this important passage as would at once connect "made man…
413 wordsSECTION 139_Sin Unto Death._
"There is a sin unto death."--1 JOHN v. 17. The Church has ever spoken of seven deadly sins. Here is the ugly catalogue. Pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, hatred, sloth. Many of us pray often "from fornication and all other deadly sin, Good Lord deliver us." This language rightly understood is sound and true;…
702 wordsSECTION 140_Sin Unto Death._
The Church then is not wrong when she speaks of "deadly sin." The number _seven_ is not merely a mystic fancy. But the _seven_ "deadly sins" are seven attributes of the whole character; seven master-ideas; seven general conditions of a human soul alienated from God; seven forms of aversion from true life, and of revers…
879 wordsSECTION 141_The Terrible Truism Which Has No Exception._
"All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death."-- 1 JOHN v. 17. Let us begin by detaching awhile from its context this oracular utterance: "all unrighteousness is sin." Is this true universally, or is it not? A clear consistent answer is necessary, because a strange form of the doctrine of indulgenc…
852 wordsSECTION 142_The Terrible Truism Which Has No Exception._
We who have the text full in our mind answer all this in the words of the old man of Ephesus. For all that angel-softness which he learned from the heart of Christ, his voice is as strong as it is sweet and calm. Over all the storm of passion, over all the babble of successive sophistries, clear and eternal it rings ou…
827 wordsSECTION 143_The Terrible Truism Which Has No Exception._
Let us then refuse our assent to a doctrine of indulgences applied to genius on the ground of _temperament_ or of literary and artistic _inspiration_. "Why," we are often asked, "why force your narrow judgment upon an angry or a laughing world?" What have you to do with the conduct of gifted men? Genius means exuberanc…
677 wordsSECTION 144_The Terrible Truism Which Has No Exception._
A modern Rabbi, with nothing of his Judaism left but a rabid antipathy to the Founder of the Church, guided by Spinoza and Kant, has turned fiercely upon the Lord's prayer.[343] He takes those petitions which stand alone among the liturgies of earth in being capable of being translated into every language. He cuts off …
703 wordsSECTION 145_The Terrible Truism Which Has No Exception._
On the 16th verse we need only say, that the greatness of our brother's spiritual need does not cease to be a title to our sympathy. St. John is not speaking of all requests, but of the fulness of brotherly intercession. * * * * * One question and one warning in conclusion; and that question is this. Do we take part …
411 wordsSECTION 146Notes
Ch. v. 3-17. Ver. 3. This section should begin with the words "And His commandments are not heavy"--and should not be separated from what follows, because they give one reason of the victory whereof he proceeds to speak. "His commandments are not heavy, for all that is born of God conquereth the world." What a picture…
629 wordsSECTION 147Greek. Latin.
[337] Mr. Matthew Arnold. [338] This is true as a general rule; but there were exceptions. [339] See Ps. xv. Cf. Ps. xxiv. 3-7. [340] 1 John v. 15. [341] 1 John v. 14, 18. [342] Vv. 14, 15. [343] _Historical and Critical Commentary on Leviticus._ By M. M. Kalisch. Part 1. Theology of the Past and Future, 431, 438…
270 wordsSECTION 148Another Version.
We know that whosoever We know that whosoever is born of God is begotten of sinneth not; but he God sinneth not; but that is begotten of God He that was begotten keepeth himself, and of God keepeth him, that wicked one toucheth and the evil one toucheth him not. _And_ we him not. We know know that we are of that…
281 wordsSECTION 149Notes.
Ch. v. 18-21. Ver. 18, 19, 20. Three seals are affixed to the close of this Epistle--three postulates of the spiritual reason; three primary canons of spiritual perception and knowledge. Each is marked by the emphatic "we know," which is stamped at the opening its first line. The first "we know," is of a sense of puri…
435 wordsSECTION 150Greek. Latin.
[347] Moyer Lecture, vi. Ο πρεσβυτερος εκλεκτη Senior electæ dominæ κυρια και τοις τεκνοις et natis eius, quos ego αυτης, ους εγω αγαπω diligo in veritate, et εν αληθεια, και ουκ εγω non ego solus sed et μονος αλλα και παντες omnes qui cognoverunt οι εγνωκοτες την αληθειαν, veritatem, propter veritatem δια την α…
468 wordsSECTION 151Authorised Version. Revised Version.
The elder unto the The elder unto the elect lady and her children, elect lady and her children, whom I love in whom I love in the truth; and not I truth; and not I only, only, but also all they but also all they that that have known the know the truth; for truth; for the truth's the truth's sake which sake, whic…
596 wordsSECTION 152Another Version.
The Elder unto the excellent Kyria and her children whom I love in truth, (and not I only, but also all they that know the truth) for the truth's sake which abideth in us--yea, and with us it shall be for ever. There shall be with you grace, mercy, peace from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ the Son …
302 wordsSECTION 153_Theology And Life In Kyria'S Letter._
"The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth ... Grace be with you, mercy and peace, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love."--2 JOHN, 3. Of old God addressed men in tones that, were so to speak, distant. Sometimes He spoke with the …
707 wordsSECTION 154_Theology And Life In Kyria'S Letter._
While we may not trace in this little Epistle the same fountain of wide-spreading influence as in others to which we have referred; while we feel that, like its author, its work is deep and silent rather than commanding, reflection will also lead us to the conclusion that it is worthy of the Apostle who was looked upon…
654 wordsSECTION 155_Theology And Life In Kyria'S Letter._
2. We turn to the _contents_ of the Epistle. We shall be better able to appreciate the value of these, if we consider the state of Christian literature at that time. What had Christians to read and carry about with them? The excellent work of the Bible Society was physically impossible for long centuries to come. No …
742 wordsSECTION 156_Theology And Life In Kyria'S Letter._
Here then were the chief practical elements of the first Epistle contracted into a brief and easily remembered shape. Easily remembered, too, was the stern, practical prohibition of the intimacies of hospitality with those who came to the home of the Christian, in the capacity of emissaries of the antichrist above ind…
568 wordsSECTION 157Notes.
Ver. 1. _The Elder._] This word has played a great part in an important controversy. It is argued that the Elder of this and of the Third Epistle is the author indeed of the first Epistle and of the Gospel, but cannot be the Apostle St. John, who would not, (it is alleged,) call himself ὁ πρεσβυτερος. And Eusebius (_H.…
630 wordsSECTION 158Footnotes:
[348] John i. 18. [349] There is no doubt a large amount of authority for this view that St. John addresses a Church personified. It has the support of sacred critics so different as Bishop Wordsworth and Bishop Lightfoot. (_Ep. to Colossians and Philemon_, 305), and Professor Westcott seems (with some hesitation) to …
453 wordsSECTION 159Greek. Latin.
Ὁ πρεσβυτερος Γαιω Senior Gaio carissimo, τω αγαπητω, ὁν εγω quem ego diligo αγαπω εν αληθεια. in veritate. Carissime, Αγαπητε, περι παντων de omnibus orationem ευχομαι σε ευοδουσθαι facio prosper te ingredi και ὑγιαινειν, καθως et valere, sicut prospere ευοδουται σου ἡ ψυχη. agit anima tua. εχαρην γαρ λιαν ερχο…
430 wordsSECTION 160Authorised Version. Revised Version.
The elder unto the The elder unto Gaius well beloved Gaius, the beloved, whom I whom I love in the love in truth. Beloved, truth. Beloved, I wish I pray that in all things above all things that thou mayest prosper thou mayest prosper and be in health, even and be in health, as thy soul prospereth. even as thy so…
594 wordsSECTION 161Another Version.
The Elder unto Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth. Beloved, in all things I pray that thou mayest prosper, and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I was exceeding glad of brethren coming and witnessing to thy truth, even as thou truly walkest. Greater joy than these _joys_ I have not, that …
304 wordsSECTION 162I.
"The elder unto the well beloved Gaius.... He that doeth good is of God; but he that doeth evil hath not seen God."--3 JOHN 1, 11. The mere analysis of this note must necessarily present a meagre outline. There is a brief expression of pleasure at the tidings of the sweet and gracious hospitality of Gaius which was b…
796 wordsSECTION 163Ii.
We may now advert to the _contents_ and _general style_ of this letter. 1. As to its _contents_. 1. It supplies us with a valuable test of Christian life, in what may be called the Christian instinct of _missionary affection_, possessed in such full measure by Caius.[385] This, indeed, is an ingredient of Christian …
1,111 wordsSECTION 164Iii.
It is a great thing that in these last sentences, written with a trembling hand, which shrank from the labour of pen and ink,[390] the Apostle should have lifted a word (probably current in the atmosphere of Ephesus among spiritualists and astrologers[391]), from the low applications with which it was undeservedly asso…
400 wordsSECTION 165Footnotes:
Ver. 2 ... _thy soul._] Strange difficulty seems to be felt in some quarters about the word ψυχη, as used by our Lord and the Apostles. The difficulty arises from a singular argument advanced by M. Renan. He maintains that Christ and His first followers knew nothing of "the soul" as the immortal principle in man--that …
648 wordsSECTION 166=The New Testament.=
=GENESIS.= Rev. Professor MARCUS DODS, D.D. =EXODUS.= Very Rev. DEAN CHADWICK, D.D. =LEVITICUS.= Rev. S. H. KELLOGG, D.D. =NUMBERS.= Rev. R. A. WATSON, D.D. =DEUTERONOMY.= Rev. Professor A. HARPER, B.D. =JOSHUA.= Rev. Professor W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D. =JUDGES AND RUTH.= Rev. R. A. WATSON, D.D. =1 SAMUEL.= Rev…
668 wordsSECTION 167=The New Testament.=
=THE CHURCH IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE BEFORE A.D. 170.= By W. M. RAMSAY, M.A., D.C.L., Professor of Humanity in the University of Aberdeen. Fourth Edition. With Maps and Illustrations, 8vo, cloth, 12_s._ "This volume is the most important contribution to the study of early Church history which has bean published in this …
310 wordsSECTION 168_By The Same Author._
=NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.= Thirty-second Edition, completing 119,000. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ "We have no hesitation in saying that this is one of the most able and interesting books on the relations which exist between natural science and spiritual life that has appeared. Mr. Drummond writes perfec…
337 wordsSECTION 169_Works By Sir J. W. Dawson, Ll.D., F.R.S._
=1. EDEN LOST AND WON.= Studies of the Early History and Final Destiny of Man as taught in Nature and Revelation. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5_s._ "Sir William Dawson, in his exalted position as one of the ablest of our modern scientific teachers, is a devout believer in Holy Scripture, and a fearless student of evidence. In…
652 wordsSECTION 170_By The Same Author._
"In 'Strangers at Lisconnel' Miss Barlow returns to her early love, and has produced a second series of 'Irish Idylls' which are in every way as delightful as the sketches of peasant life that at one bound brought her into the very front rank of delineators of Irish character. The sketches possess in a high degree all …
657 wordsSECTION 171_By The Same Author._
=A WINDOW IN THRUMS.= By J. M. BARRIE. Fourteenth Edition. Crown 8vo, buckram, gilt top, 6_s._ "We think that this is the very best of the many good sketches of Scottish peasant life which we have ever read"--_Standard_. "This remarkable little book. We follow the homely record with an interest which the most sensat…
466 wordsSECTION 172_Works By Dr. Dale._
=1. THE REDEMPTION OF EDWARD STRAHAN=: A Social Story. Third Edition. Paper covers, 1_s._ "A powerful story."--_Times_. "A powerful book, with a pure and high aim."--RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE. =2. QUEST AND VISION.= Second Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ "The marks of wide reading pervade the volume, and …
458 wordsSECTION 173_The Life Of Mackay For Boys._
=THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF MACKAY OF UGANDA.= Told for Boys. By his SISTER. The whole of the matter in this volume is fresh, and is not found in the larger book, "A. M. Mackay." With Portrait and Illustrations. Eleventh Thousand. Handsomely bound in cloth, 8vo, gilt edges, 5_s._ =A. MACKAY RUTHQUIST=; Or, Singing …
655 wordsSECTION 174_By The Same Author._
"We may cordially commend this translation. It is thoroughly well done, fluent and accurate, and nowhere betraying by idiomatic faultiness or even stiffness, that insufficient mastery of one or the other language which mars too many versions."--_Glasgow Herald_. =THE PEOPLE'S BIBLE.= Discourses upon Holy Scripture, f…
498 wordsSECTION 175_By The Same Author._
=1. TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM=: Leaves from the Note-Book of a Naturalist. With Introduction by Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, M.P. With Illustrations. Second Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ "Dr. McCook deals with friends of mine--with insects, and particularly ants, to which I have paid special attention. I have much pleasure in…
285 wordsSECTION 176_By The Same Author._
=1. A COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.= Second Edition, 8vo, cloth, 14_s._ =2. THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.= Crown 8vo, 7_s._ 6_d._ * * * * * =IS GOD KNOWABLE?= By the Rev. Professor J. IVERACH, D.D. Fourth Thousand. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ =THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD.= By the Rev. Professo…
381 wordsSECTION 177_By The Same Author._
=1. THOUGHTS FOR THE QUIET HOUR.= Second Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ =2. THE PILLAR IN THE NIGHT.= Crown 8vo, cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ * * * * * =THE MYSTERY OF GRACE=, and other Sermons. By the Rev. HUGH MACMILLAN, D.D. Second Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ =EARTH'S EARLIEST AGES=, and their connection …
320 wordsSECTION 178_By The Same Author._
=THE LESSON OF A DILEMMA=, and other Sermons. Third Thousand. Crown 8vo, 6_s._ * * * * * =THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUR.= The Progress of the Soul in the Knowledge of Jesus. By C. H. SPURGEON. With Steel Portrait. A New Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3_s._ 6_d._ =COMPLETE IN CHRIST AND LOVE'S LOGIC.= Extracted from "The…
339 wordsSECTION 179_Works By Dr. Thain Davidson._
=PLATFORM ECHOES.= Leaves from my Note Book of Forty Years Illustrated by Anecdotes, Incidents, Personal Experiences, Facts, and Stories, drawn from the Humour and Pathos of Life. Seventeenth Thousand. Demy 8vo, 3_s._ 6_d._ "These chapters abound in apt illustrations and in anecdotes both humorous and pathetic."--_…
570 wordsSECTION 180_Works By The Rev. J. R. Miller, D.D._
=THE GROUNDS OF THEISTIC AND CHRISTIAN BELIEF.= 8vo, cloth, 10_s._ 6_d._ "The book, which we have frequently recommended, is an able defence of both natural and supernatural religion, and forms practically a modern appendix to Butler's 'Analogy.' The work is not merely an 'apology'; it pursues the attack with conside…
616 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.