PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John
Alfred Plummer [1841-1926] · 166,203 words · 177 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 121
APPL10ATION. 1. It is quite intelligihle how some men should come to hate what they call dogmR. If a mrm accepts a form of sound words, and is dead withal, he must not be surprised if his words a.re thought to be" an empty sound." Can anythin" be more unutterably offensive than a bunclle of dead creeds avowed by dead m…
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~0<l'~ command to lov~ our brother ie so emphntically the command of the gospel that, 1f ,t 1s neglect~<l, God 1s not loved a.tall, howevel' profuse the verbal declaration of lovo may he. "My love must go forth towa.rds those whom I see, I\S God saw urn when he first lo,,ed mo. And my love must be what his love is-no …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 4.-The vi~lory of the Christian over <1111,tichristian tea;:hers. "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them," etc. Very suggestive are t.he words with which our text begins, "Ye are of God." As having communion with him ; as heartily holding and confessing the truth whic…
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Vers. 9-11.-TM supr- manifestation of love. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us," etc. Our text does not ~peak of the only manifestation of the Divine love. In many things is the love of God manifested to us-in the beauty, the utility, and the fertility of our world; in the exquisite structure of our s…
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reaeon of trcepaeeee and eins." There is e. resemblance between a dead body and the etnte into which the eoul is brought by sin. In both there is the absence of vision, of hearing, of sensibility, and of activity. 2. Th1 cor.dition into which the love of God aim& to bring man. "'!'hat we might live through him." His…
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Saviour of the world,'' 1. The Saviour ie the Son of the Father. Frequently is thin relationship cxpregscd in the sacred Scriptures, and in a way which indicates its ineffable ~acred11css and dearness (see Matt. iii. 17; xvii. 6; John i. 14, 18; xvii, 24 • Hom. viii. 3; and ver. 9).1 2. The Saviour i.s the Sent of th…
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Indicates the disposition of the designer. The world abounds with contrivances; and all tho contrivances which we are acquainted with are directed to beneficial purpo.~es. , • , We never discover a tmin of contriv1rnce to bring about an evil purpose. No nnatomist ever discovered a system of organization calculated to p…
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sin 11pon them~e7tres, not upon God. The weak and depraved reason of man may be e<J pervcrt.cd as to clrn,rge or_ implicate the Almighty with the ?rigin and l?resence of sin; but the heart and commence never do so. Conscience brmgs the gm\t homo to tho ~in-doer, and under its influence he cries, "Against thee, thee o…
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"Enter not into judgment with thy ~ervant; for before thee no man living is righteonB." 'l'wo things in connection with the day of judgment are likely to lead to fcnr. 1. The consciomness of our sins. No human being can staud before the great tribunnl nnd plead "Not guilty." In rela.tion to man we may be guiltless; …
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sprn,ling emotion in oursch-es, purge it f~om evil, elevate l\nd sublime it I\S mnch BII pt1ssil1l<', then we have that which in its character resembles the emotion which is pr, dic,1ted of God. God truly loves. 11. Gon LOVES ll!AN. He loves not only his equal Son, or the Holy Spirit, or great and good angels, but …
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lnfallible guidance on the spot. But they were not placer! beyond danger, as min,h nevP-r are in this world. Many false prophets had gono out into the world, and wem in their neighhourhood, as they aro in all neighbourhoods where Christ'd truth is published and finding acceptance. The false prophets are Satan's counter…
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admitted en all sides that "one Jesus" lived about nineteen hundred years aero and 1lrnt his inllucnce has extended far and "'ide. What nccount is to be given ':ir' thi11 Personage? The right teaching is that which confesses him to be the Ghrist. 'l'his is !n a£rcemout with eh. ii. 22. Cerinthus taught that the Chri…
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it? 'l'ho fact remains that they have thonght it their business to act as cruides to the world, nnd have thought it necessary to publish many volumes of their gpinions, and yot have never directly told the world what they think of Christ. That ract remains; and alongside of it the truth remains, 'Every spirit which con…
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Vers. 7-21.-Threefold recomm1mdation of the duty of loving one another. I. Tmi: DUTY RECOMMENDED, FROM LOVE HAVING ITS ORIGIN IN Goo. The duty en;'oined, '' Beloved, let us love one another." John has a winning way of urging duty addressing his readers as objects of his affection, and desiring himself to be stirred …
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lo.y before him, ee that in which, anticipatively, he took delight. When angels were brought into being, it was love that was operating, and, there being none other God himself rejoiced over them, When the foundations of the earth were fastened, an'<l the comer-stones thereof laid, it was love that was operating; an…
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''Noman bl\lh stt!ft God at any time." The verb is different here, conveyinp; the idel\ of seeing intently, seeing so 1\8 to iml\ge to the mind what God is through the sense of sight. 1n John i. 18 the invisibility of God is regl\rded as relieved by the Incarnation. Here the invisibility of God is regarded in connec…
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as we believe, have we experience of the love: and, however much we have experience of it, there is still room for the exercise of faith. (2) Restatement regarding the natwre of God. "God is Love." In neither case is the statement made to stand out; it is introduced as though it were a familiar thought to the writer…
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in fellowship with God? Do we form plans for advancing the glory of God? Docs love, too, operate toward our brethren? Have we a real interest In them, rejoicing with them when they rejoice, and weeping with them when they weep? Does our love operate toward those who are not yet brethren, leading us to make sacrifice…
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nblo Christian stamp and temper; to give them Christ's steadiness, anrl tenderness, :mrl fervour, nnd catholicity I How hard for us, who are beset with sin, to reach to that! A first love, a youthful enthusiasm, is beautiful, as youth always is. But it is not trne to Christ, 11s the needle to the pole; it is notorio…
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is allowed time silently to operat~ and to deepen, and to become an iner&dicllble hllblt of the natnre. To the young novitiate, the parent is very much in the place of God- is supposed to know everything, to be able to do everything. But by-and-by in many little things his finitude is discovered. It is then that the…
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How very strong, how very affecting, the expression of borne feeling and experience- t~-~ Fath,•r delighting in the Son, and the Son rejoicing in the Father's works (Prov. vm,) I How true to human nature, we should say, looking from our standpoint, or, rather, bow very like the human and the Divine, the seen and the un…
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is a pMlanthropint. By this he should be known in his private walk and in the publio 1m•na_. On his banne! the device is, "One li[tcd 11p to the cross by men, 11.n<l. yet drnwing all men t-0 lnm." Let us inquire for a little into the nature of Ohristiaii sympathy. It is often misrepresented or misunderstood. 'l'he c…
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tion, regardless of consequences, rega.rdful only or him whose Name we bear, and whose honour we would by no mee.ns te.mish? This may be put on various grounds. We put it here on this ground-tha.t it is by thus loving sinners that we arn to be brought into sympathy with tha.t God who loves sinners. "For scarcely for …
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is that nf the Spirit (ver. 6), identical with with the polemioe.1 purpose of the Epistle, tlint nf Goo. (ver. 9), •nd poe!!el!l!ed by every viii:. to confute the errors of Cerinthua. h,,liever (ver. 10). Few paseages of Scrip- Cerint.hue taught that the Divine Logos or ture have produced. snch a mRBB of widely Chri…
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reading ie abTtp, not fovT<p, Bnt Iv abTrp and of the Epistle, with this differc:ice-in may be reflexive. The believer in the In- the Gospel the porpose fa that w0 may hn'l!e oamation hae the Divine testimony in his eternal life ; in the Epistle, that we may heart, and it abides with him as nn ad- ditional source o…
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0 fdurr inclicl\tive, and in I These. iii. 8 withand veni11l, hovirtua.llyoondemne the mRldng, th<' p1wient. Here the rellding is undisputed. Wh1.t neither be nor St. Paul ventured to do Of cour~e, ol'15aµ,v ill virtually preeent; but we may well shrink from doing. 'fhe same e1·en the past tenses ef the indicative …
1,029 wordsSECTION 147The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 147
eon of God. Tho aorist participle occurs with us," which is identical with "That nowhoro else in St. John: it expreeeee him they me.y be one, even as we are" (John who, without relation to timo past or preeont, xvii. 11). And here we have, "That we ie tho Bon of Ood. 'l'ho roading a~-r&v is know him the.t is true," …
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HOMILETICS. Ycrs. 1-5.-Th~ victory of faith. Connecting link: The precedinu chapter closed with a statement of the twofoldness of love, showing us that love of o~r brother must follow our Juve to God. and is, in fact, the commanded and the only outward expression thereof. Ilut, so far, at any rate, as our redeemed br…
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of God will meet 11nd overcome them. They will overcome its errors, itA glare, it.~ el!Ucements, its threats, its unbelief, its /•,'iotrecl, its opposition, its persecution. They will overcome by powerful argument, by lioly living, by sturdy resistance, by faithful testimony. "By the Word of truth, by the power of God.…
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blood." "This is ho that came by water and blood; not by water only, but by water and blood." 1. The water. To what does the apostle refer when he says that Christ came "by water"? Undoubtedly to the baptism of the Christ by John the Baptist. When the. herald haptized his Lord as the great lligh Priest, and so ~et h…
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Is ever this: "God hath given to ns eternal life, and this life is in his Son." They se.y: 1. Here is One who, by the dignity of his nature, is the Son of God, though through the lowliness of his form you see him only as the Son of man. 2. He, the Son of God, the Lord of man, bas taken hnman flesh and blood, that, comi…
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throe wHnesses-the Spirit, the water, and the blood. The message is that God has given to us eternal life, nnd that this life is in his Son. Where the Son of God has been received by faith, there is the life actually existing; and this inward life is a distinctive personal seal of the truth of Gocl's worcls, whereby th…
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nothing inconsistent with the claim,-then the proof of the validity of its testimony iB ~omplcte. Th~ oa,-rying out of this argument will prov~ that the Ch,·istian testimony ,sf,wn God, We ha'l'e a heavenly treasure, though put mto earthen vessels. 2. It is greater in its eonfents. It is a grand proclamation that "tho …
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hope? 3. From exporience. There aro times, even with those who usually livo in the sunshine of God's love, when their joys seem clouded over. It may be asked-What are the causes of this uncertainty? They are various. Probably no two cases am exactly alike; but, among others, we snggest (1) lack of intelligence; (2) mis…
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God will be the habit of the soul, and will include vastly more than the asking for specific objects. So that we must regard the apostle here e.s not covering the whole ground of prayer, but as simply indicating one direction tha.t pra.yer may take (in the next homily a still further limitation is noted), We may fre…
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oak; that ie unJerstood. Ho will e.sk for "life "-for new life where there has ber-n none, for more life where it is feeble, for revived life where it is flagging. Note also the.t it ie here supposed that the intercesRory prayer will not loRe its point by wandering over general themes e.nd spheres, but will aim at l…
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from man t-0 God, the breath of life will bo unbreathed by God to man. 4. Who would not wish to spend and be spent in prayer, if we may receive, as God's blessed boon, ~ire for souls I Why are we not more unselfish in our prayers? Why is so large a portion of them for ourselves, so small & portion for others? And why a…
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LV. WE HAVE HERE THE BE0RET OJ!' VIOTOBY OR DEFEAT IN LIFE; i.e. of conquest over evil or conquest by it. All depends on whether we are l1< Toii 1<0<1µ.ov or lie Tou 0,ou (cf. eh. iv. 4); i.e. whether we have a life that is inspired by God or a life upon the lower level of this world. 1 If our beiag is still of the ear…
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Ing t,o the usage of the apostle, this would include the Incarnation, or his cominu from the hC'aYenly home to earth (eh. iv. 1-4). It also distinctly declares that the S,rn of God-is on earth still-that he remains with us. Nor Cl\n the student of Scripture be at a loss to understand how that is (Matt. xviii. 20; xx…
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Ver. 21.-Beware of the idol., I (Jlosilng warning. By how much the evidence is cleRr thRt in Christ we have the true God, and eternal life, by so much should we be Hlcrnly jealous over ourselves that we suffer nought to take the place in our regard which he alone should fill. Hence it is not unnatural that a senteuc…
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~- 'J'!iey wer_e to ensure remam_~ng in thu stronghold of truth by cultivating fellowship '" him who is the Truth. (Ch. 11, 28; cf. also the analogous phrase in Phil. iv. 7, oJ>poupf/rr•• Tar 1ea.p~fa.s iiµ~~ Kal T<l vof/µa.Ta. i>µ~v.) Communion with God will ensure a holy peace that will guard the heart from restle…
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ehips, o. new spirit. He bas tbo filial spirit, "the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Fnther.' 3. Every child of God should be loved by the children rf God. " Who- soever loveth him that begll.t lovoth him also that is begoUen of him." (1) It is taken for granted that the child of God loves hie Divine Parent. …
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lo,e (cf. eh. iv. 7). 1 2. Resembla111ce to the cl1rwcu;ter o.f God. 3. PossesRion of the filial Bpfr.:t i:n relation to God. 4. The title to a glorious inheritancefrom God. "We are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-hoirs with Christ" (Hom. ,iii. 16, 17); God "bath begotten us aga…
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but be that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" 'fhe complete victory over the world can be attained only by genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.-W,J. Vere. 6-ll.-Tl1efour/old witness to the Divine Sonship of Jesus. "This is he that came by water and blood," etc. We omit the interpolated clause…
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va111e of fhc testimony of the Holy Spirit. "The Spirit, is the truth; 11 ' ' The Spirit of t.uth" (John xiv. 17; xv. 26); "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all t,he truth." His testimony is of the utmost value and importance, because it is perfectly free from error or fraud; proceeding…
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llf tho boliovcr, His intelligence recognizes tho unseen object aB a fact. His he:irt embrncee the object thllil present to the unrlcntn.rnling; his heart opeM instinctively and unhoeit11tiagly to rocoivo n ray of heavenly l_ight. And his will, too, resigns itself to the truth before it; it places the soul nt the cl…
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hiA Son." Christ rev<'A-IR God aa a Deing po~sesRina: in infinite dowee those nttribulos which are necc~Rary to command the soul's eupn·mo love, lie manifosts tho porfect ,·ighteo11.•11e.<s of God. 'l'he cross of Jesus Christ is the grand declaration of God's unappcR.Sable hat.red of sin, and his zeal for the maintena…
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obsorvo ovary longing which is directed towards him. No utterance whatever CRcapcs tho Divino oar. None but a gracious Being would regard the prayers which are offered by such unworthy euppllnnte. Great is the condescension of God in ii.ttondin~ to our requests. 'fh11t ho does graciously hear and attend to them is repe…
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111'oadest signification of our fellow-men, it is true that they are liable to sin. Genuine Christ.ians ~re so (cf. eh. i. 8, 10),. The grave fact of temptation to sin, t?o proneness of man to sm, the moral weakness 1n some respects of eYcn good men, the history of tho godly, the t.eachings of the Bible, and our own…
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rejects the only Being through whom he can obtain eternal life, what rcmainR for hirn but to nbide in the dark night of death? For such persons St. John does not encourage us to pray, Ho neither prohibits nor commands us to pray for them. The negation belongs to the" I say," not to the "he should make request." "Not co…
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2. By 011r e011scious11ess of our filial disposition toward God. \Ve have "received tho ~pirit of ndopt-ion, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Onr own hearts assure us thnt wo trust, and love and reverence our heavenly Father. Thus" we lmow that we are of God." 3. By the contra,st between ourselves and the ,mchi·i.~tia…
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into idolatry of this kind through the use in worship of pictures and statues designed to represent the Saviour. But the essence of idolatry is giving to another the Jove and reveronco and devotion which 11ro rightly dne to God alone. Many make an idol of riches. Money ie thoir crod, and they devote all their powers…
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wish him to be kind to his brothers a.ud sisters, he will not oppose thnt wish. So if we luwc lo,·e to God, a.nd know that it is his will that ~•e should extend our love to his children, we shall make an endeavour in that direction, Transitional thought. "And his commandments a.re not grievous." If a parent loves hi…
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the goocl of others. Appeal to experience. "Ancl who is he that overcometh the world, but ho that bclievcth that Jesus is the Son of God?" "Survey the wh,,le world, and show me evon one of whom it can be affirmed wiih truth that he overcomes the worlcl, who is not a Christian, and en~owcd wit_h this faith." In the a…
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I"ers. 13-17.-.Assurance. I. TrrE AIM OF TBE EPISTLE CONNECTED WITII ASSURANCE. "These things ban I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, e,en unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God." At the beginning of the Epistle, the apostle's aim was stated to be Divine fellowship a.nd compl…
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Vera, 18-21.-The three certainties of the Epistle. I. THE CERTAINTY OF THE POWER OF THE DrvnIE BIBTH. "We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth him, and the evil one toucheth him not." This is doctrine which has already been laid down. In eh. iii. 6 sinlessness is c…
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FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL· OF JOHN. OHAPTER I. TJJh"lf'E PAGW THEME rAGJo~ Oru: Advocate and Propitiation 50 The Life 5 The True Knowledge of God and its The Message 7 Infallible Proof... 52 -~If. •. •. if:." which shall it be? 8 Christian Profession and Consequent 'fhe Apostle's Aim (1,nd Method !) Obligation 54 'f…
619 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.