The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 47

as tuose we have before 11s, this _weeding process will often have to precede all others, The ground must be cleared of its cumbcrcrs, that the plants of grace may thrive the better. 7. If Churches are on the whole loyal and sound, false men will "go out" from them. "They went out," etc. This is an effective yet potent kind of Church <li~ciplioe, when Ch11rch ministration a.nd testimony are so faithful a.nd effective that false adher!'nts spontaneously quit its ranks. Hnppy is the Church whose constitution is so sound that foreign substances expel themselves from its body 11 8. lFhere this is not the case, God will in his provi,dence use another and a sharper remedy. "Judg- ment must begin a.t the house or God" (cf. Isa. iv. 6). It may be: (1) Peuecution. (2) Disease and de.ath (1 Cor. xi. 32). (3) Fierce blasts of temptation. (4) Keen 1md searching criticism. (5) New forms of alien thought. All these may and will have a telling effect on forma.lbts in the Churches in any age. Their defection will save the Church! 9. Let us not be discouraged at the fact that we cannot prevent the intl'Usion of false me•r,ibei·s into the Church. Doubtless we should be glad enough of the charism of "discernment of spirits;" bnt we see that even in the apostle's lifetime that was not bra.ntcd for their co~venience. It did not then ensure a Church being proof against imposture. Ilut God will not let the Church be fatally injured by a.liens within. It may be annoyed; bll't antichrist sha.11 be exposed, nnd the living fellowship saved, 10. Let each reader take home to himsel,f three closely and sternly practical lessons. (1) May a man be in the visible Church and yet be a.n "antichrist"? Then should not each one ask tremulously, •• Lord, is it I?" (2) ls it su? 'rhen let each one of us sympathize with the Church, and not pour scorn upon it.. (3) Is it so? 'i'hen let us, each of ns, 8ay, "The more strenuously the foes of Christ, secretly or openly, fight against him, the more courageously will I fight for him I " Vers. 20, 27.-Unction. Connecting link: If it be so that many who were in the Church have become ensnared by aotichristian e1Tor, and have deserted the faith they once avowed, the question-a very serious one-suggests itself-Is there or is there not any sure preservative against such apostasy in any case? The apostle had already observed, indeed, that there was a reason ·which would account for some deserting ; viz." they were not of us." Still, another and closer question arises-What is it that makes the difference between being merely in the Church and being also of it? To this vers. 20 and 27 are an answer: "And ye[' ye' emphatic] have a.n unction," etc., "a chrism," so the word is-an anointing from the Holy One. Hence our topic- Ohrism from the Christ the preservative against antichrist. l. LET US STUDY WHAT THE .APOSTLE BAYS RESPECTING THIS UNCTION OR ANOINT- ING. 1. Whence! "From the Holy One;" i.e. from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. (1) He is" the Holy" (cf. Rev. iiL 7; John vi. 69, Revised Version; Acts iii. 14). (2) He it is who promised to send another Paraclete (John xvi. 16). 2. What is the anointing! Christ himself, the Anointed of the Father, anoints them with the Holy Gbost. A.oother symbolic word is used in John i. 33, "The same is he which bap- tizeth with the Holy Ghost." In John xvi. 26 the Paraclete is said to be tlle Holy Ghost. The anointing here referred to is not a merely official privilege, but is an enrichment of bdievers, as such, with an endowment of the Holy Ghost. 3. When wai; it given 1 "The gift is referred to a definite time (ver. 27): 6 h,d.{J,T•; and the narrative of the Acts fixes this normally at the imposition of bands which followed on baptism (Acts viii. 14, etc.). But the context shows that the word xpluµa is not to be understood of the material signs, but of the corresponding spiritual reality" (West- cott, in loc.). There is no occasion to think that such a spiritual gift will synchronize in its bestowment with the time of administration of any external ordinance. Indeed, the opposite is indicated in Eph. i. 13. It is given after believing. Just as the penitent may receive pardon from Christ, so the believer may receive this unction from him. 4. Where 1 "In you" (ver. 27). Here the figure fails, and we evidently have ll reality far transcending it. An unction to pervade the whole nature of the believer. The Holy Ghost takes up his abode in us. Believers are his temples. 5. l!'or how long, Th x.pluµa ••. ,,..,,.. i11 ~µw. The anointing is a. permanent endowment, and not a fitful or uncertain boon. The incoming and indwelling of the Holy Ghost is as~ured for ever (John xiv. 16). Some gifts of the Spirit, a.s e.g. his supernatural chansme, 1 Of. Clemance's • New Testament Church Order and Discipline,' p. 42. en, u. 1-20.J 'fllE FIHST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. 43