The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 52

ing of the soul; Rev. i. 7 as illustrnting the reverse. Compare also 2 Tbcss. i. !) for e. eirnih1r use of d1ro). ,vhat if the t:iaviour's wonl "clepart" shouln. be a terrifbl. shrinking from the 1,resence of the Lorcl (cf. Gen. iv. 16; iii. 8)? Who would not labour e.nd strive nnd prny, that at his Saviour's appearing he may be ready to meet him with e. holy joy, and lovingly to unburden his whole soul, as one who, thouah indeed "looking for mercy," yet shrinks not back with shame? "' v. To ENSUilE THE nilSULT WF, MUST MO~T JlESinE, WE MUST ABIDE IN Cnms-r. There are two expressions in the text,'' Let that [\Vorel] abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning." "Abide in him." Our Lord had jr,inecl these two together in the bearing of John, long years before (John xv. 7). 'l'be two go together. Faith l'eccives the Word, and it lives in us, Faith clings to Christ, and we live in him. Thi~, this is to be our daily life, e.nd then, let the Lord come when he will, we shall not be ashamed. Note: It is not the imperfections of a loyal soul that will make him ashamed when Christ comes, but the faithlessness of an apostate soul who has to confront a deserted Lord ! 1 VJ. 'l'o THE LIFE OF FAITHFUL ABIDING IN CllRIST WE ARE MOST TENDERLY URGED. ".And now, little children," etc. 1. This is the gospel tone (Rom. xii. 1). Sinai thunders. Calvary pleads. 2. This is the spirit in which the true ambassador for Christ must and will speak (2 Cor. v. 20). 3. This is the tone which tells most power- fully. Tbo cords of love do more than the whips of the taskmaster. God "draws" us with loving-kindness, Let us, then, hear the voice of the Saviour tenderly calling, "Hold fa8t to mo, whatever others do." (1) Honour, (2) gratitude, (3) love, (4) Eafety, all demand our lifelong Yea. Ver. 25.-Eternal life. Connecting link: Whatever may be the arts used and the temptations set before us by antichrist to draw us away from the Father by tempting us to apostatize from the Son, there can be offered to us l>y antichrist nothing so great e.s, yea, nothing to compare with, the vast promise left us on record by our own gracious Lord e.nd Master; for" this is tbe promise which he [himself] bath given us, even the life, the eternal life." Whence our topic-The greatest of all promises from the greatest of all Promisers. J. LET US FIRST INQUIRE INTO THE CONTENT AND MEANING OF THE PROMISE. " The eternal life." The phrase is so expressivdy worded as to indicate that there iJ one well-understood kind of lire which forms the sum and substance of the hope put before Christian believers. It had been, indeed, very clearly defined by our Lord himself (cf. John xvii. 2, 3). So that on the highest possible grounds we are precluded from e.ny warrant for confounding the phrase "eternal life" with continuity of existence. The latter, indeed, is postulated thereby; but it might be, quite apart from the former.a 'l'he eternal life is that state of being in which the highest part of man's nature is in communion with the Highest One, and in which a perfect organization that can never be impaired is in perfect correspondence with a perfect environmeut that can never change (Drummond, pp. 203, et seq.). Or, to reset this definition in scriptw·al phraseo- logy, it is an unbroken and uneuding enjoyment of God by perfected natures in a perfected world. But there is this difference between the two dt.6.nitions-the one lies in the region of science, nnd declares iu what it must consist if it coul,l bo secured; the other lies in the region of revelation, and declares in what it does consist as Divine 1 "H is possible to understand the words as referring to the apostle's joy in tl,e crown of his work [inasmuch na ht1 says, not, 'abide in him, that ye may have confidence;' but, •abide in him, that we mo.y have confidence'] (comp. 1 Thess. ii.19,etc.; Phil. iv. I). The pal'O.!lel with 1 Those ii. 19, oto., is cel"tainly close; but it seems to be more natur:i.l to suppose that the apostle macle himself one with those who shored his life, uncl foe absence of the pe1·sonal pronoun St!ems to exclude the notion of any contl'llst betweeu hi,u and them" (Westcott, m loo.). Tho remarkable verso in Heh. xiii. 17 loaJs me to think that more weight is duo to lho ohano-e of person in the verbs used in tho text thn.u some wouhl o.ttributo thereto; but I <lo n<rl. venture to spenk conficleutly, nucl thorefore have uot devolopecl that poiut iu llic homily. • For a fuller discussion of this point thau is hero possible, the ~·riter may perhaps refer to hie work on 'Future Punishment,' 2nd edit. (Snow an(l Co.) See also Drnmmond·s • Natuwl Lnw in tho Spiritual World,' 5th edit., p. 216,  THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. [oH. n. 1-29