The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 70

this but the new light of Christianity, viz. the light introduce<l by Christ an<l spread nrnong Christians? Grantetl that the dut.y had been known before, it had been greatly obscured, What an obscuration had there been of it in heathen life! And the light that had been shining in the land of the Jews had been partial. It was only when Christ came and showed its perfect realization, that it coulcl be said to be Jictht havin"' all the elements of truth. Realized in Christ, it was also being realized parti~lly in hi~ people. 'l'hue, not in all places, but in many places, was the darkness giving place to the light, giving promise of the ultimate entire displacement of darkness and prevalence oflight. III. CONDITION OF FULFILLING THE COMMANDMENT, ABSENT. "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now." lt is to be inferred that the condition of our loving our brother is our being in the light, i.e. a., the element in which we live. It is not enough to say that we are in the light; saying must be taken along with acting, or the state of the feelings. Let a man's character be this, that ho bates his brother (is even unsympathetic), he may say that he is in the light, but it is a moral impossibility. The light may have been shinin~ widely around him, may have been shining around him for long years, but it has never yet penetrated his being and displaced his natural darkness. He is in that darkness even until now. This is John's way of putting the Master's lesson," Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord." Let us demand from ourselves reality. IV. CONDITION OF FULFILLING THE COMMANDMENT, PRESENT, WITH BENEFIT. "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." '.l.'he commandment is now statoo positively; the condition is stated with a. modification. "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light," i.e. is so related to the light as to have it continually penetrating his being. The advantage of being thus made loving by the light is that he has guidance at every step. He sees what lies in his path, and does not fall over obstacles. V. CONDITION OF FULFILLING THE COMMANDMENT, ABSENT, WITH DETRIMENT. "But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and kncweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness bath blinded his eyes." To the state formerly mentioned is added the corresponding walk. The walk of the unloving is in the dark- ness. He does not see what lies in his path, and ma.y be tripped up at any moment. 'l'his follows with a double certainty. The surrounding darkness keeps him from seeing what is immediately before him; hut that is not all. The darkness in which be has been moving bas operat"d to destroy his spiritual vision, just as fishes in a dark sub- terranean cave are known to have become eyeless through long disuse of the organ. -R.F. Vers. 12-17.-17ie great danger of Ohristians. I. How ADDRESSED. 1. First time. (1) Generally. "I write unto you, my little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his Name's sake." In accordance with ver. 1, we are to understand by "little children" all his readers. It is a designation expressive of affection more than of subordination. Christians are addressed according to their fundamental position. What we need first of all is to have our sins forgiven. .As unforgiven, our position is fundamentally wrong; we lie under the Divine condemnation. As forgiven, our position is fundamentally right; we come into the Divine favour. The ground on account of which we are forgiven is here said to be his Name (Christ's), i.e. what he is declared to be. Because he is declared to be Saviour, to be the Source of all a.toning virtue, by believing on him as such we have our sins forgiven by the Father. Those who are thus forgiven can be appealed to against the encroachments of the world. (2) Older sect·ion. "I write unto you, fathers, because ye know him which is from the beginning." While all Christians are forgiven, they are divided into the class of the fathers and the class of the young men. There are those who have been a long time Christians, 'l'hese, the fathers, are addressed as having the fruit of experience. They know him which is from the beginning, viz. Christ. They have a large amount of peculiarly Christian experience. They kc.ow him who best reveals the deep things ot God, who was at the beginning, and entered into the Divine counsels about redemption. 'fhey know the love of him who, having an uubeginning existence and glory, entered into timfl and into the midst of sinful men, and devoted himself in shame and anguish I. ,J<1HN, F  THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. [on. 11. 1-29,