The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 112

the h11~iness (If this emba~sy to deny the trulh. The first lie W!\S, "Ye sh!\ll not surely <lie." 'l'hc supreme lie (If !\ntichri~t now is, "Jesus is not the Son of God." Wherever that lie flourishes, no saving truth can live. The forms in which it is now put are legion! V. 'l'HESE Ennon-INSPIRED SPIRITS OWE THEIR INSPinATION '1'0 A PERSONAL LEADER, "I" er. 4,. 6 b _.,.~ ,c&,,µ.q_•. The apostle sets forth here the personality of the evil one, as the one animal mg leader of the false prophet:;;, just as vlvidly as our Lord set forth the pe~onality of the devil as the father of lies. Difficult as the doctrine undoubtedly is, 1t 1s far less so than any theory of moral evil which represents it as having its sen.t in no one, _an~ nowhere (cf. 2_ Cor. iv. 4; Eph. ii. 2; John viii. 44). The fact is, neither the begmmngs nor the endmgs of sin are shown us in the word, We only know whn.t lies wilhin the revealed termini. VI. GREAT AS IS THE POWER OF EVIL WHICH IS IN TIIE WORLD, THERE IS A GREATER POWER IN BELIEVERS. M,I("'" 111'"1'111 6 111 ilµ.w. Satan is mighty, but there is a. Mightier. 'l'he strong one has been vanquished by a Stronger (Matt. xii. 28, 29 • iv. 11; John xvi. 33; Col. ii. 15; John xii. 31). The evil one proved no match for jesus Christ the. Righteous when he sought to prevail against him in the desert. By the cross Satan was dethroned and Christ enthroned. Aod not all the band of hell-taught emissaries with which the world and the Church mn.y be plagued for a while will ever overthrow the Spirit, the army, and the saving work of Christ. "God will bruise Satan under our feet shortly." VIL Tms GREATER POWER re" OF Gon." 'l'he Divine Spirit may take possession of the human spirit. He does. The life of God in the soul of man is the great secret of personal religion. .As bearing on our present theme, there are four ways in which God's Spirit may influence man's. 1. By what has been called "prevenient grace;" where the Spirit of God goes beforehand, and predisposes him to hear God's Word. Our Lord spake of this, in words which have never yet been sufficiently laid hold of by the Church (,John viii. 47). 2. By regeneratiog grace. When a. man is born of God, that wicked one toucheth him not. 3. By the unction from above ( eh. ii. 20; see I,omily on eh. ii. 20, 27). This imparts spiritual discernment. 4. By the ardour and courage of a holy combativeness (Eph. vi. 10-17). Vlll. WHERESOEVEB THIS DIVINE POWER IB GIVEN, THE POWER OF ANTIOHRIST IS aoNE. Ne11,ll'f,1ta.,.. av.,.ot!s. "Them." All of them. "Ye have overcome them." You have already gained the victory! Your Lord's triumph is yours. On those who have in them the Spirit of God, a.ntichrist can have no hold. So Paul (1 Cor. xii. 3). All depends on men being filled with the Spirit. If a man has not the Spirit of God, he will not say," Jesus is Lord." If a man has the Spirit of God, he will not say," Jesus is anathema." Against antichrist he will have an effectual guard. How will this be? ThW!, by the teaching and power of the Spirit, be will be eoabled (1) to perceive, (2) to receive, and (3) to hold fast the truth. He will be enabled (1) to detect, (2) to expose, (3) to combat, and (4) to overcome the error. Note: 1. It is an unspeakable mercy to have the Spirit dwelling within us; by virtue of his unctioo, light, and might we shall have an inward and effective guard against the heresies of this and of every age. The possession of spiritual religion will be, as the late Hev. J. A. James expressed it, the surest preservative against the snares of infidelity and the seductioos of a false philosophy. 2. It is by means of the conflict that the believer is himself confirmed in the truth. We do not envy the man who shrinks from open conflict against error on the behalf of Christian truth. Such timidity argues either little faith in the power of the truth, or else small trust in the power of his Saviour. Let him in Christ's strength go forth to war, and when he is more than conqueror through him who loved him, he will have learnt a lesson of pdcelese worth in the power of Christ and the impotence of antichrist ! Vere. 7-12.-Love. Connecting linlc : The apostle here seems to bflgin a new para- graph; yet it is one by no means disconnected from that which precedes. If e.ntichrist plies its seductive arts without, it is for those who are "of God" to cleave closer together; knit by the bonds of a holy love, which is of itself born of him who is love. Topic-Love's fwnt, channel,, stream, and outlet. We have more than once had occa- sion to remark that both the matter and the style of the Apostle John are peculiarly cm. Iv. 1-21.] 'l'HE FlilST EPISTLE GENERAL OF ,JOHN'. 10!)