The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 140

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 thought of God breaks in upon the child, and in the form most congenial to his training, viz. o.s the eartlily parent raised out of all 1'.1',peifection. Mark here the beautiful illustration of the apostolic principle, ths t it is tbrough the love of the seen that we a.re to rise into the k,vc of the unseen. The child does not need a nc1<v class of feelings, does not need to part with the old, when God is first thought of. It is not the seen against the unseen· for if it were, th~n, the feelings with which we regard the seen being already deeply rooted, there w0uld be no inlet for the unseen. But herein magnify and adore the wise and good providence of God, that, in giving such strength and vitality and a.dvan- ~: to_ the filial feelin_gs, he is_ thereby rec~mmending and fortifying religion; he is g:inng 1t the start; he 1s unfold mg and pu ttmg forward the great truth of bis Father- hood, and winning over the young heart to it before the entrance of a heartless world. If we would understand the love of the seen pa.rent, strong and overmastering, we must connect it with the love of the unseen Parent. The one naturally passes into the other, when wants arise too deep for that which is finite to supply. "If ye love not the seen," says the apostle, "how can ye love the unseen?" implying that it is by loving the seen that we are to learn to love the unseen. There is a lesson to be learned here regarding the education of children. There must be a proper representation and inter- pretation of fatherhood made to them. There must be gentle, wise, and firm dealing, signifying this, "As I the earthly father love you, so does the heavenly Father love you." For, more than we think, the our Father in heaven depends on the our father on earth. How much parents have it in their power to make religion attractive, or to make it repellent, to their children! The family affections are, to some extent, con- nected with trying ~periences. "When father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up." And there is a forsaking by father and mother before there may be a forsaking by deat.h. The child, as he grows up, becomes more and more independent of his parents; but it should not be to be cut· loose from all supports, but only to be more thrown upon and taken up by the heavenly Pa.rent. And then, when the total forsaking by father and mother takes place, he is not so desolate, having e. Father upon whom to lean, who has promised, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." A.gain, when a youthful member of a family is put into the furnace of affliction, what an effulgence and concentration of affection I It was strong before, but, in the effort to relieve the sufferer, it is wonderfully intensified. And when is it strongest? when does it pass all bounds? Is it not in the last dark lone hour? This is the method of the Divine working. And, without doubt, one end is effectually attained -ffection does break forth in all its strength; it does shine with more than a sevenfold lustre, the darkness only making it more refulgent. But may it not be charged with severity? Strange, some one may say, that the child should so charm the parent's heart, should be placed so as to secure the tenderest affection, should be suflered to remain until being is inseparably blended with being, and then be taken to the altar! S~range that Abraham should be sent into the land of Moriah, to have his affection toward an only and a peculiar son cut to the quick I Strange that there should be such lamentation in Ra.mah-Rachel weeping for her children, and not to be comforted because they are not! Were it not better to love the seen less? were it not better to be divested of all affection, or, at least, to limit its sphere? were it not better to retire into a convent, there to forget all earthly relationships, there to escape ~II hea.rtr-breakings and sad farewells, there to love God purely and uninterruptedly? But that would be to fight against nature-and nature is strong. We must love the seen, and must love passionately when the seen threatens to leave us. Now, there is reason, and very weighty reason, that the seen should be loved, and should be taken away so as to bruise love; there is reason for the breaking up of families, as well as for the institution of families; and in both cases the reason is substantially the same. We have a family education on earth, that we may be early familiarized with the truth of God's Fatherboo.9. Now, what i8 the Bible representation of that truth? We find that earthly things are indeed me.de after the heavenly things. We find a home in Godhead ; we find the relationship of Father and Son existing in eternity, on. rv. 1-21.] 'l'BE FIRS'l' EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. 137