MOST students of Scripture who have made themselves acquainted with the characteristic differences of the writers, are aware that John is occupied with " that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us."
His gospel has this peculiarity, but in a way different either to his epistles, or the Apocalypse; for it marks the life' in its essential nature and character as in Himself: "In him was life," though the life was the light of men. Still He who was the life was in the world, and it lighted every man coming into it. The light shineth in darkness though the darkness comprehended it not;" but "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." This is very blessed, as showing life communicated and in an existing relationship with the Father: " born not of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God."
It is not my purpose to trace further how this life is bestowed in the narratives of the gospel-whether with the master of Israel or the woman of Samaria, or by the quickening power of the Father and the Son at the pool of Bethesda; no, nor in its springing up to its own sources and height in communion and joy, any more than in its flowing out from us, as rivers of living water at the feast of Tabernacles. These references will recall to our minds the fact of this life being possessed by others through grace, though originally dwelling only in Christ Himself. Besides this, He took a place in the midst of His disciples as their Teacher, Example, and Guide. " I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me."
Still, as to all that was external to this life in Christ and His own, and all that surrounded them-the world and men in it-had to be tested by this Life, opening itself out in unclouded light and exercised in unwearied love. Life, in the perfectness and grace which had suited itself to the necessities of mankind, and to the moral perceptions of the human heart, shone forth in all its brilliancy on behalf of God, and in its benevolence towards the lost and undone.
This formed a new responsibility for men. Would they be attracted by the love which had come after them, and could they attach themselves to supreme excellency standing in their midst, though in the form of a servant?-His higher glories hidden in the mystery of the incarnation. We know the issue of this trial of man, and how he failed to respond to such love, or even to be attracted to the Person in whom this grace dwelt, and who would not be repelled. The world failed to discern his beauty who was the altogether lovely, and the chiefest among ten thousand-nay, He was to them as a root out of a dry ground, having no form nor comeliness that they should desire Him. Man's heart could not open itself to perfect grace as presented by the Lord, but closed itself up in the wretchedness and enmity which dwelt within. He rejected heaven's one chief treasure, come down too in the fashion of a man, and standing upon the level of the lost and the guilty, " eating and drinking with publicans and sinners."
In the epistles of John, we find, consequent on the rejection of Christ as the " life, the light, and the love," that their withdrawment from a world of death, darkness, and hatred becomes the new theme of the Apostle. Accordingly," that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us" passes away into the circle of its own fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. Alas! for the world, and for men in it.
Life thus surrounding itself with its own similitudes, becomes on its part exclusive of sin and of darkness" the world, the flesh, and the devil." Jesus Christ as the righteous One takes a new place with the Father, and He is now our Advocate. Moreover, as to the maintenance of this fellowship in the light in which God dwells, " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin:" and further, " if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is the new ground of our intercourse with God, and of the communion to which we are called in the unclouded sphere suited to us-as born of God where no darkness is. Little children, young men, and fathers have equally their place and are alike at home. " These things write we unto you that your joy may be full," brightens up every heart as it passes on into its new birthrights. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and the Son gives the character and blessedness of our intercourse.
It is wonderful when we first learn to look at everything. with God, and discover how all under the heavens has enveloped itself in darkness since the true light has been cast out. For example, if' we look at the world itself in the light of our epistle, it is to learn that "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." So again, as to our relation to it, " if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Observe, that in this fellowship in the light, the Father and what is consistent with Him, is the new test of the world's value, just as the love of the Father becomes our new principle for not loving it. Note also, that as the world, has emptied itself of Christ, and therefore of the Father, it cannot merely retain the measure, or the form of its
previous iniquity; but adds to these later-ones, and; thank God, its last. Tested by Christ it is Christless; but worse than this, for religious and ecclesiastical corruptions take His place. " Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."
Further, this eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us, is likewise in us, exclusive of all that is not consistent with the light in which God dwells, and in which our fellowship is maintained. What God is becomes our rule. " God is light, and in him is no darkness at all;" therefore darkness is excluded, or else we lie, and do not the truth, So again, as to Satan-" the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one;" and as regards the world,. "it passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
Empty of the Father and the Son, what has Satan further to accomplish, but to gather around himself all that is false as to God, to Christ, and to truth, and therefore suited to mankind in their state of moral alienation and enmity.
" But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things;" and in the power of this anointing we exclude everything that is not of the truth, but is a lie. " if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Father and the Son;" precious assurance 1 so that when Christ shall appear we may have confidence, " and not be ashamed before him at his coming." Love in this epistle is as exclusive of everything that will not be embraced in the circle of this blessed fellowship with the Father and the Son, as we have seen the life and the, light to have been in their respective chapters.
The love of the Father; which has made us sons of God, makes us on that account a race of persons unknown to the world. And why? Because it knew Him not. Wide as the poles asunder-wide as the distance between heaven and hell, we pass into our respective classes. " He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil -sinneth from the beginning: " on the other hand, ".whosoever is born of God cloth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God." So likewise as to righteousness-the classes are in opposition one to the other; " in this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." Further, as the Father and the Son are in these respects denied, so lastly, the Holy Ghost who has come down from heaven, is also set at naught, and false spirits are gone out into the world. " Hereby know ye the Spirit of God; Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." "Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
Thus we see that in the Gospel of John, life, light, and love were first embodied in Christ personally, though communicated to His disciples who believed on Him; and the world was the place in which it shone out, though as yet in the midst of the darkness and evil where Satan was and wicked men.
But in the epistles we see a fellowship formed under the unction and the anointing of the Holy Ghost, by which those who have this life are called out into separation from all that is antagonistic to God and to Christ. Not only is this separation to be maintained, but communion with the Father and the Son are to be enjoyed, as brought into the light where God dwells in the entire exclusion of whatever is not of the Father, but which maketh a lie and is the work of the devil. Fellowship or communion, in order to be such, must be in the fullest reciprocation of all the capabilities of our new nature as born of God, with the Father, and in perfect enjoyment of His love and whatever distinguishes Him, as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our God and Father through the Son of His love.
It yet remains to examine the characteristic difference of the Apocalypse from the Epistles and the Gospel. This may be described as a book revealing the ways and means by which God finally separates the evil from the good. In righteous judgment He drives Satan into the bottomless
pit, and makes all the enemies of Christ lick the dust: " then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." The strange presentation of Christ in the opening chapters of the Revelation, as the Son of Man " with eyes as a flame of fire, and a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of His mouth," may well intimate the character of His mission to the Seven Churches. The responsible witness on earth was thus tested; whether it faithfully maintained the place of separateness to God, to Christ, and to truth in which grace had set it; and, on the other hand, whether these churches were exclusive of all evil? Alas! the first had left her early love, and into the others Satan had introduced all the corruptions, whether religious, ecclesiastical, or social that were contrary to the light in which God dwells, and opposed to the fellowship of the Father and the Son into which men in Christ were called, and in which they were originally set. The Lord Himself says of the last form of the Laodicean evil " because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
Moreover, God in righteous government visits the ripening iniquity of the world under the guidance of Satan, by the seven trumpets, the seven thunders, and the seven vials; "but men blasphemed God the more for the plagues." On the other hand, " the door opened in heaven" shows how God has gathered to Himself, in Peace and blessing, the church which He had purchased with the blood of His own. All that is born of God goes up to the Father in the triumphant hour of Christ's coming, and is presented in His presence, faultless and with exceeding joy. That which is of Satan-yea, the Dragon himself, and the Beast, and the False Prophet, and all the wicked living are driven to their own place in outer darkness where no light is. The world itself is cleared of all its pollutions by the besom of destruction, and riddance made for the establishment of righteousness and holiness.
If we pass on to the close of Rev. 19, it describes the judgment of God on the great Babylon-the concentration of the proud systems of human enterprise and `greatness. "Alas! alas_! that great city, that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, for in one hour so great riches is come to naught." Thus the sources and active agents of the great apostasy are judged and put aside: the gigantic growth of systematic corruption, "the mother of harlots," is burned with fire, and all the glory of man is withered like the grass of the field, but only to give place to what comes down from God out of heaven with His glory. Good and evil, light and darkness, clean and unclean, once measured in the balances of the sanctuary, or maintained in their relative distances by the perfectness of Christ when on, earth, or since by the Holy Ghost, in the man in Christ and in the church, are now separated forever by the judgment of God. Right things suited to God and Christ, to holiness and truth must now come in and take their proper places upon the foundations of jasper and sapphire. " Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife," and the angel "showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious." "And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." God has separated from Himself everything contrary to Himself, and has excluded it from His presence. Life, light, and love are now together, no longer encumbered by their opposites; but free and unfettered in their own enjoyments, where all is according, to God in true holiness. '['he first man of the earth, earthy, and all the consequences of the fall are superseded, either by sovereign grace to the redeemed, or by terrible judgment on the lost: and the second man, the Lord from heaven, is the heir of all things-the beginning of the new creation of God.
Finally, this book closes by the revelation of God and the Lamb, as the light of the heavenly Jerusalem. A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeds out of the throne: the nations of them that are saved walk in the light thereof. In the midst of the street, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations, and they shall bring their glory and honor to it.. Blessed scenes! where God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes, when sorrow and sighing shall flee, and all the catalog of the former things connected with the flesh, the world; and Satan passed away, be forgotten and out of mind. Nothing remains but God, the Father of all the redeemed families in the heavens and on the earth: nothing is heard from the sea and upwards. but one universal song of thanksgiving and praise: nothing from the highest heaven downward but rejoicing, and the voice of melody. Life, light, and love are with God, and where God is. Sin, darkness, and death are with Satan, and where Satan is shut up; never to come in sight of each other again, throughout the countless ages of eternity. J. E. B.