001.23. Chapter 23
Chapter 23 THE FAMILY DELINEATED
“I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” In the verses before us the saints are viewed according to their several levels in the school of Christ, and the excellences ascribed to them correspond with and are proper to their stages of growth. In addressing the “fathers,” they are viewed not according to their age, but to their spiritual development. That which is here predicated of them is “ye have known Him that is from the beginning.” We think “that is” should be deleted, for this supplement inserted by the translators is quite unnecessary, the reference being to the One spoken of in the opening verse of our epistle. They had known Him from the beginning of their spiritual history, from the day when Christ had first been graciously revealed in them (Galatians 1:16). Doubtless some of them had personally seen and heard Christ in His incarnate state at the commencement of the Christian era. That which distinguished them from the young men and babes was that they had acquired a deeper, fuller, and richer acquaintance with Him. In their earlier days they were occupied with His work, what He had done and obtained for them. Later, they were more taken with their exploits and achievements, what His grace and strength had enabled them to accomplish. But now it was Himself that engaged their hearts and minds: the wonders and perfections of His blessed person which enthralled them.
“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Php 3:8) is the language and longing of a “father.” That which characterizes such is a clearer insight into the marvels and mysteries of His ineffable person, of His manifold glories, of His distinctive offices. They know Him as the God-man Mediator. They apprehend something of His covenant engagements, and of His prophetic, priestly and kingly functions. They discern Him to be the Centre of all the Divine counsels (Ephesians 3:11), the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15).
They know Him as “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), and as the One in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). They know Him as the Head of the Body the Church (Colossians 1:18), yea, as “the head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:22), angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him (1 Peter 3:22).
They not only know Him as a personal and all-sufficient Saviour, but they have gone on to apprehend what He did for God and what He finds in His Son, as the One who magnified His law and made it honourable, glorifying Him in this very scene where He has been so grievously dishonoured: the One of whom the Father says, “Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth” (Isaiah 42:1).
“I write unto you, fathers:” the reference is to all that he says in this epistle. Though they had known Christ from the beginning and had so grown in grace and in the knowledge of Him, yet what he wrote was as much needed by them as by their younger and more immature brethren. No child of God ever gets beyond the need of instruction, exhortation and comfort in this life. The very fact that the fathers are so well acquainted with Christ should make them the more amenable and receptive to the apostle’s message. They had proved what a good master the Lord Jesus is to serve: how patiently He had borne with their dullness, how graciously He had pardoned their sins, how faithfully He had supplied their every need; and therefore they ought the more readily to attend unto the words of His servants. The proved goodness of Christ should engage them to lively gratitude, fervent love, and devoted obedience. They should be examples unto and the guides of their juniors. They must not abate in their zeal or entertain the idea that it was permissible to be less diligent and earnest than formerly, still less be puffed up with their attainments, but rather pray and strive to continue “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).
“I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.” This second class comprised those who had emerged from their spiritual infancy, though they had not arrived at that maturity of growth the fathers had attained unto. What is here predicated of them has sorely puzzled not a few, yet if it be regarded in the light of the general analogy of faith, and more particularly with respect to John’s style of making abstract and absolute statements, it should present no serious obstacle. Whatever difficulty is here presented, let us be careful to avoid increasing the same by reading into it what is not there. The apostle did not say the young men had overcome the flesh. It is a most significant fact, and one which needs to be kept in mind, that while this epistle speaks of overcoming “the wicked one” and of overcoming “the world” (1 John 5:4) it makes no mention of believers overcoming their evil nature. They are indeed bidden to mortify their corruptions (Colossians 3:5), and in varying measures all the regenerate do so, for the grace of God effectually teaches its recipients to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:12); but nowhere does Scripture affirm that any saint “overcame the flesh.”
Thus, “ye have overcome the wicked one” is not to be understood absolutely and unqualifiedly, but relatively and within certain limits. These “young men” had successfully encountered the first temptations and trials which attended enlistment under the banner of Christ and their consequent separation from the world, so that Satan had been unable either to drag them down into his evil ways or to shut them up in the dungeon of despair. As they had continued following on to know the Lord, they had received many setbacks and been sorely wounded in their conflict with the powers of evil, yet Satan had been foiled in his efforts to induce them to give up the fight. That leads us to point out that the Lord’s people are far more aware of their defeats than they are of their frequent overcomings. Nor is the reason of that hard to discover. As we are naturally far more conscious of a painful illness than of our good health, so the Christian’s falls are more evident to him than are his victories—the more so since the latter be gained while his eyes are fixed on Christ rather than on himself.
Satan never succeeds in prevailing finally or totally over any child of God. He is bent on the destruction of all the saints, but in no case can he accomplish his full desire—the intercession of Christ prevents him from so doing. In every instance those words of His hold good, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” Nevertheless, that does not release us from the necessity of taking unto us the whole armour of God, or from the duty of unremitting watchfulness. Our very striving against the Devil is one degree of conquest. God does indeed postpone the full and ultimate victory, yet if we continue to resist the Devil we are not overcome by him. When he gains a temporary advantage over us, causing us to disgrace our profession and dishonour the name of Christ, he strives his utmost to drive us to abject despair, or to persuade us that we have committed the unpardonable sin; but if a sense of our failure drives us to our knees in humble and sincere confession to God, then we defeat his hellish designs. Poor Peter failed sadly in the high priest’s palace, and experienced an awful fall; nevertheless, when he went out and wept bitterly he overcame the wicked one. This overcoming of the wicked one by the saints—for the experience is by no means restricted unto the “young men” class—is in fulfillment of the terms of Genesis 3:15, for it is to be carefully observed that that remarkable prophecy is concerned not only with the serpent and the Saviour, but also with their respective seeds. The members of Christ have fellowship, in their measure, with the Head, both in His sufferings and in His victories. As it was not the serpent alone (though chiefly, and as the instigator of others) who bruised Christ’s heel, for both Jews and Gentiles were gathered together against Him (Acts 4:27), so it is not Christ alone (though He pre-eminently and His seed subordinately) who obtains conquest over the Devil. Thus the triumph of the Captain of our salvation over the arch-enemy of God and His people is twofold: personal and immediate, mediate and instrumental—in and by His soldiers, for He loves to have them share with Him in all things. Believers overcome the wicked one not only representatively in their Head, but personally through His strength, and therefore the glory is still His. In this respect also they are “predestinated to be conformed unto the image of God’s Son.”
Far too little thought has been devoted to the terms of Genesis 3:15, in their application unto the children of God.
While the Redeemer Himself be its prime subject, His redeemed are by no means to be excluded. They certainly have part in the conflict and are bruised in the heel by the serpent, and to them also extends the promise of bruising his head. This is confirmed by the fact that the “enmity” exists not only between Satan and Christ, but also between their respective seeds. This is according to the promise of “if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12). Their victory is set forth in the New Testament in very language drawn from Genesis 3:15. When the seventy, as representatives of all Christ’s ministers, said, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name,” He replied, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:17-19). To the saints Paul wrote, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan [more completely] under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20): it is indeed God who treads him down, but it is under their feet he is trodden.
“I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.” This accords with and is the fulfillment of the covenant promise: “all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:11). It is at this point that experiential Christianity begins: an apprehension of the Father’s love in Christ, the realization that He so loved them as to give His only begotten Son for them. It is their privilege, wisdom, comfort to know God as “Father.” It was His grace that chose them in Christ, His Spirit who was sent to seek them, His power that begat them. In natural life the very first thing which babes and little children discover is an acknowledgment—in their infantile way—of their parents, owning them by their names (“papa and mama”) in distinguishing them from others. And thus it is spiritually: the spirit of adoption is given them “whereby they cry, Father, Father” (Romans 8:15). The distinguishing act of babes in Christ is to own God as their Father, expressing in their way their attachment to Him, their delight in Him, their dependence upon Him, lisping out His name in their praises and petitions before the throne of grace. None can approach Him with any confidence or freedom until they know God in this relation—their Father, because the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 John 2:14 the apostle changes from his threefold “I write” of 1 John 2:13 and twice uses “I have written.” Why such repetition? For the purpose of emphasis: to make clear his warm affection for them, his deep concern for their spiritual welfare, and to emphasize the privilege and honour conferred upon them. At least six different explanations have been given of the change of tense, only two of which strike us as being feasible. The first is that John here contemplated his epistle from two different mental standpoints. Originally, his mind dwelt upon what he was engaged in penning (1 John 1:4); later, he contemplated his completed production (1 John 5:13). It was as though he said, I am telling you this and that; afterwards, remember what I told you. Second, that John was pondering a changed situation. He was then in the body, though very aged, and could not be here much longer. Soon his what “I wrote” would become what “I have written.” Considered thus, there is a pathos in it which is quite affecting: I write to you as a dying man; treasure what I wrote as my last charge to you.
“I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him from the beginning” (1 John 2:14). They knew Him so as to approve of Him, trust in Him, and make Him their All in all. Theirs was not a bare theoretical and historical knowledge, but a spiritual and saving one, an experiential and heart-affecting knowledge, which receives the Truth not only in the light of it, but in the love of it (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Their knowledge is more deeply rooted (Colossians 1:23) than is that of the babes or young men. It is more influential (Php 1:9): their love is more stable (Ephesians 3:18): they are more settled in the Truth against error (Ephesians 4:14). They are more prudent, having learned to moderate their affections and activities within the bounds of sobriety (Titus 2:2). Nevertheless, despite their maturity of knowledge and experience, they require to be written unto, needing the same counsels, admonitions and encouragements as did their juniors. As one quaintly said, “The oldest Christian needs to go to heaven with the Bible in his hand.” They are not yet out of the reach of temptations, and need to beware lest a sense of security begets carelessness. Their responsibility is greater too: to see that the purity of the Gospel is preserved and discipline in the churches maintained.
“I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14). In making that statement the apostle was certainly far from seeking to flatter them, for he did not say “ye have made yourselves strong.” No, he was simply making a sober statement of fact. In so doing he first gave honour unto the Holy Spirit, for their state and achievements were the results of His operations in them. Second, he was giving expression unto his own personal joy: it was a matter of delight to him that they had, by the grace of God, emerged from a state of infantile weakness, and had reached this state of health and vigour. Third, it was said by way of encouragement to them. If on the other hand it be our duty to rebuke and reprove what is evil in fellow Christians, it equally becomes us to recognize and own whatever good is in them. A word of cheer and stimulus is often a real help.
If there be a time to “break down,” there is also a time to “build up” (Ecclesiastes 3:3). Paul did not hesitate to tell the Thessalonians “your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth” (2 Thessalonians 1:3). But what are we to understand by “ye are strong”? Relatively. Through using the means of grace, by increased spiritual knowledge, by appropriating the strength which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1), through exercising the graces of the new man, by improving (profiting from) the varied experiences through which they had passed, and by the assisting operations of the Spirit, they had developed from babes into a higher spiritual stature and were better able to use their spiritual muscles.
It is written, “They that wait upon the Lord [which refers not so much to an act, but is descriptive of an attitude taken by all the regenerate who are in a healthy condition] shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). It is indeed true that the believer’s strength, like his righteousness, is in the Lord, yet as there is an imparted righteousness (1 John 2:29), so also a communicated strength. David acknowledged, Thou “strengthenedst me with strength in my soul” (Psalms 138:3), so that he was no longer feeble in himself. There is such a thing as outgrowing spiritual babyhood and weakness, though not continued dependence upon the Lord. There is such an experience as going on “from strength to strength” (Psalms 84:7) and being able to do all things through Christ strengthening us (Php 4:13). But as increasing holiness is accompanied by increased realization of our filthiness, so increased strength makes us more conscious of our weakness.
“And the word of God abideth in you.” Though we would not exclude a reference here to the personal Word Himself (John 1:1; Revelation 19:13), yet we consider that it was the written Word which John had primarily in view. It was by Christ living in them, putting forth His life and light in their souls, that they were strengthened. Nevertheless, it is by means of the written Word, by faith and meditation thereon as it abides in our renewed minds and hearts, that Christ lives and dwells in us. Hence that designation of the Scriptures when Paul exhorted the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). The two cannot be separated: it is by the written Word that Christ indwells the believer, as it is Christ who teaches how to use the Word. Thus this second clause is first of all explanatory of the preceding one, making known to us the principal means and source of the strength of these young men; as it also serves to define the nature of their strength, as inherent, something within themselves. It is by means of the pure milk of the Word that the babe in Christ grows (1 Peter 2:2). It is by that Word—through faith’s exercise, and meditating thereon, and the Spirit’s blessing—that the believer is quickened (Psalms 119:25, Psalms 119:28, etc.). And it is by that Word abiding in him that he becomes strong, that the faculties or graces of the new man are developed and energized.
“And the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” Thus the second clause is linked with both the former and the final ones, casting light upon each. It was by means of the Word of God dwelling in them that they were strengthened, and equally so was it the means of their overcoming the wicked one. The question “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” receives answer “by taking heed thereto according to Thy word” (Psalms 119:9). So, too, David declared, “By the words of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psalms 17:4)—so blessedly exemplified by his greater Son in His conflict with the Devil (Matthew 4:1-25). The Word of God is expressly designated “the sword of the Spirit,” for it is the one offensive weapon given us to be used against the enemy (Ephesians 6:16-17). “And the word of God abideth in you” may also be regarded as being itself the grand proof that they had “overcome the wicked one,” for he had not been able to take away the good Seed sown in their hearts—as in the case of the wayside hearer (Mark 4:15; John 5:38), nor had he succeeded in inducing them to sell the Truth. In view of what follows in 1 John 2:18-26, we consider that the principal meaning of “ye have overcome the wicked one” in 1 John 2:14 is that they had withstood his attempts to poison their minds with fatal error.