001.33. Chapter 33
Chapter 33 THE APPLICATION
1 John 2:24 In our present verse John proceeded to make what the Puritans were wont to designate the “improvement” of the subject under discussion, by which they did not mean “to better,” but rather to employ to advantage. In present-day language, the apostle made a practical application of what he had written in 1 John 2:18-23. There he had treated of antichrists, and had explained how it was that believers had been preserved from those deceivers: they had received an unction from the Holy One, by which they had obtained the true knowledge of Divine and spiritual things. Consequently, he addressed them not as those who were ignorant, but as those who were personally acquainted with the Truth. Then, for their fuller information and guidance, he had plainly defined what an antichrist was. Now he made an appeal unto his readers which was based upon the foregoing. In so doing he turned from the false to the true. In the Greek the transition is more marked, for the pronoun “you” is placed at the beginning of the sentence, for the purpose of emphasis: “Ye therefore what ye have heard from the beginning, in you let it abide: if in you should abide what from the beginning ye heard, also ye in the Son and in the Father shall abide.” Our present text, then, is an exhortation unto the Lord’s people to persevere in the faith, to part not with the Truth, to heed not those who sought to entice them away from it. Thus we see once more that it was John’s aim not only to inform and establish his readers, but also to move them unto the performance of duty. That was the design of all the Epistle writers: urging the saints not to be content with a bare theoretical knowledge of the Gospel, but to seek to get their hearts fired therewith, so that faith and love should be active, and the works of holiness produced. They constantly intermingled doctrinal instruction with moral injunctions, so that the saints should be neither barren nor unfruitful in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus. So again in what immediately follows, for John at once passes from exhortation to remind them of the great promise, and then strikes afresh a note of warning. Therein we may perceive the spiritual wisdom of the apostles in holding so carefully the balance of Truth, and the admirable example which they have left preachers and writers to follow: to weave together that which illumines the mind and that which calls for the action of the will.
“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.” As intimated above in the literal translation of our verse, the words “abide,” “remain” and “continue” are the same in the original, and had a uniform rendition been given the repetition had shown more clearly the deep importance which John attached to this precept—a case where exactness was unwarrantably sacrificed to variety. The expression “let that abide in you” is designedly antithetical to “the truth is not in us” or “in you” (1 John 1:8; 1 John 2:4), which means far more than that they were ignorant or unacquainted with it, namely that the Truth was not present as a vital principle in the soul, as an animating force in their lives. It is not sufficient to hear sound preaching and become mentally acquainted with God’s Word: the same must find a permanent lodgment in the heart if we are really to be benefited by it. Human nature being what it is—weak and unstable—there is a real danger of relinquishing the Truth under pressure of persecution for the Gospel’s sake, or through being absorbed with the “cares and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14), and thus being only a thorny-ground hearer; yea, such is certain to be the outcome unless we be Divinely preserved—by God’s stirring us up to guard against the same, and by a diligent performance of our duty.
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip,” or as the margin renders it, “run out as leaky vessels” (Hebrews 2:1). If they do so, the fault is entirely their own, through failing to give the more earnest heed to them. It is by being believed that the Gospel becomes efficacious, and “it cannot be believed unless it is understood; it cannot be understood, unless it be attended to. Truth must be kept before the mind in order to its producing an appropriate effect; and how can it be kept before the mind, but by our giving heed to it?” (J. Brown). There needs to be a serious and diligent fixing of the thoughts upon that which we hear, a bowing and bending of the will to yield unto it, a placing of the affections upon it, a bringing of the entire man into conformity with it. Knowledge of the Word must be accompanied by faith therein, obedience thereto, and all other due respects which in any way concern it. Otherwise, it will soon pass out of the mind, like water out of a leaky utensil. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).
“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning,” namely that Gospel which you have embraced and confessed, that Gospel wherein the person and offices, the atoning sacrifice, and justifying righteousness, of the God-man Mediator is proclaimed, and wherein the example which He has left His disciples to follow is made known. The Gospel and its ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper contain a full revelation of the same. As Paul declared to the Galatians, “before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently [plainly] set forth crucified among you” (1 John 3:1). He is the glorious Object exhibited therein. The Gospel is the chariot in which He rides in His majesty. It is the glass in which He shines forth, by means of which He is seen by the eye of faith, through which His glory is reflected, and by which the adoring beholder is “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The excellency, dignity and pre-eminence of His person are there set forth. His fathomless love and abounding grace are there published. His perfect and vicarious obedience, His everlasting righteousness, His cleansing blood, the abiding efficacy of His sacrifice, are expressly declared. His finished work, His blessed victory over the powers of darkness, His triumph over death and the grave, are plainly announced. The Gospel makes known the unsearchable riches of Christ, the glorious inheritance which He purchased for His people, His coming again to take them to be for ever with Himself.
“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.” Here we see how the apostle magnified the great ordinance of preaching, by indicating the way in which the good news had been communicated unto them.
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Christ Himself was anointed to preach the Gospel (Isaiah 61:1), and commenced His ministry by so doing (Luke 4:21-22). Concerning Him, the Father said, “Hear ye Him” (Matthew 17:5). When He had completed His ministry, He committed the same work unto His ambassadors, saying, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), and ever since it has pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe (1 Corinthians 1:21). Now it is a very great favour to hear the Gospel proclaimed, to sit under the ministry of one who exalts the Son of God as the sole and all-sufficient Saviour of sinners.
“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance” (Psalms 89:15); whereas those who know it not sit in darkness and in the region of the shadow of death (Matthew 4:16). Still better is it to know it in the heart and understand the reality of it. But best of all for us to abide in the acknowledgment of the Truth and for it to abide in us as a regulating principle.
Every privilege carries with it a corresponding obligation, and therefore those who treat the Gospel lightly incur deeper guilt. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). Solemn indeed is the case of those who hear sermon after sermon that faithfully and searchingly warns them of the wrath to come and bids them flee from the same, yet regard them as no more to be remembered than ordinary discourses. Parlous the condition of all who listen to the preaching of God’s Word merely as a tale that is told, to be no more affected and influenced by it, to go on in their giddy way as though they had never heard it; to lay aside all thoughts of it as that which little concerns them; to stifle convictions, withstand reproofs, neglect exhortations, refuse the duties enjoined, reject the offers made, and continue in the very sins they hear reproved. Such close their ears to the truth, shut Christ out of their hearts, are possessed of Satan, and heap to themselves wrath against the day of wrath. “See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven” (Hebrews 12:25). .
Then “let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.” Of Lydia we are told, “whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul” (Acts 16:14). She not only listened to but gave heed unto the same, with readiness and resolution. In due proportion to our valuation of the Truth will be our earnestness and efforts to make it our own. “If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:3-5). Silver and gold lie not on the surface of the ground to be picked up by any lazy person, but can be reached and secured only by hard work and persevering toil. Likewise in order to learn God’s will as He has revealed it the Scriptures must be searched (John 5:39), searched daily (Acts 17:11), one part carefully compared with another (1 Corinthians 2:13). And in order for that Word to quicken, govern, and make us fruitful, it has to be prayed over, meditated upon day and night (Psalms 1:2-3), made the food of the soul (Jeremiah 15:16), and put into practice (James 1:22), and thereby are we “throughly furnished unto all good works.” This exhortation, “Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning,” is no casual or trivial one, but one that in varied language occurs and recurs throughout the Scriptures. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life” (Deuteronomy 4:9, and cf. Deuteronomy 4:23; Deuteronomy 8:11). “Let thine heart retain My words ... Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of My mouth.” “Take fast hold of instruction: let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life” (Proverbs 4:4-5, Proverbs 4:13): that “Take fast hold of” implies that there must be deep interest, determination of purpose, perseverance of effort. “My son, attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart” (Proverbs 4:20-21), yes, “in the midst of thine heart” and not merely on the threshold of it: there only will it be operative, for “out of the heart are the issues of life.”
“Let these sayings sink down into your ears” (Luke 9:44), by storing them in your memory and ruminating on the same, which is what the mother of our Lord did: “Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). That was in sharp and blessed contrast with the rocky-ground hearers, who though they “receive the word with joy” yet “have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13). It is not enough to believe or receive the Truth: it must have a permanent place in the soul. As Paul informed the Colossians, Christ would yet present them unblamable and unreprovable to the Father: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:23). In order thereto we need to make the Gospel our constant study, to become thoroughly acquainted with the Scriptures, and cordially assent to them, to receive the Truth in the love of it, to feed daily thereon, so that our judgments are formed by its teaching, our hearts cast into the mould of it, our consciences directed by it. Thereby shall we be enriched with true spiritual wisdom and knowledge, and be enabled to walk acceptably before God and adorn the doctrine we profess.
“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.” The “therefore” has in view what the apostle treated of in 1 John 2:18-23, and points a solemn warning, as well as presses an urgent duty. Alas, the majority of professing Christians have nothing more than a few notions floating about in their heads, and consequently they are easily swayed by any plausible deceiver, carried hither and thither by every wind that blows, tossed about like a ship with no ballast in its hold. It is not by deliberate intention that so many depart from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits, but through inattention to what they heard at the beginning—because of their indolence and failure to make the Truth their own. The seed which remains on the surface of the ground is quickly devoured by the fowls of the air: only as it becomes “the engrafted word” is it able to save our souls (James 1:21); and in order thereto we must be able to say with David, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalms 119:11). Only as God’s Word is stored and treasured in the heart will the heart be preserved from apostasy.
“Let that therefore abide in you:” as a peculiar treasure, as a welcome guest, as your guide by day and companion by night. Imbibe it as the dry ground does the refreshing showers. Yield your entire being to its sway, so that it nourishes your soul, enlightens your understanding, purifies your affections, regulates your will. Let it so abide in you, that it is reduced to practice. Let it abide in you by the exercise of faith, by constant contemplation, by affectionate esteem. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). The word “dwell” there means “to keep house,” to have authority over its arrangements, as having the right to control. We are to be governed by it, to receive our instructions and directions from it. The word “richly” signifies “largely,” as a whole, in its utmost compass—in contrast with sparsely or fragmentally. Make it your food and drink, your sustenance and strength, your comfort and joy: only by so doing will it have its proper influence over you. Then will the word abide in you not merely as a fact in the brain, but as that which is actually realized in your experience.
“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.” The second clause conveys a double idea.
First, it is an exhortation having the same force as that of Revelation 3:11, “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown,” or shame you by despoiling you of your spiritual glory. You need to be constantly awake and on the alert, for the Devil will seek to rob your soul of that which is more precious than gold or rubies. If, in view of the fact that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived,” Timothy needed the injunction, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of” (2 Timothy 3:14), much more so do the writer and the reader. Having bought the Truth, sell it not. Our adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour; but every believer ought to be able to say, “by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psalms 17:4). But in order thereto he must store up that Word in his mind, in his affections, in his conscience, so that it is ever ready to hand when needed—as in the case of our Lord when tempted of Satan.
Second, this exhortation imports, Forsake not for any novelties those things you heard at the beginning and which were blessed to your conversion. Be not like the Athenians, who “spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing” (Acts 17:21); but rather “ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16). Of old God complained that false prophets caused His people “to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up” by His appointment (Jeremiah 18:15). So too He foretold that a day would come in this Christian era “when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3). It was because of this evil tendency that we find the apostles went about “confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith” (Acts 14:22). “Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning” means, Give it not up for any new doctrine propagated by antichrists, but cherish the Truth and incorporate it into your life. Spiritual progress, or growth in grace, does not mean that you will ever outgrow the Gospel, yet how many come to despise foundational truth and prefer human speculations on prophecy!
“If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.”
There is much difference of opinion among the commentators as to whether the “if” should be regarded as a conditional or a declaratory one; personally, we consider it is both. That it is conditional is clear from the verb employed in the last clause: it is not “if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also do continue in the Son,” but “ye also shall” do so—providing you meet the required stipulation the latter will follow. In other words, the Truth remaining and operating in the soul as a vital principle, exerting a practical power in the life, is the means of maintaining communion with the Son and the Father. As there can be no knowledge of Christ except through or by means of the Gospel, so there can be no fellowship with Him but by believingly and adoringly cleaving to the Gospel. As Christ will not walk with those who pursue a course of self-will, neither will He have any concord with one who gives ear to His enemies and treads the path of error. Only by faith in and obedience to the Word is preserved our experiential union with the Lord. On the other hand, in view of the context it is equally plain that the “if” of our present verse is evidential or demonstrative.
Speaking of some who had apostatized from the faith John declared, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us” (1 John 2:19): it was the turning of their backs upon the Truth which made it manifest that they never had any vital union with Christ. So too taught the Lord Himself: unto those who professed to believe in Him, He said: “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed” (John 8:31); that is, your perseverance in the faith will demonstrate you to be such in truth—not that they became His disciples by so doing, but that they supplied evidence that they were such as He owned. And again, He averred: “If a man love Me, he will keep My words” (John 14:23), for true love ever endeavours to please its object. If there be no keeping of His words, no cleaving fast to His Gospel, no walking according to His precepts, no living upon His promises, then the claim to love Him is a false one. Thus steadfastness in the faith and obedience are the marks of our saving oneness with the Son.
“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.” That clearly presupposes that they had previously received the Truth in the love of it, but that they are exhorted to fix and fasten the same “as a nail in a sure place”—by mixing faith therewith, setting their affections upon it and delighting therein. That which you received at the time of your conversion concerning the person, work and salvation of Christ must be the touchstone by which all that you hear and read is to be tested. Great will be the benefits from so doing: thereby you will be fortified against false teachers. As one pithily put it, “Revise the old Gospel and you devise another.” We must reserve for the opening paragraphs of the next chapter a further remark on the last half of our verse.