1 John 4

1 John 4:1-12

The apostle cautions the Christian converts against being deceived by seducing spirits; and directs them how they may distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John IV. 1—12.

JOHN IV. 1.

IT is necessary, my beloved, that in the circumstances in which we are placed, I should B ELOVED, believe not every

Many false prophets were in the world.

caution you against credulously submitting to every one who pretends a divine inspiration for what he says: *believe not therefore every pretended spirit:*ᵃ *but make trial of the spirits, whether they be indeed of God or not: for it is certain, that many false prophets are gone forth into the world, boasting a Divine mission, and thereby laying snares for the souls of men, with such artifice, that might, as our Lord expresses it, (Mat. xxiv. 24,) deceive the very elect if it were possible. Now in this ye know and may distinguish the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of truth, from that of error: every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ, who is come in the flesh,*ᵇ that pays a becoming deference to his authority, and the Divine discoveries which he hath made, is of God: there cannot, in the general, be any better attestation of any spirit than this, that it tends, in its agency and operations, to promote the honour of the great Redeemer. *And you may, on the other hand, be sure of this, that every pretended spirit of revelation, that doth not confess and do homage to Jesus Christ, who is come in the flesh, is not of God: and indeed this is on the contrary, the very [spirit] of antichrist,*ᶜ of whom you have heard in the Divine oracles and predictions which our blessed Lord delivered concerning this last time that he is coming, and is now in some measure already in the world. But, my

spirit.] Many pre-cter of the Messiah, re-ordinary manner to of God; and this w of turning away faith and hope. The rt turn of argument, cy were indeed im- attempt.

us Christ, who is come e words ο ομολογι σκυβοῖα, may very nd indeed they must on, for the bare con-carnation would not o have cleared them being impostors. To seems to mean, not e kind of regard to

him, but yielding a regular consistent age, and, as it were, harmonizing an ing in with his design.

This is the spirit of antichrist.] hence some have argued, that the cannot be antichrist, because he con Christ; and that it must necessar some entirely opposing person or sect which does not bare the Christian nu but the interpretation above obviate: objection; for it is certain popery usurpation entirely inconsistent wi due homage to Christ, and founded principles most opposite to those o government and religion. It is said to been already in the world, as the ambit imposing, persecuting spirit, which is very essence of antichristianism, did greatly prevail.

Whereas the apostles were of God.

dear children, ye are of God, and have overcome them in all their snares and delusions,⁴ because greater and more powerful by far is he that is in you, than he that is in the world: the Son of God, who stands at the head of that interest in which you are embarked, and who aids you by the mighty communications of his Spirit, is infinitely too strong for satan, the great head of the apostasy, and for all his confederates. They of whom I have now been speaking, are of the world, and they know how to manage their affairs in a manner which will be pleasing to it: therefore they speak as of the world, as taking their instructions from it, they give their followers worldly hopes and expectations, and the world greedily hears them, and drinks in their fallacious maxims, to the unspeakable detriment of the interests of true religion. Whereas, on the contrary, we are of God, and have approved ourselves to be so, by such irresistible evidence, that I may now venture to say, that he who knoweth God, and experiences the governing influence of Divine fear and love, heareth and regardeth us;⁵ but he who is not of God, doth not attentively and obediently hear us; and by rejecting our testimony, attended with such evidence, proves himself destitute of all true religion. After such a series of miracles, as have been wrought in confirmation of the gospel, and other proofs attending it in their days, it may be laid down as a test; so that by this we may sufficiently know, and discern between the spirit of truth and the spirit

—have overcome them.] That is, doctrines have prevailed against the deserve the name of antichrist, doubtedly all who opposed the Christ. Interest in some measure did; and as we the true miraculous gifts of the to which they falsely pretend, it is seen, that the advantage is clearly in side.

e who knoweth God, heareth us] Bull thinks, the meaning of this Regard our temper and conduct, compare it with that of those who be us, and you will find a carnal principally prevailing in them, and actual principle governing us: in con-

sequence of which yedly that we are of G world." Compare B I rather think, as A has stated it, (Vol II) sides the Christian abundantly demonstrat made a test by which pretences might be tri have received it upon be so. Thus the Jew judge, and obliged to ed prophet, as ipso factor, if he attempted from the revelation wh by Moses, Deut. xiii.

very one who loveth, is born of God.

ferror, as the one receives, and the other re-ects, this Divine system.

But think it not enough speculatively to ad- it its authority. Let it be your great care practically to acknowledge it; and especially to the purposes of mutual benevolence. Yes, y beloved, let us love one another; for love is really from God, as truth itself; and every one who loveth, every one in whose heart this divine principle reigns and triumphs over the selfish and contrary passions, shews by it that he is born of God, by his regenerating and transforming grace, and that he truly knoweth God; he makes it appear, that he judges rightly of God’s nature and will; and that his acquaintance with him has made deep and powerful impressions on his heart. Whereas he who loveth not, whatever he may pretend, hath not truly known God; for God is love, its great fountain and exemplar: he recommends it by his law, and produces and cherishes it by his influences; and the due contemplation of him will naturally inflame our hearts with love to his Divine Majesty, and to our fellow creatures for his sake, whose creatures they are. And in this great instance is the love of God, of which I now speak, when I say that God is himself love, in the most illustrious manner manifested, and displayed in and towards us, that God sent Jesus his only begotten and well beloved Son into the world, that we, condemned and miserable sinners, might live through him; that the sentence of death to which we were obnoxious, might be reversed, that we might be quickened to a principle of spiritual life, and so conducted to the possession of life everlasting. Yes, Sirs, I must repeat it again, that your hearts, and my own, may be the more deeply affected with it, herein is love, not indeed that we loved God, for we were, on the contrary, in a state of enmity to him, in which, unsolicited and untouched by his love and grace, we should have persisted and perished;

Let us love one another.] It is reported, love one another. And the importance of that when the apostle John was grown the argument by which he here enforce old, and past preaching, he used to be led love, justifies the repetition of it so frequently to the church at Ephesus, and only say these words to the people, Little children,

Reflections on the spirit of truth and error, &c.

but that he loved us, and in boundless compas- love? us, and sen vi sion to our necessities and our miseries, sent his Son to be the pro- 1John his Son [to be] a propitiation for our sins; to pitiation for our sins. iv. 10 make atonement to his injured justice for our offences, and so to introduce us on honourable

terms to his favour. And let me make this important inference from it, my beloved, if God so loved us, how ought we to love one another, in imitation of his Divine example, from a sense of the happy state into which we are brought, and in gratitude to him for so inestimable a favour? And the inference has the greater weight, as no man hath ever seen God, or can see him, since he is in his own nature invisible, and possessed of such essential perfections, that it is impossible that any expressions of love and duty from any of his creatures should in the least degree increase his happiness. But as he is the great fountain of benevolence, if we love one another, it appears that God dwelleth in us, and that his love is perfected in us; for this is the best proof we can give of our love to him, and of the prevalence of his grace in our hearts, transforming us into his image.

IMPROVEMENT.

THE spirit of error has been working, in some measure, in all ages of the church; nor are we to wonder, if having infested that of the apostles, it be transmitted to our own. It is neces- 1 sary therefore to try the spirits, whether they be of God; and we may safely try them by the homage they pay to Christ; and this not merely to his name, but to the genius of his religion, and to 2 the great standard of it, which he hath left upon record in his word, that it might not be that uncertain thing which the fancies 3 or traditions of fallible men might have rendered it. Antichristian principles and powers have arisen, but God has enabled, 4 and he will enable the remnant of his people to conquer them; for the spirit in them is greater than that which is in the world. 5 That may hearken to seducers as they accommodate their doc- 6 trine to its prevailing lusts and passions; but let us remember that the gospel is now established as a test, and may we admit, or reject, all human teachings, as they agree, or disagree with it. 7 If we read and hear it to any valuable purpose, it will teach us to love one another: that great lesson of our Divine Master, with relation to which we have line upon line, and precept upon 8 precept. If we value ourselves in any degree upon knowing God, let us live this proof of it, without which all our most subtle

They who have the spirit of God dwell in him;

speculations or debates concerning his nature and perfections will be utterly vain. And that we may attain to this, let us frequently contemplate that incomparable display of his love towards us, in sending his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Let us daily consider our lives as derived from that great act of mercy and grace; and that it is through Christ alone as thus given us of God, that we can obtain and secure life eternal, since in him we receive the only appointed propitiation for those sins, which would otherwise have obstructed the passage of all good to us, even from the great eternal fountain of felicity. He hath prevented us with the blessings of his goodness: we did not love him, but he first loved us. O that this love on his part, may produce the warmest return on ours! and let us testify the sincerity of this affection, by remembering how it ought to influence our hearts to benevolence as well as devotion. And as we cannot see God at any time, nor extend any act of beneficence to him, let us see his image with due regard in every Christian, and in some degree in every human creature, that we may express our love of him, by doing good to them for his sake.

1 John 4:13

The apostle further urges the excellence of love, as a substantial proof of our knowing God, and dwelling in him; and as bringing the greatest honour to God, and affording the truest composure and confidence to the soul. 1 John IV. 13, to the end.

JOHN IV. 13. HEREBY know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

And we have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

1 JOHN IV. 13.

I HAVE been mentioning love as an argument of our union to God; and I must now add, that in this also we know, that we abide in him, and that he dwelleth in us, because he hath given to us the communication of his Spirit, which operating in us by its gracious influences, sets, as it were, the mark of God upon us, and thereby assures us that he owns us as his, and is become our God: And animated and sealed by this Spirit, as we have seen and known by undoubted evidence ourselves, so we courageously testify to others, how hazardous soever the bearing that testimony may be, that the great almighty Father of all hath sent Jesus the Son, under the high character of the Saviour of the world, and that it is in, and by him alone, how proudly soever the infidel world may reject and disdain him, that eternal salvation can

vii. 1 John iv. 13

as they also do, who dwell in love

be obtained. Whosoever, in a steady and uniform manner, shall confess, that Jesus is the Son of God, maintaining this profession of faith with resolution and zeal, and acting in conformity to it, gives the happiest proof that God dwelleth in him, and that he dwelleth in God: there is a blessed union between God and his soul; so that it is, in the language of scripture; (Isa. lvii. 15.) the habitation of God, and he may be said to be, as to his affections and hopes, with God in heaven, and shall ere long, in his complete person, reside there. And we have known, and firmly believed the love which God hath unto us; for as we have again and again taught you, and know not how to cease inculcating it, God is himself love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him; this is the bond of union, and the pledge of its perpetuity. (Compare ver. 8, and 12.) And herein is love perfected in us, that notwithstanding all our acknowledged and lamented imperfections, we may have boldness and confidence in the great day of universal judgment, in that as he our Father and our God is, so are we in some prevailing degree, even while we reside in this world, so far as the imperfections of that mortal life, to which we are here confined, will admit.

And happy are they, who are arrived to such a temper and character as this; for there is no servile and abject fear in love, but perfect love casteth out such fear from the soul, in which it

a Whosoever shall confess, &c.] Bishop Hopkins accounts for this, and such passages, by observing, that in the primitive times there were no temporal inducements to embrace Christianity; and consequently most of the professors of it acted upon conscience, and it might be charitably hoped they were indeed regenerate. See his Works, p. 520.

b Dwelleth in God, and God in him] Perhaps when John wrote this epistle, he might refer to that excellent prayer of our blessed Lord, which he has recorded in his Gospel, and to such passages of it as John xvii. 22, 23.

c In the day of judgment] Some by this phrase understand the day in which

Christians were judged: as if it had been said, The perfection of love is, when it induces us to maintain the cause of Christ before judges and persecutors, that we may be conformed to him, whose life was in a manner a continued series of sufferings: whereas the violent fear of death, which, where it prevails, is a tormenting passion, is inconsistent with the perfect love of Christ. This is the sense which Dr Bates gives to this passage, Bates’s Works, p. 924. But the day of judgment has generally a different signification from what this explication gives it; and therefore I choose to paraphrase the words after the manner in which they are usually understood.

He who loveth God, must also love his brother.

ut fear ; because fear hath torment. He that feareth, is not made perfect in love.

resides. And this is a very desirable effect; sec. because fear hath torment, it throws the mind vii. into a most uneasy situation ; but he that feareth, is not made perfect in love. Study therefore to increase more and more in that noble 1John iv. 18

affection of love to God, and you will find your self enjoyment rising in proportion to it. And reflect upon this with all humility, that if we do indeed experience any thing of that Divine principle in our hearts, we must freely acknowledge, that we love him, because he first loved us. He hath not only given us natures capable of these sublime actings, and poured in upon us, from their first original, numberless providential bounties, but hath also appointed his Son, to lay a foundation for our happiness in his own blood, and his Spirit, to diffuse that grace in our hearts, by which they are formed to every sentiment of pious gratitude.

And let this also be remembered, as of the last importance, that if any one say, I love God, and hateth his brother, how high soever his pretences to devotion may be, and to whatever fervour he may carry his zeal, he is a liar ; for it is impossible, that the love of God should be sincere in the soul, which is destitute of this brotherly affection ; as will appear, if you consider what peculiar advantages we have for engaging our hearts towards those with whom we are conversant ; for how can he, who loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, love God whom he hath not seen? The invisible nature of the Divine Being is, in this respect, an obstacle, which our weak and carnal minds cannot be expected easily to conquer ; And it is certain, that the neglect of this benevolent disposition would be an high instance of disobedience to him, since we have this express commandment from him, that he who loveth God, and

How can he, who loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, love God, &c.] Mr. Howe observes, that the apostle seems to take it for granted, that we are more disposed to the love of our fellow creatures than to the love of God. Mr. Seed has charmingly illustrated this text : (Ser. Vol. I. p. 390 ;) and observes, that we rise to the

love of God from the love of our fellow creatures ; as to the knowledge of God, by the knowledge of the creatures. Hardly an text was ever more fully illustrated than this, in those posthumous sermons of the great Mr. Howe, which were published by Mr. Fletcher.

VOL. 6.

Reflections on the love of God, and our brother.

professeth himself religious, should also love his wholoveth God, ive, vii. brother. And God hath hereby, in effect, de- his brother also. 1 John iv. 21 clared, that he will treat those as his enemies, who pretend to devout zeal, while they are destitute of brotherly love.

IMPROVEMENT.

THAT all these repeated exhortations may not be entirely in vain, let us now call our hearts to a deep and affectionate contemplation of the astonishing love of God, that he hath sent even his 14 Son to be the Saviour of the world, according to the testimony of this Divine herald, who beheld his glory, and witnessed it to be such a glory, as became the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John i. 14.)

Let us think of the world as lost, of the whole race of rational creatures in it as perishing, as going down to eternal perdition. But a Saviour is provided: and O, what a Saviour? The Son of God, that almighty Deliverer, to whom our salvation was dearer than his own life. So dear, that he was willing to be invested with mortal flesh, in order that he might be capable of enduring pain and death for our redemption. Have we not 16 herein seen and known the love of God to us? That love, wherewith he has so graciously prevented us; for surely nothing can 19 be more apparent than this, that if we do indeed love him sincerely and faithfully, it is because he hath first loved us. And therefore, instead of boasting of our love to him, as if we could make him our debtor, let us humbly acknowledge that he is the great Original and support of that beautifying affection of the human mind; and that our obligations to him are great, in proportion to the degree in which we feel it working in us. Let us be encouraged boldly to confess Christ as the Son of God. Let us seek after more perfect love to him, and to the Father, as that which tends to make the mind happy by casting out every tormenting passion, and to establish it in an humble boldness 17 amidst the most awful prospects. It is matter of deep lamentation, that our spirits should be so degenerate, as that while we are strongly impressed by sensible objects, we should be the less inclined to love the blessed God, because he is an invisible being.

Let us adore his goodness, that in condescension to our weakness, he hath made himself visible in the person of his Son; and as Christ has constituted our brethren, in some degree, his representatives, to receive, as in his name, the tokens of our kindness and affection, let us be studious, by our love to them, and particularly to the poor among them, who have peculiarly this honour; let us, I say, be studious to approve the sincerity of that love to him, which we so universally profess, and the absence of which were so inexcusably criminal.

of God who confesses Jesus is the Christ.