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THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.
THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.
Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. each vol. First Series , 1887-8. Colossians. By A. Maclaren , D.D. St. Mark. By Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh. Genesis. By Prof. Marcus Dods , D.D. 1 Samuel. By Prof. W. G. Blaikie , D.D. 2 Samuel. By the same Author. Hebrews. By Principal T. C. Edwards , D.D. Second Series , 1888-9 Galatians. By Prof. G. G. Findlay , B.A. The Pastoral Epistles. By Rev. A. Plummer , D.D. Isaiah I.—XXXIX. By Prof. G. A. Smith , D.D. Vol. I. The Book of Revelation. By Prof. W. Millig
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TWENTY-ONE DISCOURSES
TWENTY-ONE DISCOURSES
With Greek Text, Comparative Versions, and Notes Chiefly Exegetical...
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HODDER AND STOUGHTON
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
Hujus scriptis illustratur, Illustrata solidatur Unitas Ecclesiæ. Adam of St. Victor Seq. xxxi. ( S. Johannes Evangelista )....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
It is now many years ago since I entered upon a study of the Epistles of St. John, as serious and prolonged as was consistent with the often distracting cares of an Irish Bishop. Such fruit as my labours produced enjoyed the advantage of appearing in the last volume of the Speaker's Commentary in 1881. Since that period I have frequently turned again to these Epistles—subsequent reflection or study not seldom filling in gaps in my knowledge, or leading me to modify former interpretations. When i
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DISCOURSE I.
DISCOURSE I.
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols."— i John v. 21 . After the example of a writer of genius, preachers and essayists for the last forty years have constantly applied—or misapplied—some lines from one of the greatest of Christian poems. Dante sings of St. John— The poet meant to be understood of the Apostle's spiritual splendour of soul, of the absorption of his intellect and heart in his conception of the Person of Christ and of the dogma of the Holy Trinity. By these expositors of Da
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DISCOURSE II.
DISCOURSE II.
Συναδυσι μεν γαρ αλληλοις το ευαγγελιον και ἡ επιστολη. Dionys. Alexandr. ap Euseb., H. E., vii., 25. "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."— 1 John i. 4. From the wholesale burning of books at Ephesus, as a consequence of awakened convictions, the most pregnant of all commentators upon the New Testament has drawn a powerful lesson. "True religion," says the writer, "puts bad books out of the way." Ephesus at great expense burnt curious and evil volumes, and the "word o
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DISCOURSE III.
DISCOURSE III.
"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Every spirit that confesseth not [that] Jesus Christ [is come in the flesh] is not of God."— 1 John iv. 2, 3. A discussion (however far from technical completeness) of the polemical element in St. John's Epistle, probably seems likely to be destitute of interest or of instruction, except to ecclesiastical or philosophical antiquarians. Those who believe the Epistle to be a divine book must, however, take a different
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DISCOURSE IV.
DISCOURSE IV.
"He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend."— Prov. xxii. 11. ὁ θεμελιος.... ὁ δευτερος σαπφειρος.— Apoc. xxi. 19. "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Hi
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SOME GENERAL RULES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.
SOME GENERAL RULES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.
I. Subject Matter. (1) The Epistle is to be read through with constant reference to the Gospel . In what precise form the former is related to the latter (whether as a preface or as an appendix, as a spiritual commentary or an encyclical) critics may decide. But there is a vital and constant connection. The two documents not only touch each other in thought, but interpenetrate each other; and the Epistle is constantly suggesting questions which the Gospel only can answer, e.g. , 1 John i. 1, cf.
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SECTION I.
SECTION I.
Ὁ ἩΝ απ' αρχης, ὁ ακηκοαμεν, ὁ ἑωρακαμεν τοις οφθαλμοις ἡμων, ὁ εθεασαμεθα, και αι χειρες ἡμων εψηλαφησαν περι του λογου της ζωης· και ἡ ζωη εφανερωθη, και ἑωρακαμεν, και μαρτυρουμεν, και απαγγελλομεν ὑμιν την ζωην την αιωνιον, ἡτις ην προς τον πατερα, και εφανερωθη ἡμιν· ὁ ἑωρακαμεν και ακηκοαμεν, απαγγελλομεν ὑμιν, ἱνα και ὑμεις κοινωνιαν εχητε μεθ' ἡμων· και ἡ κοινωνια δε ἡ ἡμετερα μετα του πατρος και μετα του υιου αυτου Ιησου Χριστου· και ταυτα γραφομεν ὑμιν, ἱνα ἡ χαρα ὑμων ἡ πεπληρωμενη. Q
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DISCOURSE I.
DISCOURSE I.
"Of the Word of Life."— 1 John i. 1. In the opening verses of this Epistle we have a sentence whose ample and prolonged prelude has but one parallel in St. John's writings. [132] It is, as an old divine says, "prefaced and brought in with more magnificent ceremony than any passage in Scripture." The very emotion and enthusiasm with which it is written, and the sublimity of the exordium as a whole, tends to make the highest sense also the most natural sense. Of what or of whom does St. John speak
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DISCOURSE II.
DISCOURSE II.
"That which we have heard."— 1 John i. 1. Our argument so far has been that St. John's Gospel is dominated by a central idea and by a theory which harmonises the great and many-sided life which it contains, and which is repeated again at the beginning of the Epistle in a form analogous to that in which it had been cast in the proœmium of the Gospel—allowing for the difference between a history and a document of a more subjective character moulded upon that history. There is one objection to the
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DISCOURSE III.
DISCOURSE III.
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."— 1 John ii. 1, 2. Of the Incarnation of the Word, of the whole previous strain of solemn oracular annunciation, there are two great objects. Rightly understood it at once stimulates and soothes; it supplies inducements to holiness, and yet
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DISCOURSE IV.
DISCOURSE IV.
"For the whole world."— 1 John ii. 2. Let us now consider the universal and ineradicable wants of man. Such a consideration is substantially unaffected by speculation as to the theory of man's origin. Whether the first men are to be looked for by the banks of some icy river feebly shaping their arrowheads of flint, or in godlike and glorious progenitors beside the streams of Eden; whether our ancestors were the result of an inconceivably ancient evolution, or called into existence by a creative
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SECTION III. (1).
SECTION III. (1).
Και εν τουτω γινωσκομεν ὁτι εγνωκαμεν αυτον, εαν τας εντολας αυτου τηρωμεν. ὁ λεγων, ὁτι "Εγνωκα αυτον," και τας εντολας αυτου μη τηρων, ψευστης εστιν, και εν τουτω ἡ αληθεια ουκ εστιν· ὁς δ' αν τηρη αυτου τον λογον, αληθως εν τουτω ἡ αγαπη του Θεου τετελειωται. εν τουτω γινωσκομεν ὁτι εν αυτω εσμεν. ὁ λεγων εν αυτω μενειν, οφειλει, καθως εκεινος περιεπατησεν, και αυτος ουτως περιπατειν. Et in hoc scimus quoniam cognovimus eum, si mandata eius observemus. Qui dicit se nosse eum et mandata eius n
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DISCOURSE V.
DISCOURSE V.
"He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk even as He also walked."— 1 John ii. 6. This verse is one of those in reading which we may easily fall into the fallacy of mistaking familiarity for knowledge. Let us bring out its meaning with accuracy. St. John's hatred of unreality, of lying in every form, leads him to claim in Christians a perfect correspondence between the outward profession and the inward life, as well as the visible manifestation of it. "He that saith" always
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SECTION III. (2)
SECTION III. (2)
Αγαπητοι, ουκ εντολην καινην γραφω ὑμιν, αλλ' εντολην παλαιαν ἡν ειχετε απ' αρχης· ἡ εντολη ἡ παλαια εστιν ὁ λογος ὁν ηκουσατε. παλιν εντολην καινην γραφω ὑμιν, ὁ εστιν αληθες εν αυτω και εν ὑμιν, ὁτι ἡ σκια παραγεται και το φως το αληθινον ηδη φαινει. ὁ λεγων εν τω φωτι ειναι και τον αδελφον αυτου μισων εν τη σκοτια εστιν ἑως αρτι. αγαπων τον αδελφον αυτου εν τω φωτι μενει. και σκανδαλον εν αυτω ουκ εστιν. ὁ δε μισων τον αδελφον αυτου εν τη σκοτια εστιν και εν τη σκοτια περιπατει, και ουκ οιδε
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SECTION III. (3)
SECTION III. (3)
Γραφω ὑμιν, τεκνια, ὁτι αφεωνται ὑμιν αι ἁμαρτιαι δια το ὁνομα αυτου. γραφω ὑμιν, πατερες, ὁτι εγνωκατε τον απ' αρχης. γραφω ὑμιν, νεανισκοι, ὁτι νενικηκατε τον πονηρον. εγραψα ὑμιν, παιδια, ὁτι εγνωκατε τον πατερα. εγραψα ὑμιν, πατερες, ὁτι εγνωκατε τον απ' αρχης. Εγραψα ὑμιν, νεανισκοι, ὁτι ισχυροι εστε, και ὁ λογος του Θεου εν ὑμιν μενει, και νενικηκατε τον πονηρον. μη αγαπατε τον κοσμον, μηδε τα εν τω κοσμω. εαν τις αγαπα τον κοσμον, ουκ εστιν ἡ αγαπη του πατρος εν αυτω· ὁτι παν το εν τω κοσ
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DISCOURSE VI.
DISCOURSE VI.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world."— 1 John ii. 15, 16. An adequate development of words so compressed and pregnant as these would require a separate treatise, or series of treatises. [179] But if we succeed in grasping St. John's conception of the world , we shall
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DISCOURSE VII.
DISCOURSE VII.
"The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."— 1 John ii. 17. The connection of the passage in which these words occur is not difficult to trace, for those who are used to follow those "roots below the stream," those real rather than verbal links latent in the substance of St. John's thoughts. He addresses those whom he has in view with a paternal authority, as his "sons" in the faith—with an endearing variation as "little children." He remin
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DISCOURSE VIII.
DISCOURSE VIII.
"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things."— 1 John ii. 20. There is little of the form of logical argument to which Western readers are habituated in the writings of St. John, steeped as his mind was in Hebraic influences. The inferential "therefore" is not to be found in this Epistle. [213] Yet the diligent reader or expositor finds it more difficult to detach any single sentence, without loss to the general meaning, than in any other writing of the New Testament. The s
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DISCOURSE IX.
DISCOURSE IX.
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down, our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth."— 1 John iii. 16-18. Even the world sees that the Incarnation of Jesus Christ has very practical results. Even the Christmas w
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SECTION VII.
SECTION VII.
Αγαπητοι, μη παντι πνευματι πιστευετε, αλλα δοκιμαζετε τα πνευματα, ει εκ του Θεου εστιν· ὁτι πολλοι ψευδοπροφηται εξεληλυθασιν εις τον κοσμον. εν τουτω γινωσκετε το Πνευμα του Θεου· παν πνευμα ὁ ὁμολογει Ιησουν Χριστον εν σαρκι εληλυθοτα, εκ του Θεου εστι. και παν πνευμα ὁ μη ὁμολογειτον Ιησουν Χριστον εν σαρκι εληλυθοτα, εκ του Θεου ουκ εστι· και τουτο εστι το του αντιχριστου, ὁ ακηκοατε ὁτι ερχεται, και νυν εν τω κοσμω εστιν ηδη. Ὑμεις εκ του Θεου εστε, τεκνια, και νενικηκατε αυτους· ὁτι μειζ
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DISCOURSE X.
DISCOURSE X.
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world."— 1 John iv. 17. It has been so often repeated that St. John's eschatology is idealized and spiritual, that people now seldom pause to ask what is meant by the words. Those who repeat them most frequently seem to think that the idealized means that which will never come into the region of historical fact, and that the spiritual is best defined as the unreal. Yet, without
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DISCOURSE XI.
DISCOURSE XI.
"And His commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"— 1 John v. 3, 4, 5. St. John here connects the Christian birth with victory. He tells us that of the supernatural life the destined and (so to speak) natural end is conquest. Now in this there is a contrast between the law of nature and the law of gra
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DISCOURSE XII.
DISCOURSE XII.
"It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself."— 1 John v. 6-10. It has been said that Apostles and apostolic men were as far as possible removed from common-sense, and h
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DISCOURSE XIII.
DISCOURSE XIII.
"If we receive the witness of men."— 1 John v. 9. At an early period in the Christian Church the passage in which these words occur, was selected as a fitting Epistle for the First Sunday after Easter, when believers may be supposed to review the whole body of witness to the risen Lord and to triumph in the victory of faith. A consideration of the unity of essential principles in the narratives of the Resurrection will afford the best illustration of the comprehensive canon—"if we receive the wi
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DISCOURSE XIV.
DISCOURSE XIV.
"There is a sin unto death."— 1 John v. 17. The Church has ever spoken of seven deadly sins. Here is the ugly catalogue. Pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, hatred, sloth. Many of us pray often "from fornication and all other deadly sin, Good Lord deliver us." This language rightly understood is sound and true; yet, without careful thought, the term may lead us into two errors. 1. On hearing of deadly sin we are apt instinctively to oppose it to venial . But we cannot define by any quanti
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DISCOURSE XV.
DISCOURSE XV.
"All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death."— 1 John v. 17. Let us begin by detaching awhile from its context this oracular utterance: "all unrighteousness is sin." Is this true universally, or is it not? A clear consistent answer is necessary, because a strange form of the doctrine of indulgences (long whispered in the ears) has lately been proclaimed from the housetops, with a considerable measure of apparent acceptance. Here is the singular dispensation from St. John's rig
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SECTION X.
SECTION X.
Οιδαμεν ὁτι πας ὁ γεγεννημενος εκ του Θεου ουχ ἁμαρτανει, αλλ' ὁ γεννηθεις εκ του Θεου τηρει αυτον, και ὁ πονηρος ουχ ἁπτεται αυτου. οιδαμεν ὁτι εκ του Θεου εσμεν, και ὁ κοσμος ὁλος εν τω πονηρω κειται. οιδαμεν δε ὁτι ὁ υιος του Θεου ἡκει, και δεδωκεν ἡμιν διανοιαν, ἱνα γινωσκωμεν τον αληθινον· και εσμεν εν τω αληθινω, εν τω υιω αυτου Ιησου Χριστω. ουτος εστιν ὁ αληθινος Θεος και ἡ ζωη αιωνιος. Τεκνια, φυλαξατε ἑαυτους απο των ειδωλων. αμην. Scimus quoniam omnis qui natus est ex Deo non peccat,
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THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.
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DISCOURSE XVI.
DISCOURSE XVI.
"The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth ... Grace be with you, mercy and peace, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love."— 2 John , 3. Of old God addressed men in tones that, were so to speak, distant. Sometimes He spoke with the stern precision of law or ritual; sometimes in the dark and lofty utterances of prophets; sometimes through the subtle voices of history, which lend themselves to different interpreta
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THE THIRD EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.
THE THIRD EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.
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DISCOURSE XVII.
DISCOURSE XVII.
"The elder unto the well beloved Gaius.... He that doeth good is of God; but he that doeth evil hath not seen God."— 3 John 1, 11. The mere analysis of this note must necessarily present a meagre outline. There is a brief expression of pleasure at the tidings of the sweet and gracious hospitality of Gaius which was brought by certain missionary brethren to Ephesus, coupled with the assurance of the truth and consistency of his whole walk. The haughty rejection of Apostolic letters of communion b
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The Expositor's Bible.
The Expositor's Bible.
GENESIS. Rev. Professor Marcus Dods , D.D. EXODUS. Very Rev. Dean Chadwick , D.D. LEVITICUS. Rev. S. H. Kellogg , D.D. NUMBERS. Rev. R. A. Watson , D.D. DEUTERONOMY. Rev. Professor A. Harper , B.D. JOSHUA. Rev. Professor W. G. Blaikie , D.D., LL.D. JUDGES AND RUTH. Rev. R. A. Watson , D.D. 1 SAMUEL. Rev. Professor W. G. Blaikie , D.D., LL.D. 2 SAMUEL. By the same Author. 1 KINGS. Very Rev. Dean Farrar , D.D., F.R.S. 2 KINGS. By the same Author. 1 & 2 CHRONICLES. R
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The Expositor's Bible.
The Expositor's Bible.
ST. MATTHEW. Rev. J. Monro Gibson , D.D. ST. MARK. Very Rev. Dean Chadwick , D.D. ST. LUKE. Rev. Henry Burton , M.A. ST. JOHN. Rev. Professor Marcus Dods , D.D. 2 Vols. THE ACTS. Rev. Professor G. T. Stokes , D.D. 2 Vols. ROMANS. Rev. H. C. G. Moule , M.A., D.D. 1 CORINTHIANS. Rev. Professor Marcus Dods , D.D. 2 CORINTHIANS. Rev. James Denney , D.D. GALATIANS. Rev. Professor G. G. Findlay , B.A. EPHESIANS. By the same Author. PHILIPPIANS. Rev. Principal Rainy , D.D. COLOSSI
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