Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that JESUS is
the SON of GOD.
- 1 ST. JOHN v.
5.
THE
Epistle for to-day carries on, in somewhat of a subdued tone, the sublime
and triumphant strain of last Sunday, but, as it were, confirming the same
victory over sin and death, with even fuller knowledge and experience, by
the voice of him who stood by the foot of the Cross. 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? Some of our Lord’s last words
to His disciples had been, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
And now, when St. John wrote this Epistle, they had found in very truth
that they also in Him could do the same. It is a calm but firm tone of
triumph that pervades all he now writes. To be “born of God,” or to believe
that “Christ
is the Son of God,” this our faith, exclaims the beloved disciple, this our
new birth in Him from above, “overcometh the world.” And then he proceeds
to describe, not this faith as it is in us—the fruits of it, or the proofs
and signs, or the means of promoting it in ourselves but directs our eyes to
Him Who is the object of it, and states how in and through Him there is this
power and victory.
This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water
only, but by water and blood;
“not by water only,” which throughout the Law speaks of cleansing, but by
“blood”
also, which speaks of suffering; this faith which overcomes the world is by
suffering; not by water only, that of Baptism, by which we are washed, but
by Water and Blood, by which we are nourished at the Lord’s Supper,—that
“awful cup,” says St. Chrysostom, “by which we are made as it were to
approach and drink out of Christ’s side.” Thus speaking of our new Birth
and our New Life in Christ as God, St. John immediately refers to Him as
that Second Adam Whose side was opened to us in death, as He showed us on
this day after His Resurrection; Who, though God and Man, has made us to be
one with Himself, “of His flesh and of His bones.” This is He that came by
Water and Blood; and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the
Spirit is truth. It is remarkable, that when our Lord’s side was
pierced, and St. John himself saw the Water and the Blood as he stood by the
cross, he makes a very solemn protestation in recording it of the truth of
this his own testimony, as of a matter of the very utmost importance which
on that occasion he witnessed. But here in his Epistle, speaking of the
same, he says, “and the Spirit beareth witness.” The Spirit beareth witness
below, as combined with these two sacramental pledges of our life in
Christ. And then he adds,
For there are Three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost; and these Three are One. And there are three that bear
witness on earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three
agree in one,
or it might be “are for one,” for one end and object, that is, the Life
which we have in God. It is by the Spirit and the two sacraments that this
Life is; by these we enter as it were into Christ’s side, as Noah into the
ark, and are saved; a new life is formed in us which partakes of His life,
as Eve was formed out of the side of Adam. Or again, these words are
capable of another meaning, as representing Him the Second Adam, in Whom we
are born again to the new inheritance of light. By the Spirit which at
death He delivered into His Father’s hands, by the Water and the Blood which
flowed from His side in death, He showed Himself perfect Man; and as such
one with us; these “three agree in one,” as bearing this testimony of His
perfect Manhood.
But
all this is of importance infinitely too great to be supported by mere human
testimony, though it be even that of an Apostle, for eternity is built on
this Rock. And therefore St. John proceeds, 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. When the voice of the Father was heard on
three occasions bearing witness to the Son; as also by the many wonderful
works which He did in His Name; and by His raising Him from the dead; and by
sending the gift of the Holy Ghost, and His miraculous powers in the sight
of men; by these God “hath testified of His Son.”
But
more than this, for as St. Paul says, “and because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,” [Gal. iv 6.] so not
without only, in His Church and Kingdom of Grace, but within the soul also,
is the testimony of God. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because
he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. To believe God,
to have His word abiding in us, this is our righteousness; to believe Him
not, for His word to have no place in us, this is our condemnation. For all
whom the Father hath given Him shall come to Christ; and flesh and blood
reveal Him not, but the Father which is in Heaven.
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this
life is in His Son.
In Him is life full and entire, so that there is no other life worthy of the
name but that which is in Christ, and in Him alone; so that there is no
other Name but this, in which is salvation; all that is not in Him shall not
see life, but abideth under the wrath of God. He that hath the Son hath
life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So full, so
explicit, so wonderfully high and divine, and withal so awful, is this short
summary of the mystery of Godliness, contained in the Epistle for to-day.
And I think, my brethren, that no attentive Christian can hear or read it
without some serious reflection with regard to himself; so many questions
must occur to him. This
“faith
overcomes the world;” do I overcome the world? for otherwise I have not this
faith. Have I this true birth of God? have I the witness within myself of
this sonship? For he that believeth on the Son of God hath this witness in
himself. Have I “the Son,” as St. John speaks? for if not I have not life;
I cannot have it. This is the still small voice of God in the heart, which
the noise of the world would endeavour to stifle, which our own desires and
passions will lead us to turn away from, but it is the voice of the Spirit
pleading with us.
But from the
contemplation of ourselves we are called upon at this season to look on Him
Who is our life and peace. And from these statements of doctrine by St.
John in the Epistle, we turn, in the Gospel, to his own account of first
beholding his risen Lord after he had witnessed His sufferings and death....
(for the second part, on the Gospel.)
