Jesus must in every case precede communion. We must be grafted into Christ by the divine husbandry of faith, and become branches of that living vine, before the sap and life-giving juice of the root and parent tree can extend to us. And supposing such an insertion into the true Vine to have taken place, (which is first of all ascertained to our own soul, by the very fact of the operation of our engrafting therein,) then the blessed fruit is fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. A participation in Christ of a principle of divine and never-ending life; which life, as it is the life of God, and therefore the life of the Father as well as of the Son, we are said to receive from the Father as well as from his Son Jesus Christ. Nor can we separate the Father and the Son; for Christ has said, I and my Father are one."

The Apostle having confined himself in the opening of this Epistle to the designation of the Lord Jesus as "Life, eternal life," "the Word of Life," and the life “manifested unto us," the word "fellowship" has been interpreted, in connexion with those previous epithets and titles of Christ, to signify a communion with the Lord Jesus in his life. But as in very many places of Scripture Christ is set forth to us in other characters, such as the "Wisdom of God, and the Power of God," so in this participation of the life of the Son of God, there will also be communion with him in his wisdom and his power. Indeed, as our Apostle tells us in his Gospel, "out of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." With the life of Christ all the attributes of that life must be concomitant. So if we are partakers of that life, we derive from the fulness of that life, "grace to help in every time of need." Not that we so possess life in ourselves, after we have received

fountain of life, as

Far from it.

that

the gift of life in Jesus, that we are to draw upon though it were an independent possession of our own. Christ within us, to whom we are united by faith, is the never-failing spring of our new life in him. Could we after believing be again separated from "Christ who is our life," then should we cease to live, we should return again to our former state of death. But now being alive in him, and so linked with him by a true faith, that death has no more dominion over us, we enjoy communion with the Lord in all his attributes of power, wisdom, holiness, and righteousness. When we have subscribed with heart as well as hand to the God of Jacob, then we are able to say, "in the Lord have I righteousness and strength;" and again with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ strengthening me." Our folly is enlightened by his wisdom; and our want of holiness supplied by that "Christ, who of God is made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."

"That ye also may have fellowship with us.' These words give sweet evidence of the state of the writer's heart. "Love unfeigned" appears to have taken ful possession of that breast which once could harbour hard and unkind feelings. (Mark ix. 38, 39, and Luke ix. 51, 55.) That same John, who was reproved by his divine Master, both for narrowness of sentiment, and also for mistaking the object of the Gospel mission, now appears before us with one prevailing and absorbing feeling. He would have others share in his own happy fellowship with Jesus; in his own sacred and blessed communion with the Father. He would have the pale of the true church enlarged by the conscious possession of a lively faith in Christ. To Zion he says with the

prophet of old, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes." We can no longer discover any trace of that exclusive spirit which once incurred the Lord's mild disapproval; much less of that fierce zeal which provoked a more severe rebuke. His desire is now, that others may know Jesus as he knows him; that others may love him as he loves him; above all, that others may be assured that they also share in that love of the Father and the Son which he himself enjoyed; that others may know and believe that by faith all are partakers of the same rich covenant gift of grace and love.

4. And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full.

These words, as before observed, may be considered a key to the right understanding of this Epistle. And who is at liberty to doubt the Apostle's intention when he states it so distinctly? Many commentators however have ventured to tell us, that John wrote this portion of Scripture to refute certain heresies that had already appeared in the church, and they entirely overlook the object which he himself avows. With these expositors the consolation and full joy of the elect is a very trifling matter, and they give us their human learning instead of the sincere milk of the word. The little children in the faith care very little to be informed about the fantastic notions of the Docetæ; nor are they better pleased with disputations on the opinions of the Ebionites and Cerinthians. Their souls hunger for the bread of life, and their thirsting spirits long to be

refreshed with water from the wells of salvation. There is indeed a great propriety in the labours of the learned, when they fully investigate every period of church history, and depict in true colours the varied corruptions both doctrinal and practical, which in every age have impaired the strength and beauty of the professing church. It is well to know her deformities in the time past, that we may guard against their recurrence (although under new forms) in the present and the future. Still, with these concessions, and with a true sense of obligation to those really learned men who have made the investigation of church history their peculiar study, the believer must protest against that misapplication of their labours which certainly takes place, when instead of bread, stones are presented him, for the nourishment of his immortal soul. But we cannot be surprised that the false teachers in the church who are themselves ignorant of the doctrine of faith and salvation, should present their readers and hearers with the only sort of knowledge they possess. An acquaintance with heretical opinions, and it may be with orthodox opinions, is easily acquired and as easily displayed. The natural man is sufficient for this sort of ministerial work, if it can be called by such a name. Meantime the children remain unfed. They "desire the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby." They know that "in their Father's house there is bread enough and to spare.” But, alas! they are often constrained to feed upon the husks, which the swine eat. "No man giveth unto them." And whence is this? Are there no pastors in the church to fill the people of the Lord with knowledge and understanding? Are there not any teachers for the edifying of the body of Christ? The Lord's name be praised, there are. But they are few in

number and it behoves the faithful to pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would "send forth more labourers into his harvest."

5. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and that in him is no darkness at all.

With what great propriety does this verse succeed to the preceding one! For what announcement can we imagine more conducive to a full joy than this, "that God is light, and that in him there is no darkness at all." And this information comes to the church in the form of "a message heard of him." The gracious friend who sends the message is easily recognized; "It is the Lord." And he who conveyed the message to John was the Spirit of the Father and the Son, the Holy Ghost, the third person in the ever-adorable Trinity in Unity. Here then we have a communication respecting God the Father, made to us from God the Son, by God the Holy Ghost. And surely we must confess the message to be such as bespeaks at once the hand that brings it. It can be no other than that of the Comforter. We recognize his office and his work. Oh blessed revelation, and most consolatory truth! "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." And the same Divine instructor has informed us by another Apostle, (James) that "God is the Father of lights, and that with him is no variableness nor shadow of turning," and also, that "this God is our God, even for ever," unto death, and beyond death; for "when flesh and heart fail, God is the strength of our heart, and our portion for ever."

The message that "God is light, and that in him is no