Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

Now, as you are aware, we begin the second half of our epistle. The epistle, as I have already remarked, consists of two main parts. First, the children of God viewed as a family at home with their Father; and now, in the second half of the epistle, commencing at the third chapter, the family is looked at in their life down here. All students of the Word acknowledge that the third chapter should properly begin with the last verse of the second chapter—“If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.” There the subject is introduced. Oh! if the Father has a family, the family should be like their Father. He is righteous, and therefore they that are doing righteousness are born of Him. It is well for us to attend to that verse for a moment, in the first place, lest haply we should apply the opening verses of the third chapter negligently to souls to whom they do not belong. It is those that do righteousness, that are born of God; and, my dear friends, what a grand truth is enunciated in that expression—“born of God!” How easily it is uttered. How accustomed we are to the phrase—“born of God,” “born again!” But oh! what a vast thing, what a sublime thing it is to be born of God! God could have done anything easier than beget children. He could make stars, worlds, universes; but He could not make children of His own. He could do almost anything and everything else; but that He could not do, save in one single way. He had one Son, and ere He could beget children, that one Son must die, and then from His death, life springs up for all those that believe in Him, and thus many sons are begotten to God. I do not think we realize, beloved friends, what a thing it is for God to have begotten children. I do not believe that any of His saints in the olden time were, in the strict sense of the word, His “children.” Indeed, I know that that passage is sometimes quoted about the angels being His sons —“The morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy,” and again some other texts —“Doubtless Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us,”—“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” But none of these reach to the full blessing now conveyed through Christ; and if you will insist upon the words, then I must remind you that —with the exception of the first-quoted passage, which regards those who were nearest, in the old creation, to God—they are applied to the nation, as a nation; they are applied to a mass of people collectively, and not to individual believers in particular. But now it is quite the reverse. Now each one that is a Christian, is taught by the Holy Ghost to see that he is an actual child of God, and to call God ever his own dear Father. God has His children, as children, in three ways. The first is stated in the fourth chapter of the epistle to Galatians:—“God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” There is the first way. The first way is by redemption—Christ giving up His life—Christ dying to reach us. None, strictly speaking, were fully brought to Him before. They were sinners; but when the sin was put out of the way, then God could bring His people close to Himself; and not only so; but the life that was in God could stream out, as it did, from a slain Christ. Until Christ was slain, the life of God, and the love of God, were pent up in Him; but the spear, as it were—speaking figuratively—that went into the side of Christ, opened a wound whence have flowed out to you and to me life and blessing ever since. That is the first way; and we are sons by redemption. There is a hymn which says:—

“Sons we are by God’s election.”

That is hardly the truth; God did elect us; but He could not make us His children by electing us. The first actual mode of God’s making children was by His Son dying; and thus, through His death, grappling hold of sinners down here; so that they are joined on to Him, and become one with Him before God. You remember the illustration of the corn of wheat. A corn of wheat is put into the ground, and when there, it begins to die, and as the corn of wheat dies, so the mould, the earth, around it is drawn to it, and then from that dead corn of wheat there spring up a great many new corns of wheat, and thus the mould and the original corn of wheat all rise together in resurrection—a great many of them. There is the divine medium—the corn of wheat. “Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Christ was alone before He died; God says so; but when He died He brought forth much fruit. God never compares His people in the Old Testament to corns of wheat. He there compares them to trees—quite another figure. The figure of a tree is the figure of taking a firm hold, a firm root in the earth, and so springing up. But with the corn of wheat it is a feeble hold of earth, and then rising up, and the more it ripens top-wards—heaven-wards—it dies earth-wards. It is a new figure. Jesus is the first corn of wheat; He was the germ; and by His dying He got hold of us, and thus we rise together with Him. So in the first of Ephesians, we are told that God raised up Christ from the dead, and set Him at His right hand in heavenly places, and then it is said: “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,… and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” There is the first corn of wheat raised up, and then all the other corns of wheat raised along with it. It is a precious doctrine, beloved friends, this union with a living Christ in resurrection—one with God through Christ’s dying and rising again.

Then there is the second way in which God begets children, and that is by regeneration. “Everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him.” This is by actual birth, and here, you see, when God does work to beget children, He does what no one else can do. Anyone can adopt children; but, strictly speaking, an adopted child is not one’s own child. If the queen chose to adopt a child, she might do so; but it would not be therefore the queen’s own-child. But this is what God has done; He has taken children; but He does not adopt them. Such a thought arises only by mistake. He is able, through Christ in resurrection, and by the Holy Ghost coming down, actually to communicate His own nature and life. “Well,” say you; “but does not Scripture speak about adoption? Does it not say: ‘That we might receive the adoption of sons?’ Do we not read the word ‘adoption’ two or three times? “I answer, Yes; I am sorry to say that we do. It is a very poor, bad translation. The word ought to have been rendered “son-placing”—“that we might receive a son’s place;” not the word adoption. The fact is, that when a person puts another into a son’s place, it may be either by adoption, or it may be, as God does it, by the actual impartation of one’s own nature and life to that other. Now the Greek word might mean either. “Son-place” is the exact translation; but we find, as a matter of fact, that it is not by adoption; but that it is by the actual impartation of God’s own life. Christ dies and rises, and then in resurrection the life flows out of Him into you and into me. “If it die it bringeth forth much fruit.” The life of God, through Christ, is communicated to you and to me. That is the second way in which we become the children of God —we are born again by actual regeneration. Oh, it is a grand, it is a wondrous truth, but little apprehended, that Christ now has nothing apart from His church—nothing. The blessed Lord Jesus Christ has nothing now except in common with ourselves. We are one with Him—born again of the Spirit; so that the same Spirit, as this very chapter shows us, that is in Christ, is in us; and then that Holy Ghost, having quickened our spirits, will lift up our very bodies, and then we shall be like Him in body. It says in the 8th of Romans: “Waiting for the adoption;” or as it should have been, “the son-place;” “to wit—the redemption of our body.” We are waiting for the redemption of the body, and that is the third way, and these are His three grand ways, by which He has done what none but God can do, namely, beget a great many children unto Himself, and communicate His own life, His own nature, His own Spirit, unto them.

Now, this is what is unfolded in these opening verses of the 3rd chapter: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” And there are two or three words in the old manuscripts which have been left out in our translation. There are these additional words: “That we should be called the sons of God, and we are.” You can add those words to your bible; for they are in the old Greek manuscripts: “That we should be called the sons of God, and we are; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.”

Now, it is most important that we should notice the position of these verses. These verses are, to nearly all the children of God in England, I presume, tolerably well known. These verses have been a stay to the children of God many a time; but I am fully confident, that if the children of God did but perceive the position of these verses in this epistle, they would be still more thankful for these precious verses even than they are; because, observe how they occur. I want you to see that they are placed in the forefront of that part of the epistle which shows the children of God in the world; and therefore this part of our epistle begins with making the assertion—mind you, the assertion on the part of God—that we are His children, even though we are down here in this world. It seems to me so beautiful, that as the Holy Ghost is about to describe the life of God’s children in this world, He should commence in the manner He does by thus speaking. If we are the people of God, we are the sons of God, and we have the life of God. We may live it out feebly; we may not always exhibit it as we ought to do; we may ourselves sometimes forget it; we may never so rejoice in the fact and exult in it as we ought; but still, if we are doing righteousness, we are born of God. Oh, what a grand word that is in the second verse of this chapter: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God;” and then the additional statement is made, that as it is true now, so, when Christ comes, it shall be seen to be so. Thus the statement is two-fold: that we are God’s sons now, and that when Christ comes it shall be seen, as clear as day, that we are so. What two precious statements these are with which to commence, with which to open the subject of the Christian in the world. What a beautiful description it is! It is not that of a man who wants to be saved, and who tries to be good, that he may please God. That is not the picture presented here. The picture presented here is that of a man who has looked to Christ, and having looked to Christ, has thus been born of God; and being born of God, and knowing that God has forgiven him, and saved him, he can hear God saying: “You are My child; go and live in the enjoyment of that truth every day.” What strength it gives us for daily life. It makes it so much easier to walk and please God, when we know, before we begin to do aught, that we are the children of God. We do not do this, that and the other, in order to be God’s children. Like the child which executes not its mother’s commands in order to become its mother’s child. It is its mother’s child. And so, we do not do this, that and the other, in order to become God’s children. We begin with being God’s children. That is a settled matter. If we are Christ’s at all, if we are believers, if we are disciples, if we are doing righteousness, we are God’s children before ever we have moved a muscle, before ever we have practised anything. We begin with that. You remember that verse:—

“Would’st thou go forth to bless?
Be sure of thine own ground;
Fix well thy centre first,
Then draw thy circle round.”

That is God’s way—to begin with Christ. Sometimes people are in such a hurry to serve God, before they have been established in God’s love. When the prodigal came from a distant country and cried: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son,” the father did not set him to work directly. What the father did was first to see that the son had the full assurance of forgiveness, to put the best robe upon him, to kill the fatted calf, to make him sit at his table, to make him as happy as he could, and to let him know that the father had not a single unkind thought, and no reserve towards him. He would seat him at the table; he would make him partake of the fatted calf, and make him see the glistening of the father’s eyes even before he did ought. They began to be merry; and so the parable closes with merriment. There is the centre well fixed. “God loves me; Christ has saved me; God has made me His child; God has sealed me with the Holy Ghost,” Then, when all that is quite settled, when there is the fixed consciousness of perfect acceptance, and that the eye of love is beaming down upon one, then God says: “Go and serve me; go and walk under My eye.” That is God’s way. That, I want you to see, is the plan, the arrangement of this third chapter.

I may just tell you here that the second part of the first epistle of John consists of three pieces. The first of the three last chapters, that is, 3 down to 4:6, shows the working of the divine life in the believer; the second chapter, of the second part, that is, chapter 4 verses 6-21, shows us how that divine life is got; and ch. 5, or the third chapter in the second part, shows us where it is. It is so precious to see that God fixes well His centre first. “If you are doing righteousness, you are My children; it is proved that you are, for you are born of Me.” Then, as there may be an objection: “The world does not think so, my friends sometimes do not think so; they will not own it; it may be that they see that I am much given to reading my bible, or given much to this or that; but they will not believe that I am a child of God.” In case there should be this objection, the latent objection is at once answered. All that is nothing, provided that we are truly born of God, and truly love Him. “Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” We only fare like the blessed Lord Jesus if the world disowns us. When He spoke of His being the Son of God, they said, “Crucify Him;” and therefore we must expect to fare like Him. “Therefore the world knoweth us not;” and not merely that we do fare like Him now; but there is the additional statement, full of preciousness, which says: “We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” If you will observe, you will see that there is an advance made: “We shall be like Him.” We are already beginning to see that the subject of the chapter is the working of the divine life. Do you not observe how gradually the Holy Ghost is coming to the point in this way? When Christ comes you will be quite like Him. Till He comes, you will be seeking to be like Him; till He comes, the life in you will exhibit itself similarly as it did in Christ. There is here, in a sort of latent form, the subject introduced. We shall be like Him; we shall be quite like Him then, inside and outside. We shall be quite like Him in body, and quite like Him in spirit. There is only one grand fundamental difference, which cannot be altered, and which we should not like to be altered, namely, that He will ever be the Blesser, and we shall ever be the blessed. He will ever be the source of grace; all the life, and light, and love, and grace flowing out of Him and into us. That is implied here: “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” It is the sight of Him that makes us fully like Him; just as it is the gazing upon Him now, as it says in the Corinthians, that transforms us from glory to glory. Beloved friends, how singularly does God develope the divine life in us. I think, if you study the Word, you will find that seven times our eye is pointed to Christ in the New Testament. The first is, “Behold the Lamb of God.” There is a word for the sinner. I will not quote them all. Then there is the matter put personally to us as believers: “We all with open face beholding the glory of the Lord.” There is the way in which the life is more and more continually developed, sustained, and increased. By beholding the glory of the Lord we are changed from glory to glory; and then there is the crowning stage in this same divine process— “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him.” Thus you see, when we were lost sinners, we found life by taking one look at Christ; then, when we are believers, our spirits are sustained in life by the eye being fixed, rivetted more and more on Christ, and so at last, when we are brought up into His presence, we are made fully like Him. Then we shall see Him as He is; so that I want you to observe that the Holy Ghost is evidently suggesting (as we shall see in the after verses of this chapter), that there is a sense in which we are like Him now. So in the next verse he proceeds— “And every man that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” Observe, it is assumed that there is something which makes us unlike Christ. When it says, “purifieth himself,” that shows that there is need of purifying; that shows that there are things in us that make us unlike the blessed Lord Jesus. Ah! we may be ever so conscious that we are born of God, and we may know that the Lord Jesus is ours, and that we have the Spirit of God; but ah! we cannot shut our eyes to the painful consciousness that there is that in us from which we want to be delivered; that there is the flesh in us which will make itself felt and heard. And so you perceive here another difference between ourselves and the Lord Jesus; there was no purifying of Himself; there is a break in the parallel here. It does not say, “Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as He purified Himself;” no, there is a break in the parellel: “purifieth Himself, even as He is pure.” Why, He was the absolutely pure One even here. There was no purifying of Himself; He was the ray of light shining into the water in the moat. The ray of light is untainted, is untarnished, into whatever dirty place it shines. Christ was that ray of light; He was pure wherever He was; He was as pure in the world as he was in the Father’s bosom. But still, if we are His people, we are seeking to be like Him here. Observe the expression here about being His people. It is connected with the verse before about Christ’s coming—“Every man that hath this hope in Him,” it should have been translated “on Him,” not “in Him.” If you want to read this Scripture accurately, leave out the word “in,” and put in the word “on.” And, perhaps, you will allow me to make a suggestion here. I should recommend every bible-reader, who cannot read the original Greek, but who would like to read the Scriptures carefully and accurately, to get at least another translation besides the authorised one. There are several to be had, Tischendorff’s, etc., and when you read one, read the other, and then, where they diverge, you will see the idea better, and you will very probably catch from the very divergence, the thought of the original Greek. The word here should be “on Him,”—“Every man that hath this hope on Him.” Say you, “I do not see any difference.” Oh! but there is a great difference. The one makes you look at yourselves; the other makes you look at Christ. The one throws you back upon what you have got in you; the other throws you on what you have got in Christ. Oh! beloved friends, there is a world of difference. It reminds me of the way in which I sometimes hear Christians talk, when they say, “Bless the Lord, I have got an interest in Christ.” I would not altogether find fault with the expression; but it is a very poor one. It is a great deal better to put it the other way about, and say this: “Bless the Lord, Christ has got an interest in me.” That is a deal better, surely. It is that the hope is on Christ. It is fixed on Christ; and do you think that Christ will forget you? The word “hope,” throughout the New Testament, is always used by the Holy Ghost to refer to the coming of the Lord. Some Christians have not been established in God’s grace, and in peace with God, and they have lost sight of that fact, and they say, “I hope I shall be saved.” But God stablishes His people in His love, and gives them to see their full salvation as a settled thing, and then points them to something beyond. Christ is coming, and that is a hope for every day; but because Christians are not stablished in their salvation, the consequence is that they put in the future what God puts in the present, What I mean is, that God puts this in the present— “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” “We have passed out of death into life,” as another verse in this chapter says; but Christians sometimes put this in the future; and then, what was in God’s future—that Christ will come back again—gets so remotely removed, as it were, that it is lost sight of altogether. You will, however, find this, that wherever the word “hope” is used, it always means the coming of the Lord. In a meeting which I was addressing last night, I suggested—it just came impromptu at the time—that Christians, if they would really understand the thought of the word “hope,” should read it “this blessed hope.” I do not mean to put that into the text, of course not, I only mean you just to associate that with it—“Every man that hath this blessed hope on Him.” He always means the coming of the Lord. “When He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” Who would not desire to be like Christ, inside and out? Who would not wish to be delivered from the flesh, and to have the redemption of his body? Well, when Christ appears, that is the first thing you shall have; therefore, you cannot help hoping that Christ will come back. Everyone that hath this hope on Christ, purifies himself, seeks to keep down the flesh, to mortify the deeds of the body, to live after the Spirit, to live the new life that God has begotten in Him, even as He is pure.