John
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
The Gospel of St. John, which "begins with these verses, is in many respects very unlike the other three Gospels. It contains many things which they omit. It omits many things which they contain. Good reason might easily be shown for this unlikeness. But it is enough to remember that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote under the direct inspiration of God. In the general plan of their respective Gospels, and in the particular details, — in everything that they record, and in everything that they do not record, — they were all four equaHy and entirely guided by the Holy Ghost.
About the matters which St. John was speciaUy inspired to relate in his Gospel, one general remark will suffice. The things which are peculiar to his Gospel are among the most precious possessions of the Church of Christ. No one of the four Gospel-writers has given us such full statements about the divinity of Christ, — about justification by faith, — about the offices of Christ, — about the work of the Holy Ghost, — and about the privileges of believers, as we read in the pages of St. John. On none of these great subjects, undoubtedly, have Matthew, Mark, and Luke been silent. But in St. John's Gospel, they stand out prominently on the surface, so that he who runs may read.
The five verses now before us contain a statement of matchless sublimity concerning the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. He it is, beyond all question, whom St. John means, when he speaks of "the Word." No doubt there are heights and depths in that statement which are far beyond man's understanding. And yet there are plain lessons in it, which every Christian would do well to treasure up in his mind.
We learn, firstly, that our Lord Jesus Christ is eternal. St. John tells us that " in the beginning w^s the Word." He did not begin to exist when the heavens and the earth were made. Much less did He begin to exist when the Gospel was brought into the world. He had glory with the Father '• before the world was." (John xvii. 5.) He was existing when matter was first created, and before time began. He was " before all things." (Col. i. 17.) He was from all eternity.
We learn, secondly, that our Lord Jesus Christ is a Person distinct from God the Father^ and yet one with Him, St. John tells us that " the Word was with God." The Father and the Word, though two persons, are joined by an inefiable union. Where God the Father was from all eternity, there also was the Word, even God the Son, — their glory equal, their majesty co-eternal, and yet their Godhead one. This is a great mystery! Happy is he who can receive it as a little child, without attemptuig to explain it.
"We learn, thirdly, that the Lord Jesus Christ is very God. St. John tells ns that " the Word was God." He is not merely a created angel, or a being inferior to God the Father, and invested by Him with power to redeem sinners. He is nothing less than perfect God, — equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, — God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds.
We learn, fourthly, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things. St. John tells us that " by Him were all things made, and without Him was not any thing made that was made." So far from being a creature of God, as some heretics have falsely asserted, He ia the Being who made the worlds and all that they contain. " He commanded and they were created." (Psalm xl. 8.)
We learn, lastly, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of all spiritual life and light. St. John tells us, that " in Him was life, and the life was the light of men." He is the eternal fountain, from which alone the sons of men have ever derived life. Whatever spiritual life and light Adam and Eve possessed before the fall, w^as from Christ. Whatever deliverance from sin and spiritual death any child of Adam has ever enjoyed since the fall, whatever light of conscience or understanding any one has obtained, all has flowed from Christ. The vast majority of mankind in every age have refused to Iqiow Him, have forgotten the fall, and their own need of a Saviour. The light has been constantly shining "in darkness." The most have "not comprehended the light." But if any men and women out of the countless millions of mankind have ever had spiritual life and light, they have owed all to Christ.
Such is a brief summary of the leading lessons which these wonderful verses appear to contain. There is much in them, without controversy, which is above our reason; but there is nothing contrary to it. There is much that we cannot explain, and must be content humbly to believe,
Let ns however never forget that there are plain practical consequences flowing from the passage, which we can never grasp too firmly, or know too well.
Would we know, for one thing, the exceeding sinfulness of sin? Let ns often read these first five verses of St. John's Gospel. Let us mark what kind of Being the Redeemer of mankind must needs be, in order to provide eternal redemption for sinners. If no one less than the Eternal God, the Cre-ator and Preserver of all things, could take away the sin of the, world, sin must be a far more abominable thing in the sight of God than most men suppose. The right measure of sin's sinfulness is the dignity of Him who came into the world to save sinners. If Christ is so great, then sin must indeed be sinful!
Would we know, for another thing, the strength of a true Christian's foundation for hope? Let us often read these first five verses of St. John's Gospel. Let us mark that the Saviour in whom the believer is bid to trust is nothing less than the Eternal God, One able to save to the uttermost all that come to the Father by Him. He that was " with God," and " was God," is also " Emmanuel, God with us." Let us thank God that our help is laid on One that is mighty. (Psalm Ixxxix. 19.) In ourselves we are great sinners. But in Jesus Christ we have a great Saviour, He is a strong foundation-stone, able to bear the weight of a world's sin. He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. (1 Peter ii. 6.)
Notes. John I. 1 —
[T7ie Gospel according to St. John.] The following prefatory remarks on St. John's Gospel, may prove useful to some readers.
Firstly. — There is no doubt that this Gospel was written by John, the Apostle, the son of Zebodee, and brother of James, once a fisherman on the sea of Galilee, and aferwards called to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus, an eye-witness of all Christ's ministry, and a pillar of the church. John, be it remembered, i« specially called " the disciple whom Jesus loved." He was one of the chosen three who alone saw the daughter of Jairus raised — were eye-witnesses of the transfiguration — and were by-standers during our Lord's agony in the garden. He was the one who leaned on Christ's breast at the last supper, and to whom our Lord committed the care of the Virgin Mary, when lie waa dying on the cross. It is an interesting fact, that he was the disciple who was specially inspired to write the deepest things concerning Christ. Secondly. — There is little doubt that this Gospel was written at a much later date than the other three Gospels. How much later, and at what precise time, we do not know. It is commonly supposed that it was written after the rise of heresies about the Person and natures of Christ, such as those attributed to Ebioh and Cerinthus. It is not likely that it was written at so late a period as the destruction of Jerusalem. If this had been the case, John would hardly have spoken of ti.9 " sheep-market " at Jerusalem as still standing. (John v. 2.)
Thirdly. — The substance of this Gospel is, for the most part, pecuhar to itself. With the exception of the crucifixion, and a few other matters, the things which St. John was inspired to record concerning our Lord, are only found in his gospel. He says nothing about our Lord's birth and infancy, — His temptation,— the Sermon on the Mount, — the transfiguration, — the prophecy about Jerusalem, and the appointment of the Lord's Supper. He gives us very few miracles, and even fewer parables. But the things which John does relate are among the most precious treasures which Christians possess. The chapters about Nicodemus, — the woman of Samaria, — the raising of Lazarus, and our Lord's appearance to Peter after His resurrection at the sea of Galilee, — the public discourses of the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth chapters, — the private discourses of the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth chapters, — and, above aU, the prayer of the seventeenth chapter, are some of the most valuable portions of the Bible. All these chapters, be it remembered, we owe to St. John.
Fourthly. — The style of this Gospel is no less peculiar than its substance. There appears extraordinary simplicity in many of its statements, and yet there is a depth about them which no man can entirely fatiiom. — It contains many expressions which are used in a profound and spiritual sense, such as "hght," "darkness," "world," "life," "truth," "to abide," " to know." — It contains two names of the second and third Persons of the Trinity, not found in the other Gospels. These are, " the Word," as a name of our Lord, and " the Comforter," as a name of the Holy Ghost. — It contains, fi:om time to time, explanatory comments and remarks on our Lord's words. — Moreover, it contains frequent short explanations of Jewish customs and terms, which serve to show that it was not written so much for Jewish readers as for the whole church throughout the world. " Matthew," (says Gregory Nazianzen, quoted by Ford,) " wrote fur the Hebrews; Mark, for the Italians; Luke, for the Greeks; the great herald, John, for all."
Lastly. — The preface of this Gospel is one of the most striking peculiarities about the whole book. Under the term preface, I include the first eighteen verses of the first chapter. This preface forms the quintessence of the whole book, and is composed of simple, short, condensed propositions. Nowhere in the Bible shall we find such clear and distinct statements about our Lord Jesus Christ's divine nature. Nowhere shall we find so many expressions, which for want of mental power, no mortal man can fully grasp or explain. In no portion of Scripture is it so deeply important to notice each word, and even each tense employed in each sentence. In no portion of Scripture do the perfect grammatical accuracy and verbal precision of an inspired composition shine out so brightly. It is not, perhaps, too much to say, that not a single word could be altered in the first five verses of St. John's Gospel, without opening the door to some heresy.
The first verse of St. John's Gospel, in particular, has always been allowed to be one of the sublimest verses in the Bible. The ancients used to say that it deserved to be written in golden letters in every Christian Church. It has well been said to be an opening worthy of him whom Jesus called " a son of thunder."
1. — [In the beginning, <!rc.] This wonderful verse contains three things. It tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ, here called the Word, is eternal, — that He is a distinct Person from God the Father, and yet most intimately united to him, — and that He is God. The term " God," be it remembered, in the second clause, is to be taken personally, for God the Father, and in the third to be taken essentially, as signifymg the Divine Being.
The expression, " in the beginning," means in the beginning of all creation. It is like the first verse of Genesi.^, '' In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen. i. I.)
The expression "was" means " existed, was existing." The whole sentence signifies that when the world was fist called into bein'r, however long ago that may be, — when matter was first formed, however many millions of ages ago that may be, — at that pcrio;! the Lord Jesus Christ was existing. He had no beginning. He was before aU things. There never was the time when He was not. In shcrt, the Lord Jesus Christ is an eternal Be ng.
Several of the fathers dwell strongly on the immense importance of the word "was" in this sentence, and on the fact that it is four times repeated in the two first verses of this Gospel. It is not said, "the Word was made," but "the Word was." Basil says, "Those two terms, 'beginning' and 'was,' are Uke two anchors," which the ship of a man's soul may safely ride at, whatever storms of heresy may come.
The expression, "the Word," is a very difficult one, and is pecuUar to St, John, I see no clear proof that it is used by any other New Testament writer. The texts, Acts xx. 32, and Heb. iv. 12, are, to say the least, doubtful proofs. That it here signifies a " person," and not a spoken word, and that it is applied to our Lord Jesus Christ, is clear from the after sentence, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." That it was a term famihar to the Jews is undeniable. But why this particular name is used by St, John, both here and in his other writings, is a point on which commentators have differed greatly.
Some think, as Tertullian, Zwingle, Musculus, Bucer, and Calvin, that Christ is called "the Word " because He is the wisdom of God, and the " wisdom " of the Book of Proverbs. These would have the expression translated, " reason, wisdom, or counsel,"
Some think, as some of the fathers, that Christ is called " the Word," because He is the image and oflfspring of the Father's mind, " the express image of the Father's person," just as our words, if honest and sincere, are the image and representation of our minds.
Some think, as Cartwright and Tittman, that Christ is called " the Word," because He is the Person who is spoken of in all the Old Testament promises, and the subject of prophecy.
Some think, as Melancthon, RoUock, Gomarus, and Scott, that Christ is called " the Word," because He is the speaker, utterer, and interpreter of God the Father's will. It is written in this very chapter, that " the only begotten Son hath declared the Father." It is also written, that " God hath in these last days spolcen unto us by his Son," (Heb. i. 1,)
I think the last of these views the simplest and most satisfactory. All of them are at best only conjectures. There is probably something about the expression which has not yet been discovered.
It is thought by many that the expression " the Word," is used in several places of the Old Testament, concerning the Second Person in the Trinity. Such places are Psalm xxxiii. 6; Psalm cvii. 20, and 2 Sam. vii. 21, compared with 1 Chron. xvii.
19. The proof in all these cases is somewhat doubtful. Nevertheless the idea is strengthened by the fact that in Rabbinical writings the Messiah is often spoken of as " the Word." In the third of Genesis, the Chaldee paraphrase says that Adam and Eve " heard the Word of the Lord walking in the garden."
Arrowsmith, in his admirable work on this chapter, suggests a probable reason why John did not say, "In the beginning was the Son of God," but " the Word."—" John would not at first ahenate the hearts of his readers. He knew that neither Jews nor Gentiles would endure the term, the Son of God. They could not endure to hear of a sonship in the Deity and Godhead: but with this term ' Word,' applied to the Godhead, they were well acquainted." — Poole observes that no term was so abhorred by the Jews as the term " Son of God." — Ferus remarks, that by calHng our Lord "the Word," St. John excludes all idea of a material, carnal relationship between the Father and the Son. Tliis is also shown by Suicer to be the view of Chrysostom, Theodoret, Basil, Gregory, Nyssen, and Theophylact.
Whatever difl5culty we may feel about this expression, " the Word," in our times, there does not seem to have been the same difficulty felt about it, either by Jews or Gentiles, when St. John wrote his Gospel. To say, as some have done, that he borrowed the expression from the philosophers of his time, is dishonouring to inspiration. But we may safely say that he used an expression, of which the meaning was quite familiar to the first readers of his Gospel, as a name of the Second Person of the Trinity. With this we may be content. Those who wish more information, should consult VVitsius' Dissertation on the Word Logos, Suicer's Thesaurus, and Adam Clarke's Commentary.
[The word was with God.] This sentence means, that from all eternity there was a most intimate and ineffable union between the first and second Persons in the blessed Trinity, — between Christ the Word, and God the Father. And yet, though thus inefiably united, the Word and the Father were from all e-ternity two distinct Persons. " It was He," says Pearson, to whom the Father said, " Let us make man in our image." (Gen. i. 26.)
The truth contained in this sentence, is one of the deepest and most mysterious in the whole range of Christian theology. The nature of this union between the Father and the Son, we have no mental capacity to explain. Augustine draws illustrations from the sun and its rays, and from fire and the light of fire, which, though two distinct things, are yet inseparably united, so that where the one is the other is. But all illustratio.is on such subjects halt and fail. Hiire, at any rate, it is better to believe than to attempt to explain. Our Lord saya in the Father and the Father in me." "J and the Father are one." '' He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." (John xiv. 9—11; John x. 30.) Let us be fullypersuaded t^i at the Father and the Son are two distinct Persons in the Trinity, co-equal and co-eternal, — and yet that they are one in substance and inseparably united and undivided. Let us p^rasp firmly the words of the Athanasian Creed, " Neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance." But here let us stop.
Musculus remarks on this sentence, how carefully St. John writes that " the Word was with God," and not " God was with God." He would have us remember that there are not two Gods but one. And yet " the Word was with God, and was God."
[The Word was God.] This sentence means that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, was in nature, essence, and substance very God, and that "as the Father is God, so also the Son is God." It seems impossible to assert Christ's divinity more distinctly than it is here asserted. The sentence cannot possibly mean that the Father is God, since no one ever thought of disputing that. Nor yet can it possibly mean that the title ctf God was conferred on some being inferior to God and uncreated, as the princes of this world are called " gods." He who is here called God, is the same who was uncreated and eternal. There is no inferiority in the Word to God the Father. The Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one. To maintain in the face of such a text, as some so-called Ciiristians do, that our Lord Jesus Christ was only a man, is a mournful proof of the perversity of the human heart.
The whole verse, honestly and impartially interpreted, is an unanswerable argument against three classes of heretics. It confutes the Arians, who regard Christ as a Being inferior to God. — It confutes the Sabelhans, who deny any distinction of Persons in the Trinity, and say that God sometimes manifested Himself as the Father, sometimes as the Son, and sometimes as the Spirit, and that the Father and the Spirit suffered on the cross! — Above all it confutes the Socinians and Unitarians who say that Jesus Christ was not God but man, a most holy and perfect man, but only a man.
In leaving this verse, it is useless to deny that there are deep mysteries in it which man has no mind to comprehend, and no language to express. How there can be a plurahty in unity, and a unity in plurahty, three Persons in the Trinity and One God in essence, — how Christ can be at the same time iji the Father, as regards the unity of the essence, and with the Father, as regards tiie distinction of his Person, — these are matters far beyond our feeble understanding. Happy are we, if we can agree with Bernard's devout remark about the subject, "It is
rashness to search too far into it. It is piety tobeheve it. It is life eternal to know it. And we can never have a full ccmprehcfi.sion of it, till we come to enjoy it,"
2. — [I'Ae same was in the heginniyig, &c.'\ This verse contains an emphatic repetition of the second clause of the preceding verse. St. John anticipates the possible objection of some perverse mind, that perhaps there was a time when Christ, the Word, was not a distinct Person in the Trinity. In reply to this objection, he declares that the same Word who was eternal, and was God, was also from all eternity a Person in the Godhead distinct from God the Father, and yet with Him by a most intimate and ineffable union. In short, there never was a time when Christ was not " with God."
There are two passages in the Old Testament which throw strong light on the doctrine of this verse. The one is in the Book of Proverbs viii. 22 — 31. The other is in Zechariah xiii. 7. The passage in Proverbs seems intended to explain the verse before us. The passage in Zechariah contains an expression which is almost a parallel to the expression " with God." " Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord." "The man that is my fellow," according to the best commentators, means the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and a reference to Poole's Synopsis will show that the words signify " the man that is near me, or joined to me."
Arrowsmith says, " Ask the sun, if ever it were without its beams. Ask the fountain, if ever it were without its streams. So God was never without His Son."
We must not suppose that the repetition of this second verse is useless or unmeaning. Arrowsmith remarks that"Eepeti-
tions have divers uses in Scripture. In prayer they argue affection. In prophecy they note celerity and certainty. In threatenings they note unavoidableness and suddenness. In precepts they note a necessity of performing them. In truths^ like that before us, they serve to show the necessity of believing and knowing them."
3.— [AZZ things...made hy Am.] This sentence means that creation was the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, no less than of God the Father. "By him were all things created." (Coloss. i. 16.) " Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth." (Heb. i. 10.) Now He that made all things must needs be God.
The expression, we must carefully remember, does not imply any inferiority of God the Son to God the Father, as if God the Son was only the agent and workman under another. Nor yet does it imply that creation was in no sense the work of God the Father, and that He is not the maker of heaven and earth. But it does imply that such is the dignity of the eternal Word, that in creation as well as in every thing else. He co-operated with the Father. " What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." (John v. 19.) "By whom also He made the worlds." (Heb. i. 2.) When we read the expression " by me kings reign," (Prov. viii. 15,) we do not for a moment suppose, that kings are superior in dignity to Him by whom they reign.
Jansenius remarks that this verse completely overthrows the heretical notion entertained by the Manichees that the material world was formed by an evil spirit, as well as the notion of the Platonic school that some part of creation was made by angels and demons.
[Without him was not anything made, &c.] This sentence appears added, to show the utter impossibility of our Lord Jesus Christ being no more than a created being. If not even the slightest thing was created without Him, it is plain that He cannot possibly be a creature Himself
The fathers raised curious speculations about the origin of evil from the expression now before us. " If nothing was made without Christ," theyargued, "from whence came sin?" The simplest answer to this question is, that sin was not among the things which were originally created at the beginning. It came in afterwards, at the fall, "By one m.an sin entered into the world." (Rom. v. 12.) That it could not have entered without divine permission, and that its entrance has been overruled to the display of divine mercy in redemption, are undeniable truths. But we have no right to say that sin was among the "all things," which were "made by Christ."
L —[In Him was life.l This sentence means that in the eternal counsels of the Trinity, Christ was appointed to be the source, fountain, origin, and cause of hfe. From Him all life was to iSow. As to the kind of " life" which is here meant, there is much difference of opinion among commentators.
Some think as Cyril, Theophylact, Chemnitius, and Calvin, that the expression refers specially to the continued preservation of all created things by Christ's providence. Having created all things, He keeps all ahve and in order.
Some think as Zwingle, Cartwright, Arrowsmith, Poole, Alford, and most modern commentators, that the expression includes all sorts of life, both vegetable, animal, and spiritual. " Thou sendest forth thy spirit, and they are created." (Psalm civ. 30.) " In Him we live, and move, and have our beiag." (Acis xvii. 28.)
Some think, as Luther, Melancthon, Bre^tius, Flacius, Liglitfoot, Lampe, and Pearce, that tlie expression apphes solely to spiritual life, and that it is meant to declare that Christ alone is the source of all life to the souls of men, whether in time or eternity. He was the creator of all things, and He also was the author of new creation. To this opinion I decidedly incline. For one thing, natural life seems already included in the preceding verse about cieation. For another thing, it is the view which seems to agree best with the conclusion of the verse, and to be in harmony with the words, '' With thee is the fountain of life: in thy hght we shall see light." " God hath given to us eternal Ufe, and this life is in His Son." (Psalm sxxvi. 9; 1 John V. 11.)
[The Ufe was the light of men.] This sentence means that the life which was in Christ, was intended before the fall to be the guide of man's soul to heaven, and the supply of man's heart and conscience, — and that since the fall of man it has been the salvation and the comfort of all who have been saved. It is those and those only who have followed Christ as their Tght, who have lived before God and reached heaven. There has never been any spiritual life or light enjoyed by men, excepting from Christ.
5. — [The light shineth in darhness.'] This sentence means that the spiritual hght which Chiist, the source of life, offers to man, has always been neglected since the fall, and is still neglected by unregenerate men. It has been like a candle shining in a dark place, a light in the middle of a world of darkness, — making the darkness more visible. Unregenerate men are darkness itself about spiritual things. "Ye were darkness." (Ephes. v. 8.)
Arrowsmith remarks on this sentence, " Christ hath shined in
all ages in the works of creation and providence. He left not Himself without witness. Every creature is a kind of professor that readeth man a lecture concerning God, of His wisdom, and power, and goodness."
[The darkness comprehended it not.'] This sentence means that the natural heart of man has always been so dark since the fall, that the great majority of mankind have neither understood, nor received, nor laid hold upon the light offered to them by
The difference in the tenses of the tv/o verbs used in this verse is very remarkable. About the " light" the present tense is used; " It shineth now as it has always shone; it is still shining." — About the " darkness" the past ten-e is used; " It has not comprehended the light; it never has comprehended it from the first, and does not comprehend it at the present day."
At this point, the remark of Bengel upon the whole passage deserves attention. " In the first and second verses of this chapter, mention is made of a state before the creation of the world; in the third verse, the world's creation; in the fourth, the time of man's uprightness; in the fifth, the time of man's decUne and fall."
I cannot close these notes on the opening verses of St. John's Gospel without expressing my deep sense of the utter inability of any human commentator to enter fully into the vast and sublime truths which the passage contains. I have laboured to throw a little light on the passage, and have not hesitated to exceed the average length of these notes on account of the immense importance of this part of Scripture. But after saying all that I have said, I feel as if I had only faintly touched the surface of the passage. There is something here which nothing but the light of eternity will ever fully reveal.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
t The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him mighi believe.
8 He was not that Light, but loas sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which light eth every man that Cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that beheve on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the wiU of man, but of God.
St. John, after beginning his gospel with a statement of our Lord's nature as God, proceeds to speak of His forerunner, John the Baptist. The contrast between the language used about the Saviour, and that used about His forerunner, ought not to be overlooked. Of Christ we are told that He was the eternal God, — the Creator of all things,— -the source of life and light. Of John the Baptist we are told simply, that " there was a man sent from God, whose name was John."
We see, firstly, in these verses, the true nature of a Christian miiiister^s office. We have it in the description of John the Baptist: " He came for a witness, to bear wit ness of the light, that all men through him might believe."
Christian ministers are not priests, nor mediators between God and man. They are not agents into whose hands men may commit their souls, and carry on their religion by deputy. They are witnesses. They are intended to bear testimony to God's truth, and specially to the great truth that Christ is the only Saviour and light of the world. This was St. Peter's ministry on the day of Pentecost. — *' With many other words did he testify.'''' (Acts ii. 40.) This was the whole tenor of St. Paul's ministry. — '' He testified both to the Jews and Greeks repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts xx. 21.) Unless a Christian minister bears a full testimony to Christ, he is not faithful to his office. So long as he does testify of Christ, he has done his part, and will receive his reward, although his hearers may not believe his testimony. Until a ministers hearers believe on that Christ of whom they are told, they receive no benefit from the ministry. They may be pleased and interested; but they are not profited until they believe. The great end of a minister's testimony
We see, secondly, in these verses, one principal position which our Lord Jesus Christ occupies towards mankind. We have it in the words, " He was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
Christ is to the souls of men what the sun is to the world. He is the centre and source of all spiritual light, warmth, life, health, growth, beauty, and fertility. Like the sun. He shines for the common benefit of all mankind, — for high and for low, for rich and for poor, for Jew and for Greek. Like the sun, He is free to alL All may look at Him, and drink health out of His hgbt. If millions of mankind were mad enough to dwell in caves under ground, or to bandage their eyes, their darkness would be their own fault, and not the fault of the sun. So, likewise, if millions of men and women love spiritual " darkness rather than light," the blame must be laid on their blind hearts, and not on Christ. " Their foolish hearts are darkened." (John iii. 19; Rom. i. 21.) But whether men will see or not, Christ is the true sun, and the light of the world. There is no light for sinners except in the Lord Jesus.
"We see, thirdly, in these verses, the desperate wickedness of man's natural heart. We have it in the words, Christ " was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not."
Christ was in the world invisibly, long before He was born of the Virgin Mary. He was there from the very beginning, ruling, ordering, and governing the whole creation. By Him all things consisted. (Coloss. i. 17.) He gave to all life and breath, rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons. By Him kings reigned, and nations were increased or diminished. Yet men knew Him not, and honoured Him not. They *' worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." (Rom. i. 25.) Well may the natural heart be called " wicked!"
But Christ came visibly into the world, when He was born at Bethlehem, and fared no better. He came to the very people whom He had brought out from Egypt, and purchased for His own. He came to the Jews, whom He had separated from other nations, and to whom He had revealed Himself by the prophets. He came to those very Jews who had read of Him in the Old Testament Scriptures, — seen Him under types and figures in their temple services, — and pro fessed to be waiting for His coming. And yet, when He came, those very Jews received Him not. They even rejected Him, despised Him, and slew Him. Well may? the natural heart be called " desjDcrately wicked!"
We see, lastly, in these verses, the vast privileges of all who receive Christ, and believe 07i Sim. We are told that "as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."
Christ will never be without some servants. If the vast majority of the Jews did not receive Him as the Messiah, there were, at any rate, a few who did. To them He gave the privilege of being God's children. He adopted them as members of His Father's family. He reckoned them His own brethren and sisters, bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh. He conferred on them a dignity which was ample recompense for th-e cross which they had to carry for His sake. He made them sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.
Privileges like these, be it remembered, are the possession of all, in every age, who receive Christ by faith, and follow Him as their Saviour. They are " children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Gal. iii. 26.) They are born again by a new and heavenly birth, and adopted into the family of the King of kings. Few in number, and despised by the world as they are, they are cared for with infinite love by a Father in heaven, who, for His Son's sake, is well pleased with them. In time He provides them with everything that is for their good. In eternity He will give them a crown of glory that fadeth not away. These are great things! But faith in Christ gives men an ample title to them. Good masters care for their servants, and Christ cares for His.
Are we ourselves sons of God? Have we been born again? Have we the marks which always accompany the new birth, — sense of sin, foith in Jesus, love of others, righteous living, separation from the world? Let us never be content till we can give a satisfactory answer to these questions.
Do we desire to be sons of God? Then let us " receive Christ" as our Saviour, and believe on Him with the heart. To every one that so receives Him, He will give the privilege of becoming a son of God.