p. 281.
I.
1 John 2:24-25,
If there is reference in the words, "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning," to 1 John 1:1-2, the meaning of what follows becomes apparent. "That which we have seen and heard" (1 John 1:3), was "that which was from the beginning"; and this, says the apostle, "declare we unto you"; and now he adds in our scripture, "If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain [abide] in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father." Combining this with chapter 1:1-3, we learn that receiving what the apostles declared was the means of introducing into fellowship with them, and that their fellowship was with the Father and with the Son; and, further, that if what they had heard from the beginning through the apostles should abide in them, they should abide in the Son and in the Father. But what is abiding in the Son and in the Father? The answer is given in verse 25: "And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life." For the consequence of abiding in the Son and in the Father is fellowship (1 John 1:3), and fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, is the enjoyment of eternal life. The point is so important that it may be illustrated from chapter 6 of John's gospel. In verse 54 we read, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life," etc., that is, the one who continually feeds upon the death of Christ, accepting thus God's judgment in the cross of Christ upon all that man is, appropriating it by faith, identifying himself with, and in this way becoming morally assimilated to it, is the one who has, possesses, enjoys, eternal life. Another thing is found in verse 56. There it is, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth [abideth] in me, and I in him." Now to abide in Christ imports the maintenance of absolute dependence on Him and living of His life. (See John 15:4-6.) But if Christ is my life, if by feeding continuously on His death I refuse my own life, and He lives in and through me, I am necessarily in communion with Him; His thoughts, desires, objects, interests, and joys are mine - I am lost in Him, and I am thus brought, inasmuch as He is the revealer of the Father, into the blessed circle of fellowship with the Son and with the Father. Thus, we cite the words again to show the connection, "this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life." We will not pursue the subject further in this "note," although, if further questions or objections reach us, we will gladly, if the Lord will, recur to it.
II.
John 17:11, 20-23. (The Three Unities.)
Both instruction and blessing may be found in the perusal of, and meditation on, the following remarks upon the above scriptures. "We have, first, the absolute and essential unity of the Father and the Son, which makes them One in all that they are essentially, and [in] what flows from it. Then, mutuality of being in one another, the source and object of joy and blessing in an ineffable way. Thirdly, display - the Father in the Son. (Compare John 14.) To the first answers the whole absorbed mind and action of the disciples in the power of the Holy Ghost; to the second, that into which all were brought by the Holy Ghost; to the third, the perfect display of glory in all the saints Christ (in whom the Father was) in them, and here no difference - all appear loved as (kathos) Christ was loved."