1
John 4:15-19 KJV Whosoever shall
confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in
him. 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment: because as he
is, so are we in this world. 18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We
love him, because he first loved us.
Hymn
418 - As He Is, So Are We
1
John 4:17 ([Tune] Sweet By and By) James P. Webster 1819-1875
From:
Hymns of Truth and Praise – Gospel Perpetuating Publishers
Verse:
“As He is, so are we in this world,” / 'Tis the message of God's
holy Word. /
Only
nine little words in a row / Make me happy wherever I go.
Chorus:
As
He is so are we, / As He is so are we in this world. /
As
He is so are we, / As He is so are we in this world.
"As
he is, so are we in this world." [/] 1 John 4:17.
STEM
Publishing : Magazines : The Christian's Friend : 1882 : "As he
is, so are we in this world." [/] http://j.mp/0AsHeSoWe
[/] or
http://www.stempublishing.com/magazines/cf/1882/As-he-is-so-are-we-in-this-world.html
There
are few things in the divine record of deeper significance to the
child of God than the statement that "as He is" (the Lord
Jesus Christ in glory), "so are we in this world." On
referring to it you will find that the Spirit of God gives this as
the reason, and the only reason, for our having boldness in the day
of judgment. Every soul then that has, or seeks to have, this assured
confidence in view of that impending day, will necessarily receive
with interest any unfolding from God's word of that concerning which
the apostle speaks. Be it observed, then, that the Holy Ghost refers
to a positive and absolute standing in the sight of God, not to a
practical condition; and, further, that it is a present, everyday
standing before Him of believers while in the world. It is true that
the apostle does speak in the same verse of what is future, the day
of judgment, and of the suited attitude of our souls in relation to
it - boldness, of which more presently.
But
now let us observe that there are two absolute things before us here.
1. The positive perfection of divine love toward us - thrice blessed
source of all our blessing - love with us is made PERFECT. Here is
the primary and incomparable fact meeting us in all its priceless
value for the deep and constant joy of our hearts, that God has not
given us merely an earnest of His love, an instalment however
handsome, but He has perfected His love toward us. The Spirit of God
knew full well the tendency of souls to subjective truth, which, all
right in its subordinate place, is never right when made paramount.
He therefore puts the objective before us in its divine precedence.
What is then the objective thing here? Note it well, dear reader, for
your soul's supreme solace. (1) Divine love, (2) Occupied with you,
(3) Made perfect towards you. In the next verse (condescending to our
weakness) He comes down to the level of what is purely subjective.
Love begets love, and accordingly our love, that which His love has
evolved, is here touched on. But does the love which is perfect in
Him who is divine produce perfection of love in us who are human?
Alas! no. Notice then three uses of the word "perfect." (1)
His love towards us is perfect, (2) His love is perfect in itself
(see verses 17, 18, where in each case the love is in divine
connection), (3) There is a change. It is not said, however, that our
love is not perfect (true enough, and hopelessly true), but that if
we have fear we are not perfected in love; that is, in His. This,
however, if true, is not hopelessly so; for our normal state is, that
we are perfected in His love. Love and fear are incompatible, being
essentially contrary in character. So long as both dwell in the heart
there is distress of spirit or torment; for contending forces strive
for mastery. The apostle seeks to strengthen our souls in the one
that the other may be expelled. In other words, the Spirit of God
educates our souls into so perfect a sense of the divine love that
fear shall lose its place, being cast out.
2.
The other absolute thing in verse 17 is, that as Christ is, so are we
in this world. The former was an absolute fact; viz., that love has
its aspect towards us in its infinite, divine perfection. God is
love, and His love to us-ward is absolutely and essentially perfect.
Love us less than He does He will not, and more than He does He could
not. Nor is this love merely a quality, or even the essence of His
nature only, but an active principle. Accordingly we have next an
absolute result. The blood of Christ, the cross of Christ, the work
of Christ, speak of it as you will, has its results here focussed in
their relation to the believer. Do we think of ourselves naturally?
Born in sin, conceived in iniquity, by nature lost! Or as living in
sins, practising evil? Every soul guilty before God! Or even as
believers, as to our practical state? "If we say that we have no
sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." And "in
many things we offend all." But, oh, the wondrous character of
divine love! God, looking upon the face of our shield and His
anointed, the glorified Man at the right hand of His throne, who is
over all God blessed for ever, Spite of all He has ever seen or now
sees in us, and the tremendous disparity between Him and ourselves,
so effectually have sin and guilt, death and judgment, been for the
believer judiciously disposed of once for all, that He says, "As
HE IS, so are we in this world."
3.
Having looked at the result of divine love, we may notice further
that the effect of His love in the present becomes the cause of our
boldness in the future. For we read, "That we may have boldness
in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world."
Who would have the temerity to count upon boldness in the day of
judgment because of his practical state now? But when it is seen that
our positive standing before God, that eternal favour in which we are
in Christ, is such that God makes no difference between the Son and
the many sons, but declares that while down here in this world we are
before Him as Christ in glory, though not a particle of that glory be
yet ours, what solid comfort, what established peace have we who have
believed, even in view of that tremendous day! This word "boldness"
is met with in two other places in the epistles, but uniformly as the
effect of God's activity in His love toward us, and not as a result
of any attainment of ours. In the first of these (Eph. 11, 12) it is
"according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ
Jesus our Lord: in whom we have boldness and access with confidence
by the faith of Him." In the other (Heb. 10:19, 20) it is the
direct effect of the blood of Christ. "Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,"
etc. Thus (1) His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus when He first
brought me to Himself gave me boldness through faith in coming to
Him, which was an entirely changed standing. (2) The efficacy of the
blood, the new and living way opened, and the presence of God's high
Priest, afforded to my soul the boldness of a worshipper in entering
through the rent veil into the holiest of all, which is nothing short
of the very place where He dwells, an entirely new place. (3) If my
standing answers as to acceptance, to what Christ is before God, and
His very place is mine now by faith, surely we may not refuse the
sequence of this in God's eternity - boldness even yet again in the
day of judgment; for "he that feareth is not made perfect in
love."
May
the grace that has set us in such cloudless, divine favour deepen in
our souls so full and happy a sense of it that, His love with us
being made perfect, we also may be made perfect in it. W. R.
Satisfied
with Thee.
Satisfied
with Thee, Lord Jesus, / I am blest;
Peace
which passeth understanding, / On Thy breast:
No
more doubting, / No more trembling, / Oh, what rest!
Occupied
with me, Lord Jesus, / In Thy grace;
All
Thy ways and thoughts about me, / Only trace
Deeper
stories / Of the glories / Of Thy grace.
Taken
up with Thee, Lord Jesus, / I would be;
Finding
joy and satisfaction, / All in Thee:
Thou
the nearest, / And the dearest, / Unto me.
Listening
for Thy shout, Lord Jesus,***
/ In the air;
When
Thy saints shall rise with joy, to / Meet Thee there,
Oh,
what gladness! / No more sadness, / Sin, nor care!
Longing
for the Bride, Lord Jesus, / Of Thy heart;
To
be with Thee in the glory, / Where Thou art.
Love
so groundless, / Grace so boundless, / Wins my heart.
When
Thy blood-bought church, Lord Jesus, / Is complete;
When
each soul is safely landed / At Thy feet;
What
a story, / In the glory / She'll repeat!
Oh,
to praise Thee there, Lord Jesus, / Evermore!
Oh,
to grieve and wander from Thee, / Nevermore!
Earth's
sad story / Closed in glory, / On yon shore!
Then
Thy Church will be, Lord Jesus, / The display
Of
Thy richest grace and kindness, / In that day:
Marking
pages, / Wondrous stages, / O'er earth's way."
***It
would seem from John 5 that the shout is for the dead, and not for
the living. ED.
John
5:24-29 KJV Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed
from death unto life. 25 ¶ Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour
is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life
in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27
And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is
the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at
this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done
good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation.
I2C
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