LECTURE XX.

TRUTH IN THE WOMAN AND THE MAN.

THE SECOND AND THIRD EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN.

The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink : but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.

The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; which have

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borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow-helpers to the truth. I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true. I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by

name.

ST. JOHN's First Epistle, like most of the Epistles in the New Testament, is addressed to a Society. He may have instructed that Society in the principles of Christian Morals. But has he given any hints about the kind of character which he desires most, which he admires most, in an individual? Has he set before us any example-besides the great Universal Example—of that which he would wish us to be?

At first sight it seems strange that such letters as these to the Elect Lady and to Gaius should have been preserved, and that they should form part of the Canon of the New Testament. If you knew how many Gospels, professing to contain narratives of our Lord's acts upon earth,-how many Epistles professing to come from Apostles and apostolical men, had been cast aside, you might wonder even more that these had stood the wear and tear of eighteen centuries, and had kept their place among the sacred books. For they have nothing which could recommend them to the taste of the ages which received them; much which

was uncongenial to it. There was a craving in the earlier ages, as there has been since, for stories of startling events; of miracles such as Apostles might have been expected to perform. Ecclesiastical writers, a century or two after the age of St. John, talked of his having been cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, and of his coming out unhurt. How gladly would they have found some hint or allusion to confirm that tale in a letter which was attributed to him! But these letters contain no such hint; they are of the simplest, most commonplace kind. Again, the notion became prevalent very soon in the Church, it gained strength every century, outward circumstances conspiring with inward feelings to deepen it,—that the morality of the Gospel was of a new and peculiar kind; that the strong male qualities which were admired in the old world were discarded by it; that its graces were wholly passive and feminine; that the woman was not only raised by it to a higher level, but that it was her glory to be alone; that the less she had to do with wedlock and the bearing of children, the more blessed and holy her life was. eagerly would any confirmation of these sentiments from the last of the Apostles, from him who was emphatically the Apostle of the coming dispensation, have been welcomed! What a delight to find him who had been brought up a Jew, who, as such, had been taught to think nobly of wedlock, and even to regard barrenness as a curse of womankind, saying, 'Now all this is changed; the Incar'nation has introduced an entirely different ideal of life ' into the world; not only is it not now possible for women to do the noblest services to the commonwealth and to mankind, though they are not mothers of children, but

How

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to be so is to reduce themselves to a lower level, to make • themselves less dear and precious in God's sight.' Some occasion for proclaiming these great Christian maxims, if he held them to be such, the Apostle would surely seize. And what an occasion is here! A letter to an Elect Lady! To one who has chosen the good part, or whom God has chosen to be His handmaid! Now, if ever, we shall find what we are looking for. Ah, no! This Elect Lady has children. She is addressed as a mother. The aged Jewish Apostle does not drop a hint that he thinks less nobly of that calling than Abraham, or Moses, or David, or Hannah, or any of those on whose words or on whose deeds he had loved to dwell in his youth.

These are reasons which may make us sure that the old Church would not have forged such an Epistle as this second (I will speak of the third presently), and would not have been specially inclined to admit its claim to apostolical weight and authority. They are, therefore, reasons which may make us confident that we are not wrong in accepting it as a genuine witness of the mind of St. John, conveyed in his own childlike manner. So considered, I believe we shall find that, short as it is, few documents have been bequeathed to us of greater interest and significance.

I have referred to one characteristic of this letter already. It is the one which presents itself to us the moment we begin to read. The elder-(the Apostle does not care to describe himself by any greater title than that; he is adopting the tone of an elder brother, rather than of a father)—is writing to a lady of whom we know nothing except from his account of her, to one on whom he bestows the title of elect. What

that title means we shall soon learn from himself.

In the meantime the lady is not alone. She is surrounded by her family; he addresses her children as if they were inseparable from her. He says of them all, Whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but all they that have known the truth; for the truth's sake which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.'

Here is a word repeated three times in one sentence. Is it an idle repetition? Why does the Apostle begin with speaking to this lady and her children of the truth? why does every passage that follows relate to living in the truth, or walking in the truth? Evidently this is the key-word in the mind of the writer. Whatever else he says has reference to this. He says that he loves them. But it is impossible to pretend that the emphasis is on the verb loves. He loves them in the truth. Others love them as he does. There may But it is they that have known the truth.'

have been many winning and graceful qualities in this lady, and in one or in all of her children. Doubtless there were. But the Apostle, and those who love them most, love them for the truth's sake which dwelleth in them, and shall be in them always.'

I must fix your attention upon this last clause. As you are now familiar with St. John's language, its form will not surprise you. This phrase, 'dwelling' or ' abiding,' is that which has met us so often, which we have ascertained to be the characteristic phrase of his former Epistle. But we want it that we may not go astray respecting that expression which is occupying us here. We are frequently told-and told by persons to whose authority on many subjects I defer—that truth belongs to Propositions.