1 John 1:4

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. THESE THINGS - and none other: this whole letter. WRITE ME UNTO YOU. 'Aleph (') B have [ heemeis (G2249)] "we" for [ humin (G5213)] "unto you." Thus the antithesis is between "we" (apostles and eyewitnesses) and "your" (A C). We write thus, that your joy may be full. But B 'Aleph ('), Vulgate, read 'OUR joy.' In this case, for antithesis' sake, I prefer "unto you," in the former clause. 'We write unto YOU that OUR joy over you may be filled full' [ pepleeroomenee (G4137)], by your being brought into fellowship with the Father and the Son. (Compare John 4:36...

4_That your joy may be full _By full joy, he expresses more clearly the complete and perfect happiness which we obtain through the Gospel; at the same time he reminds the faithful where they ought to fix all their affections. True is that saying, “_Where _your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” (Matthew 6:21.) Whosoever, then, really perceives what fellowship with God is, will be satisfied with it alone, and will no more burn with desires for other things. “The Lord is my cup,” says David, “and my heritage; the lines have fallen for me on an excellent lot.” (Psalms 16:5.) In the same manner does Paul declare that all things were deemed by him as dung, in comparison with Christ alone. ...

1-4 That essential Good, that uncreated Excellence, which had been from the beginning, from eternity, as equal with the Father, and which at length appeared in human nature for the salvation of sinners, was the great subject concerning which the apostle wrote to his brethren. The apostles had seen Him while they witnessed his wisdom and holiness, his miracles, and love and mercy, during some years, till they saw him crucified for sinners, and afterwards risen from the dead. They touched him, so as to have full proof of his resurrection. This Divine Person, the Word of life, the Word of God, appeared in human nature, that he might be the Author and Giver of eternal life to mankind, through the redemption of his blood, and the influence of his new-creating Spirit. The apostles declared what they had seen and heard, that believers might share their comforts and everlasting advantages. They...

Verse 1 John 1:4. _THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL._] Ye have already _tasted_ that the Lord is good; but I am now going to show you the height of your Christian calling, that your _happiness may be complete_, being thoroughly cleansed from all sin, and filled with the fulness of God....

AND THESE THINGS WRITE WE UNTO YOU - These things respecting him who was manifested in the flesh, and respecting the results which flow from that. THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL - This is almost the same language which the Saviour used when addressing his disciples as he was about to leave them, John 15:11; and there can be little doubt that John had that declaration in remembrance when he uttered this remark. See the notes at that passage. The sense here is, that full and clear views of the Lord Jesus, and the fellowship with him and with each other, which would follow from that, would be a source of happiness. Their joy would be complete if they had that; for their real happiness was to be found in their Saviour. The best editions of the Greek Testament now read “your joy,” instead of the common reading “our joy.”...

EXPOSITION 1 JOHN 1:1 1. THE INTRODUCTION. It declares the writer's authority, based on personal experience; announces the subject-matter of his Gospel, to which this Epistle forms a companion; and states his object in writing the Epistle. These opening verses help to raise the reader to the high frame of mind in which the apostle writes. Emotion, suppressed under a sense of awe and solemnity, is shown by the involved construction through which his thoughts struggle for utterance. We are reminded of the introduction to the Gospel, especially in the first clause. Both announce to us the subject of the writing which follows—the Word who is the Life. Both set before us, in the simplest language, truths of profoundest meaning. But while in the Gospel he seems to lose sight of his readers in the magnitude of his subject,

AND THESE THINGS WRITE WE UNTO YOU,.... Concerning the deity and eternity of Christ, the Word and concerning the truth of his humanity, and the manifestation of him in the flesh; and concerning that eternal life and salvation which is declared in the Gospel to be in him; and concerning the saints' fellowship one with another, and with God the Father, and with Jesus Christ: THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL; meaning either their spiritual joy in this life, which has Christ for its object, and is increased by the consideration of his proper deity, his incarnation and mediation by a view of free justification by his righteousness, and atonement by his blood; by a sight of his glorious person by faith, and by intimate communion with him, and a discovery of his love, which passeth knowledge: and which joy, when it is large, and very great, may, in a comparative sense, be said to be full, though not...

1 John 1:1. _That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;_ You know who that is, who it is that John had heard, and seen, and looked upon, and handled, even Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. 1 John 1:2. _(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us), that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ._ The Father delights in his risen Son, no more to suffer and to die, having accomplished all his work; and I am sure that we h

1 JOHN 1:4 h`mei/j {B} Although the reading u`mi/n is widely supported (Ac C K L almost all minuscules vg syrp, h, pal copsa, bo arm eth), a majority of the Committee preferred h`mei/j because of the quality of its support (it is read by the Alexandrian text and one Old Latin manuscript: a A* B P Y 33 it65 copsams), and because copyists were more likely to alter gra,fomen h`mei/j to the expected gra,fomen u`mi/n (compare u`mi/n after avpagge,llomen in verses...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE LIFE MANIFESTED CHAPTER 1:1-4 The opening verses of this Epistle are very precious and are the key to the whole Epistle. Three Scriptures speak of what was in the beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This is the beginning of all things which God called into existence out of nothing. “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This takes us beyond the first verse of the Bible. It reveals Him, by whom and for whom God created all things, in His eternal existence with God and as God. The third Scripture is the first verse of John's Epistle. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have h