1 John 4:13

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 'Herein.' The token vouchsafed to us of God's dwelling (abiding) in us, though we see Him not, is that He hath given us "of His Spirit" (). Where the Spirit is, there God is. ONE Spirit dwells in the Church: each believer receives a measure "of" that Spirit in the proportion God thinks fit (). Love is His first-fruit (). In Jesus alone the Spirit dwells without measure ()....

7-13 The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God. For it is God's nature to be kind, and to give happiness. The law of God is love; and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness of sin, and the salvation of sinners, consistently with God's glory and justice, shows that God is love. Mystery and darkness rest upon many things yet. God has so shown himself to be love, that we cannot come short of eternal happiness, unless through unbelief and impenitence, although strict justice would condemn us to hopeless misery, because we break our Creator's laws. None of our words or thoughts can do justice to the free, astonishing love of a holy God towards sinners, who could not profit or harm him, whom he might justly crush in a moment, and whose deserving...

Verse 13. _HEREBY KNOW WE_, c.] See note on 1 John 3:24....

HEREBY KNOW WE THAT WE DWELL IN HIM - Here is another, or an additional evidence of it. BECAUSE HE HATH GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT - He has imparted the influences of that Spirit to our souls, producing “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,” etc., Galatians 5:22. It was one of the promises which the Lord Jesus made to his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit to be with them after he should be withdrawn from them, John 14:16, John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:7, an

EXPOSITION 1 JOHN 4:1 - 1 JOHN 5:12 (2) _The source of son-ship. _Possession of the Spirit. 1 JOHN 4:1 Confession of the Incarnation is the assurance that the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of truth, is working in us, and not the spirit of error. The passage seems clearly to teach that there are two rival influences contending for power over the spirits of men. We must test men's spirits to see whether they are organs of the Spirit of truth or of the spirit of error. 1 JOHN 4:1 BELOVED (as in...

HEREBY KNOW WE THAT WE DWELL IN HIM, AND HE IN US,.... That there is a communion between God and us, and a communication of his love and grace to us, and an exercise of grace upon him; for God dwells in his people by his Spirit and grace, and they dwell in him by the exercise of faith and love upon him: and this is known, BECAUSE HE HATH GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT: not of the essence and nature of the Spirit, which is the same with the nature of the Father and of the Son, and is incommunicable; but either of the gifts of the Spirit, which are divided to every man as he pleases, and which being bestowed on men, and used by them, for the profit and advantage of the church of God, show that God is with them, and dwells among them of a truth; or of the graces of the Spirit, such as faith, hope, and love, which are each the gifts of God; and these being bestowed and exercised, are proofs of the...

1 John 4:1. _Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world._ If John had need to say that in the early morning of Christianity, I am sure we ought to say it with greater emphasis today. It is certainly true in these days that «many false prophets are gone out into the world,» therefore we also must «try the spirits whether they are of God.» 1 John 4:2. _Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:_ If the doctrine of the incarnation of God in Christ is denied, as it was by the first heretics, we may conclude that the Spirit of God is not in such teaching. Any doctrine which dishonours Christ,-whether in his person, or his

V. HEREBY WE KNOW Chapter S 3:19-5:13 _ 1. Hereby we know that we are of the truth (1 John 3:19)_ 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God (1 John 4:1) 3. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth and of error (1 John 4:5) 4. The Love manifested toward us (1 John 4:7) 5. The final tests as to the possession of eternal life (1 John 4:20; 1 John 5:1) 1 John 3:19 .

John returns to the theme of 1 John 3:14 ff., be cause if the Church is the home of truth, still more is it the home of love. The evidence for our Divine sonship is that the love manifested by God in sending His Son for our redemption a fact to which the Church bears witness issues in love on our part to God and to our brethren; love, when mature, casts out fear. Moreover the proof that we love the unseen God is that we love our brother, as Christ commanded us. 1 JOHN 4:7. LOVE IS OF GOD: _ i.e._ is so peculiarly His product, answering to the deepest thing in His nature, that the lack of love proves that we have no real knowledge of God or kinship to Him. 1 John 4:9. that we might live through Him: cf....

THE PERILS OF THE SURGING LIFE OF THE SPIRIT (1 John 3:24 B- 1 John 4:1) _ 4:1 This is how we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he gave to us. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if their source is God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world._ Behind this warning is a situation of which we in the modern church know little or nothing. In the early church there was a surging life of the Spirit which brought its own perils. There were so many and such diverse spiritual manifestations that some kind of test was necessary. Let us try to think ourselves back into that electric atmosphere. (i) Even in Old Testament times men realized the perils of false prophets who were men of spiritual power....