A Frail Leaf

A Frail Leaf

(No. 3269)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1911.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Will You break a leaf driven to and fro?" Job 13:25.

POOR Job! Who could have been brought lower than he? He had lost his
possessions, his children, his health–he was covered with sore
boils–and he was aggravated by the unkind speeches of his friends. In
his deep distress he turns to God and finding no other plea so near at
hand, he makes a plea out of his own distress. He compares himself to
the weakest thing he could think of and then he says to God, the Great
and the Merciful, "Will You, so glorious in power and so matchless in
goodness–will You break me, who am like a poor leaf fallen from the
tree, sere and dry, and driven to and fro in the wind?" Thus he draws
an argument out of his own weakness. Because he is so low and
insignificant and powerless, he lays hold upon the Divine strength and
pleads for pity.

It is a common figure he uses, that of a leaf driven to and fro. Strong
gusts of wind, it may be in the autumn when the leaves hang but lightly
upon the trees, send them falling in showers around us. Quite helpless
to stay their own course, fluttering in the air to and fro, like winged
birds that cannot steer themselves, but are guided by every fitful
blast that blows upon them, at last they sink into the mire to be
trodden down and forgotten. To them Job likens himself–a helpless,
hopeless, worthless, weak, despised, perishing thing–and he appeals to
the awful Majesty on High and he says to the God of thunder and of
lightning, "Will You put out Your power to destroy me? Will You bring
forth Your dread artillery to crush such an insignificant creature as I
am? With all the goodness of Your great heart–for your name is God
That Is Good–will You turn Your Almighty power against me? Oh, be that
far from You! Out of pity upon my utter weakness and nothingness, turn
away Your hands and break not a leaf that is driven to and fro!"

The apprehension is so startling, the appeal so forcible that the
argument may be employed in a great many ways. How often have the sick
used it, when they have been brought to so low an ebb with physical
pain that life, itself, seemed worthless? Stricken with disease, stung
with smart and fretted with acute pains and pangs, they feel that if
the affliction continues much longer, it were better for them to die
then live! They long for the shades of death, that they might find
shelter there. Turning their face to the wall, they have said, "O God,
as weak as I am, will You again smite me? Shall Your hand again fall
upon me? You have laid me very low. Why do You lift up Your rod again?
Break not, I beseech You, a leaf that is driven to and fro!"

Not less applicable is the plea to those who are plunged into the
depths of poverty! A man is in trouble arising from destitution.
Perhaps he has been long out of work. Bread is not to be found. The
children are crying, hungry, starving! The habitation has been stripped
of everything which might procure a little nourishment. The poor
wretch, after passing through seas of trouble, finds himself no nearer
a landing place than before, but–

"Sees each day new straits attend, And wonders where the scene will
end." Passing through the streets he is hardly able to keep his feet
from the pavement or his skin from the cold by reason of his tattered
garments. Homeless and friendless, like a leaf that is driven to and
fro, he say, "O God! Will You continue this much longer? Will You not
be pleased to stop Your rough wind, mitigate the sharpness of the
winter, ease my adversity and give me peace?"

So, too, with those who are in trouble through bereavement. One child
has been taken away and then another. The shafts of death flew twice.
Then came sickness with threatening omen upon one that was still nearer
and dearer. Still did not the desolation stay its gloomy portents. It
seemed at length as though the widow would be bereft of her last and
only

child and then she cried, "O God! I am already broken. My heart is like
a plowed field–cross-plowed–till my soul is ready to despair! Will
You utterly break me? Will You spare me no consolations, no props for
my old age? Must I be altogether driven away before the whirlwind and
find no rest?"

Perhaps it is even more harassing in cases of mental distress for,
after all, the sharpest pangs we feel are not those of the body, nor
those of the estate, but those of the mind. When the iron enters into
the soul, the rust thereof is poison. "The spirit of a man will sustain
his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear?" You may be
surrounded with all the comforts of life and yet be in wretchedness
more gloomy than death if the spirits are depressed. You may have no
outward cause whatever for sorrow and yet if the mind is dejected, the
brightest sunshine will not relieve your gloom. At such a time, you may
be vexed with cares, haunted with dread and scared with thoughts which
distract you. You fear that your sins are not pardoned, that your past
transgressions are all brought to remembrance and that punishment is
being meted out to you in full measure. The threats rise up out of
God's Book and seem to lift sharp swords in their hands with which to
smite you. Time is dreadful to you because you know it is hurrying you
to eternity–and the thought of eternity stings as does an adder
because you measure the future reckoning by the present distress. At
such a time, when you are faint with longing, ready to despair and
driven to the verge of madness, I can imagine your crying out, "O Lord
God of Mercy, I am as a leaf that is driven to and fro–will You quite
break me and utterly destroy me? Have compassion, and show Your favor
to Your poor broken creature!"

Many a child of God may have used this, and if he has not used it yet,
he may still use it. There are times when all our evidences get clouded
and all our joys are fled. Though we may still cling to the Cross, yet
it is with a desperate grasp. God brings our sins to remembrance till
our bones, as David puts it, "are sorely broken by reason of our
iniquity." Then it is that, all broken, we can turn to the Strong for
strength and use the plea of the text, "Will You break a leaf driven to
and fro?" And we shall get for our answer these comforting words, "A
bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench."

I. THE PLEA IS SUCH AS ARISES FROM INWARD CONSCIOUSNESS.

What plea is more powerful to ourselves than that which we draw from
ourselves? A man may not be sure of anything outside him, for eyes and
ears may deceive–but he is always pretty well assured of anything
within him, for that which he perceives in his own consciousness he is
very tenacious about. Now, in this case, Job was quite certain about
his own weakness.How could he doubt that? He looked upon his poor body
covered with sores. He looked upon his friends who had perplexed and
vexed him so much and he felt that he was, indeed, just like a sere
leaf. I trust that many of us have been brought by God the Holy Spirit
into such a humble frame of mind as to feel that, in a certain sense,
this is true of us. O God, if we know ourselves right, we are alllike
withered leaves! We once thought ourselves fresh and green–we reckoned
that we were as good as others, we made a fine and verdant
profession–but, lo, You have been pleased to deal with us and all the
fresh verdure of what we thought to be our piety–the natural piety
which we thought we possessed–has faded and withered and now we are
convinced that we are altogether as an unclean thing, and that all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags! No, the hope that we clung to as
the leaf clings to the tree, we have had to give up. We are blown away
from that. We were once upon the tree of good works–we seemed as if we
had life and would always be happy there, but the winds have taken us
away and we cannot hold on to our frail hope. We once thought that we
could do everything– we now perceive that without Christ we can do
nothing! We are cast forth as a branch separated from the vine–we are
withered! What can a leaf do? What power has it to resist the wind?
Just so we feel now–we can do nothing–even the sin that dwells in us,
like the wind, carries us away and we are like the leaf in the wind,
subject to its power.

O my Brothers and Sisters, what a great blessing it is to be made to
know our own weakness! To empty the sinner of his folly, his vanity and
conceit is no easy matter. Christ can easily fill him with wisdom and
prudence, but to get him empty–this is the work! This is the
difficulty. To make a man know that he is in himself utterly lost,
ruined, and un-done–this is the Spirit of God's own work! We ministers
cannot make a man see that, however diligently we may point it out.
Only the Spirit of God can enlighten the heart to discern it and yet,
until a man does see it, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven,
for there are none within the pearly gates who were not once
brokenhearted sinners! Who could possibly come there and sing, "Unto
Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood," but
those who once said, "Pardon my iniquity, for it is great"?

While it is a confession of weakness, it is also an acknowledgment of
God's power to push that weakness to a direful conclusion. "Will You
break me?" says the text–"Lord, You can do it. In one minute You could
take away hope from every one of us now in this House of Prayer." Some
there are who are in the house of doom, where prayer can never be
answered, and where Mercy's proclamation can never be heard! God could
break us. It is an easy thing for Him to destroy! And more, He is not
only able, but He has the right to do it if He will, for we are such
worthless creatures through our disobedience that we may say, in the
words of the hymn–

"If my soul were sent to Hell,

Your righteous Law approves it well." When we feel this, then let us
make a proper use of our own consciousness, not to despond and faint,
but to arise and go to our Father! So we shall come to God and say,
"You can destroy me. You may destroy me justly and I cannot resist You.
I cannot save myself from Your vengeance, nor can I merit anything at
Your hand. I am as weak as water and altogether as perishing a thing as
a poor withered leaf–but will You destroy me? I plead for pity. Oh,
have pity upon me! O God, let Your heart yearn towards me and show me
Your great compassion! I have heard that You delight in mercy and as
Ben-Hadad of old, with the rope about his neck, went in unto the king
and confessed that he deserved to die, so do I confess! And as the king
forgave him, even so do You with me–a guilty culprit trembling in Your
Presence!–

"Show pity, Lord! O Lord, forgive!

Let a repenting rebel live."

II. This is also A PLEA FULL OF PITY.

Though there is weakness, yet there is also power, for weakness is, for
the most part, a prevalent plea with those who are strong and good. I
trust you could not see on your road home tonight a poor fainting
woman, and pass her by. You could not have brought in before your
presence a half-starved child who could not drag its weary limbs along
without feeling that you must give relief. The mere sight of weakness
draws pity. As a certain town was being sacked, one of the rough
soldiers is said to have spared a little child, because it said,
"Please, Sir, don't kill me, I am so little." The rough warrior felt
the urgency of the plea. You may yourselves plead thus with God. "O
God, do not destroy me! I deserve it, but oh, I am so little! Turn Your
power upon some greater thing and let Your heart move with compassion
towards me!"

The plea gathers force when the weakness is confessed. If a man shall
have done you some wrong and shall come and acknowledge it, and bow
down before you and confess it, why, then, you feel that you cannot
take him by the throat, but you say, "Rise, I have forgiven you!" When
weakness appeals to strength for protection and confession of guilt is
relied on as an argument for mercy, those who are good and strong are
pretty sure to be moved with compassion.

But, best of all, going from the positive to the comparative, and from
the comparative to the superlative, how a confession of weakness
touches your heart when it comes from your own child. If your child has
been chastised, has confessed his wrong and pleads with you, how you
stay your hand! Or, if the child is sick and something is done to it
which pains it, if while the operation is being performed he should
look you in the face, and say, "Father, spare your child! I can bear no
more!" you have already felt more than you can make him feel, forthwith
your own tears blind you and you stay your hand. "Like as a father
pities his children, even so the Lord pities them that fear Him." If
you have faith to bring your weakness before God with the sense of a
child towards Him, you surely must prevail. Come, them, you timid
trembling children of your Father who is in Heaven, use this
plea–"Will You break a leaf that is driven to and fro?"

III. This PLEA IS RIGHTLY ADDRESSED.

It is addressed to God. As I thought it over, it seemed to me as if I
could use it with reference to each Person of the Blessed Trinity in
Unity. Looking up to the great Father of our spirits, from whom every
good and perfect gift comes down, it seemed to me that out of weakness
I could say to Him, "Will You, whose name is Father, will You break a
leaf that is driven to and fro? You are the God that made us–will You
utterly destroy the earthen vessel which You have fashioned on Your
wheel? Your name is 'Preserver of Men.' Will You annihilate us and
break us into shivers? Have You not revealed Yourself as delighting in
mercy? Are You not the 'Lord God, merciful and gracious, passing by
iniquity, transgression and sin'? Have you not said, ' Come, now, and
let us reason together; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as
wool'? O God, the Father of Heaven, will You break a leaf that is
driven to and fro?"

And then, I thought I could address myself to the blessed Son of Godwho
is also our Brother in human flesh, and say to Him, "Will You break–O
You 'faithful High Priest, touched with a feeling of our
infirmities'–'bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh'–Brother of
our soul, by whose stripes we are healed–will You break a leaf that is
driven to and fro? No, by Your thorn-crowned head and Your bloody
sweat, by Your Cross and passion, by Your wounds and by Your death cry,
You cannot, will not, be unmerciful and unkind! Surely they who in
confidence turn to You and lay hold upon You, shall find that Your
strength shall be ready to help–for though Your arm is strong to
smite–it is no less strong to save."

Again, it comes across me sweetly, "O blessed Spirit! Could You break a
leaf that is driven to and fro? You are no eagle–you did descend on
Christ in Jordan as a dove–your influences are soft and soothing. Your
name is, 'The Comforter.' You take of the things of Christ, not to
blast us, but to bless us therewith. You are not a destroying Spirit,
but a quickening Spirit, not a terrifying but an enlivening
Spirit–will You break a leaf that is driven to and fro?"

Yes, I address You, You Triune God, You who are so full of mercy, and
love, and Grace, and truth, that those who have known You best have
been compelled to say, 'Oh, how great is Your goodness which You have
laid up for them that fear You! Oh, the depths of Your loving
kindness!' is it possible that You can cast away a poor, broken-hearted
trembler, a poor, fearing, doubting one who would gladly be saved, but
who trembles lest he should be cast away?"

IV. THIS PLEA IS BACKED UP BY MANY CASES OF SUCCESS.

We will not give many, for we have not time, but there is one case
which we will mention. There was a woman whose life was exceedingly
sorrowful. She was an Eastern wife and her husband had been foolish
enough to have a second mistress in the house. The woman of whom we
speak, a holy woman, a woman of refined and delicate mind, a poetess,
indeed, of no mean order–this poor woman, having no children was the
constant butt of her rival, whose sneering spiteful remarks chaffed and
chafed her. Her adversary, it is said, "vexed her sore to make her
afraid." Though her husband was exceedingly kind to her, yet as with a
sword that cut her bones did she continually go. She was a woman of a
sorrowful spirit, her spirit being broken. Still, "she feared the Lord
exceedingly," and she went up to God's House, and it was in God's House
that she received what was to her, perhaps, the greatest blow of her
life! If it was from her rival that she received the harshest word, it
was from the High Priest of God that she received this hardest blow! As
she stood there praying, using no vocal sound, but her lips moving, the
High Priest–an easy-going soul who had brought his own family to ruin
by his slackness–little knowing her grief, told her that she was
drunk! Being a woman to whom the thought of such a sin was as bitter as
gall, it must have smitten her as with the chill blast of death, that
God's Priest had said she was drunk! But, as you will all remember, the
Lord did not break the leaf that was driven to and fro. There came to
her a comfortable promise. Ere long that woman stood there to sing! The
mercy of God had made the barren woman to rejoice and to be the joyful
mother of children! The song of the Virgin Mary was modeled after the
song of Hannah–that memorable poem in which she sang of the Lord who
had filled the hungry with good things, while the rich He had sent away
empty. In that case the Lord did not break the leaf that was driven to
and fro!

In later years–to take an example of another kind–there was a king
who had sinned desperately, slaying God's servants with both hands. But
he was taken captive by a powerful monarch and thrown into prison–such
an offensive prison that he was among thorns–in mental as well as in
material darkness. Then, troubled in spirit, tossed to and fro, and
without power to help himself, Manasseh sought the Lord and he found
the Lord–he prayed unto the Lord and the Lord heard him! Out of the
low dungeon He did not break the leaf that was driven to and fro!

Take a later case, in our Savior's time. The picture of those proud
Pharisees hurrying into our Savior's Presence a poor fallen woman is
even now in your mind's eye. Yes, Sirs, she was taken in adultery.
There was no doubt of it. She was "taken in the very act," and there
she stands–no, she kneels–all covered with blushes before the Man who
is asked to judge her! And you remember His words? He never said a word
to excuse her guilt–the Savior could not and would not condone her
shame! Nor would He, on the other hand, lend Himself to crush the woman
who had sinned, but He said– "Where are those, your accusers? Go and
sin no more!" Let His words come unto you, poor leaf, driven to and
fro! Oh, if there should be such a leaf as that driven here tonight,
driven in, perhaps, by stress of weather! Men despise you–from your
own sex you get faint pity–but Jesus, when you appeal to Him–will not
break such a leaf that is driven to and

fro!

Shall I tell another story of the woman who came behind the Master, in
the press, and stole a cure by touching His garment? She thought she
would receive a curse, but He said–"Be you of good cheer. Your faith
has made you whole. Go in peace." It was poor faith–it was very much
like unbelief, but yet it was rewarded with a rich acceptance, for He
will not break a leaf that is driven to and fro!

V. Once more, my text is A FAINT PLEA WHICH INVITES FULL SUCCOR.

"Will You break a leaf that is driven to and fro?" O Job! There is much
wrapped up in what you have said!

He meant this–"Instead of breaking it, You will spare it; You will
gather it up, You will give it life again." It is like that text, "A
bruised reed He will not break." Oh, it means more than that–it means
that He will heal its bruises. "A smoking flax He will not quench."
That is good, but it means more! It means that He will stoop down to it
and with His soft breath He will blow that smoking flax into a
flame–He will not let it go out! He will preserve its heat and make
something more of it. O you who are brought to the very lowest of
weakness, use that weakness in pleading with God, and He will return
unto you with such a fullness of blessing that you shall receive the
pardon of sin! You shall be accepted through the righteousness of
Christ! You shall be dear to the heart of God! You shall be filled with
His Spirit and you shall be blessed with all the fullness of God!

My Lord is such an One that if a beggar asks a penny of Him, He gives
him gold! And if you ask only for the pardon of sins, He will give you
all the Covenant blessings which He has been pleased so bounteously to
provide for the necessities of His people! Come, poor guilty
one–needy, helpless, broken and bruised–come by faith and let your
weakness plead with God through Jesus Christ!

VI. WE MAY USE THIS PLEA–MANY OF US WHO HAVE LONG KNOWN THE SAVIOR.

Perhaps our faith has got to be very low. O Lord, will You destroy my
little faith? I know there is sin in it. To be so unbelieving as I am
is no little crime, but Lord, I thank You that I have anyfaith. It is
weak and trembling, but it is faith of Your own giving. Oh, break not
the poor leaf that is driven to and fro!

It may be your hope is not very bright. You cannot see the golden
gates, though they are very near. Well, but your hope shall not be
destroyed because it is clouded. You can say, "Lord, will You destroy
my hope because it is dim?" No, that He will not!

Perhaps you are conscious that you have not been as useful, lately, as
you once were, but you may say, "Lord, will You destroy my usefulness
because I have been laid aside, or have not done what I ought to have
done in Your service?" Bring your little Graces to Christ as the
mothers brought their little children, and ask Him to put His hands
upon them and to bless them. Bring your mustard seed to Christ and ask
Him to make it grow into a tree, and He will do it! But never think
that He will destroy you, or that He will destroy the works of His own
hands in you!

Oh, that I could so preach as to give the comfort to you which I have
felt in my own soul while musing over these words! I wish that some who
feel how lost, how empty and how ruined they are, could now believe in
the great and the good heart of my Lord Jesus Christ. Little do they
know how glad He will be to save them. You will be glad to be saved,
but He will be more glad to save you. You will be thankful to sit at
the feast, but of all that come to the banquet, there is no heart as
glad as the heart of the King! When the King came in to see the guests,
I know there were gleams of joy in His face which were not to be found
in the faces of any of the guests. He has the joy of benevolence!
Perhaps you have sometimes felt a thrill of pleasure when you have done
some good to your poor fellow creatures. Now, think what must be the
joy of Christ, the joy of the Father and the joy of the Holy
Spirit–the joy of doing good to those who do not deserve it, the joy
of bestowing favors upon the wicked and the unthankful, the joy of
showing that He does good because He is good–not because youare good,
but because He is good! Thus the Lord God will leap over the mountains
of your sins, your prejudices and the rivers of your iniquities, that
He may come unto you and display the full Glory of His loving kindness
and His tender mercy!

Oh, that some might now for the first time be drawn to Jesus, put their
trust in Him and find pardon and peace!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 130:1-8; 1 JOHN 1:1-10; 2:1-2.

Verse 1. Out of the depths have I cried unto You, O LORD. The most
eminent of God's saints have been in the depths. Why, then, should I
murmur if I have to endure trials? What am I that I should be exempt
from warfare? How can I expect to win the crown without first carrying
a cross? David saw the depths and so must you and I. But David learned
to cry to God out of the depths. Learn, therefore, that there is no
place so deep but prayer can reach from the bottom of it up to God's
ear, and then God's long arm can reach to the bottom and bring us up
out of the depth! "Out of the depths have I cried unto You, O Lord." Do
not say, "Out of the depths have I talked to my neighbors and sought
consolation from my friends."–

"Were half the breath thus vainly spent To Heaven in supplication sent,
Your cheerful song would oftener be Hear what the Lord has done for
me!"

2. LORD, hear my voice: let Your ear be attentive to the voice of my
supplications. Now a main part of prayer must be occupied by confession
and the Psalmist proceeds, therefore–

3. If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?That
is to say, apart from Christ, if God exercises His Justice to its
utmost severity, the best of men must fall, for the best of men, being
men at the best, are sinners even at their best!

4. But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. If there
were no mercy, there would be no love in any human heart–and that
would be an end to religion if there were an end to forgiveness! Here
let us observe that the best of men dare not stand before an absolute
God–that the holiest of God's saints need to be accepted on the
footing of a Mediator–to receive forgiveness of sins.

5. I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His Word do Ihope.
There is a waiting of expectancy. We believe that He is about to give
us the mercy, and we hold out our hands for it. There is a waiting of
resignation, we know not what God may do nor when He may appear, but we
wait. Aaron held his peace. It is a great virtue to wait for God when
we know not what He does, but to wait His own explanations and be
content to go without explanations if He does not choose to give them.

6. My soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for the
morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.And many a
mariner has watched for the morning with an awful anxiety, for he could
not know where his vessel was until the day should break! Many a weary
patient tossed upon the bed of pain has waited for the morning, saying,
"Would God it were morning, for then, perhaps, I might find ease." And
you know that sometimes the watchers upon the castle top, who have to
be guarding the ramparts against the adversary by night, watch for the
morning. So does David's soul watch. Lord, if I may not have You,
permit me to watch for You. Oh, there is some happiness even in waiting
for an absent God! I recollect that Rutherford said, "I do not see how
I can be unhappy, for if Christ will not love me, if He will but permit
me to love Him, and I feel I cannot help doing that–the loving of Him
will be Heaven enough for me." Waiting for God is sweet, inexpressibly
delightful–

"To those who call, how kind You are, how good to those who seek! But
what to those who find? Ah, this, nor tongue nor pen can show The love
of Jesus, what it is, none but His loved ones know!" Happy are they
who, having waited patiently, at last behold their God!

7. 8. Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy,
and with Him is plenteous redemption and He shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities.He shall do this in a double and perfect way–He
shall redeem us from the effect of all our iniquities through the
atoning Sacrifice and from the presence of all iniquity by His
sanctifying Spirit. They are without fault before the Throne of God! "I
will purge their blood that I have not cleansed, says the Lord that
dwells in Zion." May my soul have a part and lot in this precious
promise!

1 John 1–Verse 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. The fact that Christ was
really in the flesh, that He was no phantom, no shadow mocking the eyes
that looked upon Him, is exceedingly important and, therefore,
John–(whose style, by the way, in this Epistle is precisely like the
style which he uses in his Gospel)–John begins by declaring that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who in His eternity was from the beginning, was
really a substantial Man, for he says–"We have heard Him"–hearing is
good evidence. "Which we have seen Him with our own eyes"–

certainly eye-sight is good, clear evidence. "Which we have looked
upon"–this is better, still, for this imports a deliberate, careful,
circumspect gaze! But still better–"which our hands have handled," for
John had leaned his head on Jesus Christ's bosom and his hands had
often met the real flesh and blood of the living Savior! We need have
no doubt about the reality of Christ's Incarnation when we have these
open eyes and hands to give us evidence!

2. (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness,
and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was
manifested unto us).That same eternal Being who is Very God of Very
God, and is worthy to be called essentially Life, was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and the Apostles could say–"We beheld His Glory."

3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you– See how he
does hammer this nail as if he will drive it fast! How he rings this
bell that it may toll the death-knell of every doubt!

3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also
may have fellowship with us. But John, what is the value of fellowship
with you–even you and your brethren–a parcel of poor fishermen? Who
wants fellowship with you–hooted, despised, mocked and persecuted in
every city–who wants fellowship with you?

3. And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus
Christ What a leap from the fisherman to the Father's Throne! From the
poor, despised son of Zebedee up to the King of Kings! Oh, John, we
would have fellowship with you now! We will have fellowship with your
scorn and spitting, that we may have fellowship with you and with the
Father and His Son, Jesus Christ!

4. And these things write I unto you that your joy may be full Some
Christians have joy, but there are only a few drops in the bottom of
their cup. But the Scriptures were written, and more especially the
Doctrine of an Incarnate God is revealed to us, that our joy may be
full! Why, if you have nothing else to make you glad, the fact that
Jesus has become Brother to you, arrayed in your flesh, should make
your joy full!

5. This, then, is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare
unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.Not
alight, nor thelight, though he is both, but that He is Light!
Scripture uses the term, light, for knowledge, for purity, for
prosperity, for happiness and for truth. God is Light and then, in his
usual style, John, who not only tells you a Truth of God but always
guards it, adds–"in whom is no darkness at all."

6. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we
lie, and do not speak the truth Mark here, this does not mean walking
in the darkness of sorrow, for there are many of God's people that walk
in the darkness of doubts and fears and yet they have fellowship with
God! No, they sometimes have fellowship with Christ all the better for
the darkness of the path along which they walk, but the darkness here
meant is the darkness of sin, the darkness of un-truthfulness. If I
walk in a lie, or walk in sin, and then profess to have fellowship with
God, I have lied and do not speak the truth.

7. But if we walkin the light, as He is in the light–Not to the same
degree, but in the same manner–

7. We have fellowship, one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanses us from allsin. So you see that when we walk the
best–when we walk in the light, as He is in the light–when our
fellowship is of the highest order, yet still we need daily cleansing.
It does not say–mark this, O my Soul–it does not say, "The blood of
Jesus Christ cleansed," but, "cleanses." If guilt returns, His power
may be proved again and again–there is no fear that all my daily slips
and shortcomings shall not be graciously removed by this precious
blood! But there are some who think they are perfectly sanctified and
have no sin–

8, 9. If we say that we have no sins, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Oh,
those words, and more especially that glorious word, "all"! This must
include the vilest sin that ever stained human nature, the blackest
grime that ever came from the black heart of man! And now John is very
careful when he strikes a blow, to hit completely. He has already
smitten those who say they have no sin, and now he smites those who say
they did not, at one time, have any–

10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, andHis
Wordis not in us. 1 John 2:1-2

Verse 1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that you
sin not. He is anxious that they should not sin. He knows they do, and
that if they say they do not, they lie. Still the Christian's objective
is sinless perfection, and though he will never have it till he gets to
Heaven, that is all the better because he will always, then, be
pressing forward and never reckoning that he has attained it!

1, 2. And if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the Righteous. And He is the Propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours, only, but also for the sins of the whole world. By which is
meant, not only that Jesus Christ died for Gentiles as well as Jews,
and for some of all nations, but that there is that in the Atonement of
Christ which might be sufficient for every creature under Heaven if God
had so chosen every creature! The limitation is lying not in the value
of the Atonement, itself, but in the design and intention of the
Eternal God. God sent His Son to lay down His life for His sheep. We
know that Christ redeemed us from among men, so that the redemption is
particularly and especially for the elect. Yet at the same time the
price offered was so precious–the blood was so Infinite in value–
that if every man that ever lived had to be redeemed, Christ could have
done it. It is this that make us bold to preach the Gospel to every
creature, since we know there is no limit in the value of the
Atonement, though we also know that the design of it is only for the
chosen people of God!