he beginning of the second issue from the work of Christ, and is
parallel with 'hereby know we,' etc., in verse 3. Observe the progress
in thought from the assurance that we _know_ (ver. 3) to the assurance
that we _are in_ Him. The Christian's relation to Jesus is not only that
of acquaintance, however intimate, loving, and transforming, but that of
actual dwelling in Him. That great truth shines on every page of the New
Testament, and is not to be weakened down into metaphor or rhetoric. It
is the very heart of the Christian life, and the test that we have
attained to it, and that not merely as an occasional, but as a
permanent, condition (note that '_are_ in Him' is strengthened to
'_abideth_ in Him') is that our outward life, in its manifold
activities, shall be conformed to the pattern of all holiness in the
life of Jesus. To walk as He walked is to walk in the light. Profession
is nothing, conduct is everything, and we shall only be clear of sin in
the measure in which we have Him who is the light of men for the very
life of our lives.

WALKING IN THE LIGHT

'If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth
us from all sin.'--1 John i. 7.

John was the Apostle of love, but he was also a 'son of thunder.' His
intense moral earnestness and his very love made him hate evil, and
sternly condemn it; and his words flash and roll as no other words in
Scripture, except the words of the Lord of love. In the immediate
context he has been laying down what is to him the very heart of his
message, that 'God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.' There
are spots in the sun, great tracts of blackness on its radiant disc; but
in God is unmingled, perfect purity. That being so, it is clear that no
man can be in sympathy or hold communion with Him, unless he, too, in
his measure, is light.

So, with fiery indignation, John turns to the people, of whom there were
some, even in the primitive Church, who made claims to a lofty
spirituality and communion with God, and all the while were manifestly
living in the darkness of sin. He will not mince matters with them. He
roundly says that they are lying, and the worst sort of lie--an acted
lie: 'They do not the truth.' Then, with a quick turn, he opposes to
these pretenders the men who really are in fellowship with God, and in
my text lays down the principle that walking i