gotten to preach righteousness, and therein has
been its weak point. But here is the most mystical teacher of the New
Testament insisting on plain morality as vehemently as his friend James
could have done.

The combination is very remarkable. Like the eagle he rises, and like
the eagle, with the impetus gained from his height, he drops right down
on the earth beneath!

And that is not only a characteristic of St. John's teaching, but it is
a characteristic of all the New Testament morality--its highest
revelations are intensely practical. Its light is at once set to work,
like the sunshine that comes ninety millions of miles in order to make
the little daisies open their crimson-tipped petals; so the profoundest
things that the Bible has to say are said to you and me, not that we may
know only, but that knowing we may _do_, and _do_ because we _are_.

So John, here: 'We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.'
'And'--a simple coupling-iron for two such thoughts--'every man that
hath this hope in Him'--that is, in Christ, not in himself, as we
sometimes read it--'every man that hath this hope,' founded on Christ,
'purifies himself even as He is pure.'

The thought is a very simple one, though sometimes it is somewhat
mistakenly apprehended. Put into its general form it is just this:--If
you expect, and expecting, hope to be like Jesus Christ yonder, you will
be trying your best to be like Him here. It is not the mere purifying
influence of hope that is talked about, but it is the specific influence
of this one hope, the hope of ultimate assimilation to Christ leading to
strenuous efforts, each a partial resemblance of Him, here and now. And
that is the subject I want to say a word or two about now.

I. First, then, notice the principle that is here, which is the main
thing to be insisted upon, namely, If we are to be pure, we must purify
_ourselves_.

There are two ways of getting like Christ, spoken about in the context.
One is the blessed way, that is more appropriate for the higher Heaven,
the way of assimilation and transformation by beholding--'If we see Him'
we shall be 'like Him.' That is the blessed method of the Heavens. Yes,
but even here on earth it may to some extent be realised! Love always
breeds likeness. And there is such a thing, here on earth and now, as
gazing upon Christ with an intensity of affection, and simplicity of
trust, and rapture of aspiration, and ardour of desire which shal