Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the Law, etc. The apostle, having stated that the influence of the hope of the Christian stimulates him to seek for moral purity, proceeds to present forcible reasons against the commission of sin. Of these reasons we have three chief ones in the text, and these are repeated, with some additional particulars, in verses 7-9.

I. SIN IS OPPOSED TO THE HOLY LAW OF GOD. "Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness: and sin is lawlessness."

1. Sin in its abstract nature. "Sin is the transgression of the Law," or "lawlessness." This is said of sin in general: it is true of every sin, that it is a violation of the Law of God. This is opposed to several modern theories concerning sin. Some say that sin is a natural imperfection of the creature - the crude effort of untrained man for right conduct. Our text says that it is not imperfection, but transgression of a holy Law. And others charge all sin upon defective social arrangements: human society is not rightly organized, and because of this men err. But St. John charges sin upon the individual, and charges it as a disregard or a breach of Divine Law. And others apply the word "misdirection" to what the Bible calls sin, and thus endeavour to get rid of guilt. But misdirection implies a misdirector; that misdirector is man. And sin is more than misdirection; it is the infraction of the holy Law and beautiful order of the Supreme. The sacred Scriptures everywhere assert this. The cherubim and the flaming sword of Eden (Genesis 3:24), the awful voices of Sinai (Exodus 20), and the mournful but glorious sacrifice of Calvary unite in. declaring that sin is the transgression of the Law of God. And the voice of conscience confirms this testimony of Holy Writ. The unsophisticated and awakened conscience cries, "I acknowledge my transgression," etc. (Psalm 2:3, 4).

2. Sin in its actual commission. "Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness." The expression seems to indicate the practice of sin - voluntariness, deliberateness, and activity in wrong-doing. It is the antithesis of the conduct of the child of God in purifying himself. It is not sin as an occasional or exceptional thing, but as a general thing. Persistent activity in doing evil is suggested by the form of expression. We are reminded by it of the expression of the royal and inspired poet, "the workers of iniquity" - persons who habitually practice sin, who work wickedness as though it were their business. Here, then, are reasons why we should not sin.

(1) Sin is a violation of the Law of God; it is a rebellion against his will - the wise, the good, the Holy One. Therefore in itself it is an evil thing, a thing of great enormity.

(2) Law carries with it the idea of penalty. It has its rewards for those who observe it; its punishments for those who transgress it. Hence our interests plead with us against the practice of sin.

II. SIN IS OPPOSED TO THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. The holy will of God the Father and the redemptive work of God the Son are both essentially antagonistic to iniquity. "Ye know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin."

1. The end of Christ's mission was the abolition of sin. "He was manifested to take away sins. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." The bearing of our sins in his own body on the tree is not the fact here mentioned. It is involved; for "once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26); but it is not brought out in this place. The manifestation denotes his incarnation, and his life and work in the flesh. His entire mission was opposed to sin. He became incarnate, he prayed and preached, he wrestled with temptation, and wrought mighty and gracious works, he suffered and died, he arose from the dead, and he ever lives, to take away sins. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

2. A great characteristic of Christ's Person was his freedom from sin. "In him is no sin." He asserted his own sinlessness: "Which of you convicteth me of sin?... The prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me." And this claim he consistently maintained. His enemies tacitly or openly confessed that they could find no sin in him. The Pharisees keenly watched him to discover some matter of accusation against him, but their watching was vain. And when they had preferred a false charge against him before Pilate, the Roman judge said, "I, having examined him before you, found no fault in this Man touching those things whereof ye accuse him;" "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous Man." Judas Iscariot had known Jesus intimately for three years, and after he had traitorously betrayed him, in intolerable anguish he cried, "I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood." And his friends, who had been closely and constantly associated with him for three years, invariably asserted the perfect moral purity of his character and conduct. The sinlessness of our Lord should check every inclination to sin in his disciples, and stimulate them to the pursuit of holiness. To commit sin is to run counter to our Saviour's personal character, and to the gracious spirit and grand aim of the redemption which he has wrought.

III. SIN IS OPPOSED TO THE DIVINE LIFE IN MAN. "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him."

1. Participation in the Divine life precludes the practice of sin. "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." We abide in Christ by believing on him, loving him, communing with him, drawing our life from him (cf. John 15:1-7). That this part of our text cannot mean that sin is impossible to a Christian is evident from 1 John 1:8-10; 1 John 2:1,

2. But in so far as the child of God abides in Christ he is separated from sin. In the degree in which the Divine life is realized by him, in that degree he is unable to sin (cf. verse 9).

2. The practice of sin proves the absence of a true knowledge of Jesus Christ. "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him." The sight and knowledge here spoken of are not merely intellectual, but spiritual; not theoretical, but experimental. And the "sinneth" does not denote sin as an occasional and exceptional thing, but as general and habitual. He who lives in the practice of sin thereby proclaims that he does not know the Lord Jesus Christ. By all these reasons let Christians watch and pray that they sin not, and "follow after sanctification, without which no man shall see the Lord." - W.J.

I. REFUTE THE THREE THEORIES IN WHICH THE DEVIL-DENYING DOCTRINES ARE COMPRISED.

1. The doctrine that two principles, of good and evil, eternally existed, and that the devil is only the evil principle personified.

2. The theory that the devil, specified in the Bible, is only the personification of fallen human nature.

3. The theory that sinful actions are the only devil that the Bible guards us against.

II. EXPLAIN THE ORIGIN OF EVIL, AND EXHIBIT THE REAL EXISTENCE OF SATAN, AS ESTABLISHED BY REASON AND REVELATION.

(W. Barnes.)

1. The unregenerate sinner, living in the habitual practice of sin, is of Satan, because his will harmonises with Satan's will; and it follows, therefore, that all the powers and faculties which he possesses, influential as they are upon those with whom he associates, become instrumental to the working out of the dictates of Satan's will rather than God's will.

2. The unregenerate sinner, living in the habitual indulgence of sin, is under the despotic influence of Satan, whose slave and vassal he is. He may be a free member of a free community, but his heart, his intellect, his body, all are bound in unresisting submissiveness to Satan.

3. The unregenerate sinner, living in the habitual indulgence of sin, must, if unreclaimed by sovereign grace, share the final end of Satan. If he is of the devil in sinning, he must be of the devil in suffering.

(G. Fisk, LL. B.)

I. THE FACT — THAT THE SON OF GOD WAS MANIFESTED

1. By His mysterious incarnation.

2. By His personal ministry.

3. By the promulgation of His gospel.

4. By the presence of His Spirit.

II. THE DESIGN OF THIS MANIFESTATION — "that He might destroy the works of the devil."

(J. Jowett, M. A.)

I. THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL. What these may be in the unseen world we know not; we find enough of them here in our world to astonish us.

1. Moral evil, sin, is one of these works. It is this which the apostle has more especially in his mind here, and which we may regard as the foundation of all the rest.

2. What we call natural evil, suffering, is another of his works. It grows out of sin.

3. And then comes discord, another work of Satan. Man and his God were walking together at first in a blessed amity. Satan came in and severed between them. And think of the contentions which have ever been going on between man and man in nations, societies, churches, and even families — Satan has fostered them all; nay, given rise to them all.

4. And then there is the deception which prevails in our world. We must trace this also to Satan. He is called in Scripture "the father of lies," of all lies, but more especially of all spiritual lies. Well knowing that he cannot keep religion altogether out of the world, he deludes men with false religions.

5. Another work of Satan is the obscurity he has thrown here over Jehovah's glory. He seems to have baffled God in all His purposes as to our world; to have brought to nothing all the designs of His goodness towards it when He created it.

6. And one thing more must be added — death. This crowns the work of Satan.

II. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SON OF GOD TO DESTROY THEM. Even the omnipotent Son of God cannot be a Saviour unless He is at the same time a destroyer. The works of Satan must be demolished, or God's great work of mercy cannot be accomplished.

III. THE DESTRUCTION OF THESE WORKS.

1. The Lord Jesus effects their destruction in a wonderful character. Had we been told that the Son of the Highest was about to manifest Himself in our world as a Destroyer, we should have expected Him to appear among us in His glorious majesty, withering Satan, as He will do hereafter, by "the brightness of His coming." But the Lord is wiser than we. This would have been a display of the Divine power only. The Lord would not thus honour Satan. He lays aside His majesty when He comes forth to this work of destruction. Satan and his works shall be overthrown by one of those very creatures whom Satan has long triumphed over.

2. If the character was wonderful in which our Lord achieved this work, the means whereby He achieved it were still more so. "Through death," we are told, "He destroyed him that had the power or death, that is, the devil."

(C. Bradley, M. A.)

I. As for THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SON OF GOD, though it principally relates to the actual coming of Christ into the world, yet it is a term of a larger comprehension, and so ought to carry our notice both to passages before and after His nativity. We find Him first exhibited in promises, and those as early as the first need of a Saviour, even immediately after the fall; by such a hasty provision of mercy, that there might be no dark interval between man's misery and his hope of recovery (Genesis 3:15). But when at length prophecy ripened into event, and shadows gave way upon the actual appearance of the substance, in the birth of Christ, yet then, though the Son of God could be but once born, He ceased not to be frequently manifested; there was a choir of angels to proclaim His nativity, and a new star to be His herald. Christ was the light of the world; and nothing is more manifest or visible than that which manifests both itself and all things else; and needs no invitation to the eye, but will certainly enter, unless it be forcibly kept out. But the Jews were purposed not to believe their eyes; to question whether it was day when the sun shined. It is clear, therefore, that the Jews rejected the Son of God, not because He was not manifested, but because they delighted to be ignorant, and to be sceptics and unbelievers even in spite of evidence.

II. THE END OF HIS MANIFESTATION, "that He might destroy the works of the devil."

1. I reduce the works of the devil, destroyed by the manifestation of the Son of God, to these three —

(1)Delusion.

(2)Sin.

(3)Death.There is a natural coherence between these: for sin being a voluntary action, and so the issue of the will, presupposes a default in the understanding, which was to conduct the will in its choices; and then when the delusion and inadvertency of the understanding has betrayed the will to sin, the consequent and effect of sin is death. Christ therefore, that came to repair the breaches, and cure the miseries of human nature, and to redeem it from that frenzy into which it had cast itself, designs the removal and conquest of all these three.

2. I come now to show what are the ways and means by which He destroys them.(1) As a prophet He destroys and removes that delusion that had possessed the world, by those Divine and saving discoveries of truth exhibited in the doctrine and religion promulged by Him.(2) As for the second work of the devil, sin, this the Son of God destroyed as a priest, by that satisfaction that He paid down for it; and by that supply of grace that He purchased, for the conquering and rooting it out of the hearts of believers. By the former He destroys the guilt of sin, by the latter the power.(3) As for the third and last work of the devil, which is death; this Christ, as He is a king, destroys by His power: for it is He that has "the keys of life and death, opening where none shuts, and shutting where none opens." At the command of Christ "the sea shall give up its dead," the graves shall open, and deliver up their trust; and all the devourers of nature shall make a faithful restitution.

(R. South, D. D.)

I. THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST'S INCARNATION — the Son of God was manifested.

1. The propriety, to whom this work of subduing the devil and destroying his works, properly belongs; that is God.(1) He only had right to do it; whether we consider Him either as the Judge, or as the party wronged.(2) He only had strength and power to effect this destruction of Satan's works.

2. The appropriation of this work. It is ascribed to the second Person in the glorious Godhead; to the Son of God. And that the Son of God should undertake this work, there are two congruities.(1) The first congruity is grounded upon His relation, in that He is the Son of God. And suitable to this there were two works of the devil to be destroyed; and none so fit to do it as the Son of God.(a) The first work of Satan, was to make us degenerate from our original, and to become the children of the devil; that was our woeful condition (John 8:44). This work must be destroyed by our spiritual adoption; that rescues us out of that cursed family, and reduces us to a new sonship, makes us become the children of God. Now, who so fit to make us adopted sons as the natural Son of God?(b) The second work of the devil was the defacing and destroying that holy image of God, in which we were created, and so stamping upon our souls that blemish of the devil's similitude. Now, who so fit to deface the image of Satan, and to repair the blessed image of God upon our souls, as the Son of God, who is the lively express image of God the Father (Romans 8:29)?(2) A second congruity is grounded upon that special attribute which is ascribed to the Son of God; that is, the attribute of wisdom. Well, did craft and subtlety ruin us? Here is wisdom of God to restore us (1 Corinthians 3:19).

3. The manner of effecting this work, the dispensation observed in it, theft is called here His manifestation.(1) It is a manifestation, that is the representation of that which was before, but did not appear before.(2) Christ's incarnation is the appearing of Him, who before was invisible.(3) Christ is now really and actually exhibited to the sons of men; before He was promised only, but now that promise is fully performed to us.(4) This degree and temper of His manifestation was thus ordered and proportioned for these considerations.(a) This manifestation under the veil of His flesh was fitted for our capacity, we could not otherwise have beheld Him. We can fix our eyes upon the sun when it is under a cloud; we cannot do so when it is in its full splendour.(b) This manifestation was under the veil of the flesh to make way for the exercise of faith; and faith was to have a principal part in the work of our redemption. And the property of that is to believe that which we see not. And therefore, that our faith might have what to believe, he concealed His Divinity under the veil of His humanity.(c) His manifestation was under the veil of the flesh, as the fittest way to conquer and destroy the devil.(i) It was a fit way to requite the devil, He wrought our ruin by a counterfeit incarnation, appearing to our first parents in another habit; and Christ works Satan's ruin by a real incarnation.(ii) This was done to bring on the devil to this encounter, by which he might be destroyed. He durst not have assaulted our Saviour appearing in His glory.

II. THE WORK AND EMPLOYMENT OF OUR INCARNATE SAVIOUR. It was "to destroy the works of the devil." The fruit and benefit of our Saviour's incarnation hath other expressions in Scripture (Matthew 18:11; 1 Timothy 1:15; John 6:41; John 10:10). These are all comprehended in this of St. John, it was "to destroy the works of the devil."

1. What is that which Christ sets Himself against and opposes? They are the works of the devil. So then, in general, the work for which Christ came into the world is a spiritual work, to oppose spiritual wickedness. The gospel is conversant in mortifying of sins, not in invading of possessions, as Bernard speaks.(1) See the extension of the object that Christ comes to destroy.

(a)Sin, that is the work of the devil.

(b)Death, that is the work of the devil; and Christ destroys both.(2) The limitation. That which Christ came to destroy is the works of the devil, those and only those. The works of God, those Christ came not to destroy, but to preserve and restore, to improve and better them (Isaiah 58:12); the souls of men, to recover them; the lives of men, He came not to destroy, but to save (Luke 9:56). It must teach all undertakers of works of destruction to carry a steady hand in so perilous a work. They had need of three caveats;(a) Look to thy warrant and authority. Every man is not to be a destroyer, even of those things that deserve to be destroyed.(b) Take heed you mistake not a work of God for a work of the devil.(c) When these two works meet in one — the work of God and the work of the devil — then separate the precious from the vile, discern and distinguish them.

2. The opposition which Christ makes against the works of the devil. It is called a destroying. It is a full word, of great vehemence and intention. Christ came not only to abate the power of Satan, and to bring him under, as Saul did with Agag, or the Israelites did with the Canaanites: spared their lives, but subdued them only, and made them tributaries. It is charged on them as a sin (Psalm 106:34). No; sin and Satan are to be devoted to utter destruction. Not only restrain sin, but root it out and destroy it. And that we may do this, we must beget in us a destroying affection. What is that? Hatred — a double hatred.(1) Hatred of enmity, that must be against the devil; hate him with a perfect hatred.(2) Hatred of abomination, that must be against sin, the work of the devil. These two, the hatred of emnity against Satan, and the hatred of, loathing, and antipathy against sin: that will make us imitate the work of Christ, in destroying of sire And this Christ doth in three degrees, till sin be utterly destroyed.(a) He destroys the condemning power of sin by purchasing the pardon of sin, and confers this upon us in our justification.(b) He destroys the dominion and reigning power of sin by inspirations of His grace, thereby mortifying sin in our sanctification.(c) He destroys the very being of sin; roots up the bitter root of sin by His final and finishing grace in our glorification. Thus do thou —

(i)Sue for the pardon of sin.

(ii)Strive against the power of sin.

(iii)Long for the final abolishing of sin.

III. THE DESIGN AND INTENDMENT OF THIS WORK: "For this purpose."

1. This destroying of sin and Satan and so the rescuing of us from both, was His intention. He foresaw our fall, and pitied our misery, and forecasts our recovery: His eternal thoughts of grace and mercy were employed about us.

2. This work was His primary intention. The main end of His coming into the world was to destroy Satan and to free us from his bondage and captivity.

3. This destroying of Satan's works is His effectual and real intention. Did He purpose it? Then surely He will accomplish it, and effectually perform it.

(Bp. Brownrigg.)

The text is a distinct doctrine, viz., that the Son of God was manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

I. TO OFFER SOME THINGS WITH RELATION TO THIS RENOWNED CHAMPION.

1. He is a person of a noble extract and pedigree; He is the Son of God by eternal generation, His Father's first born, and therefore higher than the kings of the earth.

2. This renowned person, the Son of God, had an ancient kindness for our family; for He from eternity "rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and His delights were with the sons of men."

3. That He might be in a capacity to help and relieve us from the hand of the enemy, He marries our nature into a personal union with Himself. Law and justice required that the same nature that sinned should suffer.

4. This renowned Champion is one of a very martial and heroic spirit; He fears no enemy that stands in His way (Isaiah 59:16-18).

5. He is one that is successful in all His enterprises: He never lost a battle, victory follows Him in His train.

6. He is incomparable for power and wisdom; hence His name is "Christ the power of God, and Christ the wisdom of God."

II. TO OFFER A FEW THOUGHTS CONCERNING THE GRAND ENEMY OF MANKIND, THAT THE SON OF GOD HAD IN HIS EYE WHEN HE APPEARED UPON THE STAGE, AND THAT IS THE DEVIL.

1. That he was once an angel of light, and had his habitation at first in glory.

2. Pride and ambition was the sin of the devil.

3. Being cast out of heaven, he was filled with the madness of revenge and enmity against God.

4. By virtue of the curse of the broken law, the devil comes to have a legal title to, and dominion over, every son of Adam by nature.

5. The enemy into whose hands we are fallen is of all others the most dangerous and terrible.

(1)He is a very powerful enemy.

(2)He is a subtle and cunning enemy.

(3)He is an experienced enemy.

(4)A most vigilant enemy.

(5)He is a most fierce and raging enemy.

(6)He is a numerous enemy. His name is legion.I will tell you of some works of the devil brought about by sin.

1. The dishonour of God.

2. The disturbing of the creation.

3. The ruin of man.

4. The erection of his own kingdom of sin and darkness.

III. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SON OF GOD IN ORDER, TO HIS DESTROYING THESE WORKS OF THE DEVIL.

1. He was manifested initially in the first promise (Genesis 3:15).

2. He was manifested typically to the children of Israel in the Mosaic economy. The tabernacle, the temple, the passover, the manna, the rock that followed them, the sacrifices and ceremonies of that dispensation — what else were they but the "shadows of good things to come"?

3. To this there was added a prophetical manifestation of the Son of God.

4. He was manifested personally in the fulness of time by the assumption of the nature of man (Galatians 4:4).

5. There is a declarative manifestation of the Son of God in the dispensation of the gospel.

6. He is manifested sacramentally.

7. Christ is manifested in a spiritual and efficacious way in the day of conversion.

8. There is the public and solemn manifestation of the Son of God at the last day (Revelation 1:7). Thus you see how it is that the Son of God is manifested; and in every one of these manifestations He had in view the destruction of Satan and his works.

IV. TO SPEAK OF THE SON OF GOD DESTROYING THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL.

1. The first thing is, to prove that it was the great business of the Son of God to destroy the works of the devil.(1) Was it the plot of hell to have God dishonoured in all His attributes and perfections by the sin of man? Well, Christ counteracts the devil in this; for He brings a great revenue of glory to the crown of heaven by the work of redemption.(2) It was the work of the devil to disgrace the holy law of God, by breaking it himself, and teaching man to break in upon it; but the work of Christ is, to "magnify the law, and to make it honourable."(3) Was it the work of the devil to disturb God's government in the world, and to cast all into disorder? Well, God the Father lays the government upon Christ's shoulders on purpose that He may restore everything into the order wherein He had set them at first (Romans 8:19, etc.).(4) Was it the devil's work to establish his own kingdom of darkness in this lower world, by establishing error, ignorance, unbelief, atheism, pride, carnality, profanity, and all manner of sin and wickedness? Well, it is the work of Christ to pull down these strongholds of Satan's kingdom.(5) Was it the devil's work to break all fellowship and friendship betwixt God and man? Well, it is the work of Christ to bring them into friendship one with another; therefore He is called a Mediator, or a Peacemaker.(6) Was it the work of the devil to bring man under the curse and condemnation of the law, that so he might be in the same condition with himself? Well, it is the work of Christ to "redeem us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."(7) Was it the work of the devil to deface the image of God which He stamped upon man? It is the work of Christ to restore it.

2. The second thing here is, to inquire, How is it that Christ destroys the works of the devil? Christ destroys the works of the devil four ways.

(1)By the virtue of His blood.

(2)By the light of His Word.

(3)By the power and efficacy of His Spirit.

(4)By the prudence of His government and administration.

3. The third thing was, to observe upon some particular times and seasons wherein Christ destroys the works of the devil.(1) The day of Christ's death gave a notable blow unto the devil's kingdom.(2) The day of Christ's resurrection gave a signal blow to the works of the devil; for He "rose for our justification."(3) The day of Christ's ascension into heaven was a notable destruction unto Satan and his works; for "when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive"; He opened a passage between this world and heaven, through the territories of the prince of the power of the air, by which all His friends might follow Him to glory.(4) In the day of Pentecost Christ gave another stroke to the devil and his works.(5) The day of a sinner's believing in Christ is a time when Satan's works are destroyed.(6) Times of espousals, nearness betwixt God and a soul, are times of destroying the works of the devil.(7) When at any time an honourable testimony is given to the Lord, to the doctrine, discipline, worship and government of His Church, in a day of uncommon defection and backsliding.(8) When a believer dies, and goes away to glory, under a guard of angels, along that road that Christ opened.

4. The fourth thing here was, to give the reasons why Christ the Son of God is manifested to destroy the works of the devil.(1) Christ encounters this enemy, and destroys his works, because it was His Father's will and pleasure; and He did always these things that pleased His Father, rejoicing always before Him.(2) Christ destroys the works of the devil, because it was for His own honour to engage in this expedition.(3) Christ destroys the works of the devil, out of the ancient and wonderful love that He did bear to man upon earth.(4) Out of regard to His own law, which the devil by his works had dishonoured.(5) Christ destroys the works of the devil that He may "still this enemy and avenger."(6) He destroys the work of the devil, for the manifestation of all the Divine perfections.

V. THE LAST THING IN THE METHOD WAS THE USE OF THE DOCTRINE, WHICH I SHALL DESPATCH IN THE FOLLOWING INFERENCES.

1. See hence a glorious ray of the Godhead or supreme independent Deity of the glorious Redeemer.

2. See hence how the kindness and love of God hath appeared toward man upon earth.

3. See hence the evil of sin, and the folly of those that are in love with it, and give themselves up to its power and service.

4. See hence a good reason why the believer is at war with sin in himself, and wherever he finds it.

5. See hence why hell and earth took the alarm when Christ appeared in the world.

6. See one great reason why believers breathe so much after manifestations of the Lord.

7. From this doctrine we may see how much it is our concern to keep up the memorials of a Redeemer's death, and why the truly godly love to flock to a sacrament.Use second may be of trial, whether the Son of God was ever savingly manifested to thy soul.

1. If ever She Son of God was manifested in thy soul, thou wilt be for pulling down the works of the devil, and for building up the works of the Son of God.(1) You will pull down self-righteousness, and put on the righteousness of Christ.(2) You will be much employed in pulling down the image of the first Adam, and in setting up the image of the second Adam in your souls.(3) You will be clear for pulling down the wisdom of the flesh, and for setting up the wisdom of God above it.

2. If ever the Son of God was manifested savingly unto thy soul, the union of the two natures in the person of Christ will be the wonder of thy soul.

3. It will be your great design, in attending ordinances, to have new manifestations of His glory, as David (Psalm 27:4, 63, 84, etc.).

4. You will be concerned to manifest His glory to others. The last inference is this, Is it so that the Son of God was manifested? See hence noble encouragement to all honest ministers and Christians to make a stand against the defections of the day we live in.

(E. Erskine, D. D.)

I. First, THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL. This very strong expression is descriptive of sin; for the preceding sentence so interprets it.

1. This name for sin is first of all a word of detestation. Sin is so abominable in the sight of God and of good men that its various forms are said to be "the works of the devil." Think of that, ye ungodly ones — the devil is at work in you, as a smith at his forge.

2. Next, it is a word of distinction: it distinguishes the course of the ungodly man from the life of the man who believes in the Lord Jesus. If you have not the life of God in you, you cannot do the works of God. The mineral cannot rise into the vegetable of itself, it would require another touch from the creative hand; the vegetable cannot rise into the animal unless the Creator shall work a miracle; and, even so, you as a carnal man cannot become a spiritual man by any spontaneous generation; the new life must be imparted to you by the quickening Spirit.

3. The language before us is, next, a word of descent. Sin is "of the devil," it came from him; he is its parent and patron. Sin is not so of the devil that we can lay the blame of our sins upon him, for that is our own. It is our work because we willingly yield. Let us be thoroughly ashamed of such work when we find that the devil has a hand in it.

4. Consider, next, that we have here a word of description. The work of sin is the work of the devil because it is such work as he delights in. He has led the human race to become accomplices in his treason against the majesty of heaven, allies in his rebellion against the sovereignty of God most high. The works of the devil make up a black picture: it is a thick darkness over all the land, even a darkness that may be felt.

II. THE PURPOSE OF GOD — "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." Yes, mark that word, "destroyed," not limited, nor alleviated, nor neutralised, but destroyed.

1. The work which lies in this purpose is assuredly a Divine work. The Lord who can create can certainly destroy.

2. And there is, to my mind, about it the idea of a conquering work. When are the palaces and the fortifications of great kings destroyed? Not till the kings themselves have been overthrown in fair fight; but when their power is broken then it is that the conquerors raze the castle and burn the stronghold.

3. This means also a complete work. The product of evil is not to be cut down for a time and left to grow again.

4. It is a complete work and a conclusive work; for the Lord Jesus will so break the head of the old dragon, that he shall never wear the crown again. Sin in every shape and form the Lord shall destroy from off the face of the earth forever.

III. Our text plainly tells us how this is to be done — BY THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SON OF GOD. Behind, and under, and over the works of the devil the Lord had ever the design that this evil should be permitted that He might baffle it with love, and that the glory of His grace might be revealed. My text has in it to my mind a majestic idea, first, of the difficulties of the case — that the Son of God must needs be manifested to destroy the works of the devil; and then, secondly, of the ease of His victory.

1. First, Christ's manifestation, even in His incarnation, was a fatal blow to the works of Satan. Did God come down to men? Was He incarnate in the infant form that slept in Bethlehem's manger? Then the Almighty has not given up our nature to be the prey of sin.

2. Next, look to the life of Christ on earth, and see how He there destroyed the works of the devil. It was a glorious duel in the wilderness when they stood foot to foot — the champions of good and evil! All our Lord's preaching, all His teaching, all His labour here below was in order to the pulling away the corner stone from the great house of darkness which Satan had built up.

3. But oh, it was in His death that Jesus chiefly overthrew Satan and destroyed his works. Man, accepting this great sacrifice, loves and adores the Father who ordained it, and so the works of the devil in his heart are destroyed.

4. Our Lord's rising again, His ascension into glory, His sitting on the right hand of the Father, His coming again in the latter days — all these are parts of the manifestation of the Son of God by which the works of the devil shall be destroyed. So also is the preaching of the gospel. If we want to destroy the works of the devil our best method is to manifest more and more the Son of God.

5. Lastly, on this point, our blessed Lord is manifested in His eternal power and kingdom as enthroned in order to destroy the works of the devil; for "the government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, the mighty God, the Father of the ages."

IV. A few words of inquiry as to THE EXPERIENCE OF ALL THIS IN OURSELVES. Has the Son of God been manifested to you to destroy the works of the devil in you?

1. At first there was in your heart an enmity to God; for "the carnal mind is enmity against God." Is that enmity destroyed?

2. The next work of the devil which usually appears in the human mind is self-righteous pride. Have all those rags gone from you? Has a strong wind blown them right away? Have you seen your own natural nakedness?

3. When the Lord has destroyed self-righteousness in us, the devil generally sets us forth another form of his power, and that is despair. But if the Lord Jesus Christ has been manifested to you, despair has gone, that work of the devil has been all destroyed, and now you have a humble hope in God and a joy in His mercy. What next?

4. Have you any unbelief in your heart as to the promises of God? Down with it! Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. All mistrusts must die. Not one of them must be spared. Do fleshly lusts arise in your heart? In whose heart do they not arise? The brightest saint is sometimes tempted to the foulest vice. Yes, but he yields not thereto. He cries, "Away with them!" It is not meet even to mention these vile things; they are works of the devil, and to be destroyed. Do you quickly become angry? I pray God you may be angry and sin not; but if you are of a hasty temper, I entreat you to overcome it. Do not say, "I cannot help it." You must help it, or rather Christ must destroy it. It must not be tolerated. Oh, there is to be in every true believer the ultimate abolition of sin. What a prospect this is!

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

Cain, JohnEphesusAppeared, Beginning, Break, Child, Commits, Committeth, Destroy, Devil, Devil's, Evil, Guilty, Habitually, Manifested, Practices, Practises, Purpose, Reason, Revealed, Sin, Sinned, Sinner, Sinneth, Sinning, Sins, Undo, Undoing, Works1. He declares the singular love of God toward us, in making us his sons;
3. who therefore ought obediently to keep his commandments;
11. as also to love one another as brothers.

1 John 3:8

     1130   God, sovereignty
     2324   Christ, as Saviour
     2372   Christ, victory
     4123   Satan, deceiver
     4127   Satan, defeat of
     4909   beginning
     5290   defeat
     5295   destruction
     5598   victory, over spiritual forces
     5828   danger
     6022   sin, causes of
     7950   mission, of Christ
     8483   spiritual warfare, causes
     8735   evil, origins of
     8738   evil, victory over

1 John 3:3-10

     5441   philosophy

1 John 3:6-9

     8102   abiding in Christ

1 John 3:7-10

     4121   Satan, enemy of God
     8750   false teachings

1 John 3:8-10

     4125   Satan, agents of

The Purifying Hope
Eversley, 1869. Windsor Castle, 1869. 1 John iii. 2. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Let us consider this noble text, and see something, at least, of what it has to tell us. It is, like all God's messages, all God's laws, ay, like God's world in which we live and breathe, …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Second Sunday after Trinity Exhortation to Brotherly Love.
Text: 1 John 3, 13-18. 13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

The Growth and Power of Sin
'And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Love that Calls us Sons
'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God....'--1 John iii. 1. One or two points of an expository character will serve to introduce what else I have to say on these words. The text is, I suppose, generally understood as if it pointed to the fact that we are called the sons of God as the great exemplification of the wonderfulness of His love. That is a perfectly possible view of the connection and meaning of the text. But if we are to …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Unrevealed Future of the Sons of God
'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.'--1 John iii. 2. I have hesitated, as you may well believe, whether I should take these words for a text. They seem so far to surpass anything that can be said concerning them, and they cover such immense fields of dim thought, that one may well be afraid lest one should spoil them by even attempting to dilate on them. And …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Purifying Influence of Hope
'And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.'--1 John iii. 3. That is a very remarkable 'and' with which this verse begins. The Apostle has just been touching the very heights of devout contemplation, soaring away up into dim regions where it is very hard to follow,--'We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.' And now, without a pause, and linking his thoughts together by a simple 'and,' he passes from the unimaginable splendours of the Beatific Vision …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Practical Righteousness
Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.'--1 John iii. 7. The popular idea of the Apostle John is strangely unlike the real man. He is supposed to be the gentle Apostle of Love, the mystic amongst the Twelve. He is that, but he was the 'son of thunder' before he was the Apostle of Love, and he did not drop the first character when he attained the second. No doubt his central thought was, 'God is Love'; no doubt that thought had …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Meaning of Sin, and the Revelation of the True Self
"In this we have come to know what love is, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."--1 JOHN III. 16. It is important that we should arrive at some clearer understanding of the nature of sin. Let us approach the question from the side of the Divine Indwelling. The doctrine of the Divine Immanence, in things and in persons, that doctrine which we are to-day slowly recovering, is rescued from pantheism by holding fast at the same time to the Christian …
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

How to Fertilize Love
Love is the greatest thing in earth or heaven. Out of it flows most of the things that are worth while in life. Love of relatives, love of friends, and love of the brethren (1 John 3: 14) make life worth living. There is no heart so empty as the heart that is without love. There is no life so joyful as the love-filled life. Love puts a song in the heart, a sparkle in the eye, a smile on the lips, and makes the whole being glad. And God's love is greater than all else. He who has God's love has a …
Charles Wesley Naylor—Heart Talks

Vanity of Human Glory.
"The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not."--1 John iii. 1 Of St. Simon and St. Jude, the Saints whom we this day commemorate, little is known[1]. St. Jude, indeed, still lives in the Church in his Catholic epistle; but of his history we only know that he was brother to St. James the Less, and nearly related to our Lord and that, like St. Peter, he had been a married man. Besides his name of Jude or Judas, he is also called Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus in the Gospels. Of St. Simon we only …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The First Fruits of the Spirit
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1 1. By "them which are in Christ Jesus," St. Paul evidently means, those who truly believe in him; those who, "being justified by faith, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." They who thus believe do no longer "walk after the flesh," no longer follow the motions of corrupt nature, but "after the Spirit"; both their thoughts, words, and works are under …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The End of Christ's Coming
"For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8. 1. Many eminent writers, heathen as well as Christian, both in earlier and later ages, have employed their utmost labour and art in painting the beauty of virtue. And the same pains they have taken to describe, in the liveliest colours, the deformity of vice; both of vice in general, and of those particular vices which were most prevalent in their respective ages and countries. With equal care …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God
"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." 1 John 3:9. 1. It has been frequently supposed, that the being born of God was all one with the being justified; that the new birth and justification were only different expressions, denoting the same thing: It being certain, on the one hand, that whoever is justified is also born of God; and, on the other, that whoever is born of God is also justified; yea, that both these gifts of God are given to every believer in one and the same moment. In one …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Beatific vision
"Millions of years my wondering eyes Shall o'er thy beauties rove; And endless ages I'll adore The glories of thy love." We are rejoiced to find such a verse as this, for it tells us that our curiosity shall be satisfied, our desire consummated, our bliss perfected. "WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS." Heaven shall be ours, and all we ever dreamed of him shall be more than in our possession. By the help of God's mighty Spirit, who alone can put words in our mouths, let us speak first of all concerning the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

A Present Religion
It is astonishing how distance blunts the keen edge of anything that is disagreeable. War is at all times a most fearful scourge. The thought of slain bodies and of murdered men must always harrow up the soul; but because we hear of these things in the distance, there are few Englishmen who can truly enter into their horrors. If we should hear the booming of cannon on the deep which girdles this island; if we should see at our doors the marks of carnage and bloodshed; then should we more thoroughly …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

The Death of Christ for his People
"He laid down his life for us."--1 John 3:16. COME, believer and contemplate this sublime truth, thus proclaimed to thee in simple monosyllables: "He laid down his life for us." There is not one long word in the sentence; it is all as simple as it can be; and it is simple because it is sublime. Sublimity in thought always needs simplicity in words to express itself. Little thoughts require great words to explain them; little preachers need Latin words to convey their feeble ideas, but great thoughts …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 46: 1900

The Warrant of Faith
We sing, and sing rightly too-- "My soul, no more attempt to draw Thy life and comfort from the law," for from the law death cometh and not life, misery and not comfort. "To convince and to condemn is all the law can do." O, when will all professors, and especially all professed ministers of Christ, learn the difference between the law and the gospel? Most of them make a mingle-mangle, and serve out deadly potions to the people, often containing but one ounce of gospel to a pound of law, whereas, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 9: 1863

The Way of Life.
(Second Sunday after Trinity.) 1 JOHN iii. 14. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." The writings of S. John the Evangelist breathe forth love as a flower garden does sweetness. Here lies the secret of S. John's title, "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Love begets love, and the disciple was so near to the heart of his Master because he loved much. When the text was written he was a very old man, and Bishop of Ephesus. It was in that fair and famous …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

"But Ye have Received the Spirit of Adoption, Whereby we Cry, Abba, Father. "
Rom. viii. 15.--"But ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God," 1 John iii. 1. It is a wonderful expression of love to advance his own creatures, not only infinitely below himself, but far below other creatures, to such a dignity. Lord, what is man that thou so magnified him! But it surpasseth wonder, that rebellious creatures, his enemies, should have, not only …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Whereby we Cry, Abba, Father. "
Rom. viii. 15.--"Whereby we cry, Abba, Father." As there is a light of grace in bestowing such incomparably high dignities and excellent gifts on poor sinners, such as, to make them the sons of God who were the children of the devil, and heirs of a kingdom who were heirs of wrath; so there is a depth of wisdom in the Lord's allowance and manner of dispensing his love and grace in this life. For though the love be wonderful, that we should be called the sons of God; yet, as that apostle speaks, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"And for Sin Condemned Sin in the Flesh. "
Rom. viii. 3.--"And for sin condemned sin in the flesh." The great and wonderful actions of great and excellent persons must needs have some great ends answerable to them. Wisdom will teach them not to do strange things, but for some rare purposes, for it were a folly and madness to do great things to compass some small and petty end, as unsuitable as that a mountain should travail to bring forth a mouse. Truly we must conceive, that it must needs be some honourable and high business, that brought …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

What is Sanctification?
Scripturally, the word sanctification has three meanings: First, separation; second, dedication; third, spirit-filling. Webster's definition of it is as follows: "1. Sanctification is the act of God's grace by which the affections of man are purified, or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love of God; also, the state of being thus purified or sanctified. 2. The act of consecrating, or setting apart for a sacred purpose." "Sanctifier. One who sanctifies or makes holy; specifically, …
J. W. Byers—Sanctification

The Sinner Arraigned and Convicted.
1. Conviction of guilt necessary.--2. A charge of rebellion against God advanced.--3. Where it is shown--that all men are born under God's law.--4. That no man hath perfectly kept it.--5. An appeal to the reader's conscience on this head, that he hath not.--6. That to have broken it, is an evil inexpressibly great.--7. Illustrated by a more particular view of the aggravations of this guilt, arising--from knowledge.--8. From divine favors received.--9. From convictions of conscience overborne.--10. …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The Solidarity of the Human Family
Every man has worth and sacredness as a man. We fixed on that as the simplest and most fundamental social principle of Jesus. The second question is, What relation do men bear to each other? DAILY READINGS First Day: The Social Impulse and the Law of Christ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, trying him: Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

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