He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
He who loves his brother remains in the light, for the love of God dwells in his heart, and that light is Christ the light of the world, summed up in the great commandment of love. To have no cause for stumbling in him is to have a soul at peace and at rest with nothing within to make him fall, and to put nothing in the way of himself or another by conduct that trips or harms. He who hates his brother is in darkness even now and walks in darkness, blinded so that he does not know where he goes or at what he stumbles, and may lead both himself and others into error. That love is the meekness and lowliness of Christ dwelling in the heart, shown not in word only but in deed and in truth by tender compassion that does not shut mercy against a brother in need, making the believer a channel of light that blesses and heals souls. It is the fruit of Christ abiding within by the Holy Spirit, proving that one has passed from death to life and is a true child of the day, and it is kept by keeping God's commandments and walking even as Christ walked.
Light, Love, and Stumbling
To love one's brother is to abide in the light, because the love of God abides in the heart of the one who so loves. The light abided in is Christ, the light of the world, and that light is all contained in the great commandment of love, the new commandment to love one another as Christ loved, by which all men know true disciples. Such love is the practical expression of God's love toward human beings, and love for others marks belonging to God and living in the truth, while lovelessness denies the faith. It is the fruit of Christ abiding in the heart through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, making a living, true, unfailing union between Christ and His people resembling the union between the Father and the Son. As members of God's family in the royal family, those who abide in love bear the fruit of brotherly love, pledged to cultivate, cherish, and perpetuate Christian love and fellowship in spirit, words, and action, living and working for the proper representation of Christ to the world and showing by love, unity, nobility, and self-denial the divine credentials as true followers.
To have no occasion of stumbling in him means the soul is at peace and rest, with nothing in him to make him stumble, and with obedience to God's Word proving saving knowledge of the Saviour. It means the one who lives in this love does not become a cause of stumbling to himself or to another, ruling out conduct that trips or harms another. Living in the light therefore requires Christlike courtesy and forbearance even when there is disagreement, rather than pushing, ridiculing, misrepresenting, or condemning brethren. This love does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or glossing over mistakes, but speaking to the person directly and telling the truth meekly to help save him, not leaving him unaware of them.
To hate one's brother is to be in darkness even until now and to walk in darkness, blinded so as not to know where one goes or at what one stumbles. That hatred proves selfishness seen in words and works, shown by a hard spirit leading to hard speeches, evil thoughts, evil speaking, evil doings, and bitter words, and it proves one is not under the control of the Spirit of God. It leaves a person unable to see the way forward and can lead both that person and others into mistakes, so believers must deal faithfully with their own sins and settle matters with brethren not by charging guilt upon others but by confessing their own sins. Love for fellow believers is evidence of passing from death unto life and of being accepted in Christ, while hatred contradicts that evidence and those who cherish it must change.
Commandment Setting and Context
Brotherly love is the old commandment heard from the beginning, yet again a new commandment true in Christ and in believers because the darkness is past and the true light now shines. This new commandment that now shines is to be borne in mind. Saying one is in the light while hating his brother is being in darkness even until now, and hating his brother is walking in darkness blinded so as not to know where he goes.
Knowing God is proved by keeping His commandments, and claiming to know Him without keeping them is lying and without truth and false. Keeping His word perfects the love of God in the heart and proves being in Him, requiring walking even as Christ walked. Obedience to the law of God is the condition of salvation, and Christ did not abolish the law but died because it could not be abolished. Accepting the truth as it is in Christ Jesus means honoring God by keeping that law, since the law condemns iniquities and crooked practices, and crying away with the commandments of God repeats the Jewish cry of away with Christ. Loving and obeying God's word leads God's children to walk in the light without stumbling, following the principles God gives through His word and Spirit rather than the world's standards.
The verse belongs to little children whose sins are forgiven for His name's sake, who know the truth with no lie of the truth. They must let what was heard from the beginning abide in them so they continue in the Son and in the Father unto the promise of eternal life. They are to abide in Him to have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Loving the brother and abiding in the light is the simple truth received from Christ to be cherished, so there is no need to seek something new and strange from human lips or to be led astray by false science taught as truth.
The second chapter of 1 John holds plain truth of special importance for those living in the last days. It is to be read and studied together with the warning against leaving first love, as part of the instruction on Christian fellowship and love that is in perfect harmony with speaking the truth in love and growing up into Christ so the whole body is edified in love, and in harmony with walking in the light as God is in the light to have fellowship one with another. Presentation of beautiful theories will not suffice unless the love of Christ is in the heart, and loss of that love is loss of all things. It is to be read and followed so that the reader walks in the knowledge of the truth and becomes a partaker of the divine nature, keeping a clear understanding of what Jesus teaches and not crowding the mind with such a variety of things that the true meaning is lost.
Nature of Brotherly Love
The love spoken of is the meekness and lowliness of Christ abiding in the heart, making the person a channel of light that blesses others and heals and binds up souls. It follows the tender Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep, even to laying down life for the brethren. It is revealed not in word only but in deed and in truth, with tender compassion that does not shut up mercy from a brother in need. Where this love is missing the spirit is destitute of Christ, wounding and bruising God's heritage and inflicting fresh wounds like wolves. Claiming to be an object of the deep, broad, constant, untiring love of God requires having that same love abiding in the heart.
The love does not compromise with sin but proceeds from a heart that loves God supremely and neighbor as self. It proves the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness have shone into the heart and chambers of the mind. It exalts the truth before men in words and deeds, seeking what God expects rather than what is agreeable or profitable for selfish interests. It loses sight of self-pleasing, convenience and advantage for Jesus.
Love is the practical expression of God's love toward human beings. It is the fruit of Christ abiding in the heart through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, making a living, true, unfailing union between Christ and His people resembling the union between the Father and the Son. It is the new commandment to love one another as Christ loved, by which all men know true disciples. As members of God's family and children of God in the royal family, those who abide in love bear the fruit of brotherly love, pledged to cultivate, cherish, and perpetuate Christian love and fellowship in spirit, words, and action. They live and work for the proper representation of Christ to the world, showing by love, unity, nobility, and self-denial that they bear the divine credentials as true followers of the Saviour.
The love belongs to walking even as Christ walked, who was full of pity, tenderness and compassion. Charity out of a pure heart is what Christ values most in man, the fruit borne on the Christian tree. For Bible Christians this means having as great an interest for a brother workman as for self. Hearts are to be kept kind and tender to one another in the absorbing work of giving the bread of life to perishing souls, cultivating true Christian courtesy and training mind and heart by deeds of thoughtful kindness to have an unselfish interest in every fellow laborer.
Love for fellow believers is evidence of passing from death unto life and of being accepted in Christ, in the Beloved. He who loves not his brother abides in death, while the spirit and attitude shown to brethren reveals the spirit and attitude toward God, and the Lord tests by it whether one really loves Jesus. Those who are not branches of the divine root and partakers of the divine nature will not and cannot love those for whom Christ gave His life, and profession without love greatly dishonors Christ. Christlike love for brethren as precious souls for whom Christ died is necessary for faith unto life eternal, and to suppose otherwise is the greatest and most fatal deception. There is no such thing as a loveless Christian, for God is love. True conversion always manifests itself in the character of the converted one, and loving the brother and abiding in the light without cause of stumbling are characteristics that plainly mark those who have become members of the Lord's family, children of the day, with love for others as a mark of belonging to God and living in the truth and of knowing God and being in the light.
The verse requires love and tender respect for brethren in spirit, word and deportment, especially from those who teach. One who does not manifest it in spirit, word, and deportment is unfit to labor until the converting power of God teaches him. Being without stumbling means the soul is at peace and rest, and obedience to God's Word proves saving knowledge of the Saviour, for loving his brother proves a person abides in the light because the love of God abides in his heart.
Hatred, Darkness, and Blindness
Hatred of a brother proves selfishness seen in words and works. It shows itself in a hard spirit leading to hard speeches, evil thoughts, evil speaking, evil doings, and bitter words against others, even against those more righteous. It is also sharpness and critical and censorious dealing coming from a soul untrained to pity, which is darkness, while love for the brother keeps the soul in the light with nothing to cause stumbling.
This test applies to Seventh-day Adventist churches. Many who say they do not hate their brother do not understand their own hearts. When a brother's ideas conflict with theirs there come to the surface feelings that have no kinship with love, no disposition to harmonize with him, and a readiness to be at sword's point with him, though this is mistaken for zeal for God. That lack of love is fatal when the brother is bearing a message from God that is just the light needed for this time. Prejudice then bars mind and heart against truth, lets Satan stir the passions of professed believers to unite with evil and oppose the Lord's messenger, leads them step by step in bitterness on the same principles Satan adopted in his disaffection in heaven until they feel they can only go on, and gives the enemy power to present the most precious things in a distorted light so they indignantly refuse Christlike searching of the Scriptures.
Losing brotherly love and giving way to unkind criticism leads to walking in darkness. When Christians dwell on one another's faults, foster suspicion, and criticize unkindly, they lose sight of Christ's love, forget brotherly love, and shut the love of God out of their hearts. They lose joy and happiness and soon walk in darkness without noticing the spiritual loss.
Gathering up mistakes and reports against a brother to accuse him, injure his reputation, and stone him in self-defense is hatred and darkness, not love and light. It belongs to Satan as accuser of the brethren rather than to Christ enthroned in the heart as a child of the day. Love requires a forbearing, courteous, Christlike spirit at all times and under all circumstances, especially in those holding positions of responsibility who must be an example worthy of imitation. It therefore forbids crowding and pushing one another because others do not see just as we see, treating harshly one whose views are questioned, using office to justify a wrong course, exercising oppressive power over consciences and rights, thinking unkindly of brethren, and climbing upon the judgment seat to censure or condemn them.
Those who resist light and evidences and refuse the repeatedly proffered Holy Spirit walk as blind men, not knowing at what they stumble. They make crooked paths for their feet by which the lame are turned out of the way. Sharp, critical, censorious handling of sacred things causes the heavenly anointing to depart, while staying in the light means listening to God's call, receiving the Holy Spirit, cultivating love for heavenly things, and beholding Jesus until His likeness is reflected in cheerful grateful praise, with the soul trained to pity and living faith. The verse also condemns those who make a tirade against God's commandment-keeping people because they believe the Word just as it reads, whose own life condemns their course, for they wrest the Scriptures and misinterpret them to suit their own disobedience.
Continued prejudice, hatred, estrangement, and bitterness toward a brother are contrary to the teaching of the verse and must change. Loving one's brother is abiding and living in the light. Continued prejudice and hatred bring grief and harm.
Abiding in the Light Daily
Abiding in the light calls for most earnest individual work and constant growing in the Lord. It requires learning neglected lessons, refusing to let selfishness influence the experience and mar the character, and learning the hardest lesson of yielding self to Christ. Self has twisted human nature, so an entire transformation of character is necessary before entering the holy city to live the life that measures with the life of God, and without perfect self-surrender no one can see the kingdom of God. It means obeying the principles laid down in the seventh chapter of Matthew, being a true humble learner at the feet of Christ, beseeching Him to cleanse the heart from all defilement and rid the character of all deformity, and living a life that leads others to Him.
Abiding means not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking own sins, and setting the heart in order. This diligent work of repentance cleanses the soul from sin and makes ready for the Lord's appearing, because souls are in peril in the great day of atonement and there is not a moment to lose. Each person young or old must deal faithfully with himself and put away personal sins now rather than stumble in darkness and cause others to stumble into mistakes. Settling matters with brethren is done not by charging guilt upon others but by confessing one's own sins.
Living in the light is shown by treating brethren with Christlike courtesy, forbearance and respect even when there is disagreement. It rules out conduct that trips or harms another, such as pushing, ridiculing, misrepresenting or condemning them. It is applied to the pursuit of unity and resisting dissension, living and working for the proper representation of Christ to the world and showing by love, unity, nobility and self-denial the divine credentials as true followers. This requires a forbearing, courteous, Christlike spirit at all times and under all circumstances, especially in those holding positions of responsibility who must be an example worthy of imitation. It forbids crowding and pushing one another because others do not see just as we see, treating harshly one whose views are questioned, using office to justify a wrong course, exercising oppressive power over consciences and rights, thinking unkindly of brethren, and climbing upon the judgment seat to censure or condemn them.
This love does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or glossing over mistakes. Speak to the person directly and tell the truth meekly to help save him, not leaving him unaware of his mistakes. It cherishes the simple truth received from Christ, with no need to seek something new and strange from human lips or to be led astray by false science taught as truth.
Staying in the light means listening to God's call, receiving the Holy Spirit, cultivating love for heavenly things, and beholding Jesus until His likeness is reflected in cheerful grateful praise. The soul is thus trained to pity and living faith rather than sharp, critical, censorious handling that causes the heavenly anointing to depart and makes crooked paths by which the lame are turned out of the way. Resisting light and evidence leaves one walking as a blind man who does not know at what he stumbles. It calls for leaning only on God every day and hour whether skies are clear or storms come, since all who do not learn this will face disappointment.
Walking in the light means building on Christ Jesus as the prepared foundation so the house does not fall in the tempest of temptation. It means having the mind of Christ and living in Christ rather than by the counsel, advice or praise of those who know not God, living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God with self crucified so principles, thoughts and actions are according to God's words. Those whose names are on the church books but who are not joined to Christ, not transformed into His likeness, and not abiding in Him do not walk in this light but misrepresent Him in association and dealings with men. It means rising higher to stand on holier ground every year, separating from idols and every unclean thing, and worshiping God in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness. In marriage this love is shown by speaking and acting with confidence, avoiding thoughts that harm a spouse, and bringing brightness into life, for walking in the light is walking with Christ and living apart from suspicion and faultfinding.
The church as a whole will never receive the latter rain unless envy, evil surmising and evil speaking are put away. Those who have cherished hatred until it has become part of character must have a different experience to share in it.
He who loves his brother remains in the light, for the love of God dwells in his heart, and that light is Christ the light of the world, summed up in the great commandment of love. To have no cause for stumbling in him is to have a soul at peace and at rest with nothing within to make him fall, and to put nothing in the way of himself or another by conduct that trips or harms. He who hates his brother is in darkness even now and walks in darkness, blinded so that he does not know where he goes or at what he stumbles, and may lead both himself and others into error. That love is the meekness and lowliness of Christ dwelling in the heart, shown not in word only but in deed and in truth by tender compassion that does not shut mercy against a brother in need, making the believer a channel of light that blesses and heals souls. It is the fruit of Christ abiding within by the Holy Spirit, proving that one has passed from death to life and is a true child of the day, and it is kept by keeping God's commandments and walking even as Christ walked.
Light, Love, and Stumbling
To love one's brother is to abide in the light, because the love of God abides in the heart of the one who so loves. The light abided in is Christ, the light of the world, and that light is all contained in the great commandment of love, the new commandment to love one another as Christ loved, by which all men know true disciples. Such love is the practical expression of God's love toward human beings, and love for others marks belonging to God and living in the truth, while lovelessness denies the faith. It is the fruit of Christ abiding in the heart through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, making a living, true, unfailing union between Christ and His people resembling the union between the Father and the Son. As members of God's family in the royal family, those who abide in love bear the fruit of brotherly love, pledged to cultivate, cherish, and perpetuate Christian love and fellowship in spirit, words, and action, living and working for the proper representation of Christ to the world and showing by love, unity, nobility, and self-denial the divine credentials as true followers.
To have no occasion of stumbling in him means the soul is at peace and rest, with nothing in him to make him stumble, and with obedience to God's Word proving saving knowledge of the Saviour. It means the one who lives in this love does not become a cause of stumbling to himself or to another, ruling out conduct that trips or harms another. Living in the light therefore requires Christlike courtesy and forbearance even when there is disagreement, rather than pushing, ridiculing, misrepresenting, or condemning brethren. This love does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or glossing over mistakes, but speaking to the person directly and telling the truth meekly to help save him, not leaving him unaware of them.
To hate one's brother is to be in darkness even until now and to walk in darkness, blinded so as not to know where one goes or at what one stumbles. That hatred proves selfishness seen in words and works, shown by a hard spirit leading to hard speeches, evil thoughts, evil speaking, evil doings, and bitter words, and it proves one is not under the control of the Spirit of God. It leaves a person unable to see the way forward and can lead both that person and others into mistakes, so believers must deal faithfully with their own sins and settle matters with brethren not by charging guilt upon others but by confessing their own sins. Love for fellow believers is evidence of passing from death unto life and of being accepted in Christ, while hatred contradicts that evidence and those who cherish it must change.
Commandment Setting and Context
Brotherly love is the old commandment heard from the beginning, yet again a new commandment true in Christ and in believers because the darkness is past and the true light now shines. This new commandment that now shines is to be borne in mind. Saying one is in the light while hating his brother is being in darkness even until now, and hating his brother is walking in darkness blinded so as not to know where he goes.
Knowing God is proved by keeping His commandments, and claiming to know Him without keeping them is lying and without truth and false. Keeping His word perfects the love of God in the heart and proves being in Him, requiring walking even as Christ walked. Obedience to the law of God is the condition of salvation, and Christ did not abolish the law but died because it could not be abolished. Accepting the truth as it is in Christ Jesus means honoring God by keeping that law, since the law condemns iniquities and crooked practices, and crying away with the commandments of God repeats the Jewish cry of away with Christ. Loving and obeying God's word leads God's children to walk in the light without stumbling, following the principles God gives through His word and Spirit rather than the world's standards.
The verse belongs to little children whose sins are forgiven for His name's sake, who know the truth with no lie of the truth. They must let what was heard from the beginning abide in them so they continue in the Son and in the Father unto the promise of eternal life. They are to abide in Him to have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Loving the brother and abiding in the light is the simple truth received from Christ to be cherished, so there is no need to seek something new and strange from human lips or to be led astray by false science taught as truth.
The second chapter of 1 John holds plain truth of special importance for those living in the last days. It is to be read and studied together with the warning against leaving first love, as part of the instruction on Christian fellowship and love that is in perfect harmony with speaking the truth in love and growing up into Christ so the whole body is edified in love, and in harmony with walking in the light as God is in the light to have fellowship one with another. Presentation of beautiful theories will not suffice unless the love of Christ is in the heart, and loss of that love is loss of all things. It is to be read and followed so that the reader walks in the knowledge of the truth and becomes a partaker of the divine nature, keeping a clear understanding of what Jesus teaches and not crowding the mind with such a variety of things that the true meaning is lost.
Nature of Brotherly Love
The love spoken of is the meekness and lowliness of Christ abiding in the heart, making the person a channel of light that blesses others and heals and binds up souls. It follows the tender Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep, even to laying down life for the brethren. It is revealed not in word only but in deed and in truth, with tender compassion that does not shut up mercy from a brother in need. Where this love is missing the spirit is destitute of Christ, wounding and bruising God's heritage and inflicting fresh wounds like wolves. Claiming to be an object of the deep, broad, constant, untiring love of God requires having that same love abiding in the heart.
The love does not compromise with sin but proceeds from a heart that loves God supremely and neighbor as self. It proves the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness have shone into the heart and chambers of the mind. It exalts the truth before men in words and deeds, seeking what God expects rather than what is agreeable or profitable for selfish interests. It loses sight of self-pleasing, convenience and advantage for Jesus.
Love is the practical expression of God's love toward human beings. It is the fruit of Christ abiding in the heart through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, making a living, true, unfailing union between Christ and His people resembling the union between the Father and the Son. It is the new commandment to love one another as Christ loved, by which all men know true disciples. As members of God's family and children of God in the royal family, those who abide in love bear the fruit of brotherly love, pledged to cultivate, cherish, and perpetuate Christian love and fellowship in spirit, words, and action. They live and work for the proper representation of Christ to the world, showing by love, unity, nobility, and self-denial that they bear the divine credentials as true followers of the Saviour.
The love belongs to walking even as Christ walked, who was full of pity, tenderness and compassion. Charity out of a pure heart is what Christ values most in man, the fruit borne on the Christian tree. For Bible Christians this means having as great an interest for a brother workman as for self. Hearts are to be kept kind and tender to one another in the absorbing work of giving the bread of life to perishing souls, cultivating true Christian courtesy and training mind and heart by deeds of thoughtful kindness to have an unselfish interest in every fellow laborer.
Love for fellow believers is evidence of passing from death unto life and of being accepted in Christ, in the Beloved. He who loves not his brother abides in death, while the spirit and attitude shown to brethren reveals the spirit and attitude toward God, and the Lord tests by it whether one really loves Jesus. Those who are not branches of the divine root and partakers of the divine nature will not and cannot love those for whom Christ gave His life, and profession without love greatly dishonors Christ. Christlike love for brethren as precious souls for whom Christ died is necessary for faith unto life eternal, and to suppose otherwise is the greatest and most fatal deception. There is no such thing as a loveless Christian, for God is love. True conversion always manifests itself in the character of the converted one, and loving the brother and abiding in the light without cause of stumbling are characteristics that plainly mark those who have become members of the Lord's family, children of the day, with love for others as a mark of belonging to God and living in the truth and of knowing God and being in the light.
The verse requires love and tender respect for brethren in spirit, word and deportment, especially from those who teach. One who does not manifest it in spirit, word, and deportment is unfit to labor until the converting power of God teaches him. Being without stumbling means the soul is at peace and rest, and obedience to God's Word proves saving knowledge of the Saviour, for loving his brother proves a person abides in the light because the love of God abides in his heart.
Hatred, Darkness, and Blindness
Hatred of a brother proves selfishness seen in words and works. It shows itself in a hard spirit leading to hard speeches, evil thoughts, evil speaking, evil doings, and bitter words against others, even against those more righteous. It is also sharpness and critical and censorious dealing coming from a soul untrained to pity, which is darkness, while love for the brother keeps the soul in the light with nothing to cause stumbling.
This test applies to Seventh-day Adventist churches. Many who say they do not hate their brother do not understand their own hearts. When a brother's ideas conflict with theirs there come to the surface feelings that have no kinship with love, no disposition to harmonize with him, and a readiness to be at sword's point with him, though this is mistaken for zeal for God. That lack of love is fatal when the brother is bearing a message from God that is just the light needed for this time. Prejudice then bars mind and heart against truth, lets Satan stir the passions of professed believers to unite with evil and oppose the Lord's messenger, leads them step by step in bitterness on the same principles Satan adopted in his disaffection in heaven until they feel they can only go on, and gives the enemy power to present the most precious things in a distorted light so they indignantly refuse Christlike searching of the Scriptures.
Losing brotherly love and giving way to unkind criticism leads to walking in darkness. When Christians dwell on one another's faults, foster suspicion, and criticize unkindly, they lose sight of Christ's love, forget brotherly love, and shut the love of God out of their hearts. They lose joy and happiness and soon walk in darkness without noticing the spiritual loss.
Gathering up mistakes and reports against a brother to accuse him, injure his reputation, and stone him in self-defense is hatred and darkness, not love and light. It belongs to Satan as accuser of the brethren rather than to Christ enthroned in the heart as a child of the day. Love requires a forbearing, courteous, Christlike spirit at all times and under all circumstances, especially in those holding positions of responsibility who must be an example worthy of imitation. It therefore forbids crowding and pushing one another because others do not see just as we see, treating harshly one whose views are questioned, using office to justify a wrong course, exercising oppressive power over consciences and rights, thinking unkindly of brethren, and climbing upon the judgment seat to censure or condemn them.
Those who resist light and evidences and refuse the repeatedly proffered Holy Spirit walk as blind men, not knowing at what they stumble. They make crooked paths for their feet by which the lame are turned out of the way. Sharp, critical, censorious handling of sacred things causes the heavenly anointing to depart, while staying in the light means listening to God's call, receiving the Holy Spirit, cultivating love for heavenly things, and beholding Jesus until His likeness is reflected in cheerful grateful praise, with the soul trained to pity and living faith. The verse also condemns those who make a tirade against God's commandment-keeping people because they believe the Word just as it reads, whose own life condemns their course, for they wrest the Scriptures and misinterpret them to suit their own disobedience.
Continued prejudice, hatred, estrangement, and bitterness toward a brother are contrary to the teaching of the verse and must change. Loving one's brother is abiding and living in the light. Continued prejudice and hatred bring grief and harm.
Abiding in the Light Daily
Abiding in the light calls for most earnest individual work and constant growing in the Lord. It requires learning neglected lessons, refusing to let selfishness influence the experience and mar the character, and learning the hardest lesson of yielding self to Christ. Self has twisted human nature, so an entire transformation of character is necessary before entering the holy city to live the life that measures with the life of God, and without perfect self-surrender no one can see the kingdom of God. It means obeying the principles laid down in the seventh chapter of Matthew, being a true humble learner at the feet of Christ, beseeching Him to cleanse the heart from all defilement and rid the character of all deformity, and living a life that leads others to Him.
Abiding means not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking own sins, and setting the heart in order. This diligent work of repentance cleanses the soul from sin and makes ready for the Lord's appearing, because souls are in peril in the great day of atonement and there is not a moment to lose. Each person young or old must deal faithfully with himself and put away personal sins now rather than stumble in darkness and cause others to stumble into mistakes. Settling matters with brethren is done not by charging guilt upon others but by confessing one's own sins.
Living in the light is shown by treating brethren with Christlike courtesy, forbearance and respect even when there is disagreement. It rules out conduct that trips or harms another, such as pushing, ridiculing, misrepresenting or condemning them. It is applied to the pursuit of unity and resisting dissension, living and working for the proper representation of Christ to the world and showing by love, unity, nobility and self-denial the divine credentials as true followers. This requires a forbearing, courteous, Christlike spirit at all times and under all circumstances, especially in those holding positions of responsibility who must be an example worthy of imitation. It forbids crowding and pushing one another because others do not see just as we see, treating harshly one whose views are questioned, using office to justify a wrong course, exercising oppressive power over consciences and rights, thinking unkindly of brethren, and climbing upon the judgment seat to censure or condemn them.
This love does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or glossing over mistakes. Speak to the person directly and tell the truth meekly to help save him, not leaving him unaware of his mistakes. It cherishes the simple truth received from Christ, with no need to seek something new and strange from human lips or to be led astray by false science taught as truth.
Staying in the light means listening to God's call, receiving the Holy Spirit, cultivating love for heavenly things, and beholding Jesus until His likeness is reflected in cheerful grateful praise. The soul is thus trained to pity and living faith rather than sharp, critical, censorious handling that causes the heavenly anointing to depart and makes crooked paths by which the lame are turned out of the way. Resisting light and evidence leaves one walking as a blind man who does not know at what he stumbles. It calls for leaning only on God every day and hour whether skies are clear or storms come, since all who do not learn this will face disappointment.
Walking in the light means building on Christ Jesus as the prepared foundation so the house does not fall in the tempest of temptation. It means having the mind of Christ and living in Christ rather than by the counsel, advice or praise of those who know not God, living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God with self crucified so principles, thoughts and actions are according to God's words. Those whose names are on the church books but who are not joined to Christ, not transformed into His likeness, and not abiding in Him do not walk in this light but misrepresent Him in association and dealings with men. It means rising higher to stand on holier ground every year, separating from idols and every unclean thing, and worshiping God in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness. In marriage this love is shown by speaking and acting with confidence, avoiding thoughts that harm a spouse, and bringing brightness into life, for walking in the light is walking with Christ and living apart from suspicion and faultfinding.
The church as a whole will never receive the latter rain unless envy, evil surmising and evil speaking are put away. Those who have cherished hatred until it has become part of character must have a different experience to share in it.