Fathers in Christ
Charles H. Spurgeon
1 John 2:13-14
Observe the difference in the two verses: John first says, "I write," and then, "I have written." When in two former discourses I preached upon the Beloved Apostle's address to the young men and the children, I gave you as full an interpretation of this difference as I could command, and I need not now repeat it. Certain additional thoughts occur to me, which I will give you, that the matter may be still clearer. The apostle John says, "I write," and by and by, "I have written"; this shows, I think, the importance of his subject. If he has already written upon it, he must think it to be a very necessary and valuable truth if he writes upon it yet again. A man does not discourse repeatedly upon the same subject if he be a man full of matter, as this inspired writer was, unless he feels that it is of necessity that he return again and again to his subject until he has impressed it upon the minds of his audience. Hence the apostle is not ashamed to say in effect-"I write this, though you need not remind me that I have written it before, for I feel it to be wise so long as I am in this tabernacle to put you in remembrance of what I have said to you." Nails which are important to a structure must be driven in with diligence. Foundation stones should be laid with scrupulous care; and truth, which is fundamental, should be repeated by the teacher until the disciple has learned it beyond all fear of ever forgetting it.
This form of speech also reveals the unchanging conviction of the writer, who, having written once, is glad to write the same things again. This shows a mind made up and decided, from which proceeds consistent testimony. In these fickle times certain of our public teachers must feel unable to say of any one subject, "I write," and "I have written" for before the ink is dry they have need to blot out what they have put upon paper, and to write an amended version of their religious ideas. Scarcely fo ...
Charles H. Spurgeon
1 John 2:13-14
Observe the difference in the two verses: John first says, "I write," and then, "I have written." When in two former discourses I preached upon the Beloved Apostle's address to the young men and the children, I gave you as full an interpretation of this difference as I could command, and I need not now repeat it. Certain additional thoughts occur to me, which I will give you, that the matter may be still clearer. The apostle John says, "I write," and by and by, "I have written"; this shows, I think, the importance of his subject. If he has already written upon it, he must think it to be a very necessary and valuable truth if he writes upon it yet again. A man does not discourse repeatedly upon the same subject if he be a man full of matter, as this inspired writer was, unless he feels that it is of necessity that he return again and again to his subject until he has impressed it upon the minds of his audience. Hence the apostle is not ashamed to say in effect-"I write this, though you need not remind me that I have written it before, for I feel it to be wise so long as I am in this tabernacle to put you in remembrance of what I have said to you." Nails which are important to a structure must be driven in with diligence. Foundation stones should be laid with scrupulous care; and truth, which is fundamental, should be repeated by the teacher until the disciple has learned it beyond all fear of ever forgetting it.
This form of speech also reveals the unchanging conviction of the writer, who, having written once, is glad to write the same things again. This shows a mind made up and decided, from which proceeds consistent testimony. In these fickle times certain of our public teachers must feel unable to say of any one subject, "I write," and "I have written" for before the ink is dry they have need to blot out what they have put upon paper, and to write an amended version of their religious ideas. Scarcely fo ...
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