As He

The Apostle John seems very fond of these two words. Six times in his first epistle he uses these two words. He uses them in trying to show the believer’s relation to the blessed Lord Jesus. The seventh verse of this first epistle reads like this: “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,” etc. The natural heart cries out, “How can this be, seeing He is the Son of God?” Yes, He was the second person of the glorious Trinity; but when He was baptized in Jordan the Holy Spirit came upon Him. You could not say He was not born of the Spirit, could you? Then why do you object when folks talk about the Holy Spirit coming in His fullness upon people who are converted? It is very plainly in the Word of God that believers should be filled with the Spirit, and walk as He dictates. Jesus walked from the moment of His baptism as the Spirit dictated.

The very next record of the acts of Jesus after He was baptized in Jordan was that he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. He was walking in the light of the Spirit. And you, dear friend, as a believer, have the privilege offered to you of walking by the light of the Holy Ghost. Oh, I am glad of that. It is the most comforting thing I can know as a believer. How wonderful it is when you have striven to walk as you have thought a Christian ought to walk and yet have failed, have worked at it to no avail, have struggled and yet gotten into darkness. Oh, what joy, I say, to find that the Holy Spirit offers to be the guide and to furnish the light for you to walk in, and the power to walk by!

The Holy Spirit can come in His fullness to dwell in you, and from within shed forth the light by which you are to walk. He throws light upon the devil and his tricks and his methods, and his presence and power. He, the Spirit, throws light upon your natural heart which is not subject to the law of God, on its pride, its stubbornness, and on the fact that your flesh is a real enemy to be reckoned with. He, the Spirit, throws light on the world and shows you its delusions and its snares. He, the Spirit, throws light on the Scriptures, and shows them forth to you, and shows forth God’s will concerning you and His plans for you. Jesus walked in this light fulfilling Scriptures at every step. He walked in the light as the Spirit gave it to Him. You may walk in the light as the Spirit gives it to you. Here then is the glory of the fellowship of walking in the light “AS HE.”

There is another “AS HE” in the sixth verse of the second chapter reading, “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.” You see the “AS HE” here does not boast of our own walking, but of His walking in us, for the walking as stated comes from the abiding. There is no walking “AS HE” unless there is the abiding, and if there is the abiding it will show itself, prove itself, by the walking. It is another stating of the truth Jesus Himself uttered about the vine and the branch. The sap that is in the vine will show up in fruit in the branch if the branch abides in the vine. Walking is the fruit of abiding, and the ABIDING COMFORTER is the sap that dictates the walk. It is yielding to Him that makes it possible for Him to regulate the walk.

“Once it was our working; His it hence shall be.
One I tried to use Him; now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted; now the Mighty One.
Once for self I labored; now for Him alone.”

Let us look at the next “AS HE” in the third chapter, and the second verse: “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.” Here are the three statements that cause our hearts to run over with joy.

“We shall see Him as He is.”
“We shall be like Him.”
“Now are we the sons of God.”

It will not be a vision that we will see. It will not be a picture of Him. It will not be the wonders of His creation, though all things were made by Him. It will not be in the body of flesh which He had in Galilee, but in His glorious body; we shall see Him; the King of kings and Lord of lords, Himself. He, the Blessed Lord Jesus, is going to appear, and we shall see Him “AS HE” is.

“Oft methinks I hear His footsteps, stealing down the paths of time;
And the future dark with shadows, brightens with the hope sublime.
Sound the soul-inspiring anthem, angel hosts your harps attune;
Earth’s long night is almost over, Christ is coming, coming soon.”