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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First John V].</TITLE>
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"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
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<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC62004.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T J O H N.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. V.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter the apostle asserts,
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I. The dignity of believers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:1">ver. 1</A>.
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II. Their obligation to love, and the trial of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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III. Their victory,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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IV. The credibility and confirmation of their faith,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6-10">ver. 6-10</A>.
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V. The advantage of their faith in eternal life,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:11-13">ver. 11-13</A>.
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VI. The audience of their prayers, unless for those who have sinned
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unto death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:14-17">ver. 14-17</A>.
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VII. The preservation from sin and Satan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:18">ver. 18</A>.
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VIII. Their happy distinction from the world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:19">ver. 19</A>.
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IX. Their true knowledge of God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:20">ver. 20</A>),
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upon which they must depart from idols,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:21">ver. 21</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Love and Faith.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God:
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and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is
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begotten of him.
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2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we
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love God, and keep his commandments.
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3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments:
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and his commandments are not grievous.
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4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this
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is the victory that overcometh the world, <I>even</I> our faith.
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5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth
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that Jesus is the Son of God?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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I. The apostle having, in the conclusion of the last chapter, as was
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there observed, urged Christian love upon those two accounts, as
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suitable to Christian profession and as suitable to the divine command,
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here adds a third: Such love is suitable, and indeed demanded, by their
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eminent relation; our Christian brethren or fellow-believers are nearly
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related to God; they are his children: <I>Whosoever believeth that
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Jesus is the Christ is born of God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Here the Christian brother is,
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1. Described by his faith; he that <I>believeth that Jesus is the
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Christ</I>--that he is Messiah the prince, that he is the Son of God by
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nature and office, that he is the chief of all the anointed world,
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chief of all the priests, prophets, or kings, who were ever anointed by
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God or for him, that he is perfectly prepared and furnished for the
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whole work of the eternal salvation-accordingly yields himself up to
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his care and direction; and then he is,
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2. Dignified by his descent: <I>He is born of God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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This principle of faith, and the new nature that attends it or from
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which it springs, are ingenerated by the Spirit of God; and so sonship
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and adoption are not now appropriated <I>to the seed of Abraham
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according to the flesh,</I> not to the ancient Israel of God; all
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believers, though by nature sinners of the Gentiles, are spiritually
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descended from God, and accordingly are to be beloved; as it is added:
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<I>Every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is
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begotten of him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It seems but natural that he who loves the Father should love the
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children also, and that in some proportion to their resemblance to
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their Father and to the Father's love to them; and so we must first and
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principally love <I>the Son of the Father,</I> as he is most
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emphatically styled,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Jo+1:3">2 John 3</A>,
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<I>the only</I> (necessarily) <I>begotten,</I> and <I>the Son of his
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love,</I> and then those that are voluntarily begotten, and <I>renewed
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by the Spirit of grace.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. The apostle shows,
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1. How we may discern the truth, or the true evangelical nature of our
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love to the regenerate. The ground of it must be our love to God, whose
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they are: <I>By this we know that we love the children of God, when we
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love God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Our love to them appears to be sound and genuine when we love them not
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merely upon any secular account, as because they are rich, or learned,
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or kind to us, or of our denomination among religious parties; but
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because they are God's children, his regenerating grace appears in
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them, his image and superscription are upon them, and so in them God
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himself is loved. Thus we see what that love to the brethren is that is
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so pressed in this epistle; it is love to them as the children of God
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and the adopted brethren of the Lord Jesus.
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2. How we may learn the truth of our love to God--it appears in our
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holy obedience: <I>When we love God, and keep his commandments,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Then we truly, and in gospel account, love God, when we keep his
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commandments: <I>For this is the love of God, that we keep his
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commandments;</I> and the keeping of his commandments requires a spirit
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inclined thereto and delighting herein; <I>and so his commandments are
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not grievous,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Or, <I>This is the love of God, that,</I> as thereby we are determined
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to obedience, and to keep the commandments of God, so his commandments
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are thereby made easy and pleasant to us. The lover of God says, "<I>O
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how I love thy law! I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou
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shalt enlarge my heart</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:32">Ps. cxix. 32</A>),
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when thou shalt enlarge it either with love or with thy Spirit, the
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spring of love."
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3. What is and ought to be the result and effect of regeneration--an
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intellectual spiritual conquest of this world: <I>For</I> whatsoever
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<I>is born of God,</I> or, as in some copies, whosoever <I>is born of
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God, overcometh the world,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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He that is born of God is born <I>for</I> God, and consequently for
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another world. He has a temper and disposition that tend to a higher
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and better world; and he is furnished with such arms, or such a weapon,
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whereby he can repel and conquer this; as it is added, <I>And this is
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the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Faith is the cause of victory, the means, the instrument, the spiritual
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armour and artillery by which we overcome; for,
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(1.) In and by faith we cleave to Christ, in contempt of, and
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opposition to, the world.
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(2.) Faith works in and by love to God and Christ, and so withdraws us
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from the love of the world.
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(3.) Faith sanctifies the heart, and purifies it from those sensual
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lusts by which the world obtains such sway and dominion over souls.
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(4.) It receives and derives strength from the object of it, the Son of
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God, for conquering the frowns and flatteries of the world.
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(5.) It obtains by gospel promise a right to the indwelling Spirit of
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grace, that is greater than he who dwells in the world.
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(6.) It sees an invisible world at hand, with which this world is not
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worthy to be compared, and into which it tells the soul in which it
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resides it must be continually prepared to enter; and thereupon,</P>
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<P>
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III. The apostle concludes that it is the real Christian that is the
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true conqueror of the world: <I>Who is he</I> then <I>that overcometh
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the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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It is the world that lies in our way to heaven, and is the great
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impediment to our entrance there. But he who believes that Jesus is the
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Son of God believes therein that Jesus Came from God to be the Saviour
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of the world, and powerfully to conduct us from the world to heaven,
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and to God, who is fully to be enjoyed there. And he who so believes
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must needs by this faith overcome the world. For,
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1. He must be well satisfied that this world is a vehement enemy to his
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soul, to his holiness, his salvation, and his blessedness. <I>For all
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that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
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the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:16"><I>ch.</I> ii. 16</A>.
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2. He sees it must be a great part of the Saviour's work, and of his
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own salvation, to be redeemed and rescued from this malignant world.
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<I>Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this
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present evil world,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+1:4">Gal. i. 4</A>.
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3. He sees in and by the life and conduct of the Lord Jesus on earth
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that this world is to be renounced and overcome.
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4. He perceives that the Lord Jesus conquered the world, not for
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himself only, but for his followers; and they must study to be
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partakers of his victory. <I>Be of good cheer, I have overcome the
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world.</I>
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5. He is taught and influenced by the Lord Jesus's death to be
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mortified and crucified to the world. <I>God forbid that I should
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glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
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crucified to me, and I unto the world,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+6:14">Gal. vi. 14</A>.
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6. He is begotten by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to
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the lively hope of a blessed world above,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:3">1 Pet. i. 3</A>.
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7. He knows that the Saviour has gone to heaven, and is there preparing
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a place for his serious believers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:2">John xiv. 2</A>.
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8. He knows that his Saviour will come again thence, and will put an
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end to this world, and judge the inhabitants of it, and receive his
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believers to his presence and glory,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:3">John xiv. 3</A>.
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9. He is possessed with a spirit and disposition that cannot be
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satisfied with this world, that look beyond it, and are still tending,
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striving, and pressing, towards the world in heaven. <I>In this we
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groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
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from heaven,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:2">2 Cor. v. 2</A>.
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So that it is the Christian religion that affords its proselytes a
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universal empire. It is the Christian revelation that is the great
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means of conquering the world, and gaining another that is most pure
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and peaceful, blessed and eternal. It is there, in that revelation,
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that we see what are the occasion and ground of the quarrel and contest
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between the holy God and this rebellious world. It is there that we
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meet with sacred doctrine (both speculative and practical), quite
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contrary to the tenour, temper, and tendency of this world. It is by
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that doctrine that a spirit is communicated and diffused which is
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superior and adverse to the spirit of the world. It is there we see
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that the Saviour himself was not of this world that his kingdom was not
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and is not so, that it must be separated from the world and gathered
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out of it for heaven and for God. There we see that the Saviour designs
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not this world for the inheritance and portion of his saved company. As
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he has gone to heaven himself, so he assures them he goes to prepare
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for their residence there, as designing they should always dwell with
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him, and allowing them to believe that if in this life, and this world
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only, they had hope in him, they should at last be but miserable. It is
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there that the eternal blessed world is most clearly revealed and
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proposed to our affection and pursuit. It is there that we are
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furnished with the best arms and artillery against the assaults and
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attempts of the world. It is there that we are taught how the world may
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be out-shot in its own bow, or its artillery turned against itself; and
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its oppositions, encounters, and persecutions, be made serviceable to
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our conquest of the world, and to our motion and ascent to the higher
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heavenly world: and there we are encouraged by a whole army and cloud
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of holy soldiers, who have in their several ages, posts, and stations,
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overcome the world, and won the crown. It is the real Christian that is
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the proper hero, who vanquishes the world and rejoices in a universal
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victory. Nor does he (for he is far superior to the Grecian monarch)
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mourn that there is not another world to be subdued, but lays hold on
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the eternal world of life, and in a sacred sense takes the kingdom of
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heaven by violence too. Who in all the world but the believer on Jesus
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Christ can thus overcome the world?</P>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Jo5_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
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|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
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|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Witnesses in Heaven and on Earth.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
|
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|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>6 This is he that came by water and blood, <I>even</I> Jesus Christ;
|
||
|
not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit
|
||
|
that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
|
||
|
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
|
||
|
the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
|
||
|
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit,
|
||
|
and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
|
||
|
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is
|
||
|
greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified
|
||
|
of his Son.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
The faith of the Christian believer (or the believer in Christ) being
|
||
|
thus mighty and victorious, it had need to be well founded, to be
|
||
|
furnished with unquestionable celestial evidence concerning the divine
|
||
|
mission, authority, and office of the Lord Jesus; and it is so; he
|
||
|
brings his credentials along with him, and he brings them in a way by
|
||
|
which he came and in the witness that attends him.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. In the way and manner by which he came; not barely by which he came
|
||
|
into the world, but by and with which he came, and appeared, and acted,
|
||
|
as a Saviour in the world: <I>This is he that came by water and
|
||
|
blood.</I> He came to save us from our sins, to give us eternal life,
|
||
|
and bring us to God; and, that he might the more assuredly do this,
|
||
|
<I>he came by,</I> or with, <I>water and blood. Even Jesus Christ;</I>
|
||
|
Jesus Christ, I say, did so; and none but he. And I say it again, not
|
||
|
by or with <I>water only, but by</I> and with <I>water and blood,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Jesus Christ came with water and blood,</I> as the notes and
|
||
|
signatures of the true effectual Saviour of the world; and he came by
|
||
|
water and blood as the means by which he would heal and save us. That
|
||
|
he must and did thus come in his saving office may appear by our
|
||
|
remembering these things:--</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. We are inwardly and outwardly defiled.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) Inwardly, by the power and pollution off sin and in our nature.
|
||
|
For our cleansing from this we need spiritual water; such as can reach
|
||
|
the soul and the powers of it. Accordingly, there is in and by Christ
|
||
|
Jesus <I>the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
|
||
|
Ghost.</I> And this was intimated to the apostles by our Lord, when he
|
||
|
washed their feet, and said to Peter, who refused to be washed,
|
||
|
<I>Except I wash thee, thou hast no part in me.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) We are defiled outwardly, by the guilt and condemning power of sin
|
||
|
upon our persons. By this we are separated from God, and banished from
|
||
|
his favourable, gracious, beatific presence for ever. From this we must
|
||
|
be purged by atoning blood. It is the law or determination in the court
|
||
|
of heaven <I>that without shedding of blood there shall be no
|
||
|
remission,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:22">Heb. ix. 22</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Saviour from sin therefore must come with blood.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. Both these ways of cleansing were represented in the old ceremonial
|
||
|
institutions of God. Persons and things must be purified by water and
|
||
|
blood. <I>There were divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed till
|
||
|
the time of reformation,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:10">Heb. ix. 10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>The ashes of a heifer,</I> mixed with water, <I>sprinkling the
|
||
|
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:13,Nu+19:9">Heb. ix. 13; Num. xix. 9</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>And likewise almost all things are, by the law, purged with
|
||
|
blood,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:22">Heb. ix. 22</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
As those show us our double defilement, so they indicate the Saviour's
|
||
|
two-fold purgation.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. At and upon the death of Jesus Christ, his side being pierced with a
|
||
|
soldier's spear, out of the wound there immediately issued water and
|
||
|
blood. This the beloved apostle saw, and he seems to have been affected
|
||
|
with the sight; he alone records it, and seems to reckon himself
|
||
|
obliged to record it, and seems to reckon himself obliged to record it,
|
||
|
as containing something mysterious in it: <I>And he that saw it bore
|
||
|
record, and his record is true. And he knoweth,</I> being an
|
||
|
eye-witness, <I>that he saith true, that you might believe,</I> and
|
||
|
that you might believe this particularly, that out of his pierced side
|
||
|
<I>forthwith there came water and blood,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+19:34,35">John xix. 34, 35</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now this water and blood are comprehensive of all that is necessary and
|
||
|
effectual to our salvation. By the water our souls are washed and
|
||
|
purified for heaven and the region of saints in light. By the blood God
|
||
|
is glorified, his law is honoured, and his vindictive excellences are
|
||
|
illustrated and displayed. <I>Whom God hath set forth,</I> or purposed,
|
||
|
or proposed, <I>a propitiation through faith in his blood,</I> or a
|
||
|
propitiation in or by his blood through faith, <I>to declare his
|
||
|
righteousness, that he may be just, and the justifier of him that
|
||
|
believeth in Jesus,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:25,26">Rom. iii. 25, 26</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
By the blood we are justified, reconciled, and presented righteous to
|
||
|
God. By the blood, the curse of the law being satisfied, and purifying
|
||
|
Spirit is obtained for the internal ablution of our natures. <I>Christ
|
||
|
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, that the blessing of
|
||
|
Abraham might come on the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise
|
||
|
of the Spirit,</I> the promised Spirit, <I>through faith,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:13">Gal. iii. 13</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
&c. The water, as well as the blood, issued out of the side of the
|
||
|
sacrificed Redeemer. The water and the blood then comprehend all
|
||
|
things that can be requisite to our salvation. They will consecrate and
|
||
|
sanctify to that purpose all that God shall appoint or make use of in
|
||
|
order to that great end. <I>He loved the church, and gave himself for
|
||
|
it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
|
||
|
the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+5:25-27">Eph. v. 25-27</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He who comes by water and blood is an accurate perfect Saviour. And
|
||
|
this is he who comes by water and blood, even Jesus Christ! Thus we see
|
||
|
in what way and manner, or, if you please, with what utensils, he
|
||
|
comes. But we see his credentials also,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. In the witness that attends him, and that is, the divine Spirit,
|
||
|
that Spirit to whom the perfecting of the works of God is usually
|
||
|
attributed: <I>And it is the Spirit that beareth witness,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It was meet that the commissioned Saviour of the world should have a
|
||
|
constant agent to support his work, and testify of him to the world. It
|
||
|
was meet that a divine power should attend him, his gospel, and
|
||
|
servants; and notify to the world upon what errand and office they
|
||
|
came, and by what authority they were sent: this was done in and by the
|
||
|
Spirit of God, according to the Saviour's own prediction, "<I>He shall
|
||
|
glorify me,</I> even when I shall be rejected and crucified by men,
|
||
|
<I>for he shall receive</I> or take <I>of mine.</I> He shall not
|
||
|
receive my immediate office; he shall not die and rise again for you;
|
||
|
<I>but he shall receive of mine,</I> shall proceed on the foundation I
|
||
|
have laid, shall take up my institution, and truth, and cause, <I>and
|
||
|
shall</I> further <I>show it unto you,</I> and by you to the world,"
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+16:14">John xvi. 14</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And then the apostle adds the commendation or the acceptableness of
|
||
|
this witness: <I>Because the Spirit is truth,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He is the Spirit of God, and cannot lie. There is a copy that would
|
||
|
afford us a very suitable reading thus: <I>because,</I> or that,
|
||
|
<I>Christ is the truth.</I> And so it indicates the matter of the
|
||
|
Spirit's testimony, the thing which he attests, and that is, the truth
|
||
|
of Christ: <I>And it is the Spirit that beareth witness that Christ is
|
||
|
the truth;</I> and consequently that Christianity, or the Christian
|
||
|
religion, is the truth of the day, the truth of God. But it is meet
|
||
|
that one or two copies should alter the text; and our present reading
|
||
|
is very agreeable, and so we retain it. <I>The Spirit is truth.</I> He
|
||
|
is indeed the Spirit of truth,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:17">John xiv. 17</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And that the Spirit is truth, and a witness worthy of all acceptation,
|
||
|
appears in that he is a heavenly witness, or one of the witnesses that
|
||
|
in and from heaven bore testimony concerning the truth and authority of
|
||
|
Christ. <I>Because</I> (or for) <I>there are three that bear record in
|
||
|
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are
|
||
|
one.</I> And so
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
most appositely occurs, as a proof of the authenticity of the Spirit's
|
||
|
testimony; he must needs be true, or even truth itself, if he be not
|
||
|
only a witness in heaven, but <I>even one</I> (not in testimony only,
|
||
|
for so an angel may be, but in being and essence) <I>with the Father
|
||
|
and the Word.</I> But here,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. We are stopped in our course by the contest there is about the
|
||
|
genuineness of
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is alleged that many old Greek manuscripts have it not. We shall not
|
||
|
here enter into the controversy. It should seem that the critics are
|
||
|
not agreed what manuscripts have it and what not; nor do they
|
||
|
sufficiently inform us of the integrity and value of the manuscripts
|
||
|
they peruse. Some may be so faulty, as I have an old printed Greek
|
||
|
Testament so full of <I>errata,</I> that one would think no critic
|
||
|
would establish a various lection thereupon. But let the judicious
|
||
|
collators of copies manage that business. There are some rational
|
||
|
surmises that seem to support the present text and reading. As,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) If we admit
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
in the room of
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
it looks too like a tautology and repetition of what was included in
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>This is he that came by water and blood, not by water only, but by
|
||
|
water and blood; and it is the Spirit that beareth witness. For there
|
||
|
are three that bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood.</I>
|
||
|
This does not assign near so noble an introduction of these three
|
||
|
witnesses as our present reading does.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) It is observed that many copies read that distinctive clause,
|
||
|
<I>upon the earth: There are three that bear record upon the earth.</I>
|
||
|
Now this bears a visible opposition to some witness or witnesses
|
||
|
elsewhere, and therefore we are told, by the adversaries of the text,
|
||
|
that this clause must be supposed to be omitted in most books that want
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But it should for the same reason be so in all. Take we
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>This is he that came by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that
|
||
|
beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.</I> It would not now
|
||
|
naturally and properly be added, <I>For there are three that bear
|
||
|
record on earth,</I> unless we should suppose that the apostle would
|
||
|
tell us that all the witnesses are such as are on earth, when yet he
|
||
|
would assure us that one is infallibly true, or even truth itself.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(3.) It is observed that there is a variety of reading even in the
|
||
|
Greek text, as in
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Some copies read <B><I>hen eisi</I></B>--<I>are one;</I> others (at
|
||
|
least the <I>Complutensian</I>) <B><I>eis to hen eisin</I></B>--<I>are
|
||
|
to one,</I> or <I>agree in one;</I> and in
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(in that part that it is supposed should be admitted), instead of the
|
||
|
common <B><I>en te ge</I></B>--<I>in earth, the Complutensian</I> reads
|
||
|
<B><I>epi tes ges</I></B>--<I>upon earth,</I> which seems to show that
|
||
|
that edition depended upon some Greek authority, and not merely, as
|
||
|
some would have us believe, upon the authority either of the vulgar
|
||
|
Latin or of <I>Thomas Aquinas,</I> though his testimony may be added
|
||
|
thereto.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(4.) The
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7">seventh verse</A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
is very agreeable to the style and the theology of our apostle; as,
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] He delights in the title <I>the Father,</I> whether he indicates
|
||
|
thereby God only, or a divine person distinguished from the Son. I
|
||
|
<I>and</I> the Father <I>are one. And Yet I am not alone; because</I>
|
||
|
the Father <I>is with me. I will pray</I> the Father, <I>and he shall
|
||
|
give you another comforter. If any man love the world, the love of</I>
|
||
|
the Father <I>is not in him. Grace be with you, and peace from God</I>
|
||
|
the Father, <I>and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of</I> the
|
||
|
Father,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Jo+1:3">
|
||
|
2 John 3</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Then,
|
||
|
|
||
|
[2.] The name <I>the Word</I> is known to be almost (if not quite)
|
||
|
peculiar to this apostle. Had the text been devised by another, it had
|
||
|
been more easy and obvious, from the form of baptism, and the common
|
||
|
language of the church, to have used the name <I>Son</I> instead of
|
||
|
that of the <I>Word.</I> As it is observed that Tertullian and Cyprian
|
||
|
use that name, even when they refer to this verse; or it is made an
|
||
|
objection against their referring to this verse, because they speak of
|
||
|
the Son, not the Word; and yet Cyprian's expression seems to be very
|
||
|
clear by the citation of Facundus himself. <I>Quod Johannis apostoli
|
||
|
testimonium beatus Cyprianus, Carthaginensis antistes et martyr, in
|
||
|
epistolâ sive libro, quem de Trinitate scripsit, de Patre, Filio,
|
||
|
et Spiritu sancto dictum intelligit; ait enim, Dicit Dominus, Ego et
|
||
|
Pater unum sumus; et iterum de Patre, Filio, et Spiritu sancto scriptum
|
||
|
est, Et hi tres unum sunt.--Blessed Cyprian, the Carthaginian bishop
|
||
|
and martyr, in the epistle or book he wrote concerning the Trinity,
|
||
|
considered the testimony of the apostle John as relating to the Father,
|
||
|
the Son, and Holy Spirit; for he says, the Lord says, I and the Father
|
||
|
are one; and again, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit it is
|
||
|
written, And these three are one.</I> Now it is nowhere written that
|
||
|
these are one, but in
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is probable than that St. Cyprian, either depending on his memory,
|
||
|
or rather intending things more than words, persons more than names, or
|
||
|
calling persons by their names more usual in the church (both in
|
||
|
popular and polemic discourses), called the second by the name of the
|
||
|
<I>Son</I> rather than of the <I>Word.</I> If any man can admit
|
||
|
Facundus's fancy, that Cyprian meant that the Spirit, the water, and
|
||
|
the blood, were indeed the Father, Word, and Spirit, that John said
|
||
|
were one, he may enjoy his opinion to himself. For,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>First,</I> He must suppose that Cyprian not only changed all the
|
||
|
names, but the apostle's order too. For the blood (the Son), which
|
||
|
Cyprian puts second, the apostle puts last. And,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Secondly,</I> He must suppose that Cyprian thought that by the blood
|
||
|
which issued out of the side of the Son the apostle intended the Son
|
||
|
himself, who might as well have been denoted by the water,--that by the
|
||
|
water, which also issued from the side of the Son, the apostle intended
|
||
|
the person of the Holy Ghost,--that by the Spirit, which in
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
is said to be truth, and in the gospel is called the Spirit of truth,
|
||
|
the apostle meant the person of the Father, though he is nowhere else
|
||
|
so called when joined with the Son and the Holy Ghost. We require good
|
||
|
proof that the <I>Carthaginian</I> father could so understand the
|
||
|
apostle. He who so understands him must believe too that the Father,
|
||
|
Son, and Holy Spirit, are said to be three witnesses on earth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Thirdly, Facundus</I> acknowledges that Cyprian says that of his
|
||
|
three it is written, <I>Et hi tres unum sunt--and these three are
|
||
|
one.</I> Now these are the words, not of
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
but of
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
They are not used concerning the three on earth, the Spirit, the water,
|
||
|
and the blood; but the three in heaven, the Father, and the Word, and
|
||
|
the Holy Ghost. So we are told that the author of the book <I>De
|
||
|
baptismo hæreticorum,</I> allowed to be contemporary with
|
||
|
Cyprian, cites John's words, agreeably to the Greek manuscripts and the
|
||
|
ancient versions, thus: <I>Ait enim Johannes de Domino nostro in
|
||
|
epistolâ nos docens, Hic es qui venit per aquam et sanguinem,
|
||
|
Jesus Christus, non in aquâ tantùm, sed in aquâ et
|
||
|
sanguine; et Spiritus est qui testimonium perhibet, quia Spiritus est
|
||
|
veritas; quia tres testimonium perhibent, Spiritus et aqua et sanguis,
|
||
|
et isti tres in unum sunt--For John, in his epistle, says concerning
|
||
|
our Lord, This is he, Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood, not in
|
||
|
water only, but in water and blood; and it is the Spirit that bears
|
||
|
witness, because the Spirit is truth; for there are three that bear
|
||
|
witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree in
|
||
|
one.</I> If all the Greek manuscripts and ancient versions say
|
||
|
concerning the Spirit, the water, and the blood, that <I>in unum
|
||
|
sunt--they agree in one,</I> then it was not of them that Cyprian
|
||
|
spoke, whatever variety there might be in the copies in his time, when
|
||
|
he said it is written, <I>unum sunt--they are one.</I> And therefore
|
||
|
Cyprian's words seem still to be a firm testimony to
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
and an intimation likewise that a forger of the text would have
|
||
|
scarcely so exactly hit upon the apostolical name for the second
|
||
|
witness in heaven, <I>the Word.</I> Them,
|
||
|
|
||
|
[3.] As only this apostle records the history of the water and blood
|
||
|
flowing out of the Saviour's side, so it is he only, or he principally,
|
||
|
who registers to us the Saviour's promise and prediction of the Holy
|
||
|
spirit's coming to glorify him, and to testify of him, and to convince
|
||
|
the world of its own unbelief and of his righteousness, as in his
|
||
|
gospel,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:16,17,26,15:26,16:7-15"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 16, 17, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7-15</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is most suitable then to the diction and to the gospel of this
|
||
|
apostle thus to mention the Holy Ghost as a witness for Jesus Christ.
|
||
|
Then,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(5.) It was far more easy for a transcriber, by turning away his eye,
|
||
|
or by the obscurity of the copy, it being obliterated or defaced on the
|
||
|
top or bottom of a page, or worn away in such materials as the ancients
|
||
|
had to write upon, to lose and omit the passage, than for an
|
||
|
interpolator to devise and insert it. He must be very bold and impudent
|
||
|
who could hope to escape detection and shame; and profane too, who
|
||
|
durst venture to make an addition to a supposed sacred book. And,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(6.) It can scarcely be supposed that, when the apostle is representing
|
||
|
the Christian's faith in overcoming the world, and the foundation it
|
||
|
relies upon in adhering to Jesus Christ, and the various testimony that
|
||
|
was attended him, especially when we consider that he meant to infer,
|
||
|
as he does
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for
|
||
|
this</I> (which he had rehearsed before) <I>is the witness of God which
|
||
|
he hath testified of his Son.</I> Now in the three witnesses on earth
|
||
|
there is neither all the witness of God, nor indeed any witness who is
|
||
|
truly and immediately God. The antitrinitarian opposers of the text
|
||
|
will deny that either the Spirit, or the water, or the blood, is God
|
||
|
himself; but, upon our present reading, here is a noble enumeration of
|
||
|
the several witnesses and testimonies supporting the truth of the Lord
|
||
|
Jesus and the divinity of his institution. Here is the most excellent
|
||
|
abridgment or breviate of the motives to faith in Christ, of the
|
||
|
credentials the Saviour brings with him, and of the evidences of our
|
||
|
Christianity, that is to be found, I think, in the book of God, upon
|
||
|
which single account, even waiving the doctrine of the divine Trinity,
|
||
|
the text is worthy of all acceptation.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. Having these rational grounds on out side, we proceed. The apostle,
|
||
|
having told us that the Spirit that bears witness to Christ is truth,
|
||
|
shows us that he is so, by assuring us that he is in heaven, and that
|
||
|
there are others also who cannot but be true, or truth itself,
|
||
|
concurring in testimony with him: <I>For there are three that bear
|
||
|
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
|
||
|
three are one,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) Here is a trinity of heavenly witnesses, such as have testified
|
||
|
and vouched to the world the veracity and authority of the Lord Jesus
|
||
|
in his office and claims, where,
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] The first that occurs in order is <I>the Father;</I> he set his
|
||
|
seal to the commission of the Lord Christ all the while he was here;
|
||
|
more especially,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>First,</I> In proclaiming him at his baptism,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:17">Matt. iii. 17</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Secondly,</I> In confirming his character at the transfiguration,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+17:5">Matt. xvii. 5</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> In accompanying him with miraculous power and works:
|
||
|
<I>If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do,
|
||
|
though you believe not me, believe the works, that you may know and
|
||
|
believe that the Father is in me, and I in him,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+10:37,38">John x. 37, 38</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fourthly,</I> In avouching at his death,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+27:54">Matt. xxvii. 54</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fifthly,</I> In raising him from the dead, and receiving him up to
|
||
|
his glory: <I>He shall convince the world-of righteousness, because I
|
||
|
go to my Father, and you see me no more,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+16:10,Ro+1:4">John xvi. 10, and Rom. i. 4</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[2.] The second witness in the Word, a mysterious name, importing the
|
||
|
highest nature that belongs to the Saviour of Jesus Christ, wherein he
|
||
|
existed before the world was, whereby he made the world, and whereby he
|
||
|
was truly God with the Father. He must bear witness to the human
|
||
|
nature, or to the man Christ Jesus, in and by whom he redeemed and
|
||
|
saved us; and he bore witness,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>First,</I> By the mighty works that he wrought.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:17">John v. 17</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Secondly,</I> In conferring a glory upon him at his transfiguration.
|
||
|
<I>And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the
|
||
|
Father,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:14">John i. 14</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> In raising him from the dead.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+2:19">John ii. 19</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Destroy this temple, and in three days will I raise it up.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
[3.] The third witness is the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit, and
|
||
|
august, venerable name, the possessor, proprietor, and author of
|
||
|
holiness. True and faithful must he be to whom the Spirit of holiness
|
||
|
sets his seal and solemn testimony. So he did to the Lord Jesus, the
|
||
|
head of the Christian world; and that in such instances as these:--
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>First,</I> In the miraculous production of his immaculate human
|
||
|
nature in the virgin's womb. <I>The Holy Ghost shall come upon
|
||
|
thee,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:35">Luke i. 35</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
&c.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Secondly,</I> In the visible descent upon him at his baptism.
|
||
|
<I>The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+3:22">Luke iii. 22</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
&c.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> In an effectual conquest of the spirits of hell and
|
||
|
darkness. <I>If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the
|
||
|
kingdom of God has come unto you,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:28">Matt. xii. 28</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fourthly,</I> In the visible potent descent upon the apostles, to
|
||
|
furnish them with gifts and powers to preach him and his gospel to the
|
||
|
world after he himself had gone to heaven,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:4,5,2:2-4">Acts i. 4, 5; ii. 2-4</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
&c.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fifthly,</I> In supporting the name, gospel, and interest of Christ,
|
||
|
by miraculous gifts and operations by and upon the disciples, and in
|
||
|
the churches, for two hundred years
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:7">1 Cor. xii. 7</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
concerning which see Dr. Whitby's excellent discourse in the preface to
|
||
|
the second volume of his <I>Commentary on the New Testament.</I> These
|
||
|
are witnesses in heaven; and they bear record from heaven; and they are
|
||
|
one, it should seem, not only in testimony (for that is implied in
|
||
|
their being three witnesses to one and the same thing), but upon a
|
||
|
higher account, as they are in heaven; they are one in their heavenly
|
||
|
being and essence; and, if one with the Father, they must be one
|
||
|
God.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) To these there is opposed, though with them joined, a trinity of
|
||
|
witnesses on earth, such as continue here below: <I>And there are three
|
||
|
that bear witness on earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood; and
|
||
|
these three agree in one,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] Of these witnesses the first is the <I>spirit.</I> This must be
|
||
|
distinguished from the person of the Holy Ghost, who is in heaven. We
|
||
|
must say then, with the Saviour (according to what is reported by this
|
||
|
apostle), <I>that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:6">John iii. 6</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The disciples of the Saviour are, as well as others, born after the
|
||
|
flesh. They come into the world endued with a corrupt carnal
|
||
|
disposition, which is enmity to God. This disposition must be mortified
|
||
|
and abolished. A new nature must be communicated. Old lusts and
|
||
|
corruptions must be eradicated, and the true disciple become a new
|
||
|
creature. The regeneration or renovation of souls is a testimony to the
|
||
|
Saviour. It is his actual though initial salvation. It is a testimony
|
||
|
on earth, because it continues with the church here, and is not
|
||
|
performed in that conspicuous astonishing manner in which signs from
|
||
|
heaven are accomplished. To this Spirit belong not only the
|
||
|
regeneration and conversion of the church, but its progressive
|
||
|
sanctification, victory over the world, her peace, and love, and joy,
|
||
|
and all that grace by which she is made meet for the inheritance of the
|
||
|
saints in light.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[2.] The second is the <I>water.</I> This was before considered as a
|
||
|
means of salvation, now as a testimony to the Saviour himself, and
|
||
|
intimates his purity and purifying power. And so it seems to
|
||
|
comprehend,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>First,</I> The purity of his own nature and conduct in the world.
|
||
|
<I>He was holy, harmless, and undefiled.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Secondly,</I> The testimony of John's baptism, who bore witness of him,
|
||
|
prepared a people for him, and referred them to him,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+1:4,7,8">Mark i. 4, 7, 8</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> The purity of his own doctrine, by which souls are
|
||
|
purified and washed. <I>Now you are clean through the word that I have
|
||
|
spoken unto you,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:3">John xv. 3</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fourthly,</I> The actual and active purity and holiness of his
|
||
|
disciples. His body is the holy catholic church. <I>Seeing you have
|
||
|
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:22">1 Pet. i. 22</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And this signed and sealed by,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fifthly,</I> The baptism that he has appointed for the initiation or
|
||
|
introduction of his disciples, in which he signally (or by that sign)
|
||
|
says, <I>Except I wash thee, thou hast no part in me. Not the putting
|
||
|
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
|
||
|
towards God,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+3:21">1 Pet. iii. 21</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[3.] The third witness is the blood; this he shed, and this was our
|
||
|
ransom. This testifies for Jesus Christ,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>First,</I> In that it sealed up and finished the sacrifices of the
|
||
|
Old Testament, <I>Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Secondly,</I> In that it confirmed his own predictions, and the truth
|
||
|
of all his ministry and doctrine,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:37">John xviii. 37</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> In that it showed unparalleled love to God, in that he
|
||
|
would die a sacrifice to his honour and glory, in making atonement for
|
||
|
the sins of the world,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:30,31">John xiv. 30, 31</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fourthly,</I> In that it demonstrated unspeakable love to us; and
|
||
|
none will deceive those whom they entirely love,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:13-15">John xiv. 13-15</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Fifthly,</I> In that it demonstrated the disinterestedness of the
|
||
|
Lord Jesus as to any secular interest and advantage. No impostor and
|
||
|
deceiver ever proposes to himself contempt and a violent cruel death,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+18:36">John xviii. 36</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Sixthly,</I> In that it lays obligation on his disciple to suffer
|
||
|
and die for him. No deceiver would invite proselytes to his side and
|
||
|
interest at the rate that the Lord Jesus did. <I>You shall be hated of
|
||
|
all men for my sake. They shall put you out of their synagogues; and
|
||
|
the time comes that whosoever kills you will think that he doeth God
|
||
|
service,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+16:2">John xvi. 2</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He frequently calls his servants to a conformity with him in
|
||
|
sufferings: <I>Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp,
|
||
|
bearing his reproach,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:13">Heb. xiii. 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This shows that neither he nor his kingdom is of this world.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Seventhly,</I> The benefits accruing and procured by his blood (well
|
||
|
understood) must immediately demonstrate that he is indeed the Saviour
|
||
|
of the world. And then,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Eighthly,</I> These are signified and sealed in the institution of
|
||
|
his own supper: <I>This is my blood of the New Testament</I> (which
|
||
|
ratifies the New Testament), <I>which is shed for many, for the
|
||
|
remission of sins,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+26:28">Matt. xxvi. 28</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Such are the witnesses on earth. Such is the various testimony given to
|
||
|
the author of our religion. No wonder if the rejector of all this
|
||
|
evidence he judged as a blasphemer of the Spirit of God, and be left to
|
||
|
perish without remedy in his sins. These three witnesses (being more
|
||
|
different than the three former) are not so properly said to be <I>one
|
||
|
as</I> to be <I>for one,</I> to be for one and the same purpose and
|
||
|
cause, <I>or to agree in one,</I> in one and the same thing among
|
||
|
themselves, and in the same testimony with those who bear record from
|
||
|
heaven.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
III. The apostle justly concludes, <I>If we receive the witness of men,
|
||
|
the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God, that he
|
||
|
hath testified of his Son,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Here we have,
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. A supposition well founded upon the premises. <I>Here is the witness
|
||
|
of God,</I> the witness whereby God hath testified of his Son, which
|
||
|
surely must intimate some immediate irrefragable testimony, and that of
|
||
|
the Father concerning his Son; he has by himself proclaimed and
|
||
|
avouched him to the world.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. The authority and acceptableness of his testimony; and that argued
|
||
|
from the less to the greater: <I>If we receive the witness of men</I>
|
||
|
(and such testimony is and must be admitted in all judicatories and in
|
||
|
all nations), <I>the witness of God is greater.</I> It is truth itself,
|
||
|
of highest authority and most unquestionable infallibility. And then
|
||
|
there is,
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. The application of the rule to the present case: <I>For this is the
|
||
|
witness,</I> and here is the witness <I>of God</I> even of the Father,
|
||
|
as well as of the Word and Spirit, <I>which he hath testified of,</I>
|
||
|
and wherein he hath attested, <I>his Son. God, that cannot lie,</I>
|
||
|
hath given sufficient assurance to the world that Jesus Christ is his
|
||
|
Son, the Son of his love, and Son by office, to reconcile and recover
|
||
|
the world unto himself; he testified therefore the truth and divine
|
||
|
origin of the Christian religion, and that it is the sure appointed way
|
||
|
and means of bringing us to God.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_10"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_11"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_12"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_13"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Believer's Privilege.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
|
||
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in
|
||
|
himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because
|
||
|
he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
|
||
|
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal
|
||
|
life, and this life is in his Son.
|
||
|
12 He that hath the Son hath life; <I>and</I> he that hath not the
|
||
|
Son of God hath not life.
|
||
|
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the
|
||
|
name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal
|
||
|
life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
In those words we may observe,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. The privilege and stability of the real Christian: <I>He that
|
||
|
believeth on the Son of God,</I> hath been prevailed with unfeignedly
|
||
|
to cleave to him for salvation, <I>hath the witness in himself,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He hath not only the outward evidence that others have, but he hath in
|
||
|
his own heart a testimony for Jesus Christ. He can allege what Christ
|
||
|
and the truth of Christ have done for his soul and what he has seen and
|
||
|
found in him. As,
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. He has deeply seen his sin, and guilt, and misery, and his abundant
|
||
|
need of such a Saviour.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. He has seen the excellency, beauty, and office of the Son of God,
|
||
|
and the incomparable suitableness of such a Saviour to all his
|
||
|
spiritual wants and sorrowful circumstances.
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. He sees and admires the wisdom and love of God in preparing and
|
||
|
sending such a Saviour to deliver him from sin and hell, and to raise
|
||
|
him to pardon, peace, and communion with God.
|
||
|
|
||
|
4. He has found and felt the power of the word and doctrine of Christ,
|
||
|
wounding, humbling, healing, quickening, and comforting his soul.
|
||
|
|
||
|
5. He finds that the revelation of Christ, as it is the greatest
|
||
|
discovery and demonstration of the love of God, so it is the most apt
|
||
|
and powerful means of kindling, fomenting, and inflaming love to the
|
||
|
holy blessed God.
|
||
|
|
||
|
6. He is born of God by the truth of Christ, as
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He has a new heart and nature, a new love, disposition, and delight,
|
||
|
and is not the man that formerly he was.
|
||
|
|
||
|
7. He finds yet such a conflict with himself, with sin, with the flesh,
|
||
|
the world, and invisible wicked powers, as is described and provided
|
||
|
for in the doctrine of Christ.
|
||
|
|
||
|
8. He finds such prospects and such strength afforded him by the faith
|
||
|
of Christ, that he can despise and overcome the world, and travel on
|
||
|
towards a better.
|
||
|
|
||
|
9. He finds what interest the Mediator has in heaven, by the audiency
|
||
|
and prevalency of those prayers that are sent thither in his name,
|
||
|
according to his will, and through his intercession.
|
||
|
|
||
|
10. He is begotten again to a lively hope, to a holy confidence in God,
|
||
|
in his good-will and love, to a pleasant victory over terrors of
|
||
|
conscience, dread of death and hell, to a comfortable prospect of life
|
||
|
and immortality, being enriched with the earnest of the Spirit and
|
||
|
sealed to the day of redemption. Such assurance has the gospel
|
||
|
believer; he has a witness in himself. Christ is formed in him, and he
|
||
|
is growing up to the fulness and perfection, or perfect image of
|
||
|
Christ, in heaven.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. The aggravation of the unbeliever's sin, the sin of unbelief: <I>He
|
||
|
that believeth not God hath made him a liar.</I> He does, in effect,
|
||
|
give God the lie, <I>because he believeth not the record that God gave
|
||
|
of his Son,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He must believe that God did not send his Son into the world, when he
|
||
|
has given us such manifold evidence that he did, or that Jesus Christ
|
||
|
was not the Son of God, when all that evidence relates to and
|
||
|
terminates upon him, or that he sent his Son to deceive the world and
|
||
|
to lead it into error and misery, or that he permits men to devise a
|
||
|
religion which, in all the parts of it, is a pure, holy, heavenly,
|
||
|
undefiled institution, and so worthy to be embraced by the reason of
|
||
|
mankind, and yet is but a delusion and a lie, and then lends them his
|
||
|
Spirit and power to recommend and obtrude it upon the world, which is
|
||
|
to make God the Father, the author and abettor, of the lie.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
III. The matter, the substance, or contents of all this divine
|
||
|
testimony concerning Jesus Christ: <I>And this is the record, that God
|
||
|
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is the sum of the gospel. This is the sum and epitome of the whole
|
||
|
record given us by all the aforesaid six witnesses.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. That <I>God hath given to us eternal life.</I> He has designed it
|
||
|
for us in his eternal purpose. He has prepared all the means that are
|
||
|
necessary to bring us to it. He has made it over to us by his covenant
|
||
|
and promise. And he actually confers a right and title thereto on all
|
||
|
who believe on and actually embrace the Son of God. Then,
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. <I>This life is in the Son.</I> The Son is life; eternal life in his
|
||
|
own essence and person,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:4,1Jo+1:2">John i. 4; 1 John i. 2</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He is eternal life to us, the spring of our spiritual and glorious
|
||
|
life,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+3:4">Col. iii. 4</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
From him life is communicated to us, both here in heaven. And thereupon
|
||
|
it must follow,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) <I>He that hath the Son hath life,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He that is united to the Son is united to life. He who hath a title to
|
||
|
the Son hath a title to life, to eternal life. Such honour hath the
|
||
|
Father put upon the Son: such honour must we put upon him too. We must
|
||
|
come and kiss the Son, and we shall have life.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) <I>He that hath not the Son of God hath not life,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
He continues under the condemnation of the law
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:36">John iii. 36</A>);
|
||
|
|
||
|
he refuses the Son, who is life itself, who is the procurer of life,
|
||
|
and the way to it; he provokes God to deliver him over to endless death
|
||
|
for making him a liar, since he believes not this record that God hath
|
||
|
given concerning his Son.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
IV. The end and reason of the apostle's preaching this to believers.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. For their satisfaction and comfort: <I>These things have I written
|
||
|
unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know
|
||
|
that you have eternal life,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Upon all this evidence, and these witnesses, it is but just and meet
|
||
|
that there should be those who believe on the name of the Son of God.
|
||
|
God increase their number! How much testimony from heaven has the world
|
||
|
to answer for! And to three witnesses in heaven must the world be
|
||
|
accountable. These believers have eternal life. They have it in the
|
||
|
covenant of the gospel, in the beginning and first-fruits of it within
|
||
|
them, and in their Lord and head in heaven. These believers may come to
|
||
|
know that they have eternal life, and should be quickened, encouraged,
|
||
|
and comforted, in the prospect of it: and they should value the
|
||
|
scriptures, which are so much written for their consolation and
|
||
|
salvation.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. For their confirmation and progress in their holy faith: <I>And that
|
||
|
you may believe on the name of the Son of God</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
may go on believing. Believers must persevere, or they do nothing. To
|
||
|
withdraw from believing on the name of the Son of God is to renounce
|
||
|
eternal life, and draw back unto perdition. Therefore the evidences of
|
||
|
religion and the advantage of faith are to be presented to believers,
|
||
|
in order to hearten and encourage them to persevere to the end.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_14"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_15"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_16"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_17"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Sin unto Death.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
|
||
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we
|
||
|
ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
|
||
|
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know
|
||
|
that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
|
||
|
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin <I>which is</I> not unto
|
||
|
death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin
|
||
|
not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he
|
||
|
shall pray for it.
|
||
|
17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto
|
||
|
death.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
Here we have,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. A privilege belonging to faith in Christ, namely, audience in
|
||
|
prayer: <I>This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask
|
||
|
any thing according to his will, he heareth us,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Lord Christ emboldens us to come to God in all circumstances, with
|
||
|
all our supplications and requests. Through him our petitions are
|
||
|
admitted and accepted of God. The matter of our prayer must be
|
||
|
agreeable to the declared will of God. It is not fit that we should ask
|
||
|
what is contrary either to his majesty and glory or to our own good,
|
||
|
who are his and dependent on him. And then we may have confidence that
|
||
|
the prayer of faith shall be heard in heaven.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. The advantage accruing to us by such privilege: <I>If we know that
|
||
|
he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
|
||
|
that we desired of him,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Great are the deliverances, mercies, and blessings, which the holy
|
||
|
petitioner needs. To know that his petitions are heard or accepted is
|
||
|
as good as to know that they are answered; and therefore that he is so
|
||
|
pitied, pardoned, or counselled, sanctified, assisted, and saved (or
|
||
|
shall be so) as he is allowed to ask of God.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
III. Direction in prayer in reference to the sins of others: <I>If any
|
||
|
man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask,
|
||
|
and he shall give him life for those that sin not unto death. There is
|
||
|
a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Here we may observe,
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. We ought to pray for others as well as for ourselves; for our
|
||
|
brethren of mankind, that they may be enlightened, converted, and
|
||
|
saved; for our brethren in the Christian profession, that they may be
|
||
|
sincere, that their sins may be pardoned, and that they may be
|
||
|
delivered from evils and the chastisements of God, and preserved in
|
||
|
Christ Jesus.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. There is a great distinction in the heinousness and guilt of sin:
|
||
|
<I>There is a sin unto death</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>and there is a sin not unto death,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) <I>There is a sin unto death.</I> All sin, as to the merit and
|
||
|
legal sentence of it, is unto death. <I>The wages of sin is death;</I>
|
||
|
and <I>cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are
|
||
|
written in the book of the law, to do them,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:10">Gal. iii. 10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But there is a sin unto death in opposition to such sin as is here said
|
||
|
<I>not to be unto death.</I> There is therefore,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) <I>A sin not unto death.</I> This surely must include all such sin
|
||
|
as by divine or human constitution may consist with life; in the human
|
||
|
constitution with temporal or corporal life, in the divine constitution
|
||
|
with corporal or with spiritual evangelical life.
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] There are sins which, by human righteous constitution, are not
|
||
|
unto death; as divers pieces of injustice, which may be compensated
|
||
|
without the death of the delinquent. In opposition to this there are
|
||
|
sins which, by righteous constitution, are to death, or to a legal
|
||
|
forfeiture of life; such as we call <I>capital crimes.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
[2.] Then there are sins which, by divine constitution, are unto death;
|
||
|
and that either death corporal or spiritual and evangelical.
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>First,</I> Such as are, or may be, to death corporal. Such may the
|
||
|
sins be either of gross hypocrites, as Ananias and Sapphira, or, for
|
||
|
aught we know, of sincere Christian brethren, as when the apostle says
|
||
|
of the offending members of the church of Corinth, <I>For this cause
|
||
|
many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+11:30">1 Cor. xi. 30</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There may be sin unto corporal death among those who may not be
|
||
|
condemned with the world. Such sin, I said, is, or may be, to corporal
|
||
|
death. The divine penal constitution in the gospel does not positively
|
||
|
and peremptorily threaten death to the more visible sins of the members
|
||
|
of Christ, but only some gospel-chastisement; <I>for whom the Lord
|
||
|
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:6">Heb. xii. 6</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There is room left for divine wisdom or goodness, or even gospel
|
||
|
severity, to determine how far the chastisement or the scourge shall
|
||
|
proceed. And we cannot say but that sometimes it may (<I>in
|
||
|
terrorem--for warning to others</I>) proceed even to death. Then,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>Secondly,</I> There are sins which, by divine constitution, are unto
|
||
|
death spiritual and evangelical, that is, are inconsistent with
|
||
|
spiritual and evangelical life, with spiritual life in the soul and
|
||
|
with an evangelical right to life above. Such are total impenitence and
|
||
|
unbelief for the present. Final impenitence and unbelief are infallibly
|
||
|
to death eternal, as also a blaspheming of the Spirit of God in the
|
||
|
testimony that he has given to Christ and his gospel, and a total
|
||
|
apostasy from the light and convictive evidence of the truth of the
|
||
|
Christian religion. These are sins involving the guilt of everlasting
|
||
|
death. Then comes,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
IV. The application of the direction for prayer according to the
|
||
|
different sorts of sin thus distinguished. The prayer is supposed to be
|
||
|
for life: <I>He shall ask, and he</I> (God) <I>shall give them
|
||
|
life.</I> Life is to be asked of God. He is the God of life; he gives
|
||
|
it when and to whom he pleases, and takes it away either by his
|
||
|
constitution or providence, or both, as he thinks meet. In the case of
|
||
|
a brother's sin, which is not (in the manner already mentioned) unto
|
||
|
death, we may in faith and hope pray for him; and particularly for the
|
||
|
life of soul and body. But, in case of the sin unto death in the
|
||
|
forementioned ways, we have no allowance to pray. Perhaps the apostle's
|
||
|
expression, <I>I do not say, He shall pray for it,</I> may intend no
|
||
|
more than, "I have no promise for you in that case; no foundation for
|
||
|
the prayer of faith."
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. The laws of punitive justice must be executed, for the common safety
|
||
|
and benefit of mankind: and even an offending brother in such a case
|
||
|
must be resigned to public justice (which in the foundation of it is
|
||
|
divine), and at the same time also to the mercy of God.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. The removal of evangelical penalties (as they may be called), or the
|
||
|
prevention of death (which may seem to be so consequential upon, or
|
||
|
inflicted for, some particular sin), can be prayed for only
|
||
|
conditionally or provisionally, that is, with proviso that it consist
|
||
|
with the wisdom, will, and glory of God that they should be removed,
|
||
|
and particularly such death prevented.
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. We cannot pray that the sins of the impenitent and unbelieving
|
||
|
should, while they are such, be forgiven them, or that any mercy of
|
||
|
life or soul, that suppose the forgiveness of sin, should be granted to
|
||
|
them, while they continue such. But we may pray for their repentance
|
||
|
(supposing them but in the common case of the impenitent world), for
|
||
|
their being enriched with faith in Christ, and thereupon for all other
|
||
|
saving mercies.
|
||
|
|
||
|
4. In case it should appear that any have committed the irremissible
|
||
|
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and the total apostasy from the
|
||
|
illuminating convictive powers of the Christian religion, it should
|
||
|
seem that they are not to be prayed for at all. For <I>what remains but
|
||
|
a certain fearful expectation of judgment, to consume such
|
||
|
adversaries?</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:27">Heb. x. 27</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And these last seem to be the sins chiefly intended by the apostle by
|
||
|
the name of <I>sins unto death.</I> Then,
|
||
|
|
||
|
5. The apostle seems to argue that there is sin that is not unto death;
|
||
|
thus, <I>All unrighteousness is sin</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>);
|
||
|
|
||
|
but, were all unrighteousness unto death (since we have all some
|
||
|
unrighteousness towards God or man, or both, in omitting and neglecting
|
||
|
something that is their due), then we were all peremptorily bound over
|
||
|
to death, and, since it is not so (the Christian brethren, generally
|
||
|
speaking, having right to life), there must be sin that is not to
|
||
|
death. Though there is no venial sin (in the common acceptation), there
|
||
|
is pardoned sin, sin that does not involve a plenary obligation to
|
||
|
eternal death. If it were not so, there could be no justification nor
|
||
|
continuance of the justified state. The gospel constitution or covenant
|
||
|
abbreviates, abridges, or rescinds the guilt of sin.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_18"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_19"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_20"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="1Jo5_21"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Privileges of Believers.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 80.</TD></TR>
|
||
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he
|
||
|
that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one
|
||
|
toucheth him not.
|
||
|
19 <I>And</I> we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth
|
||
|
in wickedness.
|
||
|
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us
|
||
|
an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are
|
||
|
in him that is true, <I>even</I> in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the
|
||
|
true God, and eternal life.
|
||
|
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
Here we have,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. A recapitulation of the privileges and advantages of sound Christian
|
||
|
believers.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. They are secured against sin, against the fulness of its dominion or
|
||
|
the fulness of its guilt: <I>We know that whosoever is born of God</I>
|
||
|
(and the believer in Christ is born of God,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>)
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>sinneth not</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>sinneth not</I> with that fulness of heart and spirit that the
|
||
|
unregenerate do (as was said
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:6,9"><I>ch.</I> iii. 6, 9</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and consequently not with that fulness of guilt that attends the sins
|
||
|
of others; and so he is secured against that sin which is unavoidably
|
||
|
unto death, or which infallibly binds the sinner over unto the wages of
|
||
|
eternal death; the new nature, and the inhabitation of the divine
|
||
|
Spirit thereby, prevent the admission of such unpardonable sin.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. They are fortified against the devil's destructive attempts: <I>He
|
||
|
that is begotten of God keepeth himself,</I> that is, is enabled to
|
||
|
guard himself, <I>and the wicked one toucheth him not</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
that is, that the wicked one may not touch him, namely, to death. It
|
||
|
seems not to be barely a narration of the duty or the practice of the
|
||
|
regenerate; but an indication of their power by virtue of their
|
||
|
regeneration. They are thereby prepared and principled against the
|
||
|
fatal touches, the sting, of the wicked one; he touches not their
|
||
|
souls, to infuse his venom there a he does in others, or to expel that
|
||
|
regenerative principle which is an antidote to his poison, or to induce
|
||
|
them to that sin which by the gospel constitution conveys an
|
||
|
indissoluble obligation to eternal death. He may prevail too far with
|
||
|
them, to draw them to some acts of sin; but it seems to be the design
|
||
|
of the apostle to assert that their regeneration secures them from such
|
||
|
assaults of the devil as will bring them into the same case and actual
|
||
|
condemnation with the devil.
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. They are on God's side and interest, in opposition to the state of
|
||
|
the world: <I>And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth
|
||
|
in wickedness,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Mankind are divided into two great parties of dominions, that which
|
||
|
belongs to God and that which belongs to wickedness or to the wicked
|
||
|
one. The Christian believers belong to God. They are of God, and from
|
||
|
him, and to him, and for him. They succeed into the right and room of
|
||
|
the ancient Israel of God, of whom it is said, <I>The Lord's people is
|
||
|
his portion,</I> his estate in this world; <I>Jacob is the lot of his
|
||
|
inheritance,</I> the dividend that has fallen to him by the lot of his
|
||
|
own determination
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:9">Deut. xxxii. 9</A>);
|
||
|
|
||
|
while, on the contrary, <I>the whole world,</I> the rest, being by far
|
||
|
the major part, <I>lieth in wickedness,</I> in the jaws in the bowels
|
||
|
of the wicked one. There are, indeed, were we to consider the
|
||
|
individuals, many wicked ones, many wicked spirits, in the heavenly or
|
||
|
the ethereal places; but they are united in wicked nature, policy, and
|
||
|
principle, and they are united also in one head. There is the prince of
|
||
|
the devils and of the diabolical kingdom. There is a head of the
|
||
|
malignity and of the malignant world; and he has such sway here that he
|
||
|
is called <I>the god of this world.</I> Strange that such a knowing
|
||
|
spirit should be so implacably incensed against the Almighty and all
|
||
|
his interests, when he cannot but know that it must end in his own
|
||
|
overthrow and everlasting damnation! How tremendous is the judgment of
|
||
|
God upon that wicked one! May the God of the Christian world
|
||
|
continually demolish his dominion in this world, and translate souls
|
||
|
into <I>the kingdom of his dear Son!</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
4. They are enlightened in the knowledge of the true eternal God:
|
||
|
<I>"And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given as an
|
||
|
understanding, that we may know him that is true,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Son of God has come into our world, and we have seen him, and know
|
||
|
him by all the evidence that has already been asserted; he has revealed
|
||
|
unto us the true God (as
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:18">John i. 18</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and he has opened our minds too to understand that revelation, given us
|
||
|
an internal light in our understandings, whereby we may discern the
|
||
|
glories of the true God; and we are assured that it is the true God
|
||
|
that he hath discovered to us. He is infinitely superior in purity,
|
||
|
power, and perfection, to all the gods of the Gentiles. He has all the
|
||
|
excellences, beauties, and riches, of the living and true God. It is
|
||
|
the same God that, according to Moses's account, made the heavens and
|
||
|
the earth, the same who took our fathers and patriarchs into peculiar
|
||
|
covenant with himself, the same who brought our ancestors out of Egypt,
|
||
|
who gave us the fiery law upon mount Sinai, who gave us his holy
|
||
|
oracles, promised the call and conversion of the Gentiles. By his
|
||
|
counsels and works, by his love and grace, by his terrors and
|
||
|
judgments, we know that he, and he alone, in the fulness of his being,
|
||
|
is the living and true God." It is a great happiness to know the true
|
||
|
God, to know him in Christ; it is eternal lie,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:3">John xvii. 3</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is the glory of the Christian revelation that it gives the best
|
||
|
account of the true God, and administers the best eye-salve for our
|
||
|
discerning the living and true God.
|
||
|
|
||
|
5. They have a happy union with God and his Son: "<I>And we are in him
|
||
|
that is true, even</I> (or and) <I>in his Son Jesus Christ,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Son leads us to the Father, and we are in both, in the love and
|
||
|
favour of both, in covenant and federal alliance with both, in
|
||
|
spiritual conjunction with both by the inhabitation and operation of
|
||
|
their Spirit: and, that you may know how great a dignity and felicity
|
||
|
this is, you must remember that this true one is <I>the true God and
|
||
|
eternal life</I>" or rather (as it should seem a more natural
|
||
|
construction), "This same Son of God is himself also <I>the true God
|
||
|
and eternal life</I>"
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:1">John i. 1</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
and here,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:2"><I>ch.</I> i. 2</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
"so that in union with either, much more with both, we are united to
|
||
|
<I>the true God and eternal life.</I>" Then we have,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. The apostle's concluding monition: "<I>Little children</I>" (dear
|
||
|
children, as it has been interpreted), "<I>keep yourselves from
|
||
|
idols,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Since you know the true God, and are in him, let your light and love
|
||
|
guard you against all that is advanced in opposition to him, or
|
||
|
competition with him. Flee from the false gods of the heathen world.
|
||
|
They are not comparable to the God whose you are and whom you serve.
|
||
|
Adore not your God by statues and images, which share in his worship.
|
||
|
Your God is an incomprehensible Spirit, and is disgraced by such sordid
|
||
|
representations. Hold no communion with your heathen neighbours in
|
||
|
their idolatrous worship. Your God is jealous, and would have you come
|
||
|
out, and be separated from among them; mortify the flesh, and be
|
||
|
crucified to the world, that they may not usurp the throne of dominion
|
||
|
in the heart, which is due only to God. The God whom you have known is
|
||
|
he who made you, who redeemed you by his Son, who has sent his gospel
|
||
|
to you, who has pardoned your sins, begotten you unto himself by his
|
||
|
Spirit, and given you eternal life. Cleave to him in faith, and love,
|
||
|
and constant obedience, in opposition to all things that would alienate
|
||
|
your mind and heart from God. To this living and true God be glory and
|
||
|
dominion for ever and ever. <I>Amen.</I>"</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
|
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC62004.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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