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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First John V].</TITLE>
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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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[<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>
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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>6 This is he that came by water and blood, <I>even</I> Jesus Christ;
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not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit
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that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
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7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
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the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
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8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit,
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and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
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9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is
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greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified
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of his Son.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The faith of the Christian believer (or the believer in Christ) being
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thus mighty and victorious, it had need to be well founded, to be
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furnished with unquestionable celestial evidence concerning the divine
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mission, authority, and office of the Lord Jesus; and it is so; he
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brings his credentials along with him, and he brings them in a way by
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which he came and in the witness that attends him.</P>
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<P>
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I. In the way and manner by which he came; not barely by which he came
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into the world, but by and with which he came, and appeared, and acted,
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as a Saviour in the world: <I>This is he that came by water and
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blood.</I> He came to save us from our sins, to give us eternal life,
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and bring us to God; and, that he might the more assuredly do this,
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<I>he came by,</I> or with, <I>water and blood. Even Jesus Christ;</I>
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Jesus Christ, I say, did so; and none but he. And I say it again, not
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by or with <I>water only, but by</I> and with <I>water and blood,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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<I>Jesus Christ came with water and blood,</I> as the notes and
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signatures of the true effectual Saviour of the world; and he came by
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water and blood as the means by which he would heal and save us. That
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he must and did thus come in his saving office may appear by our
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remembering these things:--</P>
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<P>
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1. We are inwardly and outwardly defiled.
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|
(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
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is called <I>the god of this world.</I> Strange that such a knowing
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|
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
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|
into <I>the kingdom of his dear Son!</I>
|
|
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|
4. They are enlightened in the knowledge of the true eternal God:
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|
<I>"And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given as an
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understanding, that we may know him that is true,</I>
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
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|
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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>
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