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XII.

THE THREEFOLD RECORD IN HEAVEN REFLECTED

IN A THREEFOLD WITNESS IN EARTH, AND
THE TRIUNE AND HARMONIOUS WITNESS ONE
IN THE BELIEVER'S HEART.

1 JOHN V. 8, 10.

"And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself."

JOHN informs us, that whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; that is, that every grace, such as faith, hope, love, peace, meekness, humility, or whatever grace is produced and brought forth in the soul under the prolific operations of the Holy Ghost, is a real fruit of his, and must reign in the heart, and shall overcome both the frowns and flatteries of this world, for that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, saith the Lord. It is spiritual grace, and is of a spiritual nature, and therefore must overcome. And not only the reign of grace is here intended, but the Holy Spirit, who produces these graces in the heart, and doth, by shedding abroad God's love in us, unite us to Christ Jesus; by virtue of which union we are made to share in all his sufferings, benefits, and triumphs. "Be of good cheer; I

have overcome the world." But why should I be of good cheer on account of his victory, if I have no share in it? but all believers have a part and lot in the whole of it. The Lord of hosts, mighty in battle, fought the field for us, and all the great spoil is divided among us; for, when he overcame Satan, sin, death, and the world, we were redeemed from all these; and, when he is revealed to us, we are delivered from them all; and there is victory for the sinner in no other way than by faith in Christ. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" And this faith is a cordial reception of him into the heart, and an embracing of him gladly, in confidence and affection, as the only begotten Son of God, as the true Messiah, and as our only Saviour and Redeemer.

"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." Jesus is said here to come by water, and to come by blood, and that the spirit of truth bears witness to these things. The water, blood, and spirit, are in the next verse traced up to God in three persons, and each distinct person in the Godhead is said to bear record in heaven. "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." The record of these three persons, which are in heaven, is to be found recorded in the book of

God, that is the Bible; for those souls that are in heaven, and made perfect in knowledge there, need no record to comfort, encourage, or to assure them; or to give them a strong consolation; no, not so much as to have their names shewn them in the Lamb's book of life: for their happy state. of life, and immortal glory in heaven, is a full and all-sufficient proof of that: nor are they ignorant of the distinct personality and essential divinity of either the Father, Son, or Spirit; for those that are there are the pure in heart, who see God, and Christ shews them plainly of the Father.

This threefold record is for our sakes, and for our instruction, and is recorded in the Bible; and they each bear record to the Godhead of Christ.

"But unto the Son, he [the Father] saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Compare Heb. i. 1st and 8th verses. This is the Father's record.

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. This is the Saviour's record of himself, and his record is true, that he is God, and besides him, or to the exclusion of him, there is no God, Isaiah xliv. 6. For the one Lord God of Israel is three persons.

"And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace." This is the Holy Ghost's record to the Godhead of him. This holy man of old spoke as he was moved by the Holy

Ghost, and this is the Holy Ghost's record of Christ throughout the Scripture, for to him gave all the prophets witness.

These three persons bear record likewise to the sonship of Christ. The Father's record is; "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Saviour's record is; "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." And the Spirit's record by John the Baptist is this; "And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God."

All the three persons in the ever blessed Trinity bear record likewise to this truth, that he that believeth on the Son of God shall have eternal life. God promised a seed to Abraham, which seed was Christ. Abraham believes in God, who made the promise to him; and that seed promised was reckoned to him for righteousness, being the end of the law for righteousness to all that believe; and God calls himself the God of Abraham; but he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; which shews that Abraham ever lives, for the just man shall live by his faith while upon earth, and shall live for ever in glory in heaven, Christ bears the same record; "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." And the Spirit in all the prophets and apostles bears record, that as many as were ordained to eternal life believed, and they that believed lived by the faith of the Son of God. Thus, "There are three that bear

record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one."

"And there are three that bear witness in the earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one." These three are said to bear witness in the earth. The Spirit bears his witness in every believing soul; this is granted by all believers whose faith has any growth at all. And the blood of Christ hath undoubtedly a voice in every pardoned sinner who is come to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel, because it speaks pardon, peace, and reconciliation; but the difficulty seems to lie in the witness of the

water.

I believe that many good men think that water baptism is meant by this witness, because God bore testimony to Christ his Son at his baptism by John, and because persons are baptised in the name of the Son as well as in the name of the Father and of the Holy Ghost; but this water in my text is said to bear witness. Now the witness at Christ's baptism came from God, and not from the water; and at the baptism of any person the minister mentions the name of Father, Son, and Spirit, agreeable to Christ's command; but the water itself has no voice, and of itself bears no witness. I know that inanimate things are sometimes called witnesses, as the two tables of stone, and Jacob's heap in Mount Gilead; but

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