Chapter V
How assurance is produced in the heart of a believer, by three witnesses in
heaven, and three witnesses on earth. The different nature of the testimony which they give. For 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 earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
1 JOHN V. 7, 8.
As we have seen the apostle s scope, in this Epistle, to have been chiefly,
first, to assure God s people ; and, secondly, to shew the fruits of such assurance as motives to it ; so, in the next place, let us consider what he hath written that may help a believer to this assurance ; what directions, what helps, what evidence he hath described, whereby he may come to be assured. This will both demonstrate that this is in the scope of this Epistle, as likewise shew that assurance may be had, by shewing from what grounds and proofs it is derived. He directs them to two trinity of witnesses, whereof three are in heaven, and three on earth ; for I take it that all these
six witnesses have their evidence set to one and the same record, both that Christ is the fountain of life, and that God hath given to a believer eternal
life. These witnesses do not part or divide their witness (as if the three
CHAP. V.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 361
in heaven should witness to the one part, and those on the earth to the
other) ; but as each classis of these agree among themselves in one, so they both agree in the same testimony unto both ; and, therefore, as the wit
nesses on earth do witness to a believer that he hath eternal life, so those
in heaven do join singly in this very testimony also. And because, in all
things we would have proof of, the greatest furtherance any one can do, is
to produce and direct us to such as are the only true, faithful witnesses that
can speak infallibly in the cause, therefore John, to help a poor believer in
this great point of assurance, points out to him the sole infallible witnesses
that can give in evidence, which, if he do attend unto, and examine, and
seek unto for their witness, he may get evidence sufficient. And in this
point he brings plenty out of both courts, both of heaven and on earth,
three in either ; that as none were condemned but under the mouth of two
or three witnesses, so none are assured of salvation but by as many. These
witnesses serve, as I said, to confirm two records : the one, that Jesus was
that Christ, and the Son of God ; the other, that we are sons in him, and
heirs of life. We have the same, and as many as Jesus Christ hath. Now we are to consider them as they are witnesses to our title and adoption.
Of those three in heaven, and who are meant by them, there is no diffi
culty among interpreters. The being of the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and how they have given testimony to this part of the
record, that Jesus is the Son of God, is evident in the story of the Gospel
the Father from heaven, saying, This is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him ; and Christ himself, who came from heaven, witnessed of himself, as often in the gospel of John is evident for instance, John iv. 26 ; and the Holy Ghost witnessed this by descending upon him, Mat. iii. 16, 17 ; Acts v. 32. But how these three witness salvation to a believer is a difficulty, and a
thing not ordinarily observed. As also again, what should be meant by
blood, water, and spirit, this hath puzzled interpreters. I accord with
those who,
First, By blood understand the work of justification on a poor sinner,
and, by a synecdoche and metonymy, all that which-Jgoes to his justifica
tion. By blood then here is to be understood both that which is the object
of faith as justifying, which in Christ you know is chiefly his blood (which
is called the blood of the New Testament, shed for the remission of sins ;
that is, that blood which ratifies all the promises of the New Testament,
his blood being put for all his obedience), as also that rich grace in God
which sprinkles or applies this blood to poor sinners, and which faith in his
blood looks unto : Rom. iii. 24, 25, Being justified by his grace, through
the redemption that is in Christ : whom God hath set forth to be a propi
tiation, through faith in his blood. All these synecdochically are com
prehended in blood, in this place of John, even Christ s blood shed, and
free grace sprinkling it, and the promises ratified by it, which are the
object of faith. And by a metonymy the work of faith itself is also meant, which lays hold on this blood (the object connotating the act itself), that
is, faith ^in his blood. In a word, the whole work of justification, and
whatever goes to it, is meant by blood.
Secondly, By water I understand sanctification, both in the habits and
fruits of it ; for whom Christ s blood justifies, it also doth cleanse and
sanctify, and washeth away the filth of sin; thus it is expressed John
iii. 5, a man being regenerated, and born again of water and the Holy
Ghost; that is, of the Holy Ghost working as water, purifying and cleansing. So says the apostle too, Eph. v. 26, Christ gave himself for his church,
362 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PAET II. BOOK II.
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. And as habitual regeneration or sanctification, so actual cleansing a man s self daily is signified to us by water; thus in Isa. i. 16, Wash
you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings ; cease to do evil, learn to do well. Especially purifying the heart is denoted by it, which
* Wash thy heart from wickedness ; how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ? It makes the heart fruitful unto every good work, and every grace to grow up in a man, Ps. i. And that these two witness that Christ is the Son of God may easily be conceived : as, first, that his blood is able to take away the guilt of sin
is done by faith, and follows upon believing ; thus Jer. iv. 14,
(which nothing else could do), this argues it to be the blood of God, Acts xx. 26. The force of it lies in this, that it was offered by the eternal
Spirit, Heb. iii. 14, so likewise water witnesseth it, in that it should be able to subdue sin, wash away the power of it, change the heart, make a man a new creature ; all this argues him to be the Saviour of the world, Acts v. 81, and that these do also join to give in testimony to assurance, that God hath given a man eternal life, is also evident by that in Heb.
x. 22, Let us draw near with full assurance of faith. And what conduceth
to effect that assurance, and to help it forward ? Both these here men tioned : first, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. And
by what is that done ? By this blood here meant ; see Heb. ix. 14, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works ? This blood, sprinkled on the conscience by faith, helps forward assurance of
faith. The second is also mentioned, having our bodies washed with
pure water ; that is, our whole man sanctified and cleansed. He writing to the Hebrews, speaks in the language of the Levitical law, which he
explains to them in all that Epistle, in which there was the sprinkling of the blood of goats by hyssop, which signified justification, or the sprinkling of Christ s blood upon the conscience, Heb. ix. 13, 14, and also they washed their bodies with water when they went to sacrifice and were un
clean, which signified the sanctification of the whole man, body being put for the whole; as Rom. xii. 1, Offer up your bodies a reasonable sacri
fice to God, that is, your whole man ; which phrase he useth when he
alludes to the sacrifices of the law, as there he doth.
Now then, the third witness, the Spirit, is the Holy Ghost, who comes down from heaven and dwells here on earth in the heart of a believer, and
so takes part with him, and joins his witness to these other two, his testi mony being the greatest, the clearest of all the rest. And his witness we may find Rom. viii. 16,
* The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the sons of God. He joins his testimony to the other two, and puts all out of question. Now, both these two testimonies of blood, that is, the work of justification and faith, and water, that is, sanctifica
tion, Paul shuts up in one, namely, our spirit ; not our spirit as naked
in itself, our natural spirit, which is full of deceit, but as framed and renewed to the obedience of faith and true holiness, and as enlightened and
irradiated by the Spirit, and so fitted to witness the truth ; and both those
testimonies he calls the witness of our spirits, because our apprehending
justification and believing, as also that of sanctification, are works seated
in and of our spirits. The testimony of both those is fetched and produced out of the records that are written in our own bosoms, from those gracious acts and dispositions, and dealings of God with our spirits, in drawing us
to faith, and justifying, and also sanctifying of us ; and they are called our
CHAP. V.I OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.
spirits, to distinguish both those from that other testimony of the Spirit which is fetched out of the records in God s own breast, and quoteth not,
nor referreth us not to any dealing of God with us, or work in us, but is
an immediate voice of God s Spirit. And this John himself intimates unto
us (to accord John and Paul), that by some of these witnesses he means
the work of God in ourselves (which Paul calls our spirits), when he adds,
He that believeth hath the witness in himself, whereby he declares that
some of those witnesses, both the work of faith and sanctification, are
works of and in himself, and that they may give him some evidence. The
meaning is, he carries in his own bosom written the matter of a good testi
mony, if produced, and viewed, and examined.
Having found out what the witnesses are John directs us unto, let us see how they witness.
First, The work of faith in Christ s blood, and the blood of Christ
sprinkled by faith, have a testimony in them if examined ; that is, when
x man sees he was brought in, and his heart won to believe, according
first a
to the true tenor and right course of the Spirit in the work of faith, and
upon the right grounds, motives, and terms, and reasons the word chalks
out, and according to the right aim, and intent, and purpose of God in the
gospel, which is in justification to set up Christ s blood, and his rich grace; when he sees he came in at the right door of faith, as Acts iv. 27 ; when
he sees that God s Spirit opened to him, and guided him in at the right
door; in brief, when he hath seen the guilt of his sin as the greatest evil,
an emptiness and insufficiency of help in himself, or anything in him for
time past, present, or to come, and in all creatures and means whatever, and then hath had the fountain of Christ s blood opened to him,_ as Hagar had that well by the angel, which she saw not ; when he spies Christ
out, and his blood as the only means to help him, and sees the all-
sufficiency of redemption in it to wash him, justify him, and prizeth it
accordingly, and thirsts after a draught of it, and hungers after nothing but his righteousness, so as nothing can down with him else, and he eyes
nothing but it, and resolves to have help from nothing but him ; and when
bethinking himself how to close with Christ, and to get an interest in that
blood, he finds God graciously opening the riches, the freeness of his
grace, that imputeth, sprinkleth it, and is enabled to see grace so free, so
rich, that nothing in himself can hinder it, as nothing in himself can
further it ; and not only so, but when he finds God s Spirit secretly still
dealing with him to take it, to take God at his offer of it, as being faithful,
serious in it, as being also the richest purchase that ever the world had ;
.when he finds God s Spirit reasoning with him in private, answering and
taking away his scruples and objections that lie betwixt him and the
taking of it, urging him, pressing him, laying afore him God s command
to believe his threatenings, his invitations, his willingness, and he sees how welcome he shall be; when he finds God s Spirit drawing and
winding in his heart to close with Christ and his blood, and, he knows not
how, over-persuading him to rest in Christ, and to cast himself on him,
causing him to trust in him, which else he should never have done, and
so he takes Christ with all his offices, to give himself up to him, to rest in
him, to go no further, no whither else for help ; when he finds he can
with some secret establishment of spirit implead the arguments of faith,
wield faith s weapons, and find his spirit strengthened thereby against
carnal reasons and guilt, so as he comes away from the bar and throne of
grace with a kind of victory over the pleadings and condemnings of his
heart, and is he not non-plussed, but sees in free grace and Christ s blood
. OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK
sufficient matter suggested to answer to all, and so he rests ; when he finds that as out of self-flattery he is not encouraged to believe, but out of the importunity of God s Spirit that follows him with such thoughts, that
God^will have it so, so also that his heart is raised above self-love in it to God s aim and end in justifying, namely, to admire the riches of his grace, to adore the allsufficiency of his blood, to ascribe all to it. And then, as the work of faith in Christ s blood, so the effect of his blood thus appre hended, impleaded, evidenceth it to him; for still when guilt ariseth he can oppose Christ s blood to it, and bathes his soul in thoughts of faith about it, and so finds the guilt quelled, allayed, his conscience pacified, nlled, and quieted by it, when no duties nor nothing else will give him ease. This, if a man observe these things, may be an evidence to him that Christ s blood is sprinkled on him. This is the testimony of blood as, Heb. xii. 24, it is said, The blood of Christ speaks better things than the blood of Abel this same speaking comfortable things in the con science of a man, and easing a man of his load, purging, pacifying, stilling, allaying the conscience when nothing but his blood doth it, not duties, not vain hopes ; this is the witness of blood, though bloody iniquities cries loud, as the blood of Abel in Cain s conscience, yet this blood speaks better things ; and a man still in distress can have, with some support, recourse to .this blood, when to nothing else, and finds the faith in it secretly sup porting him.
_ This is the first witness, when a man observes this ; fo* though faith is not assurance, yet upon believing a man may have some evidence from the work of it, and the effect of Christ s blood in his con science apprehended by faith ; and therefore the Scripture points us to the work of faith, as that which may be known, and which gives in evi dence. So in the first verse of this chapter he says, He that believes ia born of God ; and therefore Christ said to that poor man, If thou canst believe; Lord, says he, I believe; help my unbelief, Mark ix. 24. He could not have answered so unless he could have discerned the work of faith in himself. So that new convert, Acts viii. 37, If thou believest with thy whole heart, thou mayest be baptized. Baptism was the ordi nance to men newly converted, which conveyed the Spirit as sealing, bap tism being the seal of righteousness; and this man, before thus sealed by baptism, could tell he believed, for he answers, I do believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
The second witness is the work and workings of sanctification, water. The believer finds that closing thus with Christ changeth him, renews him, washeth him from the power of sin, puts a new spirit and principle into him, clean opposite to sin, so as he cannot sin; he finds a new spring of gracious dispositions in him, still bubbling naturally up, and cleansing, and working out corruptions, John iv. 14; he finds many several streams of it, of love to God and Christ, and that for themselves, a stream of hatred of sin running against a stream of love to it; every grace is a stream in him, and all his graces do testify also, if they be observed. Read this Epistle of John ; you will find he cuts this water into many rills and signs, in every of which, as so many signs, believers may see and have some evidence of their estates. And he says not only that such dispositions are in God s children, but he presents them to them as signs whence they might know they have eternal life, it being his scope to help believers this way. One sign that he gives is a bent of heart to keep all God s commandments: chap. ii. ver. 3,
< Hereby we do know we know him, if we keep his com mandments; and verse 5, Hereby we know we are in him, especially then, when the commandments are not grievous; and chap. v. ver. 3,
CHAP. V.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 885
This, says he, is the love of God, that we keep his commandments ;
* Ye
that is, this is the certain sign and fruit of it. So chap. ii. ver. 29,
* that every one that doth righteousness is born of him. So purging a man s self from sin upon the hope and assurance of heaven,
know, says he,
is another sign described by him: chap. iii. ver. 3, Every one that hath
this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. So having a seed
in a man contrary to sin, that he cannot sin, is another sign which he
* Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin ; for his
: ver. 9,
displays
seed remained in him : and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. So love to the brethren is another distinguished character: ver. 14, We know we are passed from death to life, when we love the brethren, when it is such love as we could lay down our lives, our estates, and goods for the church, ver. 16, 17; and this love is in deed and in truth hearty,
| real, ver. 18; then hereby we know we are of the truth, ver. 20; and then
finding the Spirit dwelling in us, is another mark of our good state : verse
24, Hereby we know he abideth in us, by the Spirit he hath given us ; and then he gives signs suitable to those times, and to hinder their being
| mischiefed by the false teachers among them, chap. iv. And also he gives reasons still why such signs are infallible ; this you may observe if you read this Epistle, as when he shews that if we love God it is certain God
loves us, chap. iv. verse 10, proving it by this strong reason, because his
love is the cause of ours, verse 19 ; so he shews why love to the brethren
is an infallible sign, chap. iv. verse 7, and chap. v. verse 1, because love is
of God, and he is the fountain of it, and he that loves the begetter loves
the begotten, and so on the contrary. And also he proves sometimes one
sign by another : chap. v. verse 2, By this we know that we love the
children of God, because we love God, and keep his commandments. So
that when one sign is not so evident, yet a man may have recourse to
| another : and then also, when a man s heart is raised by faith to overcome
I this world, to despise the good things of it, and endure all the evil, when he is tried in both, and overcomes both through faith, chap. v. verse 14, he makes it a sign of being born of God. And you shall observe withal, that he doth this by way of difference, giving the contrary as infallible
signs of wicked men ; he that walks in any sin hates his brother, such an one is in darkness, chap, ii., knows not God, chap. iii. verse 6, but
is of the devil, verse 8. And he that loves not the saints abides in
death, and is a murderer, and hath not eternal life in him, verse 14.
I shall name no more, but return to this testimony of water, and add
this, that as that of blood is a testimony drawn from quelling the guilt of
sin, and opposite thereto, so this of water is a testimony drawn from sub
duing the power of sin, and putting in contrary principles. Now as the
power of sin, when it prevails, strengthens the guilt of sin against us, and
raiseth doubts, so when the cleansing power of grace prevails, it helps to
strengthen faith in Christ s blood. Faith having once rightly and alone
closed with Christ s blood to justify the believer, and having ascribed all to
it, then water may come in as a witness to justify that faith. Now the
ordinary error is, that men neglect the blood of Christ, and the work of
faith, and the sprinkling of it on their consciences for justification, and the
evidence thereof, and betake themselves wholly to water, ere they have
closed with this blood. They would see themselves sanctified ere they have closed with justification. But if a man hath been guided once aright in the work of faith, and his heart pitched right for justification, to seek it
alone in blood, then water comes fitly in as a witness, and is to be listened
unto ; but till then, the danger is, lest men should have that recourse to
366 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK II.
water which they should have to the blood of Christ, and rest therein for
justification.
The third witness is that of the Spirit, wherehy is meant an immediate
testimony of the Holy Ghost, superadded to all these. The testimony of faith finding ease in Christ s blood, as rested in alone for salvation, is often
prevailed against by the guilt of sin, and counter-checked ; and that testi mony of water is worn out and obliterated by the power of sin, which also strengthens that guilt ; so as though the soul hath an assurance, depending on the prevalency of the fruits of grace in itself, which when the
prevalency of that grace and faith is in the soul may give a certainty, yet
it is such as even then the soul lingers after, and waits for a further dis
covery, and is taught to do so. There is therefore a third testimony, and that is of the Holy Ghost himself, which is immediate ; that is, though it backs and confirms what the other two said, yet quotes them not, builds not his testimony on them, but raiseth the heart up to see its adoption and
sonship, by an immediate discovery of God s mind to it, and what love he hath borne to it ; which is not argued from what is wrought in itself, but God says unto a man s soul (as David desires), I am thy salvation, Ps. xxxv. 3, and as Christ said upon earth to some few, Thy sins are forgiven thee, so from heaven it is spoken by his Spirit (which yet dwells in the heart afore), that a man s sins are forgiven, and he is owned by the whole
Trinity to be God s child. And this testimony was that which the apostles received, when they received the Holy Ghost after Christ s ascension as a
Comforter, whom yet they had before already, and knew by the fruits and
effects of him, both water and blood, faith and holiness, that lie was in them, but yet not so as afterward, John xiv. 16-20, they now knew the Spirit, and he dwelt in them, verse 17, they knew before that they had grace, and that they believed ; so Peter says, I believe that thou art the Son of God. And after his death, afore the Holy Ghost was given, when Christ asked if he loved him ? Peter says he did : Thou knowest I love thee, John
xxi. 16. They had the testimony of water and blood both, but they had not yet the Spirit as a Comforter immediately sealing up all : I will send you the comforter, says Christ, John xiv. 16, 20, and at that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Thus he promises that he would further manifest himself to them, that whereas
they knew afore dimly, then they should know to purpose ; and this like wise we find the Ephesians did receive after they believed, and had been
sanctified : Eph. i. 13, In whom, after ye believed, ye were sealed with the Spirit of promise. As seals are for confirmation, so they were sealed with grace and holiness, and the image of God before, for that follows upon
faith ; and they had trusted on Christ, had closed with Christ, and the word of truth, and gospel of salvation. But now when they by sheer faith had honoured God, by sealing to his word, then God comforts them by sealing them with his Spirit. And this witness is immediate, that is, it
builds not his testimony on anything in us ; it is not a testimony fetched out of a man s self, or the work of the Spirit in man, as the others were ; for the Spirit speaks not by his effects, but speaks from himself, and confirms the other, and therefore is said to witness with the other, that
is, comes in to strengthen their witness. And though the Holy Ghost
joined with water and blood in their testimony (for grace without him can
not evidence, as it cannot work without him), yet so his testimony lay hid
in theirs, as they are said to witness, and his testimony is concealed, though he allegeth them, and clears them up to a man, and therefore a man shall find the same signs sometimes evidence to him, and sometimes
CHAP. V.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.
not, as the Spirit irradiates them ; and yet this testimony of his is over
and above theirs, distinct from theirs, and severed from theirs, and there
fore is said to make a third witness, which as witnessing in the other he
could not be said to be. But though this testimony of the Spirit be beyond
the witness of faith or water, and above what the word in any sound or
syllables carries with it, yet it is always in and with the word, and accord
ing to it, and therefore they are said to be sealed with the Spirit of promise,
Eph. i. 13. It calls up some word that echoes to it, and goes with it.
The Spirit opens God s mind in some words, and also, though it may
conie in from an evidence received and entertained from the former
witnesses, blood and water, and therefore is said to witness with the other,
as coming to back what they said, yet so as their testimony then comes
^ to
be considered but as the occasion upon which this of the Spirit is let in,
and as the hint given ; but it raiseth the soul up higher, and the other
testimony as it were falls down, and God s immediate mind and acceptation
out of the riches of his grace, entertains a man s soul and thoughts. For
as Christ received no testimony from man, though he says John gave testi
mony of him ; and as in some colleges when the college seal is put to,
there needs no hands, no witnesses ; or as when the broad seal is put to by
a king, he writes teste meipso ; so doth the Spirit speak in the language of a
king, teste meipso, witness myself, and receives and borrows no witness
from what is in us, but makes his own abundantly satisfy. And this witness,
though it is placed first (after the manner of the Hebrews and other Scrip
tures), yet comes in as the last of the three, as being the greatest, and that
which puts all out of question, which the other did not so fully ; and there
fore he is said to witness with our spirits, because their testimony is usually
given in first ; this of the Spirit backs and confirms what they said, as
seals come after a man s hand is set, as the greater witness ; or as an oath
comes in after a promise to put all out of doubt, and to end the controversy, Heb. vi. 15-18, there it is said, that God makes a promise, and though
that might assure, yet we have doubting hearts, and therefore he adds an
oath to end all strife ; and that he might more abundantly shew to the
heirs of promise the immutability of his counsels, he confirms them with
an oath. So herein I may say, that though the witness of blood and water
might assure, if men were watchful, and could observe their hearts, yet
because that testimony ends not the strife so fully, therefore he being will
ing more abundantly to shew to the heirs of salvation their adoption, seals
them with his Spirit, which is to them an end of strife, and for the present
conquers all doubts. And as when he swears, he useth no name but his
own, for none is greater than himself, so when he thus witnesseth, he useth
the help of no witnesses but his own, and upon this witness follows joy
unspeakable and glorious, it being the earnest of heaven ; for it is a seeing my estate of grace and adoption, not in the effects or love-tokens, but in God s breast, as they in heaven do. Now such joy follows not the other
two witnesses, though peace and quiet may.
Having considered the witnesses on earth, let us consider the witnesses
that are in heaven, since also these concur in giving assurance. And
besides what this place says, which to me is clear, let us see what evidence
in other scriptures may be for this distinct witness. In Rev. i. 4, 5, John, who had experience of this work, and had gone through these three forms,
wisheth to all believers grace and peace, not from the Trinity in common
: first, from the Father, from him who is,
only, but from each apart
was, and is to come, that is, from Jehovah, God the Father, the style of
the whole being attributed to him who is fons Deitatis, the fountain of the
368 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK II.
Godhead. It is meant of the Father, because the other two are afterward
distinctly mentioned ; and then afterwards the apostle wisheth peace to them from the seven spirits which are before the throne. By which he means the Holy Ghost, who is the author of all spiritual graces, and who
in his gifts is various, and yet but one Spirit, as the apostle says, 1 Cor.
xii., the effect is by him put for the cause. And that he means the Holy Ghost is plain, because grace can be wished from none but God, and therefore he must mean the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Trinity. Then at last the apostle wisheth them peace from Christ Jesus, who is the faithful witness. Grace is the original of that love and favour these three have in their hearts to a believer, and peace is the copy, the assurance of it in his own. He wisheth them peace from all these, from the Father, from the Son, and from the Holy Ghost ; you see he names them not only
together, but as it were apart, from the Father, and from the Spirit, and from the Lord Jesus, that peace might be spoken from all these three witnesses. That promise made by Christ to his apostles, when he promiseth them to send the Comforter, John xiv., is a farther proof of this
thing ; they then had an implicit knowledge of the three persons love to them ; but he calls them to a more distinct bottoming, and pitching their
* Ye believe in God, says he, ver. 1, believe also
thoughts on them all ;
in me. They could not have believed in the one but the other must be
supposed, for none comes to the Father but by the Son, ver. 6. The
thoughts of believers under the Old Testament ran much, and were drawn out more distinctly to God the Father : John v. 32, All men honoured the Father ; and says he, ver. 9, He that knows me knows the Father ; and ver. 17, he says, that they knew the Spirit. But all this was but
implicitly, therefore he promiseth a more distinct manifestation of these, and their love to them with a witness after the Comforter should come, which he says he will send, ver. 16, and then they should know he was
in the Father, and the Father in him, and they in him, ver. 20. To
clear this, consider,
First, That all three persons have each a peculiar proper hand in our
salvation, God the Father in electing, Christ in redeeming, the Holy Ghost in sanctifying, as many places of Scripture shew. For God s intent in the
gospel is as well to set up and magnify the three persons in a believer s
heart, as his attributes, and the riches of his grace and mercy in common; therefore in Eph. iii. 3-5, Paul speaking of the knowledge he had in the
mystery of the gospel, refers us to what he had writ afore in few words
(not in another Epistle, but in this, namely the first chapter), wherein he
presents to them, first, what in a more particular manner God the Father had done for them, from ver. 1 to ver. 6, that he had appointed and set out all the blessings they were to enjoy, elected Christ, and them in Christ,
designed the persons who should enjoy them to the praise of the glory of
his grace. Then, secondly, he presents them with what God the Son had done ; ver. 7-9,
* Redemption through his blood, and the purchase of all the blessings God appointed to us, both remission of sins, and the making known the gospel, and the obtaining heaven by his blood. Then he shews them what the Holy Ghost hath done, how he had sealed them, and became the earnest of their inheritance, ver. 13, 14. Now it being a principal scope of the gospel, as to draw men to salvation, and to magnify the riches
of God s grace in common to all the three persons, so also to make known and have men take notice of, those three distinct hands these three per sons have in our salvation. Therefore,
Secondly, Each of these three persons will have their love distinctly
CHAP. V.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 369
considered, and their several work, which manifests their love, distinctly viewed, and studied, and taken notice of by believers. And though, when one person is honoured, they are all jointly honoured in that one, and he that knows the one knows the other, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, John xiv. 9, yet they will have their love considered so dis
tinctly, that, as Christ says, John v. 23, They may honour the Son as
they honour the Father, and so the Holy Ghost also ; and take notice and acknowledge what they have done for them, and that they may believe on the Son as well as on the Father : John xiv. 1,
< Ye believe in God, believe also in me ; he draws their thoughts to himself more distinctly than yet they were. And therefore,
Thirdly, As in point of believing we are to exercise faith on all three, so in point of assurance we may have an evidence from all three ; and there
fore, as they are the object of an act of recumbency, so of assurance too, as witnesses. God draws out a believer s thoughts sometimes more dis
tinctly and clearly, to consider and admire God the Father s love in elect
ing him, in laying out all the blessings he should have in Christ, in
choosing, appointing, and calling Christ to die for him ; in giving Christ to him, and him to Christ, in putting Christ to death himself, and becoming the executioner, in imputing that his death to him, &c. And then God carries the soul more clearly to consider Christ s love also in his work, in
giving himself, and that so willingly, in having an eye to it when he hung on the cross, in bearing its name written in his heart, when he was crucified, and in taking all its sins on his back, which made his soul heavy unto the death ; and then God carries the soul on to a more especial taking notice of God the Holy Ghost s love, which is not considered ordinarily by believers. He brings souls to consider it is the Holy Ghost sanctifies them, who begat them, and formed the new creature in them, and who takes the pains to foster it, as a nurse its little one, day and night, and who endures with much grief their corruptions, which yet he cleanseth them from when they have defiled themselves, and who bears with them though they rebel and resist his motions, and who watcheth them, and attends them when they wake to suggest good thoughts to them, and when
they shall go to the ordinances is ready to assist them. God makes them consider that all assistance in duties is from the supply of the Spirit, that
all the comforts they have had is joy in the Holy Ghost ; that he helps their infirmities, indites their prayers, makes intercession in their hearts, leads them and guides them, and carries them in his arms as children ; that he keeps them for heaven, and hath took up their hearts as his temple, for ever to dwell there ; that he seals them up for heaven, and is the earnest of that inheritance, and he testifies that not only this is done, but that he doth it, and that it is his part, as you have them branched out, Rom. viii. and Eph. i., and by this distinct discovery of the love of all the three persons in their several workings, and contributing to the work of our salvation, they bear a several witness to a poor believer, so as he is carried on from witness to witness ; and as a man that is to have a testi monial goes to every man apart for his hand, so is the soul carried from one person to another.
I shall only answer an objection, and add a caution or two.
_ Obj. The objection is this, How the Holy Ghost is said to be a distinct witness on earth, and also in heaven, and to have also a distinct testimony as one of the three in heaven, from that of the three on earth ?
Ans. To answer this, consider that it is the Holy Ghost who is the
reporter and recorder of all these six testimonies, and therefore is named VOL. VIII. A a
370 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK II.
in both, for blood could not testify without him, nor water ; as grace cannot work, so nor comfort without him, unless he irradiates it, and opens the mouth of it to witness. This I think to be the most genuine intent of
that place Rom. viii. 16, when he is said to witness with our spirits ;
for grace in us could not witness if he joined not with it ; yet he is said to
have a distinct witness from theirs, because he hath a testimony beyond and without theirs ; and so it is the Holy Ghost also that is the reporter
of the Father s love, and of Christ s, and of his own, for as Christ says, John xvi. 14, He shall glorify me, and receive of mine, and shew it to you. He it is that witnesseth Christ s love, and so the Father s also ; they do all
by him, and nothing immediately apart ; and therefore, when Christ says he will manifest himself, in that place of John xiv. before quoted, he first
promises the Comforter, as the manifester of him and of the Father. But
yet they are said to be three, and their testimony apart several, because
their love and work is distinctly revealed and witnessed by that Spirit, and
his own also. And the soul is drawn to consider, that the person of the
Father shews his love more especially in electing, the Son in redeeming, and he himself in comforting, &c. So that though he witnesseth all, yet
it is in their name, and they are the persons concerning whom the witness
is given ; and his witness, as he is one of the three on earth, is distinct
from that as he is one of the three in heaven. For as he is a witness on
earth, the matter of his testimony is in general, the blessings themselves
bestowed, justification, adoption, &c. ; and the whole work of the three
persons, as it is in common for salvation, is the thing witnessed, as it is
also by water and blood. But now, as he is a witness in heaven, the per sons that have done these come in to be more nighly considered ; and his
witness is of himself, and of what he hath done towards the believer s salva
tion. He opens the believer s heart to have fellowship with himself, and
to see that he it is that hath sanctified, comforted him, &c. ; so that he
witnesseth his own part in this salvation. In the other testimony, he wit
nesseth that the person is sanctified, elected, &c. ; but now he makes him
take notice, in an especial manner, of the person sanctifying and sealing
him, &c., and of the Father as electing, &c. And therefore, he infiuenceth
the man to walk so as not to grieve him, to bear a respect to him that doth
all this in that relation : upon which ground is that exhortation of the
apostle founded, Grieve not the Holy Spirit, wherewith you are sealed,
Eph. iv. 80. For when a believer takes notice that the Spirit hath done
all this for him, wrought all the grace he hath, and brought in all his com
fort, he will have a respect to him, and have a distinct tenderness to him
in that relation, as well as to Christ and to the Father. In the one, the
Spirit is as the common broad seal of the whole Trinity, and of all the
blessings bestowed upon us ; in the other, he is a seal of himself in a more
distinct manner, and so of the other two. As in seals of offices that a
bishop or archdeacon give out, there is the seal of the office, and often they
will set their own private seals on the back side also ; so doth the Spirit,
who, as he is reckoned among the witnesses on earth, is the seal of the
office in common, the things sealed being the blessings and works of the
whole Trinity in common ; but in the other, their private seals are set to,
and his among the other, which makes him a distinct witness.
Only now these cautions must be added :
First, That this distinct testimony of these witnesses in heaven is a thing many Christians have not observed in themselves, nor may happily never
come to have a full experience of. God doth not deal with all in this manner.
Many come not to have assurance at aU, much less this. The people of
ClIAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 371
God under the Old Testament had it not, for the three persons were not so
distinctly known in their several works in their salvation to them ; and therefore, when the apostle had discovered this mystery, Eph. v., how the Father elects, the Son redeems, and the Spirit seals, in the third chapter, ver. 4 and 5, he says, that in other ages this mystery, in this distinct manner, was not made known to the sons of men, not as it is now revealed. And the apostles also then had it not, John xiv. I : that is, not so distinctly, and in that manner I have spoken of it. It is a thing many know not the meaning of, that yet have grace ; for their hearts are wholly drawn out to Christ, and they but implicitly apprehend, or seldom consider or think, what God the Father or the Spirit hath done.
And then, secondly, this caution must be put also in, that for the order of this distinct testimony in those that have it, or of taking notice of Christ s
love, or the Father s, no rule can be set down. Christ s love breaks in upon many first, and then the Father s. What hath been said, is to shew such a work is in some, and may be had, and is to be aimed at, being now made known to you.
Neither, thirdly, is my meaning, as if believers could apprehend the Father s love thus apart from Christ s, or Christ s from the Father s ; or as if the one could be without the other, for the one is not to be severed from the other ; and if any thinks the Father loves him ere he hath had faith in Christ and rested on him, it is a Turkish, Jewish faith. But yet things that are not in themselves, nor in our supposition, severed, may in our thoughts be more distinctly viewed, and apart sealed to us.
And, fourthly, though believers know and acknowledge what the three persons have done for them, yet that is not the work meant by the testi mony of these witnesses. As long as this knowledge is deduced but by way of consequence, that is, when they consider that because they are
sanctified, therefore they are justified ; and because they are justified, there fore they are elected, redeemed, &c., this is to know it byway of deduction. But it is an intuitive knowledge that I mean : to see it, and to have the heart affected, and the love of each distinctly brought home to them, and their hearts to dwell on the direct consideration of the work and love of each person, so as to come to .have also fellowship with them all in prayer and walking from day to day.
The fifth caution is, that to direct poor souls humbled to faith, the way is not to direct them first to God the Father s love, but to cast themselves on Christ, who leads to the Father, Eph. ii. 18 and John xiv. 6. For at first men apprehend God, according to the rules of the word, as an angry judge, and Christ as he that pacifies him, Col. i. 21 ; but when they are come to God, and cast themselves on him through Christ, then they are brought to see God the Father (whom before they looked on as a judge) to be pacified by Christ, and to have as willing an heart to save them as Christ himself hath. It was suitably the speech of a godly person, As Christ makes intercession for me, so God loves to have it so.