Chapter IV: Part 4

Other professions of men, when they abandoned sensual pleasures, and the vanities of this world, yet taught them that their happiness must flow from themselves, and made their own virtues their heaven, without any regard to God. These philosophers were self-sufficient, full of themselves, and they were so far from making their rivers of pleasure to flow from the right-hand of God, that they even denied their dependance upon him in this respect; and they supposed their wise men to be equal with God, deriving all their blessedness from within themselves. But christianity leads the soul out of itself to God, as it gives a clearer and larger knowledge of God himself, in his felicitating perfections, than the heathens could ever attain; it assures us, that being near to God, is our heaven, and the sight of him is our happiness, as well as provides a new and living way of access to him, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: therefore the believer rejoices in all opportunities of drawing near to God, for it is the beginning of his heaven, and his delight in it is an inward and powerful witness to the truth of his religion.

IV. Zeal and activity for the service of God, is another part of heaven, another part of eternal life, and the holiness of it. We have abundant reason to believe that heaven is not a state of mere enjoyment, unactive and idle; but a state of service and activity for that God whose we are, and from whom we have received infinite favours. The angels in heaven are swift messengers to perform the will of their God; Ps. ciii. 20, 21. The spirits of just men made perfect are like angels. They do the will of God as a pattern for us on earth; for we are taught to pray, that his will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. What particular services they are employed in of God, we know not; but that they are for ever zealous in those services which God employs them in, we doubt not, we cannot disbelieve. And this active zeal in the service of God, and pursuit of his glory, is the very temper and practice of the true christian; and that not only in some more important enterprizes, but in the common actions of life: Whether he eat or drink, or whatsoever he does, he makes it his rule of life, to do all to the glory of God; 1 Cor. x. 31.

Now this sublime zeal, this noble activity for the service of God and his glory, was not found among the professors of other religions. To glorify God, was not their aim and end; those that rose highest among the old philosophers had not set their aim and end right: They that knew God, glorified him not as God; Rom. i. 21. They did not make the glory of God the great design of their actions: It was not zeal for God that animated them to pursue virtue, but merely their own ends, their own satisfaction or ease, or the vanity of their own minds, pride and attempt of superiority above other men; or at best, their motives of action were the reasonableness of virtue, and the benefit of it to themselves and their fellow-citizens. But the glory of God is the aim of christians, and the end of every true believer: he has some degree of zeal for the honour of God, and therefore is active in those duties which God proposes to him.

When we see a person regardless of all his self-interests in the world, and at the same time pursuing the honour of an invisible God, following hard after the glory of that God that his fleshly eyes have not seen; we may say he has something above what mere corrupt nature leads him to, or impresses upon him. The believer has this witness in himself, zeal and activity for the glory of God in the world.

V. The last thing that goes to make up holiness, is a hearty love to all men, and especially to the saints. This is a noble ingredient of eternal life; this is a divine and heavenly temper; this is a beautiful part of the image of God communicated to the soul of man. That God who is the original and foundation of eternal life, is a glorious pattern of this love; he makes his sun to rise, and his rain to fall on the just and on the unjust, and leaves not himself without witness of his divinity, by filling the hearts of men with food and gladness: See Mat. v. 45. Acts xiv. 17. He shews his love to enemies and rebels, in forgiving millions of offences, and pardoning crimes of the largest size and deepest aggravations, and he loves his saints with peculiar tenderness. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who also is the true God and eternal life, came down from heaven to exemplify his divine love. It was his love to mankind that persuaded him to put on flesh and blood, and prevailed with him to suffer pains, agonies, and death, that his enemies might obtain salvation and life. O glorious example of love! Now this is in some measure wrought into the make of every true christian, and imitated in the practice of every true believer: He is obliged, by one of the chief rules of his religion to love his neighbour as himself: that is, to do that to others, which he thinks just and reasonable that they should do to him; Mat. xxii. 39. Luke vi. 31. He is bound to forgive freely those that offend him, as he hopes for forgiveness of his offences against God; Mat. vi. 14, 15. He rejoices in the welfare of his fellow-creatures, without repining: He loves his enemies, does good to them that hate him, blesses those that curse him, and prays for his persecutors and spiteful foes; Luke vi. 27. He pities all that are miserable, but takes a peculiar delight in his fellow-christians; (the christians must be known by this, that they love one another.) _He does good to all but especially to the household of faith_; Gal. vi. 10.

Other religions know nothing of so generous and diffusive a love; the men of heathenism were _hateful, and hating one another, and spent their lives in malice and envy_; Tit. iii. 3. They did not so much as aspire to so divine a virtue as the love of enemies; this is the noble singularity of our gospel. The heathen professions encouraged revenge, and made it one ingredient of a hero: But envy and malice, wrath and revenge, must be banished from the heart and practice of a christian, to whom the kindness and love of God our Saviour has appeared; these vices must stand aloof from the saint, and thus bear a testimony to the truth and divinity of the doctrine of Christ.

I grant that every one of these instances, and all these parts of eternal life which I have now described, are not to be found equally in all believers; nor are they in every believer in a very eminent and evident degree. But if we take all of them together, pardon of sin, peace of conscience, the favour of God, and a sense of his love, a pleasurable harmony of all our powers, an aversion to all sin, and hatred of every iniquity, a holy contempt of this world, in the pleasures, as well as in the pains and sorrows of it; delight in the worship of God, and desire after his enjoyment; zeal and activity in service for God, with a sincere aim for his glory, and a hearty love to fellow-creatures and fellow-christians: I say, if we join all these together, we shall find that the christian religion has a witness far superior to all other doctrines that ever pretended to divinity. We shall find that every believer has something of all these qualities wrought in his heart, and it is exemplified in his life. Truly, where none of these are found, that person cannot profess himself a christian with any just ground of hope: Where there is not such a witness as this to the truth of christianity, where there is not this eternal life begun in some sensible measure and manner, that person’s profession of christianity is but vain; and his practice and his course contradict the words of his lips, when he pronounces himself a believer in the Son of God.

I might here take notice, that the three that bear witness on earth to the truth of the gospel, _viz._ the spirit, the water, and the blood, may be expounded agreeably to the foregoing discourse. The blood may signify the pacification of a guilty conscience by the atoning blood of Christ. The water, may intend the sanctification and purifying of our natures from sinful appetites and practices, as by the washing of water: And the spirit may imply that efficacious influence which a believer receives from the Holy Spirit, both toward the pacification of his conscience, and the purification of his soul. All these witness to the truth of christianity; though others are of opinion, that the Spirit in his miraculous operations, the water, or purity of the nature and life of Christ, and the blood, or his violent death, and the attendants on it, are the three witnesses on earth which the apostle designs; nor can I absolutely determine which is the right.

Before I conclude, I would lay down one caution and one reflection.

The caution is this: That though I exclude all human religions from the honour, power, and glorious effects of christianity, as being utterly incapable of them, yet the Jewish religion, and that of the ancient patriarchs, which were divine, are not hereby totally excluded from this honour, and these characters, but only in part: For there were many souls in whom these beginnings of eternal life were wrought under those dispensations, but not with that glory and evidence as under the christian. And indeed Judaism was but a sort of infant christianity, a veiled gospel. The christian religion is Judaism fulfilled, or the gospel standing in open light. All that holiness and happiness which was found among the Jews or patriarchs, is entirely owing to Christ and his gospel, to the sacrifice, and the spirit, and grace of Jesus, which were typified by the legal atonements, and blood, sprinklings and washings; and which wrought powerfully this divine life in their souls, through all those types, but with feebler conviction, and in a fainter light.

Besides, it should be observed here also, that since the christian religion has received its full authority and divine establishment, the Jewish dispensation ceases, and is no longer owned, or aided by the Spirit of God, to produce these wonderful effects. The types and shadows of that state have now no power to speak peace and pardon to the guilty soul, or to purify our sinful natures, and begin eternal life in them. These are abolished by divine appointment, and God will bear witness to them no more. They who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, are deceivers; 2 John 7. _He that hath not the Son of God hath not life_; 1 John v. 12. So that the doctrine of Christ is the only religion which we know of, that is practised in the world, that has had the stamp of divine authority above sixteen hundred years; and as there have been multitudes of witnesses to the truth of it, multitudes of souls in the first, and all the succeeding ages, who have felt eternal life wrought in them by the power of the gospel, so there is no other religion ever since can produce and shew such divine testimony; for there _is salvation in no other name_; Acts iv. 12.

The only reflection I shall make, is this: We may derive hence a solid and infallible rule for self-examination, whether we are christians or no. Have we in ourselves this divine witness of our christianity? Have we eternal life wrought in our own hearts? Have we desired peace of conscience and any hope of pardoning grace by trusting in the Son of God? Have we found any satisfaction of soul in drawing near to God by Jesus the Mediator? Do we find a sincere love to God kindled in our souls by the hope of his special favour? Is there any thing of the holiness or happiness of the heavenly state begun within us? Have we an aversion to all sin in some degree answerable to what the saints and angels have in heaven? Have we a holy contempt of this world? Have we overcome the world as those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and have put their trust in him? Do we live above it, as those that are within sight of eternal blessedness? Are we come to mount Sion, the city of the living God, to the innumerable company of angels, and the church of the first-born, &c. in this respect? Do we look down upon the tempting vanities of this life with a sacred disdain, something like those that dwell on high in the full possession of life eternal? Is there any similitude between our life and theirs, between our hearts and theirs? Do we delight in the worship of God? Is his presence our joy? Is his enjoyment the object of our desires? Are we zealous for his service? Are our aims set for his glory? Are we active in the discharge of the duties that he hath appointed to us, and the several provinces of service that he has ordained us to be engaged in, in this world? Do we do the will of our heavenly Father on earth, in some measure as it is done in heaven? How stand our hearts affected toward our fellow-creatures? Do we love our neighbour, by dealing with him as we desire he should deal with us? Can we forgive enemies? Do we rejoice in the welfare of others without envy, and take delight in the holiness and peace of our fellow-creatures, and give the poor and mean followers of Christ, a large share in our hearts and kindest affections? If this be the character and temper of our spirits, and this the conduct of our lives, then eternal life is begun in us; then we may say to our own souls, This is the record that God hath given concerning his Son, that there is eternal life in him; 1 John v. 11. and we are sure we build our hopes on a solid foundation, for this life is already begun in our hearts, and the Spirit of God, who has begun this work, will carry it on, and make it perfect in the days of eternity. _Amen._

SERMON III.
_The Inward Witness to Christianity._
1 JOHN v. 10—He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in
himself.
THE THIRD PART.

Many and glorious are the outward testimonies that God has given to our religion, both in the days when his Son Jesus dwelt on earth, and in the time of the ministration of the apostles who followed their blessed Lord. The miracles wrought, the prophecies fulfilled, and the various glories attending the ministration of the gospel, conspire to confirm our faith; each of them are evidences of the truth and divinity of this doctrine; and all of them joined together, bear such a testimony as cannot be resisted. We live now in these later days at a long distance from those seasons wherein these miracles were wrought, and wherein God appeared in so immediate a manner from heaven, to witness to the truth of the gospel of his Son; but God has taken care to furnish every true believer with a sufficient witness of christianity; we are not left void of evidence at this day. He that believeth, hath the witness in himself. There is an internal testimony given to the gospel of Christ in the heart of every one that receives it in truth. There are the beginnings of that eternal life wrought in the soul, which the Son of God bestows on all believers; he that hath the Son hath life. The spiritual life of a christian runs into eternity; it is the same divine temper, the same peaceful and holy qualities of mind communicated to the believer here in the days of grace, which shall be fulfilled and perfected in the world of glory; and this is a blessed witness to the truth of christianity; it proves with abundant evidence, that it is a religion sufficient to save souls, for the salvation is begun in every man that receives it.

I shall repeat no more of the foregoing discourses, but proceed immediately to answer the last question there proposed, _viz._ What sort of witness this is, which true faith gives to the gospel of Christ, and what are the remarkable properties of this testimony.

I answer, I. It is a witness that dwells more in the heart than in the head. It is a testimony known by being felt and practised, and not by mere reasoning; the greatest reasoners may miss of it, for it is a testimony written in the heart; and upon this account it has some prerogatives above all the external arguments for the truth of christianity. This inward argument is always at hand, when a believer is in the exercise of his graces, and acting according to his new nature and life: It is an argument that is not lost through the weakness of the brain, the defect of the memory, and long absence from books and study, to which other arguments are liable; it is an argument that cannot be forgotten, while true religion remains in the heart, for it is graven there in lasting characters.

Those words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in his second epistle, chap. iii. ver. 2, 3. have a reference to our present case: _Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart._ We have a glory in our religion, that distinguishes it from, and advances it above the Jewish dispensation; their law was written in tables of stone, and afterwards Moses wrote it out at large in a book: But ye have something (says the apostle) written in your hearts, that proves the truth of your religion, and of my divine commission, ye who are converted by my gospel; ye Corinthians, who were once vile as the vilest, and upon whose souls the devil, by his temptations and by his power, had inscribed many dark characters, and seemed to seal you over, and mark you to damnation, ye are now the epistle of Christ, ye have those dismal characters rased out, and ye have golden and bright ones inscribed. The image of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is eternal life, appears fairly written on your souls: Ye are the epistle of Christ, and eternal life is begun in you, and thus the gospel witnesses its own truth and divinity by an internal evidence.

The gospel of Christ is like a seal or signet, of such inimitable and divine graving, that no created power can counterfeit it; and when the Spirit of God has stamped this gospel on the soul, there are so many holy and happy lines drawn or impressed thereby; so many sacred signatures and divine features stamped on the mind, that gives certain evidence both of a heavenly signet, and a heavenly operator.

A christian, who has well studied the doctrines and proofs of christianity, can give sufficient reasons for the truth of them, and for his believing them. He finds what is sufficiently satisfactory, to confirm his belief in the outward testimonies, in the miracles wrought in the world, and the prophecies fulfilled: I have (says he) in my understanding many arguments and evidences of the truth of the gospel, and my reason is convinced that it is a divine religion. But there is a miracle wrought in my heart that is of more efficacy than this, and is to me a more convincing proof of the gospel of Christ; eternal life is begun in me. I find my conscience, that was disturbed with the guilt of sin, established in peace, upon solid hopes of pardon. I have an interest in the love of God, and lively sensations of that love; I have a hatred of all sin, I live above the world, and have a holy contempt of the trifles, businesses, and cares of this life: I delight in the company of him that dwells in heaven: I find in my soul that I love him, and love those who are like him; I walk, as seeing him, who is invisible; I have a zeal for his glory, and with active diligence I am employed for the honour of his name in the world. These things I find wrought in me by the gospel of Christ: The discoveries of the nature and works of God, by his gospel, have filled my soul with holy wonder, and bowed my spirit down to adore him. The revelations of his amazing condescension and love, have raised and fired my heart to love him; the examples of superlative piety I meet with in this gospel, have excited my holy imitation; and the motives proposed here, are so awful and so alluring, that all my powers of hope and fear are joined and engaged to constrain my obedience to the excellent and divine precepts of this religion. I feel that I am quite altered from what once I was, I am a new creature, and the change is divine and heavenly.—There is something within me, that bears witness, that my religion is from God.

II. It is a witness that will, in some measure, appear in the life, wheresoever it is written in the heart: For eternal life is an active principle, it will be discovering and exercising itself. Is it possible, that a man should have the pardon of his sins, and sweet peace of conscience, a sense of the love of God, who is an infinite good, a joyful satisfaction in his heavenly favour, and manifest nothing of this in his aspect and behaviour? That he should shew no serenity of countenance, no sweetness of temper, no inward joy; Is it possible that he should have an utter aversion to sin, a hatred of all iniquity in his heart, and not make it appear in his life? That he should maintain a holy contempt of this world, and scorn of it, in comparison of the future glories that his eye is fixed upon, so warm a zeal for God, and so hearty a love to men, and not manifest it to the world? Surely his life will be above, where his heart is; and his heart will be in heaven, where his treasures are. _Our conversation is in heaven, says the blessed Paul, under the influence of this religion and these hopes_; Phil. iii. 20, 21.

It is true indeed, this is a testimony that cannot be communicated to others, in the same measure and manner that it is felt by the persons that believe. In this respect it is like the hidden manna, which none knows but that they taste of it; yet those that feed upon it daily, will discover it in some outward appearances; as you read of Jonathan, in the day when he was faint in pursuing his enemies, he tasted of the honey, and his eyes were enlightened; 1 Sam. xiv. 27. Just so will it be with the soul that hath tasted of the gospel of Christ, this food of eternal life; he will discover it in his language, in his behaviour; and it is a shame to those that profess to be believers, that in all things they look so much like the men of this world, and do not discover it in their lives, and witness what they have in their hearts, even the beginning of eternal life: If we are the epistle of Christ, we shall be, in some measure, known and read of all men; 2 Cor. iii. 2, 3. Christianity in the soul, eternal life begun in the heart, will be like the sweet ointment of the right-hand, that bewrays itself, and cannot be hid; Prov. xxvii. 16. Ye christians, ye are the light of the earth, ye believers are the salt of the world; ye must not appear like others if you would be like yourselves; the honour of God your Saviour demands some sensible and important difference. Ye must not be too much like the world, if ye mean to give glory or evidence to the religion of Christ; John xv. 19. Rom. xii. 2.

III. Though this inward evidence of the truth of christianity be of a spiritual nature, and spring from pious experience, yet it is a very rational evidence also, and may be made out and justified to the strictest reason. It is no vain, fanciful, and enthusiastic business; for while every believer feels the argument working strong in his heart and soul, he finds also the convincing force of it upon his understanding: While he feels his inward powers sweetly inclined to virtue and holiness, which by nature had strong inclination to sensuality and sin, and knows that this was wrought in him purely by the gospel of Christ; he cannot but infer, that must be a divine principle which has such divine effects. He knows that he was once blind and dead in trespasses and sins, but now he is awake, and alive to God and to righteousness: he is born again, he dwells, as it were, in a new world, there is a mighty and surprizing change past upon him, even from death to life; and thence he concludes, by the justest rules of reasoning, that it must be a doctrine of divine wisdom and power, that gave him this blessed resurrection: It is above and beyond nature, it is a miracle of grace, and none but God could work it.

And this is what I call the inward witness of the Spirit of God to the truth of the gospel, at least in these latter ages of christianity. The outward and more visible testimony of the spirit consists in those sensible miracles that were wrought, and those wondrous gifts of healing; of tongues, &c. that were bestowed on the first christians; Heb. ii. 4. Rom. xv. 19. But the Spirit’s inward testimony is the constant miracle of regeneration and converting grace. This witness, in my opinion, has been dishonoured by too many protestants, when they have explained it merely by inward impulses, and vehement impressions upon the mind, without the conduct of reason. This has tempted the profane world to call our devout efforts of christian piety mere enthusiasm and wild imagination, the flashes of a kindled blood and vapours, that are puffed about with every wind: But when the testimony of the spirit is explained in the manner I have described, it must approve itself to all the sober and reasonable part of mankind.

Here let us stand still and consider, how great and divine a power was necessary to make this mighty change on the heart of a poor, ignorant, guilty, sinful creature, and establish him a saint in peace and purity. It is not every one that hears this same gospel, that obtains the same salvation, and that feels the same glorious change; and many a true christian must confess, how long they sat under the same ministry and instructions before their hearts were brought to love God, or renewed to an heavenly life; Thus their experience teaches them, there was an Almighty virtue and efficacy at last attended this gospel, which made it more powerful in one day, or week, or month, than it had been in whole years before. There was a quickening spirit, that accompanied the voice of the word, and gave them life, while the word called them to arise from the dead. And this is yet more gloriously evident, when such changes have been wrought on sinners in an hour or two: They went to hear the gospel, poor, lame, blind, senseless and thoughtless of God and eternity; and they were awakened, convinced of sin and of righteousness; they learnt their ruin and their recovery at once, through the atonement and grace of Christ: The poor came home enriched with various graces: the blind see wonders, and the lame return leaping and rejoicing in the hope of glory. This gives plain proof of a divine doctrine, and a divine attending spirit and power.

It is the blessed Spirit of God, who dictated these divine truths of the gospel, that accompanies them with his own power to the minds and consciences of those who hear the gospel preached, and by his own power works this glorious change in the hearts and lives of sinners: It is through the sanctification of the spirit, and the belief of the truth, that sinners are called by the gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ; 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. It is by the preaching of this gospel, attended with this spirit, that the fornicators and adulterers become chaste, the thieves and extortioners are made honest and just, the covetous earth-worms become heavenly-minded, the drunkards are turned sober, and these heirs of hell are made fit to inherit the kingdom of God. The unclean are washed, the unholy are sanctified, and the guilty justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God: 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11. It is the blessed Spirit the Comforter, that speaks peace to the conscience of believers, through the atoning blood of Christ; it is he sheds abroad the love of God in their hearts, by believing the gospel; Rom. v. 5. and it is he that fills them with love to God and to their neighbour; for this love is the fruit of the Spirit; Gal. v. 22, and when the Spirit of God shines upon his own work in the soul of man, and makes this glorious change appear to the self-examining christian, it is a noble testimony that it gives to the truth and divinity of the gospel of Christ.

IV. This witness to the truth of christianity is certain and infallible, in the nature and reason of things; and where this divine life arises to a considerable height, it gives a full assurance to the christian, that his religion is true. Eternal life begun in the soul, according to the description of it, cannot rise from a _false_ doctrine; it must proceed from the God of truth, who himself is _eternal life_; 1 John v. 20. and the original and spring of it to all his happy creatures. If it were possible that any other doctrine or religion could work such an inward witness in the hearts of sinners; if it were possible that any mere human gospel could give such a life and happiness as I have described, God would never have appointed his own divine gospel such a doubtful witness. But I may say, God will never suffer so divine a testimony to belong to any religion, but that which himself hath revealed; and in our day it can belong to none but the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If false religions could have this witness, could work this eternal life in sinners, we could hardly ever have sufficient rules to judge of the true religion by. Rejoice then ye that have found this witness in your souls, that have eternal life begun in you; seek after no other way to heaven. Be not drawn aside from the truth, but be stedfast. Ye cannot find such another doctrine among men; ye cannot find another religion that can offer such testimonies as this. It is then a convincing, an infallible witness; such a new and heavenly life wrought in the heart, is a sure proof that the doctrine comes from God.

V. It is a strong and powerful witness, and ever ready at hand to baffle the most learned sophisms, and the boldest temptations. It lies so near, and is always at hand, that it is a present shield against every flying arrow from the camp of infidelity. It is an argument drawn from sense and vital experience, and it effectually answers all the subtle cavils of false reasoning. Suppose a crafty philosopher should pretend to prove, that bread is not wholesome, that water is useless to allay thirst, or wine is mere poison; I may boldly maintain the wholesomeness, and the happy use of bread, water, and wine; for I am daily nourished by this bread, my thirst has been perpetually quenched by water, and I have often found and felt this wine refresh me. The quibbles of logic, against the sense and experience of a true christian, are but as darts of straw and stubble against the scales of a leviathan.

When _the Greeks, who seek after learning_, say to a christian, “How can this gospel be true and divine, which is so plain and simple in itself, which was preached by a parcel of fishermen, and invented by a carpenter, and his followers that published it had no more learning than he? How is it possible such a religion should be from God, that hath so much of unlearned simplicity in it?” But the christian can tell them, that all the wisdom and learning of the philosopher could never do such miracles as this gospel has done, could never work such a divine life and temper in my heart.

When the Jews shall say, “How can this be the Messiah? For the Messiah, the Son of God, must be a great King, the Governor of the earth, must deliver the Jews from their slavery, must have power over all the nations; how could this be the Messiah, that was crucified among his countrymen, and we, with our fellow-citizens, joined together to put him to death, and he lay like a mere mortal in his grave? How can this be the Saviour, or can his religion be true?” The christian, that is called of God, and has found the witness in himself, makes answer, _he that was foolishness to the Greeks, and a scandal to the Jews, is the wisdom of God, and the power of God to me._ I have seen my _sins nailed to the cross_ of this Redeemer; I have found a way for the pardon of all my iniquities, and the satisfaction of my conscience (which was before full of anguish) in and from the cross of this Messiah; I have found holiness wrought in my soul by the belief of this gospel; I have felt such virtue proceeding from this Saviour, that I, who was before all over unclean and defiled, am in some degree made holy: This gospel therefore must be from God, and this is the Messiah, his Son.

When the deists of our age shall object and say, “How can ye believe such a religion to be divine, that is delivered in so poor and mean a way, as the story of Christ, and all the strange doctrines of your gospel? How can the bible be the word of God? Not only because there are so many obscurities and mystical speeches in it, that a learned man in our day would be ashamed to write it? How can this gospel be the revelation of God, that wants so much of the beauty of oratory and strong reasoning, which the wisdom of man pretends to, and daily performs?” But the christian answers; “The gospel, that is contained here, must be from God: For although it has so much human weakness in our eyes, I have felt a divine power attending it, it hath been to me the power of God unto salvation. Let it want therefore what human ornaments it will, if it has a divine efficacy in it, I am sure it is from above.” Thus whatsoever temptations are proposed to baffle his faith, and to stagger his belief of the doctrine of Christ, this one instance of its divinity, keeps the believer steady: “I have found it of efficacy to begin eternal life in me, therefore I know it is from God.”

But as to this sort of objections, against the truth and divinity of our religion, arising from the doubtful or difficult evidence of the books of scripture, we may fetch a noble answer from the experimental testimony of which I am now speaking: And this shall be the sixth property of this inward witness.

VI. It is such a witness to the truth of the christian religion, as does not depend on the exact truth of letters and syllables, nor on the critical knowledge of the copies of the bible, nor on this old manuscript, or on the other new translation: For how great soever the difference may be between the various ancient copies of the books of scripture, or the elder or later translations of it, either in protestant or popish countries; yet the substance of christianity is so scattered through all the New Testament, and especially among the epistles, that every manuscript and every translation has enough of the gospel to save souls by it, and make a man a christian indeed. How full of noise and controversy has the christian world been, especially in the learned ages of it, in order to adjust and settle the true books of scripture, the true verses, and the true reading? How many doubtful words have crept into some of the written copies by the mistakes of transcribers? And how exceeding hard, if not impossible, is it in many cases to judge which was the true and authentic word or sentence? But the humble and sincere christian has learned so much of the same gospel, in which all copies agree, as has renewed his sinful nature, and wrought a divine life in him, and therefore he is sure the substance of this gospel must be from God. Nay, if this property of the inward witness be duly considered a little further in the nature and attendants of it, we shall find that every true christian has a sufficient argument and evidence to support his faith, without being able to prove the authority of any of the canonical writings. He may hold fast his religion, and be assured that it is divine, though he cannot bring any learned proof that the book that contains it is divine too; nay, though the book itself should ever happen to be lost or destroyed: And this will appear with open and easy conviction, by asking a few such questions as these:

Was not this same gospel preached with glorious success before the new testament was written? Were not these same doctrines of salvation by Jesus Christ published to the world by the ministry of the apostles, and made effectual to convert thousands, before they set themselves to commit these doctrines to writing? And had not every sincere believer, every true convert, this blessed witness in himself, that christianity was from God? Eight or ten years had past away, after the ascension of Christ, before any part of the New Testament was written, (as learned men conceive) and what unknown multitudes of christian converts were born again by the preaching of the word, and raised to a divine and heavenly life, long ere this book was half finished or known, and that among heathens as well as Jews? And though the scriptures of the Old Testament might prepare the minds of some of these to receive the gospel; yet we have reason to believe, that great numbers, especially of the Gentile world, were convinced by miracles and tongues, and some, perhaps by mere narratives and exhortations, and became holy believers; each of them _the epistle of Christ written in the heart_, and bearing about within them a noble and convincing proof that this religion was divine, and that without a written gospel, without epistles, and without a bible.

Again, in the first ages of Christianity, for several hundred years together, how few among the common people were able to read? How few could get the possession of the use of a bible, when all sacred as well as profane books must be copied by writing? How few of the populace, in a large town or city, could obtain or could use any small part of scripture, before the art of printing made the word of God so common? And yet millions of them were regenerated, sanctified, and saved by the ministration of this gospel. The sum, and sense, and substance of this divine doctrine, communicated to the nations in various forms of speech, and in different phrases, made a divine impression on their minds, being attended by the power of the blessed Spirit; and while it stamped its own sacred image on their souls, it transformed their natures into holy and heavenly, and created so many new witnesses to the truth of the gospel, for it begun eternal life in them.

Consider then, christians, and be convinced, that the gospel has a more noble inward witness belonging to it, than is derived from _ink and paper_, from precise letters and syllables: And though God, in his great wisdom and goodness, saw it necessary that the New Testament should be written, to preserve these holy doctrines uncorrupted through all ages; and though he was pleased to appoint the written word to be the invariable and authentic rule of our faith and practice, and make it a glorious instrument of instructing ministers and people to salvation in all these later times: Yet christianity has a secret witness in the hearts of believers, that does not depend on their knowledge and proof of the authority of the scriptures, nor of any of the controversies that in late ages have attended the several manuscript copies, and different readings and translations of the bible.

Now this is of admirable use and importance in the christian life, upon several accounts: As,

1. If we consider how few poor unlearned christians there are, who are capable of taking in the arguments which are necessary to prove the divine authority of the sacred writings; and few, even among the learned, can well adjust and determine many of the different readings, or different translations of particular scriptures. Now a wise christian does not build his faith and hope merely upon any one or two single texts, but upon the general scope, sum, and substance of the gospel, the great doctrines of the satisfaction for sin, by the blood of Christ, and the renewal of our corrupt natures by the Holy Spirit, the necessity of faith in Christ, repentance of sin, and sincere holiness, in order to salvation and heavenly glory; and by these he feels a spiritual life of peace and piety begun in him: And here lies his evidence that christianity is divine, and that these doctrines are from heaven, though a text or two may be written false, or wrong translated, or though a whole book or two may be hard to be proved authentic.

The learned well know what need there is of turning over the histories of ancient times, of the traditions and writings of the fathers, and authors, pious and profane; what need of critical skill in the holy languages, and in ancient manuscripts; what a wide survey of various circumstances of fact, time, place, style, language, &c. is necessary to confirm one or another book or verse of the New Testament, and to answer the doubts of the scrupulous, and the bold objections of the infidel; what laborious reasonings are requisite to found our faith on this bottom. Now how few of the common rank of christians, whose hearts are inlaid with true faith in the Son of God, and real holiness, have leisure, books, instructions, advantages, and judgment to make a thorough search into these matters, and to determine, upon a just view of argument, that these books were written by the sacred authors whose names they bear, and that these authors were under an immediate inspiration in writing them? What a glorious advantage is it then to have such an infallible testimony to the truth of the gospel wrought and written in the heart by renewing grace, as does not depend on this laborious, learned, and argumentative evidence of the divine authority of the bible, or of any particular book or verse of it?

2. If we consider what bold assaults are sometimes made upon the faith of the unlearned christian, by the deists and unbelievers of our age, by disputing against the authority of the scripture, by ridiculing the strange narratives and sublime doctrines of the bible, by setting the seeming contradictions in a blasphemous light, and then demanding, “How can you prove, or how can you believe, that this book is the word of God, or that the religion it teaches is divine?” In such an hour of contest, how happy is the christian that can say, “Though I am not able to solve all the difficulties in the bible, nor maintain the sacred authority of it against the cavils of wit and learning; yet I am well assured that the doctrines of this book are sacred, and the authority of them divine: For when I heard and received them, they changed my nature, they subdued my sinful appetites, they made a new creature of me, and raised me from death to life; they made me love God above all things, and gave me the lively and well-grounded hope of his love: Therefore I cannot doubt but that the chief principles of this book are heavenly and divine, though I cannot so well prove that the very words and syllables of it are so too; for it is the sense of scripture, and not the mere letters of it, on which I build my hope.” I might say yet further,

3. This inward witness gives great support in hours of darkness and temptations of the devil, when such sudden thoughts shall be thrown into the mind even of a learned christian: “What if the scripture should not be divine? What if this gospel and the other epistle should not be written by inspiration? What if these should be merely the words of men, and not the very word of God?” The believer, who feels a renewed nature, and a divine life working within him, can boldly repel these fiery darts of Satan, with such a reply as this: “Though I cannot at present recollect all the arguments that prove Matthew, Mark, and Luke, to be divine historians, or Peter and Paul to be inspired writers; yet the substance and chief sense of their gospels, and their epistles must needs be divine, and God is the author of it, for it has begun the spiritual and eternal life in my soul; and this is my witness (or rather the witness of the Spirit of God within me) that Christ _is the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners_, and the religion that I profess and practice is safe and divine.”

And though there are many and sufficient arguments drawn from criticism, history, and human learning, to prove the sacred authority of the bible, and such as may give abundant evidence to an honest enquirer, and full satisfaction that it is the word of God; yet this is the chief evidence that the greatest part of christians can ever attain of the divine original of the holy scripture itself, as well as the truth of the doctrines contained in it, _viz._ That they have found such a holy and heavenly change passed upon them by reading or hearing the propositions, the histories, the promises, the precepts, and the threatenings of this book: And thence they are wont to infer, that the God of truth would not attend a book, which was not agreeable to his mind, with such glorious instances of his own power and grace. Though it must be still confessed, that this argument is much stronger, and the evidence brighter for the general truth of christianity, than it can possibly be for the sacred authority of any one verse or chapter of the New Testament.

I have dwelt the longer on this sixth property of the inward witness, because I think it of great importance in our age, which has taken so many steps towards heathenism and infidelity: for this argument or evidence will defend a christian in the profession of the true religion, though he may not have skill enough to defend his bible.

[This sermon may be divided here, if it be too long.]

VII. This is an universal witness to the truth of the gospel; for it belongs to every true christian. The weak, as well as the strong, enjoy this inward evidence in some measure and degree. This is an argument of some force and conviction to him, who is but young in grace and knowledge, as well as to him that has made high advances in the faith, and is grown up to the stature of man in _Christ_. Though it must be acknowledged that where faith and love, holiness and peace are weak, the evidence of this testimony is weak also; yet it may sometimes stand firm and strong, and shine bright in those christians, whose intellectual powers are but mean and low. Some persons of great holiness, may have but little natural parts, poor understandings, a mean education, and can scarce give any clear rational account of the things of this world, or of that which is to come; and these enjoy a great degree of this inward witness to the truth of christianity, that a divine life is begun in them, and that the gospel has effectually wrought in them _a new nature; those great and precious promises of the gospel having made them partakers of the divine nature_, they are sure those promises must be divine, 2 Pet. i. 4. and 1 Cor. i. 22, 23. _Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called; but God hath chosen the poor, and the weak, and foolish things of this world, to confound the wise and the mighty_: Nor yet hath he chosen, or called one of them, without giving them a sufficient witness to the truth of that gospel, by and to which they are called. Though they cannot argue for the doctrine of _Christ_, yet they find _Christ dwelling within them the hope of glory_; Col. i. 27. They find the characters of _Christ_ copied out in their hearts, and the life of _Christ_ in some measure, transcribed in their lives. They find something of sacred influence from the gospel of Christ, which no other doctrines can pretend to; therefore though they cannot give a rational account, which shall answer all the cavils of men; why they believe christianity, through the weakness of their knowledge, yet their faith in Christ is strong; for they are sure the doctrine is divine, because of the sweet and sanctifying influence it has upon them. How condescending is God to poor sinners, to give such a religion to be saved by, that everyone who receives it shall have an infallible witness in himself of the truth of it, without the learning of the schools, and the knowledge of tongues! Their chief argument for it is, they have divine holiness, and divine peace.

VIII. This inward witness of the truth of christianity, is, or should be, always growing and improving. The testimony increases as the divine love increases; the greater the degree of holiness we arrive at, the more are we confirmed in the truth of christianity the testimony grows stronger, 2 Cor. iii. 18. You find that text approves of what I have now argued. When the apostle had been distinguishing between the religion of the law, and that of the gospel; that the one was covered with a veil, but under the other this veil was taken away: We, says he, under the gospel, _with open face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory. We who behold the face of Christ Jesus_ in his gospel, we who here see a God reconciled in and by the death of his Son, we who see the holiness of Christ here described, copied, and exemplified, _we are changed into the same image_. The image of Christ is transcribed upon our natures, we go on from one degree of it to another; we are changed _from glory to glory_, from one degree of glorious holiness to another: thereby the gospel appears to have a fairer, a brighter, and a stronger evidence.