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name, by his Spirit in the work of regeneration; by his own cheering and comforting language in their progress towards complete sanctification.

2dly. We observe that the witness of the word of God was not observed only in this, that his specch was according to knowledge, but that it was from the most intimate acquaintance with the Father and ocular investigation of his divine dealings. " I "know him, (said Christ) and if I should say, I "know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you;" and in what instances may it be said, that Christ knew the Father? First, In that he knew that the Father would continue to him after his voluntary obedience to death, all those honours and all that glory which he possessed with him from all eternity, and that not so much as a matter of divine right on the part of Christ, which was indisputable, but on his atonement and all its offices for the good of man being completed as a matter of merit on account of the most perfect, patient, and satisfactory sufferings ever performed, which had in view the glory of God in the salvation of man, and that he would bestow upon those whom he had given him, viz. the elect, all the glory and honor he had promised unto them for the sake of their covenant head.

3dly. I briefly notice the persons united with Christ in this knowledge and insight into the subject. The subject it will be recollected is divine, as it regards all the wisdom of the Godhead, beaming forth in the contrivance of a method to save fal

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len man, and human as it regards the making it known powerfully and efficaciously in the hearts of the elect who were to be saved. But a plurality of persons is here spoken of, "We speak that We do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness." Witnesses are characters often spoken of in the Holy Scriptures. They are in general spoken of as fixed or appointed, and not mere accidental observers of any transaction, and are intended in general to point out either the solemnity or atrociousness of what is done. In the simplicity of the patriarchal ages we find them employed by design, and that with the most solemn meaning, in confirmation of some covenant entered into between different parties. Thus when Laban in wrath pursued after Jacob, they were at last induced by the good Providence of God, who watched over Jacob, to enter upon some compact by which they should neither of them pass over to the other, to hurt him; " And Laban said unto Ja"cob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, "which I have cast betwixt me and thee; this "heap be witness and this pillar be witness, that I "will not pass over this heap to thee, and that "thou shalt not pass over this heap, and this pillar "unto me, for harm. The God of Abraham, "and the God of Nahor, the God of their father judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear

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of his father Isaac," Gen. xxxi. 51 to 53. and what witnesses more true and more solemn in their

testimony than those works of Christ whilst here below, which bear testimony to his divinity and divine mission, "The works which the Father hath

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given me to finish, the same works that I do, "bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent "me," John v. 36. But to speak to the point as to the fellow witnesses of Christ, whose testimony he could appeal to, with his own, and equally press upon our attention; "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

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Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agree in one," 1 John v. Many who wish to set aside the divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit, will say as other infidels have done before them, this passage is an interpolation. But I thank God the proof of their divinity rests not on one or even a few passages of scripture: it is as difficult for the infidel to controvert, as it was for Hercules to slay the Lernean Hydra with whom it is fabled, fresh heads seemed to rise up as fast as those it possessed were beaten in pieces. So this from the first to the last of the scriptures, is interwoven in their very composition, so that if this be taken away their beauty and harmony is decomposed and taken away. Let us consult a few more scriptures; "God is my "witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers," Rom. i. 9. where

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the Father is evidently spoken of, both from the agreement with verse the 8th, and also from the Son being mentioned in verse the 9th. Again, "Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which "is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven spirits which are before his "throne: and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, "and the prince of the kings of the earth,” Rev. i. 5 and 6, where Christ is emphatically called the faithful witness and no wonder, for it is declared elsewhere, "The testimony (or witness) of Jesus is "the spirit of prophecy," Rev. xix. 10. Seeing that it gives prophecy all its beauty, and all its harmony, and all its vigor, by its bearing witness to the fulfilling of the law and the prophets in the mediatorial offices of Christ.

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Again, "For by one offering, he (Christ) hath "for ever perfected them that are sanctified; whereof the Holy Spirit also is a witness unto us,” Heb. x. 15. Hence these three witnesses agree in one. To conclude this subject, Christ reproaches certain characters, "Ye receive not our witness.” Is it a few individuals only who merit this reproach? Alas! alas! it is all mankind; all absolutely in their unregenerate condition, and the unregenerate for ever if they continue so. And what testimony of Jesus do all men in their natural state deny? First, the necessity of regeneration, in which they say with Nicodemus, "How can a man be born

"when he is old? Can he enter a second time "into his mother's womb and be born?" John iii. 4. And second, The nature of regeneration, though expressly stated thus: "The wind bloweth where "it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, "but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither "it goeth: so is every one born of the Spirit," to which it argues thus with Nicodemus, "How can "these things be?" John iii. 8 and 9. But I enter not on these two points, viz. The necessity and nature of regeneration, as I shall soon have to speak of them under two distinct heads.

10th. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John viii. 34.

Sin in its nature, progress, effects and consequences is set before us in the most odious colours throughout the Bible: the testimony of prophets, patriarchs, priests, kings, under the old dispensation of John the Baptist, of Christ himself, his apostles, disciples, and martyrs in the New, above all the voice of God from beginning to end, both of old and new, is against it. Death now, and hell for ever, insatiably open their jaws at its commission, and eagerly grasp their appointed victims, though as these delight in sin and are therefore enemies of God, their testimony is to be regarded, not because they rejoice in its commission, but because their rejoicing proves it even still more hateful in the sight of God. The nature of sin in the gross may

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