and invest them with a perfect righteousness, to begin the work of grace in them, to fill them with principles of holiness, and by degrees to fit them for his glory: such a soul is a believer on the Son of God, and such a soul has the witness in himself, that our religion is divine, and that christianity is from above.

11. The second thing I proposed to consider, is, What is the inward witness that faith gives to the truth of christianity?

At the first promulgation of the gospel, there were some souls overpowered with present miracles, attended with a divine light shining into them. This was such as they could not resist, such as carried glorious evidence with it, and effectually wrought upon them to believe that our religion was from heaven, that Christ was the Son of God, and that his name was the only ground of hope for salvation. This was miraculous and extraordinary, and not to be expected every day now; such was the conversion of St. Paul to christianity, and many such instances of miracles appeared in the first seasons of the gospel.

But the witness that the apostle John speaks of in my text, is such as belongs to every believer. It is an universal proposition, He that believes, has the witness in himself.

In order therefore to enquire into the nature of this testimony, I shall not lead you, nor myself into the land of blind enthusiasm, that region of clouds and darkness, that pretends to divine light. The apostle does not mean here a strong impulse, an irrational and ungrounded assurance that our religion is true. Many times these vehement impulses are but the foolish fires of fancy, that give the enquiring traveller no steady light or conduct, but lead him far astray from truth. Christianity has a better witness than this; being such as belongs to every believer, it must approve itself to the reason of men. And I will endeavour to explain it thus according to scripture.

Let it first be noted here, that the word witness is used frequently, by our translators, to signify testimony, or evidence. Nor will it create any confusion to use these words promiscuously in this discourse, while we distinguish them from the thing witnesed, (which in the original, is also palupa) and is translated the record, ver. 10, 11.

Now if we enquire what is that testimony to christianity, or that inward witness that every believer has in himself, let us consider what that record is which God has testified concerning his Son Christ Jesus. That you will find in the context, ver. 11, 12. This is the record or thing witnessed, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son; he that hath the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. He then that believes on the Son of God hath the witness, or testimony to christianity,' in himself, for he hath within him the thing testifed. Ile hath eternal life in himself, he hath this eternal life

already begun, and it shall be carried on and fulfilled in the days of eternity. By believing in Christ, we have a glorious testimony, or witness, within ourselves, that Christ is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and the author of eternal life; that his person is divine, that his doctrine is true, for eternal life is begun in us.

We shall make this more fully appear, by considering what is eternal life, and shewing how far it is found in every believer, and how it becomes a witness of christianity in his heart.

Eternal life consists in happiness and holiness; it is made up of these two, and there is such a necessary connection between them, that they run into one another; but for order-sake, I shall distinguish them thus:

The happiness of eternal life consists in the pardon of sin, in the special favour of God, and in the pleasure that arises from the regular operation of all our powers and passions. Now these three things are, in some measure, found with every soul that believes in Christ.

The happiness of eternal life consists,I. In the pardon of sin; thence arises peace of conscience. This is a part of heaven; the perfection of this peace belongs to the heavenly state. Our pardon is complete on earth, but the sense of this pardon is not complete and free from all doubts, or at least from all danger of doubting, till we arrive at full glory. When a soul is made sensible, that all its iniquities are for ever cancelled, that God will never avenge any of his crimes upon him, when he knows that this God, who has a right to punish with everlasting revenge, is at peace, and will demand no more satisfaction for his sins; this soul then has the beginning of heaven. This is a part of final blessedness, and of complete eternal life.

Now this is, in some measure, found in believers here: They that have trusted in the Son of God, begin to find peace in their own consciences, they can hope God is reconciled to them through the blood of Christ, that their iniquities are atoned for, and that peace is made betwixt God and them. This belongs only to the doctrine of Christ, and witnesses it to be divine: For there is no religion that ever pretended to lay such a foundation of pardon and peace, as the religion of the Son of God does; for he has made himself a propitiation; Jesus the righteous is become our reconciler by becoming a sacrifice: Rom. iii. 25. Him hath God set forth for a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, Rom. v. 1. Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world! was the language of John, who was but the forerunner of our religion, and took a prospect of it at a little distance: And

much more of the particular glories and blessings of this atonement is displayed by the blessed apostles the followers of the Lamb.

Other religions, that have been drawn from the remains of the light of nature, or that have been invented by the superstitious fears and fancies of men, and obtruded on mankind by the craft of their fellow-creatures, are all at a loss in this instance, and can never speak solid peace and pardon.

1. The religion of the Heathens, and the best of philosophers, could never assure us, Whether God would pardon sin at all, or no. The light of nature indeed would dictate thus much, that God is, in his own nature, gracious, and compassionate, and kind; but whether God would be gracious to you or me, compassionate to such ill-deserving sinners, as we are, the light of nature could never determine. It is only the Son of God, that came down from the bosom of the Father, could so well inform us how the Father's heart worked towards such sinners, in the designs of pardon and reconciliation.

2. Again, the light of nature could never tell us, how often God would pardon. sinners. Suppose it could be found out by reason that God is so compassionate, that he could forgive offences, yet it could never be inferred how often we would be forgiven; and if he had pardoned us once, we might for ever despair if we had committed new iniquities: For who but a divine messenger can tell us, that he will often repeat his pardons?

3. The light of nature could never inform us how great the offences were that could be forgiven; reason could never tell us, that rebellions of the biggest size, and treasons of the blackest aggravation, should be all cancelled; the light of nature could never say, All manner of sin, and blasphemy, shall be forgiven to men. This the Son of God hath only taught us, who came from the bosom of the Father, and who laid a foundation for the brightest displays of pardoning grace.

4. Reason, with all the principles of natural religion, could never teach us what we must do to obtain pardon, and on what terms God would forgive. Reason indeed might require us to repent of sin, but it could never assure us, that he that confesseth, and forsaketh his sins, shall find mercy. Nor could it shew us any mediator or reconciler between God and man, nor how, or in what manner, we must address ourselves to him, or to an offended God by him; reason could never start a thought of this strange way of salvation, that we must believe, or trust in another's sufferings in order to the pardon of our own sins; that we must depend on the merits and righteousness of one that died, in order to obtain forgiveness and life; that by faith, in the blood of Christ, God will justify them that believe in Jesus? What could the light of mere nature teach us concerning this Jesus? And yet

there is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved; Acts iv. 12.

5. The light of nature, or any religion invented by men, could never acquaint us with the foundation of divine forgiveness, nor shew us any merit sufficient to procure it; and in this sense we are left at a loss in all other religions, upon what ground we could expect pardon from God: For they knew nothing of an atonement equal to our guilt, nothing of a satisfaction great as our offences, and that could answer the high demands of infinite and offended justice. Mankind found out by reason, and by the stings and disquietudes of a guilty conscience, that there was an offended God in heaven; and in several countries they followed the dictates of a wild and uneasy imagination, inventing an endless variety of methods to appease the angry Deity. What multitudes of rams, and goats, and thousands of larger cattle, were cut to pieces, and burnt, to atone for the sins of men? What deluges of blood have overflowed their altars? What fanciful sprinklings, and vast effusions of wine and oil? The first-born son for the transgression of the father, and the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul? What cruel practices on their own flesh? What cuttings and burnings to procure pardon? And yet, after all, no true peace, nor reasonable hope.

The Jewish religion indeed was invented by God himself, and it contained in it the way of obtaining pardon, but it was veiled and darkened by many types and shadows; though it was not defective as to real pardon, yet it was very defective as to solid peace; therefore the apostle tells us, Heb. x. 1, 2, &c. The law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect, &c. The sense of which, compared with the following verses, is plainly this, Those sacrifices, that were so often repeated, could never perfectly take away the conscience of guilt: there still remained some trembling fears, some uneasy doubts, some painful concern of mind, whether their iniquities should be entirely cancelled or no: because they were convinced that the blood of bulls and goats could not do it, and they could not fully and plainly see the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour. Dark hints, and obscure notices of such a Messiah, and such a sacrifice, they had; but such a one as could not generally free their consciences from all sense of defilement and guilt, and fears, though it cleansed their souls in the sight of God.

The Socinians, in our age, can have but very little solid comfort, if they are truly awakened to a spiritual sight of the law of God; for when they have nothing to plead with God, and nothing to trust in but his mere absolute merey, while they deny the pro

per satisfaction of Christ Jesus, how weak must their hope be, how feeble is the foundation of it! but when a poor, convinced, awakened soul, that now believes the doctrine of Christ, has been long before tormented in his conscience about atonement for sin, and found no hope; the christian religion, the gospel, with its pardoning grace, and the satisfaction that Christ has made, gives the soul peace, and leads the troubled conscience to rest and quiet; he trusts this gospel, he receives this salvation, and hath the witness in himself that it is divine.

II. The happiness of eternal life consists also in the special favour of God, which is distinct from the pardon of sin; for it is very possible for a criminal to be pardoned, and not to be made a favourite of the king. The favour of God, and a sense of this favour, is a great part of heaven. This is called seeing of God, often in scripture. When souls are fully possessed of the love of God, when they have it shed abroad in their hearts in perfection; when they know that the infinite and eternal Maker and Governor of all things loves them, and will for ever love them, this is eternal life; and this is enjoyed in some measure here on earth by true believers, this is a part of eternal life begun in the heart of every christian; for when God pardons, he receives into his peculiar favour.

This the christian religion teaches us, but the light of nature could never tell us so: for if the light of nature and reason could have proceeded so far as to acquaint us with pardoning grace in all the extent of it, yet it could never have presumed to assure us That he should make the rebels he had pardoned his favourites for

We might have been forgiven, and then annihilated. But the scripture teaches us, whom God forgives he makes favourites too. And Christ Jesus has laid the foundation of this double blessing; for he has not only made an end of sin, but brought in an everlasting righteousness; Dan ix. 24. He has fulfilled the law in all the commands of it, as well as borne the penalty; he has purchased all the blessings of divine love, as well as bought a freedom from divine vengeance. If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life, Rom. v. 10. And in ver. 1, and 2, he saith, Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Thus you see there is not only reconciliation but full salvation, not only peace with God, but the hope of glory to be obtained by believing on the Son of God. Many are the instances of saints here dwelling in flesh in a day of grace, that have been raised to a good degree of eternal life in this respect, that have had a joyful sense of the love of God shed abroad in their souls, and upon solid grounds have hoped for glory, such as no other reli