3. Those that have felt no experience of this power have a secret fear of it : John iii. 20, ' Every one that doeth evil hatetli the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.' Con- science is afraid of the majesty of God shining forth in the scriptures. Men dare not pause upon, and consider the doctrine therein contained. Atheism lieth in the heart, the seat of desire : Ps. xiv. 1, ' The fool hath said in his heart. There is no God.' Men question the word, be- cause they would not have it true. When men give leave to lusts, they are afraid the word should prove true, and therefore would rather accuse the word of falsity than their own hearts ; as Ahab was loath to hear Micaiah, because he prophesied evil. Strong lusts make the soul incredulous ; they fear the scriptures, and then question them. They know there is power in them to astonish them ; and therefore, as malefactors desire to destroy the records and evidences that are against them, so do wicked men ; they are antiscripturists in affection, rather than opinion.
Fifthly, By the Spirit's testimony. That it is so is clear : 1 John V. 6, ' It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.' The doctrine of the gospel is there called Spirit, because he is the author of it: 2 Peter i. 21, 'For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' Or because the Spirit is truth, therefore he is the supreme witness. He is of God's privy council : I Cor. ii. II, 'For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man, that is in him ? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.' Now the Spirit witnesseth from heaven or on earth : I John V. 7, 8, ' For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, tlie 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 blood; and these three agree in one.' From heaven in miracles, and so Christ as God might be a witness in his own cause. On earth ; so in an association and conjunction with water and blood, when we feel the effects of it in ease of conscience, or sanctification of heart. And over and above the Spirit's testimony there is an inward testimony : I John v. 10, ' He that believeth in the Son of God, hath the testimony in himself ' But what is this inward testimony? A
448 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [Ser. XXVIII.
•witness to the truth of scripture by the certainty of our own thoughts ; it is not that which every one's mind and fancy suggests to him, but the light of the Holy Gliost leading us into the acknowledgment of the truth ; the same Holy Ghost which inspired the penmen of the scriptures, inclines our hearts to believe them : 1 John ii. 27, ' But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you ; and ye need not that any man teach you : but as the same anointing teacheth you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.' Faith cannot be wrought by human authority, or mere rational inducements ; it is the work of the Spirit. We may plead and urge, but the heart closeth not with what is represented till the Spirit worketh : Isa. liii. 1, 'Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? ' There is an outward report, and an inward revelation. This testimony of the Spirit may be thus discerned.
1. It is affective. Truth represented in the light of reason, leaveth a weak impression ; but truth represented ' in evidence and demon- stration of the Spirit,' 2 Cor. ii. 4, worketh after another manner, sees another manner of excellence and beauty in Christ, another man- ner of vanity in the creatures.
2. It draweth to admiration : Ps. cxix. 18, ' Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out thy law.' A man never wondereth so at the dreadfulness of God's wrath, at the sweetness of God's mercy in Christ, at the evil of sin, the strictness of duty, till the Spirit opens his eyes : Acts xiii. 12, ' Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.'
3. It begets more certainty. Till we have the Spirit's light, we have but a trembling, wavering opinion, but then we have that which the apostle calleth, ' The fulness of the assurance of under- standing,' Col. ii. 2. Though we have no other arguments, yet we see by another light. As Gerson reporteth of a devout man, that doubted of an article of faith, and came to be settled, not by any new demonstration, but by the humiliation and captivation of the under- standing, to see more by former arguments ; as Hagar's eyes were opened to see the fountain by her. Gen. xxi. 19. The Spirit taketh away the veil of ignorance, tlie pride of reason ; and by an over- powering force maketh the soul stoop to the simplicity of the gospel.