2. He has an inward experience of the things which he knows —
[St. John affirms this very thing : " He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself';" that is, he has in his soul a distinct perception of those truths which he has received through the medium of his understanding. And this also, I thhik, may, through a familiar illustration, be made perfectly intelligible to our minds. We know that our senses are given us for the purpose of discerning the distinctive ex- cellencies of every thing around us. It is not sufficient that one faculty alone be brought to bear upon the object that is set before us : we must exercise upon every thing that very faculty which is pre-eminently formed to discover and appre- ciate its excellence. Suppose we see, for instance, the sun, without fee ling its beams ; or a flower, without having our smell regaled by its odours ; or honey, without tastmg its sweetness ; or a singing bird, without hearing his melodious notes ; it is obvious that we can form but a very inadequate notion of these things, for want of an acquaintance with their chief excellencies: and, in like manner, we can ill judge of a diamond by the touch, when its brilliancy has never been submitted to our sight. It is through the apprehending of every thing by its appropriate sense, that we attain just and adequate perceptions of it. Now the Apostle tells us, that the godly man " has all his senses exer- cised to discern good and evil'':" and hence it is, that having within himself a perception of them which no other man can enjoy, he possesses also an evidence which no other man can attain. Now this test may be applied to every thing that is of a spiritual nature ; and the perception arising from it is fitly called " a spiritual discernment':" and by this, I say again, " we understand all things ;" as St. John also has told us ; " Ye have an unction of the Holy One, and ye know all things "*." Here is contained all that I have spoken ; namely, the extent of the knowledge possessed by God's people, and the means by which they are enabled to attain it: "We know all things," because God himself is our teacher ; and by the unction poured out, that is, by the " eye-salve which he puts upon our eyes," he gives us the actual perception of every thing in our own souls", and, consequently, the clear and proper understanding of it.]
Methinks you are now ready to inquire,
1. How shall I attain this understanding? [I answer. Not by mere study, even of the Scriptures them- selves ; but rather by " seeking after God" in spirit and in truth. This is the particular point suggested in my text :
i 1 John v. 10. k Heb. v. 14. ' 1 Cor. ii. 14.
m 1 John ii. 20, 27- " Rev. iii. 18.
t2