THE christian's KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
1 John V. 20. IFe know that the Son of God is come, and hath giien m an under stnnd'ing that we may know him t/^at
is
1194.] THE christian's knowledge of CHRIST. 289
is true ; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ : this is the true God, and eternal life.
IT is thought by many, that the doctrines of the Gospel are uncertain speculations, and that the ex- perience of them in the soul is nothing more than an enthusiastic conceit. We acknowledge that the mysteries of religion are in many respects beyond the grasp of our reason ; and that the inward feelings arising from them can be judged of by those only in whose bosom they are found : yet neither the one nor the other can on this account be considered as uncertain : on the contrary, whenever they are men- tioned in the Scriptures, they are spoken of as matters that are plain and unquestionable. In the text, and the two verses that precede it, the Apostle thrice repeats the assertion, " We know ;" — ''We know that he that is born of God sinneth not :" " We knouf that we are of God :" and then, in reference both to the Gospel itself, and to his experience of its truth, he adds a third time, *' We know that the Son of God is come," &c.
From these words we shall be led to notice three things which Christians know in relation to their Lord and Saviour:
I. His advent —
The first Christians knew assuredly that the Messiah was come —
[To state all the grounds of their conviction, would be superfluous, and indeed impossible in a single Sermon. We shall confine ourselves to those which were most obvious and incontrovertible, namely, the prophecies that were accomplished in him, and the miracles that were wrought hy him. When they saw that so many, so various, so minute, and (to appearance) so contradictory prophecies all united in him, and were fulfilled by him, they could not doubt but that Jesus was the person to whom they all referred. When, moreover, they beheld such numerous, such undoubted, such benevolent, and such stupendous miracles wrought by him in confirmation of his word, it was impossible for them to with- hold their assent to the justice of his claims, unless they were altogether blinded by Satan and their own lusts.]
VOL, XI. u But