ſ In the latter, in that, or ſomewhat equivalent, or better ;” for if he determine that thing to be beſt for us, all Circumſtances confider- ed, we ſhall have it, if he determine otherwiſe ( ſuppoſing we pray according to: his Will ) we defire it not : For every one intends Good to himſelf, when he prays for any thing, not hurt. And God anſwers his Children according to that general meaning of their Pray- ers, not always according to the particular ( which may be often a much miſtaken ) meaning. According whereto ſuppoſing the thing would be really and in truth hurtful, ( and God's Judgment is always according to Truth ) they conſtrufively pray to be denied it ; and the De- mial is the Equivalent, -nay, the better thing than what they particu- larly prayed for; and fo they truly have their Petitions, See chap. 3.22. Nor'can any be underſteod to pray according to God'sWill as the Rule, it it be not to his Glory as the End, as the Order and ConneRion of Petitions ſhews in that admirble Platform preſcribed by our Lord
* John 2, 36.C5.24,
jj Or, cn- cerningh'm, ” Ch43. 22,
$ And there are three that bear witneſs in earth,
three agree 1n one 0.
o And for the-three that are ſaid to bear Witneſs on Earth ; there 1s firlt the Spirit, who though the Holy Ghoſt were in the former Triad, needs not here to be taken for another Spirit, but may be the ſame conſidered under another Notion, and as teſtifying in anther manner , not tranſiently and immediately from Heaven, as there, but ſlatedly, and as inating Inſtruments here on E.:rth: Extraordinarily, the Man Chriſt Jeſus, all his Apoſtles and firſt Diſciples, in all the wonderful Works which they did for the Confirmation of the Chriſtian Dofrine; and ordinarily the whole Church of true Chriſtians; for 1t animates the whole living Body of Chriſt, and makes it, though in an imper- fe& meaſure, by an uniform Courſe of Ations, tending to God and Heaven, an extant viſible Proof to the World of the Truth of that Religion which obtains in it, and of his Divine Power and Nature, who is the Head of it. Next, the Water, 1. e. the continual untainted, God-like Purity of our Lord Jeſus through the whole courfe of his terreſtrial State, manifeſtly ſhewed him to be the Son of God, an in- carnate Deity, inhabiting our World. And laſtly, the Blood, his ſuf- fering of Death, conſidered in the Circumſtances, was a moſt con- ſpicuous, clear Teſtimony and Indication who he was; ſo exaQtly ac- cording to the Predi&tion of the Prophets, attended with wonderful amazing concomitants, ending in ſo gforious a Reſurre&ion. And in and with both theſe the Spirit, complicating his Teſtimony, did bear witneſs too, as is intimated {after the former mention of them both) in the latter part of verſe 6, It teſtified all along, both in his clear 1amaculate Life, and in the bloody Death in which it affiſted him, which it accompanied with ſo marvellous EffeQs, and out of whic! at leathit tetcht him, Rom. 1. 44 And that part it took, as being the Spirit of Truth, and as it's there expreſt, in the ( more emphatical ) Abſtract, Truth it ſelf.
9 It we receive the witneſs of men, the witneſs of God is greater : for this is the witneſs of God, which
he hath reſtified of his ſon *. * A Teſtimony above exception, heing wholly divine, as he him- ſelf argued, 7ohn 5, 36, 37.1and 8.13, 14,17, 18.
10 He that believeth on the Son of God *, hath the witneſs in himſelf p - he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, becauſe he belizveth not the record that God gave of his Son.
himſelf. And is it poſſible to be the Senſe of any one that hath a ſin- cere Heart in Prayer, that God would gratifie him againſt himſelf? therefore that Latitude allowed the Apoſtles, Fohn 14. 13, 14. and 15.15, and 16. 23, &c. muſt be underſtood to reſpe& the Service of the Chriſtian intereſt, and is to be- limited thereby, as ſome of the Expreffions ſhew.
16 If any man ſee his brother fin a fin which is not unto death 7, he ſhall ask, and || he ſhall give him life, |". 5 for them that ſin not unto death + : there is a' fin unto + wat. 12.
death, I do not ſay z he ſhall pray for it. 31, 32.
t Viz. That appears not obſtinate an incurable : he ſhall aþ, i e. Mark 3+ with confidence, as verſe 14. But there 5s a Sin unto death, j, e. which 29+ Heb. 6. doth not barely deſerve Death, as all Sin doth, nor which argues a 4+ & 19. Perſon to be probably in a preſent State of Death, or Unregeneracy, 29+ which the ſinful ways may do of many that never made Profeſſion ; but of ſuch as have apoſtatized from a former ſpecious Profeſſion in to Hereſy and Debauchery, and continue obſtinate therein, againſt all methods of Recovery; that are, as Fude 12. even twice dead, &Cc. u 7.e. I do not give that encouragement to pray for ſuch, with that Hope and ExpeRation of Succeſs as for others ; though he doth not ſimply forbid praying for them neither, |
17 * All unrighteouſneſs is fin ||, and there is a fin not unto death.
|| He intimates they ſhould be cautious of all Sin, eſpecially more deliberate ( which the «dz ſeems to import) but would not have them account that every Sin would make their Caſe-fo hopeleſs, as ſuch Sin, which he called Sinning unto Death, would do,
18 We know that whoſoever is born of God, fin- neth not w ; but he that is begotten of ,God, keep eth himſelf, and that wicked one toucheth him nor.
w The great Advantage is here ſignified of the Regenerate, who by the ſeed remaining in them ( as Chap, z 9.) are furniſhed with a ſelf-preſerving Principle, with the exerciſe whereof they may expe& that Co-operation of a gracious Divine Influence by which they ſhall be kept, ſo as that wicked Ore, the great Deſtroyer of Souls, ſhall not mortally touch them, to make them fin unto Death.
19 And we'know that we are of God x, and the
whole World lieth in wickedneſs y. x And this he doth not excluſively afſume to himſelf, but ex-
* Ch. 3. +
Þ 7. e. If be truly believe, he hath the cffeQual Impreſs of this
prefles his:charitable Confidence of tzwem to whom he writes, that it
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