tion, in all its parts, with the belief of his testimony concerning his Son. Between faith and unbelief there is all the difference that subsists between a pardoned and an unpardoned, a renewed and an unrenewed, a hopeful and a hopeless state, in this world; and between heaven and hell, the state of bliss and the state of woe, in the world to come. For thus saith the Lord-"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

PROPOSITION IV.

IT IS CONSISTENT WITH, AND FORMS A PART OF, THE DIVINE INTENTION, THAT BELIEVERS SHOULD KNOW THAT THEY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

THIS is evidently both the spirit and the letter of John's words :- "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that

ye may know that ye have eternal life."-The Apostle wrote under the influence of inspiration; so that what he wrote was not merely his, but God's, having the sanction and authority of Heaven. And the same thing is true of the end or design which he says he had in view in writing it :—that design, too, was not only his own, but God's. He declares God's truth, for God's end. The observation might be illustrated

from the first verse of chap. ii. "My little children, these things write we unto you, that ye sin not." That which he had, in the previous chapter, written, and the purpose for which he here states he had written it, were both alike of God.

It is quite clear, that the words on which our present discussion is founded do not mean merely its being the Apostle's object that they should know the general truth that eternal life was by the faith of the Son of God, and the general consequence thence resulting, with regard to themselves equally with others, that if they possessed this faith eternal life was theirs. It certainly means more,-namely, that, in believing, they themselves might have a personal knowledge of their possessing eternal life. The spirit of the words, laying all controversy aside, seems unquestionably to be—that it is not the purpose of "the God of all grace" that believing sinners should remain in a state of distressing uncertainty and doubt, with regard to their acceptance with Him, and their participation in the life which is by faith :—that it is not in harmony with his gracious design, that they should pass their lives here with nothing better than a mere peradventure, either respecting their spiritual state or their future prospects; that they should have nothing like certainty upon earth; that they should never be sure of their salvation, till they found themselves actually within the walls of the heavenly city. Even this, it

is true, would be a great thing. Were they to spend all their days on earth in anxious and trembling apprehension, or at best in timid and dubious hope; if at last they did find admission to heaven :-it would, even in that case, be a display of rich mercy, and a ground of everlasting praise. But the gracious kindness of their God is more generously enlarged. His love abounds. He means, not merely that they should get to heaven at last, but that the life which is to be perfected there should also be enjoyed here; that it should be begun on earth, and that its commencement and progress here should give them a happy security, as to its perfection and permanence above ;-that they should, while in this world, "have eternal life," and "know" that they have it. I cannot make any thing less than this of the Apostle's words.—And, if such be their import, it must surely be very unreasonable to startle so much as many do at the bare utterance of the word assurance. It is a Bible word, and it must have a Bible meaning. That meaning it should be our sole and simple desire to ascertain. The word may be used unscripturally. It may be applied to cases, where there exists no true scriptural ground for the security which it expresses, but where, on the contrary, that which is called "the full assurance of faith" might with greater truth be denominated the full assurance of presumption. But the misapplication of the term can never disprove the reality of the

thing; nor should we allow ourselves to be scared by any scriptural expression, merely because we may occasionally find it misappropriated and perverted.— The words before us are simple and explicit. Whatever may be the grounds on which the knowledge is to rest and to be enjoyed; whatever may be the "things written" (to be afterwards considered) by which the point in question is to be ascertained ;— nothing can be clearer than the declaration, in these words, of the divine intention that his people should "know that they have eternal life." Let none, therefore, set it aside as out of the question,—as a thing which it is vain and presumptuous to think of.— There is a very wide difference between possessing a calm and comfortable enjoyment of it in the soul, and being forward to affirm it and glory in it before others. A believer may be in the full possession of an inward, tranquil, and even joyful persuasion of his state before God, of his interest in the divine mercy and of his safety for eternity; and yet not stand ready when the question" Are you a child of God?" is put to him by a fellow-creature, to reply, with an unhesitating boldness, "I am." Let us recollect, that when any one says" I am a child of God," he in effect says, "I possess the character of a child of God;" for no one assuredly can be a child of God without this distinctive character. And can it then never happen, that persons who really have the least of the character

may be the most forward and fearless in making the affirmation? Never happen! It has happened in instances without number. It is what might reasonably be expected. Such persons have a low conception and a light impression of the standard of Christian character. They feel not, therefore, the burden of conscious failure lying with any painful pressure upon their hearts. The higher the estimate of that standard rises, the greater will the diffidence become with which the believer speaks of himself to others. There are, alas! multitudes of professing Christians, whose standard is very low. They have no scriptural conception of the spirituality of mind, the devotion of heart, the separation from the world, the holy conversation and godliness, the sublimity of uncompromising principle, the general sanctity of personal and social deportment, the walking with God, the waiting for Christ, the meetness for heaven,-that are incumbent on the child of God, and distinctive of him from the children of this world. In proportion as this low estimate prevails, will the professors who hold it, and to whose minds it has become habitual, be at ease with themselves, and think that all is well enough. It is when we look at the Bible standard, that we become sensible of our sad and multiplied deficiencies; when, instead of "comparing ourselves amongst ourselves, and measuring ourselves by ourselves," we simply regard the dictates of the divine word,-what is