XXV. THE THREE WITNESSES. FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. XXV. I JOHN V. 7, 8. For there are three that bear record... the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. SERMON YOU will have observed, brethren, that in citing passage, I have omitted some words which occur tion in the both in our English version of the Bible, and in Interpola epistle. this the epistle for this day, as contained in the Prayerbook. There we read, For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the 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 the blood; and these three agree in one. But there is no doubt that the passage which I omitted, from in heaven down to in earth, is an interpolation. To give you all the arguments which have demonstrated this conclusion, would involve a long discussion unsuited to this occasion. Nor should I have entered upon the subject at all, but that it would be impossible to explain to-day's epistle, with XXV. out plainly saying at once that the words form no SERMON part of St John's original text. I will only add very briefly for this statement four reasons, which may shew you that it is no unauthorized fancy of my own. First, the words occur in no ancient manuscript of this Epistle in its original language, nor in the oldest text of any translation. Secondly, in all the controversies on the subject of the Holy Trinity which agitated the Church for the first five centuries, this passage (which, had it existed, would have absolutely decided many of the disputed questions) was never once quoted. Thirdly, the words altogether disturb the general argument of the passage, which we shall presently consider, and are quite alien from the context. And lastly, it is now acknowledged that they are spurious by every modern critical divine of eminence1. You may ask me however how such an important, and apparently fraudulent addition could possibly have been made to the sacred text, and whether in giving up these words, we are not weakening our hold on the great truths of our Lord's Divinity and of the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead. In answer to the first question, I would say that it is not necessary to imagine any fraud in the matter. In an age fond of comparisons and illustrative arguments, it would be natural for a person transcribing St John's Epistle, 1 Among living English divines who have exprest in print their disbelief in the genuineness of the words may be mentioned Turton, Alford, Ellicott, Wordsworth, Vaughan, Stanley. 42. XXV. SERMON to be struck by the analogy between his Three Witnesses to the Messiahship of Jesus, the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood, and the Three Heavenly Witnesses, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, who ever testify to the same truth, and guide those who accept it in the way of salvation. He would first insert the words as a note on the passage, and from a note they would soon pass into sermons, expositions, and at last into the Bible itself. There they actually were found in one of the manuscripts from which our received text of the New Testament was constructed, but could their claims have been investigated by the light of modern knowledge, there is no doubt that they would have been rejected, as indeed they were only admitted after considerable hesitation. And as to endangering our faith in Christ's Divinity, that great truth, my brethren, rests on a basis far deeper and wider than the support of any single text. Let a man read consecutively and thoughtfully some whole book or long portion of Scripture, St John's Gospel for example, or almost any one of the Epistles, this one from which our text is taken to-day, or that to the Colossians, or that to the Hebrews, and then let him say whether he can honestly give any answer but one Matt. xxii. to the question, What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? It is not too much to say that without the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, Scripture is unintelligible. On the other hand, we plainly give a great advantage to the impugners of that truth, XXV. and deservedly imperil our own character for fair- SERMON ness, if we continue to use arguments in its support which are refuted by the evidence of facts. Having thus cleared away what could only be an impediment to the correct understanding and application of this portion of God's word, let us proceed now briefly to paraphrase to-day's epistle. 33. ver. 6. 2. All men who are born of God overcome the 1 Joh. v. 4. world, and the victory which has overcome the world Paraphrase of is our faith, for wheresoever there is true faith, the epistle. there is also victory. And if it be asked "how does faith overcome the world?" the answer is, because it brings us into union with Christ, who Himself Joh. xvi. overcame it. Who is he that overcomes the world, but ver. 5. he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? And this Person in whom we rest our victorious faith is He who came as a man upon earth for our salvation, and manifested Himself first by the water of His baptism, and next by shedding His blood upon the Cross, even Jesus, the Christ of God. He came not in the water only, not only as a teacher and divine messenger, but in the water and the blood, as one who also gave His life to be the propitiation for our sins. Nor do His baptism and His death alone witness to His Messiahship: the Holy Spirit also bears an additional witness, for He testifies of Christ, Joh. xv. He glorifies Him, by the mighty works which are 14. wrought in His Name, and we accept His witness because the Spirit is Truth, being God, who can Cf. Joh. neither deceive nor be deceived. And as these wit- xv. 26. 26. xvi. χίν. 17. XXV. ver. 7. ver. 8. ver. 9. SERMON nesses testify to the reality of Christ's mission, so they also assure us of our interest in His mission, and our claims to eternal life. For those that bear witness are three, the Spirit, and the water and the blood, and these three concur in one testimony, namely, in the truth that Jesus came as the Messiah, and that through our faith in Him we have life. If we are in the habit of receiving the witness which men give without suspicion, the witness which God gives is greater, and therefore ought to be received with yet surer confidence. And this principle applies to the present case, for the witness of God of which I am speaking is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son. He that believes on the Son of God has in his own heart God's triple witness of the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood: he that refuses to believe, and puts no reliance on God Himself, has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness which God has given concerning His Son. And the witness is this, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son, has this life, he that has not the Son of God, this life he has not. ver. 10. ver. II. ver. 12. Twofold testimony of the three witnesses. 3. The passage will, I fear, even when thus paraphrased and expanded, appear more or less obscure. But, as often happens with the more difficult parts of Scripture, when we have once apprehended its general sense, its application to ourselves is comparatively easy, and I need hardly add, if God grants His blessing, most deeply profitable. We have (i) to consider how the water, the blood, and |