1 John 5:10

He hath not only the outward evidence that others have, but he hath in his own heart a testimony for Jesus Christ. He can allege what Christ and the truth of Christ have done for his soul and what he has seen and found in him. He has deeply seen his sin, and guilt, and misery, and his abundant need of such a Saviour.

The matter, the substance, or contents of all this divine testimony concerning Jesus Christ: And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son,

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:20w-of-34

He that believeth on the Son of God,....

He that believeth on the Son of God - This is God’s witness to a truth, the most important and interesting to mankind. God has witnessed that whosoever believeth on his Son shall be saved, and have everlasting life; and shall have the witness of it in himself, the Spirit bearing witness with his spirit that he is a child of God. To know, to feel his sin forgiven, to have the testimony of this in the heart from the Holy Spirit himself, is the privilege of every true believer in Christ.

YOU observe that I have somewhat corrected the translation. The same word is employed in every case in the original, but for the sake of variety of expression the translators have used four different words in our version and so, instead of improving the sense, which, indeed, never can be in the case of the Holy Spirit's writing, they have rather darkened the meaning. Put the word, "witness," or, "testimony," in each case, and you get the true meaning.

This is the highest kind of faith; because the object hath the highest credibility, because grounded upon the testimony of God, which is infallible" [PEARSON, Exposition of the Creed]. "The authority on which we believe is divine; the doctrine which we follow is divine" [LEO]. gave--Greek, "hath testified, and now testifies." of--concerning.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

NO doubt if our Lord Jesus were on earth He would find many persons for whom He would pray, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." It is no doubt true of many who are living in great sin that they do it ignorantly, not knowing the full measure of their guilt or its real character in the sight of God. It is the duty of the Christian minister and, indeed, of all Christians, to render sins of ignorance impossible by imparting Scriptural knowledge. We must let men know what they are doing and never suffer them to go on in the dark. If they will commit sin, let them at least know what is involved in it, for "that the soul be without knowledge is not good." It is not meet that any man should continue in darkness now that the true light has dawned upon mankind. It is true, our testimony will not always be received, for men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. But our duty remains the same—we are to bear witness of the Truth of God and to be, in the hands of God, the instruments of convincing the world of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. The great sin of not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is often spoken of very lightly and in a very trifling spirit, as though it were scarcely any sin at all. Yet, according to my text, and, indeed, according to the whole tenor of the Scriptures, unbelief is the calling God a liar—and what can be worse? I earnestly desire that every unbeliever may see his unbelief at this time in its true colors and, perhaps, as the Spirit of God enables him to see the evil of his past unbelief, he will be so shocked at himself and horrified at his crime, that he will continue in it no longer, but yield himself to the faith.

YOU observe that I have somewhat corrected the translation. The same word is employed in every case in the original, but for the sake of variety of expression the translators have used four different words in our version and so, instead of improving the sense, which, indeed, never can be in the case of the Holy Spirit's writing, they have rather darkened the meaning. Put the word, "witness," or, "testimony," in each case, and you get the true meaning. Last Thursday night I tried to show the great importance of faith and that while it was a most simple thing it was also most sublime. While it appeared to be weak, it was really the strongest of all motive principles, and produced the most amazing results. If, on this occasion I shall run in the same strain, for me, indeed, it will not be grievous, and for you it will be safe, for we cannot too often review the Truths of God which are the vitals of our holy religion. Faith stands, under the Covenant of Grace, in a leading position among the works of the regenerate man and the gifts of the Spirit of God. Righteousness is no longer to him that works, but to the man that believes on Him that justifies the ungodly. The promise no longer stands to the man who does these things, that he shall live in them, else we were shut out of it, but, "The just shall live by faith." God now bids us live by believing in Him. He saw that we were not willing to yield obedience to Him and remained rebellious. Perceiving, with a glance, that the root of that rebellion lay in lack of love to Him and in need of confidence in Him, He now begins, at the very foundation of the whole matter, and by a wondrous act of Grace, to claim our confidence. He gives us proof that He deserves it and then comes to us, and says, "Trust Me. Trust My Son, who has died for you, and you are reconciled to Me by His blood.

IT is a part of the theory of Ritualism, that is to say, Anglicized Popery, that no man can know his sins forgiven unless he is assured so by a priest. They tell us that to know ourselves saved we must either have a revelation from Heaven, which we may not expect, or we must wait till the Day of Judgement, or else some duly authorized "spiritual father" must pronounce us absolved. They cannot suppose any other method of being assured of forgiveness.

IT is a part of the theory of Ritualism, that is to say, Anglicized Popery, that no man can know his sins forgiven unless he is assured so by a priest. They tell us that to know ourselves saved we must either have a revelation from Heaven, which we may not expect, or we must wait till the Day of Judgement, or else some duly authorized "spiritual father" must pronounce us absolved. They cannot suppose any other method of being assured of forgiveness. That is the theory and in practice it comes to this, that when anything troubles your conscience you must make a clean breast of it to this, so-called, learned "minister," alias parish priest, and tell him whatever things you have done, answering all questions he may choose to put to you, whether they are clean or whether they are unclean. And only then will he give you absolution in the name of God, claiming to be—mark you, I am not saying what they do not say, for I quote from one of the most popular of their manuals, entitled, "Steps to the Altar"—claiming, I say, to be "a trustee from God, and commissioned by Him as His ministerial deputy, to hear, and judge, and absolve." That is the theory, a very attractive one, too, to human nature, for man, by nature, is an idolater, that is to say, he desires something tangible, and visible, to revere and trust in. The old spirit which cried out in the wilderness, "Make us gods to go before us, for as for this Moses which brought us up out of the land Egypt, we know not what has become of him," is still alive and craves for idols—and delights to find them either in the form of priests or sacraments As for faith in the unseen purely spiritual worship, and simple reliance upon the promise of God, these are not according to human nature, and wherever you discover them, they are the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

SOME time ago I tried to set forth the manner of the witness and sealing of the Spirit and I have no doubt that the subject will still remain upon the memory of many of you. But I am led to refer to it again and to go over the same ground because I meet with so many instances in which mistakes are made in reference to it—mistakes which cause great sorrow and much sin. The letter which I will now read I received yesterday and it is one of many of the same subject. "Dear Mr.

SOME time ago I tried to set forth the manner of the witness and sealing of the Spirit and I have no doubt that the subject will still remain upon the memory of many of you. But I am led to refer to it again and to go over the same ground because I meet with so many instances in which mistakes are made in reference to it—mistakes which cause great sorrow and much sin. The letter which I will now read I received yesterday and it is one of many of the same subject. "Dear Mr. Spurgeon—May I ask your prayers and the prayers of your congregation, to God, that He will, by the Holy Spirit, reveal Himself to me. I have for a long time past, I may say, years, been trying to serve Him and have a strong desire openly to join with His people, but I have not the witness in myself that I am saved and until then I dare not take the step." Now, this letter breathes an anxious desire to be right and sincere in all things and this is to be highly commended. We ought to be jealous over our spirit, fearful of hypocrisy and resolved to do all things in truth and sincerity. We ought to abhor the idea of making a profession of that which is not true and, so far, this letter shows a spirit worthy of imitation. Everyone should be anxious that he should in nothing be a hypocrite and should not allow the profession of his lips to go one single inch beyond the feeling of his heart. It is, again, a most proper thing that every man should desire to have the very best possible evidence as to his soul's salvation and if there is an evidence to be had of a very special, decisive and certain kind, it is but right that every man should cry to God for it and should feel unsatisfied until he obtains it.

NO doubt if our Lord Jesus were on earth He would find many persons for whom He would pray, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." It is no doubt true of many who are living in great sin that they do it ignorantly, not knowing the full measure of their guilt or its real character in the sight of God. It is the duty of the Christian minister and, indeed, of all Christians, to render sins of ignorance impossible by imparting Scriptural knowledge.

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself - The evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. Compare the notes at Rom 8:16. This cannot refer to any distinct and immediate “revelation” of that fact, that Jesus is the Christ, to the soul of the individual, and is not to be understood as independent of the external evidence of that truth, or as superseding the necessity of that evidence; but the “witness” here referred to is the fruit of all the evidence, external and internal, on the heart, producing this result; that is, there is the deepest conviction of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. There is the evidence derived from the fact that the soul has found peace by believing on him; from the fact that the troubles and anxieties of the mind on account of sin have been removed by faith in Christ; from the new views of God and heaven which have resulted from faith in the Lord Jesus; from the effect of this in disarming death of its terrors; and from the whole influence of the gospel on the intellect and the affections - on the heart and the life. These things constitute a mass of evidence for the truth of the Christian religion, whose force the believer cannot resist, and make the sincere Christian ready to sacrifice anything rather than his religion; ready to go to the stake rather than to renounce his Saviour. Compare the notes at 1Pe 3:15. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar - Compare the notes at 1Jn 1:10. Because he believeth not the record ... - The idea is, that in various ways - at his baptism, at his death, by the influences of the Holy Spirit, by the miracles of Jesus, etc. […]