Let us turn once more to God's
Word and turning to this first general epistle of John and to
the fifth chapter we were considering words here in chapter 5 last
Lord's Day morning and turning again to that passage I'll read
from the seventh verse through 10 in John's first letter, the first
epistle of John, chapter 5, reading from verse 7 through 10. 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. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God
which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not
God hath made him a liar. because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his son. The words in particular that
I want to send to your attention upon are those that we find at
the beginning of verse 10, the opening clause in verse 10. He
that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. Now we have previously said something
with regards to what we term the heavenly witness, that that
is mentioned here at verse 7, the three that bear records in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one that much disputed text which of course is struck
out of the modern versions or perversions we might call them.
We see it here on the page of Holy Scripture as we have it
in our authorized version and are persuaded that it is right
and proper and so we looked at that text, the witness in heaven
which is the great doctrine of God, the doctrine of the Trinity.
And what is it that God witnesses to? Well, we're told at the end
of verse 9, this is the witness of God which He hath testified
of His Son. There is a testimony in heaven
by the Trinity to the truth that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ,
that He is the Son of God and He is the only Saviour of sinners for we looked at the heavenly
witness and it was last week that we were looking at verse
8 and the earthly witness the three that bear witness in earth
the spirit and the water and the blood and these three says
John agree in one and what did we say last time with regards
to that earthly witness we spoke of it in terms of the ordinances
of the gospel. Primarily there is of course
the preaching of the word and that really is set before us
in terms of the spirits, the three bearing witness in the
earth, first of all the spirit. And I think last week I did quote
the words of Dr. Gill in his comments here, he
says, by the spirit is meant the gospel. which is a testimony
of Christ's person, offices, and grace. So, Dr. Gill identifies the Spirit with
the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And how it is,
of course, under the preaching of the Gospel, that ordinance
that God has given us, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. It is by the preaching of the
Gospel in general that the Spirit does His great work in the salvation
of souls. As Paul says to the Thessalonians,
Our Gospel came unto you not in word only, but in power and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Oh, what a witness
is borne by the Spirit to the truth of the Gospel. Again, Paul
can tell the Corinthians concerning himself and his other apostles
It was also made us able ministers of the New Testament, he says,
not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth,
but the Spirit giveth life. where there is that faithful
ministry of the words, where the Spirit of God is, there is
a witness here upon the earth still to the Lord Jesus as the
Saviour of sinners. And then we spoke of the witness
of the water and I remarked that the reference here surely is
to the significance of baptism. How did the Lord Jesus Christ
begin his own ministry? Well, it begins really in many
ways with the testimony of John the Baptist. The Baptist comes
as that one who is the great harbinger. He prepares the way
for the coming of the Lord. And now he's spoken of there
in that opening chapter of John's Gospel. Remember what we are
told? In verse 6 of that first chapter
there was a man sent from God whose name was John the Baptist. The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the lights that all men through him might believe. And then verse 15, John bear
witness of him and cried saying, This was he of whom I spake,
he that cometh after me is preferred before me. for he was before
me, and of his fullness of all we received, and grace, full
grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." How John the Baptist
is exercising his ministry and continually directing to Christ. Verse 29 of that chapter, how
the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold,
The Lamb of God was taken away, the sin of the world. This is
He of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before
me, for he was before me. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing
with water. And John bear record, saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not. but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear
record, that this is the Son of God." Or the Lord Himself
has come by water. Are we not told that here at
verse 6 in this fifth chapter of the first epistle this is
he that came by water and the water as its witness still in
the earth when the Lord begins his public ministry he goes to
John, he's baptized of John in the river Jordan and so when
John has completed his preparatory ministry and John is in prison
and John is beheaded and John is removed out of the way and
even the Lord's disciples of course were told in John 4 how
they were baptizing and when Christ completes his own ministry
and gives that great commission at the end of Matthew going into
all the worlds make disciples of all nations baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost
and I am with you always even at the end of the world isn't
the water then a reference to the significance of baptism and
that is a witness that is a witness that public profession of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ the three that bear record then,
or the three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, in the
preaching of the words, the water, in believers' baptism, and the
blood, the blood. As the Lord begins His ministry,
as it were, with water, so how it finishes in blood, the close
of that ministry of the Lord. what a witness is there even
as he comes to die upon the cross language of that hardened Roman
centurion as he witnesses the scene and confesses truly this
man was the Son of God that remarkable death that he dies upon the cross
and all those strange events associated with it as he makes
the great sin atoning sacrifice there is the witness the witness
of the blood, and we're to remember it. We do that tonight of course,
we have that holy ordinance of the Lord's Supper. This cup says
Christ is the New Testament in my blood. These two years after
she drink it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death, till
he comes. You do show, we're showing something,
we're declaring something. we're witnessing all to the blessed
truth yes it's a service of remembrance of course all we remember him
it's a service of communion we're communing with him he comes he
sops with us we sop with him but there's a witness we show
forth his death that cup of blessing that we bless the communion of
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ there is a witness yet then here
upon the earth And these three agree in one, we're told. And I remarked last time the
significance of that closing phrase in verse 8. Really the definite article is
there before the word one. These three agree in the one. Or we might say these three agree
in that one. who is the one being spoken of?
Why? That refers us back to the seventh
verse. The three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three in one. As I said, when we were looking at that verse,
there is internal evidence for the reading, and it needs to
be there. In fact, you take that verse out, and that statement
at the end of verse 8 becomes irrelevant in a way. What is
it referring to? There is an argument to be made
for the retention then of the reading in verse 7 from what
we have at the end of this 8th verse, that the three on earth
agree with the one in heaven. The Lord Jesus unites heaven
and earth. But as we come together tonight,
I want to concentrate on what the Apostle John goes on to say.
If we receive the witness of man, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God,
which hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath a witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son. considering then something of
the inward witness that he's spoken of here. And I divide
what I want to say into two basic parts, two points. First of all
I want to say something with regards to the person of the
witness, and then secondly the purpose, the purpose of the witness. Firstly, the person. And I say
that because what we have here as a witness is a person. It doesn't say, it's not what
is the inward witness, but rather who, who is this inward witness. Now we know from the context,
clearly the witness is God. We have that twice in verse 9. the witness of God is greater. And then this is the witness
of God which has testified of his Son. So the inward witness
is God, and that is God in the fullness of all his triune being. It's the witness that is in heaven,
the Father, the words. the word simply a reference to
the Lord Jesus of course it's it's a favorite with John, this
is how John refers to the eternal Son of God remember the opening
words, the familiar words of the gospel in the beginning was
the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God the
same was in the beginning with God all things were made by Him
without Him was not anything made that was made in him was
life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in
the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not and then
John goes on doesn't he and says the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld his glory the glories of the only begotten
the only son of the father full of grace and truth so it's a
favorite words with John But the reference is to God the Son,
the Eternal Son, the three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one, one
God in three persons. And this is the inward witness. The inward witness. All the fullness
of God is what the believer has. But we know, we know from scripture
that it is the special work of the Holy Ghost to make this witness. It's the Spirit's blessed work. And the Lord Jesus speaks of
that. Those chapters that we're familiar with in John 14, 15
and 16 where he says so much about the ministry of the Comforter,
the Holy Ghost, and he says there doesn't he in chapter 16 it is
expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Holy
Ghost will not come but if I depart I will send him unto you and
then he goes on to speak of how when he comes what will he do
he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment But not only that, He doesn't just come to reprove,
to convince of sin, He comes also to reveal Christ. He goes
on to say, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall
not speak of Himself. He shall glorify me, for He shall
take of mine and shall show it unto you. This is the ministry
of the Spirit. He comes to bear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he bears that testimony in
the hearts of the people of God. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. He is the eternal
Son of God, the Lord Jesus. And all those in Him are the
adopted sons of God, or the wonder of it. You are not in the flesh, says
the Apostle Paul to the Romans, but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of Christ dwell in you. Now, if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. It is the person of the
Holy Ghost, then, who is the one who dwells in the believer
and is that inward witness. And He comes to us as that One
who is the Spirit of Christ. Or did we not just sing there
in the words of Joseph Hart's hymn 233? In that second verse,
not all the delusions of sin Speaking of the believer, the
believer in Christ, not all the delusions of sin shall ever seduce
him to death. He now has the witness within
rejoicing in Jesus by faith. There is an inward witness. And it is the Holy Ghost who
comes, as it were, representing all the persons in the Godhead,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We've looked in times past at
that opening chapter, that great first chapter of Ephesians. Do
you remember how, as we have it before us here in the Authorized
Version, we see how in the opening two verses the Apostle, as is
his custom, sends his greetings to the church at Ephesus. And then we have a long sentence,
verse 3 through 6, and in that verse he speaks very clearly
of the Father, and makes mention of the great eternal purpose
of God the Father, in terms of predestination and election,
how he has chosen a people in Christ Jesus. We're taken, as
it were, into the councils of the Trinity in eternity, the
great purpose of salvation of the Father and then after that
we have another long sentence from verse 7 through 12 which
speaks more particularly of God the Son, the one who comes to
accomplish that great work of redemption and salvation. It was not the Father who became
a man, it was not the Holy Spirit when we speak of Emmanuel we
think in terms of God the Son who becomes also the Son of Man
and then after that we have verses 13 and 14 and those verses speak
to us of the Spirit and His ministry, He seals, He seals all that the
Father purposed and all that the Son has procured or that the Son, as accomplished
by His work here upon the earth, it's made a reality in the soul
of the sinner. And remember what we read there
in verse 13 of Ephesians 1. In whom also after that ye believed,
it says, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
That is the inward witness. It is the seal of the Spirit
of promise. After that ye believed. ye were
sealed with the Holy Spirit." Now, what are we to make of that
after? Well, it's interesting, the construction
of the grammar there really is something that's often used in
the Gospels in reference to the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Many
times in the Gospels we have that phrase in which the Lord, or it said
of the Lord, and Jesus answering said. Jesus answering said. The main verb is to answer and
then the subordinate verb is what follows to say. The Lord
answers by saying, by speaking. So the actions are concurrent
really. Well, it's the same construction, really, that we have there in
Ephesians 1.13, literally, believing ye were sails. I know we have
it in the Authorized Version quite differently, in a sense,
in whom after that ye believed he was sealed, as if the sealing
follows. Well, it does follow, but there's
no real gap. It's not that we believe and
then many weeks, months, years, decades later, we're sealed.
Really, the actions are concurrent, as we have it in the Gospel,
you see. When the Lord answers, He says. He answers by saying. And where there is believing,
there is immediately, it follows after the believing, but immediately
after the believing there's the seal. There's the seal of the
Spirit. The seal is the Spirit Himself. Oh, grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, says Paul, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of salvation,
as he writes of the Ephesians. And again we've referred to those
words in Romans 8.16 already, the Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. Oh, there is
that seal, you see, that the believer has. Now, we might not
always be enjoying that blessed seal of the Spirit or if we always
had that blessed seal of the Spirit we never have any doubts
or fears there are times maybe when we lose sight of that seal
how important it is There's a sense in which we maybe
need to ask God to reveal that seal to us again and again. In
that sense we might have many sealings, we might say, when
the Spirit comes to refresh us, to remind us of these things.
There's an interesting portion in the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. In the 32nd chapter, I want to
read the passage, There in chapter 32 of Jeremiah, at verse 6 following,
he speaks about the word of the Lord came unto him. Now remember,
Jeremiah is ministering at the time of the Babylonian captivity. He's ministering there in Jerusalem
and the people are being transported, taken away from Jerusalem. Jerusalem's going to be left
in ruins. by the Babylonians and the people
transported into exile for 70 years. And this word comes to
the prophet Jeremiah 32.6, Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Behold, Anamael, the son of Shalom, thine uncle,
shall come unto thee, saying, By thee my field that is in Anathoth. For the right of redemption is
thine to buy it. So Anamil, mine uncle's son,
came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word
of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that
is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin. For the
right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine.
Buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the
word of the Lord. And I bought the field of Hanomel,
my uncle's son that was in Anathoth, and weighed in the money even
seventeen shekels of silver, and I subscribed the evidence,
and sealed it, and took witnesses and weighed him the money in
the balances. So I took the evidence of the
purchase, both which was sealed according to the law and custom,
and that which was open. And I gave the evidence of the
purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Messiah,
in the sight of Hanumel, mine uncle's son, and in the presence
of the witnesses that subscribe the book of the purchase, before
all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged
Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase,
both which is sealed, and this evidence which is opened, and
put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel, houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed again in this land." Now, there in verse 15 we see
the reason why this transaction was to take place. Jerusalem
is going to be left in ruin and Judea deserted. But here is the promise, you
see. They will be restored. Houses and fields and vineyards
shall be possessed again in this land. There would come the time
of the restoration. And here is the pledge. But the
significant thing I... Well, the significant point I
want to make is this, that There are evidences of the purchase
and there are evidences which are sealed. And those sealed
and those open are put in the earthen vessel and they are preserved.
But you see, with regards to the sealing of the spirits, the
inward seal, With that you might at times, or Jeremiah might at
times, want to look at those evidences, want to see the seal
to reassure him of the promise of God concerning the restoration. And so too, believers might want
to have renewals of the seal, as it were, to see it afresh,
to feel it afresh. All this inward seal is the Spirit,
it's the gracious work of the Spirit of God that's being spoken
of. Presently we'll sing that hymn
24, Isaac Watts, dost thou not dwell in all thy saints, and
seal them, heirs of heaven. Every believer has that seal.
Every believer has that seal. Now I make the point and emphasize
the point because there are those of course who seize on that verse
in Ephesians 1.13 and say you can be a believer and yet you
can need to know some second blessing in terms of the sealing
of the Spirit. Or you might need to know some
blessing, some second blessing in what they would term the baptism
of the Spirit. Now every believer has that inward
witness It is the Spirit Himself who is the witness and every
believer has that sealing of the Spirit. If we have that inward witness,
if we have that blessed seal, oh, what an assurance it is to
know that we're the Lord's. But so much for our first point let us turn
in the second to consider the purpose of the seal what is the
purpose of the seal? well the spirit is a witness to the truth of
God's word he's a witness to the truth that
we have before us on the page of holy scripture remember when
John comes to the end of his Gospel he speaks of the reason
why he has written these things in the chapter 20 he says many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples
which are not written in this book but these are written that
she might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God
and that believing he might have life through his name And then
again, right at the end, closing verses of chapter 21, this is
the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these
things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there
are many other things also which Jesus did, which if they should
be written, every one, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that should be written. Amen. John writes, and how does John
write? He's writing under the inspiration of the Spirit. Peter
tells us how holy men of God in the Old Testament spake as
they were moved by the Spirit. The prophets were moved by the
Spirit. The Old Testament is inspired,
it's the Word of God. Well, that's true also of the
New Testament. The apostles are inspired men.
They're not speaking their own words, they're not writing their
own words. What John is writing, you see,
is by the Spirit. It's the Spirit's witness. These
are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his
name. Oh, he bears testimony to the
truth. Thy word is truth. And as he
bears witness to the truth, so also the Holy Spirit is that
one who as he is sealing that truth in the soul of the sinner
he's applying the word of God he applies the word of God we believe that the book is inspired
yes it is but we need to have that word brought into our souls
impressed upon our hearts as it were How are we to have that? Well, we're to come humbly before
God. How do we receive it? Well, James
says, receive with meekness. Receive with meekness the inscripturated,
or the inspired word, the engrafted word, the implanted word, that
is able to save your souls. All we have to receive it into
our very souls. Now what does it mean when the
spirit does that? What is the effect? You see,
the person that we're reading of here in the text has a witness
in himself. Do you have that witness? Do I have that witness, this
inward witness of the spirits? What are the effects? What are
the effects? how can we examine ourselves
and prove ourselves and know ourselves that Jesus Christ is
in us by his spirit how can we know these things? well when
the spirit impresses that truth surely we'll feel something we'll
feel something we'll feel something concerning ourselves the truth
concerning ourselves what we are, where we are that's what
we'll feel we'll feel the horror of our
sin or we'll feel that in some measure surely remember we were
looking only last Thursday at the prayer meeting at those words
in in Ephesians chapter 3, that prayer of Christ at the end of
that third chapter, and we took as a text verse 17, that Christ
may dwell in your hearts by faith, the G being rooted and grounded
in love. That was the text we looked at,
but we made reference also of course to the context, and the
end of verse 16, I said, clearly is associated with the beginning
of that 17th verse. His prayer is that they be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man. His Spirit in the
inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith. It's
the Spirit, you see, who brings Christ into the inner man, Christ
into the heart. And it's amazing, isn't it? If we know but a little of our
hearts. We sang on that Thursday last
Thursday we sang those verses in 310 Lord when thy spirit descends
to show the badness of our hearts astonished at the amazing view
the soul with horror starts we did omit verses two and three
but they might not be suitable in a sense for public worship,
but if we read them in our meditation, in our quiet times, the dungeon
opens, foul as hell. its loathsome stench emits, and
brooding in each secret cell some hideous monster sits, swarms
of ill thoughts, their bane diffused, proud, envious, false, unclean,
and every ransacked corner shows some unsuspected sin. That's
how the hymn writer describes our hearts, the badness. Our
staggering faith gives way to doubt. Our courage yields to
fear. Shocked at the sight, we straight
cry out, Can ever God dwell here? How can God dwell in my heart? Our hearts are full of all uncleanness. But this is the wonder, you see,
of the Spirit's ministry. He shows us what we are. He makes
us feel what we are. And He makes us feel our complete
and utter impotence. What can we do? God turns a man
to destruction. He brings us to the end of ourselves.
We are made to feel what we are as sinners. Our awful impurity, our incapacity,
our insufficiency. We can do nothing. We can do
nothing. and we want to believe or could
I but believe then all would easy be I would but cannot Lord
relieve my help must come from thee but how the Lord shows us
ourselves that's what the Lord does with
us or do we believe it do we believe
that there is such a thing as the ministry of the Spirit in
that way when he is come you see he will reprove the world
of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they
believe not on me. Oh, there it is, the sin which
doth so easily beset us. He comes to convince us of that.
He convinces us of sin because we're unbelievers. That's our
fallen nature. We're full of unbelief. And only
the Lord can bestow that faith by grace i.e. say through faith
and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God but let a
man ask and he shall receive or do we ask really ask that
we might have that faith that saving faith it's the ministry
of the Spirit but he doesn't just convince of our sinful depravity
our total depravity He reproves the world of sin, of righteousness
and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on Me, of righteousness
because I go to My Father and you see Me no more, of judgment
because the Prince of this world is judged. All Satan has been
judged, defeated. The Lord Jesus has vanquished
all the powers of darkness. He has destroyed sin and Satan,
death and the grave. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done. and that righteous one has entered
heaven and there he is before the throne of God for there is such a wonderful
work of the Spirit he he does reprove he does convince yes
but he also reveals to us Christ he shall take of mine says the
Savior and show it unto you He reveals the Lord Jesus. He reveals
the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what He does. He shows
us just who Christ is. The One who is overcome. Verse
5, "...who is He that overcometh the world, but He that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God." Nothing can stand before Him,
you see. He has vanquished everything.
every obstacle, He is able to save to the uttermost all that
come to God by Him. You come to God by Him, is that
the name you plead in prayer? There's salvation there. There's
salvation there. How we have to believe that He
is truly the Eternal Son of God. We read those words, didn't we,
in the second chapter. And there at verse 22, "...who
is a liar, but he that denieth of Jesus is the Christ, he is
Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeeth
the Son hath the Father also." Oh, do we acknowledge the Son,
that He is truly the Son of God, the Son of the Father, in truth
and love, the Eternal Son. of the Eternal Father equal to
the Father and equal to the Holy Spirit. Well, this is what we
must believe. If we know anything of that inward
witness of the Spirit, he will bear testimony to Jesus of Nazareth,
the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son." Who do we believe the record
that God has given here in Holy Scripture concerning His Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ? You have to believe the record
and everything that He said. What a record it is! go back
to chapter 1 and there at the end of that chapter if we say
that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us if we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar
and his word is not in us or if we confess our sins he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness or do we so feel our sin that we see
that our only hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ it's not enough
is it simply to feel our sins now we have to come and confess
our sins and plead with the Lord Jesus Christ to save us the guy
in the hymn writer says that Christ is God I can avenge and
for his people cares since I have prayed to him and he has
heard my prayers. He hears and he answers prayer.
Oh, the distinguishing mark then of the believer as we see it
here. He has the witness. That witness of the Spirit in
himself, he is one who believes on the Son of God. He believes
I'm the Son of God and he does so because he has that blessed
work of the Spirit, he's experienced it in his soul. He has the witness
there, the Holy Ghost. It's been said that the Holy
Ghost really is the sum of all Gospel blessings. It's the best
of all those donations, as the Lord promised him. If I depart, he says, I will
send him unto you, and he sends him. Having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, Peter says there on the day of
Pentecost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see, and hear
the ministry of the Spirit. Oh, it's a great gospel blessing.
And how rich, how rich we are if we possess that gift. if tonight you're in possession
of God the Holy Ghost you're rich although you have nothing
else and really that's the one thing that we
should desire above all else that we might know that blessed
spirit you really have nothing else
at all unless you have the spirit He is that one who comes as that
blessed seal and seals all the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the soul of the sinner. Oh God, be thanks for that gracious
ministry. Yes, there's a witness. There's
a witness in heaven. There's a witness on earth. But
friends, do we know that blessing of the inward witness? He that
believeth I am the Son of God, hath the witness in himself,
or might it be yours, and might it be mine. The Lord bless his
word to us. Amen.