"This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth."-1 John v. 6. SERMON I. By Water and Blood. [Second Sunday in Advent, 1862.] 1 JOHN v. 6. "THIS IS HE THAT CAME BY WATER AND BLOOD, EVEN JESUS CHRIST; NOT BY WATER ONLY, BUT BY WATER AND BLOOD. AND IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT BEARETH WITNESS, BECAUSE THE SPIRIT "THIS is He who came.' Our minds are occupied with His coming; we are led to study it in its circumstances and aspects, to enquire into its full significance, and connect it with its glorious issues. The one great coming, testified and anticipated of old, has proved to be broken into two stages. Yet the perspective of prophecy shewed the truth, which in the retrospect of eternity will be seen more clearly, that those two stages are but one entire coming,―first a movement of preparation by the appearance of Christ in humility, then a movement of completion by the appearance of Christ in glory; two steps by which He enters into His kingdom. Between them an interval occurs in which we are standing now; looking backward, looking forward, and knowing well that our treatment of that which is past must decide our share in that which is future; that Christ as He has been manifested must be received, before Christ as He shall be manifested B can be welcomed. Under this consciousness we shall turn with a thankful and a docile spirit to the only quarter from which information can be derived. We shall set steadily before us the "witness of God which He hath testified of His Son," desiring that this witness may be transferred, vivid and complete, from the pages of Scripture to the tablet of our hearts. For this purpose it will be felt that a peculiar value belongs to those passages of the Holy Word which give some definite view of the past manifestation of Christ, gathering compactly the results of history, and presentingd istinctly the significance of facts; passages which seem designed to fasten on our memories, and to hang like leading lights over the confusing pathways of thought. Such is the character of the text. It is introduced suddenly; it is expressed precisely; it condenses into one view the whole of the past coming of Christ,"This is He who came." It separates by distinguishing symbols two stages by which that coming was completed, or two characters which it bears,-" He came by water and blood." It warns us against limiting our view to the first of these symbols and the class of ideas which it represents," Not in the water only, but in the water and the blood:" and it calls the great Witness on whom alone we can rely for the significance of the facts and the interpretation of the symbols,-" It is the Spirit which beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." Then in the next words the significant facts and the interpreting Spirit are presented as coalescing into one solid and harmonious testimony: "There are three that bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood and these three agree in one;" and the claims of this testimony are then with characteristic directness proposed to our reason and pressed on our consciences: "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." May God grant that such a witness may ever find at your hands a serious, an intelligent, and a believing reception! Such then, brethren, being the character of this text, I proceed to lay it before you, in dependence on the guiding grace of God. First, I am concerned with its meaning, and then with its use. As soon as I enter on the duty of interpretation I find myself in the presence of an extensive literature. The text has been viewed in various lights, and been the subject of long discussions. This is not the place to deal with them. The office of the preacher is not in general to record or criticise the opinions of others, but rather to give what seems to him the meaning and the force of the Holy Word. "This is He who came by water and blood." Is this chance language, and the loose clothing of thought? or is it precise expression, deliberately fitted to present the sharpest outline of truth? The manner in which the saying is introduced and the singularity of its form assure us of its intended precision. But it appears to me that our apprehension of that precision must entirely depend on the meaning which we attach in this place |