[305] τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες, ver. 7. [306] The _Water_, John iii. 5, cf. i. 26-33, ii. 9, iii. 23, iv. 13, v. 4, ix. 7. The _Blood_, vi. 53, 54, 56, xix. 34. The _Spirit_, vii. 39, xiv., xv., xvi., xx. 22. The water centres in _Baptism_ (iii. 5); the blood is symbolised, exhibited, in Holy _Communion_ (vi.); the Spirit is perpetually making them effective, and especially by the appointed ministry (xx. 22). [307] ὁτι αυτη εστιν ἡ μαρτυρια του Θεου, ὁτι μεμαρτυρηκεν περι του υιου αυτου, ver. 9. [308] v. 39, 46, etc. [309] viii. 18. [310] viii. 17, 18. [311] ver. 36, x. 25. [312] ὁ πιστευων εις τον υιον του Θεου, ver. 10. (See Bihs Ellicott on the force of various prepositions with πιστευω. _Comment, on Pastoral Epistles_.) [313] Bentley. Letter of January 1st, 1717. DISCOURSE XIII. _THE WITNESS OF MEN_ (_APPLIED TO THE RESURRECTION_). "If we receive the witness of men."--1 JOHN v. 9. At an early period in the Christian Church the passage in which these words occur, was selected as a fitting Epistle for the First Sunday after Easter, when believers may be supposed to review the whole body of witness to the risen Lord and to triumph in the victory of faith. A consideration of the unity of essential principles in the narratives of the Resurrection will afford the best illustration of the comprehensive canon--"if we receive the witness of men."--if we consider the unity of essential principles in the narratives of the Resurrection, and draw the natural conclusions from them. I. Let us note the unity of essential principles in the narratives of the Resurrection. St. Matthew hastens on from Jerusalem to the appearance in Galilee. "Behold! He goeth before you _into Galilee_," is, in some sense, the key of the 28th chapter. St. Luke, on the other hand, speaks only of manifestations in Jerusalem or its neighbourhood. Now St. John's Resurrection history falls in the 20th chapter into four pieces, with three manifestations in Jerusalem. The 21st chapter (the appendix-chapter) also falls into four pieces, with one manifestation to the seven disciples in Galilee. St. John makes no profession of telling us all the appearances which were known to the Church, or even all of which he was personally cognisant. In the treasures of the old man's memory there were many more which, for whatever reason, he did not write. But these distinct continuous specimens of a permitted communing with the eternal glorified life (supplemented on subsequent thought by another in the last chapter) are as good as three or four hundred for the great purpose of the Apostle. "These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."[314]