If we receive the witness of men
The witness of a sufficient number of credible men, of men of
good character and report, is always admitted in any case, and in
any court of judicature; it was allowed of in the law of Moses;
everything was proved and established hereby; upon this men were
justified or condemned, cognizance was taken of men's sins, and
punishment inflicted, yea, death itself, ( Deuteronomy
17:6 ) ( 19:15 )
( Hebrews
10:28 ) ; and even in this case concerning the Son of God,
his coming into the world, and the dignity of his person, the
testimony of men is credited; as that of the wise men, who
declared that the King of the Jews was born, and his star had
been seen in the east, which Herod himself gave credit to, and
upon it summoned the chief priests, and inquired of them where he
should be born; and also of the shepherds, who testified to the
appearance of angels, who told them that there was then born a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, and who also related that they
themselves saw the infant at Bethlehem; and especially of John
the Baptist, whose testimony was true, and could not be objected
to by the Jews themselves, who sent to him, before whom he bore a
plain and faithful witness. Now if an human testimony may be, and
is received,
the testimony of God is greater;
more valuable, surer, and to be more firmly depended on, since it
must be infallible; for God can neither deceive, nor be deceived:
for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of
his Son;
even the witness of the Spirit, the water, and the blood, is the
testimony, not of men, but of God; the Gospel, attended with the
Spirit of God, is the testimony of God; and so the ordinances of
baptism and the Lord's supper, which bear witness of Christ, are
not of men, but of God; and especially the witness of the Father,
the Word, and the Spirit, must be the testimony of God, since,
though three persons, they are one God; particularly the witness
which God the Father testified of his Son Jesus Christ at his
baptism and transfiguration, must be allowed to be the testimony
of God, and far greater than any human testimony, and therefore
to be received.