believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light."* Believing on Christ implies a discerning the truth respecting the character of the Redeemer, and redemption by him, and approving and loving it: and in this does faith consist. Unbelief is directly the opposite; it is blindness and darkness itself. St. Paul says, "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." It consists in opposition to the most desirable, charming, glorious light and truth, and in hating it, and loving the opposite darkness. Therefore this is a voluntary, chosen darkness. It is altogether criminal, and is that for which they are justly condemned.

It hence follows, that the light and understanding which is opposed to this moral darkness does also belong to the heart, and implies a virtuous character, and does consist in true holiness, or moral excellence. And in this light it is represented in the sacred writings. What Solomon asks, and God promises to give him, is called wisdom and knowledge, in one place,† and in another place, is called a wise and understanding heart. Indeed, true wisdom has its seat in the heart or will, and consists essentially in the right moral disposition of the mind, as has been shewn: And it is abundantly evident, that the word is generally used in this sense in the scripture. And this in scripture is the same with true light, or discerning, understanding and knowledge. The virtuous, holy heart, is an enlightened, wise and understanding heart. And the totally depraved, vicious heart, is darkness itself, blind, foolish, and without understanding. That true light and knowledge, the knowledge of God, does not consist in mere speculation, but depends upon the heart, and consists in the moral disposition and exercises of that, is evident from the following words of God by Jeremiah: "I will give * John iii. 18, 19, 20. † 2 Chron. i. 10, 11. 1 Kings iii. 9, 12.

them an heart to know me."* Therefore our Saviour placed all holiness of heart, and all true happiness, in the knowledge of the only true God, and the Redeemer, as the whole is comprehended in this. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent." Agreeable to this the Psalmist says, "Give me understanding and I shall keep thy law: Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Give me understanding, and I shall live." That the illumination which takes place in the mind, in regeneration and conversion, respects the heart, and has its seat in that, is asserted by St. Paul in the following words: "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ."} And that true light and knowledge implies renovation of heart, or true holiness, and is really the same thing, is evident from St. Paul's mentioning these as synonymous. In his epistle to the Colossians, he describes the new man, or renewed heart, in the following words: "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him."|| And in his epistle to the Ephesians, in describing the same new man, he uses these words: "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." From these two passages, compared together, it may be inferred with certainty, that knowledge comprehends righteousness and true holiness, and is the same thing.

That true light and knowledge, the knowledge of God, which is peculiar to them who are renewed and born of the Spirit of God, is seated in the heart, and implies voluntary exercise, even that love, in which all holiness consists, according to scripture, may be proved from the following passage: "Beloved, let us love one another: For love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love."** In these words, love and knowing God, are asserted to be so Jer. xxiv. 7. † John xvii. 3. + Psalm cxix. 34, 144. § 2 Cor. iv. 6. Col. iii. 10. ¶Eph. iv. 23, 24. ** 1 John iv. 7, 8.

connected, that where love is, there is the knowledge of God; and they who have no love, do not know God. Hence it may be inferred, that the knowledge of God is dependent on love; for he who does not love, does not know him: There must therefore be this love, in order to know God, as the latter cannot exist without the former; and does exist wherever the former exists. And it is farther inferred, that love, and the knowledge of God, cannot be distinguished, as the one implies the other, and are the same exercise of the heart. Loving God is knowing him, and knowing God is loving him. Love is the eye of the mind, by which the objects in the moral world are seen in a true light; and where this eye, this discerning, is not, the mind is in total darkness with respect to moral objects. The reason of this is here given, "For God is love." As love comprehends all moral excellence, and in this the moral character of God consists; therefore he who loveth not, cannot have any true idea or conception of love; he cannot know the divine moral character, which is love. Love is here to be understood in its general nature, " one that loveth. He that loveth not." That is, he whose heart is not formed to the exercise of universal, disinterested benevolence. This, as has been shown, comprehends all virtuous, holy love; and is the same affection, whether it be exercised towards God or our neighbour. All the difference is owing to the dif ference of the objects of this same love.

Every

In this view it appears that the same thing is asserted by this apostle in the preceding part of this epistle. He says, "he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, even until now. But he that loveth his brother, abideth in the light."* He that loveth is born of God, and is divinely illuminated, and knoweth God, and the objects of the moral world, and walketh in the light. He that loveth not is in total darkness with respect to these objects: he hath not seen God, nor known him; for the pure in heart only, that is, they who love, see God.† Love is the only light of the moral world. Could this be extinguished, all

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† Matt, v. 8.

would be total darkness. And they who are fallen into the darkness of sin, or self love, in which all sin radically consists, as has been shown, can be recovered to light, by that renovation only, that purity of heart which consists in love, or disinterested affection. Hence it appears that when this apostle says, "God is light," and "God is love," he does not mean any thing really dif ferent by light and love; for they cannot be distinguished; but are the same thing. Light is love, and love is light.

This same sentiment, which is inculcated by the apostle John in the passages just considered, is also asserted by St. Paul, in the following words. "Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth. If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." That is, if any man who does not love, think he has true knowledge by mere speculation, and that all light and knowledge consists in this, and desires and seeks no other, he does yet know nothing respecting moral, spiritual objects, as he ought to know, and must know, in order to have the true knowledge of God. "But if any man love God, he (that is, God) is known by him." That is, if any man have love, he is illuminated, and has true light and knowledge, which does not consist in mere speculation, but in the sensations and taste of the heart, by which he discerns the divine character with approbation, and knows the only true God; which is the knowledge that all men ought to have, as they are commanded to love, and all their duty lies in this. All mere speculative knowledge that is possible to be attained without love, leaves men in total moral darkness, in the exercise of selfishness and pride, in opposition to every part and degree of their duty.

Agreeable to this, the same apostle says, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." That light and discerning respecting the truths of the gospel, and the character of Christ, which is implied in true faith, is not mere speculation, but depends on the disposition and exercises of the heart. Therefore Christ says to the Jews, "how can ye believe, which receive honour one 1 John i. 5. † Chap. iv. 8. + 1 Cor. viii. 1, 2, 3. 5 Rom. x. 10:

of another; and seek not the honour which cometh from God only ?"* In these words it is declared that selfishness and pride, which are directly opposed to that love which consists in disinterested affection, do blind the mind to spiritual objects, and effectually shut out that light and discerning which is essential to faith in Christ; and that they only whose hearts are benevo lent and humble, have the true light, and see spiritual objects as faith beholds them.

His

We are taught the same thing by Christ, when speaking expressly and particularly of illumination. words are, "The light of the body is the eye: If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee, be darkness, how great is that darkness." Our divine teacher is here speaking of moral or spiritual light and darkness, and says, that these are as the eye of the mind is, and depend on the single or evil eye. If we attend to the scripture, we may learn what is meant by the single and evil eye. Jesus Christ says, "From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." From these words we learn, that an evil eye belongs to the heart, and is an exercise of the heart, as it cometh out of the heart. Therefore it is of a moral nature, and is itself criminal, as it is called an evil thing, and is ranked among other things, which are moral evils or sins, and defile men. We may infer from this with great certainty, that moral darkness belongs to the heart, and not the intellect, as distinguished from that.-That it consists in the exercise of the heart, and is in itself criminal, in every degree of it.

And it may with equal certainty be determined, from other passages of scripture, what is the particular nature of that disposition and exercise which is called an evil eye, and in what this evil eye consists. Our Lord represents the householder, who hired men to work in his John v. 44, Matt, vi. 22, 23, + Mark vii. 21, 22, 23,