Line of Demarkation Becomes Evident

Nor is this a passing notion, for as the years go on the line of demarkation only becomes stronger. The world becomes less and less attractive, and the family of the redeemed becomes more and more precious. Love of the brethren is an abiding proof of the new life, and so the heart is assured before God. This love is a very practical thing. The true child of God cannot be content with loving in word or in tongue. He will manifest love in active benevolence and in gracious behavior. Throughout this First Epistle of John this truth is everywhere stressed. "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (4:7).
It is a remarkable fact, however, that after emphasizing these internal evidences of the new birth so clearly in the early part of his letter, the apostle comes back in the closing portions to the great outstanding truth that the surest proof of all is simple faith in the testimony of God. It is because the more conscientious a soul is, the more he will distrust himself and his experiences, and hence it will not do to build upon these experiences apart from the great foundation truths of the gospel.
So in 1 John 4:13-16 we are told: "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
Reading this, one might ask, "But how do I know that He has given the Spirit to me?" The answer is that it is the Spirit who bears witness to the eternal verities of the gospel. He indwells all who have trusted Christ as their personal Saviour. If you have done this and confess that Jesus is the Son of God, you may know that God by the Spirit dwells in you, and you in God. His love has been revealed in the gospel. Nature manifests His power and wisdom. It is the Cross that tells out His love and grace. Dr. Horatius Bonar, one of whose well-known hymns we have quoted above, has brought this out most strikingly in another poem, not so widely known.
“We read Thee in the flowers, the trees,
The freshness of the fragrant breeze,
The songs of birds upon the wing,
The joy of summer and of spring.
We read Thee best in Him who came
To bear for us the Cross of shame
Sent by the Father from on high,
Our life to live, our death to die,”

When our Saviour had made purification for sins He was taken up into heaven and seated on God's right hand. The Holy Spirit then came down to earth to give power to the testimony of the work so blessedly accomplished, when the Roman spear pierced the side of the dead Christ, and "forthwith came there out blood and water." That blood and water bore mute witness to His holy life given up for sinners. To this the Spirit adds His divine record. And so, as we arc informed in 1 John 5:8, "There are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one" (R. V.).
Thus God has given abundant testimony to the perfection of the redemptive work of His Son. And now He calls on man to receive that testimony in faith and thus be eternally saved. We credit the testimony of men in whom we have confidence, even though they speak of matters beyond our knowledge or our ability to verify. Surely, then, we should accept unquestioningly the witness that God has given concerning His Soul To do otherwise, to refuse to trust His record, is to make Him a liar. To believe the record is to restive this divinely-given message into the very heart and soul. Therefore John tells us, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." And so John brings us back to that which we dwelt on in an earlier chapter of this book: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even you who believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13, lit, trans.).
It becomes evident, then, that the term "these things” embraces all that the venerable apostle has been setting before us in this Epistle of Light and Love. Go over it again. Take it up point by point. Follow the Spirit's presentation of "the message" from verse to verse and theme to theme. Receive it as it is in truth the very Word of the living God, and know beyond any cavil or doubt that you are born from above and have everlasting life as a present possession. And so your heart shall be assured before Him.
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.”