St.  John  extols  their  victory  in  the  words  of
my  text;  "  Ye  have  overcome  them  (says  he,)
because  greater  is  he  that  is  in  you,  than  he
that  is  in  the  world."

It  seems  almost  needless  precisely  to  point
out  here  whom  St.  John  means  by  "him,  who
is  in  believers,"  and  by  "  him  who  is  in  the
world;"  or  to  determine  which  of  the  different
senses  of  commentators  seem  to  us  the  most
defensible.  Some  say,  the  apostle  intended
the  Holy  Spirit  by  "  him  who  is  in  you;"
others  think,  he  meant  Jesus  Christ;  and  others
suppose  him  speaking  of  the  principle  of  re
generation,  which  is  in  Christians,  and  which
renders  them  invulnerable  by  all  the  attacks  of
the  world.  In  like  manner,  if  we  endeavour
to  affix  a  distinct  idea  to  the  other  terms,
"  him  who  is  in  the  world;"  some  pretend  that
St.  John  means  Satan;  others,  that  he  expres
ses,  in  a  vague  manner,  all  the  means  which
the  world  employs  to  seduce  good  men.
But,  whatever  difference  there  may  appear
in  these  explications,  they  all  come  to  the
same  sense.  For  if  the  apostle  speaks  of  the
inhabitation  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  certain,  he
dwells  in  us  by  his  Holy  Spirit;  and  if  he
means  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  certain  he  dwells
in  us  by  the  principles  of  regeneration.  In
like  manner  in  regard  to  the  other  proposition.
