Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 3:11

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness." — John 3:11 (ASV)

We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you receive not our witness.

In a certain sense, every true minister of Christ and every true child of God, can say this, for we know that there is a spiritual kingdom. We have seen it; we have entered into it; and we can testify that there is another life which is as much superior to the ordinary life of men as the life of men is superior to that of the brutes that perish; and we know that we have that superior life.

We have other eyes than these eyes that are visible, and other ears than the ears of our flesh. There is a higher and better life to be enjoyed even now, and he who believes in Christ has that life. We speak that we do know and testify that we have seen; and yet, though our testimony would be believed if we gave it concerning anything else, we are not believed when we witness concerning this higher and better life.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

Spiritual men declare that there are spiritual things. They know them, and have seen them; and they have a right to be believed, for they are not liars. They are honest men, and speak what they do know; yet, often, their witness is not received. They need not be surprised at this, for it was the same with their Master.

Verily, verily, I say to you, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you do not receive our witness.

The testimony of Christ, and of his apostles, and of all true disciples of Christ is this: that there is such a thing as a new birth.

Men may not believe that it is true; but, nevertheless, it is as certain as any other fact in the history of the world. It is foolish for anyone to deny it because they have not experienced it themselves.

Although they have not experienced it, others have. Those who declare that they have been born again are as honest, as reasonable, and as trustworthy as any other people in the world. If any counsel had to prove his case in a court of law through the testimony of five or six witnesses, I am sure that he would not want better witnesses than those who declare that they have been born again.

Many of them are well-known people of high repute, and their testimony should be believed.

But it is not a question of six, or a dozen, or a dozen thousand witnesses. Hundreds of thousands of men and women have borne witness that a miraculous change has taken place in them, by which they have been born into a new world and have received a new life. The testimony of these witnesses should be believed.

It was hard that Christ should have to say, You do not receive our witness.

Truly, truly, I say to you, We speak what we know, and testify what we have seen: and you do not receive our witness.

This was an additional hint to Nicodemus of the unbelief that still lingered in him. You do not receive our witness.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

This is true of all faithful ministers of the gospel; we do not preach theories, we preach facts. We do not talk about speculations; we speak of a new birth through which we have ourselves passed. If there is no such thing, we are liars to you; but there is such a thing, and this is our witness: We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.

The fashion, nowadays, is to make statements on religious matters with great caution, expecting them to be disputed; but we need exercise no caution when we state what we know to be true. We will be positive; we will utter our "verily, verily," when we speak what is a matter of fact to our own consciences: We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee,

Christ speaks with an authority that no mere human teacher can ever possess.