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THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
THERE is a tribunal before which we must all appear at the last day: but we need not wait till that time to ascertain our true character. Every man has a tribunal erected in his own bosom. The conscience, according to the light it has received, accuses or excuses, those who will listen to its voice. This is common to heathens as well as Christians [Note: Rom_2:15.]. But God’s people are favoured with the additional testimony of the Holy Spirit. Of this the Apostle speaks in the passage before us.
We shall endeavour to shew,
I. What is the witness here spoken of—
Witnesses imply a doubt of the thing which is to be confirmed. The thing to be ascertained here is, “That we are the children of God.” Respecting this, many are in suspense all their days; but God has provided means for the removal of these doubts.
He has been pleased to give us the witness of his Spirit.
1. Through the medium of rational deduction—
[We may judge of our state by comparing it with the declarations of Scripture: God has given many marks and characters of his own people [Note: e. g. 1Jn_3:10.]; we may examine by these how far our practice corresponds with our duty, and know from the testimony of an enlightened conscience our real state. This is a scriptural way of judging: St. Paul used it [Note: He knew that God required real integrity of heart, Psa_51:6. He therefore laboured to attain it, Act_24:16. He had the testimony of his conscience that he had attained it, Heb_13:18. And this testimony was to him a ground was to him a ground of joy before God, 2Co_1:12.]; and exhorts us to use it [Note: 2Co_13:5.]. St. Peter represents the attainment of this as a principal part of our baptismal engagement [Note: 1Pe_3:21.]; St. John also assures us, that this is the way in which God would have us to know our state [Note: 1Jn_3:20-21.].]
2. In a way of immediate impression—
[The Spirit, as a “Spirit of adoption,” testifies to the believer’s soul, that he belongs to God. Not that this testimony is given without any reference to the Scripture; yet it is imparted in a more instantaneous manner, and in a far higher degree, at some times than at others. God by his Spirit sometimes “sheds abroad his love in the heart” in such a measure, and shines so clearly on the work he has already wrought there, as to convey immediately a full persuasion and assurance of an interest in his favour. As by “the sealing of the Spirit” he stamps his own image on his children for the conviction of others, so by “the witness of the Spirit” he testifies of their adoption for the more immediate comfort of their own souls. These manifestations are vouchsafed, for the most part, to prepare the soul for trials, to support it under them, or to comfort it after them: but they cannot be explained for the satisfaction of others [Note: We cannot convey to any man a just idea of sensations which he has never felt; they must be experienced in order to be understood. The work of the Spirit in regeneration is not fully understood even by those who are the subjects of it, notwithstanding its effects are as visible as those of the wind, Joh_3:8. We cannot expect, therefore, that his less visible operations should be more intelligible to those who have never experienced them at all. See Rev_2:17.]; yet may they be sufficiently proved from Scripture to be the privilege and portion of true believers [Note: See Rom_8:15; 2Co_1:21-22; and Eph_4:30; which clearly shew, that the Holy Spirit does operate on the souls of God’s people, and perform towards them the office both of a sanctifier and a comforter.].]
To guard the doctrine against every species of delusion, we shall shew,
II. How to distinguish it from all false and enthusiastic pretensions—
Many, it must be confessed, have pretended to this witness on false grounds [Note: Some have fancied that the Spirit witnessed their adoption because they have had a singular dream, or a portion of scripture has been suddenly and strongly impressed upon their minds, or they have enjoyed peculiar comfort in their souls.], and Satan is ready enough to help forward such delusions. But the witness of the Spirit may be distinguished from all enthusiastic pretensions to it, if we consider attentively,
1. What precedes it—
[Conviction of our lost estate, faith in the Redeemer, and devotedness to God as our rightful Sovereign, must precede it. If we have not these things, we cannot be God’s children; and we may he sure the Spirit will never attest a falsehood.]
2. What accompanies it—
[Humility of mind, a jealous fear of ourselves, and a love to the weakest of God’s people, attend these divine communications; whereas pride and conceit, with a presumptuous confidence, and a contempt of others, are ever found in deluded enthusiasts.]
3. What follows it—
[Manifestations of God to the soul always produce zeal in his service; victory over sin; and a longing for the enjoyment of him in heaven; but supineness, subjection to evil tempers, and a forgetfulness of the eternal world, generally characterize the self-deceiving professor. Let every one therefore examine his pretensions by these marks — — —]
Address—
1. Those who know nothing of this testimony of the Spirit—
[You probably do not understand the regenerating influences of the Spirit; and yet you see them manifested in the lives of many around you. Do not then condemn the witness of the Spirit merely because you cannot comprehend it: rather pray to God that you yourselves may be his children, and that the Spirit may testify to you of your adoption.]
2. Those who profess to have received it—
[A delusion in this is above all things to be guarded against: if your dispositions be habitually bad, your pretensions are all a delusion: where the witness of the Spirit is, there will the fruits also of the Spirit be.]
3. Those who long to receive it—
[To have the full witness of the Spirit is desirable, but not necessary: it is a great mercy if we enjoy his lower attestations in a good conscience. Let us labour to serve God, and leave to him the time, manner, and degree, in which he shall reveal himself to us.]
4. Those who now enjoy this witness—
[The manifestations of God to the soul are a very heaven upon earth; let them therefore be duly esteemed and diligently improved; but beware lest you “grieve the Spirit by whom you are sealed:” be looking forward with increasing earnestness to your inheritance; and while you enjoy the inward witness that you are the children of God, let the world have an outward evidence of it in your lives [Note: In confirmation of this view of a very difficult subject, the reader is referred to an elaborate and judicious discussion of it in Edwards on the Affections, page 168–185; at the close of which that most penetrating author gives a summary of the whole in these words: ‘When the Apostle Paul speaks of the Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit, he is not to be understood of two spirits, that are two separate, collateral, independent witnesses; but it is by one, that we receive the witness of the other: the Spirit of God gives the evidence, by infusing and shedding abroad the love of God, the spirit of a child, in the heart; and our spirit, or our conscience, receives and declares this evidence of our rejoicing.’
To obviate any objection that may seem to arise from the term ó õ ì ì á ñ ô õ ñ å ῖ , see how the same word is used, Rom_9:1. ].]