Sermons . Eight Discourses on Several Subjects (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: chapter{Section 4 DISCOURSE I. Concerning the Witnefs of the Spirit. Rom. VIII. 16. T'he Spirit itfelf beareth -vuitnefs with our Spirit that we are the Children of God. HIS Paflage is fomething difficult, and commonly not rightly underftood. For the clearing of which there are four Things to be done. I. To fhew what is meant by the Spirit. II. What is meant by the Children of God. III. Wha't is meant by the Spirit's bearing witnefs with our Spirit. IV. How, or in what Senfe the Spirit beareth witnefs with our Spirit that we are the Children of God Vol. V. The three firft of tliefe Points are pretty obvious, fb that I need fpend no Time in infifting on them. i/7. By the Spirit here is undoubtedly rneant that Holy Spirit which our Lord promifed he would fend upon his Difciples, after he was afcended into Heaven; and which accordingly came upon them- on the Day of Pentecofty and which from thence forward was to continue with the Church to the End of the World. This Spirit is here in the Text called the Spirit it felf to reprefent Him as a Perfon, becaufe in the Verfe before the Apoftle had ufed this Word Spirit in another Senfe, viz. for a State and Rom. s. Difpenfation. Te have not, fays he, received the Spirit of Bondage again to jear, but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption: That is, ye are not now in the Jewifli Difpenfation, which is a Difpenfation of Servants, wherein ye are left to your natural Fears; but ye are in the Difpenfation of Sons: Ye may now call God Father j For the Spirit it felj (as he goes on), that Spirit who hath the principal Agency and Management of this new Difpenfation, bears witnefs with our Spirit that we are the Children of God. But, idly, What is meant by being the Children of God ? To this I anfwer, that t...