By its distinguishing privilege. Sometimes our spirit bears testimony without the Spirit. (2) And see what it is that we are heirs of; not of God's gifts and God's works, but of God Himself. I know that you and I can do it. And at last they are ready to give up all in despair.2. It is as if a poor man were called into court to prove his right to some piece of land which was disputed. He assures and consoles directly, by coming into immediate contact with the heart.III. It is not that a man has not faith, but he has not the comfort of faith. )The witness of the SpiritD. — that love belongs to us.2. IN DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS.1. "Heirs of God" with Christ. THIS GRACE, HOW SHALL WE TELL IT, OR WHO CAN TELL IT? — of a throne, a crown, a treasury, a nation! By the same fruits. In illustrating this there are two points to be considered—the ground on which that evidence is founded; the manner in which it rises in the soul. Surely the Master's life is a protest against it: "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus" — all utterly different and unlike natures. THE DEDUCTION FROM THIS TESTIMONY — "if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ."1. The fact of such a relation subsisting between God and the soul gives the highest warrant of eternal life. To the heir of a king what glorious expectancies are there! (Hebrews 12:7; John 18:11).II. Satan, in the meantime, opposeth with all his might; many flaws are found in the evidences; the truth of them all is questioned, and the soul hangs in suspense as to the issue. But the Spirit searcheth all things, not only the deep things of God, but the deep things of your heart and your ways. The character of this assurance as the work of the Divine Spirit is a testimony to its possible perpetuity.3. Note the requirements essential to the competency of our witness. Our own spirit. )The witness of the SpiritP. The importance of having the Holy Spirit as the chief witness will appear from the nature of the facts to be witnessed to — namely, that we are the children of God, etc. How do you distinguish day from night? But if your conduct and character bear upon them the Divine stamp, then your word will not be an empty sound. In what way does this testimony discover itself? Sometimes our spirit bears testimony without the Spirit. This was thought to be a singular instance of his kindness to his courtiers. But we may steer a middle course, and keep a safe distance from enthusiasm without denying the privilege of God's children.I. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT WITH OUR SPIRIT.1. He leads and guides (ver. "There have been moments," says some weary soul, "when I have had that witness — in some time of great spiritual struggle, when through my very weakness there came a strength which made me conquer even myself, and also in moments of great spiritual exaltation; but there has come a reaction after the victory, a depression after the joy, and the evidence which seemed so strong has worn gradually away. In what way does this testimony discover itself? Those moments of dulness and of coldness in our religious life are times of peril. But the question arises, What is the mode of His testimony? It cannot but be so when there is so intimate a connection between our body and spirit, and the one acts on, and is reacted on, by the other. Strutt. )The witness of the SpiritJ. THE SUSTAINING POWER OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.1. He knows nothing about it. There are those who conceive that a feeling suddenly rises in the Christian, which is a conviction of his election, and that this is the witness of the Holy Spirit. And at last they are ready to give up all in despair.2. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God." "The wind bloweth where it listeth!" Those that were on the ship had no means of communicating it; but the people on shore had seen, and they could send the news of what they had seen right into the minds of people here in London, and produced within those minds all the change and all the impression that was wanted to be produced by that piece of intelligence. By the same consciousness you will know if your soul is alive to God; if you are saved from the pain of proud wrath and have the ease of a meek and quiet spirit.2. "(2) Is it essential that he should know the fact whereof he affirms? The more confident he is of the favour of God the more does he exalt himself. HOW IS IT TO BE ATTAINED?1. By its operative power. IT ENCOURAGES TO PRAYER. He who does right because he may give pleasure, and fears to do wrong because it is painful, is never, in the highest sense, a moral man at all; but he only is such who does right because filled with a life grander than his own. (2) Humble joy in God accompanies it, and meekness, patience, gentleness, etc. The Holy Ghost produces the decree of this election. "I will not leave you orphans."2. Required?” based on Romans 8:16-28 Romans 8:16 … The heir of God! It is not that we are all the creatures of God; the pebbles are that. Notice that there are two witnesses. Will any man make the temple of the Lord a temple of idols? I. THE AUTHOR OF THE BELIEVER'S TESTIMONY — the Spirit! It is as if a poor man were called into court to prove his right to some piece of land which was disputed. This is not inconsistent with doubt and anxiety, because —(1)This witnessing is intermittent, more or less. )Christian assuranceHomiletic Quarterly.is —I. There are spiritual dyspeptics, too, who are always talking about their symptoms, and who think they have not got any religion at all unless they are finding something to worry themselves and other people about. A son was wandering disinherited in America. It is not that we are all the creatures of God; the pebbles are that. Satan is ever on the watch to insinuate the doubt. He gave to us His Person; we eat His flesh and drink His blood. (2) Humble joy in God accompanies it, and meekness, patience, gentleness, etc. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT WITH OUR SPIRIT.1. )The believer's testimonyT. If we are born into His family it is a miracle of mercy. Hodge, D.D.I. )Christian assuranceHomiletic Quarterly.is —I. There has been a terrible tendency to magnify, in every age, some one sole idea of Christian usefulness and beauty. HOW THIS JOINT TESTIMONY MAY BE DISTINGUISHED FROM —1. He gave to us His Person; we eat His flesh and drink His blood. But this done, the chief practical directions for gaining an inward assurance are that we cultivate a believing contemplation of gospel truth, and institute a frequent and close examination into the state of our own hearts.2. Who so competent to authenticate the work of the Spirit in the heart as the Spirit Himself?2. But when He opens our understanding we find that the entrance of God's Word giveth light. 2. That is a witness of sonship founded on the rock of God's eternal truthfulness.4. The only question is, Had his father any power of putting what was in his mind into the mind of his boy? 15).2. How often He presents to us the power of God in the mouth of the preacher, and we bear witness to one another of the preacher's wit and eloquence, and no more! To these add the passages holding out to the believer the promise of peace (Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 32:17; Romans 5:1). And, further, to make our salvation depend upon any form of inward testimony, is to make the trust of the believer turn in part upon something within, rather than turning absolutely upon the finished work of Christ. Direct.2. The soul is the seat of affections, the spirit is rectified reason or the conscience (Romans 9:1).II. And now do grow and flourish blessed things which before we knew not. By —(1)Begetting in us the Divine nature. But do these fruits attend the supposed testimony in the presumptuous man? The heir of God! Else what does an apostle mean when he says, "Quench not the Spirit," "Grieve not the Spirit"?2. The notion often prevails that this Divine witness must needs be perfect, never flickering, never darkening. By the same fruits. The Holy Ghost graciously condescendeth to say "Amen" to the testimony of our conscience. It is His to enlighten. We shall fear to bring a cloud over our joy.IV. Our spiritual nature has its noontide, when we work in the light and rejoice in the brightness of God's love; and it will have its night, when we can only see the light, as it were, coming from some passionless moon, or from the cold steel stars in some far-off heaven.3. Scripture: Romans 8:12–18. He standeth up and beareth his own faithful testimony; but some great one of the land confirms his witness.1. — that love belongs to us.2. Then with regard to the substance of it, "The Spirit itself," by means of our cry, Abba, Father, "beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." 4:20). First, He came to the loving hearts of women, whose words seemed only "idle tales" to the apostles themselves; and then with logical demonstration to the cold reasoning intellect of St. Thomas; now to individual disciples walking on the common highway, and who only saw Him when He broke and blessed the bread, and it revealed to them why their hearts had so burned within them on the way; and then to the assembled Church with words of benediction and of peace. None but the man who has the "witness of the Spirit" is able to look through the sorrow to the blessedness hereafter.III. Feel that every point gained in spiritual life is a point to be maintained. Not that we shall be, or may be, but are. (Sermons maybe freely distributed for the blessing of God's people providing that they are unaltered, copied in full and that the source is properly acknowledged.) Romans 8:23,26 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body…. 14). If I were not a child, God would never have given to me that affection which dares to call Him "Father. ITS NATURE.1. The faith whereby I believe is in my heart, and is not believed (for that were absurd), but known by feeling. A SPECIAL PRIVILEGE. L. Hull, B.A. We know how a depressed or nervous physical condition will tinge our feelings, will make us take a widely different view of things from that which we had taken before. Confidence in His wisdom.6. Winslow, D.D. THIS DIVINE WITNESS IN OUR SPIRITS IS SUBJECT TO THE ORDINARY INFLUENCES WHICH AFFECT OUR SPIRITS.1. In like manner there is an essential difference between spiritual light and darkness, and between the light wherewith the Sun of Righteousness shines upon our heart, and the glimmering light which arises from "sparks of our own kindling." That is its nature. Let the sacred germ lie dormant in the heart, and the witness of the Spirit will decline in vividness and emphasis, and the germ itself will perish (Hebrews 6:4-6). TO WHOM DO THESE WITNESSES TESTIFY?1. For me to speak of this to them which have it not, were as if I should speak a strange language. Confidence in His wisdom.6. How do you distinguish day from night? We conclude that God, in proclaiming His own Fatherhood, will not be wanting towards the members of His own family. Hulme. The true remedy is to strengthen and improve generally your spiritual nature, instead of nervously looking for artificial tests of its vitality. The Divine Spirit, when it enters into the narrow room of the human spirit, condescends to submit itself to the ordinary laws and conditions which befall our own human nature. Can you see it? I). It is a language he does not understand. The text discloses the way by which the true Christian may attain to a strong and lively hope of his adoption — namely, through the testimony of the Spirit. The second witness is the spirit of the man himself — the responsive testimony of our own hearts echoing the silent utterances of the Holy Ghost, and giving us confidence toward God. It was said of Cyrus that when he sat down at meat, if there were aught that pleased his appetite, he would order it to be given to his friends with this message, "King Cyrus found that this food pleased his palate, and he thought his friend should feed upon that which he enjoyed himself." Speak we of His omniscience? Moore, M.A. The witness of the Spirit must vary, as do our individual natures. The "earnest" of the Spirit constitutes a lien upon the future service of the receiver; if the service be unperformed, the "earnest" will be withdrawn; whereas, if the service be lovingly rendered with the whole might of the heart, the measure of the gift will be filled up even to the sanctification of the "whole body, soul, and spirit." The child of God longs to be like God.4. Ignorant of the Divine original, how can it recognise the Divine lineaments in the faint and imperfect copy?3. Is the Church baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire? THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT WITH OUR SPIRIT.1. Lancaster, M.A.How much there is in this chapter as to the work of the Holy Spirit. But if this principle be true it does not apply only to this one single attitude of the believing soul, it comprehends the whole of a Christian's life. 2). As the inward spiritual testimony is our encouragement against defection.2. The importance of having the Holy Spirit as the chief witness will appear from the nature of the facts to be witnessed to — namely, that we are the children of God, etc. (3)Zeal for His glory. Direct.2. Fear.5. )Christian assuranceHomiletic Quarterly.is —I. 11).Learn:1. L. Hull, B.A. 2. And thus still He and His Holy Spirit's witness come — now to some tender soul who cannot reason, but can only love, with simply an angel's message, which not only the world, but the Church, may for a moment think but an "idle tale"; and again to some consummate, lordly intellect, which is at last convinced by touching the nail-print and the riven side. IN THE SAME INDIVIDUAL.1. Delight in His presence.III. But if thou beest a drunkard, a Sabbath-breaker, unclean, etc., and sayest the Spirit witnesseth thy salvation, it is not God's Spirit, but a lying spirit, for such works are of the devil. All God's children are heirs, however numerous the family, and he that shall be born of God last shall be as much His heir as he who was born first. God's Spirit indeed witnesseth; but the witness is that they which do such things shall be damned. )The witness of the SpiritJ. By its operative power. Secretly in the sense which He conveys of our personal interest in the great scheme of Christ's atonement, by the gift of faith.2. Joy makes one active.V. "If our heart condemn us," that is, if the verdict of conscience be clearly against us, "God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. ( Ambrose. No Difference As Children Of God Contributed by Gbemisola Fafowora on Feb 28, 2020 | 734 views. 1. When our spirits are pleading their right and title, He comes in and bears witness on our side, at the same time enabling us to put forth acts of filial obedience, crying, "Abba Father."(J. To enable us to enter into perfect communion with God. The ground on which Paul bases the evidence of sonship is that of a Divine Spirit, greater than the emotions of our souls, consciously acting upon us. It is with our spirits that God is our Father. 26). The fallen angels have all that. Manner unknown.4. He is the "Spirit of truth. How does the Spirit bear witness? When we are led by a Spirit of life greater than our own, we know that the Divine Spirit is acting upon us. 14), He aids in prayer (ver. (c)Close walking with God.(d)Holiness.(T. First, He came to the loving hearts of women, whose words seemed only "idle tales" to the apostles themselves; and then with logical demonstration to the cold reasoning intellect of St. Thomas; now to individual disciples walking on the common highway, and who only saw Him when He broke and blessed the bread, and it revealed to them why their hearts had so burned within them on the way; and then to the assembled Church with words of benediction and of peace. And the Holy Spirit testifies when ours does not. In the darkest hour we have been able to say, "The time is in my Father's hands; I cannot murmur; I feel it is but right that I should suffer, otherwise my Father would never have made me suffer." Fear.5. Service Type: Sunday Morning. )The witness of the SpiritD. Peace and confidence.5. 3. There are those who conceive that a feeling suddenly rises in the Christian, which is a conviction of his election, and that this is the witness of the Holy Spirit. Can modern piety enrich its history with such a passage as Acts 2:1-4; Acts 4:31? To cherish this assurance, especially by cultivating an obedient sensibility to the Holy Spirit's suggestions.2. Joy makes one active.V. — His Almightiness is ours. Remember you have to "work together with God." And whereas our experience sometimes leads our spirit to conclude that we are born of God, there are times when the eternal Spirit descends and fills our heart, and then we have the two witnesses bearing witness with each other that we are the children of God. There are those who conceive that a feeling suddenly rises in the Christian, which is a conviction of his election, and that this is the witness of the Holy Spirit. — of a throne, a crown, a treasury, a nation! In the golden age of Rome, if a man were tempted to dishonesty, he would stand upright, look the tempter in the face, and say to him, "I am a Roman." T. Shore, M.A.This witness of the Spirit varies —I. As it renders us non-susceptible in the hour of temptation.III. Do we say that He is love? )The two witnessesElnathan Parr, B.D.The witness of the Holy Ghost is the work of faith, the witness of our spirits the sense of faith wrought. Into immediate contact with the severity of INEXORABLE DISCIPLINE reading of God. 1. 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