[4.] The necessity of having the Spirit appeareth, in that without b.im we can do nothing in Christianity from first to last ; it is the Spirit uniteth us to Christ, and planteth us into his mystical body : 1 Cor. xii. 13, ' By one Spirit we are baptized into one body ; ' it is by the Spirit we give up ourselves to God as our God and reconciled Fatiier in Christ, and to Christ as our Eedeemer and Saviour- — and so are planted into his mystical body : 1 Cor. vi. 17, ' But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.' As a man and a harlot are one flesh, so we are one spirit ; the union is spiritual for kind, and the Spirit is the author of it. So for fui-ther sanctification, and consolation, and mortification ; take it either for the purging out lusts or suppressing the acts of sin ; for the purging out of lusts: 1 Pet. i. 22, ' Seeing ye have purified yoiu' souls in obeying the truth throiigh the Spirit.' Pride, worldliness, and sensuality, these are purged out more and more by the Spirit. Or suppressing the acts of sin : Rom. viii. 13, 'If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body.' So for vivification, he inf'useth life, and quickeneth and maintaineth it in otu' souls : Gal. v. 25, ' If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Sjnrit.' Strengthening it: Eph. iii. It), ' That he would grant you according to the riches of his grace to be strengthened with might, by his Spirit.' He maketh it fruitful and exciteth it: Ezek. xxxvi. 27, 'I will put ray Spirit into you, and cause you to walk in my ways.' For consolation, to uphold our hearts in the midst of all trials and difficulties ; then we may go on cheerfully, and in a course of holiness : Acts ix. 31, ' They walked in the fear of God, and the comforts of the Holy Ghost.' To comfort us with the sense of God's love in all our tribulations : Rom. v. 5, ' Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Giiost, which is given unto us.' To wait for eternal life : Gal. v. 5, ' But we through the Spirit do wait for the hope of righteousness by faith,' that is, which is built upon it.
6 SERMONS UrON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XII.
2. This Spirit is the evidence of men being true christians, the only sure and proper evidence : this will appear, —
[1.] By the metaphors and terms by which the Spirit is set forth ; he is called a seal, a witness, and an earnest : ' Who hath sealed us, and fjiven us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts : ' 2 Cor. i. 22 ; and Eph. i. 13, 14, ' After ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.' Men used to set their mark and stamp upon their wares, that they might own them for theirs. God sealeth by his Spirit ; his stamp is his image: 2 Cor. iii. 18, 'We are changed into his image from glory to glory.' So he is also set forth under the notion of a witness : Eom. viii. IG, ' The Spirit itself beareth witness.' What is the witness of the Spirit ? Not an immediate revelation or oracle in your bosoms, to tell you that you are God's cbildren, but the renovation of the soul, and the constant operation of the Holy Spirit, dwelling and working in you ; this testifieth to our consciences or spirits, that God hath adopted us into his family ; thus the Spirit is a witness to the scriptures. So he is set forth as an earnest : 2 Cor. v. 5, ' Now he that hath wrought us to this self-same thing is God, who hath also given us the earnest of his Spirit.' An earnest is part of the sum ; we have somewhat of the life, and peace, and joy of the Spirit now, which enableth us to wait with the more comfort and assurance for our future blessedness.
[2.] From the congruity of this evidence.
(1.) The coming down of the Holy Ghost upon him as the evidence of God's love to Christ, and the visible demonstration of his affiliation and sonship to the world. The evidence of God's love : John. iii. 34, ' The Father loved the Son, and gave him the Spirit without measure.' Now Christ prayed : John xvii. 26 ; ' That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them ; ' and v. 23, ' That the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.' None will think in degree, therefore in kind, that God would manifest his love to us, as he did to him, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, or his filiation. John knew Christ to be the Son of God, by the . Spirit descending and abiding on him : John. i. 32, ' I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it abode on him ; ' yea, God himself owned this as a demonstration of his sonship : Mat. iii. 17, ' This is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' So do we know ourselves to be the children of God, by the Spirit's inhabitation and sanctifying work upon our souls.