to use itd. St. Peter represents the attainment of this as a principal part of our baptismal engagement6; St. John also assures us, that this is the way in which God would have us to know our state f.]
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 testi- mony 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 some- times " 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 pre- pare 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 g ; yet may they be sufficiently proved from Scripture to be the privilege and portion of true believers'1.]
To guard the doctrine against every species of delusion, we shall shew,
II. How to distinguish it from all false and enthu- siastic pretensions —
Many, it must be confessed, have pretended to this witness on false grounds1, and Satan is ready enough
of his conscience that he had attained it, Heb. xiii. 18. And this tes- timony was to him a ground of joy before God, 2 Cor. i. 12.
a 2 Cor. xiii. 5. e 1 Pet. hi. 21. * 1 John iii. 20, 21.
g We cannot convey to any man a just idea of sensations which he has never felt ; they must be experienced in order to be under- stood. 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, John iii. 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. ii. 17.
h See Rom. viii. 15 ; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22 ; and Eph. iv. 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.
1 Some have fancied that the Spirit witnessed their adoption be- cause 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.