1 nlsc, xt. ORDINARY WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 275 tied rooted aversion in his mind, to those sinful practices into which sometimes he is drawn by the power or sur-. prize of temptation ; for he has the seed of God abiding in him, and the divine likeness and temper communi- cated to him by regeneration, so that he sins not with a. full bent of soul, nor with his whole heart, as he loves. God, and seeks him, nor with constancy and persever- ance; Ps. cxix, 52, 10, 38, 44. 3. Such as love God, and keep his commandments, they are the children of God : And this you have fre- quently repeated, in the 1st Epistle of John. When a principle of divine love reigns in the heart, we keep the commands of our heavenly Father with delight, and they are not an heavy task or burden to us : His command- ments are not grievous; 1 John v. 3. 4. Justice and charity toward men, and special affec- tion toward our fellow- christians, are further evidences of our adoption; 1 John iii.10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: Whosoever= doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. When our righteous and friendly conduct toward our fellow-creatures proceeds from a senseof the authority of God, and his divine compassion; when our meekness, gentleness, goodness to all men, and our peculiar love to the saints of God, spring from a right principle ; when we love the brethren because they carry the image of God in them ; these are such charac- ters as distinguish the sons of God from the children of wrath, and the seed of the wicked one. 5. Peace- makers are entitled to this dignity : Mat. v..9 Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God: But he that sows discord among brethren is of the seed of the serpent. 6. Sanctified afflictions, and patience under them, is another mark of adoption ; Heb. xii. 7. Ifye endure Chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; and he does this/6r our profit; ver. x. that we might be par- takers of his holiness. If the sorrows, the burdens, the- reproaches, the pains, the sicknesses, and the sufferings that we sustain, either from the hands of God or men, do not draw out our angry disquieting passions, but are borne with a holy composure of .spirit, looking to the hand of God as our Father; and if we find our. hearts T 2
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