278 ORDINARY WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. {DISC. XI. tify his hun:an'nature, and to work miracles; John iii. 54. By this Spirit of holiness he was also raised from the dead ; and thus he was declared to be the Son ofGod with power, as some interpret that text : Rom. i. 4. He was God's first born, `before all worlds; and it is the same Spirit that dwells in him, the original Son, without measure, that is sent, according to our measure, to dwell in us also : It is the same Spirit that raises us from a death in trespasses and sins to a new life: It is the same Spirit that is given to sanctify us, and to make us chil- dren. Go on yet and compare Rom. viii. 9, 11, 14. with lieb. ii. 14. and you will find, as he was pleased in a way of condescension " to take flesh and blood upon him because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, that he might be like them ;" lieb. ii. So he is pleased to give his own Spirit to men, that they might be like him also ; For " he that has not the Spirit of Christ is none of his;" Rom. viii. 9. For this reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, children of one Father; for he partookof their flesh, and they partake of his Spirit. IIIrd Prop. God has given to each of our spirits a power of reflecting upon our own hearts and lives, whereby we become witnesses and judges for or against ourselves; And by this power we pass a judgment both concerning our particular actions, concerning the temper of our spirits, and concerning our state toward God. This power is sometimes called conscience. It is a faculty whereby we compare our words, our thoughts, and actions, with some rule; and that rule is the law of God : And hereby we judge concerning these particular thoughts, words and actions, whether they are good or bad. But when we compare the habitual frame and tem- per of our spirits, as well as the transactions and conduct ofour lives, with the plain description and characters of the children of God, that are given us in his word; herebywe judge ofour own state, whether it be a state of sin, or a state of grace. This is that light that God has set up in men, by which they should pass sentence in their own case, with regard to their own present conduct, and their future hopes. And Solomon, for this reason, calls " the spirit of inan
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