282 ORDINARY WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [DISC. %í. and evident to the conscience. Though this be not a congtant'method with God, yet surely the experience of many christians can subscribe to the truth of it, when they have been searching their own hearts, to find what grace is there, some proper sentence of scripture has been brought to their minds, wherein they have, as in a glass, beheld their own face, beheld the likeness of the children of God in their own souls'; and then they have been constrained to pronounce with holy joy concerning themselves,_,¿` Surely I am a child of God." Nor is it at all hard to suppose, that God's Holy Spi- rit should cast a happy sentence of leis own word into our minds, or bring it to our remembrance, in order to evi- dence our adoption, when it is generally granted the evil spirit may have such access to our minds by the organs of the brain, or the fancy, as to suggest to our thoughts profane,: impure, malicious, or blasphemous speeches, or to tempt us to presumption or despair. 5. It might be added, in the last place, that the dis- cerning faculty of the soul is enabled to act aright by the Spirit of God, and kept from all dangerous mistakes and self-deceivings in this work of examination. Hereby he makesit appear, that such a principle of faith, or love, or ,repentance, which we find working within us, is true evangelical repentance, is sincere love, and faith un- feigned; and' that it is indeed God's own work. in the heart : And thus he puts an end to our doubtful fears about the truth of grace. These things seem to me so plain and intelligible in themselves, and so correspondent with those divine aids of the Holy Spirit which are promised to the children of God in all their serious and religious exercises, and with- out which we can do nothing that is truly good, that I 'trust it will be easily understood, and readily received, by those who are much conversant in transacting their most important affairs with God, according to the light ofscripture. The substance of this testimony of the Spirit to our adoption may be represented-in short, after this manner : The Spirit of God in his word has described the marks and characters of his children ; and, by his gracious in- fluence, he works these holy dispositions, these charac- ters in our hearts ; God has given us a conscience, which
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