SS EXTRAORDINARY WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [DISC.xrr. dinary manner to our adoption, by an inward experi- mental sense of the love of God shed abroad in the heart, assuring some of his favourites that they are the sons or daughters of God, without any particular examination of theheart at that time, or any present reflections on the characters óf adoption described in the bible. I confess the several acts of the mind of man, even the reasoning and argumentative, acts of the soul, are so quick and sudden, and the sensible joy that may arise from them follows in so swift and close a succession, that it is sometimes very hard to distinguish and define the bounds and limits of the several actions, perceptions, and impressions on the mind. On this account I shall not be solicitous to keep up the distinction between these two kinds of the extraordinary witness of the Spirit, but shall only sptak of them in general, as distinguished from the ordinary witness of the. Spirit, by the more immediate sensations of divine love, that are impressed through the peculiar favour of God on the souls of some of his chil- dren. I am very sensible that, in our present age, the Spirit of God is so much withdrawn from the christian church in all his operations, that a man exposes himself to the censure of wild enthusiasm, and 4. heated fancy, if he ventures to discourse at all on such á theme as this But as I am persuaded these things were frequent matter of christian experience in the primitive days of the gospel, and in scenes of sharp persecution, so I am satisfied that God hasnotutterly with-held hisdivine favours of this kind from his churches and his children, for sixteen hundred years together; ,and I hope I,shall make it appear, . that a, supposition of this extraordinary witness of the Spirit may be maintained, without giving a loose to all the rov- ing dreams of a distempered brain, or to the bold pre- st1mptions of weak and conceited men or false. and deceit- ful impostors. The method of my discourse is this, 1. I will offer some very probable proofs that there has been, and is such a thing as the extraordinary witness of the Spirit of God. II. I shall mention a few of the special seasons or oc- casions of such adivine favour.
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