285 / 652
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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
sense
of
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.
If
ye 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
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