294 ORDINARY WITNESS OF THE SFIiIT. and our peculiar love to the saints of God, spring from a right principle ; when. we love the brethren because they carry the ïntage ofGod in them ; these are such characters 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. . $lensed 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 ano- ther mark of adoption ; Heb. "xii. 7. ¡fye endure chastening, God dealeth with,you as with sons ; and he does thisfor our pro- fit; ver. x. that we might be partakers of his holiness. If the sorrows, the burdens, the reproaches, the pains, the sick- nesses, and the sufferings that we sustain, either from the hands of God or oleo, do not draw out our angry disquieting passions, but are bornewith a holy composure of spirit, looking to the hand of God as our Father; and if we find our hearts weaned from this life as from a state of sin and sorrow, and drawn nearer to heaven, it is a conformable sign that we belong to the family of God. 7. They that gain a victory over-the world, and live above the reachof the frowns and the smiles of it, they are the children of God too : The apostle John assures us of this ; 1 John v, 4. He that is born of God orertometh theworld. S. They are the children of God that walk as Christ walked, and live as Christ lived : They that follow the glorious example of the original andfirst begotten Son, haie the mark of true children ; Rom. viii. 29. God has predestinatedall his chil- dren to be conformed to the image of his Son Christ Jesus. I might sum up all the foregoing evidences ofsonship in this general character of likeness and conformity to oar Redeemer : For' if we consult that text ; 1 John v. 6. we shall find that the Cater and blood are the two great testimonies that are given to- the sonship of our Lord Jesus. This is he that came by water and by blood. Aad as he Was manifested to be the Son of God by the purity of his life, and the blood of martyrdom, which also was a blood ofajonemcnt, soare we manifested to be the children of God. The hloodjs b our witness, when'we by faith lay hold of the atoning blood 6f Jesus, and commit our guilty souls to pardoning, mercy, to be accepted through that blood of his sacri- fice. And when we are sprinkledwith the clean waterofsancti- fication, or baptized with the Holy Spirit and made holy, as Jesus is holy, then we have the witness of the water too. Thus, by the witness of the water and the blood, Jesus the first -Son is evidenced, and we also appear to be children. H. As the ward of God discovers to ne, and describes the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=