DISCOURSE XL. 295 characters of his children, so the:Spirit of God works these hea- venly dispositions in us, these happy characters of our sonship. Bi nature we are the children of Wrath, the mere seedof the first Adam, and the offspring of Satan, rather than of God, in our corrupt natural state, we are led by theprince of the power of the -air; we are children of disobedience, and of death: Eph. ii. 2. There are none of these divine marks upon us. Itis the blessed Spirit that forms these filial graces in our souls, lays the foúndation of these . evidences in the heart with power, and makes Almm appear in the life with beauty and praise. Therefore tite children of God are said to be born of the Spirit; John iii. 5, 0. It is be that takes us out ofthe Kingdom ofSatan, the family of death and heil, and brings us into the family ofGod, and the kingdom of his 'grace. It is he that, by his divine influences, translates usfrom darkness into the kingdomof Christ. It is he that takes away all the wild and savage marks Of an unclean beast from the soul, and gives it the disposition and the character ofthe sheep ofJesus. It is the blessedSpirit who, by his sancti- fying and renewing work, stamps the image-of God on.the soul, forms the features and resemblance-ofthe divine nature, and im- prints on the heart such 'gracious habits and dispositions as render it like to God. , Thus the Child of God bears the Father's like- ness, as the figures engraved on the seal are copied out On the wax. And this some have called the seal ofthe Holy Spirit; liph. i. 13: and iv. 30. And as the Spirit ofGod works these divine principles of holiness in the heart, so he is said to be given to us, to dwell in us ; i. e. to preserve those holy principles which belong to the children and heirs of -God: And in this sense he may be called an earnest of their future inheritance; Eph. i. 14. Blessed are your souls, who have the fore-mentioned cha- racters impressed upon you. Rejoice in your own happy state, and bless. the eternal Spirit, who has stamped the likeness of God upon you ; who has begotten you again to a new life, by the power of the word working effectually upon your hearts ; who has translated you from the household of sin and Satan, andmade you the children of the mosthigh God. Here also we may remark, that in this we bear a resem- blance to Christ Jesus, the only' begotten Son. It was by the . descent of this Spirit on the blessed virgin, and by the over- shadowing power of the 'Most High, that the child Jesus was formed ; and therefore that holy thing which was born of the virgin, was called the Son'of God; Luke i. 35. The resemblance holds yet father : For the Spirit was given to dwell in Christ without measure, to 'sanctify his human nature, and to work miracles ; John iii. 34. 14 this Spirit of holiness
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=