acquaintance with the testimony of Scripture relating to these several points.

II. Those who receive Jesus Christ. John i.

12. (Vide page 7.)

To" receive" Jesus Christ, I presume, your Grace will admit is to receive him in the characters and offices and for the purposes which the Scriptures describe. The persons who have really so received him are, of course, those, and those only, who have cordially entered into the design of his mission, who, in all things, submit to him as their Supreme Lord and Lawgiver, and who humbly, yet firmly, trust in him as their Saviour, who has opened the way for their pardon, justification, and acceptance with God; for the free communication and effectual sustentation of their spiritual life, and for that purification of the soul which is absolutely necessary to fit the believer for a residence in, and a participation of the unfading glories and holy enjoyments of heaven.

III. The children of God are led by the Spirit of God. Rom. viii. 14. (page 8.)

of

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are, course, such as are willing to be led by him; for he leads none against their will. They are made

willing in the day of his power." Those who are led by the Spirit, "walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." They are guided by him "into all truth" necessary for their salvation. Thus hath the wisdom of God graciously provided

t

against the awful hazard of their being led, and others from the awful hazard of leading them, into the way of error and destruction.

IV. The children of God have the witness of the Spirit witnessing with their spirits that they are the children of God. Rom. viii. 16. (page 8.)

If any man, calling himself a Christian, be really a child of God, his own personal religious experience coincides with the peculiar characteristics of this endearing and dignified relation, as delineated by the Holy Spirit in his own inspired Word, and thus he obtains a perfect assurance of the actual subsistence of this relation in his own case. And in this way the words of the Apostle," the Spirit witnesseth with our spirits that we are the children of God," receive their verification.

V. The children of God receive the spirit of adoption, Gal. iv. 6. (page 8.)

And thus are enabled to hold fellowship with God as their Father in Jesus Christ, with fervent affection, unwavering confidence and unspeakable delight-in a manner resembling, but, of course, very far surpassing, the feelings of a loving and obedient child, who, after estrangement and subsequent reconciliation, is permitted again to go into the presence and to enjoy the smiles of his father.

VI. The children of God have renounced and abandoned all sin, 1 John iii. 9; v. 18. (page 9.) The children of God, have renounced sin as a

source of gratification, and as an instrument of worldly gain and ambition; with all the malignant and envious passions and desires; and have done so on exalted and inflexible principles; from love and gratitude to God for his inestimable grace and goodness; particularly as manifested in the gifts of his Son and Spirit; with a genuine spirit of loyalty and allegiance to him as supreme in authority-with a holy jealousy for the maintenance of his righteous government, its laws, ordinances, rights, and interests-and with a cordial delight in all his precepts and commandments; accompanied by a willing and cheerful subjection to them, and a conscientious desire and aim to obey them to the full extent of their obligations, as described in the Scriptures. Deviations from the divine commands, should the child of God be so unhappy as to trespass on forbidden ground, inevitably affect his heart in a manner resembling that in which the heart of the loving and obedient child to whom we have adverted, would be affected, who when he should discover that he had offended his father, would acknowledge and bewail his fault, shedding tears of sorrow and repentance.

But as to the present mark of a child of God the language of the Apostle John is very strong. He says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

This declaration has the appearance of being inconsistent with another declaration of the same Apostle, in the same epistle, with which comparatively few adult persons in this country are entirely unacquainted, viz. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." This is true of the child of God while he continues in this world, for here he is still encompassed by infirmity, and always in many things offends; and yet notwithstanding the declaration of the Apostle immediately before us, it is also in a very important and intelligible sense true, that "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;""he cannot sin, because he is born of God." The essence of sin consists in its opposition to the authority of God, and aversion to holiness; whereas the child of God is very jealous for the authority of the Lord God of Hosts, and loves and delights in holiness, as his proper element. It is, therefore, quite impossible that he should offend God as the world does, or as he himself did previously to his spiritual regeneration. He cannot now tolerate sin. He has a decided and uncompromising aversion to sin. His abandonment of it, is neither equivocal nor partial, but determinate, absolute, universal, and lasting. His constant desire, prayer, and aim are to avoid all temptation to sin. He cannot trifle with it, or make light of it. He has a constant dread of sin, and should he at any time sinfully offend (for he is not yet one of "the

spirits of the just made perfect") he is filled with penitential grief. Again, if he thus offends it is the effect of sudden surprisal, not of deliberate purpose. As the Apostle Paul expresses it, he is overtaken in a fault; which is a very different thing from pursuing a temptation for the purpose of sinning. Full consent of the will to sin, or any thing like babitual, purposed, and deliberate of fending is, therefore, as to the child of God, quite out of the question. Moreover, in case of a sudden surprisal and betrayal into a word or action which the Scripture plainly, and his conscience strongly condemns, he is not only plunged into deep sorrow on account of it, but penitentially confesses and bewails his sin before his Heavenly Father, and as soon as occasion offers, retires into his chamber, and again confessing and deploring it, weeps bitterly. Neither can he have any rest in his spirit till he has scriptural reason to believe that he has obtained forgiveness of God for such particular transgression of his law, accompanied by the peace-speaking application of the propitiatory blood of Christ to his conscience, Heb. x. 22.

VII. The child of God doeth righteousness and loveth his brother, for "whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." 1 John iii. 10. (page 9.)

The child of God not only has a cordial aversion to sin, and to whatever leads to sin, but he habitually practises righteousness. His righteous