Tract # 7. On the Witness of the Spirit Bangs» DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DURHAM, N. C. Form 934—20M—7-35 Pky TRACT NO. 7. Sch. R. ap ys ; ee RT lig 2,4),3 = a } “i, ON THE Bo ei Rey WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit : for the Spirit search- eth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 1 Cor. ii, 10. Are you a penitent sinner? Has your heart been broken by the righteous law being brought home to your conscience? And are you now mourning on account of your numerous sins against God? Have you resolved, by the grace of God, to turn unto him with all your heart? If this be your state of mind, then you would not deceive your soul in the all-important work of salvation, for a thousand worlds. The cry of your heart is, Lord show me the good and right way, and I will walk therein. Know then, that itis your privilege to have God’s Spirit _ bearing witness with your spirit that you are his child. Rom. viii, 16. Mark well! The witness of the Spirit is _ not regeneration or justification ; but it is an inward tes- timony to your spirit, that you are now justified in the sight of God. “ After ye believed,” said St. Paul to the Ephesians, “‘ ye were sEaALED with that holy Spirit of promise.” i,13. Again, chap. iv, 30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are szaLep unto the day of redemption.” This witness of the holy Spirit is promised to all those who are called into the fellowship of the. Gospel: Acts ii, 38,39. ‘+ Then said Peter unto them ; Tepent, and be baptized every one of you in the mame of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Here the Apostle Peter declares: that the Holy Spirit is pro- _ mised to all that are afar off, to all that the Lord our God Pale 433 Cilia ere No. '7.] as at ~y oe. ae shall call, in every age, nation and ‘country : the promise is therefore to you; for your penitence, your mo and your prayers, are a ‘sure indication that God called you. This promise to which the Apostle alludes, is that which the Lord Jesus, previous to his crucifixion, made to his desponding disciples: “It is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”—‘“* When he, the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into ail truth.” John xvi, 7,13. And this pro- mise of the Comforter, or the Holy Spirit, the sacred scrip- tures declare to be the common privilege of all believers. ‘Whenever, therefore, your heart is changed by the grace of God, and you are justified through faith in the Lord Jesus, you will have this Holy Spirat of promise, by which you shall know, that you are an “heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.” Rom. viii, 17. “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things which are freely given to us of God.” 1 Cor. ii, 12. Do not then deceive your own soul with a false hope. The true Christian believer does not hope that he is born of God; but he has an inward witness that he is “ Passed from death unto life,” and that he is now in the favour of God. Hope is not fixed upon present, but upon future objects. What a man now hath in possession, he does not hope to have: we neither hope for the past nor present, but for the future. It is true, the Christian hath a an anchor to his soul, both sure and steadl ich entereth into that within the vail, whither t mer is for us entered, even Jesus, who is nz de an biegpes for ever.” Heb. vi, 19, 20. Bat this hope is founded on a knowled the witness of the Spirit, of our ire beloved. , When a sinner is aw akened to a sense eg 3 No. 7.1] md determines by God’s assistance to forsake his sins, nd return unto the Lord, he has a right to hope that God ill pardon him: Having received this pardon by faith in he Redeemer, he then, if he persevere in holiness, has a ight to hope, that God will sanctify or cleanse him from ll unrighteousness: and while he walks in obedience to God’s commandments, he has reason to hope that God , ill take him to Heaven: Thus the true believer has a ell-grounded hope of future happiness, because he enjoys he abiding witness of the Spirit in his heart that he is ow a child of God. , From this view of the subject, you perceive that the ope of the experienced Christian is grounded upon his resent knowledge of having been brought into the favour of God; and this knowledge is the result of the witness of God’s Spirit, testifying to him that his sins are pardoned, for the sake of Jesus Christ.—Reader! have you this © witness? this knowledge of your acceptance in the beloved ? Call it not enthusiasm. It is the height of enthusiasm to expect to be saved without experiencing this evidence of divine favour. The way to heaven is marked in the sacred Scriptures; and mankind are threatened with ever- lasting destruction if they do not walk in it: but would God threaten men with entire destruction for not walking in that way, and yet, never let them know whether they were in it or not! Impossible. It would be cruelty—and cruelty belongs not to the God of the Bible. The Bible describes the characters which are proper candidates for the kingdom of Heaven ; and how shall we know whether or not we are those candidates? We must compare our- selves with those descriptions in God’s word.—Such can- ‘didates are said to be born of God, to have the love of God in their hearts, to bring forth the fruits of righteousness, to have the fruits of the Spirit, which are ‘Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- ness, pele a Vv, 22, 23, How can these is o | —_ fruits of the Spirit appear unless the Spirit itself be inthe — heart ? And where will you look for these fruits, but in your heart, your tempers, words, and actions? ** He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in Muse * 3 1 John v, 10. ; Behold then, penitent, mourning sinner, your ee able privilege! Know assuredly that, in order to be happy in Heaven, you must first have this testimony of the Spirit, to give you a satisfactory evidence that you stand justified before God, by faith in Jesus Christ. Do not, therefore, ‘ conclude yourself a Christian, merely because you have had some sorrow for sin, have externally reformed, have been baptized, and because you belong to the Church, and partake of her ordinances. All these things are good in their place. But you must go further. To have the comforts and advantages of religion, you must have a real change of heart: and when this change is wrought by the eternal Spirit, you shall have the inward testimony of the Holy ‘Spirit, that you are passed from death unto life. Has this radical change been wrought in you? Examine ~ impartially. Search deep. Build not upon the sand of a false hope. If you have it not yet, then cry mightily to God, Wrestle—agonize in prayer, until God speaks to your soul in accents of love. Then you can exper ally sing, My God is reconciled, His pardoning voice I hear ; He owns me for his child, I can no longer fear ; With confidence I now draw nigh, And Father, Abba Father, ony i ; wy ae PUBLISHED BY N. BANGS AND J. EMO “ 5 - Sor the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for the New-Yor rk Methodist Tragt Soetety, at the Conference orgy 13 Crosby-st ret. bia iM } See ANT I ea ata oe hotomount Pamphlet Binder Gaylord Bros., Inc. Makers Syracyse, N. Y. PAT. JAN 21, 1908 a ! 1 1 Sch.R. 231.3 B216E x9veZZ7c0G vii NN seueiqr Aussenlun &4NG