descent from the first sinful Adam, the father of death, and become sons of that "second Adam," the father of life and immortality, which is God in Christ, made manifest in the flesh.* It is the in-dwelling Spirit that seals us to this Sonship, "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God;"† wherefore it is also called the "Spirit of Adoption," and this is what is meant by being born of the Spirit. It is the in-dwelling Spirit which "beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." What a glorious privilege must this Sonship be! when "God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba Father,"‡ well may we be said to be born again, to be regenerate, for how great is the change we undergo! Thus it is that we have power to discern the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ, which "the natural man receiveth not; " thus it is that we are made partakers of the divine nature; thus it is, that God looking upon us as dear sons, "will not suffer us to be tempted above * 1 Cor. xv. 47. + Rom. viii. 14. § 1 Cor. ii. 14. Gal. iv. 6. that we are able," but sustains us with a father's hand through the trials and afflictions, the tribulation and sorrow of the world; thus it is, that when the Christian yields up his spirit into the hands of God that gave it, he resigns it as to a faithful Creator and loving Father, who will welcome him into mansions of rest and peace, when his weary pilgrimage is past and done. My brethren, what is the Gospel which we have here been able, by the grace of God, to build upon the foundation which is laid, which is Jesus Christ? It is that we are ignorant, but that God by his Spirit shed abroad upon our hearts, will guide us unto all truth; that "the carnal mind is enmity against God," but that the Spirit sanctifies and makes holy; that we are by nature weak and helpless, but that the Spirit supports and upholds us; that we are children of unrighteousness and heirs of wrath, but that God adopts us as his own, and bestows on us all the privileges of sons. This is the Gospel of the Spirit; and if we have by repentance made ourselves meet for its reception, what other can we do, than entreat the Lord God of Heaven and Earth to make us partakers of the baptism of his dear Son? Merciful Father, pour down thy Spirit into our hearts, and let thy Holy Ghost abide within us! Thus guide us unto all truth, sanctify us unto all righteousness, strengthen us against all temptation, aid us in every trial, comfort us in every sorrow, accept us as thy own sons, and make us heirs, joint-heirs with Christ, of his glorious and everlasting inheritance. This in His name we ask, for it is His Spirit we entreat,* and in His name that it is sent.† LECTURE III. ADOPTION BY GOD. JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD. MATT. III. 17. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. It was asserted in the preceding lecture, as part of the Gospel of the Spirit, that those who with Christ are partakers of the Holy Ghost, dwelling in, and influencing their hearts, do, by adoption, become sons of the most High God, and consequently heirs of all the privileges appertaining to such a Sonship. This, however, was rather assumed than proved; for though it was collected from the words of inspiration, and therefore undoubtedly to be received, yet we cannot claim a right to insert in this our Gospel, this doctrine of adoption by God, unless we can derive it from Christ himself. We can indeed call God, "Father," without any Gospel, for it requires no revelation to assure us, that "in the beginning" all things proceeded from him, that he created us and preserved us, and that thus we are his "offspring;' "* but we may not, according to our present plan, conclude beyond this, that Christians are in a peculiar manner, by a near and intimate relationship, 66 children of the Highest," till we have shewn that the man Christ Jesus, whom God sent into the world to proclaim glad tidings of salvation, was himself the Child of God, in a manner different from that in which the natural man styles the Creator of himself and all things, Father. Now Jesus Christ was, in fact, the first of a new creation. The first man, Adam, is said to be peculiarly the "Son of God," † in that he was formed, without the intervention of earthly parents, immediately by the hand of Deity, animated by his breath,‡ and stamped with his own image; § but Adam renounced his natural parentage, and * Acts xvii. 28. + Luke iii. 38. + Gen. ii. 7. |