\u201cYe have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n
Romans 8:15.<\/p>\n
1. ST. PAUL here speaks to those who are the children of God by faith. \u201cYe,\u201d saith he, who are indeed his children, have drank into his Spirit; \u201cye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear;\u201d \u201cbut, because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts.\u201d \u201cYe have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. The spirit of bondage and fear is widely distant from this loving Spirit of adoption: Those who are influenced only by slavish fear, cannot be termed \u201cthe sons of God;\u201d yet some of them may be styled his servants, and are \u201cnot far from the kingdom of heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. But it is to be feared, the bulk of mankind, yea, of what is called the Christian world, have not attained even this; but are still afar off, \u201cneither is God in all their thoughts.\u201d A few names may be found of those who love God; a few more there are that fear him; but the greater part have neither the fear of God before their eyes, nor the love of God in their hearts.<\/p>\n
4. Perhaps most of you, who, by the mercy of God, now partake of a better spirit, may remember the time when ye were as they, when ye were under the same condemnation. But at first ye knew it not, though ye were wallowing daily in your sins and in your blood; till, in due time, ye \u201creceived the spirit of fear;\u201d (ye received<\/i>, for this also is the gift of God;) and afterwards, fear vanished away, and the Spirit of love filled your hearts.<\/p>\n
5. One who is in the first state of mind, without fear of love, is in Scripture termed a \u201cnatural man:\u201d One who is under the spirit of bondage and fear, is sometimes said to be \u201cunder the law:\u201d (Although that expression more frequently signifies one who is under the Jewish dispensation, or who thinks himself obliged to observe all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law:) But one who has exchanged the spirit of fear for the Spirit of love, is properly said to be \u201cunder grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, because it highly imports us to know what spirit we are of, I shall endeavour to point out distinctly, First, the state of a \u201cnatural man:\u201d Secondly, that of one who is \u201cunder the law:\u201d And Thirdly, of one who is \u201cunder grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
I. 1. And, First, the state of a natural man<\/i>. This the Scripture represents as a state of sleep: The voice of God to him is, \u201cAwake thou that sleepest.\u201d For his soul is in a deep sleep: His spiritual senses are not awake; They discern neither spiritual good nor evil. The eyes of his understanding are closed; They are sealed together, and see not. Clouds and darkness continually rest upon them; for he lies in the valley of the shadow of death. Hence having no inlets for the knowledge of spiritual things, all the avenues of his soul being shut up, he is in gross, stupid ignorance of whatever he is most concerned to know. He is utterly ignorant of God, knowing nothing concerning him as he ought to know. He is totally a stranger to the law of God, as to its true, inward, spiritual meaning. He has no conception of that evangelical holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord; nor of the happiness which they only find whose \u201clife is hid with Christ in God.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. And for this very reason, because he is fast asleep, he is, in some sense, at rest. Because he is blind, he is also secure; He saith, \u201cTush, there shall no harm happen unto me.\u201d The darkness which covers him on every side, keeps him in a kind of peace; so far as peace can consist with the works of the devil, and with an earthly, devilish mind. He sees<\/i> not that he stands on the edge of the pit, therefore he fears<\/i> it not. He cannot tremble<\/i> at the danger he does not know<\/i>. He has not understanding enough to fear. Why is it that he is in no dread of God? Because he is totally ignorant of him: If not saying in his heart, \u201cThere is no God;\u201d or, that \u201che sitteth on the circle of the heavens, and humbleth\u201d not \u201chimself to behold the things which are done on earth:\u201d yet satisfying himself as well to all Epicurean intents and purposes, by saying, \u201cGod is merciful;\u201d confounding and swallowing up all at once in that unwieldy idea of mercy, all his holiness and essential hatred of sin; all his justice, wisdom, and truth. He is in no dread of the vengeance denounced against those who obey not the blessed law of God, because he understands it not. He imagines the main point is to do thus<\/i>, to be outwardly<\/i> blameless; and sees not that it extends to every temper, desire, thought, motion of the heart. Or he fancies that the obligation hereto is ceased; that Christ came to \u201cdestroy the Law and the Prophets;\u201d to save his people in<\/i>, not from<\/i> their sins; to bring them to heaven without holiness: \u2014 Notwithstanding his own words, \u201cNot one jot or tittle of the law shall pass away, till all things are fulfilled;\u201d and \u201cNot every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord! shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. He is secure, because he is utterly ignorant of himself. Hence he talks of \u201crepenting by and by;\u201d he does not indeed exactly know when, but some time or other before he dies; taking it for granted, that this is quite in his own power. For what should hinder his doing it, if he will? if he does but once set a resolution, no fear but he will make it good!<\/p>\n
4. But this ignorance never so strongly glares, as in those who are termed, men of learning<\/i>. If a natural man be one of these, he can talk at large of his rational faculties, of the freedom of his will, and the absolute necessity of such freedom, in order to constitute man a moral agent. He reads, and argues, and proves to a demonstration, that every man may do as he will; may dispose his own heart to evil or good, as it seems best in his own eyes. Thus the god of this world spreads a double veil of blindness over his heart, lest, by any means, \u201cthe light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine\u201d upon it.<\/p>\n
5. From the same ignorance of himself and God, there may sometimes arise, in the natural man, a kind of joy<\/i>, in congratulating himself upon his own wisdom and goodness: And what the world calls joy, he may often possess. He may have pleasure in various kinds; either in gratifying the desires of the flesh, or the desire of the eye, or the pride of life; particularly if he has large possessions; if he enjoy an affluent fortune; then he may \u201cclothe\u201d himself \u201cin purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day.\u201d And so long as he thus doeth well unto himself, men will doubtless speak good of him. They will say, \u201cHe is a happy man.\u201d For, indeed, this is the sum of worldly happiness; to dress, and visit, and talk, and eat, and drink, and rise up to play.<\/p>\n
6. It in not surprising, if one in such circumstances as these, dosed with the opiates of flattery and sin, should imagine, among his other waking dreams, that he walks in great liberty<\/i>. How easily may he persuade himself, that he is at liberty from all vulgar errors<\/i>, and from the prejudice<\/i> of education; judging exactly right, and keeping clear of all extremes. \u201cI am free,\u201d may he say, \u201cfrom all the enthusiasm<\/i> of weak and narrow souls; from superstition<\/i>, the disease of fools and cowards, always righteous over much; and from bigotry<\/i>, continually incident to those who have not a free and generous way of thinking.\u201d And too sure it is, that he is altogether free from the \u201cwisdom which cometh from above,\u201d from holiness, from the religion of the heart, from the whole mind which was in Christ.<\/p>\n
7. For all this time he is the servant of sin. He commits sin, more or less, day by day. Yet he is not troubled: He \u201cis in no bondage,\u201d as some speak; he feels no condemnation. He contents himself (even though he should profess to believe that the Christian Revelation is of God) with, \u201cMan is frail. We are all weak. Every man has his infirmity.\u201d Perhaps he quotes Scripture: \u201cWhy, does not Solomon say, \u2014 The righteous man falls into sin seven times a day! \u2014 And, doubtless, they are all hypocrites or enthusiasts who pretend to be better than their neighbours.\u201d If, at any time, a serious thought fix upon him, he stifles it as soon as possible, with, \u201cWhy should I fear, since God is merciful, and Christ died for sinners?\u201d Thus, he remains a willing servant of sin, content with the bondage of corruption; inwardly and outwardly unholy, and satisfied therewith; not only not conquering sin, but not striving to conquer, particularly that sin which doth so easily beset him.<\/p>\n
8. Such is the state of every natural man<\/i>; whether he be a gross, scandalous transgressor, or a more reputable and decent sinner, having the form, though not the power of godliness. But how can such an one be convinced of sin<\/i>? How is he brought to repent? To be under the law<\/i>? To receive the spirit of bondage unto fear<\/i>? This is the point which in next to be considered.<\/p>\n
II. 1. By some awful providence, or by his word applied with the demonstration of his Spirit, God touches the heart of him that lay asleep in darkness and in the shadow of death. He is terribly shaken out of his sleep, and awakes into a consciousness of his danger. Perhaps in a moment, perhaps by degrees, the eyes of his understanding are opened, and now first (the veil being in part removed) discern the real state he is in. Horrid light breaks in upon his soul; such light, as may be conceived to gleam from the bottomless pit, from the lowest deep, from a lake of fire burning with brimstone. He at last sees the loving, the merciful God is also \u201ca consuming fire;\u201d that he is a just God and a terrible, rendering to every man according to his words, entering into judgment with the ungodly for every idle word, yea, and for the imaginations of the heart. He now clearly perceives, that the great and holy God is \u201cof purer eyes than to behold iniquity;\u201d that he is an avenger of every one who rebelleth against him, and repayeth the wicked to his face; and that \u201cit is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. The inward, spiritual meaning of the law of God now begins to glare upon him. He perceives \u201cthe commandment is exceeding broad,\u201d and there is \u201cnothing hid from the light thereof.\u201d He is convinced, that every part of it relates, not barely to outward sin or obedience, but to what passes in the secret recesses of the soul, which no eye but God\u2019s can penetrate. If he now hears, \u201cThou shalt not kill,\u201d God speaks in thunder, \u201cHe that hateth his brother is a murderer;\u201d \u201che that saith unto his brother, Thou fool, is obnoxious to hell-fire.\u201d If the law say, \u201cThou shalt not commit adultery,\u201d the voice of the Lord sounds in his ears, \u201cHe that looketh on a woman to lust after he hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.\u201d And thus, in every point, he feels the word of God \u201cquick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.\u201d It \u201cpierces even to the dividing asunder of his soul and spirit, his joints and marrow.\u201d And so much the more, because he is conscious to himself of having neglected so great salvation; of having \u201ctrodden under foot the son of God,\u201d who would have saved him from his sins, and \u201ccounted the blood of the covenant an unholy,\u201d a common, unsanctifying thing.<\/p>\n
3. And as he knows, \u201call things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do,\u201d so he sees himself naked, stripped of all the fig-leaves which he had sewed together, of all his poor pretenses to religion or virtue, and his wretched excuses for sinning against God. He now sets himself like the ancient sacrifices, cleft in sunder, as it were, from the neck downward, so that all within him stands confessed. His heart is bare, and he sees it is all sin, \u201cdeceitful above all things, desperately wicked;\u201d that it is altogether corrupt and abominable, more than it is possible for tongue to express; that there dwelleth therein no good thing, but unrighteousness and ungodliness only; every motion thereof, every temper and thought, being only evil continually.<\/p>\n
4. And he not only sees, but feels in himself, by an emotion of soul which he cannot describe, that for the sins of his heart were his life without blame, (which yet it is not, and cannot be; seeing \u201can evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit,\u201d) he deserves to be cast into the fire that never shall be quenched. He feels that \u201cthe wages,\u201d the just reward \u201cof sin,\u201d of his sin above all, \u201cis death;\u201d even the second death; the death which dieth not; the destruction of body and soul in hell.<\/p>\n
5. Here ends his pleasing dream, his delusive rest, his false peace, his vain security. His joy now vanishes as a cloud; pleasures, once loved, delight no more. They pall upon the taste: He loathes the nauseous sweet; he is weary to bear them. The shadows of happiness flee away, and sink into oblivion: So that he is stripped of all, and wanders to and fro, seeking rest, but finding none.<\/p>\n
6. The fumes of those opiates being now dispelled, he feels the anguish of a wounded spirit. He finds that sin let loose upon the soul (whether it be pride, anger, or evil desire, whether self-will, malice, envy, revenge, or any other) is perfect misery: He feels sorrow of heart for the blessings he has lost, and the curse which is come upon him: remorse for having thus destroyed himself, and despised his own mercies; fear, from a lively sense of the wrath of God, and of the consequences of his wrath, of the punishment which he has justly deserved, and which he sees hanging over is head; \u2014 fear of death, as being to him the gate of hell, the entrance of death eternal; \u2014 fear of the devil, the executioner of the wrath and righteous vengeance of God; \u2014 fear of men, who, if they were able to kill his body, would thereby plunge both body and soul into hell; fear, sometimes arising to such a height, that the poor, sinful, guilty soul, is terrified with everything, with nothing, with shades, with a leaf shaken of the wind. Yea, sometimes it may even border upon distraction, making a man \u201cdrunken though not with wine,\u201d suspending the exercise of the memory, of the understanding, of all the natural faculties. Sometimes it may approach to the very brink of despair; so that he who trembles at the name of death, may yet be ready to plunge into it every moment, to \u201cchoose strangling rather than life.\u201d Well may such a man roar, like him of old, for the very disquietness of his heart. Well may he cry out, \u201cThe spirit of a man may sustain his infirmities; but a wounded spirit who can bear?\u201d<\/p>\n
7. Now he truly desires to break loose from sin, and begins to struggle with it. But though he strive with all his might, he cannot conquer: Sin is mightier than he. He would fain escape; but he is so fast in prison, that he cannot get forth. He resolved against sin, but yet sins on: He sees the snare, and abhors, and runs into it. So much does his boasted reason avail, \u2014 only to enhance his guilt, and increase his misery! Such is the freedom of his will; free only to evil; free to \u201cdrink in iniquity like water;\u201d to wander farther and farther from the living God, and do more \u201cdespite to the Spirit of grace!\u201d<\/p>\n
8. The more he strive, wishes, labours to be free, the more does he feel his chains, the grievous chains of sin, wherewith Satan binds and \u201cleads him captive at his will;\u201d his servant he is, though he repine ever so much; though he rebel, he cannot prevail. He is still in bondage and fear, by reason of sin: Generally, of some outward sin, to which he is peculiarly disposed, either, by nature, custom, or outward circumstance; but always, of some inward sin, some evil temper or unholy affection. And the more he frets against it, the more it prevails; he may bite but cannot break his chain. Thus he toils without end, repenting and sinning, and repenting and sinning again, till at length the poor, sinful, helpless wretch is even at his wit\u2019s end and can barely groan, \u201cO wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?\u201d<\/p>\n
9. This whole struggle of one who is \u201cunder the law,\u201d under the \u201cspirit of fear and bondage,\u201d is beautifully described by the Apostle in the foregoing chapter, speaking in the person of an awakened man. \u201cI,\u201d saith he, \u201cwas alive without the law once:\u201d (Verse 9:) I had much life, wisdom, strength, and virtue; so I thought: \u201cBut, when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died:\u201d When the commandment, in its spiritual meaning, came to my heart, with the power of God, my inbred sin was stirred up, fretted, inflamed, and all my virtue died away. \u201cAnd the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me:\u201d (Verses 10, 11:) It came upon me unaware; slew all my hopes; and plainly showed, in the midst of life I was in death. \u201cWherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good:\u201d (Verse 12:) I no longer lay the blame on this, but on the corruption of my own heart. I acknowledge that \u201cthe law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin:\u201d (Verse 14:) I now see both the spiritual nature of the law; and my own carnal, devilish heart \u201csold under sin,\u201d totally enslaved: (Like slave bought with money, who were absolutely at their master\u2019s disposal:) \u201cFor that which I do, I allow not; for what I would, I do not, but what I hate, that I do:\u201d (Verse 15:) Such is the bondage under which I groan; such the tyranny of my hard master. \u201cTo will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do:\u201d (Verses 18, 19:) \u201cI find a law,\u201d an inward constraining power, \u201cthat when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in \u201cor consent to \u201cthe law of God, after the inward man:\u201d (Verses 21, 22:) In my \u201cmind:\u201d (So the Apostle explains himself in the words that immediately follow; and so, o eso anthropos<\/i>, the inward man<\/i>, is understood in all other Greek writers:) But I see another law in my members, another constraining power, warring against the law of my mind, or inward man, and bringing me into captivity to the law or power \u201cof sin:\u201d (Verse 23:) Dragging me, as it were, at my conquerors chariot-wheels, into the very thing which my soul abhors. \u201co wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?\u201d (Verse 24.) Who shall deliver me from this helpless, dying life, from this bondage of sin and misery? Till this is done, \u201cI myself\u201d (or rather, that I<\/i>, autos ego<\/i>, that man I am now personating) \u201cwith the mind,\u201d or inward man, \u201cserve the law of God;\u201d my mind, my conscience is on God\u2019s side; \u201cbut with my flesh,\u201d with my body, \u201cthe law of sin,\u201d (verse 25, ) being hurried away by a force I cannot resist.<\/p>\n
10. How lively a portraiture is this of one \u201cunder the law;\u201d one who feels the burden he cannot shake off; who pants after liberty, power, and love, but is in fear and bondage still! until the time that God answers the wretched man, crying out, \u201cWho shall deliver me\u201d from this bondage of sin, from this body of death? \u2014 \u201cThe grace of God, through Jesus Christ thy Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
III. 1. Them it is that this miserable bondage ends, and he is no more \u201cunder the law, but under grace.\u201d This state we are, Thirdly, to consider; the state of one who has found grace<\/i> or favour in the sight of God, even the Father, and who has the grace<\/i> or power of the Holy Ghost, reigning in his heart; who has received, in the language of the Apostle, the \u201cSpirit of adoption, whereby\u201d he now cries, \u201cAbba, Father!\u201d<\/p>\n
2. \u201cHe cried unto the Lord in his trouble, and God delivers him out of his distress.\u201d His eyes are opened in quite another manner than before, even to see a loving, gracious God. While he is calling, \u201cI beseech thee, show me thy glory!\u201d \u2014 he hears a voice in the inmost soul, \u201cI will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord: I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.\u201d And, it is not long before \u201cthe Lord\u201d descends in the cloud, and proclaims the name of the Lord.\u201d Then he sees, but not with eyes of flesh and blood, \u201cThe Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquities, and transgressions and sin.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Heavenly, healing light now breaks in upon his soul. He \u201clooks on him whom he had pierced;\u201d and \u201cGod, who out of darkness commanded light to shine, shineth in his heart.\u201d He sees the light of the glorious love of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. He hath a divine \u201cevidence of things not seen\u201d by sense, even of the \u201cdeep things of God;\u201d more particularly of the love of God, of his pardoning love to him that believes in Jesus. Overpowered with the sight, his whole soul cried out, \u201cMy Lord and my God;\u201d For he sees all his iniquities laid on Him, who \u201cbare them in his own body on the tree;\u201d he beholds the Lamb of God taking away his sins. How clearly now does he discern, that \u201cGod was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself; making him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through him;\u201d \u2014 and that he himself is reconciled to God, by that blood of the covenant!<\/p>\n
4. Here end both the guilt and power of sin. He can now say, \u201cI am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me: And the life which I now live in the flesh,\u201d (even in this mortal body,) \u201cI live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.\u201d Here end remorse, and sorrow of heart, and the anguish of a wounded spirit. \u201cGod turneth his heaviness into joy.\u201d He made sore, and now his hands bind up. Here ends also that bondage unto fear; for \u201chis heart standeth fast, believing in the Lord.\u201d He cannot fear any longer the wrath of God; for he knows it is now turned away from him, and looks upon Him no more as an angry Judge, but as a loving Father. He cannot fear the devil, knowing he has \u201cno power, except it be given him from above.\u201d He fears not hell; being an heir of the kingdom of heaven: Consequently, he has no fear of death; by reason whereof he was in time past, for so many years, \u201csubject to bondage.\u201d Rather, knowing that \u201cif the earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, he hath a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; he groaneth earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with that house which is from heaven.\u201d He groans to shake off this house of earth, that \u201cmortality\u201d may be \u201cswallowed up of life;\u201d knowing that God \u201chath wrought him for the self-same thing; who hath also given him the earnest of his Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. And \u201cwhere the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;\u201d liberty, not only from guilt and fear, but from sin, from that heaviest of all yokes, that basest of all bondage. His labour is not now in vain. The snare is broken, and he is delivered. He not only strives, but likewise prevails; he not only fights, but conquers also. \u201cHenceforth he does not serve sin.\u201d (Chap. 6:6) He is \u201cdead unto sin, and alive unto God;\u201d \u201csin doth not now reign,\u201d even \u201cin his mortal body,\u201d nor doth he \u201cobey it in the desires thereof.\u201d He does not \u201cyield his members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but as instruments of righteousness unto God.\u201d For \u201cbeing now made free from sin, he is become the servant of righteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n
6. Thus, \u201chaving peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d \u201crejoicing in hope of the glory of God,\u201d and having power over all sin, over every evil desire, and temper, and word, and work, he is a living witness of the \u201cglorious liberty of the sons of God;\u201d all of whom, being partakers of like precious faith, bear record with one voice, \u201cWe have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father!\u201d<\/p>\n
7. It is this spirit which continually, \u201cworketh in them, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.\u201d It is he that sheds the love of God abroad in their hears, and the love of all mankind; thereby purifying their hearts from the love of world, from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It is by him they are delivered from anger and pride, from all vile and inordinate affections. In consequence, they are delivered from evil words and works, from all unholiness of conversation; doing no evil to any child of man, and being zealous of all good works.<\/p>\n
8. To sum up all: the natural<\/i> man neither fears nor loves God; one under the law<\/i>, fears, \u2014 one under grace<\/i>, loves him. The first has no light in the things of God, but walks in utter darkness; the second sees the painful light of hell; the third, the joyous light of heaven. He that sleeps in death, has a false peace; he that is awakened, has no peace at all; he that believes, has true peace, \u2014 the peace of God filling and ruling his heart. The Heathen, baptized or unbaptized, hath a fancied liberty, which is indeed licentiousness; the Jew, or one under the Jewish dispensation, is in heavy, grievous bondage; the Christian enjoys the true glorious liberty of the sons of God. An unawakened child of the devil sins willingly, one that is awakened sins unwillingly; a child of God \u201csinneth not,\u201d but \u201ckeepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not.\u201d To conclude: the natural man neither conquers nor fights; the man under the law fights with sin, but cannot conquer; the man under grace fights and conquers, yea, is \u201cmore than conqueror, through him that loveth him.\u201d<\/p>\n
IV. 1. From this plain account of the three-fold state of man, the natural<\/i>, the legal<\/i>, and the evangelical<\/i>, it appears that it is not sufficient to divide mankind into sincere and insincere. A man may be sincere in any of these states; not only when he has the \u201cSpirit of adoption,\u201d but while he has the \u201cspirit of bondage unto fear;\u201d yea, while he has neither this fear, nor love. For undoubtedly there may be sincere Heathens, as well as sincere Jews, or Christians. This circumstance, them does by no means prove, that, a man is in a state of acceptance with God.<\/p>\n
\u201cExamine yourselves, therefore,\u201d not only whether ye are sincere, but \u201cwhether ye be in the faith.\u201d Examine narrowly, (for it imports you much,) what is the ruling principle in your soul! Is it the love of God? Is it the fear of God? Or is it neither one nor the other? Is it not rather the love of the world? the love of pleasure, or gain? of ease, or reputation? If so, you are not come so far as a Jew. You are but a Heathen still. Have you heaven in your heart? Have you the Spirit of adoption, ever crying, Abba, Father? Or do you cry unto God, as \u201cout of the belly of hell,\u201d overwhelmed with sorrow and fear? Or are you a stranger to this whole affair, and cannot imagine what I mean? Heathen, pull off the mask! Thou hast never put on Christ! Stand barefaced! Look up to heaven; and own before Him that liveth for ever and ever, thou hast no part, either among the sons of servants of God!<\/p>\n
Whosoever thou art: Dost thou commit sin, or dost thou not? If thou dost, is it willingly, or unwillingly? In either case, God hath told thee whose thou art: \u201cHe that committeth sin is of the devil.\u201d If thou committest it willingly, thou art his faithful servant: He will not fail to reward thy labour. If unwillingly, still thou art his servant. God deliver thee out of his hands!<\/p>\n
Art thou daily fighting against all sin? And daily more than conqueror? I acknowledge thee for a child of God. O stand fast in thy glorious liberty! Art thou fighting, but not conquering? striving for the mastery, but not able to attain? Then thou art not yet a believer in Christ; but follow on, and thou shalt know the Lord. Art thou not fighting at all, but leading an easy, indolent, fashionable life! O how hast thou dared to name the name of Christ, only to make it a reproach among the Heathen? Awake, thou sleeper! Call upon thy God before the deep swallow thee up!<\/p>\n
2. Perhaps one reason why so many think of themselves more highly than they ought to think, why they do not discern what state they are in, is because these several states of soul are often mingled together, and in some measure meet in one and the same person. Thus experience shows, that the legal state, or state of fear, is frequently mixed with the natural; for few men are so fast asleep in sin, but they are sometimes more or less awakened. As the Spirit of God does not \u201cwait for the call of man,\u201d so, at some times he will<\/i> be heard. He puts them in fear, so that, for a season at least, the Heathen \u201cknow themselves to be but men.\u201d They feel the burden of sin, and earnestly desire to flee from the wrath to come. But not long: They seldom suffer the arrows of conviction to go deep into their souls; but quickly stifle the grace of God, and return to their wallowing in the mire.<\/p>\n
In like manner, the evangelical state, or state of love, is frequently mixed with the legal. For few of those who have the spirit of bondage and fear, remain always without hope. The wise and gracious God rarely suffers this; \u201cfor he remembereth that we are but dust;\u201d and he willeth not that \u201cthe flesh should fail before him, or the spirit which he hath made.\u201d Therefore, at such times as he seeth good, he gives a dawning of light unto them that sit in darkness. He cause a part of his goodness to pass before them, and shows he is a \u201cGod that heareth the prayer.\u201d They see the promise, which is by faith in Christ Jesus, though it be yet afar off; and hereby they are encouraged to \u201crun with patience the race which is set before them.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Another reason why many deceive themselves, is, because they do not consider how far a man may go, and yet be in a natural, or, at best, a legal state. A man may be of a compassionate and a benevolent temper; he may be affable, courteous, generous, friendly; he may have some degree of meekness, patience, temperance, and of many other moral virtues. He may feel many desires of shaking off all vice, and of attaining higher degrees of virtue. He may abstain from much evil; perhaps from all that is grossly contrary to justice, mercy, or truth. He may do much good, may feed the hungry, clothe the naked, relieve the widow and fatherless. He may attend public worship, use prayer in private, read many books of devotion; and yet, for all this, he may be a mere natural man, knowing neither himself nor God; equally a stranger to the spirit of fear and to that of love; having neither repented, nor believed the gospel.<\/p>\n
But suppose there were added to all this a deep conviction of sin, with much fear of the wrath of God; vehement desires to cast off every sin, and to fulfill all righteousness; frequent rejoicing in hope, and touches of love often glancing upon the soul; yet neither do these prove a man to be under grace<\/i>; to have true, living, Christian faith, unless the Spirit of adoption abide in his heart, unless he can continually cry, \u201cAbba, Father!\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Beware, then, thou who art called by the name of Christ, that thou come not short of the mark of thy high calling. Beware thou rest, not, either in a natural state with too many that are accounted good Christians<\/i>; or in a legal state, wherein those who are highly esteemed of men are generally content to live and die. Nay, but God hath prepared better things for thee, if thou follow on till thou attain. Thou art not called to fear and tremble like devils; but to rejoice and love, like the angels of God. \u201cThou shalt love the lord thy God will all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.\u201d Thou shalt \u201crejoice evermore;\u201d thou shalt \u201cpray without ceasing:\u201d thou shalt \u201cin everything give thanks.\u201d Thou shalt do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven. O prove thou \u201cwhat is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God!\u201d Now present thyself \u201ca living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.\u201d \u201cWhereunto thou hast already attained, hold fast,\u201d by \u201creaching forth unto those things which are before:\u201d until \u201cthe God of peace make thee perfect in every good work, working in thee that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ: To whom be glory for ever and ever! Amen!\u201d <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYe have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father.\u201d Romans 8:15. 1. ST. PAUL here speaks to those who are the children of God by faith. \u201cYe,\u201d saith he, who are indeed his children, have drank into his Spirit; \u201cye … Continue reading “THE
\nSPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND OF ADOPTION.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}