That mind of his father's is as much an invisible world to him as is God's to us. But be sure of this, that creeds however true, and forms of worship however solemn and impressive, can never give you the religious life. We must be born of the Spirit. The faith whereby I believe is in my heart, and is not believed (for that were absurd), but known by feeling. — His Almightiness is ours. Confirmed by reason.7. Not that we shall be, or may be, but are. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit." How do you distinguish day from night? Still, the very Divineness of this comfort clothes the witness with the severity of INEXORABLE DISCIPLINE. SermonStudio "Abba"-- Romans 8:16-17-- Mark A. Hultquist-- 1996. To the Church you can testify your sonship in Christ by the one proof of your love to the brethren. As surely, then, as holiness is of God and sin of the devil, so surely the witness thou hast in thyself is not of Satan but of God. THE TESTIMONY — "that we are the children of God."1. So far, then, as the form of the evidence goes, you are not to look for it in anything parted off from your own experience, but you are to try and find out whether there be a "still small voice," no whirlwind, etc., but the voice of God taking the voice and tones of your own heart and saying to you, Thou art My child, inasmuch as through Me there rises, tremblingly but truly, in thine own soul the cry, Abba, Father.2. The heir of God! 14). Think of a child saying, "I am going to see what I am heir to," and spending all its time in prying into everything with a microscope to make sure that it is there. To the Church for communion.3. Take care that when you are brought nearer to God by suffering, you do not allow yourself to fall back; if you do, the light of the Spirit will fade. The keen appetite and the clear vision will return with the increasing health of the spiritual man in us, and again and again those glad moments will be ours, when we feel the Spirit bearing "witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God."II. Not that we shall be, or may be, but are. Distinct from and anterior to the witness of our own spirit.5. The Gulf Stream may be taken as a parable of this. 2. Fear.5. There is much significance in the emphatic assurance with which St. Paul speaks. Arthur, M.A.I. A man may have in law a clear title to an estate without feeling sure in his own mind that he has such a title. )The witness of the SpiritD. In the midst of the contest the Comforter comes, and overpowers the heart with a comfortable persuasion, and bears down all objections, that his plea is good, and that he is a child of God. 15).(E. 14), He aids in prayer (ver. Our own convictions are ours because they are God's. There are those who conceive that a feeling suddenly rises in the Christian, which is a conviction of his election, and that this is the witness of the Holy Spirit. Or else they think the form of worship is at fault. Perhaps you ask me how is this. THE CONDITION OF THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE TESTIMONY. This chapter, beloved, is a very beautiful passage of the Bible. If we are born into His family it is a miracle of mercy.2. Romans 8:18-27 explains in greater detail the ministry of the Holy Spirit to suffering saints. "There have been moments," says some weary soul, "when I have had that witness — in some time of great spiritual struggle, when through my very weakness there came a strength which made me conquer even myself, and also in moments of great spiritual exaltation; but there has come a reaction after the victory, a depression after the joy, and the evidence which seemed so strong has worn gradually away. And thus the arctic winter is driven from us; and our ports are open all the year round; over us stretch the kindlier skies; about us blow the gentler winds; our fields are covered with grass, the valleys are thick with corn, But where is this Gulf Stream which does such wonders? Faith, justification, peace, is the declared order of the Divine procedure. )The witness of the SpiritD. The Diocese of Los Angeles commissioned the famous Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo to design the building. In like manner there is an essential difference between spiritual light and darkness, and between the light wherewith the Sun of Righteousness shines upon our heart, and the glimmering light which arises from "sparks of our own kindling." Speak of pedigrees, thou, poor Christian, hast more than heraldry could ever give thee, or all the pomp of ancestry could ever bestow.II. The apostle is speaking of continued evidence. In the golden age of Rome, if a man were tempted to dishonesty, he would stand upright, look the tempter in the face, and say to him, "I am a Roman." Inasmuch as —1. When our spirits are pleading their right and title, He comes in and bears witness on our side, at the same time enabling us to put forth acts of filial obedience, crying, "Abba Father."(J. "There have been moments," says some weary soul, "when I have had that witness — in some time of great spiritual struggle, when through my very weakness there came a strength which made me conquer even myself, and also in moments of great spiritual exaltation; but there has come a reaction after the victory, a depression after the joy, and the evidence which seemed so strong has worn gradually away. This is a great dignity. 14), He aids in prayer (ver. Surely the Master's life is a protest against it: "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus" — all utterly different and unlike natures. Alas! )The witness of the SpiritJ. Lowliness.4. So fares it with the regenerate when we look on our sins, and so down and down to hell. The witness of the Spirit must vary, as do our individual natures. He who does right because he may give pleasure, and fears to do wrong because it is painful, is never, in the highest sense, a moral man at all; but he only is such who does right because filled with a life grander than his own. The witness is that "we are the children of God." I have, therefore, a former right to be the child of God — i.e., the election of God in Christ Jesus. Paul draws a distinction between God's Spirit and our spirit; it is not our spiritual life that bears this testimony, but the Spirit of God. It is a suffering condition — "if so be that we suffer with Him." "Heirs of God" with Christ. The heir of God! But our hearts are deceitful. Remember you have to "work together with God." )The Spirit testifying to the believer's adoptionO. THE WITNESSES. Delight in His presence.III. "The children of the world," "children of the night," "children of iniquity," "children of the devil," "children of wrath."II. Paul speaks of the action of God's Spirit as —(1) Deliverance from the carnal (ver. The testification of the Holy Ghost Himself. Cooper.It is the high and distinguishing privilege of true Christians that they are the children of God; but there is a wide difference between possessing a privilege and knowing that we possess it. There must be a fact before there can be evidence. 2. Hulme. Now He comes to solitary individuals on the dusty highway of life, who know not whence sprang every earnest pulsation of their burning hearts, till some day, perhaps in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, they see at last that it must have been He that was with them; and, again, He is present to the assembled Church when in some hour of danger it has shut the door, and then found that He is with them in the midst.3. To polish the mirror ever so assiduously does not secure the image of the sun on its surface. We are to walk in the Spirit; to mind the things of the Spirit; and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. Is the heart at peace? That is, your spirit beareth witness that you are the child of God.2. He tried the experiment with our Lord (Matthew 4:6).2. The soul is the seat of affections, the spirit is rectified reason or the conscience (Romans 9:1).II. By its evangelical influence. The witness of our spirit. It notifies to us all the benefits of the New Testament.3. And the Holy Spirit testifies when ours does not. (1) The Holy Spirit has written this Book, which contains an account of what a Christian should be, and of the feelings he must have. True, say the Papists, if you believe you shall be saved; but where does the Scripture say that you do believe? MUST IT BE ATTAINED? )The witness of the Spirit abidingBelievers have a double testimony, one without, and one within; and this witness within us will go with us, which way soever we go: it will accompany us through all straits and difficulties. And upon such evidence shall I give sentence against myself? Then with regard to the substance of it, "The Spirit itself," by means of our cry, Abba, Father, "beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." The act of regeneration is succeeded by the act of confirmation; which is the Divine method in nature. Winslow, D.D.Having affirmed the Divine relationship of the believer, the apostle now proceeds to adduce the Divine evidence of a truth so great.I. The father says to an uncle, "Will you be my executor?" Sometimes our spirit bears testimony without the Spirit. It is not involved in our filial feelings, but is —. The boat in the harbour is none less safe because it has not come across the storm-swept sea, but only down some inland river with no grand convulsions, but still with strange, commonplace, yet fascinating dangers of its own. And as to the heart imagining it, it passes in another world. Of course a sudden emotion may come, but to rely on any emotion is to rely upon our own spirit bearing witness with itself. "We are the children of God."1. There crowd upon it thoughts of his own sinfulness, and unworthiness of so distinguished a blessing. To the heir of a king what glorious expectancies are there! To cherish this assurance, especially by cultivating an obedient sensibility to the Holy Spirit's suggestions.2. It is never given where it is not true. This is proved inasmuch as —(a) The essential name of God is given Him (Isaiah 6:9; cf. There is much significance in the emphatic assurance with which St. Paul speaks. )Varieties of Christian characterT. If anything could make a man a Pharisee it is surely that. A NOBLE DIGNITY.1. There is a danger of despair, and the remedy is a more perfect trust in God. It is quite true that the works of nature are continually vindicating their own goodness, and it is not less true that spiritual sonship is its own witness in the presence of all men; yet the soul which has passed through the agonies of penitence and reconstruction needs just that word of tender assurance and comfort which is expressed in the doctrine of the witness of the Spirit.I. There is a supernatural way in which, apart from means, the Spirit of God communicates with the spirit of man. Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ. He acknowledges that "it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.". I). The being born again — that mighty change from darkness to light, death to life, etc. )The two witnessesElnathan Parr, B.D.The witness of the Holy Ghost is the work of faith, the witness of our spirits the sense of faith wrought. ITS NATURE.1. In this assurance is involved the idea of a pledge — "the earnest of the Spirit" (ver. Our spirit. )LinksRomans 8:16 NIVRomans 8:16 NLTRomans 8:16 ESVRomans 8:16 NASBRomans 8:16 KJVRomans 8:16 Bible AppsRomans 8:16 ParallelRomans 8:16 Biblia ParalelaRomans 8:16 Chinese BibleRomans 8:16 French BibleRomans 8:16 German BibleRomans 8:16 CommentariesBible Hub, (3)By what follows it. When we are led by a Spirit of life greater than our own, we know that the Divine Spirit is acting upon us. IT STIRS UP TO ACTIVE SERVICE. It is not necessary, because all particulars are included in their generals; as he that saith, "All my children are here," means every one in particular, though he name them not; so God, that saith all believers shall be saved, means every one as though they were named. This has done much to rob many a sweet life of its hopefulness; to create in others an almost unconscious hypocrisy. Winslow, D.D.Having affirmed the Divine relationship of the believer, the apostle now proceeds to adduce the Divine evidence of a truth so great.I. In the darkest hour we have been able to say, "The time is in my Father's hands; I cannot murmur; I feel it is but right that I should suffer, otherwise my Father would never have made me suffer." 13). In this assurance is involved the idea of a pledge — "the earnest of the Spirit" (ver. And the Holy Spirit testifies when ours does not. The fact of such a relation subsisting between God and the soul gives the highest warrant of eternal life. "If children, then heirs," etc.2. LDS Scripture of the Day is not owned nor managed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a great dignity. (2) Not that the operation of the Holy Spirit is to be excluded even from the testimony of our own. (3) He will afford them the special tokens of His love. (Ephesians 2:1, 5, 6), must also precede; but what knoweth he of this? And thus still He and His Holy Spirit's witness come — now to some tender soul who cannot reason, but can only love, with simply an angel's message, which not only the world, but the Church, may for a moment think but an "idle tale"; and again to some consummate, lordly intellect, which is at last convinced by touching the nail-print and the riven side. CONTRASTED WITH ALL THIS THERE IS THE TEXT "CHILDREN OF GOD," they whose nature is derived from the parentage of heaven, whose character is formed by that nature, whose actions and prospects spring from that nature. (1) The foundation of this is laid in those scriptures which describe the marks of the children of God. The Spirit. (a)Deep humility. But this is not the character of the presumptuous pretender to the love of God. He is God, because the essential name of God is His; therefore let us call upon His name, because the attributes of God are His; therefore let us attribute to Him all might, majesty, dominion, etc., because the works of God are His; therefore let us co-operate with Him: then shall we be of the same spirit with Him. "If so be that we suffer with Him that we also may be glorified together."IV. We must never quarrel with this Divine arrangement. If anything could make a man a Pharisee it is surely that. That mind of his father's is as much an invisible world to him as is God's to us. Nor merely that we are the offspring of God — those whose origin was from Him and who will always bear in them some characteristics of that origin, such as immortality, conscience, etc. Do not think that you are not near to Christ, that He does not love you, because you have not had some one else's experience, because you are not like some saint whose biography you admire.