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our hearts cannot contradict that which he has already given in the Scripture.

In the Scripture he declares, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord'. He can never testify in our hearts, that without holiness we shall see the Lord. In the Scripture he declares, that "the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." How can he testify in our hearts that the unrighteous shall inherit that kingdom? In the Scripture he declares, that by this criterion "the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil "." It is impossible that he can contradict this testimony, or bear witness in our hearts, that those, who live in sin and take pleasure in unrighteousness, are the children of God. In the Scripture he has told us that "whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God," and that "if a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar 5." If then the worldly and uncharitable man think that he is a child of God, he deceives himself; it is the

1 Heb. xii. 14. 2 1 Cor. vi. 9. 31 John iii. 8-10. 4 James iv. 4. 5 1 John iv. 20.

delusion of his own desperately wicked heart which he hears, and not the testimony of the Holy Spirit. His testimony in our hearts, and His testimony in the Scripture, are one and invariable. A confidence which is contrary to the Scripture is false; it is not, it cannot be the voice of His holy inspiration. This is our first observation.

II. Our second observation is this: That confidence which is not conformable to our real condition, cannot be the testimony of the Holy Spirit. It is the office of the Holy Ghost to convince us of our real condition, to pour into our hearts the illumination of his heavenly light, and to dispel the clouds with which self-love, and pride, and vanity, have enwrapt and darkened our understanding. It is His peculiar work, to speak the unwelcome truth, to convince us of the disease and the danger which we are too willing to forget, to create in us an appetite for truth, and a dread of self-deception, and to raise us to such deep and intelligent humility, such sincerity of repentance and such honesty of determination, as will never rest satisfied until our motives and princi

been purified from all falsehood, and conformed to the mind and character of our Redeemer and our God. It is the office of the Holy Ghost to convince of sin. It is His office not to keep us in the dark, but to give sight to the blind; not to soothe, or flatter, or delude us, but to awaken, to alarm, to make us dissatisfied with ourselves, to warn us of the all-searching scrutiny which awaits us, and the piercing eye which is continually upon us; to discover to us our demerits, to remind us of those "secret sins" which the penetration of infinite purity can alone detect; to put us on our guard against the self-complacency of our hearts, the flattery of the world, and the deceptions of the devil. He is our friend, our guide, our instructor, our teacher, our physician, our advocate; and the essence and element of all His holy and sanctifying communications with our spirits, is truth. His testimony therefore never can contradict the reality of our condition. If He testify in our hearts while we are impenitent, He will testify that we are impenitent. If He bear witness while we are nominal

1 Ps. xix. 12.

Christians, He will bear witness that we are nominal Christians. If He speak within us whilst our faith is unfruitful and our affections are devoted to the world, it will be to bear witness to the unfruitfulness of our faith and the worldliness of our affections. Such a testimony may justly be ascribed to the Spirit of God. But an assurance of salvation, which goes beyond the evidence of our Christianity, and falsifies the reality of our spiritual condition, must be a fancy, a dream, an imagination; and to suppose the Holy Spirit to be the author of such an assurance, is to suppose God to be the author of our delusions; it is to suppose that the Spirit of truth can contradict himself; it is to make the Spirit of unity divided against himself, and so a destroyer of His own kingdom'.

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"En effet, comment le St. Esprit agit-il dans nos cœurs? Est-ce par des enchantemens? Est-ce en nous présentant des phantômes? Est-ce en nous inculquant des propositions contraires à la vérité ? Voilà le véritable Enthousiasme. Mais le St. Esprit témoigne au dedans de nous d'une manière conforme à notre état et à la nature des choses. Si donc l'Esprit de Dieu témoigne dans votre cœur, tandis que vous

III. Our last observation is this: That which contradicts the testimony of our con

êtes irrégénéré, il y témoignera que vous êtes irrégénéré. S'il y témoigne, tandis que vous êtes un Chrétien équivoque, il y témoignera que vous êtes un Chrétien équivoque. S'il y témoigne, tandis que vous avez une foi douteuse, il y témoignera que votre foi est douteuse. Un pareil témoignage, vous pouvez l'attribuer à l'Esprit de Dieu. Mais une assurance du salut qui excède le degré des preuves que vous avez d'être Chrétien, c'est une vision, c'est une imagination, c'est une chimère; c'est supposer dans l'Esprit de Dieu témoignage contre témoignage ; c'est faire de l'Esprit de Dieu ce Royaume divisé contre lui-même, qui ne peut subsister; c'est mettre en contradiction le témoignage qu'il rend dans nos Ecritures, avec celui qu'il rendroit dans notre cœur. Dans nos Ecritures, il témoigne qu'on ne peut servir à deux maîtres; dans votre cœur, il témoigneroit qu'on peut servir à deux maîtres. Dans nos Ecritures, il témoigne qu'il n'y a point de communication entre Christ et Bélial; dans votre cœur, il témoigneroit qu'il y a de la communication entre Christ et Bélial. Dans nos Ecritures, il témoigne que les impurs, que les avares, que les calomniateurs, n'hériteront point le Royaume des Cieux; dans votre cœur, il témoigneroit qu'ils hériteront le Royaume des Cieux."-SauRIN, Sermon sur l'Assurance du Salut.-Sermons sur divers Textes de l'Ecriture, tom. ii. pp. 45-47. A la Haye. 1772.

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