sent life, they only imperfectly partake. An inheritance is reserved for them, incorruptible, and that fadeth not away-the inheritance of the saints in light. A kingdom is established for them, which cannot be moved. A city is preparing for them, which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So certain is their final possession of these blessings, provided they do not, by disobedience, forfeit their Father's love, that the apostle speaks of Christians as already "sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;" as already "come unto Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem;" as having already joined "the innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of the just made perfect;" as already beholding, in the unclouded radiance of heaven, "God, the Judge of all, and Jesus, the Mediator of the covenant."

3. Christians are "joint-heirs with Christ."

Immortal life and felicity are blessings which no creature can merit, or which he can exact from his Almighty Creator as due to his obedience, however perfect; much less are they blessings to which man, as a sinner, can lay claim. They are the free gift of God, through his Son Jesus Christ. Him hath God exalted to be "head over all things to his church," his redeemed people-the Author to all who believe in him, of spiritual life and felicity. Of that kingdom of glory which is to subsist for ever in the power and in the felicity of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, in his capacity as Mediator, is the head; and they who, through the strength and protection of this their divine Leader, overcome in that spiritual contest to which they are called with the world, the flesh, and the great adversary, are

finally to be admitted to share with him the felicity and glory of this his kingdom-in the figurative language of Scripture, to sit with him on his throne, He, their divine head and Saviour, hath, by the merit of his sufferings and death, purchased for them that heavenly inheritance, to which, infinitely exalted as it is above their deserts, no services of their own could possibly entitle them. He hath gone, in that glorified human nature which he assumed in order to become their Redeemer, to take possession of this inheritance of glory. By his resurrection from the dead. he became "the firstborn among many brethren," giving to "as many as received. him, power to become the sons of God," and finally exalting them to be "joint-heirs with himself of everlasting glory."

In this your title then, Christians, of " jointheirs with Christ," you are called to realize the important truths, that your salvation, unattainable by human efforts, is the work of him to whom, as your Redeemer, all power is given in heaven and on earth; and that with him, the first-born from the dead, and first entering on the possession purchased by his meritorious cross and passion, you are finally to share the felicity of that everlasting life which is the free gift of God through Jesus Christ.

Christians, then, are "children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." They enjoy the favour of God, their heavenly Father; they are destined for the enjoyment of the felicity of his presence; they are to share with their highly exalted Saviour in the glories of that heavenly kingdom, of which he is the head and ruler.

Highly interesting to us must be the testimony which assures these privileges to us.

II. The testimony by which the privileges of Christians are assured to them.

1. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit." The exalted privileges of Christians are assured to them by the twofold witness of the Spirit and of their own hearts. It is not the Spirit alone witnessing to our hearts-he witnesses with them. The witness then is distinct-that of our own hearts, and that of the Spirit of God.

"If our heart condemn us not," saith the apostle John, "then have we confidence towards God." And the apostle Paul speaks in the person of sincere Christians-" Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world." When then our hearts do not condemn us of habitual and wilful violations of the laws of God; when they do not accuse us of neglect of his holy word, worship, and ordinances-when, on the contrary, they bear testimony to the sincerity, the fervency, and the constancy of our desires to serve him; when unfeigned sorrow for all our transgressions, lively faith in the merits of Jesus, the Redeemer of the world, love to God, and love to man, are the emotions and principles that regulate our affections and our conduct; when thus conscience, that faithful witness, arrays against us no wilful sin for which we have not deeply repented, no infirmity against which we have not sedulously guarded, and which we have not humbly confessed; when it is her testimony that the graces and virtues of the Christian character have animated our hearts and

shone forth in our lives, and that, rich in good works, and walking in the commandments and ordinances of God, we have adorned the doctrine of God our Saviour-then we have the witness of our own spirit that we are "children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." But,

2. These exalted privileges are also assured to Christians by the witness, external and internal, public and private, of the Holy Spirit of God.

The external and public witness of the Spirit consists in those miraculous gifts whereby the truth of the Gospel, and of all its promises, was fully established. This Gospel proclaims to all those who, humbly renouncing their sins, steadfastly believe in Jesus Christ, and obey him as their Lord and Master, a title to pardon, to the favour of God, and to the glory and bliss of heaven.

When, therefore, the first believers heard the simple and illiterate apostles of Jesus of Nazareth "speaking with divers tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," and, enlightened by this Spirit, declare the words of wisdom and knowledge;" when they beheld these weak and despised men endued with the power of the Holy Ghost, open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, unloose the tongue of the dumb, restore the withered arm and the diseased limb; and, still more glorious triumph, enter the domains of the grave and raise the dead-when they beheld all these signs, and wonders, and mighty works wrought by the power of that Spirit which Jesus sent on his disciples, then did they enjoy the witness of the Spirit, that the Gospel of Christ was indeed the power of God unto salvation, that all its promises were faithful and true, and that as many as re

ceived it were "children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ."

And, my brethren, when the faithful record of these things is open before us-a record written in the blood of its authors, and, with every possible mark of credibility, handed down as the sacred testimony of eye-witnesses; when the miraculous propagation of Christianity, and the constant fulfilment of prophecies, add their powerful testimony to the work of the Spirit in the first ages of Christianity, then do we, Christians of these last days, enjoy the witness of the Spirit, that, while faithful to him who hath quickened us from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, we are "children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ."

But there is the internal and private witness of the Spirit assuring to Christians the same exalted privileges.

And this witness consists in his renovating and sanctifying power on the soul.

The great object of the reasoning of the apostle in the verses preceding the text, is to show that holy affections and a holy life are the evidence of being led by the Spirit. They who are under the power of the Spirit, he says, "walk not after the flesh" they mind the things of the Spirit; they mortify the deeds of the body; and thus the Spirit witnesseth with their spirit that they are the sons of God.

The renovating and sanctifying power of divine grace, producing in us all holy affections and virtues, is the internal witness of the Spirit.

In the incomprehensible agency assigned in Scripture to the three Persons of the Godhead in the work of man's redemption, the Holy Ghost is