progress in holiness, as to be able to discern the fruits of the Spirit in their hearts and lives.  The witness of the Spirit must not be sought in any sudden impulses upon the mind; but in the real work of grace in the heart, conforming it to the image of God.  Even if God should indulge us with such impulses or impressions, they would not be certain evidence of our adoption; because Satan can counterfeit the brightest experiences of this kind.  Hence, we may account for the strong confidence which is sometimes expressed by young converts, who afterwards fall away.  But when the image of God can be seen in our hearts and lives, we may be certain that we are his children.  That this is the true witness of the Spirit, maybe inferred from the passage last quoted.  When this epistle was written, it was the custom of princes to have their names and images stamped upon their seals.  These seals, when used, would leave the impression of the name and image of their owners upon the wax.  So, when God sets his seal upon the hearts of his children, it leaves an impression of his name and image.  The same thing may be intended in Revelation, where Jesus promises to give him that overcometh “a white stone, and in the stone a new name written.”  A figure somewhat similar is also used in the third chapter of Malachi.  Speaking of the Messiah, the prophet says, “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”  A refiner of silver sits over the fire, with his eye steadily fixed upon the precious metal in the crucible, until he sees his own image in it, as we see our faces in the glass.  So the Lord will carry on his purifying work in the hearts of his children, till he sees his own image there.  When this image is so plain and clear as to be distinctly discerned by us, then the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirits, that we are his children.  As love is the most prominent and abiding fruit of the Spirit, it may be the medium through which the union between God and the soul is seen; and by which the child of God is assured of his adoption.  A strong and lively exercise of a childlike, humble love, may give a clear evidence of the soul’s relation to God, as his child.  “Love is of God, and every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.”  As God is love, the exercise of that holy principle in the heart of the believer shows the impression of the divine image.  “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.”  Hence the apostle John says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”  But, if this love is genuine, it will regulate the emotions of the heart, and its effects will be visible in the lives of those who possess it.  The same apostle says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.”  So that in order to have certain evidence of our adoption into the blessed family, of which Jesus is the Elder Brother, all the fruits of the Spirit must have grown up to some degree of maturity.