2. And withal, take heed that we grieve not the Holij Ghost any way, if we will have the Spirit to * seal' us, to increase our earnest.
How do we grieve the Holy Ghost ?
(1.) Jiy cherishirirf contrary affections, and lusts, and desires. And resist not the Holy Ghost ; as now when you hear the word of God, if you shut your resolutions, if you shut your hearts, and resolve not to give way to any instruction that shall be delivered, this is a resisting of the Holy Ghost. God now knocks at the hearts of those that are here, by his w^ord and Spirit ; and therefore we should ' open the everlasting doors, and let the King of glory come in,' Ps. xsiv. 7, 9.
We should lay open all to the Spirit. Oh, when the Spirit, when Christ is so willing to give the Spirit, it cannot be any but our fault, if we be no more spiritual than we are ; for indeed there is nothing in a manner re- quired to be spiritual, but not to resist the Spirit.
The Holy Ghost presseth upon us in the word such reasons of heavenly- mindedness, of despising of earthly things, of purging ourselves from the corruptions in the world, such reasons to be good, that indeed none are damned in the bosom of the church, but such as set a bar against the Spirit of God in their hearts, with a cursed resolution that they will not be better, that they will not part with their cursed lusts. Therefore they are damned, because they will be damned, that, say the preachers by the word, and Spirit, what they will, they think it better to be as they are, than to enter- tain such a guest as will mar and alter all that was there before. Take heed therefore of resisting of the Spirit, and of grieving of the Spirit by any thing in ourselves, or by conversing with company that will grieve him.
He that hath the Spirit of God in him, cannot endure carnal company ; for what shall he hear, what shall he draw in at his senses ? but that which will be vexation of spirit to him. Therefore it is said of Lot, ' His righteous soul was vexed with the unclean conversation of the Sodomites,' 2 Pet. ii. 7. It is an undoubted sign of a man that hath no grace, not to care for his company that hath grace.
(2.) Likewise yield all obedience and subjection to the Spirit, and to all the motions of the word and Spirit ; bring om- hearts into subjection, lay
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482 COMMENTARY ON
ourselves, as it were, before the Spirit, sufler ourselves to be moved, and fashioned, and framed by it ; for God gives his Holy Spirit to them that obey liini.
(3.) And hcfi the Spirit also as the principal thinj^. ' God gives the Spirit,' saith Christ, ' to them that ask him,' Luke xi. 13 ; and by Christ's manner of speaking there, he insinuates, as if he should say. What can I give you better than the Holy (ihost ? and yet this will I give you, if you ask him, that is the good thing that God gives ; for indeed, that is the seed of all graces, and of all comfort ; and therefore a world of promises are in- cluded in that promise, that he ' will give the Spirit to them that ask him.'
Labour by these and such like means for the Spirit ; and then if you have the Spirit, the 'earnest' of the Spirit, and the ' seal' of the Spirit, then mai'k what will come of such a temper of soul. That will go through all conditions whatsoever, come what will ; for the Spirit is above all, and the comforts of the Spirit are above all earthly comforts ; and the graces of the Spirit are able to encounter with all temptations.
So that a man that hath the Spirit, stands impregnable. The work of grace cannot be quenched, because it is the effect and the work of the Spirit. All the powers of all the devils in hell cannot stir it. God may hide his comfort for a time, to humble us ; but to quench the work of the Spirit once wrought in the heart, all the power of all the devils in hell cannot quench the least spark of saving grace. It will carry us through all oppo- sition whatsoever.
Let a man never baiilk or decline in a good cause, for anything that he shall suffer ; for the ' seal ' and the ' earnest ' of the Spirit is never more strong than when we have no other comfort by us but that : when we can draw comfort from the well-head, from the spring ; therefore we should labour for the earnest of the Spirit ; for it will fit us for all conditions whatsoever.
What makes a man diifer from himself? What makes a man differ from another ? Take a man that hath the ' earnest ' of the Spirit, you shall have him defy death, the world, Satan, and all temptations. Take a man that is negligent in labouring to increase his earnest, you shall have him weak, and not like himself.