2. The- second thing presupposed is, that the Holy Sjnrit being in us, after he hath ji^cpared us for an house for himself to dwell in, and to take up his rest and delight in, he doth also become unto us a counsellor in all our doubts ; a comforter in all our distresses ; a solicitor to all duty ; a guide in the whole course of our life, until we dwell with him for ever in heaven, unto which his dwelling here in us doth tend. He goeth before us as Christ did in the * pillar of the cloud and fire ' before the Israelites into Canaan, being a defence by day, and a direction by night. Wlaen we sin, what do we else but grieve this guide ?
3. The third ground is, that we, the best of us, «?•<? 2^^'one to grieve this Holy S2nrit. What use were there else of this caveat ? We carry too good a proof of this in our own hearts. We have that which is enmity to the Spirit within us, sin ; and an adversary to the Spirit and us, Satan. These joining together and having intelligence, and having correspondency one with another, stir us up to that which grieves this good Spirit.
4. The fourth thing presupposed is, that we may and ought, by Christian care and circumspection, so to walk in an even and p)leasing course, that we shall not grievously offend the Spirit, or grieve our oivn spirits. We may avoid many lashes and blows, and many an heavy day which we may thank ourselves for. And God delighteth in the prosperity of his children, and would have us walk in the comforts of the Holy Ghost ; and is grieved when we grieve him : that then he must grieve us to prevent worse grief. The due and proper act of a Christian in this life is to please Christ, and to be comfortable in himself, and so to be fitted for all services.
These things premised, it is easy to conceive the equity of the apostle's dissuasive from grieving the Holy Spirit. For the better unfolding of which, we will unfold these four points. First, What it is to grieve the Spirit ? Secondly, is Wherein we specially grieve the Spirit ? Thirdly, How we may know when we have grieved the Spirit ? Fourthly, What course we should take to prevent this grief ?
1. For the first: The Holy Ghost cannot prop)erly be grieved in his own person, because grief implies a defect of happiness in suffering that we tvish re- moved. It implies a defect in foresight, to prevent that which may grieve. It implies passion, which is soon raised up and soon laid down. God is not subject to change. It implies some want of power to remove that which we feel to be a grievance. And therefore it is not beseeming the majesty
* In margin here. ' The Holy Ghost dwells not in us as in ordinary houses, but aa temples. The Holy Spirit makes all holy, wherever he comes.' — G.
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of the Spirit thus to be grieved. We must therefore conceive of it as be- fitting the majesty of God, removing in our thoughts all imperfections. First, then, we are said to grieve God irheji we do that which is apt of itself to grieve ; as we are said to destroy our weak brother when we do that which he taking offence at, is apt to mislead him and so to destroy him. Secondli/y We grieve the Spirit when we do that whereupon the Spirit doth that which grieved persons do ; that is, retireth and sheweth dislike and returns grief again. Thirdhj, Though the passion of grief be not in the Holy Ghost, yet there is in his holy nature a jmre displeasayice and hatred of sin, with srich a degree of abomination, as though it tend not to the destruction of the offender, yet to sharp correction ; so that grief is eminently in the hatred of God in such a manner as becomes him. Fourthly, We may conceive of the Spirit as he is in himself i)i heaven, and as he dwells and ivorks in us; as we may conceive of God the Father, as hidden in himself and as revealed iu his Son and in his word ; and as we may conceive of Christ as the second person and as incarnate. So likewise of the Holy Ghost as in himself and as in us. God, in the person of his Son, and his Son as man and as minister of cii'cumcision, was grieved at the rebellion and destruction of his own people. The Holy Spirit as in us grieveth with us, witnesseth with us, rejoiceth in us and with us ; and the Spirit in himself and as he work- eth in us hath the same name ; as the gifts and graces and the comforts of the Spirit are called the Spirit ; even as the beams of the sun shining on the earth are called the sun, and when we let them in or shut them out, we are said to let in or shut out the sun. We may grieve the Spirit, when we grieve him as working grace and offering comfort to us. The graces of the Spirit have the name of the Spirit whence they come, as the Spirit of love and wisdom. Again, our own spirits, so far as sanctified, are said to be the Spirit of God. So the Spirit of God, not in itself, but in Noah, did strive with the old world, 1 Pet. iii. 19. And so we gi-ieve the Spirit, when we grieve our own or other men's spirits, so far as they are sanctified by the Spirit.