First, We have a negative precept to this purpose : Eph. iv. 30, Mr) Xv-nhs rb TJyeij/ua, to aytov, — "Grieve not the holy Spirit;" — " Consider who he is, what he hath done for you, how great your concern is in his continuance with you, and withal that he is a free, infinitely wise, and holy agent in all that he doth, who came freely unto you, and can withdraw from you; and grieve him not." It is the person of the Holy Spirit that is intended in the words, as appears, — 1. From the manner of the expression, rb Uvivpa rb dyiov, — " that holy Spirit." 2. By the work assigned unto him ; for by him we are " seal- ed unto the day of redemption." Him we are not to " grieve." The expression seems to be borrowed from Isa. lxiii. 10, where mention is made of the sin and evil here prohibited: WlS D^"ft« ™]}) ng nam, — " But they rebelled, and *vexed his holy Spirit." 3Vy is to "trouble" and to "grieve;" and it is used when it is done unto a great degree. The LXX. render it here by icapo^vm' which is so to grieve as also to irritate and provoke to anger and indignation, be- cause it hath respect unto the rebellions of the people in the wilder- ness, which our apostle expresseth by ffapaftixpaim and vapantx.paa'Log, words of the same signification. To "vex," therefore, is the heighten- ing of grieving by a provocation unto anger and indignation : which sense is suited to the place and matter treated of, though the word signify no more but to "grieve;" and so it is rendered by Xvttiu, Gen. xlv. 5; 2 Sam. xix. 2.
Now, grief is here ascribed unto the Holy Spirit as it is elsewhere
41 4 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A COMFORTER. [BOOK VIII.
unto God absolutely : Gen. vi. 6, " It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Such affections and perturbations of mind are not ascribed unto God or the Spirit but metaphorically. That intended in such ascriptions is, to give us an apprehension of things as we are able to receive it; and the measure we take of them is their nature and effects in our- selves. What may justly grieve a good man, and what he will do when he is unjustly or undeservedly grieved, represent unto us what we are to understand of our own condition with respect unto the Holy Ghost when he is said to be grieved by us. And grief in the sense here intended is a trouble of mind arising from an apprehen- sion of unkindness not deserved, of disappointments not expected, on the account of a near concernment in those by whom we are grieved. We may, therefore, see hence what it is we are warned of when we are enjoined not to grieve the Holy Spirit; as, —
1. There must be unkindness in what we do. Sin hath various respects towards God, ot guilt, and filth, and the like. These several considerations of it have several effects. But that which is denoted when it is said to " grieve him" is unkindness, or that defect of an answerable love unto the fruits and testimonies of his love which we have received that it is accompanied withal. He is the Spirit of love; he is love. All his actings towards us and in us are fruits of love, and they all of them leave an impression of love upon our souls. All the joy and consolation we are made partakers of in this world arise from a sense of the love of God, communicated in an endear- ing way of love unto our souls. This requires a return of love and delight in all duties of obedience on our part. When instead hereof, by our negligence and carelessness, or otherwise, we fall into those things or ways which he most abhors, he greatly respects the un- kindness and ingratitude which is therein, and is therefore said to be grieved by us.
2. Disappointment in expectation. It is known that no disap- pointment properly can befall the Spirit of God; it is utterly in- consistent with his prescience and omniscience. But we are disap- pointed when things fall not out according as we justly expected they would, in answer unto the means used by us for their accom- plishment. And when the means that God useth towards us do not, by reason of our sin, produce the effect they are suited unto, God proposeth himself as under a disappointment. So he speaks of his vineyard : " I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes," Isa. v. 4. Now, disappointment causeth grief: as when a father hath used all means for the education of a child in any honest way or course, and expended much of his estate there- in, if he, through dissoluteness or idleness, fail his expectation and
CHAP. VII.] APPLICATION OF THE DISCOURSE. 415
disappoint him, it fills him with grief. They are great things which are done for us by the Spirit of God ; these all of them have their tendency unto an increase in holiness, light, and love. Where they are not answered, where there is not a suitable effect, there is that disappointment that causeth grief. Especially is this so with respect unto some signal mercies. A return in holy obedience is justly ex- pected on their account ; and where this is not, it is a thing causing grief. This are we here minded of, " Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." So great a kindness should have produced other effects than those there men- tioned by the apostle.