43. Chapter III.
Chapter III. To whom the Holy Spirit is promised and given as a comforter Or the object of his acting in this office.
We have considered the promise of Christ to send the Holy Spirit to be the comforter of the church, and to that end, to abide with them forever. The general nature of the office and work he undertakes and discharges upon this promise, with their properties, has also been declared. Our next inquiry is to whom this promise is made, and towards whom it is infallibly fulfilled. It has been already declared in our former discourses,548 how and to what ends the Holy Spirit, as to his effects and operations, is promised to any persons, and received by them, and in what order. Therefore, here we will only declare in particular whom he is promised to and received by as a comforter — and this is to all, and only, actual believers. All his operations required for making them believers, are antecedent to this; for the promise of him to this end, wherever it is recorded, is made directly to them, and it is confined to them. It was given immediately to the apostles, but it was not given to them as apostles, but as believers and disciples of Christ. And that was with a particular respect to the difficulties and causes of disconsolation which they were under, or would meet with on account of their being believers. See the promises made expressly to this purpose, in John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:7-8. And it is also declared that the world — which is opposed to those who believe — cannot receive him, John 14:17. He has other effectual operations on the world, for their conviction and the conversion of many of them. But as a Spirit of consolation, he is neither promised to them, nor can they receive him, until other gracious acts of His have passed on their souls. Besides, we will see that all his actings and effects as a comforter are confined to those who believe; and all his actings presuppose saving faith. This is the great fundamental privilege of true believers, by which, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, they are exalted above all other persons in this world. And this will more evidently appear when we consider those special operations, acts, and effects, by which consolation is administered to them. The life of man is the subject of innumerable troubles; this is made evident and uncontrollable by catholic experience. That "man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward," has been the constant acknowledgment of all who have been wise, in all ages. And those who have tried to drown their sense of them in security and sensuality of life, have always been looked at as greatly ignorant of the principles of nature and dictates of reason, voluntarily degenerating into the condition of brutish and irrational creatures. Others, who will not forego the privilege of their being, have always made it a principal inquiry into how or why they might take and receive relief and comfort for their support against their unavoidable troubles, sorrows, and disconsolation; indeed, it is natural and necessary for all men to do so.
All men cannot help but seek rest and peace, not only out of choice, but out of an instinct of nature. For trouble and sorrow are diametrically contrary to it in its being, and tend to its dissolution. Therefore, all men naturally seek consolation: Hence the best and most useful part of the old philosophy, consisted in prescribing the ways and means of comforting and supporting the minds of men against things that are noxious and grievous to their nature, along with the sorrows which ensue from that. And the topics they had found for this purpose were not to be despised where men are destitute of spiritual light and supernatural revelation. Nor did the wisdom or reason of man ever rise to anything more useful in this world than to discover any rational considerations that might allay the sorrows or relieve the minds of those who are disconsolate. For things that are really grievous to most of mankind, outweigh all the real satisfaction which this life and world can afford; and it is brutish to place either satisfaction or relief in the pursuit of sensual lusts. Yet what did all the springs and well-heads of rational and philosophical consolation rise to? What refreshment did their streams afford? The utmost they attained was only to confirm and make obstinate the minds of men in a fancy, in an opinion or persuasion, that is contrary to what they felt and had experienced. For what they contended for was only this: that the consideration of the common lot of mankind, the unavoidableness of grievous accidents, the shortness of human life, the true exercise of reason upon more noble objects, with other things of like nature, should satisfy men that the things which they endured were not so evil or grievous. But what does all that amount to in comparison to this privilege of believers, of this provision made for them in all their disconsolations, by the One in whom they believe? This is a relief that never entered into the heart of man to think of or conceive. Nor can it be understood by any but those by whom it is enjoyed. For the world, as our Savior testifies, neither knows this Spirit nor can it receive him; — and therefore, what is spoken of him and his work is looked at as a fancy or the shadow of a dream. Although the Sun of Righteousness is risen in this matter, and shines on all who dwell in the land of Goshen,549 yet those who still abide in Egypt make use only of their lanterns. But those who are really partakers of this privilege know in some measure what they enjoy, even though they are not able to comprehend it in its excellence, nor value it in a due manner. For how can the heart of man, or our poor weak understandings, fully conceive this glorious mystery of sending the Holy Ghost to be our comforter? Only believers receive it by faith, and experience it in its effects. In my judgment, there is an unspeakable privilege for those who are believers, antecedent to their believing, and as they are elect — namely, that Christ died in their stead alone. But this is like the wells which Isaac’s servants dug, that the Philistines strove about as those which belonged to them, which though they were fresh and useful springs in themselves, caused them to be called Esek and Sitnah (that is, "contention" and "hatred").Genesis 26:20-21 There are mighty strivings to break down the enclosure of this privilege, and lay it common to the whole world. This is, indeed, a waste and useless. For it is contended that the Lord Christ died equally for all and every one of mankind, for believers and unbelievers, for those who are saved and those who are damned. And to this purpose, many pretenses are pleaded to show how most of those for whom Christ died have no real benefit by his death, nor is anything required in them to evidence that they have an interest in it. But this privilege we now address is like the well Rehoboth (that is, "room"). Isaac kept it to himself, and the Philistines did not strive about it. None contend that the Spirit is a comforter to any but believers; therefore. it is despised and reproached by the world — because they have no interest in it, nor do they have the least pretense to strive about it. If believers, therefore, duly considered how they are advanced by it through the love and care of Jesus Christ, into an inexpressible dignity above the residue of mankind, they would rejoice in it more than in all that this world can supply them with. But we must proceed.
It appears, from what has been discussed, that this is not the first saving work of the Holy Spirit on the souls of men. Regeneration and habitual sanctification always precede it. He comforts none but those whom he has previously sanctified. Nor are any others capable of his consolations; there is nothing in others that can discern his acting, nor value what he does of this kind. And this is the true reason why the whole work of the Holy Spirit as a comforter — which consists in the accomplishment of the most glorious promise that ever Christ made to his church, and the greatest evidence of his continued care of it — is so neglected, indeed, despised, among most professed Christians. This is a great evidence of the apostatized state of Christianity. They can have no concern in any work of his except in its proper order. If men are not first sanctified by him, they can never be comforted by him; and they will prefer in their troubles, any natural reliefs before the best and highest of his consolations. For however these may be proposed to them — however they may be instructed in their nature, ways, and means — they do not belong to them; and why should they value what is not theirs? The world cannot receive him. The Spirit works on the world for conviction, John 16.8,550 and He works on the elect for their conversion, John 3.8;551 but none can receive him as a comforter, except believers.552
Therefore, this whole work of the Holy Spirit is little taken notice of by most, and it is despised by many. Yet it is nevertheless glorious in itself, being fully declared in the Scripture; and it is no less useful to the church, being testified to by the experience of those who truly believe.
What remains for the full declaration of this office and work of the Holy Ghost, is the consideration of those acts of his which properly belong to this, and those privileges which believers are thereby made partakers of. And though many blessed mysteries of evangelical truth are contained in this, they would require much time and diligence in their explanation. But for most of them, according to the measure of light and experience which I have attained, I have kept myself from handling them here. For I have already spoken about most of them in two other discourses: the one concerning the Perseverance of True Believers,553 and the other of our Communion with God,554 and Of the Holy Spirit in particular. Therefore, because I will be sparing in the repetition of what has already been proposed to public view, I will not add much to this. Yet what is necessary for our present design must not be wholly omitted, especially seeing that I find further light and evidence may be added to our former endeavors in this kind.