47. Chapter VII.

Chapter VII. The Spirit is an earnest, and how.

Thirdly. Again, the Holy Spirit, as thus communicated to us, is said to be an "earnest." The word in the original, arrhabon 591 is not used anywhere in the New Testament except in this matter alone, 2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:14. The Latin translator renders this word as pignus, a pledge. But he is corrected in this by Hierom 592 on Ephesians 1. And this reason is generally accepted by expositors: a pledge is what is committed to and left in the hand of another, to secure him that the money which is borrowed on that pledge will be repaid; and then the pledge is to be received back again. Hence it is necessary that a pledge be more in value than the money received, because it is taken in security for repayment. But an earnest is only a part of what is to be given or paid, or some lesser thing that is given to secure something that is more or greater, of the same or of another kind. And this difference must be allowed if we are obliged to the precise meaning and common use of pledges and earnests among men, which we must inquire into. The word is supposed to be derived from the Hebrew arabown;593 and the Latins also make use of it, arrhabon and arrha. It is sometimes used by other authors, such as Plutarch 594 in Galba: he prepossessed Obinius with great sums of money, as an earnest of what he would do afterward.595 Hesychius explains it by prodoma,596 a gift beforehand.597 I will declare what I apprehend to be the mind of the Holy Ghost in this expression, in the ensuing observations:

First. It is not any act or work of the Holy Spirit on us or in us that is called his being an "earnest." It is he himself who is this earnest. This is expressed in every place where mention is made of it: 2 Corinthians 1:22 — "The earnest of the Spirit" 598 — it is that earnest which is the Spirit, or the Spirit as an earnest, as Austin reads the words: "Arrhabona Spiritum." 2 Corinthians 5:5, "Who has also given us the earnest of the Spirit." The giving of this earnest is constantly assigned as an act of God the Father, who would send the Comforter to the church according to the promise of Christ.John 14:26 And in the other passage, Ephesians 1:14, it is expressly said that the Holy Spirit is the "earnest of our inheritance." Everywhere the article is the masculine gender, hos estin arrhabon,599 and Pneuma, the Spirit, is neuter. Some would have it refer to Christ, in verse 12. But it is not unusual in Scripture for the subjunctive article and relative to agree in gender with the following substantive, as it does here: hos (who) agrees with arrhabon (earnest). So the Scripture, speaking of the Holy Ghost, Pneuma, is neuter gender; yet, having respect to the thing — that is, the person of the Spirit — it subjoins the pronoun of the masculine gender to it, as in John 14:26. Therefore, the Spirit himself is the earnest, as given to us from the Father by the Son. And this act of God is expressed by giving or putting him into our hearts, 2 Corinthians 1:22. How he does this has been declared before, both in general and with respect in particular to his inhabitation. Therefore, the meaning of the words is that God gives us his Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and to abide with us, as an earnest of our future inheritance.

Secondly. It is indifferent whether we use the term earnest or pledge in this matter. Although I choose to retain the term earnest, from the most usual acceptance of the word, it is not for the reason alleged, which is taken from the special nature and use of an earnest in the dealings of men. It is only the purpose of an earnest for which the Holy Ghost is so called, which is the same as a pledge; we are not to force the similitude or allusion any further. For among men, an earnest is precisely the confirmation of a bargain and contract made on equal terms between buyers and sellers or exchangers. But there is no such contract between God and us. It is true, an antecedent covenant is supposed, but not as a bargain or contract between God and us. The covenant of God, as it respects the dispensation of the Spirit, is merely a free, gratuitous promise; and the stipulation of obedience on our part is consequential to this. Again, the one who gives an earnest in a contract or bargain, does not principally aim at his own obligation to pay such and such a sum of money, or something equivalent to this (though he does that also). Rather, his principal design is to secure for himself what he has bargained for, so that it may be delivered to him at the appointed time. But there is nothing of this nature in the earnest of the Spirit, in which God intends our assurance only, and not his own. And there are various other things in which the comparison will not hold, nor is it to be urged, because they are not intended. The general end of an earnest or a pledge is all that is alluded to; and this end is to give security of something that is future, or to come. This may be done by way of free bounty as well as the strictest contract. It is as if a man had a poor friend or relation. He may, of his own accord, give him a sum of money, and ask him to take it as a pledge or earnest of what more he will yet do for him. So too, in a way of sovereign grace and bounty, God gives his Holy Spirit to believers, and lets them know that it is with a design to give them yet much more in his appointed season; and here the Spirit is said to be an earnest. Other things that are observed, from the nature and use of an earnest in civil contracts and bargains between men, do not belong to this, even though many things are occasionally spoken and discussed from them, that has good use for edification.

Thirdly. In two of the places in which mention is made of this matter, the Spirit is said to be an "earnest," but in what, or to what end, is not expressed, 2Cor 1.22, 5.5.600 The third place affirms that he is an "earnest of our inheritance," Ephesians 1:14. What that is, and how he is such an earnest, may be briefly declared. —

1. We have already manifested that all our participation601 of the Holy Spirit, in any kind, is on account of Jesus Christ; and we receive him immediately as the Spirit of Christ — for "to as many as receive Christ, the Father gives power to become the sons of God," John 1:12. "And because we are sons, he sends forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts," Galatians 4:6. As we receive the Spirit from him, as his Spirit, so he is given to us to make us conformable to Christ, and to give us a participation in his gifts, graces, and privileges.

2. Christ himself, in his own person, is the "heir of all things," Hebrews 1:2. So he was appointed by God, and therefore the whole inheritance is absolutely his. In the exposition of that verse,602 I have declared at large what this inheritance is, and the glory and power contained in it.

3. By his sin, man had universally forfeited his whole right to all the ends of his creation, both on the earth below and in heaven above. Death and hell had become all that the whole race of mankind had either right or title to. Yet all the glorious things that God had provided were not to be thrown away; an heir was to be provided for them. Abraham, when he was old and rich, had no child. He complained that his steward, a servant, was to be his heir, Genesis 15:2-4. But God lets him know that he would provide another heir for him, of his own seed. When man had lost his right to the whole inheritance of heaven and earth, God did not use the forfeiture to seize it all by the hands of justice and destroy it. Rather, he invested the whole inheritance in his Son, making him the heir of all. He was fit for this, being God’s eternal Son by nature; and the donation of this was free, gratuitous, and absolute. This grant was confirmed to him by his unction with the fulness of the Spirit. But —

4. This inheritance, as to our interest in it, lay under a forfeiture. And as to us, it must be redeemed and purchased, or else we can never be made partakers of it. Therefore, the Lord Christ, who had a right in his own person to the whole inheritance by the free grant and donation of the Father, would yet redeem it from under the forfeiture, and purchase it for us to possess. Hence it is called "The purchased possession." How this purchase was made, what made it necessary, by what means it was effected, are declared in the doctrine of our redemption by Christ, the price which he paid, and the purchase that he made by it. Upon this, the whole inheritance is vested in the Lord Christ, not only as to his own person and his right to the whole, but he became the great trustee for the whole church; and he had their interest in this inheritance committed to him also. No man, therefore, can have a right to this inheritance, or to any part of it — not to the least share of God’s creation here below as a part of the rescued or purchased inheritance — except by virtue of having an interest in Christ, and union with him. Therefore —

Fourthly. The way by which we come to have an interest in Christ, and thereby a right to the inheritance, is by sharing the Spirit of Christ, as the apostle fully declares in Rom 8.14-17.603 For it is by the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of the Son, that we are made children. Now, the apostle says, "If we are children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Children are heirs to their father. And those who are children of God are heirs of that inheritance which God has provided for his children, who are "heirs of God." All the good things of grace and glory which believers are made partakers of in this world, or in the world to come, are called their "inheritance," because they are the effects of free, gratuitous adoption. They are not things that believers have purchased, bargained for, earned, or merited, but an inheritance that depends on and follows solely upon their free, gratuitous adoption. But how can they become "heirs of God," seeing that God has absolutely appointed the Son alone to be "heir of all things," Hebrews 1:2? He was the heir to whom the whole inheritance belonged. Why, says the apostle, we are made joint heirs with Christ by the participation of the Spirit of Christ. The whole inheritance, as to Christ’s own personal right, was entirely his by the free donation of the Father, all power in heaven and earth being given to him. But if he would take others into a joint right with him, then he must purchase it for them, which he did accordingly.

Fifthly. Hence it is manifest how the Holy Spirit becomes the "earnest of our inheritance." For by him, that is, by the communication of him to us, we are made "joint heirs with Christ," which gives us our right and title. By this, our names are, as it were, inserted into the assured conveyance of the great and full inheritance of grace and glory. In giving his Spirit to us, making us co-heirs with Christ, we have the greatest and most assured earnest and pledge of our future inheritance. And thus he is an earnest until "the redemption of the purchased possession." For after a man has a good and firm title to an inheritance settled in him, it may be a long time before he takes actual possession of it; and he may have many difficulties in the meantime to conflict with. It is so in this case. The "earnest of the Spirit" given to us, by which we become co-heirs with Christ (whose Spirit we are made partakers of), secures the title of the inheritance in and for our whole persons. But before we can fully possess it, not only do we have many spiritual trials and temptations to conflict with in our souls, but also our bodies are liable to death and corruption. Therefore, whatever "first-fruits" we may enjoy, we cannot yet enter into the actual possession of the whole inheritance until not only our souls are delivered from all sins and temptations, but also our bodies are rescued out of the dust of the grave. This is the full "redemption of the purchased possession." This is why it is signally called the "redemption of the body," Romans 8:23.

Thus the Lord Christ himself was made "heir of all things" by that communication of the Spirit to him, by which he was anointed for his office. So too, the participation of the same Spirit from him and by him, makes us co-heirs with him. And so the Spirit is an earnest given to us by God, ensuring the future inheritance. It is not part of my present purpose to declare the nature of that inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is the earnest; but in brief, it is the highest participation with Christ in that glory and honor that our natures are capable of. And in like manner, we are said to receive "the first-fruits of the Spirit," Rom 8.23;604 that is, the Spirit himself as the first-fruits of our spiritual and eternal redemption. God had appointed that the first-fruits, which are called re’shiyth and bikkuwr, 605 should be a teruwmah,606 an offering to himself. This first-fruit (aparche) corresponds to, and is taken generally for that which is first in any kind, Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 15:20; James 1:18; Revelation 14:4. And the "first-fruits of the Spirit" must be either what he first works in us (or all his fruits in us with respect to the full harvest that is to come), or the Spirit himself as the beginning and pledge of future glory. It is the latter of these that is intended in this place. For the apostle discourses about the liberty of the whole creation from that state of bondage to which all things were subjected by sin. With respect to this, he says that believers themselves, having not yet obtained a full deliverance (as he expressed it in Romans 7:24), groan for its perfect accomplishment.

Yet, he says, we have the beginning of it, the first-fruits of it, in the communication of the Spirit to us. For "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," 2 Corinthians 3:17. For we are not capable of the full and perfect estate of the liberty provided for the children of God while we are in this world, conflicting with the remainders of sin, pressed and exercised with temptations, and our bodies being subject to death and corruption. Yet, where the Spirit of the Lord is, where we have that first-fruit of the fullness of our redemption, there is liberty in the real beginning of it, and assured consolation, because it will be consummated in the appointed season.

These are some of the spiritual benefits and privileges which believers enjoy by a sharing of the Holy Ghost as the promised comforter of the church. He is these things to them; and as to all other things belonging to their consolation, he works those in them. This is what we must inquire into next. Only, we may take notice of some things from what we have already insisted on; such as —

1. That all evangelical privileges which believers are made partakers of in this world, center in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is the great promise that Christ has made to his disciples, the great legacy which he has bequeathed to them. The grant made to him by the Father, when Christ had done all his will, and fulfilled all righteousness, and exalted the glory of his holiness, wisdom, and grace, was this grant of the Holy Spirit, to be communicated by Him to the church. He received this from the Father as the complement of his reward — in which he saw "the travail of his soul, and was satisfied." Isaiah 53:11 He now gives this Spirit to believers, and no tongue can express the benefits which they receive by it. In this they are anointed and sealed; in this they receive the earnest and first-fruits of immortality and glory — in a word, in this they are taken into sharing with Christ himself, all his honor and glory. Hereby their condition is rendered honorable, safe, and comfortable; and the whole inheritance is unchangeably secured for them. Therefore, in this one privilege of receiving the Spirit, all others are enwrapped; for —

2. No one way, or thing, or similitude, can express or represent the greatness of this privilege. It is anointing; it is sealing; it is an earnest and first-fruit — it is everything by which the love of God and the blessed security of our condition may be expressed or intimated to us. For what greater pledge can we have of the love and favor of God, what greater dignities can we be made partakers of, what greater assurance of a future blessed condition can we have, than what God has given us by his Holy Spirit? And,

3. Hence, it is also manifest how abundantly willing God is that the heirs of promise should receive strong consolation in all their distresses, when they flee for refuge to the hope that is set before them.Hebrews 6:18 The Application of the Foregoing Discourse. With respect to the dispensation of the Spirit towards believers, and his holy operations in and upon them, there are various particular duties of which he is the immediate object prescribed to them. And these duties are those by which, on our part, we comply with him in his work of grace, and by which it is carried on and rendered useful to us. Now, because this Holy Spirit is a divine person, and he acts in all things towards us as a free agent, according to his own will, the things enjoined of us with respect to him, are those by which we may carry ourselves rightly towards such a one — namely, as he is a holy, divine, intelligent person, working freely in and towards us for our good. And these duties are of two sorts, the first of which are expressed in prohibitions of those things which are unsuited to him and his dealings with us; the latter are expressed in commands for our attendance to those duties which are particularly suited to complying with him in his operations. In both sorts, our obedience is to be exercised with a particular regard to him. I will begin with the first sort, and go over the instances given to us in the Scripture:

First. We have a negative precept to this purpose: Ephesians 4:30 — "Do not grieve the holy Spirit;" 607 — "Consider who he is, what he has done for you, how great your concern is in his continuance with you, and that he is a free, infinitely wise, and holy agent in all that he does, who came freely to you, and can withdraw from you; do not grieve him." It is the person of the Holy Spirit that is intended in the words. This appears —

1. From the manner of the expression, to Pneuma to hagion 608— "that holy Spirit."

2. By the work assigned to him; for by him we are "sealed until the day of redemption."

We are not to "grieve" him. The expression seems to be borrowed from Isaiah 63:10, where mention is made of the sin and evil prohibited here: — "But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit." 609 The Hebrew word for vexed, ’atsab, is to "trouble" and to "grieve." It is used when it is done to a great degree. The LXX renders it here by parozunoo,610 which is to so grieve as to irritate and provoke to anger and indignation, because it is with respect to the rebellions of the people in the wilderness, which our apostle expresses by parapikraino and parapikrasmos,611 words with the same meaning. To "vex," therefore, is the heightening of grieving, by provoking to anger and indignation. This sense is suited to the place and the matter addressed, though the word signifies no more than to "grieve;" and so it is rendered by lupeo,612 Genesis 45:5; 2 Samuel 19:2.

Now, grief is ascribed here to the Holy Spirit as it is elsewhere ascribed to God absolutely: as in Genesis 6:6, "It sorrowed the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Such affections and perturbations of mind are ascribed to God or the Spirit only metaphorically. What is 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 ourselves. What may justly grieve a good man, and what he will do when he is unjustly or undeservedly grieved, represent to us what we are to understand of our own condition with respect to the Holy Ghost, when he is said to be grieved by us. And grief, in the sense intended here, is a troubled mind arising from an apprehension of unkindness that is not deserved, of disappointments that are not expected, on account of the close concern we have for those who grieve us. We may therefore see from this, what we are warned of when we are enjoined not to grieve the Holy Spirit; such as —

1. There is necessarily an unkindness in what we do. Sin has various respects towards God — of guilt, filth, and the like. These several considerations of it have several effects. But what is denoted when it is said to "grieve him," is an accompanying unkindness, or a lack of love corresponding to the fruits and testimonies of his love which we have received. He is the Spirit of love; he is love. All his actings towards us and in us are fruits of love; and all of them leave an impression of love on 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 endearing way of love to our souls. This requires a return of love, and a delight in all duties of obedience on our part. When instead of this, by our negligence and carelessness, or otherwise, we fall into those things or ways which he most abhors, he greatly regards the unkindness and ingratitude that is in this, and he is therefore said to be grieved by us.

2. Disappointment in expectation. It is known that, properly, no disappointment can befall the Spirit of God — it is utterly inconsistent with his prescience and omniscience. But we are disappointed when things do not happen as we justly expected they would, in accordance with the means used by us for their accomplishment. And when the means that God uses towards us do not produce the effect they are suited to, because of our sin, God presents himself as being disappointed. Thus he says this about his vineyard: "I looked for it to bring forth grapes, and it produced wild grapes," Isaiah 5:4.

Now, disappointment causes grief, as when a father has used all means for the education of a child in any honest way or course of life, and expended much of his estate in this. If the father’s expectation fails through the child’s dissoluteness or idleness, and his child disappoints him, it fills the father with grief. There are great things done for us by the Spirit of God; all of them have their tendency to increase holiness, light, and love. Where they are not answered, where there is not a suitable effect, there is that disappointment which causes grief. This is especially so with respect to some signal mercies. A return in holy obedience is justly expected on their account; and where this is not found, it is something that causes grief. We are minded here, "Do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, by which you are sealed until the day of redemption." So great a kindness should have produced effects other than those mentioned there by the apostle.613

3. The concern of the Holy Spirit in us, concurs with his being grieved by us; for we are grieved by those with whom we are particularly concerned; the miscarriages of others we can pass over without any such trouble. And there are two things that give us a special concern in others:

(1.) Relation, such as that of a father, a husband, a brother. This makes us concerned in, and consequently to be grieved for, the miscarriages of those who are related to us. So is it with the Holy Spirit. He has undertaken the office of a comforter towards us, and he stands in that relation to us. Hence he is so concerned in us, that he is said to be grieved with our sins, when he is not so grieved at the sins of those to whom he does not stand in special relation.

(2.) Love gives concern, and it makes way for grief on the occasion of sin. Those whom we love we are grieved for and by. Others may provoke indignation, but they do not cause grief, I mean not on their own account; for otherwise we ought to grieve for the sins of all. And what is the special love of the Holy Ghost towards us, has been declared. From what has been said, it is evident what we are warned about, and what is enjoined of us, when we are cautioned not to grieve the Holy Spirit, and how we may do so; for we grieve him —

(1.) When we are not influenced by his love and kindness to respond to his mind and will in all holy obedience, accompanied with joy, love, and delight. This he deserves at our hands; this he expects from us. And when it is neglected, we are said to grieve him because of his concern in us. For he looks not only for our obedience, but also that it be filled with joy, love, and delight. When we attend to our duties with an unwilling mind, or when we apply ourselves to any acts of obedience with an attitude of bondage or servility, we grieve him — for he has deserved other things from us.

(2.) When we lose and forget the sense and impression of signal mercies received by him. Thus the apostle, to give efficacy to his prohibition, adds the signal benefit which we receive by the Spirit, in that he seals us until the day of redemption. What that is, and what it consists in, has been declared. And from this, it is evident that he speaks of the Holy Spirit as dwelling in believers; for as such he seals them. Contrarily, in and by sin, we forget the great grace, kindness, and condescension of the Holy Spirit in dwelling in us, and communicating the love and grace of God to us by various ways. Therefore, we may be well said to grieve him. And certainly this consideration, together with that of the vile ingratitude and horrible folly in neglecting and defiling his dwelling-place — with the danger of his withdrawing from us on the continuance of our provocation614 — ought to be as effectual a motive for universal holiness and constant watchfulness in this, as any that can be proposed to us.

(3.) There are some sins which, in a special manner and above others, grieve the Holy Spirit. Our apostle expressly discusses these in 1Cor 6.15-20.615 And, by the connection of the words in this passage, he seems to consider "corrupt communication" (which always has a tendency toward corrupt conduct) a sin of this nature, Eph 4.29-30.616

Secondly. That which we have rendered617 to "vex him," Isaiah 63:10, is but the heightening and aggravation of his being grieved by our continuance in it, and maybe obstinacy618 in those ways by which he is grieved. For this is the progression of these things: if those whom we are concerned with (such as our children or other relationships), fall into miscarriages and sins, we are first grieved by it. This grief is attended with pity and compassion towards them, and with an earnest endeavor for their recovery. But if they continue to go on frowardly in their ways, notwithstanding all our endeavors and the application of means for reducing them, then are we vexed at them. This includes an addition of anger and indignation to our former sorrow or grief. Yet in this posture of things, we do not cease to attempt their cure for a season. If this does not succeed, but they continue in their obstinacy, then we resolve to deal with them no more, but to leave them to themselves.619 And not only this, but being convinced of their resolve to continue in ways of sin and debauchery, we deal with them as their enemies, and we labor to bring them to punishment. For our better understanding of the nature of our sin and provocation, this whole scheme of things is ascribed to the Holy Ghost with respect to them. It has been declared how he is said to be "grieved," and on what occasion. On continuing in those ways with which he is grieved, he is said to be "vexed," so that we may understand there is also anger and displeasure towards us. Yet he does not forsake us; yet he does not take from us the means of grace and recovery. But if we discover an obstinacy in our ways, and an intractable perverseness, then he will cast us off, and deal with us no more for our recovery. And woe to us when he departs from us! So when the old world would not be brought to repentance by the dispensation of the Spirit of Christ in the preaching of Noah, 1 Peter 3:19-20, God said upon that, that his Spirit would give up, and "not always strive with man," Genesis 6:3. Now, the cessation of the operations of the Spirit towards men who are obstinate in ways of sin, after he has long been grieved and vexed, comprises three things:

1. Removing from them the means of grace, either totally by the removal of their light and candlestick, of all the ways of the revelation of the mind and will of God to them, Revelation 2:5; or as to the efficacy of the word towards them, where the outward dispensation of it is continued — so that, "hearing they will hear, but not understand," Isaiah 6:9, John 12:40. For it is by the word that he strives with the souls and minds of men.

2. A forbearance of all chastisement, out of a gracious design to heal and recover them, Isa 1.5.620

3. Giving them up to themselves, or leaving them to their own ways. Though it seems only a consequence of the two former ones, and is to be included in them, yet there is indeed a positive act of the anger and displeasure of God in it, which directly influences the event of things. For they will be so given up to their own hearts’ lusts as to be bound in them as in "chains of darkness" for subsequent judgment.621 But this is not all. At length, He becomes a professed enemy to such obstinate sinners: Isaiah 63:10, "They rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit; therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." This is the length of his proceeding against obstinate sinners in this world. And in this too, four things are included:

1. He comes upon them as an enemy, to spoil them.622 This is the first thing that an enemy does when he comes to fight against anyone; he spoils them of what they have. If such persons had any light or conviction, any gift or spiritual abilities, the Holy Spirit having now become their professed enemy, he spoils them of it all: "From the one who does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken away." Matthew 25:29 Seeing that he neither had nor used his gifts or talent to any saving end, and now being at open enmity with the one who lent it to him, it will be taken away.

2. He will come upon them with spiritual judgments, striking them with blindness of mind and obstinacy of will, filling them with folly, giddiness, and madness in their ways of sin; which sometimes will produce the most doleful effects in themselves and others.

3. He will cast them out of his territories. If they have been members of churches, he will order that they will be cut off, and thrown out of them.

4. He frequently gives them a foretaste in this world, of that everlasting vengeance which is prepared for them.

Such are those horrors of conscience, and other terrible effects of an utter desperation, which he justly, righteously, and holily sends upon the minds and souls of some of them. And he will do these things to demonstrate the greatness and holiness of his nature, and so that all may know what it means to despise his goodness, kindness, and love. And it belongs to us to consider these things. It is our wisdom and duty to consider the ways and degrees of the Spirit’s departure from sinners who provoke, as well as those ways and degrees of his approaches to us with love and grace.

These latter approaches have been largely considered by many, as to all his great works towards us; and that was to the great advantage and edification of those concerned in them. For they learned from there, both their own state and condition, and also what particular duties they were to apply themselves to on all occasions. We showed this before, in part, in our discourses about regeneration and sanctification. And it is of no less concern to us to rightly consider the ways and degrees of his departure, which are expressed to give us that godly fear and reverence with which we ought to consider and observe him. David upon his sin, feared nothing more than God taking his holy Spirit from him, Psalms 51:11. And the fear of this should influence us to the utmost care and diligence against sin. For although God would not utterly forsake us — which, as to those who are true believers, is contrary to the tenor, promise, and grace of the new covenant — yet he may so withdraw his presence from us, that we may spend the remainder of our days in trouble, and our years in darkness and sorrow. Therefore, "Let him who thinks he stands," on this account also "take heed lest he fall." 1 Corinthians 10:12 There are those with whom God is only at the entrance of his work, as it were, producing such effects in their minds that, if followed and attended to, might have a saving event. Yet, upon their provocations, he may utterly forsake them, in the way and by the degrees mentioned before.

First, therefore, it is the duty of all to serve God with fear and trembling on this account. And —

Secondly. It is to take heed of the very beginnings of the course described. Have there been such evils in any of us, that it is evident that the Spirit is grieved by them? As we love our souls, we are to take care that we do not vex him by continuing in them. And if we do not diligently and speedily recover ourselves from grieving him, then vexing him will ensue. Has he been grieved by our negligence in our duties, by our indulgence of any lust, or by compliance with or conformity to the world? Do not let our continuance in doing so, make it his vexation.

Remember that while he is only grieved, he continues to supply us with all due means for our healing and recovery. He will also do so when he is vexed; but he will do it with such a mixture of anger and displeasure as to make us know that what we have done is an evil thing and bitter. But have there been any who proceeded further, and long continued to vex him this way, refusing his instructions even when accompanied, it may be, with sore afflictions or inward distresses that have been evident tokens of his displeasure? Let such souls rouse themselves to lay hold on him, for he is ready to depart, maybe forever. And —

Thirdly. We may do well to much consider the miserable condition of those who are thus utterly forsaken by him. When we see a man who has lived in a plentiful and flourishing condition, brought to extreme penury and want, seeking his bread in rags from door to door, the spectacle is sad — even though we know he brought this misery on himself by profuseness623 or a debauched life.624 But how sad it is to think of a man whom, it may be, we knew to have had a great light and conviction — to have made an amiable profession of Christ, to have been adorned with various useful spiritual gifts, and who was esteemed on this account — now to be despoiled of all his ornaments, to have lost light, and life, and gifts, and profession, and to lie as a poor withered branch on the dunghill of the world! And the sadness of this will be increased when we consider not only that the Spirit of God has departed from him, but that the Spirit has also become his enemy, and fights against him, by which the man is devoted to irrecoverable ruin.