Robert South · 18 of 26

Sermon LXI. Genesis vi. 3. · Part 3

3. The third ground or reason why God withdraws his Spirit upon our resistance, is because it highly tends to the vindication of his honour.

Now God may vindicate his honour two ways in the Spirit’s departure.

1. As it is a punishment to the sinner, that has dishonoured him. God’s glory cannot be repaired but by the misery of the party that made a breach upon it. God cannot be glorious, till the offender is made miserable. Now this is a punishment exactly correspondent to the sin, that is totally spiritual. For can there be a greater punishment for a sinner, than to be permitted to take a full swing in the free satisfaction of his lust? When God bereaves a soul of his Spirit, there is, as I may say, a decree passed in the court of heaven, in respect of that soul, for liberty and toleration in sin. In this sense there is no distinction between the evil of sin and the evil of punishment; for the evil of sin is the greatest evil of punishment. If a man possessed with phrensy should endeavour to drown or stab himself, and being forcibly withheld, should fight and strive to have his will; could there be any greater punishment for his fighting and striving, than to be delivered over to the free execution of his intended mischief? We find the children of Israel grieving, and even fretting God’s Spirit, in Ezek. xvi. 43, Thou hast fretted me in all these things. Now what course does God take to revenge himself? Does he threaten them with the sword, with famine and desolation? Does he give them over as a prey to their enemies, to be insulted over by a bitter captivity? No; but, what is worse, that he may inflict spiritual judgments, he causes temporal judgments to cease; in verse 42, I will make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry: that is, his anger should grow to that height, that it should be too great to be outwardly expressed: it should burn inwardly: and so it is much more dreadful. The wind when it breaks forth, it only shakes the trees; but when it is pent up and restrained within the ground, it makes the very earth shake and tremble. Questionless, there is not an expression in all God’s word, that does more fully and terribly hold forth God’s anger, than this wherein he says he will be angry no more. It is clear therefore that God cannot vindicate his honour by inflicting a greater evil upon those that despise his Spirit, than by withdrawing it. Then God punishes the unjust man in a fearful way, when he inflicts that matchless curse in Revel. xxii. 11, and says, He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. Then does he take the sorest vengeance of the unclean person, when he withdraws the pure motions of his holy Spirit, and says, He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. No penalty for sin so dreadful, as a liberty to continue in sin.

2. God may vindicate his honour by clearing his injured attributes from those aspersions that human mistakes might charge upon them: for upon God’s merciful, patient continuance of his Spirit, after long opposition made against it, from the facility of God’s forbearance, men are prone to conceive otherwise of God, than is either consistent with their duty or his honour. But now, by thus withdrawing of his Spirit, he does eminently vindicate and recover the repute of his injured attributes, and of these two especially.

1. Of his wisdom. 2. Of his mercy.

1. He vindicates and asserts the honour of his wisdom. I confess it is downright atheism to deny God’s wisdom in words, and few will do it. But corruption is apt to think what atheism only will avouch. And there is a language of the heart which speaks clear enough to God’s dishonour, though not to our hearing. The voice of it in such a case is, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most high? Psalm lxxiii. 11. Is it for God’s wisdom to offer what he knows will be rejected; and to multiply his entreaties, that the sinner may only have occasion to multiply affronts? Is it prudence to urge and press a man with the continual offers of that thing, which we know him to be fully resolved for ever to refuse? Amongst men there is none but the covetous and the foolish that offer their gifts to those who they are sure will not accept them. He that shall give with the same importunity that others ask, and shall entreat men to receive his favours, plays the beggar in the midst of his liberality. Now as long as the Spirit prorogues his workings after an obstinate resistance of them, so long he only seeks and sues for a repulse; he courts an affront. It is mercy at first for God to send his Spirit; but when it is slighted, it is wisdom to revoke it.

2. He vindicates the honour of his mercy. Such is the vileness of men, that even from mercy itself they take occasion to blaspheme mercy. For by thus presuming upon it, they do not so much think or speak, as act their blasphemies against it. He that goes on to sin against mercy, he either thinks that God knows it not, and so cannot punish him; or that he is of so impregnable a clemency that he will not. But as the former of these strikes at God’s omniscience, so the latter at his mercy. For this is not properly mercy, but fondness; that is, an irrational mercy; which we cannot add to God’s nature, but by such additions we should diminish and detract from his perfection.

Now God by the departure of his Spirit vindicates the honour of his mercy in a double respect.

1. By shewing that it is no ways inferior, much less contrary to his holiness. God’s attributes do not interfere nor clash: the exercise of one does not justle out the other: they are at perfect agreement: and mercy will not enlarge itself to such a pitch as holiness will not warrant. God will let the resisters of his Spirit see, that as he was merciful to endure them so long, so he is too holy to bear with them any longer. For during the time of his forbearance, the repute of his holiness lies at stake. What glory did God gain to his mercy, as it is in Psalm l. by bearing with such as consented with thieves, as were partakers with adulterers, as gave their mouth to slanders and reproaches? I say, what glory did he gain in verse 21, These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; and thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself? Here we see, in recompence of his forbearance, they question his righteousness; and from his permission conclude also his approbation of their wickedness.

2. God in this vindicates the honour of his mercy, by making it clear that it is not repugnant to his justice: nay, that it is not only not repugnant to it, but also makes way for a severer execution of it: and from hence God may be said not only to be merciful because he will be merciful, but because he will be just. Mercy neither can nor will rescue an impenitent sinner from the hand of justice. All the time that the infinite mercy of God is striving and dealing with the heart of an obstinate sinner, his justice is like a sleeping lion, ready to tear him in pieces whensoever God shall awaken it. It is reported of Dionysius, that setting to sea after he had pillaged a temple, and having a very prosperous voyage, he cried out, O quam diis placet sacrilegium! How are the gods pleased with sacrilege! The case of the obstinate sinner is not much unlike: when men in the full pursuit of their sins find themselves yet followed by the fresh gales of the Spirit blowing upon their hearts, they are apt to conclude, that God will still wait their leisure, that these motions will be perpetual, and that therefore they may take their own time to accept of those terms, that they suppose will be always offered: and consequently they will venture to swear once more, to wantonize once again, to take another sip or two of the cup of intemperance, till the Spirit departs of a sudden, and leaves them in a state of irrecoverable hardness and perdition. As children, when they play by the seashore, they will in sport step a little into the water, and presently a foot further, and so on, till the tide unexpectedly comes, and sweeps them away beyond all possibility of return. As long as an obdurate sinner goes on resisting the Spirit, even the angels of heaven cry to God, How long, O Lord, holy and just! Where is the glory of thy holiness, and thy zeal for thy justice, that thou dost thus suffer so provoking, and yet so contemptible a creature to make a progress in his rebellion, to abuse thy grace, and to affront thy Spirit? Now the righteous God is here even engaged to withdraw his Spirit, and to vindicate the honour of his mercy by the exercise of his justice.

4. God withdraws his Spirit upon resistance, because this naturally raises in the hearts of men an esteem and valuation of the Spirit’s workings: and the reason of this is, because in so doing, men apparently see that God himself puts an esteem and value upon them, otherwise why should he so severely bereave men of them upon their abuse? Were it not a treasure, God would not be so choice of it. God shewed what a value he put upon his vineyard, by taking it from those husbandmen who had misemployed it.

The great God is not jealous for a trifle. God can continue worldly riches to men even when they abuse them; but if a spiritual talent be misimproved, it must be taken away. Now upon whatsoever God shews his esteem, it is natural for men, acting rationally, to place theirs.

Now the esteem that the departure of the Spirit begets upon their minds is twofold.

1. An esteem of fear. For this, like the rest of God’s judgments, is poena ad unum, terror ad omnes; a punishment indeed to one, but a terror to all. God in every punishment does not intend revenge so much as example. We read how the Spirit departed from Saul: and certainly God designed it not only for a judgment upon him, but also for a document of fear to others; otherwise, why do these things stand upon eternal record in scripture? Questionless the thought of this would put a stop to any sober sinner; it would give a restriction to his appetite: and if there be any thing that keeps the sinner from causing the Spirit to depart, it is the fear of his departure. Men are usually ruled and instructed by their fears. It is the height of spiritual prudence to draw caution from danger, to distil instruction from punishments. And from a serious consideration of the Spirit’s final departure from others, to secure it in its abode with ourselves.

2. The thought of this begets in the minds of the godly an esteem of love. When they shall know that God withdraws his Spirit from the unworthy abusers of it, and yet continues it to themselves notwithstanding all their unworthiness, if there be any but the least grain of pious ingenuity in them, they cannot but reflect upon this distinguishing love of God with melting returns of love and affection. For who is there, even amongst the most holy of men, but reflecting upon his own heart must of necessity confess, Is there not with me also an opposition to the Spirit, as well as in others? yet the Spirit has for ever departed from them, and still abides working and striving with me. Singularity puts a value and endearment upon mercy. Enjoyments that are peculiar are usually precious.

Application. You have heard that there is a set time, after which the Spirit, being resisted, will cease to strive, and depart: you have also heard how many ways it may be resisted; and withal, the several grounds and reasons why it will withdraw upon such resistance. And now, what can be more seasonable than to wrap up all in the apostle’s own exhortation, 1 Thess. v. 19, Quench not the Spirit. It is clear therefore that it may be quenched. And if so, it will be our prudence to avoid all those courses that may not only quench, but even cool it in its workings. Let every one be as careful and tender of grieving the Spirit, as he would be of grieving his only and his dearest friend. Believe it, it is this Spirit alone that is able to stand by and comfort you in all the disconsolate and dark passages of your lives. When he is gone, who shall resolve and clear up all the doubts of our misgiving and trembling consciences? who shall subdue all our corruptions? who shall bear up our desponding souls in the midst of afflictions? who shall ward off the force and fire of temptations? Our own deceiving hearts, an alluring world, a tempting Devil, and all the powers of sin and hell, will be let loose upon us: and, what is the greatest misery of all, being deprived of the Spirit, we shall have nothing to oppose them; no second to assist us. Be ready therefore to entertain it in all its motions; to cherish all its suggestions: whensoever it knocks at the door of your hearts, (as it often does,) stand prepared to open to it, and receive it with joy. When it speaks to you in the word, answer, as Samuel did, Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. When it seems to pull you from sin, and says, Do not that abominable thing which my soul hates; draw back your hands from the commission of it, and do it not for a world. When it enables you to relinquish and forsake some sins, never rest till you have forsaken them all. When it raises you to the performance of some good duties, still press forward to perfection: let every holy motion and desire be improved into an holy action: but if you should at any time chance to grieve or oppose him, (as we do all of us too, too frequently,) yet be sure that you persist not in it, but recover yourselves by a speedy and a serious humiliation. Mourn over your disobedience, pray fervently for an obedient heart. Assuredly you will hereafter find, that it is better thus to strive with God in prayer, than with the Spirit in his workings. Now as arguments to dissuade or deter you from this, and withal to persuade and excite you to the former, take these motives.

1st, Our resisting of the Spirit in his precepts and instructions will certainly bereave us of his comforts. Now the office of the Spirit consists in these two great works, to instruct and to comfort. The same Spirit that in John xvi. 7 is termed a Comforter, in the thirteenth verse is said to be a guide to lead into all truth. Where we must note, that his comforting work always presupposes and follows his work of instruction; yea, and it is dispensed to men as a reward for their obedience to that; nay, before this work pass upon the soul, it is not capable of the other. For the Spirit to pour in comfort to an impure heart, before it is qualified and cleansed, and as it were prepared, by its instructing, convincing work; it is as if a physician should administer cordials to a corrupt, foul body; they would do much more hurt than good, till the ill humours are purged and evacuated. He that will not be reformed cannot be comforted. God has inseparably joined these two together, and therefore it is presumption for any to hope to divide and put them asunder; as it is in Rom. xiv. 17, righteousness and joy in the Holy Ghost go linked together. Purity and spiritual joy are as closely united as sin and sorrow. It is in vain to catch at one and balk the other. He that will not obey the Spirit as his instructor shall never enjoy him as his comforter.

Now the reason that such as resist the Spirit cannot enjoy his comforts is, because this resistance is inconsistent with those ways by which the Spirit speaks comfort; and these are two.

1. The Spirit speaks comfortably, by giving a man to understand his interest in Christ, and consequently in the love of God. But it is impossible for him that resists the Spirit to be sure of any of these, inasmuch as he falls under those qualifications that render a man the proper object of God’s hatred, and totally estranged from Christ; 1 John iii. 6, Whosoever abideth in Christ sinneth not; and whosoever sinneth hath neither seen nor known him. I suppose it will be easily granted, that he who acts in a continual repugnancy to God’s Spirit, by a despisal of all his holy motions and suggestions, sins, and that at a very high strain; and upon this concession, this scripture will unavoidably conclude him so far unacquainted with Christ, as neither to have seen nor known him. And can we rationally imagine, that he who has neither seen nor known Christ can have any sure interest in him? He that is interested in Christ is his friend; John xv. 15, I call you not servants, but friends: but he that is not so much as an acquaintance cannot possibly be a friend. And for any interest in God’s love, he is totally excluded from that; Psalm xi. 5, The wicked his soul hateth. And such are all resisters of God’s Spirit, wicked in the highest, κατ᾽ ἐξοχὴν, and by way of eminence. Now how can the Spirit convey comfort to such persons? To whom if he reports the truth, as the Spirit of truth can do no otherwise, he must tell them that they are aliens to Christ, strangers to the covenant, enemies to God, haters of him, and therefore hated by him. Now if these can be arguments of comfort, then he that resists God’s Spirit may be comforted.

2. The second way by which the Spirit comforts a man, is by discovering to him that grace that is within him; that is, not only by clearing up God’s love to him, but also by making him see his love to God. The strength of this, as it is an argument of comfort, lies here. Because our love to God it is the proper effect, and therefore the infallible sign of God’s love to us, which is the great basis and foundation of all comfort. We therefore love because we were first beloved. But can the love of God abide in him who resists and does despite to his Spirit? Can any one at the same time fight like an enemy and love like a friend? The sinner cannot give any true evidence of his love to God, inasmuch as a continual, obstinate resistance of the Spirit is inconsistent with grace; and it implies a contradiction for any one to love God, and to oppose that Spirit, that is a Spirit of love.

And thus it is clear, that such as resist the Spirit’s strivings cannot share in his comforts. And how unconceivably sad and miserable it is to want them, none knows so much as those that have wanted them. If God should let loose all the sorest afflictions of this life upon you, and should awaken your consciences to accuse you, and withal possess your guilty, despairing souls with a lively sense of his wrath for sin, and fill you with the terrors of hell, so that you should even roar by reason of the disquietness of your hearts, as he had done to some, and particularly to David, you would then know what it is to have the Spirit as a comforter. However, when you come to look death in the face, and are upon your passage into eternity, and presently to appear before God in judgment, then you will prize the comforts of the Spirit. And if you ever hope to enjoy them at that disconsolate hour, beware how you resist his strivings now.

The second motive why we should comply with the Spirit is, because the resisting of it brings a man under hardness of heart and a reprobate sense. Now a man is then said to be under a reprobate sense, when he has lost all spiritual feeling; so that when heaven and the joys thereof are displayed before him, he is not at all affected with desire; when hell and wrath and eternal misery are held forth to him, he is not moved with terror.

Now resisting of the Spirit brings this hardness upon the heart two ways.

1. By way of natural causation. Hardness of heart is the proper issue and effect of this resistance. Every act of opposition to the Spirit disposes the soul to resist it further; as the reception of one degree of heat disposes the subject to receive the second, and the second the third, till it arrives to the highest. And the more frequent the Spirit’s workings have been, the heart grows more insensible and hard; as a path, by often being trod, is daily more and more hardened. Custom in sin produces boldness in sin; and we know boldness is for the most part grounded upon the insensibility of danger.

2. This resistance brings hardness of heart, by way of a judicial curse from God. It causes God to suspend his convincing and converting grace; whereupon the sinner is more and more established and confirmed in his sin. It is not to be questioned but the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart at the time of his destruction had in it something of punishment as well as sin; and was penally inflicted upon him as a judgment for his irrational hardness under God’s former judgments. I shall allege no more examples; this is sufficient to demonstrate how dreadful a thing it is to be punished with an hard heart. It is this alone, to say no more of it, that renders all the means of a man’s salvation utterly ineffectual.

The third motive is, because resisting of the Spirit puts a man in the very next disposition to the great and unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost. For this dreadful sin is only a greater kind of resistance of the Spirit. And all the foregoing acts of resistance are like so many degrees and steps leading to this. For since a man cannot presently and on the sudden arrive to the highest pitch of sin, there are required some previous antecedent dispositions to enlarge, and, as it were, make room in the heart for the admission of so great a sin as this. All former oppositions of the Spirit empty their malignity into this one, which virtually includes them all, as rivers empty themselves into the sea. It is confessed a man may frequently oppose the Spirit, and yet not commit this great sin; yet none ever committed this sin, but such as had before frequently resisted the Spirit. Some indeed make the sin against the Holy Ghost to be only a blasphemous rejection of the external objective testimony of the Spirit, that is, of his miracles, by which he attested the truth of the gospel, so as to ascribe them to the Devil. But as for a wilful, malicious opposing of the internal, efficient persuasion of the Spirit upon the heart, they doubt whether the nature of man is capable of such an act. Here, not to exclude the former from being the sin against the Holy Ghost, certain it is, that the general judgments of divines do agree in the latter. And Hebrews vi. 4, 5, 6, seems not obscurely to evince the same.

And thus you have seen that way marked out before you that leads to the sin against the Holy Ghost. Therefore it nearly concerns all resisters of the Spirit to bethink themselves whither they are going, and to beware that they do not slide into that that is unpardonable. It is wisdom timely to depart from your sins, before the Spirit finally departs from you. I hope there is none here that either has or ever shall commit this great sin; yet consider, which certainly is terror enough to a considering mind, that if you go on, and still proceed to resist the Spirit, it is possible that you may. And in things that concern the everlasting ruin of an immortal soul, miserum est posse si veils. It is a miserable and a dangerous thing to be able eternally to undo yourselves if you will. Wherefore I should now entreat and advise all, as they desire the comforts of the Spirit, as they tender the good of their precious, never-dying souls, as they wish for the unspeakable satisfaction of a peaceable conscience, as they hope to enjoy the refreshing sense of God’s love here, and to behold his face with joy hereafter, that they would forbear to resist the strivings of the Spirit; for if we still go on further and further, till we come to resist him so far, he will then seal and fit us for wrath and judgment in this world, and then actually deliver us up to it in the next.