Owen, Of Communion With God, File 19
(... continued from File 18)
Part 3. Of Communion with the Holy Ghost.
Chapter 1. The foundation of our communion with the Holy ghost
(John 16: 1-7) opened at large - "Parakletos", a
Comforter; who he is - The Holy Ghost; his own will
in his coming to us; sent also by Christ - The
Spirit sent as a sanctifier and as a comforter -
The adjuncts of his mission considered - The
foundation of his mission, John 15: 26 - His
procession from the Father twofold; as to
personality, or to office - Things considerable in
his procession as to office the manner of his
collation - He is given freely; sent authoritative-
ly - The sin against the Holy ghost, whence
unpardonable - How we ask the Spirit of the Father
- To grieve the Spirit, what - Poured out - How the
Holy Ghost is received; by faith - Faith's acting
in receiving the Holy Ghost - His abode with us,
how declared - How we may lose our comfort whilst
the Comforter abides with us.
The foundation of all our communion with the Holy Ghost
consisting in his mission, or sending to be our comforter, by
Jesus Christ, the whole matter of that economy or dispensation
is firstly to be proposed and considered, that so we may have
a right understanding of the truth inquired after. Now, the
main promise hereof, and the chief considerations of it, with
the good received and evil prevented thereby, being given and
declared in the beginning of the 16th chapter of John, I shall
take a view of the state of it as there proposed.
Our blessed Saviour being to leave the world, having
acquainted his disciples, among other things, what
entertainment in general they were like to find in it and meet
withal, gives the reason why he now gave them the doleful
tidings of it, considering how sad and dispirited they were
upon the mention of his departure from them. Verse 1, "These
things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be
offended." - "I have," saith he, "given you an acquaintance
with these things (that is, the things which will come upon
you, which you are to suffer) beforehand, lest you who, poor
souls! have entertained expectations of another state of
affairs, should be surprised, so as to be offended at me and
my doctrine, and fall away from me. You are now forewarned,
and know what you have to look for. Yea," saith he, verse 2,
"having acquainted you in general that you shall be
persecuted, I tell you plainly that there shall be a
combination of all men against you, and all sorts of men will
put forth their power for your ruin." - "They shall cast you
out of the synagogues; yea, the time comes that whosoever
killeth you will think that he does God service." - "The
ecclesiastical power shall excommunicate you, - they shall put
you out of their synagogues: and that you may not expect
relief from the power of the magistrate against their
perversity, they will kill you: and that you may know that
they will do it to the purpose, without check or control, they
will think that in killing you they do God good service; which
will cause them to act rigorously, and to the utmost."
"But this is a shaking trial," might they reply: "is our
condition such, that men, in killing us, will think to approve
their consciences to God?" "Yea, they will," saith our
Saviour; "but yet, that you be not mistaken, nor trouble your
consciences about their confidences, know that their blind and
desperate ignorance is the cause of their fury and
persuasion," verse 3, "These things will they do unto you,
because they have not known the Father, nor me."
This, then, was to be the state with the disciples. But
why did our Saviour tell it them at this season, to add fear
and perplexities to their grief and sorrow? what advantage
should they obtain thereby? Saith their blessed Master, verse
4, "There are weighty reasons why I should tell you these
things; chiefly, that as you may be provided for them, so,
when they do befall you, you may be supported with the
consideration of my Deity and omniscience, who told you all
these things before they came to pass," verse 4, "But these
things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may
remember that I told you of them." "But if they be so
necessary, whence is it that thou hast not acquainted us with
it all this while? why not in the beginning, - at our first
calling?" "Even," saith our Saviour, "because there was no
need of any such thing; for whilst I was with you, you had
protection and direction at hand." - "'And these things I said
not at the beginning, because I was present with you:' but now
the state of things is altered; I must leave you," verse 4.
"And for your parts, so are you astonished with sorrow, that
you do not ask me 'whither I go;' the consideration whereof
would certainly relieve you, seeing I go to take possession of
my glory, and to carry on the work of Your salvation: but your
hearts are filled with sorrow and fears, and you do not so
much as inquire after relief," verses 5, 6. Whereupon he
adjoins that wonderful assertion, verse 7, "Nevertheless I
tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
This verse, then, being the peculiar foundation of what
shall afterward be declared, must particularly be considered,
as to the words of it and their interpretation; and that both
with respect to the preface of them and the asseveration in
them, with the reason annexed thereunto.
1. The preface to them: -
(1.) The first word, "alla", is an adversative, not
excepting to any thing of what himself had spoken before, but
to their apprehension: "I know you have sad thoughts of these
things; but yet, nevertheless."
(2.) "Ego ten aleteian lego humin", "I tell you the
truth." The words are exceedingly emphatical, and denote some
great thing to be ushered in by them. First, "Ego", - "I tell
it you, this that shall now be spoken; I who love you, who
take care of you, who am now about to lay down my life for
you; they are my dying words, that you may believe me; I who
am truth itself, I tell you." And, -
"Ego ten aleteian lego", - "I tell you the truth." "You
have in your sad, misgiving hearts many misapprehensions of
things. You think if I would abide with you, all these evils
might be prevented; but, alas! you know not what is good for
you, nor what is expedient. 'I tell you the truth;' this is
truth itself; and quiet your hearts in it." There is need of a
great deal of evidence of truth, to comfort their souls that
are dejected and disconsolate under an apprehension of the
absence of Christ from them, be the apprehension true or
false.
And this is the first part of the words of our Saviour,
the preface to what he was to deliver to them, by way of a
weighty, convincing asseveration, to disentangle thereby the
thoughts of his disciples from prejudice, and to prepare them
for the receiving of that great truth which he was to deliver.
2. The assertion itself follows: "Sumferei humin, hina ego
apelto", - It is expedient for you that I go away."
There are two things in the words: - Christ's departure;
and the usefulness of it to his disciples: -
For his departure, it is known what is intended by it; -
the withdrawing his bodily presence from the earth after his
resurrection, the "heaven being to receive him, until the
times of the restitution of all things," Acts 3: 21; for in
respect of his Deity, and the exercise of love and care
towards them, he promised to be with them to the end of the
world, Matt. 28: 20. Of this saith he, "Sumferei humin", - "It
conduceth to your good; it is profitable for you; it is for
your advantage; it will answer the end that you aim at." That
is the sense of the word which we have translated "expedient;"
- "It is for your profit and advantage." This, then, is that
which our Saviour asserts, and that with the earnestness
before mentioned, desiring to convince his sorrowful followers
of the truth of it, - namely, that his departure, which they
so much feared and were troubled to think of, would turn to
their profit and advantage.
3. Now, although it might be expected that they should
acquiesce in this asseveration of truth itself, yet because
they were generally concerned in the ground of the truth of
it, he acquaints them with that also; and, that we may confess
it to be a great matter, that gives certainty and evidence to
that proposition, he expresses it negatively and positively:
"If I go not away, he will not come; but if I depart, I will
send him." Concerning the going away of Christ I have spoken
before; of the Comforter, his coming and sending, I shall now
treat, as being the thing aimed at.
"Ho parakletos": the word being of sundry significations,
many translations have thought fit not to restrain it, but do
retain the original word "paracletus;" so the Syrian also:
and, as some think, it was a word before in use among the Jews
(whence the Chaldee paraphrase makes use of it, Job 16: 20);
and amongst them it signifies one that so taught others as to
delight them also in his teaching, - that is, to be their
comforter. In Scripture it has two eminent significations, -
an "advocate" and a "comforter;" in the first sense our
Saviour is called "parakletos", 1 John 2: 1. Whether it be
better rendered here an advocate or a comforter may be
doubted.
Look into the foregoing occasion of the words, which is
the disciples' sorrow and trouble, and it seems to require the
Comforter: "Sorrow has filled your hearts; but I will send you
the Comforter;" - look into the next words following, which
contain his peculiar work for which he is now promised to be
sent, and they require he should be an Advocate, to plead the
cause of Christ against the world, verse 8. I shall choose
rather to interpret the promise by the occasion of it, which
was the sorrow of his disciples, and to retain the name of the
Comforter.
Who this Comforter is, our blessed Saviour had before
declared, chap. 15: 26. He is "Pneuma tes aleteias", "the
Spirit of truth;" that is, the Holy Ghost, who revealeth all
truth to the sons of men. Now, of this Comforter two things
are affirmed: - (1.) That he shall come. (2.) That Christ
shall send him.
(1.) That he shall come. The affirmative of his coming on
the performance of that condition of it, of Christ going away,
is included in the negation of his coming without its
accomplishment: "If I go not away, he will not come;" - "If I
do go ("eleusetai"), he will come." So that there is not only
the mission of Christ, but the will of the Spirit, in his
coming: "He will come," this own will is in his work.
(2.) "Pempso auton", - "I will send him." The mystery of
his sending the Spirit, our Saviour instructs his disciples in
by degrees. Chap. 14: 16, he saith, "I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter;" in the progress of
his discourse he gets one step more upon their faith, verse
26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name;" but, chap. 15: 26, he saith, "I
will send him from the Father;" and here, absolutely, "I will
send him." The business of sending the Holy Ghost by Christ -
which argues his personal procession also from him, the Son
was a deep mystery, which at once they could not bear; and
therefore he thus instructs them in it by degrees.
This is the sum: - the presence of the Holy Ghost with
believers as a comforter, sent by Christ for those ends and
purposes for which he is promised, is better and more
profitable for believers than any corporeal presence of Christ
can be, now he has fulfilled the one sacrifice for sin which
he was to offer.
Now, the Holy Spirit is promised under a twofold
consideration: - [1.] As a Spirit of sanctification to the
elect, to convert them and make them believers. [2.] As a
Spirit of consolation to believers, to give them the
privileges of the death and purchase of Christ: it is in the
latter sense only wherein he is here spoken of. Now, as to his
presence with us in this regard, and the end and purposes for
which he is sent, for what is aimed at, observe, - 1st. The
rise and fountain of it; 2dly. The manner of his being given;
3dly. Our manner of receiving him; 4thly. His abiding with us;
5thly. His acting in us; 6thly. What are the effects of his
working in us: and then how we hold communion with him will
from all these appear.
What the Scripture speaketh to these particulars, shall
briefly be considered: -
1st. For the fountain of his coming, it is mentioned, John
15: 26, "Para tou Patros ekporeuetai", "He proceedeth from the
Father;" this is the fountain of this dispensation, he
proceedeth from the Father. Now there is a twofold
"ekporeusis", or "procession" of the Spirit: -
(1st.) "Fusike", or "hupostatike", in respect of substance
and personality.
(2dly.) "Oikonomike", or dispensatory, in respect of the
work of grace.
Of the first - in which respect he is the Spirit of the
Father and the Son, proceeding from both eternally, so
receiving his substance and personality - I speak not: it is a
business of another nature than that I have now in hand.
Therein, indeed, lies the first and most remote foundation of
all our distinct communion with him and our worship of him;
but because abiding in the naked consideration hereof, we can
make no other progress than the bare acquiescence of faith in
the mystery revealed, with the performance of that which is
due to the person solely on the account of his participation
of the essence, I shall not at present dwell upon it.
His "ekporeusis" or proceeding, mentioned in the place
insisted on, is his economical or dispensatory proceeding, for
the carrying on of the work of grace. It is spoken of him in
reference to his being sent by Christ after his ascension: "I
will send him which proceedeth," - namely, "then when I send
him." As God is said to "come out of his place," Isa. 26: 21,
not in regard of any mutation in him, but of the new work
which he would effect; so it follows, the Lord comes out of
his place "to punish the inhabitants of the earth." And it is
in reference to a peculiar work that he is said to proceed, -
namely, to testify of Christ: which cannot be assigned to him
in respect of his eternal procession, but of his actual
dispensation; as it is said of Christ, "He came forth from
God." The single mention of the Father in this place, and not
of the Son, belongs to the gradation before mentioned, whereby
our Saviour discovers this mystery to his disciples. He speaks
as much concerning himself, John 16: 7. And this relation ad
extra (as they call it) of the Spirit unto the Father and the
Son, in respect of operation, proves his relation ad intra, in
respect of personal procession; whereof I spake before.
Three things are considerable in the foundation of this
dispensation, in reference to our communion with the Holy
Ghost: -
[1st.] That the will of the Spirit is in the work:
"Ekporeuetai", - "He comes forth himself". Frequent mention is
made (as we shall see afterward) of his being sent, his being
given, and poured out; [but] that it might not be thus
apprehended, either that this Spirit were altogether an
inferior, created spirit, a mere servant, as some have
blasphemed, nor yet merely and principally, as to his
personality, the virtue of God, as some have fancied, he has
"idiomata hupostatika", personal properties, applied to him in
this work, arguing his personality and liberty. "Ekporeuetai",
- "He, of himself and of his own accord, proceedeth."
[2dly.] The condescension of the Holy Ghost in this order
of working, this dispensation, to proceed from the Father and
the Son, as to this work; to take upon him this work of a
Comforter, as the Son did the work of a Redeemer: of which
afterward.
[3dly.] The fountain of the whole is discovered to be the
Father, that we may know his works in the pursuit of electing
love, which everywhere is ascribed to the Father. This is the
order here intimated: - First, there is the "protesis" of the
Father, or the purpose of his love, the fountain of all; then
the "erotesis", the asking of the Son, John 14: 16, which
takes in his merit and purchase; whereunto follows
"ekporeusis", or willing proceeding of the Holy Ghost. And
this gives testimony, also, to the foundation of this whole
discourse, - namely, our peculiar communion with the Father in
love, the Son in grace, and the Holy Ghost in consolation.
This is the door and entrance of that fellowship of the Holy
Ghost whereunto we are called. His gracious and blessed will,
his infinite and ineffable condescension, being eyed by faith
as the foundation of all those effects which he works in us,
and privileges whereof by him we are made partakers, our souls
are peculiarly conversant with him, and their desires,
affections, and thankfulness, terminated on him: of which more
afterward. This is the first thing considerable in our
communion with the Holy Ghost.
2dly. The manner of his collation or bestowing, or the
manner of his communication unto us from this fountain, is
herein also considerable; and it is variously expressed, to
denote three things: -
(1st.) The freeness of it: thus he is said to be GIVEN,
John 14: 16; "He shall give you another comforter." I need not
multiply places to this purpose. The most frequent adjunct of
the communication of the Spirit is this, that he is given and
received as of gift: "He will give his Holy Spirit to them
that ask him." That which is of gift is free. The Spirit of
grace is given of grace: and not only the Spirit of
sanctification, or the Spirit to sanctify and convert us, is a
gift of free grace, but in the sense whereof we speak, in
respect of consolation, he is of gift also; he is promised to
be given unto believers. Hence the Spirit is said to be
received by the gospel, not by the law, Gal. 3: 2; that is, of
mere grace, and not of our own procuring. And all his workings
are called "charismata", - "free donations." He is free]y
bestowed, and freely works; and the different measures wherein
he is received, for those ends and purposes of consolation
which we shall consider, by believers, which are great,
various, and inexpressible, arise from hence, that we have him
by donation, or free gift. And this is the tenure whereby we
hold and enjoy him, a tenure of free donation. So is he to be
eyed, so to be asked, so to be received. And this, also, faith
takes in and closes withal, in our communion with the
Comforter: - the conjunction and accord of his will with the
gift of Father and Son; the one respecting the distinct
operation of the Deity in the person of the Holy Ghost; the
other, the economy of the whole Trinity in the work of our
salvation by Jesus Christ. Here the soul rejoiceth itself in
the Comforter, - that he is willing to come to him, that he is
willing to be given him. And seeing all is will and gift,
grace is magnified on this account.
(2dly.) The authority of it. Thence he is said to be SENT.
chap. 14: 26, "The Father will send him in my name;" and,
chap. 15: 26, "I will send him unto you from the Father;" and,
"Him will I send unto you," chap. 16: 7. This mission of the
Holy Ghost by the Father and the Son, as it answers the order
of the persons' subsistence in the blessed Trinity, and his
procession from them both, so the order voluntarily engaged in
by them for the accomplishment, as was said, of the work of
our salvation. There is in it, in a most special manner, the
condescension of the Holy Ghost, in his love to us, to the
authoritative delegation of Father and Son in this business;
which argues not a disparity, dissimilitude, or inequality of
essence, but of once, in this work. It is the office of the
Holy Ghost to be an advocate for us, and a comforter to us; in
which respect, not absolute]y, he is thus sent authoritatively
by Father and Son. It is a known maxim, that "inaequalitas
officii non tollit aequalitatem naturae." This subjection (if
I may so call it), or inequality in respect of office, does no
ways prejudice the equality of nature which he has with Father
and Son; no more than the mission of the Son by the Father
does his. And on this authoritative mission of the Spirit does
the right apprehension of many mysteries in the gospel, and
the ordering of our hearts in communion with him, depend.
[1st.] Hence is the sin against the Holy Ghost (what it is
I do not now dispute) unpardonable, and has that adjunct of
rebellion put upon it that no other sin has, - namely, because
he comes not, he acts not, in his own name only, though in his
own also, but in the name and authority of the Father and Son,
from and by whom he is sent; and therefore, to sin against him
is to sin against all the authority of God, all the love of
the Trinity, and the utmost condescension of each person to
the work of our salvation. It is, I say, from the
authoritative mission of the Spirit that the sin against him
is peculiarly unpardonable; - it is a sin against the
recapitulation of the love of the Father, Son, and Spirit. And
from this consideration, were that our present business, might
the true nature of the sin against the Holy Ghost be
investigated. Certainly it must consist in the contempt of
some operation of his, as acting in the name and authority of
the whole Trinity, and that in their ineffable condescension
to the work of grace. But this is of another consideration.
[2dly.] On this account we are to pray the Father and the
Son to give the Spirit to us. Luke 11: 13, "Your heavenly
Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Now
the Holy Ghost, being God, is no less to be invocated, prayed
to, and called on, than the Father and Son; as elsewhere I
have proved. How, then, do we ask the Father for him, as we do
in all our supplications, seeing that we also pray that he
himself would come to us, visit us, and abide with us? In our
prayers that are directed to himself, we consider him as
essentially God over all, blessed for evermore; we pray for
him from the Father and Son, as under this mission and
delegation from them. And, indeed, God having most plentifully
revealed himself in the order of this dispensation to us, we
are (as Christians generally do) in our communion to abound in
answerable addresses; that is, not only to the person of the
Holy Ghost himself, but properly to the Father and Son for
him, which refers to this dispensation.
[3dly.] Hence is that great weight, in particular, laid
upon our not grieving the Spirit, Eph. 4: 30, - because he
comes to us in the name, with the love, and upon the
condescension, of the whole blessed Trinity. To do that which
might grieve him so sent, on such an account, for that end and
purpose which shall afterward be mentioned, is a great
aggravation of sin. He expects cheerful entertainment with us,
and may do so justly, upon his own account, and the account of
the work which he comes about; but when this also is added,
that he is sent of the Father and the Son, commissioned with
their love and grace, to communicate them to their souls, -
this is that which is, or ought to be, of unspeakable esteem
with believers. And this is that second thing expressed in the
manner of his communication, - he is sent by authority.
(3dly.) He is said to be poured out or SHED on us, Tit. 3:
6, "Hou ekseche-en ef' hemas plousios", that Holy Ghost which
he has richly poured out upon us, or shed on us abundantly.
And this was the chief expression of his communication under
the Old Testament; the mystery of the Father and the Son, and
the matter of commission and delegation being then not so
clearly discovered. Isa. 32: 15, "Until the Spirit be poured
upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field be counted for a forest;" that is, till
the Gentiles be called, and the Jews rejected. And chap. 44:
3, "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon
thine offspring." That eminent place of Zech. 12: 10 is always
in our thoughts. Now, this expression, as is known, is taken
from the allusion of the Spirit unto water; and that in
relation to all the uses of water, both natural and typical. A
particular relation of them I cannot now insist on; perhaps
efficacy and plenty are chiefly intended.
Now, this threefold expression, of giving, sending, and
pouring out, of the Spirit, gives us the three great
properties of the covenant of grace: - First, That it is free;
he is given. Secondly, That it is orderly, ordered in all
things, and sure, from the love of the Father, by the
procurement of the Son; and thence is that variety of
expression, of the Father's sending him, and the Son's sending
him from the Father, he being the gift of the Father's love,
and purchase of the blood of the Son. Thirdly. The efficacy of
it, as was last observed. And this is the second thing
considerable.
3dly. The third, which is our receiving him, I shall speak
more briefly of. That which I first proposed of the Spirit,
considered as a Spirit of sanctification and a Spirit of
consolation, is here to be minded. Our receiving of him as a
Spirit of sanctification is a mere passive reception, as a
vessel receives water. He comes as the wind on Ezekiel's dead
bones, and makes them live; he comes into dead hearts, and
quickens them, by an act of his almighty power: but now, as he
is the Spirit of consolation, it is otherwise. In this sense
our Saviour tells us that the "world cannot receive him," John
14: 17, "The world receiveth him not, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you." That it is the Spirit of
consolation, or the Spirit for consolation, that here is
promised, is evident from the close of the verse, where he is
said then to be in them when he is promised to them. He was in
them as a Spirit of quickening and sanctification when
promised to them as a Spirit of comfort and consolation, to
abide with them for that purpose. Now, the power that is here
denied to be in the world, with the reason of it, that they
cannot receive the Spirit, because they know him not, is
ascribed to believers; - they can receive him, because they
know him. So that there is an active power to be put forth in
his reception for consolation, though not in his reception for
regeneration and sanctification. And this is the power of
faith. So Gal. 3: 2, they received the Spirit by the hearing
of faith; - the preaching of the gospel, begetting faith in
them, enabled them to receive the Spirit. Hence, believing is
put as the qualification of all our receiving the Holy Ghost.
John 7: 39, "This he spake of the Spirit, which they that
believe on him should receive." It is believers that thus
receive the Spirit; and they receive him by faith. Now, there
are three special acts of faith, whereby it goes forth in the
receiving of the Spirit. I shall but name them: -
(1st.) It considers the Spirit, in the economy before
described, as promised. It is faith alone that makes profit of
the benefit of the promises, Heb. 4: 2. Now he is called the
Spirit of that promise, Eph. 1: 13, - the Spirit that in the
covenant is promised; and we receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith, Gal. 3: 14: so that the receiving of the Spirit
through faith, is the receiving of him as promised. Faith eyes
the promise of God and of Jesus Christ, of sending the Spirit
for all those ends that he is desired; thus it depends, waits,
mixing the promise with itself, until it receive him.
(2dly.) By prayer. He is given as a Spirit of
supplication, that we may ask him as a Spirit of consolation,
Luke 11: 13; and, indeed, this asking of the Spirit of God, in
the name of Christ, either directly or immediate]y, or under
the name of some fruit and effect; of him, is the chiefest
work of faith in this world.
(3dly.) It cherisheth him, by attending to his motions,
improving his acting according to his mind and will; which is
all I shall say to this third thing, or our receiving of the
Spirit, which is sent of Jesus Christ. We do it by faith,
looking on him as purchased by Jesus Christ, and promised of
the Father; we seek him at the hands of God, and do receive
him.
4thly. The next considerable thing is, his abode with us.
Now this is two ways expressed in the Scripture: -
(1st.) In general. As to the thing itself, it is said he
shall abide with us.
(2dly.) In particular. As to the manner of its abiding, it
is by inhabitation or indwelling. Of the inhabitation of the
Spirit I have spoken fully elsewhere, nor shall I now insist
on it. Only whereas the Spirit, as has been observed, is
considered as a Spirit of sanctification, or a Spirit of
consolation, he is said to dwell in us chiefly, or perhaps
solely, as he is a Spirit of sanctification: which is evident
from the work he does, as indwelling, - he quickeneth and
sanctifieth, Rom. 8: 11; and the manner of his indwelling, -
as in a temple, which he makes holy thereby, 1 Cor. 6: 19; and
his permanency in his so doing, - which, as is evident,
relates to sanctification only: but yet the general notion of
it in abiding is ascribed to him as a comforter, John 14: 16,
"He shall abide with you for ever." Now, all the difficulty of
this promise lies in this, that whereas the Spirit of
sanctification dwells in us always, and it is therefore
impossible that we should lose utterly our holiness, whence is
it that, if the Comforter abide with us for ever, we may yet
utterly lose our comfort? A little to clear this in our
passage: -
[1st.] He is promised to abide with the disciples for
ever, in opposition to the abode of Christ. Christ, in the
flesh, had been with them for a little while, and now was
leaving them, and going to his Father. He had been the
comforter immediately himself for a season, but is now upon
his departing; wherefore, promising them another comforter,
they might fear that he would even but visit them for a little
season also, and then their condition would be worse than
ever. Nay, but saith our Saviour, "Fear it not: this is the
last dispensation; there is to be no alteration. When I am
gone, the Comforter is to do all the remaining work: there is
not another to be looked for, and I promise you him; nor shall
he depart from you, but always abide with you."
[2dly.] The Comforter may always abide with us, though not
always comfort us; he who is the Comforter may abide, though
he do not always that work. For other ends and purposes he is
always with us; as to sanctify and make us holy. So was the
case with David, Ps. 51: 11, 12, "Take not thy Holy Spirit
from me." The Holy Spirit of sanctification was still with
David; but saith he, "Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation;" that is, the Spirit of consolation, that was lost,
when the promise was made good in the abode of the other.
[3dly.] The Comforter may abide as a comforter, when he
does not actually comfort the soul. In truth, as to the
essence of holiness, he cannot dwell in us but withal he must
make us holy; for the temple of God is holy; - but as to his
comforting, his acting therein are all of his sovereign will;
so that he may abide, and yet not actually comfort us.
[4thly.] The Spirit often works for it, and tenders
consolation to us, when we do not receive it; the well is
nigh, and we see it not, - we refuse to be comforted. I told
you that the Spirit as a sanctifier comes with power, to
conquer an unbelieving heart; the Spirit as a comforter comes
with sweetness, to be received in a believing heart. He
speaks, and we believe not that it is his voice; he tenders
the things of consolation, and we receive them not. "My sore
ran," saith David, "and my soul refused to be comforted."
[5thly.] I deny that ever the Holy Spirit does absolutely
and universally leave a believing soul without consolation. A
man may be darkened, clouded, refuse comfort, - actually find
none, feel none; but radically he has a foundation of
consolation, which in due time will be drawn forth: and
therefore, when God promises that he will heal sinners, and
restore comfort to them, as Isa. 57: 18, it is not that they
were without any, but that they had not so much as they
needed, that that promise is made. To insist on the several
ways whereby men refuse comfort, and come short of the strong
consolation which God is willing that we should receive, is
not my purpose at present. Thus, then, the Spirit being sent
and given, abideth with the souls of believers, - leaves them
not, though he variously manifest himself in his operations:
of which in the next place.
Owen, Of Communion With God
(continued in File 20...)
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