SERMON XXXII.

THE DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH WE MAY QUENCH THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

EPHESIANS iv. 30.

Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.

THE church this day commemorates an event to which she owes her establishment, her stability and glory, and to which her members must ascribe all the holy graces and virtues which animate them.

The Holy Ghost, descending as at this time on the apostles, and releasing them from the gross prejudices which led them to regard the Jewish law as a system which was to last for ever, inspired them with a perfect and lively comprehension of that great mystery which was to be made known unto the Gentiles, "Christ, the wisdom and the power of God," "God manifest in the flesh," for the salvation of the whole world. Cloven tongues, as of fire, sitting upon them, were an emblem of the gift which then endued them with the power of speaking different languages, that thus they might carry the glad tidings of salvation into all the nations of the world; and the rushing mighty wind forcibly denoted those miraculous powers by which they commanded the operations of nature, and thus attested that God was with them. The Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of strength, which came upon them from on high, enabled them to plant

throughout the world the cross of their Saviour, triumphant over its learning, its power, and its persecution.

But not only these mighty and splendid gifts, by which the apostles ruled all nature, did the Divine Spirit confer, he this day descended on his church, to abide with it for ever, enlightening, renewing, strengthening, and consoling its members.

The doctrine of communion between the mind and the Divine Being who formed it, though fully made known only in the Gospel of Christ, is so agreeable to reason, that it has been admitted and cherished by the wise and good in all ages. Man feels so sensibly his dependence-so many circumstances perpetually remind him of his weakness— so many objects in the world around him act upon his senses, and call up, in resistless force, those passions that war against his reason and his conscience, that he is prompted to invoke the aid of that superior Power who made and who sustains him, and who, therefore, can have access to every faculty and feeling of his soul.

What unbiassed reason and nature seek, the Scriptures reveal. That Being whose spiritual and infinite essence is past finding out, and whom, therefore, we should adore as he has displayed himself to us, is revealed as subsisting in three co-equal and co-eternal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost-each divine, infinite, and eternal, and together incomprehensibly constituting one God. And in the stupendous and mysterious agency which each exerts in man's salvation, it is the Father who, being the infinite and eternal fountain of Deity, gave the Son to be incarnate for our redemption; it is the Son who, full of grace and truth, redeems us from

our bondage to sin, Satan, and death; and it is the Holy Ghost who sanctifies the powers and affections of our fallen nature, and thus renders us meet for the glory which Christ, the Son, hath gone before to prepare for us.

Various, powerful, and beneficent are the offices of the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost: -the quickening Spirit, that penetrates with conviction the hardened or secure conscience-the consoling Spirit, that applies the promises of divine mercy through a Saviour's merits-the enlightening Spirit, that sheds light on the darkened understanding-the directing and governing Spirit, that influences the determinations of our perverse wills— the renovating and sanctifying Spirit, that purifies our carnal affections; without him we can do nothing.

"I will pray the Father," said our blessed Lord, "and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth" "he shall guide you into all truth." "The Spirit of God dwelleth in you." "God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts." "According to his mercy, God saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." "God hath chosen us to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit." "It is the Spirit that helpeth our infirmities." "The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth.”

The sacred writings thus stating most prominently the doctrine of the existence and agency of the Holy Spirit, we need not wonder at the important station which this doctrine holds in our church. To be born of the Spirit, she lays down as the characteristic of all the true children of God. She

teaches us to pray that, by this Spirit, we may have a right understanding in all things; that, by his inspiration, we may think those things that are good, and, by his merciful guiding, may perform the same; that, by this same blessed inspiration, God would cleanse the thoughts of our hearts; that this same Spirit may, in all things, direct and rule our hearts; and that, by this Holy Spirit, we may daily be renewed. It is impossible sincerely to unite in the prayers of our church, and not believe or realize the agency of the Divine Spirit on the soul. Let us beware, brethren, of doubting or neglecting a doctrine thus prominently set forth as a cardinal doctrine of the plan of salvation through a divine Saviour and Sanctifier. The Scriptures assure us that the Holy Spirit dwelleth in us, the Author and Preserver of our spiritual life, and we should gratefully adore God's wonderful condescension and goodness in making us the temples of the Holy Ghost. We should cherish his gracious influences and his consoling suggestions, and yield to his enlightening and sanctifying energies. We should take heed that we do not despite to the Spirit of grace, lest, provoked by our obstinate rejection of the inestimable gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, God swear in his wrath that we shall not enter into his rest.

For it is a truth, which renders this doctrine of the agency of the Divine Spirit in all respects sober and rational, and clears it from the charge of being enthusiastic, that his operations entirely accord with. the movements of our own minds-are not to be distinguished from them--and may be resisted. When we check evil thoughts, when we resist evil purposes, when we subdue sinful passions-and on

the contrary, when we think a good thought, when we resolve to do what is right, when all our affections are in pious and virtuous exercise, we are not conscious of any agency within us, but that of our understandings, our wills, and our affections, and are also conscious of our perfect control over them. It is on the faith of revelation solely that we ascribe the quickening, predominating, and controlling influence in all our good thoughts, resolutions, and feelings, to the incomprehensible but powerful energy of the Spirit of God.

The various offices which the Holy Spirit sustains towards us, impose on us corresponding duties, by the neglect of which we resist and grieve him. The remainder of this discourse, then, will be usefully employed in considering in what way we may incur the guilt of resisting and grieving the Spirit of God, and the enormity and danger of this conduct.

It is the office of the Holy Spirit to enlighten, to sanctify, and to console. In each of these respects we may incur the guilt of rejecting and grieving him.

1. We may grieve him, by obstinately resisting his illuminations, or by our inattention to them.

"No man," says our blessed Lord, "knoweth the things of God, save the Spirit of God." It is the office of the Holy Spirit to conduct all the divine dispensations to the world, to declare the counsels and to unfold the revelations of God's will. It is his primary office, as the Saviour promised, to lead Christians into the knowledge of divine truth, to open their understandings, to comprehend the hidden things of God's law, and by