20. Chapter 4. Consequences on our hearts of the effects of the Holy Spirit –
Chapter 4. Consequences on our hearts of the effects of the Holy Spirit –
Having discovered the way of our communion with the Holy Spirit, and examined the most noble and known effects that he produces, it remains to declare the general consequences of these effects in the hearts of believers. Now, as with the former, I will do little more than name them. It is not at all in my design to handle their natures, but only to show what regard they have to the business in hand:
1. Consolation is the first of these consequences: “The disciples walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the consolation of the Holy Spirit,” Acts 9:31, “Tei paraklesei tou Hagiou Pneumatos,” He is “ho parakletos” [NT:3875], the Comforter, and he gives “paraklesin”, [NT:3874] comfort. From his work towards us, and in us, we have comfort and consolation. This is the first general consequence of his dispensation and work. Whenever mention is made of comfort and consolation given to the saints in the Scripture, it is the consequence of the work of the Holy Spirit towards them. Comfort or consolation generally is setting and composing the soul in rest and contentedness in the midst of troubles.
It results when the consideration or presence of some good in which it is interested, outweighs the evil, trouble, or perplexity that it has to wrestle with. Where mention is made of comfort and consolation, it is in relation to trouble or perplexity. 2 Corinthians 1:5-6, “As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ.” Suffering and consolation are opposed.
Consolation is a relief against suffering. All the promises and expressions of comfort in the Old and New Testament are proposed as reliefs against trouble. As I said, consolation arises from the presence or consideration of a greater good, that outbalances the evil or perplexity with which we are to contend. Now, all the sources of our consolation lie in the effects or acts of the Holy Spirit mentioned before. There is no comfort apart from them, and there is no trouble from which we may not have comfort by them. The only thing required to give a man consolation in any condition, is the presence of a good to render the evil with which he is pressed inconsiderable to him. Suppose a man is under the greatest calamity that can possibly befall a child of God, or a junction of all those evils enumerated by Paul in Romans 8:35. Let this man have the Holy Spirit performing the works mentioned before, and despite all his evils, his consolations will abound. If he has a sense of the love of God all the while shed abroad in his heart, a clear witness within that he is a child of God and accepted by him, that he is sealed and marked as God’s own, that he is an heir of all the promises of God, and the like, then it is impossible for him not to triumph in all his tribulations. From this source of all our consolation come those descriptions we have in the Scripture of its properties and associations, such as, (1.) It is abiding. It is called “Everlasting consolation,” 2 Thessalonians 2:16, “God, even our Father, which has loved us, and given us everlasting consolation;” that is, comfort that does not vanish because it arises from everlasting things.
There may be some perishing comfort given for a short season by perishing things, but abiding consolation from the Holy Spirit comes from everlasting things: everlasting love, eternal redemption, and an everlasting inheritance.
(2.) It is strong. Hebrews 6:18, “That the heirs of the promise should receive strong consolation.” Just as strong opposition sometimes comes against us, and our trouble has strong bands, our consolation is strong. It abounds and it is unconquerable, “ischura paraklesis.” It is will make its way through all opposition. It confirms, corroborates, and strengthens the heart against any evil. It fortifies the soul, and makes it able cheerfully to undergo anything that it is called to. And that is because it comes from the one who is strong.
(3.) It is precious. The apostle makes this a motive for obedience, which he exhorts the Philippians to do in chap. 2:1, “If there is any consolation in Christ; if you set any esteem and value upon this precious mercy of consolation in Christ by those comforts, let it be so with you.” This is the first general consequence in the hearts of believers of those great effects of the Holy Spirit mentioned before. This is so large and comprehensive, comprising so many of our concerns in walking with God, that the Holy Spirit receives his name from the whole work he performs for us. Hence, he is the Comforter; just as Jesus Christ, from the work of redemption and salvation, is called the Redeemer and Savior of his church. Now, as we have no consolation apart from the Holy Spirit, all his effects certainly have this consequence of comfort in us, more or less. I dare say that whatever we have that does not bring consolation, at least in its root if not in its ripened fruit, is not of the Holy Spirit.
How comfort ensues from his works varies with particular cases. The fellowship we have with him consists, in no small part, in the consolation that we receive from him. This makes us value his love; it teaches us where to apply in our distress, whom to pray for and to, and whom to wait upon in our difficulties.
2. Peace is also a consequence of his work. Romans 15:13, “The God of hope fill you with all peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” The power of the Holy Spirit is not only extended to hope, but to our peace in believing. It is connected to the promises in John 14:26-27, “I will give you the Comforter.” And then what? What follows that grant?
“Peace,” he says. “I leave my peace with you; my peace I give to you.” Christ leaves or gives his peace by bestowing the comforter on them. The peace of Christ consists in the soul’s sense of its acceptance by God in friendship. Christ is said to be “our peace,” Ephesians 2:14, by slaying the enmity between God and us, and by taking away the handwriting that was against us. Romans 5:1, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” A comforting persuasion of our acceptance by God in Christ is the basis of this peace. It wraps together our deliverance from eternal wrath, hatred, curse, and condemnation, all sweetly affecting the soul and conscience. And this is a branch from the same root as consolation. It is a consequence of the effects of the Holy Spirit. Suppose there is a man chosen in the eternal love of the Father, redeemed by the blood of the Son, and justified freely by the grace of God. He has a right to all the promises of the gospel. Yet this person cannot by his own skill, or arguments of his own heart, or by considering the promises, or considering the love of God or the grace of Christ in them, be established in peace until it is produced in him as a fruit and consequence of the work of the Holy Spirit. “Peace” is a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22. The savor of the Spirit is “life and peace,” Romans 8:6. All we have comes from him and by him.
3. Joy is also numbered among the consequences. The Spirit is called “The oil of gladness,” Hebrews 1:9. His anointing brings gladness with it. Isaiah 61:3, He is “the oil of joy for mourning.” “The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit,” Romans 14:17. They “received the word with joy in the Holy Spirit,” 1 Thessalonians 1:6. As Peter tells believers, “you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,” 1 Peter 1:8. Giving joy to believers is eminently the work of the comforter. And he does this by the effects listed earlier. “Rejoicing in hope of the glory of God,” mentioned in Romans 5:2, carries the soul through any tribulation with glorying. It has its source in the Spirit’s “shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts,” verse 5. There are two ways by which the Spirit works this joy in the hearts of believers:
(1.) He does it directly, without any other acts or works of his, and without interposing any motivations, deductions, or conclusions on our part. As in sanctification, he is a well of water springing up in the soul, immediately exerting his efficacy and refreshment. In consolation, he immediately brings us to a joyful and spiritual frame, filling us with exultation and gladness. This is not the result of our reflexive consideration of the love of God, but because the Spirit gives occasion for it. When he sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts, and directly fills us with gladness (as he caused John Baptist to leap for joy in the womb), then the soul raises itself to consider the love of God, from which joy and rejoicing also flows. There is no reason given for this joy, except that the Spirit works it when and how he will. He secretly infuses and distills it in our soul, prevailing against all our fears and sorrows, filling us with gladness, exultation, and sometimes unspeakable raptures of mind.
(2.) He does it by intermediate means. By his other works, he gives us a sense of the love of God, and of our adoption and acceptance by him. The consideration of these things enables us to receive this joy. Consider his operations, the assurance he gives us of the love of God, the life, power, and security we have, the pledge of our eternal welfare, and it will be easily perceived that he lays a sufficient foundation for our joy and gladness. We are unable by any rational consideration, deduction, or conclusion that we can make from the things mentioned, to affect our hearts with the joy and gladness intended. Yet, it is no less the proper work of the Spirit to do it by those things, or to do it directly without them. This process of producing joy in the heart can be seen in Psalms 23:5-6. “You anoint my head with oil.” And from this flows the conclusion that exultation will result, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me.” This effect of the Comforter can be found throughout Isaiah 35.
4. Hope, also, is an effect of the work of the Holy Spirit in us and towards us, Romans 15:13. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. “
These, I say, are the general consequences of the effects of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of believers. If we consider all their offspring in exultation, assurance, boldness, confidence, expectation, glorying, and the like, it will become apparent how far our whole communion with God is influenced by them.