And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God
Not a believer's own spirit, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, which
is grieved by sin; nor the spirit of a good man, that hears our
words and sees our actions, and is displeased and troubled at
them; but the third person in the Trinity: and this is said of
him by an anthropopathy, and supposes something done that is
offensive to him; and he may be grieved, not only by unconverted
persons, by their stubborn resistance and opposition to the
Gospel and means of grace, and by their contempt of his person,
office, and grace, but by believers themselves, and who are here
spoken to; and which may be done both by their words, lying,
angry, and corrupt ones, before cautioned against, ( Ephesians
4:25 Ephesians
4:26 Ephesians
4:29 ) and by their actions, their behaviour towards God,
their conversation in the world, and by their carriage to one
another, which is suggested in the following verse: also he may
be grieved by their thoughts, their vain and sinful thoughts, and
that they are no better employed; and especially when they
entertain any undervaluing ones of Jesus Christ, whose glorifier
he is; and by the unbelief of their hearts, and by their
unmindfulness of the things of the Spirit; and when they
disregard the rules, dictates, and advice of the Spirit, and make
no use of him: and his being grieved appears by his departure
from them; which is to be perceived by the darkness of their
souls, the prevailings of corruption, the weakness of grace, and
their backwardness to duty: and now there are many reasons why he
should not be grieved; as because he is God, and the author of
the new birth, the implanter and applier of all grace, and the
finisher of it; because he is the saints' comforter, their
advocate, helper, and strengthener; and their constant companion,
who dwells in them, and will remain in them, until death: and it
follows,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption;
of the sealing work of the Spirit, (See Gill on
Ephesians 1:13). By "the day of redemption" may be meant,
either the day of death, when the saints have a deliverance from
the incumbrance of the body; from their present state of exile
and banishment; from the body of sin and death; from all sorrows
and afflictions; from the reproaches and persecutions of men;
from the temptations of Satan; from doubts, fears, and unbelief;
and from all fear of death, corporeal, spiritual, and eternal: or
the day of the resurrection, when the body will be redeemed from
mortality, corruption, weakness, and dishonour; when it will be
refined and spiritualized, so that it will not stand in need of
natural sustenance; will be endowed with great agility, like that
of spirits; and will be subject to the soul, or spirit, and will
be suited to spiritual objects; to which may be added, the day of
judgment, ( Luke 21:28 ) when Christ
shall appear in glory, and his saints with him, and he will put
them, soul and body, into the possession of everlasting
happiness; which will consist in the vision of Christ, in
conformity to him, and in that happy company and conversation
that will then be enjoyed, and that delightful employment they
will be taken up in: and now the saints being sealed up by the
Spirit unto this time, shows the perpetual indwelling of the
Spirit in them; and that it will continue even after death, who
will give them confidence at the day of judgment; and that it is
the Spirit which works up the saints, and makes them meet for
glory; and gives them the assurance of it, and therefore they
should not be grieved.
