The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-03-30

of heart which grieves the Holy Spirit of God.
And here let it be remembered, and through
out the inquiry, that we speak only of the
christian heart. For, as we have already
more than intimated, the unregenerate heart
can resist the strivings of the Spirit, and fight
against him, though in most unequal and in
sane conflict, but cannot, with any proprlety,
be said to griece him. If there be those be-
fore me who are professors without being pos
SCISSORS of the grace of God, nothing of what
we may say can apply directly to you. Nor do
we, in so saying, mean to be understood as con-
tradicting or even criticising, with regard to
things, those who may have represented, that
by continuing in sin and refusing to hear the
Spirit and the Bride saying come, the sinner is
grieving the Spirit. For this was true, as to
the thing meant, though it seems to us plain
that the language was not the most felicitous
or scriptural. Were we discussing, to-day, the
matter of resisting and insulting the Spirit,
that would bring the unconverted into as di-
rect range of our application, as we deem our
text to do christians, and christians only.
We shall now endeavor to point out some of
the aoays IN aohich the Holy Spirit Of God is
grieued.
L. By the indulgence of vaim thoughts
David said "I hate vain thoughts" "Out of
the heart" we learn, "proceed evil thoughts" :"
A loose, rowing habit of thought is contrary to
the watchfulness God requires of us. Our
thoughts move upon our feelings, desires and
appetites. Unless the reins of thought be held,
therefore, the spirit of evil will thrust into
minds vanity and doubt and various evil ad-
mixtures, leading US away into folly. He that
has the mind of the Spirit, has Gods special
help given him, whereby, if he will use it, his
own mind may be stayed on God, instead of
rowing, like the FOOLS eye, to the ends of the
earth. And Gods promise is, to keep in per-
feet peace those whose minds stayed on
him AS one of the foremost of the fruits of
the Spirit is peace, he who neglects to make
constant effort to fix and stay his mind on God,
is not only sighting the help the Spirit would
render him in such effort, but is admitting dis
turbance into the chambers of his soul which
cannot prove otherwise than grief to that
Holy Resident whom we have besought to come
and dwell in those chambers.
Spirit through ,dle ,oorzs. "Out of the abun-
dance of the heart the mouth speaketh." How
pure and earnest and guarded should be the
words of him in whose heart the Holy Spirit
of God is For the words of Holy Scripture,
in all their immaculate purity and life-giving
power, are the words of the Holy Spirit
" Holy men of God spake, as they were moved
h. HI, C,i IL
ample of pure speech, intensified by the picture
of the life and language of Jesus, and his ad-
monition that every idle word must be account
ed for in the Judgment, and that by our words
we shall be justified, and by our words we shall
be condemned; if we yet indulge in vain, fool
ish, useless speech, how great slight and
grievance must it be to the Holy Spirit. Re-
member those words" out of the abundance
of the heart" Do not our idle words declare
that there is abundant vanity in the heart
That instead of being "filled with the Spirit"
the foolish talker is rather filled with folly?
And yet not all filed, we would try to hope,
though the grieved and abused Spirit be driv-
en-, as it were, to some mere obscure corner of
our hearts for the time being. No, we must try
to indulge trust that he is not utterly grieved
away. But alas, how often do our words dis
honor our profession, and how careful should
we be to study the words Of the Spirit and to
pray for that Spirit, who was sent to bring the
words of Jesus to remembrance, that he would
keep fresh in our minds the great realities which
may cause such an abounding of holy thought
in souls, that when we speak, our words
may be seasoned with grace.
3. The Spirit is grieved by our indulgence
of evI tenpers: Consciousness itself may CO.
roborate this. For even our own better nature
feels a stain after the indulgence of passion.
We feel our own se.f-respect lowered, when we
have suffered anger, envy, or jealousy to stir
up our souls with excitement. After every
ebullition of such selfshness, we feel that we
have undergone deflement. "If our hearts
condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and
will condemn us also" The Holy Spirit dwells
in us to help us overcome lust, and passion, and
depraved appetite. And so surely as we faith
fully try to "put away all anger, wrath, malice"
ETC., relying upon the Spirits aid, to work in
to all lack of strength, so certain
y will we avoid those indulgences of selfish
temper Whenever, therefore, we find in our
selves that sense of defilement from conscious
wrong feeling, we may be sure that the Spirit
is grieved with us: It is idle and vain for the
christian to say, My impulses are too strong, and
[ am too weak, to think of keeping them all in
habitual subsection. No matter how great that
strength and that weakness respectively be,
God has said, "My grace is sufficient for thee
=" as thy day is, so shall thy strength be-
So no child of the Lord can, without grievous
fault, yield to his passions and feelings even
temporary sway. If the Holy Spiritbe sought,
instead of selfish qualification of desire, then
will "gentleness, meekness, long suffering and
appear in the life, as fruits of the
Spirit, adorning and beatifying the ransomed
and regenerate man.
4. After treating thus of the lesser matters
of thought, feeling and utterance, it seems al
most needless to assert the grievance there is
done to the Spirit by eet7 doing. 1t is