THE SEAL AND THE EARNEST
In these verses we have the Spirit of God presented to us in two distinct ways; namely, first, as the seal which God puts upon all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; and second, as the earnest of the inheritance which the sealed heirs shall possess ere long.
All true believers are sealed with the Holy Ghost. We must, of course, distinguish between quickened and sealed. The Holy Spirit quickens dead souls; He seals living believers; that is, He is Himself the seal. God does not seal sinners dead in trespasses and sins; He quickens them, leads them to repentance; and when through grace they believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—crucified, risen, and glorified at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens-then He seals them by giving the Holy Ghost to dwell in them. Thus He sets His blessed mark on them until the day of redemption.
It is very important to be clear as to the difference between quickening and sealing. Many persons find difficulty here, but Scripture is as plain as possible on the subject. Take for example the opening paragraph of Acts 19: "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost" -or rather, "We did not even hear if the Holy Ghost was come." "And he said unto them. Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied."
Here then we have with great clearness and force the distinction between quickening and sealing. Here were twelve men who evidently were disciples, and who had received a measure of truth, but not the full truth of accomplished redemption, of a risen and glorified Savior, and of the Holy Ghost as the witness of these grand and glorious facts.
We are not to suppose that these disciples had never heard of the existence of the Holy Ghost. In this our Authorized Version is manifestly defective. What they had not heard was whether the Holy Ghost had come down as the witness and solid proof of the exaltation and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist. whose disciples they were, knew and spoke of the Holy Spirit, so that they must have known of that divine Person; but he did not, could not know, and therefore could not speak of Him as the seal put upon all true believers.
And yet they were true disciples, really quickened souls, but not sealed. They were practically in the condition of the Old Testament believers, or of the disciples during our Lord's life on earth. There was this difference, that the Holy Ghost had come on the day of Pentecost, and had been working for years, not only in quickening but in sealing. Thousands of Jews at Jerusalem, many of the Samaritans, the household of Cornelius, had all received the Holy Ghost; and yet the twelve disciples at Ephesus had not even heard of His descent.
Hence then it is plain that persons may be quickened, but not sealed. What was true of those Ephesians, years after the day of Pentecost, may be equally true of souls now. How many of the Lord's beloved people throughout the wide field of Christian profession are in this condition! They do not know what it is to be linked by the indwelling Spirit to a risen and glorified Head in heaven. They are virtually under the law; they do not know the blessedness of settled peace with God; they enjoy not the liberty wherewith Christ makes His people free; they are in bondage, filled with doubts and fears. Through legality, bad teaching, or some other cause, they have been kept in ignorance of "the things which are freely given to us of God"; and thus they have been groping on in darkness and distance, instead of enjoying that blessed nearness to God which is the portion of all those who simply believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
However we shall not dwell further just now on the important and interesting distinction between quickening and sealing—the former being the work of the Spirit, the latter His personal indwelling-but shall, ere closing this very brief article, call the serious attention of the Christian reader to the weighty word of exhortation quoted above, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
This word assumes that the Christian knows himself to be a sealed one. All Christian exhortation is based on the fact of our being in the enjoyment of Christian position and privilege. We could not grieve the Holy. Spirit if He were not in us; but When We know what it is to have such a One as the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in us, making our body His temple, what a powerful motive to holy living! How careful we should be not to grieve Him. How we should watch against every thought, word, and act that would be offensive to the divine Guest who has taken up His abode in us! All lightness and frivolity, all unhallowed conversation, all evil speaking, all unkindness, moroseness and irritability, all selfish ways, all worldly mindedness, must be judged according to the standard of the Holy One by whom we are sealed unto the day of redemption. It is no longer a question of what is suitable or consistent for us, but for Him. This makes all the difference. Many a thing might be suitable for us which would be grievous to Him. Our constant inquiry should be, Will this thing grieve the Holy Spirit who dwells in me? If so, let us, by the grace of God, judge and reject it with holy decision.
May the Lord enable us to bend our earnest attention to His most precious word of exhortation, so that His holy name may be more fully glorified in our daily lives!
And now a very few words on the subject of "the earnest." This is a most precious aspect of the Spirit's office and work. He "is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." The inheritance is purchased; the price has been paid. But it is not yet redeemed; for this latter we wait; and while waiting, our God has most graciously given us the earnest of His Spirit, so that we are as sure of the inheritance as though we were already in possession of it. The earnest is a part of what we are to get. "Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ"—most precious words!—"and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." 2 Cor. 1:21, 2221Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:21‑22).
We must carefully distinguish between purchase and redemption. Many confound them •and thus suffer serious loss. Our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased the whole universe. He paid the redemption price for the inheritance; but He has not yet laid His mighty hand in redeeming power thereupon. Redemption by price is one thing; redemption by power, quite another.
In the year 1834, the British Legislature voted twenty millions of money to redeem the slaves in the Colonies. This was redemption by price. But then, notwithstanding the payment of this redemption price, some poor slaves might be found huddled together in a slave ship. What was needed in their case? Redemption by power, in virtue of the price. A British man-of-war might seize the slave ship and let go all the poor captives. This may in some feeble manner illustrate the difference between purchase and redemption.
In Romans 8 we have a splendid passage which we might quote for the reader. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.... For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
As regards the body of the believer, as in respect to the inheritance, the redemption price has been paid, but it is not yet redeemed; "We groan within ourselves." We sigh for the redemption. We wait for the moment of deliverance. "We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body [body of humiliation], that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body [His body of glory], according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." Phil. 3:20, 2120For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21).
Glorious prospect! How precious for the weary, suffering pilgrim who feels the burden of his poor crumbling tabernacle! The Lord is at hand. The voice of the archangel and the trump of God will soon be heard, and then mortality shall be swallowed up of life. Till then we are sealed with that blessed Spirit of God who is the earnest-not of His love which we possess, but—of the inheritance for which we wait.