SCRIPTURE LESSON.

THE EARNEST OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” II Cor. 1-22.

“Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. Eph. 1, 13-14.

“Now he that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” II Cor. 5, 5.

Who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit.

The word earnest is borrowed from human affairs to explain the baptism with the Holy Spirit in our souls.

The word earnest was used by Romans and Greeks and even the Phoenicians, the founders of commerce.

The earnest was the sample of things sold by the seller to the purchaser. It was the assurance that the bargain was binding on both parties.

God, who knows our weakness and our need of security in prosperity and adversity, in ignorance and in knowledge, has taken all possible means to assure us of our personal and eternal salvation.

The earnest of the Spirit does for the heart that which an earnest or option does among men.

I. The earnest was the security for bargains and contracts. When a man bargained for a mine, he was given some of the ore, and that was security for the mine. When he purchased a forest of pine, he was given a piece of the pine, and that was the security for the forest. When a man bargained for his farm, he would get a basin of the soil from the buyer, and that basin of earth was a testimony that the whole farm was his.

So God comes to us in a kind of a business transaction, and says: “If you will believe my Son Jesus Christ and yield yourselves unto me as those alive from the dead you shall reign with me; you shall inherit all things; you shall sit down with me on my throne, and all I have shall be yours.”

Jesus says, “Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me shall be with me where I am, that they may behold the glory that I had with thee before the world was.” And then he gives us the Holy Spirit as the earnest or the pledge that we shall have our promised possession.

The earnest among men secures the farm, the whole farm, and the earnest of the Spirit secures our heavenly home — “The inheritance among the saints in light, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.”

II. The earnest is a part of the whole bargain. Paul says “that God has sealed us with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” That is, the Holy Spirit is the pledge of God, that we shall inherit the glories of the resurrection life.

The Spirit is come to dwell with us, and in us, and He is the pledge that the fullness of heaven is ours.

What that is we know not yet, only we know we shall be like Jesus, for we shall see Him as He is, and we shall be like Him. We must not be careless or indifferent about this deposit which God has given us, for it is a part of our heavenly estate.

III. The earnest is a very little of the whole amount. I speak with subdued voice and bated breath, for fear you will not understand me when I say the earnest is a very little of the whole amount. In business affairs we value the earnest or the option, not on account of it's own worth alone, but because it is a portion of the whole bargain. Five dollars may secure the bargain for a thousand dollars, and while we have the five dollars, it's value extends to the last dollar of the thousand. It may be little in quantity, but it is great in its assurance and security.

The Baptism of the Spirit is a great thing, but it is little compared to what is coming to us. If some of your dear ones that have entered into their heavenly inheritance should appear, we would fall down as dead men and women.

Sometimes when the work of the Spirit is clouded, the joy is small, the comforts are few, we forget what it means, and what God is working out in us; and we fail to appreciate this work of grace; but the value is above all price, for it is the divine pledge of our great bargain in Christ Jesus.

IV. The earnest implies identity in kind. If the earnest is paid in silver, the whole will be paid in silver; if the earnest is gold, the full amount is gold. If the earnest in our hearts is the image of Jesus, then the fullness of the Comforter is to make us like Jesus Christ yonder. In the Old Testament, God said to his people, “I am thy exceeding great reward” And John says “As he is so are we in this present world. It is enough for the servant to be as his Master.”

And so the same spirit that dwelt in Jesus has come to dwell in us, that he may make us more and more in the image of our Lord.

V. The earnest serves the party receiving it more than the party giving it. God gives the earnest of the Spirit not so much for himself as for us. He means to give us heaven, and if there was only one promise, and no earnest at all, and the promise was not bigger than a spider's web, the promise would not fail; the scripture cannot be broken, but we are so easily shaken, and distrustful, that he has multiplied his promises, and gives us the earnest of the Spirit to assure us of our final redemption.

VI. The earnest is a lien upon our future service and behavior. If the service is not rendered, if the consecration is withdrawn, the Spirit may be grieved. He has come to stay forever. “I will send you another Comforter, who will abide with you forever." But we may grieve the Holy Spirit whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption. You cannot grieve enemies, but friends, best friends, mothers, companions, and drive them away. He will never leave you unless you drive him away.

Some people think that the Holy Spirit has come to sit on a hair trigger, ready to leave at a moment’s notice, but Jesus says He has come to stay forever. Grieve not the Holy Spirit or you may forfeit the earnest and lose heaven at last.