Hypocrites in extremity fly to desperate courses, as Saul and Ahithophel did ; but in extremity the soul that is stablished goes to God. ' My God, my God,' saith Christ, Mark xv. 34 ; so Job, ' Though he kill me, yet will I trust in him,' Job xiii. 15. I say, it is an evidence of a soul stab- lished upon Clmst by the Spirit of God, to have ' boldness to the throne of grace,' Eph. iii. 12, in extremity ; nay, when God seems to hide him- self, which is the principal extremity of all, as in divine temptations, when God seems to be an enemy. Then for a man to fight and wrestle with God, and tug with the temptation, and not to let God go, though he kill
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him, this is a true Israel, a conqueror of God ; this is a heart fortilietl by the Spirit.
Jt is an artfunu'nt of a lieart established, when, ])esides for the present, for the time to come, he can cheerfully and boldly think how it will be with him when death shall come, that he shall f^o to Cbrist, that the match shall be fully made up that is be^un by (lod between Christ and him (for the contract is in this world, but the nuptials arc celebrated in heaven), and in conhdencc hereof can say, ' Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,' llev. xxii. 20.
A heart that is not stablished saith. Oh ! come not. ' Wherefore art thou come to torment us before our time'?' Mat. viii. 29, say the devils to Christ ; so an unstablished heart, at the hour of death, is afraid it shall be tormented before the time : and therefore Come not, come not, saith such a soul. But the soul that is stablished upon Christ, and upon the Ijromises in Christ of forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting by the Spirit of Christ, that saith, ' Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.'
I have been larger upon this point than I intended. These unsettled times moved me to speak a little more than ordinary, that we might labour to have our hearts stablished, that whatsoever comes, we may have some- what that is certain to stick to ; that our estate in Christ may be sure, whatsoever becomes of our state in the world otherwise.
VERSE 22.
* Who hath anointed us, and also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.' The apostle having formerly laid open the riches of a Christian, in this verse he cometh to shew his strength. His riches con- sisteth in the promises of God in Christ ; his strength, in being stablished upon those promises. No\v that which he had spoken of more generally in the word ' stablishing,' he unfolds in three borrowed terms, ' anointing,' * seahng,' ' earnest,' implying therein the manner of the Spirit's establish- ing a Christian. ' He who stablisheth us,' how is that wrought? By the Spirit ' anointing,' by the Spirit ' sealing,' and by ' the earnest of the Spirit ;' which three terms do all argue assurance. For you know, that in the old law, kings, priests, and prophets were anointed, that is, they ■were authorised and confirmed in their places. And for sealing, writings among ourselves are ' sealed ' for security. And an ' earnest ' secures con- tracts and bargains. So that whatsoever may serve to strengthen a Chris- tian's faith and assurance, is here laid down. God, to help our souls by our senses, fetcheth it from human aflairs, applying words borrowed from earthly commerce, by a heavenly anagogical* sense to spiritual things.
First, the sure estate of a Christian is set down in the general, by ' stab- hshing ;' and then in particular, we are ' anointed and sealed,' and have ' the earnest of the Spirit.'
God, in the covenant of grace, doth our part and his own too. He givea faith, and strengthens faith, and seals us. He gives us promises, he doth stablish us upon those promises, and works our hearts to an embracing of them. He anoints us, and seals us, and gives us ' the earnest of the Spirit.' All in the covenant of grace depends upon the faithfulness of God ; and not upon ours, but upon ours dependently, as he is faithful in stablishing us. Now, because the holy apostle would have us settled in the excellency of * That is, ' ascendinfr.' — G.
2 COEINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 22, 443
the state of a Christian in the covenant of gi-ace, you see how large-hearted he is. He useth four words implying one and the same thing, ' stablish- ing,' ' anointing,' ' seahng,' and giving 'earnest;' all of them words used in ratification amongst men.
God is pleased to stoop to speak to us in our own language ; to speak of heavenly things after an earthly manner ; and, therefore, he sets down the certain estate of a Christian by borrowed speeches. This is a gracious con- descending of God, stooping, as it were, lower than himself; and, indeed, so he always abaseth himself when he deals with man, coming down far below himself.
To come to the words in particular.
' And hath anointed its.' This word hath a double reference. The Holy Ghost carries our minds, fii'st, to the relation and proportion that is between the graces of the Spirit of God, and the ointment with which in former times they were anointed in the Jewish polity. And it hath reference like- wise, and relation, to the persons that were anointed. The persons were kings, priests, and prophets.