[All who believe in Christ are united to him as " branches of the true vine." At first indeed they are but as babes, or children, liable to be tossed to and fro^; but by experience they become more rooted and grounded in Christ*'. As their views of their own weakness and of his sufficiency are enlarged, they grow more and more; nor was this peculiar to the Apostle, but the common privilege of all the Church at Co- rinth. Indeed, it is the great end for which all other blessings are communicated ; and, in attaining it, the believer becomes immoveable as Mount Sion^]
2. They are anointed with a heavenly unction —
[It is the communication of the Holy Spirit that first en- ables them to believe in Christ"^ ; but, as the lamps in the sanctuary, they have daily supplies of the holy oil. By means of these they obtain more abundant knowledge and grace ^, and are progressively renewed after the image of their God^ Not that all, even of true Christians, are alike favoured ; but every one receives according to the measure of the gift of Christ^.]
3. They are sealed with the Holy Spirit of pro- mise—
[A seal is for the purpose of both marking and securing property ; and with both these views the Holy Spirit seals the people of God. He stamps the very image of God himself upon their souls^; he thus marks them as his peculiar, his " purchased possession ;" he secures them also to the day ol complete redemption'.]
4. They have the earnest of the Spirit in their hearts —
[An earnest is both a part of a payment, and a pledge of the remainder ; and such is the Spirit to us, not in one only, but in all his operations. In illuminating, quickening, sanctifying, or comforting the soul, he is an earnest of that light and life, that purity and joy, which will be more richly communicated to us in the future world. As a seal, the Spirit assures us of our right to heaven ; as an earnest, he gives us a foretaste of it.]
The consideration of such inestimable blessings may well lead us to inquire after, II. The source from whence they flow —
» Eph. iv. 14. b Col. ii. 7. " Ps. exxv. 1.
d 1 John ii. 20. e isai. ii. 2, 3. f 2 Cor. iv. 16.
e Eph. iv. 7. •' Eph. iv. 23, 24. ^ Eph. i. 14. and iv. 30.