shew how harmoniously every grace may be exercised by you ; and how perfectly all the attributes of the Deity, as far as they can be communicated to so frail a creature, may be transferred to, and illustrated by, his redeemed people ]
Eph. i. 13, 14. In whom also after that ye believed, ye tvere 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.
THE blessings which we receive through Christ are innumerable. Many are mentioned in the pre- ceding part of this chapter. One of the last and greatest blessings which we receive in this life, is the sealing of the Holy Spirit. This was vouchsafed to many of the saints at Ephesus.
We shall shew,
I. What the sealing of the Spirit is —
The metaphor of sealing conveys no inadequate idea of the Spirit's operations —
[A seal stamps its own image on the wax that is impressed by it ; and marks the thing sealed to be the property of him that sealed it : and the Holy Spirit forms all the lineaments of the Divine image on the soul that is sealed by him ; and shews that it belongs to God.]
But the text itself affords us the best explanation of this term —
[The future inheritance of the saints consists in a perfect conformity to God's image, and a perfect enjoyment of his love. The sealing of the Spirit is an " earnest of that inherit- ance," or, in other words, a part of that inheritance already vouchsafed to the soul, and a pledge that the remainder shall in due time be given to it. This gift of the Spirit is to be continued to the church till the final consummation of all things3. The experience of individuals may vary with respect
a The Church is Christ's " purchased possession," Acts xx. 28. And its complete " redemption" from all the penal effects of sin will be at the day of judgment, Rom. viii. 23.
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