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Earnest
Of The Spirit
The earnest of the Spirit is mentioned
only three times in the New Testament, each time being
translated from the Greek word "arrabon,"
meaning a pledge. In the law the earnest, or pledge is
given when anything is bought and not delivered at the
time of buying. Paul uses it this way in Ephesians, the
first chapter and the thirteenth and fourteenth verses.
Says he, "In whom (Christ) also after that ye
believed, 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."
"The purchased
possession" here referred to is heaven and immortal
glory, of which possession the Holy Spirit is an earnest.
Anciently, it is said, when a purchase was made the
purchaser was presented with a part of the thing purchased
as an earnest, or pledge, that he should have the whole.
Thus if a man bought a piece of real estate he was
presented with a cupful of earth from his piece of land as
an earnest that the whole should be his. Sometimes money
was used as the pledge; and various other articles. God
has, so to speak, given us a cupful of our eternal
inheritance, which we are to have and to hold until the
heaven of heavens is really ours and in our actual
possession. Thank God for the pledge of His grace.
In Ephesians Paul connects the
earnest of the Spirit with the seal of the Spirit. And in
Corinthians, as will be seen in the following text, he has
it connected with the anointing of the Holy Spirit as well
as with the sealing: "Now he which stablisheth us
with you in Christ, 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, 22.
The anointing, sealing, and earnest
of the Spirit are indeed the same thing in reality, and
are only different in the natural symbol used to bring out
different phases of the Spirit's operations.
The most convincing proof of the
authenticity of the Bible is the "earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts"; and who could ask a better
proof of heaven after this world than a foretaste of
heaven in our souls? If the real possession of immortality
is even as blessed—and we have every reason to believe
it better far— as the foretaste we now enjoy, then our
covenant with God is a good one, and worth ten thousand
lives in this world. In the language of Jerome we are made
to exclaim: "If the earnest was so great, how great
must be the possession?" The pledge of His promise is
more than we could ask of one who "is faithful."
Who can draw from theology, logic, or science as
convincing proof of the supernatural as the "earnest
of the Spirit in our hearts"? And why will Christians
spend so much time endeavoring to find out God by worldly
wisdom, when "the world by wisdom knew not God"?
The Greeks sought after wisdom, and the Jews required a
sign: but let us "taste and see that the Lord is
good."
Something similar to an earnest is
mentioned in Revelation, the second chapter and the
seventeenth verse. "To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man
knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
The white stone among the ancients
was used for several different purposes. It was used by
judges to denote that their decision was to acquit a
prisoner, while the black stone was used to denote
condemnation. It was used to denote friendship, or as a
pledge of friendship and hospitality. As a ticket to a
public feast or banquet, the Romans used a white stone
which they called a "tessera"; it was also given
as a certificate to successful gladiators.
In the foregoing text it would seem
from the clause "to him that overcometh," that
the Roman practice of giving a tessera to the gladiators
is referred to. We are said to wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, powers, and
spiritual wickedness; and if we are overcomers we are
promised a tessera, which will also give us admittance to
the feast of "hidden manna."
Possibly the reason it is spoken of
as the "hidden manna" is, that the Jews believed
that the ark of the covenant, which contained the golden
pot of manna, together with some other sacred things, was
hidden by King Josiah when Jerusalem was besieged and
captured by the king of Babylon. They believed also that
this ark together with its contents, would be discovered
when the Messiah came. And so it was; and the overcomers
are eating of the spiritual manna, which is hidden to the
blinded Jews.
Only those who have the tessera,
which can only be purchased by overcoming, can eat of the
hidden manna; but those who have it may enter and partake
of the feast, while to the rest, the manna is hidden. When
Jesus comes in final judgment those who have the white
stone shall enter in with Him to the marriage supper of
the Lamb and sup wine with Him in the Kingdom of glory.
Dear reader, have you the white stone which will admit you
to the feast? If not, remember it is promised to the
overcomer.
From the latter clause of the text
it would seem that the tessera of friendship or
hospitality is referred to. In this pledge or earnest, a
stone was divided between two persons, on which the names
of both were engraved, each one taking the piece which
bore the other's name. This tessera entitled the holder to
the hospitalities of the other for life, and no one else
was to know of or see the name in the stone. When lodging,
food, or any hospitality was desired the tessera had to be
produced, and if it did not tally with the one held by the
other person the hospitalities were not granted. These
hospitalities it seems were extended to the entire family
and kindred of each person; hence the need of the test
stone.
When we receive the white stone
with a new name carved therein, we are then entitled to
all the hospitalities of God's house, even to the water of
life and the bread of heaven. Whomsoever of His children
we meet we should also be hospitable unto them; for
inasmuch as we do it unto them we do it unto Him. But all
who would enjoy the hospitalities of the kingdom of heaven
must produce the pure white stone with the new name
therein.
In the day when He shall take us to
share the hospitalities of the celestial world above, the
tessera will be the test. Every one who has it will hear
the welcome invitation, "Come, ye blessed, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world." But to those who have it not He will say,
"Depart from me, I never knew you."
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