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Earnest of Our Inheritance

Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds Ephesians 1:13-14, focusing on the Holy Spirit's sealing work as the 'earnest of our inheritance.' He defines 'earnest' as a down payment, asserting that the Spirit's presence guarantees the certainty and reveals the nature of future blessings, which are qualitatively the same but quantitatively greater than present graces. Martin then details the ultimate purpose of this sealing: the complete redemption of believers as God's own possession, culminating in the praise of His glory. He applies this truth as a source of consolation for believers and a sobering warning for the impenitent, emphasizing that God will be glorified in all.

1 illustration in this sermon

The Cardinal Significance: Nature of Future Blessings
compare analogy

Buying a Bicycle with a Down Payment

Driving home: The apostle declares in this text that the gift of the Spirit as a purchased blessing of Jesus Christ given to all believers as an offering authenticating, identifying, securing seal is to be regarded as God's down payme…

A child wanting to buy a bicycle gives a $15 down payment on a $59.95 bike. This illustrates that the down payment is of the same kind (money) as the full payment, and it binds the buyer to complete the purchase. This clarifies the meaning of 'earnest' as a qualitative guarantee and a binding pledge.

Qualitatively the same, though quantitatively much more. You see, the earnest was always of the same kind as the full payment. If one of you kids were to go out to buy a bicycle, you've been drooling at a certain bicycle in a bicycle shop for a long time and you've been saving all the money you've got from your allowance and cutting lawns and shoveling walks and I hope that you didn't get it by stealing from your sister's bank, but you've got all your money accumulated together and you want to buy that bike and you're afraid somebody else might come along and buy it before you get all your mon...