n" to
the Christian, verifying the Christian's "Amen" to God. "Now he, which
establisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; _who also
sealed us_ and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Cor.
1: 21, 22).

If we ask to what we are committed and separated by this divine
transaction, we may learn by studying the church's monograph, if such
we may name what is brought out in a mysterious passage in one of the
pastoral epistles. In spite of the defection and unbelief of some, the
apostle says: "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal." Then he gives us the two inscriptions on the seal: "The
Lord knoweth them that are his"; and, "Let every one that nameth the
name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness" (2 Tim. 2: 19)--Ownership
and holiness. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit it is that
we may count ourselves henceforth and altogether Christ's. If any
shrink from this devotement, how can he {79} have the fullness of the
Spirit? God cannot put his signature upon what is not his. Hence, if
under the sway of a worldly spirit we withhold ourselves from God and
insist on self-ownership, we need not count it strange if God withholds
himself from us and denies us the seal of divine ownership. God is
very jealous of his divine signet. He graciously bestows it upon those
who are ready to devote themselves utterly and irrevocably to his
service, but he strenuously withholds it from those who, while
professing his name, are yet "serving divers lusts and pleasures."
There is a suggestive passage in the Gospel of John which, translated
so as to bring out the antitheses which it contains, reads thus: "Many
trusted in his name, beholding the signs which he did; but Jesus did
not trust himself to them" (John 2: 23, 24). Here is the great
essential to our having the seal of the Spirit. Can the Lord trust us?
Nay; the question is more serious. Can he trust himself to us? The
Holy Spirit, which is his signet ring, can he commit it to our use for
signing our prayers and for certifying ourselves, and his honor not be
compromised?

The other inscription on the seal is: "Let every one that nameth the
name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness."[5] The possession of
the Spirit {80} commits us irrevocably to separation from sin. For
what is holiness but an emanation of the Spirit of holiness who dwells
within us? A sanctified life is therefore the print or impressio