us to indicate that we belong to Him. He is our sole
Owner. And if any of us are not allowing Him to have full control of His
property, we are dealing dishonestly. Sealed is the _property_ or
_ownership_ word.

The last one of these words, "_earnest_," is a peculiarly interesting
one. It is found three times in Paul's epistles.[15] An earnest is a
pledge given in advance as an evidence of good faith. We are familiar
with the usage of paying down a small part of the price agreed upon to
make a business transaction binding. In old English it is called caution
money. My mother has told me of seeing her mother many a time pay a
shilling in the Belfast market-house to insure the delivery of a bag of
potatoes, paying the remainder on its delivery.

Now here the Holy Spirit is called "the earnest of our inheritance unto
the redemption of the purchased possession." That means two things to
us: First--that the Holy Spirit now filling us is Jesus' pledge that He
has purchased us, and that some day He is coming back to claim His
possessions; and then that the measure of the Spirit's presence and
power now is only a foretaste of a greater fullness at the time of
coming back; a sort of partial advance payment which insures a payment
in full when the transaction is completed. Paul speaks of this to the
Romans as the _first fruits_ of the Spirit.[16]

So, if you will take all five words you will get all of the truth about
our friend the Holy Spirit, and just what His coming into one's life
means. The first word, "baptism," is the _historical_ word, pointing us
_back_ to the day of Pentecost. The other four words, taken together,
tell us the four sides of the Holy Spirit's relation to us now. "Filled"
is the _experience_ word, pointing us _inward_ to what actually takes
place there. "Anointed" is the _power_ word, pointing us _outward_ to
the life and service among men to which we are set apart. "Sealed" is
the _personal-relation_ word, pointing us _upward_ to our Owner and
Master. "Earnest" is the _prophetic_ word, pointing us _forward_ to the
Master's coming back to claim His own, and to bestow the full measure of
the Spirit's presence.

And to-night we want to get some hint of how to have this infilling,
which shall also be an anointing of power and a seal of ownership and an
earnest of greater things at Jesus' return.

Broken Couplings.

But perhaps some one is saying, "Have not we all received the Holy
Spirit if we are ch