emaining on him, the same is
he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost" (John 1: 33). "I indeed
baptize you in water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I . . . he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and in
fire" (Matt. 3: 11, R. V.). And now being at the right hand exalted,
and having "the seven spirits of God" (Rev. 3: 3), the fullness of the
Holy Ghost, he will shed forth his power upon those who pray for it,
even as the Father shed it forth upon himself.

Let us observe now the symbols and descriptions of the enduement of the
Spirit which are applied equally to Christ and to the disciples of
Christ.

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1. _The Sealing of the Spirit_. We hear Jesus saying to the multitude
that sought him for the loaves and fishes, "Labor not for the meat
which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto eternal life,
which the Son of man shall give unto you, _for him hath God the Father
sealed_" (John 6: 27). This sealing must evidently refer back to his
reception of the Spirit at the Jordan. One of the most instructive
writers on the Hebrew worship and ritual tells us that it was the
custom for the priest to whom the service pertained, having selected a
lamb from the flock, to inspect it with the most minute scrutiny, in
order to discover if it was without physical defect, and then to seal
it with the temple seal, thus certifying that it was fit for sacrifice
and for food. Behold the Lamb of God presenting himself for inspection
at the Jordan! Under the Father's omniscient scrutiny he is found to
be "a lamb without blemish and without spot." From the opening heaven
God gives witness to the fact in the words: "This is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased," and then he puts the Holy Ghost upon him, the
testimony to his sonship, the seal of his separation unto sacrifice and
service.

The disciple is as his Lord in this experience. "In whom having also
believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1: 13).
As always in the statements of Scripture, this {78} transaction is
represented as subsequent to faith. It is not conversion, but
something done upon a converted soul, a kind of crown of consecration
put upon his faith. Indeed the two events stand in marked contrast.
In conversion the believer receives the testimony of God and "sets his
seal to that God is true" (John 3: 33). In consecration God sets his
seal upon the believer that he is true. The last is God's "Ame