And it is God who has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit.Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.Now he that wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
3 sermons cite this verse
We'll have a new body, a resurrected body, which our Lord promised and which he certainly demonstrated in his own resurrection. Paul says, we have the privilege of living by faith. We walk by faith. Therefore, we're not worried about death. We're not afraid of death. We're not concerned about what's going to happen to these bodies. We have the awesome promise of a resurrected body and a heavenly home. And he says, therefore, we're not walking by sight. We're not walking by feeling. We're not walking by the people's opinions. We're not walking according to reason. We are walking simply by faith. It is the will and purpose and plan of God that all of us learn to walk by faith. Now, if I should ask you, is your life a picture of? Could it be described as a life of one who is walking by faith? Well, probably you may think in terms of the way you think of faith, and you may say, well, yes, I do. …
2. The redeemed have all their inherent good in God. Inherent good is twofold; it is either excellency or pleasure. These the redeemed not only derive from God, as caused by him, but have them in him. They have spiritual excellency and joy by a kind of participation of God. They are made excellent by a communication of God’s excellency. God puts his own beauty, i.e. his beautiful likeness, upon their souls. They are made partakers of the divine nature, or moral image of God, 2 Pet. i. 4. They are holy by being made partakers of God’s holiness, Heb. xii. 10. The saints are beautiful and blessed by a communication of God’s holiness and joy, as the moon and planets are bright by the sun’s light. The saint hath spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of God on the soul. In these things the redeemed have communion with God; that is, they partake with him and of him. The saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessedness by the gift of the Holy Ghost, and his dwelling in them. They are not only caused by the Holy Ghost, but are in him as their principle. The Holy Spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in the soul. He, acting in, upon, and with the soul, becomes a fountain of true holiness and joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion and diffusion of itself. John iv. 14. “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Compared with chap. vii. 38, 39. “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; but this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.” The sum of what Christ has purchased for us, is that spring of water spoken of in the former of those places, and those rivers of living water spoken of in the latter. And the sum of the blessings, which the redeemed shall receive in heaven, is that river of water of life that proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. xxii. 1. Which doubtless signifies the same with those rivers of living water, explained, John vii. 38, 39. which is elsewhere called the “river of God’s pleasures.” Herein consists the fullness of good, which the saints receive of Christ. It is by partaking of the Holy Spirit, that they have communion with Christ in his fullness. God hath given the Spirit, not by measure unto him; and they do receive of his fullness, and grace for grace. This is the sum of the saints’ inheritance; and therefore that little of the Holy Ghost which believers have in this world, is said to be the earnest of their inheritance, 2 Cor. i. 22. “Who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” And chap v. 5. “Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” And “Ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession. ” …
"Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has also given us the earnest of the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 5:5. HOW very confidently Paul contemplates the prospect of death! He betrays no trembling apprehensions. With the calmness and serenity, not merely of resignation and submission, but of assurance and courage, he appears joyous and gladsome, and even charmed with the hope of having his body dissolved and being girt about with the new body which God has prepared for His saints! He that can talk of the grave and of the hereafter with such intelligence, thoughtfulness, faith and strong desire as Paul did, is a man to be envied. Princes might well part with their crown for such a sure and certain hope of immortality! Could emperors exchange their treasures, their honors and their dominions, to stand side by side with the humble tent-maker in his poverty, they would be great gainers. Were they but able to say with him, "We are always confident, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord," they might well barter earthly rank for such a requital! This side of Heaven, what can be more heavenly than to be thoroughly prepared to pass through the River of Death? On the other hand, what a dreary and dreadful state of mind must they be in who, with nothing before them but to die, have no hope and see no outlet—the pall and the shroud their last adorning—the grave and the sod their destination! Without hope of rising again in a better future, or realizing a better heritage than that which should know us no more before long—no prospects of seeing God face to face with rejoicing—well may men dislike any reference to death! So they shrink from the thought of it. Far less can they tolerate its being talked of in common conversation. No marvel that they recoil from the shade of mortality when they are so ill prepared to face the reality of the soul's departure! But, dear Friends, since it is so desirable to be ready to depart, it cannot be inexpedient sometimes to talk about it—and on my part the more so, because there is a proneness in all our minds to start aside from that grave topic which, as God shall help us, shall be our subject this evening—preparation for the great hereafter! "For," says the Apostle, "God has worked us for this same thing"—He has prepared us for the dropping of the present body and the putting on of the next! And "He has given us the earnest of His Spirit." …