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Now, as the days go on, I marvel at the sovereignty of God. The sovereign way in
which He created the three spheres of blessing, and the sovereign grace that elected the
objects for that sphere of blessing out of the fallen race of Adam.
May you be strengthened, dear brother, in your ministry.
Kind regards to members of that wonderful God-created unity."
#11.
Ephesians 1: 13.
pp. 58, 59
"In Whom ye also trusted, upon hearing the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation; in Whom also upon believing ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1: 13).
The verse quoted above was the passage that brought light and understanding in the
knowledge of the dispensation of the mystery to the reader whose testimony we now
record. It was not, as in some cases, the application of some rather remote text, but the
full blaze of positive truth.
The "sealing" and the "earnest" here are differentiated from the "sealing" and the
"earnest" of II Cor. 1: 21, 22. The latter, belonging to the dispensation of supernatural
gifts, were not complete without the added "confirming" and "anointing", both of which
have reference to spiritual gifts (cf. I Cor. 1: 6; Heb. 2: 3; and I John 2: 20, 27).
Again, while the phrase "the gospel of your salvation" might be used of any believer
under any dispensation, the mind in this case is directed to the particular "word of truth"
revealed to the Apostle as the Lord's prisoner, which is particularly the revelation that
brings salvation to the believer at the present time. Further, there is no interval between
the "hearing", the "believing" and the "sealing". The word "after" in the A.V. here is
misleading.
The phrase "the holy Spirit of promise" might be rendered "the holy promissory
Spirit", and refers, not to the Pentecostal gift, but to the new nature with its pledge of
future glory.
It is impossible to read and be influenced by Eph. 1: 13 without a knowledge of the
context. Our reader has focused our attention upon the thirteenth verse, because this
verse brings the issue to an experimental stage, but he would be the first to acknowledge
that this wonderful fruit cannot grow apart from an equally blessed root; and he rejoices
in the knowledge of Eph. 1: 3-14 as the charter of the church of the mystery. Before the
"believing" and the "sealing" and the "promise" could be possible, there had to be the
Father's choice "before the overthrow of the world", and the accomplishment of
redemption by Christ, through the shedding of His blood. The peculiar sphere of this