6. He is an earnest unto us. 2 Cor. i. 22, He hath “given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts;” chap. v. 5, “Who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit;” as also, Eph. i. 13, 14, “Ye are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance.” In the two former places we are said to have the earnest of the Spirit; in the latter, the Spirit is said to be our earnest: “of the Spirit,” then, in the first place, is, as we say, “genitivus materiæ;” denoting not the cause, but the thing itself; — not the author of the earnest, but the matter of it. The Spirit is our earnest; as in the last place is expressed. The consideration of what is meant by the “Spirit,” here, and what is meant by an “earnest,” will give some insight into this privilege, which we receive by the Comforter:—