From John Calvin's sermon on Ephesians 1:13-14:
For we are but poor worms of the earth, surrounded by rottenness and corruption. We are beset with as many miseries as it is pitiful to see. The world curses us, and mocks us and our simplicity. We have to endure hunger and thirst. It often seems that God has forsaken us and, as it were, cut us off, and that he does not even deign to pity us. We appear to be the most contemptible creatures in the world. That is how we stand to all outward appearance. And therefore it is imperative for us to have a remedy with which to assure ourselves in the midst of so many perplexities and heartaches. That is the reason why St. Paul purposely says that the Holy Spirit is our pledge. Although, then, the world gives itself liberty to trample us under foot, as they say; although our Lord keeps us tried with many temptations; although he humbles us in such a way that it may seem we are as sheep appointed to the slaughter, so that we continually have death between our teeth, yet we are not destitute of a good remedy. And why? Seeing that the Holy Spirit reigns in our hearts, we have something for which to give praise even in the midst of all our temptations, in accordance with what is said in the eighth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, that being once assured that God takes us for his children, we may not only call upon him, but also, though we are afflicted and tormented, yet we do not cease to be always and infallibly persuaded that he is our Father to lead us to the glory of heaven….
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