Before you get too settled, I'd like to ask those
who are dads or granddads here this morning to
stand up. Would you do that, please? Would you
like to join me in congratulating them? Please
don't be seated yet because we're going to have
word of prayer for you. Let's bow together. Father,
we are glad that you, as our Heavenly Father,
give us an example to follow. leading, loving,
nurturing our families. For the privilege that
you've given to us to have a loving spouse and
children, grandchildren in some cases. How glad
we are. And we stand before you today in humility.
And we cry unto you for the wisdom, the grace,
the understanding and compassion. But we need
to be men of God, the fathers and grandfathers
that you've designed for us to be in our family.
And so with gratitude and yet with supplication,
we give ourselves afresh to you on this Father's
Day. In Jesus' name, amen. Be seated, please.
have you open your Bibles with me, please, to
the book of Ephesians, where we'll be looking
in chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. This epistle
begins with a doxology to God, expressing praise
for all that he has done on our behalf. The Apostle
Paul recounts the works of God in saving us.
He tells us in the sentence which begins in verse
3 that God has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in Christ and there's nothing that we
lack in Christ. He tells us that God has chosen
us even before the foundation of the world to
be his own in Christ. He further explains that
God has predestined us to be full -grown children
in his family with all the rights and privileges
that go with that adulthood he tells us that
god has redeemed us by the precious blood of
the lord jesus christ he tells us that god has
made known to us the mystery of his will that
he might sum up all things in christ with an
administration that is suitable for the fullness
of the times, in other words, the kingdom. And
then explains to us that God has given us an
inheritance in Christ. Now this sentence concludes
in verses 13 and 14, and I say it's one sentence
because that is the way it is in the original
language as it's written in the book of Ephesians.
This sentence concludes with the seventh work
of God on our behalf. It is closely linked to
the previous one because you will see again the
word inheritance used. I want you to notice that
he says here, you also. Your salvation. You were
sealed. If you've read closely, you'll remember
that up to this point, he's used a plural personal
pronoun in the first person. He's used we. Now
he uses second person, you. It seems that Paul
is here planting a seed that later he's going
to blossom fully. He's going to develop it as
a theme in chapter 2 as he talks about the Gentiles
and the Jews. In verse 11, he talks about we
who were the first to hope in Christ. He has
there in mind the early converts. who were primarily
Jewish by nature, by birth. Now he speaks to
you, and he seems to have in mind the later converts
in his ministry, who were primarily Gentiles.
In chapter 2, you'll see him repeat this same
kind of thought. He says in verse 11, you, the
Gentiles in the flesh. In verse 12, you were
at that time separate from Christ, excluded from
the commonwealth of Israel. And then again in
verse 13, he says, you who were formerly far
off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
And so it seems that the you that he mentions
in verse 13 seems to focus especially on the
Gentiles. But the point is this, that whether
you're part of the we or the you, together we
are in Christ. And in Christ we are sealed. Notice
how he puts it. In him you also, after listening
to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
having also believed, you were sealed in him
with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given
as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to
the redemption of God's own possession to the
praise of his glory. He tells us that God has
sealed us into Jesus Christ. I want you to think
with me first today about the action that is
involved in the sealing. What does it mean that
God has sealed us in him? The word seal was a
common word with a wide variety of uses in the
New Testament days. For example, the word seal
had the meaning sometimes of securing or protecting
something. It's used that way in Matthew 27,
66. where it says they sealed the stone at the
tomb of Christ. In other words, they put the
seal of Rome upon it to protect the content so
that no one would break into it and steal the
body of Christ. Of course, that didn't stop the
resurrection, did it? But the idea was to protect
or to secure the contents of that tomb. It's
used again in Revelation 20, verse 3. For the
great angel takes Satan the dragon, binds him,
and casts him into the abyss. We read about this
last week, maybe two weeks ago. And having put
him into the abyss, he then closes it up and
seals it for the duration of a thousand years.
The idea being that the abyss is then secure,
that the contents of the abyss, Satan, have been
sealed into there. secured there so that Satan
cannot escape until his appointed time. That's
one meaning of the word seal. It was also used
in that day to speak of the ratification of a
document or to testify of the finality of a transaction.
The Apostle Paul uses it this way in Romans 15
.28 when he speaks about the fruit that he was
delivering to Jerusalem. as needing his seal.
That fruit was a monetary offering collected
among the Gentile churches for the Jewish believers
in Jerusalem who were being persecuted and were
therefore poor. Paul says he is delivering this
fruit of money as a gift from the Gentiles to
the Jews, and he wanted to finalize that. He
wanted to put his seal on it before going on
to other plans and desired travels. And so it
was used to testify the finality of the transaction,
to conclude a deal. Paul is saying, I want to
get to Jerusalem and finish what I am trying
to get accomplished. The word seal is used thirdly
to authenticate as true, genuine, or approved.
In John 3, 33, John the Baptist says, He who
has received his witness, has set his seal to
this, that God is true. John says, I put my seal
to this. This is my testimony. I authenticate
this as genuine. What I have seen and heard,
God is true. It is used by the Lord Jesus in
John 6, 27, when he says, On him, the Son, The
Father, even God, has set his seal. The Father
approved the Son, put his seal on him, authenticated
him as genuinely the Son of God. This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. The same thought
is found again in the book of Esther in the Old
Testament in the third chapter of the twelfth
verse. For the signet ring of Ahasuerus was used
to seal the scrolls that had been written ordering
the death of the Jews in Persia. The wax was
warm, moldable. His ring was put into it, sealing
that document, indicating that it was authentically
from Ahasuerus. And finally, the word seal was
used in the New Testament days to signify ownership.
In Revelation 7, verses 2 through 5, it is used
several times in that sense. In that context,
144 ,000 Jews, 12 ,000 from each of the 12 tribes,
are sealed as the servants of God. They are sealed
to indicate that they are genuinely God. They
belong to him. They are his servants for ministry
during the days of the tribulation. So you say,
well, if it can be used in that wide variety
of ways, which way is it used in Ephesians chapter
1? Is it 1, 2, 3, or 4? Well, the answer is 5.
You know, all of the above. In the first place,
it means that God has secured us in Jesus Christ.
We are protected in Christ under the day of our
redemption. Secondly, it means that God has finalized
the transaction of our salvation. It's complete.
Christ's work is finished. Our salvation in Christ
is done. There's nothing more that needs to be
added. Thirdly, it means that God has authenticated
us as his genuine children. And finally, when
it says that we have been sealed, it means that
God has marked us for his ownership. There is
a text in the Bible that we can turn to, and
almost without turning a page in your Bible,
depending on the Bible you have, I can prove
that all four of these meanings can be wrapped
up in the word sealed. Now the word itself isn't
used, but all four of the thoughts that can be
found in the word sealed are used in that context.
The book is 1 Peter. I invite you to turn there
with me to the first chapter. We have said that
God... has sealed us and that he has secured
us in Christ. We are protected. Notice in chapter
1 and verse 5, he says, who, that's referring
to those who are born again, who are protected
by the power of God. That means we are watched
over. It's in the present tense. We are continually
being guarded, continually being watched over
and protected by the power of God. through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. So you see, here's the meaning of our being
secured. Just like the tomb of Christ was secured
with a seal, we have been sealed. We are protected.
We are secured in him, in Christ. Then look down
at verse 18. We have said that God has finalized
the transaction. Well, it says, knowing that
you were not redeemed, with perishable things
like silver or gold from your futile way of life
inherited from your forefathers, but with precious
blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless,
the blood of Christ. We were not redeemed with
certain things, but we were redeemed with the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
word redeemed means that we have been purchased.
There has been a transaction. And the tense of
it means that it is completed once and for all.
God is never again going to redeem us. He doesn't
have to. The price has been paid. We never need
to go through the process of being redeemed again
because we have been redeemed once and for all
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. A completed
transaction. We are sealed. In this sense, that
the transaction is done, it's over, once and
forever. Look in verse 14. We have said that
we are sealed in the sense that God authenticates
us as genuine. Here he says, as obedient children,
do not be conformed to the former lust. He calls
us children. He says in verse 23. You have been
born again, not of a seed which is perishable,
but imperishable, that is, through the living
and abiding word of God. Chapter 2, verse 2,
like newborn babes long for the pure milk of
the word. And so you see, God calls us his children
here, not something less. We are genuinely, truly
his children. God approves us. He calls us his
children, his born ones. We have been brought
into his family. That seal of authenticity is
true. And then finally, we have said that we
are secured in the sense that God owns us. Look
with me in chapter 2 and the 9th verse. You are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for God's own possession. that
you may proclaim the excellencies of him who
has called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. For you once were not a people, but now
you are the people of God. And so you see, we
have been sealed in this sense that we are God.
In a peculiar and special way, we belong to him.
That's why I say when in Ephesians 1, It says
we have been sealed in Christ. It includes all
of these thoughts. That sealing into Jesus Christ
is our position in him and it's unchangeable.
Now having looked at the action that's involved
in the sealing and what that means, let's think
for a moment of the agent. Because you will notice
if you look at the verb that it's passive. We
did not do the sealing. We did not do something
here in order to be sealed. We were acted upon.
The subject of the sentence is acted upon when
a verb is passive. Now who was it that acted
upon us? Well, the answer is given likewise in
the context. It is the Holy Spirit of promise.
The Holy Spirit is the one. He is the agent who
has sealed us into Christ. The Holy Spirit is
the third person of the blessed Godhead. He is
distinct from the Father and from the Son, and
yet he is equal to them and of one essence with
them. He is God. Here he is given the specific
title, the Holy Spirit of promise. Why is he
called that? It is because the Holy Spirit himself
is a promise. Turn with me to the Gospel of Luke,
where we see the words of the Lord Jesus in the
24th chapter, shortly before he ascended back
to heaven. He speaks to his disciples, and he
says in the 49th verse, And behold, I am sending
forth the promise of my Father upon you. He doesn't
identify the promise as Luke records it here.
But turn with me to Luke's continued account,
the book of Acts, and the first chapter. And
notice that he states it again a little more
fully this time. Acts 1, verse 4. And gathering
them together, he commanded them not to leave
Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had
promised. which he said, you have heard from
me, for John baptized with water, but you shall
be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days
from now. And so Jesus says that this promise
is the Holy Spirit. And so in chapter 2 of the
book of Acts, in the 33rd verse, it says, Therefore,
having been exalted to the right hand of God,
Peter's preaching here, and having received from
the Father, The promise of the Holy Spirit, he,
Jesus, has poured forth this, which you both
see and hear. And so the Lord Jesus said, When
I go back to heaven, I will receive from the
Father the Holy Spirit, and I will pour him out
upon you. On the day of Pentecost, from the Father
and the Son, the Spirit of promise came forth.
And from that day until this day, he indwells.
the believer in Jesus Christ, every single one
of us. He is the fulfillment of what Jesus called
the promise of the Father. And so he's called
here the spirit of promise. I think there's also
a more personal meaning to us. It is that the
Holy Spirit brings to us the promises of the
Lord Jesus Christ and fulfills them in our lives.
You see, the Holy Spirit is the administrator
of the salvation planned by the Father and provided
by the Son. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts
us of sin, who calls us to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who regenerates us. It is the Holy Spirit who
administrates the salvation that the Father thought
and the Son provided. As someone has put it,
the Father sought it, the Son bought it, the
Spirit wrought it. Faith wrought it. The devil
fought it. The Bible fought it, but I got it.
There it is. It is the Spirit who wrought it,
who worked it out in our lives. It is the Holy
Spirit who administrates the promise of God.
And thus he is called here the pledge, going
back to Ephesians 1, the pledge of our inheritance.
This word pledge is a wonderful word. It literally
means a down payment, a deposit given to secure,
a guarantee of the completion of a transaction
that has begun. If you've ever bought a house,
you know what earnest money is. When you buy
something, very often you have to put down something
of value to guarantee that you're going to follow
through with that purchase. Something of value
has to change hands. Now God has said that he
has purchased us through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now to guarantee that he is going
to complete that purchase, i .e. the rapture,
Take us to heaven. To guarantee that, he has
given us a down payment. The pledge of our inheritance
is the Holy Spirit. He dwells within us to guarantee
that God is going to fulfill in us, to us, what
he has promised to do. Our inheritance, as we
saw last week, is the glory. that we will share
with Jesus Christ. How do I know that I'm going
to be in heaven? How do I know I'm going to reign
with Christ? How do I know that I'm really going
to inherit eternal life? Because the Holy Spirit
has been given to you as a pledge, a down payment.
In Ephesians 4 .30 it says, And grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto
the day of redemption. The day of redemption
being defined even in our text today as when
the Lord will come back and take home his position.
And body, soul, and spirit will be conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a
great day that's going to be. Now, as a guarantee
of that day, as a promise of that day, the Holy
Spirit has sealed us and become a down payment,
guaranteeing that God is going to fulfill what
he's begun. There are those who say, well, we
can grieve away the Spirit. Look, in the very
context in the Bible, I'm the only one where
it mentions grieving the Holy Spirit. It says
nothing about grieving him away. But don't say
we should not grieve him because he as a person
has holy sensitivities. We grieve him by our
sins. So he says, don't grieve the Holy Spirit.
Don't sin. Don't live in sin. But he goes on
to say, whereby you are sealed. of the day of
redemption. This word can also mean, and was
used in that day, of an engagement ring. Isn't
it fun to watch a gal who's just got an engagement
ring? She begins shaking hands with the left
hand. Have you ever noticed that? The right hand
suddenly becomes paralyzed. It's the left hand
that goes out. And she'll sit here in church
under all these lights and just watch the sparkles
and the diamond move it around like that. That
engagement ring is pretty special because that
is a promise that there is a young man who is
going to marry her. It is his guarantee that
his proposal will be carried out in a marriage
ceremony one day. Isn't it wonderful to think
of the Holy Spirit as our engagement ring? guaranteeing
that one day we are going to be married to Jesus
Christ because we are the church, his bride,
the Holy Spirit seals us into Jesus Christ, the
one who is our engagement ring, our down payment.
In 2 Corinthians 1, verses 21 and 22, the apostle
repeats this. He says, he who establishes us
with you in Christ and anointed us as God, who
also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our
hearts as a pledge. Same word. So the Holy Spirit
is the agent. Now think with me, if you will,
of the application of it. When was it that the
Holy Spirit did this? When was it that he applied
the seal securing us to Jesus Christ? When did
it occur? I want you to notice first the completed
action in the verb. It's not a present tense.
He's not continually sealing us. It's not in
the future tense. He will seal us. It's in a
completed sense. And by the way, all of the other
key verbs that we've looked at in this sentence,
in verses 3 through 14, have been in the same
aorist tense. It's an action that is done already,
once and for all. But the question is, when did
this once and for all sealing take place? Well,
look in the context of our verse again. He tells
us. He describes it, first of all, as after that
time when we listened to the message of truth.
In other words, the sealing did not occur if
you were sprinkled as an infant. It didn't occur
then. It didn't occur at some point when you
may have been confirmed. He says it was after
you heard the message of truth. So that narrows
it down somewhat, doesn't it? Because you didn't
always know the message of truth. There was some
point in your life as a child or a teenager or
maybe an adult when for the first time you heard
the gospel. The sealing took place not before
you heard, sometime after that. He goes on to
describe it as the gospel of your salvation.
And then he says, having also believed, you were
sealed. And so now he tells us specifically when
it was that we were sealed. It was at the moment
that we believed. The two verbs are in the very
same tense. Now there are some translations which
frankly confuse this, and the King James is one
of them. It says, after that you believed, you
were sealed. And it implies that at some time
after you believed, maybe a week later or a year
later, who knows, but it was afterward that you
were sealed. And that is not what the Apostle
Paul wrote. The NASB puts it more accurately
when it says, having believed, you were sealed.
The point is that at the very moment that you
believed, you were sealed. The time is contemporaneous.
It occurred at a simultaneous point in your life.
At the moment you believed, at that same moment,
you were sealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. That
means there is no subsequent deeper work of the
Holy Spirit that a believer must pray for or
speak for. The Bible never teaches a second blessing
that we are to look out for. I know that there
are some people who say, but in the book of Acts,
listen, when it comes to the book of Acts, you
have to remember that it's a book of transition.
Before you select a verse out of the book of
Acts upon which to base a doctrine, you better
make sure that you have some evidence from the
epistles of the New Testament that what is said
there in the book of Acts is for today. Because
you see, in the book of Acts there's a transition.
There are things that happen differently in the
book of Acts until the norm is established for
the age in which we live. And the norm for this
age is... Having believed, you were also sealed
with the Holy Spirit. It occurred at the same
moment when the Holy Spirit indwelt you. You
have to keep in mind, folks, that the Bible is
progressive revelation. In the Old Testament,
New Testament, and the like, truth is progressively
revealed to us. We can't go to one isolated place
and base a doctrine on it. We must allow the
whole of Scripture. to interpret for us individual
passages. The Holy Spirit has come into us the
moment that we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
and brings to us the feeling into Christ. Now,
I'm glad that God included this in this paragraph
because it brings to our heart a wonderful note
of assurance that we may have regarding our salvation.
You see, God wants us to have complete assurance
that we are saved. He who has the Son has the
life. He who has not the Son of God has not life.
These things I have written unto you, says John,
who believe in the name of the Son of God, that
you may know that you have eternal life. God
wants us to know beyond the shadow of a doubt
that we are saved. And we can know that. I know
from my own personal experience that it's very
difficult not to have the assurance of salvation.
But after I had trusted the Lord Jesus Christ,
I went through several years of wondering whether
I was really saved. If someone were to ask me,
when did you pray to receive Christ, I'd have
to honestly say, oh, many times. Because, you
see, after I first trusted Christ, I was not
taught the Bible. And so I got involved in sin
as a child, and I felt guilty about that, but
I didn't know what to do with it. And consequently,
I began to doubt my salvation. And so an evangelist
would come through, or I'd hear a message from
the Bible from our pastor, and I would ask Jesus
to come into my heart and save me again. and
things were okay for a while, and then after
a while sin would accumulate, and I had no joy
in my salvation, I wanted if I was saved, I would
ask Jesus to come into my heart again. And some
of you are smiling because you've been through
that. That's a terrible way to live. Because
you don't know from one month to the next if
you're really going to heaven. It is a wonderful
day, my friends, when you finally come to that
point of realizing That that first time when
you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, that at that
moment the Holy Spirit came into you and you
were sealed into Jesus Christ. So that there's
no need any longer for doubt about it. I hope
today you had that assurance. I certainly would
not want to give you assurance about your salvation
if you're not saved. If there's doubt there because
you've never trusted the Savior, then you need
to deal with that today by trusting in him. But
I want to speak to you who have trusted Christ
to let you know that you can rest upon his finished
work. It's like Sandy Crosby says in her hymn,
Blessed Assurance. It's like a foretaste of glory
divine when you can finally come to that point
inside in your heart of just letting go and relaxing.
and almost sitting down, as it were, and resting
upon the finished work of Christ. It's a blessed
day when you realize you can have assurance regarding
your salvation because you're secure in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You say, well, how can I be sure
whether I've been saved or not and had this assurance?
Well, notice what he says here. He tells them
to listen to the message of truth. What have
you been listening to? There are many messages
of deceit and lies available today. Have you
been listening to the message of truth? To what
is that? Well, he tells us. He calls it the gospel
of your salvation. The message of truth is the
good news of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection
for you. It's the good news that he lives today
to save all who will come to him. It's the move
that he will deliver us from our sins. Forgive
us of it. Take us to heaven. Give us eternal
life. Because it's the gospel of your salvation.
It becomes your salvation when you personally
trust in this Savior. And you believe this message
about him, the message of truth. Is this the
message you believe? Is this the gospel that
you're trusting in today? If it is, then we may
go on and say regarding you, having believed,
you were sealed. You were sealed in Christ. That's
blessing, assurance. Jesus is yours if you believe.
To conclude this, A wonderful paragraph, as it's
written in our English version, with a phrase
that simply says, to the praise of his glory.
You may notice that that's the third time he's
used that phrase, to the praise of his glory.
Do you realize that that's why God has saved
you, beloved? God has not saved you to keep your
miserable soul out of hell. Now bless the Lord,
your soul which was in misery. God had compassion
on you, and he is saving you from hell. But the
real heart of salvation, the real meat of it
is this, that God did all of these things that
we've studied to the praise of his glory, to
glorify himself. Are you satisfied with that?
Are you satisfied with the abuse of the praise
of his glory? There are some people who want
to live for their own glory. A person who does
that competes with God. If you are a Christian,
God has purchased you for his glory. Don't live
for your own. Because if you compete with God,
I want to guarantee you one thing. You'll lose.
There's no way you're going to win. It is a wonderful
thing when we finally realize that the reason
God has saved us is to glorify himself. And that
the highest purpose we can have in life is simply
to cooperate with God's purpose and to live for
it. To live for his glory. Is that the way you're
living today? To the praise of his glory? Oh,
child of God, don't live for something less than
that. Don't pour out the days of your life for
yourself because you see your own glory saved.
It's saved. And the things that you may be able
to stimulate, they're already passing away, the
Bible says. So live for the praise of his glory
who has saved you and purchased you and sealed
you. Let's bow together. Astrid Nelson has written
a prayer that I'd like to read, and perhaps you'd
allow these words to flow through your mind as
your own commitment to Jesus Christ. O may my
life be to thy praise, O Father. In all I do,
may thou be magnified. Thou choosest me before
the world's foundation, thine own to be, that
thou be glorified. O may my life be to thy praise,
O Savior, thy finished work in all its glory
see, and precious thought, that thou entrustest
to me this task to praise and glorify thee. O
may my life be to thy praise, O Spirit, this
temple filled, empowered, and yielded be, that
in thy strength my life may glorify thee in life
or death, whatever thou hast for me. Lord, I
pray that you will help us, who are your children,
to back away from life for just a moment and
look at it. And see it as a gift and a privilege
that it is. Forgive us for getting so involved
in the day -by -day routines, demands, and instances
of life that we forget the big picture while
we're here. It is to the praise of your glory.
And Father, may that indeed be our motivation.
as well as our goal through this week, that we
might glorify you. Before I finish praying with
our heads down, I wonder if there's one here
who would say, Pastor Carly, there's a point
in the message today that's gotten to me. I don't
know what that point may be. It may be that you're
doubting your salvation. You're not sure you're
saved. Or it may be that you're struggling with
sin. You see, there's nothing that will rob a...
a Christian of the assurance of his salvation
quicker than sin that's ongoing in the life.
If you're a Christian living for yourself, living
in sin, I'll guarantee you, you do not have assurance
of your salvation this morning. It doesn't mean
you aren't secure in Christ if you don't have
the confidence and the joy that God wants you
to have. By this lifted hand will you say, Pastor
Paul, God has spoken to me. I want you to pray
for me in closing. Just lift it up and pray with
me. Yes, God bless you. There's been a point
of stuff in my heart. I'd like to pray for you.
Anyone else? Yes, thank you. Just before we pray.
Lord, thank you for speaking to our hearts and
for bringing to us a reminder this morning of
your gracious work on our behalf. Especially
for these who are at a point of struggle in their
lives, who are facing some internal conviction
or conflict, you know, meet their needs today.
And may we be able to depart from here with a
kind of confidence and assurance regarding their
salvation. that you've provided for them to know.
In Jesus' name.