The Spirit Seals You
Ephesians 1:13-14
August 11, 2013
Well, it feels like it has been nearly forever since we last enjoyed our study of the Holy Spirit. Indeed it has been about 4 weeks.
But this morning I want to get back to it,
As it is certainly an important topic of study.
We are studying the Holy Spirit
Namely because He is the answer to our human weakness.
Apart from Him believers experience failure in ministry and failure in their own personal lives as they strive to be who God desires them to be.
HE IS THAT IMPORTANT TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
However, because the truths about Him have been so perverted in our world today, many have found themselves in a mode where they sort of avoid Him.
The purpose of our study is to first understand who He is,
And secondly to learn how to follow His leadership.
We began by looking at the box He dwells in,
Or “His fingerprints” as I like to call them.
It is those outer parameters that give us the criteria
By which we can tell whether the Holy Spirit is actually at work or not.
We don’t recognize Him by a “feeling”
(I could just feel the Spirit)
We recognize Him by the criteria given to us in John 16.
• He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment
• He guides us into all the truth,
• He glorifies Jesus
Now, when those things occur, you can be certain that
The Holy Spirit is at work – and that is true whether you feel Him or not.
And from there we have been taking a closer look at some of those EMBLEMS that are used to describe Him in the New Testament.
This helps us to understand the purpose of the Holy Spirit.
First we looked at the fact that the Holy Spirit is typified by WATER
And we noted that the Spirit gives life.
There is physical life and then there is spiritual life.
While all men are alive physically, only those with the Holy Spirit are alive spiritually.
He gives new life, abundant life, eternal life.
Apart from Him you cannot even be a believer in Jesus Christ since the Holy Spirit is the agent who both draws you to Christ and gives you life.
Second we noted that He is represented by FIRE
And we spoke of the reality that the Spirit sanctifies you.
That is to say that the Holy Spirit separates you
From the world and separates you unto God.
He is that purifying agent in your life.
And we noted that apart from the Holy Spirit you cannot please God.
And then, just before the African trip we looked at two emblems, namely OIL and WIND
• Oil represents our anointing, which is our authority to serve God.
• Wind represents our power, which is our ability to serve God.
The Holy Spirit makes you adequate to serve and able to serve.
He equips believers with spiritual gifts,
Enabling them to accomplish spiritual goals.
And without Him, we have absolutely no right even to attempt it.
It is the Holy Spirit who qualifies us for ministry.
And that is where we left off.
• He is WATER giving us life
• He is FIRE sanctifying us to God
• He is OIL anointing to serve God
• He is WIND equipping us to serve God
This morning I want us to see a fifth emblem which represents the Holy Spirit in Scripture and that is A SEAL
And this reality is vitally important for us to understand.
It especially helps us understand why we so greatly desire the Holy Spirit.
And to do that we are going to look at this passage
Here in the book of Ephesians.
Now, just to give a little context, the letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians is one of the MOST ENCOURAGING books of the Bible.
It is written primarily to help believers understand all the benefits of being a Christian and then to encourage believers to live accordingly.
One of the phrases that stands out immediately is the phrase “in Him”.
It is used in one form another 12 times in the first two chapters.
And it is a phrase meant to help you understand
All the benefits that you have if you are “in Christ Jesus”
In fact Paul’s prayer as he writes this letter is:
Ephesians 1:18-19a “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”
Paul wants believers to know the benefits of being in Christ Jesus.
For example:
In Him we have ELECTION
Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love”
In Him we have REDEMPTION
Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”
In Him we have INHERITANCE
Ephesians 1:10b-11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,”
In Him we have RESURRECTION
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
In Him we have PEACE
Ephesians 2:13-14 “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,”
And so you see it is a letter about Christian benefits
And then Christian expectations.
Then in verses 13 &14 find a benefit of Christianity
That comes in Christ, but is uniquely tied to the Holy Spirit.
It is a benefit that is for all those in Christ Jesus,
But it is a benefit that is enjoyed through the Holy Spirit.
To say it another way.
If you are a Christian this benefit is yours,
But if you neglect the Holy Spirit you will never enjoy it.
WHAT IS THIS BENEFIT?
Assurance
We had a funeral here in our church a couple of years ago, and the preacher was a blind African American man. I’ll never forget how he opened the message.
“I hear a lot on television about insurance. Geico and state farm and progressive and they all want to know if I’ve got insurance. Well I tell you today you can get insurance but what you really need is the BLESSED ASSURANCE”
Insurance is what we buy to protect us when things go wrong.
What we really want is the assurance that things won’t go wrong.
Religious people today use religion as some sort of insurance.
I’ll go to church, or I’ll give a little money
That way I can have a little insurance when I stand before God.
But FAR BETTER than that is assurance ahead of time
That God is already pleased with you.
We all want assurance.
And the assurance that is available to every believer
Is the assurance that heaven is real and they are going there.
There is no reason for a believer to hope they go to heaven.
A believer should have hope because they know they are going to heaven.
This morning I want you to know that
You receive assurance through the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”
And first let me reiterate that ONLY He gives assurance. (not us)
• I have people in my office who want me to tell them they are saved…
• If you ever preach a funeral there is one thing the family expects you to say…
BUT WE CANNOT GIVE THAT ASSURANCE
(namely because we don’t know)
• I’m sure that most people who preached a Pharisee’s funeral put them in
heaven too.
• And I doubt anyone put the thief on the cross there.
Only the Holy Spirit knows the truth, and only He can give assurance.
If you have Him, you can have assurance.
If you don’t, the best you’ll ever get is man’s assurance.
So we understand why we need the Holy Spirit.
He gives assurance.
Now, please understand something here at the outset.
We are not here talking about SECURITY.
We are talking about ASSURANCE.
And there is a difference.
• A person can have security but no assurance.
They are secure, they just don’t know it.
• A person can even have assurance with no security.
They aren’t secure, but they have false assurance.
We are here talking about assurance, not security.
Now you need to understand that believers are 100% secure.
That is thanks to the redemption of Christ Jesus.
And we don’t have time to go all through this, but I’ll hit it quickly for you.
When Christ died upon the cross,
He totally paid the sin debt of every believer.
That is sin past, present, and future.
Some have difficulty thinking that Christ can pay for their sin after they are saved,
But if they will use their head for a second they will realize that
All of their sin was future in relation to the cross.
Christ paid for all of it.
When He died, He said, “It is finished!”
Now there are reasons why we know we are secure.
Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
That is to say, if the death of Christ brought us to God,
Then the life of Christ can certainly keep us there.
That is what Jesus was referring to in John 10 when He said,
“No one can snatch you out of My hand”
His resurrected life means security for the believer.
Namely because of what He does in His new resurrected life.
He is our advocate, our intercessor.
Romans 8:34 “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
Even when believers sin, it does not separate them from God,
Because our great High Priest Jesus is interceding for us.
Because of Jesus, we are secure.
It was this security that Peter wrote about.
1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Once you are in Christ Jesus, you can never be pulled out.
That is security.
Now granted not everyone who claims to be a Christian really is, and that is why we see some who said they were Christians fall away.
They didn’t lose their salvation,
They just showed that they never really had it.
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”
But the truly redeemed, those truly saved are totally secure.
What we are talking about here is that those who are secure
Should enjoy the assurances that go along with that security.
I mean, it is good to be secure in salvation,
But to be secure and still have no assurance is a tragedy.
A believer is secure and they should enjoy it.
Well, the Holy Spirit is the agent that imparts assurance to you.
He helps you enjoy the security that Christ provided.
I’ll read it again:
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”
So we definitely want security,
But we also want to enjoy the assurance that God intended to go with it.
This morning I want you to see that the Holy Spirit will give assurance,
If you are a child of God, and if you listen to Him.
So let’s look at our text this morning.
Look first at verse 13:
(13) 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,”
“In Him” is Jesus.
All that happened here is a result of what Jesus did for you on the cross.
We aren’t talking about where you got security,
We are talking about enjoying it.
And Paul says:
“after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation”
And
“having also believed”
Because we know you can’t believe if you don’t first hear, right?
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
So if you heard and you believed.
“you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”
Now that is a unique term.
What is a seal?
It referred to the signet ring worn by a king.
For various reasons a king would take hot wax, and dip the ring into the wax, thus making a kingly seal.
And the seal could represent several things.
AUTHORITY – if the king gave his seal to you, then you spoke and ruled with the King’s authority.
OWNERSHIP – those things that were imprinted with the king’s seal were the king’s property.
AUTHENTICITY – no one had the seal but the king, and so anything with that seal, you knew it was from the king.
SECURITY – anything with that seal could not be revoked.
You may even remember King Darius wanting to deliver Daniel, but it was too late,
He had already placed his seal upon the verdict.
And that is exactly what we are talking about here with the Holy Spirit.
When you believed in Christ, you became a child of God,
And God then put His seal on you.
That seal represented
His AUTHORITY, His OWNERSHIP, His AUTHENTICITY, His SECURITY.
And here is the really simple point:
NOTHING LETS YOU KNOW YOU ARE CHILD OF GOD,
LIKE HAVING GOD’S SEAL, WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT
The presence of the Holy Spirit in your life is the chief and greatest indicator that you are in fact a saved child of God.
Romans 8:9 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
Romans 8:14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
1 John 4:13 “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
1 John 3:24 “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
Nothing proves you are a child of God
More than the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, a non-Christian cannot receive the Holy Spirit.
John 14:17 “that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
You may remember that was Peter’s logic in whether or not
To go ahead and baptize Cornelious and his Gentile relatives.
Acts 10:47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”
If they had the Holy Spirit then Peter knew they were saved.
There is no greater proof of salvation than the Holy Spirit.
He is the seal indicating that you are in fact a child of God.
That is why we are looking for the Holy Spirit in our lives.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”
Galatians 5:19-24 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
We want to see if He is present within us,
Because this is the chief indicator that I am truly saved.
If I can’t see evidence of Him, then I have a serious problem.
Furthermore that is what we are looking for in the lives of others.
I do this as a pastor all the time.
When people are discouraged and come to me,
I don’t assure them they are saved,
But I do try and help them see if the Holy Spirit is in fact present in their lives.
He is the assurance.
He is the proof.
We are “sealed” by Him.
Now, that is not all.
(14a) “who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession,”
Not only is He a seal, but also “a pledge”
In the Greek “pledge” translated ARRABON
Forms of that word were used to refer to an engagement ring.
It is another word for “deposit” or “down payment”
The presence of the Holy Spirit is
Not just an indicator that you are God’s child,
But God’s way of guaranteeing that He has an inheritance for you.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”
2 Corinthians 5:1-5 “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”
He is “a pledge”…”with a VIEW to the redemption”
In other words, the Holy Spirit is sort of that first taste of what is to come.
He is the reason we know there is something better on the way.
TURN TO: ROMANS 8:18-25
This is Paul explaining to the Romans how they can know for certain that heaven is real and that it is worth suffering for.
You notice in verse 18 that Paul is comparing the present suffering
To the future inheritance, and he says there is really NO COMPARISON.
HOW COULD HE KNOW THAT?
Two reasons:
(VERSES 19-22)
The first reason is creation.
• Creation is a credible witness because creation was here before the fall of
man.
• Creation saw this world before the sin curse.
(VERSES 23-25)
Paul said even we groan within ourselves for something better.
But how do you know there is something better?
You’ve never seen it.
You can’t look it up on the internet.
Yet you know it is there and you know it is better
Because the Holy Spirit inside of you groans for it.
He is the down payment.
And He causes you to hope for it, even though you haven’t seen it.
I know my inheritance is real, namely because of the Holy Spirit inside me.
And that is what Paul is talking about to the Ephesians.
He is “a pledge of our inheritance”
He is the reason we know it is real and it is ours.
So God has given us the Holy Spirit, as a seal
Letting us know we are in fact God’s child
And as a pledge, promising that the inheritance is as ours as well.
Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
In other words, the Holy Spirit is the One who gives us our assurance.
We can know we are God’s child and that we are going to heaven
Because of the Holy Spirit.
And God has done this is so that you and I will praise Him for it.
(14) “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.”
The purpose of God doing this is so that
You will rejoice in God and praise Him for it.
1 Peter 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,”
The purpose of this is so that you will bless God.
So, the Holy Spirit was given, not only to give you assurance,
But ultimately to cause God’s children to praise Him.
He is so valuable.
And that leads me to the final truth we need to see this morning.
Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
By the time we get to Ephesians 4
Paul is already talking about the practical life a Christian should live.
Things like not STEALING or not LYING or not SLANDERING.
And the reason is because all these things “grieve the Holy Spirit of God”
WHY DOES THAT MATTER?
Because it is by Him that you were “sealed for the day of redemption”
You really shouldn’t grieve the One who gives you assurance.
In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians
He alluded that you can even quench the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Do not quench the Spirit;”
I want you to understand this.
Sinful living, grieves the Holy Spirit.
Now, committing a sin after being saved
Will not cause you to lose your salvation,
That is already done, and Christ is interceding for you.
However, sinning after being saved can cause you to lose your assurance, because it grieves the One who gives you assurance.
That is why obedience is so essential to the fulfilled Christian life.
God has saved us through His Son Jesus,
And has given us the Holy Spirit
So that we may enjoy that salvation.
• Do not grieve Him.
• Do not quench Him.
• Instead walk according to His leadership.
That life results not only in assurance,
But ultimately in a life filled with praise to God.
And this is another purpose of the Holy Spirit.
• This morning, do you have assurance?
• Can you see that the Holy Spirit dwells in you?
If so, then rejoice, and follow Him.
If not, then cry out to Jesus asking why.
• It may be that you have never truly trusted Christ and have never
received the Holy Spirit. (You need to)
• It may be that you are God’s child, but sin in your life has grieved and
quenched the Holy Spirit and you need to repent and enter His joy
once again.
But this morning, thanks to the Holy Spirit,
Not only can you have eternal life, but you can enjoy it!
Ephesians 1:13-14 “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.”
