Sealed with the Holy Spirit

Good morning, welcome to NHCC, please open your Bibles to Ephesians 1.

Intro- finishing up this sermon series.

Next week- two weeks bringing us to and through Easter- The Crucified Christ; The Resurrected Christ. Please invite.

Paul as author, Christians in Ephesus as recipients.

One long sentence of praise.

Blessed be.

The Father chooses, predestines and adopts into His family.

The Son redeems through His death on the cross.

The Holy Spirit applies redemption into our lives.

The HS will make us live as people who are redeemed.

Read Ephesians 1:13-14- In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Pray.

As stated earlier, we begin to see here the work of the Spirit. The Father has laid the plan for redemption, The Son has done the work to make redemption possible, now the Spirit applies the work to our lives in order that we might live differently.

Specifically in our text, we see what the Spirit does, and what, or Who, the Spirit is.

First, what the Spirit does.

1. The seal of the Spirit.

The Spirit works in a lot of ways in the life of the believer. The Spirit leads us in righteousness, convicts us of sin, gifts and enables us for ministry.

In our text this morning, the Holy Spirit has sealed God’s children.

In fact, more specifically, the Spirit IS our seal.

Notice what is communicated.

A sinner hears the word of truth (the gospel) and believes in Christ (faith). May we recommit ourselves to gospel proclamation and evangelism.

Paul communicates that in that moment, we have been sealed with the Spirit.

In the Greek- belief and sealing are right next to one another.

Belief and the Spirit go hand in hand. How do we know if we believe? We have evidence of the Spirit’s work in our life.

Why the work of the Spirit is such a big deal throughout all of Scripture.

The Spirit is communicated here as a seal, as a proof of one’s belief. It is important that we see the Spirit as such.

But what does it mean to be sealed with the Spirit? Let’s look over a few possible meanings.

To authenticate.

To show that something is genuine or real.

The seal of the king on a letter.

The contents of the letter are genuine from the one who is in power- the contents rest in his authority.

Imagine the seal of God placed upon you in the giving of the Spirit.

Romans 8:16-17- The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

In this manner, the Spirit authenticates everything that has been communicated of us.

Saints.

To mark as one’s property.

Stake in the ground- sold. No longer open to be owned by any random person.

Licking a piece of candy to prove my ownership.

We are God’s inheritance, we belong to Him. In this way, we have been sealed.

We no longer belong to sin, to Satan, to nature, to this world. We belong always and only to God our Father. We are His.

Reading Ephesians 1 when we are depressed.

The Spirit is the seal, the proof, that we belong only to God.

To make something secure.

To make sure that something survives, to protect it.

Might think of the way in which we seal foods.

Imperfect imagery as we know that even sealed items go bad.

But the seal is meant to prove that what is there has not gone bad.

Ever bought food in which the seal was broken?

The Spirit is our seal. We belong to God. We have life and that life has not expired.

Ephesians 4:30- And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Paul speaks here of a finished and completed redemption, unlike what we have already experienced. Takes us nicely into our next point.

2. The guarantee of the Spirit.

Paul speaks here of the HS as a pledge.

First portion of a payment that will be paid in full.

Money in earnest.

The HS is the guarantee of more to come.

Incomplete redemption.

Consider this concept in two different ways.

Redemption will be made full in your own life.

Philippians 1:6- And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Don’t we doubt this?

Redemption will be made full in all of creation.

Ephesians 1:10- ...as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Major promise given by God about the direction of all reality.

How can we know and trust? The giving of the Spirit is a sign.

What difference should this exclamation of praise make in our lives?

Assurance- Return to a point repeatedly made.

The entirety of the godhead is working for our salvation.

No person of the godhead has been left out. No time from eternity past to eternity future has been left out.

Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Sovereignty, Purity, Sovereignty, Mercy.

All of God working on your behalf.

Fanny Crosby in 1873- “Perfect submission, all is at rest. I in my Savior am happy and bless’d, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love.”

Praise- How has your salvation impacted your heart?

We tend to be so shy and reserved when it comes to what we think of God.

Paul loses himself in this praise.

Kids when they are excited about something. We are unable to keep them quiet.

We praise God. We make it known what we think of Him.

Joachim Neander in 1680- “Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him! All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him. Let the Amen sound from his people again; gladly forever adore him.”