Sealed for Delivery

SEALED FOR DELIVERY Spring Valley Mennonite; November 1, 2020; Ephesians 1:13-14 My mother was a very thoughtful gift-giver. Her gifts at birthdays and Christmas were always useful, but somewhat out of the ordinary. I can't remember when she gave me this gift but it has proven very practical and beneficial. This is an "Official pocket seal." It enables me to place an embossed seal-essentially on anything-but the seal reads "Library of David L. Norris." I place my seal in the books of my library signifying ownership. After I place my seal on a book, the book is changed, and the seal cannot be undone. When I lend a book, it communicates to the borrower that the book is mine, and hopefully it will find its way home. The seal lends a bit of security to the book. In our study today we find that God places a seal of security, protection and authentication upon each believer, and that seal is the Holy Spirit. We come this morning to the last verses in Paul's long summary statement in the beginning of Ephesians, verses 3-14. We find the work of the three-fold God in this summary statement: God the Father originates the plan for the redemption of man. This plan is unfolded in progressive manner through the Bible. God the Son carries out the plan of redemption as He made the sacrifice which satisfied the justice of God, and the Holy Spirit enlightens mankind to understand and believe unto salvation and is the Divine Agent of regeneration. The Spirit's indwelling guarantees that those who believe will persevere to the end. God's plan of redemption demonstrates His long-suffering love. That love provided a final sacrifice for the Adamic sin nature inherent in each human heart, sin that creates a barrier between every person and a Holy God. God's eternal plan of redemption provides a remedy for sin: God the Son, Jesus Christ, took on human flesh and came to earth to die as a sacrifice for us. God the Spirit enables us to understand and respond in faith, and then He takes up residence in us, making our bodies His dwelling place. He becomes our Seal of protection, security, and authentication. The Holy Spirit is the focus of our attention this morning. Turn to Ephesians 1 and to verses 13-14 (READ). I will begin by pointing out a vital relationship in verse 13: that of... I. THE WORD OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD We always find the Word and the Holy Spirit linked throughout the revelation of God's Plan. As we examine the written revelation of God, which is the Bible (and nothing else, by the way), we find that it is the Holy Spirit who inspired the human writers with divine thoughts. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that All Scripture is inspired by God...The word "inspired" means "God-breathed." Second Peter 1:21 informs us: "...no prophesy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." So, the Holy Spirit is the Divine Author of Scripture. The Word of God is the "message of truth" spoken of in verse 13. Yet something must happen before the message of truth can "sink in" for an individual, enabling us to listen and respond. John 16:8: "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;" Verse 13 continues the thought: "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth..." Until the Holy Spirit first convicts a person of sin, enabling that person to realize he is a sinner and under judgment, simply hearing the message of the Gospel has no effect. It is like we are surrounded by complete darkness and at some point, the Holy Spirit "turns on the light" and we are enabled to see ourselves as sinners. He opens our minds to understand thee truth of the Gospel. As we respond positively with the desire to repent and turn away from our sin toward God the Holy Spirit does the second step in His work of regeneration. This is what Jesus spoke of with Nicodemus in John 3 when he told the religious leader," Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." To come back to our topic of understanding the relation of the Word of God and the Spirit of God, just as the Word of God is interpreted by the Spirit, both in the calling of a person to Christ initially and in the believer's life following salvation, the Spirit is identified by the Word. What do I mean? Well, there are many spirits around today, many different voices talking to us, many sources which offer to give us information ad ideas and solutions to our problems. I'm sure you are as tired as I am of the constant stream of political ads claiming that their candidate has the answers to all the problems we face! How do we know which voices agree with what God would tell us? Radical Muslim terrorists claim to be following God's voice! (The answer to that question is that they are listening to a false god.) How can we know for sure we are following the Holy Spirit? Good question! Fortunately, there is a simple answer: The Spirit of God always agrees with the Word of God. As we study the Word, the works and ways of the Holy Spirit are revealed. As the Spirit daily guides us, He will never lead contrary to the Word of God, for God does not contradict Himself. A practical application of this relation of the Spirit and the Word comes in the life of a church such as ours. Some groups swing far to the end of the spectrum and emphasize the Spirit without the Word of God. This results in divisions, mysticism, and excessive individualism with everyone going his own way "following the Spirit." Confusion results if you set aside the Word, thinking you are following the Spirit. On the other hand, and listen carefully, for this is where we might find ourselves-if we minimize the Holy Spirit and the freshness and vitality He brings, our individual Christian lives can be reduced to a mechanical, orthodox, lifeless sterility. Instead of coming to church and being energized and encouraged, we find church dull and lifeless. Ray Stedman describes this as resulting "in a kind of clenched-teeth piety in which the people resolve that they are going to 'do their duty' as Christians, but there is no motivation, no hunger, no satisfaction, no love, no warmth, no joy and no life." How sad when a church is filled with believers who ignore the need for the filling of the Holy Spirit. But this is not the normal Christian life, nor should it be the normal Christian Church service. We need the interaction of the Word of God and the Spirit of God. I will speak more of this in a moment. In verse 13 we observe three steps, or experiences through which every person is saved. The first step is: II. WE MUST HEAR THE WORD OF TRUTH How did you first come to hear the true Gospel of salvation? I imagine for many it was through godly parents who first sang the words of "Jesus Loves Me" and read Bible stories to us. Certainly, any Sunday School program "worth its salt" is centered around the Gospel message, and you may have heard it first through Sunday School, or Vacation Bible School. Others may hear the word of truth through a preaching service like this one, or during a revival, or over the radio or television. God may have used a Gideon Bible in a hotel room, or a gospel tract. A neighbor or a friend may have personally shared the message of salvation. The medium of music has been effective over the years in breaking through the hard shell of resistance to the gospel. There are multitudes of gospel resources available today on the internet. This medium is proving very effective in reaching into the Muslim world. Whatever the method, at some point in time, each one of us had the Gospel communicated to us. Just to clarify the issue, let me remind you exactly what the Gospel is: It is the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins. He was crucified, buried, and three days later rose from the grave. Each person must acknowledge he is a sinner, and desiring to turn from that sin to God, personally lay claim to the forgiveness offered by Jesus Christ. One does this by placing his faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We are then born again, regenerated, and given new life by the Spirit of God-- Who then takes up residence within us. That is the Good News of the Gospel. And we must clearly hear it before we are able to believe it. Romans 10:17: "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God." Romans 10 points out something very vital to this process of salvation when it says in verse 13, "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" People do not hear the message until someone is sent, and this is a very vital part of what the church is all about. On the most basic level, every one of us is a "sent one" to those within our unique circle of friends and acquaintances. Jesus told His disciples in John 20:21, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." This informal level of sending of each one of us is often the most fruitful. The next level of sending would be in the called workers of the church: Sunday School teachers, Bible Study leaders-even, in one sense, I as your Pastor am "sent" by you to proclaim the gospel each Sunday, and as opportunity presents itself, in the community. A third level of sending is when we send short-term workers to other communities. We see this often with our young people when they go on mission trips. And then we send and support missionaries and church planters who take the Gospel both near and far. This is our privilege and responsibility as a church. The Holy Spirit's part in this effort is to take the message presented and open the ears, mind and heart of the hearers. The second aspect of the process of salvation seen in verse 13 states: III. EACH ONE MUST PERSONALLY BELIEVE Hearing the Gospel message is not enough; one must believe. The first words attributed to Jesus in the book of Mark are: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." John 1:12: But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." We come back to Nicodemus, and for Jesus' words about believing unto salvation: John 3:14-18: (NASB95) As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. What does it mean to "believe?" The Greek word "to believe" is "pisteuo"; the noun "pistis" is always translated "faith." To believe means to have faith. The biblical term focuses upon the object of the belief rather than upon the act of believing. Biblical faith means to place confidence in Someone, to rely completely upon Someone, to be fully persuaded about Someone. The reliability or credibility of the object is the all important focus. We believe in the object of the gospel message, Jesus Christ. He is the object of our faith, of our belief. Paul told the Philippian jailer: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." He didn't say 'believe about Jesus' but to believe "IN Him." To believe means that I place all my confidence in Jesus and what He did on the cross. To believe means that I am fully persuaded that He died in MY place, being MY substitute. To believe means that I am trusting completely in Him, and Him alone for my salvation. I believe that Jesus has forgiven all my sins, and that I am now a child of God. That is what it means to believe. The amazing story of Charles Blondin, a famous French tightrope walker, is a wonderful illustration of what "true faith and believing" is. "Blondin's greatest fame came on September 14, 1860, when he became the first person to cross a tightrope stretched 11,000 feet (over a quarter of a mile) across the mighty Niagara Falls. People from both Canada and America came from miles away to see this great feat. He walked across, 160 feet above the falls, several times... each time with a different daring feat - once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and blindfolded. One time he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet in the middle of the rope! A large crowd gathered, and the buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the riverbank. The crowd "Oohed and Aahed!" as Blondin carefully walked across - one dangerous step after another - pushing a wheelbarrow holding a sack of potatoes. Upon reaching the other side, the crowd's applause was louder than the roar of the falls! Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" The crowd enthusiastically yelled, "Yes! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!" "Okay," said Blondin, "Who wants to get into the wheelbarrow." As far as the Blondin story goes, no one did at the time! In August of 1859, Charles Blondin's manager, Harry Colcord, did ride on Blondin's back across the Falls."1 The Holy Spirit convinces us of the truth of the Gospel message, and we respond by believing-by placing our full faith and confidence in the truth of the Gospel, and we are born of the Spirit, regenerated, enlivened by God's Spirit. And then, God the Holy Spirit does another work: IV. THE HOLY SPIRIT SEALS US (This is the third step or experience of salvation) In biblical times, they didn't have glue or envelopes in which to seal important documents; they didn't really have anything on which to write other than very crude paper called papyrus or thin leather sheets called parchment. To seal a document for security purposes, it was either rolled up in the fashion we know as a scroll, or carefully folded. Melted wax was dripped on the outside and often a signet was pressed into the warm wax leaving an impression. Often a "signet ring" was worn for this purpose. The face of the ring was pressed into the warm wax. In addition to the idea of security, the seal also was affixed to objects to convey ownership or authority, like a signature which authenticates a message. When the seal was on something, it helped guard the object against theft. Such a seal was affixed to the tomb of Jesus, bearing the authority of the Roman Empire. So, a seal could signify any or all of the ideas of security, authenticity, ownership or authority. Paul tells us that, at the moment of believing, we were (past tense) "sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise." I see first the idea of security: nothing breaks through the seal of God. In addition, it tells us that God has placed His seal of approval or authenticity upon us. We are truly His children, marked by the Holy Spirit. Our "Holy Spirit seal" says that we have been bought with a price, and now are under the ownership of God. It also says that we are His children by the authority of God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. Verse 14 continues with the truth that the Holy Spirit is also "given to us as a pledge of our inheritance..." The pledge is a guarantee, a down-payment made to us. The Holy Spirit who seals us in Christ is God's guarantee that He will accept those who He has paid for. It is absolutely inconceivable that God would forfeit something which cost Him so much, the precious blood of His Son. Romans 8:23 describes the Holy Spirit as the "first fruits" which we have causing us to wait eagerly for all that is ours by right of inheritance in the future. One of the most encouraging promises of scripture is that we have a guaranteed inheritance waiting for us. In addition to the present benefits and blessings of salvation, we have an indescribably rich inheritance awaiting us. We begin to enter into the possession of this future inheritance when we die, and the fullness of it comes when Jesus returns at the rapture. One anticipated part of this inheritance will be our new resurrected bodies, free from all age and infirmity. In some way, we will rule and reign with Jesus in His earthly Millennial Kingdom. And that is just the beginning! Pastor John MacArthur summarizes our inheritance, saying it consists of "life, righteousness, joy, peace, perfection, God's Presence, Christ's glorious companionship, and rewards." I would add, "And all else that God has planned and has not yet revealed!" God has given us the Holy Spirit as our down-payment of that inheritance, God's guarantee. When we agree to buy a home, while the loan is being processed, and to demonstrate that we truly intend to go through with the deal, we are required to put up "earnest money." If you back out of the deal, that money is forfeited. It is a practice to keep us from making frivolous promises. It will cost you if you back out. God will not back out of this deal, and the Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will in fact receive the fullness of eternal life as a joint heir with Christ. God full intends to fulfill all His glorious promises to us. We are sealed for delivery! One last very practical question regarding the sealing of the Holy Spirit: V. HOW CAN I KNOW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS SEALED ME AND THAT I HAVE TRULY BELIEVED? It was to the Corinthian Christians, perhaps not the most spiritually minded of people that Paul asked the question recorded in 1 Corinthians 3:16: "Do you not know that you are a temple of the God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Our lesson from this is that having the seal of the Spirit, and His indwelling presence does not guarantee that we will not have problems or struggles with sin. There may be times in our lives when the Spirit's presence is clouded. But there are some signs which come from the Holy Spirit's presence in our life. One is seen in Galatians 4:6: "...because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying 'Abba! Father!'" "Abba" is an intimate term corresponding to the English "Daddy or Papa." Someone has said, "Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a daddy." There is intimacy and tenderness, a dependent closeness which is signified by the term "Abba." If the Holy Spirit is in your life, He desires to lead you to a closer intimacy with the Father... I say without any irreverence, a "daddy-relationship." If one has no interest of drawing close to God; if one is content with keeping God way off in the distance, and this aloofness toward God never changes, then there might be good reason to wonder if that person is truly born of the Spirit. Another sign that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit is found in Romans 8:14-16: "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." One who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit learns to follow God, not as a slave obeying his master out of fear of punishment, but out of a love relationship wanting to please and bring honor to our Heavenly Father. Consider for a moment the part of this passage which says "The Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God"; while there are often inner "feelings" associated with the Christian life, we must admit such thing are pretty subjective, varying from person to person. While we may sense an inner witness, the objective, observable witness of a Spirit empowered and changed life is much more objective and convincing. In a legally binding Roman adoption, seven reputable witness and to be present to attest to the adoption. Scripture affirms that we shall be known as a Christian by our fruit. The fruit of the Spirit in my life, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control bear witness that I am His child, because I am then reflecting the family resemblance of Jesus. He Holy Spirit helps me act like Christ. Have you been sealed by the Spirit? Having heard the Gospel truth, has the Holy Spirit "turned on the light" enabling you to clearly see your self as a sinner with any remedy except Jesus Christ? Have you believed, putting your faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? If you have, then the Holy Spirit has sealed you: your salvation is secure and authentic, proof positive of God's ownership. The seal is God's signet of authority. The Holy Spirit should not be bearing testimony with your spirit as He changes our lives. 1 stories2inspire.com/2019/03/a-lesson-in-faith-the-charles-blondin-story --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2