In Christ, You Have Been Sealed with the Spirit

BLANK SLIDE TO BEGIN RECORDING (Please don’t wait for Matt to be on podium.)

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Introduction and Scripture Reading

I invite you to open your Bibles, Bible app, to Ephesians 1 with me this morning, where we’ll continue to see God’s unequaled sovereignty in salvation and the hope we have for our future eternity.

Scripture Introduction

So far in our unfolding of this wonderfully unified, but long Greek sentence, we’ve seen three blessings for everyone who is in Christ:

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1. We have been predestined to be holy and blameless as God’s adopted children;

2. God has purchased our redemption so that our sins are fully forgiven;

3. In His Kindness, God has shown us His mysterious will—to unite everything in heaven and earth in Christ, who is first in everything. (Gk. To sum up all things in Christ.)

Ephesians: Verse by Verse Blessing 3: The Mystery of His Will (1:8–10)

All the riches of heaven are available to us, who are “kept by the power of God” (1 Pet 1:5). This pouring out encompasses not only the salvific riches that lead to forgiveness of sins but also the spiritual blessings of 1:3. God’s wealth cannot be exhausted, and it is always available to his children (see also 1:18; 2:7; 3:8, 16; Col 1:27; 2:2). When we get to heaven we will be shocked by how little of the divine largesse we have actually used; we depend on ourselves far more than we should.

This morning we’ll see two additional blessings that are graciously given to those who are in Christ:

4. God, who is sovereign over all things, purposed to save us so that our lives would glorify him;

5. Having been sealed with the Spirit, we are secure in Christ.

Scripture reading

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First we see God’s Work in eternity past

Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

God’s glorious purpose in redemption (present age)

Ephesians 1:7–10 ESV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

God’s purpose in predestination and the promise of our eternal inheritance

Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

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Prayer for Illumination

Heavenly Father, you have given us everything in Christ, so we ask you now to help us take hold of it all by understanding your Word as you open our spiritual eyes to understand the immeasurable greatness of your power toward us who are in Christ. We ask this so we may live day to day in your resurrection power through the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In Christ, You Have Been Sealed with the Spirit

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I. God (who is sovereign over all things) purposed to save us so that our lives would glorify him. (11, 12)

God’s purpose is to sum up everything in Christ, so our divine inheritance is guaranteed.

Paul’s theme from v. 10 continues here. As God purposes to sum up all things in Christ, so “In Christ we have obtained an inheritance...” In other words, we’ve been

Born again to a living hope

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1 Peter 1:3–4 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

The practical side of that truth is that, because we are identified with Christ, our lives should be identified with His life (cf. 1 John 2:6).

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1 John 2:6 ESV

6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

We are to love as He loved, help as He helped, care as He cared, share as He shared, and sacrifice our own interests and welfare for the sake of others just as Jesus did. Like our Lord, we are in the world to lose our lives for others.

? How did this happen? We’ve been predestined to believe.

Predestined” means, “to decide upon beforehand.”

(A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament [The University of Chicago Press, 2nd ed.], by Walter Bauer, William Arndt, and Wilbur Gingrich, p. 709).

It does not mean, God knew beforehand so he decided to predestine us.

It means, “The omniscient God has determined everything in advance, both persons and things in salvation history, with Jesus Christ as the goal.” (K. L. Schmidt, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament [Eerdmans], ed. by Gerhard Friedrich, V:456).

The doctrine stems from the fact that God is eternal, outside of time. In eternity, before He created the world of space and time, God freely determined His purpose and plan, which is all for His glory.

(John Piper, God’s Passion for His Glory [Crossway Books], with Jonathan Edwards’ essay, “The End for Which God Created the World”!!)

I believe that the main reason Paul emphasizes this here is to give us assurance that our salvation rests on God’s eternal, unshakable purpose, and not on anything in us.

The doctrine of election, predestination, is never intended to be used for theological sparring, or to bring the pride of higher knowledge, in any way. In fact, the doctrine of election should be the most humbling of all doctrines because election places all of the emphasis for our salvation on God, and not on us.

Apparently for Paul the doctrine of election was immensely comforting, just as it was centuries later for Jonathan Edwards, who wrote that

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“The doctrine (of election) has often appeared exceedingly pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God.”

Whenever Scripture presents a doctrine that is intended to lead us to praise and glorify our great God, but certain men attack that doctrine, it is a sign of the enemy at work. Satan is opposed to everything that exalts God and humbles proud man. So when the truth of God’s Word is proclaimed in a way that brings us to absolute dependence on His sovereign grace, the enemy attacks. This is the case with the doctrine of God’s sovereignty as it relates to our salvation.

Some doubt this doctrine because according to our human wisdom it seems unfair, to which I respond, “Yes, you’re right that it is unfair, but not how you think.

It is unfair that God would send his perfect, spotless Son, who was creating our world at the very beginning and who is first among all things, to live on this earth which we have so degraded by our sin.

It is unfair that God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, would live perfectly righteous, and give his life on Calvary for you and me who are so quick to desert him.

And it is unfair that God would show his kindness to us....toward anyone…in Christ that we might be saved.

So yes, it is unfair. But God is not unfair because he is orchestrating a plan for the fullness of time that He planned with and for individuals before the foundation of the world. Remember, God’s plan involves us as individuals, and we are the beneficiaries of God’s immeasurable kindness, but God’s plan is for his glory, not for ours. God is God, he is the King and he does what he pleases. The sooner you and I come to terms with this reality, the sooner we will submit our lives to him in everything.

Predestination shows us God’s eternal perspective.

God’s eternal perspective in election is the dominant theme of 1 Cor 1-2 where Paul humbles the pride of worldly “wisdom,” and shows that God’s way of wisdom is the “foolishness of the cross,” a message that is absurd according to our human wisdom.

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1 Corinthians 1:26–31 (ESV)

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

And then he adds,

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

The test of sound doctrine is that it gives all glory to God and none to us.

Here, God “works all things according to the purpose of his will....”

God does the working.

He ordains all of our days before we were born (Ps 139:16; Job 14:5).

If you deny that God works all things after the counsel of His will, you rob believers of the comfort that He “causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

It would be a scary universe indeed if some things are not under God’s sovereign control! The Bible rather presents a universe under the sovereign control of a wise, loving, omnipotent God who will judge all evil in His perfect time and plan. A god who is not in control of all the evil things that happen is not the God of the Bible! We can trust Him to keep His promises because He works all things after the counsel of His will.

Application

When you post on social media, talk with your friends, encourage others to be strong, how much of your positive, well-meaning encouragement focuses on the person rather than on God and his purposes.

Listen to the difference.

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Example 1:

You got this! You are strong and God’s always got your back. Keep the faith and God will get you through.

(Now this is not necessarily wrong. But compare to this.)

Example 2:

I am praying for you. God has real purpose in your pain, even though we don’t see it now. Cling to Jesus who will sustain you and keep you, and let every ounce of your pain, remind you how glorious eternity will be with Jesus compared to what you experience now! Use this to point others to the grace of God!

Restate: God has purposed and worked to save us so that our lives would glorify him alone.

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II. Having been sealed with the Holy Spirit, we are secure in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When you heard the Word of truth and believed, the gospel of your salvation, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit.

In his commentary Charles Hodge points out rightly that there are three purposes for which a seal is used and that each illustrates the Spirit’s work:

a seal is used to confirm an object or document as being true or genuine, like the seal of the United States which appears on paper currency or by the seal affixed to a passport;

a seal is used to mark a thing as one’s property, like a nameplate on the flyleaf of a book; and

a seal is used to make something fast or secure, like the seal of the Sanhedrin placed upon the tomb of Christ.

Each of these illustrates something important about the Spirit’s work. The Holy Spirit verifies that the one receiving him really is God’s child, as Paul says in Romans 8:16

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Romans 8:16–17 ESV

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones thinks that this is the chief point of Paul’s reference in Ephesians 1:14 and spends five chapters on it.

The Holy Spirit is also God’s claim on us that we truly are his possession. The phrase “God’s possession” is used explicitly in verse 14.

(James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 31–32.)

Finally, the Holy Spirit makes the Christian secure in his new faith and relationship. This comes through in the idea of the Spirit’s being “a deposit [or down payment] guaranteeing our inheritance” until our full redemption. Like a down payment on the purchase of a property, he is proof of God’s good faith and an earnest of the full amount to come.

Sealing with the Holy Spirit answers to all our needs. It assures us of God’s favor. It shows that we belong to him. It renders our salvation certain.

How do we know if we have the Holy Spirit?

We heard the gospel of our salvation, and recognized it as truth, not man’s opinion (13b).

…when you heard the word of truth...

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1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV) | The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

We believed it to be true, confessed our sin, trusted Christ in faith and were saved (13c)

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(We read this last week.)

2 Corinthians 4:4–6 ESV

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit replaced our hopelessness and despair with hope in God’s promises (13c-14a)

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Ephesians 2:12 (ESV) | remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

The fruit of our inheritance is that the Holy Spirit began producing His fruit in us.

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Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV) | 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Fruit naturally takes time to grow, but if God’s spirit dwells in us, He begins the process of character transformation and over time, you will see more and more godliness develop in your life.

This is the doctrine of progressive sanctification.

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2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV) | 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

We have the security of knowing we belong to Christ forever.

This is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (though it’s helpful to call it the preservation of the saints).

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Verse 14 says, “the Spirit is the guarantee, pledge, or down payment of our inheritance until (not if) we acquire possession of it.”

Being in Christ enables us to walk in his ways; to the praise of his glory.

Illustration

Someone has pictured the divine and human sides of salvation in this way: When you look toward heaven you see a sign that reads, “Whosoever will may come,” and after you enter heaven you look back to that same sign and read on the other side, “Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.”

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Recap

In Christ you have been sealed with the Spirit:

God purposed, in Christ, to save us so that our lives would glorify him.

Having been sealed with the Spirit (at salvation), we are secure in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Application

Every glorious truth Paul celebrates in this single Greek sentence is intended to help us be to the praise of his glory (vv., 6, 12, 14).

Transition statement: What you hope for determines what you live for. What you hope for determines who you live for, and when the pressure in life squeeze you (your heart, revealing your deep-seated beliefs), go to the Lord and ask Him to help you do the very thing he purposed for you when he called you to himself: live to the praise of His glory!

You can do this because, if you are in Christ, you have been sealed with the God’s Spirit. Rest securely in this. Live vigorously in this reality in the down time of life so you’re prepared for the unexpected pressures.

Meet God through His Spirit in the Word of God daily so you can testify to the glorious joy of fellowship with the Creator of everything that exists.

Transition to Communion

Communion

Isn’t it amazing that the Creator and Sustainer created a way for us to remember that Jesus’ body was broken for us, and we drink this cup to remind us that his blood was poured out as the atoning sacrifice for our salvation.

Friends, this is a meal for Christians in the context of corporate worship. If you haven’t trusted your eternity to God through Christ in faith, we’d ask you to abstain and use this as an opportunity for prayer. Feel free to come tap me on the shoulder if you have questions about this gospel. I’d love nothing more than to talk with you about your eternal destiny.

Parents, we invite you to use this time to explain the gospel of Jesus to your children again. Or better, let them explain it to you and help them along.

As we sing about the Amazing Grace of God, let the reality that you are in Christ really sink in. Sing with all your heart.

Is there discord in a relationship with someone here? Someone has to initiate reconciliation. In Jn 13:35, Jesus tells us that the way we love one another will show the world whether we are his disciples. Love is active. Love takes initiative following the pattern of how Christ has taken initiative with us. Go to them even now. Don’t worry about what others will think or wonder. That’s their issue if they’re more focused on you than their own heart.

Someone you know of that’s struggling, go to a brother or sister and pray over them.

Is there someone that’s been an encouragement to you, go praise God with them for their encouragement in Christ.

Let’s commune together.

Closing Prayer