The Seal of Heaven

Pastor Anthony J Shetley, Point of Life Church, August 1, 2021

We are living in the last days on the timeline of History. God’s word answers the question, “What’s this world coming to?”

There is coming an end to this age, but not to this world. This world and the heavens will be made anew.

When Jesus gave what is known as “the great commission” to His disciples, He assured them saying, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Modern translations translate His words more accurately by saying “to the end of this age.”

In essence Jesus says to them, “I will be with you until the completion of the appointed time of grace.” This is the age of the church.

These are the “last days” when God has made a new covenant and poured out His Holy Spirit.

The next event, the imminent rapture of the church, will usher in the 70th week of the prophet Daniel’s prophecy. A week of seven years of God’s judgment upon this earth. 3 ½ years of tribulation, followed by, 3 ½ years of the great tribulation. Then Christ will set up His kingdom upon this earth.

In Christ, the partition wall (the separation of Jew and Gentile) has been broken down, and citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is comprised of all men from every nation who believe in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:14; 18-19; 22

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall…

for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

So, then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

…in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

At present, the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. The message of John the Baptist, Jesus, His apostles, and the first century church is still the same: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

The Kingdom of God is at hand through the person of God the Holy Spirit Who dwells in the church, which is the body of Christ.

Every blood-bought member of the church has been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He is the “down payment” or portion of our future, eternal inheritance.

The Seal of God

David K. Lowery: THE Bible Knowledge Commentary

“A further consequence of the Spirit’s presence is the seal of ownership which also is accomplished at the moment of faith. A seal on a document in New Testament times identified it and indicated its owner, who would “protect” it. So too, in salvation, the Holy Spirit, like a seal, confirms that Christians are identified with Christ and are God’s property, protected by Him. It was probably this thought that caused Paul to describe himself as a slave of Christ.”

We have been chosen and marked out by God - sanctified unto God in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

We are sealed for

Resurrection

Escape from condemnation

Romans 8:1;11 - There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Deliverance from the second death

Revelation 20:6 - Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Entrance into God’s eternal kingdom and access to the spring of the water of life

Revelation 21:6–7 - Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

Christ is Our Living Hope

This world is not our home. We are seeking a homeland; a city whose builder and maker is God.

In Christ Alone is Eternal Life.

1 John 5:11–12 - And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

If you don’t know Christ

“Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

If you have been raised up with Christ

“Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”