SEALED UNTO GLORY
Posted by Angella Diehl, Webmaster on September 4, 2022 under 2022 |
Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message; August 28, 2022 from Ephesians 1:13-14
Theme: The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is the seal that guarantees us for future glory.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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I often think back on a period of development that I went through in the earliest years of my Christian life. It had mostly to do with my awareness of the consequences of having trusted Jesus as my Savior. I guess you could call them ‘steps of growth’ in my assurance of salvation. I can’t tell how and when all of the specifics of these steps occurred. But I do remember they all occurred—and today, I am very grateful that I went through them.
Let me tell you a little about them.
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The first step in my development occurred immediately after I became a believer. It was when I realized that I was not going to go to hell. Now; that may sound like a simple and obvious thing for a brand new Christian to believe. But for me, it was a very profound and life-changing realization.
You see; I didn’t grow up in a church-going home. I had very little in the way of a religious upbringing. And yet, I had been very aware of the fact that I was guilty before God. I had pretended that, for me, God didn’t exist. And yet, I knew He was there. I had rejected Him; and I had sinned against Him; and I knew that I was justifiably destined for eternal judgment. I remember watching a horror movie when I was a teenager. At the end of the movie, the main characters in the story all discovered that they had died and were about to face eternal judgment. Then, one by one, they were cast down a dark fiery pit into hell. The judge who condemned them then turned to the camera and said, “Now; who’s next? Perhaps … you!” All said and done, it was probably a pretty dumb movie. But that one final scene awakened in me a realization that the lake of fire was where I was truly destined to go. Calling it a ‘horror movie’ was appropriate; because I became very horrified—and it put me into a state of terror of eternal judgment for months afterward.
But strange as it may seem, God used that bizarre movie scene to awaken a need for salvation in me. Not long afterward, I saw the evangelist Billy Graham on television. He explained how God loved me, and that He had sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins, and that if I placed my trust in Jesus, I would be cleansed of all my sins. And at the end of the broadcast, when Dr. Graham said to pray and place my faith in Jesus, I did. I know very clearly when that happened. It was the evening of August 16, 1973. As soon as I finished praying, I felt the guilt of every sin fall away from me; and I felt the love of God for me.
It took a few days afterward for the truth of it all to sink in. But soon, I genuinely took it to heart that I was not going to go to hell. The lake of fire was no longer my destiny; and I no longer had to fear it. I can’t say enough how happy I was! And so; that’s the first stage of my progress in assurance. I realized that I was now no longer destined for eternal judgment.
Now; that was pretty wonderful. But the second stage in my development came a little later. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I had started to attend a good church, and was listening to some good Bible teaching, and was hanging around with some good Christian friends, and was beginning to read the Bible for myself. I can’t say exactly when it happened; but I do remember it. It happened one evening when I was walking around in my parent’s home. It suddenly dawned on me that I was not only not now going to go to hell, but that I was definitely going to go to heaven.
Now; once again, it may sound strange that such a simple thought would come to me like that. After all; shouldn’t it be obvious that if someone was not going to go to hell, they would instead be going to heaven? But you’ve got to understand that I had only just begun in grasp the Christian faith; and the implications of it all were very new to me. And I can’t tell you enough how much more happier this new realization made me! I went to bed that night and almost couldn’t sleep from the thought of it! Why had that not been clear to me before? I wasn’t just escaping the judgment of hell—which was wonderful enough; but now, because of what Jesus did for me, I was definitely destined to go to heaven instead.
I think I had heard a phrase in church sometime before then—that Jesus has made me “as certain for heaven as if I was already there”. It must have been that the truth of that finally struck home for me. And in retrospect, I’m rather glad that this thought didn’t come to me quickly and in a superficial way. It took time for it to sink in. I became excited at the awareness of my happy eternal destiny. That was the second stage for me.
Those two stages marked a tremendous progress in my assurance in the faith. But then—quite a while later in my Christian life—came the third stage. And though I can’t tell you for certain when that third stage came, I feel very sure that it came about because of having read the passage in Ephesians 1 that we’re going to be looking at this morning.
As I matured in my Christian faith, and grew to understand the Bible better, I learned more about the ministry of the Holy Spirit—the third Person of the Trinity. I had learned that God the Father—the first Person—had loved me before the world ever was, and chose me to be redeemed by His Son. I had learned that His Son Jesus—the second Person—had yielded His life to die on the cross in my place; and that in Him, I am washed clean of my sin and am now destined to share in His eternal inheritance in glory. But now, I had grown further to understand that the third Person—the Holy Spirit—was the one who had been watching over me in love all along; who, at just the right time, awakened in me the need for salvation, and who helped me to hear the gospel; who then graciously gave me the faith to believe in Jesus, and who has now taken up permanent residence in me—as He has in all believers—to personally empower me, and to instruct me, and to help me to live the life that pleases God the Father.
And as this morning’s passage shows us; when it comes to those two previous stages in my progress of assurance—that I am not only not now going to hell, but am now going to heaven—it’s the Holy Spirit who indwells me as the ‘seal of guarantee’ that I will definitely be in glory.
In Ephesians 1:13-14, the apostle Paul wrote to his believing brothers and sisters about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross and said;
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).
As I grew to appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit—and to see the clear evidence of His presence and work in my life—I grew even deeper in the assurance of my salvation. I also grew to realize that the seal of the Holy Spirit in me is not just for me. It is also for God the Father and for God the Son—and even for God the Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s presence in me is an objective reality that is the divine assurance that I will never be lost to the Father and the Son. They have set their seal upon me by sending the Holy Spirit to indwell me, and keep me until the day of glory. This was the third stage in this development in my Christian life.
And now; I suppose that if there’s a next stage in my assurance, it will be the day when I finally see Jesus and enter into the glory for which the Holy Spirit is—right now—sealing and guaranteeing me.
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The Book of Ephesians, which we’ve been studying for the past several weeks, is all about rejoicing in the wonderful blessings that are ours in Christ. And here—in these two verses—we encounter yet another blessing. If we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, we can have absolute confidence in the prospect of future glory in Christ. We can be absolutely assured that we will—forever—share in the rich inheritance of Jesus with Him in heaven. God the Father will never forget those of us who are in Christ; but will absolutely bring us into that rich heavenly home. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is the seal that guarantees us for future glory.
Now; what exactly is a ‘seal’? An actual seal is not something that we use very often today; but it was something that was very commonly used in the time when Paul wrote this letter.
The ancient Roman empire would commission certain scribes to certify official documents. Their name was taken from the Latin word not—which means “note”; and they came to be called notarii—which means “reporters”. That’s where we get the name of a modern public official who is authorized by the state government to witness and notarize important documents—a notary public.
Today, a notary public uses a special ink stamp that is issued to him or her by the state. But in ancient times, whenever someone wanted to certify a document or a deed, or preserve the privacy of a letter, or even mark something as belonging to them in an indisputable way, they would place a wax seal upon it. The ‘seal’ was made when a letter or a document or a thing was marked—or even closed up—with a bit of wax poured over a ribbon or cord. Then, the wax was impressed with a signet—such as a ring or a cylinder—that left the identifying mark of the owner or official upon it. (You can even buy little kits today in craft stores that let you do this. But they don’t actually count in a legal sense. You still have to go to a notary public.)
Sometimes a scroll was sealed with several wax seals, so that only portions of it could be opened at particular times. Do you remember how, in the Book of Revelation—in Revelation 5:2—we’re told that a scroll was in God’s hand? A strong angel with a loud voice proclaimed, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” Sometimes, the seal was used as a figure of speech for devotion. Do you remember how—in Song of Solomon 8:6—the Shulamite woman told her husband, “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm …”?
And this is what we’re being told in this passage in Ephesians 1:13-14. The Holy Spirit has been placed in us, and now dwells within us, to serve as the official seal to prove that we belong to God the Father. It’s the certification of His ownership of us—having purchased us with the blood of His own Son. It’s the guarantee that we will—one day—be fully glorified and made sharers together of the rich inheritance of His Son Jesus.
The Bible tells us that all believers have the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to try to get Him to indwell us. He instantly takes up residence in us when we put our trust in Jesus. Romans 8:9-11 tells us as believers;
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:9-11).
The Holy Spirit is a divine Person. He is fully God. He brings the very life of Christ to bear in us. And He willingly and gladly dwells in us to ensure that we will be fully redeemed and fully glorified in Christ. He seals the genuine believer for glory.
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And this brings us to the first great thing that we need to know from Ephesians 1:13-14; that …
1. WE MUST FIRST BELIEVE THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION.
In the translation I’m using, the apostle Paul makes the assumption that we have placed our faith in Jesus as our Savior. In verse 13, he wrote, “In Him [that is, in Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed …”
Paul had just written in verse 12 that he was among those “who first trusted in Christ”. He had formerly been a strict Pharisee who had fought against the gospel; but he encountered the resurrected Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. And now, he believed. He had forsaken all of his past religious works, and now had his complete trust in the cross of Jesus. He also assumed that his readers had heard the gospel, and believed, and now trusted in Jesus.
Look at what he calls the gospel. He says that it is “the word of truth”. Isn’t that a great name for the gospel? It’s the saving truth of God, put forth by God Himself in propositional form—written down so that it can be read, and studied, and proclaimed, and heard, and objectively believed and trusted. It has solid content. It’s the true story of what God has done for us through His Son—how He saw our sin and our helpless and lost condition, how He had mercy on us, and how He willingly gave His Son to be our redeemer. It’s the true story of how the Son of God left His glory in heaven and became born into the human family—conceived in the womb of Mary, born of a virgin, born without the taint of any sin of fallen humanity upon Him. It’s the true story of how He lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to the Father, how He was crucified for us, how He bore our sins on His own person on the cursed cross for us, and how He died in our place—paying the death penalty for our sin. It’s the true story of how He rose in victory three days later, to show that our sins are now completely atoned for and that the Father in heaven has received His sacrifice on our behalf. It’s the true story of how He ascended to the Father, intercedes for us right now at the Father’s right hand, and will one day come again in power and glory. It’s the true story of how He now shares the fullness of His inheritance from the Father with all who believe on Him and are redeemed by Him.
It’s “the word of truth”. Have you believed it?
Paul also said that it is “the gospel [or “good news”] of our salvation.” It’s good news that saves those who believe it. As Paul said in Romans 1:16;
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17).
And before we go another step forward, it’s important to ask: Have you heard this gospel?—this “word of truth”? And more; have you consciously, thoughtfully, and intentionally placed your faith in what it tells you that Jesus has done for you? You see; Paul’s words make it very plain that the ‘sealing’ and ‘guarantee’ of the Holy Spirit isn’t for everyone. Apart from faith in Jesus, someone’s destiny is what I described earlier—the eternal judgment of God in the lake of fire. Because of our sins, that is our just and proper destiny before God. But God in mercy has sent His Son to save us—if we will put our faith in His sacrifice for us.
Have you placed your faith in Him? Have you believed the gospel, and trusted what Jesus did for you? I sincerely hope you have.
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And if you have, then the next thing this passage tells us is that …
2. WE ARE NOW DESTINED FOR GLORY IN CHRIST.
The thing that the Holy Spirit seals us for is the destiny to which God has saved us. He abides in order to guarantee that we will share in the rich inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ. You’ll find that inheritance mentioned in verse 14; that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee “of our inheritance”.
We saw that inheritance referred to earlier in verses 11-12. The apostle Paul wrote;
In Him [that is, in Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory (vv. 11-12).
That inheritance is all of the heavenly riches that God the Father has given to His Son. By faith, God has now made us to be co-heirs with His Son Jesus. We are destined to be glorified with Jesus.
A moment ago, I read from Romans 8. In that passage—in Romans 8:15-17—the apostle Paul went on to something about this. He said;
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Romans 8:15-17).
We are now heirs with Jesus. The Lord Jesus—in whom we believe and trust—now gladly shares all the riches of His glory with us. And when we finally see Him, we will enter with Him into the bliss of all His riches in heaven.
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Now; the Holy Spirit continually bears witness to us that this is so. He reminds us that we are children of God, and joint heirs with Jesus. And that leads us to the third thing this passage affirms to us; that …
3. WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US AS THE GUARANTEE.
As Paul has written, “having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession …”
Back in the days when I was still that ‘teenager’ that I told you about earlier, I got my first job. And what did I do as soon as I got my first paycheck? I went to a music store in downtown Seattle and made a down payment on a beautiful Yamaha 12-string guitar. I didn’t fully understand the concept of “down payments” yet, however. I thought that as soon as I made my first down payment, I could walk out with the guitar. After all, I’d definitely come back with the rest later. But no! That wasn’t how it works! That first installment was just the payment that would secure the guitar for me until after I had paid the rest. I had to wait to take it home.
Well; I kept on working, and finally—two weeks after the first down payment—I could pay the balance and ‘redeem’ that guitar from its storage in the backroom of the music store and take it home. Ever since then, I’ve thought about what it means that the Holy Spirit is the ‘guarantee’ of our inheritance ‘until the redemption of the purchased possession’. The purchased possession is us; dear brothers and sisters! And the Holy Spirit is the down payment—the earnest—the guarantee that we belong to God the Father through Jesus His Son. We’re not in heavenly glory yet; but the Holy Spirit’s presence in us assures us that God will one day take claim of the “purchased possession”. The Holy Spirit living in us is the seal that marks us as belonging to God—and is the guarantee that we will be in glory with the Lord Jesus forever.
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And why would God do this? As verse 14 makes clear to us …
4. IT IS ALL SO THAT GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED.
God did not place His Holy Spirit in us to secure us for Himself because there was something wonderful about us. Not at all. We were unworthy sinners. But He does this for us so that we would forever be to the praise of His glory.
That’s been the theme all along as we’ve been studying from these first few verses of Ephesians 1. Look at them again; and see how all of the work that the triune Godhead has done for us has been to the praise of God’s glory. Look at the work of the Father in verses 3-6;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (vv. 3-6).
And then, look at the work of Jesus the Son on our behalf in verses 7-12;
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory (vv. 7-12).
And finally, look at the work of the Holy Spirit on our behalf in our passage this morning—how He secures us in it all, and serves as the guarantee that it will all be completed;
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory (vv. 13-14).
And see that it’s all to the praise of His glory!
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Now; in closing, look at how Paul begins a brand new section … starting in verse 15. He begins by saying, “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus …” He assumes that his readers have placed their faith in Jesus. And so I ask once again: Have you placed your faith in Him?
It’s vital that you make absolutely sure of it; because this promise of the sealing of the Holy Spirit unto glory is only for those who have done so. I hope you will make sure of it today. And then if you have made sure of it, you can know … as I have come to know, and as everyone who has placed their faith in Jesus can come to know … that you are not only not going to hell, but are going to heaven. And not only are you going to heaven, but you are absolutely certain to be there.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in you is the seal that guarantees you for it.
AE
