The Earnest
Saved, Sealed, Secured, Settled.
Introduction
We move to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit for this next segment of the series and explaining that which we believe concerning him and that which the Bible teaches of him.
According to the doctrinal statement of the Church we have this written;
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person; equal with God the Father and God the
Son and of the same nature and that he was active in creation. He convicts of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgement and bears witness to and exalts the Person of Christ.
He is the agent in the New birth through which the believer is spiritually baptised when
he believes. The Holy Spirit seals, empowers, guides, teaches, and sanctifies the
believer. We believe that the Holy Spirit enables every believer to serve God through the
ministry of spiritual gifts. However, we believe that the miraculous sign gifts such as
tongues and healings, as recorded in the New Testament, were Apostolic in nature and
have ceased to exist as distinct ministries of individuals. We believe that God can
intervene in human history in a miraculous way should he choose to do so, but we
believe that the occurrence of such interventions today are distinct from the
phenomena of the miraculous sign gifts evident in Apostolic times.
Mark 16:20 Matthew 28:19 Genesis 1:1-3 Luke 1:35 John 14:16-17 John 3:5-
6 John 1:33 John 14:26 Romans 8:14,16,26-27 1 Corinthians 13:8 John 16:8-
11 Hebrews 9:14 1 Corinthians 14:21-22 Ephesians 1:13-14 Hebrews 2:4
This morning we are going to be simply dealing with that first act of the Holy Spirit concerning those who have believed the Gospel and are born again; that is;
“The Holy Spirit Seals”
It is what we refer to as “Assurance”, or often also referred to Theologically as “The Doctrine of The Preservation Of The Saints”.
We are going to be concentrating on the passage of the text read this morning, but having our focus on verse 13 and 14 only.
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
We will indeed be speaking of the Holy Spirit and his work, but there simply can be no talk of the Spirit of God that excludes the Gospel.
Indeed, what we find even in the text before us this morning is a full presentation of the doctrine of salvation that can truly be sup-raised in four simple words that form the subheading of the Sermon Title this morning, each word also becoming the title of each of the four points I will expand on as we go through the message title first;
The Assurance of The Holy Spirit
Saved, Sealed, Secured, Settled.
Perhaps it’s because the Gospel is so simple it is made so unnecessarily complicated by many people who simply cannot accept the simplicity of how a person can KNOW he has eternal life.
Perhaps its because of our understanding of the eternal severity of Hell that makes us all think escaping it must be a complex labyrinth of twists and turns, tunnels and tortures that we need to be instructed in and follow before we can have any assurance whatsoever that heaven is our home when we die.
Surely, if hell was not such a bad place and if it were not permanent, if it had even the darkest shade of light or the slightest rest of torment, or the heat of the flame could be turned down just a degree and time committed be limited to all the sands of all the beaches in all the world going through an hourglass, even at a year per grain, we might think being saved from it should not be too difficult to do ourselves.
But it seems that knowing of the eternal, conscious torment of damnation, that we begin to think escaping it must be difficult and so we begin to devise all these complex and contradicting ideas of how to escape it, ADDING to the Scriptures.
And yet these two verses simply present SAVED, SEALED, SECURED, SETTLED!
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Pray
Saved
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
the gospel of your salvation:
The Holy Spirit, is an intrinsic component of our salvation, not least of which is his work in stirring up the heart of us all to both believe the gospel of Christ and quicken us to life.
Jesus said in John 6:44
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Though Jesus speaks here of the Father, it I nevertheless the Father sending his Spirit, the Spirit of God, to attends to his work in drawing people to Christ. God reveals the truth of the Gospel by his spirit;
2 Corinthians 4:6
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Turn to that famous passage in John’s Gospel;
Now, before that famous 16th verse of chapter 3, Jesus is giving an explanation to a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was sincere about understanding the truth of God and came to Jesus by night to make enquiry.
Jesus seemed to know EXACTLY what was upon the heart of this ruler and answered the question BEHIND the question posed to him in verse 2;
Taking our text from the first verse
John 3:1–8
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Now this is naturally a troubling answer and each of us have probably asked exactly the same question asked by Nicodemus;
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Jesus now gives the answer and in the answer you will see the vital role played by the Spirit of God in order to work that transformative work on the heart of people to draw them to Christ;
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
That last verse is vital. It shows that, though we can sense the blowing of the wind, we can’t determine where it came from nor where it is going and compares the work of the Holy Spirit affecting people through the Gospel to draw them to Christ.
When Jesus spoke in John 6 saying “4 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: It seems that it is through the Spirit of God that men are drawn to him.
Beloved, I am not sure how aware you are that the battle for the souls of your family members, the battle for the souls of friends and those who are lost, is not a physical battle, nor a mind battle, it is a SPIRITUAL BATTLE.
No matter how rational your arguments are in dealing with those who oppose themselves, we are not fighting for their minds but for their hearts. Psalm 14:1 says; The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Romans 10:10
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
It was Jeremiah 17:9 that tells us the natural state of the heart saying;
Jeremiah 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
What can the heart deceive but the mind of man?
The Gospel is that precious and SPIRITUAL news that has the ability to speak to and convince the heart.
Some will be convicted to obstinance / Stubbornness.
Some will be convicted to salvation.
2 Corinthians 2:16
16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
The Spirit of God working his perfect work in both.
But not only does the Spirit of God draw men to Christ, it is through the Spirit of God that we are quickened to life, in other words, brought to life after being dead in our sins.
Romans 8:11
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
I think often of an individual dead on a beach and the breath of life is given them and now they live. You and I were quite literally spiritually dead in sin until, we believed that the wonderful Gospel of Christ and the Spirit of God breathed the breath of life in us.
Colossians 2:13
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
It truly is the Spirit of God that does this work in us. Don’t ask me which came first, the scriptures seem to give equal weight to our believing the Gospel AND the work of the Spirit in us to both draw us to Christ AND Give us life! Quicken us.
Ephesians 2:1–5
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Now you are Saved because you have believed that God gave his only begotten Son and you believed that he died for your sins and now you have everlasting life.
That beloved is the Gospel, that my friends is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believes.
SAVED.
Sealed
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Saved and Sealed;
So much confusion in these last days respecting the gospel, it is truly such a grief to my soul. “Jesus cam into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15) says Paul, “of whom”, says he, “I am chief”.
It is the simplest doctrine in the world to understand, and yet SO MANY teach the most confusing and conflicting ideas of all teaching that this work that Jesus came into the world to attend to is INEFFECTIVE without our own personal effort.
Beloved, we are SAVED AND SEALED, but false teachers abound today who teach that we are SAVED AND DAMNED to preserve ourselves through our own pathetic ability.
The Bible speaks explicitly that, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
SAVED AND SEALED.
It was the Galatian churches that believed what so many heretics teach today, and this they believed because of false brethren brought in that would “pervert the gospel of christ” (Gal 1:7).
Paul is so incensed that men have come into the churches of Galatia teaching them that even though they are meant to be “Saved” through the Gospel, they NOW need to retain their “salvation” through works in their own effort.
Turn to Galatians 3 and see just a short chastisement that Paul has written to them, and I would encourage you to read the entire epistle that is dealing specifically with what so many heretics are teaching today.
Galatians 3:1–5
1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Beloved, you were once DEAD in trespass and sins, the Spirit of God has brought you to life and now you are SEALED with that Holy Spirit of Promise.
Jesus said clearly that you must be BORN AGAIN, that new birth is no PHYSICAL, it is SPIRITUAL and you CANNOT BE UNBORN.
Turn to;
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The purposeful work of the Spirit of God is to SEAL you, to PRESERVE YOU.
Beloved, it is not the letter in the envelope that keeps itself SEALED until the addressee receives it.
It is not the jam in the jar that keeps its seal tight until he that purchased it is ready to enjoy it.
The work of the Spirit of God is to seal, to preserve, to keep us UNTIL we are in the possession of the one you purchased us with his own blood.
Those who think you can loose their salvation and must keep it in their own strength, and at the very least do not understand why Jesus came and died. They do not understand the work of the Spirit of God to SEAL us and preserve us.
Galatians 2:20–21
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
“But what if we sin before we are with God?”
Beloved, many are the passages in Paul’s letters to the church to behave well and to obey the Lord, but this in no way dissanuls our salvation. Several passages in the Bible teach us that we now have a dual nature, one that struggles with sin and the other that desires only to do that which is good. This alone testifies to the change in us, for before we were saved we had no inner desire to obey God and little if any guilt of sin.
Now, our guilt leads us terribly to sorrow of heart and even depression.
We cry like David who said;
Psalm 119:136
136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.
Paul wrote of this as “Grieving the Holy Spirit” and the context is intriguing.
Ephesians 4:22–30
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Beloved, if you have believed the Gospel of your salvation, you are both SAVED AND SEALED by that Holy Spirit of Promise.
This passage here in Ephesians 4 has Paul encourage us to live Godly in Christ Jesus, and not doing so also grieves the spirit of God in us which manifests in our own hearts as a very deep sorrow.
If you are saved and sin such sins that grieve the Spirit, then you will feel that deep sorrow of heart, often experienced as a form of depression. Beloved, know that this is also evidence you are SAVED AND SEALED, and thereby SECURED.
Secured
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
It is the word “Earnest” that is given here to describe the Holy Spirit of Promise in verse 13, Which is the earnest of our inheritance
Depending on how the word is used defines its meaning.
If it is use as an adjective, then it is an old English word that also has place as a port-Germanic word, Old Saxon word, Old Frisian, Gothic, Old Norse that means “Zealous or Serious, or serious intent”
Hebrews 2:1 is a good example of describing HOW we should heed the things we have heard;
1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
That is the example of the Adjective use of the word Earnest.
But used as a noun, it has its origin found as a Middle English word of the 12th century as
earnest (n.)
“portion of something given or done in advance as a pledge,” early 15c., from Middle English ernes(c. 1200), “a pledge or promise;” often “a foretaste of what is to follow;” also (early 13c.)
“sum of money as a pledge to secure a purchase or bind a bargain (earnest-money);
from Old French erres and directly from Latin arra, probably from Phoenician or another Semitic language (compare Hebrew ‘eravon “a pledge”). Sometimes in Middle English as erness, suggesting it was perceived as er “early” + -ness.
With that in mind, lets read the text again;
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
The Holy Spirit is given to all those who are born again as a form of ‘Down Payment’, a pledge, a foretaste of what is to follow’ a SECURITY DEPOSIT until full redemption is made at time of settlement.
Beloved, so contrary to the idea that your salvation can be contradictorily lost, the Holy Spirit is given to you as a GUARANTEE you are saved.
Turn to
2 Corinthians 1:20–24
20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
If, and ONLY if, you have the Spirit of God, then you belong to Christ. If you do NOT have the Spirit of God, you are none of his.
Turn to Romans 8
Romans 8:8–9
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The Holy Spirit is given you as a confirmation that you now belong to God, but it is not the full redemption, just as receiving a deposit for the down payment of a property you have sold is not the full payment, nor the laying down of the deposit places the home IN YOUR Possession.
Jesus made it clear before he went to the father, that he needed to go that he might send the “Comforter”, the Holy Spirit to them, and if he did not go he could not send him.
Turn to
John 14:15–17
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
And to be sure that we are not confused as to who this “Comforter” is, we read again from verse 25;
John 14:25–26
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Beloved, this is the work and purpose of the Spirit of God in this message this morning.
He gives to us the ASSURANCE that we belong to Christ and we are now a part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
But though we are SAVED, SEALED AND SECURED, the possession for which Christ died is not yet SETTLED.
Settled
Ephesians 1:13–14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,unto the praise of his glory.
The home is purchased, the deposit is paid and time must go by until the home is able to abide in.
One of the most exiting experiences in life is the purchase of your own home, and once the deposit is paid you need to wait until you can finally obtain possession of it. Not a day goes by that you are not thinking of taking possession, not a day goes by that you are not thinking of how you will decorate and make things in the home fit your personal desire.
Believe it or not, this is exactly how GOD feels respecting you.
YOU ARE HIS PURCHASED POSSESSION.
YOU HAS HE GIVEN HIS PLEDGE, HIS DEPOSIT.
And not a day goes by that he is not thinking of you and making preparations to receive you.
John 14:2–3
2 … I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
But until that time comes we find ourselves yearning, even groaning for that time that we are finally received and redeemed. The Holy Spirit gives to us that yearning desire to be in that wonderful building of God that he purchased with his own blood.
Turn to
2 Corinthians 5:1–8
1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Know therefore, if you have believed the Gospel, if you have believed that Jesus Christ has died for your sins, and you have asked him to save you and to give to you that Holy Spirit of Promise, you are SAVED, SEALED AND SECURED until that time when you are SETTLED with him that purchased you.
Ephesians 1:11–14
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
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