Paul’s passion is to glorify God. The way he goes about doing that in this passage is to throw the spotlight on each member of the Trinity to reveal their invaluable contribution to God’s Master Plan of Salvation. After praising God the Father and God the Son for their parts, he moves on to praise God the Spirit for preserving us in our salvation. Believers have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Teaching Notes:
Sealed With The Spirit
Ephesians 1:13-14
Intro:
Paul’s passion in Eph.1:3-14 is to glorify God. The way he goes about doing that is to throw the spotlight on each member of the Trinity to reveal their invaluable contribution to God’s Master Plan of Salvation.
First (1:4-6), Paul blesses God the Father for Planning our Salvation. Before time, He made a choice out of all the mass of men whom He would save. He predestined us to adoption as sons. This choice was not determined by our will, but His own. It was not designed to glorify us, but His grace.
Secondly, (1:7-12) Paul blesses God the Son for Purchasing our Salvation. He redeemed us by His blood – He set us free from the penalty of sin by paying a ransom. And, actually, that was only the beginning. After He completed His redeeming work at the cross, the Father raised Him from the dead and exalted Him to His right hand, where He now reigns as King over the entire universe. And one day, at the end of human history, every person who has ever lived will bow down before Him, confessing that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
But Paul isn’t done yet. He still needs to exalt the 3rd member of the Blessed and Holy Trinity – the Holy Spirit. He blesses Him for Preserving us in our Salvation (1:13-14). Believers have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Notice that Paul ends each section with “to the praise of His glory.” I hope that as we have been working our way through this tremendous passage your heart has been set on fire with praise for His glory! Now, let’s focus on the Seal of the Holy Spirit. Not speaking of animal balancing beach ball on nose! Official mark of identification on contract, letter, or wills. Ancient way of notarizing something. Usually made from hot wax placed on document and then impressed with signet ring. Other Bible versions translate it as “stamped, marked”. We seal things today: birth certificates with a raised embossed imprint, stamp on hands when you leave the swimming pool, brand on cattle with rancher’s mark.
1. Who is the Sealer? 2Cor.1:21-22. God.
2. What Does He Seal With? The Holy Spirit of Promise. Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5; 2:33. When did the Father promise the Spirit? Joel 2:28-29
3. Who Are Those Who Are Sealed?
A. Those who Listen to the Message of Truth which is the Gospel of your Salvation: they heard the gospel. They heard an evangelist, or apostle preaching in synagogue or marketplace. No one can ever be sealed with the Holy Spirit who does not first listen to the gospel. What is the gospel? The Good News of what God has done to save us through Jesus Christ. 1Cor.15:1-4.
B. Those who Believe this Gospel: so believers are sealed, and no one but believers. Same ones chosen by Father and redeemed by Son. Notice that believers are sealed with the Spirit after they believe, but they are born of the Spirit before they believe. It’s the difference between building a house and moving into it. Through regeneration God builds the house – He makes us into a new creation. In sealing, the Holy Spirit moves into this new house and stamps it with His presence.
4. What Does This Seal Do?
A. It Marks Us Out As Belonging To God: why was something sealed in the 1st century? Why was a brand placed on cattle, or a seal placed on a crate of merchandise being shipped, or a seal placed on logs shipped down river? To prove who the owner is. 2Tim.2:19 – how does the Lord know those who are His? Well, apart from the fact that He is omniscient, He knows who are His by the fact that His Spirit is in them. If we could see the way God sees, we could look around at everyone in this world and instantly know whether they were saved or not, by seeing whether they possessed the Spirit or not. That’s how God knows who are His – and that is also how we can know if we are His. Rom.8:9. Do we have evidence that the Holy Spirit abides in us? 1Jn.4:13; Rom.8:12-16. How can we know? Has the Spirit regenerated you? Given you a new heart? Is He sanctifying you? Teaching you? Empowering you for ministry? Producing His fruit in your life? Is He causing you to love Christ and hate sin? Leading you to glorify Christ, rejoice in Him, and persevere in faith? These are all the evidences of the Spirit’s abiding presence, and the fact that we belong to God.
How can we tell if someone belongs to God? Only as we see work of the Holy Spirit in their life. We can tell when someone is possessed of an evil spirit. It’s obvious. In the Bible, he might froth at the mouth, cut himself with stones, run around naked, or throw himself into the fire or water to kill himself. Likewise when someone is possessed of the Holy Spirit it should be obvious. He has new interests, desires, and loves. When the Spirit comes in, He makes you a new man. If we don’t possess the Spirit, we can jump through all the right hoops, but can’t change our hearts. Only the Holy Spirit can do that!
B. It Ensures We Will Be Protected For God: why does a rancher brand his cattle, or a logger seal his logs? To protect them from being stolen. Mt.27:66 – the tomb was sealed so that no one could open it. If they tampered with it they would become the objects of the Roman government’s wrath. The seal on tomb made it secure. Rev.7:1-3.
This is what the H.S. does in our lives. He protects us for Himself. No one can snatch us out of His hand, steal us, or destroy us. Rom.8:35-39. How can a believer persevere to end. Only by sealing work of the Spirit. If not for Him, we would all surely fall away, deny Christ, live in sin, and die as apostates. Those who are in Christ are absolutely secure because they are sealed – protected for God.
C. It Guarantees Our Inheritance From God:
1) Pledge: translated as “earnest, first-fruits, guarantee, pledge, foretaste, deposit.” A form of this Greek word came to be used of an engagement ring. When we bought a house, in order for realtor to take house off market we had to pay $1,000 in earnest money. This is an initial payment that we will forfeit if we back out of the deal. It’s a concrete token that we are serious about buying the house – that we are in earnest. God is in earnest about us entering into our full eternal inheritance. He has given the down payment proving that He will make good on all the rest!
Pledge refers to a down payment of same kind as final payment. That’s why this word is sometimes translated as “foretaste or first-fruits.” Right now we have a taste of glory in work of Spirit. We have the first installment of blessings to come in heaven! The ministry of the Spirit in our lives now is the same kind of blessings we will enjoy in heaven, only in different degrees. The first-fruits guaranteed a full harvest come; but they were also foretastes of the final harvest. They are the same in kind, different in degree. Think of the most intimate time of prayer you’ve had, most awe-inspiring time of worship, illumination of the Word, spiritual joy, deep peace, power as God used you. These are the first-fruits of the Spirit, His pledge that more is to come! These are the Spray from the River of Life in glory. By the Holy Spirit, we know God now, but will know Him better later. We are holy now, but will be more holy later. We have fellowship with Christ now, but have greater fellowship later.
2) Our Inheritance: 1:11 – the inheritance we were predestined for. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to bring all the elect to their promised inheritance unfailingly. This inheritance refers to the glory of heaven – 1Pet.1:4.
3) The Redemption of God’s Own Possession: not only is the pledge for us, guaranteeing that we will receive God’s inheritance for us. It is also for God. It guarantees God that He will have all He paid for. Christ died and purchased us for God. But God doesn’t have all He paid for yet. Our souls have been redeemed, but not our bodies. We have been set free from the penalty and power of sin, but not the presence of sin. Eph.4:30; Rom.8:23. When Christ returns, He will have a completely redeemed people, body and soul, from the penalty, power, and presence of sin.
Application:
1. God Wants You To Be Secure In His Love! That’s why He has revealed that His Spirit is a Seal and a Pledge. Trust Him! You can have confidence in your sovereign God. He will complete the work He began. If your continuing in faith was all up to you, you might despair. But it’s not all up to you. This will affect your service for God. There are 2 wives. Both from the outside look like wonderful wives. They cook, clean and are responsible to look after their households. But 1 serves because she’s afraid if she doesn’t, her husband will leave for another woman. The other wife is confident her husband will never leave her, so she serves him because she loves him. Which kind of service are you giving to Jesus Christ?
2. Seek to Experience More of the Holy Spirit Now! His work in your life is foretaste of heaven. Why not enjoy a greater taste of heaven now. How? Walk in the Spirit, depend on the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, serve by the power of the Spirit. I’m convinced there is much more spiritual treasure for us to enjoy if we will just stir ourselves up to seek it! Luke 11:13.
3. Glorify God for This Gift of the Spirit: that’s Paul’s whole point in 1:3-14 (to the praise of His glory). This is a blessing we should praise and worship God for! How often do you praise God for the gift of His Spirit?
4. What About Those Who Have Not Been Sealed with the Spirit? You can’t seal yourself. “You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” This is in the passive voice. God does the sealing, not us. Can’t force Him or manipulate Him. But we MUST be sealed. Without this sealing we will never receive our eternal inheritance. Your responsibility not to seal yourself, but to obey 1:13. Listen to the gospel and believe it. If you will do that, you will find that God will seal you. Will you believe the Good News of Christ right now?
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