Let us turn then to God's Word
once again, the portion that we were reading here in Ephesians
chapter 1 and with the Lord's help directing you for a while
this morning to verses 13 and 14. Ephesians 1, 13 and 14. and according to the punctuation
here in our authorized version this is a single sentence reading
the words then in Ephesians 1 13 and 14 in whom you also trust
it after that she heard the words of truth the gospel of your salvation
in whom also after that she believed he was sealed with that holy
spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession under the price of
his glory. And to consider something then
of what is being said concerning that ministry of the blessed
Holy Spirit of God in this sentence. I've said before of the context
here Opening part of this epistle consists of three sentences. After the customary introduction
that we find in verses 1 and 2, we then have a sentence running
from verse 3 through 6, which seems to speak principally of
the Father. Begins there at verse 3, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world and so he continues as I say through to the end of
verse 6, speaking of that choice that the Father made in eternity. And then that is followed by
another sentence, long sentence, from verse 7 through 12, which
is principally speaking of the Lord Jesus, the one in whom we
have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace. and so forth and so having
spoken of the father in the opening sentence he then speaks of the
son in that second long sentence and then we have a shorter sentence
here in verses 13 and 14 that speaks to us of the gracious
ministry of the Holy Spirit and we can say that in these three
sentences really We see salvation in a threefold aspect. We see
the eternal love of the Father, that that was purposed from before
time was created, before the foundation of the world. We read
in verse 4, the choice was made. And then we have what is really
historical, the work of God the Son, who comes in the fullness
of the time, and comes for what? To redeem them that were under
the law. And there, remember, in verse
7, he says, in whom we have redemption, as he speaks of that work of
Christ, then through to the end of verse 12. The historic accomplishments
of salvation by the coming of Christ, and all that He did in
obedience to the will of the Father who had sent Him. And
then, in the verses that I've read for us to consider for a
while, these morning verses 13 and 14, we might say we have
the experimental. We have the eternal aspect, the
historical aspect, but these things have to come home, they
have to be made real. in our souls if we're going to
find any true prophets in the Word of God. And what do we read
of here in these two verses? Well, we read of believing together
with sealing. And that's really the theme I
want us to consider, believing and sealing. He says, "...in
whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after the Ibeligi
was sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the praise of his glory. Considering then these two headings
this morning first of all to say something with regards to
believing here at the end of verse 4 he says ye believed in whom also after that ye believed,
they believed all the sublime truths and all
the great doctrines of salvation that are spoken of previously
to what he says there about believing all that we have in the former
part of the epistle is really meaningless except with those
who have saving faith does he not address those whom he speaks
of in verse 1 as the faithful in Christ Jesus those who have
faith without faith these things can really mean nothing at all
to us we need that grace of faith which comes by the gracious working
of the Holy Spirit and then the blessings and remember what he
speaks he speaks of all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ there at the end of verse 3 and then he mentions
in particular in what follows some five spiritual blessings. There is the blessing of that faith
that will lead to the true worship of God. We must always distinguish
surely between that faith that is true faith and that faith
that is false and temporary and passing where there is true faith
there will be the real worship of God there's a sense of course
in which only those who have faith can ever really truly worship
the Lord God himself without faith it's impossible to please
him he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he
is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him. And the Lord Jesus, remember,
in John chapter 4, speaks of how the true worshippers are
to worship the Father. In that conversation that he
has with the Samaritan woman there at the well of Syca, he
makes it so plain. that all are to worship the Father.
The Father seeks true worshippers. There were cometh and there is when all are going to worship
God. He's speaking to a Samaritan
woman. She's not part of Israel. His gospel is going to go to
Samaritans and to Gentiles. and the father will seek true
worship as God is a spirit and they that worship him that worship
him in spirit and in truth says the Lord Jesus in that conversation
and in contrast to that we read of some and spoken of in the
in the Old Testament there in Isaiah 29 and verse 13 the hypocrites
who draw near with the lip and honor God with the mouth and
yet their hearts are far from Him all the blessing then of
that faith that centers upon God and really wants to worship
God and to ascribe to Him all the honor and glory that is due
to His great name the true worshipers they worship the Father in spirit
and in truth but true faith is not only that that will give
God the glory in worshipping His name, true faith is also
that which is purifying. There in Acts 15 at the Council
of Jerusalem where the apostles are dealing with the whole matter
of the gospel going to Gentiles and all the controversy that
that was causing amongst those early believers because initially
of course the gospel goes to the Jew first and how the apostles
there in that chapter of verse 9 speak of the Gentiles and the
Jews purifying their hearts by faith it says there's a purifying
of the heart by faith because faith centers in the person and
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ faith looks to Him and faith
looks to all that He has accomplished by that great sacrifice of Himself
and what does natural faith do? well that is but temporary it
seems as it were to cleanse a man but it's only for a while there's
nothing permanent the language that we find in second Peter
and there at the end of that second chapter he speaks of some
But verse 20, after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end
is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb,
the dog is turned to his own vomit again. and the sow that
was washed to a wallowing in the mire that is those who appear
to have saving faith but it was not true faith and eventually
they fall away because as true faith is purifying so true faith
is also enduring and how it endures to the end the words of the Lord
Jesus, he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved
how we need that faith in that continues we confess to believe
in the perseverance of the saints one of the five points of Calvinism
isn't it? that little mnemonic Truly, that
sums up what the grace of God is, sums up really what salvation
is all about, where the sinner is, and what God has done for
the salvation of the sinner. Total depravity, unconditional
inaction, limited atonement, irresistible grace, the perseverance
of the saints, that's where it finishes. those who have experienced
the grace of God, those who are the chosen of the Father, those
who are redeemed by the Son, those who are quickened by the
Spirit and effectually called, they will indeed persevere and
persevere to the end. Though the fate is tried, O the
trial of your faith be much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire is found under the praise and
honor and glory of Jesus Christ. they are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation there is a persevering then but
then also we read of some having put away the good conscience
concerning faith and they make shipwreck they make shipwreck
says the apostle when he writes to Timothy well there is a difference
you see between that faith that purifies and that faith that
endures when we compare it with those
who fall away and become apostates. There is then the fruits of true
faith. By their fruit ye shall know
them says the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the mark of of saving faith. It's the work of the Spirit in
the heart of the sinner, and therefore there are those blessed
fruits of the Spirit. And oh, remember the Apostle
speaks of them, doesn't he, at the end of Galatians chapter
5. There in Galatians 5.22, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. meekness, temperance
against such there is no law and they that are Christ have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts if we live
in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit all that blessed
fruit of the Spirit there is the mark of those who enjoy all
the blessings that the Apostle speaks of here in the former
part of this chapter. All those blessings in heavenly
places, he says, that are in the Lord Jesus Christ. They know
the blessing then of their election, they are chosen in Him. He has
chosen us in Him, he says there at verse 4. And not only are they chosen,
they are adopted. Verse 5, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. They are chosen
in Christ. They are adopted by Jesus Christ,
it says. And then we also read in verse
6 how they are accepted. How are they accepted? They are
accepted in the Beloved. Who is the Beloved? Isn't that
the Lord Jesus Christ? And He is the One, of course,
in whom we read in verse 7, they have their redemption. They have
the forgiveness of sins. In whom we have redemption and
forgiveness of sins. And who is the One being spoken
of? Again, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. All the blessings come
and flow from Him their ultimate inheritance in whom also we have
obtained an inheritance it says in verse 11 all the blessings
then come in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and only in
and through Him how important it is that we recognize the difference
between that faith that is truly saving that faith that centers
only in the Lord Jesus Christ and because it centers in Him
there is that true and proper worship of God coming through
Him who is the only mediator even the man Christ Jesus but
not only the worship of God but that faith that is purifying
the heart that faith that is an enduring faith and that faith
that is fruitful as the Lord said, by their fruits what are
we to do? we are to examine ourselves this
is the faith that we are in possession of this faith which is the faith
of God's elect Paul says to the Corinthians examine yourselves
whether you'd be in the faith no, you're not your own self
have that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobate and
those who have this faith they are such of course who know that
gracious ministry of the Spirit even the sealing of the Spirit
he says in whom also ye also trusted after that ye heard the
word of truth of the gospel of your salvation in whom also after
that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise
which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory how important then
is this that he speaks of not only the faith not only the believing
but that that goes hand in hand with the sealing and we cannot
separate these two and so turning from what he says with regards
to the faith to consider more particularly the sealing the
sealing of the spirit the amazing thing is that it
is the Holy Spirit himself who is really the seal I remember the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ to his disciples after he'd risen from the dead
and showed himself to them many times during 40 days and 40 nights
the proof they had of his resurrection they saw him and then he ascends
but previous to the ascension Now, at the end of Luke, he speaks
to his disciples before he leads them out to Bethany. There in
verse 49, in Luke 24, he says, Behold, I send the promise of
my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until
ye be endued with power from on high. What is he speaking
of? when he tells them that he will send the promise of my father the reference of course is to
the Holy Spirit because we know that Luke is not only the author
of the gospel that bears his name but also is the author of
the Acts of the Apostles and there in the opening chapter
of the Acts He refers to what he had said to those men. Really,
I suppose Acts 1 is continuing what we have there in Luke 24.
It begins the Acts, doesn't it? The former treatise of Maido
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. And
in a sense he's now going to continue his account of the ministry,
but that ministry now being continued by the Lord's Apostle. and then he says in verse 4 here
in this opening chapter being assembled together with them
he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but
wait for the promise of the father which saith he ye have heard
of me so he refers to the coming of the Spirit, and of course
that's what we read subsequently in the second chapter when the
day of Pentecost is fully come and the Spirit descends. He speaks of that coming of the
Spirit as the promise of the Father. The Spirit is He that
the Father had promised. And it is this work of the Spirit
that is being spoken of here in our text this morning they were not to depart from
Jerusalem they were to wait and then the Spirit comes and what
a glorious outpouring of the Spirit it is and the consequence
of it the boldness of the preaching of Peter the Spirit then is that
one who is the Father's promise to his church and we are never
to grieve the Holy Spirit even in this epistle the Apostle makes
that quite clear look at the language that he uses later in
chapter 4 at verse 30 he says grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption all this
blessed one who is the Spirit is the third person in the God
We confess, don't we? Three persons in one God, Father,
Son and Holy Ghost. And now we stand in need of that
gracious ministry of the Spirit. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, Paul says he's none of his. We can only know Christ
by his Spirit. And of course he is that one
who sends the Spirit as the promise of the Father, as Peter declares
so plainly. It's the exalted Christ who has
set forth what those at Jerusalem are hearing and witnessing. No man can say that Jesus Christ
is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. and it's not only the writings
of men like Peter and Paul but John also remember in that first
epistle that general epistle written in general written to
all the churches in that sense and how he speaks there in chapter
2 of the unction of the spirit verse 20 you have an unction
from the Holy One and ye know all things. What is the unction?
It's the Spirit, it's the anointing. Verse 27, the anointing which
I have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any
man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things and is truth and is no lie and even as he hath taught
you ye shall abide in him. All that blessed work of the
Spirit how utterly dependent we are upon the Spirit. And here
Paul is speaking not only of believing, but that's sealing.
And I want to mention some four results of that blessed sealing,
that unction of the Spirit. What does the seal do? It authenticates
the work. That's what a seal does. It authenticates. And we see that in the Old Testament, an illustration
as it were in what we read there in the book of Esther Haman,
that great enemy of the Jews how he had gone before King Ahuerus
and seeking the destruction of the Jews, Mordecai a man, a Jew
that he so much despised because he didn't do in obeisance to
Haman, who was a favorite of Ahasuerus and is able to obtain
a decree which is written in the king's name and sealed with
his seal that the Jews are to be destroyed on a given day. You're familiar, I'm sure, with
the content of that book of Esther. but the poster sent out, but
it's written in the king's name, it's sealed with the king's seal,
it says and no man, no man can reverse that because it's not
only in the king's name, it has the king's seal, the seal is
that it authenticates the document and so here every real believer
has that imprint of the Spirit upon his soul surely he must
have that from whence does his faith come? well it's faith of
the operation of God we read there in Colossians chapter 2
and verse 12 faith of the operation of God but who is it that works
that faith in the soul? is it not the gracious ministry
of the Spirit? it's effectual work is making
known the truth of Christ. The Lord Himself speaks of Him,
doesn't He, in those familiar chapters, John 14, 15, and 16. And it's expedient that He goes
away. If He doesn't go away, the Comforter
won't come. But if He departs, He'll send
Him, says Christ. He'll send Him. And what does
He do? He comes to reprove, to convince of sin, of righteousness,
of judgment. He does a work of conviction
in the soul of the sinner. and brings a sinner to that realization
of what his need is. And then it is the Spirit who
reveals Christ to him. He doesn't come to speak of himself. He'll take of mine, says the
Lord Jesus. He'll show it unto you. He'll
bear testimony to me. Every believer then has that
blessed mark of the Spirit's work, an imprint of the Spirit. It's the seal. And it's that
that authenticates that that conversion is a real conversion.
But the seal doesn't just authenticate the document. The seal, in a
sense, also is indicative of possession and ownership. And
again, we have an illustration, as it were, in the Old Testament
Scriptures. we read there in the 32nd chapter
of Jeremiah about the prophet he's instructed to do some strange
things he's speaking isn't he at the time of the Babylonian
captivity and how the people are going to go away into exile
they're going to depart from the land as it were and Jerusalem is going to be deserted.
But then in that 32nd chapter we read of how Jeremiah is directed to purchase
a field from his cousin, his uncle's son. Verse 9 he says,
I bought the field of Annamal, my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth,
and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses,
and weighed him the money in the balances." And what's the
significance of all of this? Well, verse 14, Thus saith the
Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Take these evidences, this evidence
of the purchase, both which is sealed and this evidence which
is opened, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may
continue many days. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed again in this land. It's part and parcel of God's
promise. Although they're being taken
away and they're going to be in exile for 70 years, they're
going to come into possession of the land again. And so, here
is the evidence, you see, that Jeremiah has made this purchase. And it's been sealed. But the
evidence is put in another vessel and it's buried. that it might
eventually be discovered and here is the proof of the purchase
and so the spiritual seal that seal that the spirit himself
puts upon the soul of the sinner that he's saved, that soul that
has been regenerated and experienced the gracious new birth there
is that mark of possession, that mark of ownership And we sang
it just now, didn't we, really, in that hymn of Isaac Watts,
24, Dost thou not dwell in all thy saints, and seal them, heirs
of heaven? Oh, they have that mark, they're
the Lord's people. And the Lord will ultimately
take those people to Himself. He has got to prepare a place
for them that where He is there, they may be also. The seal then. it doesn't just authenticate
it does more than that it indicates possession and ownership but
then thirdly the seal also indicates the completion of a transaction
the completion of a transaction and again we see that as an illustration
in what we have in Old Testament Scripture. This time in the book
of Nehemiah, where the people come together and make a covenant. They're engaged in that noble
work, aren't they, of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after
the 70 years of captivity. Oh the temple had been rebuilt
under Ezra but still Jerusalem is so much in ruins and you are
familiar I'm sure again with the content of Nehemiah he's
there in Shushan the palace and he's before the great emperor
and he's sad because he's heard of the sorry state of Jerusalem
and in the goodness of God, in answer to his prayers. He's permitted
to go and engage in that noble work, the rebuilding of the walls.
But what a position, what a position they face. But they come together,
those Jews who have returned with the man and others, and
they make a sure covenant. near my 938 and because of all
this we make a sure covenant and write it and our princes,
levites and priests seal it they seal it they're going to do the
thing that they've determined it is going to be completed,
the whole transaction And so it is also with the believer,
where that believer has known that gracious work of the Spirit. The hymn says, The sinner that
by precious faith has felt his sins forgiven is manifestly passed
from death and sealed, an heir of heaven. The work has been completed in
his soul, is now one who is being prepared
ultimately for heaven itself and so here in verse 14 what
do we read of this work of the Spirit? it's the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption that is the full redemption of
the purchased possession under the prize of God's glory. The full redemption ultimately,
of course, when that purchased possession, that redeemed sinner,
that person, body and soul, is ultimately going to enter into
all the fullness of the joy of heaven. A full, complete redemption,
which will come when the Lord himself returns. And the dead
in Christ are raised first. the sealing then, the sealing
of the spirit authenticating indicating possession and ownership
but also indicating that there's a completion of the work and
then fourthly also and finally the seal is a sign of security
and a sign of safety and we see that we see that in the futile
attempt that the scribes and pharisees make with regards to
sealing the tomb of the Lord Jesus. Remember what we're told
at the end of Matthew's Gospel concerning those wicked men and
even to the very end there wicked actions against the Lord Jesus.
In Matthew 27, the end of that chapter, this is after the crucifixion
of Christ, before his resurrection, that last paragraph at verse
62 following the next day that followed the day of the preparation,
The chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying,
Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive,
after three days I will rise again. Command therefore that
the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples
come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is
risen from the dead, so the last error shall be worse than the
first. Pilate says unto them, you have a watch. Go your way,
make it sure as ye can. So they went and made the sepulchre
sure, sealing the stone, it says. That stone that had been rolled
before the entrance into the tomb, they sealed the stone and
they set a watch. But it's all futile. But what
it does indicate to us is that the the sealing is meant to establish
security that's the point and purpose of what they are doing
although it was futile and so by the sealing of the spirits
the believer is also now secured for heaven their safety grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed until the day of
salvation we read those words in chapter 4 at verse 30 they
are sealed again in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 and
verse 22 it was also sealed us and given the earnest of the
spirit in our hearts God has sealed his people and
they are safe, they are secure they are preserved or they are
preserved in Jesus Christ before ever they are called as we read
in the opening words of Jude remember those that God the Father
hath sanctified they are preserved in Jesus Christ and they are
called God's hand is upon his people even in the days of their
own regeneracy how much more when they are born again of the
Spirit the Lord will preserve them they are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. And so, wherever there is that
faith that is true faith, there is and there must be the sealing
of the Spirit. Ah, but when we look at the verse,
what does it say? It says, after that ye believe,
Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And as I'm
sure you're aware, this is a verse that's in many ways a great favorite
with the charismatics when they like to speak of their understanding
of the baptism of the Spirit. You can be a believer, but you
don't have that baptism of the Spirit, you don't have that sealing
of the Spirit. and they say well look it's something
quite distinct from believing you knew more so after that you
believed it says you were sealed how do we answer? how do we answer
what they say with regards to this text? well it's in a sense we might
say it's not dissimilar to to faith and repentance whatsoever is not of faith is
sin faith must have the priority there then we must have faith before our
repentance can be a genuine repentance but really the faith and repentance
come together where there is true faith there
will be a real evangelical repentance they'll go hand in hand and so
here although in a sense the believing is first the sealing
is immediate it must be so but besides arguing in terms of what
we would say is the the order of things with regards to faith
and repentance we can also and we must examine the word of God
and examine the text and what the text is really saying it's
interesting when we look at the grammatical instruction of what
we have at the end of this 13th verse because the construction
is really exactly the same as we find many times in the gospel
where we read of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and
we have such expressions as Jesus answering said Jesus answering said. There we have the two verbs,
to answer and to say, and here we have the two words, or the
two verbs, to believe and to seal. Well, the grammatical construction
in those occasions in the Gospel where we have that expression,
Jesus answering said, is exactly the same as what we have here.
A more literal rendering of the words would surely be believing
he was sealed. I don't like to criticize the
Authorized Version. I'm certainly no expert in these
matters with regards to the original New Testament Greek. But it is
a fact that the grammatical construction here is the same as what we have
in the Gospel. Now think about what we're reading
in the Gospel when it declares that Jesus answering said. You couldn't say Jesus answering and afterwards said
because the answering and the saying surely are concurrent. They're together. He answers
by speaking. He answers by saying. And so
here, really, these two verbs are concomitant. They're together. They must be
together. The believing and the sealing
of the Spirit, then, are truly concurrent. There can be no saving
faith without the seal of the Spirit it's the Spirit who who
works that faith in the soul of the sinner in working that
faith there is the sealing of the Spirit no man can say that Jesus is
Lord but by the Holy Ghost so immediately the Spirit is there
that blessed seal to defend what we have as it's rendered here
in the authorised version. It is true, surely, that a believer
might need, after coming to faith, he might need further assurance,
he might feel his need of some fresh anointings of the Holy
Spirit of God. A man who has purchased a property
may sometimes want again to see the deed. and its official seal
that's declaring that the property really is his. There's nothing wrong with that
and so too God graciously will grant his people confirmations
of their faith. He'll grant in that sense we
might say fresh sealings to his people. Sometimes we fail to
need that when God's people are in the midst of trials and troubles.
We need some fresh assurance. of the grace of God, the work
of the Spirit in our hearts. This verse does not lend any
real support to those who would speak of a sealing of the Spirit that is only ever subsequent
to true believing. Every believer, every believer
must be sealed by the Spirit of God. This is how the work
is completed. As I said at the beginning, we
see salvation here in these opening verses of this epistle. We see
the eternal electing love of the Father. We see the work of the Son that
was accomplished in the fullness of the time, historically accomplished.
and then we have this blessed work of the Spirit who makes
all this real as he seals that salvation into the heart of the
sinner who comes to saving faith in whom ye also trusted after
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 all believing you were sealed which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the price of His glory. O the Lord God be pleased and
to bless His word to us.