We're continuing to deal with
the Holy Spirit's work for God's people. We've been dealing with
it for a long time. Started out with His work in
regeneration, teaching Christ to us, making the Scriptures
understanding to us. But as we continue on this work
for God's people, we're dealing with what He does for them. What
He does for them. And then what he does in them.
See, he is a person. He's the third person of the
Godhead. And he comes and he teaches. And he comforts. And
our Lord told us what he would do. And his work as a person
is to reveal Christ to us. To reveal Christ to us and Christ
in us. To regenerate us, quicken us,
give us life. To teach us from the scriptures.
to teach us of Christ, to teach us of the things of God. And
one of His works is to bring us to the end of sin, to bring
us to where we lose all hope in ourselves, to humble us and
humiliate us as He reveals sin to us and makes us see that sin
is not something that we do, but as David said, shaping iniquity
and conceiving sin. And my transgressions and my
sin is always before me. And then He comes and He makes
Christ to us a reality. A reality. Not somebody that
we're heard about. Not somebody we're told to accept. Not somebody who is going to
be our personal Savior. But He comes and makes Christ
a living reality to us. We experience Christ as a person. As a person. with power and glory
and authority. And, beloved, we experience Christ
and come to Him this way because of the work of the Holy Ghost.
Now, Satan... I talked last week about the
baptism of the Holy Ghost. Now, Satan has a counterfeit.
Everything God does, Satan counterfeits. Satan's not out here in the hall,
he talks and that like... He goes to church. You find him in the scriptures,
he's always working in the spiritual realm. The first time he's mentioned
is that he says, I'm going to take God off of his throne and
I'm going to be God. That's the first time you heard
he mentioned in the scripture. And so he has a counterfeit for
everything. You know, it says, No marvel,
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. And his
ministers, ministers of righteousness. And how can we know? that we
haven't received a counterfeit, haven't had a false experience. Well, I'll tell you how we know.
Those who had a false experience always seek an experience and
always look back to that experience. People that have been thrown
a counterfeit, they're looking for an experience. And they always
go back to that experience. So we know that we're not seeking
an experience. We're not looking for an experience.
We seek Him. The Holy Spirit comes and calls
us to seek Christ. To seek to know Him. As Paul
said, to know Him. To win Him. To be found in Him. We want His presence. We want
His presence in our services. We want His presence in our life. We want His presence in the night.
David said, take not your Holy Spirit away from me. Don't cast
me away from your presence. Don't do that, Lord. Please don't
do that to me. then we were tongue in praise
and Lord leave us not to ourselves. So we want to know him, we want
his presence. And we seek to love him, we desire
to love him more. And we want self to be completely
one. Look forward to the day when
self ceases to be and gets so weary of carrying this body of
death around with us. And you cast yourself upon Him
entirely, living upon Him with no confidence in yourself whatsoever. Now, that's the work of the Holy
Spirit. And that's how you can know you haven't received a caliphate,
though. The Holy Spirit makes us look to Him. Now, I want to
talk tonight, though, about the sealing of the Spirit and the
earnestness of the Spirit. I've got three texts that I want
to look at tonight, and we'll look at all of them. But here's
the first one in 2 Corinthians 1.21. 2 Corinthians 1.21. Now, he which
establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God.
Now watch this. Who hath also sealed us, and
given the earnest of the spirits, of the Spirit in our hearts,
and that's capitalized, Holy Spirit. Now look with me in Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. I'll show you another one. Three things, it's talking about
the sealing and earnest of the Holy Spirit. So God established
us and anointed us with you in Christ and had given us, sealed
us, and given us the earnest of His Spirit. Ephesians 1.13,
in whom ye also trust Christ, after ye have heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after
that ye believe, watch this, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. We talked about how He came,
He was promised last week. And which is the earnest of our
inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of His glory, sealed and earnest. Now look
in Ephesians 4, verse 30. Here's another one. And breathe
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed, sealed unto the
day of redemption. So we're talking about being
sealed, the Holy Spirit sealing us, and the Holy Spirit being
our earnest. Now, beloved, what in the world
does it mean? What does it mean? What is meant
by this word sealing? What is the purpose of a seal?
Why is a seal used? Well, it has three main functions,
three main uses, and the first use of a seal is to authenticate
or certify something, that it's real. You know, well, if you
have something, a document, or something, some someone, and
you look at something, you come up with an antique or something,
you want that authenticated. You want it certified. Well,
then you find somebody who's got the power, and they set their
seal to it, that this is authentic, this is real, this is true. And
I'll tell you, let me, I hate to have you turn here, but you
need to do this. And those of us who believe the gospel, those
of us who believe the gospel, we, we set to our seal that God
is true. And, you know, this is this is
one of the truths that we've been studying in John 333. You
know, and this this is the thing that we do, talking about authenticating,
certifying something that's to be real, to be true, to be so. And here in John 3.33, look what
it says. He that hath received his testimony
hath set to his seal that God is true. Now those of us that
believe the gospel, that believe Christ, and receive the testimony,
we, beloved, we don't deny the gospels, what he's saying here
is. We don't make God a liar. We set to the seal, we set our
seal, and God said, we say, this is true, this is authentic, this
is real. We certify that this is so. When John says, we don't make
God, he that does not believe the testimony of God makes him
a liar? Well, we ain't gonna make God a liar. We don't deny
the gospel. We set to the seal that God is
true, Christ is true, the gospel's authentic, that everything that
God says is certified. By God Himself and the Word of
God. And we know it's authentic. How
do we know it's authentic? Because it's our hope. It's what
we've learned. And secondly, a seal, not only
to authenticate or certify something, but a seal is also used to prove
ownership of something. It's to prove ownership. You
know, you've got, there's lots of things that you have that
proves that you own this thing. You've got a deed that proves
you own it. You've got a seal on it, this is mine. If you've
got a safe deposit box, you've got a key, and you're the only
one allowed in that thing, nobody else, this is mine. And you have
lots of things, and so a seal is also used to prove ownership.
And used to, beloved, they'd use wax seals to put on something
to say, this is mine. And don't you open it because
this is mine, you got no business in it. And so it's authenticate,
certify something to use to prove ownership. And a seal, a seal
also makes whatever is sealed secure. Secure. If you have the right seal on
a document, on something you own, That it
can't be changed. It's secure. It can't be broken. It can't be tampered with. It
can't be. And all three of these definitions
reveal the work of the Holy Spirit within the believer. All three
of them do. You know, the Holy Spirit Himself
is the authentication that we are God's people. How do we know
we're God's people? The Holy Spirit certifies us.
He authenticates us. He proves to us that we're the
real deal, that we're really real. You know, that's why 1
Peter says, you are a chosen generation, a holy nation, a
peculiar people. And that peculiar people means
purchased people. You're my people. I've chosen
you. I've set you apart in eternity.
And God, He said this also. You know that God, Christ, gave
Himself for us and redeemed us to Himself a peculiar, a precious,
precious people, chosen, set apart. And it's by the Spirit
in us that we have the fruit of the Spirit. Now, how do I
know I've got a child? The Holy Spirit authenticates
me by the seal that He has on me. And oh, the second meaning is
ownership. Ownership, property. We belong
to Him. How do we know we belong to Him?
We were bought what with? The blood of Christ. Bought what
with? The death of Christ. God owns
us. Christ owns us. Let me show you
something in Revelations 3.12. Just a moment. What Christ said
He was going to do for His people here. In the last part of this,
Revelation 3.12. You see, the Holy Spirit is the
guarantee that we really are God's people, His property. Look
what it says here in verse 12. Down in the last part of the
verse, it talks about three names going to be written. In the middle
of it, he says, I'll write upon him the name of my God. I'll
write the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem.
And look at the last part of the verse, and I will write upon
him my new name. Christ says, I'm going to put
my new name on him. Whatever name Christ is going to have
in eternity, that name that we're calling by, there below, He said,
I'm going to write my new name on them. He said, my sheep. I know my
sheep. I call them by name. And so you
see, and that's what I say, that it proves ownership. The Spirit
Himself bears witness with our spirit that we're what? The children
of God. And look in 2 Timothy 2.19. 2.19,
excuse me. 2.19. 2 Timothy 2.19. Here's a seal. Here's your seal. Nevertheless, St. Criptus 2.19,
nevertheless the foundation of God's stand is sure. Having this
seal, the Lord knows them that are who? He is. Who has had the ownership. Oh
my. Owns us. Bought us. Paid for us. And you know what?
We want to be His. As Shulamite makes it, I'm my
beloved and my beloved is mine. Not only am I him, but he's mine.
I want to be his and I want him to be mine. We want to be his.
Take me, Lord. And then thirdly, the sealing
of the Holy Spirit makes our salvation secure to us. You know, when the Holy Spirit
seals us and puts his seal on us, He makes our salvation secure
to us, the guarantee of our ultimate salvation. When Paul said in
1 Corinthians 1.30, Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. That word redemption there means
the redemption of this body, the ultimate, the consummation
of our salvation, the finalality of our salvation. That redemption
means waiting for the redemption of this body. That's what it
means. In Romans 8.23, that's what he
says. He says, we've grown waiting
for the redemption of this body. And that's what he's talking
about. When this redemption is complete, our final salvation,
when we shall be perfect in body and spirit, the whole person,
will be saved. The whole person, as old Barnard
used to say, then I'll finally, I'll be completely, perfectly
saved forever with nothing in between now. And that's why the
Holy Ghost said, nothing shall separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ. Tribulation, persecution, famine,
nakedness, peril, sword, no. Life, death, Angels, principalities,
powers, things present, things to come? No! Why not? Because the Holy Spirit's put
that seal on us and God said, you're mine! And nobody will
take you out of my hand. Nobody. And I've many times heard
people say, well, you can take yourself out. Did you put yourself
in? Did you climb up into God's hand?
It's too big to get in. He got to reach and get us. He got to pick us up. He said, my father which gave
them me is greater than all. And you're not able to pluck
them out of my hand or out of his hand. As I've told you before,
like old Tim James said, we got two-fisted salvation, two-fisted
security, Christ's hands and God's hands. And all the Holy
Ghost and then the sealing of the Holy Spirit guarantees our
ultimate salvation and ownership and authenticators. We are the
children of God. And then besides sealing, there's
another term used here, this word earnest of the Spirit. Look with me a second Corinthians
5.5. Besides sealing, then there's these three meanings of sealing. You know, if you get something
from the state, it's got the state seal on it. If you want
a document authenticated and proved to be real, you go and
get a seal put on it. You get a, what do they call
them, notary publics to seal that thing, notarize that thing,
make it legal, an authentic document. That'll stand up in court, that'll
stand up against people who'd want to try it. And that's what
the Scripture tells us, that we've been authenticated by the
Holy Spirit to be God's people. And law can't come and take it
away from us. Judges can't come and take this
silo off of us. Angels can't come and do it.
We are our flesh can't do it. Sin can't do it. Who in the world
is going to take away this seal that God sealed us with? Who
can say that it's not real, it's not authentic, it hasn't been
certified in heaven itself? I know the Lord said, I know
them that are mine. And look here at 2 Corinthians
5.5. I'm going to have to comment on a few of these verses here
to make you, to bring this out right in the context. Now, he
that hath the rod, for us, for the selfsame thing as God, who
hath also given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." Now, in the context
here, this is our earthly tabernacle. If it just falls away, this earthly
tabernacle just falls away, Paul says, and we're grown, we want
this to happen to us. And then this tabernacle just
dissolves away, we have a building, Not made with hands, but made
of God in the heavens. And we'll be clothed upon with
that house from heaven. And so he says, now he that wrought
this in us, this act that we know, that this earthly
house will just fade away one of these days, just fall apart,
and we'll have a new house. And so God wrought this work
in us. And He brings this thing to us,
and wrought this self thing in us, that we desire to be clothed
upon with that house from heaven, that God wrote this in us, and
then He gave us the earnest of the Spirit to show us that what
we go through here is not even to be compared with what we're
going to have there. This is a tabernacle that will
be dissolved, but we're going to get one made with our hands.
We're going to get one that's immoral. They come down from
God Himself. And how do we know? He's given
us the earnest of the Spirit. And what does the word earnest
mean? What does it mean about the earnest
of the Spirit? Well, earnest is a part of a
price you pay for something. It's part of a price you pay
for something. It means that you're contracting to pay the
rest. I'll pay you this part, and I'll
guarantee you that I'll pay the rest." And that's why God, He
gives us His Son of the Spirit that guarantees that we're going
to be close upon with that house, even though this one falls all
to pieces. And it's falling apart, ain't it? It's getting weaker
and weaker and weaker. But listen, are you threatened
about it? Are you worried about it? Are
you afraid of it? You know why God put that Spirit
in you? To let you know that when this
is gone, you've got a better one. And the Spirit in you makes
you know that. And you desire that. Not all
the time, but there's times that you really, really desire it.
And not only is an earnest a part of the price you pay for something,
it means that you're contracting to pay the rest. An earnest is
a first installment. paid us a ton of security. It's
a pledge that I'll take care of the rest of it. This is why God doesn't trust.
God has given us the Holy Spirit as an earnest. As an earnest. I'll read this to you. You don't
have to look at it. But over in Romans 8, verse 23, it says
this. It says this, talking about,
you know, the Holy Spirit as an earnest. It says, not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves, grown within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our
body. Now what does that mean? That means, beloved, we've already
had the firstfruits of the Spirit. And because of the firstfruits
of the Spirit, and we have this earnest of the Spirit, He gives
us a glimpse, an idea of what awaits us in glory, the redemption
of this body. And we already have the firstfruits.
And if we have the firstfruits now, just imagine what the harvest
is going to be like. If we have the earnest now, the
place now, the promise now, just imagine. If this is just the
first install, if this is just the first, Oh my, what a waste
for us in glory. And then the earnest is a pledge.
And you know, remember over there in Ephesians 1.13 where it says,
you know, that we have received, to you who have believed, you
have received the Holy Spirit to seal the Holy Spirit and an
earnest of our inheritance. And what it says, thy beloved,
is an earnest of our inheritance. It's a down payment. It's an
installment. It's a pledge. It's a promise.
because of this sealing of the Spirit and the earnest of the
Spirit, that our inheritance, we will get it. We will get it. And the Holy Spirit and this
earnest that God's given us. And the Holy Spirit is the evidence,
the pledge, the promise that we're going to have the purchased
possession. We're going to get all the inheritance. And we've
got the earnest of our inheritance. Some people, you know, they got
a lot and they'll start giving some of their people, their children
or somebody their inheritance before they go. Said, you know,
I, you know, I'll give you this much and that much and that,
you know, start giving it away while they're still yet living.
Well, what God done is we have this glorious inheritance. Unbefouled and takes not away,
preserved in heaven for you. And God gave us the earnest of
the spirit. And the spirit, that's what it
is. It's the installment, it's the payment, it's the pledge,
it's the promise that we're going to get. We're going to get that
inheritance. Is there any doubt that we'll
get the inheritance? Any doubt that we won't get to
go to glory? Any doubt that we won't get to
walk on the streets? That we won't get to see Christ?
This is some of the inheritance we're going to have. We'll get
to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We'll get to see people
that we know now, and we'll know them then as we know them now. When you get there, you'll recognize
people that you knew while you was on this earth, but you won't
know them like you knew them on this earth. All that will
be done away with, and they'll be just like you. Nothing about
this earth will ever be remembered except, oh, just talk to Him
like you've known Him all your life, and you'll know Him throughout
eternity. Why is that? Because the Spirit
did. And how do we know it's going to happen? God's given
us the earnest of the Spirit. And what He's telling us is that
whatever happens, whether this earth of Tabernacle be dissolved,
whatever happens, no matter how tough it gets, we have the promise,
we have the pledge, We've been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and
He's given us the Holy Spirit as an earnest if He's going to
give us what He promised us. Ain't that what our Lord told
His disciples? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe God, believe also
me. For in my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I'd have told
you. If I go away, I'll prepare a place for you, and if I go
to prepare a place for you, I'm going to come again. How do we
know that He's coming again? He's given us the Holy Spirit,
and He's given us the earth to be inherited. And that I'll take
you to be with me where I am. And the Holy Spirit in us is
the promise, the pledge, that these things are going to be,
they're ours. There are. We possess them as good as possess
them because of the one who promised. Now, I've known folks that put
down earnest money before on something and forfeited. I know some folks that told me
that one time somebody wanted to buy their place, and if I'm
not mistaken, I'm almost sure, and they put down this earnest
money on it, tens of thousands of dollars. Really wanted it.
And then they couldn't get the rest of the money. Those folks
did not have to give all that money back. And they didn't. Because, you see, that's what
the earnest is. It's the pledge that I'm going to give the rest
of it. Now, what has God done us that way? That's what free
will teaches. That's what work religious teaches.
That God gives it to you, and if you don't do right with it,
He's going to take it back. He ain't going to take it back.
He doesn't give us the earnest. They ain't going to take it back. The gifts and calling of God
are without repentance. Our blessed Savior, thank You
for Your precious Word. What an encouragement, what a
blessing it is to me. And I pray that it was encouragement
and a blessing to Your dear saints. Father, again we pray for those
that we mentioned. Ask for your mercies, your strength,
your encouragement. Do away with fears and anxieties.
Keep us so we can come and worship together again. We ask these
things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. I'll see you Sunday, God
willing.