Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. Now today the message will be
coming from the book of Ephesians. Paul's epistle to the Ephesians,
chapter 4, and mainly verse 30, Ephesians 4 and verse 30. And
the title of the message is Sealed Unto the Day. sealed unto the
day. And let me just read Ephesians
4 in verse 30, where the apostle encourages the believers at the
church at Ephesus. He says, and grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Now, what Paul was doing here,
he's giving encouragements for obedience. to those who are saved
by the grace of God, who truly have faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, to those who are eternally secure in God's grace because
of what Christ accomplished on Calvary. As you know, if you've
been following our programs, I've been preaching a series
of messages on the eternal security of the saved, or the eternal
security of the believer. And this is one of those messages.
I just have a few more that I'm going to do in this series. And
if you haven't listened to them all, I urge you to get the others
on the eternal security of the saved. But one of the reasons
that we believe and that the Bible teaches that those who
are truly saved remain saved eternally, they cannot lose salvation,
and I've talked about that in these messages, is because they
are sealed unto the day of redemption. Sealed unto the day. Now the
day of redemption there is the day of the second coming of Christ,
the day of a believer's glorification, final glorification, when Christ
comes again the second time to judge the world, put all of his
enemies down, and to gather his people unto himself, to be changed,
as the book of 1 Corinthians 15 says, in the twinkling of
an eye, and be given their new bodies, our new bodies, the spiritual
body, whereby we will inhabit the new earth, the new heavens
and the new earth. And so he says we're sealed. And I want
to talk about this sealing. First of all, let me say this.
Now again, he's encouraging believers, true believers, to be obedient
children of God. He talks about this all the way
through this chapter. He talks about put away lying,
stop lying, speak the truth, be angry, sin not, don't give
place to the devil, let him that stole steal no more. You've got
all these exhortations. to obedience, to be obedient
children, to live lives that are honoring to God and live
lives that support our testimony and our witness of grace and
salvation, to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's
the encouragement. And he says in verse 30, as I
read before, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. That's a term
that is, it's a human term to give us some understanding of
how a believer's disobedience is displeasing to the Lord, displeasing
to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And it actually
gives human emotions to the Holy Spirit. Now, we can't technically
or theologically say that that's the case, but it's language that's
given to us to help us understand something of how displeasing
it is when a true child of God, a true believer, disobeys his
Heavenly Father. And the basis, or the motivation,
let's say, for a believer fighting sin, and seeking to be an obedient
child of God is this right here, whereby you are sealed under
the day of redemption. Now he's talking about sealed
by the Holy Spirit of God. And I'll show you some other
scriptures on that. But let me talk to you about
this sealing here. If you're a true believer, a
true child of God, if you're saved by the grace of God, if
you're preserved by the grace of God, if you are sure for heaven
by the grace of God. And we could say it this way
too. If you're washed clean from all your sins in the blood of
Jesus Christ, if you're clothed in his righteousness, that's
his righteousness imputed, charged, accounted. And you remember,
I've told you in this program, if you've listened to the others,
that one of the reasons that a true believer One who is truly
saved cannot lose that salvation, is they cannot be charged with
sin. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's
God that justifies, who can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea
rather is risen again and seated at the right hand of the Father,
ever living to make intercession for us. There's another reason
that the true believer cannot lose salvation, because Christ
ever lives continually to make intercession for that person.
Meaning that Christ's blood continually pleads for that person and it
never stops. But then I want to talk to you
about the eternal security of the saved on the believer's side.
Now, a true believer is one who is, again, saved by the grace
of God, chosen of God, saved by grace, redeemed by the blood
of Christ, justified before God. That means I'm not guilty. It
means I'm righteous in God's sight based on the imputed righteousness
of Christ, the righteousness of God. You see, all of these
truths come together. to support the issue of eternal
security. My righteousness before God,
whereby I'm saved and justified, accepted, is not my own righteousness
as far as my works. You see that? It is the righteousness
of God. And the righteousness of God
is a term in the Bible, it's revealed in the gospel, that
refers to the merits of the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ is my righteousness. And
that's why I can say, there's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. But as a result of what Christ
accomplished on Calvary, to put away my sins, and to make me
righteous before God, God sends the Holy Spirit. To do what? To bring me under the preaching
of the gospel and to birth me again. That's the new birth.
You must be born again. The theological terms for that
is regeneration and conversion. Regeneration is the giving of
spiritual life. You see, as fallen in Adam, we
are born dead spiritually in trespasses and sins. We have no knowledge, no desire
for the things of God. And so we're born dead. And in
order for us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, in order for
us to repent, in order for us to be servants of righteousness,
that is obedient children of God, we must be born again. Christ
said that in John chapter three. You must be born again or you
cannot see, that is understand from the heart. the kingdom of
God. You cannot enter the kingdom
of God. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, 1 Corinthians 2.14. Neither can
he know them. So we must be born again. We
must be given eyes to see, spiritual eyes. Ears to hear, spiritual
ears. You see, you remember when Stephen
in the book of Acts stood in Jerusalem and preached the gospel
to them and they rejected it. He called him, he said, you stiff
neck, that means proud, unbending, and uncircumcised in heart and
ears. The circumcised heart, that's
the new heart. And that's what happens in the
new birth. He gives us a new heart, a new mind, a new affections,
a new will. And the Holy Spirit then enters
us. We don't know how to explain
that theologically, and I wouldn't dare try to. But the Holy Spirit
sets up His dwelling place within our hearts. And because the Holy
Spirit indwells us, and because He's given us a new spirit, we
who believe now, I'm not talking about all without exception.
I'm talking about believers, the truly saved. We're eternally
secure. Now that's called the sealing
of the Holy Spirit. We're sealed. Now go back and
read Ephesians chapter four and verse 30 again. And grieve not
the Holy Spirit, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. You're sealed up if you're a
true believer. I'm sealed up. Now what does
this sealing mean, this being sealed? Well, let me give you
several things about this sealing. And different aspects of it are
put within different contexts of the scripture to emphasize
different things, but they all really come together. to mean
the same thing. Over in Revelation, you hear
about how the true people of God are sealed in their foreheads. That means their mind, their
heart. That's what that's talking about. And they wear that seal. It's not an actual mark on their
forehead, as some people say, but it's believing, knowing,
and believing the gospel. We'll see that. But let me tell
you about this sealing. The first thing this sealing
means is that that person, a person who is sealed by God, or sealed
by the Holy Spirit, is a person who is owned by God. It's a mark of ownership, this
sealing. It means that person does not
belong to himself, he belongs to God. Now he's not a forced
slave trying to pay a debt. He's a willing, loving, bond
slave of Christ. He's serving his master because
his debt has already been paid, paid by the blood of Jesus Christ. And he serves his master out
of love and gratitude. And therefore he is owned by
God. So this ceiling means ownership. This ceiling also means identification. Whatever this ceiling is, it
identifies the true children of God. So they're owned by God
and they're identified by God, this sealing. And then this sealing
thirdly has to do with approval, or you might say ratification.
In other words, it's a sign that this person is approved of God,
not rejected, received by God. The Bible says that everyone
who is in Christ Jesus is accepted in the beloved. And that's part
of this sealing, we're accepted. You see, if you don't have Christ,
you're not accepted of God. I don't care what you do. Now
you understand what I mean. You can be religious, you can
be moral, you can be generous, you can be a lot of different
things, but you're not accepted of God. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. What does that mean? That means
without receiving and looking to and resting in Christ, for
all salvation, it's impossible to please God. This ceiling was
actually applied to the Lord himself in the book of John. Let me read you a passage. This
is John chapter six and verse 27. And Christ himself is preaching
here and he says, labor not for the meat which perisheth, But
for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which
the Son of Man shall give unto you, that's talking about himself
giving salvation to his people by grace. It says, the Son of
Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. Now, how did God the Father seal
God the Son? Well, first of all, He chose
Him to be the Savior of His people before the foundation of the
world. God chose Christ, the Son of God, the second person
of the Trinity, who is co-equal with the Father and the Spirit
in every attribute of deity, but He is chosen to be the Savior
of His people. And secondly, He is the Son of
God. Now he's also the son of man.
And what that refers to is not that man owns him, but it refers
to the fact that he is a human being. He has a humanity without
sin. That's a messianic term. He's
the Messiah, but he's the son of God. And then he was identified
to be the Messiah by the father himself and by the spirit. You
remember at his baptism, A voice came from heaven, that was the
father, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,
hear ye him. And the spirit descended in the
form of a dove. So he was identified, and several
times the same thing was said at the Mount of Transfiguration,
the father spoke, this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased, hear ye him. And then he was accepted, approved
of. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased, he said. So you see he was approved and
the main sign of his approval, of the father's approval of the
son was found in the resurrection of Christ. Everything that Christ
did for his people as their surety and their substitute was approved
of when he was raised from the dead. Because that means, listen,
that means he put away the sins of his people. That means he
established the only righteousness whereby God could be just and
justify the ungodly. That means that everyone for
whom he died is secure in his salvation and it will be applied
to them as they're sealed by the Holy Spirit. He says, grieve
not, verse 30 again, Ephesians four. Grieve not the Holy Spirit
whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Now let me
show you another application of that. Look over at Romans
chapter four. Now, here the issue that the
Apostle Paul is dealing with is how sinners are justified
before holy God. How can a sinner who deserves
and has earned nothing but death and damnation. How can such a
person stand before a holy and just and righteous God who must
punish sin? And how can that person be forgiven?
How can that person be accepted of God? Now, the answer to that
question is found only in the gospel of God's free and sovereign
grace in Christ Jesus. Now many people haven't even
considered that question. How can God be merciful to a
sinner like me? How can a man, a sinful man,
be just with God? Most people would say, well,
God loves everybody and Christ died for everybody and if you'll
just do your part. That is not the answer from this
book. That's the answer that people
today like to give. And the reason they like to give
that answer is because they want to think that they make the difference.
between saved and lost, between heaven and hell. But that's not
the biblical answer. The biblical answer is found
in the gospel, wherein the righteousness of God is revealed. And that
answer shows us that God chose a people, and having appointed
his son to be their savior, he gave them to Christ. And Christ
was set up to be their surety, having their sins charged to
Him. His righteousness imputed to
them. He's their surety and then He's their substitute. He actually
came to this earth and took on human nature without sin and
walked in this world as God-man, Emmanuel, God with us, the Word
made flesh, and He substituted Himself in their place on the
cross of Calvary and satisfied the justice of God for their
sins. And in that process, what did
he do? He brought forth a righteousness, the very righteousness of God,
whereby God could forgive them in a just and righteous way.
Now all of that has to do with the love, the mercy, and the
grace of God. But it's love and mercy and grace,
not at the expense of God's justice, but love and mercy and grace
in tune with God's justice. You see, God must be a just God
and a savior. He must be a righteous judge
as well as a loving father. So that's the issue that Paul's
talking about in Romans four. And he talks about how the man,
he quotes David in this passage, When David talked about the man,
blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth, charges righteousness
without works. But then he talks about circumcision.
Abraham was given the covenant of circumcision. But did that
physical circumcision, did that have anything to do with justifying
Abraham before God? And the answer is no. And look
at verse 11. This is Romans four and verse 11. And it says, and
he, Abraham, received the sign of circumcision. Now that tells
you right there that the physical circumcision that Abraham received
was a sign. And what did it signify? a seal
of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised,
that he might be the father of all them that believe, though
they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed
unto them also. So that seal was a signification
of the fact that Abraham had already been justified. Based
on what? Circumcision? No. Based on his
works? No, based on the righteousness
of God in Christ imputed to it. Do you see that? That's a seal,
that's a seal. Let me give you another passage.
Here in 2 Corinthians chapter one, listen to this. 2 Corinthians
one and verse 20. He speaks that how all the promises
of God in him, in Christ that is, are ye, and in him, amen,
unto the glory of God by us. In other words, every promise
that God made to his people concerning salvation, concerning security,
concerning glory, is sure and certain, not because they do
something for God, they're sure and certain in the Lord Jesus
Christ, based on his blood and righteousness. And then in verse
21 of 2 Corinthians 1, he says, now he which establisheth us
with you in Christ. You see, if you're in Christ,
you're established in him, and God did it, and hath anointed
us is God. Verse 22, who hath also sealed
us and given the earnest, the down payment of the spirit in
our hearts. God has sealed his people. And
He's given them the down payment of the presence and the power
of the Holy Spirit, which shows them that they're sealed unto
the day of redemption, like our text says. And these passages
show the eternal security of the believer. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 1. Here's another passage. that talks about that. He talks
about this whole passage, Ephesians chapter 1 speaks of the work
of the Father in salvation, the work of the Son in salvation,
and the work of the Holy Spirit. The Father's work, He chose a
people before the foundation of the world and predestinated
them to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's what the scripture
teaches. The work of the Son, Jesus Christ,
was to come and establish the ground of salvation by His obedience
unto death, shedding of His blood, the redemptive work of Christ.
He redeemed them. You see, if we're saved, we don't
own ourselves. We're redeemed by the blood of
Christ. He owns us. And then he talks
about the work of the Holy Spirit, who brings us under the preaching
of the gospel. Verse 13 of Ephesians 1. In whom
you also trusted, that is Christ. You trusted in Christ. After
that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Sealed up by God. Isn't that something? how everything
in salvation is owing to the grace and the power and the goodness
of God. And what a truly saved person
is by that grace is totally, totally the fruit of what Christ
accomplished on Calvary. And what happens within us as
born-again people, that's the work of the Spirit. Let me show
you one more passage of Scripture concerning this sealing. Over
in 2 Timothy 2, listen to what the Apostle Paul writes in verse
15. He says, study to show thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun, verse 16, but
shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more
ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth
a canker. And then he mentions two men.
These were two men in the church where Timothy was being an overseer. He says, of whom is Hymenaeus
and Philetus. He mentions them by name. And
he says, listen to what he's saying. Their word will eat as
doth a canker, like a gangrene. of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus,
and then look at verse 18, who concerning the truth have erred,
saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow
the faith of some, literally make shipwreck of the faith of
some. So here's two men who were introducing
false doctrine into the church, and they influenced some to go
with them, and they overthrew the faith of some. Now, the question
is, was Hymenaeus and Philetus, these men, were they ever truly
saved? Did they really ever have true
faith? And these whose faith they made shipwreck of, did those
people ever truly know the gospel? Did they ever truly know Christ?
Many people today would say yes. The answer is no. How do you
know that? Well, look at the next verse.
Now, read these things in context. Verse 19. Now, here's a Hymenaeus
and Philetus. They went away into false doctrine
and denied the truth. Some people followed them. But
look at verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal. Now do you understand
that? The Lord knoweth them that are
His. God knows those that are truly
His. That word know their means more
than just a mental knowledge of them. A recognition. It means an intimate love relationship,
a salvation relationship, like a marriage relationship. And
he says, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let everyone
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So you
see that? God knows his people. They're
secure in him. They will never leave because
he keeps them. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.