Battle Ready: "Signed Sealed and Delivered" Ephesians 1:13-14: Pastor Daniel Reese

Hey man, if you have your Bibles Ephesians 1,

we're gonna finish up the longest sentence

of the Bible today through verse 14.

So that's exciting, I think.

Still living at home, bored,

and expecting to inherit a fortune

when his sickly father, Wittewar father died,

Robert decided he needed a woman to keep him company.

So he went to a singles bar and he searched

until he spotted a woman whose beauty took his breath away.

Right now I'm just an ordinary man.

He said as he walked up to her in the bar,

but within a month or two,

my father will pass away and I'll inherit $20 million.

$20 million.

The woman went home with Robert that night

and four days later she became his stepmother.

No wonder they say some men never learn.

It's amazing what lengths we will,

some people will go to for an earthly inheritance

only to be disappointed when they don't actually receive

what they think they're going to get.

But there is a spiritual inheritance

that is far more valuable than any inheritance

that we could ever receive here on this earth.

And the good news is that for those of us

who have accepted Jesus as our savior,

that inheritance is guaranteed by God himself.

Last month we began our spiritual basic training

by going verse by verse through Paul's letter

to the Ephesians.

After the introduction in the first two verses,

Paul writes one long sentence that describes

the spiritual riches that God has given to us.

This morning we'll wrap up then our look at that sentence

which we find in verses three through 14.

We began by looking at the work of God the Father

as he chose us before the beginning of the world

and predestined us to be a part of his family.

And he accomplished all of that by pouring out grace

into our lives.

Then we've seen the work of God the Son, Jesus,

through his death and resurrection

has purchased our redemption.

He has freed us from all that life is characterized

from all of life carried by slavery to sin.

And one day all of God's creation

will once again be centered, focused

and brought together in him.

And this morning we're gonna wrap up this section

by looking at the work of God the Holy Spirit

and blessing us with the spiritual riches of God.

So if you have your Bibles verse 13 of chapter one.

In him you also when you heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation and believed in him

were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit

who is the guarantee of our inheritance

until we acquire possession of it

to the praise of his glory.

So this whole section of Ephesians

and indeed much of Paul's letter

focuses on this idea of an inheritance.

But the great thing about this inheritance

is that we don't have to wait to enjoy it.

In fact, our inheritance has a past

and present and future part to it.

My inheritance, number one deals with my past sins.

When Jesus redeems us,

he deals with all of our past sins

since there is absolutely nothing

that you or I can do to deal with the guilt,

to deal with the penalty for my sins.

Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross

and that frees me from the guilt associated

with my past sins.

Some of you are carrying around past sins

that you can't get over.

He's already dealt with them, get over it.

Second thing is it allows me to live an abundant life now

in the present, right now.

You've probably all seen,

if you've ever taken a road trip,

you've probably seen a bumper sticker or some sort,

usually on the back of a large, slow-moving RV

that reads, I'm spending my children's inheritance.

In fact, I've heard that from some people I know.

I'm gonna go buy a new car,

I'm gonna go spend my kids' inheritance.

But the great thing about our inheritance in Christ

is that even though I get to spend it now,

it doesn't reduce by one iota

what I'm still going to get in the future.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way

when it comes to our earthly inheritance.

I read this week about a woman whose husband had died.

He had $20,000 to his name.

After everything was done at the funeral home and cemetery,

she told her closest friend that she had no money left.

The friend asked, how can that be?

She told me a few days ago, he had $20,000.

How could you be broke?

The widow replied, well, the funeral home cost me $6,500.

And of course, I had to make the obligatory donation

to the church and the musicians

for the use of the facilities.

That was $500.

I spent another $500 on the food and the drinks

and you know all that other stuff.

And the rest went to a memorial stone.

The friend asked $12,500 for a memorial stone?

My goodness, how big was it?

The widow answered, well, three carats.

But we get to enjoy our spiritual inheritance now.

We've been freed from the bondage of sin

so that we can live an abundant life now, today.

But in the future, we're still going to receive

the entire inheritance that God has purchased for us

through his son.

Which means the third thing,

I get to spend eternity with God in the futures

as part of our inheritance.

That is the primary emphasis of this passage

that we're looking at this morning.

Although we certainly see at least

a passing reference to the past

and present aspects of our inheritance here,

the main emphasis is on the future aspect

of that inheritance.

Although all three persons in the Godhead,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit take part

in all the aspects of our inheritance,

it is the Holy Spirit who takes the lead,

takes the role in guaranteeing

or securing our future inheritance.

It is through the Holy Spirit that our inheritance

is signed, sealed, and delivered.

When we receive the Holy Spirit of Jesus,

we get the spirit.

Including this passage,

including this passage we're looking at this morning,

Paul has already used the phrase in Christ, in him,

or something similar 11 times.

That's why it's so stinking hard to memorize it.

Paul wants there to be absolutely no doubt whatsoever

in our minds that all of the spiritual blessings

that we receive that we get,

come to us through Jesus Christ.

There's no doubt about it.

There's no other way.

The same thing is true when it comes to receiving

the Holy Spirit into my life.

There's nothing that we can do on our own

to receive the Holy Spirit.

We can't pray and ask God to give him to us.

But we can't perform some act to get him into our life.

There are only two classes of,

I mean, there's not two classes of Christians.

Those who have some special manifestation

of the Holy Spirit and those who don't.

The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit

comes into the life of every person

and the life of every believer

at the very moment he or she becomes a believer.

And this passage describes two essential elements

in that process.

It's not one and then later the other.

The two actions occur in concert with one another.

So how do I receive the Holy Spirit?

Two things must occur.

Number one, I must hear the word of truth.

I must hear the word of truth.

I lived in a world that was a lot like ours.

One where there were all kinds of ideas

of what comprises truth.

Or perhaps even worse, the idea that there is no such thing

as absolute truth.

A poll taken by the Barna Institute recently

showed that only 22% of Americans

believed that moral truth is absolute.

And there's been a lot of other polls with similar results.

Even more sadly, however, is that among those

that consider themselves Christians,

the numbers aren't a whole lot higher.

But Paul is very clear here that there is an absolute truth.

When he writes about the word truth in verse 13,

he includes the article with the word truth.

So we could literally translate the phrase,

the word of the truth.

And then Paul goes on to further identify

the word of the truth as the gospel of our salvation.

The gospel, or the good news,

is the very essence of the truth.

And its very essence has at least three crucial areas

that you must understand when we're dealing with truth.

The first one being the truth about the condition of man

is that we are dead in our sin.

Paul is going to go into much more detail later

when we get to chapter two.

Most people would admit that they're not perfect.

If you can't admit that, let me know, I'll help you out.

But most of them think that they can take care of themselves.

Right?

Just get rid of a few bad habits here.

Just add a little bit of morality here, and then we're good.

And then maybe they'll even start reading their Bible

or going to church.

But the truth of the gospel is that man is totally depraved.

He is spiritually dead in his transgressions and sin,

and there's absolutely nothing you or I can do about it.

The second thing about truth is the truth about God's love

is shown to us on the cross.

So although he cannot excuse our sin,

the Bible is very clear that God loves us.

He wants the very best for us.

And he's willing to let his only son die on the cross

to demonstrate that love for us.

Now, there's a lot of people that I love.

And many I would be willing to die for.

But you aren't getting my son.

You're not getting my kid.

I am not giving up one of my children

so that somebody else can live.

That is a love beyond my comprehension.

And that's what he did for us.

The third thing of truth,

the truth about God's plan is only Jesus.

It's only Jesus.

Since people have so many ideas of what truth is,

we shouldn't be surprised that there's a multitude of ideas

on how to be made right with God.

Much like in Paul's day, we live in a culture

that says it doesn't really matter how you get to God.

Just be a good person.

Just be spiritual.

It doesn't matter how you do that

because there's many paths to God, right?

Just be kind.

Be loving.

We all just need to be tolerant of each other's religion.

But that's not what Jesus said.

He declared the unambiguous truth

that God has only one plan

and that plan is faith in His Son.

Jesus says in 14-6, we talked about this several months ago,

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

That's a bold statement.

No wonder Paul has consistently reminded us

that we can only come to God when we are in Christ.

I don't care what any other denomination or church tells you.

Christ is the only way.

It's not a social justice issue.

It's not a social issue.

It's not a, well, that's offensive issue.

That's the truth of the gospel.

He is the only way.

The second thing we do when we receive the Holy Spirit

is we believe in Jesus.

So we hear it and then we believe it.

It's not enough just to hear the gospel,

we have to act on it.

The word that Paul uses here for believe

is a word that indicates it's not just

mere intellectual ascent.

It goes way beyond just head knowledge.

The word implies the kind of faith

that will result in a changed life.

It's the kind of faith that James writes about in his epistle.

In James chapter 2, 17, he says,

James 2 · chapter mention

in the same way faith by itself,

if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The entire second half of the book of Ephesians

is going to focus on the fact with the way

that we live our lives and it needs

to be consistent with what we believe.

That's weeks and months down the road.

That's evidence of the fact of the kind of belief

Paul writes about here.

This morning, you've heard the word of truth,

the gospel of our salvation.

So the important question is, have you also believed in Jesus?

Have you trusted in him and his death and resurrection alone?

That's the only way to be made right with God.

You've heard it, but do you believe it?

And does your belief, think about your last week,

does that belief affect the way you live your life

each and every day?

You've heard the truth.

You've proclaimed to believe the truth.

But if you look at the past week,

does your life reflect the fact that you believe it?

The fact that I receive the Holy Spirit

when I hear the gospel and believe in Jesus

is only part of the story in regards to my inheritance.

Paul goes on to describe how the Holy Spirit secures

my inheritance.

Paul gives us two pictures of the Holy Spirit

in order to help us understand how the Holy Spirit works

in our lives to secure our inheritance.

The first thing is, he is a seal.

In Paul's day, important documents

were sealed with wax and then imprinted

with an identifying symbol, usually

by pressing a signet ring into the wax.

And that seal had three major functions,

each of which helps us understand something

of how the Holy Spirit secures our inheritance for us.

It's a mark of ownership.

In Paul's day, livestock and even slaves

were marked with a seal to show ownership,

similar to how ranchers brand their cattle today.

The seal helped to prevent theft,

and it avoided disputes of ownership.

Hey, that's my cow.

No, it's got my brand on it.

In much the same way, the Holy Spirit seals us

as proof that we belong to God.

Paul writes about this idea in 2 Corinthians, chapter 1.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

He says, now it is God who makes both us and you

stand firm in Christ.

He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us,

and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit,

guaranteeing what is to come.

It's also a symbol of preservation.

You'll recall that when Jesus was taken off the cross

and placed in the tomb, the tomb was sealed with the seal

of the Roman emperor.

The purpose was to protect or preserve

what was in that tomb from any outside interference.

And when the Holy Spirit seals us,

He comes into our lives to preserve us and protect us

from outside influences.

This doesn't mean we won't face pain or suffering.

This doesn't mean we'll never sin again.

But it does ensure that nothing can keep us

from our ultimate inheritance, protects us.

It's an indication of a completed transaction.

Whenever a transaction is completed,

the purchase of a piece of land, for instance,

the party's involved with signed legal documents

to indicate that the transaction was complete.

When the Holy Spirit seals us, He reminds us that just before

He gave up His life on the cross, Jesus' final words were,

it is finished, complete.

The Holy Spirit seals us to make it clear

that there is nothing that we can do to earn our inheritance.

Jesus has already completed that transaction on the cross.

He is a down payment.

The word translated guarantee literally means a down payment.

Now, that's certainly something we're all familiar with, right?

If we buy something large on credit, such as a car or a house,

the lender requires us to put down a down payment.

And that down payment makes the lender very happy

because it is a guarantee that there's more to come, right?

In some cases, when you buy a house,

there's a whole lot more to come.

Usually several times the amount of the down payment.

The Holy Spirit serves exactly the same purpose

for us spiritually.

He is the guarantee that there's more to come.

In fact, much more to come.

As great it is as it is that Jesus has dealt with my past sins.

And He gives me an abundant life now.

The best is yet to come.

Paul writes that the Holy Spirit guarantees our inheritance

until we acquire possession of it.

Literally, that phrase means the redemption of the walk around.

The redemption of the walk around.

This is a reference to the practice

of walking around the perimeter of a parcel of land

that was being purchased.

When the buyer did that, it was a symbol to everyone

that the down payment had been made

and that that parcel now belonged to him.

That is what God has done for us.

He has made the down payment.

And He has performed the walk around to make us His.

And the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives

is the guarantee that one day God will

return to claim our resurrected bodies for Himself.

We are His.

It's interesting that in the modern Greek,

the word translated deposit or down payment in this passage

has come to mean an engagement ring.

Isn't that a beautiful picture of what the Holy Spirit is

in our lives?

He's the reminder to everyone that God has promised to return

and to make us His bride.

The best is yet to come.

We're going to close out our time this morning.

And I'm going to read this passage

from the message translation.

As I read this passage out loud, let's

focus on the fact that God, the Holy Spirit,

is our guarantee and that we've been signed, sealed,

and delivered.

Listen to this.

It's in Christ that you fill in your name.

It's in Christ that you.

Once you heard the truth and believed it,

this message of your salvation, found yourselves home free,

signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit.

The signet from God is the first installment

on what's coming, a reminder that will get everything

that God has planned for us a praising and glorious life.

This morning, we're going to do something

a little different.

We're going to pause right now.

And we're going to give you an opportunity to respond to God.

If you've already made the decision to believe in Jesus

in the way that we've talked about,

if you've already responded to that years ago, maybe today,

whatever, then I invite you to use this time

to give thanks to God for sending the Holy Spirit

into your life.

Have you done that recently?

God, thank you that I'm sealed.

Thank you that you've sealed me with your spirit.

But I also know that in a group like this,

there's probably some of you who have never made that decision.

You've never trusted Christ as your savior.

You've never trusted Jesus Christ alone

to redeem you from your sins and to make you

right with God.

Perhaps you come to church every week,

and you're trusting in your church attendance.

Or perhaps maybe your parents or grandparents were Christians,

and you're trusting in your heritage.

Maybe you think that because you read the Bible and pray,

and you treat people right, you've

earned the right to become part of God's family.

But as we've seen the past few weeks, the only means,

that God has provided for us to enter into a relationship

with Him is through His Son.

You know, sometimes I think we get too focused

with feeling the void.

I've been guilty of that.

We want to feel the void of silence,

with music, with distraction, and we

miss out on what God wants to say.

Very rarely are we still.

Scripture says that be still, right?

Be still and know that I'm God.

Congestion, it's a command.

Be still and know that I am God.

We have our phones to distract us.

We have our families to distract us.

And believe it or not, there's sometimes, I think,

we rush up here, and we get the worship band up here,

and we allow worship music to distract us.

Believe it or not, we're just going to be still.

Be still.

So can you, can we just sit in His presence

for a couple of minutes?

Just sit in His presence for a couple of minutes?

If you know without a doubt that Jesus is your Savior,

if you know without a doubt you've trusted Him to redeem you,

in this time, can you just plead right now

for the souls of those who aren't sure?

Can you plead to God on their behalf?

And if you don't know with confidence

that you have surrendered your life to Him,

even if you don't know how to pray,

even if you think in your mind you don't know how to pray,

could you just ask God to speak to you?

I love the prayer in the Scriptures.

God, help my unbelief.

Maybe that's your prayer.

God, help my unbelief.

Because the reality is I can't put the right words

in the right order, at the right cadence,

at the right volume to convince you

to surrender your life to Jesus.

It's only Him that saves.

And sometimes I think we get busy filling the void

that we miss out on His voice.

And so I've asked Paul.

I was like, just wait.

Wait.

And so I'm going to pray for us.

And then we're just going to sit in silence.

And I'm going to ask God to speak.

Can we do that?

Father, God, I pray.

I pray right now that you fill the void of silence

with your voice.

God, I pray that you will free us from distraction.

Sometimes silence is deafening.

I pray that you speak.

I pray that you speak in this moment.

Speak to those of us that have trusted in you.

Speak to those of us that haven't.

I pray that as we walk out of here today, my prayer,

is that each and every one of us in this room

can stay calm, not only be heard, but speak.

OK, we're going to be still.