To the Praise of His Glory

Ephesians 1 and the Reading of God’s Word

If you can turn to Ephesians chapter one, and please stand for the reading of God's word. Today's reading, again, verse three through 14. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself, as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us all in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

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 reacquire position of it to the praise of his glory.

You may be seated. Lord, may you bless the reading and the preaching of your word this morning, that it would fall on good soil, on hearts that are receptive and ready and willing to receive that which you've laid before us, all to the praise of your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.

God’s Economy, Election, and the Inheritance in Christ

Well, church, over the last couple weeks, we've been going over this sermon series in the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, and I'm not sure if you've noticed this, depending on the translation that you're using, but we basically have been preaching through what is essentially a runoff sentence from the Apostle Paul as he begins his treaty of the grandeur of the spiritual blessings that are to be found in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ that are with us and in us in heavenly places, even as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.

And Paul goes on this incredible, lavish, God-exalting tangent in this first chapter of Ephesians, verses three to 10, almost to 14, essentially is just a huge runoff sentence. Paul just can't contain himself.

And he's lavishing the church of this God-exalting, all-satisfying language of the goodness, sovereignty, and plan and purpose of God for the believer. Again, Paul is exclaiming the grandeur, majesty of God's love, and the plan for his elect as he's working it out, as the outworking of his will for all the ages.

Now, what Paul is highlighting in the first chapter of Ephesians is the importance of doctrine and theology in the overall plan of God. We see in verse 10, again, this statement as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven, and things on earth.

The word plan, the Greek word is where we would get the English word economy from. This is God's plan, his economy. And we think of economies in our culture today. We think of Western economies tend to be capitalistic.

You have Eastern economies that tend to lean towards communist, which is a central planned economy. And you have these distinguishing marks of what a planned or an economy should look like. Well, can I tell you that in God's kingdom, his economy is quite different from man's.

In our economies, especially in Western nations, we have a democracy where we as members of this great nation get to kick out our elected officials every two years. I mean, that's a pretty great system, isn't it?

You get to kick out leaders or install new ones every two to four years. But in God's economy, there's only one election. And the election already happened a long time ago. Matter of fact, before time even was, before the earth had even come into existence, God held an election in which he elected his people.

Quite different from the democracy that we live in today. Instead, God's kingdom is a theocracy. It's God-planned. It's God-centered. It centers around the person and work and grandeur of the creator.

And in his economy, he chose you and I before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless. And he chose us in love. As we finish up this week with this treatise on the spiritual blessings in Christ, the Apostle Paul goes on to say in verse 11, in him we have an inheritance, having been predestined according to the promise of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

Now, what's incredible is that we get to answer in verse 10, the question could naturally arise, okay, if God has a plan, how do we fit into that plan? If God has a eternal economy that he has set forth and set into motion and purposed in Christ, what does that mean for you and I who are a part of that plan or economy of God?

Well, brothers, in verse 11, it's very clear. In him, we've obtained an inheritance. If you're following along in today's teaching in the insert, in Christ, we've obtained an inheritance. Why don't you write that word in there, inheritance?

And one of the greatest things that can happen to anyone is to be left a grand inheritance that leaves them with wealth and security. An inheritance left by a loved one provides the resources and security to approach the future, but it's often enjoyed apart from the presence of the one who left it for us.

So in order to receive an inheritance, someone who you love or know or admire needs to pass away so that you then inherit their assets, their funds, or whatever it is that they've left behind for you.

And often, it is for your blessing. It's to give you something. It's to give you confidence in a security for the future. And that could be one of the greatest gifts a person can receive from someone who has left them behind in death.

But as Christians, we too have an inheritance, and it's an inheritance that was purchased and bought by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. This inheritance that the scripture is referring to is a grand inheritance, greater than any earthly inheritance you and I could ever receive.

And it was purchased for us by the blood of Jesus. There was a death that guaranteed our inheritance. But the difference between the inheritance that the Lord Jesus leaves behind and that which other loved ones would leave behind is that Jesus, though He died for our sins, was buried according to the scriptures.

On the third day, He did not stay dead, but instead, having power over death and Hades itself, He rose from the dead, triumphing over our greatest enemy, and giving us the guarantee and the hope of eternal life through the shed blood and resurrection of Jesus from the dead, amen?

And so, in the insert, we see in Christ, we have obtained an inheritance that includes eternal life because of what Jesus accomplished. Now, no one, usually in their right mind, wants to die. The Bible says, it includes the ashes, that God has set eternity in our hearts.

Man does not have an innate desire to die, but rather to live. And we, at all costs, do all that we can in order to fulfill that innate desire to live. We feed ourselves. We clothe ourselves. We protect ourselves.

We try to make investments for the future to help us be better off in the future. We do all that we can to preserve our own life. And the reason is because God has placed that innate desire in every one of His creatures.

And so, our desire is not to die, but there is no earthly inheritance that you can receive that will keep you from that great enemy of death, but only one. And that is the inheritance that the Lord Jesus Christ left for His people, for us to receive eternal life.

For all who would put their faith in the name of the Son of God shall pass from death to life. And so, you can have that eternal life, that eternal security in Christ today because of the shed blood of Jesus on the cross.

And again, because this inheritance we receive is obtained only in Christ, notice again what the text says, in Him we have obtained an inheritance. It's only in Christ that this inheritance is made possible and by which you may have access to it, only in Jesus.

Not in Muhammad. Not in atheism. Not in agnosticism. Not in political parties or philosophies. Not even in oneself. There are a myriad of self-help books that you can buy at any bookstore that say that the true key to happiness is within.

And all you will truly find is if you look within with a true mirror is the depravity of your soul. And may God in that sense lead you to a knowledge of repentance so that you may turn in trust in Jesus.

But in oneself, you will not find the answers and the quench of the human soul that you so desire. Only in Christ will you receive such blessing and inheritance. And this inheritance includes eternal life, but it also includes something else.

And I want you to turn, if you can, to 1 Peter chapter one. In 1 Peter chapter one, verse three to four, Peter opening his epistle similarly to the Apostle Paul, says the following. "'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"'According to his great mercy, "'he has caused us to be born again "'to a living hope through the resurrection "'of Jesus Christ from the dead, "'to an inheritance that is imperishable, "'undefiled, unfading, "'kept in heaven for you.'".

And only does the Lord Jesus Christ through his shed blood on the cross and his death, burial, and resurrection attain for us an eternal salvation to eternal life, but he also guarantees us this heavenly hope of being with him.

Undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you. It's kept in heaven, this eternal life. But the reality is is that you and I at the moment of belief, we did pass from death to life. The Bible says that whoever believes in Jesus has, present tense, eternal life.

Yet we live in a mortal body, a mortal flesh that still perishes. And when Jesus is, speaking of the resurrection in John chapter 11, the situation with Lazarus, he raises him from the dead. Before so, he asks Martha, he says, I am the resurrection of life.

He who believes in me, yet he dies, yet shall he live. And he goes on to ask Martha, do you believe this? The hope that we have is that when we die as Christians, we go straight into the presence of the Lord, though we may experience bodily death, though yet we will be truly and ever alive with Christ in the heavenlies.

But that's not where our hope ends. We are one day awaiting a grand resurrection from the dead, body, soul, and spirit reunited, fully reconstituted as full. And we will stand before God in a resurrected body on a new heavens and a new earth.

And that is the fullness of the God's plan and economy for the redemption of his people, is that we too will experience a resurrection likened unto his. But in the meantime, we get to experience the joys of heaven, both here and now, through our being born again, being raised to a spiritual newness of life, but we also get to enjoy it when we depart from the flesh to be with Christ, which is, according to the Apostle Paul, far better.

And there's another text I want you to keep an eye on, and that's gonna be in Romans chapter eight, as we will reference that text quite a few times in today's message. In Romans chapter eight, we see in verses 17 and 18, the following, I'll start in verse 16, and it says, and the Spirit himself bears witness of our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be also glorified with him.

Eternal Life, Rulership, and Predestination

The hope of the Christian is not just eternal life in heaven, but it's also a rulership that we will share with Christ in the world to come. And that's what I want you to write in there if you're following along.

In Christ we have obtained an inheritance that includes eternal life and rulership. You see, you and I, we were made for rulership. When God planted Adam and Eve in the garden, he said to them, be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth.

Adam then goes on to name all the animals and has this authority over animals and plants, and he was to be a ruler over the world. And what's so sad about that story of the garden is that we, and mankind collectively, and Adam, ended up taking the rulership that God gave us and we handed it over to the enemy, to the serpent, to Satan, and we gave him dominion.

Which is why the Bible says that the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one, that Satan is the god of this age. He's the false god, a false idol, as Brother Connolly was pointing out in the commandments.

Having false gods, not having anyone before him. And yet, in that act of rebellion, man chose another god. But ours is not so. Our inheritance that we've obtained, that we've received through Jesus Christ, imparts eternal life to his elect at the moment of regeneration, and the believer passes from death to life, and you again now have eternal life, and you are seated with Christ in heavenly places now, today.

But that will one day be realized and fulfilled when we join him in heaven to an even greater degree of glory, and of course, at the resurrection of the dead. There's an important, back to our main text in Ephesians chapter one, there's an important verse or word that I want to focus on for a moment.

In verse 11, again it says, in him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Let's talk about that word, predestined.

This is a word that has marked Christian theology, and has been of great controversy, likely ever since the Apostle Paul penned those words to paper. So great a controversy this word has brought unto those who would read the Bible, that even today we have those who would mark themselves as Calvinists, who would say, we affirm and believe in God's power, work, and ability to predestine, predetermine the outcome of not just the salvation of man, but of every single thing in human history.

Then you have on the other side, a side that says, well God, well basically we don't like the word predestined. And one of the things that's so difficult is when talking to individuals or Arminians who don't really like that word, predestined, well the hard thing for them is the fact that how can you rebut a word that's used in Scripture so mightily and powerfully?

The word predestined was not invented by John Calvin, was not invented in the minds of theologians, it was a word that came straight from the mouth of God as Paul penned it in Holy Scripture. This idea, this notion, this theology surrounding this word of being predestined does not originate in man's mind, but rather in the mind and heart of God himself.

And so when we talk about being predestined, what is it that God has predestined us to? Again, notice the text, Ephesians 1 .11. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

The Lord Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, each actively working in the redemptive work of salvation and of predestination, he's predestined us to adoption according to his purpose, according to his purpose.

Why does God, I wanna ask this question first, why does God do anything? Why does God do anything at all? Why did he create the heavens and the earth? Why did he create the vegetation that sprang forth from the ground?

Why did he create the animals that are in the sea and on the land, all that is in the sky? Why did God create stars that are billions and billions of light years away by which we just see the slightest glimmer of its glory?

Why does God do anything? And the answer is very simple. It's all to the praise of his glory. God does all that he pleases for his own fame, for his own majesty, for his own glory. Now, some people might say, well, that sounds kind of narcissistic.

I've had a person say that to me once after I preached a similar message and say, why is God so interested in getting all the glory? And I said, because he's God, because he's God. And that's enough, that's enough.

You don't need to explain the heart and mind of the creator. And the reality is that bothers some of us so much because in reality, we want the glory. We want the fame. We want to be put on a pedestal and be made known and made great among the people.

But God, in his nature, is worthy of all praise, glory, adoration because of who he is. Think of it this way. Have you ever gone to, I went to this mall, I think in Santa Clara or San Jose, I'm not sure.

It's this fancy mall. It's got the Apple store. They've got lots of really nice stores. And there was one store in particular that we walked in, I can't remember the name of it, and there was a white T-shirt that was on display.

And I said, okay, that looks like a nice T-shirt. Let's see how much it costs. $110 for a white T-shirt? I said, I'm better off sticking to Target or Walmart. And I thought to myself, why is this T-shirt, just plain white T-shirt, so expensive?

I looked at it and I didn't see, made 100 of cotton. I'm like, okay, well, it's not in the ingredients, but what gave it purpose, what gave it value was the name that was on it, okay? If the name is Gucci or the name is Calvin Klein, then it brings the value of that plain white T-shirt.

What gives God value? Who he is, his name, his character, his power, who he is intrinsically as the creator God of the universe. Now, what gives you value is that he has placed his name on you. He's given you an inheritance.

He's given you a promise. He's given you a hope and a future through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, whose name you and I bear in our souls. Therefore, you have been predestined to adoption according to his purpose, according to the counsel of his will.

Why does God do anything? For his glory, for his glory. Why does God choose some for this inheritance and not others? For his own glory and the outworking of his purpose according to the great wisdom and insight of the counsel of his own will.

Again, this phenomenal word of predestined, literally meaning predetermined, pre or foreordained. And in Romans 8, verse 28 to 30, I'm gonna read that text real quick. From Romans 8, in verses 28, it says, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.

For those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined, there is that word again, to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. What a marvelous future lies ahead for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

And can I tell you this, that regardless of the circumstances that you may find yourself in in life today, last week, next week, a month from now, a year from now, 10 years from now, God is working all things together for good, for good.

You know, I resonate with the quote, a quote from the Prince of Preacher himself, Charles Spurgeon. He says that the sovereignty of God is the pillow by which I lay my head. To say that this is a comfort, this is a security.

When you lay your head down at night, there's no cares in the world. There's no fear that something's gonna happen and says you're just there enjoying that rest. And we as Christians ought to rest in the sovereignty of our almighty creator.

He is working all things together for our own good. Now that is true even in the bad times. That is true even of Christians in the Ukraine today who are under assault of a powerful country. It is true of the believers even in China who are meeting often in secret outside of the eyes and blessings of the Communist Party of China.

It is true even in Iran where they too are under ban and hiding from the powerful hand of the Ayatollah. The people of God, regardless of where they are, God is working all things for their good because our good is not always what we determine or believe is for our good.

That is to say that sometimes we have to look beyond our own circumstances in order to see the good that God is producing even in the midst of our own sufferings. Because when we suffer, it doesn't feel good.

It doesn't feel like God is for us when things are happening to us in a negative way. But be assured of this truth and promise that he is working all things together for good. And that for the Christian may include even death.

Now death usually is not a good thing, but for the believer, know what it is. To be, to die is to be with whom? Christ. Now if the worst thing that can happen to me in this life is death, what can man do to me?

If that's the worst thing that could happen is my life being taken away or the life of someone I love, having that assurance of that inheritance to the praise of his glory is the anchor that will keep us knowing and believing and trusting that God is working all things together for the good of his people.

Because even to die is to be with Christ. And Paul says that is far better, far better. And so what can man do to us? Now in that text that we just read from Romans 8, there's a very interesting phrase in verse 29.

It says, for those whom he foreknew, referring to God's active work of predestination, those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

One of the things that Arminians will bring up is well they say, well God's predestination is based upon his foreknowledge. So basically a variation, a former variation of what I'm about to say is this.

God looked through the channels of history and he saw those who would respond favorably to Christ and those are the ones that he predestined. Is that what scripture is teaching here? I think not, I think not.

Let's take that to its logical conclusion for a moment. If God could foresee the future, is there any other future that could be other than the future that he foresaw? And if there can only be one outcome of the future of which God foresaw, what would be the point in predestining at all?

If he just looks through history and says, okay this person's gonna respond to me favorably, that one's not, so I'm gonna predestine this one and that one not, what would be the purpose of predestination in the first place?

Instead realize and recognize that God's foreknowledge and God's predestinating work are two sides of the same coin. It's not one or the other. It's God in his foreknowledge looking ahead, chose people, men, women, and children for this grand blessing of inheritance through the cross and finished work of Jesus.

God is absolutely sovereign in the election of his people. And so again, this is a error to say that God predestines only according to his foreknowledge. William Hendrickson wrote the following in regard to this word of predestination.

He says, neither fate nor human merit determines our destiny. Not only did God make this plan that includes absolutely all things that ever take place in heaven, on earth, and in hell, past, present, even future, pertaining to both believers and unbelievers, to angels and devils, to physical as well as spiritual energies, and units of existence both late and small, he also wholly carries it out.

His providence in time is as comprehensive as is his decree from eternity. That is predestination. God wills and carries out his work of predestination by his will alone, and the way, and that way, it is he alone who receives the glory.

He alone receives the glory because all things flow and are and have motion and being and movement according to the counsel of his own will to the praise of his glorious grace. This is an awesome, almighty, creator God that we serve and worship in the person of Jesus Christ.

Sealed by the Holy Spirit and the Already-Not-Yet Inheritance

Ephesians chapter one, into our main text again, it says in verse 12, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory, and it says 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.

Friends, if you're following along in the teaching, we put our hope or our faith in Christ, and why do we do so? To the praise of his glory. Our hope is a cure in only one place, dear brother and sister, it's in Christ.

Throughout scripture, there is this, again, tension between God's sovereignty and man's will, and as the scripture and our confessions affirm, God is totally and freely sovereign, and man has a will, a volition, a moral agency, an accountability to God, but God commands man everywhere to repent and turn to Jesus, and upon the gospel proclamation, the sinner must receive the external gift of faith, whereupon God grants a repentance that leads to salvation.

So there is this tension between God's absolute, immutable sovereignty and the truth of man's decision-making and will and plans that he makes for his own life. How does that tension is settled? Well, I'm not sure I'm gonna give a satisfying answer because this is a debate that's been happening for hundreds of years, and I don't know that I can fully satisfy that tension, but I know that the tension is there, and I'm okay with it, I'm totally fine with that.

You know, there are certain things in scripture that are mysteries or modern word be a paradox, not a contradiction, there's a difference between a contradiction and a paradox, but things that are both true at the same time.

Look no further than the person of Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, not 50 -50, not half and half, not a sort of demigod, but he's fully God and fully man, and one person and union. How does that work?

I don't know, but it's the truth, and the truth should be sufficient for the believer, and so should this truth be, that God, though absolutely sovereign and immutable, calls men and women everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus, that they must with their own mouths confess Jesus Christ as Lord, believe in their own hearts that God raised them from the dead, and the Bible says they will be saved.

So there's only two options, whereupon a gospel proclamation goes forward, and the person can either respond with faith and a proclamation that leads to salvation, or they will continue in the hardness of their hearts and continue in their natural estate, which is their willful rebellion, which will lead to eternal damnation.

But be not confused, this is a real choice, a real decision that must be made, and this is a choice that is before man that man must respond to, either with faith and repentance or rebellion and condemnation.

Again, some may take objection to that word decision, decision coming from another word which means to be decisive, to make a decision, to be decisive about something. Does God desire you to be decisive?

Of course He does. He doesn't want you to be yes and no, but that in Him it be yes. He doesn't want you to be one foot in, one foot out. He wants you to be decisive for Him and His kingdom. Therefore, the Bible tells us time and time again, it warns us of worldliness.

It warns us of having one foot in the church and one foot in the world, being double-minded, having our hearts not fully set upon the hope that we've received in Jesus. Therefore, God desires you to be of one mind, decisive, making that decision to serve the Lord.

Therefore, the Bible says, "'Choose ye this day whom you shall serve,' and the response of the people of the Lord should be, "'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.'". In Deuteronomy chapter 30 and 31, God says, I put before you, the Israelites, I put before you life and death.

Choose life that you and your children, your descendants may live in the land that I've placed you in. God wants you to choose Him. Yet, recognize and realize this, that before one could ever choose God, God chose them.

Before anyone ever lifts a hand or makes a public profession of faith in Jesus, God declared that one His before time was. And so how this works out in redemptive history, there's a tension there. And I'm okay with that tension.

I'm okay with the mystery. But I know both are absolutely true. God is sovereign and God desires, in fact, commands every person to repent and to turn to Jesus. One expression that is used often is this one.

We see on this side of heaven's gate, it reads, whoever so may come. On the other side, when we enter into glory, it will say chosen before the foundation of the earth. That God would save any sinner, though, is truly a mystery.

That God would save any one of us is a complete mystery to me, but an absolute marvel and manifestation of His grace and His love towards the creatures that He made in His image. Predestination, I want you to know this.

Predestination, every time you hear that word, I want you to think of love. I want you to think of love. I want you to think of mercy. I want you to think of the grandeur of God. Because it is in love He predestined us.

It is in His mercy that He chose us. And it's for the praise of His own glory that He did such a thing for you and I. Therefore, believer, know and remember this, that God guards and is jealous for His own glory.

He is meticulous in His glory. God's preeminence in the salvation of the believer is truly worthy of praise. And it is exactly the treaty that Paul is preaching on and trying to get across in the first chapter of this book of Ephesians, where he again goes on to say in verse 12, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ, again, our hope is only in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory, because in verse 13 says, in Him also you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him and were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit as the Seal, Lord, and Guarantee

So when we received the gospel, we were sealed. I want you to write that in there. Second to last bullet point. When we received the gospel, we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Another mystery at work here.

How God, the third person of the blessed and most Holy Trinity, now dwells in you and I, who were once objects of wrath, who were once apart from the promises of God, who were once unclean, have now been inhabited by He who is the most clean, the most holy, the most glorious Spirit of the Most High God.

He now dwells in you. Now the Holy Spirit is not some type of force or power. He is the third divine person of the Holy Trinity. He is a divine person. The Bible says He speaks, sends, has a will, can be sinned against, can be blasphemed.

It's not speaking of some type of force like from Star Wars or electricity like the Jehovah Witnesses say. This is the divine third person of the blessed Trinity of which it is said of Scripture that He is the Lord.

Second Corinthians chapter three, verse 17 says that we now see that we who receive the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit who is the Lord, who is the Lord, the Spirit is the Lord. The Lord in the Greek text likely a form of saying Yahweh for the Old Testament.

Oftentimes you see the Lord in the New Testament, Hercules in the Greek. It's usually a hearkening back to the covenant God of Israel just like our translations today in the Old Testament, it translates Yahweh as the Lord.

So the New Testament writers took that term, the Lord, and applied it as an application of the name of Yahweh. And the Holy Spirit is Yahweh. He is Jehovah. He is the God of the Old Testament. And we see in Hebrews chapter three, verse seven through 11 that the likely who wrote, whoever wrote the book of Hebrews may be likely the Apostle Paul.

He says concerning the Holy Spirit this, and he attributes this text from Psalm 95 to the Spirit of God, demonstrating that the Holy Spirit is the God, Yahweh, of the Old Testament. And this same God who inspired the writing of prophetic scripture, the same God that was at work in the prophet Ezekiel and Isaiah is the same God and Spirit that now dwells in you and I.

And he gives us this as a sign and seal of the application of Christ's righteousness. It is proof of our justification by faith. It is the seal that promises our sanctification and future glorification.

And the seal, when the Bible refers to this being as a seal, a seal is usually a mark of ownership. It's a mark of security. It's a mark of authenticity, but it's also a mark of authority. When we receive the seal of the Holy Spirit, meaning the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, the Bible teaches us that this seal is all for the ownership, security, authenticity, and the authority of God now in the life of the believer.

You're no longer Lord, Jesus is Lord. You are no longer yourselves. You've been bought with a price. You now belong to another. You belong to God. And by means of your belonging to him, you receive this grand inheritance that we've been talking about today, all to the praise of his glory.

It goes on to say in verse 14 of Ephesians chapter one, who, referring to the Spirit, is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. Oftentimes, you'll hear within Christian theology, there's another tension, a mystery that exists, and it's usually summed up in this way, the now but not yet promises of Scripture.

Now meaning, for instance, that the kingdom of God is reigning today. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords now reigning in the heavens, exalted to the right hand of the God of the Father, yet not all his enemies have yet been subdued underneath his feet.