SIGNED, SEALED, to be DELIVERED (Eph 1:13-14)

He has done great things.

He has done

great things. He

has done great things.

Oh, heavenly.

You free every captive and break every chain.

Oh, God has done great things.

We dance in your freedom.

Awake with your name lifted high.

Oh, God has done great things.

You have done

great things.

Your promise is yes and amen.

You will do anything.

God, you do anything.

Let's continue our time of worship with our call to worship, which comes from Psalm chapter 8.

Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place.

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heaven

and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

And all God's people said, let's pray.

Heavenly Father, it is wonderful to see that you have set your love and affection on

humanity.

So much so that you would send a redeemer.

God, I pray that we would be good stewards of what you have given us and that we would give you glory in all that we

do.

We pray these things in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

As

they

go

along

with

scripture

and where

we're

at,

studying

in

Ephesians

and

going

through

these,

just like this, and when I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.

How comforting that is to know that it's not me, that it's Christ

alone.

When I fear my faith will fail.

Christ will hold me fast.

When the tempter roars.

And I could never keep.

Through life's fearful path.

For my love has

almost told me fast.

O God

of

our salvation.

Psalm 65.

Praise is due to you, O God and Zion.

And your vows will be performed.

O you who hear our prayers.

To you shall come all flesh.

When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in the courts.

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple.

By awesome deeds you answer with us righteousness, O God of our salvation.

The hope of all to the ends of the earth and the farthest to the seas.

The one who by his strength established the mountains, be guarded by his might.

Who steals the roaring seas, the roaring of their waves, the Talmud of the peoples.

So that those who dwell in the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

You visit the earth and the water in it.

You greatly enrich it.

The river of God is full of water.

You provide their grain for so that you have prepared it.

You water its furrows abundantly, settling the ridges, softening it with showers and blessing

its growth.

You crown the year with your bounty.

Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

The pastures of the wilderness overflow.

The hills gird themselves with joy.

The meadows clothe themselves with flocks.

The valleys deck themselves with grain.

And they shout and sing together for joy.

Christ is mine forevermore.

That's a great truth.

I felt a little overwhelmed back there.

I like to break free on the last song so I'm not over there on the drum set out of breath when I come up here to preach.

And so I find myself though when I come out there I can't help but just sing out as loud as I possibly can.

I'm sorry for everyone over here having to listen to me over the sound of everybody.

But that is such a glorious truth.

Amen.

Christ is mine forevermore.

And this ties into the text that we're going to be looking at today.

So go ahead and open up your copy of God's Word to Ephesians chapter 1.

And as we've looked at every single week we're going to read the entirety of this long run on sentence.

Starting in verse 3 on through verse 14.

But as you're turning there before you do I would like to stop and pray that God would

illuminate our hearts and minds to this truth today.

So bow with me please.

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning

thanking you for your Word.

Father, thanking you that we get to sing these truths that are grounded in your Word.

That Christ is mine forevermore and you have guaranteed that.

You have promised that as we look at today and see that beautiful truth in your Word.

So Father, I pray that you would open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to hear your truth.

Help us to see it with clarity God.

Guard my lips from error for I am a fallible man.

And at times can come to fallible explanations of your scripture.

But God, I pray that you would guard me from that.

That I would speak only truth.

Lord, guard the hearers.

Lord, give them discernment as they hear it.

Father, thank you in Christ's name.

Amen.

Let's read our text.

Ephesians chapter 1 starting in verse 3 as we've been doing for the past few weeks.

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 in all wisdom and insight.

Making known to us the mystery of his will.

According to the 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 acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

In this long run -on sentence from the Apostle

Paul, we see the whole of God's grand redemptive plan, don't we?

We've seen that over the past few weeks as we look at each part and walk through it.

The entire big picture of what God's purpose for this earth and for his people

is, it just pours out of the Apostle Paul.

He can't even stop and put a period in his sentence.

It's just flowing from him.

And we see in this the past, we see the present, and we see the future of God's eternal

plan.

The entirety of it.

His future plan for his people is clearly laid out here.

Let's do a brief recap.

In verses 3 through 6, what did we see?

We saw that God the Father, it was his plan from eternity past, through election,

through choosing, through predestination, through calling a specific people to himself.

That's where it started, didn't it?

And then as we got into verses 6 through 12, over the past few weeks, we've really been setting in where we

saw the present redemption that is ours in God the Son, in Jesus.

You seeing a pattern here?

And now we're going to be able to wrap it up today in verses 13 and 14, hopefully, where we are shown

our guarantee of future inheritance in God the Holy Spirit.

It's a triune work.

This is the very means that we, enemies of God, have been brought into communion

with God.

And if you, today, if you are in here and you are in Christ, for those of us that have believed, that

have been brought into the household of faith, as we've talked about a few weeks ago,

you have been saved.

You are being saved.

And you will be saved.

That beautiful process.

And we see that beautiful truth masterfully depicted in these 12 verses through the

plan that only a triune God could accomplish.

So last week, Pastor Jeremiah did a phenomenal job in verses 11 and 12

reminding us of our divine inheritance.

That divine inheritance that we, the people of God, were predestined for according to

the purpose of the God who works all things out according to the

counsel of His will.

Right?

He works all things out according to the counsel of His will.

And this beautiful inheritance that we get to look forward to is...

It's mind -blowing, isn't it?

This inheritance that we share in.

And He does this according to the counsel of His will, and He says there in verse 12, so that we, who were the first to

hope in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory.

Now, I would actually like to touch on this before we move on to verse 13.

Because Pastor Jeremiah focused his efforts in verse 11 and was able to tie them,

rightfully so, into verse 12.

And there's a few things for us to see in verse 12 that help us understand verse 13 and 14 a little bit better.

So let's tack that on here at the beginning before we dive in.

Have you noticed this repeated phrase throughout this long sentence we've been reading at the beginning of the sermon every week?

This repeated phrase, to the praise of His glory.

We saw it back in verse 6, right?

To the praise of His glorious grace.

Now we see it here in verse 12, to the praise of His glory.

And then we will see it here later on at the very end as he closes it out in verse 14.

To the praise of His glory.

And we've seen how the Apostle Paul has saturated this entire

sentence in giving honor and praise to God throughout.

But I would like for us to take a deeper look at and make note that Paul is

specifically declaring praise to each

of the persons of the Godhead.

This is important.

Declaring praise to each of the specific persons of the Godhead.

The first one, he declares praise to God the Father, right?

Not only did he do it at the very beginning, he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But he does it, look at verse 5 and 6 with me.

It says, He, who's the He?

God the Father, right?

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, who the Father, has blessed us in the

Beloved.

Who's the Beloved?

Jesus, right?

These are distinct personhoods within the Godhead and he's declaring praise in verse 6 to God the Father

specifically.

Praise God the Father.

Look at the second one.

To the praise of God the Son.

Look at verse 11 and 12.

In Him, and who's he speaking of here?

Speaking of Christ, right?

We know that because back in verse 9 he says, Making known to us the mystery of His will according to the purpose with which He

set forth in Christ.

In Him, speaking of Christ, 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.

You see that pattern over and over again, right?

This is God's will, just over and over again.

The will of God.

And verse 12.

So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His

glory.

To the praise of whose glory?

Christ's glory.

Praise God the Son.

You can see this pattern going out.

Look at the third and final one.

To the praise of God the Holy Spirit.

In verses 13 and 14.

Look at it with me.

In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in

Him.

Who did you believe in?

Christ, right?

You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who

is the guarantee of our inheritance.

Who is the guarantee of our inheritance?

The Holy Spirit.

Until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory.

The praise of whose glory?

The Holy Spirit.

This is a triune work.

Praise God the Father.

Praise God the Son.

Praise God the Holy Spirit.

You can see now why I took some time to spend here and pointing out this distinction because Paul

obviously likes to point out this distinction in this long sentence.

And it's namely because each person of the Godhead has a specific role in this

work of redemption.

A very specific.

And over the past few weeks, we've seen the role of the Father, haven't we?

We've seen that predestining work, that choosing, that setting apart for Himself to

adoption.

We've seen the role of the Son through redeeming us by His blood.

And prayerfully, this will lead you and I to a deeper knowledge and

expression of praise to God the Father and God the Son.

But today, as we dig in and we look at the third person of the Godhead, we will be incited

in praise and worship towards Him in an even greater way.

And as we look today at one of the roles of the Holy Spirit, mind you, we're only really

going to be able to look at one of the roles of the Holy Spirit, we will undoubtedly be confronted with

this praise of the Holy Spirit.

So look there in verse 13 with me.

In Him.

In who?

Christ.

We know that because of verse 12.

So that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be the praise of His glory.

And in Him, Christ, you also.

Stop here.

Who is Paul talking to and who is he comparing them to?

Who's the you and who's the also?

In order to understand this, we have to point out something that we haven't really addressed in the previous 12

verses yet.

We have not pointed this out, and that is that up to this point in this whole

breakdown from the Apostle Paul of God's plan of redemption, Paul has been speaking, notice, in the first person.

Who has blessed us?

Even as He chose us.

He predestined us.

In Him, we have obtained an inheritance.

So that we who are the first to hope in Christ, it's all in the first person.

And as Paul writes this way, this has led some to think that maybe he's talking about himself and the Apostles

in these first 12 verses.

But context, I believe, leads us to believe that he's speaking of himself,

but also the people of Israel.

The people that had seen Christ.

The people that Christ had shown Himself to first.

Now the reason that we haven't pointed this out up to this point is because all of these things that are true

about Israel that we've looked at as the we and the us and all of

that, are also applicable and equally true about us.

So we didn't want to get distracted over here with all of the us and talking about Israel.

I wanted it to be applicable to you.

We know this because of the phrase here in verse 13, Tying

in everything that he has just said.

Who is he speaking to?

Who's the you here?

It's the Christians in Ephesus, isn't it?

Primarily Gentile.

You know what that means, don't you?

Most of us, right?

This is you and I.

And he's emphasizing the fact that all those things about Israel, that they're a chosen

people, that they are predestined for adoption, that they are recipients of redemption, are all

equally true about you and I.

If we are in Christ.

But this is how the Apostle Paul has been speaking up to this point.

Now, he also says that they may be the first to hope in Christ.

Right?

Who was the first to hope in Christ?

The people of Israel, right?

The Jewish people.

The Apostles, in particular.

They were the first to hope in Christ, but Paul will later say in chapter 3 of Ephesians, in verse 6, that this

mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs.

Tying us in.

What does he mean by fellow heirs?

It's just like what he talked about previously at the beginning of this whole sentence.

Adopted his sons.

Right?

How do you become a fellow heir?

Through adoption.

Right?

Is it some sort of just mystical thing that he goes, boom, now you're a fellow heir.

Gentiles.

And all that other stuff, that was for the Jewish people.

That's not the case.

It was for everyone who was in Christ, because the Gentiles are fellow heirs and

members of the same body and partakers of the promise of Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Now, to us today, this seems like, well, duh.

Yeah, Jesus came to save people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.

Right?

We've had Scripture.

We know what that is.

But that wasn't always understood.

The Christians there in Ephesus quite possibly struggled a little bit with this identity

because there were also Jewish people that would come in and be like, yeah, you're kind of a half -breed.

And they didn't understand what Paul is really bringing into clarity

specifically here in Ephesians.

Because Paul says in Ephesians 2, 12, he says, remember that you, speaking to

Gentile Ephesians, right, were at one time separated from Christ, alienated

from the commonwealth of Israel.

You were not part of this.

And strangers, the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now they've been brought in.

The Gentiles have been brought in.

And this had to have been an encouraging thing for the readers or the listeners of this letter

during that time.

So all of that to say, this is the reason Paul switches gears here.

I get that question sometimes.

Well, what does he mean?

Why is he switching going from first person and then speaking here differently in verse 13 and 14?

What does that look like?

Well, that helps answer that question a little bit and kind of gears our minds towards

understanding the text a little better.

Let's look back at verse 13.

In him, in Jesus, you also, the Gentile listeners,

you also what?

Look at the end of verse 13.

We're sealed.

You were sealed.

Okay.

At what point were you sealed?

Well, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your

salvation, and believed in him.

So whatever this seal is that he's talking about, it happened at the moment of your salvation.

The very moment that you came to faith in Jesus Christ is the very moment in which you

were sealed.

Now, some ask the question, what is this seal?

What exactly are we talking about?

What's Paul talking about?

And that question is categorically the wrong question.

That should not be being asked, what is this seal?

The question is, is who is this seal?

If we're going to be precise here, right?

Who is this seal?

Because this seal that Paul is talking about here, he is referring to the third person of the

Godhead.

This is not some abstract seal.

This is not just emblem.

This is not just a mark.

There is something personal here.

It is the very person of the Holy Spirit.

So all of us, Jew, Gentile, anyone and everyone who has been brought into

faith in Jesus Christ has been sealed with the person of the Holy Spirit.

That starts to change things a little bit when we think about that, right?

We've been sealed with the person of the Holy Spirit.

So how does this work, right?

How are we sealed with the person of the Holy Spirit?

And who sealed us?

What does that look like?

Well, let's look at the text again here.

Look at verse 13.

And him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, believed in Jesus,

right, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Now, I think to help us understand this, sometimes Paul writes in more

clarity in other areas.

So actually flip over with me to 2 Corinthians 1.

I want you to see he's essentially saying the same thing, but I think he brings a little bit of clarity here as to what

he means as to who is doing the sealing.

In 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22 is what we're going to be looking at.

As you're turning there, it's interesting to see in this one sentence we see the triune God in the midst of this,

right?

You believed in him, Jesus, and then at the end the Holy Spirit is the one sealing.

So who, or the one that is the seal, but who did the sealing?

Well, 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22 say, and it is God who

establishes us with you in Christ.

Okay, who is he speaking of?

Speaking of God the Father who's established us with you in Christ and has anointed us.

And who, okay, who?

God the Father has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit

in our hearts as a guarantee.

It's God the Father is the one that sealed us.

This is an active work of God the Father in sealing us with the person of

the Holy Spirit.

And notice there in 2 Corinthians at the end he says his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

It's the same language that he's using in verse 14 of our passage in Ephesians 1, right?

When he's talking about the Holy Spirit he says, who is the guarantee of our inheritance?

It's the same concept that he's talking about.

We are being sealed, or we have been sealed by the Father.

Now that we know who sealed us, God the Father, and who he sealed us with, God the

Holy Spirit, I think it's probably good for us to talk about what does it actually

mean to be sealed?

What does it mean to be sealed here?

And there are many Old Testament examples that give us some good ideas of what Paul is referring to

here.

Remember, these people had Old Testament text.

They had these old writings and they understood some of these concepts, but there were also cultural concepts that

carried out.

I can't help but think of the account in Esther.

Most of you are probably fairly familiar with the story of Esther.

If you remember, Esther was the queen married to a king.

I can never say his name right.

Aharis, I believe, is that it?

King Aharis.

I'm probably butchering that.

But she's married to the king, and a man by the name of Haman, he

plots against the people of Israel, who happen to be Esther's people.

He's after the Jewish people and he's plotting, he's trying to get the king to destroy

them, to kill them, to get rid of them.

And Esther, what does she do?

She successfully intercedes for them to the king.

She intercedes and Haman gets hung.

She inherits his family.

All good things, right?

But the king says to her and to Mordecai, there in Esther chapter 8 verse 8, if you want to jot it down and look at it.

He says,.

But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews in the name of the king

and seal it with the king's ring.

For an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.

It's interesting, right?

You see, a ruler of that time, you know, they had this specific ring.

I've got my little white wedding ring here on.

I don't have a fancy ring with my...

I need a fancy ring with my emblem on it, right?

And put it in the wax.

But they had a ring that had whatever emblem that represented their

name, their kingship.

And if they sealed something, they would set that into the hot wax and that wax would dry up.

And when they'd pull it back, their emblem is on that wax.

And where that wax sealed a note, for example, if you were to take one of those notes and see

that wax seal on it and crack that seal without permission, that was death, right?

You couldn't do that.

But the point of the matter is, is the kings during that time, they had this ring that leaves

a mark, a mark that was irrevocable, a mark that was a guarantee.

If the king went through with giving that mark to something, it was irreversible,

irrevocable.

It was set in stone.

It was done.

It was certain.

This seal also refers to an animal being branded.

You ever seen cattle being branded on kind of one of their backsides with

someone's brand identifying that cattle as their mark, their

ownership?

It also refers to a slave being marked.

We've talked about before where a slave would come in and they would agree to be brought into servitude

and a rod was driven through their ear and they were marked, they were sealed.

It could refer to a contract being ratified, a contract being

signed and sealed, being done and permanent.

So when Paul says there in verse 13 that we were sealed,

he's saying that we are marked by God Himself.

God the Father marked us, but

not with a ring, not with a signature, not with a brand.

He marked us with God Himself.

That's great news.

That's great news.

God marked us, the one that was promised to His children, right?

The promised Holy Spirit Himself, the third person of the Godhead is who God the Father has

sealed us with, has marked us as a guarantee.

And this was a promised guarantee.

Notice there in the text, with the promised Holy Spirit.

What's He referring to?

Well, this kind of just treks back and we're not gonna dive too deep into that, but you can turn with me if you would

like or jot this down, John 14, 15 through 17, right?

Jesus gives us a picture of what this promise was and John 14 there starting in

verse 15,.

He says,.

If you love Me, who are those that love Him?

Those that are in Him, right?

Those that have been given the ability to love Him.

That's who He's referring to.

Those who love Me, you will keep My commandments.

You will persevere, or the perseverance, right?

So if you love Me, you will keep My commandments and I will ask the Father and He will

give you another helper to be with you forever.

You see a promise coming, right?

It's a guarantee.

Verse 17,.

Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because

it neither sees Him nor knows Him, oh, you know Him, for He dwells with you.

And here's the promise, and will be in you.

The promised Holy Spirit will be in you.

He's been working all throughout since the beginning of creation, right?

The Holy Spirit has been at work.

We see Him coming and going and working in the Old Testament over and over again.

But now all of a sudden, there's a promise.

Oh, He's not going to be with you any longer.

He's going to be in you.

Speaking of that promised seal.

And I think Jesus there in that passage is referring to texts like Joel 2, 28 and 29.

Right?

This is all the way back.

This promise goes way back, right?

With the prophet Joel.

Joel said in chapter 2, verse 28 and 29,.

He says,.

The Lord will pour out His Spirit and it shall come to

pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female servants in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.

And He made good on that promise, didn't He?

At Pentecost, He made good on that promise.

That was a guarantee to come.

It even came about with the Gentiles, mind you, in Acts chapter 10.

Not only did it hit the Jews and the apostles during that time in Pentecost, but now the

Gentiles are brought in and the Holy Spirit has sealed them and marked them.

But not only had He been promised, here's the thing.

Here's the distinction.

He is a promise.

Not only was He promised, He is a promise.

Okay?

Turn with me to Acts chapter 1.

Acts chapter 1, verses 4 and 5.

I know we're all over the place today, guys.

I'm trying to limit where we turn, but this is a complex thing talking about pneumatology,

right?

Does anybody know what that means?

It's the study of the Holy Spirit.

Okay.

We'll have a test later on that.

But Acts chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, starting there in verse 4,

Jesus is with the disciples here before He ascends.

And while staying with them, He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the

promise of the Father.

See that?

He is a promise.

The promise of the Father, which He said, you heard from Me, for John baptized with water, but you

will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

It's not only the promise, He is a promise.

The promise of the Father.

This sealing with the Holy Spirit is a promise of power,.

Of holiness,.

Of conviction of sin, and the ability to overcome it.

Because before this, the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, would come upon men.

Wouldn't it all through the Old Testament as we spoke about a moment ago?

We see that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon Gideon.

We see the Spirit of the Lord would come upon Samson.

It would come upon David.

It would come down upon Samuel.

And these Old Testament saints, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord would come down and He would accomplish mighty

deeds through His mighty hand and power in which He was working through and around

them.

But now the promise is not that the Holy Spirit would come upon us but that we are sealed with,

marked with, that Holy Spirit Himself.

He is a promise.

So why has God seen fit to mark us?

To seal us in this way?

What's the purpose?

Well, look at verse 14 of our passage in Ephesians 1.

It says, Who is it speaking of?

The Holy Spirit.

Who is the guarantee of our inheritance

until we acquire possession of it.

That divine inheritance that Pastor Jeremiah spoke of last week,

we have a guarantee.

It is certain.

So what is a guarantee?

What is this guarantee that we speak of here?

Well, it's like you and I putting down a non -refundable deposit on that house we want.

Right?

We put down cash to hold it.

We have a period of time to pull the trigger.

What happens though.

If you back out of the deal?

You're severed from your deposit, aren't you?

You're severed from your deposit.

You're separated from that down payment, that guarantee.

But you see, and while saying that, we borderline heresy, so we have to be careful here.

But I want you to see the weight of what God is doing here.

You see, this is how certain God is about His purchase.

See, unlike you and I, we may think, yeah, this is a done deal.

I can afford this house.

This is all gonna happen.

The problem is, is we don't know.

We can't be guaranteed that we're gonna get the rest of the money and get that house.

We could lose that house and lose our deposit.

But you see,.

The Father is so certain in His purchase.

The Father and the Son will not and cannot be severed

from the Holy Spirit.

Not at all.

Not even close.

Not even the chance of that happening.

They are three in one.

And to say otherwise would be heresy, wouldn't it?

You see, the Father has chosen you.

He has predestined you for adoption.

The Son has purchased you with His blood.

And the Holy Spirit has sealed you as a guarantee of that great inheritance.

The inheritance that we receive as sons.

And when God puts His guarantee, when God puts His seal on you,

there's no revoking it.

Nothing in this universe can separate it.

God will not change His mind because it is in the character of God to be true.

Not only is it in the character of God to be true, but it is in the character of God.

The triune God is one.

It cannot be separated.

And when He seals you as a guarantee with the very person of the Holy Spirit,

He is bringing you into union with the Creator of all things.

He's giving you the Holy Spirit within you.

We may not have acquired possession of it yet.

As we wait here and what we speak of as the already and not yet, right?

We feel the weight of that, don't we?

But that seal guarantees that we are positionally, sons, righteous.

This is a guarantee for us, His children.

Paul said in Romans 8, 16,.

He said,.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 4 and 5,.

For while we are still in this tent, what's he talking about?

He's speaking of our bodies, right?

This flesh, we're still in this tent.

Oh, we groan.

We groan being burdened.

Not that we would be unclothed but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal

may be swallowed up by life.

He who has prepared us for this very thing is God who has given us

the Spirit as a guarantee.

So as we are left here fighting sin in the already and not yet and warring against

this flesh, longing for that inheritance, we can rest in the fact that

the God of all has prepared us for this very thing

with the power to overcome and the security of that promise.

He sealed us with Himself.

The very person of the Holy Spirit.

I don't know about you but it gives me great encouragement to think I

can defeat sin.

I can mortify the flesh.

I have the very power of God Himself that has sealed me as a

guarantee because my inheritance is absolutely secure.

You talk to people that say you can lose your salvation.

Talk to them about this.

So you're saying that you can be sealed as a guarantee by a God who doesn't lie,

by the person of the Holy Spirit and then God will either

separate you from the Holy Spirit or separate Himself which is heresy.

It's impossible.

This is absolutely certain.

This is something we can rest in.

This gives us great encouragement to go fight that battle, right?

That sin that this past week maybe you've fallen prey to, that you've fallen down and you keep going,

man, why do I keep falling back in this sin and then I've got to repent and I've got to fall back into it and I've got to repent and I fall

back into it and I've got to repent.

There's victory.

There's victory because you have the very power of God indwelling in

you that is interceding for you, that is praying things that you don't

understand, that you can't even comprehend, that you have no idea you need.

And God the Father is there hearing it in perfect communion.

Ah, that's a great truth.

Amen?

Amen.

Well, in light of that,.

Let's now prepare our minds and hearts to continue our time of worship through the Lord's Supper.

And as I mentioned last week, we're being more specific

with our order of service, right?

I'm so sorry how I spoke about it.

Apparently, I was so somber that I scared some of you as to what is happening, what's the change?

It wasn't a somber moment.

I just wanted us to understand the weightiness of what we're doing here is how we see Koinonia Feast.

Koinonia Feast is part of the service.

This is just an extension of the service.

So we're not going to close the benediction anymore and be inconsistent, right?

We're not going to close out at the end of the Lord's Supper and just go on our merry way.

We are just going to continue worshiping through a time of fellowship, and then that worship continues through sermon Q &A,

and then we will close the service out with our benediction.

And it's just being precise, right?

Being very specific with what we believe God has called us a people to.

And so today, as we do, as we come around for the Lord's Supper, just as we always do, this week,

I want to make note that as soon as you're done with the Lord's Supper, you can take your time, right?

Take it as a family, as we always do.

But as soon as you're done, you can start to get in line for food, but please do not go through the line until the ladies

give the thumbs up.

And if you could, start the line about four feet back to give them room to set things up.

Don't get right up on the table, okay?

I know I'm being very specific, but that was asked, okay?

Stay a few feet away from the table and give these ladies room to get settled.

They do an excellent job of getting everything prepped for us, and we are grateful for them

in that.

But you can get in line, and then guys, as you're done, you can help us with chairs and tables in that

process.

It seemed to go smooth last week, right?

All right, well, let us pray for this time.

Today, if you need prayer, you want to talk with us, you can come up here and speak with Pastor Jeremiah or myself,

and we will sing the doxology as we're coming to get the elements again.

I was told by my daughter that felt a little cultish.

So hopefully, it's not too bad, right?

We can sing the doxology and praise to God as we stand in line to get the elements.

Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for this wonderful day.

My God, thank you for sealing us, for

guaranteeing our inheritance that you have purchased for us with the very person of

the Holy Spirit.

God, I pray that you would be honored in our continued worship today as we come to the table and as

we partake of these elements, that we would be further reminded, Father,

of our position in Christ.

Father, show us your majesty and glory in a very special way today.

We long to see it.

We long to be with you.

We thank you for what you have done in the sacrifice of your Son.

In Christ's name, amen.