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

Come and let us bow at his feet, he has done great things.

See what our Savior has done, see how his love overcomes, he has done great things, he has done great things.

Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave, you free every captive and break every chain.

Oh, God, you have done great things, we dance in your freedom, awaken the light.

Oh, Jesus, you have done great things.

You'll be strong, you'll be faithful forevermore, you have done great things.

And I know you will do it again, for the promise is yes and amen.

You will do great things, oh God, you do great things.

Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave, you free every captive and break every chain.

Oh, God, you have done great things, we dance in your freedom, awaken the light.

Oh, Savior, you have done great things, we shake and go hallelujah.

God, you have done great things, you have done great things.

Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave,

Oh, God, you have done great things, we shake and go hallelujah.

God, you have done great things, we shake and go hallelujah.

God, you have done great things, we shake and go hallelujah. God, you have done great things, 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. ♪ What is our hope when life is end ♪

Christ alone, Christ alone ♪ What is our only confidence ♪

That our souls to him belong ♪ He holds our days within his hands ♪

What comes apart by his hand ♪

Though the pain is to the end ♪ The love of Christ will never stay ♪

We'll sing hallelujah ♪

Our Lord's praise eternal ♪ We'll sing hallelujah ♪

Now and evermore ♪ Christ our hope and light ♪

What you can call a troubled soul ♪

God is good, God is good ♪ With mercy's grace and goodness known ♪

In our grave he tames the world ♪ Who holds our faith with his eyes ♪

Who stands above the storm and trial ♪ Who sends the waves that bring us down ♪

Into the shore where life abides ♪

We'll sing hallelujah ♪

Our Lord's praise eternal ♪ We'll sing hallelujah ♪

Christ our hope and light ♪ In our grave what shall we sing ♪

Christ he is, Christ he is ♪ Worthy one who never lasts ♪

In our grave ♪ We will ask to meet the

Lord ♪ And sin and death will be destroyed ♪

We will feast in his joy ♪

Christ is ours forever ♪

We'll sing hallelujah ♪

Our Lord's praise eternal ♪ We'll sing hallelujah

Isn't it awesome that he is our hope in life and death?

It's just an awesome thought. You know, as we go through these songs, we prepare each week to sing these.

It's really cool to see because as they go along with scripture and where we're at, studying in Ephesians and going through these, how, 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. So let's sing this together. When I fear my faith will fail.

♪ When I fear my faith will fail ♪

Christ will hold me fast ♪ When the tempter will fail ♪

He has ♪ And I could never keep my hope ♪

Through life's fearful path ♪

For my love has often cold ♪

He must hold me fast ♪

He'll hold me fast ♪ He will hold my

Savior who loves me so ♪ He will hold me fast ♪

For those he loses ♪ He is alive ♪

Christ will hold me fast ♪ Precious in his holy sight ♪

He will hold me ♪ He'll not let my soul be lost ♪

His promises shall last ♪ And I've lived here at such a cost ♪

He will hold my

Savior who loves me so ♪ He will hold me fast ♪

Christ will hold me fast ♪ Justice has been satisfied ♪

He will hold me fast ♪ He will hold me fast ♪

For my Savior who loves me so ♪ He will hold me fast ♪

His promises shall last ♪ And I've lived here at such a cost ♪

His promises shall last ♪

And I've lived here at such a cost ♪

His promises shall last ♪

For my Savior who loves me so ♪ He will hold me fast ♪

He will hold me fast ♪

He will hold me fast ♪ His promises shall last ♪

And I've lived here at such a cost ♪ His promises shall last ♪ For my Savior who loves me so ♪ For his love is my reward ♪

Fear is gone and took his shore ♪ Christ is mine forevermore ♪

Can he just help my soul ♪

For his love is my reward ♪ Fear is gone and took his shore ♪

Christ is mine forevermore ♪

Peace to Zion's city ♪ Where we sigh ♪

Then my world's treasure ♪

Christ is mine ♪

Christ is mine ♪ Christ is mine

Amen, thank you God that those promises are true and Christ is ours forevermore

God we thank you for this time of worship that you've given to us to sing praise to you for lifting high

God in all that we do in this time of continued worship and giving Lord God that you would just use this for your glory

In your name we pray Oh God of our salvation

Psalm 65 Praise is due to you oh God in Zion And your vows will be performed

Oh you who hear our prayers To you shall come all flesh When iniquities prevail against me

You atone for our transgressions Bless us 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

Oh 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 on 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

Amen 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

That 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

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, 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

This, 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 -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 -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 -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 in To 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 Right? That beautiful process And we see that beautiful truth

Masterfully depicted in these 12 verses Through the plan That only a triune

God Can 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

And this beautiful inheritance That we get to look forward to Is, 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 Made great 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, right? This repeated phrase To the praise of his glory

Right, we saw it back in verse 6 To the 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 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 To 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 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 And as 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 at 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? Right? 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 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

Had seen Christ The people that Christ 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 But also 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 Right 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 We say 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 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 This had to have been an encouraging thing

For the readers or the listeners Of this letter At the same time So all of that to say

This is the reason Paul switches gears here I get that question sometimes

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 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

Were sealed You were sealed Okay At what point were you sealed

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 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 Everyone 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

How are we sealed with the person of the Holy Spirit And who sealed us Let's look at the text again

Look at verse 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him

Believed in Jesus 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 chapter 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 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 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 has 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 And 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 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 They would set that into the hot wax And that wax would dry up And when they 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? But the point of the matter 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 We 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

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 going to dive too deep into that But you can turn with me if you would like Or jot this down John 14, 15 through 17

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

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 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 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 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 You know Jesus is

With the disciples here Before he ascends And while staying with them Apart 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 The 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 upon 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

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

Who's 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

And 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

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

In 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

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 isn't 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 What 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 Is the already and not yet 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 want

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 gotta repent And I fall back into it And I gotta repent There's victory

There's victory In 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 Is there Hearing it In perfect communion Ah, that's

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 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 gonna close The benediction anymore And be inconsistent, right?

We're not gonna close out At the end of the Lord's Supper And just go on our merry way

We are just gonna continue Worshiping through a time of fellowship And then that worship Continues through sermon

Q &A 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 wanna 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 And 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 I 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 and that process

It seemed to go smooth last week, right? Let us pray for this time Today if you need prayer

You wanna 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