God is Constant and God is Dependable (EPH 1:11-14)
“PRAYER”
With all of the events of the past year there is no way that any preacher of the Word of God could not be affected to exhort the congregation to react. It is the Will of God for His people to respond to the Gospel call to go and tell.
At the University of Virginia Tech April 2007, there was a brutal massacre, 33 people lost their lives in a needless act of violence. The next week at Johnson Space Center in Houston there was an incident where a contractor killed another employee and then himself.
These events have shocked the world. These events have forced people to deal with unimaginable trauma and grief. The only way for one to understand the loss and the pain is for them to go through that same pain and loss.
But, and this is a big BUT, If that person knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, if they have given their life to God and have asked for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus to be applied to their life, then this is not goodbye it is see you later. If they are washed in the blood then this is not a time to morn their death, but to rejoice in their life and to know that they may have left us here, but they are in the presence of God almighty.
Now there is another side to that, there is the sadness of knowing that a family member, a friend, a neighbor, anybody it doesn’t matter who they are, there is a sadness in knowing that if they never hear and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then they are bound for a Devil’s Hell, and there is nothing that will change that.
Some people would like to argue that there is no need for evangelism because God predestined who was going to burn and who would be saved. The problem with this is that it is not Biblical.
Let us look to our text for today and see what the Word of God really says.
Ephesians 1:11-14.
Isn’t it good to know that when God makes you a promise that He keeps that promise?
Isn’t it good to know that when God does something nobody and nothing can undo that thing?
Isn’t it good to know that when God guarantees you something it is something that is going to happen and there is nothing that can stop it?
Isn’t it good to know that God is Constant and God is Dependable?
What we are going to look at today is how we know that we have an inheritance because we believed, we were sealed, and God has guaranteed it. The same God that promised Noah he would be safe through the flood is the same God that has guaranteed that if you place your faith in Jesus Christ the risen Son of God then you have an inheritance with Him.
Let us talk about predestination for just a minute. Just for a second I want to put this in context. This does not mean God has chosen some to go to heaven and some to go to hell, it means that God knew before the foundation of the world that you would either accept or deny Jesus, God knows if you will chose to die and fry or live.
This text could be taken to mean that there is no need for evangelism because God has predetermined who will be saved according to His will, so all we are doing is wasting our time when we go our knocking on doors. One might argue this. Let me quote a text for you:
15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:15-17)
If someone wishes to say that evangelism is not necessary, as some people do, I will propose one question in response. How did you come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior if evangelism is not necessary? If someone had not found it necessary to evangelize you, to teach you what the Gospel says, then you would still be lost and covered in sin and on your way to a devil’s hell, because Evangelism is the calling of every believer. Look at 2 Timothy 2:2, take what you heard from me, when I told it to you in the presence of many others, share it with faithful men who will share it with others.
If one wishes to say that evangelism is not necessary then they would need to twist the Scriptures to their own liking. If you want to know the true meaning of this text, you have to look at the context of the Scripture.
V11) 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,
First Paul is a Jew. Paul is writing this to Gentiles. Paul’s use of pronouns is important here. He says that we have an inheritance. He says that we were the first to believe, then he says that you also were sealed, until we receive our inheritance.
V12) so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Paul was a Jew, when He says we at the beginning of this text; he is making reference to the Jewish people. God determined to call out Israel as His chosen people, Israel was predestined to be the chosen people of God, and they were predestined to have the Messiah born to them. The Jews were the first to believe in the coming of a Savior. The Jews were the first to hope in Christ to the glory of God.
V13) 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,
Paul then says you also…this is the Gentile believers. We are the you also. When you also heard the Gospel of truth, the Gospel of salvation, when you heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and believed it, you were sealed.
If there is no need for evangelism, how is it that you are not sealed until you hear the Gospel and believe it?
V14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory
God, through the apostle Paul, says that when you hear the Gospel of your salvation and when you believe it you are sealed. What does that mean though? You can seal a jar, but it can be opened again. So how is this seal different?
Have you ever seen a cow? Have you ever watched one of those old western movies, where they go and buy some cattle and in order to show whose cows they are they brand those cows. When they are branded, their ownership is sealed. Even if someone comes and steals one, or if one wanders away, the ownership of that cow is still certain. We were sealed. We were branded by the Holy Spirit of God. No matter where you go, if you stray, if you stumble, God has branded you and His ownership of you is certain wherever you are.
There is one last thing I want to look at today. Paul continues by pointing out that God has given us an inheritance, and to be confident that you will receive that inheritance God gave us the Holy Spirit as a down payment of the possession to come. Now if God has given you the Holy Spirit and He does not give you your inheritance, He loses His down payment. If you go to buy a house, and give them your earnest money, then do not live up to the agreement, you lose your earnest money. If God welches on His promise, He loses His earnest. If God does not give you eternal life with Him, then He loses the Holy Spirit. God has guaranteed that you will receive eternal life if you believed in Him when you heard the Gospel of Truth, because He wanted you to be confident in this promise he sealed you with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is the down payment of the blessing to come.
God has said that when you heard the Gospel of your salvation, when you heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and when you believed it, then God sealed you with the Holy Spirit. God gave you the Holy Spirit to comfort you when the troubles come, to guide you through life, to give you confidence in the fact that your salvation is eternal. God gave you eternal salvation through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, and gives you assurance of that salvation through the earnest gift of His Holy Spirit.
“Prayer”
