A. There’s a story told about a boy who was visiting his aunt who was pregnant with her first child.
1. His aunt allowed him to place his hand on her belly and feel the baby kick.
2. The boy giggled with glee, but then got a concerned look on his face.
3. The little boy asked, “How does the baby get out of there?”
4. His aunt wanted to keep it simple, so she replied, “The doctor with help the baby get out of there.”
5. The boy’s eyes widened with amazement and he said, “You’ve got a doctor in there, too!”
B. Of course, we all know there is no doctor inside a pregnant woman to help get the baby out of her.
1. Maybe that would be easier than for her to have to go to the hospital to get the help of a doctor.
2. But here’s the great news: all of us who are Christians have the Holy Spirit living in us as our helper.
3. This is what we have been talking about in our sermon series: “The Holy Spirit, Our Helper.”
4. So far in our series, we have talked about how the Holy Spirit is our wind and how the Christian life should be more like sailing a boat than rowing a boat.
a. Ultimately, we cannot be who we should be or do what we should do without the help of the Holy Spirit empowering us and carrying us along.
5. In last week’s sermon, we talked about how the Holy Spirit is our intercessor.
a. We learned the amazing truth that the Holy Spirit prays for us and does so especially when we don’t know what to pray for.
C. In today’s sermon, I hope that we will be blessed and helped by understanding that the Holy Spirit is our seal.
1. When I use the word “seal,” I’m not talking about the animal that lives in the ocean and barks and claps their fins.
2. The seal I am talking about is the seal of ownership and authenticity and the seal of guarantee.
3. Paul wrote about the Holy Spirit as a seal in his letter to the Ephesians: 13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory. (Eph. 1:13-14)
a. I like Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of these verses: It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This down payment from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. (from The Message)
4. Later in the same letter, Paul explained: And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30)
5. Paul used similar language in his second letter to the Corinthians: 21 Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ, and who has anointed us. 22 He has also put his seal on us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment. (2 Cor. 1:21-22)
D. The sealing by the Holy Spirit is such an important role that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives.
1. The mass of humanity (past, present and future) are divided into two groups: those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit and those who are not sealed by the Holy Spirit.
2. Those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit are God’s children and are saved, and those who are not sealed by the Holy Spirit are not God’s children and are not saved.
E. Let’s consider how the concept of being “sealed” reflects ownership and authenticity.
1. In ancient times, a king or some other important official would send a letter that was sealed with wax and with the official's signet ring.
a. This seal symbolized authority, authenticity, and ownership.
b. Because of the seal, the recipient knew that the letter was genuinely from the sender and that the letter carried important instructions or promises.
c. In the same way, when you are sealed by the Holy Spirit, it’s like God places His “mark” on your life, signifying that you belong to Him and that His promises for you are authentic and secure.
2. Another, perhaps less appealing, concept of being “sealed” is the idea of branding.
a. We are all familiar with the way cattle and sheep are often branded with a symbol or logo to show who owned them.
b. This branding is a permanent mark that makes it easy for the owner and for others to identify ownership.
c. In the same way, being sealed by the Holy Spirit is like receiving a divine brand or mark from God, showing that you are His.
d. This seal sets us apart from others and demonstrates that we belonging to God.
F. The other illustration or concept that Paul was communicating through the “sealing” of the Holy Spirit, is the idea of downpayment and guarantee.
1. We all understand the idea of making down payments on a car or a house, or making a down payment on something we put on layaway.
2. The down payment reveals our commitment to follow through with the contract or agreement.
3. The guarantee that we will follow through is the fact that we have a lot of money invested in the commitment.
4. The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our heavenly inheritance, it is like the initial installment.
5. God is the one who makes the down payment of Himself, so we can be sure that God will follow through with His commitment to us.
G. So, ultimately, the thing that God wants us to have based upon the sealing of the Holy Spirit is security and confidence in our relationship with God and our possession of salvation.
1. By sealing us with the Holy Spirit and making that down payment, God has laid His claim on us and is declaring: “This child is mine!”
2. God wants everyone, including Satan and Satan’s minions, to know that “This one belongs to Me. Keep your hands off.”
3. One of Satan’s favorite tactics and most effective attacks against God’s people is to encourage us to doubt our salvation.
4. God doesn’t want us to live with paranoia and constant fear of losing our salvation
5. Our name hasn’t been written in God’s book with pencil and God isn’t hovering the eraser above our name just waiting for an excuse to erase it.
H. So, how can we have great assurance and confidence in our salvation?
1. First and foremost, because our salvation is based on what Jesus accomplished for us, not what we have to accomplish for ourselves.
a. We are saved by grace through faith not by works. (Eph. 2:8)
b. In Romans 3, Paul explained it this way: 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:22-24)
c. Jesus took our sins upon Himself on the cross, and so our sins have been removed from us and are forgiven and forgotten by God.
d. In Hebrews 8:12, God says: For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.
e. Psalm 103:12 says: As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
f. 1 John 1:7 and 9 say: 7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin… 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
g. We are not saved because we are so good, but because Jesus is so good and we are saved through faith in Him and the forgiveness He provides.
h. We must trust in God’s promises about salvation in Christ, like the promise of Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”
2. Second, we can have assurance and confidence in our salvation because of God’s promised Holy Spirit who is our seal and guarantee.
a. This is another thing that we have to trust God about.
b. When we believed and were baptized, we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38 and Eph. 1:13)
c. The Holy Spirit dwells in us and confirms God’s ownership over us.
d. Paul wrote: 16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. (Rom. 8:16-17)
e. The indwelling seal of the Holy Spirit represents the certainty of God’s promise to us, despite what our emotions might tell us, and despite what the lies of the enemy tell us.
f. We know that we belong to God because of the Holy Spirit, the seal of the promise of our salvation.
g. The seal of the Holy Spirit is God’s fear-defeating and peace-giving gift and promise to us.
I. As much as God wants us to live with the assurance of our salvation, God also wants us to feel the need for faithfulness and the seriousness of our calling and the responsibility of bearing of the name of the Lord.
1. Even though we are saved by the righteousness of Jesus, we have to actively and continually put our trust in Christ.
a. There is a continuance of faith and faithfulness that God requires.
b. Paul told the Colossians: So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught…(Col. 2:6-7)
c. The Hebrew writer motivated his readers with these words: 35 So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved. (Heb. 10:35-39)
2. With a continuance of faith, we should strive to live in holiness and righteousness, not to gain salvation, but because of our salvation.
3. We should strive to be holy and to be wholly involved in mission and service to bring honor and glory to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
4. Ultimately, real faith is demonstrated not in our thoughts or beliefs, but in our words and deeds.
5. James asks an important question in James 2:14: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
a. Then James concludes: For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (James 2:26)
J. It is also helpful to understand the difference between being sealed with the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
1. Let’s illustrate the difference between the sealing and the filling of the Spirit by thinking about car ownership and use.
2. When you buy a car, you register it and put license plates on it - this is like the sealing of the Spirit.
a. It shows ownership – you own the car and you are officially allowed to use it.
b. As we have already discussed, when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, God puts His mark on us and shows that He owns us and that we belong to Him.
3. The question of ownership is one thing, but the question of driving is another.
a. Being filled with the Spirit has to do with giving the Spirit control of the car – allowing the Spirit to drive.
b. Being sealed by the Spirit is a one time transaction, like registering the car.
c. But being filled with the Spirit is the ongoing freedom that we give to the Spirit to direct and empower us.
4. And so, the sealing of the Spirit is the mark of permanent ownership that gets put on us and in us when we become a child of God, but the filling of the Spirit is part of the ongoing, transforming and sanctifying power of God in our lives as we submit to the Spirit and walk with the Spirit.
5. The fact and assurance of our salvation should not give us reason to neglect righteous living and service but should be the very thing that motivates us towards faithfulness and cooperation with the Spirit.
K. The good news for all of us is that God loves us with perfect love and has adopted us into His family and lavished His grace upon us.
1. The Holy Spirit is the seal of that reality and promise.
2. Because we belong to the Lord, the Holy Spirit is committed to getting us safely home.
L. Nic Brown understands the value of such assurance.
1. Nic was the first person in our country to be diagnosed with the coronavirus.
2. He was 38 years-old at the time and was a healthy father of 2 daughters.
3. He has no idea how or where he contracted the disease, but he did.
4. The disease attacked him with a vengeance.
5. As his health declined, he was transferred to the ICU of the Cleveland Clinic and was placed on full life support.
6. His condition deteriorated so much that the hospital had end-of-life discussions with his wife.
7. The medical team wrote goals for his treatment each day on the glass door of his room.
8. At the end of the notes, they would leave this special message of resolve: “We will get you home.”
9. Little by little, Nic’s body began to combat the virus and eventually Nic was reunited with his daughters and his wife.
10. The hospital caretakers had kept their promise.
11. Praise God that our helper, the Holy Spirit, with whom we are sealed will do the same, He will get us home, but we must follow His lead and depend upon His wisdom and power.
M. So, what should we do in response to today’s lesson?
1. First, let’s rest in the assurance of our salvation because of the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
2. Second, let’s be diligent to be filled with the Spirit and walk in the Spirit.
Resources:
Help Is Here, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2022
Sealing of the Spirit vs. Filling with the Spirit, by Jeremy Myers
