HEARD, BELIEVED, SEALED
Today we celebrate the Day of Pentecost. What a wonderful day it was for the first disciples of the risen, ascended and glorified Jesus. It was the inauguration of the Church of Christ. But what does the coming of the Holy Spirit mean to us nearly 2,000 years on from that great day? It was the same for the new believers in Ephesus that Paul wrote to. It was probably 20 years on from the Day of Pentecost. They would, like us, regard it as an historical event. But it’s far more important than just a day in the Christian calendar.
When St Paul wrote to the young church at Ephesus he was really fired up with the glory of the gospel – what Jesus had accomplished for those who would believe on Him. Paul is summarizing the blessings that were available to them: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession - to the praise of his glory" (Eph 1:13,14).
The apostle discloses a progression of development in the Christian pilgrimage - first, they Heard the Word of Truth, then they Believed in Jesus, and finally they were Sealed by the Holy Spirit - each is a vital stage in entering into what Paul described as "the gospel of your salvation". We see first what was involved when the people of Ephesus:
HEARD THE WORD OF TRUTH
The "word of truth" doesn’t simply mean that it’s a true word that they heard. It is true, of course, but more than that, it’s a particular truth - it’s revealed truth. This is more than a religious philosophy, some vague feeling about a force outside of nature. It is God who has entered human history in the Incarnation of His Son, the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. This indeed is the Gospel, the "good news" that the world had been waiting for, ever since the Fall of mankind.
Human history shows that mankind has a built-in need for something beyond himself. When tribes have been discovered in remote parts of the Earth, they invariably have some form of religion. It could be the worshiping of ancestor spirits or some gods of their making, perhaps a powerful external force like the Sun. They are often in fear of their lives because, as the apostle Paul told the people of Athens, they are worshiping "an unknown god". As has been said, human beings have been created with a "god-shaped gap" in their lives. Religion of itself, though, is an enemy of what Paul called "the truth".
The message that Paul and the evangelists of the first century preached was the irreducible minimum necessary to come to an understanding of the gospel. They told their hearers very clearly that they were guilty before God. The only way of escaping from judgement was to repent and to trust in the redemption purchased by the Lord Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. In the words which the apostle wrote to the Corinthians, "God was reconciling the world unto himself in Christ ... God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:19,21). That is the message of salvation. They "heard the word of truth", but there was more, for they:
BELIEVED IN JESUS
It’s not only a matter of knowing about Jesus in a general way, as a figure in history. God’s great desire is that "all men (and women) should be saved" but to do that they must "come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:4). Paul is careful to tell the people he was addressing in his letter that they "believed in Jesus". That is essential because, as Jesus told His disciples, He is the only way into the kingdom of God. And how does that come about? It’s through the operation of the Holy Spirit. The apostle tells us that "No-one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3). It is the Spirit who convicts us of sin, of our need of the Saviour, who creates faith in our hearts, and brings the truth to sight. We see it and so we believe. You’ve heard the word of truth and you’ve believed in Jesus. But is there more? Oh yes, there is! Paul goes on to say that the believers in Ephesus were:
SEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
What does he mean? Paul tells us that "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Rom 8:9). When we are converted, are born again, believe in Jesus, we become a member of His kingdom. The Bible term for this is that we are baptized by the operation of the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, that is, His true Church (1 Cor 12:13). This is wonderful, we’re Christians, but the teaching of Jesus, confirmed by the experience of believers recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, is that God has more to give us in our Christian pilgrimage - it is being “sealed by the Holy Spirit”.
Sealed? On the face of it, it appears to be a bit obscure but it’s a vital part of God’s provision for his people. The New Testament writers used many synonyms to describe this unique event. They used action words in respect of the Holy Spirit like "baptized with" "poured out upon" "filled with" "anointed with" or "sealed with" the Spirit - different terms but the same experience. When the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples in the Upper Room they became new people, filled with assurance, confidence and spiritual power. They were God’s revolutionaries in proclaiming the message of Christ, and as their opponents put it, "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). That’s why God has sent us His Spirit. On our own we are helpless, but we needn’t stay like that. He can change us, even as He transformed the previously fearful disciples.
The day of Pentecost was a unique first in the history of the Church. Our experience won’t be the same as the first disciples but we must recognize our need of change; be willing to receive the sealing of the Spirit, the promised baptism. Countless believers have experienced the same blessing ever since, but not necessarily at the same time as the conversion experience. In Paul’s case there was an interval of several days after he met the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus to when the disciple Ananias visited him. He prayed with Paul that he might have his sight restored "and be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17) and he was!
When Paul visited Ephesus, he asked the believers, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? No," they replied. Paul laid his hands on them and "the Holy Spirit came on them" (19:2-5). The apostle was no doubt referring to this when he wrote in his letter, "you heard ... you believed ... you were sealed by the promised Holy Spirit." The question might be asked, "Well, that was in the first century when Christianity was in its infancy, but wasn’t it different in later centuries?" Yes, regrettably, what was the norm, the standard, in New Testament times of believers being filled with the Spirit, changed when over the years Christianity became institutionalized as the state religion. Many times over the centuries the people of God have had to be renewed in their faith, to return to apostolic teaching, and there have been evangelical awakenings and revivals - the Reformation, the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, George Whitfield, Charles Haddon Spurgeon,William Booth and the Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal Movements.
You’ll remember John Wesley’s life-changing experience in Aldersgate Street in May 1738. He acknowledges in his journal that he had become a true believer in justification by faith since the previous March and yet he knew he lacked something and was hungry for it. But at that meeting he said, "I felt my heart strangely warmed..." He had believed before, but now he had an assurance, he was given this direct, immediate, overwhelming experience and testimony by the Spirit, the sealing of the Spirit, and his ministry was transformed. He said that before this experience he had had the faith of a servant, but now it was that of a son. There was a witness within him that he was a child of God, an heir of eternal life. He could rejoice in Jesus "with a joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).
I was struck by what I read in a biography of a leader of a missionary society (Norman Grubb). "At conversion”, he wrote, “we learned that we had not done what we should, but then we soon learn that of ourselves we cannot do what we should." We need the enabling of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to Jesus by lip and life on a daily basis. So what’s involved in being “sealed by the promised Holy Spirit”? The apostle Paul was a tentmaker by profession and, perhaps unconsciously, he used a business expression. Sealing has a number of meanings:
IT’S AN AUTHENTICATION OF OUR CONVERSION EXPERIENCE
A seal carries the idea of authenticity. I went to the museum to see an exhibition of the ancient charters given to the Island over a period of several centuries. They are beautiful documents bearing the monarchs’ seals, giving them their royal authority. A seal was often used to authenticate a transaction. When an agreement was drawn up, say to sell a valuable property, the document wasn’t complete until it had been "signed and sealed". You needed the seal in addition even to a signature. That was the case until quite recently when our legislature, in a desire to streamline business administration, passed a law which dispenses with the need for a seal unless it’s specially called for. But you can’t cut corners in the Christian experience - in addition to the signature of conversion you need the “seal of the Spirit”!
Another helpful meaning attached to sealing is that it’s a mark of ownership. When you see scores of sheep on the hillsides you wonder how the farmers will ever know which sheep belong to them, but then when you get closer you see that they have distinguishing marks on them. Paul tells his readers that the Sealing of the Holy Spirit leaves a mark on the believer. Sealing is also an indication of quality. When you buy a bottle of medicine you see on the label, "Do not use if the seal has been broken." The seal bears witness to the quality of the contents. It’s the same with a Christian. Look out for the "seal of the Spirit". Is it evident that he or she has been with Jesus? How can we tell if the experience has been the real thing or some bogus imitation? The fruit of the Spirit needs to be evident, as the apostle writes to the Galatians, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control” (5:22). Sealing also means that:
IT’S GOD’S GUARANTEE OF OUR ETERNAL INHERITANCE IN CHRIST
Paul used the word "guarantee" - another commercial word - that carries the meaning of a pledge. When a man bought a piece of land but couldn’t afford the whole price, he gave a pledge, a promise to pay it all at a later date. Our inheritance as believers in Jesus is a glorious union with Him in heaven. It’s not here yet, but we have His pledge in His giving us the Holy Spirit.
The apostle tells us that the Holy Spirit is “a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are in God’s possession.” In Modern Greek the word “deposit” actually means an engagement ring. When I got engaged I gave Mavis an engagement ring. It was a promise of what was to come. But one ring wasn’t enough: there had to be a second, the wedding ring. The engagement ring was a great start to our relationship but we looked forward to the wedding day. The gift of the Spirit tells me that one day there’ll be the final redemption when all God’s people will be together in His presence as the fulfillment of our inheritance.
The Holy Spirit’s coming is a wonderful guarantee of God’s provision for Christians. We can see the Spirit as an installment, a down payment of the complete blessing that God has in store for us. We still live in a fallen world; sin and death are still with us, but this isn’t our real home. The coming of the Holy Spirit tells us, “Don’t worry, I’m your guarantee that you’ll have the full inheritance.” Here on Earth, we are being saved, and one day we’ll be finally saved as God’s eternal possession. The "sealing of the Spirit" is a first installment, a foretaste, of the bliss to come - a life of holiness, peace, joy and love.
Christians are meant to be God’s representatives here on Earth, to be the channels that He has chosen to show forth His glory. It’s impossible to do this in our own strength. If you look at a sundial on a cloudy day, the pointer doesn’t leave a shadow to indicate the time, it’s quite ineffective in that state. Without the “sealing of the Spirit” we’re just like that sundial, failing to live up to expectation and realizing our potential as the children of God, as salt and light in a corrupt and dark world.
And now we come to the crunch question: how do we get it? As with all other blessings from the Lord, it is His gift. It’s not something that we earn or merit in some way. The genuine blessing is not something that can be engineered by some psychological means or technique. We must "ask, seek and knock" as made plain in our Lord’s parable (Luke 11:19) and show "hunger and thirst" (6:21) for this promised gift of the ascended Lord. He gives it when He chooses and to whom He chooses, but He will never refuse a sincere believer.
Are you looking forward to it? Are you and I already experiencing this "deposit guaranteeing our inheritance"? Have we had this baptism into the love and power of God by His Spirit? We’ve all Heard the Word of Truth, in all likelihood Believed in Jesus but what is our position as to being Sealed with the Holy Spirit? Have we received this baptism of the Spirit, not only as a past experience, but as an ongoing blessing?
