[0:00] Seeking the Lord's blessing, let us turn back to the portion of scripture that we read, the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter 1, and we can read it to verse 12.
[0:12] That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, and to the praise of his glory.
[0:44] Already in this chapter, Paul has written regarding the work of the Father, and the work of the Son, in matters of our salvation.
[1:05] And now he comes to write of the work of the Holy Spirit, in verse 13 and 14.
[1:16] We often say that the Bible is a story about God the Father and his redemptive plan.
[1:31] It's a story about God the Son working out that redemptive plan. But it is also a story about the Holy Spirit in applying that redemptive plan to sinners.
[1:49] In fact, if we haven't got such a view of salvation that is Trinitarian, then there is a defect in our view of salvation.
[2:06] Because salvation is the work of the Triune God. Our worship must be Trinitarian, or else there is a defect in our worship.
[2:23] Our service must be Trinitarian, or else there is a defect in our service. Our salvation, our worship, and our service must be to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[2:46] The very first verses of the Bible points us to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And among the last verses of the Bible, we have the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
[3:03] At the very beginning, we read, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water.
[3:23] Or a better translation would be, And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. The Holy Spirit hovers over the waters in order that he might bring form and fullness to the formlessness and the emptiness that was there.
[3:50] And the Holy Spirit performs that self-same activity in salvation. The same activity as he performed at the very beginning.
[4:03] When the Spirit of God brings us to faith in Christ, He brings order and purpose and form into our lives.
[4:14] The Holy Spirit brings form and shape to formless lives who are dead in sin. And Jesus came so that we could have fullness of life.
[4:28] And he does that through the power and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The person without Christ, In their lives, their lives are formless.
[4:46] It doesn't have a purpose. It has no logic. It isn't going anywhere. And at the end of the day, You can see that your life is formless and empty.
[5:01] And sometimes it is the realisation of that, That draws people to the gospel and to Jesus Christ. They say, My life is formless.
[5:15] It doesn't seem to be going anywhere. My life is empty. And although I try to fill it with all kinds of things, It still remains empty.
[5:30] And so here at the very beginning of creation, In the ministry of the Holy Spirit, We find what is characteristic and distinctive of the Holy Spirit, When we come to think about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Both in the work of creation, Both in the work of creation, And in the work of the new creation, In our lives.
[5:58] That he brings form to our formlessness, And that he brings fullness into our emptiness. But there is a deeper purpose, In the ministry of the Holy Spirit, In creation, And in the new creation.
[6:19] The Holy Spirit is hovering over the waters, Not only to bring form and fullness, But what the Holy Spirit is doing in creation, Is that he is creating a temple.
[6:37] He is creating a place of worship, Where man can have fellowship, And communion with God. Eden was a temple.
[6:52] Eden was a place of worship. Eden was a place where man could have fellowship, And communion with God. Where man could worship God.
[7:06] Adam walked with God. And he had fellowship and communion with God. He worshipped God. He had the ability to fulfil the chief end of man, Which is to glorify God, And to enjoy him forever.
[7:26] And we know that man fell from that estate, By sinning against God. But the ministry of the Holy Spirit, In the new creation, Is to restore us back, And to bring us again into that place, Where we can have fellowship, And communion with God.
[7:51] Where we can walk with God. Wherein we can worship God. Now at the very beginning, As the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters, We read that God said, Let there be light.
[8:09] And there was light. And here is a connection between the ministry, Of the Holy Spirit, Hovering over the waters, And the word of God.
[8:23] And that is also true, In the new creation. In these verses tonight, We note the connection that the apostle makes, Between hearing the gospel, Believing and receiving the spirit.
[8:37] We are reminded that God, In working out his plan, That he uses means. The apostle says, In whom he also trusted, After that he heard, The word of truth, The gospel of your salvation.
[8:56] That means that God, That means that God used, Was the word of truth. Now this phrase, Does not simply mean, That it is, A true word, But as he goes on to explain, It is by means of a, Particular truth.
[9:16] The gospel, Of pure salvation. The good news, Of pure salvation. The word salvation, Itself indicates to us, That it is good news, About being saved.
[9:31] That it is the good news, Is what God has done, For us, In Christ. And this is the only means, By which we, Can be saved.
[9:45] There is salvation, In no other way, Than what God has done, For us, In Christ. This also tells us, How important, And essential it is, To present, The word, Of truth.
[10:05] How important it is, To present the gospel, Of pure salvation. Paul writing to Rome, Writes, I am not ashamed, Of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of God, Into salvation, To everyone that believeth, To the Jew first, And also to the Greek.
[10:26] Paul writing to the church, Of Corinth, Says, For the preaching of the cross, Is to them that perish foolishness, But unto us, Which are saved, It is the power of God.
[10:40] Many hear the gospel, At least as we may say, With the outward ear. But the great difference, Between those for whom, The hearing is made effectual, And those for whom, It is not, Is found in this word, Believed.
[10:57] The gospel of salvation, Is preached to all, And a general offer, Of salvation is made to all, But not all, Receive the gospel, And not all, Receive, This offer of salvation.
[11:14] Hearing is not enough, We must not only hear, The word of truth, But we must, Believe it. And I know that, Man on his own, Cannot, Believe, For the gospel, Is foolishness, Unto him.
[11:35] And so to believe, We need the help, Of the Holy Spirit. We need the ministry, Of the Holy Spirit. As it was in creation, There was the spirit, And the word of God, That brought things, Unto being.
[11:49] That made that temple, Wherein God, Could be worshipped. So it is also, A new creation. There is that connection, Between the ministry, Of the Holy Spirit, And the word, Of God.
[12:08] Paul writing, To the Thessalonians, Says, Our gospel, Came not unto you, In word only, But also, In power, And in the Holy Ghost, Or in the Holy Spirit, And in much, Assurance.
[12:25] In the second chapter, Of this very letter itself, The apostle writes, And you hath he quickened, Who were dead, In trespasses, And in sins.
[12:38] By the application, Of the word of truth, By the Holy Spirit, The word becomes, A living word, In our experience. The word penetrates, Our souls, It goes, Into our mind, And understanding, And into our wills, So that, We are persuaded, Of the truth, We are persuaded, Of the gospel, Of salvation.
[13:10] The writer to the Hebrew writes, For the word of God, Is quick and powerful, And sharper than any two-edged sword, Piercing even, To the dividing asunder, Of soul and spirit, And of joints, And marrow, And as a discerner, Of the thoughts, And intents, Of the heart.
[13:31] It is the spirit, It is the ministry of the spirit, That quickens us, And it is the ministry of the spirit, That enables us, To believe.
[13:44] You know, Sometimes, Sometimes, We find people, Leaving the spirit aside, All together, And that is why, We said at the beginning, That, If unless our salvation, Is trinitarian, Then, There is a defect, Many speak of, The father, And the son, And then they say, And I decided, For Christ, Well that day, Gives the honour, And the glory, To man, To themselves, The method, That we have, In the word of God, Is the father, And the son, And the spirit, Enabling us, To believe, In Christ, Because it is the spirit, That quickens,
[14:45] And enables us, To believe, Apart from the separation, Of the spirit, We remain dead, To the word, But when the spirit, Breathes upon us, In applying the word, We begin, To see it all, We see our need, Of salvation, And the sufficiency, Of what, God has done, In Christ, To meet, With that need, And the spirit, Enables us, To believe, We may not, Be able to understand, Or comprehend, What is actually, Happening to us, One minute, The gospel, Made nothing to us, And in another minute, It means, Everything, For us, The word, Can be quick, Or gradual, One moment, In darkness, A mixed moment, In light, Or it may be, Like the coming, Of the day, The truth,
[15:45] May dawn upon us, But, We do not see, Clearly, And only, Becomes, Gradual, The spirit, Makes the truth, Attractive, To us, And he, Persuades, Our will, So that we come, To desire, And to trust, In this salvation, Time, When we saw, Nothing in these things, But now, They have become, Everything, To us, Let us give, The spirit, The honour, That it deserves, In our, Salvation, The difference, Can only be explained, By the work, Of the Holy Spirit, Upon us, So that the truth, Which before, Appeared to be, To us, As boring, And interesting,
[16:48] Suddenly, Becomes, The most wonderful, Thing, That we ever, Heard, Heard of, As a result, Of hearing, And believing, We have come, To trust, In the Lord, Jesus Christ, The spirit, Enables us, To see, That our sins, Were laid, Upon Jesus, Dying, Dying, Upon the cross, And that he has, Born and carried, Them, Away, We are conscious, Of our, Present weakness, Of our, Unworthiness, The power, Of temptation, Within us, But still, Our confidence, And our trust, Is upon, The Lord, Jesus Christ, Christ, Has become, The basis, Of our faith, And our hope, Then the apostle,
[17:50] Goes on here, To speak about, The sealing, Of the spirit, In whom, Ye also trusted, After that, Ye heard, The word of truth, The gospel, Of your salvation, In whom also, After that, Ye believed, Ye were sealed, With that holy, Spirit, Of promise, The sealing, Of the spirit, Now, According to, Some, The sealing, Is something, That is subsequent, To conversion, And for many, A man, Can be a Christian, Without the sealing, Of the spirit, But at that point, We have, To disagree, With them, Among other things, That they say, Is, It is not really,
[18:51] Born out, By the context, This whole section, Of the letter, Is dominated, By the statement, That we have, In verse 3, Blessed, Blessed be, Blessed be, The God, And Father, Of our Lord, Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us, With all spiritual blessings, In heavenly places, That God, Has blessed us, With all spiritual blessings, In Christ, These include, Election, Adoption, And, Redemption, And, It is very difficult, To see, How that some Christians, Would now come to, Lack a particular blessing, Such as, The sealing, Of the spirit, That they would have that, A blessing of election, And adoption, And redemption, And would be, Empty, Of this blessing, Of the sealing, Of the spirit, Surely,
[19:51] The sealing of the spirit, Is part of all, The spiritual blessings, Enjoyed by all believers, In Christ, And not just, By some, Believers, In Christ, As some interpret, And one of those, Interpreters of that, Opinion is, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, But at the point of, This we must disagree, With him, Another reason, Why isn't, That interpretation, Is not borne out, By the context, Is that throughout, This passage, There is emphasis, Laid upon, The fact that, These blessings, We have, In Christ, We are chosen, In him, We are accepted, In him, We are redeemed, With him, And according, To this verse, We are sealed, In him, In whom, Ye also trusted, After ye heard, The word of truth, The gospel,
[20:52] Of your salvation, In whom also, After ye believed, You were sealed, With that, Holy spirit, Of promise, The sealing, Of the spirit, They must, All these things, That we have here, Must stand together, So, So it is, Not possible, To be in him, And yet, Not be sealed, With the spirit, The sealing, The sealing of the spirit, Is not something, That we must have, Over and above, Been, In Christ, Paul describes, The holy spirit, Here as a holy, Spirit, Of promise, It is inconceivable, That there would be, Some Christians, To whom God, Would not give, The spirit, Of promise, That God would not give, The promised spirit, You were sealed, With that holy spirit, Of promise,
[21:54] And it goes on, In verse 14, To say, Which is the earnest, Of our inheritance, Until the redemption, Of the purchased, Possession, And to the praise, Of his glory, The spirit is described there, As the earnest, Of our inheritance, Now this word, This term here, Translated as, Earnest in the new testament, Is used only by Paul, And it is always, In reference, To the spirit of God, Always in reference, To the holy spirit, Now the ordinary, Commercial world, There was a term, Used for a down payment, Or a first installment, The modern Greek forum, Of this word, Means, An engagement ring, It is the pledge, That the inheritance, Will be given, And the first installment, Of the inheritance, Itself, The spirit received, Is the deposit, Guaranteeing,
[22:55] Our inheritance, In giving us, In giving us, The spirit, In giving us, God is not simply, Promising us, Our final inheritance, But actually, Providing us, With a foretaste, Of it, To which Paul refers to, In Romans 8, As the first fruits, Of, The spirit, You were sealed, With that holy, Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest, Of our inheritance, The guarantee, The pledge, Of our inheritance, Until the redemption, Of the purchased possession, Into the praise, Of his glory, The seal, The seal, Is a mark of, Ownership, A mark of protection, Cattle and slaves, Were branded, With a seal, By their masters, To indicate, To whom, They belonged,
[23:56] The owners, Guarded their property, Against theft, In that sense, The seal, Was a protecting sign, Or a guarantee, So the sealing, Of the spirit, Is that which attests, That we belong, To God, Paul writing to the Romans, Says now, If any man, Have not the spirit, Of Christ, He is none, Of his, The sealing of the spirit, Is not something, Which the spirit, Sort of gives, Exactly, The sealing of the spirit, Is the spirit itself, The indwelling, Of the holy, Spirit, And a person, Who enjoys, The indwelling, Of the holy spirit, Is attested, As belonging, To christ, And by the sealing, Of the spirit, Not only, Is our inheritance, Guaranteed for us,
[24:57] But we are also, Assured, That he will protect us, Through the trials, And through all the, Hardships and testings, Of life, The holy spirit, Indwelling in us, Is the guarantee, And the pledge, That he will, Protect us, Through all the trials, And testings of life, Paul wrote, To the judge, At Corinth, And said, For all the promises, Of God, In him, Are ye, And in him, Amen, Into the glory, Of God, By us, Now he, Which establisheth us, With you, In Christ, And hath anointed us, Is God, Who hath also, Sealed us, And given the earnest, Of the spirit, In, In our hearts, Then we find this phrase, Connected with it, Until the redemption, Of the purchased, Possession,
[25:58] We have the seal, The sealing of the spirit, Of the holy spirit, Of promise, Which is the earnest, Guarantee, Or pledge, Of our inheritance, Until the redemption, Of the purchased, Possession, Now that has been understood, In two ways, First, There are those, Who are of the opinion, That it means, That believers, Have received the spirit, As a down payment, Or foretaste, Of the inheritance, Which will become, Their possession, Fully, On the future day, Of redemption, Namely at the end, Of the age, The day of resurrection, In chapter 4, Of this letter, Paul warns us, He says, Grieve not, The holy spirit, Of God, Whereby ye are sealed, Until the day of, Redemption, In Romans 8, We wrote,
[26:59] Ourselves also, Which are the first fruits, Of the spirit, Even we ourselves, Grown within ourselves, Waiting for the adoption, To it, The redemption, Of our body, But others, Think that it is a reference, To believers, As God's, Possession, Rather than, Their possessing, The promised inheritance, Elsewhere, In the New Testament, Redemption, Is spoken of, As an act of God, And here also, He is the agent, Of redemption, He is the one, Who possesses his people, For he has made them, His own, They are his, His treasured, Possession, In the Old Testament, Israel are called, By God, His treasured, Possession, Moses went up, And to God, And the Lord, Called him out, Out of the mouth, And saying, Thou shalt thou say, To the house of Jacob, And tell the children, Of Israel,
[28:00] You have seen, What I did, Into the Egyptians, And I have bare you, On eagle's wings, And brought you, Into myself, Now therefore, If you will obey, My voice indeed, And keep my covenant, Then you shall be, A peculiar treasure, Unto me above all people, For all the earth is mine, And ye shall be, A kingdom unto me, A priests, And holy nations, And these are the words, Which Moses was, Asked to speak, To the children, Of Israel, And Peter, Makes use of that, And he says, Of believers, But ye are a chosen generation, A royal priesthood, And holy nature, A peculiar people, Or, A treasured possession, That ye should show forth, The praises of him, Who hath called you, Out of darkness, Into his marvellous light, Which in time past, Were not a people, But are now the people of God, Which had not obtained mercy, But now have obtained mercy,
[29:01] The prophet Malachi says, Of the Lord, That he says, And they shall be mine, Sayeth the Lord of hosts, In that day, When I make up my jewels, Or my treasured possession, Now suppose there is a sense, In which both, Can actually, Be true, There is, No doubt that this, Can be speaking, About our inheritance, And it can also be speaking, About how, We are God's, Treasured, Possession, When God sealed, And guaranteed believers, With his Holy Spirit, He had in view, Their full redemption, As his own, Prized, Possession, Redemption, Which, Is a, A present, Spiritual,
[30:02] Blessing, May here, Signify the final, Deliverance, When God takes full, And complete possession, Of those, Who are already his, And when we take, Full possession, And complete possession, Of the inheritance, That is ours, So we may say, That it really, Can be taken, In both ways, And first, Both are true, And the spirit, The sealing of the spirit, Is the earnest, Of our inheritance, Until the redemption, Of the purchased, Possession, How will we know, That we have been sealed, With the Holy Spirit, Well, We have already spoken, Of some of the effects, That is, As is imparted to us, Through the spirit coming, And working in us, Enabling us,
[31:03] To trust in Christ, Enabling us, To make that decision, To trust in Christ, To commit ourselves, To Christ, He renews our wills, He makes us, A willing people, In a day of, His power, And if we decide Christ, And if we commit ourselves, To Christ, If we trust in Christ, If we, If Christ becomes, Precious to us, If the word of God, Becomes a living word, To us, All that, Is proof, Of the sealing, Of the spirit, Our guarantee, Of our inheritance, Until the redemption, Of the purchased, Possession, Until that day, When our redemption, Will be complete, And the final, Deliverance, When we come into, Full and complete, Possession, Of our inheritance,
[32:06] And when God, Comes in complete, And full possession, Of those, Who are already, His, Whom he, Through the son, Has purchased, Wherein Jesus, Will say, Behold, I, And the children, That you gave to me, And none of them, Are lost, And they shall be mine, Says the Lord of hosts, In that day, When I make up, My jewels, Not one, Will be lost, And he says, And all this is, Into the praise, Of his glory, Well, What we may have here, Is an echo of Isaiah 43, This people have I formed, For myself, They shall show forth, My praise, He is to be praised, Not only for what he, Has already done, But he is to be praised, For the prospect, Of his completing, Redemption, And he is to be praised,
[33:08] Not only for the prospect, Of completing redemption, But also for, Taking possession, Of his people, Taking possession, Of his people, That we should be, To the praise, Of his glory, Who first trusted, In Christ, In whom also, Ye also trusted, After ye heard, The word of truth, The gospel of your salvation, In whom also, After that, Ye believed, Ye were sealed, With that holy spirit, Of promise, Which is the earnest, Of our inheritance, Into the redemption, Of the purchased possession, And to the praise, Of his glory, It is all, To the praise, Of his glory, Our redemption, Our salvation, Is to the praise, Of his glory, May the Lord bless, These thoughts to us, Let us pray, Thank you,