Sealing of The Holy Spirit, Part 2

Introduction: The Trinitarian Nature of Salvation and the Spirit's Role

0:03 Now then, let us turn again this morning to Ephesians chapter 1, and our attention will be focused again this morning upon verses 13 and 14.

0:18 In whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory. We have noted again and again in our study of this great hymn of praise addressed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that the religion of the New Testament is decidedly Trinitarian. It is a religion in which the one, true and living God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is known, loved, worshipped, and served as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And in this great hymn, we have the Father particularly in focus in the first few verses, then the focus changes to the Son and the distinctive work that he has to accomplish in our redemption, and now in verses 13 and 14, our attention is focused upon the work of the Holy Spirit with reference to this so great salvation. Last week, in introducing the study of these verses,

1:49 I mentioned several things by way of the general principle of the importance of having some understanding of the place and ministry of the Spirit in the understanding we have of salvation, of salvation in general. Unless we understand something of the distinct work of the Holy Spirit, God will be robbed of some of the glory that belongs to him for this section, as the sections dealing with the work of the Son and the work of the Father close with the words unto the praise of his glory. And therefore, God is robbed of glory if we have indistinct views of the work of the Spirit in our salvation, and we are not able to understand the work of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, God is robbed of glory if we have indistinct views of the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, and we are not able to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, and a vacuum is created into which false teaching and substitute and spurious experiences of the Holy Spirit often rush. Then we move to consider two very obvious things about this matter of the sealing of the Spirit, which would be introductory to our study today. We saw from the larger context, whatever the sealing of the Spirit is, it is the possession of the Holy Spirit.

Two Foundational Truths about the Sealing of the Spirit

3:03 It is the possession of all the people of God. Paul is thanking the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who has blessed us, that is, all the people of God, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Not all the people of God equally work out the blessings that are theirs in Christ. There are young men, there are babes, there are old men in the faith.

3:31 There are those who are more foolish, who are more full of the Spirit than others. But it's not a matter that God has been niggardly and stingy in the depositing of those blessings in Christ. All of the people of God are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. And so just as certainly as there is no Christian who is not chosen in Christ unto holiness, predestined unto sonship, redeemed by blood, impartially, has the wisdom of God imparted through the gospel, all of these other blessings we saw in our study, there is no child of God who is not sealed.

4:13 The us of verse 3 is the us of the entire paragraph. And then the second thing we saw in our study last week, whatever the sealing is, it has reference to the initial saving response to the gospel. In whom, having heard, and having believed, ye were sealed. So that the sealing, whatever it is, must never be looked upon as some subsequent advanced spiritual experience, but it must be understood in the context of that ministry of the Spirit which is always attendant upon hearing the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believing that, the gospel. Well then, with that introduction and broad overview before us, let us address ourselves to the actual subject matter of verses 13 and 14, again not with a view simply that we might feel we understand verses 13 and 14, but to the end, that we will have our hearts so filled with praise and with adoration to our great triune God that we'll be caught up in this hymn of praise, not only to the Father for his work of choosing

The Blessing Stated: 'Ye Were Sealed' – Understanding the Term

5:37 and predestinating us to sonship, not only to the Son for his great work in redeeming us, but also that we shall praise God the Father who through the Son has sealed us with the Holy Spirit. Now the focal point in our study, of course, will be these three words, ye were sealed. The central dominant thought of the two verses is God's act of sealing the people of God. Everything else in the two verses either explains, modifies, amplifies, or qualifies the sealing.

6:20 And so as we think our way through the verses in our study this morning, again next week, and possibly carrying on for a third week, we will first of all look at the blessing stated, ye were sealed. What does that mean? Then we'll consider these four things under the general heading of the sealing of the Spirit. We'll consider the agent in the sealing.

6:46 Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The sphere in which the sealing occurs. In whom ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And then the implications of that sealing.

7:02 Verse 14, which is in earnest of our inheritance. But these three or four matters are simply explanations and amplifications of this one great and distinct blessing, ye were sealed. Well then, how are we going to understand what Paul meant when he wrote and said, ye were sealed. Well this word seal is a word that was common currency in the language of that day.

The Secular Meaning and Uses of a Seal

7:31 Like so many words in Scripture, the Holy Ghost took a word which was something part and parcel of the common vocabulary of that day, common significance and connotation, and he incorporated it into the language of Holy Scripture to be a vehicle of conveying tremendous and significant spiritual truth. But if we're to understand its significance in the realm of the spiritual, we've got to start with its significance in the realm of the natural. So, in seeking to ascertain what is this blessing, ye were sealed, we'll do two things. Establish the meaning of the word in its secular sphere, and then establish its precise meaning in a figurative or spiritual sphere. And the best thing I know to do in order to be concise in establishing the meaning of the word seal in the secular sphere is to read two paragraphs from the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary under seal, S-E-A-L. Literal sense. A seal is a device bearing a design, a name or some other words, so made that it can impart an impression in relief upon a soft substance such as clay or wax.

8:53 When the clay or wax hardens, it permanently bears the impression of the seal. The discovery by archaeologists of thousands of years ago, by archaeologists of thousands of years ago, by archaeologists of thousands of years ago, by archaeologists of thousands of years ago, reveals that their use goes back to at least 4,000 B.C. They were made of a variety of hard substances such as limestone, metal, and all kinds of precious stones.

9:16 Originally, they took the form of a cylinder with a hole from one end to the other for a cord to pass through, but this was gradually superseded by the beagle-shaped seal. Some were carried by cords hung around the neck or the waist. Many were cone-shaped and were kept in boxes, but most of the seals were made into large finger rings. The best ones were engraved by skilled seal cutters and were real works of art.

9:47 A great variety of designs was represented on them. Deities, people, animals, birds, fishes, plants, and a combination of these. Many of them bore inscriptions giving the name of the owner or of his overlord and his profession. Many seals with biblical names have been found by the archaeologists.

10:08 Among them, Hananiah, Azariah, Micaiah, Jotham, Nehemiah, and Gedaliah. Excavations in Palestine have procured hundreds of jar handles bearing seal impressions, some with the place of the manufacturer and personal names, perhaps of the potter. And then there is a picture of the handle of a jug with the seal impressed upon it. Now then, that's what the seal was.

10:34 Now, what was its use? Why did a man carry around this large gobby ring with some insignia on it that he'd press into wax or clay? What was the purpose? Well, there were at least six distinct purposes for these seals.

10:49 Some of them were used as a mark of authenticity and authority. If a king gave a royal command, how were you to know as a commoner whether or not somebody was just spoofing, playing an April Fool's joke, well, you would look for the seal of the king upon that royal command. You have an example of this in 1 Kings 21.8 when this wicked woman Jezebel wants to send out a letter to track down the life of Elijah.

11:17 She seals the letter with the seal of King Ahab. We find the same use in Esther 3 and verse 12. Second reason for which the seal was used, it was a mark of the formal ratification of the seal. It was the ratification of a transaction or a covenant.

11:35 You remember Jeremiah bought a field and to make the deed settled and finalized so that it would stand up under controversy, it was sealed. Jeremiah 32.11-14. Nehemiah 9.38 speaks of the seal of the men of Jerusalem upon the covenant in which the people agreed to keep the laws of that covenant. So you have these first two reasons. Mark of authenticity, is this a bonified letter from the king? The seal of the king is upon it.

12:07 To ratify a deed and to make it settled, a covenant, you'd put a seal upon it. Thirdly, it was used as a means of protecting books and other documents so that they would not be tampered with. Jeremiah 32.14 and then you have that example in the book of the Revelation, chapter 5.

12:26 You remember John says I saw a book sealed with seven seals. No man was, worthy to open it. It secured the privacy of that particular document. Then a fourth use of the seal.

12:41 It was used as a proof of delegated authority and power. Fifthly, I'll give you an example of that. Some of you are taking notes. Genesis 41.42.

12:53 Genesis 41.42. Fifthly, it was used as a means of sealing closed door to keep out unauthorized people. You remember after our Lord was buried in the tomb, the order was given to put a stone at that tomb and to do what?

13:09 To seal that tomb. Now that doesn't mean to take some mortar and just seal it up shut, but to put the seal of the civil authority upon it. At oft times, and I've seen pictures of this, there would be some string, what we would call string, stretched one side across the opening and the other side and then the wax seal of the authority put there and anyone who dared to tamper with that seal would bring upon himself the wrath and the judgment of that authority which said by putting the seal upon it, this is closed to unauthorized entrance by the authority of the king or the civil ruler. And then the last use, it was used as an official mark of ownership.

13:54 This explains the presence of seals on many jug handles and pieces of pottery. It was just a practical way of preserving from thievery. And also perhaps if someone was particularly proud of his work like the artist who puts his signature upon it. Now, this has been very mundane.

14:12 This hasn't got you all blessed up and saying hallelujah. I'm fully aware of that. But any exegesis and exposition of scripture that doesn't start here when the Holy Ghost has used a word from the common parlance of the day is bound either to be inaccurate or if it's accurate, it leaves you hanging as to whether or not the preacher really had the right to make the use of it that he did. And that's why I've taken all this time to try to give you the biblical meaning of the word seal in its secular usage.

The Figurative/Spiritual Meaning of Being Sealed by the Spirit

14:45 Now then, when that word is carried over into the vocabulary of the scriptures, what does it signify? What is its meaning in a figurative or spiritual sense? When Paul says, ye were sealed, he obviously does not mean that the Holy Ghost somehow branded in the very foreheads of the New Testament Christians a mark that identified them as the people of God. You take some who are adherents to certain religions, they will carry about a visible mark.

15:21 I saw an Indian woman yesterday in the cafeteria on the New York Thruway with her bright red dot right in the middle of her forehead. Well, she is sealed as a devotee of a certain religious system. Now, is this what God does? Is this what Paul means?

15:38 Well, you say, obviously not. Well then, what did he mean? When he said, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, when he says in chapter 4 in verse 30, grieve not the Holy Spirit by which you are sealed unto the day of redemption, when he said in 2 Corinthians 1, 21, I believe it is, or 22, God hath anointed us and hath sealed us and hath given to us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. What did he mean?

16:10 Carrying over the thought from the secular use of the seal, it appears to me that the dominant thought of this sealing is threefold. And I share in this the convictions of Hodge in his commentary on Ephesians. I don't simply give it to you because he did. I spent, many hours, tracing out every reference I could find and I believe that Hodge was right when he said there are three basic aspects of the significance of sealing in its spiritual sense.

16:44 First of all, when Paul said to the Ephesians ye were sealed, he was saying you were marked as genuine and true. In other words, this was an authenticating seal.

17:01 Paul is saying God has done something to you that is like that which the king does when he takes his ring and impresses it upon that glob of wax and affixes it to his decree. It marks that decree as genuine. There is an authenticating element to the seal. And so the apostle is saying one of the great blessings that is yours in Christ Jesus is that you have been marked as the real thing.

17:35 You have been authenticated as the people of God. Secondly, it has the concept of marking as one's own property or an identifying seal. When you wanted to render thievery impractical, you would put your seal upon that which was your own. In fact, I may give a little suggestion for homemakers here.

18:03 They tell us one of the best ways to preserve your valuables against thievery is to buy a little engraving drill and anything like a typewriter, anything of any worth. Just engrave your own name and address on it. And then when somebody steals it and tries to take it to a pawn shop or hock it off his hot goods, he has real problems. Well, if your seal is in it, it identifies that object as yours.

18:31 And when people Paul said ye were sealed in the Holy Spirit or with the Holy Spirit of promise, this idea is present in his mind. God has not only authenticated you by this seal, but he's identified you as his. You find a similar instance of this in Revelation chapter 7 where God says you must seal the servants of God in their forehead before the vials are opened. In other words, people are to be marked and identified as belonging to me.

19:07 And then the third thought that is here in this manner of sealing is to mark something as inviolable, that is indestructible, secure. That is a protecting seal. Not only an authenticating seal marking the people of God as the true people of God. Not only the identifying seal marking them as God's own possession, but to be sealed is to have the protecting seal.

19:37 Hands off, God says. This is my property and therefore protected. And that's the element of thought that seems to be dominant as we'll see in a moment in Ephesians 4.30.

19:49 Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God by whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. That which secures that the day of redemption will find you completely entering in, to all of that redemption, is that you have been sealed by the living God. So then all the people of God are a sealed people. They've been stamped with a divine seal as an authenticating, identifying, protecting seal.

The Agent of Sealing: The Indwelling Holy Spirit

20:22 Now, let's go back over these three elements as we consider the first modifying words about this seal under the heading the agent who effects this sealing. We've seen what it means to be sealed. To have this mark of God upon us and in us. Identifying us as His own.

20:49 Assuring us that we are the real thing. And assuring us that we shall be protected for God's purposes. But now, who is the agent affecting this sealing? Well, the text tells us it is the Spirit Himself.

21:07 In whom having also believed ye were sealed with and the original reads this way. Ye were sealed with the Spirit the one of promise, the Holy. So that the emphasis is you were sealed with the Spirit and then He tells us two things about the Spirit. He seals us as the Spirit of promise and as the Spirit of holiness.

21:35 And so we'll consider this agent who effects the sealing in that order. It is the Spirit Himself. The third person of the triune Godhead who is Himself the seal. It is He by whom we are marked as genuine, marked as God's own, marked unto the day of redemption.

The Holy Spirit as the Seal of Authentication

22:00 So the agent in this seal in that sealing is none other than the indwelling Holy Spirit the portion of all who hear and believe the Gospel. Now let's go back over these three aspects of the seal and show from parallel passages that it is the Holy Spirit who is the seal, first of all of authentication. How do we know and what marks us out from amongst mere professors as the real product? Is it that we can speak a certain kind of religious language?

22:39 Is it that we subject ourselves to a specific form of religious service? Is it that we subject ourselves to some peculiar kind of ceremony? No, no. That which authenticates us as the real thing is that the Spirit Himself has come to abide in us.

23:00 Turn please to Romans 8 where this aspect is stated so clearly by the Apostle Paul. Romans chapter 8 verses 7 through 9 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God but ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you but if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his. See what Paul is saying? Whatever a man may have if he does not have the Spirit of Christ he lacks the one thing which authenticates the genuineness of his religious experience. And then of course he goes on to explain what is the evidence that a man has the Spirit.

24:09 It is not his ecstasies it is not his charismatic gifts it is the moral and the ethical as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God. So then that which authenticates us that by which we are sealed as the true product is the Spirit who has come to indwell us whose indwelling has brought us into a realm in which we live in and after the Spirit. Philippians 3.3 is another text in this same category.

24:51 Paul is dealing with these who say look unless you have circumcision you lack the mark that really identifies you as a full blown Christian. These Judaizers said alright Christ is alright and the Holy Spirit given upon repentance and faith that's alright but if you really want to make it known that you are a full blown Christian go the next step and submit the circumcision. Keep the ceremonial law. These people dog the Apostles steps wherever he went and planted the church there they were to plague and dog the people of God.

25:28 And so the Apostle Paul waxes quite hot in his anger against this heresy and he says in chapter 3 of Philippians finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you to me indeed is not irksome but for you it is safe beware of the dogs beware of the evil workers beware of the concision he is warning them against these false teachers and he says now don't be fooled by them when they come and say this is the mark you are a true child of God he says look we are the circumcision here is the mark that we are truly his who worship by the Spirit of God the identifying mark is not external in the flesh but internal in the realm of the whole context of our religious experience it is marked by the energizing life giving presence of the Spirit that is what marks us as the true people of God so then when men repent and believe the gospel when to use the terminology of John 1.12 they receive Christ and are given the right to become the sons of God how does God authenticate the genuineness of that faith which he himself has created Galatians 4 tells us and because ye are sons

26:57 he hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father that's the authenticating mark the indwelling of the Holy Spirit himself so that John can say in 1 John 4.13 hereby we know that he abideth in us how? by the Spirit which he hath given to us that authentication not only to others but primarily to us comes by the seal of the Holy Spirit well then what about the matter of identification of ownership? what is it that marks a man as redeemed property purchased by the blood of Christ to be God's peculiar possession? turn to 1 Corinthians 6 and we shall see that the mark of identification is the indwelling of the Spirit Paul is dealing in this context with the problem of immorality and he's arguing with and exhorting the Corinthians against this sin and he does so on the basis of redemptive realities it's not mere moralizing notice his argument now beginning with verse 15 know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ

The Holy Spirit as the Seal of Identification (Ownership)

28:26 and make them members of a harlot? God forbid know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body for the twain said he shall become one flesh? but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit flee fornication every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you which ye have from God and ye are not your own? for we were bought with a price glorify God therefore in your body he said wait a minute when you go use your body for fornication you forget that that body is the purchase property of another and he says the proof that it is the purchase property of another is that redemption has brought to you the indwelling of the spirit and constituted that body a very sanctuary of the living God he owns it it's his not only by right of creation but it is his by right of redemption and the mark that it is is this know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you what is it then that marks a man a woman a fellow or girl as God's property all that God owns in redemptive purchase

The Holy Spirit as the Seal of Protection (Preservation)

29:54 he indwells by his spirit and that's the seal that we belong unto him so then the authentication is the indwelling of the spirit if any man have not the spirit of Christ he's not the real thing the mark of identification that seal of identification is the indwelling of the spirit thirdly that mark of protection or preservation is the indwelling of the spirit what is it that assures that we shall not come back under the dominion of sin and hence under the condemnation of the law what makes certain that we'll not peter out in our attachment to Christ Ephesians 4 30 I mentioned we'd look back at this passage in this connection grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto not the day of your apostasy this is the way the person who teaches that it's possible for a man to be truly saved to have the indwelling of the spirit and then to so grieve and quench the spirit that he apostatizes this is the way they have to read it grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of your apostasy and I'm not being facetious that's exactly how you'd have to read it for the sealing would be conditioned

31:24 upon a holding out on their part which was dependent upon their faithfulness ultimately whereas the teaching of the word of God is though we must persevere the certainty that we shall persevere is secured not by our faithfulness but by His and so Paul dares to say if you have once been sealed you have been sealed unto the day of redemption it is a protecting seal marking us as God's own and therefore being His own having been effectually called we shall one day experience the fullness of that redemption when as we considered last Lord's day evening we have joined to our glorified spirits or our perfected spirits glorified bodies and so shall we ever be with the Lord and so in summary as we've considered together what the sealing is who the agent is we are warranted to say that the agent in this sealing is the spirit himself given as an indwelling spirit to all the people of God upon a saving response to the gospel and in 2 Corinthians 1.22 it is explicitly stated

32:52 that it is the Father who seals us and let me just turn to that passage for a moment so you don't take it on my word but see it with your own eyes 2 Corinthians 1.22 now he that establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God who also sealed us and gave us the earnest of the spirit in our hearts it is God the Father who has sealed us the agent who effects this sealing is the spirit himself sent from the Father into the heart of God of every true believer now you'll notice that I've not paid much attention to two words or two concepts when I dealt with the agent we saw that it's the spirit but there are these two facets of the person and ministry of the spirit that the apostle Paul is particularly concerned to underscore with reference to his sealing work and notice what they are in whom ye were sealed with the spirit the one of promise the holy one that's the best way I know to try to convey the sense of the original he is the spirit who in his sealing seals as the promised spirit

The Spirit as the 'Spirit of Promise' and the 'Holy Spirit'

34:17 he seals as the holy spirit and as I look at the time I see I can't flesh this out the way I want to so what I'll do is just give a little summary introduction hope it whets your appetite to come back for the fleshing out next week the Lord willing what does he mean the promised spirit or the spirit of promise does he mean the spirit who as it were conveys the promises or does he mean the spirit who himself is conveyed in terms of the promises and I believe a close study of scripture will reveal it is the latter in other words whatever the holy spirit does in his work of sealing as the father gives him to every believer he does in complete consistency with all that was promised about him for as John Owen accurately says the gift of the spirit was the great promise of the new covenant and we'll look at a number of passages God willing next week in which the people of God were led to believe that the crowning work of Messiah would be the work of sending the spirit to men then of course in the promises of our Lord Jesus the great focal point of his promises to his disciples was this matter of the coming of the spirit it's necessary

35:46 for me to go away but one is coming tarry in Jerusalem until you be clothed with power I'm going to send the promise of my father upon you and when he is come so that he is in a peculiar sense the spirit of promise the promised spirit the crowning gift of the new covenant the purchased gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and I'll only say this much in order to give a word of exhortation there is no understanding of the work of the spirit that can be biblically accurate if it is wrenched loose from the whole focus of the promises concerning him he will not be promised as the spirit to do one two three and then come as the spirit and do seven eight nine what was he promised to do well the promises all lead us to believe that he came to reveal Christ to apply the benefits of Christ's redemption to magnify and to glorify Christ to enable the people of God to be like the Savior he would come as the spirit of the exalted and the glorified Christ so then when he comes as the spirit of promise to seal us it is to the end that all the promises concerning his ministry might be fulfilled in us and then he always comes

37:14 as the Holy Spirit and again the emphasis in the original is emphatic you're sealed with the spirit of the promise the Holy whatever you think of him you must think of him in his person and work in the sphere of holiness hence the term sanctification of the spirit becomes common parlance in New Testament language he comes not primarily to make us something big in the eyes of others he comes not primarily to titillate our emotions and our feelings he comes essentially and primarily to stamp upon us the very moral likeness of the living God so that as the seal as the indwelling one as the Holy Spirit he comes to make us holy and so this broad overview in which I've just tried to on my feet squeeze together what I thought I'd have about 20 minutes to 25 minutes to enlarge upon I hope brings this matter into some kind of a balanced perspective so that when the saints sat there at Ephesus and heard for the first time this letter being read by one of their elders in whom ye were sealed with the spirit of promise the Holy Spirit that their hearts would run out to praise

Pastoral Application and Exhortation

38:42 to their great Triune God that not only were they blessed with the blessing of a purposed salvation in election and predestination a purchased salvation in the redemption of Christ but a salvation applied with power in such a way that every time they'd go home and mother would be cooking and she'd see one of her earthen vessels and she'd see the signet of perhaps her great grandmother this was some kind of an heirloom and she saw that sealed vessel she could think I've been sealed God's put his stamp of ownership upon me I belong to him think of the implications I belong to him I'm marked as one of his own what do men think of him when they look upon his workmanship great implications we'll work out some of them God willing in future studies and the man goes off to his place of business and perhaps he's working with a tool upon which his own seal has been placed marking it as his own possession he goes out to the market and he sees an announcement from the local mayor sealed knowing that this is the authentic thing and he says how do I know amid so much religious sham that I am the real thing well I know because I worship God by the spirit and my heart hungers after that which only the spirit can produce this is the authenticating mark that I am his and then as they go to some place

40:12 and see an official document sealed up with the seal of a king and they wouldn't dare tamper to break the seal and they remember these words he was sealed to the day of redemption their hearts rejoice because they know that they have that seal that they have that securing preserving seal upon them and that they shall indeed one day look upon the face of their savior with joy and love him and serve him forever with a sinless heart may the Lord help us then to do as they did to appreciate this word just a common word from the life of the mundane taken out of the mundane and becoming a vehicle of conveying glorious spiritual truth concerning which they'd be reminded again and again and again because they lived in a world of seals and may the Lord help us then as we see that which would be common parallels to this in our day to remember that we are sealed even unto the day of redemption then I close addressing a word to you who sit here this morning upon whom God has put no mark of identification he doesn't know how to mark you as his own there is nothing to authenticate you as a true child of God you have no assurance beyond anything for anything beyond even leaving this building this morning

41:40 how can you get this blessed seal can you earn it no do you have to meet seventeen hundred different conditions that will somehow bend God's arm to impart it no it's all in the context of grace free sovereign grace and therefore Paul says having heard he believed ye were sealed you don't seek the seal you cast yourself upon the Savior you don't seek the sealing you seek God's mercy in Christ you don't have to do with the Father hoping and pleading that he'll give the seal you have to do with the Father's only Savior whom he sets before you in the Gospel concerning which he says this is my Son hear him believe him receive him cast yourself upon him and hearing and believing you will be sealed and as we'll see in our future studies as with this work of the Spirit with all others we do not seek the distinctive ministries of the Spirit to our hearts they are the fruit of Christ's purchase given to all who lay hold of that purchase and of those gifts thus purchased so having heard and believed the Gospel of repentance and faith they were sealed and so I plead with you young or old who sit here this morning

43:10 not marked as God's own not marked as the real thing no seal of preservation cast yourself upon Christ as he set before you in the Gospel repent and believe the Gospel and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit may the Lord thus bless his word to the heart of someone who is a stranger to grace and instruct us who are his own that we may appreciate more fully what it means to be sealed by the living God let us pray