And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy 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,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,
16 sermons cite this verse
yeah well it's awesome Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 says in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise that's one of the reasons why a Christian cannot be possessed the Holy Spirit has filled you up He owns you. There's no room. You've been bought with a price. You're marked. You're sealed. That word sealed cannot be broken. You belong to him? Awesome. Verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance? I like that. Maybe you don't have much of an inheritance in this life. That's this life. In the life to come in Christ, the Bible tells you all the riches or Christ are yours. We're going to inherit. Look, I'll just be happy to be in heaven. Won't you be happy just to be there? I hope I get to mow the lawn. That'd be awesome. But God's got more for us, clearly, as the word tells us. …
… and you shall be saved. So that's how you get it. But the Holy Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God. That's one of the things that He does. He also seals us. Over in Ephesians 1.13 we read, in him you trust that after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, a promise, which is a deposit guarantee in our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory. So what does this mean that I am sealed? Well, back in these days when goods were from one place to another. They would be stamped with a wax seal imprinted with this signet ring that would identify a unique mark of ownership. It would be sealed in wax. You would take a signet ring and put it into the hot wax. And so if you saw this document or whatever it was, well, that's important. …
… What does this even mean? Well, over in Ephesians 1.13, it says, when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. listen, the Spirit is God's guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He purchased us to be His own people. So let's go back to that new car purchase. You go down to the car lot and you say, I like that car. I'd like to buy that car. Can you hold it for me for six months? They're going to say, no, we cannot do that because someone else may come and want to buy that car. But if you put a deposit down, we'll hold it for you for, you know, a certain amount of time, maybe 24 hours, maybe 48 hours, but we need a deposit showing that you really wanna buy this car so you put a serious deposit down on the car. In the same way, God says, I'm serious about the work I'm doing in your life and to prove it, when you believe in me, I'm giving you the Holy Spirit. …
… Okay? This is saying Paul who in Ephesians 1, verses 3 through 14, it's a single run-on sentence in Greek. 12 verses are single run-on sentence in Greek. This is the sort of man Paul is. But here, fascinatingly, he confines himself to only 25 verses and less than 400 words total. But what is interesting is that these 25 verses force us to confront three excuses that I think Christians often have when it comes to remaining in unforgiveness. Three excuses that we will often use to justify why we will not forgive someone. And I want to say this too, I'm speaking primarily tonight to those who have been hurt, those who have been wronged. I'm not directing this message towards the wrongdoer. If that is you, you need to repent, you need to turn to Christ, and you need to seek forgiveness from the person you've wronged. But to be honest, I love you. God bless you. You're not really the focus of what I think we need to talk about. I'm speaking to those who have been wronged. You have been sinned against, and you are struggling to figure out how do I forgive in light of that sin. …
… with us Ephesians 1 verses 13 through 14 tells us that God has given us his Holy Spirit who is a seal, a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. And so our future hope is anchored in the sure promises that come with Christ's resurrection and the present reality of the Holy Spirit who is with us. The one who indwells us. The one who is at work in us now. And so Paul says in Romans 8, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies that through his spirit who dwells in you. Elsewhere the promise tells us that he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his body. So just stop and put that there's a rear view mirror but put that in the front. Just look at that view. The glorious resurrection that awaits us all as believers. The catechism tells us Christ's resurrection is a sure pledge of our glorious resurrection. …
… 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 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. Now before I pray again, let me say something from chapter one encouraging and guiding to the way I want to pray for you and me. Ephesians 1, 3 to 14, what we just read, is the most concentrated, exalted, weighty description of God's purpose in the universe, in the Bible, from eternity to eternity. It's the kind of writing that stretches the mind to the breaking point. It takes us back before creation, the creation of everything, into the mind of God. Absolute reality. And it beckons us, wonder of wonders, it beckons us to understand the unfathomable good pleasure and will and purpose and counsel and plan of God. This is the sort of thing that if I were to do it and not Paul, you would count it totally presumptuous. …
I'd just like to read it briefly and open it for you for a moment or two. And Paul says, and you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of the 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. This is God's word. But earlier this week, I guess a couple of you might have been there. Earlier this week, I had a chance to address a group of businessmen. And we talked a bit about the fact that modern men and women feel trapped by time. Recently, there was a survey done of what people's attitude was toward time and their schedule and time management. and when people were asked to choose among a list of nouns that describe time, a very large, significant minority chose the noun, my enemy. One woman CEO said, every book she ever read on time management, and she's read a lot of them and they all cost $19.95, said, revolutionary new approach to time. …
… And I'm just going to read and make remarks tonight on these two verses. Ephesians 1, verses 13 and 14. 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. Now, we've been looking at this chapter. We're looking at Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3 to 14. And we've said that it's all about, the whole chapter is the gospel of your salvation. That's a term that's found in verse 13, see? It says, when you were included in Christ, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, when you heard that and you believed it, you were marked with a seal and you, the promised Holy Spirit. So the point is, the gospel of salvation, the word gospel means good news. This chapter is a kind of inventory of all of the great things that when you become a Christian, you have. It's a little bit like buying a house and going through it to see what you bought, buying a car and driving it to see what you really have there. You bought something, what's really under the hood? …
… In order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory, you 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. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, …
For teaching time, we're going to look again at Ephesians chapter 1. I'd like to call your attention to the entire section that we've been looking at, Ephesians 1, verses 3 through 14. But tonight we're going to look again, in particular, at verses 9 to 12. It's all one thought, and yet there's divisions in the thought. And I'm going to read from verse 3 to 14, but tonight we're in particular going to look at verse 9 to 12. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. In him we have forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. …
at least when I was here we were, I'd like to take a look again at this huge sentence that we started looking at in the late spring and early summer. It's Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3 to 14, and I'm going to show you tonight that there is a second major division in it, and I'd like to give you an overview of it. We've been looking for weeks at the beauty of the first part of that sentence and what it means that we were chosen to be adopted as his children, to be his sons. And we spent a number of weeks on what it means to be adopted. And I want you to know that I don't know if it helped you, but I wrote most of those sermons sitting in a convent on the shores of the Hudson River back in late May, and it changed my life. Just to think about the first part of the sentence. But starting at verse 9, we have a second part, and I'd like to introduce you to that tonight. Let me read you the whole sentence again. Chapter 1, verse 3 through 14. In the Greek, it was all one sentence, even though the English translators have had to break it up just to make it comprehensible. Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ, for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be …
… We said last week that Ephesians 1, which we're beginning to look at, is Ephesians 1, verse 3 to 14. In the Greek original was one long sentence. boy now what am I doing wrong uh it was one long sentence and uh therefore it's a it's a massive build-up it's a statement in which Paul is trying to give us the entire scheme of how God saves us and I'd like to read just verses uh three to fourteen but we're only going to look at verse three four and five here tonight for a minute Paul says praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we also were …
… might be for the praise of his glory. 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 was a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory. This is God's word. Now, remember, when we began chapter 1, we said that Ephesians chapters 1, 2, and 3 is about salvation. We said last week that in New York City, you talk about being saved, or if you ask somebody else if they're saved, the average New Yorker gets very creeped out by that kind of language because it's considered a narrow and a shallow person who talks about being saved. And yet the Bible tells us that rather than being a narrow and shallow concept, it's the deepest and richest and broadest and most multifarious concept a mind can conceive of. And in a sense, Paul, in chapter 1 and 2, is taking the concept of salvation, which we've heard the name, the word so often, and he's running it like white light through a prism and breaking it down into its constituent rainbow. …
… it's broken into several sentences. Ephesians 1, verse 3 to 14 is one long sentence in Greek. And I'll give you some reasons why I think that happened. It's not good grammar. It's not, even in Greek, to have a sentence that long is not good grammar. It's not good form or style. But Paul was caught up. Let's take a look at this. Ephesians 1, verses 1 to 14. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, weigh every word. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Christ Jesus in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the one he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have …
… with the Holy Spirit of promise. First, in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13, 14, He sealed you as a child of God. So, every single believer is sanctified positionally. That's our position. What's your position? Sanctified. But there's another aspect of sanctification, and that's, listen, the progressive work of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit sets you aside as a child of God. And then what happens? That begins His progressive work in your life. You say, well, what's His progressive work? Well, Romans 8, verse 29, He predestined you and me to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, which means what? that the Holy Spirit is working in your life and my life in order to do what? To bring us into such a relationship of intimacy with Him that our character begins to reflect the character of Jesus. Our behavior begins to reflect the behavior of Jesus, our conduct, our conversation. He says, listen, He predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. So, what does He do? …
… So he says in verse 13, In whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. That makes us a child of God. Now watch this. which is or who is the earnest or guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. Who is the purchased possession? We are the purchased possession. He says until the redemption of the purchased possession. He says on another occasion, our redemption draweth nigh. How is it that you and I can be saved now having been redeemed as a past act? How is it that we can have been redeemed already and then him talking about the fact until the purchase of possession, our redemption. Here's what he means. That God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, the moment we accepted him as our Savior, saved us, our spirit and our soul. And we are heaven bound, he says, our citizenship is now in heaven from whence we look for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. …