The Ministry of the Spirit

Transcript

GR 2312
04/18/2021
The Ministry of the Spirit
Ephesians 1:13-14
Gil Rugh

We’re in the book of Ephesians in your Bibles, Ephesians chapter 1. A great book that focuses on the doctrine of the church, on what the church is and what the church is to be. It’s very important at any period of time, and especially in times of trouble and unsettledness, it’s important that the church be stable and not shaken by what goes on, and not be distracted from the ministry that God has given to it, because the church’s ministry in the world is unique. The church is the pillar and support of the truth. We’re to talk about the truth. If you want to find the truth, you find it in the word of God. The church is established as a truth center, from which the word of truth is to be given out. These are certainly days when the world needs to hear the truth, the truth of the salvation that is provided in Christ, even as we’ve heard in song.

We’re coming to the end of that long sentence that begins this letter after two verses of introduction. Verses 3 down through verse 14 are one long sentence in the Greek. In our English translation we’ve broken it up into several sentences, so don’t get confused if you look at your Bible and say, well, I have more than one sentence. But as Paul wrote it, it was one long sentence, and under the direction of the Spirit, he really pulls together in a concise way the things he will be unfolding in the rest of the letter. Some of these concepts and truths that he is presenting will be covered again and again. That one long sentence breaks down into three clear areas focusing on the triune God who is the Author and Accomplisher, and if I could add, the Applier of our salvation. Verses 3 through 6 focused on God the Father. He’s the one who is given blessing and honor because He chose us before the foundation of the world to come to salvation in Christ, to belong to Him. “He predestined us,” verse 5, we would be placed as His sons because we are in Christ Jesus. Then in verses 7 through 12 he talks about Christ Jesus. We refer to Him as the second Person of the triune God, who came to this earth, was born into the human race, and by His death on the cross paid the penalty for sin so that God could offer as a free gift the salvation provided in Christ—the forgiveness of our sins and new life in Him.

Then in verses 13 and 14, where we’re going to focus our attention today, Paul puts attention on the ministry of the third Person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit. One God, eternally existing in three Persons, equal yet separate. And there is order in the three Persons of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even though they are equal and each God. All the qualities of deity belong to each, and yet we see the Father sending the Son, the Son sending the Spirit, the Father sending the Spirit… The order there in no way detracts from each one, but as we see in this condensed expression of our salvation, all three Persons work in complete harmony to bring about our salvation and make it a reality in each of our lives.

The Son came to this earth. We focus mostly on Him, and the Scripture does, particularly in the New Testament, as the one who accomplished our redemption. The Old Testament focused on it, but in picture and type. All the sacrifices were reminders of the need for the sacrifice. All those animal sacrifices, and the variety in it anticipated the one sacrifice that could do what all the other sacrifices could not because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. It took the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, to become a man so that by His sacrifice He could pay the penalty for sin. So that was developed for us, and the redemption He provided. Verse 7, “In Him we have redemption… the forgiveness of our trespasses.” I want you to note, I just mentioned it as we’ve gone along, but the repeated emphasis, it’s about a dozen times: that this all takes place in Christ. What God the Father is doing, what God the Son is doing, and what Christ has accomplished. It all is connected to you having a relationship with Christ through faith. Just pick up these expressions, verse 3, where He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Verse 4, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” Verse 5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” Down in verse 6, the grace that “He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved,” referring to Christ. Verse 7 begins, “In Him,” or in whom, “we have redemption through His blood.” Down in the end of verse 9, “According to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” And verse 10, this is “with a view to… the summing up of all things in Christ.” And the end of verse 10, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance… to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ.” And then as we move to the Holy Spirit, verse 13 begins, in whom, or “In Him,” and the end of the verse, “you were sealed in Him.”

It’s in Christ, in Him, in whom, in the Beloved. Outside of Christ, you have nothing, and you are destined to the fires of an eternal hell. But in Christ you have everything that God has chosen to bless you with, every spiritual blessing. The contrast is so great and so overwhelming, and the difference is whether you are in Christ or not—whether you have heard, understood, and believed the truth that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sin, a penalty that you could not pay. It would require an eternity in hell, but Christ paid it, and simply by believing in Him, you can have new life.

We’ve talked about the Father, God the Father. We’ve talked about God the Son. And God the Spirit has a key role in our salvation. He’s the one who applies it to us individually when we believe. He’s the one who seals us and gives us security and assurance that we will someday inherit all the blessings that God has promised to those who love Him. He is referred to, the end of verse 13, as the Holy Spirit of promise. He’s the one who was promised. He was promised in the Old Testament. This is like Ezekiel 36, with the promise of a new covenant, established in the death of Christ, which will provide the Holy Spirit for those who enter into that covenant through faith. It was promised.

I want to look at just a few chapters in the gospel of John where the Spirit is promised. Come back to John chapter 14. We’ll read several sections in these chapters, beginning in chapter 14, and they’ll form a background and foundation. We won’t come back to them even though the material here will be reiterated by the Apostle Paul. We’ll start in John 14, this is the last night Jesus has with His disciples, they’ve had dinner together and Judas has left to go out and betray Christ. Now He is addressing His disciples to prepare them for His death, He’s going to tell them it’s better that He leave them and go to heaven and the Holy Spirit come. I just want to prepare you for the reality. We have greater blessings than the Old Testament saints had, and the disciples who were walking the earth with Christ during His earthly ministry because we have the Holy Spirit. We sometimes think, boy, wouldn’t it have been wonderful to have walked with Christ during His earthly life? And it would have been, but it wouldn’t be as good as we have it with the Holy Spirit today. We’ll see that in a moment in what Jesus said on this last night.

He started out by telling them, “Do not let your heart be troubled,” verse 1, “believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” And that reminder in verse 6, “’I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.’” Things that Jesus has prepared for those who love Him, He’s going to talk to them about some of these things, and that’s some of our inheritance that we look forward to, as we’ll touch upon as we move along. Verse 16 of John 14, “’I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,’” another one like Me. That word ‘helper’ is a compound word; the preposition ‘alongside of’ and the preposition ‘to call,’ someone who comes alongside of, who comes to comfort you, to give you aid, strength, and enablement. To “give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” In one sense, Jesus Christ will be leaving within 24 hours to be arrested, to be tried, and crucified, then He’ll ascend to heaven, but He’ll send the Holy Spirit.

Now in this language you want to pick up what is being conveyed. The Holy Spirit has always been present, He is God, one of the attributes of God is omnipresence, He is always present everywhere. What Jesus is talking about… because we go back to Genesis 1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” and we’re told the Spirit of God hovered over creation at that time. He’s present there, obviously, but He’s sending the Spirit in that the Spirit of God will come in a special way as a result of Christ paying in full the penalty for our sin. We enter into a new phase, a new dimension, of God’s work in His salvation that’s going to be of special blessing. He’s the Spirit of truth. We’re going to have this emphasis on truth as we get back to Ephesians 1. What we’re seeing here, we’ll be seeing there. Truth is what characterizes God, and truth characterizes the Spirit, and He’s the one who will bring them additional truth. He’s the one who revealed truth in the Old Testament. The prophets of old spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, Peter wrote in his second letter. Now the Spirit is going to come and He’ll be bringing them new truth, additional truth, clarifying truth, He’ll be bringing more of God’s word.

This concept of truth is absolutely essential, and the church needs to understand that. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he wrote that the church is the pillar and support of the truth, and when the church loses its interest in the truth, the importance of truth, the seriousness of truth, where is truth in the world? The church can become part of the world and the world’s system, it’s just another religious system with the name ‘church.’ But it’s the truth that makes the church what it is because it’s the truth, as we’ll see, that tells us about the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s the church with the truth of the word of God, not the church apart from the Word. This church has no authority apart from God’s word. Church systems whether they’re Protestant or Roman Catholic that set up the church in its systems are not biblical truth. Biblical truth is God’s word, and anything that is not consistent with God’s word, coming out of God’s word, does not meet the test. He’s the Spirit of truth.

“He abides with you and will be in you,” the end of verse 17 says. That becomes a new and unique work of the Holy Spirit to permanently live within those who place their faith in Christ that began in Acts 2 and continues down until today. Every person who places their faith in Jesus Christ has the Spirit of God take up residence in them individually and personally. That provides a uniqueness in relationship with God. Not as the world talks about with its mystical concepts of God being everywhere and in everything and in everyone -- it talks about the god in you. That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about that unique work that is only found through faith in Christ in what He accomplished. The Holy Spirit “will be in you.”

Come down to verse 26 of John 14, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name.” You’ll note the Father sends the Spirit. You see the distinction in roles and responsibilities within the Godhead. We’ve lost the appreciation of that, it affects all of society; we’ve got some kind of equality that means the sameness of everyone. When God created us at the beginning, He created us differently, as Jesus said, He made male and female. It amazes me, some people that claim that they’re religious and Christian but they deny the distinction between male and female. I’m Roman Catholic, I’m a Protestant, but they deny a distinction. It’s a reflection of God as He created us and to be distinct. Equality does not mean sameness, but that’s a sermon for another day.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,” verse 26, “’He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.’” How do we know this New Testament we have is accurate? How do we know the memory of these men who were so taken up in the emotions of the crucifixion of Christ… Because the Spirit of God worked to bring this truth to their minds so they could record it accurately. He’s the Spirit of truth.

That’s why we keep coming back to the Bible, we come to study the truth. Everything opposed to this is a lie. We’ll see that puts us in serious conflict, which is becoming more open today. Just to note, Jesus started out (verse 1), as we have it in this chapter of John 14, “’Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.’” That focused our attention on the future, because trials await these men, and many of them will have to give their lives as martyrs. But in the turmoil of the world, He says, verse 27, “’Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.’” Is that true of you, saint? A world in turmoil has all things to worry about and be afraid of, from the virus to unjust judicial decisions, to changing… We’re fine, my heart is at peace. Yeah, but you know what happened to me and my job and this? Yes, but you know what? My God takes care of me, He takes care of you, we have peace. One of the things the Spirit does now that He resides within us is what? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace… tranquility of heart and mind. Not like the world does, when everything’s going right then I feel good and I have peace. No, we have peace no matter what’s going on out here because He’s producing it in here. That’s what the Spirit does.

Come over to John 15, (we’re just selecting sections) verse 16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” That would tie to our doctrine of election that we started out with, the work of the Father. There in the selecting of the disciples it was the initiative of Christ. “’And (I) appointed you that you would go and bear fruit.’” Remember these same concepts are everywhere and whatever way you’re talking about it God’s sovereign in it. In Ephesians 1 He chose us and then He predestined us, here I chose you and appointed you. Go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give it to you.” That’s a promise given to us as believers, remember. In Hebrews we’re told to come with confidence to the throne of grace to receive whatever you need.

Then we are to “love one another” (verse 17). Now here’s the downside, if I can put it that way, in other words, the negative side: all the blessings that God’s promised and all that He’ll give to us and His care for us… but I want you to know, Jesus says, because you belong to Me, the world hates you and in their hate they will do everything they can to be rid of you. Verse 18, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world,’” now note this, this is an important verse. “’If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.’” Do you have that statement underlined? You should, or highlight it, however you mark your Bible. “’Because of this the world hates you.’” The church begins to drift from its foundation because it thinks, well, if we would do more nice things, if we would have social programs to meet the needs of the world physically and materially, then they would like us better. If we would demonstrate that we are very scholarly and intelligent and can deal with them on their level as scholars then the world will respect us and treat us properly. Fill in ____. You know, that is a denial of truth. The problem is not these externals. The problem is the sovereign God has chosen you out of the world, and the world only loves its own, you no longer fit that category. We’re going to get into this as Paul elaborates in Ephesians when we get to chapter 6, “Our battle (struggle) is not against flesh and blood,” the physical things, the material things, it is against principalities and powers, “the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This is on a level we diminish the truth and we think these are the kind of things, then people… We are to be good people and good citizens, we’ve been through all that, that won’t change the world’s attitude toward you. Jesus said the world hates you because “I chose you out of the world.” That doesn’t mean Christians don’t do things that aggravate people, things that would not have needed to be done. We do dumb things and say, well, that’s because I’m a Christian. No, that’s because you did something foolish that is out of character for a Christian who is to be thoughtful and kind and so on. But don’t expect that the world’s attitude changes because we’ll do certain things --he world hates you -- He doesn’t say it may hate you. This is a fact based upon what God sovereignly in grace did for us before the foundation of the world, He chose us. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.’” Christ did not fail in any way during His earthly life to be everything God intended Him to be, He was a perfect man. And how did He end up? Hated by His own people the Jews, hated by the Gentiles, and crucified, then the attitude was we’re glad to be rid of Him. Christ is saying don’t expect better than Me. Verse 23, “He who hates Me hates My Father also.”

Verse 26, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,” important that we note this. He’s going to have the Spirit come in new and special ministries. He doesn’t have to send the Spirit in the sense that He wasn’t present. Christ was conceived in the womb of His mother Mary by an action of the Holy Spirit but when He says I will send Him this is a special mission and work He will be doing. Note, I will send you the Helper, and who is He? “The Spirit of truth who proceeds (comes) from the Father… He will testify about Me and you will testify” because it will be the Spirit in and through you. You become the mouthpiece as you pass on the word of God. He will talk about Christ. That’s why we will talk about the truth of the gospel because the Holy Spirit revealed in a fullness not before known of the work of Christ that we now have in our New Testament; details, and how it was accomplished, the significance of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and that new work that was not revealed in the Old Testament of the establishment of the Church comprised of Jews and Gentiles, and the work of the Spirit in preparation of the second coming of Christ.

You come down into chapter 16, verse 7, I alluded to this earlier, “But I tell you the truth.” It’s truth! Truth! We will see this word repeated a number of times in the book of Ephesians. It is about truth. “I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go away, I’ll send Him to you.” That’s why I say it’s better than when Christ walked this earth and He was there with His disciples. Now the Spirit of God dwells within every believer and the work of redemption is accomplished and the blessings that are brought. When He comes He will convict the world, verse 13, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth… He will disclose to you what is to come.” These disciples and others, like Paul, will reveal truth. Truth, this is what we ought to be about. What do people go to church for? Go through forms… I’m reading a man who is drifting from sound biblical truth, evangelical, into: we need more form, we need to go back to the majesty of services and the rituals and the hierarchies and... What’s wrong with truth? You know what he said? I found that the truth is not enough for me. Then I think you need to go back to the beginning, do you know the one who is Truth? “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” Jesus said (John 14:6).

Verse 13, “He will guide you into all the truth,” that’s our assurance. We have to go to chapter 17 and then we’ll have to get back to Ephesians (we are really studying Ephesians). You just found it in John chapter 17, look at verse 14. “I have given them Your word,” this is His prayer to His Father, “I have given them Your word,” note this, “and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” When we begin to lose our distinctiveness… One of the criticisms of fundamentalism was they are too separatists; we ought to be in the world and part of the world, and that’s where the Church has gone under the banner of ‘new evangelicalism.’ Jesus said I chose you out of the world; I’m not of the world. What in the world is the Church (which is supposed to be the body of Christ if it is genuine) doing trying to get back into the world? He says I chose you out of the world. In the Church now so much is talking about getting back into the world. We bring the gospel to the world but we’re not jumping back into the swamp, we’re not jumping back into that quicksand pit. We are not of the world; if you are a genuine believer you don’t fit; our citizenship is in heaven. Now we want to be good citizens here and all of that, but we are here to be light in the darkness, not to try to get to a darker shade of grey so we can be more like them. I don’t expect them to understand, they can’t appreciate. Their father is the devil, that’s their spiritual father, and he’s the father of lies. He’s a liar and the father of lies, do you think he appreciates truth? He’ll use truth, corrupt it, and misuse it, but truth is his greatest enemy. Verse 17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” Down the end of verse 19, His intention is that we all “be sanctified in truth.”

Come back to Ephesians 1. That wasn’t a diversion because that basically now gives us what Paul is going to talk about here in Ephesians 1 verses 13 and 14. “In Him,” or “in Whom,” verse 13, referring back to verse 12, “that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory” and then that “in Christ” is picked up in verse 13. In Greek since it’s a continuous sentence, we’ve made it “in Him” to start a new sentence but as you have it in the margin, “in Whom.” So all this is connection to being in Christ, he’s telling us what happens. “In Him, you also,” no matter what stage, and we are much later than these. Paul came to Christ before the Ephesians, then he brought the gospel to the Ephesians and they believed and were “in Christ” now as he writes. Two thousand years later here we are; the gospel was brought to us and individually in a variety of times and variety of places the truth of the gospel was brought to us and we believed it. That’s what he’s talking about. “In Him, you also,” and here’s what has to happen, “after listening to the message of truth…” Not after going to church where you may or may not hear the truth there, but you should if the church is the pillar and support of the truth. It ought be expected when you go to church you hear the truth. “After listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation” -- that’s what truth is. Remember Romans 1: 16 and 17, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” That’s what he is talking about here. “After listening to the message of truth, the gospel of salvation -- having also believed.” Because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who hears it. No! To everyone who hears it and believes it. You could sit here for fifty years and hear the truth and die and go to an eternal hell. You could say I was born and raised in this church and I’ll probably be buried in this church, but that wouldn’t get you into heaven. I’ve listened to so many sermons I could repeat them myself in my sleep, that won’t get you to heaven. You have to believe the truth, that’s what he’s talking about.

“After listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed,” now here comes that work of the Spirit, “you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” This ministry of the Spirit to seal us. A seal as we have it today -- you go buy a cold remedy and it will have a seal on top, you read it, and it says do not take this if the seal is broken. It is security that this is safe, it is good. It emphasizes the security, it has authority. When Pharaoh wanted to give his authority to Joseph over Egypt he gave him his signet, it was the seal. When he stamped that down that seal was the mark of Pharaoh’s authority that stood behind that. Authority, security, it’s a guarantee. They used to say, some of you are old enough to remember, remember the ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.’ You’d see that in a magazine, this has the ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval,’ it’s something guaranteed, it’s good, it works, you’ll like it. Here, the Holy Spirit sealed us in Christ. He’s the Holy Spirit of promise, that’s why we went back to John, one of the reasons Christ promised that Spirit. He’s now here, He came in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. As I mentioned, He had been promised in the Old Testament but the clarity of that promise… Jesus said, I’ll send Him when I get to heaven. Following His ascension in Acts 1 the Holy Spirit comes in Acts 2.

He’s the Holy Spirit of promise. “You were sealed in Him.” Three basic references if you want to study the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Spirit. We talked about that in the passages we read in John, He is with you, He will be in you, that’s the indwelling of the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit was the work of the Spirit identifying you with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection when you placed your faith in Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13, by one Spirit we have all, all believers, have been baptized into one body. The body of Christ is the Church so those are the ones who are truly part of the Church, those who have truly believed in Christ, been spiritually identified with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. That’s why God can forgive us our sins, our trespasses, as he mentioned in verse 7 of Ephesians 1. It’s not complicated, it’s just not easy because we are proud, we are selfish, and it’s humbling. People have to recognize I’m a sinner, there’s nothing I can do, He’s done it, and believe in Him. And then the Spirit not only indwells us, baptizes us, indwells us -- His presence is the seal, the guarantee that God is going to complete what He has begun.

Come over to Ephesians chapter 4, (two of the three references are in Ephesians) in chapter 4 verse 30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,” note this, “by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” So note that, that seal is my security guaranteeing that I will reach the ultimate portion of my redemption. Redemption has already happened, I have it promised, I’ve been forgiven my sins, I have the Spirit indwelling me, much that goes on now. But you know what? It’s not over! The best is yet to come because when my body is glorified and I enter into all that God has promised then that will be the final part of my redemption.

While you are this close, this doesn’t mention the word ‘sealing’ but turn over a few pages to Philippians chapter 1, this is the same concept we are talking about. It doesn’t mention sealing, but sealing would fit this. Verse 6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will be perfect it,” bring it to its full completion, “until the day of Christ Jesus.” He’s preparing us, maturing us, developing us, it’s guaranteed. How could Paul be so sure? The seal of the Spirit. I’m confident that you will make it you Philippians. Why? You have placed your faith in Christ, you have the Spirit, the evidence of the Spirit in the life.

The other reference along with the two Ephesian references is in 2 Corinthians, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 22. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 21 for the context, “Now He who establishes us with you,” here we go, “in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts.” You see how he is talking about these things? The Spirit is in us and then not only is the Spirit indwelling but that’s the seal of God on us that we belong to Him and He’s guaranteeing our future -- that’s the last statement in verse 22 which we are going to pick up in Ephesians -- “as a pledge,” an ‘arrabon.’ It is the Hebrew word transliterated into Greek, it means ‘a pledge, an earnest, something guaranteed.’ You make an offer on a piece of property or a house and you give what we call ‘earnest money.’ You are guaranteeing you are going to go through with the purchase, the final part of it, and that’s just the beginning of what you are going to give. Often in those contracts it will say that you forfeit that money if you don’t go through with it. That’s why you put it down, so the person knows you are going to complete it. Often they want a certain amount. You say I’ll give you a dollar on this million dollar purchase and they’ll say no. But if you say I’ll give you three hundred thousand dollars as a down payment they might say yes because they figure if you back out and they keep the three hundred they only have to sell it for… and you know how it goes. This is the guarantee, I have the Spirit, He’s the beginning and He will be with me to complete it. We’ll get to that at the end of Ephesians 1 in a couple years the way I am going. It’s the same Spirit, He’ll be in me and He’s going to bring that to completion. It will be His power that transforms this body into a glorified body. We are told it is the same Spirit that brought about the resurrection of Christ from the dead. So He’s sealed us, He gave us the Spirit in our hearts, and that’s the down payment.

Come back to Ephesians chapter 1. You’d appreciate me a lot more if you knew how many verses I am leaving out. God’s word is so rich, how do people find time to do other things at their church services?
Note verse 14, “the Holy Spirit of promise,” “the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.” That’s the word, He is the earnest money. Some people don’t like the word ‘down payment’ because sometimes they say that is refundable, I’m not getting into technicalities. The point is the same, the Spirit is here giving the guarantee, He will be with me to the culmination when He brings it to full realization. “My inheritance,” that’s what He promised me. I’m His child, He predestined us in verse 5 to adoption as sons. That summing up of all things in Christ in verse 10, when it all comes together I’m going to be there, I will be there and inherit all that God has promised those who love Him. That is security, I may stumble but I won’t fall, God has promised that I will get there.

Now be careful. People take a false security, well, I made a decision, I went forward at a meeting, I said a prayer. When God’s Spirit takes up residence in your life He changes your life from the inside out. It’s not perfect, that’s why we’re growing, but there is a change. How many conversations have I had with people who want to sit and say, oh no, I trusted Christ. What evidence has there been in your life? As I’ve known you and seen your life I don’t see any work of the Spirit. I’m not the final judge. Well, I just don’t walk the way I should. I know I don’t go to church and I’m not really that interested in the Bible, but I know I prayed that prayer. Well, the Bible doesn’t say when you pray a prayer you’ll get to heaven. There is a prayer that God will hear that comes from the heart, “God be merciful to me a sinner, hell deserving and unworthy. I want to place my faith in your Son.” He will change your heart. “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious,” 1 John (3:10) tells us. That’s truth! The pattern of a life is the revelation of the character. The children of God are obvious on this side and the children of the devil are obvious on the other side. So be careful, this is the security of the believer but don’t mistake it, it’s not security for everyone who calls themselves a Christian, everyone who attends church. The purity of one who has faith in Christ… the Spirit of God takes up residence in their life, then you are secure for eternity.

Because He “is given,” verse 14, “as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” When I enter into the fullness --remember the whole creation groans in anticipation, Romans 8 (verses 21, 22), for the unveiling of the sons of God -- when we will be revealed, glorified, as the sons of God.

Come over to Ephesians 5, look at verse 5, we are going to run through just a few passages here, “For this you know with certainty.” He had opened up the chapter, “therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love.” So that’s the change of life and the enablement of that is because I’ve been made new on the inside. He’s not telling unbelievers to clean up. Jesus rebuked the religious people of His day like the Pharisees who what? He says you are like a whitewashed tomb, you cleaned up the outside but the inside is still of dead men’s bones. So don’t think this is talking about getting the outside of your life cleaned up; it’s about submitting your life to Christ in faith so that He can cleanse the inside and thus the outside will be changed. We read verse 30 of chapter 4, that’s where we were sealed for the day of redemption. Verse 5 of Ephesians 5, “for this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” That future-coming kingdom, ultimately heaven but a true kingdom on earth… but God’s throne will ultimately dwell on earth as we see in Revelation 21 and 22, after the first thousand year phase. Those who are living lives of sinful behavior will not have an inheritance, those who have placed their faith in Christ and have their life transformed are guaranteed an inheritance.

Turn over… you are in Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, these three letters are three letters written about the same time during that two year imprisonment of Paul that we have at the end of the book of Acts, remember. We call them the prison epistles along with Philemon. Colossians chapter 3 verse 24, here he is telling us how this affects our lives in the way we live. You might be a slave: slaves, in all things obey your master (verse 22). We’ve got a lot of things rattling around about slavery today and all that. As believers, whatever your situation, there is a problem, that doesn’t change what I am to be and to do as a child of God. We are not fixing the world to fix these things. That’s where the world’s attention is because they have no concept of God’s truth. When they are exposed to it they reject it. “Slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of hear, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” When you do your job, live your life… you live today and it seems like a grind, I don’t know what the purpose is. That’s because the purpose today is I want to honor and please the Lord, “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.” A slave didn’t have any personal inheritance, everything they did was done for the master, and then even his children could be born into slavery and they belonged to the master. We think that’s the worst tragedy that ever happened on earth, we ought to do all this to fix it. It’s not! When you come to know Christ, the slaves, it’s fine, you accept it. Is God sovereign? Well, somebody brought the gospel to me before I was enslaved… because many of these slaves were captive. Remember Israel was allowed to put into slavery foreign nations that they captured. They just weren’t allowed to do that to their own people, and when there was a Jew put into slavery there were restrictions and guidelines. But they were to treat their slaves properly. Well, I couldn’t be a Christian if I’m in that environment. “Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.” You may get nothing down here. Well, I labored and toiled sixteen-hour days, what do I have to show for it? Well, on earth probably nothing, but if you were doing it for the Lord you have an inheritance. “It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

Then he tells masters, if you are a Christian master you should show Christian character in your dealings. This idea that we as Christians when we get caught up in the externals like the world does, that things aren’t going the way we would think they should and I get my eyes off the fact God is sovereign in my life… What has to concern me is to be pleasing to Him and I have the confidence that He’s working His purposes in me because He has promised. None of this is a hindrance to me being what God wants me to be. Now if I sin, I’m not to do that because I’m not to grieve the Spirit, that was in Ephesians 4. So much of the frustration, anxiety, we have has to do with things outside of us, what someone else is doing to us, what’s happening in our world around. That’s alright, God didn’t bring me into this. “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into (encounter) various trials,” James 1 says, “… the testing of your faith produces endurance.” God, I don’t understand all that’s involved in this, I don’t know why this is happening this way, but I trust you, and I want to learn to trust you more. This is where faith takes place when I can’t see why it has to be this way.

So that’s part of the promise when we talk about our inheritance. Even a slave can look forward to his inheritance. Jesus said what? Don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust and thieves and everything can ruin it. The country can collapse and maybe your money won’t be worth anything. In one of the South American countries people would bring in a wheelbarrow filled with their money to try and buy a loaf of bread because the money is really not worth anything, it takes so much of it to do so little. What if that happens to us? You say I’ll lose everything. If you are a believer you really haven’t lost anything. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy what we have but am I going to live in fear the country’s going to collapse? No, I’m looking forward, if you have treasure in heaven you have everything, if you don’t you really have nothing. So that’s what he’s talking about, our inheritance.

One more passage, 1 Peter chapter 1, this is a passage we worked through before, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance, which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” You think God is having Peter emphasize things? Did you get this? Where your treasure is and how secure it is, it’s an inheritance, imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away, reserved in heaven. Reminder, Peter will later write, don’t store up treasures here on earth, everything here is going to be destroyed, all these things will be destroyed with fire, we are going to have a new heavens and new earth. Oh, I had so much in the previous one and now what do I have? That’s what matters, the inheritance, that inheritance. Verse 5 says those “who are protected by the power of God through faith.” It’s our faith in Him that has brought us our protection. It’s when we get our eyes off and then my faith is not settled in God and… Oh yeah, I believe in the sovereignty of God, I know, I know, I’ve studied that, too. But wait a minute! It’s a real thing. People say well, I want to talk about practical things. It doesn’t get any more practical than this. When the world around you begins to disintegrate will you be disintegrating? When the world around you is scared to death will you be cowering in fear?

We “are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.” These are for the proof, the testing, the refining of your faith. He doesn’t make light, these are not light trials. Peter was facing… he was going to end up being crucified himself, upside down. No, we are not making light. Oh, you don’t know what I’m going through. I think Peter and those of his day had an idea, many of these apostles experienced martyrdom, the last one we see surviving is John and he’s in exile on the island Patmos. We saw what Paul’s life was like. This was for “a little while,” for this now time; we are distressed by various trials but keep in mind they are all temporary and they don’t diminish, they add to my inheritance, so in that sense they are good. As Ephesians 1: 14 ends, it is all “to the praise of His glory.”

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. Lord, you are a gracious God, You have lavished Your grace upon us, it is abundantly supplied to us. You have blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, not a few. You are a gracious God, a giving God. Lord, we are blessed to be Your people, we are blessed to have an inheritance that is durable in heaven. The things of this earth are passing, transitory, but the treasure You have prepared for us will go on through eternity. Lord, we want to live for You faithfully, we want to be diligent, we want to be enduring, we want to be faithful. Thank you for blessing us as Your people. Lord, for any who are hearing this message who have not placed their faith in Christ we would ask the Spirit of God might impress upon their mind and heart the reality of truth, the truth of the gospel which can save their souls. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.