The
Seal of the Holy Spirit (Vs 13-14)
For the past few Sundays we
have been on a journey to discover or rather rediscover the incredible
blessings God has lavishly bestowed upon His Children. So far we have looked at
six incredible blessings and they are 1. The divine election. 2. The divine
adoption 3. The divine redemption. 4. His abundant grace. 5. The mystery of His
will. 6. The divine inheritance. Today we will be looking at the seventh
blessing, “The seal of the Holy Spirit.”
Let’s read Ephesians 1:13-14 (Read) “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”
I. THE SEAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
Paul
while writing to Ephesians stresses that the believers were marked by God with
his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the “seal,” on the hearts of
Christians. What does this mean? The sealing here refers to an official mark of
identification placed on a letter, contract, or other document. The document
was thereby officially under the authority of the person whose stamp was on the
seal. In this case it is God. The Holy Spirit is God’s seal on His people, His
claim on us as His very own.
The
imagery of sealing reflects the Oriental custom of marking upon the skin of a
devotee the symbol of his god as a token of entire consecration. In Jewish
culture circumcision was seen as the seal of consecration to the one living and
true God. From this Jewish usage the term passed over into Christianity, where
it was applied to baptism. For the writer here the seal is not indeed a visible
mark, but the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit. When does this
sealing take place? When a person becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit takes up
residence in his life.
From that moment a believer’s life is
different because the Spirit of God is now in him. What does the Holy Spirit do
in the life of a believer? He is there to teach us, guide us, counsel us, and
empower us for ministry. The Holy Spirit is our helper and advocate. He
protects and encourages us. And also according to Romans 8:16, “the Spirit
himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” The Holy Spirit is given to believers as a “first installment”
to assure us that our inheritance as children of God will one day be fully delivered.
What is the significance of the seal of the Holy Spirit in the life of a
believer?
II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEAL
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
The seal
of God’s spirit signifies four primary things namely: Security, Authenticity, Ownership
and Authority. 1. Security. Daniel 6:16-17. We are familiar with the
story of Daniel in the Lions den. For the sake of worshipping the living God
and refusing to pray to a human king, Daniel was thrown in the lions den.
Listen to what the king said to Daniel, “May your God whom you serve
continually, rescue you.” A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the
den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his
nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.”
That was
the power of the seal of a human king. All of Daniel’s enemies might have
thought that nothing can save Daniel and he will surely die. But they were
wrong.
They
failed to recognize that Daniel was under some one else’s care and protection.
He had the seal of the Holy Spirit; therefore God sent his angel and shut the
mouths of the lions. What can we learn from this story? No matter who your
enemies are, no matter what wicked plans the roaring lion, the devil has
against you, like Daniel you can be secured. God could send an angel to fight
on your behalf. God knows how to silence your critics because you have the seal
of the Holy Spirit.
Living in
a highly digitally connected world these days one can have access to several
monitoring and security systems for protection. As I walk around in our
neighborhood I see several houses having the sign ADT in their front yard. ADT
is a 24 hour monitoring alarm system. The company boast about themselves saying,
“We are always there” really?
Similarly
the Holy Spirit is our spiritual ADT and He is 100% reliable. He protects us
24/7, seven days a week and 52 weeks a year. Not only does he protect us physically
but also safeguards our hearts from evil spirits. He keeps the real thief,
Satan who comes to rob our joy, health and destroy our lives at a distance. Though
the seal of the Holy Spirit is invisible to the human eye butt is fully visible
to the enemy and his evil forces. And they dare not touch us. Those who have
the seal of the Holy Spirit are not only fully secured but they are also
authentic.
2. AUTHENTICITY:
In a world where there are so many
counterfeit products and life styles it is hard to find authenticity. In order
to detect the counterfeit and maintain authenticity the corporate and business
world relies on holograms. A hologram is a special kind of picture that has
been produced by laser and that looks three dimensional. Industries use the holographic
products to enhance the image of their brands in the market as genuine and
authenticated brands. They are used for product packaging, security
applications (they are almost impossible to counterfeit).
Similarly the seal of the Holy
Spirit is like a hologram in a believer’s life. The devil knows who is a
counterfeit believer and who is an authentic believer in Christ. In Acts 19 we
read about, some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits trying to invoke
the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon possessed. They would say,
“In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven
sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
One day the evil spirit answered
them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you? Then the man who
had the evil spirit jumped on them and over powered them all. He gave them such
a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” This is a clear
example of what happens to those who think they have God’s Spirit in them when
in reality they may not even been born again. We can not have what has not been
given to us. We can not copy someone else’s ministry; and if we try to do we
may be embarrassed like the sons of Sceve.
Unfortunately there are many false
prophets moving around in the body of Christ. They often over emphasize one
aspect of the Christian life. They
hammer you over the head with this one particular thing. It may be healing, deliverance, discipleship,
the second coming of Christ, accountability etc. No doubt these things are part
of the whole counsel of God and are not meant to use to cause divisions,
dissensions in the Body of Christ.
What does the scripture say about
false prophets? “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test
the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have
gone out into the world.” ( I John 4:1-2)
We are to use discernment and test
the spirits. As a tree is known by its fruit, in the same manner we recognize
who is a false prophet by look for fruit in their lives. What is the fruit of
the Holy Spirit? Gal 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” We
want to be authentic, original in all that we do. The seal of the Holy Spirit not
only signifies security, authenticity but also ownership.
3. OWNERSHIP:
Those who are in sports understand
what ownership is all about. When they sign a contract to play for a certain
team they know that they are no longer free agents. They know who their owner
is and which team they belong to. They have to play by the rules of that team.
For example two of my favorite
Celtics basket ball players Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnet have been traded to
Brooklyn Nets. Now they are no longer Celtics but Nets. The moment they put on
“Nets Jersey” they have to remember that they have a new owner and they can not
play by the old Celtic rules any more. If they want to succeed in their career
they have to quickly learn, adapt and play according to the rules of the Nets.
That is how it works with us too.
In our former life we had a terrible mean spirited owner, the devil himself. We
played by his rules and danced to his tunes. But the moment we accepted
Christ’s offer of forgiveness God becomes our new owner. We are marked by His
Holy Spirit and now we belong to Him. A few scriptures to explain this fact: Romans 8:9, “You however, are controlled not
by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” I
Cor 6:19, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who
is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own; you were
bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
These two scriptures send us a
reminder as well as a warning. A reminder that we are not our own, we now have
a new owner and a whole new way of life. A warning is that the Holy Spirit
dwells in our bodies therefore we are to honor God with our bodies which means,
to stay away from everything that dishonors God. The seal of the Holy Spirit
signifies security, authenticity, ownership finally also authority.
4. AUTHORITY
Why do we stop our car when we are
stopped by a police officer? We do so out of respect for authority. Right?
Where did they get that authority? The
department invested in them and it is exhibited by the uniform with the seal of
the police department on it, without which they are like any other ordinary
citizens.
Similarly, when we become
Christians, God invests his authority in us and that is sealed by the Holy
Spirit. When we are sealed with the Holy
Spirit we are given authority to proclaim, teach, minister, defend God’s Word,
to drive out evil spirits and heal the sick. Christ Himself has said, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
Every
time when we set out to preach or minister we must remember we are not standing
on our own but on the authority of Christ. When we go out realizing that God
has indeed invested His authority in us and the Holy Spirit has sealed it for
us than we have nothing to be afraid of because Jesus is going to be with us
always even to the very end of the age.
In closing let me remind you of what incredible blessings
God has freely and richly given to all those who believed in his Son Jesus
Christ: In Christ: We have been chosen by God. We have been redeemed. We have
been adopted as sons into God’s family. We received God’s abundant grace. God
revealed the mystery of his will. We have a divine inheritance and finally our
salvation has been sealed by the Holy Spirit for eternity.
After
having received such incredible blessings I wonder how can anyone walk around
like a spiritual orphan saying to himself and to others that God has not been
fair to me? Next time when you think if there is anything you are to be
grateful to God for, remember these Seven Incredible Blessings. Some of you
sitting here may have never experienced these blessings; you to can receive
them today all you have to do is to call on the name of Jesus, repent of your
sins and invite Jesus to come into your heart and make you His child. Amen
