Bob Josey - 7 The Other Comforter Lesson #5- Mar 27, 2022

SLIDES

Thriving in Jesus

Chapter 7 The Other Comforter - Lesson 5

The Sealing and Pledge of the Holy Spirit

Introduction

How many of you have seen or participated in a real livestock branding? For many of us, the idea of a “branding” is somewhat removed from our daily lives but is still somewhat a familiar concept. Despite no personal experience, it may evoke visceral sensations of the scent of singed hair, the sight of dusty ranch hands handling calves, or the sound of a well-worn rope being coiled. It also is often accompanied by thoughts of community, tradition, and skill of cowboys. Perhaps the vague familiarity is from a cultural education of western films, television shows, and Western Novels from authors like from Louis L’amour.

The first known record of livestock branding dates to over 4,700 years ago, depicted in an ancient Egyptian tomb paintings. The Romans branded cattle, choosing symbols that acted not as identification markers, but as supernatural protection.

However, we are the most familiar concept of branding when cattle drives and the open range of the American West in the 19th century made branding a necessary to prove ownership. Today branding is still necessary to verify ownership of livestock and brands are even registered. A brand inspector assists the rancher in verifying ownership and provides a brand inspection certification.

Branding animals has not changed much in the last one hundred and fifty years. A brand or stamp is made out of metal and placed on a rod. It is called a branding iron. The branding iron is put into the fire until it is red-hot. Then the rancher will take the branding iron, press it on the skin of the livestock to burn the livestock’s skin in the shape of the ranches brand.

Did you know that every individual who trusts in Jesus as Savior is also given a brand to identify them as a believer in Jesus? This morning we are going to see exactly what that brand mark is and the significance of it.

The Sealing of the Holy Spirit

In Ephesians 1:3 Paul writes very profound statement concerning some the blessings that believers in Jesus are entitled to and receive because they trusted in Jesus and are in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…

The remainder of the chapter enumerates some of these profound blessings. We are now going to hang our hat on verse 13.

Ephesians 1:13 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise…

This verse is choked full truth that is relevant in our lives today. The verse begins with “In Him” which refers to a mystical union that we have with Jesus as a result of our trusting in Him as Savor. This is such a profound blessing in and of itself. Just think we have become one with the Creator of the Universe. He continues with the phrase “you also.“ How many of you are Gentiles? Paul here is referring to you. Now because of the death of Jesus, Gentiles are included in this new body of believers called the Body of Christ, the church, in which Jew and Gentle are equal. This is the first time this has happened. You who are Gentiles should be jumping for joy.

Now Paul outlines the process an unbeliever goes through to be part of this new body of believes. First, one hears the gospel message in which one is saved. After hearing the gospel message, one then believes the gospel message in which they are saved. One of the blessings of believing the gospel message is that a believer is sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. We have been branded by the Holy Spirit himself. Who is the “in Him” referring to in this part of the verse. It’s the same in Him as in the first Part of the verse. It is Jesus who died, who was buried, and who was resurrected to give eternal life to those who believe “in Him.” Believers at the moment of salvation are sealed in Jesus. The word “seal” indicates security, authentication and approval, certification of genuineness, and identification of ownership. God the Holy Spriit is the is the One who seals the new believer in Jesus. “The promised Holy Spirit” refers to Jesus’ promise to His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit when He departed from this earth to heaven. Before the cross, the disciple were in Jesus’ inner circle of disciples, but after the cross and the ascension when the Holy Spriit was sent, they and other believers are now in Jesus mystically. We are one Him and He is one with us.

Ephesians 4:30 - Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

During our last lesson we discussed what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit. One of reasons we should not grieve the Holy Spriit, among many, is that He is the One who sealed us in Jesus as we discussed a few minutes ago from Ephesians 1:13. What and when is the Day of Redemption? It will occur at the Rapture of the Church when we will receive our new and improved bodies like Jesus received at His' resurrection. Halleluiah!

2 Timothy 2:19 - Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His…

The foundation of God’s house is sure. Some may turn away from Christ; the faith of some may be overthrown and undermined by godless teaching and talk. “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure.” What is meant by the foundation of God? It means the household of God or the household of faith, the church of Jesus Christ. It means the great house of believers that God is building. The firm and secure body of Christ has a seal - the LORD knows who are His. There may be false professions and wheat and tares who claim to be believers, but the LORD knows who belong to Him. It brings to mind two verses in John 10.

John 10: 3 - To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

John 10:14 - I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me…

Questions and Comments

Application

There are many kind of signets that show ownership of material possessions owned by individuals.

· A branding iron makes a brand on an animal to show identification and ownership

· An embosser embosses a book page to show identification and ownership

· A stamp makes an imprint on a book page or the inside cover of a book to show identification and ownership

· Bookplates put on the inside cover of a book shows identification and ownership

· A nameplate placed on a piece of furniture shows identification and ownership

We have discussed today that Holy Spirit has a ministry called sealing in which He places us and seals us in Jesus. This sealing indicates ownership, identification, security, and authority. So what does this mean in our daily lives.

Jesus knows each believer by name. A believer is not a faceless person in the crowd. A believer knows the voice of Jesus when He calls to encourage, to discipline, or to lead. Does a parent not know the voices or their children? Does not Jesus know our voice? In the church age, Jesus is not the King of the Church. He is the shepherd and Pastor of each believer.

John 10:13 -14 - To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.

John 10:4 - When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Before we were saved, particularly as adults, we followed and obeyed Satan and his minions. Now that we have learned that Jesus laid down His life for us, we owe it to Him to follow Him and obey Him.

John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

1 Cor 6:20 - For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Lastly, since we are sealed in Jesus until the Day of Redemption, we are eternally secure in Jesus.

John 1:28 …and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

We are secure in Jesus because we are sealed in Jesus.

John 17:21 - …that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Our salvation is triply secure because we are in Jesus, Jesus is in us, and we both are in the Father.

The Holy Spirit as a Pledge

I think most people here are familiar with the term Earnest money when it relates to buying a house. It is a deposit made to a seller that represents a buyer's good faith to buy a home. The important thing is that the Earnest money is supposed to protect the seller if the buyer backs out of a sale. An earnest money contract protects both parties by setting terms and conditions of the earnest money refund. It also provides remedies for both parties in case of a breach of contract or dispute.

Like earnest money is important in the sale of a home, believers in Jesus have an earnest Who is important to us. This earnest is the Holy Spirit. Before we get to that, let us look a one instance in the Old Testament where a pledge or an earnest was given.

In Genesis 38 Judah’s son, Er, died because he was evil. Judah went to Timnah to for the shearing sheep. While he was there, he had sex with someone he thought was a harlot. It happened to be Tamar, the widow of his ‘son and his daughter-in-law. She was dressed as a harlot and had her face covered. After the event, Judah told her he would send her a goat as payment for the sec.

Genesis 38:17-18.

17He said, therefore, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She said, moreover, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?”

18He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

The pledge that he sent was valuable to him and was a guarantee he would send the goat so he could retrieve the pledge. Now let’s discuss the pledge or Ernest in the New Testament in Ephesians 1:13-14 .

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest (Initial installment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit is the initial installment of our inheritance like Earnest money is a first installment when buying a house. In the New Testament inheritance can refer to physical possessions or property one will receive or as in this verse it is the believer’s ultimate, final release from the presence of sin. This, as we shall see, is alco called redemption of the body this will occur at the Rapture of the church.

2 Corinthians 4:7 - But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

Even though believers live in vessels made of clay that are fragile, temporal, weak, and can easily be broken, God choose that His’ power and glory through the Holy Spirit would reside in these jars of clay. But any power that comes from these earthen vessels comes from God not man. Then Paul in chapter 5 compares the believer’s body to a tent.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 - 1For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,

3inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.

4For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

Here Paul changes the image from a jar of clay that represents the human body of a believer to that of a tent The earthly body is temporary and far from perfect. At death, believers leave behind their old physical bodies and at the Rapture of the Church are provided vastly superior heavenly bodies. The frailty of the human body is replaced by the permanence of an eternal dwelling place (5:1). It is only natural that people would groan because of their aging and deteriorating body and the desire for a more perfect body. In verse 5 we find Paul writing about the Holy Spriit being an earnest.

2 Corinthians 5:5 - Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

The present condition of our fading mortality, however worrisome and disheartening as it may be, is not without design. As Paul had just written in 2 Corinthians 4:7, ordinary mortals, like common jars of clay, are the means through which God displays His own all-surpassing power. The encouraging part of all of this is the realization that in the life of each believer God has begun the transforming process that will one day culminate in possessing a heavenly body like our Savior’s. The surety of that consummation is the Holy Spirit, whose presence guarantees the completion of God’s gracious salvation as seen in

As we saw in in Ephesians 4:30, the Holy Spirit has sealed us in Christ until the day of redemption which will occur at the Rapture of the Church.

The day of redemption is the day that the redemption of our body will occur.

The Holy Spirit is our pledge guaranteeing that our body will be redeemed at the Rapture of the Church. The Holy Spriit is our earnest from God guaranteeing His promise will be completed and fulfilled.

In 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 we see the Holy Spirit both sealing us in Christ and becoming our Pledge or Ernest for a new eternal spiritual body at the Rapture..

21Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us (with the Holy Spirit) is God,

22who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Application

All of us have bought things that had a guarantee attached to it. The promise is that if it broke, it would be replaced or repaired. But all of us have experienced that some of those guarantees were worthless. From today’s lesson we have received a double guarantee or promise from God that if sometime in our life we put our faith in Jesus for eternal life, than eternal life that will continue after death. The first promise is that the Holy Spirit sealed us in Jesus. Since Jesus is the eternal God who died to give us that eternal life and since we are sealed in Him and He is in us and that we are both in God the Father, than our eternal life is secure. The second promise is the Holy Spirit was given to us as our pledge, our earnest, our promise, and our guarantee that one day, which for us will be sooner rather than later, our earthly body will die, but we will receive an eternal spiritual body like Jesus’. This will occur on the Day of Redemption at the Rapture of the Church.

If there is someone who is listening to this lesson and is doubting the promise and guarantee of eternal life, it’s because you are not abiding in Jesus which means you are not filled with the Holy Spirit that we discussed during our last lesson. The cure for that is to confess and repent of your sins that’s causing you to doubt and yield to Jesus so the Holy Spirit can fill you.

Questions and Comments