for true believers. And I want us to consider the guarantee of our inheritance this morning, the guarantee of our inheritance there in verse 14. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance? So we'll be looking at the end, at the guarantee of our inheritance. But I want us this morning to focus on verses 13 and 14. 13 and 14. 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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory, the guarantee of our inheritance. Now when you look at the portion that we read and focus on verses 3 to 14. In fact, it is a portion of scripture that overflows with the majesty and the goodness of God, ascribing praise to God for His gracious blessings to all His people. And that's why I want us to look at it this morning, and that's why I chose to consider it this morning. Here we see something of the majesty and the goodness of God just oozing out, overflowing from what the Apostle Paul gives us here. And here he ascribes all the praise to God for his gracious blessings, his gracious benefits to all his people. And we often forget that as believers. And I want to remind us of these glorious blessings that the Lord has wrote for us as believers, if we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior. In verses 3 to 6, the apostle here describes the blessings that he wants to enumerate, the blessings that he wants to mention. He describes them for us in verses 3 to 6, and he tells us very clearly what they are in this description. And John Calvin speaks about this. He says, he speaks about the apostle Paul here as employing lofty terms. He says the apostle Paul is employing lofty terms. And then Calvin explains that these terms that are employed by the apostle Paul, if you like, intended to rouse believers' hearts to gratitude. They're intended to rouse our hearts, to cause us to look to the Lord with gratitude. He says they're supposed to set our hearts on flame and to fill them to overflowing with this disposition. This is how Calvin says these words. This is how he describes them. So that when you look carefully, you will notice here, this is the Apostle Paul. And here we have a childless, a landless, a homeless man who knew nothing of material blessings. But in regard to spiritual things, The Apostle Paul says in verse 3 that he knows himself to have boundless riches in Christ Jesus, just like every other believer. He says in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us. So Paul includes himself there with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So this man, whom I've mentioned was childless, landless, homeless, if you like, he says, in regards to material blessings on earth, no problem, I know nothing of them. I don't have. But when it comes to spiritual blessings, I abound in them. I am full of them. I have been blessed with every other believer, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. When it comes to that, Paul says, I know. I have experienced and every true believer experiences this manifold blessings of God on the lives of those he saves. In verse seven, we're told by the apostle that as believers, we have redemption and forgiveness of sin. And then in verses eight to 10, he tells us that we have wisdom and prudence from God. And then in verses 11 and 12, he says, we have an inheritance, which is reserved for us in heaven by God himself. That is what we have. And then by the time he now comes to verses 13 and 14, he says, we have the Holy Spirit of promise. we have the third person of the blessed Holy Trinity. This is what he says. So as we think of the guarantee of our inheritance, who has to do again with the Holy Spirit of promise, I want us to consider then this morning very briefly, one, the Holy Spirit of promise. with the Holy Spirit. And then thirdly, I want us to consider the guarantee of our inheritance. The guarantee of our inheritance. So let's begin with the first one then. the Holy Spirit of promise. In verse 13, the apostle says, in him you also trusted, that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, 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. The Holy Spirit of promise. And the Holy Spirit now, the gift of the Holy Spirit is the last, if you like, blessing that the Apostle mentions in the list that he enumerates here for us. That's the last blessing, the gift of the Holy Spirit to believers. It is the last blessing he mentions that we have as believers in our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here, He is speaking about the giving of the Holy Spirit himself by the Father and through our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So in essence, if you like, he's kind of taking us back to us. chapter 2, and the giving of the Holy Spirit to all true believers of our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we read, for example, in Acts chapter 2, and there in verse 38 of Acts chapter 2, then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this is what the Apostle Paul is talking about, that God has given us of his Spirit. He's given us the Holy Spirit. And this is as distinguished from the gifts that the Holy Spirit himself impacts or endows people with. So here he's talking about the Holy Spirit himself being given to us. He's not talking about the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to believers. No, he's talking about the Holy Spirit himself. being given to all true believers. And the main thought, if you like, here of the Apostle Paul in verses 13 and 16 is the significance, the importance of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all true believers. This is his main emphasis here. This is his main thought. The presence, the significance of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of true believers. This is his emphasis. This is his focus at this point in time. And that is what he wants us to see. That God has given to all true believers the Holy Spirit himself. So all true believers have the Holy Spirit. We are imparted with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit himself who has been given to all true believers. And this Holy Spirit, this spirit that is given to us is himself holy. He is holy. And so he is referred to and he's called the Holy Spirit. He is indeed part of the Holy Trinity. He is the Holy One. He is the Holy Spirit. He is holy. And in his mission and his work to us as believer is to teach us and to make us holy, even as the Lord God, our God is holy. This is his mission. He is holy and he is the Holy Spirit. And in his mission as he teaches and he makes us holy. He conforms us into the image of the Son of God, our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what he does. And he's called the spirit of promise here because his manifestation, if you like, his revelation, especially there at Pentecost was prophesied, was promised long before then. And his ministry to believers and with believers, if you like, was again promised long before it ever took place. He is the spirit that was promised, and he is the spirit of promise. So his coming in the Old Testament was prophesied by prophets, prophets like Joah of old. And there, in the prophecy of Joah, in the prophecy of Joel and there in chapter 2 Joel chapter 2 and in verse 28 of Joel chapter 2 this is what we read Joel chapter 2 verse 28 And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions." So that was prophesied even by the prophet of old. And then It was confirmed by our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And if you read the gospel of John and there in chapters 14 to 16, you read of the telling of the coming of the spirit of God after the Lord Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven. And there he spells it and gives more details. that has ever been given concerning the coming of the Spirit of the Living God, the Holy Spirit himself. And in Acts chapter 1, there we have it summarized just before the ascension of our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 1 and in verses 4 and 5 of Acts chapter 1, we read this. Acts 1, verses 4 and 5. And being assembled together with them, He, the Lord Jesus Christ, commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, You have heard from me, verse five, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So he was prophesied. He was promised by the prophets of old. Our Lord Jesus Christ then confirmed and reaffirmed those promises and told them just before his ascension, that in no distant future, that promise was going to be fulfilled because the spirit of promise was going to be given to them, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of promise. Secondly, then this morning, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Again, in verse 13 of Ephesians chapter one, remember what we read in him that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, 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. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Remember, we have sinned and we have understood. that the main focus of the Apostle here is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life. This is his focus. This is his emphasis. So in terms of the significance of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives as believers, the Apostle Paul says in verse 13, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You were sealed. And the figure of a seal on believers here is also used in Ephesians chapter four, and there in verse 30 of Ephesians chapter four, verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. And if you go back to 2 Corinthians, And there in chapter one of 2 Corinthians, you will find in verse 22, the apostle again writing, says in 2 Corinthians chapter one and verse 22, who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts. Who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts. So that the meaning here is to authenticate as genuine. To be sealed is to be authenticated as genuine. Again, in the Old Testament, in Nehemiah, and there in chapter 9 of Nehemiah, if you're able to look at that with me, please. Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 38 through to chapter 10 verse 1. Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 38 and then we read the first verse also in chapter 10. So Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 38. And because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it. Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it. In other words, they authenticate it. They seal it. Now, verse one of chapter 10, now those who place their seal, their stamp of authentication on the document where Nehemiah, the governor, the son of Hecalia and Zedekiah, and then it goes on. These were the ones who authenticated that agreement. So to seal is to authenticate as genuine. But it also means, in the second place, to denote ownership. When it's sealed by somebody's seal, it means he belongs to that person. It denotes, it indicates ownership by the person whose seal is upon that item or upon you as a person. If you turn with me to Revelation, Revelation chapter seven, and there in verse three of Revelation chapter seven, Revelation seven, verse three, saying, do not harm the earth, the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. Do not harm until we have sealed, we have shown who they belong to. We've shown his ownership upon them, upon their lives, so that they will not be harmed because they belong to the Lord of glory. And then thirdly, to be sealed also means to render secure, to render secure, to make secure. If you turn then to Matthew's gospel, chapter 27, of Matthew's gospel, you will find something of that in verse 66 of Matthew 27. So Matthew chapter 27 and verse 66 of Matthew 27, verse 66. So they went and made the tomb secure. They went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. They made it secure by sealing it. And so in the third place, sealing means to make secure. Now, believers are sealed in all these three respects. They are sealed by the spirit and they become the real, authentic, genuine believers. But it also shows that they belong to our Lord Jesus Christ. But it also shows that they are secure in him, the Lord of glory, the one who has purchased them with his blood. But the primary idea in the present passage appears to be that of authentication. You have been authenticated. You have been sealed, the apostle says. You have been shown to be the genuine material, true believers in our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the presence of the Holy Spirit in your lives. You are sealed. So that the Spirit, if you like, has testified within our hearts as believers. The Spirit of God has testified within our hearts that we are the children of God. Romans 8 verse 16 and 1 John 3, 24. And if we're children then, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans chapter eight and verse 17. So that we are the people who nothing can harm. Because we are secure in our Lord Jesus Christ. And to whom we know that all things work together. Romans 8, verse 28. This is what true believers are. We are those the apostle is making clear, whom nothing can harm and to whom we can say, yes, we know that all things work together for good. As he says in Romans 8, verse 28. And when you think of that, it is immediately clear that in such matters, the three purposes of a seal, combined in the lives of the believer. Authentication implies ownership, and on the other hand, it also implies security. For if we're true believers, genuine followers of our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, disciplined followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we belong to him, we are his. And if we are his, we are secure in him because he has said he will never leave us nor forsake us and in all things he will be there for us and with us. We belong to the Lord Jesus and we are protected in Christ Jesus. We are secure in our Lord and our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who has purchased us. So Paul affirms that the presence of the Spirit in Gentile lives, this is what he's talking about as he writes to the Ephesians. He's saying that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Gentiles is the proof that they, as truly as Jewish believers, all belong together to God. Just as Jewish believers belong to God, they who have received and have been sealed by the Holy Spirit equally belong to the truth and the living God. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. All have been sealed with the spirit of the living God. Thirdly, the guarantee of our inheritance. The guarantee of our inheritance. In verse 14 of Ephesians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul says, who is the guarantee? He's speaking of the Holy Spirit, remember, from the middle of verse 13. It says, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory? The guarantee of our inheritance. So that having used the figure of sin, now the Apostle Paul uses the figure of guarantee. Again, to emphasize the significance of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of true believers, in our lives as true believers. He is using another figure here. And the word that is translated guarantee here was a legal and a commercial term that was used. It's used of a deposit. It was the legal and the commercial word that was used for a deposit. If you like, an installment. or again, a down payment made in a transaction. This is what a guarantee is. The word that is translated guarantee here means a deposit, a first installment, or if you like, a down payment made in a transaction. The word is also found in 2 Corinthians chapter one and verse 22 and in chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians verse 5. So it's obvious then this word is only used of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. And the same word is used in modern Greek for an engagement ring, a guarantee. So it's used in modern Greek for an engagement ring. Guarantee. as a part of payment, does not only establish the deal, when the guarantee, the deposit, the first installment or the down payment is given, this guarantee not only establishes the deal, it also pledges that the remainder in due course will be fully paid. This is what it is saying. When you have the guarantee, when you have this down payment, it says very simply and clearly, and it pledges that the remainder in due course will be paid and paid in full. This is what it means. So Paul is saying here that the Spirit's presence in the believer, in all true believers, is God's pledge. It is God's pledge that we will one day enjoy our inheritance in all its fullness. Paul says we have this guarantee. We have this full, if you like, pledge from God himself that in the fullness of its own time, all true believers, it and every believer will enjoy the inheritance that God himself has reserved for us in heaven and will enjoy it in all its fullness. This is what the Apostle Paul is saying. And the guarantee here is also part of the price. The deposit is part of the price. And the remainder of the price will be of the same kind and it will ultimately be paid in full. And the obvious inference here is that our present experience of the Holy Spirit, this is what the Apostle Paul was saying to believers, as he writes to the Ephesian believers, especially to Gentile believers. He says, our present experience of the Holy Spirit is a full test. It is a foretaste of the joys and the blessedness of the life that is to come in glory. It is a test, a foretaste, that God is giving us something of that which is to come in glory. We are having a foretaste now. And that is established by the presence of the Holy Spirit in every true believer. And this is what the apostle wants us to understand very clearly even this morning. God, in giving us of his Holy Spirit, guarantees, he ensures and assures and affirms to us that the life that is to come is going to be in the Spirit, And here we have a vortex, but the full is yet to come. But we have a tester of all the joys, of all the blessedness that will accrue to all true believers in the life to come. Let us consider then what we've been talking about. Let's think of that a little more. And I want us, as we make one or two applications, to consider three glorious things about this guarantee of our salvation. There are the three glorious things that flow out, that ooze out, if you like, of this guarantee of our inheritance, the guarantee of our salvation. A, It is an installment of the same kind as the full and final inheritance of the same kind, an installment of the same kind, same kind of as the full and the final inheritance that is to come. And in our Lord Jesus Christ, we now possess the life of the same kind as that life that is to come. It is a life of the same kind as that which is to come. So that the spiritual life of the true Christian is the same, is the same kind as the glorified life that will come hereafter. It is the same kind, though not of the same degree and not of the same glory. the same kind as that which is to come, but not to the same degree and not of the same glory. You see, the new life in our Lord Jesus Christ is at peace with God. We're no longer enemies. We're no longer enemies of God if we're true believers in our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are no longer enemies of God. And as true believers, we have a new look to life. We see life differently from how we used to see it before. We now look at the temporal things of life as passing away, fading, passing away. No, we focus and we look to eternal things, the things that last, the things that endure. That's where the focus of the true believer should be, on the things that are eternal, the things that do not fade away, the things that last forever and ever in our Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we focus. These are the things we look to. And in everything that true believers do here, they do everything for the glory of God. We seek the glory of God in all things. That is the outlook, and that is the desire of every true believer here on earth. In everything, we want to see God glorified. But the apostle says, it is but an installment. There's more. There's more. And if there's any discrepancy in our lives to what we've just been talking about, if our lives do not reflect in any way the things that the apostle is talking about, it is not a challenge to the truth of the Word of God, never. God's Word stands firm and sure forever. It is not a challenge to the truth of God's Word. No, it is a challenge to our lives, to us who profess to be true believers. God's Word cannot be changed. It stands firm, it stands true. And His Word is always true. And all true believers in all the ages have experienced what the Apostle Paul writes. So if there's any discrepancy in our own lives, if in any way our lives do not portray or reflect what the Apostle Paul is talking about, No, it's not a challenge on God's Word, no. It is a challenge upon our lives, those of us who profess to be believers in our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have an installment, B, guarantee of our inheritance. Although the guarantee is the same in kind, as that which is to come. It is only an installment. It is but a tiny fraction in degree of the full and the final inheritance which will come to us in glory. A tiny fraction, a small fraction in terms of the degree of the fullness and the finality of the inheritance that is to come to us. It has not, as of yet, entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9. Yes, we have a tester. Yes, we have a tiny fraction an installment, but again, as the apostle writes, it has not yet entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But still, behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us here and now. who wherefore might be wretched, hell-deserving sinners. Behold, what manner of love this God, this awesome God, this glorious, loving God, has bestowed upon us, even here and now, that we, we, just think about it, that we should be called the children of God. What blessings we miss out of when we forget, when we do not meditate, when we do not focus on the things that God, when we focus on the things of the world, on the circumstances around us, look to God, keep looking to the Lord Jesus, focus on what he has done for us. This tester, this installment makes us children of God. Can you imagine that? We are truly the children of God. C, this guarantee means not only present privilege or present privileges and assurance, no, it also implies obligation. it also implies obligation. Many Christians like to forget that fact. There are wonderful privileges, glorious assurance in the will of God, because the guarantee assures us of the full. But more than that, it also implies obligation. So that in accepting the guarantee, We knowingly and solemnly place ourselves under the obligation to go through with it, with the transaction. We have placed ourselves under that obligation that we'll go through with the transaction, that we'll receive the final full installment. This is what we have pledged when we knowingly and willingly accept this guarantee as believers. So having received the Holy Spirit of promise now, having received that instrument, the guarantee, we have committed ourselves completely and totally to receiving the fullness, even in glory. We have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have received the guarantee. We have been baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we belong to Christ by the bonds of redeeming love. We are his completely and totally. We are not our own. If you are a believer, you are not your own. We belong to our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, because we have been born with a pride. The precious blood of our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was shed in order to save wretched sinners like ourselves and to reconcile us back to God the Father. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, so we do not go back. We are committed to the full transaction. We do not turn back. We must not turn back. To go back to the world is to insult the spirit of grace, and it is to trample on the foot the son of God and the precious blood that he shed for us, the blood of his covenant. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 29, a no true believer. should do that. We are committed. We are given up fully to the full transaction when the Lord comes to take his son to be with him forever and ever. The gospel brings amazing privileges to all true believers. It brings wondrous prospects of the glory that is to come. but it also brings solemn responsibilities and obligations. And we must never forget that. And we must never play them down. In the second place, verse 13 of Ephesians chapter one tells us that these privileges are for believers only. They are for believers in our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, you have to believe and you have to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. You have to know him as your Savior and Lord if you are to partake of this glorious and wonderful privileges. And so we read in verse 13 of Ephesians chapter one, in him, that is in Christ, In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also heaven believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You heard the truth of the gospel. You trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. You believed in him. Then you were sealed. with the Holy Spirit of promise. So the message is clear. It is only for true believers. And that's why in verses 15 and 16, the Apostle Paul now says that after he heard of the faith of the Ephesian believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, he did not cease to give thanks to the Lord God Almighty. he kept giving thanks to him. And if you will come to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, even now, if you will believe in our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, even now, yes, all this majestic and glorious blessings and privileges will be yours. They will be yours. And we as believers will not cease to give thanks to God for the great and glorious salvation that he has granted you. And even if we do, you can be sure that the hosts of heaven, the angels in heaven will never cease because they are always praising and thanking God, even for one sinner who comes to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And if you do, the angels will give thanks. We will continue to praise God, but you will also know all these blessings, those wonderful blessings will be yours. These glorious privileges will be yours. Then you will be calm. a partaker of the divine nature. You will know of your inheritance being preserved for you in heaven by God himself, for you will have received the guarantee of your inheritance, even the gift and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. And when you come to Christ, when you know him as your Lord and Savior, then Then, just like Israel of old that was chosen by God to declare his praises to all the nations, then you and us together, even so, we will live our lives to the praise and the glory of God's grace, that grace that found us and saved us and brought us to the Father. So like Israel of old, you will be part of the church and together as a church we will call to declare the praises and the glory of him who saved us, who called us and saved us and made us his own. And we will together declare the praise of the glory of God's grace to all who will hear and pray that the Lord will bring them too unto himself. And so brethren we should be encouraged We should be encouraged with the fact that God has chosen us. He chose us before the foundation of the world. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the world. No matter what the devil says, no matter what our circumstances dictate to us, no matter what we see around us, let us remember who we are. Let us remember this tremendous blessings that the Lord Jesus Christ has acquired for us through His mediation, His atoning death upon the cross of Calvary. And in Him, we truly have everlasting life. But we have, we have an installment of that. By the presence of the Spirit of God in our lives, it is but a tester. The fullness is yet to come, but it will come. Just as we have received the installment, it is the guarantee, it is an assurance, that the rest, the full, will come in due course and in due time. Let us therefore be driven, let us be driven by a renewed zeal, a renewed dedication to carry out the will of God in our lives. glory. They will see the work of God in us, and they will glorify our Father who is in heaven, and then they will come to Him and know Him as their Lord and Savior. May the Lord help us to look out there with a renewed brightness in our lives, with a renewed joy and happiness, knowing that whatever may be going on out there, the Lord has assured us are His, and because we are His, we are safe in Him. Let's live for Him. Let's glorify Him in every way. May the Lord help us by His Spirit to be true and faithful witnesses where He has blessed us. so that we'll be living epistles, that we'll draw men and women, boys and girls, to our Lord Jesus. May the Lord help us even this day. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.