Page 39 - Ephesians

sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who was
given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the
redemption of God’s own possession to the praise of His
glory.”

In this climactic illustration, as he winds down the longest
sentence in the Bible – 270 words – He gives us two figures of
speech. Let them burn into your heart. The first is in verse 13,

“Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”

The second is in verse 14,

“Who is the pledge of our inheritance (the down payment)”

Sealed with the Spirit, as a pledge, or an earnest of our
inheritance. God ends up with this because we are tempted to
say, “Wow, all of this wealth! By the time it becomes mine, I’ll
probably be in heaven in my glorified body.” But Gods says, “No,
the wealth is already yours. Not, that it will be yours someday.”
Do you believe this with all your heart? Heaven is as certain to
you right now, as if you’ve been there for a thousand years.

Look at these figures of speech. The Holy Spirit is called a “seal”.
The word is used as a guarantee, or stamp. It’s a figure of
speech that was drawn from the Roman business world. When
the Roman seal was on a package, you’d better believe, that
package got delivered! Nobody broke the Roman seal. (Except
perhaps the Lord, on Resurrection Sunday). That meant it was
“safe and sure”, delivery guaranteed. There are many seals in the
scriptures. Remember the signet ring in the story of Esther. The
image of the king pressed into soft wax. Transferred authority.
God softens us and seals us. As soon as we’re saved, He
presses His seal upon us. The Holy Spirit, is that stamp or seal.
God’s mark, on our lives. Talk about making a great first
impression!