Ephesians 1:12-23 | The Redemption of the Purchased Possession
Alright well we’re there in Ephesians chapter number one. And of course on Wednesday night is our Bible study night. And what we do is we just pick a book of the Bible and we just go verse by verse, chapter by chapter through that book. And I try to outline it for you. But we just really walk through the text verse by verse. And it’s a great time for you to take notes and to either have a notebook with you or on the back of the chorus of the week or on the margin of your Bible to write notes as we study the Bible together. And of course last week we began in Ephesians 1 and we made it through the first 11 verses of the chapter. And if you remember last week we learned about the position of the Father and we learned that God is our Father and our God. And we learned that he is the Father and God of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we also learned about the performance of Jesus Christ and we learned about our predestination in Christ and we learned about our position in Christ. And I’m not going to go back and preach that of course but that’s what we learned in the first part of the chapter.
And tonight what we’re going to do is we’re just going to walk through the second part of the chapter. We’re going to finish the last 12 verses of Ephesians and we’re going to study together. This last part of this chapter can really be divided into two sections. And if you are taking notes or you want to jot this down, the first part of the second part of the chapter deals with the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And the end of the chapter deals with the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re going to look at those two things there; the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let’s go ahead and jump in there in verse 12. Notice what the Bible says. It says “12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” We’re going to come back to that verse in a second. “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed,”. And I want you to notice what it says here. “ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”
So, we’re looking at the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and there’s two things that we notice in this passage in regards to the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. The first is this, that the Holy Spirit seals to the end. When we are saved, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. That’s what we read in verse 13. It says you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of God. You’re there in Ephesians 1 of course. That’s our text for tonight. But go to Ephesians 4:30. The Bible says this “30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”. So I want you to notice that the Bible tells us that one of the things that the Holy Spirit does, the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit, is to seal us. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. Now that terminology of being sealed or the idea of being sealed is symbolic. And I’d like you to go to Jude.
While you turn there, let me explain this. There’s some symbolism when it comes to the seal. And it basically comes down to two things. A seal is a symbol of authority or ownership. And what would come to mind is like the seal of a king upon a document. And that’s an idea of authority or ownership where a king back in these days might send a message out and they might close up that message and they would put a seal upon that, and that seal could not be broken unless you had the authority to receive that message. So that seal shows symbolic for authority or ownership. There’s also an idea of preservation in regards to the seal, in the same way that you might seal a jar to preserve something in it. And this is what the Holy Spirit does for us. He identifies us as the children of God and he also preserves us until the day of redemption. Because salvation, when salvation happened, the Bible refers to salvation as a financial action or it uses the illustration of a financial transaction, that there was a debt that needed to be paid. You owed a debt, you could not pay, and Jesus paid a debt he did not owe. That’s how it worked. We owed for our sin, he owed nothing. But he redeemed us, he purchased us, he paid for our sins.
But the transaction is not complete at the moment of salvation. At the moment that you and I believed; we were quickened in our spirit. Our spirit was made alive. Our spirit was created. We were regenerated, whatever terminology you want to use. The Bible says that in Christ we were made a new creature. And spiritually we are as saved as we will ever be. The spiritual man or the new man does not sin. However, you still are in your old flesh. You’re in that old body and that part of salvation has not yet happened. One day the rapture will happen. And the Bible tells us that this corruptible will put on incorruption. And this mortal will put on immortality. But that has not yet happened. So the Bible tells us that God gave us the Holy Spirit to seal us until the day of redemption.
Are you there in Jude? Look at verse number one. Notice what Jude said. He said this “1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father,”. Notice “and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:” Now the Calvinists, they like to teach this doctrine called the perseverance of the saints. And what they teach is that if you’re truly saved, you’re going to persevere until the end and you’re not going to quit on God and you’re not going to mess up. And I will tell you today and I’ll say tonight that that doctrine does not exist in the Bible. There is no such thing as the perseverance of the saints. And in fact, we see many Saints in the Bible who quit, who mess up, who quit on God. But you know what the bible does teach? It doesn’t teach the perseverance of the saints but it does teach the preservation of the saints, that we are preserved in Jesus Christ.
You’re in Jude, look at verse 24. “24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”. You and I are preserved in Jesus Christ. And it is God who is able to keep us. It is Jesus who was able to keep us from falling and to present you faultless before his presence. Go back to Ephesians chapter 1.
So we see when we’re talking about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, what is it the Holy Spirit does? And you might ask, what does the Holy Spirit do? Well the answer to the question is this, the Holy Spirit seals. He seals you. He puts his stamp of God upon your life, meaning you are now under his authority, you are under his ownership, and he preserves you until the day of Jesus Christ. See, it is because of the Holy Spirit’s sealing in our lives that we have the doctrine of eternal security. The reason that we cannot lose our salvation is because of the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Now you may ask, well what is the sealing of the Holy Spirit? What does that have to do with eternal security?
Look at Ephesians 1:13 “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”. Notice, the Holy Spirit of promise. With salvation, you were made a promise. You were a partaker in the promise of salvation. And you are sealed through the Holy Spirit. Notice, then he says this “14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”. And the terminology that’s being used here, the illustrations being used, it’s really a financial type of terminology. He says that the Holy Spirit sealed us. And then he says that sealing is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. And he said God has already purchased you but there’s a coming time when he’s going to redeem you. At the rapture, he’s going to take you and completely finish the deal of salvation, not just your spirit but your body as well. And he says that he gave us the Holy Spirit as the earnest.
Go to 2nd Corinthians 1. I want you to notice that this idea of being sealed by the Holy Spirit and the earnest of the Holy Spirit is found throughout the Bible. I’ll give you one example in 2nd Corinthians 1:21. Notice what the Bible says “21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ,”. And I want you to notice again and I’m not going to reteach last week’s sermon but notice if you pay attention, you’ll find in the Bible that it is emphasized over and over and over and over again. This is that the only access that you and I have to God and to heaven is in Christ. It’s always about Christ. “21 Now he which stablisheth us” Because I’m so good or I repented of my sins? No, it says “stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;”.
Notice verse 22. “22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”. Now what does that mean? The earnest of the Spirit or the fact that he’s the earnest of our inheritance. And the idea is this, and go back to Ephesians. The idea of the Holy Spirit being the earnest, and I’ve explained this before, and it’s always good to be refreshed on some of these things, the idea is that it’s like what you and I today would call earnest money. And if someone was going to make a major purchase, usually this is a practice done for big purchases. What happens is there would be earnest money that would be put down, a deposit made to a seller. But it’s not the deposit for the loan. It’s like a good-faith amount that’s given showing the buyers intent to purchase.
So here’s what happens, you go out and you put a bid on a house. And in different markets you may not need this but let’s say you’re in a market where the seller is getting a lot of bids. All sorts of people are interested in that house. And you come in and you say hey, I’m putting this bid for this house. And he wants to give you that house but he wants to make sure that you’re not going to back out of the deal. So they might ask for earnest money. They might ask you to put out a thousand dollars just to show “Hey, I’m serious about buying this house. I’m not just throwing some fake deal out there. I’m going to come back. I’m going to get the lending. I’m going to get the money. I’m going to secure the finances. And I’m going to buy this house”.
Here’s what happens. You put that money down as a way of showing that you are serious about purchasing this house. You say well why does earnest money show your seriousness? Here’s what shows that you’re serious. When you as a buyer put down earnest money and then you decide to back out of the deal, you lose that money. The other person gets to keep it since you’ve decided to back out. So when you put a thousand dollars down and you say “If I back out, you keep the thousand dollars”. That guy’s serious about coming back and redeeming this house or redeeming this purchase or making this purchase good. And this is what Jesus with God says about our salvation. That he gave us the Holy Spirit as the earnest of our inheritance.
You say well what does it have to do with eternal security? Here’s what it means, if I lose my salvation, if I were to die and go to hell, then the Holy Spirit would have to come with me. Because God said I am so sure of your salvation, I’m so sure that I will come back and make the purchase of this redemption good, I’m willing to put my Holy Spirit on the line. I’m willing to put the Holy Spirit as the earnest of your inheritance. And you know what, if I back out, if I back off, if I decide it’s too much and I’m not interested to purchase at a different time, God says I’d have to lose my Holy Spirit to do it. So what we learn about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit seals. And what that means is that he secures you, he preserves you. This is the doctrine of eternal security. Because we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God until the day of redemption.
But I want you to notice a second thing the Holy Spirit does. Go back to Ephesians 1. We’re talking about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. What is it that the Holy Spirit does? Well I said first of all, the Holy Spirit seals. But I want you to notice secondly, that the Holy Spirit reveals. He not only seals, that’s part of his ministry. He seals us until the day of redemption but he also reveals the truth of the word of God. Are you there in Ephesians 1:15? Notice what he says, “15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,”. This is of course Paul speaking to the church at Ephesus. He says “16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;”. Notice what he says. “17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you”. So notice, he says you got the Holy Spirit of God. And I’m glad that you got the Holy Spirit of God. But he says I’m praying that the Holy Spirit does this for you. Because this is something that the Holy Spirit can do for you. That “may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:”.
He says the Holy Spirit not only seals you. Now if that’s all that the Holy Spirit did, that’s enough. That’s good enough. That’s great. But he says the Holy Spirit doesn’t just seal you. He’s not just the guarantee of your salvation. He’s not just the earnest of your salvation. He says the Holy Spirit seals. But let me tell you something. He Holy Spirit also reveals. He is the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. And you say well Paul, what do you mean? Look at verse 18. “18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;”. Notice “that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,”. And what is it that Paul is teaching us here? And it’s a common teaching that he’s taught in different places. Go back to first Corinthians.
The natural man or the unregenerate man or the unsaved man, this person or individual that does not have that Spirit that is quickened or alive, they do not have the Holy Spirit living inside of them. The natural man, the Bible teaches cannot understand the Bible. Unsaved people cannot understand the Bible. This is taught throughout the Bible I’ll show it to you out of first Corinthians which is one of the clearest passages in scripture about it. But we’re seeing it in Ephesians 1:17 where Paul is saying “Hey look, it is the spirit of wisdom and revelation that’ll make your eyes opened.”
Notice 1 Corinthians 2:7. “7 But we speak the wisdom of God”. Notice these words “in a mystery,”. Now you’ll find that the Bible often refers to salvation as a mystery. And you say well why is that? Here’s why it is. Because to unsaved people, salvation is a mystery. To the natural man, the gospel, the doctrine of salvation, it’s a mystery. They don’t understand it. And if you don’t believe me, come out soul-winning with us and talk to someone. People come out soul-winning with us and talk to religious people that are not saved and then understand why Paul says it’s a mystery to them. I mean look at John 3:16. You say come on; you don’t understand that? It’s so simple. It’s so easy to understand. But it’s spiritually discerned. It’s a mystery but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Notice “even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:”. Remember, Paul said if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost. Notice verse 8. “8 Which none of the princes of this world knew:”. Nobody saw this coming. Nobody understood this. Nobody thought about this. Notice “for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”. He’s saying that if they would have understood the Gospel message, if they would have understood that, they would not have crucified the Son of God. If they would have understood the message of salvation, they wouldn’t have done it. But it’s a mystery to them. It was hidden to them.
Notice verse 9 “9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”. Now usually people take 1st Corinthians 2:9, and I’m not mad at people who do this, I don’t have a problem of people doing this. But usually, and I can understand how you might interpret it this way, usually people take 1st Corinthians 2:9 and they refer to heaven. And though they’ll use that to talk about heaven, and I don’t have a problem with people doing that, and they’ll say see, the Bible says “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”. And if you look at that verse just on its own, and pull it out of context, you can see how someone might think it’s talking about heaven. But if you put it in its context, what he’s talking about is the Word of God. What he’s talking about is yes, not just heaven physically, but the way into heaven or the plan of salvation to get you into heaven. And here’s what he’s saying, when it comes to human beings, when it comes to the natural man, that’s not saved, that’s not regenerated, he says “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”.
He says they can’t get it; they don’t understand it. Notice, but “10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”. And I’ve taught you that before, we looked at that before. But the idea is this, “11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?”. Here’s what he’s saying, the reason that you and I can, and don’t ask me to explain to you, this is just what the Bible teaches, we just believe it. But the reason that you and I can understand each other is because we have the same spirit of a human being. I’m a man and you’re a man. You’re a woman. You’re a person. So, we can understand each other.
And I know some of you don’t agree with this but I don’t care. Your dog can’t understand you. It’s got a different spirit. It’s a different thing. But I bet these dogs can understand each other. I bet these dolphins, you’re right, they’re supposed to be the second smartest being on earth. I’d like to see the hospital they ever built. But you know these dolphins can communicate with each other. You can’t communicate with a dolphin. There’s no such thing as the horse whisperer or the dog whisperer or the cat whisperer. I don’t know why you’d want to communicate with a cat. But what he’s saying is that we can communicate because we have the same nature, we have the same spirit, that of a human.
Notice what he says. “11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”. He says look, no man can understand the things of God. And the only reason you can understand the things of God and I can understand the things of God is because we’ve got the Holy Spirit of God inside of us. Verse 12 “12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might”. Notice the emphasis “know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”. Is this not what we’re doing right now. Comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Notice verse 14 “14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”.
And look, people don’t like me preaching this, they don’t like me saying this, this is not a doctrine that people like to embrace today, but I’m here to tell you something, you can pass out as many John’s and Romans to as many unsaved people as you want. If they’re not saved, they can’t get it. They won’t understand it. They’re spiritually discerned. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. That’s why they need a soul-winner to preach the gospel to them, to explain it to them. Because the unsaved, the unregenerate man cannot understand the things of God. Go to Acts chapter number 8. And if you need evidence, just look at religions that are preaching a false gospel. I mean, I bring this up often but I think it’s worth bringing up. Look at these false religions that are wrong on salvation. And it’s laughable how wrong they are about everything else. I mean you got the Roman Catholic Church that teaches a hard line works salvation. They teach that you got to keep the seven sacraments in order to be saved, that it’s based on your works. They’re not saved.
And then they go to a passage where the disciples are asking Jesus to teach them to pray. And he says okay, let me explain something to you, I’m going to teach you to pray, but I don’t want you to pray like the heathen pray, I don’t want you to pray using these vain and repetitious prayers like the heathen pray. Let me give you an example of how you should pray. So you don’t pray vain and repetitious prayers like the heathen. He gives them the example, “Our Father which art in heaven”. And then the Catholics come along and say well let’s just take that and repeat that over and over. And it’s like, he just told you before not to do that. So how do you explain that? The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. I mean it’s the only way you can explain that. That unsaved people can’t understand the Bible. So Jesus says I’m going to give you this first, I want to give you this pattern, I’m going to give you an example, I don’t want you to pray it over and over. And the Roman Catholics say, let’s pray that over and over. It’s like, you’re not saved, that’s why you don’t get it.
I mean the Bible teaches that 144,000 come down from heaven and the rest of us go up to heaven. Here Come the Jehovah’s Witnesses and they’re like “Oh no, all of us stay on earth and 144,000 that are good go to heaven”. The exact opposite. I mean is this a joke you are playing on me right now? But it’s not playing a joke. It’s just the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. The unsaved man cannot understand the bible. They read it, they try to understand it, and they get the exact opposite. And by the way, they get the exact opposite which is why the Bible teaches salvation is by grace through faith, not of works. It’s a free gift and every religion says no it’s works. And have you ever thought about that the Bible says it’s free and every religion under the sun trusts in works. Even the so-called Christian religions add works. They say repentance, live a good life well, get baptized, speak in tongues. How do they get that? They get that because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. If you give an unsaved person the Bible, you know what they’re going to come up with? A false religion. They’re going to warp the Bible because they don’t understand it.
Acts 8:30 “30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said,”. Notice here you have an unsaved man who’s reading the Bible. He’s seeking for the truth. He wants to understand. Here comes Philip and says “Understandest thou what thou readest?”. Notice verse 31, this is a true statement. He said “31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?”. The word except means unless some man should guide me “And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.”. Then you’ve got the verses where it tells you what he’s reading out of Isaiah. Isaiah 53. A prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 35. Notice how the Ethiopian eunuch gets saved. Because he’s riding on the road reading the Bible and he can’t get saved. How does he get saved?
Notice verse 35. The same way anyone who is saved has ever gotten saved. “35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”. This is why Paul said that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of Christ. Why? Because it’s a mystery to the unsaved. Look, the only way that anybody ever got saved is because somebody who had the Holy Spirit of God preached the gospel to them. Because they could not understand it on their own. I don’t care how many tracts you read. I don’t care how much of the Bible you read. You cannot understand. You say how can you preach that with such authority? Because that’s what the Bible says. Because the Bible says the natural man cannot receive it.
People will argue with me and say “I know somebody who got saved reading the Bible. Okay well then just forget everything the Bible says. Because your experience trumps the Bible. You know what, the Bible says unsaved people can’t understand the Bible and they need a soul-winner to preach it to them, period. That’s what the Bible says. And if you don’t understand that, maybe you’re not saved. I don’t understand why you have so much trouble grasping something that’s so simple and so clearly taught in Scripture. Go to 1st John 2. It’s clear in the Bible. You need the Holy Spirit because what does the Holy Spirit do? He seals and he reveals. He seals you until the day of redemption and then he reveals the Word of God to you. 1st John chapter 2, look at verse 27.
Notice what the Bible says “27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”. The anointing there’s talking about the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Bible, the Holy Spirit is equated to oil, to anointing. And look, I just made a joke to you but here is the honest truth, when people can’t understand just basic biblical concepts, to me that’s a red flag that they’re not saved. Because if you have the Holy Spirit of God, you should be able to have somebody open up the Bible to say look at what the Bible says. I’m not talking about deep things. I’m not talking about Daniels 70th week. Obviously, there are complicated things in the Word of God. But just basic things, the Bible says that they will get it. And if you don’t, maybe you’re not saved. Because the Holy Spirit of God is the one that teaches you.
And verse 27 said that ye need not that any man teach you. Let me go ahead and answer it because people like to ask stupid questions. “Well what do we need you for Pastor?”. The Bible also says that God gave you teachers and pastors and evangelists for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Obviously, what we do here on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night is we help you go further faster. Do you understand that? You know I’ve read the Bible scores of times and I’ve studied the Bible and I’ve been studying the Bible every week as a job for the last 10 years or whatever, nine years. So, what we do here is we just help you go further faster. It’s like when you say, well you know I could learn it on my own. Well yeah, you could cook at home too but you go to restaurants from time to time and have somebody else serve you a meal and sometimes that meal is better than what you can come up with. And you come to Verity Baptist Church and I’ve got a meal prepared for you. I’m trying to help you. I’m trying to fill you. I’m trying to give you.
But here’s what it is teaching, there’s nothing in this Bible that that you couldn’t learn without me or without some other Pastors. If you have the Holy Spirit, you could study the Bible and learn everything. Just recently I had a Pastor friend getting ready to preach a sermon and they were kind of going to teach a concept that they never taught before. And they were asking me what I thought about a passage. And they quoted the passage to me but they didn’t give me any details. You know you always feel like you’re getting set up. You know, “What do you think about that?”. I’m like, well here’s what I think. And I told him X, Y and Z and he’s like exactly. And he was just trying to see if I got the same thing, looking for confirmation from other people. Here’s the thing, that’s a good way to check yourself. If we’re looking at a passage, we should come to the same conclusion. Obviously, there’s interpretations that are different. There are things that are a little more complex.
And I want you to understand this, the teaching of the Holy Spirit revealing truth to you, this does not mean that you will understand everything in the Bible. That’s not what it means because sometimes you preach that and people are like “Well I don’t understand Ezekiel so am I not saved?”. Look, nobody understands Ezekiel. Okay. I preached through Ezekiel and I don’t understand it. The Bible says the secret things belong unto the Lord our God. Paul said that we look through a glass darkly. He says we see through a glass darkly but then face to face. He says now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known. Paul said I’m writing this stuff down and I don’t really understand all of it.
So, please understand this, the revealing of the Holy Spirit, the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, it does not mean that you’re going to know everything. Here’s what it means though. If you put in the work, if you study, if you read and read and study and study, eventually you can learn just as much as anybody else. “ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things,”. And that’s the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. What is it that the Holy Spirit does? He seals and the Holy Spirit reveals. Go back to Ephesians, chapter 1.
We saw the ministry of the Holy Spirit but I’d like you to notice secondly tonight, not only do we see in this passage the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, we also see the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word majesty, I like that word. Because the word majesty has several definitions. One is that of being royal, being regal, or Regency. Meaning, the authority of the king. But also it has to do with power. And that’s what we see in this passage. We see the Ministry of the Holy Spirit. We see the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you three quick points in regards to the majesty of Christ. First of all we see the pardon of Christ. Notice Ephesians 1:12. “
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”. And here’s what I love about Ephesians 1. It’s a very clear place where the Bible defines. Because look, the Bible is its own dictionary. And the Bible defines itself. And here we’re going to get a definition of what it means to believe or what it means to have faith. Notice what he says in verse 12 “12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”.
Notice verse 13. “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,”. Notice, how did this person get saved? They heard the word of truth. The gospel of your salvation. Somebody explained it to them. Do you understand that? Because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Somebody had to open their mouth and explain it. Jesus said, verily he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. He says in whom ye also trusted. In verse 12 he said, who first trusted in Christ. Then he says “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,”.
I want you to notice the context of what he’s talking about. Look at verse 19. “19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”. I want you to notice, he’s using these terms interchangeably. He says you first trusted in Christ. He says in whom ye also trusted. Then he says in whom also after that ye believed. Then he says I heard of your faith. Then he says who believe. And here’s what he’s saying, what does it mean to believe? When we tell people that salvation is simply putting your faith in Jesus Christ, when we tell people like Paul told the Philippian jailer when he was asked the question what must I do to be saved? And he gave the response believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What does that mean? Here’s what it means. The Bible’s defining it for us. Believing or faith means to trust. That’s what the word means. It means to trust. Now here’s the thing. It doesn’t mean to just believe like I believe that Jesus existed. Believe in regards to salvation, it means you must put your trust, your faith must be in Jesus Christ. Meaning you’re relying on Jesus to save you.
Go to James 2. James 2:19 says this “19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:”. I just wanted to show you this, the devils also believe and tremble. So notice here, we have a verse where the Bible tells us that the devils believe. Does that mean they’re saved? Because the realize that God exists, Jesus exists. They believe right? Jesus would often come before a devil and they would honor him, they would worship him, they would say torment us not before the time appointed. They believed in him but the Bible’s clear they’re going to spend eternity in hell. Why? Because they’re not trusting in him. So when we’re telling people that they have to believe Jesus Christ, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, what we’re telling them is you have to put your trust in Jesus Christ. Do you understand the difference? See it’s one thing, and I’ve heard people use the illustration, it’s like if you took a chair and place it here and you say do you believe in this chair. It’s like well yeah, I believe it’s right there. I mean it exists. I’m looking at it. But do you trust the chair? How do I prove that I trust it? I sit in it. I put my weight on it. I rely upon it. You look at a plane, you go out to an airport, you say I see the plane. Do you believe this plane can get you to where you’re going? I believe it can. Do you trust it though? Well, I don’t know about that, I’m scared of flying. When you get on that plane and you put your hands in the life of that pilot, you actually trust that it can do what it says it can. And this is what salvation is. See, it’s not enough to just say “Oh I believe in Jesus.”. Like you believe he existed. You’ve got to put your trust in him in order to be saved. It’s not like you’re trusting Jesus and good works or Jesus and repenting of sins. Look, if you’re going to put your faith in Christ, you got to put all your faith, all of your trust, all of your reliance on him. That’s what salvation. So we see the pardon of Christ. What is it? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But we define that as trust. Not just that you believe in Jesus but that you place your trust in him. You place your faith in him. Not just that he exists but your trust is in him.
I want you to notice secondly, not only do we see the Pardon of Christ but we all see the power of Christ. Look at Ephesians 1:19. “19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,”. And I forgot to mention this. Let me go and mention this really quick if you don’t mind. But in that verse “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”. I just want to point out that that verse proves that you get the Holy Spirit at the moment you believe. Because the Pentecostals, they’ll say “Oh no, salvation is a process.”. They’ll say first you believe but then you have to repent of your sins then you have to get baptized in water then maybe you’ll get baptized in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues and run around and bark and whatever and that’s when you got the Holy Spirit. No, the Bible says when you believe, you receive the Holy Spirit of promise, the moment that you got saved.
Verse 19, “19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”. Notice the emphasis is upon the power, the greatness of his power, his mighty power. Verse 20 “20 Which he” That’s God the Father. That’s the context from last week. “wrought:”. The word wrought means he worked “in Christ, when he”. God the Father. Notice “raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,”. So we see the pardon of Christ. How does that come? It comes through belief, through trust in Christ. We see the power of Christ. And what is that? That is proven through the resurrection. Go back to first Corinthians 15.
And here’s the point, okay. The death of Christ proves the love of God. The death of Christ proves the love of God. You don’t need to go any further than John 3:16, right? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The death of Christ proves the love of God. The resurrection of Christ proves the power of God. See, the death of Christ proves the love of God. It proves the fact that God was willing to sacrifice, as a propitiation for our sins, he made the payment for our sins that we might be redeemed. See, if Christ would have died and he would have stayed dead then that would have meant nothing. He would have just been a human being. Because that’s what all humans do. They die and they stayed there. The death proved the love of God, the resurrection proved the power of God. See, the wages of sin is death. Sin required that our sacrifice should die but nothing said he had to stay dead. And the power of God, the power of Christ through his resurrection.
And really please understand this, the foundation of our faith is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what you have to believe in order to be saved. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. The foundation of our belief is in the resurrection of Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:14, people are debating if Christ really rose from the dead. Notice what Paul says “14 And if Christ be not risen,” So he’s playing Devil’s Advocate. He’s saying if Christ be not risen “then is our preaching vain,” The word vain means without real significance or value. He says “14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”. Your faith is insignificant, it is without value, if Christ is not risen.
Verse 17 “17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain;” Without real significance, without value. Then it says “ye are yet in your sins.”. Look, if Christ did not rise from the dead, you’re condemned, I’m condemned, because salvation comes through the resurrection. Notice verse 18 “18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”. And Paul’s debating with this group. Go to 1st Thessalonians if you would. These people, they want to debate everything. And we got those people around today, they wanted to debate every doctrine, they want to debate all these things. And they’re saying, well does Christ even need to resurrect from the dead? Is that even needed? And Paul tells them “19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”. If we have only hope in this life, if there’s not a hope in the afterlife, he says it’s not worth it. Paul was beaten, in prison, stabbed in the back, hurt, stoned. It’s not worth it if there’s no hope of another world, of another life.
Notice 1 Thessalonians 4:14 “14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,”. You know on Monday we’re going to hold a funeral service for a baby. And we’re all grieving and especially the family of course for that baby. But you know who’s not grieving? That baby. He’s up in heaven feeling sorry for us. We’re sad for him. He’s sad for us. He’s like man, you guys have the bad end of the deal. Because “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”. Our belief is founded upon the fact that if Jesus rose from the grave. You say what was the need of the power of the Resurrection? The power of the Resurrection was this, to show that if God could resurrect his Son from the dead, he can resurrect anyone from the dead. And he could resurrect everyone from the dead if they believe in Christ, if they trust in Christ.
So we see the pardon of Christ. We see the power of Christ. Let me just really quickly give you the third point. We see the preeminence of Christ. Go back to Ephesians 1. Look at verse 20. “20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,”. Notice “and set him” Talking about Jesus. “at his own right hand” Talking about the Father. “in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”.
I’m out of time. I’ll just read these verses for you. Actually go to Ephesians 5 because you’re right there. Ephesians 5:23 “23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.”. Colossians 1:18 “18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”. We see the pardon of Christ. We see the power of Christ. We see the preeminence of Christ. And it is his resurrection that not only the death proved the love of God and the resurrection proved the power of God.
Let’s pray.