1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,840 You can turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter one for our 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,920 time together tonight. And while you're turning there, 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:17,200 I want to admit to you I used to believe some things differently 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,720 about the Bible and about my Christian life than I do right 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,480 now. I grew up in a man. 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:26,880 I'm thankful I grew up in church. 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,880 I grew up in a place where I heard the Bible. 8 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,360 I believed in the fear of the Lord but I did not have a good 9 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,600 comprehension of that. I used to think that every time 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,320 I would sin, I had to get re saved again. 11 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:47,800 And this is a result of the teaching I had as a probably 8 12 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,160 or 10 year old asked questions about this and God answers like, 13 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:54,600 yes, if you sin and don't repent, you go to hell. 14 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,120 And there was a real life example in that church when I 15 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:04,440 grew up, a prominent person committed suicide and I asked, 16 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,800 hey, did they, they were in church for a long time. 17 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,280 Did they go to heaven or hell? And they said definitely hell. 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,680 And I was like, whoa, I mean, if that person's in hell, I mean, 19 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,320 there's no chance for me. And so I began to live my life 20 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:22,640 thinking that the next misstep was total condemnation. 21 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,000 And that eventually, in my teenage years, led me to say, 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,320 well, I'm just going to go have a good time. 23 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:30,680 It's all going to the same place. 24 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:32,320 This thing's going downhill fast. 25 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:34,440 And I just could never get caught up. 26 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,480 Or at least I'm going to go have fun for a while, and then I'll 27 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,480 repent later. And this is a distorted way of 28 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:42,600 thinking. This is not the gospel of the 29 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:44,520 Bible. I'm confessing this to you. 30 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,760 But we all have things that we believe that may not be true. 31 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,200 Do you have something like that? Have you ever felt this way that 32 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,000 what if I mess up like am I, am I going to go to hell or does 33 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,160 God still love me? Or is is he always dangling 34 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:06,160 something out in front of you? So today what we're going to see 35 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:11,120 in our last message in the gospel course is that you are 36 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:19,120 secure in the gospel. There is security in believing 37 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,200 the gospel. You can know for sure that you 38 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,480 are secure. So let's read. 39 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:31,800 If you're in the book of Ephesians, chapter one, verse 13 40 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,880 and 14, the Bible says in whom you also trusted. 41 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:41,760 After that you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your 42 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,960 salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you were 43 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,240 sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of 44 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,800 our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase, 45 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,480 possession unto the praise of his glory. 46 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,040 That might seem like a bunch of jumbled up words, but we're 47 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,360 going to spend some time breaking it down to figure out 48 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,880 how the gospel gives us security. 49 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:05,760 But before we do, let's take just a moment and pray. 50 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,720 Let me lead us in a prayer. God, we come before your word 51 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:12,520 tonight and we ask for your wisdom. 52 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,880 Anything that good that comes out of our Bible study time is a 53 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:18,600 result of your Spirit teaching us. 54 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,080 And so tonight we give you permission to search us out, 55 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,440 show us if we're truly believing what's right and give us 56 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,440 security in the gospel. God change us that we would be a 57 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,360 people that invite others into that security that we have. 58 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,400 I pray in Christ's name, Amen. Well, if you're taking notes in 59 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,960 our time of Bible study, we're going to see that you are secure 60 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,520 in the gospel and we've got 3 reasons today why you're secure. 61 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,360 First is that you're secure in the gospel because of your 62 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,560 salvation. This is going to take all the 63 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:00,120 pressure off of you and any kind of works you maybe want to go 64 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,760 back to last week and you could see in Ephesians 28 and 9 that 65 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,680 it's not by works. This is going to take all the 66 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,600 pressure off of us. It's also going to take us back 67 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:14,400 to that moment whenever we heard and chose to believe the gospel. 68 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,920 There's a point in time that we gain this security. 69 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:24,000 So you you get this security. First you had to to hear when 70 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,200 you heard the gospel. It says in verse 13, Ephesians 71 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,360 chapter 1. After that you heard the word of 72 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,240 the truth. When you heard the word of the 73 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:36,640 truth. I love this place in the 74 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:38,200 Scripture. I go here regularly. 75 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,640 You've probably heard me cross reference it for what some would 76 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,640 call the Ordo salutis. What are the order of events for 77 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,920 a person to be born again? And this is the proper Ordo 78 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,880 salutis you hear you cannot be saved without hearing. 79 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,840 So hearing is the first step to believing. 80 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,000 If if we are unsure in our faith, we can go back to at 81 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,880 least having an open ear to what does the Bible say? 82 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:13,240 What is that Jesus thing? Romans 10/17 says faith comes by 83 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:15,000 hearing. This is why when we're 84 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,200 evangelizing, we have a tract. We're trying to get the Word of 85 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,640 God out into people's hearts and lives, letting it do the work to 86 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:27,400 produce faith in them or give them something to put faith in. 87 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:32,120 But you know as well as I do that sitting in a room doesn't 88 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,080 mean that you actually heard what was said. 89 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,760 Maybe you're like me and you can remember sitting in church, I 90 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,360 was a young boy writing like stick figure pictures and 91 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,640 drawing things and playing games with the person beside me. 92 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,040 Or when I was older, I was in church falling asleep. 93 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,720 So just hearing the message is not what saves you. 94 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,720 Jesus says you have to have ears to hear. 95 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,560 And we're trying to discern this when we're sharing the gospel 96 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,000 with other people. We're not just trying to thrust 97 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:04,400 it upon people that don't want it. 98 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:06,960 We're trying to discern how open is this person. 99 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,240 I'm looking for people that have ears to hear. 100 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,480 Could I share this with you? It doesn't mean they'll be 101 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,120 saved, but they at least need to hear it. 102 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:21,640 So for you, do you remember? Do you remember when you heard 103 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,160 the gospel is clarified for us, the death, burial and 104 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,240 resurrection of Jesus and when we put our faith in him, we're 105 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,680 saved from our sins. Do you remember when you heard 106 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:41,520 that? I honestly cuz I grew up in 107 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,080 church, I struggled to find the first time that I heard that. 108 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,840 But I know there was a time when I would say I had ears to hear, 109 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:52,320 to actually hear what it said, what it meant. 110 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,080 And I decided then I chose to believe. 111 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,920 You can't believe in something that you don't hear or 112 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,920 understand. So we had to choose to believe 113 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,680 if we're talking about security, that we're secure in the Gospel, 114 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:18,000 there's words in verse 13 like trusted and believed. 115 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,600 And if you're going to talk about relationships, like if we 116 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,560 have a relationship with God, trust is a big deal in 117 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,880 relationships. Is it not belief? 118 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,760 Like I believe you when you say you're going to, that's a really 119 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:38,360 big deal for a relationship. And this is the kind of faith 120 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,440 that we need to have in the gospel to be able to be saved. 121 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,880 So let me give you some definitions for these words. 122 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,080 First, trust is to place confidence in. 123 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,520 It's to say like I can lean on this thing. 124 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,840 I know that it's there. It is reliable. 125 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:04,200 So trust, trust in God means it's not on you. 126 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,680 This is how we gain real security in the gospel is that 127 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,640 we know it's not about my actions. 128 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,720 I have decided to put my reliance in something that's not 129 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,280 me. This is a kind of saving faith. 130 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:27,960 The word belief is also used. I don't know if I have a 131 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,040 definition for you, but I I put it to there's the blank for you. 132 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,919 Belief in the gospel is all that's required. 133 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,480 You have to acknowledge that it's true and then decide to 134 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,400 place your faith in it. I think I have the slide in 135 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:43,039 here. Let's see. 136 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,680 Nope, belief. Belief is a persuasion of the 137 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:51,960 truth. Noah Webster, that basically 138 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:56,200 wrote the English Dictionary, would say that belief is opposed 139 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,520 to knowledge. They're not the same thing. 140 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,800 I can know a lot of things. That doesn't mean I'm relying 141 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:07,480 upon them. And honestly, belief does not 142 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,640 mean something is true. We all believe things we 143 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:16,840 probably shouldn't. We can believe a lie, right? 144 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,560 I can put my reliance and my trust into something to say this 145 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:24,200 is how I'm making decisions and that thing not be true. 146 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,960 I have an old friend who would always say we make every 147 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:35,280 decision in our life based on what we believe to be true, and 148 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,880 if it's not based on the truth, we're going to not have great 149 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:43,520 outcomes for our life. Can you think of any kind of lie 150 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:49,880 that you might believe like I'll never be good enough, I'll never 151 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,120 get it done. There's no way God could ever 152 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,640 love me. There's no way. 153 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:03,760 The gospel is that simple. Saving faith requires that we 154 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:08,480 put our trust in what verse 13 calls the word of the truth. 155 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,080 I'm choosing to not just know something, but to act upon it as 156 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,760 if it is true. And that's what's required. 157 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,880 We see in the Bible, Abraham all the way back to the book of 158 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:27,160 Genesis believed God, and that's what God said. 159 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:32,000 I got you. He gave him righteousness 160 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:34,520 because he simply believed what God said. 161 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,800 We Fast forward all the way to Jesus's time in the book of John 162 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:44,120 and he says whosoever believeth should not perish but have 163 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,560 eternal life. This is what's required. 164 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:51,200 It's not action, it's not religion, it's not endurance. 165 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:56,440 That's why your security, it's based on your salvation. 166 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,760 And whenever you do this, when you hear the gospel and you 167 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,440 choose to believe it, then you're actually saved. 168 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,240 Like that's actually what happens. 169 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:12,560 You can rest for sure. Verse 13 in Ephesians, one says 170 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,480 the gospel of your salvation, the good news, and it is the 171 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,280 best news. There is no better news. 172 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,520 We may at times have to remind ourselves of that, but there is 173 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,080 no better news that Jesus paid it all. 174 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,840 All to him I owe. I'm no longer left trying to 175 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,800 keep up with my sin debt. It's all been totally paid for. 176 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,800 Romans 10 says it's so simple that whoever calls in the name 177 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:42,920 of the Lord would be saved. Ephesians 289 as we saw last 178 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,640 week. For by grace are you saved 179 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,760 through faith. This is that saving faith to 180 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:56,320 place your belief in the Bible. It when you do that, man, 181 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:58,640 there's a radical change that happens. 182 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,840 I know that for the last five or six weeks I've been saying 183 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,400 basically the same things over and over 30 different passages, 184 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,920 but it's so important that we get like our hands absolutely 185 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:16,640 around how this works. We believe and then we receive, 186 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,920 and you're secure in the gospel because God gives you His 187 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,960 Spirit. You hear, you believe, and you 188 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:27,840 receive. That's what Ephesians chapter 2, 189 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,080 chapter one, verse 13. You were sealed with that Holy 190 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:37,440 Spirit of promise. You were sealed with that Holy 191 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:43,320 Spirit of promise. So you were sealed. 192 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,480 Let's talk about this word. You were sealed with that Holy 193 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:49,600 Spirit of promise. This is another word that's 194 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,160 going to give us incredible security of what happened 195 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,520 whenever we chose to believe in the gospel. 196 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,080 You know, it's a seal like a seal. 197 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,360 No, you not know who that is. That's a seal. 198 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,600 OK, well, you know that seal. But no, not, not that kind of 199 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:13,920 seal like a well, that's a different kind of seal. 200 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,240 You know, let me just show you from the Bible. 201 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,200 I think I have it in your notes, an example of a seal protecting 202 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,000 from tampering. So that's what the seal does. 203 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:28,680 It it closes something up, it seals it within. 204 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:33,200 And this is what happens when you choose to believe God seals 205 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,040 you up. He's the one that does that. 206 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,800 It's not something that we're keeping the seal going. 207 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,880 It's not like back in the day whenever I used to live a lost 208 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:50,920 man's life and we would be partying and drinking things we 209 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:52,520 shouldn't. We, we used to call it breaking 210 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,160 the seal whenever you have to use the bathroom for the first 211 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:57,200 time. It's not like that. 212 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,040 It's not a thing that you get to choose to break the seal, right? 213 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,720 This is a seal that God's sets upon you like a seal of 214 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:08,280 security. You know that you feel really 215 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,880 safe. It's for your protection, no. 216 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:17,320 Here's maybe a more practical example that if you ever order 217 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:19,960 something from Uber Eats, I think even Little Caesars does 218 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,360 this now. They put a little seal over the 219 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,360 thing to say nobody has tampered with this particular thing, 220 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,000 right? And if you actually go online, 221 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,880 you can find examples of Uber Eats drivers that have put 222 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:34,880 poison and other things in people's food. 223 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,520 So we're glad when we understand that the seal is there to 224 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,960 protect things from tampering. And this is what happened. 225 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,120 The Bible uses this word for Jesus. 226 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,800 When they made the sepulchre, sure, they sealed the stone 227 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,120 instead of wash. This is so that they could 228 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,200 ensure that he was really dead and going to stay in the grave. 229 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,520 They wanted to authorize it in some way. 230 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,600 So I don't know exactly what it looked like, but in some way 231 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,040 they, they put something over the tomb that they would know if 232 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,120 it's been tampered with. And this is what God does for us 233 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,520 when we're saved. He, he protects us from 234 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:16,040 tampering. You're not going to be 235 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,400 possessed. You're not going to be taken to 236 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,000 hell. You're not going to be 237 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,000 overtaken. He made a change in you. 238 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,080 But this is there's also another use, I put it in your notes as 239 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:33,960 well, of a seal that validates from a royal source, like a seal 240 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:40,120 of approval or I've got these seals keep showing up in my 241 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,600 notes. Maybe more like the seal of a 242 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,840 king. No, I don't know where these 243 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,040 seals keep coming from. I don't know who was messing 244 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:53,480 with my slides, but maybe another Bible example, right. 245 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,680 The book of Esther says for the writing, which is written in the 246 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,640 King's name and sealed with the King's ring. 247 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:06,120 May no man reverse. This is another kind of seal 248 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,280 that the king would put wax on something and he would have a 249 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:12,960 signet that he would press upon it and it would be the seal of 250 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,600 his authority. Like this is a legitimately 251 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,480 signed document instead of a forgery. 252 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,200 This is what God does for us. He seals us up and he puts his 253 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:29,240 authority, his divine royal source on us and says you're 254 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:33,720 mine. So you are secure in the gospel 255 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:39,240 because God gives you his Holy Spirit, and that's a job of the 256 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,120 Holy Spirit. It is to seal you and reveal to 257 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,720 you that you are God's, you're his, you're sealed up. 258 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:52,760 He also has promised you. He sealed you and He promised 259 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,720 you. Verse 13 says the Holy Spirit is 260 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,680 called the Holy Spirit of promise. 261 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:05,680 Now this, this is an interesting phrase, the Holy Spirit of 262 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,480 promise. So a promise is I, I grew up in 263 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,040 church and there was this thing back in the probably the 90s 264 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,240 called promise keepers where men and fathers and sons would go to 265 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,040 these conferences about how to be better men to keep their 266 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,880 promises and stuff. But you know what a promise is 267 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:24,079 right? Whenever you're like, no, I'm 268 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:26,040 really, really, really good for my word. 269 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:32,600 Like trust me, I promise you, and it's supposed to be a 270 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:38,240 declaration or assurance that one will do or will refrain from 271 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:43,040 doing something specified. So if I promise you that I'm 272 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,800 going to do this, then I'm I'm going to come through. 273 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,880 Or if I promise you that I'm going to stop doing that, then 274 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,320 for sure, like I'm going to stop doing that. 275 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:54,960 That's how we use the word promise. 276 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,440 And the Bible uses this word for the Holy Spirit. 277 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,640 He's the Holy Spirit of promise. Check this out y'all. 278 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:08,400 God keeps his promises. I think that is your next blank. 279 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:16,520 God keeps all of his promises. When he makes a promise, it is 280 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:21,560 based on the truth. Galatians also uses the same 281 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,160 phrase to say that we might receive the promise of the 282 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:29,280 Spirit through faith. So the way we receive the Holy 283 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,280 Spirit is when we hear the gospel and we believe, then we 284 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,880 receive and it is by faith. It's not by wafting the air or 285 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,200 works or baptism. We're trying to be a super 286 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,800 Christian. You receive the Spirit when 287 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,520 you're born again. If you want to look into that, 288 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,040 Romans chapter 8 is a great place to go to help you figure 289 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:51,880 out, am I saved? Am I not saved? 290 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,880 What is the Holy Spirit's role in my life? 291 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:58,040 Particularly Romans 8 and verse 9 will say that if you don't 292 00:18:58,040 --> 00:18:59,760 have the Holy Spirit, you're not saved. 293 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:05,600 So you either are or you aren't. And if you are saved, God makes 294 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,960 a promise to you. He keeps all of His promises. 295 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:14,280 In fact, He has promised to us eternal life. 296 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,080 So how could God promise eternal life to those that would believe 297 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,480 and then dangle it in front of you to say, we'll see if you 298 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:25,200 measure up to where you can get that. 299 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,200 That's that's not how the gospel works. 300 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:35,760 We are secure because we can trust God for his promises. 301 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:41,680 My security isn't based on how I feel You, you ever do that? 302 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,360 Do you ever make your decisions based on how you feel? 303 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,960 I can speak from experience this weekend that that does not work 304 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,200 out very well. Our feelings are not always 305 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,000 true. So if you're born again, if you 306 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,000 trusted the gospel, you have the Holy Spirit. 307 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,800 Whether you feel like it or not, whether you're listening to 308 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:07,120 Maverick City or you're here in our worship experience, the Holy 309 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:11,840 Spirit is with you. You're also secure in the gospel 310 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:19,760 because of his purchase. There was a purchase that was 311 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,120 made at the time that you were saved. 312 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,000 There was a transaction. Read verse 14 in Ephesians 313 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,400 chapter one, it says which is the earnest of our inheritance 314 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,320 until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the 315 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,840 praise of His glory. And if you read Ephesians 316 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,440 chapter one, there is some dense language. 317 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:41,040 There's a lot of really good stuff in there. 318 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,120 So we're going to take some time to break this down, but we see 319 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,000 that there is this earnest of the inheritance. 320 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,360 God did something, He did something to purchase us at what 321 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:55,120 time He sealed us with his Spirit and first he made a down 322 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:59,520 payment. God made a down payment on you. 323 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,080 This might sound strange, so let me explain. 324 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:09,680 In verse 14, the Bible uses the word earnest in earnest. 325 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,360 It's not a word that you probably use everyday. 326 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,840 You could say I'm doing it earnestly, like with a lot of 327 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,800 effort, but here it's not a verb. 328 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,560 It is the earnest of our inheritance. 329 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:29,480 And so I want to explain. And earnest is that which is in 330 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,240 advance and gives promise of something to come. 331 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,480 That is why I called it a down payment. 332 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,240 That's probably the way we would say it today. 333 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,480 God says here, I'm giving you this, but I'm coming back for 334 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,280 more. I'm not done. 335 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:49,200 We we would use this in the sense of like buying a house. 336 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,960 This is the favoritest house I've ever lived in. 337 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:57,520 In 2017, that's when I moved to Cartersville, GA and I was 338 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,520 terrified to buy a home. I never had a mortgage before. 339 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:01,840 There's bang. He's 1. 340 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,160 Watson is inside of Amber right there in that picture. 341 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:12,320 And to buy this house, I think I only had to give like $400.00 in 342 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,680 earnest money. Maybe it was 1000, but it wasn't 343 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:17,040 much because I'd never done this before. 344 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,200 And I was like, it's, that's all you want. 345 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,960 I don't, I don't understand. But the earnest money you place 346 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:27,040 down to say, I'm interested, don't give it to anybody else. 347 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,760 But I have time, 30 days to do due diligence and ensure that 348 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:32,920 we're actually going to follow through with a contractual 349 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,200 obligation. So I put like 400 down on a 350 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,160 house that is worth way more than $400.00. 351 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,400 And this is how the earnest works for us. 352 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:49,400 He says, I I'm, I'm securing a deposit in you for me with this 353 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,120 house. It wasn't eternal because in 354 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:57,520 2024 we left this house and we moved to to Oregon. 355 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:00,600 Well, we kind of lived around for a while and we came to 356 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,560 Oregon, but you can see my family expanded. 357 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:08,880 I've got three sons now and man, life changes and we move on. 358 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,920 So welcome to my story. But that's the earnest. 359 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,840 That's how it works. You place a down payment to say, 360 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,240 I'm coming for this, secure it for me. 361 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,200 And God does that for us. The earnest of our inheritance 362 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:26,280 is the Holy Spirit. A good idea for Bible study is 363 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,280 that we corroborate multiple witnesses. 364 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,080 The Bible says in in two or three words, let every witness 365 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,040 be established. And so this same phrase is used 366 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:37,840 in the book of Second Corinthians where it says 367 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:41,840 basically the same thing that God has sealed us and given us 368 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,800 the earnest of the spirit in our hearts. 369 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,320 I already told you that I've I'm obviously using Webster a lot 370 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,200 tonight with definitions, but Webster said in a non 371 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,840 definition, he said it this way. This sense of the word is 372 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,400 primary denoting that that which goes before or in advance. 373 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,920 Check this out you you want to get your definitions from a guy 374 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,000 who would say something like this about the word. 375 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,440 Thus the earnest of the Spirit is given to Saints as a pledge 376 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,840 or assurance of their future enjoyment of God's presence in 377 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:23,120 favor Don't go to the modern Webster by the way, the modern 378 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:25,680 ones overtaken with new definitions, but this is the guy 379 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:30,160 who assimilated all of the many much of the vocabulary that we 380 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,360 have and he was a believer. He would use that or say that of 381 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,280 the of the word earnest. So God makes a down payment. 382 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,680 He says I'm coming for you and then he is coming to redeem it. 383 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:51,600 He will be there to redeem what he calls in verse 14, the 384 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:56,280 purchased possession. Now in most cases we probably 385 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,440 don't want to consider ourselves a purchased possession, right? 386 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:05,000 That feels a little like maybe we wouldn't like that, but in 387 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,200 the sense of the gospel, if you're looking for security with 388 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,960 who I am, am I saved? To know that you have been 389 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:17,960 purchased says I got an owner, somebody owns me, this isn't me. 390 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,760 Somebody else has taken ownership, but the purchase 391 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:24,640 possession has not been fully redeemed. 392 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,920 You are saved and sealed with the Spirit. 393 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:31,920 But we await a day that we would call glorification where we 394 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,680 actually see the Lord in the air. 395 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,720 I think about this. I don't have any pictures of 396 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:43,600 this because this was pre smartphone. 397 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:49,080 But I used to work at GameStop and I don't have a single photo 398 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,960 of my my time working game at GameStop. 399 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,800 That's when I met my wife. There was a Co worker that I had 400 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,440 that she also worked at Lowe's. And our, those Co workers were 401 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,720 married and they said, let's put these two people together. 402 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,480 And we met on a blind date while I was working at GameStop. 403 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,720 But in that world, we would have to sell video games, right? 404 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,480 And this is before you just download everything. 405 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:15,080 You'd have to go buy a disk. And it was my job to get people 406 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,680 to buy things, right? And so we would, we would track 407 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,000 numbers, we were tracked on how many pre-orders we would get, 408 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:24,600 like the new call of whatever is coming out. 409 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,920 And so we need to sell more of it. 410 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:31,160 Because if you put $5 down at my store, you're not going to just 411 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,960 go to Walmart and buy it later when it actually comes out 412 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,960 because you know, it's $5 off at my store because you already put 413 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,800 the $5 down. This is how pre-orders work. 414 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,640 On the day of the release though, you get the purchased 415 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,360 possession. The pre-order just signifies I, 416 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:53,120 I have one waiting for me and this is our relationship with 417 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:54,600 God. You are purchased. 418 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,800 There's a receipt. There was a transaction made and 419 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,360 God gave you the Spirit that says I'm coming, you're mine. 420 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,160 First John chapter 3, actually turn your Bible to 1st John 421 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:16,550 chapter 3. Let's read the whole verse first 422 00:27:16,550 --> 00:27:24,520 John chapter 3 and verse 2. Beloved now are we the sons of 423 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,200 God and it does not yet appear what we shall be. 424 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,480 So if you're born again today, the Bible calls you a son of 425 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,320 God. You can say daughter of God, but 426 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,640 the Bible uses the the word son. It says we do not. 427 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,280 It does not yet appear what we shall be, meaning we shall be 428 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,800 something there is a future that we can't fully see yet. 429 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:50,440 We haven't been totally redeemed, but it goes on to say, 430 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:57,240 but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, 431 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:04,640 for we shall see Him as He is. You have this hope, and this is 432 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,120 the hope that Ephesians is talking about when it says the 433 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:12,120 redemption of the purchase possession is the day whenever 434 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:17,800 you get to see Him face to face. And this might be strange to 435 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:22,440 think about, but the Bible says that we will put on immortality. 436 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:31,680 You duly, upon your right, will be given immortality because of 437 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,320 your faith in the gospel. So if you forgot this, you're 438 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,400 going to live forever. Did you guys forget that? 439 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,320 I mean, how many times do we forget that I'm going to live 440 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,720 forever? It's not always going to be like 441 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:50,960 this. I won't always suffer. 442 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,520 God is with me and it's going to be even better. 443 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,200 Whatever's after this doesn't compare. 444 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,280 That's what Paul said. I can't even compare life now to 445 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,560 life, what it's going to be like for eternity with Jesus. 446 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:09,080 So you have security because of your decision to believe the 447 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,560 gospel. You have security because God 448 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:16,640 has sealed you and given his Spirit that says, I promise you 449 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:21,880 have security, that you have a future that yet awaits you when 450 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,080 you're totally redeemed from the transaction that's already been 451 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:30,560 made. So how could we of all people 452 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:37,000 forget that? How could we go back to trying 453 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,600 to keep everything together because we think it's on us? 454 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,480 For me, honestly, when I was being discipled, it took me 455 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:47,520 about two years to fully accept this. 456 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,560 It was just ingrained in me from my childhood or just the way 457 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,640 that I thought about it, and it was hard for me to come to what 458 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,400 we commonly call now eternal security. 459 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,240 The fact that when you're saved, you're going to stay saved. 460 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:03,840 There's nothing that can separate. 461 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:08,280 Go read Romans chapter 8 before today. 462 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,280 Let's take a moment and settle ourselves down for where we are. 463 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,800 I would say it's probably safe that everyone in this room is a 464 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:26,080 believer tonight, but maybe there were some of those things 465 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:27,880 that we believe that aren't true. 466 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,080 What have you been basing your decisions off of? 467 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,520 Has it been your security in Christ? 468 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,200 Have you been listening to the Holy Spirit that's in you? 469 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,560 He's with you. He isn't going away. 470 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,520 Maybe you've forgotten about the hope of heaven. 471 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,920 We get distracted, focused on things that are right now. 472 00:30:54,960 --> 00:31:02,120 How about for us as a church, six weeks of me just going over 473 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,720 the gospel with you. How are we going to steward it 474 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,520 better? Could you imagine sharing the 475 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,040 gospel with somebody and saying, hey, why don't you come get 476 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:14,640 saved and come believe this really thing, hard thing that I 477 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,240 feel like I can't even do very well. 478 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:20,640 Yes, come and wonder if you're saved too. 479 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:26,280 How ridiculous. We ought to be evangelizing out 480 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,480 of a heart that says, I have security, I have the Holy 481 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:33,000 Spirit, I know God, I have a future, I have a home in heaven. 482 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,600 What if our church were full of people like that? 483 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,360 When people came in the room, they just feel like, I don't 484 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:41,760 know, these people are really confident that God is good, 485 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:43,520 they're going to heaven, they're saved, and man, they do. 486 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,440 This thing is wonderful. Wouldn't that be like an 487 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:53,320 infectious audience to be in? So let's pray that God makes us 488 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,600 this kind of people, that people can come in, they can waver, 489 00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:59,960 they can wander, and we can give them confidence. 490 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:05,160 Have you believed the truth? Can I show you the truth and 491 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:09,360 what it'll do to change you? Let's take a moment and pray, 492 00:32:17,260 --> 00:32:19,500 Lord, we come before you tonight and we're thankful. 493 00:32:24,620 --> 00:32:28,700 That song that Jay brought before us, this is more than I 494 00:32:28,700 --> 00:32:31,980 deserve. None of us deserve to be saved, 495 00:32:31,980 --> 00:32:38,840 to be secure. But You're so good that you died 496 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:41,240 for sinners, and because we believed, you made an 497 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:47,760 unchangeable change in US. God, would you help us to make 498 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,760 every decision in our life based on what is true in Your Word? 499 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,080 Would you help us to listen to Your Spirit inside of us that 500 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:06,000 reminds us that we're yours? Would you remind us of the hope 501 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,920 that we have to see You on that glorious and fateful day when we 502 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:19,800 put on immortality? And would you make our church a 503 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:24,080 place that you can trust, that you can bring people and we will 504 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:28,640 represent you well and walk in the Spirit and point people to 505 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:32,160 the solution? God, I pray that this time would 506 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,200 just dramatically affect us, that when we go out and 507 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,440 evangelize, that we would just recall to memory the things 508 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,560 we've learned throughout this time. 509 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,560 We'd be more equipped and more effective because we believe it 510 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,720 ourselves and we live it out. I pray in Christ stand. 511 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:47,880 Amen.