SCRIPTURE LESSON.

THE SEALING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Him hath God the Father sealed. St. John 6-27.

Who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. II Cor. 1-22.

In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Eph. 1-13.

Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption. Eph. 4-30.

When Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan, the Father opened the heavens and put his seal on him as the Messiah. “Him hath God the Father sealed” and now He that sealed the Redeemer has come to seal the redeemed.

What is it to be sealed unto the day of redemption? Is it to be converted? Is it the same thing as regeneration, or is it a later experience of the soul after regeneration has taken place?

I believe that sealing is a later and brighter experience of the soul for the following reasons:

1. The seal is always something different from the letter or document upon which it is placed. The same hand may place the seal upon the document, but it is always a separate and distinguishing act.

2. To be born of the Spirit is one glorious thing, but to be sealed is another thing that is given the one that is born. The sealing is always subsequent to the thing that is sealed. The new man is to be sealed; the old man is to be crucified. "After that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.,,

3. What is the seal? Is it the fruit of the Spirit or one of the gifts of the Spirit? Is it the comfort of the Spirit, or the joy of the Spirit? No, No. It is not one or all of these things, precious as they are. The seal is the Holy Spirit Himself. “Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” The Spirit is always Christ’s seal and the Spirit abides forever with His sealed ones, comforting, securing, sustaining them. When a man knows himself to belong to God, believes God, honors God with his faith, then Jesus honors that faith with his Spirit, giving him a divine confirmation of his salvation.

Whosoever believes God, sets his seal that God is true, and God will honor the faith of that man and seal him with the Holy Spirit.

I. The purpose of the seal is to confirm and make certain the document on which it is placed. It is plainer and more easily seen and understood. The writing is often in secret on the inside, but the seal is on the outside where it is easily seen. Officers carry the seal of the state and place it on documents to make them secure. The Roman offleers put the seal of Rome on the tomb of Jesus to make it impossible for the disciples to steal the body of their Lord. The seal gives authority. It is like the star and uniform of the policeman. It gives authority to execute the law of the city. So when the Holy Spirit seals us, we are under the authority of God to carry on the work of salvation. That is what the Centurion saw in Jesus, when he said, "I am a man under authority and I say to this man 'come’ and he cometh; to this man, “go’ and he goeth.” "Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed.” So God gives his sealed ones authority to do his will and He promises protection in doing it. No one shall set on you to hurt you. They will "set” on you all right, but they will not hurt you, for the sealed ones are immortal till their work is done. "Sealed unto the day of redemption.”

II. The seal carries and imprints the likeness of him that seals the document. When the King seals a document, the image or picture of the King is left upon it, the face answers to the face of the king, hand to hand, foot to foot. The King's picture is there, so we are all to carry the King's image. We love what He loves and hate what He hates. After Pentecost, the disciples were taken before the council and the scribes and priests took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Their understanding was like his understanding. They judged things as he judged. The grace of Christ was in them. They bore the image of the second Adam.

III. Sealing means appropriation. Men seal things that belong to themselves. Shepherds seal their own sheep and not others. Merchants seal their own wares. Lumbermen put a seal upon their own logs so they can always find and claim their own property. God comes down to our customs and habits and puts his seal on us, then claims us wherever we may go. We are marked men and women. God claims us as his own property.

Alfred Cookman used to lift up his hands and say, “These hands belong to God. These feet are His property. This body belongs to him. My body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Ezekiel saw a man clothed with linen, carrying a writers’ inkhorn by his side, and he heard the Lord tell him to go through Jerusalem and set a mark on the foreheads of all men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that were done in the midst thereof, and this mark saved them when the destroyers came upon the city. God claimed them as his own.

IV. The seal is a certified declaration that the soul is up to the standard. Sometimes in the business world men get their measures too large or too small and the government sends agents through the country to see that the quart measure is no more nor less than two pints, the yard measure is no more nor less than thirty-six inches. Then when it is the correct measure, he will seal it and be pleased. Thus the seal of the Spirit is the certificate that God is pleased. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened and the Father said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.,, When you are all on the altar with weaknesses, infirmities, and all, God is well pleased with you. He knoweth our frame and remembereth that we are but dust.

A man tells of a mother with a little boy whose frail limbs were covered with steel braces, hobbling along the street, and she was saying to him all the time, “That's good, that's fine, why you are doing splendidly." Then the little boy would try to do better just to please his mother. Directly he said, “Mamma, watch me, I am going to run." He took two or three steps and one foot caught on a brace and he would have fallen, but she caught him and kissed his cheek and said, “That was fine, that was splendid." Just so our heavenly Father is pleased with us, in our hobbling, stumbling efforts to please him. He knoweth our faults, our weaknesses and our infirmities.

V. The Seal is a sacred and holy thing. It is never to be broken. When the Jew brought the sacrifice to the altar, it was sacrilege to touch it. When my friend C. was going from Windsor, Canada, to Winnipeg, he had to go through this country from Detroit to Minneapolis. At Detroit after he put his goods into the hands of the American agents, he went to one of his trunks to open it, but the agent drew his revolver and said, “That trunk belongs to the United States, and if you break that seal, I’ll send you to the penitentiary.” It is a sacred thing to be sealed unto the day of redemption, the day of deliverance in heaven. He will take us through to “that beautiful world on high, where saints and angels sing. A world where peace and pleasure reign and heavenly praises ring.”

VI. The Spirit in the sealing works in us four things that are worthy of our notice.

1. The seal is a secret witness to the soul that we are the sons of God and enables us to cry, Abba, Father.

2. The seal gives us access to the throne of grace with boldness.

3. The seal assures us that our hearts are clean and that Christ is dwelling in us by faith.

4. The seal is the secret voice of God in us, giving us peace of conscience and making us rejoice in the Lord always, for the work of the Lord makes us "sure.” Having this seal, "The Lord knoweth them that are His, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

VII. How do we know that we are sealed of God?

1. There is the sweet whispering of God’s Spirit, "Thou art mine and I am thine,” and the soul replies, "Oh, blessed fellowship, divine, Oh joy supremely sweet, companionship with Jesus here makes life with bliss replete. In union with the purest one, I find my heaven on earth begun.”

2. You will find something like Christ in the soul. Every man knows that his own soul by nature is selfish, or willful, or worldly, or deceitful. Naturally, we are depraved, and now when we find love and peace and gentleness and mercy in our souls, we know that God is in there.

3. There will be a spirit of constraining confidence, or boldness in us, and we find ourselves spontaneously going to him, saying, "Abba, Father,” especially in seasons of need, trial or suffering. Saul, when he was tried, went to the witch of Endor. Judas in his trial went to the hangman’s rope. So it is today with men who are not sealed. They go to the round of pleasure to drown their troubles. They go to the fortune teller, the clairvoyant, the witches of today. They go to the opiates, to rum, to lust, and to death. They go to the center of hell. But when a man is sealed, he goes in his trouble to God. “As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, Oh, God,” and God says, “Like one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort thee.”

4. Then there will be seasons of great joy, such spiritual raptures of the soul that it will seem like heaven upon earth. These heavenly manifestations will come sometimes before trials, as it was with Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. Sometimes they will come after the trial or conflicts are over, as it was with the disciples when they met in the room to pray, and the place was shaken and they were filled with all boldness; sometimes in the midst of the trial, as it was with Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail when at midnight, after prayer, they were so joyful in the Lord that they began to sing a dungeon duet and the angels came out of heaven to listen, and the very walls danced for joy, and a revival broke out in the jailer's house.

VIII. Grieve not the Holy Spirit.

1. You may grieve the Spirit by having a critical spirit; finding fault with prayers, singing, testimony, or preaching, or the altar work. Beware of a critical spirit.

2. You may grieve Him by being cowardly; by fearing relatives, or public opinion. Being afraid of service, afraid of responsibility, you may grieve him away.

3. You may grieve Him by prejudice and self opinion. Many people grieve the Spirit by traditions; by some false doctrines, by prejudice; we must be teachable.

4. You may grieve the Spirit by a spirit of reserve and caution. If Jesus was with us, we would be unlimited in our obedience, but we fear the Spirit will lead us into fanaticism, and so we hold ourselves back for fear we shall slide down into some abyss.

5. Sometimes we grieve the Spirit by stinginess; we fail to comply with his demands. We sing “here I give myself to Thee, friends and time and earthly store,” and then live selfish lives. Thus He is grieved.

6. We grieve the Holy Spirit by neglecting the means of grace. Attend all the means of grace. Read the Word of God; study it. Apply it to yourself. If it condemns you, apply it still more closely.