+INJ Pentecost 8B   July 26^th and 27^th, 2009 +

Ephesians 1:13-14 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Praise God for his Seal of Salvation!

1. He includes you in Christ by his Word

2. He claims you as his by his Spirit

Imagine the scene in your mind: you walk out of church on a Sunday, and head for home. Didn’t we just sing that hymn a few weeks ago? And that other hymn, is there anyone who enjoys singing that? I mean, can you get any less cheerful-sounding? And the sermon got a little long, don’t you think? I followed it for awhile, but then I got lost. Oh, hey did you see who was there? Nice of them to show up once in awhile.

Now, try that same scene again, but with a few changes: you walk out of church on a Sunday and head for home. Someone asks you, so how was church? Amazing. Indescribable. Incredible. God came to me. He spoke to me. He told me he loved me. He told me all my sins were forgiven. He wrapped me up close to him and promised to hold me by his side forever. He bent down from heaven to kiss my soul. Then, He sent me on my way with his divine blessing.

If only we could remember what the Gospel ministry really is: God’s seal of salvation. He uses his Word and sacraments to reach down from on high and press his love into your heart like a seal into hot wax. You probably know that a seal is the official mark of an authentic document. A birth certificate or marriage certificate or death certificate needs to have the raised seal on it to be considered authentic. It’s the official stamp of approval from the powers that be: this is for real, this is true for you. The Gospel ministry is God’s seal of salvation. This morning, we want to come to appreciate that and praise God for it. Praise God for his seal of salvation! And when God seals us for salvation by Word and sacrament, he’s really doing two things: he includes us in Christ by his Word; and he claims as his by his Spirit.

In Christ. Over 10 times Paul says it in these opening verses. In Christ. Praise be to God, Paul says, because he has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Then Paul names those blessings: 1 through 4. First, Paul says, God chose us in Christ, before the creation of the world. Already in eternity, God graciously hand-picked us to be his children. Second, God forgave our sins by redeeming us through Jesus. Christ’s life and death paid the ransom-price to set our sinful souls free. Third, God called his chosen people into together into one body, the body of Christ.

Wonderful blessings. God’s election to salvation. Redemption by Christ’s blood. Calling into God’s family. All of it is there for us IN CHRIST. Only in Christ. Outside of Christ, no blessing, no forgiveness, no salvation. So how do we know that those blessings are for us? By birth, Paul says, we were excluded, outside, without hope and without God in the world. He says we were dead in our transgressions and sins. So where did that leave us? A whole pile of spiritual blessings in Christ… and us, on the outside, apart from Christ, dead in sin, no blessings, no salvation.

But then blessing # 4 comes along, where our two verses focus in. Blessing number 4 is the link between all those spiritual blessings in Christ and us: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal. In the ancient world, a seal was used for proving authenticity, like a signature or a Social Security Number, or a fingerprint. The seal was a cyclinder that was engraved with a unique design; you took that seal and rolled it in damp clay, so the seal left an impression on the clay. The clay was dried or baked to preserve the imprint. Seals were used for confidential letters, official documents, and as a mark of ownership.

The Gospel ministry is what God uses to seal us for salvation. That’s why we call the Word and sacraments God’s means of grace. God made sure that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. God made sure that his Word came to you in Baptism. With those tools, God sealed you for salvation. You are included in Christ. And in Christ, God says to you, all my spiritual blessings are yours. You are my chosen child, you are redeemed and paid for by the blood of Christ, you have forgiveness for all your sin. 

How can we not simply stand in awe of that? How can we not fall to our knees at the thought of God coming to us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, and sealing them all to us by Word and sacrament? But instead, so often, we look at gospel ministry only from a worldly perspective. We get very distracted by what the gospel minister is like, the pastor is not a strong enough leader; the pastor is too strong a leader; the teacher doesn’t have enough control over the kids; the teacher has too much control over the kids; personality traits, strengths and weaknesses, on and on… So many times, whether we’re on this side of pulpit or that side, whether we’re standing in the front of the classroom, or sitting in the desks, we fail to appreciate the gospel ministry for what it is. God sends his every blessing to us in a way that will connect with us, and we stand in judgment because of the packaging. We need to repent of that. And let's turn back to that very comfort God does send and seal to us.

Let's praise God for sending us his every blessing in Christ, for sealing it into our hearts. Let's praise God that we don't have to climb into heaven to find forgiveness, or work toward, or decide to accept, but that we simply receive it. For free. God takes us, includes us in Christ, and seals to us his forgiveness. Let's praise God for it.

In the ancient world a seal really referred to two things: the tool that makes the mark and the mark that you’re left with afterward. God’s gospel ministry, his work in Word and sacrament is his tool. But what is the seal that we are left with? Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the seal in our hearts. He is the official mark from God of our salvation. God promised to send his Holy Spirit way back in the Old Testament, and then again on the day of Pentecost: Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and for your children, for all who far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call. That’s us. Through the means of Grace, at our baptism and as we heard the Word, God has given us the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit is ours to keep. Paul says that the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. You know what a deposit is. If you’re at a garage sale and want to come back later to buy something, you might put down a deposit on it so no one else buys it. The deposit is your claim on that item. The person selling it agrees that it’s yours and knows you’ll come back to complete the transaction. That’s what God does on us. God placed the Holy Spirit on us to seal us for salvation, to claim us as his. He gave us the Holy Spirit as a deposit, as proof that he’s going to complete the transaction later on. We are already God’s possession, purchased by Christ’s blood, claimed as his by the seal of the Spirit. But then on the Last Day will come the redemption of those who are God’s possession. God will cash in on us.

And we will cash in on our inheritance. When Jesus died on the cross, he purchased eternal life for all people. When he rose from the dead, he conquered death for all people. When we were baptized, God sealed us for salvation – he connected us with Christ, forgave all our sin, and adopted us into his family as his dear children. All God's blessings already belong to us. On the Last Day, we come into our inheritance. We'll be raised from the dead, freed from the effects of sin forever, and blessed with eternity in God's presence. And all of it is for God’s eternal praise and glory. So let's praise God! Praise God for his seal of salvation.

When you stop to think about what God's gospel ministry is all about, it takes your breath away: it's God's powerful seal of salvation. It's God's tool to take away our sins through faith in Jesus, claims us as his prized possession by giving us his Spirit, and makes us his children and heirs of heaven. As we think about Gospel ministry, support Gospel ministry, pray for Gospel ministry, and carry out Gospel ministry, both as called public servants and as individual members of the body of Christ, let’s remember what the Gospel ministry really is: God’s seal of salvation. Let’s appreciate it and praise God for it! Amen.