Sermons

The Spirit Guarantees Our Inheritance

Ephesians 1:13-14

Imagine you get a letter explaining that you have inherited 10 million dollars.  The money’s in a bank, and it’s yours.  But the bank is in Belgium.  You have to travel to Belgium to get it.  If you will take the time off work, get someone to take care of your kids, buy tickets for Belgium, and travel to Belgium, you will inherit a 10 million dollars.

How would you feel about that?  You’d probably be excited.  But you’d also be skeptical.  “How do I know this is for real?  How do I know there’s an inheritance of 10 million dollars in Belgium?  How do I know I won’t take the time of work and spend the money to travel and end up with nothing?”

But how would you feel if at the end of the letter there was a note: “P.S.  Enclosed is a guarantee of your inheritance – a cashier’s check for a hundred thousand dollars.  This is to show you that this is for real.  Enjoy.”

Now how would you feel?  Better, right?  A lot better.  It’s one thing to receive a letter about an inheritance.  It’s another thing to receive a guarantee of that inheritance – especially a hundred thousand dollar guarantee.

Jesus tells us that when we repent of our sins and trust our lives to Him we receive an inheritance – an inheritance that makes 10 million dollars look like nothing.  But how can we know this inheritance is real?  Does Jesus give us any guarantee of that inheritance?

To answer that let’s turn to Ephesians chapter one.  If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring one to you.  Ephesians 1 is on page 976 in the Bibles we are passing out.

Ephesians is a letter Paul wrote to a newly planted church in Ephesus, which was a harbor city on the coast of modern-day Turkey.  Paul had spent three years at around 57 AD, telling them about Jesus, training elders, and planting a church.  And then in 62 AD, when he was in prison in Rome, he wrote them this letter.

And in the first chapter Paul praises God for the wonderful saving work he has accomplished through Jesus. 

v.4 -- God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world

v.5 -- God predestined us for adoption

v.7 -- God redeemed and forgave us through Jesus

v.9 -- God made known to us His plan to unite everything in Jesus

v.11 -- God gave us an inheritance

An inheritance.  There it is.  The inheritance. 

But how can we know that inheritance is real?  Is there any guarantee of that inheritance?  Look at what Paul says in vv.13-14 --

13            In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

14            who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Here Paul is describing the time when they first heard the gospel and believed in Jesus.  Paul says that at that time they were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  This is another way of describing the gift of the Holy Spirit – when the Holy Spirit makes God the Father and Jesus the Son real to you in your experience – so you love God, you worship Jesus.

And Paul says the gift of the Spirit seals us.  This word “seal” can mean a seal that shows possession, or a seal that gives protection.  Both are biblical: the gift of the Holy Spirit shows us that we are saved and owned by God, and the gift of the Spirit protects us and keeps us persevering until the end.

But then in v.14 Paul also says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance.  And that’s what I want to focus on this morning.

So what is this inheritance?  If you are trusting Jesus, God has given you an inheritance.  Before you trusted Jesus, you did not have this inheritance.  Now that you are trusting Jesus, you have this inheritance.  So what is this inheritance?

There’s lots of passages we could look at.  But there’s one very powerful one in Revelation 21:1-7.  Let’s turn there – page 1041 in the Bibles we are passing out.  Start with v.7 –

7              The one who conquers [that means continues to fight the fight of faith, to resist sin, not perfectly, but persistently] will have this heritage [that’s the word “inheritance” in verb form], and I will be his God and he will be my son.

So the word “have this heritage” shows that vv.1-6 describe our inheritance.  If you are conquer, persevere in trusting Jesus, then at the end of your life you will experience everything in these verses.

So look at what you will experience if you are trusting Jesus.  Start with v.1 --

1              Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

2              And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3              And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

4              He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

5              And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

6              And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

7              The one who conquers will have this heritage [that’s the word “inheritance” in verb form], and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Imagine what it will be like to have God dwelling with you; having God Himself wipe away every tear from your eyes; having there be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain; having God give you drink from the spring of the water of life without payment; having God as your Father and you being His son, His daughter.  Imagine what it will be like.  If you are trusting Jesus – that’s your inheritance.  That’s yours.

Now keeping all of that in mind, let’s look back at Ephesians 1:13-14 (page 976).  We’ve just read an astonishing description of heaven.  If this is true, it’s worth our total devotion.  If this is true, it’s worth any suffering.  If this is true, it’s worth any cost.  It’s worth giving time to our neighbors and money to the poor and the gospel to our friends.  It’s worth it all – if it is true. 

So – is it true?  Can we have it guaranteed to us?  Yes.  Look again at what Paul says in Ephesians 1:13-14 --

13            In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

14            who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

If you are trusting Jesus, then God has given you a guarantee of this inheritance.  This inheritance is guaranteed to you by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. 

But how does the Holy Spirit do this?  How does the Holy Spirit guarantee the inheritance?  The answer is found in the Greek word arrabon, here translated “guarantee.”  This Greek word was used in financial transactions to describe a guarantee or down-payment or deposit. 

Just like today.  If you were going to buy a home, you’d need a whole pile of money.  So over here’s this big pile of money.  And when you first present your offer to the seller, you need to take a chunk of that money – maybe $5,000 to $15,000 dollars – and give it to him as a deposit – an arrabon.  It’s a deposit showing that you’ve got money, that your money is real, and that there’s more to come.

When God gives you the Holy Spirit, he’s giving you a deposit, a guarantee, an arrabon.  Here’s your inheritance – the amazing inheritance that will be yours at the end of your life of having God dwell with you, having God wipe away every tear from your eyes, having no more mourning or crying or pain, having God give you drink from the water of life, having God be your God and you be his son or daughter.  That’s your inheritance.

And when God gives you the Holy Spirit, He takes a small amount of your inheritance, what you will experience in heaven, and he gives it to you now.  By the Holy Spirit you experience a taste of heaven itself.

For example, in heaven we will know God’s love in its fullness.  But in Romans 5:5 Paul says that we can have a taste of that now – as God pours His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  So that outpouring of God’s love we experience now is a down-payment, a deposit, an arrabon, of the fullness of God’s love we will know in heaven.

In heaven we will behold Jesus face to face.  But in 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says that we can have a taste of that now – as the Holy Spirit now enables us to behold Jesus.    So the experience we have now of beholding Jesus is a deposit, an arrabon, a guarantee of the full experience of beholding Jesus face to face in heaven.

Here’s how P. T. O’Brien put it in his commentary on Ephesians 1:14 --

“In giving the Holy Spirit to us God is not simply promising us our final inheritance, but actually providing us with a foretaste of our final inheritance…”

A foretaste of our final inheritance; an actual taste of our final inheritance, a small experience of our final inheritance.  That’s what God gives us by the Holy Spirit. 

A lot of people say that Christianity is just pie in the sky bye and bye.  But that’s not true.  There is pie in the sky, no doubt.  But it’s not just pie in the sky.  Here’s how we should explain this to people.

Picture it like this.  Here’s a Marie Callendar’s pie.  French Apple.  It’s looking really good.  Think of it as pie in the sky.  And here we are way over here.  Now that pie is really important.  Because we are living for that pie, we are saying no to lesser things for the sake of that pie, we are fighting sin for the sake of that pie, and when we go through hard times we are strengthened with thoughts of that pie.

And so to help us, God gives us a slice of that pie now, in this life.  God takes some of what we will experience in heaven, and lets us experience a taste of it now.  And when we taste it now, we know it’s real, we know it’s ours, and we know it’s worth everything.

Here’s how David Brainerd experienced this.  David Brainerd was in his 20’s and a missionary to the American Indians in the 1700’s.  Here’s what he wrote in his journal on two different days:

Lord’s Day, August 15.  Felt much comfort and devotedness to God this day.  At night, it was refreshing to get alone with God and pour out my soul.  Oh, who can conceive of the sweetness of communion with the blessed God, but those who have experience of it.  Glory to God forever, that I may taste heaven here below.

Friday, August 20.  I appeared so vile to myself that I hardly dared to think of being seen especially on account of spiritual pride.  However, tonight I enjoyed a sweet hour alone with God; I was lifted above the frowns and flatteries of this lower world, had a sweet relish of heavenly joys, and my soul did as it were really taste of heaven. (95)

That’s how the Holy Spirit guarantees our inheritance – he gives us a foretaste of our future inheritance by giving us a taste of that inheritance now – by giving us an actual experience of that inheritance now.  As a result we know by experience that the inheritance is real, that it is ours, and that it is worth everything.

Now Paul does not mean that this experience is constant.  But I think he means it can be frequent.  And I don’t think Paul means this experience is necessarily huge.  But even when it’s small, it’s real.  Even when it’s small, it’s infinitely more satisfying than anything else.  Even when it’s small, it’s profoundly strengthening.

So here’s the question.  Do you experience this?  Do you know what it is to have the Holy Spirit give you a foretaste of your inheritance – a foretaste of God’s love, a foretaste of God’s presence, a foretaste of Jesus’ glory?  Do you experience this?

It’s crucial.  Absolutely crucial.  Why.  Why is this so crucial?  Think of how it would help you to have a foretaste of your inheritance.  How would it help?  Let me mention three ways.

First, it guarantees that the inheritance is real.  When the Holy Spirit gives you a taste of Jesus’ love, that is so real that you know it’s Him, and not just something conjured up by you – you know that Jesus is real.  You know that the inheritance is real.  And when you know that He is real and that the inheritance is real – you know that it makes total sense to be totally devoted to Jesus.

Second, it guarantees that the inheritance is yours.  The only people who get small foretastes of the inheritance are those who will get the total inheritance.  So this is one way that God assures you that you are saved – by giving you a foretaste of His presence, His glory, His comfort, His forgiveness.  So when you experience this, you will be assured that your future is in His hands, that your future is awesome, so you can live boldly and riskily to advance Jesus’ mission.

Third, it guarantees that the inheritance is all-satisfying.  When you experience a foretaste of the inheritance, no matter how small – you will be absolutely and completely filled and satisfied.  Just a drop of Jesus’ presence is infinitely more satisfying than an ocean of anything else.  And when you have a foretaste of Jesus, and are completely satisfied, you will be strengthened to turn from lesser things and live for Him alone.

One last question: How can I experience this more?  Notice in vv.13-14 what you did at first to be sealed with the Spirit – to receive the Spirit as the guarantee of you inheritance --

13            In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

14            who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

What you did was hear the word of truth and believe in Him.  That’s how you first experienced the Spirit making the inheritance real to you, and that’s how you continue to experience the Spirit making the inheritance real to you.

When we earnestly hear the word of God, and turn our heart to trust Jesus, the Holy Spirit will take some of our inheritance and let us experience it now.  That’s how we experience this.

This can happen during worship or the teaching Sunday mornings.  This can happen as you are at Starbucks sharing verses with a friend.  This can happen as you wake up early to read the Bible.

Picture it like this.  In your future there is the pie of your inheritance.  And God wants to give you slices of that pie now.  God can give you a slice during Sunday worship, during the Sunday teaching, while you are sharing verses with a friend, when you wake up early to read God’s Word.

Are you experiencing this?  It’s yours.  Earnestly hear the word of God, and turn your heart to trust Jesus.

Questions?

So this week let’s be intentional about seeking this work of the Holy Spirit as we hear God’s Word and trust in Jesus.  And then in our home groups let’s share ways we are experiencing this, as well as questions that have come up.