Jeffrey C. Long

This sermon was preached on February 6th, 2005 at Filer Mennonite Church in Filer, ID

Imagine for a moment the mystery and delight of not just hearing, but seeing the story of Jesus for the first time, almost as an eyewitness.

That’s what happened to a tribe in the jungles of East Asia, when missionaries showed them the Jesus film. Not only had these people never heard of Jesus, they had never seen a motion picture. Then, all at once, on one unforgettable evening, they saw it all—the gospel in their own language, visible and real.

Imagine again how it felt to see this good man Jesus, who healed the sick and was adored by children, held without trial and beaten by jeering soldiers. As they watched this, the people came unglued. They stood up and began to shout at the cruel men on the screen, demanding that this outrage stop.

When nothing happened, they attacked the missionary running the projector. Perhaps he was responsible for this injustice! He was forced to stop the film and explain that the story wasn’t over yet, that there was more. So they settled back onto the ground, holding their emotions in tenuous check.

Then came the crucifixion. Again, the people could not hold back. They began to weep and wail with such loud grief that once again the film had to be stopped. The missionary again tried to calm them, explaining that the story still wasn’t over, that there was more. So they composed themselves and sat down to see what happened next.

Then came the resurrection. Pandemonium broke out this time, but for a different reason. The gathering had spontaneously erupted into a party. The noise now was of jubilation, and it was deafening. The people were dancing and slapping each other on the back. Christ is risen, indeed!

Again the missionary had to shut off the projector. But this time he didn’t tell them to calm down and wait for what was next. All that was supposed to happen—in the story and in their lives—was happening.

Citation: Ben Patterson, “Resurrection and Pandemonium,” LeadershipJournal.net 4-13-04



God has two methods He uses to reach lost people. Hearing the word of truth, and the calling of the Holy Spirit.

Do you remember the first time you heard the gospel? The Word of Truth?

I don’t remember the first time I heard it, but I remember the first time I responded.

5 day club story. Only 5 or 6 years old. I had attended church with my mother when I was younger then that. And must have been in Sunday School.

But there was something about this time that I heard it that made me want to say yes to it.

Responded multiple times.



I believed.

Read Ephesians 1:13-14

[Jesus] in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth,

the gospel of your salvation,

in whom, having also believed,

you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

14 who is a pledge of our inheritance,

to the redemption of God’s own possession,

to the praise of his glory.

Hearing the word of truth, the good news of salvation like I did as a 6 year old boy, like the natives heard in the Jesus movie provokes belief in the humble heart that has been prepared by the Holy Spirit to believe.

What a simple but profound thing belief is.

I am reading a fascinating book right now called Quicksilver. It takes place during the 1600′s and focuses on a group of people known as Natural Philosophers and in particular the life, research and exploits of Isaac Newton.

Natural philosophy is a term given to the objective study of nature and the physical universe before the development of modern science. Natural philosophy was the term whose usage preceded our current term science.

What is so interesting about this book is that it portrays the time in our history when scientific explanations for natural phenomenon were just being discovered but trust in God was still an important element in society.

As natural philosophy progressed and became the field of study we know as modern science, it increasingly encroached on trust in God. Eventually, they crossed the line and said that everything that may be objectively known in the world can be explained by science. But God, they said, can not be objectively known, therefore to trust in him, one must have faith, which they said is devoid of natural proof.

And so, to most people today belief means to make a leap of faith into the unknown, trusting that there is something there on the other side to catch you. But without natural proof that something exists on the other side.

It may surprise you to learn that this is not what Biblical faith is.

The word belief means to trust.

Example of my relationship with my wife. Because I know her, I trust that she will be faithful to me. So even when I am not with her, I trust her faithfulness, even though she is not there at the moment to prove it to me.

So it is with God. Through the word of truth, through the history of the church, through the witness of other believers and through the witness of the Holy Spirit we come to know God and as a result believe, or trust in Him, trusting that He is faithful to us, even at the times when He is seemingly not evident.

Our belief is not blind. It is founded on the many evidences that God has given to us, particularly, as this passage says, the Word of truth, the good news of your salvation.

Now, what happens when we believe?

reading in at the end of verse 13, it says

in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

What does it mean to be sealed with the Holy Spirit.

We witnessed a global phenomenon this weak.



You may have noticed the picture I printed in the bulleting this morning. It didn’t turn out as well as the original I got from the internet. But the picture is of an Iraqi couple proudly displaying their index fingers which had been colored with purple ink to show that they had already voted. While it was originally designed as a way to keep people from voting twice, it became a globally recognized symbol of change that the Iraqi people had their destiny in their own hands for the first time in decades.

On Wednesday of this week, CONGRESSMEN came to George W. Bush’s State of the Union address with purple suits, ties and ink-stained fingers to celebrate Sunday’s Iraqi elections.

Before President Bush’s speech, which focused on Social Security reform, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert helped House members and senators paint their fingers blue as a tribute to the millions of Iraqis who voted in Sunday’s election.

Gohmert said since it was his first chance to attend a State of the Union Address, he arrived at the Capitol 2 1/2 hours early to hold his seat. Earlier in the day, he said, U.S. lawmakers had tried to paint their fingers in a tribute to the millions of Iraqi voters who braved attacks by terrorists, but the paint wiped off and tended to make a mess.

At that point, Gohmert called his chief of staff, Samantha Jordan, and his staff assistant, Justin Tanner, and asked them to bring his blue ink stamp pad and paper towels. The freshman congressman grabbed the item, and headed to the House floor for the speech.

When other lawmakers saw Gohmert’s blue finger, they asked him how he did it. He then pulled out the ink pad and showed them how to do it. He said several senators also asked his help with inking their fingers.

Raising her finger, Iraqi human rights activist Safia Taleb al-Suhail sat in the gallery above the House of Representatives chamber to show she voted three days ago – 11 years after her father was assassinated by Saddam Hussein’s intelligence service.

“The most moving part of the evening was when Safia Taleg al-Suhail, whose father was killed 11 years ago by Saddam Hussein’s regime, stood and waved a purple ink-stained finger after being introduced by the president,” Gohmert said. “Safia, now leader of the Iraqi Women’s Political Council, stood as a free Iraqi citizen, held out her inked finger and probably 200 or more Congress members and senators held out theirs.

“When she saw it, she was visibly moved and shaken. I did not see anyone around me whose eyes were not filled with tears. It was quite a moment that most of us will not forget.”

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/02/04/20050204LDNgohmert.html

Each of these people was sealed on their finger with ink as a mark of their belief that democracy would prevail in Iraq.

In the same way, when you and I believe in the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ, it is as though our finger is dipped in ink to seal that belief. Only instead of ink, verse 13 says it is the Holy Spirit that marks us. And the Holy Spirit doesn’t just seal our finger. He seals all of us. Our life is marked.

Now, another example of a seal is one that is impressed on a document. Kings used to have what was called a signet ring that had a mark on it that represented the kings authority. So when he wanted to make a document official, he would dip the ring in wax and press it onto the document sealing the document. As a result, the document was given undoubted validity and authority

For an example, turn to the book of Esther chapter 8

1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her. 2 The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 3 Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. 5 She said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces: 6 for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come to my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives? 7 Then the king Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews. 8 Write you also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse. 9 Then were the king’s scribes called at that time, in the third month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day of it; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. 10 He wrote the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring

Earlier in the story, Haman had pronounced the execution on all the Jewish people living in the country. But later Esther unvieled his plot and he was executed for his intentions. So the King wrote a letter, and it was the seal of the king’s ring on the letter that reversed the sentance that Haman had pronounced over the Jewish people.

so, verse 14 of Ephesians 1 says that the Holy Spirit

14 …is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession,

The Holy Spirit is the seal of God’s reversal of the sentance on our lives. He is the seal that we have an eternal inheritance. He is the seal that we have been redeemed to become the adopted Son’s and Daughters.

In conclusion, I want to share a little about my personal convictions about the Holy Spirit. Earlier this week, I was reading a book about Christian worship and it made the point that our worship is trinitarian. We worship God the Father, God the Son, Jesus and God the Holy Spirit. And it made me reflect on how I help plan a worship service and I realized that I have given no thought to the Holy Spirit. This was prior to my beginning to work on this sermon, and before I looked at the text to preach, I found myself hoping that it would have something to do with the Holy Spirit. And there providentially were these two verses that I included in last weeks sermon, but didn’t give appropriate attention to. And so I also included some symbols in our worship. You’ll notice the reference to the spirit on the bulletin. And here in front of us is a candle with an image of the Holy Spirit as a dove, to remind us of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our worship.

The last point I want to make is practical. If you are a believer, the Holy Spirit is already a seal of God on your life, proof of your salvation. There is nothing that you can do to make Him any more of a seal then He already is. But it’s easy for us to forget about the role of the Holy Spirit’s role in our life and as a result fail to the experience the work that He wants to do in us. So I want to suggest to you that you give more attention to the work that the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life, both in our worship service and prayer but also in your life through the week. He is a great gift to us. We have only to unwrap it.