You're listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City, Whitehorse, Yukon. Here's this week's message. In college, I had an opportunity to take a trip to Europe. This was before the European Union had come together, so every country still had its own border stop and checkpoint.
Crossing from one nation to the next meant pulling out your passport and walking through a series of questions before you were given that official stamp and led into the country. Now, each stamp looked a little different, but they all carried the same weight. They had the seal of the country, and the border guard would often put the date of entry and sometimes the entry point into that nation. Now, in reality, it was a small thing. We're talking ink on a page, but it carried real authority. It was proof recognized by the powers that be that with that stamp, with that nation's seal, I was permitted to travel within that nation's borders. I was recognized and accepted without that seal. I wasn't getting in and I wasn't going anywhere. Now, I didn't think about it much at the time, but looking back, that little book said something significant about identity, belonging, and access. And it's a great segue into what we're going to be talking about today.
My name is Jeremy, and I'm the lead pastor of Mountain View Church. If you're new to our faith community, please connect with us by simply going to mountainview.church slash connect and filling out that form, or you can send us a direct message on social media at Mountain View White Horse. Today is the concluding message of our identity series, and over the past couple of months, we've walked through several important doctrines of the Christian faith, being chosen, adopted, and redeemed, and more, all of them in and through Christ. And in our final passage, we'll discover that through Jesus, we've been sealed like an eternal stamp of identity and belonging that never fades and will never expire. It secures our place in heaven and it strengthens us as we walk through the realities of this life. My name is Mandy. Our scripture reading is from Ephesians 1, 1 to 14. You're welcome to follow along with a physical Bible. Search the table of contents to locate the corresponding page number for Ephesians. Alternatively, you can download the Bible app or visit bible.com.
Paul, an apostle of Christ, Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which we have blessed us in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood.
the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope This is kind of a full circle moment where Paul comes back to the foundation of our faith in verse 13. He writes, If you're new to church and Christianity and wondering how someone becomes a Christian, this is it. This is a short explanation. Now, it's much fuller explained in doctrines and theology, but let's break it down. First, someone, maybe you, hears the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. It's interesting that Paul caveats the gospel, calling it the word of truth. The human experience is a constant pursuit of truth, often thinking we'll find it inside of ourselves somehow. But it comes from God.
since he's the one who created us. The truth is the gospel revealing the story of who Jesus is and what he's done for us. The gospel states that Jesus lived the life we couldn't live, that he carried our sin to the cross and died in our place. But three days later, God raised him from the dead, overcoming sin and death, offering eternal life to all who believe in him. Directly translated, it means good news. It is this good news gospel that brings about salvation. So Paul's reminding the Ephesians and reminding us through this text that the whole journey begins with hearing about Jesus.
God sent Jesus to be the one in whom salvation comes. Learning about God in the Bible is amazing. Don't get me wrong. And I would encourage you to keep pursuing that. But knowledge alone in God in the Bible isn't enough. At some point, you have to follow the scriptures as they unveil the truth about God's son.
And then you need to determine what you believe about him. That's so important. Which leads to the second component. According to Paul, you believe in Jesus. Unlike other religions and faith positions, this isn't an agreement to a set of teachings or principles by some sort of prophet or guru. Sadly, I've heard it said too many times that people proclaim, I believe in Jesus, but then they add the caveat, as a good moral teacher. And that's it. He's a teacher, a good teacher, a great teacher. But that's it to them.
And that statement means they completely missed who Jesus really is. Belief in Jesus means giving your entire life to him, leaning your entire trust into who he is and what he's done. And it's a hinge moment in your life when you stop trying to carry your pain and justify your sin on your own. Instead, you surrender it. You surrender it to the one who already carried it to the cross and paid for it. Now, I've met many people who have told me about that moment when they first encountered Jesus.
And they often describe it as a low point in their life, when they realize that they couldn't carry the weight and pressure of the world on their own. They start searching the scriptures, or maybe they're listening to sermons, reading about, hearing about the gospel, the good news. Eventually, that truth sinks in, and they cry out in prayer, accepting that they're sinful, they're fallen, they're asking for forgiveness, and in that moment, they're giving their lives to Jesus. To be sure, belief isn't perfect faith. There are still struggles and trials, but Jesus guides us through them. Christianity is a lifelong walk with Jesus, trusting him more than we trust ourselves. Finally, our core theme for today, you are then sealed with the Holy Spirit. We need to take a deep dive into this word, sealed.
The word carries the weight of the whole passage. It shapes how we understand our relationship with God after we trusted in Jesus. When the Ephesians heard the word sealed, they pictured something very specific. A seal meant affixing a signet or a private mark on the item or information. It signified ownership, full security, and authority. It functioned like a legal signature that guaranteed the promise held inside. They also saw it as marking something for security or preservation for a future time. The seal protected the contents and kept it from being tampered with.
It was kept secret so they could reveal the contents at the right time as truth and genuine. It was saved for that time. With all that in mind, we see when Paul says, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, the Ephesians would have heard that picture of identity and protection and authenticity all wrapped together and sealed, stamped, held secure, tight. In the first century, seals were everywhere. Kings, officials, and wealthy households pressed their signet rings into warm wax to validate that item, what belonged to them.
For example, a sealed document couldn't be opened without permission. You didn't want to break that seal. It was protected and authenticated, awaiting the appropriate time in the official person to open it, to crack that seal and to read the contents that were before then secret. So this concept, when we understand it from how Paul's using it, we see that it's deeply personal. After hearing the gospel and believing in Jesus, God places his seal on you, on your heart, on your soul, which is the Holy Spirit. And it's stamped securely. It's authentic, genuine, official, unfading, everlasting.
The Holy Spirit affirms that our salvation is protected by his full authority. Being sealed by the Holy Spirit states that you belong to God and God alone, and no one can tamper with it. Expanding on this concept, New Testament scholar I.H. Marshall writes this, they heard the Christian message and believed it, and were then marked out as God's people by receiving the Holy Spirit of God, which is equivalent to a seal or stamp mark signifying divine ownership. At the same time, the gift of the Spirit is the actual experience of salvation, a pledge or first installment of what they are going to receive from God in fuller measure when he completes his purpose in the future. Paul is basically saying, this is how God begins his work in you. You hear the gospel, you believe in Jesus, and in that moment, God seals you with his Spirit.
It's not a process that you earn over time. It's not some sort of status that you're climbing towards. Salvation is something God does. The instant you trust in Jesus, hearing leads to believing, and believing leads to belonging, and belonging leads to that ceiling. The Spirit becomes God's way of saying, you're mine now. You're covered, you're held, and you're secure for eternity. Now, let's move on to the concluding verse of this entire passage that we've been studying over this past couple of months.
Paul writes, in him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of your inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. When we read this final line, there are three highlights. First, we receive the promised Holy Spirit, which we unpacked already. Second, through the promised Holy Spirit, we receive the guarantee of our inheritance. Through Jesus, sealed by the Holy Spirit, we have access to God the Father, the Trinity displayed in salvation. Our inheritance represents that new identity, a new family, forgiveness, and spiritual blessings all in and through Christ.
And part of that inheritance is still ahead of us. One day we'll stand in the new creation, completely healed and fully restored. The spirit is God's way of saying all of that is coming and I've prepared it in advance for you. As a side note, if you're interested, we took a deep dive into what our inheritance in Christ, that whole theology, what it means, how it works. And if you missed that message, it was last week, and you can just go back to mountainview.church slash watch, listen, or check it out on YouTube at mountainviewwhitehorse after this message. All right, coming back to today's theme. Lastly, we receive this seal of the Holy Spirit, ultimately for God's glory. Everything in this passage, everything in this series, from being chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, and sealed, all of it ultimately points back to God's glory.
Salvation is absolutely God rescuing us from an eternity of darkness and separation. That is true. That is for us. And yet, it's always connected to God revealing his glory through that rescue. It's all for him, by him. Now let's come full circle back to that concept of the passport that we started with at the top of this message. I want you to envision our souls like passports, if you can. It tells the truth about who we are, where we've been, where we belong, and in a sense, who we belong to. And so when you put your trust in Jesus,
God places a stamp of sorts on your soul, that passport type soul. He marks your soul with the seal of the Holy Spirit. That seal gives you access to his spiritual kingdom right now, and you can come to him in prayer, walk with him daily, listen to him for guidance, and live under his care and authority and protection. Through the Spirit, God is with you in the ordinary moments of life, but through the Spirit, you'll start to notice extraordinary things in your life. Moreover, The Spirit is God's guarantee that you have a place with Him in the life to come. That seal on your soul secures your place in heaven, and one day you'll have a new mind and a new body. And nothing can remove that seal. Not your past, not your failures, not your weaknesses, because God Himself has placed His spiritual seal on you. It's secured forever. In a moment, we're going to take communion together. But before we do, I wanted to give you an opportunity to respond.
Maybe you've heard about Jesus before, but you've never chosen to believe and place your trust in him. Or maybe you've attended church for years, maybe your whole life, but salvation never fully connected until today. If you would like to give your life to Jesus, if you want his forgiveness, his salvation, and his seal of the Holy Spirit on your soul, you can call out to him right here, right now. You can pray on your own, or I can lead you in a prayer to help you reflect the desires of your heart, if you wish. With that in mind, let's pray. Dear God, thank you for bringing salvation to us through Jesus.
I believe you sent your son to pay for my sin on the cross, that he was buried, but rose again to overcome sin and death. Today I place my trust in Jesus. Send me the promised Holy Spirit and seal my soul as your child. Guide me through this life as I look forward to spending eternity with you. Remind me each day that your spirit is the seal of my belonging to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now it's time to move to communion for those of you who have placed your trust in Jesus.
If you're at home or work, hopefully you can get some bread or crackers, maybe grape juice or wine together and you can pause the video or audio and you can go ahead and get that ready and then hit play again and we'll catch back up and take this together. Assuming you have everything ready, let's get started. This is an intentional remembrance where we acknowledge Jesus' sacrifice. His body was broken for us and his blood was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. Although there's a somber weight to communion, it's also a moment of deep thankfulness and almost a celebration for the gift.
in the cost that Jesus paid for our salvation. It's both hard to envision and yet beautiful because it was such a gift of grace. And so how this process will work is I'm going to start by praying for the bread and then read the passage found in 1 Corinthians 11, which will also appear on the screen. And then we'll take the bread and then we'll follow a similar process for the cup. Let's pray for the bread. Dear Father, we thank you for this bread, which resembles the body of your son, Jesus.
that was whipped and beaten and broken on the cross. In our mind's eye, we try to envision what that must have been like, both for you as a father turning away, as our sin fell on your son, and for you, Jesus, that you willingly took the pain. As we take this bread, we remember and we're thankful for the gift of communion and that we every so often get this moment to remember what you've done for us. The hard thing to see in our mind's eye and yet the beautiful thing knowing that it was out of love. It was that gift of grace. And so for this bread, we thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. From Paul's letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 23 and 24, we read, Now let's pray for the cup.
Dear Father, now we move to the cup of juice or wine, its crimson color, reminding us of the blood that your son shed at the cross. We understand that through many years there was sacrifice of animals to cover sins of your people, and yet it was never enough. But you loved us enough that you sent your one and only son and that his blood would be shed for the final atonement, the final sacrifice, the shedding of blood one last time to cover all sin. As we take this cup. We remember the blood of you, Jesus, that ran at Calvary. We remember your death, your sacrifice, and it's in your name we pray. Amen. 1 Corinthians 11, verses 25 and 26. Paul writes, in the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Thank you so much for watching. And for some of you, thank you for participating with us in communion. If you gave your life to Jesus today or you would like more information about our church community, please visit mountainview.church slash connect or drop us a message on social at Mountain View White Horse. Now it's time for this week's ministry updates. Let's get started.
Hi Mountain View, it's Barbara with Operation Christmas Child. Today, Sunday, November 23rd, is the last day for shoebox collection. If you have your shoeboxes with you at church today, we'll make sure that they get to the collection center. If you need a little more time to get things together, the collection center at Riverdale Baptist Church is open until 2 p.m. today. And if you're in the Filipino service today, then I will make sure that your boxes get to the collection center. Just give me a call at the number below. Thank you so much for your support this year.
Hey Mountain View! Happy Sunday! Just tuning in to let you know that Senior Youth Tonight will be at the Canada Games Centre from 6 till 7.30. I know that's a bit shorter than usual, but we're going to make the most of the time we have, and I'm super pumped for the active game we have planned. So, please wear something comfortable that's easy to run around in, and be prepared for a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.
Well, Christmas is right around the corner, which means Advent begins next week with a series titled Isaiah's Prophetic Promises. Leading up to Christmas, we're going to journey through key prophecies in Isaiah that foretold the coming of Christ. Each week, we'll focus on one of the traditional Advent themes, hope, peace, love, or joy. And the message begins each week with Isaiah's writings. Then we'll move into the fulfillment that's revealed in the gospel accounts. It'll be quite the journey week to week. And speaking of next week in particular, it is a fifth Sunday, which means it's family day.
Every month here at Mountain View, whenever there's a fifth Sunday, we give all the children's workers a break and we invite them and all the kids to join us in the main gathering. We'll be hearing from our amazing children's pastor, Herbert, as he launches our Advent series with the theme of hope. And we'll be singing Christmas carols and we'll have door prizes. And we have a few other special surprises that we don't want to give away. So hope to see you there.
Now, last but not least, we have this week's discussion and prayer focus. Get together with some family or friends, ask them this question, talk about it together. If you're alone right now, listening or watching, you can always drop a comment in the feed or send us a message on social to answer this question. And let's get the most out of this content. Here's today's question. How does understanding the spirit ceiling impact your walk with Jesus? How does your understanding of the spirit ceiling on your heart, on your soul, that thing we talked about today, how does that impact your walk with Jesus? Now that you know. Once you've talked about that, hashed it out, or maybe put a comment in the feed, spend some time in prayer.
Here's today's prayer focus. Pray for a deeper awareness of the Holy Spirit's presence and guidance in your life. Pray for a deeper awareness of the Spirit's presence and guidance in your daily life. Once again, thank you for watching and listening. Please plan on coming back next week as we launch Advent and get ready for Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. See you then.
If you pray to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church. Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City of Whitehorse Tupon.