Ephesians 1:14 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ephesians 1:14

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But there is even more to it than that, because now the illustration is broadened. It is not only a seal, but it is ‘the earnest’. Some modern translations translate that ‘guarantee’. Well, that is in the right direction but it is not the whole picture. Literally the Greek indicates it is a down payment. When a property or anything of value was purchased, the deposit would, yes, guarantee that the full payment would be paid. The deposit was the commitment. The deposit meant that you were obliged to complete the purchase. It is not quite the same today. You make a down payment or a deposit, often there is still a means of backing out if you change your mind. You may forfeit your deposit, but you can back out. But in olden times, you could not. The deposit was like a pledge. And this seal of the Spirit is a pledge to you that the Holy Spirit will give you the rest when you go to glory. If you have got a down payment and if you have got a pledge of eternal glory now, that means that you already possess some of the blessings of eternity now. You have got a portion, a deposit, a token, a down payment of heavenly blessings even now, while you are still on earth.What are the heavenly blessings? When you mention heavenly blessings, the first one that is generally made is rest. For the people of God there is rest and peace. The battle against sin has ended. The striving to follow the Lord, to subdue the flesh, to be faithful to him. Now you enter into glory, faith becomes sight. You see the Lord. You are at rest, at home; you are in peace. You have had a down payment of that even now. Even now Christians frequently experience great peace, perhaps in their private devotions, when you go to prayer with a great problem and a great need. Or maybe you have suffered great opposition, or something very distressing, or you have a young rebel at home and there is much heartache for you. And you pray for that one, and you go to the Lord with distress and anxiety, and he gives you peace and you can trust in him. It is part of the down payment.Then also, communion with God and with fellow believers. Communion in heaven and access to God will be wonderful. We shall see our Saviour; we shall be perpetually amazed and filled with glory. But there is a token, a down payment of that even now. Often you see things that lift up your soul again in your devotions. Perhaps you glimpse them in another Christian, some grace given, some tremendous act of love or kindness or sacrifice, and you praise God. You may even see it in your surroundings. Here we are in the centre of a vast and rambling city, and yet sometimes you catch a glimpse of the natural world and created things in a way that only a Christian can see them. But particularly you see grace in Christians and in the word when some truth grips your soul, and you realise the kindness and grace of God. You have had a great answer to prayer, you have had a great deliverance and your soul soars. These are just tokens of what heaven will be perpetually like.

Application

Do you know peace even now in your earthly walk? Not all the time, but you know the experience of God’s peace. And then when you get to heaven, there will be unlimited and amazing unrestrained joy and happiness. Isn’t your heart often filled with happiness even among all the distresses of this present life? A degree of happiness you never knew before you were a Christian, joy and happiness, not only peace in believing. It is a token; it is a pledge; it is a down payment. And then your understanding: in heaven we shall mingle with the inspired writers of the word, and we often amuse ourselves with the thought that we shall ask perhaps this one or that one, ‘What did you mean by this? What did you mean by that?’ But our minds will be filled with understanding and realisation of so much. And then fruits, you will see in heaven the fruits of all your labours, the people who are there, and you will learn for the first time perhaps, that it was through your witness or your prayers, that this one or that one was brought to salvation. Then you will lose all pain and all fear and anxiety and grief as part of rest and peace. Sometimes you have that experience on earth when you are wonderfully delivered from some particular trial. We are secure on earth in Christ, but in heaven we will no longer question it. In heaven love for God will be perfect and refined and absolute, and even now there are times when we really do feel an intense love for the Lord here on earth. All these are part of the sealing of the Spirit. It is a seal on the one hand, it is a down payment or token of heavenly glory on the other. Have you not had the tokens? Of course you have. Have you not had the earnest, the foretaste, the down payment? How assuring that is! It gives us perspective in trial, it increases our anticipation, it helps us in self-denial when we know to have this and that which is too expensive is wrong. It increases our thanksgiving. It strengthens our service.

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Ephesians 1:14 Commentary and Bible Study

Explain meaning of Ephesians 1:14