Secured by the King

Good morning! My name is David Sorn and I’m the Lead Pastor here Let me just say how important it is to me that you find a way to get into a house group this year. We are in a loneliness epidemic in this country. And we need people (real live people!) in our lives more than ever. People who can and will help you grow in your walk with God. And House Groups gives you that opportunity. So if you’re on the fence…jump over…into the glorious land of House Groups. All right? All right, let’s jump into our message for today. After you’ve been a Christian for a little while, you inevitably will come to a harder season of your faith. And in those tough seasons, or even dry seasons, let’s be honest, we at times feel tempted to question a lot “Does God really love me?” “Is God even really there?” “Is heaven actually my future?” But Christians, God wants you to know of His unwavering love for you in those moments, and that you are secure in His love. And I want to show you that truth in our passage today. So go ahead and grab a Bible under the chair in front of you Ephesians 1:9 14 Page 798 We are continuing in our new series called “Remarkable Redemption” on the first half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Last week, in the introduction to the letter, we saw Paul pull out some of the gems of the Gospel…the Good News of Jesus. And Paul is continuing that train of thought in today’s passage. (Ephesians 1:9 12) – NIV 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Title Slide) So in verse 11, Paul makes, what is to many of us, almost a controversial statement. He says that believers in Jesus, were chosen (by God) to be a part of God’s family. Having been predestined to it…that means God predetermined it. According, it says, to His plan. And He’s working everything out with his will. Now, I promised last week that this topic was going to come up again, and that we’d go a little deeper into this theological topic. Because for plenty of Christians, these verses make them uncomfortable. Because this verse makes it seem like God doesn’t just KNOW the future here, but it looks like He has also PLANNED the future… and that can be hard to wrestle with sometimes. Now, most theologians who are divided on this issue would break themselves into 1 of 2 theological camps. The first is named after a famous theologian named John Calvin, and is thus called Calvinism. Calvinism: Everything is predetermined by God including who will be saved. The second school of thought is called Arminianism…which is named after Jacobus Arminius Arminianism: God is fully aware of the future, but limits his will when it comes to human choice. …especially when it comes to who will and won’t go to heaven And so Christians have hotly debated this topic for about 500 years now. In part because they both feel unsatisfying. Calvinism seems to greatly diminish free will which is so important to a real, authentic loving relationship And in Arminianism, God doesn’t seem all that in control if he doesn’t even know who will choose Him (“Whoa, what’s Billy doing at chuch?!) They’re both not fully satisfying answers. And maybe you have passionate beliefs about one of these, or maybe you just don’t care… But either way, what do you do when you come to a Scripture like Ephesians 1 that sounds very Calvinist That God chose us, and we are predestined according to His plan. Or a verse that sounds a lot more Arminian, like even John 3:16… For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that WHOEVER believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. What do you do? This is hard. And you can see why people just want to find an easy system for interpretation here. In fact, I often get asked, “What is Renovation Church’s stance?” Now, I can’t (and won’t) speak for every pastor and every theology teacher of Renovation U, but for 2 decades now, I’ve always told people that I am a Calminian. I’m both. And I don’t say that as a cop out, that’s what I truly see in Scripture. The Bible clearly says that God is sovereign and that He has chosen us (we just read that), and yet it also says that we need to choose Him. And how those two work together, I believe that is on a plane of understanding that is far beyond my human brain’s ability to comprehend. Just like a 4 year old can’t understand how the adult world works, I don’t expect that I’m going to understand how God’s universe works. And so I let those tensions on God’s sovereignty remain because the BIBLE lets those tensions remain. I once saw Gary Hamrick, who is a great Bible Teacher out in Virginia, explain it this way. A few years ago, JEEP had an advertising campaign that looked like this: Here is a picture of a giraffe. But, is that a giraffe? What if you looked at it upside down? It’s a penguin. Here is Elephant. But now, it’s a Swan Here is a doe, a deer. A female deer. 😊 But upside down, it’s a ….seal. And so you can be looking at the same thing… (Show Doe/Seal together) and one can say, “It’s a deer,” and the other can say, “No, it’s a seal!” And you’re both right. And I believe that when we talk about God being in control and humans having choice, yes, both are truth. Now, you can feel free to disagree with me on that, and that’s okay I’ll sleep just fine tonight. I just want you to be able to explain your position from the Bible…not just what you WANT it to say. Because when you have a passage in front of you, you want to be faithful to what it says (even if it’s hard), and not bend it to fit your theological box. So when it says in Ephesians 1, that God has chosen you, I want you to think of it this way Imagine you are ultra wealthy, and you go to a very fancy car dealership to pick out your perfect luxury car. Maybe it’s Lamborghini, or a Porsche, a tricked out Escalade For me…it would be like a really fancy…mini van. But they’d probably you bring you a digital screen, and you’d be able to pick out all of your options and choose exactly what you wanted. And God has done a similar thing with you. Psalm 139 says God knit you together in your mother’s womb. Look what Paul writes about you in the next chapter of Ephesians) (Ephesians 2:10) – NIV For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. And what this is all telling us is that God has secured you as His own. And the first piece of evidence is the fact that…. Proof You’ve Been Secured by the King #1: God chose you for His purposes This is all over Ephesians 1 & 2 God picked you…and that matters. When you are down and out…remember that He chose you, He picked you, you are his handiwork with a purpose. And the King doesn’t change his mind. A DOWN PAYMENT Let’s see what he inspires Paul to say next. Look at verse 13 and 14 (Ephesians 1:13 14) – NIV 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Title slide) So we read here that when you become a believer in Jesus Christ, that the Holy Spirit comes and resides in you. The Holy Spirit IS God (He’s the 3rd person of the Trinity)… And Paul says that the Holy Spirit is a DEPOSIT (think like a down payment)… Part of the reason God sends you the Holy Spirit is to give you a preview of the unparalleled inheritance that is coming for you in heaven as an adopted child of God This would be like if a wealthy man called his faithful assistant into his office one day and said, “I’ve put your name in my will, and upon my death you’ll receive $10,000.” Now if that were you, you may (not out loud, but in your heart) say, “Really? You’re gonna give me 10k? You’re not even related to me.” But what if he said, “And to show you that I mean it, I’ll give you the interest on that (which could be like a few hundred bucks) every year” Similarly, God is giving you…in His generosity…a taste, a down payment, of what is to come. And this is a second aspect of how you can know you have been secured by the King. Proof You’ve Been Secured by the King #1: God chose you for His purposes #2: God has given you a down payment Again, this is like an ultra wealthy person, say like a modern day King, picking out their car. So first they choose it. And second, they put a down payment on it. They’re showing they’re serious…they’re coming for it. Why does a store or company ask for a down payment in the first place? To ensure that you’re going to follow through on your intentions. And God gives you the Holy Spirit to let you know that He is absolutely serious about following through on his intentions to give you eternal life. And so you get a taste of it…right here and now. And sometimes we experience the proof of this down payment quickly, and sometimes it’s quite slow. Let me briefly talk about both. A couple of years ago, I was talking with a friend who is an atheist…and he was trying to make his arguments on why God doesn’t exist… And I told him, “Listen, I don’t think your arguments are all that solid, but even if I thought they were good, I’ve so deeply experienced God, that you couldn’t talk me out of it.” And I think some of us (especially if you’re a bit more head inclined than heart inclined), forget how important a real life experience of the Spirit of God is as a deposit (of proof) of what is to come. Those moments when the Spirit speaks to you, convicts you, comforts you in your deepest pain. Those are the downpayment moments… that help you remember, especially in the dark nights, that you are secure in Him. That what is coming is real, and it is glorious So sometimes we experience this down payment of proof in a quick moment, but often times, the down payment is revealed more slowly This is the Fruit of the Spirit as Galatians 5 describes it. The fruit of what will grow in your life if you are letting God shape you Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. And how fast does fruit grow? Can you see it growing? But does it grow, yes? Let me give you an example of how this works in our lives. The other night, I remembered an old video I made back when I was a 25 year old Youth Pastor where I went into a school…and interviewed kids on certain topics, so I pulled it up to watch it. And in the video, I walk by a poster up in the school for the school play, and one of my youth group students was on the poster. And so, in the video, I pretended to interview the girl on the poster, and I was making fun of her…pretending to talk as her. And I was mortified watching myself now years later. I’m like, looking over my shoulder making sure no one is watching this horrible person on the video” But THEN I thought, “I would never do that now” And why? Because, the Holy Spirit has grown at least some fruit of kindness and gentleness in my life You can say, “That just cuz you’re older!” NO! You KNOW that plenty of people just get MEANER as they get older. And so the Holy Spirit moving in our lives (fast or slow) is evidence that God has secured us…that we are His. A GUARANTEE And this passage is even richer. I want to look at another metaphor Paul uses here. Look at the middle of 13. (Ephesians 1:13b 14a) – NIV When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance So Paul says that the Holy Spirit isn’t just a down payment, but a SEAL that we’ve been marked with. Now, in Paul’s day, a seal was a mark that was typically placed on a letter or a contract. Here’s a typical example (Show Seal Example Image). And the seal was usually made from hot wax, and then placed on a document, and then impressed with a signet ring. And it was quite common for Kings and other important leaders to have their own unique signet ring For example, I tell you all the time that the Bible is not a legend, and just 8 years ago, archeologists discovered the literal seal of King Hezekiah from the Old Testament. (Hezekiah’s Seal) That’s awesome!! And see by having the King’s unique Seal on your letter, you knew that it was officially from the king, and under the authority of the King, and you dare not break open that letter from the King. It was sealed! Paul explains the weight of the King’s Seal in verse 14 by saying “the holy Spirit, who is a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance” What does that mean? It means, “You don’t mess with the King’s Seal.” So it isn’t just that God gives us the Holy Spirit so we can feel more confident about our salvation. He does it to guarantee it. Proof You’ve Been Secured by the King #1: God chose you for His purposes #2: God has given you a down payment #3: God has guaranteed it with the King’s Seal Again, this would be like if you were securing that fancy car… …and you had chosen it, and put a down payment on it, and then you came in and stamped your personal seal right on the back of it. Saying, you’re coming for it… …that one…it’s yours. My friends, that’s what God has done with you! And what you’ve received from God is no ordinary down payment or seal It’s the King’s Seal. You are marked as the King of King’s. In ancient times often King’s symbol would be put on things that He owned. Possessions or even think, like cattle being branded, etc. And so God knows that you are His because He’s marked you with His seal Paul says. And it’s not just that He gave you a seal of wax or paper, or paint, the seal is what? It’s HIMSELF!! He came to reside in you! And now He’s locked in! Nobody can break the King’s seal! And this Biblical truth matters! It matters for the dark nights…the hard times. Your moments of regret and pain. Those moments like we said at the beginning, where we say, “God are you even there? Could you even still love me?” God wants you to know, as we say here often, you cannot outsin the grace of God. And one of the reasons you can’t, is because if you TRULY believe in Him, you are SEALED in Him. Your salvation can’t be revoked. It can’t be taken away. It’s guaranteed. And that’s in part because you didn’t do anything to earn it, so you can’t unearn it either. We were saved for believing in what Jesus did for us…not what we did for Him And as we transition into a time of worshipping our God for who he is, I want to invite our worship band back on stage. And as they come, I want to invite you to respond in a couple of different ways today to what we saw in God’s Word. Perhaps you’re here, and you need a fresh experience from the Holy Spirit…as part of that down payment offered to us. Or you just need to cry out to Him again and say, “God I want you back in my life…I want to know you again…” Or I just need your touch in my life. If that’s you, what I want to invite you to do anytime during these last two songs is to come and stand by the altar (you can kneel if you want) here around the stage. We need to do this more as a church…not just to learn about God…but to meet with Him…to experience Him. And you can come for any reason. And when you come, and stay for a minute to talk to God, I’m just going to ask any of our prayer team members in the room, or any of our elders, to come behind those who are at the elder, and just lay a hand on you as you pray and pray over you. You don’t have to talk to them, but they want to pray over you And I want many of you to come. Be humble…We’re all broken…I’m broken, you’re broken…we need God to move! Come. And if you’re here this morning, and you just need to give your life to God. You need to believe for the first time that God can save you, and forgive you, please do that this morning. Jesus came and died for you and He wants to come into your life. If that’s you, rather than coming to the stage, I want you to head over to the Front Right corner during these last two songs and meet with me or our follow up team who will pray with you. Okay? So I urge you to come to God? Meet with Him. Experience Him. Walk in his love again. And may it speak deeply of his unwavering love for you. Let me pray. David Sorn 10/8/23 Renovation Church Series: “Remarkable Redemption” Title: “Secured by the King” YOU WERE CHOSEN (Series Slide) Good morning! My name is David Sorn and I’m the Lead Pastor here Let me just say how important it is to me that you find a way to get into a house group this year. We are in a loneliness epidemic in this country. And we need people (real live people!) in our lives more than ever. People who can and will help you grow in your walk with God. And House Groups gives you that opportunity. So if you’re on the fence…jump over…into the glorious land of House Groups. All right? All right, let’s jump into our message for today. After you’ve been a Christian for a little while, you inevitably will come to a harder season of your faith. And in those tough seasons, or even dry seasons, let’s be honest, we at times feel tempted to question a lot “Does God really love me?” “Is God even really there?” “Is heaven actually my future?” But Christians, God wants you to know of His unwavering love for you in those moments, and that you are secure in His love. And I want to show you that truth in our passage today. So go ahead and grab a Bible under the chair in front of you Ephesians 1:9 14 Page 798 We are continuing in our new series called “Remarkable Redemption” on the first half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Last week, in the introduction to the letter, we saw Paul pull out some of the gems of the Gospel…the Good News of Jesus. And Paul is continuing that train of thought in today’s passage. (Ephesians 1:9 12) – NIV 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Title Slide) So in verse 11, Paul makes, what is to many of us, almost a controversial statement. He says that believers in Jesus, were chosen (by God) to be a part of God’s family. Having been predestined to it…that means God predetermined it. According, it says, to His plan. And He’s working everything out with his will. Now, I promised last week that this topic was going to come up again, and that we’d go a little deeper into this theological topic. Because for plenty of Christians, these verses make them uncomfortable. Because this verse makes it seem like God doesn’t just KNOW the future here, but it looks like He has also PLANNED the future… and that can be hard to wrestle with sometimes. Now, most theologians who are divided on this issue would break themselves into 1 of 2 theological camps. The first is named after a famous theologian named John Calvin, and is thus called Calvinism. Calvinism: Everything is predetermined by God including who will be saved. The second school of thought is called Arminianism…which is named after Jacobus Arminius Arminianism: God is fully aware of the future, but limits his will when it comes to human choice. …especially when it comes to who will and won’t go to heaven And so Christians have hotly debated this topic for about 500 years now. In part because they both feel unsatisfying. Calvinism seems to greatly diminish free will which is so important to a real, authentic loving relationship And in Arminianism, God doesn’t seem all that in control if he doesn’t even know who will choose Him (“Whoa, what’s Billy doing at chuch?!) They’re both not fully satisfying answers. And maybe you have passionate beliefs about one of these, or maybe you just don’t care… But either way, what do you do when you come to a Scripture like Ephesians 1 that sounds very Calvinist That God chose us, and we are predestined according to His plan. Or a verse that sounds a lot more Arminian, like even John 3:16… For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that WHOEVER believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. What do you do? This is hard. And you can see why people just want to find an easy system for interpretation here. In fact, I often get asked, “What is Renovation Church’s stance?” Now, I can’t (and won’t) speak for every pastor and every theology teacher of Renovation U, but for 2 decades now, I’ve always told people that I am a Calminian. I’m both. And I don’t say that as a cop out, that’s what I truly see in Scripture. The Bible clearly says that God is sovereign and that He has chosen us (we just read that), and yet it also says that we need to choose Him. And how those two work together, I believe that is on a plane of understanding that is far beyond my human brain’s ability to comprehend. Just like a 4 year old can’t understand how the adult world works, I don’t expect that I’m going to understand how God’s universe works. And so I let those tensions on God’s sovereignty remain because the BIBLE lets those tensions remain. I once saw Gary Hamrick, who is a great Bible Teacher out in Virginia, explain it this way. A few years ago, JEEP had an advertising campaign that looked like this: Here is a picture of a giraffe. But, is that a giraffe? What if you looked at it upside down? It’s a penguin. Here is Elephant. But now, it’s a Swan Here is a doe, a deer. A female deer. 😊 But upside down, it’s a ….seal. And so you can be looking at the same thing… (Show Doe/Seal together) and one can say, “It’s a deer,” and the other can say, “No, it’s a seal!” And you’re both right. And I believe that when we talk about God being in control and humans having choice, yes, both are truth. Now, you can feel free to disagree with me on that, and that’s okay I’ll sleep just fine tonight. I just want you to be able to explain your position from the Bible…not just what you WANT it to say. Because when you have a passage in front of you, you want to be faithful to what it says (even if it’s hard), and not bend it to fit your theological box. So when it says in Ephesians 1, that God has chosen you, I want you to think of it this way Imagine you are ultra wealthy, and you go to a very fancy car dealership to pick out your perfect luxury car. Maybe it’s Lamborghini, or a Porsche, a tricked out Escalade For me…it would be like a really fancy…mini van. But they’d probably you bring you a digital screen, and you’d be able to pick out all of your options and choose exactly what you wanted. And God has done a similar thing with you. Psalm 139 says God knit you together in your mother’s womb. Look what Paul writes about you in the next chapter of Ephesians) (Ephesians 2:10) – NIV For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. And what this is all telling us is that God has secured you as His own. And the first piece of evidence is the fact that…. Proof You’ve Been Secured by the King #1: God chose you for His purposes This is all over Ephesians 1 & 2 God picked you…and that matters. When you are down and out…remember that He chose you, He picked you, you are his handiwork with a purpose. And the King doesn’t change his mind. A DOWN PAYMENT Let’s see what he inspires Paul to say next. Look at verse 13 and 14 (Ephesians 1:13 14) – NIV 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Title slide) So we read here that when you become a believer in Jesus Christ, that the Holy Spirit comes and resides in you. The Holy Spirit IS God (He’s the 3rd person of the Trinity)… And Paul says that the Holy Spirit is a DEPOSIT (think like a down payment)… Part of the reason God sends you the Holy Spirit is to give you a preview of the unparalleled inheritance that is coming for you in heaven as an adopted child of God This would be like if a wealthy man called his faithful assistant into his office one day and said, “I’ve put your name in my will, and upon my death you’ll receive $10,000.” Now if that were you, you may (not out loud, but in your heart) say, “Really? You’re gonna give me 10k? You’re not even related to me.” But what if he said, “And to show you that I mean it, I’ll give you the interest on that (which could be like a few hundred bucks) every year” Similarly, God is giving you…in His generosity…a taste, a down payment, of what is to come. And this is a second aspect of how you can know you have been secured by the King. Proof You’ve Been Secured by the King #1: God chose you for His purposes #2: God has given you a down payment Again, this is like an ultra wealthy person, say like a modern day King, picking out their car. So first they choose it. And second, they put a down payment on it. They’re showing they’re serious…they’re coming for it. Why does a store or company ask for a down payment in the first place? To ensure that you’re going to follow through on your intentions. And God gives you the Holy Spirit to let you know that He is absolutely serious about following through on his intentions to give you eternal life. And so you get a taste of it…right here and now. And sometimes we experience the proof of this down payment quickly, and sometimes it’s quite slow. Let me briefly talk about both. A couple of years ago, I was talking with a friend who is an atheist…and he was trying to make his arguments on why God doesn’t exist… And I told him, “Listen, I don’t think your arguments are all that solid, but even if I thought they were good, I’ve so deeply experienced God, that you couldn’t talk me out of it.” And I think some of us (especially if you’re a bit more head inclined than heart inclined), forget how important a real life experience of the Spirit of God is as a deposit (of proof) of what is to come. Those moments when the Spirit speaks to you, convicts you, comforts you in your deepest pain. Those are the downpayment moments… that help you remember, especially in the dark nights, that you are secure in Him. That what is coming is real, and it is glorious So sometimes we experience this down payment of proof in a quick moment, but often times, the down payment is revealed more slowly This is the Fruit of the Spirit as Galatians 5 describes it. The fruit of what will grow in your life if you are letting God shape you Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. And how fast does fruit grow? Can you see it growing? But does it grow, yes? Let me give you an example of how this works in our lives. The other night, I remembered an old video I made back when I was a 25 year old Youth Pastor where I went into a school…and interviewed kids on certain topics, so I pulled it up to watch it. And in the video, I walk by a poster up in the school for the school play, and one of my youth group students was on the poster. And so, in the video, I pretended to interview the girl on the poster, and I was making fun of her…pretending to talk as her. And I was mortified watching myself now years later. I’m like, looking over my shoulder making sure no one is watching this horrible person on the video” But THEN I thought, “I would never do that now” And why? Because, the Holy Spirit has grown at least some fruit of kindness and gentleness in my life You can say, “That just cuz you’re older!” NO! You KNOW that plenty of people just get MEANER as they get older. And so the Holy Spirit moving in our lives (fast or slow) is evidence that God has secured us…that we are His. A GUARANTEE And this passage is even richer. I want to look at another metaphor Paul uses here. Look at the middle of 13. (Ephesians 1:13b 14a) – NIV When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance So Paul says that the Holy Spirit isn’t just a down payment, but a SEAL that we’ve been marked with. Now, in Paul’s day, a seal was a mark that was typically placed on a letter or a contract. Here’s a typical example (Show Seal Example Image). And the seal was usually made from hot wax, and then placed on a document, and then impressed with a signet ring. And it was quite common for Kings and other important leaders to have their own unique signet ring For example, I tell you all the time that the Bible is not a legend, and just 8 years ago, archeologists discovered the literal seal of King Hezekiah from the Old Testament. (Hezekiah’s Seal) That’s awesome!! And see by having the King’s unique Seal on your letter, you knew that it was officially from the king, and under the authority of the King, and you dare not break open that letter from the King. It was sealed! Paul explains the weight of the King’s Seal in verse 14 by saying “the holy Spirit, who is a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance” What does that mean? It means, “You don’t mess with the King’s Seal.” So it isn’t just that God gives us the Holy Spirit so we can feel more confident about our salvation. He does it to guarantee it. Proof You’ve Been Secured by the King #1: God chose you for His purposes #2: God has given you a down payment #3: God has guaranteed it with the King’s Seal Again, this would be like if you were securing that fancy car… …and you had chosen it, and put a down payment on it, and then you came in and stamped your personal seal right on the back of it. Saying, you’re coming for it… …that one…it’s yours. My friends, that’s what God has done with you! And what you’ve received from God is no ordinary down payment or seal It’s the King’s Seal. You are marked as the King of King’s. In ancient times often King’s symbol would be put on things that He owned. Possessions or even think, like cattle being branded, etc. And so God knows that you are His because He’s marked you with His seal Paul says. And it’s not just that He gave you a seal of wax or paper, or paint, the seal is what? It’s HIMSELF!! He came to reside in you! And now He’s locked in! Nobody can break the King’s seal! And this Biblical truth matters! It matters for the dark nights…the hard times. Your moments of regret and pain. Those moments like we said at the beginning, where we say, “God are you even there? Could you even still love me?” God wants you to know, as we say here often, you cannot outsin the grace of God. And one of the reasons you can’t, is because if you TRULY believe in Him, you are SEALED in Him. Your salvation can’t be revoked. It can’t be taken away. It’s guaranteed. And that’s in part because you didn’t do anything to earn it, so you can’t unearn it either. We were saved for believing in what Jesus did for us…not what we did for Him And as we transition into a time of worshipping our God for who he is, I want to invite our worship band back on stage. And as they come, I want to invite you to respond in a couple of different ways today to what we saw in God’s Word. Perhaps you’re here, and you need a fresh experience from the Holy Spirit…as part of that down payment offered to us. Or you just need to cry out to Him again and say, “God I want you back in my life…I want to know you again…” Or I just need your touch in my life. If that’s you, what I want to invite you to do anytime during these last two songs is to come and stand by the altar (you can kneel if you want) here around the stage. We need to do this more as a church…not just to learn about God…but to meet with Him…to experience Him. And you can come for any reason. And when you come, and stay for a minute to talk to God, I’m just going to ask any of our prayer team members in the room, or any of our elders, to come behind those who are at the elder, and just lay a hand on you as you pray and pray over you. You don’t have to talk to them, but they want to pray over you And I want many of you to come. Be humble…We’re all broken…I’m broken, you’re broken…we need God to move! Come. And if you’re here this morning, and you just need to give your life to God. You need to believe for the first time that God can save you, and forgive you, please do that this morning. Jesus came and died for you and He wants to come into your life. If that’s you, rather than coming to the stage, I want you to head over to the Front Right corner during these last two songs and meet with me or our follow up team who will pray with you. Okay? So I urge you to come to God? Meet with Him. Experience Him. Walk in his love again. And may it speak deeply of his unwavering love for you. Let me pray.