The Seal of the King

The Seal of the King

Matt 27:62-66 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

Eph 1:12-14 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

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Back in the days before credit card and signature loans; before used car salesmen and electronic money and debit cards and checks; in the time when the scriptures were written, a man's word was actually worth something. If someone came to your house today and offered to fix your roof or something for just $500 and he gives his word to come back the next day but just give him the money in advance. You probably wouldn't give him anything. Why? Because people's word today means nothing. There are a few people in the world that you can trust, but how is someone to know? A very subtle byproduct of sin in our country has been the gradual decline of trust in our fellow man.

I'm not going to preach to you some eloquent little "togetherness" sermon today and have everybody join hands and sing "kum ba ya" and get a warm fuzzy feeling. I am called to be a preacher not a feel good psychiatrist. I am called to preach to you the Word of God, not my own words. Because you are not going to trust my own word, because in our society a man's word is not worth much anymore, but I want you to know that God's Word still means something! God cannot lie, will not lie, and will always produce results when obeyed! Some people think that the Bible is just a good book, just a moral or philosophy code, but I'm here to tell you it's those things but a whole lot more! It's the very Word of God! It is ultimate truth, it is ultimate authority, and, if you obey it, it will ultimately get you to Heaven. John said that Jesus Christ was the Word of God becoming flesh. Jesus was no ordinary man, if there's one man whose Words you can trust, it's Jesus! That's why I get bored when I look at the front page of the Newspaper because it's old news! Jerusalem is in a mess and everybody is talking about how to solve the Jerusalem question. What revelation! If they would read Zechariah, they would find that God said that He would make Jerusalem a "cup of trembling." Let me save you a lot of time and quarters and tell you the news of the future. They are going to try and try to solve the Jerusalem question and they are going to appear to have peace. Israel will trade land for peace and the right to part of the temple mount. But it's going to be a false peace, because Paul told us that when they shall cry "peace and safety" then sudden destruction would come upon them! There is not going to be real, lasting peace in Jerusalem until the King of kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, comes back and sets up His kingdom with a "new Jerusalem." Until then there will never be lasting peace in the world!

You say "preacher, but how do you know that for sure?" I can tell you why I'm so sure, because it's not my word, it's the King of King's words, it's the word of God, and Jesus said that Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my WORD shall never pass away! The King's word still means something! He said He's coming back, and though I haven't seen it happen yet, I can stand here and assure you, without a shadow of a doubt that it will happen. Why? Because the King has given His Word!!!!

For a King to give His word meant something back then. Solomon made many agreements with foreign kings and kept them and God gave him a time of peace within his reign. When Daniel and the Jews were under the rule of the Medes and Persians, we find that the Bible goes to great lengths to teach us that, once spoken, the King's word could not be changed, not even by himself! Why do the scriptures record this principle in the books of Daniel and Esther? Because there is a truth in it today that we must learn! If the King of Kings has spoken, then it cannot be reversed! You can try to change the Word of God to fit your needs, you can try to change the plan of salvation, but it cannot be changed, it was spoken by the King, and not even He will change it! Theologians debate theological issues and say "is this necessary, or is this necessary?" But I've got news for the theologians, I Peter 1:21 says that scripture is of no private interpretation. That means that if you and I disagree on something, then one of us is wrong, because you can't believe like you want to believe and I believe what I want to believe and make it! We must take ALL of the scripture and interpret it so that it does not contradict itself, because it is the King's Word and the King's Word is truth! You can debate theological issues all you want, but they've already been "forever settled in heaven"!"

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Probably one of the most debated issues in theology today, is what does a person have to do to be saved. If you want to believe something bad enough, you can find a church that will preach what you want to believe, but our word means nothing! It's what the King's Word says that counts! I would like to take you to Acts chapter 19, of the King's Word and let's look at a situation that the Apostle Paul faced.

{Briefly adlib on Acts 19 the 12 disciples of John in Ephesus. Emphasize the message of Repent, be baptized in Jesus' name, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.}

After converting the first 12 disciples, Acts 19:9-10 tells us that Paul stayed in Ephesus for two years and held theological discussions in the school of Tyrannus. Now I assure you Paul did not change his theology of what was required for salvation in those two years, and by not compromising the message, he established a church in that city. When you read the book of Ephesians you are reading the letter that Paul wrote to this church that was started with the conversion of those twelve men and the people won through teaching the truth! Keeping this in mind, I would like for you to refocus your attention on our text in Ephesians 1:

Paul is referring to that conversion experience in Acts 19. After they heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and AFTER they believed, they were SEALED with the HOLY SPIRIT. There are many points that could be taught from this passage but I would like to point out that the message that Paul preached in Acts 19 was the "gospel of your salvation!" What did he preach? Repentance, Water baptism in no other way but immersion in Jesus' name, and receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of the Spirit of God taking control of your tongue and speaking a heavenly language! It was not enough that they believed and were baptized! But they had to be baptized the correct way and receive the Holy Ghost to obey the gospel of salvation! This is the same message that Peter and the Apostles preached in Acts 2. This is the same message that Philip preached in Acts 8. It's the same doctrine Jesus preached in John 3 and Mark 16 {quote briefly}. And I've got news for you today, friend, if you have not responded to the gospel {explain briefly I Corinthians 15} by repenting of your sins, being baptized in Jesus' name, and receiving the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in a heavenly language, you've been had by some preacher preaching his own words! But this is the Word of God: and it will never change! You can repent today! You can be baptized in Jesus' name today, you can receive the life changing experience of the gift of the Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of tongues today! If you truly believe on Jesus Christ "as the scriptures hath said!"

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But notice the wording that Paul used in describing what happened when they received the Holy Spirit. He said they were "sealed" with it. You see, a King's word meant a lot back then, but if he really wanted to make sure that there were no misunderstandings. If He really wanted to let his presence and authority be felt. If He really meant something, then He would do more than decree it, He would place His seal upon it! We find time and time again a King placing a seal upon his actions or his words.

For a seal to be placed, it had to have a surface that was soft and moldable. Usually something like wax was used and then to seal it, the King would take a ring or a signet which had His emblem or His image and His name and would press it into the wax leaving the image and the name of the King upon that which was sealed!

When Jezebel was trying to steal Naboth's vineyard for her husband, King Ahab. She wrote letters telling lies and then used Ahab's seal upon the letters so that people would think that they had come from him (I Kings 21:8). When Nehemiah and Ezra were rededicating the Jews to the Lord, they wrote down a covenant and then sealed it along with the priests and Levites (Nehemiah 9 and 10). In Esther 8:8 we read that the laws of the Medes and Persians prevented changing the word of the king when it was accompanied by the seal of the King's signet ring into the wax. When King Darius was tricked into placing Daniel in the Lion's den, he didn't want the evil enemies of Daniel coming out there and killing Daniel if God protected him from the lions so we find in Daniel 6:17, the king rolled a stone over the lion's den and set his seal upon it with his image in the wax so that everyone would know that the king had commanded for no one to mess with it. To break or tamper with the seal was to invoke the wrath and judgment of the king and the seal was to protect the contents inside! In fact in Deuteronomy Moses mentioned that his treasures were sealed up!

And Paul said that when we obey the word of the King, then He will place the Seal of the Holy Spirit upon us! The Holy Spirit is the seal of the King of Kings! When the Holy Spirit comes, it stamps us permanently with the name of the King! It puts His image upon us! And it protects the treasures that God places inside of us when He begins to do a work in our life! It's the seal of the King! Without that seal, the work that God is doing in your life is easy discarded and stolen by the enemy! I've known many people that believed in God, Repented of their sins, and even were baptized in Jesus' name but they didn't feel like they needed the seal of the Holy Spirit. They didn't have the attitude of the Apostles that we aren't going anywhere else until we receive this power from on high! I've known people to teach that receiving the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in a heavenly language is just optional, it's a gift and so it really doesn't matter. But wait a minute! To teach that is to tamper with the Seal of the King! Those people have a hard time keeping their joy, and keeping their walk of faith, because the work that God had begun in their life has never been sealed! The Holy Spirit is the seal! Having the name and even the blood of Jesus in your life will do no good unless you go on and get that seal!

But the seal could not be applied unless the object was soft and moldable like warm wax is. You can take warmed wax and just shape it into anything you want with your hands. It's completely lost all of it's resistance and stubbornness. That's why it was used for the seals, because when it was moldable it was able to take on the image of the King in a way that all that looked upon it could clearly see the King's likeness and name! If you have never received the seal of the Holy Ghost and felt the presence of God come into your life until the living water flowed forth from your belly like Jesus said it would and you began to praise God in a beautiful language that you have never learned or studied, then you need to repent of your sins and pray, God break me, mold me, take every bit of stubbornness out of my heart and mind, let me be completely yielding to your spirit and hands, and when you allow God to break off that hard heart, that crusty pride, that stinking flesh, the God will bring His Seal and place His image, His Spirit, His name, His power, into the soft moldable surface of your soul! you can receive it today!

You need it. We cannot change the message, we cannot make receiving the Holy Ghost optional in living for God. We cannot preach another message than that of Jesus, Peter, and Paul. Because to tamper with the Holy Spirit is to alter the seal of the King! If I do so, then I will receive the wrath of the King, but if I leave it alone, then I will receive the blessings of the King's Word and house! Don't mess with the Holy Ghost experience for it's the seal of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ!

Paul went on to tell them that they were sealed until the day of redemption! {Quote Romans 8:11} The Holy Ghost is our ticket out of here! If we allow God to stamp His image upon us and continue to allow Him to place spiritual treasure in our heart, then we will not only reflect His image in this world, but when the Rapture of the church takes place, we will get a glorified body remade into His image! When Adam was created He was created out of the clay of this earth, and when we allow Jesus to be the potter, then we will one day be like Him, but the process can begin today: you can receive the seal of the King! And that's not my words, that is the unadulterated Word of the King of Kings!

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All four gospels give the account of the burial of Jesus Christ. We know that Joseph, a rich man of Arimathea, and Nicodemus took Jesus' body and buried Him in a brand new tomb. In our text we find that the Jewish leaders remembered Jesus' prediction that He would rise up again in three days and three nights, so they went unto Pilate who was the "king" in authority over them and they asked if he would place some soldiers at the tomb to make sure that nobody came and stole his body and such. Pilate gave in to their demands and also rolled a large stone in front of the tomb and "sealed it" with His official seal.

Christianity is based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He did not really die and rise again then we need to all go home for surely a dead God cannot cause a resurrection in our life either! But if He really rose again, then so can He resurrect your spirit from a life of sin and cause you to walk in new walk! The Jewish leaders really played into God's hand by getting the guards and the seal, because no ordinary person would dare to mess with those soldiers and especially when they saw the seal of the king upon the stone.

Turn if you will to John chapter 19 and I would like to point out a few facts of the matter that may have escaped your busy minds but that very pertinent to our discussion.

John 19:38-40 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

The last phrase "as the manner of the Jews is to bury" gives us quite a lot more information. Let me go through the manner of the Jews to bury.

The custom of the wealthy Jews like Joseph was to follow the procedures learned and mastered in Egypt. Jesus was not emboweled or embalmed because of their hurrying to get Him buried before the Passover Sabbath. That means that all of Jesus' innards were left intact and, of course, this fulfilled scripture in Exodus 12 where the Passover lamb was to be left whole and not gutted.

They first washed the precious body of Jesus and then they took the linen cloth and tore it into strips 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide and they took a sticky substance very similar to our plaster and they smeared the cloth with it. While it was wet they wrapped the body with it starting at the toe and then the foot and then the leg until the entire body was wrapped except for the area of His face that would be the last thing done and usually by women who were a little more gentle using softer cloth. Jewish history reveals that the custom was to use about 100 pounds of linen for an average size body. That is, the linen itself weighed close to 100 pounds. Jesus had worked in a carpenter's shop for 18 years and had muscles so for the sake of discussion let's say that He weighed 200 pounds before His death. The ordeals of crucifixion and dehydration would have caused that weight to shrink by about 20 pounds so let's say that the total body of Jesus embalmed weighed roughly 180 pounds plus 100 pounds of linen and hardening gauze so a total of almost 300 pounds. When these linen strips hardened they sealed the body from air and movement. On an average male, the chest area covering would have been approximately 3 inches thick and maybe more. If a body was perfectly healthy, even with the face opening left, a person would survive, maybe 4 hours before dying. So Jesus is in this cocoon with only his face showing. It's right at sundown so they place this 300 pound hardened body into the tomb and place a napkin over his face and close the tomb. The ladies will come back after the weeks celebration of the Passover and finish embalming the face.

It is important to realize the testimony of the eye witnesses. The Pharisees and Saducees and Jewish leaders pronounced Him dead. The Roman soldiers pronounced Him dead. The disciple knew that He was dead. Pilate knew that He was dead. Jesus was dead as dead could be, and so they placed Him in the tomb and then closed the door. Pilate placed a large rock in front of the door and placed Roman guards in front and then "sealed" the grave.

When Mary got there early Sunday morning, she saw the stone rolled away and never looked inside but instead ran back to Peter and John. Peter and John ran to the grave, John outrunning Peter, but John simply gazed in the door and did not enter in at first. Peter ducked into the door and then John followed.

John 20:6-9 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

John saw something that made him believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. It wasn't scripture, but something that he saw. What did he see?

He saw the linen cocoon still laying there still in the form of Jesus' body. But the napkin that had been placed over the body was gone and where John should have been able to see Jesus' face because it had not yet been embalmed, John saw nothing! The broad carpenter-shop shoulders and hips of Jesus would not have been able to pass through the 6 inch wide opening for His face. If John would have come and seen nothing then He would have thought that several men had come and carried away the heavy body in the night. If John would have seen a large rip down the hardened linen cloth then he would have thought that someone had come and cut Jesus out or perhaps a wild animal had come and tore the body out. But the hard linen clothe was perfectly whole, but the body of Jesus was missing! There was only one possibility: Jesus Christ was alive in a resurrected body that could simply pass through any hard matter including walls and plastered grave clothes! When John saw the linen shell, he believed! Can there be any doubt that Jesus is alive today?!? Even the soldiers that knew the truth had to be bribed with money to lie about it to say that He had been stolen, but the evidence was there: Jesus was alive!

Josephus tells us that during Passover there were over a million visitors to the city of Jerusalem. Most of these had passed by the hill of Golgotha and had seen Jesus die. For the rest of that day, no doubt as the word was passed around, people of the city went and visited the tomb. For the next few days, a hardened, empty shell of a grave clothes preached that Jesus was alive! Jesus was alive. Everyone had forsaken Jesus when He was crucified, but then we see over 500 people at His final ascension. And on the Day of Pentecost and in the days after, thousands of people believed, repented, were baptized and received the wonderful seal of the Holy Spirit! Why the change, because they had witnessed the testimony of a hard shell of grave clothes that were empty! There could be no doubt! Jesus was alive!

It is interesting that when a person is sealed with the Holy Ghost, that is how we identify with Jesus' resurrection. But even though the Holy Ghost does change a person into a new creature, yet people will still remember the past of what you used to be. Even though according to God's ledger your past was washed away in the name of Jesus when you were baptized, God doesn't erase the memory of your past from your mind nor from your friends and family. Why is that? Why does God allow the past grave clothes of what you used to be in when you were dead in your sins to hang around? Because when they look at the linen cloth of what you used to be and used to do, and then they see that you are no longer in them! You no longer are bound in those sins, you are no longer confined in those tight fitting clothes. As they look at your past and no longer see you acting that way, God is witnessing to them: look he's alive! He's alive! What programs couldn't do, the Spirit of God can do! Jesus is alive, and therefore He can bring a new life to you! There's the shell of an old, hard way of life that is laying back there reminding you of what you used to be, but don't go back and get back in it because you will die. Let people look on it with wonder: He's not doing that anymore! Yes, there's been a resurrection!

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What's all of this have to do with the seal of the King? Because Jesus was crucified because they rejected Him as their King. Pilate who was a carnal king of this world, then placed HIS seal upon the tomb. If you don't have the seal of the King of Kings on your life, then you have the seal of the king of this world: sin. Pilate's seal was to keep the dead man dead! It was designed to prevent a resurrection! If you continue to ignore Jesus' seal, then you are choosing to live under the seal of sin. Some of you feel trapped and like you can't break your behavior and old ways. That's because somebody other than Jesus Christ has sealed you and you are bound!

But Jesus Christ knows how to break open earthly seals! He didn't care about Pilate's seal, but had the angels roll the stone away, not to let Him out, for He was already gone, but to let the entire world witness the resurrection! If you will receive the seal of Jesus, the seal of the Holy Ghost, it breaks every other seal that may have you bound. It takes authority over every other seal. In the book of Revelation (which is not RevelationS, but the Revelation of Jesus Christ) we find a book of endtime events that are sealed with seven seals. The only one who is able to break open the seals of the endtime was the Lamb of God, the King of Kings himself, Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:9)! Jesus Christ knows what to do with seals of other kings: break them open and place His own seal in place! What is His Seal?: the Holy Spirit!

Also notice the person inside the tomb was the one who had to break the seal of the King!

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Eph 4:29-32 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

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2 Tim 2:15-19 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.