In this sermon, Greg Boyd introduces the topic of what it means to be sealed by God. He explains that it pertains to the principle of God’s protection and God’s ownership of his people. We are protected in the sense that God is unconditionally committed to our salvation, we are owned by God because Jesus ransomed us from slavery to sin and Satan.
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Branded
• Greg Boyd
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In this passage, the angel from the east addresses four angels who were given power to harm the land and sea. This raises two questions. First, who “gave” these angels this destructive power? Throughout Revelation, Satan is the one who is behind all destructive commands. The second question is, are the destructive angels in verse 3 the same as the four earth-guarding angels in verse 1? Commentators who say that the ancient serpent is always behind the symbolic violence in Revelation argue that the angel from the east is not addressing the four earth-guarding angels. Instead, he’s addressing the four winds that are seeking to wreak destruction, and he’s giving us the reason why the four earth-guarding angels are restraining them.
The reason for holding back destruction is for God to place a seal on the forehead of all God’s servants. This sealing means two things.
First, the seal is about security and protection against the four “winds.” However, this
protection cannot be about absolute guarding against the destructive effects of the four “winds.” It is a protection against falling away from the faith and joining those who pledge allegiance to the Beast that the rest of the world worships.
The second meaning of the seal pertains to ownership. There are three things to note about what ownership means when Revelation was written. First, a seal was sometimes used to tattoo a slave on their forehead or hand. Second, owners would brand a slave upon purchase. In the New Testament, this idea of purchase is translated as ransom, which is one of the main words used to describe what Jesus did for us on the cross (see Matthew 20:29). Jesus ransomed us out of slavery to sin and made us his own. Third, the word translated as ”servants” in Revelation 7:3 and throughout the New Testament is doulos, which literally means “slave.” We have been ransomed by Jesus’ sacrifice, freed from Satan’s enslavement, and are now under the ownership of God and the Lamb.
This teaching exposes a foundational lie of western culture, rugged individualism. It reflects the “I will ascend” mindset of Lucifer discussed in previous sermons. With this mindset, there is no need to honor God’s boundaries or hear God’s direction. The New Testament tells us we belong to God and are not our own. God’s insignia is burned into the forehead of all God’s people. We are “sealed” with the name of the Father and the Lamb by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Covenant, Discipleship, Salvation
Sermon Series: The Flock of the Lamb
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Focus Scripture:
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Revelation 7:1-3
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
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Greg, a thought on your truck driver friend
His prayer
Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast ….
your point it doesn’t end with boast…. there is a second part
For… we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
I read a book a while back by Daniel Pink: ‘Drive’ – The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
His idea of Discovering the more you were made for had three parts:
Autonomy – the desire to direct our own lives
Mastery – the urge to make progress and get better at something that matters
Purpose – the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves
How do you work at discovering what you were made for… but keep in sync with the idea ‘not by works, so that no one can boast’
I liked this prayer: ‘Holy Spirit I need you – I can’t you can – do this for me through me’
The kingdom of the heavens is similar to a bit of yeast which a woman took and hid in half a bushel of dough. After a while all the dough was pervaded by it. JESUS