2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm
in Christ.  He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his
Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

 One of my jobs as the secretary of the Northern Conference of the
Michigan District is to send notices and letters out in the name of the
Conference announcing Conferences dates or taking care of other
conference business.  When I send those letters, especially when it is
just to alert everyone to a coming Conference I like to write things we
all get.  Here is what I wrote in my last letter.
 "I know it is that time again because my desk is overflowing with papers
filled with numbers, names and other interesting stuff.  Like many of you
I am in the process of compiling the Annual Report on my congregation.
Well, I don't know if it is just here, but I have to tell you that this
year our "numbers" are pretty appalling.  I'm not talking about our
financial numbers but rather about our attendance numbers for church,
Sunday school and Bible class.  They are the lowest I have seen in years.
 Needless to say that puzzles me.  We are a group of called workers who
have the greatest treasure of the world, Jesus Christ and his redemptive
work.  As such I am confident that every one of us uses that Gospel
message of Jesus as the heart and core of all that we do.  Whether we are
in the classroom or the pulpit our people are hearing about Jesus and his
gracious atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Yet, as in the case here, it
seems that this message is rather easily cast aside by many.
 It is enough to make one pull their hair out and simply scream!  Okay,
that would be what the world would do.  Me?  I give thanks to God for his
grace and mercy.  If God wants things to improve and get better He will
accomplish that.  If God wants to bless us and cause solid growth, He
will accomplish that through his all sufficient Word.  If God wants to
cause this congregation (or any) to fade with time, well then such is His
pleasure.  My job is to simply continue sowing the seed of the wonderful
gospel of grace.  My job is to keep Jesus before the people, not a
preaching about Jesus' morals but rather the preaching of Jesus as our
Savior from sin, Jesus the magnificent God who has secured our salvation
by HIS resurrection from the dead."
 I point out what I said in that letter because of the number of
responses that I got from that letter.  Of the some 60 plus pastors that
were at that Conference as many as 40 indicated that they had similar
circumstances.  Numbers were low.  Attendance was appalling.  People,
most of us agreed, are taking their Lord and Savior for granted.  It
seems to be a trend of our society.  A trend that is causing people to
seek style instead of substance, feelings instead of wisdom, sound bites
instead of solid truth, and selfish gratification instead of God.
 What to do?  We turn to the Lord God for his wisdom and guidance.  We
take our comfort from him and what He reveals in his Word.  Let's
consider the text before us and the lesson it teaches.  Our theme will
be: STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH.  1st. God anointed.  2nd. God seals.  3rd.
God gives the Spirit.
 There is always the only real concern that I have for this life.
Helping people to stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth that
He is.  It is a daunting task to carry out.  From all sides in all
different ways the souls of people are under attack, under attack not to
stop religiosity or spirituality but rather under attack to tear souls
away from Christ Jesus and the precious truth of the gospel of salvation.
 Doesn't it ever amaze you how many shows there are that support and
promote the supernatural as real and important but then those same
channels will have program after program telling you that the Bible is
wrong and false because after all, we know there is no such thing as
miracles and the like?  It is enough to make your head spin.  It is an
example of some of the things we are up against as the children of God.
 That's where the gracious goodness of our God comes in.  Our God reminds
us of his faithfulness and of the fact that you can rely on the simple
message that His Word contains.  That's what the whole section preceding
our verses is about.  About the "Yes" that is ours in Jesus.  About the
"Amen," the "yes this is so" that we have in Him who is the very glory of
God.  It is this constant, this marvel of our completed salvation in
Jesus that helps get us through the trials and temptations we have.  Our
text is geared to remind us of this fact when it says, "Now it is God who
makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set his seal
of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit
guaranteeing what is to come."
 What beautiful words we have here.  First, note how we are reminded that
our salvation, our faith, our getting to heaven is not what we do, but
rather what God does.  It is God who carried out redemption.  It is God
who calls us to faith and the adoption of sons.  It is God who makes us
stand firm in Christ.  And then, just to make sure we get the point of
all of this we have three distinct terms explaining just how God
accomplishes this "standing firm."
 First we are told "he anointed us."  How many of you might get the
significance of this word?  Do you remember what the name Christ means?
Christ means "the anointed one."  When God sends his Holy Spirit into our
lives that Spirit anoints us.  Anoints with what?  That's the beautiful
play on words found here.  He anoints us with Christ Jesus and the marvel
that He is.
 In his commentary on 2 Corinthians Prof. J. P. Meyer wrote, "How could
Paul have expressed our union with Christ, and thereby with one another,
more vividly than by using the word xpiw?  God anointed Christ with the
Holy Spirit and with power.  Now we are included in that anointment.  We
are made a royal priesthood that we should show forth the excellence of
Him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Our
fellowship which we have among ourselves is truly with the Father and his
Son Jesus Christ.  The Father has anointed us together with his Son and
given us the same Spirit."
 Do we fail to grasp that such is what a Christian is?  We are believers
in Jesus, those in whom Jesus lives and dwells, those whose lives are
guided by the very Spirit of our Savior.  So why aren't we being
imitators of Christ?  Why do we wrestle with making God's gift of church
our habit as it was "the custom" of Jesus?  Why do we so easily forget
our Savior?  Thank goodness our sins are covered by our Savior.
 Our text goes on and tells us more.  It spoke of God setting "his seal
of ownership on us."  If one looks at the word used here you would see
the tremendous implications and meanings to this word.  It is a reference
to the seal, the signet mark used in ancient days not only secure
something but also to show ownership.  Even more than that, the seal
could be a mark guaranteeing the contents of something.  As one looks
through the Bible and sees the use of this word we grasp the wonder of
what is said here.  God's children bear his seal.  God's children are
marked as the very possession of God.  God's children by this seal are
shown to be genuine heirs of Jesus.  This seal is none other than the
Holy Spirit of God.
 Do we fail to grasp how we get the Holy Spirit?  He works in us through
the gospel in Word and Sacrament.  That's what church is about.   It is
hearing the message of Jesus and his conquering of sin, death and the
devil on our behalf.  It is hearing the promises of Jesus that he
forgives us, strengthens, guides, comforts and confirms.  He does this
through the seal of the Holy Spirit.  So what happens when we don't have
the gospel in word and sacrament?  It is a reminder that we can't do
without the wonder of Jesus and his seal.
 Then to our final phrase.  Our text said, God "put his Spirit in our
hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come."  Again what an awesome
phrase.  Please note that the Holy Spirit affects our hearts.  His work
is done in our hearts.  And what he does in our hearts is gives us a
"deposit guaranteeing what is to come."  In other words the Holy Spirit
gives us faith.  Maybe it is a faith that only "sees through a glass
darkly" but it is a faith that guarantees our eternal life and salvation
because that faith is sealed and anointed in Jesus.
 In Matthew Jesus says something of great importance that touches on
this.  He says in chapter 15, "What goes into a man's mouth does not make
him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him
'unclean.'"  In explanation of this Jesus says, "Don't you see that
whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?
 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these
make a man 'unlcean.'  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  These are
what make a man 'unclean."
 Faith is not about having the right clothes or living the "right" life
and so on.  If you pay attention to the words of Jesus you would
understand that he is not concerned with outward things but what is going
on in our hearts.  In our hearts!  I can't read your hearts.  You can't
read my heart.  Yet we know one solid truth about all of this..."Where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  As we look at our
lives where is our treasure...where is our heart...is it carrying the
seal of Jesus, the deposit of eternal life and salvation?  Is it filled
with the joy of our Savior and his redeeming love or has Jesus ended up
somewhere in the back corners of our heart, put there in case someday we
might need Him?  Only you can answer those questions for yourself.
 Parents, do you remember the sacrifices you made for your children or
even now are making on behalf of your children?  We do that because we
love them and want only the best for them.  Is that our attitude toward
Jesus?  Do we sacrifice for Him out of love for Him?
 Do we make the worship of our Savior Jesus a priority?  In our everyday
lives will people see that we are owned by God, his dear Heaven bought
children?  Do we actually have a devotion life, time set aside every day
for "the bread of life" that is our Savior?   Could you still tell the
difference between the Law and the Gospel...the very difference between
salvation by works or salvation by grace?  Can we readily distinguish
between true gospel preaching and the preaching of morality?  Do we
consider Jesus negative because he condemns sin and teaches salvation by
grace through his redemption?  There are so many questions to ask as each
of us examines his or her own heart to check for that seal, that
anointing, that Holy Spirit in our hearts.
 We have a marvelous Savior who has done all things for our salvation.
We have been anointed "little Christs" by the Spirit of our God.  We have
been sealed with the hope of salvation and the joy of peace in Jesus
because he won the victory.  Our hearts have been touched, have received
the deposit of faith that guarantees eternal life in Jesus.  All these
things God has done in our Savior.  All these things our God continues to
do through his Holy Spirit working in the gospel in Word and Sacrament.
All this is ours because our God would have us be His children and heirs
of eternal life.  Let our hearts and our lives be "Yes" in Christ.  Let
our hearts and lives know the "Amen" that is found in Jesus.  In this way
we are made firm in the faith now and always.  Amen.