Ephesians 1:13-14 Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Notes
Transcript
Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Sealed with the Holy Spirit
What do I want them to know? The Holy Spirit Seals, Comforts, Guides
Why? It leads to life
What do I want them to do? Walk in the Spirit, Don’t Quench, Test the Spirit
Why? It leads to life
ME/WE
We have been gifted by God.
God in His great love has gifted us.
Why? Why does God gift us?
IIt is because GOD LOVES US not because we DESERVE IT or we EARNED IT.....God was pulling out His a sheet to see who has the most gold stars....hmmmm today we have Chris and Caleb they’ve been good so they get the gifts…NO!.....NONE US CAN EARN THE GIFTS THAT GOD GIVES........in fact we have done complete opposite of earning it…DO we realize this?......WE HAVE REBELLED AGAINST GOD, WE HAVE BEEN SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF DIS OBEDIENCE....
That’s grace…amazing grace....
Think about this we hurt God, rebel against God and what does God do? In grace He gifts us
Amazing GRACE is not only forgiving us from giving us what we deserve…which is WRATH.....
Grace does not just forgive us, cancel the debt, it GIFTS US WITH THINGS WE DO NOT DESERVE
To use an anaolgy in human terms it would be if my son broke a window in my house and not only do I forgive Him I buy him a gift..
It makes no sense
GRACE MAKES NO SENSE....
This is what Paul wants to REMIND US and THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS who he, Pricilla and Aquilla help plant several years early. He is writing back to them
This dark, dark city that had dark magic, worshipped Artemis (who was considered the queen of heaven) there was this huge temple, one of the seven wonders of the world....
BUT PAUL, PRICILLA, AND AQUILLA BRING THE LIGHT OF JESUS, EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT AND THE LIGHT CAST OUT THE DARKNESS
AND PEOPLE WERE SAVED TO THE POINT THAT IT AFFECTED THE IDOL FACTORIES…THEY WERE LOSING MONEY AND WANTED PAUL AND THE CHURCH GONE
BUT THE CHURCH KEPT GROWING AND GROWING TO THE POINT ALL OF ASIA HEARD THE GOSPLE BECAUSE OF EPHESUS....
WHAT DOES TO THIS CHURCH IS PAUL writes a BACK TO EPHESUS 204 word sentence THAT FOCUSES ON GRACE AND PRAISE, because of the gifts we have received because of God
THIS WAS NOT THE NORMAL WAY HE STARTED HIS LETTERS
Greetings vs grace (kiran vs charis)
HE WANTED TO REMIND THEM OF THE
Spiritual Blessings (THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD) THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
WHAT WERE THOSE SPIRITAUL GIFTS THAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO US?
LAST WEEK WE LEARNED ABOUT 3 SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS THAT COME FROM MAINLY COME FROM GOD THE FATHER AND THE SON
WHO REMEMBERS WHAT THEY WERE?
Chosen (by grace of God)
Adoption (into God’s family, He is our Father who is Listening, Loving, Forgiving, Faithful, Truthful, Providing Father)
Redeeming (we have been redeemed, saved by the blood of the lamb, Jesus)
These are mostly FOCUSING ON the work of the God the Father and the Son Jesus
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE GOD HEAD, THE TRINITY
WHO IS IT?
HOLY SPIRIT
The correct way to say it is Holy Spirit (I know our Bibles say The Holy Spirit) but Holy Spirit is a person. We do not say THE JESUS or THE PETE
Too often in our western world he is neglected member of the TRINITY, He’s been abandoned, neglected and FORGOTTEN.....He gets pushed to the side, under the rug
The rhetoric, whether spoken or not, has often been about the TRINITY IS GOD THE FATHER, JESUS CHRSIT THE SON, HOLY BIBLE
What we have boiled the TRINITY down to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Why has this happened?
There are various reasons
We want to control and put God in a box and the SPIRIT, nor does God like to be in a box, nor where they made for a box, it is does not folllow the patterned of A + B = C
The full to the fire, the quenched the spirit has been the enlightenment....
This is empowered by the enlightenment
Do you know happens when we FORGET HOLY SPIRIT? TO WALK IN THE POWER OF HOLY SPIRIT
FEAR COMES
DEFEAT COMES
LOSTNESS COMES
HOPELESSNESS COMES
DEPRESSION COMES
DESTRUCTION
Why? Because Holy Spirit is the one who comes to bring us GIFTS that DEFEAT, DESTROY, END....hopelessness, lostness, depression, fear (are not many of us living in FEAR TODAY)
2 tim 1:7
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
TENSION
What Paul wants the church Ephesus to know is, REMEMBER YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT....This is how he ends his GRACE and PRAISE sentence....and he is a gift that brings life
This is where are going to camp out today and next Sunday and maybe the following Sunday because many of us have forgotten Holy Spirit
Do you want to know how great the gift of the Holy Spirit is, incase you think me, and Paul are blowing this out of proportion , listen to what John 16:7
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
What does Jesus say? Holy Spirit, He’s an ok Spirit…NO,
It is to your
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 65.44 λυσιτελεῖ; συμφέρω
συμφέρωb: to be of an advantage to someone—‘to be advantageous, to be better off, to be to someone’s advantage.’
How many of us think this way?
Many of us me included, If we are honest we say I would rather have Jesus face to face BUT WHAT DOES JESUS SAY? It is better if He goes away
Why? Why does Jesus say it is better, to your advantage?
Jesus in human flesh sits besides you, but the Holy Spirit resides in you. God at all times resides in you…Did you know that?
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
This is much different than the Old Testament, in the OT select people were led from the outside by the Holy Spirit, but in the NT all believers will have the Holy Spirit within them
ALWAYS, not on days that you are GOOD or think you deserve it…always
What we want I believe wants me to do today and next Sunday is lay out to you several gifts of HOLY SPIRIT that is to our advantage the gifts that He has given
Today we are going to cover a couple of those gifts of Holy Spirit
Let’s dive in
SEALS US AS GOD’S
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Paul says you have been gifted with a seal of Holy Spirit
What does it mean to be sealed? We don’t say that saying too much (sealed and asphalt driveway, sealed an envelope)
One of the best ways to describe this is to think about cattle, when a rancher PURCHASES A COW, he will then brand the cow, SEAL the cow with HIS ownership (it will say PASTOR PETE) and no matter where it goes, if the cattle wanders away into another ranchers pasture I can know what cattle is MINE because it has been SEALED with my name no matter where it GOES, that’s my COW, I own it…
it has been PURCHASED, I PAID FOR IT and SEALED WITH MY OWNERSHIP
I look after it, I take care of it, feed the cattle, take of the cattle.
Do we see what Paul is saying here?
Paul is saying one of the ways you know you are a SAINT, A BELIEVER in Jesus is that you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL DO IN YOUR LIFE IS BEAR WITNESS THAT YOU ARE YOU ARE CHILD OF GOD.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who are Sons and Daughters
CONVICTION YES, BUT NO CONDEMNATION
ROMANS 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
IF YOU ARE HEARING OVER AND OVER THAT GOD HATES YOU THAT IS NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT BUT THE words from the Devil
2. PARACLETE (gift of the paraclete)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 14:26 We have been given the paraclete, some versions say helper, advocate, comforter
Here’s the problem with our english language no one word can clarify PARACLETE....helper opens the door…but help for what?
Helper to help the Indians win? If the Indians had more Holy Spirit they could win. Is this what Jesus is saying? NO
PARACLETE is much greater!
This is what Paul wants us and the church in Ephesus to know YES YOU HAVE BEEN SEALED BUT HOLY SPIRIT DOES MORE THAN SEAL HE’S YOUR PARACLETE....this PARACLETE definition we are going to unpack today and over the next Sunday and maybe a third Sunday.
We are going to cover 2 today
What is the PARACLETE?
3. COMFORTER
When you are in need, when you are sad, when you are mad, when you are broken, when your hurt
Guess who’s living inside of you?
God, Holy Spirit
Do you think God inside of you says, “I only come out in the sunshine”
No, He’s always there
I love the Foot Print in the Sand Poem that describes this so well
One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
I want you to think about this
WHO WAS Jesus greatest companion He had while on Earth was…who was Jesus closest to?
-Peter, James, John?
No, HOLY SPIRIT
when Jesus was in agony, sweating drops of blood, who stayed awake with Him? Peter…No, Peter fall asleep
When Jesus was on in desert battling with the Devil who was with Him?
When all of Jesus disciples deserted him who was there?
Do you see what Holy Spirit does?
He never leaves you and always comforts you
This means you are NEVER ALONE
YOU ARE NEVER ALONE
When the day is hard and the night is long, when friends have left, Holy Spirit is there.
How can we hear more from Holy Spirit? Open this gift of comfort?
Praise (how many times have we prayed and comfort comes, peace comes), prayer, listening pray, being in church (Holy Spirit will use another person to speak to us)
After we have been sealed the
PARACLETE COMFORTS
3. GUIDES US (paraclete comes to guide)
How many of us wish we need what to do on a daily basis? Where we should go?
or wish we knew what to do about that question we have about what we are to do about that
- We want to know if we should take this job, should we be in that relationship, should we rent or buy that house, homeschool your kids, etc?
I HAVE GOOD NEWS WE HAVE HOLY SPIRIT, PARACLETE TO GUIDE US
You see all over in scripture
David was led by the Spirit
Peter was led by the Spirit
Paul was led by the Spirit
Jesus was led by the Spirit
What does Romans 8:14 say?
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
If you are Son of God HOLY SPIRIT WILL GUIDE YOU
If you have questions ask Holy Spirit will guide
The Holy Spirit does not leave you on an ISLAND....HE IS IN YOU and when you walk with Him
WHERE WILL HOLY SPIRIT GUIDE YOU? INTO LIES
John 16:13
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
The Paraklete is in your life to GUIDE YOU TO ALL TRUTH AND LIFE....He is going to guide you into the best places.
He is going to guide you to God places
This is not always easy nor is it always what we want or where we want to go
To get to the Promise Land has for you here you are going to have to walk through the wilderness, which is good, we have a negative view of the wilderness but the Bible does not, it is the place God does His best work, GOD WORK
It is not always these big things either…it is small things
Call to your friend, don’t buy that, listen to what they are saying
How many times we are glad we listened?
That friend we talked to us need us
The thing we would have bought we found out later it would have been a bad purchase
Listening to that person changed your day
I will give you a practical way this happened this week to my uncle Jerry....He had no idea what I was preaching on this week and while I was writing the sermon he share this testimony of Holy Spirit working, not knowing I was preaching on Holy Spirit today
ON Thursday he said you are not going to believe what happened. My uncle owns a landscape company and he had appointment set for 7pm to finalize a new job and he was tired, hungry, been working out in the SUN all day and he thought I am going reschedule for tomorrow during the day, I am too tired, but He heard Holy Spirit say “no, you need to go to the appointment”
He went and gets the contract signed and as he is walking out of this customers house, THREE of the customers neighbors. want him to work on their house too
If my uncle went during the day the next day, guess who’s not home, the 3 neighbors
How do we have this happen in our lives?
WALK, DON’T QUENCH THE SPIRIT, Test the Spirit
1. WALK with the Spirit not the WORLD Gal 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Be in relationship with the Spirit....spend time with Him in PRAISE, PRAYER, CHURCH
Give Holy Spirit space to speak....He will speak
We need to turn break relationships with the world, flesh, devil..... the volume of the world, flesh, and devil....and following the World, Flesh, Devil
“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness and communion with God was not from lack of time.” - John Piper
2. DON’T QUENCH THE SPIRIT
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
This is a big one....we can hear what Holy Spirit says but if we do not do what He says it will not matter
Let’s go back to Is 63 when it is first said and Isaiah is writing about the deliverance of Israel from the slavery of Egypt…look
English Standard Version Chapter 63
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.
What was happening?
God was guiding them into the from slavery in Egypt to the PROMISE LAND BUT they missed the promise land....why? They grieved the Holy Spirit…they stopped following God.
What happens to us in our lives is the Spirit Speaks and we do not like what He says so we do not follow and therefore we quench the Spirit. We say volume down HOLY SPIRIT, turn FLESH UP, WORLD UP, DEVIL UP
that’s too hard, I don’t want to do that....ANYTHING BUT THAT....BUT WHERE IS GOD LEADING US....to hell
God is doing the same with you.....He is always leading out of slavery to the Promise Land
3. TEST IT
How do we test it with the
Does it aline with scriptures
Is what we think Holy Spirit is saying aline with scripture
I have had people say, “God told me to get divorced but there was not abuse or affair, they found their soulmate.” That was not God who said that
Or God said I can marry whoever I want…I have had friends who have been attracted to the same sex and they tried to find scripture to justify it
2. Seek the counsel of church (especially since some matters are not in scripture…should you take this job, marry that person,
It does not say in 2 Ben 2:20 “you shall marry Amanda Green” or take that job or buy this thing or move there
Lean into your brother and sisters in Christ
Ask your pastor
What we are going to do is leave some space for you to ask the questions you want to ask to God?
Maybe for you, you need God’s comfort others it’s His guidance