Sealed

Last week, we began our sermon series - Blueprints. There’s so much that we could cover, but I have felt led to begin with the temple, us! I believe He wants us to rediscover the gifts of God and for us to know who we are being transformed to be. Not only are we becoming the royal priesthood that Peter calls us, we’ve received the promise of the Holy Spirit living in us and guiding our lives.

As a recap, I was studying the word blueprint. It can be a plan or template for a building project. While it’s not limited to buildings or construction, we see a lot of scriptures using this imagery.

RECAP:

Our House(life) Built on the Rock(Christ)

I’m reminded of the sermon on the mount. Jesus has shared fresh revelation on how we are to conduct ourselves as part of His kingdom. We see quickly that this isn’t like the earthly kingdoms, in fact Jesus was offered those by the devil because He knew that He was finished if Jesus continued with God’s plan. Another note to call out here is that the sermon went from chapter 5 to 7. The chapters and verses are for our benefit but it can sometimes cause us to miss these details.

After Jesus finishes his teaching, He reminds his hearers that we must not only listen to what He said, but we must do it. He then gave us a parable to illustrate this.

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Declaration - doesn’t this make a lot more sense now?

My eyes are on Jesus

My heart is tuned to His Spirit

My ears are listening to His voice

My mind will believe what He says

My voice will declare the truth of His word

As we get into our sermon today, I wanted to show how what we experience today was foretold by God long before the events of the crucifixion took place.

Sermon in a sentence:

Jesus promised to fill us with the Holy Spirit and with power. Are you experiencing the fullness of His promise in your life today?

The Promise

Ezekiel 11:19–20 ESV

19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Joel 2:28–29 NLT

28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.

It’s interesting to note, that if you look at the verses preceding these you see that the people were called to repentance, which led to restoration, which then led to this part - receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Wait on Him

Acts 1:4–5 NLT

4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Luke wrote the book of Luke and the book of Acts. So I recommend reading together sometime. It’s a flowing narrative.

Luke 24:49 NLT

49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

Acts 1:8 NLT

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So, we have our instructions - WAIT.

You may be thinking, there you go again with this waiting business. We talked about it in our last series. Being still and waiting before the Lord. The God of all eternity, transcendent of all time, surely He could move faster…right?

I am reminded that the best things do take time. We’re so busy and rushing everywhere, so honestly, whether we like it or not the waiting is good. It allows us the breather we need, so we can focus on Jesus. Then whoosh, He comes right in the room with you!

He Does What He Says

We receive the fulfillment in Acts chapter 2. 50 DAYS LATER…

Acts 2:1–4 NLT

1 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

Sealed

We’ve begun our study in the book of Ephesians this week and I came to one of my favorite verses in the Bible (I know, I say this a lot!)

Ephesians 1:12–14 TPT

12 God’s purpose was that we Jews, who were the first to long for the messianic hope, would be the first to believe in the Anointed One and bring great praise and glory to God! 13 And because of him, when you who are not Jews heard the revelation of truth, you believed in the wonderful news of salvation. Now we have been stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. 14 He is given to us like an engagement ring is given to a bride, as the first installment of what’s coming! He is our hope-promise of a future inheritance which seals us until we have all of redemption’s promises and experience complete freedom—all for the supreme glory and honor of God!

I just love how the passion translation articulates that. Like an engagement ring! Did you know that we, His church, are the bride?? This makes all the dudes in the house feel awkward, but as you get close to Him, that part doesn’t matter. Just that we will be with Him forever, close!

We’re we sealed with things? No, we were sealed with Him!

In the sealing, we gain - security, authenticity, ownership & authority!

No Longer Orphans

John 14:18–19 TPT

18 “I promise that I will never leave you helpless or abandon you as orphans—I will come back to you! 19 Soon I will leave this world and they will see me no longer, but you will see me, because I will live again, and you will come alive too.

security - we are something that He cares about, so we have His protection

authenticity - sealed by Himself, so we can trust the source!

Greater Things

John 14:12–14 TPT

12 “I tell you this timeless truth: The person who follows me in faith, believing in me, will do the same mighty miracles that I do—even greater miracles than these because I go to be with my Father! 13 For I will do whatever you ask me to do when you ask me in my name. And that is how the Son will show what the Father is really like and bring glory to him. 14 Ask me anything in my name, and I will do it for you!”

ownership - like an engagement ring we see that this is but a down payment of good things to come.

authority - we move in His authority and power in the way that we share His story and good news with those around us. Finding what was lost!

Closing

Signed, sealed & delivered

Have you heard this phrase before? It usually used to close a business deal(or a cheesy mattress commercial).

You’re meant to get the assurance that everything is taken care of. Oh how often human promises fall short. We don’t always see or plan for the obstacles that come against us.

This is not the case with the promise from Christ. Jesus did it all and now we have His Spirit living inside of us. No longer do we have to follow empty promises.

So, I ask you today - Do you want to accept and receive what He’s promises? It’s a free gift!

Next week - we’re talking about POWER! What has the Holy Spirit given us to do the work?