Holy Spirit Series Part 3 Sealed w/ the Spirit

Intro: We are in our 3^rd week of our series on the HS

A)Week one we looked at the Personality of the HS / Not a Force / not Electricity / but the 3^rd person of the trinity

B) 2^nd Study we talked about His DEITY how the HS is God – Looked at some of the Characteristics of Deity that He Possesses

1) Then we also looked at the role He plays in man’s Salvation

C) That it is the HS who – bears witness of Jesus – who testifies of Jesus / who convicts the world of sin & Who seeks to Draw us to Christ

1) Tonight we want to talk about – what Happens to a person when they respond to that Drawing & give their life to Christ

1^st Baptized into the Body of Christ by the Spirit: 1 Cor 12:12

¹²For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

A)Baptized = immersed or submerged into the body of Christ

1)The moment a person gives their heart to Christ – they are taken out of the world & placed into the Body of Christ

B) The Church the Bride – they become a part of a Family / part of something that is much bigger than themselves

1) They are surrounded by Christ – So This speaks of our being placed in Christ {Different from water Baptism- this spirit placing you in Christ}

C) But notice he also says that we have been made to drink of the HS –

1) Speaks of the HS in us

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Turn to Eph 1

2^nd Thing that happens when we come to Christ is that we are sealed w/ the HS –

A)In the first 3 chapters of the Book of Ephes. Paul the apostle describes in some detail the wealth of blessings that belong to the believer with, through, in, and by Jesus Christ.

& Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

B)He tells us that we have been CHOSEN, ADOPTED, ACCEPTED, REDEEMED and FORGIVEN.........

1) All of this is according to the riches of his grace.

Paul then declares: ¹³In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

C) Tonight note – 4 things concerning what it means to be sealed

#1 - Finished transaction: Even today when legal documents are processed they are stamped with a seal to signify completion

A.) You are sealed - signifying - it is finished - salvation is complete there is no need to add to it!

B) Rest in that – Buying a house money check is given / Title company gives you the document w/ their seal- House is yours

1) You show up trying to pay more for it –

C) That is like what we do w/ Christ – He finished the transaction – He has given us His spirit – to show that it is finished –

1) We trying to pay a little more

#2 The Seal: The Mark Of Ownership

A)This analogy was easily understood by the believers in Ephesus.

B)In that particular time in history, the city of Ephesus was one of the major sea ports of Asia.

1)Merchandise would come through Ephesus from everywhere in the world.

C)Once the merchandise was packed for shipping they would SEAL them by putting a wax seal on the container containing the merchandise

1) Then they would put an imprint of their signet ring upon the wax.

D)This was their mark of ownership. The goods would be placed on the ship and sent off

1) When they would arrive the servants of these merchants would go to the docks & identify their masters goods by means of their SEAL

The Holy Spirit is God’s Seal upon our lives to prove His ownership.

A)You see, Jesus purchased you from the slave market. You were once a slave to sin and in the bondage of corruption, but now you belong to Him.

1 Cor 6:18-20 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

A)See We are really NOT OUR OWN to live as we please. It is NOT for me to order my own life or to chose the way that I want to go.

B)I belong to HIM.... He purchased me and has sealed me... He has put His mark of ownership upon me. Now I live according to HIS will.

C)We are like purchased merchandise on the ship headed for the home port. When we arrive He is going to say:

1) “This one is Mine... He has my seal upon him.”

Question: What are YOU depending on to get into heaven?

A)The ONLY way that you will ever get into heaven is by being redeemed

B)the ONLY valid proof that you have of your redemption is the seal of the Holy Spirit.

#3 The Guarantee of our inheritance

A)God has promised to His children a rich inheritance.

& Rom 8:16-17 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

& 1 Pet 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

^{Eph 1:14}who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Paul says that the HS in our hearts is the guarantee or the earnest of our inheritance

A)earnest = in business deals there was the term earnest money.

B) It referred to the money that you were willing to put down to prove that you are COMMITTED to complete the transaction.

C)spirit as a guarantee -carries idea of engagement / Denise Ring

A.)We are His bride - given spirit as an engagement ring - He wants us to know He is serious!

God wants you to know that He means to carry the transaction of your redemption to its ultimate end.

In speaking of the final part of our redemption... the laying aside of these dying bodies... Paul writes

& 2 Cor 5:1-4 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

A)The NIV nails the heart of Paul’s next statement: 2 Cor 5:5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

B)God has given to us His Holy Spirit as the guarantee that we will enjoy living in the presence of God’s eternal glory in glorified bodies.

C)When the Holy Spirit comes to live within you He begins to fill you with righteousness, joy, peace and love.

1) When He does that and it begins to blow your mind, know this: THAT is only the DEPOSIT.... It is only a TASTE.

D) If this was all there is – Great – but there is MORE

So It is God’s gift of the Holy Spirit that produces assurance of salvation within the heart of the believer.

2 Cor 1:21,22 ²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²²who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

A)The Holy Spirit is the ONLY one who can assure your heart of heaven.

1) It is the Holy Spirit living in me who assures me that God is going to

claim me as His own.

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God

#4 Seal speaks of authentic:

A) A seal on a letter was like a signature or - personal letter head - King's seal- Authentic {Could be broken or opened}

B)The presence of the spirit in a believer's life proves His faith in genuine!

1.) The presence of the spirit will result in fruit! ( Next week )

Nobody can be indwelt by the Spirit of God and keep that Spirit to himself. Where the Spirit is, he flows forth. And where there is no flowing forth, he is not there. -- Bishop William Temple,

C)But let’s take this idea of the physical seal one step further – when the signet ring was pressed into the wax – left an impression – picture

D) So The seal transferred an IMAGE upon the wax.

Pt for us The Holy Spirit stamps upon the hearts of God’s purchased possession the very image of God.

B)He leaves the stamp of His character upon our hearts and lives.

NOTE: THAT is PROOF of redemption. God’s mark of ownership is the expression of Jesus Christ in our lives.

C) Our lives marked by a Christ like Character seen in all seasons /

The human body is a most remarkable machine. It can maintain a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees no matter what the weather is outside. Whether a man is at the Arctic Circle or the equator, his body temperature is about the same. There is an inner mechanism that makes the difference. The Holy Spirit dwells within the Christian to achieve this kind of stabilization in terms of spiritual health. Whether we face good times or bad, whether we are tempted or receiving spiritual nourishment, the Holy Spirit keeps us stable within.

So a Christ like Character is a visible expression of Sealed w/ the HS

Spurgeon

We visited two palaces in Venice and realized the contrast of life and death. The first was tenanted by a noble family who delighted to maintain it in good repair, to adorn it with fresh beauties, and to furnish it in the most sumptuous manner.

Everything was fresh, fair, bright, and charming. From the paving of mosaics in the hall one looked up to ceilings glowing with the creations of the artist's pencil, and in every chamber paintings, statues, tapestry, and all things else of the richest kind surrounded you.

The other was a palace, too, with marble pillars and carved work, but the stones were loosening, and the columns shifting; grass grew in the halls, and the roofs let in the rain. Decay was there, and desolation, yet the palace was as noble in its architecture as the first.

Thus when God dwells in a person, all his powers and faculties are bright with a sacred light, and joy and peace and beauty adorn his entire person; but if the Holy Spirit depart, the heart being empty and void becomes a ruin, everywhere decaying, and too often haunted by the demons of vice and iniquity.

Note - You could NOT affix the seal to hardened wax. It was only upon SOFT wax that the impression could be made.

Key APPLICATION: The Holy Spirit will SOFTEN our hearts for the purpose of sealing them.

He is forever seeking to MELT hard hearts so that He can impress upon us God’s mark of ownership.

Parable of the soils – 4 soils / 4 hearts / 4 soils – 4 places in our hearts

Hard – stone – no depth / thorns distracted / Good