Sealing of The Holy Spirit, Part 4

Ephesians 1:3-14 as a Hymn of Praise

0:02 Our own Bible to Ephesians chapter 1, as we continue our studies, particularly in verses 13 and 14. One of the complaints that many of God's children make is that they find it very difficult to have the wheels of praise turning with any degree of speed when they come to pray and have their own devotions. They know they ought to praise God, and their renewed minds and hearts tell them that God is worthy to be praised.

0:44 There's a desire to praise Him, but to have fuel for praise is often difficult. And one of the counsels I have often given is that one ought to accompany himself to the place of prayer with a hymn book as well as with a Bible. And many times taking the words of another servant of Christ, who in a moment of unusualness, full devotion, was able to frame his thoughts and his ideas and put them in a hymn, this becomes a catalyst, this becomes an assistance to spring loose praise in our own hearts. May I suggest that this is how Ephesians 1, 3 to 14 can also be greatly used?

1:23 When you come into the Lord's presence and you feel so incapable of praising Him or of somehow collecting your thoughts and bringing them into some form, and you feel so incapable of praising Him, and you feel so incapable of praising Him, and you feel so incapable of praising Him, what better hymn of praise than Ephesians 1, 3 to 14? Beginning with those words, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And then let your mind meditate on the praise that is directed particularly to the Father for His electing and predestinating grace. The praise that is directed particularly to the Father for His electing and predestinating grace.

2:04 The praise that is particularly directed to the Son for His redeeming us, for His making us accepted before the Father in Himself, for His overflowing to us in wisdom and prudence, for giving to us an inheritance. And then let your heart run out in praise to God for the gift of His Spirit couched in the words of verses 13 and 14, in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the God of the world, the gospel of your salvation, in whom having also believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of God's own possession,

2:48 unto the praise of His glory. We are presently studying these verses in which the Apostle focuses the ministry of the Spirit. In these terms, ye were sealed. And everything else, in the verses, as we've seen in our previous studies, is but an explanation, an amplification, a qualification, a further underscoring of some facet of this great blessing, ye were sealed.

The Agent and Sphere of Sealing: The Spirit in Union with Christ

3:19 And so we've looked thus far at the meaning of sealing. We've seen that sealing is God's work of authentication, of identification and preservation. When He seals us, He marks us, as the real thing. He marks us as His own, and He marks us as those who will be preserved until the day of Christ.

3:44 Then we considered the second great area of teaching in these verses, the agent of this sealing. And the Apostle says, the agent is the Spirit, in whom having believed ye were sealed with the Spirit. And it is the Spirit Himself, the third person of the Godhead, who is the seal and the sealer. It is by His indwelling, as the gift of the Father, that we are sealed.

4:13 And He does this work of sealing, particularly, as we saw last week, as the promised one, and as the Holy One, in whom ye were sealed with the Spirit of the promise, the Holy One. So that everything that He does, as the agent in sealing us, authenticating us, identifying us, and preserving us, is in fulfillment of the promise of the coming of the Spirit, consistent with the overall drift of those promises, and all that He does in sealing us, He does as the Holy One, with reference to making us holy, stamping upon us the image of God, and one day actually making us

4:58 into the perfect moral likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we began to consider, the third main area of truth in these verses, and it's what I'm calling the sphere in which the sealing takes place. Having considered what it means to be sealed, the agent in that sealing, the Spirit, as the Spirit of promise, as the Holy One, we are now concerned with this issue, what is the sphere in which the sealing takes place? And the Apostle Paul is careful to emphasize and explain that sphere by using this verse, using this phrase twice, verse 13, in whom ye also, parenthesis, having heard the word of the truth,

5:42 the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed. So the sphere in which the sealing takes place is nothing less than union with Jesus Christ the Lord. So that whenever God seals a person with the spirit of the promise, He, seals them because they have been united to Jesus Christ. And this has both an exclusive and an inclusive implication.

6:13 No one is sealed unless he is in Christ. All who are in Christ are sealed. The sphere of the sealing is not our meeting of a certain list of five or ten or thirty various conditions. It is our being incorporated into Jesus Christ because, as the Apostle Paul, the Apostle stated in verse 3, every blessing which the Father has ordained for sinful men, He has ordained to impart in this sphere in Christ Jesus.

6:46 God hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing, not only election in Christ, predestination in Christ, redemption in Christ, wisdom in Christ, and inheritance in Christ, but the sealing, another spiritual blessing, comes to us, in the sphere of union with Christ. And as we concluded our study last Lord's Day, we were seeking to amplify this principle that this union occurs unto sealing when God effectually calls men through the gospel. For notice, the Apostle says, In whom, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,

7:31 in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed. So that hearing and believing are the manifestations or the ingredients of the effectual call of the Father. It's when the Father calls men out of darkness into light through the preaching and belief of the gospel that they are incorporated into Christ personally and vitally and being incorporated into Christ they are sealed with the spirit of the Father. This is the promise.

The Gift of the Spirit as a Divine Seal: A Fundamental Principle

8:04 Now time ran out as I was seeking to enlarge that principle and I indicated that I would pick it up there and enlarge upon it today. And what I wish to do this morning is simply to lay before you and then demonstrate from a number of passages this simple fact. The gift of the Spirit is given as a divine seal wherever and whenever the gospel of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is preached and believed.

8:38 Now it's a lengthy sentence but it's not complicated. You kids that have to break up sentences into subjects and predicates and modifiers you shouldn't have too hard a task doing that if you could only get the preacher to slow down enough so you could write it down. Alright, let me give it to you again. What we're going to attempt to prove and demonstrate from the scriptures this morning is that the gift of the Spirit Spirit of promise the Holy Spirit the Holy One is given as a divine seal wherever and whenever the gospel of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ is preached and believed.

9:20 Now in order to demonstrate that fact we want to follow two tracks of biblical thought and evidence. The first track is that which we find in the epistles. We're going to look at the didactic the teaching portion in the epistles which teach beyond any shadow of a doubt that the gift of the Spirit is given wherever and whenever the gospel of forgiveness through Jesus Christ is heard and is believed. Then we're going to turn to the historical passages several passages in the book of the Acts in which the teaching of the epistles is beautifully illustrated.

9:59 Now some of you think well, why get all uptight about such a thing as that? That doesn't sound very profound. Well, if you don't see the implications of that will you take it on my word at present until I hope I convince you and then you'll believe it because you're convinced that there is perhaps no more fundamental pivotal issue with regard to the work of the Spirit than that which we're dealing with this morning. As we look out in the Christian world in our day and see the confusion the ignorance the false teaching with reference to the work of the Spirit one of the fundamental errors which supports all the other errors is a failure to grasp the simple statement

10:43 that I've given to you this morning that the gift of the Spirit is given as a divine seal wherever and whenever not the so-called full gospel something that goes beyond the gospel of forgiveness is preached and where a number of conditions are met but wherever and whenever the Spirit the simple gospel of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ is preached and believed there the Holy Spirit is given as gift as seal as the Spirit of promise. So, please from a pastoral standpoint I urge you to think carefully with me as we seek to establish that statement.

Epistolary Evidence: Romans 5 and 8

11:28 First of all then several passages in the epistles. Let's start in the book of Romans.

11:34 These passages illustrate what Paul says in Ephesians 1 having heard having believed ye were sealed. Romans chapter 5 The context of the passage we'll be reading is I'm sure clear to many of you. The Apostle Paul has been demonstrating that the answer to men's dilemma of guilt condemnation is the provision of full and complete forgiveness in Jesus Christ received by faith alone. If then someone should walk up to you on the street and call well this morning and say can you give me in one or two statements the core of the gospel I hope you'd answer some way

12:18 something along these lines. The core of the gospel is this the one ground upon which God forgives sinners is the merits of Jesus Christ and the one way to enter into those merits is by faith. That's the core of the gospel. Subtract anything from it.

12:36 Add anything to it and you've butchered the gospel. Now it's that two strand emphasis that Paul is developing in Romans. From chapter 3 verse 21 to the end of the chapter it's that first principle that he's establishing. Christ and Christ alone is the ground of our acceptance.

12:56 Chapter 4 he's establishing that faith and faith alone is the way of acceptance. Christ the ground faith the way. Now the great blessing that comes is justification. So he says in chapter 5 verse 1 being therefore justified by faith justified on the grounds of Christ's work justified by faith not on account of faith faith is not a meritorious act but by faith what's the result?

13:28 We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God and not only so but we rejoice in our tribulations knowing that tribulation work its steadfastness and steadfastness approvedness and approvedness hope and hope put it not to shame because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given unto us for while we were yet weak in due season Christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one die

14:13 but for adventure for a good man some would even dare to die but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more than being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from the wrath through him now will you notice verse 1 comes on with the theme justified by faith the gospel of divine forgiveness through the merits of Christ received by faith verse 9 sounds the same note much more than being justified by his blood and couched between these two powerful statements

14:56 on the gospel of divine forgiveness received by faith alone Paul gives this statement the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given unto us who is the us some special class of apostles and super saints at Rome who had met all kinds of conditions for some mighty baptism in the spirit for some esoteric secret kind of experience no it's an absolute butchering of the whole context and the whole drift of the apostles emphasis he assumes that every person justified

15:40 by faith who has peace with God who has been justified through the blood of the cross has been given the gift of the Holy Spirit he assumes it as an indisputable fact of common Christian experience so then when did these Romans come to possess the gift of the Holy Spirit when they believe the gospel of God the divine forgiveness so then this passage supports the statement with which we began this morning the gift of the Spirit is given as a divine seal wherever and whenever the gospel of forgiveness through Jesus Christ is heard and believed

16:25 now turn to Romans chapter 8 verses 1 and 2 and then verses 13 and 14 14 to 60 notice the emphasis begins with the word of God begins with the note of justification there is therefore now no condemnation to those or them that are where in Christ Jesus once union with Christ is established no condemnation why? Ephesians 1.6 we're accepted where? in the beloved one we are in him and as the scripture teaches we are accepted in him all the perfection of his life of obedience we are in him we are in him we are in him we are in him

17:08 and all the perfection of his satisfying divine justice is now put to our account it is reckoned as ours we are made the very righteousness of God in union with Christ now he goes on to say as an indisputable and as an inevitable attendant of being in Christ unto no condemnation the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus and the law of the spirit of life hath made me free from the law of sin and of death he says if you've come into the orbit of no condemnation union with Christ you're in the orbit where the spirit is operative

17:52 as the spirit of life in Christ Jesus so you see this close identity between no condemnation and the spirit of life and the connection between the spirit of life and union with Christ the spirit of life in Christ Jesus now the spirit of life will manifest his own life so that he goes on to develop this thought and says if the spirit dwells in us he has liberated us from the dominion of the realm of the flesh we are not in the flesh but in the spirit verse 9 if so be that the spirit of God dwelleth in you see he assumes if you're a Christian

18:35 the spirit of God dwelleth in you and since this is true he then goes on to say based upon that reality verse 12 we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh if you live after the flesh you must die but if ye by the spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh ye shall live for as many as are led by the spirit of God these are the sons of God for ye have not received the spirit of bondage but ye have received the spirit of adoption the spirit himself beareth witness now do you see what he's assuming? he's assuming that every person who is in the state of verse 1 no condemnation because there is union with Christ

19:18 is also one in whom the spirit dwells in whom the spirit has his home not as some kind of a dormant indistinguishable spiritual force he said no if he's there he's there leading if he's there he's there witnessing if he's there if he's there he's there delivering now in the light of his presence his exhortation is you're debtors not to live after the flesh but to live after the spirit allow the full implications of his indwelling to grip you give yourself to the working out of all of the natural consequences of being a temple of the living God but there's no exhortation

Epistolary Evidence: 1 Corinthians 6 and Galatians 3

20:02 no assumption that there are some at Rome who are in a state of no condemnation they've believed quote the simple gospel and now Paul's going to come along and say but I have a full gospel you had a gospel that just introduced you to Jesus now I've got a gospel that's going to introduce you to the Holy Ghost no no that kind of thinking is absolutely incongruous with the whole drift of the teaching of this passage well then and again I'm only being selected by no means exhausted please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 now remember what we're doing we're just seeking to establish this simple principle the gift of the spirit is divine seal always given where the gospel of forgiveness

20:47 through Christ is heard and believed 1 Corinthians 6 beginning with verse 9 dealing with the problem of sin in the church the apostle asked this question know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God there's a certain kind of conduct that is absolutely inconsistent with being a member of the kingdom of God this conduct persisted in is declaration now and will be proof positive in the day of judgment that a man was never made a subject of the kingdom of God and so he lists some of those aspects

21:31 some aspects of that conduct be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with men nor thieves nor adulterers nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you but ye were washed but ye were sanctified but ye were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God now do you see what he's saying he's saying this was your state in bondage to these polluting sins

22:16 as such under condemnation not fit heirs of the kingdom of God but something has happened certain influences have been brought to bear upon some of you Corinthians and the impingement of these influences has transformed you it's taken you out of a state of condemnation and what has it produced justification ye were justified it's taken you out of a state of pollution and you are now washed and sanctified and he says all of these things occurred when these powers came to bear upon you in these two ways the name of the Lord Jesus

22:58 that is the objective provisions of divine forgiveness through Christ and the mighty operations of the Holy Spirit now my question is this how did these influences come to bear upon the Corinthians this mighty influence of the Spirit of God transforming them the name of Jesus Christ justifying them what kind of a message was preached may I say it reverently that released such mighty powers well Paul himself tells us in chapter 2 doesn't he and I brethren when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you

23:43 the testimony of God for I determined to know nothing among you save what Jesus Christ and him as crucified the release of the Spirit was not because Paul preached great sermons about the Holy Ghost it was because he proclaimed a mighty Savior who purchased the blessing of the Spirit and every gift for all who come unto God by him and it was the proclamation of Christ crucified and as the fruit of his crucifixion going back into the presence of the Father now with his hands laden with gifts

24:27 to give unto every sinner who comes unto him with no confidence in himself confessing confidence only in the merits of his precious blood and so they were constituted a washed a sanctified a justified people all at once in the name of Christ and in the Spirit of God when the quote simple gospel was heard and was believed not the simplistic gospel of much fundamentalism today but the simple gospel of apostolic declaration concerning Christ and him crucified so then when he has to deal with such thorny problems

25:12 as immorality and all the irregularities what does he tell the Corinthians does he tell them now look you got the first part of my message that Christ is the only way of forgiveness but you see the way you're living evidence is you've never been filled with the Spirit you've never been baptized with the Spirit now if only you'll go on to this then you'll really begin to no no in the midst of dealing with the grossest forms of fleshly sin at the latter part of chapter 6 what does he assume he assumes that if these people are Christians their problem is not that they've not received the Spirit as gift and as divine seal he said the problem is

25:56 you're not living in the light of the implications that you've received the Spirit so he says in verse 15 know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ you're joined to Christ if then I shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot God forbid or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body for the twain said he shall be one flesh he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit flee fornication every sin that a man doeth without the body but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit

26:39 which is in you which ye have not from your meeting ten hundred conditions and tarrying and waiting until you've bent God's arm no which ye have from God and ye are not your own for ye were bought with a price now he says begin to accept the implications of that if you've been washed sanctified and justified the Spirit has been given as divine seal he dwells within you oh you Corinthians wake up to the implications of this shall you take this that is the temple of God the very dwelling place of the Spirit and bring it into such vile and filthy relationships

27:24 how different you see from the emphasis in our day that the low level of Christian experience is due to the inadequacy of the simple gospel and what we need is the full gospel now Paul says your problem is you're not living in the light of the implications of that simple gospel for when you were joined to Christ and made one spirit with him having been brought into union with Christ you came into the sphere where the Spirit is given as divine gift he has been given you are constituted his temples oh Corinthians wake up and begin to live in the light of that tremendous fact well then

28:09 we can move on to the book of Galatians and again I remind you we're only being selective and I'm deliberately keeping myself from exhortation though it's awfully hard because I want to establish a basic doctrine this morning Galatians chapter 3 now remember the setting of this passage Paul had preached to these dear people and many of them had embraced his quote simple gospel and along came the Judaizers and they said now look that fellow Paul he's alright as far as he goes as far as he goes he's alright now he's a good teacher

28:54 he's a good teacher and he's worthy to be listened as far as he goes but he doesn't go far enough and so they came along with a fuller gospel these were full gospel people yes and I don't say that facetiously because they were saying the gospel of divine forgiveness through Jesus Christ thus releasing all the gracious gifts of God is not adequate if you want to be full blown mature Christians you've got to listen to us submit to us the circumcision ceremonial law etc now Paul is attacking that basic error and showing them that that's another gospel that places fullness

29:38 anywhere else but in Christ and notice how he does it in chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 oh foolish Galatians and if you're ever going to call anyone a fool you better be able to say as Paul did in chapter 4 my little children of whom I travail again in birth till Christ be formed in you don't call anybody a fool unless you're travailing in prayer for them then you can get away with it and they'll still love you for it same man who said foolish Galatians said I travail in birth for you who did bewitch you now that's not very common he says you've been spooked somebody's pulled the wool over your eyes

30:23 foolish Galatians who spooked you who bewitched you before whose eyes what was the theme of his message Jesus Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified and when he was what happened verse 2 this only would I learn from you received ye the spirit by the works of the law or by the what by the hearing of faith he says now wait a minute these people say look we've got a full gospel for you do this do this do this do this and you'll get greater blessing he said wait a minute what was the crowning blessing of the gospel was it not the gift of the spirit

31:06 when did you receive that gift he said by doing this this this this he said of course not but by the hearing of faith faith directed to what to the focus of his message and what was that focus Jesus Christ as crucified and he says the gift of the spirit was granted to you not when I came and said now look if you want to be a little itsy bitsy mini Christians just accept Jesus as your savior but if you want to be real big Goliath like Christians then do this do this do this do this and meet a thousand conditions and then God will give you his spirit and give you power for service and power for living

Epistolary Evidence: 2 Thessalonians 2 and Titus 3

31:51 no no he said look your greatest blessing was the granting of the gift of the spirit and when was it given through the hearing of faith and so when there was a saving response to the simple gospel the spirit was given as a divine gift now you see what Paul could say to the Ephesians having heard having believed ye were sealed turn to 2 Thessalonians oh my 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 but we are bound to give thanks to God

32:35 always for you brethren beloved of the Lord for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth where unto he called you through our gospel see what Paul ties together all of these strands of thought we find them again a salvation rooted in the gracious electing purposes of God he said he said that salvation came to you in a context in which there was the preaching of the gospel

33:19 what is the gospel Christ died for our sins Christ was burned Christ rose and in those saving acts he has wrought a righteousness suitable to the vilest of sinners available to all sinners received by any sinner who cast himself upon the same earth upon the same earth upon the same earth which Jesus I thank you I thank you that was his message his quote simple gospel you read in Acts 17 where there is a record of the gospel that he preached at Thessalonica and he says how I thank God that when that gospel was preached God effectually called you into salvation and when the gospel was preached and there was the effectual call

34:04 of God there was belief of the truth and sanctification of the spirit so that the Spirit was given as the divine seal, stamping the image of God upon them, equipping them with power unto a godly life, not in some advanced stage, but when the simple gospel was preached, and by the mighty power of God in effectual calling, they repented and believed the truth. And so we come back to the premise with which we started this morning. The Holy Spirit as divine seal is always given, wherever and whenever the gospel of

34:45 forgiveness through Jesus Christ is preached and is believed. Now we turn to one other passage, and I can see we're only going to get through half the message this morning. The book of Titus, please. A passage we looked at in another connection in the adult class earlier this morning.

35:07 Titus chapter 3.

35:15 In this particular passage, he's exhorting the people of God to patience with the ungodly, an exhortation all of us need so desperately. I find a wicked attitude in my heart. The more I see high-handed ungodliness, flagrant, open, bold, brazen iniquity, I find myself at times having a spirit that I feel is like John's when he said, Shall we call down? Shall we call down fire on this motley crowd?

35:49 And the Lord said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. I have not come to bring judgment now. I've come to say, and the apostle knew this. So he says to the people of God in Titus 3.2, Speak evil of no man, not to be contentious,

36:05 but to be gentle, showing meekness toward all men. And he said, Here's a good thing to keep you from that attitude. For we ourselves were all once. Look unto the rock.

36:17 Look unto the rock from whence you were hewn. Look unto the pit from whence you were digged. Remember what you were, he says. And this will keep you from becoming contentious, becoming short-tempered, and having a wrong spirit to the ungodly.

36:30 We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers, lust and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. He said, We were a pretty sore mess at one time. Let's not forget it. But he said, We're not that anymore.

36:49 Why? Well, he tells them. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love toward man appeared, not by works done in righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He gave us in a little tiny measure. You see, that's the teaching of so many in our day.

37:18 All right. You're saved, and the Holy Spirit somehow, in some way, dwells in you in a little eensy-teensy measure. But now, if you really want to serve God and really go on to go on in usefulness, you need to get this great empowering of the Spirit, this great baptism of the Spirit. Is that what Paul says?

37:36 He said, You were this, but you're no longer that, because divine mercy and grace have been operative. Yes? Divine mercy and grace produce. The washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

38:09 Can you put the thoughts together? What do you have? You have salvation by grace and mercy, tied together with justification. Watching and renewing in the Spirit, all of which are poured out, not niggardly and stingily, but poured out richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

38:34 Not a little bit of forgiveness, and a little measure of justification, and a little measure of the Spirit. He said, No, these great blessings came to you when you were transformed from the state of foolishness. You were a slave of lust and disobedience, deceived, a slave of lust, and you were brought into the glorious liberty of the children of the living God. So then, these are but a sample of the many passages in the epistles which all join to affirm this one fundamental principle taught so clearly in Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, that when men hear and believe the gospel of divine mercy and grace, they will be made heirs to

39:19 the Lord. But they are not the ones who have been given forgiveness through Jesus Christ. It is then that God grants them the promised spirit. They are given the Spirit as divine seal, and are thereby authenticated as God's own, identified as His possession, and then preserved until the day of redemption.

Practical Exhortations: To Unbelievers and Believers

39:43 Now, as I indicated a moment ago, time has gone. I don't know where. has and I don't have time to draw out the lines of thought from the historical passages so we'll just have to leave that to next week the Lord willing but I do want to round out the message this morning with some very I hope practical exhortations first of all an exhortation addressed to those of you who do not have God's seal upon you and in you God has not stamped you as his own

40:20 how can you obtain the seal of the spirit the only way to ever be sealed with the spirit is to get into the sphere where the sealing occurs so that if you're to have any experience of the spirit as a divine seal you will have it only as you have direct dealings with Jesus Christ all dealings with the spirit are to be found in direct dealings with our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore I would urge upon every man, woman, fellow or girl present here who does not have the witness

41:04 that you are a child of God. There is no evidence that the Spirit is the governing principle in your life. There is no evidence that the image of God has been stamped upon you. Oh what a wonderful gospel to preach that Jesus Christ by His obedience and by His death has obtained as we shall see God willing next week, the gift of the Spirit Acts 2.33 and

41:30 that gift He is willing and able to confer upon all who come unto Him. Not saying now Lord I've met this condition that condition, this condition. Give me of your Spirit but who come and say Lord Jesus I have done nothing but break the laws of your Father. I have been nothing, done nothing but trample them underfoot but I believe that Thou was obedient unto death.

41:57 I believe that You fulfilled all the will of the Father and I believe that as a reward of Your obedience the Holy Spirit has been given unto You as the Spirit of promise to shed forth richly upon all who come unto God by You. Lord Jesus I come to You just as I am without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me and that Thou bidst me come to Thee. O Lamb of God I come in whom having heard in whom having believed ye were sealed and as the message of divine forgiveness is embraced in faith

42:40 then you see the Lord authenticates the reality of that faith. He sends His Spirit into our hearts enabling us to cry Abba Father to approach the Holy God and call Him Father that's nonsense isn't it? Oh yes it is unless you know that sin has been judged sin has been dealt with sin has been put away but when that sin is put away we call Him Father and because He our Son's Galatians 4 6 He hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba that is Father so I plead with young people older folk and anything

43:25 in between if you know nothing of the seal the Spirit as a witness the Spirit as an indwelling presence deal with Christ as He's offered in the Gospel and you will find Him to be the one who not only bears away the sin of the world but who baptizeth in the Holy Spirit then I would say by way of exhortation to you who are believers and it's a word of warning I don't know how else to couch it we've had positive teaching all the way through the exposition beware of any teaching which divides what God has joined there are those who would divide Christ and the Spirit and they say now you've accepted Christ

44:09 as He's been the gift of the Father and you're saved now you need to accept the Holy Spirit as the gift of the Son that you might be empowered and sanctified that divides what God has joined where Christ is the Spirit is so that Paul has no problem in Romans 8 saying the Spirit of God Spirit of Christ and he uses the terms interchangeably he says if any man am not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his but you're not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of Christ dwell in you and then he goes on to say and if the Spirit of God dwell in you Spirit of God Spirit of Christ Jesus said I'll pray the Father the Comforter will come and then he says a few verses later I will come and then he says my Father will come where Christ

44:53 is received the Holy Spirit is received in him we don't need to have dealings directly with the Spirit focused upon the Spirit to have dealings with the Spirit our dealings are with Christ the one through whom the Spirit is poured out richly upon the people of God and isn't it interesting that between the two chapters in which he deals with the ministry of the coming Comforter Romans 14 John 14 and John 16 what's the theme of John 15 abide in me and I believe it's tremendously significant couched in the middle of all this instruction on the work of the

45:37 Spirit is our Lord's teaching on abide in me it is in living attachment with Christ that the Spirit is initially given and continual supplies of the Spirit are given Jesus said if any man thirst let him go to the Holy Spirit and drink that isn't what he said he said if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink as the scripture saith out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water this spake he of the what of the Spirit and we're going to look at that passage next week in more detail but how do we come into the orbit of ever increasing measures of the Spirit's ministry as we dig deeper into and appropriate more fully and understand

46:20 more clearly all of the fullness that is already in Christ and out in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in Christ and out of the Holy Spirit in him am I discouraging hunger this morning am I putting my imprimatur upon the low level of Christian experience that many of us know by no means whatsoever but beloved the way in to greater experience of God's power and blessing is not to demean what he has already done and say there's something more beyond Christ it's to understand what God has already done for us in Christ and begin to live in the light of the implications of it

47:02 for you'll find in the New Testament exhortations grieve not the spirit quench not the spirit walk in the spirit recognize the indwelling of the spirit but there's never a command to seek not a one not a one the only thing that even approximates it is the Luke 11 13 passage how much more shall the heavenly father give the spirit to those who ask him and I hope to deal with that passage subsequently but the great overriding drift of the exhortations of the New Testament assumes that he's there he indwells you if you've embraced the

47:45 gospel of divine forgiveness well it's been sort of hard to bring a tidy close to something when I was halfway through forgive me please for that but I trust that the Lord will make the study of these portions profitable that we're still with you I hope the Bible palm the past the Old Testament the Bible that we will make is that as we think of the work of the spirit as a divine seal we will understand and be forever settled in the conviction that that seal comes wherever and when the gospel of divine forgiveness through Jesus Christ is her and is believed

48:30 have you heard that message? God by the Spirit actually inhabits that body of yours. May the Lord help us to be temples full of the glory of that Christ whom the Spirit has come to reveal and to magnify and to glorify. Let us pray.