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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Shannon Fujimoto

Sealed With That Holy Spirit Promise

Father in heaven, thank you so much for bringing us here together this Sabbath to learn of you, to worship you.

Father, I pray for your Holy Spirit that you would guide our thoughts, guide our understandings, Help us to desire more of your Holy Spirit's work in our lives today.

This is the beginning of Paul's letter to the followers of Christ in Ephesus.

And let me tell you something about Paul.

He had a lot of things to say, and he's really good at writing run-on sentences.

This first chapter is literally comprised of 3 sentences, and we're gonna hone in on some of the clauses toward the end of the second sentence.

The entire, Again, the entire book is a letter to the Ephesians, and he's saying, starting in verse 13, regarding Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession and to the praise of his glory.

So the Ephesians had heard the word of truth, they heard the gospel of salvation, and they had come to trust and believe in Christ.

Learned the gospel of salvation and come to place your trust in Jesus?

If you haven't, or if you're just starting to learn about Christ and his word, I encourage you to take that step and place your faith, give your heart to Jesus.

It will start you on a journey that you will never forget.

And if you have already learned the truth, come to understand what the gospel of salvation is and you have placed your trust in Jesus, that's great, praise the Lord.

There's more to be expected in your experience with Christ.

In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy spare of promise.

Now what does that mean, sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise?

Our topic is sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise and I'm going to just spill the beans and tell you that the purpose of this message is to help us understand and desire the Holy Spirit's work in teaching us our identity as children of Christ, grow us and settle us into truth and unite us as God's people.

We'll get into all of that, but first, I think an appropriate place to start is to understand who the Holy Spirit is, and this will be just a brief introduction.

We'll start with the very first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, and starting in verse 1, it says, you don't need to turn that, I'm sure.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

So some of you here may be familiar with the concept that the word God here is the word in the original language Elohim, which is a plural noun.

So it implies that there are multiple, multiple members of this Godhead, and scripture identifies those members as God the Father, God the Son, or Jesus, also known as the Word, and God the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost.

As 1 John 5, 7 says, for there are 3 that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.

Some of you may remember when Shannon Greenberg shared this verse and showed us her family quilt as an illustration.

She talked about how her family is 1 family, but in her case there are 4 members.

Now Shannon is an individual person and a Greenberg, just as much as her brother is an individual person in a Greenberg.

And similarly, the Bible teaches that there is only 1 true God and that God is comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

Going back to Genesis 1, where we're first introduced to God, we're introduced to him as creator.

And we don't have to read on very far before we see another member, a certain member of this Godhead who was involved in the creation process.

Genesis 1-2 says, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This word spirit used in the original text here is ruach, which is the Hebrew counterpart and has the same meaning as the Greek word pneuma.

So let's look at a couple other verses talking about the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God, or Ruach, hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life in Psalms by the word of the Lord where the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath, or ruach, of his mouth.

So what are we deducing here in these verses?

The Bible introduces a 3 in 1 God, who is the creator, and the spirit, the breath of God, is 1 member of this creator God.

There are many other verses we could study about this topic, but who can see just based on these few verses that the Holy Spirit is God?

Okay, I see some nods, okay, we'll move on then.

Before Jesus was crucified, risen again, went back to heaven, he said these words in John 14, 26, "'But the Comforter, ' which is the Holy Ghost, or Numa, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

According to our main passage from this morning, We see that this promised Holy Spirit does a work of sealing and for the rest of our time together, we're gonna try to better understand what this sealing work of the Holy Spirit is.

Says, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

Ancient world historians say that seals were used as a vehicle for the communication of ownership and that they were often markers of individual identity.

I was talking to Brad and Nicole Wand last week.

They verified that professional engineers use stamps which are similar to, in a way, the way that ancient world use seals.

If in the engineering context, the stamp identifies work performed by or under the direct supervision of a professional engineer, and when someone is handed a paper with that stamp on it, that person can know that the engineer who stamped that stands by that work.

Boom, they stamp it, they stand by it, they own it.

We discussed how God is our creator, and I think the object lesson here is that the sealing of the Holy Spirit identifies us as God's handiwork.

But regarding identity, look at what the Spirit bears witness of in Romans 8.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit itself birthed witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

So point number 1 I'd like to make is that the ceiling of the Holy Spirit of promise shows who you belong to, and you belong to God.

You are the work of his hand, and your identity is that of being a child of God.

Wasn't it by the Holy Spirit that God identified Jesus at his baptism as a son when he was on earth?

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw, what, the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him.

And lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

And the Spirit bears witness of the same for us.

Again, the Holy Spirit of promise shows who you belong to, that you belong to God and that you're a child of God.

So 1 might ask the valid question, well what does it mean to be the child of God?

According to Isaiah, it means that you will never be forgotten by God.

Can a woman forget her second child, that she should have compassion, she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

According to Jeremiah, if you have been running or slipping away from God, and he will heal and restore you back to himself.

According to Matthew, it means that you have a father who loves you so much that he knows the number of hairs on your head.

Are not 2 sparrows sold for a farthing, and 1 of them shall not fall on the ground without your father, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Have you as a child of God tasted the goodness of God in these verses?

If you have, these are just a tiny sampling of what it means to be a child of God and to know the privileges and blessings that come along with that.

Here are more privileges that belong to the children of God, just a couple.

According to Romans, it means that you will share Christ's kingdom of glory.

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.

According to Revelation 3, it means that God will share his throne with you.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne.

You might be saying, wait a minute, wait a minute.

We're talking about how the Holy Spirit of promise shows that we belong to God, that we are children of God, and these are some of the privileges that are mine as a child of God.

But last time I checked, I'm sitting on no throne.

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Sealed With That Holy Spirit Promise

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