At least to begin with, this afternoon, I would ask you to open your Bibles to 1 John and the 5th chapter. 1 John and chapter 5. Again, this is just early on here by way of even introducing our study this afternoon. And as you're turning there, let me ask you, my brother, my sister, how strong is your assurance of your salvation, that you truly belong to the Lord. How strong is that? I mean, sadly, true believers could have but little assurance or even seem to lack it altogether. And so it is that John wrote his first letter to aid in this, and that's why I've asked you to notice now his words, 1 John 5, verse 13. These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you're saved, that you have eternal life. Well, that presupposes that true believers may lack a knowing of that. They may lack assurance. It's interesting, the wording in chapter 14 of our confession on saving faith, it speaks of faith as growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ. In many. But the very word many shows that doesn't mean all. that there may be those with true faith who yet do not have that full assurance through Christ. And so it is in chapter 18, which deals with assurance, there in the 1689 confession, we read, true believers may have the assurance of their salvation in diverse ways, shaken, diminished, and intermitted, where there's an interruption and they don't have a sense of it. All that being so, though, we must say it can be known, it should be known. And God himself gives blessed assurance of salvation. We noted in the previous hour how especially he does this through the ministries of the Holy Spirit, like Romans 5.5, the love of God being shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit. Or Romans 8.16, the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. Or Romans 15.13, Paul's praying that they would abound in hope and confident expectation through the Holy Spirit. And we noted as well, in fact, that the Holy Spirit himself is given to all believers as a seal with a view to our assurance. We saw that in 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22 where Paul is assuring these people you're established in Christ and you're sealed. He's the guarantee. We noted it in Ephesians chapter 1 and Ephesians chapter 4, that sealing. We also noted three ideas in this connection, or if you please, three uses of the seal, like it's a signet ring or an official stamp on a document or the like. And it's for the sake of security. That is something is kept safe and secure, like when Daniel was put in the lion's den or our Lord's tomb was sealed, given this official seal to keep it secure. Seals were used to authenticate. to prove genuine, like when Paul says of the believers in Corinth, you're the seal of my apostleship. You validate, you prove that I'm an apostle, you authenticate it. And then we also saw from Revelation 7 how it was used as a mark of ownership, marking out God's people as belonging to him. And we saw that the Holy Spirit then is given to us as a seal to all believers upon believing in that in all three senses. That is to say for our security, for our assurance, for authentication, and as a mark of God's ownership on us. And then we saw practical outworkings of this is that we should then have and expect blessed assurance of salvation, that we are kept, that we are genuine, and that we are owned of God, and such should be that sense of assurance that we respond, as did Paul in Ephesians 1, giving praise to God, not only for all spiritual blessings generically, but even specifically, and including this, the sealing by the Holy Spirit. Well, for all of this about assurance, Perhaps you're aware that there have been those who insist we can't know for certain that we're forever saved, at least in this life. In fact, they would say that such a claim is presumption. How dare you? You find this among Romanism. You'll find it among some hyper-Calvinists as well. And a further argument against claims of assurance of salvation is, well, that'll lead to moral laxity. People think they're saved and they have some assurance of it. lead to ungodliness. You know, the guy says, well, sure, I know I'm saved, and therefore it doesn't matter how I live, and all kinds of carnalities and the like. Well, let me say that that can happen. Jude 4 talks about those who turn the grace of God into licentiousness or into a license to sin, basically. You know, yeah, we're fine. But that's not true. That's not biblical. That's not spirit rot assurance. of salvation because we cannot divorce the other ministries of the Holy Spirit from his work of giving assurance. Or to put it another way, these other ministries of the Holy Spirit are one means by which he does give assurance as his presence and work are evidenced in the life of a Christian, which is very much what this idea of sealing, is all about, as we've already considered. The Spirit's keeping us and proving us genuine and marking us out and so forth. Well, it says the Holy Spirit himself is with us and in us and carrying out his many ministries in each believer. Well, as I said, we then noted a couple of practical applications to that. We should have assurance. We should have We should then praise God. But there's one more application that I deliberately left off for this afternoon. This sealing of the spirit is actually a reason for great carefulness in living the Christian life. Not presumption. Well, we're saved. We've got a spirit. We're good. Don't worry about it. Live as carnal as a goat. It should bring about diligence, and I say great carefulness, in living for God, in pursuing holiness, even in all the details of life. Please come to Ephesians chapter four, because isn't that what Paul is saying, in connection with the sealing of the spirit? We've already seen Ephesians chapter four in verse 30. I will read that again. Ephesians 4.30. and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Now, these words are not just hanging out there by themselves. They have a context, and in the context, If you think in terms of 417 through 517, or for that matter, 417 through 618 of this letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul tells us not to live like the Gentiles. You notice how verse 17 of chapter four, begins, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, etc. You're not to live as you once did, you Gentiles there in Ephesus, you're not to live like they are, you've not so learned Christ, he says in verse 20. Rather, We're to live as those who have been made new by Christ, that's his argument here. We're to live as those who, in chapter 5 verse 1, are described as God's beloved children. We're to live, again, chapter 5 verse 8, as light in the Lord, since that's what you are. You're no longer darkness, you're now light in the Lord. Well, even in all the details of life, we're to live like that. He speaks of deeds, he speaks of words, he speaks even of disposition of heart, and especially he speaks of our interaction together with the Lord's people. I'm not going to try and trace that out, but you can see all of that in these verses. And the emphasis here, throughout the section, is stop doing the wrong, do right. Or perhaps I should say, avoid the wrong by doing what is right. And therefore, talks about don't lie to one another, but speak truth. Don't steal, but work hard and be generous and give. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but rather words that edify, that give grace to the hearers. And not having any kind of bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and so forth, put all those things away and be kind to one another, even loving as Christ has loved you. So the idea of put off the wrong, do the right. In fact, we put off the wrong by doing what's right. And isn't this, just again, diligence, carefulness, and living for God, in pursuing holiness in all of life, even in all of its details. Now, again, we won't take time to trace it out, but you'll find Paul gives another number of motivational arguments in this section to stir us up and keep us pressing on, appealing to our reasoning. And it's in that connection that we have these words about the sealing of the Holy Spirit. This is given as a motivation. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you've been sealed for the day of redemption. You don't want to grieve him, do you? Especially in light of who he is and what he's doing? Well then, recognize this and don't grieve him. That is to say, don't allow the wrong, don't indulge the sin, but do that which is right in all of life and certainly so in your life together as a church. Okay, now what's this all about, that grieving the Holy Spirit? What does that mean? Well, the word grieve, it means to make sad or to make sorrowful. Albert Barnes, the commentator, he just gave a quick saying, it means to afflict with sorrow. Come to 1 Peter 1, a text with which you're familiar, and that gives us a good understanding of the force of this word. 1 Peter 1 and verse 6. How there we're told that in our heavenly inheritance, we now greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while if need be, you have been grieved, there's our word, grieved by various trials. The difficulties, the hardships, the trials that you experience. Do you know anything of sorrow? Of real grief? being caused by these things, your heart broken, as it were. It's the same word that's used in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13, of the pain of bereavement. You know what it is to lose a loved one? The sorrow, the pain. That's the force of this word. And we're told, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Now, in that we're told this, that means it's all too possible. that we can grieve the Holy Spirit. This is called an anthropopathism, or some would pronounce it anthropopathism. Take your pick, it doesn't matter. Basically, it's figurative language in which human emotions are ascribed to God. in the same way as anthropomorphisms. You've heard that word, right? Anthropomorphisms. It's a human form being ascribed to God. So when we read in Scripture that the eyes of the Lord are in every place, we mustn't think that, well, God's got literal eyes and they're out there everywhere, or underneath are the everlasting arms. We mustn't think, well, God has literal arms, as our confession says, is no parts or passions, and it's human language, figurative language, in which the human anatomy, as it were, is ascribed to God. Well, anthropopathism is when human emotions are ascribed to God and here in this case it's especially referring to the Holy Spirit. Now obviously we mustn't think of God as having literal hands and arms and so forth and we mustn't think that the Holy Spirit is subject to human emotions or Passions. Now, perhaps you are aware of the word impassibility, and there's a lot of writing and so forth that's been dealt. Well, now's not the time to delve in to the matter of impassibility, which simply means God is without passions, like our confession says in chapter two and paragraph one. Suffice it to say that there is that in the Holy Spirit, to which our emotions answer. Now, our emotions can be all over the map, right? They can be very fickle, very changeable. They're also often very much on the surface, right? Feeling it for the moment. Well, that's not the case with the Holy Spirit. It's not some emotion changeable blah, blah, blah. What we read of, that's anthropopathisms, these ascriptions of human emotions to him. These are actually the expression of his perfect, unchanging being. So it's not like, oh boy, he's having this particular pain. No, no, here is his being. But again, it's spoken of in human terms. Is that all clear as mud? Okay. Well, one thing this kind of language underscores is the Holy Spirit's a person. You can't grieve a mere force. Let's go grieve the wind today, will we? Here, the wind's blowing, we'll grieve it. The wind can't be grieved, it's not a person. This underscores the Holy Spirit is a person who is God. He's here called the Holy Spirit of God. He is that triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all having one name. Remember the baptismal formula there in the Great Commission. And as such, he is holy. That's emphasized here. You know how Habakkuk talks about God is of pure eyes and to behold evil. Well, he can't look upon it with approval or even indifference, and therefore he is grieved. That's the point of this language, certainly one point that's emphasized here. Sin is so contrary to God the Holy Spirit, who he is as the Holy One, that it grieves him. But notice, the text does not say, to us as believers, Do not provoke the Holy Spirit to wrath. It says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Do not cause him sorrow by your sin. And it reflects the fact of his love for us. A number of texts and proverbs like, a foolish son is the grief to his mother, or the father of a fool has no joy, that's kind of a litetes for saying it's a real grief. How parents, well you as a parent, perhaps you can well relate to this, that your child does something that is just, utter grief to you, especially as they get older, perhaps, and you see such defiance or whatever, and you're just grieved in your heart. Yes, you might have some righteous indignation, but more it's sorrow, a broken heart, as it were. Well, why is that? Well, it's because you love that child, right? Therefore, when we see this word used, do not grieve the Holy Spirit, it reflects his love for each of his people. The Spirit's presence and ministries are expression of God's love. Will we sin against that love? Do not grieve him. And do we see our sin in that light? I mean, when it speaks here of sinful words, clamor and corrupt words, do we recognize that? It's so contrary to the Holy Spirit, but yet because of His love, it grieves Him. When it speaks of that sinful disposition, talking about bitterness and the like instead of loving one another, do we recognize that's so contrary to the Holy Spirit, but because of His love, it grieves Him? Will we sin against that love? Does this, his love, what our sin is to him, it all motivate us to do the right, leave off the wrong? Isn't it rather our desire, dear brother, dear sister, to please God, isn't it? That is, that's your heart's desire, by his grace, is to please him. Well, we recognize that that's the opposite of grieving, and it's done by doing the opposite of grieving, that is to say, by doing that which is right and pleasing in his sight. Well, this is Paul's motivational argument here. Stop lying, speak true, don't steal, work hard, no corrupt words, but rather that which is edifying and ministers grace, not an evil disposition, but a loving disposition towards your brethren. don't grieve the Holy Spirit by your sin. Well, that's reason enough. Just stated it like that, isn't it? To urge us on to holiness. I don't want to grieve him. But Paul's not done more. He hasn't done yet. He says more. Especially he says don't grieve him because you've been sealed by the Holy Spirit. even sealed by the Holy Spirit in particular with a view to the day of redemption, with a view to the end, sealed for that day when God will at that day have the purchased possession fully redeemed and our full and final deliverance from sin and all of its consequences, so that when Christ comes again, it's not with reference to sin, but rather with our salvation, the completion of it, when we shall be glorified together with Christ, and even our very bodies will be redeemed, and experience a glorious transformation like unto His glorious body. The Holy Spirit has been given you as a seal with a view to that day. That is to say, the Holy Spirit, he's the one who authenticates and assures us that we forever belong to the Lord. The Holy Spirit marks us as God's seal of ownership and approval, especially by the Spirit's work in us, and it is by his presence and work that he protects and keeps us to the end. In other words, it's by the Holy Spirit's work in you, dear Christian, that he makes that redemption altogether certain. Now, since that is who he is, and that is what he does for us and in us all the way to the end, Paul is saying, now take care, don't grieve him. Don't grieve him. You're not to afflict him with sorrow by your sin. It's bad enough sins of omission just to be negligent. That's bad enough. But what Paul's talking about here is things that are recognizably sinful. Lying to one another and speaking ill, corrupt speech to one another. Sinful deeds, even sinful dispositions. He sees these and they aggrieve him who is our seal. And so Paul is basically saying, understand that he is your seal. Recognize this. and therefore don't grieve him by sitting against him, by sitting against the Spirit's work and his love. And there are a number of lines of argument here to be drawn out. I mean, the first would be something like this. Here's one who is intent, the Holy Spirit, one intent on doing you good. In fact, doing us good all the way to the end, how he secures us and our blessed future. Dare we grieve him? He's doing us good. He's intent on doing us good. Out of that great love for us? And will we grieve him by sinning against him? You know, this is actually something of the argument of Proverbs for young people. You know, a young person, Your mom, your dad, they love you so intensely and immensely. And now you rebel, defy them, sit against them and care nothing. Can you do that? Can your heart be that hard? Well, it can happen with young people, can't it? But for us as God's dear children, wait a minute, could we be so hardened that here he is, he's doing us good all the way to the day of redemption and what that brings? Are we gonna sit against him, grieve him? And would we be so ungrateful to God? Look at what is to be ours come the day of redemption. All that goes with being glorified together with Christ. Not just streets of gold, et cetera. No, I mean, that's rather toddly when you think of it. No, it's the idea of being fully conformed to Christ and being glorified together with him, even sharing in his inheritance forever as a joint heir and given a body that suited a whole person suited to share in Christ's eternal blessedness. That's what the day of redemption holds out for you. Are you so ungrateful that you think, ah, I don't care about that? The Holy Spirit seals you to that end? And dare we care nothing about these things that were sealed? More than that, by our sin are we not at cross purposes with him? I mean, go on, he's working in us. He's making us holy, making us more like Christ. He's keeping us. He's completing that work. He keeps us on pursuing that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Oh, but wait, these things that Paul is here talking about in Ephesians, sinful words, sinful deeds, sinful dispositions, they're so contrary. to His work. It's cross purposes to His work in making us more like Christ. In other words, we're militating. He's been given as a seal to make you more like Christ. Well by our sin, we're militating against that. Can we so disregard him? Or how about other ministries of the Holy Spirit? Like, for instance, I've made reference to the Spirit leading us. I've pointed out previous hour, that doesn't mean kind of, you know, hooking the nose and leading it, here, go share the gospel with this guy, go speak to this person, go give to, no. It's the idea of the Spirit leading, inclining us in holiness, even in the specifics, right? The convictions and the inclining us to do what is right. Well, we're told then to walk in the Spirit. That is according to those leadings. Well, can we disregard Him? Will we ignore, even neglect, that leading and that empowering of the Holy Spirit? See, we're to recognize His presence, we're to recognize His person, and to see Him and His work as truly precious. And therefore, don't grieve Him by your sin. Don't be cross-purposes. Rather, do the opposite. Do that which is right. Not lying, but speaking truth. Not stealing, but working hard and being generous. And on down the list it goes. Following, cooperating with the Spirit, obeying, aiming to please Him, not to grieve Him. That's some of the lines of argument that Paul has here. Perhaps a further argument would have to do with the Spirit's work as a seal in assuring us of salvation. While He's keeping us, while He's assuring us, will we work against Him by our sin? that deliberately will engage in sinning, knowing this is wrong that I should lie, this is wrong that I should steal, this is wrong that, fill in the blank. Surely a grieved Holy Spirit is not an assuring Holy Spirit. He won't reward sin with such rich blessing. Rather, by deliberate, habitual sin, Well, do we not then have reason to question our state? You're familiar with 1 John 2, 3, and 4. Here's how we know we know him. We keep his commandments. If anyone says, I know him and doesn't keep his commandments, he's a liar. Truth's not in him. Now, that's not to say that every time a believer sins, well, we can have no assurance now as if we're ever to question whether we're truly committed. No. But if we can say we know Him and yet walk in darkness, in 1 John 1-6, 1 John 2-4, we're lying, no. Christians cannot carry on walking in darkness. If we're not interested in walking in the light, that is dealing honestly with God about our sin, confessing our sin, the blood of Christ cleansing, how can we boldly say, well, I know Him? No, John says you can't. Or if we habitually, knowingly, do these very wrongs that Paul is here denouncing in Ephesians 4 and 5. The lying, the stealing, the et cetera. Can we be assured that the Holy Spirit is our seal? That he's keeping us to the day of redemption? Listen to the words of our confession. Chapter 18 on assurance, paragraph four. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation diverse ways, shaken, diminished, and intermitted, as by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the spirit, by some sudden or vehement temptation, In other words, as I've already said, a grieved Holy Spirit is not an assuring Holy Spirit. And therefore, if we have no assurance, if we're having assurance struggles, we do well to see, is this a problem? Am I at cross purposes? Am I grieving him? Now let me be quick to say these are not the only causes of assurance struggles. Our confession goes on to talk about God withdrawing the light of his countenance and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light, et cetera. So there are other causes for a lack of assurance, okay? But grieving the spirit by willful sin, that indeed can be a cause. We'll see if it's so. God doesn't play guessing games with us. Here, you guess what it is. No. But if there is that sin, it's recognizable. It's so much recognizable that we can confess it. and therefore do if we confess our sins. He's faithful just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's what walking in the light is all about. Dealing, endeavoring to do that which is right, but dealing also openly and honestly with God about our sins. And we walk in the light as he is in light. We have fellowship, one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Well, if walking in the light meant walking perfectly, there'd be no sin from which to be cleansed, right? Oh, but wait, in that we're told the blood cleanses, that means, well, walking in the light, It doesn't preclude sin, but it does mean being honest. If we confess our sins, it's faithful and just to forgive them. And then get on doing as told, not lying, speaking truth, not stealing, working hard, not corrupt speech, but that which edifies. By Christ's enabling grace, by the work of the Holy Spirit. And know that assuring of salvation is the Spirit's normal work. That's not some odd thing that only a few Christians get on rare occasion, no. And as God's seal with whom we've been sealed, that is his normal work. Now, in that Paul here emphasizes the sealing of the Spirit in this connection, don't grieve him. by your willful sin. Brother, this is very telling. As I already said, it's great reason for diligence and carefulness in living for Christ. In fact, Paul puts this forward as very compelling motivation. And in that sense, again, that's very telling to do as told. I mean, does he not presuppose that we know, that all believers know, what the sealing of the spirit is about. Right? And he doesn't give us any protracted, let me tell you what I mean here. He assumes that you know something of this. More, does it not assume that we value this? You're sealed by the spirit. Oh, well that means something to me. Therefore, I don't want to grieve him. Rather, would this not then make us eager to do what Paul says, even though we've got the problems which remain in corruption? No, don't go that way with that deliberate, recognizable sin. No, I don't want to do that. The Spirit's presence, the Spirit's work, that seal is so precious to me. No, I will be careful then. Isn't that the argument? Isn't that assumed in Paul's words here? You know what it is to be sealed, and it means something to you. You highly value it. Well, is that your regard for the Holy Spirit's presence and work in you? You really do recognize and regard it highly. And does this recognition of the presence of the Holy Spirit and his work, does it motivate you to godly living? There's several ways in which that should be so. One is gratitude, one is also, I can, he enables. Does the recognition of the Holy Spirit really impact us, the sealing, so that it does make us careful in living the Christian life? That is assumed in Ephesians 4.30. Well, therefore, brethren, be that aware. Think on these things. To me, it's a pity, it's a pity that so much of talk about the Holy Spirit is in circles, well, charismatic Pentecostal type thing. And it could be even a neglected subject amongst those who are more biblical in their thinking. But it ought not to be so. With Dr. Lloyd-Jones, notwithstanding some areas where I would have to disagree with the good doctor, One of the reasons for the emphasis on the Holy Spirit is he saw with that resurgence of biblical truth and a reformed understanding that it was producing a bunch of eggheads, right? Theological eggheads who were leaving the Holy, it was all about intellectualism or the like. And therefore he, no, it's the work of the Holy Spirit. Well brethren, brethren, how much real thought do we give to the Holy Spirit and his ministries? Like the sealing of the Spirit. Does it have any impact on how I live? Consciously so, I'm saying. Then I recognize, I've been sealed. I've been authenticated, I've been assured, I'm being kept by the Spirit, I'm marked out as belonging to God, by the Holy Spirit who's been given to me. Is there that kind of recognition, that awareness, that is a compelling motivation then to get on with saying no to sin and yes to righteousness, with doing that which is right instead of wrong, in fact, doing right and therefore avoiding that which is wrong. Well, this is one of the effects that the truth of sealing of the spirit should have upon us. Yes, blessed assurance, heartfelt praise, and carefulness in how we live and how we speak. And the bottom line is we're to consciously recognize what is ours in Christ in this sealing of the spirit. That we might think this way, so as to live the Christian life. Well let me encourage you, this coming week, in your private times with the Lord, give thanks to him. Read over Ephesians 1, 13, Ephesians 4, 30, or 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22, and give thanks, and recognize, and ask, Lord, make this more real, more understandable, that I might know more of the work of the Holy Spirit, the very presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, sealing me to the day of redemption. You remember the Lord Jesus pointed out that in giving us the Holy Spirit, it was of greater advantage for us than if he were present, visibly present with us. Remember he said, it's to your advantage that I go away. If I don't go away, Holy Spirit, but if I go, I will send him. Well, who of us would say, no, I wouldn't want Jesus physically present now with me. No, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on, hold on though. You've got far greater advantage than that. You've been given God's Holy Spirit. Well, recognize it, consciously so. His presence, His work, His love. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you are sealed to the day of redemption. It's often the case that unsaved people think of Christianity as just a bunch of rules. Ah, just live right. That's what they're just telling you to live right. In fact, maybe they reject Christianity because of that. I don't want to live right. Or maybe they try to be saved by doing that. Well, I'll just live right. That'll make me right with God. Well, it won't. The gospel, the word gospel, as you know, it means good news. But if Christianity is just a bunch of rules, or it's a matter of our trying to get right by doing right, that's no good news at all. Not at all. I mean, the Lord Jesus said, without me you could do nothing. a branch bear fruit detached from a vine, some little twig that's thrown out here on the ground bearing fruit. That can happen as soon as a person not joined to Christ could bear fruit. But here is good news. Christ Jesus came into this world to save all kinds of sinners. He died in the place of sinners, he lives to save sinners. And he saves all who put their trust in him, and does so with his full and glorious salvation. Even giving his Holy Spirit abundantly, working within, inclining us towards the right, empowering us to do that which is right, giving us joy unspeakable now, knowing the Lord in this world, and blessedness with Christ forever. and an absolute certainty of salvation that God freely gives all believers on Christ. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He's rich to all who call upon him. If you're without Christ, I hope you know that Christianity is not just a bunch of rules, and you're not gonna get saved by doing right, by being good, by, no. Christ came to save sinners, all kinds of sinners. then go to Christ, trust in him. Lord, save me. That's good news. Believe it. As he said, repent and believe the good news. Turn from sin to God through Christ. Believing this, Christ died, Christ lives to save sinners. My God, grant it to be so. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we would ask to know more of the ministries of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to be more conscious and aware, even as the explanation for what we see going on in our ongoing pursuit of holiness and our following after Jesus. Lord, help us to know more of the love of the Holy Spirit and that we would be very careful not to grieve him. and that when we sin or are tempted to sin, that we would see it in this light, knowing that we don't have to go that way, and to do so is a grief to the Holy Spirit by whom we're sealed. It's cross-purposes with what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives. Lord, please give us grace. Cause us to be not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds to think these things, to consciously recognize our blessedness in Christ, In whose name we pray, amen.