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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.
Do Not Grieve The Holy Spirit
Series The Order of Salvation
Pastor McKinnon considers what it means to Grieve the Holy Spirit.
| Sermon ID | 313242143301673 |
| Duration | 41:59 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Ephesians 4:30 |
| Language | English |
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