Ephesians 1

Verse 13

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In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

(Soul Winner's New American Standard New Testament) ***************************************************** Grace be unto you from me, my beloved Christian brothers & sisters. Let us thank God for allowing this group to share in His Word once again. Take out some time in your daily schedule to give Him some praise for all He has done for you. Thanking each of you who shared in the fellowship on last week. Remember to keep God first in all you do in the upcoming week. As much as this lesson is personal to me, it is also a testimony of how God will keep you close to Him, inspite of our bad decisions & actions in our lives.

For this brings me to my topic this week: (Invisible, But Seen) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In my early thirties, I lived a life with a lot of disobedience to God. Waiting at bus stops, thinking of what stuff I would get into that day or evening, someone would just come up & say "where do you pastor" or "what church do you belong to," you just look like a minister. I even got to know some of the "Street Preachers," one particular family was very concerned about me & my salvation, I just ignored them politely, but God had His seal upon me. Dear friends, at that time, like a lot of us, serving God was only a small thought in my mind, not evident in my worship or taken seriously. Going to nightclubs, someone would say "hey, you sure you belong here?" or point in my direction, like you don't fit in. My clothes saturated with the scent of cigarette smoke, sinus headaches spoiling the somewhat fun to be had. Feeling worse on leaving the place, than on arriving. Taking a chance that someone would even put something in my drink, a dangerous price to pay to "live it up" as they say. You see, friends satan does not care for you & he will use someone to do harm unto you, especially if he knows you can be a threat to him in Christ. Satan can see your seal & he does not like it.

Am I Speaking To Someone Out There?

Have you ever felt that way or had that happen to you, for some reason, you knew you had no business in that setting or God had called you to live Holy unto Him.? O, my brothers & sisters, when God has sealed you, even though you can't see it, it is there for others to see, that you are different & your light has been made known to others. It is like a young man putting a diamond ring upon the engagement finger of whom he has promised to marry. The Lord knows them that are His & WE are sealed unto Him forever.



We can be as I call "Undercover Christians" but God's seal upon us will never lose it's brightness & cannot be hidden.

As in (John 12) some religious leaders believed in Jesus, but did not want to make it known, in fear of losing their positions (v.42). Peter, who loved Jesus so much, that he cut off a man's ear, denied his seal when approached, he said he was not a part of the group, who knew Jesus. How is that so much like us today, we want to be accepted so much in society, that we will go & do almost anything to gain that feeling of acceptance, but when God sends the Holy Spirit, after we have believed on Him, to us, though invisible to our eyes, He is with us just like Christ was with the disciples, keeping us honest, focused, & encouraged, so that we can show ourselves in glorifying Christ. We might deny it or try to run from it or say I am not a Christian, but if you have ever believed on Christ, asking to be saved, you are His forever.

*Am I Right About It* OK *



What happened after we believed? We were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit as the seal. It is very obvious that the Holy Spirit does not belong just to some special Christians and that only specially sanctified Christians have life. These are the ones, who on last week's lesson, I talked about the so called Christian saints, who say if you do not talk in tongues you are not saved. The text verse states that ALL who have heard the gospel of salvation and who have believed, have received the Holy Spirit as the seal. This proves that the seal of the Holy Spirit is something that all Christians have in common. God has put a seal on you, proving that you belong to Him. God put the Holy Spirit in you as a seal. All those who have the Holy Spirit belong to God. All those who do not have the Holy Spirit do not belong to God. At the time a person is saved, God does a sealing work on him and puts the Holy Spirit within him to prove that he is of God. This seal will last unto the day of redemption.



What is the day of redemption? (Romans 8) says that the day of redemption is the day when the Lord Jesus will come back. The seal of the Holy Spirit remains in us until the coming again of our Lord Jesus. Today if a man says that he can lose his salvation and perish, then I will ask him what he will do with the seal of the Holy Spirit?. Since God has said that we have been sealed by Him, there is nothing we can do to remove this seal.

~~Thank You Lord ~~

(Ephesians 4:30) "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God," "whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption."



God has sealed the born again Christian forever with the Holy Spirit. He is the one that protects us from the attacks of the devil. The Christian can grieve the Holy Spirit that lives within us by sinning. Sinning breaks fellowship with the Father. The believer can be restored to fellowship with God at once by using the recovery verse of (I Epistle John 1:9)

NOT A LICENSE TO SIN

Dear friends when we try live other than how God has ordained us to live, the Holy Spirit is grieved. One prime example of how the Holy Spirit is grieved, is by gossip. It is evident in our churches, schools, places of employment, etc, & O, yes, in our homes over the telephone. The Holy Spirit is grieved, in that, in this form of communication, the one who is gossiping is tearing down another's character, not building it up. We are to not let corrupt communication come from our lips, but that which is good, to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Be careful in what you say to & about others.

The seal is a mark of ownership, "They Are Mine" A Seal Is Set For Security

Have You The Seal? Show It Then!!!



We must strive to put aside anything or anyone who separates us from living for God. Our seal has been given to us not seen by human eyesight, but should be seen in our walk in this life for Jesus. Pray for one another in the uplifting of spirit & healing. If this has been a beacon of light for any of you or if you wish to be opted from this list, please send me a note of that reflection, in that, I shall delete your name, as I wish not to offend anyone. May God always walk with you & you with God.



This is a prayer I would like for you to forward to anyone you feel, needs to come to God or remember they are sealed.

***A Prayer***

Thank You, Father God, for sealing me with Your Holy Spirit. I rejoice today because I know that I belong to You. I pray for _____ who has also believed unto Christ. Show them that because they have received the sealing of the Spirit, they cannot lose their salvation. Amen.

Peace Don

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