St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church

31 May 09

Ephesians 1: 3-14

One of the most motivating things in life is to have other people say to us, “I believe in you.”

I believe in your ability to do this job or be this person – it’s very motivating.
On the other hand it’s very de-motivating when people tell you that they don’t believe in you.

Now it follows that the greatest motivation in life is to know that God believes in us.

Jesus was able to go through the three years of his public ministry because he knew that he had his Fathers approval.

“Do not work for food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him, God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Jn. 6:27 NIV

Q. Now when did Jesus first receive God’s approval?
Anyone guess? Yes at his baptism.

“As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my son who I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1: 9-11.

Now when we look at this passage closely Mark doesn’t say that the crowds saw Heaven open, or that God spoke to the crowds.

God spoke only to Jesus and this took place exclusively for his benefit.

Also let’s not forget that Jesus was fully human and like us in his humanity, he grew; ‘in the wisdom, stature and favour with God and men’.
Lk 2:52

He began his earthy life as a newborn baby and he had to learn to walk, talk and take care of himself.

As he grew, he had to struggle with real emotions and learn about relationships.
Furthermore the Bible says he was tempted in every way, as we are.

And so as a young man, about to begin his public ministry, God the Father gave him this gift of encouragement.
Jesus sees the curtain of Heaven drawn back and he hears the voice of his Heavenly Father;

“You are my beloved Son, and I’m fully pleased with you.” Mk. 1: 11 NLT

There were times when God spoke to other people about Jesus but this time God spoke to His Son and He gives him the seal of affirmation – represented by the Holy Spirit, which the Russian Orthodox Church calls the kiss of God.

Q. Why was this so important?

Because the Father knew there would be many, many other voices in Jesus life that would question and challenge his authority.

In fact the very next voice that Jesus would hear would say;

i. “If you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread.”

And a little later on,

ii. If you are the Son of God, how can you be the friend of tax collectors and sinners?”

iii. “If you are the Son of God we will make you our king because with your power you could destroy Caesar and rid Israel of Roman oppression.”

iv. “If you are the Son of God, perform some miracles for our entertainment and I might save your life.”

v. Others struck him and said, “Prophesy and tell us who hit you.’

vi. Even while Jesus was hanging on the cross one of the last voices he heard before he died taunted him, “If you are the Son of God come down from the cross and maybe we’ll believe you.”

And along with these, were a myriad of other voices that said teach us, feed us, touch us, heal us, give us -
and when he pleased them the voices would cry out, “Hosanna to the son of David”.
And when he disappointed them the same voices would cry out, “Crucify him, crucify him.”

And in the face of all this and this is a staggering fact to consider, Jesus never lost heart, he never doubted his identity as the Messiah and he never wavered in his mission, never – not once.

Q. Where did he get his amazing poise and courage from?
How was he able to stand so resolute while utterly alone?
I think quite clearly the answer is that, throughout these difficult years of his life, Jesus never stopped listening to the other voice –the voice of his Father and this is so very, very important for us to understand.

Again and again we read how Jesus went off alone to find a quiet place where he could hear again the voice that he heard that day at his baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove and the Father set His seal of approval on him.

His Heavenly Father said, “It doesn’t matter what other voices say whether they hail you or hate you, whether they crown you or kill you, you are my Son, greatly loved and my favour rests on you.”

Now my question is this.
‘If Jesus, the sinless Son of God needed to be so attentive to the voice of his Father through the Holy Spirit how much more do we need to be constantly vigilant in our concern to hear what God wants to say to us’?

You see this sealing or affirming ministry of the Holy Spirit isn’t restricted to Jesus alone – it’s what Pentecost is all about.

This brings us to our reading:

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV

In Ephesians 4:30 Paul said it again, “You were sealed with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption.”

We are included in God’s Holy Spirit sealing ministry, as long as we are surrendered to God.

Q. So what does this mean for us? (Let me try to explain it by way of an illustration)

When a boy sees a girl, that he really likes, he decides he needs to test the waters and he plans a sort of an accidental meeting, which he tries to make look like a coincidence.

If he is lucky the girl appears to fall for it, which means she is ready to play the game of courtship.
Over time they hang out together but if they really like each other there comes a time when they need to find out where things stand.
Where is this relationship headed? I remember when I was courting Frances I asked her if there was anyone else.

Her immediate response was “there’s got to be.”

But we got past that and eventually we decided to become engaged.

Q. Now when a couple decides to get engaged the man gives the lady a tangible expression of commitment to their relationship, an engagement ring, which she agrees to wear as a sign of their commitment to each other.

By custom this needs to be an object of some beauty and value that conveys something of the richness of the promise of marriage.

Frances said that when we were first engaged she used to look at her ring all the time.
And not only did she see it and I see it but everyone saw it; her old boyfriends saw it.

We had defined our relationship as one of mutual commitment and ultimately marriage.

Can you see the value of this illustration for our subject?

God doesn’t just want you to belong to Him; God wants you to know that you belong to Him. To have that settled assurance and confidence every day of your life. He also wants the world to know.

“You are my beloved child on whom my favour rests.”

And so what God has done for us, whether we fully understand it or not, is what He did for Jesus.
He has given us the Holy Spirit, as a gift of infinite value so that we can know that we are His and He is totally committed to us.

Now let me suggest three occasions when this assurance becomes very important to us.

I. When We Are Disappointed and Discouraged By Life.

Paul wrote.

“For we know that if this earthly tent we live in is taken down – when we die and leave these bodies – we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.” 2 Cor 5: 1-3 NLT

And look at verse 5,

“Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” NIV

Paul says our physical bodies are like a tent, which is very temporary accommodation relative to eternity and which, in the end is coming down.
And we know that we are getting on in years when the condition of our tent becomes the subject of our conversations with our peers; sitting around talking about health issues.

We groan because the tent is not attractive enough, or successful enough, or popular enough and eventually if we live long enough we groan because the tent starts to wear out.

It sags a little more every year and eventually it’s going to be condemned and come down.

Now this very groaning is itself a reminder that we were not made for this tent life existence forever. Something better is coming (1 Cor 15).

Q How do we know?

The Spirit of Christ is the one who whispers to us. Who intercedes in our weakness; “with groans that words can not express.”

Paul says don’t despair; hold on to your faith. God has given us the Holy Spirit as a deposit and the final instalment is coming.

The engagement ring is a reminder that the wedding is just a matter of time now.
And Paul goes on in the next verse 2 Cor 5: 6 “Therefore we are always confident.”
As long as we keep listening to that one voice above all the others.

So the next time you are disappointed with your situation in life, do what Jesus did; withdraw from the crowd and listen for God’s voice,

“You are my beloved son on you my favour rests.”

Yes, this life can be a struggle but this is only a foretaste of the real thing.

2. When We Feel Conviction About Sin. (Any time we fail)

In John 16:8 Jesus makes it very clear that it is the Holy Spirit who “convicts people of sin” and this is another reason why we must pay attention to the voice of the Spirit. Sin has the potential to destroy us.
And the more sensitive we are to the Holy Spirit the more sensitive we will be to things that can spiritually harm us.
Things we might previously dismissed as minor sins.

The HS gives us a growing sensitivity to coarse language or deceitful words or cruel acts and also an awareness of our sinful nature that we didn’t have before.

He gives us a much more honest assessment of ourselves.

It’s always a good thing because the HS always leads us towards life and away from death.

He leads us towards grace and forgiveness and change; what Jesus called “life in all its fullness”.

Now at this point I want to say something briefly about a related question,

‘What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit’, sometimes called the only unforgivable sin? It’s mention in a few places in the New Testament;

“I tell you the truth, all sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” Mark 3:28

So this is very serious and a lot has been written about this subject but let me share my best understanding.

1st What it doesn’t mean?

It doesn’t mean saying something bad or wrong about the Holy Spirit.

The HS is not so sensitive that he will never forgive an insult.

John wrote in, 1John 1:9, that all sin is covered by the blood of Christ, there is no sin that Jesus blood does not cover, except sin that is unconfessed and here is our clue.

What prompted Jesus words in Mk 3:28, was that the Jewish teachers of the Law had come to check him out and although they heard his words and saw the miracles that accompanied them, they attributed it all to the devil.

Jesus said you are at risk of belligerently cutting yourself off from the Holy Spirit.

Now remember that Jesus came as the baptiser of the Holy Spirit.

We live in the age of the Holy Spirit.
It’s the Holy Spirit who is the agent of conversion, faith and growth.

So to sin against the Spirit is to defy and reject the work and witness of the Spirit of God – i.e. it’s a conscious choice.

It can’t be forgiven because the person themselves rejects forgiveness, rejects faith in God and dependence on God; they usually don’t think they need it.

Which, is why if anyone is worried about having committed this sin, clearly hasn’t because those who have don’t care.
They are instead characterised by a spiritually defiant blindness that is unconcerned about their spiritual condition.

So that if God convicts you about your shortcomings, thank Him that the Spirit is at work in your life and moving you towards forgiveness.

#3 the third occasion we need to be able to hear the assuring words of the Holy Spirit is:

3. When We Feel Alone.

In this life rejection and estrangement and loneliness are never far away, Jesus certainly experienced incredible loneliness and he was the most wonderful person who ever lived.

Loneliness is the void that no person is able to fill – no matter how much encouragement we receive we may still feel alone.

Only One voice can comfort us and He can do it because of who we are in Christ.

“And the Spirit himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God’s children.” Rom 8:16

But we have to be very still to hear this voice.

I want to close with an extract reading from a book called the Whisper Test. (Read)

“I grew up knowing I was different. I was born with a cleft pallet and when I started school my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to others.
A little girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided cheek and garbled speech.

When schoolmates asked, “What happened to your lip?”
I would tell them I had fallen and cut it on a piece of glass.
Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different.
I was convinced no one outside my own family could love me.
There was however a teacher in the second grade, whom we all adored, Mrs Leonard.
She was short, round, happy; a sparkling lady.

Annually we had a hearing test. Mrs Leonard gave the test to every one in the class.
Finally it was my turn. I new from past years that as we stood against the door and covered one ear, the teacher, sitting at her desk would whisper something and we would have to repeat it back. Things like, “The sky is blue.” Or “Do you have new shoes?”

I waited there for those words, that God must have put in her mouth; those seven words that changed my life.
Mrs. Leonard said, in her whisper, “I wish you were my little girl, I wish you were my little girl.”

You and I are here today because there was a time in our life when the Holy Spirit came and whispered words like these, “I wish you were my son or daughter”

And if we said ‘Yes’ to God we became part of the one family where everyone who wants to can belong and we were sealed in the Spirit. But we need to keep hearing His voice because like Jesus we are surrounded by many other voices.

Maybe they remind us of our past failures.
Maybe they are tempting us to go down another path.
Maybe they are saying, “If you were really a child of God you would be a much better person than you are now.”
Maybe they tell you that your future worth and happiness is in their hands.
It’s not so.

We have been sealed in the Spirit and so we groan sometimes, we groan for that for which we were made and it will surely come because we have received God’s guarantee.

A guarantee first administered, to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to the Church.

I pray that we will all have a life-time adventure of growth and discovery because of the Holy Spirit’s work in us and that we will learn to expect great things from God and do great things with God.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father we are so grateful for your amazing Holy Spirit who wants to fill the lives of sinful people like us with the promise of your love and assurance of an eternal future with you.

We look forward to the rest of our lives knowing that even though we fail, you have provided a way to be reconciled and though we fall we will not be caste out.
We need never be alone. Help us not to grieve or quench the Spirit but to always be sensitive to your leading.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen