SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/20/2017
10:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Rejoicing in Assurance
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
1:13-14
Message of the
verses: “13 In him you also, when you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised
Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his
glory.”
As you may have noticed we are not in the book of John
this morning but are looking at parts of verses 13-14 of Ephesians chapter
one. The reason for this is that today’s
SD will be looking at kind of a review of what we have been learning about the
ministry of the Holy Spirit and it will come from the “Drawing Near, Devotional
Bible” that I got free when I bought another Bible for my daughter for
Christmas. It is authored by John
MacArthur and the Bible translation is the ESV.
This is a very unique Bible in that you read through it in a year but in
each day’s readings you read from the OT and the NT and also from the book of
Psalms. It is my desire today to quote
the devotional for January 20th as mentioned it speaks of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit something we have been studying from John’s
Gospel. I hope that this will be a
blessing and a benefit to all who read it.
“The Holy Spirit is God’s first installment on your eternal
inheritance.
The Holy Spirit’s ministry in your life is
multifaceted and profound. Among other
things, He brings salvation, conviction, guidance, and strength. He indwells and equips you for spiritual
service and gives assurance of your salvation.
He is your Helper and Advocate.
He is the Spirit of promise who seals you until the day when your
redemption will be fully realized (Eph. 4:30).
“Sealing speaks of security, authenticity, ownership, and
authority. Ancient kings, princes and
nobles placed their official seal on documents or other items to guarantee
their inviolability. To break the seal
was to incur the wrath of the sovereign whom it represented (cf. Dan. 6:17;
Matt. 27:62-66).
“A seal on a letter authenticated it as being from the
hand of the one whose seal it bore. Legal
documents such as property deeds and wills were often finalized with an
official seal. Those who possessed the
sealed decree of a king had the king’s delegated authority to act on that
decree.
“Each of those aspects of sealing is a picture of the
Spirit’s ministry. He is God’s guarantee
that your salvation is inviolable and that you are an authentic member of God’s
Kingdom and family. You are His
possession, having been purchased with His Son’s precious blood (1 Cor.
6:20). You are His ambassador and so
have delegated authority to proclaim His message to a lost world (2 Cor. 5:20).
“The Spirit is the ‘guarantee’ of your eternal
inheritance (Eph. 1:14). The Greek word
translated ‘guarantee’ in that verse (arrabon)
was used for a down payment or earnest money given to secure a purchase. Rejoice in the assurance that God, who cannot
lie (Titus 1:2), has given you His Spirit as a guarantee that He will keep His
promises.
“Suggestions For Prayer:
Praise God for the security of your eternal inheritance. – Praise the
Spirit for His many ministries in your life.
Be sensitive to His leading today, so that your ministry to others will
be powerful and consistent with His will.
“For Further Study:
Read Ester 3, 8. What role did the king’s signet ring play in the decree
of Haman (chapter 3)? The decree of Ahasuerus and Mordecai (chapter
8)?”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, teachers” (Ephesians 4:11-12).
Today’s Bible
question: Who wrote ‘In the beginning,
was the word. And the word was with
God, and was the word of God?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/20/2017 11:06 AM
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