In Christ Trust. At night before I go to bed, I double check each exterior door and make sure it s shut tight and locked.

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1 In Christ Trust Safety or security is a basic human need. Everyone wants to feel safe and secure and we are uncomfortable if we don t feel safe and secure. Think of some of the things you do on a regular basis. At night before I go to bed, I double check each exterior door and make sure it s shut tight and locked. I sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door so someone can kill me while Kristi escapes. I have plans as to what I would do in different hostile or dangerous situations. Those are all evidence of my lack of trust for our fellow man. There is so much violence and sin in our world, I m not just taking my chances, I want to feel as secure as possible. Even financially...i ve never been able to work a sales type job because I can t handle the uncertainty week to week of what the check will be. I want the security of having a consistent check each pay period. I don't want to have to trust people to come buy things consistently. See our level of feeling safe and secure are based on our level trust of other people or things. You are either trusting that someone will keep you safe or someone else will not bring you harm. Do you know that we have a REAL enemy? There is constantly someone that is trying to bring you harm.satan. It s all he s living for.the destruction of God s creation. I can assure you that you can t trust satan to just leave you alone, not unless he s already got you to a place of self condemnation where you are doing all his work for him by fighting and beating up yourself. You can t trust satan to stop warring with your soul. But you can trust Jesus to be with you and help you overcome the one whom He has already defeated. And once you give your life to Jesus, you do get security in your salvation, and your future. Today we are in Ephesians 1:13 14.leading up to this we have seen our position in Christ, we have seen the Father chooses us, Jesus redeems us and give us purpose, the next step is trust. We must trust in Jesus. Ephesians 1:13 14 (NKJV) 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is 1

2 the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted. You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, it s not about something you do. But..there is something that takes place on your part when you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior..trust. How can you serve a God you don t trust? How could you give your life to a God you don t trust? You can t! Christianity is all about trust. When you trust someone you rely upon them, you have confidence and hope in them, you believe in them, you commit to them. Sound familiar? Psalm 13:5 (NIV) 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalm 56:3 (NIV) 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Proverbs 3:5 6 (NIV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Romans 15:13 (NIV) 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you don t trust Jesus, how can you rely on Him, hope in Him, believe in Him, or commit to Him? Stephen Covey Trust is the glue of life. It s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It s the foundational principle that holds all relationships. Ephesians 1:13 (NKJV) 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, First you hear the word of truth. This actually means to comprehend or understand. Not just simply hear. Many have heard the truth, people are sinners in need of a Savior, Jesus died in our place offering salvation and forgiveness, He rose from the dead and is seated in heaven and is one day coming back for His church! 2

3 Many have HEARD this. But many don t understand the reality of it. Many don t know that this is the word of truth. They believe the lies of the enemy. They don t trust Jesus. You can only trust HIm if you have an understanding of who He is and what He has done for you. It s not just buy in of the gospel it s a realization that we all are in need of a Savior. Do you trust in Jesus today? If you are hearing this and your heart is troubled. You feel unsettled or uneasy. He may be calling you to trust Him today. Ephesians 1:13 (NKJV) 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, If you have trusted in Christ, you have believed! This is where we think it to be true..not just intellectually..this is our saving faith! It s when we find ourselves in that place where we trust Jesus with our life based on an understanding of our need for Him and His love for us! THEN you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise! Guys this is so critical for our trust to remain in Christ. Remember that enemy? He wants us to trust in ourselves. He wants us to think we can do it alone. He wants us to think we can figure it all out. He wants us to hope in our own abilities. We desperately need the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to deny self, and dispel the lies of satan so that we can continue to trust in Christ. I can t imagine life without the Holy Spirit.. There are people that believe in satan, demons, evil spirits (which are all real) but once you start talking about the Holy Spirit they get the crazy look in their eye. Don t be taking no Holy Spirit. Evil spirits are ok but a Holy Spirit, that s weird.. They re right, it is weird. The Holy Spirit is weird. I say that respectfully. Weird means involving or suggesting the supernatural, unearthly, fantastic, bizarre. The Holy Spirit is weird because He s not of this earth, He is a supernatural being, the work He does is fantastic and at the same time bizarre (unusual) because it s all the opposite of sin (earthly, natural, common). Thank you Holy Spirit! If you trust in and believe in Christ. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit if promise! What is promised? John 16:5 8 (NKJV) 5 But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, Where are You going? 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 3

4 As much as I would love for Jesus to be here walking the earth with us, how grateful I am that He returned to heaven so He could send the Holy Spirit, our helper. Could you imagine how hard this walk would be without the help of the Holy Spirit??? Jesus went so we the Holy Spirit could come. That is Jesus...selfless. He wants to be with you, but He knew 1. That this was the will of the father, 2. That we need the help of the Holy Spirit to mold and shape us to be like Him That is the promise of the Holy Spirit, now what about the seal. you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise In the day when Ephesians was written, important documents were sealed with wax and then imprinted with an identifying symbol, usually by pressing a signet ring into the wax. And that seal had three major functions, each of which helps us to understand something about how the Holy Spirit secures our inheritance for us: 1. A mark of ownership In Paul s day livestock, and even slaves, were marked with a seal to show ownership, similar to the way a rancher might brand his cattle even today. The seal helped to prevent theft and to avoid disputes about ownership. In much the same way, the Holy Spirit seals us as proof that we belong to God. Paul writes about that aspect of sealing in 2 Corinthians: 2 Corinthians 1:21 22 (NKJV) 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. Remember, Jesus redeemed us, he purchased us back. "You are not your own; you are bought with a price," (1 Corinthians 6:19b 20a). The presence of the Spirit is your witness that you belong to Jesus. As Paul says in Romans 8, Romans 8:16 (NKJV) 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, And the joy and the peace and the love which he gives to you are a witness to others. As that joy and love and peace begin to flow out through you and overspill into the lives of others and begin to shine forth in love when you don't feel like loving, in joy when your circumstances are unhappy, in peace when everything around you is troubled, it is a witness, an unmistakable mark to the world 4

5 around, that you belong to God. There is something about you that is different. You have the mark of His ownership upon you. 2. A symbol of preservation When Jesus was taken down off the cross and placed in the tomb, the tomb was sealed with the seal of the Roman Emperor. The purpose was to protect, or preserve what was in the tomb from any outside interference. And when the Holy Spirit seals us, he comes into our lives to preserve us and protect us from outside influences. That doesn t mean we won t face pain and suffering in our lives here on this earth, but it does insure that nothing can keep us from our ultimate inheritance. Romans 8:38 39 (NKJV) 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the idea of the Spirit's presence in our life. It means that God is going to keep us, that, as Paul puts it here in Ephesians 1:14, he guarantees our inheritance, that something more is to come and it is the Spirit himself who is the guarantee. In Greek, the word for "guarantee" is arrhabon (ah rah bone) and it means "a down payment." We are familiar with that in these days of universal credit. You sign a paper and pay a down payment and that is the arrhabon, the guarantee that there is more to come. The presence of the Spirit in your life the joy and the peace that he gives is the guarantee that there is more yet to come, much more, much better, in fuller quantity, in greater quality even, than what you have experienced so far. The presence of the Spirit in your life is an indication that there is far more yet to come as great and glorious as this life is, it is not the end. 3. An indication of a completed transaction The Holy Spirit Himself is a down payment or guarantee. The seal is also this indication of a completed transaction. Whenever a business transaction was completed the purchase of a parcel of land, for instance the parties involved would seal the legal documents to indicate that the transaction was complete. When the Holy Spirit seals us, he reminds us that just before Jesus gave up His life on the cross, He said, It is finished. The Holy Spirit seals us to make it clear that there is nothing else that we need to do to earn our inheritance. Jesus already completed that transaction on the cross. Ephesians 1:13 14 (NKJV) 5

6 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. ASK JASON TO COME The Holy Spirit, Himself is a seal. He is also the guarantee or down payment of our inheritance. The Holy Spirit is the seal and pledge of our future inheritance. It's kind of like a ticket to an event. If you plan to go watch the a professional ball game, you need a ticket. You order that ticket, it comes in the mail, and it is yours. You know have purchased a seat for the game. You own the rights to that seat, and have the promise that a seat is reserved for you, no one else can have it, you have the authority to enter the event because of the ticket and you have the authority to sit in that seat because you have the ticket. It says He is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. That is Christ s return for His bride, the church! Awesome, I can t wait! You have an inheritance...when someone has an inheritance coming, even if they don't know when, they act different but let s look at how this verse closes out, to the praise of His glory! This entire section is talking about how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work in our lives for our salvation and it ends with to the praise of His glory. It s all about His glory, Jesus glory! Do you think it gives God glory when we are unsure of our salvation? Do you think it gives God glory when we doubt the work that He has done in us? Philippians 1:6b (NKJV) He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; If you have trusted in Christ. If you believe in Him, have faith in Him. You can be sure of your salvation. You can be sure that you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit as a guarantee! It s all about Jesus. 6

7 Paul used the phrase in Christ, in Him or similar phrases 11 times just in these few verses at the beginning of Ephesians. Paul wants there to be absolutely no doubt that all of the spiritual blessings that we get all come to us through Jesus Christ there is no other way! You have to be sure it is all about Jesus, that you have given it all to Him. Do you trust Him today? That He is not only Savior, but also Lord! This means not doing the things that you want to do but doing the things that He wants of you. If we abide in Him, we will walk in His Spirit Truly walking by the Spirit, seeking His Kingdom first! Revelation 21:5 (NIV) 5 He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. 7