1. Marked with a SealEphesians 1:11-14

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Good News ...

Rakesh Ramasinga Mortimer Macdonald

1. The Spirit Built the Church

Latourette: “The Story of Christianity”

Jesus left behind a small, confused group of people

At Pentecost the Spirit came and everything changed They became bold

They performed miracles

The church spread – e.g. Thessalonika (Ac 17:6-7)

Their testimony was not just information

They were enraptured by their new life in Christ

1. The Spirit Built the Church . . .

Paul appealed to experiences of the Spirit (Gal 3:2f) A totally natural and expected part of the

Christian life.

This term: recover this normal and essential part of Christian experience.

The Holy Spirit built the church – He still does.

Eph 1:13 “... marked in him with a seal ...”

2. The Mark of Ownership

Start of School: We put their names on everything.

Ancient world – purchasers marked items with a seal. It was the mark of ownership

Paul uses the same imagery (Eph 1:13-14) Those who belong to Christ – the Holy Spirit lives in

them.

He is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance

We are co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17)

2. The Mark of Ownership . . .

Do you believe the Holy Spirit lives in you? Rom 8:9 – it is not possible to belong to

Christ and not have the Spirit.

Anyone who wants the Spirit simply has to come to Christ.

3. The Spirit & the Love of God

We have not yet received all that is ours in Christ. Our inheritance is still to come.

How do we live in the meantime?

We all want to know God more deeply God’s love is poured into our hearts through

the Spirit (Rom 5:5)

He makes God’s love real in our experience.

Living it . . . Living in a secular society

Supernatural is considered irrelevant or non-existent.

Ascribe everything to chance or our own efforts

Lost a sense of God at work in the world (Jn 5:17)

Break out of secular mindset – probability of God at work

Be attentive to the Spirit God is doing stuff around you all the time

Prayer: “Lord, what are you doing?”