“A Deposit”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Isaiah 11:1-9 (NIV)
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
The Holy Spirit is one of the unique aspects of being a Christian. The Holy Spirit can be with everyone because the Holy Spirit is God, but is not Jesus Christ, who because He was fully human, could not be everywhere at once. ~D. Moore
We are told in Ephesians that we are given the riches of God’s grace. There is forgiveness, there is grace and redemption, but those sorts of things are ethereal. The Spirit on the other hand is more than ideas or concepts. The Spirit is a person, one of the three persons of the Trinity, the Spirit is the proof, remember that we are God’s and He is ours.
New Testament reading: Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)
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.
Last week we talked about the Spirit being a seal. If the letter has the proper seal on it, then the directive is true, authentic, not a forgery. The Bible says the Holy Spirit coming into your life is proof that you are a child of the King, you are forgiven, adopted, redeemed, part of the family of God. ~D. Moore
The Holy Spirit does five things:
1. The Holy Spirit will remind you, repeatedly, forcefully, if necessary, that you are loved by God.
2. The Holy Spirit takes the Scriptures you’ve read, or devotional you have worked through, and makes them come alive to us. The Holy Spirit will shine the light on anything we ask so that we get excited and passionate about things of God.
3. The Holy Spirit works on our character to make us more like the people God created us to be. ~D. Moore
Hebrews 4:12 The word of God is alive and active!
4. The Holy Spirit is not just a seal but a deposit which means first deposit on your inheritance, which is the full redemption of you. The first installment of something that will fully bloom in eternity, and we get a piece now, in this life.
5. The Holy Spirit is the first deposit toward heaven. This is a portion of your future heritage. We are God’s possession. ~D. Moore
Deuteronomy 32:9 But the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
Exodus 19:5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.
God is committed to us forever. In Christ we are accepted, and God is pleased. In Christ we are already treasured no matter what our past was like. Our inheritance is a free gift, our place before God. All we have to do is accept it. ~D. Moore
For us, we’ve been set free, but we are still morally bound by sin. We’re still broken even though we’ve been freed. Someday all believers in Christ will be glorified. We’ll be fixed, healed, the us we should have been. This is our inheritance. This is what Jesus died to give us. ~D. Moore
Your body and spirit and soul will all be redeemed by God because they have been damaged by sin. The Spirit is in the process of being redeemed. Someday in eternity our renewed spirit will rejoin our renewed bodies. ~D. Moore
In this life we are going to spend our whole lives working and learning; mostly to appreciate God’s goodness and greatness. ~D. Moore
In light of all that is being redeemed, God says to you and to me, you are treasured, you are my portion. The world is mine, I treasure you, you are my wealth. ~D. Moore
Faith is remembering I am God’s priceless treasure when I feel utterly worthless.
Our vision will be glorified, and we will see God more clearly. ~D. Moore
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
We were created to see God face to face, something that hasn’t been done on earth since Adam and Eve. ~D. Moore
The vision of God is the inheritance. To see God, the key of the universe, He will be happy to see us saying, “You are my special treasure,” and our souls will nearly die in joy. ~D. Moore
Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.
This week: Enjoy God in whatever you do, whatever challenges befall you, think about that you were made in God’s image, created to enjoy Him forever.
God bless you.