Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's Holy Word. And now, the message. The title of the message is The
Spirit of Promise. Now there I'm speaking of the
work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of a sinner. And I've
said this in the last two programs in Ephesians 1, where in these
first verses we see the activity of the triune Godhead, the Trinity,
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all
involved in the salvation of a sinner. We see how God the
Father a purpose before the foundation of the world to save a people
of His choice. He chose a people and gave them
to Christ, conditioning all of their salvation upon His beloved
Son. This is the everlasting covenant
of grace. God the Father is represented
as the source and originator of salvation. He represents the
sovereign authority of the Godhead. And then we saw the work of God
the Son in shedding His blood as payment for the sins of His
people, bringing forth that redemption, even the forgiveness of sins.
And how all eternal blessedness is in Christ. Remember back up
in verse 3, it says, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. Now who's the us there? Believers. Those who have been chosen and
redeemed and regenerated. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, and it's all to the
praise of the glory of His grace. What kind of people does God
save? Well, He saves sinners. The ungodly,
the Scripture says. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, Paul wrote, of whom I am chief. His name
shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their
sin. He didn't come into the world
to save good people. There are none good in this world.
We all fell in Adam, ruined by the fall. And that's why we need
salvation. We can't save ourselves. By deeds
of law shall no flesh be justified, made right or made righteous
in the sight of God. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. So you see, it's all to the praise of the glory of
His grace. And the work of the Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of
God incarnate, is the ground of all of salvation. And in Christ,
in God the Son incarnate, we see the glory of the Godhead,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The fullness of
the Godhead, Colossians chapter 2 tells us, for in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And He is our completeness. Now, in verse 13, The Apostle
Paul writes of the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation. Now
the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation is the new birth. He is, as one old writer said,
the great applicator of salvation. In other words, in time the Holy
Spirit applies to each and every one of Christ's people what the
Father purposed before time, what the Son purchased in time.
He sent out, the Holy Spirit is sent out from the Father and
the Son to give life, spiritual life, that's called regeneration. They are born again. Christ told
Nicodemus in John chapter 3, you must be born again. Now this
blessed, powerful, sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in the
new birth is not by the will of man, John chapter 1 says that,
but it's by the will of God. It's by the will of a sovereign
God, it's by the power of a sovereign God. It's not that sinners believe
and then they are born again by the Spirit, oh no. It's this,
sinners are born again by the Spirit and they believe in being
born again. The Bible teaches in James chapter
1 that we are begotten again by the word of truth. That's
the gospel in the hands and the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul
wrote in Romans 1 chapter 16, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed. You see, the gospel empowered
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth, where the Spirit gives
life from Christ. You see, what the Spirit does
in us is not the ground of our salvation. What the Spirit does
in us is not our justification before God or our redemption.
And listen to me, what the Spirit does in us is not the completion
or the fulfillment or the finishing of what Christ started on the
cross. I read an article one time where a fellow was talking
about the blood of Christ is not enough to save us and he
meant by that that the blood of Christ is not enough, we also
need the work of the Holy Spirit. Now let me tell you something,
That's a subtle heresy that you need to understand and discern
this now from the Word of God. The blood of Jesus Christ is
absolutely enough to save a sinner from his sins. We read about
that over here in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7, talking about being
accepted in the Beloved, accepted in Christ, in whom we have redemption
through his blood. the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. You see, the work of the Holy
Spirit within me in the new birth is not my acceptance before God. Christ is my acceptance before
God. The work of the Holy Spirit does
not make me acceptable. I'm accepted in Christ. But the
work of the Holy Spirit in me is necessary in salvation. You must be born again. Now why?
I'll tell you why. Because what Christ accomplished
at Calvary, what He finished at Calvary, demands its result,
its fruit. He is the cause, the work of
the Holy Spirit is the effect. Now He taught His disciples that
in the book of John, when He told them this in John chapter
12. He said, except a seed or a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, It will not bring forth fruit, but if it fall into
the ground and die, it'll bring forth much fruit. Now Christ
was referring to his own death there, John 12 tells us, to accomplish
what he set out to do, his finished work. Not his incomplete or unfinished
work, but his finished work. And the book of Daniel chapter
9 states it this way. He says he will make an end of
sin. What Christ did on the cross for me made an end of my sins
for me. Not what the Holy Spirit does
in me. Now what does the Holy Spirit do in me? Well, He gives
me life from Christ and He enables me to see what Christ finished
at the cross. And I'll show you that in just
a moment. He goes on to say He finished the transgression and
He brought in everlasting righteousness. That's another form. What Christ
did on the cross is my righteousness before God. not what the Holy
Spirit does in me. The reason I know that is this,
righteousness demands life. The righteousness of Christ legally
charged to me, imputed to me, demands what the Holy Spirit
does in me. You see, grace reigns through
righteousness, through Jesus unto eternal life. So the Holy
Spirit's work in us is a glorious work, it's a marvelous work,
it's a sovereign work, it's a necessary work. You will not be saved without
it. But I'll tell you why the Holy
Spirit's work is necessary. It's because Christ finished
His work on the cross. It's because the blood of Christ
is enough. That's why the Holy Spirit must
bring His people into the kingdom. Now it says here in verse 13,
it's talking about trusting in Christ, and in verse 13 of Ephesians
1 it says, "...in whom you also trusted, after that you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also
after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise." Now he speaks of a sealing there. He speaks of
the Word of Truth. You trust in Christ by the power
of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the Gospel, the Truth. We
learn there that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. Now my
friend, listen to me. God the Holy Spirit will not
bring sinners to know Christ under the preaching of a lie.
He's the spirit of truth. And the first thing that he does
in the experience of any sinner in the salvation and conversion
is he providentially brings that sinner under the preaching of
the gospel. What is the gospel? It's the
good news of how God saves sinners by his grace through Christ. based on His blood and His righteousness
alone. The main work of the Holy Spirit
within us is to kill us and slay us from having any hope of salvation
by our best efforts to keep the law. Some say it's called slaying
by the law. Paul spoke of it in Romans chapter
7 when he was referring to himself before his conversion. He said
when he was lost, unregenerate in the flesh, He was doing his
best to keep the law, thinking that that would save him. But
when the Holy Spirit came and showed him the heart and the
spirit of the law, it slew him. He found out that he was a sinner.
He found out that it was impossible for him to be saved based upon
his deeds to keep the law. So the Holy Spirit first slays
us, kills us, brings us out of any hope or any refuge that we
have based on our best works. And then he drives us to Christ
for righteousness, for forgiveness, for all of salvation. The main
work of the Holy Spirit in us in the preaching of the truth
is to show us the glory of Christ and Him crucified. And to show
us that there's no hope of salvation anywhere else. We hear people
speak many times of the term Holy Spirit conviction. They
may see somebody who's in sorrow. who's writhed with guilt and
pain, suffering. And they may say this, they say,
well, I believe that person's under Holy Spirit conviction.
Well, let me tell you something. The natural conscience, the legal
defiled conscience can make a person feel guilty. They can make a
person feel sorry for their sins. But I'll tell you how you know
if it's true Holy Spirit conviction. If that person finds relief in
Christ and Him alone, in His blood, in His righteousness alone,
then you know it's Holy Spirit conviction. If they find relief,
if they find peace, if they find salvation, if they find assurance
anywhere else but in Christ and Him crucified, I'm going to tell
you something, it is not Holy Spirit conviction. Many people
find peace and assurance in going to church. in walking in awe,
in getting baptized, in going to mass or going to confession.
That's of the devil. The only place the Holy Spirit's
going to point you to is Christ and Him crucified. And that's
what he's saying here. It's the work of the Holy Spirit
to regenerate sinners, to give them spiritual life and spiritual
knowledge and drive them to trust Christ alone. The Bible teaches
that in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3, where Paul says we are
the circumcision. Now there he's speaking of spiritual
circumcision, which is the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart,
cutting away the filth of the flesh. How do you know you've
been spiritually circumcised? He gives three reasons. In Philippians
chapter 3 and verse 3, he says we worship God in spirit. We
know the true and living God. To worship Him in spirit means
to worship Him as He reveals Himself in Christ. It means to
worship Him from the heart, not just outwardly. And then he says
we rejoice in Christ Jesus. That word rejoice means to have
confidence in. Our confidence of salvation is
in Christ Jesus and Him alone. And then he says, we have no
confidence in the flesh. That is, anything that we are,
anything that we do, our confidence is not there. That's the work
of the Holy Spirit in us. So go back to Ephesians 1.13,
in whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth.
You can't trust Christ if you've never heard of Him. The Bible
teaches that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. How are they going to call upon Him of whom
they've not heard? How are they going to hear without
a preacher? Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Now, by nature, our ears are spiritually deaf. We can't hear
it under salvation, but when God, the Holy Spirit, gives life,
He gives us hearing ears and eyes that see spiritually. And
then He says, the gospel of your salvation, the gospel of God's
grace in Christ, in whom also, after that you believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. What he's saying
is that when the Holy Spirit brought you to faith in Christ,
then He indwells you, and the truth is implanted indelibly
upon your heart, your mind, and affections, and you're sealed.
You can't lose salvation. You're sealed by the Holy Spirit
of promise. Now, what promise is it? The
promise of eternal salvation based on the finished work of
Christ, based on His blood, and His righteousness imputed. That
cannot be lost. My friend, those who claim to
believe in Christ and then who leave it totally and deny it
have never been saved to begin with, the Scripture teaches.
If they leave it, they never had it. Those who have it by
the power of the Spirit, they will be kept by the power of
God through His Spirit. In verse 14, he goes on to say,
which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory. Now, an earnest is
like a down payment. Now, think about it this way.
When a sinner is saved, when a sinner realizes in the new
birth by the power of the Holy Spirit what Christ has accomplished
on Calvary, what God purposed from eternity, and the blessings
that are laid up for him in heaven, blessings that we haven't even
begun to realize yet, But we have, as one song says, a foretaste
of glory divine. In other words, the Holy Spirit's
indwelling presence within each of God's people is a down payment
or a foretaste of the glory that is to come in the future. That's
what he's talking about here when he says the earnest of our
inheritance. We know, listen, we who know
Christ, We know that we're blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Him. The fullness of all blessings,
the richness of it. We've experienced some of those
blessings right here on earth. But the fullness and the full
glory of it we have not yet come into possession of in our experience. But we have the Holy Spirit,
which is the earnest of our inheritance. And what an inheritance it is.
John said this in 1 John chapter 3, he says, Beloved, it doth
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know we'll be like
him, we'll see Christ as he is. The glory of our inheritance
will not be fully experienced by us until we are finally glorified. But we have a foretaste of it.
We have an earnest of our inheritance. The Holy Spirit's indwelling
presence and he'll never leave us. He'll guide us by the word
now. How does Christ dwell in us?
People talk about Christ in us. Well, He dwells in us by His
Spirit and by His Word. And it keeps us looking to Him.
So, He says we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He's
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession. Now, redemption there does not
refer to our redemption at Calvary by the blood of Christ. It refers
to our glory in Him, final glory. That is the full redemption of
the purchased possession. Those whom Christ redeemed on
the cross will be glorified. And the earnest of that is the
work of the Holy Spirit. How do I know that I'm one whom
Christ redeemed on the cross and therefore how do I know that
I will be finally glorified? It's by the Holy Spirit of promise. He's been given to me. I've been
born again. by the Spirit of God. He indwells
me. I am sealed, you see, with that
Holy Spirit of promise. Now it's only by the work of
the Holy Spirit that God's people, His elect, Christ's sheep, His
church, can know and enter in by experience what God purposed
before time, what Christ purchased in time, and what they will experience
in glory. That's the only way we can have
any assurance of that. And listen, it's unto the praise
of His glory. In other words, it's all going
to glorify God. Christ said that of the Holy Spirit. He said,
He shall not speak of Himself. He shall glorify me in John chapter
16. So Paul writes on here in verse
15. He says, Wherefore, or for this
reason, I also After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus,
and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for
you, making mention of you in my prayers." The fact that they
had been born again by the Spirit of God, and they looked to Christ
for their whole salvation, that was a point of fellowship between
the Apostle and these brethren. You see, this is the family of
God. those who believe in Christ those who trust him and he said
when I heard of your faith in Christ now you notice there he
didn't say after I heard of your faith and love he said when I
heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus you see we know each other
by our mutual admiration our mutual trust our mutual worship
of the Lord Jesus Christ do you believe in Christ the true Christ
Not a counterfeit. Because you see here, it's the
Holy Spirit of promise. He's the Spirit of truth. After
that, you heard the word of truth. And he says, your love unto all
the saints. They love the brethren. Who are
the saints? I've said it many times on this
program. A saint is a sinner saved by the grace of God. That's
what a saint is. He's not some kind of a super
Christian. He's just a sinner. Anyone who
has been brought into the kingdom of God by the power of the Holy
Spirit of promise is a saint. The word saint comes from the
term sanctified one, and that means set apart. That person
was set apart by the Father in election before the foundation
of the world. He was set apart by the Son on
the cross when their sins were laid upon Christ and His righteousness
was laid upon them. And they were set apart in the
new birth by the Holy Spirit when He gave them life and called
them to Christ. Paul says, I don't quit giving
thanks for you and I pray for you always. He says in verse
17, here's what he prayed for them. that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." I want you
to be wise and I want you to be knowledgeable in Christ. Grow in grace and in knowledge
of Christ. That's what he's speaking of.
In other words, Paul is saying, I'm praying for your edification,
that you'll be built up in the faith, that you'll grow in grace,
you'll grow in knowledge of Christ, Verse 18, that the eyes of your
understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what is the
hope of his calling and what is the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints. He's praying for assurance. I
want you to be confirmed. I want your heart to be established
with grace. A heart firmly established with
grace is a heart that is looking to Christ, the author and finisher
of our faith. Verse 19, he says, "...and what
is the exceeding greatness of his power to us for it who believe
according to the working of his mighty power." The very fact
that I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not a testimony to
the greatness of my free will. It's a testimony to the greatness
of God's power and grace. If you find a believer, my friend,
don't applaud that fellow because, well, you made a right decision.
No, sir. applaud the grace of God, the
power of God, for faith is the gift of God. And then he says
in verse 20, now this working of His mighty power, now listen
to this in verse 20, which He wrought, or worked out, in Christ,
when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His right hand
in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not
only in this world, but also in that which is to come. and
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all." You know what he's saying in
all that? This believing sinner, a saint, is the operation of
the grace and power of God by the power of the Holy Spirit,
and it's the very same power that was worked out and given
by virtue of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And the very same
power that raised Him from the dead out of that tomb after staying
there three days, raised Him from the dead is the exact same
power, the power of the Holy Spirit of promise to raise a
sinner from the dead spiritually. When you're born again, when
a sinner is born again by the Spirit of promise, That's the
exact same power that raised Christ up from the dead. And
it was based on His finished work on Calvary, shedding His
blood as the payment for all the sins of His sheep, and establishing
the righteousness based upon which God could be just and justified. It's from that blessed work,
that work that He accomplished, that the Holy Spirit proceeds
as the result, the effect, and the fruit, giving life. And it's
all according to the praise of the glory of Him that filleth
all in all." You see there, the Holy Spirit of promise. Number
one, He's promised by God to come and to give life to all
His people. And then number two, He leads
all God's people to the promise in Christ. The Bible says all
the promises of God are in Christ, yea, and in Christ, amen. The
Holy Spirit of promise, the one who comes and applies what the
Father purposed before time and what the Son purchased in time,
that Holy Spirit of promise is sent to give life from God and
to lead sinners to Christ as their only hope and ground of
salvation. There's no other way. If you're
led anywhere else, it's not the Holy Spirit of promise. So my
friend, you seek the Lord. Seek the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I pray the Spirit will give you life. I hope this message has
been helpful to your understanding of the Scriptures. And if you'd
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for today's message. If you would like to receive
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about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-432-6969. or visit our Reign of Grace website
at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you, and may the Lord be
with you.