Last Sunday I started a new preaching series from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I titled the series God's Empowering Presence for two reasons. The first one is because of Paul's emphasis on the Holy Spirit in this letter. One of my favorite books is God's Empowering Presence by Gordon Fee. This large (I mean really large) book is a study of Paul's understanding of the Holy Spirit. The second reason is because of my friend John Piippo, pastor in Monroe Michigan who describes his church as a Presence Driven Church; without the presence of God, there is really nothing real. I was quite intrigued with the idea of a Presence Driven Church and it seemed to me that this study of Ephesians would help us move in that direction.
Sunday I preached on verses 3-14 of chapter one which is a lengthy listing of the blessings which the Christian has in Christ. We are chosen in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight; predestined to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ; we have been redeemed through his blood; we have been forgiven and he has revealed the mystery of his will which is to bring all things in heaven and earth together under his headship. That was an abbreviated sentence. The entire passage is one sentence in the Greek. All of this ends with the statement that he has given us the Holy Spirit as the seal and guarantee of our inheritance. This is what grabbed my attention.
A seal on one hand is a protective device. Think of the warning labels that tell us not to use the Tylenol if the seal is broken. OK, the Holy Spirit is our protection; he leads into all truth, he warns us when we are tempted, etc. But, in the day in which this letter was written, the seal was an authentication of the authorship of the document. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the authentication that something real has happened in our life. It isn't that we can recite correct doctrine (that is a good thing, but it isn't the authentication), an unbeliever may know all of the correct doctrine. The authentication is the demonstration of the Presence of God in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who changes our lives so that we bear fruit (the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the developing of a Christ like character.) He is also the one who gives us power to live this life and manifests that power through the gifts of the Spirit.
Sunday, I had a demonstration of this in the life of a young woman, Katie Klein. It was about three years ago, that Katie came as a baby Christian to be baptized. She had a real sense of innocence about her, but she was very young in the Christian life. I watched her grow. Then she became interested in being a part of YWAM (Youth with a Mission.) She went to Hawaii for training and then went to Nepal as a Missionary. She came to church to be with us last Sunday. She exhibits a new maturity in the Lord. After the service, she came to me and asked if she could pray for me. Of course I said yes. What a sweet prayer; gentle and encouraging. Yet it was a powerful prayer. I am convinced that Katie's conversion is the real thing, because it has been authenticated by the Presence of God in her life through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the real deal. May we all demonstrate this presence in our lives individually and in the church.
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