September 03 2025

Wednesday September 03

Blessings From God the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13-14

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.

Welcome to Pastor's Chat today. Again, I ask for your prayers. This morning, I'll be driving back to Roanoke, Virginia. I'll be attending a Celebration of Life Service, for a dear, dear friend, Calvin Holdren. His wife Renee worked in our office, I believe, almost 20 years as one of our dear assistants. I had the privilege of being their pastor for 25 years. Calvin and I traveled on overseas mission trips to different countries over the years and had many wonderful miraculous experiences together. Every summer we went to Roanoke Rescue Mission’s Camp Jubilee with Calvin, where he was our camp leader for the week.

Calvin was a man that loved the Lord, loved his family, loved his church, loved his friends, and loved missions. God used him in an awesome way. Calvin went to be with the Lord this past week and he is now rejoicing in heaven. He's one of the great spectators in heaven looking down and cheering us on now. Today we're going to celebrate his life today at 11:00 at Rainbow Forest Baptist Church with some dear friends and his family. I trust you'll pray for us as we travel this morning there and then on our way back tomorrow afternoon.

Please also pray for another dear friend of mine from Rainbow, Brandi Manning. I had the privilege of leading her to Christ and baptizing her back in 2011. I also was honored to officiate the wedding ceremony for her and Brandon. Today they have two dear sons. Brandi is having surgery this morning at Duke University Hospital on a brain tumor that's possibly cancerous. Please pray for her and her surgery at 9:00 this morning, if you're watching the video or reading this before 9 in the morning. Even during the day continues through the surgery and as she recovers. I hope to stop to visit her after surgery on my way back through Durham at Duke on Thursday evening.

Again, God bless you and thank you for your prayers. Our traveling mercies, and the strength God gives us to do these things is only because of your prayers and I just cannot thank you enough.

Today, as we go through Ephesians chapter 1, we're looking especially at verses 13 and 14. But remember back in verse 12, the Apostle Paul as he's writing to the church at Ephesus, he spoke to the fact that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory and then he continues in verse 13 to speak how the Ephesians also trusted in Him. Notice how Paul first trusted in Christ, found salvation, his life was transformed and then he became that great missionary out of the church at Antioch that we know about in the book of Acts.

Paul is clearly making the point that only by trusting in Christ is the only way of salvation. And when did they trust? When did you trust in Christ for your salvation?  It was, “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 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory”.

Remember in the first verses of this chapter we read about the blessings from God the Father (vs. 4-6). He blessed us in eternity past before the foundation of the world, He chose us. He adopted us. He accepted us. And in Him we have salvation. And He chose us to be what? “To be holy and without blame before Him in love”. And that's eternity past.

In verses 7-12, we have the blessings from God the Son, Jesus Christ. And that's in history past. Jesus came, as incarnate God to planet earth, died on the cross in our place for our sins, and gave us the salvation that we have. And that was the experience of the Ephesian believers there in Ephesus. Now we're looking at present tense because it is now that the Holy Spirit is the One working in our lives. If you read Acts 19, you definitely will see that wonderful story there.

Again, looking at the first part of this verse, we find the way of salvation is by trusting in Christ. Now I don't understand all about predestination, election and all those things. But I know this, that God also created us with a free will. And because of that, whosoever will may be saved. And the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And how do you get saved? After you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, the death, burial, and resurrection. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Then, it is the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds and change our lives as the Word of God comes into our heart that we trust in Christ. That's how we experience His great salvation.

Continue to pray today for us as we travel and for our dear friends and their families. Again, thank you for your prayers!

God bless!