September 05 2025

Friday September 05

The Holy Spirit of Promise

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.

It is always a great feeling to be back home and in my office for our pastor’s chat. We want to give you an update on Brandy Manning that we asked you to pray for who had brain surgery on a cancerous tumor Wednesday morning at Duke University. Your prayers have been answered in a wonderful way. The surgery went very well. Yesterday afternoon she was sent to a local hotel there in Durham where she will be a couple days as she recovers. It looks like they got most of the tumor and they will deal with what is there still there later. Wow, what a miracle. Thank you for your prayers.

Also I received a good report from my cardiologist. He told me to come back in a year and have another echo stress test and see him again. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm doing fine and was told be careful and continue to take my medications. Thank you for your prayers.

We are continuing to look at Ephesians 1:13-14. Today we are talking about the Holy Spirit of promise. First notice what Paul says back in verse 12, that “we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory”. In other words, those who have already been born again, who have been saved, who've been washed in the blood, who've been redeemed, who've been forgiven, Paul says, “we should be to the praise of His glory”. Now in verse 13, he points out that this is who the Ephesian believers also trusted. And 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.

“The Holy Spirit of promise”. Oh, my friend, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come. He would come into the believers. He would abide in us. Jesus gave this promise in John 14 and also John 16, in His last message to His disciples in the upper room. John 16:13 says: "However, when He the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will tell you things to come." Then verse 14 He goes on to say: “He will glorify Me for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you”. In Acts 1:4 just before Jesus ascended into heaven we read: “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me”. The Holy Spirit is the “promise” of both Jesus and the Father!

Now Ephesians 1:14 goes on to say, not only are we sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, it says He is the Holy Spirit “who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession”. Then you read this phrase again, “to the praise of His glory”. I love putting this together with what Jesus said. He says the Holy Spirit of promise is going to come. He's going to abide with you forever. Now He says you'll be sealed with this Holy Spirit of promise. And all of this is “to the praise of His glory”.

Paul's saying it's to the praise of the glory of Jesus Christ. Remember back in John 16:14, Jesus said, “He (the Holy Spirit) will glorify me”. My friend, when the Holy Spirit is at work in your life, when the Holy Spirit has taken control of you, you will be filled with Him. As a result, He will control your mouth. He'll control your actions, He will control your attitudes as you yield to His authority. He will reveal Jesus to you and preform His work in your life. The ministry of the Holy Spirit cannot be underestimated.

Tomorrow we are going to talk about what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit and how that is so awesomely powerful in our lives. But today, let's remember He is “the Holy Spirit of promise” of Jesus and the Father. God always keeps His promises. If you've been born again, you have the Holy Spirit, and this is all for, “to the praise of His glory”. 

Today, is your life glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ in everything you say and do? I trust that it is.

God bless!