Transcript: God's Call to Service: Answering the Holy Spirit's Invitation

The The title of this message today is called, I have called you by name, and you are mine, says the Lord. Throughout the Bible, we read of Almighty God claiming the ownership of his people. For instance, in Isaiah chapter 43, verse 1, the Lord declares, But now, in spite of the past judgment for Israel's sins, says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you, ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captives. I have called you by your name, and you are mine. And in Song of Songs, chapter 5, verse 1, we see where the Lord who is pursuing his bride declares, I have come into my garden, my sister. my promised bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam and spice. From your sweet words, I have gathered the richest perfumes and spices. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends. Feast on, O revelers of the palace. You can never make my lover this loyal to me. Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one. For now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine. With his confident words still thrilling her heart, through the lattice she saw her shepherd turn away and disappear into the night. And making a final point, we see where Apostle Paul declares in 2 Timothy chapter 2, but the firm foundation laid by God stands, sure and unshaken, bearing this seal inscription, The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names himself by the name of the Lord give up all iniquity and stand aloof from it. God definitely knows who are his. He has called them by name, and they answered the call. You see, ownership is a key theme throughout the Bible. It has practical as well as spiritual significance. The main meaning of ownership is called possession. this is saying that with the involvement of the individual accountability and the personal acknowledgement of God's sovereign ownership of all things including their very lives then creator God claims ownership then the individual gladly yields himself willingly under the influence of the Holy Spirit to the biblical commands found within the pages of scripture God has said, you are mine. And these are the ones that are redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ and have been called by his grace. These are his father's gift to him, and his own blood has purchased them. God is their owner, and this thrills their hearts, just like the maiden in Song of Songs when she heard her Savior's voice when he said, O precious one, for now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine. And with his confident words still thrilling her heart through the lattice, she saw her shepherd turn away and disappear into the night. In speaking of Jesus' ownership of his covenant believers, Apostle Paul used the analogy of the seal of the Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians 1, verses 21 and 22. But it is God who confirms and makes us steadfast and establishes in joint fellowship with you in Christ and has consecrated and acknowledged us in doing us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Verse 22, he has also appropriated and acknowledged us as his by putting his seal upon us and giving us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as a security deposit and guarantee of the fulfillment of his promise. You see, the image of the seal of the Spirit of the Lord has anointed us by putting his seal on us and giving us his spirit in our hearts as the first installment, as a security deposit and guarantee of the fulfillment of his promise to bring us to our eternal home. Did you know that God, by giving all true covenant believers this personal seal signifies ownership and authenticity? Understand, please, that believers are not only claimed as God's own children, but they are also heirs of all that he owns. Sealing with the Holy Spirit is also described as being adopted in Paul's epistle, found in Romans chapter 8, verses 22 and 23. We know that the whole creation of irrational creatures has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the first fruits of the Holy Spirit, a foretaste of the blissful things to come, grown inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies from sensuality in the grave, which will reveal our adoption, our manifestation as God's sons. This speaks volumes in the inheritance that we will have one day and will be received in full that is marked with the seal of the promise of the Holy Spirit. And this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God's own people according to Ephesians chapter 1 verses 11 through 14. In him we were also made God's heritage portion, and we have obtained an inheritance. For we have been foreordained, chosen, and appointed beforehand in accordance with his purpose, who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of his own will. Verse 12, so that we who first hoped in Christ, who first put our confidence in him, have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory. In him you also have heard the word of truth, the glad tidings, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in, adhered to, and relied on him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit. Verse 14. That spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance, the first fruits, the pledge, and foretaste the down payment of our heritage in anticipation of its full redemption of our acquiring complete possession of it to the praise of his glory. Hallelujah! Verse 14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our full redemption of our inheritance. The Holy Spirit seals our soul with truth, with wisdom and righteousness It is the earnest foretaste and pledge of our heavenly inheritance All those who love and are faithful to the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ are considered to be peculiar people and his very own property To them the eternal glory and bliss is promised. The Holy Spirit of promise or adoption gives continual witness to our souls that we belong to him as we cry, Abba, Father, Abba, Father. He works patiently until we can be called sons with knowledge. Having the life of Christ made manifest in us, as stated in Romans chapter 8, verses 15 and 16, for the spirit which you have now received is not a spirit of slavery to put you once more into bondage to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, the spirit producing sonship in the bliss in which we cry, Abba, Father, Father. Verse 16, the spirit himself thus testifies together with our own spirit, assuring us that we are children of God. You see, you absolutely know that you belong to God. When your own spirit testifies with the Holy Spirit of promise as a pledge that you have a resurrection from the dead and eternal joy forever. What we experience now is a foretaste of glory divine because we are the children of God. We just read in verse 16, the Spirit himself thus testifies together with our own spirit assuring us that we are children of God. We are graciously given the witness of the Holy Spirit to assure us of the fact that we are God's children and we are being adopted into the family of God the family of love. Dear listener, we need even a more firm or greater confirmation of our position as children of God. The precious Holy Spirit of adoption provides this reassurance by giving this confirmation as a witness to our own spirit. Without this confirmation, we would have little confidence as we approach God in prayer, and also that true Christian joy would be absent from our lives. Once a Christian life is dependent on God for this godly confidence, because just having a carnal belief would be dangerous and lead one astray from the soul's existence and confidence in its position and standing with God Almighty. Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 and 10 declares, The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, who could know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing. You see, an unregenerate heart is most deceitful and it even hides itself from its own self, so that the individual does not know that it is deceitful. A corrupt heart is the worst enemy a fallen sinful person has. This is so because it is full of foolishness, evil scheming, deceitfulness, and sinful pleasures. You see, some impressions of the mind are healthy, and some are unwholesome, dreadful, and some are even presumptuous. In some cases, the foundation on which the soul is founded, its judgments would be false, or the processes of reasoning would be unsound, and the individual's reasoning of these things would be incompetent to judge his or herself in its own soul's condition. and as a rule no individual would be a fair judge of his own feelings or actions some people are mistaken when they think they're good behavior and going to church or singing in the choir or even doing nice things for people make God happy and he has to really be pleased with them and will save them in the end from eternal punishment in hell but you see whenever there is adoption of precious Holy Spirit working within the soul, the individual is responding to a real living union in Jesus Christ. And there will then be true and genuine inner witness that is clearly yours. And you will know that you know that you belong to your heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. You know that he's called you by name, and you know you belong to him. The witness of precious Holy Spirit is needed to enable us to enter into perfect union and communion with God. And this is the necessity and the great honor and distinction of the Christian life. Adoration, praise and thanksgiving Offered in true and genuine worship Is the hallmark of the power Of the spirit of adoption possessing us Hallelujah, that thrills me We do not fear his punishment or his wrath But we will have respect and awe Of his presence and divine love And the fact that he gave his son Jesus Christ to us so that we could be saved and have eternal life and live with him forever and ever and ever. Hallelujah. Dear listener, until we feel God's power possessing us, until we see and experience true sorrow for willing sinful pleasures and learn to hate them with a passion, and until we truly repent of these in a bitter repentance and turn towards God, our great God and Father, and submit to his ways and commands, and have great awe and respect of who he is, we will only have a fearful or cringing fear of his wrath, and will not have true communion or fellowship with him, which is the only way into his heart. It is the precious Holy Spirit himself, who witnesses the truth and the love of God in our hearts and souls. It is God who irresistibly makes himself the focal point of love in our hearts and draws us closer to himself and reconciles repentant human creatures of clay to himself and claims them as his own. It must be known that there is no evidence of the Spirit and no confirmation of his witness to be compared to the fact that we are in our daily lives bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians chapter 5, beginning in verse 22. The word declares envying one another You see Apostle Paul gives us three ways in which the evidence of the operation of the Holy Spirit is confirmed. Number one, have we obtained deliverance from a carnal mind? for if you live after the flesh you shall die but if we live by the spirit we will mortify the deeds of the body we shall live you see freedom from these deeds of the flesh is the first sign or the beginning of sonship with God there is the witness that the old affections for the sinful pleasures are being uprooted there begins to be a deep desire and a longing in the heart to be created after the perfect purity of the same nature as your Savior you begin to see the chains of sin that once held you bound they're being snapped and you've been set free your heart of love for your Savior is turning towards him with understanding and your conscience quickly responds to do the will of God, and you want to please him above everything else. The struggles in life with your strenuous, willing obedience rises up against the sin and temptation, and you begin to feel the victories and conquests against the old carnal nature that you used to love in your old life before the Lord called you by name and said, you are mine. And you begin to experience a witness of the Holy Spirit within your soul, which tells you he has called you by name and that you belong to him. Now, the second thing we need to consider in the ways that Apostle Paul gives in which evidence, the operation of the Holy Spirit within our souls is having a heart of prayer for the things of God. Sometimes a believer passes beyond all words. The heart has experienced injured and wounded affections and ruined hopes or unexpressed longings. And all of these burn within one's deep and passionate cry until the Holy Spirit comes in and he intercedes for us with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterances. In Romans chapter 8, verse 26 the word tells us so too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness for we do not know what to pray to offer or how to offer it worthily as we ought but the Spirit himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterances hallelujah this prayer life was not a part of our old life or our nature and possessing it now is a sign of the Spirit's adoption and the believer's maturity in Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you. The third thing we need to consider in the ways that Apostle Paul gives, which evidence the operation of the Holy Spirit within our souls, is do you have an eagerness and yearning and even a groaning within yourself as you await the final adoption or the final redemption of your body? Do you long for your heavenly home? Do you long to be with Jesus Christ, your Savior and your Bridegroom? This is a sign of belonging to God. This is the ground of our hope. This is the work of faith in the believer's life. The whole life of the pilgrim becomes one prayer for more wisdom, more knowledge and understanding, deeper love for our God and for our fellow man. Prayer becomes our main communication with God in seeking his heart in every matter of our lives and the lives of his precious people who are our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. There are many who are not yet a part of the kingdom of God. They are not yet a part of his sheepfold. Prayer for them is absolutely vital and imperative. Jesus said in John chapter 10 verse 16, I have other sheep besides these that are not of this fold. I must bring and impel those also, and they will listen to my voice and heed my call. And so they will become one flock under one shepherd. They too must be called by name to where God will tell them too that they are his. Despite Israel's unbelief and apostasy, God had never forsaken his people. This promise to the Jewish nation is equally relevant to the church age of believers today because we too have been created by the Lord Jesus Christ just as they were then. we are a new creation in Christ children of God members of Christ's body and ambassadors of heaven these words of comfort are spoken by God to the nation of Israel and equally can be applied to true Christians today do not fear for I have redeemed you I have called you by your name and you are mine, says the Lord. We are not to fear, for though we were dead in our sins and eternally separated from the Lord, he has redeemed us with the precious blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. We have been bought with a price, dear church, and the required redemption price for our souls was the life of Christ poured out for us on Calvary by our kinsman redeemer and dear ones, I'm happy to tell you and announce that the price has been paid in full. It is done. It is finished. It is said in scripture that God knows every star by name, but we are his children and the sheep of his pastor. He bought us with the price so God can rightfully declare, You are mine. Dear listener, Jesus Christ not only knows each of us by name, he also calls us by name. He is the good shepherd of his sheep who gave his life for his precious little flock. He knew us before we were born and scheduled each day of our lives. He knows the number of our days. He knows the number of hairs on our heads and collects all of our tears in a bottle. You see, our wonderful Heavenly Father has worked everything out for those whom he says, I have called you by name and you are mine. 1 John chapter 3 beginning in verse 1, the word declares, See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown, bestowed on us that we should be permitted to be named and called and counted children of God and so we are The reason that the world does not know and recognize us is that it does not know and recognize him Beloved we are even here and now God children It is not yet disclosed made clear what we shall be hereafter but we know that when he comes and is manifest, we shall as God's children resemble and be like him, for we shall see him as he really is. And everyone who has this hope resting on him cleanses and purifies himself just as he is pure, chaste, undefiled, and guiltless. Let us not only read these words with comfort, but let us meditate on them and wholeheartedly more so believe them. The very one who created us in Jesus Christ has also said to us, do not fear. I have redeemed you. I've called you by your name. You are mine. Yes, it is true that as Christ followers, we must expect to bear a measure of the indignities of the world poured upon our Savior, Jesus Christ, just as he was. And if you follow Jesus fully, you will be sure to be called some derogatory names. They will say, do you really believe all those do's and don'ts that are in the Bible? Are you really that single-minded or short-sighted? You're missing out on a whole lot in life today. How old-fashioned you are to believe in all those Puritan doctrines. Don't you know that the world has made great progress and we live in a modern society now? You don't watch movies that you say are not fitting, and your God would not be pleased with you that you should watch them? Ha, how shallow. How gullible you are, they say. You simple-minded people have no freedom because you're enslaved to something that you trust in. Dear listener, there is nothing to be ashamed of in being a true believer in Jesus Christ. People who purport to be a Christian ought to be the reflections of Christ. I think many today that bring shame to his name because of the way they live in their contrary ways to Holy Scripture do not know him. but fear not dear one for what names and shame or character assassination they may endeavor to bring to you or your name because you should not be ashamed of what you try to do that is right and pleasing the one who has called you by name and says you are mine in God's divine ownership the scripture also shows us where God declares in Isaiah chapter 49 verse 16. See, I've engraved you on the palms of my hand. Do you have a deep love for your Savior Jesus Christ? Do you willfully endeavor to please him in all that you do and say? Apostle Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament scriptures, set the example for us and we see that by his suffering and persecution at the hands of the enemy. Paul says in Galatians chapter 6 verse 17 that he carries the marks of Jesus branded on his body. And these marks would probably be the scars that he took for furthering the gospel truth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may not have physical marks or scars, but some of the persecution for Christ's sakes is left in name-calling, belittling, glances, avoidances, and also gossip. Now wrapping up this message of God's divine ownership of his called-out ones who have been redeemed and are on the highway of holiness, we go back to our opening. The scripture in Isaiah chapter 43, beginning in verse 1 again. And I want to show you the encouragement and the love in Christ's ownership of his people and how he views his beloved and the promises that he leaves with us. The word declares, but now in spite of past judgment for Israel's sin, thus says the Lord who created you. O Jacob and he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you and ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captive, and I've called you by your name. You are mine. Verse 2, when you pass through the waters, I will be there with you, and through the rivers not overwhelm you, and when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. Verse 3, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give to Egypt, to the Babylonians for your ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba, a province of Ethiopia, in exchange for your release. Verse 4, because you are precious in my sight and honored and because I love you, I will give men in return for you and people in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you. I bring your offspring from the east where they are dispersed and gather you from the west. I will say to the north and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from afar, my daughters from the ends of the earth. Verse 7, even everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made. God created all of these people for his glory. These covenant people have a deep relationship with God and nothing that he demands of them, which is based on the holy book of life, is extreme or outdated or too difficult to obey. They are called by his name and they therefore are a part of his family of love. Jeremiah chapter 15 verse 16 declares and expresses the heart of these kinds of people who love the Lord their God with all of their hearts. The word declares, Jeremiah chapter 15 verse 16 expresses the heart of these kind of people who love the Lord their God. Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. Let our prayer be the same, dear listener. Let us respect the fact that our redemption was bought by a high price. Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross so that you and I and all others who love him with all of their hearts will hear the words and be thrilled by them and love the fact that he owns them too. Pray for those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ and his love for them. And pray they too one day will know in their heart of hearts the resounding words, I have called you by name and you are mine, says the Lord your God. Hallelujah.