Posted on 01/20/2016 1:53:12 PM PST by metmom
"You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance" (Eph. 1:13-14).
The Holy Spirit is God's first installment on your eternal inheritance.
The Holy Spirit's ministry in your life is multifaceted and profound. Among other things He brings salvation, conviction, guidance, and strength. He indwells and equips you for spiritual service and gives assurance of your salvation. He is your Helper and Advocate. He is the Spirit of promise, who seals you until the day when your redemption is fully realized (Eph. 4:30).
Sealing speaks of security, authenticity, ownership, and authority. Ancient kings, princes, and nobles placed their official seal on documents or other items to guarantee their inviolability. To break the seal was to incur the wrath of the sovereign whom it represented (cf. Dan. 6:17; Matt. 27:62-66).
A seal on a letter authenticated it as from the hand of the one whose seal it bore. Legal documents such as property deeds and wills were often finalized with an official seal. Those who possessed the sealed decree of a king had the king's delegated authority to act on that decree.
Each of those aspects of sealing is a picture of the Spirit's ministry. He is God's guarantee that your salvation is inviolable and that you are an authentic member of His kingdom and family. You are His possession-having been purchased with His Son's precious blood (1 Cor. 6:20). You are His ambassador with delegated authority to proclaim His message to a lost world (2 Cor. 5:20).
The Spirit is the pledge of your eternal inheritance (Eph. 1:14). The Greek word translated "pledge" in that verse (arrabon) was used of down payment or earnest money given to secure a purchase. Rejoice in the assurance that God, who cannot lie (Titus 1:2), has given you His Spirit as a guarantee that He will keep His promises.
Suggestions for Prayer
Praise God for the security of your eternal inheritance. Praise the Spirit for His many ministries in your life. Be sensitive to His leading today so that your ministry to others will be powerful and consistent with His will.
For Further Study
Read Esther chapters 3, 8. What role did the king's signet ring play in the decree of Haman (chapter 3)? The decree of Ahasuerus and Mordecai (chapter 8)?
The Bible is clear that there will be a Rapture of Believers/the Ekklesia through time since Peter preached on Pentecost. The question being debated is when, when wil Jesus come for His Church and rapture His out from the tribulation?
How extraordinarily sad that you led your sisters away from Christ...You were right about the navigators in the beginning, but unfortunately their brainwashing techniques worked on you....you have a LOT to be worried about possibly having cost 2 people their salvation because you couldn't discern between truth and Navigator nonsense.
How about you tell us if not faithfully following the sacramental catholic path can prevent one from being saved or cause one to become unsaved and need catholic intervention to be 're saved'? That too clear for you to try?
You come up with a scenario where millions of people are suddenly snatched from what they are doing, all over the world and pulled into Heaven.....I come up with a possible disastrous plane crash and my scenario is improbable....think about it
I didn't say that, Jesus did...
The laws which Jesus did not violate during all His life forbade eating the blood of the sacrifice. These same laws also forbade cannibalism. what your 'other religion' teaches you to do is defile your minds by believing that as in the pagan mystery religions, you eat the object of your devotion to gain His deity inside you.
That is anathema and blasphemous. Yet you are proud to repeat this ritual every chance you get and seek to lure others into practicing this blasphemous ritual insulting The Christ as you worship in catholic fashion. Your leadership even teaches that the catholic priest reaches into the Heavenly throne room to bring Jesus down to your pagan altar at every Mass, all around the world, continuing the sacrifice by having GOD obey your priesthood. And you cannot even see how that is blasphemous!
Yes, they thank me all the time, leading them out of the darkness of the RCC, and into the glorious light of the truth, like the 7 we have led out of it in the last two years. They are pretty happy about it too. You should try it.
I see you said I was right for hating the Christians, (Navigators) which I did. I wonder if that means you do too? :-)
When the rapture comes, you are welcome to my property. The odds are, MHG will give you his stuff too. If you have to go through the tribulation, you might need it.
Remember, only Christians go to Heaven. I hope you lead a good enough life to make it. But if you don't, I can't help you.
Don't worry about me swimming the Tiber bro. It's not going to happen, at least not for the next 100 trillion eons. After that, I can't make any promises :-)
I know, however, none of you will ever let me out of your sight, so if it even looks like I might be considering swimming the Tiber, you all will be on me like white on rice.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have Limericks to conjure up :-)
I see where ol' Joe got his ideas from...
Where are the quotes?
Call no man Father...
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.â€
Mark 9:7
And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."
Or Mary; if you'd rather.
"The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem,
no matter how difficult it is, wheter temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families...that cannot be solved by the Rosary.
There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary."
Sister Lucia dos Santos
The 15 promises
(Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche)
| 1 | Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive powerful graces. |
| 2. | I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. |
| 3. | The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies |
| 4. | It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. |
| 5. | The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. |
| 6. | Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying Himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise Him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. |
| 7. | Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. |
| 8. | Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. |
| 9. | I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. |
| 10. | The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. |
| 11. | You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. |
| 12. | All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. |
| 13. | I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death |
| 14. | All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. |
| 15. | Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination. |
Some folks think that you’re a sick pup;
considering Limericks that you conjure up.
So reach for the sky,
and hard really try;
and you see it’s still wine/bread that you sup.
Dude.
You will not certainly die...
You're doing a lot of mind reading and assuming there.
I read up on those popes. I know enough.
And no I don't base my opinion of Catholicism on only 25 people.
Perfection?
No.
To not live a life of immorality, corruption, and debauchery while naming the name of Christ?
Yes.
How ironic that Catholics rail against OSAS as a license to sin and then blow of the kind of evil perpetrated by their OWN as *nobody's perfect, so what?*
It doesn't matter if you don't think the 20 popes are OK to have a a leader claiming to represent Christ with that abominable character, or whether you think the politicians are *idiots*.
The fact of the matter is that you made the claim that *it's impossible to be a Catholic without being a Christian*, thus you are claiming that all Catholics no matter what they live like no matter what the level of hypocrisy displayed, are Christians.
I imagine that you are now perfect, spotless, without sin, error free and whatever other requirements you have for perfection....congratulations!!!!!!!!!!
I don't imagine that. I know I sin but yet that's how God sees me. And they are not MY requirements for perfection. They are God's.
They are in the Bible, if you ever bother to read it.
Not merely a *plane crash* scenario, but the stupid who it’s full of and who it lands on.
Try again.
It is interesting that a catholic would imagine such an outcome for the event they do not believe will happen. Kinda making their god in their imagine dontch'allknow.
And please note the faux inclusion of innocents in the victim class, as if the innocent won’t be going in the Rapture. And yet these catholics don’t believe in the event yet they imagine all sorts of strange connections to it. It’s kind of like when the natural mind imagines all sorts of rituals and behaviors that would earn salvation, eventually.
Dudes and dudettes :-)
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