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Enlightened by the

Major David Taylor reminds us of the assurance the Holy Spirit brings

STUDY PASSAGE: EPHESIANS 1:13–23

THE opening chapter of Ephesians is a majestic summary of the incredible things God has done for us in and through Jesus Christ the Son. Paul wants us to take time to reflect on God’s initiative, on God’s will for us, which he enacted long before we had to do anything. Not that we do nothing of course! It is clear in verse 13 what our part is – first of all, to hear the gospel, God’s word of truth, and then to believe.

QUESTION O How did you come to have faith in Jesus? If you are alone, take some time to think about this. If you are in a group, share briefly with each other about the way God brought you into his family.

Paul says that something significant takes place when we come to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour: we receive God’s Holy Spirit into our lives.

In verses 13 and 14 Paul tells us three things about the active presence of God’s Spirit within us.

First, he is literally ‘the Spirit of the promise’ (Young's Literal Translation). God and Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit. He is available today to all who repent and believe the good news. Second, the Holy Spirit is God’s ‘seal’ or his mark of ownership on our lives – not as an external mark like branding on cattle or sheep but as an internal mark in our hearts that assures us that we belong to him. Third, the Holy Spirit is God’s ‘deposit’ or ‘guarantee’. This means that the Holy Spirit is God’s down payment. God has paid part of the purchase price in advance. Our inheritance as God’s children – to be with him for ever – is not only assured but also he gives us now a foretaste of what that will be like.

Doctrine 8 of The Salvation Army states that ‘he that believeth hath the witness in himself’. This is what it means to have the experience of the Holy Spirit within us as God’s promise, seal and deposit. It is God within us by his Holy Spirit assuring us that we are his children, that he is our Father and, as such, is deeply committed to being in relationship with us.

QUESTIONS O Can you describe a particular moment or moments when you have been aware of the deep experience of belonging to God, of knowing that he

Through the week with Salvationist – a devotional thought for each day by Major Howard Webber SUNDAY I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.

(Ephesians 1:18)

MONDAY O send thy Spirit, Lord,/ Now unto me,/ That he may touch my eyes/ And make me see;/ Show me the truth concealed/ Within thy word,/ And in thy book revealed/ I see the Lord.

(SASB 802) TUESDAY For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

(2 Corinthians 4:6)

Spirit

is with you and is committed to you? O What did that experience feel like and mean to you? If you are in a group, share this with each other.

The remaining verses of this chapter are Paul’s thanksgiving to God and prayer for the Ephesian church. It is important for us to recognise that thanksgiving and prayer go together. It is wonderful to know God in part and what he has done for us, to recognise what we already have available to us in Christ through the Holy Spirit within us, and to give thanks for it. Paul is particularly thankful that he has heard that the Ephesians are people of faith and love, as these are supreme marks of the Spirit within us.

However, it is also vital that we are not complacent or content to sit back and rest satisfied, but that we pray to God constantly and ask him for further and greater revelation, knowledge and wisdom through the ministry of God’s Holy Spirit. Paul is aware that there is so much more for us to discover about who God is, about what God has in store for us as his children and about how great God’s power is to transform us, so that we arrive securely in his presence and into our inheritance as saints.

QUESTIONS O What are some of the things you have learnt about God recently and about his will and purpose for you? O What have you heard and understood about God? O What has he been saying to you? Take a few moments to put your finger on one or two things and share them.

The final few verses of this chapter are a crescendo of praise to Jesus Christ the Son, whom God has raised from the dead and seated above all other authorities and powers in all ages, for ever. He is not only above all things, but also head of the Church. When he is given his rightful place the Church is filled with all God’s fullness and overflows into the world.

QUESTIONS O To what extent is Jesus Christ the head of your life, able to direct and fulfil his purposes in you, and how might you need to change? O To what extent is Jesus Christ welcomed as head of the Christian community to which you belong, and how can you contribute to this being the case?

MAJOR TAYLOR IS DIVISIONAL COMMANDER, CENTRAL NORTH

WEDNESDAY Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,/ To reach out and touch him and say that we love him./ Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen./ Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. (SASB 386)

THURSDAY But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

(1 Peter 2:9)

FRIDAY Silently now I wait for thee,/ Ready, my God, thy will to see,/ Open mine eyes, illumine me,/ Spirit divine. (SASB 786)

Prayer Holy Spirit, come and fill me! Reveal to me the fullness and glory of Christ Jesus, so that I may see Jesus more clearly, love him more dearly and follow him more nearly day by day.

SATURDAY As it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ – the things God has prepared for those who love him – these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

(1 Corinthians 2:9 and 10)