First, the gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s seal of ownership on believers. Here, in Ephesians 1:13, Paul said that Christians have been “sealed with the…Holy Spirit.” Interestingly, this is not the only time Paul used the metaphor of a “seal” in conjunction with the Holy Spirit. Later in this same letter, Paul instructed the Christians in Ephesus to “not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” because He is the agent “by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). Then, in 2 Corinthians 1:22 Paul said that God “establishes us…and has anointed us” by “put[ting] his seal on us and giv[ing] us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
In this Part 4 of Amos, Pastor Stuart McAlpine presents a sermon on how Amos predicted the imminent destruction of Israel and Judah.
Nehemiah is the account of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem is a symbol of the city of God, God's dwelling...
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness....
