We're going to consider the Holy Spirit's and his relationship to believers. The fourfold work of the Holy Spirit is presented in Second Corinthians one, twenty-one and twenty-two, which I shall read. Now he which establisheth us with you in or into Christ, and hath anointed us as God, who hath also and given the earnest of the Spirit in our heart. We're using that fourfold question for our outline. Number one, established into Christ. Now this takes place by three acts of the Spirit of God. First by the pre-conversional sanctification, which we have already studied. second Thessalonians two thirteen unto salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth first Peter one two the sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ and second by the new birth The new birth takes place, A, through acceptance of Christ, John one, twelve and thirteen, to as many as received him, for them gave you the right to become the children of God, even of them that believe under his name, which were born. So the new birth takes place through the acceptance of Christ, and B, by means of the word of God. First Peter one, twenty three to twenty five, refers to the truth, the word of God, and the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. And third, we are established into Christ by baptism into the body of Christ. Now historically, a historically this took place at Pentecost. The second chapter of Acts records this. This is not something which takes place daily or something for which you need to wait. Historically, it has already taken place. The baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was for this entire age. Albeit it is true of all believers, First Corinthians twelve and verse thirteen, for by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. And this results see in each member, each believer becoming a member of the body of Christ. In this same chapter, First Corinthians, verses fourteen to twenty seven describes the various members of the body and shows how we are interrelated and interdependent. We are a part of the body of Christ. And remember that this was written to probably the most carnal group of Christians in the first century. Yet it was perfectly true of them that they were baptized by the Spirit of God, all of us. Now, First Corinthians twelve in verse eighteen tells us that each one is given the place willed by God. The Lord himself chooses the place that he wants us in the body. And we're told that these members are added by the Lord. In Acts two, forty-seven it says the Lord added to the church daily, such as were being saved, the Revised Version says. And in the fifth chapter of Acts, want to study this and you have time verses thirteen and fourteen tells us that the lord was adding one by one the souls were being saved and that the rest did not dare to join themselves to them so there was no such thing as a non-christian joining anything in the first century now under this same heading f the unity of the body is of the Spirit. Ephesians four, verses three and four, we're told to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The ecumenical movement is superfluous. It is an attempt to form a new unity which God does not recognize and which is totally unnecessary because all believers are one. we are already united to every other believer. Ecumenicalism intends to unite all religions, including the non-Christian members of these, and even the non-Christian religions. And the last point in this section, Ephesians four, eleven to sixteen, tells us that each one is to edify the others. And it tells that he gave some We'll study these gifts later. They were for the maturing of the believers unto the serving, unto the edifying of the body of Christ in love. So this is the means which he uses to establish us into Christ. Now the second thing is the anointing of the Spirit. One, we have an Old Testament figure of anointing oil. This was used, A, for personal comfort. If you recall Psalm twenty three five, I'll anoint this my head with oil. And Daniel ten in verse three says that he was so disturbed that he had not anointed himself. It was part of the custom of the Jewish people of that day. So it did have something to do with personal comfort, but B, it also had to do something with service. Now in First Kings nine and nineteen and verse sixteen, you have a prophet anointed. In Exodus twenty-eight forty-one you have the anointing of the priests, and in first Samuel sixteen and one you have the anointing of a king. And I have put into your notes a little statement here that Christ means the anointed one. This is not a name for the Lord Jesus, but it is a title. The name Christ is the same as the name Messiah in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word is Hamashiach from which we get Messiah. The Greek word is Christos from which we get Christ. And the English word is anointed. And it meant someone who was chosen and set apart for a special work. And the Lord Jesus was this. And incidentally, he is prophet, priest, and king. He is the antiphype of all these others who were anointed in the Old Testament. One more point under this first section here. C for burial. Matthew twenty six, six to thirteen. This was an anointing with special And in the case of the Lord Jesus, Mary anointed him beforehand for burial because she knew that she was not going to get an opportunity, was going to rise from the dead at the end of the Sabbath, and she was not allowed to go there on the Sabbath, so that is ahead of time. She was a very intelligent woman. Now these Old Testament figures, and I include this last one because this was a Jewish custom. these tell us a little something about the meaning of the anointing. Now, B, the anointing of the Holy Spirit. By means of this, A, believers are taught, and B, they're given spiritual gifts. Now, they are taught according to first john two and twenty by the unction as it's called and the word unction is another word for ointment we have an unction of the holy one by means of the anointing of the holy spirit we are taught so that we have no need that any man should teach us that is Human teachers are dispensable because the Holy Spirit is here to do the teaching. He is the anointing. And in John, fourteen and twenty-six, we are told that when the Holy Spirit has come, he will teach you all things. Now, the anointing also results in the giving of spiritual gifts, according to First Corinthians twelve, one to eleven. That's the second part of this section. And I have called your attention to the fact that we are a kingdom of priests. According to Revelation one, five and six, this is a revised version, it says we are kings and priests unto our gods. This is literally a kingdom of priests. Now the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the high priest. The Holy Spirit has made all of us who are believers to be priests, a kingdom of priests. And because of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are able to serve as a priesthood. If you want to study this further, the second chapter of First Peter tells the two different kinds of priesthoods in which we serve. We are a holy priesthood for worship, and we are a royal priesthood for witnessing. This takes place by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I think it's a wonderful thing to get hold of this because there are many people today who believe that you have no right to function in a religious way unless you have been A, educated or B, and or B, consecrated or ordained in some special way by someone laying these empty hands on your empty head. so making you capable of doing something that you couldn't do before. Well, this is a total and flat denial of the sufficiency of the work of the Holy Spirit of God. If we really believe that the Holy Spirit of God has done this anointing in the lives of each of us as believers, then we understand that we are made ready by this very act, this very thing. to serve and to worship in this wonderful way. Now let's go on to section three, the sealing of the Spirit. This does three things for us. It secures us. Number one, we are secure. And number two, we are being conformed to Christ. That's the idea of a seal. which is placed in the wax and the form of the seal is transferred to the molten wax, the warm wax, so that the wax takes on the same form and the same appearance as the seal. So you see, part of the work of the Spirit of God is to conform us to Christ. That's one of the meanings of the sealing. And the third one is eventual glorification. Now let's take the first one. By the sealing of the Spirit we are secure, A, unto the day of redemption. Ephesians four and verse thirty. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption, not until you sin. Many people believe that you're sealed until you sin and then it's all off. You've lost everything. But the security of the believer is until the day of redemption. And then B, it is against all enemies. We are secure against all enemies. John ten, twenty seven to thirty tells us the Lord Jesus himself said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. Then he says, My Father which gave them me is greater than all. and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. Now, this doesn't mean that you can go on and do as you please. If you misbehave after you become one of God's children, you may get a spanking, but you'll never lose your eternal life. You belong to him. You're secure against all enemies. And point C, John fourteen and sixteen, it is forever. He shall abide with you forever. Once the Holy Spirit has taken up his abode, his residence, in the body of a believer, it is forever. Not only until we die, not only until the Lord comes, but it is forever. God himself will energize us eternally for fellowship with himself. Now the second thing I've already referred to is being conformed to Christ. We are being conformed to Christ as a result of the ceiling. A, this was predestinated by God. Romans eight and verse twenty nine. He should give some time to the study of this passage. He says there plainly, whom he did predestinate, then he also called. and whom he called, then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he also glorified. Now many people misunderstand predestination as thinking that this means that you are set apart to be saved. But the preceding verse plainly says, you are predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. God knowing that we were going to put our trust in the Lord Jesus said, I'm going to make every one of my children exactly like my beloved son. That's his plan. This is called predestination or the destiny that he chooses for all his children. He chooses to make us just like Christ. You couldn't ask for anything better than that, could you? Now... B. This is by occupation with Christ. Second Corinthians three and verse eighteen. And there we read, beholding we are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. The process by which we are conformed to the image of Christ is by... beholding him, being occupied with him day by day. Now we have a saying that you become like that which you admire. That's why we think it's so essential for children to have the right kind of ideals and the right kind of idols because they all have them. And today there's a strong tendency toward choosing for ideals. people who are not worth imitating. Now God would like to have you choose the Lord Jesus Christ and spend so much time thinking about him, reading about him, meditating upon him that the Spirit of God would make you more and more like him. Now in Galatians four and verse nineteen see in your outline Christ is being formed in us the Apostle Paul said my little children of whom I travail in pain again until Christ be formed in you now travail is the pain of childbirth and Paul had led these people to Christ Now he said, I'm still travailing, because I'm not satisfied with your being simply saved. I want Christ to be formed in you. You are in Christ, but I want to see Christ in you. This is what Paul was saying to the Galatians. You know that the letter to the Galatians was written to correct the idea that you can be a better man if you keep the law. I think all of us understand that we are not saved by keeping the law. But there are many Christians who think that we are made more spiritual, that this is our standard of living, that we are to keep the law in order to please God. And this is totally impossible, and it only results in self-occupation and failure. But the right way is that the Spirit of God should form Christ within us, so that it is actually the Lord living his life out through you. Remember the illustration of the empty glove. It can't do anything until it gets a human hand inside of it, and then it can work. And you as an empty glove will be no good except with the Spirit of God within you, working out in you what he wants to make you, that is, like Christ. And D, it is a day-by-day process. Second Corinthians four, sixteen, compares the outward man perishing to the inward man being renewed day by day. Now, if I don't see you for ten years, I can tell that you've grown older. But I can't tell from the last time that I saw you a day or two ago that any change has taken place. Of course it has. your clock has run down just that many hours. And you are growing older. We have mortal bodies, and your body is a little more dead than it was a few days ago, or a little closer to the dead. And as you get older, you're more conscious of that. But now the same thing is true in spiritual progress. Don't go looking in the glass every day to see if you're a little more like Christ. because there's going to be a day by day process. Just as the body goes downhill, the Spirit ought to be growing uphill, going upward, because we're becoming a little more conformed to the Lord Jesus. Now the third section of a sealing of the Spirit is that we shall eventually be glorified. A. Our bodies will be quickened by the Spirit. Romans eight and verse eleven. he shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you it's wonderful that the spirit of God is going to remain in our bodies and even have a part in the changing of those bodies either at resurrection or at the rapture which will take place of course at the same time I mean whether you have died or whether you're still alive he will have a part in changing you so that physically you shall eventually be like him. This is what is referred to in First John chapter three. When we shall see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now that's physically. We shall be changed to be like him physically. Don't let that substitute for the day by day confirmation to Christ that ought to be taking place. Now be, this will take place when the Lord with the Lord Jesus Christ himself, John seventeen twenty to twenty four. He says, I want them to behold my glory. I want them to share my glory. And finally, in second Thessalonians one ten, it will take place at his return, for it says he shall come to be glorified in all his things. I think it's wonderful to be able to look ahead to the time as a result of the sealing of the Spirit of God. We shall eventually be turned over to the Lord Jesus, just as the servant of Abraham brought the bride, Rebecca, across that long wilderness journey until he finally turned her over to Isaac. It says that when she saw Isaac, She dismounted. She got down off her camel. And it's been a long, hard camel ride for some of us across a desolate wilderness. But one of these days we're going to see our Isaac, and we're going to get off a camel. All of this was a result of the sealing of the Spirit of God. Now our last section, the earnest of the Spirit. One, a foretaste, or sample. That's the meaning of the word earnest. You paste the money down on the deal. That's called earnest money. You take a sample of what you're going to get. They're going to ship the rest of it to you. The sample that they give you is an earnest. All of this has to do with a foretaste or sample. A of our inheritance, Ephesians one, eleven to fourteen. That's what he says very plainly. earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession and be it is a foretaste of things to come John sixteen and verse thirteen he says the Holy Spirit shall show you things to come now don't spend all of your time on on things that are present so easy to get occupied with things it's so easy to become materialistically minded Remember, there are much better things to come. When Joseph sent for his old father, Joseph, he said, don't bother bringing any of your stuff with you. We've got plenty down here where you're coming. And the things that we consider to be so important to us now, we're going to leave them behind when the Lord comes anyway. Now see, it is a foretaste or sample of being face to face. with Christ. First Corinthians thirteen and twelve, where he says, Now we see darkly, and through a glass, but then face to face. There's a lovely hymn that's still a favorite, Face to Face with Christ, my Savior. Face to face, what will it be when in rapture we behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me? Think of that first moment. when you look into his face. And D, it is a foretaste of fullness of joy. Psalm sixteen eleven. In thy presence is fullness of joy. And at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Now the Spirit of God, by his ministration to you, day by day, as you read the Word and as you meditate upon the things that he gives you from the Word, He fills your soul. He gives you the enjoyment of spiritual things until sometimes you feel like you can hardly hold anymore. As the old Scotchman said, he said, I have to tell the Lord to turn off the top. He said, I cannot hold any matter. And sometimes we feel like this. And we begin to enjoy in these all-too-rare moments. when we get alone with the Lord, the Spirit of God leads us in the study of the Word to appreciate what Christ has done for us and to think ahead for those wonderful days. He just fills us full. And you can have a great deal more of this, because it's not simply that you want the theology, not simply you want the facts about the Spirit of God, but that you want this daily experience. You want to know what it is daily that his spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are God's child. Now, it's true that he uses the word. The Spirit of God always uses the word of God. But you've got to be in touch with him. You've got to be close to him. You've got to take time. You've got to read and study the word so that he can open up to you so that he can impress you with these wonderful truths of the word of God and give you this fullness of joy, at least a sample of it, here and now. The second part of this, it is an offerer of filling. The earnest of the Spirit is not only a foretaste or sample, but it is an offering of filling. We'll go into this a little further. A for present joy. Acts The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. They were filled with joy. By the way, they were in danger. They had just been liberated from jail, and they were in danger of being again picked up and put back in jail. But in their prayer to the Lord, they were filled with joy. In fact, it says they even counted as joy that they were that they were worthy to suffer for the Lord. And be, and offer a feeling that he might control us. Ephesians five and verse eighteen. We go into this in some detail a little later, where we're told not to be drunken with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit, to be totally under his control. It is possible. He wants us to do this. And these are some of the things that the Spirit of God is doing within us in the present day. Establishing us into Christ. Make sure that this has happened in your own case. And then the anointing of the Spirit, the sealing of the Spirit, and the earnest of the Spirit, the forefold work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.