July 25, 1999 - LESSON: Ephesians 4:30

SERMON TITLE: A Marked Man

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. Congregation sings the song: I Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More, (Negro Song, Arr. By Ruth Heller). The words to which are:
    1. You can't get to heaven
      1. Oh, you can't get to heaven, In a rocking chair, Cause God don't allow no lazy bones there.
      2. Oh, you can't get to heaven on roller skates. Cause you'll roll right by those pearly gates.
      3. If you get there before I do, Just bore a hole and pull me through.
    2. How are you going to get to heaven?
      1. Not in a rocking chair
        1. Taking one's ease
        2. Lazy
      2. Not on roller skates
        1. The fast track
        2. You do not see the signs
      3. There is no one who can pull you through.
        1. You must do it on your own.
        2. It is you responsibility.
    3. How about a practical way to ensure that you are going to get to heaven
      1. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30, NRSV).
      2. We can break this passage down and understand it.
      3. Take it from bottom to top.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. There is a day of redemption.
    1. There will be a time of deliverance
    2. The day when all is finally finished.
      1. When the battles of life are over
      2. When the history is won
      3. When the crown of life is received.
      4. Jesus Christ is planning a day of redemption.
        1. He has promised to return, John 141:1-3. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go I will come again and receive you unto myself so that where I am you may also be.
        2. Jesus told a parable about a homeowner who, if it had been known that time the thief would come would be ready.
          1. Jesus is going to come
          2. We don't know when.
          3. We can only be prepared.
  2. Oh, you can't get to heaven
    1. Oh, you can't get to heaven, In a rocking chair,
    2. Oh, you can't get to heaven on roller skates.
    3. If you get there before I do, Just bore a hole and pull me through.
    4. How are you going to get there?
    5. The redeemed are marked with a seal.
      1. (Ephesians 1:13-14 NRSV) In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.
      2. (Revelation 7:2-3 NRSV) I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."
      3. (Revelation 14:1 NRSV) Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were those who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.

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    6. In contrast the damned are also marked with a mark.
      1. (Revelation 14:9-11 NRSV) Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, they will also drink the wine of God's wrath
      2. These are not literal marks.
        1. They are not tatoos
        2. They represent those who are in opposition to God, and those who are faithful to God.
      3. The faithful are sealed with a mark.
        1. It is God's stamp of approval on a righteous character.
        2. It is the seal by which we are saved.
    7. Oh, you can't get to heaven
      1. Oh, you can't get to heaven, In a rocking chair,
      2. Oh, you can't get to heaven on roller skates.
      3. If you get there before I do, Just bore a hole and pull me through.
      4. How are you going to get there?
      5. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit
        1. There are many ways in which grief is expressed
          1. I have seen grief in the face of a young couple whose child died in child-birth.
          2. I have seen grief in the faces of parents whose 16 year-old died while running.
          3. I have seen grief in the face of children whose dad was killed in an automobile accident.
          4. I have seen grief in the face of a woman whose husband of 49 years died of a heart attack.

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        2. Though I was not there I can hear the grief in the voice of Jesus who stood and cried out:"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate," (Matthew 23:37-38, NRSV).
          1. Can you see the tears.
          2. Can you heart the pathos in his voice.
          3. Listen and know that he is also speaking of each of those who are not willing.
          4. This is the greatest of all grieving.
      6. The Holy Spirit is Christ's representative to us.
        1. (John 15:26 NRSV) "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.
        2. (John 16:13-14 NRSV) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. [14] He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

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      7. How then can we grieve the Holy Spirit?
        1. We grieve the Holy Spirit by not accepting what is being offered.
        2. We grieve the Holy Spirit by not fully entering into relationship.
        3. We grieve the Holy Spirit through our lack of faith.
        4. We grieve the Holy Spirit through our refusal to attain to the image of God.

CONCLUSION:

  1. You can't get to heaven
    1. Oh, you can't get to heaven, In a rocking chair, Cause God don't allow no lazy bones there. I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.
    2. Oh, you can't get to heaven on roller skates. Cause you'll roll right by those pearly gates. I ain't gon' to grieve my Lord no more.
    3. If you get there before I do, Just bore a hole and pull me through. I ain't goin' grieve my Lord no more.
    4. How are you going to get there?

    Let's add a verse to the song.

    Oh, I can get to heaven
    In Jesus' name
    The mark is true
    There is no blame.
    And I am goin' see my Lord someday

    1. Are you ready?
      1. Don't throw it away
        1. Don't throw it away through neglect.
        2. Don't throw it away through ignorance.

    A young executive was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.

    "Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work?"

    "Certainly," said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.

    "Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy."