Bible Readings:
1 Thessalonian 1:1 – 10
John 14:1 – 31
Sermon Outline:
Romans 8:9–11 (NKJV)
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
I The Blessing of the Indwelling Spirit – now
1 John 4:13 (NKJV)
13By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV)
16Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
II The Blessing of the Indwelling Spirit – then
Ephesians 1:13–14 (NKJV)
13In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
2 Corinthians 1:22 (NKJV)
22who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 5:5–8 (NKJV)
5Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.