John 3:1-8
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (ESV)
Sealed by the Spirit
Wednesday after Pentecost
26 May 2010
Baptism gives such exalted gifts to those who receive its seal. It manumits a slave to sin, snatching him from the degradation of the slave market and crowning him with a high title: freedman. In the ancient world, a freedman became a client of his former master, often taking the master's name and being named in his will, and now treated as a member of the family. The Lord has given us the new birth into his family, each newborn becoming a son of God by adoption. Baptism gives all this and more. It grants a new knowledge of God. It reveals God in Christ, the God who bleeds and dies for poor sinners like us. It seals with the Holy Spirit. Every baptism is a Spirit baptism (Jn 3:5). The baptized are then counted among the holy ones, the saints, the flock of Christ, an assurance of heavenly life written in God's own will. Cyril of Jerusalem extols the sacrament of baptism by praising the gifts it confers upon those about to be sealed by the Spirit.
Cyril of Jerusalem
"If anyone here is a slave of sin, let him promptly prepare himself through faith for the new birth into freedom and adoption; and having put off the miserable bondage of his sins, and taken on him the most blessed bondage of the Lord, so he may be counted worthy to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Put off, by confession, the old man, which grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, that you may put on the new man, which is renewed according to knowledge of Him that created him (Eph 4:22; Col 3:10).
"Get the earnest of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:22) through faith, that you may be able to be received into the everlasting habitations (Lk 16:9). Come for the mystical seal, that you may be easily recognized by the Master, be numbered among the holy and spiritual flock of Christ, to be set apart on His right hand, and inherit the life prepared for you. For they to whom the rough garment of their sins still clings are found on the left hand, because they came not to the grace of God which is given through Christ at the new birth of baptism."
Prayer
O Holy Spirit, divine seal of salvation given me in baptism, grant that I might live in holiness as a member of the heavenly family and named a son of God. Amen.
For the infants of our congregation both born and unborn who need to grow in strength that our heavenly Father would watch over them
For all small business owners and entrepreneurs that God would bless their efforts to provide service and create jobs in the community
For the enemies of the church, that they would be converted and share with us faith in the God who reconciles sinners to Himself through the death of Christ
For the children graduating from Memorial Lutheran School, that God the Lord would grant them every blessing at the next level of their education
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