and grace to us and overwhelming
grace which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. Lord, as we look
at the scriptures today, I pray that again our hearts would be
drawn to Thee, Lord Jesus, and that we would leave here rejoicing
for the great things that You have done for us. As we look
at this scripture today and at Sunday School, I pray that You
would receive all the glory and honor and praise. In Jesus' name,
Amen. Turn, if you would, again to 1 Peter chapter 1 We'll look at the second part
of verse 2. As I said, verse 2 is a vast
mine of blessings. It shows that salvation is of
the Lord. And this is great comfort for
God's people. And as I said, every chapter in this book brings
forth the suffering of the saint. And what great comfort the believer
can find in the fact that our salvation is all of the Lord.
He keeps us, He saves us, and He keeps us. He brings us great,
great comfort. So let's read the first five
verses and then we'll look at sanctification by the Holy Spirit
of God. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. So we see, elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit, in verse 2, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Now last week in our study we
looked at verse 2, and we noted in verse 2 that we have the whole
Trinity in action in the salvation of the sinner. Those who are
elected in Christ are elected in Christ according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father. And we see in this verse, then,
that God is the author of our salvation, and God is the finisher
of our salvation, right here in this verse. It doesn't say
that specifically, but we can come to that deduction by simply
looking and elect according to the foreknowledge of God, there's
the author, through sanctification of the spirit and through obedience
and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And we're redeemed
by the blood of Christ. And then it says in verse five,
we're kept by the power of God. So salvation is all of the Lord. It's all of the Lord, all His
doing. We are sanctified by the Holy
Spirit of God, redeemed by Christ, and chosen in Christ by the Father. And this was all planned and
purposed by God. All planned and purposed by God
before we ever were. Before we ever were in eternity.
In eternity. And it all flows from His free
and sovereign grace and His mercy. Think of that. If you're here
redeemed, if you're here saved, you're here saved and redeemed
by the grace of God in Christ. And it was planned from eternity.
It was purposed by God. And that which is purposed by
God will always come to pass, won't it? Will always come to
pass. That's why we're on the trail
of God's sheep. We don't know who they are, but gospel preachers,
we preach the gospel and God does the saving. He does the
work. It's his, salvation's of him,
of him. Preacher can't save you and no
one else can save you, but Christ can save a sinner if he so pleases. Now it's very important for us
to revere God's word and God and the word of God. The Bible
from cover to cover is the word of God and the scriptures are
called the holy scriptures and holy men of God. Holy men of
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now to show
contempt for God's word is to show contempt toward God himself. To dishonor God's word is to
dishonor God. People who show disrespect for
God's holy scriptures have no respect for God. And how do we
know that? Well, because he's the author
of the holy scriptures, isn't he? He's the author of the holy
scriptures, and they show by their words and their actions
that they have no respect for God. Some profess the scriptures
to be the word of God, but then they deny God's power. They deny
who God is. They say, well, he's not allowed
to choose, but that's what the scripture says. They profess to believe Christ,
but they deny the power and the efficacy of his righteousness,
of his sacrifice, and of his intercession. They deny who he
is. They talk of the Holy Spirit,
but they deny his power to regenerate. They say, well, he wants to save
you, but you gotta let him. No, He saves whom He wills. The
Holy Spirit moves with power. He draws us, and we can't resist
when He draws us. It's an irresistible grace. Just
ask any believer or profess that. We weren't looking for Him, but
He drew us. And he saved us, regenerated
us. We can't regenerate ourselves.
People say make a decision for Jesus. They've replaced regeneration
with a decision. No. No, we are sanctified by
the Holy Spirit of God. We're regenerated by the Holy
Spirit of God. So they deny his power. They
profess to believe the gospel, but they deny the power of the
gospel to save. They deny the power of the gospel
to justify. They deny the power of God to
make men new creatures. And they deny that Christ is
enough. Because they say you've got to
be kept by your works. God calls them traitors, and
hideous, and high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers
of God. And our Lord tells us that they're ever learning and
never able to come to the knowledge of truth. So with that in mind,
let us look at our scripture today. The sanctifying work of
God the Holy Spirit, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace
be multiplied. Now the truth concerning the
work of God our Father and choosing a particular people for His glory
is not only denied by most professing Christians, it's despised by
most professing Christians. And it's hated amongst religious
people, people who are works moms. They hate it. But the Scripture
declares it. Act according to the foreknowledge
of God. In our unregenerate state, we
know nothing about God's elect and grace. We know nothing about
God's redeeming grace in our natural state. And it's the work
of God the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth, isn't it? Think
of this. The reason you know the truth
today, if you're a believer, is because the Holy Spirit's
guided you to that. He's taught you of Christ. It's
wonderful. He didn't leave you where you
were. It's absolutely wonderful. Turn,
if you would, to John chapter 16. It's the work of God, the
Holy Spirit, to guide us into all truth, to take the things
of Christ into what? To reveal them to God's people.
To reveal them to God's chosen people. Look at John 16. This is wonderful. John 16 verses 13 to 15. However,
when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will what? He will
guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself.
Now there's whole movements out there based upon the Holy Spirit,
isn't there? But the Scripture just says He won't speak of Himself.
He'll guide you to all truth. He'll not speak of himself, but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show
you things to come. He shall what? Glorify me. This
is the Master speaking. The Holy Spirit will guide you
to Christ, for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. He reveals Christ to his people. It's wonderful. And don't forget,
he's God, the Holy Spirit. He's as much God as the Father is,
and as much God as the Son is. Often times the Holy Spirit gets
not mentioned as much, but He's just as important as the Father
and the Son. He regenerates us. We're born
again by the Spirit of God. He reveals all truth to us. He
guides us to the truth. He reveals Christ to us. And he glorifies Christ by this,
for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. All things
that the Father hath are mine, therefore said I, that he shall
take of mine and shall show it unto you. So today our subject
will be the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit of God. Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God, our text says, through
sanctification of the Spirit. Sanctification of the Spirit.
This speaks of God the Holy Spirit. The third person of the great
Trinity. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Turn, if you would, to 1 John 5, 7. Now, all of God's enlightened
saints are Trinitarians. We believe in the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. That's a cordial doctrine. You
deny that, you deny who God is. Look at 1 John 5, 7. This is
a wonderful verse. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these
three are one. 1 John 5, 7. There are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost. And these three are one. One
God. One God. Three persons, one God. Those who dare deny that the
Holy Spirit is the Divine Person need to consider what the Word
of God says about Him. In John 16, 14, where we look,
it says, Hallebate, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come,
He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself,
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will
show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall
receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. In that one portion of the Holy
Scriptures, the Word of God used... Let's turn there again, actually.
Let's turn there quick again. John 16. I should have kept this
there. I was going to put that in my notes, stay there, and
I didn't. John 16, 14. Look at this. This is actually
really pretty incredible. John 16, 14, and 15. Actually,
let's start in 13. However, when He, the Spirit
of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall
not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He
speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me,
for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you."
In this one portion of the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God uses
the word He eight times in reference to the Holy Spirit. And the word
Himself once. And so our Lord Jesus clearly
referred to the Holy Spirit as a person, right? God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and the three are one,
1 John 5, 6. So he's distinct from the Father,
he's distinct. And it's good for us to constantly
remember that because one thing that the cults do is they deny
the Holy Spirit. And they deny, several of them
do, they deny that the Holy Spirit is God, they deny that Christ
is God. Jehovah's Witnesses are famous for that. They're not
Jehovah's Witnesses. No, they're false prophets. So we read also in Ephesians
4.30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are
sealed until the day of redemption. And the Holy Spirit could not
be grieved if he was not a distinct person. And when I say person,
I'm not meaning like us. I mean the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit, the three are one. And there are many passages
of scripture we could use to prove this God-honoring truth
that the Holy Spirit is a divine person. A divine person. The third person of the Holy
Trinity. But God's enlightened children, we don't deny this
truth and we don't debate this truth. It's true. And we accept
it. And we rest in it. And like I said earlier, all
true believers are Trinitarians. Those who deny the Trinity are
not believers. They're not believers. There's
only one glorious, majestic God. The Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit. And these three are one. We also believe that God reveals
himself as our Heavenly Father who chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. is the eternal Son of God who
redeemed us with his own precious blood, and is the Holy Spirit
who raises us from a state of spiritual deadness, which is
our natural state, granting and giving us faith to believe the
glorious gospel of his amazing grace. He gives us life, doesn't
he? He raises the dead. He raises the dead. And this
is a work of the Spirit. Now this is a glorious truth
to ponder, to give much thought to the sanctifying work of God
the Holy Spirit. God's people are sanctified.
We're set apart. We're set apart. We're set apart
for God. You ever think of that? If you're
a believer, you're set apart for God. For Him. Boy, if we just let that sink
in for a while, that's pretty incredible. set apart by God for his holy
use and for his holy purpose. Now, sanctification in our text
means consecration. Purification. Consecration and
purification. Sanctification of heart and life. The priests of God in the Old
Testament were sanctified by God. They were set apart for
his holy use, weren't they? He chose them. They were set
apart for his holy use. Those vessels that were used
in the tabernacle were sanctified by God. Our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself was set apart by God, wasn't He? He was set apart.
He's a sinless sacrifice. And the same is true of God's
elect. God's chosen people were sanctified by our Heavenly Father,
and the eternal covenant of grace were set apart, were set apart
from the rest of the world. Now, as a believer we say, That's what it means. We're set
apart for His use, to glorify Him. And we're set apart in Christ
in the eternal covenant of grace. We're set apart from the rest
of the world by God's sovereign electing grace. And we're set
apart from the rest of the world because Christ purchased us. He purchased us with His own
precious blood. And we're set apart by the Holy
Spirit. We are God's special people.
We don't always feel special, do we? No, we don't, do we? But we are. Not because of anything
we did. But all because of Christ. I
read a good article by Henry this week. Brother Henry Mahan,
he was mentioning all the doctrine and stuff that people believe
and everything. It's nothing without Christ. Christ must be
the focus. Everything we believe must center
in Christ. It must center in Him. It must. The reason we gather here must
center in Him. We come here to hear the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified. That's the most important thing.
Christ. Christ. So we're a set apart people sanctified
by God the Father before the world began and also sanctified
by Jesus Christ when he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice
for our sins. And then those same people are
sanctified by God the Holy Spirit in the miracle of the new birth.
So God the Father chose us out of the whole world in Christ.
Christ redeemed us. And the Holy Spirit sanctified
us. And this miracle of sovereign grace, this miracle of God's
choosing, this miracle of being set apart from the rest of the
world, is all by the sovereign power of God. And all by His
choosing. All by His choosing. Man has
no more to do with Holy Spirit sanctification than we do with
the sanctifying work of God the Father in election or the sanctifying
work of God the Son in redemption. Sanctification is commonly thought
to be something the believer does for himself with the help
of the Holy Spirit. Religion tells you that. Most
people talk about it as a work of progressive holiness. They talk about it as a work
of progressive holiness by which a person gradually gets more
and more holy until at last he's finally ripe for heaven. We've
all heard that. It came out of religion, haven't
we? Nothing could be further from
the truth. Sanctification is never spoken
of in the scripture as a work to do or a progressive work by
which we become more and more holy, no. Turn, if you would,
to John 6, verse 63. John 6, verse 63. Our Lord Jesus said this in John
6, verse 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
means gives life, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Again, it is the
spirit that quickeneth, so he gives life to the dead, dead
spiritually. The flesh profiteth nothing. Who's our worst enemy? Ourselves. We battle our flesh, don't we,
all the time. The prophet is nothing. The words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And
when the Holy Spirit quickens us, He raises us from a state
of spiritual deadness. That's what that scripture says.
And we were as dead spiritually as Lazarus was physically. We
were. We were graveyard dead. We were
graveyard dead. And the Lord Jesus raised him
from the dead. And the Holy Spirit, when He
regenerates us, raises us from our spiritual deadness. Lazarus couldn't give himself
life, could he? Lazarus had no ability to make a decision for
Jesus as religion says. Lazarus had no free will. He
was dead. He had no way to determine his
eternal destiny, did he? No, he was dead. He was graveyard
dead. He could not walk to the front
of the church or shake a preacher's hand. He couldn't repeat a prayer.
No. He was dead. That's what we were. That's the state the Holy Spirit
found us in. And He regenerated His people.
We're born again. That scripture in John 6, it's
the Spirit that quickens it. He gives us life. He gives us
life. The sovereign life-giving power
that raised Lazarus from the dead was openly manifested for
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ when He said, Lazarus, come forth.
What happened with Lazarus came forth and it was the power of
God that raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead And only
God can enlighten the eyes of our understanding that we might
know that it is the same power The same exceeding greatness
of his power that raised us from a spiritual deadness as well
Turn if you would the 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 2nd Thessalonians chapter
2 verse 13 Look at this marvelous scripture again God's people
give thanks to God always Look at this. This is this is wonderful
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you Paul's
writing to Saints to born-again blood-washed regenerated believers
Second Thessalonians 2 13, but we are bound to give thanks always
to God for you brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath
from the beginning Chosen you to salvation how through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the church Now many heard the words of Christ
during his public ministry while he was here on earth who are
suffering in eternal torment right now. Why? Many have come under the preaching
of the true gospel of God's grace from the days of the Apostle
until now. Men and women have heard the words of the Lord Jesus
but died in their sins and went to hell. Why? Many today hear the same truths
that God the Holy Spirit has used to set us free from the prison house of unbelief
and sin that we were in. And many will continue to hear
these glorious truths who will never experience the miracle
of the new birth. Why? Why are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ life to some but not to others? Here's a few scriptures. If you
want to write down the addresses, you can. John 6, 63, we looked
at that. It's a spirit that quickeneth
the flesh profiteth nothing. John 8, 47. He that is of God,
heareth God's words. Ye, therefore, hear them not,
because ye are not of God. John 8, 47. A natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. 1 Corinthians 2, 14. except the man be born again
he cannot see which means to perceive or understand the kingdom
of God John chapter 3 verse 3 marvel not that I say unto thee ye must
be born again the wind bloweth where it listeth that means where
it pleases and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell
whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is everyone that
is born in the spirit John 3 verse 7 and 8 now A.W. Pink said this
he brings this forth the new birth is solely the work of God
the Holy Spirit and man has no part or lot in it. This, from the very nature of
the case, birth altogether excludes the idea of any effort or work
on the part of the one who is born. Personally, we have no more to
do with our spiritual birth than we had with our natural birth. The new birth is a spiritual
resurrection, a passing from death unto life, and clearly
resurrection is altogether outside of man's providence. So the answer to all those questions
is the Spirit does not quicken everybody. Why? Now the usual
answer returned to this question is because everybody does not
trust in Christ. It's supposed that the Holy Spirit
only quickens those who believe because they believe that faith
comes before regeneration in the religious world. But that's
putting a cart before the horse, beloved. Faith is not the cause of the
new birth. Faith is the consequence of the new birth. It's the consequence
of the new birth. Our text says, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit. God the Holy Spirit performs
the sanctifying work of His chosen blood-bought children under the
preaching of the true gospel of God's amazing grace through
the finished work of Jesus Christ our Savior. The Holy Spirit is
not sanctifying anyone under the preaching of lies or under
the preaching of a false gospel. Again, I give you the words of
2 Thessalonians 2, 13. Beloved, but we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the what?
Truth. Absolutely no one is going to
believe the truth if they don't hear it. So it stands to reason
that God is not saving anyone where the truth is not preached. Romans 10, 13, 15 says, for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then
shall they call on him in whom they have not heard, believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach except they be sent? Our Lord Jesus Christ said this
to some Jews who claimed to believe on him. But it appears they were
not true followers of Christ. He said, if you continue in my
word, then you are my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free. Make you free. John 8, 31 and 32. Now the truth about the Lord
Jesus Christ is made effectual by the sovereign power of God,
the Holy Spirit. And it is he who sets God's chosen
blood-bought saints free. And we are free indeed. We're
free. We're free from the power of
Satan. We're free from the power of darkness. We're free from
the power of sin. Not the presence, but the power
and the dominion. One day we will be free of that. Oh, won't that be glorious? One
day we'll be free from the presence of sin. That'll just be incredible.
Oh my. I know every one of us long for
that. And God has ordained the gospel as his instrument in setting
people free. The gospel is what? The power
of God unto salvation. To everyone that believes. And we know, we know from studying
scriptures, that faith is a gift. Faith is a gift. We believe because
we've been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. And the preaching
of the Gospel declares Jesus Christ to be Jehovah the Creator. Our Creator. And God's preachers,
we do not debate this truth. We do not debate who Christ is.
And like Paul the Apostle, we declare Christ to be the Son
of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead. And the preaching of the Gospel
is to declare the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of His people. God's preachers do not dishonor
our Savior by saying He tried to save His people, no. Or by saying that He tried to
redeem His people, no. The Lord Jesus Christ has saved
His people from their sins. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
redeemed His people from their sins. It's an accomplished salvation. He's a successful Savior. Oh! And our salvation is 100% in
Him. If it's not, you're not saved.
But if the believer says, He's everything I have and everything
I need. And He's all my salvation. He's
all my salvation. And we tell sinners that God
named his son Jesus, Savior, because why? He saved his people
from their sins. And God's preachers declare that
Jesus Christ by himself purged our sins. By himself. And that Jesus Christ has obtained,
now scripture talks about Christ, he's obtained eternal redemption.
That's past tense. He's already done. He's obtained a paternal redemption
for His people. That God's children were sanctified
and perfected when Christ offered His body as a sacrifice for our
sins. Now again, we don't believe in
sinless perfection. We are sinners here. We are a
bunch of saved sinners, aren't we? But praise God, the penalty
for our sins is paid for. All paid for. God's law is satisfied. His justice is satisfied. My,
and we're clothed in this perfect spotless righteousness. And the
preaching of the gospel is declared that Jesus Christ has risen from
the dead. And he's right now seated on his throne in heaven
as our perfect surety. He's right there right now. He's
not waiting to reign. He's reigning right now. Right
now. He's the only mediator between
God and men. He's our Great High Priest who
represents every single one of His blood-bought children right
now at the Father's throne. He's our risen Lord who rules
over everything. Everything in the whole universe
Everything in heaven everything in this earth He's a sovereign
ruler and God's preachers and teachers are faithful witnesses
We have the honor of declaring the glorious truth of the gospel
But it is the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit who makes
the gospel effectual in the hearts of his people It's his work.
That's why we say God can save you without you moving a muscle
Preacher can't save you Church can't save you, but Christ can
save you if he wills. It's wonderful. Remember the
leper? Lord, if you will. What did the Lord say to that
leper? I will be thou clean. Oh my. Think of that in every
believer's life. The Lord willed that we'd be
saved. That's wonderful. That comforts my heart. Is it
yours? It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. God's preachers and teachers,
again we have the honor of declaring the truth of the gospel. It's
an honor. But think of this too, we were
talking about this at breakfast. It's an honor for you all to
hear the gospel too. It's a privilege. But not everybody gets to hear
it. Not everybody gets to hear it. And praise God. if He's made
it effectual to you. The Holy Spirit of God raises
His elect from the state of spiritual deadness. And the Holy Spirit
of God guides His elect into all truth. And the Holy Spirit
of God does not speak of Himself, but He speaks of Christ. He points
us right to Christ. Right there. Aren't you thankful,
you who are redeemed, that God didn't leave you where you were? What a great God we have. Gracious
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the wonderful scripture we
looked at today, knowing that the work of our sanctification
is by the Holy Spirit of God, that we're set apart by Him.
Oh Lord, made holy in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a great, precious
truth. We love Thee and we praise Thee.
We pray You be glorified, Lord Jesus, through the preaching
of Your Word and through the singing that we're doing. And
we love you, we who are redeemed love you because you first loved
us. In Jesus' name, amen.