Bill, good evening. If you would
open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 2. It's so good to be back and
see all of you. We had such a good time on vacation. We had to rip ourselves off palm
trees and make ourselves get in the car and come back home,
but it was a great week. Alright, Genesis chapter 2. We'll
just read the first three verses. These will serve as our text
this evening. And thus the heavens and the
earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the
seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested
on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God
blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he had rested
from all his work which God created and made. Shawn, you come lead
us in our singing, if you would. If you would turn to song number
477 at Calvary. And in my book, in the third
verse, it has been something has been marked out. And what
I see says now I owe to Jesus everything. And so that's what
we're going to say. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He
died on Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty at Calvary. By God's word at last my sin
I learned, Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned, Till my
guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty at Calvary. Now I owe to Jesus everything. Now I gladly own him as my King. Now my raptured soul can only
sing of Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty at Calvary. O the love that drew salvation's
plan, O the grace that brought it down to man, O the mighty
gulf that God did span at Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free, Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul
found liberty at Calvary. Okay, and now if you would, turn
to Psalm 201. He is able to deliver. "'Tis the grandest theme through
the ages rung, "'Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue, "'Tis
the grandest theme that the world, our song, our God, is able to
deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. "'Tis the grandest theme in the
earth or main "'Tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain "'Tis
the grandest theme, tell the world again "'Our God is able
to deliver thee "'He is able to deliver thee "'He is able
to deliver thee Though by sin oppressed, go to Him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. Tis the grandest theme, let the
tidings roll To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul Look to God
in faith, He will make thee whole Our God is able to deliver thee
He is able to deliver thee ? He is able to deliver thee ? Though
by sin oppressed go to him for rest ? Our God is able to deliver
thee Let's open our Bibles together to Hebrews chapter three. Hebrews chapter three, we'll begin reading in verse
15, read down through verse 11 of chapter four. Hebrews three,
beginning in verse 15. While it is said, today, if you
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke, albeit not all that
came out of Egypt by Moses, But with whom was he grieved 40 years?
Was it not with them that had sinned? Those who, the sin he's
talking about there is a sin of unbelief, did not believe
that God could give them the land he had promised to give
them. Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell
in the wilderness? And whom swear he that they should
not enter into his rest, but them that believed not? So we
see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Let us
therefore fear. lest a promise being left to
us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come
short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well
as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed
do enter into rest. As he said, as I have sworn in
my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world, For he spake in
a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did
rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place
again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it
remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it
was first preached enter not in because of unbelief. Again,
he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, today, after so long
a time, as it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts. For if Jesus, and that's talking
about Joshua, Joshua, the successor of Moses, if Joshua had given
them rest when he led them into the promised land, then would
he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that has entered
into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did
from his. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. Thank God for his word. Let's
bow together in prayer. Our Father, oh, how we thank
you that out of your goodness and mercy to your people that
you've given us another opportunity to meet together and to worship
your precious name. to sing your praises, to read
your word, to come before you together in prayer, to be able
to come before the throne of grace, accepted in Christ our
Savior. Father, how thankful we are for
this blessed privilege. And Father, I beg of you this
evening that you would not leave us alone, that you'd send your
spirit upon us and give us an hour of true worship. If you
don't meet with us, we've met in vain. Father, we beg of you
to meet with us. You promised that where two or
three are gathered together in your name, there you'd be in
the midst of them. Father, we pray you'd meet with
us tonight. Enable me to preach your word, to rightly divide
the word of truth, to clearly and simply proclaim Christ our
Savior. And Father, give each of us a
heart that would believe, rest in Christ our Savior. Enable
us to quit all of our motions of religion and trying to earn
favor with thee, let us rest in Christ who's already finished
the work. Father, we pray that you'd be with those who can't
be with us, those who are sick and hurting, those who are in
deep waters of many different difficult trials that so many
are going through right now. Father, we pray you'd be with
them. We pray for your hand of healing, your comforting presence
as you comfort their hearts. Father, that you would deliver. We know you're able to deliver
as we just sung. Father, we pray that you would
deliver your people. Now all these things we ask in
that name which is above every name, the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner
condemned unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful,
and my soul How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me. For me it was in the garden He
prayed, not my will but Thine. He had no tears for His own griefs,
but sweat drops of blood for mine. How marvelous, how wonderful,
And my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful,
Is my Savior's love for me! In pity angels beheld Him, To comfort him in the sorrows
he bore for my soul that night. How marvelous, how wonderful,
and my song shall How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me. He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. How marvelous, how wonderful,
and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me! When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see, Will be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me How marvelous, how wonderful, and
my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me. All right, if you would, now
let's open our Bibles again to Genesis chapter two. I titled the message this evening,
The Sanctification of God's Elect. I had been thinking about this
passage while I was on vacation, thinking that I'd bring a message
on rest. And as I read this passage and
read passages related to it, It really struck me the tie that
there is between sanctification, holiness, and rest. And that's
what I want us to see this evening. Now, to briefly review chapter
one, all of God's salvation, the salvation that he purposed,
that he purchased to its ultimate glorification is all seen in
picture in those first six days of creation. Now the creation
story, how God created the heavens and the earth, that's a true
story. That's exactly how everything came to be, God created. None
of it evolved, none of it is changed. It was all created in
six days by God, by the word of his power. He spoke it into
existence from nothing. But that creation story, while
it is a true story now, is primarily given to us, like all the rest
of the scriptures, as a picture of Christ. Moses, our Lord said,
wrote of me, and he began in Genesis chapter one. The creation
story is primarily given to us as a picture of how God saves
his elect. God has an elect people that
he chose out of Adam's race. He divided them out of Adam's
fallen race. God's elect are given life and
light in Christ. God said, let there be light.
Their redemption is bought by the blood of Christ alone. Their
life is in Christ alone. He's the only source of life.
And that life, that spiritual life, God gives to his people.
He gives to them in the new birth and uses the seed of the word
of God to do it. Now, the nature of life is in
the seed. An apple tree produces apples.
The seed that God uses to give spiritual life to his people
is the word of God. And it produces a people holy
and righteous, just like from the word of God. Their nature
comes from the seed from which they're born. And Lord Jesus
Christ came and he accomplished the salvation of his people.
And after he did, he ascended back on high, where to this very
day, he sits on the throne of God, ruling as the high priest
mediator of his people. And there he'll sit, waiting
till his enemies be made his footstool. Until that day appointed
of the Father comes, He will come and gather His people to
Himself, that where He is, they may be also. And in that day,
God's elect are gonna be made perfect, body and soul, just
like our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the story, Genesis chapter
one. And now in chapter two, after
the six days of creation, salvation is complete. God's elect, His
people are sanctified. They're made holy. And this is
what I told you I wanted us to see tonight, how sanctification
and spiritual rest go hand in hand. If God has made you holy,
you rest in Christ. And that's what we see beginning
here in our text. Let's read it again. Genesis
chapter two. Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day,
God ended his work, which he had made, And he rested on the
seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed
the seventh day and he sanctified it because that in it he rested
from all his work which God created and made. Now God rested on the
seventh day. And you know why he rested? Because
there was nothing else to do. The work of creation was finished. God didn't rest on the seventh
day because he was tired out. He needed a day off. We just
went on vacation, and it amazes me every year we go on vacation.
I get down, we normally go to the beach. I get down there on
the beach, and I realize, oh my goodness, I'm tired. I need a vacation. That's not
God. No, he rested because the work
was done. It was all finished, and God
looked at it all. It was finished. And he said, it's very good,
very good. Now remember, that creation story,
it's a true story. But that's given to us as a picture
of God saving His people from their sin. God rested from creating
things because there's nothing else to create. It was all finished.
Well, the same thing is true of salvation. Salvation is finished
too. Our Savior told us so from the
cross before He gave up the ghost when He shouted, it's finished.
You know why He said it's finished? There's nothing left to do. He
did it all. God's elect are forgiven because
the blood of Christ paid for their sin. They're justified.
That means they have no more sin. They have no more sin because
the blood of Christ took it away. And they're also sanctified.
Sanctified, they're made holy. They're given a holy nature in
the new birth. That's sanctified. And hear the
word sanctified here. God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it. All through Scripture, I can't
tell you how many hundreds of times this word sanctifies is
used in Scripture, but it always means pretty much the same thing.
It means to set apart. It means to be set apart for
holy use. It means to be holy, and it means
to make holy. Those meanings roughly are the
meaning of every single time the word sanctify is used in
Scripture. And when God sanctifies something,
He takes something that's common. something that's ordinary, and
he sets it apart. He sets it apart for holy use.
He sets it apart for his use. He sets it apart and makes it
holy. That's the seventh day. God sanctified
the seventh day. Now there's nothing special about
the seventh day. Seventh day is Saturday. Nothing
more holy about Saturday than Friday or Tuesday, just like
every other day of the week. The difference is God sanctified
that day. He sanctified the seventh day and set that day apart for
holy use. God set that seventh day apart
as a picture, as a picture of Christ, of our rest in Christ. The believer rests in Christ,
just like you're supposed to rest on the Sabbath day. The
believer rests in Christ because he did it all. He didn't leave
any work for you to do. I remember being a boy. And I thought about the Ten Commandments.
I would think about how the Jews lived day to day. And of all
the Ten Commandments, the one that I thought would be the most
grievous was you can't do nothing on Saturday. I mean, as a boy
who's full of energy, you know, I just, I mean, I just, how can
I not play basketball and baseball? And how can you not go run around
and play on Sunday, on Saturday? That's the worst thing I can
imagine, you know? But you know, human nature feels
that way about this rest in Christ. I've got to work. I want to work. I want to contribute something
to my salvation in order to be sanctified. We must rest. We must rest in Christ. Christ completed the law. He
set the law aside so that we don't observe the Sabbath day
on Saturday. We don't have a Christian Sabbath.
That's just something people made up for whatever reason.
I'm all for resting on Saturday, but if you need to work on Saturday,
do stuff on Sunday, have at it. There's nothing wrong with that.
We rest, the believer rests in Christ. We rest on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, just like we do on
Sunday. A rest is not a physical rest. It's a rest in Christ. Now God sanctified that day.
It's a picture of Him sanctifying His people. Anything that God
sanctifies is holy. I mean, it's holy. God's not
pretending. God can't call something what
it's not. He can't call something holy when it's, well, it's really
not holy. No, when God sanctifies something,
He makes it holy. It's holy, it's perfect. When
people talk about progressive sanctification, what they mean
by that is that a person is saved. The Lord reveals himself to them.
Then they grow more and more and more and more holy. They
sin less and less and less and they grow more and more and more
holy. The things of this world hold less attraction to them,
less, less, less, and they grow more and more and more and more
holy. Now just for two seconds, think
about your own experience. You don't need me to tell you
that's a lie. That is not true. There's no
such thing. Now a believer can and should
grow in grace, but don't confuse growing in grace with growing
more holy. A believer should grow in grace,
but we can't become more holy. There's not degrees of holiness.
You're either perfect or imperfect. There's no in between. So when
God sanctifies his people, he makes them holy. I mean, actually
holy, Right now, you do not have to wait to appear in glory to
be holy. If God hasn't sanctified you,
God has saved you, you're holy. Right now, where you sit, if
you believe Christ, you're as holy as you ever will be. You'll
never be more holy. Your body will, but you won't
be. The spirit, the new man won't be. You're as holy as you ever
will be, because God sanctified you. Now, sanctification, like
I said, it's mentioned hundreds of times in scripture, that tells
me it's an important subject, but it's often misunderstood.
Often, even by great writers. I mean, some of the things I
read about this matter of sanctification, crawl your hair. It's often misunderstood,
and I don't want that. I want us to be taught what God's
word has to say about this matter of sanctification. I have three
points that I believe will help us understand this matter of
sanctification. And if the Lord show us what
it is, what this truly means, where it's found, how it's had,
and enable us to believe it, every last one of us will leave
here tonight resting in peace. And that's what I want for peace
of heart. And number one, how is a sinner sanctified? What
does the Bible say? How is a sinner made holy? Well,
it's by God. Now remember the picture we're
looking at here. The world was created by God without any help
from man whatsoever. Right? Well, that's a picture
of salvation in Christ. Sinners are saved and made holy
by the work of God, by the work of God, by the creating power
of God without man's input, without man's help. God's elect are made
holy by the work of the whole Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. God's elect are made holy, first
of all, by the work of the Father in election. Ephesians 1, verse
4, says that the father chose a people before the foundation
of the world that they should be holy, not because they were
already old because they weren't. He chose them that they should
be holy. He chose them and he set them apart to make them holy. If you look over to Exodus chapter
31, the lots of scriptures that we could
look at on this and I, uh, I have less notes. I would tell you
I'm going to preach less time than I normally do. I have less
notes than I normally do, but I want us to look at a few scriptures
here. So you see this for yourself from God's word. Exodus 31 verse
12 and the Lord spake unto Moses saying, speak thou also unto
the children of Israel saying, verily my Sabbaths, these Sabbath
days of rest you shall keep. For it's a sign between me and
you. God told him it's a picture. It never was something that was
a saving value to it. It's a sign, it's a picture between
me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the
Lord that doth sanctify you. Now who sanctifies God's people?
The Lord said, I do it. He does the sanctifying. He's
the one that makes them holy. And just so we're crystal clear
about this, this work of sanctification, making you holy, is the work
of God. And our works, not only do they
not enter into it, you better not try to add them, because
look what he says in verse 14. You should keep the Sabbath,
therefore, for it's holy unto you. Everyone that defileth it
shall surely be put to death. For whosoever doeth any work
therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six
days may work be done, but in the seventh, that's a Sabbath
of rest, holy to the Lord. Whosoever doeth any work in the
Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Now this is
the picture that God's given us here. I've set this day apart
as a day of rest. It's a picture of Christ, how
the believer rests in Christ because he finished the work.
And if you try to add any of your works to it, to make yourself
more holy, to add to your salvation, to add to your righteousness.
If you mix in your works in this thing in any way whatsoever,
you shall surely die. The creature never adds our works
to God's works. If we do, it will defile it every
time, because that's the only thing we can do. You'll surely
die because your works are sinful. Sinful. Sinful works can only
give us death. They can't make us holy. They
can't give us life. They can only give us death.
Because the wages, the just deserts of sin is death. So the only way that we can be
holy is by resting. Resting in God's work that he
made his people holy. And just so we all understand,
this is pictured in the seventh day of creation, look at verse
16. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath,
to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual
covenant, It's a sign, it's a picture between me and the children of
Israel forever. Four, here's where all this started. In six days, the Lord made heaven
and earth, and on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed. So we're sanctified by the work
of the Father in election. He called out, chose a people,
separated them, called them out, and he's the one who made them
holy. He called them holy, he makes
them holy. Second, God's elect are sanctified. They're made
holy in Christ, in the work of God the Son. We're sanctified,
first of all, through union with Christ. Look over at the book
of Hebrews again, this time chapter two, Hebrews chapter two. God's
elect are sanctified. They're made holy through union
with Christ. Christ personally is our sanctification. Just like everything else regarding
salvation is sanctification, I think it's a person. For he is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He personally
is our sanctification, so God's people are sanctified by being
joined to him, through union with him. Hebrews 2 verse 10. For it became him, for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. The Lord Jesus Christ worked
out a perfect righteousness. Through his sufferings, he made
his people perfect and sinless. For both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ is holy. That's his nature. His nature
is holy. And as a man, he lived a holy
life. perfect life as the representative of his people. And he's one with
his people. Well, his people are joined to
him. They are what he is, just like the body is joined to the
head. The God's people joined to Christ are everything that
he is through union with him. They're sanctified and holy because
Christ is holy through union with Christ. Now look over again,
Hebrews chapter 10. Second, God's elect are sanctified.
by the blood of Christ's sacrifice. It's his blood that put away
the sin of his people. Hebrews 10, verse 10. By the
witch will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Verse 14, for by one offering,
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now those
two verses are too clear to be misunderstood, aren't they? Where
do our works enter in that? Any place whatsoever. No place. Christ sanctified his people
by his sacrifice and all it took was one. And they're sanctified
forever. The blood of Christ took the
sin of his people away. It blotted out and made them
holy. Now Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1
verse 16, it's written, be ye holy for I am holy. Now that scripture does not Contradict
the other two scriptures that we read here that doesn't mean
that you can be holy you make yourself only by things that
you do If that were true If it were true that God's Word told
you you do this this and this do a B and C and you'll be holy
All that would be is bondage to the law wouldn't that just
be giving you a brand new law to be bondage to the law and So we can't make ourselves holy
by what we do. So what is Peter talking about
here? Be ye holy for I am holy. The only way we can be holy is
by being in Christ, by being joined to him because he's holy.
The only way we can be holy is being washed in the blood of
Christ and trusting him to be everything that we need. And
here's how you can tell your trust in Christ for everything
you need. You don't feel compelled to add your work to his to earn
your salvation. That's being holy. Being holy
is not going around acting weird, you know, like weird compared
to the rest of the human population. It's being weird compared to
the rest of the human population this way. It's trusting Christ. It's trusting Christ. And only
God can give you the faith to do it. Now look over a few pages
of 1 Peter chapter 1. Here's the third thing. God's
elect or sanctified. by the operation of God the Holy
Spirit. 1 Peter 1, verse 2, Peter here
is writing to believers, he calls them strangers, scattered throughout
all the world, and he says they're elect, according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, and obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Now what is this
that Peter here is talking about, sanctification of the Spirit,
and sprinkling of the blood of Christ? Well, I'll tell you what
he's talking about. He's talking about the new birth.
This is the operation, the Holy Spirit moving and giving new
life to his people in the new birth. Peter here talks about
it as applying the blood, just like the Passover, they dipped
the hyssop and sprinkled the blood, and when they would purify
the various pieces of furniture and things that they would use
in the tabernacle, they'd sprinkle it with blood, symbolizing that
they were purifying it. When the Holy Spirit sprinkles,
applies the blood of Christ to the hearts of his people, he's
giving them a new nature. This is the birth of a new man,
a new holy nature, a new holy man that never existed before. It's a brand new man, a brand
new nature born from a brand new seed. And that new nature
is holy and it cannot sin. It's sanctified, it's holy. That's
its nature so that it cannot sin. Now don't confuse that. That doesn't mean that you're
going to suddenly somehow be perfect in this world. You've
still got the nature of flesh that you're dragging around with
you and that old man cannot change. That old man cannot do anything
holy. That old man cannot do anything
but sin because that's his nature. Just like the new man cannot
sin because that's his nature and those two are going to war.
They're just going to war against each other. You're going to have
that civil war going on inside you until the day God lays that
flesh in the ground. But it's the new man who's holy,
who's perfect, created by God the Holy Spirit, who's going
to finally leave this clay prison and go be with the Lord. And
he's going to be able to walk right in, accepted just as he
is, unchanged, because he's perfect. That's the way God made him,
holy. He cannot sin. I'll show you that if you look
in 1 John 3. That new man, he's holy, he cannot
sin, because that's the nature that God gave him. Verse nine, verse John three,
whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed
remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he's born of God. He cannot sin because he's received
a sanctified, holy nature from the Holy Spirit. So the believer
is sanctified by God, by the work of God the Father, choosing
a common, ordinary sinner, just out of Adam's fallen race, just
like any other common, ordinary sinner, with this difference.
God set His affection on them, chose them, separated them, and
made them holy for His use. The believer has been sanctified
by the blood of Christ, washing them from their sin. They're
sanctified through union with Christ, and they're sanctified
in nature, in the nature of the Holy Spirit gives them in the
new birth. We're sanctified by God, by the
work of God. All right, second, how does a
person, how does a sinner, man or woman, just like you and me,
how do we sanctify ourselves? At least 10 times in scripture,
the scripture says, sanctify yourselves. If you want to, you
don't have to, but look at Leviticus chapter 20. Here's a time that
this phrase is used in scripture, sanctify yourselves. Leviticus chapter 20, verse seven. Sanctify yourselves therefore
and be ye holy for I am the Lord your God. Now why? Would the Lord tell his people
here to sanctify themselves and make yourself holy? Why? How
would he say that? We just looked at, this is what
scripture says. God sanctifies his people. God
makes them holy. It's the work of the father,
the son, the Holy Spirit. So how can we sanctify ourselves? If God's the one who sanctifies,
if that's the work of God. Well, I believe I can help us
by showing us what scripture says here. The short answer is
this, we sanctify ourselves by trusting Christ, by trusting
Him, and never trusting any of our works. Now here's where sanctification
and rest are inseparably tied together. The believer is sanctified
by resting, by resting in Christ. We rest because Christ already
has done everything it takes to save our sorry souls. He's
already done the work. So we rest. He didn't leave us
anything to do. That's why we rest. Look at Hebrews
chapter four. I do want you to turn to this
one. This is the passage that we read to open the service. And this is very important commentary
in this matter of the Sabbath rest and sanctification. We rest because Christ the Savior
left no work for us to do. Hebrews chapter four, verse three.
And it's a matter of believing Christ. He says in verse three,
for we, which have believed do enter into rest as, as he said,
as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world,
free spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,
God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this
place again, if they shall enter into my rest, Seeing therefore,
it remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it
was first preached entered not in because of unbelief." Now
those who did not believe, they did not believe that God could
give them the land. God delivered them from Egypt
with a mighty hand. After all those plagues and God
delivered them from the Red Sea, They walked through the Red Sea
on dry ground, with walls of water all around them, stacking
up as high as they could see, and they walked through on dry
ground. And those bunch of slaves, with no ability whatsoever to
defend themselves, watched the mightiest army in the world bearing
down on that dry ground, coming after them, with the intent to
destroy every last one of them. And there they stood, completely
defenseless. And God closed the water and
killed every last one of them. And I would just imagine what
they did is on that shore, they started picking up spears and
swords and different things. And they carried those things
with them till they came to the promised land. That's how their
army was very first ever armored or whatever, however you call
that, you know. God delivered them. After all that, he fed
them. He gave them water from the rock.
And he brought them to the edge of the promised land. And they
said, we're not, nope, nope, nope. I'm not going in. This
is the land of giants. I'm not going in there. They're
going to kill every last one of us. Yeah, God delivered us from Egypt,
but I don't believe he can give us this land. Unbelief. And God said, all right, you
won't enter into this rest, I promised you. And everybody, what, 20
years up and older? died in the wilderness. You know
why? Unbelief. Except for two, Caleb
and Joshua. They said, boys, let's go take
the land. God's promising. And they said, nope, Caleb and
Joshua. And all those 20 years old and
under entered the promised land. They entered into that land of
rest because they believed. This is a picture of salvation.
If you believe Christ, you'll enter into his rest. That salvation
is believing Him. But if you say, nope, no, I don't
believe He can save me by Himself. I got to do this, that or the
other. You won't enter into His rest. That's what that's a picture
of. Now read on, verse seven. Again, He limiteth a certain
day, saying in David, today, today, right now, today's the
day of salvation. After so long a time, as it is
said, today, if you'll hear His voice, harden not your hearts,
For if Jesus, and that's Joshua, if Joshua had given them rest,
when Joshua took them in finally into the promised land, if that
was the rest that God was talking about, he wouldn't have kept
talking about another rest. That's what he's saying. The
rest is not a place. It's not a place on earth. It's
not Palestine. If Joshua had given them rest,
then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that
has entered into his rest, into the rest of God, into the rest
of Christ. He also has ceased from his own
works as God did from his. It goes back to the creation
again. God rested on the seventh day. He rested from his work
because creation was finished. There wasn't anything else to
do. God's people rest in Christ the very same way. We rest in
Christ because there's nothing left to do. He did it all. He paid it all. Believers rest
from trying to earn our salvation because Christ already earned
it. He already purchased it with his own precious blood. And that's
how we sanctify ourselves is by faith, by believing that Christ
is all I need and resting in him. Now we got to go back to
that old man. This old man is still part of
this equation on this earth. And I can tell you what that
old man is going to do with this matter of resting in Christ. He's going
to fight against it with all he's got. And he's going to constantly
be trying to bring you back into captivity of the law. And listen,
he's a fierce, fierce opponent. He'll never quit. And he's sly. He's sly. He'll say, okay, I
understand. I understand you believe grace.
I understand that. And that's fine. You can believe
in God's grace. You can believe in Christ. But you also got to
do fill in the blank, whatever religious thing that floats your
boat. That's trying to bring you back into captivity to the
law. So look what God tells us here, verse 11. Let us labor,
therefore, to enter into that rest, into his rest, the rest
of Christ rested, because the work was finished. Enter into
his rest, and you rest too, because he finished the work. Let us
labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall,
after the same example, of unbelief. Here's what the writer is telling
us. The believer has to constantly work to quit working. That's
what he's saying. You've got to constantly work
and not trust in the things that you do. You've got to constantly
work and not think, oh God's going to be more happy with me
than somebody else because look what I do. No. We've got to constantly
quit our works of the law. We've got to quit trying to please
the Father by what we do. and rest in Christ. That's how
we're going to be accepted. That's how the Father's pleased.
We cannot add our works to Christ's rest. Can't do it. That's how
the believer sanctifies himself. It's just by trusting Christ,
by believing Him. Look over a few pages of Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews 13, verse 12. Wherefore Jesus also, that he
might sanctify the people. So here's Christ's sacrifice.
He sanctified the people with his own blood, the blood of his
sacrifice. He suffered without the gate.
You know why he suffered without the gate? Because he'd been made
sin for his people. He suffered without the gate.
And by that sacrifice, he put that sin away and sanctified
his people. So verse 13, let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. Christ
suffered as a sacrifice to put away the sin of his people, and
by that sacrifice, he made them holy. Now, let's go to God. Let's go to God pleading the
blood of Christ. Don't plead Christ's blood plus
your works, plus your merit, but no, let's go to God pleading
only the blood of Christ. That's how the believer sanctifies
himself. It's by trusting that the blood of Christ was all it
took for God to forgive me. We sanctify ourselves by doing
nothing. We sanctify ourselves by doing
nothing to make ourselves holy. Now that's the opposite of human
logic. But I showed you that's what God's Word said, didn't
it? Isn't God's Word a whole lot better? A whole lot more
peaceful? A whole lot more restful? That's how the believer sanctifies
himself, by doing nothing. And trust Christ. All right,
here's the third thing. 1 Peter chapter 3. How does the believer sanctify
God? That seems like a shocking statement,
to sanctify God, but this is what scripture says, 1 Peter
3, verse 15. But sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that's in you with meekness
and fear. Now how can we sanctify God?
God's already holy. I mean, it's his essential nature.
He's holy. We can't do something to make
God holy. God is the one who makes us sinners
holy. So it's obvious we can't do something
to change God's nature in any way. And even if we could, God
don't need us to make him holy. He already is holy. So what is
Peter talking about here? Well, he says, sanctify the Lord
God. How can we? I mean, Scripture tells us, do
it, so I want to do it, don't you? Sanctify the Lord God in
our hearts. How do we do that? Well, the
answer is by faith. It's by trusting Christ. You
see how this thing of sanctification and rest, trust, it all goes
together. Peter says, sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts, in your hearts, in your heart. Now, that's what
you truly believe. We sanctify God by trusting in
our that Christ is all it takes to save me. That glorifies God. That sets God apart as the only
God and Savior that there is. We say that God is holy by trusting
that he's going to accept me in Christ. We say God's holy
when I say Christ's obedience is the only obedience I want.
His sacrifice is the only sacrifice that I want. God is holy when
He saves His people. He never quits being holy. He
doesn't just decide, well, you know, I love my people, I'm gonna
ignore their sin. No, God's holy. And He made it
so that He's holy and right to forgive the sin of His people.
So if anybody ever asks you, what's your hope of salvation?
Peter tells us here, you know what a good answer is? Here's
my hope of salvation. God's holy. God is holy, that's
my hope of salvation. Now God's never gonna accept
my sinful works, but he's gonna accept Christ. Only he'll accept
Christ. God will accept what he's provided.
God has provided all of my salvation in Christ. And I trust him. I trust him. God would be unholy
to sacrifice his son for my sin and then damn me too. My hope
of salvation is that God's holy. that he provided the sacrifice
that'll put away my sin, and that lets me rest. Rest in Christ. See, our Sabbath rest is not
a day, it's a person. It's a person. And I'll tell
you when we'll finally rest from trying to earn a righteousness
or make God happy with us, when the Lord finally makes us realize
and believe this, Christ already finished all the work of salvation. And there's no more work left
for me to do. So I just rest in Christ. I just
rest in Christ. That's our sanctification. That's
our holiness. It's resting in Christ. I don't know if this is a good
illustration or not, but I just thought of it, so I'm going to
say it. When I'm at home, I find it hard
to rest. I do. I find it hard to rest.
Always something to do or something to think about. I work pretty
much out of home, so it's hard for me to rest in my workplace.
You rest out there at that refinery much? I mean, it's just hard
to rest. It's always something to do. Last week, we arrived at the
beach. And I'm telling you what, I immediately
rested. If I'm all wrapped up in religion,
I'm going to find it real difficult to rest. Oh, but if I find myself
in Christ, that's when I'll rest. That's what I'm trying to say.
God give us the faith to believe. All right, let's bow together.
Our Father, how we thank you for your word. Father, I pray
that you'd take it with all of our weakness and stumbling and
bumbling And Father, bless your word to your glory. Bless your
word and apply it to our hearts, that each heart here this evening
might leave here enjoying complete rest in Christ our Savior, who's
finished the work of salvation for all of your people, for your
glory, for your glory. Father, bless us, we pray. It's
in Christ's name we pray, ask this great blessing. All right,
Shawn. Okay, if you would, turn to song
number 267 and stand as we sing, All Things Work Out For Good. All things work out for good,
we know, such is God's great design. He orders all our steps
below, for purposes divine, for purposes divine. This is the faith that keeps
me still, no matter what the test, and lets me glory in His
will, for well I know tis best, for well I know tis best. So now the future holds no fear
God guards the work begun And mortals are immortal here Until
their work is done Until their work is done Someday the path
He chose for me will all be understood. In heaven's clearer light I'll
see all things worked out for good. All things worked out for
good.