Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to the chapter that we read,
John chapter 17, and reading for our text, verse 17. Sanctify them through thy truth,
thy word is truth. John 17 and verse 17. This chapter is a very precious
chapter, really. In one sense, this should be
termed the Lord's Prayer. It is the prayer of the Lord
for his people, a wonderful illustration of his intercession for them
in heaven. We know that he appears in the
presence of God for us, and he is our advocate with the Father. And here in this prayer, he is
making intercession for his people. He is speaking to his father,
he is praying for them here. And these petitions, our text
is one of the petitions, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word
is truth. But throughout the prayer here,
there are many petitions for his people, there are statements
what he has done for them, but how clearly he says in verse
9, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them, which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And this prayer then is for his
people. You might say for specifically
in the first place, those that were given him, the disciples. But then he says in verse 20,
neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word. And so as we go through these
centuries and we find those that have been brought to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ through the word, of others that have
been called, that in their turn have believed through the word
of others. And this has been the Lord's
method and the Lord's way. Go ye out into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned. Here in our text, the Lord prays
that the people of God might be sanctified through thy truth,
through the Father's truth. And then he clarifies that thy
word is truth. Sanctify them through thy truth,
thy word is truth. What did he mean? What is he
asking? the Father to do to his people,
for his people? What is he asking that should
be done through the truth, through the Word of God, which is the
truth? Really, sanctification, to sanctify,
means to set apart for a holy use. The first time we read of
something being sanctified or set about for our holy use, it's
good, it's a good principle to always go back to the first time
that something is mentioned in the Word of God. In the first
few chapters in the Word of God, in Genesis, We have many foundation
truths that you can trace that will run right the way through
the Word of God. And it's good to, when we come
across a truth, whether to preach or to study it, that we go back
to where it is first mentioned and then trace it through as
it's opened up through the word. You know, even in a literal sense,
if we were to look at the young people, maybe, say, someone going
to university and they're doing their mathematics or something
like that. Well, if you trace it right back
and then trace it right back to the first years of primary
school, And they're doing these simple numbers and adding up. Well, they needed to begin there.
And it's built on as it goes through year upon year. And it
is the same with the scriptures. They're simply the truths are
set forth and then opened out much more later on. A child at
first has no idea what kind of depth that there shall be in
their simple maths later on or in their English or whatever
they're studying. And so it is with the things
of God but growing grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. And so we read concerning sanctifying
in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 3. We read that, When the heavens
and the earth were finished, or the host of them, 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 then
verse 3, And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,
because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created
and made. In other words, that one day
in seven, that seventh day, was set apart for a holy use. You may say that that has never
been rescinded, it has never been taken away. It is for the
people of God that they have six days to labour and to do
all their work, but the seventh is for the Lord thy God, established
in the moral law at Mount Sinai and established by the Lord in
rising from the dead on the first day of the week and the disciples
meeting regularly on that time. He appeared first to them. Thomas
wasn't there, but Thomas had to wait for another first day
of the week when they were gathered together before he saw the Lord. And so we have a day that is
set apart, a day that instead of being used for earthly pleasures
and for labours, for earning our daily bread, it is for the
worship of God and for the good of our souls and for the gathering
together in his name and to worship the Lord. So we have this very
first use and idea of sanctification. And really when we apply that
right through and apply it even to the text where we are speaking
from now, It is a very good foundation and an illustration of what it
means when the Lord says of his people, so it's not a day, but
it is a people that the Lord then says and prays to his Father,
sanctify them through the truth, set them apart for a holy use. We have no further mentions of
any sanctifying or setting apart in that way until we then come
to the book of Exodus and we read of the children of Israel
and how that the Lord saved them and delivered them out of Egypt
and that when the destroying angel went through the land and
he destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, except for those of
the children of Israel that sheltered beneath the blood. When I see
the blood of the Passover blood, I will pass over you." The blood
was put on the doorposts and upon the Lentil of the houses
which they were in, the blood of the lamb that was slain, the
Paschal Lamb. And God's promise was that when
he saw that blood he wouldn't destroy those sheltering beneath
it. A beautiful time of those that
shelter beneath the blood of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
the true Paschal Lamb, the great anti-time. Well, what is said
after that ordinance and the deliverance of the firstborn,
it was said that the Lord then would have the firstborn as to
be his people, that they would be set apart and that they would
be sanctified unto the Lord and that they would be for him. Of course they weren't to be
sacrificed like the beasts of the earth. In fact the beasts were to be
used as a sacrifice to sanctify and make atonement for that firstborn. There's another way it was done
as well. The number of the Levites was
to be taken and the number of the firstborn of the children
of Israel and they were to match up one Levite for one firstborn
of the other tribes. And those Levites, they did not
have any inheritance, any land, they were solely to serve the
Lord. And where the numbers didn't
match up, which at the first, you can read it in Numbers chapter
three, they didn't, then there was to be five shekels according
to the measure of the sanctuary paid as a ransom money for those
children of Israel. That's where we get very clearly
particular redemption one for one, exactly the firstborn redeemed
by the Levites. So you read that The Lord then
set apart those that were the firstborn for himself and sanctified
them and that they were to be the Lords. And so he says that
thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix
and Every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast, and
the males, shall be the Lord's. And every firstling of an ass,
verse 13, thou shalt redeem with a lamb. And if thou wilt not
redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck. And all the firstborn
of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. And they were then
to be redeemed and that they were to be sanctified, set apart
for the Lord. Verse 2, sanctify unto me all
the firstborn. Whatsoever openeth the womb among
the children of Israel, both of man and a beast, it is mine. So the idea of setting apart
is very clearly shown us there. We have that in the context as
well because just a few verses on, the Lord says in verse 19,
John chapter 17 verse 19, for their sakes I sanctify myself
that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Our Lord was
sanctified and sent into the world. He reproves the Scribes
and the Pharisees at one time because they blasphemed and they
called him the Prince of Devils. And the Lord said that, callest
thou him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world that
be as he bar. And what a solemn thing that
Man should so speak in that way of the holy, pure, spotless Son
of God. So our Lord was set apart for
this purpose as the Lamb of God, a Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world in the purposes of God, that this was to be his
lot, his work, his part in the redemption of the people of God,
the people of God chosen by the Father, given to the Son to redeem
and quickened by the Holy Spirit into life. And so he wouldn't
think in that sense of the word sanctify that it has anything
to do with making holy in a sense of that which was unclean. Our
Lord was a spotless lamb of God. There was no need for him to
be sanctified in a sense to be cleansed and to be washed and
to to be made holy. So the idea of those, these illustrations
first are spoken of as a separating unto the Lord and indeed the
whole of the children of Israel They were separated from Egypt
and separated of all nations of the earth to be a people,
a peculiar people unto the Lord to serve him and to have his
laws and to obey him. They are a typical people of
the spiritual people of God in every nation, kindred and tongue
today. But there is then another aspect
that is so necessary because that we are sinners. And that
is when we think of sanctifying, it is to take something that
is unholy and unclean and to make it clean and make it fit
for the work that is to be done by that work. And the context,
again, is very clear that this is what is intended, because
the Lord speaks of his people, that they are in the world, but
they are not of the world. And he says that he prays not
that they would be taken out of the world, but that thou wouldest
keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. And so this is the context of
our text, sanctify them through the truth, not only separate
them from the world, but they themselves are sinners, they
themselves are evil by nature, and they are to be made of use. to the Lord. And he says in verse
18, immediately after our text, as thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And they
are to be used, they are to have those, in verse 20, which shall
believe on me through their word. And so they have got to be made
right and fit and useful for that purpose. So it is not just
sanctified and set apart, it is set apart for a holy use. And therefore that which is used
for a holy use must be holy as well. And we have in John, be
ye holy for I and holy, sanctified and made meat for the Master's
use, ready for the Master's use, which we are not by nature at
all. Well, I want to look at these
points then in more detail, and so I want to I speak this evening
with the Lord's help from just two points, and we have briefly
covered part of each of them, but we want to go into a bit
more detail. So the first point is the need
of sanctification. Why is there a need of it? Why does the Lord pray, sanctify
them through thy truth, thy word is truth? And the second is the
means of sanctification, which we are told in our text, sanctify
them through thy truth. And that means is clearly identified
here as being the word of God. Thy word is truth. So these two points to look at
the Lord's help and blessing. Firstly then, the need of sanctification. Where we must begin is the condition
that we ourselves are in. So unlike the Lord Jesus Christ
that's spotless and holy, without blemish and undefiled, we come
into this world and we are all defiled by sin. So different
from the Lord, so greatly fallen. And really, if you're listening
tonight and you don't believe that, you don't realise that,
than it is because the Lord has not as yet opened your eyes. The more the Lord gives life
and opens our eyes, and as we go through life's journey, we
realize that the word of God is true what it says about us,
that all we like sheep have gone astray, that our hearts are deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? Well,
it isn't the unregenerate that know it, it's the regenerate,
it's the called, it's those that are chosen, those that know the
work of God in their hearts, they know what their hearts are
like. That's why we have in Romans
7, the apostle saying that the good that he would, he does not,
the evil that he would not, that he does. And then saying what
his feelings are. O wretched man that I am. A really feeling like the publican
did, beating upon his breast, God be merciful to me, a sinner. We are sinners. We come forth
from the womb speaking lies. We have a condition of warfare,
not against Satan, but against the Lord. As our hymn 76 states,
at peace with hell, with God at war, in sin's dark maze we
wander far. The condition of us by nature
renders us unfit, unfit for fellowship with God, for friendship with
Him, for union with His people, For heaven itself, we are not
fit for heaven. Our state is like it was as banished
from the Garden of Eden. We are fallen and we are fallen
from the image of God. And also we are so far from being
reconciled to God, we are enemies to God and to all goodness. The whole need of sanctification stems from this condition that
we are in, because the context of our text is praying for a
people that are in the world, and by nature, our hearts, they
love the world. We love the things that are in
it, the people that are in it. It is our element. We are fallen
as well as they are fallen. And if there is to be any usefulness,
why our Lord has prayed, he prays not that we be taken out of the
world, but that we be kept from the evil. So the sanctifying
work is to bring about a separation without a physical separation. Not going out of the world, but
still being in the world like our Lord, in the world, but not
of it, in the world and yet holy and spotless, that we will never
be. We know that sanctification is
never perfect. It is God's work in us. It is
our experience. It is not our title for heaven.
That is the precious blood of Christ and justification in believing
in his name. Sanctification, it always flows
forth From calling, joined with calling, those that are called,
those for whom Christ died, he will always sanctify. He'll always
separate in their lifetime unto himself from an ungodly world,
and he'll always work a work in their hearts so that they
are cleansed, that they are new creatures in Christ, that they
are changed, that they are renewed, and instead of enemies, they
are reconciled. And it all then is stemming from
the condition of which we are in that is so far off from God
that this work of sanctification is so vital. When we think of
the priests under the Old Testament dispensation, before ever they
could offer service, they themselves had to be sanctified, they themselves
had to be separated. You think of with Aaron, And
the high priests, they were not allowed to marry except a virgin. They were not allowed to touch
a dead body at all. They had to be really separated
and very holy. And there was the rituals that
they had to perform that would ceremonially cleanse them and
wash them and make them fit to be advocates or offer in the
priest's office for the people. They had to do that first, and
Paul in the Epistle to Hebrews, he explains how they had to offer
first for themselves and then for the people. And so it is
emphasised with those priests, they needed to be sanctified. They were not holy in themselves. They needed to be set apart for
a holy and useful purpose. The first thing, the first need
of this sanctification is because of our state and condition in
which God finds us. If we are to be used by him,
have fellowship with him, anything, it must begin at first that there
must be a change. There must be a change. We think then of the need of
sanctification is what the Lord then intends to do with his people. How is he going to use them? Say if we had a pot, an earthenware
pot or something like that in our garden, and we went out into
that garden and we saw this pot and we thought, I'm going to
use this pot. What am I going to use it for?
I think, well, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to plant
a plant in it. I'm going to get some soil and
I'm going to put it in this pot and put the plant in it. And
you could just take it as it was and just plant that plant
and just use it. But if you were to say, well,
that looks a nice waterproof pot, I need a pot inside. I need a pot to carry water perhaps
up to the bedrooms or for some function or maybe even for drinking
water in some part of the house. There was news just recently
that there was a major water leak in Kent, and many people
were without water. Well, they would have, no doubt,
tried to find as many containers as they could, find out where
there was a standpipe where someone had got water, and go and get
that water. And you'd be looking at these
vessels, what was suitable to carry water in. Well, there is
this pot, and it's set out in the rain, and it's all miry,
and it's got green slime on it. You wouldn't think of just taking
that pot and saying, well, it's waterproof, and it's got a certain
volume. I'm going to go and take that
straight away, just as it is, and put drinking water in it.
You'd say, no, I'm going to clean it first. I'm going to first
separate it from the garden. I'm going to take it out of the
garden, leave all the other pots, just take this one, And I'm going
to wash it very thoroughly and I'm going to clean it and I'm
going to make sure it is suitable for what I want to use it for.
I want to use it for drinking water, it's got to be clean for
that purpose. And so it's sanctified in two
ways. And it's sanctified in the way
that it is and with the attention that it is because of the use
that is intended. And this is what the Lord does
for his people. And in a way, there's a beautiful
token in this because if we know that we are the subject of the
sanctifying work of the Lord, we know that the Lord has a use
for us, a purpose for us. In fact, we read in the Word
of God, this people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth
my praise. We have later on in this chapter,
The Lord prays, the Father I will, in verse 24, that they also whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am. that they may behold
my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before
the foundation of the world. So the Lord has a purpose that
this people, by nature so sinful and of this world, be formed
and prepared for a world to come, to actually be with him and see
him in glory. They are to be a prepared people
for a prepared place. Hell is a prepared place for
an unprepared people. Remember that. But where the
Lord has a purpose, what the Lord is intending to do for a
person, he will separate them unto himself because that is,
they were his, thine they were, thou gavest them me. He has purchased
them at Calvary. He has loved them with an everlasting
love. His will is that they shouldn't
remain in the world, but should be separated unto himself. What does the Lord has he use
for them? He has a use for them, but not
while they are in the world. The Lord says he cannot serve
God and mammon, whosoever will be a friend of the world is an
enemy of God. Those that would be of use to
point souls unto Christ and point souls to that country and land
that is to come, he'll have them also. go out unto him without
the gate bearing his reproach. We have this set forth by Paul
in Hebrews, and it was so when the children of Israel sinned
in the matter of the golden calf at Mount Sinai. Moses pitched
the tabernacle, which was the tabernacle of congregation. It
wasn't the one that was built after Sinai. It was where they
came for judgment. And he set that without the camp.
And those that would go out unto God, they had to leave the camp.
They had to go that intervening distance and go out onto the
tabernacle. It was a very conscious showing
who is on the Lord's side. Now if we had a company of people
and it was asked them who were on the Lord's side, you just
put up your hand, it wouldn't be very clear. Yes, you would
see those that were saying, yes, I'm on the Lord's side. But if
you said, right, those who are on the Lord's side, you go right
over there, you separate right from the other people and you
stand over there, and those that are not, you stand over there,
then it would be very, very clear. That separation is very clear. And the Lord makes that separation
very clear. They are to be clearly His. And so The need of the sanctification
is so that his people are known. By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples indeed, in that ye love one another. Then
they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. They were
clearly identifying with the Lord and with his people. When
the disciples were persecuted, being let go, they went unto
their own company. And the Lord would have a people,
that not only will he have them in heaven, but here below he'd
have them gather unto him, unto him shall the gathering of the
people be. And he'll have those people clearly
gathering of those of light mind, of light teaching, that are his
people. We know that we have passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. You see the picture
of Naomi wanting to go back from the country of Moab into Bethlehem,
and she has her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, both of them
Moabitess damsels, and they both say they will go with her. But Naomi tests them. And she says, you know, if you
go with me, I can't provide you with another husband. We are
three widows. We are dependents. We have no
means of income. And all but she goes back to
her people and to her gods. But Ruth, she cleaves to Naomi. And the thing that was said and
said by Boaz that had been clearly shown him that she had left her
people, her father and her mother, and gone into a land that she
hitherto did not know. And there is a separation, a
cleaving to the people of God and a leaving. of those of her
gods of this world that I know gods and people that were not
the people of the Lord. To the need of separation was,
is very vital to be clearly identified with the Lord, separated unto
the Lord, made fit to be with the Lord. We think of the separations
in scripture. We mention the children of Israel
separated so they could worship the Lord. They couldn't worship
the Lord in Egypt amongst the Egyptians and in the presence
of their gods. And we have the separation of
Noah and all that were with him in the ark and all of those outside
of the ark perished. We have the separation of just
Lot who is vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked in
Sodom and Gomorrah. And as he went out, then the
city was destroyed. Right the way through the scripture,
we have a separating unto the Lord. And in that separation,
there is also a sanctifying because the Lord is holding that those
that are separated unto him They are given a new heart, a new
nature, new desires, new affections. So what the Lord intends for
that people is that they do serve him, they do cleave to others
that are also sanctified and serving him, and those that one
day will be with him in heaven. The context here is as well that
those that he is sanctifying and separating, he intends to
use them as ambassadors. They are going to speak on his
behalf. He is going to send them forth
into the world and they are going to lift up Christ. They are going to preach Christ.
They are going to be a vessel sanctified and meet for the Master's
use. for honour. Peter, he says of
those that are asking us of the reason of the hope that is within
us, the very first thing that we are to do is to sanctify the
Lord God in our hearts. We are to separate him about,
we might have people speaking to us in scorn and derision and
mockery and before we answer them we are to think, now don't
drink into their spirit, This God that they are deriding and
blaspheming is precious to me. He is the holy, eternal God.
He sees me. He knows what they are saying.
He knows what I am going to say. And may I speak worthy of his
holy and precious name and I be a true ambassador. We read of
the disciples that they took knowledge of them that they had
been with Jesus. There was a difference in them. They weren't the same as they
were before. We see those cases in history
like Manasseh, such a wicked, evil man, an evil king. And yet, when the Lord dealt
with him and he was taken captive, and then he sought the Lord in
his trouble and he came back and was restored to his kingdom,
And he immediately cleansed that kingdom from their idols and
set up the worship of the true and living God. And yet he had
made the streets of Jerusalem to run with blood, of innocent
blood. And he'd done great wickedness.
And yet he obtained that mercy. You have the same case with Rahab
the harlot. didn't remain in her sin. The
same with the woman at the well of Samaria. You have those like
Mary that sat at the feet of Jesus, hear his word. There are
those like the mad Gadarene that no man could cleanse at all or
able to restrain, but he cut himself with stones and he was
in the graves. When the Lord came to him, then
he was sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right
mind. And so when the Lord deals with
a person, he makes that a new person. The Philippine jailer
becomes a different man. He is the same man, but the Lord
has renewed his mind and his spirit. and then he is of use
to the apostles and to the people of God and desires the Lord and
the Lord's ways. So it's what the Lord intends
to do with his people, use them, that he then prepares them and
works in their hearts so that they will show forth his glory
and is of use that he has formed them for. So, Sanctification
is vital on these two points, from what the Lord finds us in
all of our sin and unfitness, and then for what the Lord intends
to do with us, the purposes that God has towards us. The church
that was so fearful of that in Jeremiah, the Lord says, I know
the thoughts that I think towards you. thoughts of peace and not
of evil to give you an expected end. And we can be sure where
the Lord separates the people and where he will cleanse them
and deliver them from their idols and save them from their uncleannesses
and deliver them from their worldliness and deliver them from all the
evil that they once loved are now brought to hate those sins
that made the Lord grieve, that drove him from our breast. That
where the Lord works that work, to change the heart, renew the
will, and turn the feet to Zion's hill, it is because the Lord
has a purpose for that person. Lesser or greater degree here
below, but in heaven above we can be sure that the Lord has
a place. I go to prepare a place for you
and if I go and prepare a place for you I'll come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. And so there is a much comfort
in how the Lord is working in a way of sanctification as to
what the Lord's purposes are for you and for me. So I want to look then in the
second place, the means of sanctification. How does the Lord actually separate
a people and how does he cleanse a people? Well, we're clearly
told here that it is through thy truth, the Father's truth. And then we are told thy word
is truth. This Holy Bible from Genesis
to Revelation is the truth. We read in Ephesians 4, The truth
is in Jesus. And the whole Word of God is,
as the written and incarnate Word, is the same. So the means of sanctification.
There are five things that I bring before you. The first is through
embracing the Word of God. By nature, we have no need of
the Word of God. Yes, we might give it lip service,
we might read it, and just out of a habit, but the Word doesn't
actually do anything for us, mean anything for us, we hold
it loosely. But the Lord has said very clearly
here in verse 14, I have given them thy word. And it's very obvious that not
only is the Lord given them the word, but the people that he's
given it to have embraced that word. You imagine if there was
several friends, five friends say, and they were walking in
all ways of wickedness and sin and worthiness with no care what
was commanded by God or what was right or wrong. But one of
their assembly come across a Bible. And as they read that Bible,
they realized that that was the word of God and that showed them
what was the truth and what was the right way and the wrong way.
And they didn't know much of that word at that point at all.
That had no lessons, no teaching, it hadn't even perhaps changed
their life at all. But they embraced that word and
they said to their friends, I'm going to read this book. I believe
this is the word of God. And I'm going to go where it's
actually preached. Can you imagine how they'd react
to that? The ridicule, the scorn, the
thought that one of their number was going to get infected by
these teachings and these thoughts. Well this is what the Lord says,
And the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. And so immediately that way of
separation, of sanctifying, has been just through embracing the
Word of God. The world does not want the Word
of God. The world does not want the people
of God. The world does not want the Lord.
They said, crucify him, crucify him, away with him. They said
of Stephen, away with such a one. And we saw of Paul later on,
that such a one should not live. Those that have the word of God,
The very word itself separates. Dear friends, may we never be
ashamed of the word of God. The Lord said, whoso shall be
ashamed of me and of my words, of him, shall my father and the
angels be ashamed. We are not to be ashamed of the
Lord or of his word, but that word that is given The Lord uses
it to sanctify his people in bringing about a separation,
even with no teaching at all. It is just a separation by identifying
with the Lord, with his word. He spoke of those going out unto
him without the camp. The Apostle Paul speaks of those
that were persecuted because of their own belief, but then
those that were persecuted because they became companions of those
that were so used. There were many martyrs And as
they were going to the stake, or they were going to be punished
or persecuted, then there were those that showed them favor,
that even called from the crowd round about to encourage them.
And they were seized upon, and they suffered the same fate,
because they identified with those people. And so the means
of sanctification, the means of separating, You know, because
the world cleaves to us. The world is in us. But what
a kind way the Lord has got. Instead of thinking, well, my
people are going to be drawn back to the world, and no, the
Lord puts a barrier. Because as soon as the people
of God have the word of God, It's not a matter of them at
times going to the world and saying, I don't want you and
your ways. The world says to them, you walk
in that way of the Bible, we don't want you. and the Word
speaks of those as a blessing upon those that separate you
from their company. So this is the first way of sanctification
when the truth is embraced. The second is through a knowledge
of the truth through the Word of God. So as that word is read,
our Lord said to they that believed on his name, that if you continue
in my word, you shall know the truth, the truth shall make you
free. It is through the word of God
that we understand about ourselves and all of the truths of the
gospel, all of the blessings of the gospel, opening up what
really is the truth. And that in itself, that is used
to separate us from that which is evil, and it shows us that
which is the work of God and what is the word of God. So it
is through a knowledge of truth, through the word of God, that
the Lord sanctifies his people. The third way is through the
washing of water by the Word. That is not just a knowledge
of the truth, but a cleansing through it. That is the lives
changed through it. We read in Ephesians chapter
5, beautiful type of the Lord as the bridegroom and the church
as his bride, and the bridegroom making the bride ready for himself. And in verse 26 we read this,
or that husbands, or from verse 25, husbands love your wives
even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word. Why? And this is the purpose,
that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish." And so, It is through the washing of the
water. When we come into the Lord's house, we come a week
evening, we come on the Lord's day, twice on the Lord's day,
we read the word of God regularly in private and in our families. And we might think, well, we
can't identify a particular time. Sometimes we can when the word
has really been blessed to us, but it's just that gradual washing
that the word of God goes over us, that it has a sanctifying
effect, a separating effect. That's why we're not to forsake
the assembling of ourselves together as the man of some is, and for
hearing the word, gathering around the word of God. The Lord sanctifies
his people. You that may be plagued and troubled
with sinful thoughts and sinful ways and worthy thoughts and
ways, Notice how the Lord uses the word to separate but also
to cleanse and to wash and make ready for use in his service. The apostle said of Timothy that
from a child he'd known the scriptures that were able to build him up
and make him and have a place amongst them that are sanctified. The fourth way and means of sanctification
is through a union with Christ the Word. The Lord says that
we are to take his yoke upon him, to learn of him for his
meek and loathing heart, which you'll find rest unto our souls. We are to drink into Christ's
Spirit. You know, sometimes even the
disciples, they came unto him Well, with the Samaritans, they
wouldn't receive him, so the disciples said, well, shall we
call down fire as Elijah did, destroy them? And the Lord says,
you know not what spirit ye are of. The Son of Man is not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And in this way, by
being with the Lord, they learnt of him, what Christ's spirit
was. how he dealt with things, what
his way was. And so it is by union with Christ,
the living word, walking with him, that we then become like
him, or reflect him, or know of him, and learn of him. And
the fifth way is through union with those who love the world. So it is not only a separation
from, it is a separation to. It's not only a separation from
the world, it's a separating to the people of God. And if
there are any that hear the word tonight or through the word later
on, May you think of this, it may be the Lord has separated
you from the world, from the ways of it, from many sins, from
many habits, from many ways that you're ashamed of now, but has
he separated you unto, so that you cleave to the people
of God? so that you clearly identify
with the people of God in the ordinances of his house, baptism
and the Lord's Supper. Sanctification is a separation
from and unto, and the Lord has a purpose, not that his people
be strangers and separated from him, but to be with him and to
be with his people and gathering together with his people as one. No more a stranger or a guest,
but like a child at home. And it is through his blessings
and through his dealings with his people that he assures them
and shows them that they are the subjects of his work and
that they are those that should be gathered with his people.
And I know from my own experience, sometimes we take some convincing
of that. But when we cannot deny the blessing
of the Lord, and when we are so drawn to the people of God
and we love them, then we desire to be with them. And so it is
through union then with them, who love the Word of God, who
are separated from the world, that the Lord uses that as even
a further means of sanctification. You think of what really baptism
is. It's a public profession. Very often now we use the baptizing
pools in our chapels, but it used to be it's like the first
members of this church in 1780 were baptized in a pond in the
estate where the house was where the church was first met and
formed. and many were baptized in rivers and open places, but
it still nevertheless is a public profession, a public witness,
and in that way, it separates again. The world watches those
who make such a profession, and so does the church, and so does
the congregations. But that very watching sometimes
can be a real help and a deliverance. when maybe the fear of God gets
low and the fear of man then is used, sanctified in that sense. You know, I've often felt with
having made a profession in an ungodly world and before those
in the workplace, very often the very profession I've made
was a means of keeping me from openly walking in ways that perhaps
the tempter could have tempted me in. Or when temptation met
with the opportunity, then it was, well, I have already stated
this. I've already made my position
clear. I cannot go back on this. Or
maybe if I've weakened, then I'm reminded even by the ungodly,
surprised at you, fancy you doing that or saying that. And the
Lord uses that to separate and to keep separated unto himself. So we have then in the words
of our text, not only a prayer that the people of God might
be sanctified, separated unto a holy use unto the Lord, but
the very means that is used. the Word of God. May we cleave to the Word of
God. May we love to see our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ there. May we truly see that it is because
he has suffered upon Calvary and shed his precious blood that
we are a redeemed people. that we are bought with a price,
we are set aside for a holy use and the Lord will accomplish
his purpose and he will have those whom he has redeemed to
be with him where he is. May the Lord bless us with being
a sanctified people, a separated people unto the Lord and the
Lord and his people be precious to us. May the Lord and his blessing. Amen.