Let us turn to the portion we
were considering last Thursday in John chapter 17. John 17, and I'll read those
three verses that we sought to expound last Thursday. Verses
17, 18, and 19. Sanctify them through thy truth,
thy word is truth, as thou hast sent me into the world even so
have I also sent them into the world and for their sakes I sanctify
myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth
as I said last week we simply sought to take this text and
to consider the content of these verses particularly in their
immediate context and so I did remark how that the whole chapter,
it's a familiar portion, the high priestly prayer of the Lord
Jesus, and the whole chapter I said can be really divided
into some three parts. As Christ prays, so in the first
five verses he very much prays concerning himself and the work
that the Father had sent him to do. In the previous chapters,
of course, he had been addressing his disciples and the apostles
and speaking of how he must leave them, but he will not leave
them comfortless. There will be another one to
come whom we read of in those chapters as the Comforter. the
paraclete, the one who comes beside them, it's the ministry
of the Holy Ghost that the Lord has been speaking of in chapters
14, 15 and 16 and having spoken these words we're told at the
beginning of the 17th chapter he then turns his eyes to heaven
and addresses the Father the hour has come glorify thy son
that thy son also may glorify Thee. He's praying very much
for himself then in the opening five verses. Again at verse 5,
And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with
the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. And then
after that, from verse 6 through to verse 19, he is really praying
for his apostles. those that the Father hath given
him. As he says in verse 6, I have
manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me, and they have kept thy words. Again at verse 9 he says
concerning these men, I pray for them, I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. in particular the apostles, but
also all those who had been his followers and his disciples whilst
he was here upon the earth. And then I said from verse 20
through to the end, verse 26, he prays for the whole church,
the whole company of the election of grace. As he says in verse
20, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their works." And so that is really
the basic outline of the prayer of Christ. And we see then that
the words that we were looking at last time, 17, 18 and 19,
form the conclusion of that prayer that he is making
in particular for his apostles. But I did say that whilst that
middle section and really the majority of the chapter is a
prayer for the apostles, there is a more general application
that can be made because we know from Ephesians 2.20 that the
whole church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets and Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone
so surely we are those who would want to follow in that apostolic
tradition and what was in many ways true of them must be true
of that church that is built upon that particular foundation
and so Tonight, as we turn again to these three verses, I want
to deal with the doctrine. I said last time we would just
expound the verses, as it were, in their immediate context, and
then seek to come to the doctrine. And the doctrine, of course,
is the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth. as they were sent me into the
world even so have I also sent them into the world and for their
sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. He is praying then for the sanctification
of his church and it's a doctrine that is as is so often the case,
altogether rooted in the truth of the Trinity. We often sing
that lovely hymn of heart, don't we? All true Christians is made
boast of truth by nature, never learned that Father, Son and
Holy Ghost to save our souls are all concerned. And now we
are to recognize the work of each of those persons in the
Godhead distinctively when it comes to our right understanding
of the doctrine of sanctification. And so first of all tonight to
say something with regard to God the Father. And God the Father
is very much the moving cause. When we think of sanctification
there's that sense in which we have to go back into eternity
and all that God purposed in the eternal covenant. Christ is very much addressing
the Father as he utters this petition, sanctify them through
thy truth, thy word is truth. He repeatedly in the in the prayer
addresses God by that name. We have it in the first verse.
We have it again there in verse 5. We see it in verse 11. And then also in verses 21, 24
and 25. Six times. Six times. And interestingly here in verse
11 He refers to the Father as Holy
Father. Now, I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one as we are. in verse 11. And literally, as
we said last time, the word means to set apart to holy use, to consecrate. All the priests
of Aaron were thus set apart and consecrated to their office,
as we read in Exodus 29. And that's the basic meaning
of the word, to sanctify. And what does Christ say here? As He continues His petition
in verses 18 and 19, "...as they were sent Me into the world,
even so have I also sent them into the world, and for their
sakes I sanctify Myself." The Lord Jesus Christ is one who
is sanctified. And in what way is Christ sanctified?
Well, it's that basic meaning of the word. He's been set apart. And when he speaks to the Jews,
back in chapter 10, verse 36, "...say ye of him whom the Father
hath sanctified, and sent into the world thou blasphemous because
I said I am the son of God it is the father then who sanctifies
and the Lord Jesus Christ was sanctified in that sense of being
set apart and then of course as we No, there in the opening
verse of the epistle to Jude, that short epistle, just previous
to the book of the Revelation, the apostle Jude addresses those
who are sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ,
and caught. And again, it's a Trinitarian
verse, we see each of the three persons, Sanctified by the Father,
they are preserved in the Son, Jesus Christ, and they are called,
and the calling is the work of God the Holy Spirit. But what
is the sanctification of the Father? Well, they are sanctified
by God the Father in that He made choice of them in eternity. And Henry Cole makes that very
simple observation. that election is really the highest
form of sanctification. It is God that sanctifies then
as well as justifies. And I remind you how we must
always remember the difference between these two great truths
of justification and sanctification. We said last week again that
justification is judicial. We're to think of God in terms
of the one who is the great judge. And what does God do? He declares
the sinner to be righteous. That's the amazing thing. Interestingly,
as in verse 11, we read of the Holy Father, so In verse 25 we read of the righteous
father, O righteous father, the world hath not known thee, but
I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me. And God is that one who justifies
the ungodly. How can that be? Surely the ungodly
is not to be declared innocent, not to be declared righteous,
The ungodly is guilty and he is to be declared a guilty sinner. But God justifies the ungodly
and it's of course because in his eternal purpose he has determined
that the righteousness of Christ should be imputed. Christ has
come and stood in that low place of all his people made of a woman
made under the law and has answered all those demands of the Lord
of God both in terms of its penalties in his death but also in terms
of its precepts by the holiness and the righteousness of his
life and all of that work of Christ as the surety and the
substitute of his people is imputed to them. They come to experience
that great blessing of justification by faith in Christ. Or they stand
righteous. And it's not their own, it's
an alien righteousness. It's Christ's righteousness that
justifies. Well, that's justification. What of sanctification? Well,
in sanctification, God is the one who separates His people. He sets them apart, and then
He does impart holiness to them. And there's the difference. In
justification, the righteousness of Christ is imputed. In justification,
there is the imparting of holiness. And what does Christ do here? He prays the Father to sanctify. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. We cannot
make ourselves holy. This is why Christ prays that
the Father would make them holy. And this is the will of God.
says Paul when he writes to the Thessalonians there at the beginning
of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 this is the will of God he says even
your sanctification now where is God's will revealed? God's will is revealed to us
in the scripture and God's will is revealed to us especially
in terms of that covenant of grace that grace and truth which
came by Jesus Christ. And what is the Lord Jesus doing
here in this prayer? We can only understand the prayer
of Christ when we recognize that he is pleading in terms of that
covenant that he had entered into with the Father from all
eternity. And he speaks, doesn't he, of
the glory which he had with the Father before the world was.
Now he prays. Verse 2, as thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. When were they given to him?
They were given to him in eternity. How were they given to him? They
were given to him in the covenant, the great covenant of redemption. 9 I pray for them, I pray not
for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me. 10 For they
are Thine, and all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am
glorified in them. What does he say? Again at verse
6, 11 I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest
Me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest
them Me. those who are the children of
God and remember how we have that
remarkable passage in the second chapter of the epistle to the
Hebrews where the Apostle quotes a lengthy
portion from the 8th Psalm Incidentally, in the opening chapter of Hebrews,
of course, he's very much been speaking of Christ in terms of
his eternal sonship. He's the brightness of the Father's
glory, the express image of his person, and so forth, made so
much better than the angels, unto which if the angels said
at any time, Thou art my son, This day have I begotten thee,
and again, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall
be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels
of God worship him." It's a remarkable opening chapter that we have
there concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus. He is God. He
is the eternal Son of God. And then when we come to the
second chapter, we see that He is also a man. For as much as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, we're told, are we also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death. Verily he took not on him the
nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. But
what I was going to say was, previously here in the second
chapter of Hebrews, the Apostle quotes a passage from the 8th
Psalm concerning man what is man that thou art mindful of
him or the son of man that thou visitest him and then we have
this long quotation then after the quotation we have this but
we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death crowned with glory and honor or Jesus is the
man And what does this man come to do? Well, then we read of
that great salvation. By the grace of God that he should
taste death for every man, it says. But who is every man? Well, we see how every man is
defined in the following verses. For example, in verse 10, they
are the many sons to be brought to glory verse 11 he that sanctifies
and they that are sanctified are all of one for which cause
he is not ashamed to call them brethren they are the sanctified
they are brethren and then he goes on to speak of them as children
verse 13 behold I am the children which God hath given me they
are the sanctified now those have been set apart They're those
that the Father has given to him as his children. They're the ones who he came
to redeem. That's what Paul is saying there. This remarkable person, Jesus
of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God, is that one who is
the Savior of his people. And part and parcel of that salvation
is their sanctification. God is the sanctifier, they are
the ones who are sanctified. So we see how God the Father
is very much the moving cause and so the Lord Jesus is here
praying to the Father and pleading in terms of that eternal covenants
and all that transpires between the Father and the Son and the
Spirit in that great plan and purpose of salvation. But then
with regards to this sanctification as the Father is the moving cause,
so we might say that it is God the Son who is the meritorious
cause. What the Father purposed in eternity
when he set apart a people for himself and committed them to
his son, the children which God gave to him, what the Father
thus purpose must be effected in the fullness of the time.
And it is Christ who has come to be that one who is really
the sanctification of his people. Paul says at the end of 1 Corinthians
1 of him that is of God, i.e., in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
that as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord. Christ is made of God unto us,
sanctification. And how is this? Well, we have
several statements in Scripture, certainly there in the Hebrew
Epistle, Hebrews 10 verse 10, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Sanctified through the offering,
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is that meritorious cause
then of their sanctification? It is the blood of Christ. Again,
Hebrews 13 and verse 12, Jesus also, that he might sanctify
the people with his blood, suffered without the gate. The sanctification is by the
bloody sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. And again, there in Hebrews,
Hebrews 9 and verse 13, Paul is unfolding the type that we have in the
Old Testament and demonstrating the fact that Christ is the anti-type
of all those sacrifices that were offered under the Levitical
laws. Verse 13 of Hebrews 9, if the
blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh, how much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God." All the cause, the
meritorious cause of sanctification is to be found in the Lord Jesus. and in that precious blood that
he shed when he made that great sacrifice for sins. And so how
does Paul go on to pray for those Hebrews at the end of the book? They're the God of peace that
brought him down from the dead. Our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect. in every good work, to do His
will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight
through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is that one then who is the
sanctification of His people. And how Christ prays here, for
those that he has come to sanctify. Sanctify them through thy truth,
thy word is truth, as thou hast sent me into the world, even
so have I also sent them into the world, and for their sakes
I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through
the truth." How did Christ sanctify himself? We know he needed no
holiness to be imparted to him, because what was conceived in
the womb of the Virgin Mary was that holy thing, which shall
be called the Son of God. And he was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. He needed no righteousness to
be imparted as we would need a holiness because we're those
who were born dead in trespasses and sins. We need to have that
purging blood to cleanse us. We need God to do a work in us,
a mighty and an effectual work. But the Lord Jesus was one who
as he was righteous the Lord our righteousness so he is that
one who is also holy how did he sanctify himself then? well
as the father set him apart so there must be a sense in which
he sets himself apart to this work and how he devotes himself
to the work he comes to do the will of Him
who has sent Him and to finish His work. And He is obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. He is sanctified by
the total devotion that we see Him giving to that work that
He had undertaken in terms of the eternal covenant. And when
we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, we said how in Hebrews 9 Paul is bringing
out the significance of the type that we have in the Old Testament
with regards to the sacrifices, and how the Lord Jesus is that
one who is the great anti-type. And what is Christ? He's the
priest. We certainly see that there in Hebrews, he's a priest
after the order of Melchizedek. He's of the tribe of Judah. He's
not of the tribe of Levi, which was the case with the Old Testament
Aaronic priests. He's seen there to be the priest. He's also there set before us
as the sacrifice. We know he's the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. And where were the sacrifices
offered in the Old Testament? They were offered on the brazen
altar. And Christ is the antitype also of the altar, is the altar. And it's the altar, isn't it,
that sanctifies the sacrifice. It's the altar that's all important,
sanctifying the sacrifice. when the Lord is rebuking those
Pharisees in Matthew 23, those dreadful woes that He pronounces
upon them. Amongst other things, He asks
whether it is greater the gift or the altar that sanctifies
the gift. Oh, they made so much of the
gift. But the altar is the all-important thing. It sanctifies the sacrifice. Now, how was Christ's sacrifice
sanctified? Because he himself is also the
altar. And we have those words in Hebrews
9, in verse 14, how through the eternal spirit he offered himself
without spots to God. And there's some debate amongst
the commentators as to exactly what is meant by the eternal
spirit and it's very difficult to be dogmatic. There are two
possibilities and I understand that in a sense both of them
are right. In a sense the eternal spirit there is a reference to
Christ's deity. He offered himself through the eternal spirit in
the sense that the The deity of the Lord Jesus is that altar
that is sanctifying the gift that he is presenting to the
Father. And as I said last time, we often
sing those words of Joseph Swain in the Hymn 159, Divinity's indwelling
rays sustained him till nature was dead. how he was born up
in all his sufferings because he was God. God's manifest in
the flesh. But then, we'd be very wrong
to think that his deity is to be identified with the altar,
and his sacrifice is simply to be identified with his human
nature. We cannot separate the two natures. We must not separate the two
natures. The person who died there at
Calvary was the God-man. It's the person who dies. And
in the person of Christ there are those two natures. That is
the mystery of godliness. The God was manifest in the flesh.
He is God and He is man. And in everything that he does,
throughout the whole of his life and ministry, he is always the
God-man. And so, the commentators also,
some of them, insist that the Eternal Spirit, there in Hebrews
9.14, is a reference not to his divine nature, not to his deity,
but literally to the Holy Spirit, who through the Eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God. The Holy Spirit has a ministry
throughout the whole of the Lord's life. We've said this on previous
occasions and it's a profitable exercise as you go through reading
the Gospels to observe that ministry of the Spirit. Of course He's
there in the Incarnation. We've already referred to those
words of the angel in Luke 1.35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
the The power of the higher shall overshadow therefore also that
holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. She was with child of the Holy
Ghost. The Holy Ghost is there in the
incarnation so it should not surprise us if the Holy Ghost
is also there in the crucifixion ministering to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so we can understand the Eternal Spirit literally
to mean the third person in the Trinity. We know that the sacrifice
that was offered was the person of Jesus Christ. And I can't begin to comprehend
how it was possible for the Son of God, because he never was
anything less than the Son of God, and yet he died. Remember
how in Acts 20 we have that statement of Paul to the Ephesian elders,
he refers to the Church of God, which he hath purchased with
his own blood. The Church of God, which God hath purchased
with his own blood. God doesn't have blood, God doesn't
have a body. Clearly the reference is to the
Lord Jesus Christ who is the God-man. Because as a man, his
human nature is as real as yours and as mine. He was a real man. And the great cause of our sanctification
is to be found there in the blood of Christ. As he's made so clear
by those repeated statements that we've already seen in the
Hebrew Epistle. And then thirdly, there's the
Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost, we might
say, is the efficient cause of sanctification. There's the will
of the Father, the eternal will of God, the eternal purpose of
God, there's the work of the Son, that that he accomplishes
here upon earth in the appointed time, and then There's that application by the
Holy Spirit. The experimental aspect we might
say. How this great doctrine becomes
a reality in the soul of the sinner. That's the amazing thing.
And dear Rabbi Duncan says it's the whole work of the Holy Spirit
with regards to that application. He commences. He maintains its
progress. He completes it. 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. See how the sanctification
of the Spirit is tied up with the believing of the truth. And that's what we have here,
of course, in the text. Sanctify them. Through thy truth thy word is
truth. And again, at the end of verse
19, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. But what are
the means? that the Spirit makes use of
to effect this sanctification. And I just want to mention two
things as we close tonight. First of all, they're left in
this world in order to their sanctification. Isn't that what
the Lord is saying? Verse 18, As thou hast sent me
into the world, even so have I also sent them into the worlds. Previously, verse 15, I pray
not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldst keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the worlds. They are left in this world for
their sanctification. And how are they sanctified?
Well, think of the world, all that is in the world, the lust
of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life,
which is not of the Father but is of the worlds. And John again
goes on at the end of that first epistle to say the whole world
lies in wickedness. And all that is in this world,
it so militates against the people of God. the Lord himself says at the
end of chapter 16 in the world you shall have tribulation but
be of good cheer I have overcome the world in his wisdom God leaves
his people here and it's by this conflict this daily conflict
with sin we were recently looking at those last two verses in in
Romans 7 Paul's great cry, all wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death." How he felt that conflict
between the new nature, the man of grace. He was in Christ Jesus. If any man's in Christ Jesus,
he's a new creation. That was Paul. But there was
still that, you see, of the old nature. The good that I would,
I do not. The evil that I would, not that
I do. How he felt it, the conflict with himself. But also the conflict
with a world that lies in wickedness. And so he is daily taught his
complete dependence upon Christ. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord, he says. So then, with the mind I myself
serve the Lord of God, but with the flesh the Lord of sin. And
this is how the Spirit works. and the believer is one then
who must be mortifying the deeds of the body. But how does he
do that? If he through the Spirit. We
have that verse in Romans 8, if he through the Spirit do mortify
the deeds of the body, he shall live. We cannot sanctify ourselves
how we need the Father, how we need the Son, how we need the
Holy Spirit, how we need to know all the persons in the Godhead,
and to be taught our complete and utter dependence upon Him,
even Christ who is the Savior of His people, and also their
sanctification. But besides the fact that they
are left in the world, and they're in this fearful warfare, this
conflict, There are also the comforts that God gives by and
through His words. Sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth, or the word of God. What does it do? Well, think of the lines of the
poet William Cooper, The spirit breathes upon the word and brings
the truth to light. Precepts and promises afford
us sanctifying light. We need the Spirit to bring us
to the Word and to bring the Word to us, to open up the Word
to us, to apply the Word. And what do we need? Well, we
need the promises. Or we need those exceeding great
and precious promises. But we also need the precepts.
And there are the precepts of the Gospel. But God, so often
as we come to those practical parts of the epistles of Paul
how we see that the precepts really are grounded in the promises.
I think for an example of the way in which the Apostle addresses
the Ephesian church when he comes to the closing chapters Ephesians is a remarkable epistle
of course that great first chapter what profound doctrine we have
in the opening chapter the opening chapters we might say but when
we come to the end we have these exhortations at the end of chapter
4, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed
unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath
loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication and all uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as become
it saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. He gives these various exhortations
and yet he grounds them in what Christ has done. Even as God
for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Walking up as Christ also
has loved us and given himself for us. It's not legality, is it? These precepts are grounded in
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the promises. We have the precepts. But we
also need prayers. Oh, we need prayers. And, of course, what we have
here in this 17th chapter is the prayer of Christ. Christ
prays for the sanctification of His Church. No wonder Paul
also prays for that. There in that portion that we
read, the end of 1 Thessalonians 5, the very God of peace. Sanctify
you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray then, pray for our
own sanctification, pray for the sanctification of this church,
the church at Hagen, pray for the sanctification of the people
of God, that we might be holy men and women, as holy as pardons
sinners could ever be. Oh God grant that we might know
then, in our experience, something of that gracious ministry of
the Holy Spirit. He is that efficient cause. when
he brings the truth of God's words to light, and all the scripture
affords that sanctifying light. May the Lord bless his word.
Now let us, before we pray, sing God's praise in the hymn 1003.
The tune is Southwell 239. Breathing After Holiness is the
title at the head of the hymn. Oh, that the Lord would guide
my ways to keep His statutes still. Oh, that my God would
grant me grace to know and do His will. 1003, June 239.