Our text this evening is found
in the portion of scripture that we read, the first epistle of
Paul to the Church of the Thessalonians, in chapter 5 and verse 23. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23. And 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. Here then, as we come to the
end of this epistle to the Thessalonians, we find the various exhortations
that the Apostle gives to those believers This whole section
is one of course of command and exhortation. Rejoice evermore,
pray without ceasing, quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying,
abstain from all appearance of evil and so forth. these short,
pithy statements as the apostle reminds them of their responsibilities
as those who profess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then in the words that we've read as a text, we see how the
apostle doesn't just issue precepts, but he also prays. And what we have here, of course,
is a prayer for sanctification. He says, and 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. True that the words there, I
pray God, have been interpolated, introduced, by the translators,
they're not a rendering of anything that's there in the original. But they're not improper, because
they bring out the force of what is really being said. It is very
much a prayer. So tonight I want us to consider
this prayer for sanctification. Earlier we were looking at those
words at the end of Mark chapter 9 where we considered something
of the salted sacrifice. For every one shall be salted
with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt
is good, but if the salt hath lost his saltness, wherewith
will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and
peace one with another." And as we were considering that portion
for a while this morning, I sought to say something of the savour
of grace, that salt of the covenant that is being spoken of there,
the savor of the grace of God, and its influence with regards
to the sanctifying of believers. So in a sense continuing with
this theme of sanctification. And let's just remind ourselves
what sanctification is. How do we really define that
That term, what do we mean by sanctification? Well, the basic
meaning of the word is to set apart, to set something apart
for the service of God or to be used in the service of God.
We see it of course in the Old Testament with regards to the
tabernacle and all the furnishings that were to be employed in the
tabernacle. Constantly we are reminded that
these things were consecrated. They were set apart when it came
to certain oils and ointments that would be used. whatever
it was that the apothecary mixed together it was to be used exclusively
only in the anointings, in the tabernacle as God was being worshipped. The basic meaning of the word
then is simply to set apart and it has been well observed with
regards to the sanctification of the people of God that election
is the highest form of their sanctification. Election is the
highest form of sanctification, says Dr. Henry Cole. And we see
that in that short epistle of Jude, just before the Revelation. Remember the opening words of
Jude? Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James,
to them that are sanctified by God the Father, preserved in
Jesus Christ and called. They are sanctified by God the
Father. How are they sanctified by God
the Father? In that the Father has set them
aside for salvation. He's elected them. He's elected
them in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're committed to Christ from
before the foundation of the world. They're preserved in Jesus
Christ. Even from their natural birth
they're preserved until they come to the experience of the
grace of God. So they're sanctified by God
the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and they're called. In
the appointed time they will be called by God the Holy Ghost,
that effect you call. And so we see how Jude there
in the opening words sets forth the truth of the doctrine of
the Trinity with regard to the salvation of sinners. But principally
we are reminded there of that great truth that election is
the highest form of sanctification sanctified first of all by God
the Father set apart in election but then also the word is used
with reference to the experience of the people of God when the
Holy Spirit makes known to them what the Father has purposed
from eternity, makes known to them that great salvation that
was procured by God the Son in the fullness of the time. And
they are then called and they're separated from sin. And they're
called to live a life of holiness. And we're reminded of that previously
here. In chapter 4 and verse 7, Paul
writes, God has not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness. We are called to live sanctified
lives, lives that are separated from the world, lives that are
holy in accordance with God's holy precepts and holy commandments. And so, we recognize those two
meanings. The basic meaning is God setting
the people apart, but then when God deals with them, they're
a separated people. They're separated from sin. They're separated to holiness
of life. Well, as we come to consider
these words, this text tonight, here in 1 Thessalonians 5.23.
He says, 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. First of all, to speak
in terms of the Godhood aspect, the will of God in this, and
then secondly, how that will affects the child of God, and
affects the child of God in the wholeness of his life. First
of all though, to consider the will of God, the will of God. We're told, aren't we, afterwards
in verse 24, Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do
it. What God has willed is what God
will actually do. And again we're told previously
what that will of God is for His people. Look at what we're
told there in verse 3 of chapter 4. It says, This is the will
of God, even your sanctification. God has willed the sanctification
of his people, and he is faithful. And so what he has willed is
what he will do. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. We read here in verse 24. It's interesting to think of
the relationship then between sanctification and the sovereign
will of God, because it's a truth that is emphasized here in Scripture. We see it again there in Hebrews
10 and verse 10. What does Paul say? Hebrews 10.10,
By the witch will that is the will of God, by the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. By the which will? By the will
of God. Again in Romans chapter 12, I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds,
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God." Going there, In Romans 12.2 we have that good,
acceptable, perfect will of God, and it's all in association with
God's people not conforming to the world, but being separated
from the world, transforming, renewing of their
minds. We see how that sanctification
then is very much God's will, God's purpose in the lives of
his people. And I sort of say something with
regards to certain aspects of that this morning, with regards
to what we're told there concerning the the salted sacrifice. But our God's people are called
to a life of holiness. You remember the language that
we find in Peter's first epistle there in first Peter chapter
1 and verses 14 15 and 16 he says as obedient children not
fashioning yourselves according to the former lost in your ignorance
but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all
manner of conversation because it is written Be ye holy, for
I am holy." For God is holy, He is the Holy
One of Israel. In fact, He is three times holy.
Because as we are told there in Isaiah chapter 6, the angels,
the seraphim, the burning ones, oh, they cry, holy, holy, Holy
Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory,
Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy Spirit. Be ye holy, it says,
for I am holy. If we're those who are followers
of the Holy One, we must live holy lives. And so he says, be
ye holy in all manner of conversation. And conversation there isn't
just referring to our speech, the things we say. It's referring
really to our conduct, in all our conduct. If we're those who
are truly followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, We will seek and
desire to be conformed to His image, to be holy men and women. Now, going back to the previous chapter,
like so many of Paul's epistles, this
to the Thessalonians is divided into two basic parts. Paul's
won't, as you know, is in the first part of his epistles often
dealing with great truths doctrinal matter is what he deals with
in the earlier part of the epistles and then in the latter part he
turns to point out how those great truths are to affect our
lives. how we are to not only believe
the doctrines of grace, the doctrines of the sovereign grace of God,
but we are to know those grace of the doctrines in the way in
which we conduct ourselves. And so, when we come to the fourth
chapter, this is the second part of the epistle, observe how the
chapter opens, furthermore then, We beseech you, brethren, and
exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us,
ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more
and more. For ye know what commandments
we gave you by the Lord Jesus." He's coming now to the practical
part of the epistle. He's going to remind them of
how they are to conduct themselves, how they are to walk in this
world. are there to know the commandments. And knowing the
commandments are to be those who would be doing the commandments. But it's interesting that opening
word in chapter 4, it says further more. Literally it means besides
or moreover. For the rest, for the future.
Henceforth, you see, he's spoken of certain great truths in the
first part, and now he's reminding them how they are to live. And how are they to live? Well,
what he deals with, really, in chapter 4, and here in chapter
5, is the whole subject matter of their sanctification. As we
said, we have all these exhortations, and they're all imperatives,
you see, they're really commandments. How should Christians live? They
should be rejoicing, rejoice evermore. They should be prayerful,
pray without ceasing. They should be thankful, in everything
give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. They should shun even the appearance
of evil, abstain from all appearance of evil. it's so practical it's
to do with their living and they are to be holy men and women
they don't follow the fashions of the world they are different
to the worldling that's how they are to be it's their sanctification and as I've already intimated
this sanctification is the will of God That's what we're thinking about,
the will of God. This is the will of God, even
your sanctification. And as I said, when we think
of the Father, and we think of the eternal will of God, we think
of the Father then, and we think of that sanctification, sanctified
by God the Father, set apart in eternity. But then when we
think in terms of time, we think more particularly then of God
the Son. Because in the fullness of the
time, it is the Son who is sent. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son, we read. Made of a woman,
made under the Lord. He comes to stand in that low
place of his people, He comes to honor and to magnify that
Lord of Gods by the obedience of His life. He comes to be obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross, the accursed death.
What is it the Son is about? He is about sanctifying that
people that the Father has given to Him in eternity. And so what do we read Hebrews
10.14? By one offering He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Oh, it's by what Christ did in
time, by His sacrifice, that His people are sanctified. Again, look at the language of
Hebrews 13, 12. Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people,
suffered without the gates. When we think of his work, you
see, as a great high priest, the sacrifice that he is making,
it's in order to the sanctifying of his people. And as a priest,
he doesn't just make sacrifices, a priest he also prays, and how
does he pray for them? Well, we have that record of
his prayer in John 17, and there at verse 17, He says to the Father,
sanctify them by Thy truth, Thy word is truth. He prays for the
sanctification of His people. All His work is bound up with
this. Paul says, Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us. Sanctification. Oh, He's made unto us all things. All of our salvation is there,
of course, in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, there at the end of that
first chapter in 1 Corinthians, of Him, i.e., in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness. and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. So we can think of this sanctification
in terms of the will of the Father, that basic meaning of the word
where He sets the people apart by electing them from all eternity,
and then putting them into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the children that the Father has given to them, in the fullness
of the time, the coming of God the Son, and all that he does
in order to the sanctifying of that people, and then we have
the work of the Holy Spirit. It's all the persons. And what
is the work of the Spirit? Well, the Spirit's work is to
make that sanctification a reality. in the experience of the sinner. As we see the Father's work in
eternity and the Son's work in the fullness of the time, so
we think of the Spirit and His blessed work when He comes into
our very souls. And we have an experience. We
are sanctified by the Spirit. In the second epistle there,
in chapter 2 and verse 13, Doesn't he speak of salvation
through the sanctification of the Spirit? He says, We are bound
to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. How this sanctification of the
Spirit is bound up with the Word of God and the believing of the
Word of God. If we really believe in the Word
of God we'll know something of the sanctifying influence of
the Word of God. Isn't that what Christ prays?
That to be sanctified by the truth. But then we read more concerning
the gracious work of the Spirit in sanctification because In
Titus 3.5 Paul speaks of the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost. There's a washing you see, there's
a cleansing. From all sin there's a renewing.
And this is all bound up with the the sanctification of those
who were chosen in Christ. What is the Spirit's work? Well,
the Father is the one who elects, the Son is the one who comes
to make the great reconciling sacrifice, the Holy Spirit is
that one who comes in all the power of regeneration. And He
says they're born again, the washing of regeneration, the
renewing of the Holy Ghost, so they're sanctified. Oh, we are so dependent on the
Holy Spirit if we know anything of real sanctification. If we're
those who would abstain from evil, if we're those who would
mortify sins, we're so completely and utterly dependent upon the
Holy Spirit. We cannot sanctify ourselves,
we cannot make ourselves holy. Oh, Paul reminds the church at
Rome, if ye through the Spirit, he says, if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. The work of the Spirit so necessary. And so, amongst these various
exhortations, we have that in verse 19, quench not the Spirit.
Oh, we're not to quench the Spirit of God. Oh, we need Him. He's
the Holy Spirit. It's from him that we receive
the spirit of holiness. He says, abstain from all appearance
of evil. How can we abstain from any evil? Why? Our fallen nature delights
in sin. We love sin. I love sin. My old
nature delights in it, wants it. Can't have enough of it. That's what we are by nature,
sinners. How can we abstain from all appearance of evil? We need
God, the Holy Spirit. And we need to know constantly
that gracious ministry of the Spirit. And so, I want to turn
in the second place to think more particularly of the manward
aspect of what he is saying here. And you see how it's the whole
of the believer's life. He says, 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." Well, we need to be kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day,
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But see how It affects
the whole of the man. Sanctify you wholly. And this word that he is using,
it's such a strong word. It's one of those compound words. There are so many of them. In
the New Testament there's two parts to it. The first part of
the word literally means whole, entire, complete. And the second
part means to the end, to the uttermost. And so, Hendrickson
in his commentary, interestingly, he renders it like this. Sanctify
you through and through. And I like that rendering really,
that's what he's saying. The very God of peace sanctify
you through and through. not just wholly, but right to
the end, to every part of your life. That's the force of the word
that's being used here at the beginning of the text. And think
what that means, in every part of the believer's being, really,
you see. Not just every part of his life,
not just a whole of his life, but in every part of his being. He uses this expression, doesn't
he? Your whole spirit and soul and body. I pray God your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless. Now, think of the doctrine of man.
There's a doctrine of God, of course. There's a doctrine of
Christ. There is a doctrine of man. What is man? Now, some would
say man is tripartite. And this is a text that they
appeal to. They say, look, it says spirits and soul and body. But then there are others who
say, no, man is not tripartite, man is bipartite. Now, I believe that that view
that man is bipartite is the right view of scripture. In fact,
if you study anything of early church history you see that oftentimes
those who contended for man being tripartite did fall into some
grievous errors, even heresies. Man is surely bipartite. That's what we see in the creation
of man. How the Lord God formed his body
out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils
a breath of life and he became a living soul. There's just two
parts to man. He is body and he is soul. And that's how man is introduced
to us in Holy Scripture, in creation. And when he comes to the end
of a man's life, what do we read in Ecclesiastes 12.7? Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit to
God who gave it. Interestingly there, you see,
it speaks of body and spirit. not body and soul. So we can
say that really the word soul and spirit are synonymous terms. They are referring to the same
thing. Sometimes we read of body and spirit, sometimes we might
read of body and soul. And so the words are interchangeable. However, it's interesting when
one reads the writings of men to see what they have to say.
Take for example this. Mr. Philpott speaks of the spirits
as that that was super added in regeneration. So there's something that is
super added. That's the expression he uses.
I'm not so sure that I like that expression super added in regeneration,
but if any man is in Christ Jesus, he is certainly a new creation.
Dr. Gill, he says this, some by spirit
understand the graces and gifts of the spirit in regenerate men.
And I like that, I think Mr. Philpott and Dr. Gill are saying the same thing
really. That what is superadded when a person is born again,
there's the grace of God, there's the gift of the Spirit of God.
But man, principally, is two parts. He is body, and he is
soul. And I think of those words that
we have, Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, concerning the Word
of God, quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. That Word of God that divides
separates between soul and spirit. The Word distinguishes, you see,
between soul and spirit. Now, if by spirits we are to
think in terms, of that that has taken place in a man as a
result of regeneration, that in that man there is now the
Spirit and the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit are evident,
can we not say that the Word, the Word of God comes and discriminates
between a natural religion and a spiritual religion? It's quick, it's powerful, sharper
than a two-edged sword, piercing through the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit. And God by His words comes, you
see, and His word is so discriminating and dividing even. It exposes
what is false religion over against what is real and true religion. And soul might be understood in terms
of that that is merely natural we have that expression in 1st
Corinthians 2.14 the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God because they are foolishness to him neither
can he know them because they are spiritually discerned now
the word that we have there the natural man is literally the
word for soul The soulish man, the soulish man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishness
to him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually
discerned. The soulish man, that soul you see dead in trespasses
and sins. Something must take place in
the soul of a man if he's going to really receive the Word of
God. And that surely is what's being
said there in Hebrews 4.12 concerning the Word of God, how it's dividing
asunder the soul and the spirit, revealing that that is simply
of a soul dead in trespasses and sins. And that is really
the great work of the Spirit, that renewing grace, that regenerating
grace of the Holy Spirit. Well you see the sinner is dead
in trespasses and in sins. And so the sinner must be born
again. There must be that great work of regeneration. And what
happens when the sinner is born again? He becomes a partaker
of the divine nature. The life of God comes into the
soul of that man by the work of the Blessed Spirit. And John
says, remember the language that we have there in 1 John 3, 9,
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed
remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. That's the new nature. And that's new nature, that's
the divine nature. That's the life of God, that's
the result of that regenerating grace of the Spirit the graces
of the Spirit are now in that man and that new nature never
sins and so what is the believer's life? the whole of the believer's
life is now a life of conflict the flesh lusters against the
spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary
one to another Paul says and ye cannot do the thing that ye
would or the good that I would I do
not says Paul the evil that I would not that I do this conflict and
as I said earlier how he cries out all wretched man that I am
who shall deliver me from the body of this death and then he
says I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord I myself serve the Lord of Gods,
in the minds, but in the flesh, the law of sin. That's his conflict. That's a dreadful conflict. With
the mind, I myself, and I like that. That's the real me. Not just I, but I myself. The new man of grace, serving
the Lord of God, but there's the old nature of the flesh,
still wanting to serve the law of sin and of death. And so there
is this conflict always going on. And sanctification involves
that. It involves the mortification
of sin. That's the believer's constant
call day by day. He has to fight that good fight
of faith. He has to abstain from every
appearance of evil. He has to mortify the deeds of
the body. Remember that words in Colossians
3, 5, mortify, put to death, therefore your members which
are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. that's the calling to crucify the body and its lusts he goes on there in that same
chapter in Colossians verse 8 he says now ye also put off all
these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off
the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him." Oh, this is so much part and parcel of this great truth
of sanctification. And so, the believer is one who
is being preserved. The wondrous preservation by
the grace of God in all that conflict. I pray God, he says,
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved, blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot preserve ourselves,
cannot keep ourselves. Now we need that ministry, that
gracious ministry of the Spirit. This sanctification, you see,
it involves mortification. It involves growth in grace.
Peter says, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. These two are bound together.
The more we grow in grace, the more we know the Lord Jesus.
Not just knowing about the Lord Jesus, but actually knowing Him
in our soul's experience, knowing Him in all His blessed covenant
offices as that one who is our prophet, our priest, our king,
that one who as a prophet is teaching us and instructing us.
That one who is our great high priest who now having made that
one sacrifice ever lives to intercede for us. Now we feel to need his
gracious intercession. What a blessing it is to meditate
on the fact that he is there ever, always before the throne
of God. And his very presence is a constant
ploy. Where Christ is, that's where
His people desire to be. They want to be in those heavenly
places with Christ. And He's our King, He's the one
who must come and He must subdue all our sins and all our iniquities
in us. We grow in grace as we grow in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And so
this growth ingraciously. It's not that the old nature
is improving, changing. and that by degrees we're becoming,
as it were, more holy. I like the language of our article,
article 20. It says, not a growth in conscious
goodness, but in felt necessity and the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Not a growth in conscious goodness,
no, an increasing awareness of what we are as sinners. and feeling more and more our
need of the Lord Jesus Christ that one in whom is to be found
all our salvation. Think of the words of John Kent
in the hymn where he dismisses any thought of sinless perfection. Sinless perfection we deny, he
says, the chief of Satan's wiles. Do thou, my soul, to Calvary
fly, as oft as sin defiles? Or when we feel the defiling
of sin, what do we do? We fly to Calvary. I am crucified
with Christ, says Paul. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me.
and gave himself formally. All our sanctification is there,
you see. It's all in the Lord Jesus, and
this is what Paul is praying for these people. How are they
going to live the life that they should be living? How are they
going to live in accordance with all that he's saying in these
last two chapters? Well, he prays God for their
sanctification. the very God of peace sanctify
you holy and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and He simply echoes now the Saviour's own prayer and still
the Lord Jesus presents that petition before the throne of
grace even for us sanctify them, sanctify them through thy truth
Thy words is truth. O God, grant then that we might
know the sanctifying influence of the Word of God. O the Lord
be pleased to bless His Word to us tonight. Amen.