All right, we're going to be
in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. We'll pick up in verses 13 and
we'll read down to 16, the next four verses in our study of 1
Peter. 1 Peter 1.13. Wherefore, gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former
lusts 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. Now Peter, has laid the
foundation of our salvation. He's shown now that God the Father
provided His Son, Jesus Christ, who provides all things necessary
for our salvation in Him, so that we stand in Him complete
and perfect, there's nothing more for us to do, so that we
understand by the Spirit of Christ in us that salvation is free. Salvation is free. And what we
mean by that is it's free from our works and our contribution.
There's nothing that we add to our salvation. Christ Jesus has
done it all. Now, it didn't cost him nothing. It cost him his own precious
life, his precious blood. It cost him leaving the throne
and glory to come down here to poverty and nothing in the flesh. and yet he accomplished all things
for us giving up that all up for our sakes for serving and
serving us that we might have life in him. And so now Peter
exhorts us reminding us how the Lord sweetly blesses even or
sanctifies even the trials that we go through because all these
things work together for our good to lead us on to Christ
so that we don't find any comfort or joy in this life whereby we
could rest and then say, oh, this is good, this is much better
than Christ. He's going to strip us of those
things through various trials and various means so that we
know that all things are of Him. So that even as I think of some
of you brethren that are looking for work here, you know, yourselves,
don't think that because you haven't found work that that's
a punishment of God, but rather Rejoice and look to Him. Don't
be discouraged by those things. He uses all these various things
to bring us to Him and to show us that He accomplishes all things
as it pleases Him. And so now Peter exhorts his
readers here with this letter, reminding them to diligently,
to be encouraged to diligently seek the Lord, to be sober-minded
about the things that are going on because we're in a war, and
he's reminding us that there's grace that awaits us yet when
the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven, when he returns
again that second time where we will behold our inheritance
in him. For in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, we'll be transformed, for we'll see him as he is, and
we'll be made like he is in the flesh even. All right, our title
this morning is called Unto Holiness. And what we'll see this morning
is that that word, be ye holy, for I am holy, it's not a bare
precept, a law for you, sinner, to be left to do in your flesh.
That's not how we are to hear it. It's not just a commandment
that comes to you in the flesh that, oh, you better be holy
now, because God himself is holy. But rather, brethren, hear it
for what it is. It's a promise of the grace of
God to us in his Son, Jesus Christ, so that being taught by the Spirit,
brethren, we hear that word with the ear of faith, not the ear
of flesh, so that we are sweetly reminded of the inheritance that
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ and that we would be encouraged
to serve him, to labor for our Lord to labor in service to one
another, loving one another, and laying down our lives for
one another, knowing that all these things that we do, they're
of God. They're of His power, of His
Spirit, of His might. As He said in Ephesians 2.10,
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should. walk in them."
The Lord does all this work in the believer. Everything necessary
has been done, it's been accomplished, and now he's just working these
things out in us. We'll have three divisions. The
promise of holiness, hearing the exhortation, and obedient
children. So I want to begin with that
last verse, verse 16, because if we rightly understand that
verse, then we can now just rejoice in what we're hearing. We can
just rejoice in the gospel that we're hearing of our Savior.
Because it is written, be holy for I am holy. So as I mentioned earlier, we
are to hear this word with the ear of faith. not the ear of
flesh, but the ear of faith. We're to receive it by faith
and to live upon it by the faith which God has given us. Paul said, for whatsoever is
not of faith is sin. We're to receive it by faith.
And because faith is a perfect rule of holiness. The law is
not a perfect rule of holiness. We can't keep it. The flesh is
weak so that we can't keep ourselves and make ourselves holy by the
law. But by the faith which God gives us, That's a perfect rule
of holiness. We live by the faith which He
has given to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, 1 Thessalonians
4, 7 and 8, like our brother read this morning, For God hath
not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore
that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given
unto us His Holy Spirit. And that's key there, His Holy
Spirit which He has given to us because Without the Holy Spirit,
we can't hear this word by faith. We don't receive it by faith,
we don't hear it by faith. All we hear is, there's something
else I gotta do, there's something more I gotta do to make myself
right with God. We're to hear it by faith as
a promise. That God has promised to those
whom he loves and saving them that he gives his Holy Spirit
and he makes them holy in himself. So it's to be received by faith.
Paul said to Timothy, speaking of Christ, who hath saved us
and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. You see, it's not according
to our works that makes us holy. It's according to what Christ
has done. He's given us the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called us
to Christ in grace and in mercy and in peace so that we're comforted
by the Lord Jesus Christ and it's all in Jesus Christ. It's
not in the works of this flesh, but in the works of Christ. So
it's not a bare precept that we're to hear it. We're to hear
it with the ear of faith. Many do hear it as a law. They
hear it as something that they feel pricked in the flesh that
they've got to do something. But rather, it is an encouraging
word of promise to the believer in Christ, which means that he's
done all things for us. He's going to do anything that's
necessary. He does all the work. It's not
of us. So rather than terrify your tender
conscience, It's meant to communicate the grace that God has given
to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. It's the will of God being revealed
to us here in His Word. In John 7, 37, Christ says, all
that asked the Father, the Holy Spirit, He gives it to them.
He gives them the Spirit. And in John 7, 37, in that last
day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying,
if any man thirsts, What are we thirsting for? Righteousness,
holiness. We want to be made just and right
with God. He said, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me
and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. That's a promise. They shall
flow out of our belly with living water. But this he spake of the
spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. So again,
I want to be sure that we get this point. This word is not
a word to our flesh to get doing and to get moving and to start
being holy and righteous and doing things in this flesh. This word is a word of promise
through our Savior, Jesus Christ. God is communicating grace to
us so that we hear it and receive it by faith. The Holy Spirit,
which He gives to us, washes us in the blood of Jesus Christ
His Son. It leads us to the obedience
of Christ that we behold. There is salvation. Salvation
isn't in the works that I do. It's not in the things that I'm
doing. It's not in the things that I'm stopping doing. Salvation
is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Holy Spirit,
which He gives us, will always lead us to Christ. He's not leading
you back to your own flesh to see what you need to be doing.
Now, we don't take the liberty that we have in Christ and use
it as a cloak of unrighteousness, right? There are some that do
believe that now, you know, it doesn't matter what we do because
we're saved. in Christ, you know, and so that doesn't matter now
what I do and this flesh is so wicked it's never going to be
better, but as you can see in the scriptures, and we'll look
at a number of them this morning, that we're not at all encouraged
to just do whatever we want and live with reckless abandonment
and fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, because the flesh isn't
getting better. It isn't, brethren. It's still
going to lust for the things that it always lusts for. Even
when you have sweet times with the Lord, it's, you know, Even
in that very moment, you know, wicked thoughts enter your heart
and your mind and it's just, we're always troubled by this
flesh because it's dead. It's not alive. It's not alive
to the things of God. Until Christ raises it again
from the dead, then it'll be incorruptible. But right now,
it's corruptible. It's mortal. It's dead and it's
going to be, it's just dust. That's all it is right now. Now,
if you look in John 20 verse 22, or actually let me just read
what Paul said to the Galatians, for brethren, ye have not been
called unto liberty, I'm sorry, ye have been called unto liberty,
only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve
one another. That's what the Lord is calling
us to, is to serve one another here, even though we have the
burden and the struggle of this flesh with us, while we're here,
we trust him, that he's worked all things out, and we serve
one another in love. In John 20, 22 we read how the
Lord communicates His grace to us. He gives us His Holy Spirit
and it says that He breathed on them, our Lord breathed on
them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Now was that
a commandment to them? to their flesh, you need to receive
the Holy Ghost now. The Lord's not telling us to
do something that we can't do, but rather He's giving us, He's
communicating grace to us that He's given us His Spirit. That's
what He gives us, His Holy Spirit, so that by His Spirit we live
upon Him, we behold Christ, we look to Him in the new man, trusting
Him, resting in Him, knowing that this flesh This flesh, again,
it's always going to continue to lust for the things that it
lusts for. It's going to continue to want and desire the things
of this world. But in the new man, we don't
look to that. We're not looking to satisfy
it and to quiet it up by just giving into it. We do want to
just love the Lord and serve him and look to him and pray
that those desires just pass away and go away. But they always
come back. But we're not going to be able
to conquer them by the works of the flesh and look into the
law. It's only going to arouse it all the more. It's only going
to make us good Pharisees and really good deceitful workers
of how to hide that from our brethren so that they don't see
what we are in the flesh. But we know. We know what we
are in the flesh. We know what's in the heart of flesh and how
we desperately need Him. So He breathes on us, giving
us His Holy Spirit so that by Him we live upon Him by the Spirit
Because again, He's given us all things necessary for salvation. In 2 Peter, if and when we get
to that book, in 2 Peter 1 verse 3, this verse says, according
as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness. It says it right there. Everything
that we need that pertains unto life and godliness, God has given
it to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ gives us His Holy Spirit
so that by His Spirit We walk and live in him and live upon
him. Jeremiah 32 40 says, I will make
an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away
from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts
that they shall not depart from me. So the Lord's doing all things
necessary. He's establishing the covenant.
He established the covenant with us in his son, Jesus Christ.
He promises to do all things so we know We had the promises
of God that He's going to do that. It's not coming down to
you being good enough. and you believing enough because
even our faith is weak and it's clouded and troubled in this
flesh. He's doing all things, brethren.
You have the promises of God in His Son, Jesus Christ. Paul says this in Romans 11,
16. If the root be holy, so are the branches. That's a promise. If the root be holy and the root
is Christ, so are the branches. We who are connected to Him we're
holy, because He has made us holy in Him. So that as we grow
in Him, what He desires, we desire. He turns us from desiring our
own lusts and what we want to see established in this life
and the kingdoms that we want to build in this life, and He
turns us to yield to His will. So that, you know, it begins
oftentimes that we're praying, I need this, Lord, could you
please grant me this or give me this or give me that. And
even when we say it in a way that sounds good and right and
it's lawful and there's nothing wrong with the things that we're
praying for necessarily, but he turns our hearts over time
through various means and troubles and trials and chastenings and
just growing in him to where we begin to pray, but not my
Lord will. Not my will be done, Lord, but
thy will be done, Lord. He bends us to his will so that
we're satisfied and pleased with him. Because many of us have
scars, things that we look back on, even as believers, that we
look back on in shame and think, what a wicked man I am, that
I could think that, or do that, or say that, and the things that
we've done, we look back on in shame, and even the chasing that
we go through as a result of those things, we see how the
Lord has blessed us by not giving us what we wanted, by breaking
us and severing us from those things, and encouraging us, and
showing us how even those painful things in the flesh, we look
back and say, you know, I wouldn't change it, though. I wouldn't
change the way the Lord had to break me, and bring me low and
put my face right in the dust because I love the Lord. Through
that experience He's brought me to love Him and to need Him
more and to desire Him more so that we rejoice in what He's
done in trusting that He is wisdom and He knows what He's doing
so more and more We're just, Lord, don't give me what I want. Give me what pleases you and
what's according to your kingdom and just exalts your name gloriously. So he'll do that. He'll do it,
brethren. You might think, well, maybe
I need to be more serious about this. He'll make you serious.
He'll do what needs to be done. so that you are glad and just
rejoice in what he's done. So this word, be holy, for I
am holy, it's a promise that that's what pleases God. That's
the will of God, that we are holy. So anything necessary,
he's done and is doing in us all through his son, Jesus Christ. If the root be holy, so are the
branches. Isaiah 26.12 says this, Our Lord, thou wilt ordain peace
for us, for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. The Lord has done it all, and
he's doing it all by his Son, Jesus Christ. All right. Point
number two, hearing the exhortation. In light of the promises given
to us in Christ Jesus our Lord, since we have the Spirit, as
we read, we rejoice in Romans 8, 1, when we read scriptures
like this, There is therefore now no condemnation to them who
are in Christ Jesus, to them who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. We walk after the Spirit as He's
growing us in Him, we're looking to the Spirit, not looking to
this flesh and satisfying and pleasing this flesh and doing
the things that this flesh wants to do. He's going to break us
and sever from those things, brethren. He's going to do all
things needful. And Peter goes on to say back
in our text in 1.13, Wherefore, with such encouragement that
we have, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober." Now he
says that word, wherefore, and if you remember what we had seen
the last time, he was speaking of the prophets, right? Saying
that the prophets searched these things out diligently concerning
the Lord. The prophets searched them out
diligently, even angels desire to look into these things, he
said. For the angels, they don't even have an interest in the
blood of Christ, meaning that it's not for them. The blood
of Christ wasn't shed for them. Christ didn't take on him the
form of an angel. He took on him the form of man, of our flesh,
and to put away our sins so that the angels themselves were our
elect angels that didn't fall. They have no need of salvation.
God preserved them. by election, that they shouldn't
fall when Satan fell and the angels with him. He preserved
them, but they desire to look into these things. And then the
prophets, they knew and understood that they wouldn't even see Christ
in the flesh, that they were living and dying, writing these
things not for themselves, but for us who would receive those
things. And yet they searched them out
diligently And now he says, wherefore, because you see this, and now
you see that Christ has come and that he has accomplished
salvation. We have that promise. We see what he's done. Wherefore,
brethren, gird up the loins of your mind and be sober. Give yourselves, too, to search
these things out diligently. Spend time searching these things
out and understand them more and more as the prophets have
done and as the angels desire. And remember that we're in of
war. Be sober therefore because we've
got an enemy here on the earth that hates us, that wants to
destroy us and make things very difficult for us. He hates the
saints because there was a battle and the Lord won. And he's been
thrown out of heaven where he used to accuse the brethren before
the throne of God Now he's got nothing to say because Christ
has come and put away salvation. He's done all the work by himself.
Revelation 12, 12 says, therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that
dwell in the heavens, right? But woe to the inhabitants of
the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto
you, having been defeated by Christ there on the cross, having
great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. But our Savior, our God, has
equipped us with all things necessary. He's given us the armor of faith
and love and hope in Him. He said in Ephesians 6, verse
11 and 12, put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. we are to be sober and not ignorant
of these things because we're not unaware of the devices of
Satan. And that's what Paul told second
Corinthians one or chapter two, one or two, where he said, we're
not ignorant of his devices. We know the things that he works
in among us. I mean, we're a young body now
coming together, you know, when things are changing and it's
real easy to offend people and, and, you know, to say things.
I mean, you brethren have been very gracious. to me and very kind and I'm thankful,
keep praying that the Lord give us a kind heart because it's
real easy in this flesh to be pricked in the flesh suddenly
and what do they mean by that? Why do they say that? Why are
they doing that? We don't know what it is but we're not ignorant
of his devices because if he can come in and create a division,
he will. Just remember that and be long-suffering
with one another, be gracious and kind because Satan You know,
he's going to come to trouble us and try and interrupt and
destroy what God is beginning here because that's what he does,
that's what he tries to do. But thankfully the Lord destroys
him. In Ephesians 6, 13 and 14, Paul
says, Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth. So you see, That having our loins
girt about with truth that Paul speaks of there in Ephesians
is the same thing that Peter is saying when he says have your
loins girt about, girt up the loins of your mind. Now have
your loins girt about with truth, have the loins girt up in your
mind and we do that through the preaching of the gospel because
the Lord takes the gospel and he strengthens us our thoughts
and our mind in the gospel of Christ. He strengthens us in
the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we're sober and we're mindful
of these things, knowing that these attacks and whatnot come
against us, that we're encouraged to disentangle ourselves from
the pursuits and the things of this world, as much as the Lord
enables us and gives us grace to do so, that we might more
and more seek him and his kingdom. You know, simplifying the life,
that we might serve him and serve one another. And so he uses various
means to sober us up and to remind us of the importance of him and
his word. I know even when Clay first came
up, I know there were things that we did as a body that just
discouraged him, you know, like we sometimes just didn't come
to services, you know, we let things get in the way, you know,
our life get in the way sometimes and, you know, like what if the
Lord had put in his heart to say, I'm done here, I'm not going
to stay here. He had the opportunity to go
to another place actually. He would have left us and I'm
so thankful that he didn't. The Lord showed him faithful
to the work and I may not be here today if the Lord didn't
give him that heart to endure with the weakness and the foolishness
of the brethren. you know, to be careless with
the things that the Lord did. But he trusted the Lord and the
Lord taught us. And he settled us in the gospel
so that more and more we built our lives around the gospel rather
than the gospel around our lives. And we're the happier ones for
it. You know, we're happier for it
so that we rejoice in what he's done. So he'll do that. Remember,
if the root be holy, so are the branches. We're connected to
Christ and he'll make us, he'll make us to hear his word and
to rejoice in him. In John 15 too, it says, Every
branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, or he prunes it,
that it may bring forth more fruit. So there's things, brethren,
that we do even well, or it seems like we do well, but the Lord
will still purge those, he'll still prune those branches that
more and more and more. That work, there's nothing for
us to glory in in the flesh. We begin to give him all the
praise all the glory, all the thanks, and all the honor, and
we rejoice in what he's done in us, so that old man just dies
more and more, just fades away, and the holiness, and the truth,
and the rejoicing of Christ shines forth in that which he's created. Peter said in verse 13, we gird
up the loins of our mind, being sober and hope to the end, We
persevere, waiting, waiting for the coming of Christ, for the
grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. At His first coming, right, there's
a sense here in which He's speaking of that in that first coming,
that grace that was revealed to us in Christ when He first
came, when He accomplished salvation there on the cross, He speaks
also of that grace that is to be brought unto us at His second
coming. And so that first thing is that
we know and see what Christ has accomplished for us, And that
second, when he comes again, we know that there's grace yet
awaiting us when we receive the inheritance that we're longing
for and looking for when Christ returns and delivers us from
this corrupt, dead flesh that profits us nothing, when he transforms
this flesh into the likeness of him. And I like how Paul said
it in Philippians 1.6. He said, being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ so that just as God, as
Christ when he first came, performed that work in us, so too when
he comes again he's going to preserve us unto that day of
grace when Christ returns and transforms these wicked bodies
into that which is unburdensome and doesn't weigh us down and
isn't dead and decaying. And then there's another sweet
thought in this as well that, you know, think of the prophets
who labored diligently for these things, knowing that they were
for another generation to come. And then, you know, Peter here
is writing to these believers, these brethren here, that are
looking at this letter and they're reading it and rejoicing in it
and thinking, excited that Christ is going to return again and
deliver them from the deadness of this flesh. And yet then many
of them began to die. They began to go to sleep and
be laid in the dust. Peter knew that he wasn't going
to be here to see the Lord's return because the Lord told
him how he would die and lay down his life for him. He knew
that he would be crucified. So Peter even knew that the labor
that I'm doing here now in the early church, I'm not going to
see when the Lord comes until he raises me from the dead, from
the grave. So I'm laboring. for another
generation, on laboring for those who will yet see him at his second
coming. And for 2,000 years, brethren,
I've been faithful with the gospel, though it's been small and almost
imperceptible throughout the years. And yet there was faithful
brethren that the Lord used and sustained to keep this truth
as it is in Christ, truth. It's the gospel that we look
to and trust in Christ. And what a sweet thought to think
that just as those prophets labored diligently for the benefit of
another, so all the brethren for 2,000 years have labored
diligently to protect this truth and to keep it just as we're
doing here now. We may be alive. I mean, it looks
pretty awful right now. You can see how any day now the
Lord could return, and it wouldn't surprise us in the least because
it's a wicked, wicked time. People don't look to the Lord.
They mock the Lord, saying, where is the promise of His coming?
It's been 2,000 years, and we haven't seen anything yet. You
really believe that stuff? Yeah, by His grace and His power
in us, we believe this stuff. We believe that Christ is and
that He is returning, just as you said. But we may lay down
our lives, too. We're here to gather together
for our benefit, for the benefit of our children and our children's
children. You know that the Lord will sustain
this gospel until He returns. So brethren, let us be diligent.
to love this gospel, to love our Savior and lay down our lives
for it, that it benefits those that come after us should we
live and die and not see his coming yet until we lay in the
graves ourselves. All right, our third point, obedient
children. Look at 1 Peter 1.14. He says, as obedient children,
not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance,
but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all
manner of conversation, because, here's the promise, because it
is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. So knowing this is the
will of God for us, that we are to be holy, that he's given us
his Holy Spirit, so that we would live by him and abide in him,
not according to this flesh. He's equipped us with all spiritual
weapons for the warfare that we're going through. He's given
us beautiful gifts such as faith and love and hope in Him. Then
trust Him, just as we trust Him for faith and love and hope,
trust Him for holiness too, that we are holy. There's nothing
more we need to do but just trust that those works which He's ordained
in us, that we should walk in them, we shall walk in them because
He's ordained it to be so. It's the will of our God. So
that more and more, that which he desires is what we desire.
That which pleases him, pleases us. And we're satisfied in him.
Peter writes, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lusts in your ignorance. Now some would say, perhaps,
you really shouldn't even warn believers against sin. Why talk
about it? Because this flesh can't do anything.
You might excite them in the flesh and cause them to look
to the law and trust in the law, but brethren, Believers aren't
going to look back to the law. The Lord delivers us from that.
He seals us from trusting in the law and looking to the law
for our salvation. It doesn't mean that we're looking
back to the law, but we have the Spirit of Christ, and the
Spirit of Christ isn't going to lead us into sin. Paul says it this way to the
Romans in 12 verses 1 and 2. He said, I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. He says it's your reasonable
service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God." So that in heeding
this word, we're just presenting back to God that which he's already
worked in us, what he's already done in us. We're not doing anything
to improve upon what Christ has done. Peter here isn't saddling
us with the law and with works and things like that. Children
of God, are made holy by God, they're made holy by the Lord
Jesus Christ, and so that it becomes our desire to be holy
and pleasing to him. And he's put his Holy Spirit
in us to do that very thing, to reveal that in us, to reveal
and work that desire in us. And Paul says it's just reasonable.
Now Christ is the head of the body, right? He's the head of
the body. And as Christ is the head of the body, just like your
head tells your body what to do, so Christ being the head
isn't going to direct the body to go and join itself unto a
whore. He's just not going to do that. He's going to deliver
us from the harlot. He's going to deliver us from
that which is evil and doesn't please him because he is the
head. And he says if you go to 2 Corinthians
6, you might as well see this, 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14.
2 Corinthians 6 14 Paul says, Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light
with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? For what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? And then he says this, For ye
are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will
dwell in them, and walk in them, And I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you.
And ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Now
because we are completely justified in Christ, we are completely
sanctified by Christ, there's nothing more that we need to
do, there's no gap that we need to make up any difference at
all. Christ has done all this. He says there in 7 verse 1, chapter
7 verse 1, having therefore these promises. we have the promise
of God. And he says, having these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
And brethren, this perfecting of holiness It's not that we
are sanctifying ourselves or improving anything of what Christ
has done. That's not what it's saying.
What he's saying there is that we're simply just bearing witness
to what God has worked in us by his son Jesus Christ. That's
it. You're not improving upon what
Christ has done. That's not what he says by perfecting
holiness. We're just bearing witness to
what Christ has done in us. We're just seeking him and serving
him because Christ has made His work that in us, so that it's
our desire to do that, to be pleasing to Him. Now turn over
to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, because I want us
to see that this is Christ's work, not our work in the flesh.
Hebrews 10, verse 14. For by one offering, He, Christ,
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy
Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more." So the spirit, that
man who said, well, it doesn't matter what I do in the flesh,
That's not the spirit that teaches us that. He doesn't have us talk
like that. It doesn't matter what I do in the flesh. I can
go and just do whatever I want. I mean, we know that there's
nothing we can do to separate us from Christ. There's nothing
that we can do to add to it. or take away from what Christ
has done. That's, that work is done, but
it's not the desire now for us that the flesh still desires
the things of the flesh, but the new man that he puts in us,
that doesn't, it doesn't sit well with our new man that we
should, we do mourn when we sin, because we don't want to sin.
We don't want, we know that those sins are what laid, are what
put our Savior there on the cross, so that we don't want to keep
on sinning, though we do, And we confess our sins and we look
to Him for forgiveness and trust that He has forgiven us. But
we don't just say, ah, it doesn't really matter. The Spirit of
Christ wouldn't talk that way in us. It wouldn't teach us to
speak like that. And then that man, though, that
says, but so now to keep myself there, I need to go back to the
law and look to the law because the law is going to give me instruction
of how to keep myself and sanctify myself. That's not the Spirit
of Christ because the Spirit of Christ shows us that Christ
has sanctified us. He's done all things necessary.
There's nothing more for us to do. We walk by the Holy Spirit
that he's given us in Christ. And only those who despise God
will despise that which is a reasonable service. just to look to Him,
and to seek Him, and to serve Him, and serve one another. Paul
said it this way in Romans 8, 14, for as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now, if we look
to what our brother read earlier, but let's go to 1 Thessalonians
3, verse 12. 1 Thessalonians 3, we'll pick up in verse 12. So we'll see here in verse 12
that it's the Lord that receives all the glory for this work which
he works in us. It says, and the Lord make you,
the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward
another and toward all men, even as we do toward you. To the end,
he, right, not your flesh, but he may establish your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Remember, be
holy for I am holy. It's a promise. God wills and
we shall. Therefore, we see him establishing
our hearts unblameable in holiness by Christ. It's him doing all
the work. Chapter 4 verse 1. Furthermore, then, we beseech
you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you
have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God, so
you would abound more and more. He's talking about what they
agreed to back in Acts 15, when they said abstain from fornication,
you know, don't eat things, sacrifice the idols and blood, just avoid
those things, just put them away because they're offensive to
some people and we don't want to put a someone block in front
of people. And so he said, verse three,
for this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that
you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should
know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. Not to make yourself sanctified.
He didn't say to make yourself sanctified, but that you possess
that which Christ has sanctified. and made holy unto himself that
you just bear witness to these things. You know how to possess
it in sanctification and honor. Paul said it this way to the
Galatians in 6, 7, and 8. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit
shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. So brethren, It's
the Lord that teaches us. He's given us the spirit, the
desire for things of the Lord, and I have no desire to trouble
you in the flesh. It's a promise. He's promised
to make us holy in Christ. He has made us holy in Christ.
We're not sanctifying anything. Christ has already perfected
our sanctification and our justification. And what we're saying is, but
don't labor and seek to do the things that this flesh loves
and just desires to do. Because the flesh doesn't desire
the things of God. The flesh doesn't do anything,
right? No man in the flesh can... Nothing that we do in the flesh
pleases God. A man can't please God with the flesh, so why would
we look to the flesh and trust that the flesh is going to lead
us down the right path and it doesn't matter what I do because
I'm sanctified. That's just the flesh talking
because the flesh wants to do what the flesh wants to do. It
enjoys doing what the flesh enjoys doing. So that's not improving
or changing, but we're looking to the Lord, trusting that he's
our inheritance, that just to fulfill that which the flesh
lusts for here on this life is to just partake of those momentary
pleasures. Look at Moses. Moses could have
enjoyed a lot of momentary pleasures there in Egypt. He was a pretty
powerful man and had access to a lot of various pleasures of
the day, and yet he forsook them. And he trusted Christ. He looked
to Christ. He didn't look to the law. He
trusted in Christ, that Christ was his salvation, that Christ
would put away his sin. And yet knowing that, He didn't
give in to the temptation and the momentary pleasures that
he could have had in this life. So why would we too? Same thing.
It's not looking to the flesh. It's looking to Christ and trusting
he's my inheritance. That which I need to have, God
will provide here in this life. And when I am transformed and
meet him in the skies, I'll be satisfied with whatever he's
pleased to give me, which is Christ. He's my inheritance.
I trust Him. I don't need the things of this
life to fulfill all the pleasures that this flesh lusts for and
looks to and trusts in. 1 Thessalonians 4, 5, and 6 say,
Not in the lust of concupiscence, Even as the Gentiles, which know
not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any
matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as
we also have forewarned you and testified." I would say the Lord
will chasten us. He'll deal with us as we need
dealing with. He'll convince us. of what we
need to know. Verse 7 says, For God hath not
called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. Right? It's His
will that we be holy. He's promised that. So be holy
as God is holy. Look to Him and trust Him that
He makes us holy. Because it's only Christ that
makes a sinner holy. It's only Christ that justifies
a sinner. It's only Christ that sanctifies a sinner. He therefore
that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God. who hath also given
unto us his Holy Spirit. It's his Holy Spirit that we
walk by. And I'll just close with this verse in John 3, 21.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds
may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. So brethren,
I pray that you don't hear that word in the flesh, but that you
hear it with the ear of faith, that Christ has called us to
himself, that we're his, that he's our head and we're his body
and he's going to work out all things in us and he'll teach
us the truth of that word. There's nothing, don't go out
of here thinking that there's something that you've got to
do and change your life and things like that. Just keep seeking
him and trust him, stay upon him and his word, trust him according
to the word of his gospel that he has sanctified us, and justified
us, and made us complete in him. Now rejoice, rejoice in him,
to serve him in that rejoicing, in that comfort, in that gladness,
and the Lord will teach you the truth of that word. Pray in his
name, let's pray. Our gracious Lord, please have
mercy upon us, Lord. Help us to look to Christ and
rejoice in him. Don't set our eyes upon this
flesh. This flesh is corrupt. It's weak
and worthless and doesn't do anything profitable for us, Lord.
Help us to see our rejoicing in our inheritance in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to look to Him
and to serve Him and rejoice in Him the rest of the days of
our life, Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name, our Lord and
Savior. Amen.