Once again, I have put everything
in the handout. But if you would like to turn
in your Bibles and read directly from your Bibles rather than
the handout, we will be looking at Hebrews chapter 10 and Ezekiel
chapter 16. So if you want to mark your Bibles
for that and read from there rather than through the handout,
that's fine, whichever way works best for you. I put it all in
there. And I'll begin with page one
of the handout. Again, the title is Characteristics
of God's Grace. And this is our third study.
And tonight we're going to look at the word sanctify, sanctifying
grace. In our past two studies, we considered
the covenant of grace, which is the basis of all the characteristics
of God's grace. And we left off from part one
with the Holy Spirit's part in that covenant between the great
three and one by giving life to cold dead sinners. Part two
was a continuation of the role the Holy Spirit plays in regenerating
grace. Tonight we consider sanctifying
grace. The grace of God in sanctifying
a people who were once dead in trespasses and sin, yet are now
set apart or made holy by acts of His grace. The word sanctify,
agia adso, means to make holy. That is ceremonially to purify
or consecrate, to set aside for holy uses or to set apart. God, in the character of His
grace, has set aside a people to be holy and unblameable before
him. We read that in Colossians 1,
chapter 1, verse 21 and 22. It says, and you that were sometime
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to
present you holy and unblameable. and unreprovable in his sight. Yet now it says, now that we've
been born again, now that we've been given life by the Spirit,
yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. God the Spirit separates us.
He sets us apart from the world, preparing us to be used in holiness,
vessels of mercy, His mercy. 1 Peter 1, verse 2, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit. So we see here the Word of God
declares there's a sanctification part of the Spirit, and that
is setting us apart. That's the part of where that
word comes from, we're setting us apart. In 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 13, we read these words, but 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. So we see the spirit's
part not only in giving life, but in setting us apart. Well,
as we just read in that last verse there, 2 Thessalonians,
it says there, God hath from the beginning chosen you. And on page 2, we ask this question,
chosen us, chosen us from where? From out of the world. He has
chosen us from out of all the people that are born and that
walk this earth. Folks, the world knows not God. As children of the Most High,
you and I can clearly see right now there was a time that we
also knew not the true and living God. We could not know Him. In our natural walk, we walked
according to the wickedness of this world. That's what we read
in Ephesians 2, verses 2 and 3, wherein times passed, ye walked
according to the course of this world. What is the course of
this world? It's wickedness. It's sin. according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all, as children
of God, we know that that's talking about us. We all had our conversation,
our walk in this life in times past, in the lust of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature the children of wrath even as others. Folks, contrary
to the false self-righteous religionists that claim to be Christians,
God does not love all men. His desire is not to save all
mankind from their sins. I saw that on a posting the other
day of a relative of mine. And I wanted to, Kathy said,
no, no, no, no, no, don't you do that. You know, you're gonna
start trouble. Don't answer those people, just let them be. They
said, God wants to save you if you'll just let him, or something
to that effect. He loves all men. No, he doesn't.
His desire is not to save all mankind from their sins. If it
was his desire, it would happen. It would come true. It would
be. Yet it is his desire to save a remnant of people he has loved
with an everlasting love, as it says in Jeremiah 31, 3. We're
all familiar with that. He has loved us with an everlasting
love, he said. It is his desire that he shall
lose none of those for whom he died. If he could lose any, then
his death is meaningless. Wouldn't you say that? Doesn't
that make common sense? There is no power in the blood
that was shed if he could lose anything. There would be no full
assurance of salvation if our God could lose anyone for whom
he died. The Spirit comes in the day of
his love and he gives life where there was nothing but death.
We saw that last week in great depth. Setting a vessel of mercy
aside for holy uses. discarding that old, wicked,
dead heart and giving us a heart of flesh, a heart of life, a
new heart, a new tabernacle, a dwelling place for the Lord
of glory, Jesus Christ, my Lord. Did you know the Lord of glory
dwells within your heart? That's what drives our heart
to desire Him. That's what drives our heart
to desire to follow His statutes. That's what drives us to look
to Him when we have no other place to look to. He dwells in
tabernacles made without hands. In Exodus 29, verses 42 through
46, we read this, this shall be a continual burnt offering
throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation. Remember, the Old Testament is
pictures and types, shadows of things to come. of the congregation before the
Lord, where I will meet you to speak there unto thee, and there
I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle
shall be sanctified, set apart by my glory, and I will sanctify
the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and I will sanctify
also both Aaron and his sons to minister to me and the priest's
office. And I will dwell among the children
of Israel, page three, and I will be their God, and they shall
know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out
of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord
their God. In Psalms 4, verse 3, but know
that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. Who is godly that has walked
this earth outside of Christ? None. absolutely none, yet in
Christ everything we need to be in the presence of God Almighty
is provided by our Savior. But know that the Lord hath set
apart him that is godly for himself. The Holy Spirit sets us apart
from the world, yet it is not the Spirit that can make a man
holy, The spirit cannot die. The spirit does not bleed. And
God is righteous and just. Isaiah 13, 11, and I will punish
the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity.
Romans 1, verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. And then in Romans 6, verse 23,
we read, for the wages of sin is death. So in those three verses alone,
and there are many, many, many more, we see that the Spirit
of God is not the one who can save mankind. He has his part. His part does not speak of himself.
It speaks of the Lord Jesus himself. Continuing on now on page three
of our handout, can a man make himself holy, I ask you? Everything
about you and I is filled with sin. Folks, when Adam sinned,
this is something very difficult for many to get wrapped their
minds around. Did you know everything that we see, everything that
is about us, the worlds, the skies, the stars, the heavens
that we see from where we sit right now is gonna burn up. Sin
has affected everything in the first creation, everything. The very ground that you walk
on has been cursed. Cursed is the ground that you
walk on, sayeth the Lord. Can a man make himself holy?
Everything about us is filled with sin. We sin because we are
sinners. Jeremiah 17, verse nine through
10, it says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. You know, only God's people know
that. The rest of the world will go about and say, well, I'm not
quite that bad. I know, I know. I cussed once
this week, but I asked God to forgive me. But see, I'm not
that bad. I haven't killed anybody yet. God's people must first be taught
this. Our heart is desperately wicked
and we know it. There is no doubt in our minds
that our hearts are desperately wicked. God's word is true all
the way through. It's deceitful, above all things,
and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord,
search the heart, he says. I try the reins, even to give
every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of
his doings. I'm so thankful the Lord has some people that he
doesn't give to the fruit of their doings. Whew! Some people he gives to the fruit
of what his son has done. Amen? Proverbs 30 verse 12, there
is a generation that are pure in their own eyes. That was John Reeves for a long
time. That are pure in their own eyes
and yet is not washed from their filthiness. Can a man make himself
holy, I ask again. Page four. Look with me at these words of
God's prophet, Ezekiel. In chapter 16, we begin at verse
one, again, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, this is
the job of all of God's prophet. We go into the world and we say
this, and I'm not, folks, even you can be a prophet when you're
speaking the word of the Lord. When you go to somebody and you
say, thus saith the Lord, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I
hated. You're acting as a prophet. You're prophesying what God's
word is all about. So this is what we do as God's
prophets. When we go into the world, we
say what the word of the Lord is. And it comes unto us by the
word of God, teaching us. Son of man, cause Jerusalem to
know their abominations. How are you gonna seek after
the Almighty God if you don't think you need one? Verse three,
and thus saith the Lord God of Jerusalem, thy birth and thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan. What was the land of Canaan?
The land of Canaan was idolatry. You come from a land of idolatry.
Free will worshiping. thy father was an Amorite, and
thy mother a Hittite. Verse four, and as for thy nativity,
thy birth, and the day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut,
neither was thou washed in water to supple me, thou was not salted
at all, nor swaddled at all. None I pity thee to do any of
these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee. But thou wast cast
out into the open field to the loathing of thy person. In the
day that thou wast born, when I passed by thee and saw thee
polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy own blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thine own blood, in thy blood, live. Verse seven, I have
caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast
increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments.
Thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas
thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee and
looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love, and
I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine. Now, here's what I wanted you to see. I read all that to
describe. You see, we're talking about
Jerusalem to know her abominations. You children of God, you who
belong to God, we know what our abominations are. We see our
abominations every day. Our sin is before us all the
time. This is what I want you to see. Then washed I, says the
Lord. Then washed I thee with water. Yea, thoroughly washed away thy
blood from me and I anointed thee. with oil. Can a man wash
away his sins? Can a man make himself holy?
No, but there is one who can. Revelation chapter 1 verse 5
and 6. Jesus Christ, unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. There's only one way to
be holy before God. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me, John 14 6. And there's only one who can
make his people holy and presentable to God the Father. That's the
God-man, Christ Jesus the Lord, the Son of the living God. Only
the perfect righteous blood of God in the flesh can wash away
the sins of his people. And for him to do so, he must
pay the debt. He must make an atonement. He
must fulfill the role of kinsman redeemer. That's why the eternal
Son of God must be manifest in the flesh, to die in our stead,
to present himself as our sacrifice, our spotless lamb, our scapegoat,
our city of refuge. Folks, the Son of God has always
been the Son of God. He just wasn't in the flesh.
He had to be born of a virgin, not of the seed of Adam, but
of the seed of the Spirit, perfect in everything about him. Otherwise, he could not have
been our sacrifice. He would not have been called
our spotless lamb. He would not have been our scapegoat
or our city of refuge. The sacrifices of man in serving
the law were nothing but shadows of the only sacrifice worthy
to be accepted. Our blood, the blood of animals,
these are all under the curse of sin and could do nothing in
washing away sin. Yet the perfect blood of Christ
was sufficient. It did the job. God accepted
the blood of his son. Look with me, if you would, at
Hebrew chapter 10. Again, I have it in the handout
if you'd like. I'll give you folks a moment to turn there
if you want to follow through in your own Bibles. Hebrews chapter
10, we begin at verse 1. For the law having a shadow of
good things to come, see there? fulfilling of that law, the ceremonial
law that was given to Moses and Aaron about the ceremonies of
the temple, for the law having a shadow of good things to come,
all the sacrifices were nothing but a shadow of Christ Jesus
and not the very image of the things, can never with those
sacrifices, which they offered year by year, continually making
continually make the comers there unto perfect. Those sacrifices
never did anything. It was the law, and they had
to follow the law. That was part of their ceremonial
works. But it never did anything. And
you know what? Even in those days, I've thought
about this. Have you thought about this before? Even in those
days, When Israel was following after the lust of their own flesh,
thinking they were fulfilling the law, committing their own
righteousness, there was still a group of people in that nation,
in that people, who knew the truth and believed the truth
because God's remnant has always been there. It's no different
than it is today. The so-called Christian religions
are so corrupt and have been turned as such abominations.
Is it any wonder that God may be turning his back on this country?
Oh, not to those of us who know the Lord. We've seen him do it
before, haven't we? Just as there is now, a small
group of people here, a small group of people down in San Diego,
some in Texas, some in Tennessee, Kentucky, Australia, England,
all around the world, Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, God
has his remnant of people. Oh, what a wonderful thing to
think about. Where was I? Verse two, for then
would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshipers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. All
those offerings were nothing. Otherwise, they would have had
no more conscience of sins. But it happened every year. They
had to do it every year, over and over again. Verse 3, but
in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of sins,
what? Every year. For then would they
not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshipers once
purged, once washed, should have had no more conscience of sins.
But in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of
sins every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he cometh into the
world, he sayeth sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but
a body hast thou prepared me. Notice how it said, when he came
into the world. So we see right there, the Word
of God declaring that God the Son has always been God the Son. He's the eternal God the Son,
yet Jesus Christ is God man in the flesh. He had to come and
a body was prepared. In verse six, in burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin, thou hast no pleasure. Page six. Verse seven, then said I, lo,
I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy
will, O God. Remember what we were looking
at in the book of Marks? Three times our Lord brought
his disciples together and declared to them that they would have
to go up to Jerusalem, he would be killed, he would die, and
he would raise again the third day. That's exactly what this
is talking about right here. It is written of me. to do thy
will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hast pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. By the witch will
we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all, sanctifying grace. We see how the Lord Jesus
is the only one who could exercise that grace in making his people
holy by the blood, by the body, of Jesus Christ once and for
all. Verse 11, and every priest standeth daily ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins. But this man, our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice, you know why there's
only one? Because God doesn't have to do
something twice. I think that's just about as
simple as I can put it. God only has to do what he wants to do
once, and it's done. After he had offered one sacrifice
for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God. From henceforth,
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. We've been perfected forever.
Those who are sanctified, set apart from the world by the Holy
Spirit, those who are called out of the darkness and caused
to shine the light of Jesus Christ in our hearts. Our Lord has perfected
forever us. Verse 15, whereof the Holy Ghost
is also witness to it. 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. Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that
is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house
of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water. Oh, to be made holy by our Savior. Listen to Proverbs 16, 5. Everyone
that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Now
stop there for a minute. When you say, when someone says,
came to the Lord. When someone says, I started
following the Lord. When somebody says, I made a
decision for Jesus Christ. When somebody says, I got baptized. When somebody says, I received
Christ into my heart. Well, that last one, actually,
we do receive Christ into our heart, but it's Christ who causes
us to do that. It's all I, I, I. That's a proud heart. That's
a heart that's puffed up, thinking more of itself than it could.
Everyone that is of a proud heart is an abomination to the Lord. Though hand joined in hand, he
shall not be unpunished. Continuing in Proverbs 16, verse
six, we read this, but mercy and truth, or I'm sorry, by mercy
and truth, and nicotine is purged. Remember that word purge means
washed, extracted, washed away, washed clean, made holy. Second Corinthians 5, 21, we
read these words, for he hath made him sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Who can make you holy? He who
was made sin for his people. That's who. Not for the whole
of mankind, but for us, it says. It says, he hath made him sin
for us, not for the whole world. In John chapter 17, verse 9,
I pray not for the world, but for them that thou hast given
me. He was made sin for a particular people, folks. He was made sin
for you and I, those that he has loved with an eternal love.
He who is sanctified, made holy, His people, He who is our sanctification,
our holiness, our righteousness, this is Jesus Christ, our Lord,
the Lord of all glory, the Lord of all that is, Jesus Christ. Listen to these words from... Oh, I forgot to put the scripture in
there. I'm pretty sure it's Hebrew.
who being the brightness of His glory and express Him... Yeah,
this is Hebrews chapter 1. He, who being the brightness
of his glory, the brightness of God the Father's glory, and
the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sanctified
us from our sins, washed us from our sins, made us holy, he sat
down on the right hand of the Modesty on high. 1 Corinthians
1, verse 27-31, we read these words, that no flesh should glory
in his presence, but him of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification. We're talking about sanctifying
grace. Sanctifying grace. Sanctification and redemption,
that according as it is written. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Romans chapter eight, verse one,
there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because he was condemned
in our stead. To God be the glory, great things
he hath done.