Here's a profound statement for
you. Once you see the grace of the
Savior, you cannot unsee it. Amen. I won't embarrass the young man
who told me that. The guy just told me that this
morning. I thought that was awesome. Once
you see the grace of God, you cannot unsee it. Last week, we
were talking about the throne of grace, if you'll recall, coming
to the throne of grace. And we looked at who that throne
of grace is, why we can come to that throne of grace. And
this morning, I'm gonna continue just a little bit with that,
because there's certain qualifications for anyone to come to the throne
of grace. You know, the throne of grace
is God Almighty, Jesus Christ. God in the flesh. He is on his
throne, and his throne is the throne of everything. But God is also holy. Can we comprehend that? Not in
this flesh we can. We get a little bit of an inkling,
a little bit of a thought about what it is to be holy. But we
can't see the totality of it. God is so holy. He is so righteous. He is so perfect that he cannot
even look upon imperfection. He cannot even look upon sin. So there's some qualifications
to be able to come to that throne of grace, isn't there? Three
words that this sinner who stands before you, and I shared with
you some sins of mine last week. I'm not gonna do it again. That
was embarrassing. It was important, and it was
necessary, but it was still shameful. You must feel the same if you
had to admit your own sins. So this sinner who stands before
you, three words are great news to me, and I pray that the Lord
may Bless you with this also. Sanctification, you know what
that means? You understand what that word
means? Sanctification is a big old huge word that just means
made holy, set apart from what is not holy. That's a great word
for a sinner, especially one who hopes, hopes, has a great
hope that I'll spend eternity with my Lord, with my Lord and
Savior. How about you? Is that a good
word for you folks? You like that word, sanctification? How
about justification? Is that not a great word for
a sinner who needs saving, somebody who needs to have somebody justify? We try so hard to justify our
actions, don't we? I was telling my son this this
morning, you can come up with whatever reasons you want to
justify what you're doing, but you just got to come to the conclusion
You gotta get up, get out there and get it done. Justification. Glorification. Well that's gonna come with those
two other words. Sanctification, justification,
finally glorification. Open your Bibles if you would
to 2 Thessalonians chapter two. My message this week is a simple
message. I'm gonna bring before you a
three-point outline defined by the word of the Most High. That means this. By His Word, not by John Reeves,
but His Word. And my first point this morning
I want to bring before you is the word sanctification. It's
a big word that simply means made holy. It means to dedicate,
to set aside for holy uses. It means to be made holy. Now,
let me ask you this. If something had to be made holy,
would that not suggest that it was not holy before? Once you see the grace of God
and salvation, you cannot unsee it. One of the things that the
Lord shows us, very first thing, is that we are not holy in any
sense of the word. In fact, we're as sinful as it
gets, aren't we? Are we not sinful from the top
of our head to the bottom of our feet? If you don't see that
in yourself, God has not done a work in your heart. To see
the truth, of what we are is to see our undeserving presence
before God. That's what grace means, isn't
it? It's undeserving. We're saved by grace through
faith, through faith and belief in who He is, God Almighty in
the flesh, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our substitute,
the one who walked this earth. Not only did he take in substitution
the wrath of God for us, he established a perfect righteousness for each
and every one of us. We're as perfect as he is right
now. We are complete in him as we
saw in Friday Night's Bible study. To be sanctified is to suggest that we were unholy
at one time. To be made holy is to suggest
that we were unholy to begin with. And the first step in bringing
a dead, unholy sinner to salvation is for them to know that they
were dead in trespasses and sin. 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, we read
these words. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all expectation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Now, that's Paul who wrote
that. The Apostle Paul, who God used
mightily in writing all these books in the New Testament, he
says, of whom I am chief. He says these words also, oh
wretched man that I am. Not that I was, that I am. That takes God the Holy Spirit
to show a dead sinner what he is before God. Once you see it, you can't unsee
it. Oh, we may think for a few minutes
that I'm getting so much better. God will cut your legs out right
from underneath you if you belong to him. He won't let that happen
very long. And when he does that, usually
it's pretty painful. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. And Paul wrote this long
after his regeneration. He wrote it long after his conversion
on that road. And he was pursuing the church
at that time. This was long after that, and
he still declares himself to be the chief of sinners. Lord called me out of darkness
23 something years ago when I first sat here and heard the gospel
preached for the first time. Today, I see myself, if not as
much as more of a sinner than I was then. I need a Savior more today than
I did that day 23 years ago. My pastor who preached for almost
38 years will tell you this day, he needs a Savior today more
than he did when he first come to know the Lord. Where we came from is ever before
us. Lord, help us to see the very
pit that you dug us out of, that you pulled us out of, that you
reached down and grabbed. Just like you did Peter, when
Peter began to sink in the waters. In love, he reaches down and
grabs his own, your mine, I shall not lose you. It must ever be held before us
until we leave this life and enter into the bliss of eternal
life, into the very presence of Christ Jesus, our risen, exalted
Savior. Absent to be from this body is
to be in the presence of the Lord for those he died for. As
long as we walk through this life, the spirit will war with
the flesh, but that's only to a quickened spirit, one that
was dead, but has been reborn, given life, and made alive, sanctified,
made holy. We read, you must be born again
in John 3, 3, Jesus answered and said unto him, speaking to
Nicodemus, he said, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus
saith unto him, well, how can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be
born? And Jesus answered and said, verily, verily, I say unto
thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. And we looked
a little deeper into this in Friday night's Bible study, where
it talks about The Lord's telling his disciples,
it's harder for a rich man to go and enter the kingdom of heaven
than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
And when everybody thought, well then who is it that can be saved?
He says, with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Here in John 3, he says this, the wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. The Spirit of God set a people
apart to be made holy. This is how you become sanctified.
It must take the act of God. With man, it is impossible. We can't make ourselves sanctified. We can't make ourselves holy.
How can something unholy Make itself holy. We need a substitute. We need a savior. Are you with
me in 2 Thessalonians 2, look at verse 13. You know what, I've
got to get there. That would help, huh? Look at verse 13 of 2 Thessalonians
2, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation, from the beginning of all creation, before the world,
before the foundation of the world, chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. It says in John 3, 16, whosoever
believeth. How are you gonna believe? if
you've never heard of the true God. A lot of people hear of
one called Jesus, a Jesus of their own imagination, one who
is waiting. I actually saw one of the relatives
from back east put on Facebook, Jesus wants to love you. What an insult to the true and
living God. Nowhere in Scripture does it
say, our God wants, but all over Scripture it says, what he has
purposed shall come to be, doesn't it? If the Lord has purposed
to sanctify a people unto himself through the Spirit, he will teach
them and sanctify them through the word of truth, the word of
who he is. We are set apart by the Spirit
of all creation to be made holy and without blame before him.
Is that not what the Word of God says over in Ephesians 1,
4, where it says, according as he hath chosen us in him, God
the Father hath chosen us in Christ Jesus before the foundation
of the world? Do you realize then that you
were chosen in God before you were ever born? He talks about
that between two babies, doesn't he? Two twin boys who were in
their mother's womb before they were even born, the Lord God
chose one. To love, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. Ooh, people don't like that at
all. So then election might stand. God's people love election. Once
you've seen the grace of God, you can't unsee it, and I can
see clearly, just as every one of you who were chosen of God,
you can see clearly that you would not have chosen him unless
he had chosen you first. He'll bring you to know that.
If you're sitting there today not knowing that, pray for the
Lord to bring it to you. Pray to bring it to you. Lord,
show me. Open my eyes to your grace. Open
my eyes to the peace of your works and not mine. setting apart that we just read
about in Ephesians 1, 4, according as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him. Did you notice that this setting
apart, this sanctification, this being made holy was not an act
of man? It was not a decision that we
made. It was not a rededication. Oh, I'm going to rededicate my
life today. I know people who've been to
the baptismal five times. Rededication. When the Lord saves
you, you are saved. It's not in any way or a work
of man, but it is that of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is of
the Lord, declare it the Word of God. The dead can't do anything. Lazarus, let me ask you, did
Lazarus do anything? You know he came out of the grave
still tied in his grave clothing, right? It wasn't until he was
all the way outside of that grave when the Lord said, loose him.
Loose him. I can imagine what that sight
must have been like. Imagine what Lazarus, all he could see
was the Lord right before him. And he's coming to the Lord.
That's how he brings us, folks. He brings us, but we're still
tied to this flesh. He brings us to him by the power
of God speaking to the heart, a new heart. The dead can't do anything, but
Lazarus, he didn't make a decision. He came forth when God, when
the God of all creation called his name. I heard a pastor say
one time, he said, you know, if he didn't abuse Lazarus's
name exactly, all of the dead would have raised. That's how
much power Christ has. all power in heaven and earth. The Spirit of God gave Lazarus
life that he would hear the effectual calling of the Lord, and that's
exactly where you and I were at one point when the Lord called
us. We were dead in trespasses and sin. But how then are we
made holy? How can we be made holy? How
can we be sanctified, set apart? That brings me to my second point,
justification. Sin cannot be in the presence
of the Most High. He who is holy cannot look upon
it. As I mentioned a moment ago, it is to be punished. His justice
must be satisfied. Blood must be shed. The one who
sins must surely die. Did you know that all of God's
people died in His Son, the Lord Jesus? We died in Him. Yeah, the flesh is still going
on, and Lord help us to live in Him now, but all of our sins
were put behind us in our Savior. It says in Hebrews 9, verse 22,
and almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and
without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
Turn over to Romans chapter three, if you would. Back to the left,
Romans chapter three. The sin-tainted body of a man
can never wash away their own sins. How can sin wash away sin? Men will spend an eternity trying
to wipe away their own sin, and it won't cleanse not one spot,
not even one. The justice of God must be met,
and it must be met in perfection. Remember what we said a moment
ago, he's holy. So holy, he cannot look upon
sin. So that means his justice must
be met perfect, satisfied to the T. And the flesh of men cannot
produce that. It must be met perfectly, for
he is perfect and holy, and an imperfect man cannot do it. So
how then? How can one be made holy? How
can one be justified before a thrice holy God? Look over at verses
10 through 28 of Romans chapter 3. As it is written, Romans chapter
3 verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no,
not one. You can't unsee it once you've
seen it. God's people are brought to know
there is no righteousness in this flesh. Our spirit is. but it's only through Him. There
is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. We know, don't we? We know
that the Lord came and sought us first before we began to seek
Him. There are none that seeketh after
God. They are all got out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of Asp is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways, and the way of peace had they not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know, now we know, Folks,
we were blind before, and we knew nothing. We thought all
this world was all about us. We thought that everything going
through, we'd do it our way. This is the way I want to do
it. I'm not hurting anybody. No, now we know that whatsoever
things, soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law. I know that my savior fulfilled that law for me. I
don't have to follow the law. I want to. I desire to. I want with all my being to put
away the sin from this flesh and follow after the law of my
God, for the law is good. But I also know that when I stumble,
that I will. By His grace, He has fulfilled
it for me perfectly. Now we know that what things
whoever the law saith, that saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." See
that? You can't earn it. You're not
gonna be able to work it out. Salvation is of the Lord. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested by witnessing by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe, whosoever believeth." Are you one of the whosoever? If you are, you see the grace
of God, and once you see the grace of God, you do not unsee
it. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all upon all that
believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, verse 24, being justified freely by
His grace. That's how you're justified.
Folks, when Jesus Christ hung on that cross, He paid the penalty
perfectly, in full. It says in God's word in Colossians,
I believe that we are complete in him. That means everything,
complete to the fullest. Every sin was paid for. We are
justified in our savior and in him alone. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation, a payment, a passing over through faith
in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believe it in Jesus. Now listen carefully
to these next words. Oh, how I wish the world could
hear this with ears of the heart. Where is the boasting then? How
many times have you heard somebody say, oh, I was saved, and now
that I'm saved, I do this. I do that. Oh, I go out and do
this. We were talking about this earlier,
Mike and I, about a church where a person who goes there. 23 years,
all I heard was what they did. what that person did. Not once did I have a discussion
of, did your preacher talk about Christ today? Did your preacher tell you anything
about a savior? No, it was things like, well,
we had 14 people come to the church today who were hungry,
and we fed them. One time, I actually went to
that church, I actually went there three times, but I'll tell
you about the one time. You know what I heard? We watched a video
on how St. Patrick went around all the countryside
and opened up churches, Catholic churches. And this was in a Christian
church, I couldn't believe it. We sat there, my brother Lee
was with me, and we sat there and watched the video. And it
had nothing to do about Christ. And they called it worship. God's people say this, where
is the boasting? It sure isn't here in this flesh.
It's not in this flesh that stands before you. It's not in the flesh
that's sitting out here in the pews or any of you who are online.
The boasting is in our Savior, the Lord Jesus. He's the one who justified me.
I can't do it myself. This is what a little child,
the Lord, in our Friday night Bible study, again, we were talking
about Oh, the Lord picking up the children. If you're not like
one of these little children, you're not gonna go to heaven. How do you be a little child?
Trust in Him and trust only in Him. Oh, I don't do that very well.
Neither do I. We close with these words, with,
man, it is impossible. Quit looking at yourself. Remember,
it's Jesus who justifies us, not us. It's our Savior who justified
us when he went to that cross and paid it all with his blood. Verse 27, where is the boasting
then? It is excluded, it is shut out. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. By grace we are saved through
faith, through belief. And it's not of us. Because if
it was of us, we would boast in a moment, wouldn't we? Not of our works, but of His.
We are justified by faith in Him. Verse 28, therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
We are justified by faith in Him. We put all of our trust
in Him. We turn it all over to Him. We have no confidence in
the flesh. He is our justifications. Our
sins were laid upon Him. He who knew no sin was made sin,
that we would be made righteous in Him. He bore our sins in His
own body. He took our sins into the grave.
And He is our justification. He is our propitiation, our payment. He paid the debt. Our sins were
laid upon Him. He is our mercy seat. And He's the blood that was shed
on that mercy seat. Verse 24 tells us we were justified
freely. That means it's no cost to us.
But what a cost it was for the Son of the living God. Can you
imagine? Think about this for just a moment.
Set your Bibles down and just consider for just a moment. Try, if you can, to put your
mind around this. God turned His back on His Son. Our sins were laid upon him.
God, the Father still couldn't look at him. He had to turn his
back on his own son. This is what caused Christ to
cry out, my God, my God. And that's our sins that were
laid upon him. Not his, he sinned not at all.
Our sins were laid upon him. This is our justification. This
is how we can stand before God. This is how we can come to that
throne of grace and say, Lord, have mercy on me again today. Do you need it every day? God's people need it every moment
of every day. Once you see it, you can't unsee
it. Justified freely, free to you
and I. But what a cost it was for the
son of the living God to lay down his life for us. He who
knew no sin was made sin, that we would be made righteous in
him. He who is God was manifest in the flesh. He humbled himself
and he set his glory aside and he became a servant. A substitute,
a scapegoat. You know what a scapegoat was?
A scapegoat was where all the priests would lay their hands
on the goat and a picture of the sins of the people being
laid on that goat and they'd take that goat out of the camp
and kill it. Our Lord was our scapegoat. He laid down his life
for his sheep. He laid it down and then he took
it up again. Wicked hands crucified our Lord,
the Lord of Glory, but it was by His determinate counsel, and
it was by His purpose. I am offended by you people who
say, Jesus wants. Jesus is waiting for you. God deserves purpose to save
a people unto Himself, and if God purposes something, can anything
get in the way of it? If it can get in the way of your
God, he's false. He's a figment of your imagination. If something can get in the way
of God, you could not call him God. But we're talking about
the God of scriptures. Not a little God who is wanting
or waiting, but the God of might, the God of all power, all power
in heaven and earth, and under the earth is what the scripture
says, isn't it? All power belongs to Him. Who or what can stay
His hand? And if it is His will to save
somebody, shall they not be saved? Look over at John, chapter 17,
if you would. Turn over to John, chapter 17. And while you're turning there,
allow me to read from Romans 8, verses 29 and 30, where it
says, for whom He did foreknow. That means for whom God foreknew
before the world ever began. Now, God knows everything. for whom he foreknew, for whom
he had chosen, for before the world was, he also did predestinate. Ooh, there's a word the world
hates. You know why? Because it takes
all of salvation out of man's hand and puts it in God's. It means that God's not waiting
for you. The day of his love, if you belong
to him, you shall be saved. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate it to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
and above that, beyond what we just said, moreover, whom he
did predestinate them, he also called, and whom he called them,
he also justified. How can I be made holy? By my
Savior, who called me with a holy calling. Called me out of the
darkness that I once walked in, into His marvelous light. In
whom He called, them He also justified. In whom He justified,
it says, them He also glorified. That's our third good word. How can I be glorified? Why is glorification such a good
word for one who is such a sinner as I am? If there is no confidence,
no righteousness in our flesh, how is it that we are glorified?
What glorification is in us? What glorification is in John
Reeves? Christ, the hope of glory. That's not this flesh. That's
the one who dwells in the Spirit, the one who dwells in the new
heart. Our glory is not in what we do, it's not in what we are,
it's not in anything that we have that is in this flesh, but
what is in our spirit. We glory in Him. That's what
it says in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 17. But he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. What is John's glory? My Savior. My Lord, the one who saved me
from what I deserve, the one who took what I deserve upon
himself and gave me his righteousness. When you hear one speak, ask
yourself this question, who is glorified? All I heard from that
minister, that man who stood up there on that stage, church. Look how glorified the people
of this church are. Look at all the good stuff that
we do. When you hear one speak, ask
yourself this, who is it that's glorified? And the answer will
reveal who their Lord is. I made a decision, they say.
I walked the aisle. I got baptized. I come to the
table. I gave myself again to the Lord. Where is the glory in those words? I? Me? Mine? Where is the glories in those
words? Folks, I'll tell you. Here's where true glory lies.
God became a man for us. for His people. This is a great
blessing to those who know the Lord, to those who have experienced
grace. God became a man for us. It's
the only way He could do it. It's the only way He could save
us. The only way He could wash our
sins away was to become a man and die for us. lay down his life, shed his blood. There is no remission of sins
without blood, remember that? If it's not your blood, because
your blood's not worth it, perfect blood must be shed, right? And the God-man laid down his
life, the God-man took it up again because he is God himself.
Death could not hold him. The God-man is sitting on his
throne right now, ruling as he will, saving whom he will and
when he will. Where are the glory in those
words? Him. His. Do you see what I mean about our
glorification? It's in Him. Just as all things
are in Him, of Him, and for Him. All glory is His and He will
not share it with another. Are you with me in John chapter
17? Look with me if you would, beginning at verse 9. Our Lord says some very important
words here in his priestly prayer. Now he is, the hour has almost
come, as he says over in verse one. He says, glorify thy son,
that thy son may also glorify thee. And over in verse nine,
he says these words. He says, I pray for them, I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. For
they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine,
and I am glorified where?" Did you know that Christ Jesus is
glorified in us? When the Lord God Almighty works
grace in the hearts of one of His people, it glorifies Him,
doesn't it? He's glorified in us, exercising
His grace upon us. Even His glory doesn't come from
us, it comes from Him. I am glorified in them, and now
I am no more, verse 11, 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. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition,
that the scriptures might be fulfilled. And now come I to
thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they, these
ones who are one with him, they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves. I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil, for they are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world. 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. Neither pray I thee for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word, that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and
I in thee. that they also may be one in
us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me, and the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be
one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father,
I will. that they also whom thou hast
given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me from before the
foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known
that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." So, we see the
glory of Christ, is what dwells inside of us, Him being in us
and us being in Him. Folks, I'm telling you, sanctification
is in Christ. We are made holy in Him and only
in Him. Salvation is of the Lord. Justification
is in Christ. The justice of God was met by
Him. God provided Himself a sacrifice
and only Christ could have done that. And glorification, three
words. Three words that bless the socks
off of a child of God, one who is a sinner. Glorification is
in Christ Jesus of the Lord. We give him all the glory, the
glory in calling us out of darkness, the glory in saving us from our
sins, and the glory in keeping us into eternity. He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Amen? Stand with me if you would. Let's
sing