Good morning once again, good
to have you folks join us. Everybody that I've spoken to
has assured me that their families are fine. Quite honestly, I've only know
of two people who have members of their family who have had
that virus and they have all survived and recovered from it.
So we have been very, very, very blessed here for that matter. I know that there are many, I
spoke with Wayne Boyd yesterday, there are many in his area. None
of his members of the church have come down with it, but just
south of his town was one of the hardest towns hit in Michigan.
So we know that that virus is serious. And I'm just very thankful
that our Lord has blessed us here in rescue. I'd like to ask
you to turn to second Thessalonians this morning if you would with
me. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. My message
this week is a very simple message. It's a three-point outline, and
I pray the Lord will give us this morning the ability to define
three words from His Word, the Word of the Most High, the Word
of God. My three points are this, sanctification, justification
and glorification. My first point this morning is
sanctification. I know that's a big word, but
it simply means this. It means to be made holy, dedicated
to. Take something and dedicate it
to something holy. It means to set aside for holy
uses. In the Old Testament, the chief
priests were to sanctify the things of the temple. They would
sanctify the cup, sanctify the blood. They were to make these
things holy in certain ways by doing certain ceremonious things.
These are all things appointed to our Lord and Savior. Sanctification
means to be made holy. Would that not suggest that the
thing being made holy was not holy to begin with? If something
needs to be sanctified, could it only mean that whatever is
being sanctified is because it's not holy? You see, the first step in bringing
a dead, unholy sinner to salvation is for them to know that they
were dead in trespasses and sin. I don't know about you folks,
but I didn't think I was dead in trespasses and sin until I
heard the Lord use a man to preach that very message to me. I thought
I was an okay guy walking around at the age of 40, not hurting
anybody but myself maybe. I was a pretty good guy. until out of the word of the
Lord I saw my true standing before God." Our first step in bringing
the dead unholy sinners to salvation is for them to know that they
are dead in trespasses and sin. In 1 Timothy 1 verse 15 we read
this, 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, Paul says. All of God's children consider
themselves the chief of sinners, don't we? We see our own heart. I am so
thankful I can't see yours. There's more sin in my own heart
to deal with that I don't need to deal with anybody else's. Paul wrote this very verse that
we just read long after his regeneration. long after his conversion. He
wrote it long after that time that the Lord on the road when
Paul was going after the people in the church to persecute them. And the Lord came to him in a
blinding light. The light of the world, Jesus
Christ. The Lord came to him in a blinding light. and arrested
that old stony heart that would not have the Lord to rule over
him. Where we came from is ever before
us till we leave this life. That's what Paul is saying. I'm
the chief of the sinners here. It'll never leave. It never gets
any better. Our wonder and our happiness
is not what we have in this flesh, but what we have in our Lord
and Savior. And what we have in Him, folks,
is eternity. I knew that wasn't going to work. Well, I'm just going to have
to speak louder, especially when the Harleys go by, huh? Where we came from is ever before
us still. Until we leave this life and
enter into the bliss of eternal life in the presence of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, our risen, exalted Savior, Where
it is absent to be from this body is to be in the presence
of the Lord. That's scripture. To be in His presence for those
He died for. As long as we walk in this life,
the spirit will war with the flesh. But that's only to the
quickened spirit. One that was dead but has been
reborn again, given life, made alive. That's what the word quicken
means. It's another one of those big
words. It means to be made alive. How many of you had anything
to do with your birth in this real world? Nothing. It is God who places
in the womb of a woman the seed and the egg and brings them together
and produces life out of it. The same thing goes for our spiritual
life. It takes the Lord and the power
of God, the miracle of the new birth, for a child of God to
be born again, to know the truth and to see the truth in His Word. You must be born again is what
the Lord says in John 3.3. We read this, Jesus answered
and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus
answered and said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born of water and of 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. Then he says this to
Nicodemus, Marvel not that I said unto thee, Don't worry about
that phrase I said a moment ago. Yeah, you must be born again,
but understand this, it's nothing that you can do to do it. Marvel
not that you must be born again, for 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, to be the recipients of
His grace. And this was done before the
world was ever created. Look at verse 13 of Thessalonians
chapter 2 with me if you would. But we are bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, because
those who are beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning, before the world ever was, chosen you to salvation
through, and there's our word, sanctification, being made holy,
set apart, purposed for a holy thing of the Spirit, and belief
of the truth. God, the Holy Spirit, comes to
us and makes us holy. It's not in anything we do, folks.
I don't care how good you are, and please, I encourage you to
go out there and be as good a person as we can. Help the poor as much
as we can. Our Lord encourages us to do
that, but that's not our salvation. Our salvation is in the Lord.
It takes a power much bigger than anything you and I have
in our flesh to be holy. We were set apart by the Spirit
from all of creation to be made holy, and we stand without blame
before Him. Is that not what the Word says
in Ephesians 1-4? where it says, according as He
has chosen us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him. That's God's Word. Is that not
good news to a sinner? Oh, I never get tired of hearing
that. But did you notice, did you notice
that this setting apart This being made holy was not an act
of man. No. This being made holy is what
we saw here is salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of truth. It was not in any way a work
of man, but the work of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is of the Lord. The dead can't do anything. Lazarus
did not make a decision when God called him. When the Lord
Jesus Christ said, Lazarus, come forth. When the Lord Jesus Christ
said, John, come forth. When the Lord Jesus Christ said,
any one of your names. And that's exactly what He does.
He calls us by name. This is a personal calling. An effectual calling. The very reason you are all here
today to hear His Word is because the Lord has brought us here.
He's the Lord of all things. He turns the hearts of men, He
turns the nations to His will. I knew I'd come
up with the right word there. Lazarus did not make a decision
to live. He came forth when the God of
all creation called his name. The Spirit gave him life that
he would hear the effectual word of God calling him. And that's
exactly where you and I were when the Lord called us. We were
dead in trespasses and sin. But how then are we made holy?
This brings me to my second point this morning, justification.
Sin cannot be in the presence of the Most High God. He who
is holy cannot even look upon sin. It must be punished. His justice must be satisfied. The one who sins must surely
die. In Hebrews 9.22 we read this,
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, And
without shedding of blood is no remission, speaking of sins. Turn over to Romans chapter 3,
if you would, please. Folks, I'm here to tell you this
morning, the sin-tainted blood that we
all came into this world can never, never wash away our sins. Men, women will spend an eternity
in hell, an eternity trying to wipe out,
wipe away their own sins. But it won't cleanse one, not
one. The justice of God must be met
as He is, perfectly. For He is perfect and He is holy. 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 at verse 10 through 28 of
Romans chapter 3 please. As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. Can any of you remember
a time in your life when that fit you? I do. It wasn't until the Lord spake to
me that I looked after Him, but He was always looking after me.
There is none that understandeth, there are none that seeketh after
God. Verse 11, verse 12, they are all gone 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 asps
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 have they
not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Now we, now we, The very ones
who walked that very same path that was just described. Now
we know that what things soever the law saith, it 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. Do
you see that? Don't sit here and try to tell
somebody that you are doing the law, that you are fulfilling
the law. That's what those Israelites
were doing. They thought they were fulfilling the law perfectly,
but they weren't. The flesh does nothing perfectly. It's like that article we just
read a minute ago. Even if we could, it would still
be nothing more than a man doing it. But now, verse 21, the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested being witnessed 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. For there
is no difference for 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. How can I be justified,
a sinner, one who has walked this earth as all men do, dead
in trespasses and sin? What would justify me before
God? What would satisfy His justice
for me? Right there, redemption that
is in Christ Jesus. whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. Remember, without blood there
is no remission of sins, and our Lord shed His own blood for
us. To declare, I say at this time,
verse 26, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is the boasting
then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, nay, nay, but by the law
of faith. I don't understand all of God's
word, folks, but I'll tell you this. You can say anything you
want, but as far as John Reed is concerned, this is the word
of God. I've told you this before, but you want truth? Stop looking
for it in the world around us and find it in the only place
there is, and that's right here in the Lord's Word. Faith. The law of faith. Therefore we
conclude that man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. We are justified by faith in
Him. We put our trust in Him. We turn
it all over to Him. We have no confidence in our
flesh. He is our justification. Our
sins were laid upon Him. He who knew no sin was made sin
that we would be made righteous in Him. Can we get that in our minds?
Can we look past what we see in the mirror of this flesh?
and see the righteousness of our Savior that we stand in before
God. God looks upon His people, you,
His people right now, as righteous as His Son. Wow! Is that not something? His blood has covered all of
our sins. From the day we were born to
the day we leave this world, He is our justification and our
sins were laid upon Him. He bore our sins in His own body.
He took our sins into the grave. And He is our justification,
our propitiation, our payment. He paid the debt of our sins.
They were laid upon Him. And He is our mercy seat. Verse 24 tells us that we were
justified freely. No cost to us. I wanted to pause a moment because
I want that to sink in. No cost to us, but what a cost
it was for the Son of the Living God. Can anyone here today comprehend
the depth of what it means that God died? And He did. God Almighty in the flesh Because
that's how he had to be to die in the flesh. Perfect as he was,
was made sin for us. 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. He laid down his life for his
sheep. He laid it down, and then guess
what he did? He took it up again because he's
God and he can. Wicked hands crucified the Lord
of glory, but it was by his determinate counsel. It was his purpose. And I ask you this this morning,
if God has purpose to save a people unto himself, can anything Can
anything get in the way of it? If you believe in a God who is
weak, a God of maybes, a God of might, where is your hope? There's no real hope in a God
of maybes, but in a God of purpose. A God who deserves to be called
God because he does rule. What a hope we have in that. What a hope we have that that
perfect blood that was shed was for us! This is our hope! Not in anything that we have
in our own selves, but in Him! We're talking about... We're
talking about the God of Scriptures. Not a little God who is waiting
and wanting. But we're talking about the God
of might. All-powerful. All power in heaven and earth
and under the earth are His to rule. Who or what can stay His
hand? If it's His will to save someone,
shall they not be saved? Turn over to John chapter 17
with me if you would. And while you're turning there,
allow me to read from Romans chapter 8, where our Lord says,
For whom He, whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. But here's what I want you to
hear. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called. Them He
also set aside. Them He also sanctified. Them He also sanctified. And whom He called, them He also
justified. Through His blood, We have justification. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. And that brings me to my last
point this morning. Glorification. What is it to
be glorified? The world thinks it's all about
me. It's all about what we do. Look at all the wonderful things
we do as Christians. Look at all the things that God
has moved in us to do for helping the poor. Or whatever you want to put in
there. I'm here to tell you, there is
no confidence, no righteousness in our flesh. How is it that
we are glorified? What glorification is in a child
of God? Very simple. Very, very simple. And I'll bet I see every head
here go up and down. Yep. Christ is our hope and our
glory. Nothing in John but my Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is everything when it comes to glory. We glory
in Him. Our glory is not in what we do,
not in what we are, not in anything that we have that is in this
flesh, but what is in our spirit. 2 Corinthians 10.17, it says
this, But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. When you
hear one speak, ask yourself this question. Who is glorified
by what they say? And the answer will reveal who
their Lord truly is. Have you ever heard someone say,
I made a decision? How about, have you ever heard
one say, I walked the aisle? How often have we heard one say,
I gave myself to the Lord? Where is the glory in those words? It's all in I. Here's the true glory. God became
a man. The God-man laid down his life. The God-man took it up again
because he is God. The God-Man is sitting on His
throne, ruling right now as He will, saving whom He will, creating
vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. He is the potter,
and everything else is the clay. Where is the glories in these
words? Do you see where your glorification is? Is it in Christ? Or is it in you? Is it in Him? Just as all things are in Him,
of Him, and for Him? Are you with me in John chapter
17? Allow me to begin reading at
verse 9 through the end. Our Lord and His Prayer. Now
this, I would declare to you, is the true Lord's Prayer. For this is the Lord praying
for you and I, for His people. 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 in them. And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to Thee, Holy Father.
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 scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee, And these
things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled
in themselves. I give 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 evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth,
Thy truth, thy word is truth. And 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 for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. How are you going to call upon
the name of the Lord if you've never heard of the Lord? Those
who preach about a Christ who's waiting for them to do something
are not preaching the true and living God, Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. How are you going to call upon
Him if all you're hearing is that stuff? Our Lord needs to
bring you to where His Word is being taught, preach the truth,
and open your heart to hear it. Neither pray I, verse 20, again,
for these alone, but for them which also shall believe on me
through their word. Verse 21, 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, sanctified in one,
and that the world may know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them, and Thou hast loved me. Father, our Lord says, 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 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." Sanctification, as we just read,
is in Christ. We are made holy. We are made
as holy as God. We are made as holy as the Son,
for He was made sin for us. I know it's hard to see that
when we look at ourselves, but this is God's Word telling us
it is so. We may not understand everything to the fullest that
we would desire to understand it, but our God has said it,
and therefore I believe it. Do you? Justification. Justification
is in Christ. The justice of God was met by
Him. God provided Himself a sacrifice. Perfect. Unblameable. Without spot. And that perfection satisfied
God Almighty's justification. Lastly, glorification. Glorification is not something
that we do. It's something that lives within
us. It's the very thing, Daryl, that
reminded you to look to Christ as you went into this trial of
cancer. As you made a motion to go. That's
the glory of Christ in Daryl. Not what Daryl has done, but
the Lord turning him to the Savior for his salvation, for his strength,
for his power, for whatever he needed. We all have trials in
life. We're going to have them. Turn to the Lord. Look to Christ. And glorify Him in the way you
walk. Christ Jesus the Lord and we
give Him all the glory. The glory in calling us. The
glory in saving us. and the glory in keeping us. He that glorious, let him glory
in the Lord. Amen.