Let's open our Bibles to John
chapter 17. John chapter 17. We'll continue
our study in this wonderful book. The name of the message is sanctified
through Christ. And tonight we'll continue our
study in John 17. We'll see where the Lord is praying
for his people's sanctification, which is only in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we grow in grace, but our
sanctification is complete in Christ. But we do grow in grace.
And we daily need cleansing, don't we? We daily need cleansing
from the things of this world. And we daily need to have our
minds set upon Christ. And I want y'all to know, when
I say look unto Christ, that's just setting your mind on Christ,
that's all. Instead of looking to the world
and the things going on in the world, we just look to Christ.
Now, it's the hardest thing for us to do. When I say we need
to look to Christ, I'm speaking to myself too. I'm preaching
to the choir right here because I can easily get my mind off
Christ and get my mind on the things in this world or even
circumstances in my life. So that's what that's about.
That's just looking to Christ, just setting our eyes upon Him
and away from the things of this world or sometimes even the things
in our lives because they can come hard upon us, can't they? Hard upon us. But we daily need
cleansing from this world, from the evil in this world and from
the things going on in this world. And that's why we go to this
word. This word, you know, the old preacher said, this word
will keep you from sin. But sin will keep you from this
word. That's true, isn't it? You know, the times when I'm
not reading my Bible is when I'm in sin. Now, I get the blessing of being
in the scriptures every day. Right? But still. You know, and I know, don't get
me wrong, I know we're sinners. We're always sinners, right?
But sin does keep us from the Word of God. And that's the time when we need
it the most. That's the time when we need to go and see where
David says, I was sharing with some fellows last night, but
thou disquieted me. Why is my soul disquieted? David
was writing, why is my soul disquieted? Why am I worked up? And he says,
hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of
his countenance. I remember Joe Terrell saying,
that's David going through depression, beloved. There's something that's
bringing him down. He's disquieted. So here, a man
after God's own heart, you mean he gets down? Yep, just like
you and I. See? All these saints are just
like you and I. They get down, and he says, I
love these three words, hope thou in God. Four words, not
three, four words, hope thou in God. My, burn it to my heart,
Lord. But we see that in the word of
God, right? We read that in this precious word. That's why it's
so important for us to read the word of God. Let's read verses
12 to 19 in John chapter 17 to see the context of our verse
tonight, which will be John 17, 17. 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 a world that they might have
my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them my 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. 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. Wonderful words here. Wonderful
words. So here our king is praying about
the apostles, but we also see, we also see In verse 20, look
what he says here. Neither pray I for these alone. But for them also which shall
believe on me through their word, that's you and I, beloved. So we know then that this high
priestly prayer is for God's people. for God's people. I can't wait till we get into
that section there, because that's, that's, that's, it's all being
relevant to you and I. That's where he's, he's praying
for us. Those who believe after. When the gospel's being preached
and proclaimed by the apostles and down through the ages. My
oh my. Now our Lord Jesus, he prayed
much for his people. when he was upon this earth.
And he made even Peter the special subject of his intercessions,
didn't he? Peter was like me. He was constantly
putting his foot in his mouth. I can relate to that. Can you?
Yeah, we can, can't we? We can. We can all relate to
that. The Lord knew that he was in
extreme danger, didn't he? Because he said Satan had a desire
to sift you like wheat. But what did he say? I prayed
for thee. Oh, my. Oh, I prayed for thee. So the midnight wrestlings of
the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, were for his people.
Were for his people. And in the scriptures, much more
space is taken up by our Lord's intercessions as he nears the
end of his labors in his life. After the closing of the Last
Supper, think of this, his public preaching work had ended. It
had ended. And nothing remaining is to be
done but to die. And he gave himself wholly unto
prayer in between that time. He was not again to instruct
the multitude or heal the sick. And in the interval which remained
before he should lay down his life, he girded himself for special
intercession. We see that here in John 17,
don't we? This is special intercession, beloved. This is intercession
for God's people. And we saw in verse 20, this
is intercession for you and I. And we see here that He poured
out His life, His soul in life for His people. We were on His
heart. And on His mind. And we find
that hard to fathom, but it's true, isn't it? Because we're
included in the number, we're in verse 20 where he says, neither
pray I for these alone, but for them and also which shall believe
on me through their word. Now he knows every one of his
people by name. Could you imagine that? We can't
even fathom that, can we? The little few people we know
And then you see people, you meet people, and you're thinking,
what's their name? I'm going to talk to them and wait for
them to say their name so I can say, oh yeah, hi, Fred, how you
doing? Right? We forget names so quickly. He
knows every one of his sheep. Every one of us here who's the
Lord's people, he knows every one of us by name. And he's known
us by name for eternity. And his love has been set upon
us for eternity. And here he's praying for us
2,000 years ago. My, so now we get to enter into
this. The Holy Spirit's recorded this
for us so that we can get a glimpse into how our Lord, even before
he's, now he's interceding for us in glory, but even before
that, he was interceding for us while he was on this earth.
That's amazing. That's truly amazing. Look at this verse tonight, verse
17, it says, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.
Now, as I was studying for this message, I found out there's
many differing opinions on what this verse means. Many differing
opinions. But we're not gonna get caught
up in all those things. We're just gonna look at what the word
says. That's what we do, right? We don't get caught up in one
man's interpretation of this verse. What does the Word of
God say? That's what I want to know. Is
that what you want to know? That's what I want to know. What
does the Word of God... What do these words mean? Well, I
love how the Lord spoke in one- and two-syllable words so that
we can understand them. So we're just going to look at
what the Scripture brings forth. And as I mentioned, we daily
need, earlier in the message I mentioned that we daily need
cleansing from this world, right? Look at that, look at this verse
in light of that. Sanctify them, that just means set apart. We're
gonna see in the Greek that means to be made holy and set apart.
We're just set apart for God's service, according to His will
and purpose. So, set them apart through thy
truth, thy word is truth. make them holy through thy truth
thy word is truth my oh my so in the context here
our Lord is praying for his disciples that they would be sanctified
through the truth which we see is the Word of God we know that
it's a word of God the scriptures this is the truth this word these
words are the truth the author of them is God the Holy Spirit
And again, how do we know that our Lord was praying for all
his people? Well, look at verses 19 to 21. And for their sakes
I sanctify myself, so we see Christ sanctifies himself, sets
himself apart. Why? That they also may be sanctified
through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them which also 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. Now, as far as sanctification
goes, we are sanctified in Christ. We are positionally sanctified
in Christ. We're made holy in Christ. There's
absolutely nothing we can do to make ourselves holy or to
increase in holiness, nothing we can do. nothing and you know
that when we're set apart we're all made holy the same way it's
not a competition because we do grow in grace we
grow in the knowledge and truth of the lord jesus christ and
as we grow in grace brother brian what you say a lot now since
you guys is you grow in peace don't you your peace just floods
your soul That's growing in grace because we're resting and trusting
in the Lord. And as the brethren come together,
our hearts are knit together in love, the scripture says.
And there's a peace that comes from the Holy Spirit of God that
passes all understanding. We can't explain it. We can just
rejoice in it, right? We do. We just marvel at it. Look at
this wonderful peace we have. Look at this wonderful unity
we have in Christ. And it's all His doing. It's
all His doing. And it's through the Word, beloved,
too. As we fellowship around the Word and what it says. See, this Word is truth. In a
world of deceit, This word is truth. Because God, the Holy
Spirit, is the author of these words. So we're sanctified in Christ
alone, beloved, positionally. And the Word of God, the Bible,
when it's preached and proclaimed and used by the Holy Spirit,
it will keep us from evil. You ever get knocked in the head?
You ever get knocked in the head by preaching the Gospel? And
the Gospel preacher has no idea they're doing it. I'll be listening
to a sermon, and whack! I'll get it right in the head,
right? And I'll think, man, forgive
me, Father. Forgive me. My, but then we rejoice. And when we obey the word of
God, we're filled with joy, aren't we? See, this is a guide for
us, beloved. It teaches us the things of Christ. It's a lamp and a light unto
our path while we go through this world. And it is the only
truth. It's the truth. Again, in a world
full of lies. And this word will keep us from
evil. It'll keep us from evil. And this verse, just a wonderful
verse, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.
So we see in reading John 17, 19 to 21, we see the importance
of context, don't we? Because people can rip verses
out of context and use them for whatever they want. But see,
we want to know what the word of God says as God's people,
don't we? That's why you find me always reading verses in context
when I'm going to preach them, because it's so important. Context,
context, context. It's so important. So important
when we read the Word of God. It's like the verse that says,
God's not willing that any should perish, that all should come
to eternal life. I've had people use that and
say, see, God doesn't desire anyone to be lost. You have to
go to the very first of that book, which is 2nd Peter, I think
it's 2nd Peter or 1st Peter, one of them, and look at who
the book's written to. It says right there, God's elect.
God's not willing that any of the elect shall perish. And he's
long-suffering, to us word, isn't he? My, we're proof that he's
long-suffering, aren't we? He saved our souls. Oh my! See, so context is so very important.
Note in verse 15, Our Lord had prayed that the Father would
keep His people from evil, or the evil one. Look at this. I
pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Now, we discover
here a most intimate connection between verse 15 and verse 17. These two petitions of Christ,
look it says, keep them from evil, from the evil, verse 15,
and then sanctify them by the truth. The former, being kept
from evil, is secured by what? The latter. Sanctify them in
the truth. So how are we kept from evil?
By being sanctified by the word of God. By reading the word of God. Because it'll guide us, it'll
teach us, it'll direct us. There is such a thing as practical
Christian living, right? We're learning that through the,
I know some folks are afraid to say that stuff, but there's
truth to it. We're learning that in Galatians,
aren't we? Here comes these false teachers.
What are we supposed to do as believers? Nope. Right? They come in, they said,
Paul's not preaching the gospel. Well, if we were among those
Galatians, we'd say, we heard Paul preach. By the grace of
God, he's preaching the gospel of God's sovereign grace. See, but they hadn't done that,
had they? They let these false teachers crap in, unawares, and
start whispering around. And they put seeds of doubt in
people's heads. See, this Word of God will keep us from the
evil one. It'll keep us from evil. I get
convicted of my sin in here, do you? Right? And it makes me realize that
my sins are what nailed Christ to the cross. My, oh my. See, now the love
of Christ constrains us, right? Even though we're fully capable
of doing whatever anybody else does, that love of Christ, we're
reminded of that, aren't we? Now, sometimes we go headlong
into sin. But sometimes we're stopped. And maybe by something we read
in the Word of God. My, oh my. It's absolutely wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. So the former being kept from
evil is secured by the latter, which is sanctify them by thy
truth, thy word is truth. This book, this book, the Holy
Bible, the Holy Scriptures will keep us from sin. Now I know
we're sinners and we're still gonna sin, but that doesn't give
us a right to just go sin, does it? Do you like sinning? I hate it. I hate it more in
me than in anybody else. And I praise God that all my
sins are forgiven. But I do confess my sins, still
the ones that I can have to remember. It's if I fall in sin and I get
convicted, I'm like, oh, Lord, please, I did it again. You think
I'd learn, Lord? I like calling myself a blockhead
like Lucy used to call Charlie Brown, because that's how I feel
sometimes. I just can't get it through my
head. And it's funny, sometimes it's just little things that
trip us up, isn't it? My, oh, my. It's like the preacher said,
well, I don't ever swear and cuss and go with anyone who does.
Yeah, come over here, put your finger down, and I'll hit it
with a hammer. Let's see what you say after that. I imagine
there will be a few choice words flying out. It's not in his mouth, surely
in his mind, right? And we're as guilty in our mind
as we are with our words, right? See? Since not just things we
say, Just not things we do, it's in us, beloved. Paul said, oh,
wretched man that I am. Who can deliver me from this
body of sin? And who did he look to at the
end? He says, Christ can deliver me from that. And praise God,
even though I'm a sinner, there's no condemnation for me. And where
do you read that? In this word of God, beloved.
I wouldn't know. I wouldn't know that there's
no condemnation for those in Christ if it wasn't written in
these words. Would you? And then the Holy Spirit's given
us an understanding so we can go, praise be to God. That's
wonderful news. That's the best news I've heard.
You mean Christ saves sinners? Yeah. Yeah. We're proof, aren't we? Yeah. He saves sinners. Oh my, flee
to him. Flee to him. He's the only hope.
Only hope for sinners. So marvel at these words here
for us. And as the Holy Spirit guides us and directs us in this
life, and he has to illuminate these scriptures for us, right?
The old-timers, the old preachers used to say, before they pray
for illumination, because they desired the Holy Spirit would
illuminate, which just means to give us an understanding.
That's all that means. It's like when you turn on the
light, you're illuminating the room. And then you can see everything
in the room. So we pray the Holy Spirit will illuminate the scriptures
for us and teach us the things of Christ. Guide us into all
truth, right? Thy word is truth. My. So marvel at these words here.
Sanctify them through or by thy truth. Thy word, the scriptures,
is truth. Now the Greek word, the underlying
Greek word, this wonderful word sanctify in the Greek means to
make holy. to make holy. That is, ceremonially
purify or consecrate. We've been consecrated for Christ.
We've been set apart for Christ. A. W. Prink brings this forth.
I like this quote by Prink. He says, first of all, the word
sanctify, which means holy, has one uniform meaning throughout
the scripture. That's to set apart. Namely,
to set apart. See the, I'm going to break away
for a second, the instruments that they used in the temple,
they were all sanctified. They were set apart. They were
for no other use except for in the temple, right? Just like
the priests were set apart to do priest work, we're set apart
by God, right? We're priests under our king.
My oh my, it's wonderful. But he goes on to say this, he
says, namely to set apart, usually but not always, someone or something
set apart unto God for His use. The word never has reference
to inward cleansing, still less to the eradication of the carnal
nature. Isn't that interesting? Because our carnal nature is
not being eradicated, has it? No, we're still sinners, aren't
we? We have a new spirit within us, A new nature within us, but this
flesh, we're still battling this flesh, aren't we? Yeah. And he says, this setting apart
doesn't change the flesh. He says, take its usage in John
17, 9. He says, for their sake, I sanctify myself. Christ was
saying, for his people, for us, I sanctify myself. He set himself
apart for us, beloved. He came to this world as the
Lamb of God, set apart from other people, from all other men, right?
He's the God-man. And it says, Scripture says,
that the Father prepared a body for him, doesn't it? That body was set apart. That
body was virgin-born. It had no sin in it, right? the seed of the woman, just as
in Genesis chapter 3 was predicted. Another commentator brings this
forth about the word sanctify in our text. He says, spoken
of persons to consecrate as being set apart of God and sent by
him for the performance of his will.
We are set aside by God for the performance of his will, beloved.
Marvel in that. Here we are gathered together,
right? In this congregation, from different places in this
country. Gathered together, brought here
for what? For the purpose of his will. What's his will? That
the gospel leave this place, eh? That we who are his people
can gather together and rejoice in the gospel. Isn't that amazing
that our lives are now being used by God for the purpose of
His will? That's incredible. But it's true. Because listen
to this, John 10, 36, whom the Father has sanctified and sent
into the world, that's spoken of Christ. He's sanctified, set
apart, and sent into this world. The Word of God, God incarnate
in the flesh, set apart, why? To save His people from their
sins, and He did it, didn't He? It's absolutely amazing. In Jude
1, there's only one chapter. Jude 1, verse 1, it says that
we are sanctified by God the Father. We're made holy by God
the Father. And the reference there is to
his eternal predestination of the elect when he set them apart
in Christ from our doomed race. Think of that. We're made vessels
of honor. There's a part to vessels of
wrath. All by God's distinguishing grace
because it pleased him to do so. That's absolutely amazing. In Hebrews 10.10 we read of being
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Sanctified, made holy by Christ
once for all. That means for all his people.
That doesn't mean for the whole world. That means all his people
were set apart, made holy by Christ through his death. That's the positionally, right? And then, in 2 Thessalonians,
chapter 2, verse 13, in 1 Peter 1-2, we read of the sanctification
of the Spirit, being set apart by the Spirit. That speaks of
our rebirth, to be born again. The Lord said to Nicodemus, you
must be born again. That's what that's speaking of.
So we're sanctified by the Father. In choosing us in Christ, we're
sanctified by Christ, by the ransoming of our eternal souls,
by His precious blood, and we're sanctified by the Holy Spirit,
being born again by the mighty power of God the
Holy Spirit. Salvation's of the Lord, isn't it? It's all His
doing. My oh my. In the sanctification
of the Father, You know, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit
each have to do with that which is positional and absolute. We
are made holy in Christ. Now, we're still sinners, but
that's why when God looks upon us, he sees Christ, doesn't he?
Isn't that amazing? Even though we're sinners, we're
absolutely made holy in Christ. Turn if you would. How do we
know that? Well, turn if you would to 1 Corinthians. This
will make your heart sing. You've heard me repeat this verse
many times, but in light of what we're looking at tonight, I want
us to look at this. And that positional sanctification
is absolute and there's no degrees in it. We're all the same. Beloved, you're as holy as I
am in Christ. It doesn't matter upon our knowledge
or what we don't know or do know. It's the fact that we're in Christ.
Isn't that wonderful? We're made holy together, sister,
in Christ. It's wonderful. And nothing we
did. Nothing we did at all. And we're
as holy right now as the saints in glory. Except now we sin. Up there, we won't have any sin.
But positionally, it's absolute. It's done. How do we know that? First Corinthians chapter one,
verses 30, and I'm gonna read verse 31 with it. It's complete
and final. Look at this. But of him, that
being Christ, are ye, or that being God, but of him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. Okay, what? Wisdom.
So he's our wisdom. And righteousness in what? What's
that word right there? Sanctification. and redemption. If I'm holy in
Christ, can I be any more holy than Christ? Or being in Christ,
outside of Christ? Could I be more holy in Christ
by something I do? Absolutely not. The fact that
my sanctification is all in Christ. Now do we grow in grace? Absolutely. We grow in the grace and knowledge
and truth of Christ. But our sanctification, beloved,
You know, and as we grow in grace, we're being conformed to the
image of the Son. How? By the word of God. Thy word is what? Truth. Remember
we saw in John 17, 17. Turn if you would to Jude. First,
we're going to go through some of those verses I quoted. Look
at this in Jude. First chapter, there's only one
chapter in Jude. Jude 1, we'll read verses 1 and 2, and then
Ephesians chapter 5. We'll look at a few words, places
here where all the persons of the Godhead are said to have
concurred in this gracious act of sanctification. Jude, one,
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them
that are, what? Sanctified by God the Father,
look at that. Set apart, made holy by God the
Father. And preserved in who? In Jesus
Christ and called. Mercy unto you, all mercy unto
you, beloved, and peace and love be multiplied. Now look at Ephesians
chapter five. Ephesians chapter five. And then
after that, or go to Hebrews chapter 10. Ephesians chapter five. And actually, you know, we'll
go to 2 Thessalonians after this. Ephesians 5 verses 25 to 27 husbands
love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself for it that he might what sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water of the Word, or by the Word. Look
at that. That's the Word of God. That
he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having
spot a wrinkle or anything, but that it should be holy and without
blemish. How are we who are sinners, holy and without blemish? Only
in Christ. Only in Christ. But this Word
is a washing of the Word, right? That's why we, again, daily we
dip into this Word. for the washing of the Word,
my, oh, my. And in 2 Thessalonians 2, 13,
it says, I'll let you turn there before I say anything. So there's the Father, the Son,
and here's the Holy Spirit. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13
and 14. 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 what?
Sanctification of the Spirit. Look at that. There it is. See? Again, we go by what the Word
of God says, don't we? We want to know, this is what the Word
of God says. In belief of the truth. There
you go. You must be born again. Right? And you must believe the truth. Well, when God gives us faith,
we believe the truth, don't we? We wholeheartedly, we embrace
it. We love it. We just totally embrace the word
of God. We embrace the gospel. We embrace Christ. We embrace
the Bible. We embrace God's people. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. So we see then that sanctification
in Christ is a complete work. Just as complete a work as justification
in Christ. In grace and the knowledge of
our Lord is indeed progressive, so we learn more and more about
Christ as we go in grace, right? That's progressive, but our sanctification,
we're made holy in Christ. It's already complete. Isn't
that amazing? Incredible. See, that's why it's all grace.
That's why it's, and even as we grow in grace, who's teaching
us? The Holy Spirit of God, isn't he? We can't boast of him in
the mud, either. Well, men try, but we can't.
We can't. Do you know, I saw a buddy last
night. He was holding his baby. I was
videoing with him. He was holding his baby. Holding his little girl there.
And she looked up. He put the camera there. She looked up.
She was just looking at her daddy. And we had just been reading
a portion that talked about how helpless we are. And Joe, I've
mentioned this about Gavin and Rowan too. And it just came right
to my mind right away. That little girl Ann there, she's
so helpless without him and without Jake and Liz. Counts on them
for all their food, right? Clothing, place to rest. looks to him for everything in
utter helplessness. And when, when, and they also,
the little ones know their need, because what do they do when
they don't get fed? Right? Yeah, yeah. But isn't it true though? All
right? It's just amazing. It's amazing.
Next time you hold a little grandchild or a little one, just remember
that. Oh my, just, they just, oh, it's
just absolutely wonderful. So we grow in the grace and knowledge
and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. We grow in grace. Actually, 2
Peter says this, verse 318, it says, but grow in grace. and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, to Him be glory both now and forever.
Amen. That's the closing verse of 2
Peter. I'll read it again. But grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus, our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, to Him be glory both now and forever.
Amen. So that's who we're, we're to grow in the grace and knowledge
of Him. Not doctrine. Although doctrine points, true
doctrine points to Christ. You can know all kinds of doctrine
and not know Christ. Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah. You can know the Word of God
and twist it and not know Christ. So we're to grow in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to
2 Peter chapter 1. Again, do you know the believer
in Christ has been equipped given all things that pertain
to life and godliness? We're regenerated, brought into
a spiritual life, made a partaker of the divine nature, for that
divine power is said to have given all things that pertain
to life and godliness. Look at this in 2 Peter 1, verses
1 to 4. And when I say we have the divine
nature, we're not part God. Anybody says that, they're so
wrong it's not funny. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling
in us. That's what it is. My oh my, I heard somebody accuse
someone of doing that and I listened to the guy and I was like, this
is just ridiculous. People come up with the wildest
things, you know that? You know what I've learned? I'm
gonna go off preaching here for a second. You know what I've
learned? When someone says something about someone, go to the source.
I started doing that. I started doing that about five
years ago. Just go to the source. Well,
this guy, he's not preaching the gospel. I'm gonna go listen
to him then. He said, they go, well he sure is. Oh, my. Oh, I'm so thankful we
don't have that here. I'm so thankful that we're in
unity and we're going forth and we're not worried about that
kind of stuff. Look at this in 2 Peter 1, verses 1 to 4. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle
of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious faith.
That's what we have obtained, beloved, like precious faith
with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus
Christ. See, we see there Christ is all our righteousness. He's
everything for us. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you look at this through the knowledge of God and of our
Lord of Jesus our Lord So God's revealed himself to us isn't
it and through that we now have grace and peace I? Had no peace before the Lord
saved me now. I have peace I Have peace now
look at this according to his divine power, so it's by his
power that Look at this, have given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him
that called us to glory and virtue. What can, see this book here? It'll tell
us how to live a godly life. It'll guide us into all truth.
It'll warn us about sin, right? My oh my, but look at this, we've
been given all things that pertain unto life and godliness through
the knowledge of him, that's being Christ, that hath called
us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises. Who are all those promises, amen,
in? Christ, right? If you see a promise in the scripture,
lay a hold of that. That's an amen in Christ. Oh, it's wonderful, isn't it?
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises,
that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. So
regeneration is equal in all the elect. One's not regenerated more or
made holy more. We're all regenerated by the
same spirit. Do you know even our reward is
the same in heaven? You know how I know that? Because
Christ told Abraham, I am your exceeding reward. Our reward
is Christ, beloved. Do we need any other rewards
if we have Christ? I don't need nothing if I have
Christ. We won't be made more holy. Now,
we are being conformed to the image of the Son, aren't we?
We do, as we grow in grace, we do hate sin more. We hate it
more in ourselves, and we can recognize it now. We can see
it for what it is, when we didn't before. And we're taught more
about the mercy of God, aren't we? As we grow in grace, we're
taught more of the mercy of God, like we saw that verse in Deuteronomy
this week. I'm gonna go before you, I'm
never gonna leave you. My, oh my. And we learn more, we see more
of the displays of God's great power, cuz we see his work in
everything. We learn even more about the
great, as we grow in grace, we learn more about the great purposes
of the everlasting covenant. We didn't know about it before.
And as we're taught by the Holy Ghost and as we grow in the grace
of God, by the reading of the word of God, we are left in awe
of who our God is. And now this is equally true
for every born again believer. For every child of God, when
born again by the Holy Ghost, are sanctified in Christ. Period. And we're kept from evil by the
reading of the Word. It'll guide us. It'll direct
us, beloved. It'll save us from a lot. I'll tell you, I know
this. It'll save us from a lot of heartache. My, oh my. And think upon how we are sanctified
in Christ all according to the blessed and grace covenant work
of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God, born again by
the Holy Spirit. Think upon how mighty an act
this is, that we who are unholy by birth are now made holy in
Christ. That's incredible. All by the actions of God's grace,
and all according to his will and purpose. And we who are the
elect of God are souls made alive, made alive to God in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the quickening power of God
the Holy Spirit were brought from death to life, sanctified
in Christ. We have a new nature, a new man, which after God is created in
righteousness, True holiness is wrought but once, and it's
effectual in all of God's elect. And we don't feel holy, do we?
But God says we're sanctified in Christ. I believe what God
says. My, it's wonderful. Paul says
this. So that Paul says, but you are
washed. He didn't say you might be washed
if you get in the tub yourself. No, he says you're washed. You're
washed. This is in 1 Corinthians 6.11
if you want to write it down. But you're washed. But you are
sanctified. I'm made holy. But you are justified. So I'm washed from all my sins. I'm made holy. And I'm justified
in who? In the name of the Lord Jesus.
And by the Spirit of our God. Look at that, that's amazing. Sanctification by the truth,
as we go in grace and through the word, which we see here in
verse 17, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.
So as we grow in grace. And. This is, again, progressive
and practical. we start to walk according to
the Word of God, don't we? And we're separated. Do you know
we're separated by God from this world? We are. By God. And we can also
perceive the close relationship again of John 17 to verse 16,
which says, They are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world. And then we see, Sanctify them by thy truth. Why? Because
we're not of the world. He's not praying for the whole
world, is he? He's praying for his people. And he's praying
that the Holy Spirit would separate us and sanctify us, which has
just set us apart, through the word of God, from the evil of
this world. Why do we no longer have the
taste for the things of the world? Because we've been set apart.
We've been set apart by God. Isn't that amazing? You know,
when the Lord saved me, the world lost all its fancy allurements. Just not the same. It's like a facade. People seek
happiness and peace through the things in this world, and they
won't bring you happiness and peace. True joy, true happiness. only comes by the grace of God
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you what,
it says at the end of this word, thy word is truth. This written
word is the unadulterated truth right here. If it says something in this
word and the world says another thing, this is always right. Always. It's not up for debate,
is it? And people in the world don't
understand that. My own son don't understand that.
When I talk to him about stuff, and I'll say, son, well, the
Word of God says this, and that's it. That's usually the end of the
discussion, because he gets a little hot. I'm not trying to make him
hot. I'm just saying, this is my final
authority, right here. I don't care about opinions of
man. This is my final authority right here. If it says it, that's
it. Let man rage on and say what
they will. This is the word of God. This
is all truth, right? It says here, thy word is truth. So I'm going to believe this
over anybody else by God's grace. It's our final authority. And
by this word, everything in our lives is to be tested. Everything
in this world is to be tested through this word of God. By it, our thoughts are to be
formed, our conduct is to be regulated, because God's word
is truth. It sanctifies those who obey
it. We grow in the grace and knowledge and truth of the Lord
Jesus Christ. according to the faith of God's
elect and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness.
The only reason we believe this truth is because God gave us
faith to believe this truth. And I'm not going to argue with
this word. I don't understand everything in this world. But I'm not going to say I don't
believe it. I'll say, like that preacher
said, don't ever say, I don't believe it. Say, I don't understand
that part. That's wise. I'm going to tell you, that is
wise. My. So if the word is truth,
then what a high value we should put upon the scriptures, right? If it is truth and we are sanctified
or set apart, how dearly we should prize the word of God. How solemn, too, is the opposite.
If truth separates from evil, then error is attracted to evil
as it is contrary to the truth. I'll say that again. If truth
separates from evil, error is attracted to evil as it is contrary
to the truth. Tell you what, you find someone
who's spreading an error, they're walking contrary to the truth. That's what they're doing. And beware of evil. Just as poison
is to the body, so error is to the soul of God's people. We need guard against error. Shun those who deny any part
of God's truth. If someone says, yeah, well,
you know, but you know, these first few stories in Genesis
are just stories. No, they're not. I've heard people
say that. Those are just fables. No, they're
not. They really happened. God really
flooded the earth. Adam really fell. just as God tells us. But Adam
fell so that the Redeemer might come into this world. And this
word tells us that too, doesn't it? It says the seed of the woman's
coming. He's going to bruise his heel,
but he's going to crush Satan. He did too, didn't he? Oh, he did. My, oh my. Here's a good illustration about
reading the word of God. I've been wanting to share this
illustration for years. I forgot it more times than, but I found
it again. I'm going to read it to you.
Good illustration about reading the word of God. The story of
an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky
with his young grandchild. And each warden grandpa was up
early, sitting at the table, reading his old, worn-out Bible.
His grandson, who always wanted to be just like him, remember
how we just wanted to be like our grandpas, just like him,
or our big brothers, tried to imitate him in any way he could.
So one day, the grandson said, Papa, I try to read my Bible
just like you, but I don't understand it. And when I do understand
it, I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible
do? The grandfather quietly turned
from putting coal in the stove and said, take this coal basket.
So he gave him this basket, a weave basket, you know, with holes
in it and everything, right? A weave basket held his coal, black,
just black. He said, take this coal basket
down to the river and bring back a basket of water. The boy did as he was told, even
though the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.
The grandfather laughed and said, you will have to move a little
faster next time and send him back to the river to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but the basket was empty before
he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather
that it was impossible to carry water in the basket, and he went
to get a bucket instead. The old man said, I don't want
a bucket of water. I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough.
And he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point,
the boy knew it was impossible. He wanted to show his grandfather
that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak
out before he got very far. The boy scooped the water and
ran. He just took off. He ran hard, but when he reached
his grandpa, the basket was empty again. And he said, out of breath,
he said, Papa, see, it's useless. And the old man said, you think
it's useless? Look at the basket. Look at the basket. And the boy
looked at the basket, and for the first time he realized that
the basket, the Holy Spirit came upon him. What did he say to
Mary and Joseph? I must be about my father's business. Before he finally suffered at
the hands of cruel men, he had a baptism to be baptized with.
And he was patient until it was accomplished. Before he died,
he was covered with a bloody sweat and was exceedingly sorrowful,
even unto death. And in this case, before he in
person entered within the veil, he made intercession for us through
this prayer. Do you know he never tarries
when the good of his people calls for him? He doesn't tarry. Even though
it may seem to us that He's tarrying, He's not tarrying. He's right
beside us. And His love hath wings as well
as feet. It's true of Him evermore. He
rode upon a cherub and did fly. Yea, He did fly upon the wings
of the wind. Beloved, what a friend we have
in Jesus. He's so willing, so speedily to do for us all that
we need. All that we need. Isn't he wonderful? Oh, what a Savior. What a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Brother Brian?