subject this morning is sanctified. In 1 Corinthians 6, start reading
in verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you." Paul's
writing here to the Corinthians, and you know what that Corinthian
church was like. Paul says, and such were some
of you, but you are washed. You've been washed in the blood,
but you're sanctified. You've been set apart by God. You've been made holy, and you're
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. Last week, we looked at the doctrine
of justification. Now we're going to look at the
doctrine of sanctification. If God justifies a person, if
He justifies me in Christ, if He justifies you in Christ, sooner
or later we are going to experience sanctification. We are going
to experience this thing, this matter of being born of God,
of having a new nature. Those whom He justifies, He sanctifies. There can be no salvation without
the three blessings spoken of in this verse. Such, he said,
were some of you, but you are washed, you are sanctified, and
you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God. Washed has to do with being redeemed. It has to do with being redeemed
by the blood of Christ at Calvary. He washed us from our sins. He
purged us, the scripture says over in Hebrews chapter 1, that
by himself he purged us from our sins. We must be sanctified
by the Holy Spirit. We must be made holy. Made holy. Not just justified and declared
righteous, declared clear of all charges. But we must be sanctified
by the Holy Spirit. And we experience this sanctification
and regeneration in the new birth where we are made partakers of
the divine nature. We must be justified, declared
just before God by the imputed righteousness of Christ. That
must happen. Now God gives these three blessings.
Listen, He gives these three blessings by His grace. It's
all by His grace. All three are by the grace and
work of God. Washed, sanctified, justified
are all by the grace of God. We do not produce any of these
in any way, shape, or form. We do not produce any of these. We do not wash ourselves, we
do not sanctify ourselves, that is, make ourselves holy, and
we do not justify ourselves. All this is of God. All three
of these are of God. Now, I know there are some that
believe that when a person is sanctified, there are some denominations,
I know one particular, I know one person particular, they believe
that when a person is saved, He gets a second work of grace,
and sin is totally eradicated, totally gone. And we know that's not so. We
know by the Word of God, He that says that he has no sin is a
liar, no truth, not any. And there are some who believe
that sanctification is nothing more than an outward morality. It's nothing more than a separation
from the world. It's just being more separated
from the world. This really is the Pharisees. They touch not, taste not, handle
not. And there are some who believe that's what sanctification is.
And there are some that believe that sanctification is a progression
in holiness. We don't progress in holiness. Holy is holy. You're either holy
or you're not holy. There's no progressions in holiness.
There's progression in grace. There's a progression in faith,
there's a progression in love, which is the work of sanctification.
But we are holy in Christ and we're holy as we'll ever be in
the Lord Jesus Christ. But how does the scripture, how
does the word of God present this matter of sanctification? Now, firstly, it's used in three
ways, it's used in three ways. First of all, to sanctify means
this, it means to set apart, to take something that's common
and set it apart for God's use, for His use. Sanctification is
taking something that's common and separating it unto God for
His service. It's dedicated to Him, dedicated
to His service. We see that over in Genesis chapter
2, when God sanctified the seventh day. God created the world in six
days, and the seventh day He sanctified it. He set it apart.
He set it apart. And then it's also set forth
in Exodus 13, when the firstborn males were to be set apart for
the Lord. It's taking that which is common
and setting it apart for the Lord, for His service. It's dedicated
to Him. Then the second meaning is this.
It is to regard as holy. It's to regard as holy. It's to treat as holy. It's to treat as holy. And it
is to declare holy. is to treat it as holy, is to
regard it as holy, is to declare it holy. God is said to be sanctified
by His people. Now, you and I know that we do
not make God holy. We do not make Him holy. Here's
what we do, though. We regard Him as holy. We reverence Him as holy. Look over in Isaiah chapter 8. Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 13. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself,
and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. Sanctify him, regard, here's
what I'm saying, regard the Lord of hosts himself as holy. Reverence him. Treat him as holy. You know, when Moses smote that
rock the second time, and he was not allowed to go into the
promised land because of that, God said, you did not sanctify
me before the people. You didn't regard me and declare
me to be holy before the people. That's what he's saying. Sanctify,
it says there, the Lord of hosts himself. Let him be your dread.
Let him be your fear. Let him be your dread.
Turn over to Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus 10, verse 3. Then Moses, well let me go back
to verse 1. And Nadab at Abihu, the sons
of Aaron, took either of them his incense, or his censer, and
put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange
fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there
went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died
before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This
is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them
that come nigh to me, regarded as holy." That's what he's saying,
regarded as holy. And before all the people, I
will be glorified. Aaron held his peace. God killed
his sons over this. They did not regard him as holy. And God killed them. God killed
them. And Aaron held his peace. Then
the third meaning is this. It means to actually purify something
and to make it holy. It means to make it holy. It's
set apart. is declared to be holy, and then
finally is to make it holy. To make it holy. That's what
it means. To make that which God has set apart, that which
has been declared holy, to finally make it holy. And this is where
we experience salvation. This is where we experience it.
The Holy Spirit comes and gives us life, gives us a
new birth, And that's the experience of sanctification. We've been
declared holy. We've been set apart by God.
That is, God the Father set us apart in election. He set us
apart at sanctification. We were sanctified by God the
Son in redemption when He died at Calvary. Everyone for whom
He died was sanctified. Sanctified, declared to be holy. when He put away, washed us from
our sins. We've been set apart. We are
not our own. We have been redeemed by His
blood, bought with a price. We are not our own. We're set
apart. We're not our own. Redeemed by
His blood, not our own. We have been born of God. It says over in Psalm, I believe
it's Psalm 100, Thou hast made us and not we ourselves. We did not make ourselves believers.
We did not set ourselves apart. God did that. We did not redeem
ourselves. God did that. He washed us. We did not wash ourselves in
the blood. He did that. He washed us in
the blood of the Lamb at Calvary. He purged us from our sins at
Calvary. And we did not make ourselves
children of God. We did not give ourselves a new
birth. He did that. He did that. We're not our own. Look over in Romans 12. Romans chapter 12. Listen to
verse 1. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living
sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service." We're not our own. You bought with the price. God's
chosen you. The Son's redeemed you. The Holy
Spirit has regenerated you. And here's our reasonable service.
This is just reasonable service, he says. that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. And be ye not conformed to this
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God." Then when Christ shed his blood,
we were perfectly sanctified. In Christ we are regarded as
holy. treated as holy, declared to
be holy. And I'm telling you what, we're
holy. Do you feel it? Do you feel holy?
No. I don't feel it. I feel my sins. I feel my depravity. And I can
honestly say as I get older, I feel it. I feel more of it. I see more of it. But I know
this. I know by the Word of God and
by the Spirit of God. His Spirit bears witness with
our spirit that we are the sons of God, that we are holy in Christ. We are righteous in the Lord
Jesus Christ. In regeneration, the Holy Spirit,
through the preaching of the Word, applies the blood of Christ
to the heart, purifying our hearts, giving
us a real new nature, and it's of God. It's of God. Everyone born of
God has two natures. One that is called the old nature,
and it cannot do any good. It does not repent. It does not
love God. It does not want anything to
do with Christ. We have that old nature. It's
like dragging around A dead body. A putrefying dead body is what
that's like. But we also have a new nature.
A nature that loves God. A new nature that cannot and
does not sin because it's born of God. And we have that. We have that. And we have that struggle that
comes from that. That old nature and that new
nature never get along. They never get along. It's like,
was it Isaac or Esau? Which one was it? I think of
Isaac. Is Esau, I believe. I'm not sure
if that's the name of Esau or not. Anyway, they couldn't get
along. They couldn't get along and you had to cast him out because
Isaac was the heir. He was the heir. And the other
one, he couldn't stand him. Jealous. Jealous. Ishmael. Ishmael. I couldn't think of
his name. It was Ishmael and Isaac. And they couldn't get
along. They could not get along. And there is that same struggle
that's in everyone who believes the gospel. Everyone who's born
of God, there is that same struggle of that old nature and that new
nature fighting with one another, struggling with them. But I tell
you this, the old nature does not win. It may seem like it,
it may feel like it at times, and at times we do stumble and
fall, but I'm telling you, the Scripture says, sin shall not
have dominion over you. Greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world. That old nature will not dominate. It will not dominate. That new
nature that's born of God, that's the nature that will dominate. Now, because of this sanctification,
because of this new birth, because of this new man, because of this
new life that's in you, there will be a growth in grace. There will be a growth in grace.
If it's living, it grows. If something has life, If it
has life, if it's living, it's going to grow. And a man or woman
that's born of God, has the life of God in them, I'm telling you
this, they're going to grow. They are going to grow. They
are going to grow in grace, and they are going to grow in knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are going to grow in the
fruit of the Spirit. They are going to grow in love. They are
going to grow in faith, in joy. in peace, in long-suffering,
where there's life, where the life of God is in the soul, these
things are going to be there and they are going to grow. They're
going to grow. Now, am I one of the sanctified? Have
I been justified? Have I been washed? Have I been
sanctified? Have I been justified? Have I
been born of God? Well, answer these questions
for yourself. The Lord said to Peter, Peter,
do you love me? Do you love Christ? You know,
and I know in my heart what I love or who I love. We know that.
Do you love Christ? That's not natural to the natural
man. The natural man, woman, does
not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you love me? Simon Peter,
do you love me? Do you rest in Him alone? Do
you find in Christ all that you need? Do you find in Him all you need?
Do you really find Him to be your rest? Those who have been born of God,
sanctified, born of God, they find Christ to be their all in
all. They love Christ, and they find Him to be their rest. To
them, He's altogether lovely. He's altogether lovely. Is worship,
truly, is worship a burden? Or is it a joy? You know, I do
believe this. I do believe that worship to
those who are born of God is spontaneous. Spontaneous. What you love, you worship. You
worship. Where your treasure is, he says,
your heart is. If Christ is my treasure, If
He's my treasure, if He's my all in all, that's where my heart
is. That's where my heart is. And do you love the brethren?
I mean genuinely love the brethren. To be with His people is joy. You know, I don't like to use
myself as an example. You know, Henry told us in the
preacher school, don't use yourself as an example. He said, you shouldn't
as preachers, but sometimes you have to. I mean, sometimes if
you get the point, you need to. But a couple of places I've worked
over the years, they had company, especially the last place I'd
worked. They had company picnics once a year. I never did go to
it because they were just slobbering, just drunk. The guys, they'd
tell me about the next day. They would leave there, tore
up the guy's garden. I mean, they would just... And I didn't go for one reason.
I didn't enjoy the company. Now, I got along with them. We
worked. They would use my toolbox. I'd use theirs. But to get out
like that, I didn't enjoy it. You didn't enjoy it. There was
a time There was a time I enjoyed that. There was a time I enjoyed
it. My joy, now here's the point,
my joy is you. My joy is being around you. Being
around God's people. And that's your joy. If you've
been born of God, that is your joy. Is to be with the Lord's
people. Be where the gospel is preached.
Be where Christ is preached. Be where Christ is worshiped.
To be where you can freely, where you can honestly, freely sit
down with my brother or sister and start talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ. And there is a common bond there.
There's a common bond, a common faith, a common love that's there. That's not there with the world.
It's not there. And I think those are evidences. Those are evidences. that a person
has been washed, justified, and sanctified. Those are evidences
of it. We must have all three of these. As Paul wrote there in 1 Corinthians,
we must have all three of these. We must be washed in the blood
of the Lamb, sanctified by the Spirit of God, born of God, and
justified, cleared of all charges, declared holy, separated and
made holy, justified and sanctified. They go together like faith and
repentance. You're not going to have one
and not have the other.