Now if you'll take your Bibles
and turn with me to I Corinthians chapter 6. By the grace of God, I want to
bring to you, I feel impressed of God to do it, a series of
messages on sanctification. Sanctification. I want to start
here this morning and hope to answer this and establish this,
what is sanctification? I find myself often in conversations
with men and women, and we're both talking about
something different. They're talking about one thing. I'm
talking about something else. Or I'll be talking about one
thing, and they'll say, well, what about this? And they leap
off of that to something else. And so I want to bring this as
the beginning of this series and try to establish for you
what I'm saying when I say sanctification. I want you to understand fully
what it is that I'm talking about. Now, I believe in these short
verses here in 1 Corinthians 6, these things are stated. And then I'm going to go to some
other places that clearly teach this same doctrine and try to
establish it. But listen to what the Apostle
Paul teaches here in his letter to the Corinthian church, 1 Corinthians
6, verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Don't listen to somebody who
tells you otherwise. 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." Don't look
for it. It's not going to happen. It's
not going to happen. That's what he tells these men.
And such, he said, were some of you. But ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. Now, several things led me to
preach on this subject. The first thing is over the past
several months I've been asked quite a few questions concerning
this subject of sanctification and have given some answers and
some things we've looked into and talked about and some of
these subjects I've preached on. But men ask me about evidences
of the Spirit of God in us questionable things in our lives, and why
won't these things go away, and what about these things that
appear in my life? Is this some evidence that I
don't know God? And so, you see, all of these
things are sanctification related. And then the second reason I
want to do this is because every epistle in the New Testament
deals with it. You're not going to find justification
by faith taught and preached in the epistles apart from sanctification. They're always together. They're
inseparable. You're not going to find one
apart from the other. And somebody wants to say, well,
I'm justified and go stand in the corner and totally ignore
his life, totally ignore how he lives and what he says and
what he does. He's a dead man. He don't know
God. He don't know God. The God who does the work for
you works in you. If He don't work in you, He hasn't
worked for you. One is the evidence of the other. And then the third reason is
because recently a pastor friend of mine sent me a little booklet
on sanctification that I thought was one of the most outstanding
articles I've ever read. It was just a great article.
And then he called me the other day. He wanted me to write him
back and tell him what I thought about this subject. And so I
did. And in this article, and in these
things so plainly taught, and I called him and I said, it's
one of the best things I ever read. And I said, in fact, I've
already prepared a series of messages on it. Well, he said,
let me tell you about this man who wrote this article. He said,
He denies that there is a God. He denies everything he ever
said about God. And he runs a big fruit farm
over in the middle of Australia. And he believes the only evidence
of God that there is, is just the knowledge of God that you
have in your heart. That's all there is. There is
nothing else. There is no God in glory. It's all just a concept. All just a concept. Nevertheless, his writings were
right on the button. And that's the second time in
my life I've read literature like that and got that kind of
news about the man who wrote it. But the fourth reason I wanted
to bring this series of messages is because I don't know any doctrine
that's more misrepresented and misunderstood than the doctrine
of sanctification. There are just very few people
who really understand it. And very few preachers have really
set it forth as it ought to be set forth, this doctrine of sanctification. And so I want to begin this morning
with this doctrine as best as I can to answer this question,
what is it? What is sanctification? What
in the world are we talking about? Well, let's look at these verses
here in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9, and let me see if I can answer
some of these questions. Here are the questions that I
want to try to answer this morning. I'm not necessarily going to
pause in between these things and name these points. But here's
where I'm going with this. What is this doctrine of sanctification? How does it work? And what is
the effects of this doctrine in the lives of those who are
sanctified? That's what I want to try to
answer. So let's first see if I can define this doctrine of
sanctification. The doctrine of sanctification,
I told you this morning, we're going to have to be shut up to
this book. I'm not interested in what you think and you're
not interested in what I think. And if you were, we'd both just
stand there giving opinions and it wouldn't amount to a hill
of beans. It'd be like two maggots down here talking to one another
before God. Let's see what God says and see
how God sets this doctrine forth and then receive it and be taught
by what He says. Sanctification is set forth in
the Word of God as a threefold work of the triune God. Now, most men and women, when
you talk to them about sanctification, they leave the father and the
son totally out of it, run over here to the Spirit of God and
start talking about what the Spirit of God is doing in their
lives. You cannot separate this threefold work. It is one work. Our God is one God. The Spirit
doesn't do a work that's totally contrary to what the Son did.
The Son doesn't do a work that's something contrary to what the
Spirit and the Father. It's one work. One work. And it has distinctions. It has
distinctions that's owing to all three persons of the Godhead.
There's sanctification. It's a threefold work and it's
set forth throughout the Scripture. And even when it doesn't use
the word sanctification as it don't all the way through here
in 1 Corinthians 6, it's nevertheless stating the same thing. Now you
can read the very first verse of the book of Jude. And in that
verse, he writes to a people and here's how he distinguishes
those people. He said, you're sanctified by
God the Father. You're preserved in Jesus Christ
and you're called. That's a threefold work of sanctification. But he didn't mention sanctification
of the Spirit. He just said they were called.
And he didn't mention that sanctification of the Son. He just said you're
preserved. But he does mention it concerning
the Father. We're sanctified. This threefold
work. So let's look at this sanctification
of the Father. How are the saints sanctified
by the Father? What's his part in this sanctification?
Well, the sanctification of God the Father is the taking of something
common and ordinary and setting it apart for divine use. The only example that comes to
mind is the vessels that were in the temple. They were just
vessels. Now, they were made by choice
artisans and so on, and they made these vessels valuable things like gold and
silver on some occasions. Some were made out of different
things, brass and bronze, and depending on what it is that
they were to typify. But he set those vessels apart
by decree, and he said, these are mine. They're to be used
for my purpose and for my glory. I have an end to which these
things are designed. And He set them apart, and every
man was to view those vessels and sanctify those vessels in
his own heart. Here's a goblet, but this is
not like that goblet you've got at home. This is sanctified for
my use and my glory and my purpose. And He set it apart for that
reason. Belshazzar learned that, didn't he? He came in there and
took those vessels and filled them full of wine and they partied
down. And he took those vessels and
just used them as common vessels. And all of a sudden he looked
and he saw this hand. And this hand was writing. You
ever wonder where that phrase come from? He saw the handwriting
on the wall. That's what Belshazzar saw. You
took that which I sanctified, which I set apart for my use,
and you just treated it like something common and ordinary.
And your days are over. They are over. Sanctification. The Ark of the Covenant. Probably
the best example of this. It was made of wood and then
overlaid with gold and stood in type of the Lord Jesus Christ
in whom is the bread of God. There was a golden pot in there
full of manna, the bread that God rained down for Israel. And
in there was the two tables of the law. And in there was the
priest staff that budded, all in this ark, all represented
in Christ spiritually. He's our high priest. God has
declared Him our high priest by giving life in Him. There's
life in His rod. He gives life. In Him is life.
He that hath the Son hath life. And He's the bread. He said,
except you eat of My flesh and drink of My blood, you have no
life in you. He's our bread. And there's no
other way to view that law and worship God except in that ark.
And over that ark was a mercy seat. You can't worship God apart
from this blood sacrifice over these things, typifying the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God commanded this ark to
be carried on poles by the priests. They were to bear this thing,
and they'd stick these poles through there and these priests
would get on all four sides and they'd pick it up. But David
didn't do that. David got this ark, stuck the
poles in it, lifted it up, put it on a wagon. He was in a hurry.
And started back. And the wagon went in a little
chug hole and the ark tipped and Uzzah reached up to get it
and God killed him dead in a wedge. Why? Because God sanctified that ark.
It was just wood. He's just gold. Wasn't any different
than your wedding ring. Just gold and wood. But God said,
it's my gold and my wood. And I set it apart for my purpose,
and you keep your hands off of it. And what he's typifying there
is when we start to assist him in the work of salvation, when
we mingle our touch, our filthy hands in the work, deadness,
you kill the work. Kill it. You kill it. was sanctified
by God the Father. And in just such a way, the Lord
Jesus Christ was chosen before the foundation of the world as
the covenant mediator of redemption. In Him is the budded rod. In
Him is the bread of God. In Him is the tables of the law.
Nothing of this flesh is to touch it, mingle with it. It defiles
it. This person in work alone stands
as our foundation. Stands as our foundation of faith
and worship. Stands as the foundation of our
practice. All of the victories, all of
the worship, all of the peace, all of the rest of Israel revolved
around this ark. When the ark was gone, they were
in trouble. When they had the ark, all was
at rest. Well, what's that got to do with us being sanctified?
Well, listen to what he said. He said, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
by declaration By the declaration of God, by the eternal decree
of God, God chose from among men a people. And He chose them
in Christ and put them in there. And in Christ, they're holy. In Christ, they're set apart.
They're set apart from divine youth. Of the same lump, He said,
He made some vessels unto honor and some to dishonor. They both
come out of the same lump. Both come out of the same clay.
No difference in the lump. The difference was in the purpose
of God. And that purpose is a purpose
of grace. God the Father, by eternal decree,
said He's chosen us from the beginning unto salvation. God has. The rest of the world
is going to hell in a handbasket. You can read about it over in
II Thessalonians, chapter 2. All of them being deceived, all
of them running after this and running after that and going
after this and going after that. He said, boy, he said, I thank
God for you, brethren, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you. We're sanctified by God the Father.
He's chosen us from the beginning. He saved us. He predestinated
all the means from the time of your election to the final end
of man. Predestinated all the means.
That's the sanctification of the Father. How do I know this
thing is going to be? Christ said, because all that
the Father gave me is going to come to me. Why are they going
to come? Because He gave them. Who is
going to stop Him? Are you going to stop God from
accomplishing His will? We'll do our utmost too, but
you're not going to be able to resist Him. That's why they call
it irresistible grace, isn't it? God decreed it. Paul preached over there, and
it said, as many as were ordained unto eternal life believed. Isn't
that what it said? Why did they believe? God ordained
it, that's why. You see what I'm saying? We're
sanctified by God the Father. We've got nothing to glory in.
I'm not standing there. I hope nobody in this place comes
in here and listens to me preach and says, well, he just thinks
he's something and everybody else is dumb. No, I believe by
the grace of God I am what I am. There's no difference in me and
you. If there is, you give me the smaller part because that's
where God found me on the bottom, not up here somewhere, down here.
It's His grace that makes the difference. Well, how does that
grace come? It comes through an election.
It tells you that all the way through the Scriptures. The only
reason a man will deny election is because he wants the glory
in his flesh. I'm not all the way dead. I'm
not all the way dumb. I'm not all the way blind. Yeah, you're dead in trespasses
and sins. Well, I'm just not. Then why
are you still resisting God? Huh? All the overwhelming evidence. Here's a book right here before
you. And I dare say most of us, when we get mad, we go. And we
go home. Huh? But you're not dead. Sure you're not. dead in trespasses
and sins. If God doesn't do something for
us, what's going to direct God to do something for us? Something
we do? What can a dead man do to deserve life? He can't do
anything. Lay there and stink. That's all
Lazarus could do. His sisters loved him. Everybody
loved him. All of his friends loved him.
All of them prayed and wailed and whined and cried. And he
still laid in there and stunk until the Lord Jesus Christ called
him out of the tomb. Why'd they call him out of town?
Because God the Father gave it to him. That's right. There's that poor old woman over
there, been married three or four times. He said, I've got
to go over there. Why in the world do you have
to go to Samaria? Samaria's way out of his way. Why would he want to go way over
there? Because God the Father gave him one, and she was over
there. He has chosen us from the beginning
unto salvation. And He saved us and called us,
He said, with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Then be careful how you treat
them. You know who God's elect are?
I don't. Then we better be careful how
we treat folks. Lord said it'd be better for you. You know what
a millstone is? Some of you in here old enough
know what a millstone is. Great big old stone they use
there to grind that meal back there. He said it would be better
for you if somebody would take a rope and tie it on that millstone,
put it around your neck, and throw it in the uttermost part
of the sea than for you to do damage to one of His little ones. Why? Because He set them apart
for His glory. You might as well just run up
to the ark and kick it. Might as well just run in the
tabernacle and grab that veil that hung there over the Holy
of Holies and just jerk it down. Wad it up, throw it on the ground,
stomp on it. Then take one of those little
ones. And secondly, we sanctified in
Christ Jesus. This sanctification is a legal
term. Now, that's what you're going
to have to get in your head. It's a legal term. It's a legal term. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10. I'll just leave you a marker
there because most of my remarks from here on out are going to
be here from Hebrews chapter 10. The believer standing before
God is upon the legal rights and privileges given to him by
grace based upon the righteousness and shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. By the merits of the person and
work of Christ, the high court of heaven declares all those
given to the Son and for whom the Son died righteous. Righteous. Not a spot in them, John. Not
a blemish in them. Righteous. Just before God. Unreprovable before God. Clear of any and all charges.
Clear of all infractions. Past, present, and future. Somebody
said, I can believe that God can forgive me for my past sins,
but I'm having trouble believing He's going to forgive me for
my future sins. Well, which one of your sins
wasn't future when Christ died? They were all future, weren't
they? Listen to this. Hebrews 10, verse
6. In burnt offering and sacrifices
for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, they're talking
about Christ, I come, in the volume of the book it's written
of me, to do thy will, O God. Above when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offering and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither hadst pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first. He takes away that constant offering
for sin. He takes away that constant seeking
God's approval and constantly seeking forgiveness. He takes all that away. He taketh
away the first that he may establish the second. He had no pleasure
in those things. Those things just typified. The
volume of the book was written of Him. All these offerings and
sacrifices for sins were all pointing to Christ. And then
Christ came. And He did, He accomplished the
will of the Father. He takes away the patterns of
things in the heavens, all those figures for the time then present
that you read about back in Hebrews 9. Takes away all the shadows
of good things to come. which he states up there in Hebrews
10, verse 1, takes away all those things that foreshadowed Christ.
Verse 10, by the witch will, the doing of it, the accomplishing
of it, the manifesting of it in the Son, by the witch will,
we are sanctified. See that word? Sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. He doesn't
require the believer to bring a sacrifice for his approval. The sacrifice has already been
brought and the believer has already been approved. And all those approved of God
because of the sacrifice of the Son are going to be called. You
see how that works? And I'm talking once for all.
Once for all. I don't need to go get a goat
or a sheep or a lamb, and I don't need to go get whatever it is
people bring today. You name it, you know what you
bring. I used to bring empty promises.
Lord, if you'll bless me, I'll quit smoking. That's a big sacrifice
if you've ever smoked. I'll never drink another drop.
You couldn't make it through the day. Once for all, He sanctified
us in this offering of Christ perfectly, continually, and eternally. Over in Romans 8, that golden
chain of assurance, beginning back there in verse 28. He comes down through there in
this golden chain of assurance, and He talks about justification. And He said, Who shall lay anything
anything to the charge of God's elect. God justified them. How'd He do that in His Son?
In His Son. Didn't have anything to do with
me, Russell. I wasn't even born yet. Hadn't heard the Gospel. I wasn't
born. Accepted in the blood, approved
Ephesians chapter 2 said, He not only quickened me in Christ,
but He raised me up with Christ and set me with Christ in heavenly
blessings, already accepted, already approved, already blessed,
sanctified in the Son, seated in the heavenlies. It is the sanctifying righteousness
and shed blood of our substitute that forever justifies us before
God. It said He was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. And this
justification by the free and sovereign grace of God is the
basis of everything that God gives to the sinner. Everything. You don't receive nothing apart
from that. But we receive this, and then
we say, OK, I'm going to put that down. We set that on the
shelf, and then we go on to something else. Paul said, don't put it
down. Don't put it down. There's nothing
in man for God to see and find pleasure in. There's no undiscovered potential
in man of righteousness or something to please God in some future
time. And God outside of Christ is
a consuming fire. You can't find God's favor to
any man outside of Christ. In the last book of the Bible,
he tells us in pictures of a beast and a harlot And all of these
things picture sin and Satan and satanic religion. And he
tells us that as a beast, this thing devours everything in the
world, kings, merchants, kingdoms, and all nations of men. And they
all follow after the beast whose names were not written in the
book of the Lamb. slain." When were they written that?
He said, before the foundation of the world. God the Father
set you apart by decree and sanctified you. And He set you apart in
His Son who is the surety or guarantor of that declaration
and of that promise. It's not dependent on you, it's
dependent on Him. Not depending on what you're
going to say. Not depending on what you're going to do. It's
depending on what He did. What He did. Sanctified by God
the Father. The child of God has a legal
standing before God, decreed before the world began, accomplished
2,000 years ago on Calvary's cross, and declared to give assurance. That's what He says over in Acts
17. whereby God hath given assurance unto all men, in that He raised
him from the grave." All in Christ. Sanctified by
God the Father. Sanctified by God the Son. Now
watch this, Hebrews chapter 10. Here's the sanctification of
the Spirit. Hebrews 10.10. He sanctified
us once for all, he said, by the witch will, verse 10. We
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And every high priest standeth
daily ministering, and oft times offering the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins. But this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies to be made his
footstool. The warfare with sin and Satan
is over. He's a defeated foe. The great
work of accomplished redemption is done. The guarantor of the
everlasting covenant of grace has sat down. Never in the history
of all Israel was there a sitting priest. But Christ, having accomplished
this work of redemption, sat down. Why? Because He accomplished
in that one sacrifice what all those others could not accomplish.
He sat down. God's satisfied with it. He's
satisfied with it. And He's going to make all His
enemies bow to it. And even in that day when He
sends men to hell, the saints are going to justify God. They're
going to justify God. Our great high priest opponent
ascending to the Father sat down in full assurance that all his
enemies would be put under his feet. Verse 14, for by one offering,
this is why he sat down. This is why he is confident about
his enemies. Right here. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. I'm going
to give you a little better rendering of that verse. Here is the verse. Let me read the verse to you
again. By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. Here is a little better rendering.
For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that he and his
Father hath sanctified. Those that the Father set apart
and those that the Son purchased are perfected forever. They are
perfected forever. They were sanctified by the doing
and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, accomplishing the eternal purpose
and will of God in redemption. Are you with me so far? That's
sanctification. Verse 15, now watch this. Whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness unto us. Oh, I thought the Holy Ghost
just caused a man to speak in tongues. I thought that was the
evidence. No. The evidence is that rejoicing
of heart when the Holy Spirit opens that heart, creates in
you a new heart, and you're able to rejoice in that sanctification
of the Father and that sanctification of the Son. That's the evidence. That sanctification of the Spirit
of God is to take the everlasting purpose and will of the Father
as it's manifested in the person and work of Christ and show it
unto you. He said back in John chapter
16, if you remember that Sunday school lesson, he said, when
the Spirit has come, he's not going to talk about himself. Every Pentecostal church I was
ever in in my life, that's all they talked about was the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. He said when the
Holy Spirit's come, he ain't going to mention himself. Well,
what's he going to do? He's going to take the things
of mine, Christ said, and show them to you. That's what he's
going to do. We're of the Holy Spirit is also
a witness to us of these things. Hebrews 10, 16. This is the covenant. He said, for this is the covenant
that I'll make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I'll
put my laws into their hearts And in their minds I'll write
them. Not for them to honor and keep to find favor with God,
and not as a basis of a righteous standing with God, and not as
an evidence of salvation. But a law fully honored and exalted
and perfectly kept in Christ. That's the law he writes on your
heart. A law honored. A law satisfied. A law glorified. A law you can rejoice in, and
the only way you can rejoice in the law is to see it honored.
Other than that, it's a curse. Isn't that what he says? He didn't
say you're blessed if you honor the law. He said you're blessed
if you keep it continually. Otherwise, it's a curse. Cursed
is everyone who continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do. The Holy Spirit never cried in
a man's heart, do this and live. He cries in a man's heart, it
is done. It's finished. That's what the
sinner longs to hear, it's done. Isn't that what the old hymn
writer, he said, it's done, it's done, the great transaction's
done. That holy law of God no longer
looms over us as an executioner with an axe in his hand. But
fully satisfied in Christ, it stands honored as a guarantee. A guarantee. And now what the
Lord said, you keep all these statutes. You keep them all. I bless you. If you don't, I
curse you. Honored and exalted yields a
blessing. A blessing. Listen to this. Therefore, being justified by
faith, that is in seeing and trusting the full benefits of
our justification in Christ, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't wait and have peace. Listen to this. The Lord said,
when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He'll guide you into
all truth. And He'll reprove the world of
sin and righteousness and judgment. Sin, because they believe not
on Me. Righteousness, because I go to the Father and don't
come back. And of judgment satisfied. What
I'm trying to tell you is this and trying to establish is this,
and I want to continue to hammer on that in this series of messages,
that the sanctification of the Father and of the Son cannot
be divorced from the sanctification of the Spirit. That's why a man
comes forward and he makes a profession of faith and he goes home and
he starts looking inside for evidence. And pretty soon, his
head's down, his lips out. He got no hope. And I don't even
think I'm saved, preacher. I don't think I know God. Why? Because you're looking in an
empty box. That's not where you found...
It wasn't in your walk. That's not where you found confidence
when you came to the Lord. Paul said, you began in the Spirit.
He told those Galatians, are you now made perfect in the flesh?
Here's your problem. You're looking in the wrong place.
Don't ever divorce that sanctification of the Spirit from that justification
of faith. Those two things go together.
They go together. Preacher, how do I know that
that's what the Apostle's talking about in Hebrews chapter 10?
I know that you said some things along, and you read the Scriptures,
and you kind of planted that seed in our minds. But how do
I really know that's what he's talking about here? Read the
next verse. or their sins and iniquities,
I will remember no more. They're gone. They're gone. Now, I don't care whether that
law is written on your heart or it's written in this book.
It's not going to cause you to rejoice. It's not going to cause
your sins to be gone until it's honored. And it's by this new and living
way which He has consecrated for us as a representative man
and being our high priest seated in the heavens, that we can draw
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water. And so now he says down in verse
23, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.
Don't leave it and go off somewhere else. Stay right there. There's
only one thing. If you serve God, you're going
to have to serve Him out of love and gratitude. The only way you
can serve God out of love and gratitude is to see that love
and gratitude manifested in Christ. That's the motivation for sanctification
is justification. You stand and you see yourself
justified, made holy, loved, secured, honored in Christ. And you see how God can love
you. How God can be just and justify a guilty sinner. And
out of love and gratitude, not to win His favor, you've already
got His favor in Christ. But out of gratitude and love,
you want to be like Him. And you are. You are. Not in whole, but you have the
first fruits of it in you. And you are. You see that love?
you'll begin to love. You see that grace, you'll begin
to be gracious. You see that mercy, you won't
find it so hard to show mercy. It's by this new and living way.
And he said, let us hold fast that profession, that profession
of our faith, without wavering, because he is faithful that promised,
and consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a man or some is,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the
day approaching. Now, one more time, let my text
over here in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 stand on this understanding
with what I've declared to you this morning in this threefold
sanctification. Go back and read that text again.
And such for some of you, but you're washed and you're sanctified,
indwelt by the Spirit of the living God and His revelation
of God's righteousness in Christ. And you're justified, declared
just before God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by
the Spirit of the living God. Now, the Lord willing, in the
days to come, my old friend Scott Richardson, I loved the way he
preached. He'd stand up and he'd say something,
and then he'd walk around in a circle all the way around.
And he'd just keep hammering. He only had one point to his
message. But when he got done, you understood what he was talking
about. And that's what I want to do
with this doctrine and this series of messages. What I've established
here this morning, I want to walk around it, and I want to
look at it from these standpoints. I want to look at it from its
legal standpoint. I may bring that message next
week, Lord willing. And then I want to look at it
from a psychological standpoint. How does this thing work in my
mind and in my heart? How are these things described
in the Scripture? And I want to look at it from
the efficiency of it. Is this thing sufficient? Is it efficient to do the job?
Or do I need somebody to stand up here every week and say, now,
let me tell you something. You don't need that. And then I want to discuss it
from a positional standpoint. We're going to look at all four
sides. Look at this thing of sanctification
and see if we can't be established in it. And I want you to pray for me
that God will enable me to teach this. I want to teach it as it's
stated in this book. I could care less what people
think is my opinion. My opinion don't count for nothing.
But if this is stated in this book, I want you to see it in
this book. And if it's stated in this book, you better receive
it of God. And walk by it. Bow to it. That's
the main thing. We need to bow to it. Bow to
it. He'll cause you to rejoice in
your heart when you bow to it. Nobody wanted to bow when he
said, you're going to have to cross that sea. And they said, uh-oh. Everybody wanted to cross it
when they saw it split.