We greet you this morning in
the name of our Redeemer, our precious Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I was thinking as we were singing
this morning about the glorious liberty that we have as the children
of God. We had mentioned last Sunday
that Galatians 5.1 It tells us to stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ has set us free, to be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage. So it is our privilege as well
as our duty to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
has set us free. In Roman and Greek law, specified that if a man were
to die, and he had slaves, that those slaves would revert to
his eldest son. They would be given to his eldest
son. And the son could do whatever he would with them. If he freed them, then they were
free forever. And if not, well, they were in
bondage. And in John chapter 8 and verse
36, Scripture says, if the Son shall
set you free, you shall be free indeed. And that's where that
came from. That was the law then. And so the Lord Jesus said, if
the Son shall set you free. You'll be free indeed. So we
were slaves to sin. We were the servants of sin.
Slaves to sin. And the Son of God set us free. Free in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That freedom is to be greatly, greatly rejoiced in and sought
after. by the Lord's people. Be free. Well, last Lord's Day we brought
a message on sanctification and introduced to you the subject and tried
to deal with the first meaning of the word. And this morning
we want to try to continue trusting that God will be with us and
God will help us. were wholly dependent upon the
Lord's help. Let me just review a little. Remember last week we tried to
set forth the fact that whatever sanctification is, it's of God,
entirely of God. And Jude 1 verse 1 tells us that
we're sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Christ Jesus. and
called. And then in 1st Corinthians 6
verses 9-11 we showed you that ye are washed, ye are sanctified,
ye are justified in the name of our God and by the Spirit
of the Lord. And so we tried to set forth
the meaning of the word. The meaning is to be set apart. The first meaning. There are
three meanings that I want to try to establish in your mind,
your thinking. I want us to talk a little bit
about the meanings of these words,
sanctify and sanctification, and then hopefully to be able
to deal with some of the more practical aspects of the subject
of sanctification this morning. There's a verse of scripture
in Acts 20 that our brother read to us this morning where Paul
said, I commend you to God and to the word or to the message
of His grace which is able to build you up and to give you
an inheritance among them of like character or among them
that are sanctified. And I wish to use that verse
in a while this morning to set forth the practical application
of this. But first of all then, let's
establish what these words mean. Sanctify and sanctification.
They mean, certainly what they mean as they're used in the Scriptures. Not as they might be found in
the Webster's Dictionary, but they're, certainly the meaning
is the meaning they have in Scripture. And if you want to know the meaning
of a biblical term, you must search the Scriptures to see
how God uses these terms in His Word. Now the word sanctify,
as we said, is used in three distinct ways in the Bible. The first and primary meaning
is the one we talked about last week. The meaning is to be set
apart. Sanctification is taking something
that is common and ordinary and setting it apart or separating
it for God's service alone. The Bible provides us with many
examples of this. In Genesis 2 and verse 3, it
says the seventh day was set apart for God. Now, the day was
not changed in any way at all. It was the seventh day. It remained
the seventh day. It was simply set apart from
the other days of the week and separated as the Sabbath day
for the service of God alone. And in Exodus 13 verse 2, the
scripture shows us that the firstborn of the families of Israel were
set apart for God. And that becomes so significant
when the death angel came into Egypt, if you recall. Now in
Exodus 29 verse 44, It tells us that the tabernacle, the altar,
and the priesthood were sanctified unto the Lord and set apart for
His use alone. So it is in this sense that our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself in John 10 and 36 tells us that He was sanctified,
meaning that He was set apart from all other men to do the
will of God. by God the Father. You remember
the Lord Jesus said, I come not to do mine own will, but the
will of him that sent me. And the Lord Jesus was the only
one that was thus set apart and ordained by God the Father to
complete the work of redemption and to satisfy divine justice
on the behalf of all of those whom the Father had given to
him in the eternal covenant of God's grace. The Lord Jesus was
set apart and He was the only one. And so we read in the scriptures
that there's none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved but by the name of the Lord Jesus.
That He alone tread the winepress of the wrath of God. He alone
satisfied God. He alone accomplished redemption
for us. He alone has entered into the
presence of God there to plead our case before the Heavenly
Father, He alone. He's the one sanctified, set
apart by God to the accomplishing of all these things. And in this
sense, our Savior sanctified Himself to the very work that
the Father gave Him to the point where that He would say in John
17 that He had finished the work. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. It needs not be said that very,
very few men can actually say that they have finished their
work before their lives are cut short or they're taken out of
this world. Most people don't ever finish anything and some
people finish very little, but The Lord Jesus said, I've finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. And that's a glorious
theme for the people of God because we all can rejoice in a work
accomplished, a work finished, a work that was satisfying both
to the Lord Jesus Christ and satisfying certainly to God the
Heavenly Father. Now, when anything or anyone
is sanctified or set apart for God, it is for God's service
alone, and certainly it is under God's protection. We can see
that very clearly in the Lord Jesus Christ, because there were
efforts made to kill Him. And the Lord Jesus said, My hour
has not yet come, and with all the demons of hell, they could
not kill the Lord Jesus Christ before he went to the cross.
He must go to the cross. Satan would do anything to keep
him off of that cross, to keep him from the cross, but he was
not able to because he was set apart, sanctified by God the
Father, and thus protected that nothing could hinder his accomplishment
of the work. which the Lord had given him.
Now secondly then, that's the first meaning of the word, to
be set apart. Now secondly, as the word sanctifies
used in the scriptures, it means, now you listen carefully to this,
it means to regard, to treat, and to declare a person or a
thing as holy. For an example, God himself is
frequently said to be sanctified by his people. Now in sanctifying
God, we do not make God more holy. We do not make God more
holy, and we do not separate God unto Himself. But we do regard
Him as being holy, we treat Him as one who is holy, and declare
that He is holy. Now this is what we declare about
our God. We declare that he's God and
that he is a holy, a thrice holy God. And we say thrice because
of the three persons of the Godhead. And so we declare that he is
holy. That is our message. This is
what God requires of us, both the preacher and the people.
We are to sanctify God in our hearts, Isaiah 8 and 13. says,
sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself, and let Him be your dread, and
let Him be your fear. Let Him be your dread. If you're
going to dread anything, dread God, dread offending God. And
if you're going to fear anything, and if a man fears God, he needs
fear of nothing else. He needs to fear nothing else
if he fears God. But we are to sanctify the Lord,
God, the Lord of hosts, in our hearts. And let him be our dread,
let him be our fear. Now Nadab and Abihu were consumed
by the Lord when they offered strange fire because they did
not reverence God's holiness. God said, I will be sanctified
in them that come, nigh me. Leviticus 10 and verse 3. And Moses' sin in smiting the
rock the second time was just this. God said, you believe me
not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel. Numbers
chapter 20 and verse 12. You believe me not to sanctify
me, to set me apart as being holy and declaring me to be the
God of wisdom and the God of purpose and the God of plan.
And so Moses failed to do this when he smoked the rock when
God told him to speak to the rock. And so he failed to sanctify
the Lord. Now we have a more familiar illustration
in what we call the Lord's Prayer in the New Testament. Our Savior
taught us to pray, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 9.
Now the word hallowed is simply another word for sanctifying. Our Lord is teaching us that
the object of our prayers must be the glory of God. And when
we pray, this must be our desire. Father, let thy name be reverenced
and adored throughout the whole earth. Let thy name be lifted
up and let it be admired, reverenced, and adored throughout the whole
earth. That'd be a glorious day, wouldn't it? The name of the
Lord, exalted in the midst of the earth. Let all men regard
thy name as a holy and sacred thing. That's the prayer that
we pray when we say, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
By this second usage of the word sanctify, we see that when a
person is sanctified by God, he is regarded by God as being
one who is absolutely holy, declared to be holy, and treated as one
who is holy. Now that is important that we
get that. So the second meaning of the
word sanctify or sanctification is that we're speaking of one
who is holy and God would have us to declare him to be holy
and all those that he says are holy to declare them also to
be holy and treat them as one who is holy. This is very significant
when we think of those in the covenant of grace and how that
God treats us as we are holy in Christ, holy is the holy one,
so we're treated just like Christ. He treats us like Christ ought
to be treated, and treated Christ like we should have been treated.
We are looked upon as holy, Christ was looked upon as the sinner's
substitute, numbered with the transgressors, and so he bore
the sin of many and was treated as a sinner on the cross. But
God has treated us as one who is holy in His Son and given
us eternal everlasting life because of the merits and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this third meaning, that
is the second meaning, declared to be holy, treated as one who
is holy. The third meaning of this word
sanctify, as it is used in scripture, it means to actually purify something
and make it holy. Now, I want you to listen very
carefully to what I'm saying here. This becomes very important
to the rest of the message. This is an actual change in the
nature of things. Something happens in the nature
of a thing to make it to be sanctified or to be holy. The thing sanctified is not only
set apart and declared to be holy, it is actually made holy. Actually made holy. In the Old
Testament, the ceremonial cleansing pictured this aspect of sanctification. When God was about to come down
and give the law at Mount Sinai, he required the children of Israel
to make themselves holy. And they took a bath and laundered
their clothes. Exodus 19 verse 10 and 11. Took
a bath and laundered their clothes.
And then when Israel was about to cross the Jordan, God first
required them to be purified. Joshua chapter 3 and verse 5. Until they were purified, they
could not enter in to the land of promise. Now then we see the
meaning of the words sanctify and sanctification as they were
used in the Bible. To sanctify, number one, then,
is set apart for God. Number two, to regard, to treat,
and to declare as holy. And third, to purify and make
holy. And beloved, this is the way
God has sanctified his people. The Lord set us apart, separated
us into himself in the eternal covenant of election, as we told
you last week. Through the redemptive work of
Christ accomplished at Calvary, God regards us as holy, declares
that we are holy, and treats us as a holy people in absolute
justification. And in the new birth, the Holy
Spirit actually, now get this, actually imparts a holy nature
to us. In other words, when someone
is born again, They become a new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're said in Ephesians 2.10
to be His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. And we're new
creatures in Christ, all things having passed away, all things
become new. The Holy Spirit actually imparts
a divine nature, as Peter calls it, into our very souls. And a new man is formed, that
new man being the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul had great respect
for this new man in Jesus Christ to the point where that he said
in his experience that when he did that which he would not,
it was no longer he that was doing it, but it was sin that dwelt in him. The new man
does not sin. The new man is Christ. That divine
nature which has been planted in you does not sin. It cannot
sin. That is the seed of God which
remains in a believer. And a believer has been made
holy. according as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. And so in regeneration,
we have this impartation of a nature that is absolutely holy. It is the very nature of God
Himself. And so we actually have this
imparted holy nature purifying us and make us holy in divine
regeneration. We have actually experienced
a wonderful and marvelous change. And you cannot explain sometimes
all the feelings and emotions you have going on in you, but
there's two persons in every individual that's saved, that's
regenerate. Two people there. And that's
the new man and the old man. The new man is Christ. The old
man is the old man of sin. that was crucified with Christ
on Calvary. Now this is how the people of
God are sanctified then. They're set apart in election,
and they're redeemed at Calvary, and justified through the justifying
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, they're given
this new nature, which is a divine nature, which is God's nature. And that nature, that new nature,
is stronger than the old nature. And we're said, sin shall not
reign over us. The scripture says that we're
not due to the flesh to live any longer after the flesh. The
new man, he that is in us is greater than he that is in the
world. And the new man is powerful, and the new man will overcome.
And there must be a putting off of the old man, a mortification
of the old man and his deeds. And there will be, as the people
of God grow. But then that brings us to this
more practical side of the message, and I want us to talk a little
bit this morning about something that is very precious to me and
very important, I think. Now, you know, while we are saying
that there's not such a thing as the old man getting better,
we are saying that God has done a work and planted a hole in
divine nature in His people And that that nature is going to
grow in itself, just like our Lord Jesus Christ when He was
in the world. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world, was born into this world as an infant, and He grew
in stature. The Lord Jesus Christ grew, and
He learned obedience, the Bible says, by the things that He suffered.
Hebrews tells us. And there is a growth in grace.
We told you last Sunday that every living thing grows. And there is a growth in grace.
Now I read out of 2 Peter 3, verse 18, where the apostle Peter
tells the Lord's people to grow in grace. He 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. So we are instructed here
that we are to grow in grace. Some people sometimes feel that
we are promoting or trying to promote licentious living by
what we have to say about being against the professed doctrine
of progressive sanctification, though we're not doing any such
thing. We're not here to promote licentious living. We're not
here to advocate in any way, shape, or form that God's people
are not to struggle against and resist the old man, the old nature
of sin in them. There will be a struggle. There
will be a struggle. And there will be a war going
on in a believer. And sometimes we feel like we're
losing the battle. And then there's other times
when we feel like that by the grace of God and by the help
of God we're making some deal of progress in our life and in
this struggle. But we find that the old man
never becomes any weaker. He remains strong in us. But I'm here to tell you that
the new man is stronger and sin shall not have, Paul said in
Romans chapter 6, dominion over you. It will not have dominion
over you. We are not debtors to the flesh
where we have to live after the flesh anymore. We are not debtors
to the flesh. We don't owe the flesh anything
and you don't have to make provisions for it in order to fulfill the
lust of the flesh. Now God's people are not an ignorant
people. The Bible says in the book of
James that we have an unction from the Holy One and we know
all things. We have an unction from the Holy
One. We have a word from God in our souls. God's people are
not ignorant people. Now, sometimes people that aren't
like, well, I didn't know that was the wrong thing to do. I
didn't know that was... I've heard some stories that
I wouldn't begin to relate to you. People blaming preachers
for not preaching on certain things that they got themselves
into, and they seemed to indicate that they were ignorant. But
if you're a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit in you.
And the Scripture says, they that are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God. And if the Spirit that raised
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, that Spirit will quicken
your mortal body. Now it will. I'm just telling
you what happens. I'm telling you that God's people
have a new nature in them, and that that nature is going to
grow, and that nature is going to make progress in the things
of God. It will grow. I'm not talking
about the old man. I'm talking about the new man
in a believer. The new man. But now grow in
grace. Let's talk a little bit about
that, growing in grace. Well, what in the world do you
suppose that Peter meant when he said, but grow in grace and
in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Well, in
Acts chapter 20, the verse of Scripture that I quoted to you
a few moments ago that Randy read, tells us, and now brethren,
I commend you to God and to the message of His grace, to the
word of His grace. We need to grow in an understanding
of the message of grace, the message of the grace of God.
And we'll show you in a little bit that this will make us stronger
and more able to do battle in this world against the world,
the flesh, and the devil. But brethren, Paul said, I commend
you to God, first of all, and to the message of His grace,
which is able to build you up. It will build you up. Now it
will build you up to study the message of God's grace as it
is set forth in the Bible. I wondered as I was preparing
these remarks, I wondered how many of you really do know Ephesians
2 verse 8 and 9. How many of you, if you were
called upon to stand up and recite Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, how many
of you could just stand up and do that? I'm not going to ask
for a show of hands, but I will say this, that probably be very
few of you that could do it. But those are verses of Scripture.
There are several verses of Scripture that I think that you should
become very, very acquainted with, very familiar with in your
life. And you should grow to love these
verses, and you should have them memorized, and you should be
able to declare these verses and speak of them as you have
opportunity to. But to grow in the knowledge
of grace. First of all, there are three
things that I want to speak about. One is, we grow in the knowledge
of grace. The message of grace. that's
able to build us up. We must grow in that. And Ephesians
2 verse 8 and 9 says, For by grace are ye saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Now beloved, those verses you
ought to memorize because they tell us how we're saved. We're
saved by the free favor of God. We're saved by God treating us
just the opposite of what he ought to have treated us. Injustice. We've been treated in mercy.
And God has spared our souls and given us life in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now Romans chapter 11, I will
have you turn to this verse of Scripture. I think that it's
very important that you become familiar with these verses. Romans
chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, and I want
to begin here with verse 5. Now these two verses here are
verses that I believe that you ought to become very acquainted
with. Memorize. Write them down on an index card. Slip them in your pocket. When
you stop at a stoplight, take them out and read them. And sometimes
during the day, two or three times during the day, get them
out and read them. And become so familiar with these
verses that we're using on the message of grace. The message
of grace. Now brethren, listen. Now listen
to what this says. Even so then at this present
time, verse 5, at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is
no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
Now, beloved, you might say, well, I've heard you use them
before. If I live, you'll hear me use them again by the grace
of God. But I say to you this morning,
memorize these verses. Brethren, salvation is by grace
not only because of who God is, but because of who you and I
are. We know that the doctrine of
depravity necessitates the doctrine of unconditional election. The
fact that we're all depraved by nature necessitates God, in
an unconditional way, setting us apart unto himself and providing
everything for us in free grace that he demands of us. It necessitates
that. And you need to grow in the message
of God's grace. Oh, that we were very skillful
in handling the Word of God when it comes to the message of grace. Oh, beloved, if by grace, then
no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more.
Grace can't mix the two. Grace and works will not mix.
We have people that are running around saying, oh, you can mix
it. No, you can't mix it. The Word of God teaches you cannot
mix. Law and grace works in grace. Nothing will mix with grace.
The message of grace. Somebody said, well, you don't
want to make a fellow just go to seed on anything. If I can
make you go to seed on the grace of God, I'll do it. I'll do it. It's the only thing that saved
this Jerusalem sinner. This sinner. Grace. Grace is
what saved this sinner. And grace is what saves all sinners. And it's no more of works. But
if it be of works, then it's no more grace. And so you've
fallen from grace when you turn to works, or when you begin in
the Spirit, and then are made perfect in the flesh. There's
no such thing as fleshly perfection in a saint or whatever you want
to call God's children. There are some religions that
don't want to call all believers saints, but the Bible speaks
of all believers as being saints, sanctified ones, holy ones, because
they have this new nature in them that is of God, that is
God's nature. Alright, and then I want you
to turn with me to Titus chapter 2, the knowledge of grace. Titus
chapter 2, and I want you to look at these verses. I want you to grow strong in
these things. In verse 10, we'll begin with
verse 10 and read down through verse 15, the end of the chapter.
Not proroguing, but showing all good fidelity, that they may
adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Now Paul
is exhorting Titus, the preacher, in verse 1 to speak the things
which become sound doctrine. And he says that they may adorn
the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Adorn it. Put
it on as a garment. Adorn yourself in the doctrine
of God, in the knowledge of the grace of God, in the understanding
of grace. And then look here in verse 11,
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men, meaning all kinds of men, all races of men. The grace of God that bringeth
salvation, that's the only thing that will bring it. The grace
of God. Teaching us in verse 12, teaching
us that grace is the master teacher. And we need to learn this about
grace. Instead of it promoting lascivious living, loose living,
it promotes godliness. And look at it, teaching us,
the people of God, teaching us something. that denying ungodliness
and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world. I dare anyone to say our message
will lead to men and women living in sin and living as they please
after the flesh. Our message is one of grace and
we have an unction from the Holy One and The grace of God in us. The Master Teacher teaches us
to deny ungodliness. Somebody says, I don't know what
to do and what not to do. Well, if you've got the grace
of God in you, it's going to be teaching you. It's going to
be teaching you to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and to live
soberly and righteously and godly in this present world. It will
teach you to do that. God's people will grow up in
the Lord and they will live godly in this world. Now look at this,
looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the
great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. That's what we're occupied
with as we're being taught by grace. Who gave himself for us
that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto
himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. zealous of those
things that are done in faith, by faith and love. These things
speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise
thee. So don't let anybody, the progressive
sanctification people tell you that we don't preach godly living
and that the grace of God, the message that we preach, does
not teach people to live godly in this present world. The grace
of God in us teaches us that. And somebody said, well, somebody
will have to tell me what to do. Well, I thank God that we
have a nature, and if you have God in you, then I think you're
going to be sensitive, sensitive toward the things of God. Now, Romans chapter 4, Romans
chapter 4, let me just turn there. I want you to look at this verse
of Scripture too. I'm talking about the knowledge
of grace. How to become familiar with grace
and the truth of grace. How to get educated in what the
Bible talks about. In Romans chapter 4 verse 4,
the writer Paul has been talking about Abraham our father, the
father of the faithful. And he says in verse 2, For if
Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but
not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God that was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now look at verse 4, Now to him that worketh is a reward not
reckoned of grace, but of death. Now settle it forever in your
minds, brother, sister, that work brings God into debt to
you, that whenever you attempt to work for something. Excuse
me just a moment here. If salvation comes by works, if a perfect life comes by works,
then God's going to owe you something. Now to him that worketh is reward
not reckoned grace. It's not of grace if a fellow's
working for it. God owes it to him if he performs
certain duties Then God owes him the reward of his labor. But Paul said, To him that worketh
is a reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. Forever settled
it in your mind that God is not in debt to any man. He'll never
be in debt to any man. What God does for sinners, He
does by free grace and free grace alone. What God does for sinners,
He does it out of the goodness of His own heart. Out of the
love and mercy of His own heart. He doesn't do it because a man
has caught His attention by His good works. And God says, I owe
that man something. God doesn't owe a sinner anything
except hellfire and judgment. Justice is all God owes a sinner. Now then, I want you to look
further in this chapter here. There's another verse I want
you to see, verse 16. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure
to all the seed. What I'm trying to do is set
forth to you that we need to grow in grace the knowledge of
grace. And these are the kind of verses
you've got to get fixed in your mind and your heart if you're
going to grow in the grace of God. And I tell you what, we
need to get some people out of the hospital here and get them
out on the battlefield where they know something about the
grace of God and where they can be useful in the army of the
Lord to set forth the truth. And the Scripture says, it is
of faith that it might be by grace. That it might be by grace. Learn the truth. Find out the
truth. Get this knowledge of grace,
grow in this knowledge of grace, and the new man will rejoice.
Now the second point is the appreciation of grace. We need to learn and
grow to appreciate the grace of God more. Now I know that
you people do appreciate it. I think the majority of you here
do appreciate the grace of God, you love the grace of God, and
you appreciate it. But I want you to. I want you
to forever, as long as you live, to appreciate the grace of God.
And if you appreciate it like you ought to, then you'll support
this ministry here. And as our young brother, as
he takes this work and goes on with it, and God blesses him
and uses him, you'll stand behind, support him, and be very diligent
because of your appreciation for the grace of God. And count
him worthy of double honor, because the laborer is worthy of his
reward. And appreciate the grace of God.
There's a verse of scripture in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse
9 that just is a wonderful verse and it blesses my soul. Verse 9, Who has saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now brethren, how could
you read a verse of scripture like that and not appreciate
grace? It was given to you In Christ
Jesus before the world began Now there's some things that
people might that people might give you that you may appreciate
or don't appreciate But bless God if God gives you something
you ought to appreciate it indeed Because of the fact that you're
a depraved sinner Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ and have
no hope and you without God without Christ and he gave you in the
Lord Jesus Christ He gave you His grace. But according to His
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. That really, really speaks to
my soul and makes me appreciate the grace of God more. This is
not something that, you know, we just happen to have. No. We got it because God gave it
to us. He gave it to us. And that's
the only way a sinner can get grace, is for it to be given
to him. Scripture says, Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Now, there's another verse that
I want to use here, and I'm going to hurry this morning, but Galatians
2.21, where the Apostle Paul, you can turn to it or you can
just listen, where the Apostle Paul said, I do not frustrate
the grace of God, If righteousness come by the law, then Christ
died in vain. I don't frustrate the grace of
God. Paul speaks of the grace of God
as if it was a person, and said, I'm not going to frustrate the
person of the grace of God. I'm not going to frustrate God's
grace. Now brethren, you and I, if we appreciate the grace
of God, we will not tolerate it to be frustrated. That means
that we will not allow people to insinuate in our presence
that we begin in the Spirit and then are made perfect in the
flesh. We will not tolerate such a thing, that we can become perfect
in the flesh. And if righteousness, the righteousness
that saves the sinner before God, if it's of God, And it's
through the death of Christ. I do not frustrate the grace
of God if righteousness comes to the Lord. Christ, His death
was in vain. Brethren, forever fix it in your
mind that grace is to be appreciated because Christ died. And it's
through His death that we have righteousness and we will not
frustrate the grace of God. Now in the last place, I think
we should grow not only in the knowledge of grace and the appreciation
of grace, but also in the strength of grace. In the strength of
grace. Now brethren, I know that we're
made strong through God's grace. I felt it many, many a time,
the grace of God making us strong. And I do believe that you understand
what I'm saying, and I want you to turn, if you will, with me
to the book of Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse
1, Paul tells Timothy, Thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Timothy, I want you to grow up
and I want you to be a strong soldier of the cross. And that's
what he's talking about here. In verse 3, he says, Thou therefore
endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that
woreth entangle himself in the affairs of this life that he
may please him who chose him to be a soldier. One of the things
that a man has to do to become a soldier, to be sent out into
battle, is he's got to go through basic training. He's got to get
his muscles hard. He's got to get tough. And he's
got to get to a place where he has some endurance and stamina.
Well, Paul told Timothy, son, he said, I want you to take some
basic training, and I want you to be strong in the grace that
is in Christ Jesus. Be strong in it. So we need to
grow in the strength of grace. Now, this might help you, son.
I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Now, I quoted to you
Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, but I want you to look at verse 10 in this
part of the message. Verse 10 of Ephesians chapter
2, where it says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works. which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. And thinking about the grace
of God and being strong in the grace of God, we need to remember
that, first of all, that we're God's workmanship, that He's
the one that designed this thing, and He's the one that made it.
And that we were created in Christ Jesus, and two good works. Somebody said, I'm looking for
something good to do. Wait a minute. Now just wait
a minute. God's going to direct. It is God which worketh in you
both the will and the do of His good pleasure. All of our fruit
is from Him. He has a purpose and a will for
your life. He will show you what you are
to do. He will direct your steps. Listen
to this. unto good works which God hath
before ordained." God has good works ordained for His people. I'm firmly convinced that the
Lord would not have us just going out here looking for something
to do that we think would be the right thing to do or that
would be glorifying to Him or edifying to others. I think that
God has a purpose for each one of our lives. And He has ordained
us to walk in that way. And as we walk in His way, His
way repudiating our own minds and hearts as to what we think. But walk as God directs us and
leads us. You know, this is so very important
in the Word of God. They that are led by the Spirit
of God are the sons of God. God leads His dear children along,
the Old Song says. God leads His people. He led
Abraham, and He led Noah, and He led other men in Scripture,
and God has been leading men throughout the generations that
man has been on earth. God's been leading and directing
in the affairs of men. And God has something for you
as He had for me. And God will lead you. And He's
ordained that you walk in that way. And this is the good works
that you will do in this life. God has laid out His purpose
from old eternity that you walk in a certain way. And He'll lead
you. And by faith you can walk in
that way. And sometimes it looks like it's
almost impossible to do. But if you walk in faith, you
can do those things that God has ordained you to do. And you
step out by faith, and you do these things. But I was greatly
encouraged as I looked at this verse, in regards to strengthening
God's people, that where His workmanship, His workmanship,
You know, it reminds me of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15,
10, when he said, I am what I am by the grace of God. And he said,
I labored more abundantly than all the other disciples, yet
not I, but the grace of God in me. Now brethren, the grace of
God works in a man. It will make you strong, and
you will be able to do what God leads you to do. You will be
able to do it. Now don't that encourage you?
God's grace will enable you to be what you ought to be. You'll
be able to do what God wants you to do. You don't have to
go out here and say, well, I'm second class, second class believer. No, no, no, no, no. No believer
is second class believer. Maybe you're just to be a housewife.
Maybe you're just to raise your children. Maybe you're just to
be a deacon in the church. Maybe you're just to be a businessman,
and God uses you in that way, in whatever way God uses you,
that you will be successful. God's working in you to will
and do of His good pleasure. Be strong in the grace of God.
Be strong in His grace. Believe that you're His workmanship. and that he's not going to make
something that's not going to work. He's not going to do it. He's not turning out vessels
off of his wheel that's of no use. If they're his children,
they're his people. I know there's vessels that or
were for unclean purposes and all of that, but those were not
his children. His children are people that
belong to him, he sanctified to himself, put his nature in
them, and they're his workmanship, and he's going to use them. He's
ordained them to walk in a certain way, and they're going to walk
that path. Don't mean they won't fall, don't
mean they won't have strange and unusual times of besetting
sin in their life, don't mean that at all. But it does mean
that they will accomplish what God has led them to accomplish,
and they'll grow up in the Lord. They'll grow up in the Lord.
Now you see, I believe that's what Paul was talking about in
Thessalonians when he said, God who called us is faithful who
also will do it. Remember that last week? Who
also will do it. Will do it. He'll do it. We're
His workmanship. Now, I want you to turn for our
last verse to Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah chapter 32. Be strong
in grace. Strong in it. Knowledge of it.
The appreciation of it. and strength of it. Verse 38, 39 and 40. I want you
to see this. And they shall be my people and
I'll be their God. And I will give them one heart.
That's what he did in regeneration. And one way. And one way. That they may fear me forever.
for the good of them and of their children after them. Oh, we can't
leave those people to themselves, we've got to tell them what to
do. Well, maybe we should just back off and let God raise and
train up His own children. Just leave them to the Lord,
why not? Now, it sounds to me like God
has got something in mind, don't you think so? That they may fear
Me forever? God will put fear His fear planted
it in their hearts for the good of them and of their children
after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. That's that covenant of grace
that the Father entered into with the Son and with the Holy
Spirit, not with me and you, our representative Christ. And
so I'll make an everlasting covenant with them through their representative
Christ that I will not turn away from them. I will not turn away
from them. Did you hear it? O soul that
is on the edge and you think that you may be a goner here? He said, I will not turn away
from them to do them good. God is going to continue to do
good. You say, well, He oughtn't to. That's true from a human
standpoint. It is true. But I will put my
fear in their hearts. that they shall not depart from
me. Yea, I will rejoice over them
to do them good. I'll rejoice over them to do
them good. My friend, we need to grow up in the grace of God
and to be strong in the knowledge, the appreciation, and the strength
of grace. We need to do this. And I hope
that you'll be spending your time not trying to perfect the
flesh, but trying to grow in grace. and in the strength and
power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that new man in you, rejoice
that God in mercy put him in you. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. The only desire
I got to come to this place is that new man. That new man wants
to get up and come on Sunday morning, hallelujah. Wants to
hear the Word. Wants to sing them old hymns
of Zion. wants to be with the people of God, be among the Lord's
people, because the new man, the new man. But the old man
has been a drag all these years, and your old man will be a drag
too, if you're honest. He'll drag you. He'll drag you
down. But the new man, praise God,
sin shall not have dominion, shall not have dominion over
you. For you're not under the law, but under what? Grace, grace,
under grace, under grace. Father in Jesus, bless these
scattered remarks to the edification, the up-building of the saints,
that they might find their inheritance among them of like character,
those that have been sanctified in God the Father, preserved
in Christ Jesus and called. Bless, we pray, and Edify this
church and build it up, and I do pray if there was a lost sheep
here today that is not quite sure, Father, how to get into
the fold, that Thou will open their eyes, reveal Christ to
their hearts, and make them to know the way. We pray for Jesus'
sake, in His name, Amen.