to turn in your Bibles, if you
will, to the book of Jude, the one chapter that we have in the
scriptures written by Jude, who was the half-brother of our Lord
Jesus Christ, younger brother, younger son of Joseph and Mary. And I want to read just a few
verses here out of the first part of this chapter. and trust that the Lord has prepared
our hearts for what we have before us today. But let's read beginning
with verse 1. I'll read down through verse
4. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved
in Jesus Christ and called, mercy unto you and peace and love be
multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of
old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ. I wanted to begin at least this
morning a message on the subject of sanctification. I had run
into some brethren while I was gone that we had some discussions
with on the subject of sanctification and I realized that The way that
sanctification is taught in the commentaries and also the way
they're taught in Bible seminaries and Bible schools is not always
the way that it's taught in the Bible. And we have no creed that
we have to live up to except thus saith the Lord. And we're
interested in knowing what the Bible has to say about the subject
of sanctification. And we're good men, and I've
read after good men who varied, I thought, from what the Scripture
teaches about the subject of justification. And if good men
vary from what I believe the Bible teaches about it, or what
the Scripture does teach about it, in truth, then I think that
we need to vary from them. in this issue. We need to vary
from them. And so don't be afraid, brethren,
to stand where the Scripture stands and to be faithful to
the God of Scripture. Be faithful to Him. But I wanted
to read here, beginning with verse 1, let me just read verse
1 in particular. Now Jude is writing here to some
people that are special people. They are a special people indeed.
And you know the Lord's people are special, aren't they? They
are indeed a special people. Now they're not special because
of the way they look or because that they look different than
other people. No, no, no. They're special because God has
gotten involved in their lives. God has become involved. God
has intervened in their lives. And that's what makes them special.
They're a people that has been set apart by God. And notice
here what Jude says. He says, I'm writing to them
that are sanctified by God the Father. Sanctified. This word
sanctified here means to set apart. He says, I'm writing to
them that God has set apart. God the Father has set apart.
Now we believe that God the Father set apart his people in the covenant
of election before the foundation of the world, that God set his
love and affection upon them and chose them unto himself,
that he would make them a peculiar people, zealous of good works. and that there would be a people
that would live to his honor and glory in this life, and then
would gather around the throne and be in fellowship with him
for all eternity. God has sanctified a people. We've been sanctified. If you're
a child of God, if you're a Christian, if you're a believer, if you're
one who has been regenerated by the Spirit of God, and the
divine nature of God is in you, then, my friend, you have been
set apart by God. God has sanctified you. Now this
tells us here that God has sanctified these people. They are sanctified
by God the Father. Now this is very important at
the very outset of a message on sanctification to determine
who it is that's doing the sanctifying. Because we have so many that
feel that sanctification is something that the believer himself that
he does, and that he's progressively getting better in the old man
by his quitting some things and starting other things, and that
he's just gradually and slowly becoming better. We'll have a
little more to say about that directly, but the thing that
we need to establish at the outset this morning is that sanctification
is by God the Father. By God the Father. And so it's
his work. So whatever else anybody wants
to say, about sanctification, let it be said that we believe
that it's of God. Whatever it is, sanctification
is, whatever it is, it's the work of God alone. And we need
to get that well fixed in our minds. And if we don't get it
fixed in our mind, then, my friend, we will be off on this subject
and we will lose many a blessing, in my opinion. Plus, we will
fail to give honor and glory to the one God of heaven and
earth like we ought to. We want to know the truth so
we can glorify God. Sanctification is not something
we do for ourselves. And we need to keep that in mind.
It is something God does for us and in us. Sanctification
is done by God for us and in us. Now, all human religion is
bondage. Just remember that. All human
religion is bondage. And it operates upon the principle
of bondage and seeks to keep people in bondage. Now that is a statement that
I think that if you meditate on it a little while, and as
you grow in grace, you will come to see more and more of the truth
of. All human religion is bondage,
beloved. It's bondage. And it operates
upon the principle of bondage and seeks to keep people in bondage. There are religions out here
in this world that likes to have people under their thumb. They hate the doctrine of liberty
in Jesus Christ. They cannot tolerate for anybody
to talk about being free in the Lord Jesus Christ. But beloved,
God's people are sanctified. They've been set apart by God
the Father, chosen by Him in old eternity. And so we've traced
sanctification back to God. We'll have a little more to say
about that in our opening remarks here. But secondly, he said,
I'm writing to people that are preserved in Christ Jesus. People that are preserved in
Christ Jesus. Now, I wonder if you can appreciate
what he's saying here. Do you know living as we are
in this world, living in a body of flesh, having a sinful nature,
a corrupt nature, we sometimes lose sight many, many times. The issue is clouded on our security
in the Lord Jesus Christ. But Jude says these people are
preserved in Jesus Christ, meaning that they were accepted in Jesus
Christ before the foundation of the world, accepted as it's
said in Ephesians 1, 6, accepted in the Beloved. Accepted in the
Beloved. Accepted in relation to Him.
Accepted in His merit. His merit becoming our merit.
The Lord Jesus Christ being our federal representative. He represents
us before the Father. And we're in Him. And He's perfect. And as long as we're in Him,
then we also are perfect. We read in Hebrews chapter 10
and verse 14 that He, the Lord Jesus Christ, hath perfected
forever them that He sanctified. He perfects forever them that
are sanctified. Meaning that God has perfected
His people. Now, I know that you and I, you
know, often times we look at ourselves and we consider that
we're weak in the faith and that we stumble and we fall and we
make a lot of mistakes. And we're discouraged a lot of
the times, and we just can't imagine that we've been perfected. That we've been perfected. We
can't imagine that we're perfect in Christ Jesus. And as Brother
Opine mentioned this morning, we're complete in Him. It's a
difficult thing to believe that I'm preserved in Christ Jesus,
and that I don't have anything to do with my being put into
Christ Jesus, and it's certain that I can't take myself out
of Christ Jesus. I was put in Him before the foundation
of the world, when God the Father chose me in reference to Him,
and He placed me in Him, and the Scripture says we're preserved
in Jesus Christ. So I'm looking at people here
this morning, And if you say to me, I'm a believer preacher,
I believe the gospel, I believe on the Son of God, I believe
that my sins have been put away, I believe and I have a hope in
the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm looking at preserved people. Now you
may not be preserved in the flesh, and God knows that one of these
days we're going to decay to the point where that they're
going to have to stop it for a few hours and days while they
bury these old bodies by embalming our bodies, preserving us for
a few days until they can put us away before you can bury the
dead out of your sight. But Beloved, in Jesus Christ,
I'm looking at those who are already preserved to eternity,
preserved to glorification because of our standing in Christ the
Son. Now, Beloved, you may say, well,
I think that's maybe telling us a little more than we ought
to hear. I don't believe that for a minute. I don't believe
it for a minute. There isn't a one of you here
that I'd want you to be under my thumb for a minute. I wouldn't
want you to ever feel like that you're in bondage to this church
or in bondage to what's preached here. I don't want you to feel
that way. But I do want you to glorify
God that you're preserved and that you're sanctified. And it
doesn't bother me to look at you and say that I believe that
there's many of you that are sanctified. And somebody said,
well, that's a term that belongs only to saints. Well, hallelujah.
It does. It belongs to the saints of God.
And so he says that you're preserved in Jesus Christ. Is that all
right? Now, he didn't say anything about
how that if you did this or if you did that or if you didn't
do something else. He didn't say that. He just made
the statement God the Father sanctified you, and you preserved
in Jesus Christ, and you said, and you called, and called, and
called. Well, hallelujah for that. We've
said many, many times that the Bible over and over and over
again attributes salvation to a call from God. These people
have been called. You say, I don't know if the
Lord ever called me. Keep listening. Keep listening,
keep listening, when the Word of God is preached, when the
Bible is read, when the scriptures are set forth, just listen, listen,
and it may be that you'll hear a call from God. We must be called. irresistibly called by God in
regeneration. We must be called, and when we're
called of God, then we're saved. Now I want you to turn back with
me to 1 Corinthians 6, and I want to read here a verse of scripture
that may be familiar to some of you. But I want to talk about
it just a little bit. Now, I don't have a doubt in
my mind that it's going to take at least two Sundays to be able
to get this doctrine set forth to you. But I wanted to lay this
foundation. Now, here in 1 Corinthians 6,
Paul has gone through a list beginning with verse 9. He's
gone through a list of those, the character of those who cannot
inherit the kingdom of God and shall not. inherit the kingdom
of God. And he said, don't be deceived,
in verse 9, because fornicators, 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 verse 11, this is the verse
that I want you to look at. And such were some of you, Such
were some of you." In other words, there are some among God's people
at Coral Ramp that were these, that were, this is the way they
lived. This was the characteristic of
their outward life. This is the way they lived. And
he said, some of you were just like this. But he says, he gives
us here three things that God does for every man, woman, boy
or girl that he saves. Three things that he does. Such
were some of you, but, he says, ye are washed. Ye are washed. Now, what does
he mean by that statement? He means by that statement that
we've been washed. from our sin in the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know that there is a fountain
filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins that sinners
plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. He's
talking about the God who loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood. Revelation 1, I think it's verse
5. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
has shed his blood and God's people are washed in the blood. Hebrews says that without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. The blood of
Christ, the scripture says, not with the blood of bulls and goats,
but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, He entered
in to the holy place to obtain eternal redemption for us. We've
been washed in the blood. 1 John 1.7 says that the blood
And the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, a washing in
the blood. Now beloved, you must be washed
in the blood. The atonement was made to cleanse
us from our sin, to wash away our sins. Have you been washed
in the blood? Have you been washed in that
blood that flowed from the five bleeding wombs of the Savior
on Calvary? Have you been washed? Are you
clean? Well, that's the first thing
that he points out here. And there are many, many verses
in the Bible that speaks of this washing that takes place when
God is pleased to save a sinner. So he says, ye are washed. Now
no one here would question the fact that this washing is of
God. That it is of God. That there's
no way in the world that we could have bribed God to send his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and there's no way we could have merited
what happened at Calvary. No way we could have merited
that. No way. And so everybody says, well,
it's of grace. It's of God. This washing is of God. God washed
me and cleansed me from my sin. He washed away all of my past. He washed it all away. He washes
away the present. And He'll wash away the future
sins in our lives. He'll wash them away. And hallelujah,
it's of God, it's of sovereign grace that we've been washed
from our sin. But now I want you to look at
the next statement. And I want you to see it. But
listen to what he says next. The second thing that God does
and must do for everyone that he saves, but ye are sanctified. But you're sanctified. Well,
when you read the first part, you're washed, everybody says
hallelujah. Amen, that's of God and then when you get to the
third part, but you're justified everybody says hallelujah That's
of God, but whenever you say, but ye are sanctified They say
they're just there's they don't say nothing. They just shut up
for a while. They don't want to talk about
that But ye are sanctified Paul said now beloved. Let me remind
you to whom he was speaking here He was speaking to the church
in Corinth And I want to remind you of the fact that the church
at Corinth would not measure up maybe to even your scale of
what believers ought to be. You can read the first few chapters
of the book of 1 Corinthians and you'll find that Paul said
you're carnal. You're carnal, fleshly minded
people. is what he was talking to. But
Paul, when he writes to them, he says, but ye are sanctified. Meaning that you're set apart
unto God, because God set you apart to him. Meaning that God
in his work has sanctified a people and you're sanctified in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, so, but ye are sanctified. And then in the last place, the
third place, now these three things got to happen before a
man, a woman, a boy or a girl can be saved. He says, but ye
are justified. But ye are justified. Okay, you're
worst, you're sanctified, and you're justified. Now, beloved,
is there anyone here that would take the great work of justification
and in any way, shape, or form say that justification is partly
of God and partly of men. There isn't anybody here that's
got any Bible knowledge, whatever, that would agree with what the
scriptures teach that justification is by pure grace alone, by pure
grace alone. What is it that the Bible says?
Well, we read over in the 8th chapter of the book of Romans
that who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It
is God that does what? Justify. It is God that justifies. Ain't nobody can lay anything
to the charge of those God set apart in Jesus Christ and preserved
and called. No one can lay anything to their
charge because God has justified them. He's given them a standing
before Him that is just as sure, steadfast, and holy as the standing
of His own Son. One of the things that humbles
my old heart is the fact that Jesus Christ, that God charged,
imputed my sin to Him. He could not and would not have
committed one of them. They were charged to Him, and
then He charged my account with the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and I could never do one act of righteousness that
would have gotten me a place in the family of God. And so
you think about that. Charged our sin to Jesus, who
would not and could not commit one sin, charged His righteousness
to us, who could not perform any righteousness. So that's
a glorious thing. That's a humbling thing. And
every one of us stands, our whole eternity stands on the fact that
God has justified us. That He justified us. You say,
why would He ever done it? Well, my friend, you'll search
and you'll search and you'll wreck around in the muck of your
life for many, many years and you'll never, ever find the reason
there. It's not because of who you are
and what you are. It's because of who He is and
the great and loving heart of God Almighty Himself toward those
special ones that He chose unto Himself, they being special by
His choice. But then you're justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Has
this happened to you? Has any of these things happened
to you? If any of them's happened, all of them's happened. You're
washed, you're sanctified, and you're justified. Now, I've said
all of this in order that you might be able to see that this
is of God. Whatever sanctification is, it's
all of God, and you must remember that. You must remember that.
Let me stress it just a little bit further. Turn with me to
the book of Thessalonians, the second book of Paul to the Thessalonians
in chapter 5. in chapter 5. And in verse 23,
he says, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is
Paul's prayer on the behalf Now that is a great verse there.
We read that, that God, Paul said, I'm praying that God will
sanctify you wholly and your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now some people would say, well,
just quit right there. But I want you to look at the
24th verse, the next verse. The very next verse. Now brethren,
you must honor God. And the scriptures tell the truth
about all of this. Faithful is He that calleth you. Faithful is He, God, who calls
you out of sin and to life. Faithful is He that called you
by irresistible grace. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. Who also will do it. Somebody
said don't put too much stress on them words. Well bless God
I'm going to put all the stress on them they will bear. I'm going
to tell you that I believe that God will do it. He will do it. What's he going to do? He's going
to sanctify me wholly. He already did so in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Brethren, might I say there is
no degrees of holiness. You're either holy or you're
not. Now, we're going to see that when God sanctifies, one
of the meanings of the word sanctifies is for God to account or to consider
that and declare that we are holy in Christ, that we are holy
people. But I want you to understand
this morning that if you were one inch from being perfectly
holy, and God knows that we're a long way from being an inch
in this body of flesh, we're not very near being holy in this
body of flesh. Anyone who says or thinks they
are, They just simply are deceived. Now beloved, to be absolutely
holy, to be holy, one must be without sin, like God is. He
must be without sin, like God is. Now, I do not believe in
degrees of holiness. John Warburton made the statement
one time, he said, that if God was to take him up to glory and
set him on one foot outside the gate of glory and said, now Mr. Warburton, you go on in. Make
yourself at home. Go on in. John Warburton said
that he'd turn around and go right back to hell is where he'd
go. And brother, sister, this business
of some people thinking they're getting holier all the time,
holier all the time, that's not the experience of God's people.
It's not. No, God's people are 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. Now,
if we're not as holy as the Holy One right now, with His righteous
garments on, then there would be no way at all for us to ever
become holy, because we're not going to become holy in the flesh.
We're not going to begin in the Spirit and then be made perfect
in the flesh. Paul said he found fault with
the Galatians because some of them believed that. Now, I believe
then that, and I want you to get this statement, that it is
God's business to put power in the cure which He has devised
for His people. If God has purpose to make you
holy, God has made you holy in His Son, and God is going to
see this work all the way through. Now, I'm getting maybe a little
bit ahead of myself, but I think that in order to, because of
the fact that some may be here next week and some may not be,
I think I need to go ahead and say some things along this line,
and then we'll come back next week, if the Lord will, and go
at this again in another direction. But I want to say this because
I believe it's true. Now, beloved, some people say,
well, now, are you saying that there isn't anything at all going
on in the lives of God's people. I'm not saying any such thing
as that. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that faithful is he
that calleth you who also will do it. I'm telling you, beloved,
that anything that is alive is growing. Anything that is alive
is growing. Are you alive in the Lord? Then
I do believe that you are growing in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ. You're growing in His grace.
Every living thing grows. We see more. We feel more. We do more. We know more. We
repent more. We believe more. And we love
more as we grow in grace. Every increasing faith, hope,
and love in the hearts of God's elect, they're constantly making
progress. But they are not making progress
in the old man becoming more holy. Because the old man, that
which is born of the flesh is fresh. And that is all you can
make out of it. And that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Now, there is a verse of scripture
found in the book of 1 John that I would like for you to turn
with me and look at it this time. The book of 1 John, I think it
is in chapter 3. Chapter 3 of the book of 1 John,
let's look at that. In verse 9, listen to what this says. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. Now you think about that
a little bit. Now what I want to ask you is
this. Do you believe in sinless perfection? Is sinless perfection an experience
of any of God's children in this world? Is it sinless perfection? Well, it is not an experience
of God's people in this world to be without sin in this body
of flesh. Every believer has two natures. One of the natures, now I said
believers. And our new man, the new man that is born of God,
does not commit sin. The new man never sins. The new
man is Christ. Born in us. Never sins. Never commits a sin. No sin in
Christ. No sin. He didn't commit any
when he was in the world. And He does not commit sin in
me and you. Now the old man can do nothing
but sin. That's all he can do. You say,
well, can't it love God? Well, let's just look at what
Scripture says. The Scripture says in Romans
chapter 8, It says that the flesh, now get this, the flesh, that
glorified flesh of yours, dignified flesh of yours, that flesh of
yours is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Now that's what Scripture says. Now you say, well I'm working
on it. You go ahead and work on it, but Scripture says that
the flesh is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be. The fact is, your own natural
body cannot understand the things of God. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse
14, it says there that the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God, neither can he receive them, because
they are spiritually discerned. Your old man doesn't know a thing
about spiritual things. You say, well, I think my body
is spiritual. Well, you're mistaken, my friend.
Your body is not spiritual. Your own nature is not spiritual.
It is not. Your own nature is sinful. It's
corrupt. And the only way you're going
to get rid of sin in you is to die. And that old body be buried
in the dust of the earth. That's when you will become sinless. Sinless. You won't have any more
sin. Now, that's the only way. Now,
I want you to see this. Verse 5 says of 1 John 3, and
you know that He was manifested to take away our sins. He's going
to do it. He did it at Calvary, and He's
going to do it when we pass from this life. And in Him is no sin. Now, there are some people, Pentecostals
and others, that would say, well, if you're in Christ, you ain't
going to commit any sin. But I defy any man to prove to
me that he no longer commits any sin, that he's sinlessly
perfect. I defy any man. The Bible teaches
that if you say that you have no sin, that you're a liar in
the truth of me. You're a liar. Now then, let's
get back to this verse of scripture. Whosoever is born of God does
not commit sin. Now, how is it that you don't
commit sin? That is because in verse 5, and
in him is no sin. In him. If you're in relation
to him, and you're in him as God has put you in him, then
there's no sin in him. For his seed remaineth in him.
And he cannot sin because he is born of God. Because he is
born of God. Now I want to ask you this question.
What part of you is born of God? Tell me what part of you is born
of God. What part of you became a new creature? What part of
you? A new creation. What happened? Well, when God regenerates the
soul, he puts the divine nature in man. When he regenerates a man, he
puts his nature in. That nature is holy. Perfectly
holy can't sin. That nature cannot sin. But your
old flesh hasn't been born of God. That's why the Bible says
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. That's why
the Bible says this corruptible must put off and must be clothed
upon with incorruptible, a new body. That's why, because your
body is vile. Listen to this. Philippians says,
makes this statement, says that our citizenship is in heaven.
That's where our citizenship is, if we've been born again,
if we're children of God, if we're sanctified by God the Father
and sanctified in Christ Jesus and called, our citizenship is
in heaven, from whence also we look. For the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall change these vile bodies, that they
may be fashioned like unto his own glorious body? Now, you might
as well admit the truth. You might as well admit the truth.
The only part of you that's spiritual, my friend, is your soul, is that
new man that's been created anew in you. That's the only part
of it that's spiritual. You say, well, if something comes
out every once in a while, it's there all along, friend. It's
there. You're not spiritual. Now, I
do want to say and emphasize again that every living thing
grows. If you're a child of God and the Spirit and grace of God
is in you, there will be a growth in grace. Now, the songwriter
put it like this, and we're going to come to a conclusion here.
Here's what the songwriters said. Ready to go, ready to stay, ready
my place to fill. Ready for service, lowly or great,
ready to do his will. This is the attitude of a child
of God. All for Jesus, all for Jesus, all my being's ransomed
powers. All my thoughts and words and
doings, all my days and all my hours. Let my hands perform his
bidding, let my feet run in his ways, let my eyes see Jesus only,
let my lips speak forth his praise. Beloved, that's the desire of
a child of God, a living soul. That's the desire. They long
for that. Now, I may mention the fact that
our old flesh is not spiritual. But the attitude of God's people
is we can't wait until we get that body from heaven and put
off this old sinful flesh. That's going to be the glorious
day when this old body is put away and we arise to go to heaven
and be with the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father and the holy angels
and the Holy Spirit of God for all eternity. That's the desire
of God's people. They lament, they mourn over
the fact that they're in this body of flesh and that it's a
body of death. Paul described it as a body of
death. And the old man, my friend, we
don't send it to the hospital for a cure. It's sent to the
cross to be crucified. And that's where it was crucified.
Do you remember what Paul said? He said, I am crucified with
Christ. I died when he died. And God gave up on the body of
flesh. You say, well, I think there's still some hope for it.
There isn't no hope for it, my friend. God gave up on it. That's
one of the messages of the cross. He said, God gave up on flesh. And flesh cannot inherit the
kingdom of God. It can't. It never can become
good enough. Oh, but we have these progressive
sanctifiers who say that you just keep getting better and
better and directly, you know, you just budge right into glorification. Well, I'm no novice in this business. I've been dealing with this thing
for a long time. And it's not going to happen
that way, friend. It's not going to happen. Well, next week, if
God wills, and the scripture says that the spirit of the prophet
is subject to the prophet. So if Aaron will just hold on,
maybe for another week, and we'll talk about this again next week,
if God permits.