I'd like you to turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Paul called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God. and sauce the knees our brother
unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, sanctified ones, with
all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ,
our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be unto you and peace from
God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray
together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would meet with us and speak in power to our hearts
from your word. And enable us to worship thy
dear son, cause thy gospel to be preached in the power of your
spirit. And may we be found in Christ. May we be sanctified
in him. Lord, we confess our sins. We
pray for forgiveness and cleansing for Christ's sake. Oh, Lord,
meet with us. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. In Christ's name we pray, amen. What is sanctification? Good question, isn't it? What
is sanctification? You know, that's a word that
is not used in everyday language, is it? We use words like faith. I mean, you've probably heard
people at work say, you know, you've got to keep the faith. You hear
words like justify, people want to justify themselves. You hear
words like redemption. This is a story of redemption,
how somebody's come back from a bad situation and arrived in
a good situation. These are words that are used
in secular society. But here's a word you don't hear
much, or probably at all, sanctification. What in the world does this word
mean? You know, it sort of sounds strange,
doesn't it? What does this word mean? Now, Paul says, verse two, unto
the church of God, which is a Corinth unto them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus. called to be saints. You'll notice
that to be is in italics. It's not really in the original
language called saints. Sanctified ones is all that means.
And what is the evidence of being a sanctified one? You call upon
the name of the Lord. That's what sanctified ones do. They call upon the name of the
Lord. Now we read in Jude 1.1 of being
sanctified, By God, the father. Now, I'm
going to give some. Always hesitate to do this, but
I think it'll be helpful here. When it says sanctified by God,
the father sanctification, the verb is in the perfect. Passive. Perfect means a perfectly
completed action never to be repeated. It's in the perfect
tense and it's in the passive voice. That means you're acted
upon. You're not acting. You're acted
upon. Now this state of sanctification
is a state of perfection that can't be added to. It's not something
you can grow into. You can't become more sanctified
or less sanctified. It's completely by the father. And that in itself denies what
most people think sanctification is. Most people think sanctification
is how you conduct yourself. Justification is this perfect
standing before God where you're not guilty before God. And sanctification
is how you live. And people use the tabernacle
to illustrate this. When you come into the Tabernacle,
when you enter in, first you have to have the altar of sacrifice. That's for justification. That's
how you get rid of your guilt. And then you have to wash your
hands in the labor. You need to clean up your act.
That represents sanctification. And really, that water does not
represent sanctification, it represents the continual cleansing
of the blood of Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. I need to be cleansed continually,
every single day. Now, as I said, that by itself,
this thing of sanctification being in the perfect Passive
lets us know it's not what most people think it is as a matter
of fact We read in Hebrews chapter 10 of being sanctified by the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ By the which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all now what that once again is in the Perfect tense and the
passive voice. It's a perfectly completed action
that can't be added to perfectly completed never to be repeated
And it's in the passive voice, you're acted upon. It's not something
you do. And then we read of being sanctified
by the Spirit of God in Romans chapter 15, verse 12. Sanctified by the Spirit of God.
And once again, the word in the original as far as the grammar
goes, and grammar means something. It's in the perfect passive,
a perfectly completed action. Passive, you're acted upon. It's not something you do. I
think of the scripture in Hebrews 2, verse 11. It says, both he
that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified. See, it's God's
work. It's what he does. It's what
Christ does. And we are they who are sanctified. Both he that
sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all of one for
the which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Sanctification. And let me say this about sanctification.
Sanctification is not something you grow in. You do not become
progressively more holy by the things that you do. And you do
not become progressively less sinful by the things that you
do. This thing of God's sanctifying
grace, and really sanctification, is the word that most completely
describes God's salvation. It is the word that most completely
describes God's salvation. But it's not something you grow
into. There's not things you do to become holy. Now, most religion presents sanctification or holiness
as something you grow into. You become more holy by your
discipline, by your Bible reading, by your self-denial. You become
more holy and less sinful. Now, if that's what it is, I've
missed something. That's not my experience. I hope
it's not your experience. If it is your experience truly,
then I'm not saved. It's that simple. That is not
what sanctification is. Now, there is no growth in holiness. There are no things that you
do to become less sinful and more holy. Now somebody is thinking,
What about growth? Isn't there such thing as a growth
in grace? Yes, there's such a thing as
growth in grace. And where there's no growth,
there's no life. Let me repeat that. Where there's
no growth, there is no life. Grow in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And this thing of growing
in grace, well, number one is growing in your need of grace. You see your need of grace more
clearly. But there's growth in the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit.
I love the fruit of the Spirit, and it's the fruit of the Spirit.
It's not the fruit of your efforts, it's the fruit of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance, there's growth. You know, I can say that
I love the Lord more than I used to. And I'm not talking about my,
well, I feel good about my love. That's not what I'm saying. That's
not what I'm saying. I'm saying I see more glory in his absolute
sovereignty than I used to. That's loving him more. That's
who he is. I see more of the perfection of his sacrifice than
I used to. I see more how I'm completing
him and I don't need anything else but him. I love him more. I'm relying on him more. The Beatitudes. I love the Beatitudes. That's what a believer is. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. You know, I'm more poor now than
I was when I first, not in reality. I understand more of my poverty
of spirit. I hope I've grown in meekness,
knowing that whatever comes my way is God. It's His hand. He's in control and I'm fine
with that. I'm more and more over my sin
now than I ever have. I hunger and thirst after righteousness
because I see I don't have any in it myself. I see more what
pure in heart means. I see more, you know, that, that
scripture, blessed are the pure in heart always used to bother
me because I thought, well, I don't feel very pure in heart, but
I see now that it's the new heart that he gives. I see that more
clearly. It's that which comes from him.
Blessed are the merciful. So no, this is not to, to, even
imply that there's no such thing as growth, there is such a thing
as growth. And we're thankful for that growing
grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But you cannot become more holy. And you cannot become less holy. What about Adam? Did he lose
his holiness? He never was holy in the first
place. God created man upright. He was created with an innocent
nature. God didn't create him a sinner, but he was mutable.
He was mutable. See, holiness is immutable. Holiness
cannot become unholy. If it can become unholy, it's
not holiness in the first place. Adam, the wise man said in Ecclesiastes
7.27, God hath made man upright, but man hath sought out many
inventions. It's man's fault that he's sinful,
but he wasn't created holy or he would have never fallen. This
holiness is a holiness that cannot sin. It's a holy nature. I love that passage of scripture
in first John chapter three, verse nine, where it says, he
that's born of God doth not sin. He cannot sin. He lacks the ability
to say, because he's born of God. That's what holiness is. It's not something, you don't
do something to become holy. You know where it says, be holy
for I'm holy. The only way you can be holy
is if you are holy. Isn't that so? The only way you
can be holy, there's nothing, there's not something you can
do to become holy. The only way you can be holy
is if you are holy. Now, even when we talk about
justification and sanctification, justification really arises out
of sanctification. Give me a scripture for that,
okay? According, Ephesians 1-4, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. that we should be holy, sanctified, and without blame. What is that? Justification. Justification
is being without blame. So even justification arises
out of this thing of sanctification, God's great work of salvation. Now, The first time the word sanctify
appears in the scripture is in Genesis chapter two, verse three,
where God is said to have sanctified the seventh day. Now, time began
in Genesis one. That's when we started having
24 hour periods, night and day. Before that, there was nothing
but eternity. There were not night and days, but there were
seven days in the week. That's all a part of God's creative
work. But the scripture says the seventh
day, he rested. He wasn't tired. He was finished with the perfect
work of creation. And on that seventh day, he rested
and he sanctified the seventh day. Now, the seventh day, is
Saturday in and of itself any better than Friday? or Thursday
or Wednesday or any other day of the week, no. But God set
it apart. And that's what sanctify means. Set apart. Other. Separate. God separated the seventh
day. And when God declared it to be
holy and sanctified it, you know what? It was holy, wasn't it? It's to take something common
and ordinary, and set it apart for holy purposes. Now God is other in me. There's nothing in this world
you can compare him to and say, God's like that. God is utterly
unique. God is utterly separate and there's
nothing to compare him to in any attempt to do so is nothing
more than idolatry. Now, to be sanctified is to be
set apart by God to be holy. Now the word also is used when
we say, when we're taught to pray, our Father which art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name. That is sanctified be thy name. Now we don't sanctify him, do
we? We don't set him apart, do we? We set apart God when Peter said,
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. That doesn't mean make
him holy or set him apart to be holy. It means regard him
as holy. Acknowledge him as holy. Our father who art in heaven,
hallowed. Holy is thy name. It's regarding him as holy and
in the sacrifice of Christ, God regards every one of his people
as holy. By the witch will, this is Hebrews
chapter 10, verse 10, you can write these down, look them up,
I've got so many scriptures, I don't know if I can look them
all up, but by the witch will, we are sanctified. And once again, that's in the
perfect tense, the passive voice. By the witch will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. That's what
his death accomplished once for all. Nothing that needs to be
repeated. Now what that means is when God
looks at this man who feels in and of himself so sinful, he
regards me as holy. And he wouldn't regard me as
holy if I wasn't holy, would he? God regards every believer
as holy. And then we're said to be sanctified
by the Spirit of God. Romans chapter 15, verse 12,
listen to this scripture. But we're bound. Second Thessalonians
2.13, but we're bound. to thank God always for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. Now, in election, I'm set apart
to be holy. That's God's work. In redemption,
I am regarded as holy. Christ is my sanctification,
Christ is my holiness, and God regards me, and remember the
way God sees me is how I am. God's not pretending. God's not
saying, well, I know he's not really like this, but I'm gonna
look at him this way. No, I'm holy, I'm regarded as holy. And
when God the Holy Spirit regenerates, I'm given this holy nature, this
new nature that does not sin, a nature that was not there before. Once again, I've been saying
Romans 15, 12, it's Romans 15, 16, where it says we're sanctified
by the spirit of God. So there's the sanctification
of all three persons of the Trinity. And I love to think of the Lord
saying in Hebrews 2, 11, both he that sanctifies and they who
are sanctified. He's the one who sanctifies.
I'm the one who sanctified, but he says they are all of one. Now that is speaking of the union
between Christ and His people. They are all one. And the Lord
gives us the example. Preachers try to come up with
illustrations, and generally they're not very good. The biblical
illustrations are so much better than human illustrations. And
the Lord gives this illustration, I am the vine, you are the branches. The same stem that goes through
the vine goes through the branches, and there is no connecting point. They are one. Somebody says, explain that.
I wouldn't dare try. It is just so. That's one of
the things I love about the scriptures, the mysteries of the scriptures,
Intellectually comprehend them? I don't think so. Believe them
with all my heart. Both they who are he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. Now, I'm gonna ask you real quickly
to look at these scriptures with me. First turn to Hebrews chapter
10. I'm not going to comment much
about these, but you're going to see what the Bible says about
this thing of sanctification. Verse 10. By the witch will,
we are sanctified by God's will, by the will of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the previous verse, he said, lo, I come to do thy
will, O God. That's what Christ came for.
By the witch will, by God's will that Christ came to do, we are
sanctified. through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Look in Hebrews chapter 13 verse
12. Wherefore Jesus also that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood. Look in Hebrews
chapter 9 Verse 13, for if the blood of
bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctifies through the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ? sanctified to the purifying of
the flesh. How much for shall the blood
of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? I love the way he says that after
he makes this great glorious statement with regard to sanctification. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever, who? Them that are sanctified. Them
that are sanctified. In John chapter 17, verse 17,
the Lord says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is
truth. And I've already quoted this.
According as he is, we're bound to thank God always for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. What is the evidence of the sanctification
of the Spirit, the belief of the truth? Now, I love the simplicity
of this. What is the evidence of being
a believer? You believe. You believe. I believe the gospel. I do, I believe the gospel. Ephesians
5, 26. We're gonna look at this a little
bit this morning in the service, but look at Ephesians 5, 26. Verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word." Now, why did he give himself that he might sanctify
it and cleanse it? And I love the way it says, with
the washing of the water by the word. And that's not the word
logos that we usually use. It's the word that represents
the spoken word. You know what bath time is for a believer?
Hearing the gospel. There's nothing more cleansing
than hearing the gospel. Look in Acts chapter 26. These are the words of the Lord
to Paul in verse 18. He's giving his account of what
took place on the road to Damascus. But this is what the Lord is
doing to open, verse 18, to open their eyes and to turn them from
darkness to light, from the power of Satan and to God, that they
may receive the forgiveness of sin and inheritance among them
which are sanctified. By faith it is in me. The faith
is not what sanctifies. Sanctification causes that faith
which is in me. That's what only the believer
possesses. Every body possesses some kind of faith, but the believer
possesses that faith which is in me. Turn to Revelation 22. This is the last scripture we're
going to look at. Verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. And this is really talking about
after death. If you die unjust, you will be
unjust eternally. He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still. If you die filthy, you will continue
to be filthy. And he that's righteous, that's
justified. He that's righteous. Let him
be righteous still and he that is holy sanctified. Let him be holy still. Now here's
something that is real hard to grasp. I'm just as holy right
now as I will be in heaven. This is not something you grow
in. This is not something you become more or less. Righteous is justification, holiness,
sanctification, whatever you want to call it. It's what I
am now, and it's what I'll be still. after I die and stand
before God in judgment. And you know, that is when, what
this, that's when the righteous will shine as the sun in the
kingdom of their heavenly father. I'm gonna shine like the sun.
My flesh is covering up that shining right now. And this lets
you know how much the flesh drags us down. Because what I'm saying
is none of us know by experience, we just know it by faith. We
believe that we're holy before God. But when we put off this
flesh, then the Lord says, shall the
righteous shine as the sun. Okay.