Turn with me in your Bibles to
Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews chapter two. Our status in society among men,
among women, our status can be changed. by changes in behavior,
changes in finances, we can change people's opinion about ourself. I can start exhibiting a certain
characteristic in order to make people like me more. I can start
exhibiting characteristics to make people like me less, too.
My status in society can change based upon what I have and don't
have, how I conduct myself, the things that I say or don't say,
the things that I do or don't do. I can change my status, and
you can, too, in society. However, there is nothing that
you and I can do to change our status before the throne of God. Nothing. Nothing. Yet men falsely lie on God and
say, do, and God will bless you. They say, do, and God will be
pleased with you. Well, if God, if it's up to me
to do for God to be pleased with me, then my doing made him pleased. I changed my status before his
throne then. from not being pleased to him
being pleased because of something I did. If there is something I can do
to please the Lord or to make him pleased with me, then why
did Jesus Christ have to die? Why did he say this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased? He didn't say this is Caleb Hickman.
in whom I am well pleased, he said, that's for his son, that's
the title for his son, my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
In order for me and you to be pleasing in his sight, we must
be found in his son. If the Lord's pleased with me,
in my flesh, because of what I do or don't do, why did Christ
have to die? If there is good in me, why did
Christ have to bear my sin? Scripture clearly declares there's
none good, no not one, none that chooses God, none that seeketh
after him, none that can do anything before him to merit anything
good. This is what the scripture teaches us. Our flesh refuses
to believe that. Our flesh refuses to believe
that because if I can change my status in society, if I can
make people like me by what I do, if I can adapt and overcome and
make people laugh more and make people pleased with me more,
stop disappointing people as much because of what I do, surely
it must be the same with God. But it's not. It's not. There's not one thing that I
can do or you can do to change our status before God's throne. The only thing we can technically
merit before the throne of God is death. That's it, isn't it? That's all we can merit, no matter
what we do. Rather than believing this, men look to self. It's
our nature to examine ourself. We compare how good we are based
upon somebody else. I was speaking to somebody recently,
and as we were in a conversation, I was telling them something
I had done wrong, and they continued on and said, well, you didn't
just do that, you did this also, and you did this also, and you
did this also. Rather than me saying, you know what, you're
absolutely right, what did my flesh do? Well, I mean, how dare
you say that to me? My flesh got angry. We say we're
the chief sinner, but if I look at you and I say you're the chief
sinner and I'm not, we'll say, now wait a minute, now hang on,
and we become offended, don't we? Our flesh does. It takes
faith to believe that. It's not something we can physically
come to a knowledge of. We really believe we're the chief
sinner. We're not gonna be as easily offended by others, are
we? We're not gonna ever justify ourself. We're not gonna look
and say, well, I'm not as bad as so-and-so. I don't live like that. I don't
do like this. But none of that merits anything before the throne
of God. It's our nature to examine self,
to find self-worth. Have you ever heard the sayings
people say, you need to reconnect with yourself. You need to read.
You need to become a better you. You need to practice the power
of positive thinking. They wrote a book back in the
80s on that. I'm sure some of you may remember that. Power
of positive thinking. It's about change. And we should
be positive. We should be the most positive
people on the planet because of the rest that we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ. But not to change our status with God because
we can't. Because we can't. Message today is a crystal clear
message that is not true. That men are getting better and
better and evolving more and more. Learning how to behave
better and better. The truth is we're getting worse.
Second Timothy 3.13 said, but evil men and seducers shall wax
worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. What is the evil
man? You think, who's an evil man?
Well, the nature of man is not to immediately say, well, I am.
But to the Lord's people, that's exactly who it is, isn't it?
It's this, it's I'm the evil man. I'm the wicked one, I'm
the sinful one by nature. Evil man is the one that is not
found in Christ. It's that simple. And is that
not our fear? Lord, you lead me to myself. I'm the evil man.
It's those left to themselves. Those are the ones that will
deceive and continue deceiving themselves. Unless God does all
in salvation, we have no hope. God demands perfection, and we
cannot merit perfection before his throne. God demands holiness,
and we cannot perform holiness because we are other than he
is. In me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I cannot
change my status before his throne. Here in our text, we have hope.
We have hope. Hebrews chapter two, verses nine
through 12 tells us, but we see Jesus, who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with
glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death
for every man. For it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons,
many sons into glory to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through suffering. For both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren In the midst of the church will I sing praise
unto me, unto thee. For he that sanctifieth and them
that are sanctified are of one. I've titled this message, Am
I Sanctified? Am I Sanctified? Am I Holy? That's what sanctified means,
to make holy. To make holy. Am I sanctified? Somebody would say, well, I'm
not as bad as I used to be. That's not the question I'm asking. Am I, are you sanctified? The only way that we will have
any hope of eternal life is to be as holy as God is right now. Right now. I can't change my
status before his throne, but he that sanctifyeth and them
that are sanctified are of one. What does that mean? That means
if I'm in him, I'm as holy as he is right now. Right now. You mean in my flesh? No, there's
nothing holy about this flesh, is there? No, not a bit. You
mean the things that I do are holy? Not in and of yourself,
but if you're in the Lord Jesus Christ, you've never done anything
but holiness. Think about that. That's what he did on the cross
of Calvary for his people. No, it's not I'm not as bad as
I used to be. That's not the question. And by the way, the
Lord says all flesh is grass. Yeah, we're just as bad as we
used to be. Matter of fact, we're worse. And as long as we live,
we'll grow worse and worse and worse if left to ourself. In
order for us to go to God's heaven, to stand before his presence,
stand in his presence before his holy throne, we must have
his righteousness. We must be declared as justified. We must be sanctified. We must
be as holy as he is. Am I sanctified? That's the question
this morning. Am I sanctified? Am I as holy
as he is? Well, all false religion does
is teaches men to do, to do. You have the power to change
your status. You can become something that
you're not because of what you do. Now, that may be true when
it comes to physical things. If I decide that I want to become
a quarterback for a football team, and I'm on that football
team, if I practice hard enough, maybe, maybe I can become a quarterback. I've never been a quarterback
before, not on a real team anyways. But if I wanted to do that, maybe
I could achieve that goal. When it comes to spiritual things,
don't misunderstand that we are dead in trespasses and in sin. There's nothing we can do spiritually
to become something other than dead. That's it. And every time
we try to do more to take away that death or to take away the
sin that we are, we're just adding more to it. It's called iniquity. And we can't change something
we are by doing, fill in the blank, fill in the blank, whatever
it is, by doing anything. We can't change. Men call it
progressive sanctification. I'm getting better. I'm getting
better and I'm getting better. I can really see Jesus in my
life. No, you can't. That's a lie.
You can see that your morals have gotten better. You can see
my lifestyle has changed. We can see that I don't taste
this like I used to or touch that like I used to. And therein
lies the very self-righteousness that the Lord talked about with
the Pharisees. That's it, that's all that it is. There's no such
thing as progressive sanctification. We're not progressively getting
better. Men will say, well, I can see
the Holy Spirit working in my life. And what they mean by that
is they're able to examine themselves and see that they don't do what
they used to do and they're getting better. You know what the work
of the Holy Spirit does? Tell them they're grass. Tell
them they're grass. That's what the Lord told Isaiah.
Tell them they're grass. as the grass withereth and the
flower fadeth away. That's man at his best state
is vanity. That's what the work of the Holy
Spirit does. We see ourself as dead and dying sinners needing
a savior, not that we're getting better. Paul said, oh wretched
man that I am, not that I was. Paul didn't say, oh wretched
man that I used to be, but I'm doing better now, cleaned up
my life. Paul said, oh wretched man that
I am, The reality, brethren, is everyone that believes in
progressive sanctification, that's their evidence of salvation.
They think they see their behavior as evidence of God in their life.
Now, is there evidence of God in the Lord's people's lives?
Yes. Can you see that evidence in your own life when you examine
yourself? Better say no. No, I can't. But I can see that the love the
Lord gives to the brethren for each other. I can see that the
patience and understanding in the heart that the Lord gives
to his people for each other. I can see it in you. I can't
see it in me. You know that to be true, don't you? You can't
examine myself and see that there's any good. No, but the Lord causes
us to see Christ in each other. It's a mystery, isn't it? It's
a mystery. We can't examine ourself and
see Christ in us. telling men that their behavior
is evidence that God is in them. Nothing could be further from
the truth. The scripture clearly teaches all that we can do in
the flesh is sin. Even our greatest prayer, when
we were the most sincere, we really poured out our heart before
the Lord. It's utterly sinful. The Lord could send us to hell
for that one prayer alone and be right and just in doing so.
It must be washed in the precious blood of Christ. We must be sanctified. And we can't sanctify ourself.
Not by what we do. We can't put away sin. That's
what the Lord Jesus Christ did for his people. Our best humanitarian acts, our
best prayer, nothing that we do can merit anything before
his throne. If it did, it would be taking
the place of the Lord Jesus Christ's finished work. If my works can
merit something with God, Christ was not necessary. If my works
can merit salvation, if my works can merit good before his throne,
Christ was not necessary. I can be good enough myself,
I can clean up my life and fix it, and God will be pleased with
me. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not a single action we perform
in our flesh can change our status. before his throne, I must be
sanctified. Question is, am I? Am I sanctified? Either I am or I ain't. I say
ain't, I should say either I am or I am not. I'll probably say
ain't, but you understand what I'm saying. Either I am or I'm
not. Am I sanctified? That's the question. I wanna know. I've got to know.
In the Old Testament, The priest had to offer sacrifice
for themselves first, and then they offered sacrifice for the
people, for the congregation. But prior to that happening,
a sacrifice had to be made for the tabernacle itself. The Lord
said, I want you to fashion this tabernacle exactly like this,
and they did. I want you to make a table of
showbread. I want you to make golden candlestick.
I want you to make the very altar And the Lord said, before you
can use any of this, now you have to sanctify it. And how
did they do that? The blood of the Lamb. The blood
of the Lamb. A sacrifice had to be made. Without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Understand
the simplicity in those words. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. You and I do not shed blood to
get rid of our sin, do we? No. In the Old Testament, they
sacrificed, but it still didn't remit sin. It still didn't cause
it to go away. The only one to do that was the
Lord Jesus Christ. For you and I to think for a
moment that we can do something to take our way our sin or to
have a better standing. To have a better standing before
God means our sin has to be taken away. So that's what men are
doing. They're trying to take away their sin, not realizing
that's what they're doing. We can't do that, can we? No. Oh, even the altar had to be
sanctified, even the altar. Whenever the priest would enter
into the holiest of holies, bearing the blood of the lamb to sprinkle
it upon the mercy seat, he had bells on him. His vest had bells,
literal bells that ring, and they tied a rope around his waist.
Why? Because if he went in to the holiest of holies, And he
had one sin that had not been covered by the blood, God would
kill him instantly. And that's exactly the same with
you and I. They would have to drag him back
out by the rope. God is holy. He demands perfection
and total holiness. We can't fathom what holiness
is truly because you and I are other, we're other than God,
we just declare it. A good example the scripture
gives us is the stars are not pure in his sight. The stars
are not pure. Now even the tabernacle had to
be sanctified, the altar had to be sanctified, everything
had to be sanctified because of one reason, it was made by
a man. It was made by men. See nothing we can do can ever
merit one iota of sanctification. And we know why, because to sanctify
means to rid sin. Nothing we can do can rid sin. What is our hope then? Am I sanctified? Not if I look to myself. I can't
see it. I can't see that I'm sanctified.
Hear what the Lord said in Jeremiah chapter one, verse five, I formed
thee, I love the wording, the way that he puts this, before
I formed thee, he's the creator, we heard that the first hour,
didn't we? Before I formed thee, in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee. Before I formed thee in
the belly, I knew thee. And before you came forth out
of the womb, I sanctified thee. There's my hope that the Lord
would do the sanctifying because we can't sanctify anything. God
is the sanctifier of his people. If he didn't sanctify us, we're
not now nor will we ever be sanctified. But before you were formed in
the belly, before the Lord's people were brought forth to
bring their first breath, he says, I sanctified thee. I set
you apart. I made you holy. If he didn't sanctify us, we
are not now and wherever can be sanctified. For in verse 11,
he tells us clearly, for both he that sanctifieth and they
who are sanctified are all of one. He is the sanctifier. He
is the sanctifier and also our sanctification. Think about that.
His blood is our sanctification. He is our sanctification. 1 Corinthians
1.30, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Am I sanctified
is the question. Well, has God made Christ your
sanctification? That's the question also. It's
one and the same, isn't it? If I'm gonna be sanctified, Christ
Jesus has to be made by God my sanctification. He alone is his
people's sanctification. His blood alone has made us holy
as he is. And the mystery is that it's
right now. Right now his people are sanctified. Jeremiah was
who that was talking about being sanctified from the womb, but
that's every single elect child of God. Sanctified before they
were formed in the belly. Sanctified. Think about that.
That's how sure salvation is. That's what Christ accomplished
on the cross of Calvary. It wasn't an attempt. He is our sanctification. Right now, not because of what
we've done, You and I don't become sanctified by doing anything.
I heard somebody say one time that reading the word of God
sanctifies us. That's not true. That's not true. Christ said in John 17, talking
to his father, sanctify them through thy word. Thy word is
truth. Christ Jesus is the word. Christ
Jesus is the truth. And he is our sanctification. It's not the reading that we
do or the work that we do. Even you sitting here right now,
that it's not your sanctification, is it? Our sanctification is
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. What did the Lord say in John
17? I pray not for the world, but for the ones you've given
me. Sanctify them through thy word. Thy word is truth. Christ is the word and the truth
of God. He is the sanctifier of his people. We didn't come sanctified, we
prayed a prayer, did we? I heard men say, well, if you
pray this prayer, You'll be holy. And then they say, and you'll
live a holy life. They just mean physical is all
that they mean. They can't mean spiritual because there's nothing
good in our flesh. We know the truth, don't we? We know the
truth. Not because we've been convinced
by a man, but because we've been convinced of God. It's not a
prayer that we prayed that made us sanctified. Not, let me rephrase
that. It's not a prayer that you and
I prayed that caused us to be sanctified, but we're sanctified
because he prayed for us, because we're his. He did the sanctifying. God must be the one who does
the sanctifying. It's his nature that qualifies
him. He's holy. He's holy. He's other
than we are. He's the only one qualified to
do the sanctifying. Think about it this way. Everything
we touch, we pollute. Everything he touches, he makes
whole. Everything we touch, we pollute it. We taint it. I've
tainted this pulp. I've touched it. But everything
he touches, he makes it whole. Everything a sinner does adds
to our condemnation. But everything he did satisfied
the almighty judge. It's not that Christ changed
our status. It's that we have always been
sanctified in Christ Jesus. And on the cross of Calvary,
what did he say? His last words, it is finished. Does that include
sanctification? You better believe it. Absolutely. Does that include justification?
Yes. Does that include glorification? Yes. We haven't experienced that
yet, but we will one day. We will. His people's always
been sanctified by his blood, always accepted in the beloved,
always having been seen in Christ Jesus. Do you know what that
means? If I am one of his, I'm sanctified right now. If I am one of his and I am in
Christ Jesus, if I am one of his, that's what it means to
be one of his, you're in Christ, you're one with him. What did he say in our text here?
He that sanctifies, and they that are sanctified are one.
They're one. If we're one with Him, we are
as holy as He is right now with God in this world. This is not
because of what we've done, but because of what He did. All because
of His finished work wrought on Calvary's hill. Now listen
to 1 Corinthians 6, 11, what it tells us. You are washed, talking
about the Lord's people, you're washed. What are we washed with?
The precious blood of the Lamb. You are washed, but you are sanctified,
but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by
the Spirit of our God. You are, you are, that's present
tense. That means right now, you are.
You are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. and by the Spirit of God. What
is Hebrews 10, 14? Turn over to Hebrews 10. Look at verse 14. Just this one
verse. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. That's present tense, are. Them
that are sanctified. That's his people. Am I sanctified? Well, if he washed me by his
one offering, if he hath perfected me, if I am in Christ Jesus,
yes, I am sanctified. But if not, I'm not. There's
not one or the other. It's not something that we come
to a knowledge of over time and we become more and more sanctified.
No, either we're as holy as he is or we're not. Am I sanctified? Well, in closing,
I'll tell us this. If I'm looking to myself as any
part of my sanctification, I am not sanctified. If I'm looking
to my good works as evidence of my sanctification, I am not
sanctified. If I'm looking to myself to progressively
get better, to please God, to change my status before his throne,
I am not sanctified. If I'm looking to myself in any
part of my sanctification, I am not sanctified. But if by the Lord's grace alone,
He causes us to look to the same place he looks to for our sanctification,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We look unto him not to become
sanctified, but because we already are sanctified. And he just lets
us know about it. He saved us first. That means
we're sanctified. Then he calls us. He just lets
us in on it, doesn't he? If I'm looking to the one that
God looks to, it's not to become sanctified. Men say you need
to try harder to read more, pray more. That's good. We should
strive to read more and pray more, but not for sanctification.
No, we don't come looking unto the Lord to become sanctified. We come knowing that he's already
did all the sanctifying. If we knew that we had to do
something to become something before God, name it, one thing.
To receive is passive because it's bestowed. To believe is
the gift of God. All these things are passive.
It's not something that we do. It's something given that he
enabled. It's the gift of grace. If we
come to the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not, it's because we've
already been saved. It's because we've already been
sanctified. If we're looking to the spotless Lamb of God as
all our hope in salvation, it's because He has made us believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ as all our wisdom, as all our righteousness,
as all of our sanctification and all of our redemption. I
said the first hour, and I'm not sure I said this exactly
right. I'm going to try to say it right this time. When I look
to myself, I look to myself and I examine myself. I can see nothing
that would merit my salvation. I can see nothing that would
merit my sanctification. I can see nothing whereby God
should justify me. But when I look to the precious
lamb of God by faith and what he accomplished on the cross
of Calvary, I can't see how he would not justify me and how
he would not sanctify me and how he would not save me if I
am in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that simple. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. He is our sanctification. Let's pray. Father calls us to believe. Calls us to be found in you.
Calls us to never add one thing to or take away your finished
work from your finished work. Calls us to be found in Christ,
in his name, amen.