he taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. I come to do thy will, by thy will we are sanctified, through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never, never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." A person may think This is a good
idea, to study sanctification, one doctrine
at a time. Set aside a time to study justification,
and then study sanctification, and then study adoption, and
then study predestination, and then study imputed righteousness. We'd learn that way. A wise old
man said something many years ago. It meant a lot to me. I wrote it down. Keep it in my
files. He said the Bible, like the works of God, is not
systematically arranged like men arrange subjects. in a book
of theology. You've seen, and I'm sure many
of you have them in your home, what we call systematic theology,
where different ologies are typed and dealt with and explained,
theology, plesiology, all the others, eschatology, But this
man says how different, how different is the freedom of God's nature
from the orderly precision of a museum. If you go to the average
museum or zoo, you will find all the animals and all the subjects
placed separately according to their species. Here are the elephants,
here are the horses, here are the monkeys, here are the birds,
they're all separate. If you go out into God's world,
you'll find them roaming together. So when we read the Bible and
study the truths of God's Word, they're not put in order for
the classroom. The Bible is not a textbook.
They're written for daily life, inspiration and comfort and understanding. The Bible is not arranged as
a body of divinity. It's a handbook to heaven. It's a guidebook to lead men
to Christ. The Bible is written for the
man who follows the plow as well as the man who sits in a classroom. It's a primary book for babes. It's classics for the scholar.
It has depths in which a whale can swim. It has shallow streams
in which a lamb can wade. The Bible is not a book of theology
in which we lose our way. The Bible is a book of life to
tell us about Christ the way. I fear that many theologians,
in their efforts to arrange the truth of God systematically and practically and understandably,
have reduced it to doctrines to learn rather than a person
to know. I read that every once in a while. It's good
for me. So I'm looking at my subject
tonight, sanctification. I believe that I can be of help
by drawing attention not to the errors that exist today in regard
to sanctification. I'm not even going to mention
them. or to the theological meaning
of the term. But I'm going to talk about this
word as it's used in the Bible, as I encounter it visiting page
after page. How is the word used in God's
Word? Not what does it mean in the
Hebrew lexicon, how is it used in God's Word? A jeweler once
said, and this is the practice, I'm sure, everywhere, you have
to use a diamond to cut a diamond. Well, you have to use the Bible
to interpret the Bible. Those who know God and his word
best. They study and preach the scriptures
in the light of the scriptures. I have three texts tonight that
we're going to look at. We'll look at them first, just read them. Jude chapter
1, verse 1. The first one, Jude 1, verse
1. You underline some words that
I'll tell you to underline. This is a study, and you might
want to take two or three notes, not a whole accumulation of them.
Just jot down two or three things. Here's the first one. Now, Jude
1, 1. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God
the Father. That's what I want you to underline.
Sanctified by God the Father. Preserved in Jesus Christ and
called. And you might notice that Father,
Son, Holy Spirit are all mentioned there. Sanctified by God the
Father. Preserved in Christ Jesus, of
course, called by the Spirit. But we're sanctified by the Father. All right, here's the second
text, 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2, Paul says, "...unto the church
of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus." There's the underline there, sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints. There's the Holy Spirit calling
us in Withal, and in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace unto you and peace from
God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." But sanctified
in Christ Jesus. Now, here's the third one, 1
Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 2. elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, God our Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, underline that, sanctified by the Spirit, sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. And when we study these three
scriptures, sanctified by the Father, sanctified in Christ
Jesus, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, these are all New
Testament scriptures. And what we have to do is go
back into the Old Testament, because everything God does pertaining
to our redemption in Christ Jesus is set forth first in the Old
Testament. Before the New Testament was
written, how was the word sanctification used? How was it used before the New
Testament, before these words were written, sanctified by the
Father, sanctified by Christ, sanctified by the Holy Ghost?
How were the words used in the Old Testament? Everything that
Christ did for us in redeeming our souls is in the Old Testament
scriptures. Well, let's go back to the Old
Testament. and see these words, how it's used in the scripture.
First of all, we go to Genesis chapter 2, verse 3. Genesis 2,
verse 3. Now, here's my first point. To
be sanctified by God the Father is to be set apart. Two simple
words, set apart. S-E-T, set, A-P-A-R-T, apart. Set apart by God the Father. Here it is in Genesis 2, verse
3. And God blessed the seventh day
and sanctified it. It was a day, a day like any
other day, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday. And God took that day, the seventh day, out of the other
days, all 24-hour days, so many minutes and hours in the day,
just a day. On Mondays was it, as on Tuesday
and Wednesday, sets on in the evening. But God took that day
and sanctified it. In other words, he took something
common, something ordinary, something like many other things of the
same type, and he set it apart. And he said, this day is holy
unto me, holy unto the Lord. So there you have it, God blessed
the seventh day and sanctified it. That in it, he had rescued
from all his work which God created and made his own man to keep
that day, the Jews. All right, Exodus 13, now turn
over there, Exodus chapter 13, Exodus 13, verse 2. Verse 1 says, And the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever
openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both a man and a beast
is mine. God said, Take all the cattle,
even the people that are born, the firstborn of any creature, and sanctify
it wholly unto the Lord. These firstborn of men and cattle
were like all the rest of them, just like this day is not unlike
any other day, and these people weren't unlike any other people.
But God said, Firstfruits, firstborn is mine, holy unto the Lord.
Then in Exodus 29, turn over here, Exodus chapter 29. Beginning with verse 44. Verse 43, Exodus 29, 43, And
there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. His glory would appear in the
tabernacle over the mercy seat. such a kind of glory. And I will
sanctify the tabernacle. The tabernacle is a tent. I'll
sanctify the tent of the congregation and the altar. And I will sanctify
also both Abraham and his son to minister to me. These are
mine." That's what God is saying. So a clear reference here to
sanctification is not the eradication of sin, or the purging of sin. It's the setting apart of something
that's ordinary and common and of which there are many. But
setting it apart, belonging to God. It's His. All right? Now you understand the text in
Jude 1, sanctified by God the Father. sanctified by God the
Father. The Father, back in eternity
past, chose and elected and set apart a people in Christ. He said, they're mine. I choose
them. They're mine. We're just like
any other people. We're sons of Adam. We're born
in sin. We've brought forth speaking
lies. Go astray from the womb. just like any other people. But
God has, according to the good pleasure of his own will, chosen
a people and set them apart for his. Turn to John 10, verse 36. This is John 10. Even our Master, even our Lord
Jesus Christ, was set apart by the Father for a purpose, for
his glory. He says to these people in John
10, "...say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent
into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said I am the Son of
God." Christ Jesus was sanctified and set apart. for God's holy
purpose and will. John chapter 17, listen to this. John chapter 17, verse 19, John
17, 19. And our Lord is praying here
in that great high priestly prayer, and he says, Father, for their
sakes, I sanctify myself. The Lord Jesus said, the Father
sanctified me. And I sanctify myself, set myself
apart for this holy purpose. So that's the first meaning of
this scripture out back in the Old Testament. God took a day
and set it apart. He said, this is holy unto the
Lord. This is mine. The firstborn,
the tabernacle, all of these things. And then when Christ
Jesus came in the world, he said, I set him apart as the Redeemer,
as the Messiah. Christ said, I set myself apart
for this redemptive work. And God set you apart and chose
you and me. Jeremiah, over in Jeremiah chapter
1, this is what he said, listen, in Jeremiah chapter 1, the word
of the Lord came in verse 4, Jeremiah 1-4, Then the word of
the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. Before you came
forth out of your mother's womb, I sanctified you. I set you apart. I set my love upon you and set
you apart. And I ordained you a prophet
unto the nation before you were born." And this is what we find all
the way through the Scriptures. John 17, our Lord, about six
times talked about those that the Father gave me, the Father
chose me, chose me and chose them in me. John 6, 37, he said, All that
my Father giveth me will come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me
out of the nation every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, those
he has set apart and given to me, I'll lose nothing but raise
it up at the last day." Over in Romans chapter 8, in the 8th
chapter of Romans, this is what Paul is saying, this is setting
them apart. Romans 8 verse 28, and we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate, to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, he called. And whom he called,
he justified, and whom he justified, he glorified. Now what do we
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Sanctified in divine election. Sanctified by divine choice. Sanctified according to the will
and purpose of the Father. Sanctified. Something ordinary
and common. Something of which there's many
just like it. But the Father said, this one's
mine. This one's mine. Chosen, sanctified. Boy, that's the first meaning.
back in the Old Testament. All right, here's the second
when I write this down. First of all, sanctified by God
the Father is to set apart according to his will and purpose for his
glory, chosen, not for good in me, wakened up from wrath to
flee, hidden in the Savior's side, in my Savior crucified. It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, but thou hast chosen me. That's the truth of God's Word
set apart. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. All right, here's the second
meaning. It means actually to regard and treat and declare to be holy. It means actually to regard as
holy. Now, let me show you some verses. In Isaiah chapter 8, back in
the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 8, we'll read verse 13, Isaiah
8, 13. That which is sanctified is set
apart for holy purpose. That which is sanctified, secondly,
regarded as holy. It's holy. In Isaiah chapter
8, verse 13, Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him
be your fear, and let him be your dread. The Lord God does not need sin
eradicated. The Lord God does not need to
be set apart. The Lord God is to be recognized
as holy. That's what this says. Recognize
him as holy. Regard him as holy. He is holy. He is holy. That's his nature. That's who he is. Holy and reverent
is his name. Now, you regard him as so. That's right. All right, stay
with me. Numbers chapter 20. Numbers chapter 20. You regard
him as holy. He is holy. Nobody in here has
a doubt in their mind about that. The Father, Almighty God, is
holy. Numbers 20. I've got to give
you the background of this just a little bit. You remember when
God told Moses the people were thirsty and had no water, and
God told Moses to smite the rock. And he smote it and water came
out. And then on another occasion, the people were thirsty, and
God said, Moses, speak to the rock. Speak to the rock. And Moses went out there and
versed, I mean, look at it, verse 10. And Moses and Abram gathered
the congregation, they gathered before the rock, and he said
to them, Here now, you rebels, Must we fetch you water out of
this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he
smote the rock twice." That rock is Christ. You know
that. Scripture says that. That rock
was Christ. It says that in the New Testament.
It doesn't say it. That rock was Christ. And Moses
smote it. And water came out abundantly.
And the congregation drank, and the beast also. And the Lord
spake unto Moses and Abram, Because you believe me not to sanctify
me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall
not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Moses, God said, you didn't regard me as holy. You violated my word. You demonstrated in front of
people an anger. You took the glory to yourself.
You didn't glorify me. You didn't regard me as holy.
My word is true. Of course, that rock was not
to be smitten twice. Christ is smitten one time, and
then if you want water, you ask him. You speak to the rock. That's what God said to Moses.
But the thing I'm pointing out here is Moses did not regard
God as holy. didn't glorify him, didn't honor
him. God is holy. He will be regarded
as holy. Now stay with me. Turn to Leviticus
10. Leviticus 10. Leviticus chapter 10, verse 1
through 3. And they dab and about you the
sons of Aaron, you got it, Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu, the sons
of Abel, and took either of them his censer, and put fire therein,
and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the
Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire
from heaven, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Then Moses said unto Abel, This is it that the Lord spake, saying,
I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me." How do we
sanctify God? This is what I'm saying. Well,
we regard him as holy. Holy and reverend is his name.
That's what he rebuked Moses for. You didn't regard me as
holy. You acted up in my presence. You didn't glorify me. You didn't
exalt me in the eyes of the people. And these fellows offering strange
fire that God didn't command, he burned them to a crisp because
he said, I will be regarded as holy. I am holy and I'll be regarded
as holy. I'll be sanctified in them that
come nigh me before all the people. I'll be glorified. And Aaron
held his peace. And from this we get some light
now on my second text. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. This
was my second text, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2. We get some light
on this. It says here, Paul writing to
the church of God, which is at Carwat, to them who are sanctified
in Christ Jesus. If the word sanctified in the
Old Testament means to regard as holy and treat as holy, Can
you not see that how in Christ the believer is holy? The first meaning of sanctification
in the Old Testament is taking that which is common and ordinary
out from among many just like it and saying this is God's,
this belongs to him. Now in order to be here in the
second meaning, In order to be His, in order to be one with
Him, it's got to be holy as He is. It's got to be as holy as He
is. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand
in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, pure
heart, who's never sinned, got to be holy. Well, we're not by
nature holy. But in Christ, we're holy. Actually holy. Do you hear what
I'm saying? We're actually holy. I'll show you that in Colossians. Well, while you're turning to
Colossians 1, you're familiar with this scripture that I read
this morning. He chose us in Christ that we should be holy
and without blame before him. So God the Father sanctified
us by choosing us. He said, this is mine, you're
mine. Ordinary people, the base, the
despised, the things that are not, He said, I'm going to set
them apart. And then He sent His Son into this world to make
them holy, to make them like God, to make them actually holy. Not professing to be, they are.
That's right, look at Colossians 1, verse 20. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto
himself, by him I say, whether they be things on earth or things
in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated, enemies in
your mind, chosen but enemies, elected but enemies, Set apart
by God the Father, but enemies. Saul of Tarsus was an enemy,
wasn't he? But God chose him in his mother's womb. And yet,
enemies. All right. In your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy. Actually, to take you. you to the Father, holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. Even the eyes of God cannot see
any mark or stain or spot in his sanctified people. By one
offering, he had sanctified, perfected The Lord God sees us in Christ
perfectly holy and regards us as perfectly holy. That's right,
let's sanctify. Joseph Hart said, not as we were
in Adam's fall, when sin and ruin covered all, but as we shall
be another day. fairer than the sun's spotless
ray, with his spotless garments on, I'm as holy as God's own
Son." That's what it is to be sanctified.
It's just almost unspeakable, unexplainable. Set apart, sanctified by God
the Father. That means we were chosen, elected,
back in the council halls of eternity. God said this was mine. Known unto God all his works
from the beginning. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me. Secondly, when Jesus Christ came to this earth,
he came down here as our representative. In Adam we died, in Christ we're
restored. In Christ we're redeemed, in
Christ we're righteous, In Christ we are holy, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in his sight. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying this, that every true believer is as holy as Jesus
Christ right now in God's sight. I'm saying every true believer
is sanctified perfectly. I'm saying every true believer
has not one sin in his past, in his present, or in his future. That's to be holy. That's to
be sanctified in Christ. See, that's what my text said.
You've got to look at this Hebrews 10 again. It's so or it's not
so now, and I believe it is so. By God's will, we are sanctified,
holy, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Nothing needs to be added. Verse
14, by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified, if done. All right. Are you with me now? The third meaning of the word.
The third meaning. over in the Old Testament book
of Exodus, the way it's used in the Old Testament. It means here putting forth a
work and an effort that does cleanse and make holy. Now, in Exodus 19, Verse 10,
listen to this. And the Lord said to Moses, now
you go unto the people and sanctify them today. Well, they've been
sanctified, chosen. They've been through Christ's
blood, the believers made holy. And Israel represents the believer,
don't they? But here he says, you go sanctify
them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes. wash
their clothes and clean up their flesh and be ready against the
third day for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight
of all the people upon Mount Sinai. The people were ordered
by God to wash their clothes and wash their bodies and prepare
themselves for a meeting with God. Let's see some more scripture
on this subject. Leviticus 20. Leviticus chapter 20, God says,
I'm coming down among them. Tell them to wash their clothes
and wash their flesh and prepare to meet me. In Leviticus 20 verse
7, sanctify yourselves. Sanctify yourselves, God says,
therefore, and be ye holy. Actually, be holy. You are holy,
you're perfectly holy in His sight, but be holy. For I am
the Lord your God, and you'll keep my statutes and do them.
I'm the Lord which sanctified you. Now, you sanctify yourself, and keep my statutes, keep my
commandments, and do that which is pleasing to me. Prepare for
my coming to you and dwelling among you. Well, this one's kind of hard
to find. I put a mark so I could find it quickly. Let me just
read it to you in Joel. in Joel chapter 2 verse 15. Now listen to this, just let
me read it. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the
congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the
children and those that suck the Let the bridegroom go forth
of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests
and the ministers of the Lord weep before the Lord between
the porch and the altar. Let them say, Spare thy people,
O Lord, and give not thine inheritance to reproach, that the heathen
should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among
the people, Where is their God? Get ready to meet the Lord. Prepare
for His presence. Sanctify yourself. Over here in 1 Samuel, listen
to this one. 1 Samuel, chapter 16. 1 Samuel 16, verse 5. You know, Samuel went down among
the household of Jesse, the anointed king. Verse 4 of 1 Samuel 16. Well, let's read it. 1 Samuel
16. And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem.
And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and they said,
Do you come peacefully? Peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. I am come to sacrifice unto the
Lord, so sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.
He sanctified Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice. You see, prepare yourselves to
witness the power and presence of God. So this is the third
sense in which the word sanctified is used in the Old Testament.
First, God takes a day or an animal
or a human or the first fruits or the tent or the vessels, something
common, ordinary, among many things, chooses it. He said, that's mine. That's
for my glory. And he's done the same thing
to us. He chose us in Christ before the world began. The Father
did. Gave us to the Son. Sanctified
us. Set us apart. Secondly, then
the word is used in the Old Testament, God is holy. Regard Him as holy. Glorify Him as holy. Acknowledge
Him as holy. In the same way, we're holy. Christ made us holy. Christ took
away our sin and gave us a perfect righteousness. And in God's sight,
we are holy. He accepts us in the Beloved.
We are accepted in the Beloved as perfectly holy. The thief
on the cross was saved and sanctified and justified. redeemed, absolutely
holy, and God took him to heaven. But also the Holy Spirit, sanctified
with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes and gives us a new nature,
a nature of holiness. The Spirit of God, we're not
only elected and regarded before God is here, holy, we're not
only righteous in Christ, legally, judicially, actually before the
Father. But God works a change in us,
and we are holy. And through the Word, and through
our reading the Word, and through our obedience to the Word, there
is a sanctification that goes on within us. And you can call
it progressive sanctification, call it growth in grace, call
it what you want to, but every believer has a new nature, sanctified
with the Holy Spirit. Now let me show you that. In
other words, when God told Israel, I'm coming down, wash your clothes,
clean up your flesh, straighten out the camp, get ready to witness
the works of God, Sanctify yourself. That's an outward picture of an inward work. We are putting
forth every effort to glorify God in our walk, in our talk,
in our lives, because we don't want to offend Him who's coming
down among us. That's right. And the Holy Spirit
is the one who works that work, nature and us, to want to do
that. All right, let me show you some
Scripture. Turn to Ezekiel chapter 11. Ezekiel chapter 11. And you know, I know there's
some people who are offended by the word progressive
sanctification. And they say, what you're teaching
is we're getting better. Now, let me tell you something. We're perfect now in Christ.
Can't get any better than perfect. And this old flesh doesn't get
any better. You're not going to reform this
flesh. You're not going to make it any
better. But I tell you this, this new man does grow. And the faith God gave me grows. And the love God gave me grows. And the grace and the meekness
and humility and generosity and kindness, those graces grow.
God's children are born of God, born of the Holy Spirit, but
they're babes, and they do grow in grace through the Word. And
that's how we're sanctified as we grow. In this sense, look
at Ezekiel 11, verse 19. I'll give you one heart. I'll
put a new spirit within you. I'll take the stony heart out
of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of flesh that you may
walk in my statutes and my commandments and keep my ordinances and do
them and they shall be my people and I'll be their God." Now my
friends, the thief on the cross was perfectly sanctified. But
if he had lived through that and stepped down off that cross,
he would have quit stealing. He would have gone to the house
of God. He would have identified with the people of God. He would
have walked in grace. He would have watched how he
walked and how he talked. He would have quit cursing. He would have quit blaspheming
God. Isn't that right? Yes, he would. He would have grown. Now, none
of that needed to be done for him to be saved, but if he had
come down from the cross and lived through that, He'd have
been a different person. And a year later, he'd have been
still a different person. And 10 years later, he'd been
a different person. And he'd have grown. That's right.
He'd have read the Word. That's right. He'd treated people right, and
treated his family right, and treated his neighbor right. And
he'd paid his honorable bills, and done his task. accepted responsibility,
he'd have sanctified himself through the Word. That's right.
And that's what happens to us.