Now tonight I have prepared a
study on the subject, sanctified. Sanctified. And I want to read
three texts. The first one is found in the
book of Jude, verse 1. Now I've been greatly helped
by this study, and I believe you will be. This is a word that
has been misused It has been abused, seriously abused. It
has been put up on a pedestal that few men are convinced that
they can attain thereunto. And it has been stolen and mistreated, I
think. And very few people really understand
what it is to be sanctified. I think very, very few. I think
most of the folks that talk about it don't know what it means.
I think most of the people who use it aren't aware of what it
means. They may be sanctified, but I think they're not certain
what it really means. And I hope when we get through
tonight that I and you will know a little bit more about what
it is to be sanctified. Now, this is an interesting study,
and I know that you're going to be helped by it, as I was.
Let's read Jude chapter, well, verse 1. It's only one chapter
of the book of Jude. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ,
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father." Now that's my first text, five words, sanctified
by God the Father. All right? Now let's go to 1
Corinthians 1. I just mentally underscore that
if you don't actually do it, but remember that now, sanctified
by God the Father. Now then, let's look at 1 Corinthians
1, verse 2. "...unto the church of God,"
which is at Corinth, "...to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus." Now that's important right there. Three, four words,
sanctified in Christ Jesus. Now remember that. Sanctified
by God the Father. sanctified in Christ Jesus. Now turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Verse 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit. Sanctification
of the Spirit. Are you with me? There are three
texts. Sanctified by God the Father sanctified in Christ Jesus
through sanctification of the Spirit. What the Father does,
the Son does. What the Son does, the Holy Spirit
does. The Trinity is a unity, not only
in existence, but in work and in purpose. The Scripture says,
Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one sanctified by God
the Father, sanctified in Christ the Son, sanctified by the Holy
Spirit. God said, let us make man in
our image after our likeness, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now if you'll turn to Ephesians
1, this is the point that I'm stressing here. We cannot say
that the Holy Spirit sanctifies apart from the Father. We cannot
say the Holy Spirit sanctifies apart from the Son. What the
Father does, the Son does. What the Son does, the Spirit
does. What the Spirit does, the Father does. The Trinity is a
unity. It says here in Ephesians 1,
verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly
places. This blessing of salvation is
a work of the Father. It is a gift of the Father. Read
on. According as He, the Father, hath chosen us in Him, that is,
in Christ, before the foundation of the world. The Father hath
chosen us. Verse 5, Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will. to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
Now, the Father blessed us because the Father chose us, because
the Father predestinated us to be like Christ. And he did all
this in Christ and accepted us in the Beloved. Now look at verse
7. "...in whom we have redemption." The redemption is in the Son.
Through the Son's blood we have the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of the Son's grace, wherein he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence. And the Son," verse 9, "...made
known unto us the mystery of his will." And then verse 11,
"...in whom," in the Son, "...we have obtained an inheritance."
Now verse 13, "...in whom ye trusted," that is, in the Son,
you trusted in the Son, you After you heard the word of truth,
how did you hear it? The Holy Spirit gave you ears
with which to hear it. You heard the gospel of your
salvation, in whom also, after that you believed, you were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest, and that
word is pledge, of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, until it becomes a reality, until it becomes a
reality to us. until our salvation is complete,
the Holy Spirit is our pledge. So the Father chose us and predestinated
us and blessed us. The Son redeemed us, and the
Son enriched us, and the Son enlightened us. But the Holy
Spirit quickened us, and the Holy Spirit sealed us, and the
Holy Spirit is our pledge. So what the Father does, the
Son does. What the Son does, the Spirit
does. They're And it's also true in this matter of sanctification.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the three texts that I read
to you tonight, are working together, sanctified by God the Father,
sanctified in Christ Jesus, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. They're working
together to produce a church without spot or wrinkle that
is holy unto the Lord. Turn to Psalm 29, verse 2. I
selected to read Psalm 31 tonight because my eye fell upon it and
several verses met my need, and I thought they'd meet yours,
but I was studying Psalm 29. And verse 2 is the particular
verse that I'm thinking of right now. Psalm 29, 2, "...given to
the Lord the glory due unto his name. Worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness." Now, my friends, nothing is beautiful
before God that is not holy. Nothing is beautiful before God
that is not holy. And the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit, in this business of sanctification, are working
together to produce a holy church. Because God cannot walk with,
or fellowship with, or commune with anything except that which
is holy. holy unto the Lord. Let me give
you some examples. Lucifer, all the glory of this
son of the morning, all of the majesty of this son of the morning,
Lucifer, all of the greatness and intelligence of this son
of the morning could not keep him from divine wrath when he
defiled himself with sin. He was cast out of God's presence. His beauty could not recommend
him. His intelligence could not recommend
him. His majesty and power could not
recommend him because he was not holy anymore. Adam. Now you know the relationship
between God and Adam. I think Adam was the crowning
feature of God's creation. I think Adam was the climax of
God's creation. I think Adam was the greatest
thing to that time that God made. And yet the first man created
in beauty, created in intelligence, created in the likeness and image
of God, created upright. He walked with God, he talked
with God, but none of these things availed. When sin was found in
him, he was cursed by God because he was not holy. You see what
I'm saying? He was not holy. We can talk about people being
serious in their religion. We can talk about them being
devout in their religion. We can talk about them being
all these things, but unto the Lord nothing is beautiful unto
him that is not holy. Holy. Would you trade places with Lucifer
in all of his glory and his power and his majesty and his might
and his intelligence and his genius and his zeal, but he is
not holy. And Adam, he was cast out of
the garden because he was no longer holy. Now here's an example. On Calvary's The Heavenly Father turned his
back away from his Son. Why? He was not holy. That's right, he was made sin
for us. And the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord
of Lords and King of Kings, the brightness of the Father's glory,
the express image of the Father's person, and yet in that moment
was identified with sinners and numbered with the transgressors,
and the Heavenly Father turned his back. Why? Because Christ
became sin. And nothing is beautiful to God
except that which is holy. holy. The angels of heaven. The angels of heaven had been
the messengers of God. The angels of heaven were the
first creatures to inhabit heaven, and yet because of sin, because
there was found in them unholiness, they were cast out. They were
still strong, they were still mighty, they were still beautiful
outwardly, but there was found in them unholiness, and they
were cast out of God's presence, and they were chained in darkness
forever, awaiting eternal condemnation, because nothing is beautiful
to God that is not holy. Isaiah 6, verse 1, Isaiah said, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and
lifted up. His train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings. With
two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with
two he did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of His glory. Holy. Without holiness, no man shall
see God, not even God's Son, when He, at that time, bearing
our sins and our guilt, was without holiness. That's right. Now upon the subject sanctified. In order to look into this subject
that is so important, I've just established the importance of
it. Lucifer was not sanctified, he was cast out. Adam was not
sanctified, he was cast out. The angels of glory were not
sanctified, they were not holy. and therefore they reserved in
chains of darkness unto the day of judgment. The Son of God,
when he hung on the cross in our place and in our stead, bearing
our sins, was the subject of the Father's wrath because of
the unholiness of the sin which he bore. Now, we have to go to
the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament helps us understand
the New Testament And the New Testament reveals the Old Testament. Now here's a secret for you.
With God's Word, self-interpretation is always best. Remember that
when you're studying the Bible. Self-interpretation is best. The jeweler says, use a diamond
to cut a diamond. And the student of God's word,
the man who knows God's word the best, studies the scripture
in the light of the scriptures. There was a dear old lady in
a church, came to her pastor one day. She'd been studying
the Bible for a long, long time. And she asked him, said, you
got any books that'll help me in studying the Bible? He gave
her a commentary. A few days later she brought
it back to him, and she said to him, Pastor, you know the
scriptures cast a lot of light on that commentary of yours,
and that's true. It's true of the Bible. Those
who know it best know that self-interpretation is best, and that to study the
scriptures in the life of the scriptures is the most profitable
So in the light of the scriptures, I'm going to look into the Old
Testament first and see how the word sanctified is used. And
then I'm going to go into the New Testament and show you how
it relates to you and to me. Now, first of all, in the Old
Testament, the word sanctified is used in three senses. Now,
this is true. This is absolutely true. It's
used in three senses. First of all, The word sanctified
in the Old Testament means, in many places, to set apart, simply
to set apart. In other words, it means taking
something common, something everyday, something ordinary, and setting
it apart for God alone. When this thing was sanctified,
when it was set apart, whatever it was, I'm going to give you
some examples. it was called, whether it was a person or whether
it was an object, if it was set apart, it was called, sanctified,
and called holy unto the Lord. Now let me give you some examples.
Turn to Genesis 2, verse 3. Genesis 2, verse 3. Barnard used
to talk about the law of first mention. He said, see how something
reads the first time it's used in God's Word, and it'll give
you a key all the way through the Bible. In Genesis 2, verse
3, and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. God sanctified a day. Now, what
does that mean? It means this. He set it apart
from the other days. God Almighty took the seventh
day, which was an ordinary portion of time. It was a 24-hour period.
It was Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday. Seven days, seven periods of 24 hours, and God took one
ordinary, common period of time, and he
sanctified it. That is, he set it apart from
the other days and made it holy unto the Lord. Now look, if you
will, at Exodus 13. Here's another illustration.
Exodus chapter 30, 13. Now, you see, the word sanctified
there does not mean to eradicate sin, does not mean to purge sin,
because we're talking about a day, talking about a common, ordinary
day. God sanctified it. He set it
apart. Exodus 13 now, verse 2. Sanctify
unto me all the firstborn. That means every firstborn in
every family, and not only among the men, but he said, whatsoever
openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both man and beast,
God says, sanctified. You see, that's used as set it
apart. That's what he's talking about.
Common, ordinary cow, or bull, or horse, or lamb, or son, or
daughter, set it apart, holy unto the Lord. God claimed the
firstborn. man, cattle, beast, to be hid."
That's referring back to the firstborn that was spared when
God went through Egypt and slew the firstborn in the homes and
among the cattle on the hill. But what I'm pointing out here
is God said, sanctify that first one that openeth the womb, whether
it's of a woman or a beast, it's mine, God said. Set it apart. That which is ordinary and common
and everyday is to be set apart. Now turn to Exodus 29. We're
talking about the word sanctified. Exodus 29 verse 44. Now let's
look at this illustration. Exodus chapter 29 verse 44. God
says, and I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation
and the altar I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons
to minister to me in the priest's office." God Almighty sanctified
or set apart this tabernacle, the altar, the Ark of the Covenant,
Aaron, these things. The tabernacle was made out of
ordinary material, made out of silver and gold and and ram skin
and sheep skin and badger skin and all these different things,
but when God set it apart, it was different from all of the
sheep skin. It was different from all of the gold. It was
different from all of the silver. It was set apart by God and separated
and made holy unto the Lord. Now then, through those three
illustrations, you can see that when God the Father sanctified
as he did the Sabbath day, as he did the firstborn, as he did
the tabernacle and the altar and all these other things, it
sometimes has the meaning only of setting apart from other things
like it for holy use. Now then, in John 10, let's turn
over there a minute to the New Testament. This explains this
text over here in John 10. Now you've got the meaning, the
first sentence. in which the word sanctified
is used. It means to set apart an ordinary, common person or
object for God's use, for holy use. It belongs to the Lord.
To set it apart from the rest. That's the reason Christ said
in John 10, verse 36, "...say ye of him whom the Father hath
sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemy?" Blasphemous,
because I said I am the Son of God, God sanctified me. Now then, Jesus Christ speaks
of himself as being sanctified by the Father. He wasn't purged
from sin. There was no sin in him. Sin
was not eradicated in him. He had no sin. When he was sanctified,
hands were not laid on him, he was not baptized with the Holy
Ghost, and he did not speak in tongues. But he said, I am sanctified
by the Father. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ
was designated, set apart for the holy purpose of redemption
by the Heavenly Father, who said He prepared a body for him. Turn
to John 17. Here it is again, John 17, 19. And for their sakes, Christ said,
John 17, 19, I sanctify myself. that they also might be sanctified. I sanctify myself, I set myself
apart. All right, now you understand
better the text in Jude, which tells us that we, you and I, are sanctified by the Father.
God the Father hath in his all-wise and holy purpose from the foundation
of this world, chosen and set apart from the rest of mankind,
a people for himself. It says in Jude 1, we're sanctified
by God the Father. We're set apart. That which was
common and ordinary and everyday and of no value in itself, God
has reached down by his holy, sovereign, all-wise purpose for
reasons known only to himself, and set us apart, and sanctified
us. He lifted the beggar out of the
dunghill, he did it, and raised him, and made him sit among princes
and kings, and designated that one as holy unto the Lord." Charles
Spurgeon said this, God, in the decree of election, separated
unto himself of people who were to be sanctified or set apart
to him forever and ever. And he by the great gift of his
Son redeemed those people from among men that they might be
holy, and by the gift of his Spirit fulfills his purpose that
they should be a separate people sanctified from the rest of mankind. And in this holy election Every
Christian is already sanctified, set apart, declared to be holy
unto the Lord. They were set apart and sanctified
before they were born. They were legally set apart by
the purchase of Christ. They were visibly and manifestly
set apart by the calling of the Holy Spirit. Okay, now let's go to the next
one, the next illustration. The word sanctified in the Old
Testament, first of all, means set apart. As God set apart the
Sabbath day, as God set apart the firstborn, as God set apart
the tabernacle, he sanctified these persons and objects and
said, these are mine. He chose them from among men.
He said, these are mine. They belong to me. They're set
apart. Even so, in his all-wise counsel before the world began,
he sanctified us. He set us apart. He said to Jeremiah,
over here in Jeremiah chapter 5, or chapter 1, in verse 5,
he said, "...before I formed thee in the belly, before thou
camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee." Here the
man's sanctified before he's born, one who laid hands on him,
baptized him with the Holy Ghost. I sanctify thee. Now that's God
the Father who sanctifies us before we're born, we're set
apart, we're chosen. I know this goes against the
grain of people who run around talking about sanctification,
but like I say, most folks who talk about it don't know what
it is. Don't have the least idea of what it is. They haven't taken
the time to inquire. The second way that the word
sanctified is used is not only to set apart for holy use. Now this is very important right
here. Don't, please don't leave me. But this person or thing
which is set apart for holy use is sanctified in that it is to
be regarded, it is to be treated, It is to be declared a holy thing. Now let me illustrate that. Turn
to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 8. Isaiah 8, verse
13. It says here, talking about you
and me now, "...sanctify the Lord of hosts himself." How can I sanctify God? But that's what I'm commanded
to do right there. Sanctify the Lord of hosts and let him be
your fear and let him be your dread. You are commanded to sanctify
God. You know what that means there?
You're commanded to regard God as holy. and to treat his name
and his word and his church and his gospel and everything pertaining
to him as holy. That's what it means. I said
the word sanctified in the Old Testament means to set apart,
and secondly, in this sense, it's used to declare and to treat
and to regard in your mind and your attitude and your behavior
to regard that person or that thing as holy. Now the Lord doesn't need to
be set apart for holy use. The Lord doesn't need to be purified
for he is holy. But sanctify here means, when
you are commanded to sanctify God, that is to worship Him,
to reverence Him, to adore Him, to regard Him as the Holy One
of Israel. That's what that means there.
The Lord's in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silent. I think a lot of this razzmatazz
that goes under the name of worship is blaspheming the name of the
Lord of hosts. I really do. God says here, you
sanctify the Lord of hosts and let him be your fear and let
him be your dread. Tread softly in the courts of
the Lord. Now turn to Numbers chapter 20. I want to show you an example
of this here now. In Numbers chapter 20. In Numbers
20, God spake to Moses, verse 7. Now watch this carefully.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather
thou the assembly together, thou and Abel and thy brethren, and
speak ye to the rock before their eyes. Speak to it, Moses, and
the rock will give forth water, and thou shalt bring forth to
them water out of the rock, and thou shalt give the congregation
their beast drink. And Moses took the rod from before
the Lord as he commanded him, and Moses and Abel gathered the
congregation together 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 smoked the
rock twice. And the water came out abundantly,
and the congregation drank, and their beast also. But the Lord
spake unto Moses and Abram. Moses, because you believed me
not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, you
put on quite a show there, Moses. You projected yourself. You projected
yourself. You didn't sanctify me in their
eyes. It was Moses they saw hammering
on that rock. It was Moses that they saw bringing
water out. It was Moses rebuking them. It was Moses all the way. You
didn't sanctify me before the children of Israel today. And
therefore you're not going to bring this congregation into
the land which I've given them. You're going to die, Moses. because
you didn't sanctify me in the eyes of the children." Now, brethren,
this will go as far as our praying is concerned, as far as our preaching,
our singing, our witnessing. Are we a bunch of people who
are projecting ourselves? Are we putting on a show? Are
the people seeing us, or are they seeing our Lord? in religion, in our buildings,
and in our services, and in our conduct, who are we sanctifying? Who are we glorifying? Who are
we exalting? Who are they seeing? Us or our Lord. That's something
to think about. Moses came out there. Moses was
in the flesh, no question about it. We get there. God told him
I don't know how he's supposed to do it, but God told him to
speak to the rock. And God would get the glory out
of all that, and Moses put on show. Moses got up there, and
he really let them have it, you bunch of rebels, he said. Must
I bring water? Must we bring water out of the
rock? And hauled off and put on quite a show. Well, the rock
gave forth the water. God used it. But God took Moses
aside and said, You didn't sanctify me today, Moses. That's where
even Paul said, I come not to you with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ be made of none effect. I'm afraid some of us are educating
ourselves out of the ministry. I'm afraid some of us are projecting
ourselves to the point that God's not going to use us. He's going
to do like Moses. Oh, you'll bless his word if
a jackass says it, like he did Balaam's ass. But God's not going
to bless where we project ourselves. And it's dangerous. And then
turn to Leviticus chapter 10. I'll show you something else.
He tells us to sanctify him. Leviticus now, chapter 10, and
verse 1 through 3. Leviticus 10, 1 through 3. And
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Avon, took either of them his
censer, and put fire therein, put incense thereon, and offered
strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
And they went out far from heaven, and devoured them, and they died
before the Lord. And Moses said to Avon, This
is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them
that come now unto me." I'm going to be sanctified. I'm going to
be regarded as holy. I'm going to be declared holy. I'm going to be treated as one
who's holy. You're not going to just come
before me any way you take a notion, God says. I'll send fire down
and consume every one of you. I will be sanctified. I will
be sanctified in them that come unto me. Now, in these instances, you
can see it. It's just plain as it can be.
Sanctified means that that which is set apart, declared holy,
is to be regarded as holy. It's to be treated as holy. It's to be understood as holy. We get some light now on this
over here in 1 Corinthians. I read you the second text a
while ago. 1 Corinthians 1, 2 says we're sanctified, you and I,
in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? Well, if
the word sanctified means to set apart, and that's true. We know we're set apart by God.
We're chosen. We're set apart. with sons of
God, before I formed thee in the belly, I sanctified you,
God said, I set you apart. But also it means that which
is set apart is to be regarded as holy. It's to be treated as
holy, it's accepted as holy. And now you can see how that
in Jesus Christ the believer is regarded by God as being holy. And God treats us as holy creatures. We are a holy nation in Christ
Jesus. Not in ourselves. In Christ Jesus
we are a holy nation. We are a holy nation. In Christ
we are perfectly holy. Turn to Hebrews 10. Now, if that
wasn't true, if we were not holy in Christ Jesus, regarded as
holy as holy, declared to be holy, I guarantee you this wouldn't
be true. In Hebrews 10 verse 19, having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest. The only thing that can come
into the holiest is that which is holy. And you, you old son
of Adam, You, O fallen sinner by nature,
in Christ Jesus you are so holy that God permits you to come
into the holiest, sanctified in Christ Jesus. We have access
with boldness to the very presence of God because we have been made
holy by Christ. We are regarded as holy in Christ. Now, holy God cannot have dealing
with unholy men. He's already showed us that through
the scripture. Turned his back on Lucifer, turned his back on
Adam. Adam couldn't come back in the
garden. He was shut out. Turned his back on his son, cast
the angels down to hell, who kept not their first estate.
How in the world does he let me into his presence in Christ
Jesus? That's what I'm going to preach
till I'm 99 years old. That's on the way into the Holy
of Holies. in Christ Jesus. I am sanctified in Christ Jesus. God cannot have communion with
unholiness, and yet you and I are unholy, you're not holy. Not by nature, not by practice. Then how does God receive us
into his bosom, into his presence? How does God walk with us and
find himself aggrieved? He views us not in ourselves,
but in Christ. Thank God. Joseph Hart wrote,
Not as we were in Adam's fall, When sin and iniquity covered
all, But as we shall stand another day, Fallen in the sun, spotless
ray, Accepted in the Beloved, With his spotless garments on,
I'm as holy as the Holy One. That's right. That's what sanctified
means. It means to regard as holy. It
means to accept as holy. It means to treat as holy. And
God the Father looks on Christ's obedience as our obedience. He looks on Christ's sinless
life as our sinless life. He looks on us, clothed in, robed
in, cleansed in, the righteousness of his blessed Son. All right, here's the third sense
now in which sanctified is used. It means actually. Actually. to purify. It means actually,
in a very real sense, to make holy. Not merely to set apart,
not merely to regard as holy, but actually to make holy. I'll give you some examples.
Turn to Exodus 19. Exodus 19 in the Old Testament,
and Scripture interprets In Exodus 19, verse 10 through 12, and
the Lord said to Moses, Exodus 19, 10, Go unto the people, and sanctify
them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And be ready against the third
day, for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the upon Mount Sinai. I want people to put on clean
clothes, to wash their bodies, to sanctify themselves, to actually
make themselves clean, because I'm going to visit you in power
in the giving of my law. Now in Joshua chapter 3, in Joshua
chapter 3, And verse 5, here's a similar
incident. God came down to Moses, and said,
Now Moses, he said, I'm going to visit the people tomorrow,
the next day, in the giving of my law, and I want them to sanctify
themselves, that is, I want them to wash their bodies and wash
their clothes when they come into the presence of the Lord.
They are set apart, they're my people. They are accepted in
the Beloved, but I want them, I'm going to visit them with
my presence, and I want them cleaned up. In Joshua 3, verse
5, and Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow
the Lord will do wonders among you. God's going to visit us,
and God split the Jordan that day and sent the people through
on dry land. Now, in this third A man is actually
clean and holy and lives by principles of righteousness before the Lord
because he covets the presence of his God. And that's what we
mean in 1 Peter 1, 2 when it's said, through sanctification
of the Holy Spirit. Now let me read something to
you. One of the old Puritans said this. Sanctification is
a work performed in us. not for us. Justification is
a work performed for us, sanctification in us. And it begins in regeneration,
making us actually holy. Now, God in election and in sovereignty
chose us and set us apart. We're here. We're set apart for holy The
Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary legally justified
us, and in him we are accepted as holy, we're regarded as holy,
we're declared to be holy. But in the work of the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Spirit actually infuses into a man and a woman a new
nature called the Spirit, which is the higher nature. and the
believer becomes body, soul, and spirit. And in this he is distinct and
distinguished from all other people. He is a new creature
with a living spirit within him, the spirit of God. And that Spirit
of God produces some fruit. Now turn to Galatians chapter
5. That Spirit of God produces some
fruit. Now the Holy Spirit is the agent
that produces these fruits, the Holy Spirit that actually is
put within that man. The Holy Spirit produces, he's
the agent, he uses the means of the Word and the blood of
Christ, sanctified him through thy truth, thy word is truth.
But look, verse 22. Galatians 5, and the fruit of
the Spirit, the product, the produce, that which the Holy
Spirit produces when he comes in to dwell, is what? Love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.
That person who is truly saved and sanctified actually becomes
holy, and clean, and honest in his dealings with other people.
He acts on the principle of love, on the principle of faith, and
peace, and gentleness, and goodness, and humility, and temperance. Those are qualities, and those
are characteristics, and those are principles, and those are
convictions that actually are in him. They are a reality to
him. They are in the seed, they are
in the saffron, they're in the full-grown tree, but they're
there. They're there in various stages, they're there to various
degrees. They grow, they develop, that's
progressive sanctification, but they're there. They're actually
there. That's the best I can do on sanctification. That's the best I've come across.
It helps me. It meets my needs. And it fulfills,
I think, the word of God. And I hope God will bless it
to you. Our Father, for thy word we thank thee. We thank thee for teaching us
tonight. We believe that we'll go away from this study with
a better understanding of what we have by thy grace chosen,
selected, just common, ordinary, everyday sons of Adam, and yet
set apart by the Father, chosen