Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: POFCM
Program Code: POFCM000011
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00:39 Live from the 3ABN Worship Center,
00:42 welcome to the Pillars Of Our Faith event. 01:02 On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, 01:11 the emblem of suffering and shame. 01:21 And I love that old cross where the dearest and best 01:30 for a world of lost sinners was slain. 01:39 So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, 01:49 till my trophies at last I lay down. 01:58 I will cling to the old rugged cross, 02:08 and exchange it some day 02:13 for a crown. 02:22 To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, 02:31 its shame and its reproach gladly bear. 02:40 Then He'll call me some day to my home far away, 02:50 where His glory forever 02:57 I'll share. 03:04 So I'll cherish that 03:09 old rugged cross, 03:14 until my trophies at last I lay down. 03:22 Yes, I will cling to the old rugged cross, 03:32 and exchange it some day soon 03:37 for a crown. 03:42 I'll exchange it some day 03:52 for a crown. 04:15 Thank you Pastor Lomacang. 04:17 Well, our next speaker this evening is Shelley Quinn. 04:21 And she's been with us here at 3ABN now for several years 04:24 so we all know that she's a very gifted teacher. 04:26 She's also a very gifted author. 04:28 And she's an amazing author, as a matter of fact. 04:30 Just recently, the Lord impressed upon her heart 04:33 to write a book on prayer. 04:35 Pressing Into His Presence, I think is the name of it. 04:38 You know, it took her 24 days to write that book from 04:41 cover to cover. 04:42 She is a gracious lady, a lady of integrity and honor. 04:47 And I am just pleased to introduce her to you 04:49 this afternoon. 04:51 But before she comes, Reggie Smith is going to 04:53 come and sing for us as well, another one of 04:57 our Pillars songs. 04:58 Reggie, what's the name of the song you're going to sing? 05:00 Now Is The Day. 07:41 That was beautiful. 07:43 Well, it is so good to be here with you and it is my 07:46 great privilege today, to present to you 07:50 the doctrine of justification, sanctification, 07:54 and glorification. 07:56 That's my privilege. 07:57 The challenge is to get that all into this hour. 08:02 So let's go ahead and pray. 08:04 Heavenly Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus 08:07 asking, Father, that You'll get me out of the way, 08:10 that You'll speak through me. 08:12 Send Your Holy Spirit to be our teacher, 08:14 give us ears to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say. 08:18 And may Your word change our life. 08:21 In Jesus' name, amen. 08:23 You know, we have already established that Satan 08:26 was created as Lucifer, a perfect angel. 08:30 And he was perfectly upright, in right standing with God. 08:36 But something happened when iniquity entered his heart. 08:40 What happened? 08:41 He fell, he became bent over with his sin. 08:45 So the first sin that was ever experienced was the sin of what? 08:53 Pride. Yes, amen. 08:55 Now, there's an interesting little scripture in Habakkuk 2:4 08:59 and it says this, "Behold the proud, 09:03 his soul is not upright in him. " 09:08 So the proud does not have an upright soul. 09:11 "But the just shall live by faith. " 09:14 Faith in what? 09:15 Faith in God's plan of salvation offered as a free gift to us 09:21 who will open our hearts to receive it. 09:25 Jesus Christ completed everything that we need for 09:29 justification, sanctification, and glorification. 09:32 It is all about His life, His righteousness, 09:36 about His work to accomplish the divine will of God. 09:41 And Jesus is magnified in everything, 09:46 for we live and move and have our being in Him. 09:51 Let me give you, before we... 09:53 What I'm going to do is just give you quick definitions of 09:56 justification, sanctification, and glorification. 09:58 Then we'll kind of delve into it as deep as time permits. 10:02 Justification is being judged as free of guilt. 10:08 We are put in right standing with God, made righteous 10:13 through the work that Jesus Christ accomplished for us. 10:17 How many of you have ever watched an episode of CSI? 10:21 We have a few people willing to admit it here. 10:23 For those of you who haven't and for our world viewers, 10:26 CSI is a program about crime scene investigators 10:31 who are going out and they are looking for forensic evidence. 10:35 Forensic evidence is evidence that you can bring before 10:38 a judge, either to prove the guilt or the innocence 10:42 of the accused. 10:44 Now, when we think about justification, this is a 10:49 forensic act, a judicial act of God. 10:54 And it is all about, justification is accomplished 10:59 through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. 11:04 The righteousness that was credited to our overdrawn 11:09 spiritual bank account. 11:11 We have a debt that we could never repay. 11:14 Because the wages of sin is death. 11:17 So it's all about what Jesus has accomplished. 11:21 And in justification, the blood of Jesus is applied to 11:27 our records up there on the books of heaven 11:30 and the sins are blotted out. 11:33 Christ's character stands in place of our character. 11:38 Hallelujah. 11:39 Romans 8:33 says it this way. 11:41 "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? 11:46 It is God who justifies. " 11:51 And what justification does for the repentant sinner 11:55 is that it frees us from the penalty of sin. 12:00 Now sanctification is something, it is a process 12:05 of character transformation. 12:08 It sets us free from the power of sin. 12:13 We are set apart from the profane, 12:17 we are consecrated for God's holy work, 12:22 and we are made holy. 12:24 Did you know that's God's will for your life? 12:27 You know, people are always saying, 12:28 "What's God's will for my life?" 12:29 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, "This is the will of God for you, 12:34 your sanctification. " 12:38 Sanctification occurs through the imparted righteousness 12:43 of Jesus Christ. 12:44 This is the righteousness that is poured into our hearts 12:48 and our minds. 12:49 Sanctification is Christ in us. 12:53 Our only hope of glory. 12:56 When we are sanctified, we are made one with Christ Jesus. 13:01 And by sanctification, Christ is formed in us and our 13:06 natural lives are transformed into spiritual lives. 13:10 Can you imagine what it's like when we've finally reached that 13:14 point where His love, His holiness, His faith, His purity, 13:20 are really ours? 13:22 It's His goodness manifested in us and through us. 13:27 Sanctification is the natural progression of 13:30 the Christian life. 13:31 And justification just is the first step that give us... 13:37 We heard David Shin earlier talking, I told him I had to 13:40 take this out of my sermon. 13:42 The justification was in the outer court of the sanctuary 13:49 at the altar of burnt offering. 13:51 But sanctification is when you naturally go forward into 13:55 the holy place. 13:57 Now, glorification is also a process. 14:02 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that, "we all, with unveiled face, 14:07 beholding as in a mirror... " 14:10 This is the mirror. 14:11 "... the glory or image of God, are being transformed 14:16 from glory to glory, as by the Holy Spirit. " 14:21 Glory, what is God's glory? 14:24 His character. 14:26 So sanctification and glorification, in some parts, 14:30 are very similar because there's that character transformation 14:35 going on in the process of sanctification. 14:37 And as we are changed to be more like Jesus, 14:41 we are being glorified. 14:42 And we're going to look at that in just a moment. 14:44 But what I'd like you to do right now is turn to 14:47 Zechariah chapter 3. 14:51 And while you do that, something I left out was 14:54 glorification is ultimately consummated when this 15:00 mortality puts on immortality at the resurrection. 15:07 But Zechariah chapter 3. 15:09 Let me set this up for you. 15:11 Joshua was the first high priest after they 15:15 came out of captivity. 15:17 He is standing before the Lord, before the Angel of the Lord. 15:21 And who is the Angel of the Lord? 15:22 Jesus. 15:23 And all, you know, almost every Bible scholar 15:29 agrees that Jesus Christ is the Angel of the Lord. 15:33 But now I want you to take this testimony here, this story, 15:38 and make it personal. 15:39 Joshua is standing before the Angel of the Lord 15:42 It's you standing before the Angel of the Lord. 15:45 Think about that in your mind. 15:46 And the Bible says that he is clothed in filthy garments. 15:51 What do you mean the high priest is clothed in filthy garments? 15:56 What does Isaiah say in Isaiah 64 verse 4? 15:59 "All of our righteousness is as filthy rags before Him. " 16:05 The very best that Shelley Quinn can do is nothing. 16:11 It's just like filth before the Lord. 16:14 So without God, I can do nothing. 16:17 So here's Joshua standing before the High Priest. 16:21 Satan, the accuser of the brethren comes in 16:24 and he is standing there to oppose Joshua. 16:28 And he's pointing his little finger at him and saying, 16:32 "He has transgressed the law, he is not worthy to be saved, 16:37 nor are the people worthy to be saved. " 16:39 Now, he didn't think that Joshua should be restored 16:42 to divine favor. 16:44 Was he right? 16:46 You know, when you think about it, God does have a perfect 16:48 standard for living, doesn't He. 16:51 And that perfect standard of living is His divine law, 16:54 His law of love which is a reflection of His character. 17:00 And He does command created beings to conform to 17:05 that law, doesn't He. 17:07 But what do we do if we are standing before the 17:10 Angel of the Lord and here we are in these filthy garments 17:15 as Joshua was. 17:17 And Satan the accuser is pointing his finger and says, 17:22 "Shelley Quinn deserves to die. " 17:25 See, what Satan didn't take into account was God's 17:29 plan of salvation. 17:31 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, 17:34 but the Lord speaks to Satan and He says, 17:38 "The Lord rebuke you, Satan. 17:41 Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" 17:46 How many of you are brands plucked from the fire? 17:49 Amen. 17:50 Now let's look at what Zechariah 3 says 17:53 in verse 4, "Then He, Jesus, answered and spoke to those 17:58 who stood before Him saying, 'Take away the filthy 18:02 garments from him. '" 18:03 This is remission of sins. 18:06 "And He says to him," to Joshua, to Robert, 18:10 to Betty, to Linda, to Shelley, 18:12 "He says, 'See, I have removed your iniquity from you. '" 18:18 This is the perfect picture of justification. 18:22 "I will clothe you with rich robes. " 18:25 This imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ 18:30 that has been reckoned to our account. 18:33 And then He said, "Let them put a clean turban 18:37 on his head. " 18:38 The priest wore a turban and on their turban it said, 18:41 "Holiness to the Lord. " 18:43 This is, in my mind, as they put this, the scripture says, 18:48 "so they put a clean turban on his head. " 18:50 It's a picture of a sanctified mind. 18:52 "And they put the clothes on him and the Angel of 18:55 the Lord stood by approving. " 18:59 Doesn't that excite you to think if Joshua, the high priest, 19:03 who I imagine was a pretty righteous man, is what we would 19:07 take into account, if he can stand there in all of his best 19:13 and not be good enough but Jesus says, "Here, take those off. 19:17 Let Me put My robe of righteousness around you. 19:20 Here, let Me put My miter on you, 19:23 'Holiness to the Lord. '" 19:25 Now turn to Romans 3:23. 19:28 Romans 3:23. 19:30 There is no such thing as personal righteousness. 19:35 I am always amazed when someone comes to me and says, 19:37 "Do you believe in righteousness by faith?" 19:40 That's the only kind of righteousness that there is. 19:44 Because no created being measures up to the standard 19:49 that God holds out. 19:51 And you know what? 19:52 Satan is not omnipresent. 19:55 We're always saying, "You know, the devil made me do it. " 19:58 No, but one of his unholy alliance. 20:01 What he has is he's got all of these little unholy 20:05 angels out there. 20:06 And they're out there sent with assignments to trip us up. 20:09 But then they also act as those CSI agents to collect 20:14 the forensic evidence against us and to take it back to 20:19 Satan and say, "Ha ha, I caught Shelley Quinn. 20:21 She was gossiping. " 20:23 Uh-ho, now, so he can go to the Lord and say, 20:27 "She doesn't deserve Your divine favor. " 20:29 But what he's overlooking is God's plan of salvation. 20:35 Romans 3:23 20:37 Justification is an act of grace. 20:41 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. " 20:45 In the Greek, this is a present active tense. 20:49 All have sinned and continue to fall short of the glory of God. 20:54 I don't know that there's, I can honestly tell you there's 20:58 never been one day that I have been able to attain 21:02 to God's perfect character. 21:04 How about you when you think about that? 21:07 But look at verse 24. 21:09 "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption 21:17 that is in Christ Jesus. " 21:19 Isaiah 53 says in verse 11, he says, "By His knowledge 21:25 My righteous Servant shall justify many for He 21:31 shall bear their iniquities. " 21:34 We have One who has born our iniquities. 21:38 Now flip over to Romans 5. 21:40 Romans 5, actually Romans 5 and 7 are wonderful chapters 21:48 to understand justification. 21:50 Romans 5, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that 21:57 while we were still... " what? 22:00 "... sinners, Christ died for us. 22:04 Much more then, having now been justified... " how? 22:11 "... by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. " 22:16 Justification happens when we repent and accept the 22:22 Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, when we give our heart to Him. 22:27 And God credits to our account the atonement 22:32 provided by Jesus Christ. 22:33 We are justified through His atoning blood 22:36 and adopted as children of God. 22:38 But then when we repent, we also know that 22:42 He has, not only given us the divine mercy 22:47 by crediting Christ's righteousness, His perfect 22:50 conformity to the law, to our account, 22:53 but the sinner is also restored at that point before God. 22:59 Here we were like Habakkuk, as Habakkuk said, 23:02 we were bent over. 23:04 And the minute that we receive Christ or we repent of our sins, 23:08 we are in right standing with God. 23:12 Isn't that exciting to think that you can be in right 23:15 standing with the Holy God? 23:18 When you can say, "I am justified, it is just as if 23:24 I'd never sinned. " 23:26 Hallelujah. 23:27 Now continuing on in Romans 5, verse 16. 23:31 "For the judgment which came from one offense... " 23:34 That's Adam's offense and we know what that judgment was. 23:38 It's death. 23:39 "... resulted in condemnation," the spiritual death, 23:43 "... but the free gift," of salvation, 23:46 "which came from many offenses resulted in justification. " 23:51 Into that right standing with God. 23:54 That new spiritual life that we've been given. 23:56 "For if by the one man's offense," Adam's offense, 24:01 "death reigned through the one, much more those who receive 24:05 abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness 24:09 will reign in life through Christ Jesus. " 24:13 Isn't that exciting. 24:16 Think about that. 24:18 You have received an abundance of grace 24:21 and the gift of righteousness. 24:25 And he goes on in verse 18 to say, "Therefore, as through 24:29 one man's offense judgment came to all men resulting in 24:32 condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act," 24:39 speaking of Jesus, "the free gift came to all men, 24:44 resulting in justification of life. 24:49 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, 24:54 so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. " 25:00 You know, Isaiah said in Isaiah 61:10, 25:03 "I will greatly rejoice and take joy in the Lord 25:09 who has covered me, He has clothed me with the 25:12 garment of salvation and He has covered me with a 25:16 robe of righteousness. " 25:18 And justification results in peace; 25:22 peace of mind, peace with God. 25:25 No longer are we at odds with God, but now we have 25:29 true peace with God. 25:30 Look back in Romans 5 verse 1. 25:33 It says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith.. " 25:40 How are we justified? 25:41 By faith. Faith in what? 25:43 In Jesus and what He has accomplished for us. 25:47 "... we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 25:50 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace 25:56 in which we stand. " 25:58 Let me tell you something, grace is more than a gift of God. 26:01 Grace is a supernatural power, the divine 26:05 assistance for salvation. 26:08 And we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. 26:13 "And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. " 26:17 Hope there is eager expectation. 26:19 We rejoice in the eager expectation of receiving 26:22 the glory of God, the character of God. 26:25 By faith we accept that divine justice was met at the cross. 26:32 We are pronounced just by our Creator Judge. 26:37 God declares that the punishment, don't miss 26:42 this part because if you miss this part, you will not 26:44 understand justification. 26:47 When God looks at our record and we've received Christ 26:53 and all He sees is that blood stained smear of His 26:57 precious Son's blood on our record book, 27:01 what He says is, "There's no forensic evidence 27:04 against them. " 27:06 He's saying, He's declaring that punishment cannot be 27:11 justly inflicted because there is no forensic 27:15 evidence against us. 27:17 You know, Jesus tells a parable in Luke 18. 27:20 And He tells it saying, He begins it by saying, 27:24 this parable is for those who trusted in themselves 27:28 that they were righteous. 27:30 Hmm, hmm, hmm. 27:32 As C.A. would say, "Hmm, hmm, hmm. " 27:35 He's telling this about the Pharisee and the tax collector 27:40 who are in the temple and they're praying. 27:43 And the Pharisee is saying, "Oh Lord," in that voice, 27:47 "I thank You that I am not like other sinners; 27:50 extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 27:54 or even like this tax collector. 27:57 Oh Lord, I give a tithe every week. 28:02 Oh Lord, I fast twice a week. 28:05 Lord, I'm caffeine free. I'm a vegan. 28:08 I'm not like this other one. " 28:12 And then the tax collector, standing over, won't even 28:16 really approach, he's standing there and he's beating his chest 28:21 and he can't even look up to heaven. 28:23 His head is hung down in shame. 28:26 He recognizes his sin. 28:28 He recognizes there's nothing he can do to save himself. 28:31 And he says, "Oh Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. " 28:36 And listen what Jesus says in Luke 18:14. 28:39 "I tell you, this man," the tax collector, "went down to his 28:44 house justified, he went down justified rather than the other. 28:50 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, 28:54 and he who humbles himself will be exalted. " 28:58 Now you should still be in Romans, flip back to 29:01 Romans chapter 3. 29:04 If tithing, fasting twice a week, keeping the law, 29:10 if this won't justify us, let's look at what Paul says 29:14 in Romans 3:27. 29:16 He says, "Where is boasting then? 29:20 It is excluded. 29:22 By what Law? Of works? 29:24 No, but by the law of faith. 29:26 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified... " 29:32 How? 29:33 ..."by faith apart from," what? 29:35 "... the deeds of the law. " 29:37 It's not law keeping that's going to make you justified. 29:40 That Pharisee was a law keeper. 29:42 But look what Paul says in verse 31 because that 29:45 is really important. 29:46 He says, "Do we then make void the law through faith? 29:50 Certainly not. 29:52 On the contrary, we establish the law. " 29:58 Justification is a gift declaring that Christ's 30:02 righteousness has been given to us. 30:04 Christ, who perfectly satisfied the law of God. 30:10 The law of God is not relaxed. 30:12 It is not set aside. 30:14 But it is declared to be fulfilled 30:18 in Christ's righteousness and then credited to our account. 30:22 So when God declares us justified, guess what? 30:27 That entitles us to all the privileges, all the rewards 30:32 that perfect obedience to the law entitles us. 30:37 And faith is the only instrument by which we can seize hold 30:42 of Jesus Christ, seize hold of justification. 30:46 You know, in the Bible Paul persuasively argues 30:50 one aspect of justification. 30:53 And he does it from the stand point of before 30:58 the act of being justified. 31:00 He says good works are not the ground for justification. 31:05 Man is not justified by conformity to the law 31:09 or dependant on rights or ceremonies. 31:13 But we are only justified by the work of God. 31:15 Yet Paul says, good works, as we just saw while in verse 31, 31:22 are not the ground, but they are the consequence 31:26 of justification. 31:27 When we are justified, we will establish the law. 31:32 Now turn to James chapter 2. 31:35 Because sometimes people will say, "Well, Paul says this 31:40 but James says that. " 31:41 Paul was arguing the aspect of the doctrine of justification 31:48 before you're justified, and what James is doing 31:52 is persuasively arguing a different aspect of the 31:56 doctrine of justification from the standpoint 31:59 after you're justified. 32:01 James says in James 2:20, we'll begin, "But do you want to know, 32:06 O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 32:11 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he 32:14 offered Isaac his son on the alter? 32:15 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, 32:20 and by works faith was made perfect. 32:25 And the scripture was fulfilled which said, 32:28 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him 32:31 for righteousness. ' 32:32 And he was called the friend of God. " 32:37 Can we be a friend of God if we have not given Him our heart 32:43 and walking in obedience to Him? 32:46 But he goes on in verse 24, he says, "You see then 32:49 that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. " 32:53 So what James is doing here is arguing that after we have been 32:58 justified, we will conform to God's law as evidence of 33:04 our genuine faith, as evidence that we have been justified. 33:11 Genuine faith seeks to obey the divine will of God. 33:17 And I'll tell you what, if we're not obeying God's divine will, 33:23 I mean, that's indispensable to true religion, is it not? 33:27 So true justification then leads to sanctification. 33:34 Let me give you Matthew 6:12, we don't have time to turn there. 33:39 Listen to this and listen for which part is justification 33:42 and sanctification. 33:43 This is the Lord's prayer. 33:45 Jesus said, "Forgive us our debts. " 33:48 What is that? 33:50 Justification or sanctification? 33:51 Justification. 33:53 "Forgive us our debts. " 33:54 We don't have the ability to repay this debt. 33:57 "Forgive us this debt. " 33:59 But then He goes on and says, "Do not lead us into temptation, 34:04 but deliver us from evil. " 34:06 What's that? 34:07 Sanctification. 34:09 When our sin debt is forgiven, we're anxious not to offend God. 34:14 We desire sanctification. 34:16 Personal holiness is not the cause of our justification, 34:22 but it is the consequence of our justification. 34:26 So justification takes just a moment. 34:31 When we repent, when you have repented of your sin, 34:34 don't beat yourself up. 34:36 Don't keep confessing it over and over, and being under 34:41 that condemnation. 34:42 But now sanctification, learning to walk 34:46 in the harmony of His will, is the work of a lifetime. 34:51 Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. 34:54 Hebrews chapter 12. 34:57 You know, I use to read where the Lord said, 35:01 "Be holy for I am holy. " 35:05 Does that sound like a suggestion? 35:09 No it doesn't, does it. 35:10 It sounds like God's commanding us. 35:13 And let me tell you a secret. 35:16 Any time God commands us to do anything, 35:19 He will give us the power to accomplish it. 35:23 His commands are His promise. 35:27 So if God requires us to be holy, He's saying, 35:30 "I promise you, I will make you holy. " 35:33 Hebrews 12 verse 14. 35:37 Hebrews 12 verse 14, the Bible says, 35:40 "Pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. " 35:48 Let me ask you. 35:49 Does that make you feel a little bit afraid to know that 35:53 you're suppose to be pursuing holiness? 35:55 Yeah. 35:57 It's like, "Oh Lord, what do I do to pursue holiness?" 36:01 And some of us have this kind of a convoluted idea 36:06 of what holiness is. 36:08 We've seen these holiness movements and this is where 36:11 the women have got their hair... 36:13 If anyone's dressed like this, I haven't seen you and I'm not 36:16 condemning this, but I'm saying, you know the women 36:19 have got their hair turned back into that tight little bun 36:22 and their faces are scrubbed and they've got on these long skirts 36:27 and they walk two feet behind their husbands 36:29 to show submission. 36:30 And the men are walking around like this. 36:34 And they're nothing more than white washed tombs 36:39 with dead bones on the inside because they've got the idea 36:45 that they can make themselves holy. 36:47 We cannot make ourselves holy. 36:50 But to pursue means to seek. 36:54 Seek. 36:55 Holiness is sanctification. 36:57 Seek sanctification. 36:59 Now that's not nearly as scary, is it? 37:01 Seek sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord. 37:05 See, sanctification stresses a personal level, 37:08 a personal dimension of holiness. 37:11 And that is, as we've already said, God's will for your life. 37:16 There are six ways that I have found, and I want to deliver 37:21 to you today, that we are sanctified. 37:24 Usually we think of this as just the work of the Holy Spirit. 37:28 But there are 6 ways the Bibles tells us that we are sanctified. 37:31 We are sanctified through God the Father, 37:34 Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the word of God, 37:38 by faith, through obedience. 37:41 Six different ways. 37:43 So if we are to pursue holiness, we are to seek sanctification 37:49 in these six ways. 37:51 Now one thing I want you to notice, there is no 37:54 number seven on this list. 37:56 We, some of us try, we know 7 is the number of perfection 38:00 or completeness, and some of us think, "Well, we ought to 38:03 add one more and that is that we will sanctify by the Pharisee. " 38:08 Do you know what I mean? 38:09 Oh please, please. 38:13 God tells us to be fishers of men. 38:17 We're to put that beautiful bait, the wonderful gospel, 38:23 we're to cast out the word of the gospel. 38:27 But nowhere does He tell us to be cleaners of those fish. 38:32 We are, yes, to teach what His word says, 38:36 to be gentle in heart, teaching in a loving way. 38:39 But, you know, it amazes me how often I have had 38:43 someone come to me when I'm out speaking and say, 38:47 "I almost didn't join the church. " 38:49 Or, "I left the church for a long time. 38:52 I'm just now come back because when I first joined, 38:55 sister Jones just chewed me up one end and down the other 39:00 every Sabbath for something that I was doing. " 39:03 Because sister Jones took it upon her to think that she was 39:07 the one to do the sanctification. 39:08 Do you all know what I'm saying? 39:10 You're being quiet. 39:12 We've got to be careful. 39:14 We are sanctified by God the Father. 39:17 So we should seek, if we're going to pursue holiness, 39:20 seek sanctification through a relationship 39:23 with God the Father. 39:24 We won't have time to look these up, so just if you're a 39:27 note take, jot down the scriptures. 39:30 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "Now may the God of peace 39:35 Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, 39:40 soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming 39:44 of our Lord Jesus Christ. " 39:46 Who's doing the sanctification? 39:48 The God of peace. 39:50 And Jude 1 tells us it is God the Father. 39:53 Jude says, "To those who are sanctified, called 39:57 by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. " 40:02 Hallelujah. 40:03 See, God sanctifies us. 40:06 Paul wrote to the Philippians, "It is God who works in you 40:11 to will and to do according to His good purposes. " 40:18 This is God's job. 40:20 He has predestined you to be conformed to the 40:24 image of His Son. 40:25 That's what Romans 8:29 says. 40:27 And you know what? 40:28 He works all things in conformity to His will. 40:32 That's what Ephesians 1:11 says. 40:34 So if He's predestined this, He's going to do a good 40:37 job of doing it. 40:38 So what's our part? 40:40 Our part is to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, 40:45 to seek a relationship with the Lord. 40:48 He's got a plan for our life. 40:50 And He tells us in Jeremiah 29 that when we recognize this, 40:54 we will seek Him with all of our heart and we will find Him. 40:58 And Hebrews 11:6 tells us that He rewards those 41:02 who diligently, earnestly seek Him. 41:07 Now number 2, Christ is our sanctification. 41:12 Hallelujah. 41:14 You all ought to be getting excited when you 41:17 think about this. 41:18 So if we're going to pursue holiness, seek sanctification, 41:21 we should be seeking a relationship with Christ. 41:24 We should be seeking to be in Christ Jesus. 41:28 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that because of Him, because of God, 41:34 we are in Christ. 41:36 Here's Christ, the head of the church. 41:38 Shelley was over here before I accepted Him. 41:41 But once I accepted Jesus Christ, He lined me up. 41:46 I'm in Christ. 41:47 He's now the head and I am part of His body. 41:51 And He says that He is, He became for us wisdom from God, 41:56 our righteousness, our sanctification. 42:02 Jesus is our sanctification and redemption. 42:07 That's why Paul can say in 2 Corinthians 5:21, 42:10 "He, God, made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us 42:15 that we might become the righteousness of God 42:19 in Christ Jesus. " 42:22 Amen. 42:24 Hebrews 10:10 says, "We are sanctified through the offering 42:28 of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. " 42:34 Hebrews 13:12 says we are sanctified by His blood. 42:39 Listen, "Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people 42:44 with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. " 42:48 So, what are we to do? 42:49 We're to put on Christ Jesus. 42:52 We're to put off the old and put on Jesus Christ. 42:56 And in John 15:5, what Jesus said is, "Abide in Me. 43:03 I'm the vine, you're the branch. 43:06 Apart from Me, you can do... " what? 43:09 "... nothing. " 43:10 Now number 3, we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 43:16 So we should pursue holiness, seek sanctification, 43:22 by seeking to be filled day by day with His Holy Spirit. 43:27 Through the Spirit we're born again, we're sanctified, 43:31 He renews our mind, He writes God's law of love on our hearts, 43:36 and He gives us the power to live a holy life. 43:39 Listen to this, 2 Thessalonians 2:13. 43:44 "We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, 43:47 brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has from the 43:51 beginning chosen you for salvation through sanctification 43:56 by the Spirit and belief in the truth. " 44:01 And it is something that God puts; a new heart. 44:06 He promised from the Old Testament, "I'll give you a 44:09 new heart and a new spirit. " 44:11 So now turn to Ephesians 3 verse 16. 44:15 I want to show you something. 44:17 Ephesians 3 and verse 16. 44:23 I was so relieved when I learned, I don't know, 44:27 is there anyone in here who suffered from what I suffered? 44:30 I tried so hard to be holy. 44:35 I tried my best and I never felt I could do enough for the Lord. 44:41 Oh Lord, if only I'd read my Bible a little bit longer. 44:44 If only I'd pray a little bit longer. 44:45 If I'd only do more mission work. 44:46 If I'd only do this, if I'd only do that. 44:48 Oh Lord, if I could only... 44:50 And you just get exhausted. 44:53 I mean, I just couldn't be holy enough. 44:56 And then you know what happens when you get exhausted? 44:58 You start feeling condemned and you start turning your back 45:02 on the Lord because it's just like, "I give up. " 45:05 I wonder how many people come to church Sabbath after Sabbath 45:09 and they're coming because it is the culturally correct thing 45:13 to do, but in their hearts they're just numb because 45:17 they think, "I'll never have salvation. " 45:19 See, if we recognize that it's God, it's Jesus Christ, 45:23 it's His Spirit sanctifying us. 45:25 Let's look at this Ephesians 3:16. 45:28 He says, "That He would grant you," he's praying, 45:33 "that He would grant you, according to the riches 45:35 of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His 45:41 Spirit in the inner man. " 45:43 Now skip down to verse 20. 45:47 "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly 45:51 above all that we ask or think, according to the power 45:54 that works within us. " 45:55 What is that power that works within us? 45:58 We just looked at it. 45:59 We're strengthened with might through His Holy Spirit. 46:03 To Him be the glory. 46:05 It's God doing this work in you. 46:09 We are to walk by the Spirit. 46:13 We live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. 46:16 And if we do, Paul told the Galatians, "we will not fulfill 46:19 the lust of the flesh. " 46:21 Romans 8:13 and 14 says this. 46:27 "If you live according to the flesh you will die. 46:32 But if you, by the power of the Holy Spirit... " 46:38 Notice there's two agents here. 46:39 "... you, by the power of the Holy Spirit," you co-operating 46:45 with the Holy Spirit, "put to death the misdeeds of 46:49 your flesh, you will live. " 46:51 You'll have eternal life. 46:53 You can't do it on your own. 46:56 You can't do it without the Holy Spirit. 46:58 Guess what, the Holy Spirit can't do it without you. 47:00 The struggle of sanctification is surrender. 47:08 I mean, we want to drive our own bus. 47:10 The struggle of sanctification is saying, "Ok, I'll let You 47:14 drive and I'll sit over here in this second seat. " 47:20 But God wants us to know that the Holy Spirit is the One 47:26 who will teach us, who will guide us into all truth. 47:29 And how do we receive the Holy Spirit? 47:33 Luke 11 verse 9, these are Jesus' words. 47:36 He says, "Ask and it will be given to you; 47:40 seek and you will find; knock and the door will be 47:44 opened unto you. " 47:46 And you know, again, these are present active conditions. 47:50 These are linear verbs. 47:51 Jesus is saying, if you wanted to make a perfect translation 47:55 into English, it should read this way. 47:57 "Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, 48:02 knock and keep on knocking, and it will be given to you. " 48:06 And He tell us in verse 13 what He is instructing us to ask for. 48:12 He says, "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts 48:15 to your children, how much more, how much more will your 48:19 heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask 48:23 and keep on asking. " 48:25 And the reason we have to keep on asking is not because 48:28 we're begging, it's not because He's not going to 48:31 give Him to us. 48:32 He is eager to give the Holy Spirit to us. 48:35 The reason we keep on asking is because we quench the Spirit. 48:39 I mean, day by day we should get up and not even leave the house 48:43 until we say, "Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit. " 48:46 We are sanctified by God's truth, the holy Bible. 48:52 So, if we are going to pursue holiness, seek sanctification, 48:58 we should seek a relationship with this word. 49:02 If you want an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, 49:06 there's only one way. 49:08 Have an intimate relationship with His word. 49:11 Jesus prayed in the garden. 49:13 In John 17:17, it records this beautiful prayer. 49:16 And He says, "Oh Lord, sanctify them by Your truth. 49:20 Your word is truth. " 49:23 I try to remember to pray that every time I pick up this Bible. 49:26 "Lord, don't let me just be studying this to answer the 49:29 Sabbath school, the quarterly questions. 49:31 But Father God, sanctify me. 49:35 Do a work in me. 49:36 Your word has transforming power. " 49:39 James says when it's implanted in the soul, 49:41 it has got the power to save your soul. 49:43 Plant it in the heart. 49:45 This is a word that is alive and active. 49:48 This is a word that will divide and do this little 49:53 surgery on your heart. 49:56 "Jesus," Paul says to the Ephesians in Ephesians 5 50:01 verse 25-27, "Christ loved the church and gave Himself 50:05 for her that He might sanctify her and cleanse her 50:12 by the washing of the water of the word, 50:15 the He might make her a glorious bride without spot or wrinkle. " 50:20 As we come to the word, it washes away the attitudes 50:26 that we have picked up in the world. 50:29 It renews our mind. 50:32 It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. 50:36 So what should we do? 50:38 Seek to abide in the word. 50:40 What did Jesus say in John 8:31? 50:43 "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples. 50:47 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will 50:52 set you free. " 50:53 You can know the truth and the truth won't set you free 50:58 if you're not abiding in the word. 51:01 See, knowing the truth is up here. 51:05 Knowing the truth is intellectual, 51:09 or it can be intellectual, but abiding in the truth 51:13 gets it here. 51:14 This is where you're living in the word of God. 51:17 That's when you're set free. 51:20 Now Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing, 51:25 and hearing by the word of God. " 51:26 We are sanctified by faith. 51:30 So what we should do is seek to develop more faith. 51:36 And you know faith is a gift, isn't it. 51:38 The Bible says that every one of us have been given a 51:41 measure of faith. 51:42 So how do we create more faith? 51:45 Faith comes by hearing; hearing by the word of God. 51:50 So the word of God. 51:52 Little word, little faith. 51:56 The more word that is in your heart, 51:58 the greater your faith will be. 52:03 And so faith is critical for this. 52:09 We live by faith in Christ. 52:11 We're kept by the power of God through faith. 52:15 This is the race of faith. 52:16 Now, we are sanctified for the purpose of obedience. 52:21 I don't know what everybody's problem is with obedience. 52:24 It is by grace, it is by the power of God working in us 52:28 to will and to act according to His good purpose. 52:30 So we should, if we were going to pursue holiness, 52:33 we should seek sanctification by seeking to obey. 52:37 1 Peter 1:2, Peter's writing and he says, "To the elect 52:42 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 52:44 in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience. " 52:51 Here's how it says it in the amplified. 52:53 "You who are chosen and foreknown by God the Father, 52:56 consecrated, sanctified, made holy by the Spirit, 53:01 to be obedient to Jesus Christ, the Messiah. " 53:09 Did you know the Bible says obedience leads 53:11 to righteousness? 53:13 Romans 6:16, "Do you not know that to whom your present 53:17 yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom 53:21 you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience 53:25 leading to righteousness. " 53:28 Don't think for one minute that obedience is legalistic. 53:36 We don't obey to be saved, we obey because we are saved. 53:42 Jesus didn't obey to become the Son of God. 53:46 He obeyed because He was the Son of God. 53:52 And John tells us in 1 John 2:28-29, 53:56 "Little children, abide in Him that when He appears 54:01 we may have confidence and not be ashamed 54:04 before Him at His coming. 54:06 If you know that He is righteous, you know that 54:11 everyone who practices righteousness... " 54:17 What is righteousness? 54:18 It's God's right way of doing things. 54:21 "... everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. " 54:26 That's why he says, "Be doers of the word and not hearers only. " 54:36 Glorification. 54:37 I just have a few minutes left. 54:41 Romans 8:30 54:44 Justification leads to sanctification. 54:50 Sanctification leads to glorification. 54:54 Romans 8:30 says this. 54:58 "Moreover whom He predestined, those He also called. " 55:04 By the way, predestiny is not, 55:09 you've got the whole front row lined up and Him going, 55:12 "One, two, three, four, five. Ok, Rose, you're in. 55:15 One, two, three, four, five. Oh, you're in. 55:17 One, two, three, four, five. Ah ha, you're in. " 55:21 That's not predestination. 55:24 Predestination is God's Calvary plan, 55:28 that from the beginning He determined that whoever would 55:32 accept His Son, Jesus Christ, by faith and what He accomplished 55:36 for him, He predestined that they would be conformed 55:40 to the image of His Son. 55:42 "So those He predestined, He also called; 55:45 whom He called, those He justified; 55:48 whom He justified, these He also glorified. " 55:54 Isn't that interesting. 55:55 That's in the past tense. 55:57 You are glorified. 55:59 God knows the end from the beginning. 56:01 He calls things that are not as though they already were. 56:05 We've already looked at this whole process. 56:08 2 Corinthians 3:18 talks about how the Holy Spirit is 56:12 leading us from one level of God's glory to the next. 56:17 But the final, turn to 1 Corinthians 15, if you will. 56:22 Wouldn't you know, I brought the wrong Bible with me today. 56:25 This is that little bitty print that I'm going to have a 56:27 hard time reading. 56:30 1 Corinthians 15 and let's look at verse 43 first. 56:38 This is glorification. 56:43 Let's start with verse 42. 56:50 "So also is the resurrection of the dead. 56:54 The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 57:00 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. 57:04 It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 57:07 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 57:13 There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. " 57:17 Skip down to verse 53. 57:21 Because this is the consummation of glorification 57:26 when we become perfectly like Him. 57:28 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 57:32 and this mortal must put on immortality. " 57:39 The consummation of the glorious process of what happened, 57:44 what God began at our new birth, 1 John 3:2, John sums it up. 57:50 "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been 57:54 revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed 58:00 we shall be..." justified, sanctified, glorified, 58:06 "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. " 58:15 So also shall we be. |
Revised 2014-12-17