Spots, Wrinkles

&

Every

Such Thing

whatever happened to the doctrine of sanctification & god’s answer to the real lord’s prayer?

 

-5-

 

As we conclude, I’d like you to reflect on what The Scriptures have to say. Sanctification is an essential doctrine of The Church, but how often have you heard this truth taught? It’s casually mentioned by some & wholly ignored by others. However, as we have seen, without it we will miss a richness & a fullness to our lives as believers. God is not trying to spoil our experience. He seeks to enhance it. This process begins when we are saved, but we must embrace it. At a time when The Church at large seems more interested in the goods that they are in God, we have to return to a biblical vantage point. There is so much talk of revival, prosperity, faith, power, revelation & dominion. But there is little or no talk of the closeness & intimacy The Lord wants to have with us through a sanctified life. Moreover, The Lord Jesus prayed along these lines for His disciples & for us by extension. God wants to answer that prayer. John says, ‘That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.’. (1^st John 1:3). Before you read any further, take a breath. You may not agree with every sentiment in every sentence I write, but do one thing. Commit yourself to a closer walk with The Lord. He will take you on. He wants to do it. He waits to do it. He wills to do it. Faithful is He who has called you. Now let’s look further into the prayer that The Lord Jesus prayed for us.

¹³ And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world (John 17:13-16). 

Sanctification enables us to have the joy of our full & free salvation. How then is the joy of Christ fulfilled in us? By us knowing what pleases Him & endeavouring to do those things. This is not works. This is obedience. The Lord left us an example of how He always pleased The Father, from His baptism through to His crucifixion. ‘And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’. (Matthew 3:16-17).

⁵ While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Matthew 17:5). 

Peter recounts this event, while reminding us that we have something more sure than experience. His Word. He says, ‘For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.’. (2^nd Peter 1:17-19).

 ²⁹ And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. ³⁰ As he spake these words, many believed on him. ³¹ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; ³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’. (John 8:29-32).

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2).

Shouldn’t we want to do the same? John says, ‘He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.’. (1^st John 2:6). Paul says, ‘For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.’. (Galatians 1:10).

¹⁷ Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world (1^st John 4:17).

Brethren, The Lord can accomplish these things in us. He wants to. He waits to. He wills to. Jesus continues, praying that we be kept from the evil. He instructed us to pray thus (Matthew 6:13). Remember the words of Paul; ‘But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.’.(2^nd Thessalonians 3:3).

⁹ But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: ¹⁰ Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us (2^nd Corinthians 1:9-10).

¹⁷ Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. ¹⁸ And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen (2^nd Tomothy 4:17-18). 

Brethren, are you getting the picture? Do you see the richness of fellowship that Jesus Christ is calling us into? Shouldn’t we want to receive the answer to The Lord’s prayer? If sanctification has never been a consideration in your life, I implore you to commit yourself to the heavenly process. Allow God to answer The Lord’s prayer in your life. I want Him to answer it in mine.

¹⁷ Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. ¹⁸ As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. ²⁰ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; ²¹ That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. ²² And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: ²³ I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me (John 17:17-23). 

In my reading of The Lord’s prayer, this is the crux of the matter. The sanctifying, transformative power of the truth of The Word. Some have confused the issue of unity by being willing to compromise orthodoxy & heterodoxy. Three little words clear this up for us. Jesus uses them here & further back in John 17:11. Those words are, as we are. We cannot have any true unity unless it around the truth of The Word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is God’s Word & God’s truth (John 1:1-2 & 14:6). He was sanctified & sent into the world (John 10:36) & seeks to do the same in, through & for us. will we yield?

¹³ And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God (Revelation 19:13).

In the world, truth is relative. We are ardently encouraged to live our truth, even if it’s subjective. In The Church at large, little or nothing is said concerning God’s objective truth. We have sermonettes to christianettes, which you could easily take or leave, because there is no threat where there is no truth.

The enemy lies very well & The Church tells the truth very badly. Not so with The Lord.

Paul says, ‘These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’. (1^st Timothy 3:14-15). The sanctifying nature of the truth of The Word separates us from error & to Christ. John says, ‘I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.’. (1^st John 2:21). This is important & most especially as parts of The Church are drifting blindly towards ecumenicalism with their arms wide open & their eyes wide shut.

¹⁴ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? ¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, ¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (2^nd Corinthians 6:14-18). 

I will not apologise for resisting the broadening of the appeal of The Church, when The Lord Jesus Christ clearly said that narrow is the way & there are few that find it (Matthew 7:14).

There is no way under God’s blue heaven or on God’s green earth, that The Lord Jesus meant that we are to join hands with agnostics, atheists, anti-semitic sympathisers, heretics or idol worshippers, in His name. These swill around within The Church at large, like cancerous cells seeking attachment to healthy tissue.

Unite? With them? Never! Untie! I can already hear the angry clicking sound as many an email is stabbed out on keyboards around the world. The unity around the truth of The Word is what Jesus spoke of & the apostles defended that in order to maintain doctrinal purity. Let The Lord sanctify us with His truth, His Word is truth. Then our fellowship is sweeeeeet.

²⁴ Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. ²⁶ And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:24-26). 

The culmination of The Lord’s plan is for us to be with Him (1^st Thessalonians 4:17). He takes us from justification, through sanctification, to glorification. John says, ‘Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.’. (1^st John 3:1) & ‘Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.’. (1^st John 5:1). This series has not been an exhaustive attempt to cover this subject. We haven’t delved into the typology of sanctification used in the Old Testament. We haven’t spoken about the sacrifices. Salt. Wheat. Ritual cleanliness. But I trust that what we have spoken about is sufficient to stir our hearts to go to The Lord & simply ask Him to work in our hearts & lives.

¹⁷ Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness (2^nd Peter 3:17).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

copyright © by David Samuel Parkins mmxxv all rights reserved.

no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is presented & without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

 

 

Spots, Wrinkles

&

Every

Such Thing

whatever happened to the doctrine of sanctification & god’s answer to the real lord’s prayer?

 

-4-

 

In this penultimate piece we have to ask, what is our sanctification? What does it mean to & for us as believers? Why is it necessary & more importantly, why has The Church at large fundamentally neglected it? I think that once we begin to search The Scriptures as an active part of our discipleship & fellowship with The Lord, we will begin to see the answers to these questions. Zephaniah says, ‘The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.’ (Zephaniah 3:17). Some of us act as though God is crooning that old song by Billy Joel, ‘I love you just the way you are.’. Nothing could be further from the truth. In order for us to approach a holy God, we must first, be born again (John 3:3-7). This is justification. In this action, our initial salvation, The Lord saves us from the penalty of sin. When Jesus Christ returns for His Church & removes it from the earth, we will be saved from the presence of sin. This is glorification. However now, while we are still here living in the world, He is saving us from the power of sin. This, in essence, describes our sanctification; it is a separation & it is a preparation.

²⁹ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

Before I go any further, let me make something clear. Those who take these verses & use them to somehow teach that Jesus Christ was the first person ever to be born again, are dead wrong. That teaching spouted by word of faith heretics ought to be set on fire & rolled down a steep hill into a fast flowing river. Also, there is a current fashionable trend among progressives who like to claim that we have God’s DNA. What an utterly ridiculous statement. It is absolute garbage. It is a perfect storm of the biblically ignorant instructing the biblically Illiterate. They say, ‘..you’re not a little bit like God, you’re exactly like Him!’. Paul isn’t saying either of those stupid things here. So, what is he saying?

¹ Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called (Jude 1:1).

Ultimately, this is what The Lord wants for His Church. Predestination is always according to God’s foreknowledge (1^st Peter 1:2) & from His eternal perspective He has decreed that we are to be conformed to the image of His Son. If we look again at the prayer that The Lord Jesus offered up in John 17, we will see that this is God’s answer to it.

⁶ I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. ⁷ Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. ⁸ For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me (John 17:6-8). 

These verses remind me of the words of Isaiah; ‘For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, ¹² Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. ¹³ Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. ¹⁶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. ¹⁷ And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. ¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion (Isaiah 8:11-18). Perhaps The Lord was thinking of these words as He prayed.

Peter says, ‘But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (1^st Peter 3:14-15). Perhaps Peter thought of Isaiah 8 as he wrote this epistle.

⁹ I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. ¹⁰ And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. (John 17:9-11).

The Lord prays for His disciples & us by extension. He declares that they are His & God’s. He further states that He is glorified in them. Is He glorified in us? Is He glorified in you? Is He glorified in me? Is He glorified in The Church? We are in the world, but we are not of it. My first Pastor always taught us that ‘..if a fish can swim in the sea & yet not taste of salt when it is caught & eaten; if a stone can lie in a river & yet be dry when it is cut open; God can keep us unspotted from the world.’. (James 1:27).

Paul says, ‘For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.’. (1^st Corinthians 6:20) & ‘And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.’ (2^nd Corinthians 3:23) & again, ‘When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2^nd Thessalonians 1:10-12). God wants to answer the prayer His Son prayed for us. We must give ourselves to His process of sanctification.

¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (1^st John 2:15-17).

Paul says, ‘..the fashion of this world passeth away (1^st Corinthians 7:31). Remember Demas? He deserted Paul ‘..having loved this present world.’. (2^nd Timothy 4:10). The Lord gave Himself for our sins, ‘..that he might deliver us from this present evil world..’. (Galatians 1:4). I could go on & on, but let’s look at what The Lord prayed next.

 ¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled  (John 17:12).

We have already seen that we are washed, sanctified & justified in His name (1^st Corinthians 6:11). Peter says that we are ‘..kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’. (1^st Peter 1:5). Jude says, ‘And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.’. (Jude 23-24).

¹³ I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; ¹⁴ That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: (1^st Timothy 6:13-14).

What about Judas? He is a prime example of those The Lord wants to sanctify, but cannot, because of their choices. Indeed, his particular case is unique because it was prophesied, yet we still have instructions concerning those who live this way in our midst. Paul says, ‘Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.’. (1^st Corinthians 5:6-13). 

Funnily enough, on the same night that The Lord was betrayed, the same night that satan entered Judas, Jesus spoke to Peter saying, ‘..Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.’. (Luke 22:31-34). Brethren, God will reject the wicked, while He has compassion on the ignorant (Hebrews 5:2). We still need our feet to be washed & only Christ can do it. He knows how unsanctified we are & how sanctified we could be. He knows what we have need of.

Perhaps Peter remembered that night when he encouraged us saying, ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.’. (1^st Peter 5:8-10). 

On the same night that The Lord was betrayed, He removed the wicked person. He sent Judas out. When Paul recounts the events of the so called last supper, he rebukes the Corinthians; ‘For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.’. (1^st Corinthians 11:19). Traditionally, we have usually cited 1^st Corinthians 11:23-26 during the communion service. However, when we take our sanctification into consideration, we have to include this. Why?

¹¹ Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. ¹² These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; ¹³ Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever (Jude 11-13).

¹² But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; ¹³ And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; ¹⁴ Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: ¹⁵ Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet. ¹⁷ These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. ¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error (2^nd Peter 2:13-18).

In our next meeting, we will conclude our look at The Lord’s prayer & our role in God’s answer to it.

 

 

 

copyright © by David Samuel Parkins mmxxv all rights reserved.

no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is presented & without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser