&
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 (1st 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 (1st 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.’. (1st
Corinthians 6:20) & ‘And ye are Christ's;
and Christ is God's.’ (2nd 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. (2nd 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
(1st John 2:15-17).
Paul says, ‘..the fashion of this world passeth away (1st Corinthians 7:31).
Remember Demas? He deserted Paul ‘..having loved
this present world.’. (2nd
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.
We have already seen that we are washed, sanctified & justified
in His name
(1st 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.’. (1st
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: (1st 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.’. (1st
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.’. (1st 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.’. (1st
Corinthians 11:19). Traditionally, we have usually cited 1st
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 (2nd 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.
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