Sound Doctrine: Sanctification

Take your Bibles, if you would please, and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We're going to read verses 1 and 2 and then verse 30. Today's message is on sanctification — God's work of sanctification. It's His work in your life, and we submit to that. God's work of sanctification, as of late in our church era, has been separated from salvation. That's a tragedy. Hear me. We cannot separate it from salvation. They are one and the same. It is the same progressive work of God in your life. And so our current climate in Christianity today is a tragedy because of how sanctification has been separated from salvation.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 1, "Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who are in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours." Skip, if you would, to verse 30 at the end of the chapter. I want you to notice that this chapter not only starts with the subject of sanctification, but also includes the subject of sanctification as it ends in verse 30. It starts off with the doctrine of election. Look at this. "By His doing you are in Christ." You can't argue with that. In verse 30, it says, "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Today I want to talk to you about the subject of sanctification and how it is inseparable from salvation. However, I want to start with the current climate. We know that easy believism permeates our climate today — for the sake of perhaps church growth, to get more butts in the seats, for more bucks, to build bigger buildings. It just seems to be the church growth movement that has taken over America, and we're copying and pasting that throughout all the continents around the world. It's a shameful travesty. So we see false and absurd representations of Christianity. It's a distorted and perverse view of true Christianity, by and large.

For example, Steve Harvey claims to be a Christian, and that is a tragedy, because he in fact is full of perversity. His immoral, coarse joking proves that he has no conscience and could never be under conviction by the Holy Spirit, lest God chastise him. That is not true Christianity. And so we see on display those who claim to be Christians who need to repent and be right with the Lord Jesus Christ. If in fact Steve Harvey was a true Christian, then we would see true repentance — one who would back away from all of the foul-mouthed, coarse jokes and the easy-believism tactics. And so to presume that one could be a Christian but not act like one is a hostile presumption. It's hostile because our children see this on display and they think that they could do anything that they want and still be a Christian. That is not true Christianity. True Christianity is being truly conformed to Christ.

I want to prove it to you. You cannot separate sanctification from salvation. Turn to the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 2, verse 36, there is a clear verse as to who Christ is. You literally cannot divide Christ in half. He is who He is, and He is both Lord — which is Master — and He is Savior — which is Christ. In Acts 2:36, the Bible says, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified." And so there you see it: Jesus is both Master and Savior. Lord means Master. Christ means Savior. This is a both-and scenario, and you cannot separate Him. You are saved, and you have the presence of Christ dwelling in you through the power of the Holy Spirit. You have both His salvation and His Lordship — sanctification. He will be ruling over your life. You cannot separate the two.

We've separated sanctification from salvation. That's a travesty. What is a travesty? A travesty is simply a false representation. Today I'm saying that Christianity, by and large, is a false representation of what true Christianity really is. Is it not the narrow road and the remnant that are truly saved? Jesus said that the way is narrow. But most are scared to speak about the truth to their friends. Most would say, "Now, they claim to be a Christian. They said a prayer when they were little." They say that someone is a Christian — but who am I to tell them they're not? Most of us are scared to bridge that gap with our friends and our family members. And yet now you would be left to justify the fact that they are truly saved. Now you're going to have to find a way to say to them, "I believe that your conversion experience was true" — even though they live like a hellion, even though they do X, Y, and Z that does not demonstrate at all that they are a believer.

You say, perhaps that's not so. Well, I say, oh, really? Are not Christians to be strangers in this world? Then why have so many of our own started to mimic the ways of the world and even bring worldliness into the church? I'm proving to you that we have separated the subjects of sanctification from salvation, and that's a travesty. Acts 2:36 makes it very clear that you cannot do that.

So God's work of sanctification is also a matter of true salvation. If you have truly been saved, then God's continuous work of salvation will be working into sanctification and will one day be worked through into glorification. It's a continuous work. So chapter 1, back in 1 Corinthians, starts off with the subject of sanctification and ends with sanctification.

What do we believe about the subject of sanctification? We believe sanctification is God's progressive will and work in the believer's life that continuously makes them more like Christ in character and more like God in holiness. When we think of sanctification, we think of it as a progressive work of God inside of you to refine you. And so sanctification starts with regeneration, and it doesn't kick in after 10 or 20 years when you feel like it, because you are operated by God. You're owned by Him.

Turn to 1 John chapter 2, verse 12. 1 John talks about how true children grow into being youth, and true youth grow into being fathers in the faith. So actual human beings don't stay babies when they're born. And this is a metaphor. This is to be thought of in a parallel way. Not only are babies born and they don't stay babies — they actually grow to children and youth and become adults — but so do true, born-again Christians. They don't stay baby Christians. They grow into becoming youth who are overcomers, unto fathers, which are reproducers. So think of the spiritual progression this way: from forgiven, to overcoming, to multiplying.

In 1 John chapter 2, verse 12, it says, "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake." So when you're a child of God, your sins have been forgiven. And when you're not a child of God, your sins have not been forgiven. You are literally living underneath the wrath of God. That's what propitiation means. Propitiation is Jesus taking God's wrath in your place. The doctrine of propitiation is so beautiful. Even an innocent child who has not been saved is still a sinner needing salvation. And until they are saved, they are underneath the wrath of God. That's what total depravity means. That's what it means to be lost. That's the reason why the urgency of sharing the gospel is upon us. And so we need to share the life-saving gospel so that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God can save their souls.

"I am writing to you, little children," in verse 12, "because your sins have been forgiven for His name's sake." And then in verse 13, "I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father." And you see here in verse 13 that young men are overcomers. If you have grown from a childish faith — where you just know Jesus — to being aware of the sin that's in your life, then you are overcoming the evil one's temptation, overcoming the evil one's grip in your life. Young men in the faith are overcomers.

And then in verse 14, "I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him." Knowing God is a lifelong endeavor. Fathers are knowing God more, and they're willing to suffer for their faith. They're willing to not only be growing in their faith and overcoming the evil in this world, but to get to know Him more. And then it says here as well, "I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one."

And so this progression — children to youth to fathers — makes it clear that actual human beings grow from being a baby to being a youth to being an adult. And actual Christians grow from being a child in the faith to a youth in the faith who is characterized by being an overcomer, a strong one. It takes strength in God — not strength in oneself, strength in God — to overcome the evil in your life. And then once you're able to master that, to be sanctified and weed out all the sin in your life for the most part, then you are able to become what is called a father, or a reproducer, in the faith. So mothers and fathers are reproducers in the faith. And that's what it is to grow in your faith, what it is to grow in your sanctification. And so it starts at regeneration, becoming a true child of God, and sanctification then progressively works through so that you are actually able to make another Christian. That's what it is to be a Great Commission Christian — to be a disciple maker, one who can make another Christian. You can lead someone to Christ. You can show them the truth of God's Word, the fact that they are a sinner in need of a Savior, and then you can grow them in their faith and help them to know how to study the Bible.

Sanctification is a powerful work of the Holy Spirit. It's a continuous work that will continuously be working until glorification. If you believe in irresistible grace, then you actually also believe in irresistible change as well. Because this is a continuous work of God inside of your life. He doesn't park and stop working on you. He doesn't save you and then leave you alone. He saves you and He continuously works on you.

So truthfully, this is the truth: the truth will set you free, according to John 8:32. And as you continue in your faith, Christ will set you free from the bondages of sin.

So Bible point number one, if you're taking notes: Christians are sanctified — they are being sanctified. This word "sanctified" is both a past, present, and progressive work of God in your life. It's past because it's already done. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He sees everything at the same time. His work is a sure, done deal. Everything that He wants done is already done in His estimation. If you are living it out, nothing is occurring to God, but it's always occurring to us. And so sanctification is something that is happening in a Christian's life. Christians are being sanctified.

Even the Corinthians — the Corinthians were filled with immorality. To Corinthianize means to be filled with immorality. To Corinthianize is kind of synonymous with the idea of promiscuity: to be promiscuous, to be immoral, to live in a way that is just free morally. To Corinthianize means to be engaged in immoral activity. But later in the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul says to them, "But such were some of you." Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and I want you to see how sanctification's work can take one from who used to be saturated with sin to one who now is being sanctified — even from the worst, worst sins imaginable.

Now in chapter 5, verse 1, it says, "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you." And I won't go into the details of that immoral situation — it's pretty grotesque. But in chapter 6, verse 11, it says, "Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God." You see in here justification and sanctification in the same verse. And so you cannot separate sanctification from salvation. Salvation is in fact the effect of consecration. Sanctification is the effect of separation. If you are consecrated, if you are separated, if you are set aside for the work of God, if you have been saved and set aside, then He is sanctifying you. That progressive work is happening. So if there's no separation, there's no sanctification. Do you see that? If you are never saved, never set aside, then there's no sanctification happening. The two are inseparable. You cannot separate the two. The two are a continuous work of God. It is who Christ is. We are dealing with a deity issue here. The doctrine of Christ is on the line when it comes to us living out our true Christianity. The doctrine of Christ and who He actually is — His essence matters — and who He is, is both Lord and Savior. And if you've got Him, then you've got both. And this continuous work is happening.

Now, largely, the heart will be being sanctified after salvation to the extent — hear me — to the extent that you guard your heart from sin. Guarding your heart is also important. Proverbs 4:23 in the NIV says, "Above all else, guard your heart." In the ESV, it says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance." In the LSB — the Legacy Standard Bible — it says, "Guard your heart with all diligence." In the NASB, it says, "Watch over your heart with all diligence." We need to guard and watch over our heart, for it is the wellspring of life. What is going on inside of here comes out of your mouth and comes out of your life — your hands and where you go and what you do and how you live. We must, above all else, guard our heart from sin.

We live in a day and age where TV and media can violate our heart. It can violate our conscience. It can shape the philosophy that we have towards life. It can alter our biblical worldview if you're listening to garbage. I want you to know that your heart is not a garbage can. Don't just let anything come into your eyes and through your ears and into your mind. Your heart is not a garbage can. Don't pack all kinds of sinful media — like garbage — inside of your heart and think that you're immune from the stain of sin.

It is difficult to overcome some sins. Some sins stick worse than others. And it's a lot harder to crawl out of some ravines that you jump into. It's a lot deeper than you thought it was. And you get stuck there for a long, long time and it's hard to work your way back out. Some sins are gradual, and you may think that you're doing something good, and you slip away, and then it leads you to something else and to something else and to something else. And over the course of years, you find yourself away from God and His church. That is not what we're talking about doing here. We're talking about guarding your heart.

In fact, Romans 12:9 says to abhor what is evil and to cling to what is good. You actually have to have a perception of sin such that you abhor it and hate it. When you discern that something is evil and sinful, then you hate that sin and you cling to what is good. You hate sin and cling to Christ. And so you run from evil — especially if you're a young man. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22 to flee from youthful lusts. You have to actually turn and run. You don't dabble and tolerate sin, especially lust. You turn and you run from it. You don't even give it a chance. And so we need to be guardians of our heart. We need to guard and protect what is pure and keep that which is impure out, and allow that which is pure and approved to enter in.

You see how you just don't have an open heart to everything in this world? Otherwise your heart will be violated. Your conscience will be violated. There's more wrong in this world than there is right. And so we can't simply open our heart to everything. We have to, above all else, guard our heart, for it is the wellspring of life. And so be discerning about what you allow to come into your life. Guard your heart above all else. It's very important. This is, by and large, a large part of how fast you grow in your sanctification. Because if you allow a lot of garbage into your life — a lot of sin and a lot of unsanctified junk to dominate in your mind — then it's a lot more to wash out. It's like putting a pair of jeans in the washing machine. It depends on how dirty they are. Sometimes you have to wash them two or three times, depending on what you've been doing.

For us, it's the same thing with your mind. The more that you put in there that shouldn't be in there, the more it takes to wash it out. And the water is like the Word of God — it washes the stain out of you. So I want to prove to you that you cannot separate sanctification from salvation. In the Bible, salvation and sanctification are inseparable.

And in 2 Thessalonians 2:13–15, listen to this: "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth, to which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord." And not only in 2 Thessalonians 2:13–15 do you see salvation and sanctification as inseparable, but listen to Ephesians 1:4: "Just as He chose you in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy."

Did you hear that? Just as your salvation is a done deal from before the foundation of the world, so is sanctification — "that we should be without blame before Him in love." But not only Ephesians 1:4, but 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. Listen to this: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit." In sanctification — that's very clear — in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Now I want you to turn to John chapter 15 and see how your fruit should remain. John chapter 15 gives us the whole idea of God as the vine dresser, or the vineyard owner, working his vines so that they produce fruit. And this is a continuous work of sanctification in your life so that your fruit should remain.

In John chapter 15, verses 1 through 5, and then we'll also see verses 16 and 17. John chapter 15, verse 1: "I am the true vine and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, He prunes so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me." This word "abide" — meno, in the Greek — means to continue in, to dwell in, to endure, to remain. We must put forth a serious amount of effort in our Christianity to remain in Christ, to remain in His will, to remain in the faith. Not that you can lose your salvation, but remain doing well — endure, dwell, abide.

So verse 4: "Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from Me, you can do nothing."

Now, back in verse 2, I want you to take note of two things: He takes away, and He prunes. He takes away and He prunes. In verse 2, "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." This is an important concept because the dead stuff in your life is going to be taken away, and the healthy vines — the healthy things in your life — are going to be pruned. And so it hurts either way being a Christian, by the way. You're going to be taking up your cross either way.

You know, I liken it to what James said in James chapter 1: you have different trials in your life — trials of perfection and trials of correction. I don't want to be corrected by God and disciplined by Him. I know that I have trials of perfection coming. I know that I'm going to be pruned. I know that I'm going to be cut back. I know that my life is going to be pruned by Him because He wants me to bear more fruit. And you probably know it's true.

Here in Florida we all have flowering plants around our house. And if you let those things grow wild, they'll just take over — whether it's a hibiscus or whatever type of flowering plants you have. And those flowers get really spread out. But as soon as you cut it back, it's like five more blooms come next year. It's amazing. And God wants our lives to be lush and fruitful. The same for a fruit tree — you cut that branch back, it just blossoms next year and sprouts off in different ways, and more fruit is able to be borne. God wants our life just like that. He is the vine dresser. We are the branches. This illustration is so personal. It's so real. Your life in Christ will be being sanctified. And part of sanctification is being pruned back. Part of sanctification is being hurt. But God is so gentle in this process, and He's not going to give you more than you can bear. He's going to prune you back and you're going to think, "I'm dying. I don't have anything left."

But He's just so gracious. And as the season goes by and you're able to bear fruit, you look back in the rearview mirror and think, "My, look at what the Lord has done in my life. I never could have done that." And I often say it like this: "You may be hurting today, but just wait a year or two or three. You will be so amazed at how fast you can grow in Christ if you're dedicated, if you're abiding, if you're really, really truly enduring."

Now, I want to prove to you something else too — that this is definitely for people, but it is also for pastors. 1 Timothy 4:15 says Paul tells Timothy that your process of sanctification and growth in your life is to be evident to all. So pastors should also be growing in their faith, and the people — the people should notice progression. The people should see growth. The people should also see from the pastor how he is growing in his sanctification, in his knowledge of God, in his preaching, in his pastoring. He's doing better. If you're the same guy — whether you're a pastor or a person — that you were five years ago, you're not growing in your faith. But look what Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:15: "Take pains with these things. Be absorbed in them." So all that Paul has told Timothy — I can pretty much summarize it as this: man up. All right, man up. Be a Christian. This is the man who was stoned and beaten. He's telling Timothy, "Be a man." Now look what he has to say: "Take pains with these things" — all that 1 Timothy has said to him so far — "be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all." Your spiritual growth should be on display daily. As you grow in your faith, it should be evident to all. It's encouraging, by the way, to see other people grow in their faith. It's a wow factor. It's great.

And so pastors continue to grow in their faith just as people continue to grow in their faith. And I want you to notice as well that this aspect of sanctification is a superintended thing by God. Sanctification is superintended. God cleans up the heart and the mind and the soul. He administers these trials. He administers these circumstances. He administers the purifying aspects of your life. He sovereignly brings events and circumstances into your life to gradually refine you. And He handles you with care. He's not only in control of the germination of your faith, He's in control of the pruning and the sanctification of your faith. He wants your faith to grow so much so that you're making progress — all the way to the point where you can reproduce your faith.

And keep in mind that Jesus was doing this process with the disciples, and it took a long time. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a process. And so if Jesus was working on the twelve dull disciples for three years, then you would think to yourself, "How many hours of every single day can I work with someone to equal what Jesus did?" Well, Jesus was with them all day, every day. Well, if you are working on someone in their sanctification for years and years — it goes beyond three years — well, you're not Jesus, amen? And you're not spending every single hour of every single day. So continue to disciple and to work in people's lives.

This Wednesday night, you get a free copy of Next Steps — the very basics of how to grow someone in their faith: to believe in Jesus, to really truly place their faith and trust in Jesus by repenting, and then beyond that, to be biblically baptized, to belong to a church, how to study the Bible, and how to pass the gospel along. These are the basics, and we want to equip you to be a disciple maker.

So we see here by the example in John chapter 15 that just as a vine dresser — a gardener, an owner — is in control of his vines, takes away the dead wood, and prunes them, so also, by the spiritual application of this, God runs and regulates your faith. He does. God is in control. He runs and He regulates your faith, and we submit to that and we grow as we go.

So God is the vine dresser and we are to endure hardships like having the dead wood removed and cut out. He takes these things away. We are to endure the cutbacks in life, the disappointments. A chaplain in the Air Force — a general — said this to me one time: "A delay or a disappointment from God is for a double blessing." And that was in a time when I was really down. I really appreciated that, and that kind of applies to what we're experiencing today when it comes to how God sanctifies the soul and the life. When you have a delay or a disappointment in life, God is perhaps pruning. If you are right with God — you're walking with God, you're praying and you're reading your Bible and you're attending and giving and serving — you are right with God, you're walking in obedience to Him, and you go through some serious circumstances. Perhaps you have a delay on something that you really, really, really, really have been praying for, or perhaps you've been denied something that you really, really, really, really want. Perhaps you've had something cut back from your life. I believe that it is true: a delay is for a double blessing. A denial is for a double blessing. You just wait and see what God can do in your life — hence the life of Job, hence the life of Job. A double blessing at the end for all that God had done in his life.

And so to abide is to obey. Just remember that God's work of salvation is monergistic, but God's work of sanctification is synergistic. Let me say that again.

Salvation is a work of God that is monergistic, but sanctification is a work of God that is synergistic. Mono being one — it is a singular act of God to regenerate a lost soul. But then sanctification is synergistic: two working together for one purpose. You, now abiding in Christ, equals your sanctification. To the extent that you submit equals your holiness. To the extent that you walk with Him equals the intimacy that you have with our glorious Lord and Savior. To the extent that you seek Him — James 4:8 says if you seek Him, He'll seek you back. If you draw near to Him, He'll draw near back. It's wonderful. So the two are working together.

And we see that as well by way of example as being a Great Commission Christian, because at the end of the Great Commission He says, "And lo, I will be with you." He's going to help you. You're not alone as you are going on mission as a Great Commission Christian.

Bible point number two: I want you to see that churches are sanctified. And this again gets very, very close and personal to our lives. Churches are sanctified. So not only are Christians sanctified, churches are sanctified. Not only do individual believers experience sanctification — you yourself, your life will be being sanctified by Christ — but also congregations as a whole. God does a work in churches. Turn to Ephesians, if you would. Ephesians chapter 2 demonstrates how churches are also sanctified. You'll see the language here that helps you to see that we are fellow citizens with the saints, and that we are God's household, His temple — we're all together.

Ephesians 2:19 helps us to see that we are not alone and that even as we walk together as a church, God has a will and a plan for individual churches, and He sanctifies them. He refines them. And Ephesians 2:19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household." Underline household. This is God's household.

And then in verse 20, "Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord." See, it's a holy temple — it's a sanctified temple. This household of God, He is growing us to holiness. And then in verse 22, "In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

So we see here that God grows even churches together as a body into being more holy — a holy temple. So God's growing us in holiness is the process of sanctification. Churches are sanctified, and without sanctification no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 says — if you want proof that you cannot separate sanctification from salvation, write down Hebrews 12:14 — "Without sanctification, no one will see the Lord." Period.

And so churches are sanctified. And I want to read to you an amazing metaphor of the church and how it is to grow in sanctification. Listen to this metaphor of marriage as how the church is to grow in sanctification. I'm going to read Ephesians 5:22 and following. "Wives, be subject to your own husbands." Okay, so marriage is the subject, church is the application. "Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church." Okay, here it is — the main subject is the church. "And He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives, be to your husbands in everything."

And so we as a people are subject to Christ. Remember, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So Jesus is His Word. We as the bride submit to Christ by obeying His Word. And then verse 25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might do what? Sanctify her." This subject of sanctification is God's will and work in the life of believers. "So that" — I love those words, "so that" — very important words in the New Testament. "So that He may sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He may present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless." The church is to be holy and blameless, and God wants a pure church. He's not going to tolerate unconfessed sin in His house. In fact, you can't even take the Lord's Supper if you have unconfessed sin in your life. You must be right with Christ before you take a holy ordinance. Very important.

Not only now, but I want you to see that sanctification is preparation for eternity. Turn to Revelation. Revelation 19:7. This is an accumulation of what we are doing. In Revelation 19:7, the Bible says, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." How is the bride making herself ready today? You are purifying your life. You are making yourself ready to be in the presence of Christ. You are continuously growing in your faith. You are weeding out the sin, and you are embracing Him. You're getting rid of sin and you're getting right with God — more and more and more as you go. And so the bride has made herself ready.

In verse 8, "It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean." These are metaphors. White means purity. White means clean here. You are to be clean and holy and victorious, looking forward to perfection. In Ecclesiastes 9:8, it says white and clean. And in Song of Solomon 5:10, it's white and clean. In Daniel 7:9, it's white and clean. These acts of righteousness continuously purify the bride. And so we are to be clothing ourselves with fine linen, which are representations of our good works — our righteous works in Christ — that make us white and clean. "For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints," in verse 8. This is incredible. It has far-reaching implications on your life. You are simply preparing to be with Christ face to face, and it is a wonderful thing. So we have to get ready for glory. We have to continuously work on our lives.

So again, Bible point number one: Christians are sanctified. Bible point number two: churches are sanctified. And lastly, Bible point number three: Christ is our surety. Christ is our confidence in this. Christ is the one who is doing it. Christ is our confidence. So not only are Christians sanctified and churches sanctified, but Christ in the whole process is our confidence. He pledges to sanctify the bride, to fulfill this. Now, how simple is it to believe this? How simple and how beautiful can it get? Jesus Christ saves and Jesus Christ sanctifies. Very simple, right? Jesus Christ saves and Jesus sanctifies. How beautiful it is to see the whole process working together.

Let me read to you 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." You see the surety there? See the certainty there? He will do it. Do what? Sanctify you. He will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24. He will do it.

In Jude, verses 24 and 25, the Bible says, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling" — amen, God is able to keep you, He keeps you from stumbling — "and to present you faultless before the presence of the Lord in glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever and ever. Amen."

And so God's primary means of sanctification in your life is His Word. So get all the Word that you possibly can. I say it like this: there's nothing better than Bible study. And I would encourage you, if you are not committed to a Sunday morning Bible study at 9:30, do everything you can to be there. And if you can't and you desire to be there — hear my pastoral heart — that's a beautiful thing. If you can't and you really want to, God knows.

Wednesdays we do Bible study as well, and we just feast on the Word of God. We say around here all the time, "A church that's alive is worth the drive." And largely because of the byproducts Bible study produces in the lives of the saints — sanctification, true fellowship, true worship, and true prayer — in the face of a world that is producing a pseudo-Christianity that is by and large addicted to entertainment and high endorphins. This here will sustain you and keep you through hardships. Cheap answers out there will not suffice for your serious problems. But Bible study gets down to the nitty-gritty, and when you get serious answers for your serious problems, that will sustain you in your life. But being addicted to a show every single Sunday, being addicted to an experience every single Sunday — let me tell you, the party will not sustain you when things go wrong in your life. You need the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you. He is your surety. He is your confidence. You need God. You need the Word of God. You need to be around a fellowship that's committed to the Word of God to get through this life.

And so Sundays and Wednesdays is where we study the Bible in groups, and it means that you will be growing in your faith as you are studying the Bible. And as you are growing in your faith, not only do you know God, but you're able to grow to the point where you're overcoming sin, and then grow to the point where you can reproduce Christianity. You can lead someone to know and to be who you are in Christ.

God is not looking for more strategies and methods to grow His church. God is looking for men to develop. God wants more of you — men and women — to work on. His method is you. It's not a strategy. It's not another program. We don't have our hope found in nothing less than some organized program. It's not doing all of these things. It's not doing, doing, doing. It's being. It's who you are that God wants to work on. God wants to work on men. Men are His method, not methods. Hear me clearly. So many times in churches today, churches want to work on salvation and skip straight over to service and eliminate sanctification. And when they do that, they want you saved and serving, and they go to methods as if God needs you — as if what you have to offer is what matters. God is in control. Don't skip over sanctification to service. It's salvation, sanctification, and then service. And when you serve out of a love for God, then you're doing the right biblical things and you're not doing the cheap things. You're not doing things to put on a show. You're not doing things that don't matter. You're doing biblical ministry.

You see how this is a progressive work in your life. When someone gets saved, you don't plug them right into service. You grow their faith and you help them to know who Christ is and who they are in Christ. That's what matters. When someone first gets saved, you want them to become an overcomer in the faith — a strong youth. They can't go from being a child to an adult. But today, in today's by-and-large environment, they've got the show and they want to just grab any warm body and plug them into performing. We're done with the performances. We're done with the lights and the cameras and the action. We're all about doing it the biblical way — of true salvation and true sanctification — so that we can truly serve the Lord. God's work of salvation, sanctification, and service is a continuous work in your life.

Let's pray together. Father, thank You for this truth today, and I pray that as You continuously work out Your will for these wonderful people whom You have dedicated to Beulah Baptist Church — to not only know You more, but to become more like You — I pray Your many blessings upon them. I pray Your blessings upon the fact that we will be dedicated to You and that we will endure to the end because of Your power, and we will submit to You. God, help us. I pray that You would help us to continue to be pleasing to You. Make it our aim, dear God, to be pleasing unto You. Help us not to be man-pleasers. Help us to be God-pleasers. Help us not to be conforming to the ways of this world. Help us to be conforming to Your image, dear Jesus. Help us to hate our sin and to love You. Help us to confess our sin as we go and not allow things to build up in our lives. Help us to make the most of every opportunity to share the gospel and make disciples. God, help us to say no to the good things in this world so that we can say yes to the great things. May we do everything that we possibly can to take this torch, to take this light, to take this Word of God and spread it as far and as wide as we possibly can. God, I pray that You would open up a door for us like You did for the Thessalonian church in 1 Thessalonians 3:1 — You opened the door for them to be able to spread the Word through all the surrounding regions rapidly — and I pray that You would do that here at this dear church. God, may You get the glory for all that You do in and through us. It's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.