|
WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 27
30 November 2008
The LORD That Sanctifies
You
(Message delivered by Rev
Hien Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Nov 30, 08)
Text: Lev 20:7-8
God has revealed Himself to mankind through His
creation, through His Word, and through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has also revealed Himself more to His covenant people through His
name, “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by
the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to
them… this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all
generations” (Exod 6:3; 3:15). We have learnt the covenant name of
our LORD or Jehovah, which means “I AM THAT I AM”, the
self-existent and all-sufficient God, eternal, faithful, unchangeable,
wise, mighty, holy, righteous merciful and loving. Truly, the more we
know Him, the more we appreciate Him, trust in Him, love Him, fear Him,
and submit ourselves to Him and to His Word. Thank God and praise the
LORD that He is All we need. As all have sinned and no one is righteous
(Rom 3:10, 23), how can we have a right stand and a right relationship
acceptable before God? Thank God that our Lord Jesus Christ is
Jehovah-tsidkenu, which means “The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer
23:6). We are righteous and accepted before God in Christ. Praise the
LORD! When we need His provision, especially an atoning sacrifice to
God, He is Jehovah-jireh, which means “The LORD will provide”
(Gen 22:14). When we need His guidance, protection and loving care, He
is Jehovah-rohi, which means “The LORD is my Shepherd” (Ps
23:1). Living in the world with full of temptations and sins, we do need
His help and victory, and He is Jehovah-nissi, which means
“The LORD is my Banner” (Exod 17:15). While we may feel lonely to
stand for God’s Word and His Truth against the opposition of the ungodly
majority and the attacks from Satan, He is Jehovah-sabaoth, which
means, “The LORD of Hosts” (1 Sam 1:3), and we shall not panic
“for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2
Kings 6:16). Then, in all our needs and in all our situations, it is
wisest for you and me to turn to our LORD alone, look unto Him, trust in
Him, and wait upon Him, and He will see us through. Today we are
learning the name Jehovah-m’qadishkhem, which means “The LORD
that sanctifies you” (Exod 31:13; Lev 20:8; 21:8). We have learnt
the topic of sanctification already, but it is always good and vital for
you and me to revise it again and again until our Lord Jesus Christ
comes back again. Why? Because we have to overcome our sinful self,
worldliness, temptations and attacks from Satan daily while God requires
and commands us to be holy as He is holy (Lev 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter
1:16).
The Necessity of
Sanctification
Without being sanctified, “no man shall see the
Lord” (Heb 12:14). Do you and I want to see the Lord? Then, we must
be sanctified. There is no other way. Furthermore, it is God’s holiness
that He commands us to be sanctified, or else He will neither be with us
nor have fellowship with us (1 Peter 1:16; cf. Lev 11:44; 19:2; 20:7).
God commands us to be holy so that we may maintain our fellowship with
Him and be blessed. “neither will I be with you any more, except ye
destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say,
Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou
canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed
thing from among you” (Joshua 7:12-13). Finally, because of God’s
holiness, He has to judge, condemn and punish those who are rebellious
against Him and His Word (Lev 20:2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 27; Rev 21:8). Dear
friends, you and I must be sanctified if we want the Lord to be with us
and bless us. Then, what does it mean to be sanctified and how?
The Meaning of
Sanctification
The verb “sanctify” means to make holy, make clean,
to consecrate, to set apart from a common use to God’s use, and from
self will to God’s will. The temple was holy and called the holy temple
because it was set apart from common use to God’s use, was dedicated to
the Lord, and was filled with His holy presence (2 Chron 7:1-3).
Be Separated:
First, we must separate ourselves from sins, self, worldliness, wrong
doctrines and disobedient brethren, “And ye shall not walk in the
manners of the nation… I am the LORD your God, which have
separated you from other people” (Lev 20:23-26), and “Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers… Wherefore come out
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:14-18) and “Now
we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly…And if
any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no
company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy,
but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thess 3:6, 14-15). Are you and I
still separate as the Lord commands us to do?
Be Dedicated to the LORD:
Then, we must dedicate ourselves to the Lord and belong to Him alone,
“And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed
you from other people, that ye should be mine” (Lev 20:26) and
“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and
in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor 6:20). Do you and I belong
to the LORD alone?
Be Submissive to the LORD and His Word:
Finally, we must submit ourselves to the Lord and His Word in order to
be controlled by Him and to be used by Him according to His holy will,
His holy way and His timing, “And ye shall keep my statutes, and do
them: I am the LORD which sanctify you… Ye shall therefore keep
all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them” (Lev 20:8, 22).
Are you and I really submissive to the LORD and His Word?
The Author of
Sanctification
God Himself is the Author and Finisher of our
sanctification, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly”
(1 Thess 5:23). That is the gracious work of the Triune God. We are
sanctified by God the Father (John 17:17; Jude 1), by God the Son, the
LORD Jesus Christ (Heb 2:11), and by God the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:16; 2
Thess 2:13).
Without the LORD’s holy presence and His gracious
work in our hearts and lives, we can never be holy or sanctified! Are
you and I really sanctified? Sadly, nowadays, many churches ignore the
doctrines of separation or full submission to the Lord and His Word!
It should be noted that we have our position of
sanctification in our Lord Jesus Christ, we “are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Cor 1:2), but sanctification is still
a process of transforming us into the image of the Lord Jesus until we
shall be like Him when He comes.
The Means of Sanctification
Human beings, with their totally depraved and sinful
nature, can never save nor sanctify themselves. We are saved by grace
through faith alone (Eph 2:8), and we are sanctified by grace through
faith alone as well (Acts 26:18; Heb 10:29; 1 Peter 5:10).
Sanctified by Jesus’ Sacrifice and Blood:
Our Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice for us so
that we may be sanctified by His sacrifice and His blood, “By the
which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all… For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified” (Heb 10:10, 14) and “Wherefore Jesus also,
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without
the gate” (Heb 13:12). Praise the Lord!
Sanctified by God’s Word, God’s Truth:
God is holy and His Word is holy. It is called “the Holy Scriptures”
(Rom 1:2; 2 Tim 3:15). The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to regenerate us
and sanctify us, “Being born again…by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23) and “Sanctify them through
thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). If we are not submissive
to the control of the Holy Spirit and to the authority of God’s Word,
how can the Holy Spirit do His work? Then we can be sure that those who
arrogantly criticise, question and doubt God’s Word, can never enjoy the
gracious work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The more we read God’s
Word with faith and submission, the more we shall see God’s holy will
and righteous standards as well as our sins and sinful nature, the more
we shall need Jesus’ blood for our cleansing and the Holy Spirit for our
sanctification.
Wholly Sanctified
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth
you, who also will do it” (1 Thess
5:23-24). Our whole being, our spirit, soul and body, must be sanctified
wholly by God Himself.
A Sanctified Spirit:
Our spirit is the part we communicate with God. Then a sanctified spirit
must be separated from sins, idolatry, doubt, disobedience, self will,
self glory, stranger’s voice, etc. It must be consecrated to the Lord in
order to look unto Him alone (Heb 12:2), to hear His Word alone (John
10:4-5), to trust in Him alone (Ps 118:8-9), to obey Him and His will
alone (Acts 5:29), to serve Him and worship Him alone (Matt 4:10), to
glorify Him alone (1 Cor 10:31), to fear Him alone (Matt 10:28), to love
Him the most (Matt 22:37) and to know Him more and rejoice in Him (Phil
3:8; 4:4), etc. It must be filled with or controlled by the Holy Spirit
(Eph 5:18) and God’s Word (Col 3:16) so that it may grow in grace and
God’s knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) and be used to serve God, to preach
Christ and to contend for His truth. Are your spirit and mine
sanctified?
A Sanctified Soul:
Our soul is the part we may communicate with human beings and the things
around us. Our soul must be sanctified as well. Our human love for
others, our mind, our conscience, our thinking, our understanding, our
judgment, our intelligence, our memory, our skills, etc., must be
separated from sins, self, lusts, arrogance, worldliness and anything
against God’s Word. Our soul must be dedicated to the Lord to be used
according to His will and for His glory. Our soul must be controlled by
the Holy Spirit and God’s Word so that our human love may be controlled
by God’s holy love and our mind by Jesus’ mind. Our conscience must be
tuned up to God’s Word and His holy standards, our memory must be used
to store God’s Word, our talents must be used to glorify the Lord, and
so forth. Sadly, many so-called “saints” or “God’s servants” are using
their mind, thinking, understanding, judgment, talents and skills to
argue against God’s perfectly preserved Word instead of magnifying God
and His Word (Ps 138:2)! However, the Holy Spirit may use a sanctified
Christian and fill him with His truth and wisdom to contend for God’s
Truth, and He may sanctify his skills and talents to serve the Lord and
glorify Him alone. Are your soul and mine sanctified?
A Sanctified Body:
Are our bodies separated from sins, self, lusts, worldliness,
fornication or adultery? Are they offered to Him as a living and holy
sacrifice acceptable unto Him (Rom 12:1)?
Are our eyes separated unto the Lord to see, to look
at, to watch, or to read what pleases the Lord?
Are our ears separated unto the Lord to hear His
truth or listen to what pleases Him?
Are our tongues separated unto the Lord to speak,
say, sing, or preach what pleases Him alone? Sadly the same tongue that
sings praise to the Lord, prays to Him, or preaches God’s Word is used
to tell lies, to curse others or to argue against God’s Word!
Are our hands separated unto the Lord to do His will
and His work? Sadly, many are using their hands to write or do the
things against God’s Word!
Are our feet separated unto the Lord to go where the
Lord leads us for His glory? Sadly, many just go wherever they like
regardless of God’s will and glory.
Conclusion
Without holiness, “no man shall see the Lord”
(Heb 12:14). God commands you and me to be holy and sanctified. It is
the Triune God and God’s Word and Jesus’ blood that are able to sanctify
our spirit, soul and body and to preserve them “blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our part is to fully commit our
lives to God and to submit ourselves to Him and His Word with our trust,
obedience and dependence. The LORD is not only our Sanctifier (Lev 20:
8) but also our Sanctification “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30). Praise the LORD!
Top
/ Back
|
