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Certain Sanctification (1 Thessalonians 5:23-28) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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  Let's take our Bibles and open up to 1 Thessalonians
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  chapter 5, 23 through 28. This is the conclusion
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  of this letter from Paul and Silas and Timothy
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  to the Christians in Thessalonica. And as we
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  come to the conclusion of this book, we don't
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  actually, we will continue to be in this book.
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  This book is so good for us. And Lord willing,
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  we'll get into the second letter in the future.
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  But we do take time to conclude the sermon series.
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  But I also want to briefly let you know what's
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  ahead for us. I think it's a good practice. I
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  think it's a biblical practice that we would
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  cover the whole council of God and our preaching
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  and our teaching. And so next up is the book
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  of Jonah. And I know we all pretty familiar with
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  that book, and yet there's so much there. And
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  so look forward to Jonah. But for now, let us
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  give our attention to Thessalonians, the first
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  letter, chapter five, 23 through 28. Please pay
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  attention, for this is God's holy word. Now,
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  may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.
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  And may your whole spirit and soul and body be
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  kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus
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  Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will
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  surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all
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  the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under
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  oath before the Lord to have this letter read
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  to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus
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  Christ be with you. The grass withers and the
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  flower fades, but God's word stands forever.
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  Let's pray. Father, we pray with thanksgiving
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  for this word that is inspired by your spirit
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  and we ask. Lord that you'd open up our hearts
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  and our minds to receive this word and to apply
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  this word We pray it in Christ's name. Amen Perhaps
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  you know of the hymn writer John Newton John
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  Newton who wrote Amazing Grace in His later years
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  just a couple of years before his death his eyesight
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  had grown dim And so what he would do in order
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  to continue to read the Bible is to have someone
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  read it to him. And it was very common for John
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  Newton to have the Bible read at breakfast. And
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  so one day a friend called upon him for breakfast.
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  And so John Newton and this friend had breakfast.
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  And the scripture that was chosen for that day
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  is from 1 Corinthians 15. By the grace of God,
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  I am what I am. But it was also Newton's practice
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  to explain Scripture and to apply Scripture.
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  And so John Newton said this, I am not what I
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  ought to be. How imperfect and deficient I am
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  not what I wish to be. Soon, soon I shall put
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  off mortality and with mortality all sin and
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  imperfection yet, though I am not not what I
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  ought to be, nor what I wish to be. Now what
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  I hope to be, I can truly say. I am not what
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  I once was, a slave to sin and Satan, and I can
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  hardly join in with the apostle and acknowledge
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  by the grace of God, I am what I am. Friends,
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  you are not what you will be, but you are not
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  who you were. You are in the process of sanctification,
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  that at the moment of regeneration upon the new
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  birth, God begins the process of making you more
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  and more and more like Christ a process that
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  will continue Until Christ returns you are being
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  made new Today I want to focus on three things
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  related to sanctification Looking at what is
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  sanctification? How does sanctification work?
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  And to what extent will God sanctify? So you
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  might say, well, yes, what is sanctification?
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  I think the Westminster Shorter Catechism is
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  the place to go to hear this definition. Sanctification
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  is the work of God's spirit, whereby we are renewed
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  in the whole man after the image of God and are
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  enabled more and more to die unto sin and to
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  live unto righteousness. You can hear within
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  that definition that there are really two parts
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  to sanctification. There's the dying to sin,
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  the mortification, but also the living unto righteousness,
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  the holy living. And friends, that's the point
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  of this passage. Look in verse 23. Now may the
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  God of peace himself sanctify you completely.
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  This is the point of the passage, but it's also,
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  I would say, the point of the entire letter.
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  Now you might say, how is this the point of the
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  entire letter? There's a lot of good stuff in
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  here. I believe it's the main point of the letter
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  because sanctification, as one scholar said it,
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  sanctification is the chief goal of our eternal
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  election. We are saved not just from something.
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  We are saved to something. We are saved, friends,
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  to holiness. And Paul, as we have seen throughout
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  this letter, his concern has been to minister
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  to the Thessalonians about holiness. And they
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  were young Christians, we are to believe. And
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  so what they needed to hear was that God requires
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  of us our lives, that we are to give our lives
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  in faith to Christ who begins this work of sanctification
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  and doesn't quit. Verse 23 here it reads like
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  a benediction, but it's really a prayer and as
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  the source of peace Paul prays for God to sanctify
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  them through and through you see it there spirit
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  soul and Body friends at the coming of the Lord
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  Jesus at the at Jesus's return There will not
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  be an ounce of your spirit left unsanctified
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  He will bring it to completion. And when Paul
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  mentions the body here, perhaps what he is recalling
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  here is the resurrection. That when Christ comes
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  and he takes us to himself, what's going to happen
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  is the resurrection, right? That we will no longer
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  have bodies that are plagued by sin, plagued
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  by illness, plagued by injury. We will be perfect.
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  But it's also been said, That when Christ comes
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  he comes for judgment you can see here in the
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  verse blamelessness This is getting at Christ's
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  righteousness if you are in Christ you were able
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  to stand in the judgment But if not if you do
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  not have Christ you will not be able to stand
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  Blamelessness is getting here that you would
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  have no spot no blemish and no it's not getting
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  at skincare This is getting at soul care and
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  so friends here in this space. Do you have? the
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  righteousness of Christ It has your body and
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  soul been saved by Jesus Jesus is the only way
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  that we will have peace possible with God in
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  Christ we are safe in the judgment In Christ,
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  His righteousness is imputed to us. It is ours.
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  But friends, if you do not have Jesus today,
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  if you do not have Christ, you are relying on
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  your own merits and your acts of righteousness
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  are not sufficient. They're not good enough because
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  apart from Christ, any good work that we may
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  do actually isn't that good because it's done
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  from the wrong motivation. Our good works before
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  Christ are broken, polluted. We have all inherited
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  Adam's sin, and surely every day since we have
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  committed sin. And so no, without Christ, you'll
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  not be able to stand in the judgment. You need
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  Christ. Friends, I hope you can see that these
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  few verses that we look at, this is not a bland
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  conclusion, but this is a grand conclusion. Paul
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  is giving us the gospel in a nutshell. We are
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  being made more and more into the likeness of
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  our Savior. But friends, can we do it on our
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  own? No. Look in the verse, verse 23. Now may
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  the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,
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  telling us that who is the one doing the sanctification?
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  The God of peace. It's become common in our day
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  to talk about using this phrase, do it yourself
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  DIY. If you go to a Lowe's or a Home Depot or
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  an AIDS Hardware on a Saturday, you'll see all
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  kinds of people trying to DIY, do it yourself.
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  But friends, when it comes to sanctification,
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  you cannot DIY. You cannot do it yourself. We
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  need God to work in this way. And so how does
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  it work? How does he work in us? Well, as we
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  see the God of peace is the one who does this.
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  First off, I want you to see that this is certain.
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  That's what that verse tells us. He will surely
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  do it. And so you don't have to worry, is God
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  going to do this? If you are in Christ, he is
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  at work in your lives. But he does work through
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  specific means. And these specific means are
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  very ordinary means. God accomplishes salvation
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  through the word and the sacraments. prayer and
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  so we should give ourselves to these things look
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  in verse 25 brothers pray for us again one of
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  the means of grace prayer if this is an evidence
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  for the very fact that we need prayer I don't
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  know what is because Paul under the inspiration
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  of the Holy Spirit is calling upon prayer for
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  himself this is Paul The Holy Spirit wants you
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  to have these words, to hit your knees in prayer.
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  We saw in our last section that we are to pray
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  without ceasing, right? We've also talked about
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  brotherly love, haven't we? Is there any greater
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  way we can show love to one another but by prayer?
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  We must be people of prayer. And we talked last
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  time about how some of these Some of these prescriptions,
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  some of these commands within the scripture are
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  not just for individuals, but for the church,
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  for church life. And so we recognize that as
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  a church we must be praying. Friends, we have
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  a mechanism here at Fairview for prayer for one
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  another. It's called the prayer meeting. Would
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  you come on Wednesday nights and be a part of
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  the prayer meeting of lifting one another up
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  with united voices? Oh friends, we must do this.
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  The prayer meeting has been called the engine
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  room of the church. And so let us as a church
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  be praying for one another. You can also see
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  the way that Paul puts this. He says, brothers
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  pray for us. I don't know how many times he says
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  the word brother within this letter, but many
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  times there is a warmth there. There is an affection
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  there. There is a closeness here. And it's exhibited
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  in verse 26 as well. Greet all the brothers with
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  a holy kiss. Again, implying, showing affection
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  and closeness. Now, I don't think that this is
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  a command here to all of the church, so you don't
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  have to be wholly kissing outside of the church
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  after worship here. Perhaps a hug or a handshake
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  will do, but in some places, and in this time,
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  this would have been very common. And so let
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  us show affection for one another. Let us love
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  one another as the church. We're reminded here
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  how much Paul loved this church. Paul loved this
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  church. He was driven out from the church by
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  the people in the city of Thessalonica, and he
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  was prevented from coming back, though he wanted
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  to, because he loved them, and he wanted to continue
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  to share Christ with them. But as Paul was unable
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  to come back to the Thessalonians, he gives them
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  the next best thing, and perhaps our best thing.
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  He writes to them this letter. And this shows
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  the sovereignty of God, doesn't it? That God
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  would preserve this letter for our edification.
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  That as the Thessalonians needed this letter,
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  so do we. And the Holy Spirit supplies it. You
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  can also see how seriously Paul takes this letter.
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  Look in verse 27. I put you under oath before
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  the Lord to have this letter read to all the
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  brothers. Paul wrote to address specific concerns
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  within the church, namely sanctification and
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  the return of Christ. They had holes in their
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  theology, holes in their practice. This letter
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  is a response to that. And so as the Thessalonians
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  needed help with theology and practice, so do
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  we. And so, friends, as I mentioned, the word
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  being of the means of grace, let us give ourselves
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  to the reading of scripture. to the study of
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  Scripture, to the memorization of Scripture,
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  and to the meditation upon Scripture. Let us
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  give ourselves to these things corporately, together.
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  Children's studies we have here, men's Bible
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  studies, women's Bible studies, vacation Bible
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  school, all of these things are centered on the
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  Word. And we've already seen how effective the
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  Word is. If you remember chapter two, verse 13.
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  And we also thank God constantly for this, that
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  when you receive the word of God, which you heard
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  from us, you accepted it not as the word of men,
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  but as what it really is, the word of God, which
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  is at work in you, believers. Friends, the word
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  works. The word works. This is the revelation
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  of God of himself. And so God gives us the Word,
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  and John chapter one says that Jesus is the Word.
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  The Word is good for us, it's necessary for us,
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  and the Word is coming back. Jesus is returning.
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  Don't you think we ought to know who Jesus is
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  before he comes back? You know Jesus from the
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  Word, and the Word sanctifies. But thirdly, To
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  what extent does God sanctify us? If you remember
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  Philippians 1 .6, this speaks to it very, very
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  well. Philippians 1 .6, and I am sure of this,
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  that he who began a good work in you will bring
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  it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
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  To what extent? To a full extent he will sanctify
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  us. sanctification it's a process I like how
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  Martin Luther put it Luther said we in Christ
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  equals justification Christ in us equals sanctification
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  and friends on the day of the return of Christ
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  he will have no unfinished projects right now
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  in these days we are battling sin We're wrestling
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  with it. Sometimes we fail miserably, but because
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  of the Holy Spirit, we can say no to sin. And
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  some of you are doing that very, very well. You're
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  saying no to sin. What we have to look forward
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  to on that last day is when we will be freed
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  from sinning. What a glorious thought. Do you
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  know the last verse of Come Thou Found? It was
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  actually written later. It goes like this. On
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  that day, when freed from sinning, I shall see
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  thy lovely face, clothed then in blood -washed
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  linen, how I'll sing thy sovereign grace. Come,
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  my Lord, no longer tarry. Take my ransom soul
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  away. Send thine angels now to carry me to realms
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  of endless. free from sinning. Are you familiar
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  with the ministry of Johnny Erickson Tata? If
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  you are, you know that when she was 17, she had
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  a terrible accident, a diving accident, that
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  left her completely paralyzed, a quadriplegic.
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  You would think that a person who has had to
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  deal with pain for so many decades and confined
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  to a wheelchair, you would think that when somebody
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  would ask her, What are you most looking forward
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  to about heaven that she would say to be freed
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  from all of this? But what she really said was
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  she is most looking forward to being free from
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  sinning. Friends, verse 24 is abundantly clear.
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  God is faithful to complete his work. And what
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  we have before us, this table is a picture of
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  that. It's a picture of the completeness of Christ
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  to die on the cross for us. This is what we will
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  partake of momentarily. But for now, go back
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  to verse 23 as I begin to wrap up. I said that
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  verse 23 is the main point, but actually I would
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  say it's 1A and 1B with chapter 3, verse 13.
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  Actually, I'll read 11 through 13 that says,
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  our Lord Jesus direct our way to you and may
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  the Lord make you Increase and abound in love
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  for one another and for all as we do for you
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  So that he may establish your hearts blameless
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  in holiness Before our God and father at the
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  coming of our Lord Jesus With all his saints
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  you can hear the similarity both of these passages
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  read like benediction, but consider them prayers.
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  This is how Paul and Silas and Timothy pray for
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  the Thessalonian church. And you remember how
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  last Sunday we talked about assurance of salvation.
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  About those who were in the church who were weak
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  who were faint -hearted perhaps lacking that
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  assurance wondering am I getting the mercy of
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  God or am I getting the wrath of God? Friends
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  this whole book is written to give you hope and
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  the certainty that if you were in Christ You
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  will never be outside of Christ that you have
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  the righteousness of Christ That you have the
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  certainty of that fact that he who began a good
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  work in you will see it all the way to the end.
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  That's what this book is all about. And that's
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  not just Paul's prayer. It's not just Paul's
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  prayer. This is actually Jesus' prayer. Do you
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  remember John chapter 17, Jesus' high priestly
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  prayer? Do you remember that before Jesus went
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  to the cross, he prayed for his disciples? He
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  prayed like this. Sanctify them in the truth.
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  Your word is truth and then he added For their
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  sake I consecrate myself that they also may be
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  sanctified in truth And listen to this part.
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  It's for you I do not ask for these only but
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  also for those who will believe in me through
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  their word friends Before Jesus took to the cross
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  He didn't just pray for his disciples right then
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  and there He prayed for you. He prayed for you
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  to be sanctified. And as the book of Hebrews
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  says, Jesus lives to intercede. And so there's
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  no reason to believe that Jesus has stopped praying
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  this. It has not changed. Jesus continues to
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  pray for your holiness. And so friends, have
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  hope in the meantime. At His coming, we will
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  be what He wants us to be, perfectly sanctified,
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  spotless, righteous. You have that now in Christ.
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  But in the last day, you will have it in its
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  fullness. You will be kept blameless. You will
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  be perfectly holy.