Sanctification in the Gospel
When Jesus died, was buried and rose again He did a complete work for the human race. He forgave all of our sins, He healed us, made us rich, made us kings and priests to rule and reign in this life through the gift of righteousness, He sanctified us, redeemed us, justified us and made us righteous through faith in the blood of Jesus. These are all a part of salvation and they are all righteous acts of God. Every one of these were accomplished through the gospel and they will all be worked out in your life as you take up this gospel daily and follow Jesus. The gospel is that Jesus died, He was buried and He rose again. You have to mix your faith with the gospel to be profited and for these things to be accomplished in your life. And as I just said, it is through faith is in the blood of Jesus that these things will be appropriated in your life. He finished that plan for us 2000 years ago. All we have to do is walk it out by faith, being led by His Spirit.
Today I am going to share about sanctification. And before I begin, if there is someone reading this who has never been born again, all you have to do is confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead - Romans 10:9-10. It is that simple. And when you begin to believe this gospel (which is the death, burial and resurrection - I Corinthians 15:3-4), the Father and the Son working through the Holy Spirit will begin to work these things out in your life. And it is a process. It is not a one time thing, then you go off and do your own thing. The power of God will be continually working this out and walking this out in your life. That is what salvation is - a process. It is being delivered from every hindering influence in your life. It is perfect soundness being manifested in your spirit, body and soul.
Sanctification is to be set apart or separated unto God. And He does it for a purpose. And that purpose is God's choice - not yours. It will be to obey Him and have His will fulfilled in your life - not your own. I Peter 1:2 says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." God can and will do with your life whatsoever He desires. We are the clay and He is the potter. You might go and read Romans 9:15-21, Isaiah 64:8, and Jeremiah 18. It is very humbling when you see what we are in the eyes of God.
God is going to conform us to the image of Jesus. You can read this in Romans 8:28-29. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. 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." He has also given us all the ministry of reconciliation - II Corinthians 5:18-20; that is preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world and demonstrating the power that raised Jesus from the dead. We will be doing the works of Jesus - and even greater - (John 14:12). There are other things that God may have for you that are not necessarily for the next person, and vice versa, but His purpose and will for each of us will be performed through the death, burial and resurrection power of the Lord Jesus.
Everything that God has ordained for our lives has been ordained from the foundation of the world. There are no surprises with God - they just may be a surprise to you! Acts 15:18 - "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." II Thessalonians 2:13-14: "But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Colossians 1:5 says, "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;..."
Back in 1985, God took us out of one of the largest charismatic churches in the metroplex that we had been with for several years and brought us to Water of Life Church in Plano, Texas. That sanctification process started taking place right then and there. So I am going to share a few things with you.
He took my life and started leading me by His Spirit, causing me to hear His voice and obey Him from the heart. Psalm 23 tells us that He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. People did not like it because they could no longer control my life, or at least get me to do what they wanted me to do. It made the devil mad, and people were caught up by the devil. A couple of years after being here, there was a prophecy given by the Spirit of God out of Doyle's heart and mouth one Sunday night at church. When this prophecy came forth, I knew by the Spirit of God it was for me. I did not know if it was for any other person there, but I knew it was for me. And the Spirit of God said, "There are those that think you are distant and aloof, but it is I who have separated you so that I can fulfill my purpose (will) for your life." That was a real comfort to me. And that is what prophecy is for - comfort, exhortation and edification.
During this time, an angel of the Lord visited me for a three week period and spoke to me about things that God had prepared for my life. Every one of these things that were spoken to me were ordained by God from the foundation of the world. But as I stated earlier out of the book of Acts, "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world."God has a purpose for what He told me. And it is His will for my life, and He will fulfill that plan. I have had to overcome the bondages in my own soul, but also I have had to overcome the Jezebel spirit. This spirit does not want God's will performed in any person's life. And this has been the fight of my life - no question about it. This is one of the toughest spirits I have had to fight, in prayer, to overcome. The pressures have been incredible, but God has always brought me through them and I am thankful to Him for that.
God has proven to me that I will (and do) obey Him, and not one person could ever stop me. My faith has been tested and tried as gold is tried through the fire, and don't think for one minute I would turn back now. It would be to destruction, and I do not want to be destroyed. The power that raised Jesus from the dead has brought me through many trials - and always in victory. When He has His hand on a person's life to fulfill His purpose through that person, He will perform it every time.
You know, there is no greater honor you will have on your life than to be called of God to serve Him with your spirit in this gospel. Nothing can even compare to it. As I heard someone say the other day, "It is priceless." There is no honor that a man can put on you that would even come close to God's honor on your life. And if you want man's honor, then you do not believe God. In John 5:44 it states this, "How can you believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" Good question! The answer is you can't. You are not believing God when you are wanting man's honor and not God's only.
When God separates you unto Himself, He is going to sanctify or throughly purify your spirit, body and soul so that is will be totally sound - completely blameless; without spot, wrinkle or blemish. So you can see that this will be a process - it will not happen overnight. I Thessalonians 5:23 says, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly [entirely]; and I pray God your whole [entire] spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." An 'unsound' spirit, body and soul is not blameless before God. That is why this sanctification process has to take place. Jesus is coming back after a body (the church) that is without spot, wrinkle and blemish - one that is holy. (And that does not mean 'holier than thou'.) It is one that has been sanctified by faith in the blood of Jesus. And to have a sound spirit, body and soul, you will have to have devils cast out and strongholds pulled down in your heart, as well as healing in your body if it is sick.
Also, in Hebrews 13:12 it says that Jesus sanctified us by His own blood. And faith in the blood of Jesus will purge our conscience (which is in the heart) from dead works, so that we can serve the living God. Jesus shed His own blood that we might eternal redemption. And redemption is a loosing away from the powers of darkness.
In Ezekiel 36:23-28, God says He is going to be sanctified in us before the heathen. And He is going to sprinkle clean water on us (which is the word of God - the gospel) and cleanse us from all of our filthiness and from all of our idols. He says He is going to give us a new heart and a new spirit and put His Spirit within us, and cause us to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments and do them. And for the past 14 years this has absolutely been taking place in my life. He has been continually purging and cleansing this vessel, so that He can show forth the excellency of His power through it. It tells us in I Thessalonians 4:4 that we are to possess our vessels in sanctification and honour.
We will look at some examples of men in the bible that were sanctified unto God for a purpose.
Go to Jeremiah 1:5. The word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah saying, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." God set Jeremiah apart unto Himself to be a prophet to the nations.
Then in Galatians 1:15 it is talking about Paul, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace,..." And if you look in verse 1 of this chapter it says Paul was called as an apostle by Jesus Christ, and the Father who raised Him from the dead. These were specific callings on these men's lives, and God separated them unto Him for His purpose. Look at Acts 13:2 - "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them."
When God has a work for you, He will separate you for that purpose. And you are wise if you obey Him. II Peter 5:5 tells us the God resists the proud, but He grants grace to the humble. It is always better, for you, to humble yourself and obey His call for your life.
If you look in John 10:36-38, we will see that Jesus was sanctified also. "Say ye of Him [Jesus], whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him."
The Father sanctified Jesus to do a work (John 10:36-37). And those works were to heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, make the blind to see, and preach the gospel to the poor. He also sent Jesus into this world to die, be buried and be raised from the dead. This was the purpose that God had for His Son when He sent Him into this world.
Not only are people sanctified by God, but God even sanctified a day. You can read in Genesis 2:3, "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made."
He also sanctified a mountain. This is in Exodus 19:21-23. "And the Lord said unto Moses, God down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it." In Joel 1:14, the Spirit of God speaking through Joel told the people to sanctify a fast. You know, God can sanctify anything He desires and for whatever purpose He desires.
But we are going to be sanctified in the sight of the heathen and the world will know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dwells in us in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we shine as lights in the world. That is a tremendous honor of God.
I would encourage you to believe this gospel that we preach and see God's salvation manifest in your life this very day.
