Amen. And we're turning this morning
in our Bible to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5.
First Thessalonians chapter 5. We'll read from verse 14 to the
end. For those of you who are joining
us this morning, you're very welcome in the Lord's name.
We are coming near an end of a series of expository sermons on
1st Thessalonians. Hence the reading.
First Thessalonians chapter 5 will read from verse 14.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn men that are unruly,
comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient
toward all men. See that none render evil for
evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good both
among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore, pray without
ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all
things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all
appearance of evil, 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 call of you
who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us.
Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.
I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all
the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you. Amen.
We know God will stamp with his
own approval and blessing this reading of His own precious and
infallible word. Amen.
Now this morning, as we continue
with our series of expository sermons in the book of First
Thessalonians, my text today is found in First Thessalonians
chapter 5, verse 23 and verse 24.
And if entitled this morning's message, Paul's Prayer for the
Church's sanctification. Listen to the words and the very
God of peace sanctify you holy 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. Now, beloved, as we come to the
closing words of the apostle Paul in his first letter to the
Thessalonians, a letter remember, that's marked by
pastoral warmth, the duty and discipline of holy living, and
hope in the return of Christ. Paul now closes his ladder not
with instruction, but with intercession.
You see, in these two verses, Paul turns from exhortation to
intercession. If you look at verse 14, he says
now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly,
comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be peace and
toward all men see that none render evil for evil unto any
man, but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves
and to all men. And then he adds another
exhortation, Rejoice evermore, and another on top of that pray
without ceasing. Then he mentions in verse 18 in
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Then another exhortation, quench
not the Spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things,
hold fast up which is good, abstain from all appearance of
evil. Now look at verse 23 and the
very God of peace sanctify you holy.
What follows after the exhortation is intercession.
What follows is a prayer for them.
His instruction broke into intercession.
You see, these two verses are not merely commands to be
obeyed, but a prayer to be answered.
Now remember Paul is writing under the power and inspiration
of the Holy Spirit and at the leading of the Spirit he writes
and also offers this particular prayer.
Now please feel the weight of this.
The Holy Spirit gave Paul the very words for his prayer.
This is a Holy Spirit inspired prayer.
They notice how the verse opens and see even the children can
spell out a small but very significant word.
You see, and this is not accidental and is adjoining
word. It is a connective.
It connects what has gone before and what comes after.
It connects what has just been commanded, especially from verse
16 right through to 22. And it's especially important.
It's highly significant. Why?
Because the duty to accomplish these commands can only be
achieved by a life of dependency on God, this prayer is not
offered in the abstract. This prayer is marked by
urgency, accuracy, spirituality. This is a powerful prayer.
This is our a real prayer. It is a heartfelt, honest
prayer. You see, Paul knows that these
commands cannot be achieved by human effort.
These commands must be coupled with the power of God.
Notice the words I pray God. They're in italics.
They have been added by the faithful translators of the King
James Bible to help, to give the sense, in other words, by the
addition of these words. But whether they're added or
subtracted, we discover that it is a prayer established beyond
any doubt. Paul had a longing for this
young church, the suffering persecution.
He's concerned for their welfare.
He's concerned about their spiritual well doing.
And his prayer displays the longing of a pastor's heart.
He longs for their sanctification, and he prays
about the sanctified life on their behalf.
He's praying over the subject of their sanctification.
So in addition to exhorting them to a holy life, a life of
holiness, a life of ecclesiastical and personal
separation unto God, Paul says, in addition to exhorting you,
but we have instruction, I'm now praying for it.
He adds in verse 24, Faithful is he that calleth you who also
will do it. You see, he's saying to them,
you know that you're called to this life, but only God by his
divine grace can sanctify you wholly.
A sanctified life, a life of holiness is not optional.
It's integral to the Christian life.
A truly justified soul will also aim and aspire to be a truly
sanctified soul. Sanctification impacts upon
every area of our lives, our worship, our walk, our witness,
our words, our warfare. Now look at the text.
I want you to think of a number of things.
One, the subject of sanctification.
Notice the word sanctify. OK, the Shorter Catechism says
this sanctification is the work of God's free grace.
For by we're renewed and the whole man after the image of
God, and are enabled more and more to die on the sin and live
on the righteousness. Now let me ask you a question
this morning, a very personal question.
If you profess to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, so
you profess to be saved, or you profess to be born again, you
profess you have a testimony to the saving and keeping power of
Christ. Now let me ask this.
Do you have a desire to live a sanctified life, a holy life
unto God, not perfectly but passionately, not sinlessly but
sincerely striving to die unto sin and live unto righteousness?
You see, we've already seen in our studies First Thessalonians
4 and 3. For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification, that you should abstain from
fornication. What is the will of God for me?
What's the will of God for you? What has God chosen for your
life and mine? What has God called us to do?
Well, you know, there's a very simple answer over there in the
book of First Peter, in First Peter chapter 1, and in the
verse 15. But as he which hath called you
as holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
The word conversation is more than just our words.
The word conversation is an old Elizabethan word which means
your style of living or your manner of living.
Now let me ask this is this the motto of your life?
Holiness unto the Lord? You say, I stress this and I'm
stressing it for this reason. In Northern Ireland, thousands
of individuals profess they take the name of the Lord Jesus upon
their lips. And yet the Bible says in Second
Timothy 119 the Lord knoweth them that are his.
That's tremendous. But he adds this.
But let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from
iniquity. Is your profession of Christ as
Lord and Saviour joined or coupled with a life of purity?
And if it's coupled with a life of purity, it will impact upon
your walk with God, your witness for God, your worship of God.
It'll impact upon the words that you speak.
It'll impact upon your worship. See over there in the Gospel of
Matthew, In Matthew Chapter 7, we read some of the most saddest
words in all of the Bible. They come at the end almost of
the Sermon in the Mount in Matthew 721.
Not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
Kingdom of heaven, but either doeth the will of my Father,
which is in heaven. Many, that's a multitude, Many
will say to me in that day, this is the day of judgement, this is
the last day, This is the day when the doom of men is finally
sealed. Many will say to me, in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in
thy name of cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful
works. Now listen to these words, and
then will I profess unto them. I never knew you.
Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Note these words, and then will I profess unto them.
That's the people who are saying, we know you, Lord.
We have professed you, we have preached in your name.
We've done many wonderful works. We give this to charity and that
we, we, we, we, we, we. We have even cast out demons in
your name, Lord. And then when I profess unto
them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
See. What's your attitude to sin?
That's a good test. What's your attitude to Christ?
If you're professing Him as Lord and Saviour, then coupled with
that profession will be this desire for a sanctified life,
the subject of sanctification. I want you to think secondly, if
the source of supplication, look, look at our text again,
and the very God of peace sanctify you holy and the very
God of peace. You see, real, genuine biblical
sanctification doesn't begin with men, but with God.
Sanctification is the work of Gods, free grace.
This is the work of God. It's free grace.
Think of his supremacy, the very God of peace.
You see, the true and living God, the God of the Bible, the
God that we worshipped this morning, is not a distant deity.
He's not one who's absent from his people, but he's actually
the very God of peace. He is the one who has reconciled
penitent sinners to himself in and through the Lord Jesus.
Romans 5 and one. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
and peace with God. Procedure comes before purity,
before God. Justification comes before
sanctification. So I asked again, do you really
know him? Are you living and rejoicing in
the knowledge that you have peace with God, in the knowledge
that on the cross the Lord Jesus offered himself a once and for
all atoning sacrifice for sin? But this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down in the right hand of
God, and you rejoiced at God's righteous wrath, has been
satisfied and appeased by the blood shedding of the Lord
Jesus. See the God of peace.
He sanctifies those who are His in the new birth, in the act of
regeneration, the Spirit of God comes and through faith applies
the merits of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus and sanctifies us
unto God. I want you to feel the weight of
that purchase. A divine purchase took place.
Notice that Paul says, and the very God of peace sanctify you,
holy Paul doesn't say sanctify yourselves.
So think of his sufficiency, sanctify you holy.
True sanctification is not what we do.
It's not even the outcome of a decision that we make.
It's the work of God's free grace by the Spirit of God,
grounded in the merits of the Lord Jesus.
The word sanctify here's a verb. It means to separate.
It means to set apart for himself, set apart from a life
of dupree, of defilement, set apart from a life of craving,
corruption. God sets apart his own for a
holy and sacred purpose. And this is God's will for every
Christian, and it is God's work. The God of peace sanctify you.
It's all of God. It's not partly of God and
partly of man, but the work of God's free grace.
It's all of God, all of God's grace.
In the book of Exodus 3113, we read that you may know that I am
the Lord that does sanctify you. Now think for a moment.
Think of a tree, trees of branches.
The leaves are of course out in abundance, and on the branches
there's blossoms, and on the branches there's tiny buds which
will become fruit. But that branch doesn't produce
life by itself. How does it bear fruit?
It bears fruit by abiding as a branch attached to the tree.
The the branch draws its life from the tree, and in a similar
fashion you and I who are in union with Christ.
Every believer discovers that they don't manufacture
sanctification or holiness by themselves.
Every believer receives it from the God of peace through faith
in Christ. And as God's salvation is
applied by the Spirit of God, and it's important that you
grasp that. It's important that you know
this, the source of sanctification, the supremacy
and the sufficiency. Very quickly think about the
scope of sanctification. And I pray God, your whole
spirit and soul and body, we'll pause there.
Notice these words and the very God of peace sanctify you holy.
The Apostle Paul is emphasising totality here.
Think of the word holy. It literally means complete.
It reaches every part, it's entire and it's extent.
Holy means completely through and through.
There's no compartment of the Christian's life that is exempt
from God's sanctifying work. It's more than our conduct.
It's about our character. It's not just our public, but
also our private life. It's not just the outward face
that we show and display to family and friends and work
colleagues and neighbours and strangers.
No, it's our inward face. It's it's the real us.
Let me try and illustrate Robert Murray McShane, the man who
prayed. Lord, make me as holiest as
possible for a safe Sinner to be.
He said one time that we should live the Christian life in the
home so that you could sell your pet parrot to the local town
gossip. See, a parrot repeats
everything. A parrot repeat what it's hears.
And he's saying we should live the Christian life in our homes
so that you could sell the pet parrot to the local town gossip
and nothing would be said to the local town gossip that would be
derogatory or demeaning to our character.
It's entire in its extent, but it's also entire in its
experience. Every faculty is involved.
Look at these words, your whole spirit and soul and body.
This is not a tactical breakdown in human anatomy.
It's a comprehensive expression. Notice how it starts spirit.
We talk about body, soul and spirit, but the Bible doesn't
start with body, soul and spirit.
It starts with spirit and soul and body.
You see, the Spirit is our God consciousness, and we become
conscious of God when we're born again of the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit not only generates and creates new life
within us, but the Holy Spirit then comes in to indwell us, and
by the Holy Spirit we have a new life.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ is a new creature, all
things have passed away and all things have become new and all
things are of God. The spirit refers to our God
consciousness and then soul. Well, that refers to our inner
life, our heart, the the real us, our mind, our emotions, our
affections. We've got a new interest now in
Christ. We have a new joy, we have a new
peace, we have a new love, we have new desires for the House
of God and the day of God, the word of God, the the throne of
God, the people of God, the Christ of God, and also then our
body. That's our outward conduct
because we recognise in Christ, even our bodies belong to the
Lord. This is not a partial holiness,
it's a personal holiness. It's a a practical holiness.
This sanctified life is in the divine plan of God.
When you get a new heart, your life has changed and transformed
By the grace of God, you also get a new life.
Jesus said, I'm come that you might have life and you might
have it more abundantly. And the scope of this
sanctification experiences sanctify you Holy.
And what does holy mean? It's entire in its extent, our
conduct, our character, our private life, our public life.
It's entire in its experience because every faculties involved
our spirit, our God consciousness, our our soul, the
whole inner life and our body. I suppose this morning we were
able to go into what you said was, and I would agree, the
cleanest house you've ever been in and carried off.
But I guarantee no matter how the owner says to us, I've got
the cleanest house and carried off, I guarantee that you would
find dust somewhere and somebody would say, well, it's not
perfectly clean. And that is true of our lives.
This true sanctification impacts the whole of man.
This life of sanctification, remember, has been purchased by
the blood of Christ. It's the cleansing power of the
blood and the merit of Christ that's constantly and daily
applied that sanctifies us. Over there in the book of
Hebrews and Hebrews chapter 13 and in the verse 12, we read
these words. Wherefore Jesus also, that He
might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without
the gain. Here's the chief reason why the
Lord Jesus really died. Thou shall call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins.
Do you know that Jesus saves us not only from the penalty of
sin, which is eternal death, but He saves us from the pollution
of sin? He breaks the power of cancelled
sin and sets the prisoner free. We're no longer ruled and
controlled by the sin principle. We now have a hatred for sin and
a love for righteousness. We have a desire to die on the
sin and to live on the righteousness.
He saves us, of course, from the pleasure of sin.
He takes the love of sinning out of our heart.
We we mourn and grieve when we sin and thought and word and
deed against the Lord, and one day He'll save us from the very
presence of sin. Remember what we read there in
the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 12 and in the verse 14,
Hebrews 12 and 14. We read these words, follow
peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see
the Lord. And let's remember Paul's great
advice to the church at Corinth. And he said this Know you not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor abusers, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor
covetous, or drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the Kingdom of God.
And such where some of you but ye are washed, but you're
sanctified, but you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of God very quickly.
Think of the standard of sanctification.
If you go back to our text, it says be preserved, blameless.
What's the goal? What's not mere self
improvement? It's not that we're a little bit
batter. It's not that we've cleaned up
our life and our act. No, there's a higher goal,
preserve blameless, that is blameless before God, blameless
in the eyes of God. It's not sinless perfection in
this life. There is no such thing.
The Bible is clear. We will never be perfectly
sanctified here. We'll never reach a state of
sinlessness. So we'll never sin.
And maybe I've told you this story before.
There was a man came to Spurgeon one time, great Baptist preacher
down in London. And Spurgeon, of course, was
getting ready for the Lord's Day.
And this man was staying with Spurgeon.
Told Spurgeon that he'd never sinned in 20 years.
That's some admission for a Christian.
I've never sinned in 20 years, Mr Spurgeon.
Spurgeon went to bed on a Saturday night, get up on a
Sunday morning. The man was there at the table.
Spurgeon come into the dining room where he's getting served
his breakfast. He lifted the bowl of porridge,
his own bowl of porridge, not the man's, and he dumped it over
the man's head. And the man lost his temper.
If you get angry, you've just committed your first sin, Sir,
in 20 years. You see, there is no such thing
as sinless perfection this side of eternity.
What we're called to is a life of passionately pursuing
holiness. We're to to follow peace with
all men and holiness. The word follow.
There in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14, is the idea of a
hunter going after a prey, the idea of a man going out to seek
for treasure. We're called to be sincere,
called to be upright, called to be haters of sin, called to be
those without reproach. It's really a life without
scandal. Blameless means what?
That no legitimate charge could stick.
We could be accused. But it's not true.
It's not accurate. It's a life consistent before
and with the one whom we profess to know, love and serve.
It's a life of repentance. We keep short accounts with God.
We confess our sin daily. The Bible tells us if we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, to
cleanse us from all and righteousness.
The Lord's Prayer teaches us forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us.
It's a life of dependence. The Lord comes to us and says
you can do nothing without me. And we cry out, Lord, I can do
nothing without your help. I can't even bend down to time
of shoelaces without you giving me the ability and the power.
The Bible says blessed is the man who maketh the Lord as
trust. It's a it's a daily trust.
Trust him going out in the morning and coming in at night.
It's a life of prayer. It's a drawing near to God and
receiving grace and mercy and help in time of need.
It's a life of faithfully applying the word of God in our
hearts. Jesus said man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God. And the psalmist asked this
question in Psalm 119. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? Here's the answer.
By taking heed thereto. According to thy word, it's
hearing the word of God. It's heeding the word of God.
It's holding on to that word. I've gotten a word from the
Lord. I want to finish this morning
the security of sanctification. Notice these words.
Look at again at the text. Be preserved blameless unto
what? The coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I believe in the personal
visible coming of Jesus Christ to this earth and glory.
His feet is going to stand on the Mount of Olives, the very
same place that He went up to heaven from.
Here's the great truth. God preserves whom He
sanctifies. The same God who commences the
work, completes the work does not echo Philippians 1/6.
He which have begun a good work on you will perform until the
day of Jesus Christ. You see, there's such an aspect
to this, that God is guiding and guarding us on our journey.
God preserves whom he sanctifies, and of course, the
great goal of God is preserved unto Christ's return.
So true sanctification is always looking forward-looking for a
person not simply prepared for a condition, not simply prepared
for a climax, but prepared for Christ.
A life of holiness now anticipates a life of
heavenliness. A life of purity here prepares
us for a life in His presence. Let me illustrate.
Think of a marriage and of some young people getting married
later on this year and next year and they've set a date.
Think of a bride and a groom. What does the bride do coming up
to the wedding? Well, she gets herself ready.
What's she getting ready for? Her wedding day?
She's getting ready to be presented to her bridegroom.
She's getting ready to be received by him to be his wife.
She aims to be the perfect bride and as a bride she'll be
presented to her husband on the wedding day, presented to her
husband to be and so the church passionately and purposefully as
being prepared for Christ in his coming so Christ when he comes
can receive her. Maybe you're thinking preacher,
that's nonsense. I've never heard of that before.
Well, listen to the word of God, Ephesians chapter 5.
It says this husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved
the church and gave himself for it.
That's hard, isn't it? We have to pray about that, but
that's what we're commanded to do.
And here's here's the standard as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it that he might sanctify.
There's our word and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
Word. That's why it's important that
we hear the word of God and hide it in her heart and hold on to
it. I've gotten the word from the
Lord. Notice verse 27, that he might
present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. The Lord Jesus is coming back to
this earth in power and glory, a visible personal return.
And when he returns, he'll be receiving his bride unto
himself. At his coming.
Our sanctification will be complete, even if your body dies
now and is under death for a time in the grave.
And the body, of course, remembers not finally perfected
in the grave. We all taste and experience the
limitations of the body. We grow weak, become frail.
We see death working in our physical field, and we see that
in the life and witness of many in the context of our church.
Yet that is coming. Even those bodies in the grave,
they're going to be resurrected, and they're going to be
resurrected, and the spirit will return and the soul will return
and the body will be raised, and there'll be a new body like on
the Christ's glorious body, and that body will be received by
the Lord and reconcile to Him forever, forever with the Lord.
Is that your hope? Is that your testimony?
Come tonight and hear more about waiting and watching for the
Lord. But let me say this as I finish,
as you think of this text of scripture.
So you go to church this morning.
What was the preacher talking about?
Nah, well I don't really know, but you do know.
Here's the text. First Thessalonians 523.
What was it all about? It's about the sanctified life.
OK, so I'm going to give you just a little thought.
This sanctified life is God produced.
You can remember that the very God of peace sanctify your holy.
It's all composing because it's extent is soul, spirit and body.
It's a moral seriousness because it's from the inside out.
It's from the outside in. It's also eternally secure
because blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't be content with half heartedness.
Don't be content with coldness. Let's not rest in our progress,
let's press on. The Bible says faithful is he
that calleth you who also will do it.
May the Lord take this message on sanctification and bless it
to your hearts this morning. Thank you for coming and thank
you for listening.