We've been looking at the personal work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. And we've looked at some of the general characteristics of the Holy Spirit. We've already done that. And we're getting closer to some of the more personal aspects. We've looked at His extraordinary power as God, as a divine being. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent. He possesses extraordinary power, unlimited, infinite power. As we saw last Sunday night, he provides his power to us as he fills us with that power. In the Old Testament, especially, he would pour out that power on distinct individuals for specific times and places and purposes. And can he still do that today? Absolutely. But now that the Spirit indwells the believer, his presence and his power is always available to us as believers. And it is available to fill us for his function, for his purpose and his goal in our life. And one of the demonstrations of his power and one of the evidences of his filling is what we'll be considering tonight and what we looked at initially this morning, and that is the sanctification by the Spirit of God. Now, I did not plan for these two messages to dovetail one on top of each other, but as I was preparing this one and the one this morning, the power of sanctification became very evident and the importance of it in my life and in our church especially. I think getting two doses, if you will, of sanctification by the Spirit of God is a very important thing for us to understand. But what is sanctification? To sanctify simply means to make holy. To make you holy like God is holy. And this is the essence of God. It is holiness. God is holy. And in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 15 and 16, not only is this his essence, but holiness is also his expectation of his people. So in 1 Peter 1, verses 15 and 16, it says, But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Here in this verse, we see both the essence of God's holiness and the expectation of God's holiness all combined together in a single verse. And because God is holy, His design and His desire is to make you and me holy in our lives as Christians. And the process through which He does this is called sanctification, making holy. And the agent by which He does this is the Holy Spirit. And that is why sanctification is taught to us through this passage tonight. But as I alluded to this morning, holiness is a very important issue for us as Christians because not only is it the essence of God, not only is it the entrance or the expectation of God, holiness is what is required as an entrance to God. You don't need to turn there, but Hebrews 12.14 says, follow peace with all men and holiness. So follow holiness. Why? Because without it, no man shall see the Lord. Without holiness, we cannot see the Lord. And that is why the process of sanctification in our life is so critical, because as we are sanctified, as we are made holy, it points us to the culmination of that process when we are essentially glorified in the presence of God and we will be holy, for we will see Him as He is. And then we will be able to enter into the presence of God because of the holiness that He instilled in us from the very beginning that we were saved. And that is another aspect of holiness, is that holiness is the equipment that God uses and gives to us as believers in order to live for Him. He does this through sanctification. Tonight we're going to look at several passages that show the Holy Spirit's work of sanctification in our lives as a Christian. And it shows us that sanctification is a lifelong process. It's a spiritual growth. It starts when you're saved and it continues on until the very moment that you're in the presence of God. It's very much like climbing to the summit of a high mountain, as sometimes The process of sanctification may seem very difficult. You know, this morning, I don't know about you, but as I was preparing for that message, it hit home. It was a difficult message to prepare and preach, because there are definitely areas in my life that need to be submitted to God and His holiness. There are areas in my life that I need to abstain from in a greater way. There are areas in my life that I need to submit to His will and authority in a greater way. And so sometimes, as the Spirit shines His light on our life, and convicts us of sin, and shows us God's righteousness, what happens is, it makes it difficult, it's hard, we feel bad sometimes, but oh the glory! When we get those sins right before God, we confess them and He forgives us and we're cleansed. Sometimes the process may seem difficult, just like if you were climbing a mountain. Sometimes the process seems very long, too long in fact. Oh Lord, why won't You come home and bring me home today? Just like John said at the very last book, he said, even so come, Lord Jesus. He saw all the glories of heaven and he realized all the drudgery of this world. He said, take me home. Come now. We think this process is so long. And yet when we reach the end of this climb, the view is like nothing we've ever seen in the world. I've had the privilege of growing up in Denver, Colorado area, and one of my favorite things to do as a family when I was in junior high and elementary school was we would go to a place called Eldorado Canyon. It was a box canyon there right as you get into the Rocky Mountains and it was absolutely beautiful. And one of the things that we would do in that canyon is we would climb up, there was actual mountain climbers, but then we would also find paths, foot trails that we could climb up these hills and these mountains. And we would get to the top and we could see vast distances. Usually we wouldn't look toward Denver because all you would see is a black or a brown cloud because of the smog that came from there. But if you looked everywhere else, you could see the beauty of God's creation. It was absolutely an incredible view. And that's the truth about sanctification. Even though the process that God uses to make us holy may feel very difficult and may seem very long, it is worth it. It is worth sticking with it. It is worth submitting and obeying to whatever the Holy Spirit leads you. Because when you reach the end, you'll be able to look back and see that all that God has done for you through sanctification and say it's worth it all. It's worth it all. That is why in the book of Psalms, it is described as the beauty of holiness. Holiness is truly a beautiful characteristic of our God, and it is the beautiful characteristic that He desires to bring in us and out of us as believers. Tonight, let's climb the summit of sanctification as we come and see the view that God has for our lives. And as we look at and fully trust in the Holy Spirit's working in our life in a continual way, we will reach the summit of sanctification that He has for us. Before a climber would ever begin to scale the heights of a mountain like Mount Everest, which is the world's highest mountain, it is nearly five and a half miles above sea level. Denver, Colorado was known as the Mile High City. That's a mile up. Then you've got mountains on top of that. Mount Everest is even beyond that. Five and a half miles high. I would imagine with Art, Ruth and the kids, Goats and Paul, they may even be able to see Mount Everest and see the top of the world as it's been described. Before someone will take the adventure and take the desire to go to that top, they're going to do something else. They're going to prepare. There's a base camp miles below the peak, far below the peak. And at this camp, a climber will usually be part of a team so that they could receive the equipment and the supplies and the help necessary for that kind of a climb. A climb like this would be absolutely ludicrous, in fact dangerous, if you did it alone. There has to be a team. It would be nearly impossible to reach the summit. There have been some that have tried and failed. George Mallory was one individual who tried it and he failed. There's other individuals that have made it but had a very difficult time doing it. A climber has to be ready to climb. Otherwise, there could be great disaster. If you're not fully equipped, if you don't have the right kind of oxygen, if you don't have the right kind of ice picks or the right kind of picks on your shoes, you cannot make it up that mountain. In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest and return safely. He could only have succeeded because he started out prepared. And this is what it means for us in our life as a Christian. We will never be able to climb and go up the summit of sanctification unless God has prepared us for that climb by being saved. The truth is, before we are to be sanctified, we must be saved. But how can you know that you're saved? How can you know that you've reached that base camp? How do you know that you're ready and that God is going to work in you to sanctify you, to make you holy, and to become like Him. How do you know this? How do you know when you're ready to climb to spiritual heights through Christ? First, it's because we need to see that sanctification is the personal proof of your salvation. Sanctification, that process by which God makes you holy because He is holy, is the personal proof and evidence of your salvation. We see this in 1 Peter 1. verses one through two. Just a few verses from where we were just at, where Peter is introducing himself as he writes this letter, and he says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," and then he says this salutation, "...grace unto you, and peace be multiplied." Paul here is writing a letter, and first of all, in verse 2, it describes to us the agent by which we are sanctified. The person of the Godhead who sanctifies us is the Spirit of God. That's why it says, through sanctification of the Spirit. But Paul is writing here, in verse 2, to the elect, those who were chosen by God and those who are saved. And so this is a description of what is going to take place in the life of the elect, the believers in Jesus Christ. And he says that their salvation is applied to them, how? Through the sanctification of the Spirit. How do you know that you're saved? It is because God, the Holy Spirit, applies what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross. He applies that salvation to you through the process of sanctification, making you holy. In other words, the Holy Spirit has been working on them and on every Christian all along according to the Father's plan, the plan that He had from the very beginning. It started out when the Holy Spirit came and regenerated those people and gave them new life. And that is what happens when the Holy Spirit first enters into our life. He regenerates us. He makes us a new creature. All those old things are passed away and now behold, all things are new. And now we can live a life that pleases God. Before we couldn't. But through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, this is how it all starts. Now, Our salvation is being worked out in time. And it says not only is it being regenerated, but it continues when the Holy Spirit indwells you. We've already looked at this. When He indwells you and provides His permanent presence and His permanent power for you to live a Christian life. And now, As a Christian, the Holy Spirit continues His work by filling you with His power and sanctifying you, making you holy just like He is holy. This is the work of the Holy Spirit that He's been doing in you from the very moment that you were saved. Now, even though the process of sanctification may seem mysterious, there is going to be solid evidence that it takes place, because it goes on in verse 2. He's writing to the elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto what? It is unto obedience. This is what we looked at this morning. Through sanctification, the Holy Spirit will enable you to obey the Lord and to obey His commandments, which is a fruit and an evidence of your salvation. That is why it is important for us to know that we're saved. And the Bible says you can know that you're saved. You don't have to walk around this life and be wondering whether you've been saved. You can know for sure. You can know this and you can also consider what God has been doing in your life through the fruits of sanctification. Are you growing? Is there obedience? Is there a desire to obey the Lord and His commands? When this happens, it is an evidence and a proof of your salvation. Your sanctification is also that proof. We can never, ever make it to the summit of sanctification without first being ready for it. And we cannot be ready for it without being prepared by the Holy Spirit in order to become sanctified. This is His work. We are only sanctified by the Spirit. If you don't see sanctification going on in your life, You've got to wonder whether you are saved. And sometimes there might be people that we know, that we can counsel with, that are having difficulty. Perhaps they're struggling in their Bible reading. They're struggling with areas of sin. We need to point to them and say, is there fruit? Are you growing? Are you learning how to obey? Are you becoming a more obedient Christian? And we point them not just to their works, because that is not something that is going to achieve merit before God. But is it flowing as a fruit of the Spirit? Is there an evidence of God doing a convicting and a convincing and a cleansing work in your life? Because if that is going on, if that process of sanctification is occurring, it is an evidence that you are a child of God, and the base camp is set, and He is going to bring you up the mountain so that ultimately you will be holy, for He is holy. Now, before going on the climb, to Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, who actually, by the way, just recently died. January 11th of this year, he was 88 years of age. He knew that it would take a long time to get to the very top. He knew that it would take a lot of work to get to the top. And that is where we're at today. If you're a Christian and you see this evidence of your salvation and you recognize that He is sanctifying you, you now need to understand that it is going to take a long time. It is going to take a process of time. It is a lifelong experience and expression of God's work in your life. Of course, we know that salvation is a free gift. It's a free gift to all those who accept it by faith at the hand of the Lord Jesus. But once you're saved, the Lord does teach that there is a process in place to sanctify you wholly, as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5.23, so that your whole spirit and soul and body can be preserved blameless under the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his goal. His will is your sanctification, like we saw early in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And now his will here in 1 Thessalonians 5 is to sanctify you wholly, that is completely. This is what he's trying to do. It's going to take time. It's going to take effort. Because secondly, we see that sanctification is the personal progress of your salvation. It is the personal progress. I use that word personal because that is what happens when we're sanctifying. I might be sanctified at a different rate than anyone else here. Sanctification is a very personal work by the Holy Spirit dealing with our own mind and our own lusts and our own pet sins. We're all different and he is going to work with us on an individual and a personal basis to bring us into the image of his son. Sanctification is the personal progress of your salvation, just like Pilgrim of Pilgrim's Progress. Many of you have read John Bunyan's classic work on Pilgrim's Progress. After his burden was lifted when he met Christ at Calvary, what happened? Did he go right to the celestial city? No. He had to continue on his journey. He still had to climb the hill of difficulty. He went down back into the valley of humiliation and even through the valley of the shadow of death. His trail after his burden was lifted at Calvary was up and down, up and down. And if you read that, you know what it's like because you're going through the same thing. It's an emotional roller coaster. But even though you're going up and down, up and down, sometimes it feels like three steps forward and two steps back, another three steps forward, another two steps back. You know what's happening? You're still making progress to the summit. of sanctification. It is a long lasting, lifelong process and progress that God is bringing you through. And we see that sanctification is a continual process of change. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Sanctification is a continual process of change. Again, Paul writes to the Thessalonians. This is his second letter, which we're going to be looking at later this year. He says, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. We see that all the time. He's always thanking God for what's going on in the lives of God's people. That's why we ought to give God all the credit for what He does in our lives and what He does in other people's lives. But then he adds, Why? Because, look at what God has done. Because God, from the beginning, chosen you to salvation, how? Just like He said in 1 Peter, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Where unto? He called you by our gospel so that you could obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the holiness that He is directing us to. God's plan from the beginning, as it says in Hebrews 7.25, is to save you, not just a little bit, but to save you to the uttermost. That's his whole design. That's his whole plan. That was the whole purpose from the very beginning. Not just to save you from the penalty of sin, which we know happens when we trust Christ as our Savior, but also from the power of sin. This is through sanctification so that the sins that used to tie us down no longer have their same power and grip upon us. But also, ultimately, He will save us from the very presence of sin. This is what God's design is from the very beginning. He chose you and He chose me to change us. This is the process of sanctification. He chose you to change you. That's what He wants to do. He wants to change you from what you once were to what He wants you to become after the very image of our Savior. The question is, are we changing? Is this change taking about in our life? This is one of the reasons why we ought to give God thanks like Paul did there in second Thessalonians 2, 13. We're bound to give God thanks. Why? Because he is not content to leave us where he found us. Wouldn't that be a mess? Wouldn't it be awful if he left us where he found us? Think about the dog. If you go to get a dog from a dog pound, we've never done this. But when you go to redeem a dog from a dog pound, you don't just pay the price for that dog and leave them there in the pound and say, I'll pay you every once in a while as long as you take care of them for us. No, you redeem that dog from the pound and you take them home and you make them your pet and you feed them your dog food and you love on them and you give them all the care and attention that you would have for that dog. The Lord does the same thing for us. He doesn't leave us where we were. He brings us to where he wants you to be. I love what William Wilberforce once said. William Wilberforce, some of you might be familiar with him because there's been some videos and movies produced about him. He was a British politician and statesman from the 18th century who became a Christian and ultimately helped end slavery in the British Empire. And he established something that we now know was something that really swept all through the world, especially the United States. He, as a believer, was teaching that slavery was wrong. But listen to what he said about God when he chose him. It was to change him. He says, I'm not what I should be. I'm not what I want to be. I'm not what I will be, but I am not what I was. And by the grace of God, I am what I am. In other words, he accepts what God is doing in his life and he's going to let God do his work of change. Are we willing to let God change us the way He wants us to be changed? Whether it's something that we're thinking or something that we're doing or a way that we're acting, are we willing to let God change us according to His Word and according to His desire? We're not willing to change. The process of sanctification ends. It's that submissiveness that we need to offer before the Lord like we looked at this morning. Because how you are saved is how you grow. He says that He has chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and, look at this, belief of the truth. How are you saved? Through belief of the truth. How are you sanctified? The same way, through belief of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You've got to believe in God and in His Spirit. You've got to believe in who they are and what they do. You've got to believe and trust in the process that God uses to sanctify you. He doesn't just say magically who you're sanctified. He uses means and processes. Sometimes he will use your circumstances. We learned a little bit about that this morning where this new sister trusted Christ out because the Lord was speaking to her through the circumstance of her own illness, and she got saved. And so it is with our own circumstances. We don't gripe and we don't complain about where God has placed us. We are content with whatever situation or state that God has placed us in. Why? Because he's using that to change us and to make us into the kind of people that he wants us to be. He uses those circumstances. He uses the church of Jesus Christ to bring us to this sanctification. He communicates with us through His Word, and we communicate with Him through prayer. These are all the means by which God sanctifies us, and we need to trust in Him because He knows best. He knows what will work with us. He made us, after all. Are we changing? Not only is sanctification a continual process of change, but sanctification is also a continual process of cleansing. Cleansing. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 through 11. We read this. Paul, again, writing to this church at Corinth that David mentioned earlier. Knowing not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. There's another reason why we need to be sanctified. We're not holy. We can't inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And then my favorite verses here. And such were some of you. Past tense. You were like this, but you are washed. You are sanctified. You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Again, the Spirit applying what Jesus did in order to wash us, sanctify us, justify us. Why? Because God's plan is to fit you for heaven. He wants to make you qualified to be in heaven. We can't qualify ourselves. We have so far fallen short of the glory of God. We can't qualify ourselves, but God does qualify us through sanctification, which ultimately will lead to glorification. And we will be perfect and we will be righteous and we will be holy as he is holy because we will see him as he is. And that is why we can know that heaven is our home, he will bring you As it says here, through the cleansing of sanctification from unrighteousness to righteousness, or as another verse says, from darkness to light. And what an amazing thing in this in First Corinthians 611. It is a joint work of Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is a joint effort where they equip us for the service of the Lord. Now, how does he do this? We've already looked at the Spirit's relationship to the Word. And I just want to touch this real quick, but in John 17, 17, Jesus prays in His high priestly prayer to the Father, sanctify them through Thy truth. Again, that same word, sanctify. Make them holy. How? Through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself. that they also might be sanctified through the truth. The Spirit sanctifies you through the truth of the Word of God. And He cleanses us and He purifies us through the washing of the water by the Word. And that is why it is so important as Christians to be students of the Word. to memorize it, to study it, to read it, as we're doing this year, Lord willing, reading in its entirety, making sure that we're considering the whole counsel of God, and we are submitting our lives completely, our mind, our will, our emotions, everything, to the authority of this inspired, inerrant Word of God. Why? Because it is through the Word of God that the Spirit sanctifies us to make us holy and fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a continual process of cleansing, but also it is a continual process of cooperation. You turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 29. Hebrews 10, 29. This particular verse is a warning to those who refuse what God has provided and what God is using to sanctify them. He says, and he mentions about the Israelites especially, how they refused what God was doing and what God was using to sanctify them. And he says, How much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy of, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, and an holy thing, and hath done despite under the spirit of grace. This is a warning to accept what God uses in the process of our sanctification. It could be the word. It definitely is the word. It could be your situations. It could be other people as they challenge you in your faith. It could be times of prayer as you open yourself before God. This is why our cooperation with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification is so important. We already saw this morning the role of God the Father as He sanctifies us. He gives the increase. But then we saw our responsibility of submitting and obeying Him as He works that work of sanctification on our life. And that is why we see a cooperation, letting God have His way in our life. And when He says something, we do it. We obey it. And we know that His commands are true. He doesn't change, like Marty was saying earlier. We can trust in what he says. Look with me at Leviticus chapter 20, back in the Old Testament, and we see this cooperation with the Spirit in our sanctification come out very clearly. Leviticus chapter 20, verse 7 and 8. The Lord says to Israel, He says, Leviticus 27, sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy. For I am the Lord your God, and ye shall keep my statutes and do them." Why? Because I am the Lord which sanctifies you. So here we have God saying, I'm the one that sanctifies you, and then God commanding, sanctify yourself. What's true? They both are. It is a cooperation with the Spirit of God as He sanctifies us. We then are sanctifying ourselves by obeying what He has taught us through His Word. We need to cooperate with everything that he does by receiving his word, by relying upon his promises, as we struggle against sin and as we earnestly long for holiness, as we long for that picture perfect image of God in our life, as we long for that and seek it, that is how we cooperate with his sanctifying process. Now, there may be hills and there may be valleys in this process, but there will always be progress. I love one of my pastors when I was down in college and he would ask on Sunday morning, have you grown in your relationship with God this week? Have you grown as a Christian this week? Are you in the same place where you were last week or have you gone or have you gone back down? I appreciated that because it really made me think. Am I closer to the Lord? Am I more holy? Have I obeyed him in these areas? Have I confessed these known sins in my life? Good question for all of you to ask tonight. Are you holier tonight than you were last Sunday night? You say you're the same. That's not progress. It's a plateau. We should always be striving to be more holy. And as we do that, as we strive to do that behind the scenes, God, the Holy Spirit is doing that convincing and convicting work. And together we will be sanctified as we cooperate with his work. But as we progress, that summit of sanctification will always grow closer and larger. As we get closer to that summit, we will soon realize that unlike Mount Everest, which if you've seen some of the TV shows of people trying to get there, it's a lot of work. They've got those ice picks. And once you get to the top, they don't spend a whole lot of time there. And I thought, what's the point then? Why would you go through all that effort? I think as Jordan Mallory said once, he said, it's because it's there. That's why he did it. I don't know if I would do that just to stand at the top for maybe a couple of seconds because it's so cold and it's so windy and it's so dangerous at the very top that they don't spend much time there at all. They spend most of their time getting there. But when we get to the summit of sanctification, it's a lot different because we're going to realize that unlike Mount Everest, there's already somebody there at the top. Already someone there. It's the Lord. He's been drawing us closer and closer with what seems to be a hidden rope that we had no idea was there. It is that sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, His role as He's pulling us up and as we are pulling ourselves up, that cooperation with His Spirit. You know what's going to happen? He is the reason why you didn't fall off a cliff. He is the reason why that you didn't turn back. He is the reason why that you didn't stray off off a different course. He is the reason why you kept plodding along even though you felt like you could go no further. And at the summit, you're going to learn point number three, the sanctification is ultimately the personal presentation of your salvation to God. And we're going to look at Romans 15, chapter 15, verse 15, that teaches us this. Sanctification is the personal presentation by the Spirit of your salvation to God. Romans 15, verse 15 says, Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God. Verse 16. that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God. Why? So that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable. Now, what makes the offering up of the Gentiles acceptable? Being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Without the Holy Spirit's sanctification, you could never be acceptable to God. Never. No matter how many good works you have done, You could never be acceptable to God. It has to come from the inside. It has to come from the work of the Holy Spirit sanctifying you. But with the Holy Spirit's sanctification, you will be presented this way in a way that is acceptable to God. You'll be presented in this way, Ephesians 5.25. You don't need to turn there, but it says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. Why? So that He might sanctify and cleanse it with a washing of water by the Word, 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. Is this how you are being presented to the Lord now? through holiness and sanctification without spot, without blemish, without wrinkle, without any such thing, this ought to be your desire. This is why we ought to desire sanctification, why we ought to be holy. Not just because it's our desire, but because it's God's design. That's the summit. That's the summit that we will see. We will see God in all His holiness. And that's where we're going to be presented. We're going to be presented without spot, And we're going to be holy because he is holy. That's quite a view. That's the view from the summit of sanctification. As I mentioned before, at Mount Everest, the view will be limited because of clouds. It could be very temporary because of the cold or the strong winds, but at the summit of sanctification, you will soon see that the Lord brought you through all those things to bring you where you are. And you will be but bound to give thanks always to God. Why? Because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. Are we being sanctified by the Holy Spirit? That is the proof of our salvation. Without it, we have no evidence. This is the progress of your salvation. This is how you grow. And this is the presentation of our salvation. This is how we become what God wants us to be, holy without blemish. The question I want us to think about tonight as we close is, are we cooperating with the Holy Spirit's work? Are we sanctifying ourselves as he is sanctifying us? We do so by listening to what he tells us to do, by using what the Lord has given us, And as we do that, someday we will reach that summit of sanctification. We will be holy as He is holy. And that's the beauty of this, is that the Bible says, the work that He has began in you, He will be faithful to complete it. The summit is high, but it is reachable. And the view from the top is absolutely pure. Let's be holy, for He is holy.