We're gonna look at sanctification. John 17, 17. Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is the truth. Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4, 3. It's God's will that you should be sanctified. All right, so. Sanctification. We're going to go through this. I'll bring a blessing to you and you will note if when if you haven't already gone to the sermon it's going to tie in specifically with what our pastor talked about today. But J.C. Ryle, that's somebody I enjoy reading, And he wrote in the 1800s, thinks it's a subject of utmost importance. He says, if the Bible be true, it is certain that unless we are sanctified, we shall not be saved. So that's what he's saying. In this book, it's a book called Holiness, and anyway, there's a chapter on sanctification, and that's what I'm using today, primarily. And it says, justification, we all know this, now, justification, regeneration, sanctification. At any rate, that's, you know, justified, regeneration, sanctification. So what does the Bible teach about sanctification? Now, for the most part, not that you can't have any conscience at all, we hear about Herod having some conscience, but only Christians are really interested in sanctification. They are the only ones that are interested in true sanctification, but it's not to say you couldn't have a conscience about doing things wrong. Sanctification generally occurs through reading God's Word. Now, it could happen through other things. I know like in 1 Peter it talks about how a wife, if she's married to a non-Christian by her behavior, she would hopefully influence the husband to become a Christian or to live a different style of life. So it's not that there's no other way than just the Word of God. We're going to talk about these things that sanctification might come about. Whether we know it or not, Jesus did not just die for justification and forgiveness of sins. Not only were you delivered from the guilt of sin by his atoning death, but from the domination of sin by placing in your heart the Holy Spirit. Not to just justify them, but also to sanctify them. So, you're saved, your sins are forgiven, But you don't, you no longer have to be dominated by sin. And so, this is part of what the whole church, we're supposed to teach this about why God wants us to pursue sanctification. He's writing about churches in 1800 and he's saying that churches forget about sanctification, they're just for, justification and forgiveness of sins and that's the same thing you know that we hear today about various churches you know i think you know solomon nothing changes nothing new under the sun you know and you think wow yeah you know he's writing about the same things and it looks he uses a different some old english associated with it's written a different man but it's the same thing uh first corinthians 130 it is the cause of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God that is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Titus 2.14, who gave himself to us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do good. Himself bore his sins on the cross so that we might die to sins and live righteous. All right, all these verses I've read here are there to support that once we are Christians, we do not have to be dominated by sin. Okay, so once you become a Christian, Holy Spirit's in you, you no longer have to be dominated by sin. I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing." That's John 15, 5. So now, you don't have to be dominated by sin, and you will bear some kind of fruit if you're a Christian. Now part of this I'm just talking about, is part of it is, we're going to get to like, always, because Christianity is something of the heart, that you would examine your own heart about these things. First off, to determine whether you're a Christian. Secondly, determine whether you're doing right, whether God will bless, honor the things that you are doing. In the same way, faith by itself is not occupied by action, is dead. Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe there's one God? Good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. Okay. So, now, You become a Christian, you're elected to do something. You were not chosen by God in the scope of eternity to do nothing. I mean, that's not what the Bible teaches. So you're chosen to do something. So we're elected. Now, this is a longer verse about this. In 1 John 3, 9 through 14, and I won't read all of them, but, no one who is born of God will continue to sin. because God's seeds remain in them. They cannot go on sinning because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. One of the denifications in the Latin, verse 14, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Okay, so this is, I mean, things like this sort of scare you, because it says you will not go on sinning. And then we all know in our own heart, like, whoa, man, you know, I continue to sin, and it, you know, it gives you some, gives you some pause. Maybe more than pause, but at any rate, that's, you know. I know like I was in the last couple of weeks I was dealing with this client that it is I don't think this person's a Christian so it doesn't but when she gets mad I mean she cusses people out I mean like like like this cusses you out you know and then this she was doing this down at the courthouse the other day and you know I'm saying you know how effective do you think this is gonna be you know you're cussing people in the yeah you know and we get ready to go into court and try to say that you ought to be a good custodian for your children anyhow. But I deal with Christians that are very similar in that way, that it's like they present like, that's how I am. So whatever it is, that's how I am, so that's how it is. And you're thinking, you can't just say, we don't have the right to just say, Listen, I've been born with a bad temper, so too bad for you. Or I've been born with a tendency to want to steal every now and then or lie, whatever it is. That's not what this is talking about when it talks about sanctification. It's saying we do not have to be bound by these sins. And it's because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now, it's very difficult. Sometimes I don't know that we can judge. People struggle with sins. You know, the Christian drug addict, the Christian alcoholic, the Christian person addicted to porn. I mean, there are all kinds of things that people have tendencies and they do things, they profess changes. We don't get to judge their heart about all those things. You know, as a Christian, I generally accept their, profession unless it's obvious, you know, the behavior is wrong, but if you're concerned so Like If you, like, if you're concerned about that you are not doing things right, that you are concerned about that, that would be an indication that you're a Christian and you're trying to be sanctified of it. I mean, you could, seeking sanctification. If you are only concerned because it is impacting your life in a negative manner, that would be all. You know, like, you know, you don't wanna, you don't wanna, Drink anymore because you're late for work or something like that. I mean, you know how it's impacting your day-to-day Life now truth about it is but that's the only reason you're concerned that would not be heading towards true sanctification in the Domestic realm we have these cases and not all lorries, but a lot of them were referred to oh, this is a dry drunk case and What they're talking about is somebody that was addicted to alcohol. You turn from alcohol, but it's not turning from it as a result of God changing your heart. You have gone through some steps or some kind of training and you know it's not good for you, but you've replaced it with something else. And it might be anger, control issues, it's all kinds of things. but we refer to them as a dry drunk case. So it's like, you know, you had somebody with addictive personality, they quit that one, the drinking of whatever one it is, but they just replaced it with some other thing, you know. And so, I mean, even in the secular world they notice this, you know, that's what that is, you know. They can see a difference in how you respond, and we'll get to that in a little bit too also. Okay. You, however, are not in the realm of flesh, but are in the realm of the spirit. If indeed, the spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. So, the spirit will not lay dormant. It will lead to conviction. And so, you know, if you're not having any kind of conviction about anything, you've got to question what is your relationship with God. It should be leading to some kind of conviction. So, you know, we get a lot of jailhouse confessions, but anyway, that would be a lot. We, if it doesn't change your behavior at all, you continue with the same things, in the same amounts, the same manner, then chances are it's not a true seeking of sanctification. In Galatians 5 through 25, that's the fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against these things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have been crucified with the flesh with his passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Okay, these are characteristics that would come from the spirit. So, J.C. Ryle described it like, okay, it's like the wind. You don't see the wind, but you see the effect of the wind. How did it change life? So, how would we self-evaluate about this? I mean, would people describe You, when you think of yourself, think how you respond, that you show a love for people. Or is it primarily a love for yourself? How would you be viewed by these things? A life of joy. Inner peace, or do you have inner turmoil? Because you face all kinds of trials, but do you have inner peace, or is it always turmoil? Forbearance, how do you respond to somebody not treating you correctly or some wrong that's done to you. How much forbearance do you have about those kinds of things? That's a difficult one. Kindness, faithfulness. At any rate, you just go through the list and you start making those applications and you can see how that would... Like I say, you're always examining your own heart. Having God examine your heart. For those who are led by the Spirit are children of God. So there should be some evidence that you are headed towards, that there's some sanctification in your life. There should be evidence of it. One thing he said, I read somewhere, even if you're in a dark room, if somebody strikes a match, you'll see the spark. So even if you're living primarily, that there'll be a spark somewhere. can be seen. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. This is in Luke. People do not pick figs from a thorn bush or grapes from briars. See, that's again talking about recognizing sanctification. Sanctification, each believer is responsible for that. And we're responsible once we're saved to seek sanctification. How do we do that? Sanctification then is by the truth. Your word is the truth. This is talking about the Bible. Sanctification is a thing that grows. How do you become more sanctified? Diligent use of the scripture, private prayer, regular attendance of public worship, regularly hearing of God's word, regular regular attendance at the Lord's Supper. J.C. Rowe writes, if anyone does not regularly participate or is careless about these things, there would be little chance of progress in sanctification. It's the farmer that throws out the seed but never takes time to try to work it, that it doesn't produce anything. You know, sometimes I look at clients that they're sent. I get a lot of clients from the church, y'all. And I know I talk about the work I do, because that's what I do most all week. But it comes in a lot of playlists. But a large share of my clients in the domestic realm come out of churches. And their pastors will send them to me. And then when I talk to them about it, You know, they come in, they're telling a Christian, I got Bibles on my desk, and we start talking about things. And then as I talked to them, I realized, they haven't been to church in years. You know, I mean, you know, they went to Easter, and then they, you know, just stuff like that. You know, and then they start describing how everything fell apart, and they're often like, why would this be happening, you know? One guy was talking about, we talked about sports earlier. I mean, this guy loves sports. And so he said, you know, he watched football all day Saturday, all day Sunday, Monday night, Thursday night, and then went on the other, he watched sports year round. But they were, you know, he talked about he didn't do anything. I mean, he just acknowledged this. And, you know, they got all these, repairs that went undone around their house, and just all these terrible things. And his wife just got fed up and said, to heck with you. I mean, she was done. And he's in my office, I mean, literally crying about how could she walk out of this. And you're thinking, what did you expect? And y'all talking about praying about this. I'm not saying they shouldn't pray about it. They should. But it's just stunning to me. But very often, when you get the one who wants to reconcile, they had a bad party in it. Unfortunately, that's just how it seems to be. I grew up with one lady. And the other lawyer called me and said, Bobby, before I make the offer of settlement, I have to tell you, this guy wants to reconcile. My client's sitting right there. And so I asked her. I said, he really wants to reconcile. I said, I'm going to try. What do you think? She said. Tell him, he was an overweight man, she said, tell him I've spent the night with a fat man for the last time. But they were supposedly Christians, but I can tell you there would have never been any evidence of it based on how they lived. And so then they get to the point where they're just done with it. And you do feel, you feel bad for them. There's another thing I sort of noticed, like, you think you can accomplish sanctification on your own. You know, I've got some, one friend that, you know, she doesn't like, I mean, she's got reasons why she doesn't like to go to church, you know, people said things, I don't know, you know, you're a whole bunch of hypocrites, you know, all that kind of stuff that you hear regularly, you know, about it, and I think, and she professes to be a Christian, but I'm thinking, boy, that's pretty humble, you know how to be sanctified better than how God tells you to. You know, like attendance at church, reading the scripture, the things that are actually outlined in the Bible. I was just thinking, talk about putting yourself above everything else, you know that. So anyway, it appears to me that the Bible does teach scripture reading, private prayer, regular attendance at public worship, and and taking the Lord's supper, participating, are all things that would help you maintain, grow as a Christian, grow in sanctification. Now, this is where, you know, I was glad I got to this part when I'm reading this. Sanctification will not necessarily prevent a man from having a great deal of inward spiritual conflict. Because I was thinking, man, a struggle between the old nature and the new nature. Every believer will suffer this. What's the saying? I know they use it. A man gets saved and he says, I don't drink, smoke, or chew, or go with girls who do. That statement like that. And so I look at it like some sins are sort of easy to lick. You know, you become a Christian, some areas in your life can clean up pretty quick in a bang, you know. I didn't have any trouble giving up chewing tobacco, you know. No big deal, you know. But, uh. Y'all need to ask her about this. While we were dating, she used to get, but it's for Amazon. That's what I think she was getting. I received free samples of skull or something. And I accused the man in our church who was the delivery man, the post office, I accused him of sending it to me. And I was telling him, I looked over at him and he was grinning and I said, he signed me up for all those free things. Once a month you could get a free thing. She says she didn't use it. Blame it on somebody. Isn't that how sin is? You blame it on somebody else. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. So a Christian can have a peaceful conscious, but have a war inside of him still going on still fighting sin Because you know you're gonna have a struggle, and I don't know and you know it's a I Don't want to stand up and give the list of them, but you know some of them. It's like you feel like that you have sort of had victory over this, that that's, you know, you put that sin down, you feel good about it, and then it comes back, you know, and anxiety, man, that one come back to me, you know, like, bang, in the morning, get rid of it, and then by four o'clock, it's back, you know, but over issue, but at any rate, it just, when you start thinking about those things, well, that, the Bible talks about that also, so it's not a, it's not an idea that we wouldn't have, we wouldn't have struggled, we will have struggled, Okay, we know that sanctification is a thing that cannot justify man. All right, our seeking to do good cannot get us into heaven, but it is something that God, that pleases God. Hebrews 13, 16, and do not forget to do good and to share with others for with such sacrifices God is pleased. John 1, 3, 22, and receive from him anything we ask, but we keep his commands and do what pleases him. These are just verses that show what would we expect to see from a sanctified man? Visible evidence. It's not necessarily consistent talking about religion. You know, apparently we've got professors that teach all kinds of things about religion and spend their days teaching about it, and they're not necessarily Christians. So it's not just about speech, it would be about actions and words and what the things that we do. Does not consist of temporary religious feelings. It's not just an occasional emotional response. It's not necessarily formalization. or anything that we do on a regular basis, while they might be good things, it does not, that is not necessarily true sanctification. Genuine sanctification will show a habitual respect for God's law. J.C. Rauch talked about that the Ten Commandments should be followed even though he did not believe they were justified, you were justified by keeping them. But I like the way he put it, because people look at the Ten Commandments sort of in a negative manner when they're talked about, but it says, the Ten Commandments, here's how he put it, the Ten Commandments are a friendly guide in pursuit of sanctification. Used as a guide in the pursuit of sanctification. You know what, I like that. Okay, I'm pretty much out of time. Persons, persons that think nothing of lying, hypocrisy, slander, drunkenness, breach of, we're talking about the seventh commandment, stealing. If they think they're Christians, they're delusional. None of that causes them any problem. Genuine sanctification will show itself in a habitual endeavor to do Christ's will and to live by His practical precepts. I like this one. J.C. Rouse says, whoever reads the Sermon on the Mount and supposes that they were spoken without the intention of promoting holiness and that a Christian may not attend to them in his daily life is really little better than a lunatic and is grossly ignorant person. So anyway, I always like the way he's phrasing it. It goes on to talk about activities like charity, all these things are commanded by God. So we'd have passive graces, active graces, we need to take action. As Christians, we are saved to do something. And you can evaluate for yourself whether or not you're following in accordance with God's word.