The subject of our lecture today is types and metaphors of sanctification in the Old Testament. Sanctification is a huge and fascinating subject. Few doctrines are more important than sanctification. What is it? As usual, the Westminster Shorter Catechism gives an excellent definition. Question 35, what is sanctification? And the answer, sanctification is the work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. So sanctification is the process by which we become holy, like God. When we were created, we were made in the image of God. That image is primarily defined as knowledge, righteousness and holiness. This is worked out from the New Testament, which tells us that at conversion, we are renewed in the image of God and knowledge, righteousness and true holiness. Adam was created knowing God. He knew about God, but more than that, he knew God. He had a relationship with God and loved God. Also, Adam was on a right standing with God, with God's law and with God's commandments. And Adam was also holy. Here we think of the more positive side of God's law and of devotion to God. Adam was praying without ceasing and in everything giving thanks. But then came the fall. By sinning, Adam and the whole human race, who were in Adam by the covenant of works, fell from the state in which they were created, into a state of sin and misery. Man was no longer holy. but dead in trespasses and sins. He was now totally depraved, spiritually defiled in every part of him and unable to do good or to save himself. The only way of salvation in the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament, is through Christ, the seed of the woman who would bruise the head of the serpent. Works cannot save, because man is born a sinner. He's born fallen, already in debt. And furthermore, he sins daily and has nothing with which to pay God for his sins. Animal sacrifices cannot save. The blood of bulls and of goats cannot wash away sin. The only hope is the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world. So in the Old Testament they were saved, justified and sanctified by looking forward in faith to Christ dying on the cross for them, putting their faith in the Messiah who was to come. There is one covenant of grace running through the Old Testament and through the New, and there is one condition of that covenant, the same in Old Testament times as today. The one condition is faith. What must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now, when individuals in Old Testament times were born again, they put their trust in Jesus and their sins were forgiven. At that point, the process of sanctification began. We distinguish between definitive sanctification and progressive sanctification. At the point of conversion, the individual is changed from being a sinner into being a saint. A huge jump is made in sanctification. There is a radical break with the past life. Sin no longer has dominion over the individual, yet they still sin. For the rest of their life, with the help of the Holy Spirit, they seek more and more to die to sin. This is progressive sanctification. Then at the end of their life in this world, body and soul are separated. The soul is glorified. It is made perfect in holiness and does immediately pass into glory. And there awaits the resurrection of the body, rejoicing in God. At this stage, we should say something about the holiness of God. God is infinitely holy. Holiness of God has two aspects to it. First, it involves his awesome majesty. The basic idea in holiness is separation. God is separate from us, highly exalted. He is majestic. And God is also pure, separate from sin. So you have these two ideas, separate from us, exalted, separate from sin, so different, so holy, so pure. And you and I are commanded, be ye holy, for I am holy, 1 Peter 1.16. And we are warned, follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12, 14. So holiness is essential, and without it, we won't get to heaven. Neither could Old Testament believers get to heaven without holiness. Having then set the scene in our introduction, we can now turn and look at some types and metaphors of sanctification in the Old Testament. And I hope today to bring before you, briefly, 20 types and metaphors from the Old Testament. First one is walking with God. In Genesis 3.21, we are told that God made coats of skin for Adam and Eve. This was the first sacrifices. Animals died to provide a covering pointing forward to Jesus. It pictures for us justification and also the atonement. In Genesis 4 we are told about Abel who by faith offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. He realised he was a sinner and that as a sinner he needed blood to cover him as he approached God. His sacrifice was received. while Cain's thank-offering was rejected. Sinners can only approach God washed in Christ's blood and clothed with his righteousness. Then comes Enoch, and we're told, Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 4, 24. Here we have a metaphor of sanctification. In Hebrews we read, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh unto God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11, five and six. The Christian life is walking with God. Amos asks the question, can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos 3.3. To walk with God means walking in the paths of God, that is, in the commandments of God. It involves turning away from other paths, rejecting the temptation to turn to the right hand or to the left. Walking with God, though, is not just obedience. It also involves fellowship. Enoch enjoyed God's company. It is a life of devotion to God. He seems to have been a remarkably godly man. One Puritan put it rather quaintly when he said, Enoch walked with God so much that he couldn't find his way home, and one day walked right into heaven. Do you walk with God? Is that your daily aim? Are you in the paths of righteousness and the ways of holiness? The next godly man that we come across in scripture is Noah. And we're told, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Genesis 6, 8, and 9. Again we have the metaphor that he walked with God. Just a beautiful picture of sanctification. The Lord in his sovereign grace singled out Noah from the wicked generation amongst whom he lived. He was a righteous man and relatively perfect. No man in the world is totally perfect. None apart from Jesus Christ. Do you walk with God? Now the second type and metaphor that I would bring before you is living in tents. Abraham is a major figure in the Old Testament. We find several types and metaphors in his life. He with his fathers had been living in idolatry in Ur, in the land of Mesopotamia. Then he heard God's effectual call and responded in faith, leaving home and friends and following God to the land of Canaan. The writer to the Hebrews states concerning Abraham, by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with them of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Hebrews 11, nine and 10. The Christian life involves self-denial and hope. Abraham's attachment to this world was tenuous. His attitude was that here we have no continuing city. We're not going to stay here. This is not our home. But we seek a city to come. Everything here is perishing. So here we have a metaphor of sanctification. We are to live with a loose attachment to this world and our eyes and faith focused upon heaven. There's a contrast drawn with Lot, who also was a godly man, but backslid. Desiring earthly prosperity, he first pitched his tent towards Sodom. And later, he built a house in that wicked city. Interestingly, he lost all his earthly wealth and even his wife in the process. Do you live in a tent, as far as this world is concerned? Or are you like Lot, building a nice house for yourself here? Are you very tied to the world? Or are you, like Abraham, a tent dweller? looking forward to the heavenly home. Thirdly, circumcision. Circumcision is a cutting off of the filth of the flesh. God made his covenant of grace with Abraham. God said to Abraham, and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. Genesis 17 11. Some people think that circumcision was just a mark of the Israelites. But scripture teaches us that it was much more than that. In the New Testament, we read, and he, that is Abraham, received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised. that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. Romans 4.11. So circumcision is not just a sign of God's covenant people, but a seal of the righteousness of the faith. A sign and seal of justification by faith. But it also involves sanctification. Paul writes to the Colossians, in whom also ye are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2, verses 11 and 12. So circumcision signifies the putting off or cutting off of the tooth of the flesh. 1 Peter 3, verse 21. It is definitive sanctification, a radical break with a past life. It is the same as baptism, being buried with Christ to the sins of the old life and rising to a new life. Of course, not all who were circumcised experienced the saving transformation of God's grace. Just the same as today, not all who are baptised are saved and get to heaven. But it's said before the covenant people, by means of these outward signs, the inward grace that should be sought. So the question for you today is, are you living as one of those who have put off the filth of the flesh? Or are you still dominated by the flesh? The fourth picture that we have is freedom from slavery. The story of Hagar and Ishmael gives us another metaphor. The life of sanctification is not one of being slaves, but of being free men and women. Abraham was guilty of unbelief and failing to trust the promises of God. Eventually is told by Sarah, cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. Genesis 21 verse 10. And God confirms this, let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy bondwoman. And all that Sarah said unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Verse 12. This is used as an allegory by Paul in opposing the Judaizers. The Judaizers were calling on the Gentile converts to submit to the bondage, to the slavery of the ceremonial law. Paul taught that we are saved by faith and the promises, not by works. So then, brethren, We are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. We're not slaves, we're free. Are you enjoying freedom in Christ? Or are you like a slave trying to earn merit with God by your good works? Fifth picture is sacrificing what is precious. Abraham received a promise from God that he would have a son through Sarah, his wife. After a long wait and many prayers, and when all hope was gone, the child was born. Sarah by that time, 90 years of age, well past the age of childbearing, and Abraham himself 100. He is called, this child is called Isaac, which means laughter, because he made his parents so happy. Abraham loved him, but then God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son Isaac, to him on Mount Moriah. God wanted him to give up that which was most precious to him. By grace, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son. Santification involves giving up your idols. Is there anything that you would not give up for Christ? Sixthly, wrestling with God. We have a fascinating type of the Christian life set before us in Jacob at Peniel. We are told that he wrestled with God, but surely that is impossible for a puny little man. Jacob had received God's direction to return to the promised land, but then he hears that Esau is coming to meet him with an army of 400 men. Jacob knew that his only hope was in God. He said to the angel of the covenant, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Genesis 32, 26. This wrestling pictures for us perseverance in faith and prayer. God said to him, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Verse 28. Are you one who is wrestling with God in prayer and faith? Seventhly, pilgrimage. Near the end of Jacob's life, he was presented to Pharaoh, who asked him how old he was. He replied, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers and the days of their pilgrimage. Genesis 47 verse 9. He describes his life as a pilgrimage. He was on a journey to a holy place, to heaven. He says that his days have been few, yet already he's 130 and he lived on till 147. How can he describe this life as short? only in the light of eternity. And that was obviously what was on Jacob's mind. His days were evil in the sense that he had many trials. Shall there be evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it? Amos 3, 6. The Lord does no moral evil, but he sends evil providences, trials and tribulations. And Jacob had many of these. He had to flee from home because of his brother who wanted to kill him. He was cheated time and again of his wages by his uncle Laban. He was forced into a marriage that he didn't want. He lost his favorite son, Joseph, and thought that Joseph was dead. He lost his son, Simeon. He feared losing Benjamin. He had to endure famine. Through all these trials, his pilgrim journey led to the celestial city. Are you a pilgrim journeying on the way to heaven? Eighthly, Joseph's humiliation. Joseph is a beautiful type of Christ in the way that through humiliation and suffering, he becomes the savior of his family and of many others. But we can also see a type of sanctification in his life. Before he reaches heaven, he must learn what it is to be hated, sold as a slave, falsely accused, and eventually end up in an Egyptian prison. But then he reaches a state of exaltation. He's made prime minister of Egypt. Humiliation leading to blessing. The names he gives his sons are illustrative of the road of sanctification. He calls his oldest son Manasseh. For God, said he, hath made me to forget all my toil and all my father's house. Genesis 41, 51. There is no holiness without toil. His second son he called Ephraim. For God hath called me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. In the Christian life, we are promised afflictions. Jesus said, in this world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world, John 16, 33. We have our fruitful times as well as our discouraging ones, but God is always in control, and this is our comfort. Have you experienced The humiliation which is involved in sanctification, God humbling you. Ninthly, Moses' desert experience. Moses is a wonderful type of Christ as the great prophet. A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me. Him you shall hear and whatsoever he shall say to you. But we see also in his life a type of sanctification. He grew up in Pharaoh's house with all the privileges, the learning, the pleasures that he had there. And then he thought that at the age of 40, he was ready to be the deliverer of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. But God thought not. And God sent him into the wilderness, into the desert, to live there for 40 years. 40 years which would prepare him. 40 years of enduring hardship and humiliation and pain and toil before he's ready for his life's work. His time in the Sinai desert is a type of the Christian life. Has God sent you into the desert? Tenthly, the exodus. The exodus is a beautiful type of sanctification. Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt, but God redeemed them, brought them out, and the crossing of the Red Sea is a picture of conversion. Their journey through the wilderness had many ups and downs in it. There were trials, backslidings, times of repentance and confession of sin. And then eventually After 40 years, they crossed the Jordan into the promised land. This crossing the Jordan pictures the death of a Christian. So the wilderness typifies the road to heaven and holiness. Have you come out of Egypt? And are you traveling through the wilderness to the promised land? 11, manna. Manna provides us with an important type. Without the manna, the Israelites would starve. In a Christian life, we need food for our souls. We need bread from heaven, which strengthens and nourishes us. There has to be a daily dependence on God. Every day, the Israelites must gather the manna which the Lord sends. They were only to gather sufficient for the day and not to keep it overnight or it would rot and breed worms. This speaks to us of the need to come afresh to the Lord each day. Do you have your daily devotional time? Do you search for the manna every morning? Twelfthly, burnt offering. The Israelites were told to offer several different kinds of sacrifices to the Lord. The burnt offering is described in Leviticus chapter one. This sacrifice is distinctive in that the whole offering was burnt on the altar. Like other sacrifices, the life of the animal was given. Its blood was shed, typifying the Lord Jesus Christ dying to atone for our sins. The distinctive thing about this sacrifice is that it was totally burnt on the altar. This was a type of the life of sanctification. The Christian is to render their whole life as a sacrifice to God. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12, verses one and two. Are you offering a burnt offering every day to the Lord? Are you giving your body and your mind to him as a sacrifice? Thirteen, the food laws. Israel were separated by God from the other nations. They were to be a holy people unto him. And this was particularly typified by the food laws. They are set out for us in Leviticus chapter 11. The Israelites could only eat animals which chewed the cud and had a cloven hoof. Some animals, like the camel or coney, hyrax, chewed the cud but didn't have cloven hoofs, and so were unclean. Others, like the pig, had had cloven hooves, but didn't chew the cud, and so they were classified as unclean and so not eaten. Fish without scales was unclean. Birds of prey, similarly, were unclean and not to be eaten. In this, God was teaching Israel that they were to be special and holy unto him. Their food separated them from other nations. Do you belong to God's holy people? Fourteen, Joshua and the Canaanites. Joshua led the children of Israel into the promised land. They were told to exterminate the Canaanites. They were to make no treaties with them. They must not intermarry. They must not be unequally yoked together with the heathen. For five years they battled against the Canaanites, and still there were Canaanites left. Sadly, they didn't fulfil the command of God to fully destroy the Canaanites. They left some alive. And God warned them, ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of the land, ye shall throw down their altars, but Ye have not obeyed my voice. Why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. Judges 2, verses 2 and 3. Years later, these Canaanites were a problem for them. And so this turned out to be a type of sanctification. They were having to fight against the enemy within. It's just like the Christian who must be constantly mortified the sin that dwelleth in them. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry, for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, in the which he also walked sometime when he lived in them. But now he also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Colossians 3, verses 5 to 8. In Romans, we find the exhortation, if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Romans 8, 13. Are you exterminating the Canaanites or are you allowing them to live? 15, David and Goliath. The enemies of our sanctification can sometimes be terrifying giants. Like Saul and the Israelites, we can feel intimidated. Addictions and besetting sins threaten to overwhelm us. We at times feel that Satan is laughing at us. We feel sure that we will lose the battle. The enemy speaks to us as Goliath did to David. Am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field. 1 Samuel 17, 43 and 44. But if we trust in God, we are able to conquer the giants, just as David did. Are you conquering the giants in your life? 16, David and Saul. Saul envied David for his success and the Lord's blessing upon him. He could see that David was the Lord's anointed and would succeed him. Like the devil, he did all he could to overthrow the purpose of God. David at times felt like a partridge hunted upon the mountains. The child of God is constantly being stalked by the roaring lion. Yet David was safe, safe in the hand of God. The Lord is preserving his people and they shall never perish. Do you feel that Saul, that the devil is hunting for you to destroy you? The shepherd and the sheep, in Psalm 23. Here we have a common metaphor of the Christian life. The Lord is our shepherd. David, who had been a shepherd, wrote this Psalm. He knew what it was to be a shepherd. The process of sanctification is described. We have here set before us green pastures and still waters, but also the valley of the shadow of death. It's good to know that the shepherd is with us at all times. His rod and his staff, they comfort us. He prepares food for us, a table in the presence of our enemies who are looking on, hating us, wanting to destroy us. Goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our life, and eventually we will be brought home to the heavenly fold. Are you a sheep? following the shepherd. 18, the tree of Psalm, the tree of Psalm 92. Psalm 92 describes the life of sanctification. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing. Psalm 92, verses 12 to 14. The growing of a tree is a metaphor of sanctification. With God's blessing, we too shall flourish and grow tall like the palm tree. Trusting in God, we grow strong like the cedar. Dwelling in the courts of God, we bring forth much fruit through fellowship with Christ and with one another. Are you a tree planted in the temple of the Lord? Nineteen. The Bride of the Song of Solomon. The relationship between the believer and Christ is portrayed as that between the bride and the bridegroom. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Verse two, Song of Solomon, chapter one. The Christian life is not a matter of beliefs or law and works. and struggling in our own strength to live a holy life. Rather, it's a loving relationship with Jesus. We cry to him, draw me and I will run after thee. Chapter one, verse four. He is to us the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley. Chapter 2, verse 1. He is to us as the apple tree among the trees of the wood. We sit down under his shade with great delight, spared from the just wrath of God by the shade of the branches of Christ. We discover that his fruit is sweet to our taste, chapter two, verse three. The fruit is the promises of God, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus and exceedingly sweet. He brings us into his banqueting house and his banner over us is love. The Christian life is a wonderful love relationship. Are you in love with Christ? Are you engaged to him? And then finally, 20, the refiner's fire and fuller's soap in Malachi chapter three. We have these two clear metaphors given there of sanctification. The Lord is like somebody washing clothes, the fuller soap, verse two. Laundrymen in those days had to go through a very energetic process to wash clothes. With us nowadays, we put the clothes in the washing machine, add some soap, touch a button and after an hour we bring out the clean washing. But in these days the clothes had to be soaked, they had to be beaten, they had to be rubbed, they had to be wrung, it was a long drawn out process. They didn't have soap such as we have today but they got potash or alkaline from from leaching the ashes of vegetable matter, and this was applied to whiten the garment. So, sanctification is a long and painful process. The second picture here is that of the refiner of silver. The ore with impurities had to be put in a crucible or furnace and melted down. The refiner sits and watches the precious metal. We are precious to the Lord. Concentration is needed so that sufficient heat will be applied. in order to separate the metal from the dross, but not too much heat that would damage the metal. Two women from Manchester went to see a silversmith to ask for an explanation of the refining process. They asked the man, how do you know that the silver is finally purified and ready? He replied, I know when it is ready when I can see my face in it. What a lovely metaphor. The sanctification process is complete when we reflect back to Christ his own likeness. We are being conformed to his image. So there you see 20 different pictures 20 different types and metaphors of sanctification. If you like, you could do a series of 20 sermons on these pictures. They're all profitable and edifying and help us to understand the Christian life. But in conclusion, let me mention Isaiah chapter 6. It's an important chapter when dealing with holiness and sanctification. Here we have the Lord appearing to Isaiah and calling him to be a prophet. He says, Isaiah 6. Verses 1 to 3, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one at six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. The picture we have here is of a tremendous, exalted, holy God. And the effect, notice the effect that it had on Isaiah. He cries out, woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Growth in holiness involves growing in a consciousness of your own sins. The closer we are to God, the more we will see our own moral filth in the light of His holiness. flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth and said, lo, this has touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. Verses six and seven. A coal taken from the altar of Calvary cleanses sin. As Christians, we need to be coming each day to the altar for forgiveness, praying as Jesus taught us, forgive us our debts, forgive us our trespasses, Matthew 6, 12. The greatest need of the church today is to grasp the majestic holiness of God, to feel our own sinfulness, as Isaiah did, to claim the blood of Christ and to seek the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen. May God bless His word to us.