This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. The final session is with Dr. Bruce Ware and there are This obviously a very reflective type weekend, but if I began reflecting on all of the wonderful times that I had in class with Bruce, we would be here and he wouldn't get to preach and then you'd say, you paid for a plane ticket for him to come all this way and you didn't let him preach. He was my favorite teacher in seminary. And I had some good ones. He was my favorite. I looked forward to his class. What you see in his preaching is what I got in class. He didn't know the difference. He didn't know there was supposed to be a difference between a seminary professor in a classroom and a preacher in a pulpit. And there's a very simple reason for that. Because when the truth grips your heart, it manifests itself. And so, phooey on dead, dry, dusty talks about the greatest subjects in the world and the world to come. So if you can't get excited about the things that you hear coming out of the Bible, then you need to be converted. So Bruce's classes were always exhilarating, and he probably does not remember, but I used to come up to him after class all the time and say, Dr. Ware, if this is true, then what about this? And if this is true, if God is really like this, then what about this? And he patiently sat with me sometimes in his office, sometimes at the lectern after class, never seemed to be in a hurry like some guys, and he taught me. And he gave me a bigger picture of God than I ever had before. I was actually an Armenian before I met Bruce Ware. So I am so thankful that he's here and I love him to death and he still is my favorite teacher. So Bruce, come and bring God's word. I love you, Brian. Wow. You know, I've taught now for 30 years in seminaries. Bethel Seminary, my first teaching position. Tom taught with me there. Where did Tom go? There he is. Tom taught with me there. And then went back to Western, and that's where Brian was a student. Earl Rodmacher called. I mean, I wasn't planning to leave Bethel. Tom had just come, and we were planning to teach there the rest of our lives together. But Earl Rodmacher called, and I just felt such an obligation to reinvest in the school that had provided so much for me and the denomination that my wife and I both grew up in. So we went to Western and among the people there that I had the privilege to have in class was Brian. And wow, just to see what the Lord has done in his life, bringing him here, and the growth of this church, it is so rewarding. I mean, you could feel that, can't you, from me? I mean, just think of a parent and a child who grows. And I mean, it's not that I had anything to do with the growth in these years that he's been here, but nonetheless, just to have a little bit little piece in in that early formation and to see what the Lord has done is so very rewarding and You know, it's it's really a delightful privilege to be a seminary professor, to have students, not all of them end up like this, as you know, as you could guess, but to have students who do just leave, are impacted by classes they have with you and time you spend with them and then leave and go out as missionaries and go out as pastors and work in parachurch organizations and really, really represent Christ well. It's very rewarding. And so what a privilege to be here with you this weekend in the celebration of this 20th anniversary. Thank you so much, Brian, for having Tom and me out. And you invited my wife to come too. Diane came. My wife knew that she couldn't be gone this weekend. So she stayed home and it was a good thing she did. She was there for the birth of our little, ah, what is her name now? Ainsley Kate Ainsley Kate yep I hadn't heard Ainsley before so anyway Ainsley Kate So I'm anxious to meet her on late Monday night. I'm going there. I don't care what time I get back. I'm going to see Ainsley Kate. So thank you so much for having us out, and what a privilege to be here. Well, we are now in the third session as we look at the doctrine of sanctification, and we looked in the first one just to kind of give you a framework for this study. We looked in the first one at our new identity in Christ, sometimes called positional or definitive sanctification. The fact that God sets us apart in Christ in a permanent way. We are forever children of God. That begins the moment we put faith in Christ and can never change. We are forever united with Christ in his death and resurrection. We are forever citizens of the kingdom, transferred from the dominion of Satan into the kingdom of his beloved son. You cannot be more in the kingdom tomorrow than you are today. What an amazing thing to realize that. You are forever a temple of the Holy Spirit. So many things take place at the moment that we put faith in Christ that are the grounding then for the transformation of nature that we have. So God intends to do the one-two punch on our sin. The one is justification, to forgive us of sin and impute to us, credit to us a righteousness that is not our own. You sometimes hear justification means just as if I never sinned, and it's true. But it's a half-truth. The rest of the truth of justification is just as if I had always obeyed. They're not the same thing, are they? Just as if I never sinned brings us back to zero. We don't owe anything anymore. No more debt. But just as if I had always obeyed is positive righteousness. So justification is a glorious reality, but that does not change our natures. We have to be changed in who we are as well as our standing before God, and that's sanctification. So transferring us into his kingdom, giving us the Holy Spirit, providing for us the power of the resurrection as we are united with Christ, provides then the basis of the transformation that takes place. So then we looked in the second session at agency and means. And agency is so interesting, isn't it? Because you realize, boy, this is God's work to sanctify us. And in particular, the Father is involved, and the Son is involved, and the Holy Spirit is involved. But there seems to be a primacy in the work of sanctification on the Spirit. The Spirit is the one assigned, as it were, the task, make them like Jesus. Don't finish your work until they are like Jesus, until they are like the Son. And so the Spirit comes within to remake us from the inside out to be these new creatures that he has created us to be in Christ. And so the agency involves the work of God to do this, but it involves our willful participation, our conscious, deliberate participation. And you can hear the significance of our role in this in Philippians 2.12, where Paul says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. I mean, wow, those are really sobering words. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. This is no light matter. This is something to give your heart and soul to, for God is the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So good news. Though we can't do it ourselves and we're called to do it, God in us will enable, will equip, and empower the work that we are called to do. As Augustine would say from time to time, now help me, Brian, with this. Let's see, how does it go? Thank you, Tom. Yeah, say it again. Give what you command and command what you will. So you can command what you want us to do. Be like Christ, but then give what you command, work within us to do it. So praise be to God, he works within us to do the work that he calls us to do. Agency involves our willful participation. And then means, we looked at, I won't go through all those with you, but means, 10 items that I had on the list yesterday of ways in which God works to bring about this change of life that he calls us to. Our minds are changed, our affections are changed. We choose differently than we did and so on, these various areas. Okay, now we come to this third session and we're focusing here again on two areas, growing in holiness, sanctification's goal and extent. And boy, these are just really strengthening, uplifting areas to consider together. The goal that God has for us is so beautiful, so glorious, so wonderful. Honestly, it ought to take our breath away. You think looking at the Grand Canyon is awesome? Just think what it is to look at us remade like Jesus. The pinnacle of God's creative work is not the heavens. Psalm 8, when I consider the heavens, the work of your hands, the sun and the moon and the stars that you have ordained, what is man? Don't you feel that way sometimes? You go out on a starry night and look out at the heavens and you think, goodness, what am I? But you have made him. a little lower than the angels. You've crowned Him with glory and honor. So the greatest investment of divine quality is found in human life. And the greatest expression of that fullness of human life is found in Christ likeness as human beings. So remade not like Adam. You notice in the New Testament that when it talks about our being remade it doesn't say we're remade like Adam, first Adam. No, we're remade like Christ. So this is Restoration Plus. It isn't merely, you know, here's creation, here's the fall, and restoration is right there in the same level where we were originally. Oh no, this is creation, fall, and I can't go high enough, you know? Restoration Plus, way up here in the stratosphere as God remakes us to be like His Son. Let me read just one passage before we get to the Passages I have here just occurred to me this would be helpful to think about together revelation 21 describes What it will be like for us in a coming day, and this is real This day is coming verse 3. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the tabernacle of God is among men and and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them. And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes." He will do it. I mean, just picture a dad, a gentle, strong dad, taking a little child up on his lap and wiping away that tear. This is God. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will no longer be any death, no longer any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things have passed away. And he who sits on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Guess what that includes? Us. And he said, write for me these words. They are faithful and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son. So, my friends, we have a destiny that is glorious. And one large part of that is the destiny of us who are remade, transformed people. The whole process of sanctification is completed in what is sometimes called glorification, where we are remade people. Well, how does the Bible talk about what we look like when it's done, right? What is our whole new way of life and our nature when God has finished His work? And interestingly, the Bible has different complementary ways of describing what we will be in that day. One of them, sanctification's goal, one of them is we will be like Christ. This is just such a precious one. We saw this in Romans 8, 29. This was the intent of God from the very creation of the world. Before He created the world, He designed for a people to be His own people who would be remade like His Son. Those whom He foreknew, He predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom he predestined, he called, whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, notice, he passes right over sanctification. Whom he justified, he glorified. Why? Because what does he have in mind in this verse? The end, conformed to the image of his son. So all this work results in glorification, which is Christ-likeness, being made like Jesus. 2 Corinthians 3.18. We've looked at this verse too. Many of these we've seen before, but nonetheless, they have particular points made that are helpful for our subject now. We all with unveiled faces are beholding as a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into that same image. That is the image of Christ. From glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit. So right now, the Spirit is so interested in this. Oh, is He eager to do this right now, to work in your life and mine to conform us from glory to glory in incrementally increasing degrees of glory to be more like Jesus. More like Jesus in the way you think, more like Jesus in the way you feel, more like Jesus in the way you respond, in your generosity, in your kindness and forgiveness, in your righteous faithfulness. In all these ways, as Jesus is, He's conforming us more to be like Him, and that work will one day be done. We will be like the Son. Galatians 4.19, this is the Pastor Paul at, you know, just his heart, my children, with whom I am again in labor until Here's the words he chooses. I mean, he could have said, until you are godly, until you are holy, and those things would have been right. But I think in Paul's mind, boy, the expression that comes, that is the richest expression of what it is that he wants to see happen in these people, that he labors, pastors labor, don't they, for their people. To what end? Until Christ is formed in you. There's a banner over pastoral ministry right there. You labor until Christ is formed in those people. Ephesians 4.13, until we attain to the unity of the faith, these are the gifts working in the body of Christ, We attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Now this is an interesting juxtaposition of verses. right here that you have on your page. Galatians 4.19, the main point is our pastors. I mean, Paul is longing to see Christ formed in the lives of these people that he has responsibility for. But now in Ephesians 4.13, it's the body of Christ using our gifts together toward what end? Same thing, that we see the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ that is formed in one another. So to catch this vision as we meet together, to use our gifts for the purpose of Christ-likeness. Friendship is a great thing. Fellowship is a wonderful thing. But boy, if we don't have a vision for doing something here among us that is more than happens at Cheers. Right? If you know what I mean. You know, that old television show. I mean, more than happens out there in a social club setting. I mean, they're friends. They enjoy one another's company. They talk about the weather. They do all that. What do we do that's, boy, Christian? What do we do that is really honoring to the work that God wants done? And that is, use our gifts to encourage, to exhort, to admonish, to strengthen one another in growing in Christ likeness. This is what the gifts are given for. So as I mentioned before, every one of us needs to come with a mindset as we gather together, both to be receivers of what God has for us, but to be givers of what God has given us to benefit others so that they can grow in Christ. Philippians 3, Paul says that I might know him. Now, this is very interesting. When Paul thinks of knowing Christ, and I'll come back to this passage in just a little bit here, when Paul thinks of knowing Christ, he has in mind something very concrete, that knowing him means being like him. And you can see it right here in this text, that I might know him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Do you see it? I mean, these are aspects of Christ's life, His ministry, His giving of Himself, the suffering that He endured in order to fulfill the calling that He had to die for sinners. I mean, all of this life and mission of Christ is what Paul has in mind. So to be made like him is to be like him in ways in which he lived his life. Enduring suffering as he endured suffering. Carrying out ministry as he carried out ministry. So to be like him in his life and death, and so by that, know him, he says. And then he goes on to say, I mean, this really relates to what else we'll talk about in just a few minutes here. Notice he says, not that I've already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on. Ah, so there isn't an instantaneous moment when it all is done, well, until the end, right? When we see Christ, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. I mean, that moment will come, but in this life, we press on. Life today, until the coming of the Lord, is a life... marked by pressing forward in these things. I've not obtained it. I have not become perfect. I press on that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I don't regard myself as having laid hold of it yet. This is Paul speaking. Isn't that encouraging? I'm not there yet. I've got a long ways to go yet. This is Paul. Wow. forgetting what lies behind, for in reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as are mature, have this attitude, and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you. However, let us keep living by that standard, that same standard to which we have attained. So indeed, the call to move toward becoming more like Christ and the beginning of this passage, more like him specifically in the ways in which we live our lives to demonstrate Christ's likeness. Okay, now, capital letter B, you might think, is this a different subject? I don't think so. I think the Bible has different ways of describing the same fundamental reality. So here we have godliness. That is another term the Bible uses to describe the end toward which God has designed us to be, that which we will be in the end. So, for example, 1 Timothy 4, have nothing to do with worldly fables, fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness. You know, so obviously he has in mind here something that is ultimately important, something that matters, godliness. Bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things since it holds a promise for the present life and also for the life to come. So to grow in godliness is to grow in what we will be in the life to come. We will be godly people. First Timothy 6, if anyone advocates a different doctrine or does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to Godliness, he's conceited and understands nothing, but has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain, but godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. So here you have in this passage is helpful because what Paul does is contrast a whole lot of things that stand against and that are opposite to godliness. As you read through that listing of things of disputes and envies and strife and abusive language and constant friction and so on. These are things that are opposed to the end toward which we were made to be godly people. So I take it godliness then refers to very much like Christ likeness, the character of Christ. Here, it's the character of God. Just let me take one minute on this. You all know that in the doctrine of God, at least commonly, when we teach on the attributes of God, we distinguish between incommunicable and communicable attributes. It's just an analogy that actually works in English. A communicable disease is one in which you don't just tell somebody I have a cold, you pass on the substance of the disease, right? A communicable disease, you pass on what it is. Well, a communicable attribute are attributes of God, truths about God that are granted, are passed on to, in some finite measure, a portion of His creation, namely us. Whereas incommunicable attributes are attributes that are true of God alone. Only God is self-existent. Only God is self-sufficient. Only God is infinite, and so on. So there are incommunicable attributes. Obviously, we don't become like those things. But the communicable attributes, oh my, righteousness, holiness, love, knowledge, wisdom. These truths about God are communicable. To be godly is to partake in increasing measure of those attributes of God that become the attributes of you and me. Isn't that incredible to think, to have the knowledge of God in my mind, the wisdom of God shaping my decisions, that the righteousness of God that has penetrated my own heart and guides my my choices and actions and the like, the love of God that compels me in relationships with others. So these communicable attributes, I take it, are what are wrapped up in becoming godly people. Very much like Christ-like is the attributes of Christ, but of course, there's no conflict here, is there? Oh, which shall I select? Shall I take on the attributes of God or the attributes of Christ? Which shall it be? Well, we don't have to pick, do we? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father, says Jesus. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only one from the Father, full of grace and truth. He was just like his dad, so to speak. So isn't it wonderful to see? But what is precious about the Christ-like focus is that for us now, that Christ-likeness is the fullest manifestation of the glory of those attributes of the Father. that are seen in Christ, and we take on those. But nonetheless, another category the Bible continues to use is godliness. We take on the qualities of God's own character, those communicable attributes. 2 Peter 1, verse 3, seeing now that His divine power has granted to us everything for life and godliness. Similarly, as you continue on in that passage, In your knowledge, add self-control. In your self-control, perseverance. In your perseverance, godliness. In your godliness, brotherly kindness. And in brotherly kindness, love. So indeed, godliness among the things that are indicated are what we are to be remade to possess. A third way in which the Bible talks about what we shall one day be is holiness. Holy, we will be holy people. We've seen this already in Ephesians 1, 4 and 5, 25 to 27. I've commented on this previously. that God elected us, the Father elected us from eternity past to be holy and blameless. So there you have it in Ephesians 1.4. And then when Christ dies for us, he dies for us to sanctify us, to purify us so that we will be in the end holy and blameless. So indeed holiness of life is what we are called to possess. And of course, this does mean this separation unto God. Separation unto God and all that He is and His ways, His will, His wisdom, separated unto Him holy is what, W-H-O-L-L-Y, separated unto Him holy, W-H-O-L-L-Y, is holiness. You see, this is really what it means. It's entirely oriented toward him, entirely taking on his characteristics in my life and in your life. This is holiness as we are his and his alone. separate to him and becoming like him. 2nd Timothy 2.21, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared for every good work. So again, sanctified, holy, he could have said at that particular point. And then 1 Peter 1, this summarizes, of course, this marvelous admonition that we have from the Old Testament as well. Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior because it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. So, you know, when you realize that The only way we can be in the presence of God, which is the great good of human life, to be in the presence of God, to be with Him, to know Him, to be made like Him, to be with Him and in His presence, we have to be holy. because he is holy. So what does God do in his mercy? He works within us, unholy people, to remake us so that we can enter into his presence and experience the fullness of all that we can have of him as finite creatures because everything unholy has been removed, and His character has pervaded our lives. So holiness, then, is this precious gift of God to remake us to be like Him, be holy as I am holy, so we may be with Him forever. Love is another marker, as it were, of what God is working to accomplish to bring about in our lives that we be a people marked by love. So indeed, what is the greatest commandment, as Jesus repeats this from Deuteronomy, and here you hear it from himself. Here, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. In the second, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So the great commandments would indicate then what God wants to bring about and will work to bring about within us this transformation so that we carry out, we fulfill the great commandments. The greatest commandment to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love one another, will be fulfilled perfectly in heaven. I mean, what an amazing thing. Just think what it will be to be in a community of faith in heaven where everyone loves one another perfectly. Wow. And everyone's first and only ultimate allegiance is toward God. They love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. And they love their neighbor as themselves. This day is coming. I mean, just imagine the glory, the beauty, the splendor, the happiness, the joy that will pervade the community of the redeemed in heaven. Romans 13, owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. So Paul likewise has this conception that love really does capture the wholeness of what we are called to be. For this, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet. If there's any other commandment, it is summed up in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So indeed, love is the great ultimate goal that God has for us in our relationship with him and one another. And 1 Corinthians 13, I won't read all this to you, but you know this chapter well. Just notice the end of it, the last verse, verse 13. Now abide faith, hope, and love. These three abide, but the greatest of these is love. So there is a sense in which this is the ultimate toward which God is moving us as beings in relationship with him and others, is to be people marked by love. So, I mean, again, doesn't it help us now to understand if that's what God's goal is for us fully in the end, then what should mark us increasingly now? To be a people who loves God more intensely, more zealously, more purely. Heart, soul, mind, and strength now. Grow in that. And love neighbor as ourself more now because that is the end toward which God is moving us. Galatians 5, 13 to 15, you were called for freedom, brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. So again, another similar statement from Paul signifying the ultimate goal that God has in His work in us to be people marked by love in our relationships to Him and others. And then one more, knowing God is also, I think, one of the most precious conceptions in the whole of the Bible to indicate the goal toward which God is moving His people, is to be a people who knows the Lord. And a number of passages indicate this. Isaiah 11, 9. Now, if you remember Isaiah 11, that's the chapter that begins with, "...a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord will be upon him." So it's this description of the coming of the Spirit-anointed Messiah. And then at verse 6, then it broadens from the Messiah coming to bring righteousness on the earth to talk about the complete transformation this will bring. The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the lion and the kid will lie together, and the little child will put his hand into the cobra's den. You know, goodness, having this new little one now, you know, go play with the cobra. Have have fun with the Vipers, you know Wow, what a transformed world this is right? Well, here is the summary statement then of this cosmic Transformation that God brings about in in the entire world including in us What what is the the fullest statement of that verse 9? They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Last time I looked, the waters cover the sea fully. So you get the point, don't you? Right, indeed. It'll be pervasive knowledge of God. And again, this knowledge of God, well, let's see, look at the next passage. This is helpful. Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. And this is, by the way, this is in a context, if we had time to elaborate on it, this is in a context where God has charged Jeremiah, God through Jeremiah has charged the people, oh, at least a half a dozen times with their idolatry and their sin because they do not know the Lord. That's repeated in the chapters that lead up to this point in Jeremiah 9. They do not know the Lord. Though God has revealed himself to them, though God has done all these mighty acts for them, they do not know the Lord. Ah, but now, here's this glimmer of light in this otherwise very gloomy passage. Thus says the Lord, let not a wise man boast of his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast of his might or the rich man boast of his riches. But let him who boasts of this, that he understands and knows me. that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness justice and righteousness on the earth for I delight in these things declares the Lord so here it gives this you know don't boast in some translations translate the Hebrew word there as don't glory in because it is the same word used for glory it refers to weightiness don't consider riches weighty Don't consider power weighty. Don't consider wisdom weighty, but consider this weighty, that you understand and know me. And those two Hebrew words that are used there, they're close in their meaning, but they're not identical. Understand has more of the denotation of accurate factual knowledge. So to know God is to have right knowledge about him, right thoughts about him. Every time I think about this, I think of A.W. Tozer's book, The Knowledge of the Holy, where he makes it clear in the preface of that book, the reason he's writing the book is because of his deep concern that the evangelical church is filled with so many misconceptions of God that they are actually worshiping idols. They are so far removed from the actual God of the Bible that they are not worshiping the true and living God. And so he writes this book to correct these misconceptions of God. And this is so important. There can be no meaningful relationship with another person built on false information. Can there? I mean, if you find out lies have marked your conversation with this person, oh, it just immediately erodes trust. It erodes any sense that you can have a meaningful relationship with that person. I'll give you one quick illustration. It's a true story. Years ago, Jody and I did some marriage counseling with a young man who was 35 years old when he married for the first time. His wife, about the same age, had been married before, but her husband had passed away, and she was now remarrying this man. and they were from very different backgrounds, they were very different personalities, and they had a lot of conflict in their marriage, and so we were counseling with them, and they were making progress. We were happy with how things were going, but one day he was working on taxes, Sorry to bring that up, but you know it is that time of year again, isn't it? He was working on taxes and was going through some financial records and came across a financial document with the name at the top, his wife's first name, and a last name he didn't recognize. So it wasn't her married name now, it wasn't her previous married name to the husband who died, it wasn't her mated name. So when she got home, he holds up the document and he said, can you explain this? And her face turned beet red. She told him now for the first time, they've been married at least eight months now. She told him for the first time that she had been married another time to a man whom she had divorced. He held the view that if you marry a divorced woman, you commit adultery, and you are disqualified for entering into the ministry. He was a seminary student preparing to pastor. I mean, just like that, he connected the dots. His whole world collapsed out from under him because she had not been honest with him. So, I mean, about three nights later, I went over and actually took a gun out of his hand that he was threatening to kill himself with. It got that bad. He was a former military guy, so he took orders well. And so I went over about 2 a.m. one morning because I got a phone call from his wife and she said, he's about to kill himself. He's about to commit suicide. So I went over there and went in and we talked for a bit and he's still holding this gun, you know. And so finally I said, hand me the gun. And he didn't want to, and I said, I'm your professor, hand me, I'm your pastor, hand me the gun. So I was an elder at the church as well as his teacher at school. And so he did, he handed me over his gun, you know, so he didn't kill himself. And you know, their marriage has gone on from there. They've been able to stay together. He never went into the pastorate though. But you know, what a vivid illustration of a relationship built on faults, knowledge, you know, false understanding of someone. So if you're going to have a relationship with God, you've got to know him rightly, right? So to understand and know. So the other word in this verse is a word that is intimate relational knowledge. You know, this is the word used if Adam knew his wife Eve, right? It is this relational depth of knowledge. So what is the great value that God puts before us? that we might understand and know Him. This is it. We might be a people who knows God. Look at Jeremiah 31. Isn't this the point of the new covenant? I mean, here we have this covenant that will make us a people who knows the Lord. I'm reading at the very bottom of that page at verse 33. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it. I will be their God, and they will be my people. They will not have to teach each again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. And then the New Testament version of this is Philippians 3. I mean, it's just really beautiful to see how Paul takes this concept of knowing God and now applies it specifically to knowing Christ, who is the perfect representation, the exact representation of who God is. So Paul will write in Philippians 3, whatever things were gained to me, those things I've counted as loss, for the sake of Christ more than that I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish that I may gain Christ so again you see here this marvelous testimony of scripture that God is moving us to a place where we will know him. And it becomes our goal now to see that fulfilled. Finally, 2 Peter 1.8, if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So again, this is what matters. Now, the way you put these together, you know, Christlikeness, godliness, holiness, love, knowledge of God, is to realize these are different facets, as it were, of one diamond. These are not talking about different realities. It's the same reality viewed from a different perspective. So Christ-likeness is a particular perspective on what it is we will be. Holiness is a particular perspective on what it is we will be. Love, and each one of these is a different perspective, but the fullness of it is that we are made, remade like God because we know God. We are remade like Christ because we know Christ, and therefore are brought into his presence and remade according to his character forever. Okay, now, sanctification's extent, that's the goal. Now the question is, how far can we get in this life? What's the expectation here and now? And boy, this question has been one on which Christians have been divided in significant ways. I mean, John Wesley, I just got to tell you, He really blew it here. I mean, it's just a fact. Wesley blew it badly with his doctrine of entire sanctification. His answer to this question, how far can we get now? Christian perfection, entire sanctification is what he would argue, that we can have the whole package now. Wesley writes in his treatise on entire sanctification that by faith alone, just as we come to Christ by faith to receive justification, so we come to Christ by faith to receive entire sanctification, where sin and its root is removed. where the result will be every thought, attitude, and action will be motivated by nothing other than pure love for God and others. That's a quote from Wesley. I mean, you read that, I mean, honestly, if you're like me, you read that and go, oh, if it were only true, you know? I mean, this is beautiful. But what, you know, Wesley is just guilty of over-realized eschatology, right? Of taking something that will be the case in the end and bringing it back to right now in an unwarranted way from Scripture. I mean, he took a passage like, be holy as I am holy, and this is how he reasoned. Well, if God commands us to be holy, then we have to be able to be holy. Well, of course, we can't do it on our own, so it must be by faith. So by faith, we become the holiness that he commands us to be, and he sees that as happening entirely at the moment of our subsequent, this is a subsequence doctrine, of our subsequent faith that would then make us a holy people at that point. But my friends, this just is not what the Bible teaches. Passages that Wesley referred to, when you look at them, they don't support what he said. For example, he'll quote from 1 John, is it 3.9? I think it is. No one who is born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. What do you think of that as a proof text for entire sanctification? He cannot sin because he is born of God. Well, number one, if it proves entire sanctification, for whom does it prove it? For whom? The initial convert. There's no subsequence here, right? Well, who's born of God? Someone who has initially put faith in Christ. I mean, a brand new convert. And of course, Wesley didn't hold that view. He rather held the view that this was a subsequent act. So that was mistake number one. But mistake number two is the earlier part of 1 John. If anyone claims he has no sin, present tense, he's a liar. the truth is not in him if we sin we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous I thought you know it just misses that the larger teaching of scripture that in fact sin remains and so this life is marked by growth toward. The end. Keep the end in view. Have hope, because the end is certain for all of those who are truly Christ's. All of those who have truly, savingly believed that that end is certain. But it also marks for us the end toward which we move every day of our lives. And so, here are some principles, I think, to think of as we think of growth, the extent of our growth in this life now. First of all, growth is expected. Growth is expected. We can see this in 1 Corinthians 3, where Paul says, Brethren, I could not speak to you as spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink and not solid food, for you are not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you're not able. Can you hear in those words the surprise, the concern from the apostle Paul, it should not be so, is implied in that, is it not? Indeed, even now you are not able, but you are fleshly, for since there is jealousy and strife among you, and you're fleshly, you're not walking. Are you not walking like mere men?" So it's very evident that Paul sees a necessity of growth. Now, he doesn't chart it out and give us a table to compare ourselves with, as it were, you know, to say how much growth, but clearly there has to be growth, or he looks at this and says, Wow, something has really gone wrong. Same thing is true in Hebrews. Skip Ephesians for just a moment. Look at the Hebrews passage in that same section. concerning Christ we have much more to say and it's hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing for though by this time you see it again I mean what ought to be by this time you ought to be teachers you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God You have come to need milk and not solid food for everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness for he's an infant but solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained. Do you see those words practice trained to discern good and evil. So so obviously Hebrews thinks like Paul thinks and understands that there is an expectation of growth. To see a newborn baby drinking milk is no surprise. To see a 20-year-old grownup son drinking milk is just, this is wrong. I mean, milk alone. Your only diet is milk. Something is wrong. There is not the maturity that is the expectation. And so Paul and Hebrews agree on this, that there must be growth in the Christian life. There must be progress that we make. And I think those little hints in Hebrews 5, practice and training, indicate there is a discipline in the Christian life. We saw earlier in 1 Timothy godliness that happens through discipline is part and parcel of the Christian life. Ephesians 2, 8 through 10 is also so helpful here because it distinguishes the basis of our salvation from then the expression of that. For by grace you have been saved through faith, it's that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." How could anyone read that and draw the conclusion there is no expectation of good works? created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So indeed, I mean, this is one thing to take to heart, my friends. There is an expectation of growth. that this is, and I mean, don't let this be burdensome. Remember again, all of verse 10 there, which God prepared beforehand. So is there an expectation? Yes. Is it our responsibility? Yes. But does he provide everything necessary to bring it to pass? Yes, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So growth is expected. Now, how much growth? Well, look at capital letter B. Growth as necessary, not as the basis or the ground or the root of saving faith, but as the demonstration or expression or fruit of saving faith. And these are just two very, very different things. We are not saved by good works. But we are saved for good works. It's that simple, my friends. But boy, how important it is to see this rightly. And I would just recommend any of you who have not read Tom Schreiner's and Ardell Kennedy's book, The Race Set Before Us, get a hold of that book and read it, because it is really helpful on this very subject of the necessity of persevering faith. And yet it is the work of God in us that enables us to do this moment by moment, day by day. But we must grow. So I sometimes say to my students, I don't know if I did with you, Brian, when you were in class, but I will sometimes say, are good works necessary for salvation? And you know all of the the you know the event evangelism explosion people out there and every you know oh no no no no no no I said you know what the answer actually is yes good works are necessary for salvation but not as the basis for salvation but as the expression of true saving faith or another way to put it is. Genuine saving faith produces faithfulness. Now, not perfect faithfulness, but genuine faithfulness, faithful continuing ongoing faith in God. So here are some passages that help us think about this, that growth is necessary, not as the basis or the root or the ground, but as the demonstration or expression or fruit of saving faith. 1 Corinthians 15. Paul writes, now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which you received and which you stand by, which you are saved if. if you hold fast to the word that I preached to you unless you believed in vain. Now this is a very interesting verse because what it indicates is it's possible to express belief in Christ and it not be genuine. So what is it that marks genuine belief as opposed to false belief? Do you see it in this verse? What's the marker of genuine belief? Holding fast, right there in the earlier part of the verse. If you hold fast the word that I preached to you, that is an indicator you truly are saved. You are holding on to the faith that you had received and believe it yet today. So you know, if people tell you, or ask you the question, how can you be assured of your salvation? Many people will say, oh, the best thing to do is go back to the time when you first believed in Christ. In fact, some people encourage you to write the date in your Bible. So if you ever doubt, go back and look at the date in your Bible. January 15, 1940. Well, I mean, that's fine. If it really happened at that time, that's a glorious thing to recall. But far more important is to ask the question, are you believing in Christ now? If you were to die right now and stand before God and he were to ask you, why should I let you into my heaven? What would you say? Yeah, Jesus, you would say, I have nothing in me that commends me. I look only to Him who gave His life for me. He is my hope. He is my Savior. He paid the penalty I could never pay. My hope is in Him. So indeed, this holding onto the faith is part and parcel of the genuineness of saving faith. Colossians 1.23, something similar here, So Paul says you're reconciled, that's the previous verse, you've been reconciled if indeed you continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast, not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard which was proclaimed in creation under heaven of which I, Paul, was made a minister. So indeed, if you continue in the faith, gives the indication that this then is a requirement. This is a necessity for ongoing faith as the marker of true saving faith. Titus 1.16, notice here, they profess to know God. These are unbelievers. I mean, obviously in the context. They profess to know God, but by their deeds, they deny him, being detestable, disobedient, worthless for any good deed. Can there be a false professor? Right, as the Puritans used to talk about them. Oh yes, professions of faith that are not real. Here's one, here's a good biblical example of that. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him. So indeed, the living out of that faith, faith working itself out in love, faith doing works of righteousness, is the evidence of saving faith. Similarly, in Hebrews 3, verses 6 and 14, Christ was faithful as a son over his house, whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence. And in verse 14, we have been partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. And then James, of course, I won't read all of this to you, but James makes this point, doesn't he? That faith without works is dead. So the point is, genuine faith expresses itself in works that show that it is real. Here's an illustration that might be helpful in thinking about it. Suppose I had up here on the front, it's a bit morbid of an illustration, but nonetheless, it works. Imagine I had up on the front here a corpse, and it was dead, dead as could be. And this corpse is up here, and I claim to have the power to bring life to this corpse. And you said, oh, really? I said, yeah, I can do that. I can make this corpse live. And so you say, well, show me. So I do the hocus pocus and say, corpse, you are now alive. OK, now you come up and you test that corpse and you put a mirror under its nose, you know, and there's no breath. You check for a pulse and there's no heartbeat. You have some sophisticated equipment. You check and see if there's any brainwaves. Nope, nothing there. I mean, would you conclude that the corpse is alive? No, of course not, because if it's living, it has demonstrations of life. It's really that simple. If we are living new creatures in Christ, if the Spirit has come within, we've been regenerated. We are alive now in Christ. There will be evidences of life that are akin to what that living being is, this new creature in Christ. So indeed, yes, growth in In some degree, genuine growth in some degree is in fact the necessary expression of true saving faith. And then finally, the last item here is growth as progressive but never perfect until glorification. Growth as progressive but never perfect until glorification. 2 Corinthians 3.18, we've seen this before, that we're conformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory. So that's a really helpful little phrase there indicating this increasing degree of being like Christ. Galatians 5, 16 to 24 indicates this battle that we have throughout all of our lives with the flesh. So he says at the beginning, I say, if you walk by the spirit, you won't carry out the desire of the flesh. Now he's writing this to believers. So what does that say about these believers? They have the desire of the flesh, right? This has not been removed. They have within, as believers, the desires of the flesh. So he says, walk in the spirit and you won't carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you in your flesh, I think that's what's implied there, you in your flesh, please, you can't do that because it would violate in the spirit. But if you're led by the Spirit of God, you're not under the law. That is, you are now able to fight and win in ways that you could not do when you were under the law. So the whole point of the Spirit here is given for the sake of producing within us fruit. of righteousness, of holiness, of love, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, these fruit of the Spirit that indeed are the evidences of the Spirit's work within that at the same time fight against the desires of the flesh. So, this ongoing progress in fighting the fight of faith. You all know this, my friends. Every believer should anticipate every day of his or her life a day of fighting the fight of faith. Every day. There are no vacations from this. You know, you don't get two weeks off in the summer where Satan is, you know, sent away, can't bother you, the flesh is paralyzed, you know, or something like that. No, I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way. Every day, every Christian through the whole of our lives should anticipate fighting the fight of faith. And I think not to know that is to live in an illusion that is really dangerous. Because you're not attuned to the fact that, again today, your own flesh and the world and the devil are going to be working to bring you down. You're not aware of that. You're not attuned to it. And so you don't take the the sword of the spirit, and you don't use the spirit that's residing within to fight against these things. But indeed, the fight of faith marks every day of the Christian's life. Ephesians 4, 12 and 13. Here is this progress that is taking place. Gifts are given among the body of Christ for the equipping of the Saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ. So in other words, we keep at this until it's done. Right? Well, it won't be done in this life. So that gives us our marching orders from now until the time we're with the Lord. We keep working at growth in becoming like Christ. 2 Peter 1.8, if these qualities are yours and are increasing, do you see that word? Increasing. Increasing love, increasing godliness, increasing these qualities that he has listed earlier. If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 1, 8 and following, if we say that we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves. The truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us for all unrighteousness. If we say that we've not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. I mean, this is the goal is to be able to fight against these temptations and not sin. but if we do sin he says we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous and he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world by this we know we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. So again, I mean the beginning of first John really does call us to anticipate the ongoing reality of sin but fighting it and realize what when we fail will we fail Oh yes, we will fail. It is inevitable, simply because the fullness of our restoration into Christlikeness has not been completed, and the flesh is strong. Sometimes the question comes up, why did God do it this way? Why didn't he make it so that the minute we believe in Christ, when we first become Christians, We're made perfect right then. He's going to do it at the end. Why not just do it at the beginning of the Christian life? And I think the answer has something to do with our growing appreciation for our salvation the victory that Christ has won over sin by understanding more fully the power that sin actually has. I mean, I know as a 60-year-old man more about the power of sin in my life than I did when I was 20, because I have fought it for so long and realized it is so powerful. But Christ is greater. His saving work defeated it. And so to see that I think is part of the reason God wants us to appreciate more fully the victory we have in Christ because we feel the weight of what he has conquered. in the sin we have in our lives. Read sometime, Westminster Confession 5-5 on the providence of God, the fifth article, God doth sometimes leave his people unto various sins. It's a very interesting statement, very pastorally sensitive. Then finally, 1 John 3, 1 and 2. see how great a love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God and such we are for this reason the world does not know us but it did not know him beloved we now are children of God and it is not appeared as yet what we shall be we know this that when he appears we will be like him now don't miss the next word because we will see him as he is seeing Christ now freed from sin and seeing the one who is incredibly glorious. beautiful radiant Jesus we will log everything within us long to be like the one we love and it will be that way forever so take hope that day is coming but in the meantime fight the fight of faith with strength that God provides you in Christ by his spirit and with hope knowing he will win the victory over your sin in the end So praise be to God. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the privilege we've had of being able to look at this doctrine of sanctification. And then along with the other series that Tom brought through Ephesians 4 to 6, my, we have just seen how determined you are to work within us to bring about changes that will reflect more and more what your son is like. And we long to exhibit more of Jesus' character. Do that work in us, Lord, we pray. Thank you for this church with its commitment to your word, to Christ, to the gospel, to the growth of the saints, to the evangelism of the unconverted. Bless this church, Lord God, in increasing measure. Lord, bring in the money that is needed to pay off the debt on this church. I just learned about that this weekend. Get that settled, we pray, Lord, that they could be out from under that and dream of what might be ahead in the future. We pray, Father, for the future of this church, that you would just have your hand upon it to prosper it, show favor to these dear people who love you, and may in all ways Christ be honored at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.