Practically Sanctified

John 1:1-14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” (NASB)

Salvation: Lewis Chafer notes 33 gifts given to us in the salvation instant. In Volume 3 of his 8 volume Systematic Theology work he explains the changes salvation brings in details. This is who you are in Christ! You can do amazing things – this is on top of all the other neat strengths and gifts He has given you as an individual.

There are 3 priorities I want to leave with you about sharing your faith. Too often we can get caught up in programs or details or ourselves or fear when we try to share your faith. Relax and be yourself, but think about these 3 things.

Initiative: We read in 1st John that we love, we are capable of love, because God first loved us. Go took the initiative to restore the broken relationship with us. It is called the incarnation; where God became flesh, God became man. He went out of His comfort zone, gave up His rights and privileges, and became one of us. John 1:12 says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The book of Romans tells us while we were yet sinners Jesus died for us. God modeled initiative with us; we can follow in His steps. I have seen some studies where they asked non-Christians whether they would go to church and what it would take to get them there. It was amazing how many said they would go if they were invited by a friend, and it was equally depressing that most of them said they had never been invited. Take a chance this year and invite a friend out to something. Maybe it won’t be a morning service, maybe it will. Maybe it will be our Christmas banquet, or another special meeting we do for fellowship. Maybe it will be a special Bible study or something we hold in our house. If you want me to come and do a study for some people who need Jesus, all you have to do is ask and I will be there (At least in Saskatoon). There are some great studies we can get for those wanting to discuss religion, or who want to know more about Christianity.
How many of us started going to church because our grandparents or friends invited us? Billy Graham Crusades were so successful not just because Billy preached from the Bible, but because many of the people were there because some Christian friend or family member took them. You are the only link to Jesus for some of the people in your life. Take the initiative, and pray for the opportunities.

Intentional: When football is played, 12 guys line up against 12 guys (The NFL has its roots in the CFL so…). Do they go out on the field and wander around, wondering if something might come their way? No! They have set plans on both offence and defence. Even if they aren’t catching the ball they go out and run a pattern to draw the defence away from where the ball is going. While watching the Riders play yesterday, I heard that Hamilton’s offensive line has not allowed a sack of the quarterback in the last 3 games. Those guys on the offensive line have a job to do, even if they never plan on touching a ball for the entire game. Without them, the quarterback is in big trouble.
So it is with witnessing. That word witness is about having a testimony of an event. When we talk about witnessing for our faith, we are referring to what God has done in our lives. You have to be intentional; intentional about understanding your story and intentional about witnessing. God has a playbook for your life. Quarterbacks carry all their plays on a little wrist thing – yours is here in this book called a Bible. Get to know your Playbook inside out.
There are 3 stories in life. The first is God’s story. We talked about that last week. That’s the story of God redeeming people. It begins in creation with the creation of man in His image, runs through the Fall in the Garden of Eden and then what God did to restore that broken relationship. It is about Him becoming a man so that in dying for our sins we are given the freedom to follow Him as we turn to God in faith.

The second story is your story. It has 3 parts. They are:
1) Life before God
2) How you met Jesus; how you “got saved”
3) The change that God has done in your life since

When I was a kid I know I lived for myself. I had good ethics because I grew up in a good family concerned about community, but I had no hope nor footing in life. One day after church I went home and gave my life to Jesus. I had heard the stories of God in the Bible, and I came to understand that for hope and a footing, I needed Jesus to forgive my sin and I needed to follow Him. Jesus has never left me since. I have had good times and a few rough times in the past 40 years since Jesus came into my life – but I have never been left on my own, and I have come to understand fully why I am here on this planet. Life is messy, but God is love.
That is my story in a nut shell. You need to be able to articulate that story for yourself. You don’t have to dwell and relate just how bad or sinful you were; we get it. You need to share that encounter with God where you realized you needed Jesus. You can simply lay out the way to Jesus as you explain what happened in your life. The third part is where you talk about what Jesus has done in your life. What has He done. This is a good exercise in to help look at the reality of God in you.
As we read both the Old and New Testaments we see again and again lives changed by Jesus and God’s grace. The book of Acts again and again shows God at work. How does that compare to your story – what is your story? One question I like to ask new people I have met whom I know is a Christian is how they came to be following Jesus. That is your story. Take some time this week and write out your story. Keep it simple, and just follow those three parts.

Listen: The third story is the other person’s, the one who doesn’t know Jesus yet. You have been challenged to be praying for a few people who need Jesus. How well do you know their story; their struggles? In order to know that you have to ask questions, but then you have to listen. Understand that it is God who saves. We can’t talk someone into heaven. We simply share what God is doing and has done in our life, and then ask people where they are at. We listen. We want to know where they are at so we can pray for them, and provide the answers to many of life’s problems through Jesus. We want to be a real friend, not just have an agenda to “Reach them” for Jesus. Yes, they do need Jesus and they probably don’t know it, but it is easier to love someone into the kingdom than to talk them in. In your listening, the Spirit can give you the right words to share and the right things to do to help. If you are too noisy and full of yourself, you can miss God’s message. You can and will miss the key needs they have. Is their marriage falling apart? Don’t push that away just because you want them to “get saved”. God will meet them in the midst of their crisis. Listen and let God lead you. It is a holy thing to see someone begin to follow Jesus. It is amazing that He uses us as part of that process.

Acts 17:16-34 “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”–because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD ‘ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” So Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.”

Salvation, or The Gospel, or the Good News is this:
Admit you are a sinner  Romans 3:23
Believe that Jesus died for your sins John 3:16
Confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, or Leader and Forgiver Romans 10:9-10

Peter sums it all up in the story of Jesus in Acts 2:14-36, 38. You can talk also about Steps to Peace With God, the 4 Spiritual Laws, or the Roman Road which looks at several verses through Romans to define the process of salvation. Next week we will talk about what happens at salvation. We acknowledge that salvation is a process, but it is also an event, when an ultimate decision is made.
For those who personally experienced salvation in time gone by the call is to Holiness; but Salvation when viewed in 2nd or 3rd person is evangelism. The Truth is, people need to hear the story of Jesus. How do they hear this wonderful story? The buzz is out that people who don’t know that story won’t come to an event to hear it. The church is not able to attract people like they used to, and if all our evangelistic efforts are based solely on an attractional model, we just won’t see much happening. If the people won’t come to us, we need to go to the people. The Emergent church emphasizes this, that to impact the world we have to go live in the world. We have to be the light in a dark place. This is not new. I grew up in a church that believed and taught this. Yes, we did events, but we also were challenged to take our faith with us everywhere we go.
Evangelism used to start with asking two questions. James Kennedy in Evangelism Explosion called them the 2 diagnostic questions because the answer people give you enlightens you to where they are at spiritually.
1. If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven?
2. If you were to die tonight and were asked at the gates of heaven, “Why should you be let in?” what would you say?
These are great questions and I still use them. Evangelism used to start there, and in a Christian culture people understood them even if they were far from God. Today we don’t live in a Christian culture. Many non-Christians have little of the childhood Sunday School that you and I had. Immigration adds more and more people to the mix, and they bring other religions and cultures. How do you and I share the Gospel with them? What has to happen now more than ever in that pre-salvation place people are in? Let me share 2 thoughts with you.

Love - You, more than ever before, have to live a life of love before your neighbours, unsaved family and friends, and strangers. This cannot just be an act; it has to be authentic. You have to love your neighbour as yourself – now where have I heard that challenge before?
You have to invest time and energy into those relationships. If you spend all that time with Christians you will never lead someone to Jesus. Take advantage outreach events like the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast and the Blades Family Faith Night; but those things should be just part of an ongoing dialogue about spiritual things. You earn the right to have that discussion when you live a life of putting others first (read “love”) because you surrendered your own life to Jesus . You are being transformed yourself by the renewing of your mind and heart by the work of the Holy Spirit in you. You are becoming more like Jesus in holiness which expresses itself as love.
Your neighbour hears you gossiping about someone; and what have you just done for the credibility of your faith and witness? You take advantage of someone and as you brag about it you are pushing that non-Christian even further away from Jesus. You keep the same vices and addictions as non-Christians and so they believe God is powerless to change. Perhaps we ourselves have come to believe that – a form of godliness but without the power. We don’t have to be perfect, but if you are constantly extending love rather than judgement, grace rather than self-righteousness, friendship rather than control, people will begin to understand the love and grace of God. They will begin to ask questions about why you are different. Are you different because Jesus is in your life? Is that increasing Christ-likeness happening in your life?

Authenticity – You have to be real and authentic. People aren’t as concerned about how good you are as they are about how real you are. Who wants a bleached out sanitized and sterilized life? Yet that is what we often pursue as the church, thinking perfection is what it is all about. In pursuing that we become institutional because we are pursuing the Law. The Law sucks the life out of our faith experience. It quenches new believers enthusiasm and causes the older saints to revert to a judging position rather than a vital discipling position. We are pursuing Jesus. We are meeting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. And one great truth about God is He accepts us as we are. Again and again we see Jesus approach and accept people where they were at – and in doing so was able to transform their life.
Zacheus was a thief disguised as a tax collector. Jesus had lunch with him and Zach responded to the truth of Jesus by repaying 4 times the amount he had stolen from people as restitution. The adulteress stood alone before Jesus with no accusers, and Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.” The Samaritan women was given the Living Water and she told the whole town about Jesus. The list goes on, but the principle is to be real in your faith. We want people to experience salvation because we know how important it is. Most of the people don’t know how important, so they aren’t going to listen to us unless we truly love them as people. You can’t fake love. You can’t do love out of ulterior motives, out of an agenda. People know and they don’t respond if all you are is a salesman. We are ambassadors – we have a message to share. Be real as you do that. I want to leave you with 2 practical things you can do today. Love and authenticity are lifelong pursuits. They are changes that happen over time.

Pray – Today you can pray. Everyone can pray. Make that list of 5 or 10 people who need the Lord and keep it near you day to day. Pray for those people often, that God would draw them to Himself. Pray for opportunities for yourself or other Christians in their life to be used to share the Good News. Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the fields which are white and ready for a spiritual harvest.

Initiate spiritual conversations – Lastly, we need to be able to talk to people about spiritual things. Even though we don’t start with those 2 diagnostic questions, we can start with spiritual things. The Soulchat.ca program is one tool that the BGEA is offering us as a church. They are showing 3 commercials on TV programs over the month of November. Your neighbours are likely going to see them. The grocery clerks will, as will the people in your family. They are short, funny, and have a memorable hook line: “I got a guy for that!” “I can hook you up!” “I know someone”. We are going to give you some cards with soul chat on them as well as our church information. Those commercials are going to send people to the website where they will have an opportunity to read articles and videos and connect to a local church like us to get questions answered. We don’t have to wait for that phone to ring, though. You can hand one of those people near us a card and ask, “Have you seen the soulchat.ca commercials? What did you think?” As you listen and respond, what a perfect opportunity to ask them about spiritual things without any threat. You have a common place to come from. We can do an event at the end of November where you could invite them to come for a discussion
Here are some other questions you can ask:
Have you read much of Jesus’ teachings?
What would you say is the most foundational thing in life?
Do you have spiritual beliefs?
Who is a spiritual person you admire?
Do you know who Jesus is?
What are your spiritual questions?
If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
I don’t believe in a God like that either. Let me tell you what I believe.
Have you ever gone to church?

The Great Commission is not just a Great Suggestion!  Start with prayer, and go from there. Let God lead. He has promised to provide the words when you need them; but what you need the most is just your story of what God, what Jesus has done in your life. Maybe you realize He hasn’t done much yet. If that is the case surrender yourself to Him and let Him continue that marvellous work in your life that He started so long ago. Today is the day of salvation. What are you doing with Jesus today?

Romans 5:1-8 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

So what does it mean to be made in God’s image?

Being made in the image of God means you have a choice. You have a choice in life. Life comes at us hard and heavy sometimes and we can feel off balance. There has been some of the worst flooding in the Philippines. The water Is not solid, but by sheer volume it comes in and pushes and drowns and overwhelms cars and bridges, anything in its way. You get the sense that there is nothing you can do, that you are just caught in the current of life and swept along. Everyone has issues in life. If it isn’t financial, it is social, or mental or even physical. And in the midst of all that, you have a choice. Some people think the only way out is to give up. Some people do the “grin and bear it” thing. But you are made in God’s image, and with that image comes the ability to choose to accept God’s provision of grace in your life or not.
This choice to have God in your life or not is your choice. No one else can make it for you. No one else can deny you that choice. That choice is not dependent on where you are or what you have done in life. It is dependent upon you hearing what God is saying to you and deciding to follow Him.
One of my favourite stories in the Old testament is when Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. He says ask your God to show himself. They tried and failed, but when it was Elijah’s turn fire rained down from heaven and it was obvious who sits on the throne of heaven. The evil queen Jezebel hears and threatens Elijah’s life, so Elijah flees and wants to die. Great victory, sudden defeat. Then the story gets good, for God has not given up on Elijah. He pokes Elijah and says go to Horeb and so he does. After and earthquake and a big wind and a raging fire we see God speaking to Elijah in a gentle blowing… a small breeze. Though God is bigger than we can grasp and can destroy worlds at a single word, He reached down out of eternity and whispered in Elijah’s ear, “You are not alone!” Ever feel like you’ve blown it, that you have no worth? God’s not done with you yet.
In fact, God has done all the work, everything that needs to happen in order for you to be in a vital relationship with Him; so that the choice is now yours. What will you do with Jesus? In the quietness of your own mind and heart you can respond to God calling you to Himself.

Being made in the image of God means you have unlimited potential. Start with the biggest deposit of gold ever reported, in the headwaters of the Busang River in the steaming jungle of Borneo. The Canadian company Bre-X Minerals Ltd. didn’t know about that when it bought rights to the site in 1993. But after Bre-X hired a high-living geologist to map the ore body, the deposit, along with the fever dreams that accompany gold, grew to monster size—by March 1997 that geologist was talking about a 200-million-ounce resource. You do the math at, say US$500 per ounce. The potential had several parties trying to get in on the action. Unfortunately within months the gold deposit was discovered to be bogus and it affected the whole gold industry for years. The potential in the ground turned out to be nothing at all.
Now take you. You are created by a personal God. He is the God that created the earth and the universe. You have that power available within you. You were not just created as an object, but created in His image to have relationship with Him. Your potential is not based on who you are or were; or your performance today or in the past. It is based on who God is. He has created you with unique gifts and a place in the church to serve. He has pursued you through the years for a very specific purpose, and continues to pursue when you turn aside and continues to support when you are on the right track. What does it take to change the world. It takes God; but the greatest thing about God is He wants to use you and I to do it.
You get in relationship with Him, and learn how to listen to Him and how to walk in obedience, then there is nothing you can’t do. In days gone by waters parted, men stood unburnt in the midst of fire, had years added to their lives, were healed and saved from sickness and enemies. You may have issues and people say you can’t do anything, but if God wants you to the unthinkable, you had better begin to think it because He is that big. He used a donkey to correct Balaam. He used a prostitute to model forgiveness. He used a self-righteous church leader to give us the most popular verse in the Gospels. He used a shepherd to slay a giant. He used a slave to prepare a nation for a 7 year famine. He used fishermen and tax collectors to found His church. What is He saying to you? I was reminded this past weekend that we can and need to take responsibility for who we are. You want to grow in Christ? Don’t just wait for the right church program to run, or a church leader to drag you to the alter. Go after it. You can do it. Paul said he could do all things through Jesus who strengthens him. So can you.

Being made in the image of God means you are loved. Earlier in our Scripture reading we read the truth that at our worst Jesus loved us more than anything – more than heaven, more than His rightful place there, more than the comfort and perfectness of God’s presence. He gave all that up just so you would know that Jesus loves you. Romans 8 starts with these words: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” Do you hear that? Jesus said that to the woman caught in adultery. He asked who condemned her, and there was no one. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
Jonah had a very specific message from God and yet He ran the opposite way, and God still loved Him and used Him. David committed adultery and murder and struggled with pride; but he was the apple of God’s eye. Job suffered tremendous calamity and loss, yet God met him in his need, and Job found grace and blessing. Peter had words that denied Jesus and words that were quick to hurt and pursue pride; but Jesus restores him not just to ministry but as head of the church in Jerusalem. Paul had little patience for the people around him, but took the Gospel to the Gentiles, to you and I.
Do you then dare think that you are beyond God’s notice? Do you think that in you the Creator has made junk or garbage? Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t buy that bag of goods that says that because you are the most important thing in the world to God. You were made in His image. You have the imprint of awesomeness in your life, on your soul. If you need God to quicken your spirit, if you need to be raised from the spiritual grave or rescued from coasting so far away you begin to question how real He is, spend some time in His presence and at the very core of who you are you will know you are loved. He has promised again and again that He will never leave you nor forsake you. You have a Friend that sticks closer than a brother regardless of your circumstances. Romans 8 closes with these words: “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Being made in the likeness of God means you are a warrior. You see depictions of warriors and soldiers on the news, in books, and in the movies. We have this sense of heroes, of people going beyond the normal and accomplishing something remarkable, even unthinkable. An autistic 10 year old boy saved his teacher’s life this past week by doing the Heimlich maneuver when she choked on an apple. There’s a part in most of us that at times has daydreamed about being the hero. In Jesus, you are. You are clad with the armour of God and you take the battle to “the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” You can stand when all around you people are failing because eternity is in your heart, and the power of God is in your life. You have not been given a spirit of timidity or fear, but of power and love and of discipline. You can be that hero who stands in the storm, because you were made in the image of God. Pursue the knowledge and skills you need to understand your uniqueness in Jesus. Draw close to God and be filled with the Spirit. Don’t settle for mediocrity but pursue God with all your heart and soul and mind, and just see what He will do through you.

Philippians 2:1-16 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life…”

From the church of the Nazarene Manual (pp 34-35) 

X. Entire Sanctification
13. We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect. It is wrought by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service. Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by faith, preceded by entire consecration; and to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness. This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as “Christian perfection,” “perfect love,” “heart purity,” “the baptism with the Holy Spirit,” “the fullness of the blessing,” and “Christian holiness.”
14. We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature character. The former is obtained in an instant, the result of entire sanctification; the latter is the result of growth in grace. We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the impulse to grow in grace. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and improvement in Christ-likeness of character and personality. Without such purposeful endeavour, one’s witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost.

We have started a new sermon series. The theme is the best practices of our faith. Each Sunday in the series I want to take one word or key thought that is central to our Christian faith and examine the breadth and depth of it as we understand it as Nazarenes. Last week we looked at salvation and focussed on 3 stories: Nicodemus, Paul, and Peter. Today is sanctification. At some point we will look at sanctification from an historical perspective, but as we focus on the best practices of our faith I want to do it in the context of application. “This is sanctification, but what do I do with it today? How do I engage it in my life where I am at?”
What is sanctification? It is the ability to live holy lives. Who defines holy? Holiness is the character of God. The Bible says God is Holy… it also says God is love. As we look at what holiness means to you and I, it is more than an absence of sin; it is the presence of love. Jesus Himself said that in Matthew 22 when He said the Law and Prophets can be summed up in 2 commandments: Love God with all you got and Love your neighbour as yourself. An online source on Wesley puts it this way: “Entire sanctification is defined in terms of “pure or disinterested love.” Wesley believed that one could progress in love until love became devoid of self – interest at the moment of entire sanctification. Thus, the principles of scriptural holiness or sanctification are as follows: sanctification is received by faith as a work of the Holy Spirit. It begins at the moment of new birth. It progresses gradually until the instant of entire sanctification. Its characteristics are to love God and one’s neighbour as oneself; to be meek and lowly in heart, having the mind which was in Christ Jesus; to abstain from all appearance of evil, walking in all the commandments of God; to be content in every state, doing all to the glory of God.”
There is the sense that we are saved to something. The event we talked about last week was the beginning of something; not an event in isolation of life. We are saved to be holy. We are saved to be changed into the likeness of Christ. This is one of the things that John Wesley emphasized; that set him apart from his Anglican background. Romans 8:28-29 says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…” These verses tell us what God’s plan is for His children. We are not saved to go to heaven; that is a by-product of our salvation. We are saved to be conformed to the image of Jesus, Christ-likeness. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Sanctification is the work of God in our life subsequent to salvation that makes us more Christ-like. Petar Neychev, studying at European Nazarene College put it this way: “Sanctification ends up being a process of becoming better in loving. This is why it seems so natural for Wesley to come to his conclusions concerning sanctification’s nature and expression – love inevitably involves a choice, therefore one might choose to not live a life of perfection – sanctification can be lost. Secondly, love is never static, as it involves interaction, which in itself is dynamic – thus, one either grows up towards loving more, or does not. Thirdly, love is not legalistic. Thus, it is clearly no contradiction for Wesley that one that is entirely sanctified is still prone to sin (although not regular, usual, or repetitive). And finally, love is to be maintained, therefore the Christian life is to be lived with a maintenance mentality, as opposed to once-attained – attained-forever.”

See the graphic at the top? Sanctification is that spiritually-based movement to Christ-likeness that starts at salvation, and is completed upon our death when we shall see Jesus face to face. Increasing sanctification is the work of the Spirit in response to our decisions of faith, of surrender. God reveals sin and attitudes, and so we confess our sin and continue to follow Jesus. At some point we get it. The Spirit does that 2nd work of grace and we pray, “Not I, but Jesus. Let me be a living sacrifice to you, Lord.” Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” How do we engage that process into our lives?

First understand that the power sanctifying us is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Romans 6:1-4 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” That newness of life is holiness. This is of great encouragement to us. We know how hard it is to be holy, to hold every thought and action captive to the character of God. Do you think that is harder than raising the dead? No! As we travel this journey we come to recognize that death is a part of life. Everyone dies. It is inevitable. We are assured of eternal life in the Resurrection. We had a funeral at our church this week; a 91 year old man whose life was celebrated by friends and family alike. Each of us has that moment coming, and we in a sense eagerly await it, for we will be with loved ones gone before us, and also in the very presence of the Creator God for all of eternity.
When we read verse 8 of Romans 6 we understand that sanctification is about living with Jesus. If you are a guy, you can imagine what it would be like to have your spouse or girlfriend beside you. What if she was there 24/7? Would it change what you looked at on TV or what presented itself around you throughout the day? Would it change what kind of words you used? Would it change some of the places you went to? What if we had that sense of Jesus being with us? Ted Haggart was the pastor of a mega church and listed by Time magazine as one of the top 25 influential evangelicals in America. The next year his crisis hit and he confessed to purchasing drugs and of sexual immorality. In the privacy of his life, when he was doing those things, do you think he had a sense of Christ’s presence? We have to have that sense that salvation is not just an event that happened 2, 10, or 50 years ago; it is current in our day to day life. Live with Jesus not just each and every day, but each and every moment. Where does Jesus live? Where did we invite Him when we got saved? Right here, in our heart, and that goes with us everywhere.
How do we do that? Sanctification is about choice, about intention. Why did you come to church today? Was it because you’ve done it for years, or because you wanted to meet God and His people, and worship Him in music and word and deed. Did you come to exercise your spiritual gifts? The problem we have as Christians is not that we pursue sin, but that we stop pursuing God. When we stop intentionally trying to please Him and trying to listen and obey the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction, the door to following our own desires down the path that leads to sin swings wide open and beckons us in. Making no decision is the same as saying no to the choice. Bonnie asks, “Will you go to the store for me?” I sit there absorbed in the newspaper and don’t respond to her question. She asks again and the question slowly begins to enter my consciousness, but time still goes on. She finally pokes me with a sharp stick and I respond absolutely. Until I said, “Yes” I was saying, “No!” I have to be intentional around Bonnie – I want to hear her and respond to her, but sometimes if I don’t make that choice, I go off somewhere in my own little world. It’s the same with God, and the point is this: go through each moment with a conscious intention of following Jesus with all you got. That is sanctification. You are filled with the agape love of God by the Holy Spirit because you have made the decision to follow Him. You have surrendered all of yourself to His will. You get into the Word. You spend time in prayer and devotions and meditations because all these things add to your understanding of God, of His will and character, and of what He is calling you to be and do today.
There is an intentional doing, which consists mostly of acts of love to God or our neighbours in one form or another. There is also an intentional “not doing”, which consists of putting aside the selfishness and sin which so easily besets us. Living without sin is not the goal, loving God as best as we can is. We do that every day in how we treat ourselves and those around us. Husbands, love your wife as Jesus loved the church – He died for it. Help your spouse be all she can be. Wives, love, support, and encourage your husband in his role. Help him to be all he can be spiritually and otherwise. Parents, don’t exasperate your children. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. So many of the encouragements are about family relationships, but they expand from there and apply to all of us. 1 Corinthians 13 gives us the standard by which we should be living our life.
The passage we read from Philippians earlier gives us the challenge to work out our salvation – that is the application of sanctification. And in a very specific way – don’t grumble or dispute. We should be walking in the unity of the Spirit. Today, as we close in prayer, renew your commitment to Jesus Christ. Is He talking to you about a bad attitude, a habit, a broken relationship? Give it all to Him. Offer your life as a living sacrifice, and ask Him to change your mind, to change your heart. Ask Him to sanctify you anew in His grace.

When you look at the news there are tragedies all around us. We have just ended the season of West Niles. There is the pandemic flu coming. There are accidents and violence. Families struggle and relationships are a mess. Parents are estranged from children, spouses separate from one another, children suffer, and evil men have their way. In our lives there is an emptiness in spite of all the stuff we try to cram into that empty place. We cry out to God for help, for salvation, and our Deliverer comes. Sometimes we don’t even know what we need to be saved from, but Jesus comes and the Holy Spirit draws us to the Father, and we are saved.

Salvation: It is a process (rarely happens outside of context) that results in a defining decision. That decision requires humility, but it is a response to God’s work in the heart of the unbeliever.

Let’s look at 3 stories to understand this important truth:

Nicodemus (John 3:1-21) – “You must be born again”
So here we have our first story. In the middle of the night one of the spiritual leaders of Israel comes to Jesus. He comes at night because he doesn’t want to be seen. Jesus does not have a good reputation within the cultural and religious leaders. John was a problem, and then John gave way to Jesus. But the things Jesus said not only challenged the current religious teachings; they were connected to the Old Testament in a very real way. The leaders didn’t know what to make of it. So here comes Nicodemus… and he doesn’t start with a question. He assents to the power he sees in the miracles of Jesus. Jesus cuts right to the chase, to the heart of all. He starts off with a rather startling statement, “If you want to see God, the kingdom of God, you must be born again.”
The culture was all about connecting to God. They knew they were God’s people, His kingdom. The nation was trying to figure out sin and righteousness, trying to understand and obey the Law, the only way they knew how to get to God. And Jesus says that phrase oft repeated, “You must be born again.” In our discussion of salvation we need to start with the words of Jesus. He is the fulfiller of prophecy, the very deity incarnate, so when He speaks, we seek to understand. This phrase has been used for decades by evangelicals in connection with salvation. We can hear Billy Graham speaking to a stadium crowd, waving his Bible, making the declaration, “You must be born again.” He didn’t have to deal with the post-modernists who try to say there are many ways to God, that there is a truth in every religion, every revelation, and no ultimate truth; the hippies were saying that in their day. They can say what they wish, but my Bible doesn’t agree. Jesus said Himself, “I am the way the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me!” Understand, though, that another’s salvation is something we leave up to God. He is the One that peers inside the hearts of man. Salvation is a personal thing, between a person and God and we don’t know what. One who is saved, though, will be changed by that salvation; but that is next week’s message.
“You must be born again.” He doesn’t say you must be born into a good family; or you must be handsome or pretty, or that you must even be a nice person. He says you must be born again. Birth is an event, but also a process. For you and I it is a roughly 9 month gestation period followed by the event of birth. The event itself changes us in the most dramatic ways. From a place of darkness we enter the light. We become more alive than we would have ever thought possible… if we had the where-with-all to think. Given a choice, we wouldn’t be able to see the benefit of birth. We wouldn’t know that we were doomed to die if we stayed where we were. And so at the right time, God moves things along in the way prescribed back in the Garden. And so the non-Christian, the unbeliever, the one who is far from God does not always see the need for God. He does not recognize his or her doom if they stay in their present state. And God comes along and draws them to Himself, so that at the right time, they recognize the Salvation God offers, they believe in Him, and they are born again.

Paul (Acts 9:1-19) – “I am God”
Then we come to Paul; formally known as Saul. Before Acts chapter nine he was a man pursuing God. He had studied the Law and was so sure of himself. He was strong, and used his strength to pursue those who said God was different from His. He would track down the Christians and kill them. And in the middle of his mission of self righteous judgement, God grabbed him for His purposes. Jesus appeared in a blinding light and Paul’s life changed forever. Paul went to the high priest and got official letters from them saying he could arrest followers of the Way and bring them bound to Jerusalem. And so down the road he goes with his men. Do you see him marching? So proud and full of the rightness of his task he was. He was the man of the Law, and the Law demanded judgement. None would find mercy in him for the Law must be satisfied. And then the light shone down on him from heaven. And the voice cries out, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul hears and asks who it is he persecutes, and Jesus says, “It is I.” Saul is blind and enters the city of Damascus blind, being led by the hand. For three days he neither eats nor drinks, and he finds peace with God. The God who met Saul on the road to Damascus was the God of history; the fulfiller of prophecy; not some opinion or fly by night theological creation. When you meet Jesus, you meet a man of history as well as a God of eternity. When you meet Jesus He reveals himself as God before you and lays open your soul to your sins. In a very real sense that exposure to your true self, your fallen nature, your sinfulness could sear your spiritual eyes just like Saul’s. When you meet Jesus you may see Him in all His glory, the light of heaven falling around you… and you will know this: You are a sinner. This is the one truth you need to understand about yourself if you are to become a Christian, a follower of Jesus. You have to come face to face with your humanity, your fallenness. Sin is anything that goes against the character of God, and there is no one who has not sinned.
The problem people have is that they think they are not too bad; they haven’t reached the threshold of sin and wrong, beyond which one is judged. Any sin, though, is enough to separate you from God. I am not just talking about ultimate judgement or issues of heaven and hell; I am talking about today. If you have not asked Jesus to forgive you of your sin, you are not forgiven. Jesus’ death on the cross is not applied automatically to all people, both in history and the future. Jesus’ forgiveness is applied upon an individual recognizing they are a sinner and can’t ever be good enough to get to God. That’s why God came to us. So we ask God to forgive us of our sins; we are specific, for our sins are specific. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive us. Have you ever come to that point? There are people who have gone to church all their life. They have served on boards, taught Sunday School, and done good works of service; but they aren’t born again – they were too proud to admit that they themselves were sinners, that they were far from God all the while they were working for Him. Church is about community, but at the heart of that community is that we are all sinners walking along this path of life, pursuing the God who extends His grace and offers salvation rich and free. All we have to do is reach out and take it. We do that by admitting we are a sinner, far from God; and we recognize that Jesus is Lord. If our only message was “you are wrong, you are a sinner”, we would be preaching the Law, for that is what the Law does. Jesus offers forgiveness from the condemnation. Listen to the third story.

Peter (Matthew 16:13-19) – “I will change your life”
We have Peter, who is man with a menial job. He is a fisherman, his brother is a fisherman, and his friends are fishermen. He is working at his trade when along comes the Messiah. His brother is excited for Peter to meet Jesus. Jesus calls to Peter and says, “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.” And Peter does follow Jesus. For some 3 years he follows this itinerant preacher, balancing his following with looking after his family I don’t know how that worked, but I do know God provided what Peter and his family needed. Jesus dies and is resurrected. Wonder of wonders, and they wait. The Holy Spirit moves and Peter becomes not only a preacher, but the head of the church in Jerusalem. How does one go from fisherman to head of a church? In peter’s case, it started with his conversion. Peter believes that Jesus is the Messiah, but that doesn’t save him. He is not born again at that point. We see the progression of salvation as Peter interacts with Jesus and learns. Finally, in Matthew 16, it clicks. Previously, Jesus warns His disciples about the “leaven of the Pharisees”. He is saying beware of the teachings that push the Law, that teach that it is the Law that saves. Jesus finally turns to His disciples and asks them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” After receiving the answers Jesus then asks for their statement, “But who do you say that I am?” It is Peter that answers, and I believe this is the moment for Peter when he is born again. His statement is simple, “You are the Anointed One, the Son of the living God!” Peter knew he was a sinner. He was confronted with it again and again. Jesus needs more than just recognition of fallenness. Jesus asks for belief, for faith. In our fallen state we need to recognize that it is Jesus who has the answers, and so we surrender our lives to Him. We make Jesus our Lord. When we recognize we are sinners we recognize Jesus as Savior, as our Forgiver; but when we recognize Jesus as the answer, as the Messiah, we make Him the Lord of our life.
There’s the joke about the one armed fisherman who said it was this big (lift one arm up). Get it? Without the second arm, the other end of the fish, our claim means nothing. So as it is with salvation you need both statements. You need both halves to make the whole. You are a sinner, and so surrender your life – Jesus becomes your Savior and Lord! This is the heart of the Good News. Even though life is a mess and we are powerless to make things ultimately okay, God has already provided the Way. He has already done the work. Are you feeling crushed? Are you spent? Are you tired of trying to do it on your own? Here is the invitation from Jesus Himself: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Some people come very close. They struggle with pride which makes them think it is shameful to come forward in a church, shameful to admit they are weak. A man martyred for his faith said many years ago, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. Don’t let the pride of the years stop you from having a vital relationship with Jesus.

What people need to know to be saved:
They are a sinner, but Jesus is the Savior.
They must surrender (because they are a sinner) and let Jesus be Lord.