Practically Sanctified

John 14:16-27 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

OBEDIENCE: A man who knows how to obey will be better able to lead others. John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” Obedience has a couple elements. You have the voice or command. Then you need to hear the command, and we need to hear God’s voice. We need to know it intimately. We need to let it sink deep into our soul so that His desires become ours. We need to put our faith into action.

I have a bad habit. I tend to change what my children say as if I heard them wrong. They repeat what they said, so I change it to something else. Why I find that funny, I have no idea. “Can we go outside to play?” turns into “You want to eat mice and clay?’ After they repeat it turns into “You want to tan hides today?” This kind of thing doesn’t help my case when Bonnie says I am half deaf. I went for a check-up at a doctors some 15 years ago and they did a hearing test. They found my upper and lower ranges of hearing were fine, but my middle  range was poor for some reason. The problem I have is if there are a lot of other noises going on it can be hard to focus on someone specific. When I was young my dad lost part of his hearing at a large fire when he was a fire fighter. A gas main had blown and the roar of the burning gas was quite loud until they got the main gas valve turned off. Like father like son, we both struggle to hear the quiet sounds.

Hearing is so important. You don’t realize how much you rely on it until you lose some of it. Hearing is important to obedience. How often have you told a child to clean up or do something and when it doesn’t get done the excuse is “I never heard you.” Maybe, once in a blue moon, a spouse has tried this one. One of the reasons you see and hear drill sergeants yelling at the new recruits is so that there are no mistakes – everyone hears the sergeant! Can you imagine the rookie using ear plugs so he doesn’t have to listen? A couple years ago there was a ladies night out in our backyard. It was a lovely time until the plane went over – all conversation stopped because hearing was impossible. We are called to obedience to God, to Jesus, but that is impossible if we can’t hear Him.

There is that picture Jesus shares with us – the one of the Shepherd and His sheep. The sheep hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow, and are safe. They know his voice. So how can we here Jesus? How can we get to know His voice?

Be Quiet: Where was the Lord; in the powerful display of nature? No; God spoke in the gentle blowing.
Elijah 1 KIngs 19:4-15 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD ” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
The LORD said to him…

Know the Bible: Life, people, work, the pursuit of pleasure or leisure – all kinds of noise, physical, emotional or spiritual can plug our ears.
Jesus Luke 4:1-14 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.’”
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”
Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”
And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,’ and, ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit…
Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.

Don’t give up: How long will you wait? What is more important in your schedule than hearing from your Creator?
James 5:16  The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
Hebrews 11:39-12:2 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Matthew 26:36-45 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinner.”

Surrender: You will not hear if you don’t turn your ear towards the One speaking.
Matthew 26:39 My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.
Romans 12:1  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.
Romans 6:22-23 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Colossians 3:1-5 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
Ephesians 4:17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind

Be Rea:l God wants authenticity above all else. Bring who you are and He will speak.
Not like the Pharisees, more like the disciples – ordinary men and women
Peter – fisherman, quick tempered, impulsive, emotional, loyal
John – fisherman, ambition, temper, intolerant
Andrew – fisherman, brings others to Jesus, 2nd banana
Thomas – courage, bewildered, doubter, devotion
Matthew – tax collector,

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.