Practically Sanctified

James 1:2-11 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

We have been talking about waiting; the difficult waiting. The waiting where we try to connect with God but our prayers feel like they hit the ceiling and bounce straight back to us. We all face dark times in our lives, and maybe it is current for you today. We started by understanding that it is these times that can produce the greatest spiritual growth in our lives. These times are like the refiner’s fire – it burns hot but it brings the dregs and impurities to the surface so they can be dealt with. It’s not automatic, it takes work; but there is a blessedness in tough times we will find nowhere else.
We then looked at three words and how they relate to this time of waiting. Hope, Faith and Grace are all key words and should be part of our daily conversations. Today we conclude this series talking about God’s timing, trying to have a better perspective on what God is doing in and through these times.

God’s Perspective: History
The first thing we need to understand as we consider God’s timing when it comes to problem is perspective. The foundation of our understanding of God is that He is eternal. From before Creation to long after history is closed, He is. Not only is He outside of time, but He has been in time from the beginning, directing His plan of restoration of His creation to Himself. At the beginning of history God created. In that creation God made man in His image. In that image he gave man the ability to choose. With that choice, man sinned and a gulf was created between man and God. Even then God knew and had a plan to bring them back together. So, as you look through the annals of history you see God at work. You see man multiplying on the earth and constantly turning from God. You see Noah being used to save the world from destruction. And then, at the right moment you see Abraham picked out of all the inhabitants of the earth and chosen to be the start of a new nation. You see promises and covenants. In fact, what you don’t see is God’s absence. You see Him quiet at times, you see periods of what may be timed slowness, but God is active throughout history.

God raises a nation to reveal Himself to the world, and through the ultimate revelation of His Son through the incarnation within that nation at just the right time. Then we see God working in and through the people of the early church. As you read through the end of the New Testament you are also reminded that God never stops being actively involved in His creation. The whole of history is moving along God’s timing. We are not privy to all the why’s and why not’s, but we do know that God is Sovereign and in control. Nothing takes Him by surprise, for He is outside of time and can see any situation from both sides of time, before and after. Christ was born at the height of the Roman Empire, which allowed the Gospel to be spread quickly around the world. Even now God is waiting for the 2nd coming, giving everyone a chance to repent and come to Him. In his 2nd epistle in chapter 3, Peter says God is not slow concerning that promise; that it is in His timing. How many years was it from the fall in the Garden of Eden to the resurrection of Jesus, the solution of that fall? Jesus has taken over 2,000 years so far to come back and He is still not here. When you look at history we talk of God moving in the hundreds and thousands of years. Our 70 or 80 or 100 years here on earth are but a blink in time when it comes to the time before us and what follows. God can make even that small blink have lasting effects. If you lead even one person to Christ in your whole lifetime, consider that you have changed eternity for that soul. That is remarkable. By faithfully doing the small things day in day out, month in month out, year in year out, you are involved in the eternities of countless people God brings you in contact with. It is a remarkable thing to be used by the God of History.

God’s Plan: Nations
God’s plans and perspectives are not just some broad movements over millennia, though, they involve the creation of nations, and using nations to do His work. Israel He built from scratch, and exists to this day. The Bible shows that Israel was to represent and reveal God to the world around them. Through their laws they would reveal God’s character, His holiness and His love. The Old Testament tracks the nation of Israel from its birth, to its deliverance and rebelliousness, to its acceptance of dedication to God alone. Not only Israel, either. We see many nations involved, and continue to see God at work in nations. In Latin America we see some large scale movements of God. A few hundred years ago there was the Great Awakening that went through Britain and the US and Canada. In 1972 we saw God start a revival here in Saskatoon that reached around the globe.

The Bible says that God raises up leaders and lays them low. God is Sovereign and we see it throughout history as He interacts with nations. When it comes to His timing we also note that it took hundreds of years for Him to deliver Israel out of Egypt. Generations were born and died in slavery all the while crying out to God for deliverance. So many generations made that cry, but at the right time God touched a man and used him to deliver. Moses spent 40 years in Egypt, another 40 in exile, and then when he was 80 years old, he led the children out of Egypt, and then eventually through 40 years of wandering in the desert.

David wanted to build a temple for God. He collected gold and had the plans drawn up, and made some of the instruments and stuff needed, but he never saw the temple because that was for his son Solomon to do. Go back to Joseph, who was cast into a pit and then sold into slavery. After working in Potiphar’s house for awhile he was falsely accused and then jailed. For two years he languished in jail, and then spent another 7 years preparing for famine. Finally, after all that and then several years of famine, God used him to bring his family to Egypt so they could survive the famine.

Again and again we see God’s timing, and it seems so slow but consider that God is still in the business of bringing people to Himself. So we see God moving in history, we see His redemptive story in and through nations. What is God’s timing about? What is He trying to accomplish?

God’s Perfection: Holiness
God’s plan for us, all of us, all humans, is to become Christ-like in our attitudes, our words, and our actions. We are to reflect Jesus in our lives. We are to reflect the character of God in our lives. That is holiness, and why we are called to be holy. When we consider God’s timing and how sometimes He seems quiet or far away, consider that He didn’t place us on earth to be rich or poor, to be smart or not so smart, to be surrounded by family or utterly alone. God placed us on earth to be a reflection of Himself. So when we go through a rough time financially, we are reminded that as difficult as it may be to go through the experience, the question that should be at the top of the list is not how can I get more money, but how can I reflect the character of Jesus in this circumstance. Yes, you pray for deliverance, you work hard to do what you can to get out of that circumstance, but you do that with a sense of integrity and faith, knowing that God is aware and near. The God who has been working throughout all of history; the God who raises and lowers kings; He is the same God that has put His Holy Spirit in you as a seal of His promise of salvation, and is helping and guiding you to be all you can be. He is the God of grace that died on the cross that you might live. He is the God of love, modeling a selfless love called Agape throughout history, that we might in turn reflect that same love to those around us.
What is your right as a person? Is health? No, we are not guaranteed health. Is wealth? No, we are not guaranteed money. Friends? No! Then what? We are guaranteed eternal life that started the day we accepted Jesus into our hearts. We are guaranteed the presence of God in our hearts and lives regardless of circumstance. We are guaranteed to never be pushed beyond what we are able to bear. We are guaranteed to be loved by God.

We live in a fallen world. Sometimes rough times are a chastisement from the Lord for wandering away from Him and pursuing our own selfish ends. Sometimes we are just caught up in the fallenness and sin of this world, and the consequences there of. Whatever the reason, we need to affirm that through it all, God is making us more like Himself. There is a fig that grows in Israel that needs help to ripen. At a certain time in the growing process the farmer goes out with a little instrument that looks like a spoon, and he gently taps the fruit, bruising it. In so doing, it causes the fruit to become sweet and lose its bitterness. If it is not done, the fruit is not easily edible for it would be quite bitter. Let the rough times in your life be the bruising of God.

As we close, listen to this passage from 2 Peter 1:1-11 “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

Matthew 18:23-33 “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Ever had someone try to sell you something? I was leaving a mall on Friday, ahead of Bonnie and the kids with some groceries. This nice young man stops me by a booth and goes into a spiel about moisturizer and dead sea salt and oils. I was able to walk away without buying anything, especially when I found out I needed to spend $60 to get something. He rubbed some stuff on the back of my hand and it went into my skin. He did the same thing on the inside of my wrist and it didn’t – and he claimed it was his product that made a difference. I understood that it was because the skin is slightly different and he was just using it as a sales pitch.

I am up here speaking from the Bible. Sometimes people may look at me and think I am doing a sales pitch, just trying to get their money or something from them. What they don’t understand is that I am trying to give them something… for free. No strings attached. In fact, it is not even me offering it, I am just trying to make them aware of it.

In the Old Testament the word for grace means “to bend or stoop”. It talks of a superior granting something unasked and unearned to a subordinate. We often read in the Old Testament where people found favour in the sight of God. That is the word Grace being used. The first time it is used is when Noah finds favour in the sight of God – in the midst of judgment for sin, we see the grace of God. It is something that is extended fully and freely to those who won’t ever be able to repay it. It is favour undeserved and unearned.

You and I, then, could never offer grace to people on a human level, because we are not superior. What we understand, is that we never offer our grace, we offer the grace of God to those around us. He is the Lord God, the gracious Host of Heaven. His grace is offered freely to all. Romans 6:23 talks about the free gift of God. The passage where we started this series of sermons was Romans 5 where we read that it is grace in which we stand. So what is this grace? What is this thing that allows us to find a place to stand even in the midst of struggles and difficulties?

First of all, Grace is Freedom. What is freedom? In a sense it is the opposite of legalism. Galatians 5:13-14 says “For you were called to 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, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”” It is freedom from control, from the tyranny of sin and the Law. The Law could never grant us freedom, never will. It was there to show us the need for grace; the Law was there to show us that we could not do it. Romans 6:17-18 says this: “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Do you hear that? Sin is no longer master over you. People are walking all around us in this city in bondage to sin and they don’t realize it. They may feel it; they may know something isn’t quite right, because the Spirit of God is pointing them to the answer. But they are still without hope, for hope is found in Jesus Christ. The hope you and I have is that Jesus is coming back for us; that He has gone to heaven and is preparing a place for us. You are free, in the grace of God, from the tyranny of sin. Romans 8 explains that God has provided you everything you need to live a life of holiness. He has given you the Spirit to guide and direct; to chastise and convict. All you have to do is respond in faith to the grace of God and you will be victorious.

Understand that Grace provides the way, but it doesn’t force you down the narrow path of righteousness. You have to respond to the grace that goes before you. Did you hear Kathleen’s testimony last week? She knew something heavy was coming her way. God was getting her ready, so that when her husband Rick became seriously sick with the West Niles Neurological Syndrome, grace was already surrounding them and going before them. God is faithful and just and will not allow us to be tempted or tried beyond what we are able to endure, but will with the trial provide a way through it.

This grace is also the freedom to be all you can be. The armed forces are notorious for campaigns that talk about being all you can be. The truth is we are in a spiritual war. We are involved in a heavenly battle not just for a commodity in the ground, or a piece of land, but for the very souls of people. God gives us in His grace the freedom to use our strengths and gifts and talents unhindered by sin and the fallenness around us, if only we respond to Him. Grace is freedom, the freedom to choose where we had no choice before.

Grace is also all about God and what He has done for us, not about what we have done for Him. Listen to this quote from Chuck Swindoll’s The Grace Awakening: “To believe by grace and to live by grace include the reality of risk. Most people find this uncomfortable. Most want some moral report card that objectively measures their progress. Works provide that. But if works are not the basis of our relationship with God, then there is no external proof of salvation or spirituality. If, on the other hand, grace is the basis of our relationship with God, then the reality of our faith is internal. It can be seen – and judged – only by God.” In trying to be obedient to God, to living holy lives, we can sometimes think it is about us. We think that we are doing God a favour. He has done all the work. There is no more work that needs to be done, other than worshipping Him. And holiness, works of service, kind and encouraging words, those are of a higher worship than standing here singing a song. All your doing and stuff, if you are not doing it out of worship to your Creator, it does nothing for you except maybe make you feel good for helping. It does benefits the one you are helping – but I am talking to you as mature Christians. Do it for God, not for my approval, nor for the approval of the person in the chair beside you. How many of us have seen what we thought was a “wonderful Christian” blow it. Anger, or words, or bad deeds… somehow they blew it and we were surprised because we thought we had pegged them as a great Christian. You know what? Extend them grace, God’s grace. Let God worry about where they are at with Him and encourage and do what God calls you to do and be with them. If I blow it, I hope grace is extended my way from you. Life is too short, and the work too much and too hard to be “piddling” around without grace. It is only in grace that God will move in and through us.
Grace is also to be given away. Remember the Scripture we read earlier in the service? How can you and I, who have been forgiven so much, go through life with an unforgiving spirit? God has said we will be judged for that. Jesus said it in so many ways: Your brother strikes you on your cheek, turn the other and let him strike that one. He took your coat? Give him your shirt as well. The point is that we are called to be agents of grace. It is not our grace. Our grace could never be big enough or broad enough. We are agents of God’s grace. Let me leave you 4 thoughts on how to do this:

1) Accept others as they are. Don’t approach relationships trying to change people. Let God do that part, for that is His business. The Commandment is to love our neighbour as ourselves; not love them if they look like us.
2) Let others decide for themselves. We can’t force people to follow Jesus, or to be kind, or even to talk to us. We can pray for them, try to talk to them, encourage them with a verse of Scripture – Grace is lived out in so many ways.
3) Refuse to judge others. Again, this is God’s business to know where they are at with Him. Our business is to love them with the love of Jesus. That is balanced with the stewardship we have of what God has given us, but judging is not part of it. Let people be who they are, and recognize God loves them as much as He loves you. He died for them just as He died for you! And who is to say you have it all together? Who’s to say that you are worthy of being the most Christ-like follower of all?
4) Lastly, express your freedom in grace wisely. Don’t be doing things that cause a brother or sister to stumble; model for them integrity. This does not mean you give in to someone’s legalistic control over you, but be aware of a genuine concern someone approaches you with. Do everything as unto Jesus, not people.

It takes time, it takes pain, and it means change. Are you ready to experience grace anew in your life?

Matthew 25:1-13 Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’
But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Last week we talked about Peter, about his transformation from a guy driven by emotion and fear to being a leader of the church; a man rock solid in his faith and the church. We talked about that transformation, and today we are going to zero in on one part of that change. Before I go into this study I want to make sure you know why you’re here. First, God has brought you here by divine appointment. It’s not because of me or your mom, though it may look like that. God has something here for you each time you come. There are two things you can take away. You may take them both, or just one or the other, and next week it will be the other way around. The first thing is what you take for yourself. God is in the business of making you like Himself. As we look at the Word and consider the claims of Jesus God speaks to you about you. Maybe it is something you need to do or to change or to consider. But you may be here and you’ve got it all together. You may not need what God brings today. In that case let me suggest that God wants you to take this stuff for someone else. Maybe you never really knew how to talk about sanctification or faith or hope, or how to express it to someone else. You can take what we talk about here and share it with others. It helps sharpen your understanding and confidence, so you can build into someone else’s life. I’m glad you’re here, and I pray there is something here for you to take on your journey to Christ-likeness.

So, we had great services last week, no what? What did the disciples do? They spent their time fasting and praying and worshipping and in the Scriptures. They were waiting for God to show up. So, as they waited upon god’s timing, they focussed on the basics of the faith. Let’s talk about those periods of life when we are waiting for God to show up. We know He is always there, but we are praying fervently for something and waiting for an answer. We are wanting more of Him, but don’t seem to be hearing from Him. Everything seems to be going along pretty well, but we seem to be in a delaying period. The airplane is circling the airport waiting for their turn to land…

The value of waiting right. It is when God is silent, when we are in the in between times of His interaction with us, that we have the chance to prove our faith; to express our faith, to exercise our faith. You come visit me at my house and as you sit in my living room you look up and see on a shelf a circular saw. As you sit I regale you with stories of how wonderful my saw is and what projects I will do with it; but it is brand new, still in the box. You are not too impressed. Why? You are leery because I have never tried out my saw. I never put it to use, to see if I could cut a straight line. Quite a while ago I had a Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon. If you looked at it when I sold it you would have noticed a neat little slot cut in the trim above the passenger side rear wheel. I had leaned a piece of plywood against the car and needed to cut it in half. The saw blade was a bit further out than I realized and so the car was sold with a slot the width of a saw blade in it. Sometimes when we actually go out to do something, it doesn’t go as expected. Our mastery of the tools we own aren’t quite what we led ourselves to believe.
So it is with our faith. Often God is silent so He can get out of the way so we can see what our faith is actually made of. Does it bend precipitously under the slightest pressure or is it rock solid through the toughest gale? Is it something we just put on when we think we need it or do we carry it around like the pencil in the ear, always having it ready for when we need it?
I have one of those all in one weight machines in my basement. I know purists will say right away that that is my first problem. I really need free weights to get the most out of my exercises. The fact is, if I want a bigger bicep, I have to exercise it. I can’t just look at my arm and visualize and 18” arm and then it will happen. I have to get on that machine and do flys and Preacher Curls and work my arm, 3 times a week for a long time. With right eating and no injuries, I could do it. One reason I don’t have 18” biceps is because I haven’t done it. It’s easy to talk about my weight machine, the specific exercises, and even walk around wearing baggy shirts and shorts. It’s easy to say, but to actually do it is much harder. And it shows in my physique. So, how’s your faith? Have you exercised it lately? Are you exercising it in small things so it grows? It is easy when times are good to talk about Jesus and faith, but do you still cling to Him in the tough times?
After Jesus died and was resurrected, there was a waiting. The disciples and followers of Jesus focused on the basics and did those simple things, those little things that ground us in the faith. And there came a time when the waiting was up! Finally, God showed up, and in a big way!

The result of waiting right. So God shows up! The thing we have been waiting for happens, even if we didn’t know what we were waiting for. What we will discover, though, that as we were busy focussing on the basics and doing the little things well, as we were waiting right, we are now ready for God to use us.

• We are prepared - Our time spent on the basics has prepared us for God’s presence. Often when He shows up He does a new thing. Remember Pentecost? That’s where the ministry of the Holy Spirit was inaugurated for Christians. Jesus promised He would not leave us comfortless, but would send the Comforter. So the Comforter comes, the disciples spoke in tongues, and in a few short years the Gospel was sent to the Gentiles. Talk about a new thing! Only those current in their faith, though, were able to plug in to what God was doing. As we spend our waiting time becoming all we can be in Christ, He can then lead us on because we get it. If we just sit around and cruise in our faith during the waiting, we run the danger of becoming aligned with the grumblers and complainers. Think of the stories of Israel coming out of slavery in Egypt, and proceeding to the Promised Land. Again and again you see people who couldn’t get with the program God had set. They couldn’t see or hear what God was doing because they weren’t tuned in to Him. Where was their faith when things got difficult? It was way back there somewhere, miles from where it should have been. Only 2 of the 12 spies sent into the Promised Land had a faith that said, “We can do it because God is with us.” And only those 2 entered in. Wait right, so you are prepared for God’s coming.

• We are available – God loves to use people for His ministry. Saul became Paul and traveled the world after spending some 3 years in the wilderness waiting for God. Remember when Jesus was brought to the temple as a baby? Two people who had been waiting for God there whole life to show up, were ready to proclaim their simple message. Simeon blessed the baby and was used because he was available and ready. When you are prepared, you are available and ready. Remember the 5 virgins who were out of oil and not prepared and as a result got left out? Be prepared and available to God.

• We are used. Life with God is an adventure. We will find that we were waiting for the big thing, the new thing, the public thing, but in our day to day life God has brought His kingdom near. Every day we live is a celebration of the incarnation. We don’t have to wait for Christmas or Easter because jesus is in our lives today. The miracle of His presence changes us, so that when we look back through that time of waiting, we find that we have actually become so much more than we realized. It is actually those dry times, those times of darkness, those times of waiting that we are most greatly refined. It is one of those paradoxes of the spiritual life. The times we feel most alone, we feel most sad or put down, those are the times our faith grows the most. As you go through that, and do the basics, clinging to God, He will use you in mighty ways to speak to those around you. Stay the course – God will never leave you nor forsake you.