Be Ye Reconciled

 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:20

 

God’s desire is, and always will be, a complete reconciliation with mankind.  When Adam and Eve sinned, sin “entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12).  Unholy, sinful man, was no longer reconciled with a holy, righteous God; because of sin.  Christ paid the debt so that we might be holy, that we might be reconciled to God and restored to full fellowship with God.  

The book of second Samuel (chapter fifteen) tells of a terrible scandal that occurred in the kingdom of Israel.  Absalom, the son of King David, allowed his thirst for power to create a rift between father and son.  Absalom’s pride and lust only furthered this division to the point that Absalom spent two years in Jerusalem never seeing his father’s face.  Eventually, Absalom would conduct a coup to take the throne from his own father.  They were in proximity with one another, but they had no fellowship, and as such they were unreconciled.  David wanted it, he desired it, but the son rejected the father in favor of his own ambitions.  The sin in Absalom’s heart had twisted him until he wanted nothing but the throne.  He desired only achievements, and it became his downfall and destroyed his life.  Absalom lived and died in his sins, unreconciled to his father, never knowing full fellowship.  We find this as an example in scripture for the sin and unrest in people’s hearts.  Perhaps, in your heart.  When one has sin in their heart, they will have sin in their life.  Sin separates us from God.  It takes us down the path of arrogance and ambition; creating division between you and a holy God.  Serving yourself over serving God.  Ultimately sin will destroy you, and your soul.  However, it doesn’t have to be that way.  We can be reconciled to God, through Jesus Christ.  God sent his son Jesus Christ into the world to die for our sins so that we will not share in Absalom’s fate.  Our story can be changed.       

If we call on the saving power of Jesus he can restore us to holiness, and true fellowship with the Father.  When we repent, he forgives us.  When we surrender, he sanctifies us.  We are then accepted as sons and daughters; empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost to live free from sin in this life.  Walking in holiness, reconciled to God.  Be ye reconciled to God.     

Sanctification Unpacked: He Is Not Weak

 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.   For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”-Romans 8:1-2

“I cannot live free from sin.”  “I cannot live without committing sin.”  Why not?  Because of the flesh?  Because you are weak?  While this is true, in a sense, we must remember that the Spirit is not weak.  Sanctification is not weak.  Christ is not weak.  God is not weak.  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus can make you free from the law of sin and death.  There is power in the blood, in the risen Christ, in the Holy Spirit.  Power to save, and power to keep. 

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”-Jude 1:24-25

 The Holy Spirit is strong enough to deliver from sin, and powerful enough to keep you from sinning.   Holiness is nothing more or less than taking God at His Word.  Either the Holy Ghost has power to keep or He does not.  This power is not subdued by the flesh.  It is not beholden to the flesh.  It is not a power that manifests some of the time, and then is overwhelmed or discarded other times.  When you accept sinning and repenting as your salvation you are accepting a false salvation.  You are accepting that the flesh is stronger than the Spirit.  If you believe that the Spirit can keep you then you must accept that he can keep you from all sin.  If you believe that Christ can save you, then he can save you from all sin.  He can and he does.  Holiness is a present day, present, hour, right here right now experience.  It is not positional, it is a possession.  A possession and profession that you can have right now, because the power of God is here and now. 

“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”-Romans 6:22

When you yield it all over to Christ, in total surrender he makes you free from sin, and a servant to God.  You have fruit unto holiness and in the end everlasting life.  Some men will say they are saved, but still sinning; then what are you saved from?  God is who he says he is, Christ has power to save, because He said He does.  Not just to save from the condemnation of sin, but the practicing of it as well.  Phoebe Palmer wrote in her testimony when she was entirely sanctified “If by faith why not now?”  I put the question to you, if by faith why not now?  If we are saved by faith (and we are), strengthened through faith, and delivered with faith; why not now?  Repent and believe Christ as your sanctifier.  Your deliverer.  Your redeemer, and keeper.  Invite the Holy Ghost to live and dwell in your heart; trusting in His power to change, and the power to keep you free from sin.  For He is not weak.

The Surrendered Life

 “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

One of the hardest things for a person to do in this life is to surrender all to Christ.  The Christian life is a surrendered life.  Christ has the power to wipe away our past, keep us holy in the present, and guide us through the future; if we surrender our all to Christ.  Surrendering to Him is the secret.  

The devil would have us carry our guilt and shame for the things that we have done (or are doing) all our life.  He would have us play the “what-if” game until it drives us mad.  What if you had bought this stock, signed this deal, moved here, gone there, etc.  What you hadn't done or you had done that.  Living your life fixated on the rear view mirror.  He would have us distracted by the things in the present.  The cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches.  Always worry about taking care of this or that.  Watching the news, games, or sports, or common entertainment.  Hanging onto the next thing; the next concert, vacation, streaming show, or product.  Caught up in the present evil world.  He would have us worried over the future.  Anxious over what could be or what might be.  Consumed in our own ambition while we blaze our own trail.  Or, terrified to move for fear of heading down the wrong path.  Paralyzed by the unknown.  This is all a smokescreen to keep us from looking at God’s Word and reckoning with the truth that this all must be laid to rest in the grave of surrender.  This is the sanctified life.  A life that is hidden behind the cross, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. 

The hid life is a surrendered life, and the surrendered life is a sanctified life.  To be sanctified is to be set apart for God’s purpose.  When you are living for the Lord Jesus it puts to rest the past, present, and future.  The anxiety gives way to tranquility.  The unrest to peace.  The self promotion to self demolition.  This comes by way of complete and total surrender to Christ. 

The Light Of The Word

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” –Psalm 119:105

  An explorer trekking through the jungles of South America, came across native children playing a game with rocks.  As he approached, the explorer noticed it was not rocks they were playing with, but rubies.  The jewels were so abundant that the children treated them as play things.  They didn't understand the value of what they were holding.  

A study done by Lifeway research and the American Bible Institute shows that nearly 87% of American households own a Bible.  However, only 41% of Americans read it at least three times a year.  With that said, 80% of Americans believe that values and morals in this country are declining, and the majority believe that decline is a result of entertainment and news media.  Today, 79.2% of Americans turn on their TV every day and watch for an average of 3.5 hours a day.  As the new generation comes along, television is being accompanied by streaming services, social media, and video games; but the numbers are not improving with the average American logging twelve hours and one minute across all devices.  This means that Americans will consume more entertainment in a given day than they will their Bible in an entire year!  The devil wants to rob you of every possible second you could have with God.  He is in the business of deceit and distraction.  When we commune with Christ we gain access to the wisdom of God, and the power of God.  The Bible is readily available all around us, and we have the freedom to read it at any time.  Yet, it is neglected in pursuit of the dopamine producing, doom scrolling, algorithm enhancing content placement that is shoved into our faces at every turn.  To the point that saying “put down your screen and pick up a Bible”, is akin to telling a three hundred pound asthmatic “get off the couch and run a marathon.”  Yet, a transformation must take place.  We must accept that we can have all the godliness we want, and all the worldliness we want; but we cannot have both.  You must choose where you put your time.  It begs the question though: what if we embraced the Word of God?  What if we sowed our time in the fertile soil of God’s Word?  If 100% of those who owned a Bible studied it every day, in order to live everyday in the light of God’s Word?  It starts with me and it starts with you.  We must win the little battles in the secret place where no one is watching.  Shutting off the screen, the novels, the television and telling our flesh “no.”  Then picking up and consuming the spiritual food that is found in the Word of God.  The Word of God can give light, and will give light in total darkness.  One of the greatest threats we face as a church today is a lack of Bible literacy, and by extension dedicated Bible reading.  The Word of God flowing through our lives will light the path and cast out the darkness, but we must take the Word with us. When men and women understand, commit, and live the teachings found in God’s Word it has tremendous effect.  This has been proven so through the ages. 

A very wise woman once said to me: “If we all do what we know to do, when all is said and done; we will have done enough.”  If you have been converted and sanctified you know you can pray and God will answer your prayers.  You know you can study your Bible and it will provide direction, unction, and power.  You know that Jesus Christ can save from all sin.  You know that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God.”  The devil would have us believe that we don’t need much of God’s Word.  That it is too dark, and too bleak out there for it to have any effect.  That the hour is too late and nobody wants to hear the gospel anymore.  He would have us live encumbered, and distracted.  Playing games with choice treasures.  Stumbling about in the darkness without the light of Word to guide us.  Yet, that doesn't have to be so, we can take down the Word, take up the cross, and follow Christ into the darkness with the light to guide us.  .  

Wait On The Lord

 “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”-Psalm 37:7

            We are called to seek God, to believe God, and have faith in Him.  When we feel like we have everything or nothing.  The Lord still wants us to seek His face.  This can be difficult when there is no answer, no feedback, no response, no direction, and you are forced to wait on Him.  Wait, when you need an answer, and you long for victory.

“Birds sing in the dark” (words from Oswald Chamber’s devotional book “My Utmost for His Highest), they sing announcing a sunrise that has yet to come, a sunrise they have yet to see, but they sing anyway.  They have faith it will rise; as the morning before, and the morning before that, and before that.  Like the birds, we must wait on the Lord, on the sunrise, and praise him in the dark.  Parise hHim…..Because He is God, and with Him there is only victory.  He will fight for his people, for his children.  It may not be today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not a year from now, but at some point, there will be victory; there will be a sunrise, in his own good time.  It is not easy to wait on the Lord when the world is falling apart around you, but ultimately it comes down to: “do I believe God is who he says he is?”  “Do I believe he will do what he said he will do?”   If so, I will wait on his answer, wait on his leading, wait on the victory that he will bring, and not follow my own selfish desires, my own selfish escape plan. If you search the scriptures in them you will find men and women who had a great ability to wait before God.  A situation would arise and they would take it to God; and wait on his answer.  Wait with a mind and heart to accept whatever answer came their way.   Waiting is an easy thing to do when you’re not in a hurry, everybody can go the speed limit as long as they have nowhere to be, but when they wake up at 7:45 am and they have to somewhere important to be at 8:00 am; all the way across town…..now all you can think about is how fast you’re not going.  When there is a problem or a situation on your door step and you begin to call on God, and call on God, and call on God; with no answer.  Then it is time to wait, to have patience, to have faith.  God is leading, the sunrise is coming, and the Lord will provide…..trust God.  If you try to take the situation into your own hands you will fail, or get off course.  Christ is the captain and we have to wait for His direction.  In times of unknown, that is the hardest thing to do in this world.

It can be very easy to confuse motion with accomplishment; movement with action.  When we take it upon ourselves to play captain then we are doing so in vain.  Although it may feel like we are acting to accomplish a virtuous end; if we are not in God’s will, then it is in vain.  The soul that finds rest in the Lord, and waits patiently for him; the soul that can “cast all his cares upon him.”  That soul will have victory and peace.

Vision Of Revival

 “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.” - Zechariah 8:6

           What is marvelous in your eyes?  What is extraordinary to you?  What fills you with wonder?  Is it great wealth?  Stupendous talent?  The newest trend, latest fashion or coolest gadget?  Or do you want to see a sinner forsake his sin, and fall in love with God?  Do you want to see the Holy Ghost grip you and those around you, turning them back to holiness?  Do you have a vision of revival?  Can you see it happening? 

In the eighth chapter of Zechariah the Word of the Lord is given to the prophet Zechariah.  Meanwhile, Ezra the scribe is back in Jerusalem rebuilding the temple (the Lord’s house that lies in waste).  It is at this time that Zechariah prophesies to the people and tells them that God is jealous over Jerusalem.  He tells him I will dwell in Jerusalem.  He tells him that the streets of the city will be filled with children at play.  That the aged men and women will be joyful to see the redemption of their beloved city.  Then the Word of the Lord says, “if it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes?”  Imagine Jerusalem in desolation, imagine the temple in ruin; imagine God’s people removed from their homes with only a few remaining.  How much faith would it take to believe that God would restore all this?  That men, women, and children would be together in the streets: safe, secure, and joyous?  God says if it be marvelous in your eyes, it will be marvelous in mine.  God says, if this scene is marvelous to you; it will be to me.  This is the message from God, to God’s people.  When you look out at our land and country today, if holiness people think themselves just a remnant living in a desolate decaying Jerusalem, we will never see revival.  Worse still, if we love the world around us more than the ways of God, what hope is there that revival will come?  Is there anything too hard for the Lord?  Jesus told of a parable of the unjust judge who ignored a widow woman that was wronged; however tthe Word tells us that by her “continually coming” she persuaded Him.  If the unjust judge would do right, how much more would the Judge of all the Earth? How much more would God in heaven if we humble ourselves, seek His face, and believe in the power of God? 

Yes, there is a cross for each of us to bear, and when we get to the place where we want to bear it, we love to bear it, and desire God’s direction over everything else;  I just believe God will honor that.  When we crave the burden of revival in our own lives and we are willing to sacrifice to see it; making the vision of revival wonderful in our eyes.  We will see it; or at least have a hope to.  Revival starts within, not without.  As in the days of Josiah the King, we must look to our own house and ask God to clean out the rubbish.  Clear out the “shelf behind the door.”  Read His Word, commit to prayer, and be honest with God.  When he answers by fire in our heart, it will make revival marvelous in our eyes, and in His; and by God’s grace he will make it known to the world.

Sanctification Unpacked: It Is Not Optional

 If sanctification is a distinct work after repentance, and it is, then it follows that sanctification must be pursued after repentance.  However, is it a necessary pursuit?  Are you saved, and it is for your benefit to be sanctified?  Or, do you need to be sanctified to be saved?  

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”-2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

The work of repentance is vital, it removes the past sins in your life.  It cleanses you, and makes you a fit vessel for sanctification; but it does not save you.  It does not save you because you are still beholden to sin. Your nature is still a sinning nature.  Our calling is to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and the Spirit sanctifies us when it appears in our hearts.  When we have our own personal Pentecost.  

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”-Romans 5:1-2

  If a thief pleads guilty to the judge, his conscience may be unburdened but the sentence has yet to be carried out.  The only peace he finds is within himself (perhaps), but not with the judge, or the law.  Confessing keeps us in a conversation with God, and grants a measure of peace to our conscience, but not victory.  There can be no peace between you and the judge until the sentence has been passed or pardoned.  Once the judge issues a pardon, then you have peace with yourself, with the law, and with God.  This cannot happen by confession, but by repentance.  Only through the total forsaking of your sin and placing your total faith on the merits of the risen Christ can you hope to find absolutions for sin.  Your plea is not “I am guilty”, your plea must be: “I am guilty, Lord save me!”  Only then can you be justified.  Some might call this saved but the redemptive work is justification and sanctification.  What’s more, when the carnal nature of sin is ruling your heart, how can you say you are saved without being sanctified?  What are you saved from when the nature that caused you to commit your crimes against a holy God still reigns within?  Christ didn’t need a cross to forgive you of your sins; the cross was to justify, and sanctify.  Christ is salvation to the believer, and Christ comes when the Holy Ghost comes.   

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”- Hebrews 9:27-28

 We are only saved at His appearing.  He appears to God for your justification, but he appears to you for your sanctification.  He appears through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  This instantaneous filling of the Holy Ghost in the heart of one who has been justified by faith is salvation. 

Consider now: what is your life?

 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”- James 4:14

Leonard Ravenhill once said: “you will never meet a more challenging question than this: “what is your life?”.   Not what is life, or what are you doing with your life, but what is your life?”

Life, we spend most of our time, money, and energy to preserve life.  Yet with all our efforts to hold onto it, our life is a vapor.  Despite our best efforts it will slowly seep through our fingertips until it’s gone.  While existence is evidence of life, we find in this life something deeper than just existing.  There is more to life than sleeping, eating, and breathing.  The willful animation of ourselves to move from one place to the next can hardly quantify this precious gift we call “life”.  With this in mind take to heart the Apostle James’s searching question: what is your life?  In our early years we have no idea how short life is.  Our days are spent wishing we were older.  Our adolescent years come, and we are too ignorant to be mindful of the gift of life.  As middle-age sneaks up on us, we are met with the harsh reality that we are headed to the grave, as our bodies begin to prove it so.  Finally, in the last season of life the evidence becomes too overwhelming to ignore, and everything you know begins to slowly fade away as the grave summons you.  That final day will come to us all and we will leave behind every possession and every memory that is tied to it.  Our bodies will lay in a grave, and our life summed up in an afternoon eulogy as we have stepped off into the void of eternity.  What remains of you after death but your prayers, words, actions, and immortal soul?  The things which outlive us are often the very things we ignore the most.  What security do you have that you're ready to meet eternity?  Are you confident of a hope beyond the grave?  For, what is your life?  

All our hope must be in Christ.  This hope is evidenced by refusing to live for ourselves and focusing on Christ.  Our Savior.  The scripture says that “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ”.  We will meet Jesus here, or there, but we will meet Him.  We will meet Jesus as the intercessor, or judge, but we will meet Him.  We will see Jesus as an arbitrator or adjudicator, but we will all see Him.  He is Lord, and when we arrive at judgment will we hear?  “Well done, thy good and faithful servant” or “depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”  How you live here will determine where you live forever.  Consider now: what is your life?  

Sanctification Unpacked: It Is Not Progressive

     You can grow in your sanctification, but you cannot grow into it.  It is not a gradual process in which you are sanctified, and sinning, while parts of you are becoming more sanctified.  It is an instantaneous work, it is not progressive.  The work of God that sanctifies is just as instantaneous as the work that forgives.  

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”- Acts 2:2-4 

Here we read the Holy Spirit given to the early church on the day of Pentecost.  The promise from Joel that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh.  It is the first fruit of the blessing of sanctification.  The first fruits of a crop represent the balance of the crop and so it is with the giving of the Holy Ghost.  This is confirmed to us later in Acts chapter ten and nineteen when we would be given similar accounts of the swift and sudden outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of the believers who had repented.    

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that nor of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” -Ephesians 2:8-9

The work and working of God must come to us, because we cannot go to Him. A drowning man cannot build a boat, someone must come to save him.  Christ must pull us out of the depths of sin before it’s too late.  This work, action, gift of salvation, is properly called in scripture: sanctification.  By grace the gift is given, and by faith it is received; this transaction is immediate and not established on the ability of man.  

“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17-18

To say it is not progressive is not to imply that once sanctified you have nothing more to gain.  The Israelites possessed the land of Canaan, but they still had fighting to do.  Peter was filled with the Spirit but still had prejudices to overcome (see Acts chapter ten).  You grow in grace, but you don't grow into grace.  In order to graft a tree the branch is cut, joined and bound to produce the union.  This happens at once, but the result of that union is growth.  So it is with the plan of salvation.  You are cut by the Word, exposed in repentance, joined to Christ  in sanctification, and bound to Him by the Holy Spirit.  The product of that union is growth and fruit.  It is an important distinction because when you preach that you must gradually grow into sanctification you are preaching an impossibility.  You are challenging people to do the work that God has prepared for them, and to live for God without the power of God to perform it.  You are asking detached branches to rise up, and attach themselves to the tree.  It cannot be.  God wants to pick you up and join you into the fellowship of Holiness with His Son Jesus.  

Sanctification Unpacked: It Is Not Repentance

     Some time ago, while talking with a friend about sanctification, I was explaining that it came after repentance.  Repentance was the first work of grace, and sanctification was the second.  Both are necessary for salvation.  He replied, “I got that, but I just got it all when I got baptized.”  We continued with our conversation and I cannot recall it now, but the statement “I just got it all when I got baptized” has stuck with me over the years.  It highlights to me a fundamental misunderstanding of what sanctification is, what it is not, and how to find it.  Sanctification is not repentance.

“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”-Luke 5:32

When you repent, you turn your back on sin.  Your sin.  You have changed your mind, turned your heart, and resolved to follow Christ.  Forgiveness is a product of repentance; made possible through the authority of God and Christ.  The work of repentance is a pardoning work that brings profound change; however, it doesn’t strike at the root of the problem.  The carnal nature of sin still remains.  Since the root remains, sinful actions come back and you find yourself sinning and repenting.  Sinning and repenting.  Which is why you need the second work of grace; which is sanctification.  Sanctification gets down to the root of the matter.  It changes your nature.  

 “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:”-Matthew 3:11 

Repentance is the first work, because God made it so.  John came first, preaching repentance.  Jesus followed preaching repentance.  The scriptures are filled with the instruction to repent, but it didn’t stop there.  After repentance we must be filled with the Holy Ghost.  Furthermore, before you can be sanctified you must be clean.  Before you can be married, you must be betrothed.  Repentance prepares the way for the coming of Christ, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is the second sanctifying work.  Perhaps the most profound distinction of all, repentance was available before sanctification.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance.  

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”-John 3:5

Two things that are separate and distinct, bond with one another to create new life.  Hydrogen and oxygen exist as distinct elements but combined they create life-giving water.  Two people enter into the union of marriage to become one.  Repentance and Sanctification are two distinct spiritual works which, when combined, create salvation to the believer.   A new creation.  To stop at repentance is to leave off salvation.  You are clean, but not reborn.  You can be engaged or married, but you cannot be engaged and married.  You can be a sinner or a Christian, but you cannot be a sinning Christian.  You can repent and be sanctified; but you cannot be sanctified and repenting; else you crucify the Son of God afresh.  The water is symbolic of repentance, and the Spirit is prophetic of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Spirit, which would be given after Jesus's resurrection on the day of Pentecost.  A day that continues until now.  A blessing that endures to this day.  A baptism to supersede all baptisms.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit, sanctification, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost; the second work of grace, all of these- follow repentance- and change everything.

Lazarus Is Dead

 “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” John 11:14

God’s Word stands as a guide to us, and through His Word Christ can speak to us plainly.  To encourage, instruct, and chasten.  Christ will minister to us plainly, through the vehicle of the Holy Ghost if we are willing to listen.  Furthermore, as the providence of God unfolds in our lives it constitutes our existence and causes us to realize that “we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor 3:5).  If it happens that we suffer, it is for His glory and our understanding that: “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)  

Lazarus, and his sisters were disciples of Christ.  They followed Him, believed in Him and put their faith in Him.  Jesus loved them.  They were close to Him, he was their Lord, he was a close personal friend.  Lazarus was sick and when Jesus found out he intentionally waited to visit him.  Then Jesus told the twelve disciples that they were going to wake Lazarus from sleep, but they did not understand what he meant. So, Jesus said plainly: Lazarus is dead.  No doubt the plain truth of Lazarus’s death was difficult to hear.  It was difficult for Mary and Martha (Lazarus’s sisters) to watch him die.  It was difficult for Jesus.  His passing was something Christ could have prevented, but providence was far more important than a temporary ease of suffering.  The plain truth was that Lazarus was dead, and he died so that God might be glorified.  God’s providence in our lives is greater than our understanding of it, and our understanding does not always mean our accepting of it.   It can be difficult for us to grasp this (saint or sinner), and it is often met with conflict, contention and questions on our part.  The passing of a loved one, the failing of health, the loss of a child; we all exist under the providence of God, and we must accept that our lives are not our own.  As true disciples will embrace this and maintain that we are here to glorify the Father.  This great truth can be buried under a mountain of plain truths.  Truths that are hard to bear, and hard to accept.  Plain truths emphasized by circumstances, pain and discomfort; just like the death of Lazarus.  However, like Lazarus, Christ can bring life where there was not.  When Jesus came four days later, he went to the tomb where Lazarus was, and he raised Him from the dead.  Granted, Jesus may not always change the circumstance, but he can bring peace and comfort in the midst of confusion and turmoil.  He can bring perspective and life to a situation that is clouded and dead.  Through it all, Jesus Christ is always there and His Word stands eternal. 

When we embrace the providence of God it brings us into further unity with the Father.  There was no doubt behind Lazarus’s sisters' acceptance of Christ’s power (confusion perhaps but not doubt).  They were wholly given to the will of Christ but going through what they did and embracing the outcomes they saw more of Christ than many.  So, it is when we resign ourselves completely to the will of Father, “casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:)

Artificial Insurance

 “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Psalm 37:25

           

Serving the Lord in righteousness and true holiness is the best thing we can do with our lives.  God desires his creation to be as he is, holy.  If we are holy then it follows that we must be righteous.  The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, can abide in a willing heart, making them holy and guiding them in righteousness.  With Christ in you, you can have assurance in this life and the one to come. 

As people, we are anxious and full of fear.  The world offers artificial comforts, condolences, and assurances but it all comes at a price.  It is in man to commit his abilities to laying up treasures for himself and the devil makes no effort to prevent this.  The Bible teaches us to be industrious and provide for our own; yet, it is important to recognize that there is no amount of possessions that can compete with the safety and security that is in Christ.  It costs nothing to endorse that Jesus is our safety and security beyond the grave, because we know that nothing we can see, touch, or feel in this life can get us to heaven anyway.  However, Christ told us that you cannot serve God and mammon (i.e. money, riches, and wealth).  In saying this, he placed trusting in Christ a priority not just for life after death, but also in the here and now.  We must ask ourselves.  Do I trust God completely?  Do I really trust him with my family, house, job, and future?  Trust in God is consistently challenged by trust in riches.  Our service to money is enticing because that service will yield immediate comfort and protection.  For this reason the world exalts wealth and riches to a place where it ought not to be, and we buy into this because it offers artificial insurance.  We are trained to believe that more money will mean less problems.  Indoctrinated to think that money will provide safety, security, companionship, and refuge.  Do you need proof of this ideology?  Look no further than the lottery system.  Millions of people gambling their hard-earned money on a chance of fortune; because it is held that fortune will eradicate the issues of life and bring comfort.  While it may appease, it will never eradicate.  The comfort of mammon, buy the comforts of life, which is an artificial comfort to which the natural man craves.  All the while the comfort which is in Christ, anchored in righteousness and holiness, is an absolute comfort that the spiritual man craves.  A comfort the world cannot afford.  When the spiritual is grounded, the natural will follow suit.  This is why the righteous can praise God with nothing (from a monetary aspect), and the rich curse him with everything.  All the things that God wants to provide for you, and can provide, are undermined when you serve mammon, because when you serve it you exalt it to a place of idolatry.  Serving it means you believe in it, trust in its power, and therefore you alienate God and bind yourself to this world.  How weak a god mammon is and yet so many worship it.  How much better to serve the living God and trust in Him!

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Mat 6:33).  Righteousness and holiness must be the principal aim.  It comes to this; do you wake in the morning seeking to serve yourself, or serve Jesus Christ?  If I am a servant of myself then I am going to do what is needed to build and protect what is mine.  Using all I can at my disposal to provide safety and security for what I have (house, car, job, reputation, children, spouse, etc.), and money is the principal resource.  This path leads to unrighteousness and corruption.  However, if I wake seeking to serve Christ; then I am about my Father’s business same as he.  This is the path of righteousness and holiness.  It will cost me what I have built, but that is no matter, because the riches in Christ far outstretch the riches of mammon.  The comfort of the Spirit abides deeper, than the comfort of the world, and you have assurance in this life and the one to come; because the righteous are never forsaken nor their seed begging bread.     

Sanctfication Unpacked: It Is Not The Will Of Man

 Mankind's will and motives stem solely from carnal origins.  Selfish, sinful motives.  At his best state he is altogether unrighteous.  If it were up to mankind to sanctify themselves, it could not approach anything close to holiness.  Therefore, holiness and sanctification must be God's divine gracious working toward us, and in us.  God's holiness is made possible through God’s power.  It is His will, His Word, and His work.  Our part is in surrendering, yielding and obeying.  Sanctification is not obtained through the will of man, but the will of God. 

”For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;”-1 Thessalonians 4:3-4

It is God’s will that we might be sanctified.  That we might be cleansed from all sin, and filled with His Holy Spirit.  Sanctification will bring with it an instantaneous transformation.  A profound change.  A turning from darkness to light; from the power of satan to that of God.  Since it is in the will of God, the work must be performed by God.  This work is made possible because of Jesus Christ, and manifested by faith.  He does not need anything more or less from us than belief.  Believe and submit.  Trust and obey. 

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”-Jude 1:24-25

Once we are sanctified, how are we to stay sanctified?  How are we kept free from the purpose and practice of sin?  By the power of God. The same power that spoke the universe into existence keeps you free from sin.  The same power that formed the heaven and earth keeps you free from sin.  The same power that raised Jesus from the grave, keeps you free from sin.  It is not the will of man, or the power of man, but of God.  If God has power enough to deliver you from the bondage of sin, does he not have power enough to keep you free from it as well?  He can, and he will, because it is in His will.  To live the sanctified life is to live a life walking in the will of God.  A life surrendered to Christ.  Kept by the power of God, directed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Profit Of The Earth

 “Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.” -Ecclesiastes 5:9

We depend on the profit of the earth.  The poor can partake as well as the rich. The wheat that makes the bread which is served in the White House is grown in the same ground as the wheat that makes bread served in prisons.  We are all universally dependent on the profit of the earth. 

God designed it that way. In one part, I believe, so that we could sustain ourselves should our own devices of comfort fail us (i.e. if grocery stores cease to exist, we can still grow our own food).  Also, as a teaching agent to depend on Him.  More than that, he instituted universal principles in the natural realm to remind all creation that we are indeed dependent on Him, and “not sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves.” Creation is a testimony to the goodness of God.  It is an example of the identity of God.  It is an educator to all mankind.  He loved us, and he built for us a beautiful world to live in. An earth that is good. It amazes me that as much as we pollute the sea, the sea continues to provide. As much as we strip the land, the land still provides. When you think about it, can anyone in human history claim genuine invention?  You would not have Edison’s light bulb without sand. You would not have Henry Ford’s car without trees and iron.  You would not have Bill Gate’s PC without aluminum and copper.  You cannot have grocery’s delivered to your door through Amazon if there is no electricity, cars, personal computers, and food.  All we have comes from the earth, and everything we have, everything we know, comes from God.  The highest estate of man is ultimately dependent upon the creation of God.  A creation that was spoken into existence in six days’ time. A creation that we still don’t full understand. All of this, freely given to us, along with and for our temporal existence. And this is all just temporary. A habitation for our natural bodies, and a proving ground for our spiritual bodies. If God, freely gave so much for something that is so limited.  How much more is waiting for us in heaven? How much greater a reception in his own kingdom?  Furthermore, if God designed this earth to provide for all; does it not follow that he would do the same for his glorious plan of salvation? A salvation that he gave His Son for?  Christ said “whosoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely.”  The profit of the earth is for all. As the cool mountain stream will quench the thirst of any man that comes to drink, and so will Jesus fill those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.  If the profit of the earth is for all, then surely salvation through sanctification is for all.

Jesus died so that we could be saved; saved from all sin.  Both sins committed and the cause that drives us to commit them.  The nature of sin within man.  God created this earth for all, he gave His own Son as salvation for all; all we must do is surrender to Him and take up the cross and follow Jesus.  Repent and believe the gospel.

Sanctification Unpacked: Perfect, Present, Cleansing

 “Standing on the promises I now can see, perfect present cleansing in the blood for me, standing in the liberty where Christ makes free.  Standing on the promises of God.”-Russell Kelso Carter 

When you are speaking about sanctification, and the promise of it, you are taking God at his Word.  When we talk about living free from sin, we are taking God at his Word.  If you are preaching that a person can live holy, you are preaching God’s Word.  The Word says that the cleansing is perfect, present, and makes us free.  It says we can be sanctified, that we can be holy. 

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8:  “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.  He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.”

Romans 6:21: “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”

God has provided a way out of sin.  The merits of Christ bring complete redemption.  There is a grace that will teach us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly and righteously in this present world.  It is a grace that teaches from a place of authority, and that authority is not founded on sinning, but on righteousness.  As Romans 5:21 says: “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”  The righteousness that Christ brings to us is the same righteousness that teaches us.  That calls us unto holiness, and frees us from sin.  That gives us the Holy Spirit here, now.  Therefore, we need not sin and repent to learn more and more about God.  Furthermore, we can live in perfect communion with God; guided and directed by his Holy Spirit.  Letting that be our teacher.  This also can happen here, now.  When you get sanctified you get the Holy Spirit, Christ in you, which makes you holy and can keep you holy.  

Eph 2:1: “ And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;”

Acts 2:2-4: “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Life is life at the point of life.  When a baby is born they come into the world crying, and the mother hears the first signs of life.  So with the new born babe in Christ, the quickening happens, in a moment.  In a moment, we come from death unto life.  We pass from sin unto righteousness.  This happens through the power of God.  The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, raises us from the dead works of sin. To believe God is to believe in the power of God.  Many people believe God for the plans that they have, hoping that God will adopt their plans and make them so.  Few believe God for the plans that God has for them, hoping that God will adopt them and cause their lives to conform to the image of Christ.  The first group will rise no higher than the thoughts they have for themselves.  The second will be a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (see Romans 12:1-2)  

Sanctification Unpacked: Spiritual Perfection

 "Nobody's perfect."  I have heard this my entire life, and said it myself a time or two.  I would ask, by what standard are you measuring perfection?  Is a blind man imperfect?  Does a fruit now blemished lose its sweetness? Mankind can only debate perfection, but God knows.  He knows and He has called us into it.  

Hebrews 10:1 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”

This scripture and the supporting context concludes that mankind is imperfect and needs a Savior.  God gave us the law and commandments to instruct us, and show us how far we are from His character.  We are born sinful, separate, and prone to disobedience against God.  The law enumerates that to us.  It gives sin a face and name.  As Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 7:7: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” He then further shows us our own hopeless depravity by writing in that same chapter: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Finally, he affirms that Christ Jesus is such a deliverer. “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 7:25 & 8:1

It is because of Christ, and Christ alone that we can be found perfect, holy, and complete in the eyes of God.  That we can be delivered from sin, and sanctified unto perfection.  Free from condemnation, and fit for heaven.   

“ For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14

To be sanctified is to be perfected.  To be made complete, holy, and entirely His.  This is accomplished through the offering of Christ, and is witnessed to us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  The scriptures promise that we can be perfect.  Jesus died so that we might be perfect.  Paul preached perfection, and exhorted:

“Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” Philippians 3:15  

So, somebody’s perfect, right?  Most definitely, but again, by what measure?  By the only one that matters, God’s and God alone.   God wants to give us perfect love, a perfect heart, and a perfect relationship with Him. Perfect and complete unity with the Father through faith in Christ.  It follows that if we are in complete unity with the Holy Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit then we are totally divorced from sin.  Complete and perfect deliverance from sin.  Your past sins, your desire to sin, and the action of committing sin.  Glorious freedom!   

“I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” John 17:23

I would like to note here that the manifested human condition (sometimes referred to the flesh in scripture) can cause you to sin, but it does not always constitute sin.    The same human failing that can cause miscommunication can lead to lying.  The same desire to work for your food, can drive you to work unto covetousness.  It can be a thin line between the carnal nature that breeds sinful action, and human nature that births flawed actions.  Furthermore, perfect intentions do not always beget perfect actions.  We are not privy to all the facts.  We err in judgment, we make mistakes.  Many times I have left the office intending to be home by five thirty, only to find myself walking through the door at five forty five.  Did I lie?  No, my intent was to be home, but I had to stop for gas, or I had car trouble, or a hundred other unforeseen events.  In addition to that, as we go along we find God chastises us, and directs us.  Yet through it all grace reigns, but not on the throne of sin, but through the righteousness of the Holy Spirit within.  This newness of life within constitutes a spiritual perfection that can remain unblemished, and untarnished; yet it can still be lost if we reject the Holy Ghost and fall into willful sin. 

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 5:21 

“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” Hebrews 10:26-27

  

Why the distinction?  Why the need to press this point of spiritual perfection?  To speak out against the flood waters of the “sin and repent” doctrine?  In the first place, because some have never heard.  I pray there is someone out there who has a longing to serve God separate from sin.  A sincere soul who wants to be truly free from sin.  One that is wrestling with the promises laid out in God’s Word, and like Jacob won’t let go until God blesses them.  Perhaps there is a heart that is prepared for holiness, for sanctification, for spiritual perfection; and the Word will take root.  Second, because we will rise no higher than what we believe.  If you believe that all there is in the Christian life is sinning and repenting then you will find yourself forever shackled by sin.  Frustrating the grace of God, and never entering into that blessed land of perfect rest.  Finally, as I have stated already, God made a promise.  He said we could be perfect, and Christ died for that promise.  Do you not desire all that God has to offer?  There are many who have not claimed the promise of perfection.  Many who do not know what it means to be filled with perfect love.  Struggle hard with sin, when God has prepared for them the blessing of sanctification.  One that not only delivers you from sin, but it keeps you from sin.  Perhaps there is one soul out there asking: What Is Sanctification?  To that the scriptures cry out: it is spiritual perfection. 

   

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48

Let There Be Light

 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” -Genesis 1:3-4

Nearing the end of World War II, nearly two dozen navy pilots were on a return trip to their aircraft from a successful bombing raid on two Japanese ships.  Flying in the dead of night, running low on fuel, the pilots could not locate the aircraft carrier. Fearing the loss of his men to the Pacific, Admiral Mitscher of the United States Navy ordered the fleet to turn on the lights; thereby risking their exposure to attack.  The bold move that saved many.  If you're lost in the sea of sin and darkness, trying frantically to find salvation. Jesus can save you; Jesus can turn on the lights.    

The scripture tells us in Matthew 6:22 that if thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light.  Paul desired that Christ would open the eyes of the lost and turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.  He also wrote to the Corinthians for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Peter wrote of the daystar, which was Christ, which should arise in our hearts. John told of Christ being the light and the life of men.  From the beginning, God divided the light from dark.  In a natural sense, we need light to exist, to survive, and to prosper. People are naturally drawn to light.  It is evident that we were not meant to live in darkness.  God’s creation is a creation of light. We need light in a natural sense, and we need the light in a spiritual sense. Darkness is not God’s intention.  Darkness is synonymous in the Word of God with sin. When you have sin in your heart, you have sin in your life. Therefore, you have darkness in your life. Sin will cause you to be lost in that darkness.  Stumbling about from one thing to the next, groping blindly for that which cannot save. The only thing that can save us is the light. The light will banish all darkness, because darkness and light have been divided from the beginning. Jesus is the light, he is the Savior.  When Christ comes into your heart, he will drive out the darkness.  He will drive out all sin. Just as you cannot mix light and dark, so you cannot mix sin and righteousness. One must go. When Christ comes into your heart, you are turned from darkness to light.

From the beginning, God has put division between light and dark.  As in nature, so it is in our own hearts, God wants light and darkness separate; sin and holiness,unrighteousness and righteousness.  They cannot co-exist, so let there be light.