To be wholly sanctified
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it.”
It is interesting to note when God uses a specific name for Himself.
Here it is….”the very God of peace”.
Why, when He is speaking of sanctification, does He use this name?
Hebrews 13:20-21 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Make you perfect in every good work to do His Will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
If we left out the means of this work….these verses would read:
“Now the God of peace,…make you perfect in every good work to do His Will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight…”
Because God is the God of peace to us, we can be “made perfect” or complete in His Will.
And that “make you perfect”…..is sanctification. Sanctification, is to be set aside to God. It includes dying to self (Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23) daily….
…and living to God (Matthew 16:25, Luke 9:24) daily.
Paul when he spoke of putting off the old man, and putting on the new, describes it as this:
Colossians 3:12-15 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
Notice, that the peace of God….from the God of peace, is to rule in our hearts.
The means of this ruling peace, is: “our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep”
“through Jesus Christ”. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
It is by the blood of the everlasting covenant that Christ Jesus becomes our Shepherd…and we become the sheep of His pasture.
As Shepherd of the sheep, He has gone before to prepare our way, today. And He leads us….taking us where we need to go, under His protection.
God is the God of peace…..and it is time, that all the things that are at cross purposes with Him in our lives, be set right before Him.
Put off….put on:
bowels of mercies. It is mercies, for there are a multitude of them. We can grieve with someone, or rejoice with someone. We can forgive, as we have been forgiven….for mercy in it’s very definition is: doing good to one who does not deserve it.
Kindness. Here it means “usefulness” to God and others.
Humbleness of mind. This is very specific. Our minds are often thinking of ourselves in a better light than we are.
The scriptures say: “as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is”. We may be modest outwardly, but what is our minds thinking we are?
(There was a time, when the Lord was showing me my work,…that I wanted to be the “hero” of my story. I did not want to be a “side-character”, I wanted to save the world. But God wanted me to fill-in in this capacity….and fill-in there. He wanted me to stop when He said stop and go when He said go. I liked to charge in….way too many times….and it usually ended, not in saving anyone, but in problems.
Humbleness of mind fits us to be here, today….helping this one. And there, tomorrow, doing that. It takes what God gives and uses it….to His glory…leaving the “heroics” to Him.
We often forget, that when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were thrown into the fiery furnace….that it was not one leader, and the other two going along….but each in their place before God. Daniel 3:12-30
That is the way God would have each of us….in our place before Him….saying what each should say. Notice it says that they all three said the same…no leader but God. Daniel 3:16-18)
Meekness, longsuffering. Both are a fruit of the Holy Spirit within (Gal. 5:22-23)…which He works within us….through Christ Jesus. For the Holy Spirit always shows us Christ, and how He is.
Forbearing one another, forgiving one another. We keep ourselves in the place that the Lord has for us, with the people the Lord has for us….giving each the due consideration that the Lord wants….for they are His people.
Put on charity….which is the bond of perfectness (completeness). Love is the willed tendency of our hearts and lives.
We love Him, because He first loved us.
We love the brethren because He loves them.
We love others because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Let the peace of God rule….and be ye thankful.
There is power enough, but it must be put to use. We must yield to the Holy Spirit….and in our yielding, the power will come.
…”Put off the old man with his deeds….put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him:” (Colossians 3:9-10)
Hebrews 13:21 “Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
We know that perfection is attaining to that which we were brought into being for.
Do we know His plan for us? Are we following after His purpose in the work He has called us to?
For it is all….through Jesus Christ…To Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
From the depth of our self life to the height of HIs glory (Ephesians 3:17-19)….that is the sanctification which comes from the God of peace….
…are we letting His peace rule in us….are we being thankful?
1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
If we do this….in truth….then certainly we will:
1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Quench not the Spirit.”
We will not be putting out the fire of the Holy Spirit within us…to purify, cleanse, and make us zealous of repentance (Revelation 3:19)…..and good works (Titus 2:14)
“Faithful is He that calleth you, Who will also do it.”
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 