Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
(In context of parable of the sower from Luke 8.)
Attention: What kind of seed are you? In the parable we read, we found 4 kinds of seed: (1) the seed that fell on the wayside, (2) the seed that fell on rocky ground, (3) the seed that fell among thorns and (4) the seed that fell on fertile soil that matured and produced a hundredfold crop.
Dave was excited about serving Jesus. He was saved at the revival in his church a few months prior. Dave’s attitude was changed. Now Dave was a completely new person. Everyone knew that something had happened to Dave (examples)… If anyone had ever been saved, you knew Dave had. But Dave began to sense that something was missing. He knew with certainty that he wanted to follow Jesus, but there was often a struggle inside Dave. He struggled to do what was right while also being pulled away to do what was wrong. Often, Dave failed to do the right thing and would have to repent. Also, something about his faith began to turn mechanical. Dave still wanted to serve God, but he was often distracted by his friends and relatives who couldn’t understand his new outlook on life. Sometimes that would build up and build pressure to where he wasn’t sure that he wanted people to know about the difference God made in his life. Why was this happening to Dave?
What kind of seed do you suppose Dave was? What kind of seed do you suppose you are?
Looking at you this morning, I see all four kinds of seed. I wish I didn’t see the first…am I’m glad I see the fourth…but for the seed that falls on shallow ground that falls under times of temptation and the seed that is concerned by the thorny cares, riches and pleasures of this life…there is a better answer!
Have you been firmly established in the faith? Has your heart been made pure?
Need: Is there conflict between doing what you want to and what God wants you to do? Is your life evidencing the love of God? Are you living in the fullness of the faith or is there something that you’re missing?
Bridging Sentences: In our passage, Paul is going to provide the solution to these problems. God has taken measures to make sure His children can live in peace and harmony with Him.
Textual Idea: God wants to entirely sanctify believers to preserve them blameless at the return of Christ.
Big Idea: “God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification.”
NKJ 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Outline:
I. It is God who wants to entirely sanctify you
II. Entire sanctification is a blessing specific to believers
III. God wants you to be sanctified entirely/completely
IV. God wants to entirely sanctify you now
V. Entire sanctification will purify and strengthen your walk with Christ.
Transition: God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification. The first thing we see from the text and this statement is that it is God who wants to entirely sanctify you.
I. It is God who wants to entirely sanctify you (see below for Scripture)
Explanation/Argumentation: “And the (KJV: very) God of peace…Himself” Here we see this emphasized – it is (1) God…(2) God Himself (KJV: “Very God”) that wants to entirely sanctify. (3)Again in verse 24, “He who calls” – that is, God – (4) “is faithful.” When God promises something, we know that it will be done. God is faithful! God is going to keep His Word! (5) Also in verse 24, “who also will do it” – this is stated as fact. It is indicative. (6) It is God the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul to write this, word for word. There is no question as to who is going to be performing the act of entirely sanctifying believers! It is God!
God is the One who initiates and completes entire sanctification.
Illustration: You have heard the phrase, “the only way to get it done right is to do it yourself.” God is the essence of holiness. There is no one else, no other thing or person, that can make us holy – much less entirely sanctify us. It must be God – He wants you to be entirely sanctified and He wants it done and done right! Therefore, He’s going to it Himself!
Application: Why is this so important? It is very important because you cannot do it yourself! Many times people try to go through a process of struggle or agony, as if they were going to “convince God” to grant entire sanctification. The blessing of entire sanctification only requires your obedience in allowing God to do His work in your life.
There is no amount of struggle or waiting or “penance” or anything else that is going to bring you to entire sanctification. To receive God’s promise of entire sanctification, you must exercise faith in God’s faithfulness!
What is faith? Hebrews 11:6 says: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” We see that there are three crucial aspects of faith. Faith believes what God says; commits to do what God requires; trusts in and rests on God’s promises.
Here is how we exercise that passage: Faith (1) believes what God says – “May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely.” Faith (2) commits to do what God requires – Romans 12:1 says that you are to present your body as a sacrifice that is spiritually alive, holy and pleasing to God. What God requires is that you make a complete and full surrender and allow Him to entirely/completely sanctify you. Finally, faith (3) trusts in and rests on God’s promises – “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
Transition: God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification. So we see first that it is God who entirely sanctifies. Second, we see that God entirely sanctifies believers.
II. Entire sanctification is a blessing specific to believers (v. 23, 24: “You” means the believers at Thessalonica.)
Explanation: Isaiah 64:6 says that the unbeliever’s righteousness is as a filthy, or soiled rag. There is nothing that can be made entirely holy about a soiled rag. You must have your sins washed away by the blood of Christ and have begun the process of sanctification before you are a candidate for entire sanctification.
Illustration/Argumentation: Turn with me to chapter 1. Here we are going to examine the character of the Thessalonian believers.
1. They had a faith that worked (1:3)
NKJ 1 Thessalonians 1:3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,
2. They were followers/imitators of Paul and the Lord, even in spite of persecution (1:6)
NKJ 1 Thessalonians 1:6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
3. They became examples to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia and everywhere (1:7,8)
NKJ 1 Thessalonians 1:7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.
4. They truly repented (1:9)
NKJ 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
5. They were expectantly waiting for the return of Christ (1:10)
NKJ 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
You would be proud to go to this church! We can see that the Thessalonians were: Definitely born-again Christians
It is for these people that Paul is praying. They clearly had a saving faith in Christ. Paul is not praying for non-Christians, but for those who are believing Jesus.
Application: Are you a believer? As we continue to explore some of the specific aspects of entire sanctification, I hope you will be hungry for what God has to offer. 2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord…is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Once you have repented of your sins and confessed faith in Jesus, you then become eligible for the entire sanctification. Otherwise, if you are a believer, then entire sanctification is definitely for you.
Transition: God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification. As we progress, we see not only that it is God who entirely sanctifies and that God entirely sanctifies believers, but also that God wants to sanctify us completely/entirely.
III. God wants you to be sanctified entirely/completely (v. 23 “sanctify you wholly”)
Explanation: The words “sanctification” and “holiness” have the same basic meaning. In a more general sense, sanctification/holiness is the work of God in us through the Holy Spirit, whereby we are transformed/changed into Christlikness. (REPEAT)
There are five basic components to holiness, or sanctification. These are:
1. You are connected to the source of holiness, God. Exodus 3:5 – And He said, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
Whatever is holy has an obvious relationship to the source of holiness. To be holy, you are in an active relationship with God.
2. You are separated to God as His possession. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
When you become holy, you allow God to redeem you from your sins, thus becoming His possession. We can be thankful that He is going to be a better master than we could ever be! (Reiterate points)
3. You are separated from the common and the ordinary. Leviticus 10:10 - And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.
In this passage, the original word for “unholy” means “common.” The Israelites could eat the “clean” meats, but not the “unclean” meats. God made a further distinction in the clean category: only specific kinds of clean animals could be used for sacrifices. Then even more distinctions were made for the sacrifices: they had to be in perfect health, could not be younger than eight days or older than two years. (Reiterate points backwards)
4. You are separated from what is sinful and defiles. Leviticus 11 – These are food laws to separate the Israelites from what would defile, or make someone unclean. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 – For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication. From the moment of the new birth, we are called unto holiness, to separate from unclean practices.
(Reiterate points)
5. You are obeying God’s Word. Leviticus 20:7-8 – “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” Clearly we see that keeping God’s statutes, or obeying God’s Word is a fundamental aspect of being holy.
(Reiterate points)
At the moment of the new birth, or initial sanctification, you are brought into God’s family and made holy. Your sins have been forgiven and the process of sanctification has begun in your life. When you repented of your sins, all five of these components began their work in your life.
However, there is something more! Entire sanctification is a separate moment of faith in your walk with Christ where you completely surrender all you are (Romans 12:1) and allow the Holy Spirit to remove inherited depravity, or self-centeredness, and completely fill you with His presence.
So now we see in this passage that God wants to sanctify you entirely, or completely. That means sanctification must have already begun its process (which began at the new birth) and this is building on to that process.
Illustration: When I was young, I used to travel with my dad just about everywhere he held a revival. People opened up their homes for us and we stayed with them for most of a week. While we where there, we had the invitation use their bedroom, bathroom, living room, eat with them, use their couch, et cetera. Sometimes we may have even been allowed free-reign over the refrigerator.
But with all of their hospitality, it was still their home, not ours. We dare not rearrange the dining room set – or pull their nice big lazy boy into our bedroom!
I loved going with dad all over the place. But when we came back home – it was home! We had the freedom to do whatever we wanted to in our own house! When I was growing up, my room had its furniture rearranged quite a few times while I was living in them until I found just the right way to make the most convenient space available. It was my room. Moreover, I could anywhere in the house. I could even go into the laundry room.
This is similar to salvation and entire sanctification. When you become a Christian, you are inviting God into your spiritual house. You have been response to His knock on your heart’s door and He has come in to dine with you. Now entire sanctification is where you take the deed to the house, all the keys to the house and turn them over to Christ. Now Christ can and will make it His house. In entire sanctification, He is just a guest, but a resident. Jesus is now able to completely remove self-centeredness and fill you with His presence! Your life becomes His home. He wants to move in completely
Now come back to 1 Thessalonians and look at 3:9-10
1 Thessalonians 3:9-10 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?
Even after all the good things we noticed in the Thessalonian believers, there was something that was lacking in their faith. They had been made holy and now Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to pray for their entire holiness/sanctification.
Application: So our final conclusion is that when you are born again, God is not finished with you! He still has blessings awaiting you all the more! He wants to entirely sanctify you! All that God expects of you is simply to completely surrender yourself to His control. At that moment of faith, He will entirely sanctify you.
Transition: God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification. We seen that it is God who entirely sanctifies and that God entirely sanctifies believers and that God wants to sanctify us completely/entirely. Next we see that God wants to entirely sanctify you now.
IV. God wants to entirely sanctify you now (v.23 “be preserved,” v. 24 “He who calls”)
Explanation: Entire sanctification is meant for all believers, not only those who are “spiritually elite.” God wants to purify your heart as soon as you will let Him. Remember Romans 12:1 – present your bodies as a sacrifice that is spiritually alive, holy and pleasing to God. These qualifications happen at the new birth. So anytime after the new birth, you are now holy, spiritually alive and pleasing to God (if you’re walking in all the light). There is no “time limit” that must be waited out before you may cross the point of qualification. Moreover, there is no time too late. If you are not yet entirely sanctified, God wants you to allow Him to completely sanctify you now.
Illustration: How many of you remember when you were a little child when your birthday was just around the corner? I remember. I couldn’t wait to for the fun to begin! My friends would come over, Mom would fix my favorite meal, we would get to eat cake and ice cream – and then the best part: I would open the presents! I just couldn’t wait! Just suppose my birthday were just two weeks away and Momma told me that I could have my party anytime between now and then, I would choose NOW! There would be no point in waiting!
This is God’s anticipation for your entire sanctification. Entire sanctification is a two-way gift. God is eagerly anticipating you to present (pronounced as an act), or to make yourself a present (pronounced as a gift), to Him. At that moment of faith, God will, in turn, entirely sanctify you. As God sees it, there is no point in waiting. If that is how God sees it, then that is how you should see it as well. God is waiting only on your decision.
Argumentation: Look now at verse 24: “He who calls you” – In the original language, this is in the present active indicative tense. Translated, what I just said means this: “He who is calling you.” This is not “who has called you” or “who will call you.” God is calling you now to entire sanctification.
Look to verse 23: “and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is not something that God does at the coming of Christ – or there would not be the word “preserved” in the text.
Application: There is no point in waiting. All that God expects you to do is to present yourself, the sooner the better, and exercise faith in His Word that He will sanctify you completely. He will do it just as soon as you let him.
Transition: God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification. Review: Who wants to entirely sanctify us? It is God. Who does God entirely sanctify? He entirely sanctifies believers. To what extent does God sanctify us? He sanctifies us completely/entirely. When does He want to entirely sanctify us? God wants to entirely sanctify you now. Finally, we are going to learn what entire sanctification does for our walk with Christ.
V. Entire sanctification will purify and strengthen your relationship with Christ. (v. 23 “be preserved blameless”)
Explanation: When you are saved, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us (Romans 8:9) to help you live above sin (Romans 8:4), but there is still the inherited depravity, or self-centeredness, that remains.
In this passage we see the word “blameless.” This is not maturity and perfection in all areas of life! This means that God will purify your motives - as a human, you will still make mistakes, but at least your motive will not be self-centered.
NKJ 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Through entire sanctification, God will give you an increase of love (3:12) and establish your faith. (3:13)
Your relationship with Christ is strengthened. When you fully surrender yourself to the Lordship of Christ, you allow the Holy Spirit to completely fill you with His presence. Entire sanctification is the key to having a rich and vibrant relationship with Christ.
Illustration: You may find it helpful to think of salvation and entire sanctification as the difference between engagement and marriage. At both points, you are “in love.” At both points, you have forsaken all others to find your pursuit of happiness in making your beloved happy. But at the point of marriage, there is an unconditional surrender to your beloved. Your relationship is markedly strengthened. Now there are no limits, or curfews to your relationship! You are both learning what it means to love each other in all ways in all times. This is similar to the difference between being saved and entirely sanctified.
Argumentation: We know holiness begins at the new birth by examining the lives of those in the Corinthian church. Turn to 1 Corinthians – there is something vital here that you need to see in relation to the seed and soil.
NKJ 1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
NKJ 1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
After holiness had begun its work, there was still more that needed to be done. Holiness had not been made complete in the Corinthian believers. They needed their walk with the Lord to be purified of their own desires and strengthened – so that they would have a deeper love for God and a better love for one another.
Application: There is nothing you can do to cleanse your self-centeredness. You can try to increase your love and purify your motives, but it will eventually fail. It will be like seed that is sown on the rocky ground – where it has no strong root, or it will be like the seed that is scattered in the thorny ground – where it has struggles, cares and worries of the pleasures of this life that choke it’s maturity. But once you surrender yourself, God can take was is sown on rocky soil, or thorny soil, and transplant it to a place of fertility and growth. Then you can go down deep into the love and knowledge of God – and He can get down deep in your soul and bring forth fruit a hundredfold!
Let God take care of what He has promised to do. All God wants you to do is to be obedient and let Him do His work in your life. All these wonderful blessings are ready for you.
Transition: God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification.
Visualization: Do you see what God has in store? Are you living the life that is filled with the Holy Spirit, the life that is entirely sanctified?
Reiteration: God is faithfully committed to your entire sanctification. (1) It is God who wants to entirely sanctify you. (2) Entire sanctification is a blessing specific to believers. (3) God wants you to be sanctified entirely/completely. (4) God wants to entirely sanctify you now. (5) Entire sanctification will purify and strengthen your relationship with Christ.
Action: What do you have to do to be entirely sanctified? Nothing, except to be obedient to God’s word by surrendering your life to Him and believing in His Word. It is just that simple.
Appeal: If you are able, please stand. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, how many would say,
1. How many would say, “Although I’m not yet entirely sanctified, I believe God is faithful and I believe that he will entirely sanctify me if I am obedient”? (Raise your hand.)
2. How many of you would like to allow God to entirely sanctify you right now? (Raise your hand.) (Next, ask them to come forward.)
3. How many would say, “I know that God is faithful to entirely sanctify, but I have not yet made that first step into holiness by repenting of my sin and asking Jesus to come into my life”? (Raise hand then ask them to come forward.)
Close: “More of You”
