October 22, 2023
Morning Worship
Text: John 17:17
Subject: The Priority of God’s Word
Title: You Said It; I Believe It
In June of 1964 our family moved to the Troy area. My parents purchased a little country store along Highway 61 near Briscoe. Some of you long time residents might remember Read’s Grocery and Texaco. My stepdad had a garage and worked on mowers and chainsaws. Mom ran the store and us kids worked in the store and manned the gas pumps. My sister Linda and I celebrated our birthdays in June that year and each of us got a transistor radio. One of our responsibilities was the operation and overseeing of the fireworks booth in the parking lot from June 25 to July 10 and we would sit out in the booth waiting for customers until 10 each night., listening to our radios. (For those of you who may not be old enough to remember, these radios we hand held instruments that received radio signals sent through the air so you could listen to news or music...) Radios waves traveled a further distance at night and we listened to KAAY AM in Little Rock AR – the rock and roll station and WGN 720 in Chicago and WSM in Nashville – the home of the Grand Ole Opry. And I developed a love for music and later that summer made up my mind to learn how to play the guitar. My older brother, Bruce, had received a Harmony curved top guitar for his birthday 4 years earlier and it was lying there just calling my name and saying “Come Play Me” . So I bought some guitar strings and we had a neighbor who played a little and he put strings on for me and tuned it. And I had no idea what to do with it until I went to Delaloye’s music store on Main Street and bought a Mel Bay guitar chord book. I guess I had a little talent. I could sing a little. I had good timing. But it wasn’t until I had the Book that things began to change for me… and I practiced and practiced until my fingers bled and then I began to develop callouses on my fingers that I still have to this day. I sacrificed and accomplished what I had set out to do – to play the guitar. And I’ve said all that to get us to where I want to begin today. In John chapter 17, on the night Jesus was arrested, He spent time praying for Himself, and for His disciples , and ultimately for all of us who would become believers… and He said this, 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Three things that we really want to look at in just this one verse.
1. God’s wants us sanctified…
2. It’s God’s truth that sanctifies us…
3. God’s Word defines what truth is…
Would you repeat these words with me?
I believe this is God’s Word…
I believe it is for me today…
I will accept it as mine…
And I will apply it to my life today…
In Jesus’ Name. Amen!
1. God’s wants us sanctified… “Sanctify” simply means “to set apart” or, “to be made holy”. This is not a one and done event… it is a process. The word Sanctify in the original Greek is in the progressive tense, meaning it is an ongoing process. We’ll never be totally sanctified until we see Jesus face to face.
Romans 12:1-2, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
2Co 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Wouldn’t it be great that if once we were saved we were just like Jesus? The truth is, we are like Him, but we are becoming more like Him as we progress through this life. And listen, I may be the only one here like this, but I find myself in a good place and moving in the right direction, getting closer to the Lord, and then ‘m not. I find myself relying on myself, thinking I’ve got it all figured out and I’m taking 2 steps forward, and one back. Until I realize what has happened and then I begin moving forward again. And maybe the next time it’s three steps forward and a smaller step back…
Malachi 3:3 He (God) will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…
How does a silversmith know how long to leave the silver over the heat? As it is heated up the impurities begins to come to the top and is cleared away. When the silversmith can look into the silver and see a reflection of his image, it is purified… that’s sanctification.
2. The sanctifying work of God is defined by His Truth. Sanctify them by the truth… We live in a culture that wants to define its own “truth”: Secular humanism (what they teach our kids in schools) is defined as the belief that humanity is capable of morality and self-fulfillment without belief in God. In other words, if given enough information, the world can save itself. How’s that working so far? It’s nothing new. Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” You’ve got your truth, I’ve got mine. There is a passage in John Chapter 8 that I believe has been misquoted and taken out of context so many times that I think we really miss out on what it says… I’ve heard it said so many times in reference to people in general, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free…” But let’s look at the whole passage. John 8:31, To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Two things here to look at. You can be a believer in Jesus Christ and not be a disciple. A disciple is one who becomes a student or follower of someone else with the intent of becoming like them. Jesus spent three and a half years walking with people who were disciples. Not just the twelve. Those were the ones He called to Himself and appointed them as apostles, or “the sent ones”. But we know that after His resurrection Jesus appeared to at least 500 followers. There were 120 disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. So who are the true disciples? The one who holds to His teachings. And oh man, look at this. Not only will the truth set you free - Luke 6:40 says, The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. Jesus’ words – not my opinion. Jesus wants you to follow Him for the purpose of becoming like Him – in love, in holiness, in power, in authority… we can be like Jesus.
3. God reveals His Truth, by His Word
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 15:7, If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
When we talk about the Word, there is so much we have to look into and make a decision as to where the Lord wants to take s us regarding His word.
1) Scripture really is the Word of God
All scripture is God-breathed…
No prophecy of scripture eve came about by the prophets own interpretation, but holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit…
James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
2) Stand in agreement with God’s Word. We need to get to the place in our lives where we just automatically speak words that are in agreement with what God says about us. Our spoken words have two sources. They can either come from the mind, or from emotions, or experiences – all those places where the sinful nature dwells and where satan can attack, or from the heart, or spirit man, with the Holy Spirit controlling our thoughts and speech. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks … that is why Paul says we are to take every thought captive and bring it into obedience with Christ.
• Even though we sin God sees us as His righteousness in Christ Jesus.
• Even though we struggle, we are more than conquerors
• Even though we are sick, by His stripes He has healed us
• Even though our personal relationships are falling apart around us, we have a ministry of reconciliation
• Even though we are weak, He makes us strong
• Even when we don’t know our identity in Christ, He says we are the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way
• Even when we are in bondage, we are set free.
You have two choices. You can either stand in agreement with what the Devil says about you, or with what God says about you.
Deuteronomy 30:14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
19, I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
3) Receive God’s promises by faith.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
And you might be sitting there thinking, “This kind of stuff is for those holy people who have walked with the Lord such a long time they don’t remember not being saved!
Church, listen to me… that is why the baptism in the Holy Spirit is so important. It is your power source. How many times in the last few months have you heard Pastor Joseph tell you that Jesus said you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you? And that happened on the day of Pentecost and the world was transformed. The Holy Spirit that took up residence in your heart is waiting for you to receive what the Father promised so the living water in you may begin to flow out of you.
As a kid, learning how to play the guitar several things happened in the process…
1. I found that if I was faithful to what the book said – putting my fingers on the right frets and playing the right strings – there was harmony.
If a finger was out of place – well it wasn’t pretty.
2. The harder I practiced, the better I got. But it had to be according to the book.
3. The longer I played (according to the book) I found that I could hear when I needed to change chords in a song.
4. The longer I played I found additional chords, the minor chords and the seventh, ninth, or diminished, or suspended chords that enhanced the music along with the major chords I had learned and made the music better.
As long as I was in agreement with what my book said, the music just got better.
So how about you?
Are you walking in agreement with what this book says for your life?
Salvation…
Spiritual growth…
Healing…
Relationships…
Provision…
Spiritual power…
It can all be yours if you stand by faith in agreement with His word.
You Said It; I Believe It, You Said It, It Is Done…
