"Get the Mansion!"
Author: Dr. Neal Gray
Passage: 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
Purpose: What does sanctification mean? It
means to 1) separate, 2) dedicate, and 3) to be
filled. All of this happens by the power of
God; but He will not intrude upon our lives
unless we grant Him permission in sincere
faith.
INTRODUCTION
Opening
Last week I had the occasion to go near to
downtown Baltimore, to the world-famous
Johns Hopkins hospital, for a hospital visit
with a person. Even though I received good
instructions on how to get to this hospital,
still I missed the highway exit and had to
find an alternate way.
The road I took put me in the middle of
the old downtown residence area. I want you
to know, (if you haven’t been to this part
of Baltimore, Maryland), that the houses
there are old, small, and ugly. Personally,
I hope I never have to live there.
But it made me think about a parallel
situation we have in our spiritual lives. As
Christians, we are no longer renters in
life; we own land, "spiritual land" if you
will. But without the presence and full
commitment to live our lives as Jesus would
have us to, our life is about as crumbly,
unattractive, and even undesirable as those
houses.
God has much work He wants and needs to
do in our lives. And something wonderful
happens when we turn our "homes," i.e., our
lives, over to Jesus for Him to wonderfully,
miraculously transform into "mansions."
Jesus Upgrades Our Lives
The Lord Jesus totally "upgrades" our lives.
He doesn’t simply "fix us up," but rather He
completely changes us into a person who has
magnificent qualities. Consider this passage
written by St. John the Apostle:
And we have come to know and have
believed the love which God has
for us. God is love, and the one
who abides in love abides in God,
and God abides in him. By this,
love is perfected with us, that we
may have confidence in the day of
judgment; BECAUSE AS HE IS, SO
ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD. (1 John
4:16-17)
Jesus makes us "as He is"! I would take
it that He expects us--we who are like Him--
to live, think, behave, and set our sights
in life just as He did.
I truly believe that there are great
numbers of Christian men and women who long
daily for the victory of the Risen and
Victorious Christ in their lives, even here
in this world! They want victory in Jesus!
They want to live "as He is." But because of
unbelief, un-surrender, and smallness of
faith, they fail to live deeply in Christ.
So their lives lack the brilliance that
God so much wants to give to them. Listen
closely this morning. Perhaps you and the
Holy Spirit of Christ might come to an
agreement; because Jesus your Savior is
offering to give you so much more right now!
He wants you to have victory right now!
Scripture
Our Scripture is primarily from 2
Corinthians 6:14-7:1. Let’s see from this
passage that God tells us to "perfect
holiness."
THE REAL PROBLEM
Introduction
We who are called "sons and daughters" of
the Lord can be thankful that our heavenly
Father is the God of Peace.
Peace and Reconciliation Go Together
It is a very good thing for us, because by
their very nature, PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
GO TOGETHER. It is useless to seek to be on
good terms with God until you are firmly
convinced by faith and by your heart’s
experience that He is the God of peace.
Look at any person who has just found the
mercy and grace of Christ in their lives.
The first thing that they want to tell you
is that FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIFE,
THEY HAVE REAL PEACE.
The Ugliness When We Fail to Live
as the Savior Lived
But, what happens to the freshly new-born
Christian when the influences of the world,
of sinning friends, of pressures to renounce
their new faith creep in? What happens when
the "sons and daughters" of God "touch what
is unclean"?
I’ll tell you what happens: that
Christian, who is surely a saved person,
begins to look as ugly as those downtown
shanties. They PROFESS TO BELIEVE in the
awesome power of the Son of God--which means
they know they can be like Him--yet THEY
LIVE AS THOUGH THE DEVILISH GOD OF THIS
WORLD is the one they really want to follow.
Oh yes, there are many ways to disguise
that sinful life. But paint, siding, and
sweeping the front porch can only do so much
to cover the truth of the deteriorating
condition. (Most usually, it is the person
who fools himself or herself with cover-up
tactics.) And the whole world, who sees
their unhappy state, questions the
genuineness of that person’s born-again expe
rience in Christ Jesus.
==> So why does it happen? Because that
Christian DOES NOT TRULY BELIEVE in faith
that "as Jesus is, so also are we in this
world."
You Cannot Keep Peace with Sanctification
How can a Christian keep in the peace of
God, when he or she does not live as God
lived? You cannot! I say again, Christian
friend: you cannot have the peace of God in
your life WHEN YOU INSIST ON SHUTTING GOD
OUT of any area of your life!
When you became a Christian, you welcomed
the God of Peace into your life as your
Savior. You have grown since then. You have
fallen several times. You have come to Him
in faith, asking His forgiveness.
Now it is time to welcome Christ Jesus
into your life as more than your Savior.
Welcome Him as the Apostle Thomas did, "my
Lord and my God."
The beginnings of welcoming God fully
into your life are the same as when you
welcomed Him in to save you, i.e....
* The new believer says, "Lord, I am a
sinner. Please save me, Jesus."
* The worried and war-torn Christian
who longs to have the full peace of
God says, "Lord Jesus, I have
transgressed in ways I never thought
were possible. I am still a sinner,
forgive me. Please let me live fully
dedicated to the Savior Jesus."
Christian man, Christian lady, there is a
higher experience than salvation for those
who have attached themselves to the Cross of
Jesus the Nazarene.
Just as the God of Peace graciously made
peace in the life of the new believer, that
same Lord grants incredible peace, wonderful
victory, and heavenly power in life of the
fully surrendered Christian.
Jesus Longs to Satisfy Your True Desire for
Love
You say, "Preacher, you don’t understand. In
reality, I just can’t seem to get it all
together. I really want and need the full
love and victory that Jesus has. But why
would God bother with me?"
I tell you the truth, I am not lying: you
are the person whom Jesus longs to lavish
His full love upon. All it takes on your
part is your full faith in Him.
In God’s grace and your faith, He sets
you apart as not only a vessel for His home,
but as an honored vessel of beauty. Instead
of your life looking and feeling like A
SAVED SINNER, one whose house has been
merely fixed up; God will so completely fill
your life that you will suddenly look and
feel like A FULLY CLEANSED SAINT FROM
HEAVEN!
You will be so very different--because
you’ll be so very clean!
==> The very God of Peace Himself is pleased
to give you a real and abiding experience of
sanctification. When you are ready to give
in to His will, Jesus fully cleanses your
entire being. You will know first-hand what
it means to "perfect holiness in the fear
[and love] of God."
Sanctified Peace Comes So Easily
How easy, how spontaneous, how delightful
this heavenly way of holiness! God’s grace
comes so easily for the surrendered saint.
Surely it is a "high-way" and not the low
way of man’s fruitless attempts at self-
induced peace.
SANCTIFICATION IS GOD’S ELEVATED RAILWAY,
sweeping over the heads of the struggling
crowds, but propelling His saints through
life.
Again, IT IS GOD’S GREAT ELEVATOR,
carrying us up to the higher chambers of His
own palace, while others struggle with the
winding stairs and faint by the way.
Recently I read a quote on a billboard,
"The only one who can bring you real peace,
is yourself," -- Ralph Waldo Emerson. At
that moment I sensed the ugliness of men
trying to bestow upon themselves that which
only the God of peace can truly give them.
SANCTIFICATION MEANS "SEPARATION"
Introduction
So, what are the particulars of this
"sanctification" I speak of? I’ll tell you
the three which are the easiest to grasp and
understand. I assure you that there are many
more aspects.
Sanctify Means Separation
The verb "to sanctify" means "to separate."
We see all sorts of evidences of God
separating things and people.
The account of creation includes a
separation of darkness and light, of water
and land, of earth and the heavens. God did
not annihilate the darkness of the created
world--but, He separated it from the light.
We see God separating His people. He
separated the family of Seth from the
worldly race of Cain. He separated Noah and
his family from the ungodly world. He
separated Abraham and his seed from an
idolatrous family. And He separated a people
called out to be God’s nation, Israel, from
Egypt and the surrounding nations.
The Lord says, "...come out from their
midst and be separate...do not touch what is
unclean, and I will welcome you," (v. 17).
Because we are God’s people, we separate our
lives from their lives. Our "house and home"
is built on a different street, in a
different neighborhood. We have "moved
away," from the unholy things and people.
* We separate ourselves from the world
and the natural condition of worldly
things.
* We separate ourselves from giving
allegiance to the kingdom of the
prince of evil.
* We recognize ourselves as not of the
world, even as Jesus was not of the
world.
God’s Part in This Separation
We take the steps to separate, but make no
mistake about God’s part in this separation.
He is calling you to take this step, "come
out from their midst and be separate." He is
ready to help and provide. But as God’s ways
seem so much to be, HE WAITS ON YOU TO TAKE
THE NEXT STEP. You must take the initiative
to "come out."
He has already done everything in His
Son.
* You separate yourself
* In the Holy Spirit you come by
surrender, and,
* God makes the separation good.
==> The first decisive step in
sanctification is hearing God’s call. The
second step is yearning for God’s total
holiness. The third and final step is an act
of will by which you renounce evil in every
form, calling on God to fully cleanse you.
"Come out from their midst and be
separate," says the Lord. "And do
not touch what is unclean, and I
will welcome you."
SANCTIFICATION MEANS "DEDICATION"
Introduction
Beloved, you cannot do the thing I have been
speaking about without the next thing I will
tell you. DEDICATION.
Sanctify Means "Dedicate"
Another integral meaning of "to sanctify" is
"to dedicate." It is not only the act of
separating from, but also to separate to.
Before you step into this higher life,
YOUR DEEP ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD AND CHRIST
MUST BE DEDICATION. God will not put His
hand on the root of evil in your life that
has hampered you for so long--until you
authorize Him WITH GLAD CONSENT.
Present Yourself to God
That is the meaning of St. Paul’s statement
to the Roman Christians:
"I urge you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, to PRESENT
YOUR BODIES A LIVING AND HOLY
SACRIFICE, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of
worship. And do not be conformed
to this world, but BE TRANSFORMED
BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that
you may prove what the will of God
is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect." (Romans
12:1-2)
Scripture appeals to us to walk in
holiness, because we are not our own but a
perpetual loving sacrifice to the God of
Peace who loves us.
Again, God has bought us with a very high
price; but He refuses to compel our
surrender. He will accept nothing but a
voluntary gift.
It is your infinite privilege to be
permitted to give yourself up to the One who
pledges Himself TO MAKE YOU ALL THAT YOU
WOULD LOVE TO BE.
SANCTIFICATION MEANS "BEING FILLED"
Introduction
One more item to tell you. The literal
translation of the old Hebrew word meaning
"to sanctify" is "to fill the hand."
Jesus is the Supply
Christ Himself must be the substance and the
supply of our new spiritual life. Jesus is
the supply. He, Christ Jesus, fills us with
His own Spirit and with His own holiness. It
is He who does the work of filling us. He
fills us with the ever-fresh newness of His
Holy Spirit; and that continually.
WE BRING TO HIM BUT AN EMPTY HAND, clean
in desire and open, and He fills it. We give
ourselves to Him fully, understanding that
we do not pledge the strength or goodness
required to meet our consecration, but that
we take Him for all, and He takes us. JESUS
ASSUMES THE RESPONSIBILITY to make us all
that He requires and desires for us to be.
CONCLUSION
Not Repaired nor Repainted
I’ll conclude today with this final
observation. In the big cities we often
notice in the downtown metropolitan business
sections of the city that a large number of
miserable "shanties" stand on choice sites
of real estate. On one side of the avenue is
a magnificent high-rise building, and on the
other side is a worn and torn house unworthy
of the site and surroundings.
Suppose that you own this shanty house,
and further suppose that a millionaire
should want to purchase your property for a
very good price. Now you, the owner, agree
to sell. You are so excited about the large
purchase price you received that you begin
to make some repairs to the house. After
all, the generous price you received from
the sell prompts you to fix up the place a
little, even put new carpet in and fresh
paint on the rugged old house.
When the millionaire purchaser sees what
has happened, he laughs, "My friend, I do
not want your miserable old wreck of a house
fixed up like this. At the best, when you
are done it will only be a painted and
carpeted shanty. And I will never live in
it."
"All I want is the ground, the site, and
when I get full possession of it I will burn
up all of the old house down to the
foundation; and then I will uproot the
foundation to put in a new, solid, and
secure foundation for my new splendid
mansion. I will then build my own new house
according to my own magnificent plans. I do
not want the likes of your house, all that I
require is the location."
Friend, that is exactly what God wants of
us and waits to do in us. Each of us has a
choice site for a heavenly temple. The
unseparated, unsanctified, unclean house
that rests there now is really a wreck
compared to the mansion that God plans for
that site.
It is past improving, it cannot be made
significantly better as it is. You cannot
bring sufficient repairs to yourself. Our
patching and repairing is worse than waste.
What God wants of you is simply that you
sell to Him the rights of possession of your
very life. The purchase price is that He
will guarantee to you a glorious life worth
living, and an eternal mansion in heaven,
too!
In the mean time, if you give Him the
possibilities of your life, and let Him
build upon your heart a temple of holiness,
He will construct His new mansion. He will
invite you to continue living on the site,
too. Instead of a fixed up old house, yours
will be a magnificent mansion--even here on
earth.
Your roommate will be the Lord, the God
of Peace, who loves you more than anyone
else ever could. And together, God and you
will dwell happily in that splendid house!
What’s keeping you in love with a life
that is less than "perfected in holiness"?
==> Get the Mansion!
AMEN.
