Sanctify Yourselves Series

Sanctify Yourselves

Grant van Boeschoten

March 9, 2008

Joshua 3:5 (NKJV) And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."

The people of Israel were about to meet the destiny that God had created them for. They were about to enter and possess the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And just like you, God had more in store for them then they could even imagine.

Say that with me, “God’s got more in store for me then I can even imagine.”

This was the generation of Faith. Their parents had all died in the wilderness, as a result of unbelief, but this was a new generation. It was a people who were about to follow through on the promises of God. They would not make the same mistakes as their parents. They would not get to their destiny and say, the giants are too big and we are too small. This was a generation that had a new way of thinking and believing that God is all powerful, all mighty and that if he says something will come to pass, it will surely come to pass.

Now they were getting ready to cross the Jordan River. The boundary of the Promised Land. It was the only thing lying between them and Jericho, and the commanders were going throughout the people, giving them instructions.

And Joshua gathered them all together and said, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

Sanctify, Consecrate, Purify, Cleanse make yourselves holy, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

God is saying the same thing to his church today. Sanctify yourselves. Purify yourselves. Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

God has got a new level for your life to go to. He’s got bigger authority for you to realize. He’s got more souls for you to pray for and save. He’s going to enlarge your vision, enlarge your purpose. But first, before these wonders will come, he says “Sanctify yourself.”

What does that word mean, Sanctify? It is the process of becoming pure and holy, just as God is pure and Holy.

You get saved from your sins, but then you have to get sanctified.

Cindy Jacobs says that “Sanctification is a process in which you become more Christ like.

So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? 2 I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? 3-5 Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace— a new life in a new land!

That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. 6-7

Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life— no longer at sin’s every beck and call! 8 What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. 9 We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. 10 When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. 11 From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.

Romans 6:1-12 (MSG)

This is what sanctification is. It is Holy living. It is pleasing to God. It is living at the place where sin no longer has a say in your life. And holy living is very, very, very important to God.

God says “You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. " (Leviticus 20:26, NLT)

And your saying, how can I be made Holy?

Jesus prayed to God the Father and said, "And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth." (John 17:19, NLT)

As Christians we are promised a helper to come and encourage, and instruct, and lead us into God’s plan for our life. And is it any wonder that the name of this helper is the HOLY Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to help make you Holy.