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You Have Everything You Need | July 2, 2025

Sermon Podcast—LBC Easton

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  1. Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.

  2. The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist

  3. Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us

  4. or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look

  5. us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this

  6. message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.

  7. First Corinthians chapter #1 As we finish the 1st chapter, a lot

  8. more to go, but we're finishing the 1st chapter here this

  9. evening. You know, as Warren Weirsby, as

  10. I was just doing some reading this week.

  11. Warren Weirsby, the commentator who said that the church at

  12. Corinth was a defiled church, a divided church, and a disgraced

  13. church. Not exactly a great calling card

  14. for a church, is it? It's a defiled church, a divided

  15. church, and a disgraced church. And as we get here to the end of

  16. chapter #1 Paul's already had to address some issues with them

  17. already, hasn't he? Because of the divisions that

  18. they have among us, That I am of Paul and I am of Apollos and I

  19. am of Cephas and I am of Christ. And that's just the hem of the

  20. garment, if you will, of some of the issues that he is going to

  21. have to deal with this divided, defiled, and disgraced church.

  22. But last week we were ending our message.

  23. And I made a statement that I want to bring back to you to

  24. kind of bring back into your memory banks because we've all

  25. lived a little bit since last Wednesday night.

  26. But to remind you of, because I think it'll help maybe give us

  27. some context here as we finish up these last three verses of

  28. chapter #1 I said this. I said God doesn't call us on a

  29. river of doubt, He calls us on a river of faith and has

  30. completely and totally prepared us for whatever comes our way.

  31. God has not called us to a river of doubt, but He has called us

  32. on a river of faith and has completely and totally prepared

  33. us for whatever comes our way. Well, listen, Paul is already

  34. landing some haymakers here in chapter #1 he's already having

  35. to talk tough to these people who need someone in love to talk

  36. tough to them. But I'll say that as we have

  37. rounded out this chapter, last week and this week as well,

  38. Paul's actually ending with some encouragement.

  39. Remember, you can serve God and that you can be useful to God

  40. and His work and in His ministry.

  41. We saw that last week, and tonight we're going to see why

  42. that's the case. Last week we saw that you can

  43. serve God and that you can do great things for the Lord.

  44. But this evening we're going to see why that is the case.

  45. From three verses here in First Corinthians chapter #1 we're

  46. going to go to some different texts this evening as well.

  47. So your Bibles are going to work out, but it's going to be all

  48. good because it's going to help us understand why we know that

  49. when it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to serving

  50. God, you have everything you need.

  51. When it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to serving

  52. God, you have everything that you need.

  53. And that should encourage even the most hard hearted of

  54. Christians here tonight. Well, let's begin in verse #29

  55. and then we'll read the verses after to the end of the chapter.

  56. It says this, that no flesh should glory in his presence,

  57. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto

  58. us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.

  59. That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory

  60. in the Lord. And we're really going to focus

  61. quite a bit in verse #30 where it says, But of him are ye in

  62. Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness

  63. and sanctification and redemption.

  64. And really this verse starts with this phrase.

  65. But of him are ye in Jesus Christ.

  66. Now, I hope you've been here at Liberty Baptist Church long

  67. enough that you know that the little words matter, don't they?

  68. That anytime we're going through the word of God, we're not just

  69. looking at the big words. And there's some big words

  70. there, aren't there in that verse.

  71. There's in fact, 4 pretty big words that we're going to look

  72. at in a few moments. But it's every word that's

  73. important. Every word is inspired by God.

  74. Every word is there for a reason.

  75. And that first word, that conjunction that we in verse #30

  76. is the word. But however, it's a transitional

  77. statement. And so it's hard for us to

  78. really focus on verse #30 without knowing what's taking

  79. place here. Why is there a difference?

  80. Why is there this change in thought?

  81. Well, really, it goes back to the previous verse.

  82. It goes back to verse #21 nine, that no flesh should glory in

  83. His presence. And Paul talked about this quite

  84. a bit last week. Remember that we have to have

  85. the right mindset that we don't think too highly of ourselves,

  86. but that we don't think too lowly of ourselves either.

  87. Because remember, we are still sinners saved by grace.

  88. But on the positive side, we're sinners saved by grace.

  89. And so we have something to be excited about and we want to

  90. stay right in the middle of the road.

  91. Why, if we have that right mindset that we cannot glory in

  92. his presence? Because why all honor and glory

  93. and praise goes to Him. And so Paul is saying with that

  94. thought process, he's saying although we cannot glory in his

  95. presence, there is something that I want you to know, but

  96. however, we can't glory in his presence.

  97. But there is something maybe we could put it this way, if you

  98. have the right thought process, Paul says that if you want to

  99. know what to glory in, then you can glory in a relationship with

  100. God that is expressed through Jesus Christ.

  101. You can glory in a relationship with God that is expressed in

  102. Jesus Christ. That that's why it says that.

  103. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus?

  104. Listen, if you want to glory in. Something you can.

  105. Glory in not something someone in Jesus Christ Paul said in

  106. Galatians chapter 6 verse 14 but God forbid that I should glory

    Galatians 6:14

  107. saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world

  108. is crucified unto me and I under the world.

  109. He says this listen, I have nothing to boast in.

  110. It's all about Christ and it's all about the cross.

  111. Anything good that I have anything right that I have

  112. anything in my life that's worth anything.

  113. I can't boast in it. It's all because of Jesus

  114. Christ. That'll make every Baptist say

  115. Amen right there. Instead, I'll make a few Baptist

  116. say Amen, but that's OK. But it ought to make us all say

  117. Amen, because we have this of the Lord.

  118. And what can we? Boast him after all those things

  119. back in 2021, I, you know that I had my, my surgery had the tumor

  120. in my jaw and one of the things that I want to do before because

  121. I knew I was going to be in the hospital up to two weeks was

  122. actually 10 days, but I thought it was going to be up to two

  123. weeks. I was out of the pulpit for two

  124. months and one of the things I want to do before all of this

  125. took place I want to have a day where I got to do something with

  126. everyone in the family. It's special day for Peyton, a

  127. special day for AJ, a special day for Bethany and Kaylee and

  128. for Diane. Well, for Bethany, she had

  129. actually arranged this herself that we were going to go see the

  130. Boston Red Sox. Now this was in 2021 that's when

  131. Fenway Park was at a 10% capacity because of COVID.

  132. So we went to a 3000 seat sell out at Fenway Park.

  133. There were only about 7 or 8 people in our section.

  134. It was crazy it was unbelievable.

  135. And so we're out there and it felt like a spring training

  136. game, but it was in Fenway Park and it was incredible.

  137. And so other than wearing a mask, but anyway, it was a lot

  138. of fun. And so we were out there in

  139. about the 3rd or 4th inning, someone came up to me and they

  140. said, are you Adam Rivero? Now, listen, someone asked me

  141. that. It's like, you know, or what are

  142. you the cops? I mean, who wants to know,

  143. right? But he worked for the Red Sox

  144. and Bethany had reached out to the Red Sox and had told them,

  145. my father has a tumor. He's going to the hospital.

  146. Do you think maybe, you know, he could go tour the the the

  147. clubhouse or something like that?

  148. And they couldn't do that because of COVID protocol.

  149. And I think honestly, they thought that I had cancer

  150. because she said that a tumor and that and, you know, don't

  151. tell the Red Sox I didn't have cancer, all right.

  152. But they were assuming maybe I was make a wish.

  153. I don't know what they thought, but they brought this really

  154. nice basket to me of all these things.

  155. And by the way, this story's going somewhere, OK.

  156. And so they brought this nice bag with all of this this stuff.

  157. And inside this bag was this ring.

  158. I've never actually brought this out of my house in my life.

  159. For those you can't. Hey, zoom in here, fellas.

  160. All right, This is nice. Yeah.

  161. There you go. This is a 2013 World Series

  162. ring. Get that?

  163. Yeah. Go ahead.

  164. You're close. You're close.

  165. Go up, up, up. There we go.

  166. All right. Good.

  167. But we're never get this televangelism thing down.

  168. I'll tell you. Look at this ring right here.

  169. It's heavy. Now it is a replica, obviously,

  170. but it is huge. Now.

  171. They gave this to me. The Red Sox gave me a replica

  172. 2013 or back it out. I could see like I could see my

  173. pimples. All right, thank you.

  174. But thank you and the people at home.

  175. Thank you. But look, I don't wear this

  176. around. Do you know why people would

  177. have so many questions? You, you were.

  178. Did you work for the Red Sox? And my answer would be no.

  179. But they thought I had cancer. You know, of course I didn't

  180. work for the Reds I had. I have.

  181. I can't wear this because I have nothing to boast of.

  182. I didn't work for them. I didn't do anything.

  183. I didn't even sell popcorn. I didn't do.

  184. Anything for the Red Sox. Do you know what it is?

  185. Sat in a box for the last four years until I brought it out

  186. this afternoon because I knew I was going to need it for a

  187. sermon illustration tonight. It's the first use it's ever had

  188. because I have nothing to glory in.

  189. In fact, it would be really, really silly.

  190. For me to go around wearing it and trying to pretend like I had

  191. something to do with this. You know, that's what Paul is

  192. saying here. He's saying what do we have to

  193. Gloria? Well, hey, I'm a pretty good

  194. speaker. Oh, where that where that come

  195. from? Well, you know, I'm, I'm really

  196. good at being able to interact with people and, and helping

  197. them with some of their problems.

  198. Well, where did that come from? I'm really good with my hands

  199. and I can do things around the church or I can do things to be

  200. able to help other people. Well, how did that skill come

  201. about? Preaching, teaching, singing,

  202. ministering, giving, encouraging, pray.

  203. Where did that all come from? Which one of us can hang our

  204. hats on any of those things and said we did it ourselves?

  205. Listen, I don't have my mind because of me.

  206. I don't have my hands because of me, out of my feet because of

  207. me. I don't have my mental acuities

  208. because of me. I don't have my body because of

  209. me. I don't have anything.

  210. Because of me. It's all because of him.

  211. Now if there's any boasting, what is it in?

  212. It's boasting in the Lord. And that's why verse #31 says.

  213. Therefore, according as it is written, he that glorieth let

  214. him glory in the Lord, so it. Says, But of him are ye in

  215. Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us?

  216. And then it says there's four elements that we are made.

  217. But I just want to say very quickly that there's that phrase

  218. there. Look at that second phrase.

  219. Who of God is made unto us? There will be some.

  220. Groups. That would maybe try to give the

  221. impression that it says that Jesus Christ was made unto us,

  222. that Jesus Christ is a created being because it uses that term

  223. that he is made unto us. Now you and I both know that's

  224. not the case. Why?

  225. Because while Jesus Christ is God, God is everlasting thing.

  226. We can go to John chapter one verse one that pretty much

  227. settles it, doesn't it? In the beginning was the word

  228. and the word was with God and the word was God.

  229. The same was in the beginning with God.

  230. We go to 1st John chapter 1 and we could settle the argument

    John 1 chapter mention

  231. there as well. That's not what we're talking

  232. about this evening. When it talks about first, Well,

  233. first of all, it says, it says in verse #30 who of God is made

  234. unto us? It doesn't say was made.

  235. It's not talking about the past. It's talking about the present.

  236. I think that's important. Remember, every word means

  237. something. It's not talking about something

  238. that was done in the past. Also, that Greek word that is

  239. there is not talking about creation out of nothing.

  240. That's a different Greek word. That Greek word that is here

  241. reverse to Christ being appointed, designated, or given.

  242. It does not mean that He came out of nothing.

  243. It means that He has been and made unto us these things.

  244. Now imagine if I said something like this.

  245. You know David Ducharme, I know where this is going.

  246. He doesn't. No, David Ducharme has been made

  247. unto us. A trustee in February.

  248. That's true, wasn't it? We had a church vote and he was

  249. made a trustee here at the church.

  250. Now no one would think that he came out of nothing.

  251. In February that he was created just out of in February he was

  252. not. And then he was.

  253. And all of a sudden he was a trustee here at the church.

  254. No, we would know. Oh no, He's been designated

  255. that. That's what it means.

  256. That's what's being said here. And so there are some groups,

  257. perhaps the Jehovah Witnesses who would take that verse or

  258. even in Philippians chapter 2 when it talks about Jesus Christ

    Philippians 2 chapter mention

  259. being made unto us, that he was created.

  260. No, no, that's not what it's talking about.

  261. That's not what it's talking about at all.

  262. It's talking about the fact that he has been given in these

  263. designations and it wasn't in the past.

  264. It's in the present. In fact, it's the perpetual

  265. present. No matter who or when someone is

  266. reading this, this is what Jesus Christ is to them.

  267. So with that being said, there are four different elements that

  268. are found here as again, you know that I'll say here at

  269. liberty all the time. I love it when the Bible

  270. outlines itself. And so there are four key points

  271. that are here for elements that Jesus Christ has been made in us

  272. and these are things that we can glory in.

  273. Not that we can glory ourselves, but these are things that He is

  274. to us. And the first is this number 1.

  275. He is our wisdom. He is our wisdom.

  276. And this is the capstone of the whole conversation that's taken

  277. place in this chapter, isn't it, that we've been talking about

  278. wisdom and foolishness, how the world thinks wisdom is wisdom,

  279. but the world's wisdom is foolishness.

  280. And the world thinks that Christians are foolish, but the

  281. foolishness of Christ and Christians is really true

  282. wisdom. And it's kind of sounds like

  283. it's some kind of paradox, but we know that the world thinks

  284. it's smart and it's not as smart as it thinks.

  285. And the world thinks Christians don't know what's going on.

  286. But Christians who believe the word of God know more than the

  287. very most educated, quote UN quote, people in this world who

  288. deny Christ. And so here it says that Jesus

  289. Christ has been made unto us wisdom.

  290. When the entire world says show us wisdom.

  291. Listen, he he doesn't just have wisdom, He is wisdom.

  292. Let me make sure that's clear. Jesus Christ doesn't just teach

  293. wisdom. Jesus Christ doesn't just

  294. contain wisdom. He is the very embodiment of

  295. wisdom. You see, He wasn't just a wise

  296. teacher, but he was the living, personal embodiment of God's

  297. redemptive plan. And that's why when the lost

  298. call him just a good teacher, that's not a compliment.

  299. That's a slap in the face of who he is.

  300. He was not simply an educated person.

  301. He was not simply an enlightened person.

  302. He wasn't simply a deep thinker. He wasn't a Mensa candidate.

  303. No, what is he? He is wisdom, the very

  304. embodiment of wisdom and truth. Now listen, we don't have a lot

  305. of wisdom to hang our hats on. Listen, apart from Christ, what

  306. wisdom do we have? Oh, before we got saved, we all

  307. thought we knew a lot, didn't we?

  308. But then we got saved and we started to read the Word of God

  309. and we started to realize, wow, my left was right, my up was

  310. down, my dark was light, my light was dark.

  311. I was completely opposite in everything.

  312. Why? Because once you have the Holy

  313. Spirit inside of you who helps you tap into the wisdom, That's

  314. why the Holy Spirit is our teacher.

  315. He is our guide, and he helps you tap into that wisdom, which

  316. is Jesus Christ. It's wisdom for this world and

  317. it's wisdom beyond this world. Do you realize that they are

  318. they just created a new telescope down far, far into the

  319. reaches of South America. The what I just read a few weeks

  320. ago be able to see farther than just about any telescope that

  321. they have here in the world right now.

  322. And it's also very important because of being the southern

  323. hemisphere is a different angle than what they would get here.

  324. The northern hemisphere. They see different things.

  325. Do you realize that they are spending millions upon millions

  326. upon millions of dollars to be able to see out into space and

  327. listen, I have no problem with that.

  328. I'm not preaching against that, but I'm saying is you and I have

  329. wisdom that goes even beyond that and we didn't get it of

  330. ourselves. It's because He is our wisdom.

  331. Psalm 111, verse 10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of

    Psalms 111:10

  332. wisdom. A good understanding have all

  333. they that do His commandments, His praise, endureth forever.

  334. When you have the right relationship with God, when you

  335. have the right thought process with God, all of a sudden wisdom

  336. is attainable because we are thinking clearly and we're

  337. thinking the way that God wants us to think.

  338. Isaiah 11, verse 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest

    Isaiah 11:2

  339. upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of

  340. counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the

  341. Lord. This is talking about Christ.

  342. So what was Christ doing? Not only was he living wisdom,

  343. but he was the embodiment of wisdom, But he was showing us as

  344. an example the fear of the Lord so that we could attain that

  345. wisdom of which he was say, boy pastor, that's a lot I know, and

  346. that's what he is. John Owen, the commentator, once

  347. said, the wisdom of God shines most gloriously in the person of

  348. Jesus Christ. We're in all treasured, we're in

  349. our treasured all the riches of divine knowledge.

  350. The right perspective of God gives us the right perspective

  351. of wisdom. And this is what Jesus Christ

  352. has made for us. But not only was he made unto us

  353. wisdom, but He is our righteousness.

  354. He is our righteousness. Now the Webster's 1828

  355. dictionary. Now, my wife was speaking at a

  356. church a couple weeks ago, a ladies meeting, and she was

  357. throwing a little shade at me about the Webster's 1828.

  358. But I noticed that she used the Webster's 1828 while she was

  359. speaking too. And so the Webster's 1828, just

  360. to make clear why I use the Webster's 1828 dictionaries

  361. because it so well defines our King James Bible, that's why,

  362. because it was written in the same style in the same time.

  363. And I'm not, I'm just kidding. I mean, she was, she was very

  364. complimentary to me about I think she was complimentary.

  365. But anyway, no, she was. But the idea is we use it for a

  366. reason, because helps us understand the words as they're

  367. written, not necessarily maybe the way that our modern language

  368. has twisted things around because listen, words change all

  369. the time. There's the time when something

  370. was cool was actually a temperature, then something was

  371. cool was, was like, you know, good.

  372. You know, something that's hot, you know, can be many different

  373. things, something that's wicked and, and, and New England could

  374. be good. Don't ask me how that can be so.

  375. So we need to be able to find out what are what are we saying

  376. here when we have this word righteousness.

  377. Well, Webster's 1828 dictionary says this purity of heart,

  378. rectitude of life, conformity of heart and life to the divine

  379. law. Righteousness as used in

  380. Scripture and theology in which it is chiefly used, is nearly

  381. equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles

  382. and the affections of the heart and conformity of the life to

  383. the divine law. Now I could probably summarize

  384. it this way it literally. Righteousness is the state of

  385. being right with God. Righteousness is the state of

  386. being right with God. Now, according to that

  387. definition of righteousness, that to be able to be equivalent

  388. to holiness, comprehending holy principles, conforming life to

  389. the divine law, can you and I in and of ourselves do this?

  390. The answer is no. That's why Romans 310 says there

  391. are none righteous, no, not one. First Corinthians 6 verse 9 says

    1 Corinthians 6:9

  392. know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of

  393. God? Listen, if we were to live on

  394. our own righteous, our own righteousness, we couldn't be

  395. saved. It would be impossible.

  396. We would spend an eternity in the lake of fire.

  397. Now we're going to start turning our Bibles here.

  398. Go to Romans chapter #8. All right, Romans chapter #8

  399. because I want to show you why Christ is our righteousness.

  400. Romans chapter #8 Look at verse #1 just a few pages away.

  401. It says this. There is therefore now no

  402. condemnation. In my Bible I have underlined

  403. twice the words, no condemnation.

  404. There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who

  405. walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

  406. That is just very, very good news for the child of God, isn't

  407. it? For the law of the Spirit of

  408. life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and

  409. death. For what the law could not do,

  410. and that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in

  411. the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the

  412. flesh, meaning that he bore our sins within his body.

  413. Look at verse four that the righteousness of the law might

  414. be fulfilled in US who walk not after the flesh but after the

  415. Spirit. Now it doesn't say that the

  416. righteousness of the law is fulfilled by us.

  417. It says it's fulfilled in US. Well, how is it fulfilled in US

  418. through Jesus Christ? By what He did.

  419. It's said they're clearly in verse #3 Now drop down to verse

  420. #9 it says this. But you are not in the flesh,

  421. but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God

  422. dwell in you. Now if any man hath not the

  423. Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

  424. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead.

  425. The old man, the old nature is dead because of sin, but the

  426. Spirit is life because of righteousness.

  427. Well, how did that happen? Because of Jesus Christ Christ.

  428. Now go to Romans chapter #10 again, just a couple pages over.

  429. I know we're reading a lot of different things tonight, but I

  430. want you to see biblically where we find these concepts.

  431. These are great places to mark in your Bible.

  432. These are great, great place to write quick notes to be able to

  433. look at these issues later because it's so important.

  434. These are not just Bible words that really have no bearing or

  435. no grasp on us. And this is everything.

  436. Jesus Christ has been made our righteousness.

  437. Look at verse 1, chapter 10. Brethren, my heart's design and

  438. prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.

  439. For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not

  440. according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of

  441. God's righteousness, they're ignorant of God's righteousness

  442. and going about to establish their own righteousness, have

  443. not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God.

  444. So what did the unbelieving Jews do?

  445. They didn't recognize God's righteousness.

  446. They tried to create their own righteousness, and because of

  447. that they were lost. Why?

  448. Because they were looking to the law to save them when the law

  449. was only there to show them that they were condemned.

  450. The law was never able to save a soul.

  451. It was our schoolmaster to be able to show us, to point us to

  452. Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 4.

  453. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone

  454. that believeth. For Moses describeth the

  455. righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth

  456. those things shall live by them. If you want to be saved by the

  457. law, you have to live by it for every moment of every second of

  458. every day of your entire life. And there's only been one who's

  459. ever been able to do that, and that was Jesus Christ verse 6.

  460. But the righteous sisters of faith speaketh on this wise say,

  461. not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven, that is to

  462. bring Christ down from above, Or who shall ascend into the deep,

  463. that is to bring up Christ again from the dead.

  464. Basically saying this, if you want to find out where this

  465. righteousness of faith is, you don't have to go far, you don't

  466. have to go up into the heavens, you don't have to go down to the

  467. deep, you don't have to look far because you can look at Jesus

  468. Christ. Verse 8 But what sayeth it?

  469. The word is nigh unto thee, even thy mouth, and in thy heart.

  470. That is the Word of Faith as we preach, that if thou shalt

  471. confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in

  472. thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou

  473. shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth

  474. unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto

  475. salvation. So what do we see in both of

  476. these texts? That righteousness cannot be

  477. accomplished by man, righteousness that cannot be

  478. accomplished by anything that we have.

  479. That's why Jesus Christ was made our righteousness.

  480. When it came to the issue of righteousness, Jesus placed His

  481. own righteousness on top of us when we were saved.

  482. Philippians 39 And to be found in him, not having my own

  483. righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through

  484. the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by

  485. faith. 2nd Corinthians 521 For He hath made him to be sin for

  486. us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness

  487. of God in him. Jesus Christ was made our

  488. wisdom, He was made our righteousness, and then #3 He

  489. was made our sanctification. He is our sanctification.

  490. And this is another great Bible word that we should not be

  491. intimidated by. The word sanctification, it is

  492. found in the New Testament, is from the Greek word that means

  493. holiness or a separation. Holiness or a separation.

  494. Sanctification is literally this.

  495. It's righteousness, but with a purpose.

  496. So Christ was made our righteousness, but He has set us

  497. aside for a specific task. He has set us aside for a

  498. specific work, and that is what sanctification is.

  499. Just like the vessels were sanctified in the Old Testament,

  500. in the temple, in the Tabernacle.

  501. That meant that if you were going to use those certain

  502. dishes, if you're going to use those certain utensils, if you

  503. use those certain vessels, that the priest couldn't take them

  504. home and use them for a supper club or for a supper party.

  505. No, they couldn't do that. What were they to do?

  506. They were sanctified, they were set apart.

  507. They were to be used in the use for God and His work.

  508. That was it. And when we look at our lives,

  509. listen, we are not our own, That we've been bought with a price

  510. and that we are to be used the way that God desires us to be

  511. used. We've been sanctified, we've

  512. been set apart, we've been given a higher calling, and Jesus

  513. Christ is our sanctification. He was the one who was set

  514. apart, and we are set apart because of what He did for us.

  515. Now we're sanctified in three different ways.

  516. There's three different kinds of sanctification.

  517. I know we're getting a little deep.

  518. We're getting a little bit in the weeds tonight, but this is

  519. good for us to learn. There's three different kinds of

  520. sanctification. There's positional

  521. sanctification. When you got saved, the day you

  522. got saved, you were positionally sanctified, meaning this you

  523. were set free from every sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.

  524. You were, you were immediately seated in heavenly places.

  525. You immediately belong to Jesus Christ.

  526. No longer did you belong to the devil, that now you belong to a

  527. new Father, your Father, the Father in heaven.

  528. There's positional You have a new position in Christ.

  529. Then there's practical sanctification.

  530. This is the ongoing, lifelong process of spiritual growth in

  531. which the Holy Spirit makes the believer increasingly holy in

  532. character and in conduct. First Thessalonians 4 verses 3

    1 Thessalonians 4:3–5

  533. through 5 said this. For this is the will of God,

  534. even your sanctification, that you should abstain from

  535. fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess

  536. his vessel, and sanctification and honor not in the lust of

  537. concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God.

  538. So what we're saying is the longer that you are part of this

  539. Christian life, the more you should be set aside for Jesus

  540. Christ. I hope, hope that you are closer

  541. to Jesus Christ now than you were when you first got saved.

  542. I hope that some of the habits that you struggled with when you

  543. first got saved, that they have been set aside and that you're

  544. working on new ones. And, and that you say, well,

  545. pastor, what happens when I, I finally get rid of all my sinful

  546. habits? Right.

  547. OK, you let me know when that happens.

  548. Amen. But listen, that's what it is.

  549. Every day, just trying to be closer to Jesus Christ, a little

  550. bit closer the day before. That's our practical

  551. sanctification. Every day I want to be closer to

  552. him. And at the end of the day, you

  553. say, hey, I didn't do so bad today.

  554. I still didn't do perfect, but I didn't do so bad.

  555. There's some days you say, man, I, I did awful.

  556. What's the matter with me? And we confess it and we try to

  557. get closer to God. There's that practical.

  558. Sanctification. But then there's perfect

  559. sanctification. One day we'll be with Jesus and

  560. we'll be in His presence, and we will have to worry about this

  561. old flesh that we struggle with every day.

  562. We'll be with Him. And when we've been there 10,000

  563. years, right shining as the sun, there'll be no less days to sing

  564. God's praise than when we first begun.

  565. I don't know about you, but heaven gets sweeter all the

  566. time, doesn't it? When you think of those who have

  567. gone before and you think of all the struggles and all the things

  568. that we deal with here, and you think one day I'll just be with

  569. Him and just being His presence will be enough.

  570. So there's three kinds of sanctification.

  571. There's the positional the minute.

  572. You got saved that you belong to Jesus Christ.

  573. Practical that every day I need to become more like Christ and

  574. then perfect. One day I will be in a different

  575. body. This old body will be gone, and

  576. that will be in a new heaven and a new earth.

  577. And that everything will be new and everything will be perfect

  578. because we'll be with our heavenly Father.

  579. What a joy that is. Now these are all vividly shown

  580. in one passage, so turn quickly to 1st John chapter #3 in case

  581. you think I'm picking these terms up out of thin air.

  582. First John chapter 3 shows all three of them together.

    1 John 3 chapter mention

  583. Jesus is our sanctification, and you'll see why here from this

  584. text. First John chapter #3 It says

  585. this, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon

  586. us, that we should be called the sons of God.

  587. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew Him not.

  588. The day you got saved, you were positionally sanctified.

  589. What does that mean? You became the sons of God

  590. immediately. Well, you know, if I do enough

  591. good works, then I'll become a son of God.

  592. Well, that sounds like work salvation.

  593. That doesn't sound like what the Bible says.

  594. The day you got saved, you became a child of God.

  595. Verse 2 Beloved, now are we nuts?

  596. Now are we the sons of God? And does not yet appear what we

  597. shall be. But we know that when He shall

  598. appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is.

  599. You know which one? That is perfect sanctification,

  600. that one day we'll be with Him, and we will see Him as He is.

  601. And all of a sudden we'll be in a new body.

  602. There'll be no more tears, there'll be no more death,

  603. there'll be no more sorrow, there'll be no more pain.

  604. And on and on it goes, and Amen and Amen, I say to all of that.

  605. But then verse 3 says this. And every man that hath this

  606. hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.

  607. That's practical sanctification, that as we look forward to what

  608. is in heaven, that it should draw us closer to Him here and

  609. now. You know, they're so earthly,

  610. they're so heavenly minded. They're so they're no earthly

  611. good. No, if we're the right kind of

  612. heavenly minded, the more we think about being with Him, we

  613. ought to draw closer to Him and we ought to be more earthly good

  614. every day. No, no, you see all three of

  615. those right here, and all of it hinges upon this Jesus Christ.

  616. Now, are we the sons of God? It's all about Jesus and He had

  617. been made our sanctification. But then lastly, I also want to

  618. see He's not just our wisdom, He is not just our righteousness.

  619. He's not just our sanctification, but He is also

  620. our redemption. Now, we looked at this quite a

  621. bit on Resurrection Sunday just a few weeks ago.

  622. But to redeem means to buy back or to rescue from captivity.

  623. The Greek word means to ransom, to release upon payment.

  624. Colossians 114, in whom we have redemption through his blood,

  625. even the forgiveness of sins. There's a we see that, that,

  626. that because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we have been

  627. redeemed, that that was the price that was paid for our

  628. redemption, the blood of Christ. And again, without belaboring

  629. this, because I know you've heard this before, but it's why

  630. it's important that the blood is part of the gospel that's not

  631. removed from the gospel message because it was the price that

  632. was paid for us. And I've heard people say, I've,

  633. I've heard people in this church say this before, pastors say

  634. this before, that really there's nothing about the blood that was

  635. that important. And I'd say that there's a lot

  636. of apostles and there's a, there's a lot of writers of

  637. Scripture that would have to say that is not true whatsoever.

  638. That that it's very important that it was shed on our behalf.

  639. And we had to take out a lot of our Bible.

  640. We didn't take a lot of our hymnal if we took out the blood,

  641. and so certainly that would not be the case.

  642. Ephesians 430 and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye

  643. are sealed unto the day of redemption.

  644. So what do we see that the forgiveness of sins.

  645. There's a redemption that's current, but also that there's a

  646. redemption sealed under the day of redemption that is future.

  647. So kind of in the same way as sanctification, there's

  648. something that's going on now with it.

  649. There's something that's going on in the future in redemption.

  650. There's also that past and present and future element to it

  651. all. And Jesus is a part of all of

  652. this. And you know, there's a really

  653. good place that can explain this to us.

  654. And, and I want us to go there. I could use that illustration.

  655. But I think the very best illustration is found for us in

  656. the Bible. And that's Ruth chapter #4 So

  657. turn quickly to Ruth chapter #4 I told you we're going all over

  658. our Bibles tonight. We're taking four big

  659. theological concepts and trying to stuff them in a 40 minute

  660. message. And if I was in Bible college,

  661. someone would tell me, don't do that.

  662. But you know what? None of them are here.

  663. So I'm going to try it. Well, I'm almost done and and

  664. one of the guys who was in Bible called to be here on Sunday and

  665. probably would tell me not to do it.

  666. But anyway, Ruth chapter 4 look at verse one there went.

    Ruth 4 chapter mention

  667. Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there, and behold, the

  668. kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by, unto whom he said, Ho such

  669. an one turn aside, sit down. He turned aside and sat down.

  670. You'll remember that Boaz is the kinsman Redeemer and that Ruth

  671. is going to be claimed by Boaz. But that's a problem.

  672. There is a closer Redeemer in the line who has first right to

  673. be able to choose Ruth, not only to resume the line but also to

  674. take Ruth as well. And so here Boaz wanting to

  675. marry Ruth, calls this man in and it says, and he took 10 of

  676. men of the elders of the city and said, sit you down here.

  677. And they sat down, and he said to the kinsman Naomi, that has

  678. come out again out of the country of Moab, sell the parcel

  679. land which was our brother Elimelechs.

  680. And I thought to advertise the saying, Buy it before the

  681. inhabitants and before the elders of my people.

  682. If that will redeem it, redeem it.

  683. But if that will not redeem it, then tell me that I may know.

  684. For there is none to redeem it beside thee, for I'm after thee.

  685. And he said I will redeem it. So this closer kinsman said, I

  686. am going to redeem this land. But it's kind of like one of

  687. those infomercials. But wait, there's more, see?

  688. Because he doesn't understand that part of the land deal is

  689. also Ruth. This closer kinsman wants to

  690. land. But look at what it says now in

  691. verse #5 and said, Boaz, what day thou buy us the field of the

  692. hand of Naomi? Thou must buy it also of Ruth,

  693. the MO Bitus, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of

  694. the dead upon the inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot

  695. redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance.

  696. Redeem it now. Redeem thou my right to thyself,

  697. for I cannot redeem it now. I always thought this was

  698. interesting because I, you know, Boaz is a picture of Christ.

  699. And I was wondering and I wondered for some time, who

  700. could be a closer kinsman to Ruth than Christ.

  701. If if we're like Ruth and Boaz is like Christ, well then who is

  702. closer to us? And I believe the answer to

  703. that, going back to a concept we looked at just a few moments ago

  704. with righteousness, that would be the law.

  705. Because the law has been part of our lives since the very

  706. beginning, hasn't it? The law has part of our lives.

  707. We don't do this, don't do that. You can't do this.

  708. You can't do that. So I find it interesting that

  709. when the law has the opportunity to redeem Ruth, if we want to

  710. put it that way, he doesn't say I will not redeem it.

  711. What does he say? I.

  712. What's that word there? Cannot redeem it.

  713. Use the word cannot twice. Again, every word in the Bible

  714. matters. I cannot redeem it.

  715. I cannot redeem it. You know why?

  716. Because the law can't redeem anybody.

  717. The law has been following so long since we were little kids,

  718. but it was never able to redeem us.

  719. It was never able to save us. Only Jesus Christ is able to

  720. save, and that's what Jesus Christ has been made to us.

  721. He's been made our wisdom, He's been made our righteousness,

  722. He's been made our sanctification, and he's been

  723. made our redemption. If we have anything the glory

  724. in, that's what it's in. Remember, that's what this all

  725. came down to. If we have anything to glory in,

  726. it all belongs to Him. If He was any one of those

  727. things for us that God the Father put Him in, in His great

  728. plan to be these things for us. This plan that was not hatched

  729. when Genesis chapter 3 took place.

    Genesis 3 chapter mention

  730. This plan that was hatched in eternity past, in the infinite

  731. eternity past, the plan was always Jesus Christ.

  732. And that He is not, was, is your wisdom.

  733. He is your righteousness. He is your sanctification, He is

  734. your redemption. And that, my friend, is

  735. everything. That you need.

  736. What more do you want? What more could you need?

  737. Now, I know I've given all of these concepts, and they're not

  738. concepts. I mean, they're truths, but you

  739. know. These concepts of a very fly by

  740. overview. I feel like we've gone over them

  741. at 30,000 feet going 600 miles an hour, but I want to hit the

  742. brakes just for a couple of minutes to give you one thought

  743. and application with that and we'll be done.

  744. You know, when it comes to the Christian.

  745. Life you have. Everything that you need, and

  746. this is important to the Father and it's so important to the

  747. Father that you have everything that you need that Jesus Christ

  748. was made these things for us. So I have to ask you, if it's

  749. important enough that Jesus is these things for us to the

  750. Father, then don't those things have to be important to us as

  751. well? Well, I don't understand, you

  752. know, pastor, preach on holiness around here.

  753. Preach on that a lot. You know, I don't understand

  754. what the big deal is. I mean, I mean, come on, we're,

  755. we're good enough. We're better than most of the

  756. people that are out there. And that may be true.

  757. And if we were running a contest, you might win.

  758. But that's not what this is. No, Jesus Christ has made our

  759. righteousness. And if it was important enough

  760. for God to make him that for us, the Father, to make him that for

  761. us, shouldn't righteousness be important to us?

  762. Wisdom. Where's wisdom found?

  763. Well, it's found in him, and it's recorded in his word.

  764. Shouldn't it be important to us? Sanctification.

  765. I'm set apart for a service. Shouldn't that be important to

  766. us? Redemption that we have

  767. something to live for in the future?

  768. We have a blessed hope, not a hope like boy I hope I make it,

  769. but a assured confidence that we will be with him.

  770. Shouldn't that be important to us?

  771. I I can't imagine the following scenario.

  772. Imagine that you were, you needed a car and someone just

  773. bought you a brand new car. And I'm talking about a new to

  774. you car. I'm talking about a brand new

  775. car and they bought it and they parked it in your driveway.

  776. Could you imagine walking past it every day and not driving it?

  777. Now I know Dave could, but the rest of us could.

  778. The rest Dave. Dave says that doesn't sound

  779. great at all. Actually.

  780. Dave just wants a bus pass and people leave him alone, you

  781. know? But you know, could you imagine?

  782. No, no. But listen, maybe even worse

  783. than that, we're not that. That car, it's ready and it's

  784. able to serve, but you walk past it every day to get back into

  785. your car. Your old car that's leaking oil,

  786. that's held together by flex tape and faith, and you're

  787. driving around in this rickety old thing that's dropping parts

  788. at about every other intersection.

  789. But someone bought you a brand new car free and clear, and it's

  790. in your driveway. We would look at somebody that

  791. would act in that way and we would call them a fool.

  792. Look at the gift that you were given.

  793. Why would you rely on this thing that you have that doesn't work?

  794. This is what this. Whole conversation.

  795. These 3 verses are about the things that we have that we

  796. think work don't really work. That's why we can't boast in

  797. them. There's nothing in them that we

  798. should be boasting of. And anything that is in us that

  799. is good and is right and is just came from our Heavenly Father

  800. through Jesus Christ, so we can boast in him.

  801. But if it was important enough for God the Father to send God

  802. the Son? John 316 And shouldn't these

  803. things be important to us? Not my wisdom, His wisdom, not

  804. my righteousness. His righteousness not set apart

  805. for my own ideas. Set apart for his service, not

  806. redeemed to be free to do whatever I want, but redeemed.

  807. So I have that blessed hope that I'll be with him.

  808. And that my future expectation of him changes the way that I

  809. live now to be closer to him. Yeah, there's four elements.

  810. I mean, we could never, we could never cover them.

  811. Or we could do a series on each one of them. 1012 weeks and we

  812. wouldn't finish it but. I don't know.

  813. That we need to tonight, but we're not going to tonight.

  814. The idea is this, do we have the right appreciation for it that

  815. we should? If it was important enough for

  816. the Heavenly Father to make Jesus Christ those things for

  817. us, then it ought to be important for us.

  818. Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of

  819. Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing

  820. to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us

  821. know by contacting us at [email protected] or you

  822. can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.

  823. May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.