The Holy Spirit … Sanctifies

Well, good evening and welcome once again to our short church service.

Let me begin with words that we find in 1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Words that speak hope to suffering Christians, reminding them, reminding us, of the true identity that is ours in Christ.

So listen to how the letter begins, verse 1 and 2.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, exiles, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,

through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.

And then in chapter 2, he says of this suffering, struggling church,

you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession,

that you may declare the praises of him who called you of darkness into his wonderful light.

Now, we're going to read together in our Bibles from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

Again, it would be helpful to have a Bible in front of you, but the words should also be on the screen so that you can follow along.

We're thinking again about the Holy Spirit in the believer's life.

And here we're thinking about the Holy Spirit and his work in sanctifying.

And we'll think about that in a moment.

So 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

Let's hear God's word together.

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God as in fact you are living.

Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality,

that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honourable,

not in passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God,

and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.

The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins as we told you and warned you before.

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being,

but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Now about your love for one another, we do not need to write to you,

for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

And in fact, you do love all of God's family throughout Macedonia.

Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,

and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.

You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,

so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders,

and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Goals matter for motivation, don't they?

If you're listening and you're a student or a pupil,

you will know that it's really hard to be motivated without the push of final exams.

It's really hard to do your best without a teacher who's checking over your work,

if you're in homeschool.

And we see it in the life of athletes as well.

They are on those gruelling schedules.

They make sacrifices and they push their bodies through the pain barrier

for the sake of glory and championships.

And it's really hard for them to keep motivated when there is no sport happening.

As a Christian, if you are a Christian,

I wonder if you know what is the goal of your life.

What is God's goal for your life?

There's a wonderful little phrase in verse 3 here.

God's will for you and me is that you should be sanctified.

What does God want for us?

Sanctification.

So what is that?

And what does it have to do with the Holy Spirit

who we've been thinking about for the last few weeks?

Well, sanctification is one aspect of God's grace to us in Jesus Christ.

It is part of his ongoing work by the Holy Spirit

so that more and more we are living free of sin

and we are becoming more and more like Jesus.

That's a progressive work of Christian maturity,

of growing in holiness.

So unlike justification, which is 100% God's work,

God declares a believer to be in right standing with him,

righteous in his sight because of the finished work of Jesus

and because of God's grace that applies justification.

So we're justified in Christ and that's all God's work

and we receive that freely as a gift.

The sanctification is 100% the work of the Spirit in a believer's life

and 100% the work of a believer working out our salvation.

So this is an area where we are involved in work.

So the Christian life, and the Bible is really clear about this,

the Christian life is about fighting and striving.

So the Holy Spirit is guiding us towards God's goal, holiness,

sanctification, becoming more like Jesus.

But we have to fight, we have to strive, we have to work,

to obey, to kill sin, to believe the truth.

Jenny Bridges, who's written a very helpful book called

The Pursuit of Holiness,

it says that God has made it possible for us to walk in holiness,

but he has given us the responsibility of doing the walking.

So we are to aim for holiness,

but we do that fuelled by faith in Jesus.

We pursue godliness,

but we do that empowered by the Spirit.

So we work as God's Spirit works in us.

So let's use 1 Thessalonians 4 to begin to see how this works.

So first of all,

the Holy Spirit guides us in holiness.

You look at the first couple of verses here.

What is Paul saying to these new Christians?

He says,

So you are pleasing God.

Now we ask you and urge you to do this more and more.

So you are pleasing.

Go on and do it more and more.

Your ethics,

your moral behaviour,

is obedient and pleasing to God.

Now keep on

that path

of obedience.

So remember,

God wants us

to be sanctified,

to be holy,

to becoming more like Jesus.

And the Spirit's work is to guide

a person to know what that looks like.

So this sanctification is an active and ongoing process

of being taught and given power

to know how on the one hand

to love God

and also to love our neighbour.

Now that's holiness

is doing the will of God.

It's about loving God,

loving neighbour.

So here,

what does that look like

for the Thessalonians?

Well,

they're given really practical instructions.

In verses 4 to 8,

Paul talks to this group of young Christians

about sexual ethics,

calling them away

from the sexual immorality

that they were used to

in their former pagan lifestyle.

In verses 9 and 10,

he encourages them

to go on

and to grow

in their love

for believers.

In verse 11,

it looks like

avoiding

controversy

and

gossip.

In verse 11 and 12,

it also looks like

working hard

and working

well.

So there is guidance

in all these practical areas

of holiness.

God says,

be holy

because I

am holy.

All sin

is

unholy.

It is a contradiction

of

God's holiness.

Therefore,

we are to be

fighting against it.

There should be

in a Christian

an inner conflict

where we want

to kill sins

so that we can do

the will of God.

So when you look

at the language

Paul uses

in verse 1,

he urges them

to keep on living

to please God.

In verse 7,

he says,

God calls you

to live

a holy life.

Here is your way

of life.

Here is your work.

Here is your hard work.

There is no room

for laziness

as the Holy Spirit

guides us

to holiness

and obedience.

Now before we go

any further,

there are two,

as it were,

ditches to avoid.

If holiness

is a path

that we are to take,

there are two ways

that we can fall

off the path.

The one side

is legalism

where we get

the idea

that we are

to obey

in our strength

or we are

to obey

to earn

the favour

of God.

and that

will end

in defeat

and failure.

So that's one

ditch to avoid

on the path

of holiness.

The other ditch

is the mindset

that says,

well,

we simply

let go

and let God.

The idea

that obedience

comes to us

as some kind

of automatic

upgrade

where a person

becomes a follower

of Jesus

and then we always

make good and wise

decisions

and we always

love well.

No,

the Bible says

we need to work

out our obedience.

We need to work

hard at holiness

but we do that

not in our own strength.

We do that guided

and empowered

by God's Holy Spirit.

So thinking about

the Holy Spirit

who guides us

in holiness,

how do we know

what holy living

looks like?

How do we know

what holy living

sounds like?

It takes us

to our second point

that the Holy Spirit

guides us

in the truth,

guides us

into

the Bible,

the truth

of God's word.

We've already

seen that.

All through

the Old Testament

and the New Testament

we find

the law,

we find ethics,

we find a way

of life

being presented

to the Christian

and again

this is not our way

to earn God's favour,

we're saved by grace

not by law

but law

and ethics

they do give us

a guide to what

pleases God.

They do show us

what the way

of holiness

looks like.

Look at verse

2 again.

Paul says

something striking

here,

verse 2,

for you know

what instructions

we gave you

by the authority

of the Lord Jesus.

So Paul is saying

that the ethical

and moral teaching

this very practical

instruction,

it has the same

divine authority

as his gospel

message.

They both come

with the authority

of Jesus.

We need both

as Christians.

Look at verse 7

and 8.

Again,

very striking.

God did not call us

to be impure

but to live a holy life.

Therefore,

anyone who rejects

this instruction

does not reject

a human being

but God,

the very God

who gives you

his Holy Spirit.

So to reject

the clear moral

instruction

that we find

in the Bible

here delivered by Paul

is to choose

impurity rather than

holiness

is to reject

God.

Further,

it is to reject

God's Holy Spirit

who both gives

the instruction

and empowers

the way to obey.

So hopefully

what's become

clear to us

is that for us

to be sanctified,

for us to grow

in our holiness,

to grow

into the image

of Jesus,

we need to know

our Bibles

and we need

to obey

our Bibles.

One of the

pictures that the

Bible uses of itself

and we find it

in the Psalms

and Jesus uses it

is that God's Word

is like a lamp,

it's like a light

and the Spirit

is the one

who inspired

the Word of God

so the Spirit

uses the lamp

of God's Word

to illuminate

certain realities

for us.

There's that

illumination,

brightening,

lightening up

that takes place

in at least three ways.

First of all,

the Spirit uses

the Word of God

as a lamp

to expose

the darkness

of sin

in our hearts.

Maybe one way

we can think about it

is this.

Imagine cleaning

your car

in the half-light

or as it's getting dark.

You know when you

put loads of water

on it

and you put a bit

of soap on it,

it always looks good,

doesn't it?

Always,

until the water dries

and until the sun shines

and then,

unless you know

a really good job,

you see the dirty

marks in various places.

We can think

that we are

doing really well

when we're judging

by our own standards

or even judging

by some of the things

that we know

in the Bible,

but the Spirit

always wants us

to go deeper.

It wants us

to be reading

the Bible

and to be reflecting

on it

that it's exposing

some of the darkness,

some of the unbelief,

some of the sin,

the stain of sin

in our own hearts

and lives.

So there's illumination

to expose

sin and stain.

But there's also

the Holy Spirit

uses the Bible

to illuminate

and to reveal

the beauty

and truth

of the Bible.

So it's always helpful,

it's so important

for us to pray

before we come

to read the Bible,

you know,

open my eyes

to see wonderful

things in your word

so that we wouldn't

just read the Bible

as any other book,

that we wouldn't

just read it

as something

so that we can,

you know,

tick it off

our list

so we can feel good.

We want to be reading

so that we see

more of God's glory,

more of the beauty

of God's truth.

And especially,

the third thing

to focus on,

the Spirit uses

the lamp

of God's word

to illuminate

for us

the glory

of Jesus

on every page.

Think about

a theatre

and imagine

that stage

spotlight

shining.

Where does it

shine?

It always is

shining so that

we can see

the star

of the show.

The Spirit

wants to do

that

to help us

to see

Jesus.

So we read

the Bible

so that we see

Jesus as the

true king,

to see

Jesus as

the glory

of God

revealed to us,

the true hero,

the true champion,

the true star.

And the Spirit

would have us

to see

Jesus

and see the good news

that we have

in Jesus

and see all the

spiritual blessings

that are ours

in Christ

so that

we would become

what we

behold.

That the more

we enjoy

and experience

of the love

and the goodness

of Jesus,

the more we'll be

changed into

his image.

Now one very

practical thing

as we think

about this truth

that the Holy Spirit

guides us

in the truth

that we find

in the Bible,

this means

the Spirit

will never

guide you and I

to act in an

unbiblical way.

That is basic.

he will never

contradict himself,

he will never

contradict the word.

I've had

pastoral meetings

and discussions

and maybe you've

had them as well

where somebody

will sit down

opposite me

and say,

well I prayed

and I really feel

at peace

with this decision

and that decision

is something

that's just

thoroughly unbiblical

or I feel

that the Spirit

is guiding me

in this way

but again

it's not a way

that's in line

with the truth

of the Bible.

1 John

tells us

to test

the Spirit

to recognise

that just as

there is the Spirit

of God

so also

there are evil

spirits

and what do

they want to do?

They want to halt

our progress

in sanctification.

They want to take

us off course.

They want to make

us want to fall

into ditches

to not grow

in the image

of Jesus.

So we don't

trust our hunches,

our feelings,

our intuition.

We want to trust

the Holy Spirit

to guide us

into the Bible.

He's always

going to guide us

towards sanctification,

towards holiness

and never towards sin.

He's always

going to guide us

in line with

biblical teaching.

He's never going to

reveal some new truth.

So the Holy Spirit

guides us

in the truth

of the Bible.

Last thing

and in many ways

the most important

thing

to motivate us

towards the goal

of sanctification

is this,

the Holy Spirit

guides us

to live out

our true identity.

Now there is a question,

well there are many

questions I dread

in a public setting

but one that's

particularly painful

is this,

when you get that

open-ended,

you're being introduced

to a new group,

it's like,

tell us about yourself.

That's just,

what do you do

with that one?

But it's interesting

to think about

identity

and how we choose

to identify

ourselves.

Often,

we identify

in terms of

place,

I am from,

sky,

I live in

Edinburgh,

we identify

ourselves

in terms

of people,

our family

relationships

or maybe we tend

to identify

ourselves

in terms

of our position.

Here is the work

I do,

here is the work

I did,

whether that's

paid or unpaid.

Now,

for you and I

to make progress

towards God's goal

for our life

which is

sanctification,

the most important

thing for us

to understand

is our true

identity.

identity.

So much of

Christian ethics

and the Christian

way of life

is bound up

with becoming

who we truly

are.

Not who we are

by nature

but who we are

by God's grace

becoming who we

truly are

in Christ.

Hundreds of times

in Paul's

letters he talks

about being

in Christ.

It's crucial

to see what is

already true

of us

so that we

would then

live like

it's true.

So even here

in verse 1

we see it.

We ask you

and urge you

in the Lord

Jesus

as those

who are

in Jesus

continue to

live

to please

God.

What does

the Bible

tell us

about our

true identity

as believers?

who says

things like

in Christ

you are

dead to sin

and you are

alive in Christ.

You have a new

master,

you have a new

power.

It says

in Christ

you are a new

creation.

God's

power has

worked in you

so that now

you might live

for Christ

and not

live for yourself.

in Christ

you are not

a child

of disobedience.

You are

a child

of God.

In Christ

you are

holy,

you are

precious,

you are a

treasured

possession.

So live

that way.

In so

many ways

the New

Testament

reminds us

of who

we are

and then

it tells

us

in light

of that

identity,

in light

of all

those

spiritual

blessings

you enjoy

because you

are united

to the

Lord Jesus

Christ,

live as

those who

are in

Christ.

And that's

what the

Holy Spirit

does.

He guides

us to see

who we

truly are.

So we

need

the work

of the

Holy Spirit

so that we

might grow

in holiness

because he

shows us

what holiness

looks like

in God's

word.

He shows

us the

gospel

so we

see the

pattern of

true holiness,

the beauty

of Jesus

and we

see in the

gospel who

we truly

are so

that we

might live

that way.

So remember

the goal

of God

for your

life.

It is

God's

will

that you

should be

sanctified.

So remember

we work

hard at

that but

we work

with the

help of

the Holy

Spirit who

helps us

in that

every step

of the way.