WEBVTT 00:00:04.110 --> 00:00:07.809 Let's take our Bibles and open up to 1 Thessalonians 00:00:07.809 --> 00:00:15.429 chapter 5, 23 through 28. This is the conclusion 00:00:15.429 --> 00:00:19.230 of this letter from Paul and Silas and Timothy 00:00:19.230 --> 00:00:23.309 to the Christians in Thessalonica. And as we 00:00:23.309 --> 00:00:25.449 come to the conclusion of this book, we don't 00:00:25.449 --> 00:00:27.629 actually, we will continue to be in this book. 00:00:27.690 --> 00:00:30.589 This book is so good for us. And Lord willing, 00:00:30.649 --> 00:00:33.350 we'll get into the second letter in the future. 00:00:34.019 --> 00:00:37.159 But we do take time to conclude the sermon series. 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:40.340 But I also want to briefly let you know what's 00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:43.560 ahead for us. I think it's a good practice. I 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:46.820 think it's a biblical practice that we would 00:00:46.820 --> 00:00:49.140 cover the whole council of God and our preaching 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:52.240 and our teaching. And so next up is the book 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:56.359 of Jonah. And I know we all pretty familiar with 00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:58.299 that book, and yet there's so much there. And 00:00:58.299 --> 00:01:01.320 so look forward to Jonah. But for now, let us 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:05.620 give our attention to Thessalonians, the first 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:09.060 letter, chapter five, 23 through 28. Please pay 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:15.819 attention, for this is God's holy word. Now, 00:01:16.659 --> 00:01:21.040 may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:25.739 And may your whole spirit and soul and body be 00:01:25.739 --> 00:01:29.000 kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:33.409 Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:37.969 surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all 00:01:37.969 --> 00:01:41.030 the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under 00:01:41.030 --> 00:01:43.349 oath before the Lord to have this letter read 00:01:43.349 --> 00:01:47.709 to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus 00:01:47.709 --> 00:01:51.450 Christ be with you. The grass withers and the 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:53.510 flower fades, but God's word stands forever. 00:01:53.609 --> 00:01:56.950 Let's pray. Father, we pray with thanksgiving 00:01:56.950 --> 00:02:00.489 for this word that is inspired by your spirit 00:02:00.489 --> 00:02:03.799 and we ask. Lord that you'd open up our hearts 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:06.879 and our minds to receive this word and to apply 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:13.900 this word We pray it in Christ's name. Amen Perhaps 00:02:13.900 --> 00:02:18.680 you know of the hymn writer John Newton John 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:23.319 Newton who wrote Amazing Grace in His later years 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:26.219 just a couple of years before his death his eyesight 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:31.300 had grown dim And so what he would do in order 00:02:31.300 --> 00:02:34.599 to continue to read the Bible is to have someone 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:37.500 read it to him. And it was very common for John 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:40.400 Newton to have the Bible read at breakfast. And 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:42.900 so one day a friend called upon him for breakfast. 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:46.120 And so John Newton and this friend had breakfast. 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:48.300 And the scripture that was chosen for that day 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:51.580 is from 1 Corinthians 15. By the grace of God, 00:02:51.580 --> 00:02:57.620 I am what I am. But it was also Newton's practice 00:02:57.620 --> 00:03:01.240 to explain Scripture and to apply Scripture. 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:07.099 And so John Newton said this, I am not what I 00:03:07.099 --> 00:03:11.199 ought to be. How imperfect and deficient I am 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.580 not what I wish to be. Soon, soon I shall put 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:18.080 off mortality and with mortality all sin and 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:21.240 imperfection yet, though I am not not what I 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:25.000 ought to be, nor what I wish to be. Now what 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.979 I hope to be, I can truly say. I am not what 00:03:28.979 --> 00:03:33.659 I once was, a slave to sin and Satan, and I can 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:36.259 hardly join in with the apostle and acknowledge 00:03:36.259 --> 00:03:42.539 by the grace of God, I am what I am. Friends, 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:47.860 you are not what you will be, but you are not 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:52.819 who you were. You are in the process of sanctification, 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:56.800 that at the moment of regeneration upon the new 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:01.430 birth, God begins the process of making you more 00:04:01.430 --> 00:04:05.409 and more and more like Christ a process that 00:04:05.409 --> 00:04:09.569 will continue Until Christ returns you are being 00:04:09.569 --> 00:04:15.270 made new Today I want to focus on three things 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:19.029 related to sanctification Looking at what is 00:04:19.029 --> 00:04:22.810 sanctification? How does sanctification work? 00:04:23.629 --> 00:04:29.019 And to what extent will God sanctify? So you 00:04:29.019 --> 00:04:31.459 might say, well, yes, what is sanctification? 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:34.319 I think the Westminster Shorter Catechism is 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:38.420 the place to go to hear this definition. Sanctification 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:42.319 is the work of God's spirit, whereby we are renewed 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:45.920 in the whole man after the image of God and are 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:49.699 enabled more and more to die unto sin and to 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:53.399 live unto righteousness. You can hear within 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:55.560 that definition that there are really two parts 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:58.399 to sanctification. There's the dying to sin, 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:02.920 the mortification, but also the living unto righteousness, 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:07.339 the holy living. And friends, that's the point 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:13.279 of this passage. Look in verse 23. Now may the 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:17.519 God of peace himself sanctify you completely. 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:22.899 This is the point of the passage, but it's also, 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:26.480 I would say, the point of the entire letter. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:29.339 Now you might say, how is this the point of the 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:31.319 entire letter? There's a lot of good stuff in 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:34.100 here. I believe it's the main point of the letter 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:39.000 because sanctification, as one scholar said it, 00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:43.759 sanctification is the chief goal of our eternal 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:48.199 election. We are saved not just from something. 00:05:49.579 --> 00:05:53.459 We are saved to something. We are saved, friends, 00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:57.500 to holiness. And Paul, as we have seen throughout 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:00.079 this letter, his concern has been to minister 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.120 to the Thessalonians about holiness. And they 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:06.379 were young Christians, we are to believe. And 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:10.300 so what they needed to hear was that God requires 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.579 of us our lives, that we are to give our lives 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:17.699 in faith to Christ who begins this work of sanctification 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:23.220 and doesn't quit. Verse 23 here it reads like 00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:26.319 a benediction, but it's really a prayer and as 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.480 the source of peace Paul prays for God to sanctify 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.939 them through and through you see it there spirit 00:06:33.939 --> 00:06:37.660 soul and Body friends at the coming of the Lord 00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:42.560 Jesus at the at Jesus's return There will not 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:46.519 be an ounce of your spirit left unsanctified 00:06:47.209 --> 00:06:50.949 He will bring it to completion. And when Paul 00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:53.790 mentions the body here, perhaps what he is recalling 00:06:53.790 --> 00:06:57.370 here is the resurrection. That when Christ comes 00:06:57.370 --> 00:06:59.949 and he takes us to himself, what's going to happen 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:03.149 is the resurrection, right? That we will no longer 00:07:03.149 --> 00:07:07.829 have bodies that are plagued by sin, plagued 00:07:07.829 --> 00:07:12.970 by illness, plagued by injury. We will be perfect. 00:07:14.350 --> 00:07:18.060 But it's also been said, That when Christ comes 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:22.079 he comes for judgment you can see here in the 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:25.839 verse blamelessness This is getting at Christ's 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:29.079 righteousness if you are in Christ you were able 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:31.620 to stand in the judgment But if not if you do 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:34.420 not have Christ you will not be able to stand 00:07:35.189 --> 00:07:37.050 Blamelessness is getting here that you would 00:07:37.050 --> 00:07:40.230 have no spot no blemish and no it's not getting 00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:43.689 at skincare This is getting at soul care and 00:07:43.689 --> 00:07:47.370 so friends here in this space. Do you have? the 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:51.290 righteousness of Christ It has your body and 00:07:51.290 --> 00:07:55.490 soul been saved by Jesus Jesus is the only way 00:07:55.490 --> 00:07:59.769 that we will have peace possible with God in 00:07:59.769 --> 00:08:05.709 Christ we are safe in the judgment In Christ, 00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:10.689 His righteousness is imputed to us. It is ours. 00:08:11.329 --> 00:08:13.490 But friends, if you do not have Jesus today, 00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:16.290 if you do not have Christ, you are relying on 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:18.910 your own merits and your acts of righteousness 00:08:18.910 --> 00:08:21.910 are not sufficient. They're not good enough because 00:08:21.910 --> 00:08:24.829 apart from Christ, any good work that we may 00:08:24.829 --> 00:08:27.350 do actually isn't that good because it's done 00:08:27.350 --> 00:08:30.370 from the wrong motivation. Our good works before 00:08:30.370 --> 00:08:34.889 Christ are broken, polluted. We have all inherited 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:40.250 Adam's sin, and surely every day since we have 00:08:40.250 --> 00:08:45.269 committed sin. And so no, without Christ, you'll 00:08:45.269 --> 00:08:48.230 not be able to stand in the judgment. You need 00:08:48.230 --> 00:08:51.889 Christ. Friends, I hope you can see that these 00:08:51.889 --> 00:08:54.470 few verses that we look at, this is not a bland 00:08:54.470 --> 00:08:58.269 conclusion, but this is a grand conclusion. Paul 00:08:58.269 --> 00:09:02.409 is giving us the gospel in a nutshell. We are 00:09:02.409 --> 00:09:05.330 being made more and more into the likeness of 00:09:05.330 --> 00:09:09.090 our Savior. But friends, can we do it on our 00:09:09.090 --> 00:09:13.809 own? No. Look in the verse, verse 23. Now may 00:09:13.809 --> 00:09:16.970 the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, 00:09:17.389 --> 00:09:20.029 telling us that who is the one doing the sanctification? 00:09:21.070 --> 00:09:26.029 The God of peace. It's become common in our day 00:09:26.029 --> 00:09:31.039 to talk about using this phrase, do it yourself 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:34.559 DIY. If you go to a Lowe's or a Home Depot or 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:36.860 an AIDS Hardware on a Saturday, you'll see all 00:09:36.860 --> 00:09:40.120 kinds of people trying to DIY, do it yourself. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.240 But friends, when it comes to sanctification, 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:49.259 you cannot DIY. You cannot do it yourself. We 00:09:49.259 --> 00:09:53.320 need God to work in this way. And so how does 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:56.460 it work? How does he work in us? Well, as we 00:09:56.460 --> 00:09:59.139 see the God of peace is the one who does this. 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:01.950 First off, I want you to see that this is certain. 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:05.470 That's what that verse tells us. He will surely 00:10:05.470 --> 00:10:08.289 do it. And so you don't have to worry, is God 00:10:08.289 --> 00:10:11.029 going to do this? If you are in Christ, he is 00:10:11.029 --> 00:10:15.169 at work in your lives. But he does work through 00:10:15.169 --> 00:10:19.570 specific means. And these specific means are 00:10:19.570 --> 00:10:24.250 very ordinary means. God accomplishes salvation 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:30.350 through the word and the sacraments. prayer and 00:10:30.350 --> 00:10:34.830 so we should give ourselves to these things look 00:10:34.830 --> 00:10:38.629 in verse 25 brothers pray for us again one of 00:10:38.629 --> 00:10:43.190 the means of grace prayer if this is an evidence 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:45.070 for the very fact that we need prayer I don't 00:10:45.070 --> 00:10:47.870 know what is because Paul under the inspiration 00:10:47.870 --> 00:10:50.769 of the Holy Spirit is calling upon prayer for 00:10:50.769 --> 00:10:57.039 himself this is Paul The Holy Spirit wants you 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:01.000 to have these words, to hit your knees in prayer. 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:04.759 We saw in our last section that we are to pray 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:08.539 without ceasing, right? We've also talked about 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:11.820 brotherly love, haven't we? Is there any greater 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:14.779 way we can show love to one another but by prayer? 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:19.799 We must be people of prayer. And we talked last 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:23.940 time about how some of these Some of these prescriptions, 00:11:23.980 --> 00:11:26.879 some of these commands within the scripture are 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.340 not just for individuals, but for the church, 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:34.220 for church life. And so we recognize that as 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:36.840 a church we must be praying. Friends, we have 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:40.299 a mechanism here at Fairview for prayer for one 00:11:40.299 --> 00:11:42.960 another. It's called the prayer meeting. Would 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:46.419 you come on Wednesday nights and be a part of 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:48.840 the prayer meeting of lifting one another up 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.259 with united voices? Oh friends, we must do this. 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:55.429 The prayer meeting has been called the engine 00:11:55.429 --> 00:11:58.889 room of the church. And so let us as a church 00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:01.950 be praying for one another. You can also see 00:12:01.950 --> 00:12:04.110 the way that Paul puts this. He says, brothers 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:06.370 pray for us. I don't know how many times he says 00:12:06.370 --> 00:12:09.169 the word brother within this letter, but many 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:13.230 times there is a warmth there. There is an affection 00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:16.570 there. There is a closeness here. And it's exhibited 00:12:16.570 --> 00:12:20.429 in verse 26 as well. Greet all the brothers with 00:12:20.429 --> 00:12:26.700 a holy kiss. Again, implying, showing affection 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:29.059 and closeness. Now, I don't think that this is 00:12:29.059 --> 00:12:32.580 a command here to all of the church, so you don't 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:35.240 have to be wholly kissing outside of the church 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:39.039 after worship here. Perhaps a hug or a handshake 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:41.360 will do, but in some places, and in this time, 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:43.860 this would have been very common. And so let 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:47.059 us show affection for one another. Let us love 00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:52.240 one another as the church. We're reminded here 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.720 how much Paul loved this church. Paul loved this 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:57.860 church. He was driven out from the church by 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:00.340 the people in the city of Thessalonica, and he 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:02.539 was prevented from coming back, though he wanted 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:05.480 to, because he loved them, and he wanted to continue 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:09.039 to share Christ with them. But as Paul was unable 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:13.340 to come back to the Thessalonians, he gives them 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:16.120 the next best thing, and perhaps our best thing. 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:19.549 He writes to them this letter. And this shows 00:13:19.549 --> 00:13:22.090 the sovereignty of God, doesn't it? That God 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:25.909 would preserve this letter for our edification. 00:13:26.009 --> 00:13:29.269 That as the Thessalonians needed this letter, 00:13:29.809 --> 00:13:34.789 so do we. And the Holy Spirit supplies it. You 00:13:34.789 --> 00:13:37.690 can also see how seriously Paul takes this letter. 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:42.850 Look in verse 27. I put you under oath before 00:13:42.850 --> 00:13:45.830 the Lord to have this letter read to all the 00:13:45.830 --> 00:13:49.840 brothers. Paul wrote to address specific concerns 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:53.059 within the church, namely sanctification and 00:13:53.059 --> 00:13:55.340 the return of Christ. They had holes in their 00:13:55.340 --> 00:13:59.179 theology, holes in their practice. This letter 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:03.879 is a response to that. And so as the Thessalonians 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.320 needed help with theology and practice, so do 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:09.940 we. And so, friends, as I mentioned, the word 00:14:09.940 --> 00:14:13.960 being of the means of grace, let us give ourselves 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:17.259 to the reading of scripture. to the study of 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:20.039 Scripture, to the memorization of Scripture, 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:22.460 and to the meditation upon Scripture. Let us 00:14:22.460 --> 00:14:26.080 give ourselves to these things corporately, together. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.580 Children's studies we have here, men's Bible 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:32.220 studies, women's Bible studies, vacation Bible 00:14:32.220 --> 00:14:36.340 school, all of these things are centered on the 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:39.379 Word. And we've already seen how effective the 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:42.519 Word is. If you remember chapter two, verse 13. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:48.620 And we also thank God constantly for this, that 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:51.360 when you receive the word of God, which you heard 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:55.639 from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:00.000 but as what it really is, the word of God, which 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.759 is at work in you, believers. Friends, the word 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:08.299 works. The word works. This is the revelation 00:15:08.299 --> 00:15:12.419 of God of himself. And so God gives us the Word, 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:15.820 and John chapter one says that Jesus is the Word. 00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:20.039 The Word is good for us, it's necessary for us, 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:24.039 and the Word is coming back. Jesus is returning. 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:29.960 Don't you think we ought to know who Jesus is 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:35.019 before he comes back? You know Jesus from the 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:39.980 Word, and the Word sanctifies. But thirdly, To 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:44.220 what extent does God sanctify us? If you remember 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:48.799 Philippians 1 .6, this speaks to it very, very 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:53.639 well. Philippians 1 .6, and I am sure of this, 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:57.480 that he who began a good work in you will bring 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:02.820 it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:08.700 To what extent? To a full extent he will sanctify 00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:12.740 us. sanctification it's a process I like how 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:17.480 Martin Luther put it Luther said we in Christ 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:23.419 equals justification Christ in us equals sanctification 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:26.720 and friends on the day of the return of Christ 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:31.159 he will have no unfinished projects right now 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.909 in these days we are battling sin We're wrestling 00:16:34.909 --> 00:16:38.250 with it. Sometimes we fail miserably, but because 00:16:38.250 --> 00:16:41.090 of the Holy Spirit, we can say no to sin. And 00:16:41.090 --> 00:16:44.049 some of you are doing that very, very well. You're 00:16:44.049 --> 00:16:46.929 saying no to sin. What we have to look forward 00:16:46.929 --> 00:16:51.549 to on that last day is when we will be freed 00:16:51.549 --> 00:16:57.690 from sinning. What a glorious thought. Do you 00:16:57.690 --> 00:17:02.460 know the last verse of Come Thou Found? It was 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:06.799 actually written later. It goes like this. On 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:12.019 that day, when freed from sinning, I shall see 00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:16.220 thy lovely face, clothed then in blood -washed 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:20.019 linen, how I'll sing thy sovereign grace. Come, 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:23.660 my Lord, no longer tarry. Take my ransom soul 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:27.859 away. Send thine angels now to carry me to realms 00:17:27.859 --> 00:17:36.490 of endless. free from sinning. Are you familiar 00:17:36.490 --> 00:17:41.849 with the ministry of Johnny Erickson Tata? If 00:17:41.849 --> 00:17:44.630 you are, you know that when she was 17, she had 00:17:44.630 --> 00:17:48.529 a terrible accident, a diving accident, that 00:17:48.529 --> 00:17:50.869 left her completely paralyzed, a quadriplegic. 00:17:51.710 --> 00:17:54.309 You would think that a person who has had to 00:17:54.309 --> 00:17:57.789 deal with pain for so many decades and confined 00:17:57.789 --> 00:17:59.569 to a wheelchair, you would think that when somebody 00:17:59.569 --> 00:18:02.000 would ask her, What are you most looking forward 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.480 to about heaven that she would say to be freed 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:09.559 from all of this? But what she really said was 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:13.099 she is most looking forward to being free from 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:18.019 sinning. Friends, verse 24 is abundantly clear. 00:18:19.539 --> 00:18:24.759 God is faithful to complete his work. And what 00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:27.220 we have before us, this table is a picture of 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:30.650 that. It's a picture of the completeness of Christ 00:18:30.650 --> 00:18:34.609 to die on the cross for us. This is what we will 00:18:34.609 --> 00:18:37.930 partake of momentarily. But for now, go back 00:18:37.930 --> 00:18:41.990 to verse 23 as I begin to wrap up. I said that 00:18:41.990 --> 00:18:45.809 verse 23 is the main point, but actually I would 00:18:45.809 --> 00:18:50.369 say it's 1A and 1B with chapter 3, verse 13. 00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:53.470 Actually, I'll read 11 through 13 that says, 00:18:56.809 --> 00:19:00.930 our Lord Jesus direct our way to you and may 00:19:00.930 --> 00:19:04.130 the Lord make you Increase and abound in love 00:19:04.130 --> 00:19:07.089 for one another and for all as we do for you 00:19:07.089 --> 00:19:11.369 So that he may establish your hearts blameless 00:19:11.369 --> 00:19:16.210 in holiness Before our God and father at the 00:19:16.210 --> 00:19:21.250 coming of our Lord Jesus With all his saints 00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:26.109 you can hear the similarity both of these passages 00:19:26.109 --> 00:19:29.650 read like benediction, but consider them prayers. 00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:34.650 This is how Paul and Silas and Timothy pray for 00:19:34.650 --> 00:19:38.470 the Thessalonian church. And you remember how 00:19:38.470 --> 00:19:42.009 last Sunday we talked about assurance of salvation. 00:19:43.120 --> 00:19:45.440 About those who were in the church who were weak 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.960 who were faint -hearted perhaps lacking that 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:50.500 assurance wondering am I getting the mercy of 00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:53.019 God or am I getting the wrath of God? Friends 00:19:53.019 --> 00:19:56.220 this whole book is written to give you hope and 00:19:56.220 --> 00:19:59.640 the certainty that if you were in Christ You 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:02.799 will never be outside of Christ that you have 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:05.920 the righteousness of Christ That you have the 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:09.680 certainty of that fact that he who began a good 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:13.319 work in you will see it all the way to the end. 00:20:14.180 --> 00:20:18.380 That's what this book is all about. And that's 00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:21.579 not just Paul's prayer. It's not just Paul's 00:20:21.579 --> 00:20:25.859 prayer. This is actually Jesus' prayer. Do you 00:20:25.859 --> 00:20:29.539 remember John chapter 17, Jesus' high priestly 00:20:29.539 --> 00:20:32.299 prayer? Do you remember that before Jesus went 00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:36.759 to the cross, he prayed for his disciples? He 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:41.960 prayed like this. Sanctify them in the truth. 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:47.920 Your word is truth and then he added For their 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:52.039 sake I consecrate myself that they also may be 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:55.380 sanctified in truth And listen to this part. 00:20:55.819 --> 00:21:00.059 It's for you I do not ask for these only but 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:03.119 also for those who will believe in me through 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:08.240 their word friends Before Jesus took to the cross 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:11.240 He didn't just pray for his disciples right then 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:15.220 and there He prayed for you. He prayed for you 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:18.700 to be sanctified. And as the book of Hebrews 00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:22.380 says, Jesus lives to intercede. And so there's 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:24.980 no reason to believe that Jesus has stopped praying 00:21:24.980 --> 00:21:28.460 this. It has not changed. Jesus continues to 00:21:28.460 --> 00:21:31.480 pray for your holiness. And so friends, have 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:34.799 hope in the meantime. At His coming, we will 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:38.940 be what He wants us to be, perfectly sanctified, 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:42.859 spotless, righteous. You have that now in Christ. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:48.400 But in the last day, you will have it in its 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:53.039 fullness. You will be kept blameless. You will 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.079 be perfectly holy.