Let's take our Bibles and open up to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5, 23 through 28. This is the conclusion
of this letter from Paul and Silas and Timothy
to the Christians in Thessalonica. And as we
come to the conclusion of this book, we don't
actually, we will continue to be in this book.
This book is so good for us. And Lord willing,
we'll get into the second letter in the future.
But we do take time to conclude the sermon series.
But I also want to briefly let you know what's
ahead for us. I think it's a good practice. I
think it's a biblical practice that we would
cover the whole council of God and our preaching
and our teaching. And so next up is the book
of Jonah. And I know we all pretty familiar with
that book, and yet there's so much there. And
so look forward to Jonah. But for now, let us
give our attention to Thessalonians, the first
letter, chapter five, 23 through 28. Please pay
attention, for this is God's holy word. Now,
may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.
And may your whole spirit and soul and body be
kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will
surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all
the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under
oath before the Lord to have this letter read
to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you. The grass withers and the
flower fades, but God's word stands forever.
Let's pray. Father, we pray with thanksgiving
for this word that is inspired by your spirit
and we ask. Lord that you'd open up our hearts
and our minds to receive this word and to apply
this word We pray it in Christ's name. Amen Perhaps
you know of the hymn writer John Newton John
Newton who wrote Amazing Grace in His later years
just a couple of years before his death his eyesight
had grown dim And so what he would do in order
to continue to read the Bible is to have someone
read it to him. And it was very common for John
Newton to have the Bible read at breakfast. And
so one day a friend called upon him for breakfast.
And so John Newton and this friend had breakfast.
And the scripture that was chosen for that day
is from 1 Corinthians 15. By the grace of God,
I am what I am. But it was also Newton's practice
to explain Scripture and to apply Scripture.
And so John Newton said this, I am not what I
ought to be. How imperfect and deficient I am
not what I wish to be. Soon, soon I shall put
off mortality and with mortality all sin and
imperfection yet, though I am not not what I
ought to be, nor what I wish to be. Now what
I hope to be, I can truly say. I am not what
I once was, a slave to sin and Satan, and I can
hardly join in with the apostle and acknowledge
by the grace of God, I am what I am. Friends,
you are not what you will be, but you are not
who you were. You are in the process of sanctification,
that at the moment of regeneration upon the new
birth, God begins the process of making you more
and more and more like Christ a process that
will continue Until Christ returns you are being
made new Today I want to focus on three things
related to sanctification Looking at what is
sanctification? How does sanctification work?
And to what extent will God sanctify? So you
might say, well, yes, what is sanctification?
I think the Westminster Shorter Catechism is
the place to go to hear this definition. Sanctification
is the work of God's spirit, whereby we are renewed
in the whole man after the image of God and are
enabled more and more to die unto sin and to
live unto righteousness. You can hear within
that definition that there are really two parts
to sanctification. There's the dying to sin,
the mortification, but also the living unto righteousness,
the holy living. And friends, that's the point
of this passage. Look in verse 23. Now may the
God of peace himself sanctify you completely.
This is the point of the passage, but it's also,
I would say, the point of the entire letter.
Now you might say, how is this the point of the
entire letter? There's a lot of good stuff in
here. I believe it's the main point of the letter
because sanctification, as one scholar said it,
sanctification is the chief goal of our eternal
election. We are saved not just from something.
We are saved to something. We are saved, friends,
to holiness. And Paul, as we have seen throughout
this letter, his concern has been to minister
to the Thessalonians about holiness. And they
were young Christians, we are to believe. And
so what they needed to hear was that God requires
of us our lives, that we are to give our lives
in faith to Christ who begins this work of sanctification
and doesn't quit. Verse 23 here it reads like
a benediction, but it's really a prayer and as
the source of peace Paul prays for God to sanctify
them through and through you see it there spirit
soul and Body friends at the coming of the Lord
Jesus at the at Jesus's return There will not
be an ounce of your spirit left unsanctified
He will bring it to completion. And when Paul
mentions the body here, perhaps what he is recalling
here is the resurrection. That when Christ comes
and he takes us to himself, what's going to happen
is the resurrection, right? That we will no longer
have bodies that are plagued by sin, plagued
by illness, plagued by injury. We will be perfect.
But it's also been said, That when Christ comes
he comes for judgment you can see here in the
verse blamelessness This is getting at Christ's
righteousness if you are in Christ you were able
to stand in the judgment But if not if you do
not have Christ you will not be able to stand
Blamelessness is getting here that you would
have no spot no blemish and no it's not getting
at skincare This is getting at soul care and
so friends here in this space. Do you have? the
righteousness of Christ It has your body and
soul been saved by Jesus Jesus is the only way
that we will have peace possible with God in
Christ we are safe in the judgment In Christ,
His righteousness is imputed to us. It is ours.
But friends, if you do not have Jesus today,
if you do not have Christ, you are relying on
your own merits and your acts of righteousness
are not sufficient. They're not good enough because
apart from Christ, any good work that we may
do actually isn't that good because it's done
from the wrong motivation. Our good works before
Christ are broken, polluted. We have all inherited
Adam's sin, and surely every day since we have
committed sin. And so no, without Christ, you'll
not be able to stand in the judgment. You need
Christ. Friends, I hope you can see that these
few verses that we look at, this is not a bland
conclusion, but this is a grand conclusion. Paul
is giving us the gospel in a nutshell. We are
being made more and more into the likeness of
our Savior. But friends, can we do it on our
own? No. Look in the verse, verse 23. Now may
the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,
telling us that who is the one doing the sanctification?
The God of peace. It's become common in our day
to talk about using this phrase, do it yourself
DIY. If you go to a Lowe's or a Home Depot or
an AIDS Hardware on a Saturday, you'll see all
kinds of people trying to DIY, do it yourself.
But friends, when it comes to sanctification,
you cannot DIY. You cannot do it yourself. We
need God to work in this way. And so how does
it work? How does he work in us? Well, as we
see the God of peace is the one who does this.
First off, I want you to see that this is certain.
That's what that verse tells us. He will surely
do it. And so you don't have to worry, is God
going to do this? If you are in Christ, he is
at work in your lives. But he does work through
specific means. And these specific means are
very ordinary means. God accomplishes salvation
through the word and the sacraments. prayer and
so we should give ourselves to these things look
in verse 25 brothers pray for us again one of
the means of grace prayer if this is an evidence
for the very fact that we need prayer I don't
know what is because Paul under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit is calling upon prayer for
himself this is Paul The Holy Spirit wants you
to have these words, to hit your knees in prayer.
We saw in our last section that we are to pray
without ceasing, right? We've also talked about
brotherly love, haven't we? Is there any greater
way we can show love to one another but by prayer?
We must be people of prayer. And we talked last
time about how some of these Some of these prescriptions,
some of these commands within the scripture are
not just for individuals, but for the church,
for church life. And so we recognize that as
a church we must be praying. Friends, we have
a mechanism here at Fairview for prayer for one
another. It's called the prayer meeting. Would
you come on Wednesday nights and be a part of
the prayer meeting of lifting one another up
with united voices? Oh friends, we must do this.
The prayer meeting has been called the engine
room of the church. And so let us as a church
be praying for one another. You can also see
the way that Paul puts this. He says, brothers
pray for us. I don't know how many times he says
the word brother within this letter, but many
times there is a warmth there. There is an affection
there. There is a closeness here. And it's exhibited
in verse 26 as well. Greet all the brothers with
a holy kiss. Again, implying, showing affection
and closeness. Now, I don't think that this is
a command here to all of the church, so you don't
have to be wholly kissing outside of the church
after worship here. Perhaps a hug or a handshake
will do, but in some places, and in this time,
this would have been very common. And so let
us show affection for one another. Let us love
one another as the church. We're reminded here
how much Paul loved this church. Paul loved this
church. He was driven out from the church by
the people in the city of Thessalonica, and he
was prevented from coming back, though he wanted
to, because he loved them, and he wanted to continue
to share Christ with them. But as Paul was unable
to come back to the Thessalonians, he gives them
the next best thing, and perhaps our best thing.
He writes to them this letter. And this shows
the sovereignty of God, doesn't it? That God
would preserve this letter for our edification.
That as the Thessalonians needed this letter,
so do we. And the Holy Spirit supplies it. You
can also see how seriously Paul takes this letter.
Look in verse 27. I put you under oath before
the Lord to have this letter read to all the
brothers. Paul wrote to address specific concerns
within the church, namely sanctification and
the return of Christ. They had holes in their
theology, holes in their practice. This letter
is a response to that. And so as the Thessalonians
needed help with theology and practice, so do
we. And so, friends, as I mentioned, the word
being of the means of grace, let us give ourselves
to the reading of scripture. to the study of
Scripture, to the memorization of Scripture,
and to the meditation upon Scripture. Let us
give ourselves to these things corporately, together.
Children's studies we have here, men's Bible
studies, women's Bible studies, vacation Bible
school, all of these things are centered on the
Word. And we've already seen how effective the
Word is. If you remember chapter two, verse 13.
And we also thank God constantly for this, that
when you receive the word of God, which you heard
from us, you accepted it not as the word of men,
but as what it really is, the word of God, which
is at work in you, believers. Friends, the word
works. The word works. This is the revelation
of God of himself. And so God gives us the Word,
and John chapter one says that Jesus is the Word.
The Word is good for us, it's necessary for us,
and the Word is coming back. Jesus is returning.
Don't you think we ought to know who Jesus is
before he comes back? You know Jesus from the
Word, and the Word sanctifies. But thirdly, To
what extent does God sanctify us? If you remember
Philippians 1 .6, this speaks to it very, very
well. Philippians 1 .6, and I am sure of this,
that he who began a good work in you will bring
it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
To what extent? To a full extent he will sanctify
us. sanctification it's a process I like how
Martin Luther put it Luther said we in Christ
equals justification Christ in us equals sanctification
and friends on the day of the return of Christ
he will have no unfinished projects right now
in these days we are battling sin We're wrestling
with it. Sometimes we fail miserably, but because
of the Holy Spirit, we can say no to sin. And
some of you are doing that very, very well. You're
saying no to sin. What we have to look forward
to on that last day is when we will be freed
from sinning. What a glorious thought. Do you
know the last verse of Come Thou Found? It was
actually written later. It goes like this. On
that day, when freed from sinning, I shall see
thy lovely face, clothed then in blood -washed
linen, how I'll sing thy sovereign grace. Come,
my Lord, no longer tarry. Take my ransom soul
away. Send thine angels now to carry me to realms
of endless. free from sinning. Are you familiar
with the ministry of Johnny Erickson Tata? If
you are, you know that when she was 17, she had
a terrible accident, a diving accident, that
left her completely paralyzed, a quadriplegic.
You would think that a person who has had to
deal with pain for so many decades and confined
to a wheelchair, you would think that when somebody
would ask her, What are you most looking forward
to about heaven that she would say to be freed
from all of this? But what she really said was
she is most looking forward to being free from
sinning. Friends, verse 24 is abundantly clear.
God is faithful to complete his work. And what
we have before us, this table is a picture of
that. It's a picture of the completeness of Christ
to die on the cross for us. This is what we will
partake of momentarily. But for now, go back
to verse 23 as I begin to wrap up. I said that
verse 23 is the main point, but actually I would
say it's 1A and 1B with chapter 3, verse 13.
Actually, I'll read 11 through 13 that says,
our Lord Jesus direct our way to you and may
the Lord make you Increase and abound in love
for one another and for all as we do for you
So that he may establish your hearts blameless
in holiness Before our God and father at the
coming of our Lord Jesus With all his saints
you can hear the similarity both of these passages
read like benediction, but consider them prayers.
This is how Paul and Silas and Timothy pray for
the Thessalonian church. And you remember how
last Sunday we talked about assurance of salvation.
About those who were in the church who were weak
who were faint -hearted perhaps lacking that
assurance wondering am I getting the mercy of
God or am I getting the wrath of God? Friends
this whole book is written to give you hope and
the certainty that if you were in Christ You
will never be outside of Christ that you have
the righteousness of Christ That you have the
certainty of that fact that he who began a good
work in you will see it all the way to the end.
That's what this book is all about. And that's
not just Paul's prayer. It's not just Paul's
prayer. This is actually Jesus' prayer. Do you
remember John chapter 17, Jesus' high priestly
prayer? Do you remember that before Jesus went
to the cross, he prayed for his disciples? He
prayed like this. Sanctify them in the truth.
Your word is truth and then he added For their
sake I consecrate myself that they also may be
sanctified in truth And listen to this part.
It's for you I do not ask for these only but
also for those who will believe in me through
their word friends Before Jesus took to the cross
He didn't just pray for his disciples right then
and there He prayed for you. He prayed for you
to be sanctified. And as the book of Hebrews
says, Jesus lives to intercede. And so there's
no reason to believe that Jesus has stopped praying
this. It has not changed. Jesus continues to
pray for your holiness. And so friends, have
hope in the meantime. At His coming, we will
be what He wants us to be, perfectly sanctified,
spotless, righteous. You have that now in Christ.
But in the last day, you will have it in its
fullness. You will be kept blameless. You will
be perfectly holy.