Desperate for Sanctification

Let’s open our bibles together. I Peter Chapter 1 and find with me verse 3. 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad.There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.

So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

Now, if you would. Pleased move over and find with me in the same chapter, verse 13. 13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires.

You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy. May I ask you something? After everything you know from your life thus far as a Christian. Ok, not saying you or I know it all, but let’s agree we do have some sort of knowledge of faith.

With everything you know, do you pursue holiness in your life? Or would you agree that you have come to a point in your walk with God where you’ve become comfortable where you are in your spiritual walk? It’s possible right? Peter tells us in our Scripture. He tells us, don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desire. So what he is saying is that it’s easy for us to slip back into our old life.

Our life, remember we talked about last week. Our old life without the Spirit. Before we were born again. Our hearts were hard. We were spiritually sick. We were lovers of darkness. Children of wrath.,. And I think the most scariest of all… we were spiritually dead. There is a possibility that we can fall back into our old life. Into who we were saved from. And I cant help but believe that happens when we become comfortable where we are in our spiritual walk.

Maybe I should start with this question. Would you agree with me that we are people who crave comfort? And since I asked you an honest question. Let me personally be open and honest… I crave comfort. If you don’t believe me ask my wife. Every day I come home after wearing jeans.. what do I do? I fling them off and I grab the ol’ stretchy gym shorts. And I speak in the language of my people…..

and go ahhhhhhh which is the international language of.. oh yea…. That’s better. Stretchy shorts and comfiness means I get to have no restrictions. Wearing stretchy shorts is the best because not only am I wearing clothes, but I am also comfortable. Entire sanctification and pursuing holiness is never going to be that way.. holiness is not a call into a comfortable life after the new birth. We’re called to endure the uncomfortable walk with God so that we can grow in Christ, and grow the kingdom.

So what happens? Well, when we are born again the Spirit resides in us. Right.. our body becomes the temple. Our body becomes the holy of Holy’s. OUr body becomes the place where His presences dwells. The Holy Spirit unites our lives with Christ through His presence within us. This is what we find in Romans 6:5-8 “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with...if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” That’s the new birth… We die with Christ. We live with Christ. His Spirit lives within us. Now, heres the thing. Because the Spirit is within us, and our body becomes His home. His resources becomes ours as well.

Has that ever crossed your mind? That His resources become our riches. What’s the greatest treasure in our life? Our home? Our wive? Our husbands? I mean I think i am a trophy husband. Our kids? What do we treasure most? As Christians, shouldn’t our greatest treasure be Jesus. It’s kind of wrong to say I have Christ within and not treasure that relationship. Think with me about Luke 11. And Jesus says?

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” I don’t really pray for the Spirit when I know I need something.

Right? My prayers have usually been Lord, I want a new car because mice have eaten mine from front to back. Lord, I need 20 bucks for this situation. Lord, I need a new house or a new fridge, or whatever it is that we need. But it never crosses our mind to just say, Lord, I need your holy Spirit in this situation. I need your presence in this moment of my life.

I never understood this passage until now. Think about it… Jesus teaches us.. if your son asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? If they ask for an egg, would you give them an scorpion. None of those things seems amazing. But he says, How much more will your father in heaven give you the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. I’ve always wondered what the Holy Spirit had to do with this verse.

I used to think, man, that’s nice but I didn’t pray for that. I didn’t pray for the Holy Spirit. But think about what is being offered. God is offering.. in our time of need… something greater than the provision. He’s offering the provisioner.. he’s offering to give the giver. We’re asking for comfort in this situation with specifics. Lord, I want this and that.. and when I get it. I will have comfort and all the while God is there saying, Matthew…

no… how about something better… how about I give you the comforter. You asked for help, but i will give you the helper. You ask for guidance but I give you the guide. We ask for gifts, and he gives us the giver. We ask for money, and he gives us the bank. And really, what he’s teaching us is to be men and woman seeking Jesus and His will, and not men and woman of seeking to live comfortable lives.

Honestly, if the presence of Christ doesn't dwell within us. It’s not HIs image we will bear, but our fallen image that we share with others. Has it ever crossed your mind that we tend to pray for comfort and not pray and plead for God’s presence? I believe we do that because we do not treasure what we have in Christ. Now why is that important? Why is it important that the Spirit of God regenerates and dwells within me and I treasure Him above all other things?

It’s important because since we have all the resources of heaven and everything we need living in us, then we have everything we need to hear the call of God to be holy for He is holy and then to respond by seeking to live holy lives. Now how is that possible? To live a holy life? Well… When the Spirit indwells, he sanctifies. Now, what does that mean. To Sanctify.

Well for one… sanctification is an action with a process. Who sanctifies… the Holy Spirit sanctifies... Not me.. not you and not our works. but the Holy Spirits work in our life Is to make us holy. That means the Spirit transforms our lives into the image of Christ, so that we come to mirror the standing we have in God’s sight. And this whole process is driven by the Trinity.

The father planned for you and i to be holy. Ephesians 1:4: For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Right, So before the world was created we were always destined to be holy. So what happened? Mankind sinned, and because of our sin we are now separated from God. The father planned for us to be holy, so he sent his son, Jesus to die for us to become holy.

He gave himself up for us to become holy, to present us to himself as the radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any of blemish, but holy and blameless. So the father planned, the son died and the Spirit indwells within and works for us to be holy,. So what we realize is that sanctification is centered on Jesus. A life without the Spirit does not center itself on JEsus but on who…

it centers their life on themselves. :Listen, a life can claim Christ but never really ever be centered on Jesus. It’s sad, but true. But a life seeking holiness seeks to be centered on Christ. This is huge! Let’s remind ourselves of 2nd Corinthians 3:17… “...We, who with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed...” “...into His likeness; into the likeness of Christ with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” This is a picture of the work of the Spirt in our lives.

He sets our focus. He sets our hearts upon the glory of Christ. And then we behold HIs glory. There is a his part and a our part. Our part is to behold Christ through his word and through prayer and to walk by faith in the Spirit. The only part we play in regeneration and sanctification is our part to repent and to consecrate ourselves. His work is to keep our hearts fixated on Christ.

To burn with affection for Christ. To fan into flames the burning white coals of love and affection for the glory of Christ… until what? Until we behold the glory of Christ to the point where day by day, and moment by moment we become more like him. The more we behold him, the more we become like him. The more we behold him, the more he pulls us out of the comfort zone.

The more that we behold his glory, the more we are cleansed of past sins. That takes us back to I peter chapter 1 verse 2: watch this… ...through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ...” That means as we keep beholding His glory, day by day, we overcome the power of sin and were empowered over future sin because he is giving us power. The power of Christ defeats sin.

And it’s leading us into being people, who are entirely sanctified. He changes our desires… If we are living by the Spirit then our mind is desiring what the Spirit desires. Please, church, listen. Regeneration doesn’t just happen once. It’s initial and continuous. Sanctification is initial and it’s continuous. Regenerations has to continue in our lives, day by day, moment my moment. Regeneration needs to happen and continue over and over and over and over and more and more and more, so that we no longer desire what the world says we should desire.

Then there will come a time in our life where God will ask you, are you mine. What would your answer be if God spoke into your heart at this very moment and whispered to you, are you mine? How desperate are you? How devoted are you this morning to the Lord? And to his will? You see church, as i close this morning I would like for you to ask yourself that question.

Have I lived a comfortable life as a Christian? Have I lived a life that really requires no effort at all? Have I lived a life where Im not really challenged in my faith. Yes, we all have bad days. Yes, we all fall from grace. But what if I told you that you can behold Christ that you will never desire anything else in this world but Him? And how we do that is by stepping out of basic faith and into a life of devoted and desperate faith in Christ…

and we do that by coming to our yet moment… and then walking forward by faith. Have you reached the point of yet, yet? Do you understand that question? Have you reached the point of yet, yet? Turn with me to Luke’s gospel and let me show you something before we depart. Lukes gospel, chapter 22. And Find with me verse 41. Find verse 41.. but do not read ahead. Just find verse 41 and stop.

Ok. Don’t read ahead. Jesus in this moment is preparing his heart for the crusifixstuion and he’s praying in the place called Gethsemane. And in this garden, called Gethsename, the garden of pressing. The savior of the world reaches the pivotal point and had a choice to make. Just like you and me at this moment. We have a choice and he had a choice. The choice was, who did Jesus behold the most.

Who did he behold. Did JEsus behold the enemy? Satan did say in the great temptation that he was going to come at a more opportune time. There was not more of an opporune time for him to get JEsus to walk away than now. At the moment of yet. Did JEsus behold his disciples? Jesus did love many people. He had compassion on them. And why not? A king needs subjects.

But as the king of the world, in his earthly body he couldn't give them anything to hope for in death. And no king who loves the souls of people would leave them without an eternal hope. Did Jesus behold himself? Why not? He is the son of God? He is anointed to do many things. His name is spreading through the land. No, I beleive a more important question came long…

Jesus in desperate prayer looked up too his precious dad, and he behold His father more than anything else in this world. Look with me at verse 42: Father, , If you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me……….. YET! I want your will to be done, not time. I think every one of us knows the first part of that prayer. We know it. We know it because that is our everyday prayer.

Lord, take this health issue. Lord, help me with this job. Lord, Help me find that perfect wife or husband. Lord, I want kids. Lord, I’m sorry, now I just my kids to stop annoying me. Lord, I want a better car, more money, better opporiuntinties. Lord, I want a faith that requires little from me. Lord, take this bitter situation from me. I don’t think the kind of faith Jesus needed to go to the cross was the same kind of faith we try to live each and every day.

Jesus needed a Spirit filled faith that beheld the glory of God. He beheld the father. Romans 6:10 reminds us that Jesus lives for the glory of the God. That prayer is the same prayer we get stuck in our life. Lord, remove this burden. Lord give me. Lord grant me. Lord do this. Lord do that… but our prayers never end up going. Lord, give me your Holy Spirit. OUr prayers always comes to the point of yet…

but we tend to get to the point where we say with hearts aflamed, Lord let your will be done, not mine. But what did Jesus say? Jesus said Yet…. He said yet! If your willing, take this cup of suffering from me… Yet! Not my will but yours be done. I heard a pastor once say that he pictured the holy hosts of heaven, with tear-filled eyes, leaning over and gazing upon the agaoinizing and praying Jesus.

And as they leaned over they anxiously asked one another, has the Son of God reached yet, yet. Because as soon as Jesus finished the first part of his prayer, his heart was aflamed and burning with affection for the glory of His father to be praised among the world. His basic faith turned into desperate devoted faith. And we know when our faith turns from a basic faith of just knowing about God and thinking God is great.

Into a faith that is totally and utterly devoted to him. A faith that yearns to glorify Jesus in all aspects of our life. A faith that see God as good. Are we desperate for his presence, are we desperate to be born again and regenerated? Are we desperate to be sanctified to the point that no matter what happens in our life, or no matter what happens in the church we come to the point of yet and we are found to be as faithful as Christ with the words, not my will but yours be done….

That’s the question we need to answer… Have I reached the moment of yet, yet. And have I answered it with a faith that is utterly devoted and and desperate for His glory to be known into the world. Have you answered yet, yet? And how you can tell, is whether or not the prayer of desperation is answered with those beautiful words.. Yet, Not my will, but yours be done.

I pray you make a decision this morning… because remember this… basic faith believes in God, but desperate faith honors God and God honors desperate faith. Do you suppose that the hymn writer who penned “He Never Has Failed Me Yet” really…. meant 'God has never failed me, because I have reached and came through my "yet"?*