02/08/2025
This morning we will be concentrating on sanctification, and looking inward at our progress in that regard. Are you sanctified? Are we set apart and declared holy? Is our life focused on God and Jesus Christ, or are we double citizens who straddles the border between heaven and earth; between life and death? How should we best answer this question?
“And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.”
1 Chronicles 21:16 ESV
When I first believed and professed Jesus as my savior, I thought I was sanctified, but what I really had become was a believer. I had gained general admission into salvation, and heaven, but there was so much more that awaited. I was still moving easily back and forth into the secular world that I was seeking to transition out of... I held double citizenship; I was a citizen of the world and also claimed citizenship in heaven. I gained forgiveness in one world for the sins I committed in the other...
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 ESV
Some long for nothing more than dual citizenship, and rest assured you have been saved, but for others there is a burning desire to make their home in a different world and denounce their citizenship in the secular one that they once called home.
“Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
1 Peter 2:10-11 ESV
If you are one of those who seek true sanctification, then be prepared to leave behind all that you have known and to take up residence in a new land. Be prepared when Jesus says to you...
“Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."”
Matthew 19:21 ESV
We are residents in a land of immigrants. The United States was founded by immigrants and continues to accept those who peacefully seek new lives. I had four grandparents who came to this country upon the Mayflower. They left all they had known, and possessed, for not only the hope of a new life, but for the desire to worship freely. This is what is required of us when we make sail for heaven. We must be prepared to leave our old homes and countries for the promise and hope of salvation, righteousness, and sanctification. We need resolve... a resolve that allows us to forsake all else for Jesus.
I have asked myself, and I encourage you to ask yourself as well... "Am I ready to make the voyage of the immigrant? Am I willing to leave all I have for a life with Jesus Christ?" If the answer to those questions is yes, then the next step is to seek sanctification.
“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.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for extending salvation, eternity, and heavenly citizenship to me. Father, hear my plea for sanctification. Provide for me as I leave behind all those earthly things you have asked me to forsake and that I have been accustomed to and give me those that are necessary to serve you. Help me to focus upon you alone and be willing to abandon those portions of my life which cause me to stumble. Sanctify me Lord and make me righteous and holy as I move closer to your Son Jesus Christ. Make me holy in conversation, and deed; let my faith grow as I walk closer to Christ and let me be in Jesus as He is in You. This is the sanctification I desire, and the life and world I seek as I leave my earthly home behind and travel to the place that Jesus has prepared for me. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my one true God, and holy is the ground I must traverse to reach you. Hear my prayers today, and comfort me as I walk with bare feet to where you are. You are merciful Lord, and as I am drawn to Jesus, and make my way to you, I find your grace sufficient for me… your love is my comforting warmth on every cold night, and it warms be front and back, unlike an earthly fire that requires me to turn this way and that. In your presence I cast no shadow.
Amen
“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."”
John 14:20-21 ESV
“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.””
Exodus 3:4-5 ESV
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
James 1:16-18 ESV
Rich Forbes