Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast,
where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
In this podcast series, we're going to be looking into biblical
words that have great significance to our faith.
The name of this series is called the Word of the Week, where
once a week we will dive deeper into these words that we are
familiar with in scripture.
So come along with me.
Let's study the Word of the week.
Pastor Josh here with another word of the week.
We have been studying the names of God, and we've been learning
a lot about the character of God, who he is, and what he has done
for us through these names.
So we've looked at Jehovah Jireh, the God who will provide.
We've looked at Jehovah Nisi, the God is my banner, God is my victory.
We looked at last week, Jehovah Raphael, God is the healer,
the one who heals.
And so this week, we're going to be looking at a new name of God,
a name that is important to what we have in our salvation, and
that is Jehovah Makadesh.
Jehovah is God, right?
The name of God, the personal name of God.
And then Kadesh is.
Is a.
Is a title or a word that means to make holy, to.
To sanctify.
And so we're looking at a name, Yahweh Makdesh, which means
the Lord who sanctifies or the Lord who makes holy.
And.
And we need to definitely study what that word holy means.
And we need to understand what that word sanctify means.
But before we do that, I'd like to get to a couple of verses
that deal with this title.
Yahweh Makadesh, um, Leviticus, chapter 20, verse 8.
We know that the book of Leviticus is all about the law, but
what God is basically saying through his name, Jehovah Makadesh,
would be that it is not the law that makes us holy, it is he
who alone who makes us holy.
And so Leviticus, chapter 20, verse 8, it says that you shall keep
my statutes and do them so.
So there was a challenge for the Israelites to sanctify themselves
through a relationship with God, but not by the statutes.
So the statutes weren't what made them holy.
What did it say in the second part of that verse?
If you're following with me, you'll see it.
I am the Lord which sanctify you.
And so it is the Lord who is the one who makes holy.
It is the Lord who is the one who sanctify Ezekiel, chapter 37,
verse 28.
And it says in the heathen shall know that I but the Lord do
sanctify Israel.
And so it is the Lord who sanctifies his people.
And so when we think about that word holy, it means to be set
apart.
And when it comes to God, it's perfect holiness.
And in the concept of being completely sinless, now we as Christians
are called to be holy.
We see that in Scripture, in many cases, God calls his people
to be holy.
And we even see it in the New Testament, be holy, for I am holy.
And so the question is, is, can we be completely holy?
Can we be completely sinless?
Well, not on this side of heaven, because the Bible tells us
very clearly that we are still fighting the old man, and we will
not be perfect until the day we are reunited with our Savior.
But the Bible does call us to be holy.
So how can we be holy?
Well, we can be set apart.
And.
And to be sanctified literally means to be set aside for a specific
use.
And so just as you might have something special that you set aside
for a special time or a special job, so we as Christians
are called as children of God to be set aside for a specific use,
that we are sanctified to do the work of God.
And so the Bible tells us because of God's perfect holiness,
he extends that holiness to us through a relationship with him,
and that's salvation.
So when we are saved, when we trust in God's holiness, and we trust
in him for his forgiveness through the work of Jesus Christ,
right, We know that Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill
the law.
He's the only person who walked this earth who kept every
element of holiness.
And so therefore, it's his sacrifice that gives us that opportunity
for sanctification.
So we have something called positional sanctification, which
means at the moment of salvation, we are now positioned
as a child of God.
And so we're taken out of that life of sin in the fact that our
identity was in sin.
We are enemies of God.
And positionally, we are now set aside for a specific use.
And we can see that in.
I think there's a lot of passages that could give us some
clarity on that, but I think a great one that would explain that
process would be Ephesians chapter 2, starting in verse 8 and
going through verse 10.
So it speaks of that positional sanctification that we
have in Christ.
So it says verse 8.
For by grace, that's God's grace.
Are ye saved?
That's Sanctified, we're saved from sin through faith, through.
Through faith in the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ,
we are now able to be positionally saved or sanctified,
and that not of yourselves.
It's not a work that we do.
So we don't.
We don't make ourselves holy.
We don't make ourselves saved.
We don't follow a law to purify our life.
What does it say here?
It says, it is not of ourselves, not of yourselves.
It is a gift of God.
It is the gift of God, as it says here, not of works, not.
Not something that I can earn, lest any man should boast.
And so we hopefully can understand that that positional sanctification,
that positional holiness in Christ is not a work that we do now.
It should drive us to serve Him.
It should drive us to live lives of righteousness, but that
righteousness comes through him.
And so it's his holiness on our account.
But then we see in the next verse, in verse 10, about what happens
next, because our positional holiness is not the end.
Okay, we don't just.
Let's.
Let's put it this way.
We don't just put a stamp in the passport of life and say, okay,
now I am a Christian.
Now I can go back to living the way that I want to live.
No, my life has been changed and now I am to grow.
That's the.
What some folks call progressive sanctification.
So we are saved and we are changed, and we are now part of the
family of God.
And now we are gifted eternal life.
But now we are challenged to grow.
Verse 10.
For we are his workmanship.
So God is working in our life.
God is.
God is guiding us.
He's.
He's using us.
He's positioning us to do his work and not our own work anymore.
And that's a progressive cycle.
I shouldn't say cycle.
It's a progressive dis.
Direction, I should say.
Yeah, it's a progressive direction.
Right.
We're.
We're moving forward in that, but it's not going to happen all
at once.
It takes spiritual maturity.
It takes sacrifice.
It takes us to align with the work of God.
So we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works.
And so when we are saved and we are sanctified, set aside for
a specific use.
What is that specific use?
To glorify God in our good works.
Says to be understanding that we are created now in Christ Jesus
unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them.
So it's God's plan, it's God's will that we are walking in righteousness,
that we are walking in holiness.
And so I think that's important to see when it comes to
that, that positional sanctification and then progressive
sanctification, then we also know that one day when we are united
with him positionally, one day, not just in our relationship,
but in our physical presence being with him, we are going to be,
as some call it, perpetually sanctified, meaning there is going
to be a day where there's no more flesh, there is no more sin,
and we are completely unified with Him.
And that, that is something called glorification.
And we will be one day in our glorified bodies, living with our
Savior forever and ever.
So what a wonderful message that is.
And so we go back to that name, Jehovah Makadesh, the one who
sanctifies, the one who is making us holy.
And so it's not our works that get us there.
It's not the Church that we are a part of that gets us there.
It's not a, a tradition or an action that we do that gets us there.
It is only by the holiness of God and His decision in making us
holy that we can rest in that holiness.
And so he is the one and only that makes somebody holy.
It's nothing else.
No work, no person outside of Jesus Christ.
And so the Bible speaks of this type of holiness.
And so, yes, it does mean that we're separated from the world.
It means that we don't live the way that the world, world lives.
It means that we don't respond the way that the world responds.
It means that we love in a different way, that we serve in a
different way.
We are different as Christians.
The Bible puts it that we are a peculiar people, a different people,
right?
Almost strange to the world.
If they do not understand the power of God and if someone does
not understand the change that God brings in our life, then it will
seem strange, it will be different.
First Peter says, but as he which hath called you is holy, so
God has called us and he is holy.
So be holy in all manner of conversation, all manner of lifestyle.
Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy.
And, and you know, First Peter, chapter two, ye also verse
five.
As, as lively or living stones are built up, a spiritual house,
a holy priesthood.
I mean, we, we have something different.
First Peter, chapter two, verse nine.
I mean, you can see the theme Peter is really trying to drill in
this idea of holiness, this idea of Sanctification.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light.
And I love that.
That is one of the greatest examples of what happens in salvation
when God calls us out of darkness and moves us into his marvelous
light.
And so there is that idea of that change, that new position, that
new direction, that progressive direction in sanctification.
And so there's so much in that name, right?
Jehovah Makadesh, the One who makes holy, the One who makes us
holy, the One who sanctifies.
And so God is the one who is changing us.
God is the One who saves us.
God is the One who transforms us to do that new work that he has
called us to do.
So that is why we study the names of God.
We study the names of God to understand him more.
If.
If I can understand who he is in a deeper way.
And we are now able to grow in love for him as we grow in our understanding
of his love for us.
And so, man, you know what?
If you are a believer today, he is Jehovah Makadesh, the one who
makes you holy, the One who sanctifies you, the One who has set
you aside for his use now.
And that's exciting when it comes to our future.
It's exciting for our present, and I would say even more so exciting
for the future of what God is going to do in our lives.
He's got a plan for you.
He's got a purpose for you.
And I think that in many ways, sometimes we get our focus off of
that because of the distractions of this world.
And so remember, you are different.
In a good way, you are different.
We don't want to be like the world.
We don't want to have the same hopes as the world has, the same
dreams as the world has.
But our.
Our hopes and dreams and passions should be aligned with his
as.
As First Peter had told us.
So I hope that this has been beneficial for you.
I hope that this study in the names of God, ha.
Has been a.
A blessing to you.
I know it's been a blessing for me.
And so I.
I hope that it's been teaching you what it means to know God in
a greater way.
And that's really my job as a pastor, as a believer, as a disciple
of Christ.
My job is to grow the understanding of who God is and what
he's done for us so that more people can come to know Him.
And grow in their love for him.
So praise God for that.
Well, hope that you have a wonderful week.
We will be back next week, Lord willing, again with another
Word of the week.
And we'll be saying the names of God for a little bit longer.
There's, there's so many more that we could study, but there's
a few more on the list here that I'd like to share with you in
this series of the names of God.
So remember Jehovah Makadesh, the one who makes us holy, the one
who sanctifies us.
Well, God bless.
You have a wonderful week.
We will hopefully talk to you soon.
God bless.
Hey, I really appreciate that you listen to the Word of the Week
podcast.
If you have any questions about the podcast or about our church,
Middletown Baptist Church, you can find more information about us
on Facebook or YouTube or you can find the podcast on NBC.
Podcast.org you can contact me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.org
stay tuned for future Word of the Week episodes where we dive deeper
into words that impact our life according to scripture.
Thank you so much.
God bless.
We'll talk to you soon.