Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast,
where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to
this podcast.
I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen
you in the word of God.
Now, come along.
Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
If you have your Bibles this morning, that's where we're going
to be.
Second Corinthians, chapter seven.
We're going to be looking at just verse number one.
Now, I got to be completely honest with you.
We're not just going to stay in verse number one.
We're going to go to some other places in scripture here this
morning, but our main text is going to be Second Corinthians, chapter
seven, verse number one.
Now, last week, what did we look at?
We looked at the biblical understanding of separating ourselves
from the influence of this world.
To not be yoked with unbelievers, to not be influenced
by the ways of this world, but to be living differently as children
of God, living distinctly.
And so what we saw in verse 14 of chapter 6 was this.
We were told, be separate.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness,
and what communion hath light with darkness?
And so the question was asked, what part does a Christian have in
this world?
Well, that means this.
We don't have a part in this world.
All we have is an opportunity to influence this world, to be the
light in the darkness.
The phrase was used to be in the world, but not of the world.
So many times we're tempted to think that, you know what, because
we're in the world, that we need to start living like the world.
We need to start living like unbelievers.
And so the Bible tells us, no, that when we are saved, when we are
changed, when we are transformed, we are called to be
different.
Not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of
our minds, to be thinking differently, to be thinking biblically.
And so what we looked at was this.
What we associate with will eventually influence us.
So the first question was, who or what are we associating ourselves
with?
The second question is, what is influencing us?
Who is influencing us?
Well, the truth is, is that if we are yoked up, if we are joined
in, tied together with the world, our association is with the
world, our influences then by the world, and then ultimately we
compromise and live like the world.
But the Bible says That if we're associated with the Lord in
fellowship with him, we are then influenced by him, taught by
him, as Matthew 11 said, we learn of him and become meek and
humble.
And ultimately we are then separated and sanctified for the
Master's use.
And that's really what the Christian life is all about.
There's a term that I want you to think about here this morning,
and this is a term that we're going to be using quite frequently
here in this sermon.
And that term is sanctification.
Sanctification.
The Bible says that as a Christian, the moment that we trust
in Jesus Christ as our Savior, the moment faith, we are justified.
Justified means we are declared righteous.
And so positionally, positionally, we are sanctified,
we are set aside as a born again believer, we are now set aside
into the family of man.
Am I doing something wrong this morning with this?
Do I need to take off my jacket?
My connection might use the pulpit.
Oh, man.
Lord, help me this morning.
All right, I'll try to stay behind the pulpit today.
This is going to be.
It's going to be interesting.
All right.
So we are then positionally sanctified.
Positionally sanctified.
Meaning this.
We don't have to get any more saved.
We don't have to get re saved.
The Bible says that once we're saved, we are saved for eternity.
We are saved, secured and sealed until the day of redemption.
And so that's positionally sanctified.
But there is something else in sanctification, and that is our spiritual
growth.
And there's something called progressive sanctification, which
means this.
In our life, from the moment we are saved till we take our last
breath, we are on a path of spiritual growth.
And we are called to grow more and more like Christ.
Not more and more like the pastor, not more and more like a
list of rules, but more and more like Jesus Christ.
And so the Bible tells us that that is a progressive thing, meaning
just at the moment I'm saved, I am not where I should be in 20
years, right?
In 20 years, I should be closer to the Lord.
In 20 years, I should be more mature.
In 20 years, I should be following the Scriptures in a more
real way.
And so there's that progressive sanctification.
But then we also know that there is going to be a day when we
take our last breath and when we are renewed in the Spirit and
we are then saved from this world.
Thank you.
Appreciate that.
We are saved from this world and then we have something called
perpetual sanctification.
What is perpetual Sanctification, that means one day
we will be glorified, one day we will be with our Savior, and there
will be no more sin, there will be no more sadness, there will
be no more pain and suffering and loss.
And so that's the progressive sanctification.
But then we get to perpetual sanctification.
Now, in Second Corinthians, chapter seven, what is Paul talking
about here?
Paul is talking about that progressive sanctification, that
spiritual growth process.
And so he says in Second Corinthians, chapter seven, Having,
therefore, these promises.
Now, what promises are we talking about?
What's the promises that were given at the end of chapter six?
Having, therefore, these promises.
Dearly beloved, now he's talking to believers here.
Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of
the flesh and spirit.
Now, we're going to talk about that and what that means here in
a few moments.
But he says, because of God's promises in our life, we then can
cleanse ourselves from that filthiness of our flesh and the filthiness
of spirit.
And then we see this phrase, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God.
Now, when he says perfecting holiness, he doesn't mean sinlessness.
He's not expecting us to grow closer to God and then eventually
just stop sinning.
That word perfecting means completion or maturity.
So he's speaking here of spiritual maturity becoming more
and more complete in our understanding of who God is.
And so our spiritual growth process is this.
We know him in salvation in that positional sanctification.
But then in that progressive sanctification, we become more and
more completely submitted to our Savior.
And it says how we do that through the fear of God.
So what promises is he talking about here?
Well, if you go back to the last verse of chapter six, in verse
18, he says, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be
my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Now, now what is going to make us all right?
Can you hear me now?
All right, good.
I'm mobile again.
So we see here in verse number 17 how we can be the sons and daughters.
How can we understand this truth?
He says, wherefore come out from among them?
So he's asking us to separate.
He's asking us to grow in our sanctification.
And he says, the more that we leave the world and come to him,
he says, as more you are separate and touch not the unclean
thing.
I will receive you and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be
my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
So when Paul, in verse number one of chapter seven is referring
to these promises, he's referring to the promise that the
more we separate from the world and the more we grow closer
to him, the more we can understand his love for us as a loving
Heavenly Father.
A verse that we could see that would parallel this is in the book
of James.
The Lord is testing my patience this morning, but we're
gonna.
We're gonna make it, guys.
We're gonna make it.
Promise you.
This is a peek behind the veil of technology.
All right, so James, chapter four.
If you have your Bibles turned there with me, James, chapter four.
What's he talking about here?
He's talking about that growth away from the world to God.
And in James chapter four, we see that there's this condemnation
against our flesh.
He says in verse one, from whence comes wars and fightings among
you?
Come they not thence, even of your own lust at war in your members.
So he says, you have this war, you have this fighting, you have
this lust.
Verse 2.
And you desire and you don't have.
And we see in verse number four, he says, ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity
with God.
He's explaining that the more we love the world, the less we love
God.
And he says, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God.
But then we go down to verse number six.
He says, but he giveth more grace.
So this shows the characteristic of God that he is
a God of grace.
Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace
to the humble.
So the call here is us as Christians.
The more we want to see God work in our life, the more we need
to humble ourselves and die to our pride, die to our own way of
doing things, die to our own desires, and therefore go closer
to God.
He says, submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Resist the enemy, resist the world, resist our flesh.
And what happens?
Well, we submit ourselves before God.
And then verse 8 says this.
Draw nigh to God, or draw close, close to God.
And the result of that is this.
And he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts,
ye double minded.
And so the challenge for us here in this passage and in Second
Corinthians, chapter 7, is not just to stop doing the things of
this world.
Not.
Not just to separate ourselves from the things of this world, but
ultimately to chase after God, to cling after him to draw nigh to
him.
And what's the result of that?
He draws nigh to us.
I use this analogy quite frequently when it comes to that
passage of Scripture.
When we had our kids in store when they were little, you know,
obviously we didn't want them to wander away and get lost and someone
take them.
And there was a time when Micah was really little and he got
on the other side of, like, a display or something, and he didn't
see me there, and he freaked out.
Dad?
Dad, where are you?
He thought I had left him, right?
Because I wasn't right in front of him.
He had allowed some distance to come between us.
And then he lost sight of his father.
And so in that moment, he thought, maybe dad left me.
Maybe dad forgot about me.
Maybe dad left the store and got in the car and went away.
And so just because he didn't see me, he felt like there was a
separation.
But the truth is, I was close.
I could see him.
And that's how it is in our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus is there.
Jesus is there with us, and he's walking with us.
But sometimes when our eyes get off of him and our distractions
pull us away, and maybe that distraction is the world.
Maybe the distraction is our own desires.
Maybe the distraction is our money, our health, whatever that
is, our hobbies, and that distraction pulls us away and our
eyes are off the Lord.
It doesn't mean that God has left us.
It means this.
When we turn around and lock eyes with our Savior, when we turn
around and desire after him, he will draw nigh to us.
And that's the understanding that we have in this passage.
And so in Second Corinthians, chapter seven, he says this.
Having therefore, these promises, the title of the sermon
this morning is Standing on the Promises of God and Sanctification.
We have to stand on the promises of God in that process of
sanctification.
Folks, you're never going to grow in your understanding of who
he is if you don't trust in his promises.
You're never gonna grow in your understanding of his love and
his grace and his forgiveness and ultimately the application of
those things in your life if you do not stand on the promises
of God.
We must trust in the truth of God in our lives.
We must believe that he will do what he says he will do.
Now I'm gonna ask my two children to come up here.
Now that I'm mobile, I can come down here.
Okay.
Mike and Nora, come on up here.
We didn't prepare for this this morning.
So they are not prepared, and so I don't know how they're going
to respond to this.
So I'm going to have them stand up here.
All right?
Micah, Nora, stand over here.
Okay.
So what does verse 7 say?
Verse 7 says, we have to stand on the promises.
What was the promise in chapter six?
That when they would draw nigh to their father, their father would
show them what it means to understand love and grace, and he
would reward them for that.
And so does dad love you guys?
Yes.
Does dad love you?
She's nervous.
Okay.
How do you.
All right, Micah, you're the speaker.
So how do you know that dad loves you?
I show it to you.
How do I show it to you?
You don't know.
Okay.
So have I ever told you I love you?
Yes.
Okay.
Do I ever do things for you?
Yes.
Okay.
Do I take care of you if you're hurt?
Okay.
So I've told him and I've told Nora that I love them, right?
And I've shown them that I love them.
And so the truth is that they have to trust in the fact that I
will keep that promise in my life.
As they get older, they have to trust that dad will continue to
love them.
Now, the truth is, today I'm going to make a promise to them,
and we'll see if they believe this or not.
I've got two dollar bills here.
I got a dollar bill.
She liked that, right?
She liked that dollar bill.
She'll wake up for that.
So I got a whole dollar bill right here, okay?
It's legitimate.
You can check it out.
Whole dollar bill.
Check it out.
But you're gonna have to give it back.
Now, my promise to them.
My promise to them is if they're good and if they listen in
this service today.
Now, parents, I'm not saying you should do this, okay?
Don't bribe your children.
But if they're good today in this service, I will let you have
these two holes.
Well, you can have $1 each, and we can go to the Dollar Store.
Is the Dollar Store a dollar anymore?
Oh, man, I'm in trouble.
Well, anyway, you can go to Dollar Store, and I'll pitch in a
couple other quarters for you, and you can take that.
Okay?
Now, do you believe me, if you're good, that I will give this
to you?
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
Do you believe that?
Okay.
So now the true test is if you're going to go and actually live
that, are you going to go and be good and pay attention, Listen
to your father, maybe all Right.
We'll see.
All right, you guys go ahead, go back.
That's a silly way to look at it, but really what it is is that
God tells us these promises and he says, look, I not only tell
you that these promises are true, but I also keep these promises
in my life.
He keeps those promises in our lives.
And so therefore, what happens is that God tells us to believe,
he displays the proof of why we should believe, and he keeps his
word in those rewards.
Sanctification.
When we go back to that, those three steps of sanctification, look
at the rewards in all those steps, right?
The reward in the first step is knowing that we have everlasting
life, right?
Being in the family of God, that's a reward in and of itself.
When we're saved, that is a blessing.
That is a gift.
That is a reward.
But secondly, there are blessings in that progressive sanctification,
right?
There's a blessing in knowing His Word, gaining knowledge from
His Word, seeing how God's Word helps us in our life, and having
maturity and having spiritual growth and being able to share the
love of God with other people.
There's blessings there, too.
And then the ultimate blessing is in that perpetual sanctification
when we get to be with our Savior forever.
And so what God does is essentially he says this, look, in
our relationship as a father and as a child, I am giving you all
of these blessings, and I'm giving you all of these promises.
And really spiritual growth is just this trusting and living in
those promises.
And so go back with me to second Corinthians, chapter seven.
He says, having therefore, these promises, what were those promises?
Well, one of those promises would be that when we separate ourselves
from the ways of this world, he would then show us what it means
to have that loving father and be sons and daughters.
Even if you go back to Second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 17,
he says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
Old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become new.
That's talking about that positional sanctification.
You're now a new creation in Christ.
And now he's going to walk with us as a loving heavenly Father.
And so as we draw nigh to God, he draws nigh to us.
And so I want you to think about that here this morning.
What are the promises of God in your life?
Well, you say, well, the promise of God in my life is whatever
I want it to be.
No, the promises of God are found in His Word.
And one of the promises here is that as we separate from the world.
We die to our flesh.
We put off the old man and we put on the new.
God rewards us with knowing that he is with us through the ups
and through the downs.
He is a teacher.
He is a comforter.
He is a provider.
He is the one who has saved us.
He has forgiven us.
He transforms us, and he equips us to do the work that he
has called us to do.
And so in Second Corinthians, chapter seven, he says, knowing these
promises, what does he tell us to do?
Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh.
Meaning, we need to stop feeding our flesh.
We need to stop living like the world, become more and more like.
Scripture says that we are called to be.
Be more and more like Christ.
Learn from him, grow in him.
But then he says something very interesting in the second part
there.
He says, and spirit.
Filthiness of the flesh and spirit.
So what he's saying here is this.
The change is not just an outward change.
Are there going to be outward changes in our life?
Of course.
The more we grow like Christ, the more we become like him.
The more we mature in our sanctification process, the more
we understand his love and his grace.
There are going to be things in our life that change on the outside.
We're going to stop doing things.
We're going to stop looking like the world.
We're going to stop responding to the things of the world the way
that the world tells us to respond to them.
We're going to stop being distracted.
We're going to have less outbursts.
We're going to have less corruption in what we do.
But then what we see here is that it's not just an outward change.
More importantly, I would challenge you to think about it this
morning is this.
It is an inward change.
It's the inward change that affects the outward.
Remember when Jesus dealt with the Pharisees, he wasn't dealing
with their outward appearance, because their outward appearance
looked just fine.
It actually was very religious.
They were clean on the outside.
They were like the Bible says.
Jesus said they look like whited sepulchers.
They looked beautiful on the outside.
But the challenge was not the outside, but the inside.
He said, hey, your spirit is off.
Your heart is in the wrong place.
And so when Jesus is dealing with us in our spiritual growth,
it's not always about the outside.
Now, the outside is manifested by what's happening on the inside,
but it's the inside that matters more.
God is more concerned with our heart because what we can see is
that spiritual growth is not me just learning how to look more
like people in the church.
That's sometimes what happens.
Sometimes as humans, we are really, really good imitators.
And we can put on a front, we can put on a show, but true spiritual
growth is not me mirroring what other people do and try to be
like them.
True Holy Spirit change is what happens on the inside and is
manifested on what we do on the outside.
And so what Jesus is addressing here in this case is a
wholesale change of our life.
Remember what Romans chapter 12 says.
It says, present your bodies a living, sacrifice everything.
And so, folks, it's not so much about, hey, you know what?
I know now not to say this in the public of other Christians, okay?
As a pastor, I get this a lot because as a pastor, usually, usually
people are on their best behavior around me.
But the concept is this.
It's not about trying to stop ourselves from doing bad.
It's hopefully at this point, desiring to do good.
You understand the difference, right?
I want to stop doing bad.
Yes.
So I'm just going to focus on the bad all the time.
I don't want to do this.
The Bible says, no, there is a difference.
And now instead of stop stopping the bad, let's actually
start infusing the good.
So therefore, we no longer desire those things of the world.
We no longer desire that filthiness of spirit in the flesh.
And so he says, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness.
So it's from the filthiness of the flesh and the Spirit.
And then he says, what happens then?
Is that perfecting or that completing that maturing holiness
in the fear of God?
And so as we grow in our understanding of what is good in
the eyes of God, we then have that maturity, and we see there that
holiness.
The Bible says that we are to be holy.
Why?
Because God is holy.
Holy just means to be set apart.
Now, God is perfectly holy.
You will not be perfectly holy on this side of heaven, but you can
be holy.
That means set aside for a specific use, for God to use you
for his kingdom and for his glory and for his gospel.
And so you set aside yourself, and as God sets aside you, you set
aside that.
And you say, you know what?
I'm gonna start living a righteous holy life, honoring God
in every way.
And we see the motivation behind that.
It says, in the fear of God, we respect him, we honor him, we
glorify Him.
And so the purpose of that holiness is that we humble ourselves
under the mighty hand of God, and we allow his power to work through
our lives and we allow ourselves to be used by Him.
And therefore we are cleansed from filthiness of the flesh and
spirit.
We mature in our holiness and we rest in that fear of God.
Now I want to take you to another passage of Scripture that
talks about this.
And that's Ephesians chapter four.
Ephesians chapter four.
This is speaking to this understanding of being different,
of putting off the old, cleansing ourselves from the old
ways and putting on the new folks.
All of us, at some point in our lives have to come to the grips
with what is my response to the Gospel message of Jesus Christ?
If I believe, if I receive, if I repent, then I am now in the family
of God.
But that is not the end.
Let me tell you this morning, if you are in the family of God,
that is just the beginning.
There is a call to live differently.
And so Paul says, trust in the promises, cling after the Lord, allow
the Lord to change your spirit and your flesh.
Allow yourself to be matured in holiness and allow the fear of
God to rule and reign your life.
So Ephesians chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter 4.
Let's go to verse number 17.
Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17.
We see what it means to live differently.
Ephesians, chapter four.
He says this.
I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk
not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind.
Now remember back In Romans chapter 12, he says, we live this
life of transformed nature through the renewing of our mind.
It all goes back to what we're thinking about.
And so what does he say here?
He says, don't live like the Gentiles live.
Don't walk like the Gentiles walk.
Now, when he's talking about Gentiles, here, he's talking about
the unsaved, he's talking about the unbelievers.
And so don't live the way of the world.
And then he explains the way of the world in the vanity of their
mind.
You could say it this way, in the futility of their thinking.
It's wasteful, it's empty.
That vanity means emptiness.
It's worthless.
He says, unsaved people live in their worthlessness.
Unsaved people, all they know is that vanity of the flesh.
So he says, don't live that way.
And he explains more about what that looks like.
Verse 18, having the understanding darkened, meaning their
understanding of the truth has been veiled.
Being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that
is in them because of the blindness of their heart.
The Bible says that unsafe people, whether they know it or not,
are walking in blindness.
They don't see the truth.
They can't see the truth.
And he says, as a Christian, don't walk that way.
Unfortunately, what happens is that many Christians are walking
just as the Gentiles walk.
They're walking blinded.
And he says, who being past feeling this is the unsaid, have
given themselves over unto lasciviousness.
That's sensuality.
To work all uncleanness with greediness.
So he says they're characterized by sensuality, they're
characterized by greediness and pride.
They're characterized by impurity.
And so he says in verse number 20, but ye have not so learned Christ,
meaning that's not the way that you learned about Jesus.
That's not Christ likeness.
Folks, I know that sometimes we overcomplicate what the Bible
says, but really all sanctification is, is being more
Christ like.
He says, that's not the Christ you know, that's not the Christ that
saved you.
That's not the way of sanctification.
Verse 21 he says, if so be that ye have heard him and have been
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.
He says, you got to know Jesus to know righteousness, to know sanctification,
to know what God wants from you is to know who Jesus is.
It's to know his character, it's to know his heart and to know
someone.
What do you have to do?
What do I have to do to know someone?
I have to spend time with them.
I have to desire to know them.
Okay, if I spend time with you and all I did was talk about myself,
I'm not gonna know about you.
And so it's spending time with him.
Yes, but it's also gleaning from him, learning from him.
He teaches us.
And so through the Spirit, we learn what it is to be Christ like.
And so he says, if you have heard about him and you were taught
by him, this is the truth.
Verse 22, that ye put off concerning the former conversation
or the former lifestyle of the old man.
The old man is how you were before you were saved.
Okay?
The old man is the flesh.
The old man is your lust.
The old man is your way of doing things that emptiness, that
vanity.
But then he says here, put that off which is corrupt to the
deceitful lust, deceitful desires.
But then he says, what happens here?
Verse 23, what should you do?
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
I hope that you can see a theme here.
Thinking about the right things matters.
The more we dwell upon, because you hear the Word in scripture
a lot, meditation.
The more we meditate or dwell upon something in the negative, in
the flesh, the more we live that out in our lives.
And so there's this renewal, the renewal of our minds.
He says, be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you may
put on the new man.
So you take off the old, yes, but then you put on the new.
You take out the bad and you put in the good.
He says, put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness.
And so when you trust in Jesus, when you die to the old ways,
when you renew your mind, the outcome is this.
A life characterized by righteousness and holiness.
That's that sanctification.
And then he goes on to talk about what this practically looks
like.
Verse 25, wherefore putting away lying.
So he says in everyday terms, stop lying.
Okay, you stop lying.
But then what do you do?
Speak every man truth with his neighbor.
Do you see how the bad goes away?
But then the good comes in.
So stop lying, but then speak the truth.
Then he goes on to say a little bit more.
He says, for we are members one of another.
So he explains the why behind that.
Because we are members one another, we are close, we are tight
knit.
We don't want to lie to each other.
Then he says, be angry and sin not.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
Neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor.
Let him work, working with his hands, the things which is good and
that he may give to him that needeth.
So what that means is this.
Don't just stop being a thief.
Work hard, get money, and then give to people that are in need.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.
Meaning don't say the things that are destructive.
Don't let negative things come out of your mouth.
Don't let dirty things come out of your mouth.
But what which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers.
Meaning this.
Don't just stop saying bad things about people.
Say good things about people.
Don't just stop tearing people down, build them up.
And so God never wants us to be passive.
Sanctification is not a passive process.
Sanctification is not just, well, you know what?
I'm gonna stop doing bad and be in my default mode.
Default mode is always going to be the flesh.
Default mode is always going to be apathy, not caring and allowing
ourselves to get back into that negative cycle.
And so then he goes on to say more and grieve not the Holy Spirit
by God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor, clamor.
Is this idea of just loudness and conflict and evil speaking be
put away from you with all malice?
So he says, let all, just everything that's in the realm of
bitterness and anger and fighting and hate, all of that, let
that go.
And then he says what verse 32, and be ye kind one to another.
One of the marks of a Christian that's growing in the Lord
is that he or she will have a kind spirit towards others, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another.
Folks, a forgiving spirit is a spirit that marks an individual growing
in the Lord.
Why?
Because if we understand what God has done for us, we then will
understand how we can do that for others.
He says it here, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you.
So what does he say here?
He sums it all up this way.
If you want to live this Christ like life, learn from what
Jesus Christ has done for you.
If you have a hard time being forgiving, go back and understand
the forgiveness that you have received of the Lord.
If you have a hard time speaking good about people, go back
to see what God has said about you.
If you have a hard time dealing with hate and bitterness
against someone, go back and see what God has done for you.
Folks, God has every right to hate us.
He has every right to hate us in our sin.
He has every right to cast us aside.
He has every right to condemn us in every way.
But yet he.
He offers that gift of grace.
And so the Bible says if we want to grow spiritually, we must
mirror our lives like Christ being.
Let me tell you here this morning, I'm just gonna.
I'm gonna be a little bit.
Be a little bit harsh in this, okay?
And it's done in love.
But a lot of times what happens as Christians is that we
say, hey, you know what?
I'm growing in the Lord because I'm in Sunday school.
I'm growing in the Lord because I give to the church.
I'm growing in the Lord because I'm in a ministry.
Folks, those are all good things, but that is not a mark of
Christ likeness.
An atheist can sit in a Sunday school class.
An atheist can give money to the church.
An atheist can do anything that we say on the outside looks
good, but Folks, it is the change in our lifestyle that matters.
I can say one thing, but that might not match up with me when it
comes to my heart.
And so go back to what 2 Corinthians, chapter seven says.
He says it's of the flesh and spirit.
So let me challenge you here this morning.
The true test of your spiritual growth is not how often
you attend church.
Now, some of you guys are going to say, pastor Josh is preaching
against church attendance.
No, come to church, please.
But what I'm saying is, don't equate something like church attendance
to, hey, this is a product of spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth can come from church attendance, but church attendance
in and of itself does not make you spiritually growth, spiritual
growth, spiritual maturity.
And so what I would challenge you to do is think about the deeper
issue behind these things.
The deeper issue is this, not that, hey, I'm going to church or
not going to church.
It's, why do I want to go to church?
Oh, reading my Bible.
I got to read my Bible this morning.
Okay?
I read my Bible, so I must be spiritually growing.
No, an unsaved person can read a Bible, folks.
It's.
Why do I.
Why do I not want to read the Bible?
Why is this?
Why is the world pulling me away from that?
Why do I want to get on my phone and scroll through some kind
of social media before I get to the word?
Folks, it's a deeper heart issue.
Why do, in the case of, like, I just don't want to be mad at everybody,
why am I getting mad at everybody?
That's the truth.
The truth is, it's the core, the heart, the root of it.
And so what I would challenge you with here today is spiritual
growth is not the externals.
Spiritual growth is what happens in the heart, and the externals
follow that.
And I would encourage you to think about that.
When it comes to this area of sanctification, folks, all of us
should be actively, actively pursuing a relationship with our
Savior, actively pursuing that spiritual growth.
The moment we stop actively seeking after that is the moment
we start to regress in our spiritual growth.
I don't know.
For example.
Let me give you an example.
When it comes to the marriage relationship, before Alicia and I
were married, the highlight of my week was our date, right?
We were like, all right, we're gonna go out.
We're gonna go do this.
We're gonna go dating, right?
I'm gonna pursue this, folks.
I was doing everything I possibly could.
We were doing scavenger hunts and things, and I'm like, Trying
to be all romantic and trying to do all that kind of stuff.
I was trying to, you know, as a husband, you're trying to do what
you can, like to get her to, like, try to trick her into loving
you.
Okay, that was the thing I was trying to say.
Please.
I could do everything.
I was pursuing her in every way.
And we got married.
And over time, right, some of you husbands are way more spiritual
than me.
But over time, the temptation is like, well, the pursuit is over,
right?
We don't need a date.
It's just here.
This is what happened.
So what happens when that happens is that sometimes the relationship
can grow apart because that pursuit isn't there.
That love is not manifested as much as it used to be.
Is the love there possibly in our hearts?
But sometimes we get to a place of apathy because it's there.
It's common.
It's what we know.
And if we're not careful, we can draw, really draw a divide between
spouses because we're not actively pursuing.
It's the same thing with our spiritual growth.
When you came to Jesus, you were excited.
You came to Jesus.
You're like, I want to be involved in everything.
I want to read my Bible.
There's nothing you can do to stop me from reading my Bible.
There's nothing you can do for stopping me from taking in Christian,
you know, content and books and Bible studies.
But now what happens is we get so complacent because we're used
to it.
And we get so complacent in our lives because it's just something
that we're tolerating and we don't pursue that relationship with
spiritual growth anymore.
I would encourage you to chase after the Lord, draw nigh to God
as James chapter four says, and what will happen?
The promise is, this is a promise, and he will draw nigh to
you.
Second Corinthians, chapter seven says, having therefore these
promises, the promise of God is that when you draw closer to him,
he will draw closer to you.
The promise of God is that when you separate yourselves from
this world and you don't touch the unclean thing, he will receive
us, and he will be a father unto us, and we will be his sons
and daughters.
And He.
And he concludes that verse in verse 18 of chapter 6 by saying,
Saith the Lord Almighty, the Lord Almighty has made a promise
to us that when we separate from this world, we separate from
the association of this world, the influence of this world.
He will bless us by knowing the benefits of being a child of
God.
Folks, there My children.
Okay, silly analogy.
This morning, my children had the blessings of being my child by
getting.
If they keep their side of the bargain, they get a dollar bill.
Right?
And the truth is that that's a benefit that they have of being my
child.
Now, some of you might say, oh, I'm going to give my kids something
better later.
Okay, you might be able to do that.
That's fine.
I'm a limited father.
God's an unlimited father.
He's Lord Almighty.
When Lord Almighty makes a promise to his children, he's going
to pour it out to them abundantly and he's going to give
it to them.
The Bible says that he owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
All the wealth of the world is in our Savior.
So I'm not here preaching prosperity gospel.
I am preaching spiritual prosperity.
Because the more that you trust in God, the more he's going
to pour that out on us.
The Bible says without faith, it's impossible to please him.
So the more faith we have, the more he's going to pour out blessings
upon our life.
Not, not necessarily material blessings, but we will see here in
this passage of Scripture that Paul says that there's going to be
tribulation and he's going to talk about how we have to have godly
sorrow, we have to have repentance to get to this place.
And so, folks, this morning, some of us might not even see a need
to cling to God because we've got.
We're too close to this world.
I have everything that I need in this world.
I have everything that I want in this world.
I have all the security that I need in this world.
The Bible says no, the.
All the security that we can ever have is found in Jesus Christ
because all of these things can be taken away from us like this.
The gospels say that the material blessings of this world
can be taken away.
As it says there, moth and rust will corrupt.
Folks.
Everything that we receive in this world outside of that gospel
message of Jesus Christ will eventually pass away.
It will pass away.
Your job, your finances, your car, your house, your health, all
these things will pass away.
But one thing that cannot be taken away is what the Bible says
is sealed.
And that is that trust.
That is that promise of God in salvation.
And so sanctification is a beautiful thing.
It's a.
It's a path that we should all be on in our lives.
Paul calls it a race.
It's the race.
It's.
It's pushing forward.
It's looking towards that mark and Paul says in Philippians that
he never.
He never got there.
He never got there till the end.
Some people would think, like, you know what?
I've been a Christian for 50 years.
I've arrived.
If anybody could have arrived, it was Paul, right?
If anybody.
If you study life of Paul, that guy was a pretty amazing guy
when it came to his commitment to Jesus Christ.
But Paul says at the very end, he says, I don't count myself to
have apprehended, but this one thing I do, pressing for the mark,
pressing toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling.
Paul says, I'm never done.
This is never a thing in my life that I say, I've reached, I've
accomplished, I'm gonna push forward.
I'm never gonna be satisfied with where I am.
I'm gonna push forward and I'm not gonna look back.
He says, one of the things that would hold us from going forward
is looking back.
And there's a couple ways that we can look back in our life.
One way we can look back is by looking back to the things we've
done poorly as failures and say, you know what?
Because of my failure, I'm not able to push forward.
Because of my past, I'm not able to push forward.
Folks, your past means nothing when it comes to what Jesus Christ
has done for you right here and now.
Okay?
So if you say, well, you didn't know me back 20 years ago,
I might not have known you.
But Jesus knows you and he still loves you.
He loves you in your failures.
He doesn't condone your failures.
He doesn't celebrate your sin.
But what he does do is he says, you know what?
In my forgiveness, I don't hold that over your head.
But you know, there's a lot of people that will say, well, I don't
have a bad past.
I have a good past.
Look at all the things I used to do for the Lord.
And now, you know what?
I'm just going to rest in that now.
There's nothing wrong with looking back and saying, hey, look,
this is what God has done.
But I would say when we look back to see what God has done, that's
always to drive us forward, to do more for him.
God was with me back in 1985.
He'll be with me tomorrow.
God was with me in my struggles yesterday.
He will be with my struggles 20 days from now.
And I would tell you here this morning that God is going to be with
you because the Bible gives us a promise that he will never leave
us nor forsake us.
And so Ephesians chapter four tells us to put off the old man.
Put on.
Second Corinthians, chapter seven says, trust in the promises
of God.
James chapter four says, for us to draw nigh to God, and he will
draw nigh to us.
He will draw near to us.
And so actually, Second Corinthians, chapter seven, verse
one is a continuation of chapter six.
God gives us a promise.
He gives us a challenge, and he gives us a promise.
The challenge is to separate ourselves from the ways of this world.
Separate yourselves from the worldly way of thinking.
Separate yourselves from your worldly association.
Separate yourselves from the worldly influence.
And when you do so, God will reward that.
God will give you the promise of a child of God.
And what does it mean to be a child of God?
It means that we're loved.
It means that we are protected.
It means that we are provided for.
And so the commandment to come from out of the world and be separate
is coupled with a promise in the fact that he will receive us
and that he will equip us if we confess our sins.
He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
And so there's this idea of cleansing that we see here in this
passage.
And that cleansing comes from God, and that cleansing comes from
the inside of the spirit.
And it's manifested in our flesh.
It's manifested in the way that we live our lives.
Our pride, our legalism, our self focus, our self righteousness,
our bitterness.
And all of the hatred that could come along with that can be
far worse to deal with than the obvious sins of the flesh.
You know, if someone came in this morning and they had this terrible
sin that we could all see, it would be a lot easier to deal with
that, right?
We could see it.
We could say, okay, let's deal with that.
We know how to deal with that.
But sometimes the most egregious sins are the ones that
are hidden in the hearts of man, that none of us see the hidden
sins.
And what we see here is that there is a complete cleansing that
can happen not just on the outside, but also on the inside.
And so he says the result of that is that perfecting holiness,
that maturity based in the fear of God, based in the truth of
respecting Him.
And so most of the time, we're concerned with the holiness of others.
We're concerned with the life of others.
He says the first step is to inspect our own lives.
The first step is to say, where do I stand in these promises
of God.
And so Paul even includes himself here.
He says, let us cleanse ourselves.
Paul is lumping himself into this group.
He's saying, I have not achieved this.
I have not reached this.
And we all have to realize that we have not reached this.
And so as we close here this morning, we often think of purity
before the Lord in terms of putting on a front, checking off
a box, being a certain way.
What I would say for us this morning is it's not just purity of
action, it's purity of thought.
Jesus mentioned this, right?
Think about when Jesus is talking to those people there on
the Sermon on the Mount.
He said, you know, you've been told that you shouldn't murder.
That is true.
But he said, also, when you hate your brother, you've already
murdered him, right?
You've that.
That's murder in your heart.
He says, don't commit adultery.
That's good, don't commit adultery, but don't look after a
woman with lust, because then you've committed in your heart.
So God is concerned about heart.
A lot of times people think, well, Jesus came to just weaken the
law.
Actually, Jesus came to show how much deeper God is looking.
He's not just looking at our outside appearance, he's looking
at our inside appearance.
And so the thesis of all this as we close this morning is this
sanctification.
That progressive sanctification is not ultimately
measured by what other people think about you and how they observe
you.
True progressive sanctification happens in the heart,
and it's an action change, and not just a speech change.
It's a heart change and not just a perception change from the
world.
And so I would encourage you to think about where you stand in
that process of sanctification.
Number one, have you been accepted into the family of God by
way of submitting yourselves to him in faith?
Folks, there's a lot of people here today that have trusted in Jesus
Christ as their Savior.
But you know what?
I don't know for sure if everyone has.
And you can't be on the path of progressive sanctification without
being on that first step of positional sanctification.
If you're not in the family of God, you can't know the benefits.
Now, you saw that I didn't call up every other child in the
house today.
First of all, I don't have that much money.
Second of all, they're not my children.
I don't have the authority to promise those blessings to them,
right?
And so what happens is, is that God has the authority to do
whatever he wants to do.
But what he does do is he gives those promises to those that
are his children.
So these promises are not for everybody in this world.
He very clearly says that when you separate from the world, you
then become the ones who are his children, his sons and daughters.
And he'll be a father unto us, a loving father, a personal father.
And so, first step, being in the family of God.
Second step is being a growing, maturing member in the family
of God.
That's where I would venture to say that most of us are at right
now.
Most of us in this room have trusted in Jesus Christ as our savior
at some points.
But we are on that path of progressive sanctification.
It doesn't mean that we're getting saved more and more.
May I be clear about that?
Okay.
I'm not teaching about levels of salvation.
What I'm talking about is spiritual growth to become more and
more like Christ.
You know, I know my wife probably as well as anybody else
here or better.
But some of you might say, okay, I know Alicia.
You knowing Alicia is true.
You would know her, right?
Most of you.
Most of you say, maybe I don't know who she is.
That's okay.
But most of you would say, I know your wife.
And I would say, I know my wife.
Right?
Both statements are true.
But I think all of you would agree that I would know her in a
better way, right?
I would know what she likes to eat.
I would know not to cook this for her.
I would know not to take her to this place.
Why?
Because I have been with her longer.
I've been in a more intimate relationship with her longer.
And so therefore, I know her in a greater way.
So there's a lot of people in this room that would say, I know
Jesus, I know God.
And it's true, you do.
But what we want to do in our lives is to know him in a greater,
more personal way.
And so what I would encourage you to do is think about where do
I stand on that path?
Do I spend time with God because I have to?
Am I spending time with God because I'm afraid he's gonna strike
me down?
Or am I spending God spending time with God because I want to,
I desire this?
What if I just said, well, guys, I can't come out with you tonight.
I gotta spend time with my wife, gotta go out on a date with
her.
I gotta take her out once in a while.
Folks, that's not.
If I'm doing that, I got a big issue, right?
I got a big issue with my love for my wife.
I'm trying to find every which way to spend time with her, right?
And so what I would say to you tonight or to this morning is this.
We have to inspect our lives to say, why?
Why?
Why have I lost my passion for Jesus?
Why have I lost my time alone with Him?
Why have I lost my passion to spend time in His Word and to tell
other people about him and reason being?
And I'm going to boil it down to this.
What Paul said in chapter six, it's because our love for this world
has had such a tight grip on us that it is holding us down from
loving Him.
It's constricting us.
And that constriction of the love for this world does not allow
us to love God.
We can't love both.
And so I would encourage you to relinquish your tight grip on
this world.
I would encourage myself to relinquish my tight grip to this
world and allow myself to see Jesus for who he is and what he has
done.
And therefore we can then grow in our spiritual walk with Him.
I'm gonna ask everyone to stand with me.
Every head, about, every eye close.
As the music plays this morning, I'm gonna say to you that
there is a time of response here, and the time of response is
this.
It's not a.
It's not a complicated message, but the complication sometimes
is putting this to practice.
Do I want a close relationship with Jesus Christ?
I hope you do this morning.
What is the promise?
If I draw near to God, he will draw near to me.
How many of us are clinging to this world so much, gripping this
world so much that we're not able to draw near to God?
Question I would have for you this morning is, do you even want
a close relationship with the Lord?
If you don't want that close relationship, what's going on?
Why?
Why is that no longer attractive to you?
But if that is attractive to you, this morning you say, I want
that close relationship with the Lord.
I want to know him in a better way.
Are you willing to say, you know what, I'm going to take the
initiative, I'm going to take the first step and say, I want to
draw near to Him.
And drawing near to him is the most basic thing.
To spend time with him, to spend time in his word, to spend
time in prayer, to spend time in the things that he cares about.
Folks, some of us just need to stop and be still and know that he
is God and say, you know what?
I need to take More quality time with my Savior.
Some of us, our biggest struggle is our busyness.
We're distracted with the busyness of this world that we miss
out on the times that we need to be with our Savior.
We miss out on those special moments.
Don't get so busy that you miss the opportunity to see him and
to grow with him and to become more and more like him in your life.
Maybe it's a challenge just this morning to set aside some time
in your day in which you say, this is my priority.
Time to put Christ first.
To put him first.
This world has so much to throw at us.
The Bible says, hey, we need to put that off and put on the new
man, put on the new way of thinking, put on that transformed
lifestyle, put on that new focus.
Maybe some of us need to start that here today.
Maybe some of us just need to have that revived in our hearts.
The beauty is that first John, chapter one, verse nine says, if
we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
He's tenderhearted, he's waiting for you.
May we be those that are seeking after him, humbly submitting
before him.
Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation, working
hearts and lives.
I pray that you convict our hearts, Lord, if we don't know you
as Savior.
I pray that there could be someone here today that could come
and to take the word of God and to see what it means to know
you in salvation.
Have that positional sanctification.
But Lord, many of us, most of us probably this morning, we've trusted
in you.
But man, we have gotten our eyes off of you.
Lord, help us to keep our eyes fixed on you, to have that renewed
passion, that renewed desire to walk with you in a more personal
way, to grow in our knowledge and our love of you.
Lord, help us to cleanse our flesh and our spirit.
Lord, we thank you.
In Jesus name, Amen.
As the music plays, follow as the Lord leads here this morning.
Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church
podcast.
I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
If you would like to find out more information about our church
or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.
You can also email me directly at joshmasaro at middletownbaptistchurch.
Com.
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Thank you so much.
God Bless.
Have a wonderful day.