The Role of Sanctification in the Gospel and in the Purpose of God, Part 3

REFRESHING WATERS RENEWAL #26   The Role of Sanctification in the Gospel and the Purpose of God   Part 3 Quotes from the Holy Brethren, Noted and Recorded by Jonathan Blakely     BROTHER AARON HUTCHCRAFT Introduction ·        The Kingdom of God overturns the natural. ·        The kingdom of God isn’t about age, but about the place where God has placed you.   BROTHER JUDAH HUTCHCRAFT  “God has given us life, and this life is in His Son” Is it possible to get something eternal from someone who is not eternal? God is familiar with “eternal”. History is only “HIS story”. We are pretty narrow-minded when it comes to “eternal”. The eternal one has given us eternal life. Sounds like a good arrangement! Jesus wasn’t like other men. The death of Jesus was of more import than that of other men. When God came as a man, creation listened! How’s this for miraculous? God died. Jesus died for what YOU did wrong. God needed a spotless lamb, and Jesus was it! Sanctification is separation by means of purification. We’ve been set apart to be used ONLY by the Lord. You can probe a dead man all you want, but you’ll never get a response. God put our feet in a firm place. We didn’t get there ourselves. BROTHER SILAS McCULFOR  “Now ye are washed, sanctified, and justification” Sanctification comes from a source outside of ourselves. Sanctification is how our paths were changed. We called out of the wrong path and into God’s path. God separated us for holiness. We were turned around for the sake of sanctification. Anything used in the tabernacle had to be set apart. In order for God to use you in His kingdom he must sanctify you. Sanctification was not a small thing. This sanctifying work is the work of Christ. Sanctification is the thing that took us from the unrighteous thing and made us righteous. Sanctification has the ability to take us away from great wickedness and into the kingdom of God. We need to see sin the way God sees it. It’s an incredible thing that God changed us from what we were to what we are. BROTHER JASON HUTCHCRAFT Audience Discussion (Comments Included) This is not an open mic night. Everybody can’t just come up and say anything they want. Most groups have a hard time getting along. We can talk without becoming hostile. You have to hear someone talk in order to get to know them. So we want communication between the brethren. Sanctification is the changing of ourselves into the image of God. – Brother Evan McCulfor The gospel is GOD’S message of good news. – Brother Jonathan Blakely The gospel is a message from God that has the power to change men. – Brother Al Stoner The gospel has to be preached to everyone that has an ear to hear. – Brother Pat Woods You can be forgiven of your sins, but you also can stop being slave to it. – Brother Pat Woods The thing to get across to people is their usability to God. – Brother Given O. Blakely God has a keen interest in your usefulness to Him. – Brother Given O. Blakely God is calling you to Himself out of your condemnation and past. – Brother Gene Hutchcraft Don’t serve the god of things, but the God who made all things. – Brother Gene Hutchcraft Sanctification under the law was a routine. – Brother Given O. Blakely In Christ Jesus we have been liberated from the routines of our fathers, and you really are clean. – Brother Given O. Blakely We are not servants like ones that are not of the household of God, we are sons. – Sister June Blakely If you look back and see all the things that you have let go of it will strengthen you. – Sister Julie Miller In the old covenant God said, “You do it”. In the new covenant Christ does it. – Brother Silas McCulfor The law came by Moses, but sanctification didn’t come. Sanctification came in the new covenant through Jesus. – Brother Benjamin Blakely Sanctification turned from outward to inward. – Brother Mike Knapp In Christ we are sanctified and fit for the master’s use. – Brother Tim McCulfor Faith is operating in us to sanctify us. – Sister June Blakely Sanctification is when you become so compatible with the word of God that when you hear it you just agree with it. – Brother Given O. Blakely God isn’t mainstream. – Brother Judah Hutchcraft God is very particular in what He uses. – Brother Judah Hutchcraft We shouldn’t use words like “perfection” when describing God because that implies limitation. “Excellencies” would be a better word to use because He does excel. – Brother Al Stoner We work out sanctification, but we do it in view of what Christ has already accomplished. – Brother Al Stoner God can’t join Himself to something that is unholy. – Brother Given O. Blakely If something is going to change from unholy to holy, God is the only one who can bring about that change because He is the one source of holiness. – Brother Jonathan Blakely Sanctification is not an idea, it’s something is put into action and done. The world is the place of corruption because of sin. – Brother Al Stoner “The world” is the environment that became corrupted due to defilement. – Brother Matthew Cobb “The world” is everything that is going to pass away when Jesus. – Sister June Blakely The world distracts us from Christ. – Brother Benjamin Blakely What we are not to love are all the things that pertain solely to this life that will not make the transition into the world to come. – Brother Jonathan Blakely Light and darkness cannot coexist any more than the godly and ungodly can mix. – Sister Taylor The world is the place where the devil is allowed to exercise authority. – Brother Michael Blakely We are separated from the world by our affections. – Brother Al Stoner Seeking God’s grace separates us from the world. – Brother Daniel Blakely We are living out Jesus in this life. – Brother Mike Knapp Give men the word of your testimony. – Brother Given O. Blakely When you eat your food, do you pray for it? That’s shows something. – Brother Jonathan Blakely God’s people have a drawing effect. – Brother Jeremy Williams I do my best because I am working for the Lord. – Sister Emily Arnold The modern church has tailored its programs on the assumption of the people’s disinterest. – Brother Given O. Blakely Godly conduct can provoke a brother that is struggling to do better. – Brother Jonathan Blakely One of the biggest differences in the way Christ lived was the manner in which He suffered. – Brother Erik Olmsted When we stumble we need God to remedy it. – Brother Tim McCulfor God will incline your heart to His testimonies. – Brother Tim McCulfor Jesus has opened all the jail doors. – Brother Given O. Blakely BROTHER RICKY SIMS  “God makes Jesus to be sanctification for us” Before you can live separate you must first BE separate. We continually leap into heavenly places. We’re staying clean because God has work for us to do. God can make you clean so that He can use you. God isn’t going to put His hand to anything dirty any more than you do. You have to be a fit vessel for a fit use. God is a working God. God isn’t lounging on the heavenly couch. Would you give your life for a gold course in heaven? Heaven is not a place of inactivity. In the earth retirement is overrated. Leisure, pleasure, and entertainment only goes so far. You were made for employment. When man is prideful he is very presumptuous of his fellowship with Christ. God made the first move. The fact that you were drawn is evidenced that God was working in the first place. God is the primary worker in salvation. Who is the worker in salvation, us or God? YES!  God doesn’t allow anyone to sit down passively. It is in Christ that the surety of the work is accomplished. Jesus will never let someone be disappointed for trusting in Him. Jesus never quits, not even when things are difficult! You never lack for resources when in Christ. When you’re put into Christ you’re put into Christ’s workshop. When God puts you into Christ He puts you into the place where His hand is working. You don’t want to be outdone by Job because he didn’t have much. Who do you know that is more sanctified or set apart for divine work than Jesus? Jesus lived separate because he WAS separate. Jesus didn’t sin because He wasn’t a sinner. It’s one thing to take sin away from you, it’s another thing to turn you from sin. As you live your life do you notice yourself thinking less about yourself and more about Jesus? That’s sanctification. Everyone who comes into Christ comes in the right way. Satan’s primary mission is to steal you away from Christ by shifting your attention elsewhere. God will see to it that you’re everything He intends you to be. BROTHER MICHAEL BLAKELY  “Jesus suffered without the gate to sanctify the people” If a person is living by laws, he has no right to eat at the gospel table. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus have their hearts established by grace. If God isn’t going to use it then there is no point in sanctifying it. It’s impossible for the new creation to sin. God can work marvelous works in men. If Jesus hadn’t sanctified the work, all the divine objectives of God would have been mere wishes. Sanctification is about how God sees you. God is able to conform you to the image of His Son. We don’t atone for our sins with works. God arranged the sacrifices of old with the sacrifice of Christ in mind. Sin must be separated from the people. Jesus is the second man from heaven. BROTHER PAT WOODS “He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of One” In sanctification men are being changed from what they are to what they shall be. In your fellowship with the Godhead you’ll become like the Godhead. The everlasting gospel can be preached because of what Christ has done. The gospel is calling men to turn from wickedness. Men will be the vessels where God displays His mercy. The church is a witness of the mercy of God. Jesus is the first of what men shall be. By looking at Christ we see what God is bringing us to. We’re in a vital living union with the Godhead. In saving men, God is giving men to Jesus. The purpose of God is much bigger than us. The purpose of sanctification is about making us more acceptable, but making us more useful. God is at work in our sufferings. Sufferings cause us to rely on resources that are beyond here. We must not be confused about our experiences in this world because it will cause heartache. In this life we are loaded up and do work with weight set on us, but in this the Lord is training us. We want to experiences the resisting of sin, even unto blood. We need something of substance that we can take hold of. It’s a dangerous thing when the people of God are not being built up. Jesus is with us in purification. There is no fellowship between you and the world, but there is between you and God. Our sanctifier knows that we need to be sanctified. What you were in the past doesn’t disqualify you. It’s remembered no more! There is a lot of help in grace. Sanctification isn’t just about separateness, but God-likeness. You have been separate FROM something, but what are you separated to?   SISTER KATIE MILLER Testimony The Lord works above and beyond. It’s crucial to know what the Bible tells us. We need to fill our minds with the word of the Lord. Keep your eyes fixed on Christ so you can see Him. Because we are new creatures it is not in our nature to commit sin. God doesn’t just consider you righteous by follow His law. Because of Christ I have become an overcomer. In darkness I never found rest or mercy. I was attracted to Christ and still am. The Scriptures are like a cold drink on a hot day. This is because it’s living. Knowing I’m a new creature makes me work hard. The devil gives eternal death. Don’t let your mind get lazy. If you do something without God, you sin. Know that when we grow weary we are provided rest. BROTHER MIKE KNAPP Testimony We can see the Lord’s sanctifying work in each other. When our outer man decreases, our inner man increases. The law was revealed because of my transgressions. The prince of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not. I thought I had control of my own destiny. That’s how blind Satan made me. I used to think I was a good kid who was in no need of that “churchy” stuff. You can’t make good decisions when you’re apart from Christ. The things of this world are not fulfilling. Apart from God this life is hollow and has no meaning. When you come into Christ His affections are your affections and His hatreds are your hatreds. There is no one who can get to the Father except by Jesus. The things we do in the body of Christ are not only of profit to us, but also to the rest of the body. We really are able to sin no more. The blood of Christ is more precious than gold and silver. BROTHER JONATHAN BLAKELY  “The judgment of those who count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing” Satan doesn’t just want a piece of the church, he wants to bring the whole thing down. Scriptural warnings are not just given to backsliders for correction. They are given to the faithful to PREVENT backsliding as well. Jesus didn’t have a list of exceptions when He spoke of salvation through Him. Did Jesus ever say, “If any man go to…him”? Jesus says, “Come to ME”. When God draws a man, that man is going to Jesus. God has provided ONE WAY for men to be saved and that ONE WAY is more than capable of accomplishing salvation! Jesus didn’t get nailed to the cross just for a handful of people. If we are only separated from the world by name only, we’re a big fat joke. The people who are set apart by God are going to be contributors to what He is doing. Because Jesus died the righteousness of God is not compromised. In a world full of guilt God’s people stand out as forgiven. Whatever there is in our hearts that is holy, and whatever influences there are in our lives that make us holy, are all owing to the fact that Jesus was obedient unto death and tasted death for every man. All godliness, holiness, and acceptance by God is traced back to the cross. Is it joyful to consider a believer falling from grace? Not at all. To “sin willfully” is to choose a life of sin over Christ. It is voluntarily sinning as opposed to sinning due to a moment of weakness. Backsliding is stepping towards the cliff. Falling away is falling OFF the cliff and plummeting to your death. A person who falls away can never be saved again. We have no revelation about how to know a person has fallen away. If you could know a person was beyond recovery, how could you live with such knowledge? God has shown mercy to us in keeping this knowledge hidden. If you throw Jesus away you throw away the one means of salvation. Picture God extremely angry…pretty frightening to consider. Hell is eternity without God in a place where you have no place in. Hell isn’t going to be a playroom for the wicked. In hell meaning to life will be nonexistent. To count the blood of Christ as unholy is to deny its power. Counting Christ’s blood as unholy is departing from the provision with a bitter heart and treating it as though it meant nothing to you. If you depart from Christ, you don’t just walk away, you run Him over. If you abandon Christ you forfeit the life you had through Him. You can’t keep dabbling in the world and expect to keep coming back. So many people just say you can fall away and leave it at that, but what about NEVER FALLING? Doesn’t that sound a lot better? The blood of Jesus is unique. Never assume a person has fallen away. There is only one way to be saved. Once you find that way you can’t afford to leave it.   BROTHER AARON HUTCHCRAFT  “In what sense did God sanctify Jesus?” I’m not troubled when I hear that Jesus is King. Jesus was accused of being “the friend of sinners”. He was the only one that could make them NOT sinners! There is nothing that is sanctified and not accepted. The world borrows words, but I don’t see the world borrowing the word “sanctification”. Sanctification is not a process to be placed on the shelf. Nothing that gets sanctified is unused. God doesn’t have any rental services or subcontractor agreements. The opposite of sanctification is to desecrate. Everything that was given to the Lord had to be sanctified. Jesus is above all the shadows, the prophecies, and promises of the old covenant. Jesus is a man after God’s own image. Nobody can avoid or evade Jesus. Jesus is sanctified out of what is sanctified. By speaking God created everything that can be seen. There is coming a day when Jesus will empty all the graves. When Jesus speaks you ought to conclude, “No man speaks like this man”. I’m unlearning disobedience when I learn obedience, but Jesus just had to learn obedience, yet never disobeyed. Jesus’ humility is sanctified above all other humility. When Jesus was sanctified it wasn’t on the same level as our sanctification. God has put the weight of His eternal purpose on Jesus’ shoulders. The advancement of God’s kingdom is in Jesus’ hand. What Jesus is doing the angels couldn’t do. What Jesus is upholding, no one else could uphold. Jesus, today, is saving many men alive. BROTHER SID DAVIS Testimony Something God has been working in me is JOY. I am one that the Lord has brought back. I think the Lord allowed me to wander off just so I would see how sick the world really is. The distance you’re going to wander off will exclusively be based on how much what you know about what God said. When I told the Lord, “I’m going to do it your way”, it was it at that point I died to myself. God doesn’t really want to break your fellowship with the church, rather he wants to keep you from hearing God and make your fellowship with the brethren ineffective. Unanswered prayers are the foundation for patience. If you’re not closer to God today than you were yesterday, you have to ask yourself, “Whose flock am I in?” How much of a forgiving spirit do you have? Make sure there isn’t one unforgiven thing in your life. Pray that your life on earth is as it is in heaven. I want every thought in my head to be under control. When I came back, just think of how God smiled on me. BROTHER JASON HUTCHCRAFT  “Saints elect according to foreknowledge and sanctification” There are some things that exiles need to know. No matter how the world treats you, God has accepted you. Election is the mountaintop view of salvation. God doesn’t have the limitation of time. Only the Holy Spirit can take us from the mountaintop and bring us down the ground where the rubber meets the road concerning our salvation. God is the source of salvation. Salvation is not just God responding to our needs. If you’re in Christ today it is because of God. God does the electing in salvation. God made the choice to save men who believe the gospel of our Christ. God did not choose you because you chose Him first. Election is God’s mercy. If you belong to God, who made the first move? It was God! Do you want God to only be fair with you? God doesn’t have to save anyone. God doesn’t owe anything to us except condemnation. If anyone is elect of God, it isn’t “fair”, it’s GRACE! Salvation is not a deal between you and God. Election pulls the rug out from underneath the feet of humanity and forces men to their knees. Election is an insider view of salvation. There are some aspects of the gospel that are unpackaged for believers only. God is behind your exile in the world. Men like to believe they are in charge of their own destiny. Election is about grace, not work-for-pay. You got a problem with God electing? Who are you? God knowing what you were going to do before you did it is true, but that doesn’t minister comfort. Foreknowledge isn’t God knowing what I would do beforehand, it’s knowing what HE would do beforehand. God knowing us is God’s recognition of us. God had kind intentions for us before the world was made. Did God simply know what Jesus would do beforehand? Is that why He chose Him? God knew you before you were born and determined to put you into Christ. God is the origin and foundation of our salvation. Sanctification tends to be skipped over when men talk about salvation. It’s always wrong to represent God with a physical image. The people of God had to be like God. If you want to meet with God and survive you have to be like God. God hasn’t changed His view of sin! Something has to change, but it isn’t going to be God. Under the old covenant men had to be holy. If you look into the new covenant, what does it say? It says “be holy”! What’s changed? People. You’re set apart so that God can live in you. God wants to use us to do something NOW in the world. Sanctification isn’t putting you on the shelf and then doing nothing. Did God sit you in a corner just to blink or look pretty? The very presence of God in us makes us strangers to the world. Sanctification isn’t physical distance. How can we be saved from sin if it still dominates our lives? The whole point of putting sin to death is so that we can live for God. We live a different kind of life that is in harmony with our true homeland. Suffering is a part of our sanctification. You’re being sanctified in a world that hates God. The people of God shouldn’t be known for what we DON’T do, but for what we DO. We should live such acceptable lives that the ungodly see the difference in us. We don’t believe in quite Christians and silent saints. Every believer should be able to speak about their faith intelligently to anyone who is willing to listen. We shouldn’t expect the world to like what we have to say, but we have to say it anyway. SISTER SUSAN BRUECK Testimony It is fitting to publically give thanks to the Lord. God has brought us through many different things, the emphasis is “THROUGH”. Everyone has a valley that they must travel through. I felt the need to give thanks to God. BROTHER AL STONER  “The Holy Spirit sanctifies the offering up of the Gentiles” We must not take for granted our former condition of being Gentiles in the flesh. All men are on the same field when it comes to God’s objective of redemption: God so loved the world.  The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.  Christ tasted death for every man. God is presently engaged in the work of teaching men about His Son.  Men come to Jesus because God has been working in their hearts, teaching them to properly value Him. Both God and Christ are working in concert with each other in the accomplishment of salvation.  God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.  The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.  The Father sanctified the Son and sent Him into the world. There was time there were two folds (Jew and Gentile), but now there is only one fold and one Shepherd.  The middle wall of partition (which once stood between Jew and Gentile in the purpose of God) has now been broken down.  The Gentiles are now fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God. All Christ’s sheep, regardless of what fold they are from, have this one thing in common, they hear His voice! The righteousness of God is unto all, and upon all them that believe.  Don’t let anyone take that away from you! We were once on the outside of “the door of faith”, but that door has now been opened in accordance with God’s eternal purpose in Christ.  The expression “the door of faith” implies that a time would come when that “door” would be thrown wide open. Paul was sent to minister to the “desolate heritages” (the Gentiles), whom the Lord Jesus Christ was commissioned by the Father to raise up, as expressed in Isaiah 49. If you were to buy a house, would you in your right mind buy something that is desolate? That’s what Christ received! But those desolate heritages are not desolate anymore because of what the Savior has worked in them salvationally! God knew Paul’s heart from the time he was in his mother’s womb.  In his letter to the Galatians Paul affirmed that God had called him from his mother’s womb, long before he was known for persecuting the church. God is not purposing to take possession of your possessions, He is purposing to take possession of YOU. Your possessions, and your stewardship of them, are nevertheless an integral part of the process of your being sanctified.   BROTHER GIVEN O. BLAKELY “What it means to be sanctified by faith” God is offering men life for a LOOK, a look with the eye of faith. The eye of faith can penetrate vain religion. God is determined to turn men from darkness and the power of Satan. The forgiveness of sins isn’t everything, it’s the BEGINNING of everything! Forgiven sin loses its power. How do you resist the devil? Say, “NO.” Jesus didn’t die to give you a happy marriage. Moses could have given you that. You were accepted before you were called, and then you were sanctified after you were called. Sanctification takes place without any of your input. Until Jesus died for all sin not one sin could be forgiven. Before Christ men had to live their lives with a defiled conscience. Before the work was started God had it all mapped out. Why did God grant repentance? Because the people were sanctified. Before God even started working He cleaned everything out so that no one could lay a charge against Him. The work of sanctification isn’t a work that’s up to the church. Everybody needs to be made to stand. The work of salvation by God in men has been legitimatized by the sufferings of Christ. If God forgives your sins, you have to believe that! God will give you repentance if you just let Him do it. You’re born into this world as a Siamese twin with Adam. Coming into Christ causes there to be a separation between you and Adam. The people God is going to work on have been set apart for the work. You don’t want to gather around the world so that it’s hard to get out. When you’re sanctified you default to God’s side. You do not have a right to just do what you want. God didn’t set things up for independent living. God’s going to give you good things…a LOT of good things! Getting help from someone other than Jesus is unlawful, a crime, and sin. There isn’t anything Christ’s resources doesn’t cover. If you ask God for something He says that he gives, heavenly beings know this is right! The church (of today) is accommodated to weak spiritual status. It’s time to defer to people who WANT the blessing! If it’s a small number of people, it won’t stay that way! TOMORROW isn’t the day of salvation! TODAY is! Today you can get everything that salvation promises. What do you need that faith won’t give you? Faith is the key that unlocks everything. When you have faith enough to say, “Yes” to Christ and extend yourself, you will find that you are able to do that thing you were unable to do before. All you have to do to hear the words, “Enter into the joy of thy Lord” is keep the faith. BROTHER DAVID MILLER  “Why do we come to the Lord’s table?”  If we don’t partake of the Lord’s supper in the right manner, people can get sick, or die. Jesus, the slain Lamb of God, is why we come to this table. We come to this table because we love God and Jesus. We appreciate what they have done. We want to commune with the Lord often, until we see the face of Jesus. Remember this is the new covenant in Christ’s blood. Jesus isn’t just a loaf of bread sitting on a table. He’s the LIVING bread. The blood of Jesus is much more valuable than gold and silver. We don’t have to experience God’s wrath. Christ has clothed us with God’s righteousness. We’ve been loved and washed. We’re already Christ’s spotless bride, but the fullness of that will be seen in eternity.