Sanctified in the Truth
Morning Greeting:
Announcements:
- Announce Men’s Breakfast on August 18th – 8:30 Teel’s
- Church Picnic August 26th
- Lady’s Breakfast August 4th
- Preschool Parade August 11th
- New Sunday School on August 19th
- Ryne and Alicia Brewer on August 12th
- See Steve Weissert if you want to do Special Music
Introduction:
Have you ever encountered a situation where you didn’t know what the right thing to do was? Something happens or someone asks you a question, and you are not sure how to proceed?
Or have you ever had to make a difficult choice due to various responsibilities you have: like, work wants you to do something, but you know that if you do it, it will cause you to miss an important event for your family, but you know you need that job to support your family. And so you wonder: should I hurt my position in the company by turning them down so I can spend time with my family? Because time with family is important, but so is providing for your family. What do I choose?
I’ve had it said to me a couple of times that, out in the world, people don’t operate according to the rules in the Bible. For most people, your job isn’t going to operate according to the rules of the Bible. Your school isn’t going to operate according to the rules of the Bible. And your government isn’t going to operate according to the rules of the Bible. Your family and your church might operate according to the rules of the Bible, but even they do so imperfectly.
Actually, the fact that the world doesn’t operate according to the rules of the Bible ought not to be a surprise to us. Listen to what the Bible has to say about the world:
Ephesians 2:1-3 – And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
1 John 2:15-16 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The Bible makes it clear that the way of the world is not one of love for God and observance of His law. We want love, respect, decency, purity, joy, peace, and kindness to reign – but it’s evident that they do not. The world follows the passions of the body and mind – passions that are contrary to God’s ways. The Bible states that – though mankind doesn’t realize it – the truth is that, apart from Christ, mankind is really following after the prince of the power of the air – who is the Devil.
So with that in mind, it really ought not to surprise us when we suddenly find ourselves in a situation that is difficult. Satan, the leader of the fallen world, is not trying to set up a system that is obedient to God. Satan is trying to establish his own kingdom, one that lives sinfully and selfishly.
The reality of the situation is that long ago, when God first made the heavens and the earth, everything was perfect. But Satan rose up in rebellion against God and now actively tries to establish his own kingdom. He’s very good at what he does and drew a third of the angels with him and convinced Adam and Eve to follow him in his rebellion.
So what we run into now is we have the Bible, we read about perfect love and truth and goodness and see that it is wonderful, but when we go out into the world it turns out that it can be very hard to live according to the principles of the Bible. That is, in fact, the normal Christian experience. We are redeemed and transformed people living in a world that is not redeemed and transformed. That’s not easy.
As a believer, you are called to live a life of love and righteousness, and yet you must do so while living on an earth that lives in disobedience to God.
Better understanding how to navigate this difficult situation is our goal for the next several sermons. For the next few weeks we’re going to be going through a sermon series that is designed to help us better navigate the Christian life in the midst of an unchristian world.
Following God in a Fallen World. X2
The first text we are going to in this series is probably the most important one for the subject, because it addresses this topic very directly and tells us Jesus’ own prayer for believers living in this environment. We see from this text that God is well aware of the situation, what He wants you to do about it, and why He has you here on this earth.
And that’s my prayer for us this morning. That we would:
- Better understand the situation we are in.
- Understand what to do about it.
- Understand why we are in this situation.
Verses: John 17:14-19
*Read Verses*
Verses 14-16
I will say more about the fact that Jesus has given us God’s word in a bit, but first I want to talk about the situation.
So here is the reality of the situation, from the mouth of our Lord and Savior: the world that I spoke about earlier, the one following after its passions and desires and following after Satan, the world hates you and I. And it hates us because we are not like the world. We are different.
The world says: it’s all about me! But you say: No, but it is all about Jesus.
The world says: forget your family, pursue your dreams! But you say: But God adopted me, how then can I ignore my family.
The world says: indulge in sex and drugs. But you say: I don’t live for myself and my pleasures. I won’t destroy my body and relationships with others in pursuit of feelings.
The world says: forget about the church, those people aren’t your true friends. But you say: Jesus loves the church and died for her, how then can I turn my back on the church?
The world says: worship movie stars. But you say: No, I will worship the Lord, from whose hand all good things come.
And what happens is you become to the world just as Jesus was to the world: a big rebuke. A living example that the world is not as it should be. You are different. You don’t fit with the program. Just as Jesus was not of this world, so you are not of this world. And you know what they say about the nail that sticks up, it gets the hammer.
And another truth: it is no accident that you are in this world. Jesus, in this prayer of His to the Father, specifically says that He does not ask that we be taken out of the world. It is God’s intention that you and I are to remain in the world. Becoming a monk or a nun or committing suicide is not the right choice. Jesus wants us to be in the world.
But we find this: He prays that we would be kept from the evil one. You and I live in a world that is hostile to God, yet, the prince of that world has to put up with it. Satan wants you out of the picture but he can’t touch you and you don’t have to obey him. He can and will try to make things difficult, but you belong to God now. God keeps you from the evil one.
So, from this, first of all, as you seek to Follow God in a Fallen World:
Recognize where your citizenship status lies. You are not a citizen of this world. You are a foreigner of this world. Your true citizenship is in heaven. For now, God wants you to be here. The prince of this world does not want you to be here, and he and his followers do not like how different you are, however Satan does not own you and so he must put up with your presence here.
Recognizing that your true home is in heaven will give you hope in the midst of difficult circumstances. You are just a foreigner passing through. You will not always have to make difficult choices. One day there will just be love, joy, peace, and gladness with redeemed people enjoying God and His gracious gifts for all eternity. This world is not your home.
Link: So that’s the first point: Recognize that you are a citizen of heaven and a foreigner on earth.
The second point is about how we are different. It is that we have God’s word. At the beginning of verse 14 Jesus says “I have given them your word.” And then in verse 17 He says…
Verse 17
This verse is key. The majority of the rest of the series is summed up in this verse. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
This is the long and short of how we are to Follow God in a Fallen World, it is through the truth.
Sanctify means to be set apart as holy. When something is sanctified, it now becomes distinct from other things that are not sanctified. And the distinction rests in that the sanctified thing or person is holy.
And for us that happens as we abide in the truth. As we abide in the truth, we become set apart, distinct, different from the world, and that difference is that we are holy.
And we don’t have to wonder about what is true because Jesus tells us. God’s word is truth. The Bible is truth. Your Savior’s prayer for you is that you would come to be different from the world by being holy, and that you would be holy by knowing and obeying the Bible.
So how this relates to our introduction: if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t know what to do, know that Jesus wants you to be sanctified in the word of God. Pray for wisdom and then go and search the Scriptures. The better you know the word of God, the clearer the path will become. The less you know the word of God, the easier it will be for you to be deceived, and more difficult it will be for you to be sanctified.
It has ever been the strategy of Satan to twist, hide, and contradict the truth: in short, to lie. That is why he is called the father of lies. From the very beginning, when the fall happened, Satan first misquoted and then directly contradicted God’s word. And so it is that now the world is filled with twisted truth, hidden truth, contradicted truth, and lies.
You’ll be told either implicitly or directly that love is a feeling, that your life will be better with stuff, that God isn’t real, and on and on.
Until you open this book and with sincerity seek to know the truth, you will be very vulnerable. And I usually only get the opportunity to preach or teach you once a week. It’s not enough. When the world system is overflowing with lies, one sermon a week is entirely insufficient for the task. You must read this book, you must. It is the only way for you to be sanctified in the truth.
And this word is what sets us apart and is what guides us in the midst of the fallen world. Jesus’ prayer for you is that you would be sanctified by it. How can you Follow God in a Fallen World without it?
In coming weeks, we will learn from the Bible what our most important relationship of all is, we will learn to recognize the strategies of the devil, and many other things. All of these things will help us to Follow God in a Fallen World. All of this helps us to be sanctified in the truth. But it is just insufficient for you to depend on those messages alone.
So, our first point was that we must recognize that we are citizens of heaven and foreigners in this world.
The second is that we must be sanctified by the truth. How are we to Follow God in a Fallen World? It is by being sanctified by God’s word, which is the truth.
The third point reveals the purpose why we are left on this hostile world and expected to be different: it is because we are to help rescue the fallen world.
We Follow God in a Fallen World to bring light, hope, healing, and good news. X2
Verses 18-19
Jesus’ mission was to follow the way of the Lord and die as the ultimate sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. He was sent into the world because God loved the world and wanted to rescue it. Though the world is running away from Him into the arms of another, though the situation I have described so far sounds very grim, God is not content to just abandon the world or destroy it.
You too have been sent into the world for a purpose. The reason you are here is so that you can be a witness for God and bring good into it. He hasn’t left you in a world that doesn’t operate by the rules of the Bible because He doesn’t like you or isn’t listening or doesn’t care.
He has left us on a world that is fallen because He loves the world and He wants people to be saved. He wants people to come to a knowledge of the truth through the Gospel. He wants people to learn to not be selfish and sinful, but instead to be loving and pure.
Jesus said to His disciples: “You are the light of the world.” He wants us to show God’s goodness to people. He wants people who are living in darkness to look to us and say “there is hope.” We’ve talked a lot about how the world doesn’t operate according to the rules of the Bible. God has put you in the world so that you can show them what that looks like.
Hard choices are really an opportunity for you to show people a better way. And the more you are sanctified by the truth, the better equipped you will be to be a light to other people.
Jesus said to His disciples: “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt preserves things. Salt also tastes great. The world is fallen, but the presence of Christians in the world helps to keep it from rotting and to make it a better place. You might be frustrated by the lack of love and kindness in your work place: as the salt of the world, you can help change that. You can be used not just to preserve a positive environment in your work place, but to make it better.
Conclusion: The next time you are faced with a difficult decision, consider:
- Your citizenship is in heaven, you are a foreigner passing through.
- God wants you to be sanctified in the truth.
- You are the salt and light of the world.