Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20040808.htm

ADAPTING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT'S PRESENT MINISTRIES
Part X: Adapting To The Holy Spirit's Sanctification Ministries

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

This last week, a member in our Church shared with me a special burden she faces as it relates to relationships. A beloved associate is getting close with another party that holds to very evil beliefs, and this has this member in our Church really concerned!

On the one hand, this member of our church knows she should be "loving" toward the associate and the associate's friend who holds to very evil beliefs, but the wickedness of the beliefs involved makes this believer not want to have any close ties even with the formerly close associate, and that troubles this believer.

This believer fears she may have a "holier-than-thou" attitude that is wrong in some way even though she mentally deeply opposes the very wicked beliefs of the party!



Since this is such a BIG and often a COMMON concern, we address it in viewing the doctrine of the Sanctification Ministries of the Holy Spirit: we seek to answer the question of the tension between our desire to be LOVING to others, and at the same time to be HOLY before God!



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "I know it is evil to have a 'holier-than-thou' attitude toward others, but I can NOT make myself live close to those who are evil! So, WHAT is a TRULY HOLY life, and HOW is it LIVED?!"
  1. The moment one trusts in Christ for salvation from sin, he becomes indwelt by God the HOLY Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:9b.
  2. The word, "HOLY" that describes this Spirit indicates He SETS the believer APART from SIN (as follows):
    1. The term, "holy" as used of the Holy Spirit in 1 Thessalonians 4:8 comes from the Greek word, hagios meaning, "to be set apart, pure" from that which is evil and thus unworthy of unity with God, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., p. 709; Arndt & Ging., A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., p. 9-10; L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theol., v. VI, "Pneumatology," p. 45.
    2. As such, the Holy Spirit has a threefold ministry to the believer to set him apart from evil so that he can be fit to live in harmony with God:
      1. First, the Spirit positionally sanctifies one in his stand before God:
        1. When he trusts in Christ, one is positionally sanctified by the Holy Spirit so he can begin to live apart from sin, 1 Peter 1:2.
        2. This qualifies the believer to be raptured when he is removed from sin's presence by being taken to heaven, 2 Thess. 2:13-14.
      2. Second, the Spirit experientially sanctifies the believer in his life:
        1. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 8 calls upon us believers to live apart from sexual immorality in keeping with the Holy Spirit in us.
        2. Thus, the Holy Spirit works to effect our earthly Christian lives so that we walk apart from sins such as sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, rivalries, dissension, divisions, envy, substance abuse, orgies, etc., cf. Galatians 5:16-21a ESV.
      3. Third, the Holy Spirit ultimately sanctifies the believer in the end, removing him from sin's presence at the rapture of the body:
        1. Romans 8:11 reveals the believer's body will be changed at the rapture by the Holy Spirit's power to equip him to go to heaven.
        2. This event will cause the believer to be so separate from sin's presence that he will be sinless and fit for life with a completely holy God in heaven, 1 Corinthians 15:51-56; Ephesians 1:4.
  3. As the Holy Spirit NOW works on the believer's EXPERIENTIAL sanctification, for this message TODAY, we will focus on a variety of "separation from sin" themes that apply to that EXPERIENCE:
    1. The believer is TODAY supposed to be growing in his discernment of good and evil, a process that increasingly leads him be less tolerant of sin in his environment and in his own life, cf. Hebrews 5:11-14.
    2. As the believer applies this discernment to his life, it INEVITABLY affects his relationships with all other people as follows:
      1. From 1 John 1:5 (KJV) we learn God is fully separate from what is not in accord with Scripture, for "in Him is no darkness at all."
      2. If an unsaved party or even a sinful Christian claims to commune closely with God, but they believe and live contrary to what is revealed in Scripture, they lie, and live outside of true close rapport with the God Who is revealed in Scripture, 1 John 1:6.
      3. Yet, if one heeds Scripture as God is revealed in it, he closely communes with God and others who heed His Word, 1 John 1:7.
      4. These truths affect a believer's relationship with all other people:
        1. With those who deny Christ and reject His Gospel, the Bible-heeding believer will have nothing in common, and God wants him to withdraw from such parties, 2 Jn. 9-10; Gal. 1:8-9.
        2. With those who trust in Christ but live sinfully or believe error so as to live contrary to Scripture, the believer who heeds Scripture is not to try to have close fellowship, 2 Thess. 3:6, 14.
        3. This does not mean a Bible-heeding believer will not love such people: he is to love all men according to Rom. 13:8a, and that is seen in his doing good to all, Rom . 13:9-10. Yet, he will not be compatible with nor should he try to function in harmony with such errant people: his actions will be those from the "outside-in" as he lives as a beacon for God's truth, 2 Cor. 5:20.
    3. If we note WE lack "closeness" with God and godly Christians, then WE are living in disobedience to Scripture so that we must either (1) become a Christian by faith in Christ for salvation (Acts 17:30) OR, (2) as believers, we must be restored to fellowship with God via (a) confession of sin (1 John 1:9) followed by (b) depending on the Holy Sprit (Galatians 5:16) to heed Scripture teaching (1 John 2:3).
Lesson Application: God is SEPARATE from SIN and from SINFUL people even though He LOVES each one! (1) So, if we see we are OUTSIDE of "closeness" with God's people and God, we must deal with our SIN as noted in "III,C" above. (2) If we HEED Scripture, we are to love all men by doing GOOD toward them, but we WILL NOT be COMPATIBLE in RELATIONSHIP with them just as GOD HIMSELF is not compatible with them: may we then accept that fact as a "healthy" state of reality and live for our ULTIMATE sanctification in heaven!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 God has used wedding receptions this summer to lead me into a deepening stand on Christian fellowship, and the one my wife and I attended July 31st supplied the latest, most powerful divine directive.

We had been assigned to sit at a table with two Evangelical ordained ministers and their wives and a third, "lay" couple who attended the Church of the older, statewide influential minister.

Well, you will recall from a recent sermon that we attended a wedding reception back in June where I kept quiet when a Charismatic believer at our table tried to impress me with his "sign" gift; I wanted to avoid making a scene with him out of respect for the bridal party. For the same reason, I planned to stay quiet if controversial subjects arose in any discussion with these two ministers.

That was much easier said than done! As the ministers asked us questions, they learned I pastored an independent Church, and they opposed that! The influential pastor and his wife started a long discussion on how Evangelicals should put aside their differences and unite! His big move came when he got up, came over behind me, bent down near my ear, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Brother, when we're in heaven, you and I will sit down and have a long talk!"

Though feeling "persecuted", we later recalled the wife of the "lay" couple at the table who attended this pastor's church twice had shared how upset she was as a former Roman Catholic that this Church had not taught her the true Gospel to be saved! Yet, each time she had voiced this complaint, she had cut herself short as though coached to say, "But, that Church did give me a good foundation!" She did not feel at liberty to do what Galatians 1:8-9 urged, to stand apart from those who teach a faith-plus-works Gospel like her former Church does -- her current "inclusive" Evangelical pastor would not allow for it!

We were thus not the only persecuted ones there -- this former Catholic woman also was! We had faced what the Pilgrim Forefathers did when King James I and even other Puritans resisted their pulling out of the Church of England to obey God! Like them, we also needed to sail in our own Mayflower voyage out of errant religious oppression!

If we heed Scripture, we partake in a SELECTIVE FELLOWSHIP with our dear Lord. May we ACCEPT this reality, and live in accord with it with a clear conscience!