Good evening. As you can tell tonight, we're going to be talking about sanctification. Equip is our overall strategy here at Calvary Temple, and the focus of Equip is to help all people become a sure believers in Christ. One of the key tools that we are using right now is what you're at, right, right at this very moment.
We are going through what we believe on Wednesday nights. These are the fundamental truths of what we believe, and we think that's where we have to start, so we all understand what we believe. And this evening, we're going to be on our next fundamental truth, which is sanctification. And I want to read this for you.
This is on our website. If you ever want to look at this, go to our website. Under the menu item about, you can go down to what we believe. It's going to list these 16 fundamental truths.
What we have on our website regarding sanctification is this. Sanctification is an active effort on the part of the believer to separate from evil and dedicate one's life to God, one's self to God. The believer identifies with Christ's death and resurrection, and daily seeks to surrender himself to the direction of Christ's teaching and the Holy Spirit. That's what Pastor Mark's going to talk about tonight.
He's going to talk about the three phases or the three aspects as well of sanctification. Before he does that, I just want to remind you, for those of you who use the Bible app on Sunday morning, we have our notes on the Bible app, for those of you who use it, we are using this on Wednesday night, so you can follow along if you don't want to use a piece of paper. Those of you who use the Bible app, you can follow the notes on your phone, and you can type in your notes right on the app if you'd like, and you can save them. So let's welcome Pastor Mark.
Good evening. You watched the video, so I assume you have it now. You understand it completely. I do want to encourage you tonight to be praying and thinking about who God would have you invite to church on Easter Sunday.
We talked about that. We're going to keep talking about that. I believe God wants every one of us. I've been praying about that and seeking the Lord about that.
Sometimes the fish jump into the boat. I walked into a place that I go quite frequently and there's a guy there that I've known a little bit and talked to him a couple of times about coming to church and I walked in Monday to this place and he looked at me and said, hey, you have a man? I said, what time of your service is anyway? And I said, that's an eke.
He said, can I come? I said, yeah, if we want you to come. I told my grandson, I told him no. He said, really?
You told him no? I said, no. That's a joke. Be praying.
One of our folks wrote me Sunday afternoon and they had gone out as they went to leave church Sunday. They said, I couldn't get out of the parking lot. God had laid somebody. They had some headbudding with on their heart and they immediately sent them a note inviting them to Easter services.
And they sent me that and I said, well, that's great. A few months they said, hey, I've already got a response from them. And the person they live in another community besides Springfield and the person said to him, you know what? Because you invited me, we're going to go to church on Easter Sunday.
We're going to drive to Springfield. We're going to go to church on Easter because you invited me. So praise God. And this person said that the spirit of the conversation was healthy instead of the confronting.
So I just want to encourage you. Let's follow the lead in the spirit. If you want to be in the middle of making miracles, being a miracle starter, you've got to do some things. You've got to follow the leading of the spirit in your life.
Now tonight as we talk about sanctification, I want you to know, if you understand this fundamental truth, several things will happen. One, as you read the Bible, it'll be less confusing and you'll be able to identify what it's talking about. This is one of those concepts with this word sanctification and sanctify that you run across it and it can almost seem like it's, you can tell me, okay, what does it really mean here? The enemy will have less power to tell you lies.
Have you ever had the enemy tell you, you're not really saved? The enemy will have less power to tell you lies when you understand sanctification. You'll understand your responsibility of holiness and you will worship God with more joy. So let's stand together and open our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5.
Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil and dedication unto God. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have your Bibles flip over to Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 11.
So the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priests as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. This is the great work of the blood of Jesus to set us apart to sanctify us so that we can stand before God. Father, we thank you for the work of your Son, your mercy to us, your grace to us.
Help us to grow when you and to be moved in you in Jesus name. Amen. Say hello to a few people around you before you sit down and encourage somebody tonight. Okay, there are two things you can do for us.
If you're enjoying these classes, if you're finding some foundation in these classes, I want to encourage you in your small group settings to tell the people in your group. Say, wow, we're learning some good things, we're growing in some things. You ought to come and join us if you're not coming. The Bible teaches us to encourage others.
Right after Easter, we're going to be going to move out of this next week with a student that's going to help you and seeing how to invite people and reach out to people next Wednesday night. But after that, we're going to go in and look at what we believe about end times, what's going to happen in end times, our fundamental beliefs about end times. Then shortly after that, sometime in that, we're going to begin to have other classes that will be offered. And if you see a place in your life that you'd really love to see us address that, you'd really like to see some discipleship happen in that, become better equipped in that area, please, take one of our connection cards.
We'd love to put your name on it, write down what that is because we may want to talk to you about it and let us know because we're going to begin to break up into some classes here as we move towards the summer. In a difficult sense, sanctification means to be set apart from sin in order to be set apart to God. So as sinners, without this work being done, we cannot approach a stand before God unless we are sanctified. Unless as we just read, we receive the blood of Christ on our life.
We cannot stand before God. Anyone who goes down their own merit, anyone who goes there on their own strength, anyone who goes there some other way will find themselves wanting because we need to be purified and sanctified by faith in Jesus' name. Now there are three aspects of this sanctification that will help you, if you understand them, as you read the Bible, and will help you to shut up the enemy when he tries to lie to you. The first aspect of sanctification I want you to understand is that it is positional and instantaneous sanctification, positional, under Christ, instantaneous the moment you receive Christ into your life.
Philippians 3 verse 8 says, indeed I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. What he's saying is, anything's been in my life in the past that doesn't match up with what God has. I count it as rubbish to get rid of it for the glory of knowing Christ.
And he found him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. In other words, not by works, not by the effort of man, not by religious activity, but that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, depends on faith. This occurs instantly by faith in Christ at the moment of conversion. At the moment where we accept Christ into our life, the blood of Christ is applied to us.
We are by the act of Christ sanctified. So we have this word justified just as if we had not sinned. Justified. Justification is what God does for us while sanctification is what God does in us, both occur at salvation.
The moment we accept Christ, we are covered by his blood. God sees the righteousness of his blood, the blood of the son, when he looks at us, he chooses to see that righteousness has been applied to us instead of the sin, the nature of man that is in us. So while sanctification is connected with regeneration and justification, it is not the same thing. Let's give a look at this real quick.
Regeneration. Regeneration changes our nature. We now, instead of having to sin nature, that becomes attracted to sin. One of the signs in our life that we are born again is that we become more and more embarrassed about sin, more and more shameful about sin, more and more unattractive to sin because we have a new nature in us.
We get to get changed. The person who is being spirited wants to give that up. They begin to walk and live a different way. Justification changes our legal standing before God.
Before a just God without the blood of Christ, our legal standing is we are going to receive the wrath of God. But the moment the blood of Christ is applied to our life, by faith in Christ, our legal standing is changed before God. He's paid the price, the ransom price for our sin. Adoption changes our relationship with God.
We now become adopted into the family of God and we are His. We are His family and He loves us as family. Sanctification changes our character and our conduct. The work of sanctification begins to change the way I desire things and changes the way I act in my life.
So when God justifies us, He declares us righteous. That's good news. When He sanctifies us, we become righteous. Justification puts us into a right relationship with God, but sanctification shows the fruit of a right relationship with God.
Are we getting this? Now, I want to tell you, this instantaneous thing is where we should really rejoice. That's why we should come in every Sunday and praise God. That's why we should honor Jesus.
That's why we should rejoice in Jesus. That's where we tell the enemy to shut up when we don't do things right and we mess up. And we make mistakes and the enemy comes and says, you're not good enough. And we go, I know I'm not, but I'm justified.
I'm sanctified by the blood of Jesus. And it should make us rejoice all day long. It should make us celebrate all day long because we are going to stand before God, not on our own merit. In this moment, not on our own merit.
God called us home at this moment, not on our own merit. We stand before God sanctified instantaneously, positionally, under the blood of Christ. We are His children. We are clean.
We are holy. We have the right to stand before God because of the blood of Jesus. So the enemy doesn't want you to possess that. He doesn't want you to know that.
He wants you to be, am I making it? Am I going to make it? I don't know if I'm good enough. Well, you're not good enough.
It's the blood of Christ that makes us good enough. You're not perfect. So we rejoice in that. Here's the second part that we have to be aware of, though.
We have to be aware of practical and progressive sanctification because that's another part of the work that happens in our life. Now, when you read the Bible, if you understand those two things, there's positional instantaneous sanctification and there's practical, progressive sanctification, it will clear up confusion when you read things and you go, wait a second. Am I good enough to say, oh, I'm still messing these things up. I'm not, I'm not, well, can I stand before God?
Holy? Can I not stand before God? Am I good enough? You understand the difference as you read through the Bible when you understand, wait a second.
This is talking about the practical and progressive part of sanctification. It's not the place where Christ has paid the whole price for me and therefore because of that, I am sanctified positionally under Christ. So as you, you're getting that, you understand that? You're going to read Scriptures and tell you, if you don't do this, this, this, this, this, this is what you have to be sanctified.
You're going to be looking, going, I'm messing up in the agency. You're not good enough. So you're not really safe. No, you're saved by faith.
You're saved by faith. Philippians 2 says this, therefore my brothers, as you have always obeyed. So now, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For as God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Listen to verse 13, for as God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. This is talking about this progressive aspect. Are we saved by our works? Are we born again by works?
No. But here we're called to work out our salvation. What's happening here? We are born again.
We are positionally sanctified under Christ. Now we're called to be obedient and to work out that sanctification in our conduct and in our actions with a, and this is important, by submitting and letting God to work in us because we can't do it on our own. There are times when we face these things that we have to say, God, I see it. I understand it.
I need your help to do it. I need your spirit to help me and stop making excuses and start saying, God, I need your help. Romans chapter 8, so then brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to flesh. For if you live according to flesh, you will die.
But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Again, our need for the spirit to help us do that. For all who are led by the spirit of God, our sons of God, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba Father. This is a key part in us learning to walk in victory, is that we learn to walk in the spirit.
We learn to invite the spirit into our life. We learn to recognize the places of weaknesses in our life and appeal to the spirit for help. We learn to worship in the spirit. I believe that when Paul is telling us that he prays in the spirit more than all of us, he's going right back.
I mean, can you think of anybody who's accomplished any more than Paul, go right back to the first part of chapter 14 and he says praying and the spirit edifies us, strengthens us, builds us. This is why every believer, I believe, should long for that gift, that baptism of the spirit that gives us a prayer language. So it should be obvious. It should be obvious that we are not completely holy.
Have you noticed that? So we are completely sanctified by the blood of Christ positionally, but by nature and conduct, oh, everybody okay? We're still not holy. God starts where we are, but we are called to grow in our nature in Him to work out our salvation so the work of sanctification that is positionally applied to us begins to work its way out in our nature.
And it's a scary thing. If you don't know right now what God's working on you at, that's a scary place. You need to recognize. That's why we need to recognize.
Now, this happens by a couple of things. One, hey, it happens by the power of the word. We are washed with the word. As we read the word, as we study the word, at first it's very, very basic.
Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't commit adultery. But as you grow, it begins to become this love your neighbor as yourself.
It begins to deepen in our life and the word of God speaks to us and challenges us and reveals to us the areas of sanctification that He's wanting to work out in our life. That happens through Bible study, reading the Bible. This is why we tell you, read the Bible every day. Read the Bible with a simple word that deals in God.
Reveal your truth to me. Show me what I need to know. In verse chapter four, talking about the word says, the word of God is living and active. What that means, it will simply is, is that when the word of God comes into our life, when we hear it or read it, it will go to the neat area.
It will go to the place where you need to read it and you need to hear it as your heart is sensitive, sharper than the two edges sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. So I sincerely open the word, not just to become more word knowledgeable, but I open the words and God teach me. This is your word to me. This is you to me.
That He begins to work in my life. From the time of time you'll run across and say, oh, Jesus, if Jesus here, I'd follow Him everywhere. Not if you don't read the Bible. The Bible is Jesus, friends.
It's the word of God. It is Jesus' word to us. If you'll ignore the Bible, you'll ignore Jesus if He's walking around. It'd be too hard to face Jesus.
It'd be too difficult. It'd be too difficult. I don't get it. I tried it.
I don't get it. Because Jesus is revealed in the Word. It's His Word. It's His truth.
The book, the pages, they're not holy. The Word is holy. And we learn through the Word, the Word washes us. What does that mean?
It comes into our very being where we have a sin nature and begins to scrub it off of us as we read the Word and we begin to get challenged and convicted. The Word guides us. The Word takes us places where we need to go. The Word piercers our souls for the sake of being reformed in Christ.
So this happens to the sanctified believer, the positionally sanctified believer. This begins to work in His life in practical and progressive movement as we read the Bible. Two as we sit under preaching. Have you ever walked into a church service?
I have many times. And the preacher's preaching and in the middle of that service, they're talking and the Spirit of God convicts you of an action. Convicts you of an attitude. That is the Word trying to wash our life.
The Word there to cleanse us and to reveal to us. Now I'm going to tell you, I love worship. Worship should be a key part of what we do. But it seems like in the last two decades that the place of worship has somehow grown.
Now I find myself concerned that you've got more people who want to be worship leaders who are going to full-time ministers and people who want to be preachers. The role of preaching has always been essential. Do you notice? I don't want to slam it.
I don't want anybody to say anything negative about worship. Jesus didn't come and lead worship. He came and preached because there's power in preaching. There's power.
It's not man's power. It's not on our charisma. It only works if you know any of the Spirit's in it. There's preaching.
Great power in worship. We visit the presence of God in worship. Don't want to ever dismiss that worship is an important part of what we do. That worship leaders are gifted and called.
But we also have to make sure that because of how that can be that we don't dismiss the importance of sitting under preaching and hearing the Word of God. Because the preaching is supposed to be the Word of God coming to convict us and to teach us. It's why I sit and say to you all the time, listen, if I get up here and say on Sunday morning, if I can back it up with the Word, you better not reject it. If I can't prove it by the Word, God-loving pastors keep today.
He'll do better next week. Let's pray for him. But if it's the Word, if it's the Word, you better not push off that conviction. You better not dismiss that message.
Can I tell you? You really straight? If it's the Word, you better not dismiss this. You better not make excuses for it.
You better be submitted to it. Holiness of mind and thought. You're getting pornography out of your life. You better not dismiss that story.
You better not say, oh, that's not that big of deal. You better listen. Lying. You better not make excuses.
Manipulation and control. You better not make excuses about those things. When you hear them, if it's in the Word, you better sit and say, wow, the Word is trying to sanctify me. Pastors being used today.
This preacher is being used this day. Somebody is being used this day to do a work, to hear the voice of God. You better pay attention. If it's wise for men to win souls.
If the Bible says that, and you want to be wise, and you better bring somebody to Easter. And I'm just convinced that if everybody would try, everybody would succeed. People come at Easter. You've got to apply.
You've got to let the Word convict you. And one of the biggest mistakes we make is we try to excuse our way out of things. I've had people telling me, oh, I don't raise my hands. It's not the way I was raised.
Forget the way your race was a Bible say. I don't sing in worship. It's just not who I am. The Bible didn't say, lift up a beautiful voice.
It says, lift up your voice. Are you right here? I don't pray much because I'm just not much of a prayer. This isn't a prayer, it's not just a gift for some people.
Prayer is for everybody. You want to protect your family, want to protect your kids, want to protect your grandkids. You better pray. And when you hear that, you either say, oh, it's not that big a deal and you dismiss it.
Or your spirit goes, oh, I haven't prayed for my grandkids in three weeks. I better get with it. Listen to me, they come to the ceiling and kill and destroy. They're just so that I better lift them up before God.
I better pray. The same thing with teaching. Say in a moment like this, you're going to set this and say, you know what? I'm going to start coming into church every Sunday.
Hungry to be sanctified. Hungry. You know, for me, a good sermon is one that sharpens me. Reveals who God is, builds my faith in God, and all the more if it sharpens me.
And I get convicted. It's not that it made me laugh, it's not that it made me cry. It's not that it was entertaining. It does it sharpen me.
It's just teaching sharpened me. Now the second part of how that works is the Word of God. And the second part is the Holy Spirit, Galatians 516. And I say, walk by the Spirit and you'll not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 525.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. How many of you will admit it that you believe that God is with you all the time? Can we believe that? God's with you all the time.
Okay, those of you who didn't raise your hand come down here afterwards will pray for you to get the truth or if your arms are broken they'll be healed. So let me ask you, how God is with us all the time is by the Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit that is with us. Now the Holy Spirit is with me when I go to the club to work out.
The Holy Spirit is with me when I'm driving down the street. The Holy Spirit is with me when I go to my kids' house. Holy Spirit's with me when I come to church. Holy Spirit's with me.
Do I pay attention to it? Am I aware he's there? This doesn't mean that I walk through the club praying in tongues and inviting the Spirit into my life. But it means I'm aware that he's there.
It means I'm conscious and saying, as I walk in those doors, God, lead me here today. Use me here today. God direct me today. I would say for many of us, the conscious awareness that the Spirit is with us at all times in all places could rise a few notches.
And we get in those ways, God, I need your guidance right now. I need your guidance. See, the Holy Spirit is there to do what? He's there to teach us.
He's there to reveal truth to us. And He's there to convict us. And it's important that we must respond and cooperate with the Spirit. It's dangerous to resist the Spirit.
Dangerous to resist Him. If you want to be a miracle starter, you've got to pay attention to the Spirit and do what He says. You want to not be one, just ignore Him when He tells you to do something. He tells you to witness to somebody, you go over and encourage somebody.
Just ignore Him. It won't be long. Let's stop talking. It's dangerous to sit in a church service or read the Bible and dismiss the truth.
Oh, tithing, I don't believe that. That's dangerous. Oh, you know, my habit's not that bad. So what if I get mad and cuss over and down then?
That's dangerous. That's dangerous. Why? Because the more we resist the Spirit, the Bible teaches us.
Our Spirit becomes hardened. I've seen Christians who I believe there was, I don't remember one in particular that he's a good friend and he fell suddenly and quickly. I remember asking God, what is that all about? What happened?
And I honestly, that there was an issue God had spoken to him about for years and he became so hardened and intent on doing that thing that he eventually lost spiritual sensitivity to the Spirit of God in his life. And when you lose spiritual sensitivity, guess what happens? You fall into all kinds of air. All kinds of air.
So our hearts become hardened. The work of the Spirit is progressive and I'm going to tell you, it's going to continue throughout all of our lives. If any of you in here today are perfectly holy, come up and talk to us and a couple of us will point a few things out to you. To me, it's so sad to see an older Christian.
And I'm not real old yet. Teenagers think I'm really old, getting closer to being really old every day. But to me, it's so sad when you see an older Christian who's been around the church all of their life, give in to anger. All of a sudden, they think they can be angry now.
All of a sudden, they can say, I'm old enough now, say whatever I think. No, you're not. You see, it's been given to bitterness or to selfishness or to self-serving instead of being gracious through life. Our goal in life should be to become more like Him until we die.
And for the mature Christian, we should be patient with the new Christian who's sanctified by the blood of the Lamb and is working out their salvation. And sometimes we need to build relationships with them to help be a part of that voice. But we need to make sure our Spirit's staying right as well. In Colossians says, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things of the earth. As maturing believers, that's what we should be doing. The marks of maturity is not perfection. The mark of maturity is upward aspiration.
The second I stop deciding to grow more in Him is a second I become less and less mature. A willingness to always submit to the Word and the Spirit. One of my favorite scriptures in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3. It tells a story that I just love.
Since we have a hope, we are such a hope, we are very bold. Not like Moses who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened for this day when they read the Old Covenant that same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts.
But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is a spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another for this becomes from the Lord who is a spirit. This is talking about time.
I want to get this picture. I want to capture it and get this in your heart. Moses goes up on the mountain and he is in the presence of God. And he comes down and the glory of God is on him.
The Bible says he is shined. And yet the glory was decreasing. And Moses didn't want them to see it, he didn't want them to see it. So he put a veil over his face so they couldn't see this decreasing glory.
And Paul is writing about this. And you know that story where Paul was up with God and it was decreasing glory. Not so with us. No, it's just the opposite with us.
We now have the opportunity to be in the presence of God and walk in the presence of God. And so from degree to degree to degree to degree, our life should be increasing in the glory of God. We should be getting more purified in Him. But we have to cooperate and change our tones of voices, change our actions, change our values and let the spirit of God glorify Himself through us until we are changed.
I think one of the worst things somebody can say to us, have we been saved for a while, is, well, you're the same person you've always been. No, they should be looking at the same guy you were before. You're different than you were before after they've been around us for a little while. So we want to glorify it.
Now let me take one last quick thing we'll be done. Final sanctification. First Corinthians 15. Behold, I tell you in this week we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.
I wish it would sound right now. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed. This is the anticipation, the anticipation of perfection is the doctrine of glorification. That Sunday when we stand before God, the perishable will put on imperishable and we will no longer be ruled.
Heaven will not be filled with the sin of this earth for we shall be set apart unto God. Don't have to have locks in heaven. Don't have to worry where you walk in heaven. Don't have all the mess we have on this earth because final glorification will do a work in us that is permanent and complete in Jesus and we will walk in the glory of the presence of God.
Amen. Until then we should be growing in it. Until then we should be growing in with this anticipation that someday I'm going to see clearly more clearly. Someday I'm going to understand more clearly.
Someday I'm going to have it more clearly than I have it today. Someday. Someday. Until then I rest in the work of Jesus that I am sanctified, but I work out my sanctification.
I work out my salvation by knowing the Word and obeying the Word and cooperating with the Spirit and asking the Spirit to help me obey the Word so that I am growing from glory to glory to glory. Amen. All right. Let's stand together.
We're going to close this service down around the altar together. Come on down down down down. Come on up if you would for this progressive sanctification to happen. I've got to understand this.
I've got to understand that God's future for me is better than what I have. Do you understand that? God's future is better for me than what I have. So I want what God has for me.
I want to discover it. I want him to convict me of things I don't need to be a part of. I don't need to do it. I want that because I want to be formed in his image.
And I want him to convict me of things in my life that are wrong. I want to send you the Spirit to help. So now for that to happen, I've got to have an ear to hear him speak to me because see I've been raised in a culture that's a sin-filled culture. I've been raised by people who love God.
Our family's not perfect like any other family's not perfect. I'm certainly not perfect. So I need to be listening to the Spirit of God. So in just this next couple of minutes, as Dan just plays something on piano, I want to encourage you to open your ear and say, God, speak to me.
Are there places I'm going that I shouldn't be going? Are there conversations I'm a part of I need to get out of? Are there attitudes that I have that I need to get cleanse from? Are the ways that I respond this world that I should be changed in?
God, is there something you want me to lay down here in this altar and say, I need to be done with this tonight? And then God, as you say that to me, give me the strength to really lay down and be done. The only person can hear that for you is you. All right, spell your heads before the Lord.
Let's take a minute and let him speak to us tonight. Father, just speak into our hearts in Jesus' name. Father, in Jesus' name, we just thank you tonight for the blood of your Son that does an instant, sanctifying work in our life so we can come before you. Lord, we rejoice in that tonight.
And I pray that everyone in this room that fathers, we mature as mature believers. No matter what we're going through every day that we come into this place and we would spend our days rejoicing in you because of the instant work you've done in our life and permanent work you've done in our life. Father, we know there's a progressive work you're doing in our life and I pray not let us escape that. You'd be patient with us but you continue to speak us that you would continue to bring conviction and not let us rest until we're obedient to you.
Lord, for something to say to any of us in this room tonight, say it, we pray. Our ears are open. And Lord, let us hear and respond obediently. And Lord, we look forward to the day when the perishable shall be put on the imperishable and we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye.
And that heaven, Father, in heaven, in eternity, our lives will be forever changed. Be with us and guide us in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen, amen.
You know, I had, I want to say one last thing too, before I got it, someone say something to me that kind of broke my heart. And when men break you, when men and people break you, the danger is bitterness and anger. You understand that? There's a danger when men break you.
There's many, many times I go down to the basement of my house and I'll pray late at night. And God will break me. And it's good to be broken by God because God doesn't, He doesn't leave you bitter. He leaves you whole.
When we get in the presence of God and all of a sudden our sinfulness, we're aware of it. And the new direction from God comes. It can be a broken moment in the presence of God. Have you ever had that?
If you haven't, I encourage you just to begin to pray. God will reveal himself in that right time. But at the end of that, there's no bitterness. At the end of that, you don't walk up the steps going, oh, how could God treat me that way?
How could somebody respond that way? How could he do that? No, you walk up there going, thank you, God, for doing that. Thank you, God, for speaking to me that way.
Thank you for moving in my life that way. Thank you for being patient with me. And you walk up with a new spring in your step with new life in your spirit. Because now you know God is, that God has moved in your life.
And you sense it, you know it, you feel it, you're aware of it, your mind has changed, your heart has changed, your day has changed, you have new hope, you have new joy, you have new life, and you know that whatever you're facing is beaten by the power of the blood of Christ. Amen? So seek the Lord and let Him break you. Let Him make you new every day.
Amen? God bless you going to the name of the Lord and may His joy be in your heart tonight.