Sanctified by the Word of Truth

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 17th chapter.

Glory to you, O Lord. Jesus said,

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except for the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world, and for their sake

I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. This is the gospel of the

Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. All right. A little bit of a confession here.

I don't always eat the way I should. Is that, is it just me? Have you ever noticed that like there are certain foods that you are tempted to eat, and you know that if you eat them, you're going to suffer for it later, right?

I mean, my midsection is proof, okay? My midsection is proof that not everything

I eat is healthy, and not everything I eat is good for me. And you'll note that as human beings, we generally try to eat right, but then again, those people who are always talking about all the right foods, they're sketchy.

You know, we kind of keep them at a distance, you know, something a little bit off with them. They're just a little too uptight.

But all of that being said, none of us would really be willing to have a salad with strychnine on top of it, you know, as part of the salad dressing.

Nobody would do that, right? Because well, our life would come to an abrupt end.

Poison is a bad thing. And so as we consider our gospel text today, we're going to note the fact that what we are listening to here is a section of scripture that biblical scholars have referred to for a long, long time as Jesus' high priestly prayer.

We get to listen in as Jesus prays for the church. And you're going to note that this is an important and vital function that Christ continues to this day.

In the book of Hebrews, it's very clear that Jesus is our great high priest. And not only that, he's also the sacrifice for our sins.

Paul puts it this way in 2 Timothy, there is one God, there is one mediator between God and men, and that is the man,

Christ Jesus. He is our mediator. He is our advocate.

He is the one who prays for us. And so as we are given a glimpse of Christ's prayers for the church, for the saints, we might want to pay attention because you can hear some of the will of God for us all here, especially as it relates to how we

Christians are sanctified. So it says this, Jesus praying for his church says,

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. And I am coming to you, Holy Father.

Keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. And we'll note this past Thursday was actual

Ascension Day. We didn't have Ascension Day services, but it's important to note that in the history of how the lectionary works, you know, you have

Easter and then Ascension comes just a little bit before Pentecost. And so already Christ has ascended to the throne and to be with his father.

But here you're going to note one of the first things he prays for us is that we be one, you know, unified, you know, one, holy,

Catholic and apostolic church, right? This is what he wills. But here's the question I have for you.

What is it that caused division in the church? What causes divisions? What does scripture say is the cause of divisions?

Answer, false teachers. They're the ones who cause divisions. And so in order for us to be one, we're going to have to be one around something.

We have to be one and united in thought and mind and in mission. And that's only going to come from one place, and that's going to come from God himself.

And Christ will, in this prayer, reveal to us the source then of how we can become unified when we sinful human beings seem to be at odds with each other and with the whole world at times, especially as it relates to theology, doctrine, the

Bible, things like this. So Christ goes on to continue praying. He says, while I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except for the son of destruction, so that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Scriptures are never broken. They're always fulfilled. God's word doesn't return to him void.

Isaiah 55 makes that very clear, that God's word always accomplishes the thing for which he sent it.

And since the Old Testament prophets prophesied the word of the Lord, that, well, there would be one who betrayed

Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, and that he would have a destruction. Well, that destruction has come.

The word of God always accomplishes that for which he sends it. It cannot be broken. But now I'm coming to you, and these things

I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. And I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.

By the way, we Christians, we human beings, I should put it this way, we don't like it when people don't like us.

You notice that? I mean, it's kind of a fair thing. It's like, you know, what did I ever do to you? When somebody is really upset with us, or has secretly become our enemy,

I didn't really realize I had a nemesis, and now all of a sudden I have one. What has happened here? We don't like it when we're not liked, but we're going to note that everybody who is in Christ is not of the world.

And because of this fact, the world is not, well, friendly towards us.

The world wants unity too, unity around its values, unity around what it perceives or believes to be important.

So Christ comes along and he upsets our apple carts and tells us, you are not the center of the universe, you are not your own deity, you are a creation, and God is the one who gets to call the shots.

I always like to point out to the radical feminists that God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all prefer male pronouns.

And it would be, well, absolutely wrong of you to misgender him. And so the world, the universe is run by patriarchy, and they don't like this fact.

And so what does the world do? We've got to get rid of the patriarchy, but that's a whole other thing altogether.

What they're basically saying is they want to get rid of God. And so when we come along and we say, yeah, I believe in King Jesus, the crucified and also the circumcised, the feminists go, ah, right?

This is not politically correct. So you know, the world wants unity, and Christ wants unity.

The question is, which voice are you going to listen to? Whose voice are you going to be unified around? And before you think that, well, the problem is always out there, knock that off real quick.

Because have you ever noticed that your old sinful nature is a preacher? All of us, inside of us there's a preacher, and a bad one at that.

And this preacher tells you things like, yeah, I know that God's word says this, but you deserve it.

All right? This is how your sinful nature talks. You know, you've got to look out for yourself.

I mean, you've got to be authentic to who you are. You got to be you. You got to love the one you're with.

You got to, you see, and see, our old sinful nature is constantly preaching messages to us.

And you know what? We're foolish enough to listen. All the time. Every day.

I'm less concerned about Joel Osteen than I am about my old Adam, because that guy has got a megaphone running into my head.

And so does your old Adam as well. So Christ continues, I have given them your word.

The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. So I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Christ wants his disciples to tell people about Jesus, to proclaim the good news that Christ has bled and died for their sins, to call all nations to repentance, and to be baptized in the name of the

Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. So if you're ever wondering, why is it that as soon as you are made new in Christ and become a

Christian, that you're not beamed up like Scotty and, you know, the Star Trek crew up to heaven to be with God?

Well, because Christ wills for you to stay here for a bit. And his prayer for every one of us is that we are kept from the evil one.

Isn't that what we pray in the Lord's Prayer every day? Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from, and here's the thing, the

Matthew version of it actually in the Greek says, from the evil one. And so Christ here, he prays for us that we will be kept from the evil one.

And then he continues, they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. And then his prayer is this, sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth. Next week we're going to hear how, well,

God the Father sends the spirit of truth. And that's the issue, is it not?

What is truth? Answer, God's word is truth. And so you'll note that Christ wills, and he's praying for each and every one of us, that we would be sanctified through what?

The living, active, sharper than a two -edged sword, God -breathed word of God.

It is God's word that sanctifies us. It is God's word that the Holy Spirit uses to produce in us repentance and the fruit of the spirit.

And it is God's word then that will create the unity that Christ prayed for earlier in this text.

And when people deviate from and depart from the word of God, or make excuses for it, or undermine its authority, what they end up doing is casting it behind themselves so that they can establish their own words, their own truth.

And there is no other truth except for the truth of Scripture, especially in the church. And that being the case, when a church body or a church congregation deviates from the word of God, they're not being sanctified, not being made holy.

They are drifting into unholiness and sin. This is just the facts.

And you see this pattern repeated over and over and over again in the Old Testament, and we're warned about it in the

New. Sanctify them in the truth. So that means as Christians, well, how does that commandment go?

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. What does this mean? Where's James?

There he is. That we should fear and love God so we do not despise preaching in his word, but gladly hear and learn it.

But the word of God tells me that I can't do my favorite sin. The word of God tells me that I'm not the center of the universe.

The word of God tells me that that authentic self that the world tells me is inside my heart is actually sinful and evil.

Right, it does. Who will you be unified with? All of that being said, we then recognize it is important for us to be attentive to God's word.

To come and hear it rightly preached. To not tolerate deviation by those who would manipulate it and make it void or cast it behind them.

I found it really fascinating that this past week I had a fellow on Twitter who claims to be an

Antifa theologian. What an interesting title, an Antifa theologian.

And he informed me that all of the passages in the New Testament that forbid women from being pastors, that those particular letters by Paul are all forgeries.

How convenient. And we just figured this out in the 21st century.

You know, the church has been wrong the whole time. I could have had a V8. Anyway, you get the idea here.

But that's what happens. People find ways. It wasn't written until after that.

The Bible wasn't compiled until the 4th century. A bunch of drunken monks got together in a tavern and had too many beers and they gave us this

Bible thing. We don't need to listen to them. They always, and again, they create these narratives to undermine the word of God.

God's word is truth. Sanctify them in the truth. We are sanctified through the word of God.

So consider then, in juxtaposition to these strange examples that I've brought up, I always have some really fun exotic examples along those lines, but consider what

God's word says about God's word. Have you ever taken the time to slowly work your way through Psalm 119?

It's stunningly beautiful, comforting. And it's praise for the word of God cannot be matched.

I'd like to read just a portion of it. Psalm 119, I'll start in verse 49 in the

Zion section. The psalmist writes, remember your word to your servant in which you have made me hope.

Oh, isn't it great? Already here you can see that God is the one who makes us hope in his word. He is the active one when it comes to our salvation and giving us faith.

Even the psalmist knows this. You are the one who have made me hope in your word. So this is my comfort in my affliction, so that your promises give me life.

True, true, true. Insolent, the insolent, they utterly deride me.

But I do not turn away from your law. When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, oh

Lord. Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojournings.

I remember your name in the night, oh Lord, and I keep your law. This blessing has fallen to me that I have kept your precepts.

So the Lord is my portion and I promise to keep your words. I entreat your favor with all of my heart.

Be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies, and I hasten and I do not delay to keep your commandments.

Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. At midnight I rise to praise you because your righteous rules.

I am a companion of all who fear you and of those who keep your precepts. The earth, oh

Lord, is full of your steadfast love, so teach me your statutes. Do you want to know what

God is like? You want to know his voice? Do you want to hear the message that he has for you?

It's written in a book, rightly preached, rightly taught. It will lead you to the gates of Jerusalem.

Twisted and mangled and made void, it will lead you to the gates of hell.

At least the ones who mangled it up. But God's word is true and it is through his word that we are sanctified.

I think in the Old Testament, the story of King Manasseh. You remember a guy by the name of Hezekiah?

Hezekiah was supposed to die. And Hezekiah had apparently a boil that had gone septic and he was supposed to die.

Isaiah the prophet shows up to let him know you're gonna die, get your stuff in order. And what does

Hezekiah do? He prays to God and he reminds God of his, well, all the good things he has done and his love for the

Lord and his steadfastness. And so God sends Isaiah the prophet back and says, all right, I'm gonna give you 15 more years, right?

Well, during those 15 years, Manasseh was born. And boy, was this guy poorly catechized, okay?

And when he became king after Hezekiah died, he took God's word and just got rid of it.

And he brought into the temple itself all kinds of abominations, idols to Asherah, he sacrificed his son to Molech.

He set up shrines and incense altars to the starry host of heaven, and even

Shemosh, the abomination of the Moabites. And you can almost hear the rhetoric justifying this blasphemy, right?

I do not believe in a God who is not inclusive. What kind of God would we be worshiping here who didn't invite in all of these other deities so that we can all be together and unified around diversity?

It has a ring of truth to it, doesn't it, right? But also we learn that somewhere in between Manasseh's reign and the reign of Josiah, they came up with an interesting idea.

And that was they brought in male cult prostitutes who set up business inside the temple complex itself.

I always wonder, every time I see that fact, I wanna go, how did that church council meeting go?

Okay, I make a motion that we set up a male cult prostitute brothel in our church.

And people are going, you know, that sounds like a great idea. Okay, that sounds like a great idea.

But what was missing in all of this was what? The word of God. That's what was missing because Manasseh had made that thing gone.

In fact, it hints at the fact that those who were speaking the truth of God's word, that Manasseh had put them to death and murdered many people who were speaking the truth.

That's how it goes. Well, his grandson Josiah, when he came to the throne, was eight years old.

And then 18 years into his reign, they came up with this great idea. He thought, you know what? Solomon's temple is looking a little long in the tooth.

It needs a new paint job. We need to replace some of the timbers. You know, we gotta do a refurbishment thing. And here's the thing.

They still had high priests who were tasked with the job of offering the sacrifices and stuff, along with offering incense to Baal and all these other gods and stuff, right?

And so he came up with this idea, save out some of the money and then we'll go and finish up and fix up the temple.

And so when they finally had enough money and they started the project, Hilkiah the high priest, well, something happened that startled him.

They found a book. They didn't know that there was a book. They found a book.

And for the first time in his life, Hilkiah the high priest of the temple in Jerusalem read the words of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

And then he went, uh -oh. And so he went to the king and said, king, we found a book.

And so that afternoon, that day, they read to the king, Josiah, from the

Torah. And at the finishing of the closing sentences of Deuteronomy, King Josiah tore his clothes.

And he said, we are in big trouble because the wrath of God is burning hard against this place.

How is it that religious worship and sacrifices were going on in Jerusalem without a

Bible? What had they done? They took the word of God, threw it away, thought they'd gotten rid of that thing for good.

And they were just worshiping any old way they wanted to. That will lead you to hell.

So Josiah repented, Josiah repented, and God allowed him to not see the destruction that would come later when he would send

Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem. But that's for another point, another time.

So know this then, brothers and sisters. Each and every one of us, we are not immune from that preacher inside of each and every one of us that would lead us astray, that would justify our sin, and that would have us wander after our own sinful passions, all under the pretense of piety, put it away, repent.

Christ has prayed for you, and continues to pray for you and me, that we be sanctified in the truth, and his word is truth.

And we'll note then, that through then, the sanctifying word of God, we become united to each other, but not only that, an amazing thing if you consider it from our epistle text, and one we don't want to miss, that we not only then, through the word of God are sanctified, we have confidence that we are saved, but there's another little issue here.

Let me see if I can tease this out. In 1 John 5, verse 10, whoever believes in the Son has the testimony in himself.

Whoever does not believe, God has made him to be a liar, because he's not believed in the testimony that God is born concerning his

Son. So this is the testimony that God has already now given us eternal life.

We all have it now, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the

Son has life, whoever doesn't have the Son does not have life. But we, who are in Christ, we do have the

Son. And so John says this, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

So don't let that pass you by. Let me kind of tease it out this way. Every single time you've listened to that false teacher inside of you, or that false teacher out in the world, or that false prophet, and you've thought, that's a great thing, and you've ended off in sin or in false belief, note that Christ has even borne that sin.

It's called the sin of idolatry, by the way. And he's borne those sins on the cross so that you can be forgiven.

And we, who've been brought to repentance through the living act of word of God, and trust these promises of being reconciled because God has made us to trust in his word, that we have eternal life.

And because of this, we have confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask him anything according to his will, he hears us.

And here's the next kind of aspect to it. God's word sanctifies us. It unifies us, but it also starts to do something in us that's really interesting, and that is it begins to unite our will with God's.

Let me explain. Have you ever noticed that maybe early on when you were a Christian, you prayed some pretty stupid prayers?

All right? I know I have. And I don't want to get too personal in that regard. But let me give you an example from a 1970s song that gets played on the radio from time to time.

Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? Right? We've all heard this song, right?

What kind of prayer is that? Okay? Well, Ken Copeland has taken that to a whole another level.

Lord, won't you buy me a fourth private jet? But the thing is, that's a horrible prayer.

And you'll note that James in his epistle says, you have not because you ask not, and then you don't have because you ask with evil intent, right?

So what is the solution here? Well, you'll note that we are instructed and comforted that when we pray according to God's will, he hears us and he answers us.

Is it God's will that you have a Mercedes Benz? Probably not. Probably not, you know?

I'm okay with a 2006 Ford F -250, you know, that still works. You get the idea.

But what is it that needs to happen here? Through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, we, by the power of the

Holy Spirit, begin the process and continue the process of daily taking off our old self and putting on the new, mortifying our sinful flesh by the power of the

Holy Spirit, and one slow day at a time, our will yields to God's.

So that the prayers that we stupidly prayed when we were younger Christians change to prayers where we're not praying selfishly for ourself.

We're praying the very things that God has willed for us to pray. And we have confidence then, our will being changed by the sanctifying work of the word makes it so that our will and God's will unites together in our prayers.

And we have confidence then that God hears them. And so let us pray then that the

Holy Spirit would continue, the spirit of truth would continue to sanctify us through his word. So that we might have the strength and through the spirit bear the fruit of the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self -control, and that we would learn how to pray according to God's will.

And that we would have confidence that he hears us, and that we would see the answer to these prayers. Because they are the very will that God has for us.

And you'll note this, that Christ has prayed for us so that this will be. And I think that God hears

Christ's prayers. And so note that in his high priestly prayer, we've seen that Christ has prayed according to God's will.

So amen, amen, so be it. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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