Real Spirituality, Part 2 (1 Thessalonians 5:23-28- Jeff Kliewer)

I'm going to say good morning, I understand people are still walking in, but I'm going to say good morning because I absolutely look forward to these moments where I get to stand here and to look at you and to just start in fellowship with one another.

I'm going to open up with part of a verse out of Isaiah 54, it's the last part of verse 8, with everlasting love I have compassion on you says the Lord. I'm going to read that again because you can almost think about how I'm reacting to God, but I want you to recognize the direction that this verse is going.

With everlasting love I will have compassion on you says the Lord your Redeemer. There are so many mixed messages out there today that can make us feel like God is irrelevant, but on the authority of this verse I'm saying he is relevant.

I'm saying that he absolutely unconditionally loves you. I have a picture in my mind when we get to see our grandchildren. They live out of town and so it's an occasion when we get to see them and they come running up to Sandy and to me and just give me and give Sandy this big old hug because they know that we love them.

I just love the thought of being able to look up at God and just run up pictorially okay and just giving him a big old hug because he loves me. He is totally involved in my life and these lies that God is irrelevant, they're just not true because we have a God that loves us.

Some of the announcements I've got, we've finished this past Sunday our second membership class. Do you realize that already this year we've had 38 people go through our membership class? God is amazing in that way.

If you have gone through it and you desire to become members, I encourage you to fill out the membership application. Get it to myself, Pastor Jeff, one of the board members and we'll go through that process.

If you still desire to know about us and you haven't been through the class, it's never too late. We will arrange something. Just let us know that you would like to be part of that. But we do rejoice in those who have stepped forward in that way and then there's another event coming up in just a couple of months.

We are anticipating a baptism event somewhere in the middle of June. If you have not had Believer's Baptism and if you understand the significance of a Believer's Baptism and you would desire to have that public proclamation, again, see myself, Pastor Jeff, one of the board members so that we can get you prepared for it.

We're thinking notionally of 15 June. We're looking at trying to get one of the Marlton Lakes so that it can be an open water baptism. We're thinking about having it on a Sunday afternoon and having somewhat of a hymn sing right there on the beach and then to have a baptism.

If you're interested, please, please see us. Gentlemen, it's that time. Get your clocks set tomorrow morning for 530 or however early it's got to be and come out and join us with our men's fellowship.

First service, I encourage the women, set the alarm clock and in about 15 minutes early, wake up and get your feet out from underneath the covers and maybe get some ice and then put your feet on their back.

They'll wake up. We want the guys to come out here for time of fellowship. The women are having some events. There is a women's Passover study event. Unfortunately, that has already been filled. They had a limited number, but if you're interested, I believe that they're going to be doing it again.

This coming Saturday is our monthly love life. It's where we go out to the Women's Center out on Kings Highway and Cherry Hill and we pray. We pray for these women and for these children. These are not things.

These children, these lives that are in danger of being murdered. So join with us in this love life as we pray for these decisions that they would not be made, that God would be honored. We are having our annual meeting.

This is last month we had what was called the election meeting. We identified the new board. We approved the budget and April 1st we start the new year. We have to have a report out. It happens after we close the books of the year.

It's our annual meeting. You'll hear the ministry reports and the final, but we also have a lot of new members that we're going to vote on. I encourage you to come out for that. It's Monday the 18th and there'll be more following up on that.

I also ask that you remember our weekly schedules. Please come back tonight at 6 o 'clock for our prayer meeting. We're actually singing hymns at the beginning of the prayer meeting. It's actually, Drew, thanks for bringing that up as an idea that we sing hymns.

If we all come together, maybe we'll get Pastor Jeff to come and he'll sing a solo. Not likely. Please come out. Remember the men's apologetics class, the women's precepts class, all of the small groups.

Remember them. At this time, I'm going to ask Phil to step forward.

I just wanted to invite everybody on Thursday, April 14th at 12 noon, we're going to be heading to Laurel Acres Park meeting and spend some time evangelizing and walking around, witnessing and sharing the gospel with people there.

Again, that's the Thursday before Easter Sunday. So if you can't make it, pray for us that the weather is good and that people's hearts are soft and that their ears are open to hear the word. So again, that's Thursday, the 14th, 12 o 'clock.

And we'll meet on the playground side near the church road entrance. There's a pavilion there. We'll meet before we head out.

Thank you, Phil. Let's turn to prayer. Father, God, we come to you with hearts just in awe at the love that you have for us. We don't deserve it. We are sinners, but by your love and by your grace and just by your act of sacrifice on that cross, we are made your children.

Lord, we're coming into this time of Easter where we remember the obedience of Christ on the cross who willingly gave himself, then said, Testelestai, it is finished. We remember that there was a tomb that you actually were buried according to the scriptures and then you rose on the third day.

We look forward to that celebration, remembering the extent of God's love. Lord, now we pray that this message that's going out in the world by our missionaries to people groups and to nations that need to hear.

We pray, Father, for the power of that message, for the impact of the Holy Spirit, for your grace and protection, Lord, for our missionaries and then, Lord, we think of those in our midst who are in need of your healing hand, whether it's medically, whether it's emotionally, whether it's the loss of loved ones, we never, never forget, Lord, to hold them before your throne.

And Lord, now we do ask for your guidance as we continue down the process of looking at this new land. We pray that we don't go ahead of you, that we rely on your sovereignty and on your provision. And Father, then we think of the Rock Church just up the road and today they're actually starting the ministry of the elders at their church as you continue to grow that ministry and keep that light lit.

We pray for Pastor Ben and for the men that are stepping forward as elders at that church. And Lord, we also pray now for Jeff's message this morning, teaching us the relevance of truth and that the world has a lie, but Lord, you are so in love with us that you even have cleansed us from sin, but you are making us into your image purely.

Pray for that message, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

We pray that we always receive all the gifts from God that we receive tonight. We opened up our eyes in glory, he has filled our hearts with wonder, we always, even the rocks cry, and even the heavens shout, with the sound of his praise, Lord, help us to worship you in spirit and truth.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me of sin. Thank you for your amazing grace, Lord, that even when sin runs deep, Lord, your grace runs deeper still, Lord, you've called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light.

All the praise and all the glory, for the glory of your grace and for the glory of your name. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

Praise God, praise God, praise God for it. I don't think I've ever sung that except for this morning. You guys, so thank you for bringing that before us today. We're going to celebrate communion this morning, and that's a blessed time we have as believers to do so.

And a few verses were on my heart this morning that I'd like to read from 1 John, and I'm going to start in verse 3. It says this, what we have seen and what we have heard, we proclaim to you also that you may also have fellowship with us, communion with each other.

And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ, fellowship with the Lord also. And these things we write to you so that our joy may be complete. And this is the message we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

In 1 Timothy chapter 6, it also says that God dwells in unapproachable light. So how is it that we, sinful people, can have fellowship with an almighty and holy God who is perfect, described as pure light in the scriptures, who in him is no darkness?

We know Adam in the Garden of Eden walked with the Lord, and so did Eve, before the fall, and they did have fellowship with the Lord. But that was lost when sin came into the world. And now we, unfortunately, as Adam's heirs, descendants, we have inherited that sin nature.

So how can we have pure fellowship again with our holy God? Well, it goes on in 1 John, it says this, if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk as in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. He says there is a way, and that is through the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

But he says there are those who walk in darkness. What's the difference? Those who walk in darkness don't understand that they need forgiveness of sin. They don't understand the purity of God. They don't understand that that is a barrier to their relationship with God.

And they don't accept the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way. So if you're here this morning and you think there's another way, or if you'd rather get to God through some other means than the blood of Jesus Christ, then this communion table isn't for you.

There's also another way to be in darkness. If you know that Jesus is the only way, but you are unwilling to confess your sins before the Lord to have them cleansed, that is also a way to be in darkness.

And again, this table would not be for you today. But for those who understand that Jesus is the only way and his sacrifice paid the way for us to have a relationship again with a pure and a holy God, and you're willing to confess your sins before him, remember what it says in 1 John shortly after this.

It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. A pure and holy and wonderful perfect God, we can have fellowship with him because of what Jesus has done for us.

And that is what we celebrate this morning. We come to the communion table, we remember Christ's sacrifice and how much he paid the price for us. We also remember the communion we have with each other today and the communion we have with our holy God.

And we also, as Paul says, when he says, we remember the Lord's death until he comes, we also remember that he's coming for us again. So let's partake of the communion table together. I'd like to call the men forward who are going to serve today.

So guys, if you could come forward. ...with the body of your son, Jesus Christ. And that body was such a poor man. His ears were plucked out and his body was abused for our healing, Lord. Father, we thank you, Lord, that you were willing to take that punishment upon yourself, Father, for our healing.

We thank you, Lord, for what you have done. We thank you in Jesus' name.

I saw one a tree in agony and blood. He fixed his languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think he died for me.

Sure, never till my latest breath can I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with his death, though not a word he spoke. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think he died for me.

Conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins, his blood had spilled and helped to nail him there. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think he died for me.

A second look he gave, which said, I freely all forgive. His blood is for thy ransom paid. I die that thou may live. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think he died for me.

We can have forgiveness. We can have a right relationship with him. Father, we celebrate that this morning. So we're so thankful, Father. Please help us remember you. Please help us walk before you and share again in life as you'd like us to do.

And Father, when we stumble, that we confess our sins to you. We thank you.

All right.

Well, thank you guys for serving the communion. And let us now go to the Lord in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for your great love for us sinners. Thank you that you loved us so much that you sent your one and only Son.

Son of God, thank you so much that you bled and died on the cross to atone for our sin and that you rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you came to sanctify us, to live inside of us, to conform us to the image of the Son.

So triune God, we call on you this morning that you would sanctify us by your truth. Your word is truth. I pray for this preacher in this pulpit that you would give me prophetic utterances to speak, Lord God.

That I would speak not on my own authority but on yours. Pray that you give us all ears to hear. Let us be solemn and somber and serious in dealing with your word. And yet at the same time rejoicing always because we know who wins.

We praise you and ask now for your help in the preaching and hearing of your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Emperor Julian came to the Roman throne. Many years after Constantine turned the empire Christian.

So understand that when Christ came into the world, the world was pagan. They did not worship a transcendent God. Instead, they saw all of nature as one. And different deities were within that nature.

Ancestors were within that nature. And they themselves were small gods in their own right. It was a pagan world, a Roman world, into which Jesus came. The Christian movement began very small, like a mustard seed.

But it grew and began to conquer kingdoms. So that in 312 at the Edict of Milan, Christianity was made a legal religion. And in fact, it became the dominant religion within that day. Constantine the Emperor supposedly became a Christian.

We're not sure if that was genuine or not. But when he did, Christianity took root in the Roman Empire as the dominant expression. The Christians gained that ground by charity. They were very generous.

They would help the poor. If anybody's ever been to Rome, I've been to Rome. Anybody ever see the catacombs underground where hundreds of thousands of burial sites are located? And it was there that the Christians would offer a burial because the body was considered important.

And they would do this. And by the hundreds of thousands, they helped people who were afraid of having an ignominious death without burial. Well, all this to say, Christianity was growing from that mustard seed to fill the whole earth.

And people were becoming Christian. However, when Julian the Emperor took over, he did not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. He became a philosopher, a Stoic, and learned a Neoplatonism. And then became a sun worshiper and a blatant pagan and began to outlaw Christianity in the land.

It was a pagan resurgence in Rome. People then began to turn away from Christ because the cost was high. Paganism took over. At one point, Julian tried to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem because he wanted to offer animal sacrifices.

He wasn't really a friend of the Jews. They didn't want the animal sacrifices back. But he did it mostly to discredit Christianity, which claimed that Christ was the final Lamb of God. When they went to the temple to try to build it, to try to build the temple on the old foundation, I should say, the story comes back to Julian that balls of fire issued from the old foundations and scared away the workmen.

We don't know if that's true or not. It could be legendary. But in any case, that's what was reported back to the Emperor. And so they were not able to rebuild the temple. But Christian cities were penalized and churches were burned.

Bishops, including the great Athanasius, you guys maybe have heard of the Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed, when they battled for the Trinity. Well, he was expelled and banished to live out in the desert.

Other bishops were mistreated and one was horribly tortured. They installed in Christian churches the worship of Bacchus. That was the Greco-Roman God associated with nature and wine and ecstasy. So it seemed that although Christianity had come on the scene and was filling the whole earth, all of a sudden there was a strong pagan resurgence that began to overtake the empire led by the Emperor Julian.

While yet a young man, he was ambitious to overtake the Persian empire. And so heading east, he fell back in the battle and let his troops advance until somehow there snuck a Persian close enough to him to fire one arrow.

Not knowing where it came from, it struck him in the side and Julian died on the battlefield. But before he died, holding the spot of that wound and seeing the blood flow, his generals reported what he cried out, You have conquered, O Galilean.

His war was against the Galilean. You see, he called Christians Galileans as a way to mock and marginalize Christians. Galilee was considered the wayward, rustic, kind of uneducated masses, the fishermen.

And so the Galilean Jesus was mocked and we the Christians along with him were mocked. But in the end, Julian confessed, you have conquered, O Galilean. And so the pagan resurgence failed and Christianity once again revived.

And has now gone to fill the whole earth from Irian Jaya to India to here we sit in New Jersey. Of all places, Christianity has thrived despite the pagan comeback. Now you would think, 2022, that paganism is a relic of the past.

Long gone, defeated. You would be wrong. Paganism is seeing a resurgence in our day. In fact, I would go so far as to describe our culture, the general worldview of most Americans and people in the West as pagan, not Christian any longer.

Really began in the 1960s with the sexual revolution and then spiritual revolutions that came with that. You would have the age of Aquarius and all of the transcendental meditation, the Eastern influence.

And what you saw was this influx of Eastern ideology into Western culture. Now, when you think of Eastern worldview, understand that they do not see a God who is transcendent and over and above this world.

All there is, is nature. One world. And all of us are God and a part of it. The divine is just part of creation. It's called pantheism. They, in fact, have a word to describe Hinduism that is Advaita.

Advaita simply means not two. Not a binary. Everything is monism, oneness. There is only one. We are all God. God is in you. God is in everything. This is the view of Hinduism. It came into America in the 1960s and 70s.

But then it kind of fell off of the radar only to emerge secretly through the institutions, through the academy, where Christians have been completely marginalized, to become the dominant worldview of America today.

That is why you find people practicing yoga, which means becoming one. That is why you have meditation rather than prayer to a God who's transcendent. That is why you have books on mindfulness, which is Buddhist.

This Eastern influx of ideology is overtaking our culture. We need to understand this. Turn with me to Romans chapter 1, verses 24 through 27. Christians, we will never be effective in evangelism until we understand the culture in which we live.

We need to exegete the text, but also exegete, draw out the culture to understand what we are up against. In Romans 1, 24 and following, the Bible says,. Because therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, now watch this, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who was blessed forever.

Amen. The nature of paganism, of one-ism or monism, of Eastern religion, which has become the predominant religion now in the West, is what it's always been. It is the worship of the creation of nature, of all things, but the denial of a transcendent God who made it.

Romans 1, 25. So nothing new here. In fact, the sexual revolution that began in the 60s and then increased in our day. So in the 1990s, there was a book written by Judith Butler called Queer Theory. And her concept is that sex, as in gender, is a social construct.

The concept here is that there is no binary. Now, binary means two. There's a difference. So in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 3, it says that as God is the head of Christ, so the husband is the head of the wife.

Within creation order, there's a difference between father and son, and there's a difference between husband and wife. There's a difference, a binary, male and female. He created them in the image of God.

But according to queer theory, there is no binary. All is one. This is the word androgyny. And throughout history, wherever there was paganism, you had androgynous priests, homosexuals. In Africa, in India, in Indonesia, in Native American religion, there was the shaman who was androgynous.

This was ubiquitous, and therefore we see in Romans 1, 26. By the way, if I say a word you don't understand this morning, just let it go over your head. Don't worry about it. Don't fret. You're going to get the big idea.

It says here, for this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Notice the first part of that verse. It says, for this reason. What reason? The exchanging of the idea of a creator who's transcendent, who made everything, to a nature-only oneness, where there is no God.

That's the endgame. There is no God. You are a God. Divinity is within you. Because there's this exchange to jettison a creator God, now God, it says, gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women, and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves a due penalty for their error.

Because of the ruling, Bostock, by the Supreme Court in 2020, now the changing of gender is considered a thing. And the protection of those who would do such a thing is considered a civil rights, covered under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

But the concept of that is utterly impossible, since God made them male and female. All that can happen is the deforming of God's creation of the body, the mutilation, but not ever the transitioning. But why has this happened?

And why is this the law of the land, 2020 Bostock? What culture do we live in that would say such a thing? It is a culture that worships the creation and denies that there is another. One outside of creation, bigger than creation.

One who is God overall, who is not a part of his creation. Existence three in one. The president's wife in the 1990s was Hillary Clinton. She invited Gene Houston to come to the White House. Gene Houston was the author of the book, The Passion of Osiris.

Osiris was the god of the underworld. So why was Gene Houston invited to the White House in the 1990s? She was invited there to contact the dead spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt. And she was almost president in 2016.

Do you understand that that is paganism? And it is accepted. It is a part of the culture in which we live. We need to understand this for a variety of reasons that we're going to get into now. As we turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 to finish the book.

What I want you to see this morning is that Paul presents a transcendent God. 1 Thessalonians 5 is very God-centered. It's about a triune God who always existed outside of creation. Even before anything was made that has been made.

So pick up with me at 1 Thessalonians 5. We read this part last week. Verse 16 and following. We'll read it to the end of the chapter. And that's where we finish today. We're going to conclude this book.

It says rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. Now look for the Trinity here in these two verses. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit.

Do not despise prophecies but test everything. Hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. 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 our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with the holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. You cannot understand this passage or live the Christian life without understanding that God is transcendent. He is outside of creation. And he is the one that saves and sanctifies.

Notice in verse 18 and 19. This is the will of God referring to the Father. In Christ Jesus referring to the Son. Do not quench the spirit. God has always existed as Father, Son, and Spirit. Even before there was a creation.

How can we say that God is love? Even before there was a creation for him to love. Why do we say God is love? Definitional to his being. A part of his essence is love. It is only because God exists as Trinity.

The Father loved the Son and the Spirit. The Son loved the Father and the Spirit. The Spirit loved the Father and the Son in perfect unity. Perfect love before he made anything. God existed as Trinity before the world began.

Notice also there was difference. As the Father is the head of the Son, so the husband is the head of the wife. There is a difference within the persons of the Trinity. So there is both diversity and unity.

Which is the nature of the world in which we live. Now our world, of course, wants to get rid of all difference. Do away with any binary, any two-ism. This is why you see the sexual revolution as we're experiencing it now.

Maleness and femaleness are being collapsed into sameness. That there is no difference. And it's a great danger to our children and to the culture. Because it has a certain appeal. Here's how it works.

Critical theory, critical race theory, social justice will be taught in schools. And the goal of that is to make young people feel ashamed and guilty. And identify themselves as inherently an oppressor.

But that's not the end game. There are those who are seeking from academia to raise up young people to become Marxist revolutionaries. But here's the spiritual element that comes into play. Feeling like an oppressor.

Feeling because of critical race theory that they have some stain. They are taught that they can identify as LGBTQ. And immediately jump from oppressor to victim. And with that jump they gain a certain street cred.

Some points where they're valued and regarded even as a hero. So consider this statistic from Barna Research Group with Arizona State. Official polling of thousands of young people between the ages of 18 and 24.

In that age group, 40 now identified as LGBTQ. Do you realize what's happened in the culture? That's not a small percentage. Some are only doing that because of the street cred that comes with it. In fact, I heard of a boy and a girl who are dating.

Just a boy, just a girl. But the boy identifies as a girl. And the girl is willing to date him only because she identifies as gay. And so she's willing to date him as a girl because she identifies as gay.

But it's just a boy and a girl dating. It's insane. But it's also spiritual. It's spiritual. It is a new paganism. Where all is becoming one. Where all differences are eliminated. And all religions are accepted as part of that oneness.

It is. Mystery Babylon. There is emerging a one world government in our day. Revelation chapter 17 addresses this Babylon. This government is led by globalist leaders. I remember in 1996 taking a class at college.

My first class at Eckerd College was globalization and you. The World Economic Forum is training the young leaders. Including Trudeau in Canada and Gavin Newsom and now Zelensky in Ukraine. And these leaders are coming together to form a new one world government.

That's the goal. Don't mistake that. It's happening. But there is also, Revelation 18, a mystery Babylon religion. A one world religion that comes with that. Speaking at Davos, Ken Wilber who wrote A Theory of Everything.

Eliminating the twoism and collapsing everything into monism. Just one world where every religion is the same. He said this, we are awaiting the new global founding fathers and mothers. Who will frame an integral system of government.

And with this theory of everything, all religion is welcomed. Including contacting the dead. Including Islam. Including Judaism. Including every religion that makes no claim to a transcending God. As long as God is outside of the circle, everything is welcome in this one world religion.

And all is disregarded as a private truth. That connects them to the universe. They are told to look within. And there they will discover divinity. How, brother, can you reach a pagan? Growing up in the United States of America.

I have some good news for you today. Our main verses are 23 to 28. Look at verse 23. I want you to understand that this is a God centered verse. It speaks of the triune God who is outside of us. And he is able to do what we can't.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. Underline, star, highlight that word completely. And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful. Who's going to do it? He will do it. This is a verse about sanctification. And it speaks about a complete sanctification. God being able to completely transform and make holy a people for his name.

I asked Phil to lead the song, Rock of Ages, cleft for me. And I did because there's a verse early in that song that I want you to hear. Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure.

Safe from wrath and make me pure. Because of the culture in which we live, we see cultural one-ism or monism, Hinduism, paganism, coming into the churches as well. There's a prominent teaching in evangelical churches all around here and all around the country that God cannot sanctify completely.

Some of the most prominent teachers on the Gospel Coalition identify themselves as being gay. And they say that they're not practicing, therefore, they're holy. I want you to understand something from our verse.

It says here, may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sanctification that God is able to do includes body and soul and spirit. We are tripartite beings.

We have three parts to us. We exist as spirit, soul, and body. We and Adam are born dead spiritually. Ephesians 2, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. The minute that Adam and Eve rebelled in the garden, they died spiritually.

But they still had a soul, as we do, souls made in the image of God and bodies that are alive until they die. Look back at chapter 5, verse 14. The apostle will say, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted.

Encourage the faint-hearted. That Greek word means small soul, soukos, soul. It refers to the person whose soul has been harmed or wounded, made small. A part of them has been damaged. They're faint-hearted because of a wound.

We're to encourage the faint-hearted. And this verse that we're studying today, verse 23, is a huge encouragement. It says, may the God of peace himself, something that God can do that you can't, sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of Jesus Christ.

So Albert Muller led the conservative resurgence in the 1990s to win back the Southern Baptist churches to conservatism. And he taught in early 2000s that Christ is able to save and sanctify. Be the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.

That someone who's been bound in homosexuality or any manner of sexual sin can be changed, mind, body, and soul. Great teaching. But in 2015, he repented of having said such things. Now he thinks because many people who have been wounded, whose souls are damaged, say, listen, I became a Christian, but I still am same-sex attracted.

And nothing has changed in my psyche, in my spirit, in my soul. But I won't practice outwardly. Rebecca McLaughlin identifies like that, and she writes for the Gospel Coalition. Sam Albury writes for the Gospel Coalition and says the same thing.

They've started conferences like Revoice and Living Out, and these conferences go into evangelical churches, in the churches, to say such things. That is no encouragement. It is a lie. It is the culture coming into the churches.

Listen to me. The rock of ages, the rock from which you were hewn, the transcendent God who is above and beyond us, he is a fortress that you can run into. You can run into God and find freedom. It is for freedom that you have been set free.

We can be free indeed. This verse, perhaps better than any other in the New Testament, speaks to sanctification and the complete work that God will do in you. Many of you, and probably all of us, have been damaged in our psuche, our soul, from things that have happened in the past, from things that we've exposed ourselves to, from all manner of sin in the world.