Sanctify Them Through Your Truth (08/06/2000)

Turn with me to John chapter 17. I Want to speak to you this morning about purifying yourselves

Would you turn the volume down just a hair Greg just just a little bit. Thank you

Now after what happened in Sunday school, I want to be careful now to define our terms.

We're gonna talk about in time a while today in time planet

Earth Sequence and we're walking a walk and Talk with brother

Otis and some of the rest of you just coffee and different things and and it seems to me that we're gonna have sequence even in Eternity future if that makes any sense

Because God's created us that way but I want to talk to you about a couple of Verses here in John chapter 17.

Let's read them together first and then we'll Discuss it. Let's look at Let's start with verse 16 and just read a couple let's start verse 14 and read down through 17

John chapter 17 verse 14. Remember this entire chapter is a prayer. It's the

Lord Jesus Christ praying to the Father the whole chapter And he says

I have given them thy word and The world hath hated them because they are not of the world

Even as I am NOT of the world. I Pray not that thou should take them out of the world

But that thou should keep them from the evil They are not of the world even as I am

NOT of the world Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth

Now in verse 17, that's our main verse. We're looking at this morning sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy word is truth Just in the grammar of that sentence Would you say that this is something that you do to yourself or for God or would you say this is something that God does?

in you and to us and In us Which is it?

Who is Jesus praying to? The Father and what is he asking the Father to do? to sanctify them which the them is us and so If you don't believe that's us turn that turn the page there.

Let me show you something Look at verse 20

There's probably no passage of Scripture that is more clearly written to all of us than this passage

Because verse 20 says neither pray I for these alone In other words the believers that were with him that day

But for them also which shall believe on me through their word that takes it all the way out to us this morning

Doesn't it? And so what did Jesus ask the Father to do to us? To set us aside to sanctify us and So this is a fact that out of all the scriptures in the

Bible that discussed this topic nine out of ten of the times It will speak of it as something that God does to us this morning.

I'm going to talk to you about that tenth time Because there are some verses in the

Bible where it speaks as a command to God or from God to us and he tells us to sanctify ourselves and That's what

I want to talk about this morning But I want you to keep in mind that really as we discuss from a theological point of view the idea of sanctification

It is something that God does to us so it is interesting to study these few little verses that Seem to be as if God is telling us to sanctify ourselves and see how that fits in his whole plan

So that's what we aim to do this morning First the let me give you a couple of Greek definitions for the word sanctification

It comes from the Greek word hagi odds, oh Which means to make holy?

So that in itself shows us that it's something God does to us. He makes us

Holy, it means to purify or consecrate but it comes from a another

Greek word a root word high eos, which means an awful thing as that peculiar an

Awful thing in the sense of an awesome thing. And so this holiness that God Gives up to us positionally at the point of salvation

But then through sanctification begins to build into us is truly an awesome thing

Because it comes from God So it carries the meaning of sacred physically pure morally blameless or religiously consecrated all in one word now we can look at a couple of related

Hebrew terms as we look at this word used in the Old Testament and then sometimes what we can do is look at the the

Old Testament Septuagint which is written in Greek that particular translation and so we can see what

Greek words they use to exchange for certain Hebrew words but a couple of the

Hebrew words that are used to talk about sanctification one of them is cog which means a festival or the victim that's used in the feast and Then another

Keyword in the Hebrew is called Gog which means to move in a circle

Specifically to march in a sacred procession to observe a festival by implication to be giddy Now, what does it mean to be giddy?

Maybe I should ask brother Russ since he's a Jewish believer What were the Hebrews doing when they were being giddy I Should have told you beforehand so you'd have a little better answer.

No, no Say it again leave the part about the wine out because we are

Baptist, but what was the other part? So they were in a circle

Dancing in a circle and they were giddy celebrating. What do you suppose they were celebrating?

This sanctification because it's the same word if you want to say sanctify in Hebrew you say

Dance in a circle and be giddy Why would they be so giddy about being sanctified because you defined it as being set apart

Set apart from the entire world set apart from everything else in God's creation

Unto God what a wonderful thing it carries the connotation of being set apart for God's use and So we come to John chapter 17 in verse 17 and Jesus prays and says sanctify them through thy truth

Thy word is truth now notice the connection there with the Word of God Because What we're gonna see as we continue our study this morning is that God uses certain means it is

God who sanctifies us, but he uses certain means to accomplish that and So I haven't seen him lately right in the sky with an airplane or with his finger either one and say

I am here Do what I say be different than everybody else. He doesn't do it that way He uses means now he might do it that way tomorrow, so I'm not saying he can't

They really make me look terrible. Wouldn't it all of a sudden we looked up there and I'm here But there are means that he uses now.

Let's look at a couple of these things. First of all, look at John chapter Verse 19,

I'm we're in chapter 17, but let's go to verse 19 Jesus says and for their sakes

I sanctify myself That they also might be sanctified through the truth and in verse 17

If you remember it said sanctify them through thy truth Thy word is truth as if we needed to have a definition of what truth was we do need to understand.

It's his word So the first means that God uses to sanctify us his children is the

Word of God Now a little bit later when we get to some of these verses where he tells us to sanctify ourselves

Do you think then that that might be telling us get in the word more? The more you get in the word the more this means will be used as a means to make you different from the world and So the

Word of God is a great tool that God uses to sanctify us in Acts chapter 20 in verse 32

Don't need to turn to that one because I'm going to read right through it quickly But it says and now brethren I commend you to God and to the

Word I Commend you to the Word of God to the Word of his grace, which is able to build you up and In an

Ephesians chapter 5 in verse 26 that he might sanctify and cleanse it

Meaning the Bride of Christ the church with the washing of the water by the

Word Now what is the end if that's the means if the means is the Word of God in this case?

What is the end verse 27 says that he might present it the church to himself a glorious church

Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish

I'm gonna steal. I hope I don't steal one of brother Otis's future studies

But I want you to notice something in verse 27 That he might present it to himself

You know how we spend so much time talking about the fact that God Chose us for himself before the foundation of the world

Why did he do it Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 6 says? Not because we were anything

In fact, he said I chose Israel not because they're the greatest nation because they're the most nothing is what the

Hebrew says They are the most nothing. I Chose them because I had already loved them.

It's in the past tense. I had already loved them from the beginning But there is a step that goes beyond that and that is seen very clearly here in verse 27 that he might present it to himself a glorious church

He loves himself, too Did you know that then one reason

I had a slight advantage and I hate to admit this He's cool this morning. I knew now we

Otis and I had not discussed the topic that was under discussion but we had talked about this idea a little bit and I was sitting there thinking about that and What I'm thinking is

God did not Bring us to himself because of anything in us. He brought us to himself for the same reason you had children now

Think about it a minute Did you have children for the children or did you have children because you wanted to Now be honest about it

Did you do that for them or for you? That's right, that's why I had children and Five of them at that like to have had five more

My dad says no stop But I did that for me because I love babies

Just I'm probably one of the only guys That there may be a few other but most guys like them when they get up like about three where they can talk to them

I like them before they talk. I mean I like the babies the baby stage I like them after they talk a little bit

Although we're going at all man Well, don't talk so much

I'll cure that But you know what if that's true what is wrong with God having children because he wants to for himself

And he says that this whole process of sanctification is that he might present something to himself

It doesn't say for us Doesn't say so that we might be happy and rich and prosperous

Now those may be byproducts of some of this if God wills

But it's not the predominant purpose. The prominent purpose is for himself. Isn't that beautiful to see?

He birthed us because He wanted us for himself Now the second means of sanctification

Let's look at Matthew 23 19 go ahead and turn to that one. I want you to think about this a moment It gets into some of the

Old Testament Sacrifices and some of the types that we can see in those sacrifice some of the things we can learn

From what was going on all throughout that time period? Matthew 23 19

Jesus is correcting That's a nice way to put what he's doing because he says you fools and blind is how he starts his sentence up Correcting them.

He's whooping on him actually But he's correcting these Pharisees because they're not understanding the very things they're doing

And he says you fools and blind what? For whether is greater the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift

They had everything turned around Backwards, but Jesus is saying it's the altar that sanctifies the gift

When you lay the gift on that altar that had already been sprinkled with what? Forever ever since the whole process started and had been cleansed and sprinkled with the blood

Then when you lay the new gift on that altar the altar sanctifies the gift immediately before it's offered

And that's what Jesus was teaching now let's look at Hebrews 10 and verse 10 because the second means that God uses to sanctify us is

He places us upon the altar and the altar is that which sanctifies us

But what is our altar in? Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 by the which will we are

Sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all

For by one offering he hath perfected forever Them that are sanctified now turn forward to Hebrews 13 in verse 10

And it ties this in and tells us that his body is the altar Upon which the blood was sprinkled and the blood was his as well

So his body is our altar And his blood is the blood of the offering

Hebrews 13 10 we have an altar Where are they that means that those

Judaizers who were? Maintaining that they need to keep doing the law They have no right to eat

Which serve the tabernacle? For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp

Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered outside the gate

Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach

The first means of sanctification is the Word of God The second means is the very body of Jesus Christ and his blood and that's what we call positional sanctification

Because it's a done thing You're sanctified forever you are preserved forever because of the blood and his body and the fact that As we'll see if you'll turn to Acts chapter 26 and verse 18 that the third way, of course it ties in with this

And also in 1st Corinthians 1 2 we'll see that we are in Christ But acts 26 18 says to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light

Sometimes it seems like quite often in the morning when brother Russell comes in to pray with me before the

Service and all of all of you men are welcome to come in if you'd like But Russell is always there and I appreciate that.

It's a strength to me, but seems like very often It'll come to my mind. Where would we be?

Without a Bible without the written Word Where would we be?

What kind of darkness if there had never been a revelation from God at all? and imagine the darkness and this says to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan and to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified

By faith that is in me. So a third means of sanctification is faith

God gives us faith as a gift. Whose faith does he actually give us? the faith of Jesus Christ and This acts to sanctify us

I think of this Idea of the Word of God and not having it in the book that I just have read about William Carey the father of modern missions

I Stated last week that he translated the Bible into I think

I said, what did I say 11? languages or so Actually, he translated into parts of the

Bible 44 languages Not the whole Bible, but at least part of the

Bible into 44 different languages in his lifetime He only lived to be 72. I think 72 years old

Now you think about that why did he think that was something he should give his life to Because he thought about the darkness that they were in in India He thought about the darkness that they were in in China he thought about the darkness they were in in Afghanistan and all the different languages that he

Translated all or part of the Bible into because all of a sudden they had what we have now Whether they made use of it or not, you know, it's not in his hands, but he put it out there where they could

And then So we have the water of the Word. We have the altar of the body and blood of Jesus We have faith that God has given us all these things are means that God uses to sanctify us and set us apart and make us

More and more like Jesus in this world And then the fourth thing is in first Corinthians 1 to unto the

Church of God Which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Jesus Christ and called to be saints so we are placed within the body of Christ and That again gives us this positional sanctification something that we you know

What we do doesn't have a thing to do with this. This is something God did to us He placed us in Christ and therefore we are sanctified

He applied his blood as he places on that altar and therefore we are sanctified forever and preserved forever

And then the fifth thing is the Holy Spirit is a means of sanctification look at 1st Corinthians 6 11 and Such were some of you

But you are washed But you are sanctified But you are justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God 2nd

Thessalonians 2 13 also discusses this that we're sanctified by the Holy Spirit But I want you to turn to 1st

Peter 1 2 because this is going to then take us into the next thought All of the verses we've looked at certainly have to do with God doing the work in our lives

Now as you as you find 1st Peter 1 2, I also want you to look at 1st John 3 3

I'm gonna read that one first and we're gonna think about 1st Peter 1 2 1st

John 3 3 says and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself

Even as he is pure That's the first place. We've looked at where it's

It's written as though we do something to ourselves We purify ourselves and I'll tell you this the

Greek word that was translated purifying that verse is the same word for sanctify Exactly the same word.

In fact, it could have easily been translated sanctify sanctifies himself Even as God is pure So I want us to think about that for a little bit this morning

What can this mean if it is a work of God in our life? Then how can God turn around and command us to purify ourselves?

And let's look at 1st Peter 1 2 because it really brings the two together And our I should say it launches us out into this other thought of us walking in time in our life on this planet

And God commanding us to sanctify ourselves 1st Peter 1 2 begins to speak about what

God does to us But then it goes in and points out where we're headed here elect according to the foreknowledge of God the

Father through sanctification of the Spirit Unto obedience and I want you to kind of underline that in your mind at least if not in your

Bible this phrase unto obedience and Sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ graced unto you and peace be multiplied

Notice that the Bible says that we are elect Through sanctification of the

Spirit So this is the means by which God brings us to actually to know that we're his own

He brings us to the place of salvation Just like the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road was not going out looking to be a

Christian. Was he? Furthest thing from his mind. He was not looking to be one he was looking for some

Christians so that he could slaughter them and he was not seeking Jesus and he would never put a bumper sticker on his

Chariot that said I found God or I found Jesus what he would say is Jesus found me, you know and So it's through sanctification

And it goes on and says through sanctification of the Spirit, but look at the next phrase unto obedience

So part of the result of the sanctifying work of God in our lives is unto obedience on our part

Now it begins to create a little cycle if you think about it because what happens is we are saved by God Salvation is of the

Lord He gives us birth because he wants to and we're born in this world

It has nothing to do with what we do or what we would have done or what he could have seen that we would have Done and it may be for another study someday

You might even note that first Peter 1 2 where it says elect according to foreknowledge of God Election is not really according to foreknowledge and we'll prove that at a later date

But what's interesting about it is he says it's unto obedience So we have

God Sanctifying us fulfilling a sanctifying work through the Word of God through the Holy Spirit of God through the altar in the blood of Jesus Christ and We see that he comes in and he gives us this gift of faith and that begins to sanctify us and we were in Christ We're in the body of Christ and because of that we are sanctified and now in the middle of this

He says it is unto obedience And so we then are able to obey

God for the first time You see children are not born because they call out from the womb and say mom. I'll obey you if you'll give birth to me they're born because the mom and dad want the birth and They are born because the mom and dad caused that to happen

But you know what when they're born into this world it presents then the possibility of obedience, doesn't it?

It also presents the possibility of disobedience from time to time But it gives the chance for obedience for the first time and that's the same way with salvation now it is

God who sanctifies us Jude 1 clearly says Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James to them who are sanctified by God the

Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called and Yet there are many verses in the

Bible where he tells us to sanctify ourselves Let me give you a couple of those. Let's think about it for a minute in Numbers chapter 6 and verse 12

He says he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation This is talking about the

Nazarite vow So God commanded them to consecrate their days unto the

Lord in 1st Chronicle 29 5 through 8 It says and who then is willing to consecrate now this word consecrate is like a synonym of the word

Sanctify so we're talking about the same thing who then is willing to consecrate his service this day into the

Lord so it talks about God telling them to consecrate their service and Then in Leviticus 11 44, he says for I am the

Lord your God ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves and Ye shall be holy for I am holy.

So now he talks about their time and their service now He says give your whole self to me Sanctify yourself to me

God commands them to sanctify Themselves Joshua 3 5 it says in Joshua said unto the people

Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. The Lord will do wonders Among you if you want to see

God do wonders then God's Commands us to sanctify ourselves

Why do you think it is that in so many church services across the country today where the

Word of God is truly being preached? That you don't see wonders happening You don't see the power of God come down in the sense that people sense his presence so much that some weep and some laugh and Some fall on their faces now that happens from time to time even here

Last Sunday was a good example But why is it that sometimes you don't see that in a church ever?

I mean some of you may be like me and you were a member of a church for years where you never saw it happen

Not one time Not one time it ever happened. Why? Well, God says to Joshua have the people sanctified themselves and then they'll see

God do wonders So that gives us a hint doesn't it in second Chronicles 29 34, but the priests were too few

So that they could not flay all the burnt offerings Wherefore their brethren the

Levites did help them till the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified

Themselves for the Levites were more listen to this. They were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests were

Now this is second Chronicles 29. You might want to make note of it verse 34. It's a very fascinating passage

Now you go on to the next chapter second Chronicles 30 in verse 3 for they could not keep it at that time

They couldn't keep the Passover when it was time for the Passover because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently

Neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem They were disobedient to the

Lord and then in verse 15, then they killed the Passover later it says on the 14th day of the second month and the priest and the

Levites were ashamed and Sanctified themselves and brought in the burnt offerings.

Why were they ashamed? Because they did the Passover What month later than they were supposed to because they weren't ready when it was time to do it and they were ashamed

They had not sanctified themselves Now, let me ask you this was God at work in their life sanctifying them

You better believe that he was But Had they sanctified themselves?

No, the obedience that is supposed to be a response to God's work in our lives and in their lives was not there

And they had not performed this in the New Testament. There are several places where it speaks of this 2nd

Timothy 2 21 if a man therefore purge himself from these Purge himself notice the phrase doesn't say if you let

God purge you from these it says if you'll purge yourself from these He shall be a vessel unto honor

Sanctified and fit for the master's use and prepared for every good work So I have to ask the question would we prepare be prepared for every work today on this day?

Right now as we sit before God, are we prepared to meet God and worship today? Because We have purged ourselves

From everything that's unclean. We have even purged ourselves from brothers who are unruly It's really what the context is in this one are from the lost

Are we unequally yoked together in certain areas of our life or have we obeyed God in that area? And are we like the priests who are ashamed and say

I have not sanctified myself. I'm not ready to meet God today I'm gonna have to wait till next week

We'll wait till next Sunday, I'll be ready next Sunday, but man, I'm ashamed and Then James 4 8 says draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands

He centers and purify your hearts you double -minded He commands us to purify our hearts and then we come back to first John 3 3 that we read earlier and every man

It hath this hope in him purifieth himself Even as God the

Lord Jesus is pure same word for as the word translated into sanctify Now I'd like for you to turn to first Peter chapter 1 in verse 22

Remember in first Peter 1 in verse 2 it tied in the work of God of Sanctification with this fact that he says it leads to obedience on our part and when we move into that area

I think we're in the area where we're supposed to be sanctifying ourselves we're supposed to be taking advantage of the means that God gives such as his word and to study the word and to meditate upon the word and To sanctify ourselves

First Peter 1 22 seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth now notice the grammar here

You have purified your soul So this is a different teaching than the positional sanctification that God does to us some scholars call this experiential

Sanctification or some of them call it experimental which it means something you're doing in time in your life

It's something that you're doing. It's something you're living. You're not just being hearers of the word. You're being doers of the word and so this

Experiential sanctification means something that you are doing in your life seeing that you have purified your soul

You purified your soul in obeying the truth But you know what

God does in the next phrase He brings us right back to the fact that there is no way you could do that In and of yourselves because he says through the

Spirit and that amazing So even as God commands us to sanctify ourselves

He gives us the means by which to do it Which is the Holy Spirit of God which lives within us the sanctifying

Holy Spirit of God Seeing you have purified your souls and obeying the truth Through the

Spirit unto unfamed love, etc, etc Well, let me have you turn to Isaiah chapter 37 and verse 30

Now it really helps to understand the context of this passage before we read the verses This is a time when the king of Assyria had vowed and even written a letter

To the nation of Israel and said we are going to destroy you and we've destroyed every other nation. We've come across and He said don't believe your

God the letter literally said do not believe your God who has promised to save you and then he names all the other nations and their

Gods and said did any of their gods save them? That's found in as in Isaiah chapter 37 starting with verse 10

He's literally says let not thy God in whom thou trust deceive you saying

Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria and Especially don't listen to the

Prophet who said you won't be he's lying and he's saying I will come and destroy you You know that one of the greatest things the enemy uses in our lives is fear

He uses fear in our lives all the time He tempts us to act as if God is a deceiver when he tells us he'll take care of us

He then comes into verse 11 of chapter 37 gives many examples of others who have fallen

And you'll find your mind from time to time going towards other human beings that you know in your walk of life

Who have quote fallen from good graces with the Lord or who have given in or have turned back the other way?

And it brings doubt in your own heart about yourself sometimes and this is what's happening here

This is one of the things that the enemy does Well what Isaiah did and what has actually what Hezekiah did the king in verse 14?

was he took this evil letter this evil message from the enemy and it says in Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the

Lord and spread it before the Lord. That's the best thing to do with your fear is Just spread it before the

Lord Now notice we learn some things from this prayer in verse 15 and Hezekiah prayed unto the

Lord saying now notice Who he prays to? Oh Lord of hosts

God of Israel that dwellest between the cherubims Thou art the

God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth Thou has made heaven and earth.

He prays to God who dwells between the cherubims Who is that the father of the

Son or the Holy Spirit? That's the father That's who we ought to pray to I've heard people before I've even heard preachers teach you ought to pray to the

Holy Spirit sometimes and The Bible says pray to the

Father You know, the Holy Spirit always points to the Lord Jesus Christ.

He never points to himself and Jesus who did he point to?

the Father and We pray to the Father and this is shown very clearly here

But we need to realize that when the enemy attacks he is really attacking God look at verse 17

He says Lord incline thine ear O Lord and hear open thine eyes

O Lord and see and hear all the words of Senna cherub which hath Sent to reproach the living

God now Senna cherub Was talking real ugly about God's people and about God's prophets and about the king of Israel But really who was he reproaching?

God himself So when the enemy attacks you don't be so prideful as to think he's really attacking you because he's really attacking

God Can Satan do anything to God? Well, let me ask you this if you had a choice

Between dying today in a car wreck or having one of your children killed in a car wreck, which would you choose?

Mm -hmm yourself. So if I could attack one of your children Would I attack you?

And that's what the enemy does he's he'd care less about you or me

He wants to get God. He hates God He hates God with a passion

If it means he has to destroy one of God's children and their whole families or try to do so Then he will do so because that's really as far as he can go, isn't it?

but that's his attempt and So we need to realize that when the enemy's attacking he's really attacking

God. Therefore whose battle is it? That's right Recognize that the reason others have failed also as The enemy came and brought up all these kings who have fallen before him because their gods didn't help them

The very reason they fell is because they were trusting other gods verse 20 says now therefore

Lord our God save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the

Lord even thou only they were trusting in their gods But we're trusting in the

God Another thing we see from this beautiful passage is we need to realize that the battle is serious and has serious consequences

But it is the Lord's battle I want you to stay there in Isaiah because we're gonna come back to it, but go to 2nd

Chronicles chapter 20 verse 10 We have another battle that the nation of Israel went through and in particular it's interesting because If the battle in Isaiah sort of pictures the battle against Satan Then this battle in 2nd

Chronicles 20 pictures the battle against the flesh We basically have three enemies the world the flesh and the devil in 2nd

Chronicles they all work together, of course But in 2nd Chronicles 2010 it pictures the battle against the flesh because it says the children of Amman and Moab Came against Israel in this pictures the flesh

Scripturally in the Bible and we go down through here and look at verse 12

Oh our God wilt thou not judge them for we have no might against this great company

Don't ever think for a moment you have might against your own flesh Do you ever notice that when you're talking about the three enemies that God gives you a different way to?

Approach each one and you don't approach the others the same way as you do the one for example with Satan It says to stand against him and he will flee but it never says to stand against the flesh

Never place yourself in a position where you're attempting the flesh and think you can just stand against it

What does he say you do when it's flesh is the problem? flee run So you don't run from Satan you stand against him, but you do run from the flesh

So here they say we have no power against this great company and that is a fact Understanding you have absolutely no power against your flesh today

But in verse 13 and all Judah stood before the Lord With their little ones their wives and their children what a beautiful and awesome verse here

They're standing before the very enemy that's going to slay them he's going to come in and destroy their wife and their children and Them and they know they have no power against this enemy and they bring their little ones and their wives and they all just line

Up before the Lord and said here we are. We can't do anything about this Imagine that Gentlemen, I would say that every night of your life you should go before the

Lord in prayer and think of your little sleeping children as totally unable to stand against that enemy and Pray for your children

Come before the Lord on behalf of your wife gentlemen, because she has no power over the flesh in and of herself

Pray for her that the Lord would come and fight against this enemy and then

This great man of God stands up and he came in the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation and in verse 15

He made this famous statement for the battle is not yours But God's he says thus saith the

Lord Do you be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude this great enemy. The battle is not yours

It is God's now. I want to go back to Isaiah 37 And we go

We realize in verse 23 that it's saying the same thing This battle is against God this battle this enemy has blaspheme and even the

Holy One of Israel and Verse 28 says but I know thy abode and I going out and I coming in and I rage against me as God speaks to the

Enemy himself and now we come to verse 30 this amazing little passage that talks about fruit bearing which is really what this whole study is all about and right in this context the context of the enemy coming to destroy you your children and your wife and your church and your nation and everything about you in this enormous fear that comes up when you see him coming from time to time and In the midst of all this he says the battle is not yours.

It is my battle. Please remember that in Verse 30 he says and this shall be a sign unto you

God says I'm going to give you a sign that this is not your battle I'm going to give you a sign that I'm in control of every battle that you go through This is the sign you shall eat this year such as groweth of itself

In other words, the enemy is not going to come and destroy your crops this year You will eat of your crops this year you'll still be here in the land

You'll still be eating these crops and the second year the year after that You're going to eat that which springs up from that first crop

You're still going to be here and then he says however in the third year I want you to go and sow and reap and plant the vineyards and eat the fruit thereof and The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward and he goes on and destroy and speaks in detail of how he literally destroys this enemy and The king who made all these threats is slain by his two sons

And one of his sons takes his place Well, this promise is what

I wanted to look at And then interesting that he says for a couple of years that you will eat of the fruit that just springs up naturally and Then the second year you'll do the same thing again

But then he comes and he says however as we come to this last third year.

I Want you to do some planning? I Want you to plant some things? I want you just instead of taking what's naturally coming up from the ground that I've provided for you

And I want you to till the soil and I want you to plant some vineyards and I want you to multiply the fruit

He said I'm giving you fruit for a couple of years and this can picture this the positional

Sanctification the work of God in your life. God is always working in their lives to make us grow

But he says I want you to do something in the third year after you've grown a little bit After I have opened your eyes and placed my word in your lap and given you the great teacher that my spirit

And I've taught you some things and I want you to do some planning I want you to do some things in your life that will cause you to be even more fruitful

I want you to take more advantage of the Word of God I want you to realize that when you pray you should walk in the

Holy Spirit Take advantage of the relationship that he affords in the way that he can not only teach you what to pray by bringing the future from the

Father and Bring it to your heart and say we're gonna be going out here and I want you part of this battle And I want you to pray about this because I want to go through it with you

God says so I'm gonna give you some insight by my Holy Spirit. You'll know what to pray for Yeah from your point of view

You'll think your prayers got answered from my point of view God saying I told you what to pray for in the first place That's why

Jesus said whatsoever you ask it shall be done if you abide in my word and my words abide in you

But he says still I want you to pray more. I Want you to read the Bible more?

I want you to be available to witness when you go to the grocery store more than you are now I want you to be soul conscious so to speak be aware of who's around you

Be aware of who's rubbing shoulders with you in life. I want you to till the soil a little bit

He that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as He is pure and he says then you will put root downward

And you will bear fruit upward He promises that he will destroy the enemy now.

Let me close with this thought We understand that the stories that we read in the

Old Testament are for Examples and in samples for us in the last days

We also understand that as God worked in a physical way in the Old Testament Sometimes those physical stories and truths are meant to be spiritual truth for us in the

New Testament period So this is not promising you That God that God will not have it so that the enemy might do some damage in your life and in mine.

I just Got through rereading this beautiful story about Cary and it's just one catastrophe after another

It's it's not a book. You want to read if you're going somewhere and you want to be Happy go lucky and just have your thoughts be positive

I mean, it's just one slam after another that the enemy brings to this man in this family and yet this man as far as anyone

I've ever read about Came as close as DL Moody said the world has never seen a man

What could happen if a man totally gave himself over to the Lord? I'm not sure

Moody had read Cary's life Maybe Cary came when it was Moody. I think

Moody came later, but I don't think he had read this life because this man came as close as anyone

I've seen other than the Apostle Paul to doing that and Yet disaster after disaster and I had here

I was going to read you quite a few of these things and we're out of time this morning But I want to read to you how this man handled these disasters the last ten years of his life had more disasters than any other part of his life and the last three were just devastating and yet not one time

The mission board back home was trying to take control of their property Which they had paid for because they all worked for a living.

They didn't just take money from the mission they worked and earn money and put it into the mission and built that mission themselves and now the board won't take control of it and have the deed and He took that as a great offense and then his son went to be with the

Lord Previously to that his son's wife and all the children had been killed

Had been drowned in an accident and His son lost his mind for three or four years and then came back to his senses and came back and worked with his dad

And then he after that he passed away So we saw his son die all of his friends back in America who had sent him and who watched out for him

Watched his back over in England. I should say All of them had passed away now everything on this earth

That he had was gone except somehow the Lord kept these missions going and So in the midst of all this trouble

He says I confess that the prospect of this great reduction of my salary Late and he's talking about all the things he had lost to he had a beautiful garden that he planted with He was a botanist and he had planted beautiful mahogany trees.

It had been there his whole life Since the day he planted them and they used to call it carries Lane He would walk through there every day a storm came through that was an unusual storm came through and destroyed

The entire garden not one thing was left. The whole thing was uprooted during this time period a fire burned his

His office where he printed all these Bibles and destroyed a manuscript where he had translated the entire

Bible Into a certain language and created a dictionary for that language It just burned it all up.

All that work for years was gone overnight All of these things were happening. His wife had just passed away

And he says I confess that the prospect of this great reduction lay very heavily on my mind at first Particularly as it would put out of my power the support of our mission state missionary stations.

I Am however convinced of God's infinite wisdom and have implored him to bend my mind to his will

It is his want to make us realize our complete dependence upon him and Then this is stated about William Carey William Carey had but one source of supply and that was his heavenly father

He was no stranger to dire extremities. He was a man who had built firmly upon the rock of righteousness

He was content as long as he knew he was in the center of God's will He could not be blown by winds of discouragement uprooted by the storms of criticism

They came from England nor discouraged by untoward circumstances

However, great they might be his mind was fixed in God and as long as the heaven was clear above him

William Carey faced the future with dauntless courage and He was just an amazing man

But you know what the truth is about his life as you read this and you see all these

Amazing things these catastrophes happen and then there are some mountains top experiences for him as well

Not one time did the enemy prevail? In fact when his entire property burned

And he lost everything he had That is what brought him fame in England He became known as the greatest man of God in the world that day because word got back of all that had happened and Then support came and rebuilt it by the way in the very catastrophe that the enemy tried to use to destroy the man

Made the man become known in the whole world. It's a great great missionary so Though fear may come

If we will plant the vineyard If we will do some tilling of the soil

If we will see that God's work in our lives of sanctification and then purify ourselves as Kerry did

He was never satisfied with his state He wanted to be better for the Lord every day of his life.

Can you imagine a man that learned 44 languages? I Mean, that's incredible.

I can't even comprehend it And to his dying bed he was he he died with manuscripts around him that he was proofing

He always wanted to be stronger. He always wanted to be better and even the last weeks of his life

He said, you know, I understand the grace of God and I understand how

God has worked in my life But he said I still look at my sins and think of them and it bothers me

But he said I know I'm saved He said the best I know The Bible promises is those who will receive

Jesus Christ shall be saved He said if I know anything about myself, I've received him And he walked in power because of the sanctifying work of God, but also because he

Responded to it and Did some tilling of his own soil and some hard hard work in his own life to make himself be more and to take full advantage of the

Word of God and of the Holy Spirit and At the blood of Jesus Christ and his relationship in Christ with the

Father to be all that he could be for the Lord and We can talk about the fact that God is in control and God is sovereign and God it will sanctify us

No matter what we do and all those are true things But they don't negate the truth that as we walk step by step in time in this life

As we don't know the future yet. What we do know is today. We ought to purify ourselves

Because he is pure. We ought to do all that we can do to make ourselves walk the path and To follow our

Lord Jesus, let's stand and have prayer together. Someday. We'll meet William Carey He will tell us his story and you will tell him yours

Father we thank you for your word We thank you for even the stories of great men and women who've given their entire lives and everything they have

Given it all up to serve you and to walk before you maybe to win just a handful of converts to Christ With the goal of changing an entire nation this man

Did everything that he could but yet? He still believed in the sovereignty of God He still was a particular

Baptist and he understood that Everything was in your hand and he gave you all the glory for his life

He forbade them to even mention anything about him on his gravestone, but to only mention the

Lord Jesus Christ Father may we learn from this example and may we learn from your word and may you inspire us through your

Holy Spirit through your word To be all that we can be on each given day for you

And we ask it in Jesus name. I'd like to give just a moment to open up the altar

To anyone that would like to come and just be quiet before the Lord It does not mean that you're obligated to do that that I want you to do that.