The Father

The Crowning Work of God in Man

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28

I believe this to be the crowning work of God in man, that His people should be perfectly delivered from evil…Every work of the Spirit of God upon the new nature aims at the purification, the consecration, the perfecting of those whom God in love has taken to be His own. Yea, more; all the events of Providence around us work towards that one end: for this our joys and our sorrows, for this our pains of body and griefs of heart, for this our losses and our crosses-all these are sacred medicines by which we are cured of the disease of nature, and prepared for the enjoyment of perfect spiritual health. All that befalls us on our road to heaven is meant to fit us for our journey’s end. Our way through the wilderness is meant to try us, and to prove us, that our evils may be discovered, repented of, and overcome, and that thus we may be without fault before the throne at the last. We are being educated for the skies, meetened for the assembly of the perfect. It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we are struggling up towards it; and we know that when Jesus shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We are rising: by hard wrestling, and long watching, and patient waiting, we are rising into holiness. These tribulations thresh our wheat and get the chaff away, these afflictions consume our dross and tin to make the gold more pure. All things work together for good to them that love God; and the net result of them all will be the presenting of the chosen unto God, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

What a Great Thing Sanctification Is

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Father, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

“Sanctify them through Thy truth.” – John 17:17

No one can sanctify a soul but Almighty God, the great Father of spirits. He who made us must also make us holy, or we shall never attain that character. Our dear Savior calls the great God “Holy Father” in this prayer, and it is the part of the holy God to create holiness; while a holy Father can only be the Father of holy children, for like begets like.

Beloved, this sanctification is a work of God from its earliest stage. We go astray of ourselves, but we never return to the great Shepherd apart from His divine drawings. Regeneration, in which sanctification begins, is wholly the work of the Spirit of God. Our first discovery of wrong, and our first pang of penitence, are the work of divine grace. Every thought of holiness, and every desire after purity, must come from the Lord alone, for we are by nature wedded to iniquity. So also the ultimate conquest of sin in us, and the making us perfectly like to our Lord, must be entirely the work of the Lord God, who makes all things new, since we have no power to carry on so great a work of ourselves. This is a creation; can we create? This is a resurrection; can we raise the dead? Our degenerate nature can rot into a still direr putrefaction, but it can never return to purity or sweeten itself into perfection; this is of God and God alone. Sanctification is as much the work of God as the making of the heavens and the earth. Who is sufficient for these things? We go not even a step in sanctification in our own strength; whatever we think we advance of ourselves is but a fictitious progress which will lead to bitter disappointment. Real sanctification is entirely from first to last the work of the Spirit of the blessed God, whom the Father hath sent forth that He might sanctify His chosen ones. See, then, what a great thing sanctification is, and how necessary it is that our Lord should pray unto His Father, “Sanctify them through Thy truth.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

Sanctification and the Power of the Holy Spirit

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world…Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word…that they also may be one in Us.. – John 17:17, 18; 20,21

How shall a holy God send out unholy messengers? An unsanctified minister is an unsent minister. An unholy missionary is a pest to the tribe he visits; an unholy teacher in a school is an injury rather than a blessing to the class he conducts. Only in proportion as you are sanctified unto God can you hope for the power of the Holy Spirit to rest on you, and to work with you, so as to bring others to the Savior’s feet. How much may each of us have been hampered and hindered by want of holiness! God will not use unclean instruments; nay, He will not even have His holy vessels borne by unclean hands. “To the wicked, God saith, What hast thou to do to declare My statutes?” A whole host may be defeated because of one Achan in the camp; and this is our constant fear. Holiness is an essential qualificatian to a man’s fitness for being used of the Lord God for the extension of His kingdom; hence our Lord’s prayer for His apostles and other workers: “Holy Father, sanctify them.”

Furthermore, our Lord Jesus Christ was about to pray “that they all might be one;” and for this desirable result holiness is needed. Why are we not one? Sin is the great dividing element. The perfectly holy would be perfectly united. The more saintly men are, the more they love their Lord and one another; and thus they come into closer union with each other. Our errors and our sins are roots of bitterness which spring up and trouble us, and many are defiled. Our infirmities of judgment are aggravated by our imperfections of character, and our walking at a distance from our God; and these breed coldness and lukewarmness, out of which grow disunion and division, sects and heresies. If we were all abiding in Christ to the full, we should abide in union with each other and with God, and our Lord’s great prayer for the unity of His church would be fulfilled. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

For Whom Jesus Prayed

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine…Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. – John 17:9,17

I want you to notice for whom this prayer was offered. It was not offered for the world outside. It would not be a suitable prayer for those who are dead in sin. Our Lord referred to the company of men and women who were already saved, of whom He said that they had kept God’s Word: “Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me.” They were therefore sanctified already in the sense of being consecrated and set apart for holy purposes; and they were also sanctified in a measure already in the sense of being made holy in character; for the immediate disciples of our Lord, with all their errors and deficiencies, were holy men. It was for the apostles that Jesus thus prayed; so that we may be sure that the most eminent saints need still to have this prayer offered for them: “Sanctify them through Thy truth.” Though, my sisters, you may be Deborahs, worthy to be called mothers in Israel, yet you need to be made more holy. Though, my brethren, you may be true fathers in God, of whom the Scripture saith truly that we have “not many,” yet you still need that Jesus should pray for you: “Sanctify them through Thy truth.”

Those who are most pure and honorable have yet their shortcomings and errors to mourn over. When the Lord turns the light strong upon us, we soon see the spots upon our raiment; it is indeed when we walk in the light as God is in the light that we see most our need of the cleansing blood of Jesus. If we have done well, to God be the glory of it; but we might have done better. If we have loved much, to God’s grace be the praise; but we ought to have loved more. If we have believed, and believed steadfastly, we ought to have believed to a far higher degree in our Almighty Friend. We are still below our capacities; there is a something yet beyond us. O ye sanctified ones, it is for you that Jesus prays that the Father may still sanctify you. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word…” – John 17:20 ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

Are We Redeemed from the Power of Evil?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. – John 17:17

Sanctification is a higher word than purification; for it includes that word and vastly more: it is not sufficient to be negatively clean; we need to be adorned with all the virtues. Children of God should exhibit the love of God, they should be filled with zeal for His glory, they should live generous, unselfish lives, they should walk with God, and commune with the Most High. Our Lord Jesus contemplated the sending of each one of us into the world even as the Father sent Him into the world; but how can He give a mission to unsanctified men and women? Must not the vessels of the Lord be clean? Without sanctification we cannot enjoy the innermost sweets of our holy faith. The unsanctified are full of doubts and fears; and what wonder? The unsanctified often say of the outward exercise of religion, “What a weariness it is!” and no wonder, for they know not the internal joys of it, having never learned to delight themselves in God. If they walk not in the light of the Lord’s countenance, how can they know the heaven below which comes of true godliness? Oh, it is a prayer that needs to be prayed for me, for you, for this church, and for the whole church of God! “Father, sanctify them through Thy truth.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

We Belong to Christ

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father 2 Comments

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. – John 17:16

Beloved brethren, if the sprinkling of the blood has really taken effect upon us, we belong, from this time forth, unto Him that died for us, and rose again. We regard ourselves as God’s men, the liveried servants of the great King-that livery the robe of righteousness. We were as sheep going astray, but we have now returned unto the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls; and henceforth we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. If any should ask, “To whom belongest thou?” we answer, “I belong to Christ.” If any enquire, “What is thine occupation?” we reply with Jonah, “I fear God.” We are not now at our own disposal, neither can we hire ourselves out to inferior objects, mercenary aims, or selfish ambitions; for we are engaged by solemn contract to the service of our God. We have lifted up our hand unto the Lord, and we cannot draw back.

In addition to this, those who belonged to God, and were dedicated to His service, were set apart and separated from others...The Lord would have those who are dedicated to Him to be separated from the rest of mankind…The Lord saith of His chosen, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall shew forth My praise.” Before long this secret purpose is followed by the open call: “Come out from among them, and be ye separate; touch not the unclean thing, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters.” The church of Christ is to be a chaste virgin, wholly set apart for the Lord Christ: His own words concerning His people are these, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Sanctify us, O Lord. Let us know, and let all the world know, that we are Thine, because we belong to Christ.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm

The Holy of Holies of the Word of God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Father, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth…And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. – John 17:17, 19

Here we look into the heart of Jesus, as He sets out in order His desires and requests before His Father on our behalf. Here inspiration lifts her veil, and we behold truth face to face. Our text lies somewhere near the middle of the prayer; it is the heart of it. Our Lord’s desire for the sanctification of His people pervades the whole prayer; but it is gathered up, declared, and intensified in the one sentence: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.” How invaluable must the blessing of sanctification be when our Lord, in the highest reach of His intercession, cries: “Sanctify them!” In sight of His passion, on the night before His death, our Savior lifts His eyes to the great Father, and cries in His most plaintive tones, “Father, sanctify them.” He asks this sanctification of God the Father Himself, for He alone it is who can sanctify His people. The place whereon we stand is holy ground, and the subject whereof we speak demands our solemn thought. Come, Holy Spirit, and teach us the full meaning of this prayer for holiness!

“For their sakes I sanctify Myself.” Our Lord’s sanctification was His consecration to the fulfillment of the Divine purpose; His absorption in the will of the Father. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.” In this sense our interceding Lord asks that all His people may, by the Father, be ordained and consecrated unto holy service. The prayer means, “Father, consecrate them to Thine own self; let them be temples for Thine indwelling, instruments for Thy use.” He would have each of us consecrated unto the Lord, designated and ordained for divine purposes. We are not the world’s, else might we be ambitious; we are not Satan’s, else might we be covetous; we are not our own, else might we be selfish. We are bought with a price, and hence we are His by whom the price is paid. We belong to Jesus, and He presents us to His Father, and begs Him to accept us and sanctify us to His own purposes. Do we not most heartily concur in this dedication? Do we not cry, “Father, sanctify us to Thy service?” I am sure we do if we have realized our redeemed condition. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1890.cfm