Month: April 2022

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WHO THE SPIRIT IS

“The Third Person of the Holy Trinity agreed to sanctify the object of the Father’s eternal choice, and of the Son’s redemptive satisfaction” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p21).

“The Spirit sets apart God’s people into the sphere of the holy so that believers are now holy and righteous in their standing before God, and they grow in actual holiness in their lives” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2405).

“The Spirit dwells in men, clothes Himself with consecrated humanity, and accomplishes extraordinary things through quite ordinary people on the simple conditions of abiding surrender, implicit obedience, and simple faith” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p66).

“[T]he gracious Holy Spirit pledged Himself to sanctify wretches, and frame and fit them to be partakers of holiness, and live forever in God’s spotless presence” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p21).

“[The Spirit] comes to the things that are weak and despised and dignifies them with His Glory. Before Glory comes, the church will have to elevate those things that are despised by the world, such as modesty, chastity, inner beauty, self-effacement, willingness to serve, and willingness to be in the background. These are the kinds of values the Holy Spirit is exalting” Bob Sorge (ref#197, p17).

“[The Spirit] clothes Himself with sanctified men and women. The Spirit of the Lord clothed Itself with Gideon (Judges 6:34), He did not come upon him like a garment, but the Spirit clothed Himself with Gideon as with a garment” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p54, 60).

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THE SPIRIT’S HELP IN SANCTIFICATION

“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph 2:18-22 ESV).

“God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thes 2:13 ESV).

“[T]he Pentecostal gift of the Spirit is the gift of a God-possessed personality. The gift turns ordinary persons into extraordinary personalities” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p87).

“We are encompassed with innumerable sinful infirmities; we have a law in our members warring against the law of our mind, and bringing us into captivity to the law of sin in our members. We are constantly assailed by Satan, and as constantly liable to yield. Oh, with what power and constant acting of faith should we throw ourselves on the Spirit! How ceaselessly should we pray to Him with all supplication, imploring His guiding, teaching, sealing, and comforting grace to help us in every time of need” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Apr 12th).

“He put His own nature into us. [I]t is acting and manifesting and expressing itself by the Holy Ghost (Rom 5:5)” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#211, p17).

“[A]s the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a diviner sense made in the image of the Most High and are partakers of the divine nature” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Sept 16th AM)

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SANCTIFICATION IS:

“Christ takes us out of the devil’s clutches and puts us into His own kingdom, and the devil cannot touch us. That is what was happening upon the cross. The devil thought he was defeating Christ, but Christ was reconciling us to God, defeating the devil and delivering us out of his clutches. He does it be paying the penalty and putting us right with God. The power of God comes into us, and we are born again, receiving new natures and becoming new people. The Holy Spirit is put within us, and Christ’s presence is ever at hand to help us. [The enemy] can frighten us perhaps, he can shout at us, but he cannot touch us. He thought he was finishing Christ. He was really bringing about his own defeat. Christ has conquered him” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, April 13th).

“He has bestowed His love upon us, implanted Himself, infused or injected His love within us” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#211, p16-17).

“Sanctification is not an experience—it is a condition. It is my relationship to God: I am ‘changed into the same image [of Jesus Christ] from glory to glory.’ Sanctification involves experiences and is helped by them, but in itself it is not an experience. Sanctification is that process of growth and development that starts the moment we are saved, the moment we are justified, the moment we are regenerated’ Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Jan 28th).

“Sanctification is that condition in which the sin principle is dealt with. Justification does not deal with the sin principle within us; it deals with the sins that we have committed. But after our sins have been forgiven, and sin and guilt have been removed from us, the sin principle will remain within us, and what the New Testament means by this doctrine of sanctification is the process whereby the very principle and the activity of sin within us is being taken out of us and removed” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Sept 29th).

“Sanctification begins in regeneration. The Spirit of God infuses into man that new living principle by which he becomes ‘a new creature’ (2 Cor 5:17) in Christ Jesus. This work, which begins in the new birth, is carried on in two ways: through mortification, whereby the lusts of the flesh are subdued and kept under; and through vivification, by which the life that God has put within us is made to be a ‘well of water springing up into everlasting life’ (John 4:14)” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, July 4th AM).

“[T]he LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself” (1 Sam 12:22 ESV).

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GOAL OF SANCTIFICATION

“It is God’s work, wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit who makes Christ our sanctification. Generally there is an awakening of heart and mind in which there comes vision and persuasion. There is a conviction of need and a revelation of grace, a hunger and a search, a process and a crisis, an act of faith and an assurance of cleansing. It is as distinctly a second work of grace as regeneration is a new birth” Smauel Chadwick (ref#195, p115-116).

“[T]his is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thes 4:3 ESV).

“[A Christian] is in a partnership with God, and he will reap its benefits only when he has fulfilled his own responsibilities. He cannot do what God must do, and God will not do what [He] should do. No one can attain any degree of holiness without God working in his life, but just as surely no one will attain it without effort on his own part. God has made it possible for us to walk in holiness. But He has given to us the responsibility of doing the walking” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p9).

“[God] first ‘counsels and directs’ as to what is to be done, and then He ‘excites and effectually inclines’ to the doing thereof” Thomas Jacombe (ref#225, July 20th).

“The aim is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim 1:5 ESV).

“Weak, unskillful, and unfaithful, as I am in practice, the Lord has been pleased to give me some idea of what a Christian ought to be, and of what is actually attainable in the present life, by those whom he enables earnestly to aspire towards the prize of their high calling” John Newton (ref#322, p135).

“[W]hoever does what is true his works have been carried out by God” (John 3:21 ESV).

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INTRO TO SANCTIFICATION

Posts on the subject of “Sanctification” start today and will conclude in July, LORD willing. These posts are divided into three categories: (1) GOD’s work in my sanctification, (2) My work in my sanctification, and (3) Our work together in sanctification.

At the beginning of sanctification “Generally there is an awakening of heart and mind in which there comes vision and persuasion. There is a conviction of need and a revelation of grace, a hunger and a search, a process and a crisis an act of faith and an assurance of cleansing. It is as distinctly a second work of grace as regeneration is a new birth” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p116).

“[V]ast pieces of your existence are out of your control, beyond your power to alter. But you must not conclude that your life is out of control. Because your story is woven into the fabric of the redemption story, there is meaning, purpose, and direction to every part of it.  The inertia of redemption carries your story along. The goal of redemption guarantees your destiny. The future grace of eternity secures for you all the grace you will ever need in between. No, you won’t understand all that you face, and yes, God’s will will confuse you at points, but your story has been infused with meaning and purpose because it’s been included in God’s story of redemption and restoration. He rules over all things so that his grace can finish its work in you unabated” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Nov. 8th).

“God’s tender love for His servants makes Him concerned for the state of their emotions. [O]ur Master would not have us entangled with fears. He wants us to be free of cares, doubts, and cowardice. Our Master takes our unbelief more seriously than we do. When we are despondent, we are subject to a grievous disease that should not be ignored, but should be taken immediately to the Beloved Physician” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, May 11th PM).

“Be most engaged in those experiences that have proven to draw you nearest to Christ, because it is from Him that all your fruit proceeds. Any holy exercise that will bring you to Him will help you to bear fruit” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 13th AM).

“God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears” (Phil 1:3-6 MSG).

Instruct our minds; our wills subdue;

To heaven our passions raise;

That hence our lives, our all may be

Devoted to thy praise” B. Beddome (ref#224, song #434).

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 DYING TO SIN

“[B]aptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross” (Col 2:11-15 MSG).

“[O]ur dying to sin is the result of our union with Christ. Because He died to sin, we died to sin. Therefore, it is apparent that our dying to sin is not something we do, but something Christ has done” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p52).

“The life of the renewed soul, springing from the indwelling of Christ by the Spirit, includes the crucifixion of self (Gal 2:20). We do not plead for its utter annihilation in this life; that would be looking for something the Word of God never warrants. But we do insist upon its mortification: we plead for its subjection to Christ” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Mar 16th).

“We are to consider—ourselves dead to sin, but our reckoning does not make it true. Because we are dead to sin through our union with Christ, we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. Our daily experience with regard to sin is determined—not by our reckoning, but by our will—by whether we allow sin to reign in our bodies” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p53).

“The more we say no to sin, the more we are inclined to say no. Therefore, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, we must systematically work at acquiring the habit of saying no to the sins that so easily entangle us” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p133).

“[T]he sweep of New Testament teaching is that it is the sun of Christ’s heart, not the clouds of my sins, that now defines me” Dane Ortland (ref#382, p187).

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MAGNITUDE OF FORGIVENESS

“Such an awareness of my sinfulness does not drag me down, but actually serves to lift me up by magnifying my appreciation of God’s forgiving grace in my life. And the more I appreciate the magnitude of God’s forgiveness of my sins, the more I love Him and delight to show Him love through heart-felt expressions of worship” Milton Vincent (ref#60, p33).

“It is when we come to the end of self and are utterly undone and then realise what God has done for us that we begin to realise that the love of God is in us. In other words, mere abstract thoughts upon God as love will never do it” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p524-525).

“Repentance is one of the Christian’s highest privileges. A repentant Christian focuses on God’s mercy and God’s grace. Any moment in our lives when we bask in God’s mercy and grace is our highest moment” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p27).

“He isn’t like you. Even the most intense of human love is but the faintest echo of heaven’s cascading abundance. His heartful thoughts for you outstrip what you can conceive. He intends to restore you into the radiant resplendence for which you were created. And that is dependent not on you keeping yourself clean but on you taking your mess to him” Dane Ortland (ref#382, p160).

“[S]ince we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom 5:1-2 ESV).

“The gospel encourages me to rest in my righteous standing with God, a standing which Christ Himself has accomplished and always maintains for me. I never have to do a moment’s labor to gain or maintain my justified status before God! Freed from the burden of such a task, I now can put my energies into enjoying God, pursuing holiness, and ministering God’s amazing grace to others” Milton Vincent (ref#60, p20).

“For the love which Christ has [for me] presses on me from all sides, holding me to one end and prohibiting me from considering any other, wrapping itself around me in tenderness, giving me an impelling motive” (2 Cor 5:14 Wuest).

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CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL

“’As sure as ever a Christian carves for himself, he’ll cut his own fingers’” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Feb 9th AM).

“It is an ancient and true observation that there is a world of vices hidden in the soul of man, but Christian self-denial is the remedy of them all” John Owen (ref#313, p24).

“The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. Many of us do not go on spiritually because we prefer to choose what is right instead of relying on God to choose for us” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, May 25th).

“[A]lthough we have offended our King many times, yet our hearts are loyal to Him after all. ‘Oh precious Jesus, we would obey You and yield submission to every one of Your laws; our sins are not willful or beloved sins. Although we fall, we can truly say that we want to be holy as You are holy, our hearts are true toward Your statutes. Lord, help us to ‘run the way of thy commandments’ (Psalm 119:32)” Charles Spurgeon (ref#320, p26).

“[T]hough we can fall of ourselves, we cannot rise without his help. Indeed every sin, in its own nature, has a tendency toward a final apostasy; but there is a provision in the covenant of grace, and the Lord, in his own time, returns to convince, humble, pardon, comfort, and renew the soul. [W]e begin at length to learn that we are nothing, have nothing, can do nothing but sin. And thus we are gradually prepared to live more out of ourselves, and to derive all our sufficiency of every kind from Jesus, the fountain of grace. We learn to tread more warily, to trust less to our own strength, to have lower thoughts of ourselves, and higher thoughts of him” John Newton (ref#322, p119-120).

“Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes. But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me” (Ps 26:9-11 ESV).

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LEAN UPON CHRIST

“If you would not be taken in any of Satan’s snares, then engage not against Satan in your own strength, but be every day drawing new virtue and strength from the Lord Jesus” Thomas Brooks (ref#379, p36).

“[Y]our strength to stand and overcome must not be expected from graces received, but from the fresh and renewed influences of heaven. You must lean more upon Christ than upon your duties. You must lean more upon Christ than upon spiritual tastes and discoveries. You must lean more upon Christ than upon your graces, or else Satan will lead you into captivity” Thomas Brooks (ref#379, p36).

“Believers are compared to earthen vessels, liable in themselves to be destroyed by a small blow; but they are so strengthened and tempered by the power and supply of divine grace that the fiercest efforts of their fiercest enemies against them may be compared to the dashing of waves against a rock. And that this may be known and noticed, they are exposed to many trials. But the united and repeated assaults of the men of the world and the powers of darkness afford but the more incontestable demonstration that the Lord is with them” John Newton (ref#376, p20).

“Christ will not fail you. He may permit, for wise and holy ends, the messenger of Satan to buffet you; but He will restrain the enemy, permitting him to go so far and no farther, and will make good His promise: ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Co 12:9). This very temptation of your soul may make you better acquainted with Christ than ever. For this end, doubtless, He permits it” Octavius Winslow (ref#381, p45).

“God does deal with us as a loving but firm father deals with his children. He accepts us unconditionally because we are His sons and daughters in Christ, but He disciplines us for our good. And in the administering of His discipline He withholds the assurance of His forgiveness until we, through repentance, are ready to receive it” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p206).

“In a little while, He will come and complete the victory begun in Paradise, continued in the wilderness, renewed on the cross, carried on through the long history of His church, and consummated in the day of His personal, glorious, and triumphant appearing. Tempted child of God! Take heart! Look up” Octavius Winslow (ref#381, p46)!

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A FRIEND IN HEAVEN

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15 ESV).

“Christ is not only God but man and not only man but God. The Christos, the anointed one, the High Priest of our profession, is in His complex character able to help them that are tempted” Charles Spurgeon (ref#380, p38).

“Oh, throw yourself at the feet of the Savior, Whose mission it is to ‘destroy the works of the devil’ and the devil himself, and beseech Him to rend the chain, to eject the usurper” Octavius Winslow (ref#381, p47).

“For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb 2:18 ESV).

“Satan’s malice is not abated; and though he has met with millions of disappointments, he still, like Goliath of old, defies the armies of God’s Israel: he challenges the stoutest, and desires to have them, ‘that he may sift [them] as wheat.’ Indeed, he is far an overmatch for them, considered as in themselves; but though they are weak, their Redeemer is mighty! They are forever secured by His love and intercession. The Lord knows them that are His, and no weapon formed against them can prosper” John Newton (ref#376, p19).

“[N]o weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.’” (Isa 54:17 ESV).

“Tempted believer in Jesus! Learn thus the paralyzed power of your tempter, so that you do not become disheartened and dismayed. Remember that the Son of God has pierced him, signally and fatally; and that every fiery dart pointed at the believer are tipped with the conquering blood of Christ” Octavius Winslow (ref#381, p42).

“Let all true Christians take comfort in the thought that they have a Friend in heaven Who can be touched with the feeling of their infirmities. When they pour out their hearts before the throne of grace and groan under the burden that daily harasses them, there is One making intercession Who knows their sorrows. Let us take courage. The Lord Jesus is not an austere man. He knows what we mean when we complain of temptation and is both able and willing to give us help” J.C. Ryle (ref#374, p12).