In his sermon, Scott Brown explores the doctrine of sanctification as outlined in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession, Chapter 13. Sanctification is described as a transformative process akin to metamorphosis, where a sinner's life is changed by the glory of Christ. This transformation is ongoing, involving spiritual growth and the breaking of sin's power through Christ's death and resurrection. Brown emphasizes the interconnectedness of justification, adoption, and sanctification, each playing a role in the believer's journey. The sermon illustrates sanctification through nature analogies, such as the metamorphosis of a butterfly, and highlights the role of God's Word and Spirit in this process. Brown addresses the ongoing struggle between the flesh and the spirit, acknowledging that while complete holiness is not attainable in this life, believers are progressively sanctified. He stresses the importance of patience, recognizing remaining sin, and understanding that trials are tools for God's sanctifying work. The sermon concludes with the encouragement that sanctification is one of the most hopeful doctrines, showing God's continuous work in transforming believers into the image of Christ.

These various chapters that this confession is a treasury of the majesty of God. It's a treasury of the beauty of salvation, the love of God, and here we are in this chapter, particularly on the whole matter of sanctification. And this chapter is really about the transformation that takes place in a sinner's life because of the glory of the face of Jesus Christ shining upon that person. We gaze at his face, we long for his face, and he transforms us from glory to glory. This is the the joy of a Christian, to have this treasure of being transformed into this glorious image of Jesus Christ.

And we gaze at him and he shines light into our darkness. He opens up our blindedness and he gives us eyes to see as we gaze at him. He informs us of our seared consciousness and he makes a downcast person happy. And this is what sanctification really is all about. It's about the transformation of a person's life.

You've heard of the word metamorphosis, where something changes from one thing to another. I had an experience that I think illustrates this. A little while back, I was sitting on a bench in downtown Wake Forest, and people were walking by and I was talking to someone I can't remember who it was might have been David and somebody walked by and he said well hello mr. Brown and I said well hello I said I said who are you and he said my name is Ben and I said no you're not you're not you're not been claim I he said yes I am I am too and he And I got up and he gave me this big hug. And he hugged me with his big bear hug.

Well, the last time I saw this guy. He was about three feet 11 inches and So now you know I was looking at him at at probably five feet 11 inches He totally changed. I didn't recognize him. I don't know how many times I might have passed him. It scares me too to walk around downtown because I'm really confident.

I've walked right past people that I knew when they were kids and I just can't recognize them now that they're six feet tall. That is metamorphosis. That's transformation. That is I think it's an illustration of sanctification There are so many illustrations in nature and in life that help us just to understand this whole matter of sanctification It's a long scary word But boy I'm telling you it's one of the most encouraging words in all of the Bible because God makes promises about this thing called Sanctification you know yeah, you know I know there are some of you have probably collected butterflies And you have You have touched the whole doctrine of sanctification in a physical part of nature. You know what happens to a butterfly, right?

A butterfly actually starts out like a worm. And then that worm forms itself into a cocoon. And there it is, this ugly old cocoon, you know, hanging from a branch. It looks like a branch. It looks like it's dead.

And then all of a sudden it begins to shake. And it begins to wiggle and wiggle and then it's the side of it pokes out and then out pops a butterfly and if it's gorgeous the colors are beautiful that's transformation that's metamorphosis That's an illustration in nature of this transformation that God does. It's about growth. And so we're talking here about transformation. And from point A to point B, it's this process, this progress that God unleashes in the human heart.

And he unleashes it in every area of the personality. And that's why you can walk down the street and see somebody with your eyes that you haven't seen in 10 or 15 years and you don't recognize them. Because God has placed this brilliant illustration of what he does in the human heart in every part of nature as things grow and as they transform. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that transforms sinners. He raises the dead.

God takes something that is absolutely dead and he raises it up to new life and then he changes it into his own image. He takes the brokenness of your life and he heals it. He puts it back together. That's what the equipping of the saints is. Equipping really means to heal, to mend.

It's a word that's used of mending nets, equipping. And you're taking nets that have been torn and broken, just like our lives. And God comes and he mends us back together and he he actually equips us for the work of the ministry you know this morning we were seeing actually for weeks we've been seeing a brilliant dramatic illustration of sanctification a progressive sanctification among the people of God in the book of Ezra. It's a 117-year period of God's faithfulness to sanctify His people. God is faithful.

He keeps working with his people remember They gave up building the temple for 16 years because they got discouraged and they got all wrapped up in their own materialism And what does God do he comes back and he sends prophets? God is faithful. God is so kind he keeps he keeps on his people and he keeps caring for them. That's progressive sanctification. In his kindness, he leads you to repentance and then he carries you on, on this journey, on this metamorphosis.

Now, you know, you who are young need to learn this word, metamorphosis. Metamorphosis. It's to change from one thing to another. And in this whole process, your evil desires are weakened and while there's never perfection completed in this life, as the confession says, some corruption remains. And The flesh and the spirit are at war, and we'll see how this works out.

Now I wanna talk about the context of this section. This is chapter 13 in the confession. And remember, what's come before? Well, justification. And then last week we dealt with adoption.

And now we're dealing with sanctification. Now these are related. Now, these are related. The first is a legal transaction and it's called justification. The second is also a legal transaction and it makes you part of a family.

Here the charges are dropped in justification and in adoption something is added. You lose the charges against you in justification. In adoption, you get a family. That's what you get. And God is your father.

And he takes care of you your whole life long. Your father and mother may forsake you in this world, but God will never leave you or forsake you. Everybody who becomes a Christian gets a father and boy what a father. And that's where you get an adoption. But when you come to sanctification, this is about cleaning.

It's cleaning of the heart and your whole life. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna just sort of machine gun you with some statements to just sort of frame this matter of sanctification and adoption and justification so you can see kind of how they're related. Justification is a legal thing. Sanctification is, as A.W. Pink says, an experimental thing.

In other words, it's like working in your life. There's an experience that you have in life. Justification is clearing of guilt. Sanctification is cleansing of sinful ways. Justification is forgiveness.

Sanctification is fruitfulness. Justification is a promise of future glory. Sanctification is that road to glory by the eradication of the flesh and its desires along that road. It's the highway of holiness. Maybe that's a familiar phrase to you.

This is about holiness because sanctification and holiness are translated, the Greek word is translated both. When you talk about holiness you're also talking about sanctification, when you're talking about sanctification you're also talking about holiness. And so to be sanctified is to be holy. Sanctification is growth after the birth where real changes are experienced. And it's, you know, when you meet somebody who's been justified and adopted and are being sanctified, when you meet them, 10 years after their regeneration, you're meeting a different person.

And the changes that God is bringing about in their lives is very much like that experience I had in downtown Wake Forest, sitting on that bench, where that person said, here's who I am, and I said, no, you're not. But then I realized he was, and he made it very clear. And sanctification works like that. And so these doctrines are inseparable. They're all related.

You cannot really separate them perfectly from one another. While they are different, they all work together for good in a Christian's life. Justification happens first. Then there is adoption, where God becomes your father. And then your father puts you on a road and he carries you through to the end on that road of sanctification.

And along that road, it can be bumpy. And it's bumpy for a reason. Because God wants to sanctify you. Now I want to talk briefly sort of about a definition. Let's just talk about definitions for a minute.

So if you're writing this down I'm going to read something from the Westminster Shorter Catechism question 35. Sanctification is quote the work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness more and more dying to sin I think that's an excellent definition of that. Now, there's also a controversy over this. I have a book in my library called the five views of sanctification. So there are different views of sanctification.

And one of the most recent public controversies took place really surrounding a former pastor by the name of Tullian Chyvidian. And his calculus in sanctification was Jesus plus nothing equals everything. In other words, there's really nothing to do. It's a little bit akin to the old Keswick movement that said, let go and let God. In other words, you don't have anything to do at all with your sanctification.

That's actually an overstatement. The confession contradicts that. It does embrace the fact that God is sovereign in sanctification. That's one truth that's there. But while God is also sovereign in sanctification, there is a lot for us to do.

We, as Mike quoted earlier, work out our salvation in fear and trembling and and we'll get into that more. Kevin D. Young wrote a book to counteract this this whole hyper grace movement, you know, that was that was rolling and he wrote a book called A Hole in Your Holiness. In fact, I think we gave that book to everybody that went to our Highway of Holiness conference a couple of years ago. But it's a really good book.

It's a short book. If you want to read a good book on holiness, Kevin DeYoung, a hole in your holiness. So we live in a time of controversy on this whole matter, but here's what's absolutely certain. A Christian lives in the time between justification and final glorification. And everything that happens in between is the work of God to transform you, to bring a metamorphosis in your life, to change your life.

Jesus Christ wants to change your life. And that's what sanctification is all about. Okay, so let's dive into the confession and the actual words there. It's chapter 13 of this confession. And of course, the first phrases that appear here really speak of the foundation.

And they really address this matter of breaking the power of sin. That's really the theme of this whole first section, breaking the power of sin. I think that really sums up most of what's here in this first paragraph. There are three paragraphs that we'll cover. So it's breaking the power of sin through the power of the resurrection.

So that's why the authors of the Confession say that they who are united to Christ are called and are regenerated. And they have a new heart and a new spirit and it's created in them in other words something new takes place in the soul of a person who's turned to the Lord why it's because of this It's because of the power of the resurrection. And it is by virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. Okay? That is the power of the new birth that unleashes this thing that happens in sanctification, where you're made new.

And so it is by the power of the death and the resurrection of Christ, and are also further sanctified. They are farther sanctified. I like this phrase here, really and personally. In other words, it's real. It's something that's actually happening in them.

It's not put on. It's not fake. It's not an act at all. It's really happening in your heart and it's happening to you. Now that's really nice.

It's actually happening to you and unfortunately it's a long process. I've often just thought it was so slow, too slow. My sanctification is way too slow. But we'll learn later that that might not be a very appropriate attitude toward the sanctification that God is sovereign over completing. So it's real, I love that part, oh yes, it's real and it's personal through the same virtue, now there are various mechanisms by his word and spirit that's really critical if you read various passage of scripture on sanctification which we will you'll you'll find this theme it's the word and it's the spirit dwelling in the implanted word of God is the chief mechanism but under the under the power of the Holy Spirit that changes your life if you want your life to change it's not going to happen by just hanging out with nice people and going to church it's going to happen by the implanted word of God and people want to do something different or cooler than what God has actually designed but it's the word and the spirit.

Now there's something that really really really remarkable happens. The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed. Wow. So something dies, something breaks, irreparably breaks in the soul of a real Christian. So the body of sin, and then the authors speak of several lusts, like there are all kinds of lusts out there, aren't there?

There are lusts for material things, there are lusts of pride, there are lusts of self exaltation, there are sensual lusts, there are all kinds of lusts that exist in our bodies that bear witness to this war. So there are several lusts and they are, they're two things. They are weakened and they are mortified and they are quickened in all saving graces. So there's this destruction that takes place and it has to do with your lusts. Your lusts are changed.

They don't completely go away but they are changed. It says they are more weakened and mortified. And the grace of God strengthens that person so that There is the practice, and this is something that is real coming out of the work of the Spirit, it's not put on, it's practiced of all true holiness without which no man will see the Lord. So This is what has happened. The power of sin has been broken in sanctification.

Now I'd like you to look at Romans 6 verses five and six. Romans 6, five and six. This is a text that speaks of what has happened. Romans six, verse five. It speaks of how sin was crucified.

For we have been united together in the likeness of his death. For If we have been united in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Verse 6, knowing this, that our old man was crucified to him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. And you're set free. You're set free from being in bondage to sin.

You'll never have the same addiction to sin like you had before, you'll still have the same tendency, but something has been broken, a connection has been severed, and you're no longer subject to sin like you were before. Second, or first Thessalonians chapter five, verses 22 to 24 speak of the very same thing about how this is a work of God is God that does this Paul says this to the Thessalonians church abstain from every form of evil now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. It is the God of peace who sanctifies you and completely and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it. Now, there's this idea here that he'll sanctify you completely.

Well, what's that all about? I thought you said that there's still remaining sin. I thought it wasn't like complete. It was a process. It was progressive.

Well, that is true. And there are two ways that holiness is spoken of in the Bible and one way is that a person is made holy before God positionally. You are declared holy. That's one part of it. When God looks at his children, he looks at them as holy people.

They are a holy people and a holy nation. So in God's eyes, in their position before him, You are holy, but you know that there still is remaining sin. And that brings us to the second part of sanctification. And that is that you are being made holy and will finally be perfectly glorified in your glorified body in heaven. Those are two kinds of holiness that the Bible speaks of.

And that's why it's legitimate to say that he will, he himself will sanctify you completely. And he's speaking of this process that takes place that ends in a final and real holiness and he's also speaking of this positional holiness and sanctification before God. Here this the whole thrust of this section is that this is something that God does and that's why we read in Acts chapter 20 verse 32 that it is God and the word of his grace that sanctifies so now brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are being sanctified. It is God who does it. It is he and he by his mighty power is building you up.

He does it by his grace, by his word, and it is his work. Ephesians chapter 3 verses 14 through 21 speak of the power of the Holy Spirit of God. This is in Paul's prayer in Ephesians chapter 3 and he prays many things but he prays this, that God would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. It's a work of the word as we saw in the previous text and it's a work of the spirit as we see in the apostle Paul's prayer. And it's a real work and it's a good work and later on in verse 20 the apostle Cries out he says now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly Beyond all we ask or think according to the power that works within us That's why the doctrine of sanctification is one of the most encouraging things.

It should lighten your heart. It should make you encouraged. I don't know what kind of burdens you're bearing from your stupidity or your sin or your lack of wisdom, but If you love Jesus Christ, here's what you really need to know. He's going to do it. Yeah, he's doing it.

And you can rest in that. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 also speaks of this. 1 Corinthians 6, 11 through 20. There's a testimony that Jesus Christ sanctifies from some of the most damaging things you can ever do you might think well you know I don't know how God should really cleanse me from what I did but in first Corinthians 6 we learned that that there were people in that Corinthian church who were being sanctified, who were involved in some of the most harmful and despicable things. And he makes it very clear that There were there were those who were involved in very deep sexual immorality and various other kinds of Wickedness and he says such were some of you but you are washed but you are sanctified and he says and you're justified in the name of the Lord by the Spirit of our God so no no one can sin beyond the grace of God.

The grace of God is super abundant over every sin and God's power to sanctify overcomes all power of previous sin and remaining sin. And that should make you really encouraged for sure you might think well I just went too far well not so far that God wasn't there to bring you back because you are washed and you are cleansed because you got justified by God There was a legal transaction that took place and nothing can break it up at all. So when he breaks the power of sin, he gives a new love for him and for holiness. You desire holy things like you never did before. You have an aversion to unholy things like you never did before.

There are things that you are tempted to do and you say, Oh, I don't want that. And Jonathan Edwards talked about this. He speaks of this, of his salvation. There's no part of holiness that I had such a great sense of its loveliness. I had a humility and a brokenness of heart and a poverty of spirit and there was nothing that I so earnestly longed for.

My heart panted after this holiness. To lie low before God is in the dust, that I might be nothing and that God might be all, that I might become as a little child." Edwards speaks of this in the whole context of holiness and sanctification. He wanted to be before God because God was so good, he was a sanctifying God. Okay, that's paragraph one. Now we go to paragraph two.

And what we find here in paragraph two is I'm just gonna title this the irreconcilable war. And it really comes out of this here. It's the irreconcilable war. This sanctification is throughout the whole man. In other words, it touches every part of the personality and the morality yet, yet imperfect in this life.

So that's the problem, isn't it? This is the struggle with remaining sin that we have. There abideth some remnants of corruption in every part. In other words, while God is transforming every part, there's still corruption in every part. In the way that we think, in the way that we talk, the way that we act, Our pride, our selfishness, there's a part of that in every part of us.

And that's remaining sin. In other words, there's no part of your personality or your thinking that isn't touched by sin. So this should be humbling. We're not all that hot. Because there are remnants of this corruption, and you never know when they're going to pop up.

What's going to push your button? You know, you know what pushes your button? You know, maybe you're a brother and you know what pushes your brother's button. Or maybe you're a wife and you know what pushes your husband's button and you're going to push it because you're mad or something like that. But all somebody has to do is push the button and there it comes.

When you're tested and tried, what's inside always comes out. You might say, oh no that wasn't me. That really was, no it actually was you. It was inside of you and it just came out. So don't say it wasn't me because it was you.

And that's always hard isn't it to admit that that actually was you. That's actually one of the most difficult parts of sanctification is actually admitting that that really was you. And you really did mean it that way, even though you've tried to explain it away 10 different ways. There's corruption in every part, even though there's also sanctification in every part. But this whole matter of this irreconcilable war, And the authors of the confession clarify it, it's the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit lusting against the flesh.

That's the war that's going on. There's this tug of war that's always going on in the life of a Christian. And Romans chapter seven verses 18 through 25 record this as famous passage of scripture where the Apostle Paul just speaks of how discouraging it is to have that remaining sin in his life. He says, I know that in me, that is my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me But how to perform What is good?

I do not find the good that I will to do I do not do but but the evil that I will not to do that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it's no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, and you know these words, oh wretched man that I am.

Who will deliver me from this body of death? And then verse 25 is the answer to that question who will deliver me from this body of death and this is the whole doctrine of sanctification and Glorification I thank God Through Jesus Christ our Lord That's it Jesus Christ He's the one who rescues from this body of death and he keeps on rescuing. The sin keeps coming up and God keeps sanctifying and cleansing as a result. Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 through 26 also speak of it speaking of the filling of the Holy Spirit as being pivotal to this sanctification. Paul says to the Galatian Church he says I say then walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

There's that tug of war again. You fall into the same pattern, you press that button, and you see how sinful you are. But then he says in verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. In other words, under the condemnation of the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Now he says the fruit of the Spirit.

Now, we've really arrived at what is really the power of the Holy Spirit here by this term fruit. Because fruit is something that grows naturally. You don't make fruit grow. It grows because there is an unseen force that makes it grow. There is something underneath the surface that makes it happen.

It's not something that you put on. I mean, I suppose you could go out and you could take duct tape and you could duct tape apples to a tree and put them on. But real apples grow because there's life. There's real life. It's real.

It's coming from something real. It's not put on. It's not shining up your personality. It's not becoming a good person. It has nothing to do with becoming a good person.

It's not a work of the flesh at all. It's a work of the Spirit. It's a supernatural thing and it's real It's a fruit. It's as a result of your fellowship with God You know John said our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And that's the key to it all, that it's real.

It's not something that you manufacture in any way. It just comes out of you. It's a fruit. And then he says this in verse 24, and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.

And so there's this life in the spirit that really produces this war that's going on. As the Spirit of God fills you, the war increases against the flesh. Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 11 and 12 says that we must turn from our lust. This is why the whole idea, let go and let God, is totally unbiblical. Because there are actually things that you do that produce this work of the Spirit.

He says, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles." And so there is this abstinence from fleshly lust. There are things you must abstain from in this world if you desire to have the work of the Spirit to have its full measure in your life. And when you feed the flesh, you kill the Spirit. But when you kill the flesh, the Spirit is free to bless you and to help you. And so, you know, triumph over sin, it's always a matter of what we love, what we really prefer in our hearts and what we believe really satisfies.

If you, you know, people who struggle with pornography, the real struggle is a struggle with what they like. They like the wrong things. They like the things that will destroy them. And until they actually like purity better than impurity, there's no hope. There's no accountability partner, there's no software that you can put on your computer, there's nothing at all that can fix that problem except in the affections.

If you read Proverbs chapter five and Proverbs chapter seven, you'll understand that is absolutely true. The Bible makes it very clear, This war is won or lost in your affections It's what you like and if you like purity That's where you're gonna go And if you like impurity then that's what you're gonna get So it has to do with what you think is actually beneficial for your life. Until you learn to hate sin, you'll always be in bondage to the lust of the flesh. John Piper said it like this, I know of no other way to triumph over sin long term than to gain a distaste for it because of a superior satisfaction in God. That's so true, A superior satisfaction in God.

Paragraph 3 takes us to another category and this is really, I think this is how regeneration This is how regeneration allows the spirit part to overcome the flesh. So this is about overcoming. So we're back to the war again. In which war, although the maining corruption for a time may much prevail. That's interesting, for a time may much prevail.

Like If you're a new Christian, you're going to recognize that your old sins prevail way more than they will in 10 years. In other words, have hope. You're really struggling. You turned from your sin. You came to Jesus Christ, and you're still struggling with that take heart.

This is the way it is. For a time, there's a time of distancing and a time of sanctification that's necessary to give greater and greater victory in that. Yet, ah, there you go, there's that Beautiful word. Oh, what a beautiful word yet. It's like that word, but God or yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ.

The regenerate part, okay, do you see this? The regenerate part, okay, does overcome, It overcomes the sinful part. And so you grow in grace and you are perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Pressing after a heavenly life, That's the highway of holiness right there. Pressing, pushing forward one step at a time.

It might seem like three steps forward and two steps back, but it's pressing forward nonetheless. In evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ has had in King. Now this is a critical thing. There's that word. It's kind of a nasty word in our day.

Obedience. People don't like this word anymore. It's really underrated and it's undersold and it's despised and it really is it is it is the reason the hyper grace movement gained so much traction because people don't like obedience anymore that's the hole in your holiness it's that longing to obey God to all the commands which Christ as head and king in his word hath prescribed to them." So this is just an explanation of how that process takes place and what are the various means for overcoming remaining sin and it it's this transformation that I spoke of right at the very beginning of this metamorphosis this change this This transformation that takes place over time, sometimes slowly, you have to almost see someone 10 years later to see how dramatic it is. Like that young man I met when I was sitting on a bench downtown. I just didn't recognize him because a lot had gone on in his life and in his body.

It's really pictured in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 17 and 18. Now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Transformed. This is this metamorphosis, this inner transformation.

Paul speaks of it in Romans chapter 12 verse two of the renewing of your mind or the transforming of your mind. He changes your mind. He changes the whole way the synapses in your brain work about things, about people. You used to be angry at people all the time. But the synapses of your brain have been reordered, and you're not mad at everyone anymore.

There are so many things that change in the way that you think. It's the transforming of your mind. Second Corinthians 4.6 speaks of this as well. For God who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." And so the transformation happens by beholding the glory of the face of Jesus Christ. It's the light of his glory.

It's the light of his presence. And He changes us into his image. We look at him and we become like him. Jesus promised that. You shall be like him when you see him and you'll be transformed from glory to glory.

That's going to happen. It is. And this body of death, these struggles will all be over. That's why it's easy to say this is one of the most encouraging doctrines in the entire confession that you will be sanctified. You will be taken down that road all the way to the very end by the power of God now there's another part of it and that's willing and working Philippians 2 12 and 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.

So it is God who works within us and he gives us a different will. He gives us a different chooser. We want to choose different things. At the same time, he is sovereign over that transformation. And Romans 8, 28 and 29 speak of this, where the apostle says that God predestined us to be conformed to the image of his son.

And in that same context, he says that we know that all things work together for good for the called according to his purpose. They all work together for good all the things in this life. Everything, Everything that has ever happened to you, everything that is going to happen to you, has one single purpose in the mind of God, to sanctify you. And he is doing it for good. All these things work together for good to those who love God because he predestined them to be conformed to the image of his son.

And so he takes you through trials. Every joy or trial followeth from above, traced upon the dial by the Son of love. God is completing this work, he is sovereign in it. And there's much here to communicate about God's sovereignty and how important it is that we sense our neediness, we feel our neediness to deal with remaining sin, that you know while we are tempted, we're poor and needy and we need God, we need his help in all of our trials and temptations. Now, how do we wage this war?

I'm gonna give you several things. First of all, present your body. This is Romans 12, or this is Romans 6, 13 through 23, which speaks of the fact that the power of sin will not dominate us as we present our members as instruments of righteousness. We present our members as instruments of righteousness. You're always presenting your body to something, always.

When you listen to a song, you're presenting your body. When you watch a film, you're presenting your body. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you're always presenting your body to something. And so what the apostle is saying is this, and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God for sin will shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the condemnation of the law you're not under law but under grace What then shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Certainly not.

Just because you're not under the condemnation of the law, because Jesus Christ has broken the law of sin and death, and he's taken away all the ordinances against you and he's nailed them to the cross, just because he's done that doesn't mean that you can wink at sin and defy the law of God. So presenting your body is critical. Here's another. Hearing servants of Christ. Servants of Christ.

In Galatians chapter 419 we learned that that sanctification is actually speeded along through the servants of Jesus Christ and you should all of us should be listening to the servants of Jesus Christ. He says this, my little children for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. He says, I am present with you, but I'm laboring that Christ be formed in you. This is the role of the saints in one another's life. This was the role that the apostle Paul had in those people's lives that he was a part of.

This includes believers, this includes pastors and various church leaders that God has put in your life. Hear from the servants of Christ and allow Christ to be formed in you by their admonitions, by their preaching, by the things that they write. Allow yourself to be sanctified by them. Number three, crucify. Crucify the flesh.

Crucify the flesh. In Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 to 25, he is speaking of course of the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, and all those beautiful manifestations. And then he says in verse 24, and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit. So this is a walking to continue to crucify the flesh.

You know, crucifixion is a ghastly way to die and I think what the Apostle Paul is saying let your sins die in the most ghastly way stab them to death Kill them mortify them destroy them just like John Owen said do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work be killing sin or it will be killing you? Crucify it don't play games with sin Don't make it your friend. Don't put it in your pocket and walk around. Get rid of it.

Crucify it. This violent language is used for a reason. Because these are destructive things in our souls. And then, embracing the word of God. Embracing the word of God.

John 17, verse 17, sanctify them in truth, Your word is truth. It is the word of God that is a powerful tool in God's hand to sanctify us. And that's why the Apostle said to the Colossian Church, if you've been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth. Okay, I'm going to give you four applications now.

If you're not being sanctified, if you're not being sanctified because you've not turned to Jesus, Let me just urge you, turn to Jesus Christ. Let him clean you out from the inside out. Let it be a real work. Let him make you not a hypocrite anymore, but somebody who's actually fed from heaven, where there's a real work, you're actually connected to the vine. There's real life working in you.

You're not just putting on an image. You're not just doing a personal makeover. You're not remaking yourself. You're not trying to be someone. You're actually becoming someone because there's real life You know because you're connected to the vine you're connected to life and it's real turn to Jesus Christ and And he he will he will sanctify you And if you're being sanctified, you'll be shining, shining forever.

Daniel spoke about this in Daniel chapter 12. In this whole context in Daniel 12, he's talking about that there are names written in the book of life. Some of those people will be raised to everlasting life and others will be raised to everlasting contempt. And then he says this, let those who are wise shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like stars forever and ever." There's this ever shining glory. This also is sanctification.

When the sun comes up, it's been black, you can't see, you're stumbling, And then the light breaks and the light comes on in full day and you can see everything. Everything is at hand and you know where you are and you know how to keep from stumbling, and you know where to go. And it continues on. Jesus said, the righteous will shine forth as the Son and the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

The second application is live with one another in an understanding way. We are being sanctified. The whole doctrine of sanctification is an argument for patience in the church, that we be patient with one another, that we're long-suffering with one another, that we're tender-hearted and bearing with one another, that we recognize there is remaining sin. Yeah, there's sin in your pastors, there's sin in your deacons, there's sin in every person in this church. And you might look at somebody in this church and say yeah I see that yeah I see that and it really matters how you see it whether you see it with the eyes of Jesus Christ who says of himself he who began a good work in you will complete it till the day of Christ Jesus.

We have Christ Jesus, we need to have faith in God in one another. You know, I don't know if you've reached points in people's lives where you say, you know, I know God is going to take this person. He's going to reveal it to him. You can trust. You can rest.

Doesn't mean that you never talk to your brother. We're actually commanded to speak the truth and love. We are commanded that there are times when we rebuke our brother, but there should be such a great patience. Hey, think about the patience that God has had with you. Like how patient has God been with your pride?

And how patient are you with other people's pride? How about that? God is patient and so must we be patient with one another. It's living with one another in an understanding way. We understand that there's a remaining center.

And then thirdly, recognize your need. Don't be proud. Recognize your weakness. Like Paul said to the Corinthians, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. We shouldn't be too proud where we are.

We should recognize how susceptible we are. And then fourthly, recognize how God uses trials to sanctify us. These storms, these winds that come into our lives. John Owen talks about this matter of sanctification in this way, he says, it's like a fruit tree. A fruit tree that's standing before a mighty wind.

And he says, when wind is blowing really hard on fruit trees, it moves it around, but it actually moves the roots in such a way that it actually ends up nourishing the roots. The winds are actually good for the tree. If it doesn't blow them down, the wind is good because it changes the way that the soil is around the roots and it allows the trees to have more nourishment and more food in the roots and as a result, more fruit and better fruit. That's how God uses the storms of this life. You might have a really hard wind blowing in your face right now But recognize God means for good He's using every joy or trial in order to sanctify you every single one you you could name the worst possible thing that could happen to you, and I guarantee you that God is using it to glorify himself.

The reason trials are so hard for us is we like glory too much. We want our own glory. We're so concerned about our own glory that we get so upset about our trials. And I'm not here to minimize tragedy and heartbreak and legitimate tears and things like that, but at the end of the day God is sovereign over sanctification and he uses lots of different tools many times unexpected. So, to be sanctified, to be transformed.

You know Moses, Moses spoke of it. He said, the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face to shine upon you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. That is the doctrine of sanctification, that you behold the face of Jesus Christ and his face shines upon you And through it you receive his grace and his truth. And he carries you on down that road, down that highway of holiness, because he loves you. Because he's gonna get you there.

And that's why I think it's got to be one of the most encouraging doctrines in the whole confession. Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you for your sanctifying grace. We thank you that you know how to sanctify us. You know where we need to be sanctified.

You know exactly where the wound is so that you might heal it. Thank you for putting your finger in the wound. Thank you, O Lord, for healing the wounds and carrying us there. Amen.