THE BEAUTY OF BEING SANCTIFIED

TRETS 27/7/2017

THE BEAUTY OF BEING SANCTIFIED

Leviticus 11.44-45, 2 Timothy 2.21, Psalm 15. 1-2

The doctrine of sanctification for all believers is clearly taught in the scriptures. To be sanctified means (1) to be made holy; (2), to be cleansed from moral pollution in the heart, spirit and mind; (3), to be made free from inbred and internal sin; (4), to be set apart entirely for God’s work, honour and glory. Sanctification keeps us united with other believers. Being sanctified makes us to walk in the same direction, speak the same thing, think the same way, uplift the same thing and in honour prefer another. Without it, carnality of the uncircumcised heart has the potentials of derailing the believers life and bring him back to the world. Being sanctified make us possess God’s image, walk with Him here on earth and presents us blameless before Him in eternity. It opens the floodgate of heaven to us and gives our prayers an express route to the father. It is indeed a beautiful and glorious experience that is indispensable for every born again Christian as without it, we cannot see God.

  

THE PROBLEM OF SIN

Psalm 51:1-4; Genesis 6:5; Ezekiel 36:25, 26; Job 14:7-9; Hebrews 12:15

Salvation and sanctification are two major Christian experiences that deal with the two-fold problem of sin. There is the committed act and there is an inward depravity in man that drives him to sin. Salvation deals with the committed sin and sanctification deals with the inward depravity or inbred sin, that is, passion to commit sin. To transgress is to overstep the bounds set by the Lord in His Word. It is to act contrary to “thus saith the Lord.” Salvation may make our character and personality to look good and different outwardly. But the thoughts and sinful desires that are hidden from men’s eyes will also need to be dealt with so that we will be completely all right in the sight of God. Salvation alone is not sufficient to make us pure the way the Lord wants us to be. External change of character is not enough. After we have been born again, we will need to be sanctified so that the root cause of sin can be taken out of the way “lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”

THE PROMISE OF SANCTIFICATION

Deuteronomy 30:6; Numbers 23:19; 1 Kings 8:56; Ezekiel 11:19; Luke 1:72-75; Hebrews 13:12; Matthew 19:26; 2 Chronicles 25:2.

The Lord who has known our needs from the earliest times has promised to sanctify us in line with His demand and command. “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” In the New Testament parlance, the children of Israel to whom this promise was originally given could be said to be born again. Prior to the time of this statement, they had been taken out of Egypt (which, in a way, symbolized the world of sin); they had passed through the Red Sea, (a symbol of water baptism) and they fed on the daily manna, (a symbol of daily feeding on and spiritual growth through the Word of God). A change had taken place in their lives. They had been saved. But not sanctified. Sanctification was still a future experience for them. Hence Moses’s statement: “The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed.” That you are born of sanctified parents does not in any way invalidate your need for the experience. Sanctification is a personal experience for every believer. Sanctification fills us with perfect love for God and man.

When God makes a promise, He fulfills it. He watches over His Word to perform it. Sanctification is not an experience we can obtain by moral struggles against sinful inclination. The Lord knew we cannot help ourselves. That was why He gave the promise. It is the thing Himself will do, has promised to do and delights to do for people who knows the importance of the experience and who wants it done in their lives. It is Christ that sanctifies through the cleansing of His blood. The Lord who did it for men of old can do it for us. What He did before, He can do again. No matter the temptation and trials that we may face, we can serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness. “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”. As the Lord can save the vilest of sinners so He can sanctify the most stubborn of hearts. It is not what man can do for himself and by himself; it is what God will do as we ask Him. It takes salvation to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord; it takes sanctification to do it with a perfect heart.

THE PRAYER FOR SANCTIFICATION

Ezekiel 36:37; Matthew 7:7,8; 5:6,8; 1 Thessalonians 5:23,24.

God wants everybody to be born again. He does not have pleasure in the death of the wicked and He is not willing that anybody should perish but that all should come to repentance. But, why hasn’t everybody come to repentance? Why is everybody not born again? Why is everybody not having the new life? Because they have not prayed for it. They have not asked. The sanctification experience demands no less asking from believers who desire the experience. “Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock” You must ask. You must desire. You must pant after it. You must desire it above everything else. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” The promise of sanctification is not something you can get without consecration and passionate desire for it. It is an experience you acquire by earnestly, passionately praying for it. Sanctification is what made Enoch to walk spotlessly with God for three hundred years and Samuel to live a life without reproach before the children of Israel. But without prayer, you can read about Enoch and yet not obtain his experience. You can listen to the story of Samuel and not attain his holiness.

Belonging to a church that believes and preaches about the sanctification experience is not enough. Reading about it, knowing about it, hearing about it, believing the doctrine or knowing the scriptures where references on the subject can be obtained is not sufficient. You must desire, consecrate and pray for the experience. You must ask. You must seek. You must knock. “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled ... Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Whenever we leave this world to go to the great beyond, holiness and purity of heart is one thing God will be looking for. But without sanctification we cannot be allowed to enter into the presence of God. And without hungering, thirsting and praying for the experience, we cannot be sanctified.

GOD, STILL OUR HEALER

GOD, STILL OUR HEALER

Exodus 15:26; 23:25

In spite of the increase in medical practice with different areas of specialization, God is still our Healer. In spite of the tremendous breakthroughs in the field of medicine and the ever-increasing use of high-cost modern medicine, sicknesses and diseases have continued to rise. In fact, the cost of health care everywhere today is steadily increasing while the health of people steadily declines. Not just that, terrible and killer diseases that were unknown to humanity when God created the universe now ravage the world, claiming hundreds of thousands of human lives. After accidents, cancer has become the number one cause of death in the world, while diabetes abounds everywhere, not to mention stroke, malaria, tuberculosis, STDs, HIV/AIDS and most recently, Ebola.

Medicine and doctors have their place; they are God’s blessing to us. But they don’t have the lasting solution to the sicknesses and diseases ravaging the world. Health professionals, especially medical doctors, are intelligent, smart, hard-working and compassionate, and we all should be grateful to them for their expertise in diagnosing illnesses, making and prescribing medications, setting broken bones, stitching up wounds, and relieving our sufferings on many occasions. I strongly advise that you don't undermine them and their services. But don’t place your faith in them rather than God, because they are not healers, God is. As most of them will admit, “Doctors treat, but only God heals.”

God is the healer. He was the healer to His people, the Israelites, and is still the healer of those who put their trust in Him. Healing is an integral part of His character. He cares about every area of your health—your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being—and He has the ultimate power to heal you of whatever illness you're suffering from. He said Himself, “I am the LORD that healeth thee” or “I am the Lord thy Physician”—Jehovah-Rapha or Jehovah-Ropheka (Exodus 15:26). He is the greatest physician who ever came to heal the sickness of the world. In fact, medical doctors do not really know how healing takes place in the human body because healing is the work of God. It’s a miracle, and if you will come to God today with your sickness, He will perform the miracle of healing in your body in Jesus’ name.

1.      GOD’S UNFAILING PROMISES FOR OUR HEALING

Exodus 15:26; 23:25-26; Deuteronomy 7:11-15; Psalm 103:2-4; Jeremiah 30:17; 33:6

Exodus 15:26 is referred to by many as the “healing covenant” or “God’s covenant of divine health.” It is called, “covenant” because, in it, God promises to keep His people free of sicknesses, diseases, and infirmities, although He conditions this promise to their diligent obedience and faithfulness to His word.

Here, God absolutely confirmed the covenant by joining His own powerful name to His promise, calling Himself Jehovah-Rapha, which means, “God is the one that heals.” The name declares that it is part of His nature to be the healer of those who obey his word and to recover and sustain them in perpetual health for the rest of their lives (Exodus 23:25).

The promise of divine healing is for those who have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus; those who have repented of their sins and are reborn. In Mark 7:27, Jesus says that divine healing and health are meant for children of the Kingdom and not those outside the Kingdom: “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” So if you will repent of your sins, denounces every work of Satan, and pray, fulfilling God’s conditions of healing, He will heal you of your sickness and made you perfectly whole.

2.      GOD’S UNCHANGING PREREQUISITE FOR OUR HEALING

Matthew 8:13; Mark 9:22; 11:22-24; 5:34

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). Virtually, what Jesus was saying to the man addressed here is, “It all depends on you. Can you fulfill the necessary condition for your son’s healing?”

Like this man, we are made to feel in our approach to Jesus that His power to do us good is conditioned by something in us, something we have to provide before His power is available. That requirement is faith. The problem is not, “If He can do anything for us,” but “If we can believe.” “All things are possible to him that believeth.” In order to appreciate a physician and avail yourself of the benefits of his skill, you must have faith in him. Without faith that his skill is superior to yours, and that he can help you, you will not go to or call on him.

Faith is the invariable condition of receiving divine healing. Time and time again, Jesus said to the recipients of His healing power, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” Not My power, but your faith has made it possible for Me to heal you (see Matthew 9:22). At another time we read that He did not many mighty works at a certain place because of the unbelief of the people (Matthew 13:58). Unbelief was one attitude or state of mind that shut up the Saviour's compassion and made His power inoperative. But wherever He was touched by faith, even as small as a mustard seed, His power wrought spontaneously; virtue flowed out of Him. Faith is the one thing needful for receiving God’s blessings. “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Do you believe that? Believing is the key. If you believe in divine healing and health, “nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).

3.      GOD’S UNDENIABLE POWER TO HEAL ALL SICKNESSES AND DISEASES

Matthew 19:26; 28:18; Colossians 1:16, 17; Luke 5:17; 9:1; 10:19-20

Unlike the medical doctors who use science, God’s healing is miraculous. He heals by divine power, and no sickness—pestilence, fever, inflammation, cancer, ulcer, boils, swellings, itching, madness, blindness, deafness, dumbness, heart-failure, plagues, diseases, nameless sicknesses and sore sickness of long continuance as well as HIV/AIDS—can defy His power. When Jesus was on the earth, He healed all who were brought to Him, not simply one or two individuals at different times, but all, including the woman with the issue of blood who was said to have seen many doctors but without any cure for her ailment (Mark 5:26-29). He even raised the dead (John 11:43-44). The healing power from Him went beyond curing broken bones and ailing bodies to healing broken hearts and saving sinners from their sins. He said in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” This shows that sickness and healing are not simply biological or physical phenomena. They touch every level of our existence as human beings: physical, emotional, social, and spiritual.

Jesus came to heal the sick and that’s whether you were sick because you were living in sin or sick from a physical condition. Whatever your condition is, Jesus, the Great Physician, is there for you. He has the power to heal every sickness and infirmity, and He will heal you of whatever sickness or illness you are suffering from and keep you healthy if you will repent of your sins, accept Him as your Saviour and Lord, denounce every work of Satan, and fulfill the ultimate condition of receiving His healing.

POTENTIALS AND PRACTICE OF LITERATURE EVANGELISM

TRETS 6 JULY 2017

The Potentials and Practice of Literature Evangelism

Mark 16.15, Habakkuk 2.2, Jude 3,

LiteratureEvangelismm is the act of using written materials to witness Christ to people. This could be with an accompanied verbal expression or without. God commanded Prophet Habakkuk to write His message for preservation and presentation to as many people as possible with the emphasis that this medium would make His message (the vision) to be unaltered, undiluted and unadulterated, bearing the same potency and purpose as it was sent by the original source. In the same way, gospel literature, backed up by powerful prayers, carries the great potential of transforming sinful souls to godly saints. Many apostles of old saw these great potentials and therefore utilized the medium of literature evangelism to pass their gospel message across their borders and by so doing, though they were physically constrained by distance yet the gospel kept on spreading. We also are called today to spread the gospel message beyond our physical environments through this treasurable literature.

Potentials of Literature Evangelism. Hab. 2.2, 1Co 16:21; 2Th 3:17, Luke 1. 1-4, Rom. 1.1, 7-16

Literature evangelism, when prayerfully administered, have great potentials of breaking boundaries of tribal and racial sentiments to reach the target audience. Writings of the gospel truth maintain its relevance irrespective of the time it was written and sent or the country or people it was sent to. We can clearly categorize its potentials into four areas. (i) Authority (1Co 16:21; 2Th 3:17). The literature bears the authority of the writer and not the messenger. Paul, in all his epistles always affirms his authority even though he was imprisoned. The readers always also receive as if Paul was directly talking to them. (ii) Originality (Luke 1. 1-4). The Tracts and other literature remain as original as was sent with its original purpose and message. The entire book of Luke and Acts were gospel letters written by Luke to Theophilus, a highly placed personality in their days, and as it was decades ago, it still remains today. (iii) Penetration (2 Cor. 10. 10). There is the great potentials of penetrating through the walls. Messages and other literature posted or sent electronically gets to the desired target irrespective of his class, status or fence wall. Particularly now that we have the telephone and other social media capable of transferring messages through the network carriers. (iv) Unction and Power (1 Cor. 2.4). The gospel letters and messages retain their power and divine unction as if the minister was present with the reader. The Ethiopian Eunuch was reading from the book of Isaiah and was eventually converted after little explanations. In our contemporary time, many people had been converted, healed and delivered after reading the Women mirror, tracts, and other magazines.

The practice of Literature evangelism.  Hab, 2.2,  Col. 1. 1-2, 4.16-18, Acts 8. 30-31

The practice of literature evangelism in the early days of Christianity is still the same today with a little advancement. In the days of the Apostles, they wrote with ink and pen on papers or tables and sent to their target audience through human messengers, but today we have electronic media through which we can send our literature. Postage may still be used if necessary but there are better means than this today. Now we have the e-mail, facsimile (fax), scan and send, or even text messages and WhatsApp messengers. These are modern methods of evangelism which could be deployed to reach out to individuals and groups of people at once bringing them to thoughtful considerations and convictions. Through these methods, the seeds of God’s words are being sown into the heart of many, and conversions are taking place. Agonizing prayers are highly essential in literature evangelism particularly that the message reaches the good soil of the heart of the reader, so as to bring forth the desired result. Also, that there will be no interference that could hinder a clear understanding of the Word. Moreover, we much ensure we put a contact name or number at the end of the Tracts or magazine so as to help the people further in case they have questions (such as the Ethiopian Eunuch). Finally, we must ensure we make systematic follow up on those we issued our literature to so as to help them in taking the decision (Acts 8. 30-31)

Possibilities and Profits of Literature Evangelism Gal. 6. 11-18, Acts 1. 1-3, 2 Cor. 10. 7-11, 1 Cor. 14.37

God can use any medium (such as Literature Evangelism) to win any kind of sinner to the Lord. There are great possibilities in literature evangelism. Many souls who could not be reached physically can now be reached through the literature. This medium of evangelism is noiseless and silent and therefore penetrates the heart of the reader easily.  Literature evangelism could be used to warn the sinner of the impending judgment of God. Also to remind the believers of their necessary caution against the morally polluted world in which they dwell. Also, all categories of people could be reached consistently if we commit ourselves to the God-given assignment.