Sanctified - what is that process?

We're starting a new month and then, according to the schedule here, starting a new word or aspect and that's this word sanctified. How many of you feel sanctified this morning? Here's a question. Is sanctified a feeling? Okay. Yeah, isn't it? I think that's a key thing where people are often pursuing a feeling You know, I want to feel this way or I want to feel that way, when in the end, it's not a feeling. At best, the feeling is a byproduct, but not to be pursued in itself.

And I think that's something where Christians in our era can frequently be mistaken. Sanctified. We have here, sanctified means to be set apart for a holy purpose. Why do you need to be set apart? admired in the world. I think it's knowledge and attitude and position. So we can know who we are in Christ. Why is it important that we be set apart? Why is that particularly valuable?

Yeah? I think it means that Satan has no control over us anymore. He was defeated at the cross, so we need to live that way. Satan has no control over us. Yeah? Your thoughts? So why is it that being set apart doesn't mean that we go up and huddle up in the mountains somewhere? Let's go up and get ourselves a yurt and just stay there, right? Yeah? Because we're representatives. Jesus came here for the purpose to show us the way, and he's now in heaven at the right hand of the Father, so it's up to us.

Yeah, it's hard to be used if we think set apart means I just go and isolate myself, right? Yeah, that's really important. And I think that's where a lot of Christians, I think even over the centuries, Christians have gotten confused. Being set apart, does that mean being isolated? Being set apart, does that mean I don't have anything to do with Everybody and so it's a point at which Christians have gotten confused And so that's one reason for us to kind of get some clarity here. What does it mean to be set apart?

If it doesn't mean isolating ourselves, or you know we don't have anything to do with anybody else right so yeah, but I Yeah, Bud brings up a good point. If you look at it, Paul himself even makes a distinction. We're not to be just isolated, that's not the answer.

But one of the things, while we do need to be involved with other people, even unbelievers, the apostles themselves gave examples of that. At the same time, connections that cause us to compromise our set-apartedness, the yoke as is referred to in 2 Corinthians, those connections can be spiritually hazardous to our usefulness. Let's take a look here. There are some passages I think that are going to be particularly helpful.

They have sanctified or some similar word. One thing for us to catch on to as well before we proceed into the passages, the Greek words that are translated holy, sanctify, and saints, and related words like that, sanctification, sanctified, Those are actually all out of the same family of words. So when we think of holy or even saints, the term saints, particularly given the Roman Catholic background and even the Orthodox background, has come to mean something different than what Scripture describes a saint as. Because the Apostle Paul would write to people about their problems, but he'd start off calling them saints. So as we look at this, it's important to keep in mind these holy, sanctified, and saints, and those related family of words all come out of the same family of Greek words.

All right, let's take a look. Here's John 17, 13 through 18. This is one where Christ is in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's praying to the Father, and he prays like this, But now I come to you that these things and these things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth." So, let's ask this. Did Christ pray for you? Yes. Christ prayed for you, and what did He pray to the Father about you? Isn't that interesting?

It's not, you know, hey, please isolate them, but do what? Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. So what does that tell us? What is at least one of the ways how we are going to be sanctified, set apart for God's holy intended purpose? What's one of God's instruments? By the truth. Here is the Word of God. Here is Christ Himself praying to the Father. It is going to be a critical, not optional, but a critical instrument in setting us apart, which is not the same as being taken out of the world, right? So God's Word is going to be a key instrument by Christ's own deliberate statement here in prayer to the Father.

How much of the Word of God was in existence when Christ prayed this prayer? What we call the Old Testament. They didn't call it the Old Testament, but we do. The bottom line is it's still the same set of books, regardless of the title you put to it. But yeah, the Old Testament was in existence then. But the Gospel of John also says that these disciples would be given the Holy Spirit in order to be able to recall and bring to mind the thing Jesus had said and to lay out and write Scripture, to be the authors of Scripture. So, that's part one. 1 Corinthians 1-2. By the way, what kind of church was Corinth?

Pretty worldly. Here is a church that is messed up. Here is a church Boy, they've got a long list of problems. Both of the letters that we have to the church at Corinth were fairly lengthy, a dozen or so chapters each, and most of them full of issues. They aren't just, boy, you guys are great about this and everything is wonderful about that. Both of them pouring through one issue and then the next and then the next. So this church has got problems. So it's to this kind of church that he writes these words.

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified, and that's in the perfect tense, completed past action with ongoing results on into the future, implying permanence. Those who have been completely and permanently set apart for God's holy purpose. That would be a way that we could kind of expand that. In Christ Jesus, saints by calling, and that word saints there is related to this word having been sanctified. Saints by calling with all who in every place call in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. So here's this church body with lots of problems.

And how does he begin addressing them? Does he write to them and say, boy, you guys are messed up. I can't believe how messed up you guys are. And you guys are horrible people and just awful. And is that how he does it? No. Here he writes to these people with a long list of problems. And one letter is not enough to deal with all the problems.

But even given that, he starts it off calling them, you have been sanctified, and he uses, you've been completely and totally sanctified with ongoing results on into the future. Implying permanence. You are permanently sanctified. So when he talks about, you have been sanctified, what does he mean by that? The way he puts it here. What does he mean by that? You have been sanctified.

Perfect tense. Pardon? Yes, it's position. This is key. In other words, this is something that you don't get, oh, today I'm a few percent off of being completely sanctified. I hope it gets a little better. I'm trying to get closer to 100% with that. That's not the situation here, is it? This is not a variable sanctification. The position that these believers have is not in the least bit deficient.

Let's look at the bottom of the page, 1 Corinthians 6.11.

He's writing to this church and he gives them a list of different things that they have in their past, of sinful activities that they've been involved with. And he summarizes, such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. In this passage which follows a listing of some of the deeply sinful lifestyles which characterized the Corinthians before they believed, And this is also a passage where a lot of those who argue for equal value and assessment of gay lifestyles, this passage has two different words for the gay lifestyle. And one is the more male-dominant role, and the other is actually for a female-submissive role in the gay lifestyle. And both of those are on the list. And what does he say? He says, such were some of you.

You've been washed. You've been sanctified. Let's take a look at the top of page 2 there. These believers, because they believe, have been spiritually washed and have been spiritually and morally sanctified, set apart for a holy purpose. Paul puts together two ideas in this verse that are also put together elsewhere.

Ephesians 5.25-27, he writes, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. So here this washing and sanctification are also put together in that passage there. So being sanctified for those who were once unholy means being washed and cleansed and purified so as to become holy and sanctified and set apart for God's holy purpose in their lives. That's the process God has in mind. So here's 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24, expanded and explained.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may the spirit and the soul and the body of you be wholly whole. And by the way, this is expanded and explained, so some of your translations may put it differently or be less wordy. But without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, may you be kept. Maybe not smooth with English, but a little closer to the Greek meaning. Faithful is the one who calls you and he also will do it.

Now, if we've been completely and totally sanctified, why would he pray or wish that God would carry on sanctification? Okay, if we are in our position completely sanctified, I mean we're talking permanent, even these believers at Corinth who have lots of problems, he would write to them and say, you're completely and permanently sanctified. Why is he writing here about something that's still in process? Is this doublespeak or what's going on? There is an ongoing work that is going on in the believer, true.

It's our condition to match our position. Okay. In our position, there is no variation. We are, and that's what he has told the Corinthians, we are completely sanctified, set apart for God's holy purpose, right? In our position, that's true. So the position doesn't change, but he's talking about having to work on that, being involved with the Lord, What we said early in this elective, this is back in January, is there is a part of the believer that is permanently dealt with and unchanging.

The believer is in Christ. That is not going to vary. The believer being in Christ has the new man, all of who we are in Christ, a new nature, that nature of that new man who is all of who we are in Christ, a new history, and that history isn't going to be varied. You see, you were identified with Christ on that day that he died on the cross. The Bible makes that abundantly clear, and we're not going to tweak that by percentages. It's not going to get diminished and we're not going to do anything to change that or increase it or corrupt it. Anything. That is not going to change.

So what part of us is changing? Pardon? The spirit man. That part of us is being changed from day to day. Okay. Yeah, we've actually looked at that. What did we say was the part of the believer that is changing? There's a continuing person. This, for example, allows the Apostle Paul, even though he's writing about, here's my position in Christ and I'm now in Christ and all that, he could talk about himself as an unbeliever and still say, I did, I was, right? And it's that continuing person that is changing. We're not changing the fact that we're in Christ. We're not changing our new nature. We're not changing our history that we have, having been identified with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding. None of that's changing.

But there is that continuing person part of us that is in fact changing and God intends to change. Yes, Dan. And if it didn't happen that way, if he changed us and made us something special, then we'd become elitist and proud and that would be the human nature. We'd be the Gnostics in another form, we'd be telling people what to do because we were better than they were, because we're elitist, we would know more, but through suffering, we actually become humble, which is what God wants us to be. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. Let's ask this question.

Is God making the sin nature any better? No. No. If the sin nature is not going to be made any better, what's God going to do with it? Is he going to go ahead and just kind of slap it into shape and take you up into heaven and you still got this thing? In other words, the sin nature is associated with this body, but it is condemned. That's the judgment of God. It is condemned. He's not going to fix it up. He's not going to patch it up. He's not going to put a salve on it and somehow make it acceptable. It is condemned.

And that's why he writes here to the Thessalonians. He said, there is now this next step. This body that has associated with it the sin nature will be replaced with a new body. New in kind that doesn't have the sin nature involved. It won't be like this body to which the sin nature is still associated and attached.

That's what I like to hear about. Okay, alright. You'd like that new body, huh? Yes. Yeah, and the more time goes on, most of us get more and more inclined to want that new body. Right? And I think that's, in fact, one reason why the Lord doesn't just make everything all better with these bodies that we have, because He wants us to increasingly see, you know, I've got a home that I'm headed to. The Lord gives us some pleasant stays here and there while we're here on planet earth. But in the end, He doesn't really want us to think of this as our permanent home. He does intend for us to have a home with Him where there we have our citizenship. There where we will have a new body like His. So what we see here, How's this new body going to come about? Is it going to come because I've really got a really great athletic plan? I mean, the gym I go to is just the best.

Is that? No. It's not going to do it, is it? As a matter of fact, what it says there at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24, the last line is, faithful is the one who calls you, he also will do it. He is the one who will pull it off. And we can count upon Him to follow through with that last step, to do a radical transformation, just like He did at the moment that we were first saved, and just like He is carrying on now in the process that He is pulling off in our lives.

Stan? So this perfect tense is actually passive perfect tense, not active, right? Which one? Well, when you're talking about having been sacrificed, isn't that passive? Yes. In other words, we're the recipient. of the action. It is God's doing, which is the case with everything about our position. You know, it's real interesting.

What do you have to believe to be saved? Jesus died for my sins. was buried and rose again. Simply, that's the content to be believed. Now, does the person who believes those three things, Christ died for my sins and was buried and rose again, do they understand that they are in Christ?

Do they understand that they have the continuing person? No. They don't understand and they don't have some miraculous recollection of the time when they were identified with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seating. There is no instant and miraculous recollection of that having taken place. So they don't know a great deal. However, does that mean that it doesn't happen?

No. God is the one who accomplishes all those things at the moment the person believes. God's the one who pulls it off. It is not because of our self-effort or something that we learn about later and then add on to our salvation. We are always in a place of catching up with what God's already done. That's the position of the Christian while we're here on this planet. We're catching up to what God's already done.

Okay. Question? Yes? Off the wall question. Oh, no problem. I love those. That's great. So, for people going to hell, that eternal life, In hell, is that like the new body thing? Yeah, good point. What's interesting is that while it is a life of sorts, Scripture doesn't call that eternal life at all. And while they do, by every description, have a body of sorts, it is not a new body like the Lord's new body. So is it eternal life? Yes, it is ongoing existence, which isn't the same as eternal life. What's the difference between continuing to exist and having life? Why is there a distinction between those two?

Because Hall 8 does ask a very good question. One's separation and one's continuance with God. Yeah, when we talk about life, life is being joined to Christ. And so the person who has decided to turn down Christ's complete payment for their sins is saying, no, I'd really rather pay for it myself. So you have a continuing existence, but since life is identified as union with Christ, it can't be called eternal life. And so continued existence is not the same as eternal life. It's a miserable existence. It is an embodiment only to be able to continue to exist and actually suffer pain and agony. but not the new body. What's going to be characteristic of the new body? Will there be pain? No. Will there be remorse? Will there be regret? No. We will not be going, oh man, oh wow, I could have done this, I should have done that, oh no. There won't be any of that.

So when we use the term eternal life, does the person who is not with the Lord have eternity? Well, yes, it's ongoing, it's continuing, it's endless. But scripture doesn't apply the word eternal to it in quite the same way, and certainly not the word life, because life is defined as being joined to Christ.

Does that help? Yeah, okay, yeah. And I think those are important distinctions. You know, the atheist thinks that once you're through with this life, you're over. Well, I'm sorry, that's not the way it works. God doesn't believe in atheists anyway. So anyway, yes, Pat? Did you say that you don't apply the word eternal to that?

Well, you can call it eternal if you want, but because the word eternal is joined to life, It's eternal life. It doesn't have the same character and quality. Imagine having eternity and looking forward to every next moment, whatever time means. Now imagine having eternity and regretting and despairing over the next moment. Is that the same? Not really. Yeah, not really. Yes?

At the end of Revelation, you think about it. No more sorrow, mourning, death, crying or pain. And how about if you turn that around and say, ok, the person who says, I don't really want to take Jesus up on His payment. I think I'd rather volunteer for the mourning and crying and pain.

Does that sound like a good idea? Sounds like a terrible idea, right? Sounds that way to me. Yes, Wayne? The closest I've ever thought about that is, if you've ever been in a cave and the lights were turned down, the darkness is so great that for a moment, nothing else exists in there but you. Yeah.

It's oppressive. It's oppressive darkness. It's not just, you know, okay, here's this bland blank. No, it's oppressive darkness. It is an absence that is conspicuous and not secondary. Imagine that there's this, there's this, it's like, you know, I'm kind of hungry. Okay, another century has gone by and I'm still hungry. You know, is it going to change? No. Is it going to get better? No. Is there a prospect of something better around the corner? No. No, it doesn't happen. Yes, Dan?

And that's why they aren't given a choice, because no one would make that choice. That's one of the choices that's been made for us by the fact that we're in a fallen nature and are in Adam. Yeah, the human nature by itself, apart from the Lord's working through the Holy Spirit, apart from the opportunities for salvation through Christ, in which the Father gets credit. Apart from that, yeah, there wouldn't be any hope. White Moody said that if people really understood hell, they would not stop preaching the gospel of Christ ever. Yeah. Yeah. Hello.

You know, just like Wayne just said, once we were in Carmelite Caverns, And he turned off all the lights, and it was like there's no light anywhere. I had the awful thought of panic, you know, thinking this is what hell's going to be like. The only thing is, while that's a good sampling, it's just the start. Because it is only one dimension, you know, we don't have any light. There are people who go around this earth never having seen at all, blind from the very beginning. But when you add to that ultimate permanent hopeless loneliness, ultimate permanent hopeless pain, this hurts and it's not going to get better in five minutes or five years or five centuries. The darkness of a cave is just a pinch of a sampling. of what's described.

Yeah, Norm? It's interesting that back when Kodak first built a film, it required absolute total starvation. Now, when they started working with sound, they could allow a certain amount of room to do a lot of work in the film. But the only people they would allow to work in those rooms Because they would actually go bonkers after a while. The people that had been born totally blind.

Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that something? Yeah. Yeah, it's taking it away. It's taking it away that's most difficult. Let's look at, in the middle of page 2, is Hebrews 10, 10-14. I think this is a very insightful passage because it has both the position and the process in the same passage.

Hebrews 10, 10-14, By this will we have been sanctified, here's the perfect tense, a completed past action with ongoing results on in the future, implying permanence, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This is once given, perpetually valid and effective. The offering of the body of Christ so that you have to do certain other things to make sure that you stay saved, is that what it means? No. It is once done, perpetually valid. That's what that word means there.

Every priest, of course this is speaking of the temple, Jerusalem, every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for the time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. For by one offering is perfected."

This is the perfect tense again. perfected a completed past action with ongoing results on in the future, implying permanence, for all time those who are being progressively sanctified. So the first part in verse 10 says you are completely and totally sanctified, our position. Untouched, unvarying. It's done, it's completely done. For by one offering it is perfected for all time those who are being progressively sanctified. There is the process.

In our position in Christ, we are not at all being changed. We are never urged to change it or tweak it or adjust it. We are never told that it will be lost. We have our position in Christ where we have been set apart. There is that part of the human being, the one part that God does change, and that's what we call the continuing person. And just to quickly state the description from Scripture, this is the part where Paul says, I was, I did. Where he talks about, even though he says, I have been saved and I have had this happen, I have been crucified with Christ. He talks about his position, but he also talks about, I was, I did. And there's that continuing person part of the believer that is being changed.

Not your position, not who you are in Christ, that's not being adjusted. That will not be impacted, affected, or modified in any way. Your history that you have in Christ, having been identified with him, will not be changed at all. It is only this continuing person portion of the believer that is being changed, and it's being changed by God's intent.

And one of the ways that we put that is we're always catching up with what's already happened, with what God has already done. That's what's being changed. It's our becoming aware of, our understanding of what God has already done. You have been set apart from all the things that were a part of the life that you lived and who you were, you've been set apart from that for a holy purpose. And let's ask this question, what's the purpose? And that is ultimately the process, but what's the purpose for which we've been set aside?

Yeah, it has to do with God's glory. The way Hal used to put it is we look at God's eternal purpose this way. God's eternal purpose. In other words, you say, what's God doing? I mean, here we've got all these people and stars and the sun and he's going to get rid of this earth and make the next one. Why is he doing all this? God's eternal purpose.

God's glory is revealed. It is declared. It is shared, so those three verbs, it is revealed, it is declared, it is shared so that he might be, number four, glorified. It is revealed, it is declared, it is shared so that he might be glorified. How does he reveal his glory? The creation is one of the ways God reveals His glory. Is that all? What else? Can you think of anything? Through believers, yes. And that goes on to actually about two steps ahead here.

He reveals His glory. He reveals His glory through the creation. He reveals His glory through Christ Himself. He reveals His glory through us. Why did God share his glory with us? Thank you. Why did God share his glory with us? Isn't it interesting? Because of God's eternal purpose, He has determined to share His glory with beings that He was not compelled to. Nobody was twisting God's arm and God says, okay, okay, I guess I will. There wasn't some compulsion or nobody was forcing God to do it, but God determined to share His glory with us.

What did we say glory was? Yeah, the radiant essence of who God is, God's essence, to put it in brief terms. So He decided to share the radiant essence of who He is with us. Wow. So to reveal and then declare and then share God's glory, and what does that do in the long run? In the big picture, what does it do for God to reveal and declare and share His glory? Yeah, it glorifies Him. And that is the end point of revealing and declaring and sharing His glory. In the end, God is glorified. In the end, God is glorified because of those.

Do you mean all the sin about me? All the sin about me? Probably not. When we are set apart for God's holy purpose, we're not just, you know, hey, God's got a little purpose for you and who knows what it is. We are involved and included in God's eternal purpose, and when it says you are being set apart for this holy purpose, that's the holy and intended purpose. You are a part of God's eternal purpose. for God for all eternity, and he's decided to share that with you.

Yes. And his revelation is not only for us, but doesn't scripture also say and also imply in many places that it's being revealed to the angelic realm, which would be the good angels as well as the angels? Yes, that's right. That's right. They're still learning too. Yes, you're absolutely correct. The angels are still learning. And here's what's interesting.

Ephesians 3.10 says that God has designed it so that he points to us for the angels to learn. You are walking angel college. Isn't that interesting? He points to us and he says, you want to learn about my character?

Ephesians 3.10 says that God points to us so that the...

Here's God with the angels. I mean, He could just tell them things. He says, no, if you really want to learn, I want you to look at my saints. Watch them. So what we're doing and what we're not doing, everything that's going on, God is teaching these other spiritual beings that He has created, the angels. He says, the best way for you to learn is watch them. Watch what I'm doing in and through them.

Yes. So we kind of have it turned around. We're thinking an angel is supposed to be protecting us, but they're actually with us because they're learning from us. Well, and I think, yeah, our perspective on angels is often limited. And, of course, people fall into appealing to angels for different things. The angels will walk around looking at us and learning from the process. And as a matter of fact, I could draw the conclusion that because God has said that is so, God has determined that that's the best way for them to learn. Isn't that amazing? By watching us.

That's Ephesians 3.10. It's very clear. What's interesting is I've hardly seen that anywhere, but that's what Scripture says.

And so that's something rather astounding if you're wondering about, you know, the thing about these angels, God has designed it so that the angels learn from what God does in and through us. Yeah. better be revealed than with us. I mean, if we're in this angel college, I assume that A-plus is how you pass, but we want to get an A-plus too. It's funny, we're not in college, the angels are. So that's the distinction. Did you start to say something? It's interesting to have that perspective because we're going through a trial, we're suffering, we think it's bad.

God's character is revealed through that to the angels. Through His involvement in our lives. Yeah, exactly. God intends to reveal who He is and His character. Here you think the angels are right there with God and God says, no, you've got to look at my saints. If you're going to learn something, that's how you're going to do it. And this is really kind of astounding stuff. And it ought to even draw us back. Wow, I didn't realize what God's doing. But that's what God does. He points to the angels, to us, to learn about His character.

I've got another question, though. When we walk through heaven's gates, we've got new bodies. We're done with things here on planet Earth. No more sorrow, mourning, crying, or pain. No more death. We're there in the heavenlies where we have our citizenship. Is God done revealing and declaring and sharing His glory?

No, as a matter of fact, what it says, this is Ephesians 2.7, what it says is that it will go on and on and on. God is not done. This is just a getting ready kind of place. Right? Yeah. It is, in fact, a better environment for revealing and sharing and declaring His glory, isn't it? I can focus.

I don't have to say, you know, what Vern's been talking about is great, but I'm getting kind of a tired fanny and I'd really like to go up and use the restroom and get some more coffee. That's not going to happen. We won't be watching our watches and saying, you know, this is cool, but I kind of need a break. We won't have those kinds of things. We won't have Satan coming in and doing the song and tap dance and everything and trying to get us all distracted.

It will be an even better place for God's eternal purpose to be fulfilled and carried out. So rather than, and I'm at the bottom of page two here, rather than having a situation where God is presenting us double speak, you might think of, well, here I am sanctified and yet I'm being sanctified.

What it is, it's two different aspects of the believer. The new man, the new nature, your new history, who you are in Christ will not be changing or modified. But that continuing person, that part of the person that continues from when you were an unbeliever, the part that allows Paul to say, I was, or I did, that continuing person then is still being changed as long as we're here on this planet. So it's not double speak, it's which part of you, which aspect of you, is the passage talking about.

Let's look at page 3. We've got the diagram that we've brought forward from our study in January to show in Adam, in Christ, the old man and the new man. And just to show there is this continuing person. That's the part that's changing. God's not changing who you are in Christ. God's not touching it. It doesn't need to be touched. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 4, 3-7, which is toward the bottom of page 3 here.

It reads like this, for this is the will of God. By the way, anybody interested in that? He's going to spell it out. What does God want? Should I buy the blue Chevy or the green one? Oh, I really need to know whether I should get the option that they're offering. If you really want to know God's will, this is it. your sanctification.

That's God's will. Okay? We're done. That's God's will. People strain and labor and struggle trying to find God's will. That's it. That's what God wants. In this case, He says that you abstain from sexual immorality. That's an aspect of God's will that he has there.

That each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. I'm going to move down to verse 7 just for the sake of time. But God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. God has intended to set you apart for His holy purpose as a fulfillment of His eternal purpose. God doesn't have just a temporary and a little short-sighted, tiny, myopic idea of your being sanctified. He has instead the idea, this is the will of God, your being set apart for His holy purpose because that fits in with His eternal purpose. Before He said, let there be light, He had in mind that you and I would be set apart for His eternal purpose. This is the will of God. Your sanctification, your being set apart for God's eternal purpose.

This is cool because instead of having, you know, what does my life mean? Well, I don't know, it's not dinner yet, you know. Instead of having a very short-sighted view And going around, I'm trying to get my needs met. I've got caloric intake, and I've got minimum daily requirements on all these nutrients, and I've got to breathe and exhale, and everything's got to work just like it's supposed to, and I've got to eat my three squares, and I've got to have my needs met.

What's all this about? It's a fulfillment of God's eternal purpose, and God knows exactly what that means for you. And so it means that everything that he has fits with his eternal purpose. Everything he has for us. Yes, Dan. It's not to sound too worldly, but it's kind of like staying on that green path like that commercial. God's will is right there. And all you have to do is just follow it. All you have to do, what you're supposed to do is stay on that green path and God will lead you right down to what's best for you.

Yeah. It's the setting apart for His eternal purpose, His holy purpose, that's what God wants. God's not pacing the floor thinking, ah, I wanted Verne to buy the blue Chevy instead of the yellow one. And Verne messed it up. That's not what God is concerned about. God's concerned is that we'd be set apart for His eternal purpose. And that means everything that's going on in our life, even little things you look at and say, boy, that wasn't very fun. Everything going on in our life has a place in His eternal purpose. And that's cool. That's cool. Even the stuff you look at and say, that was downright uncomfortable. Or, it's still downright uncomfortable. Or tomorrow when this is hurting, it's still going to be downright uncomfortable.

But everything fits within God's eternal purpose. No exceptions. And that is neat to have, just that assurance. That's neat when I'm looking at uncertain situations in Uganda. It's neat as we anticipate Kate Carroll having this surgery. It's neat when we look at You know, things that are happening today, tomorrow, this next week, this next month, the next year.

Just to have the assurance that God has his eternal purpose for everything that's going on. And it is his will that we be set apart for his eternal purpose. That's really cool. And that's really assuring. Let's pray. Okay. Lord, we thank you what tremendously assuring truths these are here. And as we look over these next couple of weeks at what are you doing to carry this out and what is our part, our response in view of what you've done, in view of who we are. As we look at these things, Lord, how wonderful just to realize that You have a plan and a purpose for all these different things that come about in our lives and that there is a spiritual intent. It is not simply a guessing game. And thank you for that. Thank you for laying it out and making it clear what your will is. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.