“To sanctify” basically means “to make holy.” To separate, to consecrate, to purify.
Someone well said of us Christians … “We live between the LOVE of God and the HATE of the world.”
And it seems like our Lord here in His “Upper Room” Sermon placed special emphasis on the hatred the world would heap on us Believers. He highlights such animosity in John 15:18-27, a long Unit! Then again in John 16:20-23 and John 16:31-33. (Each of these Passages is in the LAST HALF of this great Sermon, in fact!)
I love this quote … “JESUS SEES OUR POTENTIAL MORE THAN OUR PAST!” (He certainly did in Simon Peter and again in Saul of Tarsus, later Paul!)
I mentioned that the Word of God … “Sanctify them through Thy Truth, THY WORD IS TRUTH” … is essential for our spiritual growth. And I suggested that this fourth Petition of the Lord’s John 17 Prayer seems to correspond to the Portion of the Model Prayer where He taught the disciples to pray in Matthew 6 … “GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD!”
But the Matthew 6 “bread” seems to be physical (bodily nourishment) while the John 17 parallel apparently refers to (not physical) spiritual Bread, the Word of God!
As in … “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
Jeremiah 15:16 too … “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”
And let’s not forget Job 23:12 … “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” More than my necessary food!
Someone rightly said … “THE GOAL OF TRUTH IS NOT JUST WISDOM, BUT HOLINESS!” Sanctify us, O Lord.
Verse 18’s powerful Statement of the “Great Commission” (Go and tell the Gospel) proves that … we are sanctified to serve!
This is memorable. Jesus died FOR us. He now lives IN us!
The Hebrews Verses I mentioned that focus on sanctification are … Hebrews 2:11, Hebrews 10:10, Hebrews 10:14 and Hebrews 13:12!
Jesus (ascended) is still in Heaven right now … praying for us! And I’m sure that includes asking God to further “sanctify” us to live for Him! To make us holy in our practical lives.
Watch the Class …
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
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