Our last Lord’s Day was so exciting that you might have forgotten the afternoon’s message. Its title was “Holyfication,” and its theme was “sanctification” – God’s process of making sinners holy. To refresh your memory, the saint’s holyfication began in eternity past with the Lord’s choice of material. God “hath chosen us in (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy…” – Ephesians 1:4. Then came His actual gracious salvation of that sinner at the time and place of the Holy Spirit’s choosing. It is without contradiction that God demands that His people become practically holy. “As he which hath called you is holy – as he which hath effectually called you to salvation is holy – so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” – I Peter 1. I pointed out last week that holyfication is the work the Holy Spirit upon our humble, surrendered souls. It is not that we don’t play a part; it is essential that we be engaged in this great work. But “it is God which worketh in (us) both to will and to do of his good pleasure” – Philippians 2:13. And generally speaking, the sanctification process is difficult – it is not difficult for God, but for us. Our flesh is just as opposed to walking with the Lord as was Cain, Lamech or Esau.
But the saints have the blessing of the indwelling Spirit, whereas the unsaved do not. And yet, the holyfication process includes chipping, whittling and pruning. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that I may bring forth more fruit.” This may not be much fun. But the more submissive we are the Lord, the easier it becomes. The final point last week, was that the work of sanctification is done according the pattern – and through the implementation – of the Word of God. It is the Bible which reveals to us the nature of God. And it is in the application of the Bible that we become more like our Saviour – that is, more holy.
I’d like to use that message as introduction to this second message, which I’m calling “Spurious Sanctification.” Spurious sanctification refers to fraudulent or imitation sanctification.
It doesn’t take a religious genius to know that obvious sinners will not stand honoured by God. They will come before Him and hear, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting darkness, prepared for the Devil and his angels.” Most people know that sinners are not welcome in Heaven. Everyone will be required to kick our shoes off before the flames of God’s holiness. And if our souls, and the soles of our feet, have not been insulated by the saving grace of God we will be consumed by those flames. People, who know that holiness is a requisite to escaping hell and entering heaven, often try to manufacture various forms of spurious righteous and the sanctification which produces it. Some of them imagine that they already possess holiness. But whatever doesn’t come from the Lord is not going to be approved by the Lord. It is spurious.
This afternoon, for a couple of reasons, I’d like to point out some forms of spurious sanctification.
Some people try to replace sanctification with the development of ordinary HUMAN MORALITY.
Remember, many of this kind of person is trying to force his way into the celebration of our Lord’s coronation. So they try to forge what they think are the required invitations. For example they learn to practice honesty. They rarely lie and never cheat. They refuse to defraud others. They may be just in their dealings with others, treating everyone in the way they wish to be treated. They recycle and try to reduce their carbon imprint in creation. As my mother taught me, they have learned, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” These people are civil, and law-abiding. Road rage is never something that comes to their minds. And when they find a dropped wallet full of cash, credit cards and identification, they look for the person who has lost it, and return it to him. They may not even expect a reward, because of their moral principles. But none of these things are proof of – or a part of – sanctification. It doesn’t take a Christian, or a child of God, to be a “nice” person like this.
Interestingly – many of these people don’t take kindly to talk about needing God’s grace and mercy. They may be personally gracious toward others, and they are merciful people not deserving mercy. They support the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, donating to the blood bank every six months. BUT – when it comes to RECEIVING mercy, they picture themselves as TOO merciful to need it. They are too nice to burden God by asking for His saving grace. Their variety of sanctification is great enough not to require the sanctification which the Spirit generates. I have known dozens of people, covered with moral virtue who actually hated the gospel of Christ.
They are like the Poison Dart Frogs who are described in today’s bulletin. Oh, how beautiful they are with their bright orange and blue colors. They are the most attractive amphibians in the rain forest. And among other Poison Dart Frogs they may find great fellowship and friendship. Like birds of a certain feather they flock, or hop, together. But underneath their colorful skin are hundreds of poison-pumping glands. They are not as sweet and kind toward others as the colorful image they try to express. There will be no unregenerated Poison Dart Frogs in Heaven.
Part of this spurious sanctification toward human morality – is restraint. “Just say, ‘no.’” The man with the lead foot has learned to drive slowly through the school zone. When the neighbors see his Christian bumper sticker, they think they may have found the real thing. But actually, five years ago he was caught speeding and had to pay a hefty fine. His self-enforced restraint isn’t really vehicular holiness. It has nothing to do with honoring God. He’s not even driving slowly to save his soul. In fact, he’s not even trying to protect the lives of the school children. He has created a practical habit, because he’s trying to save his wallet from more embarrassment.
Similarly, people can deal with all kinds of sin, for a number of selfish reasons. In their restraint they give the appearance of sanctification before the eyes of those who don’t know better. The lady looks at the clean-cut, youthful Mormon missionaries and says, “They must be Christians.” Her friend adds, “And they come from such loving, close-knit, godly homes.” If these ladies only knew. After the man started going to church he gave up spending his Friday nights at the bar. He gave the appearance of a bit of growing sanctification. But actually, now that he thought it was obligatory to put money in the offering plate, he couldn’t afford his old, partying-way-of-life. There was the appearance of holyfication, but it wasn’t genuine.
Outward morality and the sacrifice of overt sins may give the appearance of sanctification, but they may be nothing but smoke and mirrors. To “just say no,” isn’t genuine sanctification. Along with “no,” there needs to be a “yes,” to the spirit of God with an eye toward Heaven.
A second spurious sanctification is the growth in SUPERSTITIOUS DEVOTION.
This takes common morality up one notch into the realm of religion. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day are examples. Look at their long gaudy, eye-catching clothing which scream: “I am a Pharisee.” But then peering over the top of those religious togs are their pious, downcast, unfriendly faces. They have their phylacteries, long curls hanging down from their temples and prayer their shawls. Their fathers taught them wear these things in order to become separated from the world. But Christ Jesus called them “vipers.” They were separated from general society because of their poisons and separated from God in the process.
Today we see their images, gold incrusted altars, fancy vestments, and the holy water filling their baptismal fonts. They have their legal purifications and washings, and their verbal recitations which they consider to be a part of the sanctification process. They have holy garments and holy oil, just like the Old Testament priests. But those original items were meant to illustrate the Holy Spirit, as the Book of Hebrews teaches. They have their beads and their crucifixes, thinking these things help them to purify themselves before the Lord’s holy eyes. Or maybe instead of these things, they wear holy underwear to cover their sinful nakedness. Yes, they are covered – but just like Adam and Eve were covered with their fig leaves. Such things are not the way to reach holiness or righteousness. As I said last week, it is the Word of God which guides us, and it is the Word of God which the Holy Spirit uses in His whittling work of sanctification.
Holiness, of the superstitious and religious variety, often isn’t expensive – or perhaps I should say, “costly.” For many religious people, their holiness can be put on and taken off like their “Sunday-go-to-meetin’” clothes. It often doesn’t involve pain and struggle against sin on Tuesday, and Friday or Saturday nights. The godfather, Michael Corleone, could piously attend a baby’s christening, while knowing that his orders were being carried out in the slaughter of his enemies. His religious superstitions didn’t make him holy.
And Baptists can be just as guilty as the cults, the fallen sects, and the heathen. We can superficially implement things which glorify God, thinking they are making us more holy, but they aren’t. Attending special prayer meetings isn’t proof of sanctification, although such meetings can contribute to our sanctification. Sacrificial giving, ministering to those in need, and begging God to bless the sick, are not rungs on Jacob’s ladder. On the other hand, when we are surrendered to the Lord and striving to glorify Him, these things, and dozens of others, may be used by the Spirit to aid us in our spiritual growth. Our religiousness isn’t necessarily an aspect of our holyfication. The question is: Who is the source of these things, and for what purpose are we adding them to our lives?
One more aspect of spurious sanctification is the implementation of “HYPOCRISY.”
There are a great many people who give the appearance of being Christians on Sundays, but at work on Mondays the appearance has been left behind. They have a form of godliness on the Lord’s Day, but the power is not there on any other day of the week – II Timothy 3:5. On Sunday they may be adding a bit of exuberance to their hymn singing, but on Monday they are chanting the words to the latest rapper. In church they make an open show of a growing love for the brethren, but during the week their conversation expresses a love for politics and Netflix. The Lord Jesus calls these people “whited sepulchres” – pretty painted tombs filled with dead men’s bones inside. Other Biblical descriptions include: “lamps without oil,” “clouds without water,” and “temples without God.”
Hypocrites pretend to holy in order to appear as holy. “They love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.” The Lord says, “Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” For some reason, they want to be known as friends of God and growing in Christ, so they apply the Christian make-up. Some faces need a touch of make-up. But adding more and more make-up to some faces only makes them look like clowns. Many times, the hypocrite’s holiness depends on the place and time, not expressing the reality of their hearts. It might be that they love the Biblical titles of the children of God, but they aren’t earning those titles through genuine sanctification. It might be that they love a certain Christian, so they play the handsome actor quoting the poetry of Christian love, but they know nothing of the true Christian character or doctrine. They have the veneer of holiness, without possessing the real thing.
The true nature of holiness is the Lord Himself. The standard of holiness is Christ Jesus. And sanctification is the ministry of the Spirit in bringing us into Christ-likeness. We need to take our commonplace religious shoes off our commonplace religious feet, and while humbly keep our eyes cast down toward on those unworthy feet come into the presence of the Lord. Each layer of our old natures that we permit the Holy Spirit to peel away, enables us to come that much closer to the Saviour. We enter His presence by invitation, just as Moses was invited to more closely approach the burning bush. And in the process, more and more of our ugliness is burned away in the blaze of that divine heat.
God no where tells us to give up things for the sake of giving them up. We aren’t commanded to add religious things to our lives in order to appear religious. These are characteristics of the hypocrite. Rather, God tells us to give up sin and to grow in holiness for the sake of only thing worth having – fellowship with Him.
Sanctification is a question of loosening the bands which hinder the best life possible. Heaven on earth is not one of painlessness, problemlessness and powerlessness. Heaven on earth is the enjoyment of the Holy Spirit’s constant work upon our lives to create more of Christ in us.
Is the Holy Spirit work of sanctification being carried out in your life?