Test by Sanctification (05/15/24)

Take a moment to pray for these upcoming activities that they will be used by God to allow us to accomplish our purpose of proclaiming the Gospel and experiencing the miracle of changed lives.

Message: Exposing the Dangers of Media (Part 5)

Our Christian lives need to be lived with design and purpose - with intentionality!

That includes our use of technology and media.

Ephesians 5:8 KJV 1900

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

First of all, Scripture tells us that we are to prove what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Ephesians 5:10 KJV 1900

Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Prove

Is our use of the technology or device pleasing to the Lord!

How do we know what is acceptable unto the Lord?

A. Test by the Spirit

Ephesians 5:9 KJV 1900

(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

Good; Right; True - These are the directions in which the Holy Spirit will always guide us.

A. Test by the Spirit

Then...

B. Test by the Scriptures

The Word of God is our standard for what is good, right, and true.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 KJV 1900

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

If we neglect God’s Word, we will not know God’s truth and will not be able to properly discern between good and evil.

Have we been neglecting God’s Word this week?

B. Test by the Scriptures

But we must understand the need to grow in our relationship with Christ as we seek His wisdom.

C. Test by sanctification

Ephesians 5:3 brings out another principle that exposes the dangers of the media monster—dangers of which many parents are unaware.

Ephesians 5:3 KJV 1900

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

Our lives are to be holy, reflecting the holiness of God.

We are to be set apart for God’s use.

The Bible word for this is sanctification, which simply means set apart.

Philippians 1:27 explains it as having a lifestyle that is becoming to and promoting of the gospel.

Philippians 1:27 KJV 1900

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Don’t let the words holy or sanctified call to your mind images of monks, and don’t believe the words are synonyms for weird.

They simply mean that, as Christians, we are becoming more like our God.

Romans 8:28–29 KJV 1900

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

And these words - holy and sanctified - aren’t fringe words in Scripture either. They are direct commands.

1 Peter 1:15–16 KJV 1900

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

2 Peter 3:11 KJV 1900

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

2 Timothy 2:21–22 KJV 1900

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

No one is “naturally” holy.”

Sanctification is an ongoing process of God’s grace—coupled with personal obedience—in the life of every Christian.

It is the process whereby we continually grow into the likeness of Jesus.

Regarding technology, we should ask ourselves:

Is my use of technology helping or hindering his growth in grace?

Is it making me more or less like Jesus Christ?

Does my use of technology demonstrate maturity?

Romans 6:13 tells us that the choice of sanctification is that of using our body as either a tool of sin or a tool of godliness.

Romans 6:13 KJV 1900

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Closing

Ephesians 5:10 KJV 1900

Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

We must prove what is pleasing to the Lord by

The Holy Spirit

The Word of God and by

Our sanctification [becoming more like Christ]

In closing, allow me to share this with you from the book, “Be Ye Holy” The Call to Christian Separation:

The Bible’s teaching on personal separation means that the believer should actively integrate the holiness of God into his life.

What the believer reads, watches, and listens to should be determined by the purity of its content, along with the other criteria outlined in Philippians 4:8.

The believer should set standards of conduct for his life which are consistent with revealed truth on the subject.

Standards of conduct in accordance with God’s holiness should not be difficult for the Christian who has responded properly to God’s holiness, has a heartfelt desire for holiness, and who disciplines his thought life by standards of holiness.

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