Sanctification

Does anyone notice anything about me today?

Anyone? Seriously?? Guys, I don’t look different to you?

Ok, ok… Let me let you in on what’s different.

We are four nights in a row of Evelyn sleeping throughout the entire night…

Two of those nights sleeping from 7 until 8 or 8:30am!

I AM GLOWING?!

We feel like different people!

Now honestly, it hasn’t been that bad. Caroline has woken up to feed her in the middle of the night.

When that has been happening, I have woken up and gone straight back to sleep while she takes one for the team.

But now… we BOTH are sleeping!

But I need to be extremely transparent with you all this morning, our journey of parenting and leading Evelyn in her sleep rhythms hasn’t been perfect.

AC was a breeze. Once she started taking regular naps and sleeping through the night, she has always slept hard.

And to be honest, I took a lot of credit for it.

I thought I had found the secret of newborn babies.

I felt as if I had possessed a formula many would love to implement.

I wore it with pride.

But then came Evelyn.

And what followed her was humble pie.

Now, she hasn’t been that bad, but she definitely is different.

Where AC would sleep for a couple hours at a time during the day, Evelyn is more of a power napper.

So we were definitely thrown off.

So fast forward to this past Thursday, all day we are trying to crack Evelyn’s code.

Do we put her down then? When do we put her down for the night? When is the extra feeding?

I mean, we are four months in with our second kid and still asking these questions?!

Why is it so hard? Why does it feel like it takes forever? I know it will be a different story in a few months… But I want consistency and change NOW!

I bet you have felt that way in your Christian walk before.

You’ve wondered why it takes so long to mature, to experience victory in certain areas, and to experience growth and maturity.

Just when progress feels like it is made, you approach a new hurdle. You fall, you experience the struggle, and you get back up knowing it’s not over…

Don’t you wish we could just plug and play a system that would increase the rate of productivity in our spiritual walks?

But if that were the case, we’d lose the intentional formation that not only makes us who we are, but reveals to us who God is.

At the end of the day,

Spiritual growth isn’t about inserting a formula, it is about increasing fellowship.

It’s time we stop focusing on only what we can do to experience growth and learn how to be present with the one who gives it.

If you are willing and able, would you stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word this morning.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

This is God’s Word, you may be seated.

Many of you are here to be encouraged, to grow in wisdom, or to seek for answers and clarity where there is confusion or frustration.

Life change is what we are after.

We have a sense that who we are naturally is what God is seeking to restore.

So what can we do to experience the transformation of the gospel within us?

Our mission statement implies that this should be a reality for us-

We are broken people becoming authentic followers of Jesus.

It points to a process or a journey where one, in their brokenness, is seeking to grow and change.

So how do we change? How do we grow in our walk? How can we begin arriving where God desires us to be? What can we do?

Before we consider a few things, I want to first start by telling you this-

A part from God’s divine hand in your life, you can do nothing.

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

But unfortunately, we operate as if this isn’t true.

We prioritize church on Sundays.

We attend a Bible study when we can.

We learn more about the works of CS Lewis more than the God who His works were pointed to…

We look for what we can or should do and assume that because we are doing something we must arrive somewhere…

How does it make you feel when I tell you that you and I do not get to dictate the rate at which we can grow in our spiritual walk?

For some of us, that brings us a little bit of relief.

For others, that crushes you.

You might ask, “Why even try if what we are seeking doesn’t do anything?”

Well, because that isn’t entirely true either.

Scripture is abundantly clear that we are commanded to pursue spiritual growth!

2 Peter 3:18 ESV

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

1 Timothy 4:7 ESV

7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

But it also clarifies that our spiritual growth is from God, under the assumption that we are pursuing it in efforts to receive it.

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 ESV

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Our responsibility is to be faithful. With our faithfulness, God will produce fruitfulness.

And this process by which we grow and conform into the image of Jesus as we walk with Him, talk with Him, and follow Him is called sanctification.

Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.

Sanctification affects our whole being-

When we are being transformed, every area of who we are is being shaped into who we were originally created to be!

So how can we experience this progressive work?

It starts with total and complete submission.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The work we do with our hands is directly tied to the work God does within us.

The work God does in us is what empowers the work we do with our hands.

We must submit to His plan, His way, and His will.

We must seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What is the first thing on your mind when you wake up in the morning?

Is it your agenda?

Your work?

Coffee?

The news?

For some of you, it is calculating the consequence of laying in bed just a little longer…

For the believer, it has to be seeking the Lord acknowledging that without Him, nothing gets done.

No good work will be a work of God without God’s work in you.

This goes for how we parent, how we work, and how we steward our day, time, and posessions.

Imagine if you went to your accountant to see how things were going…

You are expecting to hear about the work they have accomplished thus far.

But what they tell you is that there hasn’t been a lot of progress because every day, they’ve been going into the office but never opening up or unlocking the computer.

Instead, they’ve shown up, but never went straight to the source they have to depend upon in order for work to be accomplished.

Maybe, the church’s lack in spiritual growth is because even though we show up, we refuse to tap into the source where growth and progress resides.

For us, this morning, it is time we change our rhythm and adjust our priorities.

Why?

Because if we are going to be broken people who are becoming authentic followers of Jesus,

we must be broken people who seek to be filled with His Spirit daily.

The sanctified life is a spirit-filled life.

When I am using the phrase “be filled with the Spirit” i am referring to the submission of our lives to be completely and totally controlled by the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit

Of course, when we come to know Jesus and place our faith in His life, death, and resurrection, we are in that moment indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

But in the words of a pastor by the name of Adrian Rogers, “When you become a Christian, you get all of the Holy Spirit, but He doesn’t get all of you.”

Romans 8:5–6 ESV

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

We must give our life over to the Holy Spirit to control, not to our flesh and it’s desires.

Right down the street is the Davis Islands Yacht Club.

Many of you are familiar with it!

Some of you have sent your kids to it’s sailing camp, where kids learn to sail for the first time.

Before a sailboat is able to leave the harbor, the sails must be untied from the main mast. By untying the sails, you are taking the first step to preparing the boat for its voyage.

Our sins are like the ropes that keep the sails tied to the mast. Sin restricts us as we try to follow God faithfully.

The sins we do not confess keep us from seeing the ways that God wants to move in our lives.

We “untie the sails” by confessing all known sin and surrendering our lives again to the Lord. By confessing our sins, we express our dependence and need for God to make us new each day and to prepare our hearts for the leading of the Holy Spirit.

A life that is tied down by sin and our own desire for control will not be free to be filled by the winds of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 12:1).

Untying the sails of a ship from the mast is not enough to leave the safety of the shores. For the sails to catch the wind, we must “raise the sails.”

When you raise the sails, you are opening your life up for the possibility that the Spirit will do something great with your obedience.

By raising your sails, you tell God, “I’m available! This boat is Yours! Empower me and direct me!”

Imagine how different your life might be if you started your day confessing your sins, depending upon the Lord, raising your sails to be used by Him and allowing Him to work in and through you!

The sailboat is a great illustration of the work of sanctification.

Just like the captain maintains roles in the efforts to sail while being totally dependent on the wind that blows,

we too play a cooperative role.

It is through this cooperation that the Holy Spirit moves us toward a life of holiness.

Being made holy (set apart, pure) is God’s process for redemption…

He desires to redeem us… To free us from the bondage of our sin and brokenness.

To see us move from death to life.

To be brought from one who in unrighteous, and to be made Holy.

It is this life that we were created to experience.

But being sanctified is not about doing everything perfectly in hopes to experience change

It is about knowing the one who has already done it all for us.

And in the deepening of our fellowship with Him, we will change.

We will change because love is contagious…

There were many things I had never done and said I would never do until I met Caroline.

Until we got married…

I had never watched a rom com.

Zukini and Squash weren’t regular foods in my diet.

My music playlist was country and rock, not Disney choir pieces and every now and then a MR WORLD WIDE song to get the party started.

I never used face wash or had eucalyptus in my bathroom.

What also changed was my prayer life- her prayer journaling inspired me.

I was influenced by her love for those things.

But it was because I got to know her and grew to ultimately love her.

And I changed because she loved me.

When we come to know God, recognizing the love He has for us, we will be changed by our fellowship with Him.

But the question begs to be answered in your own heart.

Do you love Him? You may know Him… But do you love Him?

Because when we come to know and love God, and begin spending regular time with Him…

Remember what Paul said in Philippians 2:12-13

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We will begin work our our salvation because of the work that He is doing in us.

And we will be sanctified.

Trust God’s word. Trust God’s timing.

There was a famous artist who had extraordinary skill.

He did paintings, sculpting, and much more.

One day, he came upon a block of marble that had been rejected to be used.

It was in horrible shape. It’s structure looked difficult to work with.

Essentially, it was worthless.

But this artist didn’t care because he saw what it could be, not what it currently was.

After three years of laboring, his sculpture was complete.

*Show picture of David.

Michelangelo saw the finished product instead of the abandoned, abused, and broken stone that he first received, and created David.

God sees you. And He sees what is inside of you, who you were created to be.

And He is doing a work to bring that to pass, and yes it takes time.

But who you are, as a follower of Jesus, is not who you will always be.

So this morning, let us draw near to the hand who isn’t finished with us yet.

Let us trust His timing.

Let us trust Him.

Let us love Him.

Because He loved us first.