Sanctify them through Thy truth.
The sanctification of the saint’s
I. AN OBJECT DEAR TO CHRIST.
1. He prayed for this on earth. Prayer is always the sign of earnest desire for another’s good: how earnest, then, must have been that desire which could bid back the onrush of sorrow from Gethsemane, &c.
2. He died for this upon the cross (John 17:19). Christ died for something more than the erasure of the penalty due to man from heaven’s statute book. Christ had His eye on men’s recovery to purity and truth, and their entire consecration to God (Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 2:14).
3. He pleads for it in heaven (Hebrews 7:25).
II. A GIFT SOUGHT FROM THE FATHER.
1. The reason of this
(1) Every good and perfect gift is from Him (James 1:17).
(2) The work of making holy belongs essentially to the realm of the supernatural (Exodus 31:13; Leviticus 21:23; Ezekiel 37:28; Zechariah 4:6; Acts 20:32; Jude 1:1).
(3) The grace of purity God distinctly desires to see reproduced in man 1 Thessalonians 4:3).
(4) The gift of holiness He has expressly included in the promise (IsaJe 31:33; Hosea 14:5; Zechariah 10:12).
2. The comfort of this. If God be the Author and Giver of sanctification, then it must be
(1) Freely given (James 1:5).
(2) Faithfully pursued (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
(3) Successfully accomplished (Philippians 1:6).
III. A WORK EFFECTED IN THE TRUTH.
1. The knowledge of it. Hence growth in grace keeps pace with growth in the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18), and that knowledge identified with eternal life (verse 2).
2. The belief of it. Sanctification and belief of the truth are at least coordinate if the former does not spring from the latter (2 Thessalonians 2:13), since the word of God effectually works in them who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
3. The love of it. Before truth can exercise its rightful sway over the life, it must be enshrined in the affections. Hence love of truth is essential to salvation (Psalms 119:47), and the absence of it the cause of judgment in them that perish (2 Thessalonians if. 10).
4. The obedience of it (1 Peter 1:22; Romans 6:17). The new life of grace ever moves in the sphere of truth.
IV. A QUALIFICATION REQUISITE FOR CHRISTIAN WORK (verses 18, 19). As Christ had a mission, so have His saints.
1. Resting on a similar authority, as the Father sent Christ, so Christ sent His apostles (John 20:21; Matthew 10:16), and His followers now Matthew 5:16, Matthew 28:18; Philippians 2:15).
2. Possessing a similar object. As Christ’s mission aimed at the world’s salvation, so does theirs. As Christ revealed the Father’s name, so under Him they are to bear Christ’s name (and in that the Father’s) unto the Acts 9:15; 2 Corinthians 3:3).
3. Demanding a similar consecration. As Christ was sanctified by the Father and sent into the world (Psalms 40:6-8; Hebrews 10:5-7), so can Christ’s servants only discharge their mission in proportion as they are consecrated to the will of their Leader.
Lessons:
1. Is sanctification a matter of interest to us?
2. Are we asking God to begin, carry on, and complete it?
3. Are we bringing our souls into close and frequent contact with the truth?
4. Are we remembering the mission for which we are sanctified? (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
The sanctification of the disciples
I. THE FORCE OF THIS PRAYER. Sanctification in its simplest meaning is the setting apart of a person or a thing from a common to a holy use. In relation to men it is the weaning from self, sense, and sin, and the devotion of head, heart, and hands to the service and glory of God. The blessing asked for involved
1. Moral transformation. There were elements of evil in their nature to be rooted up, principles of pride to be overthrown, prejudices to be subdued, and selfishness to be destroyed. The economy in which they had been trained dealt with sanctification in an outward sense; but Christ turned their thoughts from such symbolic consecration to the sanctification of their thoughts, desires, and affections. This work was already begun in them--the expressions used by our Lord regarding them inform us of this fact--but they were not completely sanctified.
2. Official consecration. They were to be chosen vessels, meet for She Master’s use. The official consecration rests upon the moral, and this is secured through the truth of God. Mere ecclesiastical ordination is valueless, where it is not based on personal holiness, and where it is not preceded and accompanied by a spiritual consecration to the service of Christ in the gospel.
II. THE MEANS OF THIS BLESSING. “Through Thy truth.” We are not to understand that God’s dealings in providence have not a sanctifying influence (Hebrews 12:6). David, and many after him, could say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” Yet it is only as the strokes of affliction make the truth more impressive, that they exercise a sanctifying power. Mere trouble has no natural tendency to purify. It simply puts men into a position suitable for thought and reflection, so that the living word of God is brought more fully to bear on the soul. The truth of God sanctifies
1. By the discoveries which it makes. Light is ever pure and purifying. Where there is ignorance of God and Divine things, there can be no true purity of heart. God’s Word. It reveals God’s grace (2 Corinthians 4:6), our fallen and ruined condition, and brings life and immortality to light. Converse with these truths must tend to weaken the power of sin, and withdraw the heart from the dominion of the world.
2. By the motives which it conveys. There is not a motive which can touch the human heart, whether of love, gratitude, or holy desire, that is not conveyed in the truth of God, and brought to bear on men through the doctrine of the Cross.
3. By the authority it exercises. To the Christian all duty may be summed up in the one grand duty of imitating Christ and walking in Him. The gospel comes to us with the tender gentleness and majestic persuasiveness of infinite love, and says, “Be ye followers of God as dear children.”
4. By the prospects it unfolds (1 John 3:3). (J. Spence, D. D.)
Our Lords prayer for His people’s sanctification
I. WHAT HE ASKED. “Sanctify them.” By this He means
1. Dedicate them to Thy service. Such must be the meaning of the word when we read, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself.” In the Lord’s ease it cannot mean purification from sin, but consecration to the fulfilment of the Divine purpose. “Lo, I come to do Thy will.” Under Jewish law the tribe of Levi was ordained to the service of the Lord, instead of the firstborn Numbers 8:17). Out of the tribe of Levi one family, Aaron and his sons, were sanctified to the priesthood (Leviticus 8:30). A certain tent was sanctified to the service of God, and hence it became a sanctuary; and the vessels that were therein, the fire, bread, oil, animals, were all sanctified Numbers 7:1). None of these things could be used for any other purpose than the service of Jehovah. We are not the world’s, else might we be ambitious; we are not Satan’s, else might we be covetous; we are not our own, else might we be selfish. We are bought with a price, and hence we are His by whom the price is paid.
2. Those who belonged to God were separated from others. There was a special service for the setting-apart of priests, dedicated places and vessels. The Sabbath-day, which the Lord hath sanctified, is set apart from the rest of time. The Lord would have those who are dedicated to Him to be separated from the rest of mankind. For this purpose He brought Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, and Israel out of Egypt. The Lord saith of His chosen, “This people have I formed for Myself.” Before long this secret purpose is followed by the open call, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate,” &c. The Church of Christ is to be a chaste virgin, wholly set apart for the Lord Christ: His own words concerning His people are these, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Those who are sanctified in this sense have ceased to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; they have ceased to run with the multitude to do evil; they are not conformed to this present evil world. There are some, in these apostate days, who think that the Church cannot do better than to come down to the world to acquire her “culture,” and conquer the world by conformity to it. This is contrary to Scripture. The more distinct the line between him that feareth God and him that feareth Him not, the better all round. It will be a black day when the sun itself is turned into darkness. When the salt has lost its savour the world will rot with a vengeance.
3. This word means also the making of the people of God holy. Holiness is more than purity. It is not sufficient to be negatively clean; we need to be adorned with all the virtues. If ye be merely moral, how does your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees? We ought to reach unto a life and a kingdom of which the mass of mankind know nothing, and care less. This prayer of our Lord is most necessary, for “Without holiness”
(1) No man shall see the Lord.
(2) We shall be unfit for service.
(3) We cannot enjoy the innermost sweets of our holy faith.
II. FOR WHOM HE ASKS IT. Not for the world outside. This would not be a suitable prayer for those who are dead in sin. Our Lord referred to the company who were already saved.
1. These chosen ones were sanctified, but only to a degree. Justification is perfect the moment it is received; but sanctification is a matter of growth.
2. They were to be the preachers and teachers of their own and succeeding generations. How shall a holy God send out unholy messengers? An unsanctified minister is an unsent minister. Only in proportion as you are sanctified can you hope for the power of the Holy Spirit to work with you, so as to bring others to the Saviour’s feet. A whole host may be defeated because of one Achan in the camp; and this is our constant fear.
3. Furthermore, our Lord was about to pray “that they all might be one;” and for this holiness is needed. Why are we not one? Sin is the great dividing element.
4. Moreover, our Lord finished His prayer by a petition that we might all be with Him, that we may behold His glory. Full sanctification is essential to this. Shall the unsanctified dwell with Christ in heaven? Shall unholy eyes behold His glory?
III. OF WHOM HE ASKS IT.
1. Our Saviour calls God “Holy Father,” and it is the part of the holy God to create holiness; while a holy Father can only be the Father of holy children, for like begets like. This santification is a work of God from its earliest stage.
2. The truth alone will not sanctify a man. We may maintain an orthodox creed, and it is highly important that we should, but if it does not touch our heart and influence our character, what is the value of our orthodoxy?
3. Every work of the Spirit of God upon the new nature aims at our sanctification. Yea, all the events of Providence around us work towards that one end; for this our joys and our sorrows are sacred medicines by which we are cured of the disease of nature, and prepared for the enjoyment of perfect spiritual health. All that befalls us on our road to heaven is meant to fit us for our journey’s end.
IV. HOW SANCTIFICATION IS TO BE WROUGHT IN BELIEVERS. Observe how God has joined holiness and truth together. There has been a tendency of late to divide truth of doctrine from truth of precept. Men say that Christianity is a life and not a creed: this is only a part truth. Christianity is a life which grows out of truth. No holy life will be produced in us by the belief of falsehood. Good works are the fruit of true faith, and true faith is a sincere belief of the truth. But what is the truth? Is the truth that which I imagine to be revealed to me by some private communication--by voices, dreams, and impressions? No; God’s word to us is in Holy Scripture. All the truth that sanctifies men is in God’s Word. This being so, the truth which it is needful for us to receive is evidently fixed. You cannot change Holy Scripture. Learn, then
1. How earnestly you ought to search the Scriptures.
2. The one point of failure to be most deeply regretted would be a failure in the holiness of our Church members. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christian sanctification
I. ITS NATURE
1. The original meaning of the word is to set apart to God; and this is its ordinary meaning in the Old Testament. We mean by it to make holy, its frequent meaning in the New. So, then, sanctification may describe either the purpose or the process of the Christian life.
2. It is easy to see how the first meaning passes naturally and necessarily into the other. Perfect consecration would be absolute holiness.
(1) There is no native holiness in man or angel apart from conformity to God and obedience to His will. God alone is holy in and of Himself; the source of our sanctity, like the spring of our life, is in Him.
(2) On the other hand, consecration is the sinner’s way to holiness. God claims our devotion, and our transgressions do not relax our obligation to be His. Nor must a sense of our unworthiness hinder our response. His purpose is by acceptance of the unworthy to make them worthy. Thus under the Old Testament things having no moral character become holy when given up to Him. The purpose of a man’s life determines the character of that life. The temple sanctifieth the gold, and the altar the gift. God’s service hallows the man who gives himself up to it.
3. It was to impress on His disciples the connection between consecration and sanctification that Christ spoke of sanctifying Himself.
(1) In an important sense our sanctification can only be contrasted with His. At no part of His life was He holier than at another. He grew in wisdom, &c., but not in holiness. The child Jesus was as pure in spirit as the man; and His devotion as perfect in the Temple as on Calvary.
(2) But in an equally important sense Christ’s sanctification is the example and motive of ours. We may not be able to do as He did the Father’s work, but in the measure in which we are devoted to God we may have His joy fulfilled in us. We may not be able to consecrate ourselves to God with an intelligence as clear and a purpose as single as was His; but we can be His with a loyalty and love like that with which the disciples followed Christ. And in the measure in which we do this will the energy and sanctity of Christ’s life be reproduced in us.
II. ITS MEANS. The truth of God.
1. The perfect devotion of Christ to the truth is our warrant for expecting sanctification by it. It was His inspiration and joy, His safeguard against temptation, and His support in the agony of the Cross. What results may we not expect from that which called out such a passion and loyalty in the Saviour? If we could feel the truth as He felt it our lives would be like His. The sanctifying power of the truth explains His satisfaction that He has brought His disciples into some acquaintance with it.
2. It is far too narrow an interpretation to say that by “truth” He meant to contrast inward spiritual sanctification with the formal ceremonial sanctifications of the Jewish law. Ceremonialism is not the only unreality of which Christians are in danger. We need to be guarded against identifying sanctity with an exalted state of feeling, or supposing that its energy lies in our own resolves. There was no lack of elevated devotion and firm resolve in those who here were “ready to go with Him to prison and death,” and we know the result. But the truth which Christ had imparted to them abode, the seed of a higher life, and the power of their recovery. Not self-contemplation nor self-culture is the way to holiness, but the contemplation of the living word of the gospel.
3. Holiness is conformity to the will of God, and that will is sure to become supreme over the character of Him who accepts it. Think of the educating power of truth. The man who studies historic truth becomes a historian, his mind being moulded into the historic type. The student of science becomes quick to apprehend natural causes and to trace the operation of natural law; so he who surrenders himself to the gospel will become a Christian man, his life being stamped with a Christian character, and owning the inspiration of God. It is not we who hold the truth, but the truth that holds us.
4. Consider, too, the confirmation of faith which every true believer is continually receiving in the practical experience of life. The scientist verifies his theories by experiment; if his theory is right, the experiment turns out as he expected. So with the statesman. We, too, who make the great venture of faith, find that Christ’s promises are fulfilled. He tells us that by believing in Him we shall have remission; we believe and are saved. He says, “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” &c. We believe, and the maxims of the world loose their hold upon us, its satisfactions lose their charm, and its fear dies away. The experience of the whole Church has endeared and confirmed the doctrine of Christian sanctification.
III. ITS SPHERE--the world (John 17:18).
1. As antagonistic (John 17:11-14).
2. As the object of a mission. We are not here by sad mischance or inevitable accident. “As Thou hast sent Me,” &c. The lessons of Christ’s consecration have to be repeated in ours. The Church is His body, the direct channel through which the saving power of the gospel is to flow in upon the world. This mission helps to explain the largeness of Christ’s promises and of the Church’s privileges. We can never apprehend the meaning of the Christian calling when we contemplate simply the perfection of individual believers; we must ponder also the Divine influence we are to diffuse as “salt,” “light,” “cities on a hill.”
3. As thus helpful in developing Christian character.
(1) Antagonism is needed to build up a manly piety. Truths easily acquiesce in lose all the power of truth. We do not feel the energy of our faith save as we have to defend it. Where would be the room for the exercise of meekness, patience, self-sacrifice in a society when all was favourable to us?
(2) Large acquaintance with the activities of life provide us with the means of spiritual advancement. Christian experience is but human experience interpreted and controlled by Christian faith. We must look the world in the face, as Christ did, aware of the struggle before us, but with an open heart of sympathy ready to catch the spirit and learn the lessons of the times. It is only as we do His work in the world that we shall be kept from the evil. Christian usefulness goes hand in hand with spiritual advancement. Growth in sanctification, like all growth, is not alone the development of force from within, but the appropriation of element from with-out. To this end “all things are ours.” (A. Mackennal, D. D.)
Consecration
(Text and John 17:19)
I. THE SAVIOUR’S PURPOSE OF REDEMPTION. “For their sakes,” &c.
1. Here you have the motive of Calvary and of all that Christ does--the production of spiritual character. Other motives there are and other results. In the Cross Christ shares and so ends the curse; destroys estrangement, and brings us nigh; gives the consolation of life and death; reveals God. But the main thing is here. We are not delivered from sin till we are enfranchised from its power. Forgiveness sets us at liberty for salvation. It is not where we are in this world or the next, but what we are, that is the main thing.
2. The style of character that Christ aims at reaching--consecration. Now hardly any one thinks of it.
(1) The whole object of many is to become faultless, and they may pursue this end as selfishly as any other, in order to reach complacency. But you gain but little if you merely destroy your faults. Many who plume themselves upon reaching the sinless state have but little to boast of, for their virtues are simply vices, tied like Samson’s foxes, by the tail.
(2) Not mere self-culture, to Which others direct their energies, the development of the easier and pleasanter virtues, but self-surrender is what Christ wants, every faculty laid on the altar, the heart alert to serve its God. And what is this but the service of man? What you do to the least of mankind you do to the greatest God. Live for another and your life expands.” The greatest of all achievements is when we give ourselves to God, not saying that anything we have is our own.
3. That they may be consecrate as He is consecrate. The word never had its full meaning till Christ used it here. It means all the stooping to Bethlehem; the spirit that accepted Calvary is what Christ calls consecration. There is no believer in man like Jesus. He expects us to have the same mind that was in Him. God’s life is self-sacrifice; and in the degree in which we are lifted up into that life, that character marks our lives, and Christ’s aim is fulfilled. But in the degree in which we are void of that, we are void of the essential element of the Christian life.
II. THE INSTRUMENT THROUGH WHICH CHRIST EXPECTS THIS CHARACTER TO BE DEVELOPED--the truth.
1. None of you find fault with the word being put here, but you would not have put it here. We would have put “grace” or “Holy Spirit,” some word indicating a dynamic energy changing the soul. But truth seems to so work through the mere intellect that it hardly occurs to us to look at it as the secret of consecration. The fact is we are indifferent to truth. Our more orthodox brethren think that we have got enough of it, and need not go on investigating; are rather afraid what the truth of science may bring out, and Biblical criticism constrain us to believe; shrink from its investigation lest something may turn out to be true that would not be helpful. And our broader brethren are equally satisfied with the mist on the face of things, not pursuing to definite conclusions the light with which God visits them.
2. Now Christ believes in truth very wonderfully. He utters the paradox that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, because He guides into all truth. None but Christ would have said that. We think the Comforter is He who gives sweet illusions and hides naked realities. Nay, naked reality is consolation of the deepest kind. Here Christ is on the same line. Truth is the great sanctifier. There is no ray of truth that ever came from the Father of lights that does not hallow the heart on which it falls. It is not make believe that will give you sanctity.
(1) The truth about God. Every attribute you behold engages your love, quickens your trust, makes you wish to serve Him.
(2) The truth about Christ, His work, love, humanity, Godhead, intercession, &c., is all quickening.
(3) The truth about man. Oh, if we could have it, and see man in God’s light--something lovable in the worst, something saveable in the lowest--how it would take away our despair, engage our service, quicken ourlove. Every error of life springs from an error of thought. A lie is the root of all evil.
III. THE POWER THAT IMPARTS THE SANCTIFYING IS GOD. Has not this been lost sight of? What we want is God in us. It might have been thought that Christ should have said, “That they may consecrate themselves.” No, we can only get the hallowing truth from God. Who else can teach it? Not Biblical dictionaries or revival hymns. He who inspired the truth must Himself interpret it. (R. Glover.)
Sanctification through the truth
I. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SANCTIFICATION AND TRUTH.
1. In the Old Testament sanctification is usually, although not always, external; in the New it is pre-eminently internal. The supreme self-consecration of the will of Jesus on the cross fixes the idea of Christian sanctity. Of this sanctification the instrument is truth. By “truth” Christ means a body of facts having reference to God and the highest interests of men. The truth differs from opinion in that it does not admit of contradiction, and it also differs from large districts of knowledge in that it refers to a particular subject matter. In one sense all fact is God’s truth. Facts of physiology, history, mathematics, are parts of that body of facts which are in harmony with and issue from the Master of this universe; and the conquest of any one truth on any matter has a moral value. But no man is sanctified by the study of the differential calculus, or the spots on the surface of the sun as such; and unless he brings to those studies a disposition to study the Author of the universe through the works of His hands the result will be purely intellectual. But this disposition will make all research sanctifying.
2. It is important to insist on this connection between truth and high moral improvement in view of the idea that morality is independent of religious doctrine, and that, consequently, what a man believes is of little importance. But can morality be in the long run obeyed, unless some doctrine be revealed as to the origin and authority of the law? No doubt the truth of the moral teaching of the decalogue is attested by the necessities of social life; but this is because the author of revelation is the author of society. But if morality had to make its own way, would it hold its own by virtue of those necessities? Here and there you might, no doubt, have real excellence divorced, if not from any creed, at least from the true creed--as in a Seneca, an Antoninus, an Epictetus, but how would it fare with the people? Is it not, taking the average, the rule that a man’s morality tallies with his creed? For what is moral excellence but good living, the proper government of the conduct, affections, and will? What is at the bottom of this? The sense of obligation? But obligation to what and to whom? This question cannot be answered in the same way by a man who does, and by a man who does not, accept the faith of Christ. A man who believes in a philosophy which makes man his own centre will have a different idea of morality from the man whose centre is God. The two, e.g., will conceive quite differently of such a virtue as humility. In short, human beings are so constituted that their moral improvement is bound up with the convictions they entertain respecting God and their origin and destiny.
II. HOW THE TRUTH SANCTIFIES.
1. By putting before us an ideal of sanctity. The man of action, like the artist, needs an ideal. Outside of revelation there have been such ideals, but they have been vague and varying, and have failed to supply the demands of even the natural conscience. But in Christ we possess a perfect ideal of sanctity; and by giving the record of one life spotless and consecrated the truth affects thousands for good in degrees which fall short of sanctification; and it sanctifies those who, with their eyes fixed on this typical form of excellence, ask earnestly for the Holy Spirit, whose work it is to take of the things of Jesus, and to show or give them to His own.
2. By stimulating hope. It gives every man a future. Where there is no such hope sanctity is impossible. A certain amount of high moral culture is possible, from a perception of the importance of certain virtues. But sanctity implies concentration of purpose, and this is impossible without a distinct goal and a reasonable prospect of attaining it. It may be argued that it is a nobler thing to cultivate virtue for its own sake; but the reward of goodness is not something distinct from goodness. In obeying moral truth in the form of duty we are obeying moral truth; in the personal form we name God. “I will be thy exceeding great reward.” Spiritual work is its own pay, and the eternal reward is but the anticipation of the satisfaction which arises in doing it. But granting all this, He who made us knows that in our weaker moments we need that leverage of hope which His revelation supplies. The horizon of time is too narrow to supply any adequate object. “If in this life only we have Christ,” &c. But let a man be “begotten unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus,” and he has with him a motive power which will make him at least desire to be holy. “Every man that has this hope in him,” &c.
3. As being a revelation of the love of God. Love has a power of making men holy. Hence the power loving men and women have over the depraved. Now revelation is the unfolding of Divine love, and the measure of that love is the death of Christ. A revelation of justice may produce despair, but a revelation of love which respects justice takes the heart captive. “Sanctify” is the response which the heart makes to unmerited mercy.
Conclusion:
1. This connection between the truth and sanctification is not a theory, but the experience of every Christian in some degree.
2. If we know anything of the sanctifying power of truth we should desire that others may know it too. (Canon Liddon.)
Sanctification through the truth
Here is
I. A COMMENDATION OF THE WORD OF GOD. If we could suppose a man saying, “It is not God’s word! It is not the truth!” we have an answer in the words of Christ: He declares it to be the truth of God; and we may safely suppose that “if it were not so, He would have told us.” But the Scriptures areal. Professedly the truth. We might here direct our attention to the whole of the Scriptures; and remark on the unity of design kept up by so many men writing in different ages, and without the possibility of concerting their plans. We might appeal to the predictions, and their fulfilment--to the promises, and their accomplishment--to the various miracles wrought, by which nature was called in to attest its truth. People may say that there are difficulties in the way of the Christian faith; but there are a thousand times more difficulties in the way of not believing. From all this we might say, without looking at its internal evidence, its moral effects, “Thy Word is truth.”
2. Perfectly the truth.
(1) Its doctrines are perfectly adapted to man, and to the whole of man--to all his circumstances, to all his obligations. They enlighten his understanding, form his judgment, and enrich his heart. Here is pardon for his guilt--righteousness for his unworthiness--purity for his depravity--strength for his weakness.
(2) It has in it a perfect adaptation to the whole state of man: it attends him through life; it visits him in death; it accompanies him to the grave; it furnishes him with glorious anticipations; it goes with him to the bar of God, and into the eternal world.
3. The most important truth. Other things are true; a person who reads of the heavenly bodies or studies natural philosophy and what is made known may be all true. But all these are truths of an inferior description. The Scriptures place us in immediate contact with God and all that relates to time and to eternity.
4. Independent, majestic, all commanding truth: that is, truth connected with a kingdom which is “not of this world,” which reduces men to a level with each other, with which man has no interference. It comes from God; it contains not the sentiments of Moses, of the prophets, &c.
it is the Word of God.
5. The only truth. Men may question its truth and excellency, but none have ever attempted to bring the Koran or the Shasters and place by its side! No; it is like Aaron’s rod, and will swallow up all their enchantments. No; they who would deprive us of this truth would leave us without any communication from God!
II. THE IMPLICATION WHICH THE TEXT CONTAINS. An agency is implied here--without which the means would be vain. This agency is spoken of in the preceding chapter as “the Spirit of truth.” He is so
1. On account of His inspiration of the truth. “Prophecy came not in old time,” &c.
2. As He carries on His general operations by revelation. We have been acquainted with man in all the various stages of civilization, but we have never seen anything like sanctification where there is no revelation. Some persons, when they speak of missions, are very apt to say, “Oh, when the Lord’s time to evangelize the nations is come, He can do it!” Yes; and He will do it by His own means--by His Word of truth.
3. On account of the Holy Scriptures being the standard by which He works. He does not lead into fancies and conjectures; but brings us to this standard, that we may judge whether what we have received is the truth or not. Many suppose that to depend on the Spirit’s influence leads to wild and enthusiastic imaginations; but it is to the truth that He leads.
III. THE END DESIGNED TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE MINISTRY OF THIS DIVINE WORD. Three ideas are conveyed. 1: Separation. It calls a man from his former purposes and pursuits. Man, by nature, is a violator of God’s law; this is taught him with the greatest effect by the Word of God. “The Word of God is quick and powerful,” &c. It leads him to exclaim, “What shall I do? Where shall I flee?” And then the Word says, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate.” He comes out, asks for a place of safety, seeks provision for his soul, and through the Word finds repentance and remission of his sins.
2. Purity. Infidels in general have bowed respectfully to the purity of the Bible. It would be easy to prove that every part of this book--its doctrines, its promises, its precepts, have “Holiness to the Lord” written upon them. But I would rather show how the Word of God sanctifies.
(1) By its realization. Whoever believes the Word of God, and participates of the truth as it is in Jesus, is brought into a new state.
(2) By its associations. It brings the mind into contact with its God, and this cannot but purify.
(3) By its teaching about sin and salvation.
(4) By the end it sets before us--God’s glory in this life, and heaven in the life to come. “He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.”
3. Designation. Christians are set apart
(1) To dignified and important characters. When God says to sinners, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate;” He says also, “I will be a Father to you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters.”
(2) To most interesting services. To support the cause of truth; to live for the truth.
(3) To particular trials.
(4) To special and wonderful deliverances.
(5) To immortality and eternal life. (Isaiah Birt.)
Sanctification through the truth
I. THE NECESSITY OF SANCTIFICATION--inasmuch as
1. It forms part of salvation which is not merely deliverance from sin and its punishment, but deliverance from its power and dominion, to a resemblance of the Divine nature.
2. It is corresponding to the Divine character. There is no view of God more evident than that He is a God of holiness; that sin is that abominable thing which He bates.
3. God commands it. This is to be found in every part of the Divine record.
4. It evidences our faith and union to Christ. Faith without purity is vain.
5. It is for the advancement of God’s glory and the interests of Christ’s kingdom. It is not to be expected that anything but a holy Christian can be beneficial.
6. It is necessary for the peace of our minds. Without purity there can be no peace.
7. It qualifies us for the heavenly kingdom, We must be like God if we would enjoy a hereafter.
II. SANCTIFICATION TO BE REAL MUST BE
1. Universal. It must extend to the whole man, to the thoughts, words, and actions, to the affections and desires of the heart, and to the outward conduct. It is not for us to say, I am partly sanctified. The work of the Spirit of God is not confined to this part or that, but the whole man is brought into subjection to Christ.
2. Progressive. It proceeds from small beginnings to a great increase. It is just like a grain of mustard seed, scarcely perceptible at first, but it goes on till it becomes a great tree. It is thus that it operates on the heart and mind; upon the whole outward, as well as upon the whole inward man.
III. SANCTIFICATION IS GOD’S WORK. We cannot bring a clean thing out of an unclean. It is His work, not merely at the commencement: the Great Artificer must be at the laying of the foundation stone; and not only so, but superintending and assisting to the close, from the first to the last, through all the intermediate steps, till we arrive at the fulness of the stature of perfect men in Christ Jesus--till we be translated into the world of purity, where no sin is to be found. This is shown by God’s Word, and the experience of the people of God. They know that their own efforts are fruitless and unavailing unless God be with them.
IV. GOD SANCTIFIES BY THE TRUTH. The truth has a tendency to sanctify
1. By the discoveries it makes to us. Where there is ignorance of Divine things there cannot be much purity. It reveals
(1) God’s character in a way fitted to solemnize the mind.
(2) The whole truth of our fallen and lost condition, and responsibility, and weakness, and guilt, and condemnation.
(3) The all-sufficiency of Christ, and His finished salvation.
(4) The Spirit--His sanctifying influences, and of the means of our being brought under their power.
(5) That the pure in heart alone shall see God, and that without holiness no man shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Now no thinking being can ponder all this without feeling something of the influence that these truths are fitted to produce.
2. By the motives it presents to us. It appeals
(1) To our sense of right.
(2) To our ambition for dignity.
(3) To our fears.
(4) To our hopes.
(5) To our gratitude.
(6) To our love.
3. By the examples it exhibits to us. It was customary with the ancient philosophers to have the walls of their schools adorned with the images of the illustrious in former times, that in contemplating them their disciples might be led to admire their originals, and be stimulated by their exertions and attainments, and led to transcribe the graces by which they were adorned into their own characters. And we have recorded in the pages of inspiration the lives of several of God’s people for the same reason.
Conclusion:
1. Are we using this word for the purpose of sanctification?
2. What degree of sanctification do you possess? (T. Brown, D. D.)
Sanctification by means of the truth
I. THE BLESSING FOR WHICH CHRIST INTERCEDED--sanctification. This work is
1. Divine. The Holy Spirit implants the first principle of holiness in the soul, and by His continued influences it is maintained and strengthened. “Not by works of righteousness,” &c.
2. Internal. The chief seat of man’s moral disease is the heart. It is necessary that these springs of action should be purified before true holiness can be exhibited in the life.
3. Practical. The heart being changed, corresponding effects will be seen in the conduct. Holy principles will lead to holy practices.
4. Progressive. It is compared to the progress of light. “The path of the just,” &c. At one period the Christian may resemble the tender blade; at another, the ear; till, under Divine influence, he appears as the full corn in the ear, ripened for glory. But though the work of sanctification is progressive it is not always uniform. There are seasons when the path of the Christian is like the sun in a dark and cloudy day, and others when it appears bright and cheerful. Sometimes he may resemble the corn checked by the frost of winter, and at others the same corn revived by the gentle showers and warmer influences of the returning spring.
5. Will eventually be complete in the happy abode of “the spirits of just men made perfect.”
II. THE MEANS BY WHICH SANCTIFICATION IS PROMOTED.
1. It is by the Word of truth that the work of sanctification is commenced. By this the mind is first enlightened and the heart renewed. The entrance of it giveth light, and while it enlightens it animates and purifies.
2. The Word of God is the perfect standard of holiness. It presents a right rule of action, adapted to every period and circumstance in human life.
(1) All its doctrines are calculated to promote holiness. Are the people of God “from the beginning chosen to salvation”? It is “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Are they “called”? It is “with a holy calling.” Are they “reconciled to God by the death of His Son”? It is “that they may be presented holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight.” Will they eventually be glorified? They will “receive an inheritance among them that are sanctified.”
(2) The precepts of the Word of God are in harmony with its doctrines. “As He who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy.”
(3) To encourage us in the pursuit of holiness the promises of God’s Word are given. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,” &c. “Having therefore these promises,” &c.
3. The Word of truth presents most powerful motives to the pursuit of holiness. It appeals to the best feelings of the renewed heart. The love of Christ shed abroad in the heart renders sacrifice easy and duty delightful.
Conclusion: We may learn from the subject
1. The absolute necessity of holiness.
2. The importance of acquiring correct and enlarged views of Divine truth, and of earnestly seeking the influences of the Holy Spirit to enlighten the mind and to sanctify the heart. The Word of truth and the Spirit of truth are inseparably connected.
3. The importance of self-examination, and the awful condition of the unsanctified professor. (Congregational Remembrancer.)
Thy Word is truth.--By truth is meant that which sustains, answers expectation, and never disappoints; which is ever found to be consistent with reality. Falsehood or error, on the other hand, is that which is empty, vain. It does not sustain; it disappoints, and does not correspond with the real.
1. The truth concerning the external world, its phenomena and laws, is that which represents what really is, what may be relied upon.
2. So with the truth concerning the internal world of mind.
3. The truth concerning God.
4. The truth concerning our relation to God. By the word of God is meant
I. ANY REVELATION OF GOD. A word is a revelation, an outward manifestation of thought. In this sense creation is a word of God. And all that it makes known of Him--His ways, character, will--is truth. It accords exactly with what God is, and what it teaches may therefore be relied on. The world is not a phantasm, but what it reveals itself to be, and never disappoints those who rely upon its teachings. The foundation of this reality is that it is God’s word, and must be studied as such.
II. THE REVELATION OF GOD IN THE SCRIPTURES. In that sense the text means that the Scriptures are true. All they teach concerning God, man, the Person and work of Christ, the future life, &c., is true. Everything conforms to what is real, and may be relied on. Those who assume the Scriptures to be true, and act upon them, will attain the end they promise. Those who assume that what they teach is false, and act accordingly, will find out their mistake. Conclusion: It is an unspeakable blessing
1. To know what is truth and where it may be found.
2. To have the truth made accessible to us. (C. Hodge, D. D.)
God’s Word Truth
1. This is one of Christ’s many testimonies to the integrity of the Scriptures. What is the value of that testimony.
(1) Does He speak as man? If so He was in a better position for knowing the truth of the Old Testament than “modern critics”; and if He knew, as they profess to know, that the ancient record is partly fictitious, then this wholesale authentication is an impeachment of His own integrity. If He did not know, and accepted the truth of the Scriptures on trust, then He was credulous and forfeits our confidence in Him as the supreme Teacher and Guide. But His fearless championship of truth, by lip and life and death, forbids us to suppose that He said, “Thy Word is truth” without good grounds, and what He believed we may safely hold.
(2) But He spoke as Divine; and if the Word of God were not truth, as of so many other matters, He “would have told” us. How believers in Christ’s divinity can reject this testimony is marvellous.
2. The Bible is not simply true, but the truth, and embraces under the promise of the Spirit of Truth, New and Old Testament alike. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved” by Him; He guided the apostles “into all truth.” God’s Word--I. HAS ITS ORIGIN IN TRUTH. God is its author. He knows everything, has no interests to serve in perverting the truth, and by the laws of His own Being “cannot lie.” What He reveals, therefore, must be as it really is, and what He has revealed is in the Bible. And as a pure fountain will send forth a pure stream so the Bible, being God’s Word, must be true. A good man will tell the truth as far as he knows it; and shall we doubt the same power in God?
II. ITS SUBSTANCE IS TRUTH It contains
1. True doctrine. As far as nature goes it coincides with the teachings of nature, contradicting them nowhere: which is a presumption that when it goes beyond nature it is still on the same line of truth.
2. True morals. The ten commandments command man’s universal assent, and the Sermon on the Mount forms the only true basis of society, and true society will be one day constructed on that basis.
3. True history, and corroborative evidence is being discovered year after year.
4. True poetry. No better interpretation of nature and man’s higher moods is to be found than in the Psalms.
5. True promises. How many millions have verifed them.
6. True threatenings--the Flood, Sodom, the Jews, &c.
III. IT REVEALS HIM WHO IS THE TRUTH.
1. All the Old Testament points to Christ.
(1) He is the Truth of its symbols.
(2) “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
2. The Gospels are the story of His life, and show how He was the Truth in
(1) His character;
(2) His influence;
(3) His teaching;
(4) His death. “To this end was I born,” &c.
3. The Epistles expound various aspects of His truth, making Him the centre and inspiration.
IV. ITS OBJECT IS TO MAKE TRUE MEN.
1. Men true to God, to self, to man; in the home, business, society, state, Church.
2. Lovers of the truth.
3. Disseminators of the truth. (J. W. Burn.)