Introduction

A man irresponsibly drinks at a New Year's party, drives off, fails to negotiate a curve, runs onto someone's lawn, and breaks shrubs. He needs the rescue squad for his body and the policeman for his lawbreaking - illustrating how sin creates both legal and personal problems.

but we do well to remind ourselves of it. Our problem is like the problem of a man who, at a New Year's party, wickedly and irresponsibly imbibes too much alcohol. And then he adds to that measure of wickedness and irresponsibility the added dimensions of wickedness and irresponsibility by getting in his car and attempting to drive home. And on the way home, he fails...

5:40 - 6:07 Read in full sermon

A man restored to society needs a good physician for his physical state AND a good lawyer for his legal liability. So sinners need both justification (the lawyer's work) and sanctification (the physician's work).

Now, if he's going to be completely restored to society as a normal man, he's got to have both a good physician to work on his personal physical problems and a good lawyer to go to work for him in terms of his legal problems. Now, before that man can ever walk in society again as a normal functioning human being, both the problem of the court and and of the emergency room, must be resolved. Now, in a little way, that's a picture of God's great salvation in Jesus Christ. When our father Adam sinned, he plunged himself and all his posterity, the entire human race, into a situation in which there...

7:59 - 8:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Reject any preacher who divorces pardoning from purifying, or title to heaven from fitness for heaven.

He critiques those who call themselves 'full gospel' churches by importing resurrection power into time, contrasting them with the church that asserts justification and sanctification together as the genuine fullness of the gospel.

as though the great work of the resurrection is somehow brought back into time, and they call themselves full gospel churches and preachers because they say a gospel that doesn't proclaim present healing of the body is only a part gospel. But no, no, the true full gospel churches are those who embrace with praise clear understanding, and with the deepest sense of felt appreciation, a salvation which not only deals with our profound legal problems, a church that sounds a clarion note with reference to justification based on the imputation of the righteousness of Christ and received by faith alo...

12:37 - 13:26 Read in full sermon

Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her not merely to forgive but to sanctify and cleanse her, presenting her without spot or wrinkle - a husband washing the bride for the wedding day.

and says in verse 25 of Ephesians 5, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for it, that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Now notice this language. But that it should be holy and without blemish. Did you hear that language before this morning? It's an exact parallel to the language of Ephesians 1. He chose us that we should be holy and

21:39 - 22:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Heaven is limited to the sanctified.

Pastor Martin received a letter that very week from a man newly installed as associate pastor confirming the urgency of warning against optional sanctification - giving him fresh encouragement to press the point.

I had a great encouragement to make that emphasis clear this morning when I received this week a letter from a man who has just been installed as an associate pastor in a church in New England. And he wrote saying, I thought you might like the encouragement of knowing that back in 1970 I happened to be in the area and sat in the congregations. And the text you preached on that day was Hebrews 12, 14. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. And though I had made a profession of faith and gone through the motions of being a Christian, I probably was not converted until God that morning took...

47:23 - 48:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop trying to attain sanctification by self-help and self-effort - abide in Christ as the branch in the vine.

As a branch cannot live or bear fruit apart from the vine, no one can be sanctified apart from vital union with Christ - the closing image against self-help holiness.

And there is no sanctification apart from union with Christ. You cannot be sanctified by self-help and self-effort in the ways of self-justification and self-congratulation. You must be brought to see, as with your sanctification, so with your justification, there is in Christ every spiritual blessing, and even the blessing of sanctification is in Christ. And until you are in Him, there can be no sanctification. But in union with Him, all thus join to Him, become a sanctified people. My friend, sitting here this morning, may I press the question upon your conscience. Are you a sanctified man, ...

50:13 - 51:09 Read in full sermon