Final Glorification, Part 2

Review and Setting Up Practical Implications

0:04 In our Lord's Day morning meditations, we have been examining the teaching of the Word of God with respect to what I have called the cardinal blessings of salvation in Jesus Christ. We come today to our final study, focusing on the rich provision of God's grace, described in the scriptures as sanctification.

0:33 And I have suggested as an organizing principle by way of analogy or illustration that we should think of the biblical teaching concerning this rich provision of grace under the figure of a large mountain with three massive peaks. And if the mountain is the doctrine and provision of sanctifying grace, then the three peaks are the three categories of this gracious work today. of God's sanctifying power. The first is definitive sanctification or sanctification begun. The second, progressive sanctification or sanctification continued. And then finally, climactic sanctification or sanctification completed. And under this third category, or zooming in upon that third mountain peak,

1:30 We noted last Lord's Day from the Scriptures the essence of climactic sanctification, the order of climactic sanctification, and the certainty of climactic sanctification. The essence of climactic sanctification is nothing less than the realization in our own experience

1:55 of that for which we were marked out before the foundation of the world, that to which we were predestined in Christ. And what is that? Well, nothing less than conformity to Jesus Christ, Romans 8 and verse 29. A conformity of the outward and the inward man, to use biblical terminology, the conformity of our entire humanity, to the image of Christ. And then we discovered from the Scriptures that there is an order of this climactic sanctification, an order, first of all, for the majority of the people of God through the ages, which will involve the reception of this blessing in two stages, the perfecting of the Spirit at death, and then the perfecting of the body at the resurrection and the return of Christ.

2:53 And then for the generation alive at the return of Christ, both the perfecting of the body and of the spirit will occur instantaneously at his return. And then we noted in conclusion that the certainty of this climactic sanctification rests upon nothing less than the commitment of the entire triune Godhead to accomplish this lofty goal.

3:21 The Father's commitment is primarily one of immutable purpose and of execution begun. He that hath begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ. The place of the Son is that of an efficacious sacrifice. He died for His church to present His church faultless, a prevailing intercession, and a triumphant mediatorial reign.

3:50 And the commitment of the Spirit to the realization of this goal is nothing less than a commitment of irreversible pledge. He is the earnest, the down payment of a completed redemption, and the commitment of irresistible power. If the Spirit of Him who raised up Christ from the dead dwells in us, He will indeed quicken our mortal bodies.

4:15 Now, having given you the doctrine last Lord's Day, the doctrine of climactic or completed sanctification, what I propose to do this morning is to address myself to the practical implications of the biblical doctrine of climactic sanctification. I am assuming that which was proved last Lord's Day. I am not pausing to go back over the proof. We are standing together upon that rich deposit of biblical texts which we examined last Lord's Day, and we are now, in a sense, asking and answering the question, so what? So what? If it is indeed certain that everyone in union with Christ will realize climactic sanctification, what

5:12 practical implications does that have for us here and now? And as time permits, I want to draw out four lines of thought in your presence this morning with respect to this subject. And the first one is this. A biblically instructed Christian should not be characterized by a morbid fear and dread of death.

Implication One: No Morbid Fear of Death (Hebrews 2)

5:40 Turn, please, to Hebrews chapter 2. In this passage, the writer to the Hebrews says that one of the marks of the non-Christian, at least one who has not totally seared his conscience, is that he lives under the bondage of a morbid dread of death. Hebrews chapter 2, verses 14 and 15.

6:09 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, he himself, speaking of our Redeemer, likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

6:38 And here we have a description of what we would call the normal state of an unconverted man. Now, tragically, a man or a woman can so sear his conscience, so dull his sensitivity to death and to the world to come, that there is very little of this dread of death. But except in such cases, unconverted people

7:02 people live in a form of bondage and slavery through the fear of death. And that fear is well grounded. For according to the Scriptures, their consciences cannot escape the conviction that death is not only the wages of sin, but death is the gateway to judgment. According to Romans 1 in verse 32, the apostle says of pagans who have never seen the lids of a Bible who, knowing the judgment of God, that those who commit such things are worthy of death. And it is not only a dictum of revelation that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment. It is the testimony of every unseared conscience that death is the gateway to judgment. And therefore, non-Christians fear death, and they ought to fear death

8:01 for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But now for the Christian, everything that is penal in death has been removed by the death of Christ. The scripture says that the wages of sin is death. Death

8:23 entered as the result of man's disobedience and came as a judicial punishment from God. God said, In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die. And Adam, who died immediately spiritually, in whose body the seeds of death entered and ultimately died physically,

8:48 Adam is a living monument in all his posterity to the fact that the wages of sin is death. But now the scripture says that our Lord Jesus bore the curse of a broken law. He tasted death for us. And in the language of the title of John Owen's great treatise on the death of Christ, Christ's death was the death of death.

9:17 So that whatever death is for the believer, there is not a gram of the punitive justice of God involved in the death of a Christian. Death is not some kind of a purgatory in which something, yet lacking in the redemptive work of Christ, must be added so that we are fit then to stand before God. And one of the ways God demonstrated this was to take two people to heaven in the Old Testament by passing death. Enoch was not. He walked with God and he was not, for God took him. Elijah never passed through the door of death into the very presence of God. And then the whole generation of those alive at the return of Christ will not experience death. Yet we have seen from the scriptures...

10:15 they will experience climactic sanctification. The perfection of the outward and the inward man, though they never experience death. Now what does that tell us? Well, it tells us that the redemption of God in Christ is complete without the experience of death. Well, how then should we as believers view death? May I suggest

10:44 that we ought to view death as an unpleasant but fatherly discipline by which our loving Father will, in his own time and way, release our spirits to be at home with Christ. A biblically instructed Christian will view the experience of death as an unpleasant

11:13 but fatherly discipline by which his loving Father will, in his own time and in his own way, release his spirit to be at home with Christ. Now that is exactly how Stephen viewed his death. Turn to Acts chapter 7 and verse 59. You'll remember the setting. Stephen...

11:42 is being stoned to death by the angry, unbelieving Jews of his day. And while the stones are pummeling down upon him, bringing with every blow intensified pain and the heightened realization that very soon those blows will result in death, we read Stephen's words in verse 59,

12:12 And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not lay this sin against them. And having said this, he fell asleep.

12:39 How did Stephen view his own death? His death was only a matter of moments away. His death was being brought to pass, incorporating within those factors that were effecting his death, vicious hatred, blind prejudice, cursed unbelief,

13:05 cruelty of the worst kind, death was coming to Stephen dressed in a terribly ugly garb. But he knew who death was. And he said as death approached him, dressed in the venomous hatred of unbelieving Jews, dressed in the stones that came pummeling upon his head and upon his body, he said death

13:34 You can only do one thing for me. You can only be a loving discipline in the hand of my Father to release my spirit to enter the immediate presence of my Savior. And so he said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Now I say there is a man who is biblically instructed concerning the nature of

14:02 and can face death not with the morbid dread and fear of the unbeliever, but with the confidence of the child of God. Peter uses different language, but the same perspective is evident in 2 Peter chapter 1. Anyone who says that the Bible teaches that the apostles taught the so-called any-moment theory of Christ's return, that no events had to pass, before he would come, will have problems both with the Apostle Paul and with Peter. Because God had said to Paul, you will testify of me at Rome. So Paul knew he'd live at least long enough to get to Rome. And the Lord Jesus had said to Peter, when you were young, you did this and this. And when you're old, you're going to be carried where you don't desire to go. This spake he signifying by what death he should glorify God. Peter knew he was going to live to be an old man and he was going to die.

Stephen and Peter as Examples Facing Death

15:01 Now, according to the prophecy of our Lord, Peter refers to his approaching death, beginning now in 2 Peter 1, verse 12. Therefore I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. And I consider it right. Now, notice his language.

15:27 As long as I am in this earthly dwelling to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, even as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made it clear to me, referring to the prophecy recorded in John,

15:52 And I will also be diligent that at any time after my exodus or my departure, you may be able to call these things to mind. Now, he's talking about dying. He's talking about facing an imminent and a violent death. And he describes it in this language, As long as I'm in this earthly dwelling, I'm going to stir you up.

16:19 The time to lay aside this earthly dwelling is coming. I'm going to make my exodus, and I want to leave a legacy of vital truths after I leave. Now, there's a man, you see, who does not face death with a morbid fear and dread, but looks upon it as a change of his habitation. He says, I'm going to put off this earth dwelling, and I am going into the presence of Christ. So that if we understand the biblical teaching concerning climactic sanctification, and though we must join the vast multitudes of the people of God for whom it has come in two stages, if we understand and believe the biblical witness, we will not be characterized

17:17 Notice I didn't say we may not occasionally fall prey to, but we will not be characterized by a morbid dread and fear of death. Ah, but someone says, Pastor, what about the actual experience of dying? Suppose I'm informed that I have a terminal illness.

17:39 Suppose I'm in a situation where it's evident I'm going to undergo great torture and suffering and that my death will be with great pain. Is it sinful or unbelieving to fear the actual experience of dying? No. It is not sinful or unbelieving to experience fear at the thought of the experience of dying.

18:05 Because dying as a human experience is both abnormal and unfamiliar. And anything that is abnormal and unfamiliar and irreversible is frightening. It is abnormal that God who made man or man who was made in the image of God as a body-soul entity should have the soul wrenched

18:34 And that is not pagan language. It is biblical language.

19:04 We do not know what it is like to breathe our last and to have our spirits leave our bodies. And so to have a fear of the actual experience of dying is neither sinful nor unbelieving. But what we must do is to say with the psalmist, what time I am afraid. I will trust in thee, for the Lord has given us wonderful promises to be with us in

19:34 of dying. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Will he be with me in life, only to leave me in the final crisis of life? Or is the word of the psalmist worthy of our trust? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. No biblically instructed Christian should be characterized by a morbid fear and dread of death, though he may have legitimate fears as he actually contemplates or enters the experience of dying. But what of the unconverted sitting here this morning? What of you men and women and boys and girls who are not in union with Christ? You have not come over the threshold of the kingdom of darkness by calling and regeneration.

20:31 You have not been justified and adopted. You know nothing of that definitive sanctification, dying to sin. You are not in the way of holiness, the way of progressive sanctification. My friend, you ought to tremble at the thought of death. For as death leads you, the judgment will find you. And as the judgment finds you, eternity will hold you.

20:59 And if you die unbelieving and out of Christ, you die with the weight of every unpardoned sin upon your own head. And with that weight upon your head, you'll go to judgment. And having gone to judgment with that weight upon you, you'll sink into an everlasting hell. No wonder the Scripture says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Implication Two: Don't Over-Emphasize the Disembodied State

21:30 But it is a blessed thing to wing one's way into the presence of Jesus. But now there is a second very practical implication that grows out of this biblical teaching, and it is this. A biblically instructed Christian should not be content with the hope and expectation of the disembodied state. Now I'll explain my words.

21:59 The disembodied state is that state in which every believer is found until the day of the resurrection. That is, from the moment he dies till the day the Lord returns. Hebrews chapter 12, 23 describes the disembodied state in these words, the spirits of just men made perfect. Or in the language of the Apostle Paul, I desire to depart and to be with Christ.

22:27 which is far better, or the language of 2 Corinthians 5, absent from the body, present or at home with the Lord. Now, in the light of the teaching we established last Lord's Day, I'm asserting that a biblically instructed Christian should not be content with the hope and expectation of the disembodied state.

22:53 It is pagan philosophy and not Christian theology which regards the material world and the body as essentially evil. And the whole idea that the body is the prison house of the soul and the best thing that can happen to the soul is to get out of its prison into the ethereal realm. That is pagan, that is not Christian. Now when this idea acts

23:22 upon Christians, then the devotional language is very top-heavy with the whole idea of the disembodied state being a very desirable state. And so the idea and the language of putting off this carcass, putting off this prison house, putting off this weight that chains me down is very, very strong in certain areas of devotional literature.

23:52 Now there is an element of truth in such language because the Bible does say in Revelation 14, 13, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them. So it is not correct to say that it is a pagan notion to long for the disembodied state.

24:23 long for it. He said, I'm torn between two things, Philippians 1. I'm torn between the desire to depart and to be with Christ, or the desire to stay and remain and labor for the spread of the gospel. So there is a proper sense in which the child of God, burdened down with the pressures and the responsibilities that come to him in the will of God, longs for the rest of the presence of God. But no biblically instructed Christian will be content with the hope and expectation of the disembodied state as though that were the pinnacle blessing of grace. No, no.

25:11 The predominant emphasis of the Bible falls upon the resurrection of the body, the restoration of the integrity of the whole man and the whole woman perfected into the image of God. Notice how this comes through so strongly in the language of the Apostle in Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, beginning with verse 18.

25:41 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Now, what is that glory? Is it the glory of the immediate sight of Christ in the disembodied state? No. He passes right over that as though it doesn't even exist. Though we know from other parts of his writing, he knew very well that it existed. And he even longed for it.

26:08 But he says, verse 19, the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to futility, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

26:33 We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Now here's the climactic statement. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for what? Not the disembodied state.

27:00 waiting eagerly for our redemption, our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for that, we do not see. With perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Now do you see what he calls the Christian's hope? Not the disembodied state. Now here was And who was suffering and suffering greatly. He had just stated that those who suffer with Christ will reign with Christ. And he says that these sufferings are not at all worthy to be compared with the glory that is ours. But when he describes that glory, it is not the glory of the disembodied state. That's an abnormal state. May I say it is a state in which the purpose for which Christ died is frustrated.

27:58 He died that He might perfect us in His image as whole men and women, body and spirit, outward and inward man. And so the great longing of the apostle is not for the disembodied state, but for the glorified body as well as the glorified spirit. And this same perspective comes through as well in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

28:27 Here the apostle has been speaking in chapter 4 of his afflictions as a servant of Christ. And he calls the momentary and light. Imagine, beaten like a common criminal, thrown in dungeons, chased around from city to city like a common pestilence. And he says, well, it's just momentary and it's light.

28:52 And the reason he could say that, according to verse 18, is that he has a perspective in which he focuses his eyes not upon the temporal but the eternal. Now he goes on to speak of his confidence as a Christian. Verse 1 of chapter 5. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groaned.

29:23 longing what? To be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. For indeed, while we are in this tent, we groan. He likens his body to a tent, even as Peter did. We groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

29:52 You see what his great longing is? Not just to put off this old, patched up, moth-eaten, earthly bent, and to be disembodied, to be found naked. He said, I long to put on that eternal dwelling. In other words, his great longing was not the disembodied state, but the glorified body. Now, dear child of God, let me ask.

30:20 Do you find yourself entering in wholeheartedly to that passion of the apostle? You see, there are two ways that a Christian can look upon the problems that arise from this present tent in which he must live.

30:36 He can have the attitude that says, oh, I long to fly away from this tent, to get away from it with its aches and pains and its vulnerability to passions and appetites that lead me into sin. I long to just get rid of it all and to be done. Not so the apostle. His longing was this. I cannot serve God as I ought in this body. I don't want the irresponsibility of just leaping out of this body. I want to have a body with which I can serve God without

31:07 limitations and without any of the problems that now beset me as a sinner in a body that is a body of humiliation. And when I said limitations, I meant creaturely limitations. There will be limitations placed upon it, but not the limitations because of sin. I suggest to you then, in the third place,

Implication Three: Neither Deify Nor Demean the Body

31:33 that the third practical implication of this great doctrine is this, and here I trust you'll put out all your antennae, a biblically instructed Christian should neither deify nor demean his present bodily existence. A biblically instructed Christian should neither deify nor demean his present bodily bodily existence. Here, as in so many other areas, truth is found on a razor's edge. The pagan mentality does not know what to do with the body. Sinners don't know what to do with their bodies because they don't understand what their bodies are. So what happens amongst pagans, either philosophically or practically,

32:30 Well, either they deify the body, making its appetites and its concern a god, that's hedonism, the worship of pleasure, giving the body full reign to enjoy all that it can with all of its fences for as long as it's able to do it, or on the other hand, You have pagan philosophy and practice which looks upon the body as the great enemy of the mental and spiritual progress of the human being. And so you have the curse of asceticism. And the Bible recognizes both evils. Paul says in Philippians concerning certain people whose God is their belly. In other words, they deify their bodily sensual appetites.

33:21 in the book of Colossians, he has to write to people who are going around telling Christians that matter was essentially evil in making all kinds of rules. Touch not, taste not, handle not. And Paul had to condemn it right in the New Testament. You see this thing at work. A deifying of the body on the one hand, a demeaning of the body on the other. But it's the biblical doctrine of climactic sanctification

33:48 An understanding of the place of the body and the purposes of God in redemption that will keep us from both of these pagan errors. Let me enlarge on them by way of application. First of all, we must not deify the body. The seeds of death are in these bodies as a result of sins.

34:13 And even though the experience of death has nothing of a penal nature in it, the seeds of death are now taken over by our loving Father and allowed to work their course as a strange fatherly discipline to release our spirits to look upon the face of Jesus while our bodies go to the grave, still in union with Christ, awaiting the glorious resurrection. Furthermore,

34:43 This body, because of a sinful soul, and listen carefully, the seat of sin is not in the body, but in the soul. But a sinful soul takes advantage of bodily appetites and uses the body as its vehicle to express its inordinate passions and lusts. Romans 6.13

35:09 As you presented your members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, sin has its seat in the soul. Sin barks its orders. Bodily members yield to those orders and become instruments of sin. Now, if that's so, and it is, do you see how unchristian it is for a believer to deify the body?

Don't Deify: Hedonism, Humanistic Health, Body Worship

35:44 And now I'm going to get very pointed in my application. Some of you have allowed yourself to be duped by humanistic theories of health and health care.

36:06 You've read books and theories of vitamins and minerals and natural foods which would lead you to believe that the reason people get cancer and the reason people have hardening of the arteries and the reason you have the breakdown of vital organs is not because of the tragedy in Eden. It's the tragedy of modern food processing. Yes. Yes.

36:36 Yes, you will not find in Adele Davis any word about Eden and man's fall and the wages of sin is death. Now, am I standing here to make a flat condemnation of everything that's written on the subject? of eating well and understanding nutrition? No, for if I were doing that, I would stand here to condemn myself. But what I'm saying is, beware of pagan philosophies which treat the body as though it had in itself the powers of immortality. And if you'd only get the white sugar out of it, and the other carcinogens out of it, why we could begin to all live to be a hundred and then

37:30 120 and 150. My friends, the Word of God says that man's days are three score and ten, and if by reason of strength four score, yet is there pride but sorrow? Don't deify the body in terms of humanistic views of eating and health foods. I'm going to now get a little closer to home.

38:01 Don't deify the body by humanistic theories of birth. Sin has entered the birth process. And God said in Genesis 3.16, as a result of sin, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception. And all of the wonderful books written about the ecstasies of a natural childbirth, and don't call it pain, I'll stick with my birth.

38:35 thy conception. One of the ways sin is at work in our bodies is there are abnormalities in birth. I don't care if you've taken every exercise they tell you to take. You've got the best physician, the best midwife, the best everything. Babies are still, stillborn. They are stillborn with abnormalities. They are stillborn with birth defects.

39:04 It doesn't mean that someone didn't eat right during the period of gestation. It doesn't mean that he didn't squat in the right position at birth. Some of you have been sucked into humanistic perspectives on the body. The seeds of death are there. Furthermore, some of you are spending more time pumping iron than you are on your knees pleading for grace.

39:36 Pumping iron, what's that mean? Well, those who do it know what I mean. You spend too much time getting those biceps from 16 to 17 and the chest from 43 to 45. And if you were honest, you'd see you're spending more time every week pumping iron than you are on your knees pleading with God for advancement in grace.

40:04 fallen under the pagan philosophy which is deifying the body. Away with all humanistic theories of health and of birth and of fawning over the body. Oh, how balanced is the Word of God. Jesus says in Matthew 6, 25, Take no anxious thought for your body. There is a precedence of the inner man over the outer man. What does Peter say to women?

40:34 Whose adorning let it not be the outward adorning of the condition of the hair and jewelry, but let it be what? The inward adornment of a meek and a quiet spirit. It is not pagan to say that the inner should take precedence over the outer. That is Christian. Because the outward man is detained and it's going to the grave.

41:00 So Paul can write to Timothy and say in 1 Timothy 4.8, bodily exercise profits for a little time, but godliness has promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come. Forty-four inch chests get eaten by the worms as much as thirty-seven inch chests. And the maggots will be no respecter of persons.

Don't Demean: Asceticism and the Doctrines of Demons

41:33 There's the other side of the coin on the razor's edge. The person who understands the biblical teaching will not deify the body, but he will not demean the body either. Why? Why, it's part of that which bears the image of God. God has no bodily parts, and yet when he made man in his image, he made him a body-soul-entity.

41:58 And the scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 6.13, What, know ye not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit? This body is the very temple of the Spirit. If I am a Christian, it is the sanctuary of God. Whenever we talk about phase two of our building program, you won't hear the word sanctuary around here too much. Because it's too sacred a biblical word. We may talk about our larger...

42:28 ultimate auditorium. But the sanctuary of God is the body of the Christian and then the corporate body of His people. Now notice, don't you know, He says, 1 Corinthians 6, I said verse 13, I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians 6, 19, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and that you are not your own, You have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. Well, how can a Christian demean that which is a temple of the Holy Ghost? How can he demean that which is part of the instrument by which he brings glory to God? Therefore, a Christian is not indifferent if he is biblically instructed about his external appearance

43:27 He reflects God. Is God a sloppy God? An overindulgent God? Or is God a God of order? Is God a God, may I say it reverently, of modesty? Is God the God of restraint? Well, He is. Well, I'm to reflect God's likeness even in my physical bearing. And that's why a Christian is concerned about His appearance.

43:55 He is concerned about excessive weight. He is concerned that he not knowingly and willfully or out of willful ignorance pump poisons into his body. He is concerned to eat to the glory of God and therefore he takes enough time to know what foods are nutritious and what are not. He is not ignorant and sticks his head in the sand and says, oh well, I just committed all to God and trust Him. No, no.

44:24 He does not demean this body because God has chosen to make it his dwelling place. Now I want you to turn to Timothy to see this beautiful balance. And I've been amazed again in my preparation. And thank God for the balance of Scripture. Paul says to Timothy in chapter 4 of his first letter, 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 8.

44:55 back up to verse 7, but have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. And that word discipline is an athletic word. Enter the gymnasium of true spiritual exercise for the purpose of godliness. For bodily discipline is only of little profit.

45:25 But godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Now you see where the emphasis falls for Timothy? He has ringing in his ears, Timothy, gird up all of your faculties and give yourself to developing strong spiritual biceps and a broad spiritual chest. Give yourself to the disciplines essential to becoming a mighty man of God

45:57 that mean now that Timothy's just to be indifferent to his body? That he's to have the mentality that sin somehow inheres in the body, and the more he can batter the body down and deny its legitimate pleasures and appetites, the more holy he'll be? No, no. If he had any such notion, Paul knocked it in the head in the next chapter. Look, chapter 5, and he says in verse 23, no longer drink water exclusively. No

46:25 Apparently, by conviction or upbringing, whatever it is, Timothy was a known teetotaler. And Paul says, no longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. Now, I'm not going into the whole place of wine. The issue is, Paul says, Timothy, in all of your pursuit of the disciplines of godliness, don't forget your bodies.

46:54 And even if it means you've got to adjust in certain points of conscience before God, do whatever is necessary to care for your body. Now you see the balance. Bodily exercise profits for a little. Godliness is the great thing, Timothy. Well, just as Timothy's about to run off half-cocked with that notion and become an ascetic, Paul says, Hey, Timothy, wait a minute.

47:23 Stop being a teetotaler. Take a little wine for your stomach's sake and you're off infirmities. That's the beautiful balance. We do not demean the body. You know who's the author of all theories that demean the body? The devil. The devil is the author of all such theories. And we read that right in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

47:48 The Spirit explicitly says in the later times some will fall away from the faith, verse 1 of 1 Timothy 3, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own consciences with a branding iron. Now notice, what is this doctrine of demons? Men who forbid marriage...

48:13 The legitimate sensual pleasures of the marriage bed are against the pursuits of holiness, therefore remain celibate. Men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, if you're to be a holy man, you must be a regular faster, you must be a vegetarian, you must be this or that. advocating abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth, for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it be received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. You see, demons and their arch-boss, the devil, hate God.

49:03 And everything that accurately reflects the image of God, they hate. So when there is a person who is obviously seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, pursuing godliness as his great end in life, but who gives proper place to the care and use of his body, So that in his appearance and in his bearing, he reflects the God of order and modesty and restraint. Oh, how the devil hates that. Because he hates the God whose image that kind of a man is reflecting. So he concocts this theory, oh, you must beat down your body. Sin is in your nerve endings. Don't get married. Don't get married.

49:48 is in your taste buds and in your gastrointestinal system, and if you enjoy foods, that's bad. Why, if he can get people going around emaciated and calling God's gifts threats, why, he's cast dispersions upon the God who gave the gifts. That's why they are doctrines of demons. And I want you to listen now, because I have reason to believe that But the enemy is trying to gain some advantage in some of your lives at this very point. The pendulum always moves swiftest through the center of its arc. And some of you in your youthful enthusiasm and appreciation for the doctrine of Christian liberty thought that the fact that all of God's gifts were available to you gave you a license to use them all to the full. And hiding behind the doctrine of Christian liberty, you became self-indulgent and

50:42 There was no self-denial. And God has dealt with some of you. And you see the necessity of self-denial. You see the necessity of putting down bodily appetites that stand in the way of the pursuit of holiness. But you know what's happened? Some of you have begun to drift through the center of that ark. And you've begun to think that God is really more pleased with you when you're fasting than when you're feasting. God really smiles a little more.

51:10 when you're denying a legitimate appetite than when you're indulging it. Now, I want to challenge that head on. My Bible says of my Lord Jesus, into whose image we are being perfected, that He both feasted and fasted. When He feasted, He so enjoyed the feast that the Pharisees looking in through the window said, Ha-ha! We've got Him now. And they went around saying, Grand Republicans and sinners. Glutton and a wine-bibber. We've got him now. Why, they served a seven-course banquet at the house of that man, and he had something from every single course. And when they filled his wine glass, they drank it. Glutton. Wine-bibber.

52:06 Yet the Bible says that after he was anointed with the Spirit, he was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and he fasted forty days and forty nights. Now listen to me. Listen. When the Father spoke out of heaven and said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Let me ask the question. Was he pleased a little bit more when he saw his Son fasting?

52:38 Or when he saw him feasting? Or was his pleasure equal when he beheld him feasting? When he beheld him fasting? Now that's a good test of whether or not you're thinking biblically. Because the Father was as pleased with his Son when he feasted as when he fasted.

53:05 as pleased when he fasted as when he feasted, because he was doing the will of his Father. You see, if we get hold of the biblical doctrine of climactic sanctification that involves the perfection of the spirit and the body of the whole man, then we will not only be delivered from a morbid dread of death, not only by the grace of God, Will we be delivered from that terrible, terrible sin of either deifying or demeaning the body? I want to address myself finally. A biblically instructed Christian, and I'll touch on this just briefly, should not live with crippling discouragement because of his present state of imperfect sanctification.

Implication Four: No Crippling Discouragement

54:00 A biblically instructed Christian should not live with crippling discouragement because of his present state of imperfect sanctification. You see, here's the problem. When the Lord regenerates and calls us and unites us to His Son, places His Spirit within us, He puts that longing for perfect conformity to His law. He puts within us a hungering for that which we shall be one day perfectly like Him.

54:30 And He gives us a desire in these bodies to render to Him unreserved, wholehearted service in conformity to His law. But because of the remains of sin in our spirits, and because of the weaknesses and infirmities of our bodies, we cannot render to God that which we long to render in the inner or outer man, and that which we know one day we shall render. And what happens? Often we become crippled with deceit.

55:01 We become utterly paralyzed. We say, will there be no end to this? Every day having to confess my sins, confess my weakness, is there no end to it? Well, you see, if the child of God is thinking biblically, he thinks like the Apostle Paul did. Right in the middle of that cry of Romans 7, Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God for...

55:30 Through Jesus Christ our Lord. There's a note of triumph. Nestled right down in the midst. Of that wail of discouragement. Wretched man. I thank God. You find the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5. He speaks of his longing to put off this present tense. But twice in verse 6 and verse 8 he says. We are of good courage I say. We are of good courage.

56:00 Courage, I say. In the midst of the groan, there is courage. There is no paralyzing, morbid preoccupation with present inadequacies. And at the end of that great chapter on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, 58, what's his conclusion?

56:18 He says the last enemy to be destroyed is death. He's not destroyed yet, but Christ must reign until he is destroyed in the resurrection of every single believer. Then he says, wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as ye know that your labors are not in vain in the Lord, you can't abound in the work of the Lord when you're crippled with discouragement. Can't do it.

56:47 You're like a hawked horse. Can't run. Can't run. Discouragement is a crippling thing. Well, if I have a hold of this biblical doctrine that I will not forever have to serve Him with remains of corruption, I will not forever have to serve Him in a body that has the seeds of death. If I can say as one saint once said, I am not all that I should be.

57:16 I am not all that I desire to be, but I am not what I once was, and I am not what I shall be. Now, if you just stop with the first two, you're going to be crippled with discouragement. If all you go around saying is, I'm not all I should be, I'm not all I desire to be, I'm not all I should be, I'm not all I desire to be, well, you only got two notes in your banjo.

57:46 And that's the history of some of you. Plunk, plunk, plunk, plunk, year in, year out. Not all I should be. Not all I desire to be. And you spend all your time plunking those two notes in your banjo. And everyone that gets near you hears those notes. And you are the worst advertisement for the Christian faith. Now, thank God in the judgment of charity, I believe some of you are in. But you're sure a poor advertisement for what you have. Not all.

58:16 Add to it the next two if you're a Christian. I am not what I once was. Can you say that? Well, and he who began the good work in you is going to complete it. So go on to the fourth note in your banjo. I am not what I shall be. And in the strength of that confidence, get up and get on with it. And serve the Lord with joy. And serve Him with vigor.

58:44 Because the scripture says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he or it shall be manifested, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Like him how? Perfected spirit, glorified but.

59:15 And then we can drop the first two notes in our banjo. And then we can change the wording in the last two notes. We'll always be able to say, I am not what I once was. But instead of saying, I am not what I shall be, we will then be able to change the last stanza and say, I am now what he predestined me to become.

59:40 when he foreordained me to be conformed to the image of his Son, and I with all of his people will stand in the midst of Christ, the firstborn among his many brethren, all reflecting the family likeness. Now, brethren, if that's our hope, if that's our confidence, then I say it should have these four practical influences upon our lives. We should not be characterized by a morbid fear and dread of death, Secondly, we should not be content with the hope and expectation of the disembodied state. Thirdly, we should neither deify nor demean the body. And fourthly, we should not be crippled and paralyzed with unbelieving discouragement. Who says doctrine is dull? Who says doctrine has no relationship to life? May God grant that the glorious doctrines

Closing Prayer

60:38 of climactic sanctification, will so filter down into every fiber of our beings that we will be a triumphant people by the grace and power of our blessed Lord. Let us pray. O our Father, we stand amazed again.

61:05 When we think of all that has been provided for us in Christ, we confess that it will take a glorified mind fully to comprehend what is even now revealed in the Scriptures. We confess that we see through a glass darkly, but oh, what we see excites us, fills us with holy longings,

61:32 And we pray that the Holy Spirit will so write these truths upon our hearts as to make us a people who manifest the reality of the Christian's hope. We pray for those who are yet in their sins, for whom death holds nothing but the darkness and the horror of a Christless judgment and of a Christless hell. Lord,

62:01 Be pleased, be pleased to make them jealous, to have this confidence that through grace has been implanted in our hearts, and draw them to Yourself. Receive our thanks for Your presence with us, seal Your Word to our hearts, and continue to make this a glorious day in Your presence. And we would thank You, Lord, for this abnormally cool, dry weather. How good You have been!

62:30 day that could have been burdensome to us by oppressive midsummer heat and humidity, and you have sent us such a lovely day. We thank you, our Father. Surely you are the giver of everything.