Sermon nuggets Fri Oct 23
Theme Prayer for the Disciples
Verses John 17:17-19 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Purity
Sanctification means to set apart. One can be set apart for a special task or purpose. One is to be set apart for holiness. One is to be separate from the ways of the world.
The prayers of Jesus to His Father ask that these men be sanctified. They are being prepared for Gods’ righteousness wisdom, power and character. Notice how they are sanctified--by the truth. Jesus prays, “Your word is truth.” As you study the Bible you are in the process of being purified by it. Someone said, “As the pages of this book become dirtier your life will become cleaner.”
Acts 13:2 “While we were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
As Jesus was sent out to glorify the Father, so now the disciples are sent out to glorify the Son. They are to touch their world and communities with the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus prays for us the indirect result is that we be changed so the world may believe.
We see in our world today a vast departure from purity. We see state after state establishing marriage between homosexual couples. We see dramatic increases in pre marital and extra marital sexual relationships. The profanity on TV is not longer limited to late nights. In spite of the statistics of damage to our society alcohol, gambling, and drug abuses increase. We see greed, cheating, lying abounding in the economic world. We see huge fraudulent cases coming to the surface. We see politicking at its worse. We are experiencing such a change in the value systems of our nations that you cannot call it Christian values any longer.
The call to purity begins with the church. Christians do not show measurably a different life style than the world. I am afraid we are not just saints who sin, we are saints that show very little holiness. We need sanctification. We need real change that does not come from the government.
The disciples glorified their master by imitating Him in the world. They were changed from the inside out. A cured patient can bring glory to his doctor. A teacher is honored by his pupil when he obeys and follows through in his studies. An athlete honors his coach by putting into practice what he has learned. Disciples bring honor and glory to Christ in that same way. When we are cured, obedient, follow through on our studies, put into practice what we have learned we grow in sanctification. Jesus is glorified through His disciples by carrying out the character and the work to which they are set apart. They do so in telling and living the truth of the Word of God. With every fall there is forgiveness, renewed humility and empowerment to keep the main things before them, namely the glory of Christ and the sharing of the message to the lost world in word and in deed.
The task, we will discover, is far greater than any 12 men can do. Jesus prays for them as it begins with them and is spread to and through his church. That is the topic for next week’s thoughts on the prayer of Jesus.
Pastor Dale
