HE CAN SANCTIFY YOU WHOLLY

The All-Sufficient One can make you wholly with His enablement. He can sanctify you wholly without any blemish. It is impossible with your own effort. With God nothing shall be impossible.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is within God’s reach to make you pure, to make you sanctified and to make you qualified for Heaven. Those who are unholy will miss the rapture. They only have this world to inherit. For those who have Heaven as an inheritance, the qualification is sanctification. Until we are preserved according to Paul’s prayer, blameless, without spot or wrinkles, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is not for us. We are expecting His coming on the condition that we are blameless.

The All-Sufficient One can make you live a holy life, through His power. He is the God of peace. Sanctification is the act of God’s grace through the power of the Spirit by which the affection of men are purified and alleviated from sin and the world for a supreme love for Jesus Christ. Your love is not complete when you are in sin. The qualification is not by speaking in tongues, not by pretending to be saved and walking like the children of God, talking like them, dressing like them, behaving like them but for you to have an encounter with God, giving you the grace to live above sin. The real visa to Heaven is sanctification.

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION?

It is to separate for sacred use. God will not use an unholy vessel. He will only use clean, holy sacred and sanctified vessels. We are all happy to be used of God and God will not use us until we are holy, and He is willing that we are holy. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says it is the will of God for you to be sanctified. God is interested in your sanctification. It is His will and He wants His will to be done in your life. He wants you to live your life to please Him. You can not do this without separation. You have to separate yourself from the world or rather you are in the world but not of the world. You need to separate yourself and this will lead to holiness.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18:

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separated, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

You have no Father in Heaven if you are a sinner. A sinner without salvation or a sinner that is saved but continues in sin has no Father in Heaven. When you deny godliness

and say it is not practicable, God understands your problem. He understands our weaknesses but He is the One demanding holiness from us. He says He is willing to do it through you only if you are willing to surrender to Him. If you know it is not practicable with your own effort, you are able to depend upon His grace. The Bible says His grace is sufficient for you.

Isaiah 52:11:

“Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.”

God specifically called twice that we should not touch unclean things. If we belong to Him, He does not want the devil to share us with Him. There should be no neutral ground. God demands complete obedience to Him. God will depart from you if you refuse to depart from sin.

Samson forgot these lessons. He embraced sin and at the end of the day, he lost his fellowship with God. You cannot fellowship with sin and at the same time enjoy the fellowship with God. You can not dwell in sin and expect the grace of God to abound. When we are talking about sanctification, we are talking about complete obedience.

Leviticus 10:1-2:

“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.”

Two ministers of God brought a strange fire on the altar of the Almighty God. They were sons of Aaron. God is not only a merciful God, He is also a Consuming Fire. These ministers had committed one sin or the other yet they wanted to do their job as if nothing had happened. God will not tolerate this. He sent His fire to consume them. There was no room for repentance because I believe God had been speaking to them but they were not willing to change. They died because the wages of sin is death.

2 Corinthians 7:1:

“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

We have a lot of promises His second coming, the Marriage of the Lamb, the millennium reign with Christ on earth, the peaceful reign – all this promises will not come to pass if you are not sanctified. We will only achieve these promises on the condition that we perfect holiness and the fear of God.

Matthew 5:8:

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

The Bible says the heart of man is desperately wicked and until that heart is changed there is a problem. We all know we are going to leave this world. We all know we are pilgrims going to Heaven and I pray we shall make it in Jesus’ Name.

Acts 26:18:

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

Your eyes must be open. God must turn you from darkness to light. You can not be dining at the table of the devil and at the same time be dining at the table of the Lord. You have to choose whom you will serve. For you to have inheritance with the sanctified people, it calls for you to be sanctified.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SANCTIFICATION

It makes anointing for success in every area of our lives to flow freely. The anointing will break the yoke of poverty and the yoke of sickness. Every yoke in your life will be broken in the Name of Jesus Christ. The anointing to see you through depends on your being sanctified. Anointing to prosper will come as a result of your obedience to God. Whatever you lay your hands upon shall prosper, not to talk of the spiritual assignment God has given you.

Hebrews 1:9:

“Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

The secret of promotion and of success in the secular and in the ministry depends upon your living a sanctified life. You must love righteousness. You must hate iniquity then God will now vindicate you. God will anoint you and the oil will never dry in Jesus’ Name.

There are many that have been used of God but because of one sin or the other, spiritually, they are dead while they are alive. The anointing is no more there. The shouting will be there, the gymnastics will be there but God is no more there.

How do you bring God to the scene? It is through holiness. God will come when you live a holy life. You must hate iniquity. You must love righteousness. It is then you will become a vessel unto honour.

2 Timothy 2:21:

“If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”

You must do the purging. You need to purge yourself for you to be a vessel unto honour. The One we are dealing with sees everything. There is nothing you can hide from Him. You can pretend to your pastor but you cannot pretend to Him because He sees you. He is the Omnipresent God.

How again are you going to purge yourself?

2 Timothy 2:22:

“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

You must not believe the false doctrine about sanctification that if you are really sanctified you can sleep besides the opposite sex to test whether you are really sanctified. This is a lie of the devil. The Bible says you should flee. Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. You are not wood, any way. For the devil not to have his way, you are to flee.

Another importance of sanctification is that prayers will be answered wherever you go. If you live in sin, God says He will not answer your prayers. Psalm 66:18:

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”

You are wasting your time by fasting or praying in sin. At the end of the day you will have nothing to show. There will be no testimony and there will be no breakthrough. In Isaiah 1:15-16, some people prayed but God refused to answer because they were praying in sin. You need spiritual cleansing in order for your prayers not to be hindered. In other words, you need to be sanctified before your prayers will go straight to God. Sanctification makes you to resemble God because the adamic nature will be removed for the nature of God. We were all born in sin and it comes automatically but there is a power that saves and sanctifies from sin.

In Genesis 2:19, God called on Adam to name all the animals and the names he gave to them were without correction. Adam had the nature of God at that time and what he did was without any correction. God said those were the names that He intended to use. When you are living a holy life, you resemble your Father. You are proud to be called His Son and He is proud to call you sons and daughters.

1 Peter 1:16:

 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

” You must be holy. It is then that the world will know that there is something in your life they ought to emulate. If there is no difference, it shows you are denying the power of God to make holy.

Leviticus 19:1-2:  

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.”

He did not speak to the Gentiles or to the Egyptians but to the Israelites. We are the spiritual Israelites. As our God is holy we too must be holy. Hebrews 2:11:

“For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,”

You resemble God when you are sanctified. God is not ashamed to call you His son or daughter. The One who sanctifies and the people that are sanctified are one. Because they are one with Him, they understand Him and they are working with Him. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Are you one with God in holiness? As sons resemble their fathers, we need to resemble our Father in Heaven.

God will sanctify on the condition that we are willing to be sanctified. God is to sanctify us and we are to be willing to be sanctified. We know it is possible to be sanctified despite all the temptations and trials. John 17:19:

“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”

He has done his own part for us to be sanctified. He want us to understand that sanctification is possible. Sanctification is not for sinners who have not known the Lord. Only those who have been saved will be sanctified. God has done His own part, we are to do our own part. Leviticus 20:7-8:

“Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am am the LORD your God.

And ye hsall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the lord which sanctify you.”

You are now to keep His statutes. He will give you the grace in Jesus Name. Paul was used to a certain exercise to keep himself sanctified. Acts 24:16:

“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.”

He was constantly going through this exercise in order to make Heaven. To have a clear conscience, you need to carry out the exercise everyday. You must carry out the exercise everyday through examination of your life, your relationship with human beings and your relationship with God. If there is anything wrong, immediately confess and get right with God. Do not indulge in sin.

HOW TO BE SANCTIFIED.

1. By divine surgery. Ezekiel 36:26:

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”

Before a new spirit will come, you must have a heart of flesh. It is then you will not be thirsty of sin and when the devil comes to tempt you, you will pass. If you have already been defeated because your heart is a heart of flesh, you will quickly yield to temptation. There is nothing wrong within temptation. The fact that the devil is tempting you does not make you a sinner but when you fail to pass your test, that is the trouble. The root of sin must be uprooted.

2. By the word of God.

Jesus prayed for the disciples in John 17:17:

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

You need the word of God every time. God wants to speak to you on that verse that you think you know. Every word is inspired of God. Every word is anointed of God. Every word is full of life. The level of your sanctification is determined by the knowledge of the word. You can not be sanctified without the word. Do not believe you have arrived because you have read the Bible thirty times. Read it again. Allow the word of God to saturate your life.

Psalm 107:17-20:

“Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.”

There is power in the word of God and it is through that word that we can be sanctified. That is why Sunday School is not for children in this church. No matter your age, you are a student of the word. You need it because as you study it, you become sanctified. Having heard the word you want to pray for the grace to abide in the word.

3. By the Blood of Jesus. 1 John 1:7:

 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Hebrews 9:22:

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

Jesus was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. So through that Blood we are sanctified.

MAINTAINING A SANCTIFIED LIFE

Sanctification should be a continuous experience. You can not say you have been saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit and not need anything again. After you are saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit, you need to increase the level of your sanctification. Sanctification is an encounter you must pursue for the rest of your life because without holiness no man shall see the Lord.

Genesis 17:1:

“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect,”

God told Abraham to continue walking before Him. Do not just walk for a season or for a time. Maintain the walk. Make sure that you are on the narrow path that leads to Heaven. At any time you find yourself on the broadway, quickly adjust because there is no repentance in the grave.

There are examples of people who lived sanctified lives in the Bible. An example is Noah. Genesis 6:9:

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”

Amos 3:3:

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

God will not agree with you on your own platform. You are to agree with Him. In Him we live and move and have our being. We can not live without Him and we can not even live in Heaven without Him. We need Him every day of our lives here on earth.

Genesis 39:9:

“There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

Joseph ran away from sin. The promotion that the world will give you that will not make your life to be fulfilled spiritually will create anxiety. You know you can not compare the promotion this woman wanted to give to Joseph with the promotion that was ready for him. If you take your stand for God and walk with Him, you will not be disappointed here on earth and in Heaven, you will be blessed. You need to maintain a sanctified life. God is willing to sanctify us. The provision has been made but it is for us to accept the offer and to know that it is possible to live a sanctified life.

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