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2 Peter 3:10-11 KJV "...But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness..."
This is the day of light:
Let there be light today;
O Dayspring, rise upon our night,
And chase its gloom away.
This is the day of rest:
Our failing strength renew;
On weary brain and troubled breast
Shed thou thy fresh'ning dew.
This is the day of peace:
Thy peace our spirits fill;
Bid thou the blasts of discord cease,
The waves of strife be still.
This is the day of prayer:
Let earth to heav'n draw near:
Lift up our hearts to seek thee there;
Come down to meet us here.
This is the first of days:
Send forth thy quick'ning breath,
And wake dead souls to love and praise,
O Vanquisher of death! (TH, 327).
Let there be light today;
O Dayspring, rise upon our night,
And chase its gloom away.
This is the day of rest:
Our failing strength renew;
On weary brain and troubled breast
Shed thou thy fresh'ning dew.
This is the day of peace:
Thy peace our spirits fill;
Bid thou the blasts of discord cease,
The waves of strife be still.
This is the day of prayer:
Let earth to heav'n draw near:
Lift up our hearts to seek thee there;
Come down to meet us here.
This is the first of days:
Send forth thy quick'ning breath,
And wake dead souls to love and praise,
O Vanquisher of death! (TH, 327).
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"...Jesus Christ
demands self-denial, that is, self-negation (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke
9:23), as a necessary condition of discipleship. Self-denial is a summons to
submit to the authority of God as Father and of Jesus as Lord and to declare
lifelong war on one's instinctive egoism. What is to be negated is not personal
self or one's existence as a rational and responsible human being. Jesus does
not plan to turn us into zombies, nor does he ask us to volunteer for a robot
role. The required denial is of carnal self, the egocentric, self-deifying urge
with which we were born and which dominates us so ruinously in our natural
state. Jesus links self-denial with
cross-bearing. Cross-bearing is far more than enduring this or that hardship.
Carrying one's cross in Jesus' day, as we learn from the story of Jesus' own
crucifixion, was required of those whom society had condemned, whose rights
were forfeit, and who were now being led out to their execution. The cross they
carried was the instrument of death. Jesus represents discipleship as a matter
of following him, and following him as based on taking up one's cross in
self-negation. Carnal self would never consent to cast us in such a role.
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die," wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was right:
Accepting death to everything that carnal self wants to possess is what
Christ's summons to self-denial was all about..." (J.I. Packer).
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"...The
way to godly living is surprisingly simple: We are to walk with God in His
appointed way (Micah 6:8), diligently using the means of grace and the spiritual
disciplines, and waiting upon the Holy Spirit for blessing. Note that godly living involves both
discipline and grace. This emphasis upon
duty and grace is fundamental to Reformed, experiential thinking on godly
living..." (Joel R. Beeke,
Feed My Sheep, ed. Don Kistler,
Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, 2002, p. 115).
1.) The Day of the Lord is a Day of Wrath for non-elect reprobates.
2.) The Day of the Lord is a Day of Joy for the elect saints in Christ who is the ETERNAL I AM.
3.) The Day of the Lord is Jesus as a thief at night for the people of God to take them to glory in the realm of Satan's tyranny.
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3.) The Day of the Lord is Jesus as a thief at night for the people of God to take them to glory in the realm of Satan's tyranny.
4.) The Day of Salvation is now: REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL OF GOD!
5.) The Day of the Lord is about being ready for Him at any time.
6.) It is about being prepared no matter what.
7.) Are you prepared for Jesus in standing before Him?
8.) Do you have His unified white robes of His imputed righteousness by the gift of faith?
9.) Are you a vessel of wrath or a vessel of mercy?
10.) Do you possess His unified merit alone or additions to Him or subtractions to Him?
11.) The Day of Joy is the SECOND RETURN of Jesus for the people of God.
12.) We are sanctified by the Triune God.
13.) The Father sanctified us in His Son but through His Spirit.
14.) The gracious act of sanctification involves the union of the Triune Godhead.
15.) There is one God who sanctifies us and we are to understand the distinction of the Three Persons.
16.) We teach the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity.
17.) The Trinity is one God as it is taught in the book of Deuteronomy.
18.) We ought not to make ungodly preferences.
19.) Christ is lovely and gracious but some misunderstand that the Father alone is for justice. However, Christ is just but He is also lovely and gracious.
20.) People also depreciate the Spirit. When it comes to the Trinity they always act in unity.
21.) By their essence, the Trinity is united in their deeds. The Trinity’s love for the chosen is one and indivisible.
22.) This is in the case of sanctification. Sanctification is the work of the Spirit; however, the Father and the Son are not devoid of this work of holiness.
23.) The work of sanctification is the work of the Father, of the Spirit and of the Son. We were made in His image and the Triune God was involved in the creation of men. We are called as God’s workmanship which He ordained that we should walk in them.
24.) God values true holiness because the Godhead wants the church without “spot, or wrinkle or such thing.”
25.) Anyone who stands against holiness of heart is in direct conflict with Almighty God.
26.) Holiness is an architectural plan when God builds His spiritual temple. Scripture speaks of the beauty of holiness.
27.) The only thing that is beautiful is holiness before God.
28.) The devil defiled himself and it violates holy, holy, holy.
29.) The cry of the cherubim is the greatest song the creature offers.
30.) The Trinity accepts this song because God is holy.
31.) Holiness is His choice treasure.
32.) Holiness is the seal on the heart and holiness is the signet ring upon His right hand.
33.) God can’t cease to be holy because He is pure, righteous, and holy.
34.) Those who consider themselves to be followers of Christ are to set a high priority on a godly life and holy conversation.
35.) The blood of Christ is the foundation of our hope.
36.) We ought to never speak disparagingly of the Spirit’s work.
37.) It is our inheritance for the saints.
38.) Prize holiness of life and make it a way of life to hate evil.
39.) Prize it so it would flow in your life as a royal priesthood, a holy nation a peculiar people
40.) We ought to praise Him because He called us out of darkness into a marvelous light.
41.) My intention is to enlarge upon
sanctification in this time. I use the term sanctification as
theologians understand it.
42.) Sanctification in the Bible is understood in
various ways.
43.) We must understand how the Bible uses the term sanctification. It has a wide meaning.
44.) It has been well said that the Bible is not systematically arranged. Systematic divines provide truth for common life.
45.) The Bible is a hand book to heaven. It is a guide to eternity. It is meant for the farmer as well as the scholar in the classroom. It is meant for the small child as well the educated adult. It is meant for the humble and the ignorant man to renew his mind. God has not given us a scientific book but He has given us His own Word for a practical way for daily use and edification.
46.) The meaning of sanctification is the pursuit of holiness.
47.) The Bible is the key book to give us a proper understanding of holiness as a way of life.
48.) The Old Testament helps us understand the New. The New also helps us understand the Old as well.
49.) The
Bible teaches self-interpretation when Scripture interprets Scripture
which was used by the early church fathers to interpret Scripture.
50.) A goldsmith has a rule of a diamond cut diamond and so it must be the rule of divine Scripture.
51.) It must be studied in its own light. The Old Testament uses the word sanctify very often but it is used in three senses. Let us consider the first one.
52.) Sanctification means to be set apart. It means in the Old Testament a setting apart. The legitimate use is for God’s service alone but a life changed by God is never isolated.
53.) It touches and infects all it comes in contact with. The Bible calls it to be sanctified or holy. The book of Exodus says to sanctify unto me all firstborn.
54.) The firstborn of men and cattle are God’s possession but the firstborn of Egypt were destroyed. Levi was set apart for the representative of the firstborn. Levi was set apart to minister day and night. The seventh day in the book of Genesis says it is set apart.
55.) The seventh day was meant to be for rest and to serve the Master. Leviticus 27:14 speaks of the set apartness of a house or a field because it is God’s. The produce of the field on the occupation of the house was set apart for holy use. There was no special thing done but it was set apart for God for sanctification.
56.) In Exodus 29:44 God sanctifies the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. It means it was set apart to be his house which is the special place of his abode. It is where bright light of the Shekinah might shine forth between the wings of the cherubim. It is the precious and glorious evidence where the Lord God dwelt in the midst of God’s people.
57.) In Numbers 7:1 is the setting apart of the altar, instruments and
vessels and the sanctification of Eleazer which kept the ark of the
Lord.
58.) First Samuel 7:1 and Joshua 20:7 speak of appointed to sanctification. It means setting apart holy uses.
59.) In John 10:36 it speaks of sanctification by His Father. Jesus had no sin because someone with no sin could be purged from sin. He was gloriously sinless and had no need of the Spirit’s work against sin because He was immaculate. Jesus was set apart and removed from every dross or corruption.
60.) In
John 17:19 Jesus sanctifies Himself so they may be sanctified by His
truth and He gave Himself in a special way to the service of Almighty
God. He was all about the Father’s business. It was His meat and drink to do God’s will. And the passage in Jude speaks of sanctification by God the Father. He has especially sanctified God’s people.
61.) However, it is not the Father alone but the Spirit who work operatively and effectively in the heart of a believer in Christ. In the decree of election He set a people separated unto Himself forevermore. It was the precious gift of His Son to redeem them so they may be holy. His people are sanctified and set apart among men.
62.) All Christians are already perfectly sanctified in a past tense. The Father in Christ through His Spirit sets us apart. Before creation they were set apart.
63.) We are legally set apart by the purchase of Christ. We are also set apart manifestly and visibly by the effectual calling of the Spirit of divine power, grace and truth. We are at all periods sanctified. The Father sanctifies us unto the Lord forever.
64.) The Day of Fire is the destruction of all by Jesus.
65.) The Sun does not destroy creation but the Son.
66.) There is a redemptive fire and a civil fire.
67.) There is a good fire by the Spirit and a fire unto punishment for reprobates in divine torment.
68.) There will be a new heavens and new earth by Jesus.
69.) Holy conversation is about practicing godly things.
70.) The eternal Son recreates creation into new life like rebirth.
"...The evidence
of genuine piety is to be found in real humility, self-distrust, hungering and
thirsting after righteousness, sorrow for sin, and a continual effort to
regulate your thoughts, feelings, and conduct by the Word of God..." (J.A. James).
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The ends of all the earth shall hear
And turn unto the Lord in fear;
All kindreds of the earth shall own
And worship him as God alone.
All earth to him her homage brings,
The Lord of lords, the King of kings.
For his the kingdom, his of right,
He rules the nations by his might;
All earth to him her homage brings,
The Lord of lords, the King of kings.
Both rich and poor, both bond and free,
Shall worship him on bended knee,
And children's children shall proclaim
The glorious honor of his Name. (TH, 295).
And turn unto the Lord in fear;
All kindreds of the earth shall own
And worship him as God alone.
All earth to him her homage brings,
The Lord of lords, the King of kings.
For his the kingdom, his of right,
He rules the nations by his might;
All earth to him her homage brings,
The Lord of lords, the King of kings.
Both rich and poor, both bond and free,
Shall worship him on bended knee,
And children's children shall proclaim
The glorious honor of his Name. (TH, 295).
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"...On January
12, 1723, I made a solemn dedication of myself to God, and wrote it down;
giving up myself, and all that I had to God; to be for the future, in no
respect, my own; to act as one that had no right to be himself, in any respect.
And solemnly vowed to take God for my whole portion and felicity; looking on
nothing else, as any part of my happiness, nor acting
as if it were; and His law for the constant rule of my obedience: engaging to
fight against the world, the flesh and the devil, to the end of my life..." (Jonathan Edwards).
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