Pastor Dana Kidder preaching from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28 at Redemption Bible Church in Bellefontaine, Ohio.
Redemption Bible Church
Sanctified Faithfully
The Puritan Thomas Watson. He passed it in the mid-1600s in England. This was a period of great, not only political unrest, but really great religious unrest in Great Britain as well. Thomas Watson is best known for his work entitled A Body of Divinity. And in that book, he deals with various doctrines of scripture that were summarized in the Westminster shorter confession. That was sort of what he was exegeting, I guess. Today, we're gonna be looking at the idea, the concept of sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which God's people are made like him in his holy nature. Now, we'll come back to that in a moment, but Thomas Watson actually helps us understand what that really means when he writes this. He says, sanctification is a supernatural thing. It is divinely infused. We are naturally polluted. And to cleanse, God takes to be his prerogative. I am the Lord which sanctify you, Leviticus 21.8. Weeds grow of themselves. Flowers are planted. Sanctification is a flower of the spirits planting. Therefore, it is called the sanctification of the spirit. Sanctification is an intrinsic thing. It lies chiefly in the heart. It's called in 1 Peter chapter three, verse four, "The adorning the hidden man of the heart." And so Watson says, "The dew wets the leaf. "The sap is hidden the root. "So the religion of some consists only in externals. "But sanctification is rooted deeply in the soul." Psalm 52, 6 says, "In the hidden part, "thou shalt make me to know wisdom." And he says, "Sanctification is an extensive thing. "It spreads into the whole man." And so from today's passage, we'll look at in a minute, we read these words, the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. As original corruption, the fall of man, as original corruption has depraved all the faculties, the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint, no part sound, as if the whole mass of blood were corrupted, so sanctification goes over the whole soul. After the fall, there was ignorance in the mind, but in sanctification, we are light in the Lord. Ephesians 5.8 says, "After the fall, "the will was depraved. "There was not only impotence to good, but obstinency. "In sanctification, there is a blessed pliableness "in the will. "It symbolizes and comports with the will of God. "After the fall, the affections are misplaced "on wrong objects. "In sanctification, they are turned into a sweet order "and harmony. "The grief placed on sin, where it ought to be. "The love on God, joy on heaven. "The sanctification spreads itself as far "as the original corruption. "It goes over the whole soul. "The God of peace, himself, sanctify you completely. "He is not a sanctified person who is good only in some part "but who is overall sanctified. "Therefore, in scripture, grace is called a new man, "not a new eye, not a new tongue, "but a new man," Colossians 3.10. A good Christian, though he be sanctified in part, yet in every part. Sanctification is a progressive thing. It's growing. It's compared to that seed which grows. First the blade springs up, then the ear, then the ripe corn in the ear, such as are already sanctified, maybe more sanctified, according to 2 Corinthians 7.1. Justification does not admit of degrees, right? He says a believer cannot be more elected or more justified than he is. It can't be mostly saved. But he may be more sanctified than he is. Sanctification is still increasing like the morning sun which grows brighter to the full meridian. Knowledge is said to increase and faith to increase. A Christian is continually adding a qubit to his spiritual stature. It's not with us as it was with Christ who received the spirit without measure. For Christ could not be more holy than he was. We have the spirit only in measure and may still be augmenting our grace as a Pelies when he had drawn a picture, would be still mending it with his pencil. The image of God is drawn but imperfectly in us. Therefore, we must still be mending it and drawing it in more lively colors. Sanctification is progressive. If it does not grow, it's because it does not live. Thus, you see the nature of sanctification. So Thomas Watson, a body of divinity. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter five. We're gonna finish this book this morning, Lord willing, verses 23 to 28. Verse Thessalonians five, the last several verses of the book. Verse 23 says this. "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. "And may your whole spirit and soul and body "be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. "He who calls you is faithful. "He will surely do it." Brothers pray for us. Great all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Okay, let's stop and pray here. Father, we're a needy people and our greatest need is Christ. And so I pray that Christ would increase and I would decrease as we look at these verses. I pray that you'd give us what we need this morning and not anything that we don't. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. So as we come to this conclusion of the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians church, the Thessalonians saints, Paul here boils down really the themes that he has been, he's been encouraging them with all through the letter and he boils it down to one major concept which is sanctification. So as this letter, as this conclusion here, this letter's conclusion is really dripping with grace, it's dripping with assurance, really as the whole letter is, Paul is writing to encourage the saints, to encourage toward holy living and assurance regarding Jesus' return. He calls them to continue in the work of the ministry just as they have been faithfully doing. And he writes to push them to love one another from the preachers who lead them to the weakest brother among them who is kicking against unbelief. He writes to once again point them back to Christ. And so he brings this letter to a close with a benediction of peace followed by really three final commands to pay careful attention to the ordinary means of grace, the ordinary ways in which God builds up his church. And then he concludes his final sentence, the final verse in the same place he started. In fact, in the same place his whole ministry started with grace, grace. But woven throughout this entire conclusion is the goal of all Christians, the goal of all Christians, the goal of all discipleship, which is sanctification. And so we see here kind of a formula, if you will, of Christians being sanctified completely, sanctified sovereignly, sanctified mutually, and then finally sanctified graciously. I wanna look at these four now, beginning with what it means to be sanctified completely. Look again at verse 23. This is a benediction, a blessing. He says, "Now may the God of peace himself "sanctify you completely. "And may your whole spirit and soul and body "be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." So earlier at the beginning of chapter four, as he was about to kind of launch into a series of exhortations and commands for the church, Paul had written, he said, "This is the will of God for you, your sanctification." And now he's praying for that very thing. Now, I need to say this, sanctification isn't a word we use in common discussion, typically. It's not a common word outside of church or at least theological discussions. So let me give you that definition again, and then we'll kind of pick this apart a little. Sanctification is the process by which God's people are made like him in his holy nature. Sanctification is the process by which God's people are made to be like him in his holy nature. Sanctification is how we are made Christ-like. Again, I really like Thomas Watson on this. He explained it like this. He said, "It is a principle of grace, savingly rot, whereby the heart becomes holy, and it is made after God's own heart. A sanctified person bears not only God's name, but his image." In other words, sanctification is being conformed to the image of Christ. This is God's desire for all believers, for this is the will of God for you, your sanctification. It's not as though God is just simply up there in heaven, but just hoping that his people will conform to his Christ-likeness. Okay, I've saved you. Now I hope you'll do the right thing. I've saved you. Now I hope you'll become like Jesus somehow. No, Paul is declaring here that God himself is the source of our sanctification. God himself is the source of our becoming like him. So hold on to that thought because we're gonna come back to that. But I wanna point out first, but it's not just simply God that Paul brings up here. He actually says, "The God of peace." Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. Peace is a major part, major piece of the Christian life. It's one of the fruit of the spirit, which means that peace is the outworking of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. But peace has a source, God himself. Remember that apostolic greeting? It's the first thing we say, even before the announcements when I come up here. It's the way that Paul begins all of his letters. Some of them have a little bit different wording, but essentially it is grace to you and peace, grace and peace to you in God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord, grace and peace. He's finishing his, he starts his letters with grace and peace and he finishes here with peace. And then at the very end in the very last verse, grace and both of them are from God. He is the source and the giver of grace and peace. But these days we actually have an extremely weak view of peace. When we think of peace, a good number in this room, probably think of John and Yoko demanding that we give peace a chance. But this peace here is so much more than that. This peace here is shalom. And the God of shalom is not merely the God of no conflict of can't we all just get along. He's not merely the God of a peaceful, easy feeling. Shalom has a much richer meaning. It involves the restoration of the fallen creative order to its former perfection and glory. And God saw and he said that it was good. In fact, when he saw man and he was very good. This peace, this shalom is restoration and salvation. In the whole armor of God, at the end of the book of his letter to the Ephesians, shalom is the gospel of peace. It is the kingdom of God. Romans 14 verse 17 says for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Peace is from God. Well, moving on, Paul is also stressing that God himself does this work of sanctification. And he's stressing this actually in three ways. First, we will be sanctified completely, completely. That means holy with a W. I guess also with H-O-L-Y, but holy completely to the end, to the utmost. That means that there will come a day when our sanctification will actually be finished. It will be completed. Of course, that means that we have a goal. We have a goal that we spend our lives working toward. So, for example, in the case of sexual purity, as he addressed back in chapter four, we are working toward a complete and perfect purity. That's what Jesus meant when he said in Matthew chapter five verses 27 and 28, he said you've heard that it was said, of course, this is the law, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So, this is about the inner recesses of our hearts and minds. And of course, we know, we know that this is only possible through Jesus Christ and his imputed righteousness. His righteousness that he gives to us. This is true for all of our sin, by the way. Whether we're talking about sin that is known, or even the unknown sin, whether we're talking about active sin or the passive sins. We also know that even for the best Christians, whatever that means, even for the best Christians, we will not reach complete sanctification until we see him in glory. Our sanctification will be complete. And then secondly, our sanctification will be comprehensive. Now, don't be distracted in this verse by the whole spirit soul and body phrasing here. There are some who like to argue about the philosophical meaning behind those three. The point is that our sanctification will encompass all of us, our whole selves, our inner self, our outer selves, all of our parts. No part of us will be left unsanctified. So, just as we physically suffer from sin, whether it's our own sin or sin in the world, we will also be completely and comprehensively made holy. That means that one day, when all of this is complete, we will have no more back pain, no more short temper. No more acid reflux, no more diabetes, no more arthritis, no more selfishness. Our thoughts, our desires, our actions are to be holy. We are to be completely and comprehensively blameless. So, we are to be sanctified completely. We are to be sanctified comprehensively. And then third, we will be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This goal is that we will be able to stand blameless at the final judgment. And because the body is in the mix here, spirit, soul and body, because the body's in the mix here, we know that this is about the resurrection. So, the idea here is that at our salvation in the past, when we were saved, when we confessed Jesus's Lord, we were given Christ's righteousness. We were set apart and made holy. He calls us holy. And then throughout our lives, we are progressively made more and more like Christ until he returns when we will be resurrected and stand before him completely and comprehensively blameless, faultless, without blemish. First Corinthians chapter 15, 51 and 52 says it like this. Paul says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed "in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, "for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised "imperishable and we shall be changed." Someone, I don't remember who it was, but someone once said, "Perfect holiness is the aim "of the saints on earth, and it's the reward "of the saints in heaven." Perfect holiness is the aim, it is our goal. And that goal will be attained once we see Christ face to face. This is a radical doctrine, especially these days. Many Christians find it hard to believe that God actually intends complete holiness for us. They'll say things like, and even make bumper stickers, Christians are forgiven, but not perfect. That's a telltale sign of something called, here's another big word for you today, antinomianism. That's ultimately a disregard for God's law, both Old Testament and which as we saw in our study of Leviticus, the Old Testament teaches us, the Old Testament law teaches us what God requires for holiness. It also is a complete disregard for the commands of Christ that we find in the New Testament. Remember, the Great Commission is going to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (mouse clicking) Listen, legalism can be a real problem. I'll just, legalism is a real problem. But antinomianism, I think, is actually a far bigger problem today. Too many Christians have no desire to be holy as Christ is holy. But here in this prayer, Paul is underlining, and this is what we need to see. Paul is underlining God's role in the sanctification of his people. We are sanctified sovereignly, sanctified sovereignly. Look at verse 24, he says it explicitly. He who calls you is faithful, he will surely do it. That couldn't be more clear. But again, the sanctification Paul describes throughout this, it's radical, it is total holiness. And many Christians actually kind of disregard this teaching because it just seems so unattainable. And yet scripture here, it really, Paul is anticipating any objections to that by pointing out that not only are Christians sanctified completely, but also sovereignly. We are sanctified by God. Paul begins by reminding us that our salvation begins with the call of God. He who calls you is faithful. Listen to some calls. Matthew chapter nine, verse nine. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. Mark chapter one, verses 16 to 18. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Again, Luke chapter five, verses 10 and 11. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to the land, they left everything and followed him. John chapter one, verses 48 and 49. Nathaniel said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you're under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathaniel answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. He who calls you is faithful. He who calls you is faithful." Jesus also said, in John chapter 15, verse 16, he said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide. So whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. We can rest, as God's people, we can rest in the fact that the God who calls us will also make us holy. He will surely do it, Paul says. The God who calls us, think of the book of Acts, chapter two is Peter is preaching, and he says, "This Jesus, whom you crucified, and there are people in the room." As he says that, "Who were there? Who were the ones who said crucify him?" He says, "This Jesus, whom you crucified." And what do they say? What do we do? He says, "Repent and believe. Repent and be baptized. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." That's the call. He who calls you is faithful. We can rest in that fact. He will surely do it. That means, that means that God is active in our lives. God is active in our lives. He's not just watching from a distance. God is the primary mover in our salvation. Ephesians chapter one makes this really clear. Verse three, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and on earth. In him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Who's the one doing the work in those verses? It's all God. That's all happening to us. He is actively working in our lives. Now, I've kind of already alluded to this, but at our conversion, at the moment that you have trusted in Jesus Christ, at the moment that you said that Jesus Christ is Lord, at that moment, all Christians receive, let's call it positional sanctification. That means that we are made holy, that we are set apart for Christ through faith. That's in the past. You have been sanctified. You have been made holy. You have been set apart for Christ. When you repented and when you believed in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, he made you holy. In the future, all Christians will receive, I guess, total or complete sanctification as we are brought into glory with Christ when we all get to heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be. But linking these two, your conversion and your glorification, linking those is the Christian life. And it is during the Christian life that we are being progressively sanctified. And the fact that God is doing this work in us should not cause us to downplay our own work of becoming like Christ. So Paul puts these two together in Philippians chapter two when he says in verses 12 and 13, he says, "Therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, "so now, not only is it my presence, "but much more in my absence, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, "for it is God who works in you, "both to will and to work for his good pleasure." So sanctification in our present lives right now involves us working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who is working in us. And it is only the sovereignty of God in our sanctification that allows us to say things like, or I'm sure that neither life nor death, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because God is active in your life. Because God is working in your life. He is faithful. He will surely do it. However, and I hope you can see this, God's sovereignty does not rule out our own effort in our sanctification. God's sovereignty, God doing this work in our life does not mean that we can just sit back and relax because God's doing something. Why do I need to go to church? Because God's doing something in my life. God's changing me, molding me to be like Christ. That's right, and He's using the ordinary means of grace to do it. This is why Paul is pointing out the importance of our ministry to one another in the pursuit of holiness. In other words, we are sanctified completely, we are sanctified sovereignly, but we are also sanctified mutually, sanctified mutually. It's verses 25 to 27, let me help understand this. Verse 25, brothers pray for us. Greed all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. Now, I mentioned this earlier, but there are three commands here that point us to the ordinary means of grace. The ordinary ways in which God builds up His church. So specifically, we're talking about prayer, communion, and the word, the word of God. So I'll explain. Paul starts here with this very simple summons to prayer, a simple prayer request. Brothers, pray for us. The logic here is very easy to understand. The us is Paul and his assistance, I guess, his companions, his co-laborers, mentioned at the beginning of the letter, Sylvanas, that's Silas, and Timothy. They're out doing gospel work. They're out preaching and teaching and establishing and strengthening churches. And they are dependent upon other Christians to support them in prayer. He's gonna give a similar request in almost all of his letters. He says this over and over and over again. Pray for this, pray for that, pray for us. This could be just a simple and general prayer request, right? Hey, pray for me, pray for us. But it's still connected to the sanctification of the saints. See, if God is the one who sanctifies his people, then just as Paul has said all through this letter that he is praying for the Thessalonians, he expects and he asks for them also to pray for him. Just like any of us, there are times in the apostle of Paul's life when he needed prayer. At the end of Ephesians, this is one of my favorite ones. It stands out the most to me. At the end of Ephesians, he asked that the church would pray that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. Even he asks for that prayer, even as he is in prison. He asks for that prayer, even as he is in prison for doing what he's asking them to pray for him to do. Preaching the gospel. Leon Morris has a set of commentaries and he wrote in on this passage. He said he was very conscious of his own limitations and knew his only hope was in God. So quite often we find him seeking the prayers of his converts, those whom he administered to. So here Paul asks for prayer for himself, for Sylvanas and for Timothy, even as he told them more than once that he was praying for them. And remember, we looked last week at the role of the pastors and elders and that one of the primary tasks, I read this earlier from Acts chapter six, one of the primary tasks of an elder, of the elders of the church is prayer and ministry of the word. And so you and me, all y'all as they say, South of here, you and me, we need to be praying for one another. I could say it this way, brothers, brethren, pray for us. Pray for the elders of this church. Pray for us. Pray for the elders' wives of this church. Pray for the deacons. Pray for the deacons' wives. Pray for the Sunday school teachers. Pray for one another. Pray for us. Pray for our families. Pray that we would grow in our holiness. Pray that we would be conformed to the image of Christ. Pray that we would be sanctified. I'm not sure if this is a true story. There are a lot of urban legends surrounding Charles Spurgeon. But the story goes that a group of young pastors came once to visit his church and he showed them around the massive sanctuary. He preached to thousands every week. And after seeing the sanctuary and the sort of the cool big old building, Spurgeon offered to show them the boiler room. These young pastors were not really that interested in the boiler room. Boiler rooms were not pleasant places to visit, especially back in the 1800s in London. They were hot, they were dirty. They were typically located in the basement. During that time, steam was the power source. So boiler rooms were the power houses. They were the driving forces of everything in the building and the church. Well, the word is that this Prince of Preachers, as he's known, he led the young pastors down to the basement where they found about a hundred people praying. This Spurgeon said with a smile, is my boiler room. So whether that story is true or not, we do know that whenever Spurgeon was asked about the secret to his ministry, he had one of the first mega churches in history. Whenever people would ask about the secret of his ministry, he always replied, my people pray for me. That was always his response, my people pray for me. And so as Paul says, brothers, brethren, pray for us. Let me come to this fearsome verse 26. Greed all the brothers with a holy kiss. This is actually pretty simple. This is a call to loving fellowship within the church. It was the practice of early Christians and still is in many places in the Middle East and Europe to greet one another in this way with a kiss. In other places, Paul will connect this holy kiss to the peace and unity of the brethren. So in second Corinthians chapter 13, as he's winding down that letter, he says this, finally brothers rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Today in our society, in our culture, the practice of the holy kiss is shifted to a good stiff handshake. Occasional hugs, occasional, I'm stressing, the occasional hug. This is about the communion of saints with one another. That's what this is about. This is about sweet, joyful fellowship of the saints. Greet one another with a holy kiss. This is about the spirit of Acts chapter two. Verse 44 says, "And all who believed were together and had all things in common. They were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. They were taking care of one another. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved." This is the beauty of the Lord's Supper and the communion we share in Christ. Our fellowship, our fellowship, the word is Koinania. There's not many Greek words you need to know, but that's one of them. The fellowship of the saints, the communion of the saints. Our fellowship sanctifies us. Our brotherly love and affection for one another. Our love and care for one another sanctifies us. This is one way. One way in which we practically obey God's law, right? Love the Lord your God, love your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Really care for one another. Fellowship, communion. And then one other way in which we are sanctified mutually, is seen here in verse 27. He says specifically to the church at Thessalonica, I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. This is the ministry of the word of God. And the ministry of the word must be honored and made central to the life of the church. Paul is writing this very forcefully. He's writing this very forcefully. The word of God, even just the reading of the word of God is vital to the sanctification of believers. The word of God should be central to the life of the church. During the Reformation, one of the things the Reformers did, literally central to the worship was the Eucharist, the Supper, and they would be an altar central in the church. So when you walked in, you would see the table, the communion table center was the centerpiece of the sanctuary. And one of the things the Reformers did was say, no, that's important. The Lord's Supper is important, but the word of God is what is central. And they moved the altar to the side, or in some cases down lower, and they put the pulpit back central. And sometimes you go in and you see a Bible prominently displayed. We actually have a couple of the, I don't know if they're original, but a couple of the really, really old Bibles that used to be on the table at our old Logan'sville Christian church building. Those great big, heavy, massive Bibles. So that when you walk in, this is the reason why this pulpit is I think the original pulpit for the church, Logan'sville. And we had one that was very nice, but didn't have the history that this one has. I got this out of, it was, I found it in the other building. Like, had it in my office for a while and just admired the look of it. I finally got it out and put it up there. Not because there's anything, I mean, these are just, these are pieces of furniture. But it represents something. I use an actual Bible and not a tablet or something. Not because I'm opposed to that, but because I want you to see the turning pages. To know that this is central. We need to know these things. The word of God needs to be central to our worship. The ministry of the word must be honored and made central in the life of the church. Even just the reading of God's word is vital to the sanctification of believers. So first Timothy chapter four says this, command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, Paul says to Timothy, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy. When the council of elders laid their hands on you, practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing, you will save both yourselves and your hearers. How? How is that true? Well, God said in Isaiah 55 verse 11, he said, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I said it. God's word is powerful. It is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. And God's will accomplish what he intends to accomplish, and he will use his word to do it. And when you consider these ordinary means of grace here, these things that we are called to do, and yet these are also ways in which God sanctifies his church. When you consider putting these things together, you begin to understand how sanctification is a work of God. He uses prayer. He uses the communion of the saints. He uses his word. It is a work of God. In fact, it is a gracious work of God. And so we are sanctified graciously, verse 28, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Paul concludes here with a final and quick little benediction, a quick little blessing that's focused on the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The reason that we conclude our services each Sunday with a benediction like this, a benediction from scriptures, because this is both a blessing and a promise. This is a blessing and a promise. The promise, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. That's also a blessing for us. And so just as we begin with that apostolic greeting of grace and peace, we conclude with a promise of God's grace with us. It is true that Christ has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. It is also true that he has promised to complete in us the good work of sanctification that he began. And he will do this because of and through his grace. Jesus said when he issued the great commission, he said, "And lo, I am with you always "to the end of the age. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. "That is a blessing and a promise. "O to grace, how great a debtor, "daily I'm constrained to be. "Let that grace now like a fetter "bind my wandering heart to thee. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. "Pray with me. "Father, thank you that you have not. "Left us or forsaken us. "That you have given us your word. "In these days, as the author of Hebrews says, "you have given us the prophets of old "and you have given us Jesus Christ. "You have sent your only begotten Son "who has promised to be with us, "who has not left us alone but has given us the Holy Spirit "as a seal and guarantee of our salvation "until we acquire possession of it, "until we are glorified, "until the sin that so easily entangles us "is finally and fully and completely "and comprehensively cast off, "removed by the work of Jesus Christ, "until we stand with you in glory. "Father, remind us each day as we leave here "of the grace that is with us in Jesus Christ. "Father, as we come to the table to eat "and drink and so proclaim his death, "we come with thankful hearts, "knowing that it is Jesus who died for our sins, "brought us into his family, into your family, Lord. "You have adopted us through Jesus Christ, "and you have promised to never leave us or forsake us. "And so, Lord, we long for Christ's return. "We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.