Well, good evening and welcome once again to our short church service.
Let me begin with words that we find in 1 Peter chapter 1.
Words that speak hope to suffering Christians, reminding them, reminding us, of the true identity that is ours in Christ.
So listen to how the letter begins, verse 1 and 2.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, exiles, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.
And then in chapter 2, he says of this suffering, struggling church,
you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession,
that you may declare the praises of him who called you of darkness into his wonderful light.
Now, we're going to read together in our Bibles from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
Again, it would be helpful to have a Bible in front of you, but the words should also be on the screen so that you can follow along.
We're thinking again about the Holy Spirit in the believer's life.
And here we're thinking about the Holy Spirit and his work in sanctifying.
And we'll think about that in a moment.
So 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
Let's hear God's word together.
As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God as in fact you are living.
Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
It is God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality,
that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honourable,
not in passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God,
and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.
The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins as we told you and warned you before.
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being,
but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Now about your love for one another, we do not need to write to you,
for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
And in fact, you do love all of God's family throughout Macedonia.
Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,
and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.
You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,
so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders,
and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Goals matter for motivation, don't they?
If you're listening and you're a student or a pupil,
you will know that it's really hard to be motivated without the push of final exams.
It's really hard to do your best without a teacher who's checking over your work,
if you're in homeschool.
And we see it in the life of athletes as well.
They are on those gruelling schedules.
They make sacrifices and they push their bodies through the pain barrier
for the sake of glory and championships.
And it's really hard for them to keep motivated when there is no sport happening.
As a Christian, if you are a Christian,
I wonder if you know what is the goal of your life.
What is God's goal for your life?
There's a wonderful little phrase in verse 3 here.
God's will for you and me is that you should be sanctified.
What does God want for us?
Sanctification.
So what is that?
And what does it have to do with the Holy Spirit
who we've been thinking about for the last few weeks?
Well, sanctification is one aspect of God's grace to us in Jesus Christ.
It is part of his ongoing work by the Holy Spirit
so that more and more we are living free of sin
and we are becoming more and more like Jesus.
That's a progressive work of Christian maturity,
of growing in holiness.
So unlike justification, which is 100% God's work,
God declares a believer to be in right standing with him,
righteous in his sight because of the finished work of Jesus
and because of God's grace that applies justification.
So we're justified in Christ and that's all God's work
and we receive that freely as a gift.
The sanctification is 100% the work of the Spirit in a believer's life
and 100% the work of a believer working out our salvation.
So this is an area where we are involved in work.
So the Christian life, and the Bible is really clear about this,
the Christian life is about fighting and striving.
So the Holy Spirit is guiding us towards God's goal, holiness,
sanctification, becoming more like Jesus.
But we have to fight, we have to strive, we have to work,
to obey, to kill sin, to believe the truth.
Jenny Bridges, who's written a very helpful book called
The Pursuit of Holiness,
it says that God has made it possible for us to walk in holiness,
but he has given us the responsibility of doing the walking.
So we are to aim for holiness,
but we do that fuelled by faith in Jesus.
We pursue godliness,
but we do that empowered by the Spirit.
So we work as God's Spirit works in us.
So let's use 1 Thessalonians 4 to begin to see how this works.
So first of all,
the Holy Spirit guides us in holiness.
You look at the first couple of verses here.
What is Paul saying to these new Christians?
He says,
So you are pleasing God.
Now we ask you and urge you to do this more and more.
So you are pleasing.
Go on and do it more and more.
Your ethics,
your moral behaviour,
is obedient and pleasing to God.
Now keep on
that path
of obedience.
So remember,
God wants us
to be sanctified,
to be holy,
to becoming more like Jesus.
And the Spirit's work is to guide
a person to know what that looks like.
So this sanctification is an active and ongoing process
of being taught and given power
to know how on the one hand
to love God
and also to love our neighbour.
Now that's holiness
is doing the will of God.
It's about loving God,
loving neighbour.
So here,
what does that look like
for the Thessalonians?
Well,
they're given really practical instructions.
In verses 4 to 8,
Paul talks to this group of young Christians
about sexual ethics,
calling them away
from the sexual immorality
that they were used to
in their former pagan lifestyle.
In verses 9 and 10,
he encourages them
to go on
and to grow
in their love
for believers.
In verse 11,
it looks like
avoiding
controversy
and
gossip.
In verse 11 and 12,
it also looks like
working hard
and working
well.
So there is guidance
in all these practical areas
of holiness.
God says,
be holy
because I
am holy.
All sin
is
unholy.
It is a contradiction
of
God's holiness.
Therefore,
we are to be
fighting against it.
There should be
in a Christian
an inner conflict
where we want
to kill sins
so that we can do
the will of God.
So when you look
at the language
Paul uses
in verse 1,
he urges them
to keep on living
to please God.
In verse 7,
he says,
God calls you
to live
a holy life.
Here is your way
of life.
Here is your work.
Here is your hard work.
There is no room
for laziness
as the Holy Spirit
guides us
to holiness
and obedience.
Now before we go
any further,
there are two,
as it were,
ditches to avoid.
If holiness
is a path
that we are to take,
there are two ways
that we can fall
off the path.
The one side
is legalism
where we get
the idea
that we are
to obey
in our strength
or we are
to obey
to earn
the favour
of God.
and that
will end
in defeat
and failure.
So that's one
ditch to avoid
on the path
of holiness.
The other ditch
is the mindset
that says,
well,
we simply
let go
and let God.
The idea
that obedience
comes to us
as some kind
of automatic
upgrade
where a person
becomes a follower
of Jesus
and then we always
make good and wise
decisions
and we always
love well.
No,
the Bible says
we need to work
out our obedience.
We need to work
hard at holiness
but we do that
not in our own strength.
We do that guided
and empowered
by God's Holy Spirit.
So thinking about
the Holy Spirit
who guides us
in holiness,
how do we know
what holy living
looks like?
How do we know
what holy living
sounds like?
It takes us
to our second point
that the Holy Spirit
guides us
in the truth,
guides us
into
the Bible,
the truth
of God's word.
We've already
seen that.
All through
the Old Testament
and the New Testament
we find
the law,
we find ethics,
we find a way
of life
being presented
to the Christian
and again
this is not our way
to earn God's favour,
we're saved by grace
not by law
but law
and ethics
they do give us
a guide to what
pleases God.
They do show us
what the way
of holiness
looks like.
Look at verse
2 again.
Paul says
something striking
here,
verse 2,
for you know
what instructions
we gave you
by the authority
of the Lord Jesus.
So Paul is saying
that the ethical
and moral teaching
this very practical
instruction,
it has the same
divine authority
as his gospel
message.
They both come
with the authority
of Jesus.
We need both
as Christians.
Look at verse 7
and 8.
Again,
very striking.
God did not call us
to be impure
but to live a holy life.
Therefore,
anyone who rejects
this instruction
does not reject
a human being
but God,
the very God
who gives you
his Holy Spirit.
So to reject
the clear moral
instruction
that we find
in the Bible
here delivered by Paul
is to choose
impurity rather than
holiness
is to reject
God.
Further,
it is to reject
God's Holy Spirit
who both gives
the instruction
and empowers
the way to obey.
So hopefully
what's become
clear to us
is that for us
to be sanctified,
for us to grow
in our holiness,
to grow
into the image
of Jesus,
we need to know
our Bibles
and we need
to obey
our Bibles.
One of the
pictures that the
Bible uses of itself
and we find it
in the Psalms
and Jesus uses it
is that God's Word
is like a lamp,
it's like a light
and the Spirit
is the one
who inspired
the Word of God
so the Spirit
uses the lamp
of God's Word
to illuminate
certain realities
for us.
There's that
illumination,
brightening,
lightening up
that takes place
in at least three ways.
First of all,
the Spirit uses
the Word of God
as a lamp
to expose
the darkness
of sin
in our hearts.
Maybe one way
we can think about it
is this.
Imagine cleaning
your car
in the half-light
or as it's getting dark.
You know when you
put loads of water
on it
and you put a bit
of soap on it,
it always looks good,
doesn't it?
Always,
until the water dries
and until the sun shines
and then,
unless you know
a really good job,
you see the dirty
marks in various places.
We can think
that we are
doing really well
when we're judging
by our own standards
or even judging
by some of the things
that we know
in the Bible,
but the Spirit
always wants us
to go deeper.
It wants us
to be reading
the Bible
and to be reflecting
on it
that it's exposing
some of the darkness,
some of the unbelief,
some of the sin,
the stain of sin
in our own hearts
and lives.
So there's illumination
to expose
sin and stain.
But there's also
the Holy Spirit
uses the Bible
to illuminate
and to reveal
the beauty
and truth
of the Bible.
So it's always helpful,
it's so important
for us to pray
before we come
to read the Bible,
you know,
open my eyes
to see wonderful
things in your word
so that we wouldn't
just read the Bible
as any other book,
that we wouldn't
just read it
as something
so that we can,
you know,
tick it off
our list
so we can feel good.
We want to be reading
so that we see
more of God's glory,
more of the beauty
of God's truth.
And especially,
the third thing
to focus on,
the Spirit uses
the lamp
of God's word
to illuminate
for us
the glory
of Jesus
on every page.
Think about
a theatre
and imagine
that stage
spotlight
shining.
Where does it
shine?
It always is
shining so that
we can see
the star
of the show.
The Spirit
wants to do
that
to help us
to see
Jesus.
So we read
the Bible
so that we see
Jesus as the
true king,
to see
Jesus as
the glory
of God
revealed to us,
the true hero,
the true champion,
the true star.
And the Spirit
would have us
to see
Jesus
and see the good news
that we have
in Jesus
and see all the
spiritual blessings
that are ours
in Christ
so that
we would become
what we
behold.
That the more
we enjoy
and experience
of the love
and the goodness
of Jesus,
the more we'll be
changed into
his image.
Now one very
practical thing
as we think
about this truth
that the Holy Spirit
guides us
in the truth
that we find
in the Bible,
this means
the Spirit
will never
guide you and I
to act in an
unbiblical way.
That is basic.
he will never
contradict himself,
he will never
contradict the word.
I've had
pastoral meetings
and discussions
and maybe you've
had them as well
where somebody
will sit down
opposite me
and say,
well I prayed
and I really feel
at peace
with this decision
and that decision
is something
that's just
thoroughly unbiblical
or I feel
that the Spirit
is guiding me
in this way
but again
it's not a way
that's in line
with the truth
of the Bible.
1 John
tells us
to test
the Spirit
to recognise
that just as
there is the Spirit
of God
so also
there are evil
spirits
and what do
they want to do?
They want to halt
our progress
in sanctification.
They want to take
us off course.
They want to make
us want to fall
into ditches
to not grow
in the image
of Jesus.
So we don't
trust our hunches,
our feelings,
our intuition.
We want to trust
the Holy Spirit
to guide us
into the Bible.
He's always
going to guide us
towards sanctification,
towards holiness
and never towards sin.
He's always
going to guide us
in line with
biblical teaching.
He's never going to
reveal some new truth.
So the Holy Spirit
guides us
in the truth
of the Bible.
Last thing
and in many ways
the most important
thing
to motivate us
towards the goal
of sanctification
is this,
the Holy Spirit
guides us
to live out
our true identity.
Now there is a question,
well there are many
questions I dread
in a public setting
but one that's
particularly painful
is this,
when you get that
open-ended,
you're being introduced
to a new group,
it's like,
tell us about yourself.
That's just,
what do you do
with that one?
But it's interesting
to think about
identity
and how we choose
to identify
ourselves.
Often,
we identify
in terms of
place,
I am from,
sky,
I live in
Edinburgh,
we identify
ourselves
in terms
of people,
our family
relationships
or maybe we tend
to identify
ourselves
in terms
of our position.
Here is the work
I do,
here is the work
I did,
whether that's
paid or unpaid.
Now,
for you and I
to make progress
towards God's goal
for our life
which is
sanctification,
the most important
thing for us
to understand
is our true
identity.
So much of
Christian ethics
and the Christian
way of life
is bound up
with becoming
who we truly
are.
Not who we are
by nature
but who we are
by God's grace
becoming who we
truly are
in Christ.
Hundreds of times
in Paul's
letters he talks
about being
in Christ.
It's crucial
to see what is
already true
of us
so that we
would then
live like
it's true.
So even here
in verse 1
we see it.
We ask you
and urge you
in the Lord
Jesus
as those
who are
in Jesus
continue to
live
to please
God.
What does
the Bible
tell us
about our
true identity
as believers?
who says
things like
in Christ
you are
dead to sin
and you are
alive in Christ.
You have a new
master,
you have a new
power.
It says
in Christ
you are a new
creation.
God's
power has
worked in you
so that now
you might live
for Christ
and not
live for yourself.
in Christ
you are not
a child
of disobedience.
You are
a child
of God.
In Christ
you are
holy,
you are
precious,
you are a
treasured
possession.
So live
that way.
In so
many ways
the New
Testament
reminds us
of who
we are
and then
it tells
us
in light
of that
identity,
in light
of all
those
spiritual
blessings
you enjoy
because you
are united
to the
Lord Jesus
Christ,
live as
those who
are in
Christ.
And that's
what the
Holy Spirit
does.
He guides
us to see
who we
truly are.
So we
need
the work
of the
Holy Spirit
so that we
might grow
in holiness
because he
shows us
what holiness
looks like
in God's
word.
He shows
us the
gospel
so we
see the
pattern of
true holiness,
the beauty
of Jesus
and we
see in the
gospel who
we truly
are so
that we
might live
that way.
So remember
the goal
of God
for your
life.
It is
God's
will
that you
should be
sanctified.
So remember
we work
hard at
that but
we work
with the
help of
the Holy
Spirit who
helps us
in that
every step
of the way.