A REVERENT EFFORT ?
This month we had only eight of our members present. It is Spring Break week and the Tuesday after Easter, so, I suspected it might be light. Hopefully it wasn’t because I told the group ahead of time that we would be making a group photo! Hee hee.
As usual, I forgot to have the group recite our memory verse(s) and for some strange reason…. Nobody ever reminds me… hmmmmm. Anyway, we began with Judy making announcements to the group and reminding us to make some meals/dishes for our freezer ministry. We all thought it might be a good idea to have a ‘Casserole Day’ in which all the church ladies would be reminded on a certain day, preferably near payday, to bring food for the church freezer. I am going to suggest May Day! It’s on a Tuesday, which is a fairly normal day in the life of the women of the church and it follows a 5th Sunday night meal, so we could just double our recipes for that night and have what we need. What do you think???
As you might remember, we agreed to do a 10 minute ‘box-talk’ each time we meet. We are using a giant Bojangles box for this and everyone has learned to dread the “Bo Box”. HaHa! This means that each month one of the members of the group will bring a shoe box with 5-7 items that represent them. It is sort of a way to get to know each other. I have taken it a step further and asked the ladies to make the items, ‘spiritual marker items’. In other words, instead of just a few items that tell us something about them, I’ve challenged them to find items that represent different times when the Lord has done something significant in their lives, sort of like when the Israelites would stop somewhere and build an altar or name a hill after something that happened there. It should help us to focus on the spiritual events, times of growth or trial, in our lives rather than our own achievements or failures. This months’ box talk was given by Carolyn Herrin. Her story went something like this… Carolyn was born in Seattle, Washington in 1944 to Christian family. She compared them to the Cleavers J They moved to Greensboro when she was of kindergarten age. Their family attended a Methodist Church and Carolyn does not remember a time when she did not believe. After a move to Raleigh, she attended college and went to work for Carolina Electric. It was there that she met Ben Herrin in March. They were engaged in April and married in June of 1964. We all had a great laugh at how many of us met and married our spouses in six months or less J. Two years after their marriage, Carolyn’s only sibling and brother was killed in an automobile accident. It was a very difficult time for everyone. After four years of trying, Carolyn and Ben had not been able to have any children so they adopted two children. Soon after, lo and behold, Carolyn became pregnant with their son, Tommy, and he was born the day before the date of her brother’s death. In 1976, Ben became unhappy with his job and he and Carolyn moved their family to Stanly County and opened a nursery. The business had its ups and downs until Ben fell and broke his skull and they had to quit the business. They went on to open a basket making business that did very well. (I’ve seen some of these baskets and they are wonderful! I actually used one at my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner J) Carolina Presbyterian Church became their home church after a few years searching for a church. They joined the church the same day as David and Bonnie and never left J. Carolyn shared many handmade cards from children of Carolina and photos of her time and service here at Carolina teaching 4th graders and volunteering in other areas. She also shared childhood photos and wedding photos. It was a pleasant journey through the sweet memories Carolyn has made in her life. We all learned something new about her and love her all the more!
Our chapter in the book this month is entitled, Sanctify. It was a wonderful, wonderful study!
We began by reading the verses pertinent to our study, John 17:6-19.
The High Priestly Prayer
17 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.5 and now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.11 and I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Footnotes
[1] 17:15 Or from evil
[2] 17:17 Greek Set them apart (for holy service to God)
[3] 17:19 Or I sanctify myself; or I set myself apart (for holy service to God)
[4] 17:19 Greek may be set apart (for holy service to God)
I can hardly move past the first sentence Jesus spoke in this prayer in verse one. “Father, the hour has come.” I am struck by the magnitude of that moment. An eternity… waiting for this moment…. A pinnacle moment in history… in which life and death literally hung in the balance. The words must have just hung there in the silence of the night … for what seemed like an eternity. Father and Son, reaching for compassion from one another and pulling away, knowing the looming events about to take place. “The hour”. The one hour in all of time. The one hour where the souls of so many would meet their destination. The Father, preparing to turn away as the Son endures the torment of the hours to follow. The words of the hymn come to mind…
O Sacred Head Now Wounded
O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only crown:
how pale thou art with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish
which once was bright as morn!
What thou, my Lord, has suffered
was all for sinners’ gain;
mine, mine was the transgression,
but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
‘Tis I deserve thy place;
look on me with thy favor,
vouchsafe to me thy grace.
What language shall I borrow
to thank thee, dearest friend,
for this thy dying sorrow,
thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever;
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
outlive my love for thee.
If you would like to listen to the hymn, use the links below:
http://youtu.be/RMFqph991Ew
A beautiful version as well…
http://youtu.be/OhCal7OnjTA - Acappella
The most appropriate music to these lyrics, however,
the visual on this video is inappropriate to say the least.
http://youtu.be/m1gdt47xNnI - 4Him
I believe it no accident that we study these verses over the Easter season. Some of us were greatly impacted by the two coming together at one time.
Christ then turns from praying for Himself, to praying for his disciples, and us. I am still overwhelmed with that thought. Imagine, just hours before the crucifixion, Christ prayed for US. His love for us is beyond comprehension. Jesus addresses his prayer to ‘The Father’. We learned that this was a new way to address our prayers, as the entire Old Testament never used this word for God. Jesus used this word, Father, every time He prayed with one exception. While He hung on the cross and spoke to the Father, He says, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:45-46,because Jesus was temporarily separated from the Father.
He prays that as He has ‘kept us’ while He was in the world, now that He is no more in the world, that his Holy Father would “keep them in Thy name, … that they may be one, even as We are”. He also prays that the Father would sanctify us. This is the focus of our lesson.
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
The word ‘sanctify’ means many things….
Set apart. Set apart for a special purpose. For a holy use. To be made holy, or righteous. to make sacred, holy or free from sin. Purify.
1. consecrate, bless, ordain, anoint, set apart, hallow, beatify, make sacred Their marriage has not been sanctified in a Christian church.
2. cleanse, redeem, purify, absolve, exculpate May the God of peace sanctify you entirely.
render holy by means of religious rites
hallow, bless, consecrate
reconsecrate - consecrate anew, as after a desecration
- make pure or free from sin or guilt; “he left the monastery purified”
purify, purge
alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation.
(Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) to sanction (an action or practice) as religiously binding to sanctify a marriage
(Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) to declare or render (something) productive of or conductive to holiness, blessing, or grace
5. Obsolete to authorize to be revered
[from Late Latin sanctificāre, from Latin sanctus holy + facere to make]
1. To set apart for sacred use; consecrate.
2. To make holy; purify.
3. To give religious sanction to, as with an oath or vow: sanctify a marriage.
4. To give social or moral sanction to.
5. To make productive of holiness or spiritual blessing.
The generic meaning of sanctification is “the state of proper functioning.” To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer. A pen is “sanctified” when used to write. Eyeglasses are “sanctified” when used to improve sight. In the theological sense, things are sanctified when they are used for the purpose God intends. A human being is sanctified, therefore, when he or she lives according to God’s design and purpose.
The Greek word translated “sanctification” (hagiasmos [aJgiasmov”]) means “holiness.” To sanctify, therefore, means “to make holy.” In one sense only God is holy ( Isa 6:3 ). God is separate, distinct, other. No human being or thing shares the holiness of God’s essential nature. There is one God. Yet Scripture speaks about holy things. Moreover, God calls human beings to be holy as holy as he is holy ( Lev 11:44 ; Matt 5:48 ; 1 Peter 1:15-16 ). Another word for a holy person is “saint” (hagios [a&gio”]), meaning a sanctified one. The opposite of sanctified is “profane” ( Lev 10:10 ).
From time to time human beings are commanded to sanctify themselves. For example, God commanded the nation of Israel, “consecrate to me every firstborn male” ( Exod 13:2 ). God said through Peter, “in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord” ( 1 Peter 3:15 ). One sanctifies Christ by responding to unbelievers meaningfully, out of a good conscience and faithful life. God calls his own to set themselves apart for that which he has set them apart. Sanctify, therefore, becomes a synonym for “trust and obey” ( Isa 29:23 ). Another name for this action is “consecration.” To fail to sanctify God has serious consequences ( Num 20:12 ).
Human beings ultimately cannot sanctify themselves. The Triune God sanctifies. The Father sanctifies ( 1 Cor 1:30 ) by the Spirit ( 2 Thess 2:13 ; 1 Peter 1:2 ) and in the name of Christ ( 1 Cor 6:11 ). Yet Christian faith is not merely passive. Paul calls for active trust and obedience when he says, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” ( 2 Cor 7:1 ). No one may presume on God’s grace in sanctification. Peter reminds believers to be diligent in making their calling and election sure ( 2 Peter 1:10 ).
A person or thing can be sanctified in two ways according to God’s creative purpose or according to God’s redemptive design. All sanctified in the first sense are used by God in the second sense. Not all God uses in the second sense are sanctified in the first sense.
Sanctification According to God’s Creative Design. God created the universe and human beings perfect (i.e., sanctified). Everything and everyone functioned flawlessly until Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie. The fall plunged the human race and the universe into a state of dysfunction (Gen 3:14-19 ). Neither was so distorted by the fall so as to obliterate God’s original purpose and design completely. Fallen human beings still bear God’s image ( James 3:9-10 ). Fallen creation still witnesses to God’s existence and attributes ( Psalm 19:1-6 ; Rom 1:20 ). Yet both, depending on the analogy employed, are skewed, broken, fallen, dysfunctional, “unsanctified.”
The imperfect state of creation is a reminder that God’s fully sanctified purpose for it has been disrupted by sin. Evil is the deprivation of the good that God intends for the creation he has designed. The creation groans, awaiting its sanctification when everything will be set right ( Rom 8:21-22 ; Rev. 20-21 ).
Bakers Evangelical Dictionary
One of my husbands’ seminary professors put it this way:
If a professor decided to ‘sanctify’ his pen for a specific purpose, say, to sign important documents… then, he must ONLY use that pen for that purpose. If one day he decided to use the pen for doing anything else, if he used it as a page holder or a bookmark, for a tool to open a letter or clean out his ear, ew, then… he has defiled that pen by using it for something it was not designed for and set apart to do. It is the same with us. Could God say the same thing about us? Are we not designed for a particular purpose? To use our bodies and our time that God has given us for something else, is that not also defiling and rejecting God’s plan and purpose for us? If we are truly sanctified, set apart for God’s holy purpose, then to be active or be used in any other activity is to defile God’s instrument.
“He wished above all that we should be holy and indicated the only means by which holiness may be attained: “truth.” Just as error and deception are the roots of evil, so truth is the root of godliness. Those who wish to advance in holiness must submit not only to Jesus’ desire that they be holy, but also to the means he has provided to make them so.” The Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible
How do we become holy: How do we become sanctified? By TRUTH. J. C. Ryle said, “When I speak of means, I have in view Bible reading, private prayer, regular attendance in public worship, regular hearing of God’s Word, and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification.”
So, we need to ask ourselves… What are some of the worthless, selfish things we need to ask God to turn us from? Compare these with the Worthy One to whom we turn.
Psalm 119: 36-37 “Incline my heart to Thy testimonies, and not to dishonest gain. Turn my eyes away from looking at vanity, and revive me in Thy ways.
How much of your time, money, energy, ….life… is spent on selfish pursuits rather than pursuing holiness and a sanctified life? Do we spend more time expressing our OWN identity, or Christ’s? Are we more worried about our Status or success than sanctity and holiness?
Are we ACTIVELY, purposely pursuing God and a sanctified life or are we passive…. Idle….. lazy and wasteful with our time?
C. H. Spurgeon
True prayer is the trading of the heart with God, and the heart never comes into spiritual commerce with the ports of heaven until the Holy Spirit puts wind into the sails and speeds the ship into its haven.
“In the Bible, sanctify is not just used of men, however. It is used of mountains; it is used particularly of Mt. Sinai. It’s used of Jerusalem. In Psalm 48:1 we read, “His holy mountain, beautiful I elevation, is the joy of all the earth.” That word HOLY means something that is set apart, something that is different. Mt. Sinai was set apart because God used Mt. Sinai as the place where He revealed His law. Jerusalem was set apart from all the other cities as the place where God’s people, who live according to His law, would gather. It’s the place where God is revealed through the tabernacle, through the temple, through THE LIVES OF His people. In the scripture, even buildings or instruments and other various items that are found in the temple and tabernacle are all set aside for service to God. They are sanctified in the sense of consecrated or dedicated to a purpose…. When Jesus entered the courts of the temple and turned over the tables of commerce, He yelled at them, “This is My Father’s house. This is a house of prayer.” Can the house of God be said to be consecrated to a particular purpose?…
I know that we certainly have striven, even in our own imperfect understanding, to make sure our sanctuaries are consecrated to a particular purpose. We don’t use the sanctuary for anything other than the celebration of God the Father, of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s what we come to church to do. It has been sanctified, set apart, for that purpose. We don’t use it for civic meetings of outside organizations, or clubs, or at least we shouldn’t. We don’t use it for other gatherings of different sorts of celebrations. We don’t exalt MAN here in the place where GOD is exalted. It is singularly set aside and sanctified, a place consecrated for the worship of one: God. That’s what it is consecrated for.
When Jesus went into the temple courtyard, did he find people selling trinkets? No. They were selling sacrifices for people to use in worship. They may have been able to make a case that they were providing what people couldn’t bring themselves. They were giving them something they had to have. Shouldn’t they make their own living from this as well? They were giving them; I’m sure, a deal. And Jesus said, “That’s not the purpose of this place. Sacrifices are necessary, yes, but that’s not the purpose of this place. This place is consecrated to be a household of prayer to God the Father. You conduct your commerce elsewhere.”
Do we understand the exclusivity of anything in life? We’re a multitasking people. We like things that are diverse. We like our phones to have everything from e-mail, telephone numbers, and games on it. The more we can pack into one thing, the more we like it. We like multi-use facilities. The idea that a place would be consecrated just for one purpose seems to us to be a waste of space.
We can improve the definition by pointing out that sanctifying an object of person commits them to that single purpose and removes them from the defilement of the world. They are committed to one purpose and they are taken out of any other. So, it means separation and devotion. That is what it means in verse 19 when Jesus says that He has consecrated Himself. He has sanctified Himself. Since He has no inner defilement, He can’t be speaking of an inner improvement. He’s talking about His being separated from defilement and the commitment of His life to God’s purpose.”
https://wipfandstock.com/store/The_Trials_and_Passion_of_Christ_An_Expository_and_Analytical_Commentary_on_John_18_and_19
The Prayer of Jesus Michael Cannon
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