EPHESIANS 5:25-27;
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
MATTHEW 5:8;
“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
The Bible says the Lord gave Himself for the Church, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle.”
When I say holiness and sanctification and when I say through and through; I mean every area of your life without spot or wrinkle – every area of your life, pure and holy unto the Lord.
Holiness and sanctification are indispensable experiences that you must have. They are indispensable experiences as presented in the Bible. In the scriptures we are reading in this message, we are going to find some words very common – sanctified, clean and holy.
Jesus Christ died for us for a purpose – to deliver us from the power of sin and gave us complete victory over sin. This is why the Bible says, Christ shed His blood; Jesus Christ died for us to present unto Himself without blemish; without stain; without spot and without any wrinkle. You will find that Christ is presented as the Sanctifier.
The Lord is telling us this morning; “If you are going to see me; if you are going to walk with me; if you will hear the sound of the trumpet; if you will go with the rapture; if you will escape eternal damnation that is waiting every unconverted; you need holiness and sanctification through and through.
They are indispensable experiences – we must have them; we must possess them; they must be evident in our lives because when we have this experience, it will affect all areas of our lives.
The apostles focused their eyes on Jesus – they saw Jesus as the Sanctifier; they knew they cannot enter heaven without Jesus. They cannot enter the kingdom of God without the powerful work of the blood of Jesus in their lives.
Christ loved the church very much that He had to shed His blood; He had to sacrifice His very life that gives us power over sin, over the world and over the prince of darkness. Jesus experienced this thing and said to His disciples; John 14:30b “for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” That is to say; “He sees nothing of his property; nothing of his conduct; nothing of his character.
When he comes to me and examines my life closely what he saw is the nature of the heavenly Father. This same thing I have come to do.” This is why He prayed for His disciples in John 17:17; “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” So it is an important experience. It is not negotiable. It is indispensable. It must be yours.
It must be mine.
John 3:3; “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This is a definite experience. You must be born again. You must have the experience that you have given your life to Christ; that you are born-again.
In the early stage of it’ you experienced zeal and passion; you loved God with all your heart; you loved God with all your soul; you could do two things for God at the same time because you love Him; anytime you think about Him. I remember my own time – I could read the scriptures for seven hours, over and over. In fact, I studied the Bible every Saturday by 10: ooam. I will wash my clothes before that time, and then by 10:00am I will take my Bible – different Bibles and begin to study and write.
This very day, I was totally lost in it – I went to where we normally dish the food; I saw an empty plate there. I looked at it and said, “I think I am the one that ate this food. I must have eaten because; if I have not eaten how come there are empty plates in this cupboard? I have eaten because my belly is full.”
But along the way, as time went on I now began to experience some challenges in my Christian life and my eyes were opened. “My son, you must be sanctified.” That may be your own experience too – you gave your life to Christ; you are full of passion and zeal; you could do two things for God at the same time but now, some of the things you have left – those thoughts and imaginations you don’t like just pop up and you will always cry; “Why I’m I doing this? Have I not promised the Lord that I will not do this? Why? I’m I even born again? I’m I genuinely born again?”
You must be sanctified if you will be free from the powers of the flesh. If you will experience victory over the world, you must be sanctified having that divine nature of Christ that the death of Christ has procured for us.
Ephesians 5:26-27 ; “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
The Bible says, “a glorious church”
What is Church? Church is not a club. It is not society. It is not an ordinary religious assembly. It is not just gathering of the Overcomers Bride of Christ. It is not the gathering of retreat people. It is not just the gathering of the congress people.
It is not just the gathering of convention people. The church is not a company of Pharisees who are only clean outside but neglect the inward purity; profess to know the Lord; dress holy and pure but their hearts are dirty; full of evil, unforgiveness and vengeance.
What is Church? It is a gathering of people that are converted from their sins; people that understand the cross – the cross have crushed their life and will. They don’t have will again – they have lost their will; they have lost their choice; they have lost the passion for worldly things. They now have passion for the Lord.
What is Church? The gathering of people – a person, a brother/sister that has visited the cross; died by the cross; transformed by the cross; crushed by the cross and carries his/her cross. The church is a passionate brother and sister that live pure and holy.
Listen carefully; the Bible says, “That he might present it to himself…” that brother/sister that is sanctified. That thing in you that is rising up against the Lordship of Christ has been crushed down by the cross as a sanctified believer.
The church is a company of people that has visited the cross; a company of people that are transformed; a company of people that their sins are washed away – saved.
When the disciples came to the Lord and said, Luke 10: 17 “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.”
Jesus looked at them closely and said; Luke 10: 20; “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”
What is Church? The people whose names have been written in the Book of Life; the people that have come to Christ and Christ have come to them; the people that their affections are set on things above; the people that love not the world, neither the things that are in the world because they know if anyone love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him (1 John 2:15-16).
What is Church? The company of people that do the will of God. The Bible says Matthew 7: 21; “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” The church is the company of people that does the will of God – they have been called from the world; chosen from the world; ordained for the Lord; called by the Lord and called for the Lord.
These are the people that are transformed through and through. It is my prayer that the Lord will sanctify you today so that you can be a true church.
Are you not tired of lusting? Are you not tired of anger? Are you not tired of malice? Are you not tired of unforgiveness? You always do what you hate; you always go where you don’t want to go; think of what you don’t want to think and pursue what you don’t want to pursue as if a force is pushing you. When the force comes, the force will weigh you down and overpower you until you fulfill the desire of that force. You need sanctification.
The Bible says, “With the washing of water by the word.” The word plays an important role in our sanctification.
What Is The Meaning Of The Word The Bible Is Talking About?
1. The Personified Word – John 1:1; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This is the word personified. The Word has a lot to do in our sanctification.
2. The Written Word – When we read; meditate; believe; and live by the words that are written in the Bible, it helps in our sanctification and cause separation when you allow it to come into your life and crush you and to burn in you like a fire. This written word has a lot of things to do in your sanctification.
3. The Spoken Word – It has a lot to play in your sanctification. The Bible says John 15: 3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” Don’t forget that they believed the word that was spoken unto them – they practiced it; they took it as a message from God; they lived by it and by the time they obeyed that word of God, it transformed them through and through and took effect in their lives.
Show me a man that wants to be sanctified and I will show you a man that will not joke with the Word personified; the written w0rd and the spoken word. At times the word of God may run upon you like a fire; like a hammer; like water to clean but whichever way it comes, accept that word of God and that is the word that purges; cleanses and sanctifies. This is why the Bible says in that Book of Ephesians, “that he might cleanse it.” He knows where to cleanse in your life – you may not know. Your brain needs cleansing; your heart needs cleansing; your spirit needs cleansing; your flesh needs cleansing; everything within and around you needs cleansing.
There is something inside of you that whenever He looks at it, the Lord will say, “When will you take this away from your life? For how long will you continue doing this? For how long will you continue wasting your divine time?” if you can call upon the Lord and trust in His name and believe in His power and call upon that you might be sanctified.
You know, there are some things you find yourself doing and you say, “I’m not born again? Why I’m I doing this again? Why did I reply that way?” As the person spoke to you something down inside of you says, “Will you just keep quiet? Say something.
Prove that you are a man/woman” and that voice is coming out with power, force and authority and you try to dodge/avoid it but you discover that you are weak, depraved, without strength and without stamina until when you have done what that voice asked you to do, you will now wake up and say, “Why? What is wrong with me?”
It is my prayer that today, Jesus will set you free.
Are you not tired of breaking His heart? “Lord, Lord I have done it o. I promise you that I will not do it again. I vow Lord. This is an agreement. In fact, if I do it again, break my head. Do this and that.” Like I used to do that time when I was not sanctified and I said, “Lord, I promise you if I do it again, do so and so.” And I discovered that I don’t have strength; I don’t have the power. When the temptation comes, I fall flat before the devil and that thing I have said should happen will happen. Then when I have realized myself I will say, “Lord, I promise, if I do it again, three months” because I know I can’t afford to live three months without that supernatural experience.
A man may see vision, yet not sanctified. Remember what happened in the Bible, the donkey of Balaam spoke in the voice of a human being. Can we say this donkey had a pure heart; sanctified heart; the Holy Ghost? Don’t ever substitute sanctification for miracle; supernatural experience. A man may visit heaven twenty million times but, if he is not sanctified he can never enter heaven. A man may win billions of souls, but if his life is not right with God he has nowhere to go.
What I’m I trying to say? You always promised the Lord, “I promise you. This last time; just this last time – I will not do it again. Haa look at my life; look at what I did. A whole me, how can I do such a thing? Look at my life now – I’m now empty and weak. I can feel the demarcation between my soul and my Creator. Lord I promise, I vow with this terrible experience of mine, I will not do it again.”
After one week of vow/promise – serious one; the promise you even made with tears; you just discover that the temptation appears again and you say, “Hey, it has come again. It has come again.” And the devil presents unto you the poison in the golden sachet.
He portrays before you the pleasure; the profit; the honor; the reward and said, “Will you avoid this? You want to ignore this?” there is something inside of you that says, “I love it. I want to get it. I want to have it” and that voice is coming with force and power.
I am praying that the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross of Calvary shall cleanse you through and through in Jesus name.
Listen carefully; “That he might present it to himself a glorious church.” It’s talking about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. When the rapture has taken place, Jesus will present us to the Father and say, “These are the people I have died for; purged by My blood.” He will now present it unto Himself a “glorious church.”
There may be spots in your life you may not know, unless the Lord opens your eyes Himself to see them. Just imagine – a brother entered the bathroom and after spending sometime in the bathroom, he came out. He thought, “I have taken my bath. I’m now okay”, but when I look at him, I said, “Brother, what about that soap at the back of your head?” and he said, “Ah, so soap is there? I didn’t know.”
You may think your life is perfect; you may think you are free and whereas there are some things inside your life that always raises up their ugly head. At times it will say, “My name is pride and I am here”, “I am envious and I am here,” “I am jealousy – I am here” and so on. And they will show up in a very subtle and little way – “That is just a little pride; a little envy etc.
There may be spots in your life. The Lord is saying, there is a spot/stain in your heart which I can see. That is why you are going up and down and saying, “I am born again. Praise the Lord.” And the time came when the devil brought pride and you dealt with it and you claim, “I am born again” but the Almighty God says, “I see you through and through.
I see your mind; I see your heart; I see your spirit; I see your emotion; I see your intention; I see your motive; I see you from the past and present; I see your living; I see your tendency; is see everything about you and there is a spot in your life; there is a spot in your heart and you need my blood; you need sanctification.
Give me a chance today – I want to cleanse you from that spot; I want to cleanse you from that stain that you might be presented to me as a glorious church, holy without blemish.”
The Lord will do it in your life if you can give your life, spirit and soul to the Lord and cry unto the Lord and say, “Lord Jesus, cleanse me – it is your work; it is your duty. That is what I want you to do. I want to be pure; I want to be holy.”
Psalm 24:3-4; “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully.”
Only those who are pure can enter the kingdom of God – whose hearts are pure; holy; sanctified and purged. For with God all things are possible. The Lord is saying, “If there is any miracle you need; if there is any supernatural thing you need; if there is any glorious experience you need that is sanctification. There is an outward sanctification which Christ does. When you first get born again there are some things that changed – the change of friends; company you keep and some other things.
When the Lord is talking about holiness and sanctification, He is talking to His own children.
1 Peter 1:14-16; “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Leviticus 11:45; “For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
God has only one kind of children – they are obedient. When the Lord said this, He was talking to His own children. God has called us to holiness.
When God was talking, He was not talking to the Egyptians or the Babylonians but He was talking to the Israelites; He was talking to the wilderness church. God called them to be holy and the same God today, is calling every one of us to holiness and sanctification.
Ephesians 1:4; “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”
You see the Lord is saying the same thing – holy, pure and sanctified.
Colossians 1:21-22; “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
He wants us to be Holy, cleansed from the filthiness of the flesh. Put on a new man and put off the old man with his deeds. What are the deeds/works of the old man? They include fighting, unforgiveness and so on.
It is when you are sanctified; when you have the mind of Christ; when you have the aspiration of Christ; when you have the ambition of Christ – your ambition is not for mundane things; position; exhortation but for Christ, everything will be for Christ; you will have the mind of Christ; the Spirit of Christ.
How are we sanctified?
It is Christ that sanctifies us. We must surrender ourselves to Him to do His work of cleansing in our lives. This is why Jesus prayed for His own disciples that they be sanctified. If we can pray and call on the Lord, “Lord, sanctify us” He will sanctify us.
Titus 2:14; “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
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 13:12; “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
You see that! When you look at this portion of the scriptures, we see something there – Jesus is the Sanctifier. Jesus is not wicked. When you call on Him now, I’m very sure in my heart that Jesus will cleanse and sanctify us. Another thing you need to understand is – it is the blood of Jesus that sanctifies. The blood of Jesus removes the root of sin.
Another thing is that we must pray for it – we must pray for sanctification. You have to pray for this experience. You must pray, you must agonize; you must not stop until you see with evidence that you now have the mind of Christ; the spirit of Christ; the thoughts of Christ – your thoughts now go after the Lord; you now think of the Lord, heaven, eternity and pursue it.
The mundane things of this world have lost their beauty that they can no longer attract you – money can no longer attract you; women can no longer attract you; beauty can no longer attract you; fashion can no longer attract you. What now attracts you are eternal things – the Kingdom of God and His glory.
When we are sanctified, we will have the same mind – there will be unity amongst us; there will be togetherness; we will be of one heart; we will be of one soul; we will go the same direction; we will love the same thing; we will be willing to die for the same thing. As I rise up and say “Lord, truth must be restored back to your church.
Even if it will cost me my life, I don’t mind”, and you say, “Watchman, we will join hands with you. We will stand together. We will die for the truth and stand for the truth. We will not pull down what you are building.”
When you are truly sanctified, you will not go about and say, “Overcomers! We will not join them”; you will not go about blackmailing and destroying what the Lord has established for good eleven (11) years; you are not going to pull it down with your conducts and character. The Lord will not allow you; the Lord will not allow them. Anyone that wants to bring down Overcomers the Lord will not allow them in the name of Jesus.
If we are sanctified, we will be willing to die for the same truth; we will be eager and desirous for the same thing; we will be walking in the same direction. That is what sanctification does.
When you are sanctified, you will just now hear the truth and just keep quiet when you get home. The truth will push you.
The sanctification experience will possess you like a fire and drive you like a whirlwind and take you to your landlord – you will tell your landlord about the truth; carry you to your husband – you tell your husband the same thing; it will carry you to your wife, the marketplace, the bus, the streets. You use your money; time; energy and spread the message.
You know when you listen to the undiluted word of God, you go to the electronics and say, “That message of tonight, give me hundred (100) of it; twenty (20); fifty (50), there is a family/church/pastor that needs it.
The sanctification experience is the nature of Christ. When the Disciples of Christ were looking for what to eat, Jesus said He will not eat – He has meat to eat.
John 4:34; “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”
What is the work? It is to preach the gospel. When He saw the multitudes, He had compassion on them. The same compassion is implanted inside of you; the same nature is given unto you – you will not see sinners and be looking; you will not just keep quiet. Today you will receive the fire in the name of Jesus.
When we are sanctified, there will not be discord; thinking in the opposite direction, that when somebody is trying to build up you are trying to pull down – you scatter everything and pull it down and say, “Yes, I’m sanctified. I’m even filled with the Holy Ghost.”
The Holy Ghost will never allow that. When you are sanctified, when others are building up you will not pull down – you will not pull down the works of God, miracles of God and move of God.
What is the evidence of sanctification?
When we cannot speak with the same voice, there is no sanctification. When God says, “Yes” and I also say “Yes” because God said so, you will not say “No” and what I say the Lord said, you will look at the Bible and you confirm it by the scriptures and know that we are not against the Bible. You will not say, “We have our own doctrine in my own church. We know what we used to do and that is what I will do.
When we cannot speak with the same voice; when I am preaching A, you are preaching B; when I’m preaching holiness and what you are preaching is to destroy the holiness – there is no sanctification. When the minister is trying to pull up – to pull up the glory of God and you are laboring to pull it down, there is no sanctification.
Sanctification brings us together.
It makes us think the same way.
It makes us follow the same part.
It makes us go the same direction.
It makes us so united – we will say the same thing; do the same thing not only in doctrine but in action. When I say, “This is what must be done” we follow the same action. This action is godly and biblical and you say, “Yes, let’s do it together.”
You will not gather company of revolt and be saying in the background, “Let’s establish our own ministry. Let’s go away. They can’t do without us.” We can do without you but we cannot do without Jesus. Amen.
I can do without man but I cannot do without Christ. In my eleven (11) years in the ministry, I have seen men and women alike who appear so lovely, so caring, appear to love God, to love the same thing, to think the same way but they suddenly released themselves to the devil and some thought, “Samson, if I leave you just forget about your life.”
Jesus told me something – He said, “When you look around you and you find thousands of people but could not find me or you look around you and see scanty people but see me with you, which one is better?”
I said, “Lord, your presence with me is better than millions of people.”
Moses said something; Exodus 33:15 – “And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”
Several times I escaped death – is it an accident? Is it poison? Is it a stroke? Is it an attack? And when I sit down and think over and over, one thing I discover, “I can do without man but I cannot do without Christ.” If Christ leaves me, you will not see me. He is the Pillar that holds my life; He is the Joy that fills my soul; He is the Strength that strengthens me; He is the energy that keeps me going and the same Jesus will manifest in your life in Jesus.
When you are truly sanctified, we will be the same in planning.
For illustration when we announced that everybody must be in the campground by 5:00pm to intercede for ministry, you will stay at home watching film because you know there is something more important than business; than films; than entertainment.
When we are sanctified, our plans will be the same in everything we do and say because we all have the mind of Christ – the same Christ living in us all and speaking to us. The Lord will do it in your life today.
Have you been sanctified?
Have you been purged?
The Holy Spirit has sent you this message today.
If you are not sanctified, go for cleansing.