The Sanctification Without Which No One Will See the Lord

Good morning. Happy Daylight Savings Time. My life is an hour behind and will forever be for another several more months. I want to begin this morning by this statement. The statement is that men throughout history have always looked for shortcuts to heaven. Men throughout history have always looked for shortcuts to heaven. It has long been the desire of every man to obtain all the benefits of Christianity without the cost. They look for the most easy and comfortable path, a path that allows them to stay exactly the way they are. They avoid any way that requires change, hardship, and personal displeasure. have always looked for ways for having to give anything up or having to change. And yet God is in the habit of requiring and calling us to obedience, and he stimulates us to obedience with warning and exhortation. This is why our passage that we're going to be studying in Hebrews today is so needed, because the author of Hebrews opens up with these Holy Spirit-inspired words.

from chapter 12, verses 14 to 17. Would you please stand now and hear God speak to us? This is the Word of God, and it is eternally true. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Now, the writer of Hebrews in our passage begins by first exhorting the Christians to unity. He begins by telling them that they must follow after, pursue peace. You remember there was a sermon a few weeks back about unity. He says, pursue peace with all men. And then wait, he exhorts them to pursue something else, something else he calls sanctification. Peace and sanctification are connected.

You cannot have peace with all men. You cannot live in unity. You cannot live in love and harmony apart from sanctification. And that's what we're going to be talking about this morning is sanctification. It is the work of every Christian to pursue sanctification. Now, what is sanctification? Sanctification is the continual work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. destroying the power of sin, conforming us to the image of Christ and enabling us to die to sin and to perform the duties of holiness and righteousness required by God's law. Now, simply put, sanctification is all about personal holiness. It is all about growing in obedience to God's law. And sanctification...

Holiness, I will use those interchangeably. Sanctification requires effort. Sanctification requires effort. And Scripture tells us here that we are to pursue this sanctification. We are to pursue holiness. We're to pursue righteous and godly living. What does it mean to pursue sanctification? To pursue it. That word for pursue. actually comes from a Greek word, which means, what do you think? Shout it out, somebody. To chase, follow. Anybody else want to shout anything out? You're getting closer, but you haven't even come close. The Greek word for this word, pursue, actually means to persecute. What does it mean to persecute something or someone? It means to zealously and violently go after it. The writer of Hebrews commands us to violently go after holiness. Pursuing sanctification means that your desire for personal holiness is so strong and so deep within you that you chase after it with every ounce of energy that's within you. This is what it means to pursue holiness.

You ought to make progress continually in the fear of God, in the killing of your sin, and in the whole practice of godliness. You should never be satisfied with remaining as you are now, even if the way you are now in your obedience to God is further along than the way you used to be. God has redeemed and forgiven you of your sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. God has justified you in Jesus Christ. declared you, said not guilty, even though you are. He's declared it, not guilty in Jesus Christ. Why? So that you would be holy, just as he is holy. Look at what scripture says about this. Titus chapter 2, verses 11 to 14. Listen to this. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.

instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave himself up to redeem us from every lawless deed. Done. That's where we would end it today in 21st century America. We would stop that verse right there. But it goes on. And to purify for himself a people for his own possession. Stop. It doesn't stop. Zealous for good deeds. Ready to chase after holiness. Ready to pursue it until it's found. Ready to conquer. Ready to follow hard after Jesus Christ. Zealous for good deeds. God didn't send his son into this world to live an obedient and holy life so that you and I don't have to.

This is a misunderstanding of the doctrine of justification by faith. No, Christ came to set you free from the bondage of sin, to purify you and to set you apart as his own and to have you zealously and violently chase after godly living. This is why you're a Christian. If you didn't know this, hear it now. You are a Christian to be conformed, to change. to not stay the way you are. 1 Thessalonians 4.3 says this, For this is the will of God, your sanctification. This is God's will for every one of us, that we would not stay the same, that we would pursue, that we would grow, that we would be purified, that we would grow to look more and more like Jesus Christ. It is the work of you and I.

to pursue holiness. It is every Christian's work, and it always will be until Christ returns. Are you pursuing sanctification? Are you growing in Christ? Are you chasing violently after holiness? You say, well, why do you say violently? I don't like the sound of that. That's too strong of a word. It's too bloody of a word. Because Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men Take it by force. Christianity requires something. You have been called with a holy calling. Therefore, you must care about your sanctification. You must care about your obedience. You must care about the progress that you're making in holiness. You ought to be zealously pursuing obedience to God in every opportunity, every aspect of your life. Because holiness is not optional in the life of a Christian. It is not.

We must pursue sanctification and holiness. Not coast, not just get by, but move forward. Why must we pursue sanctification and holiness? I'm telling you that we must. God's Word is saying we must. Why must we pursue it? Because holiness is necessary for the salvation of your soul. I'll say it again. Holiness is necessary for the salvation of your soul. Verse 14. Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Sanctification is the instrument that God uses to finish His saving work in your soul. Salvation is not a simple one-time thing. Salvation is you have been saved, you've been justified, declared righteous before God.

You are being saved. Presently, God is doing work in you. You're cooperating with the Holy Spirit. It's a present work that God does. Sanctification is the instrument. Holiness is the instrument God uses to finish His saving work in our souls. The vision of God our Savior in heaven is reserved as a reward for holiness. That's what this is saying. The sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Christianity is not easy believism. It is not if you only believe, if you only feel a certain way, if you only are a part of a church, if you're only baptized. Oh, if it were only that easy. We are called to finish the divine race that we started. Most of you here have begun the race. Many of you here, have been running the race. But what I'm telling you is it's not over yet. It is not over yet. You must finish the race. You must persevere in the faith if you are to enjoy eternity. You must finish well. Look at what Scripture says about this. Philippians 2, verses 12. You say, I don't believe this. This sounds like works-based salvation. What does Scripture say?

Philippians 2 verses 12, So then, the Apostle Paul says, My beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Colossians chapter 1 verses 21 to 23 says this, And although you are formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, Yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless brawn reproach. Done. That's how we would end it. It doesn't end there. If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.

Romans 8.13, for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if, what is the word if? What kind of a word is it? It's a conditional word. If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 1 John 2.19, speaking of those who left the church, those who abandoned Christ. It says, they went out from us because they were not of us. For if they had been of us, what? They would have remained with us. They would have continued. But they went out so it would be shown that they are all not of us. Matthew 24, 13. Jesus says, he who perseveres to the end, he will be saved. Are you seeing a theme here? Do we need more verses?

There can be no true Christianity without true holiness. Because without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. And this is not opposed to faith in Jesus Christ. They are not opposed. If you have faith, if God has done a work of grace in your heart, you will bear fruit. You will grow. You will grow because you will participate in the work. of sanctification, and it requires your effort, and it doesn't always feel good. There can be no true Christianity without true holiness, because without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Brothers and sisters, I want to point out a very sad reality. We don't care about our sanctification. We don't care about it. Now, there are some of you here who do, but there are many of us The vast majority of us in this room right now, we have made very little progress in the kingdom of God. We are worldly minded. We think the way the world thinks. We don't even desire God. We don't desire his word. We rarely read our Bibles. Add up the amount of time you spend devoting yourself to the word of God each week, and you will be...

Very disappointed. Many of us would. We don't pray to him. It's rare. And when it's done, it's done because there are other people poking and prodding, and it's just the thing that you do after all. But we don't desire God. We grossly indulge in the most wicked appetites of our flesh. Our computer screens are filled with evil, wicked images on a regular basis. We lie. And we cover up our lies with more falsehood. We refuse to persevere. We are resistant to godly counsel. When someone comes to you to correct you, you're resistant. You think they got the details wrong. You don't think it's their place. You didn't ask for the help. You're fine just the way you are. We're resistant to godly counsel. Our speech is not salted with grace.

Instead, we destroy and discourage one another with our language. We refuse to pursue holiness. Why? Well, because it's just too hard now. It's too hard. Look at how much I've given up, Lord. Look at how much I've done. I'm not doing what the world does. Look at what I've sacrificed. Isn't this enough, Lord? We're absolutely lazy. when it comes to our sanctification. We're lazy because we justify the way we are as just fine. We don't think we need to be called to something greater. We don't think that we need to be challenged. And when we are challenged, we kick and we buck against it. Because how dare someone meddle? Don't you understand you're making me feel guilty? Why do you have to preach that sermon again?

Why do you have to talk the way you talk? Why do you have to keep talking to me about the same thing? Don't you understand how much I've given up? Don't you understand the diversity that's here? Just leave me the way I am. Listen to me, there is no such thing as a cruise control Christian. You are either advancing and moving towards the kingdom of God, or you are asleep at the wheel. There is no such thing as okay. You're moving towards or you're moving away. How have you changed in the last year? You say, I haven't changed. I'm relatively the same. I don't feel like I've gone back, but I haven't really, don't know where I've gone forward. God must not be working in me. And I say, no, no, no. You're not a robot. You have not been pursuing holiness. You've not been chasing after it. Something else, you've been chasing after something else. Something's gotten in the way.

We need to figure out what it is that you have been chasing after and set that aside. Brothers and sisters, God wants us to care about our sanctification. God wants us to hate our sin. And I mean really hate it. I mean despise it. You want to know how you can tell? Luther says, Martin Luther says, if you hate your sin. Actually, wait a minute. Martin Luther says... He says, this is a good way of understanding whether or not you're preaching faithfully. He says, preach faithfully in such a way so as if people don't come away hating their sin, they will hate you. Are we hating our sin? Are we turning to God when we see it? Or are we just saying, oh, God can't save me. He can't do anything. Look at all the mistakes I've made in the past. Look at how I failed.

No, no, no. I want you to desire God. I want us all to desire God. I want us to love reading our Bibles. I want us to love to pray. I want us to be a church that prays. That actually loves it. To crave God's Word. I want you to be teachable. That's what we want you to be. Teachable. Listening to godly counsel. Not skeptical. Remember the Bereans. It says that they searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so. God commends the Bereans for being faithful to search the Scriptures. And you know what we do is we go, they searched the Scriptures to see if it's so. I don't know if it's in there. I don't know if it's in there. Well, it is. Okay. Well, I guess I'll have to listen to Paul. It's in there. That's in there too.

No, no, no. They received the word with gladness and joy. That's the first thing they did. The first thing they did was to receive what the preaching was. Before they searched the scriptures, they had an openness. They didn't have a skepticism. They were open. They gave them the benefit of the doubt. And then they searched the scriptures and said, where is it? It's got to be here somewhere. There it is. It's there. Teachable. And they grew. And because of that, they were able to know truth from falsehood. I want us to grow in wisdom. You young men, listen to me. I want you to grow in wisdom. You don't have to wait until you're 30 to become wise. You want to get married? Act 30 if you're 20. Act like a mature...

godly man, and you will become one. Let your conversation be upright. Be the man at work who people look to and they go, this is a serious man. He's a happy man, but he's a serious man. Grow in wisdom. We must care about growing in godliness. There are some of you here who should inquire about the state of your soul. Why? Because you demonstrate no desire to grow in your Christian life. You're here, and that's good. But you're content to stay just the way you are. And it's awful. It's absolutely awful. Because Scripture says, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. And you're no exception. You cannot claim Jesus Christ and coast.

Because Scripture says, he who began a good work will complete it. And if you're not being completed, Scripture says you should test yourselves to see if you're in the faith. Make sure, make your calling and election sure, it says. Holiness is necessary for the salvation of your soul. You don't trust in your holiness to save you, but it certainly is an indicator where your trust is. If you are trusting in Christ, you will grow in holiness. If you are desiring God, you will grow in holiness. You will grow in obedience to God. But if your trust is in something else, if your hope is in something else, you can expect no hope on the day of judgment. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Lastly, final point. First point is, It is the work of every Christian to pursue sanctification. The second is that holiness is necessary for the salvation of our souls. And lastly, those who neglect to follow after holiness greatly endanger their souls. Look at verse 15. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by it many be defiled.

That no one comes short of the grace of God. Here the apostle Paul, I showed my cards there. Here the writer of Hebrews speaks of the great sin of apostasy. Now what's apostasy? What's he talking about here? The writer of Hebrews warns us of falling short of the grace of God. And he gives the example of Esau. We must take care to not neglect our sanctification. but instead to pursue it with a vigilant, godly zeal, because it's possible to fall short of the grace of God. You are not God. You don't know who's been chosen before the foundation of the world. It's not your job to know that. It's your job to do His will. It's your job to have faith in Him and follow His ways.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God. About this verse, John Calvin says this. He says, it is easy to fall away from the grace of God. Now this is John Calvin. This is the man, you know, election, like once saved, always saved, right? He says, it's easy to fall away from the grace of God. For it is not without reason that attention is required. Because as soon as Satan sees us secure or remiss, comfortable, at ease, he instantly circumvents us. That's when he goes after us. As soon as we're comfortable. We have, in short, need of striving and vigilance if we would persevere in the grace of God. Do not fall short of the grace of God.

What is apostasy? It is total and final rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ over your life. Apostasy from Christ is the eventual and final fruit of preferring the gratification of your flesh over the blessing of God and the heavenly inheritance. You see, this was the sin of Esau. Esau was born and raised in the fold of God's people. Having the birthright as the eldest son, he was to inherit all the blessings that were his by promise. What was his great sin? He despised his inheritance and sold his birthright. What for? For a single meal. For a small bowl of stew. Why did he do that? Come on, Esau! To satisfy the cravings of his flesh.

Esau and his great wickedness made the bargain with his inheritance. And God in his perfect righteous judgment, he confirmed it and he ratified it. He gave Esau over to his flesh. He gave Esau what he wanted. And some of you are listening right now and you hear this and you say, yes, but there's still time for me to change and repent. I'm still young. I have time. I've got my life ahead of me. I don't have to change right now. I'll just coast. I'll coast. I'll continue to look at pornography. I'll continue to lie a little bit. I'll continue to be critical and bitter towards my pastors and elders. I'll continue to not listen. I'll continue to disobey my parents. There's still time. After all, the kindness of God, God's patient, He's kind, He's merciful. It is what His Word says.

Why the rush for me to care about my sanctification? Why the rush to change and toil? Or some of you are on the back end. You've been doing this for a while. You've been trudging away. And you've lived a little bit. And you say, if only I knew this stuff before. What's the point now? I'm running out of steam. I can't do this. God, why didn't you? Why am I not further along? There is still time for me to change and repent. That's what J.C. Ryle says in his thoughts for young men. He says, tomorrow belongs to the devil. Today belongs to the Lord. Oh, it'll happen tomorrow. I'll fix this tomorrow. I'll say no to my sin tomorrow. I'll love my wife tomorrow. I'll listen to counsel. I'll be humble. I'll be teachable tomorrow.

Tomorrow belongs to the devil. Today belongs to the Lord. You say, yes, there's still time for me to change and repent. Some of you actually are saying that. Actually, there is time for me to change and repent. I don't feel anything. You are not walking with God. And listen to this, verse 17. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired, he was who? He saw. When he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. Those are some of the most terrifying words in all of Scripture. Now why do I say that? What's so terrifying about these words? Because they speak of repentance being too late. Too late for Esau, not because he died, but because he lives.

While he lives, repentance is too late. And he looked for it. And he sought for it. And he did not find it. He was crying about it. There comes a point where you are given over to what you were going after to where you cannot untangle yourself. You cannot change. And your repentance is still not enough because it's an ungodly sorrow. It's a worldly sorrow. And you think that you're going to come back later and change? No, no, no. Esau. Remember Esau. He was rejected by the Lord. He could not find it. And you say, I don't like what I'm hearing. This isn't fair. Esau doesn't deserve to suffer like this. No one does. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked.

For whatever a man sows, this will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh corruption will reap corruption. But the one who sows to the Spirit will reap from the Spirit eternal life. Where have you been sowing your seed? I'm telling you. I'm pleading with you. Please. God is not mocked. Do not reject. the discipline of the Lord. There are some of you here who think like Esau. You believe that God is depriving you. You think that the blessings of being a Christian are too small compared to the sacrifices that you have to make. And you're here, but your heart is so far from God. And you have no desire to pursue holiness in your life. You would rather trade this life for a life of ease and comfort, if it were truly up to you, if you could have what you wanted, if you could have no penalty, you would trade this life for a life of ease and comfort. No fighting sin, no struggling against the flesh, no denying your desires. If you refuse to pursue holiness, I fear for you. I don't look down on you because I'm like you.

But I fear for you. Friend, the time will one day come when you will no longer think the way you do now. You will realize, you will realize that your spiritual inheritance is invaluable. That it's worth more than anything. You'll wake up eventually and you're going to go, oh, what did I just give up? And the day of grace will be over. And it may be. while you still live. And you will look and you will find no place for repentance. And God will owe you nothing. And it will be too late. Don't wait. Don't wait. Do not take God's grace for granted. God will not be mocked. And God will not allow us to be comfortable. Those of you who are trying to figure out...

The math equation, that is, save by grace and work out your own salvation. Stop trying to figure the math equation out. God will not allow you to live comfortable. The warnings in Scripture and the exhortations, remember what Calvin says, it's easy to fall away from the grace of God. That's our flesh. And so I've talked about this. You say, okay, well, how? How do you... Pursue sanctification. What's the method? Give me some practical advice. You want some practical advice? Heed the warning. How do you pursue sanctification? You listen to the warning. You feel the fire under your hiney. That is all the practical advice it gives us here. If it's not enough for you to hear the warning and go, Whoa!

and take off running towards the kingdom of God, you need to beg for mercy. You need to beg God to be merciful to you. You need to get down on your knees before you go to bed tonight and plead with God to give you the gift of faith. And then you need to act. You need to follow. You need to get to work. And you need to ask for help. Realize that this is in the context of the church. You don't do this by yourself. Pursue peace with all men. This happens in community. Listen to other people. Ask for other people to help you. When's the last time you confessed your sins? Elders? When's the last time you've confessed your sin? Congregation? To one another? In your small group? Ask for help and you'll get it. When's the last time you said, I don't know how to do this. I'm stuck. Help me.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Today, repent. Make the result here, now, to zealously pursue godliness. Remember, violently. Have you ever seen someone violently pursue something? You're so fixated. It's like the saliva is dripping from your mouth. You're just like... And you will not have it any other way. You will go after it, and you are focused on it, and nothing is going to get you off track. And anything that gets in your way, you're just out of my way. This is holiness. This is sanctification. It's running and finishing well. And you run with God's help. You don't put your trust in your ability to run, but you run.

Because there's only one other option, and it's back there, and it's hot. I pray none of us ever have an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Oh, may that never be. No, instead, we want a heart that is soft, that savors, that takes delight in the goodness and mercy of God, that delights to do His will, that sees discipline as a blessing, that sees suffering, As redemptive, that sees beauty from ashes. And so how do you continue to persevere in the grace of God? You listen to the warning. The warnings are there, and they're real warnings to help stimulate us to love and good deeds. And if you feel uncomfortable, then I have been faithful in preaching to you. If you feel uncomfortable, then either I have been unfaithful, or God has not worked in your heart because your heart is still hard. Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God. No one. That no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. The other thing is your sin will affect this church. When you sin, it will affect the church.

Men, when you look at pornography, it affects this church. Wives, when you refuse to submit to your husband and you're bitter and hard, it affects this church. Children, when you don't obey your parents, it affects this church. That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. Seek it now. Seek it now, and you will find it. There are times to be comforted, and there are times to be afflicted. And God gives us both. God gives us affliction for those who are comfortable, and he comforts those who are afflicted. This is a sermon to afflict the comfortable. And it's God's word. And may we heed it. May we.

Grow under it. May we seek after holiness. May we work this out in our small groups and in our men's and women's groups and our families. Let's have conversations about this. Let's keep this ongoing. Let's chase after holiness together and God will grow. He will give our church fruit beyond measure and he will bless this church and grow his kingdom. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness. God, you are a consuming fire. You are not mocked. Whatever a man sows, we will reap. Father, I pray that we would not sow to our flesh, that we would not indulge our corrupt desires, but Father, that we would fight hard after them, that we would instead sow to the Spirit. Father, give us a hunger for your word. Give us a hunger for prayer. Give us a hunger for you, because there is no way.

We will pursue holiness without pursuing you, for you are holy, Lord. Father, I pray that you would help us as fathers to be faithful in leading our families in family worship, catechizing our children in the great truths of Scripture and in your word. I pray that you would help us as men to lead our wives and to love them like you love the church. Father, I pray you would help us, the wives here, to be submissive, willfully, and cheerfully to their husbands, not despising their leadership, not despising even their weakness. I pray you would give us children who grow and are cultivated in holiness, that trust in your Son, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of their sins and their righteousness. Father, I pray, that you would give us as a church holy living, that you would give us maturity as a church beyond our years so that we can be a help to those who are in need, so that we can be teachers, Father. Make us all able to be teachers. Make us all able to be prophets. Make us all able, Father, to be helpful, to be useful for your kingdom.

Pray in Jesus' name, amen.