Feb 9, 1997 10 min read old-sermon

The Spirit Purifies

somewhere in your possession, you probably have something made of gold
if you have a ring, and you look inside of it, you just might see a number followed with the letter K
it refers to the purity of the gold piece – how much is gold and how much is not
a 10 carat piece of gold is 42% gold
a 12 carat piece is 50% gold
and a 24 carat piece of gold is – you guessed it – pure gold
of course, the more purity, the more value
it’s my experience that there are 10 carat Christians, 12 carat Christians, and 20 carat Christians
one of the Holy Spirit’s tasks is to refine us as believers until we become 24 carat Christians
now, this process is never completed in this life
but it carries on continually
this morning I want to talk to you about how the Spirit goes about purifying us
the ultimate goal is a simple one: to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ
that we progressively become more and more free from sin and more and more like Jesus Christ in our actual lives
we have to understand the Biblical picture of the human condition
according to the Bible, there are really only two masters we can serve: sin or the Spirit
many of us think it’s possible to sit on the fence
the reality is this: if you’re not serving God, you’re serving Satan
when we become Christians, the Bible says we are new creatures
we stand justified before Holy God, and everything about us is new
(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
but perhaps it has been your experience that you have not always lived up to this new position
sometimes our conduct does not match our position in Christ
the story is told that the emperor Napoleon was once embarrassed by the behavior of one of his soldiers, who also happened to be named Napoleon
the emperor looked at his fellow Napoleon and said, “Either change your behavior or change your name”
once we’re saved, God looks at us, and instead of seeing our sins, he sees the righteousness of Christ imputed to us
we have a holy standing before God, not because we are holy, but because Christ is holy
the problem is, we still have this thing called the sin nature
the reality is, even the most mature Christian is not perfect
and the Holy Spirit’s job for the rest of our lifetimes is to make our conduct match our position in Christ
I’ll say it again: the Holy Spirit’s job for the rest of our lifetimes is to make our conduct match our position in Christ
now how would you like a job like that?
you think your job is hard!
let’s start at the beginning
before you believed in Christ, what were you like?
you were probably a very nice person
your mother probably loved you
you probably had friends
and compared to other people, you were probably a morally upright person
if you ask the average person on the street, they would have to say that they were hoping to go to heaven because they’ve tried their best to obey God
but here’s the catch
God’s opinion is completely different
(John 16:8) When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
(John 16:9) in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;
(John 16:10) in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
(John 16:11) and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
the Holy Spirit begins to work
and what a work he has to do
this is the first purifying work that the Spirit ever does
if you read the passage, the Spirit convicts the world of three things:
first, the Spirit convicts the world of sin
if you haven’t noticed, sin is a four letter word in our society
where do you ever hear the word sin?
even in churches, the concept of sin is pass?
it’s a lot easier to say “shortcomings” or “blemishes” or “flubs”
but then the Spirit comes along and convicts us of sin
here’s the reality he brings to our attention:
(Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
(Romans 8:6) The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
(Romans 8:7) the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
(Romans 8:8) Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
the Bible is very clear that we have a sin problem
and the Spirit convicts us of our sin
the greatest sin, according to John 16:9, is that people do not believe in Jesus Christ
because he is the only means of salvation given to us
the Spirit also convicts us of righteousness
instead of measuring ourselves by other people, the Spirit convicts us by revealing the holiness of God
and like Isaiah, we cry “(Isaiah 6:5) “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
as we see the righteousness of Christ, attested to by his return to the Father, we become convicted of our own lack of righteousness
we realize that God doesn’t grade on the bell curve
and the Spirit also convicts us of the coming judgment
how do we know about the coming judgment?
because Satan, “the ruler of this world,” is already condemned
Tony Evans has said that before the Spirit begins his convicting work in our hearts as unbelievers, we are like a wasp that lands on a sandwich
the wasp begins eating the juice of the jam
he is so busy enjoying the sweet stuff that he doesn’t even notice that the person on whose sandwich it had landed had picked up a knife to slice the sandwich in half
in other words, that wasp was suddenly in great peril
but it keeps on eating
the unredeemed person is like this, eating the jam of the world, but unaware that God is about to raise his arm in judgment
if you’re a true and genuine believer this morning, you’ve experienced the Spirit’s conviction
but some people resist it
when Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, he said to him:
(Acts 26:14) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
in other words, why are you fighting the Spirit’s convicting power?
before Stephen was became the first Christian martyr, he preached a sermon in which he said this:
(Acts 7:51) “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
it’s possible to resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit
this morning, it’s possible that someone has been convicted of the Holy Spirit
you know that you haven’t come to Christ in repentance
if you were to die today, and you were to stand before the judgment of God, you know that your all your righteous deeds and efforts wouldn’t be enough
you realize that your only hope is in Jesus Christ, that he gives you an infusion of his perfect righteousness
but you haven’t believed and trusted in him yet
this morning I would say to you: “Why are you kicking against the goads?”
come to Christ this morning
as I mentioned, when we come to Christ, we are new creatures
and the Spirit does an initial cleansing work on us, making a decisive break with the patterns of sin that were in our lives before
Paul says of the Corinthians:
(1 Corinthians 6:11) And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you w ere sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
he gives us an initial break with sin
and we become new creatures
the Bible is clear that from the point of conversion on, we are no longer ruled or dominated by sin
we no longer love to sin
(Romans 6:11) In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
(Romans 6:12) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
(Romans 6:13) Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
(Romans 6:14) For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
this means that we, by virtue of the power of the Holy Spirit and the resurrection life of Christ working within us, have power to overcome the temptations and enticements of sin
sin is no longer our master, as it was before we were saved
although we sometimes sin, the Holy Spirit re-orients our desires so that we no longer have a dominant love for sin in our hearts
this is the Spirit’s second great work of purification
the first one was bring us conviction
the second great work was in giving us a decisive break from the mastery of sin at our conversion
but if you’re like me, you still struggle with sin
no-one here can say, “I am completely free from sin”
the reality is that for the rest of our lives, the Holy Spirit is doing his purifying work in our lives, gradually making us freer from sin, and more and more like Christ
(Romans 6:19) Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
in other words, Paul says that our task is to grow more and more in sanctification, just as we previously grew more and more in sin
we could all echo the words of the apostle Paul who said:
(Philippians 3:13) Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
(Philippians 3:14) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I won’t dwell on this, because we will be talking about the fruit of the Spirit in our lives in a few weeks
much of the New Testament is taken up with instructing believers on how they should grow in likeness to Christ
the important thing to realize this morning, though, is that the Spirit is at work in your life purifying you from sin until you become more and more like Christ
as a postscript, I can say that this work will only be completed in one sense at our death, but ultimately on the resurrection day
it’s application time
the third person of the Trinity is called the Holy Spirit
and it should come as no surprise to us that one of his primary activities is to cleanse us from sin and “sanctify us” or make us more holy in actual conduct of life
my first application is that we ought to praise God the Holy Spirit for taking on this great task
it’s primarily the work of God
we can take little credit for our spiritual growth
Paul prays:
(1 Thessalonians 5:23) May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
Paul tells the Philippians:
(Philippians 2:13) It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
the Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit specifically works within us to change us and sanctify us, giving us greater holiness of life
Peter speaks of the “sanctifying work of the Spirit” in 1 Peter 1:2
Paul talks about the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5
the Holy Spirit is the spirit of holiness, and he produces holiness within us
my second application is that we have a role in this
the Spirit is purifying us, but we are not just passive spectators
we have a role in this as well
(Romans 8:13) If you use your lives to do the wrong things your sinful selves want, you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit’s help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, you will have true life.
Paul says we do this with the Spirit’s help, but he also says we must do it!
it is not the Holy Spirit who puts to death the wrongful things that our sinful selves want, it’s Christians who must do this – with the Spirit’s help, of course
Paul tells the Philippians:
(Philippians 2:12) My dear friends, you have always obeyed God when I was with you. It is even more important that you obey now while I am away from you. Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling,
(Philippians 2:13) because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him.
Paul encourages them to keep on working to complete their salvation, because God is working in them
they need to further work out the realization of the benefits of salvation in their lives
the Bible never suggests any short-cuts by which we can grow, but simply encourages us repeatedly to give ourselves to Bible reading and meditation, prayer, worship, Christian fellowship, and self-discipline or self-control
we’re going to come back to this theme in a few weeks when we talk about the fruit of the Spirit
but let me ask you some questions this morning
the Spirit has quite a job turning you from a sinner to a saint
have you been resisting the Spirit’s conviction?
do you realize that you have been holding back, not wanting to come to Christ in repentance and to let the Spirit give you a new nature?
if so, this morning is the time for you to come
question two: do you praise God for continuing to make you holier?
aren’t you glad the Holy Spirit doesn’t give up on you?
aren’t you glad you don’t have to do it yourself?
the Holy Spirit is at work in you even today, making you into a holier person, day by day
question three: are you cooperating?
you have an active role in this, you know
(Ephesians 4:30) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
it’s possible to bring grief to the Holy Spirit by resisting his work of sanctification in our lives
let’s pray right now and ask him to do this work in our lives

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.

Toronto, Canada

Darryl Dash

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