2005 Ligonier Conference: The Word of God In Spiritual Growth

• somebody said that if all the people who had read my commentaries were laid end to end they’d be a lot more comfortable I don’t think it was a compliment I uh it it is a always a joy to be here and and a distinct honor uh this is a marvelous and remarkable and unique event that I am so privileged to be a part of and I always come uh well I have fears on a number of fronts but when you preach in your church and you make tapes and write books and uh you’re also on the radio people expect you to say something that you’ve never said before for that’s
• a challenge I this was brought home to me I was preaching up by Edmonton Alberta in Canada and I I think I drove 5 hours from the nearest airport out in the middle of nowhere some years ago to to speak to a gathered group of people there and they had driven from all across the Plains and the tundra for this event and when I returned home after being there for the better part of a week teaching the word of God I received letter from one lady who uh and the I have several letters in a file that I keep this was one and she said uh
• it seems to me that for those of us who traveled so far and she went on to say how many hours she traveled you wouldn’t have used an illustration that I heard you use on the radio and I I prayed for her husband can you imagine if I got that grief what that poor man deals with but that’s not my favorite letter my favorite letter is right next to that one a little lady in the midwest wrote and said I’ve been listening to you on the radio and I’ve been sending you money I won’t be doing that anymore because I have discovered that you use
• my pastor’s material and you never give him credit I couldn’t figure out how she discovered that I uh so I wrote a little letter and asked her forgiveness so but I think my favorite letter is um in that same little file and it says You Preach so I can understand signed Emily age nine and that’s really what I want to do I want to preach so that you can understand clear is good not simplistic but simple enough for us to to understand I have been given the assignment tonight to talk about the role of scripture in spiritual growth
• and uh this is not only an important subject but I’m sure it’s first because it sets the foundation for everything else since all the other means of Grace flow to us out of the scripture that’s how we know what they are and there are so many ways to approach this but I I want to begin with a statement made by our Lord Jesus Christ one of the most remarkable statements that he ever made and there are so many Revelations from his lips and so many about his own holy Perfection so many places where you hear him speak of his own Glory but he made one step statement
• in that great High Priestly prayer in John 17 in speaking to his father that is really a stunning statement it’s three Greek words ego hagazo hamatan emphatic in the use of those pronouns in the English he said this I sanctify myself John 1719 that is a stunning statement from a human perspective made not to man but to God Made To His holy omniscient father without a hint of hesitation now we all know that to be Sanctified is to be separated from sin scripture says of him that he was holy he was innocent and he was undefiled and separate from Sinners
• Hebrews 7:26 but the Wonder of the statement is that he Sanctified himself it is an indicative tense which carries continuity that is to say he is always sanctifying himself he is always separating himself from sin he constantly separates himself from sin and sustains his own Holiness though tempted relentlessly at all points as we are self sanctification turn in your Bible for a minute to John 17 and and look at uh that particular text and some around it as a starting point for our thoughts tonight in John 17 and verse