We're turning to 1 Peter chapter 2 today. 1 Peter chapter 2 and we'll begin our reading at the opening verse of the chapter. 1 Peter chapter 2 and the verse number 1. Word of God says, Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As you born, be of desire that sincere milk off the word, that ye may grow thereby. Es so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, and holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scriptures, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. And you therefore which believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed to see him is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which hath not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Amen, and we'll end at the verse 11, our Bible reading. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, come and fill me with thy spirit. Spirit of God, our teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me. More, more about Jesus. Lord, may it be so. Come, Lord, use thy word today to the sanctifying of our hearts and to the edifying of our souls. Grant, dear God, the help, therefore, of thy spirit, not only for preacher, but for every hearer that has been redeemed by precious blood. May the spirit be our teacher. Open our understanding. and our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law. For we pray these, our prayers, in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. In our study with respect to this doctrine of sanctification, we have already prescribed what sanctification is. We have defined, really, what it is. We've looked at how this work of sanctification is pictured for us within the word of God. We've considered the personalities that are involved in our sanctification. We thought about the principle of sanctification, and we have passed comment on the progressive nature of this sanctification. But today we come to think of two final truths around this great doctrine that we find within the Word of God, namely the portrayal of our sanctification and the production of sanctification. We want to therefore consider, first of all, the portrayal of our sanctification. The Word of God portrays sanctification, this work of progressive holiness, in various ways. It uses various illustrations, metaphors, to make it easy for us to understand what it really is. and what is really involved in this aspect of Christian living and what it accomplishes within our lives. And we want to consider a number of those metaphors, a number of those illustrations just at this particular time. Progressive sanctification, this increase in holiness and likeness to Jesus Christ is portrayed in terms of a growing, There is a growing involved in our sanctification, a growing in likeness to Jesus Christ, a growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. Jesus Christ. Now there are a number of passages in God's Word that speak about this aspect of growing. The Christians need to grow because the Christian is not to be one who is stagnant in their Christian lives, but that there is to be an advancing, there is to be a progression, there is to be a forwarding of our lives with respect to holiness and to a conformity and a likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Ephesians chapter 4 is the first portion that I direct you to. If you want to turn there to Ephesians chapter 4, and we'll read 4 from the verse number 11. Ephesians 4 verse 11, and he, speaking of God, gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers. Now, we believe that the apostleship and the office of prophet have now ceased. With the Word of God coming, a completeness of Holy Scripture, we believe that there has been a cessation to these offices of apostles and of prophetic utterances. But God has still given to his church evangelists and pastors and teachers. Now, what is their responsibility? What is their work? What is their mandate? What does God desire them, these individuals that God has given to his church as gifts to his church, what are they to be involved in? What is their business? What is their calling for, verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints that means the building up of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying the building up of the body of christ so we come in unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of god onto a perfect man a mature man onto the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ but look at verse 15 but speaking the truth and love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. For in the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working of the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying, the building up of it, of itself in love. Paul speaks in verse 15 about a growing up in love. to him. He speaks about the perfect man in verse 13, the mature man, that mature, fully formed, fully equipped, complete person that God wants us to be, is accomplished by our sanctification, our maturing in the Christian walk, is involved by our dying on to sin and our living on to righteousness. And Paul takes the illustration of simply the human body and shows that every member of that body over time develops and matures leading to the overall increase, the overall growth of the entire body. We know what it is physically. We're born as children, small arms, small legs, but eventually each leg starts to grow and each arm starts to grow until there is that growth to the stage that a person is mature in age. And so it is, spiritually speaking. There is a growth that is involved, a starting off small and then a growing up in to Christ and into God. Peter uses this illustration of growth. We've already mentioned, we've already been in Peter. Let me turn you to 1 Peter chapter 1 and the verse number 2, 1 Peter chapter number 1. Sorry, 1 Peter chapter 2 and the verse number 2, 1 Peter chapter 2, "...as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." And so there is an expectation, not of stagnation, but of that of growth and of that advancement. The milk of the word bringing this growth. Growth is expected. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18 speaks of this growth again. but grow in grace. I have the wrong reference, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Yes, 2 Peter 3, verse 18. And from these two verses in 1 and 2 Peter, we come to understand that there is a time in our Christian lives when we are babes. There is a time when there is immaturity. There's a time when we are not mature. There's a time when our Christian graces are not as established as they ought to be. There's a time in our lives when the knowledge of our Savior is not as extensive as God would desire it to be. But as the Christian grows, and as they are sanctified by the Word, and as they die to sin, and as they live on to God, there is a growth in our knowledge, there is a growth in the graces of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to say a few things then about this growth. this growth in our Christian lives. Can I say, first of all, that it is gradual. There is a gradual growing in grace. Just as an infant's growth is gradual, so our growth is as believers. Little by little is the principle upon which Christian growth proceeds. You think of it, a child doesn't become an adult overnight. A painting is not painted with a single brush stroke. A building is not erected in one day, a tree, an oak doesn't mature in a week, but rather line upon line, precept upon precept are the tracks upon which things move towards maturity so that a perfection is reached, a maturity is reached. And we need to remember that when we think about our Christian lives. And we think about our growing in grace. We need to remember that our growth is gradual. Now, as with any child, there are times when there are spurts of growth. You find that among your own children. They seem to eat more, and they seem to grow more, and it seems to be that they've come into a period in their life where growth is rapid, and then it slows again, but it continues to advance. Though it be slow, yet it's gradually going forward. And so it is in our Christian lives. There are times when we come into a period in our life where growth is rapid. We seem to take great strides with God. We seem to advance in holiness. We're quite happy to have done with sin and to go forward with the Lord. And then there's other times when it seems to be going simply at a snail's pace, but it's still going, it's still advancing onwards. And we need to remember this. Younger saints, you need to remember that. You need to remember that your growth at times is gradual. It is slow. You need to remember it lest you get discouraged. Lest you get discouraged at the seeming lack of progress within your Christian life. And then the older saint needs to remember it as well. Lest they discourage the younger saint because of their seeming lack of progress. We could be very quick to say about an individual that they're not growing, that they're stagnant, and yet we're not to discourage those who are of the younger faith. And so it's gradual, but something else that's constant. This growth, this spiritual growth, it's constant. You see, day and night, summer and winter, Sunday to Saturday, January to December, growth is taking place in the natural world. It may not appear that that is so, especially during the dark and the dreary nights of winter, and yet it is. There's growth taking place. And it's no different in the spiritual realm. Every day we are growing, even in those times when it seems that growth could never take place, those times when it seems that there is no visible signs of growth on the surface. What is happening is that our roots are sinking deeper, and they're spreading wider in preparation for a day of future fruitfulness. Though it may not be seen to us, yet there's growth taking place. We noted a few weeks ago what the apostle Paul, he said there in Philippians 2, the verse 13, for it is God which worketh in you, both to well and to do his good pleasure. That verb worketh, very important, the tense of the verb, because it is within the present tense. It's simply informing us, as it's found in the present tense, that this is an ongoing work. God continually working in us. It is God that continually worketh in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure. And so maybe you're here today, you're discouraged, but do not be discouraged. Remember the truth that God is constantly working in your life. working in my life to cultivate this growth in holiness. Now at times, he may prune you. He, as the great husband man, may take the pruning knife, cut off a branch that is unnecessary, not required. And that process can be hard to bear, hard to endure. It may be sharp, might be something that God would have you to leave off. And then other times he may be dunging you. Remember the story about the fig tree? how he desired to cut it down, and how it was given a space of a year, a year of grace, we would say. What happened? But the husband man, he dug around it and he dunged it, it said. He fertilized it in order to promote growth. You see, at times, God works differently with us. Yes, sometimes it's the pruning, sometimes it's the dunging, sometimes it's just the leaving, looking in patience for the fruit. But God is always, He's constantly working. Be in no doubt then about this. If you're truly a child of God, God is constantly, personally involved in your progression and sanctification. Christian growth is something else. Gradual, constant, imperceptible. At times, this growth is imperceptible. Someone has said growth is one of the most effective forces in nature, and yet the most silent. You can neither see nor hear its actual operation. A few months ago, Abigail came home with a little pot full of compost, a little seed, a little sunflower seed planted in it. She's come back with that plant for the last three years. Two years ago, and last year, nothing grew. And I always question, was there actually a seed put in the little pot? But this year, lo and behold, this little green shoot started to appear. Within about a week, I made sure that I fed it this time, a little miracle grow in it, try and get it as tall as I can. I suppose that's a little bit of pride within the preacher, needs to deal with that there. I looked at it, looked at it at night and then the next morning it just seemed to have grown again. It has now reached the stage that it's probably about seven foot high, probably die whenever we're away. But anyway, we'll not even get to see the flower. But if I had sat and looked at that little sunflower and that little green shoot, if I had sat there for an hour, I would never saw it grow. Now it was growing, obviously, for something within a couple of months to reach from a little seed now to seven foot tall. It obviously has had to grow, but I haven't been able to discern. I haven't been able to see the growth that is actually taking place, but over a longer period of time, not an hour, but a week, Well, then it's most obvious that growth has taken place, and it has continued to grow. It's very obvious that growth, though imperceptible, has been taking place even whenever I thought it wasn't. You know, at times we can look at our lives, we can ask ourselves and wonder, has there been any growth? And what we often do is we look at a week, a span of a week, and we question, well, has there been any growth in my life in the last seven days? But you know, it'd be more profitable for you to look over the last six months, to look over the last 12 months, and ask yourself, has there been any growth? Has there been any growth over that period of time? Has there been any advancement? Or has there been retreat? Has there been a going back? Things you once did, you no longer do. Places where you would never have been, you now go to. Has there been a going forward or a going back? You see, the preacher, the minister, the pastor, he does not review the life of an individual within his congregation over a weekly period. That would be unprofitable. But he does look over months and over years. And for some, there is great concern. There is great concern about where you are with God. For others, there's great delight because there has been a going onward. There has been a progression. There has been a pushing forward in the work of God. You see, across the congregation there is silent and there is imperceptible growth that is taking place in the lives of some of God's people. And we need to acknowledge that, but we also need to seek the furtherance of it. If there has been a halting in your growth, well then you need to look to the reasons why that is and make the adjustments so that it may not be so. Make the adjustments that need to be made. So it is gradual, constant, and imperceptible. Sanctification is pictured in terms of growth, but it's also portrayed in terms of abounding, abounding. Numerous of the Bible references, let me give you a number. Romans 15 verse 13, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. 2 Corinthians 9, the verse number 8, and God is able to make all grace abound towards you. Philippians 1 verse 9, and this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more. in the knowledge and in all judgment. 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 12, And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, toward all men, even as we do toward thee. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 8, For if these things be in you, what things? The things mentioned in the verse 5 and 7, faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. If those things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see folks, faith and love and virtue and knowledge, these things are to increase. We don't, as it were, get a full tank of these things, and that's as far as we go with God when we become a Christian. No, rather, there is to be an adding, there is to be an increase, there is to be an abounding, that is to take place as we progressively become more like Jesus Christ. Are you abounding? Are you abounding? Are you abiding in love, in faith, in virtue, in your knowledge of Christ and temperance, self-control? Are you abiding in godliness, brotherly kindness, love and charity? Can I say that our abiding comes as a direct result of our abiding? As we abide in Christ, then we abound in these graces, because without me ye can do nothing. From him our fruit is found, and so our abiding in Christ leads to our abounding in these things. Oh, to be a super-abounding Christian! But there is a third instance, and I want to speak about this, and it's about our conforming Progressive sanctification is portrayed in terms of a conforming. Are you aware that you're either being conformed to this world, or you're being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ? That's the only two options. You're either being conformed to this world, pressed into its mold, or you're being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Those are the only two options. The latter conformity, likeness to Jesus Christ, is the great purpose, is the intended goal of the electing grace of God. Romans 8 verse 29 affirms that to be so. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. The goal of God's electing grace. In other words, the reason why God saved you was not just to save you from hell. It wasn't just to help you through this world with all of its troubles and difficulties, and to have a friend that sticketh closer than any brother. But the ultimate aim, the intended goal, the chief purpose why God ever set His electing love upon you was to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ. That's why He saved you. That's why He saved me. Matthew Henry said, none can know their election but by their conformity to Christ. For all who are chosen are chosen to sanctification. The transformation into the image of Christ consists in our conformity to three criteria. Criterion one, the law of God. The law of God is an expression of God's holy and of God's righteous character. And God's law is to be the rule of the Christian's life. It ought to regulate how a Christian lives, how they think, what they say, and what they do. All of which is to be agreeable to the very character and the nature of God as it is expressed in the law of God. The commandments is a simple expression of God's nature. God is holy. God is just. God is good. These things we learn within the law of God. Romans 7 verse 12, wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just, and good. And thus conformity to this holy and to this just and this good law is conformity to God, and therefore to his Son, who is God, and therefore the ultimate pattern for our sanctification. And so the law of God, instead of it being thrown out the window, As it is in many churches, the law of God is not to be thrown out of the window, but rather we are to conform our lives to the law of God. If ye love me, keep my commandments. Criterion two, the revealed will of God. That incorporates the entire spectrum of Holy Scripture. What did the Apostle Paul say? Romans 12, verse 1 and 2, I beseech you therefore, brethren. By the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And where is God's will to be found? But simply in the pages of holy Scripture. And so as we conform our lives to all that is revealed within the Word of God by doing His commands, by refraining from those things that God tells us not to do, then this work of sanctification will go fast on in our lives. How can I be sanctified? Here it is. Obedience to the Word of God. Just simply obeying what you find in God's Word. That's how to be sanctified. How to be sanctified? And then the third criterion is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The supreme example to which our lives are to come into conformity with is the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, sanctification is simply the transformation of our lives into the likeness of the Savior. It is not any preacher's desire that any faithful preacher of God's Word that that you as a person would conform your life to the preacher. I tell you, that's a very low bar to set. It's not for you to conform your life to some eminent saint that you know, some person who's lived in the past, and if I can reach the maturity of his life, the holiness of his or her life, That's not the desire for the preacher. It's not the desire of any preacher to make you as a child to be like your Christian mother or father. For those are all very low bars to set. But it is the preacher's purpose to bring you to that place where you would say, to be like Jesus, to be like Jesus. All that I ask is to be like Him. All through life's journey, from earth to glory, all that I ask is to be like Him, to be like your Savior, to be like Christ. Peter said, for even herein where we call, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps, doing as Christ did, following in his footsteps, walking as he walked, leads to our conformity to Jesus Christ. And I tell you, this community and this church needs Christians living like Jesus Christ. This sin-cursed and blighted land needs Christians again to live like Jesus Christ. Seeing Gandhi live and listening to what Gandhi had to say, the Christian missionary E. Stanley Jones asked him one day, Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, Why is it that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower? Gandhi replied to that Christian ministry these words, oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It is just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ. An ungodly man looked at the lives of God's professing people and it was how they lived that caused him to reject the gospel. I'm sad to say our unlikeness to Jesus Christ can be one of the greatest hindrances to the ungodly putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. How we then could do well to remember the words written by Robert Murray McSheehan, You maybe don't know the circumstances of when he wrote the words, but he was writing to the Reverend Dan Edwards. The letter was penned on the 2nd of October, 1840. This man, the Reverend Edwards, had just been ordained as a missionary to the Jews. And McShane was writing to him, and he wrote these words to this new minister, this new missionary. He says, it is not great talents. that God blesses, so much as great likeness to Jesus. It's not great talents, so much as that God blesses, but great likeness to Jesus. I wonder, how is your, how is my conformity to Jesus Christ? How's it going? Do you live like Christ lived? Are you living as Christ lived? Do you serve as he served? Because he came to minister. Christ came to minister. I was listening to Peter Masters this week, and this is what he said. He says, it's a disgusting thing. It's a disgusting thing for a Christian to have no avenue of service for the Lord. A disgusting thing. In light of all that Christ has done for you and I, and there's no involvement among the vast majority of God's people in the work of God. No involvement. No avenue of service. No, we're concerned about our domestic life. Concerned about the business, the family. When it comes to the work of God, no preacher. Too busy. Too busy to sit in the bus with children. Too busy. Too tired. Couldn't do that, preacher. That would mean that I would have to arrange my social calendar, and you couldn't expect me to do something like that. What about your prayer life? Is it anything like Christ? Anything like the saviors, what about your giving? Anything like the saviors? He gave his blood. Did you steal from him today when the offering plate went past? Did you steal from him? Did you give as he gave? Oh, but preacher, I look whenever the annual report comes out and I see myself to be among the top 10 givers within this congregation. It matters not. Have you given as Christ gave? Sacrificially? Willingly? Gladly? You see, we all set the bar very low, so we're all able to get over it. But not whenever we set Christ as the ideal. Not when we set Him as our example. We find ourselves falling short. falling short. The production. I need to go very quickly because I want to end today. How? How are we sanctified? Well, there are various means. There are inner means. Faith is one. We understand that we are in union with Christ. We spoke about that. I died to sin because Christ has died for sin. I die in Him. Through my union with Him, I can know victory over my sin. And so faith, understanding who we are in Christ, that leads to our sanctification. Conscience leads to our sanctification. Think of it. You go to sin, the voice of conscience speaks. What's it doing? It's warning you. It's turning you from that sin in order that you may not commit that sin, that you may not yield to that temptation. And whenever you gladly relinquish and you flee from that sin, then this work of sanctification goes on. Conscience plays a role, but what about the outward means? Well, the Word of God. The Word of God is used in our sanctification. The Lord Jesus Christ saw our sanctification as being so important that it occupied his prayer life the night before he was crucified. You think of that. Let it sink down into your heart, let it impress upon your mind how important this matter of sanctification must be if that the Lord Jesus Christ, in light of Calvary, the sufferings that He would endure, the pain that He would undergo, the forsaking of the Father that He would experience on Calvary's middle cross. You think of that. You think of what Jesus Christ prayed about. Did He pray about His own preservation? No. He prays for our sanctification, I tell you. It must be an important thing if it occupied the prayer life of Jesus Christ. John 17, 17 is high priestly prayer. He said, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. The Word of God is a sanctifying instrument, implement, the vehicle through which God sanctifies it. What did the psalmist say to the young man who wanted to cleanse his ways? What advice does he give to that young man? Psalm 119, the advice that was given to that young man was to take heed according thereto to thy word. Take heed take heed thereto according to thy word wherein shall a young man cleanse his way take heed take heed to the word just obey it live it out live it out in your life that's why in reformed theology great importance is placed upon the word i tell you you'll not be sanctified by some band standing in front of a congregation and some praise worshipers singing for hours or minutes, 20, 30 minutes, you'll not be sanctified by that, young man. And neither will I. We're sanctified through the Word. And therefore, you need to be in a place where the Word is preached. where the book is opened, where it becomes and it is the central act of worship, not some ad hom for a few minutes, 10 minutes or 20 minutes at the end, but rather there is a primacy to the preaching of the word because it is through the word that we'll be convicted of our sin and we'll be brought to that place where we say, not my will but thine Lord be done. Want to advance in holiness? Be under the word. Be in your place. where the Word is open. If you desire to be like your Savior, devour the Word. Take the Word. Not only read it, but live it out. And when the opportunities arise, when the Word is being preached, avail yourself of those opportunities. But not only that, pray for the one who's preaching God's Word. Be in the place of prayer before the service starts. Pray for God's servant, if not here in God's house, in your home. Pray that God will give him a word. Pray throughout the week that God will direct him in his study. You know, folks, this message didn't just come down from heaven last night onto mine. There's hours taken in the preparation of God's word, and that's what I'm called to. But it is your responsibility to pray. Pray for God's servant, that he might know a word from God. And so the word as it's preached, our hearts are exposed. God puts his hand upon some sin, some failure, and we gladly say, yes, Lord, that's true. And we come to the cross, and we come to the cleansing of precious blood, and we know it's sanctifying influence in our lives. The sacraments are sanctifying. You see, the sacraments are communicative signs. That simply means that they point us away from self, and they point us to the Savior. And when we understand the sacraments, and I speak of baptism in the Lord's Supper, when we understand of the sacraments in this way, pointing them away, my thoughts, pointing them away from me and onto Christ, then we come to understand, yes, they are sanctifying in their effect. Because a looking on to Christ surely will sanctify us. Surely that will cause us to strive to be like Him. One Reformed preacher put it like this, the sacraments are helps to sanctification precisely because they are a means to a fresh realization of our union and communion with Christ. The sacraments are means of grace. So why then? Are there so many unbaptized believers in this congregation? Why? Why is it that there are some of God's people, and when it comes to the Lord's Supper, that you rise and you go out of the door? It's a means of grace. It's showing you Christ in the bread and in the wine. It's, as it were, readjusting, recalibrating how we think because we get so worldly. And so as we come around the table, we focus again upon the great sufferings that Christ endured for us. And we understand the great debt that we owe to the Savior. And as a result, we won't have done with the world. want to live for Jesus Christ as we see him, not only in baptism, I'm buried with him, I rise with him, but also around the Lord's table. And so maybe there needs to be obedience with respect to these matters of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Prayer is another means of sanctifying us. What do we do in prayer? We draw nigh to God. And I tell you, whenever you draw nigh to God, you start to see how you really are. Did Isaiah not experience that as he drew near to God there in the temple? He says, woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. That confession of sin leads to his cleansing as a life coal is taken by a seraphim and placed upon his tongue. Though this has touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away, what about Peter whenever he came into the presence of Christ? Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." His sin became conscious, or he becomes conscious of his sin. And surely whenever we become conscious of our sin, we want to have done with our sin. And is that not what sanctification is? A dying on to sin? And so as we approach God in prayer, it leads to the sanctifying of our lives. Lastly, fourthly, providence. providence. Now God's providence at times can be prosperous. God in his providence can lead us into times of blessing within our homes and our families, our personal walk with God. But sometimes providence is adverse. It's not up the mountain, but it's into the valley he takes us. When adversity comes our way, we find ourselves and our hearts, they're weaned away from the world. Our priorities are realigned, are they not? Our hearts are set seeking after God whenever we're in a difficult spot. You think of a person who's been told by a doctor that the test results are not good, and that person In that moment of time, they're not concerned about how much money they have in their bank. They're not concerned how healthy the order books look within the business. They're not concerned about where their football team sits in the league table. All they're concerned about is my walk with God. Will God help me? Will God heal me? Will God bring me through? Adversity weans our hearts away from the things of the world. The psalmist said, it is good for me that I had been afflicted, that I might learn my statutes. James Buchanan wrote, the general end of affliction, as it is explained in God's word, is the moral and spiritual improvement of believers. In other words, their progressive sanctification and their preparation for glory. Think of Jonah. from the belly of the wheel. Providence was adverse, but it led him to seek after God. It started him praying again, and it brought him to the place where God wanted him to be. It sanctified that prophet. And so today, whether you find yourself under God's chastening rod, or maybe today you're under God's smiling face, Be assured that whatever befalls you, that an all-wise and all-loving God has sent to further your progression in holiness and likeness to Jesus Christ. So let's avail ourselves of these means. The Word, the sacraments, prayer. Let us trust a providential God. to bring everything into our lives that will be used to shape and to mold us and to conform us to the image of God's dear Son. This is the will of God, even your sanctification. And so as you pray, Lord, sanctify sanctify my life. And Lord, use these providential dealings to the sanctifying of my soul. When you pray along those lines, you're praying in the will of God. So may God help me, and may God help you to be like Him, to be like Christ. May God bring us to the place where people can see Christ in us. May God be pleased to sanctify our lives. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our loving Father, our gracious God, we come before Thee. We thank Thee, O God, for Thy Word. Oh, to be like Thee, to be like Thee, Lord, just to be a reflection of Thee in some way. Oh, grant, dear Father, our hearts to be open to Thee, willing to have done with that which Thou would have us to have done with. Help us, Lord, in this area, we pray. The flesh and the devil and the world pull so hard against us, and they resist it, Lord. Oh, grant, dear Father, the grace to overcome these enemies. And may there be in all of our lives that growth, that abounding, that conforming, not to the standards of a church, but to thy word, to Christ himself, to be Christ's ones here on earth, that men may see our good works. and glorify our Father that is in heaven. Bless every heart that has heard thy word. May it be used to the sanctifying of the soul. For we offer prayer in and through our blessed Savior's name. Amen.