Blameless

Scripture Reading

Well, you open up in your Bibles with me to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter five. We are almost done with the book of 1 Thessalonians. Just as a preview, as you're flipping to 1 Thessalonians, after this, we're gonna be in the book of Joshua. So just a little preview of what we're gonna be looking at. We'll be in the book of Joshua for quite a few months. So 1 Thessalonians chapter five. If you're using your pew Bible, you can find that on page 1050. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and we're going to read verses 14 through 24, but the sermon is going to be specifically looking at verses 23 and 24. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we'll begin the reading at verse 14.

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, test all things, hold fast. to what is good, abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."

Prayer for Illumination

Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and we pray that as we read your word that your Holy Spirit might enlighten our eyes. We pray that you would teach us now. We pray that we would sit at your feet as faithful pupils and children, ready to hear your wisdom. In Jesus's name, amen.

Sermon

Oh, you're dead. you're dead, you find yourself dead, and on that last great day, the judgment day comes, the fires of hell are real, you hear the gnashing and the screaming, and you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and they ask you, why should I let you into my kingdom?

What's your answer? What is your answer? Well, there is only one answer. Because God, you are faithful. You've made me blameless, and you are good." There's only one answer. God is faithful. God has made us blameless. That's what we find here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 23. And so as we look at this, I'd like to see you adorn, or to abandon, to abandon of yourself any hope of, of, I'm good enough to get into heaven because of what I do, and instead cling to the grace you find in Jesus Christ. I'm gonna say that again. Abandon your own righteousness, and cling to Christ.

First Point

First, As we see how God is faithful and has made us blameless, we need to see that my God is a God of peace. My God is a God of peace. Look with me at verse 23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. We were once those who were at enmity with God, enemies with God, separated because of the deeds of the flesh. Indeed, Isaiah says that even our righteousness was as of filthy rags.

The problem is that we are lawbreakers. And some people might say, well, I'm not that bad of a lawbreaker. I've only broken a few things. That doesn't matter. If you've broken God's law, you are a lawbreaker and liable to the wrath and judgment of God. And someone, well, but I'm not that bad. Well, it's not a scale of how good or bad you are. It's are you righteous or unrighteous, and one transgression makes you unrighteous. Right? If somebody says, here's a line, do not cross, and you go over the line, what does that make you? a transgressor. You've crossed over the line.

If you had a beautiful china set, you have this beautiful china set and you have one teacup saucer and you take your wire cutters and you just put it on the edge of the plate and you just squeeze and you just one time you just take a chip right out of the edge of it.

It's a ruined tea saucer. It's always going to be broken. You can try to superglue it back in there, you know, you can try to hide it, but the problem is it's always going to be broken. It's chipped. Something's wrong with it. It's defective. That's where we find ourselves.

And the problem is God himself is holy and cannot stand to even look at any unholy thing. But thank God. He is a God of peace. God didn't buy us back from the devil, God bought us back from His own wrath. God's anger burns all the time against unrepentant sinners. God is always angry all the time, is what the Scriptures say, against those who hate Him. Brothers and sisters, so were we when we were dead in our transgressions and sins. And yet God was gracious and made peace between Himself and His people.

Why? Because it's in His nature. He is a God of peace. See, we want to think of God as kind of like tossed around by our emotions, but that's not, the Westminster Confession of Faith, it's wonderful when it says that God is not a God of passions, right? He's not like an emotional person who's happy sometimes and angry sometimes, no, he's always joyful in his rejoicing, he's always angry in his anger, and he's always full of peace for those whom he loves. And for those of us who have been called as his children. It's not like he's angry with you at one day and happy with you at another.

No, you're never his enemy because you are at peace with God. He bought that peace at the cost of his own blood, Jesus Christ. He bought that peace by the blood of his own son, Jesus Christ. Maybe you didn't catch that. Maybe you're just so familiar with this idea of salvation that you didn't catch the gravity, the gravitas of that. God Himself hates sin. And no one who's unholy can stand before Him. The only remedy for that was He sent His only begotten Son to die at the hands of sinners. And we are those sinners. We don't deserve God's peace. It took the blood of the second person of the Godhead, humbling himself and becoming in the form of a woman and suffering for you, that he might call you his daughter, that he might call you his son.

This is the peace that we have with God because our God is a God of peace. Stand in awe that He is a God of peace. But also, brothers and sisters, I want you to abandon yourself and cling to God because God is serious about holiness. My God is a God who is serious about holiness. Look with me at verse 23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. Wow, sanctify. Five dollar Christian theological word, hagiasmos. Holiness. Our God is serious about holiness. Our God is serious about holiness.

I'm not sure if you picked that up in 1 Thessalonians, but just in case, maybe we've forgotten the book, and I was kind of surprised as I was looking over things. Chapter 4, verse 3, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. And then chapter 3, verse 13. so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then chapter 4 verse 4, that each one of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification, or that's in holiness and honor, just in case we didn't get it. Chapter 4 verse 7.

Chapter 4 verse 7, for God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. And then just in case we didn't think that God was serious about holiness, chapter 4, verse 8, Therefore he who rejects us does not reject man, but God, who has also given us his, he's so serious about his holiness, or about holiness, that what does he call his own spirit?

His Holy Spirit. God is serious about holiness. So how are you who are by nature unholy made holy? By the blood of Jesus Christ. God is serious about holiness. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 says, no one who is unholy will see the Father. You can't see God if you're unholy.

All right, so I'm gonna do a thought experiment here. If you're bold and courageous, you can raise your hand, although your spouse might slap it down in a second. You ready? If you're holy all the day, by yourself, meaning you've never done anything wrong, every part of you is perfect and righteous, if you dare, go ahead and raise your hand. Well, hold on, we got a problem then, don't we?

If God is serious about holiness, and we're not allowed to see Him, we're not allowed to enter into His presence without holiness, how do we get it? Well, one is declared. When He calls you saints, when He writes to the saints in Thessalonica, when He writes to the saints in the church of the saints, the saints, the saints, That's the holy ones. If you are his child, if you believe in Jesus Christ, he has declared that you are holy. He has taken you out of his wrath and he has put you as an object of his grace, of his mercy, for royal use. He has declared, this one is my chosen one, special, it's not like the rest, it is holy. Because I have declared it to be holy. Again, you know what it's like.

It's not so much in my generation, but some of you in your generation or a generation above, you know it's like you have your everyday Tupperware type silverware and plates and stuff, and then you got the stuff you pull out when you're having a fancy meal.

The stuff that nobody's allowed. My mom, my grandma, my grandma had this, I never understood this, maybe some of you can explain this to me. My grandma had a room in her house. We were not allowed to go in that room. It was the first room, when you walked in the house, you opened the door, and there it was, the nice chairs, the nice couch, all the knick-knacks, always polished, always clean, and we were never allowed in there. It was a special place, a special room. It wasn't for common use. Brothers and sisters, you have been set apart, not for a common use, but for a royal use.

God has declared you holy. But it's not just Him declaring you holy, He actually wants you to live holy. He wants you to live holy. Look with me at verse 23. Again, it doesn't stop there. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever started a renovation project before? Everybody loves renovation projects, or at least they like the idea of a renovation project until about the end of month one. I was just telling a child recently, you know, your heart's like a renovation project the Lord is doing. The problem is, he's basically had to redo everything from the foundation up.

Okay, you had a cracked foundation, things were off, your cornerstone was wacky, so I'm gonna give you a new cornerstone. The cornerstone is Jesus Christ. Here's a new foundation for the house, it's the apostles and the prophets, it's their teaching, it's based upon the word of God. Okay, now...

You've got a problem in the bedroom of your heart. See, there's this area of your life that you have impurity and sexual immorality, and that bedroom area, that needs to be cleaned up. Okay, so we're getting that cleaned up, but the problem is now we're going to start on a new renovation project, and now you know what? You've got some gluttony in your life, you've got some problems, so we're going to go renovate the kitchen. Okay, well great, you're in the midst of, and it feels like sometimes in our hearts that we're always living in the midst of a spiritual renovation, doesn't it? Or you just seem like, okay, I'm just getting this area of my life under control, I've been repenting of these sins, and all of a sudden, you know, your heater goes bad, and you realize, man, I have a real problem with anger.

You know, and I'm really irritable. Now I need to work on this area of my life. This is what the Lord is doing. He's sanctifying you entirely. Right? He's not satisfied with just putting on nice, nice siding on the outside of the house, you know, putting some paint on the fences and making it look good from the outside. No, He is renovating you. He's making you new from the inside out.

No area of your heart is off-limits to the gazing eyes of the Holy Spirit. You might think that there's this little corner over here of your heart, brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit, takes a torch into every dark room and closet and illuminates it and shows us the ugliness, what needs cleaned up, what needs repented of, where we need to change that we might be conformed to the likeness and image of Jesus Christ. That is our goal. Who is the only perfectly holy one? His name is Jesus. And the work of the Holy Spirit is conforming you to the likeness and image of Jesus Christ. So yes, you are holy now, but because you are holy now, he's not just gonna say, okay, you can just, you know, stay in your sin. No, he's gonna bring you along and it's gonna be painful and it's gonna be hard, but brothers and sisters, at the last day, some of you are closer to this in earthly terms than I think I probably am.

But someday, you're going to have a permanent address change. 25204 160th Avenue. Somebody is going to call Joe Baird. They're going to figure out where your spot is. You're going to get a new address right next door. At that day, that's when the renovation is done.

Saints at their death are made perfect in holiness, is what the Shorter Catechism says. Brothers and sisters, when you close your eyes for that last time, and you open them up and see the face of your Savior, Jesus Christ, you will see your holiness. No more sin, no more pain, no more guilt. The renovation project is done.

God is serious about holiness, and He is renovating you. He is sanctifying you entirely, body, soul, and spirit. He's changing your intellect. He's changing the way you think about things. He's changing your heart. He's changing the way you feel about things, the things that you once loved and desired. He shows you, oh, those things aren't actually good. Those are bad.

We were just watching a movie with our kids, and there was this insult that this guy was throwing at people. It was a joke, and I remember this in my own childhood. There's people crying in the movie, and the guy who's a real jerk, he says, wham, wham, call the whambulance. And kids think it's so funny, ha, ha, ha, ha. And our kids have been saying that the last few days, and I had to tell them, no, guys, that's what the jerk says. That's what the bad guy in the stories does.

It's funny, but it's not actually funny. The guy's not building people up, the whole point is he's tearing people down all the time. Do you see, it's even like how we think about things in the world that are, we think, oh man, that was really funny, and then you start thinking about it and you go, that's not funny at all. I shouldn't be laughing at this. We're surrounded by this. This is what the Lord does in our hearts. He changes the way we think about things. He changes the way we feel about things. He even changes the way we use our bodies.

2 Corinthians tells us, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? Therefore glorify the Lord with your body. You can't do with your body whatever you want. You are the Lord's through and through every atom in your body from the hairs on your head to your finger or to your toenails. Every single part of your body is the Lord's. Therefore glorify God with your body. This is why he said in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, what is the will of God in your life? Sanctification.

And then he goes on and talks about not being a slave to sexual immorality. Because you were created, you were saved, you were brought into a relationship with the living God so that you might live a holy life. Don't get that confused. That doesn't mean that you are his child because you live a holy life. That's thinking of it backwards. You are not a child of God because you live a holy life. You live a holy life because you are a child of God.

He is not going to be satisfied until you are sanctified through and through. But your consciousness is going to condemn you. You're going to know when you walk out of here that You're not sanctified perfectly. You're gonna say, okay, that's a great concept for me that, okay, I got it, Brian, I get it. You say that God has separated me, I'm one of his holy children, that's wonderful, but I sin. I got a problem.

Fourth Point

Brothers and sisters, your God makes you blameless. Your God makes you blameless. Point four, my God has made me blameless. Brothers and sisters, this is not about your conscience. Your conscience will condemn you, but one is greater than your conscience. The blood of Jesus Christ screams out every time we take communion and says that you are a child if you are part of his new covenant. He has shed his blood for the remission of your sins. You are blameless. What more could God do to take care of your blame? What more could God do to take care of your guilt, your transgressions, your iniquity? I mean, what would He have to do? Would He have to kill Himself?

Oh, hold on. He did. He sent His Son in the flesh, and the second person of the Godhead in His humanity died for us. suffered the full wrath of God. There is no greater punishment. There is no greater debt He could pay. There is no bigger thing He could do than what He has done upon that cross.

Fifth Point

Brothers and sisters, when your heart condemns you, remember Jesus Christ. You wear the robes of His righteousness. You have been washed in His blood. You are holy and you are blameless. and your God will preserve you. Point five, my God will preserve me. Look with me at verse 23 again. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be preserved blameless.

You're not going to preserve yourself. You're not going to preserve yourself. It is God who preserves his loved ones. Those who are of Christ to the end will be saved. Cling to the cross, not to your own righteousness. It is God who preserves you. It is by faith he saves you.

I mean, this is, this is all great in theory, right? But you can imagine, you can imagine being a first century Christian. This is one of the first letters that was ever written to the churches, right? James is written first, and then most likely first Thessalonians.

And these people haven't been Christians more than a couple months to a year. And they're sitting there and they've heard the gospel, they've heard, you know, God has saved you by grace, God has loved you with a never-ending love, God has poured out His love on you through Jesus Christ. They hear all these wonderful things, and then they're really worked up, but then they find out when they go home, oh crud, I'm still a sinner! They still yell at their kids, they still get impatient with their spouse, they still struggle with gluttony, they still are irritable at times, they struggle with organizing their lives. They struggle with the reality of sin in their lives, and what are we supposed— Does this mean I'm not a Christian? Does that mean my brother died last week, thanks for telling me that he was saved, but am I going to be saved? Is God going to preserve me at the coming of Jesus Christ?

Yeah. Yeah, even you. Pastor Paul is writing to the church and he's saying, yeah, even you. God's going to preserve you blameless. He's not gonna just take away the blood of Jesus Christ. He's not gonna say, oh, I don't actually love you. No, he really does love you. He's going to preserve his children because he's faithful. My God is faithful. Look at that, verse 24. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. I really like the King James version here. Faithful is he that calleth you. Faithful is he that calleth you.

This is a huge topic in Scripture. If you flip over the back, you've been writing on the front side here, if you flip over the back, you're going to find a whole bunch of verses here listed. I don't have time to read all of them to you, but let's just take a cursory view of how serious the Lord talks about this. I know you have to, like, get out a magnifying glass to read this. I'm sorry about that. Only way to get it on one page.

1 Corinthians 1, verses 7 through 9. so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 10.13, no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man, but God is faithful. faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide a way of escape that you may bear it." God is faithful in preserving you from sin or delivering you, 2 Corinthians 1. But as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you, by us, by me, Salvanus and Timothy, the same ones who are writing this letter, was not yes and no, but in him was yes. For all the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us. Second Thessalonians 3. But the Lord is faithful who will establish you and guard you from the evil one, 2 Timothy 2.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. Verse 10, 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised it is faithful. 1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. God is faithful again and again and again and again. He is trustworthy. He is true. He is the rock of our salvation. He is our hope. He is our confidence.

This is why he could say to Joshua, I will never leave you nor forsake you. This is why he could say it to Moses, that he would be a God to his people. And he would not leave them nor forsake them. This is why he could say it in Hebrews chapter 13. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Because our God is faithful. We do not need to walk around with a daisy in our hands, plucking a petal off. He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. No, all of his promises are yes and amen. The truth is he is faithful. He loves you.

He who has begun a good work in you will see it to completion. God hasn't started in you to leave you as an abandonment. broken down and ruined. But God started the renovation project on you. He's declared you holy. He's made you blameless. And he is always faithful. Nothing, brothers and sisters, Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, not even death itself. Nothing.

Because it is God who has declared us to be holy. It is God who is making us holy. It is God who has cleansed us of our sins and made us blameless. It is God who clothes us in righteousness. It is God who preserves us in our faith. And it is God who is faithful to see these things to the utter end.

So when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, you have nothing to fear because your God is faithful. Because Jesus Christ's work on the cross was enough. Because the work is finished. If you are in Christ, there's only joy to come. There's only rejoicing in heaven. And there is assurance for our souls that God's promises for us are yes and amen.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we pray that you might engrave these truths on our hearts with your finger. We pray when our conscience condemns us that we would remember who you are. Father, we pray that you would have us abandon all of our self-righteousness and cling to you alone. Father, I pray that you would forgive me for any dull or wrong things that I've said today. Lord, and by your Holy Spirit, please take these feeble, weak words and give your saints joy everlasting.