[00:00:00] Welcome to Gracious Words. Gracious Words is taken from the Weekly Women's Bible Study
[00:00:14] taught by Cheryl Brodersen at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.
[00:00:19] We're behold to glory God in the face of Christ. It shows us who you are. We're feeling who you are.
[00:00:36] On today's program, we'll look at the process of sanctification.
[00:00:40] How God works through our lives to change and consecrate us so that He might use us for His service and purposes.
[00:00:49] Lord, in wonder and surrender, we surrender to Him.
[00:01:10] And now here is part one of Cheryl's message titled, The Process of Sanctification.
[00:01:19] Alright, as you know, we're in Genesis chapter 36 through 38 and you're going to say, Cheryl,
[00:01:26] what did you possibly get out of the lineage of Esau and of the situation with Jacob being sold and the situation with Judah?
[00:01:38] How do you bring it all together? I want to tell you what brings all three chapters together. It's sanctification.
[00:01:44] Because what we see in these three chapters is the process of sanctification.
[00:01:50] Too often we think that sanctification is a one-off. I prayed, I'm a Christian now, I should always be good, I should always have the right attitude.
[00:02:01] And we tend to condemn ourselves when we're afraid or we're grumpy or we have the wrong attitude.
[00:02:07] Not realizing that God is using those things to work the process of sanctification in us.
[00:02:16] You see, sanctification is a two-step process. It is God working out of us that He might work Himself into us.
[00:02:28] To be sanctified is to be set apart or made holy. But the vessels in the temple, they were sanctified.
[00:02:36] They were set apart that God might use them for His utmost purposes.
[00:02:42] When we're set apart, it's not just so we can be isolated. But we are set apart for His purposes, for His special purposes.
[00:02:53] No offense, but I've got this silver spoon that I got from my mother and it used to belong to her.
[00:03:00] Her father gave it to her when she was first married. It's called first love. It's so sweet.
[00:03:05] But this special spoon, I love it. It's my casserole spoon. But I would not use that for dog food ever.
[00:03:13] I wouldn't use it to go plant something in the backyard. It's set apart. It's for casseroles only.
[00:03:20] And it's my special spoon or I will admit I'll use it for a fruit salad because it's so pretty.
[00:03:26] But sanctification is the special work of God that changes our identity and our substance.
[00:03:32] From being identified by our sin, our past, our weaknesses and failures or our connection to this material world.
[00:03:40] Instead it changes our identity to being about the work of God in our life, the work of God on our life,
[00:03:48] the work of God for our life and our relationship to Him.
[00:03:53] Paul points out the reality of sanctification in 1 Corinthians 6-9-11.
[00:03:58] Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
[00:04:03] Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves,
[00:04:09] nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:04:14] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified,
[00:04:20] you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.
[00:04:25] God doesn't choose us on the basis of what we are or what we were, but He chooses us by His Spirit.
[00:04:34] Sanctification is the process by which God brings us to the end of ourselves, washes us,
[00:04:41] justifies us by faith through the work of Jesus Christ, places His Spirit in us to empower us
[00:04:48] to do things His way and not our own. It is God's claiming of us, engraving of us with His law,
[00:04:58] and His conforming us to look more like His children than the children of this world.
[00:05:05] How does He sanctify us? Well, as I said, it's a process.
[00:05:09] And often, as we're going to see in these three chapters, it comes by showing us ourselves,
[00:05:14] showing those places that we need sanctification, showing us what is inside of us that is displeasing to God.
[00:05:23] According to Philippians 2.13, God is working on us with us and in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure.
[00:05:33] In other words, God is working His will into our hearts so that we will want His will,
[00:05:39] that we will desire His will. We have so many wrong ideas about sanctification.
[00:05:45] Again, often we think it's automatic holiness. You know, well, I said this, I should be holy.
[00:05:51] And often people are shocked to find a failure or bad attitude resident in them like,
[00:05:57] no, no, no, I can't have that. I've been sanctified. You can still have it.
[00:06:02] You've got residual effects of sin and God is just bringing it to the surface.
[00:06:07] We often resist admitting or confessing or acknowledging our sin.
[00:06:12] And sometimes we are so condemned over our sin that we're almost paralyzed to do anything about it.
[00:06:20] But none of these attitudes are conducive or help us further along in the sanctification process.
[00:06:28] When Brian and I were living in Huntington Beach, we would often go to my parents' house for dinner.
[00:06:33] My parents lived in Costa Mesa at the time. And I remember I had my oldest daughter and I was pregnant with our son, Char.
[00:06:42] And we were sitting at the kitchen counter eating dinner with my parents.
[00:06:47] And the subject of two like absolutely gorgeous beautiful women, young women who attended this church came up.
[00:06:56] And out of my mouth came something so critical.
[00:07:01] So, can I just say ugly? Ugly.
[00:07:06] And as I was saying it, I looked over and my dad had this look of just sadness, of just being greet and disappointed.
[00:07:16] And he just looked at me and I was crestfallen by that look.
[00:07:22] I hadn't seen my dad ever look at me that way and I could feel the disappointment.
[00:07:28] And remember, I said to him, you know what? Why are you looking at me like that?
[00:07:33] And he said this. He said, I just never thought I'd hear you talk like that.
[00:07:41] Oh my goodness, I can still hear him say it. I can still see his face.
[00:07:47] And I remember I was so convicted. I knew that those things were wrong to say.
[00:07:56] I felt it, but I felt his grief for me. You know, he didn't say shame on you shouldn't say that.
[00:08:02] No, it was his grief that I would think that way or talk that way that began just to convict me.
[00:08:10] I remember leaving, being in the car with Brian and I was obsessed with this.
[00:08:15] Like Brian, can you believe my dad looked at me? Can you believe my dad thought I was jealous?
[00:08:20] Can you believe my dad said that to me, you know, and he just doesn't know women.
[00:08:25] He doesn't know what I know. He doesn't see what I see.
[00:08:28] And Brian was just quiet. Just quiet almost all of the right.
[00:08:32] And then he said this. Cheryl, why don't you just admit you're jealous?
[00:08:37] Jealous? No way! I was not jealous. Jealous is the stepmother in Cinderella.
[00:08:46] Jealous is maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. Jealous is no white stepmother.
[00:08:55] Me? No! I am just exercising my right as a godly person to say what I see or where people should improve.
[00:09:10] But you know what? Nobody was buying that. Nobody.
[00:09:14] So I went into the house. I was upset with Brian now because he had the audacity to say I might be jealous.
[00:09:21] And I went in and I threw myself on my knees. And I cried out to God and my prayer was more like,
[00:09:27] Lord, can you believe what people are saying about me? Can you believe this?
[00:09:32] And I remember the spirit of God just overwhelmed me and said, Cheryl, you are jealous.
[00:09:39] And it's a grief to me. It grieves my heart more than it even grieves your father's heart.
[00:09:47] And at first I was like, no, not you too. But then I began to give myself to the Lord.
[00:09:58] I got up, I went to Brian and I said, you're right. I'm jealous. I hate it in me. I don't know what to do.
[00:10:04] Somehow I had the idea that if I admitted I was jealous, Brian would be like,
[00:10:08] OK, great. You're disqualified for being my wife. You're disqualified.
[00:10:13] But instead he said, why don't you just repent? Why don't you just confess it and give it to God?
[00:10:19] And so I said, well, will you do it with me? So together we prayed and I confessed my jealousy.
[00:10:26] And I gave it all to the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? I felt the Lord forgive me.
[00:10:33] I could feel him forgive me and begin to wash my heart from that propensity, from that place.
[00:10:42] Just a few weeks later I saw both of those young women and I loved them. I loved them thoroughly.
[00:10:47] And my heart was now to find the best. And what could I commend in these women?
[00:10:54] How could I show them that they were loved and accepted and wanted?
[00:10:59] My whole perspective, my whole attitude had been changed simply by confessing my sin before the Lord
[00:11:08] and being cleansed and washed. I'm not saying that I haven't been jealous since then,
[00:11:15] but let me say this. I recognize jealousy now when it rears its head.
[00:11:20] And you know what I do with it? I present it to the Lord and say,
[00:11:24] I don't want this in my heart. I don't want this in my life.
[00:11:28] Lord, I recognize for what it is. And I pray that you would take authority over that area in my heart
[00:11:35] and make it yours. You see, I want to work jealousy out and the love of Christ in.
[00:11:43] I want my whole body and soul and mind and heart to be under the authority of Jesus Christ.
[00:11:54] God's way of sanctifying us is often to allow us to come to the end of ourselves.
[00:12:00] He often lets us act on our emotions. He lets us go our own way and experience the consequences
[00:12:08] and frustrations of it. What better way to work it out of us?
[00:12:14] Because he wants us, he wants us to want his will.
[00:12:19] He wants us to want his way above our own.
[00:12:25] And he allows us to have our own way in order that we might recognize the ugliness,
[00:12:36] confess it before him, our own unrighteousness, and seek his ways, his will,
[00:12:43] and his power over us and in us to do as well.
[00:12:47] Sanctification is God's way of bringing our lives and the lives of those around us under his authority.
[00:12:54] This process is clearly seen in the lives of Jacob and his sons.
[00:12:58] Let's begin with Genesis 35. I just want to remind you that that's when Jacob began to separate himself.
[00:13:08] He took all the idols away from his family, he buried them under the tarabinth tree.
[00:13:12] They externally purified themselves. They even changed their garments.
[00:13:17] They acknowledged God, rehearsing his promises, and they built an altar to him.
[00:13:22] So here's an outward sanctification. But as we're going to realize,
[00:13:27] there's still corruption going on in the heart. There's still separated from God by their hearts.
[00:13:38] Jacob's family was far from being right with God.
[00:13:41] There was so much that was needed to get the corruption out.
[00:13:45] God wanted to create a people that could be entrusted with his promises, his covenant, and his son, the Messiah.
[00:13:53] So firstly, there had to be a separation from Issa.
[00:13:58] Holiness and sanctification always implies a separation. This is a separate people, a separate lifestyle.
[00:14:08] Sanctification is the working of separating us from not only the world, but the way of the world, the priorities of the world.
[00:14:22] Issa had married the wives he took and his offspring reflected that taking Genesis 36.
[00:14:30] They moved to the mountains of Sierra. They became known as the Edomites.
[00:14:34] The Amalekites who would later attack the children of Israel in Exodus 17 came from the family of Issa.
[00:14:43] Immediately, the Edomites began to appoint a dynasty and be ruled by kings.
[00:14:50] Even as God separated Jacob's clan from Laban, then from the men of Shechem,
[00:14:55] he needed to separate them from their cousins.
[00:14:58] Though Issa was also a son of Isaac, Issa had chosen the way of the Canaanites and Canaanite wives.
[00:15:05] This was not what God had for the sons of Israel.
[00:15:11] In chapter 37, God begins to reveal the nature or heart of the sons of Israel.
[00:15:18] This is the second step in sanctification. It's revelation.
[00:15:22] The sons of Israel have hatred lurking in their heart.
[00:15:26] Let me say this, hatred is never safe. It is never safe.
[00:15:30] If you have an ounce of hatred, just confess it and be cleansed of it.
[00:15:37] Jesus said in Matthew 5 verses 21 through 22,
[00:15:41] You have heard that it was said to those of old,
[00:15:45] You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.
[00:15:49] But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause
[00:15:53] shall be in danger of the judgment.
[00:15:55] And whoever says to his brother,
[00:15:58] Rocka or worthless one shall be in danger of the council.
[00:16:02] But whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire.
[00:16:06] So I want you to see the progression.
[00:16:09] One is anger without a cause.
[00:16:12] That puts you in danger of the judgment.
[00:16:14] Judge not lest you be judged.
[00:16:16] Rocka or you're worthless puts you in danger of the council.
[00:16:21] You see, when you begin to consider somebody as worthless,
[00:16:25] you demean them, you dehumanize them,
[00:16:27] you are very close to murder.
[00:16:29] And then you fool means life would be better without you.
[00:16:34] This is the inception of murder.
[00:16:37] Murder begins in the heart with hatred devaluation.
[00:16:42] Three times in Genesis 37 were told that Joseph's brothers hated Joseph.
[00:16:48] Verses four, verses five, verses eight.
[00:16:51] The Hebrew word here denotes a thorough hatred,
[00:16:54] or they utterly hated him.
[00:16:58] They hated him as much as anyone could hate anyone.
[00:17:02] In verse four of chapter 37,
[00:17:05] we learn that they could not even speak peaceably to him.
[00:17:09] In other words, they couldn't say one nice thing
[00:17:12] or communicate without derision in their tone or words.
[00:17:18] Matthew 1234, Jesus said,
[00:17:21] out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,
[00:17:25] hatred seeped out into all of their communication.
[00:17:30] Our sin will be evidenced in the way we talk.
[00:17:35] It will be evidenced in the subjects that we want to talk about,
[00:17:39] what we say.
[00:17:41] It will be evidenced in how we say what we want to say,
[00:17:45] in the tone we use and how often we say it.
[00:17:49] You know when people hate, they have to bring that person
[00:17:52] or that situation into every conversation.
[00:17:56] There's an obsession that happens.
[00:18:00] This hatred leads to murderous intent.
[00:18:04] The brothers see Joseph coming toward them,
[00:18:07] and they begin to conspire together to kill Joseph,
[00:18:10] and they throw him in a pit.
[00:18:13] There are other sins that must be revealed in Jacob's family
[00:18:17] besides just this murder in the hearts of Jacob's sons.
[00:18:21] Jacob does not fare much better.
[00:18:24] He prefers Joseph.
[00:18:26] His preference of Joseph over his other sons is obvious.
[00:18:30] It's unkind, it's divisive, and it's emotionally unhealthy.
[00:18:35] Remember he dressed Joseph better than the others.
[00:18:39] Joseph wore a tunic of many colors,
[00:18:42] designating Joseph as the favored of Jacob,
[00:18:48] designating Joseph as the most loved.
[00:18:53] Commentators say this might have been to designate Joseph
[00:18:57] as the new patriarch.
[00:18:59] In other words, Joseph in that coat of many colors
[00:19:02] is reminding Ruben of his failure and of his sin.
[00:19:06] You're not the patriarch.
[00:19:08] Joseph, who was second to the youngest, is now the patriarch.
[00:19:12] He's Ruben's replacement.
[00:19:14] But Jacob might have done this to protect Joseph.
[00:19:17] Like don't touch Joseph.
[00:19:19] He's the one in charge.
[00:19:21] He's the patriarch.
[00:19:23] Jacob is unaware of the atmosphere in his own home.
[00:19:26] He's unaware of how he is setting up Joseph for rejection.
[00:19:30] Unaware of just how dangerous his other sons are.
[00:19:34] This is seen in the fact that he sends Joseph out alone,
[00:19:38] unprotected to check on his brothers and livestock.
[00:19:42] But let me say this.
[00:19:44] Joseph at this point in his life is not the most likeable character.
[00:19:50] He tattles on his half-brothers.
[00:19:52] You know, I know because I was a tattletale.
[00:19:55] But I know that a tattletale does not make you popular.
[00:19:59] He tattled on the sons of the concubines, Dan,
[00:20:02] Naphthili, Gad and Asher.
[00:20:04] Don't you think that they already in some point
[00:20:07] felt like second-class citizens?
[00:20:09] I mean, they were the sons of the concubines,
[00:20:12] not even of Leah or Rachel.
[00:20:16] Then Joseph shares his dreams with his brothers.
[00:20:20] In other words, Joseph is either unaware
[00:20:22] of his brother's feelings towards him,
[00:20:24] or he's saying, hey, you guys might hate me,
[00:20:27] but someday you're going to bow.
[00:20:30] God showed me in a dream.
[00:20:33] This is in verses 7 through 9 of chapter 37.
[00:20:37] My sheave is better than your sheave.
[00:20:40] Everyone, the stars, the moon,
[00:20:42] they're all going to bow down to me.
[00:20:46] Perhaps Joseph is just too sheltered.
[00:20:49] Maybe he's just naive and doesn't understand
[00:20:52] just how dangerous the atmosphere is.
[00:20:56] At this point, Joseph has much to learn about human nature.
[00:21:00] He is no more ready to lead or to be a patriarch
[00:21:05] or to be somebody in charge at this point.
[00:21:09] He's untried, he's untested, he's insensitive,
[00:21:13] he's arrogant.
[00:21:15] He wears his coat in front of his brothers.
[00:21:18] This does not endear him to his brothers.
[00:21:21] In fact, it infuriates them.
[00:21:24] But perhaps the feelings of dislike are mutual.
[00:21:28] Perhaps the feelings that were between Leah and Rachel
[00:21:33] have transferred down to their sons.
[00:21:36] Joseph appears to have a sense of entitlement, even arrogance.
[00:21:44] God lets men have their way
[00:21:47] as we see in this story.
[00:21:51] We often ask, why did God allow it?
[00:21:54] Why did God allow Joseph to go alone to see his brothers?
[00:21:58] Why did God allow Joseph's brothers to throw him into a pit?
[00:22:03] Why?
[00:22:05] If God never allowed evil to manifest itself,
[00:22:09] we would be in denial of its existence.
[00:22:13] It's hard for us to believe in what we have not seen
[00:22:20] and have not experienced.
[00:22:22] If God did not allow it, he would be in violation of our free will.
[00:22:27] God's righteousness requires that men be allowed
[00:22:32] to exercise their free will,
[00:22:34] and in doing so, they prove what is in their heart
[00:22:39] and what is in their nature.
[00:22:41] So God allows the evil that is in the hearts of the sons of Jacob
[00:22:50] to reveal itself.
[00:22:52] The murder in the heart of Joseph's brother turns into a plan,
[00:22:59] and the plan turns into action.
[00:23:02] When they see Joseph approaching, they conspire.
[00:23:05] They call him the dreamer.
[00:23:08] In this way, they demean and dehumanize him.
[00:23:11] He's not a person.
[00:23:13] He's a dreamer.
[00:23:15] It's like the rocker.
[00:23:17] It's like the youthful that this is all he does.
[00:23:20] He dreams.
[00:23:21] He toutles.
[00:23:22] He doesn't have substance.
[00:23:24] They plan to kill him.
[00:23:26] They throw him in a waterless pit.
[00:23:28] They strip him of his tunic of many colors.
[00:23:31] They are so callous that when they do this,
[00:23:35] while Joseph is in the pit, they sit down to eat.
[00:23:40] That is so callous.
[00:23:42] Who can eat in the presence of someone who is pleading
[00:23:46] and suffering?
[00:23:48] In Genesis 4221, we learn that they heard him pleading.
[00:23:55] It says,
[00:23:56] For we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us
[00:24:00] and we refused to hear him.
[00:24:03] You know, it's hard enough for me to eat when my dog Barnabas
[00:24:08] has his head on my lap, looks at me with those soulful eyes
[00:24:12] and wants my food.
[00:24:14] In fact, last night I shared most of my hamburger
[00:24:17] with Barnabas.
[00:24:19] But these men, they sit down and eat.
[00:24:22] They eat while their brother is hungry.
[00:24:26] Jacob's family was far from being right with God.
[00:24:30] They had forgotten God, grown distant from him
[00:24:33] and had become corrupt.
[00:24:35] They needed to be sanctified.
[00:24:37] Sanctification is God's way of bringing our lives
[00:24:40] and the lives of those around us under his authority.
[00:24:43] God wanted to create a people that could be entrusted
[00:24:46] with his promises, his covenant and his Messiah.
[00:24:50] To do this, God had to separate Jacob
[00:24:52] from the influence of Esau.
[00:24:54] In the same way, our sanctification is God's work
[00:24:58] of separating us from the world, its priorities,
[00:25:01] its ways and its behaviors.
[00:25:04] We hope you have been blessed by today's Bible study.
[00:25:07] For more information about the Gracious Words Radio Program
[00:25:10] and the teaching ministry of Cheryl Brodersen,
[00:25:12] please visit our website at graciouswords.com.
[00:25:15] Coming up next time on the Gracious Words Program
[00:25:18] we'll look further at sanctification
[00:25:20] as we continue our series, Our Great Creator
[00:25:23] in the book of Genesis with Cheryl Brodersen.
[00:25:26] We do hope you make plans to join us.
[00:25:28] Again, for more information please visit our website
[00:25:31] at graciouswords.com.
[00:25:33] We will come for you Lord and wonder, wonder
[00:25:42] We will fall on our knees and surrender
[00:25:48] We surrender to you
[00:25:52] This program is sponsored by Calvary Chapel,
[00:25:54] Costa Mesa, California.
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