I would like to say a word especially to the young people. Because you were selected by God in eternity past, there is no point in trying to run away from Him. In a very real sense, God is a great fisherman, and He has “hooked” you. God hooked you in eternity. Therefore, there is no way you can get off His hook.
In eternity past God spread many hooks attached to long strings. The hook on which you were caught was floating free until one day the hook came to you, and you were caught. Now you cannot get off the hook. God the Father has chosen you, and you cannot escape.
After man was created, he fell and became corrupt. Therefore, God the Son came to redeem us and accomplish what God had planned. Following that, God the Spirit came to apply what God had planned and what Christ, the Son of God, had accomplished. This application is sanctification.
We may not have had any thought concerning God or any heart toward Christ. Nevertheless, one day we were caught by the Spirit, and the Spirit began to apply what the Father has planned and what the Son has accomplished. As a result, for no apparent reason, we came to believe in the Lord Jesus.
Even though our friends, neighbors, schoolmates, and associates may not believe in Christ, we cannot help believing in Him. I can testify of this from my own experience. One day I began to love the Lord Jesus. I have never seen Him, but I love Him. He is so good to me! Others may say that this is superstitious and regard Jesus as nothing. To them I would say, “You may not care for the Lord Jesus, but I love Him.” This is not any kind of superstition. It is the application of the Spirit.
As we have pointed out, the application of the Spirit is what Paul means in 2:13 by sanctification. When we receive the application of the Spirit, we are separated to the Lord.
My friends and classmates could not understand what had happened to me, and I myself could not explain it. I only know that, at the age of nineteen, I suddenly lost my interest in other things and cared only for the Lord. I loved to pray, call on the Lord’s name, read the Bible, go to meetings, and tell others how lovable the Lord Jesus is. Certain people wondered who hired me to do this. I told them, “I have not been hired by anyone. Rather, I am willing to spend as much money as possible to print tracts that I myself have written.” This was my early experience of the sanctification of the Spirit.
When I was a young person, I loved to play soccer. One day, after I was saved, I was playing soccer. At a certain time, when the ball came to me, something within said, “Stop! Don’t play any longer. Leave the soccer field.” All the players were shocked; they did not know what had happened to me. Then I walked off the field and told them that I would not play soccer any longer. That was an experience of the sanctification of the Spirit.
Many of us can give testimonies concerning the Spirit’s sanctification. Even though you may be very young in the Lord, the Spirit is nevertheless being applied to you. Whatever the Spirit applies to you is an aspect of your sanctification.
Because we have experienced the application of the Spirit, we do not have the freedom to do certain things that others are able to do. This is not a matter of teaching; it is a matter of God the Spirit living within us.
God the Father loves us and has chosen us. God the Son died for us and accomplished redemption for us. Now God the Spirit has come to apply all this to us.
I believe that many of the sisters can testify that being sanctified by the Spirit affects their shopping. Because they have been sanctified by the Spirit, their shopping has become different. As they are considering the purchase of a particular item, the Spirit within them may say, “Don’t touch that.” The Spirit may say no much more than He says yes. No one teaches the sisters to change their way of shopping. The different way of shopping is the result of the sanctification of the Spirit. It is in this sanctification of the Spirit that we are saved. This is salvation in sanctification of the Spirit.
It is very easy for a husband and wife to exchange words. This is extremely common in married life. But I can testify that in the sanctification of the Spirit I have been saved from exchanging words with my wife. If I did not have the sanctification of the Spirit, I would probably exchange words with my wife every day. However, I can testify before the Lord that in my married life I have been saved in sanctification of the Spirit from exchanging words with my wife.
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