Heiligung: bedrückend oder befreiend? | Peter Krell

and now I would like to ask you to open your Bibles with me to the second letter to the Corinthians, the text of our sermon is in chapter 3 verse 18 2 letter to the Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18 and the theme of the sermon is through the glory to sanctification and you will immediately understand the formulation of the theme Glory to sanctification we want to read second printer 3 verse 18 where it says all of us but when we contemplate with our faces revealed the glory of the Lord as in a mirror we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory that is to say by the Spirit we thank the Lord Jesus that we make ourselves seen today and prove how wonderful it is to be able to live in holiness, that now you are revitalizing our faith and looking at you Many of us are in a fog that all this will go away and you will be seen so that you can be praised and adored.

Amen yes, if I were to ask you what this verse is about, you can see it relatively easily because this verse has a. main verb and the verbs show us the action of what is happening here and you can see that in the text where it says the main verb is who will be transformed transformation change or in biblical terms sanctification is the topic today in which we were transformed the past as believers the Bible calls this rebirth we become transformed in the future the Bible calls this glorification and we are being transformed now meanwhile the Bible calls this sanctification rebirth is freedom from the dominion of sin glorification is freedom from the presence of sin the Sanctification is increasing the freedom from the practice of Sin, that is why here it is said from glory to glory, it is a process in which we as believers are, but the fact is reality and I believe that it happens to all of us over and over again. . that when we hear the word sanctification, no one gets positive feelings, but rather negative ones, very negative thoughts in us, that sanctification is something depressing or even overwhelming, that in our following Christ it is wonderful, but being a Christian is difficult every day.

Sanctification is nothing else. than trying to achieve a standard every day that you in turn did not achieve and if that is the view then you are depressed among your followers and this text is spoken here today and is now preached so that at the end of this sermon we have a vision completely a new image and a renewed awareness of what a privilege, what a privilege, what a beauty, what a glory it is to live in sanctification, but we must also recognize that the only real sanctification that can really be called that is that which comes through contemplation or whatever it is.

I called. As we contemplate the glory of God, let us look at these three points together: firstly, the object of change, what exactly is being changed, secondly, the means of change, that is, how exactly it happens, and thirdly , the effect of the change, what happens, what happens, first of all, the object. of the change who or what is really changed that we see in the text that begins with The words all of us except who refers to us are the believing Christians in Corinth, as you see in the first verse of this letter, only the believers really experience a change essential. change in your person and your heart if you do not have what is written here in the text at the end That happens through the Lord the Spirit if you do not have the Spirit of God then you will not experience that and vice versa says we all, but what does it mean something just as there is not a single person here in the room whom Christ has saved whom he does not sanctify.

Grace is always complete grace. All who are truly Christians will truly experience what we see here in the text. Sanctification is both a privilege and a reality in the life of each and every one of Christ, it is a privilege because we see it here and that is real. So the closing bracket around the text initially says that it is verse 17 where but the Spirit of the Lord. It is freedom and ends with the words that everything happens through the Spirit, that the Lord is the Holy Spirit, the alpha and omega of sanctification it is the work of God in the soul of man it is a privilege Sanctification is not something oppressive, it is that the living God himself is working with you but it is also a reality Hebrews 12 verse 14 without sanctification no one will see the Lord unless you have that experience then you know you are not really a believer but the message now is not because without sanctification you will not see the Lord, so make an effort so that you finally become holy as if that is something that you will finally achieve in your life, maybe you can do something, do the right thing, you can start with your behavior, you can start with your words you can start with your actions such Maybe you can even start with your way of thinking to some extent with your thoughts, but what exactly changes here when a real change happens, that's what we're in too The first three words he says here we are being transformed, not just the way you speak , not the way you organize your time, not the way you want your words, all these are just fruits, what changes me when we are Christian believers is that the Holy Spirit goes so deep that it reaches the roots and transforms who we are just as you are.

You have all probably experienced this. They realize, oh, I lose my temper so quickly with the kids or my spouse and then I have to be more patient. you do it Make an intention and focus on it, okay, I have to be more patient and I can do it to a certain extent because the next time there is a conflict, you keep your mouth closed a little longer, but the same thoughts flow inside you and at some point they burst out of you and then it happens. Light that you are still the same as before, just a little manipulated, a little on the surface painted with new paint, we are talking here and that's it. hope for each of us you can really experience a real and complete change when Christ is in your life when the Holy Spirit works in your life that was the first the object is actually ourselves our person but we are all of us who are in the Lord and when you find yourself again with the thought that you have already put some things in shape in your life, for example, you started praying, you started reading the Bible, attending religious services, and again and again I find myself with people who tell me something.

I mean, I'm in the process of building a relationship with God, and I want to step in and say you can't have a relationship with God at all. The gospel is that God has built a relationship with you in Jesus Christ. and you receive that only through faith and then the relationship is established and then it is about God beginning to renew your life, so examine yourself and do not be afraid before testing yourself because if you recognize an emptiness in yourself a be broke and a self. Don't think that I have ever experienced real change, then you are the kind of person that Christ came to teach for the poor, for the ruined, for the sinners and perhaps for the first time today you can entrust yourself to him alone and trust him.

Secondly, we are the object of change, the means of change or the path of change. In fact, I would say that every born again Christian knows that he needs the change and the message of this text. But it's not that he needs sanctification. That sanctification is needed, but this is really about the practice. Here we can see in a few words how this really happens in our lives, that is why the means of sanctification, how healing works, that is, here as long as we have our face uncovered Looking at the glory of the Lord they are transformed so what does sanctification look like? ?

Sanctification occurs when we look at God and look at his glory they recognize more and more they learn more and more they seek they find thus the center and the core of sanctification is Jesus personally inaccessible to him not the fear of hell nor the desire for heaven not the intention of a better life but the glory of the Lord it is about a relationship with the living God it is that not liberating it is not about a -Make a list, but rather about the most desirable and wonderful person in the universe and you do not look at it, you do not You make your way towards her, you don't want to impress that person, you look at her.

That's what it's about and here again we can express it in three steps. What drives a Christian to convert again is nothing more than that first contemplating the glory of God second great four verse 6 few verses according to our text the God who spoke from outside. darkness to make the light shine he is the one who has shone in our hearts to make the light of the knowledge of God shine in the face of Jesus Christ to recognize the glory of God in the face of the conversion of Jesus Christ is the first glimpse that there is a Glorious and merciful God and savior, the glorification of heaven is nothing other than the integral vision of the glory of God, we will see him as he is.

Conversion is the first glimpse of the glory of heaven, it is the comprehensive vision of glory and sanctification. It is seeing more and more the glory of God. I don't know how you feel, but I'm moved by the fact that it's actually so glorious from the thought of the Lord that it's really about having them centered and seeing them in a way and. let it come closer and connect with it that we will be overwhelmed because that is what glory is all about Glory is a word that simply expresses that is what leaves you in awe that is what simply captivates you and leads you to worship and marvel it is about the glory of the Lord Only the contemplation of His glory and nothing else can truly satisfy the people of God, so says John Owen, anything else does not satisfy your soul.

Yes, sanctification is, of course, the shedding of sin, the ever more constant shedding. separation from sin and growing concern for Christ from Christ likeness of holiness likeness of God but what guides us is the question of where we recognize the glory if you have a sin that you keep deciding over and over again then the problem is not in the decision in your behavior or in the sin you have committed it is there and it is painful to say it like that but in your life we ​​have to face the truth first before change can happen the reason we choose sin is simply because in sin we see more glory at this moment as in Christ or assume more glory for us than in Christ.

That is why we knowingly say no to the Lord and yes to sin at that moment and the only way to attack sin at its roots is for Christ to become more. glorious for you that this transformation only happens beforehand. Maybe you can recover and that, of course, is better than me freely giving in to sin, but the change has only occurred when Christ is so glorious to you that sin has lost its power and to you. For you it is what it really is, ugly to destroy God, to empty Christ, to crucify, to bring back the dead, so what does sanctification look like in practice?

It is looking at Jesus, it is looking at God. Our instinct, as we could hear. It is so wonderful in the greeting that we hear more sanctification and we see the need for sanctification and sins in our lives that we focus on that, but here we see that sanctification does not happen when you concentrate on your sanctification, sanctification happens when you look completely towards another side. from yourself to Christ, that is so liberating, you know that when you are struggling with sin at this time in your life, you can look away from it and soon we will see this look away from ourselves and look away from our defeat, of our sin, of our struggle Christ does not assure us that sin will not matter to us, that we will be cold towards sin we will not deceive you we will see but here in the text you see it as we look at this glory we are transformed this word as we look in the brilliance it is in Greek a participle, that is, a state verb.

You can translate it like this: looking at the glory of God, we are transformed, which describes a permanent state. It's not about focusing on Christ once a week in the church service, but rather. May from morning until night, in every step of every decision, in every moment of the day, your gaze be focused on Christ. That's what we're allowed to do and that's how real change happens when you think your sin will just be. defeated when you fight it with all your strength and with your best intentions then you have a false understanding of how strong sin is and how small your strength is when you see your room or living room messy, so say.

There is a comparison with sin, see? your room messy, then of course you can say to yourself, oh, that doesn't look good at all, we have to change that and then clean the room. I would talk to you, you know what you can do. I have enough strength for that, but if you suddenly have difficulty breathing and you are suffocating, I guarantee that you will not be able to try to ventilate calmly or go to Google, I am suffocating, what should I do? Do you know what you are doing? Do you know what helps?need and pick up the phone that is the only appropriate attitude towards any sin it can only be overcome through Christ and whoever does not recognize his own emptiness his own failure being his own weakness will act like in the room yes I will put him in form and you will not achieve it again and again and that is perhaps the reason why we often feel frustrated in our sanctification.

We need that look you have when you are in great need and just knowing that I need help because that helps. In order for us to lean entirely on Christ, how do we now practically look at Christ? And if we look at the context of this verse, then we see in thecontext that the Jews who did not accept Christ, if they read the law, then, the Holy Scripture, the Word. of God that it's like a blanket is over their eyes and they're reading, they have the text in front of them but they don't see Christ, so it's about the word of God, but it's not just about the printed Bible, it's just about of the Truth about God is what it is about looking at Christ means hearing the truth about him it is the truth about Christ reading the truth about his glory sung prayed heard spoken preached thought everywhere we meet the truth about of this glorious God in the power of the Holy Spirit there we can look at Him and see glory if we see group Bible study at home prayer service meditation speaking as a difficult task then that is probably because we see it as a task and not as a means which is just an end to see Christ I am not saying that Bible study is always easy but let me give you the following example, let's say you go to your attic and there is an old box and that box is from the previous owner who died suddenly and there you find a diary of the owner of the house and you look.

Just take a look and you realize that he has written somewhere that he has buried a box with valuable diamonds in his garden. Diamonds, okay, you know what? So, very, very, very valuable, now yes. You really believed at that moment that he was there in your garden. There are diamonds somewhere under your lawn, what would you do? I know what you would do. You would say that digging is not my thing, it is very tiring. If only you had done it. the task of digging up your garden, I can understand that you don't have motivation, but if you know there are diamonds there, hey, I bet you would even turn on a spotlight until nightfall and keep going until you find that box of diamonds because that changes your life and That is nothing compared to seeing something much more glorious than Christ, that is why I have to clear your eyes to these wonderful means of grace of God, to prayer, to reading the Word, to listening to the Word, to singing the Word.

Attending church services, talking about Christ is seeing him and that is a wonderful thing. When was the last time Christ overwhelmed us? When was the last time Christ captivated us? time Christ amazed us and I think there are some here who say yes, but I can but not only liberated and certainly looking at it while I still have such works, but it is the same because when you are saved then you are made one. with him and he lives in you and he has already clothed you with his righteousness and you are free to look away from your sin but and of course comes the objection that sounds somehow strange, to look at Christ and not focus on my sins, fight the battle of faith, but that's why I neglect all this.

The third point is the effect of changing the Text that says that while contemplating the glory of the Lord or when contemplating the glory of the Lord, this is the same as contemplating the glory of the Lord. Lord, we are transformed. There is no clearer way to say it. Sanctification is not a two-step plan, you were admonished there in the sermon and in the Bible study, then he makes your resolutions and enters the battle of faith, it is sanctification. act that has two sides yet you see here in the text that something is actively done and something else happens passively that becomes active done by us here it means we look and then it happens passively we are transformed maybe you have to say that so clearly I know that Passive means you don't do anything and I'm missing the point that sanctification is something passive, something that focuses on Lie on the couch and just watch what happens.

No, it is deeply active because it is looking. in Christ is something we actively and literally practice constantly, but while we do just that, something happens to us and your Kurt, I have to make a brief interlude because of that translation because in battle it means while looking at the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, so now I have looked at this translation for a long time and I think it is not translated correctly because these words as in a mirror are not in the Greek text at all. is that there is a Greek word here called katrop tristo, yes, and I have said many times that I am not a Greek experiment at all.

He also says a little Greek, it's dangerous, no, so you have to master it properly. To be able to handle it well, I can study a little bit and that's one thing, this is a verb and this verb, if we try to translate it literally into German, then we have to translate it like this while playing for glory. of the Lord and the image that we have What we must understand here is the following: when we look at God, something returns and is reflected in us far from us, that is the thought, perhaps one or the other thinks, but it can' If so , we look to Christ, that's what's not happening to me, yes, it may be that I'm in awe of Jesus in some way, but that's still not healing, but you can't get out of the shadow into the darkness. sun and looking in the direction of the sun without the sunlight hitting it nearby and the heat of the sun's rays warming your skin is not a unilateral act but something that happens at the same time that we look but its rays hit us and we do not They only warm our skin like the rays of the sun but they change and transform step by step our heart our thinking our motives our attitude our objective for everything and with the sun it is a very appropriate example because there will be times when you open the Bible and it will not be emotionally overwhelming, of course, that's the reality, but you know the fact is that even at night, when the sun is not visible, it always keeps the earth warm.

I googled it if the sun was out for a while. week, I mean, it was a week, then the global temperature would drop 15° and after a year everything would be dead and that's how it is to a certain extent with Christ, it's not that somehow we should primarily seek an experience of feeling overwhelmed every time we go to church service or when we read the Bible or pray, but we must really seek Christ and it may be that, like the sun, it does not bring the same heat in winter as in summer it is so that it radiates e radiate the heat so that you understand me correctly that's how it is with sanctification yes it's not always a when you put the Bible on then boom you're impressed and everything is great it's not Recognizing more gradually is what I wanted at the beginning and that's fine, but that's the message of looking to Christ through all the means of grace that the Lord has given us, that is all, if you practice that then you will be changed, that is why it is not so.

Let's say maybe or if it is necessary or under the condition that we are transformed another example would be Ephesians 3 where Paul prays that you would know the incomparable love of Christ so that you would be filled with the fullness of God, we see that the parallel The recognition of love of Christ ensures that you will be filled with the fullness of God with the power of God and then comes chapter 4, the practice of being a Christian and here we only have one aspect, namely, only the love of Christ. Johnson Edwards said it like this. wonderfully the love of God and we are only talking about an aspect of the person of Jesus of an aspect of the unsearchable riches of the glory of Christ said the love of God is like an ocean an ocean without bottom and without shore if without surface that is the love of God and because God is love he bands his love the same size as his person and this only in quotes only the love of God that happens with the humiliation of Christ that happens with his incarnation his sacrifice his exaltation his high priesthood his bringing to through his faithfulness his righteousness that can and will occupy us for eternities I say this because I want to make us hunger for it seek to see the glory of Christ now does this not make me ignore my sin when I look at Christ not because the same The opposite is the case It is only when we see the holiness and purity of Christ in this vision that our own sin becomes swords like the gravest night and I only affirm that if your sin seems as black as the raven to you, it will plague you and that in turn will affect you. take you back to Christ who is the Savior of sinners and who is the sanctified and righteous one for sinners and then you will see in his gaze not only his holiness that reveals your sin, but you will see his grace that allows Christ to take shape in you . so that victory over sin really happens.

That's what happens when we look at God, it changes everything, or you could say Looking at Christ can ensure that I have no motivation to change, exactly the opposite is the case when you look at Christ. like the one crucified for you, your love for him will be kindled and you will wonder, Lord, what is your plan for my life, how can I serve you, nor will it lead to permissiveness in service or love because looking at Him makes his personality become I got infected. You know that when a couple has been married for X decades and they actually look physically similar from the beginning, you know why they look at each other and become similar, which means they look at each other.

Seeing Christ also means that his nature radiates upon me and is reflected in me. Do you know how Peter came to realize that he was a sinner, Christ came to him and said to Peter you are a sinner, or exactly the opposite? , one could almost say, has led a fisherman to jump in again and make the largest catch of his life and what happens is not that he was impressed by the number of fish but that something of the glory of the Son of God saw that It was something completely extraordinary and I knew that Christ has the power to command the fish to come into my net and that was something completely supernatural to him and in that look of power and strength and glory from Jesus, he said: "Surrender, I am As a sinful person, we see that it is the look at Christ and the constant look at Christ every day that changes everything in us and each look at Christ is in a way a look at us because everything that he is and everything that he he has finished the work he is my righteousness he is my strength he is my future he is my father therefore seek glory seek glory hunger for glory and then see how your behavior affects your heart your thoughts your life I conclude this sermon with a final part you could almost say it's just a fourth point when you talk about the glory of Christ, then when you look at it a little you come to a book that is almost 400 years old, that is, by John Owen, I already have quotes of the glory of Christ Almost no man has treated the glory of Christ like he has and when we are on his deathbed on the day of his death and someone comes in and says brother, your script about the glory of Christ is now printed on the printing press and he I just responded Brother, this is good news, but today the day has come for me when I will see this glory in a completely different way than before and I would just like to give you a few things that I hope will encourage you and, finally, some quotes from your book.

The Glory of Christ, first of all the following Unbelievers do not see glory in Christ, he has nothing attractive to them, they despise him in their hearts on the outside, they do like Judas and call Hail Rabbi but they crucify them in their hearts. I just want to read this to you because it is very important that we understand how to be a Christian. In essence, there is the conviction that Christ is the most glorious thing that exists and if you tell me today that you find something more glorious, I will thank you. I'm not talking about the fact that it certainly may be the case that Christ doesn't always seem to us at every moment to be the most glorious thing that sin still clings to us, but what I'm talking about is do you think there is something besides of Christ? is more glorious than him then I can tell you with certainty that you have never known him maybe you have developed a lot of religious Christian behavior but you have never dared to go bankrupt to come to Christ and if he gives you If it is not wonderful then you do not know him and so everything you have done so far is for the cat is for dust and ashes it hurts to hear that but then don't let it go on like this but let today be the day you of all of every facade and mask and finally empty completely defenseless you come to him and you say let me see your glory and he will answer you he will show you his glory second quote because believers have become casual and ignorant they experience these visits of grace and Moments in which eternal glory does not come to us more frequently.

Laxity and ignorance can stop us from trying harder to recognize Christ, so let us crucify this laxity today and pray and strive to put our energy into seeing Christ. With what can we compare the knowledge of Christ? Paul calls everything else dirt. Christ is not simply better than everything else, but everything else apart from Christ must be called dirt. Let this motivate you even more to really focus on it. still as Representing the correct doctrine of Christ but seeing the glory of Christ should not be equated with the correct knowledge of the teacher. One may have been the outward form of godliness and yet lack the consolations and the presence of Christ and the glory of him.

That can also be a wake-up call, correct doctrine without the first Love is a contradiction in itself, you are not satisfied with having a good understanding of the doctrine but a hunger for Christ and the last quote and that is really a comforting truth, he writes . that although faith may weaken and wither for a time, the soul will have no peace until the grace of God grows again, Christ has long bound you and if you feel a restlessness in your heart that weighs you down then know that this restlessness It is a sign of God's grace in your life and this restlessness will only disappear when you taste the new again and see how kind the Lord is.

Let his restlessness cause you to come to Christ again. Drive withempty-handed and just throw yourself away. Before him is Mary, who in the hustle and bustle of everyday life simply sat at the feet of Jesus and was praised for that, like John who simply leaned on Jesus' chest, like the children in the Gospels who simply run towards him. he. the arms of Jesus and be blessed by him, like the sinner who shed her tears at the feet of Jesus, full of remorse and forgiveness and grace, found that she wants us to see her glory, let us seek it too, poor people.