1 Corinthians 6:11 | You Were Washed

any man would you please stand with me this morning for the reading of God's Word amen this morning we'll be reading from Psalm 113 verses one through three Psalm 113 verses one through three say praise the lord praise o servants of the lord praise the name of the lord blessed is the name of the lord from this time forth and forevermore from the rising of the Sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised amen amen let us praise His name this morning amen [Music] [Music] [Music] and be the one two weeks for [Music] where your back [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] there [Music] [Music] it is to know the crossing to no cry see then [Music] what where's Randy [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] amen good morning and join me in prayer if you would Heavenly Father is true is only in the the power and the blood of Christ that we can stand we have no other foothold we have no other foundation but him and you gave us you gave him to us he gave us your son so that we can be in him and he in us and you Anna's father so he come to you this morning we're so thankful we're in awe of what you've done in our lives Lord we're in awe of what you continue to do we're thankful Lord we are in thankful people we pray father that you would continue to allow us to to worship you this morning through and in your son Lord by the power of your spirit pray that we would see Christ in all his glory this morning I pray that we would worship you from pure hearts from genuine hearts sincere hearts Lord as we sing as we worship you through the priests word receiving it and then carrying it out as we go home as we worship you in our giving to you Lord as we worship you in our fellowship amongst the one another all forms of worship always to show how worthy you are enable us to do these things for your glory the name of your son we pray amen you can be seated just for a moment Acts chapter 2 verse 42 to 47 says this and they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes they received their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved now we see some of the essential marks of the church is that they were together there's this fellowship and they just miss in the early church just kept on doing things together one of the things that they did together was pray and so that's what we're gonna do together as well on Friday October 11th we are gonna come together and pray and ask for the Lord's help ask for the Lord's favor as for his glory to be accomplished on this earth through us and that just like it says here that day by day people would be getting safe through us all so we are gonna meet together as a church family for if you're a member October 20th please mark that down on your calendars we're gonna meet together we have some things to address some good things that God has been doing in our myths but we need to do that together as members so we're gonna do that October 20th right after a service should be just about a half hour and then the last thing is that if you are not a member of this church we're glad that you're with us but we would ask that you would pray and consider joining arms thus linking with us and what God is doing here in and through this church so to that end we're gonna begin our membership class starting October 27th and there's going to be four weeks so just see an elder myself brother Sam brother Alex and brother Andrew see any one of us we're gonna hold these classes for you so that you can know more about us and so that you can God willing join us in the effort of exalting Christ so that we can fulfill these things that we can do these things together let's continue to worship your song 53:5 says but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed we're gonna [Music] [Music] he was peaceful our transgressions crushed for our sins the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by [Music] he was pierced for our transgressions hurts all our sins the punishment that brought us peace word of warning and by [Music] we are here [Music] [Music] and the line [Music] we [Music] and bye by [Music] my [Music] me [Music] Wow [Music] see [Music] there [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh geez [Music] right [Music] Oh [Applause] [Music] No [Music] how the guy we are truly grateful this morning not to be singing this truth God about how you were pierced for our transgressions how you were crushed for our iniquities Lord how you brought us peace through your wounds in the shedding of your blood God we are so grateful for that there truly is no other way but through the cross of Christ god we thank you God that we can be made clean by the shedding of his blood give you glory and honor this morning we ask God that you would speak to us through your word may it come forth with power in Jesus name Amen please and go with me in your Bibles to first Corinthians chapter 6 first Corinthians chapter 6 we're just gonna look at one verse this morning first Corinthians chapter 6 verse 11 says and such were some of you but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God title of this sermon is you were washed you were washed just like last week I desire this morning that you would know and experience the changing power of Christ you know I worked construction for many years before being called to the ministry by the Lord and there were many days many seasons where I had work instruction and it was the rainy season especially early on in my apprenticeship I would get the grunt work so that means I would be out in the rain in the dirt in the trench in the in the vaults where nobody else wanted to go we're the guys that have been in the trade for years longer than me didn't want to go so they sent me so I got dirty I get covered in dirt and mud and sweat then I come home to my beautiful wife only to be greeted by don't touch me right don't touch me and go shower yourself clean yourself off and then we can be together you know God is pure he's spotless he doesn't have any stain or corruption or defilement of sin about him God's Word says that he dwells in unapproachable light he's so pure as the pure and holy God he cannot and does not dwell with us while covered in the filth of our sin but the miraculous thing about the gospel about the cross of Christ is that he sent his son who is also fully gone and pure to live with us in our sin in the filth so that we might be cleansed of our sin and now draw near to God the Father Paul wants us to be convinced in our hearts and minds that we have been cleansed by Christ and the Spirit it's by way of review still introduction I just want to review what we a little bit of what we spoke last week and we'll get into the passage the verse 11 that we're going to look at this morning if you notice the wording of our passage of the of the passage here in in verse 9 begins or do you not know and then also in verse 9 it says do not be deceived so Paul is is appealing to us by our minds he is trying to get us to be convinced and not deceived of something what is he trying to convince us up that we've been changed that we were once lost but now we are found that we were once defiled by sin but now rouille are washed clean that we were once enemies of God now we are the family of God this contrast is clear it wants to remember in our minds and hearts that God has changed us Christian you need to be convinced of the exceeding power of Christ to change people you got to be convinced of that in your own mind in the heart otherwise you're gonna compromise right and that's exactly what the Corinthians were doing if you start to forget the difference that God has made in your life then you start to lose back over default back over to your factory settings Rite of sin but you see it starts in the mind you have to be convinced of the exceeding power of Christ in your life Christ is far more powerful than sin he is far more powerful than your past of life of sin and if you would only remember who he is for you and what he has done in you in salvation then you will be more able to fight against sin in your life today we see this all throughout scripture especially in Paul's writing he appeals to the mind to convince us God did something in you you got to live like it so last week we looked at the power of sin we saw that that in in verse 9 it says the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God and we saw last week that this is a fact that God declares over and over again in his word and it is a fact that you must be convinced of yourself we saw that the unrighteous are contrasted in chapter 6 verse 1 they're contrasted against the Saints the Saints the Holy Ones the set-apart ones those who are set apart from the world by God the unrighteous are simply those who are not Saints they are simply those who are not set apart unto God and the unrighteous are those who display that reality by they're witness by their lifestyle by their sins these unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God not might not not should not but will not inherit the kingdom of God you see because the God's kingdom is where God rules right it makes sense that's what a kingdom is it's where a king rules so God the Father rules through Christ the king and he rules his people who are his kingdom and that's here now we are experiencing his kingdom here and now however we believe that there is a future reality to this kingdom where it will be manifest physically in the in the reign of Christ on this earth and even beyond that there will be this ultimate manifestation of the kingdom of God where this heaven and earth that we know it today will be folded up like an old robe and then God will cast it aside and he will make a new heaven a new earth where his kingdom is everywhere and we look forward to that time we look forward to the kingdom and all the the the rewards and all the good things that are inherent with that all the things that we inherit in the kingdom because the kingdom of God carries with it promises we saw last week of glorified bodies eternal life heaven rewards indescribable glory and the centerpiece of the glory of the new heavens and the new earth the centerpiece of the glory of God's kingdom is the King Jesus Christ our Lord this is a wonderful future that we anticipate it is something that we even experience and and operate in now this kingdom of God but the unrighteous are not part of the kingdom and they will not inherit that future kingdom either these glorious glorious promises are not for the unrighteous so we saw last week the essential power of sin is to keep you out of the kingdom it's to disqualify you from the kingdom from the inheritance the power of sin over us disqualifies us because we cannot obey God's law we cannot be perfect we are not good enough and that is sin and that in and of itself disqualifies us from being his people now again I feel like I have to qualify this this doesn't mean that as a believer if you sin or even if you fall into a season of sin that you are automatically disqualified and you're not good enough anymore you're gone you're out you got to try and get back into the kingdom that's not what this means we're talking about people who have rejected Christ as their Lord and Savior and display that rejection of God's rule and saving work over their lives by their lifestyle by their incessant sinning so Paul is appealing to your minds friends to be convinced that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God but there is another truth and he wants us to be convinced stuff verse 11 and such were some of you so he wants us to be convinced the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God but he also wants you to be convinced Christian that that's what you were it's not what you are now because you were washed you were sanctified and you were justified in Christ by the Spirit so our first point this morning is that you were washed from your sin wash from your sin what does it mean to be washed well it means that you were washed from your sin we see this in the wording such were some of you such were some of you what were we look what it says verse night you were unrighteous that's what you were verse 9 at towards the end some of us were sexually immoral some of us were idolaters adulterers men who practice homosexuality some of us were thieves were greedy or drunkards some of us were revilers or swindlers such were some of us that's who we were all those defiling sins Paul says such were some of you maybe you used to be given over to those sins or maybe even just one of them maybe you may be one of these these items in this list characterize you Christian maybe you were completely given over to substance abuse or immorality whether it's whether it's physically in person or through a screen maybe you used to to lie and steal to get what you want like a swindler maybe you used to envy the prosperity of others with your greed maybe that was you or maybe you weren't defined by one of these sins on this list my friends just because you weren't a homosexual right doesn't mean that you did not need the grace of God does it make you any better you might not have stolen from somebody but you wanted to write you know there's that old saying I don't smoke chew or date girls who do right maybe that's you maybe maybe you weren't one of these guys here but and you know you had that model I did I don't smoke or chew but and I don't go with girls who do but you wanted to right but you wanted to that's the issue it's the issue of the heart Christian it doesn't matter if you're raised in church I was raised in church I was born in a Pew practically but I needed the grace of God you see we all need God's grace in Christ we all need the gospel and comes down to an issue of the heart your heart apart from Christ is still sick with sin your soul is dead to God without Christ and that was your sin but we see here this change this miraculous change that god does such were some of you this was you see if you have come to Christ in faith then you are no longer that old person Christian that's not you that's not you you got to be convinced too there you're a new woman you're a new man completely new you are that's reality say I don't feel like it me neither sometimes but we are we got to remind ourselves of the truth of the gospel not how I feel about it there has Minna change at the level of your heart and soul something happened to you Christian something happened to you that is so radical so supernatural that it changed you to the core it changed your default setting that's right it went down to that level of coding right if you want to get nerdy about it right it god completely wiped out the old code and he put in this totally different set of coding all the way down if you want to get really nerdy he started he replaced the whole motherboard right the whole thing how far down this this illustration can we go right not too far cuz my knowledge of that is really limited it's a core change Christian you know Paul says that you were was you are sanctifying you were justifying the wording here is is emphatic it's it's it's he's stressing something he's stressing the cosmic contrast to what you used to be and what has happened to you in Christ what you are now look at the wording here in verse 11 and the ESV just says you were washed I says but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the Greek the and the new American Standard translates it this way it's but you were washed but you were sanctified but you were justified it's more literal translation the ESV smooths out the translation to make a more readable to us today but either way the contrast is clear right contrast is clear in both translations that Christ has powerfully changed you it's clear these three words washed sanctified justified are the basically the headings of the next three sermons including today today's we're going to look at washed next week we'll look at sanctifying week after we're gonna look at justified these three words communicate to us this threefold change that happened to us threefold change you see these three words wash sanctified justified are three ways of describing salvation right I can just say you were washed and that's another way of saying you were saved I'm talking about in a specific way I can say you are justified and and that means that you were saved you were you were changed right you accepted the gospel you're safe now but I just say you're justified to communicate a part of the gospel a specific facet of it here Paul mentions all three and there may be more I mean he could have said but you were adopted right he could have said but these three ways I believe Paul picks because these three ways there are three ways in which you stand before God these three items these three actions of God washing us sanctifying us and justifying us these three actions of God are three changes that God did to how we stand before him nothing I asked you to just just stay with me here there are three ways that you stand before God experiential relational and judicial okay we're get we're gonna dive in we're gonna drill down a little bit here but I believe there's this is good for us experiential relational and judicial so the ultimate problem for mankind is how God perceives you or experiences you and how he relates to you and how he judges you his verdict those are the three ways that you stand before God experiential relational and judicial so before changing you in Christ before saving you in Christ by the Spirit God perceived you he experienced you as one who is stained with sin that's why he says you were washed second God related to you before changing you in Christ before salvation God related to you as a stranger outside an outsider as a stranger an enemy that's why he says but you were sanctified you were plucked out set apart unto God brought near okay third before changing you in Christ before you are saved by the gospel in the gospel God judged you he judged you as unrighteous and that's the context right he judged you the verdict was unrighteous and so therefore will not inherit the kingdom right you were unrighteous deserving of his wrath that's why he says here but he justified you so we see this threefold change that God does all having to do with how you stand before him but you stand before him experientially relationally and judicially in all facets of your of your relationship of the way that you stand before God he fixed he solved the problem in every three in all three facets so this morning we're gonna look at the first one before God before God changed you in Christ before you were saved it became a Christian God perceived you experienced you as one who was stained with sin therefore he washed you that's what we're looking at this morning and this is the first thing that Paul brings up by God has solved how he stand before him experientially you see experientially God perceives you as stained with sin stained with sin Isaiah 1:18 says that our sins are like a scarlet dye and like red crimson that stains us before God Isaiah 1:18 the Prophet Jeremiah in lamentations 1:8 grieved over his people's sins and said Jerusalem has sinned grievously therefore she became filthy that's what sin does to us it dirties us up and makes us filthy in the sight of God that's what matters most see before Christ changed you you were guilty of sin Christian and if you don't know Christ this way if you have not bowed the knee to him as your Lord and as your Savior if you if you have not place your faith on him as the only savior of your soul this is still you you got to see them and it doesn't matter how many church services you attend it doesn't matter how many old ladies you help across the street right it doesn't matter how how much good works you do if you have not bowed the knee to Christ this is still you you're still filthy with sin sin has stained you with its smell of guilt so that you are now intolerable to God God says in Jeremiah 2:22 that we are stained by the stain of sin of our guilt even though we try to remove it with good deeds Jeremiah 2:22 God is pure and he cannot let sin stay in his presence first Timothy 6:15 says that God dwells in unapproachable light Christ Himself tells us that those who practice lawlessness will come to him on the last day of judgment and they will want to enter his kingdom but he's going to tell them what depart from me you workers of lawlessness he is essentially saying get away you're filthy you're a worker of lawlessness and get away you have been stained and you are dirtied with the with the guilt of your sin and I can't tolerate it in my purity and you got to understand that the filth of sin is offensive to God it is but it doesn't stop here it says but you were washed but you were washed experientially God perceived you as stained with sin but you have been washed from the filth of your former life Christian God has cleanse you from the stains of your sin go with me to Exodus 12 let's go to Exodus 12 we're gonna see that we are washed by the blood that's our second point this morning Exodus 12 this is the Passover the exodus of God's people out of Egypt where he saves them delivers them from the oppressive hand of the of the Egyptians it's where God saves Israel his people but there's a condition they have to do something in order to be saved Exodus 12 verse 21 says then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans and kill the Passover lamb take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and touched the lintel and the doorposts with the blood that is in the basin none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning because for the Lord will pass through and strike the Egyptians and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two door posts the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you so the command here is to take a bunch of hyssop it's a bunch of herbs right and you dip it into the blood of this of this lamb called the Passover lamb it's called the Passover lamb because of the event it's connected to this event when the destroyer where God passes over the houses that have the blood on the doorpost and the and so on the the two sides and on the top on the lintel of the doors they were to sprinkle this blood that's on this hyssop and the blood signified two things it signified the payment for their sins for the payment for the sins of the people within the house and it also signified this cleansing of their sin now you might be thinking we about this a few uh a couple months ago you might be thinking I thought God loved his people why would they have to do this this ritual in order for for him to pass by them and not kill their firstborn child why would God do that to his people why can't he just promise you're my people and I'm gonna pass over you well we learn in Ezekiel 20 and that that the Israelites in Egypt were idolaters it says this Ezekiel 20 verse 7 and 8 says and I said to them God God told Israel in Egypt he said cast away the detestable see things that your eyes feast on every one of you and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt I and the Lord your God but they rebelled against me and we're not willing to listen to me and none of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt then I said I will pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against him in the midst of the land of Egypt so this Passover the exodus God's delivering Israel out of Egypt out of the oppressive hand that event of that last plague is God's judgment on sin and it would have been his judgment on sin of his own people had he not provided this way out had he not provided the instruction of killing the Passover lamb and spreading the blood on the door so they deserved the wrath of God just like the Egyptians you see the Israelites were told to use this hyssop to dip into the blood and then apply the blood to their lintels and doorpost in the blood is symbolic of the substitutionary sacrifice is symbolic that the animal is dying instead of me instead of my first or for my sins the blood was needed because of the idolatry of the Israelites therefore the blood that was applied to the lintel and to the doorpost of the Israelites had this undertone this this this this this background of atonement of purification to it the sacrificial lamb who's sprinkled blood protected Israel pointed to him whose precious blood is the only sufficient payment and cleansing agent of God's people that's why there's a passover lamb because it was always pointing forward to the ultimate Lamb of God Jesus Christ so we see that the hyssop this this bunch of of herbs was a symbol of purification Leviticus 14 the law for cleansing a leper is given the priest is to slay a bird and dip the hyssop into the blood then sprinkle the healed leopard with the blood pronouncing him clean this in Leviticus 14 so it was a it was used for purification go with me to to Psalm 51 Psalm 51 we're gonna see that this is a theme in the Old Testament this purification this need of being pure by blood Psalm 51 David picks up on this purification theme or motif look at Psalm 51 verse one and two he says have mercy on me O God according to your set fast love according to your abundant mercy and blot out my transgressions wash me thoroughly from my iniquity cleanse me from my sin David is aware of his iniquity aware of his sin aware of his offence to God and he knows I gotta get clean I must be cleansed from my sin he says in verse 2 I must be cleansed for my sin look down a little bit verse 7 purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow how are we how is David as it were symbolically purged or cleansed with hyssop he's reaching back he's reaching back to that event of exodus of the exodus where god delivered his people and but they had to be cleansed first by blood and he's reaching back into the into leviticus into the laws of purification and he sees himself just like those Israelites in Egypt who needed to be cleansed he saw himself as an idolatry filthy with the stains of sin he saw himself as this spiritual leper in need of cleansing and he says clean me God if I'm gonna be with you if I'm gonna if I want to be in your presence at all if I want to enjoy you God you gotta clean me first because I know I can't draw near to you now because I'm filthy I'm a leper Christian you were stained with sin but God cleaned you he washed you with blood if you're not a believer this morning you got to see this friend that you are stained with sin you're stained with sin and there is coming a day when you will stand before Christ as your judge and on that day your your sinfulness will be exposed and you will be judged for your sins yes you will you're gonna be judged for it for your for the stains of sin that you've put on yourself but there's one way that you can be washed of the guilt of your sins and that is the blood of Jesus Christ so place our faith in Him place your faith in what he did for you on the cross reject your old life and Trust and that Christ died on the cross for you in your place we see this this cleansing by blood picked up by the writer of Hebrews go to Hebrews with me please I know we're kind of going all over the place but this is this is this is such as I was studying this topic of being washed I just kept on seeing all these connections all over scriptures of our need and our provision of the of being washed and cleanse of our sin is everywhere Hebrews chapter 9 verse 13 for if the blood of bulls and goats and the sprinkling of the vial of defiled persons was with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh how much more will the blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God purify our conscience from dead works to serve the Living God so he's saying if the blood of bulls and goats if all the Old Testament sacrifices were able by faith - to sanctify to purify the flesh that's the outward manifestation of that person if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer can sanctify or set apart somebody has a worshiper of God then how much more can the blood of Christ do it's not just surface is what he's saying it's not just outward Reformation it is this heart soul level purification is a purification of our conscience he says purification of the real you the real you Christian has been purified by the blood of Christ he says he may he elaborates on this in Hebrews 10 Hebrews 10 just turned over it's the next page this is a whole nother this is this passage is amazing starting in verse 19 Hebrews 10:19 therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh and since we have a great High Priest over the house of God what do we do let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water you've been cleanse Christian you've been cleansed by the blood of the lamb by the blood of Jesus Christ and you have confidence to enter the holy places about here you have confidence not just to go to some temple not just to go to church you have confidence to go into the very throne room of God you can approach him by the blood of Christ it's a new way it's a living way that he is open to you into the into the presence of God so what do you do draw near he says come close you know in the Old Testament it was nobody could come close we see at the Mount Sinai right remember that story where God had his first introduction to his people it's a whole hello my name is God right that was his introduction and it was this this cloud of smoke and fire and the mountain of Mount Sinai trembled and and shook under the weight of his glory and God said don't don't step foot on the mountain don't step foot don't come close because then you'll defile my presence and I'll have to respond in my judgement said don't come close it would be unwise it would be unsafe for you to come close and that was the tone of the whole Old Testament it would be unwise for you to just come into my presence that's why the temple and the sacrifices were given by god those are grace that's grace from God he wanted them to be close but he needed them to see you could only come close through the sacrifice through the blood because he was pointing forward to Christ the whole time so all throughout the Old Testament God as it were keeps people at bay he keeps them away for their own safety but now in the New Covenant he says come come to me he says come close draw near yeah you sinned today draw near that's exactly when you need to come close to God yeah you fell on your face again yes you did exactly what you said you wouldn't do the last time come close draw near come with confidence Christian because your heart has been sprinkled cleaned by the blood of Christ and that leads us to our last point you were washed to be clean and my sound redundant but follow me here go with me to John chapter 3 John chapter 3 we're just gonna go to a couple more passages and highlight a few things we're not going to exegete the whole passage but we're gonna highlight a few things about this washing John chapter 3 you must be washed to inherit or to enter the kingdom of God and Jesus said that very thing here in John 3 look at John chapter 3 verse 1 through 5 now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews this man came to Jesus by night and said to him rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these things that you do unless God is with him and jesus answered him truly truly I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God Nicodemus said to him how can a man be born when he is old can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born jesus answered truly truly I say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God you must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God and that connects with our passage right the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God well then how how can I who who is unrighteous inherit the kingdom of God where's the hope must be born again you must believe on Christ that's your that's your job have faith in Christ and it shows that you've been born again verse 5 of John 3 Jesus clarifies what it means to be born again he says it is being born of the water and the spirit now being born of the water and being born of the Spirit does not mean that you are somehow physically birthed by water or somehow physically birth by the Holy Spirit so being born here means that you have a new beginning right that's what's that's what birth is it's a beginning of life it's the beginning of life in this world we understand that life begins in the womb of course but being born signifies here in this passage a new beginning so you must have this new beginning and at the point of this new beginning at the point of this new birth this new beginning is exactly where you must start now to carry the traits of your new parents spiritually speaking so symbolically this water and the Holy Spirit are your new parents you see your you are born of them you are born of the water you are born of the Spirit you have now the traits the the spiritual DNA of your new parents the water and the spirit in this passage okay we understand that we're part of the family of God that God is our Father we're talking about this passage here stay with me here symbolically again this water and the spirit are your new parents and you take on their traits because you are born of them go with me to Ezekiel 36 Ezekiel Ezekiel chapter 36 this means that you have a new beginning right this being born again this new birth you have a new beginning now where you now act like your parents water and spirit you now have the traits of those who birthed you the water and the spirit so what are the parental traits what are what is what are the genes of the water and the spirit what you know when you're born from someone you have it when you have a baby I should say when you have a baby usually it looks like mom and dad right has mom's nose that's eyes or whatever and sometimes even as the child is raised it yeah that's your son that is your son right I'll tell I'll tell my wife that please go talk to your son and she'll tell me you need to go talk to your son that's your son because he's acting like you right that's what we mean right they're acting just like you there must be your son so what are the parental traits of water and spirit look at Ezekiel 36 verse 25 through 27 God says this is a new covenant I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules so we see the water and the spirit here this is where I believe Christ is pulling from when he's talking to Nicodemus in John 3 so what does he mean parental trace of water is that you are now clean from all your stains of sin and all the uncleanness of sin says you were born of water is saying the same thing as you were washed that old dirty filth of sin has been washed off of you Christian that means that your life has changed it means yes that the guilt of sin is gone is washed away but it means the acts that go along with them also have been washed away and he clarifies that when he says this idea of being born of the Spirit so not only were you are you born of the water but you are born of the Spirit what does that mean the parental traits that you carry from the Holy Spirit is that you have a new heart that is willing and able to obey God look what he says in verse 27 I put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules so it is this willing this is this desiring this and that comes from this new heart that we have these this new heart with new affections for God that's the result of the new birth that's what it means to be born of the Spirit is I have a new heart I have a spiritual heart now that is alive to God that loves him wants to obey Him and can obey Him can obey Him yes you can say it's hard I know it's hard but you can just talking about regeneration you see Titus three four and five says but when the goodness and loving kindness of our God of God our Savior appeared he saved us not by works done by us in righteousness but according to his own mercy how by the washing of regeneration raishin and renewal of the spirit same thing the washing and the renewal of the spirit being washed speaks of new life it speaks of regeneration and regeneration is God's work of recreation in us second Corinthians five says therefore if any man is in Christ he is a new creature and the old things pass away but behold things have new things have come Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship we are his handiwork created in Christ Jesus Christian crisis cleanse you from your past and this cleansing is more than moral Reformation it's not just behavioral adjustments that we're after here your spiritual washing is a washing away of the sins of your past life its transformation language and it is more than a new cane of coat a new coat of paint it's more than a new coat of paint on an ugly building right it's more than that it is the complete removal and new construction of a new building from the foundation up that's you you don't just got a new coat of paint on you you're completely new you know it's often said that you can't change a leopard spots right we hear that a lot you might think you know once that once a cheater always a cheater once a thief always a thief once a drunk always a drunk once or whatever always oh whatever that's unbiblical you got to see that that's what Paul is trying to get at you can't think that way you've been changed you're different now but you've been washed Robb's Christ of his power that's why I'm so worked up about it right that's why I'm so excited about this because it robs Kreis of his glory that's what this is about your holiness is about the glory of Christ can he change a person or not it's not just about obeying the rules and checking off the boxes it's not what this is about it's about the glory of Christ that is connected to you and he connected his own name to you if you place your faith on him he says you're mine and you have my banner over your head and I'm willing to to be associated with you mess up as you are Christian you were washed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God Christ has accomplished your cleansing on the cross and the Holy Spirit has applied that cleansing to you when you believed you've been purified and now you stand pure in the sight of God even now and experientially he experiences you he relates to you as one clean and delightful and acceptable in his sight but I'm still me I'm still the messed up heir why am i acceptable it's only because of him I mean you have to understand this friend if you go back to those sins if you've truly been washed truly been changed when you go back to those old sins you can only in that mud so long until you get sick of it is that true do you experience that yeah we go back to the mud yeah we getting dirty again but it sickens me my own sin sickens me and if that's you you've been changed but now let's help you right now let's help you so you don't go back into the mud those sins that you run back to from time to time are unnatural to you now they are not you such were some of you but you were washed let's pray Heavenly Father thank you for stepping out of eternity and stooping down to wash me Father I don't deserve it I was filthy worse than most worse than most Lord because I heard your truth I heard I heard the gospel time and time again to harden my own heart I didn't want it I wrote it off like a fairy tale I wrote it off like spider-man or something like that Lord but you were patient and you still had mercy Lord you wash this you wash me Lord you lost your people we are a clean people in your sight Lord

Channel: Truth Endures

Views: 379

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Id: 2pan2-P2SHo

Length: 79min 53sec (4793 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 29 2019