WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:07.100 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith from Open The Bible. 00:00:07.100 –> 00:00:16.660 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website www.openthebible.org. 00:00:16.660 –> 00:00:18.540 Let’s get to the message Here’s Pastor Colin 00:00:18.540 –> 00:00:26.940 Well I hope you’ll have your Bible opened today at Matthew chapter 5 and verse 8, these 00:00:27.719 –> 00:00:38.540 To tell you I’ve prepared the message today with 00:00:38.540 –> 00:00:44.619 a sense of awe that I hope you will feel as we immerse ourselves in these words of Jesus 00:00:44.619 –> 00:00:46.340 together. 00:00:46.340 –> 00:00:47.340 Think of this. 00:00:47.340 –> 00:00:56.220 God is speaking to us from this scripture today about seeing him, seeing God. 00:00:56.340 –> 00:01:02.939 You will see God and what will that be to be face to face before him. 00:01:02.939 –> 00:01:05.699 And he speaks here about purity of heart. 00:01:05.699 –> 00:01:07.980 A heart that thinks what is right. 00:01:07.980 –> 00:01:09.959 A heart that loves what is good. 00:01:09.959 –> 00:01:14.080 A heart that wills what is best. 00:01:14.080 –> 00:01:19.580 I have to tell you that my first reaction on reading this sixth beatitude is that what 00:01:19.580 –> 00:01:24.180 Jesus describes here seems on first reading to be impossible. 00:01:24.339 –> 00:01:27.959 Pure in heart. 00:01:27.959 –> 00:01:32.599 I would be very surprised if there is a single person in the congregation who immediately 00:01:32.599 –> 00:01:37.440 on reading these words, purity of heart, would say, oh, that’s me. 00:01:37.440 –> 00:01:40.339 I don’t think that’s what we’re saying, is it? 00:01:40.339 –> 00:01:44.000 Which is significant because when we read the first beatitude, blessed of the poor in 00:01:44.000 –> 00:01:48.800 spirit, it was very easy for us to say, hey, that’s the people who know that they’ve 00:01:48.800 –> 00:01:51.980 not got what it takes before God, that’s certainly is me. 00:01:52.519 –> 00:01:56.699 Or when we read the second beatitude, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who 00:01:56.699 –> 00:02:02.099 become aware of their sins, and aware of their shortcomings, and mourn over them, it was 00:02:02.099 –> 00:02:06.160 not difficult for us by God’s grace to get to the place of saying, that is certainly 00:02:06.160 –> 00:02:07.160 me. 00:02:07.160 –> 00:02:08.880 That’s me. 00:02:08.880 –> 00:02:13.020 But when Jesus says, blessed are the pure in heart, I don’t find myself saying that’s 00:02:13.020 –> 00:02:19.220 me at all, and I don’t expect that you do either. 00:02:19.220 –> 00:02:24.020 And then just thinking about the scale of these words of Jesus that we’re looking at 00:02:24.020 –> 00:02:30.419 today, seeing God, that seems like a second thing that’s equally impossible at first 00:02:30.419 –> 00:02:31.740 sight. 00:02:31.740 –> 00:02:33.399 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 00:02:33.399 –> 00:02:38.399 You remember, in the Old Testament, Moses wanted to do that. 00:02:38.399 –> 00:02:45.619 Show me your glory he says, and God says to him, well you go hide yourself in a rock, 00:02:45.699 –> 00:02:50.600 And I will allow the brightness, the appearing of my glory to pass by. 00:02:50.600 –> 00:02:55.899 And then God allowed Moses to see what we might describe as the afterburn of the glory 00:02:55.899 –> 00:02:59.339 of the presence of the Lord. 00:02:59.339 –> 00:03:05.679 God says, Exodus chapter 33 and verse 20, you cannot see my face, for man shall not 00:03:05.679 –> 00:03:09.320 see me and live. 00:03:09.320 –> 00:03:12.580 Can’t see God and live. 00:03:12.619 –> 00:03:19.020 And yet here we have Jesus saying, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 00:03:19.020 –> 00:03:20.020 God. 00:03:20.020 –> 00:03:25.100 It seems like there are two miracles involved right here. 00:03:25.100 –> 00:03:29.160 So straightaway the apparent impossibility of these two things, seeing God in purity 00:03:29.160 –> 00:03:35.020 of heart shows us what a great savior Jesus Christ is that He may offer these things to 00:03:35.020 –> 00:03:36.020 us. 00:03:36.020 –> 00:03:38.440 He does not give us this beatitude to mock us. 00:03:38.440 –> 00:03:40.020 He comes as the great redeemer. 00:03:40.020 –> 00:03:41.679 He comes as the savior. 00:03:41.720 –> 00:03:48.380 He comes as the deliverer, and He holds these precious gifts in His hand, that in Christ, 00:03:48.380 –> 00:03:54.699 a sinner with all the baggage that sinful habits leave in the thoughts of your mind 00:03:54.699 –> 00:04:02.220 and the inclinations of your heart, that such a person should become pure in heart. 00:04:02.220 –> 00:04:09.979 That in Christ, a sinner, being washed and forgiven and cleansed, should actually see 00:04:10.880 –> 00:04:18.420 of shrinking back into an everlasting hell, should be able to move forward into an everlasting 00:04:18.420 –> 00:04:19.420 joy. 00:04:19.420 –> 00:04:23.339 These are amazing things. 00:04:23.339 –> 00:04:26.079 And this is what Christ is able to do for sinners. 00:04:26.079 –> 00:04:29.000 This is what Jesus Christ is able to do for you. 00:04:29.000 –> 00:04:34.100 He can purify your heart, and He can shine His light into your heart, to give you the 00:04:34.100 –> 00:04:41.940 light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:04:41.940 –> 00:04:48.299 So while my first reaction on looking at this beatitude is to say, boy, this seems impossible, 00:04:48.299 –> 00:04:56.160 my second thought is to say now if I could lay hold of everything that Jesus speaks of 00:04:56.160 –> 00:05:02.200 in this beatitude and really make it mine, I would be blessed indeed. 00:05:02.200 –> 00:05:05.880 I would be blessed, and so would you. 00:05:05.880 –> 00:05:12.320 Now, again we have two weekends to immerse ourselves in this beatitude and today we’re 00:05:12.320 –> 00:05:17.399 going to focus on what Christ calls us to here, what is this purity of heart that he 00:05:17.399 –> 00:05:22.760 speaks about so that we understand it well in order that we may go after it. 00:05:22.880 –> 00:05:27.160 Then next week, God willing, we’ll come in the second part to look at the how question. 00:05:27.160 –> 00:05:29.480 How can I pursue this purity of heart? 00:05:29.480 –> 00:05:31.399 How can I cultivate it? 00:05:31.399 –> 00:05:35.920 What are the practical things that I can do to move in this direction? 00:05:35.920 –> 00:05:41.559 So we begin today then with what purity of heart is, and let’s begin with a negative 00:05:41.559 –> 00:05:44.760 because it’s important to see what it’s not. 00:05:44.760 –> 00:05:50.420 Let me put it this way, the purity of heart does not mean that you never have a bad thought. 00:05:50.420 –> 00:05:51.920 That should come as a relief to you. 00:05:51.959 –> 00:05:54.660 You might say, oh, good, okay that at least helps. 00:05:54.660 –> 00:06:00.799 Remember the apostle John says to believers, to Christians, if we say that we are without 00:06:00.799 –> 00:06:03.739 sin, we deceive ourselves. 00:06:03.739 –> 00:06:05.880 Christians are always sinners in this life. 00:06:05.880 –> 00:06:07.399 Sinners in the process of recovery. 00:06:07.399 –> 00:06:12.739 And if purity of heart meant that you simply never had anything wrong or that you never 00:06:12.739 –> 00:06:18.420 thought anything wrong or felt anything amiss, then clearly, this would be a blessing, the 00:06:18.420 –> 00:06:21.519 sixthly attitude, that no Christian could ever have. 00:06:21.880 –> 00:06:25.160 Christ does not say these words to mock us. 00:06:25.160 –> 00:06:28.920 He says these words because He offers something to us. 00:06:28.920 –> 00:06:32.600 Now, most writers pick up on this important point. 00:06:32.600 –> 00:06:39.100 No one says it better than A. W. Pink, just very succinctly he says, purity of heart is 00:06:39.100 –> 00:06:42.279 not sinlessness of life. 00:06:42.279 –> 00:06:43.700 These are two different things. 00:06:43.700 –> 00:06:47.519 There is no perfection that is being spoken of here by the Lord Jesus because there is 00:06:47.519 –> 00:06:50.399 no perfection for the Christian in this life. 00:06:50.459 –> 00:06:53.019 Purity of heart is not sinlessness of life. 00:06:53.019 –> 00:06:57.540 We’re going to see what it is but let’s be at least clear about this as to what it 00:06:57.540 –> 00:06:58.820 is not. 00:06:58.820 –> 00:07:01.059 It is not sinlessness of life. 00:07:01.059 –> 00:07:03.160 It’s not perfection. 00:07:03.160 –> 00:07:09.540 The Bible speaks in fact about purity in different ways, or holiness in different ways. 00:07:09.540 –> 00:07:12.160 And it is important to be able to distinguish between them. 00:07:12.160 –> 00:07:15.000 Let me just mention three very briefly. 00:07:15.040 –> 00:07:21.380 The first is that there is a purity or holiness that is ascribed to God alone. 00:07:21.380 –> 00:07:22.920 You have this in many places in the Bible. 00:07:22.920 –> 00:07:26.260 Isaiah 6, in verse 3, is one of them. 00:07:26.260 –> 00:07:37.220 Remember, in the presence of the Almighty there are millions of angels who have never 00:07:37.220 –> 00:07:38.220 sinned. 00:07:38.220 –> 00:07:41.619 Don’t know what sin is from experience. 00:07:41.619 –> 00:07:46.420 They are holy angels. 00:07:46.420 –> 00:07:57.440 But even the holy angels cover their faces in the immediate presence of the Almighty, 00:07:57.440 –> 00:08:03.399 and they say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. 00:08:03.399 –> 00:08:06.200 Why do they say it three times? 00:08:06.200 –> 00:08:09.359 Because His holiness is of another kind. 00:08:09.359 –> 00:08:11.279 It is the source of theirs. 00:08:11.299 –> 00:08:15.399 It is incomparable. 00:08:15.399 –> 00:08:20.779 You and I are like the angels, we’ll reflect the purity and the holiness of God in – when 00:08:20.779 –> 00:08:26.040 our Redemption is complete for all eternity, but we will reflect the holiness of God in 00:08:26.040 –> 00:08:28.899 the way that the moon reflect the light of the sun. 00:08:28.899 –> 00:08:30.179 The sun has its own light. 00:08:30.179 –> 00:08:33.440 The moon has reflected light. 00:08:33.440 –> 00:08:41.219 And so even the holy angels are covering their faces in the presence of the Holy, Holy, Holy 00:08:41.280 –> 00:08:46.719 God, there is a purity and a holiness that is ascribed to God alone. 00:08:46.719 –> 00:08:47.900 He is incomparable. 00:08:47.900 –> 00:08:48.979 He is God. 00:08:49.059 –> 00:08:50.679 He is God. 00:08:50.739 –> 00:08:54.640 Second, there is a purity and a holiness that will be ours in heaven. 00:08:54.640 –> 00:09:01.020 It really will be yours in the presence of Jesus, and already is for those who have gone 00:09:01.020 –> 00:09:02.580 into His presence. 00:09:02.580 –> 00:09:08.739 1 John chapter 3 in verse 2, when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see 00:09:08.739 –> 00:09:11.059 him as he is. 00:09:11.539 –> 00:09:15.140 If we wake up on this next week, how often the Bible connects our seeing of God with 00:09:15.140 –> 00:09:20.700 our growth in purity, and when we see him as he is, then our purity will be complete. 00:09:20.700 –> 00:09:22.900 We shall be like him. 00:09:22.900 –> 00:09:28.260 In the presence of Jesus you will have a purity that is like pure gold, a holiness that is 00:09:28.260 –> 00:09:29.539 like pure gold. 00:09:29.539 –> 00:09:35.940 There will not in heaven be a trace of sin on you or in you or around you. 00:09:35.940 –> 00:09:38.140 It will be glorious. 00:09:38.340 –> 00:09:43.619 It will be an unrelenting and magnificent joy. 00:09:43.619 –> 00:09:50.280 But that awaits the time when Christ appears, that unmixed holiness, that pure gold. 00:09:50.280 –> 00:09:55.200 But then, thirdly, there is a purity or a holiness that God calls you to pursue now. 00:09:55.200 –> 00:09:57.700 And that’s what Jesus is speaking about here. 00:09:57.700 –> 00:10:02.559 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 00:10:02.559 –> 00:10:07.159 Thomas Watson, who we’re often quoting in this series, has this good phrase. 00:10:07.179 –> 00:10:13.020 He says, this is purity in a gospel sense. 00:10:13.020 –> 00:10:19.880 And he says that the Christian’s purity in this life is rather like gold that is mixed 00:10:19.880 –> 00:10:20.919 with dross. 00:10:20.919 –> 00:10:25.380 When you’re in the presence of Jesus, it’ll be pure gold, refined gold. 00:10:25.380 –> 00:10:29.380 Now it’s real gold, but it’s gold that is mixed with dross. 00:10:29.380 –> 00:10:36.640 And he says, this mixture, God calls purity in a gospel sense. 00:10:36.640 –> 00:10:42.780 As a face, he uses this analogy, as a face may be said to be faire, which has some freckles 00:10:42.780 –> 00:10:44.320 in it. 00:10:44.320 –> 00:10:49.119 So what he’s saying is this, that where there is a longing for purity, and where there is 00:10:49.119 –> 00:10:54.820 a loathing of impurity, there, in fact, is a purity of heart. 00:10:54.820 –> 00:10:56.780 It is mixed. 00:10:56.900 –> 00:10:57.900 It is not complete. 00:10:57.900 –> 00:11:00.239 It is not perfect, but it is real. 00:11:00.239 –> 00:11:04.919 It’s not pure gold, but it’s real gold, and it is of great value in the eyes of God because 00:11:04.919 –> 00:11:08.380 it is the work of the Holy Spirit in your soul. 00:11:08.380 –> 00:11:14.880 So, understand this, that purity of heart does not mean sinlessness of life. 00:11:14.880 –> 00:11:17.059 What then does it mean? 00:11:17.059 –> 00:11:18.940 Two things. 00:11:18.940 –> 00:11:28.039 Number one, a pure heart is an undivided heart, and number two, a pure heart is a clean heart. 00:11:28.039 –> 00:11:30.400 That’s where we’re focused today. 00:11:30.400 –> 00:11:37.880 A pure heart is an undivided heart and a pure heart is a clean heart. 00:11:37.880 –> 00:11:43.440 So think with me for a few moments, if you would, about the blessing of an undivided 00:11:43.440 –> 00:11:44.440 heart. 00:11:44.440 –> 00:11:46.700 What does the word pure means? 00:11:46.700 –> 00:11:52.239 One, whole, undivided. 00:11:52.239 –> 00:11:54.840 Blessed are the pure in heart. 00:11:54.840 –> 00:11:58.700 Blessed is the one whose heart is undivided. 00:11:58.700 –> 00:11:59.960 That’s what Jesus is saying. 00:11:59.960 –> 00:12:02.099 That’s what the word means. 00:12:02.099 –> 00:12:07.599 Now, it’s interesting that our Lord Jesus returns to this theme a little later in the 00:12:07.599 –> 00:12:08.619 sermon on the mount. 00:12:08.780 –> 00:12:14.299 Matthew, chapter 6 and verse 22, I’m quoting here from the King James Version. 00:12:14.299 –> 00:12:22.400 The light of the body, Jesus says, is the eye and if, therefore, your eye be single, 00:12:22.400 –> 00:12:25.340 then your whole body will be full of light. 00:12:25.340 –> 00:12:28.940 If your eye be single, the ESV says, if your eye be healthy. 00:12:28.940 –> 00:12:31.619 The NIB says, if your eye be good. 00:12:31.859 –> 00:12:37.719 They’re all expressions – good expressions – of this idea of wholeness or health or 00:12:37.719 –> 00:12:42.099 oneness that’s at the root of the Word that Jesus spoke. 00:12:42.099 –> 00:12:46.099 But I think that the old King James Version here is perhaps the most helpful of all. 00:12:46.099 –> 00:12:48.659 If your eye be single. 00:12:48.659 –> 00:12:51.940 If you are a person who is going after one thing. 00:12:51.940 –> 00:12:57.820 If you’re focused like a hundred meter runner that’s just going down the track there and 00:12:57.859 –> 00:13:02.559 Now, he hasn’t a moment to be looking to the sides or to the stands, but just is going 00:13:02.559 –> 00:13:03.559 for it. 00:13:03.559 –> 00:13:06.500 That’s the sense of what purity of heart really means. 00:13:06.500 –> 00:13:09.299 Single, undivided, focused. 00:13:09.299 –> 00:13:12.219 The Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard. 00:13:12.219 –> 00:13:16.460 I don’t think he’s been ever quoted from this pulpit in the last sixteen years and 00:13:16.460 –> 00:13:20.419 probably won’t ever be again, but he’s very helpful on this. 00:13:20.419 –> 00:13:26.140 He wrote a whole book with this title that’s a definition of purity and a very good one. 00:13:26.780 –> 00:13:30.979 Purity of heart, said Kierkegaard, is to will one thing. 00:13:30.979 –> 00:13:33.820 That’s what it is. 00:13:33.820 –> 00:13:39.780 Purity of heart is to will one thing. 00:13:39.780 –> 00:13:43.739 So the opposite of a pure heart is a divided heart. 00:13:43.739 –> 00:13:50.559 So you remember Elijah standing on Mount Carmel, and he says, now how long are you going to 00:13:50.559 –> 00:13:53.979 go on limping between two opinions? 00:13:54.780 –> 00:13:56.059 If God be God, follow Him. 00:13:56.059 –> 00:13:59.200 If they’ll be God, then you just go and follow Him. 00:13:59.200 –> 00:14:05.299 Or, to put that in our terms, this side of the cross, how long are you going to go on 00:14:05.299 –> 00:14:09.059 trying to embrace Christ and the world at the same time? 00:14:09.059 –> 00:14:18.419 Divided, compromised, half hearted, how long will you continue toying with the same sins? 00:14:18.419 –> 00:14:23.539 Never quite giving yourself to them completely, but never quite giving yourself to Christ 00:14:23.700 –> 00:14:26.359 as He lays claim to your life completely either. 00:14:26.359 –> 00:14:27.799 How long are you going to do that? 00:14:27.799 –> 00:14:28.919 That’s a divided heart. 00:14:28.919 –> 00:14:35.500 That’s the opposite of a pure heart for purity of heart is to will one thing and that is 00:14:35.500 –> 00:14:40.640 why in James, in chapter 4, in verse 8, you find the apostle James saying cleanse your 00:14:40.640 –> 00:14:44.619 hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 00:14:44.619 –> 00:14:48.020 You see the connection there? 00:14:48.020 –> 00:14:50.380 Double-mindedness is the opposite of a pure heart. 00:14:50.780 –> 00:14:55.179 He’s already said in the early part of James’ letter the double-minded person, he’s 00:14:55.179 –> 00:14:57.559 unstable in all of his ways. 00:14:57.559 –> 00:15:03.099 Now he says here you are and you’re double-minded, you’re trying to be facing both ways at 00:15:03.099 –> 00:15:04.099 the same time. 00:15:04.099 –> 00:15:08.820 John Bunyan in his Pilgrims Progress invented all these characters with marvelous names 00:15:08.820 –> 00:15:13.500 and he invented a character called Mr. Facing Both Ways. 00:15:13.500 –> 00:15:15.859 See that’s a divided heart. 00:15:15.859 –> 00:15:17.739 We immediately know what he means by that. 00:15:17.760 –> 00:15:21.659 Mr. Facing Both Ways and he wants to be a Christian, he wants to be in the world, he’s 00:15:21.679 –> 00:15:23.539 living a kind of divided life. 00:15:23.539 –> 00:15:26.380 He’s the opposite of purity in heart. 00:15:26.380 –> 00:15:29.640 And James says to such a person you’re double-minded, what have you got to do? 00:15:29.640 –> 00:15:33.780 You’ve got to purify your heart, because this double-mindedness is the very opposite of 00:15:33.780 –> 00:15:37.659 a pure heart which is to will one thing. 00:15:37.659 –> 00:15:44.700 So if you want a commentary on what purity of heart is, you can’t do better than Philippians 00:15:44.739 –> 00:15:48.200 chapter 3 verses 12 to 14. 00:15:48.200 –> 00:15:53.000 Remember that’s the passage in which Paul says, not that I have attained all this or 00:15:53.000 –> 00:15:55.219 am already made perfect. 00:15:55.219 –> 00:15:58.739 So purity of heart is not perfection, it’s not sinlessness of life. 00:15:58.739 –> 00:16:01.539 But then, what does he say? 00:16:01.539 –> 00:16:08.260 One thing I do, one thing I do, forgetting what is behind, and straining towards what 00:16:08.260 –> 00:16:13.900 is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which Jesus Christ has called 00:16:14.059 –> 00:16:15.179 heavenwards. 00:16:15.179 –> 00:16:20.539 One thing I do, that’s purity of heart, that’s exactly it being lived out in the words of 00:16:20.539 –> 00:16:27.280 the apostle Paul, there is not perfection, it is to will one thing. 00:16:27.280 –> 00:16:32.020 And Jesus said blessed are the pure in heart, blessed is the man or the woman or the boy 00:16:32.020 –> 00:16:37.460 or the girl whose heart is undivided. 00:16:37.460 –> 00:16:42.219 And there is a wonderful prayer that you can use, if you’ve not discovered this is well 00:16:42.299 –> 00:16:45.700 worth marking up in your Bible. 00:16:45.700 –> 00:16:54.239 It is Psalm 86 and verse 11 and it’s a prayer for purity of heart, though the word purity 00:16:54.239 –> 00:16:56.320 is never used. 00:16:56.320 –> 00:17:03.520 Psalm 86 and verse 11 it says this, teach me your way o lord, that I may walk in your 00:17:03.520 –> 00:17:05.219 truth. 00:17:05.599 –> 00:17:15.199 And then, notice the next word, unite my heart, Psalm 86 verse 11, unite my heart to fear 00:17:15.199 –> 00:17:16.359 your name. 00:17:16.359 –> 00:17:20.280 Make my heart one. 00:17:20.280 –> 00:17:27.219 Deliver me from this dividedness, this facing both ways. 00:17:27.219 –> 00:17:31.140 So you see what he’s saying, if we may put it in our terms today, he’s coming before 00:17:31.160 –> 00:17:38.119 God and he’s saying, oh God, here’s this heart, and you know this heart, it’s all over the 00:17:38.119 –> 00:17:40.119 place. 00:17:40.119 –> 00:17:45.979 Now please make this heart one, that’s what purity of heart is, that I may be a person 00:17:45.979 –> 00:17:50.319 who wills one thing, that I might be like the Apostle Paul, someone who says, one thing 00:17:50.319 –> 00:17:56.500 I do, forgetting what is behind, I’m pressing forward towards the goal, the prize for which 00:17:56.739 –> 00:18:00.739 God has called me upwards in Christ Jesus. 00:18:00.739 –> 00:18:07.400 That is a great prayer for purity of heart. 00:18:07.400 –> 00:18:14.400 So, a pure heart is an undivided heart and Jesus says blessed is the one whose heart 00:18:15.380 –> 00:18:21.180 is undivided, this person will see God. 00:18:21.199 –> 00:18:29.099 And then the second part of the meaning of a pure heart is obviously a clean heart. 00:18:29.099 –> 00:18:34.540 And so Jesus speaks to us here not only of a heart, the blessing of a heart that is one, 00:18:34.540 –> 00:18:40.099 but the blessing of a heart that is clean. 00:18:40.099 –> 00:18:45.459 And we’re going to look next week as I say, at how we go after these things, but today 00:18:45.599 –> 00:18:52.239 it’s really important for us to see and believe what Christ promises to us and lays before 00:18:52.239 –> 00:18:54.599 us. 00:18:54.599 –> 00:19:05.500 Now, I want to take a few moments to frame for you what a Christian receives in Jesus 00:19:05.500 –> 00:19:06.839 Christ. 00:19:06.839 –> 00:19:11.979 And you may find this to be a helpful framework, I hope you will, that you can keep in your 00:19:12.099 –> 00:19:17.180 mind to understand what is yours in Christ and what is yours in the gospel and to build 00:19:17.180 –> 00:19:21.619 your confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:19:21.619 –> 00:19:23.680 Let’s begin here. 00:19:23.680 –> 00:19:30.680 When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, when any person believes in Jesus, a bond 00:19:30.680 –> 00:19:37.219 of holy union, faith forms a bond of holy union between that person and Jesus Christ, 00:19:37.300 –> 00:19:42.579 and in that union, Christ belongs to that person and that person belongs to Jesus Christ. 00:19:42.579 –> 00:19:47.219 Faith forms the bond of a union between you and Jesus. 00:19:47.219 –> 00:19:52.260 So that as the Bible puts it, you are in Christ or another way in which the Bible says the 00:19:52.260 –> 00:19:55.699 same thing is that Christ is in you. 00:19:55.699 –> 00:19:56.699 That’s what faith does. 00:19:56.699 –> 00:20:01.660 It forms a bond of holy union between you and Christ and in the bond of that union, 00:20:01.660 –> 00:20:06.199 wonderful gifts from God are poured into your life. 00:20:06.780 –> 00:20:14.199 I’m going to identify and remind you of just three and the glories of them. 00:20:14.199 –> 00:20:22.119 The first is justification, which is a legal transaction, a legal standing, and we may 00:20:22.119 –> 00:20:28.520 describe it this way, that in Christ God drops all charges against you. 00:20:28.520 –> 00:20:32.920 This is very important to remember while you’re living, it’s extremely important to remember 00:20:33.060 –> 00:20:37.239 while you’re dying and at the very moment when you enter into the presence of God. 00:20:37.239 –> 00:20:42.800 There’s nothing more important for you to stake your soul on then this truth, this glorious 00:20:42.800 –> 00:20:44.520 gift. 00:20:44.520 –> 00:20:52.319 Remember this, that the reason a Christian enters into heaven is not that he or she is 00:20:52.319 –> 00:20:53.420 without sin. 00:20:53.420 –> 00:20:59.739 That is not true of any of us, never will be, this side of heaven. 00:20:59.739 –> 00:21:06.680 The reason that a Christian enters into heaven is that God does not charge our sins against 00:21:06.680 –> 00:21:08.119 us. 00:21:08.119 –> 00:21:09.859 Why? 00:21:09.859 –> 00:21:16.880 Because God has charged our sins to the account of Jesus in whom these sins have been judged 00:21:16.880 –> 00:21:24.680 and punished and atoned for through His sacrifice as our Savior on the cross. 00:21:24.680 –> 00:21:32.579 As Isaiah puts it, the Lord has laid on Him the iniquities of us all, so that in Christ—if 00:21:32.579 –> 00:21:36.520 you are in Christ, in the bond of this holy union—then your debts have been paid in 00:21:36.520 –> 00:21:41.599 full, and if your debts have been paid in full, then they by definition cannot by a 00:21:41.599 –> 00:21:45.300 just God be charged to you again. 00:21:45.300 –> 00:21:48.599 That is the spectacular truth of justification. 00:21:48.599 –> 00:21:53.520 Colossians chapter five and verse one, being justified by faith, we have peace with God 00:21:53.520 –> 00:21:57.339 through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:21:57.339 –> 00:21:58.800 So think about this. 00:21:58.800 –> 00:22:06.000 It follows therefore that Christians enter into heaven not only on the basis of mercy, 00:22:06.000 –> 00:22:12.739 God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ, but also on the basis of justice. 00:22:12.979 –> 00:22:19.099 Because a just God cannot demand payment for sins that have already been atoned for. 00:22:19.099 –> 00:22:26.739 A just God cannot produce and will not produce a bill that has already been paid by another. 00:22:26.739 –> 00:22:32.040 That is why John says in a very important verse in the New Testament that God is faithful 00:22:32.040 –> 00:22:37.260 and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all righteousness. 00:22:37.260 –> 00:22:39.420 Why does he bring in the justice of God? 00:22:39.719 –> 00:22:43.979 Because he is pointing to the atonement that the bill has already been paid and when a 00:22:43.979 –> 00:22:48.400 bill has already been paid, a just God will not produce it a second time. 00:22:48.400 –> 00:22:51.660 That is the marvelous truth of justification. 00:22:51.660 –> 00:22:59.780 And as one hymn writer has put it so well, payment God cannot twice demand. 00:22:59.780 –> 00:23:08.619 First from my bleeding Savior’s hand, and then again from mine. 00:23:08.619 –> 00:23:13.540 So this is why justification is the basis of Christian assurance. 00:23:13.540 –> 00:23:19.819 Or to put that another way, our confidence before God in this life and when we come to 00:23:19.819 –> 00:23:24.900 death and when we enter into heaven, on what do I base my confidence? 00:23:24.900 –> 00:23:28.500 Certainly not the quality of my Christian life that is patchy at best. 00:23:28.500 –> 00:23:38.459 I base my confidence on this, the character of God who is just and the work of my Savior 00:23:38.459 –> 00:23:45.859 who has sealed my justification by paying my debt through his blood on the cross. 00:23:45.859 –> 00:23:52.439 That’s rock solid and justification is legal language so that we may be able in God’s kindness 00:23:52.439 –> 00:23:59.079 and in his mercy to know that this is secure for all who are in Jesus Christ. 00:23:59.079 –> 00:24:02.380 I’m going to pause for someone to say amen to that. 00:24:02.380 –> 00:24:03.939 It’s wonderful, isn’t it? 00:24:03.939 –> 00:24:04.939 It’s wonderful. 00:24:04.939 –> 00:24:05.939 It’s wonderful. 00:24:06.660 –> 00:24:09.060 The gift of justification. 00:24:09.060 –> 00:24:14.900 You’re rock solid, legal standing before God in Christ. 00:24:14.900 –> 00:24:21.619 It’s only the beginning because a second and equally wonderful gift that streams to us 00:24:21.619 –> 00:24:28.060 when we are in this bond of a holy union with Jesus Christ is the gift of forgiveness. 00:24:28.060 –> 00:24:33.099 Now justification of course is legal, forgiveness is relational. 00:24:33.140 –> 00:24:34.140 This is huge. 00:24:34.140 –> 00:24:41.819 We may express it this way, that in Christ God reconciles you to Himself. 00:24:41.819 –> 00:24:44.119 When God justifies he also forgives. 00:24:44.119 –> 00:24:50.859 It’s 2 Corinthians 5, verse 15, he reconciles us to himself. 00:24:50.859 –> 00:24:53.979 Again, this is a spectacular blessing. 00:24:53.979 –> 00:24:54.979 Think about this. 00:24:54.979 –> 00:24:59.140 You were by nature, all of us were by nature, enemies of God. 00:24:59.140 –> 00:25:00.140 We were His enemies. 00:25:00.140 –> 00:25:02.780 We were on the wrong side. 00:25:02.780 –> 00:25:06.780 And then our very nature was hostile towards Him. 00:25:06.780 –> 00:25:13.939 But God has made His enemies to be His friends in Jesus Christ. 00:25:13.939 –> 00:25:23.119 I love this song, and your blood has washed away my sin, Jesus thank you. 00:25:23.119 –> 00:25:30.099 The father’s wrath completely satisfied, Jesus thank you. 00:25:30.219 –> 00:25:36.260 Once your enemy, now seated at your table. 00:25:36.260 –> 00:25:43.300 What a transformation that is, Jesus thank you. 00:25:43.300 –> 00:25:47.119 Now we looked at this marvelous subject of forgiveness in the last beatitude, the fifth 00:25:47.119 –> 00:25:48.959 one blessed are the merciful. 00:25:48.959 –> 00:25:55.900 And remember we saw that God forgives when repentance begins, and we observe this very 00:25:56.099 –> 00:26:00.380 important point that forgiveness is relational. 00:26:00.380 –> 00:26:05.119 That is it is in its nature both given and received. 00:26:05.119 –> 00:26:09.199 We saw that love as we all know can be a one-sided thing. 00:26:09.199 –> 00:26:14.900 You can love a person who does not love you back, God indeed loved us before we ever loved 00:26:14.900 –> 00:26:17.140 Him. 00:26:17.140 –> 00:26:21.859 And when Jesus says love your enemies, obviously he’s calling us to a one-sided thing because 00:26:21.859 –> 00:26:25.319 your enemies by definition certainly don’t love you. 00:26:25.319 –> 00:26:30.359 So, love can be one directional. 00:26:30.359 –> 00:26:35.239 But forgiveness in its very nature is relational. 00:26:35.239 –> 00:26:40.640 Two parties are always involved in forgiveness properly understood. 00:26:40.640 –> 00:26:43.640 There is one who forgives. 00:26:43.640 –> 00:26:46.920 There is another who is forgiven. 00:26:47.040 –> 00:26:50.219 And out of the forgiving and the being forgiven comes what? 00:26:50.219 –> 00:26:53.040 A wonderful reconciliation. 00:26:53.040 –> 00:26:59.479 And this is how God deals with us in Jesus Christ. 00:26:59.479 –> 00:27:01.800 This is the grace of God to you in Jesus. 00:27:01.800 –> 00:27:06.859 He forgives all your sins so that you may be reconciled to Him, so that you may walk 00:27:06.859 –> 00:27:12.280 with Him, so that you may know Him as your Friend, so that His Spirit may dwell in your 00:27:12.280 –> 00:27:14.439 life. 00:27:14.459 –> 00:27:18.599 And He gives these wonderful promises to keep reminding us because Satan’s always accusing 00:27:18.599 –> 00:27:19.599 us. 00:27:19.599 –> 00:27:25.060 He says, your sins and your iniquities I will remember no more. 00:27:25.060 –> 00:27:32.880 And the Bible piles up visual images to help us see what it is that God does in the putting 00:27:32.880 –> 00:27:34.280 away of our sins. 00:27:34.280 –> 00:27:36.760 I love the way that Micah the prophet puts it. 00:27:36.760 –> 00:27:43.040 He says, you, oh God, will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 00:27:43.540 –> 00:27:45.339 Isn’t that a great picture? 00:27:45.339 –> 00:27:49.880 And I always remember an old preacher I heard once years and years ago and he was preaching 00:27:49.880 –> 00:27:56.560 on that verse and he said, when God casts your sins into the depths of the sea He also 00:27:56.560 –> 00:27:59.439 puts up a big sign that says no fishing. 00:27:59.439 –> 00:28:04.839 I like that, no bringing it back up, no bringing it back, Satan will try and do that. 00:28:04.839 –> 00:28:10.739 But God has put it in the depths of the sea. 00:28:10.739 –> 00:28:13.239 And you’re forgiven. 00:28:13.239 –> 00:28:14.520 Relational. 00:28:14.520 –> 00:28:19.719 So justification, this marvelous legal gift in you standing before God in Jesus Christ 00:28:19.719 –> 00:28:24.400 in which God drops all charges against you because they’ve already been paid by Him in 00:28:24.400 –> 00:28:25.400 full. 00:28:25.400 –> 00:28:33.619 Forgiveness, this relational gift in which being in Christ God reconciles you to Himself. 00:28:33.619 –> 00:28:38.640 But there is a third gift that comes to all who are in Christ when we are made one with 00:28:38.640 –> 00:28:41.959 Him, and He, Christ, is made one with us. 00:28:41.959 –> 00:28:46.839 Think of these not as separate things but as different fruit that come in the same basket. 00:28:46.839 –> 00:28:49.300 God always gives them together to us in Christ. 00:28:49.300 –> 00:28:51.400 These are the things that are ours in Christ. 00:28:51.400 –> 00:28:58.280 All of them are ours in Him and none of them are ours without Him. 00:28:58.280 –> 00:29:00.660 And the third gives simply this. 00:29:00.660 –> 00:29:02.680 It’s cleansing. 00:29:02.719 –> 00:29:05.880 And that is personal. 00:29:05.880 –> 00:29:10.319 It’s what goes on in this heart, in this life, in this mind. 00:29:10.319 –> 00:29:13.880 And it is a marvelous gift. 00:29:13.880 –> 00:29:20.719 In Christ God washes your heart and your life. 00:29:20.719 –> 00:29:28.839 And of course this is what the 6th Beatitude is all about, purity of heart, being washed. 00:29:28.839 –> 00:29:37.439 You will see as you think about it, that clearly there is an ongoing dimension of this work 00:29:37.439 –> 00:29:42.819 of Christ in the life of a Christian believer. 00:29:42.819 –> 00:29:46.859 So last night I took my car to the car wash. 00:29:46.859 –> 00:29:48.900 It was absolutely filthy. 00:29:48.900 –> 00:29:54.959 You can’t turn up at church on Sunday with a car that looks like this, you know. 00:29:55.020 –> 00:29:58.760 And I guess what, by next weekend it will need to go to the car wash again. 00:29:58.760 –> 00:29:59.760 Why? 00:29:59.760 –> 00:30:05.079 Because it’s in the nature of life that a car is picking up dirt from the road, and 00:30:05.079 –> 00:30:09.459 you may have a very, very expensive car, a much fancier one than mine, but I tell you 00:30:09.459 –> 00:30:12.520 I have never seen a car of which this is not true. 00:30:12.520 –> 00:30:17.060 No car salesman was ever able to make the sale on the basis that this is a car that 00:30:17.060 –> 00:30:18.060 will not need washed. 00:30:18.060 –> 00:30:19.560 Have you ever heard that line? 00:30:19.560 –> 00:30:24.619 Sounds like a car salesman kind of line isn’t it, but I’ll get into trouble for that. 00:30:25.540 –> 00:30:36.000 It needs to be washed no matter what particular brand it is, and forgive me for pondering 00:30:36.000 –> 00:30:40.380 this a little more, but I want to settle it in your mind, it’s the same with your clothes. 00:30:40.380 –> 00:30:46.699 So, you go into the store and you see these clothes that have this little sign on, they 00:30:46.699 –> 00:30:51.099 don’t need to be ironed, oh we’ll go for that shirt, it’s not gonna need to be ironed, 00:30:51.099 –> 00:30:52.099 marvelous. 00:30:52.300 –> 00:30:55.979 But where did you ever see shirts that didn’t need to be washed? 00:30:55.979 –> 00:30:59.699 I mean, they’re not there, you can’t buy them, I mean it’s a, you know, Karin and I, two 00:30:59.699 –> 00:31:06.739 of us in our house, and every week, there’s another pile of laundry that need to go in 00:31:06.739 –> 00:31:07.739 the tub. 00:31:07.739 –> 00:31:12.420 I mean, you think, we’re not particularly filthy people, but you know every week it’s 00:31:12.420 –> 00:31:18.099 exactly the same, it’s the nature of life every morning. 00:31:18.099 –> 00:31:22.739 I get myself into the shower, this is the ultimate evidence of having assimilated completely 00:31:22.739 –> 00:31:26.199 to American culture, by the way, just so you know. 00:31:26.199 –> 00:31:28.500 Why do I do this every morning? 00:31:28.500 –> 00:31:34.060 I have not been through a swamp in the night, I’ve not been rolling in mud, I’ve just been 00:31:34.060 –> 00:31:39.079 asleep in a bed and the beds perfectly clean, but when I wake up, what happens? 00:31:39.079 –> 00:31:43.280 I am immediately aware of my need to be washed. 00:31:44.280 –> 00:31:50.020 So, now I’m trying to settle this obvious distinction in your mind that justification 00:31:50.040 –> 00:31:54.800 in its nature, a legal transaction, you’re standing before God happens once and once 00:31:54.800 –> 00:31:55.959 for all. 00:31:55.959 –> 00:32:00.880 And forgiveness, your reconciliation with God, happens once and it happens once and 00:32:00.880 –> 00:32:01.880 for all. 00:32:01.880 –> 00:32:02.880 You say, well what happens when I sin? 00:32:02.880 –> 00:32:06.800 Well, even when you sin in the mercy of God, you don’t go back to being His enemy. 00:32:06.800 –> 00:32:12.000 You are still His friend, you may grieve a fathers heart, but you are not who you were. 00:32:12.000 –> 00:32:14.719 You are a forgiven person in Jesus Christ. 00:32:14.719 –> 00:32:17.719 But cleansing is different. 00:32:17.719 –> 00:32:22.599 I need this on a continuing basis and so do you. 00:32:22.599 –> 00:32:29.060 And I will never get beyond my need of it no matter how far I progress in the Christian 00:32:29.060 –> 00:32:30.500 life. 00:32:30.500 –> 00:32:37.319 Now, if you could keep these three priceless gifts of God that are given to us and to all 00:32:37.760 –> 00:32:41.680 in Christ, these things are yours through faith. 00:32:41.680 –> 00:32:45.339 You are Christ’s and Christ is yours, then these things are yours. 00:32:45.339 –> 00:32:52.079 And they are wonderful gifts that all speak to different dimensions of our glorious salvation. 00:32:52.079 –> 00:32:55.959 And there’s one verse in the Bible that pulls all three of them together in the same verse. 00:32:55.959 –> 00:32:58.819 And it’s worth remembering, you perhaps know it well. 00:32:58.819 –> 00:33:01.939 It’s 1 John 1 and verse 9. 00:33:01.939 –> 00:33:04.520 If we confess our sins. 00:33:05.260 –> 00:33:08.880 He is faithful and just. 00:33:08.880 –> 00:33:12.579 So there’s the pointer to justification right there. 00:33:12.579 –> 00:33:17.000 To do what, to forgive us our sins, is that it? 00:33:17.000 –> 00:33:18.000 No. 00:33:18.000 –> 00:33:23.839 And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:33:23.839 –> 00:33:28.839 So you see, in this one verse, we’re being reminded of these three marvelous gifts that 00:33:28.839 –> 00:33:33.579 in Christ, God justifies your legal standing. 00:33:33.579 –> 00:33:35.739 In Christ, He forgives. 00:33:35.739 –> 00:33:38.180 You’re reconciled to the Father. 00:33:38.180 –> 00:33:42.260 Brought into his family, not as enemy, but now as friend. 00:33:42.260 –> 00:33:45.479 And in Christ, God cleanses. 00:33:45.479 –> 00:33:52.479 Now, quite clearly when we come to the sixth beatitude, we are focusing in on the power 00:33:52.479 –> 00:33:57.219 of Christ to cleanse the pure in heart. 00:33:57.219 –> 00:34:00.859 You can trust Christ to cleanse. 00:34:00.920 –> 00:34:05.119 He is faithful, 1 John 1 9, to cleanse. 00:34:05.119 –> 00:34:13.979 He has the ability to purify your heart and your life and this is what He brings to you 00:34:13.979 –> 00:34:18.520 through this bond of living union in which you become His and He becomes yours. 00:34:18.520 –> 00:34:23.659 I mean, out of that as you think about it, you can define faith in this way. 00:34:23.739 –> 00:34:31.479 That faith in Jesus Christ is confidence in His ability to justify and to forgive and 00:34:31.479 –> 00:34:34.020 to cleanse through the power of His blood. 00:34:34.020 –> 00:34:35.679 That’s why He died on the cross. 00:34:35.679 –> 00:34:38.100 That’s why He lives at the right hand of the Father. 00:34:38.100 –> 00:34:40.439 What does faith in Him look like? 00:34:40.439 –> 00:34:53.439 Faith in Jesus Christ is confidence in His ability to justify and to forgive and to cleanse 00:34:53.800 –> 00:34:59.139 through the power of His shed blood. 00:34:59.139 –> 00:35:06.139 Now, here’s where I have prayed there will be a breakthrough moment for some people 00:35:11.139 –> 00:35:16.120 in this congregation right now. 00:35:16.120 –> 00:35:23.120 I have met over the years, not a few, but many who will profess to be Christians and 00:35:26.959 –> 00:35:33.959 believe in a Christ who forgives, but they do not yet believe in a Christ who has the 00:35:35.399 –> 00:35:40.879 ability to cleanse. 00:35:40.879 –> 00:35:43.919 And a conversation with such a person sounds like this. 00:35:44.040 –> 00:35:47.439 I’ve had a conversation like this many times, and perhaps you have also. 00:35:47.439 –> 00:35:50.840 Perhaps you recognize this kind of language and this pattern of thought. 00:35:50.840 –> 00:35:57.840 It goes like this, Colin, you have to realize that I’ve got baggage. 00:36:04.399 –> 00:36:11.399 Over the years I’ve seen things that I now wish that I had never seen, and I have done 00:36:12.060 –> 00:36:19.060 things that I now wish I had never done. And all of this has had an effect on my soul. 00:36:23.540 –> 00:36:30.540 My thinking is messed up. My feeling, my desiring shoots off all the wrong ways. There are patterns 00:36:32.439 –> 00:36:39.439 of twisted thinking and patterns now of compulsive behavior that come from all this stuff, and 00:36:39.979 –> 00:36:46.979 these things are in me, Pastor, and I can’t imagine ever being different. And here’s my 00:36:50.620 –> 00:36:57.620 challenge to you today. I want you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you will immediately 00:36:57.919 –> 00:37:04.919 say, Oh, I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I will say to you, No, you do not because 00:37:12.159 –> 00:37:19.159 as long as you persist in believing that nothing can be done about the baggage in your mind 00:37:19.739 –> 00:37:25.260 and in your heart, you do not yet know, and you have not yet experienced the Christ of 00:37:25.260 –> 00:37:32.260 the Bible, who is the Son of God. You may say that you believe in a Jesus who forgives, 00:37:33.639 –> 00:37:39.620 but I am saying to you that as long as you persist in this deeply held conviction that 00:37:39.620 –> 00:37:44.899 nothing can be done about the accumulated twistedness that has come from past decisions 00:37:44.899 –> 00:37:50.199 and past behaviors and past sins in your life, as long as you persist in believing that nothing 00:37:50.199 –> 00:37:57.199 can be done to change that, you have not yet experienced the power of the living Christ 00:37:57.780 –> 00:38:04.780 of the New Testament who is the Son of God because He washes and He cleanses and He purifies 00:38:07.320 –> 00:38:14.320 messed up minds and hearts. Christ offers more than forgiveness. That’s what it means 00:38:14.739 –> 00:38:19.520 to understand the Gospel and what it is in Jesus Christ. Some of us have not yet got 00:38:19.659 –> 00:38:24.939 clear as to how magnificent this Gospel actually is. It’s not only justification and forgiveness, 00:38:24.939 –> 00:38:31.939 it’s cleansing on an ongoing basis. You shall call His name Jesus. Why? Because He 00:38:32.540 –> 00:38:39.540 shall save His people from their sins. What does that mean? That includes habits, it includes 00:38:39.959 –> 00:38:44.419 compulsions, it includes engrained patterns of thought and behavior. Christ came not only 00:38:44.459 –> 00:38:50.879 to justify a people for Himself but also, to use the Bible’s terms, to sanctify a people 00:38:50.879 –> 00:38:56.100 for Himself. In other words He came not only to forgive you for your sins but He came to 00:38:56.100 –> 00:39:01.479 make you holy. Oh yes, holiness that is like gold-mixed with dross right now but eventually 00:39:01.479 –> 00:39:07.219 in His presence will be pure gold. That’s what it means for Him to be a Savior. And 00:39:07.219 –> 00:39:12.699 so the Bible consistently speaks about this. What does it mean to be saved? Titus chapter 00:39:13.379 –> 00:39:16.600 in verse 5. We’ll come back to this next time of course, but it says this that He 00:39:16.600 –> 00:39:25.340 saved us by the washing of regeneration. And what a phrase that is. How does He save us? 00:39:25.340 –> 00:39:32.639 He saves us by washing, by the washing of your mind, by the regenerating of your heart. 00:39:32.639 –> 00:39:37.580 That means giving you new affections that you didn’t have before, giving you new interests, 00:39:37.739 –> 00:39:43.899 new inclinations, new energy, new life, the washing of regeneration. 00:39:43.899 –> 00:39:49.620 And here’s what that will look like over time. As Christ washes and washes and goes on washing 00:39:49.620 –> 00:39:54.479 your heart as you’re walking with Him. Here’s what you’ll find. Here’s the evidence of it. 00:39:54.479 –> 00:40:03.020 You will increasingly begin to hate what you used to love. That thing that always drew 00:40:03.020 –> 00:40:06.760 you and you always fell for it, and you were always going in that direction even though 00:40:06.760 –> 00:40:11.659 you knew it was wrong because you loved it. You’re gonna find it more and more and more 00:40:11.659 –> 00:40:16.919 and more repulsive in the light of the washing of Jesus Christ in your heart. And you’re 00:40:16.919 –> 00:40:24.939 gonna say, I want that less than I used to. And you’re not only going to hate what you 00:40:24.939 –> 00:40:30.860 used to love. You’re going increasingly to love what you used to hate. 00:40:30.860 –> 00:40:34.959 You know, for years you’ve been a person, really honestly you hardly read the Bible. 00:40:35.100 –> 00:40:40.580 You don’t have much hunger for that you have hunger for other things. Not much of a prayer 00:40:40.580 –> 00:40:46.000 life. You don’t have a hunger for that. You’ve got a hunger for other things. 00:40:46.000 –> 00:40:49.860 You’ve come to worship, and that’s great, but it seems sort of external to you. You 00:40:49.860 –> 00:40:53.580 see other people who seem to be lifted and engaged but it seems outside of you. 00:40:53.580 –> 00:40:57.060 You’ve not really had an appetite for that. You’ve had a hunger for other things, but 00:40:57.060 –> 00:41:02.100 now as Christ is washing your soul, these things are seeming less and less and less 00:41:02.159 –> 00:41:07.000 attractive to you. And the things of Christ are seeming more and more and more attractive 00:41:07.000 –> 00:41:13.320 to you. That’s what washing looks like in real life, the purifying of the heart and 00:41:13.320 –> 00:41:20.320 out of it a growing and wonderful changing of the life. Defeats and failures getting 00:41:23.879 –> 00:41:30.879 less. Strength in the battle becoming more as your heart is washed. 00:41:32.760 –> 00:41:38.899 Purified on a continuing basis by the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:41:38.899 –> 00:41:45.899 Friends, here’s the very last thing. I want to end on this note. To speak directly to 00:41:47.739 –> 00:41:54.260 the person today, you’re hearing these things, and you feel in your heart, Colin, that the 00:41:54.260 –> 00:41:59.679 baggage I’m carrying is so great that I hear what you’re saying, but I just look 00:41:59.739 –> 00:42:06.739 at myself and I know myself, and I cannot really imagine ever, ever, ever becoming whole 00:42:09.159 –> 00:42:15.280 again. And what you feel right now is, however wonderful these things may sound, and they 00:42:15.280 –> 00:42:20.639 may be for other people, somehow trusting Christ just seems a stretch too far from you. 00:42:20.639 –> 00:42:27.639 You can’t get over the sense of the overwhelming accumulative stuff that has made you who you 00:42:28.239 –> 00:42:35.239 are today in your heart and in your mind. And I want, therefore, in this last moment, 00:42:36.120 –> 00:42:42.959 just to give you a stepping stone to faith, a step that you can take today that’s going 00:42:42.959 –> 00:42:46.280 to move you forward. I want to tell you where faith begins, where 00:42:46.280 –> 00:42:52.580 it’s launching point actually is. This is for you. I want you to take this step today. 00:42:52.580 –> 00:43:02.500 Can you meet me here? That the beginning of faith is to say if I were in Christ. If Christ 00:43:02.500 –> 00:43:11.659 was in me, I believe that He could make this heart clean. Can you get there today? If you 00:43:11.659 –> 00:43:15.679 feel that you cannot yet trust Christ to cleanse you, I’m inviting you to take this step. 00:43:15.679 –> 00:43:19.959 To get at least to the launching point of faith today, believe that He could make you 00:43:19.959 –> 00:43:21.739 clean. You say, well, that would be an absolute miracle. 00:43:21.879 –> 00:43:27.060 Yes, of course it would be an absolute miracle. But believe this. If the power by which Jesus 00:43:27.060 –> 00:43:32.520 was raised from the dead were to come into your life, can you believe that if that were 00:43:32.520 –> 00:43:37.159 to happen you could be made clean? Think about the Apostle Paul. This guy’s a murderer. 00:43:37.159 –> 00:43:42.280 He’s a blasphemer. He’s a violent man. Think of all that’s going on in that heart. That 00:43:42.280 –> 00:43:47.639 heart was made clean. If that heart was made clean, why could yours not be if this Christ 00:43:47.639 –> 00:43:59.840 were indeed to be in you? So settle that in your mind. Write it down. My heart could 00:43:59.840 –> 00:44:09.879 be made clean. I believe that if I was in Christ and Christ was in me, He could make 00:44:09.879 –> 00:44:15.820 me clean. Then write down some Scriptures that give you the basis for this confidence. 00:44:16.159 –> 00:44:22.320 Titus chapter 3 and verse 5 would be one of them, that God saves by the washing of regeneration. 00:44:22.320 –> 00:44:29.080 You could write this down. If that should happen to me, I would be clean. Matthew chapter 00:44:29.080 –> 00:44:34.300 1 and verse 21 would be another. You shall call His name Jesus, because He shall save 00:44:34.300 –> 00:44:42.139 His people from their sins. You could write down this. If this Christ should save me, 00:44:42.139 –> 00:44:47.219 then I would be delivered from the power of these sins. You write down 1 John chapter 00:44:47.219 –> 00:44:52.860 1 and verse 9. I’m trying to get you to settle this in your mind, that God is faithful 00:44:52.860 –> 00:44:58.020 and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I believe that 00:44:58.020 –> 00:45:09.620 if He were to cleanse me, I would be clean. Settle this conviction in your mind and in 00:45:09.699 –> 00:45:18.639 your heart as a conclusion, and then friend, when you have come to the place of believing 00:45:18.639 –> 00:45:28.439 as you look to Christ that He could do it, you will be ready to take the next step, which 00:45:28.439 –> 00:45:36.840 is to ask Him to do it for you. Let’s pray together. 00:45:37.840 –> 00:45:47.560 Lord Jesus, I have come to believe that if I was in you and if you were in me, you could 00:45:47.560 –> 00:45:59.080 wash this heart and make me clean. Now come to this twisted mind and this divided heart 00:45:59.179 –> 00:46:13.520 work in me, wash me, cleanse me, purify my heart. Through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior 00:46:13.520 –> 00:46:17.520 in whom I come to you, Amen.