The last time I was here, Sunday
before last, I had spoken out of Mark 16, and it was when the
Lord had given his great commission to his disciples. And I had planned
to continue with that thought in the next verse, and Lord willing,
I will next time. But I have felt truly impressed
to preach out of 2 Corinthians chapter 7. So I'm going to use
the words of Jude. When Jude was going to speak,
I thought about this passage when I felt impressed. I had
to do this. One, Jude, the servant of Jesus
Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by
God the Father and preserved in Christ Jesus, or Jesus Christ,
and call mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort
you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints. There's times whenever we may
plan You know, the lot's laid into the lap, but the whole disposing
of it is of the Lord. So whenever the Lord changes
our direction, we go in that direction. And having gone over
this message time and time and time again, and rewritten it
time and time and time again, I'm going to try to speak out
of 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Verse 1, having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God. Now, many writers, and I can
see why they would say this, said concerning this first verse. It just appears that it goes
with the last part of the sixth chapter. And I understand that
the divisions that's made, chapters and everything, was made by men. But there's times that a passage
has such clear reference to maybe something that was said just
before that. But that's OK, whatever. But having therefore these promises,
what promises were being given? Well, 2 Corinthians 6, verse
14, the Lord moved the apostle Paul to say to the church at
Corinth, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And then he gives or asks five
questions concerning that which had just been said. He said,
be not, don't be joined with, don't be yoked with, unbelievers. Listen to these five questions.
Starting in verse 14, for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? Number one question. Here's the
next question. What communion hath light with
darkness? Here's the next question, verse
15. What concord or agreement hath Christ with Belial? Here's
the next question. Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? The last question. And what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? Be not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers, because you don't have the same nature. You
got a new nature. You don't agree with who God
is. The God that is worshipped by
a believer is the God of all grace, mercy, compassion. The little g God that's worshipped
by an unbeliever is a God who tries to do, if man will, Don't
be yoked together with unbelievers in their worship because of this
promise. The latter part of verse 16. For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God has said, I will dwell
in them, walk in them, I will be their God, and they shall
be my people. The Spirit of God taught us in
1 Corinthians 3.16, I'll just read this for you, 1 Corinthians
3.16, know ye not that ye are the temple of God? And that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you. The Lord himself taught us in
John 14.23, if a man love me, He will keep my words. And my
father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode
with him. So, although there's still an
old man within every believer, and we all know that. That old
man has never been changed, he's not improved, he's the same old
man. But though there is an old man,
there's a new man there. And God dwells there. Know ye not that ye are, you're
the temple of God. God dwells in you. 1 Corinthians 6.20, for you're
bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and your spirit, which are God's. Well, concerning these
promises, I'm building up to verse one, chapter seven. In
chapter six, verse 16, the scripture declares, the Lord says, latter
part, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them. Walk in them. There's a dwelling and there's
a walking by his spirit. And here he sets forth that he
dwells in the midst of his people and has a mysterious and glorious
union and communion with his body, collectively and personally. Know you not that you're the
temple of God? And he promised, last line, verse 16, chapter
6, and I will be their God. They shall be my people. Here's a precious promise. I
will be. They shall be. I'll be their God, not as he
is to all creation. He is the God of all creation. He's the God of all providence. But there's a people that he
is their God in covenant mercy. I'm your God. I chose you. I bought you. I called you. And by willing
submission, you've come to me. You're going to be my people,
a peculiar people, a valued people, chosen out of nations, countries,
tribes, and tongues, people loved with a particular love. People
that he makes to come to himself. So he says in verse 17, chapter
16, wherefore, because of these promises, because of my promise,
I'm gonna be your God. You're gonna be my people. Verse
17, wherefore, come out from among them, and be you separate,
saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing,
and I will receive you. Come out. He told the priest
in Isaiah 52, 11, they were to be separate, be separate. He's telling us, come out from,
you don't have any part with them. Don't be joined to them. Then he said in verse 18 of chapter
16, I will be a father unto you. You shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. And being sons and daughters
of the true and living God, that's a state, that's a position of
great mercy, grace bestowed upon unworthy sinners of the God of
all grace, special people, exhorted to walk as being the people of
God. Walk that way. We're sinners
saved by the grace of God, sinners that strive and long to walk
after Him, separated unto His holy calling. Is that not the
truth? Is that not what we want? I want
to, I want to. We're not saved by good works,
but we're never separated from them. but we put no confidence in him. I want to walk after him. Okay,
verse one, chapter seven. Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, dearly beloved of God. Having these promises,
dearly beloved. Let us, now listen to these words. Let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting, bringing
to perfect fruition holiness in the respect and the fear of
God. Now let's consider that passage
for just a moment. May the Lord give us some understanding
here because only he can. therefore these promises. Being the possessors of these
precious promises of God, dearly beloved, you who have been found
to be objects of God's mercy and compassion for no other reason
but that he chose to show mercy and compassion to his people. That's the only reason. Wasn't
by works of righteousness that we've done. I can tell you that.
It's like I was talking about Noah, that first message. What
did Noah do that moved God to show him grace in God's eyes?
What did Noah do? Nothing. Nothing. No object of God's mercy has
ever earned or deserved in himself the mercy of God, but having
these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness. Now of what filthiness does the
Apostle Paul speak? I know it can't be speaking of
the cleansing work of God that's performed upon every vessel.
of God's mercy in Christ and regenerated grace. I know he's
not talking about that. Ezekiel 36, 25 says this. Listen to these words. Then I
will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from
all your filthiness, from all your idols. Will I cleanse you? Now, only the Lord can do that. That clean water, what is that?
That's the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only has
he declared it, I will sprinkle clean water upon you. I will
cleanse you. A believer acknowledges their
inability to do anything. Listen to Psalm 51 7. Purge me with hyssop and I will
be clean. Wash me. and I shall be whiter
than snow." The believer knows that it's not his works and his
will and his decision. He knows that it's the blood
of Christ. We sing that song. What can wash
away our sins? Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. A believer knows that only the
blood of Christ, without the shedding of blood, there's no
remission of sin. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. But while a believer knows that
he's been brought into this glorious awareness of acceptance with
God through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, though
he knows he's been chosen, adopted by God in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world. He also knows something
that the Lord graciously taught his disciples. The believer knows
that there's a daily need of cleansing from the defilement
of sin. Remember when the Lord washed
his disciples' feet? Peter said, you're not going
to wash my feet. Lord says, Peter, if I don't wash your feet, you
don't have any part with me. What was he showing? He said,
you're clean everywhere. There was one there that washed.
But his people, those that have been bought by the blood of Christ,
they're clean. But there was a need. The Lord
showed that in that washing of their feet, the cleansing of
the washing of the defilement we pick up. Every believer knows
that. Every believer knows that there's
a need of being washed. Daily washed. They hate this
continual defilement. They rejoice in the promise that
God's taught them that their daily need is there. They know
that. But what cleanses them daily? What place? Listen to this, 1 John 1, 7.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, if we
who are and have been bought, regenerated, if we walk in the
light, the light of what? Well, the light of who we are. Believer knows something about
himself. He knows something about God. He knows something about
God's will, God's purpose, and God's sovereignty. He knows something
about salvation. That it's of the Lord. He knows
that. If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we by faith cast ourselves
upon the person of the Lord Jesus, and we have fellowship with God
in Him, we know that His blood, that blood is the reason, the
foundation, the merit of our justification, our pardon and
deliverance from sin. We know that. He cleanses us
from our guilt now and eternally. and he perpetually cleanses us
daily from that continual defilement of our daily walk in him. So
what is it? What was being said? Having therefore
these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God. Now let me ask you this. What can we do as far as cleansing
ourselves? We didn't cleanse ourselves the
first time. And we don't continually wash ourselves either. What is
the one thing that a believer can do? He believes that God
does it. That's it. Let us, by faith,
by faith. Let us cleanse us. I believe
that Christ has washed away my sins. And I believe that not
only did he atone at Calvary and cast my sins, the defilement
of my sins as far as the east is from the west, He, as he washed the feet of
the disciples and told them, if I don't wash your feet, you
don't have any part with me. Only Christ can continually cleanse
me. And he does so by his blood.
And a believer is said to cleanse ourselves when we believe him. Lord, this is what I believe.
I'm trusting you. Faith. Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves. No believer would
ever say, well, he cleansed me the first time, but I do it from
then on. No, you don't. He said, without
me, you can do nothing. You don't do anything. If I don't
wash your feet, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness, in the fear of God. Perfecting holiness. Again, knowing
that without Him, we can do nothing. Perfecting holiness. What holiness
but that which is from Him. I believe God. I believe that
He, according to the scriptures, is my wisdom. my righteousness,
my sanctification, and my redemption. So while we know we can't cleanse
ourselves before God, we know too that we can't make more perfect
His holiness. That perfect blood, that perfect
righteousness which God has provided in Christ, we believe Him. We believe Him. I believe that
He washes me. He daily washes me. I believe
He daily cleanses me. I believe that His righteousness
and holiness alone is my standing before God. We're said to perfect
holiness the same way we cleanse ourselves. By faith, we believe
God. And we put no confidence in our
faith. I trust Him. He's given me a grace called
faith, I believe Him, according to His Word, we're justified
before God, cleansed from every spot of sin by the application
of that blood. And a believer loves it that
way. Wouldn't you hate to know that I had to, by faith, I had
to, by my own faith, I had to cleanse myself. Lord, I don't
even know what I've done. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sins. I don't even know what I've done
today. I don't even know what I've done since I've been standing
in this pulpit. I don't know what I've done. I don't know
the depth of the infraction before Him. But He does. And that blood
cleanses. Lord, I come to You. I trust
You. Lord, as You washed the disciples'
feet. Lord, wash me afresh by Your blood. Lord, cleanse me. Cleanse me by your blood. Lord,
you that have imputed to me your righteousness, Lord, teach me.
I stand before God righteous in you. By faith, I believe. We daily look to him, again having
no confidence whatsoever in our flesh. There's no room for boasting. There's no place. We fly to Him. Wash me. Wash me. That's what a believer says.
Wash me, and I'll be whiter than snow. You believe that He washed
you the first time in that precious blood, don't you? Lord, I've picked up so much
defilement, more than I'll ever know in this world. Lord, to
cleanse myself, what can I do to fly? But fly to Him. who can
cleanse me again, wash me again for His glory and my good. Amen. All right, Gary.