Open our Bibles tonight to 2
Corinthians chapter 7. Tonight we are only going to
look at the first verse in this chapter. As we see, it is clearly
a continuation of what we saw last week at the end of chapter
6. Many people believe that a better
division of the chapters would have been between verses 1 and
2, making verse 1 part of chapter 6. But anyway, tonight, we're
going to break this verse down into four parts. And each part
concerns God's children. Each part concerns those who
know the Lord as their Lord and Savior. The verse declares, 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. God's children. First of all,
God's children have new covenant promises. You notice he says,
having therefore these promises. He's speaking about new covenant
promises. If you look back in chapter 6
and verse 16 at the very end, this promise is given to us,
I will be their God and they shall be my people." This is
a New Covenant promise. The Apostle said, having therefore
these promises. God's children have New Covenant
promises. Keep your place here, of course,
but let's go back to Jeremiah chapter 31, and let's read in this passage about this new
covenant. This is where this promise is
given. Jeremiah chapter 31 and beginning
with verse 31, we read, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant
they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in
their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and I will
be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall
teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. You notice
in this new covenant that God prophesied through Jeremiah,
promised that he would make a new covenant, and part of this new
covenant is, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Now, let's go to the New Testament,
if you will. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and verses 16 and 17. This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my
laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them,
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Having therefore these promises,
the apostle says. And what promises is he speaking
about? He's speaking about new covenant
promises. New covenant promises. Also,
if you have your Bible still open there to Hebrews 10, look
in chapter 11 at what the apostle writes about those those patriarchs
in days gone by. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse
13, he said, these all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of
them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. Here we read that these Old Testament
saints He's named several before that verse, and he has more to
go through the end of the chapter. But he tells us that these Old
Testament believers had not, having not received the promises. Now, they had heard the promises. They had received the promises
as far as the promises being declared unto them, and they
believed them. And they believed that God who
gave the promises was faithful and would fulfill his promises. But until Christ came and shed
his precious blood, remember he said, this is my blood of
the new covenant. It was his blood that ratified
this new covenant and all of these promises that are ours,
that is, those of us who live in this dispensation, those Old
Testament patriarchs lived in that old dispensation before
the coming of Christ and before the death of Christ. They had
the promises, but not in the fulfillment of the promises.
They just had them declared unto them, and they embraced them
and believed them. By the shedding of Christ's blood,
we have the promises in hand. They're ours. That's what the
Apostle is telling us here, isn't it? Notice our text again. Having therefore these promises. We have them. They're ours. The Old Testament saints, they
had them. They had them, but not like we
have them, because we now know that through the death of Christ,
all of these promises are ours. That's the reason the covenant
sometimes is referred to, I believe, the same word is sometimes translated
covenant, sometimes testament. And the same word is used. I'm talking about in the New
Testament. Sometimes it's translated covenant, sometimes it's translated
testament. But each of those words, each
of those English words tells us something else about this
covenant, this new covenant. And that word testament, a man's
last will and testament, that is until that man dies, his will
may be changed, may be altered. But once he dies, the will is
ratified by his death. And so by the death of Christ,
the will, the will of God, the promises, the covenant, the new
covenant promises, we have them. Now, I want you to notice in
chapter 6, back here in 2 Corinthians, chapter 6, we have this one promise
broken down into three parts. Now the promise is, I will be
their God and they shall be my people. That's the promise. Having, therefore, these promises. That's the promise. But notice
how that one promise is broken down into these three parts. First of all, in verse 16 we
read, as God has said, I will dwell in them. This is part of that promise.
I will be their God and they shall be my people. I will dwell
in them. What did the Apostle Paul write?
Christ in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And what did the Lord Jesus Christ
promise His disciples in John chapter 14? That He and the Comforter
and the Father, that they would all come and abide in us. Well notice the second part of
that promise in verse 17. Same promise, I will be their
God and they shall be my people. Notice at the end of verse 17,
I will receive you. I will receive you. That is His
favor. His favor. He receives us. And then the third part in verse
18. and will be a father unto you,
and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
That is, we are His adopted children. So think of that. Here's the
promise. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And included in that promise is, He dwells in us. We have His favor. He receives us. And not only
that, but we are His adopted sons and daughters. We are in
the family of God. The household of God. Now, Paul
tells us that those who are called by the gospel of Christ, or rather
Peter does, are given exceeding great and precious promises. These are New Covenant promises
that he's speaking of. And once again, if you look in
Hebrews, this time in chapter 8, there are two places in Hebrews,
chapter 8 and chapter 10, where we read of the New Covenant. And having therefore these promises,
we're talking about New Covenant promises. In chapter 8 of Hebrews
and verse 10, for this is a covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws
into their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be
to them a God and they shall be to me a people. And they shall
not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least the greatest
for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more." Charles Hodge in his
commentary on 2nd Corinthians made this statement. He said,
so the promise, so the promise, I will be, I will be their God and they shall
be my people. contains more than it has ever
entered into the heart of man to conceive. And that one promise,
Mr. Hodge says, that one promise
contains more in it than has ever entered into the heart of
man to conceive. How low, and this is with an
exclamation point, how low are our conceptions of God. Of necessity, our conceptions
of what it is to have a God and that Jehovah must be entirely
inadequate. It is not only to have an infinite
protector and benefactor, but an infinite portion, an infinite
object of love and confidence, an infinite source of knowledge
and holiness. And once again, I say to us tonight,
when God is our God, we have everything. You have everything. You cannot lack any good thing
when you know that God is your God. And this is what the Apostle
says, having therefore these promises. All of God's children,
we have these new covenant promises. Exceeding great and precious
promises. Now secondly, God's children
are dearly beloved. Notice that in the text. Having
therefore these promises, all of God's children have these
new covenant promises. The second thing we see is that
all of God's children are dearly beloved. When the Lord Jesus
Christ was baptized by John in the River Jordan, we know that
God the Father spoke from heaven and he said, this is my beloved
son. in whom I am well pleased." Now,
all of his sons and daughters, remember that promise, said,
I will be a father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. All of his sons and all of his
daughters are dearly beloved. Dearly beloved. In fact, we cannot
even began to describe the love with which God loves his children,
his chosen people. Had a man in my office yesterday,
and he started talking about this leader of North Korea. And
he said, we pray for him, so we know God loves him. I said,
wait just a minute. We don't know that God loves
him. He said, well, don't you believe that God loves everyone?
Scripture tells me, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. No. No. God's love is eternal. It's eternal. That's the first
thing we know about it. As he has loved his son. Do you
think there was ever a time when God the Father did not love God
the Son? Of course not. As he hath loved
me. So He hath loved you, dearly
beloved. His love is eternal, and His
love is immutable. It's never going to change. Never. His nature, He is immutable,
and His love is immutable. And His love is sacrificial,
isn't it? sacrificial he loved his people
so much that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Dearly
beloved. All of God's children have these
new covenant promises and all of God's children are dearly
beloved. Now the believers in the church
at Corinth no doubt Paul loved them also, and he could well
address them as dearly beloved. Because you notice down in verse
3, he says, that you are in our hearts to
die and live with you. So they were dearly beloved to
the Apostle Paul, but more importantly, they were dearly beloved to God
Almighty. God's, all of God's children.
Alright, here's the third thing in this text. God's children
are to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit. Notice that in the text. Having
therefore these promises, new covenant promises, dearly beloved,
beloved of God the Father. Now, let us cleanse ourselves
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Three things in that
statement I want to point out to us. The first truth is this. You should see that the Apostle
Paul includes himself. Doesn't he? Let us Let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. You
mean you, Paul? You, the great apostle to the
Gentiles? You? You include yourself in
this statement? Of course. Just like the Apostle
John, when he wrote his first letter, and he included himself
when he said, these things write I unto you, that you sin not,
and if any man sin, we, he didn't say you, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, who is the propitiation
for our sins. Now, the teaching And it has
cropped up, and I'm sure there's places today where there's still
some deceived people who believe this and receive this. It's called
sinless perfection. Sinless perfection. That it is
possible for a person, a believer, a child of God in this world
to advance to such a state that he doesn't sin. That she doesn't
sin. What a lie of Satan. What a deceit
of Satan, my friends. Hatched in hell, that teaching. The Apostle John said, if we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not
in us. Anyone here tonight want to stand
up and say, here I am, I'm the exception, I have no sin. I don't
think so. I don't think so. I think most
of us, all of us who know Christ as our Lord and Savior, we would
confess with the Apostle Paul, in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. No good thing. Paul cried, O wretched man that
I am. So the first thing I want us
to see in that statement, to cleanse themselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit is that the Apostle Paul includes himself. As long as we continue in this
world, as long as we continue in this world, we know that we
have that old nature that we brought with us into this world. And our Lord said that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. It was born flesh, that is corrupt
nature, and it will die corrupt nature. And it's part of us. It's not eradicated in the new
birth, is it? Now the second truth that we
should see in this statement is filthiness of the flesh and
of the spirit. We are to cleanse ourselves from
both outward actions, that is the flesh, as well as inward
thoughts, desires, that is spirit. And both are called filthiness. Filthiness of the flesh and filthiness
of the spirit. Filthiness of the flesh, outward
actions and deeds. Filthiness of the spirit, inward
thoughts, desires, motives, things of that nature. The filthiness
of this corrupt nature, it's manifested both in external acts
and internal. Everyone agree to that? Amen? External acts? Yes. Internal
acts? Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, in that list in Galatians
chapter 5, if you want to turn over there just a moment, where
Paul describes the works of the flesh. And when he says flesh here,
he's talking about that corrupt nature. Yes, many of these filthy,
the filthiness is manifested in deeds of the body. But he's
not just talking about deeds of the body, such as adultery,
and fornication, and lying, and things like that. But he's talking
about lust. That is, desires. Envy, malice,
hatred. Notice how he says that here
in Galatians 5, beginning in verse 17, or verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are
manifest. Which are these, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envies. You see, a lot of times people
read this and they say the works of the flesh and they're just
thinking about this body. But that's not the flesh we're
talking about here. Yes, the flesh sends through
the body. the members of the body, but
also stands for the members of the mind, the spirit. And the apostle in our text tonight
says, therefore, Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved,
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit. So first of all, I said, be sure
and see this, that the Apostle Paul includes himself. Let us
cleanse ourselves. Second, let us see that this
filthiness is both of the flesh and of the spirit. But now here's
the third thing. God has provided one way to cleanse
ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh. Only one way. Not two ways, not three ways.
One way. As only one agent that cleanses
from all sin. That's the blood of Jesus Christ. It's not by fasting, and it's
not by prayer, it's not by denying the flesh. You know, men have
actually stayed out in the cold, you know, on the ground, and
tried to appease God, and men have taken whips and beat themselves,
and you could beat yourself, I mean bloody red, like a pulp. would not cleanse you from one
sin. God has given one agent with
which to cleanse us from all filthiness of the flesh, and
that is the blood of Jesus Christ. Look with me in the Old Testament
just a moment to Zechariah. Back here, almost to the end
of the Old Testament, the prophecy of Zechariah. Chapter 13. Zechariah chapter 13 and verse
1. In that day there shall be a
fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. There's one fountain
that God has opened, and that is the fountain of his dear Son. We should come freely, let us
therefore, the apostle tells us, Dearly beloved, cleanse,
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
of the spirit. We should come freely, we should
come daily, we should come constantly by faith and wash in this fountain
and be clean. Now here's the last, the fourth
part of this verse. God's children are to perfect
holiness in the fear of the Lord. I want you to go back again to
Jeremiah, just a moment. Jeremiah chapter 32. God's children
are to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Back here in Jeremiah chapter
32 and verse 40, this is part of that
covenant, verse 40. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do
them good. Now notice this, but I will put
my fear in their hearts, to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Now, when the Lord writes His
law upon the heart of His children, He gives us fear. It's not slavish fear. It's not
fear that God's going to send me to hell. We're not talking
about that at all. This fear that God puts into
our hearts is a filial fear. It is a fear, I like the word
reverence. It's a reverence and it is the
desire to please Him. God has promised that He would
not depart from us to do us good and that He would put His fear
in our hearts. Now, in our text tonight, to
perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, God's children,
this simply means that God's children are to follow a course
of righteousness and holiness to the end of our journey in
this world. One writer gave these three words.
Number one, how is this to be done? How is this to be done
to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord? By living our lives
daily by faith on the Son of God. We have daily sins to be
subdued, graces to be exercised, and duties to be performed. Only
the grace of Christ is sufficient for us. Second, why is this to
be done? Because this is our calling.
This should be our trade. Just as we are to go on believing
in Christ, do you believe there's ever a day when you're not to
continue to believe in Christ? Once you come to Christ and trust
in Christ, then the rest of your life, all through life, all through
this journey, We're continually coming to Him, continually believing
in Him, and at the same time, we are to continue to live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world. And here's that
third word. Here is no room for boasting. No room for boasting. For it
is God that works in us both to will and to do of His good
pleasure. I'm going to close tonight this
message with five short rules. Five short rules for Christians
and this was given by Brownlow North. Number one, never neglect
daily private prayer. And when you pray, remember that
God is present and that he hears your prayers. Number two, never
neglect daily private Bible reading. And when you read, remember that
God is speaking to you and that you are to believe and act upon
all that he says. Number three, Never let a day
pass without trying to do something for Jesus. Every day reflect
on what Jesus has done for you, and then ask yourself, what am
I doing for Him? That hymn that you led us in
a moment ago states that so good, doesn't it? That hymn that we sang by Francis
Havergill. He's done everything for us.
What have we done for Him? Number four, if you're in doubt,
if you're in doubt as to a thing, whether it be right or wrong,
then go to your room, kneel down, and ask God's blessing on it.
And if you cannot do this, it's wrong. And number five, never
take your standard of Christianity from other Christians. or argue
that because such and such people do so and so, therefore you may. You are to ask yourself, how
would Jesus act in my place? And strive to follow him. Five
short rules for Christians. I trust that the Lord would give
us grace to remember those and and practice them, heed them. I've asked David to lead us in
this hymn they were playing just a few minutes ago. Number 310,
Whiter Than Snow, Whiter Than Snow. There's one fountain that
washes whiter than snow and it's filled with Emmanuel's blood. Let's stand as we sing number
310.