The Washing of Water by the Word

You know, brethren, there's phrases that sometimes come to mind, and maybe you've heard them spoken, that don't actually appear from Scripture itself. I mean, they may be attributed to the Bible, or people may use them in such a way as to make it sound like they're quoting Scripture, but they're phrases that don't actually come directly from the Word of God. You know, one example of that might be God helps those who help themselves. God helps those who help themselves. Not actually a direct quote of Scripture. Perhaps there's some concepts along those lines, but I think we would acknowledge, too, in terms of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God also helps those who can't help themselves in a fullest extent. How about this one? This too shall pass.

Here's one I hear often. Money is the root of all evil. Not actually in the Bible. It's actually a misquotation of a Scripture that is there, but actually the meaning and intent is a little bit different than that. Here's one we probably heard rehearsed often. Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Again, not a Scripture in the Bible. No, Jesus Christ did not say it on the Sermon of the Mount, and you can search through the Gospel accounts. You won't find it there. I think sometimes parents have used that to get their children to wash behind their ears. Maybe that was the main motivation, but again, cleanliness is next. The godliness is not there.

Now, physical cleanliness, brethren, is important. It's an essential part of life. I'm not looking to diminish that in any way. I appreciate clean people, frankly. We can all sit here together today in that state, and that's a nice thing. But we see from Christ dealing with the Pharisees that the ritualistic washings and the ceremonial cleansings isn't what draws a person near unto God. On the other hand, the concept of spiritual cleanliness is found all over the place throughout God's Word, and we have many instructions on which we can base our life in terms of becoming clean spiritually and what it is that we need to do to have the dirt washed away from our lives and walk in newness before God. So, spiritual cleanliness is an important concept. The Bible talks about being clean in terms of the heart and the mind, and ultimately, that boils down to as well being clean as a result of the absence of sin. But again, the phrase cleanliness next to godliness isn't in the Scripture, but there is a passage in the book of James that was perhaps the inspiration behind that phrase. The Strymes went to the book of James. I like to go there as well. This time, James 4 and verse 8. James 4 verse 8. You know, James is such a rich book for Christian living. It's what's referred to as wisdom literature. It's not just about what is the law we live by, but James really references a lot in terms of how do we live this Christian life. It's somewhat referred to as the Proverbs of the New Testament. So James chapter 4 verse 8, and the concept of spiritual cleanliness, it says, Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. So spiritual cleansing and purity is the state by which we put off the works of the flesh. We put off those elements of our carnal nature that's contrary to God.

We cleanse our hands, which relates to a changing in our actions and those things that we do which are not pleasing in God's sight, such as Mr. Imes was referring to in his sermonette today. It also refers to the purifying of our hearts, which then goes to addressing the motivation behind our actions. You know, why is it that we do what we do? James said, cleanse your hands, you sinners, change your actions, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. You know, assess your motivations. What is it from your heart that causes you to do the things that you do?

Brethren, this is a change of nature and character from the carnal man into that which is befitting the children of God. It's a change that draws us near to God, as James says. Draw near to God, he will draw near to you through this process. So I guess the question I would lead off with today for you and I is, how clean are we? And how clean are you? And how clean am I? You know, physically, probably most of us are pretty clean. I assume we got up this morning, we showered, we bathed, we put on clean clothes because we were coming into an amongst-the-assembly appearing before God here with his congregation. We're sitting right next to one another, so we did our due diligence to come here at least physically clean today and for that we can all be appreciative. But how clean are we spiritually? How do we become clean spiritually? And how do we stay clean? I think it's important for us to stop and assess the answers to those questions on a regular basis. Ultimately, we understand that we are cleansed from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ by the grace of God extending his forgiveness to us through the process of repentance. And, brethren, that began with our baptism. As we came up to baptism, we began to assess those things in our life that were contrary to God's way. We began to recognize who and what we are before God, and we repented of those things. It's a process leading up to our baptism. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9 and kind of just see how this cleansing process works as we consider repentance and forgiveness and the washing away of our sins. 1 Corinthians 6, and beginning in verse 9, here the Apostle Paul is writing, and he asks the question, he says, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And he begins then to now go through and break that down and describe what would be considered unclean. He said, Do not be deceived, neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And he says, In such were some of you.

And we could say today, such were some of us, before God called us from the way of life in which we were walking, drew us unto himself in the way he would have us to live and in before we were cleaned through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Again, verse 11, he says, In such were some of you. But notice here, he says, But you were washed, washed through the process of baptism, that full immersion by which then our sins were washed clean.

He says, But you were sanctified, you were set apart for God's holy use. For you were justified, which means made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

So, brethren, those of us who have submitted to the calling of God and entered into that covenant relationship with him through baptism have been cleansed from the indiscretions of our previous way of living.

We were submerged in the watery grave, which was symbolic of putting to death the carnal man. And then we were raised back up. You know, you don't stay there. You're raised back up, which is symbolic of the resurrection to newness of life, now to walk in a new direction and to walk in a way that is hopefully becoming more and more like the stature and the fullness of Jesus Christ. We've been made clean through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, sanctified and justified before God.

Hebrews chapter 10 carries on with the concept. Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 19. Hebrews 10, 19, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, Jesus Christ is our high priest. Brethren, you'll recall the veil that existed in front of the Holy of Holies that separated the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was and God's presence dwelled.

That veil was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus Christ died as a crucifixion. It symbolized the fact that now the way was made clear by which we can approach the throne of grace through Jesus Christ. Access to the Father directly in that way was made open. Jesus Christ is our high priest. Verse 21, again, Having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

And so, again, the way to a direct relationship with God the Father is through Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made and the cleansing waters of baptism. And, brethren, that's how the process begins. That is how we are cleaned up from the indiscretions of how we once lived this life as we now make the covenant commitment with God to walk in newness of life. That's how it begins. Now, the question for us to ask and answer is, is the spiritual cleansing that must take place in the life of a Christian merely a one-time event, merely something that took place at your baptism, or is it ongoing?

Is that cleansing process that must take place in our life continuous, or is it a single moment in time? You know, when we're physical in terms of living this life, we cleanse often physically. You know, we don't say, well, I bathed last month, and so I think I'm good. No, you know, no matter how hard we try to stay clean in this life, we get dirty. We get soiled, and we need to clean on a regular basis. That's just the nature of this life, and we need to be cleaned up physically along the way. I may have told this story before, but a number of years ago, Darla was, when her parents lived next door, she one evening hopped on her bike.

It was Friday evening shortly before sundown, rode her bike down to take something to her mother, and then on the way back, she saw the neighbor's dog, and it was chasing her mom's cat, Blackie. And his dog chased Blackie into the bush, and my wife's not wanting to see her mom's cat get tore apart. You know, was on her bike, rides to the cat's rescue, just in time to see that Blackie the cat had this nice white stripe down his back.

Blackie the cat was stinky the skunk, and just as my wife came by that skunk cut loose, all over my wife, all over her bike, all over whatever it was that she was carrying, I just remember the knock at the front door, opened the door, and there she is, and she really didn't have to say a word.

You could figure out pretty easily what had happened. And we said, you know, sorry, we're going to the barn. We're not coming in the house. So we went out there, tomato juice, vinegar, tea tree oil, whatever else you can think of, to bathe her, to clean her up, to at least try to get her to the point where we could allow her in the house, then into the shower. And she got showered over and over that night and Saturday morning, over and over, and then as I recall, we went to church services and she sat at the very back row as to not let anybody know anything was up.

I think the hardest was getting the smell out of her hair. That was maybe there for a little while. But, brethren, again, we don't clean up only once in this life. And, you know, some things are harder to wash out than others. Some things, perhaps, require multiple cleansings. That's just the way of this physical life. You know, spiritual cleansing, you know, is that a single moment? Again, the question, at our baptism, or is it not the need for it continuous and ongoing as well?

You know, we do on occasion stumble and fall short spiritually. I know I've made my share of mistakes since my baptism. That's the life that we live in this flesh. We do stumble. We still fall short. Even if we try to stay clean. But, hopefully, it's not from purposeful intent.

But the weakness of the flesh, at times, does overtake us.

Brethren, baptism is not the end of the growth process, whereby we're automatically clean from that point forward, never having to lift a finger again. It is, in fact, the beginning of the covenant we've made with God the Father through the blood of Jesus Christ, in which we're now committed to growing and moving forward and making progress, growing to the stature of the fullness of Christ. But that takes continuous work. The Shriams talked about the pulls of this life and how easy it is just to give in to the pull and the temptation that would overcome us. Or, perhaps, just to play with sin a little bit, thinking you won't get bit, thinking I can just sort of dabble in this a little bit. It'll be okay. The fact is, our need for cleansing continues on throughout our Christian life. Now, the Bible shows that baptism is clearly a one-time event in the life of a Christian, so I'm not looking to diminish that in any way. But the process of cleansing continues from that point forward. It's like we actually have work to do. It's not like we were buried in the baptismal waters and brought back up, and there's nothing else we need to do. We're clean. I'm fine. I can live this life how I see fit.

There's this concept of continuous cleansing, and I'm not trying to go down that road because that concept basically says that, you know what, you were baptized, you're under the blood of Jesus Christ, and now there's basically nothing you can do to fall out of the grace of God. You can live your actions in any way you see fit, and you're cleansed. And that's not the point I'm making. The point I'm making is we do stumble and fall short, but we can come to God in repentance, be washed and be cleansed, and walk in newness of life again.

1 John chapter 1. Mr. Imus went here in this sermonette. 1 John chapter 1. In fact, I'll read the same scripture he did, plus a little more.

1 John 1, beginning in verse 5. John says, This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. And God is completely light. He's completely pure, completely clean. James says there is no variance or shadow of turning with God. Verse 6 carries on. It says, If we say that we have fellowship with him, with God, and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Who's John writing to? This is a general epistle. This is written to the Church of God, by and large. He's writing to converted Christians who have been baptized, who have received God's Holy Spirit as an indwelling. That's who the we is here. It's writing to the Church at large and to those who have committed to that relationship. The word here in verse 7 cleanses, is in the present tense.

It says, The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. It's in the present tense. So John's words point out the fact that spiritual cleansing is a process that must take place in the life of a Christian, even following baptism.

It's not a one-time event. It's not a stagnant thing, but it's an ongoing process by which we recognize our faults come to God in repentance and we are washed clean.

Verse 8, once again, says, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. You know, the truth of God is acknowledged in us when we recognize our sins. And we confess those things before Him. If we say, if no sin, we deceive ourselves, the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. We must do our part in order to be spiritually cleansed before God. Again, our part comes down to acknowledging our sins, where it is we fall short, coming to God in repentance, which by definition means a change in direction. It's not just saying, I'm sorry, or I'm sorry I got caught, but repentance is a change in the way you live your life. The outcome of your sorrow is then fruit born unto repentance, as John the Baptist put it. So that's a process that we walk through in our lives, brother, all the way from our baptism forward. Again, baptism was not the end of the process. It's the beginning of the cleansing that takes place all throughout the life of a Christian. Now, this passage here of John, verse 10, actually draws my attention to what it is I want to take us through for the rest of the message today. There's actually a blessing that God's given us whereby we may be able to continue to evaluate our spiritual condition. It's a blessing by which we can participate directly in the cleansing of our carnal mind and nature as we seek to grow into the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ. That blessing and cleansing agent is the Word of God. It's the Word of God.

Verse 10 stated, if we say we have not sinned, His Word is not in us.

If we say, I'm fine, no problems here, I've never come up short. It says His Word is not in us. And why is that? What does God's Word do for us? Well, the God's Word, when we study it and we see it for what it is, it shows us what is sin and what is righteousness. And so if God's Word is in us, we will be able to recognize the places where we have come up short, the places that we need to affect change in our life for the purpose of repentance and cleansing. Recall the Apostle Paul's words. He said that I would not have known sin except through the law. So it's God's Word that reveals to us what is sin and it is the standard by which sin is defined. Apart from God's Word, we would not know those things. James, the brother of Jesus Christ, equated the Word of God as a mirror. He talks about looking into the perfect law of liberty like one would look into a mirror. And we do that spiritually. And we do so, and we're honest with ourselves. We see our faults. We see the corrections that we need to make in our spiritual lives. Just like before we ran out the door to church today, we probably looked in the mirror. Is my hair neat fixed? Is my tie on straight? Are my clothes not wrinkled? We use that mirror as an evaluation tool to see what changes need to be made. And if we look into perfect law of liberty, God's Word will be a mirror for us as well. It shows us not only what we need to change, but it also reinforces the positive things in our life. God shows us through His Word the things that we are doing for good. And it helps to even strengthen our commitment to those things along the way as well.

Now Hebrews 4, beginning in verse 12, shows us the power of God's Word.

Hebrews 4 and verse 12 says, For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the spirit and of the joints and marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Verse 13, There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him, to whom we must give account. We must give account to God, brethren, for our words and our actions. But pretty much anything that we have going on in our mind and heart is laid bare before the truth of God's Word. The cleansing occurs when we acknowledge those things honestly, when we make the necessary changes towards removing the spiritual blemishes from our life and replacing it with good. But we see as we study God's Word, His mind, His nature, and the standard He's laid out for you and I today. Again, God's Word shows us what is sin and what is righteousness, and through the process of study and implementation of the Word of God, we are cleansed. Cleansed in heart, cleansed in mind, cleansed in our nature and character, which leads ultimately to the cleansing of our actions.

Brethren, how effectively are we utilizing the cleansing power of God's Word?

How deeply are we getting into the Word of God? Studying it, seeking to understand it? Not just kind of a surface overview, but how deeply are we digging into the Word of God? How frequently? These are the words of life. These are the words that Jesus Christ as well taught His disciples and said, these things have made you clean. Notice John chapter 15. Here we have Jesus with His disciples. John chapter 15 and verse 7.

He's talking here about the fact that He is the vine. They are the branches. They're to bear much fruit. They're to abide in the vine. But in verse 7, Jesus says, If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. Let me say, well, that's pretty slick, you know? Ask what I desire and it shall be done.

The point is, if we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us, the things we desire and seek will be according to God's will. And they will be done. But if we go back up to verse 3, notice what Jesus says His words did for His disciples. John 15 verse 3, He said, You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you. He spent three and a half years in His public ministry with His disciples, walking with them, talking, eating, sleeping, you know, doing all these things. And He spoke to them constantly along the way, speaking of the kingdom of God, teaching them how they were to shepherd and guide people after His departure.

And He says, you know what? You are already clean because of the words which I have spoken to you.

Christ's instructions were for a spiritually clean life. And the instructions that we now have contained in the Scripture for us today, if we study them, if we live according to them, we too will be clean. Scriptures are actually one of the means by which Jesus Christ is also washing and preparing us today as His future bride. Those who have committed to covenant relationship with God through baptism, those who are the called-out ones, the ecclesia, the church, those are the ones who will then be the bride of Christ in the kingdom of God. Notice Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 22. Notice how the bride is being cleaned up and prepared for that event. Ephesians 5 verse 22.

Here we're in the context of the husband and wife relationship and the representation of Jesus Christ as well, being the bride or the church being the bride of Christ. Ephesians 5, 22, it says, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands and everything. Now you notice to your husbands, the command is not to you to make your wife submit. That's not the command that was given to you from Jesus Christ. Notice the command given to husbands, verse 25. Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. And so if the husband is living in a way that is loving and caring to his wife, if he leads in a way in which is a type of Jesus Christ leading in truth, in a way that is honorable and respectable, the wife will desire to submit to her husband. But again, the instruction is for wives, you have your part to do, husbands, you have your part to do, and we both do them well. We work together as a unit in harmony. But carrying on here, again, verse 25, husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Rather than the bride of Christ, which is the church, is being prepared for the marriage to the Lamb. And just as historically a woman who would marry into royalty had a time of preparation, if you go look back in certain accounts biblically, as well as historically, oftentimes a woman would go through about a year of preparation, being cleansed before the marriage to the King, to royalty in that way. And in just a like manner, you and I are being made spotless and without wrinkle in preparation for our marriage to Jesus Christ. Now the means by which we are being made ready for that marriage includes the washing and cleansing by the water of the Word of God. Again, verse 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word. We won't turn there, but Psalm 12 verse 6 says that the Word of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in the furnace of the earth, purified seven times. Now how pure is the Word of God? It's very pure. It's like water of crystal.

And Jesus Christ is cleansing and preparing his future bride in large part through the washing of the water of God's Word. It's as if he is personally washing us down and pouring the pure water of the Word of God over us, cleansing us, sanctifying us in preparation as his bride, washing those spots and wrinkles away. So again, brethren, I ask, how much time are we spending in the Word of God? How much do we know it? And beyond the knowing it, how much are we doing it? Actually putting it to practice in our daily life. Again, we're cleaned up spiritually at baptism, but if that's where our participation in the process stopped, then we're falling short of the ongoing preparation that needs to take place in our life as we prepare to be the bride of Jesus Christ.

Now spiritual cleansing, we need to understand, does not only involve the removal of blatant sin. Okay? It also includes the putting on of holiness. It's doing away with the carnal man. That's one step of the process, but it's also moving towards the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ.

Spiritual cleansing is coming to understand what God's will is and how we then conform our life so that our will is in line with the will of God as well. When the washing of water by the Word is combined with God's Holy Spirit, it leads to a transformed heart and mind. Our nature is changed. Romans 12 tells us, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so that transformation is what takes place in our mind and heart when we have the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit, as well as the washing of water by the Word. Mr. Imes brought us a visual display today, and I thought that's interesting. I brought one as well.

Although I don't think mine is nearly as exciting as his.

Here's a glass, just a tumbler drinking glass that may look empty, but it's actually full of air.

For the purpose of today, this glass can symbolize you, symbolize me, any one of us. The air inside is symbolic of our carnal nature, which is our nature apart from God. I just want to use an analogy here to show how God's way works in our life. This is a bottle of water.

Water, biblically, is symbolic of God's Holy Spirit that flows into our life and flows out of us in good works as well. So we have God's Spirit that's added to us, but we're also subject to the cleansing of the Word of God, the water of the Word that's supposed to be active in our life. So how do we go from the carnal nature to the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ?

How are we cleansed, and how is that carnal nature removed from our life? Well, basically, it involves God's Holy Spirit in us, in the washing of the water of the Word, being full of it, being immersed in the Word and the Spirit of God. What happens when we're awash in the Word of God? The Spirit is in us. I'm just going to fill that to the brim and try not to spill it.

That air was the carnal nature. Glass is now full of water. What is the process that takes place?

Well, what happens when God's Spirit and Word fills our life is it pushes out the carnal nature.

We go from being the carnal man to the stature of the fullness in Jesus Christ if we're applying that. Now, it's a process along the way, and I think we would recognize it as a lifelong process. If anybody ever stood up here and said, I'm now 85 years old, stature of fullness to Jesus Christ, you're looking at them right here. That's what it looks like. I think I would say, I think you better go back and work on that pride thing just a little longer. But again, when our life is full of God's Word and His Spirit, the carnal nature is pushed out and is replaced by the nature of God. But as we continue walking through this process, looking at the cleansing of God's Word, I want to make one point clear, and that is the type of cleansing we're talking about here is not the forgiveness and washing away of sin. It's not justification in terms of what comes through sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The type of cleansing we're looking at is that God's Word sanctifies us. That's what verse 26 said. Again, Christ said that He might sanctify cleanser with the washing of water by the Word. To be sanctified means to be set apart for God's holy use. You recall Jesus praying to His Father before His crucifixion. In John 17, 17, He said to God, to sanctify them by your truth. He said, your Word is truth. Jesus was asking God to set apart His disciples by the Word of truth. And that's what God's Word does. It sets us apart. It makes us different.

It sets us apart for His use. But the point is we're sanctified by God's Word. We are not justified by God's Word. Justification means being made right with God. That's what happened at our baptism. And there is a difference. You know, no perfect amount of law-keeping can justify us before God.

All of sin. All fallen short of the glory of God. So keeping the Word of God and the Law of God perfectly on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, does not cleanse the sin of Monday.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ can wash away our sins in that way. Only Jesus Christ's sacrifice can justify us before God. Again, that's what happens at baptism. At repentance, through God's grace, has continually poured out on us along the way. But again, sanctification and justification are two different things. And I want to make that distinction as we understand the cleansing that comes through the Word of God is unto sanctification.

Again, though, I think the point is clear. Because just as Jesus Christ's blood cleanses us from sin, let's also live our lives according to the standard of this Word so that our heart and our nature might be cleansed so that we would not go down that path of sin in the first place.

That's the point Mr. Imes was making. Let's not even go there to start with. And the cleansing that comes from God's Word is what changes our heart and nature to resist those things before they even become a reality in our life. I want to take a look at some of the effects that come as a result of being awash in God's Word. King David wrote quite a bit from his life experiences and from what it was he had learned by submitting to God and taking those principles into his life. Psalm 19, let's just take a look briefly. Psalm 19, beginning in verse 7. Again, we're going to see some of the effects that come as a result of being awash in God's Word.

Psalm 19, verse 7. David says, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. And so he recognized the cleansing power of God's Word and actually the effect that it had on his life as he lived it, as he applied it on a daily basis. Verse 8, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. He says, more to be desired are they than gold. Yes, much more than fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Brethren, this describes the effects that you and I will realize in our lives as we study and internalize and apply God's Word, as we live it. And it comes flowing out of us as an expression of who and what God is and the love He has had for us. Verse 12, continuing on, David asks the question, who can understand His errors? Well, certainly, hopefully we can.

Who can understand His errors? Cleanse me from secret faults, he says. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. You know, we really don't know what is right and wrong apart from the Word of God in us. Again, it shows us what is sin, what is righteousness. But if we study it and we internalize it and we make it a part of who and what we are, then our hearts and minds will be conformed to that nature. We will do the things as a result that are right in the eyes of God. Verse 14, David concludes here by saying, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. You'll recall the words of Jesus Christ. He said, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Again, which means whatever is rolling around in our head is going to come rolling off the end of our tongue eventually.

The words and the thoughts that we have, brethren, need to be acceptable in God's sight. And the process by which we start down that path is our immersing ourselves in the washing of the water of God's Word, allowing it to cleanse us, allowing it to work in our lives so that our motivations behind our actions are changed before the actions ever occur. Psalm 119, again, the words of King David.

Psalm 119, we continue to see the cleansing power of God's Word. Beginning in verse 9, here David asks the question, he says, How can a young man cleanse his way?

We might ask, How can you cleanse your way? How can I cleanse my way? He says, By taking heed according to your word. With my whole heart I have sought you, O let me not wander from your commandments, your word I have hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. He says, I will meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways. I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.

David was a man dedicated to having his life washed by the Word of God.

Now, God even called David a man after his own heart, and we might think, Well, that's interesting because David sure made a lot of mistakes.

I would say at that moment he was not being a man after God's own heart. His carnal nature took over. But the thing interesting about King David was he did sin big, but once he acknowledged that, once he confronted it, he repented big as well. His heart and his desire was to be clean once again and walk rightly before God. We won't turn there, but just read through Psalm 51 sometime. Again, it's the process that David went through after his sin with Bath Sheba, acknowledging that, seeking God, pleading with God not to take his Spirit from him, but to cleanse him and restore to him the joy of his salvation. Brethren, that's a process you and I must go through as we acknowledge the areas that we fall short before God as well. But again here, David was a man after God's own heart, and he recognized the importance of spiritual cleansing, that which came from God's Word. Again, he asked the question, how can a young man cleanse his ways?

So I want to give you four ways that the passage shows us the washing of the water of the Word leads to a spiritual cleansing. Four ways the washing of water of the Word leads to a spiritual cleansing. Point one, there is cleansing which comes from taking heed to God's Word.

In verse nine, we read again the question, how can a young man cleanse his way? The answer here, by taking heed according to your Word. Taking heed according to God's Word counters sins in our life. You know, it counters those attitudes which are contrary to God, because taking heed is more than just reading the Word of God or listening to it. Taking heed is much more than that. It includes obeying it. It includes taking God's words and applying them to your life. The fullest measure of cleansing comes not only from the knowing, but ultimately it comes from the doing. Psalm 111 verse 10 tells us, a good understanding have all those who do his commandments. And so, knowing alone is simply not enough. The full value of God's Word is realized in the doing. When we read it, when we consider how it applies to our life, and then we take action. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and you live accordingly, your way will be cleansed. If you love your neighbor as yourself, and you live accordingly, your way will be cleansed. We are cleansed by the Word of God when we take heed to it and live it. That's ultimately how the spots and the wrinkles of our lives are removed, the ones that we just stumble into and cause, by the taking heed to God's Word and not going there in the first place. Point two, the Scripture shows here there is cleansing which comes from internalizing God's Word. Cleansing which comes from internalizing God's Word. In verse 11, David said, Your Word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. He's saying, God, I've taken your Word and I've made it a part of my innermost being.

It's part of my nature. It's become part of who and what I am so that I may not sin against you.

That's an example, brethren, we should all take heed according to.

If we internalize God's Word, it establishes standards for our thinking. It establishes what our responses to this life circumstances should be. If we hide God's Word in our heart, it's not like we come across a circumstance and say, Oh, I better look in Scripture to see what it says about this circumstance. No, we will know how to respond. We will know how to live because we've studied these things and we've internalized them.

Brethren, we'll often walk into situations in this life that test our faith. We have to have something to draw on apart from just a good feeling or a casual understanding of Scripture. We have to know that God's Word is true and it works in our life when we apply it.

So again, we have to hide that Word in our heart. Maybe it requires even some memorization.

We're going to come back to Psalms in a moment, but let's jard over to Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 verse 16. Again, as we consider hiding God's Word.

Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16. The Apostle Paul writes, and he says, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

When we let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, it means we've internalized it. We've hidden it in our hearts. By the power of God's Holy Spirit, it's going to flow out of us in ways that teach and admonish others as well.

That's what Paul was saying, because when it dwells in us, it's going to impact you. It's going to impact me as we live this way of life with one another.

This passage also talks about Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs as a manner of aiding one another and glorifying God. And, you know, one of the things I appreciate about our church hymnals and the songs that we sing doing our services is that many of them are direct quotations from Scripture. Many of the songs are Psalms, whole Psalms that we'll sing in praise to God. And probably the most successful Scripture memory program that I've ever been involved in in my years in the church is simply what I've gained through hymn singing, what we have in the pages that have been set to music. And we voice those things as we sing before God. But I find myself oftentimes thinking of the flow of Scripture with the music and the flow that we've set it to in our hymnal. And it's a good memory tool. Don't underestimate the value of singing praises and rejoicing before God, such as we do at the Sabbath service. But again, Paul said, let the words of God and Christ dwell in you richly. Brethren, they're of great benefit to us as we live this life. Point three from David's Psalm is there is cleansing which comes from declaring and rejoicing in God's Word. Kind of combine these two into one point.

Cleansing which comes from declaring and rejoicing in God's Word. Back to Psalm 119. So I'm going to look again specifically now at verse 13. Psalm 119 verse 13. Here David says, with my lips I have declared all the judgments of your mouth. So David spoke of the righteous judgments of God to all who were willing to listen. He expressed to them the blessings of God and the mercy that he had poured out on him. And by his words and actions others benefited as well.

Now verse 14 he says, I've rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches.

By rejoicing in God's testimonies, we love them, don't we? We desire to live them. We see their positive effect in our life and we pursue them even more wholeheartedly. Rejoicing and declaring God's words. There's a cleansing process, brethren, which comes from doing just that. Now the fourth and final point on this is there is cleansing which comes from meditating and delighting in God's words. You know, some of these seem similar and overlap a little bit, but they have distinct meanings as well. Again, the cleansing which comes from meditating and delighting in God's word. Psalm 119 verse 15 and 16, David says, I will meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways. I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. So, brethren, when we consider all those points that we've covered, I think we understand that the effect of God's word on our life doesn't come from just a casual overview of Scripture. It comes from studying it, seeking to understand it, internalizing it in our life, and then putting it to use every day. Meditation is more than just a quick acknowledgement. It involves deep thought into the words of the principles of God. It involves assessing them and realizing how it is that they work. How is it that these words impact my life for good?

And how can I live them in such a way that God will be glorified? And all that I say and do.

Focusing our mental energy directly on the Scriptures for the purpose of understanding and growth is meditation. It's something that you and I need to do on a regular basis.

Psalm 119, we're just going a little forward in the passage here, verse 97. Psalm 119, verse 97, David says, Oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day. He's saying it's what I think about, it's what I focus on, it's what guide and directs my steps as I walk throughout this day. Verse 98, You through your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. Your commandments, not my enemies.

Verse 99, I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, more than those who actually are older than me, those who should know and understand these things even better than me. He's saying, I understand more than the ancients because I keep your precepts. David says, I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your word. I have not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.

David is delighting in the blessing of God's word in his life, and he's delighting in the washing and the cleansing that actually sets him apart from those around him, as he acknowledges God's word and as he lives it.

Verse 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It directs my steps.

Makes that path clear before me. Verse 109, my life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not strayed from your precepts. Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever to the very end.

Brother David studied God's word. He meditated on it. He hid it in his heart. He lived according to it. He delighted in its blessings and ultimately wrote about it. It has now become the scripture by which you and I can study and gain value from that insight as well. When we submit to the word of God, it purifies our thoughts. It scrubs our motives and it cleans our action. There is a great blessing which comes from meditating on the word of God. Again, brethren, Jesus Christ is sanctifying and cleansing the church with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. We are cleansed, as we came under the blood of Jesus Christ, at baptism, by God's grace being poured out on us. We continue to be cleaned as we acknowledge and repent before him. Let's also continuously work to clean our thoughts, to clean our actions, and the motives behind those actions before they become sin in the first place, so that we can continually walk upright before God and in truth. God has given us his spirit, which imparts to us his mind. We have that water of the word, just as we see here with his glass, we have that water of the word that constantly washes us as we yield ourselves to it. These are blessings we can never afford to take for granted. Don't take God's word lightly. They are, in fact, the words of life.

Let's conclude, brethren, with the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, chapter 6 and verse 17. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 17, says, Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Chapter 7, verse 1, says, Therefore, in light of these things, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Brethren, God the Father and Jesus Christ are actively doing their part to work in our lives. Let us be found so doing as well. Let us be doing our part so that when the day of our marriage to the Lamb does come, we may be found washed and clean and prepared so that in that day, brethren, you and I may be presented to Jesus Christ as a bride that is holy and without blemish, a bride that is, in fact, clean in His sight.