In Leviticus chapter 15 you'll see the phrase come up over and over again about people bathing themself in water, washing their clothes and being unclean. What I want to preach about this morning is the subject of being clean or cleanliness. This subject has implications that are both physical and spiritual. I looked up the work clean in the Bible and some variation of the word clean is used 458 times, whether that is clean or unclean or cleaneth, whatever variation of that word. It's used 458 times so this is a major theme in the Bible that's mentioned everywhere from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible talks a lot about being clean. It's something that we need to understand.
First of all I want to start out with just talking about physical cleanliness. I have 3 points this morning: a clean body, a clean mind and a clean soul. When we talk about a clean body it reminds me of a sermon that I preached on cleanliness back in 2006. When I first started the church just a few months in there were a couple of people that came and frankly they stunk up the place. They just were not clean. This was back a long time ago in the early days. Church was meeting in my house. I remember I wrote this sermon. I got the inspiration. Inspiration means breathed, right? I got the inspiration for the sermon because of some specific people that were coming. I said, "Yeah this will be a good sermon. It's going to help them. This is going to be biblical, practical help for them." I wrote this whole sermon on cleanliness and sanitation and then they didn't show up to that service. That's when I learned never write a whole sermon just for 1 person because they might not even be there.
Anyway, there's going to be something in this sermon that applies to everybody. Some of this is pretty basic but some of it is more complicated. We're going to talk about both the physical and the spiritual. Just from this 1 chapter in Leviticus 15 we can learn so much. Just this week someone was making a mockery of the book of Leviticus to me saying, "Come on, does anybody preach out of Leviticus anymore? I mean is there really any doctrine in Leviticus?" In reality there is so much wisdom in the book of Leviticus that applies to our lives today. This is probably one of those chapters that people would laugh at and it's probably not going to be preached in a lot of churches on a Sunday morning.
In reality there's a lot of great truth in this passage just about cleanliness and sanitation. Some of this we may take for granted today in 2014 because we live in a society that's pretty good about cleanliness and sanitation. Throughout history many people have been very dirty and unkempt. As a result they suffered from a lot of ailments and diseases that could have been prevented by keeping themselves clean. In this passage we see concepts such as being washed in running water. Yet, even just a few hundred years ago doctors would wash their hands in a community basin with standing water. They'd stick their hands in there and they're all just spreading the germs. There's so much in this passage that if people would've followed it throughout history the death rates and the illness rates would have been a lot lower.
God has explained to us the importance of bathing and having clean clothes in this passage. Maybe there were people in the ancient world who practiced terrible sanitation but not the children of Israel. If you study this passage carefully you could see that these people are bathing very often. They're actually bathing quite frequently. It says for example ... Let's start out reading in verse number 2. It says, " Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness." What is an issue? This is any kind of a secretion, this a wound that's bleeding, this can be puss, it's anything that's a wound on his body. It says that's unclean. He says every bed, verse 4, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean.
Now again, we take this for granted but this is ground breaking truth to people of the ancient world. This even shows how much wisdom is in the Bible. The Bible wasn't written by man, it's written by God. This is way ahead of science telling you how germs spread and we need to wash and stay clean. People that are sick, people that are wounded, people that have an infected illness, we need to wash the bed, wash the clothes, wash everything that that person comes into contact with because of what? Germs, we understand today.
The Bible says in verse 5, " whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. And he that sitteth on any thing whereon he sat that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. And he that toucheth the flesh of him that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even." Watch this, if he that had the issue spit upon him that is clean.
Don't you hate it when people that are sick spit on you? I don't know maybe this could be a coughing on you or a sneezing on you. Again, way ahead of it's time folks. The Bible has all the answers, it always has had all the answers, it's always been ahead of science. Don't tell me, "You know we need to go with what science tells us and not what that old book says." No this old book has always been ahead of science. It's always more advanced than science. If we would just take the time to read it, understand it and apply the truths therein.
It says in verse 8, "And if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean; then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even." There's so many different reasons why the Bible tells us that we should bathe ourselves or wash our clothes. For example flip over to chapter 17, Leviticus chapter 17 just a few pages over. Look at verse 15, " And every soul that eateth that which dieth of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or of a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity."
You see the Bible tells us that ... Go back if you would to chapter 11. The Bible is telling us first of all that you should not eat an animal that died of itself. The Bible is telling us that you should only eat the meat of an animal that we kill or at least someone kills, not one that just dies by itself. Think about it if it dies by itself there might be something wrong with it. It could be diseased or it says if it's torn of beasts. You just find a carcass of an animal, don't eat that. The Bible is warning us about germs and things that are dirty, things that are unclean, things that are unsanitary. The Bible says even if you touch that dead body you're unclean, you need to wash up, you need to bathe your flesh and also wash your clothes.
Look at verse 39 of chapter 11 it says, "And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die" so this is a clean beast. This is one that you're allowed to eat. It says, "he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even." Flip back to chapter 15. If you look at chapter 15 verse 16 it says, "And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even. And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even. The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even."
What I want to point out here is that the Bible said anybody who handles any kind of meat, right? Anybody who handles the meat from a clean beast, if they handle that raw meat, they're supposed to wash up, change their clothes, be unclean until the even. Here it talks about a man lying with ... You know a man goes to bed with his wife and they do what married people do. He says after that they're supposed to bathe their flesh in water, change their clothes and so forth. What I'm trying to show you is these people aren't bathing every several months.
You sometimes hear, "Oh back in the old days, back in history, people would only bathe every 6 months or every 3 months whether they needed or not." It's true that in dark ages Europe under the darkness and oppression of the Roman Catholic Church there were a lot of unsanitary practices like that. There were a lot of crazy teachings. People literally taught during the middle ages and dark ages, and even after, they taught that baths are bad for you. Have you ever heard of that? For years they would teach like, "taking too many baths is bad for you. You should only bathe rarely." People in Europe throughout history and even today in France ... I've been there and there are people who instead of taking a lot of showers and baths they'll just put on cologne to mask it.
Listen putting on cologne and putting on deodorant is not a substitute for washing yourself. There are people ... I've been in Europe today where you can smell people from 50 feet away. I'm not saying it's everybody but there are people, especially in France. I've even seen it in France, I've seen it in Germany, my wife doesn't want to admit it, but there are some people in Germany, where you smell them from really far away but you smell the cologne also. It's a mixture of that bad smell with cologne.
Look, is that what the Bible ... Does the Bible teach, "hey it's unhealthy to take too many baths. Stay away from too many showers. Hey you only need it every 3 months whether you need it or not. Hey you only need it once a week." These people if they were following the Bible they're bathing pretty often. Every time a man lies with his wife they're both supposed to bathe. Every time they handle meat, every time the wife is cooking a meal that involves handling uncooked meat, every time the husband goes out and kills an animal, slaughters that animal, there is bathing and washing and a changing of clothes that takes place. These are activities that take place constantly in our lives, therefore the ancient Israelites were some of the cleanest people ever if they followed this.
I realize today that we're living under the New Testament. I realize that we are not living in the ancient nation of Israel, following the Levitical laws. I understand that these ordinances and these carnal teachings are not something that we are under today but still the wisdom of God shines though that if God wanted them to be clean and sanitary we would be wise to use that same wisdom today and to keep ourselves clean and sanitary. You say, "Why does it matter, Pastor Anderson, if I take a shower? Why does it matter if I put on clean clothes? Is it really that important?" Well let me give you some reasons why it is important.
Go to the book of Song of Solomon, first of all. While you're turning there let me read you another scripture. This is from Ezekiel 44 verse 18. It says, "They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads", this is talking about the priests, "and shall have linen breeches upon their loins", breeches are pants. And it says, "they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat." God said, "I want the priests to be clean and I want them to wear linen garments. I don't want them to wear any materials or fabrics that cause sweat." Why, because sweat makes you dirty sooner. Sweat makes you need a shower and makes you smell bad unless you clean it up.
Throughout the Bible there is a teaching that it is a virtue to be physically clean. It's good for your health and frankly it's good for your social like to keep yourself physically clean. Now here's the mistake some people make when they're married. They don't take as good as good a care of themselves when they're married because they figure, "He's stuck with me anyway. She's stuck with me anyway. I'm not out trying to attract someone so therefore I'm just going to kind of let myself go a little bit." Sometimes married people they'll make themselves look nice when they go out of the house. They'll get cleaned up and shower up and brush their teeth when they're going somewhere. When they're at home it becomes slovenly, sluggardly, sweat pants, just lounging, not showering, not taking care of themselves. This is going to affect your marriage adversely. When you have that kind of an attitude that says to your spouse, "You're not important enough for me to look nice. You're not important enough for me to put on clean clothes and bathe my flesh in water. You're not important enough for me to care how you perceive my physical appearance."
Look at some scriptures from the book of Song of Solomon. Look at chapter 4 verse 10. So far we've touched ... We're going through all aspects of physical cleanness then we're going to get into some spiritual cleanness in a moment. So far we've learned number 1: bathing or showering is biblical, number 2: washing your clothes. Number 3 how about clean breath, keeping your breath clean, keeping your mouth clean? Look what the Bible says in Song of Solomon 4 verse 10 it says, "How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon."
Let me ask you something. Are you garments smelling like Lebanon today or are your garments smelling like a gym class locker room? Here we see that the clothing smells good. We see that the body smells good, we see that the mouth tastes good. This is keeping yourself clean and fresh. How are you going to have a Song of Solomon marriage when you don't have a Song of Solomon cleanliness? By the way this could improve your marriage. This could probably improve the physical contact in your marriage if you're clean and have good hygiene there's probably going to be more physical contact in your marriage, which is a good thing.
Look what it says in chapter 5 verse 16 because this isn't just for the ladies. Song of Solomon 5:16, "His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." Go to Song of Solomon 7 verse 9. Chapter 7 verse 9, "And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me." If we're going to have a good marriage and have a good physical relationship within marriage, which by the way the Bible commands us to have and exhorts us to have and warns us that if we don't have then there could be temptations that would enter in when we don't have that right physical relationship within marriage. Part of that is just being clean. You're probably not going to do any kissing in marriage when your mouth is like an open sepulcher.
Cleanliness is something that could help you out in your marriage. By the way you say, "I'm single, this doesn't apply to me." Well maybe this could be part of why you're single. You got to make sure that you stay clean and good breath. Let's get off of that. So far we've seen washing your body, clean clothes, fresh breath. What about smoking? Is that really something that makes you cleaner? Is that something that improves your breath? The Bible tells us that we should be clean. It says in verse number, let me find this scripture here. I don't think it's in my notes but it says that they that bear the vessels of the Lord should be clean. The Bible commands us to be clean.
I got to read this for you, this is pretty funny. This is the oldest known pamphlet against smoking and it was written by King James. King James, the guy who authorized the Bible to be translated back in the early 1600's. King James, turns out, hated smoking. He wrote a pamphlet against smoking. I can't read for you the whole thing just because it's so long. I'm going to read for you some highlights from King James pamphlet against smoking. The language is kind of old so you got to really pay attention.
It says, "And surely in my opinion, there cannot be a more base and yet hurtful corruption in a country than is the vile use or other abuse of taking tobacco in this kingdom, which had moved me shortly to discover the abuses thereof in this following little pamphlet." I'm going to jump to the very end of the pamphlet. "But herein is not only a great vanity but a great contempt of God’s good gifts—that the sweetness of man’s breath, being a good gift of God, should be willfully corrupted by this stinking smoke, wherein I must confess it hath too strong a virtue. And so that which is an ornament of nature and can neither by any artifice be at the first acquired, nor once lost, be recovered again, shall be filthily corrupted with an incurable stink, which vile quality is as directly contrary to that wrong opinion which is beholden of the wholesomeness thereof as the venom of putrefaction is contrary to the virtue preservative."
That's kind of a tongue twis ... This guy's writing style ... I'm glad that he wasn't the one that translated the Bible because his writing style is a little elevated. You got to hear this. This next point cracks me up. "Moreover, which is a great iniquity, and against all humanity, the husband shall not be ashamed to reduce thereby his delicate, wholesome, and clean complexioned wife to that extremity, that either she must also corrupt her sweet breath therewith, or else resolve to live in a perpetual stinking torment." What he's saying is, "If you're a man who smokes, you're either forcing your wife to smoke too and mess up her breath and mess up her complexion or you're forcing her to just live with the stinking torment of your smell and your smoke."
Listen to the last paragraph. " Have you not reason then to be ashamed, and to forbear this filthy novelty, so basely grounded, so foolishly received, and so grossly mistaken in the right use thereof? In your abuse thereof sinning against God, harming yourselves both in person and goods, and raking also thereby the marks and notes of vanity upon you; by the custom thereof making yourselves to be wondered at by all foreign civil nations, and by all strangers that come upon you to be scorned and contemned: a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless." That's what King James said about tobacco.
I come to conclusion that smoking is not clean. If we want to be clean and have sweet breath and have a smell like myrrh and aloe and cinnamon and Lebanon ... Smoking really stinks up the place. It stinks up your cars, stinks up your house, stinks up your clothes, stinks up your breath and so and so forth. On the subject of having a clean body, not only that but the Bible talks about eating clean food, it talks about that. We understand the the Bible is real clear that in the New Testament we are not prohibited from eating any meats. We're allowed to eat all meat. In fact even before the Mosaic law was given in Genesis 9 for example Noah is told that every living thing that moveth shall be meat for you. It's pretty clear that when Noah got off the ark he's told he may eat all beasts. Now there were clean beasts and unclean beasts in regard to which ones could be sacrificed unto the Lord when Noah got off the ark. He's specifically told that he is allowed to eat all meats and they've all been given unto him. In the New testament that's ... I don't want to go into that. I've preached that so many times lately and showed all the New Testament scriptures that tell us that every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused, be received with thanksgiving.
Here's something to keep in mind though what the apostle Paul said. "All things are lawful for me but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me but all things edify not." Just because something is lawful for you doesn't necessarily mean that it's good for you. Go back into Leviticus chapter 11. I don't have time to go through all the different regulations that God gave about clean food and recommendations that he gave about clean food. In Leviticus chapter 11, this is just an example. It says in verse 13, " And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls", fowl is another word for what? Birds. It says, "they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, and the vulture, and the kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat."
When I look at that list of things that God is saying these are unclean beasts I don't really have a desire to eat those things. If you think about it a vulture is a scavenger. They eat dead bodies and you can see why he's saying that's unclean. He's saying don't eat it, it's not good for you. You can see why a raven is something that you don't want to eat, owls same thing. This kind of makes sense when you look at it. I guess the one that is a sticking point for us as New Testament believers is pork because it's just so good. Here's the thing. Obviously the children of Israel were not allowed to eat it. If I believe that it were un-biblical I wouldn't eat it of course. I would obey God's command. Again, I believe that in the New Testament these things are lawful for us. If you think about it, pigs do have a tendency to become what? Unclean and be dirty. I think that you can get, today, a responsibly raised pork product. A pig that is fed good food and kept clean and kept sanitary and so forth.
You can see why God said these are bad. As far as a modern day application we should try to eat clean food. Keep our bodies clean inside and out. I think one application we can make from this is not to eat junk food, not to put trash into our bodies, trash up our bodies with chemicals and preservatives and junk and so forth. Lastly I want to say this about our physical bodies. We need to have a clean lifestyle. If you would turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, so far we've seen what? Washing our bodies. Number 2 washing our clothes. Number 3 washing out our mouth, keeping our mouth and our breath clean. That will help your marriage and your love life there when you have clean breath. We talked about clean food. Lastly on the point of a clean body we want to have a clean lifestyle.
What does it mean to have a clean lifestyle? The first thing I would say you need to have a clean lifestyle is you need to have fornication and adultery out of your life. These are things that the Bible constantly refers to as uncleanness. He uses the word uncleanness as a synonym for fornication, as a synonym for adultery. Why? Because it is unclean. Look what it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth", meaning you hate this kind of preaching against fornication. He says, "despiseth not man, but God". You're not mad at the preacher, you're mad at God he says. "who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit."
Look at verse 3 again, "this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication" verse 7, " For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." Again, these are used together. Ephesians 5:3 for example, you don't have to turn there, "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints." 2nd Corinthians 7:1, "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." He saying have your flesh clean and have your spirit clean, perfecting holiness. Part of that is to abstain from fornication. Just to drive in the point further, you don't have to turn there, but Revelation 17:4 says, "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication". Get that phrase in your mind. Let is sink down in you ears, filthiness of her fornication.
Fornication is unclean. Fornication in filthy. Adultery is filthy. Why? Look at people who are whore-mongers. Look at people who are whores. They pick up disease. It's unclean it's unsanitary. They pick up diseases through that filthy lifestyle of being a whore or a whore monger. Marriage is honorable in all and the bed un-defiled but whore-mongers and adulterers God will judge.
Having a clean lifestyle, we should definitely not commit fornication and not commit adultery. Here's a hint too. When you're committing fornication the person with whom you're committing fornication has probably committed fornication before with someone who has committed fornication with someone who has committed fornication with someone. There's a lot of uncleanness and disease that can be spread. This is not only spiritually unclean in the sense that it's unholy to commit fornication and adultery, it can even by physically unclean and something that physically can bring filthiness.
Not only that, I would say that part of being clean and having a clean lifestyle would be no drinking. Go if you would to Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 10. Often you'll hear people when they talk about the fact that they are no longer drinking or that they are no longer taking drugs they'll say, "I've been clean for X amount of years." You've heard that term. "I'm getting cleaned up or I've been clean for 5 months or I've been clean for 6 years." That's something that we think of as being clean.
Look what the Bible says in Leviticus 10 verse 9, "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations", why? "that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean." What's the Bible saying? Someone who is under the influence of alcohol is unable to differentiate between clean and unclean. If we're going to live a clean life, if we're going to have a clean body, if we're going to have clean flesh, if we're going to live a clean lifestyle, alcohol will cause us to do and be exposed to unsanitary, unclean, dirty things. Under its influence we'll no longer be able to determine what is clean or unclean.
When you are under the influence of alcohol you will often not have the same principles of sanitation that you would have when you're not under the influence of alcohol. You will do things you wouldn't normally do. I spoke to someone who would ... Type of person who hates to eat or drink after other people. That's the way I was raised. We were raised, we didn't even eat or drink after our own siblings. I'm not as much that way anymore. At the dinner table sometimes I'll finish everybody's plate when everybody's done, the kids' plates. I'm not that way anymore. I'll eat and drink after my own immediate family many times. When we were raised, we never ate or drank after our siblings. There are people that are like that, other people not so much.
I spoke to someone who was raised the same way but they said that when they would drink they'd drink after everybody, eat after everybody, totally went out the way, used dirty restrooms not even thinking about it, not even pull out the little waxy brand paper and lay it out. Use dirty restrooms, eat after, drink after. Why, because your standard of sanitation is not the same when you're sober as when you're drunk. The Bible commands over and over again, be sober, be sober. Why, so we can tell the difference between clean and unclean. Not to mention that drinking could lead to fornication. Not to mention that drinking could help grease the skids toward adultery. Not to mention that drinking could lead toward other sins but it could also lead us into things that are dirty and gross and unsanitary and bring us in contact with a lot of germs.
The Bible says, you don't have to turn there but Isaiah 28:7, "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean." See how alcohol can lead to uncleanness? Vomiting, filth, disgusting conditions.
Number 2, how about a clean mind? Go to Matthew 23. Number 1 we saw a clean body. Now let's briefly look at a clean mind. Is it enough just to cleanse the outside and to have a clean body? It's great to wash our flesh with water, taking a shower, using soap, using running water, putting on clean clothes, changing our clothes, following the principles and the guidelines and the wisdom that we learn from books like Leviticus that teach us about sanitation. It's great to keep our breath fresh and our mouth clean. It's great to abstain from smoking and drinking and things that are making us dirty. Even more important than that is that we have a clean mind, not just a clean body but a clean mind.
The Bible says in Matthew 23:25, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." Now does that verse say the outside doesn't matter? No the outside does matter. "I can't believe you preached on the outside for the last how many minutes." The outside matters that's why I'm preaching on it. It's all scripture that I preached, it's all Bible doctrine. The outside matters, the inside matters more. Just because the inside matters more doesn't mean that the outside doesn't matter at all. Yes it does.
He says cleanse first the inside and then stop there. No, if he said first that means there's a what? Second. First clean the inside, second clean the outside. What does it mean to have a clean mind? Let's keep reading first of all, verse 27, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." A person who is clean on the outside but not on the inside is a hypocrite. We need to be clean inside and out.
Go if you would to Psalm 19 first of all. Psalm 19. Let me give you some examples of how we could have a dirty mind or an unclean mind. For example is says, the famous passage in Matthew 5:27, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Right there we see that one way to have a dirty mind or an unclean mind would be to look upon a woman and lust after her in your heart. The Bible says in Proverbs 6:25, "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart" of the strange woman "neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
Look at Psalm 19 verse 12 it says, " Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." When the Bible talks about our heart that's talking about our mind. That's talking about the seat of thought and emotion. The Bible is saying that we need to have a clean ... David said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me." We want to be clean on the inside too.
That means it's not enough to just look right on the outside, be clean on the outside, while our thoughts are filthy, while we're contemplating sin and thinking about all the sin we want to commit, dreaming of, "wouldn't it be cool if I could commit this sin or that sin." Maybe this could be coveting the lifestyles of ungodly people, looking at stars and Hollywood and the rock and roll scene and saying, "Man I wish I had that lifestyle. I wish I could live that life." Looking at the whore monger or looking at the adulteress and saying, "Wow, I would love to live that life." You shouldn't even think that way because the thought of foolishness is sin. We need to have a clean heart and a clean mind. We need to be clean on the inside and not only clean up the outside but to be real and genuinely clean all the way through. Holiness, purity, cleanliness from inside to out, all of it.
By the way the Bible said cleanse first the inside that the outside may be clean also. When you clean up the inside it does show on the outside. As the inside gets clean it says as a result the outside may be clean also. James 4:8, you don't have to turn there but it says, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners", that's the outside, "and purify your hearts, ye double minded." That's the inside. Don't just abstain from fornication, don't just abstain from adultery, don't even look upon a woman to lust after her. Don't just abstain from drinking. The Bible says look not on the wine when it is red, when it giveth this color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. The Bible says in Leviticus 19:17 ... Boy this is a really irrelevant book isn't it, Leviticus. Why do we even still have it in the Bible, it's so irrelevant.
How about Leviticus 19:17, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart", that's the inside right, that's not the outside. "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in think heart." You know your brother in Christ, who is your brother? Anybody who is born of God is your brother and the Bible says, "thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." If you would turn to 2nd Kings chapter 5. 2 Kings chapter 5. We talked about a clean body, we talked about a clean mind, lastly let's talk about a clean soul.
A clean soul, how are we going to have clean soul? I like what Proverbs 20 verse 9 said, " Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" Can anybody really say that they are 100% clean of sin, 100% pure of sin? "I have repented of all my sins. I am sinlessly perfect." Can anybody really say that and be ... Anybody who says that is a liar. The Bible says that if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not ... You know why it says you deceive yourself? Because nobody else believes you. If we say we have no sin we deceive the people around us, no they know that you have sin. You're only deceiving one person, yourself, because nobody believes you. If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we've not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
That's how you tell. Somebody who says that they are without sin, they're not saved because the truth is not in them. That's why whenever we're giving people the gospel we say, "Hey you need to admit that you're a sinner so you can receive the gospel." How can we get you saved when you don't even think that there's anything to be saved from? Jesus, thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. If you don't have any sins how can you get saved? Everybody has sin but if you don't believe you have sin ... How can you ask Jesus to save you from something that you don't even think you have? The Bible says that you don't have the truth in you and Jesus is the truth. It says you don't have his word in you, Jesus is the word. You do no have Jesus in you if you're going to tell me that you don't sin or that you haven't sinned.
We're all ... You know it's funny, whenever I go out soul winning I get this answer a lot from people. I ask them, "do you know for sure if you died today you'd go to heaven." Sometimes they'll say yes. I say, "how do you know? What do you think it takes to get to heaven?" A really common answer you'll get from people is "living a good life. Being a good person, living a good life." Keeping God's commandments, living as Christ lived. This is what I always say. I say, "You know what, then I'm not going to go then. In fact we're all in trouble. I don't think anybody's going." Then they're like, "Oh yeah, I guess I see what you're saying." They're sitting there telling you that in order to get into heaven we have to live as Christ lived. Good luck with that.
Can anybody really say I'm living exactly as Christ lived? Yeah, to be safe, you just got to live as Christ lived. He set the example of how we're to live and if we want to be saved we have to live as he lived. Well then we're all doomed because we don't live as he lived. Be a good person, well we're in trouble because the Bible says there's none good but one and that's God. The Bible says as is written there is none righteous, no not one. The Bible says for there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. The Bible says there is none that doeth good, no not one.
We're in trouble if we have to be good, if we have to live a good life. "We have to keep it managed." I just say, "Well okay, have you kept them all?" "No." Okay well see you in Hell. I mean I guess we're all going. Thank God, that's not how we get a clean soul. We don't get a clean soul by abstaining from sin because if that were the case, we'd be doomed. Here's the thing that's interesting too is that even if we were somehow able to magically repent of all our sins and never sin again and start walking in a clean way that follows and mirrors Christ's steps exactly, what about all the sins in the past that we did? People say, "Well if you get saved all the past sins are gone. Going forward you got to be perfect." Then it would be best to get saved on the death bed. Wait as long as you can. Think about it, a guy like me who got saved at the age of 6, I got saved when I was 6, I got a ... I had to watch out I don't mess it up. I have so much life.
It'd be better to get saved when you're 60. Of course that's all ridiculous anyway because the whole point of the law was our school master to show us that we need Christ. The law is not a way to get us saved or to get us righteous. That's why the Bible says for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for everyone that believeth. If we're going to get a clean soul our soul must be washed in the blood of the lamb, is what the King James Bible will tell you. The new Bibles remove this by the way. In revelation 1:5, you don't have to turn there stay at 2nd Kings. It says, "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood". The Bible says that Jesus Christ has washed us from our sins in his own blood.
That's how we'll be saved is by being washed in the blood, our sins being washed away. The Bible says as far as the east is from the west so far has God separated us from our sins. He said there's sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now I've got here the ESV, which a lot of people are switching to this my friend. A lot of baptists, even independent fundamental baptists are starting to switch to the ESV. It's so accurate. They think that this version is so wonderful. The NIV is ridiculous but the ESV is ... Look this is the same junk as the NIV. This book is just as bad as the NIV, it's the same garbage. "We are very educated and scholarly. We would never use the NIV but we would use the ESV." The ESV is just as much of a piece of junk as the NIV. Get a King James Bible not these new modern perversions.
Listen to what they do, and they do this on purpose. They say this, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. The ESV says he's freed us from our sins by his blood. The King James Bible says he's washed us from our sins in the blood. You say, "So what, what's the difference?" Here's the difference false teachers out there who preach the ESV like John MacArthur, they teach that whenever the Bible says blood it just means his death. John MacArthur said the blood doesn't save, he said it's just the death of Christ. When it says blood it's a euphemism for his death. John MacArthur denies the blood of Christ. John MacArthur, this is is favorite version. These Calvinists Reformed Baptist type, this is what they all love, the ESV and they, "Oh John MacArthur, oh."
you know what I call the masters college? I call it the bastard's college. You know what, the Bible says if you're not saved and you think you're saved you're a bastard. That's what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12. You can get one of these cleaned up versions that will get rid of the word bastard. The King James Bible says ... John MacArthur is a devil. He preaches works salvation, he preaches lies for a filthy lukers sake, he is a false prophet and an apostate who denies the blood of Jesus Christ. Let him be accursed. He says that the blood does not save, it's his death and blood just means ... No blood means blood today. He said that the only reason we think that is because a lot of hymns have taught us that.
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour, not your works, not turning from all your sins, not living a good life, not enduring to the end? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you washed John MacArthur in the blood? No they change it in the version that these bunch of Calvinistic frauds have worked on, they've changed it. They took out the one verse that say's you're washed in the blood because you know what washed in the death doesn't make any sense. Other verses they can say, "Well when it says we're saved through his blood it means through his death." Washed in the death just doesn't work.
Are you washed in the death? People are like what? People are going to be walking out of that church. Beware of these Bibles. On the surface it seems like a subtle little difference. "I am freed from our sins, washed from our sins. So what? Freed, washed, so what?" Because words matter. Doctrine matters, the blood matters because without shedding of blood there's no remission of sin. By the way how about the blood of sprinkling? You going to sprinkle a little death around? No you sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, and by the way John MacArthur, Jesus Christ literally sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant and the holy of holies in heaven. He literally sprinkled his blood and the blood is still on the mercy seat today. The Bible says the blood speaketh better things than that of Abel. The blood says that we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. If we're going to have a clean soul today it's because it's been washed in the blood, not because you cleaned it up yourself. Not because you've turned over a new leaf. Not because you're going to start abstaining from sin.
No my friend, you've got to be washed in the blood of the Lamb by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ through the blood of sprinkling my friend. Here's a great story that illustrates salvation in the Old Testament. Look at 2 Kings chapter 5. This is the story of Naaman the Syrian when Naaman the Syrian is cleansed by Elijah the prophet. It says in verse 8, " And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."
Naaman was wroth. Wroth is like wrath. Wroth is an adjective that means very angry. "But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a" what? Rage. He's enraged. Elijah tells him if you dip in Jordan 7 times you will be clean. Wash and be clean. He's enraged. Look what it says, "And his servants came near" and thank God for these servants. "his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?"
Why won't you be happy that he's given you something easy to do to be saved? This is God talking about spiritual salvation but it's a physical salvation because he has a deadly disease, leprosy. Leprosy is a picture in the Bible often of sin and of also the wages of sin which is death. "Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." There's a symbol there of born again, being a child of God, the new birth. His flesh is like a little child. He's clean, he's excited, he's happy. Look isn't this the way people sometimes view the gospel today? They get angry. They get angry when you tell them that salvation is by faith alone.
The Bible said for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works so that any man should boast. The Bible makes it so easy to be saved, what must I do to be saved? Everybody wants to do some ... Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That message makes people angry. They got angry at Paul because he said you don't have to be circumcised. They got angry at Paul because he told them you don't have to keep the law to be saved, you don't have to be circumcised, you don't have to keep the law of Moses to be saved. That is what he called the offense of the cross. Why does it make them so mad?
We are like those servants today trying to get people to the voice of reason. We're going to their door and saying listen Naaman if God told you to do something big to be saved and you knew that heaven and hell was at stake ... Think about it folks, if you knew that your eternal destiny in heaven or hell depended on it and I told you in order to be saved you must climb to the tallest mountain in Arizona, you must climb to the top of Mount Humphreys, 1,300 some feet. It's not that hard. It's not exactly Everest. I say you've got to go to the top of that mountain, salvation is at the top of that mountain. If you believed that and you believe that "Okay, I'm going to spend eternity in hell if I don't." You'd do it even if it was a tiring height for you to hike up to the top of that mountain.
If we told you to do something even harder. You have to walk 50 miles in one day. If you can walk 50 miles in one day across this desert, that's where salvation is found. Wouldn't you do it if you thought this is going to save my soul? What if you had a disease like leprosy that's going to kill you and somebody said, "Look you're going to have to go through pain and suffering and treatments. You're going to have to spend all this money." You'd say, "I'll pay any price. I don't want to die of whatever." If you're going to die of cancer next week and you have to go through some extreme treatment you do it.
They're saying if the prophet would have told you to do something big like that ... He expected Elisha to come out and come in person. I guess people expect Jesus to come personally give them the gospel or something. They don't like the fact that Elisha just sent his servant. A lot of times people today don't like the messenger. We show up to give the gospel and it's like what in the world, who are you? They don't think that you're good enough to bring the message. None of us is good enough. We're just servants and we're trying to bring a message that says wouldn't you be willing to do something hard, well guess what it's not hard. Jesus did the hard part. It's easy to have a clean soul washed in the blood.
Therefore I'll close with this. Go to Psalm 119, I just want to make a closing point. We've seen a clean body this morning. We've seen a clean mind and we've seen a clean soul. How do we achieve a clean body, a clean mind, and a clean soul? We saw some was to get your body clean. Bathe in water, change your clothes, brush your teeth, stay away from smoking and things that are dirty. How do we get a clean mind? Well let's see that. There are some scriptures that talk about being clean and they associate being clean with God's word. Listen to this. You're in Psalm 119 but listen to John 15:3, " Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." Did you hear that? " Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."
Ephesians 5:26 talks about the church and it says, "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word". When we see all that stuff in the Old Testament, washed with water, bathes with water, that symbolizes the word. It symbolized the word. Cleanse the church through the washing of water through the word. Jesus said you're clean by the word that I've spoken unto you. Look at Psalm 119 verse 9. " Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" How are we going to cleanse our way? He says, "by taking heed thereto according to thy word."
It's God's word that allows us to be washed in the blood because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We're saved by the word. The Bible says in Acts 11, "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God of his own will begat he us by the word of truth that we should be encountered. Verse fits up on the screen. It's the word that allows us to have a clean soul through the washing of the blood of Jesus Christ.
How do we clean up our mind? God's word will clean up your mind. Reading, studying and meditating on God's word. When dirty thoughts enter in, when impure and unclean thoughts enter in quote scripture. Get your mind cleaned up. Take heed to taking a clean way and a clean path through God's word. How do we get a clean body? By taking heed unto the principles that we read in God's word. By reading Leviticus and getting some obvious sometimes teaching that tells us let's be clean, let's be sanitary, let's bathe often. Let's bathe in these situations that are mentioned.
It's good wisdom, good knowledge. We ought to be a clean people as God's people. Clean today. Cleanliness is a virtue. I've heard the saying cleanliness is next to godliness. I'll take it a step further. Cleanliness is godliness. It's true, cleanliness is godliness. Obviously physical cleanliness is not enough but when we are clean in body, mind and spirit, that's godliness. Uncleanness is ungodliness. Put this in practice in your life. Some people might need that physical cleanness part, especially children need to learn these things. Whatever part of the sermon applies to you, get it in your mind. I want to be clean. I want the adjective clean to be something that describes me. As a Christian, if I want to be known by a certain adjective, I want to be clean.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father thank you so much for you word and it's cleansing power. Thank you for the cleansing power of your blood that cleanses our sins and washes our sins. Help us to be clean, help us to stay clean physically. Help us to stay clean mentally and help us to stay clean ... We don't have to stay clean spiritually. Thank God your blood has permanently cleansed us spiritually. Our souls are going to be clean for all eternity because we've been sealed unto the day of redemption. Thank you so much for your word. Help us to take heed unto it. In Jesus' name we ...
