Ephesians 5:26-27 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” You can probably see where I am goibng with this just by the title of the message, but please bear with me for a few minutes it takes you to read this in it entirity. This is a very important topic especially for today. The Chruch has allowed the thinking of the world to creap into its ideals and God wants purity not inclusiveness.
We are the living representatives, ambassadors, if you please, of the greatest kingdom the world has ever heard of. It is so fantastic that people have a hard time believing it to be true, especially when they see professed Christians condoning things that are Biblically condemned.
The World view of the Chruch is that God loves everyone and while that is true let me give you Gods true view of mankind. God does indeed love even the sinners of the world, but His purity condemns the sin itself. In simple terms, God loves the sinner but hates the sin.
Let’s define sin. Sin is regarded in Judaism and Christianity as the deliberate and purposeful violation of the will of God. God in relationship with the church does not want to include the world or its thoughts about what God is or wants. You see, we have a Book that tells us exactly what God desires for us. lThessalonians4:7 “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”
OK, let’s define holiness. Holiness is a state of purity, that is, being without sin. God’s Word defines our role in this life in respect to holiness. 1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” What Peter wrote to us is in reference to Leveticus 11 which was written in the 7th century B.C. Leveticus 11:44 “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Why did God give such a detailed account of His Will and Way for Israel? He wanted them to be completely different from the extremely evil pagan nations around them. Some of the laws promoted good health, some kept them from immoral practices, others taught lessons about holiness and others prevented them from doing anything that resembled an idolatrous practice, (copied) Do you think God has somehow changed His mind about wanting Holyiness in his people? We are so “into” the world and its way of living that most Christians don’t even consider themselves to be spotted or wrinkled. Yet it is not God who has changed the expectations for Christians, it is the world creaping into the church.
Satan is playing the long game. What that means is a term used by Grifters in setting up their pigeons. The long game is one who follows a long-term strategy. You see, Satan is an eternal being and does not need to do things quickly. If he can change God’s preceived Word a little here and a little there, he is winning the battle for unrighteousess.
Our way to defeat this takes some diligents on our part. Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” Knowledge does not come overnight. The Bible is clear that it is taught precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little. That is why Paul wrote to Timothy to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15 .
Now most Christians today want someone else to do their studying for them. They hire a minister to teach in their church building. It relieves them of the necessity to study for themselves, yet precept is built upon precept. Nothing replaces individual study.
Here is a truth: God seeks men who will seek Him. 2Chronicles 30:19 “That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.”
The times of slaying bulls andd goats is past. We cannot cleanse our way as the Old Testament tells us of cleansing. We live in a different age, yet God is still God and God still hates sin.
Psalms 119:9 BETH. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
It all comes back to the Word for a very good reason.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Wrinkles and spots are unconfessed sins. Christian, are you wrinkled?
