"The Catalyst for Cleansing"
I John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
INTRODUCTION: Let me start this morning with the definition of the word catalyst. Encarta Dictionary defines this word as:
1. Chemical that accelerates chemical reaction
A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any change...
2. Stimulus to change
Somebody or something that makes a change happen or brings about an event...
Two things stand out in this definition. The catalyst makes a change happen without itself undergoing any change. That friends, is the blood of Jesus Christ.
I. The Agent of Cleansing
Notice as we begin our exposition of this passage that the agent of cleansing is "...the blood of Jesus Christ..." The songwriter asks the question "What can wash away my sin...and answers with...nothing but the blood of Jesus..." What do we know about this blood that cleanses us from sin?
a. It is an offering of blood
There is no way that we can rightly consider the offering of the blood of Jesus without taking into account that He is his Father's Son! God loved the world so much that He "...gave his only begotten Son..." John 3:16
This truth is found throughout the entire Bible, from the animals that Jehovah slew to prepare coats of skin to cover the guilty pair, to Abel's sacrifice, to Abrahams offering of a ram in Isaac's place, to the offering of the Pascal Lamb the night the death angel moved over Egypt, to the millions of animals offered in the Tabernacle/Temple worship and then finally to the one sacrifice that was made for all men and all sin in our Lord Jesus Christ, "...the just for the unjust...once for all."
b. There is the operation of the blood
Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
c. There is the object of the blood
This blood was shed for us, for our sin!
JESUS DIED FOR MARY TOO--Communion Meditation
Mark Lowry, a Christian comedian observed that Mary's silence at the cross always amazed him. If he were being crucified in the middle of town, his mother would have "Pitched a fit", but Mary never said a word. Lowry wondered if maybe what made the difference for her was remembering back to that 1st Christmas, remembering touching his little hands and feet and counting his fingers and toes.
On a serious note, Lowry says:
"I wonder if she realized then that those were the same fingers that had scooped out the oceans and formed the seas.
Mary probably counted those little toes- I wonder if she realized that those were the same feet that had walked on streets of gold and had been worshipped by angels.
Those little lips were the same lips that had spoken the world into existence.
When Mary kissed her little baby, she wasn't just kissing another baby - she was kissing the face of God.
33 years later she's standing on a hillside watching blood pour from His veins, from the side of her own son... and she didn't open her mouth. What a great testimony to the fact that
He wasn't just a great prophet
He wasn't just a great preacher
He wasn't just a great teacher
He was the virgin born son of God. He was our Savior.
And... He didn't just die for us, He died for His own mother.
The baby boy she had delivered on that 1st Christmas was now on a cross delivering her.
SOURCE: Jeff Strite, Church of Christ at Logansport, IN.
II. The Action of Cleansing
a. Our need
ILL - FREED FROM DEATH- COMMUNION MEDITATION
Paul Lee Tan writes about a horrible Roman practice:
"The Romans sometimes compelled a captive to be joined face-to-face with a dead body, and to bear it about until the horrible effluvia [vapors] destroyed the life of the living victim. Virgil describes this cruel punishment: 'The living and the dead at his command were coupled face to face, and hand to hand; Till choked with stench, in loathed embraces tied, The lingering wretches pined away and died.' Without Christ, we are shackled to a dead corpse--our sinfulness.
SOURCE: Paul Lee Tan's Encyclopedia Of 7700 Illustrations. Edited by Sermon Central staff.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
b. Our nature
We need to be cleansed from our sins because of our nature. The prophet Isaiah writes that "...there are none that doeth good..." and the apostle writes "there are none righteous, no not one..." and that "...all have sinned and come short of the glory of God..."
c. Our neglect
In the same passage Isaiah declared that "we all like sheep have gone astray..."
III. The Abundance of Cleansing
a. The scope of our sin
When we consider what sins we are cleansed from they fall into three basic groups. There are the sins of commission, there are the sins of omission and there are the sins of disposition but no matter what the nature of our sin, the blood of Christ cleanses from them all!
In John Gill's Exposition of the Bible he writes:
"...there is a pollution on human nature, which is original, natural, universal, and internal, and is such that nothing can remove but the blood of Christ; not ceremonial ablutions and sacrifices, nor moral duties, nor evangelical performances, or submission to Gospel ordinances, and particularly baptism, which is not the putting away the faith of the flesh; nor even the graces of the Spirit, no, not faith, no otherwise than as it has to do with this blood; for this cleansing is not to be understood of sanctification, for that more properly belongs to the Spirit of God, and besides, does not cleanse from all sin; for notwithstanding this, sin is in the saints: but either of the atonement of sin, by the sacrifice of Christ, and so of a complete justification from it by his blood, which is put for both his active and passive obedience, the one being finished in the other; or rather of the pardon of sin, procured by the blood of Christ, and the application of that blood to the conscience, which purges it from dead works, and which has a continued virtue in it for that purpose. Christ's blood, being applied by the Spirit of God, has been always cleansing from sin; it had this virtue in it, and was of this use, even before it was actually shed, to the Old Testament saints; whence Christ is said to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; and it has the same efficacy now as when first shed, and will have to the end of the world; and being sprinkled upon the conscience, by the Spirit of God, it takes away the sins of believers, and cleanses from them, as fast as the corruption of nature rises, or sins appear; and removes them out of their sight, and speaks peace to their souls; and which is owing, as to the dignity of Christ's person and the value of his sacrifice, so to his continual intercession, advocacy, and mediation; and which reaches to all sin, original and actual, secret and open sins; sins of heart, thought, lip, and life; sins of omission and commission, greater or lesser sins, committed against light and knowledge, grace and mercy, law and Gospel, all but the sin against the Holy Ghost."
b. The stain of our sin
Most cuts leave a scar, most blows will leave a mark, write of a pad and even though you throw away the top page there is still an impression on the pages underneath. Sin leaves a stain. The prophet Isaiah described it this way:
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
I heard an old preacher say one time that it was difficult to understand how God could take our black sins, apply red blood and make them as white as snow! Someone else said that it wasn't that difficult for God because He created brown cows to eat green grass and give white milk and yellow butter!
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
SIMPLE CONFESSION, PROFOUND FORGIVENESS
ILL - In 1818 one out of six women who had children died of something called "childbirth fever." A doctor's daily routine back then started in the dissecting room, where he performed autopsies, and from there he made his rounds to examine expectant mothers. No one even thought to wash his hands...at least not until a doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis began to practice strict hand washing. He was the very first doctor to associate a lack of hand washing with the huge fatality rate. Dr. Semmelweis only lost one in fifty, yet his colleagues laughed at him. Once he said, "Childbirth fever is caused by decomposed material conveyed to a wound...I have shown how it can be prevented. I have proven all that I've said. But while we talk, talk, talk, women are dying... I'm not asking for anything world shaking, only that you wash your hands." Yet virtually no one believed him.
And Jesus is not asking anything earth shaking from us. John writes, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We only need to confess our sins, to regularly wash our souls before God. It's essential. The failure to confess our sins will result in spiritual infection that will hinder our ability in the spiritual journey.
SOURCE: Timothy Peck. Citation: I John 1:9. http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/
cases/childbed_fever.htm
c. The sting of Sin
1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
ILL - One day a father and his daughter were out for a leisurely drive in the country. It was a hot summer day and the windows were rolled down. Suddenly the daughter began screaming and fidgeting in her seat. A bee had just flown inside the car through the open window. This would not have been a problem for most children, but for this little girl, it was a problem. You see, this girl was very allergic to bee stings. In fact, even one sting could send her into a coma. As the girl was flailing her arms around, the father quickly pulled over to the side of the road, then calmly reached over and held his daughter's arms down. Then, he himself, with his big and strong hands, caught the mad bumblebee. The bee promptly stung the man, and he threw the bee out the window. The girl, still in hysterics and in tears, was unable to calm down. The loving father reached over and held her. And he whispered these words in her ears: "It's OK. It won't hurt you now. I took the sting for you." (source unknown)
Conclusion: THE CHANGE YOU OWE TO JESUS
John Wesley was a popular evangelist in early America and often rode from one church to another to preach. On one such journey, stopped by a highwayman who shouted, "Halt, your money or your life." Wesley got down from his horse, emptied his pockets to reveal only a handful of coins. He even invited the robber to search his saddlebags - which only carried his books. In disgust, the thief was turning away when John Wesley cried "Stop, I have something more to give you." Puzzled, the robber turned back. Wesley then leaned towards him and said "My friend, you may live to regret this sort of life in which you are engaged. If you ever do, I beseech you to remember this: 'The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin.'" The robber hurried silently away, but Wesley got back on his horse & rode on his way praying in his heart that the word might be fixed in the robber's conscience.
Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service, a stranger stepped forward and earnestly begged to speak with John Wesley. Wesley recognized him as the robber who had stolen from him so long before, but now he was a well to do tradesman and better still, a child of God. Raising Wesley's hand to his lips he affectionately kissed it and sad in deep emotion, "To you, dear sir, I owe it all." Wesley replied softly, "Nay, nay, my friend, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanses us from all sin."
FORGIVE AND FORGET
ILL - There's a wonderful story about the cardinal of the Philippines, named, oddly enough, Cardinal Sin. When Cardinal Sin was a bishop, a young woman in his parish claimed that she had visions of Jesus. Bishop Sin was given the task of determining if these visions were authentic. He called her in for an interview, after which he made this request: "Daughter, the next time you see Jesus, would you ask Him what sin your bishop committed as a young priest and then come and tell me His answer." She agreed. The bishop, aware that nobody knew his sin except himself, his confessor, and Jesus, felt this would be a valid test.
Months later the young woman returned, reporting she had seen Jesus again. The bishop said, "Good. Did you ask Him about my sin?"
She said, "Yes,"
"What did He say?"
"He said, 'I've forgotten.'"
