From late-night, insomnia-driven infomercials to risque nude shower commercials, we are bombarded with the marketing mantra of cleaners claims as they try to siphon money out of our wallet. Listen to a few examples of these messages that have been rehearsed into our memory:
New Ultra Clorox bleach has an unbeatable whitening formula that gets even your dirtiest clothes white. . .
Clorox 2 removes stains and dirt on colors. . .Color safe bleach taht is specially formulated to help brighten your clothes. . .to keep clothes looking like new. . .
For real cleaning power, choose the power of Pine Sol, the smell of clean.
Softscrub is tough on kitchen grease, bathroom soil, mildew stains, and soap scum. . .solvingyour toughest cleaning problems without harming your surfaces
Tilex is specially formulated to dissolve soap scum on contact, without any scrubbing.
Palmolive . . . Tough on grease, soft on hands.
For over 120 years, one name has meant pure, one name has meant clean. . .Pure Ivory, 99.44% pure.
Dial Soap. . .You’re not as clean as you think. . .Aren’t you glad you use dial?
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Crest. . .Get the clean feeling of dentist. . .it’s gentle on tooth enamel, while removing surface stains to whiten teeth.
Oxiclean, the STAIN SPECIALIST. The multipurpose stain remover attacks organic stains and ordors . . .This revolutionary stain remover harnesses the awesome cleaning power of oxygen bubbles to quickly devour stains, without chlorine bleach.
Discover the Secret. Unleash the Power. Tiles and Carpets? Just like new. Kitchens and bathrooms? Smelling fresh. Windows? Crystal clear. Even the garage is free of grease. At Orange Glo we dream of and create great cleaners that give you real power and real results all around your home. UNLIKE OTHERS, our cleaning products work with PURE INGREDIENTS such as orange oil, a natural solvent, or simple oxygen, which unlocks and removes stains. They are powerful, healthy products that will transform your home.
Do we really believe these messages? Do these hyped advertisements convince us of a products ability? Or do we know that there is some element of "trickery" when we see that infomercial demo a products "magic? See, for instance, how Brian Hall can, before your eyes, cleanse the ink off of a card.
Why don’t we hear or see advertisement which focuses on the products inability? You know, like the prescription drug commercials that tell you that this wonderful anti-depression or allergy medicine has a side effect of seizures, brain-tumors, incontinence, or it makes you incredibly fat.
We don’t hear those advertisements, but we know they are true.
• Palmolive won’t touch that 3-day old lasagna pan that you allowed to harden like a crustacean.
• Don’t tell me you, clueless husband, attempted to use an SOS pad to clean hard to remove food and paint, from your wife’s stove.
• Yes the bleach took the stain off of the carpet before your wife got home to notice, unfortunately it removed the color as well.
• Dial Soap’s cleansing loses its effect on the 2nd or 3rd day after use. Must be re-used daily or you’ll begin to stink.
You get the idea. I say all of this to put in context our passage of Scripture that talks about cleansing. Let me first put it into historical and cultural context by pointing out that our current society’s fixation on clean healthy hygiene is a modern trend.
Up to 150 years ago, it was unheard of in any society to bathe more than weekly. In fact, entire European palaces were built without one place to bathe. One European historian speculated that the King James, whom our Bible translation is named from, went from cradle to grave without taking a bath. Perfumes were used in lieu of bathing.
So when the author of our text discusses cleansing, it must be in the context of religious, ceremonial cleansing, because his audience would be unfamiliar with the oral and physical hygiene that are common to the majority of us, with the exception of brother Ian.
The text is demonstrating the superior cleansing power of Christ’s forgiveness over every other cleansing known to the audience. For us to understand the point being driven here, we must first know some basic Biblical truths.
1. Humanity is essentially evil and not good.
Despite the predominance of humanistic and optimistic views the Bible asserts that man, at our core, has a proclivity toward darkness and evil. Consider the depravity of sin to which men have sunk in evil historical figures like Hitler, Napolean, Stalin, Genghis Khan, and Charles Manson. The escalation of men’s sinfulness has reached unimaginable heights as these men have bathed their lives in the blood of innocent thousands and millions. Consider the darkness that overwhelms a teenagers heart as they go into their sleeping parents and dice their bodies into small pieces. Understand the horrid blackness that would fill a man’s heart to cause him to joyfully hijack a plane as he sacrifices his life, and the lives of thousands of innocent, unknown fathers, mothers and children.
Realize the unthinkable twisted perversions that captivate a man’s mind as forcibly rapes women and children. Consider the gross anger and violence that seize a man as he would abuse his wife and children. Consider the hate that fills a man’s heart to cause him to despise and mistreat another man because of the color of his skin or the language of his tongue. Understand the evil imaginations of men that have stirred hearts to think of weapons of mass destruction and toys of mass seduction. These are all evidences of the sinful nature that controls our depraved human race.
But I know what you are thinking now. You are thinking, I’m pretty good. I’ve never beaten anyone, stole from anyone, or murdered anyone. Let me point you to the spiritual implications of that DIAL commercial, "You’re not as clean as you think."
Jeremiah 17:9 states "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" You may not have done evil, but you have pondered it.
(Matthew 5:21-22) Jesus says: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire"
(Matthew 5:27-28) Jesus also says: "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."
YOU’RE NOT AS CLEAN AS YOU THINK!
ILLUSTRATION: Tomato plants are staked and green bean vines are wrapped around corn stalks to give them guidance.
Prov 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Prov 23:14 "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
ILLUSTRATION: You don’t have to teach your child to be selfish, to lie, to cheat. They are evil by nature and correction and guidance will teach them to suppress their evil tendencies.
2. Christ’s blood is the only cleansing and forgiveness from sin.
There is a cure for the blackest of hearts, the vilest of sins, the most treacherous of crimes. You need forgiveness, and Christ will forgive YOU!
Jesus exclaims to the all-inclusive power of his forgiveness:
Matt 12:31 "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men:"
And Isaiah resounds this truth ever-so-beautifully:
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.
The old hymn of the church exclaims:
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in His day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved to sin no more.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme
And shall be till I die.
3. It is Simple to receive Christ’s forgiveness
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Romans 10:8-11 "But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
