First Epistle of John: Lesson Eleven

"He who covers his sins will not prosper,

But whoever confesses and forsakes

them will have mercy."

Proverbs 28:13

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Good day! Let's seek the Lord......

"Holy Father God in heaven, today as we look at forgiveness and cleansing in Your word, I pray that You will be glorified. I pray that I will see You as who You really are: merciful. I thank You for Your mercy and how great it is toward sinners like me.

I seek forgiveness and cleansing of my sins today, Lord. I pray that You will cleanse me and renew me and make me whole again so that I can be used by You.

I pray for each lady reading this study here today. I pray that she will come to a full understanding of what Your cleansing is and what it means to be wrapped in Your mercy. I pray for her week that she will walk with You and seek you earnestly each day. I pray that You will walk with her and encourage her each day.

in Jesus' name......amen."

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Today I want us to look at the concept of cleansing in scripture. We looked last time at what the Propitiation for our sins meant and that Jesus is our Advocate, so today I think it will be fitting to look at what John means when he writes:

1 John 1:9

"..He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Many times, we as Christians, want to be used by God so we volunteer at church for services like teaching the little children, or women's ministries, etc. But because we get so wrapped up in the excitement of being used by God at church that we often times forget that there are certain requirements that need to be met before we serve a holy God:

Please read:

1 Pet 4:17

1 Pet 1:15-16

The Greek word for "holy" is hagios and it means "to be set apart." In order to be holy like God, we must be without sin. But if we are sinless, then that makes us equal to God....and that cannot be. So, what is it that we must do?

Sin separates us from our Lord. It contaminates us just like a disease wreaks havoc on our bodies. It may not be apparent at first, but then it slowly begins to eat us up inside. Soon it takes over our lives and begins to manifest itself on the outside.

In order to be in service to God, that sin must be dealt with. God cannot look upon sin. He is perfect, pure, and holy.

So, what has to be done? Cleansing....

Please read:

Is 6:1-3

Here we have Isaiah coming before the holy God in a vision. He sees the Lord's train filling the Temple. Imagine this! The Temple was 7 stories high and could hold about 100,000 people. And the LORD's train filled the Temple!!

Then he saw the seraphim who were in the presence of the Lord, yet they were protected from God's holiness:

• 
  
  Their wings covered their face


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  their feet


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  and lifted them up off the floor

We see that the Lord provided a way for these creatures to be in His presence without defiling His holiness and without them being consumed by His wrath.

Is 6:4-5

Upon seeing and hearing the sights and sounds, Isaiah is stricken....he comes to realize who he is before a holy God. A sinner great with sin.

Is 6:6-13

When isaiah is confronted with his sin, he cries out and confesses it before the Lord. Only then does the Lord act. The seraphim takes away the sins of Isaiah and it is painful.

"...Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, And your sin is purged (atoned for...)."

Only then does Isaiah hear the voice of the Lord and only then does the holy God of Israel speak to this humble servant.

Now Isaiah is ready to be used by God!

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1 John 2:3-4

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

There is a very good reason God convicts us of our sins: to prepare us.

God doesn't need us to get His works done, but He wants to use us so that we receive His blessings and prosper.

Please read:

Prov 28:13

Remember that when God shows you your sins, it is not for the purpose of tormenting you. That is what Satan does.

God's purpose in showing you your sins is to bring you to a place where you feel the same way about sin as He does. Just like Isaiah did! Contrast that with Adam and Eve.

Remember how Adam and Eve reacted to their sins being discovered:

Gen 3:7-10

Confronted, the two hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.

Heb 12:11

It was painful for Isaiah to have his sins purged and it is painful for us today as well. BUT here we are promised that this purging yields the "peaceful fruit of righteousness."

This purging, cleansing, prepares us to be used by God. And that is what John wants us to know in First John.

We can know we are believers! We can know who isn't a believer.....all by looking at the "fruit."

Is it peaceful fruit of righteousness that comes with purging of sin? Or is it that lack of peace and the strife that comes with holding on to sin in one's life?

If you know someone who claims to be a believer, but you have your doubts, 1 John was written that you may know. You can tell if someone is a believer by their obedience or lack of obedience.

1 John 2:3-4

If you keep His commandments, then you are in obedience and truly know the Lord. And one of those commandments is to be cleanse daily from sin.

When we look at other believers around us, we find comfort when we see their obedience. Even if it brings conviction of sin upon us, we still find comfort because we are being held accountable and they are being held accountable to us.

But it can be so disheartening to be around someone who claims to be a Christian and yet is in a sinful lifestyle or clearly is in disobedience. All of us have been around Christians like this. It is heartbreaking for sure.

Please read:

1 Cor 6:9-10

We are not to be deceived! If these Christians have no remorse, conviction of sin when they are in the presence of God's word...then are they truly believers?

I know that when I walked in the darkness of sexual sin, I was often overcome with conviction and guilt when I attended church or when I was around my Christian roommates. So much so, that I stopped attending church altogether! At the time it was excruciatingly painful, but now I can see that it meant I was a believer and that the Lord was protecting the other Christians from being defiled by my sins:

1 Cor 15:33-34

It took years, but the Lord brought me to that place where I finally agreed with Him about my sins.

Ps 139:23-24

John 3:21

Pray these verses out loud today in your quiet time. God will hear you! If there is any cleansing that you need today, take it to the Lord. Let Him deal with you sin so you can be used by Him at all times.

(First John, 2001, Precept Ministries, used by permission)

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Life Application

When I took the full time teaching job at Nathan's school, I felt really good about helping a friend. But then all these bad things began to happen:

• I broke my toe
• Nathan got sick
• The parents of the students began to harrass me
• My students were acting terribly
• My marathon training had come to a halt

I would go home and just cry from the emotional exhaustion. I thought for sure I was in sin. I knew I had not asked my husband about my taking this position, so I confessed my sin before the Lord. I just knew I was in sin because so many things had gone wrong the moment I took the job!

Then, the teacher whose job I was subbing for called me one day. In her voice was so much gratitude and love. She said, "Thank you so much for helping me. You have no idea how much this means to me..." I could hear it in her voice that my being there was truly helping her so much.

After I hung up the phone I thanked the Lord because I knew that He knew I needed to hear some confirmation and affirmation about what I was doing since I was being "kicked" so much. I really felt beat up until I heard this teacher's voice. I could almost hear the Lord saying:

"See? What you are doing is serving Me....it is hard because I let Satan attack you, but I am always with you and I will get you through this because what you are doing is pleasing to Me."

Sometimes it is very hard to serve the Lord! He allows us to be attacked and He sets up obstacles in our way......but that is ok. It only make the reward all the sweeter at the end of the journey.

Take some time today to really look at yourself. How is your Temple of the Lord?

Is your body God's temple?

Does He really live inside of you?

Are you taking proper care of His temple?

Are you eating nutritionally?

Are you getting enough rest?

Are you casting all your cares upon God?

Do you dress in a pleasing way to the Lord?

Do you practice cleanliness?

Are you placing bad things before your eyes?

Are you wondering what all this has to do with holiness?

Please read:

1 Cor 10:31

1 Cor 6:19

Ps 29:9

Remember that to be used by God is a great and rewarding thing, but we cannot be used by a holy God unless we deal with our sins. Take some time today to deal with your sins. Look at yourself outside and inside.

Is there any burdens you and your family are going through that seem to be "out of left field"? Perhaps there is sin in your life that is causing this. Pray for your husband right now as well. Ask the Lord to convict him of his sins and to keep him in God's word daily.

John wants us to know who we are in Christ so he provided a way for us to know: keep His commandments.....keep the truth of God's word in you.

Then that "fruit of peace in righteousness" will cover you and satisfy you and your joy will be complete.

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Until next time.....

"The Apostle Paul experienced Christ as the essence and goal of his entire life. 'I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord', he says, and then adds that he yearns to be found in Christ that he 'may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings' (Phil 3:8,10). This kind of knowledge does not come from mere observation or instruction. We need an experential knowledge of being crucified and raised with Christ."

-Dr. Joel Beeke (The Epistles of John, 2006, p. 59)

Blessings,

Ruth