Renewed Minds, Hungry Hearts, and Clean Hands

Thank you, thank you. They take opinion polls these days on almost any topic. Sometimes they phone you at the wrong time of the day to ask if you'll go through 250 questions with them.

But I wish that Barna or somebody would do a little survey on what people think is the most expensive thing in the world. I suppose the answers would depend on where you live and perhaps how much you earn. But actually the most expensive things in the world as I see it cannot be measured financially.

This may sound strange to you, but I've come to the conclusion that the two most expensive things in the world are salvation and sin. And of course they go together. Sin is costly.

Sin is not a word in the dictionary. Sin is a force in this world that is destructive. And when we sin, we defile ourselves and we cheapen ourselves.

You ever visit the basement of a department store where they have the bargain? And so often you will see on a table kind of a mixture of clothing, merchandise, with a sign that says, slightly soiled, greatly reduced in price. You can hang that sign around some of our necks. Slightly soiled, greatly reduced in price.

Sin is destructive. Salvation is expensive. The blood of Jesus Christ had to be shed before God could forgive my sins.

Now, I think it's the desire of every person here to live a clean life. I don't think anyone ever gets up in the morning and says, today I'm going to make a mess out of things. Some folks don't have to determine that, they just sort of do it naturally, which is unfortunate because when sin becomes natural to us, what is natural ceases to be natural.

We don't use our natural gifts the way we should. You sow a desire and you reap an action. And you sow an action and you reap a habit.

And you sow a habit and you reap a character. And you sow a character and you reap a destiny. Now, there are three statements in the Bible that have helped me and some other people, and I think will help you in this whole matter of just being clean vessels for the Lord to use.

Renewed minds through which he can think. Hearts hungry for righteousness. Hands that are clean.

And these three statements may help you. And so, let's look at them. The first is in Psalm 51.

It's a prayer for us to pray. In fact, so important is this prayer, it's found twice. It's found in verse 2 of Psalm 51 and it's found in verse 7 of Psalm 51.

Two words. A prayer for us to pray if we want to live clean lives. Wash me.

David prays that in verse 2. He prays it in verse 7. I don't have to tell you the background of Psalm 51. You know it. But Psalm 51, David's prayer of repentance and confession after his affair with Bathsheba, murdering Bathsheba's husband and lying about it for a year.

His prayer of confession reveals to us how expensive sin really is. It affected every part of his being. Sin is not neutral.

It's destructive. You notice in verse 3, something happened to David's eyes. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.

We call that a guilty conscience. David had remarkable eyes. I just finished doing a commentary on the book of Psalms.

I fell so in love with David. What a writer. What a poet.

What a soldier. To think that all of these difficult experiences he went through with Saul and with the Philistines. My.

And then he wrote these songs. I wouldn't be writing songs. I'd be making a list of all my gripes.

But he wrote this beautiful poetry. One day he was in a cave and a rainstorm came. And he describes in this psalm seven times the voice of the Lord is thundering.

The voice of the Lord. I would hear thunder. He heard the voice of the Lord.

And wherever David looked, he saw God. He looked at the sheep and said, the Lord is my shepherd. He looked at the cave he was hiding in and said, the Lord is my fortress and my rock.

My high tower. Why shall I be afraid? He saw the river and he said, there's a river that makes glad the city of God. Oh, help me to drink of the river of your pleasures.

Wherever David looked, he saw God. Now, wherever David looked, he saw his sin. And he was wondering, who knows? Sin affects our eyes.

Verse six, sin affects our mind. Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being. And in the hidden part, you will make me to know wisdom.

Truth leads to wisdom. And God wants us to have truth in the inner being. If we don't, then our lives are not being guided by truth.

But something happened to David's mind. He couldn't think straight. David, in his right mind, would not have done the things he did.

This is going to sound strange to some of you, but it's true. An unbeliever can make better decisions sometimes than a Christian who's out of fellowship with God. I have seen and I have experienced dumb decisions because sin affects the mind.

Verse eight, something happened to David's ears. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have broken rejoice.

David was a musician. What a weird combination. What a man.

A warrior, unafraid. At the age of 16, he killed a giant. A builder.

An administrator. A musician. He'd take up his harp and write a song.

A poet. What a man. But now something had happened to his ears, and he didn't hear the music anymore.

The choir was flat. The soloist was not good. He didn't hear the music of God.

He didn't hear the voice of God. Something happened to his ears. I sometimes think that the supercritical people in some of our churches, something's wrong with their ears.

They need to be cleaned out. I must confess to you that I have physically ear problems. They used to irrigate my ears to get rid of the whatever was in there.

For some reason, I can grow wax, but I can't grow hair. But I had a new experience a few weeks ago. I went to a different ear specialist, a very fine Christian man.

And you know what he did? He vacuumed my ears. I'm not making this up. It's kind of hard to lie on the floor, but he vacuumed.

He had this machine. And it helped. But something happened to David's ears.

He didn't hear the laughter of the children. He didn't hear the words of the psalm. That's what sin does to us.

Verse 10, something happened to his heart. Created me a clean heart. Oh, God.

He had a dirty heart. You say, what's wrong with a dirty heart? Well, my Bible says, guard your heart with all diligence. Out of it come the issues of life.

If you don't brush your teeth, it might not wreck your character. You might lose a few friends, but it might not wreck your character. If you don't comb your hair, it won't wreck your character.

But we allow our hearts to get dirty. Everything is going to be dirty. Something happened to his heart.

Something happened to his spirit. That is, the inner spirit of enthusiasm and enjoyment and serving God. He said, renew a steadfast spirit within me.

There was a time when you could depend on David. He was steadfast, but now you couldn't. He was vacillating.

He was spending more time covering up than serving God. Something happened to his heart, and something happened to his spirit, and something happened to his fellowship. Do not cast me away from your presence.

Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Now, Jesus said the Holy Spirit abides with us forever, and so God will not remove his Holy Spirit from us. But back in David's day, the Spirit of God came on people for power, and the Spirit of God left King Saul.

He remembered that. David remembered that, that King Saul had once been endued with the Spirit's power, and then God took away the Holy Spirit. And David said, please don't do that to me.

I miss your presence. It's a sad thing to go through a day feeling very alone. Something happened to David's fellowship.

Something happened to his joy. Verse 12, restore to me the joy of your salvation. Now, he didn't say restore your salvation.

He said, restore the joy of your salvation. Some people do not enjoy salvation because the more we walk in the light, the more we walk in the holy path of God, the more joy there is. Joy is not happiness.

Happiness depends upon happenings on the outside. Joy depends upon character and fellowship on the inside. David lost his joy.

I tell you, you lose your joy. Why live? Sun comes up in the morning, and David used to say, Lord, when that sun comes up, I'm up singing. I'm singing.

Now, some of us have a rough time getting up singing. I know that. We're all different.

But now David didn't wake up singing. He'd wake up and say, oh, my bones, my bones. I wonder if I can make it today.

Something happened to his joy. And sad to say, in verses 13 through 15, something happened to his mouth. See, David's mouth was very important to him.

With it, he issued orders for administration. With it, he shared strategy for his military people. With it, he sang praises to God.

With it, he taught people about the Lord. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted to you. Ah, but until he's cleansed, there's not much witness.

He can't really talk about the Lord. Then, says verse 14, my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. He lost his song.

Oh, Lord, open my lips. He had lockjaw. Sin closes our mouths.

Paul wrote to the Romans and said, every mouth shall be stopped. And David's mouth was closed. Oh, Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise.

The high cost of sinning. So there's a prayer for us to pray. Wash me.

The New Testament version of that you know so well. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, God did wash David.

David said three words, and everything turned around. He looked at his pastor and said, I have sinned. And his pastor said, the Lord has put away your sin.

You will not die. Wash me. There's a prayer for us to pray.

But don't stop there. If we're going to walk in the way of holiness, if we're going to do what God says seven times in the book of Leviticus and once in 1 Peter, that's eight times be holy for I am holy. If there's anything repeated eight times in the Bible, we ought to pay attention to it.

If our life is to be a life of being clean and holy, not only is there a prayer for us to pray, but there is a command for us to obey. Isaiah chapter one, verse 16. Once again, two words, but it doesn't say wash me.

God is speaking and he says to his people, wash yourselves. I won't read Isaiah chapter one. It's a sad chapter.

It's so sad. In Isaiah's day, the people were flocking to the temple. They were bringing sacrifices.

The budget was being met. Crowds in the temple. And God says in Isaiah chapter one, I hate your offerings.

Don't bring any more of those sacrifices. Your hands are filthy. I've heard what you say in private.

I've seen what you do in private. I'm not impressed with your crowds. I'm not impressed with your solemn meetings.

Wash yourselves. Now, Paul may have had this passage in mind when he wrote second Corinthians chapter six. I invite you to turn there.

Second Corinthians chapter six, starting at verse 17, Paul talks about godly living. Second Corinthians chapter six, verse 14. Do not be bound together, yoked together with unbelievers.

That doesn't mean isolation. That means separation. Big difference.

Christians must not be isolated from unbelievers. You know why? Unbelievers need us. They may not like us.

They may think we're nuts, but unbelievers need us. But we must be very careful in our relationship with this world not to be defiled. And so he says, don't be bound together with unbelievers.

What partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What a contrast. When God looks at people, he doesn't see various shades of gray. He just sees light and darkness.

What harmony, that's a musical term. What symphony has Christ with Belial, with the devil? The devil's crowd is following the wrong conductor. They're reading the wrong score.

What has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. Just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God.

They shall be my people. What a tremendous thing. I read in Genesis that Enoch walked with God.

And I read that Abraham walked with God. And that Noah walked with God. All through Genesis, God is walking with people.

You get to Exodus, God says, I think I'll stop walking with them and I think I'll start dwelling with them. Build me a tabernacle. And the only nation in the world that had God dwelling among them was Israel.

They dedicated the tabernacle and God moved in. Dedicated the temple, God moved in. Now, we are the temple of God.

Collectively, each local church. Yes, our bodies are God's temple. But each local church is a temple of God.

If they're true to God. If they preach the gospel. If they seek to do God's will.

And so God says, I'm going to dwell among you people. I'm going to walk up and down these aisles. I'm going to listen to the choir sing.

I'm going to watch the musicians. What a tremendous thing. Now, there's a therefore attached to this.

If I want the privilege of being a part of a fellowship where God is there, therefore come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. And I will welcome you and I will be a father to you.

And you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Verse one is a command for us to obey.

Now, it's a tremendously interesting verse because it balances two sides. He says, now, there are sins of the flesh and there are sins of the spirit. We must cleanse ourselves.

That's negative. And then perfect holiness. That's positive.

And we must do it because of love, having these promises, dearly beloved, and fear, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now, we need to stay in balance. There are sins of the flesh and there are sins of the spirit.

There are prodigal sons and there are elder brothers. The elder brother would not have thought of wasting his father's money. He would not have dreamed of going to the far country and living with prostitutes and drunks.

He wouldn't have thought of it. But he was so mean and so critical, so unkind and unforgiving, nobody could live with him. There are folks here tonight who perhaps are just greatly offended.

If anybody would suggest that they would do something lascivious, get wallowing around in the muck of the world, they'd be offended. They're not guilty of sins of the flesh. But what about sins of the spirit, like anger and losing our temper and being hypercritical and impatient? So he says, let's cleanse ourselves, not just of sins of the flesh.

God can cleanse those sins. He did for David, but also sins of the spirit. He says, now we should do this because we love God.

He's given us these promises. I will be a father to you. Now, it's one thing to be a father.

It's quite something else to be able to be a father to your children. Sometimes children don't let the father be a father. The prodigal son did not let his father really be a father.

It wasn't until the boy came back home that he realized what a wonderful person his father really was. And my father in heaven wants to be a father to me. He wants to listen to my troubles.

He wants to encourage me. He wants to teach me. He wants to protect me.

He wants to provide for me. And sometimes I won't let him. So my motive for cleansing myself from sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit is because of the promise God's given to us.

I want to be your father. But there's also the fear of God, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. People don't fear God today.

They don't fear a policeman today. I can get my friend down at City Hall to take care of that ticket. Betty and I were ministering in England many years ago.

In England, by the way, when you get your driver's license, you've got something. There's a big kind of a leather book with your license in there, and you keep it for life, I believe. And this one fellow I heard about used to keep a 20-pound note in his driver's license folder, just 20 pounds.

Today that would be, what, $30, $35. And he was stopped one day on A1 or A2, one of those fast-moving highways over in Britain. And the policeman said, I'd like to see your license, please.

And so the fellow handed him his license. He opened it up, and there's that 20-pound note. Now, I know some cities in Chicago where that would get you off.

Chicago and possibly in New York City. I can think of some cities. I was approached by a policeman in Chicago.

He asked me, he said, well, do you have any money? Now, they all aren't like that. If you've got a friend up there who's a cop, don't tell him. But it happened to me.

And the cop said, is this your 20-pound note? Because he knew why it was there. The man said, well, no. Well, he said, it's not mine.

So he ripped it up. That took care of that. We don't fear the police.

We don't fear the judge. But we better fear God. The fear of the Lord is what? The beginning of wisdom.

I feared my father, not because he was mean, but because he had authority. He had the fastest belt in Indiana. And I usually deserved it.

And so he's saying, look, I want you to realize you've got sins of the flesh, but if you're not guilty of that, what about sins of the spirit? I want you to realize that you should cleanse yourself because God loves you, and he's giving you these promises, and because God is God. And you better fear him. The Lord will give to his children many privileges.

He will not give us the privilege of sinning. Charles Spurgeon said in one of his sermons, I wish I could find which one it was. I haven't found it yet, but it's there.

Charles Spurgeon said in one of his sermons, the Lord does not permit his children to sin successfully. And he doesn't. So we must cleanse ourselves.

That means I've got to clean out my video library. I have to clean out my magazine rack. I have to clean out my book library.

I've got to watch where I go on the Internet. I have to cleanse myself. God is not going to send an angel down.

But don't stop there. Perfecting holiness, that's positive in the fear of God. You see, it isn't enough just to stop doing bad things.

I've got to start cultivating doing good things. Perhaps I've told you about the man in Scotland. And almost every church has a man like this who ends every one of his prayers the same way.

And dear Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life. Wednesday night, Sunday morning, whatever. Dear Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life.

One of the men in the church got kind of tired of hearing that. So one day when the fellow had prayed, Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life, the man stood up and said, Lord, while you're at it, kill the spider. Let us cleanse ourselves.

God's not going to do it for you. You confess your sins, he'll forgive. But if there's something in my life that's defiling me, I've got to get rid of it.

A prayer for us to pray, wash me. A command for us to obey, wash yourselves. Now John chapter 13, there's an example for us to follow.

John 13, Jesus washed his disciples' feet. And he said in verse 12, do you know what I have done to you? John 13, 13, you call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the teacher, wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet, for I gave you an example, not an ordinance.

Not a church ordinance. I've given you an example that you also should do as I do to you. Now, what does he mean by washing feet? Well, we all know that back in Jesus' day, they didn't have shoes such as we wear.

They wore sandals or no shoes at all. Feet get dirty, you go to someone's house and your feet have to be washed. Unwashed feet not only smell and are ugly, but they can get infected.

I'm diabetic, and my doctor pays very close attention to my feet. That's where diabetics can have lots of trouble. And so Jesus washed their feet.

Now, what did he mean by this? Did it mean he washed their sins? No, no, no, no. That's done by the blood of Jesus. In washing their feet, he was ministering to them.

Not one of the apostles volunteered to do it, so Jesus did it. He said, now, I'm the Lord and I'm the teacher, and if I can get down and wash your feet, you should do this to one another. And so we have wash me, wash yourselves, wash one another.

Are people cleaner after they've been with you? You know, there's some friends that I have in the Lord who are so refreshing. They're just so refreshing. I can talk to them on the phone, and it's just like going to a revival meeting.

They're just refreshing. And my feet are cleansed. Do you help people stay clean? Wash one another's feet.

That's a humbling thing. You see, we want others to serve us. We Americans live on a thing called entitlement.

I'm entitled to a parking place close to the door. I'm entitled to being at the front of the line. No, we're not.

We're part of a big country, and you may not get to the front of the line. I hate parking lots. If there are parking lots in heaven, I will demand in-and-out privileges because I don't like parking lots.

And there's one parking lot in Lincoln, Nebraska, that I utterly despise. It's by one of the substations of the post office. And the way people drive there, it's abominable.

I'm entitled. No, you're not. People are people, and life is life.

We want others to serve us, but we don't serve others. That's why it's so important to walk with God, because you never know when you're going to meet somebody who's limping because his feet, her feet, need washing. And somebody calls you up with a problem, and the baby's crying, and the dog buried the Volkswagen, and, well, I've got my troubles, too.

Oh, no, no, no, no, wash their feet. Total strangers phone me, and some of them holler at me. I don't like you said this or you wrote this.

And it'd be easy to say, well, that's fine, you know, and hang up. I'll say, well, let's just pray about it right now. And before long, they kind of calm down.

They have a chance to wash their feet. But not only should we wash one another's feet, but in Acts chapter 16, do you remember when the jailer got saved, what he did? When the jailer got saved in Philippi, he went and got some water, and he called out Paul and Silas, and my Bible says he washed their wounds. If ever a man was really born again, it was that man.

He had whipped them, and they were innocent. And at midnight, that man says, I'm sorry I did this. I've got Jesus in my heart now, and I know I shouldn't have done that.

Thank you for being so kind and patient. Let me wash your wounds. Have you ever washed wounds? I was saved at the age of, I was almost 16.

My church that I'd grown up in, in fact, my great-grandfather founded the church, they were very happy. They welcomed me and tried to find things for me to do because I wanted to go into the ministry. But then they called a pastor who was very anti-Youth for Christ.

I'd been saved in a Youth for Christ rally where Billy Graham was preaching, and he didn't want the church cooperating, and I got angry at that. I was saved in Youth for Christ. He didn't like that.

And so, with my vast knowledge and great wisdom, I decided to go someplace else, and I did. Now, God in his providence overruled this, but it bothered me. It bothered me.

And I remember the day I got on the bus, went across town, got out, went to his apartment, knocked on the door, he opened the door, and I washed the wounds. Told him I was sorry. And graciously, he accepted, and we prayed together, and that was it.

You know, it's easy to wound people. It's hard to wash the wounds. But God says to us, now you follow the example that Jesus gave you.

Wash people's feet. Be a blessing to them. Keep them clean.

And wash whatever wounds. You know what happens to wounds that aren't washed? You know what happens. They get infected.

Infection hurts. And it spreads. And in so many local churches, some people are super sensitive, not because they're wicked, but they've been hurt so much, and there's so much infection, and nobody's ever come and washed it.

It's true in families. And so these three phrases, I think, point the way for a clean, glorious Christian life. Wash me, and God does.

Wash yourselves, we should. Wash one another. Wash the feet.

Be a servant. Wash the wounds. Learn how to say, I'm sorry.

Some of you have seen the Sherlock Holmes series on television. Jeremy Brez, probably the greatest Sherlock Holmes that ever showed up. Baker Street.

I have walked up and down Baker Street. And right down the street and right around the corner, you find an area in London called Marleybone. And there's a church there.

And behind that church is a grave. And you know whose name is on the tombstone? Charles Wesley. The great hymn writer, brother of John Wesley.

Oh, I love his hymns. So are we now where Christ has led. Hallelujah! Ah, what a great Easter hymn.

And can it be that I should gain an interest in my Savior's blood. Oh, I love that. But may I read to you the four verses of a little hymn Wesley wrote.

Let them sink into your heart. Depth of mercy, can there be mercy still reserved for me? Can my God, his wrath, forbear me, the chief of sinners, spare? I have long withstood his grace, long provoked him to his face, would not hearken to his calls, grieved him by a thousand falls. Now incline me to repent.

Let me now my sins lament. Now my foul revolt deplore. Weep, believe, and sin no more.

There for me the Savior stands, holding forth his wounded hands. God is love. I know, I feel, Jesus weeps and loves me still.

Wash me. Wash yourselves. Wash one another.

Let's pray. Before I pray, I want to ask a simple question. I'm going to ask it only once.

Does someone here tonight say, I need this. I need to wash some wounds. I need to wash some feet.

I need to have God wash me. I need to go home and clean up some things that are there. I need this.

Now, if from your heart, with no one looking around, please, and that includes this preacher, you sincerely need this, would you just, right where you are, quietly stand. That's all. Just stand.

It doesn't make a hero out of anybody, but it might help somebody get clean. Just stand. I have no idea who's standing.

Gracious Father, you see the one standing, and you have a tender heart for the repentant. And I pray, Lord, if those standing, as they cry out to you, hear them and forgive them and cleanse them. Help them to cleanse themselves and help them in washing wounds and washing feet.

By your spirit, through your word, give them the comfort of cleansing through the blood of Jesus. May I ask a second question? Please remain standing. Is there somebody here tonight who says, my big problem is washing wounds? There are people I have wounded, and I don't want to be that way anymore.

I want to wash the wounds. If that's your heart's cry, just stand. Just join the rest of us, stand.

Father, help any standing who have some wounds to wash. It's not easy, but help them to do it. Help them to do it.

And now let's all stand. I want to pray for the church family. Father, God bless this church family.

May it be a clean family. And as we give this public invitation, Father, we believe we're following your will. For you have said, come now, let's reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. So help people to come now and to pray and to find peace and victory. And if we have to go across the aisle, Father, to wash some wounds, help us do it. But accomplish your purpose now in this invitation. For Jesus' sake, amen.