COMMITMENT

Hebrews 2 verses 1-4

Commitment

I read recently of a professor who wanted to show his students how easily distracted they were. He asked a student to leave the room and he asked the other students to keep alert for the return of that student.  He then continued with his lecture and at one point another person entered from the other side of the lecture theater  at that moment the student also returned and resumed his seat.  Very few of the other students noticed his return until the professor asked him a question.  They were told to pay attention to one door but were distracted by someone entering another door.  How often did you hear in school or at home pay attention?  We are so easily distracted from things.  We lose focus very easily.  Hebrews 2 begins with just such an exhortation Pay attention.  Turn to Hebrews 2 verses 1- 4 and let us see what we are to pay attention to 

Context.

The letter to the Hebrews was written around AD70 to a predominantly Jewish Christians who were being tempted to return again to Judaism or to join add Jewish ceremonial law on to the gospel of grace.  The author does not identify himself.  The main theme of the letter is to reassure the believers that Christ is both superior to the old law and sufficient for their salvation.  Chapter 1 outlines his superiority and the sufficiency of his sacrifice on the cross to purify them from sin and its consequences.

Chapter 2 verse 1.

Hence the second chapter begins with an exhortation that in light of the superiority of Christs sacrifice to the animal sacrifices and the sufficiency of his sacrifice for the purification of their sins they are to pay more careful attention.  Note will you what it is that they are to pay careful attention to what they have heard which has just been briefly outlined in chapter 1 namely the superiority and sufficiency of Christs sacrifice for sin.  I want to stop here for a moment and for us all to make a mental note to what we have heard.  Let me read for you something which Paul wrote to the believers in Rome  Romans 10 verses 14-15, 17.  Paul and the author of the letter to the Hebrews both emphasize the need for hearing the gospel.  Christ on several occasions said let him who has ears hear.  The world in which we live lays great emphasis on seeing but the gospel comes first and foremost through hearing.  The author to the Hebrews writes they are to pay more careful attention to what they have heard.  The Greek word used there speaks about bringing a ship in to land, to moor it safely and securely.  When it is used of people it speaks about laying hold and cleaving to something or attaching oneself to something.  So the exhortation is calling them to secure, lay hold of tightly, or attach themselves to the gospel of the superiority and sufficiency of Christs sacrifice for sin.  Why?  Well he goes on to say to them so that we do not drift away.  Again the Greek word used there is applying the imagery of a ship which has drifted past its safe anchorage point and is drifting into danger.  It also speaks of flowing alongside something and of a ring slipping unnoticed from a finger.  The author to the Hebrews exhorts them to secure themselves to the gospel which they have heard and not to drift from it  as some of them are apparently in danger of doing.

But stop there for a moment.  Who is in danger of drifting from the security of the gospel?  The Christian believers are the people who are in danger of drifting.  How? Well the rest of the letter to the Hebrews answers how but primarily it is answered for us in verse 3 (read verse 3).  They are ignoring or as an older translation puts it neglecting the salvation offered by Christs atoning sacrifice for sin.  Turn for a moment to verse 2  the author writes that the Old Covenant of the Law was binding on them and violation of that covenant law brought punishment then the New Covenant in the blood of Christ being superior to the Old would most certainly bring punishment.  The New Covenant was brought into force personally by the Son of God  its sufficiency and superiority will be dramatically outlined in chapter 9 when the author writes of how the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin whereas the blood of bulls and goats could only cleanse them ceremonially but not spiritually.  Then in verse 3 the author points out the danger of neglecting or ignoring this salvation which comes in and through the finished work of Christ.  But how would they neglect, ignore or drift away from such a salvation.  Having heard of its superiority, having heard of its sufficiency to save from sin and the wrath of God and having, verse 4, had it verified by God through signs, wonders, miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit how could they neglect it and drift from it.

Do you remember the Exon Valdez disaster?  It happened at Blighs Reef near Canada.  The Exon Valdez drifted on to rocks and disgorged 11million gallons of crude oil into the sea.  How did it happen?  A third mate was left in charge of the vessel and he was drunk and he neglected to pay attention to what was happening the ship and it drifted slowly on to the reef and the resulting environmental disaster.  It didn't happen quickly but slowly the ship drifted towards the danger until it was too late to escape.  The same is true of these Christians and for us today.  Like a small leak in a bucket slowly little by little the water escapes.  The same is true for us spiritually.  In my time as a Christian I have only ever met one person who consciously walked away from God but I have lost count of the number of people who drifted slowly away from the gospel of grace.  What was the danger in the first century and now?

You drift when you fail to heed the warnings and you neglect to pay attention to what you have heard from the Word of God.  So you slowly begin to lose your priorities and your focus on your relationship with Christ.  Your passion for Christ and the things of God begins to wane.  You lose your discipline and so you start to neglect to meet with other Christians and not just on Sunday mornings.  Seriously how many of you who are Christians are lax about your attendance at church on Sunday mornings. It is the first sign of drift and neglect of your salvation.  You then move to appease your conscience over this drift from the gospel that you heard.  You appease your conscience over the drift in discipline, your lack of bible reading and prayer, your neglect of fellowship.  Then the next stage in the drift is that you will distance yourself from being associated with Christ.  You haven't yet reached the stage of outright denial of knowing him but you begin to put some distance between yourself and the gospel.  So you begin to put arguments up against biblical standards in morality, in behavior and you begin to soften your attitude towards what the Bible teaches about sin and its consequences.  Then one day you find yourself in the place of opposition to the gospel, of outright denial of what it teaches.  How did you get there?  Let me tell you how you got there  you drifted.  You're the lost sheep who has his head down grazing and all the time wandering away from the Shepherd and the security of the sheep fold.  You graze and wander, graze and wander  ever further away.  You're the people spoken of in the parable of the banquet of Matthew 22.  They were invited to the feast of the king.  They knew they had been invited.  They understood the invitation but they drifted along with the other things in their lives and found out one day the door was closed and the invitation was no longer open to them.  Let me read a verse to you from Ezekiel 33.32.  I think a more apt description of the attitude of many to the salvation offered in Christ alone could not be found.  Does it describe you?  The result of the drifting from the gospel for the recipients of this letter to the Hebrews was that they had lost their assurance of salvation because they had drifted from what they had heard.  They had lost their peace and security and so had started to look for that peace and security not in the Word of God but in the ritual and ceremonies of the Old familiar Law.  What about?  Are you assured of your salvation?  Do you have peace and security in the gospel you heard and first believed when you came to Christ?  The danger is you will neglect it and drift from it, not consciously but unconsciously.  Little by little the water will leak from the bucket and one day you will waken up (DV) and wonder why there is such a distance between you and Christ.  You will realize that there is no longer any fruit in your life and there is no joy in your salvation because you have drifted away from the secure anchorage of the gospel.  Friends listen to me this morning if ever there was a timely message for us all this morning then these verses from Hebrews are them.  We drift so easily.  We sleepwalk into the distance, away from Christ and his great salvation.

In closing let me speak for a moment to those who  find themselves either having drifted or never having come to Christ. the author in verse 3 says how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.  The implication of the word escape is that there must be something from which we need rescuing if we neglect the offer of salvation found in Christ alone.  Hebrews 1 has told us part of what that is  the consequences of our sins, and verse 2 of chapter 2 tells us that punishment awaits us if we neglect this offer of salvation.  It may not be popular today, it has never been popular, but the truth  is that if we neglect the offer of salvation offered us in Christ then we will face eternal punishment for our sins. The Bible calls that eternal punishment hell, separation from God for eternity. Matthew describes that moment with these words weeping and gnashing of teeth.  A picture of anguish and despair.  But the good news, the eternal good news, is that God desires no one to go there but that all might come to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus.  How?  By the very fact that he sent his only begotten Son into the world not to condemn the world but to save the world. That through the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross all who by repentance and faith come to him might not perish but have eternal life. In Matthew 1 verse 21 we are told Christ Jesus will save his people from their sins.  In 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10 we are told he will deliver them from the wrath of God which is to come upon all sin.

So the question remains:  Drifting or Committed?

The challenge:  Pay attention  don't drift.

Amen.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness easy to say but hard to give. Yet when we meditate on what we ourselves have been forgiven, we can then look at the person asking us for forgiveness with the eyes of Jesus.

Healing

http://www.yorickjackson.com/talents/jesus-healer/

LIVE BY FAITH

Judges 6 verses 36‐40
Dear God if you want me to tithe allow me to win the lottery this week ... if
you want me to buy that new car let me meet 3 of them on the way to work
this morning...if you want me to ask that girl out on a date then let her walk
past me in school and say hello...if you want me to be a missionary let me see
a programme on Africa on national geographical tonight.  They all may sound
far‐fetched to you, but the sad thing is I guarantee some of you have prayed
similar prayers to that in the past, or even are doing so right now in seeking
guidance from God.
Well,  I am going to look at verses 36‐40.    The context of these verses is found from verses 1‐35 – the
terrible plight of the people of Israel at the hand of the Midianites, the call of
Gideon, on the floor of the winepress, to rise up and be a man of valour in
leading Israel to freedom.    He begins by tearing down, under the cover of
darkness, the pagan shrine to baal.   He then, under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit (v34), he blew the trumpet to sound the men of Israel to assemble for
battle against the Midianites and the Amalekites who had come to the plains
of Jezreel to plunder Israel’s harvest.   Having called the men to gather as an
army Gideon suddenly starts to have doubts and that is where we turn now to
verse 36.
Look closely at verse 36 because understanding this verse accurately is actually
the essential key to opening up the understanding of the remainder of the chapter and especially the issue of ‘laying fleeces before God.’   I want you to  read it – read verse 36.
If you will save Israel – doubt
By my hand – Gideon knows he has been called to this task
As you have said – guidance has been already given.
He repeats this again in verse 37 – there is no doubt that Gideon knows what
God has called him to – the guidance is clear.
Did you hear what I said there?  Guidance has already been given to Gideon as
to what he is to do and what God is going to do.   Guidance has already been
given to Gideon – that he has been called by God to be a mighty man of valour
and to lead Israel against the Midianites , the Amalakites and the people of the
East who have been oppressing them for 7 years and have been plundering
Israel of its harvest and choice resources.   Keep that fact in mind – Guidance
has already been given.  Gideon knows exactly who has called him, why he has
been called, the task he is called for and that victory has been promised.   It is
not for guidance that Gideon lays down the fleece before God.    Hear that
clearly – it is not for the purpose of guidance that Gideon lays
down the fleece – guidance has already been given – verse 36 and especially:
as you have said – makes that very clear‐ guidance has already been given.  So,
if  you have thought that this laying down of a fleece was for the
sake of guidance then I hope by a simple plain reading of the text you will see
the error of your ways.  So if it is not about guidance what are these verses and
this incident in the life of Gideon actually about?Verses 37‐40 Assurance
Let me ask you some questions:   Have you ever doubted God?   Have you ever
asked God:  Did you really ask me to do this?  Have you really called me to lead
here?   Have you really called me to this experience?   Of course you have, we
all have.  That is certainly where we find Gideon.  He has had the
visitation from the angel of the Lord calling him to be a mighty man of valour
and to lead.  He destroyed the altar to Baal and God kept him safe even though
all the people wanted to kill him.   The Holy Spirit has come upon him and he
blew the trumpet and the men of Israel have rallied to him to go into battle – a
vast army of 32,000 assembled before him.    Now Gideon begins to have
doubts.   The surge of enthusiasm and courage that he had received from the
Holy Spirit coming upon him has maybe just waned.  The enormous task before
him starts to grow in his heart and mind with the result that doubts enter his
head and fear enters his soul.    Although the Holy Spirit had fallen very
powerfully on Gideon his faith is still weak.     This reminds us that the
grace of God does not destroy our character or our natural human
temperament.   God knew that Gideon needed to recognise fully his weakness
in order to come to totally rely on God.
Recognise the scenario?    Identify with Gideon here?    Your initial enthusiasm
wanes and you realise this is no easy task – this is a real battle.   Gideon had
people who would point out the obvious to him – these men are farmers not
soldiers.   They are not used to handling swords in warfare.   The numbers are
stacked against you.  Don’t you know the size of the task that you are taking on
here?   What does Gideon do?   He seeks assurance – hence the beginning of
verse 36 – If you will save Israel by my hand...  He wants assurance from God that this is what he has been called to by God – despite all that has happened
in verses 1‐35 of chapter 6.
Verses 37‐40 – the events are very simple and clear.   Gideon asks God for a
sign that this is what he is to do – despite verse 36 making it clear he knows
exactly what he is called by God to do.   God has already confirmed his call of
Gideon by fire (verse 21),    peace (verse 23), protection (verses 25‐32), the
power of the Holy Spirit coming upon him to enable him to blow the trumpet
as a call to arms (verse 34), and the rallying of 32000 men to his side (verse
35).  It would appear that Gideon himself knows that this is not his finest hour
or greatest request before God – verses 39 – when he asks that God would not
be angry with him in making such a request for a second time.
Gideon lays a fleece on the ground of the threshing floor and asks for the
ground to be dry and the fleece to wet with dew in the morning.   In the OT
dew was a sign of God’s salvation, protection and prosperity – Genesis 27.28
and 39.   In essence Gideon is asking for a sign of God’s peace – something he
has already been assured of by God’s Word to him.    In the morning it is as
Gideon had requested and yet he still doubts.   I can imagine the doubts in his
head going along the following lines:   of course the wool fleece would absorb
more dew and the hardened earth of the threshing floor would not retain the
moisture of the dew.  You cannot be sure Gideon this is of God, best ask again
for another sign, and that is exactly what he does.   He prefaces this second
request with an apology (verse 39) and reverses the actions – floor wet and
fleece dry.  God in His patience, His grace and mercy works the miracle and it is as Gideon had requested.   Look at this situation for a moment.   Gideon turns
his attention away from an army of 32000 men who have gathered at the
sound of the trumpet to go into battle and focuses on a fleece.   A fleece has
nothing to do with battle but an army of 32000 men have everything to do
with the call of Gideon and the battle that is before him.
Secondly, he is not true to his word.   After the first sign is granted he wants a
second sign from God – despite all that we have noted in his call and in God’s
guidance to him.  
Now here is the key question for us all: Is this a pattern to be
followed in our Christian lives?   You may well know some Christians who have
done such ‘laying out of fleeces’ with apparent success.  It may well seem very
tempting to you because it provides some sort of certainty which makes faith
redundant.    You may have actually prayed such a prayer to God – complete
with a fleece that you laid before Him – with mixed results??   I want to point
some things out to you  from the passage which I pray will be of a
spiritual benefit to you:
Verse 36 – Gideon already had his guidance so this was about assurance.   It is
not a means of guidance, certainly not for Gideon, but of assurance.   It was to
confirm guidance, not to provide guidance that he makes this request.   I pray
you have realised that from the Word of God.
Gideon’s request was the fruit of doubt and unbelief rather than faith in God.Gideon was asking for the miraculous, supernatural intervention of God in this
sign.    It was not one of circumstantial change to give guidance.    Do you
understand that?  He was not asking God to so order circumstances that it was
a sign of God’s will but to supernaturally intervene in nature, to actually
override nature, to assure Gideon of what he already knew to be God’s will.
The challenge was in fact obedience to God’s will.   Is it possible that Gideon
was looking a way out of the task before him?  Maybe!  Are you playing games
of chance in seeking to know the will of God?    Laying fleeces
down is not the way to know the will of God – Gideon already knew the will of
God – he lacked faith and courage to obey.    God in his grace and mercy
answered but by the very words of Gideon we know he knew God would be
angry at this course of action.
Sometimes we seek to use all sorts of circumstantial reasons to avoid the plain
guidance of Scripture.   We actually use fleeces to avoid the will of God than
seeking to know the will of God.    Let me ask you another question: Do you
believe the Bible is the Word of God?  If you say ‘Yes’ then are you obeying its
plain teaching and guidance in every area of your life?  Not just some areas but
every area of your life.  You see I can lay circumstantial fleeces before God as a
means of guidance, wrongly, and avoid obeying all manner of the teaching of
the Bible?
You know the little rhyme I often quote – the main things are the plain things
and the plain things are the main things in Scripture.  Well, knowing that to be
true – that the plain will of God for each of us is clear in Scripture – are we obeying that main/plain teaching?   I have found that that the reason people
often lack guidance is that they are not reading the Word of God, not praying
and not walking according to holiness of life.  Added to this there is a deep lack
of belief in the Word of God, in that we want some further proof other than
what Scripture says – that is God is with us, that He will never leave us or
forsake us etc.  As with many other things in the Christian life – it boils down to
belief and acknowledgement that the Bible is the Word of God and obedience
to it.
So friends, from these 5 verses I hope we have learned a simple
lesson concerning laying down fleeces before God – namely that it was not for
guidance that Gideon laid them down but for assurance.   Also that God was
patient with him but Gideon himself knew God would be angry at such a
request.  Lastly, that we are called to live by faith, not by sight.

zechariah

Zechariah 12¹⁰-13²  

12.10 Mourning for the One they pierced.Zechariah was active around 520BC and he was a contemporary of Haggai.  The chief purpose of the book was to rebuke the people of Judah and to encourage and motivate them to complete the rebuilding of the Temple.  Added to this Zechariah called the people to a spiritual renewal as well.  We come this morning to look at three verses in particular: 12 verse 10 and 13 verses 1-2.

Let me ask you a question:  what moves you to mourning?  What has you crying from the very depths of your soul?  Look at verse 10 and the second part of the verse.  Zechariah says that these people mourn as if they had lost an only child or a first-born son.  But what are they mourning?  Well go back a sentence.  They are mourning as they look upon the One whom they have pierced.  This can only be one person and there can only be one event in mind here  the Crucifixion of Christ.  But why would they mourn the crucifixion  after all we know that the people will in fact cry out for Christ to be crucified and apart from a small band of disciples no one mourns his death initially.  But go back now to the beginning of the verse and read what it says.  READ v10.

Do you see what happens to lead these people to mourn over the One they pierced?  When did this happen?  Surely the Day of Pentecost  when the Spirit came upon not just the Apostles but also the crowd who listened to Peter preach and they did exactly what this verse says  they mourned the One they had pierced.  Zechariah, some 500 years before the crucifixion and Pentecost, speaks about a moment in time when God will pour out (copiously) His Spirit on all people.  This Spirit (the Holy Spirit) will do two things:

Bring Gods Grace to bear on their lives.  That is Gods undeserved riches and favour will be poured out upon the people.  What happens when Gods grace is poured out upon a man? He is convicted of his sin.  When Gods Spirit pours his grace into my life my spiritually blind eyes are opened and I am immediately aware of my sinfulness.  I am immediately aware of how odious I am to God and before God.  Gods grace draws me, unworthy and undeserving as I am, to God himself.

Then secondly the same Holy Spirit is a Spirit of Supplication.  When Gods grace is poured into my life I am moved to seek God in prayer.  The moment I become aware of my sinfulness before God I cry to him for mercy.  Zechariah says that when the Spirit of grace and supplication comes upon the people their eyes will be turned towards the One they pierced and they will mourn.  Gods grace turns me from gazing at myself to gaze at Christ crucified.  And when my eyes are lifted to the cross I am aware of the depth of my sin.  I am moved deep in my spirit, the very core of my being by the awesome consequences of my sin.  My sin pierced the Son of God.  My sin nailed the holy One of Israel to a tree and condemned him to die as a common criminal.  He who knew no sin became sin for me, he became my sin and my soul mourns because I put him there.

Zechariah says that the depth of distress in the heart of a man upon whom the Spirit of grace and supplication has been poured out is the depth of distress experienced by the death of a child.  Now let me ask you:  is that how you would describe your attitude to your sin today?  When Gods grace falls upon your life  are you filled with grief at your sin?  Are your eyes lifted to the cross?  When you gaze upon the One whom your sin pierced and murdered do you mourn?

But friends let me say this to you  all the tears of grief over sin cannot cleanse sin.  All the tears that you or I have ever, or could ever shed, over our sin cannot cleanse us from sin, from the eternal consequences of sin.  Sorrow and mourning for sin is not the end in itself. No amount of weeping over sin is the answer to the problem of sin.

13.1-2 The Answer to the Problem of Sin

READ verses 1 and 2 of chapter 13 and we will find the answer to the problem of sin.  These are some of the most beautiful verses in the book of Zechariah, in fact in all of Scripture.  Look at what the prophet says.

Verse 1 On that day a fountain will be opened to cleanse them from sin and impurity.  A fountain in the desert land of Judah was precious.  It was precious because unlike a stream it did not dry up when the dry season came.  It was precious because it could be trusted to provide a refreshing and pure drink in the midst of a dry and arid landscape.  It was precious because it was constant and consistent.  It was precious because it brought life when all around was death and decay due to the heat of the sun. Friends the prophet says that is what God provided to answer the problem of their sin and your sin today.  This fountain, the atoning death of the One they pierced, provided cleansing from sin and impurity.

This fountain cleansed them from sin  that is from all the ways in which they failed to meet the standards that God required.  Gods standard was and is perfection.  So every time they failed to meet perfection they sinned.  Now I don't know about you but I cannot think of any single occasion in my life when I reached perfection.  So when I look back on my life the mountain of sin is very tall indeed.  Zechariah says this fountain opened  opened by the death of Christ  flows with cleansing from that mountain of sin  praise God.  He goes further and says that the cleansing is not just from sin but also from impurity.

Zechariah says that on that day, the day that the Spirit of grace and supplication is poured out,  there will be mourning as eyes are lifted to the crucified Christ but there will also be hope, joy and forgiveness.  It will not be a hopeless or helpless situation.  There will be cleansing.  You see this fountain is for cleansing.  It is for washing in.  Friends that fountain broke forth upon this world the day Christ died on the Cross.  That fountain is there for us all to freely do to and be cleansed of sin and impurity in our lives.  If you remain this day unclean and impure there is no one to blame but yourself.  The other thing about the fountain is, as I said, it never dries up.  This fountain of cleansing and forgiveness is inexhaustible. There is mercy enough in God and merit enough in Christ to cleanse you from all and every sin.  There is no sin too great and no sin too small that he cannot cleanse or does not need cleansing. 

Note also will you that Zechariah places no stipulations, no barriers on who or who may not come to this fountain.  The fountain has been opened  opened for all who would come.

Verse 2  Zechariah now moves to a further outworking of this fountain  sanctification. Read   verse 2.  Do you see what follows from the cleansing of sin and impurity in the life of a believer?  There is a practical outworking of that inner cleansing.  As the fountain washes and cleanses (justifies) so it also sanctifies.  You see just as when you physically take a bath you are not the same afterwards, you are cleansed, the dirt and filth has been removed from your body  you do not immediately put back on the dirty garment you wore before the bath, or at least you should not.  So it is with the inner cleansing that has taken place when you came to the fountain, the living water of Christ Jesus (spoken of in John 4).  You cannot go back and put on the old man again.  You cannot come to Christ for cleansing and then go back to the old life, to idols and to living according to the spirit of impurity.

Zechariah says the Lord God, the One they pierced, will banish the very names of the idols from the land and they will be remembered no more.  This is significant.  Your name was very important in the OT.  When God wanted to reveal his glory to Moses he revealed his name to Moses.  Your name spoke of your identity, your character, your attributes and your power.  God says here that when you come to the fountain and are cleansed then one aspect of the outworking of that is that he comes and removes the idols from our lives.  He removes their power, their dominion, their names  their very existence is removed.  They are removed and remembered no more.  In the day of Zechariah what happened was that the people, collectively often, brought out all the idols and burned them in a public repentance. They brought them out and burned them.  Now listen to me, they had to go into their homes and into their temples and bring forth the idols and destroy them before God.  There are many idols in all our lives and we need to bring them before God and destroy them  repent of their influence and hold over us and lay them before God to be destroyed.  And when we have destroyed them we are not to go back and rebuild them again, nor to lament their destruction  in fact we are to live as if they never existed in the first place.  You cannot worship the true and living God and at the same time harbour in your heart, in your soul and in your life false gods, that are really no gods at all.  Zechariah said that when the Spirit of grace and supplication came upon them their eyes would be lifted to the One they had pierced and they would mourn what their sin had done.  They would be led to a fountain opened for them, a fountain of cleansing spiritually that would usher into their lives and the life of their nation cleansing from idols  from false gods.

Zechariah further states that the Lord will also remove the false prophets and the spirit of impurity from their nation.  The spirit of impurity is in stark contrast to the Spirit of grace and supplication.  The spirit of impurity leads only to false gods, further sin and eventual death. So when Gods Spirit of grace and supplication opens their eyes he will also come in power to remove the false prophet from their midst and to remove the spirit of impurity from their midst.  But how?

Because their eyes will have been opened to the truth and they will know the false teaching. Because their souls and their conscience will have been cleansed and they will recognise what is impure.  They will know in their hearts and in their spirits that certain actions, certain lifestyles, etc are not of God, not of his Spirit but are in fact false and impure.  Note friends too that some of those false prophets may even be members of their own families and most certainly will come from amongst the people of God, of the tribe of Judah.

Friends open your eyes.  False prophets are all around us today.  From the health and wealth tele-evangelists such as Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Jesse Duplantis, to the Anglican Bishops wanting to ordain and promote same-sex unions.  False prophets also abound in the media, in the political world etc.  Anyone who does not proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Son of God, the only Saviour  is a false prophet.  When it comes to a spirit of impurity  well I don't have to go into any details there.  Our eyes should certainly be open to the immorality all around us  and even within the church.  How many people claiming to be followers of Christ live immoral lives.  The secret sins that they think no one sees.  The small sins that they think do not matter.  Friends God says here in his word that when we come to the fountain for cleansing  then we are cleansed and the outworking of that in all our lives is the banishment of idols, the killing of the false prophet in our lives and the slaying of the spirit of impurity.

Conclusion

Well there is only one conclusion.  Have you come to the fountain to be cleansed?  Having come are you truly repentant for and of your sin?  What are you doing about the false prophet and the spirit of impurity in your life?  In your community and nation? Amen.