Sermon:
Lave
…a
sermon about spiritual washing
On the 18th of January of this year (2020),
I presented to you the sermon, “Double Down” which shared with you a
hands-on perspective to repentance. I began that sermon with this
statement:
“Back in July and August of 2014, I gave
four sermons as part of a Holiness series. You can see all these
sermons at the Las Vegas site. This sermon is the fourth in that
series. Each is a stand-alone sermon on the same overall subject:
Holiness.”
So “Double-down” is part of the Holiness series of four (4) sermons.
From this one sermon, I have put together fourteen (14) sermons in what
I call the, “Salvation series.” You can see these sermon titles and
subjects on the Schedule page of the Las Vegas site. Each sermon has a
key verse or two you heard in “Double-down.” Today is the third sermon
in this series. Let us begin.
The name of this sermon is “Lave.” Let us breakdown this title.
A simple
word meaning to wash or bathe.
Words related to “lave”:
Imbue, soak, cleanse, scrub, scour.
Imbue:
to impregnate or inspire, as with feelings, doctrine, truth, or in our case, the
Word of God.
Words related to, “Imbue”:
permeate, ingrain, suffuse, inculcate, invest, instill and pervade.
Suffuse:
To overspread with. When you step into a filled bathtub or hot tub, you are
overspread with water.
Let us go now to the key verse for today’s sermon. It is found in the first
chapter of Isaiah.
Isaiah 1:16-17
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine
eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
Double-down
Phrases:
--Wash yourself.
--Cleanse yourself [see sermon, Rampageous].
--Put away evil.
--Cease doing evil.
Definitions:
---Cleanse: to remove by or as if by cleaning.
---Put away: put distance between you and the
sin or negative element.
---Wash: remove stains. Word H7364: To lave [wash
by pouring water].
All this washing takes water and water serves as an important element and living
metaphor in the Word of God. In one important place, it is referred to as,
“living water.” Turn to John 4.
John 4:7-14
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto
her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew,
askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it
is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he
would have given thee living water. (emphasis mine)
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well
is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank
thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst;
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life.
Notice the commentary for the phrase, “living water” in verse 10.
Living water - By this expression, which was common to the inhabitants both of
the east and of the west, is always meant spring water, in opposition to dead,
stagnant water contained in ponds, pools, tanks, or cisterns; and what our Lord
means by it is evidently the Holy Spirit, as may be seen, John 7:38.
As
water quenches the thirst, refreshes and invigorates the body, purifies things
defiled, and renders the earth fruitful, so it is an apt emblem of the gift of
the Holy [Spirit], which so satisfies the souls that receive it that they
thirst no more for earthly good: it purifies also from all spiritual defilement,
on which account it is emphatically styled the Holy Spirit; and it makes those
who receive it fruitful in every good word and work. ~Adam Clarke
Quoted verse:
John 7:38
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water.
With this as background, let us go back to Isaiah 1:16 and the
command/admonition to, “Wash
you, make you clean.” It was part of daily living and Temple worship that water
was used to make people clean.
The first thing we find is the Laver of Bronze-copper/tin
alloy
(Exodus
38:8 in brass-copper/zinc alloy)
Exodus 30:18-28
18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash
withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the
altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:
20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with
water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to
burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:
21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet,
that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and
to his seed throughout their generations.
22 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred
shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels,
and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of
oil olive an hin:
25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after
the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the
ark of the testimony,
27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and
the altar of incense,
28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his
foot. (emphasis mine)
Take a look at the commentary on, “that they die not.” It has much meaning for
you and I.
That he die not - The bells also bore witness that the high priest was, at the
time of his ministration, duly attired in the dress of his office, and so was
not incurring the sentence of death. An infraction of the laws for the service
of the sanctuary was not merely an act of disobedience; it was a direct insult
to the presence of Yahweh (God) from His ordained minister, and justly
incurred a sentence of capital punishment. ~Barnes Notes
This is a sermon about spiritual washing. It is the purpose of this sermon. We
are to be continually spiritually clean in the presence of God.
The other device used in those days was the
Mikveh.
These were found in homes, throughout the towns and around the Temple. The one
I am showing here in the text is one found in a modern-day temple here in the
US. These were used throughout Israel for a multitude of purposes, both
physical and spiritual. One would cleanse themselves before the Sabbath, each
Holy Day, Passover, going into the Temple and for all manner of spiritual
event. Interestingly, doing this cleansing was likened to Hope. Hope for the
Kingdom of God and salvation to eternal life. We do this kind of cleansing both
physically and spiritually as we are forever in the presence of Almightly God.
Spiritual cleansing and salvation are directly linked.
I told you at the beginning of this sermon that the meaning of the word, “Lave”
is to imbue ourselves in doctrine, truth and the Word of God. Let us immerse
ourselves in our key scripture passage, Isaiah 1:16-17.
Isaiah 1:16-17
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine
eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
|
Wash you |
Wash you - This is, of course, to be
understood in a moral sense; meaning that they should put away their
sins. Sin is represented in the Scriptures as defiling or polluting the
soul and the removal of it is represented by the act of washing; Psalm
51:2. ~Barnes Notes |
|
Make you clean |
Wash ye, make you clean - These two words are to be
regarded as one, since they intend the same thing, and suppose the
persons spoken to to be unclean, as they were, notwithstanding their
legal sacrifices and ceremonial ablutions; and are designed to convince
them of it, to bring them to a sense of their inability to cleanse
themselves, to lead them to inquire after the proper means of it, and so
to the fountain of Christ's blood to wash in, which only cleanses from
it: ~John Gill |
|
Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; |
Isaiah 55:6-7 6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Ezekiel 18:30-31 30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Zechariah 1:3-4 3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. 4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. Matthew 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: Ephesians 4:22-24 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Titus 2:11-14 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 1 Peter 2:1 1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: |
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Cease to do evil |
Cease to do evil
- Learn to do well: Not only feel sorrow for the sin committed, but
break off the practice. We must be doing, not stand idle. We must be
doing the good the Lord our God requires.
~Matthew Henry Concise |
|
Learn to do well |
Learn to do well - Now comes the positive; first, in the general form"
learn," etc.; which resembles the apostle’s "Put on the armor of light"
(Romans 13:12). Then follow the particulars. ~Pulpit Bible commentary |
|
Seek judgment |
Seek judgment
- or, seek out justice; i.e. endeavor to get justice done to all men;
see that they "have right."
~Pulpit Bible commentary |
|
Relieve the oppressed |
|
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Judge the fatherless |
Judge the fatherless - rather, do justice to the orphan (Cheyne); see that he is not wronged—be his champion. ~Pulpit Bible commentary |
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Plead for the widow |
|
I will end this sermon with some quotes on cleaning. One or two of them will strike you as being just physical when, in fact, for us, they are all spiritual.
"We are used to cleaning the outside house, but the most important house to clean is yourself - your own house."
"The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment."
"Cleaning and organizing is a practice not a project."
“Every aspect of your life is anchored energetically in your living space, so clearing clutter can completely transform your entire existence.”
“Start your day with a clean heart; end your day with a revived mind!”
Continue to be clean in the presence of God