Bread Crumbs
by Chris Cumming                                                 printer-friendly    MP3

Today is the Sabbath in the Days of Unleavened Bread.  We are in the fifth of seven days that picture an entire lifetime of putting out sin or an entire life of purging, cleansing and purification.  This brings up a number of questions for each of us:

1] what is purging?
2] what is cleansing?
3] what is purification?
4] how do I carry out purging, cleansing and purification?
5] who or what is involved in us carrying out these things?

The purpose of the sermon today is to answer all of these questions as I encourage all of us to continue putting out the bread crumbs of sin.  Continue in the process of purging, cleansing and purifying yourself from sin.

Purge out the bread crumbs.

We will begin with some dictionary definitions of these words.

Purge:
1) to rid of whatever is impure.
2) to clear of imputed guilt.
3) to remove by cleansing or purifying.

Clean:
1) free from dirt or stain.
2) free from pollution or foreign matter.
3) characterized by a fresh, wholesome quality.

Purify:
1) to make pure from anything that contaminates.
2) to free from evil.
3) to become pure.

Notice now some biblical definitions of these three words.  Just knowing these definitions give us both the mission and the goal.  They give us a clear view of the finish line and how to get there.

Purge …bârar Hebrew 1305:
1) to examine.
2) to clarify.
3) to make bright or polished.

Clean … hagnizō Greek 48:
1) to make clean.
2) to sanctify or make holy.

Purify … hagiazō Greek 37:
1) to make holy.
2) to consecrate [dedicate to the service of God].
3) [mentally] to venerate [to solicit the goodwill of God].

So we are talking about things far beyond bread crumbs aren’t we?  The bread crumbs merely represent the elements we find in these three words.   We are in a lifelong process of:

1] examining our lives.
2] identifying anything impure.
3] freeing ourselves from the impurity.
4] becoming clean …more and more clean.
5] becoming holy …ever marching toward perfection.

All this, of course, takes place in the Salvation Process where we are sanctified and justified.  Praise God and thank God we get much help in this process.  Notice a scripture we often read at the Lord’s Supper.

John 15:1-8
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Let us focus on verse 2:

Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it - by obeying the truth, 1 Peter 1:22; and by inward or outward sufferings, Hebrews 12:10-11. So purity and fruitfulness help each other.

Quoted verses:
1 Peter 1:22
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Hebrews 12:10-11
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

That it may bear more fruit - For this is one of the noblest rewards God can bestow on former acts of obedience, to make us yet more holy, and fit for farther and more eminent service. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes

Do you see how God purges us?  By the power of the Holy Spirit, He immerses us into His Word resulting in us obeying the truth.  This obedience is created/manifested through chastening by God—all the trials, tests, temptations and corrections we receive from God.  God says in Hebrews 12:11 that the chastening is not always joyous but it ultimately results in “peaceable fruit of righteousness” being yielded by those firstfruits who submit to the process.  Therefore:

Purge out the bread crumbs.

Again, regarding Hebrews 12 and verse 11, we have a supporting verse:

2 Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

If we submit to God the Father's purging process, will we get stronger and stronger?
Job 17:9
The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

The righteous also shall hold on his way - There shall be no doubt concerning the dispensations of the Divine providence. My [Job's] case shall illustrate all seemingly intricate displays of God’s government. None shall be stumbled at seeing a godly man under oppression, knowing that God never permits any thing of the kind but for the good of the subject, and the manifestation of his own mercy, wisdom, and love. Therefore whatever occurs to the righteous man, he will take it for granted that all is well and justly managed, and that the end will be glorious.

Shall be stronger and stronger - He shall take encouragement from my case, stay himself on the Lord, and thus gain strength by every blast of adversity. This is one grand use of the book of Job. It casts much light on seemingly partial displays of Divine providence: and has ever been the great text-book of godly men in a state of persecution and affliction. This is what Job seems prophetically to declare. ~Adam Clarke

Another commentary...

The righteous also - rather, yet the righteous. A strong opposing clause. Notwithstanding all the afflictions that befall him, and all the further afflictions which he anticipates, yet the truly righteous man shall hold on his way; i.e. maintain his righteous course, neither deviating from it to the right hand nor to the left, but holding to the strict line of rectitude without. wavering. Job is not thinking particularly of himself, but bent on testifying that righteous men generally act as they do, not from any hope of reward, but from principle and the bent of their characters.

And he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. - Not only will the just man maintain his integrity, but, as time goes on, his goodness will be more and more firmly established. ~The Pulpit commentary

Want to be stronger?  Stay with the process.  Purge out the bread crumbs.

Clearly to proceed in the process of purging, cleansing and purification, continual repentance will be involved.  Do we have a good example of this in the Word of God?  Surely we do...in King David.

Psalm 51:7-13
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

 Notice the John Gill commentary:

Purge me with hyssop - Or "thou shalt purge me with hyssop"; or "expiate me"; which was used in sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb on the door posts of the Israelites in Egypt, that the destroying angel might pass over them, Exodus 12:22; and in the cleansing of the leper, Leviticus 14:4; and in the purification of one that was unclean by the touch of a dead body, &c. Numbers 19:6; which the Targum on the text has respect to; and this petition of the psalmist shows that he saw himself a guilty creature, and in danger of the destroying angel, and a filthy creature like the leper, and deserving to be excluded from the society of the saints, and the house of God; and that he had respect not hereby to ceremonial sprinklings and purifications, for them he would have applied to a priest; but to the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, typified thereby; and therefore he applies to God to purge his conscience with it; and, other commentators observe, hyssop did not procure remission of sins, but has a mystical [meaning spiritually symbolic here] signification, and refers to what was meant by the sprinkling of the blood of the passover.  ~John Gill

We see here that repentance is a part of the process of purging.  Purging is accomplished by virtue of the shed blood of Christ; something we commemorate with the taking of the red wine in the Lord’s Supper.  Notice a command from God:

Revelation 3:19
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Earlier in our discussion of John 15, 1 Peter 1 and Hebrews 12 we saw that this purging by God the Father came through our immersion in the Word of God.  Notice another key scripture on this element.

Proverbs 4:1-19
1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Proverbs 4 in short phrases:
--listen to instruction
--know understanding
--have and believe good doctrine
--retain the words of God…stay immersed
--keep the law and commandments
--get wisdom…it is the principle thing
--lift up wisdom and it will lift you up
--follow the right path
--stay away from all things negative, evil and wicked
--do these things and know glory, success and long life
--the path of the just shines more and more unto the return of Christ

Purge out the bread crumbs.

Why does man need to cleanse and purify himself?
Mark 7:20-23
20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

In my original question 5 at the beginning of this sermon I asked, “Who or what is involved in us carrying out purging, cleansing and purifying?”   What we are about to see is that both you and Almighty God do.  He does it by His great hand and will and we do it by the power of the Holy Spirit; Christ in and through us.

You Purge
Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

He Purges
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

John 15:2  …read eariler
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Notice the commentary on this verse:

Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it. - The husbandman prunes and dresses the branches in order that they may be more healthy and fruitful. The Father cleanses, purifies, frees from sin, all who become branches of the True Vine. ~People's New Testament

We Cleanse and Purify Ourselves
Matthew 23:26 
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

2 Corinthians 7:1 
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:26 
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.

James 4:8 
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

2 Corinthians 7:1
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

1 John 3:2-3
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

He Cleanses and Purifies
1 John1:9 
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 51:1-2  …we read this earlier
1 A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Ephesians 5:25-26
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.

Malachi 3:3
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Titus 2:14
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Does God give us the strength to accomplish all these things?
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

So, Purge out the bread crumbs.

Final parting words to all of you…
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

---end---

For further study:

Repeated Hebrew words highlighted in yellow.  Repeated Greek words highlighted in green.  Underlined words found in all four columns.

Benefits of Hyssop Health: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGcq0Bzhaw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgYSTbkcnXI

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