A Clean Heart

[0:00] Let's go to Psalm 51, if you've got your Bible, where we'll start tonight. How you can have a clean heart is my topic tonight.

[0:14] How you can have a clean heart. Now, we've got an environmental catastrophe happening right now. The problem is pollution. Pollution of the worst kind.

[0:26] No, it's not carbon dioxide, it's not toxic sludge from factories going into waterways, but it has been going on from day dot. The biggest pollution on planet Earth today is the pollution of sin.

[0:41] It's the pollution of a human heart. How do we deal with that? With this pollution problem of man's sin. We see David crying out here in Psalm 51 about his own inward pollution.

[0:54] In Psalm 51, we see there, this psalm was set when Nathan the prophet came unto David, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

[1:07] And we see from verse one, it reads, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies.

[1:20] Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

[1:34] Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified, when thou speakest, and be clear, when thou judgest.

[1:46] Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desiredst truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part.

[1:59] Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop. And I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

[2:11] Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

[2:22] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

[2:34] Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach, transgressest thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

[2:47] Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation. And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

[3:02] For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

[3:14] A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

[3:25] Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering. Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

[3:37] And shall they offer thy spirit. Psalm 51 was set in that occasion where Nathan the prophet confronts a David about his sin. And David cried out from his inward man of his inward pollution.

[3:54] Psalm 51 verse 10, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. David was about 50 years old when he sinned with Bathsheba.

[4:09] And then his actions led to the death of her husband Uriah, whom he sent to the front lines. Uriah was really his friend. He was one of his faithful men, one of the closest to David, one of his generals, his captains.

[4:25] And he sent Uriah to the front line to his certain death, which happened. So here is David confronted about his sin. And his heart broken up about his sin.

[4:36] He knew that his heart needed cleansing. And here was the main issue. That his heart was not right with God. Really, we're focusing really on verse 10.

[4:48] But we see the whole context of the psalm is about washing, about cleansing, about sin, about brokenness, about relationship with God. Let's look at this issue of the heart.

[5:01] Create in me a clean heart, O God. That was his cry. His heart's cry. And really, the matter that was at issue here is that his heart was not right with God.

[5:13] We see in 2 Samuel 11, 27, in part, in that context where he was confronted about his sin, it says, The thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

[5:27] The thing that David had done. And when we realised about our sin, that it displeases, it grieves the heart of God, it's a heart gripping thought, isn't it?

[5:38] And this heart pollution of David grieved his loving Father, God. And it does for us too. Do we see our sin like David saw it?

[5:51] As he was confronted with it. This heart pollution that was in the man. We see the heart pollution for what it is. All the ugliness and shame of it. And we want to be cleansed.

[6:03] David prayed, Create in me a clean heart, O God. It's interesting when he said create. It's the same word used in Genesis 1 verse 1. For the creation of the world, the same verb, in the beginning God created.

[6:18] The heaven and the earth. And David cried out to the Creator to create that, that clean heart within him. We need divine intervention. We need divine intervention.

[6:30] We need the work of God to deal with the heart pollution. And God has to do that work in our heart to create a clean heart. He has to do that work of creating the clean heart.

[6:41] We need to be reprogrammed to think like God. Sin is likened to a contamination. Sin likened to leprosy. And sin is like a disease. It's an infection.

[6:53] The Bible talks about some that their mind and conscience is defiled. Their very mind and conscience is defiled. It's possible for our mind, our conscience, our soul to be polluted.

[7:07] We dare not ignore the problem of heart pollution. We have need of cleansing like David. Well we ask for it as David did. What if you had a glass of pure, clean water and someone then put one drop of poison into it?

[7:25] Would you drink it? Of course not. One drop would pollute the whole glass of water, wouldn't it? And it's the same really with sin.

[7:36] Just one sin. If we are guilty of one, we're guilty of all. We're unclean, unfit to go to heaven. The dirty stain of sin. The mark, the guilt of it.

[7:48] David's sin was wicked. Truly. He tells of a broken and a contrite heart. He saw it for what it was in the sight of God. Do we take sin seriously?

[8:00] I think sometimes it's kind of not treated so. People treat sin carelessly. The Bible talks about uncleanness.

[8:12] A lot. In fact, over 200 times it talks about unclean. Uncleanness. And sin is called uncleanness. It's being dirty in the sight of God. Defiled. And sin is a problem.

[8:24] Heart pollution is a problem. And just a small sin can be destructive. As we see in the context of a church, a little leaven in the context of false doctrine, of false teaching.

[8:38] One little bit is too much. I know I was talking with some folk about false doctrine lately. And they were kind of excusing, accommodating something.

[8:50] And I said really that even a little bit of leaven is too much. Just a little bit. An easy weensy bit. A little leaven leaveneth the whole. A small amount of yeast impacts the whole batch of dough, doesn't it?

[9:03] And when we accommodate sin, we're displeasing God. Better to be like David and have it shown for what it is. And to be reviled by it ourselves. To be disgusted.

[9:15] We cannot overcome sin by our own actions either. Our own efforts. Our own best efforts. The Bible says are insufficient. We cannot do the right by our own best efforts.

[9:28] We cannot be made clean by our own workings. Because even all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. The best things we do. Our best works are defiled.

[9:41] So sin impacts. It impacts the heart, the mouth, the words, the speech, the thought life. It contaminates the whole person. And it springs out of the heart, doesn't it?

[9:54] From that heart. The heart problem. The heart problem of pollution. So consider now the prospect of purity. We see there's a heart pollution problem. Thank God there is the prospect of a pure heart.

[10:07] A purity is possible. Cleansing is possible. God's desire is in the ultimate that his church will be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

[10:19] Without any blemish. One day it will be such a church. And the Lord wants each one of us as that part of the church, as we are the church, to have that.

[10:30] That knowledge of his cleansing. That action of cleansing. That every stain of pollution of sin can be taken. That we can have a heart purity. Of course I'm not teaching here the false idea of sinless perfection.

[10:45] We know that our sin will ever be something we're fighting against and struggling against this side of heaven. But yet we can know a day by day blessing.

[10:59] A day by day cleansing. The Bible talks about the effects of a washing. And it's by his word. In that context of what will be the ultimate, pure, spotless, without wrinkled church.

[11:14] He says that he sanctifies, makes it holy. He cleanses it with the washing of water by the word. The word is critical here. The word is that means of the cleansing effect.

[11:28] And we can know victory individually. Each one. We can find that cleansing one by one. The word of God tells us that we can keep unspotted from the world.

[11:39] James 1 verse 27. So believer here tonight, we can know a heart purity. God promises that there can be a pure heart. A pure conscience. A pure mind.

[11:50] We can know a true cleansing. A sure forgiveness. The word of God talks about in Acts 15 verse 9 of people purifying of hearts by faith. God purifying people's hearts by faith.

[12:03] It says we trust the word of God as we receive his promise of cleansing. We can know that deep and complete word. Where the sin can be gone. We can know a freedom from the sin that holds us captive.

[12:16] And our very innermost spirit can be cleansed. We're seeing as David sought it. Again, create in me a clean heart, oh God. A simple prayer really, isn't it?

[12:27] And renew a right spirit within me. me the bible talks about a cleansing a washing and it's a repeated theme through the word of god we see where it speaks about a fountain that's opened to the house of david zechariah 13 1 a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness god's showing us here of a fountain he has made that will wash all the stains away designed by god as an answer to man's uncleanness it's speaking really of the cross isn't it it's telling it's really prophetic of the cross as being that fountain that is opened the the pouring out of his blood is effectively a washing of man's sin and we need a fountain we need this fountain we can take for granted the water supply but when it gets cut off we all know about it and really this is more important than than the h2o that we have through the tap that we need this fountain to to cleanse us the spiritually speaking this wonderful cleansing from god i need the fountain because without it i am dirty we all do we need the fountain and the fountain is open it's been open 2000 years ago the fountain was open in jerusalem the fountain open to all who will come unto it yet the bible talks about this fountain who is the lord the fountain forsaken another scripture of the same theme of the fountain it says that the people have forsaken the lord the fountain of living waters here it tells jeremiah 17 13 of a fountain rejected and we see the same sentiment now don't we people still reject christ they still reject the gospel they won't have the simple gospel of god saving through the precious bloodshed some people would rather foolishly stay dirty now when something is dirty it breeds germs and disease and yet some people want to stay there they're fouled up and they don't even realize where they're at but sin soils it holds us captive but there is a fountain it's a gushing source it's a supply it's a supply it's cleansing he offers it he extends it but people still forsake they reject the fountain they won't come to god for cleansing they think they can get clean some other way or that they're not dirty enough to need the fountain we can think of all kinds of excuses people use don't they that they don't need christ to have a good life or you know they they've got no thought of the eternity where they'll face him they think that they're clean but really they're fouled up and they can't hide their sin like david it'll be exposed cleansing is offered but people reject it still they won't come to him for wholeness and health for life itself but we must be as david and cry out as david cried out create in me a clean heart oh god renew a right spirit within me it's good for us to think as we think about the heart pollution as we think about the purity offered what of ourselves how is our heart is our heart and mind washed purified we know it can be we know at salvation positionally we are sanctified we are made holy paul talks to the corinthians he says you are washed you are washed you have been washed it happened you are washed you are a washed people and yet there is that sense too as the ones who are washed we still need a kind of cleansing to go on a continuing of cleansing a

[16:32] a continual cleansing that comes to us as we keep short accounts with god and we have that same heart cry as david had we've talked about pollution about purity made possible now what about the cleansing power there's a power to cleanse us there's a power promised of god a cleansing power now some would try all kinds of means i know i was trying to clean up something before someone's already scribbled on our newly painted walls with texture and trying to clean it off and i haven't got the right cleansing agent to clean off that biro mark that's on the wall already and uh people might try as they will to cleanse their sin they might try to go to buddha to cleanse their to cleanse their sin or to muhammad or or to krishna or philosophy or atheism or their own construct but nothing but the blood is going to wash away our sin what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of jesus as the song goes there is a powerful cleansing agent but we must come by god's means we must come through his power his cleansing power how what power can affect this powerful change how can this problem of man's heart pollution be resolved how can this stain of man's guilt be removed how can this purity of heart be found how can our spirit and soul be made right with god we read of the great assurance of the word of god in 1 john 1 it tells us that if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and here's the punch line and the blood of jesus christ his son cleanseth us from all sin it tells us right here the answer this is the powerful cleansing agent it tells us that the blood of jesus christ can cleanse us from a double l sin from all unrighteousness it tells us that all sin can be cleansed we can know all of our sin resolved of course at the cross at salvation we have it then and there and there is that truth of our sanctification christ is our sanctification christ is our holiness and there's that sense where as we walk in the light there's a cleansing there's a continual cleansing that goes on a full cleansing it tells us of the word of atonement that there's 1300 assurances of salvation through the blood atonement you know it's right through the word from the old testament right through the blood is there as we look back at the old covenant the old testament pictures of christ to come and then for us looking back at the cross we see that it was at the cross that everything changed from there on forward that his blood makes that full cleansing that full atonement the full payment the full pardon full salvation because it's paid in full the shared blood of jesus cleanses us from all sin all sin so there's full satisfaction there's fulfillment there's full supply he can wash away every stain it is thorough the cleansing is thorough david cried out wash me throughly or thoroughly wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin is your heart's cry like david's to ask for it that full cleansing he shows us how we can live clean in a dirty world there is cleansing offered it avails because of the bloodshed our lord jesus his precious powerful blood has the power to cleanse every stain every sin all our guilt to wash the foulest clean and he can affect a practical holiness in our lives too in our day by day living we can know this cleansing

[20:35] not just at salvation but through our christian walk there's an old-time gospel preacher who wrote a or spoke a sermon on it's kind of an unusual subject line but his message was entitled the expulsive power of a new affection the expulsive power of a new affection this idea springs from this bible verse 1 john 2 15 love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him what it's saying what this preacher is putting out there is that when we are saved we get a new affection when we are saved we get a new love as someone has explained it like this the way the dead leaves of winter are removed from some trees it's not by people going around plucking them off no it's the new life the shoot that comes and pushes off the dead leaves in order to make room for itself in the same way the christian gets rid of all such things as bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking and all malice the new qualities develop and the others simply have no room they are pushed out and they are pushed off so that's end of quote there so that sense where there's a leafy tree the dead leaves you don't go and pull the dead leaves off the new leaves come and they push the old leaves off it's the same when we're a christian that our new love for christ our new affection for our lord kind of pushes out the old affections the old way of living so that old way of thinking that old way of walking that old way of talking it goes because the new qualities of our christian walk take over so you think of this thought of our bondage to sin it kind of happens by god's supernatural working doesn't it that as as we have that stronger attraction that greater more compelling joy as we love our lord more than our sin then the sin drops off the sin drops away because we've got a new joy our joy is not found in the old sin that we had but our joy is found in christ now and so we've got that greater affection there's that sense of the power of that new affection and so as a believer now we've got the power of his presence that makes us more holy it's an interesting thought isn't it that the craving for god takes over such that we lose those old cravings the old cravings of the sin that we hankered after it doesn't have the same attraction now because our love is to him it's to our lord the power of that new affection that new love that relationship with our lord and there's that cleansing power that happens as as the love the love of the father drives out the love of the world we don't care for the love of the world and the things of the world because we have the love of our father our father god so we can be so filled with god that the love of other things is driven away when we think of our lord he's so precious isn't he as a believer don't you love him that your desire for him and pleasing him is your greatest and highest joy and desire and delight in pleasing him and so the other loves they kind of dwindle away without almost without you even trying i suppose it's that that sense of it that that because you love christ so much you love god so much that the loves that you used to have the worldly fleshly loves the ungodly things they waste away and you lose that attraction and so when you see the excellence of christ you see the wonder of your savior you love him with your the love of your heart your mind your

[24:41] soul your strength that you cultivate that love you desire him and you want to please him it's a greater affection it's like as the songwriter expressed it the things of earth shall grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace there's that sense of the power of that new love as we walk in the spirit we won't want to walk in the flesh anymore we'll stop walking that way because we're walking in the spirit now we won't walk in darkness we'll walk in the light and we can know god's life within us there's a power of that greater affection it's a thought to think isn't it how is our affection is that power of his love such that he is that motivator as you love him more you'll love the world less the sinful ways will drop off you so when we look at the subject of holiness we can preach about all kinds of behavior and you know i could hammer certain things that that's wrong you shouldn't be doing it uh all these things that about behavior about what's wrong and sometimes we need preaching like that but what matters most is your identity in christ is if you love him him to know his life eternal the more you love your lord and you desire to please and honor and and follow him that that that will overtake you the power of that greater affection will overtake you your identity in christ that you are his you're his people you are a godly people so when that is right then everything else falls into place so there's that power that we can know the power of his blood that sanctifies us that power of his great love for us and our love in return unto him there's power there david says create in me a clean heart oh god a right spirit god puts a right spirit within us such that we write with him we write with others the craving for god takes over all the other cravings they're banished away the love of the father drives out the love of the world there's a cleansing power that we can know we can be so filled with god that the loves of the other things are driven out as we think as you could picture it with a glass that is empty it's full of air but when you fill it with water the air goes and the water takes over it's the same when we filled with god his spirit that the air the the old self it goes away because he fills us so we can be so filled with god that the love of other things are driven out it was into rotting lazarus's dead decaying smelling body that the lord jesus commanded life think of that this smelling potentially smelly body of lazarus this decaying body of lazarus the lord commanded life into it and we need the life of god in us don't we we need his refreshing we need his touch we need his cleansing because we can't cleanse ourselves we can scrub scrub what we like but we can't cleanse our sin we can try all kinds of philosophy or religion it's empty it's dead we need his cleansing it tells us that a young man can cleanse his way by applying the word of god psalm 119 verse 9 wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word there's a cleansing that comes as we apply the word of god there's a wonderful cleansing effect as we talked about the washing of water by the word there's there's power in the words power in the word of god to effect a cleansing and let us go to the fountain there is a way to cleanse your way it's as you come through the master's instructions as we follow the maker's instructions we can know that perfect cleansing there's a perfect cleansing agent and the work is his i love this one in revelation 1 verse 5 again along

[28:49] this theme of washing of cleansing the work is his notice this it talks about as the the words go and from jesus christ who is the faithful witness the first begotten of the dead the prince of the king of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood who does the washing he does he's washed us he does the washing it's not us washing ourselves somewhat again try through religion or vain philosophies of men to try to rub scrub themselves clean he does the washing he has washed us it says he has loved us he has washed us he does the washing in his own blood so his blood has a powerful effect there's a still a fountain flowing for the soul unclean this fountain is still availing for all who will come this fountain is still open to all who will come this well this fountain is once bringing up into everlasting life and there's a constant supply this is not some dead stagnant pool it's bubbling up it's springing up this fountain the question is will thou be made whole there's a question posed will you be made whole will you come to christ we have to want the cleansing and ask for it the bible urges as it says draw nigh to god and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands you sinners purify your hearts you double-minded draw nigh to him so let's i trust be encouraged to to know that power of a greater affection think of your love for the lord could it be greater could it be refreshed the love of the father such that you love him more that you love christ more you'll love the sin less you won't want that because you'll love him you'll love christ above all and that that love will take over that will take over your consciousness your mind your conscience so come to this fountain today our cleansing our life is in christ without the fountain i'm dead and he brings the cleansing when we come to him but how sad to see as we know as we go witnessing often the retort is a refusal it seems i don't know i think 99 say we don't want a bar of it friends you can't follow the crowd that's for sure because the crowd is going to hell let's be honest today and the bible says that my people have forsaken me this fountain it says they've forsaken this fountain they don't want it by and large the typical aussie couldn't care less about the things of god but friends your spirit soul and body you're not just your body you're tripartite and you've got a soul it's eternal it's going to go somewhere it's immortal so i urge you today to come to the fountain come to the fountain as it were come to that pure river it speaks of this water of life it speaks of this proceeding out of the throne speaks about the same picture of of a running flowing river of a life-giving fountain of a freshness of a flowing and it's picture really i suppose of the life of god isn't it and we see in revelation 21 again this theme around the fountain of the water of life and he wants to give it to those that are thirsty he wants us to know this cleansing power and he says come now let us reason together though your sins be a scarlet even though they're this bright red glaring in your face it's you can't miss it it's shocking it's it's glaring even though they'd be red like crimson he says they shall be white as snow they shall be as wool as kind of white as wool there's this

[32:49] sense of the contrast of of sin being glaring and and ugly and blatant evident and then of a cleansing such as as the whiteness of snow i don't know if anyone's ever been to the snow fields or to places where the snow they're so bright you know that's got to put these sunglasses on it's just dazzling isn't it and you think that's the kind of picture of of the dazzling whiteness of the cleansing of the purity the picture of just brilliant cleansing it's perfectly clean that's the kind of cleaning that god does to our soul and that's that salvation his blood shed washes all our sin and there's the sense where there's a continuing of that the salvation work is done it's finished it's complete yet there is that sanctifying that's an ongoing cleansing it's almost like at home you could think well there's always dirty dishes in the sink it's almost like there's always something that could be cleaned that could be cleaned up god's cleaning is continual isn't it it's an unfinished business because really pollution is an ongoing problem we have pollution because we're walking in a defiled world it's almost like you can't help but hear worldly messaging that that comes without you looking for it but purity is possible cleansing is a picture of god's forgiveness a clean heart is possible we just have to be like david and cry out he talks about the sacrifices of god are a broken spirit psalm 51 17 a broken and a contrite heart oh god that will not despise we can have a clean heart in a dirty world david knew that we just have to lay hold on the power of god the power of the blood the fountain open for sin and uncleanness it's effectively calvary's cross it's where the blood was shed poured out for you and the blood of jesus christ god's son cleanses us from all sin every bit of it and then we see the expulsive power of a new affection in the sense that if we love christ if we so love him if he is our highest and strongest affection then the lesser loves the loves that are unworthy of him will drop away the expulsive power of a new affection a higher affection will set our affection on things above that love of him the love of christ will constrain us it will impact us it will so change us that we'll want just that more of that more of that and by virtue of that love he will help us conquer that which is unworthy of him so we can't have a clean heart like david david knew that that power the power of the blood the power of the new affection the power of the word the washing of the water by the word the more we feed on this the more we feed on this our faith will be stronger our love will be stronger our victory will be stronger our sanctification our walking in god our walking in rightness with him having that right spirit it'll happen as his word will just flow and pour over us and washes as that continual stream of his word makes that change may god write your heart today that you can know his forgiveness and really tonight i know i'm preaching

[36:52] really i think largely to those who are believers today but that cleansing must happen at the cross that you trust christ for time and for eternity and then your destiny changes forever and at the cross as you trust the blood shed for you on your part as you receive that payment made you know full and free forgiveness forever and then that walking is that new affection it's that washing of the word it's that walking in the light that sanctifying that powerful impact of christ working in you that makes that daily walk of cleansing a reality too such that you can as that familiar one goes that we can confess our sins and he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness friends you can come before him as a believer when you failed him david was a believer here he had failed god we can mess up badly like david did but god's mercy is still extended and he can take a hold of the broken heart and of the contrite spirit and he can mend it and reshape it and renew it and we can know the granting of his power for our daily walk to walk with him in holiness let us pray