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[0:00] Purity. In 1 Timothy 5 verse 22, Paul tells Timothy, keep thyself pure. There's a purity! unto God that's called for. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,! teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. God wants to purify you, to perfect you, to make you holy, so you will be a peculiar people, that you will stand out, you will be zealous of good works. We are to do something, it says, verse 12, to deny, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. How are we to live? Verse 12, we are to live soberly, righteously and godly.

[1:00] I long to see God work a revival in the hearts and lives of all the people here in our church circle. All those young and old, we're not out to just draw some large crowd coming to this church. Our mission is to seek God's face and promote biblical truth, to see people challenged and changed, forsaking sin and going God's way, by God's divine working. To see young people who are radically saved, young people with a glowing testimony for the glory of God, young people who are on fire for God. Are you surrendered to God? Have you this purity unto God? Are you willing to be purified? Why did the Lord Jesus die?

[1:41] Why did he shed his precious, spotless blood? Why did he bleed? Why did he give himself, verse 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? It's a sober thought when we consider it's because of my sin.

[2:07] My sin led him up Calvary's mountain. Your sin, my sin, your wrongdoing, your trespasses. God doesn't want you to stay there in sin. He wants to release you out of its control.

[2:21] Some tourists were visiting a coal mine and the guide noticed that one of the women was wearing this fancy white dress and he said, Lady, it's awfully dirty down in the mine. We have some special clothes to protect visitors if you'd like to change. Sir, she said proudly, no one tells me how to dress.

[2:39] Very well, he said, but your dress won't be white when you come back out of the mine. And he was right. Her beautiful dress was smudged and covered with coal dust and no amount of brushing could make it clean.

[2:51] How is your testimony? Is it soiled? Are your lips still defiled with unclean words? Is your heart yet unclean? Are you absorbing the dirt and mire of this dirty world, just like that woman in the white dress in the dirty mine, instead of being a shining and glowing testimony? 1 John 3 verses 2 to 3 it says, 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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.

[3:30] I think it's time that we really took a good stock take to stop playing church, to start purifying ourselves even as he is pure. Another purity area is pure thinking. Philippians 4 verse 8, that familiar scripture it says, Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Think on these things. These things. Proverbs 23 verse 7 it says, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. God wants to transform your thinking, to make you new, to make you think new thoughts, to cleanse your way, your way of thinking, your way of life. Are you purifying your minds or polluting them?

[4:28] Psalm 119 verse 9 it says, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word? I long to see our folk delivered, to see folk built up in their faith, built up in godliness and personal holiness. How is your heart, your spirit? It says, Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Like you'd put the belt on as it were. Tighten things up, get things right. Be sober it says, 1 Peter 1 verse 13. This analogy here is of a soldier with a belt around his waist, so that that loose clothing will not get in the way and entangle and trip him up while he's in the battle. Uncontrolled thoughts will trip you up. Bring them under control. Don't get tripped up by the stinking thinking of the world that we're living in. Every thought needs to be brought into captivity.

[5:22] In other words, captured and brought under control. Like when an enemy soldier is found on the wrong side of the line, he's quickly restrained and imprisoned so that he can be kept from hurting or damaging our people. And so ungodly thoughts need to be restrained and taken away. How we think shapes us and how we act. Let's replace that kind of thinking with godly and biblical values.

[5:46] As Romans 12 verse 2 says, we need that renewing of the mind. When we face the pressures of the world to conform to its image, let us rather be transformed through the renewing of our mind.

[5:58] Thirdly, we see there's a call to purity of hearts. To pure hearts. In James 4 verse 18, James writes this, he says, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. 1 Peter 1.22 it says, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently. God wants your heart. God wants your love. The Bible tells us that our hearts can be purified by faith. God is pure. God is holy. The character of God is purity.

[6:38] Purity comes from him. And the opposite of purity, the opposite of pure, is impure. It's dirty. It's contaminated. A boy came out of the kitchen eating a sandwich and his playmate asked for a bite and was refused. And at that instant the boy dropped the sandwich. Then picking it up, covered with dirt, he said, here now, have a bite. The hungry lad replied, I don't want it since you've got it all dirty.

[7:04] And friends, we need to be sure about how our heart is. Let's get right. Let's be let's be urged to a purity in our heart, in our life, not a contaminated kind of faith. If our religion is to appeal to the spiritual hunger of others, it will have to be kept up out of the dirt. God wants his people to have that quality of purity, to be clean vessels that he can use. The Lord Jesus Christ can take all the dirt of sin away. Question is, is your heart pure, undefiled? Sin needs to be dealt with. God never tolerates it through the word. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. When your heart is pure, so will your lips be.

[7:59] In Matthew 12, 34 through 35, our Lord says, O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Ephesians 4 29 goes further, it says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

[8:36] We can often see where someone is at by the language they use. God wants us to have a sound testimony, godly standards. We must constantly set our eyes on the Lord Jesus. He's the only one who is able to help us. Without him we are in our sins. I pray that we will see this church become a place of purity, a godly church. We will have a godly young people, we will have a godly testimony, that we can be a spiritual church, a godly church, where there is separation, where people are separated unto the Lord, separated from the world, separated unto his service. God can clean your heart. Gregory the Great said the Bible is a stream of running water. Have you washed yourself lately? Let's be exhorted to a closer walk, to that walk of faith, that walk of purity with God. God will help you to maintain that purity before him.