West Virginia Chemical Spill
Since the water from the chemical spill a couple of weeks ago in West Virginia still smells bad, many of the local residents refuse to drink or use the water. In spite of the government’s insistence that the water is safe, the water has been polluted. It is nasty and unfit for human consumption. The water has been defiled. The chemical spill contaminated good drinking water and made it unusable. The water is no longer pure – it is impure.
In Matthew 15:1-20, Jesus talks about men being defiled. But the defilement isn’t what goes into a person, it is what comes out of the person. Notice that Jesus points out that what goes into our bodies (food and water) and isn’t used, goes out of our bodies as waste. He said that it doesn’t defile us. It doesn’t stain us. It doesn’t pollute us, contaminate us or make us impure. You’ve heard the expression “the clothes don’t make the man.” Well, what a man eats doesn’t make the man either.
Please don’t miss this. Jesus points out that what defiles you is not what goes into your mouth, but what comes out of your mouth because your words come from your heart. Jesus points out that evil is what comes out of us. Evil thoughts and evil desires turn into evil actions. But it starts with your heart. Jesus is saying that you are defiled. Do you agree or disagree with Him?
Well, if you disagree, let’s take a quick test. Jesus points out that it’s wrong to commit murder, adultery, fornication, stealing, lying and blaspheming. Have you ever taken God’s name in vain by using it as a curse word? Have you ever mocked God? Have you ever had sacrilegious thoughts or spoken sacrilegious words? Have you ever told a lie? If you say that you’ve never told a lie then you are lying right now because we are all liars. We’ve all told white lies, fibs, half truths and flat out falsehoods. We have all lied. Most of us have stolen something at one time or another. Such as candy, loose change, pencils, pens, paper clips, answers on test questions, etc. Have you ever had sex outside of biblical marriage? If you have, then you are a fornicator?
If you are married, have you ever committed adultery? Please keep in mind that Jesus kept the 10 Commandments to a higher standard. Not just the letter of the Law, but the spirit of the Law as well. He said that you have heard it said by them of old time that you shall not commit adultery, but I say to if a man looks upon a woman and lusts after her, he as committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28). Who hasn’t lusted at one time or another? How about murder? I dare say that most of us living in Springfield, MO are not murderers (except for the federal medical center). But the Bible says that if you hate someone it is the same thing as murder or if you are angry at someone without cause then you are also guilty of murder.
Do you see that none of us have kept God’s perfect standard? We are all guilty of breaking the 10 Commandments and most of us are guilty of breaking all of them. Well that’s ok isn’t it? We are all just human after all. We all make mistakes. Please remember that Jesus said that all of these things come out of your heart and that they defile you. They make you impure, they pollute you. They make you nasty and filthy. In the book of Isaiah it says that our very best is as filthy rags before our Holy God. Jeremiah 17:9 states The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
The great Creator God, maker of Heaven and earth, is Holy, righteous and just and He cannot tolerate sin. Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). There is nothing you can do to make yourself right, to make yourself presentable to God. You cannot hide your sins and you cannot wipe them out. Folks, the Bible says that it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 10:31 states that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. There is a day of reckoning coming. God’s anger, God’s wrath over your sins will be poured out upon you on that great and terrible day.
You can read about it in Revelation 20:11-15. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The Bible says in Galatians that every mouth will be stopped. You will be without excuse. When God flashes every single thought you’ve ever had, every word that you ever said and every deed that you have ever done, you will ask God no questions. You will hang your head in shame. You will recognize that you are guilty before almighty God. You will have nothing to say or do except bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Even if you don’t believe in God, this is the fate that awaits all unrepentant sinners. You can’t escape the wrath of God or Judgment Day on your own. The worst part is that those same verses in Revelation say that unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire. It is a place where there is physical and mental torment and it lasts forever. You will never escape it once you are thrown in there.
Do you see how foolish it is to continue down the broad road to destruction? (Matthew 7:13-14). Do you see that some of you are partying your way straight to Hell? Do you see that the short term pleasures of this life are not worth the long term, everlasting torments of Hell? Do you see that you are a great sinner in need of great savior? Do recognize right here, right now that you are defiled and that God is Holy?
If God has opened your eyes then there is hope for you. Hope is found only in Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). God loves us so much that He made a way of escape from everlasting damnation for us. He sent Jesus to walk this earth 2,000 years ago. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit. Jesus never sinned in His thoughts, words or actions. He always did the perfect will of God the Father.
Jesus never defiled Himself. No evil came forth out of His heart. He lived a perfect and sinless life. Then He willingly put His life into the hands of the Roman soldiers. They mocked Him, spit upon Him, beat Him with their fists, platted a crown of thorns upon His head, beat Him with 39 vicious lashes across His back and then nailed Him to that old rugged cross where He struggled to breathe by painfully lifting Himself up each and every time that He took a breath. As bad and as painful as all that was, that wasn’t even the worst part! The worst part was that God’s wrath, God’s righteous indignation, God’s anger over the sins of the world – over your sins and my sins, was poured out upon Jesus as He hung on that cruel, cruel cross (Romans 3:25).
The Messiah died on that cross after He agonizingly suffered the very wrath of God for guilty sinners. He was buried and rose victoriously over the grave three days later. Jesus paid the sin debt that you and I could never pay. That’s why unrepentant sinners are punished forever. Even through all that pain and suffering throughout all of eternity, they can never pay the sin debt in full. You are guilty of breaking God’s perfect Law, the 10 Commandments and Jesus paid your fine for you. How amazing is that? You, a guilty criminal, can be set free. You can be seen as never having been guilty in the first place. You can receive the righteousness of Jesus and He takes your sins upon Himself (Romans 4:22-24). It is the great exchange.
But there is not universal salvation. Everyone is not automatically saved because Jesus bore the sins of the world. Salvation is freely offered to you through Jesus Christ, but you must receive this free gift. It is free to you, but it was an extremely costly gift for Jesus. He paid it all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow (Jesus Paid it All – Elvina M. Hall). Only Jesus can wipe your sin debt completely out. Only the shed blood of Jesus can make you whole again.
You can be born again, but you must repent and believe the Gospel. You must turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus. You can’t do this on your own. Salvation is a gift from God. Only He can grant you life everlasting. So here’s the question: Is God convicting you of your sins? Do you recognize that you are sinner, that you are defiled? Do you recognize that you cannot save yourself? If not, then you cannot be saved yet. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If you don’t properly see the condition of your heart, you are just like a foolish person who looks at a parachute on an airplane, sees it lying on the floor, but refuses to pick it up and put it on. You are just like a person who foolishly jumps out of an airplane with no parachute. The law of gravity will overtake you and you will die. Except this is much worse than physical death. Hell is everlasting torment. You will have no rest there day or night. It is the place you are heading if Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior.
But if your conscience is bothering you, if you recognize that you are a great sinner in need of great savior, then you can be saved. Read Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10 and Romans 10:13. Cry out to God to have mercy on you, a sinner. Repent by turning away from your sins and put your trust in Jesus. Trust Him just like you would trust a parachute before you jumped out of an airplane. Just like you need to pick up the parachute and put it on, the Bible says we are to put on the Lord Jesus. Bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord whether you recognize it or not. But oh if you will recognize it during this lifetime, if you will cry out to God to save you, if you repent and put your trust in Jesus, you can be saved. You can inherit eternal life. Right now, get right with God through the only mediator between God and man – Jesus Christ. Surrender your life fully and completely to Jesus. Say Your will be done Lord, not mine. I am yours. I surrender all. Jesus is the living water. Come to Jesus.