Text: “I will wash mine hands in innocency; so will I
compass Thine altar, O Lord.”
Psalm 26:6.
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that
understandeth (understands and continues to understand), there in none that
seeketh (seeks and continues to seek) after God. They are all gone out of
the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth (does
and continues to do) good, no, not one.”
Romans 3:10-12.
Good morning, daily sanctified Christian! The Lord God
has given you and I true faith to believe in His Word, as contained in the King
James Version of our written Bibles. Faith is His gift to us, that we
might believe in our sinfulness; that we might believe in Christ’s total and
perfect righteousness; that we might believe that there will most definitely be
a great Judgement Day, when the souls of all men/women shall be weighed in the
balance in order to see if we measure up to the perfect righteous standard for
going to Heaven Christ’s perfect Holiness.
(Ephesians 2:8-10)
Such belief requires a God-given faith. If the
Lord God in His Sovereignty does not see fit to grant the individual such a
means to believe - faith - then that soul will not be saved, but Eternally
lost. This is merely a written FACT of true Bible-belief.
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 21:15)
The Lord Jesus teaches us: “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. My sheep hear (hear with the ear and believe in the
heart) My voice (His Word), and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give
unto them Eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than
all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and My
Father are ONE.” (John 10:26-30)
The Psalmist in verse six of Psalm 26 says he will
‘…wash his hands in innocency…’, and as a consequence of doing so shall be
allowed of the Lord to ‘…compass Thine altar, O Lord.’; or gather around God’s
altar to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
In order to come to this position of desiring to ‘…wash
his hands in innocency…’; the Psalmist, as we all must equally, recognises his
guilt and sin! Otherwise he would have no need to ‘…wash his hands in
innocency…’! The Spirit of God’s first ministry to the soul of sinners is
to ‘…reprove the world of sin (our sin), and of righteousness (Christ’s perfect
righteousness), and of judgement (the Day of Judgement that will surely
come).’ (John 16:8)
Therefore, for you and I to become deeply aware of our
sin (falling short of Christ’s perfect righteousness), the Holy Spirit must do
his work of ‘quickening’ in our unregenerate (dead) spirit; and lead us to
sincerely desire to ‘…wash our hands in innocency…’ through the sinless and
precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from our vain conversations (entire
lifestyle) receive by tradition from you fathers (man-made religion?); but with
the precious Blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without
spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)
We will never seek God’s
forgiveness until God enlightens us that we have sinned! True repentance
is also a gift from the Lord God.
Verse 6. “I will wash my
hands in innocency; so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord. Whatever Rome’s physiologists pretend for the power of
nature and of free will, we wretched sinners are taught to conceive more truly
of our own infirmity. Christ’s own apostle, stout Thomas, failed in the
faith of His (Christ’s) resurrection; Peter (whose chair is now the pretended
seat of infallibility) denied his Master; David, ‘a man after God’s own heart,’
hath need of washing; and who can say, ‘I am pure in the sight of the
Lord’? Certainly, O Lord, no flesh is righteous in Thy sight.”
(Isaac Bargrave 1623)
With this Scripture-knowledge in mind, therefore, what
should we do if we are not certain that we in fact HAVE true Salvation in
Christ and His Atonement Sacrifice?
We must seek faith in God’s Word (Romans 10:17); cry
out to the Lord with that faith for His gift of true repentance; and openly
acknowledge the truth of Christ and His Eternal Salvation to others - that they
too might be reproved of sin and seek faith to believe and be Eternally
saved.
“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
IF God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the
truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil, who
are taken captive by him at his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25)
As regenerate Christians, we too must seek fresh
repentance from our daily sins, that we might ‘walk in the light’ with our
lovely Lord Jesus. Keep short accounts of sin!
Thought: To walk close
to God - keep short accounts of personal sin, confess it to Him in sincere and
faithful prayer. (1 John 1:6-10)
Roof-top
Salvation? -
Psalm 26:7
Text: “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad
and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath
taken away thy judgements, He hath cast out thine enemy; the King of Israel,
even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more.”
- - Zephaniah 3:14-15.
Good morning, Roof-top shouting Christian!
Having more fully realised the absolute wonder of what the Living Lord Jesus
has done for you, you cannot contain the knowledge of His amazing grace without
shouting it from the highest roof-tops for all sinners to hear. You do
well, beloved Christian; you do very well - for there is no such thing as a
‘secret Christian’. Please continue to shout out the fact of God’s
Eternal Salvation and let your rejoicing be heard among the lost souls on the
pavements below.
“How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall
they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things!” (Romans 10:14-15)
But WHY should the roof-top Christian’s ministry be
thought so important to pursue? Why? Because we believe the
Scriptures, and the Scriptures clearly teach us that, “Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
“…Without faith it is impossible to please Him (the
Lord God); for he/she that cometh to God must believe that He is (exists), and
that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
It is a most logical conclusion, therefore that, if
faith be the vital requirement for Christian Salvation; and ‘…faith comes by
hearing…’; then it is our bounden duty to shout out the Gospel message of
Salvation in Christ alone; by God’s grace alone; through faith alone; to God’s
glory alone!
Only a ‘Spiritual miser’ would
refuse to loudly proclaim the way to Eternal Freedom for mankind lost in sin’s
dark swamps. “Let The redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy.” (Psalm 107:2)
Verse 7. “That I may
publish with the voice of thanksgiving…” For about fifteen years now, I
have sought to choose portions/books of the Bible and try to expound them in
written Bible Lessons and put them out weekly on the internet, that I might
strengthen and encourage the Church of Christ Jesus, my Lord, worldwide and
universal. Then, when I complete a section of Bible Exposition, I have
saved up, and gathered in, the finances to have my Bible Lessons printed in
Bible-Teaching Booklets.
I have, by God’s good grace, ’published with the
voice of thanksgiving’ all that the Lord has enabled me publish; sent
or taken my printed materials out to the nations - India, Burma, Africa,
America, England, Scotland, Wales, and here in Northern Ireland UK, the
Philippines; and in recent weeks, over into the Czech Republic.
In this manner, and by God’s Sovereign grace and
provision alone, I have sought to fulfil my God-given vocation - to share
Christ, and Him Crucified with all other souls that I possibly can. The
Sovereign Lord God alone imparts faith to those whom He elects to save by His
Sovereign and amazing grace. All glory to His Name. In this manner I
have, in the words of some greater writer than myself, sought to fulfil the
practical purpose of evangelism: ’one beggar telling other beggars where to
find bread’ - the Eternal Bread of Life, Christ Jesus, and Salvation in Him
alone.
“Cast thy bread (Gospel truth) upon the waters (the
nations); for thou shalt find it (it will accomplish the purpose of God) after
many days.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1)
“For as the rain cometh down and the snow from Heaven,
and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall
My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth (the Bible); it shall not return
unto Me void (empty), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it.”(Isaiah 55:10-11)
I dearly desire to be ‘a
roof-top shouting Christian’ for Jesus - please pray for me? Without the
power of the Lord, we can do absolutely nothing. (John 15:5)
Verse 7. “…And tell of all Thy
wondrous works. God’s
people should not be tongue-tied. The wonders of Divine grace are enough
to make the tongue of the dumb sing. God’s works of love are wondrous if
we consider the unworthiness of their objects, the costliness of their method,
and the glory of their result. And as men find great pleasure in
discoursing upon things remarkable and astonishing, so the saints rejoice to
tell of the great things which the Lord hath done for them.” (C.H.
Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 133)
So, let me humbly ask you, dear Christian - have you
realised your need to be a ‘roof-top shouting Christian’? Do you value
your Salvation enough to reveal its wonder to others in vital need of Christ’s
Salvation? Or have you fallen asleep on watch, and merely become a
‘Laodicean’; ‘…neither cold nor hot…’; fit only to be, in the Lord’s Words,
‘…spued out of Christ’s mouth…’; ‘…wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked.’? (Revelation 3:13-22)
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