How do we know we’re ready for the appearing of the Savior? It’s because we trust in him. If we trust with our heart, it affects our life. It affects our purity. Just like our faith and trust in the Lord, we have to learn purity. We have to activate it. The scripture says if we’re looking forward to the appearing of the Lord, we will purify ourselves.
First John 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.
One of the things we do before we face our day is clean up. We ready ourselves, make ourselves presentable. This is what John is talking about. It gets more real as the days go by. Those looking for Jesus, those who have this hope, should be in preparation mode. This is done by purification. You don’t go to bed dirty after you’ve played outside all day. The Lord is counting on us to be pure. He has saved us. It’s not that we will become children of God; we’ve been his children since we accepted Jesus as Savior. He cleansed us from sin, like giving us a bath. As we live in this world, we pick up dust and dirt. It requires a continual dealing with sin. Paul said I die daily. When we sin, we must confess it. God is faithful to forgive us.
Impurity is a sign of the times. Wickedness and impurity are marks of the world system. The book of Matthew says and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Iniquity is so strong that if we’re not careful it can cause our love for Lord to grow cold giving rise to our old Adam nature and love of sin. John said behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. We’re loved with a superior love that is to be guarded. It will cause us to say no to sin. We have a Savior and by the grace of God we have help. Even the church at large finds impurity is a problem. To the public eye, striving for purity is cast in a negative light. It’s not popular to be pure and disagree with sin. If there was no wrong in things, they wouldn’t have to be hammered at all the time. Deep down it’s an effort to defend wrong, to appease the conscience.
We purify ourselves because God is holy. We are called out of darkness into light. One day we’ll be called out of this body into a glorious body. Until then we have this hope and we are to purify ourselves. It is possible to be clean. Growing up I had a mom and dad that made sure I was scrubbed clean at night. It felt better to be clean. The more purity we have the more peace we have. As our Lord, he knows when we’re dirty. He has what it takes to clean us. We have to let him. He is ever present, ever ready to forgive us and cleanse us from unrighteousness. We should strive to allow Jesus to purge us every day. The believer looking for the coming of the Savior will seek to purify himself of anything that would defile. We have to admit the need of a daily cleanse. It’s not something we do only during revival times. It should always be on our minds. If we had been more thoughtful growing up, we wouldn’t have gotten so dirty when we played outside. Many Christians are getting careless. There is an indifference to sin among many today. Sin is excused.
We all have one thing in common. We will need a bath soon. How long can you go dirty without being noticed? Others know it before we know it ourselves. It’s a natural thing to keep our body clean. It’s our responsibility to God to keep clean spiritually. He is a clean, holy God. We have been given what it takes for cleaning—a new heart and nature. Don’t find yourself unprepared to meet the Lord. Admit to sin and deal with it. Take a bath in the wash tub of the Lord and let him cleanse you. As long as we’re in this world and in this flesh, we’ll need a spiritual bath.
When is the last time you received a scrubbing from the Lord? The one able to wash us is clean already. Do you know how to do it? No. You can’t do it yourself. Our little works of self-righteousness don’t help at all. We need Jesus. In chapter 2, verse 1 John said my little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Is it time for a bath? It always does us good. We’ll be purified and ready for his appearing.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 