Washed!

1. Washed! October 19, 2008 Pastor Timothy Hinkle Victory Tabernacle Special Thanks to my friend Bishop Charles E. Blake for much of the content from his book, Encountering God

2. You Cannot Wash Yourself Exodus 29:4 (New King James Version) 4 “And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall wash them with water. Éxodo 29:4 (Reina-Valera 1960)4 Y llevarás a Aarón y a sus hijos a la puerta del tabernáculo de reunión, y los lavarás con agua.

3. You Cannot Wash Yourself This initial washing was symbolic of the initial washing of regeneration done by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. If we are to be cleansed, Jesus will have to do it by the application of His righteousness.

4. You Cannot Wash Yourself This was not something the priests could have done for themselves; it had to be done by Moses, who was a type of Jesus. Even the Laver itself was a type of Christ: Titus 3:5-6 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 5 nos salvó, no por obras de justicia que nosotros hubiéramos hecho, sino por su misericordia, por el lavamiento de la regeneración y por la renovación en el Espíritu Santo,     6 el cual derramó en nosotros abundantemente por Jesucristo nuestro Salvador

5. You Cannot Wash Yourself When Jesus comes into your life, He breaks the rule of the old man of sin, canceling his authority, and He brings into existence a new man who is to take charge of your life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote:

6. You Cannot Wash Yourself Ephesians 5:25-27; Efesios 5:25-27 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 25 Maridos, amad a vuestras mujeres, así como Cristo amó a la iglesia, y se entregó a sí mismo por ella,     26 para santificarla, habiéndola purificado en el lavamiento del agua por la palabra,     27 a fin de presentársela a sí mismo, una iglesia gloriosa, que no tuviese mancha ni arruga ni cosa semejante, sino que fuese santa y sin mancha.

7. You Cannot Wash Yourself We come to God just as we are, tainted by sin, and He thoroughly washes us. If you will surrender to Him today, He will give you a good Holy Ghost scrub-down right now!

8. Jesus called for a new life in each of us: John 3:3-7 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ Juan 3:3-7 3 Respondió Jesús y le dijo: De cierto, de cierto te digo, que el que no naciere de nuevo, no puede ver el reino de Dios.     4 Nicodemo le dijo: ¿Cómo puede un hombre nacer siendo viejo? ¿Puede acaso entrar por segunda vez en el vientre de su madre, y nacer?     5 Respondió Jesús: De cierto, de cierto te digo, que el que no naciere de agua y del Espíritu, no puede entrar en el reino de Dios.     6 Lo que es nacido de la carne, carne es; y lo que es nacido del Espíritu, espíritu es.     7 No te maravilles de que te dije: Os es necesario nacer de nuevo. The Need For A New Life

9. Romans 8:1 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romanos 8:1   1 Ahora, pues, ninguna condenación hay para los que están en Cristo Jesús, los que no andan conforme a la carne, sino conforme al Espíritu.     Freedom from Condemnation!

10. 2 Corinthians 5:17 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corintios 5:17 17 De modo que si alguno está en Cristo, nueva criatura es; las cosas viejas pasaron; he aquí todas son hechas nuevas. Freedom from Condemnation!

11. Freedom from Condemnation! These scriptures indicate that when a person accepts Jesus Christ, a righteous nature and capacity comes into existence within him (or her). You cannot live in the Spirit until you have been born of the Spirit. Why are so many trying to live a righteous life without first having truly accepted Jesus or believed on the sacrifice of His blood? If He is not our Lord and Savior, there is no way we can live righteously in this world. When we do come to Him, he washes us.

12. 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 9 ¿No sabéis que los injustos no heredarán el reino de Dios? No erréis; ni los fornicarios, ni los idólatras, ni los adúlteros, ni los afeminados, ni los que se echan con varones,     10 ni los ladrones, ni los avaros, ni los borrachos, ni los maldicientes, ni los estafadores, heredarán el reino de Dios.     11 Y esto erais algunos; mas ya habéis sido lavados, ya habéis sido santificados, ya habéis sido justificados en el nombre del Señor Jesús, y por el Espíritu de nuestro Dios. 1 Corinthians 6:9-111 Corintios 6:9-11

13. Washing—Then & Now For the priests of the Old Testament, the initial washing at the Bronze Laver took place before they went to the Brazen Altar for atonement. But for the believer in Christ Jesus, atonement and regeneration take place at the same time. We are both forgiven and given new life by the Spirit of God in the same moment. Forgiveness and the born-again experience come in one package.

14. Washing—Then & Now When Jesus died on the cross, a soldier pierced Him in the side, and the Bible says, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). This indicated that, in Christ, the blood of absolution, the blood for removal of guilt, would be forever mixed with the water of cleansing. Hallelujah!

15. Cleansing Must Be Continual But let us remember that the priest not only went to the Laver when they were first consecrated: they went there again and again as they performed their priestly duties. Each time they went outside the tabernacle court and returned they would wash their hands and feet at the Laver. As they moved around in the Tabernacle their feet would get dirty because there was no covering on the floor; it was just bare ground. So they would go frequently to the Laver. As they handled the sacrifices and tended the fire upon the Brazen Altar, their hands would get dirty, and they would go again to the Laver. Before they could go into the Holy Place, they had to be clean, so they would go to the Laver and wash.

16. Cleansing Must Be Continual This frequent washing of their hands indicated sorrow and repentance for sin, the renunciation of sin, the cleansing of their minds, of their hearts and of their spirits before Almighty God. The psalmist declared:

17. 3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?         Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,         Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,          Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the LORD,         And righteousness from the God of his salvation 3 ¿Quién subirá al monte de Jehová?     ¿Y quién estará en su lugar santo? 4 El limpio de manos y puro de corazón;     El que no ha elevado su alma a cosas vanas,     Ni jurado con engaño.  5 El recibirá bendición de Jehová,     Y justicia del Dios de salvación. Psalm 24:3-5; Salmos 24:3-5

18. Forgiven & Sanctified • We are forgiven and sanctified as soon as we are saved. • When theLord comes into our hearts, He cleanses us and sets us apart for Himself. • But it is sometimes (or always) difficult to stay clean after we have been washed (why try to hide this fact?)!

19. Think About It Our bodies, our clothing, our houses, and our automobiles get dirty just because they are here on this earth. You don’t have to be doing anything wrong to get dirty here. This earth is a dirty place and earthly “stuff” settles on everything. Just sit here, and in time you will be dirty. No matter how careful you are with your appearance, somebody can drive by, hit a mud puddle, and mess you u8p in a moment.

20. Compare Physical to Spiritual Spiritually and morally, our situation is the same. This body of flesh, and these fleshly, selfish, pleasure-focused minds of ours are always proposing some kind of wrong and evil involvement. Even if you don’t do wrong, you can feel dirty after listening to your mind talk all day.

21. Compare Physical to Spiritual But we do sin. The devil and sinful people try to bring the dirt of sin into our lives, and sometimes they succeed. Sometimes Christians are carried away by a wave of evil passion that sweeps over them, and they suddenly find themselves soiled.

22. Compare Physical to Spiritual There are other ways to become unclean. The stress and strain of life has a way of pulling the good out of you and replacing it with bitterness and anger, and folks can hurt you and mistreat you, causing you to want to do the same to them. Sometimes we become dirty, not because of something we have done, but because of our response to something someone else has done to us. Also, habits (strongholds) that you thought you had long ago escaped have a way of showing up again during a time of vulnerability. Still, we are commanded to be holy in this world.

23. What Is The Message? • Next week we will go into the Message in a more in depth way. But here it is in a “nutshell”.

24. The New Testament Message The message to the New Testament Believer is: • Understand that you have been washed, and if God washed you, it’s because He wants you clean… • If you fall down, don’t just lie there; get up and move on • Remember the importance of your spirit and your soul. Your body will return to dust, but your spirit will live on forever. • Remember who you are and whose you are: • Remember the promises God has made to you • If you can get close to God, He will lead you and guide you. • If you want to be clean, focus your mind on clean things, holy things, on good things: • Be baptized in and filled with the Holy Spirit and get the power of God working in your life: