A Passion for Purity
Zech. 13
God desires for us to be pure; we ought to desire to be pure.
Dr. James Dobson’s relates the story of a family where the rule was nobody attended “R” rated movies. When 3 teens came to dad to ask permission to see a rated “R” blockbuster, they laid out their case in terms of pros and cons. The cons: it contained 3 swear words, the only violence was a building exploding, and you actually could not see the couple in the movie having sex. The pros; it was a popular movie -- everyone was seeing it. It has a good story and plot, some great adventure and suspense, would probably be nominated for several awards. Many church members saw it and said it wasn’t very bad.
The father asked for a day to think about it before making his decision. The next evening, the father called his 3 teens into the living room. On the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. He told them he had decided that they would eat a brownie then he would let them go to the movie. But before they did, just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons. The pros: they were made with the finest chocolate and walnuts. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.
The brownies only had one con. He included a little bit of a special ingredient-just a little bit of "dog droppings" But he had mixed the dough well -- they probably would not even be able to taste the extra ingredient, and he had baked it at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs had probably been destroyed. Therefore, if any one of his children would eat the brownies he felt they would be able to see the movie with "just a little bit of smut" and not be affected.
How many brownies do you suppose they ate? How many would you have eaten? Purity is important when it comes to food; It doesn’t take much filth to ruin good brownies. When it comes to food, we don’t want any “extra ingredients”- we want purity.
When it comes to your heart, God doesn’t like any “extra ingredients.” He desires purity. He has a passion for purity in His people, and He wants you and I to share that passion for purity in our own hearts.
In Zech. 13, God stresses His desire for purity in His people Israel, and as He does, He reminds us of two very important principles about purity in our own lives. Look with at these verses and see how God’s passion for purity can become our passion for purity.
I. GOD WANTS TO CLEANSE US (v. 1-6)
I once knew a boy who hated to take a bath. He would go for days without soap and water, except for a splash now and then before supper because of his mom. His dad would send him into the bathroom and he’d turn on the water, rub some on the soap, and then turn it off and wait for a reasonable amount of time before his exit, proclaiming he had taken a bath—even though he never even took off his clothes!
I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand to walk around for long in a dirty body. I have a hard time getting by on just one shower a day. I usually take at least two, or more if I start feeling grimy or sweaty. I like to keep my body as clean as possible.
How many of us feel that way about our hearts, our minds, our souls? Whether we do not, God wants us clean on the inside as well as on the outside. When John Wesley said cleanliness is next to godliness he spoke the truth about the heart as well as the body.
But how do you clean up the inside? Zechariah tells us in vs. 1-6.
First, he explains God provides the water for our cleansing. Zechariah is again prophesying about the future using the phrase In that day= the end of the world. Notice that it is God Who opens the fountain for the cleansing of the house of David and Jerusalem. This is no man-made means fountain—God provides the water for this bath.
But also notice the fountain is the means of cleansing His people from sin and uncleanness. This fountain is not just for decoration—it’s for removing the dirt of guilt, and the filth of sinful desires.
Both of these ideas tell us that God desires to cleanse His people from anything and everything that soils their souls. He is not satisfied with people who walk around with dirty hands, dirty hearts, dirty minds. He wants them clean. But He also provides the water that will cleanse them.
Zechariah goes on to describe what happens when His people come to the fountain for cleansing in vs. 2-6: they will get clean. In vs. 2 He specifically mentions 2 specific areas Israel would be cleansed: false religion and filthy hearts.
Before the exile Israel was consumed with false religion. Idolatry was rampant, prophets claiming to speak for God were everywhere preaching lies. But in that day the idols would be forever forgotten (I will cut off the names of the idols from the land), and false prophets would become extinct (through drastic means, if necessary, cf. vs. 3, where parents execute their own kids, vs. 4-6 where they’d rather be a farmer than a prophet !). God gave them the means to be cleansed, and they choose to be cleansed by the Lord. God’s desire for their purity motivated them to become pure.
This is how it should work in our lives: God’s desire to cleanse us should become our desire to be cleansed.
God wants you and I have clean lives. God’s desire for Israel is His desire for His people today. God is not pleased when our lives are full of uncleanness—hearts full of lust, greed, jealousy, pride. He desires purity in our hearts. Pure devotion to Him, not the idolatry of worshipping money, or pleasure. Pure devotion to His truth, not allowing false teaching to corrupt our thinking. That may seem almost impossible to you. God desires purity.
God offers us His cleansing power. God offers us the means to live clean lives. He has opened the fountain so you and I can be cleansed from sin and uncleanness.
We have the fountain of Christ’s blood to cleanse us from the guilt of our sins.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
There is no sin you have committed or will commit that God has not provided cleansing for through Christ. Pilate tried to wash his hands of his crime, but the stain remained. You and I can wash our hearts in Christ’s forgiveness and be cleansed.
We also have the cleansing power of God’s Word. Speaking of the church and Christ Paul writes in
Ephesians 5:26-27 26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27that 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.
As you and I fill our minds with God’s Word, obey His Word, He cleanses us from sinful habits and attitudes. Memorizing God’s Word is one of the best ways to defeat temptation in your life. The more you will your mind and heart with God’s Word, the cleaner your heart, mind, and life will be.
Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
But we must want to be cleansed. Many people are just like that boy that never wanted to take a bath—they live dirty lives. They may spray on a little extra deodorant to keep the smell down, or wash their hands every now and then, but their lives are grimy with guilt, sinful habits and attitudes. They don’t really want to be cleansed.
God wants you to be clean, but you’ve got to want to be clean, too. You’ve got to be willing to come to Him and ask Him to clean you up and keep you clean. God has already provided you with the water—now you’ve got to step in and wash off.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Do you need cleansing tonight? Do you need that grimy guilt washed away? Are there nasty attitudes or thoughts you need to bring to the Lord and ask Him to help you wash away? Maybe there are some false ideas about God you need to get clarified, or maybe idolatry is trying to worm it’s rotten way into your mind and heart. God desires to cleanse you, and if you want to be clean, He will cleanse you.
Sleep with clean hands, either kept clean all day by integrity or washed clean at night by repentance. - John Donne
But God’s passion for our purity goes beyond cleansing. Zechariah also tells us
II. GOD WANTS TO REFINE US (v. 7-9)
One day missionary Amy Carmichael, who devoted her life to minister to young girls in India took some of her children to see a goldsmith refining gold. The man sat beside a small charcoal fire. On top of the coals lay a common red curved roof-tile, and another tile over it like a lid. This was his homemade crucible. He dropped a lump of ore into the blistering mixture and let the fire “eat it.” After awhile, the man lifted the gold out with a pair of tongs, let it cool, and studied it. Then he replaced the gold in the crucible and blew the fire hotter than it was before. This process went on and on, the fire growing hotter and hotter. As the children watched the gold being purified in the fire, someone asked the man, “How do you know when the gold is purified?” The man’s answer: “When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible], then it is pure.”*
If I could sum up what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing in your life, my life, the life of every one of His children, this would be it: He is working to refine us until we reflect back His image. The NIV translation puts it like this in
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory…
But how does He accomplish this refining? Zechariah mentions some very interesting means of God’s refining.
Through the stricken Shepherd. The message seems to make a sharp turn here, with God speaking of turning His sword against My Shepherd…the Man Who is My Companion (=Equal). Why would God kill His Own Shepherd? What Shepherd would ever claim to be equal to God?
One clarification comes when Jesus quotes this verse in Matt. 26:31 and Mark 14:27 to refer to Himself, and the disciples as the scattered sheep. It’s hard to know if this verse applies only to what happened to Christ, or if there will be some future fulfillment. What is more certain is that somehow this striking is linked not only to scattering of the sheep, but also the refining that occurs in vs. 9. The striking of the Shepherd is also linked to God’s turning away from His own people (Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.) In some way, the death of the Shepherd is part of the refining process. Another element of refining is
Through the remnant. 2/3 of the people will die, leaving only a remnant to survive. In some way God’s refining process involves not multiplication, but subtraction.
Through restoration of the relationship. The result of the refining will be a restoration of a right relationship with God. They will call---He will answer. He will call them His people---they will call Him their God.
These are the dots—now how do you connect them?
Let’s begin by understanding that refining is like everything else God does in our lives—it is connected with Christ and His Cross. God only refines those who have been born again.
But let’s also suppose that maybe the Cross is a model for God’s refining process. Maybe suffering is one of the main ways God refines us. Perhaps God is saying to Israel and to us Look at what I allowed to happen to My Son. That is the pattern for how I will refine your life.
That might explain the idea of refining the remnant. Jesus suffered the loss of everything—even His life—for the sake of God’s work in His life. Is it possible that God refines our lives not through addition or multiplication, but through subtraction—pruning away most of what we hold on to in order to make us more fruitful?
Maybe that’s what vs. 9 is all about: I will…refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested…God’s refining involves turning up the heat of suffering, removing everything except for our faith in Him, bringing us back to the place where our faith in the Lord is purified, where all the dross is removed, and our relationship with Him is made stronger—until He sees His reflection in your heart and in your life.
1 Peter 1:6-7 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
All of God’s saints go through periods of refining. Abraham had his time on the mountain, holding a knife above his only son, ready to sacrifice him to the Lord. Joseph was refined in a pit, as a slave, then as a prisoner of Pharaoh. We all know about the fiery refining of Job, and the suffering of Peter and Paul.
Now it’s your turn. God wants to refine us. The question is: do we want Him to refine us?
Don’t get me wrong—I don’t like to hurt. I don’t like the idea of losing anything or anybody I have I have-much less everything I have. My natural inclination is to try and avoid as much fuss and bother and pain as possible. And yet the cost of a pain-free, loss-free life can be very high to our hearts. I have no idea how expensive it is for gold or silver to be refined. I do know that until the metal is refined, it’s not much use. It cost God a lot for our refinement. His Shepherd had to be struck--His Son had to die. It will cost you a lot to allow God to refine you, but always remember the words of
Ronald Dunn writes, “I’m often mystified....I don’t understand why it is that as I endeavor to live for God and pray and believe, everything seems to be falling apart. Sometimes I struggle, and I say, ‘Dear Lord, why are You allowing this to happen?’” Dunn concludes, “It’s good for us to remember that God is not an arsonist; He’s a refiner.”
What’s the difference between an arsonist and a refiner? An arsonist uses heat to destroy; a refiner uses fire to purify. God does not use pain or hardship to destroy you, but to refine you- to purify and refine you until He sees His reflection in your life.
Of all the jobs in the world, one that I would really hate to have is a food inspector for the FDA. Not because I don’t think I would catch any bad meat or spoiled vegetables---but because of what I might be required to miss. I once started reading a list of what those inspectors are required to let go out to the public—how many insect parts, mouse droppings, etc., I had to stop reading to keep from getting sick. I suppose that the more you do the job, the more willing you would be to let a lot of things pass. But if I knew my family was eating the meat, what would I let go? Nothing. I want my food uncontaminated. When I read a label that says pure beef I want it to be just that. Pure water to me is water without anything but water in it.
Purity is just that important to God. Is it that important to you? Are you willing to pray for God’s cleansing, for God’s refining in your life? Are you willing to ask God to purify you, and continue to purify you all your life?
God desires for us to be pure; we ought to desire to be pure.
