THE MESSAGE OF ZECHARIAH Number 34 - CLEANSING FROM SIN

THE MESSAGE OF ZECHARIAH
Number 34
CLEANSING FROM SIN
Zechariah 13:1-6

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THESE verses continue the account of the revival blessings which have been the subject of the previous chapter. These verses takes us deeper into the reviving grace of God, and describe for us the deep work which God does by his Spirit in the soul, and the blessing and commitment which results.

THE WORK OF GOD IN THE SOUL.

Verse 1 describes this deep work of God in the soul. A fountain for cleansing of sin and impurity was opened when Christ gave himself to death on the cross for the sins of the world, and rose victorious, revealing that the fountain was opened, and deep cleansing and washing was available. Although Christ opened this fountain at a point in time, and this opening is recorded as an act of history, its blessing and cleansing has always been open, for the saints in the Old Testament all found this fountain open for them, and washed in this fountain for the cleaning of their sin. Just as we who live after the work of Christ was complete are able to wash ourselves in this fountain, or more correctly are washed by the grace of God in this fountain, so also were the saints of the Old Testament days.

The meaning here is not so much to the event of the opening of the fountain by Jesus at the time of his first Advent, but rather to the time when an individual soul is brought by the Spirit of God to see that this fountain is open for them. Again it is an expression of the promise of such reviving grace which, having caused a soul to see their sin and uncleanness, now reveals that in Christ and his blood shed on the cross is a fountain filled with blood where sinners can plunge beneath the flood and cleanse all their guilty stains.

So here we have a description of God's work of saving grace in the soul, where having brought the soul into a condition of deep sorrow and repentance for sin and corruption within, now shows them the wondrous grace of God in the provision of salvation from the defilement and punishment for this sin.

This work of God in the soul is a complete and full work. The cleansing that is obtained is from both sin and impurity. Sin here surely points to the cleansing from the guilt of sin, and impurity is a reference to the cleansing from the pollution of sin. This describes the complete work which Jesus has done for us, which provides for us so complete a salvation.

CLEANSING FROM SIN AND IMPURITY.

Cleansing from the guilt of sin, from sin as it is expressed here, is the great blessing of justification. The souls that believe in Jesus to save them from their sin, find in Jesus a cleansing that washes away all their defilement on account of sin, and causes them to have no defilement of sin upon them in the sight of God. It is the gift of a robe of righteousness that is white because it has been washed in the blood of the Lamb.

This is the accounting to the sinner of the righteousness of Christ, and the accounting to Jesus, in their place, all their sin. It is the fact that Jesus having had our sin laid upon him by the decree of the judge of all the earth, suffered in our place all the justice of God which our sin deserved, and cancelled all our debt to God, paying it in full by his death, so that God has no accusation any more to make against us.

On the ground and merit of this work of Christ for us, God, the righteous judge, declares us to be righteous in his sight, and that there is no condemnation for us. We are accounted righteous in the sight of God, with no stain of sin recorded against us.

Here is the wonder of the grace of God to us sinners. God has provided Christ as our surety and substitute, who answers before God for all our sin, so that in Christ we are saved from suffering for our sins ourselves. But this justification in the sight of God is not simply a washing of the slate clean, but a complete restoration of our relationship with God, so that now we are saved for ever, and reconciled to God for ever, and brought into the family of God for ever, and have everlasting redemption. Because of the perfect and complete work of Christ for us, we are forever redeemed and made heirs of God's everlasting glory.

This is the fountain opened for us in Christ, and this is the experience of the fountain open to wash us that we are given by the grace of God and by the Spirit of God, whereby we are brought to know this blessing, and rejoice in it, and have assurance because of it.

This is not all. There is also cleansing in this open fountain for impurity. We are born sinners because we have a sinful and corrupt heart and disposition. We are born fallen beings and under the dominion of Satan. By natural birth we are born with the inheritance the first Adam bestowed upon us by his sin, which is spiritual death, which produces moral death. Because of this we are defiled and full of sin. Remaining like this, even being forgiven, is no help to us, because communion with God with such inner corruption would not be possible or desired. So with the cleansing from sin is also included cleansing from impurity.

What is this washing in the fountain opened by Christ? It is washing of regeneration. It is what is expressed by Paul to Titus (3:5) where Paul says that we have been saved by the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. It is the same which Paul teaches in Romans 6, expressed in verse 8 "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him". Our old corrupt self was crucified with Christ and destroyed, and we have risen with Christ a new self, reborn to enjoy the blessing of communion with God which Adam lost. This washing is the same as Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where he tells us we are a new creation in Christ. It is the same which Paul describes in Ephesians 4:24 where he tells us that our new self is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

We have been raised with Christ to a new life as a new person which is holy as God is holy and pure and fit for heaven, and can't be defiled with sin again. It is for this reason that although we have to express this new self through this still corrupt flesh, we hate the sin that flesh causes us to commit, and we are not under the dominion of sin, and we can't live in sin any more, longing all the time to be delivered from this sinful body, and be clothed with our new body which is promised, in the redemption we have in Christ, to be ours in the eternal glory.

This experience, described here in the first verse of chapter 13 of Zechariah, is that glorious time when in our sorrow and misery due to being convinced of our sin by the Spirit of God, we are shown Jesus by that same Spirit as the fountain opened for cleansing, and we are granted faith to believe that washing is for us, and we know ourselves to be washed, and cleansed, and risen and made to sit in heavenly places with Christ.

CHANGE WITHIN THE SOUL.

Verse 2 of the verses in Zechariah before us speak of the change that takes place in the life of the soul that has had their vision opened to appropriate this cleansing in the open fountain of Christ. The one who has so been washed and cleansed can't be happy with sin, or anything that tarnishes the glory of Jesus our new Lord and God. Anyone who says that the free forgiveness and accounting righteous in God's sight, which is the foundation Gospel blessing, promotes sin, is someone who has never felt its power and has never truly experienced it. The cleansing from impurity which we have already considered causes the one washed in this fountain to have a horror of all and anything that may in any way dethrone Christ as God and king in the soul.

So on the day that we are washed in this open fountain for cleansing - on that day all idols in the life will be banished and put away. Where this reviving grace is being poured out, idols which displace Christ will be exiled from society. If we want to see the purification of the church and society, it will not come by banging on about the evil we see around us, and standing outraged at it, and condemning and rejecting and looking down on others. It will only come as people, more and more people, have been washed in this open fountain and have found and experienced not only the cleaning from sin, but the cleaning from all impurity.

The way forward is not moral outrage, but loving calling of sinners to see this fountain open to them, and in much prayer that God will cause people to see their need of this fountain, and that God by his Spirit will lead them to this fountain, and graciously bring them to be washed in it.

So complete is this cleansing that idols are not only banished but they are forgotten. This is made possible in the light of the glory of the true God and Saviour Jesus, in whose presence we have been brought to dwell. Idols are all the attractions of the world that gain our allegiance of every kind. So when we are washed we have victory over the world through faith, and we find love of the world is banished.

NEW HOLINESS WITHIN THE CHURCH.

This leads into what follows in verse 2 and continues in verse 3. The church will be purified from false prophets, from all those who preach and proclaim messages and actions which are not of God. This will happen because the spirit of impurity will be removed from the land. False prophets arise because the impurity in the land wants to hear this false message. When this spirit of impurity is removed, then the false prophets will go, because their message will be found to be offensive, and they will find they are not wanted, and condemned. It was a plague of the life of Israel in the Old Testament that false prophets abounded, and they flourished because that was what the people wanted to hear. When people are washed in this fountain for cleansing, then the aspirations of these cleansed souls change. They want to hear true prophets who teach them the word of truth as it is in Jesus, and proclaim the whole counsel of God revealed in God's precious Word the Bible.

It is characteristic of the new born soul that they hunger and thirst after righteousness. They desire to hear the truth as it is in Jesus, and so the lies of the false prophets are not only unwelcome, but are rejected, and true prophets are sought, and the false prophets have no employment and are so cast out.

This is a work of God. Having provided the fountain, God removes all that hinders people remaining in the washing of the fountain open by Christ. God says here that he will remove false prophets and those who have the spirit of impurity. God will also cause his washed people to rise up against these prophets, and do all they can to have them cast out and prevented from prophesying lies and corruption.

How is this done? To some this is done by attack and rejection and denunciation. They may feel that this is what is prophesied in verse 3. It seems to me the declaring of death is more that of people turning away from false prophets, even those who are near and dear in a human and physical sense, and rejecting the false message, and so by such turning away produce the effect of death, which is that the false prophet has no ministry left to them, and so their ministry is redundant and made useless. In times of revival this is what happens. The places where the false prophets minister are neglected, and so the false prophets have no ministry. It is made clear to them that their message is a message of death, and that they remain in death if they continue to proclaim the false message. The death being spoken of hear is not the killing of the body, but the making clear that state of death in the soul which is shown in the false message.

Verse 4 reinforces this understanding of verse 3. Verse 4 speaks of the shame of the false prophet on account of the false prophetic vision they have proclaimed. In such time of revival, false prophets will be ashamed, and seek to hide themselves. This is a work of God purifying his church. Many will repent and by God's grace be born again and begin to preach the truth of God. In this repentance they will confess the wounds they have received in their soul which has brought them to this place of sorrow and repentance, and turning away from falsehood to the truth.

Such is the revival message being proclaimed here by the prophet. However this blessed result of reviving grace will not be seen in all false prophets, and in times of reviving grace on the church, the false prophets react to their isolation by attacking the people of God and seeking to hinder the work. However, even though this opposition is very painful, it never thrives and never wins the day. God's sovereign power is almighty.

CONCLUSION.

Let us seek this reviving blessing in our day. Let us pray that the open fountain won by Christ for the cleansing of sin and impurity may be gloriously revealed, and people brought to see their defilement and that this open fountain is open for them.