Sunday, July 16, 2000   

I. THE CLEAN AND THE UNCLEAN CONTRASTED.

      A. We learn from Exodus. 34:20, that we are put on a level with an unclean and worthless thing.

           1. There were two groups of animals, two classes, the clean and the unclean. Man is grouped with the unclean.

           2. The lamb was to answer for the unclean. Friends, the lamb is the answer for the unclean. The answer for man's unclean condition spiritually is the Lamb of God.

           a. Notice if the ass was not redeemed, his neck was to be broken. He must die.

           b. As we read verse 20 of Exodus 34 closely, we see that man must be redeemed. Without redemption, man must die; he must spend eternity in hell (Romans 6:23).

      B. In both Exodus 13:13 and 34:20, we see that the lamb took the position and place of the ass.

           1. Christ, the clean, spotless Lamb took the place of unclean sinful man on the cross.

                a. I Peter 3:18: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."

           2. He who knew no sin was made sin for us.

                a. II Corinthians 5:21: "For He [God] hath made Him (Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

                b. What we should have endured throughout eternity, Christ, the Lamb of God, endured for us on the tree.

                c. He bore all that was due to us, so that we might enjoy what is due to Him forever. We owed a debt we could not pay - He paid a debt He did not owe.

                d. "He got our deserts, that we might get His" (CHM 167).

                e. The clean, took for a time, the place of the unclean- so that the unclean might forever take the place of the clean.

II. BY NATURE MAN IS UNCLEAN.

      A. Man is unclean in:

           1. Thought - even the best of men admit to having ungodly and unclean thoughts.

           2. Word - we say things that we wish we could take back- we say things we are ashamed of.

           3. Action - we do things that we ought not to do.

      B. Man is a rebel by nature, just like the donkey.

           1. The donkey is a hardhearted and sometimes senseless animal. Often we're as hard to move as a mule.

           2. The natural man is hardheaded and devoid of spiritual intelligence.

           a. The natural man is ignorant of spiritual things. Ephesians 4:17-18: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart".

           b. The natural man is blinded spiritually. II Corinthians 4:3-4:" But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

           c. The natural man is stubborn; he is rebellious and defiant. He will not come to Christ that he might have life. John 5:40 "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."

                     1) Man like the donkey wants to go his own way. Isaiah 53:6 "We have turned every one to his own way."

                    2) Romans 3,1 1: There is none that seeketh after God.

                     3) When a sinner does come to Christ, it is because he has been drawn by divine power. John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him...."

                     4) After salvation, the Holy Spirit has to take us by the hand and "lead" us in "the paths of righteousness". Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

III. TRACKING THE DONKEY THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES

      A. The first mention of the donkey is in Genesis 22. From this great chapter, we learn two things:

           1. In Genesis 22:3, we find that the donkey is not a free animal.

                a. It is a beast of burden-saddled.

                b. So too, is the sinner -saddled with sin (Psalms 107:10-11, 14).

           2. Genesis 22:5, we note that the ass's did not accompany Abraham and Isaac to the place of worship.

           a. The lost sinner cannot worship God. John 4-23-24: "But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him."

           b. To worship God, we must believe in what Christ did for sinners.

      B. Genesis 49:14 says "Issachar is a strong ass, crouching down between two burdens." Friends, the sinner is heavy laden. Matthew 11:28: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

      C. In I Samuel 9-3, we read- "And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost". As we read the story, we find that Saul and his servant sought long and hard to find the asses, but they did not recover them.

           1. The sinner is lost and away from God.

           2. No human power can restore or reconcile man to God.

                a. Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest and man should boast."

                b. Titus 3:5: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

      D. In Jeremiah 22:18-19, we read about the burial of Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah.

           1. Jehoiakim was to be buried as an unclean ass. In Bible times, the carcass of the ass was cast outside the gates of the holy city.

           2. This is how it will be with every unredeemed sinner who dies outside of Christ.

                a. He will not enter the New Jerusalem.

                b. He will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelations 21:8, 22:14-15).

      E. In Zechariah 9:9, we have the ass entering Jerusalem, but only as it is under the controlling hand of the Lord Jesus.

           1. This is the sinners only hope- submitting to Christ.

           2. John 14:6; "I am the way..."

     IV. REDEMPTION FOR THE DONKEY IS PROVIDED.

      A. The donkey is redeemed b a clean animal - the lamb (Exodus 34:20).

           1. Christ the Lamb of God died for sinners (Romans 5:8).

           2. You deserved to have your neck broken spiritually (Proverbs 29:1).

      B. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the only hope for sinners.

           1. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming unto him, he cried'. "Behold, the Lamb of God..." Oh, that the lost would see the Lamb.

           2. Jesus is the clean one who came to save the unclean and wash them white as snow.

           3. Jesus is the just dying for the unjust (I Peter 3:18). "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."

           4. Jesus is the clean reaching down to the unclean.

CONCLUSION: By nature man is unclean; by grace, through the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, man is classed with the clean (I Peter 1:19) "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a' lamb without blemish and without spot."