Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

"WHITER THAN SNOW"

1. This is a remarkable prayer:
   1. David saw his soul stained with sin
   2. He knew that for him to live in the presence of a holy God, he must experience a cleansing
2. He knew also:
   1. That a sinner has no way of cleansing his life - Jer. 2:22
   2. He looked to the Lord for cleansing - Zech. 13:1; I John 1:7-9

1. The recoil of the soul from sin:
   1. Many find pleasure in sin; but when once the soul is quickened, there is an end to this, Said Job, after listening to God, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes" - Job. 42:5-6
   2. A vision of the Lord makes the difference - said Isaiah, "Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips" - Is. 6:5
   3. Sin is felt to be vile and loathsome; its touch is defilement; its presence is abhorrent; its effects are dreaded as the most terrible compare Is. 1:4-6 with Prov. 13:5; Ps. 38:7; Ez. 6:9
2. The yearning of the soul for purity:
   1. Have you ever given thought to all the things in nature that retain their freshness and purity; they put us to shame
   2. They show what we have lost - they intensify our remorse and pain and our sorrow
   3. While they testify that we are fallen, they show at the same time that sin is not our true and original nature - defilement does not belong to the man created in the image and likeness of God
   4. But the more we look into the law of liberty - the more we see our sinful condition - James 1:22-25; Rom. 7:7; 3:19-20

1. The nature of snow:
   1. Snow is remarkable for whiteness, as it glistens on the mountains or lies in virgin purity on the fields, what can compare with it?
   2. It is, in fact, the water that has been filtered by the air to a point where no impurity remains. Men use it for their drinking water with good effect
2. Yet, David wants the Lord to wash him whiter than snow:
   1. Where? not in nature, but in the blood of Jesus Christ - compare I John 1:7 with verse 9 and Rev. 1:5; 7:14; I Peter 1:18-19
   2. Note this heavenly invitation to sin-stained souls, "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" - Is. 1:16-19
3. The purity of the saints:
   1. Is not of their own making - says the prophet Jeremiah, "For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord" - Jer. 2:22
   2. It is the free gift of divine grace - Eph. 2:7-8; Titus 2:11
   3. It is the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord - compare Is. 64:6 with Is. 61:10; Jer. 23:6; I Cor. 1:30-31; Rom. 4:24
   4. It is, in truth, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" Col. 1:27
4. Christ our righteousness:
   1. Is the only solution to the sin problem - Matt. 1:21
   2. In Him we are complete - Col. 2:9-10
5. The great truth of the prayer of David for a cleansing:
   1. Is a manifestation of supreme trust in God the Redeemer - if that were not so, why pray for becoming whiter than snow
   2. The work of grace in the lives of untold millions of saints is full proof that God does not disappoint the penitent sinner