Clean the House (Part 1) - Pastor Brad DeLong

Turn with me to Numbers 35 and 33. I think with that vision in mind, this is part of the reason why this phrase in the book of Numbers struck me a short time ago. In this passage, the Lord is spelling out his intentions to dwell with, to abide with the people of Israel in their promised land. Something Brother Spaul talked about at the end of his lesson today. There was a consistent promise and covenant with God that he made with them that he would dwell. A word meaning he was going to settle, reside, he was going to enthrone himself in their midst and community.

If you just want a a picture of what's happening today in this house, the Lord has simply enthroned himself here. He's abiding here in this house with each of you. But this is not the extent of his covenant with us. He is not content to abide here only. Some of you have been around a couple months, especially those around a couple years, you know this and have heard me say it. In order to do that though, in order to abide with him every day, he had to put some stipulations on it or to use his own words.

He said if they didn't abide by what he needed that the land itself would spit them out. They'd lose out on their inheritance and their promise if they could not be in covenant with him. So he spells out his intentions. Numbers 35:33. Don't pollute the land you're in. For blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that's shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore, do not defile the land in which you inhabit and the midst of which I dwell.

For I, the Lord, dwell among the children of Israel. The message paraphrases it this way. Don't desecrate the land in which you live. I live here, too. I live here, too. I God live in the same neighborhood with you. This has always been his intention from the beginning of the book until Revelation where he reiterates his desire to dwell with us and with his church. He says to them in Revelation 3, "As many as I love, I rebuke and I chasen them. Therefore, be zealous, church of God, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and if you'll open the door, I will come in and I'll dine with him and he with me. I want to revisit this theme again today. It's one that the Lord has circled at APC again and again and in his word and I believe he will continue to do so until we get it right. I want to convey to you today this premise from this imperative. It's time to clean the house. Clean the house.

The Lord is standing at the door of every heart. And I believe he has inhabited many hearts. I wonder if you just open the door of your heart wide today and say, "Lord, everything's on the table. Whatever you need from me to abide with me, I want it." Would you stretch your hands to heaven? Invite the Lord into your heart, into your life, into your mind, into your home, into your day, into your life, into every thought, every conversation, every decision. Invite him into every door.

Jesus, whatever we have to do today to dwell with you and to abide with you, apart from you, we can do nothing apart from your strength. Lord, we can do nothing. So today, we open the door of our hearts wide in this hollowed and holy moment that we're standing in. And we feel your glory and presence pressing into that door and into every life. Lord, we open it today and we thank you for your word in Jesus name. Amen. And you may be seated. If it's okay with you all, I just want to dive right in this morning and convey to you what I have felt for some time that the Lord is speaking to his church and to this church family and all of our guests with us, all of which I love immensely and so much.

If you're just joining us, you may not know this, but for months and even several years now, we have heard a consistent word from the Lord both through his inspired Bible in this book and subsequently over this pull pit. We try uh to preach over this pullpit, what is in this word, the whole council of God. And it's a word that outlines God's desire and intentions to abide with to dwell in our hearts and even our homes and amongst our households and our families. And to use the the definitions of of the word we just heard, he wants to abide.

He wants to settle. He wants to reside. He wants to enthrone himself. Just imagine you're sitting in your I've got that big blue chair. Some of you have seen it in my house and kind of my throne in the house. All right. Jesus wants that throne. He wants to be in control, not for the sake of dictatorship, but he wants to dwell with you. He wants to set up his throne and his kingdom and his presence and his glory in our hearts and in our homes.

And we heard this several months ago in our healthy home series. And we've heard it on Connect Sundays and multiple services in between. We've seen it expressed in our vision as a church, a church that's to be thriving, healthy, growing, and full of love. And in order for that to happen, we have all discussed the fact that that if the church is going to be healthy and growing and full of love, then every heart within it and every home within it has to be healthy and growing and full of love.

We even pursued it on Monday night scattered throughout the calendar year last year, our healthy home nights. And we are seeing this approach and and this word and this mandate of God unfold in families and marriages and neighborhoods and hearts and homes throughout this great church body. And that being the case, I was admittedly and somewhat undecided when the Lord came knocking at the door of my heart again to address this topic once more. Even after the the service we had last week, if you weren't here, go back and watch that clear message that our bishop preached, we heard about that gulf of sin and the Lord was pulling us back closer to him and and away from the edge.

And on the heels of that word, I I felt the Lord circling and saying, "Hey, we're going to touch this again and we're going to preach this again." And and in my humanity, I'll admit to you, I thought, "Well, Lord, shouldn't we just shift a little bit? Maybe we could move on. We could do something else. We could do something fun." Lord, it's always fun to be in the house of the Lord. Come on. The Lord is vigilant. I feel him desiring to drive home a message.

An admonition for the health and holiness and consecration of our hearts and our homes. The risk of potentially beating a dead horse. One of our Midwest idioms. Or in other words, overcommunicating the point. I I carefully contemplated. What do you want to say to your church? I try to do this every time I step behind this pull pit. And I'm convinced that the Lord our God is back again with his glory today to appeal for our whole hearts and our whole homes and our entire households.

If I could just paint for you the picture that comes to my mind in my spirit of late, the one that's born out of Revelation 3. It's a passage written to a church full of believers like this and born again Christians. And I I would describe it in this way that the Lord is trying vigilantly and consistently to inhabit and to cleanse our hearts and and our homes and he's using every entry point he can and every opportunity he can to to take up true residence in our hearts and in our homes.

If you could just picture Jesus and I'm not saying you've kicked him out of your heart. I'm not saying that that you're without him or devor of him. But if you could just picture Jesus as he stands in Revelation 3 on the outside of your heart or on the outside of your home and he's looking for any entry point he can't maybe he's in the house and maybe he's in your heart but you got some locked doors. You got some areas concealed. You got some things that you don't even know about and he's looking for any service, any opportunity, any crack.

He'll go through a window if he has to in order to cleanse out anything that would crowd him out. This is the posture I would envision and feel in his spirit. And this is why you've heard me preach it and teach this again and again. And knowing the great strides we've made in this area and the testimonies I've already seen and lives and homes and families, I've wondered, okay, Lord, what are you after here? What why are you circling this again? But the sense I have in the one given in Revelation 3 is that our God is just vigilant.

that our God will stop at nothing until he is firmly seated on the throne of our hearts and he will knock and he will pursue and he will speak and he will send teachers and preachers and he'll send his word until there's a response or until we attain to the measure of the stature of Christ which is going to take us our whole life by the way even after our initial response so many have already responded so many have been doing this faithfully for years but even after that and After the door is open and space for Jesus has been cleared, he will continue to press until the vessel and the home is cleansed and his permanent habitation is assured.

Can I just remind somebody today that Jesus wants the whole house and he wants our whole heart, our entire heart, every square inch of it is his. And for added context, I remind you of a story I read just this week. One I've used to explain this methodical and consistent approach of the Lord. It's a couple years ago during a pre-ervice prayer time. I was planning to preach a similar theme and message. No surprise. And brother Mike Magcguire Senior came over to me and he relayed to me this passage in 2 Kings 13 and 18.

And some that know it could recount it that Elisha is on his deathbed and the king of Israel comes and says, "Elisha, please help me. we're facing the Arameans and and we need victory and Elisha tells him to shoot the arrow out the window and he says, "Take your arrows and strike the ground." Uh he doesn't tell him how many times to strike it, but he he he invokes his faith and the king takes it and his faith allowed him to strike the ground three times.

And Elisha rebukes him. Why wouldn't you strike it six or seven? Now you're only going to have three victories. If you'd have done it six or seven times, you would have completely eradicated this thing. You would have completely gotten victory over this thing. I'm standing right there where brother Iver is sitting and the Lord his spirit quickens me and I just felt this admonition that you're going to preach this and you're going to teach it and you're going to model it and you're going to live it until it's in your heart and until there's victory and until the people of God are fully healthy and growing and full.

You're going to preach it until every home and every family knows the glory and the presence of God. You're going to preach it. preach holiness and holy habits and holy homes and holy hearts and healthy households. You're going to preach it as long as it takes. You're going to preach it until there's victory. You're going to preach it until there's a response. You're going to preach until the door is open and Jesus himself is sitting on the throne of every home and heart and household. preach it and teach it until some family leaders realize their responsibility and they rise up and they start to listen for the voice of God on their own.

And they're hearing the voice of God on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and while they're driving down the road with their eyes closed, not paying attention. Preaching until they're healthy. preach it until they attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, which is why a pastor's given in the first place. Preach it until they're equipped for the work of ministry. Preach it until his intentions for us are realized and his invitation for connection and communion are fully accepted. See, it's always been his intention to dwell with us and within us, to abide with us.

He's wanted to be enthrown in our hearts from the beginning. Just as our text says, I hear and I see him plainly today standing at the door and knocking, hoping and wishing for someone to allow him in, maybe for the first time. Or or maybe maybe you allow him to come in and stay a little longer than the last time. Or maybe you allow him to come in and start messing with your stuff. If you look at the context of revelation 3, you see this is addressed to the church of Leodysia.

I need us to note that this was to a group of believers to persons who had already experienced the power of God and the people who had already knew what it was like for him to dwell with them and connect with him. These are the people he speaks to and inspires John to write to. And I believe that Revelation 3 is still applicable to a new believer or even to an unbeliever. But we have to note the fact he's appealing to saints today, to people who already know what it's like to come in on a Sunday and feel the glory of God in this place.

But now just picture Jesus the master finding himself on the outside of the house and he knocks. Few commentators said this was not denoted as a quick and momentary wrap of the knuckles. It wasn't a and then a stop. That's how I know Sister Linda's walking in my office. She's got one of those. I can tell the knot. Instead, I need you to know this. A consistent knock and request over and over and over again. and knocking continued in the hope of a response. If this does not sober us today, I don't know what will.

Jesus, the Lord of glory on a Sunday with millions of people in the house of the Lord, comes to your heart in your home and he knocks until there's a response that he needs. Another Sunday morning address, another sermon about sin and repentance, another series about health and spiritual growth, another scripture about holiness, another devotional, another move of the spirit of God. Jesus, the one who had already saved them, was asking to be invited back into their hearts on an individual level and not just for a quick communion and a conversation.

Here's what the commentator noted that he promises to enter into anyone. Anyone, this is key. Anybody who opens the door and he says, "More than that, I will eat." The Greek word there conveying the thought of familiarity, a family dinner. The this meal was the main meal of the day. It was a leisurely affair. It was not a hurried snack. And Jesus would come and it says, "And I'll dine with him and he with me." me there was some reciprocation. It wasn't just Jesus doing all the talking and you should rearrange that and you should do this and you know what this home isn't good.

No, no, no. This is a relationship. This is true connection and hospitality. It emphasizes the continuing fellowship. And the writer says it forms a remarkably tender appeal to a church in Leadyia far gone from its rightful state. It is Jesus, not the wandering house guest, but the familiar father and friend that sticks closer to than a brother, revealing his desire and intention again to dwell with us, to reside with us, to abide with us. This is more than a 21st century American meal cooked on the Blackstone church.

This is Jesus saying to us, to believers, he's on the outside looking in, desiring to dwell with his bride. and anyone who would open the door to let him in, to let him reside. Let him dwell. Let him be a part of the fabric of your heart and of your home. And so he knocks. He sends messengers and teachers and preachers and pastors and scriptures and devotionals and his inspired word. He knocks and he waits for every last one of us not just to open the door for a moment during a Sunday morning altar call, but let him really come in, dine, and commune with us.

The question today is how long one would keep him waiting and what we'll be willing to do to allow him to stay and to take up residence. While you ponder that, I want to give you a little further context of his intentions. John writes to us. He says, "Judas, not a scariot." The other Judas said to him, "Lord, how is it that you'll manifest yourself to us and not to the world?" And Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves me, he'll keep my word.

And my father will love him and and will come to him and we'll make our home with him. He who doesn't love me does not keep my words and the words which you hear is not mine but the fathers who sent me." Earlier in the chapter, he says, "If you love me, keep my commandments and and I'll pray the Father, and he'll give you another helper, and he may abide with you forever. Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells with you, and he will be in you.

I will not leave you orphans," he says. I will come to you. And he does today. He continues in the next chapter, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. You cannot bear fruit unless you abide in me. I'm the vine. You are the branches. We can't get that twisted. He who abides in me and I in him, you'll bear much fruit. But without me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he's cast out as a branch.

He's withered. I read this earlier this week and I just felt a pause that someone's wondering, why am I so withered? Why am I so weak in my emotions and in my spirit right now? Why do I feel so cast down? Can I tell you? You're going to feel that way until you're truly abiding with Jesus every single day. Every day. I will feel that way for the first five minutes of certain days, sometimes 10, until I open this book and I abide with Jesus. None of us are exempt from feeling withered.

None of us are exempt from that word that we just heard a moment ago through message in tongues. But you've got to abide with Jesus. If you don't, it says they gather them. They throw them into the fire and they're burned. But if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you'll ask what you desire and it will be done for you. By this my fathers glorify that you bear much fruit and you'll be my disciples if you abide with me. In verse nine, as the father loved me, I've loved you.

Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's commandments, and I abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you. Why don't I feel the joy of God spoke these things? Abide in me that it would remain in you that your joy may be full. His intentions have been clear from Genesis when he walked with Adam and Eve in the garden to Revelation where he still stands at the door and knocks until there is a response or until the end of the age would come.

Jesus wants to be more than a momentary house guest. He wants to truly connect with us. The sist couple years ago quoted this scripture to us talked about of the increase of his government there will be no end. And I we heard recently that scripture has one interpretation many applications. He used one of those many applications. He did. He said on an individual level, he took that to mean that the longer Christ is in your life, the more of your life he's going to take over more of your thoughts, more of your home, more of your time, more of your treasure, more of your talents, more space, more room to work and operate than ever before.

He doesn't just want the corner spot where we keep him for compliance and convenience or or we or we pull them out when we're desperate in a passing moment. He wants all the space we can give him, our whole hearts, every part of our homes. And so we read scriptures like here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. I don't know how many times I've quoted this. I don't want it to get old.

All your heart, all your soul, all your strength. Don't stop there. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. Shall be in your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk about them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. Do you realize if you analyze that it's literally every moment of your day? Find them as a sign on your hands. They should be as frontlet between your eyes.

Write them on your doorpost and on your gates. How many times will we quote it, pastor? As many times as it take for us to get it right because Jesus says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and I chasen. Therefore," he says, "Be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and he opens the door, I'll come in and I'll dine with him and he with me." I want to say this that I recognize and I commend every response and every open door, every trip to the altar you've taken, every vulnerable moment, every prayer meeting and every prayer closet, every family devotional, every act of consecration, I do not diminish or denounce any of it.

Not a single sacrifice. And yet, I still hear a consistent knock. It's a knock for others who have yet to open the door just yet. It's a knock for believers who got too busy to commune with God this week or this month. It's a knock for those who have carved out some room in their lives and their home for Jesus, but it's just a fraction of what he's needing and and asking for. It's a knock for some who have given everything, it seems. And you've sacrificed a great deal and yet are asked for more for the master's sake.

Jesus wants our whole hearts and our whole homes. Someone Jesus wants your whole heart and your whole home. In order for that to happen, it's obvious the door has to be open. We've talked about that. And that space, more space must be made available. In other words, we've got to be intentional about doing what the title conveys. We've got to clean the house as directed by the spirit and word of God. I want to give a couple caveats today. I want to say to someone, make no mistake.

I believe Jesus will walk through any door that's presented to him, that's open to him.