★ MY SERMON NOTES
@ Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN)
Area 1, Garki - Abuja
6th December, 2015
☆ SERMON
* Speaker: Elder Simon Bunshak
* Topic: Cleanliness (How to Maintain the Balance between Physical and Spiritual Cleanliness)
* Theme: Growing up in Christ
* Sub-Theme: Wholistic Growth
* Service Leader: Joyce Ahmadu
* Text: Mark 7:1-23
* 'Cleanliness' is defined as the careful avoidance of dirt
* Dirt is a parallel symbolism for sin
★ Psalm 51:7 →"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
* When you want to maintain spiritual cleanliness, you have to ensure that your 'inside' is clean
* The cleanliness on the inside is what brings cleanliness on the outside
* Many people place a lot of emphasis on outward cleanliness while forgetting (or neglecting) inner cleanliness
☆ How does inner cleaniness affect outward cleanliness?
→ when you are clean on the inside, every physical activity you do reflects the glory of God
→ what is on the inside determines what is produced on the outside
☆ How does God view cleanliness?
★ 1 Peter 1:15 →"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation."
→ the virtue of cleanliness originates from God himself and He expects you to be clean/holy in every area of your life
☆ Four (4) Aspects of Cleanliness that God wants You to Imbibe:
1. Spiritual Cleanliness
→ This has to do with the prospect of having eternal life and maintaining a vibrant relationship with God
→ This is the most important aspect of cleanliness; but it is also the most neglected
→ To be spiritually clean means that you never cross the line between true worship and false worship
☆ 1 Corinthians 7:14 →"For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy."
☆ James 1:27 →"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
→ You must ensure that what you allow into your life (through sight, sound and thought) is glorifying to God
☆ Jeremiah 32: 35 →"And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."
→You must avoid involving yourself in any form of untrue worship to God
★ Mathew 23:25 →"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess."
→ NOTE: The less time you take in cleaning your inside, the less your glory on the outside will be evident
2. Moral Cleanliness
→ This involves keeping your mind & your heart clean before God
→ (the world is alienated from God, because of the prevalence of immorality)
→ when you constantly reflect on bad/unclean things, it eventually becomes your reality
→ Most nagative physical acts begin with bad or unclean thoughts
→ Sin is generally defined as the violation of God's moral standards
→ Anytime you constantly think about a particular sin & meditate upon it, it will surely manifest as a reality in your life
→ What you see, read or hear affects your mind directly or indirectly
→ Christians must always be on guard against any form of moral uncleanliness
☆ On the issue of Dressing:
→ when your 'inside' is clean, you will not need anybody to tell you to dress decently
→ Indecent dressing is a sign of inner uncleanliness. It also has the capacity to project unclean thoughts in others and causing them to lust
☆ NOTE:
→ People are observing you!
→ You are a model to someone. You might encourage somebody to either go to heaven or hell
3. Mental Cleanliness
→ The secret recesses of your mind must not be a repository of negative thoughts
★ Mathew 5:28 →"But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
→ Addiction to pornographic films and pictures or suggestive lyrics of songs polutes your mind
→ The type of music you play in your car, house or place of business reflects who you really are (either as a godly or carnally minded person)
→ People take their car to the car wash because they want people to feel comfortable when they enter into it.
* Question: Will people be comfortable when they come in contact with the contents of your heart & mind?
4. Physical Cleanlines
→NOTE: Spiritual and physical cleanliness go hand in hand
★ 2 Corinthians 7:1 →"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
* Physical cleanliness dictates keeping your surrounding clean and avoiding anything that defiles your body such as tobacco, alchohol, drugs etc.
* You must always surmon the courage to help others around you who are dirty by telling them the truth in love
* Cleanliness is next to godliness
* The hallmark of true Christianity is physical cleanliness and decency
★ Causes of Spiritual Uncleanliness
1. Evil thoughts
→ when a unclean mind conjures up evil thoughts, the evil mind has no choice but to it out Carry
2. Pride
3. Foolishness
4. Sexual Immorality (in all its ramifications)
5. etc
☆ Meditating upon God's word and frequent meeting with other believers can help you live a spiritually clean life
* Cultivating a clean life is an indication that you trust in the unfailing promises of God
★ Jeremiah 17:9 →" The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
→ Only God can dean up the heart of any man
★ 1 Samuel 16:7 →"But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."
* You must pay close attention to the state of both your physical and spiritual cleanliness at all times
* NOTE: Maintaining cleanliness is a choice that you have to consciously make today
→ Choose Jesus today as your Lord and Savior
☆ MISSION CHARGE
"I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution . . . if one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, One will meet with success unexpected in common hours."
→ Henry David Thoreau
☆ QUOTE
"I will! I am! I can! I will actualize my dream. I will press ahead. I will settle down and see it through. I will solve the problems. I will pay the price. I will never walk away from my dream until I see my dream walk away; Alert! Alive! and Acheived!"
→ Robert H. Schuller
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