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Whose House Is It? / Choosing Purity Over Pleasure in the Call
May 25, 2019
| By: Sam McVay, Jr. |
Category: Sermons |
Location: Wichita
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Notes
Whose House Is It?
Matthew 21:12-14 (ESV)12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ (for all nations – Mark 11) but you make it a den of robbers.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
Matthew 23:37-39 (ESV)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
I believe that one of the central battles in the church is the battle for its identity as a “House of Prayer”.
This is second only to the battle for the supremacy of Christ in all things for the Church.
Prayer is simply the heart-level relational faith act of communicating with God.
Isaiah prophesied and Jesus confirmed that the Lord’s House will be centrally identified as a House of Prayer.
The Lord is committed to a Church that is identified by relationship with Him.
I believe we are seeing the progression in the Church from:
| Individuals of Prayer |
-> to -> | Ministries of Prayer |
-> to -> | Cities of Prayer | -> to -> | Nation of Prayer |
Nations of Prayer will be involved in the Second Coming and change of the Age.
The enemy has been seducing the Church for centuries to be the owners of The House.
The result of OUR ownership of the House (and our lives) is desolation.
Praise God for the prophecy in Isaiah 56:7, which assures us that the Church will be eternally identified as a House of Prayer!
Choosing Purity Over Pleasure in the Call
Esther 4:13-17 (NIV)
13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape.
14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
Esther, called a fast and she said, “When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” She knew why she was given the royal position in that moment and she fixed her eyes on the call.
Esther 5:1-8 (NIV)
1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance.
2 When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
3 Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”
4 “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”
5 “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared.
6 As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, “Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
7 Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this:
8 If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”
Esther 7:2 (NIV)
2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
Esther 7:4 (NIV)
4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”
Due to her favor with the king, each of the three times she came into the king’s courts she was presented by him with the option of “even up to half of the kingdom will be granted to you.” (5:3, 5:6, and 7:2).
Each time she resisted, focusing on the final strategic outcome of positioning herself closer to the call for which she was raised up.
Despite the enticement of receiving half the kingdom (which could easily be justified as why she was put in her position in man’s eyes) she remained focused on her call. She didn’t give in to the pleasures of this world and pursue her own potential desires for fame and pleasure.
Matthew 4:8-10 (NIV)
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
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