Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
It’s amazing how muddy that children can get when they are playing outside for a short period of time. But before they come in and sit down in the living room, they must first remove all of their filthy clothes. A lot of parents try to keep their homes spick and span, vacuuming and mopping the floors regularly, and they simply won’t allow the children to track dirt through a clean home. A Mudroom is a designated place where people can remove their dirty shoes and all of their wet clothing before entering into the living area of a home. Some people have called it a transition zone, a place to keep dirt and other undesirable items from being tracked throughout the house.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
This Earth is like one giant mud room. It is a place where the elect of God are transitioning into Saints by shunning all of the dirt of sinful living. We must remove every article of the flesh, and purify our hearts through faith, before we can ever enter into the kingdom of heaven.
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.
Each of us are stained with the filthiness of sin and in order to enter into the kingdom of God we will need to cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of sinful activities.
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Sometimes a mechanic will come home from work and before he sits down for supper he will take a long bath. After spending many hours pulling a wrench, all of the dirty grease has accumulated on his hands, and deep under his nails, and he needs to scrub them diligently in order to get them clean. Our hearts need to go through the same type of cleansing process, as we scrub away the darkness of sin, in order to walk in the light.
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Like taking off our dirty clothes in the mud room, we have to go through a purification process known as sanctification. This happens when we accept the truth of scripture and turn away from the things that are sinful and offensive towards God.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
In order to be cleansed from our sins, we obviously must turn away from them. When we accept the truth of scripture and apply them to our daily lives, we can be freed from sinful habits and behaviors.
John 8:31-36 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the ptruth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Many years ago I used to sell water purification systems that you would hook up to your kitchen sink. They worked really well and would remove most if not all of the contaminants from your drinking water. Those who desire to obtain eternal life will have to purify their hearts, just as our Lord Jesus is pure.
1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
In order to sanctify ourselves, we must mortify the deeds of the flesh. This means to deaden off sinful desires and activities in order to walk in the purity of holiness before God.
Colossians 3:5-10 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Heaven is a perfect and holy place, and if we desire to live eternally then we need to mortify the flesh while we are here on the Earth. We have to prepare ourselves right now for the world that is coming, and each day brings us one day closer to God. Rather than following after the flesh, we need to follow after Christ Jesus and the things of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:12-14 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
In order for us to become sanctified we must change the way that we think. Rather than dwelling on carnal or sinful thoughts we must place our mind on the things of God.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Sanctification is a process of renewing your mind.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
So the next time that you come through the back door with muddy shoes, remember that before we ever enter into eternal life we need to remove the filth of sin in each of our lives. God grants us the grace that we need in order to become a new creature in Christ, but you are going to have to completely remove the sins of the flesh, the next time that you sit down in……
……The Mudroom
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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