Undisciplined | Part 3 | Cleanliness
We’re in Malachi 3. And of course on Sunday nights, we’ve been going through this series called “Undisciplined”. And we’ve been looking at areas in our lives where people may be undisciplined or where they might be able to use a little more discipline. And of course this has given us some very specific and unique sermon topics. I think in the Sunday night series, I have preached on some topics that I’ve preached on before but I’ve never done full length sermons on any of these topics. Over the last couple of weeks or several weeks, we started with a sermon on laziness. And I’ve preached on laziness in the past and done entire sermons on laziness. However, last time we were in this series, I preached on tardiness. About being on time and prompt to the places we’re supposed to be.
Tonight I’m preaching on the subject of cleanliness. And I’ve never done an entire sermon on tardiness. I’ve never done an entire sermon on cleanliness. But here’s what I believe,bible the Bible teaches you everything you need to know about everything. And I believe that a Bible believing church should preach everything the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches about tardiness. And at some point, there should be a sermon on it. The Bible teaches about cleanliness. Then at some point there should be a sermon on it. And I’m here to tell you the Bible teaches a lot about cleanliness so it’s going to be a very specific, very applicable sermon. And we’re just kind of going through this series and hitting these unique topics on the subject of being undisciplined. Sometimes people can be undisciplined when it comes to cleanliness and keeping things clean around you.
And of course there’s a very famous quote that people like to give in regards to cleanliness and Christianity. “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”. Now I hate to break it to you but that’s not in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t actually say cleanliness is next to godliness. However, it may be a very true statement. And the reason I say that is because throughout the Bible you find that God emphasizes the idea of cleanliness. And I don’t have time to go through all the passages and all the scriptures in regards to that. But I want to just show you some things as we begin tonight.
Malachi 3:1, look at what the Bible says. “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”. Verse 2 “2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:”. Isn’t it interesting that the Bible actually uses soap as an illustration of what the Lord is like? The Bible tells us that the Lord is like a refiner’s fire. What is a refiner’s fire? When a refiner uses fire, it is a way to heat metal up in order to bring out the impurities, to bring out the dirt and the grime, in order to purify metal. The Bible tells us that he is like refiner’s fire and then he tells us he’s like fuller’s soap. That’s why when you start walking with Jesus, he starts cleaning you up. The Bible uses soap as an illustration of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all throughout the Bible you see these kinds of illustrations.
All throughout the Bible, the Bible equates cleanliness and washing with spirituality. We could spend all night looking at all sorts of verses. I’m not going to do that but it equates washing to salvation. It equates washing and cleanliness to sanctification. Here’s an example of salvation. John 13:4 “4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.”. This is after the Lord’s Supper or Passover,”. Verse 5 “5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”. Look at verse 8 “8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.”. And of course this was an illustration or a picture of salvation. Later in the chapter he talks about the fact that not all of them were clean because Judas was there and Judas was not saved. All throughout the Bible we find this idea of cleanliness being equated to salvation and spirituality.
In Ephesians 5 we are told that the church is subject unto Christ and that Christ is the head of the church and we’re told that he washes the church with the water of the word and that he is cleansing it and removing every spot and preparing it for the day of his coming. So all throughout the Bible, salvation and sanctification is equated with this idea of cleanliness. Although the phrase “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is not in the Bible, it is very accurate.
Of course tonight we’re not necessarily just talking about spiritual cleanliness but we’re talking about physical cleanliness because the Bible talks a lot about physical cleanliness as well. Now we’re going to give you some thoughts in regards to this idea of cleanliness, kind of three different areas that I want to hit. The first one is more of a way of introduction but it is this. “What cleanliness reveals about you”. See, there are some implications when it comes to cleanliness or to the lack thereof. How clean you are personally says something about you. It reveals something about you. There are some implications in regards to cleanliness or some implications in regards to the lack of cleanliness. The word implication means a conclusion that can be drawn from something. And here’s the point that I’m making, when you look at somebody who is habitually or chronically unclean, they don’t keep themselves clean or they’re habitually chronically unclean in the areas they live in such as their room or their house or their apartment or car, according to the Bible it reveals something about.
Another way to look at it is what the lack of cleanliness reveals about you. The lack of cleanliness reveals some things. What are they? First of all that laziness brings forth filthiness. When someone is not clean or when they don’t keep their areas clean and organized, it reveals laziness. Proverbs 24:30 “30 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;”. Slothful means someone who is lazy. A sloth is an animal who sleeps like 20 hours a day. They’re not very active animals. And when it comes to your work ethic, you don’t want people to describe you as a sloth.
Verse 31 “31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. 32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. 33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.”. See, Solomon here tells us that he went on this little trip and he went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding and he said that the area was unkept. He said it revealed something about that individual. What did it reveal? That they were lazy. See, laziness brings filthiness. When you walk into a room or an office or a home and it is clean, it shows you that person is not lazy.
I wonder if Solomon was taking a walk around your neighborhood and he peeked into your backyard, went into your room, I wonder what it would reveal about you? Because cleanliness reveals things about you and the lack thereof reveals some things about you. He said I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding and lo it was all grown over with thorns. He said it was broken down. He said the nettles that covered the face thereof. He said the way that they kept their property, the way that they kept their area showed something about them. And look, you don’t need Solomon to tell you that. Go into the ghettos, come soul-winning with us into the ghettos and you’ll see. We love poor people. We spend a lot of time reaching poor people and ghetto people. I live in the ghetto. We’re all for it. But here’s the truth. You go up and down the streets of the ghettos of America today as we go out every week knocking doors and preaching the gospel to people and they are very receptive. But you’ll also notice a bunch of filth. You’ll notice a bunch of trash. People open their house and there are clothed everywhere, trash cans overflowing, dirty diapers everywhere. The cleanliness or the lack thereof reveals something about you.
Don’t believe me? Just go to the homeless camps and look at all of the trash they leave. We have a lot of homeless outside of our church. I come in to work and I watch them. I mean they’re just laying there. They’re not doing anything but yet it seems like the trash just accumulates around them and then they leave and just leave the trash. I’m not trying to offend you. I realize people don’t like people pointing these things out but go to the homeless camps and tell me there is not just a landfill of trash. You say why is that? Here’s why. It is because filthiness reveals laziness. It reveals the fact that somebody doesn’t have character. Somebody doesn’t have integrity. Somebody doesn’t have effort. Why? Because it requires work to clean. I’m not talking about being rich or having nice things.
You know my wife and I try to be hospitable. We had 30 people over in our house this last week for a meal. Sometimes we joke around because we don’t have the nicest house. And there are some things that need to be upgraded and fixed. And one day Lord willing we’ll be able to do that. But we’ve always said this, it can at least be clean. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive or have the nicest bathrooms. But we can at least keep it clean.
I’m here to tell you that laziness and filthiness reveals something about you. It reveals that you’re lazy. I’m talking to you teenagers tonight. If you keep the room of yours like a pigsty, it reveals something about you that you need to work on. Your work ethic. Because Solomon said “30 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. 32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.”. He said I learned something. What did he learn? He learned that laziness brings forth filthiness. Cleanliness or the lack thereof reveals something about you. It reveals laziness.
But there’s a second thing that it reveals about you. First, lack of cleanliness reveals laziness. Laziness brings forth filthiness. But it reveals something else. Not only does it reveal laziness, it also reveals sinfulness. Did you know that sinfulness brings forth filthiness? Isaiah 28:7 “7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.”. The strong drink is referring to alcohol. I want you to notice how the Bible describes drunkenness. It says they err in vision. They stumble in judgment.
Look at verse 8 “8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.”. You know what? The Bible tells you the truth about everything. The Bible tells you the truth about the world’s lies. See, the world advertises drunkenness and it makes it seem like they are all fit, clean, at the beach, the men have a 6-pack and all of the ladies are having a good time. That’s how the world advertises beer and alcohol and drunkenness. But they don’t tell you the truth. You want to know the truth? The truth is in the Bible. It says they err in vision and they stumble in judgment. It says all tables are full of vomit and filthiness so that there is no place clean. That’s the truth about alcohol.
You young people, you don’t need to go into a bar and experience that. Let me tell you what a bar is like. It’s dirty. It’s dark. It’s full of vomit. The guy with a 6-pack has never drank a beer in his life. It’s called a beer belly. Sin is filthy. Alcohol is filthy. You go and get drunk. You’re going to be filthy and wake up in your own vomit. You won’t remember the great time you had. All sin is filthy. Smoking is filthy. Smoking pot is literally putting smoke down your lungs. It’s filthy. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. If you smoke, I’m not mad at you. But you ought to quit. It’s not good for your health and it’s not honoring to the Lord. The Bible says that your body is the temple of the holy ghost. It’s a filthy sin. It will make your teeth yellow. It makes your lungs black. It makes you smell bad. See, sin is filthy. Alcohol is filthy. Smoking is filthy. Drugs are filthy. This is why you go to the ghettos or homeless camps and not only do you see a bunch of laziness, you see a lot a bunch of sinfulness. Fornication is filthy. Sleeping around is filthy. If you young people go sleeping around, you’re going to get all kinds of filthy and nasty diseases. It’s disgusting. See, filthiness reveals something about you. It reveals sinfulness. It reveals laziness.
That’s why Jesus wants to be the soap that cleans you up. And by the way, when he cleanses you of sin, it’s interesting how you become physically clean also. 2nd 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.”. Number 1, cleanliness reveals laziness and sinfulness.
Secondly, I want to talk about who is responsible for cleaning. “3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,”. I want you to notice that here we’re being told that the aged women ought to teach the younger women to do certain things. They are to be sober. They are to love their husbands. They are to love their children. Notice, then in verse 5 it says “5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,”. We look at that phrase “keepers at home” and we refer to it as someone who stays home, a stay-at-home wife and that’s definitely true. There’s nothing wrong with seeing that in that phrase. But keepers at home means more than staying home. It means keeping the home. It’s where we get our modern phrase housekeeping or a housekeeper. See, someone who takes care of someone means they guard, protect and take care of. Here we are told that the women are to be “keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”.
Over the years, my wife has gotten a lot of questions about who is responsible for cleaning the house and taking care of the house. I’ve got several statements here. For starters, the wives should have the primary responsibility of cleaning the home. This is what the Bible teaches. I know that Oprah Winfrey doesn’t like that and Hillary Clinton doesn’t like that but that’s what the Bible teaches. The primary responsibility of a stay-at-home wife is for her to clean the home. The Bible says that they are to be keepers at home, stay-at-home wives. They should have the primary responsibility of cleaning the home. Sometimes people don’t understand this and they think that a job of a wife is to just be home but actually don’t do much. If you’re not working then you’re not doing it right. You’re supposed to be working at home. You’re supposed to be keeping the home. You’re supposed to be working. Look, don’t you expect your husband to get up early, get dressed and go to work and work hard all day long. The same is true for you ladies. Don’t sit around at home in your pajamas all day long on Facebook. You’re supposed to be keeper at home. Stay-at-home wives should have the primary responsibility of cleaning the home.
Proverbs 31:10 “10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.”. Now notice verse 27 “27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”. What does that mean? It means that she’s a keeper at home. It means that she keeps the home well. She tends to the things of the home well. She looketh well to the ways of her household. Notice it says she eats the bread of idleness. She’s not just watching soap operas all day, on Facebook all day, doing nothing all day. She’s busy about her business. When we ask the question biblically who’s responsible for cleaning, stay-at-home wives should have the primary responsibility of cleaning the home.
Go to Proverbs 22. Sometimes people will hear this and they will email and complain and say “Well I have 6 kids. You don’t understand. It’s impossible for me to clean up after all these children and all these things. It’s not fair to have all of the responsibility on 1 person.”. And I would say you’re right. See, the primary responsibility of being a stay-at-home wife is that you should be taking care of the home, the work of the home and cleaning the home.
Here’s statement number 2 in regards to the cleaning of the home. Here’s what my wife says all the time to the children. “If you can help make the mess, you can help clean the mess.”. Proverbs 22:6 “6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”. You know we’re supposed to be training our children to become mature adults and part of that training is teaching them to clean up after themselves. You say “I’ve got all of these kids and that’s why my house is a mess.”. Well you’ve got all these kids so you have to train them and put them to work to help you clean. Children should learn and work in the cleaning of the home. “Train up a child in the way he should go.”. Look, children should learn to clean. Children should learn to clean after themselves. Children should be expected to clean. And by the way, all children, both male and female. Some people have this idea that only the girls should clean, not the boys. All of the kids need to learn how to clean, vacuum, etc…
People’s natural inclination is to take the path of least resistance so if you don’t teach them to clean then they won’t learn it. I remember my wife and I, when we were teenagers, we worked at Subway. That’s where I met my wife. We worked at subway when we were kids. And when we worked at Subway, we had this girl that was hired. I won’t say her name just in case she’s watching on live stream which I doubt but you never know. There’s this girl that got hired and this girl you could tell was an only child or something. She’d never been asked to do anything in the house. We would say “Hey, the lobby needs swept.”. She would go out there and kind of look at us like a deer in the headlights. We hand her a broom in the lobby and after 5 minutes she says it is done but it is still filthy. She didn’t realize that she needs to sweep up all of the dirt and the trash on the floor and then put it in a dustpan.
It works the same way with our kids. You tell them to clean the counter and they do a poor job and think they are done. Kids don’t realize that they need to wet the rag, get a cleaner and scrub up the stain. When the Bible says to train up the children, we have to really teach these kids. We have to put them to work and train them. I’m not trying to say it’s easy. It’s a lot of work to train children to work. But that is your job. God gave you children to train them and part of being a mature adult is that they grow up and to know how to clean.
So when it comes to who’s responsible for cleaning. Number one, stay-at-home wives should have the primary responsibility of cleaning the home. Number two, children should learn and work in the cleaning of the home. Number three, men who work full-time jobs and provide for their families should not be expected to do the housekeeping at home. I realize that that’s not a popular thing to say today. But listen ladies, if your husband goes to work and provides for your family on a single income and allows you the God-given right of staying home and being with your children at home, he should not be expected to go to work and then come home and do the laundry. He should not be expected to go to work and then come home and have to clean up. He should not be expected to go to work and then come home and make dinner. If you are a housekeeper then your job is to keep the home.
If you have a husband who works a full-time job and provides for the family and allows you to be able to stay home then he should not be expected to do the housekeeping. He should not be expected to do the cleaning. He should not be expected to do the laundry. He should not be expected to do the cooking. That’s your job. If your husband works all day long at his job and doesn’t get it done, you don’t go to finish his job. I mean does he come home and say “Honey, I didn’t finish putting up the drywall. I need you to finish installing it.”. But yet he comes home and because you didn’t do what you’re supposed to do, now he’s expected to do it. Men who work full-time jobs and provide for their families should not be expected to do the housekeeping of the home.
Now with that said, let me say this to you husbands. Here is statement 4. Husbands who work full-time jobs would be wise to help from time to time in the housekeeping. Look, when your wife is sick, she’s not feeling well, your wife just had a baby, there is some unusual circumstance, then it would be wise of you to say “Honey, I know you aren’t feeling well. Let me take care of dinner.”. As a church, we try to help moms who just had a baby by providing meals. But what I’m saying is that if your wife just had a surgery, there is something going on that is out of the norm, men who work full time jobs and provide for their family should not be expected to do the housekeeping of the home. But husbands who work full-time jobs would be wise to help from time to time if their wife is sick, not feeling well, just had a baby or just to be nice and be a blessing to your wife. I’m not saying that husbands should never make dinner or husbands should never help out around the house.
But here’s what I am saying, it shouldn’t be expected if you’re a stay-at-home wife and your husband works hard all day, he shouldn’t be expected to come home and do the dishes. Now if he comes home and does the dishes because he loves you and he just wants to give you a break or you’re not feeling well or whatever it might be then that’s great. I think it would be wise of husbands to do that to just be nice and to try to pitch in around the house. Or let’s say that you are throwing some big birthday party and inviting all of these people to your house, then you husbands shouldn’t just sit there on the couch with your feet up while your wife does everything. I’ll be honest with you. It’s very rare that I do the dishes or clean or anything like that, But from time to time, if we’ve got some big event where my wife is inviting 30 people then I’m going to help her. I am busy and I have things to do get done as well. But I’m saying from time to time it’s good for a husband to help.
You say why are you covering this Pastor? Because my wife and I have been asked this so many times throughout the years. Number five, stay-at-home wives should not be responsible for the lawn care maintenance or repair of the home. Let me just say this. When I preach, I am preaching to over 150 people so the statements I’m making are general statements. If your wife decides to do the gardening from time to time or help you then praise the Lord for that. I’m not saying that a wife can’t go outside and do something. But generally speaking, husbands who work a full-time job should still do the outdoor work and repairs around the house. You say, “Well I don’t know how to do it or I don’t have the time to do it.”. Then hire somebody to do it but don’t make your wife do it. She’s got six kids. She’s homeschooling. She is making breakfast, lunch and dinner and caring for everything in the home. Then she has to go mow the lawn? Stay-at-home wives should not be responsible for the lawn care the maintenance or the repairs of the home. Obviously from time to time it’s okay. And if they enjoy stuff like gardening then that’s great. If you guys enjoy cooking and do it from time to time then great. I’m not saying that’s wrong.
Number six, if a wife works then the cooking and cleaning should not fall solely on her but should be divided between the husband and wife. That might be something you never thought you would hear from a Fundamental Baptist. I mean, you husbands would have a pretty sweet deal to send your wife to work for 40 hours and then she comes and you tell her that the Bible teaches she needs to cook and clean. Now, the Bible says that isn’t to go for 40 hours out working but if she does, the chores should be split. If she’s going to work then you cook taco Tuesday and then she can cook Lasagna or whatever on Wednesday. Now if she stays home then she should keep the home. But if both work then both of you should split the chores. It’s the only fair thing.
You say, why are you bringing this up? Because people think that they can send their wife to go work for 40 hours a week and then come home while they have their feet propped up and tell their wives that wives are supposed to cook dinner and submit. If you send her off to work then you should help out. In that situation, the cooking & cleaning should not fall solely on her shoulders. It should be divided between the husband and wife. Hopefully that helps and gives you some answers.
The Bible says that cleanliness reveals laziness and sinfulness. Who’s responsible for cleaning? It should be the wife if she is a stay-at-home mom. If you have children, the children should help. Men should not be expected to do it but it would be wise for them to do it from time to time. Ladies should not be expected to take care of the lawn or the maintenance or repair. But, if a wife works then cooking, cleaning and those things should be divided and not fall solely on her shoulders.
Thirdly, let’s talk about some basic rules for cleanliness. You’ll be surprised how much the Bible talks about this. I realize that most of you know these things already but some of you might not. Maybe you never had a dad or mom teach you these things. Not only that but children should also be taught these things. We ought to teach these things to our children. So there are some areas in regards to cleanliness. I’m going to divide this into two sections. One section is personal hygiene and one section is housekeeping.
I’ll give you 10 basic commandments or rules for personal hygiene. Then I’m going to give you some rules for housekeeping. For personal hygiene, number one wash your hands before you eat or after touching something dirty. I know it’s basic but this is not just something you hear but something the Bible talks about. Exodus 30:19 “19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:”. The Bible talks about washing your hands a lot. I’m not going to run through all the verses. I’ll just give you some things. But let me just tell you that this phrase of washing your hands is found 5 times in the Bible. Now we see the Pharisees look down on people for not washing their hands and we don’t want to be people like that. The Bible teaches all throughout the old testament that the priests and the children of God were supposed to wash their hands. So here’s one rule for personal hygiene. Wash your hands before you eat or after touching something dirty or after going to the restroom. I’m not trying to get too descriptive. Obviously use soap as well.
Number 2, take regular baths and showers. Now when it comes to bathing, some people require it more than others because of just the smells that come from their body. I’m not trying to be funny. I’m being serious. I don’t know how to say it any other way. Some people require it more than others because of their work. Obviously if you go to work every day where you’re just getting filthy and sweaty and dirty, you need to just come home and take a shower every day. You might have a job where that is not the case. I’m not going to look at all of the verses but let me just run through a couple. “Bathing himself in water” is found 11 times in our King James Bible.
So #1, wash your hands before you eat or after touching something dirty or going to the restroom. Number 2, take a bath or shower regularly. Number 3, you should change your clothes and put on clean clothes every day. And again, these are things that children need to be taught. Exodus 19:10 “10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,”. The phrase wash his clothes is found 28 times in our King James Bible. God wants you to wash your clothes. You ought to change your clothes and put on clean clothes every day.
Revelation 19:14 “14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”. Do you know the first thing you will do when you get to heaven? You’re going to put on a clean pair of clothes. In our daily lives, we should put on clean clothes every day. You may not shower every day but you ought to put some clean clothes on every day.
Number 4, you have to brush your teeth every day. Amos 4:6 “6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,..”. God wants you to have clean teeth. So brush your teeth every day. “6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.”. God wants your teeth to be clean. In fact he refers to having clean teeth as a blessing. So brush your teeth every day.
Number 5, wear deodorant. Once you reach puberty, whether you think you need it or not, wear deodorant. If anyone has ever made a joke to you about your body odor then you need it. Number 6, cut your fingernails and toenails and keep them clean. Number seven, get a haircut on a regular basis. The Bible tells us that men are supposed to have short hair and women to have long hair. Ladies, even if you have long hair, you should cut your hair regularly. Also make sure that your hair is well kept. Obviously, women don’t need it as much as men but do get a haircut sometimes. Number eight, comb your hair and keep it clean. Now guys, you might get a haircut that doesn’t require you to comb your hair. Number 9, men should be clean shaven or keep your mustache and beard trimmed. If you’re going to have a mustache or a beard, keep it clean and trimmed. Don’t look like Duck Dynasty or have some weird haircut. Number 10, ladies shave your legs and underarms.
2nd Chronicles 29:5 “5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.”. This is of course the great revival of Josiah. The revival began by them going into the house of God and deciding that they were going to clean it up. Look at verse 15. “15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. 17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. 18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.”. So notice it says that they went and cleansed all the house of the Lord.
Numbers 31:23 “23 Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean:…”. They understood that putting things in a lot of heat would sanitize it and cleanse it. But then he says “…nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.”. So he’s talking about these vessels and he says look, if the vessel is made out of something where you could just put it into the fire then the fire will cleanse it and sanitize it. However, if it’s something that you can’t put into fire like wood or pottery then run it through the water. He’s talking about washing the vessels and dishes.
Now let me just give you some basics about housekeeping. Remember, cleanliness reveals if you are a hard worker or if you are lazy. Number one, don’t allow dirty dishes to stay in the sink overnight. You ought to just have a rule that every night you will clean up the kitchen and the dishes. It’s not sanitary to allow dishes to stay in the sink overnight. Number 2, when you do laundry, fold it and put it away immediately. Don’t just have a bunch of clean clothes piled somewhere on the bed or something like that. Also don’t just have the clean clothes sitting in the dryer. Get the clothes out and fold them immediately and put them away. Also you can teach your kids to help you with that. Number 3, do not throw wet towels or dirty clothes on the flood. It’s not sanitary. If you’re at a hotel and they tell you to put all of your dirty towels there then ok. But don’t do that at home. Kids and sometimes husbands are notorious for this. There is a dirty hamper or laundry container for a reason. You don’t just want to have a bunch of dirty clothes everywhere. There should be a place set aside for the things that are not clean or need to be cleaned.
Number 5, get dressed for every day. Do not stay in pajamas all day. You say, but I have lots of kids that are being homeschooled. Unless your husband works at the most ghetto Walmart then he has to get dressed up. Also, get your kids dressed for the day. You shouldn’t just be in your pajamas lounging around all day. Number 6, get in the habit of providing your household with napkins or paper towels during meal times and encourage everyone especially young children to use them. Do not allow them to wipe their face on their clothing. This is something we have to teach kids at a young age. This is what the napkins or paper towels are for. If you don’t provide them with that then they will just wipe it on the wall, their clothes or the table or something like that. Get in a habit of providing your household with napkins or paper towels during meal times and encourage everyone especially young children to use them.
Number 7, understand the difference between picking up and cleaning up. Picking up is just putting things away and putting things back in their rightful place and organizing it. Sometimes what I’ve noticed is that people who don’t have children don’t really understand the difference between picking up and cleaning up. Or people who their children have been out of their house for a long time seem to forget the difference. But when you have little kids, you understand the difference between picking up and cleaning up. With all of our kids, we have the younger finishing up school while the older ones are continuing. The younger ones start playing and get out their toys. It can be a little bit of a mess from time to time. Sometimes my wife will stop them and tell everyone to pick up their toys and they put them where they belong.
Here is the thing, that is not cleaning. I’m trying to help some of your wives out. Cleaning requires soap. Cleaning requires dusting. It requires wiping. It requires cleaner. It requires disinfectant. It requires water. Here’s the point, my wife after she quit Subway started working as a maid. She worked at a company where she would get paid to clean at mansions and places like that. What the maids will say before they clean is that you have to pick up first. They aren’t going to come in and pick up all of your dirty clothes first. You are supposed to pick up and then they will come in and scrub the baseboards, wipe down the counter, wash the windows, etc…Those are 2 different things. You ought to pick up each day and have the kids do that. However, sometimes things should be cleaned from time to time. You need to set up a schedule to get all of the cleaning done.
I’m not an expert at this. My wife is the expect. But I know this, watching my wife I can tell you that the kitchen gets cleaned every day. When you feed 8 people three times a day, things need cleaned, wiped down, etc…The bathrooms don’t get cleaned every day. They get picked up every day but they do get cleaned on a regular basis. Dishes need to be washed every day but the bathrooms don’t get cleaned every day. They get picked up every day but they get cleaned on a regular basis. Then there are other things that maybe aren’t getting cleaned every week but you need to be cleaning them from time to time. So understand the difference between picking up and cleaning because sometimes you can go into a home and it’s picked up but it’s dirty. It’s not enough to just take things and put them away. Sometimes you have to actually wipe and spray and clean and vacuum and sweep. In our home, we have 6 kids. The house gets vacuumed ever day. Sometimes 2 times a day. It gets swept every day. We have a lot of kids and it requires that. It may not require that in your home. But understand the difference between picking up and cleaning.
Number eight, do not simply put trash by the front door. Take the time to take it out to the trash can. I’m not going to ask you to raise a hand but this is what we see in the ghettos when we go soul winning; There’s always this bag of trash, dirty diapers and food and everything. Just putting it by the front door is not sanitary. Take the time to walk to the trash can and put it in the trash can. And if you have some well-bodied young men in your home, make it their job to take the trash out. Do not simply put trash by the front door. Take the time to take it out to the trash can. Number nine. Make your bed every day. Number ten. Get in the habit of cleaning things and putting them away after their use. If you’re pulling something out to use it in the kitchen then just get in the habit of cleaning it up and putting it away. Try to keep the house as clean as possible.
Let me give you two closing thoughts for this deep sermon on cleanliness. And you might think it’s funny but honestly there are some young guys that probably don’t do a lot of these things. Number 1. Be balanced. Have a balanced life when it comes to cleanliness. Don’t become this germophobic clean freak. That’s not what this sermon is about. We especially need to realize that we should be balanced if we have children. No matter how good kids are, no matter how well you train them, they will make messes.
Proverbs 14:4 “4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.”. Do you know what else is true? Where no children are the crib is clean. So just realize that you don’t have to have this immaculate museum of a house or else you cannot be content. We need to have a balance. You should try to maintain cleanliness in your house. Think about our church. We’ve got a lot of families with a lot of kids. We’ve got a homeschool group with like 96 kids in our homeschool group. There are a lot of kids in our church. Just maintain a balanced approach to life and realize where no oxen are the crib is clean. Now don’t use that as an excuse to be lazy and be filthy but just realize that you got to hit the right extremes. Don’t be a clean germaphobe freak. But don’t be a slob either. You have to live somewhere in the middle and try to have a good balance.
I’m going to say this because we have a church with large families, homeschooling families with a bunch of kids. So let me help you guys out that don’t have kids. Do not show up to people’s houses, especially if they have small children, unannounced. You’re single and your house is a museum. Or you are an empty nester and your house is a museum. I get it. But don’t just show up at people’s house just unannounced if they’ve got children. Their house is not always guest ready. When you have kids, you understand that.
Now look, I’ll tell you this. I live in a very clean home. My wife is a very good keeper at home and our house is always clean. I never have to complain about our house not being clean. But you know what, we have six children and throughout the day sometimes the kids make a little bit of a mess. Every once in a while, we have to decide to pick things up. Here’s what I’m saying, My house is always clean but not always guest ready. I’m the Pastor so I understand. People just decide to show up at my doorstep unannounced and that’s okay. But just realize I’m probably going to talk to you through the screen door. Because look, when you have six kids, your house is not just always guest ready. So don’t just show up unannounced at people’s homes. I’m just trying to help you guys out.
I am the Pastor and my wife is the Pastor’s wife so we’re just going to smile and be friendly. But if you do that to other people in this church, they’re probably going to hate you. So don’t just show up at people’s houses unannounced. I’m being honest with you. We don’t mind if you show up here. I am a Pastor. I am used to it. But don’t do that to other people’s houses. Also, don’t just message them a few minutes before you come. That is also showing up unannounced. Give them an hour. Give them time to get ready.
Ecclesiastes 5:11 “11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?”. Here we have a verse about having a lot of stuff. All of the sudden you start getting a bunch of toys and you’re going to get a lot of friends. Be careful about the friends that started coming around when you bought all the fancy toys. Sometimes you can have lots of things and they aren’t even helpful for you. You don’t have enough time to use them. They are just there.
Here is the closing thought when it comes to cleanliness. First of all be balanced. Here’s a second thought. Declutter your house. Declutter your life. If it’s hard for you to keep up the cleaning of your house, you may have too much stuff in your house. Your house will be easier to clean if you have less things. Recently my wife and a bunch of the ladies from the church did this challenge. I want to say it was the month of June that they did a challenge where they were they were supposed to throw away and they’re keeping each other accountable. They’re supposed to throw away something every day based on the number of the day. So on June 1st they were supposed to pick one thing to throw away. They took a picture of it and said here’s what I’m throwing away. But then on the second they threw away two things and on the third they threw away three things and on the fourth they threw away four things and so forth. So by the time they got to day 28, they had to find 28 things in the house to throw away. Doing things like this is a great idea because we have the tendency to just accumulate a bunch of junk, accumulate a bunch of stuff. Then we need to declutter. You have to get rid of stuff. Go through that attic or garage or closets and throw some things away.
At our house, it’s like the greatest thing you could do. I mean the children the children are bringing things to my wife and they’re like here’s something else we can throw away. Why do you do this? Because it helps keep the house clean. Don’t be a hoarder. Don’t be this person where if you fall over dead, they won’t find you for 3 months due to the junk in the house. Throwing away stuff helps keep the house clean. At our church, Brother David takes care of a lot of our maintenance. He’s throwing stuff away sometimes. He’ll ask me sometimes “Pastor, can I throw this away?”. How do you keep a house clean? Sometimes you just have to throw away. Just be mindful of the fact that we ought to be clean people, not just spiritually clean but also physically clean. We want to be people that are clean. Why? Because it says something about us. It either says that we are lazy or not lazy. It either says that we are sinful or not sinful.
Let’s pray.