Does Jesus Live Here?

Lynn Huggins
12/15/24 - Sunday AM Worship

Does Jesus Live at Your House?

Introduction:  A woman responded to the knocking at the door.  There was a man with a Bible who asked, “Does Jesus live here?”  The question haunted her all day.  She told her husband about the man when he came home.  He said, “Honey, you could have told him that you are a member of the church, you attend the services regularly, you give liberally.”  “Yes, I know,” she said, “but he didn’t ask me those questions.  He asked if Jesus lived here, and I don’t know.”

In this lesson we want to look at some characteristics of a home where Jesus would live.

I. Jesus lives in the home that is conducive to purity of heart.

     A. Jesus wants us to have pure hearts.  Matt. 5:8

     B. We must keep our hearts pure.  Prov. 4:23; Phil 4:8

     C. We need to ask ourselves, “Is there anything that takes place in our home that could corrupt the

hearts of anyone in the family?”

1. Magazines?
2. TV programs?
3. Radio?  Music on CDs or tapes?
4. Books?
5. Internet Websites; Podcasts  
6. Immodesty?

     D. There is plenty of exposure to such things outside the home.

            1. On the street.

            2. On the job.

            3. In the schools

            4. These things cannot be entirely avoided, and it might be that our children someday will become

                  corrupt in heart and life.  BUT MAY IT NOT BE THAT THEY CAN POINT TO

                  SOMETHING IN THE HOME AS A PRIMARY FACTOR IN THEIR DOWNFALL.

            5. We can control what comes into our homes. 

     E. Evil companionships corrupt good habits.  1 Cor. 15:33

            1. When we watch a TV program, or a movie, we are having companionship with the writers and

                  directors of that program or movie. Their thoughts and ideas are being piped into our minds.

                  Such association day in and day out will take its toll on the way we think and live.

            2. Ask yourself, “Would you watch that TV program or movie if Jesus came to your house?”

II. Jesus lives in the home that is spiritually inclined.

1. Bible study and prayer should be a part of every home life.  Deut. 6:6-9; Eph. 6:4

How did Timothy have the faith he had?  2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14-15

2. Let me make a plea for family devotional periods in the home.
3. I know the problem in finding time, but I am confident some time can be found.  When the children are crawling and walking at your feet, tell them about the great heroes of faith we read about in the Bible such as Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Paul, etc.  Make time for family worship.  The eternal destiny of you and your children depends upon it.
4. Luke 10:38-42

          Do not get so involved in serving (working around the house) that you neglect what Jesus says is

            “needed,” and what is the “good part.” 

5. The biggest need in our nation is not greater military power, not greater space exploration,

not balancing the nations’ budget, nor getting rid of the national debt, but it is a return to the family altar.

III. Jesus lives in the home that is characterized by love.

1. Prov. 15:17;  Eph. 5:25;  Titus 2:3-4

We may have all the nice things in our home, but if there is not love, there is misery.

2. Love is not just a feeling we can fall into and fall out of.  Love is a choice.  It is commanded.

       1. Willima Barclay says of agape (love):   “It is a state not only of the heart but also of the mind; it

             is a state not only of the feelings and the emotions but also of the will.  It is not something

             which simply happens and which we cannot help; it is something into which we have to will

             ourselves.  It is not something with which we have nothing to do; it is a conquest and an

             achievement.”   (William Barclay, flesh and Spirit, p. 66)

C. Love is a choice to seek what is in the best interest of another. 

       1. Again William Barclay said of agape:  “Agape is the spirit in the heart which will never seek

             anything but the highest good of its fellow-men.  It does not matter how its fellow-men treat it;

             it does not matter what and who its fellow-men are; it does not matter what their attitude is to

             it, it will never seek anything but their highest and their best good.” 

                                                                                           (William Barclay, Flesh and Spirit, p. 65)

            2. What do we mean when we say, “I love you.”? 

       a. Some mean, “You do something for me.”

              ILL “I love oranges” - oranges do something for me.  And when I have squeezed all I

                   want out of that orange, I throw the peal away. 

       b. Others mean, “I want to do something for you.”  This is the Biblical love.

             1 John 3:16-18; Eph. 5:25; Matt. 5:44

      D. Let every husband, every wife, every parent, every child examine himself in the following

characteristics of love.   1 Cor. 13:4-8

            1. suffers long  -  To be long tempered.  It denotes the state of mind which can bear long when

                  oppressed, when provoked, and when others do us harm.  

            2. kind  -  Goodness of heart, gentle  

            3. does not envy  -  Not jealous.  Love does not resent others because they have something it does

                  not have. 

            4. does not parade itself   -  Love does not vaunt or boast of one’s own excellencies.  Refers to

                  arrogance of speech; boasting that hurts others.

            5. is not puffed up   -  One who loves is not inflated with a sense of his own importance.

            6. does not behave rudely  -  It does not behave improperly.  It seeks that which is proper or

                  becoming in circumstances in which we are placed in life.

            7. does not seek its own  -  Love is not selfish.  It does not seek its own happiness to the injury of

                  others.  Love considers the needs of others.   

            8. is not provoked  -  Love is not excited to violent anger.  One who loves governs his passions,

                  restrains his temper, subdues his feelings.

            9. thinks no evil  -  (1) Love makes no memorandum of evil done to itself.

                                            (2) It does not put the worse construction on the acts of others.

            10. does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth  -  Love does not take delight when

                  others commit       sin.  It does not desire that an enemy should do evil and thereby ruin himself.           

            11. bears all things  -  (1) Love bears under for the welfare of others.

                  (2) It protects.  It does not bare and expose to the public gaze the infirmities and sins of others. 

            12. believes all things  -  Love believes the best about another.

            13. hopes all things  -  Love hopes all is well.  Love will hold on to this hope until all possibility

                  of such has vanished.

            14. endures all things  -  Love endures persecution and is not driven from the true course by the

                  wrongs and injuries of the wicked.

IV. Jesus lives in a home where there is respect for God’s order of authority.

1. Husband is the head;  Wife is to be in subjection.   Eph. 5:22-24

1. The husband is to be a loving head.  He is to love his wife, thus considerate and unselfish.

        Eph. 5:25;  1 Peter 3:7

2. Headship is not a privilege, but a responsibility.  It is the responsibility to lead in the right way.

            3. It is the wife’s responsibility to be in subjection, not the husband’s responsibility to force her

                  into subjection.

            4. The husband’s failure to love his wife does not relieve the wife of her responsibility to be in

                  subjection, and the wife’s failure does not relieve the husband of his responsibility to love his

                  wife.

     B. Children are to obey their parents.  Eph. 6:1-2

Conclusion:   It is important to make the home what it ought to be. 

Future of the nation and world rest largely upon the home. 

Future of the church rests largely upon the home. 

Activities and attitudes in the home are important to the eternal salvation of ourselves and our children. 

Does Jesus live at your house?