Be My Guest

1. Preparing for Guests

Unexpected guests were on the way, and my mother, an impeccable housekeeper, rushed around straightening up. She put my father and brother to work cleaning the guest bathroom. Later, when she went to inspect it, she was surprised that the once-cluttered room had been tidied up so quickly. Then she saw the note on the closed shower curtains. It read "Thank you for not looking in the bathtub." Copied

2. Psalm 39:12

12 “Hear my prayer, O LORD,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not your peace at my tears!

For I am a sojourner with you,

a guest, like all my fathers.

3. Middle East and Hospitality

a. "You must come home with me and be my guest; you will give joy to me, and I will do all that is in my power to honor you."

b. Israel was intended to be a place for travelers and guests – so the world would see what the Living God does for his people

c. God Emphasizes his role as host and our role as guests – Last Supper; Parable of Wedding Feast; Prodigal Son

4. Remember, we are Sojourners and Guests of God!

I. Guests Accept Invitations

Englishman, Sir Leonard Wood once visited the King of France and the King was so pleased with him he was invited for dinner the next day. Sir Leonard went to the palace and the King meeting him in one of the halls, said, “Why, Sir Leonard, I did not expect to see you. How is it that you are here?” “Did not your majesty invite me to dine with you?” said the astonished guest. “Yes,” replied the King, “but you did not answer my invitation.” Then it was that Sir Leonard Wood uttered one of the choicest sentences of his life. He replied, “A king’s invitation is never to be answered, but to be obeyed.”

A. The Great “Invitation” or the Great “Summons”? Matthew 11:28-30

B. Open to All – Revelation 22:17

17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

1. The Bride may not have authority to command but encourages

2. Open for all

II. Guests Are Temporary Residents

A. We Know Life in this World is Brief Compared to Eternity – James 4:14

yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

B. We Know Not to Get Too Attached to This World

[Union Army camping the night before a battle and the Commander walked through the camp saying, “Don’t drive your stakes too deep, we move up in the morning.”

1. In a sense we are “just a passin’ through” with “treasure laid up somewhere beyond the blue”

2. The world to come is eternal – 2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

3. Because it is all temporary – we own nothing, we are stewards – [ A young man borrowed an older friend’s motorcycle and said, “I will treat it as if it was my own.” The friend replied, “No, treat it as MINE.”

III. Guests Honor the Host

A. Jesus was the Host at the Last Supper

1. Dishonored by the Disciples by their failure to wash feet

2. Dishonored by Judas’ Betrayal

B. The Host King was Dishonored by the Invitees – Matthew 22:1-14

C. Give honor – Romans 13:7

IV. Guests Live in Harmony with Guests – Psalm 133:1

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

A. Imagine the Host’s Disdain for Warring Guests – disciples’ arguments over greatness; wars and rumors of wars; etc.

B. Imagine the Host’s Approval for:

1. Gratitude – Hebrews 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, CF. Psalm 138

2. Peacemakers – calls them “Blessed” (Matthew 5:9)

3. Humility – Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

4. Bold Confidence in God’s Leading – Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

5. Avoiding Arrogance – Philippians 3:4-8

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ