copy<RIGHT> PURITY

Purity is not merely a matter of sexual nature - it’s a word that describes something being whole, unstained, unmixed, refined. Purity in the christian life should be found in every area - Our words, acts, thoughts, and motivations.

Ezra 4:1–6 ESV

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Describe the state of Israel at this time...

Purity means remaining separated from the world’s religion

To often, Christians have compromised their worship by adopting theology, practices and mindsets from other religions.

Purity means doing God’s work God’s way

There were specific instructions about the who and the what surrounding the temple.

Purity for God will put a target on your back.

The enemy will seek to thwart any attempts to faithful worship of the one true God.