Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping: God’s home is where your heart is

I. The Place of the Temple (Believers, individually and collectively)

II. The Purpose of the Temple (Prayer, Worship, & Ministry)

III. The Purity of the Temple

-Mark 11:15-17 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "’My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ’a den of robbers.’"

-John 2:13-17 13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!" 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

Intro: Have you ever wondered what was going on in this passage? Why did Jesus get so upset about this situation? He and everyone else knew there had to be moneychangers during Passover, because many Jews traveled long distances and had a different form of currency with them than was used in Jerusalem. The foreign currency needed to be standardized. Also, Jewish law required people who traveled long distances to purchase the animals for their sacrifices in Jerusalem so their animals would not be worn down or injured from the travel. They were to give God their very best. So, what was the problem?

-Well, the problem was that commerce had taken over the outer courts of the temple, the only part of the temple where Gentiles were allowed to come and worship. Business had crowded out worship. Furthermore, there are indications that the high priest and his cronies were fraudulently making large amounts of money off of the worshipers – cheating them on the exchange rates and only approving the sacrificial animals that they sold right there at the temple.

-In such an environment, there was little or no genuine prayer or worship happening in the outer courts. This is why in Mark 11:17, Jesus said that His Father’s house was to be a house of prayer for the nations – referring to the Gentiles. Where else did they have to connect with the one true God?

-So what do we do with this intense, almost troubling story, where Jesus appears to lose His cool and offends the temple authorities? The Bible makes it clear that God does not live in buildings made by human hands. However, He does live in those who trust Him with their lives and love Him with their whole hearts. Here is the main thought I want to deliver today:

Prop: Since God lives in us, we need to keep His house uncluttered and in line with His purpose.

-How can we relate the temple to our own lives and make Christ feel at home in our hearts?

TS: Let’s look at 4 thoughts about the temple and its relation to us as part of God’s church.

I. The Place of the Temple (Believers, individually and collectively)

-The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians that as individuals their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and as a group they are the temple of God. In general a temple is a place of worship where God is honored (or gods are). It is a sacred place, set apart for higher purposes than ordinary buildings.

-John 14:23 23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit come to live in our hearts or spirits when we begin trusting in Jesus and what He did on the cross for us.

-Ephesians 2:19-22 …with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

-Here Paul is not talking about a physical building. He is talking about the men, women, and children who believe on Jesus.

-You might grow weary of hearing me say it, but this building is not God’s church, nor His temple. Those who have put their trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and are living in right relationship with Him are God’s church. They are God’s temple.