If You Want To Have The Power You Have Got To Clean The Tower

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IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THE POWER YOU HAVE GOT TO CLEAN THE TOWER

Sunday November 05, 2006

Matthew 21:12-17

12 Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants and their customers. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those selling doves.

13 He said, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a place of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

14 The blind and the lame came to him, and he healed them there in the Temple.

15 The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.” But they were indignant

16 and asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’ ”

17 Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.

In our text this morning, our Lord took inventory of the temple!

He most certainly did not like what he saw!

My challenge from the Word to you is – there needs to be a spring cleaning spiritually, in our personal lives and in our churches today!

This is a must if we wish to have God’s power and blessing in our lives and in our church!

First and foremost Jesus Christ needs to be present!

We find that in the 12th verse, Jesus was very much there and what He found was the Temple was being abused!

Buying & selling taking place in temple!

Money changers! Loan-sharks!

Christ had purged the temple once before, what happened?

Bottom line – Christ did not have rightful place in the Temple!

We often do not allow Christ to take center stage and therefore our motives become less than godly!

Where does He stand in your personal life?

Is He even present?

Where does He stand in our church?

There is a reason for the Lord’s Anger!

There was a lack of spiritual guidance!

There was a lack of moral conscience!

There were moneychangers preying on poor!

There was a lack of proper priorities!

Most of all!

Man was prominent in the temple and not the Lord!

Fits many folks today!

The House of God is NOT for a lot of the things that churches are used for today!

So often we cheapen His prominence both in the church and in our lives by doing these things!

Leviticus 19:30 tells us,

30 Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary:

I am the LORD.

Our bodies, are the Temple of God as we are told in

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Folks, we are doing things in and with the temple that were never designed or intended to go on – we have relegated Jesus Christ to mere visitor status!

Our churches today should be a place where we meet to worship, praise and adore our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

We need lighthouses in this day we live in!

Not Sunday and Wednesday adult daycare services!

Verse 13 tells us,

13 He said, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a place of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”