Evangelist Herman E. Wesley III
FULL OF JOY...IN HIS HOUSE!
Luke 19:45-48
PRELIMINARIES
THE TEXT
Luke 19:45-48 (New King James Version) All Scriptures NKJV
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.
INTRODUCTION
Before we go further, I think it necessary that I share with you a bit of the background of this very familiar text.
This is the second time that Jesus cleared the temple, if you look back at John 2:13-17. In this setting, the Bible would have us to know that “Jesus entered Jerusalem and entered the Temple. Always on a divine mission, Jesus went to the temple for a specific reason—to drive out the merchants from their stalls. These "merchants" were the people who sold goods to worshipers. People came to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. The temple was run by the high priest and his associates. All adult male Jews were required to go to Jerusalem for three annual celebrations: Passover in late spring, the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) in the fall, and the Feast of Weeks in early summer. God had originally instructed the people to bring sacrifices from their own flocks, according to Deuteronomy 12:5-7. The religious leadership, however, had established four markets on the Mount of Olives where such animals could be purchased. Some people did not bring their own animals and planned to buy one at the market. Others brought their own animals, but when the priests managed to find the animal unacceptable in some way (it was supposed to be an animal without defect, Leviticus 1:2-3), worshipers were forced, or manipulated, to buy another.
Not only that, but now a marketplace was set up in the temple area itself, in the Court of the Gentiles, the huge outer court of the temple. The Court of the Gentiles was the only place where Gentile converts to Judaism could worship. They could go no farther into the temple because they were not "pure" Jews. But the market filled their worship space with merchants so that these foreigners, who had traveled long distances, found it impossible to worship. Because both those who bought and those who sold were going against God’s commands regarding the sacrifices, Jesus drove them out.
Jesus told them, in no uncertain terms, why he was so angry and why he acted as he did in throwing these merchants out of the temple. He quoted from Isaiah 56:7, explaining God’s purpose for the temple: a place of prayer. The merchants had turned it into a den of thieves. Their treatment of pilgrims who had traveled and needed to count on them for service, their exorbitant rates, and their cheating of the customers had made them no better than thieves hiding out together in a "den." But this "den" was God’s temple—no wonder Jesus was angry! It is against this backdrop that we are compelled to speak today on the subject of “Full of Joy...In His House!”
There are some things that ought never take place in His House, and there are some things that should always take place in His House.
We are living in a sad, conflicted world. Gas prices are going through the roof; The Stock Market is dropping through the floor; political leadership is absent and fleeting, and there’s trouble and economic hardship brewing from Wall Street to Main Street. If there is any place that should be safe from all of this confusion, that place ought to be God’s House! God’s House should be a place of Joy!
Now, because of time restraints, I want to give you three things that I see in this text, and three things that ought to be present, if the aim is to be full of joy...in His House.
IF THE AIM IS TO BE FULL OF JOY IN HIS HOUSE...HE HAS TO BE IN THE HOUSE!
IF THE AIM IS TO BE FULL OF JOY IN HIS HOUSE...GOOD LEADERSHIP HAS TO BE IN THE HOUSE!
IF THE AIM IS TO BE FULL OF JOY IN HIS HOUSE...THE RIGHT THINGS HAVE TO HAPPEN IN THE HOUSE!
IF THE AIM IS TO BE FULL OF JOY IN HIS HOUSE...HE HAS TO BE IN THE HOUSE! One of the clearest pictures that jumps out from this text is the statement that:
45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it,
The temple was to be the place where the people worshipped and praised God. The temple was to be the place where the people experienced communion with God and communicated with God through the avenue of prayer.
Brothers and sisters, in too many places, there is a lack of joy in the house because the Lord is not there! There are certain things that can’ take root when the Lord is in the house! When the Lord comes in, some stuff has to get out! If the Church is the Lord’s, the His Word must reign Sovereign, and His Will must be the driving force in all of our relationships and in all of our activity. Too many churches are drowning in the sea of confusion and instability and irrelevance in the communities in which they are situated because the presence of the Lord has been abandoned long ago. There is no forgiveness, there is no restoration, there is no outreach for the lost and strength for the weak.
The church of our Lord must be a place where the souls of men can be refreshed and reenergized! When people remember slights against them from 1957, and refuse to talk to one another; when the sisters are fighting because one wanted to bring collards and another wanted to bring turnips, and people have started lining up taking sides; when the brothers get together and almost tear up the church because the preacher wants a $50 raise; you will never experience the kind of joy in the house of the Lord God intends for you to experience. He makes it clear when He says, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another!”
I know we are living in a dangerous age of the “change agent”, people who speak about the Love of God at the expense of the Doctrine of God, but let me say it clear to you today, while we may be known for not calling our preacher “reverend”, and while we may be known for “not using mechanical instruments of music”, and while we might be known for our unwavering belief that “baptism is for the remission of sins, and is a spiritual necessity”, Jesus, the Head of the Church, Jesus, our Redeemer; Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith says unequivocally that we ought to be known by and for the Love we have for one another! (John 13:35)
In this very text Jesus shows a respect for what is written, and if we are going to partake in the joy he expects to be in His house, we must have a respect for what is written! When He drove the bad stuff out, He declared What was written to usher the good stuff in!
If you want to get rid of hate, look at what’s written!
I John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
If you want to cut off the spirit of judgmentalism, look at what’s written! Galatians 6:1-4: Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
If you want to reignite your evangelistic spark, look at what’s written!
Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
If you want to share in unity, look at what’s written!
Ephesians 4:11-15 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
II. IF THE AIM IS TO BE FULL OF JOY IN HIS HOUSE...GOOD LEADERSHIP HAS TO BE IN THE HOUSE!
Something else that jumps out from this text is the undeniable fact that somewhere along the line, those who were in charge of the temple, and responsible for maintaining a healthy worship environment were negligent in their duties. How did things get so out of hand?
Jesus said to them:
46 ... “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” 47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,
It’s a sad day when the word of the Lord is rejected by the people. It is even sadder when it is rejected by the leadership. The leadership, those in charge of the temple, allowed corruption to infiltrate the place of worship, and the result was to spark the righteous indignation of the Lord. The moneychangers could not have perverted the house without consent from the leadership.
The Lord says, “My house”....which means He takes ownership of it, and when you allow corruption and perversion to come into the house of the Lord, it is an affront to the Lord...MY HOUSE is a house of prayer, BUT YOU have made it a den of thieves!
What a frightening and sobering indictment! Those of us who have taken on the mantle of leadership in the house of the Lord must understand the foundational responsibility we hold to keep His house pure! Joy has seeped out of many congregations because of poor, ineffective, lack of Holy-Spirit filled leadership!
The Bible says, in James 3:1:
1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
Paul told Timothy, in an effort to strengthen him and gird him up for the responsibility of leading the church at Ephesus, II Timothy 4:1-8:
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at[a] His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
When men of God are willing to take a stand, there can be joy in the House!
Yes, from time to time, we are going to be challenged with the winds of popular opinion and political correctness!
Yes, from time to time we are going to feel the pressure of members with lifelong membership seeking to manipulate decisions because of their money and their influence!
Yes, from time to time we are going to feel isolated and unappreciated and cast aside like yesterday’s trash, but the words of the Apostle Paul ought to ring hard and true in our darkest moments....Endure afflictions!
Some of us act like we shouldn’t have to experience anything. It ought to always be rosy; the church will always be full of love and cooperation; the offering will always be overflowing; the attendance will always be through the roof; the baptismal waters will always churn; the members will always love me; and the brethren will pay me what I’m worth! Well, in the colloquialism and charm of the Republican nominee for Vice President, Sarah Palin, I suggest to you “You’d better wake up and smell the coffee!”
There are going to always be people in “His House” who are there for the express purpose of challenging you, and for the Divine Purpose of making you better! In our text, it was the Chief Priests and Elders, or scribes and leaders, who were offended because Jesus wanted things to be right! They began to plot and scheme in an effort to destroy Jesus!
Brethren, I’ve been preaching now for 30 years, and you know as well as I that the breakdown in spirituality does not necessarily happen from the bottom up, as much as from the top down! When leadership takes their eyes off of Christ and begin treating the church like its a business instead of a ministry, you’re going to run off the joy! What’s wrong with doing things the way Christ wants us to do things? What’s wrong with stepping out on faith! What’s wrong with believing the Lord will make a way!
I have seen leaders who can plot and scheme and strategize to get rid of a preacher, but they can’t organize enough folk for a chicken dinner to knock doors on a Saturday morning! Leaders who behave as if their sole purpose is to destroy the presence of the Lord!
The last thing they want to see is people having joy in God’s House!
Listen to them!
Don’t clap in here!
Too much foot tapping going on!
Why are people raising their hands in the air!
And the number one Hit of all time...
It don’t take all that!
Dead folk belong in the cemetery! The church is made up of “lively stones”, and if the right thing is going on in the house, you can’t help but have some joy in the house! (let me not get ahead of myself here). Brethren, the bottom line is that we are the gatekeepers of the Kingdom, and the church has to be a precursor of the joy we will experience in heaven, and it is our solemn duty to let the word and will of God reign in His church! Don’t make people have to go around you to get to the joy of the Lord! Don’t be a roadblock or a speed bump on the Boulevard of Praise!
If you want to Fight...
Fight for what’s right!
Fight..for what’s noble!
If you want to take a Stand...
Stand for what’s sound!
Stand...for what’s positive!
If you want to Move...
Move for what’s progressive!
Move...for what’s inspiring and encouraging...
and above all, PRAY! In far too many places there is a lack of appreciation for the ability to pray to God! If ever there was a time when we needed to pray, we need to pray now! We have singing sessions that last all night long, but when have we prayed like that? We have preaching sessions that can go on for hours at a time, but when have we prayed like that? We spend a lot of time talking to each other, but we’d probably be better off if we spent more time talking to God!
Instead of majoring in marketplace economics, they should have been majoring in prayer, and the same thing can be said about us! We need to pray together! The youth group, get together and pray! The Ladies’ Class....get together and pray! The men’s class, shuttup and pray! Leadership...PRAY!
Plant these kinds of seeds, and watch the fruit that rises up from the ground of personal heartache and daily struggles that the members go through, ground that has been watered and softened with their tears through the night. Don’t press people down, but lift people up! And lift the Savior up by your own dedication and commitment to being an ambassador of Christ! Be the leader God created you to be and you will have a Joy, a deep joy, rooted in your soul that will emanate out to those you lead and serve...
If they see you joyful, they will be joyful! If they see you loving, they will be loving! If they see you full of God’s Spirit, they will be full of God’s Spirit, which leads me to my last and final point for this lesson...
IF THE AIM IS TO BE FULL OF JOY IN HIS HOUSE...THE RIGHT THINGS HAVE TO HAPPEN IN THE HOUSE!
But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.
In our text, the people had to go around the leaders who sought to destroy Christ, to drive Christ out. And then, there’s some real good news in this text. The Bible says that those ungodly, destructive, hateful leaders were unable to do anything; WHY? for all the people were very attentive to hear Him!
When all else fails, we must remember that the church cannot manufacture joy. Joy, real joy, does not come off the assembly line. It can’t be purchased at the Mall. Real joy is inner joy. When you really have joy, you understand that you can have joy, and not be happy! Happiness is based on “happenings.” It is based on externals. Joy, real joy, lasting joy, unspeakable joy, joy that passes understanding, is internal. I have learned that when you know the Lord, and the Lord knows you; when you have an abiding and eternal relationship with him and not a passing or fleeting relationship with Him, you will have joy. As a matter of fact, you will be full of joy. On two distinct occasions, God the Father gave us the secret to real joy that’s exposed in this text. Once, following the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan; another time when Peter, James, John, Moses and Elijah were together with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. In both of these scenes, in the only recorded instances in the New Testament when God spoke from Heaven, he declared, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; (Matthew 3:17) HEAR YE HIM!” (Matthew 17:5).
If you want to listen to a voice, God declares the authenticity of Christ when He says, “This is my beloved Son” and He declares the authority of Christ when He says “Hear ye Him!” Our text says the people were “very attentive to hear Him...”
And when all else fails, Hear Jesus!
Block out the voices of the naysayers and the cries of those who don’t really know Him! Turn down the volume on those who pervert His goodness and discredit His forgiveness! Hit the mute button on those who can’t grasp His grace, and can’t stand in the presence of the brilliance of His love!
HEAR HIM!
Let Him speak to your troubles and situations!
HEAR HIM!
Let Him speak to your burdens and cares!
HEAR HIM!
Let Him speak to your condition and circumstances, because He always has something to say! And when you Hear Him, above the clattering cymbals of the ungodly and the wicked, You’ll have joy that will defy people’s senses, and the real truth of the matter is that type of Joy can’t be confined to a house! (Help me somebody!)
CONCLUSION
When you have that kind of joy, the singing ain’t got to be good! When you have that klnd of joy, the preaching ain’t got to get you shook up! When you have that kind of joy, you don’t have to have a packed house around you...your joy is based on your relationship with your God, and what your God has done, what your God is doing, and what your God has yet to do for you! The songwriter had it right when he said, “This joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me, and the world can’t take it away!
When you have that kind of joy, it won’t be confined to His house. You’ll have joy in your house! You’ll have joy in the workhouse! You’ll have joy in the schoolhouse! You’ll have joy in the White House! You’ll have joy even in the poorhouse! Joy at the Supermarket! Joy at the Light Company! Joy at the Gas Station! Joy in the Emergency Room!
JOY! UNSPEAKABLE JOY! JOY! EVERLASTING JOY! JOY! UNEXPLAINABLE JOY! JOY, JOY, JOY!
