CHALLENGES To/For PUBLIC WORSHIP-VI—John 2:12-25
OR
Some Dynamics Of Public Worship
Attention:
Describe the outward physical ‘trappings’ of worship.
What do each of these(& more) say to others?
Public worship can & does present definite challenges!
The Church can be tempted toward many directions regarding the manner & message of its Public Worship. There are real Challenges to bringing about Public Worship!...There are dynamics which, if we deny, will keep our church & the public from being able to fully worship in s(S)pirit & truth!
Jesus made it plain that the temple worship had become tainted with improprieties.
Public Worship is to be free from impropriety.
OR
There is to be consonance(harmony/agreeability with God) in public worship.
When is public worship consonant(agreeable/harmonious)?
Some Challenges to (consonant/harmonious/agreeable)public worship.
Previously we have found a Challenge to (harmonious)public worship is its...
1. OCCASION(:13)
2. INVITATION(:13-14)
3. PROTECTION(:15)
4. RESONATION(:16-17)
5. AUTHORIZATION(:18-19)
6. REPLACEMENT, RESTORATION & FOCUS(:19)
7. IMPLICATION(:20)
AND If there is IMPLICATION in Public Worship, there is also...
8—A challenge to (harmonious)public worship is its...
REALIZATIONs(:21-22)
Explanation:(:21-22)
:21—“But He was speaking of the temple of His body.”
Jesus’ statement was never intended to be limited to the rebuilding of Herod’s temple. Unbeknownst to the Jews, Jesus was referring, not to the stone structure of the temple at all, but to “the temple of His body.” The human body is a temple which is intended for sanctification entirely for God’s use.
The challenge is to make the reality a realization in others!
What is a “temple”?
It is a place for sacred worship. A place within which the god of your choosing is honored, made welcome & invited in.
1)The bodies of Christians are individual temples of the Holy Spirit(1Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22;1Pet. 2:4-5).
2)Collectively, the Church is the body of Christ(1Pet. 4-5). We are therefore, make up or compose & comprise, together, a temple to the Lord. Thus we are to offer our bodies to God as instruments of sacrifice & worship (Rom. 12:1-2), not being conformed to this world but rather transformed to God’s pleasure(Rom. 12:3).
3)Isa. 8:14 says that the LORD Himself is a “sanctuary”(vdqm from vdq meaning consecrated/sanctified/sacred/holy) to those who fear Him.
1Cor. 3:16-17—“Do you not know that you are the temple of God & that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
1Cor. 6:19—Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, & you are not your own?”
2Cor. 6:15-18—“And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them[Ez. 37:26-27] And walk among them[Isa. 52:11]. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons & daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”
Eph. 2:19-22—“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers & foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints & members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles & prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
1Pet. 2:4-6—“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God & precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
Col. 2:9—“For in Him[Jesus] all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form,”
1Kings 8:27—““But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven & the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built!”
Thus, the temple, lodged in Jesus, is carried out in & among those who are His disciples.
A “temple” can be Profaned—thru feigned sacrifice, Defiled—thru trafficking in unholy things, ‘going thru the motions,’...Made impervious to God’s will thru misdirected/sin driven/ human will.
“Speaking”—legw—1) To say, to speak—1a) Affirm over, maintain, 1b) To teach, 1c) To exhort, advise, to command, direct, 1d) To point out with words, intend, mean, mean to say, 1e) To call by name, to call, name, 1f) To speak out, speak of, mention. Strong—a primary verb; properly--To “lay” forth, i.e. figuratively--Relate(in words [usually of systematic or set discourse; whereas epw & fhmi generally refer to an individual expression or speech respectively; while rew is properly-To break silence merely, & lalew means --An extended or random harangue]); by implication--To mean.
“Temple”(See :19, 20)—naov—1) Used of the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice(or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy place & the Holy of Holies(in classical Greek it is used of the sanctuary or cell of the temple, where the image of gold was placed which is distinguished from the whole enclosure); 2) Any heathen temple or shrine; 3) metaph.--The spiritual temple consisting of the saints of all ages joined together by & in Christ. Strong—from a primary naiw(to dwell); A fane, shrine, temple.
“Body”—swma—1) The body both of men or animals; 2) the bodies of planets & of stars (heavenly bodies); 3) is used of a (large or small)number of men closely united into one society, or family as it were; a social, ethical, mystical body; 4) that which casts a shadow as distinguished from the shadow itself. Strong—The body(as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively. :22—“Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; & they believed the Scripture & the word which Jesus had said.”
* Jesus’ disciples were present with Him in the temple as He was speaking with the Jews. But Only after He was resurrected did Jesus’ “word” come to mind. Only then did His disciples piece together what Jesus had meant by what He had said.
Only after being affirmed thru Jesus’ resurrection, did the disciples believe “the Scripture” & “the word” which Jesus had spoken. Minimally, they made a mental assessment prior to the arrival of the Holy Spirit, given that the resurrected Jesus spent 40 days with them prior to His ascension to heaven(Acts 1:3).
Jesus would later(Jn. chapts. ยก4 & 16) tell them that He absolutely had to leave them, for heaven, in order to bring about the sending of the Holy Spirit(Jn. 16:7; Jn. 14:25-26), who would guide them into all truth, glorifying Jesus(Jn. 16:13-15).
Very likely—:22 of our text could also hint at their making sense of the prophecies of Jesus in the OT & His actual teaching, only with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, who caused them to “remember.”
1Cor. 2:11-16—“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
“when He had risen from the dead”
There was a time when Jesus’ insight became clear to those who would believe. “His disciples “remembered” Jesus’ comment regarding the raising up of the temple in 3 days.
This comment of Jesus’ bolstered the faith of believers to trust in & interpret correctly the Scripture(written word) & “the word”(orally—directly from Jesus’ mouth to the disciples).
“Risen”(See :19, 20)—egeirw—
“From”—ek—Preposition—1) Out of, from, by, away from. Strong—a primary preposition denoting origin(the point whence action or motion proceeds), From, out(of place, time, or cause; literal or figurative; direct or remote).
“Dead”—nekrov—1) properly--1a) One that has breathed his last, lifeless, 1b) Deceased, departed, one whose soul is in heaven or hell, 1c) Destitute of life, without life, inanimate; 2) metaph.—2a) Spiritually dead—2a1) Destitute of a life that recognizes & is devoted to God, because given up to trespasses & sins, 2a2) Inactive as respects doing right, 2b) Destitute of force or power, inactive, inoperative. Strong—from an apparently primary nekuv(a corpse); Dead(literally or figuratively; also as noun).
“His disciples remembered that He had said this to them;”
Until the spirit effects our remembrance we will have no passion for service.
“Disciples”—mayhthv—1) A learner, pupil, disciple.
From manyanw; prolongation from a primary verb, another form of which, mayew, is used as an alternate in certain tenses; To learn(in any way).
“Remembered”—mnaomai—1) To remind—1a) To be recalled or to return to one's mind, to remind one's self of, to remember, 1b) To be recalled to mind, to be remembered, had in remembrance, 1c) To remember a thing, 1d) Be mindful of. Strong—middle voice of a derivative of menw[Stay/Abide] or perhaps of the base of massaomai[Chew](through the idea of fixture in the mind or of mental grasp); To bear in mind, i.e. Recollect; by implication--To reward or punish.
“they believed the Scripture”
Possibly the whole of Scripture but more probably specific references therein...Such as Ps. 16:8-11 as cited in Acts 2:25-28.—D.A. Carson
Ps. 16:8-11—“I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, & my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Ps. 69:9—“Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”
Isa. 53:1-12—READ
“Believed”(See :23; :24—“Commit”)—pisteuw—1) To think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in; 2) To entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity. Strong—To have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. Credit; by implication--To entrust (especially one's spiritual well-being to Christ).
“Scripture”—grafh—1) A writing, thing written; 2) The Scripture, used to denote either the book itself, or its contents; 3) A certain portion or section of the Holy Scripture. Strong—A document, i.e. Holy Writ(or its contents or a statement in it).
“& the word which Jesus had said.”
Jesus tells His disciples on at least three occasions regarding the certainty of His impending condemnation at the hands of the powers that be, with His subsequent death by crucifixion, followed by His burial, resurrection & ascension.
Mat. 16:21—From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, & suffer many things from the elders & chief priests & scribes, & be killed, & be raised the third day.”
Mat. 17:22-23—“Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, & they will kill Him, & the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.”
Mat. 20:17-19—“Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road & said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, & the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests & to the scribes; & they will condemn Him to death, & deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock & to scourge & to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”
Mk. 10:45—“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, & to give His life a ransom for many.”
Jn. 14:12-13—“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; & greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
Jn. 16:7-15—“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, & of righteousness, & of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father & you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; & He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine & declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine & declare it to you.”
“Word”—logov—1) Of speech—1a) A word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea, 1b) What someone has said, 1c) Discourse, 1d) Doctrine, teaching, 1e) Anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative, 1f) Matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law, 1g) The thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed; 2) its use as respect to the MIND alone—2a) Reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating, 2b) Account, i.e. Regard, consideration, 2c) Account, i.e. Reckoning, score, 2d) Account, i.e. Answer or explanation in reference to judgment, 2e) Relation, i.e. With whom as judge we stand in relation, 2f) Reason, cause, ground; 3) In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom & power in union with God, his minister in creation & government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical & ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, & shone forth conspicuously from His words & deeds. Strong—Something said(including the thought); by implication--A topic(subject of discourse), also--Reasoning(the mental faculty) or motive; by extension--A computation; specifically (with the article in John)--The Divine Expression (i.e. Christ).
“Said”—epw—1) To speak, say. Strong—To speak or say(by word or writing).
Argumentation:
Jn. 1:1-5, 14—“In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, & without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, & the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, & the darkness did not comprehend it.”.....“And the Word became flesh & dwelt among us, & we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace & truth.”
Do you know these things? Are you aware? You are now! Why don’t you realize their significance?...Because you have not heeded the Holy Spirit, but have chosen rather to trust reason that has been blinded & narrowed by worldly thinking.
Col. 1:9-23—“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, & to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom & spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work & increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience & longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness & conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven & that are on earth, visible & invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him & for Him. And He is before all things, & in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, & by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated & enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, & blameless, & above reproach in His sight--if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded & steadfast, & are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
1Cor. 6:19-20—Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, & you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body & in your spirit, which are God’s.”
2Cor. 6:14-7:1—“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons & daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh & spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Eph. 2:19-22—“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers & foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints & members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles & prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
1Pet. 2:4-5—“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God & precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
The fulfillment of these OT quotes is found in Christ working in His Church!
Illustration:
My Daddy always encouraged me to save money. He knew that if a person was so blessed as to not be impoverished, that that money was from God & should & could be protected & used for God’s glory/He taught me that a wise person works hard for his money, uses his blessing wisely, frugally & for the betterment of others, including one’s own family/I understood those concepts early on, but only as concepts/Later, after I was saved with the Holy Spirit indwelling me, I would remember his counsel anew!/REALIZATION
Your belief has been changed by some past or present statement(s) which released the Holy Spirit to bring questioning conviction to your heart & mind.
Realizations based on God’s reality rather than false anthropo-centric ‘reality.’(My brand of reality versus yours vs. the next guy’s or girl’s reality.)
Our belief regarding Jesus progresses &/or becomes clarified.
Application:
?What Harmony comes thru your/our REALIZATIONs for Public Worship?
?Does your REALIZATION present a righteous or an unrighteous challenge to/for Public Worship?
?Our Church a challenge to, or an advocate of, Harmonious Public Worship?
CONCLUSION:
Action:
Challenges to (harmonious)public worship are its...
8. REALIZATION(:21-22)
1. OCCASION(:13)
2. INVITATION(:13-14)
3. PROTECTION(:15)
4. RESONATION(:16-17)
5. AUTHORIZATION(:18-19)
6. RESTORATION(:19)Replacement
7. IMPLICATION(:20)
Pts. 8 only! presented 04/24/2016am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE(SE Ave A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
