The Cleansing Of The Temple

I would recommend you either believe God completely, or else not to believe at all. Believe this book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of water is poor faith at best. It is little better than a dry-land faith, and is not good for much. Charles Spurgeon

The Cleansing Of The Temple JN 2:13-25

Do you picture Jesus as a gentle, tender, peace-loving man? In one place we read: MT 11:28-30 "Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest. Place my yoke over your shoulders, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble. Then you will find rest for yourselves because my yoke is easy and my burden is light." People felt comfortable in bringing their children to Him. MT 19:13 Some children were brought to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. The disciples told them not to bother him. But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." We do know that He was God and therefore He did display a powerful righteous anger. We see this when He visited Jerusalem during the Passover at the beginning of His ministry and we see here a side of God that many do not want to see because they only want a God of love. We see He forced the moneychangers and merchandisers out of the temple. So we ask “What determined this outburst of anger?” What gave Jesus the authority to do this? What lessons might we glean from this event? Let us note: His anger was prompted by: THE WARNING OF THE LORD. THE passion OF THE LORD. THE display of the AUTHORITY OF THE LORD. THE power OF THE LORD. His anger was prompted by:

I. We hear THE WARNING OF THE LORD.

A. He takes time to promote HIS FATHER’S HOUSE.

1. We read of the reason for His outburst. JN 2:16 “Don’t turn my Father’s house into a marketplace!"

2. The sellers of oxen and sheep, along with the moneychangers, had turned the temple into a house of selling.

3. Jesus knew that the temple was to be a house of prayer; they had turned it into a den of crooks. MT 21:13 He said, "The Scriptures declare, ’My Temple will be called a place of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!" The Lord was made angry by the manner in which some used religion to make money. Did you come to church today to pray and listen to God’s Word?

B. MIGHT WE BE GUILTY OF A SIMILAR OFFENSE?

1. Did you know that there are people who come to church to form an "arrangement", to make business contacts?

2. What if we take advantage of our relationship as brethren to further a multilevel marketing business, a home-based business, or any other financial enterprise?

3. We do not have a temple today but we have the church, we must be careful in case we abuse it as well. We also know that the church is not the temple of God either for we read this in 1 COR 3:16-17 “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple.”

God planned that those who preach the gospel be supported 1 COR 9:14 “In the same way, the Lord gave orders that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.” He is angered by those who try to use the church as a way to get rich.

His anger was prompted by also.

II. We see THE passion OF THE LORD.

A. Jesus shows His passion FOR HIS FATHER’S HOUSE...

1. The disciples were reminded of an Old Testament prophecy John 2:17 “Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: "Passion for God’s house burns within me." Psalm 69:9 “Passion for your house burns within me, so those who insult you are also insulting me.

2. Jesus had passion for God’s house, for its intended purpose (a house of prayer). His great passion for His Father’s house moved Him to action. What moves you to action?

B. Let me ask HOW IS OUR passion FOR THE LORD’S HOUSE? As I have seen in just the past few years we have changed making the house of God holy to a place of entertainment and being happy. If we use buildings that were not built as churches we need to change them. I do not want to get off tract on this but I have heard that there are some who use bars to have church and do not stop the wrong things going on. We have moved into movie houses, malls, public building, and schools to start churches to reach people. This is good but I wonder if the lord is pleased with us using those buildings as holy on Sunday when the rest of the week they are used to promote unholy events.