Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• A passage that is very searching
• How would you describe the UK today?
  • Example - never heard a parable
  • Most never go to Sunday School or church
  • We live in a Biblically illiterate age
  • They do not understand about God or reverence Him
  • Christianity is in the background
• Where is the failure?
  • Starts with us as a Church
  • We have failed to be salt and light
  • Have we compromised?
    • We know there are many churches that no longer believe the Bible
  • Does the temple need to be cleansed before society can be changed?
• Jesus cleansed the temple
  • They had turned it into a place of merchandise - a money making raquet
  • A very strong passage
    • It follows on from the previous passage where Jesus brings the joy of the gospel
  • Jesus' role was also to challenge
• A very courageous act
  • Not afraid of the temple police
  • Pours out the money and overturns the tables
  • Righteous anger - not sinful anger
  • What the people were doing was sacrilege/blasphemy against God
    • Drastic deeds needed drastic action
• Overview:
  • Confronting False Worship
  • Establishing True Worship

Confronting False Worship (v13-17)

• v13 - Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Passover
  • Because He was a Jew
    • He kept the ordinances of God (e.g. feasts)
  • He went up to confront those desecrating the Temple
    • He knew the state of the Temple
    • He deliberately chose this time
      • Humanly this might not seem good
      • But Jesus is the Son of God
• Do you remember the 'Tent of Meeting' / Travelling Tabernacle
  • God's glory descended on this Tabernacle
• Later Solomon builds a Temple
  • The glory of God descends
  • The Temple is dedicated to the worship of God
  • At the centre was the 'Holy of Holies'
• Later destroyed by Herod
• The Jews had turned the temple into a market
  • Noisy
  • Smelly
  • People making money
• Jesus cleansed the temple twice - at the beginning and the end of His ministry
  • The Jews were corrupt
  • There was already corruption at the time of Malachi
  • Jesus called the a "den of thieves"
    • Profiteering over sacrifices
    • Profiteering over exchange rates
    • The Romans found a huge amount of money when the temple was destroyed
  • Probably using the gentile court
  • Targeting the poor - v16
• His actions must have stunned the people
  • Yet no-one stopped Him - their morals condemned them
• How do we apply this today?
  • Do churches make money?
    • The established churches are very rich
    • Those who preach a false message of the prosperity gospel
    • God is angry
      • Should we be angry or turn a blind eye?
  • Jesus has righteous anger
    • Always measured
    • Actions speak louder than words
      • Ps 69:9
  • What about us?
    • Ecc 5:1-2
      • Come reverently, ready to hear, have few words
      • Be like Mary and sit at the Saviour's feet
      • Don't rush into the presence of God - prepare yourself
    • Isa 56:7
      • The Temple was to be a place of prayer for all nations
      • There are no holy buildings - we are the temple of God
      • However, our church is to be a place of prayer for everyone
        • We are not to exclude others
        • We are to pray for all nations
        • We are to come to Missionary meetings
    • Do we see the wrong in our own hearts?
      • How zealous for God are we?
    • Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit
      • Have we allowed our bodies to become polluted?

Establishing True Worship (v18-22)

• The Jews want a sign/miracle to establish Jesus' authority
  • Jesus offered His resurrection as a sign
    • They did not understand His answer - they were thinking of the physical temple
    • Only after the resurrection did the disciples understand Jesus' wordds
  • Jesus had come to replace the Temple
    • He was the Temple of the living God
      • John 1:14 - Jesus dwelt ("tabernacled") amongst us
    • He was the presence of God
      • You meet with God through Jesus
    • We have become the temple of God - through Jesus Christ
    • John 4 (the Samaritan woman) - no physical place of worship, but in spirit and truth
  • What about us?
    • Do we mean the words we sing?
      • Examples
    • Jesus came to give us life to the full
      • We need cleansing first from Jesus Christ - if we come to Him sincerely
      • Ask for help to give your life over to Jesus
        • Prov 3:9-10
          • Honour the Lord - because you love Him
          • He will bless you (not in prosperity)
          • We may please God in all things