The Gospel of John: When Jesus Steps into a Place

If you got your Bibles, John chapter two is where we're gonna be today. We are going to be in John chapter two, and we're gonna cover verses 13 through 25 and take a big chunk of scripture today. And I am excited to preach. This last week, we jumped into the second chapter of the book of John and we studied there, the first miracle of Jesus. And we walked in day by day through the first week of the ministry of Jesus.

His first public ministry miracle happened there at the beginning of John chapter two, where he turned water into wine. And we saw that there was a great cleansing there, that through this miracle, that a reputation of this young couple was saved. And it was amazing to see what God can do, how he stepped into a problem, a situation, and. And we applied that to our life. Now we're gonna see where Jesus steps into a place.

We're gonna see Jesus not only steps into our problems, but he also will step into exactly where you are today. So John chapter 2, verse number 12 is where we're gonna be. And so find a copy of God's Word. And I want you to open it and just don't take my word for it. This morning.

It is important that you take out the word of God. There should be one maybe in the seat back in front of you, right up under the chair. And so if you need a copy of God's Word, make sure you grab one. And if you do not have a Bible, that is a gift from Community Baptist Church for you. But it's important that each one of us find our place in Scripture today.

And look at the word that God has for us this morning. John chapter two, verse number 12. We'll start there. And we're just gonna go verse by verse through this. And look at this teaching today.

And so after this, he went down to Capernaum. Everybody say Capernaum. He and his mother and his brethren and his disciples. And they continued there. Not many days.

How long did they say? Not many days. You guys are with me and the Jews. Passover was at hand. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and changing money, sitting.

And when he had made a scourge of small courts, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers money and overthrew the tables and said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence. Make not my father's house a house of merchandise. Can I just tell you this morning, that does not sound like the woke Jesus. Okay, that does not sound like the picture that our culture is trying to create today of he is nothing more than just loving and he's so understanding and he'll just put up with anything. No, we see in this passage of scripture that we serve a holy and a just God.

And so we see in this passage that Jesus is now in this temple and this is a place of worship. That's what the temple was designed for. And you can go back to John chapter 1 and verse number 14. And the whole point of God in the ministry to us is that Jesus, he wants to dwell with us, he wants to tabernacle with us. In the Old Testament, right here, this is the form of worship.

This is where they would go. And so this Passover was at hand. So we see in this verse that Jesus is coming on the scene. He's entering into this court there and they are selling all these things. And this is not a slight of nothing should be sold at the church house or there shouldn't be any fundraising.

That is not what this passage is teaching us today. These people were taking advantage of people. Extortion was going on and they were taking advantage and they were up charging these people and they were selling. And really what was going on is people were greedy. And so we see Follow with me verse number 17.

And his disciples remembered verse number 16. He said unto them, he sold ups, take these things hence, make not my father's house a house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. And then answered the Jews and said unto him, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, destroy this temple.

And in three days I, I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, 40 and six years was this temple in building. And by the way, they were still in building. They were always remodeling and adding onto the temple. It wasn't a finished work at this time, but we see that it was continually be building.

And Jesus is saying that hey, take down this temple. And we understand that Jesus wasn't talking about the physical location of the temple. We understand this is prophecy come into fruition that Jesus is the temple, our bodies are a temple. In three days he is going to rise up again. These people didn't understand it.

They didn't get it at the time. But just a couple years later they're going to get it. They're going to see what takes place of Jesus going to the cross dying, being buried for our sins, and then raising up on the third day. Aren't you thankful for the resurrection this morning? Then said the Jews, 40 and six years was the temple and building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

But he spake of the temple of his body, when therefore he was risen from the dead. And his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them. And they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. Now, when he was in Jerusalem, the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name. Many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did.

But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all of them, and he needed not. And he should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. So we see today in this passage of Scripture that Jesus is stepping into a place. Another title for this message could also be this, When Jesus Cleans House. And so we're going to look at a couple areas today in our life that Jesus wants to clean house.

And as we look at this, we are going to understand in this passage that Jesus is going to drive out what is false, but he is also going to restore what is holy and expose whether our faith is real. So last week, John chapter two, we stood at a wedding in Cana and watched Jesus perform in his first week of ministry, this great miracle. A couple was on the verge of embarrassment, and possibly the groom was about to be hit with a lawsuit, right? Not being able to take care of his bride. This was gonna be a picture of their marriage for years to come.

And we understand that Jesus did not step back and shame them for the mess that they were in, but he stepped right into their problem. We saw his grace, we saw his compassion, we saw him being sovereign. We saw his provision in this couple's life. And that reminds us of something very important in Scripture. Every time we open God's Word, it is important for us.

Every time that we open the Bible, we ought to be on the hunt for the character of God. What is this passage of Scripture teaching us as disciples of Jesus Christ, as a growing disciple of Christ, every Sunday morning, we're going to learn a little bit more about the Word of God. But it's understanding that when we study a passage of Scripture, we are looking not what is best for us or not even really, first off, what it means to us, but we are looking at the context of Scripture of what do we see? How is this pointing us to Christ? What is the character of God?

And so we saw the character of God last week, that it was an amazing scene that Jesus steps into this problem, and we see this deep faith through this miracle that he does, that it was a prophetic miracle, and it was a miracle of completeness. But we see A.W. tozer said this. It takes the whole Bible to make a whole Christian. And I like that quote this week.

It takes a whole Bible to make a whole Christian. It's important for us to realize that, because if we are not careful, then we will take bits and pieces of the Bible and we will form our own doctrine. We'll form how we want to worship and what we want to see, and the God that we. We think he is. But if we do not take the entirety of Scripture, that is one reason as a church, we go verse by verse through the Bible because every verse matters.

And so as we see this, important for us to realize the entirety that it takes a whole Bible to make a whole Christian. And that is exactly. That should be how we build our view of God. And it's important for us to realize that this morning because we saw in the first chapter of John that John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God. And we saw him step into this couple's life.

And it's amazing. We saw the sovereign, the Lamb of God, that he is gentle, that he is gracious, that he steps into our problem. And so last week, he stepped into our problem. And then this week, all right, we're gonna see him flip tables. All right, we're gonna see a totally different picture of Jesus.

And so that's why it's important for us to get the entire picture of it. Okay, Are you with me this morning? Are you tracking with me? All right. So when Jesus cleans house, John has already showed us that Jesus is humble, that Jesus is loving, that Jesus is sacrificial, that Jesus is gracious.

But as we look in John chapter two, we see that Jesus is also this lamb, but he is also the lion from the tribe of Judah, that Jesus is righteous, that Jesus is just. That Jesus is a holy God, that he is courageous. And as this chapter teaches us, that he is zealous and that he is not going to allow sin to creep into a place of worship, whether that be practically, in our own lives or collectively when it comes to the church. And so we have to understand that this morning that he is the lion from the tribe of Judah. So the same Jesus who filled the water pots in Cana is the same Jesus who flips the tables in Jerusalem and you say, I don't know What?

I don't know what I think about that yet. You're telling me that Jesus was angry? Righteous, righteous anger. And we understand that Jesus was yet without sin. He was perfect, he was blameless.

That there is nothing that we can point to that Jesus has ever done wrong. So we see in this passage of scripture that Jesus, rightfully so, is angry about what is happening in the Lord's house. And so when we connect this to where we're at today, first he is going to change what is empty in the first part, and then he is going to cleanse what is dirty in the second part of John, chapter two. And so let's look at it with us this morning. With me this morning.

In our text, we are going to look at three ways which we can allow the grace of God to clean the house of our lives. Okay, you ready to jump in this morning? All right, four of you. Amen. And so here we go.

Number one, this morning, if you're taking notes, Jesus cleans out false worship. Jesus cleans out false worship. Verses 12 through 16. As we see this, notice the transition in verse number 12. After this, we went down.

So the wedding of Cana is over. Jesus now moves to. From a problem to a place. We see that he stepped into this personal need, but now he's going into a public place of worship at Cana. Jesus changed a situation in Jerusalem.

Now he's going to confront a man made religious system that was greedy, that was a false sense of worship at his house. Notice the setting, verse number 13. And the Jews, the Passover was at hand. So you got to understand Jerusalem. We went from Cana, a town that was merely 100 people, maybe 200.

He goes to Capernaum, a little bit bigger. Okay. He's from Nazareth, the town of about 900 to 1,000 people. And now we get to the scene where they're about to celebrate the Passover. Okay, so they make their way down, it's about 60 miles to Jerusalem.

Okay. Jerusalem is a big town. Mikey, you can show that map if you want to. I think I put one in there of them traveling all the way down to Jerusalem. And now they find themselves entering this city right before the Passover.

And it's said to be about 2 million people that are coming to celebrate the Passover. The Passover, you have to understand, is one of the biggest moments on the Jewish calendar. This is remembering how they. How that they were. They were pursued in Egypt, they were captive in Egypt.

And now that God had delivered them, and you remember the last sign that there at the in Egypt, for them to come out was the where the Passover angel would come. And if the blood was not applied on the doorpost, that that in order for him to pass over, there had to be blood applied on the doorpost. And so now this is the celebration of the Passover it is that Jesus has saved them, brought them out of captivity. And so this would be a time that they look back and rejoice about what God had did. So Jesus comes into Jerusalem during this Passover time and because he himself is the true Passover lamb, understand that he is the true Passover lamb.

This is going to highly offend Jesus to see what is going on in this temple. So he is the Passover lamb. So this is sacred ground. This is a place of worship. This is a place where there should be reverence, gratitude, in awe.

Look at verse number 14. Notice what Jesus finds and found in the temple. Those that sold oxen and the sheep and doves and the changers of the money sitting. So Jesus comes into the city and he does not find true worship, but he finds. What does he find here?

The first thing he sees is corruption. What should have been a place of consecration has become a place of commerce. The first thing that he sees is not reverence, but he sees a bunch of racket, not prayer, but he sees profit, not holiness, but he sees the hustle of a man made system. Jesus came looking for worship, but what did he find? He found business.

One scholar would put that as he comes up to the money exchange table, that through this currency that they would hike everything by 10 to 20% if not even higher. A dove would go 15 times what it would normally cost on the day this Passover feast, this celebration of the Passover. A dove would be 15 times more expensive if you. If they were coming in to make the sacrifice and they were buying it from these people, you see that extortion was going on. So if they needed this animal sacrifice first when they come into this, we understand that people would come from far away.

And so as they would come down, they would travel a long distance away. And I don't know about you, does anybody enjoy. Maybe you're weird this morning. Maybe you enjoy packing for a trip. Anybody like that?

All right, I don't see anybody's hand. Amen. Nobody's weird this morning, but I don't know about you, I have five kids. And so it is like, it is like a miracle to get everything in the car when we're going for a trip. You're talking about not just one suitcase for a kid, but I have more girls than guys in the family.

And so you mean that us guys, we get one suitcase and then my wife gets three suitcases. All right? And then Riley is now 14 and. And so she's in the makeup and different things. And so she needs three suitcases as well.

All right? And so you can only imagine we're getting all this stuff together to travel a long distance. We go to Ohio a couple times a year to see her folks. And on this journey, I can't imagine if I'm having to load all of these suitcases. And it's like playing Tetris in the car.

Up under every seat is stuff full of stuff. Okay? I mean, we don't even know what's still there. Okay? If you go out to our car today, who knows what you'll find?

All right? But when you look at this, we're playing Tetris in there. I can't imagine if I had to bring some sheep or some goats with me. Could you imagine if you had to bring some animals along the journey with you? And so understand this.

That's where these people, it was more convenient, all right? It was more convenient for them to travel with just their normal stuff. And then they would make it to the temple. And that is where they would buy their lamb, buy their goat, buy their dove to sacrifice. And so that was the system that had been created.

And so we see this, that the first form of worship. We're going to see two forms of worship under this in these verses. The first one I want to point out is this thing of convenient worship. So we see it was convenient for them to travel, not with their sacrifice, they would travel a long distance. But the problem was every purchase had to be made with temple currency.

Okay? So these exchangers would exchange these money from different currencies. And that is where their exchange rate would be super high. That was the first way that they would hit them. And then if they needed a sacrifice, if they needed a lamb or a goat or a sheep or a dove, this is where that they would even jack up the price, even.

And so you see the system that they were create creating that these farmers would bring in. And this was their money making time of the year. William Barkley said this. A dove would cost 15 times more at the temple than anywhere else. All of this for convenient worship.

And before we're so hard on them, I mean, let's look at the text today. Man. This was a man made system for us. Before we're so hard on them. We, what about us?

Don't we live in a place in a time of convenience?

Don't we want worship to be convenient for us? Man, I want my parking space, right? I want to worship maybe at my service, the 9:00am service. Pastor, if you ever change that service, I ain't coming back, right? We want it convenient.

I mean if it was up to us and who knows, in a couple of years we might be having drive through church, alright? Just drive through, all right? Just say hey, the express lane. If you don't want to actually come inside. We'll make it so convenient to where you can just pull around the building and Pastor Matt or Pastor Jason will be outside and they'll just pray over you really fast, share just a little passage of scripture, give you a three point outline.

That way you can make it to the lake right on time for fishing. Let's just make it convenient for you. And so we see we live in a time of convenient worship. We want church to fit us perfectly. We want to worship with no cost, no sacrifice, no inconvenience before we are so hard on them.

Understand, this applies directly to us. If we are not careful church, we will drift from sacrifice because we will be worshiping at the altar of convenience. I want church my way, see. Sing my songs, preach what I want to hear, right? We make it all about us when it was never supposed to be that.

Can I show you a verse in the bible? Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 15 if you don't mind. Look at it. The verse is on the screen. But as we look at this we see that by him therefore let us offer.

What's the next word? The sacrifice. Let us offer the sacrifice appraised true worship or will always cost you something. True worship. And I know this is not an amen sermon this morning.

This is kind of one of those that like hurts a little bit. And can I tell you, I sat over here this morning and I told Kristen this is about as nervous as I get when I come to preach. This is a tough text for us this morning because when we make life application, this is where we are today. By Him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Notice the word sacrifice. True worship will cost you something. We cannot make it convenient for us. That kids ministry. Well, if I was down there, I would do it my way.

I want my kids to be here. If they're down there, they're not going down there. Okay? My kids are better, you know, and so we make church all about. And it seemed like nobody was bothered by this.

So we see at the beginning convenient worship. But notice complacent worship. Notice what's next. Complacent worship. Nobody seemed to be bothered by it.

Nobody was shocked that this was happening. This was just a system that had been created and everybody just went along with it. Except for Jesus, the guy from Nazareth, okay? The true Lamb of God. He.

He knew what was going on. He saw right through the false worship. Complacent worship. Everybody had grown used to it. Alexander McLaren said this in exchange of people exchanging and the exchange rates and all of the corruption that was taking place in the temple, he said, being familiar, it became legitimate and no one thought any incongruity in it.

Until the young Nazarene felt a flash of zealous for the sanity of his father's house consuming him. So we see that this thing of complacent worship, nobody was bothered by it. For a few years. My dad pastored a church in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Anybody familiar with Roanoke Rapids this morning?

Anybody? If you have ever gone through Roanoke Rapids, you're going to know exactly. Some of you are already smiling. You know exactly what I'm about to say. Growing up in Roanok Rapids, there was one distinct thing about Rono Krapitz.

Does anybody remember what was there? Somebody help me. A paper. What meal? Does anybody know what a paper mill smells like?

You don't want to know what one smells like, okay? Rotten eggs times 10, dirty diapers, okay? And so that's what it smells like. And that is where we lived. And I mean, you would get close to that.

If the wind blows, right? There is no way you can get around that foul smell. And so we lived there for a couple years, and after a couple years, it was nothing to us. We didn't even notice it anymore. I mean, it just.

It was part of our life. We didn't even think about it. We didn't even notice it. But when my grandparents would come in or somebody would come in to visit, one of the first thing that they would say is, how do you live here? This smell is outrageous.

This is incredibly bad. This is staunch. This is nasty. It is foul. It is disgusting.

How in the world do you live here? After a while, we just. It grew accustomed to us. We didn't even really smell it anymore. We didn't even really think anything about it.

It was so bad that it would leave like a film on your car. That's how bad it Was it wasn't just a smell, but it would leave like a nasty film on your car. That the city made them actually put a car wash out there for you to be able to free car wash to go through. And so this foul smell just became. Ah, we were used to it.

We to used. We're used to it. And I believe that is a picture of this story. Here we see a complacent worship, a system that was in place that people just went along with it. They were okay with it.

I mean, hike it up. It's just a part of doing business, right? And that's the world that we live in today. And we see that this was very dangerous, that this was a problem in this situation here. That Jesus is gonna have zeal that Jesus to anger, okay?

But Jesus was not going to put up with this false sense of complacent worship. I remember the first time that we got a family dog. Any of you dog people? Anybody like that this morning? All right, half of you.

How many of you are cat people? All right, get out. Get out. I'm just. I'm just messing.

All right. I remember our first dog. And I want some oohs and ahs here. Micah, you can show that picture. This was our first dog.

This is little Maggie, okay? She was about 10 weeks old here. And you can go to the next picture. I really just want to show off Riley and that hairdo, okay? And so this was our first dog.

This was our first family pet. And, man, we love this dog. It traveled everywhere with us. We love this dog. I mean, it would go on rides with this.

And I remember one time we were taking the dog to the vet, and it was early on, it was still a puppy. And I remember the first time we took it to the vet. We. We were sitting in the car, and of course it had to ride right beside Riley. Well, halfway to the vet, all of a sudden we start hearing, ooh, ooh, I won't do it anymore.

I don't want to make it, though. All right? But we started hearing those. I'm like, oh, no. All right.

And so about 10 seconds later, the dog pukes. Okay. I don't know how else to say it. You can't say that nicely. It was nasty.

It was disgusting. It had a foul smell. It was disgusting. It was nasty. For sake of illustration, I want you to play along with me, okay?

So this nasty smell, this terrible thing that this dog just did. All right? We love Maggie. All right? We love her, but that was just nasty.

She should not have Done that. Okay. Never again are you riding in my car. All right, But I remember this. What if I looked at Riley and she was still a young girl?

I looked at her and said, riley, clean that mess up. That's disgusting. Get that mess out of here. That smells nasty. It's disgusting.

We can't have that on the floor of the car. And she says, dad, I don't want to clean it up. I look over at Kristen and said, kristin, will you clean it up? Will you just get this mess out of our car? And she says, I don't want to clean it up.

And so then it's left with me. And you know what I said? I don't want to clean it up either. And so what if. What if we just left it there?

That's fine. This nasty mess in our car, After a while, we'll just get used to it. What if a couple days later, and just imagine 95 degree days. All right, it's cooking in there now, right? Just imagine a couple days later.

I invite you to hop in the car, Brent. Come on over, buddy. Hop in. We're gonna go get something to eat. Come on in.

It's fine. And imagine if Brent jumps in the car with me and we start going out to eat, and we're on the way to the restaurant, and he says, nick, what in the world is that smell? I said, oh, it's no problem. Maggie threw up in the back just a couple days ago. It's still a little bit fresh.

It kind of cooked in now, but it's fine. It's fine. I mean, honestly, if I invited you to ride with me and that was in my car, you would say, hey, I need to pray for Pastor Nick. This is so bad. This is crazy.

All right? Awareness was not the issue. All right? You understand awareness? I knew it was there.

The problem was action. I didn't do anything about it. It's hard. I didn't want to clean it up. It's nasty.

It's gross. And that is the same thing in our life, that the awareness is there. I know what I struggle with. I know what I'm going through in my life. I know that I should not be doing that.

I know that I should be faithful. I know that I should be serving. I know that sin, that addiction, that thing that I'm struggling with in my life. I know that it should not be there. But what are the actions?

Have we grown close to just the mess? Are we okay with just the mess because it's so hard to fix in our lives? It's strenuous. It's very hard on us. It takes a lot of work.

And so for us as we look at this story, they did not have an awareness problem, but they had an action problem. Can I just remind you and encourage you this morning, you cannot be comfortable with sin. Sin will destroy you. You cannot have pet sins. You cannot be spiritually drifting away from God.

You cannot be unfaithful to God. You cannot be comfortable with just a watch this church and a dead routine. A dead routine. And I feel like that is where a lot of us are in church today, is that we are so accustomed to the routine that I know exactly when Brother Matt's going to stand up here and say we're going to shake their hands. And so I'm just used to it.

I know when they're going to put it for worship. I know what Janie's going to play for invitation. I know the pastor is going to stand up and he's going to say, verse by verse, reaching people with the life giving, a life changing message. I know week in and week out what is going on in the house of God. And it doesn't even affect me anymore.

It's not causing me to any action. I am okay where I'm living today. I'm okay with it. I'm fine with it. See, they didn't have an awareness problem.

They had an action problem. And can I tell you, that is the same thing that I struggle with in my own life. And you may be way better than me, but I'm sure there are folks today that if we were honest, we say that's the same thing that I struggle with in my life. So as we look at this, they had gotten used to this foul spell. Look at verse number 15 as we pick up in our text.

And when he had made a scourge of small cords, all right, Jesus was not reactionary, okay, right off. Jesus wasn't like rage monster, okay? You've seen the Dude Perfect videos. The rage monster, okay? That was not Jesus, okay?

It says that. And I can imagine this in the story that Jesus is now saying, hey, hand me that cord right there. Hand me that cord right there. Let me get it. How are you guys doing today?

As he's putting this whip together. How are y' all doing today? Do you see what's going on here? Isn't it fabulous? Look at all these people.

This is crazy. This is chaotic. This is a mess here. Right as he's putting this cord together, knowing what was about to happen. Can I Tell you, Jesus did not sin by doing this.

There was a righteous anger that it was evaluating a situation and it caused inaction. I wonder, in our life, do we just react when somebody cuts you off? What's the first thing that you do? Do you have a righteous anger or. If we're being honest, we just have anger, okay?

Just anger right away. And so we go from 1 to 10 as soon as something happens in our life. But as we look at this story, righteous anger that you. He knew what was right and he was not gonna stand for just going along with what is wrong, this complacent worship. See, in verse number 16, Jesus explains.

This is the climax of this point, I believe. And he said unto them, they sold doves. Take these things. Hence, make not my Father's house of merchandise. This is not just bad management.

This dishonors a heavenly holy Father. He's saying this is false worship. It is possible to be around the things of God. And can I remind you this morning, you can still miss it. You can still miss it.

We see at the temple, this is what was happening. They were familiar with the operation. They knew it was wrong, but they never took in action. Can I show you another picture this morning? Let me show you the court of Gentiles.

I want you to study this out a little bit and understand where these people were. This was a court that. If you are a non Jewish person, okay. If you are a non Jewish person, raise your hand. Okay?

Everybody in the room, probably all right. This would be the only place that you could actually go to the temple. This was the courtyard, the court of Gentiles. Okay. This is where all of the corruption taking place.

And this is the hardest thing about this point for me. I could not get over it. The worst part about all of this. So the people who were curious about God, the people who wanted to learn a little bit about God, who have heard so much about the temple, who have heard so much about what God had done to free his people from captivity and what God had done through the faithfulness down through the years for these people. And as they're entering in and they just want to meet this God, they just want to understand a little bit more about God.

They were met with greed and corruption. What a first picture for somebody who did not know God, who knew nothing about the temple, why they were even meeting there. Can I apply this to our church? At Community Baptist Church? We have to understand that each week people enter into those back doors that don't know anything about Jesus.

They don't Understand the love of Jesus. They don't even understand words like salvation and what it means to their personal life. They don't understand the grace and the forgiveness of God and what they offer. And they don't understand that they need a personal savior, that they need a relationship with God. Can I tell you that is why Community Baptist Church exists today.

It is not about man made religion. It is not about some system. This morning, okay? Get your eyes off of everything else. Can I tell you?

Put your eyes and what we want everybody to see when they walk through those doors. It is all about Jesus. It is all about Jesus. It is not about how fancy our buildings are. It is.

It is not about some polished church or some polished music director or some polished preacher this morning. It is all about pointing people to the life giving in the life changing message of Jesus Christ week in and week out. Do you know what you can expect from Community Baptist Church? That it is all about Jesus. Our prayer this morning is that we would disappear and Jesus would become more clear in your life through his word that Jesus wants to talk with you.

Jesus wants to walk with you. He wants to relate to you. He wants to. He wants to step into your problems. He wants you to worship him in faith, in truth.

And we see this in this passage this morning. It is all about Jesus Christ. But they had made it about a system. They had made it about false worship. They made it about money and what they wanted, a convenient system.

Verse number 17. We get to point number two this morning. Y' all say, hurry up, preacher. Jesus calls us back to a holy zeal. We see Jesus is going to call him back.

Verse number 17 says, and his disciples remembered that it is written, okay? The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. This verse gives a reason behind the action. Jesus was not out of control. But Jesus, we don't see.

He was being petty. He was not just being fleshly. He was not just having a bad day, okay? He. He was filled with a holy zeal.

You remember back at verse number 15, we understand that he took his time, that this was righteous anger, that he was passionate, that he was slow to anger, that he was passionate about what he saw in this false worship. This was not a sinful anger. This was a holy passion. Let me show you a wonderful verse in the Bible and we'll come back to it at the end of the service too. But 2 Peter, chapter 3 and verse number 9, the Lord is not slack.

Aren't you thankful for that this morning? The Lord is not slack. Concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. But what is God? What is Jesus?

Here it is. He is long suffering. Everybody say that with me this morning. Long suffering. What is Jesus this morning?

He is. He's longsuffering. Understand that in your life, maybe you came to a church growing up and it was an angry church, that you met people that weren't very long suffering. Can I tell you, that is not a picture of Jesus. Jesus is slow to anger.

Jesus wants to restore his relationship with you if you are away from him this morning, Jesus with open arms. He's saying, hey, I have more anger, I have more grace, I can forgive. He's saying, I'm welcoming you back. That's the picture of Jesus. We see he is patient, not just impulsive.

We see that he is not rash, but he is slow to anger. What matters to God? We see in this passage. It deeply matters to Jesus. I believe there is two applications for us in these couple verses.

We'll go quickly, quickly. Personal application. Would be this our personal application? What can we get from this? What does this temple mean to me?

Let me show you a verse in First Corinthians, chapter 6, 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. And verse number 19. Is it really hones in on this that there is personal application for us? It says, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and you are not your own.

We don't like that verse this morning, do we? We don't like to be told, no. We want it our way. What is Burger King's motto? Somebody help me.

This morning you can have it. That's not the gospel this morning. That's not what Jesus says. Your body is not your own, but it is a temple. It says in verse number 20, for ye are what bought with a price, a sacrificial price.

Next chapter, we're gonna see in John chapter 3 and verse number 16 that it cost him everything. That is what the Gospel is. Therefore, glory God. Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So the personal application today is our body is the temple.

Jesus does not only care about a building, but he cares about your life. Can I remind you this morning, holiness matters? Your character before God, it matters our words. Watch this. It matters what you speak husband to your wife, it matters.

Can I tell you this morning? Your anger, it matters. Our habits, it matters. All of that should mirror Christ in our lives. That's the personal application for each one of Us.

Jesus understand this, that through the finished work of the cross justified that God the Father does not see our sin as just as if we had never sinned. He has cleansed us. But can I tell you, Jesus did not die on the cross, so you can stay exactly how you're living today. Jesus did not die on the cross to just keep you there. But Jesus wants to cleanse you.

He wants to convert you. Jesus did not save us to leave us where he found us. Conversion, I believe, is always followed by cleansing. We saw that in the last passage that we studied last week, but we see it in this passage. Conversion is always followed by cleansing.

Now understand that there's a personal application, but there's a collective one. This for the church we see 1 Timothy, chapter 3 and verse number 15. The collective application for each of us today is the church is the house of God. So it should be something that we reverent. It should be a place of love.

It should be a place to where we are to worship him. We understand in First Timothy, chapter three and verse number 15, he says, but if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou artest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar of ground or the pillar and ground of truth, what does that mean for us today? That means that the house of God should mean something to you. That God does not deserve our second best. He doesn't deserve our leftovers.

But we should prioritize the house of God. Your faithfulness, it matters. Your generosity when it comes to the house of God and our giving, that matters to God. Reverence, it matters. Holiness, it matters.

We live in a generation that loves Jesus, but I believe does not fear God as it should. And so I want to be a church. That man, this is the house of God. I'm excited to be here because I understand this is what God used. This is the vehicle to reach the entire world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That is why I'm going to show up. I am going to lock arms with this church because I believe there are people in our community that need Jesus. And can I tell you, we are better together. We are stronger together. Our reach goes far and wide when we are together, when we are banded together under one mission for.

For one reason. And that is to point people to Jesus Christ. We see number three this morning. As we transition into this last point, we see in verse number 18, Jesus exposes fake faith. This story is not over.

Once Jesus cleans the house, the religious Crowd of course, is going to speak up. And when they do, Jesus exposes something far deeper. He is going to expose corrupt worship. He exposes more than corrupt worship. He goes on and he exposes Moses fake faith.

This is said to be a miracle in itself. Imagine that these courts are full of people. There's goats and there's sheep and there's doves and there's everything that you can imagine. Money exchangers. I mean, this is a booming place of 2 million people are trying to get to one place that man, it is going to be chaotic.

It said that in this story, if you were to study out, it's pretty much a miracle in its own that Jesus could drive all of these people, that these exchangers and all of these animals out. Think about it with me. Put yourself in that story. If he drives out, if there are 2 million people there, how many sheep are there, how many goats are there, how many livestock are there? And imagine the stampede that it created when Jesus starts shoving all of these things out of this court.

It's crazy to think about when you look at it, Jesus. But when you see that Jesus is going to expose them. But if you were the one making the money that day, when you be a little bit angry, those are your goats, those are your sheep. You see that these people are going to be angry with Jesus. What are they going to say?

They can't say very much because Jesus, man, there was a respect and they knew that this man was different. Look at verse number 18. They answered the Jews and said to them, what sign? Show us thou unto us. You can study it out.

That's deeper meaning there, seeing that thou doest these things first. We don't see them saying, God forgive me. We don't see repentance here. We don't see them asking for forgiveness. We don't see them humbling themselves.

I wonder if that's like us a lot of times I wonder if we're just like, well, I deserve that. You know, when we come to the house of God, it's almost like, get in, get out. I'm planning my schedule the whole week and I'm looking at, we gotta. Pastor, you better hurry up. We gotta beat the Methodist to the, to the, to the buffet today, right?

And so when we look at this, that a lot of times in our life you hear a message. The Holy Spirit is speaking and he's working in your heart and your life. But how many times have we sat and we just gripped the pew and there is no change that has been made. We don't want forgiveness. We don't want to truly humble ourselves before a holy God, one who deserves all of our worship, in all of our praise.

It's almost like it's just a system. We're so used to just coming to church and it doesn't even affect us anymore. There's never change. When was the last time you walked out of a Sunday morning service where the pastor got up and he preached his guts out and he showed you the truth of the Word of God? And the proof is in the pudding that this Word, man, there is nothing that you can ever find.

There is no wrong in this. There is no hypocritical statements that when we look at the Word of God, it is infallible, it is perfect, it is without error. When was the last time that when we preached the Word of God that it actually changed your life? When was the last time you walked out on Sunday morning? You said, hey, I got my game plan and I'm going to execute this week.

I'm going to allow God's word to not just fall on deaf ears, but I'm going to actually be doers of the Word, not just hearers. So we see in this passage the challenge that he answered the Jews and said unto him, what sign? Show us Thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things. They missed the cleaning or the cleansing because they were fixated on the credentials. That's what fake faith does.

Watch this. It admires power. It demands signs. It never surrenders. That's what fake faith does, man.

It admires the power, man. It's not the fact that I don't believe that Jesus is who he says he is. I'm aware of that, Pastor, but it's just not gonna change my life. There's no action, okay? I'm aware of Jesus did these miracles.

I'm aware now even more so that Jesus turned water into wine. And I understand the story even better. I know that he flipped the tables. He was slow to anger. I understand that, Pastor.

Okay, where's the action that changes your life? See, they were aware. They wanted to know Jesus credentials, but they never surrender. So what do they do? They demand proof.

They miss the cleansing because they were fixated on the credentials. Look at verse number 19. Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up so we see, number one, that Jesus is going to give us two truths to close it out. If you're tracking with me this morning, say amen. We're almost done.

Janie, you can help me. That'll Help me finish. Okay. Verse number 19. We see the truth that Jesus is going to tell them about the resurrection.

So we see, number one, the truth of the resurrection. Aren't you thankful for the resurrection and what that means for our life? There's no power in the death. Simply put, when we're just at the cross, if it ended there, there's still no salvation. But because Jesus died, because Jesus is buried, and because he rose again, that we have the promise of salvation for each and every one of us.

Not just for Jews, but for Gentiles. And so we understand the truth of the resurrection. That they think he is talking about the building. They missed it. And I don't want you to miss it.

This morning they thought he was talking about the building, but he was talking about his body. Jesus points to the resurrection, that he is the ultimate sign, that he is the final proof that his authority matters. The one who cleansed the temple is also the true temple. His authority is not finally proven by overturned tables, but by an empty tomb. Notice verse number 22.

We see the truth of the resurrection, but we also see the truth of revelation. They believed what? The scripture. They believed the scripture. The word which Jesus had said unto them.

And they believed. Everybody say believe this morning. Do you believe? Do you believe? So as we see this, the truth of revelation.

Real faith is not built on excitement, but real faith is anchored in truth. When I tell you on Sundays, every passage lends itself to its own. That you do not come to church to be entertained. That is, you're coming to the wrong church. I am not that.

That cool of a guy, I promise you. But can I tell you when you come to truth and you understand that God has already revealed himself through us through the perfect word of God, that scripture, by the way, as you read that the dead, his disciples remember that he said unto them and they believed the what? The scripture. That the scripture is the holy words of God. That's what they believed.

And that is what will change your life. Real faith is anchored in truth. Scripture and words of Christ interrupted their life and corrected their life. Can I tell you this morning, our church is not built on hype. We are not built on just feelings this morning.

But this church is the pillar and ground for truth that each and every week, verse by verse, we're gonna go through God's word. Because that is what will change your life. It is not how many jokes I tell on Sunday or how funny I was. But it is about next chapter, next verse. Do you believe?

Do you believe? Will you allow his word. Real faith is not built on excitement, but real faith is anchored in truth. Verses 23 through 25. Look at it with me.

We'll finish here. Their faith. Faith is exposed. Jesus did not commit himself unto them. But at the end, he says, because he knew all men.

This is a sobering close because many of them believed outwardly. All right? Many of them believed outwardly. Jesus knew that it was shallow. And can I remind you today that Jesus knows your heart.

He knows the intents of your heart. He's the one who does the soul searching in your life. Jesus knows. Jesus knew this morning when you came in if you were actually here to worship today or if you were just filling a time slot. Jesus knew from the beginning when you walked in, when we stood up and we were singing the songs that chains break and we go into when we all get to heaven.

All these wonderful songs. The hymn of Heaven, what a wonderful song. Jesus knew if you were just passing time or if you were truly worshiping who he was today. See, Jesus knew their heart. You can fool a lot of people, man.

You can have everybody on your row fooled. But listen, Jesus knows truly if you have a heart of worship. This morning, Jesus was going to expose fake faith. And can I tell you, if Jesus exposed it then, and Jesus ain't gonna put up with it then, he ain't gonna put up with it now. So for us, that's what we have to really evaluate our own lives and our own hearts.

Why do you do what you do? Why is it that you're here this morning? God knows if you're here because you just wanted to get your wife off your back. God knows if you're here, if you're just here to fill time so you can make it to the buffet. I came to the nine o' clock service because I'm gonna beat all of them to the restaurant today, right?

God knows our hearts this morning. God knows if it's real or if it's fake. I want to encourage you this morning.

Maybe you've drifted. Maybe you've been a part of a system for a long time. Can I ask you this morning, is your worship real? Why do you do what you do? And if not, if you drifted, Jesus is calling you back through his word today.

He's flipping tables and he's making things right. But at the end of it, he says, I am the resurrection and the life. That through his resurrection and through him revealing himself to us, that there can be salvation in the name of Jesus. He wants to have a relationship with with you. The Passover points to Him.

The temple points to Him. The zeal points to Him. The resurrection points to him. Can I tell you? He is the Lamb of God, but he is also the lion from the tribe of Judah.

He is the true temple this morning, but he is also the risen Christ. Will we worship him today? Will we allow him to work in our life with our heads bowed and our eyes closed? Let's stand to our feet all over the room today. Before we go into singing a song, I wanna show you that verse one more time today.

Micah, Throw up. Second Peter, if you don't mind, I want you to look at this and I want you to understand that this is who Jesus is. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. Is your faith real or is it fake? This morning.

But watch this. He is longsuffering to us. Word, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Can I tell you, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, today can be the day of salvation. That Jesus wants to get into your life.

He wants to come into your problems. He wants to get into your mess. Listen, will you give your life to him today through repentance, understanding that God can and will forgive you today, but you have to give that to him. All of us, all of us were in need of a Savior. And as I look back at the scope of my life, the greatest day is when I met Jesus Christ as my personal savior.

Let me ask you, have you ever had a moment in time to where you've given your life to Christ? Will you be honest with yourself? You're not impressing me this morning with our heads bowed and our eyes closed. I just want to ask you privately, has there been a moment in time that you can point back to? Just like you know your phone number, just like you know your address?

Is there a moment in your life, a time in your life, where you said, that is where I handed over the keys to my life and I gave it to Jesus? I no longer. I was drowning in my sin. There was. I was hopeless and I was helpless.

There was nothing that I could do with my life. But at that moment I said, jesus, take it all. I'm dying in my sin and my sorrows, but I want to place that on you. And you receive the free gift of eternal life. You said, I'm repenting of my sins and I'm allowing Jesus to come into my life.

I'm surrendering it all to him. If you have not had that moment in your life. Don't miss Jesus today.