Alright, go back to John chapter
2. John chapter 2. This is a sobering portion of
Scripture. Very sobering. Verse 13 says, And the Jews' Passover was at
hand, And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. The Jews Passover. That's an
amazing phrase. That's an amazing phrase. It's
amazing that religion has fallen so far. That worship is now so
far from God that it would actually be referred to as the Jews Passover. I want to show you something.
Go back to Exodus chapter 12. Exodus 12, and look at verse
3. Exodus 12, 3 says, Speak ye unto
all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this
month they shall take to them every man a lamb. according to
the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. All right, now look
at verse 6. And you shall keep it up until
the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly
of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Now look at verse 12. For I will
pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood
shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. and the plague
shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of
Egypt. And this day shall be unto you
for a memorial, and you shall keep it for a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations,
you shall keep it for a feast by an ordinance forever. Now
look at verse 26. And it shall come to pass when
your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? Why are you doing this? Why are
we going to this feast? Why are you killing this animal?
Why are we doing this? Verse 27, You shall say, It is
the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover. It's the LORD's Passover who
passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when
He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses, and the people bowed
their head and they worshipped." It's the Lord's Passover. This
memorial feast, it was so holy. It was so holy. It was so clear
why they were doing this. He said, tell your children why
you're doing this. Innocents had to die. Innocent blood had to be shed. The only way I could live and
be passed over was if I had a substitute. And God provided that substitute
in a lamb. That's why we're doing this.
That's why we're keeping this. It's the Lord's Passover when
the Lord passed over us. Because of this substitute. Because
something else died. Something innocent died. That
lamb died instead of me. That's why we're doing this.
And now, how far have we fallen for true worship? We took Rick
and Janine past church circle. And I talk about it all the time.
I think it's beautiful. I really do. But oh, how far
we've fallen from true worship. The Lord is about to show us
how far, right here in John 2. Back to our text, verse 13 says,
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 the changers of money sitting. The temple in the beginning
was a place where the people brought their animals, my animal, to be sacrificed. This was mine. And this is how the Lord commanded
to do it. You don't have to turn back to Exodus 12, but right
there in Exodus 12, He said every household must take a male lamb
of the first year. It had to be without spot or
blemish. It had to be taken or separated on the tenth day of
the month and kept or watched until the fourteenth day of the
month. Very particular. It had to be pure. This was a
very serious matter. Very serious matter. Couldn't
be taken lightly. But the people got away from
that. They quit doing that. They didn't have time for all
that. They needed something a little bit more convenient. That's what
they needed. Just something a little bit more
convenient. And a lot of people started realizing
they could make a lot of money from this. Now, I was in the
music business. I had a music store. And music retail is going under.
It's going under. Everything's going to the Internet.
So I started getting trade magazines. How can I keep my business going?
And you know what all the articles were in trade magazines. Everything
is going to church sound systems. That's where you're going to
grow your business. All right? What you do is you
start a praise and worship band in the local church and you get
everybody into the band and then they're all going to need instruments
and then they're going to need a sound system and you can start making
some money. Right? It's all, I'm telling
you, the cash cow is religion. It's religion. People started
realizing, I can profit from this, so they started bringing
in merchants. That's what happened. People
started selling things in the name of religion. We're going to do this for religion.
All right? We're going to do this for the
kids. And worshippers, they would come in, and they would buy their
sheep right there. The sheep were already there.
They didn't have to bring a sheep. It was right there. You just go
pick out a sheep, and they'd sacrifice it, and
then they'd be on their way. Done. Gone. And that sheep didn't
mean anything to them. That was not their sheep. You know what I'm saying? It
was not their first fruits. It was just some merchandise.
That's all the sheep was. It was just some merchandise. There was no heartfelt grief. I love this animal. This is my
animal. This is my income. This is my
food. This is something to me. This is precious to me. There
was no heartfelt grief in their worship and there was no realization
of substitution. It was gone. Gone. It was just ritual. It was just
ceremony. It was a thing of convenience.
Something to ease their conscience. Y'all give me just a second.
Let me run over to the temple. I'm going to make a sacrifice
and then we'll be on our way. That's what it was. That's what
it was. All right, so verse 13 says, 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 the changers of
money sitting. Guys started realizing a lot
of people are coming here and we can start changing money,
currency. Going to get a lot of money rolling
through here. Filthy lucre. Verse 15, Our Lord went up, and
when He had made a scourge of small cords, and I thought about
Him getting some cords, sitting down, starting to braid these
cords together. And I'm not going to put up with
this any longer. When He had made a scourge of small cords,
He drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the
oxen, and purged 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 an house of merchandise." Your sacrifices
are no good here. Get the sheep out. I don't need
that sheep. No good here. Alright, now look
at Matthew's account of this. Go to Matthew 21. Matthew chapter 21 and look at
verse 12. And Jesus went into the temple
of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple,
and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats
of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written,
My house shall be called the house of prayer. But you have
made it a den of thieves." Thieves. He said that's what it's become.
Men and women today are stealing God's glory. That's what's happening. They're stealing God's honor. And he said in Malachi 3, Will
a man rob God? Will a man rob God? Well, back
in our text, verse 15, ìWhen he had made a scourge of small
cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep,
and the oxen, and purged out the changers of money, and overthrew
the tables, and said unto them that sold doves, ìTake these
things hence. Make not my fatherís house an
house of merchandise.îî Now think about this. Think about what
heís saying here and what heís done here. This temple has always
been referred to, all throughout the Old Testament, as the temple
of the Lord. The Lord's temple. The temple
of God. That's how it's referred to.
And He called it, My Father's house. This is My Father's house. Nobody had ever called it that.
Nobody could ever call it that. But He did. Because He's God. He's the Son of God. And He said,
this is my Father's house. Now think about His power and
His authority, alright? One man. This was a big place. You know, they had outer courts
and inner courts. One man, by himself, takes a
whip into this very public place. And the whole multitude of people
run for their life. Think about that. These men were
business owners. They're business owners. They're not going to let anybody
run them out of business. You think they're all going to
let somebody come in and run them out of business? Take over
their money, their income? No. This was no mere man. The terror of God had fallen
on everybody in that temple. And he said, I will work and
who shall let it? Who's going to stop me? The things
that I do, who's going to stop it? Nobody. False religion says, God needs
me for things. He needs me to do things. He
doesn't need me to do anything. Nothing. By Himself, He purged
our sins. And He's purging everything else
by Himself. Alright, now think about this.
We think of our Lord as being meek and gentle and kind. And He is. He said He was. Take my yoke upon you, learn
of me, I'm meek and I'm lowly in heart. But that's not all
He is. That's not all He is. He said,
I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And there was a time when I thought
of Him as, thought of God as, you know, like the Abraham Lincoln
statue, you know. I change not, you know. That's
not all He is. Our Lord is righteous. Our Lord
is holy. And He said, I will punish sin. I will. I'm going to. Turn over
to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, look at verse 28. It says, He that despised Moses'
law, or he that broke the law, died without mercy under two
or three witnesses. Of how much sore punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot
the Son of God? and hath counted the blood of
the covenant wherewith he was made sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know
him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again the Lord shall judge
his people." Now watch this verse. This is an interesting verse. It's a sobering verse. Verse
31 says, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. May we be wise and worship
Him with fear. Worship Him with fear. I saw
a sign the other day, Hannah and I were driving around and
there was a sign on some place somewhere, and this is what it
said, I love you, you're forgiven, come home, with a little dash,
sign, God. I love you, you're forgiven,
come home, God. Nowhere has he ever said that
in this book. Not one time has He ever said
that. That's lying on God. Alright, now just listen to this,
Revelation 22. These are the people that He
will reject from His kingdom. Revelation 22 verse 15 says,
Without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers
and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I'm going to scourge them out.
Oh, I want to be wise. I want to be wise. I don't want
the Lord to drive me out. I don't. I want to be wise and
worship Him with fear. It's the beginning of wisdom.
I'm afraid for commercialized religion today. I really am. I'm afraid for it. It's supposed
to be the house of God. That's what they claim to be,
the house of God. But here's the problem. There's
no fear inside it. There's no fear in it. None at
all. It's just entertainment. It's
just materialism. It's just convenient worship.
That's all it is. That's not how the Lord God commanded
it to be. Well, our text back in John 2, verse 16, The Lord said unto them that
sold doves, take these things hence, make not my father's house
and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered
that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me
up. As soon as they saw that, they
recalled scripture. And it's Psalm 69 verse 9. The
zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." The Lord Jesus Christ
is Scripture. He is. This is His Word. These are His words, who He is. And He said, if you want to know
more about Me, search the Scriptures, right? This is who He is. By God's grace, that's what we'll
continue to do. We'll keep searching the scriptures.
Verse 18, then answered the Jews and said unto him, after they
saw him go in and make a whip and drive everybody out. Then
answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou us,
seeing that thou doest these things? Show us a sign. Prove
to us what right do you have to do these things? What right
do you have to come into this temple and drive us out? What authority do you have to
do this? Show us a sign. You know what
they're saying? We don't believe you. We don't
believe Him. Prove it. We don't believe Him.
Alright, listen to this. Matthew 12, verse 38 says, Matthew 12, 38 says this, Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. But he answered and said unto
them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given to it. But he did give a sign. He did give a sign. There shall no sign be given
to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." There's
your sign. They asked and He answered. They
said, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest
these things? And in our text, verse 19, Jesus
answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three
days I'll raise it up. You want a sign? Okay, here's
your sign. Destroy this temple, and in three... Now, He just drove them out of
the temple. And they said, prove to us you have right to do this
to this temple. And He said, destroy this temple.
And in three days I'll raise it up. Do you know that that is our
sign? We have a sign. That's our sign. He gave us a sign to prove His
deity, to prove that He's God. To prove His power, to prove
His authority, He said, destroy this temple. And in three days,
I'll raise it up. Our hope is built on nothing
less than this. Okay? We know the song. I'm quoting
the song, right? We sang it this morning. Christ
the Solid Rock. Now listen to this. Our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood. He died. and His righteousness. The grave couldn't hold Him.
He's righteous. No sin. He arose. Verse 19, Jesus
answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and
six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear
it up in three days? They hadn't been given ears to
hear. Religion reads the word. They read the word. And it says
don't commit adultery, and they don't want to do that. And it
says don't murder, and they don't want to do that. And it says don't chew,
and don't smoke, and don't cuss, and don't drink, and don't this.
It doesn't say that. They think it says that. But what they're missing is,
these are they which testify of Him. And He said, destroy
the temple and in three days I'll raise it up. And they said,
it took 46 years to build this place. They don't see. They don't have eyes to see.
Open my eyes that I may see. They don't have ears to hear.
Verse 21, but He spake of the temple of His body. The temple
of His body. Destroy this temple on the cross
of Calvary, and in three days you'll have your son." He spake of the temple of His
body. Verse 22, When therefore He was
risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this
to them. Now, He said that, and they didn't
have a clue what He was talking about. His disciples, they had
no idea what He was talking about. And He said it over and over
again. So many times in John 6, He said, I'm going to the
Father. He said, where I'm going, you can't come. He told them
so plainly. He told them so plainly. And
the apostles, they didn't have any idea what He was talking
about. No idea. Verse 22, When therefore He was
risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this
unto them, and they believed the Scripture and the word which
Jesus had said. Now he said that to them before
he died, and they didn't understand it, and they didn't believe it.
He kept saying, are you still without faith? I told you already,
have you already forgotten that? Now listen to this, this is Mark
chapter 16, okay? Verse 9 says this, Now when Jesus
was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first
to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils. And
she went and told them that had been with Him, as they mourned
and wept." That's His apostles, that's Peter and James and John.
She went and told them all, He's risen. Alright, now, it says
after that, "...and they, when they had heard that He was alive,
and had been seen of her, believed not." Isn't that something? His apostles. His apostles who
walked with Him every day for three years. And He told them
all these things. And He told them all these things.
And He said, I'm going to die and I'm going to rise on the
third day. Three days later, Mary Magdalene comes and says,
I've seen Him. He's risen. I don't believe you. I don't
believe you. Isn't that something? Now for
our comfort, How many things has He said to us in this Word
and it just hasn't sunk in yet? It just hasn't sunk in yet. And
He tells us over so many pages, so many times, and we just can't
remember it. For our comfort, this is what
He said in John 14 verse 26, "...the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach
you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto you." He'll teach you. He'll keep reminding
you. He'll keep reminding you. We've
heard it. We've heard it. We just can't
retain it. The Holy Spirit will keep reminding us. Alright, our
text John 2 verse 23 says, Now when He was in Jerusalem at the
Passover in the feast day, 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 men, and needed not that any
should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. When they
saw the miracles, they claimed to believe on Him. Now, there have been some magicians that we have seen, and it's cute.
They pull a little rabbit out of the hat and all that, and
all that's funny. Let's get the kids over here
and watch them. But I've seen some magicians recently, and
they do these television specials on them, and they float, and
they do these weird things, and I don't know what to think of
it. I think it's all just fake, and they're just really good
at what they do. But as I look at it, I'm thinking,
how do you do that? That's amazing. I mean, I'm amazed. Now, how did he do that? How
did he literally pull a bus out from behind that curtain? How
did he do that? Alright, they saw his miracles
and they said, wow, I believe him. We're believers. But they were
just impressed by the miracles. That's all. Their profession,
it wasn't truly from the heart, and the Lord knew it. Because
He looks on the heart. When the Lord was preaching to
multitudes. Now, listen to this. You know,
the Lord has called different men to preach. We stammer up
here. Man, so insufficient. Just so insufficient. The foolishness of preaching. All right, now we preach and
we get on the radio, and it's of the Lord, it's whom the Lord
will, and we just, for the love of Christ, for the love of His
sheep, for the love of men's souls, we pray that the Lord
would call out somebody, cause them to believe it, Lord. We're
going to preach it, and if it be Thy will, call somebody to
hear it and believe it. As our Lord preached to the multitudes,
He knew exactly who would not believe. Isn't that amazing? The whole time He's preaching,
He knows. He preached the whole message. He knew you'll never
hear it, you'll never believe it. He knew every bit of that.
He looks on the heart. He knows our heart. Our emotions
can be triggered. Our minds can be entertained.
Our conscience can even be convicted. But in order to be a true worshipper
and a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to be given
a brand spanking new heart. we have to receive a gift from
God. We need a new life and a new heart, and our Lord's going to
explain that to us in chapter 3. There's a man named Nicodemus,
and he says, Nicodemus, you've got to be born again. That's
it. You must be born again. You need
a brand new heart. Brand new. New life. Born again. Well, I pray that the Lord would
allow this ministry to worship in truth. I pray the Lord would
allow this ministry to worship in fear. I pray that this would
not just be a thing of ritual, a thing of ceremony. And I'm
speaking as sincerely as I can. When we pray, we know not what
things we ought to pray. I feel like I say the same things
every time. Brother Dwight says, I'd rather hear you pray. And
I say, I'd rather hear you pray. I pray it would not become ritual,
I pray it wouldn't become ceremony, I pray the Lord would keep us,
cause us to see the seriousness of it, cause us to worship in
truth, provide us with a Lamb, and teach us, teach us. Alright, stand together with
me.