John chapter 2. John 2. Our Lord came to His
temple. This is the story of our Lord
coming to His temple. This is the first time recorded.
You know, His earthly parents brought Him every year to the
temple, as they were told in the God's law. And they lived,
he was born in Bethlehem and he lived in Nazareth and every
little town had a synagogue. But the temple was where the
high priest would offer sacrifices once a year. And our Lord came,
the Passover, and our Lord came faithfully. As the law tells
us to, and he did, the Lord had his parents bring him faithfully
to his temple. This is his house. This is where his father was. And do you remember when he was
12 years old? Do you remember where they found him? They were
heading home and he didn't leave the temple. And they found him
there and he said, I must be about my father's business. And
so he came every year and as an adult, certainly, but this
is the only this, this and another, the only times recorded of him
coming and both times. He had to clean this temple out
twice, you know, that twice, first time we just read and the
second time on his way to the cross, he came in. Because what
he found. Our Lord came to His temple,
Malachi 3, 1 through 6 says, and who shall abide His coming?
He's like a refiner's fire, a fuller's soap. He cleanses temples. And He did. And He does. But He knew what He would find
when He came here, just as when He said in the days of Noah,
when He looked on the earth, He knew what was going on. And he said it repented him.
And in the days of Sodom, remember, he said, let us go down and see
if the cry of their sin is as great as I hear it to be. It's come up in my ears. He knew
what he would find. It was a rotten place. And religion in his day, at this
time, the Lord, it had degenerated into form only. Ceremony is full
of idolatry. Hypocrisy. Very few, very few
worshiping God in spirit and in truth. He said that. He said,
Father, they that worship the Father. He's going to tell the
woman at the well that. She was religious. And those
that worship God, worship Him in spirit, from the heart. The
Lord looketh on the heart. And in truth. True worship. The true God. the truth as it
is in a covenant head, a messiah, a substitute, a lamb slain, and
on and on it goes. But religion had degenerated
into form, ceremony, hypocrisy, religion for money. They were
money changers. They were making money. And our Lord said, remember in
Luke 23, when he was on the way to the cross, he said, if they've
done these things in a green tree, what shall it be in a dry? In other words, in the beginning
of his kingdom, when he came on earth 2,000 years ago, if
it was that bad then, what's it like now? You know what it's like. You
see it. You hear it. You know the whole world does
too. The world's scoffing at religion. What man is saying about God,
about Jesus. The world is scoffing, laughing. Ain't nothing to this. They all
know it's about money. They all know that. And in verse 17, I like this. It says, His disciples remembered
that it was written. Whatever He did and said, they
remembered later. This was written in Scripture.
And it happened. It came to pass exactly. Remember,
He said that. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but not one word of mine shall fail. Everything I say is the
truth. And that's how you know He is
that profit. A true prop. He said in Deuteronomy,
I think it's a 18 years. Where that profit is spoken of.
He said, if a profit site speak of the thing, if he's saying
that, and it doesn't happen, he's not a profit. He's a profit. And everything our Lord said
and did was prophesied, and it came to pass, and it is coming
to pass, and it shall. Not one word of His shall fail.
And His disciples knew that, because they knew the Word, and
they studied the Word, and all of His people did. Verse 17, and then look at verse
22. It says, His disciples remembered
that he'd said unto them, and they believed the Scriptures. So God's people, like these disciples, they follow Him, they worship
Him in spirit and truth, and they know that whatever is written
in Scriptures has and is and shall come to pass, and everything's
done according to Scripture. This quotation is Psalm 69. I want you to turn there. The
zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Our Lord was zealous for
his house. This was his house, the Lord's
house. Now, I didn't plan these two
messages today. I didn't plan it, but I believe
the Lord purposed it. Both of them are about his temple.
We're going to look at 2 Chronicles 6, Solomon's prayer in the temple. I was looking throughout. We've
come to that book, 2 Chronicles. I was looking throughout for
something that greatly typifies Christ, and that prayer is just,
it's all about Him. So we saw. But after I prepared
that, it occurred to me, these go together, these messages go
together. But Psalm 69 is another psalm of the cross, and it's
a striking psalm. Psalm of the Cross. Look at verse
1. Save me, O God. The waters have come into my
soul. I sink in deep mire where no standing. I come into deep
waters where the floods overflow me. I'm weary of my crying. Was
he praying this? Was he speaking this in the garden?
When he went to the garden, he prayed. He said to his disciples,
watch with me. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful,
even unto death. Verse four, they that hate me
without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head. They
that would destroy me, being my enemy's wrong clear, are mighty.
I restored that which I took not away. Look at verse seven,
for thy sake I have borne reproach. Verse 8, I have become a stranger
among my brethren, an alien unto my mother's children. For the
zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of
them that reproach thee are falling upon me. Verse 21, verse 20, reproach
hath broken my heart, I am full of heaviness. I looked for some
to take pity. There was none. Comforters, I
found none. They gave me gall for my meat.
In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. And on and on it goes.
His disciples remembered this, and so do we. So, look at verse
26. They persecute him whom thou
hast smitten. Talk to the grief of those whom
thou hast wounded. He was wounded for our transgression. Please the Lord to bruise him.
This is why I came. And this is what We're to do
when we meet in God's house, remember Him, worship Him. This is what God's house is supposed
to be about. He said my house should be called
a house of prayer, a house of sacrifice it's called, a house
of sacrifice. In 2 Chronicles 7 verse 12, our
Lord answered that. He said, I'll look toward this
house, my house of sacrifice. This house, this place, yes this
place, God's house, God's church, is supposed to be a place where
God is worshipped from the heart and spirit and truth, where Christ
is exalted, where God's people observe and behold the Lamb. That's what this is all about.
Nothing else. It's not fun and games. It's
not family time. It is family time. It's God's
family. And we're all worshiping God's
Son. That's what this is to be about.
There's not to be anything else that takes place here. Nothing.
Paul dealt with it in 1 Corinthians. The church in Corinth was modern. Greece, like America today, is
full of everything, and the church then had every sort of problem
you can imagine. Everything that every church
goes through, Corinth had it. Schisms, divisions, strife, there
were people doing things, and living is a mess. And one time,
they were eating and drinking and having a big time, and they
were treating God's house like a social house. And people were
actually getting drunk and just carried on. And Paul said, don't
you have houses to eat and drink in? This is not what this house
is about, he said. This house of worship, house
of prayer, where God's people meet together to call on God
for mercy. Because by mercy and truth, iniquity
is purged. So this is what he found. And
the zeal of God's house ate him up. Oh, may it eat us up. May we be so eaten up with God's
glory, with God's praise and God's worship that we can't stay
away from this place. No more leave. Go back out in
that place. Listen to Psalm 119. It says,
he said, My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have
forgotten thy word. He said, I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. All of these are David writing,
but under inspiration is Christ speaking. Trouble and anguish
have taken hold upon me, but I haven't forgotten thy commandments. They are my delights. And on
and on it goes. So our Lord came to His temple,
where His worship and His praise and His thanksgiving was to be
had, and prayer to Him was to be made. And He found none of
that. And it angered Him. It angered Him. Now, some were
there that weren't making money, but they were in on it. Pharisees. Now look at our text, John 2,
verse 18. This place was always full. Now,
they were not on the very inside of the holy place. No, they were
out on the porch somewhere like that. Only the priests could
go in the courtyard, I mean, in the holy place. Then the Jews,
verse 18, answered and said unto him, What sign? They were watching
him. They watched him clean this place out and throw the tables
over him, threw the money on the ground. Money meant nothing to him. Nothing. You know, the streets in Glory
are going to be gold, I think. It says that. It might be, it
just might be symbolic. If it is symbolic, what it means
is we're going to walk on gold and not pay any attention to
it. You walk around your house, oh,
I love these floors. I just can't take my eyes off
these floors. No, you don't. It's just the floor to walk on.
Gold to walk on. We're going to rise above what
man is consumed with, gold and silver. His eyes are gold and
silver. We're going to be above that, far above that. Our eyes
are going to be beholding Him who is the unsearchable riches
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So money meant nothing to him. And they were watching him. The Jews were watching him do
this. And they said, what sign showest thou
unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? What they were
saying is, who do you think you are? Come in here like you own
the place. What do you think you're doing?
Who are you? They asked him this many times.
He would go into his temple many times and just sit down and start
teaching. And they said, by what authority? Who gave you the right
to come in here? Man, oh man. He's the one that
needs to be asking that question. You know, men are trespassers.
Trespassers. This whole earth belongs to the
Lord. Use it and don't thank him for it. Don't ask him for
it. They're trespassing. And one day we'll be shot if
they don't ask him permission and don't give him thanks. Squatters
is what man is. This is his temple. If they weren't
there in his name, in God's name, if they weren't worshiping God,
they're trespassing. Who gave them the right to do
that? This is his habit. So they said, who do you think
you are? In another place they said, if you be the Christ, tell
us plainly. They weren't looking for the Christ. If they were,
they'd have seen Him. They would have found Him, wouldn't
they? They weren't studying God's Scriptures to see the truth,
to see Christ in it, were they? No. He said that. He said, you
search the Scriptures, in them you think you have life. In other
words, You think you have life or righteousness
by the way you live according to the law. You think you're
keeping God's law and you search for laws that you think you can
keep. And you keep them and now you're
going to live with God someday. You're going to go into God's
presence because you've kept the laws. And you think you have
life. Who is life? What is life? John said, we beheld the life
was manifested. In Him we live and move and ever
be. Christ is the light. Christ is the light. You know
that, don't you? Oh, how blessed we are. And he said, they are they which
testify of me. If they had been looking for
Him when He came, they'd have said, it's Him. He fits the scripture. That's Him. That's why this book was written,
not to show us what to do, but to show us who did it. Don't
you love that? I love that. What sign show us
that? Show us the sign. You say you're
the Christ. They heard Him say, My Father's
house. They heard Him say that. And
another time they said, You're just a man, you make yourself
God. You said you're the Son of God, that means you're equal
with God. No, you're not. They heard Him say, My Father's
house. Who do you think you are? What
sign show us? You say you're the Lord and this
is your temple. You say you're the Son of God.
Prove it. Show us a sign. Now, the heavens declare His
glory. The firmament showeth His handiwork.
There's not a language on earth where the language of the Son
of God does not speak very clearly. As said, the one clear shining
light, proof in the universe, every day for every human being
to see, the Son. But who believes on the Son? me and worship the creature they
worship as she read some of whom that speaks song fourteen. So I'm 19, so I'm 19. Heavens
are a tabernacle that God has placed the sun in for everyone
to see, for His glory, like a strong man to run a race. You know how
blessed we are. God has blinded the minds of
the most brilliant human minds on earth, scientists and lawyers
and astronomers. People are so smart, they just
gaze all the time in black holes. Oh, we don't love darkness, do
we? We love light. Heavens declare His glory. Men
are without excuse. Without excuse. These are signs. All things prove Him. But God
doesn't prove Himself to His creatures. God doesn't prove
Himself. His creative glory is clearly
seen, in and without excuse. But Him, Himself, His mind, His
will, His purpose, His character, His thoughts, His ways, His truth,
He doesn't prove Himself to men. You know, if we walk in the light
that we have, He'll show us more light. More light. He doesn't. God gives not an account of His
matter. He doesn't prove Himself. God, you know, men say this.
If God would just speak, we'd believe Him. Why doesn't He speak?
He did. Scripture said. We know that.
We remember what it said. It said God has spoken once.
God in sundry town, a diver's man, spoken of the fathers by
the prophets? Twice hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son, but men perceiveth it not. Why? Man's dead. He's blind. He's deaf. He thinks he's smart,
but he's dumb. He's stupid. I use that word
all the time. It's the best word I know to
describe mankind. Stupid! He's in a stupor. He's drunk with a sense of his
own worth and a sense of his own brilliance and wisdom. He's
a fool, man's a fool that said, no God, when everything so clearly
reveals God. Here's the thing, but God, rich
in mercy, for his great love, worthy love, some of these God-hating
rebels, some of these blind, halt, lame, God reveals himself. God doesn't prove himself. Man
says, prove it. Why should he? Be like you walking
through your yard and there's a pile of ants there. They're
trespassing. Just yesterday I had to kill
a bunch of them. They're coming in the garage. That's man. Kill them all. My prerogative is my house. If I decide to show mercy on
one of them, I would have. One time I did. You remember
that story? The ants messed up my lunch. I took it to work with
them. They got in it. And man, I threw them, plate
and all, in a garbage can, set it on fire, and I went around
burning every ant I could find in my sight. Burning them up. Took a fusee, a flare, and burned
them up. And I sat down, and there was
one ant at my feet. One ant. A remnant of these. And I look now. I said, that's me. The Lord brought that ant to
my feet. And I said, I'm not going to burn yet. You know what
that ant did? He crawled under a rock. And I wept. I said, that's me. He said, you stay right there
now. Don't come out from under that
rock. That's Isaiah 2, isn't it, Brother
Kevin? Isaiah 2. Hmm. Where am I? Oh, man's like...pants. Oh, boy. Go back to our text. Look at...
What sign do you show us? Man, our Lord said in verse 19, And here's the surest sign of
all of who He is, why He came, what He did, where He is now. And our Lord calmly, collectively
answered them. He didn't have to. He didn't
have to. He did this for our sake. Because
His disciples, they heard. His disciples are watching and
listening to everything He did and said. And they were so glad
he was speaking for them. They were so glad. And he said very calmly, destroy
this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And that's
all he said. I started to have you turn to
Proverbs 16, but let me just read it for you. I love that.
The whole proverb is just marvelous. You need to read it. It's just
full of this theology-changing verses, like every proverb. But it says in Proverbs 16, he
that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that
ruleth his spirit better than he that taketh the city. It says,
the wise in heart is called prudent. The sweetness of the lips increases
learning. The heart of the wise teaches
this mouth. The heart of the wise teacheth
his mouth and addeth learning to his lips. He spoke few words,
and if he spoke, you need to listen. There was infinite truth
in few words, profound truth. The whole truth, the whole counsel
can be found in a few words by him who is the word. He who made
man's mouth made his tongue, spoke few words. What a lesson
that is to us. He weighed his words carefully.
He used them sparingly. Oh, shouldn't we? He was swift
to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. You know how many times
in scriptures it says that he was slow to anger, slow to wrath? I'm so thankful. Aren't you thankful? He gave this answer, destroy
this temple. He's speaking of his crucifixion
and his resurrection. And what he said is, you will
destroy this temple. You will. And verse 21, he spoke
of the temple of his body. He said, he is the temple. Remember that. He is the temple
of God. He is the tabernacle of God among
them. In Revelation 21, verse 21 speaks
of the temple of his body. Revelation 21 says that the city
had no temple. The Lamb is the temple. No, son, the Lamb is the light. The Lamb is the temple. We don't
need anything but Him. So, He said, destroy this temple. He didn't point to His body.
He just calmly, destroy this temple. In three days, I will raise it
up. Now, Christ Himself is the temple. As said, he's the holy place. He's the dwelling place. Will
God dwell on the earth? Solomon's going to ask that.
Yes, he will. He did. He does. God tabernacled
among them. But man destroyed it. Just like
man destroyed the first temple, they destroyed the second temple.
And it was really our Lord that did it. Man did it. Men came
in, the enemy came in and destroyed the temple. So the enemy of God
took God's Son and crucified Him. Him, you with wicked hands,
Peter said, have taken and crucified the Lord of glory. Who did it?
Who destroyed the temple? God did. Just like of old. Because it was full of idolatry
and all that. Well, Christ was made sin. God put on him the iniquity of
us all. But all of us were idolaters,
and we still are sometimes. But God put on Christ, and God
had the temple of his body destroyed. It was so destroyed, Isaiah 52
says, marred, his image was marred more than any man. Unrecognizable. Beaten beyond recognition. Blooded. Covered with blood. His garments covered with his
own blood. What was he doing? Treading the
winepress of God's wrath. God's wrath against us. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It pleased the Lord to whip him. It pleased the Lord to have
men beat him. But by his stripes we're healed. His blood cleansing us from all
sin. My, what mercy. What mercy. Now look at, I love this. Here's
the sign. It said, you will destroy this temple, but in three days
I will raise it up. The Jews said, and they don't
have a clue. Forty-six years was this temple
in building. Will thou rear it up in three days? And he's speaking
of his body. And you know, they kept bringing
this up, especially when he was being brutalized by the servants
of high priests and then the Roman soldiers and then hanging
on the cross. They kept bringing this up. Thou who destroy the
temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross.
We believe you. Well, the temple was being destroyed
right there as they speak. That's what was happening. And
three days later, he raised it. Now, Scripture
talks about, Scripture says this, Christ said, God has given me,
no man taketh my life from me, I lay it down of myself. And
he said, and I take it up, I have this power. Listen to me, this
is good. Who killed Christ and who raised Christ? Well, people
did. No, God did. No, Christ laid
it down. He said, no man taketh my life
from me. Even the Father, He had to willingly lay down His
life. And this was, and we speak this
in our own language, but in the covenant before, And they knew
what they would do before, but for our understanding, the Father
said, the soul that saith must surely die. My people are guilty,
and I have to punish their sin. I have to be just and justify
it. Death. Death. I see the blood. Will you lay
down your life for my people? Will you? Will you die that they
might live? Will you? She can't kill him. He's life. And he said, figuratively,
I will. I'll lay down my life. And greater
love hath no man than this. I will lay down my life. For
who? A forlorn bride? An adulterous woman? Yep. Why would you do that? Because
he's God. Because he's marvelous. That's why. Because that's love
the world has never seen. That's mercy the world has never
seen. And he did. Will you? I will. So Christ willingly,
like Isaac of old, willingly, that old man couldn't have tied
him down? He said, Father, mind me, slay
me. He loved his father, and if he
even slayed him. Isaac thought, if he slays me,
I'll trust him as my father. He's too good to do wrong. That's
the picture Christ is. So he will it. So it was the
father that killed him, but yet it was Christ who willingly laid
his life down. Okay, who raised him? On and on it says the Father
raised him. I love this, I love this. You
see, God made the decree, the soul that sinneth must surely
die. The soul that sinneth must bear the punishment of hell.
Hell will send you to the place of hell. And so God made his
soul an offering for sin and put him through hell on Calvary's
tree. Put him through hell. Okay? But after Christ finished the
work, after Christ bore our sins away, after Christ paid the penalty,
after Christ fulfilled the penalty for the crime, for all of our
crime, and He's the only one that could do this, by one offering
perfect forever, by one offering obtain eternal redemption, unlike
all those millions of others that didn't put away one sin.
He, by this one offering, put away all sin. Right? And in Scripture it says God
was satisfied. He saw the travail of his soul
and was satisfied. He says my justice has been satisfied. The law has been satisfied. The
punishment has been met and much more. Okay? So God sent angels. Go down there. He's in prison. Go down there
and open the door and let him out. God, the Holy One, the Lawgiver
says, I'm satisfied. Open that prison and let him
out. He's paid the crime. See, God
showed everybody. A man one time, my father was
so wise, he could say things. A man one time said to my dad,
he said, you see it's like this. He said, we're all in prison,
you know, we're all captives to sin and the world and all
that. And Jesus came down and paid the price. And now God opens
the prison door and whoever wants to go out can go out. And it's
up to you to just go out. And my dad quickly and wisely
said, you show me a prison anywhere that's taking in boarders. Did you hear that? Show me a
prison that's taking in boarders. No. He said if the crime has
been paid, they've got to go. They'll run you out of there.
They'll open the prison doors. That's what's happening. If the
crime has been paid, you're sentenced to ten years in prison. When
ten years are over, John, they're going to open those gates and
say, get out. We've been sentenced to life.
Well, Christ, by His life and by His blessed death, He who
could do what He did in 33 years that we couldn't do in 70 or
80, God satisfies us, opened the prison doors and let him
out. And do you know who came with
him? We were raised together with
him. But he said, no man taketh my life from me. I will raise
it up. He... I love this. I love this. Don't you love it? It's a mystery. Years ago, He dwelled in light,
which no man can approach unto. When He took a glorified body,
I don't know what that is. I don't know. We'll see it someday.
He took that body, a glorified body. Okay. Then He set it aside. And a body that has self-prepared
me. A common, ordinary human body. A body. And our Lord walks
into a body, into a womb. He walks into a woman's womb. That's the best I can do. He
walked into it. Assumed that body. Here I am. And waited for all that. Patience
grew and witnessed. Mystery! It grew up, alright? Then one day he walked out of
that body. He walked out of that body. Back
to glory. Put on his glorified body. and
walked back in, out of that tomb, into the earth. And Mary didn't
recognize him. Nobody recognized him. Mary thought, it's the gardener. Man, he's beautiful. What a beautiful
man this gardener is. And we may preach on that, son.
And he had to reveal himself then. He said, Mary, He walked into a body. He walked
out of a body. He walked into his glorified
body. He walked back into this world. And then they saw him
walk on into glory. That's our Lord. Oh, and it says here in closing,
it says disciples, when he was risen from the dead, his disciples
remembered what he had said unto them, and they believed the scripture. And the word which Jesus had
said. Don't you? This is God's book. And I believe every word of it.
And I esteem every false way as a lie. God is true and every
man is a liar. If you believe Him, if you believe
Him, if you seek the truth, He'll show you. He really will. And He hides it from other people.