1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:06,240 Now please open your Bibles at John’s Gospel and chapter 2 as we come today to this marvelous 2 00:00:06,240 –> 00:00:12,600 story of the cleansing of the temple, a story that really is full of significance for all 3 00:00:12,600 –> 00:00:14,520 of us today. 4 00:00:14,520 –> 00:00:20,100 I want to paint a picture for you today of what Jesus Christ found when he came to the 5 00:00:20,100 –> 00:00:25,719 temple, and I think that you are going to find as I have found that you recognise this 6 00:00:25,719 –> 00:00:26,719 picture. 7 00:00:26,719 –> 00:00:33,000 So you will find yourself saying with me Uh, what Jesus Christ found at the temple is what 8 00:00:33,000 –> 00:00:37,439 I am dealing with in my life today. 9 00:00:37,439 –> 00:00:41,540 And then we are going to see what Jesus Christ did when he came to the temple, and again 10 00:00:41,540 –> 00:00:46,200 I think you will find yourself saying with me, what Jesus Christ did when he came to 11 00:00:46,200 –> 00:00:52,959 the temple is exactly what I need him to do in my life today. 12 00:00:53,080 –> 00:00:58,619 So I do hope that you have your Bible open at John chapter two and verse fourteen tells 13 00:00:58,619 –> 00:01:02,480 us what Jesus found at the temple. 14 00:01:02,480 –> 00:01:14,419 In the temple, he found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and pigeons, and the money changers 15 00:01:14,419 –> 00:01:17,379 sitting there. 16 00:01:17,739 –> 00:01:23,959 Now these traders were meeting a need and they were providing a service. 17 00:01:23,959 –> 00:01:29,099 When people came to the temple, they would offer an animal as a sacrifice. 18 00:01:29,099 –> 00:01:34,459 And of course, if you had travelled you know fifty, a hundred miles to get to the temple, 19 00:01:34,459 –> 00:01:37,860 not very convenient to bring a sheep or an ox with you. 20 00:01:37,860 –> 00:01:42,239 Much easier to obtain the animal that you would then present in the temple when you 21 00:01:42,239 –> 00:01:43,239 had arrived. 22 00:01:43,540 –> 00:01:48,419 And so the traders who were selling the oxen and the sheep and the pigeons, which were 23 00:01:48,419 –> 00:01:54,040 of course the offering of the poorest people, they were there to provide in a timely and 24 00:01:54,040 –> 00:01:57,779 a convenient way what the people needed. 25 00:01:57,779 –> 00:02:03,599 The money changers were there because there was a temple tax, but it had to be paid in 26 00:02:03,599 –> 00:02:05,160 a particular currency. 27 00:02:05,160 –> 00:02:10,139 You couldn’t pay the temple tax in the Roman currency that of course was circulating with 28 00:02:10,139 –> 00:02:12,679 the head of Caesar on it in those days. 29 00:02:12,679 –> 00:02:18,639 It was paid in Tyrian currency and therefore the normal coinage had to be exchanged in 30 00:02:18,639 –> 00:02:20,600 order to pay the temple tax. 31 00:02:20,600 –> 00:02:26,020 And so again, these money changers were there in order to provide that service. 32 00:02:26,020 –> 00:02:33,020 And so very simply here, what we have is people who had seen an opportunity to make a living 33 00:02:33,020 –> 00:02:38,160 by providing a convenient and timely service and there is absolutely nothing wrong with 34 00:02:38,160 –> 00:02:39,720 that. 35 00:02:39,800 –> 00:02:44,020 At first there would only have been a few of these traders setting up their booths. 36 00:02:44,020 –> 00:02:51,039 In fact, at the beginning they were set up on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. 37 00:02:51,039 –> 00:02:56,740 The Mount of Olives comes down and then there’s the Kidron Valley and then the temple located 38 00:02:56,740 –> 00:02:58,360 on the other side of the valley. 39 00:02:58,360 –> 00:03:02,399 And so as people were coming to the bottom of the Mount of Olives, there would be the 40 00:03:02,399 –> 00:03:08,520 traders and they were at least in some kind of proximity to the temple. 41 00:03:09,479 –> 00:03:16,960 As anyone who is involved in retail business knows, location matters. 42 00:03:16,960 –> 00:03:21,479 And so, you can well imagine what’s happening if you picture them on the lower slopes of 43 00:03:21,479 –> 00:03:25,720 the Mount of Olives, here’s the Kidron Valley, and then the temple’s on the other side. 44 00:03:25,720 –> 00:03:32,020 Over time, these traders would have competed for the best spots, the best locations for 45 00:03:32,020 –> 00:03:36,279 business, and of course the best spots were the ones that were nearest to the temple. 46 00:03:36,279 –> 00:03:41,119 And so, over the years, what you found was this kind of creeping of booths across the 47 00:03:41,119 –> 00:03:45,839 floor of the valley ever nearer to the temple itself. 48 00:03:45,839 –> 00:03:53,399 Now, by the time of Jesus, these traders had actually got into the temple itself, and had 49 00:03:53,399 –> 00:03:58,899 taken over the outer court of the temple itself. 50 00:03:58,899 –> 00:04:01,380 And, I wonder how that happened. 51 00:04:01,380 –> 00:04:02,479 We don’t know. 52 00:04:02,479 –> 00:04:08,479 And I imagine that perhaps one especially entrepreneurial trader would have said, you 53 00:04:08,479 –> 00:04:14,960 know, what would be absolutely the best location for this, and of course, the prime location 54 00:04:14,960 –> 00:04:17,260 would actually be to be inside the temple itself. 55 00:04:17,260 –> 00:04:24,000 Now, if I could get there, and I could set up my booth in the outer court, I could say, 56 00:04:24,000 –> 00:04:28,359 you know, buy your ox, buy your sheep, and buy your pigeon from me. 57 00:04:28,399 –> 00:04:32,359 I mean, it’s the shortest possible distance that you have to take the animal to the place 58 00:04:32,359 –> 00:04:34,880 where it is actually offered. 59 00:04:34,880 –> 00:04:40,239 And once one was in there, you know what it’s like, they say, once the camel gets its nose 60 00:04:40,239 –> 00:04:44,720 under the edge of the tent, it’s not that long until the whole camel’s inside. 61 00:04:44,720 –> 00:04:47,440 And eventually, you have all these traders in there. 62 00:04:47,440 –> 00:04:54,059 And actually, this had happened relatively recently, just before the time when Jesus 63 00:04:54,059 –> 00:04:57,480 came to the temple. 64 00:04:57,480 –> 00:05:05,279 These booths were known as the bazaars of Annas because Annas, who features later in 65 00:05:05,279 –> 00:05:10,500 the gospel story where Jesus is brought to him as part of his trial. 66 00:05:10,500 –> 00:05:13,980 Annas was the high-priest during whose tenure. 67 00:05:13,980 –> 00:05:21,739 This breach was crossed and the traders actually got inside the temple and began trading there 68 00:05:21,739 –> 00:05:24,019 for the first time. 69 00:05:24,019 –> 00:05:28,880 And of course, you can see from the temple’s point of view, and doubtless this was in Annas’ 70 00:05:28,880 –> 00:05:34,119 mind, there was an opportunity for additional income that would come to the temple from 71 00:05:34,119 –> 00:05:38,980 allowing these traders to do what they did from the inside. 72 00:05:38,980 –> 00:05:47,019 And so by the time of Jesus the outer court of the temple was filled with these traders 73 00:05:47,019 –> 00:05:52,660 who had taken over the entire area providing this service. 74 00:05:53,079 –> 00:06:00,959 Now the temple in the Old Testament is full of significance that carries on right into 75 00:06:00,959 –> 00:06:03,420 the New Testament as well. 76 00:06:03,420 –> 00:06:09,579 This was the place where people went in order to meet with God. 77 00:06:09,579 –> 00:06:14,399 And you have this as far back as Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 5 where God said, 78 00:06:14,399 –> 00:06:21,399 You shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose of all your tribes to put 79 00:06:21,399 –> 00:06:25,519 his name and make his habitation there. 80 00:06:25,519 –> 00:06:32,679 There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices. 81 00:06:32,679 –> 00:06:35,899 Now here’s a very important principle in the Bible. 82 00:06:35,899 –> 00:06:39,959 God says, I’m the one who decides the meeting place. 83 00:06:40,119 –> 00:06:43,859 It’s not for you to decide where you’re going to meet with me. 84 00:06:43,880 –> 00:06:47,899 It’s for me to decide where I am going to meet with you. 85 00:06:47,899 –> 00:06:52,000 And it won’t be at any place of your choosing, but it will be at a place of my choosing. 86 00:06:52,000 –> 00:06:57,440 I will choose a place where I will put my name and I will make my habitation or my home 87 00:06:57,440 –> 00:06:58,440 there. 88 00:06:58,440 –> 00:07:06,760 So there was in the Old Testament a holy place where sinners could come with the intent of 89 00:07:06,760 –> 00:07:07,820 meeting with God. 90 00:07:07,880 –> 00:07:11,179 The Gospel of God says you must come to this place. 91 00:07:11,179 –> 00:07:15,880 Now, king David was the one who discerned that Jerusalem was the place to which God 92 00:07:15,880 –> 00:07:16,880 was referring. 93 00:07:16,880 –> 00:07:23,119 He set up his capital there and his son Solomon built the temple in the generation that followed. 94 00:07:23,119 –> 00:07:27,299 By the time of Jesus, it had been destroyed and rebuilt more than once. 95 00:07:27,299 –> 00:07:33,260 And the temple in the time of Jesus was divided into various courts that were designated for 96 00:07:33,260 –> 00:07:35,640 particular groups of people. 97 00:07:35,739 –> 00:07:39,200 There was a court for women, for example. 98 00:07:39,200 –> 00:07:43,980 There were courts into which only the priests could go. 99 00:07:43,980 –> 00:07:49,040 There was at the center the most holy place, a room into which only the high priest could 100 00:07:49,040 –> 00:07:50,040 go. 101 00:07:50,040 –> 00:07:51,500 He was the only person who ever went there. 102 00:07:51,500 –> 00:07:54,160 And then only once a year. 103 00:07:54,160 –> 00:08:00,380 But the outer court was called the Court of the Gentiles. 104 00:08:00,380 –> 00:08:06,779 This was the one area in which a non-Jewish person who wanted to come and to seek God 105 00:08:06,779 –> 00:08:14,339 and to pray and to worship, this was the court to which such a person could come. 106 00:08:14,339 –> 00:08:22,540 And this one area then that had been designated as the area to which people from all nations, 107 00:08:22,540 –> 00:08:27,700 all non-Jewish people, all Gentile people who had come to believe in the God of the 108 00:08:28,660 –> 00:08:34,299 could come to this court and this court which was the only one to which they could come 109 00:08:34,299 –> 00:08:40,059 was the one that had been taken over by the traitors. 110 00:08:40,059 –> 00:08:45,219 So imagine now that you are a Gentile in the time of Jesus, you have come to believe that 111 00:08:45,219 –> 00:08:50,460 the Living God who created you is the God of grace who revealed himself to Abraham, 112 00:08:50,479 –> 00:08:51,479 Isaac, and Jacob. 113 00:08:51,479 –> 00:08:56,559 You have come to believe the Old Testament scriptures and you come to this place, to 114 00:08:56,580 –> 00:09:04,299 the temple in order as a Gentile to seek and to worship and to pray to God. 115 00:09:04,299 –> 00:09:12,979 And when you arrive, you find that the only place to which you are entitled to entrance 116 00:09:12,979 –> 00:09:15,539 is already crowded. 117 00:09:15,539 –> 00:09:22,080 It is packed out with these traitors and all the wall of noise when you get in there, it 118 00:09:22,299 –> 00:09:23,159 hits you. 119 00:09:23,159 –> 00:09:30,200 I mean, this bartering, and this endless arguing that is part of that whole process as they 120 00:09:30,200 –> 00:09:35,419 are trying to barter a price and the noise of the animals over which they are bartering, 121 00:09:35,419 –> 00:09:36,539 it just hits you. 122 00:09:36,539 –> 00:09:37,760 It’s a wall of noise. 123 00:09:37,760 –> 00:09:40,640 It’s a crowded area of frenetic activity. 124 00:09:40,640 –> 00:09:46,760 You think, I came here to worship God, and the only place that I am able to come is absolutely 125 00:09:46,760 –> 00:09:48,820 crowded out. 126 00:09:49,799 –> 00:09:54,859 The place of seeking the presence of God has been taken over. 127 00:09:54,859 –> 00:10:01,940 Now, I wonder if you recognize that picture today. 128 00:10:01,940 –> 00:10:08,239 I think that what Jesus found in the temple is something that many of us know from our 129 00:10:08,239 –> 00:10:10,239 own experience. 130 00:10:10,559 –> 00:10:15,219 I mean, your life has been given to you by God in order that you should seek him and 131 00:10:15,820 –> 00:10:21,119 love him and serve him and enjoy him forever and forever. 132 00:10:21,119 –> 00:10:24,580 And in your heart, what you really want to do in this life, is you want to find your 133 00:10:24,580 –> 00:10:29,340 rest and your joy and your satisfaction in your communion and your fellowship and your 134 00:10:29,340 –> 00:10:32,659 life in God himself. 135 00:10:32,659 –> 00:10:35,859 But when you look at your life, do you not sometimes have this experience? 136 00:10:35,859 –> 00:10:40,200 You have the sense that it has been taken over? 137 00:10:40,200 –> 00:10:43,340 The traders, as it were, have moved in. 138 00:10:43,859 –> 00:10:50,380 Relentless demands now seem to dominate your life and seem even to take over the very place 139 00:10:50,380 –> 00:10:52,559 that belongs to God himself. 140 00:10:52,559 –> 00:11:03,039 Your own soul sometimes seems to be just filled with noise and conflict and endless argument. 141 00:11:03,039 –> 00:11:10,000 And you look at the scene, and you say, my life has become a place of relentlessly competing 142 00:11:10,000 –> 00:11:11,940 demands. 143 00:11:11,940 –> 00:11:18,080 My life seems to be increasingly driven by revenue goals and sales targets and chasing 144 00:11:18,080 –> 00:11:21,460 after deals and the latest special offer. 145 00:11:21,460 –> 00:11:29,780 The life that was meant to be lived for God somehow has been taken over. 146 00:11:29,780 –> 00:11:35,159 I wonder, have you ever felt that? 147 00:11:35,159 –> 00:11:39,140 My life has been taken over by the traders. 148 00:11:39,140 –> 00:11:47,640 Have you ever felt that doing deals has somehow encroached into and taken even the place of 149 00:11:47,640 –> 00:11:48,960 meeting with God? 150 00:11:48,960 –> 00:11:59,619 Have you ever felt that worship and love and joy have been squeezed out of your life increasingly 151 00:11:59,619 –> 00:12:05,799 and that more and more and more of your life seems to just revolve around this unending 152 00:12:06,359 –> 00:12:12,900 series of demands, the latest new deal, the latest thing to be pursued and so forth and 153 00:12:12,900 –> 00:12:15,020 so on? 154 00:12:15,020 –> 00:12:17,539 I think that’s very familiar to us. 155 00:12:17,539 –> 00:12:27,460 Now here’s the problem, when the traders set up shop in your life, it isn’t easy to 156 00:12:27,460 –> 00:12:29,780 get rid of them. 157 00:12:29,859 –> 00:12:40,140 I mean imagine a Gentile coming up to one of the traders and trying to find some space. 158 00:12:40,140 –> 00:12:44,619 Gentile comes up to one of the traders, excuse me, could I have a word with you? 159 00:12:44,619 –> 00:12:46,880 Trader says, what do you want to buy? 160 00:12:46,880 –> 00:12:50,099 Do you want an ox, do you want a sheep or do you want a pigeon? 161 00:12:50,099 –> 00:12:52,380 Actually, I don’t want any of them. 162 00:12:52,380 –> 00:12:54,080 I want a word with you. 163 00:12:54,080 –> 00:12:58,780 I’m a Gentile, I’ve come here, this is the only area that I can go to to meet with God 164 00:12:58,979 –> 00:13:03,039 and that’s my great desire and this I’ve found this place is really, really crowded. 165 00:13:03,039 –> 00:13:08,380 Now, could you be so very, very, kind as to move your booth outside. 166 00:13:08,380 –> 00:13:12,219 You could go into the street outside and could you just do that so that there’s some space 167 00:13:12,219 –> 00:13:14,719 really for those of us who want to worship. 168 00:13:14,719 –> 00:13:18,559 What chance of success do you think that guy has? 169 00:13:18,559 –> 00:13:23,659 Absolutely none whatsoever. 170 00:13:23,659 –> 00:13:28,580 And you see, here’s the reality, once the traders have moved in nobody can get them 171 00:13:29,239 –> 00:13:30,820 out. 172 00:13:30,820 –> 00:13:36,299 Ordinary people don’t have the power to do it and the temple authorities who did have 173 00:13:36,299 –> 00:13:40,260 the power didn’t have the will to do it because it was embedded now in the structure that 174 00:13:40,260 –> 00:13:44,460 this was part of the means of income and so forth and so on. 175 00:13:44,460 –> 00:13:49,979 And so the great question boils down to this, who can clear out the clutter? 176 00:13:49,979 –> 00:13:55,700 Who can restore the courts of God to a place where God is worshiped and honored and praised 177 00:13:55,719 –> 00:13:59,559 and glorified where God meets with his people? 178 00:13:59,559 –> 00:14:02,239 Who can do that? 179 00:14:02,239 –> 00:14:06,880 And so I want to make these two very simple observations from story today as Jesus comes 180 00:14:06,880 –> 00:14:07,880 to the temple. 181 00:14:07,880 –> 00:14:13,679 I want you to see what he drives out and I want you to see what he brings in. 182 00:14:13,679 –> 00:14:19,380 First what he drives out, making a whip of cords, verse 15, he drove them all out of 183 00:14:19,380 –> 00:14:25,780 the temple with the sheep and the oxen and he poured out the coins of the money changers 184 00:14:25,780 –> 00:14:31,159 and overturned their tables and he told those who sold the pigeons, take these away. 185 00:14:31,159 –> 00:14:36,460 Do not make my Father’s house a house of trade. 186 00:14:36,460 –> 00:14:38,580 And here’s something very wonderful that we’re learning. 187 00:14:38,580 –> 00:14:42,440 When Jesus Christ comes he brings a wonderful purging. 188 00:14:42,440 –> 00:14:50,419 There is a cleansing, there is a restoring that Jesus Christ brings where he comes. 189 00:14:50,419 –> 00:14:52,020 He drives out the traders. 190 00:14:52,020 –> 00:14:57,260 He does not allow them to take the place that belongs to God alone. 191 00:14:57,260 –> 00:15:02,780 Now, I want you to notice, and this is very important, that Jesus Christ does not destroy 192 00:15:02,780 –> 00:15:05,080 the traders. 193 00:15:05,080 –> 00:15:07,020 He does not even put them out of business. 194 00:15:07,020 –> 00:15:11,859 Their business is legitimate, it’s just that it’s gone into the wrong place. 195 00:15:11,880 –> 00:15:17,000 The traders have their place and Christ does not challenge the legitimacy of their work, 196 00:15:17,000 –> 00:15:22,700 but he will not allow them to put their business in the place that belongs to God. 197 00:15:22,700 –> 00:15:28,919 So notice very carefully what Jesus Christ does and does not do as he drives them out. 198 00:15:28,919 –> 00:15:35,900 First, notice that Jesus drove out the animals, but he did not release the pigeons. 199 00:15:35,900 –> 00:15:40,299 That’s very significant because he is not there to destroy their business, simply to 200 00:15:40,299 –> 00:15:42,700 put it in its place. 201 00:15:42,700 –> 00:15:48,659 Notice He told those who sold pigeons, take these things away. 202 00:15:48,659 –> 00:15:52,599 Now you see the difference, of course, when he drives out the animals, that is the oxen 203 00:15:52,599 –> 00:15:53,719 and the sheep. 204 00:15:53,719 –> 00:15:57,619 Of course, all of the traders, when the animals move, are going away after them because they 205 00:15:57,619 –> 00:15:59,900 want to recover their animals. 206 00:15:59,900 –> 00:16:04,099 They would have done that fairly quickly and probably within an hour or two, and certainly 207 00:16:04,099 –> 00:16:08,900 by the end of the day, they would have had themselves established again with their recaptured 208 00:16:09,739 –> 00:16:15,840 doing their business in the streets where they belonged outside of the temple. 209 00:16:15,859 –> 00:16:20,260 But if Jesus had released the pigeons, then there’s not a way of getting them back, unless 210 00:16:20,260 –> 00:16:25,020 of course they were homing pigeons but I don’t think that that, in fact, was the case. 211 00:16:25,020 –> 00:16:30,020 And Jesus is not here seeking to destroy the business of these traders. 212 00:16:30,020 –> 00:16:31,299 It’s a legitimate business. 213 00:16:31,299 –> 00:16:33,900 It’s just that it’s got into the wrong place. 214 00:16:33,900 –> 00:16:38,260 That’s the point here, that’s the point. 215 00:16:38,260 –> 00:16:41,039 And so he does not destroy their livelihood. 216 00:16:41,039 –> 00:16:45,940 What he does is he puts their livelihood in the place that it belongs and it can never 217 00:16:45,940 –> 00:16:47,059 be the place of God. 218 00:16:47,059 –> 00:16:50,179 Your livelihood can never take the place of God. 219 00:16:50,179 –> 00:16:52,080 Never can. 220 00:16:52,080 –> 00:16:56,679 And then notice that Christ overturned the tables of the moneychangers but he did not 221 00:16:56,679 –> 00:16:57,840 take their money. 222 00:16:57,840 –> 00:17:01,380 It was their money and Christ does not take it from them. 223 00:17:01,380 –> 00:17:06,699 He simply is moving them out of the temple so he turns up the table and of course as 224 00:17:06,739 –> 00:17:11,339 soon as that happened there would be a massive scramble with these guys trying to get their 225 00:17:11,339 –> 00:17:14,660 money off the floor, stuffing it in their pockets and then running complete with their 226 00:17:14,660 –> 00:17:15,660 tables. 227 00:17:15,660 –> 00:17:20,699 They would have set themselves up outside the temple within an hour I’m sure. 228 00:17:20,699 –> 00:17:24,459 Christ is not destroying them, he is not destroying their business. 229 00:17:24,459 –> 00:17:27,500 He is putting it in its place. 230 00:17:27,500 –> 00:17:30,459 That is what he’s doing. 231 00:17:30,459 –> 00:17:34,500 He’s saying your business cannot take the place of God. 232 00:17:35,160 –> 00:17:38,239 Now two things are striking about this. 233 00:17:38,239 –> 00:17:45,260 The first is the evident joy of the people, and it seems clear from this story that the 234 00:17:45,260 –> 00:17:50,540 people found great joy and were entirely supportive of what Jesus Christ had done. 235 00:17:50,540 –> 00:17:54,540 You can be very sure that if they had not been in favor of what he had done there would 236 00:17:54,540 –> 00:17:59,540 have been a protest at least and perhaps even a riot, but you don’t see anything like 237 00:17:59,540 –> 00:18:00,780 that at all. 238 00:18:00,780 –> 00:18:06,719 In fact, instead we are told that many, verse 23, believed in him during this time. 239 00:18:06,719 –> 00:18:11,060 And although John records that for many the belief was only a passing interest in Christ, 240 00:18:11,060 –> 00:18:14,739 at least it indicates that there was a favorable response. 241 00:18:14,739 –> 00:18:19,839 Here was someone who could do what needed to be done and no one else could do it. 242 00:18:19,839 –> 00:18:21,900 And the people evidently received this gladly. 243 00:18:21,900 –> 00:18:27,040 I suspect that this may have been among the most popular things that Jesus Christ ever 244 00:18:27,300 –> 00:18:34,079 along with, of course, the feeding of the 5,000 that came much later on. 245 00:18:34,079 –> 00:18:38,140 And the second thing that is very striking to me about this story is how remarkable it 246 00:18:38,140 –> 00:18:46,939 is that one man, single-handed, could drive out all of these traders. 247 00:18:46,939 –> 00:18:48,439 I mean, think of it. 248 00:18:48,439 –> 00:18:52,239 The court is full of these traders. 249 00:18:52,239 –> 00:18:54,239 Booths everywhere. 250 00:18:54,239 –> 00:18:56,800 Money changers tables everywhere. 251 00:18:56,839 –> 00:18:59,619 Large court area. 252 00:18:59,619 –> 00:19:06,959 And one man drives them out, single-handed. 253 00:19:06,959 –> 00:19:09,199 How did he do this? 254 00:19:09,199 –> 00:19:13,599 Well, to be sure, it was not the weapon. 255 00:19:13,599 –> 00:19:15,400 Important note here. 256 00:19:15,400 –> 00:19:20,599 It says in verse 15 that he made a whip of cords. 257 00:19:21,500 –> 00:19:27,599 A certain commentator, Leon Morris, who says literally this is a whip of rushes, in other 258 00:19:27,599 –> 00:19:31,579 words of leaves or foliage. 259 00:19:31,579 –> 00:19:37,239 The rushes would have been strewn on the floor and perhaps woven together as a kind of matting 260 00:19:37,239 –> 00:19:39,020 on the ground in the temple. 261 00:19:39,020 –> 00:19:41,459 It was very common. 262 00:19:41,459 –> 00:19:46,900 And what Jesus did was he picked up some rushes from what was lying on the floor of the temple 263 00:19:46,900 –> 00:19:53,520 and twisted them together to make an implement that he was able to wave at the animals. 264 00:19:53,520 –> 00:19:57,599 You have to have something to drive animals. 265 00:19:57,599 –> 00:20:04,079 And so he has this implement that is made of these rushes, a whip of cords. 266 00:20:04,079 –> 00:20:05,079 That’s what it is. 267 00:20:05,079 –> 00:20:07,479 Picture that in your mind. 268 00:20:07,479 –> 00:20:09,319 And he waves this at the animals. 269 00:20:09,319 –> 00:20:11,599 The animals begin to scarper. 270 00:20:12,160 –> 00:20:16,880 The traders themselves go running after their animals outside of the temple in order to 271 00:20:16,900 –> 00:20:19,300 recover the animals that are theirs. 272 00:20:19,300 –> 00:20:20,780 That’s the picture to have in your mind. 273 00:20:20,780 –> 00:20:24,119 Now that’s important for this reason. 274 00:20:24,119 –> 00:20:31,599 Anyone who wants to try and make the case for violence based on this passage is going 275 00:20:31,599 –> 00:20:38,239 to have a pretty tough job because they will have to reckon with the fact that in this 276 00:20:38,239 –> 00:20:47,300 story the Lord Jesus Christ was armed with a fist full of vegetation. 277 00:20:47,300 –> 00:20:48,800 Get that picture in your mind. 278 00:20:48,800 –> 00:20:51,680 It will help you in understanding what was going on here. 279 00:20:51,680 –> 00:20:55,699 He drives out the animals, the folks go running afterwards. 280 00:20:55,699 –> 00:20:58,199 That’s what he did. 281 00:20:58,199 –> 00:21:00,439 So it wasn’t the weapon. 282 00:21:00,439 –> 00:21:03,760 Some rushes twisted together, it wasn’t the weapon that did it. 283 00:21:03,760 –> 00:21:06,339 Second, it certainly wasn’t an army. 284 00:21:06,339 –> 00:21:07,819 The disciples were there. 285 00:21:07,819 –> 00:21:13,099 We know it from Verse 17, but Jesus acted entirely alone here, the disciples had no 286 00:21:13,099 –> 00:21:19,319 active involvement, they were purely observers of what went on. 287 00:21:19,319 –> 00:21:25,319 So Leon Morris is surely right when he says, it is clear that it was not so much the physical 288 00:21:25,319 –> 00:21:32,239 force as the moral power that Jesus employed that emptied the court. 289 00:21:32,239 –> 00:21:34,739 Let me put it to you this way. 290 00:21:34,739 –> 00:21:44,920 Jesus Christ cleansed the temple by the sheer force of His personal presence, the sheer 291 00:21:44,920 –> 00:21:50,219 force of His personal presence. 292 00:21:50,219 –> 00:21:56,020 This is one of the occasions where you’re given just a little glimpse in the Gospels 293 00:21:56,020 –> 00:22:01,579 of the glory of Jesus Christ that will be unveiled in full on the last day, when we’re 294 00:22:01,619 –> 00:22:08,500 told that He will overthrow His enemies when He comes in power and glory, He will overthrow 295 00:22:08,500 –> 00:22:12,219 them by the breath of His mouth. 296 00:22:12,219 –> 00:22:20,959 The sheer force of His presence will bring about His great purpose when His full glory 297 00:22:20,959 –> 00:22:25,579 is revealed and there are several stories in the Gospel where you get just a little 298 00:22:25,579 –> 00:22:28,280 glimpse of that. 299 00:22:28,579 –> 00:22:33,599 For example, one is in Luke’s Gospel, in chapter 4 where the townspeople of Nazareth 300 00:22:33,599 –> 00:22:40,359 were wanting to push Jesus Christ off a cliff, and Luke simply records that he walked through 301 00:22:40,359 –> 00:22:43,060 them and no one laid a hand on Him. 302 00:22:43,060 –> 00:22:44,780 Now how did that happen? 303 00:22:44,780 –> 00:22:50,520 There must have been some outbreaking of the sheer power and glory of His personal presence 304 00:22:50,520 –> 00:22:55,880 that caused them to step back and He walked right through them, some little anticipation 305 00:22:55,880 –> 00:22:56,880 of His glory. 306 00:22:56,880 –> 00:22:58,839 And there’s something like it here. 307 00:22:58,839 –> 00:23:05,780 The sheer power of His presence, some unveiling of His glory caused the whole lot to run. 308 00:23:05,780 –> 00:23:10,900 And you remember that Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament, speaks prophetically 309 00:23:10,900 –> 00:23:16,040 about the day when the full glory of Jesus will be unveiled, and it says He’ll suddenly 310 00:23:16,040 –> 00:23:23,079 come to His Temple and who can stand when He appears, the sheer power of His personal 311 00:23:23,079 –> 00:23:24,079 presence. 312 00:23:24,079 –> 00:23:26,079 He’s like a refiner’s fire. 313 00:23:26,380 –> 00:23:34,540 He cleanses, and there’s a little anticipation of that glory that one day will be revealed 314 00:23:34,540 –> 00:23:38,939 in full, right here in this story. 315 00:23:40,680 –> 00:23:42,800 Now here’s the application to us. 316 00:23:42,800 –> 00:23:52,140 Think what the powerful presence of such a Savior can mean and accomplish in your life. 317 00:23:52,140 –> 00:23:56,020 The sheer power of His personal presence. 318 00:23:57,020 –> 00:24:01,520 And at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian is that this Jesus Christ is 319 00:24:01,520 –> 00:24:07,560 personally present in you, by His Holy Spirit. 320 00:24:07,560 –> 00:24:11,020 So here you are saying, how do I deal with the clutter of my life? 321 00:24:11,020 –> 00:24:15,760 And the Son of God is not only for you, He is with you. 322 00:24:15,760 –> 00:24:23,439 Listen, make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, and He has the power to put all of the 323 00:24:23,439 –> 00:24:30,199 traders in their place, what He drives out, what no one else could do, and it brought 324 00:24:30,199 –> 00:24:34,459 great joy and it brought great freedom, and it brought the restoration of the worship 325 00:24:34,459 –> 00:24:39,560 of God for people from all nations. 326 00:24:39,560 –> 00:24:49,160 Second, what Jesus Christ brings in, what He drives out and what He brings in. 327 00:24:49,160 –> 00:24:55,079 And what He brings in is, in verse 17, the disciples remembered that it was written, 328 00:24:55,079 –> 00:25:00,920 zeal for your house will consume me. 329 00:25:00,920 –> 00:25:07,979 Now, the disciples, they’re in the court there, they’re watching what Jesus did this manifestation 330 00:25:07,979 –> 00:25:10,920 of His glory, and the cleansing of the temple. 331 00:25:10,920 –> 00:25:17,380 And the verse from the Bible that immediately popped into their minds was from Psalm 69 332 00:25:17,579 –> 00:25:18,479 9. 333 00:25:18,660 –> 00:25:23,760 Ah, yeah, it says when the Messiah comes, He’s going to have this consuming passion, 334 00:25:23,760 –> 00:25:26,119 this great zeal for the house of God. 335 00:25:26,119 –> 00:25:31,660 We’re seeing it right here in what Jesus is doing here in the temple today. 336 00:25:31,660 –> 00:25:39,760 Christ will be relentless in His passion to make God’s house everything that the Father 337 00:25:39,760 –> 00:25:42,040 intended it to be. 338 00:25:42,959 –> 00:25:47,680 Now that truth speaks very wonderfully to us, God’s house. 339 00:25:47,680 –> 00:25:54,420 Well, in the New Testament, the church, the local church, a gathering of congregations, 340 00:25:54,420 –> 00:26:00,939 what we are together, the body of Christ, is referred to as God’s household. 341 00:26:00,939 –> 00:26:06,079 Peter says of believers in fellowship together that in the body of the church, we are being 342 00:26:06,079 –> 00:26:10,560 built together into a spiritual house. 343 00:26:10,579 –> 00:26:16,699 In fact, Paul says to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 3, 17, he says God’s temple is holy and you 344 00:26:16,699 –> 00:26:18,619 plural are that temple. 345 00:26:18,619 –> 00:26:23,079 The body of Christ is the temple of God. 346 00:26:23,079 –> 00:26:31,339 And so Christ is relentless in his passion to make God’s house. 347 00:26:31,339 –> 00:26:36,920 For us, we may apply that to the local body of believers, the church, the local church, 348 00:26:36,920 –> 00:26:37,920 the congregation. 349 00:26:37,920 –> 00:26:45,160 Christ is relentless in His passion to make us all that God intends us to be. 350 00:26:45,160 –> 00:26:52,959 And one of the marks of becoming like Jesus is that we would share His passion. 351 00:26:52,959 –> 00:26:58,199 His passion, that is, for God’s house and that, therefore, each of us would play our 352 00:26:58,199 –> 00:27:04,859 part in seeing that God’s house becomes everything that God intended it to be which raises the 353 00:27:04,900 –> 00:27:09,739 question, what does God intend His house to be? 354 00:27:09,739 –> 00:27:14,239 And that’s where going back to the old Temple really helps us because it’s a kind of visual 355 00:27:14,239 –> 00:27:18,619 and it makes it very clear, there are many answers to the question what does God intend 356 00:27:18,619 –> 00:27:23,040 His house to be, let me give you just three that would be the top three. 357 00:27:23,040 –> 00:27:28,880 Number one, that it should be a place of prayer for all people. 358 00:27:29,020 –> 00:27:31,939 Isaiah Chapter 56 and verse 7. 359 00:27:31,939 –> 00:27:38,060 My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 360 00:27:39,339 –> 00:27:44,339 That is, it is the great purpose of God that people should come from every background, 361 00:27:44,339 –> 00:27:48,719 north, south, east, and west, every corner of the planet, that people should come and 362 00:27:48,719 –> 00:27:54,180 seek Him and Isaiah speaks of a day when this will happen, a day where people from every 363 00:27:54,260 –> 00:27:59,900 tribe, every nation, every language group on the planet will worship Him and the passion 364 00:27:59,900 –> 00:28:05,619 of Jesus Christ is that God’s house would reflect this in real degree, that we would 365 00:28:05,619 –> 00:28:11,859 be a place where people from all nations would come and seek and find and worship and pray 366 00:28:11,859 –> 00:28:15,339 to the living God. 367 00:28:15,339 –> 00:28:22,780 Second, God intends His house to be a place where atonement is central. 368 00:28:22,819 –> 00:28:27,060 Think about the architecture of the temple, right, what was right in the middle? 369 00:28:27,060 –> 00:28:29,579 The most holy place. 370 00:28:29,579 –> 00:28:41,060 It was a room cubic in shape and in that room was housed the ark of the covenant, a box 371 00:28:41,060 –> 00:28:46,199 containing the two tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments, with a lid on which the word 372 00:28:47,199 –> 00:28:55,280 two angelic figures, the cherubim, and between them on the lid it was called the Mercy Seat, 373 00:28:55,280 –> 00:28:57,979 the lit of the Ark of the Covenant. 374 00:28:57,979 –> 00:29:05,640 And every year the high priest would go into that cubic room, once a year, with the blood 375 00:29:05,640 –> 00:29:12,319 of a sacrificed animal and he sprinkled the blood on the Mercy Seat, the lit of the Ark 376 00:29:12,319 –> 00:29:16,079 of the Covenant in that most holy place. 377 00:29:16,160 –> 00:29:19,420 And you can read about it in Leviticus 16. 378 00:29:19,420 –> 00:29:28,119 It speaks there about, in this way, atonement is made for the sins of the people. 379 00:29:28,119 –> 00:29:35,819 In other words, God intended that his house should be a place where people would get right 380 00:29:35,819 –> 00:29:40,880 with him, where people would come back into relationship with him through forgiveness 381 00:29:40,880 –> 00:29:45,239 that comes from this great atonement that fellowship with God should be restored, that 382 00:29:45,819 –> 00:29:54,699 with God should be found, a place of prayer for people of every background, a place where 383 00:29:54,699 –> 00:30:02,880 atonement the means by which we get right with God is right at the very center. 384 00:30:02,880 –> 00:30:09,359 And third, it is the intent of God that his house should be a place where his presence 385 00:30:09,359 –> 00:30:11,400 is known. 386 00:30:11,400 –> 00:30:17,060 He said, right from the beginning, speaking about the most holy place, he said, I will 387 00:30:17,060 –> 00:30:18,560 meet you there. 388 00:30:18,560 –> 00:30:21,640 Exodus 25 and verse 22. 389 00:30:21,640 –> 00:30:27,400 He would meet with the high priest acting on behalf of the people. 390 00:30:27,400 –> 00:30:30,439 So here’s the great purpose of God. 391 00:30:30,439 –> 00:30:34,640 That his house should be a place of prayer for people of all nations. 392 00:30:34,640 –> 00:30:39,000 That it should be a place where atonement is central and it should be a place where 393 00:30:39,000 –> 00:30:40,579 God’s presence is known. 394 00:30:40,579 –> 00:30:46,300 And Jesus’ passion, Jesus’ zeal, is that God’s house should be everything God intended 395 00:30:46,300 –> 00:30:49,880 it to be. 396 00:30:49,880 –> 00:30:57,359 Now if we are like Jesus, it follows that this same zeal, this same consuming passion 397 00:30:57,359 –> 00:31:02,979 for God’s house, will be in us. 398 00:31:02,979 –> 00:31:07,479 And meditating on this passage of scripture is actually a number of months ago now, I 399 00:31:07,560 –> 00:31:18,380 wrote in my journal, just this sentence, zeal for blank will consume me. 400 00:31:18,380 –> 00:31:21,280 Fill in the blank. 401 00:31:21,280 –> 00:31:24,400 I want to be like Jesus. 402 00:31:24,400 –> 00:31:27,760 Of Jesus it is said, zeal for God’s house consumes him. 403 00:31:27,760 –> 00:31:30,180 What is the zeal that consumes me? 404 00:31:30,800 –> 00:31:35,459 Lord, let the controlling passion, the consuming zeal, 405 00:31:35,459 –> 00:31:40,020 the first love of my life be zeal for you 406 00:31:40,020 –> 00:31:43,459 and for your house. 407 00:31:43,459 –> 00:31:46,180 Do you have the passion that Christ brings? 408 00:31:47,939 –> 00:31:52,800 Ask yourself, with all the things for which I have zeal, 409 00:31:53,760 –> 00:31:57,900 is it true that I have zeal for God and for his house? 410 00:31:58,859 –> 00:32:01,680 Now think about everything that God intended 411 00:32:01,680 –> 00:32:03,339 for the temple to be. 412 00:32:03,339 –> 00:32:05,280 Place of prayer for all nations, 413 00:32:05,280 –> 00:32:06,739 place where atonement is central, 414 00:32:06,739 –> 00:32:08,739 place where God’s presence is known. 415 00:32:08,739 –> 00:32:10,979 All of these things happened at he beginning 416 00:32:10,979 –> 00:32:13,400 when Solomon’s temple was dedicated. 417 00:32:14,540 –> 00:32:18,239 You can read about it in first Kings, chapter eight. 418 00:32:19,180 –> 00:32:21,780 There is the account there of Solomon’s prayer 419 00:32:21,780 –> 00:32:24,239 on behalf of God’s people, intercession. 420 00:32:24,239 –> 00:32:26,859 It’s wonderful that God’s blessing may be known 421 00:32:27,699 –> 00:32:29,699 and that his name may be honored. 422 00:32:31,319 –> 00:32:33,040 Atonement was made. 423 00:32:34,060 –> 00:32:38,020 The high priest went into the most holy place 424 00:32:38,020 –> 00:32:42,420 and sprinkled the blood of the sacrificed animal. 425 00:32:43,459 –> 00:32:47,939 This was so that fellowship between sinners and God 426 00:32:47,939 –> 00:32:50,619 could be made possible 427 00:32:50,619 –> 00:32:53,739 and God’s presence was wonderfully known. 428 00:32:53,739 –> 00:32:54,939 You can read about it, 429 00:32:54,979 –> 00:32:59,880 how the cloud of the glory of God’s presence came down 430 00:33:00,819 –> 00:33:03,540 and the intensity of God’s presence in that temple 431 00:33:03,540 –> 00:33:05,339 in the time of Solomon so great 432 00:33:05,339 –> 00:33:07,020 that the priests actually had to get out 433 00:33:07,020 –> 00:33:10,000 the cloud of the glory of God’s presence, 434 00:33:10,000 –> 00:33:11,900 filled the whole place. 435 00:33:14,060 –> 00:33:16,540 But if you come to the temple in the time of Jesus, 436 00:33:16,540 –> 00:33:18,839 none of these things are happening. 437 00:33:18,839 –> 00:33:20,540 All of them happening in the time of Solomon, 438 00:33:20,540 –> 00:33:22,719 none of them happening in the time of Jesus. 439 00:33:22,719 –> 00:33:23,560 Why? 440 00:33:24,439 –> 00:33:26,060 Well, it’s no longer a place of prayer 441 00:33:26,060 –> 00:33:28,260 for people of all nations because the outer court’s 442 00:33:28,260 –> 00:33:29,859 been taken over by the traders. 443 00:33:31,979 –> 00:33:35,619 And it is no longer a place where atonement can be made 444 00:33:35,619 –> 00:33:39,239 for this reason that when the first temple was destroyed, 445 00:33:40,380 –> 00:33:44,719 the Ark of the Covenant was lost and has never been found. 446 00:33:46,380 –> 00:33:48,699 Therefore, the mercy seat, 447 00:33:48,699 –> 00:33:51,140 the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, 448 00:33:51,140 –> 00:33:54,300 no longer there, the holy of holies in the second temple, 449 00:33:54,300 –> 00:33:56,119 just an empty room. 450 00:33:56,119 –> 00:33:59,079 No place for the sprinkling of the blood. 451 00:33:59,079 –> 00:34:00,260 How are you gonna make atonement? 452 00:34:00,260 –> 00:34:02,000 All you can say is, God, I’m sorry. 453 00:34:04,079 –> 00:34:06,239 So, no longer a place of prayer for all people. 454 00:34:06,239 –> 00:34:09,139 No longer a place where atonement is being made. 455 00:34:10,719 –> 00:34:13,000 And it was centuries since the cloud 456 00:34:13,000 –> 00:34:15,060 of God’s glorious presence had come down. 457 00:34:17,239 –> 00:34:19,360 And so, Jesus comes with this zeal, 458 00:34:19,360 –> 00:34:21,620 this consuming passion that God’s house, 459 00:34:21,620 –> 00:34:23,580 the Father’s house, should be everything 460 00:34:23,580 –> 00:34:27,379 that he ever intended it to be, and it is not. 461 00:34:29,260 –> 00:34:30,100 And you know what? 462 00:34:30,100 –> 00:34:32,580 To make it everything that God intends it to be 463 00:34:32,580 –> 00:34:37,199 is going to take out more than driving out the traders. 464 00:34:38,620 –> 00:34:40,280 You know, when Jesus drove them out that day, 465 00:34:40,280 –> 00:34:41,419 how long do you think it was 466 00:34:41,419 –> 00:34:43,780 before they got back in and sat up again? 467 00:34:45,659 –> 00:34:47,959 I don’t think very long at all. 468 00:34:48,020 –> 00:34:49,520 Maybe the next day, maybe the next week, 469 00:34:49,520 –> 00:34:51,919 as soon as he was gone, they’d be back. 470 00:34:51,919 –> 00:34:54,020 And you know the evidence of that? 471 00:34:54,020 –> 00:34:56,239 If you look in Matthew and Mark’s gospel, 472 00:34:56,239 –> 00:34:58,120 you will see that three years later, 473 00:34:58,120 –> 00:34:59,840 Jesus comes back to the temple again. 474 00:34:59,840 –> 00:35:02,719 And guess what’s happening in the outer courts? 475 00:35:02,719 –> 00:35:04,500 It’s filled with the same traders, they’re back. 476 00:35:04,500 –> 00:35:06,879 He has to clear them out a second time. 477 00:35:06,879 –> 00:35:09,040 Theologians debate as to whether this 478 00:35:09,040 –> 00:35:10,520 was actually one incident or two. 479 00:35:10,520 –> 00:35:12,540 It’s very clear to my mind it’s two incidents. 480 00:35:12,540 –> 00:35:13,780 They came back. 481 00:35:14,580 –> 00:35:18,419 So what we’re learning here is that 482 00:35:18,419 –> 00:35:20,419 for God’s house to become everything 483 00:35:20,419 –> 00:35:22,600 that he intended it to be, 484 00:35:22,600 –> 00:35:26,419 was going to take more than the temple being reformed. 485 00:35:26,419 –> 00:35:29,139 It was going to take the temple being replaced. 486 00:35:29,860 –> 00:35:33,100 And that is, of course, the significance 487 00:35:33,100 –> 00:35:34,699 of the words that Jesus speaks 488 00:35:34,699 –> 00:35:37,479 about the temple of his own body. 489 00:35:38,860 –> 00:35:40,179 He says in the verses that follow, 490 00:35:40,300 –> 00:35:41,280 I’m gonna destroy this temple 491 00:35:41,280 –> 00:35:44,919 and I will raise it up in three days. 492 00:35:44,919 –> 00:35:47,040 They think he’s talking about the building 493 00:35:47,040 –> 00:35:48,659 and they can’t imagine how that could 494 00:35:48,659 –> 00:35:51,419 possibly happen because it took 46 years 495 00:35:51,419 –> 00:35:53,320 to put it up in the first place. 496 00:35:55,300 –> 00:35:57,139 But John tells us that Jesus was 497 00:35:57,139 –> 00:35:58,959 speaking about the temple of his body 498 00:35:58,959 –> 00:36:03,300 which would be destroyed in his crucifixion 499 00:36:03,300 –> 00:36:06,639 and raised in new life 500 00:36:06,639 –> 00:36:09,120 in his resurrection. 501 00:36:10,120 –> 00:36:12,159 And so here is what Jesus is saying. 502 00:36:12,159 –> 00:36:15,459 That Jesus Christ himself 503 00:36:15,459 –> 00:36:18,020 becomes the one through whom 504 00:36:18,020 –> 00:36:21,820 people of all nations may seek and find God. 505 00:36:22,719 –> 00:36:25,399 Jesus Christ himself becomes the one 506 00:36:25,399 –> 00:36:28,199 through whom atonement is made 507 00:36:28,199 –> 00:36:30,260 as he sheds his blood on the cross 508 00:36:30,260 –> 00:36:31,840 so that there can be forgiveness 509 00:36:31,840 –> 00:36:34,560 and peace and reconciliation with God. 510 00:36:34,560 –> 00:36:36,239 It happens in and through him 511 00:36:36,239 –> 00:36:38,479 and because all the fullness of God 512 00:36:38,600 –> 00:36:39,760 lives in him. 513 00:36:39,760 –> 00:36:42,379 God comes to us in him 514 00:36:42,379 –> 00:36:44,699 and we come to know the presence of God 515 00:36:44,699 –> 00:36:47,520 through his spirit that is given to 516 00:36:47,520 –> 00:36:52,520 all who turn to him in faith and in repentance. 517 00:36:52,939 –> 00:36:55,679 Christ is the place 518 00:36:55,679 –> 00:36:57,979 where people from every background 519 00:36:57,979 –> 00:37:01,120 can come to meet God, to seek God, 520 00:37:01,120 –> 00:37:02,820 to find Peace with God through 521 00:37:02,820 –> 00:37:05,040 the atonement that was through his shed blood 522 00:37:05,040 –> 00:37:06,760 and to know the presence of God 523 00:37:06,760 –> 00:37:08,939 by the gift of his Spirit. 524 00:37:08,939 –> 00:37:11,899 You don’t need to go to someplace 525 00:37:11,899 –> 00:37:15,479 thousands of miles away in order to meet with God. 526 00:37:15,479 –> 00:37:18,080 You meet with God by coming in repentance 527 00:37:18,080 –> 00:37:22,040 and faith to Jesus Christ. 528 00:37:22,040 –> 00:37:23,040 So there it is, 529 00:37:24,040 –> 00:37:26,719 what Christ drives out 530 00:37:26,719 –> 00:37:28,639 and what Christ brings in. 531 00:37:29,860 –> 00:37:32,280 We can apply these things to our own lives today 532 00:37:32,280 –> 00:37:36,020 by asking, now why don’t you identify 533 00:37:36,020 –> 00:37:41,020 one area in which a trader is taking over, 534 00:37:41,100 –> 00:37:43,139 as it were, the place that belongs to God. 535 00:37:43,139 –> 00:37:45,060 What are the traders in your life? 536 00:37:46,179 –> 00:37:49,000 What is one thing that most threatens to occupy 537 00:37:49,000 –> 00:37:51,620 the place that belongs to God alone? 538 00:37:51,620 –> 00:37:54,979 Ask the Lord today to put the traders in their place for you 539 00:37:55,860 –> 00:37:58,620 and to drive them out into the street where they belong. 540 00:37:59,719 –> 00:38:02,360 And ask Christ to fill you with his zeal. 541 00:38:03,219 –> 00:38:06,260 You say, I would like to have a greater zeal 542 00:38:06,260 –> 00:38:09,979 for God and for his house but I can’t just work that up. 543 00:38:09,979 –> 00:38:11,100 How do I get that? 544 00:38:11,100 –> 00:38:13,979 Christ has that zeal, let Christ be the one 545 00:38:13,979 –> 00:38:17,100 who fans into flame in your life 546 00:38:17,100 –> 00:38:18,820 the zeal that he himself has. 547 00:38:18,820 –> 00:38:21,260 Ask him to do this today. 548 00:38:21,260 –> 00:38:23,340 You may have been discouraged, you may have been hurt, 549 00:38:23,340 –> 00:38:25,659 you may have barriers that hold you back, 550 00:38:25,659 –> 00:38:28,979 but zeal for God’s house that it should become 551 00:38:28,979 –> 00:38:31,280 all that God intends it to be consumes him 552 00:38:31,919 –> 00:38:32,659 and you wanna be like him 553 00:38:32,659 –> 00:38:35,239 and so you want that to be true of you as well. 554 00:38:36,639 –> 00:38:39,120 So then renew your own commitment, not only to the Lord 555 00:38:39,120 –> 00:38:41,479 but to his house, to the body of Christ, 556 00:38:41,479 –> 00:38:42,320 to the church. 557 00:38:42,320 –> 00:38:45,260 Lord fill me with zeal for your house. 558 00:38:45,260 –> 00:38:48,360 Help me to play my part in this church 559 00:38:48,360 –> 00:38:51,219 being a place of prayer for people of all nations, 560 00:38:51,219 –> 00:38:53,399 welcoming people from every background, 561 00:38:53,399 –> 00:38:56,239 a place where the atonement is always central 562 00:38:56,239 –> 00:38:59,020 to everything that we do and a place where 563 00:38:59,020 –> 00:39:02,699 through Jesus Christ, we meet with him 564 00:39:02,699 –> 00:39:06,600 and serve one another in the power of his spirit, 565 00:39:06,600 –> 00:39:08,939 helping one another to draw near to him 566 00:39:08,939 –> 00:39:12,419 for his praise, his glory and his honor. 567 00:39:12,419 –> 00:39:13,939 Let’s pray together. 568 00:39:13,939 –> 00:39:18,939 Father, drive out by the powerful presence 569 00:39:22,659 –> 00:39:26,679 of your son in our lives all that occupies 570 00:39:26,679 –> 00:39:28,800 the place that should be yours alone. 571 00:39:29,139 –> 00:39:33,899 Help us to identify the intrusive traders 572 00:39:33,899 –> 00:39:37,080 for what they are and by the power 573 00:39:37,080 –> 00:39:38,879 of Christ to put them in their place 574 00:39:40,739 –> 00:39:43,439 and grant that we may become like the Lord Jesus 575 00:39:43,439 –> 00:39:46,399 in this way particularly that zeal for your name 576 00:39:46,399 –> 00:39:50,100 and for your house will consume us also 577 00:39:50,100 –> 00:39:53,159 and may be the leading passion of our lives 578 00:39:53,159 –> 00:39:55,280 as we seek to live together for your glory. 579 00:39:55,300 –> 00:39:59,340 So make this church all that you intend 580 00:39:59,340 –> 00:40:03,219 your people to be for the sake of Christ 581 00:40:03,219 –> 00:40:06,040 in whose name we pray, amen.