Zeal for Our Father's House

The title for the message today is, Deal for our Father's House. And, brethren, the question is, do you and I have zeal for the house of our God? We'd like to begin this afternoon by looking at two similar events that are sort of bookend events to the ministry of Jesus Christ and the very similar events that took place. And through looking at those, it will help to set the tone for what it is that we will talk about today. So let's begin by turning to John 2. John 2, this event takes place very shortly after Jesus Christ performed his first, at least public, miracle by turning the water into wine.

You'll recall it, that wedding feast at Cana of Galilee. Shortly after that, John 2, we'll pick up the account in verse 13. John 2, verse 13. It says, Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and he found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.

And it says, When he had made a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and he poured out the changers' money, and overturned the tables. He said to those who sold doves, Take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of merchandise. Then his disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house has eaten me up. And that last verse is a quote from Psalm 69. So Brethren, what exactly is happening here? Why was Jesus Christ consumed with zeal over his father's house concerning the events that were taking place at the temple?

Well, I think in order to understand more completely exactly what was going on, we need to understand the setting behind the actions that were taking place at the temple. Again, verse 13 said that a Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. The Passover was one of three pilgrimage feasts. You had the Passover season, which included the days of the 11 bread. You had Pentecost, and you had the Feast of Tabernacles, in which the Jews would come up to Jerusalem to assemble, to come to the temple, and to observe those Holy Day feasts. So they very much are known as pilgrimage feast days. And so Jesus Christ went up to Jerusalem, as his custom was, along with thousands of other pilgrims that came in from hundreds or even a thousand miles away, from the region in which they were dispersed, in order to come up before God and observe those Spring Holy Days.

The Jewish historian Josephus estimates that at the time of Christ, the Jewish population in Jerusalem would swell to 2.5 to 3 million people during the Passover. So you had this massive flux of people coming in to worship before God in that way. What you could expect from them, as they did come into Jerusalem, was that then the temple itself would be the central part of their focus.

So again, in verse 14 of John, chapter 2, Jesus found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers doing business. What we have to understand is that at the time of Jesus Christ, in many ways the priesthood had become corrupted.

In fact, the position of the high priest, rather than being fulfilled by a descendant of the line of Aaron, as the Scripture dictated, it actually had become a position that was for sale. The high priest's office was in fact a political appointment. Herod and his Roman backers would usually give that to the highest bidder, someone who had something to offer for that position. And again, it was a corrupted system. To be the high priest over the temple was big business because of the revenue that could be generated through taking advantage of the masses of people that actually came into Jerusalem during these seasons to worship God.

In fact, the high priest himself, according to historical sources, was a very wealthy man. There's been excavations around Jerusalem that have unearthed complexes that they believed were the houses of the high priest, and they had been able to determine that through a number of the articles and the implements that they found in the houses, but they were very extravagant places.

The high priest, in that sense, was running a business for profit in the temple. So what we had was those coming up to worship before God, and you had the money changers in the temple as well. They were there to facilitate what was the temple tax, which was a half-shekel that was offered on an annual basis. That actually has the biblical foundation of Exodus 30, verse 13, where it says, Everyone who is numbered shall give a half-shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary, a half-shekel as a contribution to the Lord.

So the money changers were set up in the temple, and they were able to help facilitate the people coming in to pay the temple tax. Because what you had is, as these pilgrims came in from the dispersed region, many times they didn't have the currency under which the temple in Jerusalem operated. So they would have to see the money changer. They would have to exchange their currency for the local currency to pay the temple tax.

And the same is true, for example, when we go to Nigeria. We travel over with dollars, but when we get there, we have to make the exchange into Naira. You have to see a money changer, and they charge a small commission on that exchange.

Well, basically what was happening here was that the money changers were taking advantage of the people for big profit. Instead of charging the going rate for the exchange, the exchange rate was highly increased. Again, it was for profit, and it enriched the priesthood as well as the high priest. The same corrupt business model was actually being practiced as well by the selling of the animals. There were the people coming in, once again, to worship God to offer sacrifices that were animals for sale. Again, it was at a very highly increased and inflated rate.

Historical sources, again, indicate the fact, and Josephus specifically talks about the fact that this was an elaborate business system that was set up. Again, that took advantage of the people. So maybe you came in with a sacrifice to be offered. Perhaps you wanted to bring, and it was to be a lamb without spot or blemish. What could occur is that you would bring it, you would present it before the priest at the temple, and they may evaluate that and say, you know, this animal is unfit to be sacrificed, but we have a temple-approved animal over here that we could sell you, again, at a much marked up rate. To me, it kind of reminds me of if you go to a concert or you go to some venue and it says, no outside food or drink, but they're selling concessions inside. You know, when you walk in the door, you're going to pay much more than what you would have paid on the outside. And so that was the type of business model that was set up at the temple. And so what Jesus Christ witnessed when he came to the temple was an corrupt and impressive system that was taking advantage of the people that came to worship God. And it was the defilement of the house of God. That's why in verse 15 through 17, Jesus was so consumed with zeal and passion for the sanctity of his father's house that he took action and he cleansed the house of God. And we find a similar event that took place at the end of Jesus' ministry as well. Let's turn there just briefly. Matthew 21. I think, again, it's important to understand that these were sort of bookends to Jesus' ministry. And I don't think it's a random occurrence that he would begin his ministry very early on by the cleansing of the temple. And very to the near of his end of his ministry, he cleansed the temple again before his crucifixion. I think it's an important lesson for us to consider. In Matthew 21, the context here is the triumphal entry. Again, it's shortly before the Passover, and we recall Jesus Christ comes into Jerusalem, riding on the back of a donkey's colt. And the people are acknowledging him as king, and they're crying out, Hosanna in the highest. Let's pick it up. Matthew 21 and verse 10. And it says, And he came into Jerusalem, and all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? So the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. Then Jesus went into the temple of God, drove out all of those who bought and sold in the temple, overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And he said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

So once again, Jesus Christ with zeal for his father's house cleansed the temple.

That's important, brethren. When we read through the New Testament, and we see the Greek word that's been translated temple, we need to understand what's being conveyed, because there's actually two words translated temple in the New Testament. One word is Huron, and it's spelled H-I-E-R-O-N, Huron. And Huron includes the entire precincts of the temple complex.

In Jesus' day, the Huron would have been the sanctuary of the temple, as well as the outer courts, which you had the courts of the Gentiles, the courts of the women, the courts of the Israelite males. So Huron includes all of that in its description. That's where the money changers and the cellars of the animals were doing business. They were out in the outer court areas of the temple complex selling and doing those exchanges. The second Greek word translated temple is Naos, and it's spelled N-A-O-S, Naos. And it actually represents the sanctuary itself, consisting of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. And a little later in the message, we'll actually look at an example of Naos. Now, in verse 13 here, Matthew 21, Jesus said, God's house shall be called a house of prayer. That was its purpose. The temple complex was the central fixture to the religious system and worship of the Jews. Historically, in the tabernacle and later the first temple, the presence of the Almighty God, dwelled in the Holy of Holies behind the temple veil. So when Israel and Judah looked to the temple, they knew God's presence was with them. He sat above the mercy seat between the carobim, which were copies of his true throne in heaven. The temple was the place where sacrifices were offered for sin. It's a place where repentance was sought. It's a place where atonement was desired. The temple system facilitated a communion between God and his people, and the holiness and excellence of God was recognized in the structure and in the layout of the tabernacle in the temple. The way in which it was built and the process in which the services took place, the people knew this was a holy God, and you didn't just approach unless you met the certain standard. Even in that case, nobody went into the Holy Holies except for the high priest once a year on the day of atonement. But again, when they looked to the temple, to the house of God, they knew that the God of their fathers, the Almighty God, was in their midst, and that temple was to be considered a very high regard.

Now, the Bible contains accounts of those who had real zeal for the house of God, historically. There were those who understood what it meant to have God dwelling in their midst. In the Old Testament, we find a number of accounts of individuals who stood up for God's house, those who actually took action to protect the dignity of the house of God, those who actually went to great lengths, in certain times, to cleanse the house in many ways, to rebuild it, because it had fallen into disrepair. Scripture, on the other hand, also contains many accounts of those who had disregard for the house of God, those who defiled it, those who polluted the house of God. And so I would say we could find what we could almost call mood swings in relation to the people's perception and appreciation for the house of God. There were times of zeal and there were times of disregard. We can find one such example of zeal and disregard, which took place back in the book of 2 Chronicles. Let's go there. 2 Chronicles chapter 24.

We're going to engage in a little bit of lengthy Bible reading today, but I think these passages are important. 2 Chronicles chapter 24.

The time frame here is that following the split between Israel and Judah, and it's a time when the temple of God had fallen into disrepair. It had been neglected. But here in chapter 24, we'll find a king that came on the scene who was zealous to restore the temple.

2 Chronicles 24, beginning in verse 1.

It says, Now it happened after this that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord. Then he gathered the priests and the Levites and he said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all of Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year and see that you do it quickly. However, the Levites did not do it quickly. So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses, the servant of the Lord and of the assembly of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness? Verse 7. For the sons of Atholiah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God. They had also presented all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the bales. Then at the king's command they made a chest, set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord, and they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the collection that Moses, the servant of God, had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. And all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and put them into the chest until all had given. And so it was at that time when the chest was brought to the king's official by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, and that the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it away, and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance. And so the temple was in a broken down state. We have a king comes on the scene, he's excited, he wants to restore the temple of God, and the people are excited now. They're beginning to give abundance day by day. Verse 12, the king and Jehoiada gave to it those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters, repaired the house of the Lord, and also those who worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of the Lord. So the workmen labored, and the work was completed by them. They restored the house of God to its original condition, and they reinforced it. So again, in this great zeal, its original condition would have been the splendor of the temple that Solomon built. Very beautiful, fabulous temple. What we find is over time, often it goes into disrepair, or it's even stripped down, such in this case as it was. The implements were then used in the worship of the bales. But it's built up, it's reinforced, it's brought back into compliance. Verse 14, when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the kings of Jehoiada, and they made from it articles for the house of the Lord. Articles were serving and offering spoons and vessels of gold and silver, and they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada. Again, God's house was reverent among his people.

Verse 15, but Jehoiada grew old, and he was full of days, and he died. He was 130 years old when he died, and they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both towards God and his house. Now we have a switch. After the death of Jehoiada, verse 17, the leaders of Judah came. They bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served winded images and idols, and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. What you're going to notice, brethren, as we walk through a number of the accounts today, what you have is, when God's temple is defiled, and his people turn their back on his commandments, they then come into judgment before God. God does not take these things lightly. He does, in fact, take action. So now again, verse 18, therefore they had left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served the wooden images and idols, and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. Yet God sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord, and they testified against them, but they would not listen. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and he said to them, Thus says God, why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he also has forsaken you. So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. So God sends them a prophet. He sends them a warning, and they kill him in the courts of the house of God. Verse 22, Thus Jo asked the king, He did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. And as he died, the Lord looked on it, and he said, the Lord looked on it and repaid. So what happened in the spring of that year that the armies of Syria came up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and they destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. And as it continues on, God brings destruction, destruction to the king, destruction to his army, again because they turned from God, did not reverence the house of God, and they did not reference what it was that that symbolized in their midst. Judgment came upon them. Again, for those who God calls, He expects that they would have zeal for the sanctity of his house, that they would defend it, that they would protect it, that they would keep anything unclean out.

God does not take kindly to those who defile his house. They will come into judgment. Let's notice the continuation of the sad tale now with the different king, 2 Kings chapter 21. 2 Kings chapter 21. Again, God expects his people to be consumed with zeal for his house.

2 Kings 21 beginning in verse 1. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. He reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hepsubah.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal and made wooden images as Ahab the king of Israel had done. And he worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and he served them. Verse 4 says, He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. And He built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Can you imagine, brethren, such disregard for God, such disregard for the power of His presence and the fact that this is the Almighty God in your midst? They built altars, idols to the foreign gods within the courts of the house of God. Something you saw take place time and time again with Israel. Verse 6, Also He made His Son pass through the fire. He practiced sthuseng, used witchcraft and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. He even set a carved image of Asura that He had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and Solomon, His Son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. And God says, I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I give to their fathers, only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. He says that they paid no attention and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

God brought Israel into the land and He removed those nations before them because of their evil. And it says His own people did more evil than those nations that God had removed.

Verse 10, And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophet, saying, Because Manasseh, King of Judah, has done these abominations, he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and he has also made Judah sin with his idols. Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummeth of the house of Ahab. I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it, turning it upside down. So I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become victims and plunder to all their enemies. God says, Because they have done evil in my sight, they have provoked me to anger since the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even until this day. Brethren, God doesn't take it lightly when his people rebel against him, when they turn aside from his commandments, when they defile his house, God says, You are my people, I am in your midst, I am a holy God, you are to be a holy people. So when they turn aside from that, God does not take it well. And his people come in his judgment for such actions.

It is a fearful thing, brethren, to fall into the hands of the living God. Jeremiah chapter 7.

Jeremiah chapter 7, beginning in verse 1. Again, this was a practice that happened over and over in the nation of Judah. Israel was taken into captivity earlier. Judah continued on. They didn't learn the lessons. And God says, You are coming into judgment. Jeremiah chapter 7 in verse 1.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter at gates to worship the Lord. He says, You are coming up to my house. You pay attention. Listen to what I have to say. Verse 3. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways in your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. God says, Don't think for a minute, because the temple is in your midst that you are then free to do whatever you want. Don't think that calamity judgment won't come upon you. Don't think you can chase after these other gods and worship Yahweh on the side and think that you're okay.

God says, Don't say, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it'll be all right. He says, It's not okay. He will come into judgment. Verse 5, it says, For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, and if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers forever. But behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to bail, and walk after other gods whom you do not know? And then come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations.

God says, You are not delivered, and judgment will come.

Verse 11, Has this house which is called by my name become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I have seen it, says the Lord. But now go to my place which is in Shiloh, look to it, where I had set my name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people, Israel. God destroyed Israel from their land, scattered them among the nations, because they rebelled against him. He said at the place where he put his name in the beginning. And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave you and your fathers as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight as I have cast out all your brethren, the whole posterity of Ephraim. Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry, nor prayer for them, nor make intercession to me, for I will not hear you. Can you imagine God saying, you can call out to me, you can cry to me, but your abominations are so great that I will not even hear your prayer? I think if that was to occur, and I will not hear you, I think if that was to occur in our lives, brethren, there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Again, a very serious issue. Let's go forward to verse 29. In Jeremiah 7, still verse 29, God says, Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a lamentation on the desolate heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to pollute it. They have built to the high places of Copit, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my heart. They did these things to Baal. They did those things to the false gods. And God said, it would not even have entered my mind to have you do anything of that sort in your worship of me. Therefore, verse 32, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord. We will be no more called topit or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter, for they will bury and top it until there is no more room. The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of heaven, for the beasts of the earth, and no one will frighten them away. Then it will cause the seas from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of Merth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate.

Brethren, the people did not have zeal for the house of God. They didn't have zeal for the commandments of the living God, and he brought them into judgment. We know the story. Ultimately, God not only cleansed the temple, he cleansed the land from the people of Judah. The Babylonians came through, took them off into captivity. Jerusalem was burned, and the house of God was destroyed. Again, God's judgment on his people, who disregarded his name in his sanctuary. Certainly, very difficult times for those people, but a very valuable lesson for us today. Brethren, are you and I consumed with zeal for our Father's house? Are we consumed with zeal? Jesus Christ was consumed. Hopefully, we are as well. Where is God's house today? Again, if we're going to be consumed with zeal for the house of God, it's important we understand clearly and precisely where the house of God resides today. So, where is the house of the Father? 2 Corinthians 6.

2 Corinthians 6, beginning in verse 14.

Here's the Apostle Paul writing, and he says, Paul's saying, don't bind yourself into situations of business, of marriage, other ways in which you can bind yourself to an unbeliever, because you see that union can push you and cause you to defile the commandments of God, to turn from a godly way in which you should, in order to satisfy that agreement. So, Paul says, don't even enter into those agreements. You're the people of God. You need to be dedicated to Him. Verse 16, he says, what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them, walk among them, I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Brethren, if you've committed to covenant relationship with God at baptism, if you've received His Holy Spirit as an end dwelling, you are the temple of God.

Now, as I explained earlier, the second Greek word that's translated temple, which is used in this case, is neos. Neos. And again, neos was the word that's used to describe the sanctuary. That area that consisted of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, where God's presence dwelled. You and I were not the outer courts, not the court of the Gentile, the court of the women. We are the sanctuary of the presence and the Spirit of God. We are that temple. The question is, again, how zealous are we to preserve the sanctity of the house of God?

You know, how consumed are we with removing those things in our life that would defile that house?

What is it that we're willing to bring before the presence of God?

You know, it's interesting when you think about it. I tend to process it as asking the question, what are you willing to drag into the Holy of Holies?

The Holy of Holies existed behind the veil, but when Christ died, that temple curtain was rent, and it symbolized the fact that we are in the very presence of God. If God's Spirit dwells in us, He is holy, we are then holy as well, what are we willing to drag before the presence of God from this world?

What are we willing to bring into the Holy of Holies?

We just read through the account of Jesus Christ cleansing the temple. He did it twice. He was consumed with zeal for His Father's house. The question is, are we? We also went through the accounts of Israel as well as Judah turning from God and defiling His temple with the ways of the world, the idolatry, the cares, the luxuries, the desires of this world. The question is, brethren, do we do that in our life? Indeed, we must not. Again, how zealous are you for your Father's house? How consumed are you to guard the door of your mind, to keep out anything that defiles? We won't take the time to turn there, but in 1 Chronicles 9, the sons of Korah were actually charged with the responsibility of being gatekeepers at the house of God. At gatekeepers, their job was to stand watch over the doors and the gates that led into the temple. They opened them as needed, they closed them as needed, they let those in who belonged, those who had duties, those who were properly purified, and they kept out anything that was unclean and would defile. As gatekeepers, the sons of Korah were even charged with enforcing the death penalty on those who would intrude and defile the house of God. So it was a position that was given to a very loyal and trusted individual in that way. Today, brethren, we are the gatekeepers of God's temple.

We each have a responsibility to stand guard over our own minds and heart, to shut out those things that would come in and pollute God's house, that would defile His temple. We need to remove from our lives those things that should not come into the presence of the living God. We've been charged with the responsibility to gird up the loins of our mind, to be sober, to be vigilant, because there is an adversary wandering about. And if you leave that door open just the crack, he'll kick it in open and come walking right in. We have an adversary that is seeking to come into your life and my life and defile the temple of God. So we are charged, brethren, to be gatekeepers of that house.

Let's go to Clause in Chapter 3.

Clause in 3, we see indeed what our responsibilities are.

Clause in Chapter 3, beginning in verse 1. Paul says, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth. Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covenousness, which is adultery. Rather than these things are what defile the house of God. It says they are adultery. It's like coming in and setting up an idol to Baal in the temple.

God says, As my people, you must have no part of this. Verse 6, Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. He says, But now you are to put off all of these. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with its deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge, according to the image of him who created him. God says, You are to cleanse your temple from these things.

You have no part in your life, but you are to do something else as well. Because as we heard last week in the sermon, it's not enough just to put out the evil. You have to replace it with the good. So God says, Put these things out. Verse 11, In this temple, where there is neither Greek, nor Jew, circumcised, nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, you so must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. So, brethren, as we cleanse the temple of God, there are these things that we must replace it with as well, and they are things that are of the righteous nature of God and Jesus Christ. He said to be holy. God called us elect, holy and beloved. And again, we're holy because of the presence of a holy God in our life. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 15.

Paul says, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

So then I make the members of Christ take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? He says, certainly not. Sexual immorality was very closely tied to the worship of false gods. Bail worship was actually largely tied to fornication and adultery. It was essentially a drunken orgy that the people involved themselves in in the worship of Baal.

Rather than the spirit of Baal exists in this world today, and it's knocking at the door. It's knocking at the door at the temple of God. The question is, will we keep that door shut? Will we be gatekeepers for the house of God? Will we restrain the pollutions of this world, keep the spirit of Baal out of God's temple? Verse 16, he says, Do you not know that he who is joined with the harlot is one body with her? For the two, he says, shall become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee sexual immorality, every sin that a man does is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Paul said, you are not your own. And in many ways that kind of flies in the face of our American sensitivities, doesn't it? We're the land of the free, and yet God says, you will come into subjection to the standard that I've outlined for you as my people. You will be a holy people. You're not your own. Rather than the way that we glorify God is by cleansing our temples and doing the things that please him. It means that we must move from the physical to the spiritual. It means we have to put off the carnal man in his sins. We have to take on the nature of Jesus Christ. We need to become conformed to the stature of the fullness of Christ.

That's a lifelong process. That doesn't happen overnight, but it's something that we must be about daily. Additionally, assessing our temple is something that we have to be doing daily because the cleansing process needs to take place daily. It needs to be a thorough cleansing, a deep cleansing of the heart, not simply the cleansing of the exterior that man sees because God looks on the heart and he sees truly what it is that we allow into the temple. Jesus Christ addressed the matter with the Pharisees about cleansing. It's applicable to us as well. Let's go to Matthew 23.

This, brethren, it can be so easy to cleanse the outside. It can be easy to walk here into the congregation and look good, but it's a different matter to look good before God. Matthew 23, beginning in verse 25, Jesus Christ speaking, and he says, Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. He says, How you appear is not truly what you are. You can see that. Verse 26, blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, in which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones in all uncleanness. Again, brethren, our cleansing process can't simply be of the exterior. It has to be a cleansing of the heart. God looks on the heart.

So how do we go about the cleansing of God's temple? Jesus Christ took action. He drove the money changers and those that sold those things out. He cleansed his father's house. How do we cleanse our father's house? We get some instruction from David in the book of Psalms. Let's go there.

Psalm 119. Psalm 119, beginning in verse 9.

Here David asks the question. He says, How can a young man cleanse his way? Or how can a woman cleanse her way? How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word. He says, With my whole heart I have sought you, O let me not wander from your commandments. Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.

So the process of cleansing our ways before God starts with evaluating God's word. God's word is like a mirror that when we look into it we see the reflection of who and what we truly are. So we need to study God's word, internalize God's word, so that we can not only cleanse ourselves, but we can keep ourselves from going back into that sin which defiles in the first place. 1 John chapter 1 gives us more insight into cleansing this temple. 1 John chapter 1, verse 5. John says, This is the message which we have heard from him, and declared to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. And indeed, that's the standard that we shoot for. No darkness at all. Verse 6, If we say that we have fellowship with him, and we walk in darkness, we lie, and we do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. And so if we walk in the light as God is in the light, we can have fellowship with God the Father.

That's what this is saying. We need to be cleansed, though, brethren, in order for this to take place.

Verse 8, he says, Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

He who says he hates his brother, I'm sorry, he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. And I'm reading chapter 2, and that is why it doesn't seem to work, does it? Verse 7 of chapter 1, But if we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sins. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. You know, how can we cleanse our temple, brethren, if we say we have no sin? We have nothing to clean out. I'm fine. Indeed, that's a deceived mind. Verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so by studying God's Word, by recognizing where it is that we fall short and coming before him in repentance, we then have the blood of Jesus Christ applied. God extends forgiveness, and we are cleansed in order to walk in purity before him.

But you know, we have to make the effort for the process. Repentance is a critical factor in the cleansing of our temple. Repentance, by definition, means a change in direction. It's a turn in a walking the other way. But in order to do that, you have to recognize, first and foremost, where you come short, what you need to repent of.

If repentance is something that we only have considered at Passover, and brethren, I say we're falling way short in the cleansing process, because repentance needs to be continual. It needs to be a continual process of examination, continual process of cleansing.

Jesus Christ didn't cleanse the temple only once. And our regard for our Father's house means that we as well must be continually cleansing that temple. Brethren, you and I are individual temples of God's Spirit.

But put together, as an assembly, we are also collectively the house of God. And what we bring into the house of God on the individual basis actually affects us all. And it has an impact on the household of God. Let's go to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, verse 1.

Peter says, Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. It says, Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, verse 5, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Rather than as living stones, we're being built up together into a spiritual house. We're each individual stones of the temple of God, but we're brought together and we're put together, bound by the Spirit. That's the mortar that holds us together.

I'm reminded of the words of Paul in Hebrews 10, verse 25.

It may have been Paul, but it says, But exhort one another. The fact is that if we stay home, if we neglect the assembly, if it suddenly comes to the point where it's not important to us anymore to come into the household of God, we're rejecting the assembly.

You know, in my mind, as a living stone, if you're off on your own, you're sort of just like the lone Lego sitting on the shelf.

When we come together as living stones of the household of God, we assemble the house.

The house is put together. It's built. It's bound together by the mortar of God's Spirit, stone upon stone, adding strength to the structure.

Don't forsake the assembling of yourself together.

Again, when we assemble, we assemble the house. In Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians 2 verse 17.

Paul said, In Christ came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near. For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. He says, Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Again, brethren, we're being built together. We're being assembled as the house of God, as a completeness of that house. The strength that each of us brings to the house adds strength to one another.

The deficiencies of this world that we bring into the house can defile the house. And frankly, it can defile one another as well.

Brethren, one thing, we must guard the door of our mind. We must be cautious what we led into our life as a temple of God, because ultimately that could then be brought into the household of God.

We have an obligation to the body of Christ to be as strong of a living stone as we can.

A house that is built with deficient, defiled, crumbling stones cannot stand. What you and I bring, what we add to the house, what we contribute to this building, brethren, is important to God. 1 Corinthians 3.

Notice 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9.

Paul says, For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another build, but let each one take heed how he builds on it. Ultimately, here Paul is speaking first and foremost through the ministry, but it applies to each and every one of us as well.

So take heed how you build on that house. Verse 11. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it, the day of judgment, the day of the Lord. He says, These things will become evident. It says, Because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? And here comes the warning. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy which temple you are. Brethren, it's a very strong warning to each and every one of us. Be careful how you build.

Be careful what you contribute. Be careful what you allow to take hold in your life.

None of us can afford to allow the temple of God to become defiled.

You and I can never afford to say to ourselves, as did Judah, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we.

You know, modern terms we would say, the church of God, the church of God, the church of God am I.

Filling a seat in the church of God does not give us license to go and do as we please on the side. Israel thought coming into the temple of God and worshiping Yahweh gave them the ability then to go and do other things as well. That's called syncretism. That's what this world does. It's called Christmas. It's called Easter. It's called making gods apart from the true God, but thinking that somehow you can blend them and all will be fine. You can never afford to say, I am of the church of God, therefore I have license to go and do as I please. Because again, the biblical record shows us we do not.

God takes his house seriously and he judges those who defile it. 1 Peter 4. There is in fact a day of judgment that is upon the house of God. 1 Peter 4, beginning in verse 12. Peter says, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

If you are reproach for the name of Christ, bless for you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. And on their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. He says, But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now, if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? Therefore, he says, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good as to a faithful Creator. Peter said the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God.

President, it's a very exciting thought for the firstfruits to stand in judgment before God now.

It is also a very fearful thought in many respects to consider as well. Judgment has begun at the house of God.

Brethren, how do we measure up? How zealous are each and every one of us for our Father's house? How consumed with zeal are we, just as Jesus Christ was consumed, to drive out those things in our life which defile us, which defile God's house, which defile the spirit that He's given to each and every one of us? Brethren, we need to ask ourselves individually, again, am I consumed with a desire to be a vessel purified for holiness? Or am I comfortable with doing my own thing? Time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God.

If you want to file the house of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy. And that is the warning. It's a very strong warning. On the other side of that, what's the blessing? What is the promise? Because God's spirit in us ultimately leads to good. If we use it for good, if we grow, if we cleanse our temple, we submit ourselves to God. There is a promise. There is a blessing. Let's conclude over in Revelation 3, verse 12.

Revelation 3, verse 12. Jesus Christ said, He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. He shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. And I will write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The promise to those who overcome is to dwell as a pillar in the temple of God. It's to live in the very presence of the Father. It's to be his children forever.

Brethren, it's an incredible promise. It's an incredible blessing to those who keep their temple.

Brethren, do you have zeal for your Father's house?

Both that which we have now and that which will be revealed in the future.

I hope that you do. In exercising that zeal, brethren, we must be cautious. We must be vigilant. But we must be consumed with it, and we must be zealous. We need to be consumed with cleansing the temple of the Holy Spirit, which you are. Guard the door of your mind. Do not allow anything that defiles to enter in. If you do those things, as the Psalmist David so eloquently wrote, he said, the goodness and the mercy of God will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.