The House of God
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The House of God
The House of God
Luke 19: verse 45-48
Q. What do you think about when you come to church
do you look forward to the opportunity to worship God
or is it just another thing that you do.
I remember going to my friends youth group
and all I wanted to do was play basketball.
I spent time at various mega churches in the chicagoland area
Q. Have any of you been to a mega church.
It was the size of port charlotte mall
The goal is to get as many people to come as possible.
They have all of the programs, cafeteria, starbucks,
sometimes the sermons are more interested in entertaining the people than teaching the people
this is not limited to mega churches
many smaller churches do the same thing.
Because you need something more entertaining to keep people in church that do not want to worship God.
often times we see christian ministries try to multiply the people to multiply the tithe.
to sell books.
promote podcasts.
sell merchendise.
The church turns into a million dollar business.
Today we are going to learn why we go to church and how God wants us to worship Him in the setting of His house.
recap
Jesus has been traveling to Jerusalem for the passover
He has just rode in on a donkey
as the people proclaimed hossanna, bleesed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling prophecy and claiming to be the king over Israel.
He rides in and heads to the temple
as we read we see the righteous anger of the king
Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.
Jesus enters the temple
people in the courtyard were buying and selling
mainly sacrificial animals
Jewish people were required to bring forth unblemished animals for sacrafice to pay for their sin at passover
The priests and merchants were in on it together
like a baseball game or concert
They will sell a pepsi for $8 just because
they are in a ballpark
Its like a business to them
They knew the people needed animals to offer as a sacrifice
some priest would
tell the people who brought a sacrafice --that it was not without blemish...
direct them to the money changers to go buy one of theirs.
There was corruption and greed in Gods house
In Matthews Gospel it says the Jesus flipped the tables
We see from these passages that Jesus was not soft
He was kind, and humble, but He was not soft
true strength can only come from a place of humility..
NArnia--- Is aslan safe
no of course hes not safe ,, Hes a lion,, But hes good.
Jesus became angry
righteous anger
he cleanses the temple
twice
In John 2 : 16-17
And 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.”
He does this because of His zeal for the house of the Lord
Become Zealous and reverent for the Lord
Become Zealous and reverent for the Lord
We can look at Jesus example
not to say we should flip tables everytime we see something wrong
but we should care greatly about the household of God
q. What is zeal
great energy and enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause
Jesus was zealous for the House of God
He saw injustice and mockery
and He chased the evil people out.
Q. Are you zealous for the house of God?
q. Do we look more like the merchants
I am looking what I can get out of the church
or do we resemble Jesus
I am here to worship God
How do you feel about coming to the household of God?
I encourage you to come with reverance
this is a time we get to encounter the living God
(share about Isaiahs vision)
Isaiah 6:1–9 (NKJV)
Andrew read
This is a wonderful picture of reverance
Isaiah was before the Lord and His reaction was
I am Undone----
This points to the holiness of God
This is how we ought to approach God when we come to worship Him at church
However we tend to approach God filipintly
Q. Why do you think that is ?
because we cant see Him.
why cant we see Him
sin entered the world
Story- when God answered my prayer in jail —He heard me …asked for help the next day a guy asked me If I was a christian brother.....heres a bible
if you want to see Him start praying for Him to reveal Himself
If you could get one glimpse into heaven you would never be the same.
A W Tozer said
what comes in our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
What is that thought
is it reverance of the holy creator
or is it a tough rule master
You need to grow in knowing who He is
You need to grow in knowing what He thinks about you
otherwise you will come to church
and miss the entire point
that your here to worship God.
In Verse 46
Jesus says it is written my house is a house of prayer and you have made it into a den of thieves.
This is pulled from
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
This passage references gentiles-non jews
coming to the temple to worship God.
God has intended His house to be a House of prayer
and what the people did was
turn the courtyards into marketplaces
where crooked men bought and sold
This turned the temple into a circus
preventing anyone from being able to come to Him and pray
They people were excusing their behavior as a spiritual box to check.
we need sacrifices, we will provide them and get rich..
they had no thought to the reason they needed the animal sacrifice, they just knew they had to check the box.
Do you ever feel like your just checking the spiritual box
Q. what are the things that can become spiritual boxes?
all good things
going to church, reading bible, praying
sacrifices were good things but they turned the good thing into something preverted.
Church, prayer, and bible reading are meant for your good to draw closer to God.
but they can get preverted as well
and then your just doing it to make your parents happy..
make sure your doing it because you want to know God.
Jesus was in the temple continuing to teach daily
the people were astounded but the religious leaders where furious
yet they couldnt do anything because the people were interested in Jesus.
Now I want to talk a little bit about the temple in Jerusalem
and our church today
The reasons we go to church
The reasons we go to church
Before Christ died on the cross
Jews would go to the temple and synogouges to worship
they were under mosaic law
one of the big parts of their worship was sacrifice.
When Jesus died on the cross and rose again
He ushered in a new covenant
and He established His church
His church was for all the nations to be blessed.
through the forgiveness of sin by the sacrifice of Jesus
God instituted the church through the apostles
and it is laid out for us in Acts
therefore every nation would have a gathering of believers to worship God
The temple is a picture of the church and the holy spirit dwells in the bodies of believers
In the same way that perverted things crept into temple worhip.
perverted things are creeping into the church
I want explain what Church is and isnt.
acts 2:40-47
And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Church- ekklessia --- an assembly of believers
thats what we are
a group of people gathered to worship God.
The church is designed to preach the gospel
usher in salvation to people for the forgivness of sin
apostels doctrine - teaching the word of God
this is why we go verse by verse
fellowship— eating
gathering
The church is to be the family of God
The reason we come is to worship God.
yet it can be perverted
in the same way the money changers were ripping people off and turning the temple into a circus.
Q. how do we see it perverted?
When it becomes about entertainment.
when spiritual gifts are elevated.
when pastors are guilting you into giving more money
prosperity Gospel---false promises
Some of you will stop going to church because its boring to you.
some will find yourselves in a church that will entertain you better.
if the reason your going to church is to be entertained, your not going to last.
The reason you must be coming to church is because you want to know God and worship Him.
When you come to the house of God
Understand it is a house of prayer
A house of Love
A house of worship to God
He is worthy because of the gospel
preach the gospel
so understand the reason we come here
and grow in zeal and reverance for your saviour
For He will grow that in you if you will just come to Him in faith
pray