[0:00] of John chapter 2 verse 12. After this he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples, and they continued there not many days. And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers' money and overthrew the tables, and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence, make not my father's house and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple and building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?
[1:50] But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, And they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did.
[2:27] But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. And may God, the Holy Spirit, bless the very reading of his own word to us.
[2:57] Now, we'll sing once more to God's praise. This time, we'll sing from Psalm 45.
[3:11] Again, the first version, and we sing from verse 6 to 9. Now, we'll actually sing from 6 to 13. We usually have a, there's so many different forms of service these days. I'm sorry I've got confused.
[3:31] We should have had a singing before the reading. So this time we'll sing from Psalm 46, the first version, from verse 6. And we can sing to verse 12.
[3:48] Verse 6. And can we sing to verse 12.
[4:05] Psalm 45. The daughter there of Tyre shall be with gifts and offerings great. Those of the people that are rich, thy favour shall entreat.
[4:15] Psalm 45, the first version, from verse 6 to 12. Verse 6.
[4:26] Verse 6. Sorry? Oh, sorry. The first version of Psalm 45.
[4:38] And verse 6. Forever and forever is, O God, thy throne is almost high. Forever and forever is, O God, thy throne is mine.
[5:04] Blessed and forever is, O God, thy throne is lost and turned out his sight.
[5:21] But love will find and take care still. For God, O God, O God, O God, O God.
[5:39] Re YOUR Terwhelm, You will never be home. Or may have been and that is to me.
[5:52] So this version, of it is made available, O God, O God, O God, O Lord, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God.
[6:07] God bless. And f conjoints, Hear my ear nelighead Amongst the world when all of the Cents, o test of time Upon thy life and hither, You name, O God, O Lord,
[7:08] O Lord, have I been angry, How will I be in my life?
[7:29] Longwise forget another house And people that are thine, Then, O God, in this heart, How will I be?
[7:58] Thy good healing can be, In all tears, my Lord, Do know who in my church repen me.
[8:24] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[8:35] Amen. Now let's turn in our Bibles to the passage of Scripture, Which we read, The Gospel of John, chapter 2, And while I want to refer to most of what we read, We'll just read again and concentrate perhaps on verse 17.
[8:55] The Gospel of John, chapter 2, Verse 17. Well, actually, we'll read 16 and 17.
[9:07] And said unto them, That so doves take these things hence, Make not my father's house an house of merchandise.
[9:21] And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
[9:34] And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
[9:45] What do you think made the disciples remember? What do you think it was?
[9:57] Was it not the very same things that made the Jews ask for a sign? The next verse.
[10:09] And then answered the Jews and said, What sign showest thou unto us? See, now doest these things. The clearing out of the temple of those who made it a house of merchandise.
[10:27] You see, they asked for a sign. He has just turned water into wine.
[10:38] And they asked for a sign. Now, things do not get better as time goes on. Things don't get better. If you are here and you are not a Christian, And you say, Oh, it will be easier when I get older.
[10:55] Don't be mistaken. Several times throughout the Gospels, You find the unbelievers asking for a sign. In Mark, for example, They ask for a sign.
[11:12] He's just walked on water. He's just cured a man with a demonic spirit. He has just calmed the sea with a word.
[11:26] And they ask for a sign. It's absolute nonsense. You see, when Jesus cast, As we noted in the morning, When he changed the water into wine, His divinity burst out.
[11:44] And here again, When he rebukes and drives out The people that were making business in the house of God, There was some kind of authority about Jesus In the way he drove out these auctioneers.
[12:03] There was some kind of authority. You could just tell he had divine right. What's the definition of authority? It is having the right to do something.
[12:19] Or having the right to say something. Or having the right to command something. Christ had all authority In heaven and on earth.
[12:32] But you know, once again we discover The important thing is this. That it disturbed people. And the real question is How do we react when we're disturbed?
[12:47] The Jews here rebelled against Christ. The disciples, the disciples of Christ remembered. They remembered what was written.
[13:01] Can I ask you, How do you react when you're disturbed? When something happens in providence That disturbs you.
[13:18] How do you react? Are you looking for a mark of grace? How do you react when God does something that disturbs you?
[13:31] There's a question to answer yourself. Well, as God would help us, I'd like to look at three things about Christ here tonight.
[13:43] First of all, Christ's zeal In verses 13 to 17. Secondly, Christ's sign Verses 18 to 22.
[13:54] And thirdly, Christ's discernment In verses 23 to 25. First of all, Christ's zeal.
[14:07] Our text says, They remembered, The disciples remembered what was written. The zeal of thine house Hath eaten me up.
[14:18] I think it's A.W. Pink that says, Whenever you read this passage, You sense right at the very beginning, He says, That something is wrong.
[14:30] You see, Verse 13 at the beginning of this paragraph, You might say, The Jews' Passover was at hand. And he points out, You see, Things have changed.
[14:42] It was the Lord's Passover. But things have deteriorated a little bit. It deteriorated to the Jews' Passover now. As if it was something traditional.
[14:54] Not something divine. Not something from God. Something from a tradition of men. Things don't change, do they?
[15:05] Things don't change. When we seek to obey Christ, And do what He's commanded, What do they, What does the world say? Oh, that's their belief. That's their opinion.
[15:16] That's their culture. That's the way they do it. That's their tradition. It's all here. It's all here long before.
[15:28] Now, the Passover, The Jews' Passover, The Lord's Passover, It could not commence without cleansing. That's just a general principle.
[15:40] It was preceded in Israel By a day of purification. And on that day of purification, It was similar to what we would call Spring Cleaning.
[15:55] The conscientious Jew, On the day of purification, In his house, He would remove every single trace of leaven.
[16:06] And he could actually be seen, On his, The head of a household could be seen, In his household, On his knees, With a pair of tweezers, Searching every little corner of his house.
[16:22] For a crumb of leaven. There must be no leaven, In your houses. A real spring cleaning.
[16:34] But you see, That was all outward. Christ, As we can see from this passage, Wants to deal with our hearts. They've to be cleaned.
[16:45] There's to be a spring cleaning, Of our hearts. Cleansing, You see, Was not just something, And is not something, That should take place, Now and again.
[17:00] Two or three times a year. Cleansing, Is a continual process, For the Christian. We notice it here, With the cleansing of the temple.
[17:17] Where we read there, Jesus said to them, You've made this a merchant, Oh yes, Verse 16, Take these things hence, Make not my father's house, A house of merchandise.
[17:35] Now this is at, The beginning of Christ's ministry. Christ's ministry was, The last three years of his life, And he's about to begin it now, And he starts with, Cleansing the house of God.
[17:50] But we do know, From reading the other disciples, The other gospels, Matthew, Martin, That at the end of his ministry, And that last Passover, He also had a cleansing as well.
[18:03] But as we've indicated already, There's a slight, Deterioration there as well. Here, At the beginning of his three year ministry, He calls them, You've made my father's house, A house of merchandise.
[18:22] But at the end of his ministry, At the end of his ministry, When he cleanses the temple, He says, You've made my house, A den of thieves.
[18:33] Deterioration. Deterioration. Again, I remind you, If you think, You're going to improve, As you get older, You're wrong.
[18:47] Without Christ, You'll never be cleansed. Things, My friend, Do not get easier, As you get older. Things get more difficult, We're more set in our ways.
[19:03] It's more normal for us, To sin. We learn that lesson from here. Now, What was so wrong for them?
[19:15] Well, Do understand, Whatever you understand, It's not who was there. It's not that there was businessmen there. It's not that there were people there, Wanting to make a quick buck.
[19:27] My friend, My friend, The house of God, Is a house, For sinners. You are welcome, However great a sinner you are, You are welcome, To the house of God.
[19:44] Understand that. You're welcome, Welcome to the house of God. You have no, If you're here, And you're not a Christian, You have no idea, The joy and the pleasure, It gives to the people of God, To see you come into church.
[20:00] It's a real encouragement, To the people of God. The house of God is for sinners, Christ is for sinners, But there's three things, And you've got to remember, About worship in the house of God.
[20:15] It's a house, Of prayer. Have you nothing to say to God, When you come? Have you nothing to say to him?
[20:30] Secondly, It's a house, Of cleansing. Have you no sins, To be forgiven? Is there nothing you've done, You wish you never did?
[20:43] This is a place, It's a house, Of cleansing, It's called that, In the scriptures, A house of prayer, A house of cleansing, And a house of, Thanksgiving.
[20:56] Have you nothing to thank God for? Did you, Nearly have a crash, In your car, This week? Did you, Nearly have an accident, With a piece of machinery, This week?
[21:09] Have you nothing to thank God for? This, Is a house, Of thanksgiving. God's house, Is a house, For praying. Have you nothing to ask God for?
[21:22] Is there nothing you want? Is there nothing, That's beyond your power, That only divine, Power can achieve? Come to God's house, And ask there for it.
[21:33] Come to God's house, And get rid of that problem, In your heart, In your life. Come for cleansing, And come and give thanks, That he spared you, To hear once more, This forgiveness, Of sinners.
[21:50] Now you see, This incident, This incident, Which disturbed, Those who saw it, It's not often, Christ did something, That disturbed people, Unless you've got a corrupt heart, The Jews, What was their objection?
[22:11] Their objection, Was not, These people, Were there, Doing what they were doing, Their objection was, He called it, His father's house, You see, They didn't believe, He was a messiah, They didn't believe, He could save them, Do you believe, Christ can save you?
[22:33] Do you? Tell me, Why haven't you asked them? Do you believe, He's the saviour? Well, You're no better, Than the Jews, If you don't.
[22:45] Do you believe, He can save you? Or as we mentioned, In the morning, Do you think, You're too insignificant, For Christ, To be interested in? My father's house, But the disciples, Ah, They were different, They remembered, They remembered, It was written, Now, They actually, Must have had good memories, You see, You and I, Have Bibles, In our homes, Our pockets, And our smartphones, No such thing, In these days, There was no portable Bibles, If the word of God, Was anywhere, It was in, A synagogue, In rolls, Scrapped up, Safely locked up, In cupboards, Taken out, In special occasions, For reading, Maybe there would have been,
[23:46] Some copies, In live, Public libraries, But there's no such thing, As carrying a Bible, You were a privileged house, If you had it, In a copy, In your house, But they remembered, It was written, Have you ever read, Psalm 69, Have you sung it, Did you remember, It was written, The zeal of your house, Has eaten, Me up, You see, The Jews, The haters, The unbelievers, They, They saw, A wild, Destructive man, Going about, Emptying it, Of, Of, Of all the things, That was going on, But the disciples, They did not see, A wild, Destructive man, They saw, A passionate man, With zeal, Burning in his heart, That's what they saw, Now what's,
[24:48] What's the lesson, From all that, Here's one, And remember it, Christ, Christ, Is for sinners, But Christ, Is not for sin, Get that right, Christ, Is not for sin, But Christ, Is for sinners, Lay hold, Of that, Because you're a sinner, He's for, You, He came, He came, To cleanse, From sin, He came, To forgive, Sin, Christ's zeal, Was to forgive, Sinners, Who were interested, In being forgiven, What's zeal, By the way,
[25:48] Zeal, Is love, And fervor, To the point, Of intervening, Christ's zeal, Christ's enthusiasm, Christ's, Determination, To, Forgive sinners, Was so, So, So great, He would intervene, Have you ever, Found yourself, Sane, Oh, I felt sorry for him, I really felt, Sorry for him, But oh, I wasn't going to get involved, Have you felt like that?
[26:32] Christ, Got, Involved, His zeal, His desire, That sinners, Would be forgiven, He had to do some, Very unpleasant, Things, His zeal, His fervor, His love, Led him to, Intervene, In our lives, Well, That's Christ's, Zeal, What about, Christ's, Sign, And it comes in, Verses 18, To 22, Then answered, The Jews, And said, What sign, Shows thou, Unto us, Seeing thou doest, These things, Jesus answered, And said, Destroy this temple, And in three days, I will raise it up, And they said, Forty and six years, Was his temple, And building, Well now it is, In three days, But, He spake,
[27:33] Of the temple, Of his body, When therefore, He was risen, From the dead, His disciples, Remembered, Remembered, Again, They remembered, There was no written copies, For them to have at home, To read at night, But they remembered, It was written, They would have heard it, But they remembered, It was written, That he had said to them, And they believed the scripture, And the word, Which Jesus had said, Now, Here's the Jews, Asking, For a sign, Now, They were asking him, For his, Credentials, He claimed, To be the son of God, He claimed, To have come from heaven, They were quite right, To ask for credentials, But not after, He's performed, The miracle he's performed, Not after, He's just shown them, A wonderful demonstration, Of his authority,
[28:34] That was, Not a genuine request, That was, A rejection, Of what they had just seen, They weren't going to have it, You see, What Jesus did in the temple, Was a sign, In itself, Just like we mentioned earlier, When they asked for a sign, After walking on water, After, Raising from the dead, In fact, After performing miracles, Calming the sea, They asked for a sign, They weren't genuinely inquiring, They were rejecting, What they were seeing, You see, Cleansing the temple, Was actually, A fulfillment, Of prophecy, Malachi, The last book of the old temple, Of the old testament, In chapter 3, There's a prediction, A prophecy there, Malachi chapter 3,
[29:34] Behold, I will send my messenger, And he shall prepare, The way before me, And the Lord, Whom you seek, Or whom you're saying, You're seeking, He shall suddenly come, To his temple, Even the messenger, Of the covenant, Whom you delight in, Behold, He shall come, Saith the Lord of hosts, But, Who may abide, The day of his coming, Who shall stand, When he appears, For he's like refiner's, Fire, And fuller's soap, He shall sit, As a refiner, And purifier of silver, And he shall, Purify, The sons of Levi, And purge them, As gold, And silver, That they may offer, And to the Lord, An offering, In righteousness, That's what Christ, Has just been doing, Fulfilling the prophecy, Of Malachi 3, 3, Purging, The sons of Levi, Who are,
[30:35] Perverting, His house, Now, He says, Destroy, This temple, And in three days, I will raise it up, Now, Most likely, When he said that, Very positively, He pointed to himself, He pointed to, He said, Destroy, Destroy, This temple, And I will raise it up, He is, Of course, Speaking spiritually, About the temple, Of his whole, Own body, Christ's body, Is his temple, And we, He indwells, Our bodies, If you're a Christian, He indwells us, We're the temple, Of the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit, Of Christ, Indwells, Every Christian, Is there a Christian, Sitting in front of you, Holy Spirit,
[31:36] Indwelling them, You can touch that person, Holy Spirit's inside them, Are you looking for God, What he's really saying is, Then look at me, I'm God, Manifest in the flesh, The Jews, The unbelieving Jews, Wouldn't accept it, But there he was, If you want to see, What God is like, Look at Christ, Read about Christ, Hear about Christ, The temple, Is a place, Of worship, And you see, Angels, Were told, To worship, Christ, Christ, And Christ said, And what he's, Preaching about here, Is that, I will rise, From the dead, I have power, Over death, I really, Am the Messiah, I really, Am the center, Of God,
[32:37] I will be destroyed, They're going to destroy, This body, But I'll, Raise myself, Up, At the last day, That's a sign, The sign, Of the prophet Jonah, Three days, Three nights, In the whale's belly, But he will, Raise himself, Up, The doctrine, The doctrine, Of, The resurrection, We often, See, The cross, Is the center, Of Christianity, Actually it's not, It's the resurrection, Is that he rose, From the dead, We forget sometimes, There was three people, Crucified that Friday, Afternoon, But only one, Rose from the dead, Only one, Died for sin, Only one, Was sinless, His, His was unique,
[33:39] And that's what made, The centurion, You see no doubt, That centurion, Was a centurion, In charge of crucifixions, Maybe Friday, Was crucifixion day, That Friday afternoon, There was three, He saw plenty of people, Being crucified, But when he saw, Christ being crucified, When he heard, Christ, Shouting, With a loud voice, He said, Hey, That's not the way, Crucified men behave, They don't shout, With loud voices, If they speak, At all, It's enough whimper, But when they saw, Christ, Shouting with a loud voice, It is finished, He said, That's not normal, Surely, That's, The son of, God, And he rose again, The third day, Christ's zeal, Christ's sign,
[34:42] Thirdly, Christ's discernment, Verses 23 to 25, We'll read them, Now, When he was in Jerusalem, At the Passover, In the feast day, Many believed in his name, When they saw the miracles, Which he did, But, Jesus did not commit himself, Unto them, Because he knew, All men, And needed not, That any should testify of man, For he knew, What was in man, Many believed, When they saw the miracles, When they saw the miracles, Jesus, As many admirers, There's many sympathetic, To Jesus cause,
[35:43] Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many approve, Wholeheartedly, Of his mission, But you see, Christ, Is not canvassing, For publicity, Christ, Is not, Soliciting, Support, That's not what Christ wants, It's not after your approval, He's after your heart, He wants to change, Your nature, Have you discovered, You need a new nature, Have you discovered, You can't stop sinning, Does that disturb you, Good, Good, I'm glad it disturbs you, Only Christ, Can rescue you, Only Christ, Can change you, That's what he's wanting, Not your approval, Not your approval, You see,
[36:46] Christ, Performed, Many miracles, Out of love, And out of compassion, Not to impress people, With his power, And his ability, And as we read there, In verses 24, And 25, Jesus, Did not commit himself, To those, Who were impressed, By the miracles, Or at least, Only impressed, By the miracles, Why?
[37:18] Because Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Because Jesus, Knew, They would no longer, Follow him, When they would not, Be impressed, With his teaching, They were impressed, With his miracles, But they were not, Impressed, With his teaching, That's later on, Chapter 8, I think it is, Or is it 6, And Christ himself, When they said to him, Your teaching, Is too hard, For us, To bear, It was then, That he said, No man, Can come, To me, Except, The father, Draw him, He knows, What's in man, Are you here tonight, And you say, That's my problem, He knows me,
[38:19] He knows my sin, He knows my inability, To stop sinning, That's good, That's healthy, That's who he's looking, To save, That's who he's wanting, To bless, Do you feel drawn, To Christ, Let me tell you, That's the Holy Spirit, Only the Holy Spirit, Can draw you, To Christ, And if you feel, Drawn, To him, Take heart, Take encouragement, That's the Holy Spirit, Drawing you to him, He's the only one, That can change you, And he's the only one, We are to put, Our trust in, What he's wanting, To do for you, Is to change your nature, To give you a new heart, To give you forgiveness, To give you peace with God,
[39:21] To give you an assurance, You're on the way to heaven, You're on the way to glory, If you love him, I tell you, It is not natural, It's perfectly natural, To want Christ, To perform a miracle, That's perfectly natural, Let me ask you, Do you want Christ, To forgive your sin, Do you want Christ, To change your nature, To make you a new creation, In him, That's the key, That's vital, That's what's saving, That's what's important, The bottom line, You see, In all this is, Christ, Wants us, To trust him, Trust him, In everything, To put our whole, Confidence in him, And let me ask you, This, As we close, When you don't, Like, What Jesus says,
[40:23] Do you believe him, Do you still believe him, Although you don't like, What he says, Although you wish, He said something else, Can you say, You believe him, Tell me this, When you're confused, About what God, Is doing, In your life, Can you trust him, Can you depend on him, Can you say, I have no earthly idea, Where I'm going, What I'm doing, What this is all about, But I'm going to, Depend, On Christ, Can you see that, That's faith, That's the faith, That saves the soul, You don't understand, But you're trusting, You see, Our real need, Is to love God, That's what's not natural, It's natural, To like, Seeing magic, Things happening, That's natural, It's not natural,
[41:25] To love God, To love Christ, Let me ask you, When you find it difficult, To follow Christ, To be faithful to Christ, To obey Christ, Do you still love him, Do you still love him, That's the key, Love, To Christ, A Christian, A Christian, Is someone, Who loves Christ, To the point, He'll struggle on, To follow him, Don't let anyone, Tell you by the way, It's easy, To be a Christian, It's not easy, To live the Christian life, There's a simple answer, Trust Jesus, But it's not easy, To live the Christian life, But you're depending on him, To take you to heaven, Jesus wants, Your heart,
[42:26] Not your compliments, He wants your commitment, It's not accolades, He's after, It's your trust, It's your love, It's your heart, He craves, For us, To have a new nature, And to be new creations, He wants to renew our minds, To regenerate our hearts, To transform our lives, He knows, What's in our hearts, He knows, What you're thinking, He knows, What you're wanting, And he still comes to you, Tonight, In the gospel, To say, Come to me, I will give you, Rest, You can only rest, In Christ, May God, The Holy Spirit, Make his word, Effectual,
[43:27] To every one of us, Let's bow our heads, In prayer, Our gracious, Father, In heaven, Please take, The things of Christ, And make them ours, Tonight, Here, In your house, Oh Lord, Without you, We can do nothing, We need you, Every hour, Heavenly Father, Bless us, We pray thee, Keep us, We beseech thee, Come down, Lord, Come down, Indwell us, Change our nature, Transform our lives, Bless us, In your son, We pray, For we pray only, In his name, For your glory, Amen.