022022- “Jesus’ First House Cleaning” John 2:12-25.

Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?”..... 1 John 2:4 “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ yet doesn't keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” ..... James 1:26 “If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself” ..... 1 John 2:6 “The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked” ..... Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” ..... 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test” ..... John 20:30-31 “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name” ..... John 1:12 “All who did receive Him (Jesus), He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name” ..... John 2:11 “Jesus performed this first sign in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him”

John 2:12-25 “After this, He went down to Capernaum, together with His mother, His brothers, and His disciples, and they stayed there only a few days. The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple complex He found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and He also found the money changers sitting there. After making a whip out of cords, He drove everyone out of the temple complex with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. He told those who were selling doves, ‘Get these things out of here! Stop turning My Father’s house into a marketplace!’ And His disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for Your house will consume Me. So the Jews replied to Him, ‘What sign of authority will You show us for doing these things?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary and I will raise it up in three days.’ Therefore the Jews said, ‘This sanctuary took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. And they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made. While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many trusted in His name when they saw the signs He was doing. Jesus, however, would not entrust Himself to them, since He knew them all and because He did not need anyone to testify about man; for He Himself knew what was in man”

Sermon In A Sentence: In Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, He reveals that not everything that looks like faith is really faith.

In Cleansing The Temple, Jesus:
-Reveals Himself to be God’s prophesied Messiah
-Reveals His zeal for authentic worship in God’s house
-Reveals the sign of His authority would be His resurrection
-Reveals that He knows fully who you are

Malachi 3:1-3 “‘…Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire— see, He is coming,’ says the Lord of Hosts ‘…He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver…’”

Psalm 69:9 “Because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.”

James 2:14 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder”

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me’”