Time for Spring Cleaning!
Notes
Transcript
Spring is the time for cleaning out the junk accumulated through the winter months. It is a time for assessing what is important, and de-cluttering what is not!
Zeal for the Father’s Worship (13-17)
Zeal for the Father’s Worship (13-17)
The Departure of the Glory due to Israel’s rebellion and sin - Ezekiel 8-11
Years of idol worship and neglect had caused the Lord’s presence to leave His Temple. The glory that had filled the Courts when Solomon dedicated it had receded because He was being dishonored daily.
The Distractions to Worship.
Though it may have been started with good motives, the trading of sheep and goats in the Temple court had become a constant distraction to the worship that was to take place.
Many people are trading away that which is priceless to chase after that which has no lasting value.
The boy who through away the pearl.
The Commercialization of Worship.
Jesus was zealous that the Lord’s house be a place of prayer.
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Jesus was zealous that the Lord’s house be a place of praise.
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The filth that had overtaken the Temple is a picture of the human heart.
Our hearts are meant to be the sanctuary of God, filled with His praises and enthroning Him as supreme.
“Men have misused the courts as markets. Commerce is good, but its place is outside the heart, not inside. It defiles when it intrudes on the sanctuary.”
Joseph Exell (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: St. John (Vol. 1, p. 178). London: James Nisbet & Co.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
That is why we need the cleansing that only Christ can provide!
Zeal for the Father’s Work (18-22)
Zeal for the Father’s Work (18-22)
“By what authority?” They knew that they were wrong, they did not question the rightness of the cleansing, but rather the authority He had to perform it.
Jesus’ authority was from the Purpose of His Father, to redeem mankind.
Jesus’ passion was to complete the will of His Father and purchase our salvation. He desires to flood hearts darkened by sin with the Light of His grace.
The sign: the resurrection. That is the authority! That is the victory over sin’s power!
When a follower of Christ is zealous to Worship God, they will also be zealous for the Work of God!
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land. I’d rather be led by His nail pierced hand
Application:
Do you need a spiritual spring cleaning?
How is your zeal for worship? Does Christ have first place, or is your heart filled with distraction and idols?
How is your zeal for God’s work? Are praying, seeking, and investing in people coming to know Christ?
Do business with the Lord Jesus! Invite Him to cleanse your heart! Ask Him to fill you with His zeal.