Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you. If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Two hundred and fifty years of freedom, two hundred and fifty years of independence, incredible. We're so thankful.
So thankful to get to celebrate it with our friends, with our family members, and blow up a small part of it in our neighborhoods, right? Through fireworks. Leaving my house this morning, it looked like a war zone. Like the earth is scorched. There's munitions laying around on the ground, mortars that have hit cars.
Like it was crazy, craziness. But an amazing day for sure. And listen, as I've gotten older and become more interested in our nation's history, it is undeniable that as you look at the history of America, that you see the providence of God. It is impossible that you do not see God's hand on our nation.
So many times, America could have ceased to exist. Or never have existed in the first place if it were not. For supernatural intervention. That's my personal conviction, as well as many other Christians and historians as well, and American patriots. America, it is not an accident.
It's not an accident. This isn't just a bunch of farmers and patriots and people that didn't want to be taxed getting together and say, oh, why don't we overthrow the reigning superpower of the world, Britain, you know, the United Kingdom, England. Why don't we overthrow them? No, no, no, that is not. how it happened.
It was not an accident. And we see, as I mentioned, that Jesus Christ has been at the center from the very inception. When our Constitution was being assembled in 1787, this was 11 years after we fought our war for independence in 1776. There was a gathering of men who were 55 men who were some of our founding forefathers, as well as governors and other politicians that came together to basically write this incredible document that we know today as the Constitution, excuse me, the Constitution of the United States. And this document is really what has outlined what it means to be an American, our rights, our freedoms, our liberties that separate America from every other nation.
And as these men were really wrestling to put different things in and what not to put in, after 116 days at this event called the Constitutional Convention that took place in Philadelphia, for 116 days they debated and argued, and ultimately they came to a standstill and the whole thing began to fall apart. And some of the people that were there actually wrote in journals and in letters how they thought in that moment that literally America could have ceased to exist. It could have fractured apart. It could have broken off. All the different governors.
Oh, we're going to defect. We're going to start our own country, you know, independent, separate, whatever. It could have all fallen apart. But it was Benjamin Franklin. At 81 years old, who stood up and changed the temperature in the room with this statement.
He directed his comments to the man that was presiding over the Constitutional Convention, who was our first president, George Washington. and he said these words to President George Washington I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this: that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, That except the Lord build, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in the political building no better.
than the builders of Babel. Benjamin Franklin understood something many Christians today miss. And that is what we find in Psalm 127, which he quoted, which says, unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. America is worth celebrating.
And if we want to see her best days in front of her in the future, it must keep faith in God at the center and our dependence on Him as the foundation. And as much as some might tell you, yeah, you can clap for that. I'm just going to keep moving along, sorry.
Sometimes there's statements that are like, oh, it's worth applause. I'm just going to keep it. Yeah, whatever. All right, so. And as much as some might tell you, This is not going to happen through legislation.
We are not going to become a great nation by passing more laws and electing more leaders. Yes, we want to pass the right laws. Yes, we want to elect the correct leaders. But it will not be accomplished solely through those things. We see the templates.
For National success. We see the template God gives to us for how we can survive and thrive as a nation. It's found in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Many of you know it. The Lord says this: if my people, Who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
That is a math equation. That is a template right there. How do we wanna see America thrive? How do we see this nation turn back to God? It tells us right there: if my people, God doesn't point his finger at the White House.
He points his finger at his house. and his people. If my people Who were called by my name, not the political parties, not the president, the church. And that is where revival starts. That is where it has started, and that is where it will start again.
Today, we're looking at Luke chapter 19. A very interesting passage of scripture, a great timing, honestly, with this weekend. And it's interesting because we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem, and this event, we know it today as the triumphal entry. This was just days before Jesus was ultimately going to be crucified on a cross on that Good Friday, and just a couple of days later, would rise again from the dead. And so Jesus before that though rode into Jerusalem and he was heralded as the Messiah.
The long-awaited king that the Jews have been waiting for ever since the book of Genesis. God's people at this time, the Israelites, were living under a pagan nation. Their faith was under attack. Their culture and values were slipping through their fingers, and they wanted, they longed for a Messiah to deal with Rome. They wanted a deliverer, someone that would overthrow the Romans and restore Israel to her former glory, someone to fix it.
They wanted someone to make Jerusalem great again, right? But Jesus came to deal with something far more foundational than political reform, far greater than overcoming the Romans or even rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Let's read about it together now in Luke chapter 19, starting in verse 28. I've titled this message: The King the World Needs. And then Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
And it came to pass that when he drew near to Bethphage in Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go into the village opposite you. Whereas you enter you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat. Loose it, and bring it here. And if any one asks you why you are loosing it, thus you shall say to him, Because the Lord has need of it.
So those who were sent went their way, and found it just as he said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, Why are you loosing the colt? And they said, The Lord has need of him. And they brought him to Jesus, and they threw their own clothes on the colt and they sent Jesus on him.
Now, this is one of those moments that, like, I really want to look behind the scenes. How exactly did this go down? Like, Jesus said exactly how it happened. Of course, he's God in the flesh, so we understand that. But the guy is just like, Oh, yeah, take my baby donkey.
No big deal. Like, yeah, you can totally have that. I would never do that. What happened in order for this guy to just understand? They said the magic password, and he allowed them to take his property.
It'd be one of those things we get to heaven we'll have to look back on.
So let's continue. It says in verse 35. And so again, they brought him to Jesus, they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as he went, many spread their clothes on the road. Verse 37.
And then, as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude, commentators speculate, up to 100,000 people. Of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. But Jesus answered and said to them, I tell you, that if these should keep quiet, even the stones would immediately curse. try out.
Let's pray. Lord, we ask now. And as we look at this event that took place over 2,000 years ago, We see, Lord, that it still has implications for us today. We ask that you would speak to us through your word. Personally, Lord, that you would speak to our hearts.
Father, that you would continue to provide for our nation and protect her and ultimately guide her. Lord, we look to you. You have been our foundation in the past, and Lord, our heart is that you would continue to be the foundation of our country today, for future generations, for another 250 years. Lord, we pray that you would do that. We pray you would do it in our hearts, in our church.
Lord, we look to you, and we pray that you would bless this time of Bible study. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. So that brings us to point number one, our first point for those of you taking notes, and it's always a good idea to take notes in church because you don't remember most of the things I say when you walk out of here.
So putting pen to paper can help with that. First point, number one, is a nation's hope. nation's hope. You know, throughout Jesus' ministry, He was always trying to keep a low profile. He was always trying to keep things kind of under the radar.
The miracles that he was doing, the teachings that he gave, the signs that verified he was the Messiah, he was the king that the Israelites, the Jews, were waiting for for all of these years. He tried to keep it under the radar. He was always telling them: don't tell anybody, don't share what you have seen today.
Well today It wasn't that. He accepted their praise. He accepted the title of Messiah publicly. He accepted the title of king, even. Just days earlier from the triumphal entry, Jesus had just performed his magnum opus, his greatest miracle to date.
He raised a man from the dead, Lazarus, one of his good close friends. Lazarus had been dead for four days, dead in a tomb for four days.
Now, I don't know if there's like a sliding scale of like dead to really dead or like how that works. Lazarus was on the really dead side, four days. He literally would have begun to stink. His sister objected to Jesus rolling away the stone because he would have smelled. It literally says this: Lord, he will stinketh, is actually what the King James said.
And. The process of decomposition would have began to take place. He would have become swollen. Rigamortis would have set in. This is a guy that was really dead, right?
This isn't just like a quick little healing. This is a big deal.
Well, Jesus said to him, Lazarus, come forth. And he came out of that grave, hopping out of his grave clothes, and he did it in front of a whole lot of people. There was a lot of people around that saw it, and then what did they do? They went. They went and told everybody.
They told everybody about what just happened. They couldn't keep it to themselves. And it just so happened to be over. The journey, the week leading into Passover weekend. Passover weekend is like the 4th of July, you know, on the peninsula in Newport Beach, or in Huntington Beach, or like, you know, somewhere in Maui, wherever you guys all gather in Maui for the biggest spots, you know, like the most crowded places.
That's what it would have been like in the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. It was Passover weekend. Crowds and pilgrims would have swelled up into the millions above the city's already large population. And so Jesus, as he enters into Jerusalem after performing this miracle, with all the crowds swelling, He didn't receive just like some polite little golf clap as he came in. This was a full-throated, long live the king moment.
The victorious king, the messiah of Israel, has just shown up, and we're ready to do battle for him. For the first time. The people are not intimidated by the scoffing and the rebuke of the religious leaders who kept them under their thumbs. They weren't afraid of the Roman soldiers who were posted up in uniform with their swords, spears, and helmets and shields. They're saying, Jesus is our king.
That's our guy right there. Jesus is king. and they're living, again, remember, under Roman occupation. There's foreign soldiers on the streets, foreign laws imposed in their lives. Their culture was slowly being digested by a pagan empire.
Their children were growing up in a world that mocked everything that they held sacred. Their desires were legitimate. The Israelites, the Jews, they longed for justice. They wanted leadership that would confront evil. They wanted their own national sovereignty.
And they wanted to protect their culture, their family, and their faith. They wanted their nation back.
Now, notice that Jesus does not condemn them for this. He doesn't rebuke the crowd. He does not say, Your desire for a strong nation is evil. And he doesn't tell them to stop being so political. To the point, the Pharisees told Jesus to tell his disciples to shut up and to be quiet, and he refuses.
And what does he say to him? Hey, if I tell them to be quiet, even the stones will cry out.
Now, some would say, they would tell us that we need to stop as Christians being so political, right? Christians shouldn't be political. Caring about the direction of the nation is beneath you. You know, don't worry about that stuff. Worry about your church and whatever else.
Okay, to that, I would say, I'll stop being so political when politics stop getting so theological. Politics continues to attack things that are clearly defined in scripture: the sanctity of life, gender, sexuality, marriage. When the world decides and the culture decides to stop attacking theological topics, maybe we can talk about that. But to the point, actually, we should be involved in politics, aside from those things. As Christians, we should care about the direction of our nation.
Others would say that we as Christians should be pacifists and not care. The other side would say Christianity has, again, no place in American politics.
Well, to that, I would say, and quote, our second president, John Adams, one of the founding fathers, who set their record clear in a letter which he wrote to Thomas Jefferson. He said, The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. Full stop. Those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God. I want you to hear me clearly on this 250th Independence Day weekend, a nation.
Where the gospel can be freely preached. is worth fighting for. We can proclaim the gospel publicly. without fear, without shame. A government that protects its people and confronts evil, these are conditions that the gospel flourishes under.
And the people in Luke chapter nineteen Are not wrong for wanting that for their own country. They wanted that. They wanted to be able to worship freely. They wanted to be able to rule and govern themselves according to what their scriptures had to say. They wanted that for their own country.
But here's the thing. The conflict that Jesus came to deal with wasn't Rome. It was us. It was all of us. It was mankind.
The Restoration, the Revolution. That Jesus came to bring wasn't a national one, it wasn't a political one, it was spiritual. Because Jesus knew at the foundation of everything in our lives, if we want to see success in it, he needs to be at the center. His glory needs to be paramount. Jesus didn't come to rule as an earthly king, but an eternal one.
But the people in Jesus' day were so busy reinventing Jesus to be the Messiah they wanted, the political deliverer that they wanted, that they missed the Messiah they needed. They missed the Messiah that Jesus actually came to be. That brings us to point number two: the terms of peace. Let's continue reading in verse 41.
Now as Jesus drew near, He saw the city of Jerusalem and he wept over it. And he said, if you had known Even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.
Let's pause there. Really interesting. little scene we have there coming from Jesus. Why was Jesus weeping? Why was he grieving at the one moment that the crowd got it right?
They were calling him king, they were calling him Messiah. Why was he grieving? Why was he weeping?
Well They recognized Jesus as Messiah. They recognized him as king. But ultimately, we see a city full of people who called themselves God's people, right? Who had every prophet, every scripture, every promise, every sign pointing to this very moment, and yet they had actually missed it. They missed it.
Jesus said, You did not know the time of your visitation. G. Campbell Morgan, who's a famous Bible commentator and scholar and pastor who's now with the Lord. offers this insight into this very moment. He says the cry the Jesus' cry was that of a frustrated desire.
He had visited the city with the desire to deliver it from the things of destruction. and with the offers of the things of peace. The spiritual blindness of the rulers and people was such that they did not discern the meaning of the visitation. The result was inevitable. There could be no escape from destruction.
Jesus is weeping here because it's all over for Jerusalem. It's all over for Jerusalem. God has passed judgment upon them. Jesus said earlier in Matthew 23, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills her prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.
But you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate. the things that make for your peace. You know, I've read this story many times, as of you. And I've always just kind of read this: okay, yeah, right, the things that make for your peace.
Jesus came to bring peace into the world and ultimately, you know, peace with God. That's the main reason why He came, right? And it's interesting. But as you look here, The things that make for your peace, was it referring to peace with God? Yes, absolutely.
And Jesus paid for that with his death on the cross, with his own blood. But it wasn't just spiritual peace. It wasn't just spiritual peace Jesus is talking about here, not just spiritual deliverance he's referring to. It was also political and physical, literal peace. Jesus seems to be inferring that Roman peace, peace with the Romans, deliverance from the Romans, was possible if they accepted Jesus as the Messiah he came to be, which was spiritual, spiritual deliverance, the true Messiah.
Because a little less than 40 years later, And the words of Jesus came true. There was an embankment surrounding the city. They did kill everyone: men, women, and children. The temple was torn down. Jerusalem was destroyed.
In 80 70, the siege of Titus, a Roman general came and squashed this Jewish rebellion that was taking place in Jerusalem. And they leveled it. It was done. Jesus was exactly right. He prophesied it to the T.
David Guzick, another pastor and Bible commentator, said, who actually came to Christ hearing my dad preach, which is pretty cool. David Guzik said, Jesus knew that their desire for a political Messiah. would bring total destruction unless than a generation. They missed it They misunderstood why Jesus came. They wanted Jesus to be a political Messiah, but he came for a much greater purpose, and they rejected him.
They rejected that. And today in America, the greatest threat to us is not a political party, it's not our national debt. It's not open borders, it's not even China. All those things matter. They matter very much, but it's not the most important thing.
The most important thing is for America to turn back to what made us a light to the nations in the first place. We as a nation and as a people need to turn back to the true light of the world, the source of that light, which is Jesus Christ. America at her best. has never been the source of that light. America has never been the source of that light.
We are simply a mirror reflecting Jesus, the light of the world. Israel's desire. Thank you. Yes, you can applaud. I thought it was a good point too.
Thank you. Israel's desire two thousand years ago for political reform, this is the problem. Her desire for political reform was higher than her desire for spiritual reform. and it resulted in their destruction. See, they missed the most important thing.
They wanted the rulers, they wanted the laws, but they didn't want the heart of God. They didn't want Jesus. And that is why Jesus wept. That is why he sobbed over Jerusalem. He wept over a city he loved because they were headed towards destruction.
And today, The most patriotic thing that you can do. On America's 250th anniversary of being independent, being a nation, the most important thing you can do for your country is not wave a flag on your porch. It is to have a broken heart for the 350 million people who need a savior, not another politician. The greatest threat that America faces today is not from her enemies, it is from a sleeping and apathetic church. That is the greatest threat to America.
Do not miss your visitation.
Now maybe you're wondering Jonathan, I'm just one person. What can I do? I'm not a president. I'm not a politician. I'm a mom.
I'm a dad. I'm a teacher. I'm a grandparent. I'm retired. I'm a construction worker.
What can I do? Well, Jesus seems to give us the answer to that question as we see what was on the top of his priority list as he rode into Jerusalem. Let's look now at verse forty five. And so then Jesus went into the temple. And he 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. That brings us to point number three, finally, cleansing the temple. Cleansing the temple, isn't that perfectly fitting?
what Jesus came to do.
So to answer my question, what can one person do? How can one person change one family? How can we turn America back to God? How can we see national prosperity? It starts with us.
It starts with us in our homes, in our church. Jesus wipes his tears, and he rides not to Pilate's home, the governor of Judea. He doesn't ride to Caesar into Rome, right, and put Caesar in a headlock. No, he rides to the temple. to God's people.
to his house. Come back to 2 Chronicles 7:14. What is the template for national revival? What is the template to see national prosperity and see our nation thrive and do well and last for another 250 years? 2 Chronicles 7:14, if my people Who were called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven.
and will forgive their sin. and heal their land. The revolution Jesus came to start was never going to begin in the halls of government it has always started with his people. It has always started with his people. We, as Christians, must be the ones who help guide our nation.
We must be the fabric that our country is made of. George Washington, our first president, said it best when he said this. George Washington said this. Why don't they teach this in schools? To the distinguished character of patriot.
It should be our highest glory to add to the more distinguished character. of Christian. Come on. This is who American citizens, the best type of American citizens are to be, are followers of Jesus Christ. That's incredible for our first president to say that.
Listen, America cannot be the best and truest version of herself if Christians are in a state of compromise. If we're living in a state of compromise. Faith and obedience to God must be at the center of our nation if we want to flourish. At the center of our lives, at the center of our families, at the center of our businesses, at the center of our hobbies, at the center of everything we do should be God's glory. That's why God created us to bring us glory.
Did you know that? He did. And when you glorify him, when you worship him, when you surrender your needs and put his needs above your own and his glory ahead of your own, that is when you find the truest sense of peace, the truest sense of fulfillment, and the truest sense of joy and life. You are fulfilling the purpose for which you were created when you glorify God, when you seek to bring him joy rather than just yourself, right? It's been said: if you aim at earth, you get neither earth nor heaven.
But when you aim at heaven, you get earth thrown in as well. We need to have Christ at the center of everything. But it starts with us. Because what we tolerate in our own temples, right? We're the temple of the living God.
Jesus said, Tear this temple down, and in three days I will raise it up. And he says that we are now the temple of God. The Holy Spirit dwells within us. There is no temple. There is no temple in Jerusalem today.
They have a wall, like a retaining wall that was not even touching the temple. That's the closest thing that they have. And they go and they wail at it. We don't have to wail today because we have the Spirit of the Living God living inside of us. And so, what we tolerate inside of our temples.
It matters. What we tolerate in our temple matters. It will eventually corrupt everything around us if we allow it to be adulterated one table at a time, one stronghold after another. What we allow in private will always become public. What you allow in your private life will always come out into the light.
The Bible talks about this. The Bible is very clear, what you allow in your private life will always become public.
Now, many of you know about the Jesus Revolution. You've heard about it. There was a movie made about it that chronicles basically the last great American revival that took place in the late 1960s, early 1970s. And it tells it through the lens of a young man named Greg Laurie, who happens to be my dad and the pastor of this church. And it's a great movie if you haven't seen it.
But basically there was a pastor Of a dwindling church in Southern California in Costa Mesa, just down the street from where I'm standing right now, where we are. And the church was called Calvary Chapel. And it was an aging congregation, and they had a decision to make. They could either let these young people in as they were, which were the hippies, or they could continue to do things the way that they've always done them.
Well, they made the decision to open the doors to the hippies. Chuck famously washed the feet of the hippies as they came into the church and allowed them to come in barefoot. And that changed everything. It changed absolutely everything. As a result of that, my dad came to Christ.
My dad came to be a pastor and teach, and of course, this church launched out of it as a result. But a few years after Chuck went to heaven, my dad asked Chuck. If he thought we would ever see another Jesus movement, Chuck is today. Kind of known as a really significant figure, even being called the father of the Jesus movement, because he made this very impactful decision and incredible spiritual fruit has come out of his ministry. My dad asked Chuck to This question.
He said, Chuck, do you think we'll ever see another Jesus movement? Do you think we'll ever see another spiritual revival in America? And Chuck said to my dad, I don't know, Greg, I don't know if we are desperate enough. I think that's really true. Listen, you don't have to be a genius to see that there's conflict in America.
That we're divided, things are polarized, they're black, we're white, we're black, they're white. You know, it's just right down the middle, we can't agree on anything. Anyone can see that, but that's only the first step to the problem. Do you care enough to do something about it? Are you desperate enough to actually take action?
And what can you do? 2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their sin, then I will forgive their sin and heal their land. Listen, this is what we are to do. Are we desperate enough?
Jesus was. He was desperate enough to weep. and ride into a city that rejected him. He was desperate enough to go right to the heart and go to the temple. He was desperate enough to walk into that building when nobody else had the courage to.
Now it's important to know that this was actually the second time Jesus cleansed the temple. The first time Jesus cleansed the temple at the very beginning of his ministry. You remember that's when he fastened the whip of cords and literally made a whip and he was whipping people and whipping the money changers and flipping tables over, and coins are rolling, and you know, guys are running out. And he did it a second time at the end of his ministry, the end of his earthly ministry. Yeah.
Now it's important to note that the reason Jesus was so upset about this is not because they were selling like t-shirts you know Passover AD 33, like, you know, their little shirt with like a Jewish flag or something. It's not that they were like selling merchandise or selling water bottles. Like, oh, we have a bookstore, Pastor Jonathan. Like, are we like, would Jesus be very happy with that? Here's what they were doing.
Basically, the religious leaders of the day were being a burden for people to come and worship the Lord. As pilgrims came and wanted to celebrate in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, which, of course, was when the people of the Israelites were liberated from Egypt, right? Moses came and all of that happened, the plagues and everything. This was a feast, to remember that, the greatest of all the feasts. And so Jewish pilgrims would come from all over the world.
To Israel, to Jerusalem, to celebrate this. And they would bring with them an animal to sacrifice to the Lord.
Now, God asked for the first fruit.
So, if you were a farmer or you, you know, bred sheep and you had a litter of sheep, I don't know if you call it a litter of sheep, but you have a bunch of sheep. You would take the first and you would take the best sheep and you would set it aside. And you would say, That's the Lord's sheep. We're not gonna sell it, we're not gonna eat it, we're not gonna use it for our purposes, we're gonna set it aside for the Lord.
Now, that would have an economic impact on you, right? That little extra money could help you get ahead in life.
So, this was a sacrifice. People would set that animal aside. They would hand feed it. They'd name it. It'd be more like a pet than anything, right?
It'd sit at the table with them. That's the Lord's sheep. And then, when Passover time came around, they would bring that little sheep with them. The whole family helped raise it. And they would bring it to the priest at the temple, and they would say, Here's our sacrifice that we're giving to the Lord today.
This is what outraged Jesus so much. The temple leaders would take that sheep sometimes and they would say, Oh, see, this lamb, it's not the right kind of lamb. Or this lamb, you see this little blemish over here, it's got like this little chipped nail on the bottom here. We can't sacrifice this lamb. And so, what we'll do is we'll buy this lamb from you for, you know, one-tenth of what it's actually worth, and we'll buy it from you, and then we'll sell you one of our hiked-up lambs.
It's injected with steroids and Botox, and you know, the fur is bleached and it's perfect. And we scraped off some of those imperfections with the razor blade earlier, and you know, you won't even notice. And we'll sell it to you for three times the price. And so they were gouging people. They were taking advantage.
They were being a barrier from people to go and worship the Lord. Or they would come in with their foreign currency and they wanted to go and buy a pigeon or they wanted to buy a sheep. And as they came in with their currency, they'd say, oh, well, the normal exchange rate is, you know. $1 to $1.50 is the exchange rate normally.
Well, right now it's $1 to $3.
Okay, so they're just completely gouging people. This is what upset Jesus so greatly. They were taking advantage of people. And so he went into the temple, which had been compromised, and he flipped all the tables over and he cleaned the house again for a second time. Because Jesus wasn't done with his people.
His work wasn't done. And I want to tell you today: he's not done with this country either. He's not done with us today. God has not forgotten the prayers. of the pilgrims who landed on these shores.
He has not forgotten the 55 men in Philadelphia who stopped arguing and bowed their heads and asked God for his help and invited his intervention. America is not an accident, and her best days will not be determined in Washington. They will be determined by all of us. Because a nation of cleansed temples is an unstoppable nation. A church committed to prayer is more powerful than any army.
And a people who are desperate enough to say, as the psalmist said in Psalm 139, search me, O God. And know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way within me, and lead me in the way of everlasting. Are you desperate enough to say that. Yeah, we all can identify the problems. Are you desperate enough to do something about it?
Are you desperate enough to say, yes, Lord? Change me, purify this temple, cleanse me from anything that is making you. A second position in my life. Remove that thing. Are you desperate enough to say that?
And I want to ask you in closing, do you need your temple cleanse? I'll say it. Yes, I do. We all do. We all need our temple cleansed.
We all have sin in our life. We all have things that we could be delivered from and need God's intervention in. Yeah.
Each and every one of us, we need our temple cleansed. A lot of times when we first come to Christ, it's like the first time He cleanses the temple, He removes all that stuff. We're a new creation, brand new, blank slate. It's incredible. But as time goes on, some of that stuff comes creeping back in and it's a distraction and it tears you down and it ultimately distracts you from God.
You need your temple cleansed. Are you willing enough to say, Yes, Lord? Search me. Know my heart, try me, know my thoughts. Is there any wicked way in me?
Show me the way of everlasting. We all need to pray that prayer as believers. But as we close now. Maybe there's some here today who have never had their temple cleansed. They've never been forgiven of their sin.
They've never put their faith in Jesus Christ. And you're walking around today with a burden of guilt and shame that you were not designed to carry around with you. The things that you've done, the sins that you've committed, they're keeping you from God. But this is the good news: Jesus came for your sin. Jesus came for you.
That was the problem that he came for. That was the very heart of the matter. He knew we couldn't have anything good if. We were not first made right with Him. Would you like to have that?
Would you like to know that when you die, you can go to heaven? You can. You can walk out of here a brand new person, a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, If any man is in Christ, they are an altogether new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.
God can do that for you today. He can make you a new creation. Let's pray now. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these truths that we find in Scripture.
Lord, as our heart is to live in a prosperous nation, a good nation, a true nation that is. Free from corruption and free from moral rot and decay, Lord, our heart. Our request, Lord, is that you would intervene. We look to you. You are the only curse and you are the only thing that can come and fix this.
And bring resolution, Lord, so that we, for the sake of our children and grandchildren and descendants on in the future, will be able to survive and thrive and ultimately worship you freely, Lord. Intervene. Step in. Start with us, Lord. Purify us as a people.
Lord, anything that's within us that is impure, remove it from our lives. Bring our attention to it. Bring it up to the top of our minds even now. That sin we struggle with, that thing that we spend too much time doing, that passion, that vice that's got a hold of us that we can't get free from. Lord, help us to take action.
To remove that, to be free from it, because Lord, you came to set us free. We should not re-enslave ourselves to these things. Help us, Lord. And when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, and we're praying together. If you've never put your faith in Jesus Christ today, And you would like to have that.
You can. This 4th of July weekend, you wanna talk about the best thing you could do for our country? It's actually to put your faith in God, but more importantly, for you to have the hope of heaven. To not be sent to hell because you rejected Jesus. Do not head to destruction.
Because you rejected Jesus like the people in Jerusalem did over 2,000 years ago. You can have the hope of heaven today. You can be forgiven of your sin, and you can have life and life more abundantly, which is why Jesus came, his own mission statement: I came to give life and life more abundantly. He'll do that for you. Would you like that?
If so, wherever you are, if you're watching here, Harvest Orange County, on the island of Maui, Harvest Riverside, wherever you might be, at a later date, even. You pray this now. Pray this out loud. Say this: Dear God. I know that I'm a sinner.
But I know that Jesus is the Saviour. Who died on the cross for my sin? And I turn from my sin now. From this moment forward. I look to you as the Lord of my life.
Lord, would you help me to walk with you? and to know your voice. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Make me a new creation. take this burden of sin and shame.
Today. In Jesus' name I ask. Amen. Amen. God bless you that prayed that just now.
Congratulations. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it, just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on know God. Mm.
