John Chapter 2:13-22

Guys, we can't place obstacles in the way of somebody that's searching and seeking and looking for the Lord.

There's enough there already with fear and doubt and yet what do we do? We add a bunch, don't we? Suits and ties. Suits and ties are fun. If you want to wear a suit and tie here, wear a suit and tie. Praise God. Just don't make wearing a suit and a tie an obstacle to coming to God. Now, let's go to the other extreme. If you come in here with t-shirts and shorts and flip flops, praise God. Great. I'm just glad you're here. But don't make that an obstacle in coming to the Lord.

You understand it works both ways? Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. And we're glad to have one of David McGee's associate pastors, D.A.

Brown, here with us as Pastor David continues through the book of John. Bob, it's important that we don't add traditions to what Jesus has said the gospel is. And that's simply believing that he died for us. And you know, sometimes we want to communicate so much more than the simplicity of the gospel to people. And yet it doesn't help.

And it may be inappropriate. For sure, it could lead them completely astray. Following Jesus doesn't get more and more complex. It gets more simple, loving him and loving others. So let's listen as David McGee helps encourage us and others as he continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John chapter 2. Verse 13. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and the moneychangers doing business. And when he had made a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with a sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers money and overturned the tables.

This is interesting. One thing that's interesting that I didn't see until I was really digging in these verses is the way 15 opens up verse 15. It says when he had made a whip of cords, understand something. Jesus was sitting there watching them as he was making this whip. This wasn't done in a heated moment. He sat there watching them, doing the court, waiting. He didn't do it out of impulse.

He sat there with thought, with planning, probably praying. As I read this story as a young Christian, it was interesting to me because, you know, this, the pictures they have of Jesus, and he always is very, I don't know, he's very meek looking, isn't he? And I don't know, I've not seen a lot of carpenters that really look that way. And to be honest, some of those paintings, they're not, guys, they weren't painted by Matthew. Don't think these are actual paintings. These are renderings, if you will. Because some of those paintings, if I saw this guy with a cord in the temple, I wouldn't be freaked out in the least.

So maybe he looked a little different. And you know what? This radically upsets the apple cart of some people's view of Christianity, doesn't it? Oh, Christianity is just about getting along with everybody, about being nice. That's what Christianity is about.

Well, obviously not. Jesus sitting in there trying to get along with everybody. He's mad. He's upset. He's angered.

He's, we use the word, righteously indignant. We're told by Paul in Romans chapter 12, verse 18, he says, if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Now, you know what I've decided? With some people, it's not possible. I want to live peaceably with all men, like Paul talks about here.

But you know what? I am not willing to sacrifice my peace with God in order to live peaceably with all men. And I don't think the Lord ever intends us to do that. You look at Matthew chapter 10, verse 34, Jesus says, do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. And you know, I often joke, when's the last time you saw that on a Christmas card?

It's been a while, hasn't it? But these, this is the words of Jesus. This is what Jesus said. And the reality is, is when you are living for the Lord, I mean, full gonzo, 24 seven, living for God, it will put you at odds with some people.

Not intentionally. You don't have to go out of your way. Don't be mean and spiteful to show them what a radical Christian you are.

You don't need to do that. Some people think they need to do that. And they're very, they're rude. And we're told in first Corinthians 13, you're not supposed to be rude.

You're supposed to love people, but that doesn't mean always getting along with everybody. Because what I've found as a pastor, you can say some things in such a way that you can guarantee some people will get offended about it, but you can also put it in a way, back it with scripture in which way they won't be offended by how you say it. They may be offended by what you say. They may be offended by the word of God. Verse 16, and he said to those who sold doves, take these things away.

Do not make my father's house, a house of merchandise. See these guys were setting up obstacles to approaching the Lord. You had to go through these guys in order to approach God and they had become obstacles. Guys, we can't place obstacles in the way of somebody that's searching and seeking and looking for the Lord. We can't do that. There's enough there already with fear and doubt, not understanding the gospel. There's enough already there that we don't need to add any. And yet what do we do? We add a bunch, don't we? We do.

Even here, we add them. And in other churches as well. You know, if, well, suits and ties. Suits and ties are fine. If you want to wear a suit and tie here, wear a suit and tie.

Praise God. Just don't make wearing a suit and a tie an obstacle to coming to God. Well, you're not dressed appropriately to come to the Lord.

I don't buy that. Now, let's go to the other extreme. If you come in here with t-shirts and shorts and flip-flops, praise God. Great.

I'm just glad you're here. But don't make that an obstacle in coming to the Lord. You understand it works both ways? Somebody with a tie can look at somebody in flip-flops and shorts and go, that's not right.

But then somebody with flip-flops and shorts can look at somebody in a tie and go, that's not right. Guys, there's plenty enough obstacles to go around without putting them in front of each other in between us and God. Now, and incidentally, this is not talking about having a bookstore or cafe in the church.

Okay. Can we get on the same page there? The reason we have the bookstore here and the cafe is to be a blessing to you guys. A lot of the materials that we have in there, you simply can't get at local bookstores. So we make those available. All the profits go into missionaries.

We're not doing it to make money, but to be a blessing and to help facilitate fellowship. There's something that's interesting here though, that as I was looking at this, talks about the temple, the literal temple. But there's a temple that's spoken about later on.

What is that? It's you and I. We are referred to as the temple. And while we get all offended and all upset about these money changers being in the temple, let me ask you a question. What's in your temple? Where are your priorities? Is your temple filled with materialism and money changers and profits and da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da? What's in your heart? What's important to you? Is it merchandise?

Is it stuff? Or is your temple filled with the Lord? Our enemy wants to rip us off. He's called a thief. He's come to kill, steal and destroy. And he wants to get your focus off of the Lord. He doesn't want your temple filled with the Lord. And see, we're warned a lot about this in scripture.

And you know what? God never warns us needlessly about anything. When you read a warning in scripture, apply it. Ask yourself, okay, this is in here and it's for me. Don't ever think, oh, this is for the other guy.

I don't have a problem with this. He warns us about getting our priorities out of whack. And yet how many of us have done the same thing? We have filled our temple with money changers. It brings us to the next life lesson. Don't fill your temple with money changers. Don't let stuff and materialism and merchandise become what your life is about. Because you know what?

At the end of it all, you will be sadly and sorely disappointed. Now, do I believe that a Christian can have stuff? Oh, you betcha. You betcha. He can have nice things.

But he has to be careful not to let stuff have him and not to get those priorities out of whack. Verse 17, then his disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house has eaten me up. Now, we are to be like Jesus. And let me ask you a question. Does that statement describe you this morning?

The zeal for your house, Lord, has eaten me up. Do you have a zeal and a passion to be here on Sunday morning? I know some of you do. And reality is some of you do not. Now, how do I understand that sometimes it's hard to get here?

But you know what? Spiritually speaking, it's one of the easiest things you can do to help change your life. It's one question that I ask people when they say they're struggling. I'm struggling. Well, are you in fellowship?

Well, no. Well, that's probably part of the problem because you need to be taught the Word of God. You need the encouragement that comes in the body in fellowship and with one another. Psalm 122 verse 1 says, I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. It's important.

And this is the next life lesson. It is important for Christians to go to a Bible teaching church. Bible teaching church. Not just a teaching church. A Bible teaching church. Not just saying you believe it, but actually teaching it.

And not just teaching, you know, men are from Mars, women are from Venus stuff, but teaching the Bible. I get a hoot. I laugh out loud, driving down the road and looking at these, you know, these marquees outside of churches sometimes.

It just puzzles me. And sometimes I want to cry. And you know what? If you're visiting here this morning, we'd love for you to prayerfully consider calling this your church home. We want to pray for you.

We want to love you with the love that the Lord has shown to us. But you need to be somewhere on a regular basis. If it's not here, go find that place and get plugged in and start serving and learn the word of God. And if you're listening on the radio or the internet or television, you need to be in church on a regular basis. We'd love to have you here, but you know, if here is too far, then call us and we'll refer you to a Bible teaching church in your area.

Because guys, the reality is there's a lot of false teachers out there. There's a lot of people that aren't teaching the word of God. And that's, you know, that's what Jesus is in part up in arms of the merchandising and the way they had ceased to be shepherds. Now verse 18, so the Jews answered and said to him, what sign do you show to us since you do these things? Hmm. That's interesting. Scripture talks about people who desire to see signs to build their faith or to validate ministries.

And it doesn't speak highly of them. Now I know some people that judge ministries like that. You know, if there's a lot of stuff at the end of the service, if, you know, people are getting prayed for and fallen over, or they're doing other things, oh, that's good ministry. It's good ministry.

People judge by apparent signs and wonders. I've even been in a service where we had, we had like 10 or 12 people. It was, where was it?

Somewhere in Texas, El Paso, Texas. We had about 10 or 12 people at the end of the teaching that came forward and got saved. And I actually had a couple saying, you know what? We don't see a lot of ministry happening. And I said, what are you talking about? They said, you know, where you pray for people and they fall down under the power. I said, 12 people that were going to hell are not going to hell anymore. And you can't see the ministry in that? You can't see the miraculous in that?

See, why does the Bible speak about these things? Because if you use that as the primary litmus test of a ministry, you're going to be duped. You're going to be deceived.

Don't take my word for it. The Bible tells you that it's going to happen. There's going to be lying signs and wonders. And if you base what you see in a ministry on that, you're going to be duped. When I look at a ministry, it's always interesting to see the miraculous, see people getting saved, lives being changed, but also look at the fruit of the ministry. And I look to see their adherence to biblical doctrine, the sound teaching. And guys, if there's ever a time in history that you need to be careful, it's now.

Because there's a lot of whacked out stuff that's out there. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, Bob, we want to pray for some listeners today in these California cities, Maple Creek, Mariposa, Marysville, Mount Shasta, Muscogee, Napa, and North San Juan. God, we thank you for the people living in these cities and those tuning in today. Lord, we pray that they would get excited about following you. Lord, that they would use that excitement to be a blessing and love other people, that they would get plugged into godly churches. And we pray for the pastors in these cities, that you would give them wisdom and discernment, how to lead their flocks and point them to your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. In verse 19, Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days. But he was speaking of the temple of his body. This kind of goes with that thing of talking about our temple and the temple and having merchants in our temple. Jesus is comparing the temple there to his temple of his body. And notice he says, I will raise it up.

I will raise it up. Do you understand? See, we are so familiar with this fact, we don't even really stop to ponder it. Jesus is saying here, You guys will kill me, but I will not stay dead. Do you understand the powerful significance of it? Nobody else in history has ever said that to anybody.

It had to get their attention. I mean, if I sat here this morning and said, Look, guys, you know, I'm going to be killed in a car wreck this afternoon, but it's all right. You know, I'm not going to miss Thursday night. You'd be, you'd be, Well, that's interesting. He said, I will not stay dead.

I will raise it up. I'll be speaking of his body. Now look at this, guys. Early on, Jesus was acknowledging what he was here to do. The cross was not some accident or some political tragedy, if you will.

Not happenstance. This was the plan of God from the beginning, from the moment he was born, even before that. He was here for a purpose, to die for you and I. Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus came to pay a price he did not owe because we owed a price that we could not pay. And it's also interesting that with his resurrection, Jesus signaled the end of the temple sacrifices. Now he didn't throw away the whole Old Testament. He didn't throw away the whole Hebrew Scriptures, but he did away with the sacrifices.

They were a picture pointing to Jesus Christ. Verse 22, Therefore, when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them, and they believed the Scripture in the word which Jesus had said. Believed the Scripture. They believed the Scripture.

You understand that some people have a vested interest. Some people have a reason for not believing the Bible. Because if they believe it, they will recognize that they are a sinner or living in sin and that they need a Messiah. They need a Savior. They need to turn to him to ask for their forgiveness of sins. So they have a reason not to believe it.

But you know what? Guys, you can believe it. You can believe the word of God. You can trust this book. I have dug in this book.

I've looked in the original languages. I've seen historical stuff, archaeological stuff, and this has proven to me to be the literal, incorruptible, supernatural word of God beyond a shadow of a doubt. And if I'm going to doubt somebody, it's going to be these liberal Bible scholars. And again, if you're going to doubt somebody, you know what? Guys, be careful.

Be careful. Be careful about stuff you hear on the Discover Channel. Just because you see it on Discover Channel does not mean it's true. Or the History Channel.

Or, well, let's go through them, CBS, ABC, NBC. Because I've heard guys on there, and my wife keeps a lot of pillows around me while I watch television. I've heard guys on there just blatantly, I mean, if they've done any research at all, they know they're lying. Now, perhaps they've either not done the research or they're lying.

I'm not sure which. But I've heard them say things that we have proof against or proof for, literary proof, historical proof, archaeological proof, that if they dug just a little bit, they would know. So if you're going to view something with skepticism, view these shows with a great deal of it. Which brings us to our last life lesson. Our Christian faith is built upon the assurance that the Bible is the Word of God. It's simple, but it's true. Our Christian faith is built upon the assurance that the Bible is the Word of God. And it is, guys.

It is. Jesus does something interesting in this chapter. First of all, He changes something miraculously. The earthen vessels, the pots.

Remember we talked about that last week. We're earthen vessels. We're earthen vessels.

We're compared to pottery. And then what does He do? Then He cleanses the temple.

Guess what? We're compared to the temple. Why is that significant?

I want you to notice the order. It doesn't say He cleansed the temple and then He changed the pot. Guys, we get Christianity backwards a lot. You realize that? Somebody says, hey, what do you got to do to become a Christian? Well, you got to quit smoking, quit drinking, quit chewing, quit dancing.

We give them all this stuff they got to quit doing. You know what? That's beside the point. If you do all that, you still have not become a Christian. You haven't. This stand right here, do you realize this stand will never drink or smoke dope? You're going, man, this guy is bizarre. My point is, is this stand a Christian?

No. But you know what? It's always in church.

Never misses a service. But it's not a Christian. Being a Christian is much more than those things. Being a Christian is coming to Jesus Christ and asking Him to forgive you of your sins because without Him, you don't have a hope.

You don't have a prayer. And then once you come to Him, He begins to cleanse your life. He begins to change your life. But a lot of us look for that cleansing and that changing to take place before we come to Him. Friend, it doesn't happen like that. Do you get cleaned up to take a shower? Please say no. Right.

Why? Because taking a shower cleans you up. It's the same thing with coming to Jesus. You don't get cleaned up to come to Jesus. You come to Jesus and Jesus changes you and Jesus cleanses you. And if you could do it in your own strength and in your own power, wouldn't you have done that a long time ago, changed your own life?

But the reality is we can't. We need Jesus to change us. That's the good news, that He's willing to change us, that He's willing to forgive us. Whatever you've done, friend, wherever you've been, whatever has happened, Jesus is here this morning desiring for you to come to Him and desiring to forgive you of your sins. And the only question is, are you willing? Maybe you're thinking, I got to get my life in order. I got to get cleaned up before I can come to God. No, you come to God this morning and God will begin to change your life. I promise you. And if you wait to get cleaned up to come to God, how clean will you have to be?

How long will you have to wait? Some of you are carrying things that you're not meant to carry. You're carrying sins that you should let go and give to God. But again, the question is, are you willing? That's the good news, guys, that Jesus Christ is ready, willing, and able to forgive you of your sins. But if you're unwilling to ask Him, He will not violate your free will.

And so you have a decision to either allow the Lord to change you this morning or to walk out sadly, the same condition you walked in. That's not God's desire for any of us. He desires us to ask Him for the forgiveness of our sins, not just once.

Oh, it starts there, but time and time again. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for Your willingness to forgive us. We thank You for Your provision to forgive us. And Lord, it is Your desire that none should perish but that we would have abundant life, that we would have eternal life. And Lord, You desire to give it to us this morning. If we will just call on Your name, turn from our ways to Your ways, turn from our sin to You. Doesn't mean we'll be perfect, doesn't mean we'll never mess up again, but it does mean that we will receive power to live for You.

And that's our desire. Lord, perhaps there's spouses, there's wives, there's husbands, there's marriages here this morning where there's some unforgiveness. Lord, we just ask that they would forgive one another, but they would first come to You and ask for that. Lord, we know there's many voices, there's many tuggings on our heart this morning that will tell us not to receive the forgiveness of our sins, but that voice or those voices are not our friends. Lord, You proved Your love for us and dying for us. And Lord, if we want to show our love for You, we can do it in a very practical way by asking You this morning to forgive us of our sins.

In Jesus' name, I'll just stay in prayer. If you're a believer and you don't feel the need, you've even this morning asked the Lord to forgive you, let me ask you to be praying right now because there's people in this room right now that don't know, they're not sure. Jesus stands here waiting for you to come and ask Him to forgive you. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short simple prayer simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life and I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days in Jesus' name. Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven, you've been born again.

Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him and He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117 and share how God is working in your life. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. That sounds good, Pastor DA, and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? Thanks again for listening and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.