Experience TRUTH - #17

Nakita Kolov, the Russian nightmare.

No, the devil's nightmare here. From it's time to man up. Challenging men to step into their true manhood. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it.

Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. I'm so glad you're here. We're working our way through the book of Luke. This is a scripture we've been going through in a weekly men's group that I lead called Wednesday in the Word, that's actually at all seven dairy locations. And dairy is a restaurant in North Carolina, an amazing food chain owned by believers that allow a bunch of men to invade every Wednesday morning.

They feed us breakfast, and you're invited if you're ever in North Carolina and near a dairy Wednesday morning at 8 o'clock. We get in the Word together, we're going through Luke, and a bunch of guys, different guys besides myself, lead these groups because I can't be in all those places at once. This week we are in Luke chapter 19, and we'll focus in on verses 45 through 48. And with me is one of my mentors, man of God, talk show host. He does it all. He produces, he speaks, he leads, he prays, he preaches. He's about to write a book, which we're excited about. But Robbie, tell us, read this passage with us.

And thanks, by the way, for being on with us today. Alright, this one is Jesus Cleanses the Temple, and Luke 45 is where we'll begin at the end of the chapter. Then he 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've 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. Wow. So let's pick this up right here, Robbie, this question that we kind of left off with last week, and let's plumb deeper in that. What led Jesus to such a radical cleansing of the temple?

Wow. So, he did this earlier in his ministry. We have this range of emotions. This hosanna, as he comes into the city, we have just the hate and bitterness of the Pharisees who say, Teach or rebuke your disciples. We have the weeping of Jesus when he looks over the city, and he pronounces this horrible prophecy of the city is going to be destroyed. They missed their visitation.

They missed the very one that they were there for, the very one that came to deliver. So then he goes into their place of worship, and he finds it so far away from its purpose. He finds so many things going on.

What did he find? He's indignant. He's angry. It's a holy anger.

This is not the feminine, meek, and mild-mannered Jesus that so many have portrayed him as, that they have feminized him into. By the way, Robbie, just to clarify, not all temple trade was bad. If we look at our text, it basically says he began to drive out those who bought and sold in it.

So he's driving people out who are buying and selling. Not all buying and selling in the temple is bad per se. People have come great distances to sacrifice for Passover.

They've got to have something to sacrifice. And if you came from Ethiopia, or came from Libya, Tripoli, like Simon who we'll meet later in Luke, who comes from Cyrene, you've come maybe 800 miles. You may not be able to bring animals for your whole family and your whole contingent with you that far. So it's good, but it's bad when you have, listen to this, money changers. So you've got your currency from Africa. Well, they don't accept that currency here. So they would charge two major points of abuse on these pilgrims coming from afar, thousands of pilgrims. One is they would charge excessive exchange rates as high as ten times what it would cost for someone just to buy a... Now, Robbie, you're thinking, this is like popcorn in the movie theater.

Man, I can whip up my one dollar microwave popcorn, it tastes just as good, and it's not going to be twenty dollars, right? But take advantage of the worshippers. Only the Jewish currency worked, so they exploited these people on the tens of thousands of people coming from abroad. Number two, animal sales. So these same extortionists would add, first of all, they added extra biblical requirements on the animals, beyond just the Exodus 12. Male, lamb, without blemish, firstborn lamb, nothing broken, all that stuff.

They would add all kinds of requirements on top of that, so they set up this racket. So they required pilgrims to pay many, many times the worth of the lamb or the ox or the doves or turtle doves. Those that were poor people would buy turtle doves.

As in the case of Jesus' family, Mary and Joseph, they didn't have a lot of money, so they sacrificed doves. So, this is all happening where? In the house of God. In the court of the Gentiles.

Well, that's why is that there? Well, there were a lot of these Gentile proselytes that came. So what does it say to people coming, who were trying to bring into the faith, when we're shaking them down? Before they even get into the faith, we're hosing them for every penny they can get.

So this was a multi-acre area outside the temple. This was meant to be an area of witness and outreach, yet it was a staging area for these so-called people of God to be merchandisers and to be literally trading on God's goodness and ripping people off. So Jesus said these words, My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves, literally a den of brigands. And, Robbie, this is the height of, really, blasphemy. And here Jesus Christ is confronted with it, and his heart is breaking, and he is angry, and he's driving him out, turning tables over. What about that? Well, the Jewish concept of sonship is house builder.

Ben, which means bet, house, and then a nun, which would mean builder. So the whole idea is that God would have a place that he would be able to fellowship with his people. And here he is, right? And these people are consumed with things, whatever they are. They're not simply putting their attention on their moment again. Here he is, he's arrived to his house, and he's the house builder, he's the guy.

And these people are more concerned about their wallets than they are about. You know, what an opportunity they have. And it really is, can you imagine? You actually had an opportunity to have Jesus in your church? There he is right there. And he's, you know, they don't recognize him. So I asked our group of men at Dario at Wednesday in the Word, I said, hey, what if Jesus showed up at your church, what would happen?

And a bunch of them said, we wouldn't know who he was. And a bunch of them, you know, would he fit right in? Would he join in in the worship?

Would he be the star of the show? Is he central? When your pastor preaches, does Jesus ever come up? Does it begin with him, and focus on him, and end with him? Are people, is Jesus glorified? Is he made much of? Is the beauty of the essence of who Jesus Christ is central to your pastor's preaching in Christ's Word?

Or is it all about the shtick and the entertainment? And let's dumb down the doctrine so we can... Look at this right here, read this question. This kind of hones into the heart of it. How could the temple slash church become so corrupt and such a big business instead of a light to the Gentiles? So there were to be a light to the Gentiles, a city set on a hill. Everyone says, well, Reagan said that. Well, Reagan was quoting the Bible, for Pete's sake, when he was talking about America and how America is such a bright light.

And yes, America sent a ton of missionaries, and yes, America has been a real source of good for our world. But this is Jerusalem. This is the City of God. This is the King of Peace, Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, the Prophesied One, the Messiah.

He is here. The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. But the temple's not silent. You've got the sound of animals.

You've got the sound of money being exchanged. You've got people being ripped off, people being hosed down. You're not going to sacrifice to the living God unless you pay the man, unless you pay the toll. Horrible stuff happening in the name of God, Robbie.

Maybe there's a relation to our modern culture today. I don't want anybody to miss that, from my standpoint, who Satan is really behind so much of this, and what has got Jesus so angry is he has robbed, I mean, all the people. Because our battle isn't against flesh and blood, and Jesus is actually trying to get these people's attention so that they will, in fact, repent because the times are coming. And so this isn't an act, it's still an act of love, but the battle is actually against a different enemy than you may think. It's not the Pharisees. It's not the money changers that he's actually taken on here. It's the real thief.

That's exactly right. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Wrap us up with these key questions here, Robbie, will you? So, what would happen if Jesus showed up at your church? What areas of life may need cleaning out by Jesus? And what was the day of visitation in your life when he became your everything?

Yeah, that's a sweet question. When was that moment where you were confronted with the reality of heaven and hell? That this life is not about the money and the materials and the name and the fame and the game and all this other stuff. That there's an emptiness in me that none of that stuff can fix. Some of the most unhappy people on this planet are people with the highest net worth, the most successful. Guys that are retired that have made all their money in pro sports, they're all getting high all the time.

Why? Because they're empty. They're trying to get back to where they were.

Either you're trying to get to where you want to go or you're trying to get back to where you were. But in all of this, even in religion, even in the name of people in this temple that are supposed to have the answers, they're supposed to have it figured out. And imagine all the people going to the temple from all over the world as two to three million people would invade Jerusalem each Passover feast. Pilgrims from all over the world seeking to worship their God. And yet it's about everything else but Jesus Christ.

And that set Him off. But there's also an invitation here. An invitation that's painful, Robbie. Am I willing to let the living Lord in to my mess, to my pain? Am I willing to let Him turn over the tables of the merchandising and the bargaining and the deceit and the pain, the wounds, the father wounds that you talk about on your program, The Master's Journey? Am I willing to let the living Lord in to cleanse the temple of my heart? Because when you do, everything changes, right? That's beautiful.

Absolutely. So, if our worship is not centered on Jesus and attractive to Jesus, it will never attract others to Jesus. So when He becomes the essence of why I live, why I breathe, the essence of my worship, when He is the dominant theme at your place of worship and in your life, your body's a temple, 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20, when He becomes the essence, guess what's going to happen? There's something beautiful that actually attracts others.

Because God made us to know Him. So how am I connecting with Him? The solution? Connect with Him. Let Him in.

Now it's going to be some painful. There's going to be some tables He needs to turn over, right? And go to a church that lifts up Jesus in everything they do that preaches the Word of God and takes you through the Word and ultimately points people to the living Lord. The only one who has a solution to any of our problems is Jesus Christ, who conquered death and He's coming again. They missed Him. Don't miss Him, because He is coming back, not to bring peace, but to bring judgment. Are you ready for the return of the King? Do you know Him? Seek the Lord while He may be found.

Call upon Him while He is near. Robbie, thanks for being on. Thank you everyone for joining us for Experience Truth.

We're out with that. Study and read God's Word. Share these truths with someone tonight before your head hits the pillow. This is the Word of God. It is rich.

It is quick and powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. And in the Word of God, we have the living Word of God, Jesus Christ. Don't just have a relationship with a Bible, a book. Have a relationship with its author. God Himself has revealed this to you. This is the Truth Network.