Where do we start? That’s usually the first
question that comes to mind. And if we would dare look at the Mount Mess that
the House of God has become, we would have to ask ourselves that very same question.
I mean, how did we allow so much of the world to get into our worship? What
happened to our pure motives and intentions? What happened to living right,
clean, godly and holy? What happened to sacred garments and sacred music? When did pollution enter our praise and
repentance exit our prayers? When did it become acceptable to dress any kind of
way, talk any kind of way, act any kind of way and live any kind of way? When
did it become okay to curse, steal and lie in the House of God? When did we start
justifying fornication and adultery as “strongholds and struggles”? When did
pride, arrogance, conceit, comparisons and competition become the order of the
day? When did slander, mockery, rumors, gossip, belittling, and backbiting get
approved in the House? When did taking money out of the House become more
important than sowing tithe and offering in it? Who gave the green light for the preachers
to be posted and propped up on pedestals, with cushioned strategically placed
seating? When did God become a visitor in His own House, while pomp and
circumstance moved permanently in? When did the House of God become so filthy?
And who will be the ones to clean it up?
Since we learn by repetition, let’s take a look at our text shall
we? John 2:13-17, “When the
Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place,
Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling
cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.
Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out the
Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan
sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants; “Get your
things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!”
That’s when His disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for Your house
consumes me.” (MSG)
Notice what Jesus first act is. It's not a miracle, it's not a healing, and
it's not a sermon. It's an attack against what's being done in God's
House!
Now, you and I are
living in a world that morally resembles an un-cleaned garage – it’s a
spiritual mess! But it's not the world that's supposed to have a clean
standard, it's the church! So,
when do we start cleaning, and where are we going to start cleaning?
Well, being that Jesus’ reaction was so extreme, might I suggest we Start By Cleaning Up Our Father’s House
First? After all, that's where
Jesus started! And according to the Word of God, that’s where it will always
start!
Listen to 1 Peter 4:17, "For the time has
come for judgment to BEGIN at THE HOUSE OF GOD…" (NKJV)
Now, I know there are a
great deal we as believers can do to help to improve this world and make it a
better place. But we can’t clean the outside of the cup and leave the inside
dirty; nor can we clean up the world while the House of God is filthy! Our God
has Set the Standard, and the Standard is Order!
1 Corinthians 14:33, “For…God is NOT a God
of confusion and disorder but of peace and ORDER. AS [IS THE PRACTICE] IN ALL
THE CHURCHES OF THE SAINTS (GOD’S PEOPLE)” (AMPC)
Haven’t we been holding on to this “form” long enough?
Looking regal on the outside while rotting on the inside. Trying to build up
the world while the House of God is demolished by our own hands. Propping up
the world, while the Standards of the House of God fall down.
See, we've become amazingly casual about sin. Oh, we're against it,
but we flirt with it and we see how close we can get to it. We read about it,
we watch it being portrayed, we laugh about it, and we allow creeping
compromise to erode what was once a much higher standard in our lives just a
short time ago. But Jesus however,
takes a whip to what should not be tolerated in His Father’s House, and guess
what? Just as the physical building we go to, to attend church; WE are also the
Temple of God! We are also His House! So while we’re cleaning up the building,
let us not forget to also clean our temple too!
THE WHOLE WORKS. SO LET
PEOPLE SEE GOD IN AND THROUGH YOUR BODY.” (MSG)
Sounds like we’ve got a
lot of cleaning to do! The House of God (the building) and the Temple of God
(us) both need some serious cleaning up and out!
The performance needs
to be whipped out of the House of God and the perverseness needs to be whipped
out of the Temple of God! Bad attitudes; poor communication; vengefulness;
spitefulness; anger; deceit; bitterness; resentment and the like all need to be
whipped out of the House of God! Bad decisions; ungodliness; addictions;
habits; unhealthy thoughts; disrespectful speech; dishonoring conduct; wrongful
emotions; unforgiveness; illicit sexual behavior all need to be whipped out of
the Temple of God…Us!
The House of God needs
to look like the House of God, and not one that Rents out Rooms to the World to
live in!
Jesus didn’t tell them
to just stop what they were doing, but listen: “…He told the dove merchants
“Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping
mall!” They Were Put Out the House! And men, you need to be just as diligent
about your Father’s House. Don’t let anyone come in the House of God and think
they can do anything they please. Let them know as soon as they cross over the
threshold, you can come as you are, but you can’t stay that way! Lift the
standards in the House that compromise will not be tolerated; disrespect will
not be tolerated; dressing any kind of way will not be tolerated; talking and
acting and living any kind of way will not be tolerated.
Remember, He’s coming
back for ONE Body, ONE House, ONE Church, and anything or anyone Unclean and
Unholy Will Not Be in the Number!
It's time we get clean and stay clean! His Standard is Order; Therefore, Our Standard
is Order! And Cleaning House Begins With His House! We Need to Clean From the
INSIDE…Out!
Will you take on the responsibility for
raising the standards in the House of God, and making sure that no one comes in
to lower them? Will you be the one to set the example of proper leadership in
the House (even if you don’t receive a title)? Will you be the one to call sin,
sin? Will you be the one to address those who are out of order in the House?
Will you be bold enough to confront, correct, and chastise? Will you be the Body
of Christ that lends its Members to the Housework of Cleaning Up the House of
God?
Let today be the day
that we Clean House, and watch what happens when Order becomes the Order of the
Day again!
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