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?
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!
Blessings
J.P.
Olson
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