A Passion for His Work - Zeal for True Worship

Take your Bible this morning turn with me to John chapter 2. I'm John chapter 2 We're gonna be in verses 18 through 22 if you were keeping up with our Study our our verse by verse marks through John You know that we are in verses 18 through 22 and we are in our series Christ the Son of God believe and live and we are in our Almost our last message until we get to John chapter 3 now last week we were in our study we were in verses 13 through 17 and if you remember the Time of the message was a passion for his work But it was zeal for his house. You know the story.

It's when Jesus clears the temple he comes to Jerusalem verse 13 tells us and he goes to Jerusalem to worship he was at the Passover and He went up according to the scripture because every Jewish male 21 years and older was required to Go and attend the Passover and during the Passover there in Jerusalem there were thousands hundreds and Thousands hundreds and thousands of pilgrims from all over the world who were there to worship That's the context the background of the verses that we are looking at this morning now I explained to you and talked to you the significance of the Passover and some of that needs to be repeated Because we must hold on to the fact that this was the Passover when we venture into verses 18 through 22 Now the Passover was the most important festival our feast celebrated annually for the Jewish people Passover was important and you need to remember this it was important historically and spiritually historically this celebration commemorated God leading the Jewish people out of Egyptian slavery and Forming them into the nation the nation of Israel Exodus chapter 7 to chapter 11 tells us that God judged Egypt 10 times with 10 plagues and the last plague was the death of the firstborn God sent the death angel to kill the firstborn from the house of Pharaoh all the way down to the lowest slave Now some of you might ask a question why?

Why would a good God a good God that we love and serve why would a good God kill innocent babies? You must understand that Pharaoh refused to submit to God Pharaoh led his people in rebellion against God and God was judging Pharaoh the house of Pharaoh God was judging Egypt and they worshiped foreign gods and they would not bow down and humble themselves Before the one true God so God was judging the nation of Egypt and Pharaoh as well But the Jews were to follow God's instruction in this judgment the Jews were to slaughter a young male lamb one year old without blemish and They were to take that blood from that innocent lamb and they were to put it on the door post in the lintel of the house and they were to eat that Passover meal as instructed from the word within that home and About midnight when the death angel came through Egypt God would see the blood on the homes of the Jews and the death angel would literally pass over the homes and the houses of the people of God the Jews and After this 10th plague Pharaoh he allowed the Jews to leave Egypt and historically This was the deliverance of the Jews and it was the birth of the Jewish people as a nation the nation of Israel Now spiritually on the other hand, this was none other than propitiation the Substitutionary death they experienced that that little innocent lamb died and The blood was applied to them and the death angel passed over them.

That is the substitutionary death now in last week's message We saw that the title came from verse 17, which really is the quotation from Psalm 69 verse 9 His disciples remember this verse as they saw not just the actions of Christ, but they saw his heart They knew his heart he had an unconce an all-consuming zeal for the father's house And as he entered the temple for worship, he found the temple crowded with merchants selling animals for sacrifice as well as money changers in their tables and using a whip he drove them out of the temple in his desire to Purify his father's house so that he and the other people could enjoy now listen pure worship in the temple He had a zeal for the father's house I like the picture that MacArthur gave us I gave you this quote last week MacArthur says that the sound of heartfelt praise and fervent prayers had been drowned out by the balling of oxen the bleeding of sheep the cooing of doves and the loud haggling of vendors and their customers But on that day that sound was interrupted by the sound of a whip and the crashing of animals being driven from the temple There was the sound of men shouting possibly screaming to subdue this seeming out of place hooligan with a whip Obviously there was the sound of crashing tables and hundreds possibly thousands of coins being scattered to the floor No doubt there were the sounds of men who were rushing Maybe stamping away from this ruckus with Jesus cracking the whip on men and animal alike there would have been the sound of temple guards rushing to the scene to subdue this riotous commotion and Inquire of this one man who interrupted the most important time on the Jewish calendar Jesus had a zeal for the father's house But as we continue starting in verses 18 going down to verse 11 verse 22 We will see that he had a zeal now listen for true worship as well I Want to put the title of the message on the screen behind us and you'll see the main truths that we're going to look at Out of these verses and so the title of the message this morning is a passion for his work Which is zeal for true? worship a zeal for true worship we're going to go back and we're going to look at these other verses that we had last week and Then we're going to pick up in our verses for the morning because all of these verses go together They're really one message But yet we must divide them up because of time and also I want us to see that he had a zeal for the father's House and a zeal for true worship.

Let's look at the text together and The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus he went up to Jerusalem and he found in the temple Those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers Seated and he made a scourge or a whip of cords and he drove them out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen And he poured out the coins of the money changers and he overturned the tables and to those who were selling the doves He said take these things away stop making my father's house a house of merchandise His disciples remembered that it was written zeal for the house will consume me And here's where we will start this morning The Jews therefore answered and they said to him what sign do you show to us seeing that you do these things?

Jesus answered and he said to them destroy this temple and in three days I will rise it or raise it up the Jews therefore said it took 46 years to build this temple And will you raise it up in three days? But he was speaking of the temple of the sanctuary of his body When therefore he had raised from the dead his disciples remembered that he had said this and they believed the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken to them So we're going to look at several truths out of these verses and I would like for you to take notes I'd like you to remember these truths so that you can go study and you can get all that the Lord wants to give you You can learn all that the Lord wants to teach you for today and the days to come.

So let's look at the verses Let's notice number one the Jews they demanded a sign they demand demanded a Sign look at verse 18 the Jews therefore answered this is after he cleans the temple clear of the temple They said to him what sign do you show to us? Seeing that you do these things Now the Jews here see Noticing right here in verse 18 the Jews here.

They would have been the temple police not necessarily the religious leaders They would have represented the Jewish ruling authorities those who were called the Sanhedrin and they would have been sent to Investigate a matter such as this and they would have gone back to the Sanhedrin and they would have given a report So what we see is representatives of the Jewish leaders going and what are they saying? They are demanding a sign Now let's break these verses down first.

I want you to see they truly question his authority They question his authority the Jews therefore verse 18 says they said to him What sign do you show to us seeing that you do these things? The new American that I teach from the English standard that some of you have it reads the same thing now There's one translation out there. It's called the home and Christian standard It's a good translation. It's solid and it reads what sign of authority. Will you show us for doing these things? Both translations are accurate, but I like how the Holman uses the word authority.

Let me explain why these Representatives from the Sanhedrin they were not questioning Jesus for information They were questioning Jesus about his authority and what authority had for doing these things They were questioning his credentials They wanted proof They wanted a sign to prove that he had the authority to do the things that he did I guess in our language They would have been saying who in the world do you think you are?

Tell us by what right you have to do a thing such as this Now we do know the habit of the Jewish leaders They did want a sign but at the heart of their questioning They were questioning his authority and his credentials and they demanded a sign to prove who he was So they questioned his authority The second thing I want you to see out of verse 19 is that Jesus provided a sign Jesus answered and he said to them destroy this temple or this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up Now Jesus seems to give them a a mysterious answer Jesus was that was his habit truthfully in dealing with a religious leader now this response confused the Jewish authorities They didn't understand Jesus would speak in such a way many times where they did not Understand because he would speak of the spiritual and many times they would focus on the physical But in the original this word temple is literally sanctuary Jesus is referring to the true sanctuary for God now listen, which was his own purpose I Don't know if you know it, but I do speak and talk with my hands And if Jesus was speaking with his hands on that day what he would have said was he would have said Destroy this temple and in three days.

I will raise it up because he was not talking about the physical temple He was talking about the literal sanctuary of his own person And this is a response the Jewish leaders never understood and as a matter of fact They used it at the trial against him there were false Witnesses that accused him of saying that he would destroy the physical temple when he stood before the Sanhedrin Jesus is referring to his primary purpose and that was he came to die He came to be buried and on the third day. He would be raised to new life So what do we see Jesus did provide the sign?

He provided the sign when he went to the cross and he did die and he was raised again So they questioned his authority they questioned his credentials They wanted proof that would show the authority that he had to do these things and he did give them the sign But it was a sign they would not understand Now what do we see here in these verses After Jesus clears the temple the temple authorities demanded to know what authority he did such a riotous act They wanted proof they wanted signs. They wanted to see his credentials Well, Jesus did provide a sign, but they never understood it Now what will this mean for us?

How can this be applied to your life and my life? There are many people in the church today. They are just like the religious leaders. They are just like these these Representatives they want a sign but yet they refuse to acknowledge the sign that Jesus has provided Many people want Jesus to prove himself While ignoring the greatest sign the fact that he did go to the cross He did die and on the third day He was raised to life and many people want Jesus to prove himself Many people want Jesus to do things for them and they say I will then they'll say I will serve you if you will Do these things but they refuse to acknowledge the sign that was given that's nothing more than than bargaining with God And that's what the religious leaders did They said we want you to give us a sign on Our terms in an hour time to meet our needs and he refused to do it and people do that today They say Lord, I want you to give me a sign and then I'll serve you And the Lord would say to them just like he did to the religious leaders.

I've given you a sign And see most people ignore that they don't want to see it. They want God to do something for them It'll make them feel better about themselves of the circumstances that they're in but see true worship requires accepting Jesus And I notice his authority and listen his right to clear the temple you get that The religious leadership couldn't understand that by what right show me your credentials. How can you do such of this? But see true worship.

It means accepting Jesus Accepting his authority and his right to clear the temple Jesus had that right it was his father's house and he had zeal for the father's house but he had zeal for true worship and all that they were doing was interrupting true worship and See today Jesus has the right he has the authority to clear the temple of the church in the institute true worship in the church But listen Jesus has the right in the authority to clear the temple of your own heart in your own life and demand true Uncluttered worship out of your heart See in that day Jesus Resided of the Spirit of God resided in the temple We're gonna learn that that day was over and now where does Jesus reside? the Spirit of God resides in our hearts as believers and he resides with us corporately as we gather together as the church and See for us today We must recognize that Jesus has the credentials because he's the son of God and he has the authority To set things right in the life of the church and to set things right in your life and my life and our heart and our Families why because he deserves it The Jews demanded a sign and I want to ask you are you weedling with God?

Are you bargaining with God instead of just subjecting yourself to the living Lord and saying you have the credentials as the son of God? You have the authority come and rearrange my life turn it upside down trim out change anything you want and Then we do we give him that permission in the life of the church You see there are two places where he desires to reside in our lives and in the life of the church Let's move on. I want us to see number two Let the Jews they misunderstood The Jews they misunderstood look at verse 20 and 21 The Jews therefore said it took 46 years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three days?

But he was speaking of the temple the sanctuary of his body Now a little history here. This is this was this was not Solomon's temple This temple was built after the Babylonian captivity Exodus chapter excuse me Ezra chapter 1 through 6 give us the account of them coming back out of Babylonian captivity Under great spiritual leadership they rebuilt the house of God But during Herod's reign there was a great Reconstruction there was a great expansion of the temple and it was not completed until just before the Romans Destroyed the temple in 70 AD if I know my factual information this great reconstruction was finished around 63 AD But this was called Herod's temple because of this great reconstruction But what I want you to see is the Jews misunderstood the whole thing first They thought of the physical temple they thought of the physical temple.

That's why they said what they said It took 46 years to build this temple as a matter of fact. They would have said and we're still working on it and They thought he was talking of the physical temple now all of the translations have basically the same wording And it was clear by the language that the Jews thought that Jesus was talking about the temple that they were standing in This temple that was in this grand reconstruction and expansion.

They were focusing purely on the physical They were they did not understand the true meaning of the statement of Jesus The second thing I want you to see is that Jesus was speaking of his sacrifice Go back to verse 21, but he was speaking of the temple. That's the sanctuary of his body John gives us clear language in verse 21 that tells us what Jesus was speaking about Jesus was referring to his own body again if we talk with our hands if Jesus was talking with his hands He would have said Destroy this temple and in three days. I will rise it raise it up. What is he talking about?

He's talking about his own body in these these words his body can only refer to the physical body of Jesus Again referring to his death his burial in his resurrection on the third day And it is very important for us to see the Jewish leadership Focused so much on the physical and they could not understand the spiritual it is almost as if Jesus was speaking in parable Because they cannot understand the true meaning of the words that Jesus was giving I don't know if you realize it but Jesus spoke in parables to conceal spiritual truths from the religious leaders Because of the condition of their hearts and their rejection of who he was and it's almost like he's speaking in parable in this situation Now for us, what can we see?

What can we learn here? There are people in the church today even people here today this morning, and they misunderstand Bible Christianity there are some that focus on the physical sacrifice, and they miss the spiritual sacrifice Let me explain what I mean People will come to church People will be involved in the life of the church, and they were off they will awful offer Physical things to God they will offer up church membership. They will offer up baptism They will offer a commitment to the life of the church. You know they will come to Sunday school They'll come to Bible study on Wednesday nights.

They'll come to Bible study on Sunday nights They will even come and serve but yet they will be doing physical things for God when actually God requires The spiritual God requires us to give what Jesus gave What did Jesus give he gave his life? He suffered and bled and died in our place And so spiritually what we are required to give is we are required to give our lives as well in the new birth And see true worship means having our temple Listen destroyed and raised to a new life because prior to conversion We are the king of our own lives with a captain of our own ships, and we worship self self sits on the throne See that was the problem of the Jewish leaders they thought they were worshiping God, but they were actually serving self They had a perverted the temple itself, and they didn't understand what Jesus was about and see true worship Means having your own temple destroyed and cleansed and raised to the new life that we can only have in Christ True worship means being born again and receiving a new life and becoming a new man and the Jews misunderstood spiritual things they were hung up on the physical temple when the true sanctuary of God was standing right in front of them and He would suffer and bleed and die the Jews they misunderstood the whole thing Let's continue to move on I Want us to see number three the disciples they finally understood the disciples they finally understood look at verse 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead his disciples Remembered that he said this and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken Now John tells us that the disciples were slow in understanding much of what Jesus said and much of what he did When Jesus would keep in teaching parables Jesus would have to explain to them the true meaning many times he would teach and yet when all the crowds were gone He would sit down and he would explain to them the meaning of a parable But what about this truth in this destruction of the temple?

I want you to notice first they understood in time They understood in time go back to the verse when therefore he was raised from the dead his disciples Remembered see they understood what Jesus was saying But it took time all of the translations that we look at say the same thing But I want you to notice how much time this was after the resurrection So this would have been roughly three years because Jesus enjoyed a by a three-year ministry Not only did this take time, but it took the gift of the Holy Spirit which was given later The Holy Spirit was the one who would come alongside to enable them to understand what they had been taught John in his gospel teaches extensively in chapter 14 through 16 Truths about the Holy Spirit who would God who would teach who would remind them of all that he had taught them and see it Just took time it took time for them to meditate on what they saw and heard and it took the Spirit of God to come Alongside and to guide them into truth and to remind them of the things that he had taught them.

It just took time Second I want you to see they believed what was taught go back to the verse the Jews therefore said Excuse me. Go back to verse 22 when therefore he was raised from the dead his disciples remembered That he had said this and They believed the scripture they believed the scripture and they believed the word which Jesus spoken What am I showing you the word here believed is a verb? Meaning there was an action to their belief. This was not just an intellectual belief in The construction of the language there is an object to this belief and that is the scripture There was not just this abstract belief.

It wasn't just this intellectual belief there was direct belief in the scriptures and the words of Christ because the Spirit brought back all that Jesus had taught them and They trusted and they believed on what Jesus had taught them and the word they believed and look They remembered what Jesus taught them and therefore they believed in him so they believed what was taught and There were two things that were necessary for this to happen and I want you to notice First they were truly converted if they had not been converted They would have been exactly like the Jewish leaders They would have seen the physical and they would have missed the spiritual So for them to understand these things and to believe these things even in time they had to be truly converted They were born again Second they had to have the work of the spirit to bring back to mind to being brought to their hearts What Jesus had said and they believed the scriptures and what Jesus said because of a work of the spirit You see and these are two things necessary For the disciples to receive and believe what he had taught and what he had shown them And that is that is the work that the Jewish leaders never had So what does this mean for us We need to see that there are two types of people in the church today Those who are like the Jewish leadership and those who are like the disciples The Jewish leadership hardened their hearts and they refused to believe even when they knew the miracle of the resurrection They tried to cover it up.

They tried to lie to cover up the resurrection But yet they chose to harden their hearts and they chose to refuse to believe and see people do this today People in the life of the church, they know the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. They see the miracle of the new birth and a spouse They see the miracle of the new birth and a son or a daughter, but yet they refuse to believe they harden their hearts But the disciples they received the work of Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit They understood the scriptures and they believed they exercise belief and there are some who are like that today They've been born again and they reside in the life of the church and the Spirit of God lives within them and the Spirit of God teaches them and guides them and reminds them and that same work that went on then goes on today and see there are two kind of People those who are like the religious leaders and they reject and they harden their hearts Even though the resurrection and the mighty works of God are plain to them and the scriptures But yet there are those of us who are born again We are granted understanding by work of the Spirit See true meaning true worship means having understanding of the scriptures Even if it takes time Let me say that again true worship, which is what Jesus was striving for It means having an understanding of the scriptures even when it takes time See sometimes time is good because sometimes because we have to work hard to understand And God allows us to take that time It solidifies that truth in our hearts and in our minds and in our lives and see the disciples They finally they finally Understood Now I want to move on from our verses and I want to move on to the conclusion of the message But I want you to really hold on because there are some truths that we need to see there's some understanding that you need to Gain that'll wrap up verses 13 all the way down to verse 22.

I Don't know if you see it But the significance of Jesus cleansing the temple at the Passover. I don't know if you understand the time frame here See the Passover and the Passover lamb Was nothing more than a picture of Jesus It was not a coincidence on the Jewish calendar that Jesus cleared the temple at the most Important time and the lives of the Jews the Passover know he stepped right onto that stage at that time Why because the Passover and the Passover story was nothing more than a picture of what was to come? What took place in the lives of the Jews?

Egypt is always a picture of the world and see God came because they were his chosen people and he called him out of the world And listen, they enjoyed the Substitutionary death of an innocent lamb which was a picture of Christ and they hid behind that blood by faith and they ate that Lamb and what does Jesus say in John 6?

Anyone who will be a part of me must eat my flesh and drink that blood and they would devour that Passover lamb and by Faith what did they do they left the world and they went through the Red Sea on dry ground into the promised land Which is a picture of eternity with God and they were to be his chosen people and he resided in their midst and Listen, they were able to come from Egypt and go into Canaan Why because by faith they hid behind the blood and see Jesus cleared the temple in that Passover? Celebration because he was and is the Passover lamb for you and me.

I Don't know if you see it, but do you see the significance of Jesus clearing the temple? Jesus not only was the Passover lamb, but Jesus had a zeal for true worship Not only did he cleanse the temple Temple during true words not only did he cleanse the temple during the Passover He cleansed the temple so that during Passover those Jews could enjoy true worship But yet it wasn't about the temple It was about the fact that he would die on the cross and provide a true way The one way so that people who would come could enjoy true worship. You see the significance He was the temple. He was the Passover lamb.

He was the sanctuary of God I Like what John MacArthur says about this He says his death as the ultimate sacrificial lamb would render the Jerusalem temple obsolete and his resurrection as the triumphant Lord would lay the foundation for a new spiritual temple in its place namely the church I Like what Warren Wiersby says about this he says that Jesus he is the new sacrifice First John chapter 1 verse 29. What did John the Baptist say? Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He was the new sacrifice Wiersby says he is the new temple. What do we see in chapter 2 verse 19?

Destroy this sanctuary and I will raise it up and then we see over in John chapter 4 verses 19 through 24 Wiersby says he is the new sinner of worship. What does he say to that Samaritan woman you worship somewhere? The Jews worship somewhere, but there are they'll come a day when we will all worship in spirit and in truth you see Jesus was the Passover lamb and Jesus is the temple Jesus is the sanctuary and That's why Jesus had a zeal for the house of God and he had a zeal for true worship you see and Praise God I think We do not have to journey hundreds possibly thousands of miles We do not have to carry our coinage and exchange it for the proper rate We do not have to purchase an animal and slay that lamb year after year year after year We do not have to shed the blood of an animal to try to satisfy the wrath of God for our sin No 2,000 years ago the Passover lamb was slain on the cross and listen by faith when God calls us We can hide behind the blood of the lamb and look we can enjoy true worship by Residing in Christ and Christ residing in us and we do not have to venture hundreds of miles to go to a physical building and then not only that we get to assemble assemble together for what the church as Christ would reside in us physically individually.

He desires to reside in us corporately And we have a beautiful picture of that in the book of Revelation as John gives us that wonderful account and John writes as the Lord instructs to those seven churches there were five that received a correction there were two that received no correction But what do we see we see a picture of the church? We see a picture of the church with who the Spirit of God Jesus Himself walking among those churches That's who Jesus is the Passover lamb the true sanctuary You see and that's why Jesus Bursts on the scene at the Passover.

That's why he did what he did and said what he said Do you understand the significance of this today? Listen the only way you can truly understand the significance of this is if there's blood applied to the doorpost in the lentil of your life Listen if you are not born again if you by faith have not applied the blood of Christ and step behind that blood Listen if you are not behind the blood you are not in now listen and You do not understand and I want to encourage you do not be like the religious leaders Don't ask God to do something for you by faith Look at what he's already done and listen expect and ask God to call your name and to call you by name And to call you what to himself to receive the blood of the Lamb You know that the people of Israel could not leave Egypt until God came to get them Listen close The people of Israel could not leave Egypt until God came to get them and men and women today Cannot be born again until God comes to get them The tragic mistake we've made in the life of the church is we invite sinners to come to Jesus all day long and God's not coming to get them And so if you understand the significance of this if you're born again You understand the significance of this but some of you if you're not born again if you're not behind the blood I trust by faith you do see it and that God will call you and we'll see the miraculous new birth Amen a Passion for his work the zeal for the harvest house and a zeal for true worship and that concludes verses 13 on down to 22.

Let's pray Lord I thank you for the truth of your word the teaching of your word the example of your word