Pastor Mark Mikels – July 6,
\n2008<\/p>\n
“EVENT #1 – TEMPLE CLEANSING!”<\/p>\n
“Becoming Spiritual Decathletes”<\/p>\n
(“Connecting With Christ” Series – Part 41)<\/p>\n
Mark 11:11-19<\/p>\n
Intro … This morning we take a few more steps on our journey through
\nthe final chapters of the Gospel According to Mark – chapters 11-16.<\/p>\n
Last week under the heading “Let The Games Begin” we saw Jesus
\ntriumphantly announce his Kingship as he entered into the city of
\nJerusalem on what has become known as Palm Sunday.<\/p>\n
The entire city was stirred and made ready for the events of the week
\nto follow. I compared the entire event to the “Opening Ceremonies” of
\nthe Olympic Games. It was an awesome moment. The week could not have
\nstarted on a more promising note.<\/p>\n
This week we begin our investigation of those events themselves.<\/p>\n
In this concluding “series within a series”, we will be “Connecting
\nwith Christ” as we see him undertake ten incredibly challenging tests –
\na literal “spiritual decathlon” – a spiritual decathlon that he would
\nhave every one of his followers enter!<\/p>\n
And right there, in what I just said, is the unique feature of this
\nparticular look at the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry … a
\nfeature that I have never seen nor attempted to draw out before.<\/p>\n
In this look at the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we will not
\nonly be noting what he did for us but we will also be considering that,
\neven as he was doing those things, he was laying out a pattern of
\nbehavior for us to follow.<\/p>\n
Thus the title of this final series of messages: “Becoming Spiritual
\nDecathletes” – becoming world-class followers of Jesus Himself,
\nlearning to live our lives in the very “world-class way” he lived his –
\nparticularly the way he lived his last eight days!<\/p>\n
Today we see Jesus engaging in Spiritual Decathlon Event #1 –<\/p>\n
Temple Cleansing.<\/p>\n
Here’s the play by play as Mark describes it … Mark 11:11-19<\/p>\n
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at
\neverything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with
\nthe Twelve.<\/p>\n
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in
\nthe distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any
\nfruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was
\nnot the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat
\nfruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.<\/p>\n
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving
\nout those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables
\nof the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would
\nnot allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as
\nhe taught them, he said,<\/p>\n
“Is it not written:”<\/p>\n
`My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ ?<\/p>\n
But you have made it `a den of robbers.’ ”<\/p>\n
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began
\nlooking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole
\ncrowd was amazed at his teaching.<\/p>\n
When evening came, they went out of the city.<\/p>\n
There is no single thing on earth more important to God than His Temple
\nand there is therefore nothing more important than keeping His temple
\nfit for His Use. There should be no higher priority for any of His
\nPeople.<\/p>\n
God’s Temple is where Connection and Communion with God can be
\nexperienced. God’s Temple is where proper worship to God can be
\nrendered. It’s essential to the plans and purposes of God on this earth
\nthat His Temple be kept fit for His Use.<\/p>\n
In Jesus’ day the temple was one of the most impressive structures on
\nthe face of the earth; it could contain thousands of seekers and within
\nit’s holy places, atonement could be made for the sins of all.<\/p>\n
But as we see from the passage of the day … things were not right at
\nthe temple … practices had been allowed that either eliminated
\naltogether or at least severely hampered some of the temple’s most
\nimportant purposes.<\/p>\n
Today’s Key Point is simply this …<\/p>\n
“If something’s wrong at the temple, then something needs to be done.<\/p>\n
Things just can’t be allowed to remain the way they are.”<\/p>\n
A Corollary Point would be this …<\/p>\n
“In a fallen world, things go wrong at the temple frequently for<\/p>\n
human beings regularly mess up the plans and purposes of God.”<\/p>\n
And so we see Jesus … taking decisive action to make things right
\nthat had become wrong.<\/p>\n
In a moment we are going to look a bit more closely at exactly what he
\ndid and why he did it but in keeping with the thrust of this series
\nthat he was (through his actions) laying down a pattern for us to
\nfollow,<\/p>\n
I would first identify for us …<\/p>\n
Today’s Key Challenge …<\/p>\n
“Becoming a World-Class TEMPLE CLEANSER”<\/p>\n
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – 1 Corinthians 3:16)<\/p>\n
That’s right … you and I as followers of Jesus Christ are
\nparticipants in this same challenging spiritual event … Christ would
\nhave us become world-class temple cleansers in our own right.<\/p>\n
Now lest we get confused by the fact that the temple in Jerusalem
\ndoesn’t any longer exist or lest we allow ourselves to believe that we
\nshould join some cultic expression of the Christian Faith that still
\nbuilds and carries out ministry in actual physical temples, let me
\npoint out what the New Testament teaches about “temples in today’s
\nworld”.<\/p>\n
I Corinthians 6:19-20 …<\/p>\n
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is
\nin you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were<\/p>\n
bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.<\/p>\n
I Corinthians 3:16 …<\/p>\n
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s
\nSpirit<\/p>\n
lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him;<\/p>\n
for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.<\/p>\n
The Body of the individual believer is a Temple of the Holy Spirit –
\ncompletely under the responsibility of the individual believer.<\/p>\n
The Church Body (universally and locally) is also considered to be such<\/p>\n
a Temple – completely under the responsibility of its recognized
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
These are the two main places on earth today where Connection and
\nCommunion with God can be experienced. These Temples are where proper
\nworship to God can be rendered. It’s essential to the plans and
\npurposes of God on this earth that His Temples be kept fit for His Use.<\/p>\n
And keeping them fit for such use is an ongoing task … a task at
\nwhich God would have each of us excel. So how do we do it? What does it
\ntake to become a “world-class temple cleanser?”<\/p>\n
Well, let’s now look a bit more closely at the way Jesus handled this
\nmost challenging spiritual task.<\/p>\n
Notice from our passage of the day, the critical process involved in
\nworld-class temple cleansing …<\/p>\n
1. World-Class Temple Cleansing COMMENCES With Careful EXAMINATION<\/p>\n
“He looked around at everything.” (vs. 11)<\/p>\n
He noticed how things were being done there in the temple courts.<\/p>\n
There wasn’t anything that escaped his eye … He saw it all; He took
\nit all in.<\/p>\n
He saw how the Outer Court of the temple grounds – the Court of the
\nGentiles – had been taken over by the sellers of animals for the temple
\nsacrifices. He saw the long rows of money tables where temple approved
\nbankers were exchanging the coin of the secular realm for coins that
\nwere approved for sacred use – the temple shekel.<\/p>\n
He heard the bellowing of the cattle and the cooing of the doves and
\nthe haggling of the buyers and the sellers and the expressed disgust of
\nmany who felt that they had been scammed by a monopolistic enterprise.<\/p>\n
He also noticed hordes of people who were using the temple grounds as<\/p>\n
a convenient short-cut between the City Proper on the west and the
\nMount of Olives on the east. Travelers with backpacks loaded seeking to
\nsave a few steps pushed their way through the would-be “worshippers”.<\/p>\n
There was a lot to take in … the place was chaotic.<\/p>\n
Sometimes our own lives can become like that … so much stuff going
\non.<\/p>\n
So many things to debate and decisions to make that there’s no longer
\nany uncluttered place to sit down and know that God is still God.<\/p>\n
Paul said to the young believers in Corinth that …<\/p>\n
“A man ought to examine himself …” – I Corinthians 11:28<\/p>\n
Examine himself before he engages in spiritual activity – specifically
\nbefore he “eats of the bread and drinks of the cup” lest he do so in an
\nunworthy or unproductive manner or even harmful manner.<\/p>\n
Examine himself … what is the condition of my heart? What are these
\nthings that are filling my life and consuming my time? What kinds of
\nthoughts are filling my mind and what kinds of feelings have settled
\ninto my heart? What is my attitude toward Christ and the body of
\nbelievers that I am part of? How highly do I value them?<\/p>\n
Examination is critical … knowing the true condition of things is
\nabsolutely crucial.<\/p>\n
2. World-Class Temple Cleansing CONTINUES With A Period of
\nCONTEMPLATION<\/p>\n
“Compare how things ARE with how things SHOULD be.”<\/p>\n
“The more I think about it the more distressed I become.”<\/p>\n
This I believe is what Jesus spent the night doing. He was distressed
\nby what he had seen and the longer he thought about it the more
\ndistressed he became.<\/p>\n
I have no doubt that he spent a good part (if not all) of the night in
\nprayer – laying out before His Father the great contrast between how
\nthings presently were and how things should be.<\/p>\n
Tears were shed that night I do believe – how could a man in such a
\nstate sit down and enjoy one of Martha’s home-cooked meals? I doubt
\nthat he did.<\/p>\n
I would believe that that’s why he was so hungry early the next
\nmorning.<\/p>\n
He was heading into a major confrontation with an empty stomach. He was
\ncounting on something being on that fig tree!<\/p>\n
But there wasn’t any physical sustenance to be found on that tree any
\nmore than there was spiritual sustenance to be found at the temple.<\/p>\n
And as a foreshadowing of the end of the temple ministry itself, Jesus
\nannounced that no one would ever eat (be benefited) by that tree (that
\ntemple) again. Within a day the tree was gone and in less than 40 years
\nso was Herod’s impressive temple.<\/p>\n
But the temple’s days were not over yet, God’s Presence was still there
\nfor a few more days and in light of that fact it needed to be made fit
\nfor its Master’s Final Use.<\/p>\n
And so we see that following a time of careful examination and
\nprayerful contemplation …<\/p>\n
3. World-Class Temple Cleansing CULMINATES In Actions Of PURIFICATION<\/p>\n
“He began driving out those who were buying and selling there …” (vs.
\n15)<\/p>\n
“Getting things back to the way they should be”<\/p>\n
What a moment that must have been … John reports in his Gospel that
\nJesus actually make a whip out of several cords that he found and
\nliterally drove the animals and their managers out of the entire area.<\/p>\n
He didn’t come to negotiate … how about just selling between the
\nhours of 1 and 3? Purification requires total elimination of the impure
\nthing.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t surprise me that Jesus continued every day that week to
\nteach in the temple courts – He knew that purification once
\naccomplished must be maintained.<\/p>\n
Do you think that any of them dare to sneak back in while he was still
\nthere?<\/p>\n
Purification is even more important for us today than it was for Jesus
\nin his day …<\/p>\n
He was purifying a temple that would soon be gone.<\/p>\n
We are called upon to keep pure a temple that God would find useful
\nuntil we draw our last breath!<\/p>\n
In that regard, hear these words from the Apostle Paul …<\/p>\n
“Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and
\nspirit.”<\/p>\n
(2 Corinthians 7:1)<\/p>\n
What a task – what an Olympian Challenge …<\/p>\n
Purifying ourselves from all physical, ethical, emotional and spiritual
\ncontaminants!<\/p>\n
It’s a task worthy of a true spiritual decathlete!<\/p>\n
And it’s a task worth the effort because (as our final thot says) …<\/p>\n
Final Thot …<\/p>\n
World-class Temple Cleansers always have a<\/p>\n
PLACE where they can safely MEET and COMMUNE with God.<\/p>\n
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Pastor Mark Mikels – July 6, 2008 “EVENT #1 – TEMPLE CLEANSING!” “Becoming Spiritual Decathletes” (“Connecting With Christ” Series – Part 41) Mark 11:11-19 Intro … This morning we take a few more steps on our journey through the final chapters of the Gospel According to Mark – chapters 11-16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/146"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1969,"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/146\/revisions\/1969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonlifecommunitychurch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}