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Complete Sermon Notes
After The Triumphal Entry – Matt. 21:12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”
Righteous anger can lead to positive action – They were taking advantage of people.
CONTEXT: JEREMIAH 7 NKJV The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’ ” 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’
The Temple was a sign of God’s providence & protection – they trusted in it.
They had a sense of entitlement [children of Abraham], but they did not obey God,
Shiloah, North of Jerusalem, housed the Ark of the Covenant.
Christianity without obedience is like a car without an engine. It might look nice, but it’s not going anywhere.
If there is no shame or conviction about standing in God’s holy place unwilling to obey Him, something is wrong.
SHAME: “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.”
F.B. Huey, “So far as God was concerned, the temple was a “den of robbers”…Bandits often took refuge in caves in the Judean hills for protection until their pursuers gave up searching for them. They would then emerge to commit other crimes. The temple had become the refuge for the people to perform the rituals they believed freed them to continue their wicked practices. However they were not deceiving God.” Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 106). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
“Of itself purity is not power, but it clears the way.” – T. Henry Howard
Obedience restores fellowship with God & heart-felt worship. The Word comes alive; joy and peace return and a humble sinner is transformed.
JEREMIAH 7 NKJV 5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, 7 then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. 8 “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit [does what you’re trusting in align with Truth?].
9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, 10 and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? ‘Behold, I, even I, have seen it,’ says the LORD.”
Stealing time and money – taking advantage – being lazy.
Adultery in our mind – any sexual sin.
Swearing falsely is lying, deceiving, manipulating – gossip & slander.
Baal worship – they thanked him for fertile soil.
Sidenote: Just because there is an open door or a blessing, we can’t assume that God is opening the door or blessing us UNLESS . . .
PARALLEL THIS TO TODAY: Sexual immorality (both homosexual AND heterosexual), the worship of creation vs the Creator, and child sacrifice via abortion.
There is speculation, but I believe that the babies offered were unplanned pregnancies because the decadence of society.
Now Hear GOD: “And then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?”
Amend Your Ways – Purity Clears the Way
Surviving the Anointing – “Holiness is Spiritual Health…If you hate something, there is no longer any real temptation” (David Ravenhill).
1 John 3:3
And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Men who do not live well do not pray well – Purity Clears the Way for Prayer
“Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life.” Bounds
PRIORITY: Prayer is the Priority – TAKE THE TEST – How much time do you give to it.
“I went to my God and prayed diligently, and received what I needed.” Muller
Motives – why Am I Here?
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