Clearing the Temple

The Kingdom Light – Episode 1117

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Today we’re gonna examine the story of Jesus clearing the temple and why, what He said as He did it, and we’ll also note His demeanor. Then perhaps we’ll take more seriously what it means that our bodies are the temple of God.

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We can see from scripture that Jesus was very possessive of the Father’s house, and rightly so. In this scene from “The Chosen,” we get pretty good idea of how it might have all gone down…

[clip1: Jesus clears the temple]

What was His demeanor? He kinda seemed ticked off to me. Read it for yourself in the Gospel of John 2:13-16. It’s all right there. Jesus was righteously indignant, and He showed everyone how serious keeping the temple pure and holy really is to Him.

As He stated then, the Father’s house is supposed to be a place of worship and prayer. But people had let themselves forget that. They made it into a marketplace, a den of robbers, and nothing holy remained. He overturned their tables and tore down their shops because worldly things have no place within the temple walls.

But then the Bible also tells us that our bodies are the temple of God. With all this in mind, what things that don’t belong there have we allowed to inhabit the Father’s house? What are you allowing in your temple? How do you think that makes Jesus feel? Is it time for a cleansing?

Let’s face it – this world has a sin problem. The enemy dresses it up and makes it very enticing. Even when we know the dangers of letting it into our lives, our flesh still longs to engage in sinful behavior. I know too much sugar is bad for me, but I sure do love me some cake and ice cream! Sin can be a lot more tempting than unhealthy food.

When we sin, we fling the doors of our temple open for evil things to come inside. When we make a habit of this, we allow those evil things to take up residency in the temple. Opening doors and windows in such a manner is an invitation to demonic spirits. Allowing sin to be part of our regular lives gives our bodies over to sickness, infection, disease, mental illness, and death.

The only cure is Jesus, the One who has the power to clean house. We need Jesus in our lives daily to keep the temple cleansed. We need Him to purify us from the inside out. Invite Him in, and He’ll clear out all the riff raff with all the same intensity and righteous vigor that He had when He cleared the temple that day.

The things we watch enter the temple through the eye-gate. The things we listen to enter the ear-gate. What goes in affects what comes out. The words that proceed from our mouths are a reflection of all that stuff we let enter this temple.

So what if you make a habit of watching TV or movies that contain some very ungodly content? What excuses do you make? You might say, “But this TV show I like only has a little bit of nudity – just a little bit of foul language in it.” Okay, ask yourself if you would invite Jesus into your home to watch that show. Uh oh, to harsh?

Let’s say by allowing that little bit of sinful stuff into your spirit that you’re only opening the temple doors a little bit. Guess what? That’s all it takes. How many of you know that just cracking open a window the tiniest bit is more than enough to let in some annoying pests?

[clip2: Miyagi catches fly, “Karate Kid”]

Before you ask, I’ll tell you: Yes, I’m guilty. That’s how I know very well the truth of what I’m saying. I battled with this just recently. There were a couple of shows I was a big fan of, and I excused the fact that they contained more than a little bit of trash my spirit didn’t need. The results were ugly.

Those things built up over time and began to choke out my spiritual life. They got in the way of me hearing from God, so what do you think that did to my walk – and even to this ministry? It’s been over a month since the last podcast. Why? I hit a wall because there was no clear path for me to receive divine inspiration. There was junk in my temple.

[clip3: “This place is a mess!”]

You’d think after all these years, growing up in church, having a preacher for a dad, hearing the Gospel all my life, that I would know better. And to be honest, I did. But I still made my excuses and rationalized to myself that it wasn’t really all that bad. Surely I could let the standard slide just a little bit and be okay, right? Wrong!

If you are making your own excuses, or if you don’t think that just a little bit of ungodliness will hurt your walk with God, let me assure you that you’re either lying to yourself or listening to a voice straight out of hell. If you have a bunch of grapes, and just one of them is rotten, you’d better quickly get rid of it before it spoils the whole bunch.

Satan is sneaky. He’ll use any means to trick you into letting unholiness into your temple. Your love of action films, crime shows, certain kinds of music – he’ll use all of it. He sprinkles in just a little bit of immorality, barely even enough to notice, and it gets into your spirit. Soon, we’re so full of trash that we don’t even notice the smell.

If the enemy can infiltrate our minds, he will twist our thinking. He will make us believe all that stuff he’s moving into this temple is absolutely no threat at all. But if you’re fortunate enough, you’ll start to notice there’s something missing. All that clutter has built a barrier between you and God. You no longer hear Him.

Once that happens, you face the reality of life outside of God’s will. And friends, that ain’t pretty. Guarding ourselves from these things is more important than you realize. The struggle to overcome your carnal nature is more than you can handle on your own. You NEED Jesus!

Not only must we guard against the evil that tries to sneak in, but we also need to make sure we’re regularly taking in the good things of God. The best defense is a strong offense. Pack your temple with the things of God, and you won’t have room or as much desire for the other stuff.

Philippians 4:8

…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Listen to praise and worship music regularly. Read God’s Word daily. Watch shows that are spiritually edifying. Attend church. Pray – communicate with God constantly. These are just a few ways to fill your temple and feed your spirit what it needs. Failure to do this puts you at risk.

Ask yourself, “Are my words blessings or cursings? Are they holy or wicked?” What pours from your mouth is evidence of what’s inside your spirit. Don’t let it become infected with fleshly things. Don’t allow God’s house – your body – to become infested with the wickedness of this world.

Pray every day: Jesus, help me to fiercely and fervently guard this temple from any and all unrighteousness! And let this verse be written upon all your temple gates…

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

I urge you to talk with God right now about what you’ve heard here today. Ask Him to show you anything and everything that’s just cluttering up your temple. Open your heart to hear from Him. Then ask Him for the fortitude to get rid of all that stuff that’s poisoning your spirit and keeping you from living your best life within His will.

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