Today, I am continuing the daily Just Jesus Evangelistic Campaign sermon series, which is aimed at sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with unbelievers and reminding Christians, in this important election year, to keep the main thing the main thing — and that is reaching unbelievers with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and praying for their salvation, for the problem in America is not only disobedient presidents and politicians but disobedient pastors, preachers, and parishioners who have refused to obey God’s Great Commission and who have refused to obey God’s repeated commands to “pray without ceasing” for unbelievers, believers, and political leaders. This campaign is inspired by the following three verses: 1 Corinthians 2:2 which says, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Acts 5:42 which says, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” And 2 Timothy 2:4 which says, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
This series is not for Christians necessarily. However, I do hope you are one of those saints who still loves to hear the “Old, old story of Jesus and His love” — As the hymn says, “For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.” This series is primarily for unbelievers, so they can hear and understand the Gospel and be saved from sin and the punishment of sin which is hell. This is message number 19.
John 2:12-17:
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
David Guzik said, “John began with a miracle of conversion (changing water into wine). Then he showed Jesus performing a work of cleansing (the cleansing of the temple). This is always how Jesus works in His people: conversion first, then cleansing.”
Our popular perception of Jesus Christ does not find Him angry. We prefer a meek and mild Jesus — a Jesus who welcomes children and infants, who humbly and gracefully teaches the masses, who works miracles in order to cure diseases and feed the hungry. But this is not always the Jesus presented in Scripture.
After the wedding feast and the miracle of turning the water into wine, the Bible tells us that Jesus went to Capernaum with His mother, His family members, and His disciples. Scholars say He stayed there for about a week, and, during this time, He called the rest of the men who would become His disciples.
After this, it was time for the Passover, and Jesus, like the majority of devout Jews, headed to Jerusalem to observe the Passover at the Temple. It is said that during this time each year, over two million Jews crowded into Jerusalem to commemorate God’s deliverance of their ancestors from the death plague in Egypt. Upon His arrival at the Temple, Jesus is filled with righteous indignation at what He sees going on there. The Bible says he “found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.” In response, Jesus “made a scourge of small cords [and] drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” The Bible says, “His disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”
What made Jesus so angry about this situation?
1. Jesus was angry because God’s house was being grossly commercialized. For decades, the Jewish religious leaders had made trips to the temple a profit-making enterprise. They operated more like a travel agency than a temple. They would only accept a certain kind of money, a Tyrian coin, so all of the people who had Greek or Roman coins had to have their money exchanged. They were charged an exorbitant exchange rate. On top of that, even though many of the people brought their own animals to be sacrificed, the Jewish authorities would find an excuse to tell many of them that their animals were unclean and order them to buy one of the animals that were preapproved by the Jewish leaders. They had, in Jesus’ words, made God’s house a “house of merchandise,” and that made Jesus angry or zealous.
2. Jesus was angry because God’s people were being mistreated. Coupled with the commercialization of the Temple, Jesus became angry over how common Jews who were trying to do the right thing were being taken advantage of by the greedy Temple authorities. The people were told that they had to pay the exorbitant exchange rates and buy animals from the Temple in order to fulfill their religious duties. They felt like they had no choice in the matter. Alexander Maclaren said, “The wicked practice being familiar it became legitimate, and no one thought of any incongruity in it until this young Nazarene felt a flash of zeal for the sanctity of His Father’s house consuming Him.’ Jesus, like His Heavenly Father, sided with the oppressed and was angry that they were being taken advantage of and mistreated.
3. Jesus was angry because God’s mercy and grace were being taken for granted. Jesus was personally offended that the Jewish authorities thought God would turn a blind eye to their wrongdoing. The thought that they could carry on as they had been doing was insulting. Sometimes, we make the mistake of thinking that God is so loving that He will overlook our evil ways; but that is not the case. God sent Jesus for the very reason that He could NOT overlook our evil ways. Our sins had to be paid for. Ray Stedman said, “Do not diminish or minimize the anger which Jesus manifested at this time. This is a different Jesus than many people imagine him to be. Oftentimes we think of him as so loving and understanding that he lets you get by with anything; that seeing your evil he puts his hand upon your shoulder and says, ‘It’s all right. It doesn’t matter.’ But this action clearly indicates that our Lord was angry. He drove these people out of the temple.”
It offends God when people take His mercy and grace for granted. There are many people who hear the story of Jesus and think that God will not punish them for their sins one day – that God will not be angry with them as Jesus was angry with the Jewish religious authorities for their crimes. Don’t make that mistake for the Bible says in Psalm 7:11, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Jesus Christ came so that you can be saved from your sins and the wrath of God in hell.
Allow me to show you how you can accept Christ as your Savior so you can be saved from your sins.
1. Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 reads: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” In fact, I am the chief of sinners, so don’t think that you’re alone.
2. Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
3. Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
4. Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2: 8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
5. Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
6. With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Until next time, may the Lord bless you.
Beirut Ambassador 