DEEPER LIFE BIBLE CHURCH WORLDWIDE (...ACHIEVING HEAVEN'S GOAL). 02/03/2020.
MONDAY BIBLE STUDY ( SYSTEMATIC AND EXPOSITORY TEACHING OF THE ETERNAL WORD OF GOD)
MESSAGE ANCHORED BY THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT.
TOPIC: RELIGIOUS REACTION AGAINST CHRIST'S AUTHORITY IN HIS TEMPLE.
TEXTS: MARK 11:15-19, 27-33.
Actually, Jesus Christ came purposefully to cleanse the Temple of God that has been defiled and corrupted by the Scribes and Pharisees. as Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem, and He entered into the Temple, He was very displeased with the condition He met the Sanctuary of God because people were selling and buying in the house of God. and He began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and He overthrew the table of the moneychangers. This is a very straightforward story, Jesus Christ opposes the use of the temple as a market, and He Reminded them that, the word of God has said, My House shall be called of all nations the House of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves. And when the scribes and chief priests heard this, they sought how they might destroy Him, but they were afraid because people were astonished at the doctrine of Christ. And as He went out, the scribes stopped Him and challenged Him if His Authority is of political or religion Authority, but Jesus Christ wisely asked them a question on condition they will tell Him something: He asked them, the declaration of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Here we see the hardness of the scribes towards the word of God and towards the Authority of JESUS Christ, John the Baptist have already told them about Christ, he told them specially that he's not the Messiah, Christ was the Messiah that will come to save the people from their sins, and Father accepted Him, and whatsoever He says, do it. Actually they knew that the Authority of Christ came from Heaven, but they rejected Him, and the word of God has affirmed it that John the Baptist will be the forerunner to prepare their heart, John testified of Christ, the the scripture confirmed it, the Miracle Jesus wrought affirmed it, and everybody knew that John the Baptist was a prophet of God sent to prepare the way for Messiah. They saw Christ cleansing the temple and He was reminding them what was written concerning Him, but those religious people rejected Him and they reacted against His Authority in the Temple.
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POINT ONE: THE CLEANSING AND THE AUTHORITY OF HIS TEMPLE.
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MARK 11:15.
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Christ would not permitted that anyone should carry any vessel through the temple, and He taught them systematically, saying unto them, is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves. Actually, the house of God supposed to be a sanctuary of Holiness and house of prayer, but they made it a den of robbers.
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I. The corruption of the temple. Ezekiel 8:15-16; 33:31. These leaders have corrupted the temple of God, actually, that began from the Old Testament. Jeremiah 7:8-10. They committed adultery, murders in the house of God, they lived a sinful life, they lived a corrupted life, transgressive life and disobedience life in the temple of God, their lives were abominable before God, they have corrupted the temple, and that began from the Old Testament, exactly what Jesus told them at His Own time, that they made the temple of God a house of robbers. The same observation and the same complain was noted by the prophet Ezekiel, he was sent by God, and at his own time they came to the temple, and instead of worshipping God, they are worshipping another deity.
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II. The concern for the temple. John 2:13-16; Psalms 69:9; Isaiah 56:7. Jesus Christ had concern for the temple as He looked at the sanctuary of God, and He saw the merchandise they made of the house of God. Actually, when He started His ministry, He has seen this and He washed the temple of God at the time He began His Ministry, but they still went back to do what He said they shouldn't do. And He had concern for the house of God because that was exactly what is expected of the Messiah, it was clearly written concerning Christ that He will come and cleanse the Temple of God, and that was His concern and when He saw the things that shouldn't be in the temple, He cleanses it out. And Because of that, He demonstrated and shew His concern. He said, it's not written that my house will become the house of prayer? And they made the temple of God a house of merchandise. Actually when He said My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer, He mean that, the temple would be a house of salvation for the people that comes in, it will be a sanctuary that will show the way to heaven, and in His house, people will be save and be redeemed, the house of God is a Holy sanctuary where people come to pray and it will be a sanctuary that gives us heavenly Joy. The house of God is for all people, the house of God is not for nationalism, is not for necromancy, is not for sectional agenda, but it's for all people to call upon the Name of God and be save. That's why Christ did what He did, He had a deeper concern for the temple of God and He took away everything defiling that shouldn't have be in the temple of God.
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III. The cleansing of His Temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20;
2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22; Mark 7:21-23; Revelation 21:27; Psalms 19:12-13; Ezekiel 36:25-29, 33;
2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:26-27; 1 John 1:7-9; Acts 2:39.
We should go beyond the physical Temple, we need to understand that, the temple of God Christ was talking about is not the physical building, He's actually talking about we the believers, He's talking about those who are redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ, the concern that Jesus Christ had for the believers was more than the physical Temple. He want every believers to be pure in heart, pure in spirit and pure in body, He doesn't want us to manifest the nature of iniquity, and He doesn't want any iniquity to remain in our lives. We are the Habitation of God, and the one indwells by God must be Holy within and without. If you are Holy and you acknowledge that you are the temple of the living God, you cannot just do whatever you like with your body, because your body is occupy by God. Though, the physical Temple is necessary because it's a place of worship and it's a place that shows us the way to heaven, it's also a place that leads us to salvation and Holiness, and it must be kept secure and clean, the same thing is applicable to us as Christians, we should not allow anything defiling and anything unclean, and any transgression to destroy the temple of God, the physical Temple must be kept Holy, but the Spiritual temple must be kept Holy more than the physical Temple. God doesn't want anything of transgressions and anything of Satan in our lives, if you are following the Lord, you must keep your heart, your spirit, your body and your soul Holy because God dwells in you, that's the desire of God that we as the temple of God will be cleanse, and there shouldn't be any transgression in our lives because God lives in us, Jesus Christ lives in us and the Holy Spirit abides in us. We are the habitation of God and all of us together cooperatively as Jesus Christ dwells in us, we must be Holy. If you are a child of God, He doesn't approve defilement in a child of God, if you are a true believer, you are His temple, and what comes to that temple must not brings defilement. Jesus Christ is more concern about our lives, and He does not what any of this defilement to come into our lives, and if you allow any defilement to come into your life, and you manifest and you are nursing them, that will makes you unclean and you cannot go to heaven with anything defilement. All those evil things in any form, it might be evil thought, evil actions, pride, fornication, if you exhibit them and you demonstrate them, you will not be allowed to enter into the Kingdom of God. There must be cleansing before that temple can be taken to heaven. If You handle sin in Your life, and you have reached the age of accountability, God want you to repent and be cleanse, and there's a prayer to pray, and when you pray, Christ will come and cleanse you. Presumptuous sin, habitual sin, willingful sin, deliberate sin are great transgressions, and the Lord want to cleanse everyone from all these forms of sin today, make a personal choice today and make it a personal in your life that you must be sanctified and cleansed totally from all these forms of sin, because they will hinder you from getting to heaven. If your temple remains in sin, if your temple remains defiled, you can not worship God. You must first of all take off fornication, take off pride, take off presumptuous sin, take off deliberate sin and take off everything the Holy Ghost has convinced you on, and them the Lord will show you mercy, He will pardon your sin and forgive you.
He want you to be free within and without. He want you to be free Privately and publicly, He want your actions clean, you must present your temple to God, expose everything to God and there shouldn't be anything in the private you are hiding from God, expose everything to Him, so He can cleanse you and forgive you, and as you allow Christ to cleanse you, He will purifies you and makes you whiter than Snow, in your character, in your behaviour and in your disposition you will be Pure and Holy when He cleanses you, that's the Will of God for every believers that we will be Holy and Pure within and without, Christ's concern is that we live a transparent and Holy life, that's why He actually died on the Cross to make our temple Pure, cleanse and Holy. He wants us to be cleanse from every defilement, and He doesn't want any sin to remain in our lives, He doesn't want willingful sin, habitual sin, presumptuous sin, common sin, society sin and begetting sins to remain in our lives. The promise of cleansing and the promise of forgiveness is unto us and unto our children. The cleansing is available for everyone that is willing to be free from sin and defilement. Without cleansing, there shall be no other means in which we can get to heaven.
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POINT TWO: THE CONFRONTATION OVER HIS AUTHORITY IN HIS TEMPLE.
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MARK 11:27; ACTS 7:51,38-39; NUMBERS 16:3,12-14; 1 SAMUEL 8:7-8; 10:19; ISAIAH 45:9; HOSEA 4:4-6; JEREMIAH 6:16; 44:16-17; MICHA 5:2; LUKE 19:14,27; LUKE 10:16.
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The scribes and the chief priests confronted Christ the word of God and the Son of God who have all the Power and Authority in His hand. We need to understand that in the Old Testament, the word of God precisely said, they rejected the Prophets of God, they hardened their heart against the messengers of God, and that was the way of their living, they challenged the authority of the Prophets of God in the Old Testament, they challenged the Authority of the Apostles, and they also challenged the Authority of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. They confronted the men of God in the Old Testament, instead of believing the word of God, they were challenging the Authority of the Messenger of God.
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✔️ They challenged the Authority of Moses because they didn't wants the correction and the control of the word of God coming from Moses. They knew that it wasn't Moses that put himself in the position of leadership, but because they had the confrontational spirit, they challenged the prophet of God and they rejected the authority of Moses and of Aaron. They rejected the Authority of God Himself as they rejected the Authority of His Prophet, and tonight, that kind of confrontational spirit against the men of God in your life will be cast out by the Authority of Christ IN Jesus Name Amen.
These people always confronts the Authority of God and whom He sent. If you reject the authority of the men of God, you reject the authority of God Himself because they are representing God on earth, and if anyone reject the Authority of the Ambassadors of God, they rejected the Authority of God Himself.
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✔️ Samuel was a prophet sent by God, but they rejected his Authority, they rejected God and they rejected His Living word, just as they rejected Moses and other prophets in the Old Testament, they rejected Christ the Only Saviour that was sent to take away our transgressions that would not allow us to get to Heaven. Those scribes actually rejected Moses, Samuel, other prophets and Christ because they had a kind of confrontational spirit that would not allowed them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they thought they were resisting Christ, but they were resisting God that sent Christ, and as they rejected the Messengers of God, God will also reject them. Rejecting the men of God carries great repercussions and consequences, people that reject the messengers of God that's declaring to them the word of the Holy God coming from Heaven will also be rejected on the last day.
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✔️ They knew that Jeremiah was sent from God, but they rejected him and they master themselves and they decided to stay independently on God. It was affirmed that Jeremiah will be ruler in Israel, and they rejected him. But now it was written that Christ will come to save His people from sin, He spoke with Authority and not as scribes, and not as Jeremiah and other prophets in the Old Testament, but they hated Him the more without a cause, they knew that His Authority is from God, but they deliberately withstood His Authority and rejected Him and they made up their mind not to accept His Authority and His judgment, but the point is that, Judgment is coming upon everyone that rejected the Authority of God and His Messengers. The scribes and chief priests and the Pharisees continued in that rejection, even after the death and the resurrection of Christ, He gave the message of Salvation to the Disciples, but they despised them. Actually, those who despised them despised Christ, and those who despised Christ despised God that sent Christ. If you reject what the messenger of God said, you didn't reject him only but you reject the Lord that sent him, and the judgment of God will come upon you if you die in that condition of rejection and confrontational spirit.
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POINT THREE: THE CONFIRMATION OF HIS AUTHORITY FROM THE THRONE OF GOD.
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MARK 11:29; 8:8-9,13; JOHN 7:45-46; 11: 39-44; JOHN 5:36-38;
1 CORINTHIANS 15:24-25;.
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There was proofs and confirmation that Jesus Christ was the Messiah sent by God to deliver His people from sin, and through this confirmation, they shouldn't have the kind of doubt of His Authority, they knew that the Authority of Christ was from the throne of God, but they deliberately withstood His Authority. John the Baptist bear witness to the fact that Jesus came from Heaven, he was actually sent to bear witness of Christ the Light of the world, and they knew that, but with all these confirmation they saw, they still remained unbelief. If anybody is going to be saved, it's to be through that Light of Christ, He's been from all eternity, God has given all authority and judgment to Him, it's very cleared to the scribes and Pharisees that His authority was from the throne of God and from Heaven. God has given Christ authority to execute Judgment because He's the only Begotten Son of God, and all Authority and Judgment has been committed to His hand. All the things that John said concerning Him was true, every body in the nations knew that Jesus Christ has authority over all things. His authority came from the throne of God, and uses His Authority to cast out demons, His Authority cast our evil spirits, He has Authority on earth, and Authority came out of His word. Even the centurion man knew that Jesus Christ has Authority over demon and over all sicknesses, and when JESUS Christ demonstrated that Authority over his servant, his servant was healed in the selfsame hour because JESUS Christ has Authority over sicknesses and over demons. He still has Authority over religious and irreligious people, He has Authority over Atmosphere, over Lucifer, over everything and over everyone, every miracle He performs, is so that people will know that God has sent Him and so that they might believe that He's the Saviour of the whole world. And when JESUS Christ exercise His Authority over your life, everything that shouldn't be in your life will come out by the Authority of JESUS Christ. Thanks to God, Christ is Our Saviour, He's our Deliverer, He's our Substitute, He's our healer because Father gave Him Authority, and He manifested that Authority when He was On earth, even now, His Authority is as active as of Old, His Authority is still abides today and it will remain till rapture sound, and when the trumpet shall sound, we shall fly away to Heaven. Thank God, He's Our Refuge and Our Saviour. And we believe that He will take us to Heaven. He's the Master over our lives, Let Christ have Authority over your action, over your character and over your disposition. Let Him have His unconquerable and undefeatable Authority in your life today. Jesus Christ has Authority and everybody knows,.
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If you want Christ to demonstrate His Authority over your life, You must Acknowledge His Authority.
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å You must acknowledge that, the Authority of Christ came from Heaven. Nobody can contend that, and nothing can change it.
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å He has Authority Over Teaching. His teaching cannot be contradict.. His Authority carries teaching and let Him have His Authority in your life.
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å Christ has Authority of Divine Testimony.
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å His Authority is Timeless Truth.
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å Christ has Authority over the tempter.
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å Christ has Authority over our tormentors, and when He use His Authority over our lives, the tormentor will stop tormenting us.
å Christ has Authority over the Tempest.
å Christ has Authority over the Fruitless Trees, and when He utilize His Authority, every fruitless trees will dried off in your life.
å Christ has Authority over earth and through all Eternity. When you come to Jesus and He purifies and purges you, nobody can deny you from entering the Heaven, and nobody can stop you from Heaven.
Dedicate yourself more convincingly and let Him reign in your life without a rival, and when you allow Christ to reign over your life, you will be a man and a woman of Authority, let Christ reign completely in your life and in your family and no evil will dominate in your life.