(John 2:16)
�And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father�s house an house of merchandise.�
Church, and for that matter Para Church agencies, and finances, even the government is getting into the act. A recent query letter was sent by some of our federal legislators asking that a few high profile ministries submit their books to government scrutiny.
And not one person has, not even the ACLU, has raised the ugly specter of the mingling of church and state in the issue. This is probably because it is religious organizations which are being investigated.
We have a cherished tradition in this nation of the separation of Church and state. I have written on the issue several times so I�ll not elaborate here. The purpose of the tax exemptions generally given to religious organizations is to keep the standard of separation high. Nearly everyone concedes that the power to tax is the power to control. If the �tax man� could reach his fingers into the bowls of the churches finances, he could control what the church is allowed to do on many issues.
One such issue was brought up several years ago at a self described �Fundamentalist� University. This school had a restrictive dating policy. All of the students who voluntarily decided to attend this school knew the policy in advance. The school stated, using Bible references, that this was a religious consideration.
The government, the IRS, decided that this dating policy was not in the interest of �public policy.� Even though no one disputed that this policy was founded on the freely held religious considerations of the school�s administration, the IRS revoked the tax exempt status of this institution. The government said, in effect, �You are not allowed to proceed with your religious beliefs because we do not accept them.�
This was so despite the fact that there was no undue pressure brought to bear on others, except of course the student who agreed with the policy. Not one person�s life, liberty or pursuit of happiness, or any other civil right, was harmed by the policy which only applied to those who had willingly accepted this restriction.
The entire issue was that the government did not accept the institutions firmly held religious belief. This is the danger were the government allowed to tax religious institutions.
Currently, religious institutions are not allowed to speak out on matters of public morality, certainly a bedrock of the religious sphere of influence, when such speaking might give the appearance of supporting a candidate for election. In effect, the free speech, and the religious duty, or the churches is impeded by government fiat under the threat of taxing bodies.
Yes, separation of church and state is an ideal in our nation. But, it is an often abused ideal. This is one of the reasons that this particular ministry has never filed for a tax exempt status. Of course, we�d have to solicit funds to pay the taxes on them and we don�t do that either. This isn�t a matter of religious principle; it is a matter of political reality and personal preference.
This is also a matter of religious conviction. I believe that the �tithes and offerings� of the Christian belong in the local assembly with which he joins in corporate worship on the Lord�s Day. Lest there be any misunderstand, I consider the tithe to be that regular and systematic giving upon which the church can count from week to week. It is from this that the church is able to budget for its needs and those of others, missionaries and such as well as local benevolence.
The �offerings� would be that special donation made from time to time.
For the record, I am a citizen of Heaven so I pretty much leave political problems to the realm of those more interested. But, should the Lord lead to speak on the subject, I wish to be able to obey God rather than man.
Hey, aren�t you glad that I said I wouldn�t elaborate on the subject!
Still, we must acknowledge that far too many �religious� groups have misused that which the people have thought they were given to the Lord. Far too many �religious� groups have even brow beaten the Lord�s people to extract that last available penny.
Government can certainly overstep what should be its bounds. The same can be said, and too often has been said, about religious groups.
Our text today does speak of making merchandise of religion. No doubt about that. But, the text is actually more concerned about the substance of the soon coming crucifixion of Jesus and the shadow of the Old Covenant of the sacrificial system.
Under the sacrificial system of the Law, the people were instructed to bring their own sacrifice to the priests so that the priests could approach the Lord in the place of the people. But, with the coming of Jesus, a new day was dawning in which He, Himself, would become the sin sacrifice for the people. His blood would allow the people to approach God for themselves.
The first thing we see in these verses is the recitation. �And said unto them that sold doves��
We notice here the word of the Master.
The old RCA Victrola�s advertisements had a picture of a dog standing near the megaphone of the old time record player. The dog had his ear cocked to the side of the speaker. The purpose of the Victrola ad was to show the great fidelity of their sound systems. Here was a dog who knew his master�s voice.
I am not certain that the people in the Temple realized that Jesus was The Master. Still, they did what He asked, such was the force of His personality and conviction as He spoke to them.
I recall one time when I was in Viet Nam. Several of us were being transferred by truck. Normally we were moved by helicopter. This time it was by truck. All the young men in our unit were climbing in the back of the truck. At this time I was an E-4, a �Specialist Fourth Class.� Dismissing all the camaraderie of the group in the back of the truck, I said, �I�ll go ahead and ride �shotgun� in the truck.�
One youngster, no more than my age at the time, said, �You�d better be an E-6 or above if you plan to ride inside the truck.�
I didn�t know the man speaking. I hadn�t even seen him as he wasn�t from our unit but was going on the transfer with us. But, when I saw the stripes on his collar I said, �Sorry. Didn�t see you.� And I moved to the back
Why did I do this? The man was a stranger. I�d never seen him before. Still, I moved when he said for me to move. The reason was that he �outranked� me in the military. He had the authority to make that decision and I had the duty to respect his wishes.
In our verse we see Jesus, with all the authority of Deity, who made the statement; it wasn�t a �request.� of these men. They did that which He told them to do.
He is still The Master. We call Him, �Lord.� This is a term which acknowledges His position of superiority over us. But, do we treat Him as Lord? All too often these men who did not know Him are better examples of His Lordship than are we. Jesus has called is to a life of dedication. We are willing to follow Him all the way to the kickoff of the Sunday football game.
Jesus has called us to live our faith in all things. We pretty much do this when it is convenient. The voice of The Master. In our real lives, who is the master?
We also see the work of the Master. Jesus was preparing the Temple for true worship. The people of the day had a fairly good idea of what they considered proper worship. Proper worship would be the way they�ve always done things.
The idea of church traditions is not always a bad thing. We have our Sunday Schools first, and our Worship Service after. But, sometimes there familiar little things get a little too familiar.
The Sunday School is still called that. Too often, however this time has become the Sunday Coffee Hour and Social. Little time is spent really attempting to learn of God. Worship is a time to check off each section of the weekly bulletin. We feel cheated if we spend $7.00 for a movie ticket and it only goes an hour and fifteen minutes. We feel restless if that �Worship Service� drags on over thirty minutes.
What is worship? Jesus was teaching just what worship was at this time. Real worship is the worship of the Master.
The symbols of the doves, and the money changers, and the other sacrificial animals were to point to the coming Messiah. The Messiah was now come. It was time for the symbols to give way to the substance of which they spoke.
I�ve been looking to buy my granddaughter a children�s Bible for Christmas. Some of these Children�s Bible�s are really Bibles. They also have quite a few pictures along with the text. These are good. The pictures hold the interest of the small child. But, in some of these �Bible�s� there are only pictures. The text is either missing or replaced by simple children�s stories.
Too often we have replaced the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ, in our lives with simple stories. Our worship has become less of a consideration of Him and His love and more of a comfortable old story. We have lost the vitality of a committed relationship with Him as we have become enthralled with facts.
Facts are nice. But, what we need is that burning desire to seek the face of the Lord.
Jesus, in our text verse, was interested in the removal. ��Take these things hence��
The dove, as well as the other animals from the verse before our text, was used as a sacrifice for sin. It was a shadow, or a picture, of that Sacrifice which Jesus would soon make for the sins of all who would call upon His Name.
These animals had been teaching aids, used to prepare the world to understand the substitutionary work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. The animals were a picture of the just, with no sin for which to pay, being sacrificed for the unjust, with a burden of sin which was beyond their means to pay.
The shadow was soon to be replaced by the Reality.
A rather strained illustration, but apt is my grandson. He is presently being �housebroken.� He is learning to use the �potty chair.� Soon the day will come when he will no longer need his diapers. Actually, currently he has progressed from diapers into �pull ups.� These are a sort of �training pants� for the little boy.
He is being taught that it is not necessary for him to be uncomfortable in his diaper while he waits for someone else to change him. Soon the diaper will become a thing of the past. He will have progressed into a new stage of his life. He will, as we keep telling him, �Be all growed up. Like a big boy.�
Helping in the transition for him, his parents had gotten him some �big boy� underwear with his favorite cartoon character on them. �When you wear these you will have to be very careful not to get Spiderman dirty.�
All of this is, for little Eli, a learning experience. He is maturing.
So, too, was it time for the human race to mature from the need for animal sacrifice, a training aid, to the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. He was come so the doves were to be freed.
The true salvation was now being reported. Jesus, as John the Baptist and all the prophets of old had foretold, was come to be �The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.�
At our first glance this cleansing of the Temple seemed to be that the makers of merchandise were to be removed. This was a purpose. But, a larger purpose was that the former physical actions of the pious were no longer necessary in the form they had taken. The physical was being replaced by the Spiritual. The death of Jesus was to be a physical reality, of course. But the application of that sacrifice was to be spiritual in the lives of the redeemed.
The symbol had recited his message. It was now time for the Savior to proclaim His Truth. He went about for three years teaching man how to live before God. His miracles proved that He had the power to assist us in our weaknesses. Now the time had come for the Temple, the very presence of God in the eyes of the Jew of the time, to give way her trappings as the bodies of the believers would soon become Temple�s of the Holy Spirit.
God could never have been confined to the Temple. This was another teaching aid. The laver and the altar were symbols of the cleansing and sacrifice which would be offered by Jesus. The Temple itself, peopled by the priestly caste, was a symbol of the Christian of the Church Age who, himself, was a priest unto God.
The requirement of salvation was not to be bound up in the human instrument of commerce. ��Make not my Father�s house an house of merchandise.�
This was an argument against the carnal. Silver and gold are elements of time and the physical. Jesus was preparing a salvation that was not about time. Jesus was preparing a salvation that was not limited to the physical.
Money could not by that which was above price. True salvation was bound up in the matchless Person of Eternity, Jesus Christ our Lord.
This past week a young television performer has announced that she is with child. She is not going to �abort� the baby. Folks, it is true that the abortion mills make millions of dollars off the misery of others. The abortion mills even add to that misery by their deadly business. The love of a mother is more precious than money. Money can not buy that love.
Neither can money buy the salvation offered in Jesus Christ. His salvation is freely offered to all who stand in need. The price is beyond any ability on our part to pay. But, He has already paid that price for us. He paid that price in His life�s Blood. He paid that price in His matchless love.
The candle of the carnal is useless against the wind of redemption through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Faith really is the victory. Faith in the fact that Jesus died in our place. Faith in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on that third day. Faith in the fact that Jesus, the only God / Man is able to bring to repentance and salvation all who call upon His Name.
As the doves were dismissed, we begin to see the assignment about the Christ. The doves had been used to cover the sins of man. Now Jesus came to take away those sins.
The picture of the dove was given another assignment. The dove is a symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is now shed abroad throughout the world. It is He Who convicts of sin and woos to salvation.
As the doves would fly off into the sky, so would the Holy Spirit spread abroad the Message that Jesus Christ died in time so that others could live in eternity.
All of this leads us to an audience adoring the Crucified. Many had come to the Temple to take part in religious rite. Now was come the time when the Savior would be available to those same people. It would not be necessary for them to travel to Him. He would come to them with the grace of His offered salvation.
He is come to you today, at this time. Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Have you accepted that great grace which is free to us? Have you accepted that pardon from sin which He purchased with His Own Blood on the Cross of Calvary?
Today is the day. Accept Him now.