In Matthew 21:12-14, on the Monday before his eventual crucifixion on Friday,
Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
There are certainly some useful lessons we can learn from that historical account, but let’s make it personal and practical. What about your temple? Is it being used as God intended? Does it also need to be purged and cleansed by Jesus? What temple are we talking about? The temple of your body. Our bodies are described throughout the New Testament as temples. One instance is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
This sermon asks the important question, in what sort of spiritual condition is your God-given temple? It also prescribes a course of action, using Matthew 21:12-14 as a model, for those of us who need to respond to the reforming power and influence of the Son of God.
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