CHALLENGES To/For PUBLIC WORSHIP-III—John 2:12-25
Attention:
Franklin County welcome sign off of both Ocklocknee River bridges:
"Welcome to Franklin County"—“World’s Best Oysters & Beaches”
Franklin County Commissioners realize we must have something to offer which must be exploited in order to bring others(along with their money, skills, livelihood, successes, etc) to our county.
The Church can be tempted toward many directions regarding the manner & message of its Public Worship. There are real Challenges to bringing about Public Worship!...There are dynamics which, if we deny, will keep our church & the public from being able to fully worship in s(S)pirit & truth!
Restoring Propriety/Precedence to Worship
Jesus made it plain that the temple worship had become tainted with improprieties.
Public Worship is to be free from impropriety.
OR
There is to be consonance(harmony/agreeability with God) in public worship.
What is consonant with/to public worship?
When is public worship consonant(harmonious/agreeable)?
10 challenges to (harmonious)public worship.
Previously we have found some Challenges to (harmonious)public worship are its...
1. OCCASION(:13)
2. INVITATION(:13-14)
3. PROTECTION(:15)
4—A challenge to (harmonious)public worship is its...
RESONATION(:16-17)
Explanation:(:16-17)Speak or Sound to you/Strike you/Make sense/Remember
:16—“And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
Jesus spoke specifically to those merchants who were “selling doves.”
“Doves” were those sacrificed by the poor(Lev. 5:7, Lk. 2:22-24. )
Lev. 5:7—“‘If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering & the other as a burnt offering.”[freewill]
Lev. 12:8—[Regarding a birthmother’s 7-day uncleanness]—“‘And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons--one as a burnt offering & the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, & she will be clean.’”
Lk. 2:22-24—“Now when the days of her[Mary] purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”), & to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.””
Concern for ‘the widow, the fatherless, & the alien’ is a common theme thruout God’s word.
We are called upon & equipped to “love your neighbor as yourself.”(Lev. 19:18; Mat. 22:37-40; Mk. 12:30-31; Rom. 13:9, etc.)
Jesus accused them of turning the temple into a ‘store’ instead of a place of reverence for God. Making the uncommon, common.
The temple is no place for “merchandising”(trading/selling/bartering) of any kind even if the “merchandise” is intended for or related to proper worship.
Mat. 21:13—[At Jesus’ 2nd temple cleansing]“And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”[Jer. 7:9-11]
True worship is always a ‘non-profit’ endeavor! Worship must be undertaken with a proper spirit which invites the Spirit’s freedom!
Worship is not about coming up with innovative methods of making worshipers give more. The church that is out to ‘make money’ has either intentionally or inadvertently set up money as their god over & above God’s honor.
“Sold”(See :14)—pwlew—
“Doves”(See :14)—peristera—
“Take...away”—airw—1) To raise up, elevate, lift up; 2) To take upon one's self & carry what has been raised up, to bear; 3) To bear away what has been raised, carry off. Strong—a primary root; To lift up; by implication--To take up or away; figuratively--To raise(the voice), keep in suspense (the mind), specially--To sail away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Hebraism [compare asn[To lift]]--To expiate sin.
“Make”(See :15)—poiew—
“House”2X—oikov—1) A house; 2) The inmates of a house, all the persons forming one family, a household; 3) Stock, family, descendants of one. Oikov denotes one's household establishment, one's entire property. Oikov is...narrower[than fulh or patria], a “household,” including all the inmates of a single house, being the unit of organization. Strong—A dwelling(more or less extensive, literal or figurative); by implication--A family (more or less related, literal or figuratively).
“Merchandise/Business”—emporion—1) A place were trade is carried on, especially--A seaport—1a) A mart, an emporium. Used 1X.
English=‘Emporium’
:17—“Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
When did the disciples remember? Before or after the Holy Spirit? Regardless they had to have become steeped in God’s written word in order to remember! The Holy Spirit caused them to remember the certain aspects of Jesus’ ministry & associate them with their prophecy in Scripture.
Their remembrance is of Ps. 69:9.
Ps. 69:8-9—“I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother’s children; Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”
Jn. 14:26-27—“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, & bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Our memory is a fantastic work of God. It functions as a storehouse of items which may not be needed up until appropriate/opportune times. It will not come into play until we are prepared(thru inward reasoning usually tied to an outward circumstance or conundrum) for its use. The thing “remembered” may lie dormant & even consciously unknown to us until we make a connection thru a new circumstance.
The disciples interpreted Jesus’ actions & ministry through the OT. Jesus’ actions with the merchants & moneychangers, constitute a proper, godly reaction of a consuming “zeal” for the “house” of the Lord, when the “house” has or is being violated.
“Disciples”—mayhthv—1) A learner, pupil, disciple.
“Remembered”—mnaomai—1) to remind—1a) to be recalled or to return to one's mind, to remind one's self of, to remember, 1b) To be recalled to mind, to be remembered, had in remembrance, 1c) To remember a thing, 1d) Be mindful of. Strong—To bear in mind, i.e. Recollect; by implication--To reward or punish.
“Written”—grafw—
“Zeal”—zhlov—1) Excitement of mind, ardor, fervor of spirit—1a) Zeal, ardor in embracing, pursuing, defending anything—1a1) Zeal in behalf of, for a person or thing, 1a2) The fierceness of indignation, punitive zeal, 1b) An envious & contentious rivalry, jealousy. Strong—properly--Heat, i.e. figuratively--“zeal”(in a favorable sense--Ardor; in an unfavorable one--Jealousy, as of a husband [figuratively, of God], or an enemy--Malice).
“House”(See :16)—oikov—
“Eaten...up/Consume”—katafagw—1) To consume by eating, to eat up, devour; 2) metaph.—2a) To devour i.e. squander, waste: substance, 2b) To devour i.e. forcibly appropriate: widows' property, 2c) To strip one of his goods—1c1) To ruin (by the infliction of injuries), 2d) by fire--To devour i.e. To utterly consume, destroy, 2e) Of the consumption of the strength of body & mind by strong emotions. Strong—To eat down, i.e. Devour(literally or figuratively).
Argumentation:
Lk. 11:33-36—“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
?What does your mind-heart-eye offer God for His word to attach itself to?
Mat. 6:22-23—“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Deut. 29:2-9—“Now Moses called all Israel & said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh & to all his servants & to all his land--the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, & those great wonders. Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive & eyes to see & ears to hear, to this very day. And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, & your sandals have not worn out on your feet. You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. And when you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon & Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, & we conquered them. We took their land & gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, & to half the tribe of Manasseh. Therefore keep the words of this covenant, & do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.”
Israel’s national repsonse was largely a logical response to God made with spiritual emptiness!
Isa. 6:8-10-“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go, & tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return & be healed.”
Lk. 8:9-10—“Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?[of the seed & the sower]” And He[Jesus] said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’
Jn. 12:35-43—“Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, & departed, & was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes & hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts & turn, So that I should heal them.” These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory & spoke of Him. Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
2 Cor. 10:3-6—“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments & every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, & being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
Illustration:
The other day our mini-van started making a strange but not unfamiliar sound/Every time we would take off from the house or from a dead stop just as we accelerated, it would make that sound/It didn’t feel much different but I remembered that same sound as we were going thru the mountains near Sylva, NC/It turned out to be the transmission, but then I thought it sounded more like it might need power steering fluid/We checked both & both were needed but the power steering fluid reservoir was almost completely empty!/RESONATION
Weed eating/When my weed eater is just about to run out of gas, it makes a high-pitched sound so I can tell every time when I need gasoline(& can take a break!)/RESONATION
Driving thru Tate’s Hell after a sustained rainstorm/Many areas wash out making it nearly or fully impossible for our minivan to pass/As soon as we approach such a ‘wash-out’ I am reminded of my limitations/RESONATION
Once, soon after a rain, I nearly got the mini-van stuck in the driveway of someone we were going to visit/RESONATION
As soon as I had done it I heard my Daddy’s voice warning me/RESONATION
In a valley or large cave an echo will return what is spoken(or yelled) in a second or two/Sound of your voice travels at 1,125 feet in a second; so if you yell, ‘Hello!’, & you’re standing at half that distance from a sound reflecting object, you would hear an echo a second later than your original ‘Hello!’ Such an echo repeats as many words & syllables as could be heard in a second.”/RESONATION
Application:
?What Harmony comes thru your/our RESONATION for Public Worship?
?Does your RESONATION present a righteous or an unrighteous challenge to/for Public Worship?
?Our Church a challenge to, or an advocate of, Harmonious Public Worship?
CONCLUSION:
Action:
Challenges to (harmonious)public worship are its...
4. RESONATION(:16-17)
1. OCCASION(:13)
2. INVITATION(:13-14)
3. PROTECTION(:15)
Pt. 4-only! presented 10/25/2015am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE(SE Ave A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
