Cleansing the Temple

“So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples".
"When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:11, 15-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬
As I read this scripture last night it struck me as very interesting that Jesus purposely went to the Temple so He could examine the activities that were taking place. My thoughts immediately moved to the  present state of affairs within the church of our time. What if Jesus attended our church to examine the activity as well? What would be His reaction? Would He be pleased or would He be appalled? What would He say and/or do? Would He tell us that we have made His place of worship a social club, a playhouse, a politically correct organization, a funeral home, or a puppet of the culture? Would He tell us that we are seeking His face, striving to be the light of the world, salt of the earth, and a sweet aroma to His nostrils? Which would it be?
In many churches, across America, the pulpit has become a podium of powerlessness and the pews have become a place of personal preference. Too many of our churches are sold out to simple tradition or cultural relevance. Both of these have some value but they are not foundational to the purpose of the church. The church is supposed to be the place where God's Word is the foundation, and the proclamation of it, the priority. Springing forth from that will come a wellspring of life giving water that our families, communities, and country truly need! The church holds the light of the world. We are to be a candlestick standing firm in the midst of the darkness, not a dead stump sitting in the wilderness. When Satan gets the church to play games and pander to the populous rather than preach the truth, he renders it powerless and pointless. The church should be the conscience of the nation, not the playground and endorser of our sin. When the church endorses what God calls abomination, we know the nation is in deep trouble!
God has not changed His mind and He hasn't rewritten His Word for a modern culture! His Word is still the same as it always has been!
“Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭21:33‬ ‭NLT‬‬
It's time for the church to repent of its sin and return to the Book, Blood, and Blessed Hope of the Lord Jesus Christ!!!
“For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Before our nation can be set right we must realize that the church holds the key to that door swinging open. Where are you men of God? Where are you church? Are you working hard to have harvest sales and dinner feasts or are you working hard at preaching the gospel, harvesting souls, and passing the torch to the next generation?
Our desire should be the pleasure of our Heavenly Father, not "mother earth"! Yes, earth is our responsibility to tend and keep but it isn't our God! God will, one day, renew heaven and earth and we will dwell upon it in holy fashion (See Isaiah 65; 2 Peter 3; and Revelation 21 and 22). Until that time, let's be about our Father's business!! (See Luke 2:49).
I pray that Jesus will make a spiritual whip and drive out the wickedness within His church! His Church!! Not ours!
Prayer for the day:
Father, in Jesus name, purge and purify Your church! Baptize us with the Holy Spirit and set us ablaze with Your Holiness! Let this be our finest hour! Awaken the sleeping giant! May You come again and find Your church faithfully worshipping and serving! May Your Kingdom come and May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!In Jesus Name!! Amen!

Curtis R. Norris