Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Well, let's go to Matthew, chapter 21, verse 1, Matthew, chapter 21.
As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethage of the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them ahead to go into the village over there. He said, as soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there with a colt beside it. Untie them. Bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say the Lord needs them and he will immediately let you take them. This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, tell the people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey.
Riding on a donkey's colt. The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. Most of the crowds spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, praise God, the Son of David. Blessing on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise God in the highest heaven. The entire city of Jerusalem was an uproar as he entered. Who is this? They asked. And the crowds replied, it's Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.
Excuse me. My.
This is not working.
There it is.
And. And I just. This is not where we're going to stop today. We're going to move forward in this passage. But I wanted to start here because as Jesus was coming into the city, this. This is the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
And as these events were happening, there was things that the crowd was saying that was quoting Zechariah 9, which dated 500 plus years before that, and Psalm I believe 118, which was almost a thousand years plus before this moment. So they weren't just giving him praise and recognizing him as a great prophet. They were really recognizing him as the Messiah.
And it wasn't just a few people.
And yes, some came because of the resurrection of Lazarus and all the miracles that happened, but it was the entire city in uproar. Who is this man?
And everybody said, it's Jesus.
And as he was entering and they were laying garments which was fulfilling prophecy and branches, they were screaming and shouting and saying, hosanna, Hosanna. Which meant, save now.
We've been waiting for a king that will come and overturn the empire of Rome and the oppression and the bondage and all the things that we're under. Save us now. Deliver us now.
Hosanna.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: You can imagine the scene that is unfolding.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: And here is Jesus the king.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: And Zechariah says, humble king, he doesn't come the way that a king would normally come. He doesn't come on a war horse.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: He comes on a donkey.
Meek, lowly, humble, comes in quietly. And instead of going to overturn Rome, he turns and comes into the temple.
And I want to read the following passage. And I believe that God is going to speak something significant to each of us here this morning. Would you bow your heads with me, Lord? We come before you. We come before the the Scriptures with humility. We ask that you, Holy Spirit, would give us revelation of these Scriptures.
We come with the heart posture to obey and to yield our lives to what you're doing and what you're saying.
We want to be wise builders that hear and obey.
Would you teach us, Lord? Would you transform us? Would you breathe on these texts and make them life to us?
We desire not just to be church attenders. We want to be your disciples.
We want to come under your teachings.
We want to follow your ways.
So lead us, Holy Spirit. Teach us this morning in Jesus name.
And if you believe that, say amen.
Amen.
So we'll continue this text in Matthew 21, verse 12 through 17.
And Jesus entered the temple area.
This is his great entry into Jerusalem.
This is him responding to this great expectation of the crowd and the masses. I mean, you're talking about the entire city of Jerusalem. Hosanna.
Hosanna. Imagine the pressure, the expectation of all of these people. And Jesus does exactly the opposite it of what they would expect him to do.
He doesn't go to defeat their enemies.
He doesn't go to, you know, deliver them from the oppression of Rome. He goes to the temple. And he doesn't come into the temple to offer a sacrifice.
He comes into the temple and he does does something really unusual.
And he comes in there and he drives out all those who were selling
[00:06:50] Speaker B: and buying on the temple grounds.
He overturned the tables of the money
[00:06:55] Speaker A: changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He comes to drive out the word. There's cast out. It's the same word used for casting out demons.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: He came and he exercised his authority as God in the temple because it's his house.
He came to his house, right?
[00:07:23] Speaker A: And he cast it out in verse 13. And he said to them, it is written, my house will be called the house of prayer.
Other gospels will say the prayer of the house of prayer of all nations.
But you are making it a den of robbers and those who were blind and those who were limb or lame came to him in the temple area and he healed them.
Can you imagine that? For hundreds of years, they built something that looked beautiful on the outside, that
[00:08:05] Speaker B: had its own structure, that had its own order, that had its own culture, that had its own comfort.
And it was beautiful. And I'm sure the architecture and the engineering and the glass and the walls and the stone on that temple was beautiful.
It was built right. And people looked at that with amazement and looked at the beauty of that.
And. And for hundreds of years, they practiced something in these courts.
Only one day to have God walk into his house and say, all of this is out of order, that all of this beauty that you've built and this comfort that you've built and the structure that you've built doesn't line with what God has designed this to be.
And he comes and he's not the
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Jesus here who's trying to, like, not offend anybody.
How do you feel? What about you? Did what I just do hurt your feelings? I'm so sorry.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: He wasn't really concerned about the expectation
[00:09:26] Speaker A: of people, nor how they felt in the moment, because I don't know if you were. If you were one of those guys
[00:09:32] Speaker B: selling doves and that was normal you for 30 years.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: And someone came and flipped the tables and all the money went all over the floor, I don't know how you would feel.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: Someone invaded your space. Like, you rent that space,
[00:09:47] Speaker A: you pay
[00:09:48] Speaker B: bribes to some of the Sadducees for that spot.
And someone came and exercised authority over
[00:09:56] Speaker A: something you thought was yours, but it was never yours.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: And he flipped the tables.
And you'll notice that right after this,
[00:10:14] Speaker A: the blind and the lame came to him.
You know what Jesus hates?
[00:10:24] Speaker B: He hates the spirit of religion.
Jesus hates forms of godliness without God.
He hates structures and services without his presence.
Why? Because it creates a form without him.
And so it's not leading people to Jesus, it's actually becoming the substitute.
The fear of the Lord is not just to love what he loves, but it's to hate what he hates equally.
And you see the zeal, David wrote about this in Psalms a thousand years before this, that the zeal for his house came consumed him.
And no, he didn't walk into a church service and grab the mic from the pastor.
He didn't actually walk inside the temple. He walked into the courtyard, which was the size of about, you know, a few football fields.
And that outer courtyard was the place where Gentiles could come that was the place where the broken could come and experience the presence of God.
That was the place where the lost could come, where the blind can come, where the lame can come, where people with drug addiction can come, with people that just got out of prison can come.
That was that place. That was that courtyard that was designed to carry the presence of God and where Gentiles could come and meet with him.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: But people have made that place different than what God designed it to be.
And so he came in there a humble king, meek, lowly, Flipping tables, turning tables over throwing money on the ground, shouting like a wild man.
And I want to propose to you that that same Jesus that maybe we don't often want to talk about displayed perfect humility, perfect meekness.
But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he had done and the children who were shouting in the temple area, hosanna to the Son of David, they said to him, do you hear what these children are saying?
And Jesus said to them, yes. Have you never read? From the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise for yourself.
As I was thinking about this, I thought, can you imagine? You spent your whole life building something that didn't please him, Building something that looks right in the eyes of man, that fits culture, that fits the comfort of our life, just for Jesus to come to flip tables.
This reminded me of chapter 7, verse 24.
In the same gospel, Jesus is saying these words. He says, so everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man, amplified, says it like this, a far sighted, practical and sensible man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against the house. Yet it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.
You know, this rock can be no other but Jesus Christ.
In fact, later Jesus in the same chapter quotes this passage and he says that you have rejected the church chief cornerstone.
In other words, this is the rock that holds everything together.
Verse 26. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like the foolish amplified, will use stupid, which is wild. I've never seen that in the Bible. A man who builds his house on the sand is maybe permission for you to use that word every now and then.
And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against the house and it fell. And a great and complete was its fall.
Two structures were built, effort was put in. Energy, strength, resources.
And one house completely coll and the other house stood through the storms, the winds and the waves, and all the challenges and difficulties that came against it.
The truth is, everything we do will be tested.
Everything we build will be tested.
It's going to be tested throughout our life, and it's going to be tested by fire.
And the question is, if Jesus was to walk into your temple, what tables would he flip?
What would he see that doesn't match what God intended it to be?
And I want to maybe look at it from this perspective, too, that we in New Covenant have become the temple of God, that it's not even necessarily a building, but it's our bodies.
And maybe in our temples we have allowed things to be there that don't please him.
Maybe they have the right appearance.
Maybe my life on the outside looks like it's all in order. And I, you know, I'm managing it.
But it doesn't have his power.
It doesn't have his anointing. It's not abundant life that Jesus died for.
And the reason why I believe the Holy Spirit is passionate about flipping tables in our temples because he wants to make way for his power to flow into our life, for his grace to flow into our life, for the miracles that he wants to see in us actually fulfilled.
God doesn't make, like, wishful prophecies.
He intends what he says. He means what he says. He wants us to experience it.
And I think what was happening there in this temple court is this was a place where they were supposed to carry the presence of God, but it just became a marketplace, a den of robbers.
They gave themselves over to activity that removed the focus of the presence of God. To self indulgence, to. To pride, to man.
And I'm not going to go there. But in Revelations, It talks about the Church of Laodicea.
And he says, you. You say you have life.
You say you are rich, but I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish that you were cold or hot, but because you are lukewarm, I. I will vomit you out of my mouth or I will spit you out of my.
Out of my mouth.
And this is not just like, I don't like warm water. I'm sorry.
Like, it's not my thing. It's not my vibe. It's not.
It's not my style.
It's. That's not. That's not what's happening here.
It's. It's not like a mild disapproval. It's intolerance of mixture.
And, you know, I don't know all the. I'm not, you Know, I know there's theologians here next to me, but.
But cold water had purpose and hot water had purpose, but warm water was distasteful and useless.
And when we allow this courtyard to be used for something else, that's how our life becomes.
Powerless because of mixture. Powerless because of compromise, powerless because of other lovers, divided affection.
Powerless.
And we see Jesus coming, not. Not, like, trying to make it work. But he's like, no, this whole thing needs to be flipped.
This whole thing needs to be changed. Are those feathers?
Where are the angels at?
And the reality is this mixture doesn't always look evil.
It often looks acceptable.
But it carries no presence.
It carries no life, no power.
And the lame come there and they cannot be healed. And the blind come there and they cannot see.
And if people come to the temple and they can't experience God, where else can they go?
If they come to the church and they can't experience his presence, where else can they go?
If I can have someone on the keys come and play so that the Lord can come softly.
In First Corinthians 3:16, it says that we are the temple of God, that our bodies have become the temple of God. And if Jesus was to walk into his temple today, what would he find?
Would there be tables that he would want to flip? Maybe tables of pride, Tables of bitterness, judgment, unforgiveness, Tables of offense?
What would he need to remove to make way for his presence and power to be restored?
One of the cries of my heart.
You know, in the early days, my early days, some of you. It's not your early days, but My Early Days, 2004, I experienced something that is hard to explain.
And, Alyssa, I, too, came out of prison, had a supernatural encounter with God, got set free from.
From drug addiction and all that stuff. And.
And there was a hunger. It was like I finally found what I was looking for.
There was such a hunger to know God, to pursue him, to seek his face.
And in that hunger, we experienced this revival or this sovereign move of God where we were so consumed with his presence, we were so filled to overflow with his spirit, that we would walk sometimes into rooms, and people would experience the presence of God because it was radiating.
We weren't like preaching the gospel or slapping people with a Bible.
We were just so full of God in this temple. We hosted him in such a way that we would walk into spaces and rooms would shift.
We would walk into spaces where people's lives were healed and transformed.
And at that time, I was not a pastor. I was not a Leader, I didn't have the privilege of standing on a stage like this to proclaim the gospel of our Lord.
But in our everyday lives, sometimes in coffee shops, sometimes in restaurants, people would stop us because of what they recognized on us.
And. And I want to propose to us that in the New Covenant, the way Jesus was going to hold victory was to make way for our bodies to become the temple that is hosting his presence to touch the world around us.
And this temple was designed to be the house of prayer of all nations.
Maybe we don't have a church building in every single neighborhood, but we have people living, walking, breathing temples carrying the presence of God.
And I. I feel provoked. I feel.
I feel like there's a. There's a zeal in me for the house of the Lord as I'm reflecting on these scriptures, understanding that Jesus died for more than this.
Jesus died for more than just going to church on Sunday and figuring out which restaurant you're gonna eat to and then get back to Monday as usual.
Jesus wants to come and flip some tables.
Jesus wants to come and make a mess out of your comfort.
Jesus wants to make a way that's
[00:27:25] Speaker B: been blocking for life to flow, for
[00:27:27] Speaker A: resurrection, power to flow.
And I remember just being so consumed
[00:27:36] Speaker B: by the Lord, just wanting him.
[00:27:37] Speaker A: We were singing this song, these songs during worship. All I want is you and I'm
[00:27:42] Speaker B: checking my heart Is that really all I want? Holy Spirit, Is there other affections?
Because I think like, we've learned to, like.
You are my one thing easy.
Because I think we learn to look right on the outside.
We've learned just like they did, that the temple looked right. Everything had structure to it. Every. And these animals, I mean, they were sold for sacrifices. And technically there's nothing wrong.
It had the right appearance. It didn't look evil, but it didn't have the presence, it didn't have the power.
And I believe that Jesus, what he wants to do on this planet, what he wants to do in the lives of people, will happen through his church.
That's why he didn't go to the Roman Empire, he went to the temple.
He went to the church because that's his house.
And if we were to really allow him,
[00:29:07] Speaker A: if we were to really allow him to come in, I think he would flip some tables.
Would you agree? I think. I think there's some tables to flip.
It's praying with a friend a few weeks ago who's experiencing a lot of oppression and even mental illness and.
Feeling compassion for him and, you know, praying with him, giving him, the scriptures, and having them walk away the same.
It shouldn't be like that.
And I.
As he walked away, I. I realized,
[00:30:05] Speaker B: like, well, I did what I'm supposed to do.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: I prayed, I gave him a couple Bible verses.
Just gotta trust Jesus and walk it out in faith. I even know what to say, but
[00:30:21] Speaker B: I know that inside, I'm not comfortable with that.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Like, something. Something needs to be flipped. Something's getting in the way of the more that God has for us through
[00:30:32] Speaker B: the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, there's a life of more.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: There's a life that is abundant in Christ, full of resurrection, power.
And I was like, lord, I. I want to. I want to know you more. I want to host you in a way where.
Where these strongholds break, where these demons flee, where your power is evident. But it's not in speech. It's not an eloquence of speech.
[00:31:22] Speaker B: It's not in, like, learning how to do the thing.
It's not in learning how to do
[00:31:29] Speaker A: church, But it's in demonstration of power and spirit.
Paul says, when I came to you, I. I was in much fear, I was trembling, that my words would not be words of human wisdom, just human experience.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: Like, we learned. We learned to do the. The church thing.
That's why the.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: The, you know, the businesses that are thriving is therapy, counseling, all. You know, it's like it's never ending. And I'm not saying it's not helping somebody.
[00:32:11] Speaker B: Go for it if it's helping you. But. But all of that is not enough without the power of God.
It's not enough without humility and with allowing Jesus to come and be Lord and maybe surrendering what you feel and picking up his word, looking to his word and saying, I'm gonna build my life on this rock. Because if I remove this rock, everything else I build will fall anyway.
Fall anyway. It'll collapse anyway. It's a matter of time.
And I can't imagine Jesus
[00:32:58] Speaker A: walking into his Father's house saying, man, this whole thing's out of place.
Would you agree that he's the one that would see it rightly?
I was like, this is out of order. This is in the wrong spot. This is in the wrong place.
I remember just being so full of God, so consumed by the Lord.
It was easy for me to pray six to eight hours every day.
And I was doing that. And some of you might be, like, freaked out by the story, but after I got saved, about a year later, I got. I got arrested and I went to jail. I turned 18 there and.
And I went to. From juvenile to jail, and I was praying every day, and I was so filled with God that.
That when I went to jail and I went to this dorm, I wasn't trying to, like.
And please hear me, right? Like, I think it's okay to just obey God. You don't need to feel anything, right? Like, it's okay to just preach the gospel, but I wasn't trying to preach the gospel.
I just walked into this dorm full of God, just radiating. I was just so consumed by him.
And when I walked into this dorm in Clark County Jail, there was a man by the name of Bruce who was sitting there with his mat. Just started shaking under the power of God.
And he started screaming and pointing his finger at me. He said, your eyes are shining.
Your eyes are shining.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: I didn't have a plan to reach the jail.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: I. I was trying to. I was trying to stay low, actually. I was 18, fresh meat, you know, trying to, like, figure out how this whole thing works.
Trying to stay quiet, low.
And he's. And he's screaming and he's screaming at me. And I'm realizing I'm not saying anything. I'm not doing anything necessarily. I was praying in the spirit that's doing something. But.
But he responded to the presence of God that I was hosting.
I prayed with him that day. He gave his life to Jesus.
And we had a group of 14 to 16 guys that ended up surrendering life to Jesus. We were doing a Bible study. Within two weeks, 14 to 16 guys gave their life to Christ. And they were radically transformed, filled with the Holy Spirit because His presence was dwelling here.
He filled the temple.
His glory filled the temple.
Would you stand to your feet with me?
David writes in Psalm 127, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain.
Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain.
It's not a typical Palm Sunday message, but I want us to prepare for the resurrection.
I want us to prepare as we reflect on his triumphal entry.
And it wasn't just the way he walked the streets of Jerusalem. It was where he walked to the temple, then to the cross.
To the Temple and to the cross.
As we worship right now. I want you to just come before him in surrender and ask him, jesus, come into this temple and do whatever you want to do.
If there's anything that doesn't align with your heart, your purposes, I give you permission to flip these tables.
I want you to spend some time with the Holy Spirit in this next moment. Of worship and just ask him, what are you saying to me through this message?
Jesus Name.
[00:38:31] Speaker C: Thank you for joining King Movement Online. I pray and hope that that sermon impacted you deeply. I would love if you shared this with a few friends and family. And before you go, don't forget to subscribe. See you next week.
