Greg Laurie - Time To Clean House

March 6, 2025 | S25:E56

Join Pastor Greg Laurie for a time of encouragement, worship, and Bible study.

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Harvest with Pastor Greg Laurie | Greg Laurie - Time To Clean House | March 6, 2025

Greg laurie: sometimes the lord will come into your heart
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And life and say, "this needs to go, that needs to change,
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This needs to be looked at in a new way, that sin needs
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To be confronted, that vice needs to be repented of,
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Even your mind needs to be clean."
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You need to have a mind that's in alignment with
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What god wants you to have.
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And as scripture says, "bringing every thought into the captivity
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Of the obedience of jesus christ."
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♪ this is the day, ♪
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♪ the day when life begins. ♪
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♪ this is the day, ♪
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♪ the day when life begins. ♪♪
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Greg: all right, let's take a quick poll.
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How many of you are super neat organized people?
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Raise your hand. super neat and organized.
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Okay, how many of you are messy people?
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Raise up your hand.
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Wow, it's almost evenly split.
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How many of you who are messy and are neat--how many messy
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People are married to a neat person and vice versa?
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See, that's funny, isn't it?
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And that's how it is in my home as well.
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My wife cathe, total slob.
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Why are you laughing?
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Because that's not true, she's the opposite, she's very neat,
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Very organized, always cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.
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And i am not that person.
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In fact, i think we all know what it's like if you're one of
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Those messy people who have messes get so big that you
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Just--i can't live in this space anymore, right?
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So finally i have to do something about it.
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You have two choices in life, you can undertake the greg way
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Of cleaning or the cathe way of cleaning.
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The greg philosophy on cleaning is never do today which you can
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Put off until tomorrow.
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And if you don't know what to do with something, throw it in a
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Random drawer.
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So i have drawers filled with stuff, just all kinds of stuff,
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Pens, and this and that, and i don't even know what's in it
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Anymore and i don't even wanna open it.
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It frightens me a little bit.
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The cathe way of cleaning is always clean,
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Always, stay on top of it.
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There's dust on the floor, greg sweeps it under a rug,
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Cathe sweeps up properly.
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And i think the same is true of the christian life, always
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Maintaining your relationship with god because you can wait
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Until major problems develop as a result of neglect.
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It might be a fascination that turns into a habit,
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That then becomes an addiction, and soon a little thing
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Becomes a big thing.
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Suddenly that little problem is like a goliath in your life.
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You know what i mean by a goliath?
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He was that giant of a man in the story of david.
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Nine feet, six inches solid muscle taunting david, and the
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Rest of the people of israel.
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And we can have giants in our life like that.
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That frighten us, that taunt us, that scare us.
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But you know, goliath wasn't always a giant,
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He was a little baby once.
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I bet he was a big baby, right?
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I bet no one wanted to change his diaper.
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Would you want it?
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"it's time to change goliath's diaper."
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"ah, i did that yesterday and it took hours.
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I don't wanna do it again.
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I was traumatized by it."
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And imagine him having a temper tantrum as a little toddler.
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But one day he grows into a giant of a man and our giants,
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Our problems, so to speak,
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Start small but little things turn into big things.
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Little liberties turn into big vices.
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And then one day they're a full grown giant.
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So what we need to do is ask god to cleanse us of our sin
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On a regular basis.
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Don't wait till it builds up to some giant problem or horrible
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Mess, every day it's maintenance in the christian life.
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Jesus taught us in the lord's prayer to pray as follows, "our
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Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name; your
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Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Give us this day our daily bread.
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And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those
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Who have sinned against us."
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Just as surely as you should pray on a daily basis for god's
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Provision as in your daily bread, you should also pray
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On a daily basis for the forgiveness of god in your life.
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All right, well let's read now this story which was actually
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The second sign of jesus as recorded in john chapter 2,
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The cleansing of the temple.
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I'm reading from the new living translation
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Starting in verse 13.
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"it was nearly time for the jewish passover celebration,
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So jesus went to jerusalem.
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In the temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep,
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And doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables
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Exchanging foreign money.
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So jesus made a whip," i love that, underline that.
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"jesus made a whip."
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I almost gave that as the title of this message.
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"jesus made a whip
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From some ropes and chased them all out of the temple.
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He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money
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Changers' coins over the floor, and he turned over their tables.
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Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them,
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'get these things out of here.
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Stop turning my father's house into a marketplace!'"
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Okay, we'll stop there.
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So this is sign number two, seven signs in the gospel
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Of john.
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Sign number one, turning the water into wine.
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Sign number two, overturning the tables.
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If you were one of the disciples, you might've said,
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"lord, are you sure you want to make this your second sign?
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Because the first one was really popular."
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I mean, jesus shows up at a wedding, he turns water into
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Wine, everybody's happy, everyone's having a great time,
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They're all singing together.
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Jesus is just all right with me.
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Yeah, we like jesus.
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Jesus is a good guy to have around.
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Maybe lord, your second sign could be healing a blind man, or
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The recovery of the ability to hear or how about raising
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Someone from the dead?
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Jesus says, "i'm kind of thinking of going with this
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Right up front."
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And it was a radical thing.
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You know, to overturn tables, that's kind of a big deal.
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We've seen it in a million westerns, haven't we?
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The cowboys, the gamblers sitting around the smoke filled
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Bar playing cards.
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Everybody lays their hand on the table and one guy says to the
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Other guy, "i think you're cheating."
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And all of a sudden he turns the table over and the cards go
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Flying and the money goes flying and the piano player, the piano
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Player, always has a little derby hat on.
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It's mandatory if you're a piano player, wear the little derby
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Hat, not a cowboy hat.
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And he always has a little garter thing on his sleeve and
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He's playing, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding,
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Ding, ding, ding, ding.
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He stops.
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Everyone stops and looks and a fight breaks out, it's a violent
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Act to overturn a table.
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Money went flying.
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He did it to get their attention.
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Kind of reminds me of our own lives.
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You know, we invite jesus to our table,
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We invite him into our life.
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He brings, as the bible calls it,
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Joy unspeakable and full of glory.
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He brings us a peace that passes human understanding.
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It's fantastic.
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Suddenly for the first time perhaps, we have hope,
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We have purpose.
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We say it's great to invite jesus to your table
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Until he turns it over.
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Because he might come and say, "well, there's some things in
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Your life that need to change.
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You can't do this anymore this is destroying you,
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It's destroying other people.
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Why does he do this?
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He tears something down in order to build it back right.
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Jesus compared it to someone pruning, pruning a fruit tree.
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In john 15:2 he says, "he prunes the branches that do bear fruit,
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So they will produce even more."
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So jesus and his disciples are headed into jerusalem, it's
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Passover time.
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That was when friends and family would gather kind of a happy
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Time, maybe a sense of joy in the air.
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And now all of a sudden jesus is getting irritated.
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He's hot and bothered.
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He walks into the temple and what does he see?
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He sees this outer area known as the court of the gentiles,
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Filled with all of these tables, with these money changers.
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Now, what is this all about?
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These are people that stepped in and said to you, "you come in
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With your little lamb."
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It's all you could afford, it's unblemished,
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It meets the criteria.
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The money changer says, "i'm sorry but this lamb
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Does not pass muster.
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But we're having a deal on temple approved lambs that you
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Can buy for a jacked up price."
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And so you would pay it because you wanted to approach god.
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And in fact, even in the old covenant, before christ came and
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Died on the cross for our sins establishing the new covenant,
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God non-jews to believe.
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You could still believe in the god of abraham,
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Isaac, and jacob.
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So the court of the gentiles was for those folks, but as they're
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Trying to get in to approach god, they have this barrier put
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In front of them and this made jesus angry.
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Bible commentator warren wiersbe, made this statement and
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I quote, "you can tell a lot about a person by how they
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Answer these three questions, what makes you laugh?
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What makes you weep?
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And what makes you angry?"
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Good question.
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What makes you laugh?
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What makes you cry?
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And what makes you angry?
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Jesus was clearly angry.
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This is righteous indignation.
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Verse 15, "jesus made a whip."
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"wait a second, is this indiana jones or jesus of nazareth?
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Are you kidding me, a whip?
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[humming indiana jones theme song]
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What? a whip?
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Seriously, overturning tables is this necessary?"
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Apparently so.
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It flies against the stereotypical false image
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Of jesus that we so often see in religious art,
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Where jesus is scrawny, anemic,
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Sometimes even feminine in appearance
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And we think "this dude needs a sandwich," okay.
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"you're making fun of jesus?"
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No, i'm making fun of a false religious portrayal
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Of jesus that is not biblical.
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The jesus of the bible.
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I think he was strong.
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I think he was a man's man.
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If you would've met him as a guy, you'd say,
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"i admire that man."
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It takes strength to overturn a table, it takes strength to
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Carry a 400 pound cross through the streets of jerusalem after
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Your back has been ripped open with a roman whip.
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Jesus was strong but he was meek.
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And there's a difference between being meek and weak.
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You know, sometimes someone is very weak and they'll say,
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"well, i'm just meek."
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No, you're actually weak, you're not meek, you're weak.
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The word meek means power under constraint.
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It's someone who has the ability to do something
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But chooses not to.
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So christ is meek but in this particular instance, he's
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Showing righteous indignation, bringing me to point number one
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If you're taking notes.
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There are things that make god angry.
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This perverting of his purpose was something that clearly made
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Jesus angry.
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Listen, i don't know about you, but i wanna know
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What angers god.
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I wanna know what god loves as well as what he hates.
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In the book of proverbs the lord says, "there are seven things
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I hate."
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It's good to know what those things are because you don't
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Wanna do something that god hates and you don't want
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To make him angry.
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By the way, it takes time to make a whip.
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You know, it took, i don't know, a couple of hours.
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So this is not an explosion of anger,
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This is not god losing his temper.
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Can you imagine if god just went on a temper tantrum.
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Planets flying around.
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"i'm mad, i want breakfast,"
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You know, whatever makes someone angry.
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God's not like that.
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When he's angry, it's for a reason,
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It's righteous indignation.
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You almost wonder if the disciples were a bit embarrassed
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Like, "really lord, seriously?
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You're doing this?"
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"yes, i'm doing this."
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But then they remembered psalm 69, verse 17 of john 2.
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"his disciples remembered it was written:
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'zeal for your house will consume me.'"
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That brings me to point number two,
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God cares about his house.
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He likes to maintain it and he likes to keep it clean and he
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Will not tolerate evil.
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And so if you come to jesus he will accept you as you are, but
00:13:38.561 --> 00:13:42.364
He does not want to leave you that way.
00:13:42.364 --> 00:13:45.868
Yes, jesus was a friend of sinners, yes, he welcomed tax
00:13:45.868 --> 00:13:49.538
Collectors, and thieves, and prostitutes and other people
00:13:49.538 --> 00:13:54.443
Like that but he didn't leave them that way.
00:13:54.443 --> 00:13:57.713
Matthew was a tax collector that meant that he worked for rome.
00:13:57.713 --> 00:14:02.518
He would've been hated by his fellow jews because he being a
00:14:02.518 --> 00:14:05.421
Jewish man was perceived as a turncoat,
00:14:05.421 --> 00:14:09.191
A benedict arnold, if you will.
00:14:09.191 --> 00:14:11.460
And yet matthew hears jesus say, "follow me," and he gets up
00:14:11.460 --> 00:14:16.565
And leaves his table and follows christ.
00:14:16.565 --> 00:14:18.868
And i think of all the disciples he gave up the most materially
00:14:18.868 --> 00:14:22.905
Because he had a very lucrative career.
00:14:22.905 --> 00:14:25.608
But he was the tax collector.
00:14:25.608 --> 00:14:27.776
Then he became matthew the apostle and also matthew,
00:14:27.776 --> 00:14:30.746
The author of a gospel.
00:14:30.746 --> 00:14:33.148
Saul of tarsus was a murderer on his way to hunt down christians,
00:14:33.148 --> 00:14:38.254
Torture them and put them to death.
00:14:38.254 --> 00:14:40.289
And he met jesus on the road to damascus and he was transformed
00:14:40.289 --> 00:14:44.093
From being saul of tarsus to being the apostle paul
00:14:44.093 --> 00:14:47.930
And wrote so many of the great epistles.
00:14:47.930 --> 00:14:49.865
And it just goes on and on.
00:14:49.865 --> 00:14:51.834
Yes, we serve a god of mercy, but he's also a god of majesty.
00:14:51.834 --> 00:14:57.907
And he doesn't want sin in his church, and he doesn't want sin
00:14:57.907 --> 00:15:03.212
In our lives.
00:15:03.212 --> 00:15:06.282
And so he hates anything that opposes us.
00:15:06.282 --> 00:15:10.052
He loves us and because he loves us,
00:15:10.052 --> 00:15:12.388
He hates anything that would hurt us.
00:15:12.388 --> 00:15:15.958
So we should love what god loves, and we should also hate
00:15:15.958 --> 00:15:20.396
What god hates.
00:15:20.396 --> 00:15:24.767
Greg: you know, the bible tells us to not give
00:15:28.771 --> 00:15:30.506
The devil a foothold.
00:15:30.506 --> 00:15:32.308
What does that mean?
00:15:32.308 --> 00:15:33.642
It's sort of the idea of don't let something happen in your
00:15:33.642 --> 00:15:37.379
Life that gives the devil an advantage over you.
00:15:37.379 --> 00:15:40.950
Here's what ephesians chapter 4 verse 25 says,
00:15:40.950 --> 00:15:44.753
"stop telling lies.
00:15:44.753 --> 00:15:46.255
Let us tell our neighbor the truth, for we're all parts
00:15:46.255 --> 00:15:48.390
Of the same body.
00:15:48.390 --> 00:15:50.092
Don't sin by letting anger control you.
00:15:50.092 --> 00:15:52.828
Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry for anger
00:15:52.828 --> 00:15:55.764
Gives a foothold to the devil."
00:15:55.764 --> 00:15:58.867
Anger, bitterness, resentment, these things give a foothold to
00:15:58.867 --> 00:16:04.540
The devil.
00:16:04.540 --> 00:16:05.874
You say, "but greg, someone hurt me.
00:16:05.874 --> 00:16:07.309
I have a right to be angry."
00:16:07.309 --> 00:16:08.644
Well, listen, if you allow anger or resentment to control you, it
00:16:08.644 --> 00:16:13.015
Can give the enemy a foothold in your life and then that
00:16:13.015 --> 00:16:16.552
Separates you from the lord.
00:16:16.552 --> 00:16:18.587
So don't give a place for the devil.
00:16:18.587 --> 00:16:21.423
He'll knock on the door of your mind with temptations.
00:16:21.423 --> 00:16:24.393
"oh, why don't you do this?
00:16:24.393 --> 00:16:25.861
Why don't you do that?"
00:16:25.861 --> 00:16:27.329
Don't listen to him.
00:16:27.329 --> 00:16:28.664
Listen to this, it's not the bait that constitutes sin, it's
00:16:28.664 --> 00:16:33.335
The bite.
00:16:33.335 --> 00:16:34.903
By that i mean, it's not a sin when the devil comes with a
00:16:34.903 --> 00:16:38.674
Temptation or something to allure you, the problem is when
00:16:38.674 --> 00:16:41.510
You open the door and invite him for tea, right?
00:16:41.510 --> 00:16:44.413
So don't give the devil a foothold.
00:16:44.413 --> 00:16:47.082
What does the bible say?
00:16:47.082 --> 00:16:48.917
It says, "resist the devil and he will flee from you."
00:16:48.917 --> 00:16:53.422
Greg: bringing me to point number three.
00:16:55.858 --> 00:16:57.526
God gets angry when people are kept from coming to him.
00:16:57.526 --> 00:17:02.297
God is angry when people are kept from coming to him.
00:17:02.297 --> 00:17:06.435
Why does the church exist?
00:17:06.435 --> 00:17:09.304
There's three reasons the church exists, the exaltation of god,
00:17:09.304 --> 00:17:13.575
The edification of the saints, and the evangelization
00:17:13.575 --> 00:17:16.979
Of the world.
00:17:16.979 --> 00:17:18.680
So when we gather together as believers, we're here to glorify
00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:21.984
God, to lift up the name of the lord, we do that in worship, but
00:17:21.984 --> 00:17:25.988
Now we're here for the edification of the saints.
00:17:25.988 --> 00:17:28.957
Edification means to build up one another.
00:17:28.957 --> 00:17:31.460
So when we study the word of god, we're being edified or
00:17:31.460 --> 00:17:34.763
Built up.
00:17:34.763 --> 00:17:36.398
But listen, we also are here for the evangelization of the world.
00:17:36.398 --> 00:17:41.203
I'm glad when people who don't think like us, or look like us,
00:17:41.203 --> 00:17:45.541
Or live like us, come and join us because my prayer
00:17:45.541 --> 00:17:49.845
Is they will become one of us through faith in jesus christ.
00:17:49.845 --> 00:17:54.249
So you might ask, "what does jesus cleansing the temple
00:17:54.249 --> 00:17:57.586
Have to do with me right here, right now?"
00:17:57.586 --> 00:18:02.057
Well, number one, the temple is not the church.
00:18:02.057 --> 00:18:05.094
Or let me restate that, the church is not the temple.
00:18:05.094 --> 00:18:08.363
Sometimes we say the church is a sacred building.
00:18:08.363 --> 00:18:12.701
So when you walk in, "don't speak loudly, whisper,
00:18:12.701 --> 00:18:18.507
We're in the church.
00:18:18.507 --> 00:18:20.442
Don't laugh, don't laugh you're in the church."
00:18:20.442 --> 00:18:22.744
Come on, this is just a building.
00:18:22.744 --> 00:18:24.980
This is not the church, you're the church.
00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:28.016
I'm the church.
00:18:28.016 --> 00:18:29.451
Wherever we gather together, that's a church.
00:18:29.451 --> 00:18:31.987
If we're in a stadium, if we're in a movie theater, if we're at
00:18:31.987 --> 00:18:34.890
A beach, wherever we are worshiping god, honoring god,
00:18:34.890 --> 00:18:38.260
That's the church, right?
00:18:38.260 --> 00:18:40.762
But you, your body is the temple of the holy spirit.
00:18:40.762 --> 00:18:46.101
The bible actually teaches this.
00:18:46.101 --> 00:18:48.103
Revelation 3:20, excuse me, 1 corinthians 6:19, i meant to
00:18:48.103 --> 00:18:52.708
Say, "don't you know that your body is the temple
00:18:52.708 --> 00:18:55.244
Of the holy spirit who is in you,
00:18:55.244 --> 00:18:58.313
Who you have received from god, you're not your own.
00:18:58.313 --> 00:19:01.450
You were bought at a price; therefore, honor god
00:19:01.450 --> 00:19:04.253
With your body."
00:19:04.253 --> 00:19:06.121
Your body, my body is the temple of the spirit.
00:19:06.121 --> 00:19:11.226
And sometimes god wants to do a little temple cleansing.
00:19:11.226 --> 00:19:15.664
Sometimes the lord will come into your heart and life and
00:19:15.664 --> 00:19:18.033
Say, "this needs to go, that needs to change, this needs to
00:19:18.033 --> 00:19:24.473
Be looked at in a new way, that sin needs to be confronted,
00:19:24.473 --> 00:19:29.778
That vice needs to be repented of, even your mind needs
00:19:29.778 --> 00:19:34.316
To be clean."
00:19:34.316 --> 00:19:36.285
You need to have a mind that's in alignment with what god wants
00:19:36.285 --> 00:19:39.154
You to have and as scripture says, "bringing every thought
00:19:39.154 --> 00:19:43.125
Into the captivity of the obedience of jesus christ."
00:19:43.125 --> 00:19:47.529
You know, and we need periodic house cleanings.
00:19:47.529 --> 00:19:49.998
By the way, did you know this?
00:19:49.998 --> 00:19:52.534
Jesus cleansed the temple.
00:19:52.534 --> 00:19:54.236
Not once, but twice.
00:19:54.236 --> 00:19:56.438
Some people are confused because they read about it two times
00:19:56.438 --> 00:19:58.907
In the bible.
00:19:58.907 --> 00:20:00.509
One time he has a whip, the other time he doesn't.
00:20:00.509 --> 00:20:02.945
Well, that's because he did it two times.
00:20:02.945 --> 00:20:05.314
He cleansed the temple when he started his ministry and again,
00:20:05.314 --> 00:20:08.650
He cleansed the temple when he was bringing his earthly
00:20:08.650 --> 00:20:11.353
Ministry to a close, you see.
00:20:11.353 --> 00:20:14.323
And why did he have to cleanse it twice?
00:20:14.323 --> 00:20:16.525
Because it got cluttered again.
00:20:16.525 --> 00:20:19.228
Probably started with one guy set his table up, another guy
00:20:19.228 --> 00:20:22.431
Shows up, someone else shows up and pretty soon
00:20:22.431 --> 00:20:25.100
All the junk is back.
00:20:25.100 --> 00:20:27.302
Maybe it's even worse than it was before and can that not
00:20:27.302 --> 00:20:29.605
Happen in our life as a christian?
00:20:29.605 --> 00:20:32.808
You know, we come to jesus, we repent of all these sins, this
00:20:32.808 --> 00:20:35.744
Lifestyle is gone, everything's fresh and new, but then we make
00:20:35.744 --> 00:20:40.282
A little compromise here and lower the guard over there and
00:20:40.282 --> 00:20:43.986
Next thing you know, all this stuff has come back and maybe
00:20:43.986 --> 00:20:47.022
It's even worse than it used be before it's time
00:20:47.022 --> 00:20:49.625
For another house cleaning.
00:20:49.625 --> 00:20:52.761
It's time for the lord to come and say,
00:20:52.761 --> 00:20:54.396
"let's deal with those things."
00:20:54.396 --> 00:20:56.131
We need to be constantly cleansed in our relationship
00:20:56.131 --> 00:20:59.835
With jesus christ.
00:20:59.835 --> 00:21:01.737
One final movement to the story and i find
00:21:01.737 --> 00:21:03.705
It really interesting.
00:21:03.705 --> 00:21:05.307
Look at john 2 verse 23.
00:21:05.307 --> 00:21:08.744
I'm reading now from the new king james version.
00:21:08.744 --> 00:21:11.046
"now when he was in jerusalem at the passover, during the feast,
00:21:11.046 --> 00:21:14.116
Many believed in his name."
00:21:14.116 --> 00:21:16.385
Underline that phrase.
00:21:16.385 --> 00:21:18.020
"many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did.
00:21:18.020 --> 00:21:22.858
But jesus did not commit himself to them."
00:21:22.858 --> 00:21:26.061
Underline that too.
00:21:26.061 --> 00:21:27.963
"because he knew all men, and had no need that anyone should
00:21:27.963 --> 00:21:31.266
Testify of man, for he knew what was in man."
00:21:31.266 --> 00:21:35.837
Wow!
00:21:35.837 --> 00:21:37.172
"many believed in his name when they saw the signs he did."
00:21:37.172 --> 00:21:41.143
What signs did they see?
00:21:41.143 --> 00:21:43.045
At this point, water being turned to wine.
00:21:43.045 --> 00:21:45.781
They had seen them cleanse the temple.
00:21:45.781 --> 00:21:48.283
These were significant signs.
00:21:48.283 --> 00:21:49.951
They were very impressed and they believed, right?
00:21:49.951 --> 00:21:52.688
Well, maybe not because it says,
00:21:52.688 --> 00:21:55.524
"jesus did not commit himself to them."
00:21:55.524 --> 00:21:59.361
See, here's the thing with jesus, he knew all things.
00:21:59.361 --> 00:22:04.599
So you might almost translate this verse, they believed in
00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:07.903
Him, but he didn't believe in them.
00:22:07.903 --> 00:22:11.440
Or they trusted in him, but he didn't trust in them.
00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:16.745
Why?
00:22:16.745 --> 00:22:18.146
Because he knows all things.
00:22:18.146 --> 00:22:19.848
You're saying, "but wait i thought god welcomed all people.
00:22:19.848 --> 00:22:22.517
Doesn't god want everyone to believe?"
00:22:22.517 --> 00:22:24.853
Yes, if they come with the right motives.
00:22:24.853 --> 00:22:28.256
But these people saw the signs but the problem was their faith
00:22:28.256 --> 00:22:31.293
Was superficial and it was hollow and he could look
00:22:31.293 --> 00:22:34.696
Right through them.
00:22:34.696 --> 00:22:36.098
He was always looking through people.
00:22:36.098 --> 00:22:37.999
In fact, when jesus called matthew,
00:22:37.999 --> 00:22:39.434
I mentioned matthew earlier.
00:22:39.434 --> 00:22:41.603
He says to matthew, "follow me."
00:22:41.603 --> 00:22:43.538
And the actual verse says, "he looked at matthew," and that
00:22:43.538 --> 00:22:47.342
Phrase looked at could be translated, "he looked right
00:22:47.342 --> 00:22:51.413
Through matthew," looked right through him.
00:22:51.413 --> 00:22:55.117
Have you ever had anyone look right through you?
00:22:55.117 --> 00:22:58.387
Let me restate the question, do you have a mother?
00:22:58.387 --> 00:23:03.125
Maybe when you were a teenager you're out a little bit late and
00:23:03.125 --> 00:23:06.228
Your mother says, "where have you been?"
00:23:06.228 --> 00:23:08.463
"nowhere mom."
00:23:08.463 --> 00:23:09.931
"look at me," she says.
00:23:09.931 --> 00:23:11.533
And you just started confessing everything.
00:23:11.533 --> 00:23:13.235
You confess things you didn't even do, right?
00:23:13.235 --> 00:23:16.605
Jesus could look right through people.
00:23:16.605 --> 00:23:19.274
He knew the backstory, he knew the thoughts,
00:23:19.274 --> 00:23:21.343
He would call people out periodically.
00:23:21.343 --> 00:23:23.445
"why are you thinking this in your heart?"
00:23:23.445 --> 00:23:25.147
How do you know that?
00:23:25.147 --> 00:23:26.882
Because he was god, he was omniscient and
00:23:26.882 --> 00:23:29.184
He knew all things.
00:23:29.184 --> 00:23:30.685
And he saw that these people who thought they believed in him
00:23:30.685 --> 00:23:34.723
Really did not at all.
00:23:34.723 --> 00:23:36.825
Bringing me to my next point, jesus knows
00:23:36.825 --> 00:23:39.094
Everything about you.
00:23:39.094 --> 00:23:41.530
Let me add one thing to that.
00:23:41.530 --> 00:23:43.231
Jesus knows everything about you, but yet he still loves you.
00:23:43.231 --> 00:23:49.538
No one knows how dark your heart is except you.
00:23:49.538 --> 00:23:54.876
No one knows how dark my heart is except me.
00:23:54.876 --> 00:23:58.747
The bible says, "the heart is deceitfully wicked above all
00:23:58.747 --> 00:24:03.318
Things, who can know it?"
00:24:03.318 --> 00:24:05.187
That's why we shouldn't walk around saying,
00:24:05.187 --> 00:24:06.855
"i'm just trusting my heart.
00:24:06.855 --> 00:24:09.491
The heart wants what it wants."
00:24:09.491 --> 00:24:11.526
Yeah, don't trust your heart.
00:24:11.526 --> 00:24:13.862
Your heart can get you into trouble, you see?
00:24:13.862 --> 00:24:16.498
So god sees through you but yet he loves you because even though
00:24:16.498 --> 00:24:19.734
You're a sinner, he also knows if you're a seeker, "and those
00:24:19.734 --> 00:24:24.806
That seek him will find him."
00:24:24.806 --> 00:24:27.375
And here's a great illustration.
00:24:27.375 --> 00:24:29.511
So john 2 ends with, "many believed but jesus did not
00:24:29.511 --> 00:24:34.449
Commit himself to them."
00:24:34.449 --> 00:24:36.551
But then john 3 opens with the words, "now there was a pharisee
00:24:36.551 --> 00:24:40.055
Named nicodemus," and then it goes on to tell the story of
00:24:40.055 --> 00:24:43.825
Jesus and nicodemus, that religious leader who wanted to
00:24:43.825 --> 00:24:48.630
Know jesus who ended up becoming a believer.
00:24:48.630 --> 00:24:51.700
So these people didn't really believe and so he didn't commit
00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:55.370
Himself to them but then there's this guy named nicodemus that
00:24:55.370 --> 00:24:58.540
Showed up and he did believe and jesus revealed himself to him.
00:24:58.540 --> 00:25:03.378
God will reveal himself to any true seeker.
00:25:03.378 --> 00:25:07.182
That's my last point.
00:25:07.182 --> 00:25:08.917
Jesus will always reveal himself to the true seeker.
00:25:08.917 --> 00:25:13.788
And sometimes will say, "you know what?
00:25:13.788 --> 00:25:15.323
Prove it to me. show me and i'll believe."
00:25:15.323 --> 00:25:18.960
And effectively jesus would say, "believe and i'll show you.
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:23.965
Come with as much faith as you have,
00:25:23.965 --> 00:25:26.668
And let me change your life."
00:25:26.668 --> 00:25:28.770
Maybe you've tried to clean up your life.
00:25:28.770 --> 00:25:31.072
You've thought, "you know what?
00:25:31.072 --> 00:25:32.541
My life's a mess and i'm gonna become a christian.
00:25:32.541 --> 00:25:35.577
I'm in the process of converting.
00:25:35.577 --> 00:25:38.647
I'm gonna cuss a little bit less, be a little less angry,
00:25:38.647 --> 00:25:44.185
Do a little less of that."
00:25:44.185 --> 00:25:46.254
Yeah, but that's not conversion.
00:25:46.254 --> 00:25:48.490
See, you don't clean up your life and come to christ, you
00:25:48.490 --> 00:25:50.959
Come to christ and he'll clean your life up.
00:25:50.959 --> 00:25:55.163
Greg: hi, i'm greg laurie. i've got some good news for you.
00:25:59.301 --> 00:26:02.003
God loves you, and god has a plan for your life.
00:26:02.003 --> 00:26:05.874
Here's the problem, we're separated from god by our sin
00:26:05.874 --> 00:26:09.311
Because we've all broken his commandments.
00:26:09.311 --> 00:26:12.080
But the good news is, 2,000 years ago god sent his son jesus
00:26:12.080 --> 00:26:16.418
Christ to die on the cross for your sin, and then to rise again
00:26:16.418 --> 00:26:21.022
From the dead.
00:26:21.022 --> 00:26:22.424
The same jesus who died and rose is alive and ready to come
00:26:22.424 --> 00:26:25.961
Into your life right now.
00:26:25.961 --> 00:26:28.263
Would you like your sin forgiven?
00:26:28.263 --> 00:26:30.298
Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven.
00:26:30.298 --> 00:26:33.234
If so, pray this simple prayer with me right now.
00:26:33.234 --> 00:26:36.571
Just say, "lord jesus, i know i'm a sinner, but i believe
00:26:36.571 --> 00:26:39.808
You're the savior who died on the cross for my sin.
00:26:39.808 --> 00:26:43.511
I turn from my sin now, and i choose to follow you
00:26:43.511 --> 00:26:46.982
From this moment forward."
00:26:46.982 --> 00:26:49.150
Did you just pray that prayer with me?
00:26:49.150 --> 00:26:51.453
If you did, god in heaven has heard you and i wanna send you a
00:26:51.453 --> 00:26:55.490
New testament to start reading.
00:26:55.490 --> 00:26:57.425
Male announcer: explore the life and legacy of one
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Greg Laurie - Time To Clean House

March 6, 2025 | S25:E56

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