The King Confronts Corruption B

Jesus Christ beloved is the divine purifier. He is perfect in love, but is also perfect in holiness. He is perfect in compassion and he is perfect in vengeance and when he is refused, and offering salvation becomes a prayer for you is that you would know him as Savior and not as a kind person, a patient leader or a compassionate friend and yes he was. Those things but there's more to Jesus character than that and it's not talked about enough these days. Today on grace to you. You'll see an attitude of Jesus.

That's vitally important for Christians to embrace and yet too often it's ignored, even in many churches stay here for a look at an explosive encounter between Jesus and the enemies of biblical truth.

The title of John MacArthur series how to talk to a heretic. Make sure you're not missing the Jesus clearly described in Scripture.

And with that, here's John MacArthur, Luke 19 versus 45 through 48, our Lord Jesus Christ has begun the final week of his earthly life on Friday.

He will die. This is Tuesday the day after his humble coronation the day after his entry into Jerusalem. It was Monday that he entered into the city to the cries of Hosanna on that Monday. He presented himself to Israel as the true King people through their robes and palm branches at his feet and hail him as the coming Messiah went directly to the temple and in the twilight of that Monday must have surveyed the conditions in the temple and what he saw in that twilight set the agenda for what he did.

The next day he was going to act on what he saw.

He does Tuesday morning he comes back and we pick up the text in verse 45. He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were selling saying to them, it is written in my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a robber's den and was teaching daily in the temple with chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy him. He couldn't find anything that they might do for all the people were hanging upon his words. This is an amazing amazing event, and it does mark the manifestation of Jesus as King. It gives evidence of his kingly credentials to show your handful of things that show that he is indeed God's kingdom.

First of all, he demonstrates that he is on a divine mission. He demonstrates that he is on a divine mission.

Verse 45 and he entered the temple. That's enough said a lot of places he could've gone Lotta places that says all we need to know. Secondly, we see his kingly person demonstrated not only in a divine mission, but divine authority. He began to cast out those who were selling what power, what strength, what authority was stunning thing to do attack Israel attack the temple and not Israel's enemies and the pagans.

I'm convinced that if the Lord Jesus will arrive in this world today, he would attack the church, not Washington, not the universities. He would attack the church with divine authority.

In fact, it would be legitimate to say is a prayer Lord, cleanse your church with Peter judgment must begin at the house of God where the Martin Luther's to attack the moneychangers, and the blasphemers who in the name of Christ, extort and ply their hypocrisy's and their heresies at the expense of people we have are false prophets as there were then and there.

In it, for filthy lucre. That's why Peter reminded us not to do your ministry for money. All how the Lord hates those who pervert worship, especially those who pervert worship in his name in the name of God and do it for money and do it dishonestly and exploit people, the hypocrites and the false promise ceilings and prosperity.

They do this in the name of God in the name of Christ. I tell you I would want to be in their shoes when the time of cleansing comes and it will and so we see who he is by his divine mission and his divine authority thirdly demonstrates commitment to divine Scripture. He demonstrates commitment to divine Scripture verse 46 saying to them this is what he was saying repeatedly as he was doing this and my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a robber's den" to Old Testament Scriptures, one of Isaiah and one out of Jeremiah.

This is God's house.

This is a place where men come to commune with God.

This is a place of prayer.

Prayer is the very essence of worship. What is prayer is communing with God, and that's what you do in worship. Do you not it's what you do and worship you exalt God you honor God you speak to God you singing to God you glorify God.

That's a form of prayer you confess your sin, you repent and that's what the temple was designed for the quotes. First of all, Isaiah 56, seven, and my house shall be a house of prayer. Isaiah ads for all nations which Mark also includes in his parallel passage. The temple was always designed and intended by God to be a place of prayer, a sanctuary of worship, a place of devotion of meditation and quiet penitence, brokenness, confession praises, it was turned into a circus of blasphemy and robbery but didn't think about one of the great mothers of the Bible. Hannah back in first Samuel chapter 1 she went to the temple and she prayed she found in the temple environment of quiet meditation and petition wouldn't happened wouldn't happen in the temple in Jesus day perhaps more helpful go back to first Kings chapter 8 when the first temple was built by Solomon. Solomon prayed a prayer at its dedication and his prayer tells us what the temple's purpose was verse 27 first Kings eight will God indeed dwell on the earth.

Behold heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain the how much less this house which I have built this not going to contain God's neck and hold the infinite God. Yet, have regard to the prayer of thy servant's supplication. Lord my God. Listen to the grind of the prayer which thy servant prays before, the today I know it's not can it continue, but I just want to pray that it will fulfill its purpose, what is its purpose. Verse 29 that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day for the place of which thou hast said my name shall be there to listen to the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place's place of prayer that was inaugurated in the very prayer Solomon, verse 30.

Listen to the supplication of thy servant of thy people Israel when they pray toward this place.

You could pray in the temple around the temple or just facing toward the temple from any other location, it symbolized the presence of God. And when they pray toward this place, which symbolizes your presence. Verse 30 here in heaven, your dwelling place here and forgive. So what kind of person with a print prayers what confession penitence brokenness is a house of prayer.

That's what the temple was it was where you went to pray, did you prays of course you prays did you adore God and worship God. Of course you did that but primarily before you did that you confessed your sin and you said what the publican did in Luke 18 pounding his breast God be propitious toward me. Apply the sacrifice was being offered that very time. Psalm 27 for one thing I've asked from the Lord that I shall seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all my days.

That's the temple, and behold the beauty of the Lord and meditate in his temple's place of meditation. It's a place of confession.

It's a place of prayer anything but that was going on 30 A.D. in the chaos of Herod's Temple at the Passover that Jesus says you have made it a robber's den language borrowed from Jeremiah chapter 7 and verse 11. You've turned this holy haven of prayer and worship into a robber's den Jeremiah 7 even talks about all the abominations my name has become a den of robbers says God in Jeremiah 7 thieves liked to hole up in case pretty pretty good guess that highway robbers and so forth would be hiding in the case of the temple had become their hiding place, it had become a cave for thieves, a refuge for robbers rather than worshipers place to protect blasphemers you need to hide in a cave. You just go buy a franchise in the temple. It was so bad. This was a very temporary act on Jesus part four years later in 70 A.D. God sent the Roman army and totally destroyed the temple, and it's never been rebuilt in 2000 years.

That's how bad it was.

That's where Jesus went because that's his place and as I said, if you were to come back today he wouldn't attack the institutions of this world, he would attack the church the corrupt unfaithful untrue church. So we see the king on a divine mission with divine authority fulfilling the divine word.

Fourthly, he demonstrated divine compassion. Again, the manifestation of who he is comes through on the other side divine compassion verse 47 and he was teaching daily in the temple that is really startling simple statement he was teaching daily in the temple was he teaching what would be the things that he would be saying to these people look at chapter 20 verse one came about on one of the days while he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel is this compassion what's he doing is preaching the gospel. What's the gospel, the good news of what salvation forgiveness heaven eternal life. This is really beauty after the ugliness. Believe me, that the temple courtyard was not tidy. There must've been animals milling all over the place whose owners had been thrown out money scattered around birds fluttering tables overturned, stools rolling around all kinds of debris strewn in every direction but the desecration was stopped for a few days and for a while son of God dominated the house of God with compassion teaching daily Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, the Savior one last time, proclaims the gospel of salvation to a recalcitrant people daily means. This was his activity every day left in the week. The content of his teaching the gospel or chapter 20 verse 21 they said to him, teacher, we know you speak and teach correctly and you're not partial to any but teach the way of God in truth for the true way of God.

Your teaching the gospel teaching the true way of God. At the end of chapter 21 which brings to a conclusion. His teaching ministry by the way what he taught is included in chapter 20 and 21 at the end of it.

Chapter 21 verse 37 during the day he was teaching in the temple and evening. He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet and all the people would get up early in the morning to come to him in the temple to listen to him. So, day in and day out. He taught and the people came, they filled the place to hear him compassionately teach the gospel in the way of God.

God's way. God's way to live God's way to heaven. This is this is the love of God demonstrated furious anger. Yes compassion yes love yes in high indignation. Jesus drove out those who sold the guilty left but some stayed temple authorities furious as we will see in a moment, but there was also the people there and he wanted one last time to talk to them as we go through 20 and 21, we will discover that this is what he taught the gospel the way of God. That's the positives and many taught some very, very negative things he taught against the leaders against the heretics against the hypocrites. He promised the destruction of Jerusalem and he promised his own return in judgment. That's compassionate to his compassionate to preach the gospel. It is compassionate to preach the way of God is compassionate to warn against false leaders, heretics and hypocrites. It is compassionate to warn of divine judgment.

All of this is compassionate calling people to salvation in the light of judgment, but Matthew tells us something else. Matthew says that he wasn't just teaching. Matthew says beautifully that the blind and the lame were coming to him and being healed.

The blind and the lame were coming to him and being healed, still demonstrating his compassion still demonstrating his power to cast out.

Yes he overthrows yes he also heals and preaches compassionately the gospel and the guilty flee, and the rest remain anger and love in perfect and divine balance. He frightens the guilty. He attracts the suffering they came without fear of the gentle healer without fear of the gospel preacher and yet he made them afraid by warning them of judgment, the blind and the lame Matthew talks about. They tended to hang around the table because that's where people came when they were feeling religious was a good place to bag this time they receive more than just a few coins. They received site and motion these of the wonderful things that Jesus did marvels astonishing proofs of his deity.

My thought this would be enough. One great glorious display of miracles on this Tuesday to seal in the minds of the people that this is truly the Messiah but the response of the leaders was just greater anger and eventually they swayed the crowd who later in the week.

Chapter 2321 Christ crucified him crucified him crucified leaders over this whole scene of compassion become irate their further agitated. Matthew tells us because there were boys in the temple ground who were praising him in fulfillment of Psalm eight leaders were losing control. So we read about the last evidence of his divine character.

He was on a divine mission with divine authority faithful to divine revelation showing divine compassion and fulfilling divine purpose was no shock that it turned away. It did verse 47 middle the verse, but the chief priests and scribes, and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy him and he couldn't find anything they might do for all the people were hanging upon his words, there was still huge amount of mob emotion in his favor hanging over from the Monday celebration he had cleansed the temple for most of the people.

Frankly, that was a plus.

Right because they were the ones being abused and then the miracles continue and then this incredible teaching from a man who had done what he had done in the attempt. With such a massive physical, spiritual presence course, they were grown in interest temporarily.

Chief priests and scribes, and the leading men. Chief priests were the ones who operated the temple scribes were the lawyers the religious lawyers. The scholars who supported them with their supposed studies of Scripture, the leading man is the collection of people in charge. Maybe Sanhedrin lease the ruling class. Collectively they were in agreement.

They wanted Jesus dead. Now they wanted him dead, more than ever, and they were seeking.

According to Mark 1118 how to kill him. They were having a hard time coming up with anything because it was so popular at the moment all the people were hanging on his words. The language in verse 48 pretty graphic. They were constantly unable to find a strategy because all the people is another graphic word were hanging on his lips, is the literal translation of the Greek giving them strong attention course, no one ever spoke like him. Sadly, in a few days.

The crowd thins out screams for his blood after his resurrection only hundred and 20 believers in Judea gathered 500 in Galilee is rejected rejected by the nation, rejected by the leaders. The tattoo fulfills God's purpose. Isaiah 53 he was despised and rejected run schedule they were seeking to destroy him just looking for a way to do it and right on schedule because he would die as God's chosen sacrificial lamb on Friday. All they needed was a way to get to him. They found it eventually in Judas and in the manipulation of the crowd, who by Friday were unfulfilled in their expectation of what they wanted Jesus to do in a sense it's still that way. The religious leaders the theologians the scholars the bureaucrats oppose Jesus and the majority of people reject him because he doesn't fit their picture of what a great Messiah deliver King should be, and there's always just a group of faithful believers, but nonetheless his Majesty is equally clear clear in his mission as authority's devotion to Scriptures compassion and even in his rejection.

This is exactly how God planned in Jesus Christ. Beloved is the divine purifier. He is perfect in love, but is also perfect in holiness. He is perfect in kindness but is also perfect in judgment. He is perfect and compassion and he is perfect in vengeance. He cannot tolerate unrighteousness or deceit. And when he is refused in offering salvation.

He becomes the judge of every life. My prayer for you is that you would know him as Savior and not as as John MacArthur said today you show compassion to enemies of the gospel when you point out their sin and tell them they're heading for judgment and call them to repent, how to talk to a heretic.

That's the title of John study here on grace to you know this notion of how to talk to a heretic. It gets to the heart of a project that I know you been working on. So to introduce it. Maybe I can just ask John what drew you to this subject of Jesus and how he dealt with the Pharisees.

While it's inescapable if you're going through Matthew Mark Luke and John is I've done for him. If you put those books together.

I preach to those books over a 25 year period and then it took me another 10 years to write the commentaries on those books and so much of the drama between the birth narrative John the Baptist and the passion week at the end.

The middle part of Jesus ministry so much of it is occupied with him interacting with the false religious leaders of Israel write a sometimes they were confronting him in the temple.

Sometimes they were confronting them in the street. There were times when he was even talking to them in a private conversation like with Nicodemus and end of the course, they resented him profoundly. It all comes to a head in Luke 15 where they say it only hangs around with that these wretched people that you Jesus hangs around with sinners is what the Pharisees leader said. So they castigated him for his willingness to be with the sinners. Of course he said he didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance so that this is a this is a huge mass of gospel New Testament gospel material that can't be avoided.

And yet I don't hear a lot about this right because it is confrontational preaching Jesus was so confrontational right you point out in the book that in a lot of those instances, it was Jesus who started the conflict with them exactly exactly because he knew where they were wrong and that's what they lets what were supposed to do but but that is Jesus is portrayed in so many circles as this loving, almost benign. Sort of sad melancholy guy who can't get people to come his way.

When the fact is, he was a fire. He was a force he was a he was just penetrating these people at the very basis of their unbelief and exposing the errors of their ways. So we put this book together.

Jesus unleashed it really is material that originally came out in a book called the Jesus you can't ignore, which I think a lot of people ignored because it who is looking for the confrontational Jesus everybody outside is looking for the kind Jesus to see you Jesus that probably haven't heard a lot about it is just now for the first time available hundred and 50 pages, hardcover available from Grace to you what was Jesus attitude towards those who attacked God's truth and why should his attitude be your attitude. Find out in John's new book Jesus unleashed order a copy today.

Our toll-free number here is 855 grace you'll reach our customer service team weekdays from 730 to 4 West Coast time or you can place your order@gty.org again. Call us at 855 grace or visit Jide TY.org to order John's new book called Jesus unleashed and thanks for remembering that it's friends like you who help us connect people around the world with biblical truth through radio, television, and thousands of online resources, including 3500 full-length sermons that are available for free download to help bring daily spiritual nourishment to people in your community and beyond. Express your support in writing to Grace to you. Box 4000 panorama city, CA 91412 or you can also donate online@jidety.org or when you call 855 grace and thanks too for your prayers for John and the staff. It's really the most important way you can support the ministry now for John MacArthur and the entire staff. I'm Phil Johnson encouraging you to be here tomorrow when John looks at the surprising if not shocking way. Jesus dealt with certain enemies of biblical truth.

Don't miss the next 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to you