1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,480 The Passover of the Jews. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,000 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,920 pigeons and the money changers sitting there and making a whip 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:19,560 of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,000 oxen. And he poured out the coins of 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,600 the money changers and overturned their tables. 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,120 And he's told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away. 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,000 Do not make my father's house a House of trade. 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,680 His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,360 will consume me. So the Jews said to him, what 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,560 sign do you show us for doing these things? 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:48,320 Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,280 will raise it up. The Jews then said, It has taken 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,880 46 years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,960 three days. But he was speaking about the 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:03,360 temple of his body. When therefore, he was raised 17 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,160 from the dead, His disciples remembered that he had said 18 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,320 this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that 19 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,280 Jesus had spoken the gospel of the Lord. 20 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:19,560 I'll begin by taking you to an event that happened last week at 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:25,920 the carpenter's house over here. Though I did ask that I would 22 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:30,840 speak about this from him. So last week we were gathered at 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,600 for a meal at the capital's house and someone broke a piece 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,360 of tableware. So please don't ask me to tell 25 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:44,880 you who the person was, because I believe all of us at one time 26 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:50,360 have ever broken a piece of tableware or any other vase. 27 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:55,240 And but this is how Joe responded when that happened. 28 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:02,400 He came out and took out some broom and was able to sweep the 29 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,200 piece that had broken and he took it to the trash. 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,720 This is what often time we do when such occasions have 31 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,760 happened and something has fallen and it's broken. 32 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:21,160 But there is an art from the Japanese community that repairs 33 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,600 shut such shattered pottery and it turns out to be beautiful. 34 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:32,080 It is called Kingsugi Kingsugi. I might have not pronounced it 35 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,600 so well, but it uses gold and silver and other precious 36 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,760 materials to bring back life to shattered pottery. 37 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:47,160 And it becomes reusable again, but also more valuable because 38 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:53,040 of such repair. In the new temple, the heart of 39 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,840 God being a repairer is revealed. 40 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:01,760 God shows us his self as being a repairer because he restores 41 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,400 things that would have been rejected, things that are in 42 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,480 need of healing, which would have been abandoned. 43 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,560 God brings them back to life. Things that would have been cast 44 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:18,200 aside as being useless. God restores them to life and 45 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,200 renews them into things that are beautiful. 46 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:27,120 In John chapter 2, verse 13 to 28, which is our gospel reading, 47 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:29,880 I ask you to turn to that in your bulletin. 48 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:35,160 We see that God restores the broken temple and ultimately 49 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,640 each one of us. He cleanses the system of the 50 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,600 temple. He redefines the purposes of the 51 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,960 temple, but also He resurrects the glory of this temple. 52 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,840 I invite you to walk with me in this passage as we look at a 53 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,720 journey of restoration which is unfolding in three movements. 54 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,800 God is presence reveals holiness where it has been compromised. 55 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,840 So when Jesus walks into the temple, his very presence 56 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:11,000 exposes the corruption that was woven into the system of this 57 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,760 temple. Unlike Jesus seems so full as 58 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:18,720 always, pulling through crowds to Christ, pulling Christ crowds 59 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,720 to God. The temple instead had become a 60 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,800 magnet that was repairing people away from God instead of pulling 61 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,600 them to God. It was a counterfeit that was 62 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,240 casting people away from God instead of welcoming them. 63 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,840 In other words, the mission of the temple had been lost. 64 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,320 The mission of welcoming people had now turned into a mission of 65 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:47,400 sending away people from God. It had been compromised in many 66 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,880 ways. So Jesus finds this system that 67 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,240 is broken in many ways. It was broken spiritually, it 68 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:59,600 was broken morally, but also it was broken from a relational 69 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:02,920 perspective. A place that was meant to be a 70 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:07,920 place of sacred prayer, drawing God's presence had instead 71 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,160 become a place of performance and transaction. 72 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,000 And you could tell that the people were coming just to 73 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,400 fulfill their obligations religiously. 74 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,320 They had ceased to encounter God at this space. 75 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,200 It was spiritually broken that people were there just for 76 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,000 activity, not for intimacy with God. 77 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,800 The worshippers from all nations who could come there couldn't 78 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,760 experience intimacy with God. It was just ritualities of 79 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,720 sacrifice and other things that happened there. 80 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,120 Now Jesus looks around and he sees the animals there on sale, 81 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,560 and he quickly learns that these animals are sold at inflated 82 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,000 prices. They are exchanged, the prices 83 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,160 that are inflated. And he sympathizes with some of 84 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,280 the foreigners and the poor who are being affected by this kind 85 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:05,040 of scam and exploitation because they were being exploited by 86 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:09,120 buying these animals at prices that were inflated. 87 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,000 You know very well that sometimes systems of religion 88 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:17,600 can become places of exploitation and fraud. 89 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,800 Places of systemic abuses will amend over such systems, just as 90 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,120 Jesus would have lamented in this occasion where there is 91 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,760 injustice and greed and exploitation. 92 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,680 But also Jesus observes that what would have been a temple 93 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,120 for all the nations together, where it was called the court of 94 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,760 the Gentiles, this is where this business was happening. 95 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,840 In other words, some people who would have come and sat and used 96 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:48,160 that space. We are being pushed out of this 97 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:53,200 place, of this space which was reserved for them, and instead 98 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,920 of protecting these people and allowing them to come and 99 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,680 flourish in that place, it had ceased to be a system that 100 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,480 brings people to come and encounter God. 101 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,720 It was a system for the few. The other majority from all over 102 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,840 the world has ceased to have a room in that place. 103 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:17,320 God usually exposes the corrupt systems and the corrupt spaces 104 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,480 when he comes and meets them, but he doesn't only stop at 105 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,800 exposing them. He does something against them. 106 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,320 He does something to see that we are restored. 107 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,680 There are four Out of righteous anger and the holy zeal, Jesus 108 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,800 decides to confront this corruption at the temple and he 109 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,920 gets out a whip and he begins to drive out these merchants. 110 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,520 This is a something that is surprising when you read in the 111 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,280 gospels because oftentimes you are used to this Jesus who is me 112 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,680 can humble, but now Jesus is turning out to be. 113 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,760 You can think is Jesus out of control? 114 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,120 Has he lost his mind? Certainly not. 115 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,080 Jesus is still in control. He's trying to make space for 116 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,240 God is presence. His actions are not fueled by 117 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,160 wrath, but this is love. This is holy passion. 118 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,440 He's consumed by the desire to see that the purposes of God for 119 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,800 this temple are not done away with, they are restored. 120 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:23,080 Jesus is truly revealing his true mission of building God's 121 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:27,560 temple, not with bricks, but with his zeal for purity and 122 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,400 God's presence. This was a temple that was not 123 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,880 to be built by human effort. This is not Jesus using his 124 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,760 human effort. He's using his new divine 125 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,080 effort. Not Jesus acting as a man who is 126 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,880 annoyed and using his anger, but as God himself is fulfilling the 127 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:50,440 purposes for this temple. Several times before God 128 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,400 rebuilds us into a new temple, He first removes what has 129 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,720 defiled us. It is like someone who is going 130 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,360 to paint a house that is filled with a lot of molds on the 131 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,160 walls. You begin by clearing these 132 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:07,480 molds and then you can paint it. Sometimes it involves tearing 133 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,560 down the things that are contaminated in our lives before 134 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:15,080 God can build us and restore us to what God wants us to be. 135 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,560 But oftentimes, some of these things that God wants to tear 136 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:21,800 out from us, they are near to us. 137 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:23,360 We feel that we should have them. 138 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,320 These are habits and attitudes and some of the things that we 139 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,560 love. When God tries to pull us away 140 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,560 from those things, we feel that it is He's not doing the right 141 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:34,920 thing. Resist him. 142 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,800 Can you imagine if he were a home owner who wants to renovate 143 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,560 your house, but but you, you, you cannot endure some of the, 144 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:46,240 the, the, the interruption of renovating this house, the dust 145 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,480 that is going to fall down, the noise that is going to come from 146 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,600 the dreams and the workers moving all over and all the 147 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,440 demolition that is going on. Yet several times this is our 148 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,480 posture with God when we long for healing and blessing and 149 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,760 restoration, several times we feel that the process we cannot 150 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,400 endure the process. We love the blessing of 151 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:11,840 restoration and healing, but the process when God begins fixing 152 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,800 our lives, we have prayed, God, I want you to fix my life. 153 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,120 But when God begins to fix our lives, several times we say 154 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,120 please. I didn't think that you would 155 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,400 take away that even from me, because these are some of the 156 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,960 things that we think. They define our success. 157 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,120 They define our relationships and all the things that are dear 158 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,800 to us. Letting go of some of those 159 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:38,600 things might be painful, but God sometimes wants to begin by 160 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,080 cleansing us before He restores us. 161 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,360 By pulling out those things that are causing us not to walk 162 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,080 according to His direction. He pulls them away to give us a 163 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:52,280 gracious gift that surpasses the things that have been defining 164 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,120 us. But for him, He looks at them 165 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,440 that they are contaminating us. It pulls us away from 166 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,560 contamination so that he can restore us to what he wants us 167 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:06,600 to be. Friends, is there anything in 168 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,480 your temple, in your heart, in your habits, in your worship 169 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,960 that God longs to overturn? That God wants to pull away from 170 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:18,000 you? The God who confronted the 171 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,200 broken temple is stealing the business of cleansing us, not 172 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,080 out of anger, but out of deep desire that we are made whole 173 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,320 and we fulfill the purposes as to why He has given us life. 174 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,560 He doesn't want to destroy us, He just wants to create room for 175 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:36,400 something new. Something new sometimes needs to 176 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,760 be something old, needs to be pulled out so that something new 177 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,720 can be given room. I would love you to imagine a 178 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,720 situation where you went back to your neighborhood where you grew 179 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,440 up as a child, and as you are running around, you're moving 180 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,240 around, you notice that your house where you grew up is now 181 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,240 reduced to rubbles. And you then you feel this shock 182 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,480 because this is the house that held all your memories, your 183 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:06,840 identity. You felt this is something 184 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:09,560 special to you as the person who grew up in that house. 185 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:13,120 You begin to feel annoyed and angry and lost. 186 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:15,640 Why would someone tear down this house? 187 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,920 You begin to ask. But soon you hear and you learn 188 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,040 that the house had ceased to be safe. 189 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:24,280 All the walls we are now crumbling and rotting. 190 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,840 The foundation was rotten. And then someone had to tear 191 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,640 down this house to create room for a new building, which now 192 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,440 people have begun using. And now it's a glorious 193 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,200 building, and many people entering into that building to 194 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,120 begin taking residence in that building. 195 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,480 And then you begin realizing that your attachment to that 196 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,440 house was because you loved it because of what it symbolized, 197 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:50,600 not because of its functionality. 198 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,920 The functionality had seized, but you still loved that house 199 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:58,320 because of its symbol in your identity as a person who lived 200 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:02,160 in that house. This is what exactly Jesus does 201 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,800 in verses 18 to 12. He really finds the temple in a 202 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:11,480 way that seems like it's a loss. The religious leaders that were 203 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,720 there couldn't understand the kind of redefinition of the 204 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,760 temple that Jesus was bringing on board. 205 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,840 It seems as if Jesus was destabilizing the system. 206 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,680 It seems as if Jesus was speaking heresy. 207 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:30,240 Yet Jesus was indeed building something that is glorious and 208 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,840 outstanding. God is work of rebuilding us 209 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:39,840 often begins by some aspects of destabilizing our corrupt life. 210 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,840 Sometimes we might be tired to resistance because of what God 211 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,440 is doing. Since he's destabilizing us, we 212 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:51,400 can resist Him and sometimes we might even question His 213 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:56,120 authority. That is why verse 818 where the 214 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,600 Jews, the religious leaders, ask Jesus about his authority. 215 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,880 This is what we are saying. Who are you to do this to us? 216 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,960 We are used to this system. Why are you doing this to us? 217 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,240 They are questioning His authority. 218 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,200 They want to know why is this man doing this? 219 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,600 But instead of focusing on what Jesus is doing, they miss to see 220 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,120 the deep truth of what Jesus is doing because they're used to 221 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:25,880 this system that Jesus is trying to remote and redefine anew. 222 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:31,200 Oftentimes we miss what God is doing in our lives, the aspect 223 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,680 of rebuilding our lives, because sometimes it doesn't look as 224 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,680 what we expect. We often don't understand the 225 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,240 process, and when we don't understand the process, we begin 226 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,360 questioning the worker. Imagine if someone you call to 227 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,720 set up your house begins doing things that you feel it's not 228 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,480 the right process. You will ask, is this the right 229 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,000 builder who is on site? You begin questioning his his 230 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,360 credentials. This is what they use. 231 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,560 The religious leaders did they begin to question who is this 232 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,560 man doing this? Many times when we don't 233 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,000 understand the processes of God, we begin questioning his 234 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,000 character. How can a loving God do this to 235 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,360 me? How can a caring God do this to 236 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,200 me? Because we don't understand his 237 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:19,520 processes, we end up questioning his character and wanting Him to 238 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:25,080 prove his credentials to us. But interestingly, the religious 239 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,800 leaders did arrest Jesus. They never arrested him somehow. 240 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,360 Perhaps they were recognizing that this system is corrupted. 241 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:38,360 It is a lot of commercialization is corrupted, but yet still they 242 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,680 demanded him to prove why is he unsettling this system. 243 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,360 They wanted him to prove his credentials for unsettling this 244 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,240 kind of system. And then in response, Jesus 245 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:54,200 offered them a sign, but a sign that they didn't expect. 246 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,480 It was something that they least expected because it Jesus was 247 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,840 trying to shift their entire understanding of the temple. 248 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:06,000 He invites them to see the true authority and the true worship 249 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,120 that should go on in that temple. 250 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:12,960 Jesus answers them in verse 19 to 20, Destroy this temple. 251 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:17,760 And in three days I rise it up. And then the youth said it has 252 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:22,280 taken 46 years to build this temple and will you rise it up 253 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,600 in three days? The religious leaders, we are 254 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,760 focused on the stones of the temple and the timeline of 255 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,040 building this temple. But Jesus was pushing and 256 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,800 pointing to them something that was far greater. 257 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,960 They misunderstanding this, what Jesus was pointing to them. 258 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,480 Jesus was really finding something. 259 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,920 Jesus was trying to put a turning point into their 260 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,560 understanding. He was showing them that there 261 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,080 is a building that is not built by hands. 262 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,720 And this is what I'm setting up for you. 263 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:59,720 Jesus was revealing Himself as the new and glorious temple. 264 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,280 It was a time of fixing attention from a temple that is 265 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:07,079 a place to a temple that is a person, a temple that is a 266 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:10,760 structure to a temple that is a savior, a temple that is of 267 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:14,920 walls, to a temple that is of glorious, A glorious reason 268 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,400 body. In the crucifixion of Jesus 269 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,240 Christ, the temple was torn down. 270 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:25,200 And then when Jesus rose again from the dead, a new temple was 271 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,160 set up for us. And then when we meet up as 272 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,600 believers, we don't now think about buildings, but we meet in 273 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,240 the intimacy of this new temple where Jesus has set up a place 274 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,080 for us, not just in a small building somewhere in Jerusalem. 275 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,520 That way all of us should have a pilgrimage and go and meet up in 276 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,680 that building. Now we meet in this new 277 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:50,320 intimacy, this new temple that Jesus has set up for us as 278 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,680 believers. And you know that after Jesus 279 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,360 resurrection he ascended into heaven and then he outpoured his 280 00:17:56,360 --> 00:18:00,560 Holy Spirit upon us all. And in the indwelling of the 281 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,840 Holy Spirit in our lives, all of us become temples of God. 282 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,960 God resides in our lives. This is the glorious thing that 283 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,480 Jesus was pointing towards which the people couldn't understand. 284 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,000 And now we have a glorious high priest. 285 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,320 He can minister to us whatever, not just at a specific place in 286 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,640 Jerusalem. He ministers to us wherever 287 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,880 gloriously in a new ministry. When we speak about this truth 288 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,760 of Jesus becoming the new temple and our lives, our bodies 289 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,120 becoming new temples, they should lead to some aspect of up 290 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,200 thinking up. How does this shift our 291 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:39,880 understanding of the whole approach? 292 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:45,320 God, we have this glorious gift of the new temple, but many 293 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,400 times we still cling to old forms of faith. 294 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,240 Sometimes we still have that understanding that we can meet 295 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:55,080 up God only in that building, only in that tradition, only 296 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,800 through that person, only there. That should shift our 297 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:03,640 understanding because now we have this glorious temple and 298 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,480 God is inviting us into that temple. 299 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,600 If at all you have not yet encountered that temple, God is 300 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,640 here with us. Even today you can meet up with 301 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,760 Him, that temple is still open for all of us. 302 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,280 Even now you can meet up with Jesus, if at all you choose to 303 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,120 believe in Him as the reason. Lord, the person who has opened 304 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:25,320 up the doors wide for this new temple for you to enter in. 305 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,880 The invitation is here today for you come to Christ. 306 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,800 The reason Lord, that temple is still open for all of us to come 307 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,920 into. I would love to take you to some 308 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:43,240 event that happened in 1993 at the Super Bowl competition for 309 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:44,720 all of you are interested in that. 310 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:50,640 At half time, Mike Jackson did something that was unexpected. 311 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,560 He steps on the stage and the contrary to the plan with the 312 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,600 director, instead of beginning his performance, he pauses for 313 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,880 two minutes and it causes some kind of of tense between him and 314 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:06,920 the director. It was not the script who was 315 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,600 supposed to begin dancing and performing there and then, but 316 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,360 he pauses for two minutes. In a pause that seemed like 317 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,200 eternity for the director. But something was working out. 318 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:23,000 Because after all that pause, Mark Jackson picked up and it 319 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,000 became that this glorious pause ended up as something legendary. 320 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,160 It made the show to be a glorious show. 321 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:35,840 Sometimes moments that lead to glory seem as if they are they 322 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:37,320 they are lost. We are, we are. 323 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,440 Why are we waiting for all this long? 324 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,600 Why do you have to wait for this glory for all this long? 325 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:47,040 It seems as if it's a loss. But for your information, even 326 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:51,080 Jesus posed at a glorious something that was leading to 327 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,400 his glorious days. Jesus posed for three days in 328 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,400 the grave, and as he was pausing, some people didn't 329 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,320 understand why Jesus was posing for three days. 330 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,520 But when the glorious thing came out, then we were able to 331 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:09,120 understand this. This is why in verse 22 it says 332 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,600 when therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples 333 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,160 remembered that he had said this and they believed the Scripture 334 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,080 and the word that Jesus had spoken. 335 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,560 What seemed as if it was at a moment of tension, which, which 336 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,640 which was as if something that was at a loss ended up becoming 337 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,120 something that is glorious, the resurrection of our Lord and 338 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:35,040 Savior Jesus Christ. It was a pause that led to a 339 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,440 glorious, glorious ending which we are still even encountering 340 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,920 even up to now. Because of that glorious ending, 341 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:47,280 we can speak about Christ. Paul says that if we didn't have 342 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,480 this message of the resurrection, we wouldn't have 343 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,240 anything to tell you. If at all there was no that 344 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,560 pause that led to this glorious resurrection, we wouldn't have a 345 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,720 message for you. Friends, we believe in the 346 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:04,000 miracle of the resurrection, the miracle of the resurrection of 347 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,760 Jesus Christ and this miracle. Sometimes when we speak about 348 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:10,800 times of pauses, we might not understand this pauses. 349 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,080 Let me speak about some of the pauses in our lives that happen. 350 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,280 Sometimes we are called for pauses and we feel why? 351 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,560 Why do we need to pause? Sometimes we go through losses 352 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,440 and we don't understand these losses. 353 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:28,000 For instance, you are in this glorious relationship with 354 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,720 someone and you feel maybe it's a God sent relationship and then 355 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,800 it ends abruptly. Maybe you are having this good 356 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,800 health and then at some point then you lose your health and 357 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,560 you become sick. Maybe there is this career, 358 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,240 wonderful career, that which which comes to an end abruptly 359 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:45,760 in a way that you didn't prepare for. 360 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:51,320 Some of these times that seem to be losses, we cannot understand 361 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:55,800 them fully, not until when sometimes God shows us the full 362 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,560 meaning at after the resurrection and the recovery. 363 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:05,600 Therefore, God when he is restoring us, even those times 364 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,360 that seem as if they are losses, God has a reason as to why they 365 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,600 are as if losses, but they can be turned into glorious moments 366 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,760 and even seen our lives. I would love to speak and 367 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:18,920 emphasize about this resurrection. 368 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:24,360 Christ, who opened for us a new temple, is still in the business 369 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,520 of giving us new life. Christ wants to give us new 370 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,120 life. He's like this Japanese artist 371 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,520 who repairs and brings back pottery, shattered pottery into 372 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,920 life. I would love to give you this 373 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,880 message that here today Christ can extend a gift of life to 374 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,640 you, if at all you believe in Him as the reason and the Savior 375 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:46,840 of the world. He's alive. 376 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,000 He wants to work in our lives. He wants to work in your life. 377 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,240 He wants to give us the beauty, first of all, the beauty, not 378 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,040 just the beauty of the world, but also the beauty of satanity. 379 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,560 In the resurrection we have a hope, a hope for eternity. 380 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,520 Many people in life, they are living a life that is not a life 381 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,120 of hope. Because of the trials and the 382 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,240 tribulations around us, it is easy to walk around without 383 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,880 hope. Friends, Christian life has 384 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,280 hope, and that life is in Christ Jesus. 385 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,640 His body was shattered and it was brought back gloriously. 386 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,880 Our bodies are going to be shattered, but Christ is ready 387 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,480 to bring them back gloriously. If at all. 388 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,600 We say we believe in Him and we surrender to Him thereof. 389 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,800 I would love to invite you into this new temple that is in the 390 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,480 body of Jesus Christ, into this new temple that you can have 391 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,760 even in your life as a person. It is there for us. 392 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:49,360 Why would we seek to find Christ in just a limited place, in just 393 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,880 a small temple, in just a small tradition, in just a small 394 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,040 building, when Christ can be found even right now here in 395 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:02,280 your life? I will come you into that new 396 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,920 temple in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, 397 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:06,760 Amen.