God's will for our lives. Exodus chapter 20. God's law which speaks to us at all times and in all places. Let us hear the word of the Lord our God. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant, or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. And indeed, when the Lord our God summarized the law, he said it can be summarized in this way. The first and greatest commandment is this, that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second commandment is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. People of God, as we rejoice in the clarity of God's word to us, we acknowledge we cannot keep these things perfectly. We are those who are sinners saved only by grace. Let us then come before our God in a prayer of confession this morning. Lord God Almighty, you are the foundation of truth and morality. Because of you, we can know that there are things which are inherently evil. Wrong. Not because man acknowledges them to be wrong or the majority of man acknowledges something to be wrong. No. No, there is right and there is wrong and you are the one who tells us what is right and what is wrong. And Lord God, in our actions, in our hearts, we fail to keep your law as we ought. Bring us before you. Show us our weaknesses that we might grow in holiness and in humility. May we constantly acknowledge our need of you. And we rejoice that in your son there is forgiveness of sins. And so we pray in his name, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Our assurance of pardon comes from Acts chapter 17. I'll read verses 22 and following to the end of the chapter. It is a word from the apostle in the midst of the Areopagus declaring where life can be found. So Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious, for as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God, what therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him, yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being, as even one of your own poets have said, for we are indeed His offspring, being then God's offspring. We ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance got overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, but others said, we will hear you again about this. So Paul went out from their midst, but some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysus, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Call to repentance. and the record that there were indeed those who believed. The same call which comes to us to this very day on the other side of the world 2,000 years later, repent and believe. We look to our Savior Jesus Christ and in Him who was raised from the dead, there is life and life eternal. People of God, we come now in our morning prayer before the Lord. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, surely your name is holy. May we honor and worship you. And we pray that your will would be done on this earth for you are the ruler of all and rebellion against you is rebellion which is death and leads to death, but to serve you is service which is life and leads to life. Remind us then of your great power in majesty. Make us to know your glory in every situation, in every circumstance. Make us to know that you are great indeed, that you are over all the earth and the stars themselves are merely the work of your fingers. Lord, as we think of your greatness, of your majesty, of your everywhere present nature, we think of one matter, which is a very small virus, which is having a very large impact. Lord, countries around the world reacting to this. We pray that In this time, your people would know you and take comfort in you. And we pray that all of the world would know that you are the God who rules over all. And that this would be a time when many would be driven to you and to hearing the good news. We give thanks that there is some evidence of this. We pray it would be sustained. We think of one of the churches we support, which is in Italy, in Lombardy. which has been so hard hit, and how their services are receiving tenfold the listeners that they usually receive. And that some have reached out to the church asking questions about God. We know in a time when we see our mortality, in a time when we see our weakness, at a time when we see our helplessness before so small a virus which spreads so quickly, It is a time when many might seek true answers, and those true answers are found in you. They are found in your word, and true comfort in life or in death is found in belonging to Jesus Christ. We pray that these would not be seeds which fall on thorny ground or stony ground, but that they would fall on good soil, and that even when this time passes, that many would know the truth of who you are and the comfort, the true comfort which your word speaks. Lord, our Lord, we pray that you would be with those who are impacted and with those who are not impacted as much, those who must continue to labor but now may perhaps come into contact with more germs. We think then especially of healthcare workers but also of supply chain workers, of grocers, of those such as farmers who must continue in their labors. And we give thanks that they do, and we pray that you would give them strength, that you would give them each health as well to continue in this work. Lord God, there is uncertainty surrounding how long these things will continue. And this brings much disruption to lives. Again, we give thanks for those who have not been disrupted, but whether it be in work situations, in financial situations, or for events, such as weddings. We think of one wedding, Lord God, closely related to our church family. We think of Mary and Alex, how their wedding has already been postponed. We pray that you would give perseverance and patience, such a long-awaited for joyous occasion postponed and still uncertainty there. We pray that you would be with the entire family and especially with Mary and with Alex. And Lord, we do know that this situation is multiplied. There are others facing such questions We pray that you would be with them, that you would provide answers, that you would provide peace, Lord God. And then for those whose lives are disrupted, perhaps financially, or who are at least facing financial uncertainty due to these things, we pray that you would grant peace in those ways as well, Lord God. And we give thanks that Many of our members are able to continue labors on the farm or to work from home, but it is an unusual time. We pray that you would give perseverance to all, even those who continue. Lord God, we pray that you would be with our elderly and our single. We think of Cal and Bernie, who we bring before you nearly every week as those who are shut in, and now they do not even have the regular visitors that they rejoice to have. We pray that you would be with them then. We give thanks that they are mature men of faith with more than nine decades in their lives and that they are mature men who look to you. We pray that as there are not members or family or friends coming to see them as is regular, that in the midst of their home, in the midst of Prairie Ridge, that they would be those who could speak comfort and peace, that they would be those who would be a positive influence upon the workers there and upon their fellow residents. Pray that you would use their wisdom and their strength and their godliness in that way. Lord God, we think then of others who are not shut-ins but now made nearly shut-ins at this time. So we think not only of Cal and Bernie but of all our elderly and of all our single persons who now battle loneliness in new ways. Be with them, uphold them. May they know the comfort of your presence, of your wings around your people, even as the wings of the birds protect the young birds, Lord God. So you have given us this image in scripture, and we pray that many would know your arms enfolded around them at this time. We think also of those who were or are out of the country. We pray that you would be with Andre. We do not know all the details of what's going on in Thailand, but we pray that you would keep him safe. We pray that you would uphold him at this time. Then we think of one. We think of Megan Vandenberg, who has been able to travel back. We give thanks for this. We give thanks that she is in Wisconsin, that she is back in the States, and that she was able to make those travels. We pray now that you would give her peace and safety as she is back among us. We rejoice in this. Lord God, it is indeed an unusual time. Be with our whole church then, but especially our pastor, our elders, our deacons. Give them wisdom. Give us as a congregation wisdom and fellowship as is possible at this time. And we do rejoice that your word can go forth in this manner. We pray that you would bless the proclamation of your word, the hearing of your word this morning in this way. This is our prayer then in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. No song of preparation today. We turn to Mark chapter 11. Mark chapter 11, we'll read verses 11 through 19. I will say a word again, perhaps a little bit more than I usually say before the reading of scripture. And that is, well, we know this virus is going on, even if there's still uncertainties about exactly how these things should all be handled. But we know this virus is here. It's abundantly obvious, either where you're sitting or where I'm looking. And so we've addressed it in prayer. It's abundantly clear in the way this very service is ongoing. But We continue our march through the Gospel of Mark, returning to it after a two-week break, and these verses, they don't have direct application to things virus-related. Scripture would speak to this in many ways, but these verses don't have a direct application to the virus, and so we're not consumed by it. We won't make reference to it where it is not appropriate. We return to Mark and we read these verses and we see what these verses have to say to us. These verses speak about money matters. They speak about money in the temple and in God's house. So we're gonna speak about the offering today. Well, we're not even having an offering today. So why are we doing that? Well, we're doing that because this is the passage before us. And we turn to the passage before us. As we work verse by verse through Mark, we are skipping over verses 12 to 14 for now. Lord willing, returning to them next week together with verses 20 and following, but we're working through Mark. And this is where we are. Now, Lord willing, as we come to our service tonight, our passage from 1 Thessalonians 5 does speak even in a specific way to the situation we are in, and so we'll speak about the virus then, but the passage before us this morning is Mark chapter 11. It is said, people of God, let us hear the word of God, Mark chapter 11, beginning at verse 11, and we'll focus especially on verses 15 through 19. And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry and seen in the distance a fig tree and leaf. He went to see if he could find anything on it. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples heard it. And they came to Jerusalem and he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple. And he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a den of robbers. And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him for they feared him because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came, they went out of the city. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we think of turmoil, such as the turning over of tables and chairs, the wrecking of furniture, we do not often think of the word thoughtful Much more likely, these actions are tied to an angry adult or a careless child. Perhaps an anger-filled father who breaks the lamp out of rage, a serious and sinful act, not at all thoughtful, not at all sane. Perhaps it is a child at play who carelessly breaks a window. Now this is not nearly as serious, but it is also not thoughtful. It's carelessness which led to the baseball or the soccer ball flying at the window and causing the broken glass and all the turmoil and chaos of the broken window or furniture What is in common is that neither of these things could be called thoughtful. They are both thoughtless. One in an evil way, one in a careless way. What we see before us is much, much different. It is turmoil. There's animals being driven out. We can imagine the animals making all kinds of noise. There's money tables being overturned. So there's the clanking of coins onto the ground. There's tables. There's not only tables, but also chairs being overturned. This is a scene of turmoil. This is a scene of chaos. But it is so much different from Those thoughtful and even evil instances of turmoil. This is something thought-filled. This is something intentional. This is not an evil rage. This is a thought-filled, righteous and zealous act. So much different. Not what we usually see. in our own hearts or in the hearts of those who surround us. People of God, if you have seen an action such as this, it is more likely it was of the thoughtless and evil or careless variety. But Jesus is different. Jesus brings a different kind of turmoil, and that is our very theme this morning, that Jesus causes an unusual kind of commotion, a righteous type of turmoil. And we'll look first at his holy motivation, and then we'll look at his teaching purpose, and then for our third point, we will look at the astonished reactions. So first, as we consider the holy motivation of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us think for a moment about where in the temple he is and how the temple is set up. The second temple, after the renovations of Herod, has four basic parts to it, four basic areas. It has the innermost court, which those who know their Old Testament well may know the other name for that, the Holy of Holies. This is a very restricted area. No one can go freely into the Holy of Holies, and only the high priest can enter there on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement. That is the innermost layer, but there are three more layers. After the innermost court, it's surrounded by the inner court, also called the Court of the Priests. The priests can go there freely. The people of Israel can go there only for sacrifices. It is a restricted area. Beyond the inner court, there is the middle court, or sometimes called the court of the women. And that is the place where all Israelites can go freely. The fourth court, the outermost court, called the outer court, or the court of the Gentiles, is where anyone may go freely. Not only all Israelites, but also all Gentiles. It is the outermost And so this is the place into which Jesus comes. He comes not with a blind rage. That is abundantly clear in many ways. The first way we see that is the context of verse 11. In verse 11, he has just completed his last day's journey into Jerusalem from Jericho. So he's traveled about 20 miles, which would take a full day and indeed, Mark 11 verse 11 says it was already late, and he goes in, he sees these evil things going on, but he does not do anything that day. He goes back. He sleeps on it. This is not a thoughtless act, this is a calculated act. This is a premeditated act. He saw the temple the night before, he goes home to sleep, and he comes back the next day to complete his act of cleansing. It is calculated. It is not life-threatening, but it is one action which causes great turmoil. Look, people of God, at verses 15 and 16. He's not only turning over the tables. That's chaotic enough. He's turning over the chairs. He's saying, get out of here. You cannot sit here. You cannot be here. You cannot do these things. zeal has consumed our Lord. Indeed, in John 2, verse 17, it says, his disciples remember that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me. And that was a cleansing, Jesus actually cleansed the temple twice, so it's not quite a parallel passage, but it is the same act which Jesus did once at the beginning of his ministry, and now here at the end of his ministry. And zeal is what drives it both times. zeal for your house will consume me. Righteous zeal for the house of God. At this point, it's right for us to step back and to consider that the temple of the Lord, the first temple and then the reconstructed second temple, which Jesus is in now, it's not the same as a church building. It's not the same as a church building. The temple is not merely a place where a local body of believers would regularly gather together, this is a place where God has chosen to dwell. This is a place where the Holy of Holies is, the innermost core. This is a place where God is present in a specific way. This is a place where the altars are there for the righteous offering of sacrifices according to the law of God in a way that you cannot do in any other place on earth at this time. Now, the focus in the life of Jesus is already being directed towards prayer and not sacrifice. And so throughout the New Testament, even as we see, we'll see in verse 17, Jesus says, this is a house of prayer. Why is that? That's because Jesus himself is the sacrifice. So some of that focus is already being taken away, but the veil of the temple is still there. The veil of the temple is still making a dividing line between even the priests and the holy of holies. This is the temple of the Lord. It is a place where the place itself is special in a way that a church building is not. In times of persecution throughout the history of our world, of the Christian church, the people of God have gathered in caves or in valleys. They have gathered in dark forests or in basements. And what mattered was that the people of God were gathered together and that the word of God was faithfully preached. It didn't matter that they were not able to meet in a physical church building. But the temple is different. The temple itself is special. It is significant, even in its very building, even in the very articles and altars and the veil, all of it. This helps us to understand why Jesus is displaying righteous zeal. This is the house of God, designated for very specific purposes with detailed explanations of how this was to be done throughout the Old Testament. Certainly, to be a house of trade was never the intention of the temple of the Lord. And Zechariah 14, he even speaks in a particular way about how there would be a time when the Holy Lord would come and there would no longer be a traitor in the house of the Lord. Jesus is displaying righteous zeal. This is the house of God and it should be used as he has commanded in very specific ways. Now, some might say, I visited this church or another church a couple of times and it looked like there was some money exchange going on to me. There was this basket passed around and People were putting money in it left and right and it came to me and it made me very uncomfortable. Well, it is true that an offering plate can make a visitor uncomfortable. I'll speak more about that in our second point. But an offering is much, much different than turning the house of God into a place of commerce place of trade. This is not a difference which we would expect someone to understand the first time they enter a church building, or the second time, or maybe even three years later. But there is a very clear difference which we ought to come to understand. The first essential difference is this, an offering is given to God for use in his church. What is money changing? Money changing is giving man something for something man has done. There is a great difference between these things. If we tie this specifically to the temple and the money changing going on here, The Old Testament laws made it clear that you were to be you were to be as gracious as possible to the poor. This was never to be a money-making scheme. The priests were supported by the people of God, but the poor were to have pigeons. They didn't have to bring a lamb. They could bring an animal which was not expensive, which was easily gained. In other words, the purpose is very clearly not for financial gain. And we could add that all of these things could easily be done outside of the temple itself. If someone really did need a pigeon, well, go to Bethany. You're not very far away. Get your pigeon on the way in. There was no call for this, and the very heart behind what was going on in the temple was wrong. and this setup where things would be given to man for something man has done, that's a commerce kind of setup, completely opposed to what an offering should be, giving to God for use in his church. An offering is a freewill offering, given as one is able for the purpose of sustaining God's house. It is an inner court. Let's say it this way. It's an inner court, heart matter. And the Jews at this time, they were making money matters an outer court, man to man, first matters. So this is the first thing you see when you come into God's temple. Remember, we're in the outer court. To apply this to today, how many churches have a cafe in the entryway? One time in my life, I was in Florida. We had limited vehicle access. I was there with a baseball team. And so we were all gonna take the few buses that we had, or large vans, and go to the same church. That was the simplest way to do it. So we get to this church, and you walk in, and basically the first thing you see is the coffee shop. The name of the church was Discovery Church. The motto of the coffee shop was Discovery Runs on Duncan. Now that's not just a terrible joke. It's unholy and profane. Making the house of God a house of trade. Just as the Jews in the times of old made the outer court A court which was focused on money exchanging, man to man, now you're going to sell donuts and coffee, and that's going to be the first thing people see? My entire Sunday equilibrium was disrupted. Thankfully, there was much reading of the word of God in the actual service. Sadly, it was a moralistic sermon about how we should be like David. was an awful Sunday morning. Thankfully, that night, some Sunday tranquility was restored when an assistant coach drove me and we traveled many miles to worship at a Presbyterian church that evening. People of God, an offering is much different than commerce. The house of God is not a place for man-to-man exchanges of wealth. This is especially true of the temple itself. It has applications to a modern church building's entryway as well. So what is Jesus doing here? These things lead us into our second point, that there is a teaching purpose to Jesus Christ. Again, notice that this is further proof that what Jesus is doing is no blind rage. A drunken father might shout out some words. causing turmoil in the home. This is not what Jesus does. It is completely different. He cleanses the temple and then he teaches specifically justifying what he has just done. The Greek word here for teaching in verse 17, it implies that this is a summary of a much longer teaching. Indeed, in the parallel account in Luke chapter 19, we read that he was teaching daily in the temple. So he not only taught at length, but he came back the next day and the next day and taught at length again. This is so much different than a few words blurted out in blind rage. This is intentional teaching, justifying the acts which have just been done out of righteous zeal. Yes, the furniture was overturned, not only the tables, but even the chairs. But these are not words shouted out in a burst of anger. This is a faithful teaching which comes from the lips of Jesus Christ for this day and days afterward. And what is He doing? He is making reference to what the purpose of this outer court should have been. And so he goes to the prophets. If you would turn with me to Isaiah chapter 56. Please turn with me to Isaiah chapter 56. He quotes from the prophet a passage which is about about the bringing in not only of the outcasts of Israel, Isaiah 56 verse eight speaks about how the Lord God gathers the outcasts of Israel, but it's even focused upon, and we see this clearly in Isaiah 56 verse three and Isaiah 56 verse six, it's focused upon the foreigner. the foreigner, and then also 56 verse four, the eunuch, those who are ceremonially unclean and who can't go into the inner parts of the temple. But this passage is focused upon how many, not only those who are ceremonially unclean, but even the foreigners bring them into my house. And so we read in Isaiah 56 verses six and seven, and the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord. who to minister to him and to love the name of the Lord and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast my covenant. These I will bring to my holy mountain, bringing in the foreigners, something which the Israelites are so slow to grasp in both the Old and New Testaments. Yes, bringing in the foreigners. These I will bring, verse seven, into my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. You see, Jesus is showing that the right purpose of this outer court was to be a place where the foreigners would be welcomed. The Jews have made it a place of commerce and complete distinction. It's like it's not the temple at all, but it is part of the temple. They are forgetting this. They're making it a place of trade. They're making it a place of of thievery as as jesus also makes reference to he's making reference to jeremiah 7 verse 11 when he talks about a den of robbers and jesus is saying no no no this is the outer court it must be a place of welcome a place of prayer a place of teaching where all people And this is the one place in the temple where all people can come unequivocally, where all people would hear who I am and come in prayer to me. You can't do that when the money is clanking and the animals are making their noises. The rightful purpose of the outer court has been completely turned upon its head, and Jesus is returning it to its right purpose. He drives out the money changers and He makes it a place of teaching. He drives out the unrighteous and He welcomes in all who would hear His Word. The context of Isaiah 56 also makes it clear that false teachers and false leaders were part of the problem. And indeed, there are some sources in ancient history which tell us that even the high priest had a shop in the outer court and made profit from it. Corrupt leaders overturned. Right purposes restored. No wonder, no wonder the people will be shocked. Before we get to our third point though, let us return to money matters once more and think about application. Application, money matters and welcoming people into God's house. that we would be those who would rejoice to teach all people, what is our outer court? What is our outer court? It's our entryway here at church, so to speak. If a visitor comes, that we would be quick to be welcoming. It's our living room of our home. It's our sidewalk if we see our neighbors. And now maybe speaking to them with a little more distance in between than in the past. These are places where we must be welcoming, where we would desire that there would be a growing in knowledge of who God is, that there would be some basic teaching and directing toward God, who alone hears prayer. And we can think about this specifically with money matters. Remember, money is not to be the first concern. Visitors can be very uncomfortable with an offering plate. Just speak to someone who didn't grow up in church and came to church for the first time later in life. Their offering plate is like, what's going on? Everybody's putting money in here. I'm supposed to put money in here too? Now, these are not first matters or even second matters or third matters. The Apostle Paul specifically says to the Church of Corinth, I did not burden anyone. for second Corinthians chapter 11. He specifically did not take any money from them because he didn't want that to be a stumbling block. That's not a first concern. It's not a second concern. It's not a third concern. He didn't want any stumbling block for the gospel. How can we enact this even very practically? Well, it is difficult because what do you do? You make a visitor feel kind of out of it either way, right? Either you pass it to him and he's like, what is this? What do I do? What are people doing? What is an offering? A visitor probably doesn't know the difference between an offering and a money exchange, right? To them, it just looks like a money exchange. It takes a maturity of heart to understand that difference. On the other hand, if we don't pass it to visitors, then maybe they're sitting there thinking, wait a second, everybody else just got that. Why didn't I get it? What can we do? It's something to think about. Perhaps our deacons ought to, if someone visits once, twice, and then three times, a deacon ought to come up and say, is this offering making you uncomfortable? This isn't something we focus upon. This is a free will offering. If it makes you uncomfortable next week when you come, we won't pass it to you. Perhaps we can even do things like this. The point is this. The point is this. The first concern is teaching and prayer and bringing those who are in the outer court to a basic understanding of who God is and pointing them to Him and the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That Jesus died on a cross for sinners. That we are all sinners who need that death. and to believe in him is to bring life. That's what we ought to focus upon. That is where the laser is pointed. And again, there is even practical examples of this in the life of the apostle to the church in Corinth. I never asked for money. I did not want any stumbling block to the gospel to the church in Philippi. He writes in Philippians chapter four. Thank you for supporting me in all my missions works. They were there like his sending church. They supported Paul wherever he was. There was a certain maturity in Philippi, which understood that giving to God and God's servants is the right thing to do. There was a certain immaturity in Corinth, but but Paul doesn't focus on that. He just wants it to hear the gospel. He wants them to hear the gospel. Which again, points out a great difference between a money exchange and a free will offering. Now this clear teaching of Jesus Christ, going back to the prophets, it brings shocked reactions. Shocked emotionally, The astonished crowds, what teaching is this? What's going on? Shocked mentally, we might say, with that kind of fear. Again, notice that this is different than blind rage. Blind rage brings physical fear to those who are there. When there's blind rage, those who are in the house of any age experience physical fear. This is much different. May the strong actions of Jesus Christ never be used as a justification for unrighteous anger. It is so much different. No one's physically afraid for their life. They're reacting, they're shocked, they're astonished by Jesus's teaching. What teaching is this? Who is this man? Who is this man? This is God on earth. This is God on earth, zealously bringing the right purposes of the house of God to where they should be. This is God on earth whom they desire to kill. They want to kill Jesus. They will kill Jesus. In Psalm 69, when David speaks about having zeal for the house of God, it's clear from the context, you can read Psalm 69 verses 7 to 9 in the whole psalm, it's clear from the context that People don't appreciate that. People don't appreciate righteous zeal for God. Certainly, the righteous zeal of Jesus Christ was not heeded as it ought to have been, but instead was made as an excuse to even kill him. David in Psalm 69 speaks about becoming a reproach for the sake of others. You can imagine a king defending the zeal of God and then bearing reproach for that for the people who are underneath him. Jesus Christ takes that to a whole new level. The king who is zealous for righteousness and bears reproach for it, even being killed, taking the sins of others upon Himself that we might live. The Apostle Peter says it this way in 1 Peter chapter 2, He, Jesus, bore our sins in His body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. People of God, And anyone hearing this word this morning, hear the call to believe in Him, the Righteous One. Hear the call to righteousness. It goes out to the ends of the world in light of the New Testament church and the actions of Jesus Christ, which will eventually bring the tearing of the temple veil. There is no more innermost court. Worship is wherever we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. It's a call which is also seen in the Old Testament. And so we've read from Isaiah chapter 56. Let us also finish with these words from Isaiah chapter 45. Hear the word. Turn to the Lord in repentance. Believe in Him. Know that there is life in Him. There is no other God besides Me. A righteous God and Savior. There is none besides Me. Turn to Me and be saved. All the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. Amen.