Saturday, April 20, 2013
Merchandising The House Of God
Bible Questions Answered:
“Is it possible for a church to be a
place of merchandise today?”
Nathan, Chesapeake, Virginia U.S.A.
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Matthew 21:11-13 KJV
11 And the multitude said, This is
Jesus The Prophet Of Nazareth Of Galilee.
12 And Jesus went into The Temple Of
God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that
sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called The House Of Prayer; but ye have
made it a den of thieves.
Mark 11:15-18 KJV
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and
Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and
bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers,
and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer (permit)
that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And He taught, saying unto them,
Is it not written, My House shall be called of all nations The House
Of Prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
18 And the scribes and chief priests
heard it, and sought how they might destroy Him: for they feared Him,
because all the people was astonished at His doctrine.
Luke 19:45,46 KJV
45 And He went into The Temple, and
began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written,
My House is the House Of Prayer: but ye have made it a den of
thieves.
John 2:13-16 KJV
13 And the Jews' passover was at
hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And found in The Temple those
that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money
sitting:
15 And when He had made a scourge of
small cords, He drove them all out of The Temple, and the sheep, and
the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the
tables;
16 And said unto them that sold
doves, Take these things hence; make not My Father's House an house
of merchandise.
In our Lord's last few days, He
traveled from Bethany, the home of His friends, to Jerusalem.
And to the temple He went, but what He
saw deeply upset Him.
Levitical purity standards for animals
would change from time to time.
When a family arrived at the temple,
they oft found the quality of their animal offerings, unacceptable,
by Levitical standards. This meant they must buy the proper animals
at the temple gates and courts, bullocks, sheep, goats, and doves,
which the priests just happened to have on hand.
Thus temple commerce commenced. Money
changing banks for such commerce were formed, not far from the holy
place.
All was merchandising in The House Of
God.
“Add to this the fact that the
priests were often deriving benefit from this arrangement by drawing
down a nice percentage for the concession.” Martin Luther.
In politics when we smell a rat, we
have a saying, “just follow the money!”
How true it is!
How many religious television programs
would be on the air, if it were not for the selling and collection
and begging for money?
How many religious leaders, pleading,
pitching this new book, this new cd, etc. etc. would be around, if
all the sales pitches stopped, and they trusted God for their
finances?
Many of them, multi millionaires,
religious leaders, religious organization heads raking in the money.
Is the church of Jesus Christ
Merchandized today? Absolutely!!!
“Oh, pastor, get over it, what you
don't understand is that they've worked for it!”
What this person doesn't understand is
that they have disobeyed our Lord's Command, that of “Self-Denial.”
Matthew 10:38 KJV
And he that
taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 16:24 KJV
Then said Jesus unto His disciples,
If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Mark 8:34 KJV
And when He had called the people
unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will
come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow Me.
We live in an age
where men will not deny themselves anything, after all they
deserve it!
Where, oh where are the
open-transparent leaders, blessed of the Lord?
Jeremiah 7:11 KJV
Is this house, which is called by My
name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen
it, saith The Lord.
This has been so many times on this
blog, yet let it be said again!
If you can't know you pastor's salary.
If you can't know the salary of your district leader. If you can't
know the salary of your Superintendent of your religious
organization. Then it's time to move along!
I Timothy 6:10 KJV
For the love of money is the root of
all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Here is a word you don't hear everyday!
Sacrilege: Violation or misuse
of what is regarded as sacred.
The misuse or desecration of anything
regarded as sacred or as worthy of extreme respect
The violation or profanation of
anything sacred or held sacred.
These Priests and money changers were
guilty of sacrilege. Jesus told them, “My House is the House Of
Prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
If someone is
“really,” a servant of The Lord, then hoarding of money is the
last thing on their mind. Not only that, they are “open-and
honest-transparent” about their finances!
“Follow the
money.”
Looking for a
pastor, or a new church? Check and see how open and honest they are
with their finances!
Matthew 10:8 KJV
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely
give.
Who ever said that?
Jesus, that's who!
Merchandising:
The promotion of
merchandise sales, by coordinating production and marketing and
developing advertising, display, and sales strategies.
Goods bought and
sold in business; commercial wares.
Our Lord told us
that His House was to be called a “House of prayer.”
OK, in absolute
honesty, what percentage of time did you spend in prayer, last time
you went to your Christian worship service?
Friends, something
must be wrong, some place!
Read the word,
study the word, of course, but what place does prayer have? Barely a
passing mention?
Used to be, in the
churches of America, and I am sure, in other countries as well, when
its adherents, knelt and prayed! Spending much time in prayer for
their family, their church, their leaders, their own souls.
Well, that is the
way it used to be, so now what's the result?
A book shelf full
of “Rev's so and so's” cd's, new books, and tapes, etc. etc.
etc..
Our homes are
broken, our country doesn't know how to pray, Christian people,
refuse even to pray over their food in public, and some at home, or have prayer times
at home with their family.
The results, our
children are rebellious, 50% of our marriages are ending in divorce,
millions are on anti-depressants, and we wonder, “just what is
going on?”
Time to throw the
money gathering out of the Church of The Lord Jesus Christ!
Time for full
accountability, as far a finances in the church.
Time to get back to
prayer!
II Chronicles
7:14-16 KJV
14 If My people, which are called
by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and
turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
15 Now Mine eyes shall be open, and
Mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
16 For now have I chosen and
sanctified this House, that My name may be there for ever: and Mine
eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Isaiah 56:7 KJV
Even them will
I bring to My Holy Mountain, and make them joyful in My House Of
Prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted
upon Mine altar; for Mine House shall be called an House Of Prayer
for all people.