Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19990106.htm

LUKE: GOSPEL OF CERTIFYING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
Part LXVI: Certifying The Christian Faith In Revealing Christ's High Quality Demands Of Worship
(Luke 19:45-48)
  1. Introduction
    1. If Christianity is really of God, then the form and substance of its worship services should be noticeably genuine unlike what we would expect in a false belief system.
    2. Luke's Gospel gives us a glimpse of the true and thus high quality of worship expected and demanded of Jesus Christ. It provides us evidence for the Christian faith and a pattern for worship that honors the Lord.
  2. Certifying The Christian Faith In Revealing Christ's High Quality Demands Of Worship.
    1. Luke's Gospel, written to Theophilus, was penned to reveal the credibility of the Christian faith, Lk. 1:3-4.
    2. As such, the high quality of worship the true God, Christ demands of His people is presented in support of Christ's credibility as follows, Luke 19:45-48:
      1. When Jesus entered the temple after His Triumphal Entry, He began to cast out those who were selling in the temple, Luke 19:41, 45. Mark's Gospel adds that Jesus drove out buyers and money changers as well as those who were taking shortcuts through the complex in their business dealings, Mk. 11:15-16 (Bib. Know. Com., N.T., p. 254).
      2. He then stated that though Scripture revealed that the temple was to be a house of prayer, the commercial parties involved had made it into a den of thieves, Luke 19:46.
      3. To understand the more significant concerns Jesus had about the errant worship conditions at the temple, we can provide some economic background on the temple business in His day as follows:
        1. First, only certain coinage was permissible at the temple complex at the time, so all coinage needed for converting offerings into gifts or sacrifices had to be changed, and that with the profit of the changers, Ibid. This aggravated the Lord as it devalued worship offerings and sacrifices into a lucrative money-making scheme that detracted from a focus on the Lord.
        2. Second, the money changing arrangements led to dead formalism. (a) God had arranged for people coming from great distances to convert sacrificial animals into coinage for the trip only to be able to use that coinage to buy a similar sacrificial animal near the temple, cf. Deut. 14:24-26. (b) However, this stipu lation had turned into an easy way to do sacrifice with someone never having his own animal to come up to the temple, pay his money, and get the sacrifice out of the way, Ibid.
        3. Third, the commercial system for exchange was set up within the temple complex that God had wanted to be set aside for devout Gentiles to use for prayer. However, the busy commerce involved detracted from such an atmosphere, and diluted Israel's testimony to the Gentiles around them, Ibid.
      4. Accordingly, Jesus drove out the money changers to indicate His concern for a return to godly worship, and began to teach the people daily in the temple the truths of God, Luke 19:47-48.
Lesson: The QUALITY worship Christ EXPECTED of His people was fourfold: (1) It focused on the Lord ABOVE the ECONOMICS involved in the worship per se. (2) It focused on one's PERSONAL relationship to God instead of becoming formal. (3) It was SEPARATE from the secularism of the world so as to preserve the TESTIMONY of Scripture truth to onlookers. (4) It promoted the TEACHING of God's truths at the meeting place, Lk. 19:47-48.

Application: (1) The Christian faith's high QUALITY of WORSHIP that was EXPECTED by Jesus reveals that the Christian faith is the TRUE faith. (2) Also, as believers, we can expect God to DEMAND from us the following in our worship meetin gs: (a) God wants us to focus on our relationship to Him above the economics involved in our offerings. (b) God wants us to focus on how PERSONAL is our involvement in worshipping Him and not become dead or formalistic in the process. ( c) God wants us to AVOID secularism in our worship atmosphere so as to have a quality TESTIMONY to outsiders. (d) God wants us to teach His Biblical truths in the worship meetings!