Putting God's House in Order

In his epistle, it seems Peter looks back to the time when He witnessed Jesus drive out the moneychangers from the Temple, and following on, healing returned and the children came and praised. Judgment began at the House of God then, and as God’s spiritual building, and relying on the fact that in all of this God wants to show forth His love to us, we need to make sure that our lives too are clear of the things which divert us from Him.

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1 Peter 4:11

Remember this is a letter, and Peter wanted people to realise that not only was there existing persecution, but greater was to come; and therefore you needed to stand for what you believed in, and realise that you were following on what Jesus Christ did before.

In v12, he returns to the original theme :-

1 Peter 4:12

1 Peter 1:7

I know that everything which has happened in your life in the last months has been to the end that you will become more aware than ever before of who Jesus Christ is in your life. For everyone here, what has occurred here has caused people to examine the foundation of their lives, and the nature of their relationship with God. And v12 refers to some of the circumstances – it’s a trial, a trial of your faith, whether it’s the need for somewhere to live, a financial pressure, the future for your children, your whole future.

I know some of you are going through difficult times. The difficult times you are going through are to try you. Don’t think it strange that this is happening. Your heavenly father is a God of love, who wants to prepare us so that when we see Him we’ll be like Him. The corners are being knocked off us, and we are becoming more focussed on Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him. He loves you. Don’t think it strange ...

1 Peter 4:13-14

1 Peter 2:12

In making a stand for what you believe in, it’s not something unusual for people to take exception. Or in the midst of your pressure, the enemy throws in the thought that it doesn’t work for you – or won’t work out in the way you expected: and asks why you bother with Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 4:14-15

As a busybody, you get so focussed on the lives of other people that you end up not paying attention to your own life. You pick up gossip, and the result is that you end up destroying someone else’s character.

2 Thessalonians 3:11-12

There’s a unique path God has for you. We’re to care for one another, to have a fervent love. Peter pointed out it wasn’t good to be determined to pull someone else down. He might have recalled when Jesus spoke to Him after the resurrection, and Peter asked what John was going to do, and Jesus pulled him back to what He wanted in his life.

1 Peter 4:16

We don’t seek to be a martyr, but the pressures of life cause us to be refined in our faith with God, to have certainty that because God has seen us through one pressure in life, we can rely on Him to do so again.

It’s a good thing to pray for one another.

1 Peter 4:16

Peter was very aware of the fact that the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God. What does that mean? Whenever I read Peter’s letter, I try to read back to the experiences he had with Jesus. There was a time when something really hit Peter, and I think it became so embedded in his heart that it underlaid these latter comments.

Mark 11:12-14

Mark 11:20-26

Ever after that episode, whenever Peter saw a fig tree, he would be reminded of this episode. There was no fruit. But wedged between these two sets of verses, we have this :-

Mark 11:15-19

Now is the time that judgment must begin at the house of God. And between the two episodes of the fig tree, Peter saw Jesus clear the House of God from what was contrary to God’s purposes.

Now look at Matthew’s account of these same events.

Matthew 21:12-16

See the contrast. There was extortion going on in the Temple. It was a money-making concern. The house of God was not fulfilling the purposes for which it was there. It was a den of thieves rather than a place of prayer. And once it is cleared, the children, the blind and the lame come to Him.

Jesus was concerned with what was going on in the House of God. Earlier in the Epistle, Peter said we are living stones. We are a spiritual house of God. Peter said if you were to be a murderer, or thief, or busybody, of course you would be punished for it. But he extended this. You can’t say you’re a Christian and live the wrong way. If you have a double life, then because God loves you, His judgment will come.

Here’s another account.

John 2:13-17

God is jealous of you as a Christian. As a Christian we are taking the name of Jesus Christ as being the one we follow, who is our Lord and Saviour. It’s not possible in truth to continue with a double life, because judgment follows on that situation.

I began reading back to what “the zeal of thine house” really means.

Isaiah 56:5-7

Next, we see that it is against God – and He will deal with it – if you have this double existence.

Jeremiah 7:8-11

Peter would have remembered these words. He’s talking about persecution coming, and he was aware that if you claim to be a Christian and live your life that way, you need to be a Christian. You can’t say the right things on the outside and yet live wrong on the inside.

Malachi 3:1-6

What Peter witnessed in Jesus was a zeal. He couldn’t stand witnessing what was meant to be a place of prayer, turned into a den of iniquity. And the leaders who were running this business were totally contrary to what God was about. So when Peter says :-

1 Peter 4:17

He was remembering what Jesus did in the Temple, when He cleared it out and healing came and the children opened their hearts to Him. And He was very aware that you can’t live a double life.

1 Peter 2:5-9

We perhaps forget this was all one letter. The earlier thought was that you were a royal priesthood. If you’re a Christian, you’re aligning yourself with the King, the Lord of lords, the Holy One. Now Peter brings them back :-

1 Peter 4:17-18

We need to get our house in order, because God loves us and He is a holy God.

Is this creating a religious, arrogant, superior people? No. It’s to do with acknowledging the grace of God in your heart, and what He has done. He’s broken the power of sin, He’s caused us to walk in the train of His triumph. We live in victory. No matter what the circumstances, as we go forward we are the Christ ones.

“And whoever names the name of the Lord, let Him depart from iniquity.”

If anyone here is living a double life, what God is putting His finger on ... He’s saying “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Physically, Jesus cleared out the Temple. It was easy to witness that. You can imagine the chaos as He overthrew the tables. And then there was the account which talked of the healing and the blessing and the praise of the children.

Now let’s put our lives in place of the physical Temple. Christ clears a life out. And when we come to the Cross by faith and confess Jesus Christ as Saviour, when we are aware all too well of the mess within and the habits of life which we can’t shake off, He comes inside our heart and changes it about. We’re completely different, set free from the power of sin, set free to think right, to be right, His victory through what He did in dying on the Cross and being raised from the dead.

1 Peter 4:19

That’s not a case of being a martyr. It’s just a case of going God’s way.

Boy, is He faithful! He’s the creator of heaven and earth. The extent of creation blows your mind away. You think of the verse, “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” God knows all about you. But He has put His finger this morning on your life, and the reason He’s done that is that this malaise is going to end.

1 Peter 4:19

In Ephesians, it says Jesus is sorting things out for His church, that He came to sanctify and cleanse the church with the washing of water and the Word, that He might present the church to Himself, holy and without blemish.

God is Zealous for His Church

There’s a word in the Bible called ‘zeal’. There’s something about the ‘zeal’ of God that I want to examine.

2 Kings 19:30-31

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God is zealous for His people; that includes you. He’s zealous for the church. If you have God at the centre of your whole being, for your future, you’ll take root downward and you’ll bear fruit upward.

Isaiah 37:32

Isaiah 59:16-19

You notice at the end of verse 17 that he was ‘clad with zeal’ as a cloak. Putting it on as a cloak. Whenever the word ‘zeal’ is mentioned, particularly here, so it is, as far as God is concerned, that He is zealous for the truth and for holiness. He manages to clean things up. He manages to do this by putting on the helmet of salvation. There is no way that God will have anything to thwart His purpose, which is to create His church which He gave His life for. Nothing will stand in the way of that. As there was a remnant of Judah, so now is God’s life given for you and me. Just after the word ‘zeal’ it says that when the enemy shall come God will lift up a standard against them. It might that you have been disappointed by something. When the enemy shall come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against them. You can imagine the zealous fury Jesus had when He cleaned out the money-changers in the temple. Jesus Christ gave His life for a people like you and me.

Isaiah 9:6

The One who is full of zeal for outworking His purposes, which are holy and true. The One who is jealous for what He came here to do, He is who was born that we celebrate at this time of year. It’s possible for you as a Christian to give Him the lordship of your life. The government shall be upon His shoulder. It’s wonderful, at this time of year, to realise the purpose of His coming. His name is full of wonders. There were 400 silent years at the end of the Old Testament, but Isaiah had prophesied of Jesus’s coming. In every book of the Old Testament you can trace the coming of Jesus. God hadn’t spoken for 400 years and then ‘bang’. The fulcrum of time now revolves around His coming. In our lives, particularly during this year, I know that it has been a re-evaluation and reassessment of what our lives are based on. I know that God has been faithful to all of us. He has been the counsellor. Whenever there’s been figuring out what to do going forward His name shall be called wonderful, counsellor. For the youngsters here, He is your counsellor. You’ve got to want to do what pleases Him. We must be equipped for what God wants us to be and do. He is the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:7

Ever thought about that? Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. We’ve had an election this year, soon we will have one here. Of the increase of His government there is no end because what He’s doing is sorting out things in our lives so that we become compacted together in His church as the bride of Christ. It’s wonderful that each one of us are brothers in Christ as part of His body. One verse which has been on heart this year is that we’re to walk humbly, love mercy and do justice. In this government, of which there’s no end, He establishes it with judgement and justice. ‘The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ This may seem a strange thing to say. Do you know He’s so careful about each one here? The zeal God has for his church is supreme. That’s why things happened recently.

Ephesians 5:25

So the reason why Jesus came here and gave His life was for the church.

Ephesians 5:26-27

It’s His zeal which is preparing everything. By that I mean He’s preparing you day by day. So it is together as we take our part in the church, so it is that we can confirm the fact that He is presenting it to Himself a glorious church. Please don’t underestimate God’s zeal to get everything right in the church. We’re the bride of Christ and we’re to take our part in the church. It’s important that as we love one another so others will be drawn to God. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. It doesn’t matter if anyone is planning anything against God, the zeal of God will perform this. You can’t stop Him. He’s a wonderful heavenly father.