April 14-20, 2019

In Pastor Wes’s sermon, he painted vivid a picture of what it would be like if Berean were to model after the temple scene in John 2 (circus vs. service) and be required to use Manning money.  What would be your initial reaction to seeing this circus?  How would you respond coming upon this scene?

Application:

1. Pastor Wes referred to the fact that Jesus wasn’t a pacifist and yet, Jesus is referred to in scripture as the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).  How can Jesus be called the Prince of Peace and not be a pacifist?  In Matthew 10:34, Jesus himself says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” What did he mean?  (Hint: think agenda.  Many Jews of the day expected the coming Messiah to bring political peace and prosperity.)
2. Have you ever experienced righteous anger?  How would you know whether righteous anger was being expressed or if your anger was causing you to sin?
3. Jesus was “Zealous (eaten up) for the house of God.” (Vs. 17).  His righteous anger was born out of seeing the house of God being used for personal gain. Name some of the catastrophic consequences of misusing God’s house. 
4. Jesus reserves some of His harshest words, not for the sinner but for the “religious.”  What did he mean when he said the following?  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”  Matthew 23:25-26.  We can be pretty quick to point out these blind faults in others while being guilty of some of the same things.  How can we avoid the pitfalls of the scribes and Pharisees by confusing our personal gain with God’s mission? 
5. Pastor Wes said, “The problem was they missed THE Temple for the temple.”  What did he mean by this and how can I be sure I’m not falling into this trap? 
6. In our zeal to “protect” the kingdom of God, we can end up derailing the mission’s objective by refusing access to those the mission was meant for in the first place. Lord help us!  How can we ensure that “self” doesn’t get in the way of the mission?

“Self is the opaque veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. As well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its -deadly work within- us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Savior passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate.  Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy "acceptance" from the real work of God. We must insist upon the work being done. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion. That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and the oxen.  Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God.” 

The Pursuit of God.- A.W. Tozer