Don't Be Fake

Introduction

Background to Text

As we entered into the second chapter of John last week we saw the humble service of Jesus displayed. Without public recognition, Jesus helped a family in need.

The picture that was given of Him turning water into wine, would show how He later would help all of humanity, picturing His salvation provided for us.

The deity of Christ was shown in His power over the physical. Doing a task that only God could do. Now, we see His deity displayed in a little different way.

Instead of His humility being characterized, we see His righteous indignation. His holy hatred for sin and defiling the temple. This event proves He is the Son of God, in that, this was prophesied of.

Psalm 69:9 KJV 1900

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Jesus had a passion for authentic worship.

Jesus did not take being fake lightly. Here we see that it made Him so angry that He flipped tables in the temple.

The message I want to preach to you and challenge is this: “Don’t Be Fake.”

PRAY

-One thing I despise is boxed mashed potato flakes. You put some boiling water in with this stuff and mix it around, and it’s supposed to taste like mashed potatoes.

-There’s only one problem with it: they don’t! It has the consistency of apple sauce and tastes like the box more than mashed potatoes.

-Someone may call those mashed potatoes, they may look like mashed potatoes, but they’re not the real deal.

-I think of something like saran wrap. Not all saran wraps are made equally. I mean, you ever try putting dollar store saran wrap over a dish? Of course you haven’t because it doesn’t work!

-It doesn’t stick to anything, it’s just like a little blanket for your bowls in the refrigerator. It’s an imposter.

I think we would agree, we all like the real deal. Whether it’s potatoes, saran wrap, or even jelly beans, we want the real thing.

When it comes to our worship to the Lord, we should not be fake, rather we should be real.

This is a potential battle for every believer. The battle of authenticity versus being a phony. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus shows us just how important this is.

How crucial it is for us to worship the Lord in sincerity and truth. To worship Him for who He is and not for what we may get from Him.

The people in this text were using this time of worship to God as an opportunity to make money. This made God angry!

I think we would all agree that the last person we want to make angry is God. When you mess with the place that inhabits God’s glory, God is not pleased.

Transition

Tonight I want us to look at Three Principles that we need to focus on when it comes to our worship to God and how we can be authentic and not fake.

We Should Focus on the Glory of God and Not Self-Gain (v. 13-17)

Jesus and His disciples go to Jerusalem for the Passover, observing what Scripture commanded. As Jesus got to Jerusalem, he saw a scene that turned His stomach.

There were people in the temple, selling sacrificial animals and trading currency. Now, this was not a new scene. This was at one point a ministry you could say.

Imagine travelling long distances and trying to haul your family and all your animals that you would sacrifice for the passover as well. This would have been an added burden for sure.

So for convenience, there were those who set up a place to buy animals when they got to the holy city. They also had a place to trade currency.

This was the purpose of the money changers. Annually the temple tax would be due and so as these families were in Jerusalem they would need to pay this tax.

The tax had to be paid with Tyrian coinage so those coming from foreign lands would need to exchange their coins for this silver.

What happened is these business men started to see an opportunity. They could make money off of the Passover. It would be the perfect opportunity.

So they sold the animals at ridiculous rates. And they tacked a high fee to exchange currency. They knew people would pay it because of their devoutness.

They used something that should have brought glory to God, to instead something that would bring gain to themselves. They used God to get wealthy.

The passover was not celebrated for the purpose of getting rich. It wasn’t celebrated so people could pad their pockets. They had forgot the significance of what they were celebrating.

They were celebrating God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the victory He gave these people. It was a reminder of that night when they put the blood on those doorposts, how death passed over the door as it saw the blood.

This was a time to recall the blessings of God and celebrate Him, not find a way to insert a profit in one’s business. Instead of giving God glory, they sought out their own selfish ambitions.

If we’re not careful, we can do the same thing in our lives. In the context of the church, Harmony is not a place for us to seek our own selfish ambitions.

This is not a place for us to seek gain. This is a place for us to give glory to God! So many times people have a twisted outlook on church and why they attend a church.

The church they attend has more to do with how it accommodates them than how the church brings glory to God. The church is not about me. It’s not about you. It’s all about Jesus!

These money changers looked at this event as an opportunity to get gain rather than to give God glory.

What’s your outlook on church? Why do you attend Harmony Baptist Church? Is there something in it for you? Or is it about the opportunity that you and I have to worship and serve Jesus.

We Should Focus on Our Relationship over Religion (v. 18)

They were wanting Him to validate why He did what He did.

John 2:19–22 KJV 1900

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Jesus answers these people by telling them, “If you destroy this temple, I’ll raise it in three days.” We know He was speaking of His own body. He would die, be buried, and raise again the third day.

But the Jews point back to the temple. The physical temple. They were irate by the action of Jesus. In fact, it’s believed by some Jesus did this twice to the temple. Once, here, in His early ministry, and again at the end of His earthly ministry.

Regardless if it was once or twice, the one He’s most well-known for, it led them to sentence Him to death. They were not happy about Him messing with their temple practices.

They were so steeped in their traditions that they had no room for the God they worshipped. They were more in love with their temple than they were with God.

They were passionate about their religion, but they had no room for relationship. This was evidenced by their response to Jesus about the physical temple.

I wonder, do we love our church more than we love Jesus? Are we more attached to religion than our relationship with Him?

As I candidated for this church, I questioned many times on the topic of short term changes and long term changes. The quickness of those changes.

I want to commend you as a church, because I can tell your heartbeat is to do what pleases the Lord. May we as a church never get to a point where we are so attached to how we do things, that we forget why we’re doing them.

The focus should have been on the gospel here. But they were so entrenched in their religion. They were so steeped in tradition. That they couldn’t see the spiritual truth Jesus was teaching them.

May our religion not blind us from our relationship with Christ. May that be the heartbeat in our worship to the Lord.

We Should Focus on Sincerity over Superficiality (v. 23-25)

Evidently during this time Jesus worked miracles. It says here that many believed. But then we’re told that Jesus could see right through these people. He knew what was in every man.

Their belief was superficial. It was a surface faith. This was an outward affirmation of Jesus because of what He did. This was not an authentic conversion of these many who “believed.” It was not sincere.

This is maybe the biggest struggle of a Christian in their worship to the Lord. That the inside matches the outside.

It’s easy to come to church. It’s easy to sing the songs. It’s easy to put something in the offering. It’s easy to serve. It’s easy to look the part. It’s easy to get involved.

The real question is, does your inside match your outside? What does your heart look like? By the way, not even you can answer that question.

Jeremiah 17:9 KJV 1900

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

We must ask God to search our hearts! As the psalmist said, to know our thoughts. To see if there’s any wicked way in us and to lead us in the way everlasting.

When we worship God, we need to be sincere. We need the inside to match the outside.

Joshua 24:14 KJV 1900

Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

Don’t be fake! Outward conformity can often times be the novacaine to the soul. We can start gauging our spirituality by what we do instead of our surrender to Him.

These people said they believed, but Jesus saw right through it. He saw their heart.

Matthew 15:8 KJV 1900

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Jesus wants your heart. He wants sincerity in your worship to Him.

Conclusion

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Flattery

Francois Fenelon was the court preacher for King Louis XIV of France in the 17th century. One Sunday when the king and his attendants arrived at the chapel for the regular service, no one else was there but the preacher. King Louis demanded, “What does this mean?” Fenelon replied, “I had published that you would not come to church today, in order that your Majesty might see who serves God in truth and who flatters the king.”

We are here to worship God and God alone. We’re not here to worship a building, a tradition, a member, a pastor, an activity, an outreach.

We should focus on giving God the glory. We should focus on our relationship with Jesus. We should focus on being sincere in our worship.

These are principles that should guide us as we worship the Lord.