The Tribune

By NICHOLAS MORLEY

“And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.”

• Luke 19:45-48 (KJV)

LUKE 19:45-48 relates to us the familiar story of Jesus after he had thrown the money changers out of the temple. In a deeper sense, this story depicts salvation and the steps Christ takes and is taking to save us. The temple represents you and me (1 Corinthians 6:19). Christ chasing out all who had set up shop in the temple represents him cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:9).

And Christ teaching daily in the temple represents how all blood-washed individuals ought to commune with Jesus in his Word daily (Psalms 1:2)

But what does this have to do with spiritual warfare? Much more than we think. Every time Christ tries to bring anything back to his original standard, there a war rages. Whether it be the sanctity of marriage or his 10 Commandment laws that have been trampled. Satan rages a full-fledged war against it. Yet we see the depth Christ would go to save you and me.

You know what is so amazing? Jesus never stopped his daily ministering in that very temple until the killing of the Passover. There, he and his disciples sat to eat. Afterwards he went in the garden to prayed and was betrayed at the hands of the people. I said that to say that Christ would have been defeating the purpose had he only ran out those that bought and sold, and did not leave an alternative. What if Christ only devoted three days out of the week to teach in the temple, or perhaps even six days out of the week? I strongly believe that the temple would of gone back to it’s desolate form in no time. The same is true for you and me. It is impossible to overcome anything if we do not die daily to self and surrender ourselves to Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:31). It is not a enough to be washed from our sins alone, we must allow Christ to complete his work in us so that we may be transformed to his original standard.

Luke 19:47-48 says: “And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.”

Here we see another war raging. Satan knows the transformative power of Christ, but it doesn’t stop him from fighting. He knows that a man is nothing without Christ (John 15:5). Satan’s plans are much more subtle than we think. He had no problem with the temple, his problem was with who occupied the temple. The same with us, he has no problem with you and me, because we once worked for him. Satan’s plans are not to kill a Christian, but rather to kill the Christ in the Christian. Satan’s plan was not to destroy the temple, but the Christ in the temple. Thus destroying him, Satan knows that we would go back to a debased, deprived and desolate state of being. Then he would have accomplished his goal, because spiritual death is worse than physical death.

My friends, let us not allow Satan to destroy the Christ in us. Let us daily put on the whole armour of Christ that we may be able to stand against Satan’s attacks (Ephesians 6:10-18). Let us keep each piece polished and our sword sharpened. Let us combine the Word of God with our prayer life, tearing asunder all principalities and wickedness that seek to prevail over us. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)

In this day and age, let prayer and the study of God’s Word be the order of the day. Combined with daily surrender, we will be well prepared, girded in the strength of the Lord to fight a good fight in faith.

• For comments and questions e-mail nicholasrmorley@gmail.com.