In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of having reverence for the House of God. He uses the example of Jesus cleansing the temple to illustrate the need to prioritize seeking God's presence rather than engaging in worldly distractions. The preacher warns against allowing worldly things to enter the temple of the Holy Ghost, referencing the story of the Church of the Ladders. He also cautions against the influence of Pharisees and preachers who are more interested in personal gain and power rather than genuine salvation. The sermon encourages believers to be cautious and respectful when entering the house of God, emphasizing the need for a deep reverence that comes from the soul.

Good evening. I wonder, do you remember just how we have been following the footsteps of Christ? I think that you remember this, that when Christ began his public ministry, I'm not going to go right back to his babyhood or childhood or boyhood, but when he began his public ministry, he left Nazareth, the way up here where he had been brought up, and he crossed the Jordan and he came down to Bethlehem here, just beyond Jordan, where he was baptized by an urchin in the Bible of Jordan by John the Baptist. And you remember, Archbishop, that the Spirit descended upon him like a dove. And immediately the Spirit led him into the wilderness here of Judea to be tempted of the devil. It was in those days, after the temptation, that John the Baptist's daughter might be witness to him, that one day Jesus walked, John stood and said, Behold the Lamb of God. It was there that two of John's disciples began to follow Jesus. One of them was Andrew, and without a doubt the other one was John the Apostle. For Andrew went immediately and found Peter and brought him to Christ. I believe that John went and found James. You remember at that time that the Lord called Philip, and then Philip went and found Nathanael. And when these things had gathered round the Lord, the Lord went back to Nazareth where he was brought up, you remember, and it was there he preached his first sermon. And it was there that the people resented the Word of God through him. They took him by force to throw him over the brow of the hill. But he miraculously escaped through them. You remember he went on to Cana of Galilee where the first medical was performed. And last week he came across the sea again to Capernaum, and we watched him in the synagogue in Capernaum dealing with sin. We watched him in the house in Capernaum dealing with sin, and we watched him in the streets of Capernaum dealing with sickness. Now he's heading south again this evening. He's leaving Capernaum and he's coming right down again, this time through Jerusalem and through the temple in Jerusalem. Now take this carefully. This is the first time that he's entering into the temple as the public servant of God. I know he was there when he was a boy of twelve. I know he was there when he was so many days old. I know all about it. But he's out in his public ministry now. In fact he's coming to the temple now for the first time as the messenger of the covenant. And that's most important. This is what Malachi talks about as he finished the Bible. So, let's go back to Malachi. And at the third chapter please, it's the last book of the Old Testament, and he's the last of the minor prophets. Always remember that he is not the last of the Old Testament prophets, for John the Baptist was a prophet, and he was the last of the Old Testament prophets. But this is the last book of the Old Testament, and this is the last of the minor prophets. This is Malachi, this is Malachi chapter three. God speaking said through him, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And thus God was speaking through Malachi about John the Baptist. For John the Baptist was God's messenger, and God sent him, and he was there to prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to the temple. And that's exactly what is happening this evening. He's the messenger of the covenant. Because that's the title he bears as he comes into the temple. He was the messenger of the covenant. Whom ye delight in, behold, he shall come, said the Lord of hosts. For when he came he was despised, and rejected of men. Came unto his own, even in the temple, and his own received him not. There came a day in his ministry, when he walked out of the temple for the last time, and said to them, Your house is left unto you desolate. You'll find that he's talking to them this evening about my house, and my father's house. But when he's finished with them, he says, Your house. He can walk out on any of us. He left this place, would be your house. And it would be a pity of you. Always remember that. There will be a time when he'll come back again to the temple. The Jews are thinking about building it just now. In fact, great preparations are being made in Jerusalem just at this moment. The other day in an American newspaper, on the front page, it was carrying a full page advert, asking Jews to give money for the building of the temple. And told from some sources that they're already cutting stones for it. They'll build the temple. And in the temple that's going to be built in Jerusalem one of these days, to that temple Antichrist will come. And he will sit in the temple, showing himself as he is God. If this is true, that they're thinking of building, I can show you the advert from the paper where they're collecting money for it. If we're so near to the building of the temple, we must be near to seeing this Antichrist. Only we believers won't be here when he's revealed. After the church has gone itself, then shall that man of sin be revealed. But if they're thinking of building, how near must we be to the coming of the Lord. The Lord's taking us home, you know. Then the tribulation will come, and this Antichrist will sit in the temple, and then the Lord will come again. And the next time they'll have to take him in. For he'll come and do all right. I'm going to take it over. What a day it will be. But we're thinking about them coming to the temple for the first time in the days of this ministry, this evening. You know, there's been a great argument done through the years by some of the so-called Bible scholars, of whether the Lord came to the temple once in his ministry and cleansed it, or whether he came twice. And those of you who love Dr. Pink, and you should love him, because he was a great expositor, Dr. Pink believes and argues for pages and pages that the Lord only came once and cleansed the temple. Dr. Ironside, who is also a great expositor, whom we love with all our hearts, Dr. Ironside argued with them that the Lord came to the temple twice, and cleansed it. Once at the beginning of his ministry, and once at the end. Dr. Pink fought back to prove that these two, although they were far removed in the Scriptures, were just the one cleansing. I'm with Dr. Ironside this evening, and I think Dr. Pink was wrong. And I would like to tell the class why I think he was wrong. Because I think I should be able to prove things. Now was it once or twice? Now, March of 21, March of Gospel, chapter 21, please. I think you can follow this quite easily without too much reading. Verse 1, And then they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus to disciples. And you remember that he's sending them to get the ark, And on that ark he rode into Jerusalem. Now I think everybody knows what day he came into Jerusalem on the ark. It was what we call Palm Sunday. So that was the way at the end of his ministry, there's no troubles about that. You can see there verse 8, A very great multitude spread their garments in the way, others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitude that went before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that told and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the feet of them that sold gods and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it the den of thieves, and so on. And at verse 17 it says, And he left then and went out of the city into Bethany. I think he went to stay with Mary and Martha at Bethany not in the morning as he returned into the city. When he rode in that day and came to the temple it was calm Sunday, wasn't it? The next morning was the Monday morning of what we call Holy Week, if you like, for the sake of identifying it. And I can go through all the days of that week for you until the Friday when he was crucified. Now I want you to get one phrase, He left then and went on to Bethany. That was at the end of calm Sunday. Now let's come to the other cleansing where we are tonight. We're at John's Gospel and we're at the second chapter. And I think if some of these Bible scholars had just tried to follow the footsteps of Christ there would never have been any arguments at all. I think it's in following the footsteps of Christ that you learn some of these things that some of these dear men seem to miss. Verse 12, we're at verse 12. You see verse 11 was the beginning of miracles. A tin of gallows. Verse 12, after this he went down to Capernaum. That's where we were last week. And there continued, and they continued there not many days. But the Jews Passover was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. I think you can see him leaving Capernaum and coming up to Jerusalem. And if you've been following the footsteps of Christ with us in the class you know that this is at the beginning of his ministry. This has nothing to do with calm Sunday. We're a long way from calm Sunday here. But I think you can get it clearer than that. He went into the temple here and again he cleansed the temple. Verse 15, when he had made a scourge of small cords he drove them all out of the temple and so on. And then answered the Jews and said unto him What signs showest thou us that thou doest these things? And then it says in verse 23 And when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day many believed in his name. And we've got a lot to say about that. Because he didn't believe in men. It was only profession. The word but is left out between the two chapters. But there was a man of the Pharisees. He was different from these boys. He taught Jesus by night. And then we have the great dialogue that we're going into next week when he talked to Nicodemus in the dark. And then John of course who's the writer of the gospel takes up to explain how you can get eternal life in the rest of the chapter. And then chapter 4 begins like this. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John Lord Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples did. He left Judea and departed into Galilee. Ah well on the other occasion when he left Jerusalem he went to Bethany. I would have thought you could have puzzled that out quite easily. I don't think there's any problem. Not in my mind. My mind's quite absolutely convinced that early in the days of his ministry he came and cleansed the temple. I think in the three years that I've had to almost run this course they went back to their old ideas. So I had to come on Palm Sunday again and cleanse it for the last time. It's a small part and it doesn't matter it's not fundamental. But if I say it's twice I've got to prove it's twice and that's all there is about it. It doesn't really matter. Early in John's gospel and we're at chapter 2. Going south with the Savior we're going to see the cleansing of the temple. Now as we follow the footsteps of Christ into the temple here and out of it again there are three things we must note this evening. The devil's mess of a sum. It says in verse 17 that the disciples remembered that it was written the zeal of Barnhouse what a lovely phrase. Half eaten me up. And then we not only want to look at the zealous mess of the sum we want to look at the sign of the tabernacle. Because the Jews required the sign as usual. They wanted a sign that you're going to cleanse this temple and say that this is your house or this is your father's house you'll have to give us the sign. So we're going to look at the zealous mess of the sum and the sign of the sovereign. He got to prove he was the Messiah. And then we want to spend a bit more time with the superiority of the Savior. Because he knew the clothes that was round him at all times. That's why he was superior. These are the three things we're looking at. The zealous mess of the sum and the sign of the sovereign and the superiority of the Savior. Now I want you to watch verse 13 where we begin this evening really. And the Jews passed over with a pound and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. That is he left Capernaum went up the country came to Jerusalem because it was the pass over time. But I want you to notice how the Spirit puts this. The Jews pass over. Let's go over to Passover night where it was instituted in Exodus chapter 12 just for the moment. Book of Exodus chapter 12 and I think you know something about what the Lord said unto Moses. Verse 3 he said, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month I shall take to them every man a lamb. Verse 4 says, If the household be too little for the lamb. I've always been thrilled by that. The household could be too little for the lamb but the lamb was never too little for the household. The lamb could satisfy the household and the house next door too. There is always sufficiency in Christ you know. A household is never bigger than the lamb. And then the lamb was kept and then the lamb was slain and then the blood of the lamb was put on the two side posts and the upper door posts of the houses where they were in. And this is how they were to eat it in verse 11. And not shall ye eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's parcel. I want you to juggle that phrase with the one in John. Because the one in John says it was the Jew's parcel. Things have deteriorated a little bit you know. This always happens when Pharisees get their hands on the things of God. And the old Pharisees and Sadducees and some of the dead's tribes have put so many commandments of their own to the Lord's parcel that it wasn't the Lord's parcel any more. It was the Jew's parcel. I've seen it done with the Lord's table too. You know the table that we come to remember the Lord. And I often say this in this place that the most important thing we do in the week for the Lord is to remember Him. I'm the recognised teacher here, at least I'm one of them. And we don't let the sheep feed the shepherds. We maintain that the shepherds are here to feed the sheep. That's what they're here for. So we have ministry meetings. But when the ministry meetings over and the sheep are fed, we sit down as believers around the table. And it's an open meeting then, isn't it? There's nobody different from any of the rest that I know of. We had a young fellow stood up to minister on Sunday morning, he's here now. He would have filled your heart, talked about amazing grace and amazing sacrifice and amazing love and amazing results of Calvary. And if you're a believer and you tell us you're a believer, then the Lord invites you. We have no barriers. You know the Lord's table has been made the exclusive brethren's table in some places. It's like the Lord's Passover has become a Jew's Passover. I don't think you have a right to do this. My dear friends, an old fellow argued with me once. He says, what are you talking about? He says, sure the church is here to protect the table. Is it now, I said. That's funny. Because I would like to know when the church began. He says it began in Acts chapter 2, a century past, when the Holy Ghost came and baptized the individual followers of Christ into the body of Christ. I said, you're right, you're not. When did the table begin? After the church was recorded. Come on, you're intelligent enough. Oh, the table was instituted long before there was a church. It was God in the then. The table was instituted before Calvary even. On that mountain, the people of big praise. Oh, they are dumb some of them. They just open their mouth and their guts give a rumble and you hear the sound. I said, stick your ass into it. I may as well tell you because it's tripe and rubbish. Only it sounds wonderful. So it does. But it's still rubbish. You know, when the Roman Catholic church took the Bible away, they would let the people have the book. They may say that this is the Lord's book. It doesn't belong to the Baptist or the Brethren. The Lord's book. You're not allowed to put chains on it. It became the Catholic Bible, that's what they called it. And it certainly was for the folk weren't allowed to look into it. I will tell you, it teaches you to fetch the Scriptures in here. It says that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. Only they wouldn't let the kids look into it. It became the feeding Bible. I can cut it rough when I want to, you know. And these are the things I stand out against. The Jews Passover, the Brethren table, the feeding Bible. Let's get back to the Lord, you know. Let's get back to it. Don't be making things your own. The table is the Lord's, and the book is the Lord's, and the throne is the Lord's. And there's nobody can keep you from it. Sin will keep you from all three. Yes, did you notice how it was put by the Spirit? It's the Jewish Passover. We're back at John 2. That's the season of the year. Want to see the scene before them? Verse 14. And the Jewish Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple groves that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money fitted. What a scene before them. It was a house of merchandise now. You know, I think that we must be careful when we come to the house of the Lord. Sometimes, you know, I speak from this platform to some of the bigger ones in this meeting who fidget about a bit. I never bother with the children. We've got a wee one here on Sunday mornings now. She's singing when the rest are stopped. She sings on in between. She doesn't know when the verse is in. But she pleases me. She's singing. Now that I enjoy with all my heart. And for the kids who look around or look up, there's a wee house we're glad to have. But when you come to 15, 14, 15, 15, you recognize that this is God's house. I am pretty old. I think we need to teach them something about reverence. In God's house, this is not a pagan land, you know. I will work it with the pagans. I could have patience. But the children of God's children will recognize this house or I'll go far. I'll tell you the Lord Jesus wouldn't put up with some nonsense that goes on at times. He had a great respect. It's called the view of thy house. He was very careful about it. I think we need to learn these things as we go along. It says when he went to Jerusalem he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money-sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cods, and I think we should underline the small. They were just cods. You know, he couldn't have done any harm with it. The book says he was harmless. But he was just going to show his authority here because he wants me. Let them give up the cod meat. And he's going to really deal with this crowd. It's small cods. They couldn't have been afraid of these. But what's in his hand he's showing them his authority. And it says when he had made a scourge of small cods he drove them all out of the temple. While he was harmless remember he would resist less. He could put the crowd back as easy as he could put the sea back. And he put them out there. Don't make any mistakes about it. The Lord put them out of the temple. And it says this. He drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers' money and overthrew the turtles. Because he was not only harmless and resist less he was fearless. It took a man, you know, to take the end of the table and heave it over. You could hear the clatter on the marble tiles of the temple. Yeah, you know, sometimes the Lord does things you never thought he would do. There are people who thought that the Lord was so soft it doesn't read the book properly. So he drove them out. He put the sheep out from oxen and overthrew the tables of the money changers. Hear the clatter of the money. He's cleansing the temple. Watch how carefully this is written. When he made a scourge of small calves he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers' money and overthrew the tables and said unto them that sold out take these things hence. He didn't let the dogs out, you know. He could have opened the cage and let them out but then they would have been lost. It would have been a crime to do so. But you see, he's not only harmless and resist less and fearless he's timeless. He says, now you take these birds out. That was very careful, you know. Master was always careful. Had he opened the cages or thrown them down the steps well, it might have been fine but then he was timeless. And I think you can see this scene that was before him and you can see the scourge in his hands but we want to get the stain on his lips. I think these words rang through the temple that day. Take these things hence. He's cleansing the temple. I have a feeling that as the Lord came back through this land of ours and there are houses of God that were built by old saints. See, some of the fine big buildings we have I can tell you as you go back to the revivals you'll find that the saints gave their last copper to put the house of God there. And now these characters bring dancing into them. I know a big fashionable church where they have a dance now. They don't have a dance. They're back through the cross. I can tell any church that wants to attempt this they're going to send their young people into the world. You know you can't compete with the world. They'll have a better dance band than you and they'll have a better dance floor than you and you'll only train the young people for the world, won't you? They have booms now, instead of bibles. They have tents now, instead of proof. They have pray now. Pray time, they'll tell me. Instead of pray time I think the Lord would shout Cut these things out! I don't think there's any reverence for God's house when you carry on like that. We need to bring them up. The reverence. The house of God. They're talking about the tiny church now. I'm mean to do that as long as I'm here. Friend, I think it's time that we had a better reverence for the house of God. I think you can see this scene, can't you? And the scourge in his hand and the saying on his lips and the zeal in his heart. His disciples remembered that it was written way back in Psalm 69 the zeal of thine house. Oh, that we had more reverence for the house of God. You know, we come to God's house to find God not to find Him. We come to be occupied with the Master not with merchandise. We come to see the Savior not to sell the goods. I think that he's teaching us a lesson. Because, you know, you can always take it a step closer to yourself because you know that this here is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Isn't that? And you know, they might be saying, get into the temple. You remember the church of the Laodicea? So many things got in until the Lord was outside the door. I wonder if you sat quietly and let them go through the temple tonight would he put his finger on things and say, look you, take these things hence. Maybe you're doing a whole lot of things he shouldn't be doing at all. Maybe he would need to cleanse the temple again. This is a lot of things here for us tonight but we must go on. And we're coming to the sign of the Sovereign just now. Blessed King, then answered the Jews and said unto him, What signs showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest three things? Did you come into the temple and you've overthrown the tables and you've cleansed the temple? You're trying to tell us that you're the messenger of the covenant, that you're the Messiah of Israel. What signs showest thou? You're going to take over this whole nation, give us a sign. The Jews were always looking for a sign. I want you to watch this very carefully. I think they got around him and they said, What signs showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest three things? Now if I'm right in my interpretation, I think it is what happened and you'll have to watch me to see. I think you know the moment that he had them all outside, they got around him. I want you to think of these old Pharisees with long robes and they looked into his face and said, What signs showest thou unto us, that thou doest three things? And then they put their heads down quietly and waited for the answer. Now this is what he said. Here's how he answered them. Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. But you've got to watch me again. Because their heads are down, they're waiting on the answer and they don't see it. And he said, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. That's what he said. Only they weren't watching. Sometimes you have to watch the preacher, you know. Sometimes we do indicate things. And just because their heads were down, they missed the whole challenge. Verse 20 says, Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building. Oh, they never saw him pointing to his body. They thought it was the temple behind them that he was talking about. They said, Forty and six years was this temple in building. And looked down, rare it up in three days. Then the Holy Ghost collects the whole thing for you, doesn't he? But he spake of the temple of his body. I remember talking to two Russellites who do not believe in the bodily resurrection. I said to them, Jesus said, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. Not something like this. Not something I'm pretending to be. I will raise it. I can defeat all the Russellites in the world with the word up. Just like that. Because it was it he raised. And he raised it in three days too. And the phrase was right there. He spake of the temple of his body. Sure it's the resurrection that proves that he's a Messiah. Yes, it was a Messiah. They were looking for one, but they won't listen. You see, if you went through the scriptures tonight, and I'm trying to save time now. You know when he was talking about the shepherd in John 10. He's the good shepherd who gives us his life for the sick. But you remember he said, I lay it down, I have power to take it up again. Because it's the resurrection, the God of peace was brought again from the dead. The Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. You see, it's the resurrection that proves he's the great shepherd of the sheep. It's the resurrection that proves that he's the sovereign of this land. When Peter's preaching to the Sanhedrin, he said, we ought to obey God rather than men. For God raised them up, made them to be a prince and a savior. It's the resurrection that gives us a living savior, you know. It's the same when you think about the son. He declared to be the son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. It says Romans 1. Oh, these are the sermons. Jews were looking for signs. It says here verse 22, When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and they believed the scripture. That's Psalm 16 they're thinking about, where it says that God would never allow his holy one to see corruption. They believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. It's a great thing when you get the Psalms and the Psalms. The Psalms of David and the sayings of Christ, and you mold them together, gives you a very sure foundation. So we don't want to take any more time out of that, because this other bit's very important. We're at the superiority of the Savior now. And he was superior. Verse 22, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, it's the same Passover. In the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. Now they're just looking at the miracles, remember. They believed in his name when they saw the miracles. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them. See the word commit. It's the exact same Greek word as the word believe in the verse before it. It's a pity our King James translators on this occasion didn't make them both commit, or both believe. You see, it reads like this. In the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus did not believe in them. That's the exact same. You know, this is something that we have to be very careful with. When people make professional faith in Jesus, we have to be very careful with this, you know. I think you'll see this clearer if you come to the Acts of the Apostles chapter 8 with me just for a moment, and you'll come back again, and then you'll have it cleared up for yourself. Now in that faith there are three great personalities. There is Philip who was the preacher who went down to Samaria. And then there was Simon the Sorcerer who was the terrible character. And then there was Peter the Apostle who came down to Samaria afterwards. Verse 5 says, Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. It says, verse 9, But there was a certain man named Simon who before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one, to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard because not of long time he had bewitched them with sorcery. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised. When they believed they were baptised, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also. Now you've got to be careful with that. And when he was baptised, now make no mistake about it, he professed faith in Christ and he was baptised by a merchant, by Philip. And he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs, that's what his eye was on. Like the boys back in Jerusalem, they professed faith when they saw the miracles. This fellow's eye is on the miracles and signs. Go careful, verse 14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, two apostles, who when they were come down to Samaria of course, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now this is one of the spots in the New Testament where these crowd of Samaritans, and I want you to get that into your mind, these Samaritans had professed faith in Christ but the Holy Ghost had not come upon them. Now this is the only place where God kept this great blessing back and for a very great wise purpose. You see in the old economy you see there were two temples in the land. There was a temple at Jerusalem, there was a temple in Samaria. I was up in the temple in Samaria one day and met some of the Samaritans. And you know the Jews had no things with the Samaritans all the days of their lives. And that's why there were two temples and that's why the arguments went on. That's why the woman at the well talked to Christ. You know she had ideas of her own about worshipping. But God was not going to let the church be split. He was going to bring Jews and Gentiles together. And these Samaritans were not going to get the Holy Ghost until these believing Jews came down and laid their hands on them. You know some of the young fellows running about here come to me and say, you know you need to get the hands laid on your head to become a real Christian, to get the Holy Ghost. And the first thing I say, now where did you find that? And he says, actually it's the only place you can find it. And then I say, are you a Samaritan? He says, no I'm not a Samaritan. I says, does the man that's laying his hands on your head, is he an apostle? He says, he's not an apostle. It's just some man with empty hands laying it on some empty head and that's the trouble. I think we've got to see this very carefully now. That God was determined that there would be one church he was going to put them together. And he very wisely kept back this blessing until these men came together. That's not my purpose in reading it tonight but I mustn't read anything else in case somebody would say I skipped a passage. Verse 17, Then laid their hands, then laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money saying, give me also this power. Coming out of the open now, isn't there? Because all that he was after at any time was power. That's all he was after. He had played about with this thing all his life. He had bluffed Philip and he had got baptized. But he certainly didn't bluff Peter. What Peter, verse 15, Peter said unto him, Thine money perish with thee. Because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money, thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. This man had professed faith, you know. Then he saw a miracle he did. Because this is the thing that he wanted all his life. He wanted demonstrating power. That's not saving faith. If you're only after some power, you're still in the call of bitterness. Your heart's not right with God. That wasn't a sinner coming to the Savior, you know. I think, you know, we need to be very careful about this. Let's go back to John's Gospel, chapter 6, please, just for a moment. John 6. There was a cloud that followed Jesus here too. Verse 25, John 6, 25. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Now by when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw the miracles. That wasn't their trouble. But because he did eat of the loaves, and the sheaves. You know, there are some folks who make faith, profess faith in Christ, because they're after power. But there are all boys who profess to follow Jesus because they want the loaves and fishes. I've seen a crowd of them in my day. They're just after the help out of some corner they're in. You usually find somebody when they get summoned and they're going to get fined. They're coming creeping around the house to make professing of faith. They're wanting help out on the fine. It's not faith in Christ. I'm very wary of that sort of thing, you know. And have a look again at Matthew's Gospel, chapter 7, just to complete this. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 7, verse 21. The Lord Jesus is speaking. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in my name have cast out devils, and in my name have done many wonderful works. Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you at any time. You know there are people who play about with the name of Jesus. Always in the name. There are people who profess to love Christ because they're after some sort of demonstrating power. There are people who follow Christ because of the loaves and fishes, what they can get out of it. There are people who love to play about with the name of Jesus. The boys in Jerusalem don't belong to these clubs at all. The boys in Jerusalem, they just wanted ringside seats when the miracles were being done. They professed to follow Christ just to get into the ringside seat when these miracles were being done. They were pretending to be friends of Christ. But he didn't believe in them. He knew all about them. That's very hard to diagnose a Christ. I had a man who came to the door the other night. You could smell the drink before you opened the door. And his finest, soft gaze was on him. Seriously, he said, He said, You know, don't you? You know you can't, I said. You turn them round, pull them out of the gate, bang the gate, and I get up the street as quick as you can. Time to wait back, I said. That's the way you love sinners. You didn't even know you were a sinner. You're not the money. There are some things you don't get out of the door. You don't think I'm going to believe it at all, do you? Oh, I knew it was around the time, the next day, you know, he wouldn't look at you. I know that. Try me out, then you're under conviction of sin, do you see? I'll get up at any hour of the night and go to help a man who's a sinner looking for the Savior. But a boy who's bluffing for money, I'll haunt him. So would my Savior too. I had to learn that, that Christ speaks in me. I tell you, there are folks here tonight who have come to my door at different times, and you know that I've got other beds to feed you. And I've helped you into the kingdom. There are boys I have thrown onto the street, and I'll do it over again. I just have to diagnose the characters that come to the door. And I learned it from Christ. What's the end of John's Gospel chapter 2 just for a moment? John chapter 2. I think this is thrilling. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast, then he believes in his name. When they saw the miracles which he did, that's all they were looking at. They were not sinners convicted of sin. They were not lost souls who knew they were lost. They were not looking for a Savior. It's their inside seat they're looking for. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them because He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. He knew what was inside of men at times. And then there's a wood left out. It's a pity it's left out. But, but there was a man of the Pharisees. Oh, he was different. He was really seeking. Because that's what they're doing next week. I think that you can see the zealousness of the Sovereign here. I think that you can see the zealousness of the Son. You can see the sign of the Sovereign. I think that you can see the superiority of the saints. Friends, we need to learn things here. We need to learn this tomorrow. To always be careful when we're in the house of God. To have a respect and a reverence for God's house that comes from our innermost soul. We must hold tight and hold it very tight that He grows bubbly from the grave. Yes, destroy this temple. For He did, I will raise it. We must be wary of men who would profess just because they want something loaned from fishers at times. We must be careful of those who only want a ringside seat to be seen. We must be careful of creatures who are only after power and not really after salvation. They're still in the gall of bitterness. We must be careful not to use this name just to swank around. I was coming down the main street when a fellow stopped me one morning. He said, Mr. Mulholland said it. If a man's couched out devils every night is he at the peak of his power? His eyes were standing in his head. I said, he might be on his way to hell. Oh, you know, if I'd hit him with a hammer he wouldn't have went to pieces, the shame. He's got the way out in the footpath. He says, I'm daring you, I'm daring you. I said, I'll tell you what the book says. The book says that in the last day when the doors shut there'll be some outside saying, in my name we have couched out devils. They'll go to hell. Tell me where you are now. Did you come to Christ because you were a perishing sinner on your way to hell and knew that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners? Did you accept him as a sinner savior? Then you go on saying, don't worry. He saved sinners. We're singing just two verses. Number 600. Bless me, Lord. Have mercy on me. Bless me. Dear Lord, part us in my fear. And with thy blessing, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.