And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And 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 cords, 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 doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's
house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

(John 2:13~17)

The story of Jesus going to the
temple of Jerusalem and cleansing
it is a famous one and it
makes us realize extremely deep
and important things about spiritual
life.

At the time, there were merchants
who sold oxen, sheep,
and doves at the temple of Jerusalem.
The oxen would urinate
and poop, the sheep would loudly
bellow, the doves would flap
their wings . . . .

The temple was a
big mess. There were many people
at the temple at that time.
Those in charge of the temple,
Sadducees, Pharisees, priests . . . .

There were many people but
none of them could cast these
things out. But Jesus came and
cast them out.

I often feel such things in my
spiritual life. When I have various
problems arising in my heart, I
often try to take care of them
myself through my methods and
ways instead of looking to have
Jesus come to my heart and take
care of these problems, even
though I believe Jesus. But in
such instances my problems remained
unsolved, and the Lord
took care of them when I looked
and relied on Him.

He cannot coexist with our lustful
thoughts. Since lust and Jesus are
enemies, one or the other must
leave. Isn't that so? Jesus and hatred
can never be together. Hatred,
fear, evilness; such things
cannot stay together with Jesus.

The temple of Jerusalem was
defiled because it was filled with
the people who sold oxen, sheep,
and doves. Other people may tolerate
this and pass it by, but Jesus
could never tolerate this. Others
may think, "What can we do? We
have to sell oxen to give offerings,"
but Jesus could never allow
this. Jesus could not simply pass
by as He sees the oxen, sheep,
and doves pooping and urinating
in the temple.

This is not only true with oxen,
sheep, and doves but also with
the darkness inside of you. Darkness
can remain in the heart of a
person without Jesus, but if Jesus
remains in one's heart, the darkness
cannot remain there.

The temple 2000 years ago was a temple,
but our heart is also the temple
in which Jesus dwells. Therefore,
just as the Lord could not
allow oxen, sheep, and doves to
remain in the temple, He cannot
allow people whose hearts have
become temples to have darkness
in their heart. You may simply be
lustful and enjoy it, but Jesus cannot
allow it. You may allow hatred,
despair, or sorrow but Jesus
can never allow such things.

Therefore, the determination
in your spiritual life to, "I am going
to live properly. I am not going
to steal. I will not do drugs. I
will not drink," cannot cast such
things out.

If you realize
that you are ruined and if Jesus
comes as the Lord into your
heart, Jesus cannot allow darkness,
lust, nor deceit in your
heart and hence, such things cannot
remain. You, without yourself
even knowing it, become
changed and renewed.

The Sins
Automatically Left
When we did not know the
world of spiritual life very well,
we tried to fix ourselves when
we sinned, lived riotously, and
lived promiscuously.

"I should not drink. I should
not smoke. I should not commit
crimes."

The body of a person is the
screen of his heart. When we watch
a movie, we do not watch the film
but what shows up on the screen.
What shows on the film shows on
the screen. This is also true with
man. If you have pain in your heart,
the pain shows in your facial expression,
shows in your stomach
and intestines. When you have joy,
the joy shows in your facial expression
and words.

When a person is
sick, he only tries to have the sickness
healed. When fixing the film,
what shows on the screen will be
automatically fixed. Likewise, if you
first heal the heart, the body will
automatically be healed. But it is
difficult because people do not try
to fix the film but the screen.

When Jesus enters our heart,
Jesus easily casts out darkness,
fear, and sin.

"Thou shalt have no other
gods before me. You shall not
make idols unto yourselves. Thou
shalt not take the Lord God's
name in vain . . . ."
I recited and memorized them
all but I still broke them all. But
after Jesus entered my heart, all
those sins left me without me
even knowing it. Neither did I try
to throw them away nor labor to
not sin, but one by one, they left
me. It was so amazing and wonderful,
and I am so thankful.

If Jesus Is in Our Heart
Spiritual life is not done
through you. You cannot rid your
heart of sadness, you cannot
overcome fear in your heart, and
you cannot rid your heart of pain.
Even though the temple of Jerusalem
was defiled and dirtied it
could not cast out the oxen,
sheep, and doves.

But when Jesus
came, automatically they were
cast out. In this way, if the lord in
your heart changes from yourself
to Jesus, He casts out all the sadness
and despair from your heart.

The woman taken in adultery
was caught and was being dragged
to death. Her heart was filled
with fear, sadness, and pain.
But when she met Jesus, the fear
departed, the sadness departed,
the pain departed, and only
thankfulness remained.

If the loving Lord is in our heart,
He cleanses our heart, purifies our
thoughts, and leads our life to be
beautiful. That is spiritual life.
Spiritual life is not done through
our efforts to become clean.

The story of the temple of Jerusalem
in John chapter 2 is talking
about the temple of our heart today.
It is telling us that if Jesus enters
in, the dirty things of our
heart depart.