Dr Tom Hover
February 22, 2026
Matthew 21:12-17
God Cleanses His House!
God Cleanses His House!
Text: Matthew 21:12-17 Jump Off Text: Matthew 21:12
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Introduction: The temple of Jesus’ day and the church house of our day are to be places of Prayer and Worship to our great God and Saviour. How ever the born-again believer is the Temple of God. So, Can I ask you a question: Where does God live? I mean, if you wanted to write God a letter, do you have the address? Do you know the zip code? The truth of the matter is that God has been living in a series of different houses.
A. Man Is God’s Primary House. God’s first dwelling place was a man named Adam. That was God’s primary house. And God lived in Adam. Adam was designed to be a God container, a house, a temple of God. But sin entered! God said, “In the day that [you eat], [you’ll] surely die.”
(Genesis 2:17) So, God moved out of Adam.
B. The Old Testament Temple Was God’s Patterned House. The second house that God moved into was not a primary house, but God moved into the temple, and that was a pattern house. The temple, called the “house of God,” where God dwelt in the holy place.
C. Jesus Is God’s Perfect House. That perfect house that God lived in was Jesus. Did you know Jesus was a house of God? He called Himself there, in the Gospel of John, a temple. And He threw this challenge out to them in John, the second chapter: He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) He was talking about the temple of His body. He was a perfect house. He was a house designed: “A body thou hast [given] me.” (Hebrews 10:5) II Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34
D. The Born-Again Child of God Is God’s Permanent House.
There’s a permanent house that God lives in. And where is God living? God has moved in not to move out anymore. What is God’s permanent house? Well, you’re looking at it. Me. You. Go look in the mirror and say to that person in that mirror: I Corinthians 6:19-20 “abide with you forever.” (John 14:16). Now, what I want to talk to you about tonight is “God Cleanses His House?” What does God do if you sully or desecrate the temple in which you live? Matthew 21:12-13 Look at John’s account: John 2:13-17, Psalm 69:9
Now, I want you to think about this subject: “God Cleanses His House?”
I. THE TEMPLE MUST NEVER BE PROFANED! BUT IS SOMETIMES PROFANED! Matthew 21:12
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, this building is not the house of God in the classic sense. You are the temple of God — 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 19. And we are a temple. Now, what did the temple exist for? Well, the temple existed to give God the glory: “Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:20) There was a literal temple here. They were stealing away the glory that belonged to the Lord, and they were merchandising. Matthew 21:13 “but ye have made it a den of thieves.” So, the temple can be profaned!
II. THE PROFANED TEMPLE MUST BE PURGED!
Matthew 21:12, John 2:15
A. Notice the Whip of Chastisement. Hebrews 12:6-11 God is far more interested in your being holy than He is your being happy. Psalm 89:30-34 “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which [you] have of God.”
(1 Corinthians 6:19)
B. Notice A Work of Commotion
Now, God is a God of love, but He used a whip. “Whom the [Father loves] he [chastens].” (Hebrews 12:6) And God is a God of order. As a matter of fact, He said, “Let [everything] be done decently and in order.”
(1 Corinthians 14:40)
III. THE TEMPLE MUST HAVE A RIGHT PURPOSE!
A. It Is a Place of Prayer Matthew 21:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:17,
Philippians 4:6 A good test of whether or not you ought to do anything is, can you pray about it? That’s it. Can you pray about it? Can you ask God to help you do it? Colossians 3:17
B. It Is a Place of Power Matthew 21:14, John 14:12 All of the miracles of glory were only illustrations of the miracles of grace. “Greater miracles than these that I do shall ye do.” John 14:12. All of those miracles that Jesus did were prophecies of the greater miracles, where Jesus said, “Greater miracles than these that I do shall ye do, because I go to my Father.” (John 14:12) All of the miracles of glory were only illustrations of the miracles of grace that we see today every time when one who is truly Born Again. All of those miracles in the temple so long ago, they only prophesied and signed for the greater miracles.
C. It Is a Place of Praise Matthew 21:15-16, Psalm 8:2
