1.  “It is noticeable that Jesus began His ministry with an act of holiness rather than of power.  He wished to teach the nation that the supreme need was their spiritual cleansing…” (Dr. Charles Erdman)

2.  Cleansing the Temple of the sellers of animals and exchangers of money was a symbolic act of judgment to declare His Messiahship and to deal with the corruption of worship caused by a commercial spirit in a place meant for worship, sacrifice and prayer.

3.  Four threats to worship:

-going through the motions (Malachi 1)

-treating God as a “good-luck charm” (1 Samuel 4:1ff)

-worshipping without obedience to God’s revelation (1 Samuel 13:1-14; 2 Samuel 6:1ff)

-worshipping the wrong things (the creation/created things rather than the Creator) (Psalm 135:15ff)

4.  Four pre-requisites to worship (from: The Ultimate Priority by John MacArthur):

-“we must be yielded to the Holy Spirit”

-“our thoughts must be centered on God”

-“we must have an undivided heart”

-“we must be repentant” (we must deal with sin in our lives)