Literally, make not my Father’s house into an emporium, a sort of mart – ‘an house of merchandise’ our King James translators say. That must have stung the temple priests.
In many churches that are supposed to be Bible-believing churches, there is just noise, and irreverence, and things going on that have never been permitted in the Bible to enter into Christian worship. It is outrageous, the clamour, and the carnality, and the worldly-style entertainment music. Reverence has gone, almost entirely, and in the larger of these churches the people, who create this pandemonium, make a very rich living out of it, and the rules of God are just cast completely aside. It is just a tragedy that some of the people who support these outrages are, probably, earnest Christians; and they should be getting out of that clamour, and they should have nothing to do with it. May none of us step into, and stay in a church which is committing this kind of outrage, with all the rock, and the worldly music, the concert hall, the disco type of atmosphere – even dancing, clamour, immodest dress, the lot - the whole piece of worldly exhibitionism which goes on. That is not the worship of God – which is earnest, and reverent, and heart-felt; and even with its joys, filled with reverence and understanding of Christ’s way and obedience to him.