Thank you for listening to this message from
Lifehouse Church. It is good to be in God's house.
It is Palm Sunday. We're excited about all that
God's doing. Welcome, welcome. It is one week
before Easter, Resurrection Sunday. And today
marks the end of our seven -day fast here at
LifeHouse. And our prayer has been this, as you've
gone through this time of fasting. Our prayer
has been that you hear from the Lord. sometime
during this fast. And I found out sometimes that's
a small way that you hear from God. Sometimes
it's a large way. For me personally, it seems
like God does this small adjustment. Anytime
I get into a fast in some way, God does this
small adjustment inside of me that translates
to something much bigger on the outside of me
later on. And I hope that whether that was small
or large or some experience in between, that
you took time and you got with God and sought
the Lord. Our prayer is that you just, that continues
to happen in your life. That continues to be
something that's a part of your spiritual walk.
And along with that, you were praying over invitations.
We're just trusting that God's going to break
out and do amazing things in your life and in
the future. Amen. You believe it with me? Come
on, it takes faith. God moves on faith, not just
my word, right? Or not just your word, but it's
faith in him. And we're believing for that. Well,
let me start today's message with a statement
that I know is true of me, could possibly be
true of you, but this is the statement I want
to make. There have been times in my life that
I have completely underestimated the person that
was standing in front of me. Anybody with me?
Did you ever underestimate the person who was
in front of you? Maybe I underestimated their
ability. Maybe I underestimated their talent,
their gift, right, their wisdom. Maybe their
savvy, even their intellect. Anybody ever question
somebody's intellect? You probably did that when
you were standing in front of me, right? You
underestimated, you know, what God has brought
them through or who they are in Jesus Christ.
Sometimes you just completely miss it with someone.
They're standing there. And I remember doing
this with our children, particularly our kids
when they were little. Sometimes I would underestimate
what they could do or what they could accomplish.
And I remember this happening one day when my
children were very young. Actually, when the
girls were five and under, both girls were five
and under at the time. I remember underestimating
something. And we tell this story often in our
family because it is a cautionary tale to never,
ever. ever underestimate a person that's standing
in front of you, even if they're under three
feet tall. Amen? It's true. And this is how it
went down for me. At that time, Dixie and I had
bought our first home, and it was in the metropolis
of Windburn, PA, which is a very small town where
we grew up. And we bought this little split -entry
house. And it had a very small yard. It was a
small house. And you came in the door. And if
you came in the door of that house, you would
go up a set of steps, right? It was split -entry.
There were stairs going down, stairs going up.
You'd go up the steps. You'd be looking at the
kitchen. There'd be a little kind of eat -in
dining area to the left. hallway that had one
bathroom and three bedrooms down to the right.
If you came in the house and went down the steps,
you went down into the lower level, which was
kind of the foundation, which we kind of had
a makeshift living room down there. And then
you'd make a right, you would go immediately
out the door into an integrated garage that was
on the lower level. That was it. That was the
whole house. And I remember it was a warm summer
day. And Dixie left. She went to run errands.
And I was in charge of the girls. My job was
to keep them alive and not to let them bleed
arterially. So she got home. That was my job.
That was it. And I took my job serious. But I
was in the garage, and I was doing some stuff,
and I was working. And one of my daughters came
in and said, Dad, I want a cookie. Now, remember,
they're five and under. So one of them came in
and said, I want a cookie. And I said, well,
no problem. I'm all about a midday cookie break.
Amen. Come on, that's spiritual. All right. And
I was like, no problem, but you cannot go upstairs
with your shoes on. We had just got some carpet
in the house. You're not allowed in with your
shoes on. You take your shoes off. You can go
up and get a cookie. I don't want to take my
shoes off. Well, you have to take your shoes
off if you want to get a cookie. I don't want
to take my shoes off. You have to take your shoes
off if you want to get a cookie. I don't want
to take my shoes off. Let me be clear. You have
to. How many of you got tired of kids three times?
I don't know why. All right. You have to take
your shoes off if you want to get up and get
a cookie. And she goes, okay. And she turned
around and went back outside. And she went out
and started playing. And I'm like, yes, I won.
Ha! You know? Got it. Nailed it. And I went back
to busy what I was doing. And I kept doing what
I was doing. And all of a sudden, 10 minutes
later, she comes back in again. She goes, dad,
I got a surprise for you. She goes, close your
eyes and hold out your hand. And I'm like, awesome.
You know? And I'm waiting. And I figure she's
getting, you know, like dandelions. She probably
picked a bunch of dandelions. She's going to
say it because I didn't. Weeding feed in my yard.
And I had a lot of dandelions. And, you know,
I figured she'd bring some dandelions, put it
in my hand, or maybe a rock or a frog or something
she found. I was like, I didn't know what it
was. So I am standing in the middle of the garage.
I'm like this, just waiting, right? Been over
waiting to get something in my hands. And I hear
some shuffling around. I'm like, oh, here it
comes. She's like, don't open your eyes, Dad.
And then all of a sudden I hear a doorknob and
ka -thunk. I'm like, and then nothing. A few
seconds later, I open my eyes. No child in front
of me. She went in the door to go upstairs to
get a cookie, and there's no shoes sitting at
the door. And I'm thinking to myself, I know
she's smarter than what I think she is, right?
I underestimated her, so I thought she's never
going to come back down the same way. So I tore
off out of the garage, I ran around the back
of the house, and I knew she'd come out the back
deck, right? Out the door, out the back deck,
out of the kitchen, and sure enough, a minute
later, pile of cookies this large, right? In
one hand, she's pulling the door shut, and I'm
like, hey! You know, cookies in the air everywhere.
And I can't remember if I scolded her or if we
just sat down and ate some cookies because it
was so funny. But one of the greatest mistakes
you can ever make is underestimating somebody
that's standing in front of you. And even the
bigger mistake is if you underestimate Jesus.
If you underestimate the Son of God, and I'm
not sure how we do it, why we do it, and sometimes
I do it. It's the most bizarre thing in my mind
that I underestimate the Son of God. I underestimate
the one who has all power, who has all knowledge,
who can be in all places at one time. Somehow,
I underestimate Him. Somehow I put him in this
strange human box, right? And pull him out and
think he has human characteristics and he's going
to do things like I'm going to do it, right?
And I place him in this unholy expectation of
God, the all -powerful creator of all things.
And it's the most ridiculous thing in the world.
And I have become painfully aware over the years
that it is a big, big mistake to underestimate
Jesus. And unfortunately, So many who surrounded
Jesus when he walked on the earth made this same
mistake. Even those who flooded into the streets
of Jerusalem and pulled out palm branches and
laid them down and weighed them and said, Hosanna,
Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord, the King of Israel. If you got your
Bibles, I want you to turn to John chapter 11
this morning. We're going to verse 55. We're
going to start there. John 11, 55. And as you
go, I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray over
our ears and our heart to receive the word. Father,
God, as we turn in your word, God, I pray for
each person in the house. God, move upon us right
now. Move upon our ears. Move upon our hearts.
Move upon our heads. Lord, that we might receive
the amazing word of God. And Lord, that it might
change our thoughts, our minds, and our actions.
And Lord, we just give you praise and we give
you glory. And everybody said together, amen
and amen. All right, John chapter 11, verse 55,
and it says this, and the Passover of the Jews
was near, and many went from the country up to
Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
Now, let me explain this just a little bit, because
you need to know what's taking place here and
what's happening. What's taking place is that
people are flooding into the city of Jerusalem.
And for Passover, they're there. The Jewish people
are coming in to celebrate Passover. So this
is an ancient biblical practice, and it actually
still takes place today. Passover was and still
is a major Jewish holiday, right, of the Israelites.
And it's the Jewish people celebrating God pulling
the Israelites or the Jews. out of Egyptian slavery
centuries before. And the festival and the celebration
lasts for about seven to eight days in length,
and it is in the spring of the year. And it is
characterized by a retelling of the story of
Exodus, and it's done over a meal called the
Seder. And the Seder meal or the festival takes
place, and they tell this story of God's deliverance.
And where we're at in Scripture today, they're
coming into the city of Jerusalem once again
to... celebrate Passover, and they're preparing
for Passover. And how they did it is they came
into the city, and there was a ritual cleansing
that would take place, a ritual immersion. It
was called mikvah. And it was a ceremonial cleansing
that would take place before Passover. So they
would get there a week early. And if somebody
had touched something that was dead previously
to Passover, They would come in. They would be
sprinkled with water that was mixed with ashes
from a red heifer. And that would happen on the
third and seventh day before Passover. And everybody
would come in for this cleansing that would take
place to get ready to celebrate Passover. And
so hundreds, maybe thousands and thousands of
people poured into Jerusalem in this period of
time. And it was a festival, right? There was
a buzz in the air. But this year was a little
different because not only was it Passover, but
there was a stir because news about Jesus had
circulated in Jerusalem. News about the man who
raised Lazarus, a town two miles away from the
dead. The prophet, the teacher, the healer, those
who believe that this possibly could be the prophesied
Messiah. And this particular Jewish crowd with
great expectation that Jesus could possibly be
the next Jewish king in line to lead them over
Rome in victory. Rome was ruling the area, and
they started to believe that Jesus, this guy
who could heal and call people back from the
dead. could be the one who leads him out from
underneath Rome. And these people weren't just
a bunch of starstruck individuals, Jewish people,
who were waiting for Jesus to come in, right,
and looking for to get a selfie with him. That's
not what they were after. They started really
believing that there was freedom on the horizon,
and Jesus could make the difference as he comes
into the city, and they would hail him as king.
And all this is taking place in the city where
Jesus is about to come. There's Pharisees. Now,
not everyone was looking for Jesus, and not everybody
was looking for him to be king. There were Pharisees
who were corrupt Jewish leaders, and they were
interested in taking Jesus down. As a matter
of fact, they had already been hatching plans
to take him out. And the first opportunity they
could, they wanted people, they were already
putting the word out for people to report back
so they could come and see Jesus. Rome is on
high alert because of the festival that's taking
place. They don't want any sudden uprisings.
They certainly don't want, you know, this news
of a king, a would -be Jewish king coming in.
First of all, that was illegal in Rome because
the only king they recognized was Caesar. Anybody
else who was recognized as king was considered
a criminal. and they would take him out. And
Jesus' disciples are among those who are around
Jesus getting ready to come in, and they don't
even know that there's a traitor among them at
this point yet. Here's the thing. While all this
is taking place, as Jesus is getting ready to
come in to the city of Jerusalem, everybody surrounding
Jesus, even his disciples, underestimate who
he is. Most are completely clueless of the enormity
of what he is about to accomplish. Their personal
observations are based on their personal preferences
or their personal experience at that moment.
They underestimate his power, his eternal impact,
God's eternal plan in all of this. And they're
so caught up in the moment of what's taking place
and their personal tensions that they completely
underestimate. A man who's actually standing
in front of him who is the son of God. That was
a long intro to get to the reading. All right.
John chapter 11, 55. I'm going to reread the
first verse. And the Passover of the Jews was
near. And many went from that country up to Jerusalem
before the Passover to purify themselves. And
they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves
as they stood in the temple. What do you think?
Will he not come to the feast? Now both the chief
priests and the Pharisees had given a command
that if anyone knew where he was, he should report
it that they might seize him. Then six days before
the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus
was, who had been dead, whom he had raised from
the dead. Jesus and the disciples are on the
way to Jerusalem. They make a pit stop in Bethany
to see Lazarus, right, who he had raised, his
friend, who he had raised up a week or two weeks
earlier than this. And there they made a supper,
and Martha served, but Lazarus was one who sat
at the table with him. And Mary, one of the sisters,
took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard,
anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet
with her hair. And the house was filled with
the fragrance of oil. But one of his disciples,
Judas, This is the betrayer, Iscariot. Simon's
son, who would betray him, said, why was this
fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii, which
is close to a year's wages, and given to the
poor? This he said, not that he cared for the
poor, but because he was a thief and had the
money box and used to take what was put in it.
One of the saddest stories in all of Scripture
is of Judas, one of Jesus' 12 disciples, who
gets caught up in thievery. even while he walks
with the Son of God, and later sells Jesus out
for 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests
and the Pharisees. Judas ends up realizing that
he underestimates Jesus and takes his own life.
He hangs himself later on. Verse 7 says, but
Jesus said, let her alone. She has kept this
for the day of my burial. For the poor you have
with you always, but me you do not always have.
Now a great many of the Jews knew that he was
there, and they came, not for Jesus' sake only,
but that they might also see Lazarus, whom had
been raised from the dead. But the chief priests
plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because
on account of him, many of the Jews went away
and believed in Jesus. The next day, the multitude
that had come to the feast, when they had heard
that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches,
come on, grab your branch, took branches of palm,
right, trees, and went out to meet him, and they
cried out. Hosanna. Go ahead and say it. Hosanna.
Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord, the King of Israel. Then Jesus,
when he had found a donkey, sat on it as it is
written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold,
your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's coat.
His disciples did not understand these things
at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then
they remembered that these things were written
about him and that they had done these things
to him. Jesus rides into Jerusalem. He's met
by a crowd on the streets waiting for him. They're
waving palm branches just like you wave, right?
One of the gospel accounts says that they also
took their clothes, they took their outer garments
off, and they laid them in the streets as Jesus
rode in on this young colt. This was a sign of
a king coming into a city. And if a king was
on a coat instead of a horse, instead of a steed
of some kind, it meant that it was a king of
peace, a sign of peace, a peaceful king coming
in. And this group that's watching, right, they're
cheering. They have palm branches. They're bowing.
They're laying clothes in the street, yelling
out, Hosanna, Hosanna, believing that Jesus is
going to be the next Messiah and he's going to
deliver them. Some of them probably believe that
because they saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the
dead. Others of them, some of this group may
have known the ancient prophecies. They may have
known the prophecies from Daniel that actually
spoke about the number of days when the Messiah
would ride into Jerusalem. Actually, 383 years
to the day when Jesus would ride in. Whatever
convinced them, they believed that this was a
conquering king. But they deeply underestimated.
what Jesus was really up to. They thought that
Jesus was their king to take down Rome, but Jesus
was not just their king. He was the king. He
was riding in to take all of evil down for all
of time. And the people around him were clueless.
They underestimated. Days later, they would abandon
Jesus as he's crucified, as he's beaten, right?
And even his own disciples would become confused
and disoriented. They would abandon Jesus the
same at the crucifixion, not understanding the
greater plan. As you and I hold a palm branch,
we have one advantage. We're on the backside
of the story. We get to look back. But don't
underestimate the king who rode into Jerusalem.
Don't underestimate the plan of God that Jesus
was committed to complete, right? Don't underestimate
the enormity. of what Jesus would complete in
the next few days. Don't underestimate that all
of heaven was at work in this plan. Don't underestimate
that Jesus would make a kingdom without end.
And I'm just going to take a few minutes this
morning and give you a few things that Jesus
completed in those few short days following.
The things that he finalized once he went to
the cross, once he was betrayed, once he was
pulled from his cross, the Word of God tells
us that he was beaten for hours on end so badly
that they couldn't even recognize him as a human
being. They placed him on a cross at that point,
drove nails in his hands and his feet, put him
in a grave, and three days later, he comes out
of the grave. And when Jesus came out of that
grave, he accomplished some things, some things
that were much greater than just what the Jewish
people had in mind or even what Rome could have
even fathomed. They understood this. We understand
that they underestimated the completed work of
atonement. and forgiveness provided for our sin.
It's one of the things that Jesus did. Jesus
would bear the full punishment and the weight
of the wrath of God over sin. He would take your
sin and my sin, the punishment that we deserve,
the death that we deserve, He would take upon
Himself. I can tell you for certain, anytime
sin is in the picture, something dies. It's true.
We don't like to believe that. We don't like
to think about it. In fact, the Word of God tells
us if we die in our sin without Jesus, we're
dead, spiritually. Jesus came, and He died on
a cross. He rose to life, not just to be a Jewish
king, to take care of one slice of Jewish history.
He came to become the supreme sacrifice for all
of mankind, to give us opportunity to be free
of sin. pay for a meal for you. If you've ever
gone to a restaurant and somebody, especially
if it happens randomly, somebody comes up and
pays for your meal, it is a humbling thing, right?
It's a humbling thing to know that somebody would
pay the price for you to sit down and just have
one meal. But imagine how we should feel that
somebody died in my place. The sin that was in
my life, it should have been my death. And he
didn't just buy me a meal. He didn't even just
buy me a house or a car. He died for me. He died
for you. He pushed back all of the penalty of
sin for all of us. He was the king. We underestimate
what he accomplished at the cross. Hebrews 10
.1 says this, and every priest stands ministering
daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices.
This is what took place before Jesus. Priests
would bring sacrifice after animal sacrifice
after animal sacrifice, trying to satisfy, right,
the payment for sin. It says, which could never
take away the sins. But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down
at the right hand of God. From that time on,
waiting till his enemies are made his footstool.
For one offering, he had perfected forever those
who are being sanctified. We underestimate him.
Jesus left the fullness of heaven. He came down
in bodily form. Not like us. Not born into sin,
but born of a virgin. He's born, he remains sinless,
tempted in every way as we are, suffers brutality
because of the sin we deserved, and he pays the
price once and for all. They underestimated what
Jesus was doing for them. Hebrews 7 .26 says
this, For such a high priest was fitting for
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, and has become higher than the
heavens. Who does not need daily as those high
priests to offer up sacrifices, first for their
own sins and then for the people's? For this
he did once for all when he offered up himself.
For the law points as high priests men who have
weakness, but the word of the oath which came
after the law points the son who has been perfected
forever. He willingly gives himself up to death
to preserve us from death. Don't underestimate
him. Don't underestimate him. They also underestimated
Jesus' power and victory over evil. They had
no idea of the transfer that was about to take
place as they placed Jesus in the tomb and in
the grave. They had no idea of the completed
work that Jesus would go and disarm, right? It
marked a time when he would go and literally
disarm all of evil. He would disarm Satan and
the powers of darkness. He would disarm and there
would be a transfer of power. What was broken
at the beginning in the garden when man sinned
initially, Jesus would come. It's his point in
time and authority and power transfer would take
place back to him. Colossians 2 11 says this
in him we were also circumcised the circumcision
made without hands by putting off the body of
the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ buried with him in baptism in which you
also were raised with him through the faith in
the working of God who raised him from the dead
and you being dead in your trespasses and uncircumcision
of flesh he made alive together with him Having
forgiven your trespasses, having wiped out the
handwriting of the requirements that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and which has taken
it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross,
having disarmed principalities, say principalities,
and powers, say powers, he made a public spectacle
of them, triumphing over them in it. You can
think of it as a weapon transfer. He took from
the enemy the weapons of warfare. He disarmed
hell and the grave. He placed and took back the
weapons that would destroy us. And we are no
longer powerless over evil. We are no longer
in a place. In Christ, we have power over the
enemy. In Christ, we have power over evil. In
Christ, we have power over the rulers of darkness
and the principalities and those who exude evil
across the earth. He holds the power, and there
was a transfer that took place. Do you know evil
has an expiration date? It really does. It has
an expiration. Because Jesus has the power, he
put an expiration date on evil. And some of you
might be thinking in your head, well, then why
is he waiting so long? Why doesn't he just do
it right now? Anybody ever wonder that? Anybody
with me on that? Anybody ever just like see somebody
really evil on TV and just like, Lord, just zap
them. Right? Like a bug zapper. Just get them,
Jesus. But then I think about, I was evil once.
What if he'd done that to me? I wouldn't be here.
Right? Why is there an expiration date? Why is
God waiting? Why is Jesus—the transfer took place
already. The authority's already shifted. Why
is He waiting? Because God has mercy. Because
Jesus has mercy. His mercy is waiting. There
are those who are steeped in evil, and they need
to repent. They need to turn back to God. They
need that. They need that time. But there's a
day. There really is. There's a day the judgment
is coming. There's a day when God's no longer
going to be patient. Evil has an expiration date.
All the power of evil will flip. Worship team,
if you'd come. There's a time of judgment. Last
thing we underestimate. We underestimate Jesus'
power to make all things new. 2 Corinthians 5
.16 says this, Therefore, from now on, we regard
no one according to the flesh, even though we
have known Christ according to the flesh. Yet
now we know him thus no longer. Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old
things have passed away. Behold, all things have
become new. Now, all things are of God. who has
reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ,
and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
That is that God was in Christ reconciling the
world to himself, not imputing or trespassing
to them, and has committed to us the word of
reconciliation. We underestimate what Jesus did
at the cross. He came not just to patch you up.
So many times we think we're going to come to
Christ and we're going to come to God and he's
going to patch up a mess in our life, right?
You're going to be like it and stick it, you
know? I'm going to get band -aid on whatever's
going on and hopefully we can limp on through.
That is not what the word of God says. When he
came out of the grave on his own authority, right?
When he spoke life into himself and came out
of the grave, the word of God says that we become
new. creation. And let me tell you something,
the creation that's new is not just going to
stop with just, it's not a patch, it's not even
just going to stop with us. There is a cosmic
renewal that you're in the middle of right now.
It's in the timeline that God has laid out. There's
a cosmic renewal taking place, and it's not just
a simple reverse of the curse. It is a renewal
that is going to come in Christ. That first starts
in Jesus, and it is birthed with inside of us.
We become a new creation inside. One day, we
will be new creatures with Him. This body will
fade away, and I will have a redeemed body that
will have no limitations. I can't wait for that
to happen. I'm thinking probably just about like
the angels, you know, and it's going to take
place. And the Word of God, if you follow along
in the Word of God and you look into Revelation,
He's going to renovate this earth. Take a good
look around you. All this, He's going to make
this all new around us. We underestimate what
Jesus did. We underestimate what he can do. Amen?
It's true if you'd stand this morning. And I
said all that to say this. Don't underestimate
Jesus. Don't underestimate what he can do in
your life. He can make you a new creation. He
can change your heart and your mind. I sit with
people sometimes, and I listen to them, and I
listen to them in all their mess, because we've
all been a mess, like we've all been in sin.
And I'll sit and listen to their, what's going
on. And sometimes I just want to tell them, you
have, you don't understand. You don't have to
be in all this. He wants to make you new. He
wants to do a new thing in you. I know they don't
know what they don't know. That's why we got
to tell them. But He can change it all. He can
change your mind. He can change your heart. He
can change how you walk, how you live, how you
think. There's nothing else you will ever engage
in that can do what God can do inside of you.
How many of you in this house, as a testimony,
raise your hand. Our new creations in Christ.
How many of you could testify of the new thing
that God did in you that changed everything?
Come on. They had no idea who was coming into
the city and how big his plan really was. Even
his disciples didn't know. Lifehouse Church.
We pray that you were impacted powerfully by
this message. If you have been personally affected
by our ministry and you would like to partner
with us as we love God, love people every day,
visit our website at