What a powerful name it is. Amen. If you have
your Bibles, please be turning with me to Luke's
Gospel, the 19th chapter. Luke 19. It is Palm
Sunday. Amen. The beginning of the most holy
week of any calendar labeled in the world. The
week of the passion. Amen. The passion of the
Christ. How many of you have seen that movie?
Just a quick question. How many of you can't
watch it again? That's me. I can't. I can't do
it. I just can't watch it. It tore me apart.
And in my simple understanding, knowing that
that was the worst that Hollywood could even
make it look, and that didn't even scratch the
surface of what Jesus went through. And then
when I thought about, he went through it for
me. I can't do that again. I just can't do it
again. He done it for you. He done it for us.
And as our attention is being pointed toward
next Sunday, next Sunday is Easter. Amen. I decided
a few years ago I was going to quit trying to
just really blow that out of proportion. We're
having church next week. Amen. So, people's minds.
that have been raised in or around church, whether
they want to contemplate it or not, they're going
to be thinking about Jesus. So this is a great
opportunity for you to invite them to the house
of the Lord with you. You know, used to, and
probably in still some places around, folks kindly...
Make little sly remarks about the CEOs which
is the Christmas and Easter only folk. Pastors
will make snide remarks from pulpits about that.
And I've been guilty but I have repented since.
Because if that's the two Sundays we get, we
ain't got time to be joking around about it.
It's 50 % of the opportunity that we may have
to reach people. So, invite people to the house
of the Lord. Because you tell them this, our
pastor will preach the resurrection. Amen? And
I promise you I'll do that. We're going to preach
Jesus alive. We may get him crucified today.
But next week's not about crucifixion. Next Sunday
morning is not about a cross. It's about an empty
tomb. Amen. Luke's Gospel, 19 beginning at verse
28. And when he had thus spoken, he went before
ascending up to Jerusalem. He went ahead of them.
And it came to pass when he was come nigh or
near to Bethpage and Bethany. At the mount called
the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
saying, Go ye into the village over against you,
and into which you're going to find a colt tied,
whereon yet never man sat. Loose him, and bring
him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do you
loose him? Thus shall you say unto him, Because
the Lord hath need of him. Now, that'll dispute
every argument. He just went back in the house.
Okay. And they that were sent went their way,
and they found even as he'd said to them, like
it was going to be different, you know. Oh, Lord.
And as they were loosing the coat, the owners
thereof said to them, Why loose ye the coat?
And they said, The Lord hath needed him. And
they brought him to Jesus. Not another word about
the man in his coat. He didn't say no, they just
went back to the house. And they brought him
to Jesus, and they cast their garments upon the
colt, and they sat Jesus there on. And as he
went, they spread their clothes in the way. And
when he was come nigh, even now at the descent
of the Mount of Olives, a whole multitude of
the disciples began to rejoice. and praised God
with a loud voice for all the mighty works that
they had seen, saying, Blessed be the king that
cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest. Heard that before,
haven't we? And some of the Pharisees from among
the multitude said to him, Master or teacher,
rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said
unto them, I tell you that if they should hold
their peace, the stones would immediately cry
out. And when he was come near, he beheld the
city and wept over it, saying, If thou hast known,
even thou at least in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace, but now they are
hid from thine eyes, for the day shall come upon
thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about
thee, cast thee round, and keep thee in on every
side, and shall lay thee even with the ground.
and thy children within thee, and they shall
not leave in thee one stone upon another, because
thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
Man, there's so, so much in those passages there.
We could stop at any one and be good for quite
a while. I want to preach to you this morning,
though, with the help of the Lord, on celebrating
the mission. Celebrating the mission. This is
Mission Emphasis Sunday. And I see no greater
emphasis than this Palm Sunday for us to focus
in and celebrate the mission. And we're going
to celebrate the mission by looking at the plan,
the purpose, and the promise. Father, I love
you and I thank you for your goodness and your
mercy. Now, Lord, I need your help. You're going
to have to help me be expedient today as time
has slipped on already. So I need you, oh Lord,
help me to stay on track. Help me to stay in
the pathway. Help me say what is glorifying to
your name and edifying to your people. And Lord,
that when we leave this place, we will say it
has been good to be in the presence of the Lord.
We'll give you praise for it all in Christ's
lovely name. And the church said, amen. You can
be seated. The Lord has stirred my heart along
this thought today in celebrating the mission.
If we think about it, and so it begins. The beginning
of the ending. Notice I said the ending and not
the end. The divine drama that began before time
as we know it or as it. even existed. The drama
has been put in place. The plan of God has been
put in motion. The sequence of events in the
scene being read in today's storyline will bring
to a close what in theater in the five stages
of the plot structure Stage number three. Stage
three in the plot structure of theater is called
the climax. We would think that would be the
end, but no, this is positioned in the middle.
Definition, the turning point where tension peaks
and the main conflict must be addressed. We have
read the Palm Sunday story. We have read the
story of the triumphal entry, which we now know
is the beginning of the week of passion. We know
that the trials are coming. We know that the
beating is going to take place. Can you see now
there is something that's got to be done? There's
an address that has to be made. The conflict
must be looked at. When we think about this for
information purposes, I think if we know what
stage three is, it's important to know the other
four to help us in our mind locate where we are
in this divine drama, the will and the plan of
God for humanity. If we are approaching the point
where the conflict has to be addressed, then
stage one is simply the exposition. It's the
intro to the characters. The setting, the initial
stabilized situation. So what would that be?
That would be in the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth. We go through the week
of creation, the six days of creation. We see
man in the Garden of Eden. We see man flourishing.
We see God coming down in the cool of the day,
walking and communing with creation. And in his
walk, God sees that Adam is lonely. Can I tell
you that loneliness was the first condition of
created humanity? God wasn't lonely because there's
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. They communed,
but in his creation, and he created us in likeness
and in his own image so that we too crave fellowship.
We crave relationship. And as we see in this
exposition, we see as the initial stable situation
is put into play, the drama begins. Oh, and doesn't
it? Doesn't the drama begin? It begins to unfold.
The conflict is early on. We see the conflict
begin in chapter 2. We see where, in retrospect
to this loneliness, God takes from Adam a rib
and creates a helpmate. A woman for him to have
communion with and relationship and fellowship
with. And then the conflict begins because there
are two individuals that are really focused on
in any drama. There's the protagonist, the hero.
Then there's the antagonist, the villain. And
so we see God who is the one who is the hero.
And then we see the antagonist come on the scene
and the conflict begin. The conflict in the drama
is sin. Doesn't matter how it happened. Doesn't
matter the deception. The conflict is sin. And
in our own lives, doesn't matter how it happens,
doesn't matter particularly what it is, the conflict
is sin. And so we have the exposition. Then it
moves on to the rising action, a series of scenes
where the protagonist faces obstacles building
suspense. Oh, can you not begin to see the drama
of humanity and God's divine plan beginning to
unfold now? As we've just stepped into Act 1,
Scene 1, there's eight stages, eight different
acts most of the time, and then there's multiple
scenes to fulfill each act and bring each act
to a close. So if you let your mind begin to
carry over, you see the exposition, you see how
it all begins, then you see the rising action.
Sin enters in, and the obstacle is now made available.
But, oh, we move on to the next scene, and then
God has to make a way. Why? Because then we see
that there is a requirement. of blood for the
covering of the sin. We see the protagonist entering
in to make a resolution possible. Amen. And as
this begins to unfold itself, we are finding
ourselves looking at the climax when now the
tension has to be addressed. The conflict has
to be addressed. We see the 4 ,000 years up to
where Christ is. We see how the drama unfolds.
And we see the protagonist, the hero, if you
will, enter. into the drama, trying to bring
about a resolution, we see sacrificial offerings
made. Because without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission for the conflict. And remember,
the conflict is sin. And so without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission for sin. There
is no resolution for the conflict. And so as
we see him begin to enter in, we see a law, a
mosaic law come into play. We see this protagonist
on top of the mountain of... It's shaking. It's
quaking as his voice is thundering and as his
finger pins out the accusation. Not only that,
where man must come into alignment as he writes
out the remedy for the conflict. Thou shalt have
no other gods before you. I am God. You shall
not have any graven images. You shall have not
anything. Don't bow before anything. Treat mankind
the way that I desire to treat you. Those ten
commandments, we see it in place. We see this.
endeavor to live out the drama trying to bring
about this separation that has been taken. The
conflict brought about separation from the hero
and the created. Oh, are we beginning to see
where we find ourselves? This remedy is about
to climax. Stage four is called falling action.
Okay, now we see in the third stage, we see the
turning point. The law wasn't the turning point.
We see the turning point here in this third act
way down there toward the end of the scene because,
see, this act is about to close. This sequence
of events is about to come to a close. In this
scene, we have the pronunciation. On earth, peace,
goodwill toward men. Did you notice the reversal
of the language in the birth narrative and now
in the triumphal narrative? As they begin to
quote, it said in Luke 2, it's glory to God in
the highest and on earth peace. And here it's
peace and glory to God. It's inverted. And this
praise is there. It's this drama. It's beginning
to fulfill itself. And you and I are... are living
here near. Now we're living in this falling action
because the climax had already taken place. Time
had been divided by the scene that we are approaching
now. Time had been separated. A .D., A .B .C.,
time had been separated by the climax, the turning
point, the ultimate point where the protagonist
has entered in and addressed the obstacle and
the conflict of sin. He's entered in and he's
sent himself to take care of the situation. We
see this falling action, the aftermath of the
climax. That's where you and I are living today.
We are living in the aftermath of the climax
in this divine drama where the story begins to
wind down. Oh, and that's what we're seeing.
That's where we are. We're in the falling action.
What has taken place after the climax, after
what has taken place here as the protagonist
has entered in himself. The hero, my God, has
entered in, to address the conflict himself.
That fifth and final stage which we're looking
toward is called the resolution which is the
final scene that closes the story and resolves
remaining questions. So, Pastor, what does that
have to do with where we are? As I said, we are
living right in the middle of the aftermath of
the climax. We think it's the end. No, the resolution
is the end. And the resolution is seen through
the plan and the purpose and the promise of God
himself. When we see that mission beginning to
fulfill and the celebration of the climax. Are
you following me this morning? There is a celebration
going on. Because you see, Zechariah 9, 9, the
prophet had already told them to be watching.
Your Messiah is coming into your city. He's coming
in meek and he's coming in humble. He's coming
in lowly. And you'll know it's him because he's
coming in. On a donkey, he's coming in, and you'll
know it's him. You'll know it. I'm telling you
to be watching for the commotion when the climax
is beginning to come, when the protagonist is
about to address, and there's a turning point.
I am so thankful that God finally had enough
of sin reigning and sin having domination. I'm
so glad that he's ready to take care of the obstacle.
I am so glad. For a triumphal entry. As Jesus
begins to make his way into the city. As the
prophets had said. As the screenplay had already
been written. The script had already been made.
The drama has already unfolded. And now here
he comes. He's riding in toward his destination.
He's riding in. The plan was always from the
beginning of the world, Christ was slain from
its very foundation. The plan was always that
Christ would come. The plan was always that the
redemption of humanity would come through God
himself. And we celebrate the mission along with
the multitude who waved their palm branches and
who took their coats and spread them along the
way. Some say, well, it was just a very small.
crowd, just a little bunch of people. Let me
tell you, you don't turn a city upside down with
a small crowd. Amen? Pharisees don't get torn
up for 15 or 20 people. They get torn up when
thousands are flooding the streets and the shout
of, Hosanna! Save us and save us now! He who
comes in the name of the Lord, my Lord, it causes
stir. The climax isn't a quiet thing. The climax
wasn't something hidden in the shadows. This
This addressing of the conflict was vocal. It
was outright. It was loud. It was on purpose
because the plan of God was being unfolded right
before their eyes. God's plan has always been
to reconcile and redeem his creation. It has
always been to make a way to redeem humanity.
Oh, my Lord, Palm Sunday is truly Hosanna. God,
save us and save us. The whole drama unfolds.
It lays out the whole portrait of the plan of
God. Call him Jesus because he will save his
people. Call him Emmanuel for it is truly God
with us. What does the plan look like? What does
the script say? Isaiah 53. foretold what was
about to happen by the end of this week. He's
going to be beaten and bruised. The suffering
servant. He's going to be beaten beyond recognition.
Think of the passion of Christ and close your
eyes and think ten times, multiple times worse.
You see. Mel Gibson couldn't get them to actually
open up the rib cage of the man portraying Christ
and put his lungs in display. He couldn't expose
his bones so that you could see his ribs. He
couldn't show literally where they had plucked
handfuls of the master's beard from his face
and his face bled. You think plucking a chin
hair is tough? Let some idiot screaming by the
wayside gnashing at their teeth grab a handful
of your facial beard and rip it from your skin.
They couldn't portray that. And what's more,
as best the attempt could be, he could not fully
reveal the weight of the world. On Jesus. Mel
Gibson and his directing and all the actors and
their good portrayals. The man acting as Jesus
could not know the weight of your and my sin.
That's the reason I can't watch it. Because I
know the weight of my sin. And it breaks my heart.
It just tears me up to know he suffered. That
for me. The plan was always redemption. Well,
what is the purpose of the cross? The same as
the plan, redemption. What is the purpose of
Holy Week? That he would bear within himself
your transgression. No wonder the songwriter
penned it well. He who knew no sin became sin.
Why? So that you might have righteousness. So
that you and I might be in standing rightly before
God the Father. The screen right. The one who
orchestrated the drama. So that we can stand
before him in free pardon. because of our acceptance
of his sacrifice. I read something the other
day that really stirred me, and I thought, well,
maybe I've been doing it wrong all these years.
Nowhere in Scripture is there listed what we
call the sinner's prayer. What we see promoted
is repent. It's repent. Why? Because as we are
living in this fallen action, the action that
takes place after the climax, that's where you
and I are. And living in this fallen action,
we have a decision that we have to make. Are
we going to yield ourselves to the divine plan?
And the plan was that God would send his son,
that God would come himself, the incarnate one.
God would enter in, the protagonist would enter
into the drama himself. But that was always the
plan. From the beginning of the beginning. Before
the sequence of time began. Before there was
a sun to rise and a moon to follow. Before all
of that. So you think God knew all that? Yeah.
Sure I do. And he looked through what we know
as time. And he saw this little redneck country
boy. Half raised in a place called Snuthart.
That one day he would be redeemed because of
the climax. In the midst of the falling action
that takes place after. He himself entered in
to live out the drama, to bring redemption for
the created, which is you and I, so that we may
be transformed into his likeness and his image.
As this drama unfolds, we see the purpose. Again,
the purpose is the same thing as a plan, to save
humanity. The purpose is about fulfilling the
plan of redemption, John 3, 16, for God. So love
the world. You say, that's awful simple, preacher.
Well, we overcomplicate this thing sometimes.
It is simple. You and I were born sinners. You
and I need redemption, and God provided it. He
provided it himself. He entered into his own
drama to bring about the resolution for us. The
purpose, what's the purpose of the cross? Because,
you see, they understood the cross. Understood
sacrifice. You and I, sacrifice for us is if
you have to go a week without AC. Oh, my God,
it's so hot. Well, wait until hell. You think
a little discomfort now at about 89 is going
to get you. That's sacrifice for us. I can't
go through Dunkin' Donuts today. I ain't got
but 560, and I know that cup's 780. I guess I'll
just sacrifice today. You got enough gas, ride
to the drip. From 2 to 430, it's half price.
Oh, that sacrifice. We have to do without some
of these conveniences. Some of our conveniences.
And when we can't be conveniently adequate, we
are sacrificing. You know, a sacrifice is a Savior
who bled and died. Who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the shame of the cross. Endured
it. Think about that. He endured it. The joy
was not Calvary. The joy was me and you and the
possibility of our redemption. Why? So that we
can spend eternity with him in fellowship and
communion. You do realize that was the created
order. Adam and Eve, you know why it's so hard
for us to die sometimes. You wonder sometimes.
You see folks struggling in death because the
body was created to live. Before the entrance
of sin and all the things that cause disease,
the heart just kept on pumping. The lungs just
kept on taking in and breathing out, in and out.
And the body was created, and it actually healed
itself. Through the nutrients of food and everything,
our body healed itself to live. And when we see
people struggling in death, man, why don't they
just let go? Because they were created to live.
That body, this thing, was created to live. Death
was foreign. I got one law. That's my tree. Don't
touch it. Don't eat it. It belongs to me. The
day you do thereof, you shall surely die. The
purpose is redemption. Because we now know according
to the script. That though this outward man die
daily, according to the script, it's appointed
unto man once to die. According to the script,
after that appointment, it's the face of just
God. As we embark upon this week, I want our
minds to really be stirred about what Jesus...
did as he entered in Jerusalem. He was fulfilling
the script, but more so he was fulfilling the
plan and making sure that everyone know that
it was a purpose for his being there. The purpose
was for him to get to Calvary. But what I love
is what happens in between as the plan unfolds.
He looks at a city and he weeps and he says,
my, my, my, what peace you have for me. That
song just come into my mind. Take it to the Lord
in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh,
what needless pain we bear. All because we do
not carry everything to God in prayer. That's
the peace. And he makes his way into Jerusalem,
and he looks, and he weeps, and then he gets
mad. He goes in, turns tables over. Why? Because
he's broken, and this is what you've got? This
is what you're doing? And you don't, he said,
if you would have recognized me, I am the plan.
Had you recognized me, your peace would have
been fulfilled. But the peace that they were
looking for is not what he come to offer. They
wanted peace from Roman dominance. Not peace
in the divine drama. Peace with their creator.
That's what he came to offer. That's what he
still offers. That's why we're living in the
fall in action. And that fall in action is after
the climax. After Sunday is where you and I are
living. Something had to be done. The purpose
of God had to be unfolded on humanity. Redemption.
And this act is drawing near a close. And it
closes with the crucifixion. purpose of Christ
being here. To be the mediator between God and
man. That when we sin we know we have an advocate
with the Father Christ Jesus the righteous. When
we are in conflict with him he has provided the
plan and the purpose and the promise. And the
promise being that John recorded it well. If
we are faithful and just to confess our sins,
he's faithful and just to cleanse us of our sin
and all unrighteousness. That's in the script.
The screenplay can't be erased. It can't be added
to. It is as the author intended. And then there's
the promise. The promise is found early in the
script, as early as Genesis 3 .15. When there's
this heel and the seed that's going to bruise,
the promise is introduced early. I've learned
a little bit more about watching television programs,
especially when you repeat watch them. It's easier
to see the plot. Now you're going to be looking
for stage four. You're going to be looking for,
is this stage three or two? You're going to watch
Andy Griffiths and say, what stage is that in?
But you begin to see how the plan, the plot,
begins to unfold. And you can see when there's
a turning point, especially in a suspenseful
drama. This is suspense. We are living in the
tension of the fulfillment of the ultimate promise.
The promise was that he would come and he came.
The promise was that the plan said he's coming
in on a donkey for a purpose. That he would give
himself. What does the script say? Scarcely will
a good man give his life for a good man. Very
rarely would that happen. But for an enemy, never.
But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. So what we do is we join the multitude. I
celebrate today. I celebrate this Palm Sunday.
I wave the branches of my own limb. Here's my
palm. Let her wave, baby. Folks like Brother
Ron, they got a few leaves missing on theirs.
Whack them off. Wave the limb, Brother. Wave
the limb. We rejoice in this drama. We join with
the multitude. And knowing that the plan is being
unfolded. That the purpose is being fulfilled.
Because God loves you. God loves me. This thing
is preached nine ways from Sunday different than
I thought it would. But man, do I feel the Lord
today. Stand with me. All over this house. You
say, are you not going to get to the resolution?
That's next week. We'll look at the resolution
next week. I was sitting writing this out last
night. I begin to think my mind begin to spin
around the drama that we're living out. The fulfillment
of the plan. And as we know, the script is being
fulfilled every day. As we look toward the day
in which we're living in this fallen action for
the resolution. The promise of the resolution.
The ending. This is the beginning, not the end.
The beginning of the ending. Look at what's going
on in the Middle East today. You know what the
script says in the last days? Say, God, I'm going
to pour out my spirit. Revival's taking place
around this world. We just simply don't see it.
Thousands are being saved. As a curtain falls
in Iran, evangelists are on site preaching. Wars
and rumors of wars. We see the script before
our very eyes. Are we going to be like the people
he addressed? Had you known it was me, you wouldn't
have missed the peace that I have. But yet you
have missed your time of visitation. I don't
want to miss my visit. No. As I'm living in this
act before the last act, the closing act, in
this fallen action. The aftermath of what we
know is the climax of time, my opinion. The climax
of time was when God intervened and paid the
price. Time split. No other religious leader
in the world has had that effect because no other
religious leader that has arisen. God. The only
one who can affect change in the script is the
author. You may ad lib a little, but it doesn't
change the script. He is the only one that has
the authority to change the script. But it's
all been scripted. He had it all out. It's all
been planned. 1 ,500 years span, 40 different
authors, one inspiration, the central focus,
the Christ. So I celebrate the mission. The mission
was redemption all along. From the moment the
conflict began, Actually, eons before the plan
was laid, the script was written. Now you and
I have entered into this drama. We are born.
You're here. You're on this earth. We're living
in the effects of the climax. The fallen action,
that which takes place. It's been some 2 ,000
years now since the first Passion Week. It's
been some 2 ,000 years have come and gone. But
the script is verified almost daily. Accurate.
What does that have to do to me? With me? What
part do I have in it? Well, the plan was always
you. You have to look at it that way. Because
when the end finally comes, when the resolution
comes and the finality of the script is fulfilled
and the curtain closes, if you will, how's it
going to close? Well, it will close with this
great big four square city. Woo! Coming down.
You mean it doesn't? close with the rapture?
No. That's not the end. The curtain doesn't close
there. It's a thousand years or more after that.
This is wonderful. Father, I love you today.
Lord, I feel your drawing power today. Holy Ghost,
I feel you speaking to hearts this morning. If
you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior,
he came, died for you. This week is all about
you. This passion is all about you. The cross,
his death, his resurrection, it's about you.
It's about his love for you. And his desire to
spend eternity with you. But the only way to
do that is that the resolution for your eternal
estate is taking place. By your acceptance and
your repentance. Heads bowed all over the house.
You don't know Jesus this morning as your Lord
and Savior. Just slip your hand up real quick.
Nobody's looking but Pastor. Just slip it up.
I don't know Jesus. I'm lost. I don't know a
whole lot about what you said this morning. Matter
of fact, I may even be somewhat confused, but
there's something in my heart. Teacher, there's
something stirring in my soul this morning, and
I can't explain it. I don't have AFib, but my
heart is racing. The tension I feel within. Father,
I pray over the house this morning that before
this day is over, that they'll bend a knee and
repent and accept you as their redeeming factor.
They'll confess their sins with their mouth and
believe with their heart unto salvation. Continue
to deal today, Holy Ghost. Continue to speak
to hearts and draw and pull the lost to you.
For as we are living in this fallen action and
result of your divine intervention, save today.
Save today. Amen and amen and amen. God bless
you. I love you this morning. Give the Lord praise,
would you?