Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We
want to thank you for joining us today, and we
hope you find today's sermon impacting as you
listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.
To find service times and watch messages online,
see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,
enjoy this week's message. Would you tell the
Lord thank you one more time for that? Thank
you, Jesus. Thank you for your love. Thank you
for your provision. You know, Valina texted me
yesterday. I was out on my little riding lawnmower
and I got a little text. The lawnmower is my
happy place as long as it's a riding lawnmower
with the lawns that we have. And it's a place
where I go out to pray. to think. And it's the
one place where I can actually see something
get done. You know, sometimes in pastoring, you're
on the long perspective. And so watching the
grass get cut and things move from one height
to another is a blessing. And she texts me and
she goes, man, I'm really feeling this word about
the cloud, the size of a man's hand and faith
and provision coming. I said, well, it's really
important. I said, pray on it. I think you're
hearing the word of the Lord. And I just want
to second that. I felt like the Lord spoke something
as she was doing what she was doing, which was
incredible, just leading the congregation to
press in and to believe God that the drought
or the limitation or whatever's been keeping
your eyes from What's on the other side and the
provision that's available. We have to begin
to do what Elijah did. There is a time for praying
and birthing. And I'm not going to go into a
message this morning on that. But he got into
a birth stool position. He got into a Holy Ghost,
what I call a Holy Ghost crunch. bearing down,
praying with fervency and earnestness. And that's
what we were talking about. He was stretched
out in his spirit man, but he was bearing down,
praying that God would break the brass heavens
that had locked up the nation because of sin
and things. And when he saw after the seventh
time, He had to get past all the sixth time,
which represents the works of man. He had to
get past number five that represents grace and
get past the understanding of sometimes with
grace, God does things in abundance, but I have
to begin to press through and partner with him.
There's a lot in that, but he had to move past
all of the times. It was grace that was enabling
him to actually pray the persistence until he
saw. The key is, can you now this morning receive
what's in the room from the Lord and begin to
see something different than what's kept it locked
up? So I heard the Lord speak to me on the front
row. I was in the midst of trying to receive
something and I was hearing him ask me the question,
he goes, what can you see beyond the wall? That's
what he asked for me. What can you see beyond
the wall? Now we know the steel is in the ground
for just this project. Now the digging of the
trenches and The tiebacks that are slowly going
in. The question is, do you still have the iron
curtain up in front of your eyes or do you see
beyond what the next steps are? Do you see what's
coming? Do you see the reign of heaven? Do you
see the next things that must be prayed through?
heard and call to me so that I can tell you,
or are you going to stay capped and just waiting
in this season? You've got to now fill your,
if I could say it carefully, fill the womb of
your spirit with vision from heaven. Amen. Amen.
And so I'm just encouraging you where you're
at. I know there's some businesses, some businessmen
and women here. I know there's some areas that
finances, not only for business have been locked
up, but there's also people here that you feel
absolutely trapped by the debt you've been calling
out for God. I believe there is a cloud rising.
Now it may be small, but the issue is you've
got to begin to see it and begin to ask, begin
to call it forth and begin to run. As soon as,
Valina said in this meeting this morning. She
goes, as soon as he saw the cloud, he began to
run. And I heard the Holy Spirit say, Habakkuk
chapter, but I think it's two, write the vision
and make it plain that he who runs may run with
it. It was that clear. God is trying to write
a fresh. vision on your heart. Don't stay in
the atmosphere of famine. Even though you're
there right now, don't stay there in your heart.
See what God is saying. Amen? You receive that?
All right. Keep going. You're doing good. I want
to review just a little bit, but I'm reviewing
within with a point because it is Palm Sunday.
Next week, I mean, it just seems, I just felt
like we just celebrated Christmas. This whole
next week will be part of me just studying for
the theme of what the team has decided. And I
was part of that decision, but I don't remember
what my part was. But I know we've got a theme
here and I'll be preparing a message for that
this week. But as I was thinking about this week
and thinking about what we talked about last
week in regard to Jesus being stretched out in
the Garden of Gethsemane, fervently praying about
the church in Acts chapter 13, fervently praying
to release Peter after they had lost James. And
we started with this verse, 1 Peter 4, 7 through
11. It says, the end of all things is at hand.
Therefore, be self -controlled and be sober -minded
for the sake of your prayers. We talked about
those two words, sober -minded and self -controlled.
Above all, can we say that? Above all. One more
time. Above all. Keep loving one another earnestly.
That word, the King James says it's fervently.
Since love covers a multitude of sin, show hospitality
to one another without grumbling. As each has
received a gift, use it to serve one another
as good stewards of God's varied grace. Or another
word. has his multifaceted, multicolored, manifold
grace. Be good stewards of it. We're talking
about the something more church and we're talking
about how Jesus, if we're gonna be that church
that he does the something more through, positioning
ourselves to have the heart of the king. The
main heart of the king is what? Being a servant.
And just for sake of review, our last point before
we went to 1 Peter 4 was this. Jesus never bypassed
the little day -to -day things for the big cross
experience. Now listen, we're going to be celebrating
today the big cross experience. And next Sunday,
the cross and the resurrection. And we should
always do that here in the house of God. But
the power of serving in both prayer and stewardship
of serving in love is what Jesus demonstrated
to us. I'd like you, if you would, to turn in
your Bibles to Psalms 118. We're going to get
there. In Jesus' name. Psalm 118. And talk, as
Peter was saying this about fervent prayer, fervent
love, fervent above all else, that being stretched
out, that idea of, are you doing okay? Just,
you're doing really good. That idea of just allowing
yourself to grab on to the very theme of the
heart of God and allow yourself to be pushed
or stretched beyond the boundaries of how you
would normally love. Every one of us as people
have boundaries. You may not. Even people that
don't have boundaries have boundaries. But there
always seems to be a marker. Of what you think
you're willing to give. And the Lord is constantly
in this verse here, above all. Above all means
go further than what you would normally do. So
when we think about Jesus, he was the supreme
example. He went further than what people would
have normally done. Everything about his life,
everything about, as we get ready here to celebrate
today as Palm Sunday, everything that he did
went further than people's expectation, their
demands, and he constantly lived to please the
Father, stretched out in his love, stretched
out in his prayer, stretched out in his will.
That he would honor the Father. Jesus rejected
powerful ministries presented by Satan. We read
about him in Luke chapter 4. Matthew 4 as well.
He was tempted with fame. He was tempted with
power. And all that comes with it in the natural.
And he chose to be filled and anointed. With
the Holy Spirit, God anointed him because of
his choice to choose the Father. And every stage,
the anointing came to be yielded to the will
of being stretched out to the Father's purpose.
The anointing came on him. The Spirit of God
came on him when he came out of the waters of
baptism. But the anointing had to be tested with
character. It's a big deal. A lot of people receive
the anointing, but it doesn't stay on them genuinely.
They can pervert the anointing. Why? Because
they won't allow the depth of their character
to actually be yielded to the stretching out
of Christ. And so what do they do? They yield
to various temptations of fame, of power. Of
an easier route to go in the flesh than the route
of the narrow way that the father asks of them.
It was the anointing on Jesus that caused him
to yield to the direction of the Lord over every
other avenue and path. Jesus, we could put this
up here. Jesus rejected the sensational. He rejected
the speedy. And he rejected the spectacular.
Everything that Satan offered in his way. Notice
the three temptations. I'm not going to dive
into the deep temptations of the Lord because
there's so much there. But turn these stones
into bread, right? Come, I'll show you the nations
and the world. Just worship me. Just bow your
knee in homage and recognize that I have been
given authority and I'll give it to you. Or just,
just come on. The angels will bear you up. Come
on, just, just, you're hungry. Make this work,
the fame, they'll know you. He rejected the sensational.
He rejected the spectacular and the speedy. Meaning
what? There's a quicker way to get this done.
If you'll just do it my way, you'll just put
yourself on Facebook and Instagram. If you'll
just market yourself. If you'll just. go do what
the marketplace says you should do about your
ministry, then you could do it quicker. This
whole moving from place to place and city to
city, just as you're drawing a crowd, isn't working
real well. Listen, Jesus rejected every avenue
that would get him to partner with a human understanding.
That's why Jesus had to rebuke Peter. It wasn't
the fact that Jesus thought that Peter was just
a horrible person. Because when Peter heard that,
you know, son of man is going to be crucified.
Peter said, God forbid that that happened. Why?
It wasn't the fact that Peter was just trying
to think devilish. It was the fact that he was
just thinking. He was thinking out of his own
love and out of his own expectation of what Jesus
would mean to him. And now think that through.
How many of us get caught on thinking about what
certain things mean to us and that we try to
force feed something that's not really the father's
will because we've bit down on what that means
for us if we lose that. Jesus chose the low road
of suffering and he chose the cross. Jesus didn't
storm Israel by messianic force. That would have
been sensational and speedy. Can you imagine
12 legions of angels when one angel can wipe
out over 149 ,000 Assyrians? 12 legions of angels
are saying, all right, sick them. A nuclear blast
would have nothing on 12 legions of angels given
the charge to complete rule. That's not the way
of our king. That's the way of the kings of the
earth. He refused to give in to any of that.
My kingdom is not of this world, he said. Jesus
refused to flaunt his power of knowledge. to
show people he was the Lord. Now, he did this
in amazing ways. He still showed it, but he didn't
create a pool around him to constantly drop words
of knowledge and words of information constantly.
Listen. He is knowledge. He is understanding.
He is wisdom. He could have just sat on his podcast
and dropped, give him 15 every day. I'm not mocking
that. I'm just saying, you understand, he refused
to do that. He could have held up inside a rabbinical
type school, sat and made. place in the temple
as permanent and had gatherings to himself every
day. He refused to do that. Why? He chose the
small, the insignificant to get out to where
people were, not draw people to himself for what
he could offer. He was drawing people to the
father. Jesus purposely chose a path of humility,
purposely. Jesus chose the Father's will, which
was what? Be born, leave the pinnacle of light,
truth, and revelation, living in and around the
Father as the word from God to now be wrapped
in flesh and blood. I mean, from a... mindset
here of us looking at that is like, ooh, yuck.
If you didn't have to live in this and you had
something better, there's no one that goes to
heaven that wants to come back and trade in the
atmosphere there for the atmosphere here. Come
on. Let alone the son of God who was completely
perfect as the word who came forth from God,
who was God, right? I mean, you talk about a
downgrade. You were flying first class. You are
now in coach by the bathroom. Okay? The reality
is he said yes to live in obscurity in Nazareth.
He said yes to live in Nowheresville. On top
of being downgraded willfully to Nowheresville,
the fact that the center of Jesus' ministry took
place in a backwoods place called Galilee, a
.k .a. the sticks, and was not strategically
located in Jerusalem, says a whole lot. Jesus
embraced humility. He embraced it. That's what
Palm Sunday, that's what today is. It is a, and
I may be doing a poor job. I'm trying to steward
this here. It is the principle to prepare our
hearts to understand it was, yes, it was about
the cross. Yes, it was about the resurrection,
but there could never be a cross and there could
never. be a resurrection that would come in holiness
with destroying the power of sin unless there
was a willingness to come to Jerusalem in humility.
He points to the fact that everything that you
want to do in following Christ has to start and
live in that if you will, in that chamber of
humility. That's what he modeled. Jerusalem was
known for its spectacle. It was known for its
opulence. It was known as the grail, if you will,
the holy grail of all that God was doing. It
was Zion. It was that place. In order to get
there the way God wanted him to get there, he
had to go there in humility. Why do we think
that it's changed? Why do we think that access
to Zion comes now through accomplishment or learnedness
or education? Access to Zion and the presence
of the Lord, access to heavenly Jerusalem. Still
comes the greatest way. Who will ascend to the
hill of the Lord? Those with clean hands and
a pure heart. It starts with humility. Those
who have not lifted up their soul. Those that
have not sworn deceitfully. How do we approach
Zion? We approach it with the very same thing
as I never get to the place. where I have learned
so much, grown so much, that now, yes, there's
boldness as a son to come into the throne of
grace and a daughter to come in, but I never
take for granted that the access is given me
because of the humility of my Savior that I'm
told to be cloaked in. No matter what I've walked
through, no matter what I've experienced, It
is humility that brings me into the very presence
of the King. You know, Palm Sunday, there's a
lot to be said about this. We had a couple of
really great thoughts this morning in the prayer
room that took all of my verses, but I'm going
to preach them anyways. Jesus was, Jesus came
to Jerusalem writing. The Bible says out of Zechariah
chapter nine, and we have it up on the screen
if we could put it up there. Rejoice, O people
of Zion. Shout in triumph. O people of Jerusalem,
look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous
and victorious. Yet he is humble, riding on a
donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. Notice the
connection. He is righteous and victorious. Those
two things by themselves without humility lead
to religion and pride. Righteousness and being
victorious will always have a pull to lift our
soul up in our own righteousness or in the victory
that somehow we're helping take. God did it for
us, but we help him with the credit. Jesus, righteous
and victorious, yet he is humble riding on a
donkey. John 12, 12 through 15 says this. The
next day, a large crowd that had come to the
feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
So they took branches of palm trees and went
out to meet him. crying out, Hosanna, Hosanna.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
even the king of Israel. And Jesus found, John
makes reference here, and Jesus found a young
donkey and sat on it, just as it was written,
fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your king
is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. Now we
could also look at the book of Matthew and Mark
about Jesus. sending two disciples to go get
and untying the donkey. We've preached on that
before. It's an incredible passage. The Lord
has need of it. Meaning Jesus always looks to
bring his lordship over two generations. Come
on. One that has never been ridden before and
one that has experienced life. God is looking
to capture. the hearts of the young and the old.
But it was so opposite of what the victorious,
the victors would ride in. Victors would ride
in on stallions. They'd ride in on white horses.
And we know that at his second coming, he will
do that. But at this first coming, everything
has to be done to show us the path. That his
kingdom is about humility. And he lived in humility.
And it was clothed in humility. Rode in in humility.
Went to the cross in humility. Why? Because that
is the way of our king. And without that we have
no cross. We would have a death. But we wouldn't
have victory. Because pride. And self -righteousness
never accomplishes the victory. The Bible says
that, and I don't want to spend too much time
on this, but it says they had palm branches in
their hand. Why palm branches? Well, we could
talk a lot about palm branches, but bottom line,
it represents a celebratory parade type event.
They didn't have little Israeli flags, right?
You know, the twin American -Israeli flag that
they were holding. No, they didn't have that.
They didn't have the flags where they could just
go to the trinket store and everybody just buy
a little flag for a parade route. But what they
did have is they loved celebration and they loved
parades. They especially loved parades of the
victors. And it says in Zechariah 9 that they
were holding palm branches. And it says it also
in the New Testament scriptures. But Zechariah
9 points to something very, very crucial. It
says they were rejoicing. It uses that little
phrase in the King James. It says, and they rejoiced
greatly. Which means to spin around. I know,
not, you're not playing spin around music. You
know, I just, you could stop. You're doing a
really good thing. You do need to understand,
as they were coming to the festival, because
everybody was coming to Jerusalem for Passover,
they had now got branches. Now here is the incredible
part of the sovereignty of God on this. And I'm
going to try to just get this out of my heart
because I believe the Lord is pressing on me
in regard to this. We understand something about
the nature of our God. He holds his timing close
to his vest. And then when it's ready, he releases
it. Now he sometimes always will give his prophets
the prophetic advance. warning, letting us know,
hey, this is about to happen, and it'll give
a few cues. So you need to understand that as
everybody came to Passover, they did not come
to Passover thinking this was the Passover. This
was like the last Passover. before the Lord's
eyes. Not that you can't celebrate Passover,
but this is the culmination of everything that's
happened since Exodus is happening now. Here's
how God in his sovereignty moves. In the fact
that he was now opening the time as Christ was
coming to the cross, several things were happening
on that day. First of all, it would be the 10th
of Nisan, meaning what? It was time to select
the lamb. Every household would have had to select
a lamb. It was said of that day that a lamb could
feed 10 in a house. Isn't that interesting that
10 represents the number of the law? There would
be a lamb selected to cover what the law says
was guilty, that the blood would satisfy the
10. Come on, somebody. I want you to think that
through for a second. Blood of the lamb would
be enough to satisfy 10, 10 representing the
10 commandments, 10 representing everybody who's
under the law. Every household would now pick
a lamb in which could include up to 10 over every
person that has fallen short in their own righteousness,
in their own ways, in their own understandings.
God had made provision in the Old Testament.
And now on that day, Jesus riding a colt of a
donkey. Have you seen donkeys? Donkeys are not
beautiful. Donkeys are not graceful. Donkeys
can be ornery. Now there's a difference between
a mule and a donkey. Mules are just stubborn.
But a donkey can have an attitude. Now, we know
from the scriptures that Balaam thought his donkey
had a serious attitude. Right? And his donkey
spoke back. I remember hearing a story as I grew
up as a child in our home about my mom. Parents
decided to get her a donkey. And that donkey
didn't like my mother. And so every time she
would go to ride the donkey, it would make one
token pass through the pasture and then head
for the barn and squeeze the barn door and knock
her off right at the barn door. Now, we can suppose
probably that this donkey was nice to Jesus.
But you need to understand something. This riding
the foal of a donkey means that Jesus was now
riding something that had never been broken.
So please get that in your black and white understanding
because you have to have that. It's not just
the little. bedtime story where he says he rode
the foal of a donkey. One of the reasons he had
the mother to go with the foal of the donkey
so that the kid wouldn't act up. Why? Because
if you have the parent of the donkey with the
young donkey that's never been broken or ridden
before, never had a saddle, never had a weight,
never had a rider, all of a sudden it's more
bound to respond in calmness than in fear and
anxiety. And what we don't understand is when
the Bible says they greatly rejoiced, it means
to spin around, and that word means to do it
loudly. Think of that for a second. Loudly. Loudly
rejoicing and spinning around. Right? However
you want to picture it, I'm probably not doing
a really good job, but the reality is palm branches,
loud voices, and a donkey that has never been
ridden would have done what? It would have been
what? Donkey eyes. Peeled back. New weight on
it. And having, it didn't say that the anointing
settled the donkey and its steps were like bada.
That's not what it says. If you've worked with
any animals in nature, you understand. I don't
care if you're a donkey whisperer. The reality
is loud noises and crowds and loud chanting and
yelling as people converge around it and on it
is going to do what? It's going to scare the
widow donkey. Okay? And so we've got to get that
in the picture of Palm Sunday as Jesus comes
to town. Why was God, not only was it the day
of selecting the lamb, four days later, Jesus,
this was now everybody selected their lamb for
Passover. Four days later, Jesus would be taken
outside of that city and crucified outside the
city gate. And we would find him on the place
of slaughter. The same place that those lambs
would be on the place of slaughter. But this
is how wonderful the father is. On that day,
he would do what? He would now put something
in the mouths of the people they would say and
quote, but didn't understand. Hosanna, Hosanna.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
He is the root of David. Hosanna to the son of
David. If you read it in Matthew's account and
you read it, they quoted the son of David. What
was that a reference to? That was a reference
that they were saying with their own mouth, Jesus
is the Messiah. Now only the spirit of God can.
Bring an atmosphere where that begins to be released
over the whole city. That was not planned. It
wasn't an organization. God knew the timing that
was about to take place and what happened. The
Spirit of God let loose on that city because
it was a prophetic. time where the Spirit of
God was hovering and saying, I'm going to allow
people in their ignorance like a fresh young
colt that have not had an understanding. They
haven't been totally inoculated by religions
of the past and religion of 4 ,000 years like
the Pharisees and the scribes have. That's why
they got mad. Do you hear them? Tell them to
be quiet. And Jesus said, even the rocks will
cry out if they don't do this. Why? be as dumb
as a rock, but when the Spirit of God pours out,
all of a sudden you say things that are meant
to be in tune with heaven. Come on. Trust me,
I am one of those people. I'm not the sharpest
knife in the door, but when the Spirit of God
comes, I can say some things from heaven that
are His, and I have no ability to take credit
for any of it. Hosanna. You don't have to amen
too loud on that. Hosanna, blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord, even the king
of Israel. What were they saying? This is the
Messiah. This is the king. That's what shook
everything. in the scribes, the Sadducees, the
chief priests, and all of those that liked the
formalities and the places of what they were
preaching. That to them was incredulous, but
it was a prophetic statement. Not just prophetic,
it was prophetic of what was coming and was in
just in a few days would take place, but it was
a truth that had been. already declared before
the foundation of the world was made, as the
Bible says. That Jesus Christ was slain before
the foundation of the world. So they were doing
what? Connecting Jesus to a Davidic root. Connecting
him to the Davidic messianic prophecies. Declaring
that he is the rightful heir to the throne that
David was promised by the fathers. He was promised
in a new dimension. How can I say this carefully?
Above the Mosaic order. David's dimension had
a grace superior to Moses's order. And that's
why God put a boundary around it and allowed
David to live in a tabernacle, fully encompassing,
fully available to anyone around the very Ark
of the Covenant. God was connecting that promise
saying, this is the air of all who will open
the atmosphere for all to know me. Incredible.
And so as they were rejoicing greatly and spinning
around and exalting, literally the word means
to spin around, jump up and down. And they says,
loudly. They were shouting, waving their victory
palms and celebration as Jesus was writing this
cult. The people were saying, Hosanna to the
son of David, a messianic statement. And they
were quoting now because this would have been
in their understanding of what was taught in
the Psalms. This would have been the platform.
of what we would now look at Psalms 118 of the
messianic Psalm declaring that all that that
Psalm is about is Jesus. Of course, it relates
to us personally as well, but it finds its fullness
in Christ. I want to read just part of that Psalm.
I don't have, it's 29 verses and I'll read 19
through 29. Listen to the Psalm now and listen
to it as though Jesus, the word of God is saying
it over himself. Because remember the word of
God, this is the word and he's declaring it in
advance. Open to me the gates of righteousness
that I might enter through them and give thanks
to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The
righteous shall enter through it. I thank you
that you have answered me and become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected has become
the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It
is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that
the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad
in it. Save us, we pray, O God. O Lord, we pray,
give us success. Do you understand that that's
what they were saying? Hosanna means save us
now, we pray. They're quoting Psalms 118. And
notice what the gates are that he's coming through.
He's come through the gates of the city, but
he's saying thanksgiving and celebration is now
the gates of the Lord. Don't we get that in the
New Testament somewhere? Come on. We enter his
gates with what? And we enter his courts with
praise. Come on, somebody, you're slinging them.
Come on, I love it, right? Now, the reality is
this was out of their mouth that they are prophesying.
They're taking 118, the Messianic Psalm, everything
they'd been taught as little boys and girls in
the synagogue about someday the Messiah is going
to come. What happened? At that very moment,
the Spirit of God begins to pour out revelation
and people start quoting scriptures and singing
it and dancing it and prophetically acting it
out. know what it's about just like many charismatic
services they're singing and dancing and most
of them don't have a clue of how significant
it is but the reality is the first incredible
poured out if you want to call it Charismatic
service happened when Jesus brings his presence
to a people that had a promise. Jesus brings
his presence to a people who had a promise. That's
what Palm Sunday's about. He didn't come in like
everybody expected him to come in. but he came
in nevertheless. And what they wouldn't have
understood in their natural mind because it bypassed
their fleshly expectation, the spirit of God
in them responded to what the promise was. That's
why I thought it was so important of what Valina
said this morning. Why? Jesus came in. To a people
who have a promise. Then it says this. Save us
we pray oh Lord. Oh Lord we pray give us success.
Then they said this. Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord. What are they saying?
You're blessed and you have the power to deliver.
That's that word. We bless you. From the house
of the Lord. Do you hear what they're saying?
They're saying. Quoting the psalm. Hosanna. God
save we pray. Blessed is he who comes in the
name. The one who is the son of David. The right
messianic root. The one who is the fruit and
the promise. Of all that God has said. That we've
been waiting for years. Now. Blessed is he who
comes. Now deliver and bring salvation now. Then
he says, verse 27, for the Lord has made his
light shine upon us. What's that? Revelation.
He's brought his light. He's brought his truth.
He's brought his, all of the things that he brings
from the realm of his father, light, truth. purity,
revelation, insight, the fulfillment of the scriptures.
He's bringing it. They're quoting the Psalm.
And then they say, and then the Psalm says this,
and maybe this is where we'll just camp a little
bit. Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to
the horn of the altar. Bind. The festival sacrifice
to the horns of the altar. Now, if you'll read
the fullness of Psalms 118, and you've been reading
with me on Psalms 119 now, Psalms 118 verse 19
as we're progressing through, notice we're starting
with thanksgiving. Notice we're starting with
gratitude. Notice we're talking about Jesus being
the revelation and the pinnacle and the cornerstone
that the builders rejected. And in him, All my
hope is alive and I'm praying for God to do because
I've got a promise, right? He's marvelous in
our eyes. Oh, let's rejoice and be glad. Here
is the key to binding the sacrifice, the festival
sacrifice with cords on the altar. It is supposed
to be done with rejoicing and celebration. That
is not often how we view what happened at the
cross. Now, are there moments to think about
in sobriety what Jesus took for us? Absolutely.
But he doesn't just leave us with the scourge
and the nails and the false witnesses and the
mocking and the slander and the spear through
the heart. In God's wonderful, amazing way, he
released the prophetic word years and years ago
as he wrote this psalm about what he would do.
He says, as he would come, the spirit of the
Lord would put words. in the people and they
would quote back to God his word. They would
make declarations of who he is and they would
begin to start something even though they did
not know what they would do. Remember, Jesus
actually quoted that on the cross. Father, forgive
them. They don't know what they do. I think he's
still tying that back into even as he came in
Jerusalem, they did not understand what they
were doing. Because they had the prophetic word,
but they didn't take it for their time. They
believed it, but it was still at a distance.
Do you understand why that's so important? When
God releases a now word for a house, I'm not
talking about, now I'm back to the service this
morning. When he releases a now word for the
house, you can still hear it, receive it at a
distance, and it won't come to pass. Hear. What
was God's mercy? I'm going to declare in advance
that people will line Jerusalem with celebrating
and rejoicing of who I'm bringing as a sacrifice.
And that will be what my son rides in on to the
most excruciating, the most difficult thing.
that he's ever experienced being severed from
our relationship because of the sin of the world
being put on him. It will be under the sound,
not of the jeers of crucify him, crucify him.
He will remember the sounds of rejoicing. He
will remember the sounds of celebration. That's
why the book of Hebrews picks it up in chapter
13. For the joy that was set before him, he endured
the cross. God would always bring celebration
and rejoicing around what he came to bring the
world as a sacrifice. It says, bind the festival
sacrifice. What was the festival? They were there
at Passover. Bind it with cords to the horns
of the altar. Okay. We don't often talk about
the horns of the altar. What does that even mean?
The horns of the altar. Well, you probably remember.
I'm sure you're thinking of it right now. Leviticus
4 .7. and Leviticus 16, I think it's around 16
or 17, it says that, especially in Leviticus
4, 7, it says that when a person sins unintentionally,
they are to go to the high priest with a animal,
a bullock, and they are to release that animal
to be slaughtered, and in that process, they
are to take the blood, And they are to recognize
their sin that they sinned against the Lord unintentionally.
And now they take, okay, I'm gonna pick on you.
They take the blood and they smear it down the
horns of the altar, which there were four horns
on the side. of the brazen altar meaning one
on one corner one on the other one on the other
corner one on the other corner so every place
where the bronze altar was that was made which
was the first thing that you would come into
in meeting the priest that was there or the Levites
that were there as soon as you came to the door
of that the courtyard the first instrument of
approaching God was what The bronze altar. Bronze
speaks of what? Judgment. It speaks of sacrifice.
It speaks of death. Leviticus 4 says that's what
you do. Same with Leviticus 16. Everything has
to have blood smeared on the horns. What are
the horns for? Well, the horns were for, and
I'm just gonna give you one scripture, 1 Kings
1, verse 50. It was for when you, Okay. Here,
that's a horn. Okay. Now, when you did something
that you didn't intend to do, and you read about
this where God in the land, in the book of Joshua,
when God... began to divvy up all the land for
the children of Israel in the promised land he
put certain cities called cities of refuge and
in those places of cities of refuge he would
put a place where someone who had unintentionally
done something not under premeditated conditions
but unintentionally sinned he would say you could
go flee and grab the horns of the altar And you
would grab that horn, you would hold that horn,
and you would keep you from what? The manslayer.
Who's the manslayer? The one that now was the
family representative assigned to take you out
because you killed Uncle Jim. Yeah, you were
chopping wood together, but you didn't do a good
job of putting your axe head on, and your axe
head hit Jim right in the head, or how about
a Hebrew name? hit Jokoah right in the forehead
and killed him, you stop, drop, and roll like
the old TV commercial and you get your little
hiney to the place of the horn of the altar and
you grab on there until the elders come. Why?
Because this horn becomes your place of safety.
We've got a whole new... Level of friendship.
All right. Okay. Thank you. That's what God was
saying prophetically in Psalms 118. Combined
the festival sacrifice. With cords at the horns
of the altar. Now here's where there's a whole
lot of maybe confusion. Some people see it as
you had to bind the sacrifice to keep it from
moving. Why? Because you were gonna, well, it
should have been dead. You wanna bind it down
so when you put the fire on it, it will consume
the sacrifice. But in this passage, there's an
overwhelming tense of saying, now, in this process,
your binding is, what you brought from the festival.
You now need to interweave your life with the
bows that come to burn the sacrifice. You're
included at that altar. So when it says, come
now. bind the festival sacrifice to the altar
he wasn't just now dealing with the priests he
was dealing with the public to come and join
prophetically years and years ago Jesus would
move it off of a Priestly ministry only. And
begin to move. That this sacrifice. That would
be on the altar. Would now be joined. With every
single person. Who would celebrate. At the festival.
And their lives would be entwined. With the sacrifice.
So that joy. And celebration. Would be connected
to. Everybody bringing their bow or their, if
you were the cords, be intertwined with cords
of love. Remember, a three -stranded cord is
not easily broken. I will offer him not the calves
of my lips, as the old King Jimmy says, but I
will offer him the sacrifices of my lips so that
now the rejoicing and the love that comes, I
will not, what? Offer your bodies as a living
sacrifice. holy and acceptable to God. So what's
happening? I now come in the festival with my,
my bows. The palm branches. And I am now what?
Joining myself at the horn of the altar. To the
sacrifice. Where the place where the blood has
been put. Where I found mercy. And for me it's
mercy. For the sacrifice it's death. But I'm
rejoicing. Because someone thought of me. And
brought me hope when I had no hope. And God declares
right from the beginning as people began to prophesy
that Jesus would be the hope for anyone who would
grab the horn. Grab the horn. Mean what? Understand.
Here's the deal. Here's the big deal. The horns
of the altar were made out of what? Not out of
metal. The brazen altar was made out of what?
It was made out of acacia wood. Same wood. Come
on, hear me. Same wood that Noah made the ark.
It was made out of acacia wood. The horns of
the altar were made out of wood. The rings that
were in the wooden. horns were rings that were
put there that would hold the sacrifice on it,
prophetically declaring that the cross that was
lifted up, that had the rings that lowered the
cross and threw it into the ground as Jesus was
nailed to it, would be a wooden cross. Yes, it
was overlaid with bronze and judgment. Jesus
would become the sin, sacrifice, and payment
for the world's sin. And God prophetically type
and shadowed it for 4 ,000 years on an ark. And
then on the backs, as they carried all of the
tabernacle furniture, everywhere they camped,
the brazen altar would be set up and it would
be the first step before they ever entered the
glorious presence of the Lord. Back then, It
was solemn and it still is. It's the fear of
the Lord. But it is always meant to be accompanying
the fear of the Lord with rejoicing and celebration
because one who finds that horn called the cross,
one who finds the blood that was shed there.
means that there's mercy because the high priest
on duty is no longer a man. He is the God man
and he lives to intercede for all of us. He lives
to intercede. Play some interceding music. There
may be an opening. This is a rough job. Hallelujah.
You're doing a great job. Would you bow your
head and close your eyes for a moment? I don't
want to go any farther today because I really
believe that's the message the Lord wants to
prepare for us. Jesus came in in humility. He
lived. as a servant, filled with humility and
stretched out completely to do the Father's will.
And God pours his spirit out even now. As we
look to the cross, Jesus said to Nicodemus in
John 3, he said, if I be lifted up. I will draw
all men unto me. He tied in that bronze serpent
on a pole to Nicodemus. He kept tying in the
fact of judgment that he would take the judgment
of sin. He would take the judgment of the world.
And here again, John, here again in Matthew,
The prophetic word that the people were quoting
of Psalms 118, that messianic passage that undoubtedly
is all about Jesus Christ. It would be a reminder
that he is the one we run to for mercy. And he
is the high priest that we have that ever lives
now to intercede for us. I want us to understand
this morning as I'm just spending a little time
and we're waiting on the presence of the Lord
there, I'm going to ask for a response in a little
bit, but I first want to speak to the whole of
us and say, when Jesus comes into a place of
his people, he always has with him an atmosphere
and a word to bring. breakthrough on your behalf.
He always has it. And he's here today. He's here
today. He's been here through the worship service.
He's been here through the preaching. Some of
you, you just, you've got to grab hold that the
king has now entered in, in humility. He didn't
come in the... spectacular in man's eyes, but
he's here right now next to your heart and your
mind. And he brings the fullness of his kingdom
and he's writing in humility and meekness. That's
what the Bible says he is. He says a smoking
flax or a burning wick, he will not bruise or
crush. That's who he is. And the Lord invites
you today. For there is blood still on the horn
of the altar, on the cross, the blood still cries
out. The blood of Jesus cries out a better word.
It declares mercy instead of judgment. It declares
mercy instead of judgment. It declares mercy
instead of judgment. Not only for your sin, but
for others. He's declaring your voice by the
Spirit of God should come out of you. I have
mercy instead of judgment. Forgive those who
trespass against you as now your heavenly Father
has forgiven you. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
So Father, in the name of Jesus, as I'm asking
right now in the name of Christ, that you would
begin to do what you always do. Holy Spirit,
you cause people to get their eyes off of the
natural and get it on to who you are lifting
up. You are lifting up still the Son of Man.
You are being, Lord, you are being elevated.
You are being exalted. You are being magnified
in this place. And you are drawing hearts to
you. And I'm asking this morning, wherever people
are at, whether they're in a backslidden condition,
whether they're in a place of lukewarmness, whether
they've never known Jesus, the Spirit of God
is being released to draw people unto you. Why?
There is mercy still crying out. It's time to
begin to call people to rejoice. Because the
sacrifice has been given from the Father. Wherever
you're at and whoever you are, I don't know your
situation, but God knows perfectly. If you're
here today and you'd say, I got to get my life
right. I'm not living how I know the Spirit of
God would want me to live. I'm not trying to
live by my own righteousness, but I'm certainly
not living in accordance. with his word and what
I know in my heart and conscience that he's put
inside of me, I'm not partnering with grace in
the right way. If that's you, or maybe you're
just living lukewarm. You're straddling the fence.
The Lord comes today and says, it's time to make
a decision. I don't want to spew you out of my
mouth. That was his word to Laodicea. Because
you're lukewarm. I can't hold you. I can't keep
you with me. Because you're playing in both camps.
Oh, that you were hot or cold. He wants you hot.
But he's calling you back to himself. Or maybe
you're here this morning and you've not made
an official decision to say, Jesus, I have not
bowed my knee in lordship. I will be like the
centurion. on that day of crucifixion that when
Jesus gave his life and said, it is finished,
the centurion in a bowed knee position said,
truly, he is the son of God. It's time to give
your life to Christ. If you're here this morning
and you can just respond with some level of lifting
your hand. I'm going to ask you to do so right
now. The Holy Spirit just tugging on your heart.
If you're in one of those categories or anywhere
in between, between a backslidden state, a lukewarm
state, or I need to know Christ, just lift your
hand, lift it high above, and I'm going to begin
to send somebody to you. Coming right to you,
sir, right now. Anyone else? In the back. Thank
you, John. You got him? Thank you. Anyone else?
Come on, you gotta help a short man look over
the crowd here. Hallelujah, they're coming to
you. Anyone else? Come on, today is the day of
salvation. Today is the day of decision. Today
is a day where you begin to partner with the
Spirit of the Lord and say, I am not going to
live the way I came in. I am going to partner
with the King. And I'm going to rejoice because
I found that I have found the one who's giving
me mercy, grace, and a reason to love God afresh
and continue with him. One more time. Thank you.
Thank you. All right. Father, you see every heart.
You see every hand. Lord, today, Lord, sometimes
we quote scriptures, we know what we think, we
know what we're saying, but Lord, we are so dependent
upon your spirit. We're asking you to, Lord,
increase the place of honor and worship in our
hearts for you. Let us be that group in Psalms
118 that binds the sacrifice to our heart that
Jesus You are forever bound to us and we have
found your mercy, your grace and your love and
we now rejoice with thanksgiving every time we
think about your name. Whether we're here in
the corporate house or we're at home or work,
let that be bound to us and us to you. We love
you, Jesus, and we bless you. In your mighty
name we pray, amen. We are so grateful for those
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