WEBVTT 00:00:02.280 --> 00:00:05.259 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.660 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.179 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.699 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.960 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.120 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:24.660 enjoy this week's message. Let's pray a little 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:26.960 bit. I'd like you to open your Bibles to Psalms 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.140 118 after we get done praying. We're going to 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:33.820 get there in Jesus' name. That's my little marker 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:36.219 this morning. Father, I want to thank you today. 00:00:37.219 --> 00:00:39.000 Lord, I want to thank you for your presence. 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:41.460 I want to thank you for your love. I want to 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:44.780 thank you for your goodness. Lord, I'm praying 00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:49.500 today that you would help me, Lord, in delivering 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:52.820 your word. Let your grace come into this room 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:57.000 as you have been here all along. Lord, empower. 00:00:57.929 --> 00:01:02.429 Lord, us to hear and receive. Lord, today is 00:01:02.429 --> 00:01:06.489 a day of celebration, reminding ourselves this 00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:12.349 was the time that you rode into Jerusalem. Palm 00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:17.109 Sunday. Lord, the week before you rose from the 00:01:17.109 --> 00:01:21.790 dead. Lord, we just simply take pause this morning. 00:01:22.829 --> 00:01:25.129 Lord, we're not putting in our time. We're not. 00:01:26.189 --> 00:01:30.290 getting a star for being here. But God, I'm praying 00:01:30.290 --> 00:01:34.230 those that have come to this house this morning, 00:01:34.269 --> 00:01:38.209 those that are watching online, Lord, there would 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:41.590 be a release of your spirit that would come to 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:45.010 feed them, come to strengthen them, and cause 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:49.010 them to pull and believe the words that you have 00:01:49.010 --> 00:01:53.189 over them are both life and truth. We love you, 00:01:53.230 --> 00:01:56.510 Jesus. And we magnify your holy name. And everybody 00:01:56.510 --> 00:02:00.549 said, amen. It's great to see you. Go ahead and 00:02:00.549 --> 00:02:03.829 open your Bible, if you would, to Psalms 118. 00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:08.449 And go ahead and find that place. We're going 00:02:08.449 --> 00:02:12.169 to be taking a look at this incredible psalm 00:02:12.169 --> 00:02:14.689 in just a little bit. Emily's going to play for 00:02:14.689 --> 00:02:19.909 me a little bit. I want to kind of just navigate 00:02:19.909 --> 00:02:24.250 this this morning. Because it is Palm Sunday, 00:02:24.430 --> 00:02:27.949 we're still on the theme, the Something More 00:02:27.949 --> 00:02:30.770 Church. And one of the things that we've been 00:02:30.770 --> 00:02:32.990 dealing with over the last few weeks, especially 00:02:32.990 --> 00:02:35.169 as I've been in the pulpit, we've been dealing 00:02:35.169 --> 00:02:39.430 with, and we did so specifically last week, dealing 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:44.250 with 1 Peter chapter 4. And we were talking about 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:48.330 some of the words that Peter was writing to the 00:02:48.330 --> 00:02:53.199 church of dealing with humility. And understanding 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.840 the issue of what? Understanding that we have 00:02:56.840 --> 00:03:00.719 to be sober -minded and self -controlled. That 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.520 first and foremost means you have to actually 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:08.840 have an understanding about yourself. Thinking 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:13.199 sober -minded. Being self -controlled. Those 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:17.780 two things recognize our weakness. What does 00:03:17.780 --> 00:03:22.889 pride do? Pride totally overruns What we think 00:03:22.889 --> 00:03:25.169 we can handle and what we think we can endure 00:03:25.169 --> 00:03:28.969 and what we think of ourselves. Okay, there's 00:03:28.969 --> 00:03:30.490 three of us in the room that are getting this. 00:03:30.530 --> 00:03:33.990 Are you out there receiving this? Okay, you're 00:03:33.990 --> 00:03:35.889 all scattered out. So don't make me bring that 00:03:35.889 --> 00:03:38.270 pulpit out to you. Come on. All right, here we 00:03:38.270 --> 00:03:43.090 go. So we started with an understanding of saying, 00:03:43.169 --> 00:03:49.159 here's the deal. Jesus, as he operated. operated 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:53.639 in love and in service to the Father in every 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:58.560 single area. And I'll put this on the screen, 00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:02.819 if you would. Jesus never bypassed the little 00:04:02.819 --> 00:04:07.979 day things for the big cross experience. This 00:04:07.979 --> 00:04:12.680 is important because if we don't, and I'm just 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:15.300 reviewing a little bit. If we don't understand 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:20.079 that, we will try to constantly put things out 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.040 in our future or make things in our life become 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:29.339 that big cross experience and miss what Jesus 00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:33.819 is trying to form and do inside of us in a now 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:38.800 moment. So Jesus's perspective of being a servant, 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:42.879 Jesus's perspective of being the loving servant 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.170 from heaven had all ranges of, Of love and sacrifice. 00:04:48.430 --> 00:04:51.449 Jesus embraced the will of the father. As primary. 00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:57.750 Pleasing the father. Was more important. Than. 00:04:58.250 --> 00:05:02.089 Just the big experience. That's what Jesus said. 00:05:02.670 --> 00:05:05.889 If you love me. You'll keep my commandments. 00:05:06.149 --> 00:05:11.930 How many know. That's a pretty. Big. Thing he 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:16.600 asked of us. There's times. when I feel like 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:22.100 keeping his commandments. And then there's times 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:25.579 when you don't feel like keeping his commandments. 00:05:25.620 --> 00:05:30.819 Notice I took it off myself. You're right. There's 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:34.399 times when you feel like, man, I just, oh, it's 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:37.680 a pleasure to love and obey the Lord. And then 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:45.310 there's times like, oh, I just want to. Have 00:05:45.310 --> 00:05:52.189 a small version of road rage. There are things 00:05:52.189 --> 00:05:56.810 that cut cross grain in your will. And it's that 00:05:56.810 --> 00:06:00.910 point where we find, are we sober minded? And 00:06:00.910 --> 00:06:04.149 are we self -controlled? And that takes us to 00:06:04.149 --> 00:06:07.490 the verse that we spent most of our time in last 00:06:07.490 --> 00:06:09.569 week. And I'll just review by this. It says, 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:13.550 1 Peter 4, verse 7. The end of all things is 00:06:13.550 --> 00:06:18.500 at hand. And because of that, therefore be self 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:22.199 -controlled and sober -minded for the sake of 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:26.759 your prayers. Meaning what? So that the grace 00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:31.259 of God and the help of God can actually assist 00:06:31.259 --> 00:06:35.009 you. That you actually are praying in the right 00:06:35.009 --> 00:06:37.250 spirit. You're not praying out of fear. You're 00:06:37.250 --> 00:06:39.829 not praying out of anxiety. You're not praying 00:06:39.829 --> 00:06:43.209 out of what? You're a worm that you don't matter 00:06:43.209 --> 00:06:45.550 to God, that you're measuring yourself by other 00:06:45.550 --> 00:06:48.470 people's standards. You're looking at your life 00:06:48.470 --> 00:06:52.449 versus theirs. Or you are asking God in a moment 00:06:52.449 --> 00:06:55.949 of trial or crisis and get irritated with God 00:06:55.949 --> 00:06:59.970 thinking that he should do how you want him to 00:06:59.970 --> 00:07:04.139 do. We have all sorts of things where we can 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:08.899 step wrong, right? And the key is to what? The 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:14.300 key is to be self -controlled and be sober -minded 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:16.199 for the sake of our prayer because God wants 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:19.339 to answer our prayers. And then he says in verse 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:21.660 eight, and this is where we get this, and above 00:07:21.660 --> 00:07:28.040 all, now in prayer and in service to the Lord, 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:33.339 what? Keep loving one another. earnestly. Or 00:07:33.339 --> 00:07:36.139 the new King James says fervently, since love 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:41.079 covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:44.480 to one another without grumbling. As each has 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:47.879 received a gift, use it to serve one another 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:51.680 as good stewards of God's varied grace. Or I 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:56.339 put there, God's varied or manifold multicolored 00:07:56.339 --> 00:08:00.730 grace. That's what it means. And we looked at 00:08:00.730 --> 00:08:06.029 this word earnestly and fervently. Love one another 00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:10.230 earnestly. That word means what? To be stretched 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:14.509 out into full capacity. So when we're thinking 00:08:14.509 --> 00:08:16.610 about being sober -minded, when we're thinking 00:08:16.610 --> 00:08:19.490 about being self -controlled, we're doing so 00:08:19.490 --> 00:08:24.269 for love's sake. Because what would normally 00:08:24.269 --> 00:08:28.189 do what? Cause us to cross boundaries is when 00:08:28.189 --> 00:08:32.100 we don't. really love. Love the Lord our God 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:36.679 more than ourselves. We do what? We don't obey 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:39.519 or we don't listen or we don't stay self -controlled. 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:44.419 We allow self to be loved more than him. Or when 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:48.019 we refuse to allow others and we choose to stay 00:08:48.019 --> 00:08:51.860 offended, live in judgment. All of these things 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:57.340 do what? Hinder our prayer. But Jesus says what? 00:08:57.769 --> 00:09:01.649 Be stretched out. Be stretched out meaning what? 00:09:01.710 --> 00:09:09.870 Be earnest. Be fully extended. The power of serving 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:14.250 that Jesus modeled. In both prayer in that instance 00:09:14.250 --> 00:09:17.250 at the Garden of Gethsemane where it says, and 00:09:17.250 --> 00:09:20.669 he prayed all the more fervently. Means there 00:09:20.669 --> 00:09:23.610 was another level of Jesus being completely stretched 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:28.370 out. The power of serving. Notice he wasn't doing 00:09:28.370 --> 00:09:32.129 it just for him. He was doing this. He didn't 00:09:32.129 --> 00:09:35.889 come to earth necessarily for him. He came for 00:09:35.889 --> 00:09:43.009 us. So when the plan, of actually the cross was 00:09:43.009 --> 00:09:46.629 before him, before the big cross experience became 00:09:46.629 --> 00:09:49.929 the stretching out and the willingness to say, 00:09:49.990 --> 00:09:53.470 out of love, it's going to take everything I 00:09:53.470 --> 00:09:57.149 have to be stretched out for whom I was sent. 00:09:58.429 --> 00:10:03.029 And in prayer and in stewardship of the grace 00:10:03.029 --> 00:10:07.409 and the work that God gave Jesus to do, he modeled 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:13.470 that in love. And here's how he did it. In Matthew 00:10:13.470 --> 00:10:16.909 4 and Luke 4, Jesus, and we could go to some 00:10:16.909 --> 00:10:21.549 slides here, Jesus rejected the powerful ministries 00:10:21.549 --> 00:10:26.169 that Satan actually presented to him. Whether 00:10:26.169 --> 00:10:28.809 you realize it or not, those three temptations 00:10:28.809 --> 00:10:34.509 were actually ways of doing life that were contrary 00:10:34.509 --> 00:10:40.799 to the Father's. The temptation was, To do something 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:45.539 sensational. To do something spectacular. And 00:10:45.539 --> 00:10:50.620 to do it speedily. In the flesh. In the fast. 00:10:50.740 --> 00:10:58.039 In the flesh. Turn these rocks into bread. Hey. 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:03.750 Just. Worship me and I will give you all of this. 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:06.850 This is a speedier way to get this done for the 00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:09.590 father. You don't have to go to the cross. If 00:11:09.590 --> 00:11:12.669 you'll just acknowledge that I have the authority, 00:11:12.909 --> 00:11:16.330 that the key that I got in the garden is legitimately 00:11:16.330 --> 00:11:19.370 mine. Just acknowledge that and worship me and 00:11:19.370 --> 00:11:24.429 I'll give you that. Every step, throw yourself 00:11:24.429 --> 00:11:28.649 down. Listen, show the supernatural power of 00:11:28.649 --> 00:11:31.970 God. He'll give his angels charge. It was the 00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:35.470 miraculous. It was the spectacular. It was the 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:39.289 speedy way. All trying to get Jesus to do what? 00:11:39.490 --> 00:11:44.049 Move himself out of the position of love and 00:11:44.049 --> 00:11:48.509 obedience and a steward of being what? Self -controlled 00:11:48.509 --> 00:11:51.549 and sober -minded about why the father had him 00:11:51.549 --> 00:12:00.860 here. Jesus chose on purpose. Emily, you're doing 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:02.919 great. Would you tell Emily she did a great job? 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:11.580 Jesus chose on purpose the path of humility. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:16.899 Think of it. He could have yielded to the sensational, 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.799 to the spectacular, to I'll bow and all of the 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:23.059 kingdoms of the world will come under my authority. 00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:28.929 That isn't how it works. I'll show myself of 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:31.769 who I am as the son of God and I'll pull the 00:12:31.769 --> 00:12:34.350 curtain back and reveal all of the host of heaven 00:12:34.350 --> 00:12:37.409 at my aid. No, that isn't what the father wants 00:12:37.409 --> 00:12:43.570 either. Jesus purposely revealed that he came 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:48.929 in humility. Now, just please work with me for 00:12:48.929 --> 00:12:53.830 a second and think this through, okay? Jesus. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:57.740 The Bible says he was the word of God, right? 00:12:58.299 --> 00:13:00.759 John chapter one in the gospel, in the beginning 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:03.100 was the word and the word was God and the word 00:13:03.100 --> 00:13:06.320 was with God and the word came forth from God, 00:13:06.460 --> 00:13:10.059 right? And the word became flesh and we handled 00:13:10.059 --> 00:13:13.440 him. We saw that, we testify that he is the only 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:18.360 begotten son of God. So when the word left, now 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:23.840 just, it's hard for us to grasp, but the word, 00:13:24.350 --> 00:13:27.549 came forth from the Father. Meaning they were 00:13:27.549 --> 00:13:30.389 so close, they were one, but yet they weren't, 00:13:30.389 --> 00:13:35.149 they're one in spirit, but they were, Jesus lived 00:13:35.149 --> 00:13:42.090 in heaven, in his eternal state as the word of 00:13:42.090 --> 00:13:48.889 God. Okay? That is a serious demotion now to 00:13:48.889 --> 00:13:51.929 come to the earth and take up flesh and blood. 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:57.000 Right? You live in an atmosphere of complete 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:01.220 holiness, purity, light, love. You're one with 00:14:01.220 --> 00:14:04.100 the Father and near the Father, have never been 00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:07.299 distant. When the Father thinks it or desires 00:14:07.299 --> 00:14:10.539 to speak, you're the word that comes out of him. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:18.120 And now you get to trade that in for life as 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.740 a human being. Okay? Here was the word of God. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:27.279 and now you show up as an Asa. Okay? In the fact 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:30.299 of, okay, think of it this way. No one that goes 00:14:30.299 --> 00:14:33.919 to heaven and experiences it wants to come back. 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:40.240 No one. Why do we think that Jesus didn't have 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:46.980 that emotion? The fact that he had, he created 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.039 it. He created heaven and earth. Then he watched 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:54.679 sin mar everything he created. And do we think 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:56.960 that he thought for a moment, oh, this is gonna 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:02.100 be great. Let me just put it in airline language. 00:15:02.740 --> 00:15:08.440 You're in first class. You get bumped down to 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:13.600 coach sitting next to the restroom. That's the 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:17.059 largest demotion you could ever have, right? 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:21.019 You've now moved from having people serve you 00:15:21.019 --> 00:15:24.740 constantly whatever you want to people opening 00:15:24.740 --> 00:15:28.840 the door of a used restroom facility with that 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:32.620 nasty, whatever it is, formaldehyde smell and 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:35.720 everybody else that's used it and that is your 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:41.799 new place for the duration. Somebody ought to 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:44.559 be able to say with me this morning, okay, that's 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:48.539 a big demotion. Okay, when Jesus, the word of 00:15:48.539 --> 00:15:52.600 God, took on flesh, he then, if that wasn't bad 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:57.940 enough, where did he go? Nowheresville. He went 00:15:57.940 --> 00:16:03.580 to Nazareth. He was living literally in nothing 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:07.039 known really to man. Fact is, that's why they 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:10.779 would say, can anything good come out of Nazareth? 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:16.549 Can you pick a town? That had a reputation of 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:25.690 having nothing. How about Harrisburg? See, this 00:16:25.690 --> 00:16:31.070 is why Jesus loves this town so much. In fact, 00:16:31.070 --> 00:16:36.250 Jesus' ministry. Did not take place in the city 00:16:36.250 --> 00:16:39.909 center of Jerusalem. That was the pinnacle of 00:16:39.909 --> 00:16:42.649 God's city. And everywhere you went from the 00:16:42.649 --> 00:16:45.549 world. You went up to Jerusalem. As it said in 00:16:45.549 --> 00:16:48.230 the scripture. He went to the sticks called the 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:54.009 region of the Galilee. Everything Jesus did. 00:16:54.110 --> 00:16:58.830 He did. in humility. He did not, now just forgive 00:16:58.830 --> 00:17:01.009 me because I'm going to go here for a bit. He 00:17:01.009 --> 00:17:03.990 did not get on the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem 00:17:03.990 --> 00:17:07.410 Instagram, Jerusalem Facebook, and Jerusalem 00:17:07.410 --> 00:17:11.309 Marketplace and market himself or his meetings. 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:18.890 He didn't write books and series and market them 00:17:18.890 --> 00:17:24.619 to draw crowds. Everything he did. Fact is, he 00:17:24.619 --> 00:17:27.960 wouldn't even stay in one place long enough as 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:31.059 he moved from place to place. As soon as there 00:17:31.059 --> 00:17:35.240 got traction in the spirit, he moved. Why? Because 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:39.359 it wasn't about building him. It was about what? 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:45.460 Serving the father in humility. You see, pride 00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:51.559 and the mindset of man can totally mess up. the 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:58.720 way that God wants to move. Jesus embraced humility. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.779 Now, why am I spending so much time on this? 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:05.779 Because I think we need to understand this being 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:11.000 Palm Sunday, how important this really is. You 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:15.640 see, especially in Roman culture, and because 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:21.140 the Romans had taken over Jerusalem, As far as 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:24.900 just Roman culture, Roman architecture, Roman 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:29.710 money, they allowed the... Jewish people and 00:18:29.710 --> 00:18:33.849 the leadership to continue on with their synagogues 00:18:33.849 --> 00:18:37.130 and the religious affairs. But when it came to 00:18:37.130 --> 00:18:41.710 governmental issues and turning Jerusalem into 00:18:41.710 --> 00:18:45.730 a Roman culture, that had happened. And one of 00:18:45.730 --> 00:18:49.170 the things that they loved is they love their 00:18:49.170 --> 00:18:56.079 Roman parades. Why? Because Roman parades always 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:03.559 became the emphasis of victory. You gave a parade 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:07.460 because you conquered and you won. And Rome at 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:10.759 the height of Jesus' time had taken territory 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:14.700 after territory after territory and was operating 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:20.740 in this magnanimous power that was just beginning 00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:24.859 to crush things. And in the power of crushing, 00:19:24.940 --> 00:19:28.779 they would display the victory and the spoil 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:32.200 from the other places they had taken. And it 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:36.039 would always happen as a type of military parade 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:39.299 where the generals or the rulers that won the 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:44.460 battle would always ride a steed. Mostly, most 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:46.799 of the time, a stallion that had been broken 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:50.019 and sometimes a white stallion. They would come 00:19:50.019 --> 00:19:52.480 and lead the parade with the armies and parade 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.539 all of the spoils of the other generals and the 00:19:56.539 --> 00:19:59.660 other army in front of them. And that was part 00:19:59.660 --> 00:20:02.039 of the celebration. Look at the power of Rome. 00:20:02.220 --> 00:20:05.000 Look at its might. Look at its strength. Look 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.940 at the people who were in charge, the generals, 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.960 and give honor to the homage to the power of 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:15.579 Rome. Well, the Jewish people, they like celebrations 00:20:15.579 --> 00:20:19.119 too. All people groups like celebrations. And 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.079 as you get to Palm Sunday, what was everybody 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:27.720 on the planet going to do? Palm Sunday, that 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:32.640 we celebrate Palm Sunday, was now the very closeness 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.420 to Passover. And so everyone in the world, remember 00:20:37.420 --> 00:20:42.920 what the Old Testament says. Three times a year, 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:46.180 you shall not appear before me empty -handed. 00:20:46.539 --> 00:20:49.200 You shall go to the place where the Lord your 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.539 God dwells, and there you shall offer sacrifice 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:55.460 and worship and serve him. Where was that? Jerusalem. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.779 And so three times a year, what are those three? 00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:03.990 Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. So the 00:21:03.990 --> 00:21:06.730 time of the year that Jesus was going to be offered 00:21:06.730 --> 00:21:09.990 was going to be at Passover. That's why we have 00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:13.890 the illustration in John chapter 13 of the upper 00:21:13.890 --> 00:21:16.349 room. That's where we get the feet washing. That's 00:21:16.349 --> 00:21:18.509 where we get the table. That's where they get 00:21:18.509 --> 00:21:20.609 go and prepare a place. Master, where do you 00:21:20.609 --> 00:21:23.049 want us to go? You'll find a guy with a pitcher. 00:21:23.309 --> 00:21:25.890 Follow the guy with a water pitcher and tell 00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:28.109 him the master has need of the house. You'll 00:21:28.109 --> 00:21:30.029 find it furnished and that's where I want you 00:21:30.029 --> 00:21:34.509 to actually. prepare Passover for us. This was 00:21:34.509 --> 00:21:37.269 the timeframe. So not only do you have a Roman 00:21:37.269 --> 00:21:43.170 culture in the idea of victory and the ruling 00:21:43.170 --> 00:21:45.829 power, but now you've got people coming from 00:21:45.829 --> 00:21:49.029 all the known world. Now remember in Acts chapter 00:21:49.029 --> 00:21:52.950 two, just 50 days later, they're going to come 00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:55.549 again from all over the place and they're going 00:21:55.549 --> 00:21:58.900 to bring they're gonna bring sacrifice again 00:21:58.900 --> 00:22:02.980 because it's celebrating 50 days after Passover, 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:08.579 right? And they list 17 to 19 nations that come 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:10.720 in Acts chapter two. So just back up a little 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.460 bit, get there to Luke and John, and you begin 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:19.839 to realize every single place where Judaism had 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:24.299 spread, if they were able, was now making the 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:29.759 trek to Jerusalem to be able to pick out a lamb 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:35.200 and to be there at the time that the lamb should 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.980 be picked out, the time that the lamb would stay 00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:40.380 for them, and the time for the slaughtering of 00:22:40.380 --> 00:22:42.720 the lamb so they could have the Passover meal 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.819 and celebrate the great, awesome truth that God 00:22:46.819 --> 00:22:50.559 did as a deliverer and a savior out of... the 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:53.740 land of bondage out of Egypt through the power 00:22:53.740 --> 00:22:57.640 of the blood on the doorpost. So that's the backdrop. 00:22:58.059 --> 00:23:01.519 If we could just say it in a nutshell, that's 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.900 the backdrop of how now we're looking at Palm 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:08.859 Sunday and Jesus coming into Jerusalem. But notice 00:23:08.859 --> 00:23:13.279 Jesus, because he's doing this in humility, doesn't 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:21.609 ride in on a white stallion this time. Fact is, 00:23:21.769 --> 00:23:24.910 the Bible tells us a little earlier in Matthew, 00:23:24.950 --> 00:23:32.049 I believe it's 21. He says, go to this person 00:23:32.049 --> 00:23:36.089 and you'll find a colt tied with its mother. 00:23:37.049 --> 00:23:41.150 Untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone 00:23:41.150 --> 00:23:44.430 asks of you why you're untying the colt and his 00:23:44.430 --> 00:23:47.930 mother, you just say to them, now listen, the 00:23:47.930 --> 00:23:52.660 Lord has need of it. Why is that important? Because 00:23:52.660 --> 00:23:56.400 he didn't say the teacher had need of it. He 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:59.000 didn't say the evangelist had need of it. He 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:02.660 literally said your answer to receive this gift 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:07.920 in my name is the Lord. The one who has all authority 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:13.500 has need of it. The Lord. He was declaring that 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:17.140 he himself by that statement. The Lord has need 00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:22.319 of it, is and was a king in his own right. And 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.859 as the disciples brought the donkey and the colt, 00:24:25.859 --> 00:24:29.900 Zechariah had prophesied this in Zechariah 9, 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:34.200 9. And it says this, rejoice, O people of Zion. 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:39.799 Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look, 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:44.980 your king is coming to you. He is righteous and 00:24:44.980 --> 00:24:53.740 victorious. Okay, there it is. Yet he is humble. 00:24:54.460 --> 00:25:02.339 He is righteous and victorious. Yet he is humble, 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:07.539 riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.480 Now this is pretty incredible. Let's just look 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:14.960 at John 12 for a moment. The next day, a large 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:18.000 crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:20.619 was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches 00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:23.460 of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, crying, 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:28.180 Hosanna, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in 00:25:28.180 --> 00:25:34.420 the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:39.380 Notice Jesus declares, before the crowd gathered, 00:25:40.910 --> 00:25:44.809 You tell them if anybody asks why you're untying 00:25:44.809 --> 00:25:46.970 it and taking them for a purpose, you tell them 00:25:46.970 --> 00:25:50.529 the Lord does it. Now we're reading in John's 00:25:50.529 --> 00:25:54.869 account that the people are declaring in an atmosphere, 00:25:55.150 --> 00:26:00.329 blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, 00:26:00.369 --> 00:26:04.450 even the king of Israel. They're declaring something 00:26:04.450 --> 00:26:08.759 that they don't even understand. Now, I don't 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:11.240 know about you. How many times have you quoted 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:14.299 something, maybe of a scripture verse, or maybe 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:18.019 you've heard some words from the prophetic word 00:26:18.019 --> 00:26:20.339 of the Lord that has come in a now atmosphere, 00:26:20.460 --> 00:26:23.779 and you agreed with it, but it didn't actually 00:26:23.779 --> 00:26:29.200 dawn on you that you actually received it. You 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:34.460 said, yes, that's good, but it didn't stick with 00:26:34.460 --> 00:26:37.079 you. All the way through service. Fact is it 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:38.940 left the first time you thought about what you 00:26:38.940 --> 00:26:44.400 were having for dinner. Right? Sometimes the 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:49.599 Spirit of God brings something that God releases 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:54.240 in the atmosphere because people can't manufacture 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:57.940 it. He releases a grace and the people catch 00:26:57.940 --> 00:27:00.880 it. It just depends on whether they will receive 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:05.400 it by perceiving and understanding. You see, 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.319 that's the beautiful thing about God's timing. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:13.259 We march in this chronos time, but he marches 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:18.259 in kairos time. Days are like a day of the Lord 00:27:18.259 --> 00:27:20.940 is like a thousand years. The apostle Peter wrote 00:27:20.940 --> 00:27:25.980 in his letters. He knows the time, but the Lord 00:27:25.980 --> 00:27:28.539 has what? Eternal time. And we call that the 00:27:28.539 --> 00:27:31.819 kairos time. It means what? The God appointed 00:27:31.819 --> 00:27:35.930 time. And I'm here to tell you how incredible 00:27:35.930 --> 00:27:39.609 God was that in this moment when Jesus would 00:27:39.609 --> 00:27:43.009 now enter Jerusalem, how many times had he been 00:27:43.009 --> 00:27:46.950 in Jerusalem? Man, we read the story about his 00:27:46.950 --> 00:27:50.039 young life. He had been in Jerusalem. Since the 00:27:50.039 --> 00:27:52.359 time he was 12 years old that was recorded in 00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:54.519 the Bible when he went on the journey. He sat 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:58.200 in the temple and argued and debated the scriptures 00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:03.039 and they gave him a seated position among the 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:07.759 rabbis as one of the most learned of all people 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:11.000 being able to adjudicate the scriptures at 12 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:17.500 years old. So he'd been to Jerusalem time after 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:21.359 time. What had changed? The timing of the Lord. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:26.940 The timing of the Lord had changed. And God was 00:28:26.940 --> 00:28:31.759 releasing what? An atmosphere of recognizing 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:36.519 that a season was shifting and God was changing. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:40.640 what he would now bring to humanity. It started 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:44.940 33 and a half years ago when he decided to give 00:28:44.940 --> 00:28:47.819 up being the word of God that was with God and 00:28:47.819 --> 00:28:51.579 came from God to be the word now clothed with 00:28:51.579 --> 00:28:55.960 flesh. And now after 33 and a half years, the 00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:00.220 timing was as important as the timing was him 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:04.019 being born on that night in Bethlehem of Bethlehem 00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:07.180 of Ephrath where the shepherd saw his star. The 00:29:07.180 --> 00:29:11.339 timing here is just as God appointed timing as 00:29:11.339 --> 00:29:17.000 it was then. They began to take palm branches. 00:29:17.099 --> 00:29:20.000 The people did. And they went out to meet him. 00:29:20.619 --> 00:29:24.809 And they cried, Hosanna. Hosanna, blessed is 00:29:24.809 --> 00:29:26.690 he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the 00:29:26.690 --> 00:29:30.029 king of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey 00:29:30.029 --> 00:29:32.990 and sat on it, just as it is written in verse 00:29:32.990 --> 00:29:36.789 15. Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your 00:29:36.789 --> 00:29:42.089 king is coming on a donkey's colt. Let's talk 00:29:42.089 --> 00:29:45.529 about palm branches. Why did they pick palm branches? 00:29:47.349 --> 00:29:50.150 Well, first of all, it tells us that in the Middle 00:29:50.150 --> 00:29:52.470 East there, there was enough. trees that obviously 00:29:52.470 --> 00:29:55.210 had palm branches. So that's kind of at least 00:29:55.210 --> 00:29:57.990 gives you one perspective of geography. Number 00:29:57.990 --> 00:30:00.849 two, palm branches, if you'll look at them, are 00:30:00.849 --> 00:30:04.950 kind of like pom -poms or flags today. It's not 00:30:04.950 --> 00:30:09.069 like they could run down to Jobab's quick mart 00:30:09.069 --> 00:30:13.109 and buy a bunch of little Israeli flags and welcome 00:30:13.109 --> 00:30:17.990 Jesus with kind of the star of David. So what 00:30:17.990 --> 00:30:21.559 did they do? They picked What they knew was part 00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:24.720 of what God had them do. You see, the feast, 00:30:24.900 --> 00:30:28.200 the last feast of the year would be what? Tabernacles. 00:30:28.220 --> 00:30:31.059 And they would do what? They would build booths 00:30:31.059 --> 00:30:35.339 out of foliage and out of things to dwell under 00:30:35.339 --> 00:30:38.460 as a representation that there was going to be 00:30:38.460 --> 00:30:40.940 something that was temporary that was gonna give 00:30:40.940 --> 00:30:45.420 way. So what did they do? They took palm branches, 00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:48.720 which represents what? Just for the sake of it, 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:52.220 they represented what? Anytime you go to a parade, 00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:56.539 you're seeing, I mean, we're going to have 250 00:30:56.539 --> 00:31:00.279 years of America and people are going to celebrate 00:31:00.279 --> 00:31:03.539 and our nation's going to celebrate and all of 00:31:03.539 --> 00:31:05.180 that, and that's great. And you're going to see 00:31:05.180 --> 00:31:09.039 the American flag everywhere, hopefully, right? 00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:13.970 Well, in that day, they celebrated the nature 00:31:13.970 --> 00:31:18.529 of the palm branch being a type of flag. And 00:31:18.529 --> 00:31:22.269 when it says they sang, they said Hosea, they 00:31:22.269 --> 00:31:26.089 didn't sing it. When they said Hosanna, Hosanna, 00:31:26.109 --> 00:31:30.710 what were they actually saying? Hosanna means 00:31:30.710 --> 00:31:37.049 save us now, we pray. So in essence, they were 00:31:37.049 --> 00:31:40.390 recognizing that the spirit of God was released 00:31:40.390 --> 00:31:44.390 in that atmosphere and they were now grabbing 00:31:44.390 --> 00:31:50.210 something to declare, waving and saying it loudly, 00:31:50.609 --> 00:31:56.859 Hosanna, Hosanna, save us now. Blessed is he 00:31:56.859 --> 00:31:59.740 who comes in the name of the Lord, even our King 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:03.119 of Israel. What were they declaring? Prophetically, 00:32:03.140 --> 00:32:07.880 they were announcing this is the Messiah that 00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:12.019 we have waited for, yet it didn't set in their 00:32:12.019 --> 00:32:17.279 hearts. They caught, listen, the Spirit of God 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:22.779 released that truth as a prophetic grace. In 00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:26.160 the atmosphere, they yielded to it enough to 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:29.799 say it. They didn't yield to it enough to actually 00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:33.920 allow it to change their thinking. Meaning what? 00:32:34.099 --> 00:32:37.940 You can be in a worship service and you can yield 00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:41.460 to the Spirit of God and you can go out unchanged. 00:32:41.640 --> 00:32:45.920 Why? Because you heard it, you sang it, you repeated 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:48.819 it, but you didn't allow it to actually change 00:32:48.819 --> 00:32:51.460 your thinking and actually bring an impartation. 00:32:54.980 --> 00:32:57.500 Hmm. They're saying, blessed is he who comes 00:32:57.500 --> 00:33:00.839 in the name of the Lord. Let me try to explain 00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:07.960 how incredible this was, because we said in Zechariah, 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:13.519 the original prophecy, rejoice. Rejoice, O people 00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:17.200 of Zion. Shout in triumph. You know what that 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:20.359 means, actually? Fact is, the King James says 00:33:20.359 --> 00:33:23.220 it this way, and they rejoice greatly. The word 00:33:23.220 --> 00:33:28.160 greatly means with loud celebration. He says 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:33.380 rejoice, shout, triumph. In Hebrew, and the connection 00:33:33.380 --> 00:33:36.440 here is it's passed over into the Greek. What 00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:39.420 is he saying? He's saying they were actually 00:33:39.420 --> 00:33:43.700 means to spin around and to jump up and down. 00:33:44.279 --> 00:33:46.539 Now, I'm not going to do this very good service, 00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:49.700 but the fact is they're waving palm branches, 00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:54.339 spinning around, jumping up and down. Hosanna! 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:59.799 Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes! Okay? I mean, 00:33:59.819 --> 00:34:04.559 you can almost hear the air band playing. That 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:08.480 is what is happening in the atmosphere. Now, 00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:11.690 listen. You know the Spirit of God is moving 00:34:11.690 --> 00:34:17.590 on people when that is taking place. Okay? And 00:34:17.590 --> 00:34:20.650 then you've got this picture of, now just work 00:34:20.650 --> 00:34:23.369 with me on this because we don't really understand 00:34:23.369 --> 00:34:26.030 this because we read it in black and white and 00:34:26.030 --> 00:34:34.150 we don't fill in the blanks. Jesus untied a colt 00:34:34.150 --> 00:34:45.710 and its mother. A donkey. Now, I'm going to explain 00:34:45.710 --> 00:34:48.550 this for the sake of those that aren't farm girls. 00:34:50.570 --> 00:34:53.869 Okay? Some of you city dwellers just need a little 00:34:53.869 --> 00:35:04.590 edumacation. Okay? A colt means that it's not 00:35:04.590 --> 00:35:08.570 broken. By not broken, it means it has not been 00:35:08.570 --> 00:35:14.190 trained properly to accept somebody, to be near 00:35:14.190 --> 00:35:19.030 it, to put a load on it or weight on it, or to 00:35:19.030 --> 00:35:23.750 even have it be saddled enough so that you could 00:35:23.750 --> 00:35:28.989 ride it with confidence. So when Jesus told his 00:35:28.989 --> 00:35:32.159 two people, he says, Go untie the donkey and 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:34.699 the colt. And if anyone asks what I'm doing, 00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:39.719 just say the Lord has need of it. Now, I can't 00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:41.420 preach this whole message because there's a whole 00:35:41.420 --> 00:35:45.579 message in itself. But notice it was a colt in 00:35:45.579 --> 00:35:49.360 whom no one had ridden and the generation before 00:35:49.360 --> 00:35:53.960 it. Jesus is always looking to fulfill the word 00:35:53.960 --> 00:35:57.559 of God that was part of the promise of the Old 00:35:57.559 --> 00:36:02.400 Testament. Of what? In Malachi, he will turn 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:05.539 the hearts of the children to the fathers and 00:36:05.539 --> 00:36:07.719 he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the 00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:11.340 children. That will be part of Elijah's anointing. 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:13.599 What was the Elijah anointing? It was John the 00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:16.219 Baptist's anointing that came to prepare the 00:36:16.219 --> 00:36:20.929 way. And when Jesus took the colt. and the donkey, 00:36:21.110 --> 00:36:24.969 he was saying, I am taking both of them because 00:36:24.969 --> 00:36:27.230 they're going to begin to turn their hearts toward 00:36:27.230 --> 00:36:30.389 one another in what God is doing. And I'm going 00:36:30.389 --> 00:36:33.909 to bring back purpose and destiny for the generations. 00:36:34.090 --> 00:36:37.690 God never deals with just one generation. Please 00:36:37.690 --> 00:36:40.949 let me, please hear me say that. God never just 00:36:40.949 --> 00:36:44.150 deals with one generation. He always wants to 00:36:44.150 --> 00:36:46.650 deal with the generation above it and the generation 00:36:46.650 --> 00:36:50.219 underneath it. Because he's the God of Abraham, 00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:54.400 Isaac, and Jacob. Oh, he may use a generation 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:57.599 that has more influence at that time, but he'll 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:02.880 never cut out a generation. Come on. And so when 00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:05.420 you look at this colt and you look at this donkey, 00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:11.039 that is the picture of humility. He's now riding 00:37:11.039 --> 00:37:16.400 something that has not been trained. He's now 00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:24.940 riding something that has not had any time to 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:33.300 prepare it to experience what riding an animal 00:37:33.300 --> 00:37:37.179 might feel like. And now you take the idea of 00:37:37.179 --> 00:37:41.519 having people lining the streets. In a parade 00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:44.219 type victory session, under the spirit of the 00:37:44.219 --> 00:37:47.300 Lord, raising palm branches and saying loudly, 00:37:47.460 --> 00:37:51.280 spinning around is not a conducive environment 00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:57.320 for an untrained, unbroken animal. So we gotta 00:37:57.320 --> 00:38:00.800 get behind the scenes a little bit. That donkey's 00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:09.250 eyes were wide. That's not what you put a general 00:38:09.250 --> 00:38:13.809 or a king on. You never put a general or a king 00:38:13.809 --> 00:38:19.250 on an untrained, unbroken, free -spirited animal 00:38:19.250 --> 00:38:22.769 that has never sat someone of great importance. 00:38:23.030 --> 00:38:29.250 Jesus did. Because Jesus wanted to actually be 00:38:29.250 --> 00:38:33.829 the first, prophetically, to begin to sit. on 00:38:33.829 --> 00:38:37.869 a generation with his lordship and kingship that 00:38:37.869 --> 00:38:41.869 had never known the ways of another king and 00:38:41.869 --> 00:38:46.090 the reason the mother donkey was brought along 00:38:46.090 --> 00:38:50.769 is that the young donkey would feel some form 00:38:50.769 --> 00:38:54.369 of comfort and safety because of the familiarity 00:38:54.369 --> 00:38:59.949 of one that gave them birth so mom's generation 00:38:59.949 --> 00:39:03.969 didn't get left out of it Mom and donkey rode 00:39:03.969 --> 00:39:06.849 together. Now listen, donkeys, let's talk about 00:39:06.849 --> 00:39:13.070 donkeys for a bit. Donkeys have, well, they've 00:39:13.070 --> 00:39:18.949 got some personality. There's a reason that the 00:39:18.949 --> 00:39:25.849 King James calls them by another name. They tend 00:39:25.849 --> 00:39:35.489 to be stubborn. They tend to be can be mean -spirited. 00:39:36.909 --> 00:39:40.989 I heard a story all growing up about my mom. 00:39:42.210 --> 00:39:45.570 My grandparents decide to bless her. They lived 00:39:45.570 --> 00:39:48.409 in the sweet home area and they had some acreage 00:39:48.409 --> 00:39:52.730 up there and that's where I learned to fall timber 00:39:52.730 --> 00:39:56.489 and drive cat and all that stuff. But they decided, 00:39:56.590 --> 00:39:58.630 my mom was an only child and they decided to 00:39:58.630 --> 00:40:03.460 buy her a donkey for a present. And that donkey 00:40:03.460 --> 00:40:06.659 didn't like the fact that it was a present for 00:40:06.659 --> 00:40:13.059 my mom. And the donkey's nature was it knew it 00:40:13.059 --> 00:40:15.360 would get in serious trouble from grandpa. So 00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:18.440 what it would do is it would allow mom to get 00:40:18.440 --> 00:40:21.539 on the donkey for one round around the pasture. 00:40:22.750 --> 00:40:25.570 And then it would immediately trot to the barn. 00:40:25.650 --> 00:40:28.329 She would try to go more. It would immediately 00:40:28.329 --> 00:40:31.230 then stop in front of the barn door hard and 00:40:31.230 --> 00:40:34.349 then look back and then squeeze her against the 00:40:34.349 --> 00:40:39.670 barn door and the wall until she fell off. Fact 00:40:39.670 --> 00:40:41.309 is, if you think, well, I don't know if that's 00:40:41.309 --> 00:40:43.329 donkey's nature. Well, you ought to look at Balaam's 00:40:43.329 --> 00:40:47.309 donkey. Balaam's donkey didn't like what he was 00:40:47.309 --> 00:40:49.489 doing to her and so she talked back physically. 00:40:51.559 --> 00:40:54.920 The fact of the matter is that donkeys are not 00:40:54.920 --> 00:41:00.900 the most stately of beings. Now, I'm not sure 00:41:00.900 --> 00:41:03.860 why a political party would actually choose a 00:41:03.860 --> 00:41:10.400 donkey. That's a side note. I mean, neither here 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:15.239 nor there. But the reality is nobody frames artwork 00:41:15.239 --> 00:41:21.780 of beautiful donkeys. Now. Horses of different 00:41:21.780 --> 00:41:26.460 kinds, from Arabians to thoroughbreds. There's 00:41:26.460 --> 00:41:32.760 a whole different realm. But a donkey. Right? 00:41:33.400 --> 00:41:36.179 If anybody that's seen the movie Shrek, you just 00:41:36.179 --> 00:41:44.699 can't picture just the beauty of a donkey. Because 00:41:44.699 --> 00:41:49.559 there is none. And that's why Jesus wrote it 00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:54.179 in. It was to remove the fact that there were 00:41:54.179 --> 00:42:00.719 any form of outside air of honor or dignity or 00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:04.099 royalty that would come to him from a government 00:42:04.099 --> 00:42:09.460 or a stately animal that someone prized. A donkey 00:42:09.460 --> 00:42:16.500 was the symbol of poverty and a poor man's tractor. 00:42:18.920 --> 00:42:23.440 And that's what it is today. If you look around 00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:27.659 the world in third world countries, a donkey 00:42:27.659 --> 00:42:33.619 is pure and foremost a beast of burden. All it 00:42:33.619 --> 00:42:38.840 does is help with the load. It never gets framed 00:42:38.840 --> 00:42:42.119 unless you pay in Mexico to have a picture with 00:42:42.119 --> 00:42:48.460 one. Nobody takes a picture of a donkey. So Jesus 00:42:48.460 --> 00:42:54.679 comes what? Riding this colt of a donkey and 00:42:54.679 --> 00:42:57.900 the donkey's mother next to it. People spinning 00:42:57.900 --> 00:43:01.199 around, yelling loud. Now listen, it's a loud 00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:05.039 environment. Just some commentators believe that 00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:09.940 potentially there was 175 to 200 ,000 people 00:43:09.940 --> 00:43:15.349 in Jerusalem at that day. And it says that. In 00:43:15.349 --> 00:43:17.489 fact, it's when you look at all the commentary 00:43:17.489 --> 00:43:21.530 of all of the gospels put together that the scribes 00:43:21.530 --> 00:43:23.789 and the Pharisees, remember their response? Do 00:43:23.789 --> 00:43:27.989 you hear what they're saying? The whole city 00:43:27.989 --> 00:43:33.449 has gone out after him. The whole world. So think 00:43:33.449 --> 00:43:37.480 of it. The donkey is experiencing a parade route 00:43:37.480 --> 00:43:41.460 of 200 ,000 people and something that it's never 00:43:41.460 --> 00:43:45.880 experienced of taking Jesus on its back as people 00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:48.880 are coming close to it, putting their garments 00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:52.219 in front of it, wildly singing, Hosanna, means 00:43:52.219 --> 00:43:55.820 what? Save us now, oh King of Israel, you are 00:43:55.820 --> 00:44:02.429 the Messiah. And in the midst of that, What is 00:44:02.429 --> 00:44:07.969 incredible is they were actually quoting and 00:44:07.969 --> 00:44:10.250 they would have known this. This they would have 00:44:10.250 --> 00:44:14.889 known. They were quoting Psalms 118. I told you 00:44:14.889 --> 00:44:21.190 we'd get there. Psalms 118. This would have been 00:44:21.190 --> 00:44:26.090 considered one of the most messianic prophecies 00:44:26.090 --> 00:44:30.599 of the Psalms. Now even today, People don't understand 00:44:30.599 --> 00:44:33.860 that Psalms 53, even when you talk to rabbis, 00:44:33.860 --> 00:44:37.500 they will not equate Psalms 53, even the description 00:44:37.500 --> 00:44:40.000 of the crucifixion that was written about Jesus 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:43.159 at that time. They can't get it. But they all 00:44:43.159 --> 00:44:47.239 got Psalms 118, that it was a messianic future. 00:44:48.039 --> 00:44:51.780 prophecy that God, whoever the Messiah would 00:44:51.780 --> 00:44:57.659 be, would fulfill Psalms 118. And now out of 00:44:57.659 --> 00:45:00.820 their own mouth, quoting scripture saying, Hosanna, 00:45:00.860 --> 00:45:03.119 blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, 00:45:03.159 --> 00:45:07.440 even our King. They are now quoting Psalms 118 00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:12.719 as a messianic prophecy. That's why the religious 00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:15.260 leaders were so stirred. Now, I don't have time 00:45:15.260 --> 00:45:18.820 to read the fullness of the whole passage, but 00:45:18.820 --> 00:45:21.340 if I look at verse 19, if you'll stop with me, 00:45:21.400 --> 00:45:25.559 in Psalms 18, verse 19, it says this. Open to 00:45:25.559 --> 00:45:28.000 me the gates of righteousness that I may enter 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:31.019 through them and give thanks to the Lord. This 00:45:31.019 --> 00:45:35.480 is the gate of the Lord and the righteous shall 00:45:35.480 --> 00:45:39.400 enter through it. Okay, number one. How do we 00:45:39.400 --> 00:45:42.760 worship the Lord now in righteousness? Don't 00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:47.179 I what? Enter his gates with what? And into his 00:45:47.179 --> 00:45:51.440 courts with? Notice what is happening. When the 00:45:51.440 --> 00:45:55.300 Messiah comes, the gate of the Lord changes. 00:45:59.079 --> 00:46:01.619 It's no longer I'm going to the dung gate, the 00:46:01.619 --> 00:46:05.639 east gate, the water gate. I'm now going to what? 00:46:05.699 --> 00:46:08.739 When the Messiah comes, he changes everything. 00:46:08.940 --> 00:46:12.659 The gate that will open up in righteousness is 00:46:12.659 --> 00:46:17.219 now with thanksgiving and gratitude. Now, what 00:46:17.219 --> 00:46:20.760 else does it say? I thank you that you have answered 00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:23.860 me and have become my salvation. Now they're 00:46:23.860 --> 00:46:27.599 getting close here. The stone that the builders 00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:30.760 have rejected has become the cornerstone. So 00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:33.239 what's this prophecy saying? He's saying now, 00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:36.880 the one who is salvation, he is the cornerstone. 00:46:36.980 --> 00:46:40.579 And even though he'll be rejected, this is marvelous 00:46:40.579 --> 00:46:43.699 in the work and the doing of God. Now, what else 00:46:43.699 --> 00:46:46.199 does he say? This is the Lord's doing. It is 00:46:46.199 --> 00:46:49.079 marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the 00:46:49.079 --> 00:46:52.579 Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in 00:46:52.579 --> 00:46:58.409 it. Here it is. Save us, we pray, O Lord. O Lord, 00:46:58.530 --> 00:47:03.449 we pray, give us success. Verse 26, blessed is 00:47:03.449 --> 00:47:07.969 he who comes in the name of the Lord. That is 00:47:07.969 --> 00:47:12.489 a direct reference of Psalms 118 of what they 00:47:12.489 --> 00:47:16.130 were saying. And then what did they say? We bless 00:47:16.130 --> 00:47:20.150 you from the house of the Lord. For the Lord 00:47:20.150 --> 00:47:24.099 has made his light shine upon us. And then it 00:47:24.099 --> 00:47:30.820 says, bind the festal sacrifice with cords up 00:47:30.820 --> 00:47:34.840 to the horns of the altar. For you are my God 00:47:34.840 --> 00:47:36.719 and I will give thanks to you. You are my God, 00:47:36.760 --> 00:47:39.139 I will extol you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord 00:47:39.139 --> 00:47:43.539 for he is good. His steadfast love endures forever. 00:47:44.559 --> 00:47:46.699 All right, now I'm gonna come down here and try 00:47:46.699 --> 00:47:48.340 to spend the rest of the time just connecting 00:47:48.340 --> 00:47:52.260 with you a little bit. Why is that so important? 00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:54.679 We just heard Hosanna, blessed is he who comes 00:47:54.679 --> 00:47:56.320 in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. 00:47:56.440 --> 00:48:01.559 And now we hear the same chapter and verses saying, 00:48:01.719 --> 00:48:08.840 now bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the 00:48:08.840 --> 00:48:15.320 horns of the altar. Any idea what that, why that 00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:23.590 would be said? Okay, good. Okay, any idea? No. 00:48:23.969 --> 00:48:27.190 Anybody have an idea of why it would be said 00:48:27.190 --> 00:48:33.050 like that? Bind the festival sacrifice to the 00:48:33.050 --> 00:48:37.289 horns of the altar. Things that make you go, 00:48:37.349 --> 00:48:42.539 hmm. Well, I know you're probably thinking about, 00:48:42.579 --> 00:48:44.179 you were just getting ready to say this, Kurt. 00:48:44.300 --> 00:48:47.579 You said, Pastor Brad, Luke, or excuse me, Leviticus 00:48:47.579 --> 00:48:51.320 4, 7 should be the first place you start to look. 00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:54.440 I know you were thinking that. And Leviticus 00:48:54.440 --> 00:48:58.699 16, because right there, it begins to tell us 00:48:58.699 --> 00:49:01.179 of two things that should be done of why the 00:49:01.179 --> 00:49:04.019 horns of the altar. Number one, first of all, 00:49:04.019 --> 00:49:07.739 what altar? Well, the altar that they're talking 00:49:07.739 --> 00:49:11.690 about is the bronze altar. The bronze altar was 00:49:11.690 --> 00:49:14.170 the first piece of furniture that in the Old 00:49:14.170 --> 00:49:17.349 Testament sacrificial system in the tabernacle 00:49:17.349 --> 00:49:20.510 would have been what? Represents the place where 00:49:20.510 --> 00:49:27.110 you brought a sacrifice to die and what had to 00:49:27.110 --> 00:49:29.849 take place. You brought it to die. There would 00:49:29.849 --> 00:49:34.570 be blood splashed upon the altar and blood. Now, 00:49:34.610 --> 00:49:37.949 so can I use you as an example? You're gonna 00:49:37.949 --> 00:49:40.760 have to get. give your stuff because it's going 00:49:40.760 --> 00:49:45.239 to get a little physical. Okay. So Anthony, Anthony 00:49:45.239 --> 00:49:47.820 represents, Anthony's going to represent the 00:49:47.820 --> 00:49:51.360 horn of the altar. So here you have four horns 00:49:51.360 --> 00:49:52.780 of the altar. What does that look like? Well, 00:49:52.820 --> 00:49:56.860 it means that there was a, a, a rectangle altar 00:49:56.860 --> 00:50:04.599 that was like probably about this long. And at 00:50:04.599 --> 00:50:08.090 the corner, each corner, northeast, Northwest, 00:50:08.389 --> 00:50:12.389 southeast, southwest, sorry. There would be horns 00:50:12.389 --> 00:50:16.690 that would stick up above the altar. Those horns, 00:50:16.710 --> 00:50:19.489 when we see them in diagrams, they really make 00:50:19.489 --> 00:50:23.090 the horns small. They weren't that small. Why? 00:50:23.289 --> 00:50:28.590 Because you had to be able to tie the sacrifice 00:50:28.590 --> 00:50:34.829 to the altar itself, not because it would squirm 00:50:34.829 --> 00:50:39.250 off of there, because it already, but to keep 00:50:39.250 --> 00:50:42.429 it there for the fire and what you would actually 00:50:42.429 --> 00:50:45.010 build underneath of it to actually consume it. 00:50:45.829 --> 00:50:51.010 And so Leviticus 16 tells us, and so here's the 00:50:51.010 --> 00:50:54.210 altar and here's a horn. Okay, no, just one horn. 00:50:54.389 --> 00:51:00.090 Okay, it says in Leviticus 16 that if I sin unintentionally, 00:51:00.940 --> 00:51:03.340 And remember, it says this in Judges, that maybe 00:51:03.340 --> 00:51:05.820 you, when they got their lot lines given to them 00:51:05.820 --> 00:51:07.960 from Joshua, he said, here's your inheritance, 00:51:08.139 --> 00:51:09.880 this tribe of Israel, here's your inheritance. 00:51:10.400 --> 00:51:12.159 But he said, when you're out doing wood, and 00:51:12.159 --> 00:51:13.880 let's say you're chopping wood, and your axe 00:51:13.880 --> 00:51:16.920 head falls off accidentally, and as you're swinging 00:51:16.920 --> 00:51:20.079 the axe, Scott and I were out chopping wood, 00:51:20.219 --> 00:51:22.099 and I swung the axe, and all of a sudden, my 00:51:22.099 --> 00:51:25.639 axe head just drills him straight, kink, and 00:51:25.639 --> 00:51:36.610 he's out, okay? Out. Okay. Then I realized that 00:51:36.610 --> 00:51:41.989 something happened really bad. He's out. Larissa 00:51:41.989 --> 00:51:48.349 is upset. She is sending now the kinsman redeemer 00:51:48.349 --> 00:51:53.349 or the man that is going to avenge the blood 00:51:53.349 --> 00:51:58.170 of her husband. I have one recourse. Stay. And 00:51:58.170 --> 00:52:02.670 get righteously murdered by Larissa's upset family. 00:52:03.090 --> 00:52:07.190 Or run to the altar. And grab a hold of the horn. 00:52:08.130 --> 00:52:10.630 Okay. Now I'm grabbing a hold of the horn of 00:52:10.630 --> 00:52:13.170 this altar. And as I grab a hold of the horn 00:52:13.170 --> 00:52:15.730 of the altar. Yeah you can come back up. As I 00:52:15.730 --> 00:52:18.989 grab a hold of the horn of the altar. I am saying. 00:52:19.170 --> 00:52:25.409 I plead mercy. For what I did. I did not know 00:52:25.409 --> 00:52:33.230 I was doing. I unintentionally lost that stupid 00:52:33.230 --> 00:52:37.909 axe head. And so now, you and I are going to 00:52:37.909 --> 00:52:41.309 have a whole new friendship. I now come to the 00:52:41.309 --> 00:52:44.869 horn of the altar and I grab this horn. And by 00:52:44.869 --> 00:52:49.590 the way, that horn was covered in blood. And 00:52:49.590 --> 00:52:52.369 I'm grabbing the horn of the altar and saying, 00:52:52.530 --> 00:52:58.059 this is my place to grab for mercy. And I cry 00:52:58.059 --> 00:53:01.019 out for mercy on the what? The bronze altar. 00:53:01.300 --> 00:53:04.179 Why was it bronze? Because bronze, keep it up 00:53:04.179 --> 00:53:07.980 if you can. Bronze, bronze represented judgment. 00:53:09.559 --> 00:53:13.119 And in order for God to deal with sin, he had 00:53:13.119 --> 00:53:18.340 to judge sin at that altar. That altar, are you 00:53:18.340 --> 00:53:20.440 ready for this? This is the amazing part. That 00:53:20.440 --> 00:53:22.780 altar was made, you can put it down now. That 00:53:22.780 --> 00:53:29.460 altar was made of acacia wood. What other ark 00:53:29.460 --> 00:53:36.079 or other saving tool did God use in the course 00:53:36.079 --> 00:53:39.519 of his revealing his mercy and his grace? It 00:53:39.519 --> 00:53:44.099 was called Noah's ark, which was made out of 00:53:44.099 --> 00:53:48.820 acacia wood. The same wood that was put together 00:53:48.820 --> 00:53:51.619 and built for over a hundred years declaring 00:53:51.619 --> 00:53:55.559 God's mercy and grace is the same wood that was 00:53:55.559 --> 00:53:58.559 now overlaid with bronze and that would be the 00:53:58.559 --> 00:54:01.159 place where blood would be poured out. It would 00:54:01.159 --> 00:54:05.820 be a type and shadow of a cross where wood now 00:54:05.820 --> 00:54:08.920 would take the sacrifice and where the stretching 00:54:08.920 --> 00:54:12.960 out of the nails would bind the sacrifice to 00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:17.840 the cords of the altar. Now Jesus, now please 00:54:17.840 --> 00:54:23.280 hear me on this. Jesus is now riding in on an 00:54:23.280 --> 00:54:27.900 untrained, lowly donkey and a donkey's colt. 00:54:27.900 --> 00:54:31.199 Now if you understand a donkey's colt, it's not 00:54:31.199 --> 00:54:37.460 fully developed. It possibly means that Jesus' 00:54:37.719 --> 00:54:43.400 sandals were dragging. Do you understand? Now, 00:54:43.420 --> 00:54:47.860 it's not like Jesus rode a dutch hound, a dachshund 00:54:47.860 --> 00:54:52.559 to Jerusalem. But what I'm saying is, it wasn't 00:54:52.559 --> 00:54:55.940 the full -sized donkey. It was still a colt. 00:54:57.320 --> 00:54:59.860 Now, they grow fast and get close to adulthood. 00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:03.239 So we don't know where in that growth it was. 00:55:03.300 --> 00:55:07.199 But it's very possible that the load itself was 00:55:07.199 --> 00:55:12.860 at maximum capacity. And that Jesus didn't have 00:55:12.860 --> 00:55:18.940 a whole lot of clearance. Riding a great Lippin's 00:55:18.940 --> 00:55:22.199 honor, white stallion, would have been what? 00:55:22.260 --> 00:55:26.780 High up in the stirrups, running about 16, 17 00:55:26.780 --> 00:55:29.860 hands high. A little donkey, there ain't even 00:55:29.860 --> 00:55:36.360 close to 17 hands. There's maybe six to the lowest 00:55:36.360 --> 00:55:40.599 of his belly, maybe seven to his belly. The reality 00:55:40.599 --> 00:55:45.760 is Jesus is riding in humility. He's riding in 00:55:45.760 --> 00:55:50.239 at the very time he tells the people to go get 00:55:50.239 --> 00:55:53.760 the colt. He's riding in humility. And yet the 00:55:53.760 --> 00:55:57.699 Spirit of God, as Jesus is living in humility, 00:55:57.860 --> 00:56:01.360 begins to release an atmosphere of a prophetic 00:56:01.360 --> 00:56:04.699 grace that people began to embrace or at least... 00:56:05.239 --> 00:56:08.679 Begin to declare, begin to move to it, whether 00:56:08.679 --> 00:56:12.320 they accept it or not. It's most likely it's 00:56:12.320 --> 00:56:16.420 seen that they didn't for the most part. And 00:56:16.420 --> 00:56:21.820 then here's the other mind blower. That day that 00:56:21.820 --> 00:56:25.420 Jesus rode into Jerusalem would have been the 00:56:25.420 --> 00:56:29.739 10th of Nisan. What does that mean? Well, on 00:56:29.739 --> 00:56:33.019 the calendar year of the Jewish calendar. It 00:56:33.019 --> 00:56:38.000 means that that was the day that they had selected. 00:56:38.900 --> 00:56:43.320 They all came from all over the known world to 00:56:43.320 --> 00:56:46.500 celebrate was the day they would pick out a lamb 00:56:46.500 --> 00:56:51.239 that they would take to their house to stay with 00:56:51.239 --> 00:56:56.260 so that in the next four days they would slaughter 00:56:56.260 --> 00:57:00.619 that lamb and have Passover together. Now here 00:57:00.619 --> 00:57:04.539 was what a lamb stood for. A lamb in that day 00:57:04.539 --> 00:57:09.659 was good for up to 10 people. That's significant. 00:57:09.800 --> 00:57:13.000 Why was that significant? Because it's telling 00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:17.320 us that just like there were 10 plagues in Egypt, 00:57:17.380 --> 00:57:21.900 that when that blood of that lamb was over the 00:57:21.900 --> 00:57:25.340 doorpost, the 10th and the death angel had to 00:57:25.340 --> 00:57:28.699 pass over. It's also representative that there 00:57:28.699 --> 00:57:33.380 were 10 law commandments given on Sinai. And 00:57:33.380 --> 00:57:37.840 that the blood of one lamb and the life of one 00:57:37.840 --> 00:57:42.860 lamb would what? Satisfy the commandments of 00:57:42.860 --> 00:57:48.699 God and declare someone justified by its blood. 00:57:49.820 --> 00:57:53.679 That means that God was changing something in 00:57:53.679 --> 00:57:56.420 the atmosphere. Thank you, Emily. It means that 00:57:56.420 --> 00:58:00.860 no longer. Would they just keep doing Passover 00:58:00.860 --> 00:58:04.760 after Passover after Passover without with just 00:58:04.760 --> 00:58:08.480 being a token? It means that this time Passover 00:58:08.480 --> 00:58:14.440 was going to be finished. And it means that the 00:58:14.440 --> 00:58:17.800 one that was riding into town in humility was 00:58:17.800 --> 00:58:22.059 the one that was picked for God's whole household. 00:58:24.159 --> 00:58:27.059 That the power of the law, which the Bible says, 00:58:27.719 --> 00:58:32.599 Broken law is the strength of sin. Jesus would 00:58:32.599 --> 00:58:37.440 become the power of his blood as the sacrifice 00:58:37.440 --> 00:58:41.639 would be the one selected for all of God's household 00:58:41.639 --> 00:58:45.380 that whoever would eat of the lamb. That's why 00:58:45.380 --> 00:58:49.480 he said in John 6, if you eat my flesh and drink 00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:51.579 my blood, you'll have part of me. If you don't, 00:58:51.579 --> 00:58:54.940 you can't have. Why? He became the lamb that 00:58:54.940 --> 00:58:57.619 those who put their trust in him would forever 00:58:57.619 --> 00:59:01.079 change. Meaning what? The power of the law and 00:59:01.079 --> 00:59:04.019 the power of the curse of death was broken. What 00:59:04.019 --> 00:59:11.500 else does it mean? In God's grace, four days 00:59:11.500 --> 00:59:18.000 later, in John 19, 14, when Pilate had already 00:59:18.000 --> 00:59:21.739 scourged Jesus and scourged him and found nothing 00:59:21.739 --> 00:59:26.960 of him deserving of death, they would cry, crucify 00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:32.260 him, crucify him. And the same lamb that would 00:59:32.260 --> 00:59:37.380 be taken and killed and the blood would be put 00:59:37.380 --> 00:59:40.880 upon the horns of the altar would now be the 00:59:40.880 --> 00:59:43.880 lamb of God that would be taken outside the city 00:59:43.880 --> 00:59:47.420 to Calvary, to a place called Golgotha. And he 00:59:47.420 --> 00:59:49.840 would be killed outside the city and his blood 00:59:49.840 --> 00:59:56.659 would do what? It would be the place where people 00:59:57.420 --> 01:00:01.300 would run outside the city, no longer to Jerusalem, 01:00:01.460 --> 01:00:06.219 but now to the place where the blood was shed 01:00:06.219 --> 01:00:10.840 and grab a hold of the one who became a sacrifice 01:00:10.840 --> 01:00:15.619 for them. You see, for most of us, for most of 01:00:15.619 --> 01:00:20.039 us, when it comes to the cross, it becomes such 01:00:20.039 --> 01:00:24.519 of a sober thing, and it is. But God in his mercy, 01:00:25.260 --> 01:00:27.940 can take something so horrific that we're supposed 01:00:27.940 --> 01:00:31.619 to understand the gravity of it, but then declare 01:00:31.619 --> 01:00:38.400 prophetically. Even when we don't fully understand 01:00:38.400 --> 01:00:41.519 it, he would say, when the sacrifice is chosen 01:00:41.519 --> 01:00:46.380 and he was presented to Jerusalem, you are bound 01:00:46.380 --> 01:00:53.340 to what? Celebrate, rejoice, and now bind the 01:00:53.340 --> 01:00:58.039 sacrifice. with the cords to the horns. I'm gonna 01:00:58.039 --> 01:01:00.079 come back over here to Anthony. Why is that important? 01:01:00.840 --> 01:01:06.380 Because you're gonna work out. Because God never 01:01:06.380 --> 01:01:12.400 lets Jesus do it alone. He did it alone and became 01:01:12.400 --> 01:01:14.980 rejected alone. He took that part that we could 01:01:14.980 --> 01:01:20.320 not do. But it says to us in Psalms 118, now 01:01:20.320 --> 01:01:24.559 we're to bind. The celestial offering or the 01:01:24.559 --> 01:01:30.179 sacrificial offering to the what? With the cords 01:01:30.179 --> 01:01:37.780 to the horns. What are we saying? What is our 01:01:37.780 --> 01:01:45.280 cords? Our cords are bonds of love. Our cords 01:01:45.280 --> 01:01:49.119 are what? If I look at that Hebrew word, that 01:01:49.119 --> 01:01:52.380 word means. There's multiple different definitions, 01:01:52.500 --> 01:01:55.920 but one of the definitions is it means with the 01:01:55.920 --> 01:02:02.460 bows that I brought to offer sacrifice. It actually 01:02:02.460 --> 01:02:08.159 means that I help secure the sacrifice on the 01:02:08.159 --> 01:02:12.699 altar. I bring my bows. I bring my, if I will, 01:02:12.739 --> 01:02:16.400 my wood that creates a fire of my love and my 01:02:16.400 --> 01:02:21.309 passion. And I'm now bound by love. with rejoicing 01:02:21.309 --> 01:02:26.190 and sacrificial worship, I'm actually tying that 01:02:26.190 --> 01:02:31.510 sacrifice down because it was done in my place. 01:02:34.690 --> 01:02:37.909 That's why the horns of the altar are so important. 01:02:38.090 --> 01:02:42.750 Because it's a place that is risen in God that 01:02:42.750 --> 01:02:50.380 says, mercy speaks louder than judgment. The 01:02:50.380 --> 01:02:53.900 horns of the altar speak to a place where I now 01:02:53.900 --> 01:02:56.340 bring my sacrifice. That's why the Bible says 01:02:56.340 --> 01:03:01.139 what? Willingly offer your body as a sacrifice, 01:03:01.239 --> 01:03:04.000 holy and acceptable to God. This is your reasonable 01:03:04.000 --> 01:03:07.579 service of worship. Two are better than one and 01:03:07.579 --> 01:03:10.760 a three -stranded cord is not easily broken. 01:03:10.900 --> 01:03:14.719 What am I doing? I am pledging my celebration. 01:03:15.679 --> 01:03:19.739 My rejoicing. I am pledging my life to the one 01:03:19.739 --> 01:03:24.500 that God selected for me. His blood, his life 01:03:24.500 --> 01:03:29.000 now has come. When Jesus rides into the atmosphere 01:03:29.000 --> 01:03:33.019 of my life, it is now one that I run to the altar 01:03:33.019 --> 01:03:38.840 and I rejoice. Why? My rejoicing is I'm not under 01:03:38.840 --> 01:03:45.019 judgment anymore. I'm not under judgment anymore. 01:03:45.900 --> 01:03:49.420 That's what Palm Sunday is about. Palm Sunday 01:03:49.420 --> 01:03:54.960 is about God selecting one for his whole household 01:03:54.960 --> 01:03:59.860 that the blood on the altar, on the cross that 01:03:59.860 --> 01:04:04.119 would be shed in four days is big enough to cover 01:04:04.119 --> 01:04:09.239 every broken law that you have done or will do. 01:04:09.380 --> 01:04:14.719 And you have access by rejoicing, rejoicing in 01:04:14.719 --> 01:04:19.170 his love, rejoicing in his favor, rejoicing that 01:04:19.170 --> 01:04:23.289 his mercy triumphs over judgment and that you 01:04:23.289 --> 01:04:28.570 have found a place in God's family. Would you 01:04:28.570 --> 01:04:30.289 bow your head and close your eyes with me for 01:04:30.289 --> 01:04:37.110 a moment as we finish this up? Mercy triumphs 01:04:37.110 --> 01:04:45.139 over judgment. For those of you that are Watching 01:04:45.139 --> 01:04:47.260 online and those that are hearing the sound of 01:04:47.260 --> 01:04:50.539 my voice as we move into this place of prayer. 01:04:52.239 --> 01:04:55.079 In just a little bit I'm going to ask for a response 01:04:55.079 --> 01:04:59.460 but I want to set the table this morning. My 01:04:59.460 --> 01:05:03.500 job is just to release the message the same way 01:05:03.500 --> 01:05:08.099 that Jesus and the Holy Spirit brought an atmosphere 01:05:08.099 --> 01:05:11.800 to draw people in. He's still doing that now. 01:05:12.719 --> 01:05:17.670 Jesus told A man named Nicodemus who came to 01:05:17.670 --> 01:05:20.630 him at night afraid of his contemporaries and 01:05:20.630 --> 01:05:22.670 his buddies that were high up in the Sanhedrin. 01:05:23.309 --> 01:05:28.670 Jesus said to him, if I be lifted up, I will 01:05:28.670 --> 01:05:34.809 draw all people unto me. That same grace is active. 01:05:35.869 --> 01:05:39.170 I find it interesting that same, that was a picture 01:05:39.170 --> 01:05:42.789 of what? The bronze serpent on a bronze pole. 01:05:42.889 --> 01:05:46.780 Again. representing the judgment of sin. If I 01:05:46.780 --> 01:05:50.800 be lifted up as the one they look to, Jesus is 01:05:50.800 --> 01:05:53.739 being lifted up now by the Holy Spirit. He is 01:05:53.739 --> 01:05:56.820 being lifted up in now in this room to everybody's 01:05:56.820 --> 01:05:59.619 eyes and heart. And the question is, wherever 01:05:59.619 --> 01:06:02.880 you're at, if you have not made Jesus Christ 01:06:02.880 --> 01:06:07.940 your King, your Savior, he is drawing you to 01:06:07.940 --> 01:06:11.750 himself. If you find yourself in a place of where 01:06:11.750 --> 01:06:15.730 you've become lukewarm. As he said to the last 01:06:15.730 --> 01:06:18.309 church in the book of Revelation, he goes, I 01:06:18.309 --> 01:06:20.590 wish that you were either hot or cold, but because 01:06:20.590 --> 01:06:24.409 you're lukewarm, I can't keep you. I've got to 01:06:24.409 --> 01:06:28.929 spew you out. Why? You're not taking my word 01:06:28.929 --> 01:06:33.789 with seriousness. You're in two camps. Your heart's 01:06:33.789 --> 01:06:37.739 in two places. Or maybe you find yourself You've 01:06:37.739 --> 01:06:40.619 not known the Lord. You're here today. You found 01:06:40.619 --> 01:06:43.760 yourself lukewarm as you've known the Lord. Or 01:06:43.760 --> 01:06:46.559 maybe you know you've walked away from the Lord. 01:06:46.599 --> 01:06:50.639 You're in what we would call a place of backsliding. 01:06:50.679 --> 01:06:55.460 You know you're in sin, but you know who Jesus 01:06:55.460 --> 01:06:59.400 is. And yet, depending on what you're involved 01:06:59.400 --> 01:07:03.039 in and who you're involved in, you found at this 01:07:03.039 --> 01:07:06.369 moment the choices of... Letting go of what you've 01:07:06.369 --> 01:07:08.969 liked have been too difficult for you. But today 01:07:08.969 --> 01:07:12.429 the Lord comes to you and looks to untie you. 01:07:13.909 --> 01:07:17.289 And he looks to bring you back into fellowship 01:07:17.289 --> 01:07:20.309 with him. Wherever you're at in that journey, 01:07:20.389 --> 01:07:25.690 wanting to know him, removing lukewarmness, or 01:07:25.690 --> 01:07:29.349 coming out of a place of being sidelined and 01:07:29.349 --> 01:07:32.420 backslidden. I'm gonna ask you to respond. If 01:07:32.420 --> 01:07:34.280 that's you today in any of those categories, 01:07:34.679 --> 01:07:37.400 would you be willing just to lift your hand up 01:07:37.400 --> 01:07:39.800 right now above your head? I'm gonna send somebody 01:07:39.800 --> 01:07:42.460 back to pray with you. We're gonna believe God 01:07:42.460 --> 01:07:45.980 right now to begin to restore. Thank you in the 01:07:45.980 --> 01:07:49.460 back. I'm gonna send a lady right now to you. 01:07:49.900 --> 01:07:53.300 Yes, and in the back as well. Thank you. Anyone 01:07:53.300 --> 01:08:17.159 else? Okay. Is there anyone else? Nathan's coming 01:08:17.159 --> 01:08:23.100 to you. Thank you. There's three of us. Thank 01:08:23.100 --> 01:08:25.960 you for responding. Anyone else before I move 01:08:25.960 --> 01:08:32.779 forward? It's time to allow the Spirit of God 01:08:32.779 --> 01:08:38.659 to begin to break those shackles, begin to draw 01:08:38.659 --> 01:08:42.880 your heart to a place where those cords of love 01:08:42.880 --> 01:08:47.270 would Bind your heart to his heart and the spirit 01:08:47.270 --> 01:08:50.189 of rejoicing and celebration that God loves you 01:08:50.189 --> 01:08:52.770 and is for you be released over your heart and 01:08:52.770 --> 01:08:57.789 your mind. So Lord, this morning, Father, as 01:08:57.789 --> 01:09:00.210 I pray for this congregation and as Pastor Trent 01:09:00.210 --> 01:09:03.630 comes, I'm asking now in Jesus' name, you would 01:09:03.630 --> 01:09:06.970 show yourself strong on behalf of those that 01:09:06.970 --> 01:09:11.010 you have given yourself to. You've called. each 01:09:11.010 --> 01:09:14.329 one of these people into the family of God. Lord, 01:09:14.449 --> 01:09:17.029 you're doing so right now. You're forgiving them 01:09:17.029 --> 01:09:19.229 as they repent of their sin. You're bringing 01:09:19.229 --> 01:09:21.789 them back into relationship and you're bringing 01:09:21.789 --> 01:09:24.970 the power and the love and the witness of your 01:09:24.970 --> 01:09:28.210 Holy Spirit to reside inside of them. Let them 01:09:28.210 --> 01:09:34.970 receive you in fullness. No reservations. Welcoming 01:09:34.970 --> 01:09:37.909 your goodness and your kindness. For the rest 01:09:37.909 --> 01:09:43.239 of us, Lord, we receive. That this day, as we 01:09:43.239 --> 01:09:45.859 get ready to celebrate Easter this week, this 01:09:45.859 --> 01:09:50.119 day would be a reminder. You have always taught 01:09:50.119 --> 01:09:54.420 us that on the journey to the cross, we should 01:09:54.420 --> 01:10:00.619 have joy and rejoicing and celebration. That 01:10:00.619 --> 01:10:04.119 God did not leave us to our own, but he had a 01:10:04.119 --> 01:10:07.500 plan for us and he loves us that much that we 01:10:07.500 --> 01:10:12.100 would continually love. and enter joyfully into 01:10:12.100 --> 01:10:16.420 his presence because his mercy triumphs over 01:10:16.420 --> 01:10:22.279 judgment. Amen. Thank you for taking the time 01:10:22.279 --> 01:10:25.460 to listen to this week's message. We are so grateful 01:10:25.460 --> 01:10:28.060 for those who tune in each week and have given 01:10:28.060 --> 01:10:31.300 generously to this ministry. If you would like 01:10:31.300 --> 01:10:33.840 to give, click the link in the episode description 01:10:33.840 --> 01:10:37.000 below. You can also help us by subscribing to 01:10:37.000 --> 01:10:39.119 this podcast and sharing it with your friends 01:10:39.119 --> 01:10:42.510 and family. Lastly, if you are in need of prayer 01:10:42.510 --> 01:10:48.449 send us a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We 01:10:48.449 --> 01:10:49.670 would love to pray with you.