SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Taylor Gare, and I have the privilege of being the pastor here at First Baptist, and I want to thank you for listening into our sermon this week.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you this if you're in our area and you don't have a church home, we would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist El Doredo.
SPEAKER_00: Would you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?
SPEAKER_00: Open with me to Luke chapter 19.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 19.
SPEAKER_00: This morning we're going to be in verses 28 through 40.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read those for us now.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 19, 28 through 40.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And when he drew near to Bethpage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat.
SPEAKER_00: Untie it and bring it here.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it, you shall say this, The Lord has need of it.
SPEAKER_00: So those who were sent away, uh they were sent away and found it just as had been told them.
SPEAKER_00: And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, Why are you untying the colt?
SPEAKER_00: And they said, The Lord has need of it.
SPEAKER_00: And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
SPEAKER_00: And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
SPEAKER_00: As he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice, and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, by your spirit, in these moments would you speak to our hearts for your glory, we ask.
SPEAKER_00: In Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Over the last few weeks, we have seen the importance of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: I uh appreciate Colby preaching last week.
SPEAKER_00: As we continued to see the importance of the resurrection, I've been told the entire service last week was 43 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: I've had sermons that hadn't even gotten to the first point in 43 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm so impressed.
SPEAKER_00: But as we've been looking towards the resurrection of the Son of God and what it means for our lives, I want us to now see, both this week and next week, really, I want to see it in the Gospel of Luke, the importance of the leading up to that moment, the cross and the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And certainly next Sunday, I want us to see in Luke chapter 24 the resurrection of the Son of God and the importance for our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to see three things today.
SPEAKER_00: The intent of Jesus is firm.
SPEAKER_00: The authority of Jesus is sure.
SPEAKER_00: And the worship of Jesus is inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: The intent of Jesus is firm, the authority of Jesus is sure, and the worship of Jesus is inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: First, the intent of Jesus is firm.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me again at verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: So where is Jesus, and what are these things that he has been saying?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we see in chapter 19, leading up to this point in verse 28, that Jesus is in Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: Jericho is close to Jerusalem, about 18 miles outside of town.
SPEAKER_00: And we see the beginning of chapter 19, he is having this moment with Zacchaeus, this tax collector, the biggest uh crook, fraud in town.
SPEAKER_00: And he has this moment, Zacchaeus does with Jesus, and it changes everything in his life.
SPEAKER_00: He comes to know the Lord, and not only that, he repents of his sins, begins to repay all that he had stolen from others.
SPEAKER_00: This miraculous encounter.
SPEAKER_00: Then we have uh this story.
SPEAKER_00: Uh you think of these stories of the these ten minas, the ten, these talents that Jesus gives out, or in the story, this one that Jesus tells, he gives out uh the these funds, and the individuals who receive these funds, they go out and hopefully do something with it.
SPEAKER_00: The responsibility they are given, some come back and return, and they have made a profit on what they were given.
SPEAKER_00: One returns and has done absolutely nothing with what he's been given.
SPEAKER_00: The moral to the story, Jesus wants to show us, we have been given, as followers of Christ, great responsibility, great gifts.
SPEAKER_00: We have been empowered with the very presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: And the question is this from that story what are we doing with it?
SPEAKER_00: Are we hiding it away, or are we making much of the glory of God with what we have been given?
SPEAKER_00: And so all of this leads up to verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had said these things.
SPEAKER_00: He's about 18 miles outside of town, but now he is gonna go ahead and he is going to go up to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in this moment, we see really the point that the intent of Jesus is firm.
SPEAKER_00: What is Jesus' intent in this moment?
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to overthink it.
SPEAKER_00: It's simply this it's to get to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: But that intent, that intentional nature to this journey didn't begin in Luke chapter 19.
SPEAKER_00: You can really back up to Luke chapter 9 and verse 51, where that road towards Jerusalem really begins.
SPEAKER_00: It says this, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, and that means taken up, arrested to the cross, to the resurrection, he set his face to go towards Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
SPEAKER_00: The Gospel of Luke is is not a very balanced book.
SPEAKER_00: Chapters 1 through 9 cover about 33 years of Jesus' life.
SPEAKER_00: And then the second half of chapter 9 through 24 cover about the last 10 days.
SPEAKER_00: So the first nine chapters, 33 years, uh the last about 15 chapters, uh, 10 days.
SPEAKER_00: Luke wants to show us the importance of what is gonna happen in really this week and a few days after, once we see Jesus come into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: But what we see is beginning in chapter nine, Jesus has set his face towards Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: What it doesn't mean is simply this.
SPEAKER_00: He just wants to see the town.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what's there.
SPEAKER_00: As a young boy, he went there.
SPEAKER_00: We read the story of him going there with his family.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure he took many trips towards Jerusalem from the north in Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what's in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: When Luke is talking about Jesus setting his face towards Jerusalem, that's his way of saying he is setting his face towards the cross.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what is going to happen when he arrives in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: They will arrest me and they will uh take me to a hill called Calvary, Golgotha, and they will put me upon a cross where I will die.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he knows is going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: None of it caught him by surprise.
SPEAKER_00: Uh none of them came out, none of it came out of the blue for him.
SPEAKER_00: He knew where he was heading.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, here in uh chapter 19, he sets his face towards Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Way back in chapter 9, he has set his face towards Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: But we can go back much further than that.
SPEAKER_00: I I think about uh written some 700 years before Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: We saw last December, Isaiah 53, verse 5, but he was pierced for our transgressions.
SPEAKER_00: He was crushed for our iniquities.
SPEAKER_00: And upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' path towards Jerusalem did not begin in chapter 19 or 9 of Luke.
SPEAKER_00: Didn't even begin in chapter 2 of Luke, when that baby boy is born in a manger in Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_00: We could argue it didn't even begin 700 years before Luke when Isaiah prophesies.
SPEAKER_00: We can go back even further to Genesis chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Man and woman has sinned against God, and God comes into the garden and looks at the serpent and says, One is coming, and you will bruise his heel, but he will crush your head.
SPEAKER_00: That all the way back in the garden, there was this realization that a coming one would indeed come, and yes, he would be stricken, but the greater blow would come upon the serpent when the head is crushed.
SPEAKER_00: That way back in Genesis chapter 3, the story of our redemption is laid out and the person of Christ is promised.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the reality is we could say the road towards Jerusalem started even before that.
SPEAKER_00: In uh Revelation chapter uh 13, verse 8, what does it say?
SPEAKER_00: That he is the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world.
SPEAKER_00: So before the worlds were even created, before you and I were living, breathing individuals, before all of this was here, before the beginning, before the foundation of the world, the Lamb of God had the cross on his mind.
SPEAKER_00: The intent of Jesus is firm and has always been firm.
SPEAKER_00: So we gotta make sure we're clear on something, and we've said it before, that the work of the gospel, the cross, uh it was not uh plan B.
SPEAKER_00: As if back in Genesis, uh God didn't see coming the fact that man and woman would fall into sin, as if he had no idea this would happen, and now he had to scramble to find a plan to redeem these people.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: Before the foundation of the world, the heart of our Father in heaven was on the redemption of you and I.
SPEAKER_00: And he would send his son, Jesus Christ the righteous, God in flesh, to secure our salvation through the cross and resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And so in Luke chapter 19, when he says, I'm I'm gonna set my face, I'm going up to Jerusalem, there's a lot there.
SPEAKER_00: That this is the journey to Jerusalem that would lead to the cross that has been on the mind of God from before the foundation of the world.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to think about something for you this morning, right where you sit, right where you are.
SPEAKER_00: I hope and pray that it encourages your heart and your spirit that you realize that there was never a moment when Christ's heart was not set on your redemption.
SPEAKER_00: That's for you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not preaching to the person next to you.
SPEAKER_00: It's only to you this morning that there was never a moment when Christ's heart was not set on your redemption, and was not ready and willing to go to the place of the cross on your behalf, because your sin and my sin demanded that we have a perfect Savior do what we could not do and die for us, and Jesus Christ the righteous, the Lamb who was slain, from before the foundation of the world, said, I will go for the sake of my people, and not just my people, collectively, my person individually, you in your pew, I will go on, Jesus says, on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: The intent of Jesus is firm.
SPEAKER_00: But I want us to see this the authority of Jesus is sure.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me, verse 29.
SPEAKER_00: When he drew near to Beth Page and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever set.
SPEAKER_00: Untie it and bring it here.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it?
SPEAKER_00: you shall say this, the Lord has need of it.
SPEAKER_00: So those who were sent away and found it just as they had been told to them, and as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, Why are you untying the colt?
SPEAKER_00: And they said, The Lord has need of it.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 35 begins, and they brought it to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's a pretty simple tale there.
SPEAKER_00: It's a pretty simple story.
SPEAKER_00: What happens is, uh, you know, let's not overthink it.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus needs a donkey on which he will ride into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He tells two disciples, go into town, you're gonna find it tied up.
SPEAKER_00: If someone asks, Why are you taking my property?
SPEAKER_00: you tell them, the Lord needs it.
SPEAKER_00: And then they go into town, they find the donkey where Jesus said it would be, someone asks, Why are you taking my property?
SPEAKER_00: And they say, The Lord needs it, and that reasoning is enough.
SPEAKER_00: And they get the donkey and they bring it to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It all happens exactly as Jesus says it would happen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's my question.
SPEAKER_00: If our point there is the authority of Jesus is sure, do we really see that in this moment?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh, Pastor, that that uh that's a great story.
SPEAKER_00: That he told, said there'd be a donkey there.
SPEAKER_00: They found the donkey exactly as he said.
SPEAKER_00: But but Pastor, don't you know there's more impressive stories than that in Scripture?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you want to show the authority of Jesus, the uh authority of the Lord God, there's there's more impressive places you can go.
SPEAKER_00: And let's be clear, there are incredibly impressive places we could go all throughout scripture, and by the way, in your own life, to show the authority of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But but what I love about this is that Jesus Christ, the one who was with God Himself, with the Father in the beginning, all things were created by him and through him.
SPEAKER_00: He created galaxies and spun the earth on its axis and he creates mountains and valleys and he tells the oceans to go this far and no further.
SPEAKER_00: He has this cosmic, eternal authority over all things, and at the same time, he also has authority over the smallest of details.
SPEAKER_00: That not only Jesus says, Can I tell a mountain where to sit and how high to rise, I can also just tell a donkey where he needs to be and when.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say this as a side note this morning that in your own life, I hope and pray you know that the Lord Jesus has authority over the big, massive moments in your life.
SPEAKER_00: The big things, the seemingly insurmountable things that are before you even now, the Lord is authoritative over that.
SPEAKER_00: We will worship him accordingly.
SPEAKER_00: He is worthy and he is uh authoritative over it, and praise God for that.
SPEAKER_00: I also want you to know this that he also is authoritative in the small details of your life.
SPEAKER_00: Those little moments in your life where you're almost even tempted to say, I don't know that I pray about that.
SPEAKER_00: That's a teeny tiny thing.
SPEAKER_00: Surely God has bigger and better things to do than worry with that little prayer request there.
SPEAKER_00: Surely God doesn't have the time of day to give give his thoughts towards that.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: God has all the time of day for every detail of your life because he's authoritative over every detail of your life and is capable to handle every aspect and detail of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And if he just needs to tell a donkey where to be and when to be there, and tell the owner of that donkey just to let him go, he'll do it.
SPEAKER_00: And he's able to do it.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord is so faithful to do it in big ways and small ways.
SPEAKER_00: What I love that this tells us is he tells a donkey where to be and when to be.
SPEAKER_00: All throughout the gospels we see this that Jesus has full authority over all of the events of his life to lead him to the moment of Calvary and the cross and the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And there's never a moment where Jesus is out of control.
SPEAKER_00: There's never a moment when Jesus isn't right on time, and when Jesus says the word, it's done.
SPEAKER_00: We've seen on Wednesday nights all throughout the book of Mark how Jesus is right on time in his own schedule.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he'll heal someone and tell them, him or her, you know, don't tell anyone about this because of the fact that my time has not yet come.
SPEAKER_00: It's not time to reveal myself on a large scale.
SPEAKER_00: So, so leave this to this little group.
SPEAKER_00: Don't tell anyone, and we we laugh every Wednesday night because the next thing they do is tell everyone they've ever met what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_00: But all throughout, things go on his timetable, in his moment.
SPEAKER_00: When it's my time to go to the cross, I will go.
SPEAKER_00: In John 18, we read last year around this time.
SPEAKER_00: They come to arrest Jesus and the whole crowd, the legion of soldiers.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Jesus says, Who are you seeking?
SPEAKER_00: And and and they say, Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus just says this, I am He, and the whole legion falls to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: And in this moment of Jesus' arrest, there is no doubt who is actually in authority in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: That this crew can only arrest Jesus if Jesus allows himself to be arrested.
SPEAKER_00: He can only go to the cross if Jesus allows himself to go to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: There's never a moment where Jesus is not in full control, is not the full authoritative presence.
SPEAKER_00: But don't miss this.
SPEAKER_00: How does Jesus use his control?
SPEAKER_00: How does Jesus use that authoritative presence?
SPEAKER_00: He uses it to lay down himself and go to the cross on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: I'll just tell you.
SPEAKER_00: And then I would probably not have a series of verses that leads me right up to the place of my arrest and my crucifixion.
SPEAKER_00: Again, I would have verses that say, I got out of town as quick as possible.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, how does Jesus use his authority in these moments to lay down himself for you and I?
SPEAKER_00: The one who is fully in control uses that control to go to the cross on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: What does that tell you about Jesus' love for you?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' heart for you.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel that Jesus has done the work of, the work of the gospel on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: The intent of Jesus is firm, the authority of Jesus is sure.
SPEAKER_00: I want to say one more thing.
SPEAKER_00: The worship of Jesus is inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus will be worshiped.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to miss that.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' name will be glorified.
SPEAKER_00: We're not sitting here wondering if at the end of all things, if Jesus will be the one to reign supreme.
SPEAKER_00: He will be the one to reign for all eternity.
SPEAKER_00: The question you and I have is will we be with him in eternity?
SPEAKER_00: Eternity, lifting up his name.
SPEAKER_00: I pray everyone in this room will be.
SPEAKER_00: The worship of Jesus is inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: They brought this colt, this donkey to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
SPEAKER_00: And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
SPEAKER_00: As he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.
SPEAKER_00: So capture this picture of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He comes in riding on this donkey, which in itself is this beautiful picture.
SPEAKER_00: Because five hundred years before this, Zechariah the prophet wrote, you know, as you are looking for your coming king, how will you identify him?
SPEAKER_00: And he says this, he's the one that will come in humble and riding on a donkey.
SPEAKER_00: And here, 500 years later, we see this become a reality as Jesus comes into town on this donkey, and everyone lays down their cloaks on the road, this sign of respect, and then they cry out, verse 38, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: They are really reciting part of Psalm 118.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Yet they even go a step further, Blessed is the king.
SPEAKER_00: They are acknowledging the king.
SPEAKER_00: Zechariah told us this one who is coming would be the king.
SPEAKER_00: It continues, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: These sounds like words we heard earlier in this book in Luke chapter 2, the night of Jesus' birth, and the angels, their announcement.
SPEAKER_00: We see the glory in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: There is worship taking place as the king rides into town.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the week that is about to unfold is about to unfold probably a little differently than a lot of the people in the crowd that day anticipate.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, in this moment still, the worship of Jesus is rising from the people who have gathered to watch the king come into town.
SPEAKER_00: But then verse 39, and some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Now we we've had many encounters with the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: These Pharisees, these religious leaders, these teachers of the law were somewhat convinced that their job in life is to find anyone having a good time.
SPEAKER_00: And if we could just shut that down, that'd be fantastic.
SPEAKER_00: If you are enjoying your spiritual life, if we could find a way to shut that down, that'd be great.
SPEAKER_00: And so they come to Jesus, they're looking at the uh excited, exuberant worship, people crying out and laying down their cloaks, and maybe the children waving the palm branches like we've seen this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And they say this, teacher, it's getting out of hand.
SPEAKER_00: Teacher, rebuke your disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And in one sense, I I can relate to the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: I'm someone, my biggest fear in life is making a scene.
SPEAKER_00: Am I right?
SPEAKER_00: Is making a scene.
SPEAKER_00: I won't go to a restaurant near my birthday because if those waiters start singing and the restaurant starts looking, I'm sometimes even scared to order fajitas.
SPEAKER_00: If they sizzle too much on the way, people will know where I'm at.
SPEAKER_00: I don't like making a scene.
SPEAKER_00: In this moment, the Pharisees look, a scene is being made.
SPEAKER_00: They're yelling, they're screaming, they're excited about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: A scene is unfolding in this moment, and yet there is a time when it's quite alright if a scene is made, and that's when Jesus is being worshiped.
SPEAKER_00: And the Pharisees don't like it.
SPEAKER_00: Rebuke your disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 40 says this Jesus answered, I tell you, if these were silent, if my disciples are silent in this moment, you're still out of luck.
SPEAKER_00: Because the very stones would cry out.
SPEAKER_00: If my people ceased to worship in this moment, the very rocks that lay before you today would begin to lift up their voice in the worship of King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Creation has never struggled to worship King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The sun rises every morning as Jesus instructs it and does so to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: The tide of the ocean comes in, and over and over again these waves come forth to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: They have not struggled to worship.
SPEAKER_00: You and I at times struggle to worship.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, let me rephrase.
SPEAKER_00: I'm convinced we actually don't have a worship problem, you and I.
SPEAKER_00: I'm convinced we have a direction problem.
SPEAKER_00: For everyone who's ever lived, worship has not been the issue.
SPEAKER_00: We're good at it.
SPEAKER_00: The direction of worship has been the issue.
SPEAKER_00: Worshiping the one who is worthy, instead of so often we worship anything and everything else around us, including our very selves.
SPEAKER_00: It was fascinating.
SPEAKER_00: A week ago today, I was uh just such so privileged to be at Westminster Chapel in London.
SPEAKER_00: Uh went into London for the day.
SPEAKER_00: Um I mean it was it was a longer trip.
SPEAKER_00: I don't mean I just flew in for the day.
SPEAKER_00: And I was at Westminster Chapel and where Martin Lloyd Jones preached 60 years ago from uh 1938 to 1968, and I got to be in his church.
SPEAKER_00: This large, beautiful room, uh in some sense looks like this, but two rising wraparound balconies, just the most beautiful room you could ever uh imagine uh being at church in.
SPEAKER_00: And here in Westminster Chapel, it was so encouraging because it's still such a fruitful, beautiful church, a worshiping church that is still committed to the preaching of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I saw it last week, but I loved being there, and and and it just to Martin Lloyd Jones is someone I've spent a lot of time studying, just to be in his church was so neat.
SPEAKER_00: I believe he he may be the greatest preacher of the 20th century.
SPEAKER_00: There was no one like him.
SPEAKER_00: Afterwards, I had the privilege of meeting someone who had been there many, many years, and he said he was an unconverted teenager when he first came to Westminster Chapel, but he was there for the last four years of Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Martin Lloyd Jones' ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Got to sit under his preaching, and so we talked for a good long time, and then I asked him, Is there, is there anything here of you know Lloyd Jones's?
SPEAKER_00: Is is his pulpit here a desk?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I said, Did Lloyd Jones touch something in the room?
SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll touch it, you know?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Let's go look.
SPEAKER_00: And and and and we looked around.
SPEAKER_00: He knew a few places where if there was something there it might be.
SPEAKER_00: And we go, and it's not in the first place, it's not in the second place.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, just hang with me now.
SPEAKER_00: And so we kind of walk out of the building into a building next door, owned by the church.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but we go up these stairs, and then there's this one room he walks me in, and it's this storage room.
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, it looks just like a storage room at any church in America.
SPEAKER_00: We we got a few of them.
SPEAKER_00: And and floor to ceiling, just chairs are stacked, you know, tubs of different supplies are stacked.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a tub from VBS 1978, and you know, all these things, and it's stacked up high.
SPEAKER_00: And and at the back of this floor-to-ceiling room, he he points, and I can see this wooden desk turned upside down in the back, and he says, You can't, I can't get to it, but if you look back there, that's Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Martin Lloyd Jones' desk.
SPEAKER_00: Upside down in the back of a storage room.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says, right beside it, again, upside down in a corner in the back of a storage room, that's Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Martin Lloyd Jones' pulpit.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this guy has been unbelievable to me, so I couldn't, you know, show how I was truly feeling, but I was devastated.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean his pulpit is in the corner of some storage unit in the church?
SPEAKER_00: Turned upside down, probably getting scuffed up.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I I was devastated.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm still devastated by it.
SPEAKER_00: I can't believe this is the case, but in that moment, I will say this the Lord just stopped me in my tracks and reminded me something very important about the danger of worshiping man.
SPEAKER_00: That the greatest preachers among us, their pulpits are gonna probably end up in the back of a storage closet somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: That our heroes, whoever they may be, preachers, celebrities, athletes, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: When their dying day comes and they have a dying day, maybe some of their uh their legacy might go on, maybe some of their accomplishments might be remembered for a little while, but at the end of the day, all of our accomplishments, they may end up in a storage closet somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: Our pulpit, our desk may end up there.
SPEAKER_00: When we worship man, we end up falling so short of our uh created intent for our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Because every one of us and everything we worship that is not the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, everything will fall short, and everything has an expiration date, and yet there is one whom his worship will not end.
SPEAKER_00: That his work doesn't end up in some storage closet.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, his work is remembered day by day and moment by moment.
SPEAKER_00: His cross stands firm, his resurrection uh stands sure.
SPEAKER_00: There is one who is fully worthy of all our worship.
SPEAKER_00: And even if you and I are quiet and cease to worship him, the very rocks outside this building would start to cry out the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The worship of Jesus is inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: And I can prove it in one more place.
SPEAKER_00: Really, Paul can prove it.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: We see this beautiful moment where Paul is describing what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_00: He has emptied himself on our behalf, become a servant, become obedient to death, even death on the cross, and then it says this therefore God has highly exalted him, bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: The worship of Jesus is inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: That one of these days, every knee in heaven and earth and under the earth will bow to the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And every tongue will confess that he is the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you read that right.
SPEAKER_00: It says, even those under the earth.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul is saying then, even those who have rebelled against Jesus, who despise Jesus, and have gone to hell for eternity because they are rebels to Jesus, even they will acknowledge that he is who he says he is.
SPEAKER_00: That shouldn't surprise us.
SPEAKER_00: Even James says the demons know who he is and they shudder.
SPEAKER_00: They have no problem acknowledging who he is.
SPEAKER_00: They don't like it, they don't enjoy it, they rebel against him, but they know who he is.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' name will be acknowledged among all people for all times to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: This is where this is heading.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have one of two responses.
SPEAKER_00: I think the first response to that is uh I want you to acknowledge the name of Jesus as a child of God and not a rebel of God.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna acknowledge him either way.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to do it as the rebel who wants nothing to do with him.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to do it as a child of God whom he has brought into his heavenly kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And so your acknowledgement of the name of Jesus is a response to all that he's done for you.
SPEAKER_00: But also this, for those who have already responded, I would just encourage you this.
SPEAKER_00: Don't wait until heaven to give him your best worship.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the rocks cry out now and say, I'll worship him around his throne on the other side of eternity.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Give him uh your offering of worship now.
SPEAKER_00: What does that look like?
SPEAKER_00: It looks like what we do every Sunday morning through song.
SPEAKER_00: Certainly, our worship is done through song, and and we do it, praise God, every Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: We'll do it in just a minute.
SPEAKER_00: But it also looks like your very life a life of worshiping the Lord in response of all that he has done for you.
SPEAKER_00: I I just closed by reminding us once again.
SPEAKER_00: The intent of Jesus, it was firm.
SPEAKER_00: His thought was on Calvary.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because his heart was set on your redemption.
SPEAKER_00: The authority of Jesus is sure.
SPEAKER_00: He is the Savior who was always in authority, always in control, and use that authority to go to the cross on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: The worship of Jesus is inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: He will be worshipped, his name will be acknowledged for all eternity.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that your worship would begin even now.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't join us in worship with your life, the rocks will cry out in your place, but I pray they don't have to.
SPEAKER_00: I pray you join the chorus in song, but really with your very life, to worship the one who is worthy.
SPEAKER_00: Next week, as we come into this room on Easter morning at 8:30 or 10:30, we're gonna read again just how worthy he is, because he is the Son of God who has been raised from the dead on our behalf.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not just a story for Easter morning, that's a story for every day of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And that is a response of worship that we are called to give every day of our lives because he is worthy.
SPEAKER_00: Would you pray with me now?
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, I do thank you for the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your cross, thank you for the resurrection, and Lord, let us not wait to worship.
SPEAKER_00: Let us not wait to make much of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, if there's one in this room who for the first time needs to say, I want to know Jesus Christ personally, I pray today would be the day that they would join the chorus of worshipers both now and for all eternity, making much of the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: However, maybe we need to respond this morning, would we do so?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we just need to do business with you, Lord, right in our pew, right where we're at.
SPEAKER_00: And just in a manner of prayer, just lift our request to you and be reminded of what you've done for us.
SPEAKER_00: However, we may need to respond, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Let us do it now as we worship.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand now?
SPEAKER_00: I'll be down front.
SPEAKER_00: If you have to respond in any way, I'll be here to be with you, and I'd love to chat with you about anything going on.
SPEAKER_00: Here I am.