SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Global Harvest Calgaries Podcast, where faith becomes real and purpose comes alive. We pray that today's message helps you recognize the hand of God in your everyday life and discover the unique purpose He has placed inside you. Our heart is that you don't just hear a sermon, but truly experience his presence, his guidance, and his love in a personal way. Whether you're in a season of searching, rebuilding, or stepping into something new, you're not here by accident. God is closer than you think, and your purpose is greater than you imagine. Enjoy the message.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

So I'm gonna take a text from Max Gospel chapter 11, and we'll consider the first 11 verses. Mark 11 verses 1 to 11. Mark's gospel 11. You found it say yes, I'm there. Okay. It's also up on the screen. It says now when they drew near Jerusalem to Bethage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and he said to them, Go into the village opposite you. And as soon as you have entered, uh as soon as you have entered it, you will find a colt tied on which no one has sat. Lose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, Why are you doing this? Say the Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it here. And so they went their way and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they losed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, What are you doing losing the colt? And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw the clothes on it, and he sat on it. Everybody help me with verse 8. One, two, go. And then he spread the clothes on the road, and others caught down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord. And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when he had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelfth. May the Lord bless the teaching of his word. So this just triumphant entry, we call it Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And we see how the cult was brought, and people put their clothes on the cult's back for Jesus to be able to sit comfortably, and then they also drop their clothes on the floor, drop palms and trees and leaves on the floor for him to make his entrance into Jerusalem, and they were screaming and shouting. So I'm just bringing out some relationship dynamic here because they were celebrating him and they were rejoicing and they were glad because what they believed was before them right there was the savior that will deliver them out of the physical oppression that they were going through. Israel was occupied by Rome, and they were what you would say, you would say they were colonized, as it were, by Rome at this time. So they were hoping for a physical deliverance, they were hoping somebody will come and you know this Jesus will lead a revolution, so to say, and then the armies will rise and then chase you know the Roman occupation out, and then they'll be delivered. So that's the idea. In fact, in Acts chapter one, when Jesus, just before Jesus ascended, you know, okay, so we we back, we go back into the story and we know that's not what happened when he entered Jerusalem. So that didn't happen, right? So now finally in Acts chapter one, when it was about to ascend, the disciples were still asking him again, okay, okay, okay, we know you didn't do that that first time, but now now that you because now you actually walk through walls, now you you are more powerful than you were before you rose from the dead. So then I said, Will you now, will you at this time now restore the kingdom back to Israel? They say, now that we've got more Jews, praise God, we can do more things now. In fact, we can just we can just make sure that the soldiers freeze wherever they are. It's not like now he's become a superhero. Praise God. So will you at this time restore the kingdom now? Will you do that now? Jesus says, Hey, it's not for you to know the time and the seasons that the father has in his own hands. That time is gonna come. All right, so at the at the triumphant entry, they thought that moment had come and they were all delighted. Well, just fast forward the end of that week. When they discovered he wasn't gonna do what they thought he would do, these people turned on him. And the same people that were shouting Hosanna were now shouting what crucify him. And right there, the we see humanity at its best and as its worst. Uh, when things are good, people are good. When things don't particularly work out the way they want things, people give up, people throw in the towel. And that's why Sanami was reminding us of 1 Corinthians 13 today: love never fails, love never gives up. But human beings have the propensity to be inconsistent, you know, to be up today, down tomorrow, to be in and to be out. Okay, so that's what we saw there. And I just want to drop this. So if you've ever faced disappointment in a human relationship, please remember it is just human. That's how it is. It it happens because the people were human. And Senami told us at those moments, at that point, they did not allow their spirit to rule their flesh, they gave in to the physical, uh, to the to the fleshy expressions of what they were going through. Because by the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be consistent. Yes, by the help of the Holy Spirit, we can go above the average human behavior. We can do better. You know, some of us have heard about temperaments, and the psychologists have come up with different classifications of human temperament. Um, we we have some people who don't believe in science at all, and I think it's a bit stupid actually, because you understand God is the source of all wisdom, he's he is the embodiment of all wisdom, and he he empowers us and gives us the ability to comprehend things and and to to discount science altogether is really foolish, honestly. Because there's nowhere, there's nowhere, there's no that nobody, nobody is alive today without science. Even just your looking at you from the crown of your head to the sole of your feet, the the the the chemical that came on your hair this morning, the attachment, the the glasses you're wearing, the clothes, it's science, it's just what it is. So, really, do you understand what I'm saying?

unknown 7:23

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

So we we can run away, anyways. And when all of that to say, so some people say, you know, there's nothing like temperaments. I said, well, it's just behavioral science, just observing people, there's that general understanding that people have their tendencies to certain things. Now, where the problem is, is when people define themselves absolutely by those things and make that the excuse for behaving wrongly, then you have a problem. Okay, so when a truth is pushed to an extreme, it becomes an extreme. So that's where the problem uh begins. But when you understand what you could be prone to and you let the Holy Spirit help you, that's why Tim Lahaye's book was titled Spirit Controlled Temperament. And in a simple language, it is spirit-controlled human behavior. That's what it is, that you let the Holy Spirit help you to do in the spirit what you couldn't have done in the flesh, what you couldn't do by yourself, what the fleshy tendencies would be, by the help of the spirit, we can mortify the deeds of the flesh, we can put to death the tendencies of the flesh, we can overcome by the spirit. Can I hear an amen? All right, so so just to say that week, this triumphant uh entry week, this palm Sunday reminds us of the inconsistencies of human beings, and that too so that that helps us as we move along life, because there'll be people who don't like you for the color of your skin, for the color of your hair, for the color of your eyes, for your fine face. In fact, the people some people don't like you is the fact that you're fine. That's even that's the only crime you committed. Okay, how can you be this good? How can you be this talented? How can you be every turn to name and say, I hope I know you're on my side, praise God. Yeah, that say, I'm glad you're this fine, and I'm and now we're in the same family, praise God, all right, you know, because especially for children, sometimes it's confusing. They just get to a place and somebody's nasty to them, and they really can't even understand why. And so, what why? It's just because they're yeah, it's because they are human beings that they are flawed. That's why. That's why. I mean, somebody can you imagine? I walked into an office one day and I'll smile and say, Good morning. And personally, why are you smiling? What is good about the money? And I'm like, It's my morning, is it your morning? It's my own morning, it's my own day. Praise God. I have a right to be happy. Don't I have a right to be happy? Yeah, yeah. So you my means are like that. Okay, my means are like that. Now, the second thing I'm bringing out here is that the people were disappointed that Jesus did not rescue them physically, but what didn't know is that what Jesus was doing was gonna bring spiritual deliverance and subsequent physical deliverance. It was just that God didn't operate the way they thought God would operate. And I feel like telling somebody this morning that sometimes we also fall into that same trap. We think God would do something in a particular way, and when it doesn't happen that way, at that time, we also have the tendency of being disappointed or being angry at God altogether. Um, the Bible told us a story in 2 Kings 5 of um of Naaman the Syrian who was leprous, and that he needed to get healing. So he got to Prophet Elisha, and Elisha didn't even come out to see him. And Elisha sent his servant to him and said, Go tell him to wash in Jordan seven times. And the guy was upset. What was he upset about? He said, I thought he would come out, he will call on the name of his God, he will wave his hand over the leprosy, and that the leprosy, I mean, how can he command me to go and take a bath in Jordan? There are better rivers in in Damascus and all of that. So, what was his problem? The problem was that the way this miracle was gonna happen is not what he expected. God doesn't owe you that, his commitment to you is to help you. Let him do it the way he wants to, however, he wants to. Can I get an amen? So, so what God is committed to doing is to show enough for us as to how, as to when, all of that is in his power. So that we, I mean, about about three or four Thursdays ago, we we we we talked about a king that was upset with God, and he was angry with God, and he took ill and still didn't pray to God. God sent the prophet to him in anger. He took the prophet, locked the locked the prophet up in prison. He was just so upset, and we were asking what got him to the point that he was that angry with God. Well, because what he expected God to do was not what God did, he he thought he just saved God. He just fought on God's behalf and did came up with a wise solution. So, why is God telling him he's wrong? Because can't God see what he did and how he did it? All right, so people get to that point sometimes when they say, you know, I thought God would do that. I thought, I thought, didn't God see how I was mistreated? And I thought by now, I mean, Jonah was another interesting man, isn't he? That was angry that God forgave some people, and and and he said, God, I I mean, now they will say Jonah is a false prophet because Jonah came to Nineveh and said, In 40 days, this entire city is gonna be burnt down. And then when he said so, everybody repented. They were even the Bible says, even the animals fasted. Everybody, yes, the king made sure nobody ate. He said, 40 days. So they prayed, they prayed, and then God says, All right, he's gonna forgive them and he will not destroy them anymore. And Jonah was upset. Say, can you imagine? Now they will say, I'm a false prophet. I prophesied and it did not happen, and then he was sulking so bad, and then God came to and said, Why are you upset? Say, hey, I told you before I came that you will forgive these people. So now I've prophesied, and everybody will say, Jonah, because there's no record that what Jonah said happened. So, as far as he was concerned, his integrity. So it's not in the bracket of serious prophets. You see, in fact, we even call him a minor prophet. That's that that's one of the reasons we call a minor prophet. So Jonah was saying this is these are the things I've been talking about. God, see, yes, these are the issues. Now, now this thing didn't happen, and it was sulking. God, God said to him, God, oh my god, and you know, God went through the length to prove to him that the life of one person was more important than everything else, that the one person is important, and so sometimes when we feel cheated and we expect God to bring out a sword and cut people's heads off, and it doesn't, God is saying, I'm just giving them a chance to repent. I know they treated you badly, but there's still a good that can come out of these people because his ways are not our ways. And so, in interpersonal relationships, when we're hurt and we think God will just take sides with us, yes, he's on your side, but it's not gonna work the way you think it will work. So we allow him to help us through those times. Can I get an amen? Now, let me bring this together because this entire week, like I was talking about it, leading to Jesus' crucifixion and all that, from the time they were praising him to the time they condemned him, Jesus' love remained constant. It remained constant throughout. Their love and affection became fickle and faded and moved away. But the love of Jesus for them didn't change. Right from the time he got on the donkey as he went on the road, he remained consistent to the point where they said, crucify him, release a murderer, and take this Jesus away and kill him. Jesus' love remained constant to the point of the cross. When they said, Didn't he call himself deliverer? Why didn't he why wouldn't he deliver himself? He loved and said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. This was encouraging for me. That even if I make mistakes, God's love over me will be constant. That even when you make mistakes, his love for you is constant. Even when we behave like human beings and our own love for our spouses, for our friends, for our siblings are inconsistent, his love for you is still consistent. And and that guides us through so that as we look into our future, as you look into tomorrow, this love will not fade. This love is eternal. Hallelujah. God's love for us is eternal, and and guess what? He now throws the same challenge at us and says, Since you are my disciples, behave like me. Try to love people through their weaknesses, through their faults, through their inconsistencies. Follow me. And Stephen gladly stepped into that shoe because when it was Steven's turn and the people turned on him and stoned him to death, Stephen also did what Jesus did. He said, Father, forgive them. But they don't know what they're doing. Don't hold this to their charge, he said, as he died. And so, if people have thrown stones at you, I hope we will also behave like Jesus and say, Lord, forgive them. And don't pray like some people pray. Father, let thunder come, let it scatter them, let it finish them, let him there are times when the fire of the Lord needs to come down in deliverance. Can I get an amen? Oh, yeah, there are times, there are times that needs to happen. Sorry. No, no, this one is not for this one is for vengeance. This this fire dimension is is you know, Jesus sent Jesus, Jesus sent um James and John into a city to to of the Samaritans to go preach, and the guys did not even they practically chased them out. Say we don't want them when they came out, they say, us. They say, Jesus, please, can we ask for fire to come down from heaven and consume them just like because just like Elijah, we we know we are feeling the Elijah anointing now. Can fire, oh, it was Elisha actually. Well, both of them called fire for different reasons. So, can we ask for fire to consume these people? And Jesus says, You don't know what spirit we didn't come to destroy them, we came to give them life, and so you understand that what God wants is that his love to us becomes his love through us, his love to us becomes his love through us, and so first Corinthians 13 tells us to behave like him. And when Sanami said this morning that sometimes as she reads that, there's always something to add to you know, you just check you gauge yourself, okay, more patience here, and then we add patience to it, and then another time we read and say, Ah, believes all things, okay, we will we will believe, but bears suffers long, yes, we will add that to it, and and then and then we we say where are we now? Hopes all things, and then you add that to it, and as you do that, you're like a man that looks at himself in the mirror and allows the mirror to help him adjust himself, and we adjust ourselves to the character of God, and we love our families, we love our colleagues, we love our neighbors, and then it makes it easy for us to share this love of God to them. Let me round off with this story. Um one of Reverend's dear friends, Reverend Samurai, said he was on a flight, and it was supposed to take like the window seat, but there was this woman who believed it's first come for self, yes, and says, What is it? Why can't you just sit down here? What is it about the window? I got there, you know, you know how people can be sometimes, and went on, and there he was with the holy anger, and everything in him was rising, but he just thought about it and said, Let him leave it out, because he was actually flying from the UK from London to Lagos to go preach. So sat down like a humble man, at the humble pie, and somewhere along the way, the woman out on said, I even think you might be a pastor, sir, and then he and he said, Yes, he is a pastor, and eventually he got the chance to lead out to Christ. Praise God, it's it's amazing, it's amazing. And and he felt if he had if he had scattered, I mean, all you know, there's a there's a right way to insist, by the way. There's a right way to insist, yeah. And and um, and there's a wrong way to insist. So, but but whatever it was, I'm glad he let that slide, and ultimately, our soul needed to be saved. It was more than the window seat, you know. Well, Pastor, we'll get the window seat first, and then we'll still get him saved. Well, yeah, yeah, I I I hear you both. But we thank God that it happened that way, all right. And and I pray when our own test comes, because everybody will face their test, that you pass your own test and we still behave like Jesus, amen. All right, let's rise. Praise God.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Thank you for joining us today. We pray this message didn't just speak to your mind but truly ministered to your heart. May the word take root in your life, producing faith, clarity, and boldness as you walk out the purpose God has for you. If this message encouraged you, be sure to share it with someone who might need it. And we'd love to connect with you, join us in person, and become part of what God is doing here at Global Harvest Calgary. Until next time, keep experiencing God and walking confidently in your purpose.