From Cheers to Jeers : Palm Sunday

A cheering crowd, palm branches in the air, and a humble King riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Palm Sunday looks like a victory parade, but we can’t ignore where the road leads just days later. We walk through Matthew 21, John 12, Luke 19, and the prophetic picture in Zechariah 9:9 to ask the question the whole city asked: who is Jesus really?

We talk honestly about why people followed Jesus then and why people drift now. Some wanted signs and wonders. Others tried to “think” their way into faith. Many simply wanted to belong to whatever was loud and popular. That pressure can create mob mentality, where feelings outrun truth and “Hosanna” can turn into “Crucify him.” We also look at the fear of being rejected, the pull of reputation, and what John 12 says about leaders who believed quietly because they loved the praise of people.

The turning point is Jesus’ own diagnosis of the heart through the parable of the four soils. Are we shallow-rooted faith that withers in temptation? Are we thorn-choked by cares, riches, and pleasures? Or are we becoming good soil, soft and responsive to the Word of God? We close with a practical call from Isaiah 40 and Jeremiah 4: straighten what’s crooked, bring pride low, break up fallow ground, and prepare a clear way for the Lord to rule in us now and return in glory.

If this message challenges you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs steady hope, and leave a review so more people can find it. What “soil” best describes your heart today?

Transcript

Palm Sunday And Joyful Praise

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Who he is and who deserves all the praise. Key themes uh in all four of the Gospels connect this joyful event that we call Palm Sunday in uh his story. I call that that's history, but it's really God's story. Uh it is also referred to at times as the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I believe it was just a precursor for the uh the actual event which will happen in the future. But the details uh in this passage of scripture today include cheering crowds, um, you know, palm branches, uh, donkeys, donkey rides, and shouts of Hosanna. Uh this is certainly an historic uh occasion, uh, both in the scriptures and as we think about um the future uh with Jesus Christ as our King, our benevolent King, the humble King who rules for his people. And uh in his kingdom it says his leaders are servants of all, right? True public servants. We're uh still looking for that in our societies today, but I think we will not find that ultimate one until he takes the throne. Someone say amen. To God be all the glory through Jesus Christ. Um the uh message today is diving a little bit into uh some of the what and the why of this day and also uh five days later, which we refer to uh heartfully as Good Friday, where I always remind people it was not Good Friday for Jesus, but as he saw through Good Friday, he saw Sunday a coming, and he was joyful, seeing uh, I believe himself seated back at the right hand of the throne of God on high, and now a way made for all of his people, those who love him, who accept him, and do not reject him, uh, will have their place with him in eternity. Truly uh a joyful occasion.

Who Is Jesus Really

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Uh so today uh we begin with Matthew chapter 21 and verse 10. If you have a Bible or a phone or you can see all the way up here, uh we'll try to throw some of these verses up on the screen for you. But the uh the people praised the King, King Jesus, as he is called in the in many of these passages. Not too many uh occurrences in Scripture are recorded in all four of the Gospels, but this is one of them. And I would say that it probably notes the importance of this event, that it was not just an occasional uh or interesting Sunday. It was a very important one for many reasons, and I want to dig into a few of those with you today. Uh but it says from uh Matthew 21, 10, uh they referred to him as this uh prophet. They thought he was a mighty prophet. They gave him that. Uh yesterday I spoke at a uh funeral, and I uh mentioned that indeed many uh false religions of today call Jesus a good prophet, but a good prophet doesn't lie, right? And what he says is always true, because if he's a true prophet, his words come from above. They're not human, they are divine. And Jesus, this great prophet, which he was, prophet, priest, and king, uh, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except through me, Jesus said. That's our only access way to the beloved. And uh so if he indeed was a true prophet, then uh you have to account for what he said about himself, right? And if you discount that, then you have to discount all the other things he said, did, the miracles, one of which we'll point to today, the raising of Lazarus from the dead after four days in a grave. And so uh these are things you cannot discount. So you have to make up your mind who is this one? Who is Jesus, really? The people praised him as a powerful prophet from Nazareth of Galilee, right? The Galilean region, which was not known to pump out lots of wise intellectuals or men of prominence. In fact, they were degraded. They said, Oh, you're from Galilee, and it's like, You're from Cranston? Really? Nothing has anything good ever come out of Cranston? I don't know. Um hopefully so. But it says, and when he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And this was the uh kind of the consensus of the multitudes. So it says in verse 11, Matthew 21, so the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. Right? Uh, wondering, okay, he's a prophet, but he came from an unusual place. Uh the scholars knew that uh the eventual king of kings, the one who would take the place of David's throne, would come from Bethlehem. Little did they know he was born there, left, went to Egypt for a time, was brought back, and then ended up his parents settling in uh near the Lake Gennesaret or Galilee in Nazareth. And uh that was to fulfill another prophecy that he would be called a Nazarene, which is not uh part of the Nazarite vow, but that he was from the city and town. He grew up in Nazareth. Uh Jesus indeed is the perfect prophet, the perfect priest and the perfect king. And I don't believe he'll ever lose any of those titles. The Bible tells us even his priestly role in Hebrews will go on and on forever. He will be the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek, and his uh priestly function will never cease, meaning he will always be an intermediary for you and for me before the Father Himself. And we know uh we need this, right? We need his intervention. We needed this Palm Sunday, we needed him to come into Jerusalem, but we need him to stay, uh, and we most of all need him to come into our hearts today. And that's really what I'm here to focus on as we

Prophet Priest King And The Gospel

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close. We'll s we'll really dig into what is the gospel anyway? Why are we really here? Uh the Jews were known to seek after signs, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 22. It was just a natural bent of the people of Israel. They would look for signs and wonders. Many times they asked him, What will be the sign, and how can we know, and how will we know for sure? They wanted to see something miraculous in the present day to prove something in the future. Jesus once got tired of them asking for signs, and he said, I will not give you any more signs. I'll give you one sign, and it is the sign of Jonas the prophet, meaning remember Jonah as he was three days in the belly of the fish, and the Bible says uh then he was spat out onto the shore. So Jesus was giving him the sign that was to come, and that would be next Sunday, right? He is remembered to be put into a grave, into a tomb for three days, and then on that third day he would come back to life, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Someone say, Praise the Lord. Paul said, if we don't have that, then our our faith is in vain, right? If he did not come back. But we already know from his work on the earth that he had power to give life and to speak life. Uh, for he was the one who formed life, who breathed it into Adam at the first. He's the one who said, Lazarus, come forth. He came forth, another young lady he raised from the dead miraculously. Anyone who promises life eternal has to be able to prove that somehow, and he did. Uh the uh Greeks, however, were not like the Jews. They sought for wisdom, right? They were trying to think their way into heaven and uh maybe memorize their way to God. Uh they uh often looked for ways to consider the divine in human terms, which cannot always be done. The Bible says that uh without faith, it's impossible to please him. So some of us have to get around our rather large brains. I don't know who those are out here today, but there's a few. And uh you have to get beyond that brain and get into your heart a little bit and say, look, if God's doing something, it may not always look like something man is doing because he does things his own way and he can pull it off, right? He can do that. That is his prerogative. My buddy Walter said, well, he made all this, so he can make the rules, but he can also suspend them when he wishes. And we often pray for miracles, right? If it's our child or someone we know that's hurting, Lord, suspend the law of nature here. Bring him back to life. You know, one of the young singers this morning he's a new daddy, and his baby's a little sick today. We're praying for little brave. He's a brave little guy. But I said, as a dad, you want to take that sickness from him, don't you? You just want to say, Lord, put it on me. Don't let my son go through this. Think about our heavenly father, right? He let his son go through it. That was not for his son, but for his other sons and daughters who would be adopted later, right? He loved you so much. Uh how can you reject that sort of love? You know, that to me is what melts my heart and makes me want to love him more. I hope uh you feel the same, and I hope you understand what that means. That's taking truth and letting your feelings line up with the truth. We're gonna see here how this crowd did it the other way around. They took their feelings, but they didn't really accept the truth of who was actually marching into Jerusalem. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you don't believe in him, you can't find your way to the Father. John 12, 9 says, Now, a great many of the Jews knew that he, the Lord Jesus, was there, and they came. This is at the time of the feast. They're preparing for this big Passover, but back then it was like a week-long celebration. Today the Orthodox Jew still would observe in this manner. But it says, They came not for Jesus' sake only. See, here's a mixture in the crowd, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. They're like, I gotta see this guy for myself. Did he really bring him back? Some of them had been to uh the funeral, perhaps, but the resurrection didn't come till four days later when Jesus showed up there in Bethany, Bethany. Here's the warning for us, and I I see this a lot in today's culture. A lot of hype, you know, and people can get joyful, and people can turn into mobs too. Did you know if you commit a crime in a mob, your sentence is actually less? And that's kind of strange when you think about it, because it's just as evil and just as bad if you hurt somebody with a group of people versus by yourself. But it's because of our human tendency to want to belong to something, to be a part of something that's happening. And uh it's called the mob mentality, and it's not always a good thing, right? Now, if we're praising Jesus, I think it's great, but be careful that the feelings do not overtake the truth, right? Because then when the hard times come, you're gonna be stuck. We'll look at a beautiful parable in just a moment that Jesus explained that to us. But here's the warning be careful what you what you chase after in this world. Uh if it's just for wisdom, you can become quite wise. You can become smart, maybe you can have knowledge, but unless you follow God's wisdom, you will not have true eternal wisdom, right? You just have some facts and figures that you can rattle off. Good for you. Uh, we need some of those things, right? To do our jobs, to uh be confident where we're working. Uh but signs and wonders, as the Jews sought after, can get you in difficulty as well. The Bible even warns us that uh Satan's beast at the end, if you look at remember uh Romans 13, 13, if you want to look that one up, uh it talks about this beast who can do great signs and wonders, and people will run after this and think, oh, he must be from God, but he is not. And sometimes things can be, you know, trickery, fabrication. Uh the Bible does call Satan the prince of the power of the air. He has certain powers and things that he can do. Do not dabble into those things. If they're not of God, they're not of God. It's pretty simple. If they're of not of God, they're of some other source, which is not God, and I would uh assume it's connected somehow to this evil one. So be very, very careful about chasing signs and wonders. Oh, if I just see this, I will know, right? Giving God the uh you know the Gideon blanket or whatever you've if you've read that story. Uh sometimes he just says, I said it, believe it. Uh there used to be that bumper sticker when I was a kid, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. And my dad crossed out the I believe it part and said, No, God said it, that settles it. But it would be good for me to believe it. So then he circled it again. It's like, okay, what are we doing here? Uh oh, my wife said, I have to apologize to these green pants. She said, You gotta say something about that. Like, at least wave your palm a little bit. Uh, that's what I was going for. But she looked at me this morning, she was like, Oh, bro, you're a little bright. But then my cousin Mara Mare, please stand up and wave your hands. She outdid me today. Check it out. I told her I was gonna do that to her, but I thought my green was green. That's pretty green right there.

Signs Wisdom And Mob Mentality

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At one point in this tremendous crowd, these cheers, the the cheers that eventually turned to jeers. If you want to look that one up, that's a that's an older word. John 12, 12, the next day, this means Sunday before the Passover, a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And some shouted, King of Israel, and thought, maybe this is our chance to overthrow Rome, to have a political change here in Jerusalem, so we won't have to pay all this tribute and tax uh to Caesar in Rome. But this was not the purpose of his arrival, as we know. He came to free people from something much bigger, right? That which causes uh people to uh offend others and to depress them. It's the sin in our hearts. That's what he came to take away. Uh he died not just for his friends, but for his enemies alike. And that includes me. You know, when you read those Bible stories, don't always think you're David and Moses and Sarah. You could be Goliath and uh maybe Samson, I don't know, but you could be you could be uh the the the villain in the story, right? And God needs to change your heart. And that's why I believe his word gives us all these uh examples in the past. The uh title King of Israel is indeed correct, for he is that, but he is much more. He is the king of the universe and beyond, right? But some were hoping that he would overthrow the Romans right now, set up his political kingdom, and restore the kingdom of David immediately. Uh now it kind of seems strange, but eventually this title was used by Pilate to hang a sign over his cross. So five days later, Pilate posted this sign. It says, uh, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, John 19, 19. So uh I thought it interesting. I asked my buddy Joe, he knows how to make these little things. He took a palm branch and he turned it into a cross. And I thought last year, last year I think I had a really big one, but Joe's like, that's all I could do in that amount of time. But this is a sad thought, right? The ones who cheered eventually turned against him, the same crowd, the same people. Although I do believe it was stirred by others who never really did follow him. Uh when we know he's he's king of the universe, Jesus uh proclaims that one day he will reign from Mount Zion in Jerusalem, which is the called the Holy Mount or the Temple Mount in uh Micah chapter 4, verse 7, where it says he will rule forever. So there is a time when he will be that king on the earth. It will have political ramifications. The Bible says tribute will be brought to him into the city of Jerusalem, meaning all the good gifts of things that people had produced, they will come and bring offering to him, not because they have to, but because they want to, because they love him and they want to show him what's happening in the realm that they have been given. Some of you will be his leaders, right? And to you I say, learn how to serve now, because that's what Jesus said about his leaders. Uh Jesus indeed, he deserves all the praise that he receives, and he receives even more than that. So never hesitate to praise him. We cannot fill up the praises enough. This is why we have to tell the whole world, right? He needs to be praised more. The Bible says when uh the praise and thanksgiving comes from multitudes, uh, it redounds to the glory of God, meaning it superabounds. It's it's a multiplying factor. So keep praising him every day. Find a way to do that with your words, with your hands, maybe with your giving, as Brother Tom said. But the way you drive, the way you help people. I went to a Christian concert the other night, and then I'm pulling out of the parking garage and I'm on like level six. I zoom down to level three, and then all of a sudden, boom, it was a parking garage. We were just sitting, and my wife's calling, Where are you? I said, Well, I'm down to level three, but there's too many Christians here. They're all letting everyone else go first. So, you know, like a good pastor, I rolled down my window and I started going like this, you know, whatever. And they were out in the curb freezing, like, where is he? But I'm like, you know what? I'm the pastor here. I can't be cutting people off just to get out of here, but uh kind of wanted to get home. But yeah, it was interesting. Yeah, it was such a different experience, huh? Being around Christian people. And isn't it easier to praise him here? Right? Come on now, I'm warning you because it's not quite as easy out there, is it? Uh, even I had a little resistance, like, no, I don't want to let everybody go. I kind of I kind of want to take my turn. Uh Luke 19 and verse 39 tells you not everyone in this crowd was for him even then, when they were cheering. It says some of the Pharisees, the higher-ups, the religious leaders, the ones who memorized the older testament, that should have known there there was one going to come. Right? Just read Zechariah. He's going to come into Jerusalem on a donkey, the colt, right, the foal of a donkey, and people are going to give him praise, and they did not recognize it when he came. It says, uh, some of these Pharisees called to him from the crowd, saying, Teacher, rebuke your disciples, meaning they are not one of his disciples. He wanted him to rebuke them. But he, the Lord Jesus, answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. Meaning, praise is worthy, praise is due. It's going to happen whether you do it or a rock does it. Don't let a rock take your place. Amen. My uh former assistant pastor back in the older church is passed away now. He's in glory. He got to visit the Holy Land, and he took that trip down from the Mount of Olives, right? Olivet, and walking in, you can see the entire city. And he said, one cool thing that stood out to him there was where that place was, probably that he wept or that he stopped for a moment and he was told, Quiet these people. He said, There are rocks everywhere. There's stones everywhere. Jesus probably pointing at those, right? It might be kind of a cool thing to see someday if you can get there. But don't let a stone take your place. Amen. Uh Psalm 148 says, Everyone should praise him. All people, all creation, all creatures, praise ye the Lord. Uh read through Psalm 148. It goes through everything. Anything that's ever been made, even rocks and trees and mountains, they will cry out, right? The cheat, the trees, the Bible says, clap their hands. So let's clap those palms there too. There we go. Here we go. Uh little challenge and then a move on to that big question, like why? How did this change from cheers to jeers? Uh the challenge is praise Jesus now while it is day, while you have breath in your lungs, while you are here, uh the moment will come where you will stand before him and he will say, What did you do with my perfect son? Did you accept him or did you reject him? Did you say praise and Hosanna? Or did you say curse and crucify? Right? Do not move for the latter. Obviously, do the former. Let's praise Jesus now, uh, not and not fearing what man can do to us. And the Bible says they can do some pretty nasty stuff. They will be allowed, right? You said in this world you will have tribulation, you'll have trouble. That means difficulty, hardship. Uh, not an easy road. Don't let anyone fool you. Christianity is not simple, but it is very direct, right? It's a straight and narrow path, but there'll be many coming against you and they're walking the wrong way. And we're just simply trying to turn them around. I love that little video they play before the chosen movie where the fish are all going in one direction, and all of a sudden one little fish turns around, and then all of a sudden another fish follows him, and then there's quite a few fish going the opposite way, still swimming against the tide. That's kind of what we face as Christians in our world today. But Romans 8 31 says, If God be for us, who can be against us? When you cheer for him, you're cheering for the ruler of the Universe and beyond. He has all power, all wisdom, and all knowledge. He knows how it's going to end. And he says, I'm wise enough to make it work out for everyone's good who calls on my name, right? Who is called by my name, the Bible says. So this uh this cheering, this this crowd that seems so exuberant to say Hosanna, which means oh save or savior, which is really another derivative of Jesus' name, right? Uh um the Christ Himself, the anointed one. Uh how did the praises of Jesus turn into punishment and crucifixion so quickly? That's that's what really seems strange about the story of this this holy week as we refer to it now. The cheering crowd on Sunday turned into a jeering mob on Friday. Uh seems quite impossible. Sounds a little fickle. You know, you think Jesus has some fair weather fans out there? Hopefully that's not you. I read a book one time, said not a fan, I'm a follower. Right? A true follower goes with someone through thick and thin. Had a friend who helped me out the other day just with a jacket. I was freezing. I'm like, oh, I didn't bring a coat. He's like, have mine. He gave me his coat, and I'm not gonna see him for a couple of weeks, so I still have his coat in my car. I was gonna stick a few golf balls in there for him because he was helping me out. Um but a friend in need is a friend indeed, right? When things get tough and the road gets hard and you still follow, that's a sign you're not a fan, right? Just fans, they disappear when the weather changes, right? Um they're cheering on, but they're not on the field. They're not in the game. They have no skin in it, right? They're not uh feeling what Christ is feeling. When he walked that hill, uh he was feeling it for you. He did it anyway, even though his human flesh did not want to do that. Of course, he prayed, Father, if there's any other way, let's find it now, right? In the garden. But he said, Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done, meaning the holy will of the Father, the will of love, the will that concocted this whole plan from the beginning, even before they made this rebellious thing called mankind. They decided in the Godhead that they would come and redeem man for themselves. This is what makes Christianity different from any other religion you've ever heard about. Uh they all try to build their way up and walk their way up or wise their way up to God, uh, sacrifice their way, good works and all this. The the only good work that gets you to heaven is the work he accomplished on that cross. And once he did that, works are a bonus now. They are things we do out of joy, out of love, out of a desire to give back, out of a true sense that he is the one, he's the one I want to serve. But not everyone in that crowd, as we just saw, was in that manner. They said, Be quiet, quiet these children down. They shouldn't be singing in the temple. I think they said that. And he said, uh, praise is perfected in his children, right? In these little ones that we saw up here. It's a perfect form of praise. It's it's without any kind of they're not looking for a uh a paycheck or you know, they just are joyful in their hearts. They want to praise the Lord from their heart. So these shouts of Hosanna and blessing turn to crucify him, crucify him. John 19, 14. Now it was the preparation day of the Passover. This is Good Friday, and about the sixth hour, and he, speaking of uh the Roman governor Pilate, said to the Jews, Behold your king. Right? Remember, he had uh whipped him and and uh actually beyond recognition, put a I think Herod was, put a purple robe on him and they stuffed a crown of thorns on top of his head so he was bleeding everywhere. They had smacked him and pulled his beard. He didn't even look like a man, the Bible says he was unrecognizable. And they and Pilate was kind of making a joke of him, right? Look at him, behold the man, he says. And he reveals him, he says, uh, this is your king, you know. He was slapping the Jews in the face, because he indeed was the king of the Jews. And they had cried that a few days before. And uh he said, Behold your king, but they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? Meaning he's putting it all on the Jews, right? And eventually he even washes his hands. He said, I wash my hands of this just man, as I found no fault in him. But I did whip him to smithereens, right? No excuse for that, what he did. And he indeed had was the only one with the power to say crucify him. The Jews were under Roman control, so they were not allowed to execute a person publicly like this. The Jews shouted back out, We have no king but Caesar. They had given their heart over. They they were not uh could not withstand the pressure of that, right? That if they were in uh deep trouble with Caesar of Rome, then uh their life would have been really troublesome, right? Very difficult. They were having none of that. These these Jews who were in power, they wanted to stay in power. They didn't want this this guy from Nazareth, from Galilee to come over and take over all their preaching and teaching uh to speak really of what God is all about and uh preach the way to the kingdom. It says, then he, uh Pilate, delivered him to them to be crucified, then they took Jesus and led him away.

From Hosanna To Crucify Him

SPEAKER_00 27:31

You know, I just a brief aside here, it wasn't in my original outline, but about emotions, can you trust them? You know? And when I watch this whole Sunday to Friday thing and the and the turn of people and the mob mentality, I just feel emotions are not always reliable indicators of what is true. So beware of that, number one. Just because someone's shouting and jumping doesn't mean it's a good thing. Um, but if uh our emotions follow what is true, I think it can be a very powerful thing. Just spoke to a young man who's planning to preach here in in a month or so and saying, you know, if your heart has been impacted by this gospel, you won't be able to hide that connection, you know, it's gonna come out. You know, he's saying, Well, I'm not the greatest speaker, or I don't have a lot of maybe uh uh uh preaching experience to give it out there with the with emotion and all. I said, No, no, it's gotta be in here, bro. This is where it starts, right? And if you really believe what you're preaching, it will come through. People will know that you are genuine, uh, but uh more so when you do it outside of here, right? Because that's where the real service begins. Amen. Uh so some of the Palm Sunday crowd, I believe we're caught up in the joy of the of the moment. You know, who doesn't like a lot of cheering? When I hear people laugh in the other room, I gotta go and see what's so good in there, what's so funny? Or someone uh enjoying their dinner, I'm like, I want some of that. You know what I mean? Like we all want to join in the good stuff, but humans have a desire to belong, and unfortunately, it all often turns into a conformity that is not godly, right? And we connect to things that maybe are just fun with no substance, right? Uh when there is social or political pressure, as we'll see in a moment, that's what happened here as well. Um, no one wants to become a social outcast, right? And pushed out of the circle of the cool people, right? That's a hard thing. When I go to a function or a wedding or something, I'll I look specifically for the person sitting by themselves, you know, and not having a great time. Maybe that was a day that someone in their life passed away or something. We don't know until we go and sit with that person. Uh my my daddy taught me that. Like, don't always go with the crowd. Look for the people on the fringes. That's where Jesus ministered the most. That's where the most people were saved, because they were really thinking seriously and soberly about life and things. Whereas the crowd can be jumping around having a great time, but they get nothing out of it. You know, it can be very empty at times. In our nation, we have things called political correctness, right? I'm not going to get political here today, but it really is a fear tactic often used by Satan himself to press and push people into doing what he wants and creating a mob mentality. And that's what he wants to do. Uh, because when he can get people all lathered up and angry about something, they can do some pretty uh damnable things that they regret later on. And I don't want any of us to fall into that. So be very careful when you listen to people giving their spiel on things and what they are. Always weigh it through the word of God, right? Determine is this of God or is it not? And what does the Bible say? What does the word say about it? And if you're not sure, call one of our brothers or sisters here who are deep into that word, or uh give the pastor a call. My door is never locked, it might be shut once in a while, but it's uh you can always tap on there. And I love answering Bible questions. I mean, that's kind of what I what I do. I love it. Um we'll close up with this thought here. There's a beautiful uh parable found in the Word of God. But uh here in John 12, first, we'll see some of the motivation behind the turn here. Many rulers believed in Jesus Christ, the Bible says. These were higher up in the society of the Jew, but feared expulsion from the temple and losing their popularity and their fame. John 12 42, it says, Nevertheless, even among the rulers, speaking of the ruling class, the um the higher ups, maybe the Sadducees, maybe some of the Pharisees themselves, many believed in him, Jesus Christ. But because of the Pharisees, meaning the ruling class who had charge of the people in a religious way and also a social way, they did not confess him, right? They were afraid to say anything publicly. Remember, Nicodemus came to him at night. He didn't want anyone to know he was asking Jesus questions. It says, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. That means excommunication, not just from religious activities, but the temple was the place of community togetherness, right? If you were out of the temple, you were blacklisted, your business would not go well, people would not talk to you, you would be shunned, and if you were a person of notoriety, you're gonna lose all of that too, on top of it. So it says, For they loved the praise of man. Hello. They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. And I just remembered a quick story from I think it was Peter, and uh another apostle was with them, I believe. They said, Don't preach any more in this name. And you know, remember their reply? Well, you can do what you want, they said you know, basically, but we cannot only but but tell of the things that have happened to us. In other words, we're not gonna stop. It may seem right to you, but we are standing before God someday, and we will not stop preaching in his name. And then they kind of flogged them and let them go, I guess. And they were cheering all the way home, like we got to get beat up for Jesus. I mean, that's that's not a fan, that's not a fair weather fan speaking, right? But they did not fear being put out. They are already out there. Um, but so many were, and they they changed their tone, right? Once the crowd started cheering, oh, you want Jesus or Barabbas, you know, they started crying for a murderer, you know. Can you believe it? Of a over a perfect man who never sinned once. They're gonna release a thief and a murderer out into society. How poignant that is, right, when we think of what the cross really did, right? It exchanged our sin, our thievery, our lies, our disobedience for the one who is perfect in all ways, who not only uh spoke of the law, but he said, I came to fulfill that law. So he was the perfect representation of the perfect law of God, and yet they said, Crucify him, but release him. Isn't that what happens at the day of your salvation? All of your sins are taken on him, and he puts his righteous robe on you, so that when you die and stand in judgment as all men will, right? It's appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment. But when you stand there, you have righteousness covering you. Not my righteousness, not your righteousness, but the righteousness of the Son of God Himself. When the Father sees that robe, he says, Move him to the right. He goes with the sheep, not with the goats, right? Amen. Got to put the robe on, you gotta do that today. Do not wait, don't delay. Uh, let's praise Jesus because he deserves our praise. Regardless what anyone around us says or thinks, let us fear God rather than man and favor the commendation of God over the praises of men. Amen. His opinion is way more important to you than anyone else's if you're a Christian. And you need to remember that he is the judge of the quick and the dead, Jesus Himself. Uh here is one of my theories now. This is not in Scripture, but we have some backup to it. Uh, but we know that Jesus knew that not everyone in that crowd was following him, right? He could look right into their hearts and see there's evil here, there's a true servant here. You know, and many of his disciples were, some of them fell away for a while. They all abandoned him at the cross, right? And then they came back. I think only John the beloved stayed even at the close to the cross because he was told to keep watch over Mary, the mother of Christ. So when Jesus saw the city, he's descending Mount Olivet, and it's a beautiful spot

Jesus Weeps Over Hardened Hearts

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to be. I believe that's where he's coming from one day. Again, he's coming from that east, and he's uh overlooking the city, and he wasn't cheering, he wasn't smiling, he was weeping. Luke 19, 41. Now as he, Jesus, so he's sitting on a colt, right, that had never been ridden before, according to one of the disciples or the apostles. He saw the city and he wept over it, and he wasn't weeping over the stones or the buildings. He's talking about the people of Jerusalem here, the people of God, those who were anointed to spread the good news, to be a light to the Gentiles, which they had totally snuffed out and covered. Um it says, If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, meaning I'm coming to you today, the things that make for your peace, this is written by the Prince of Peace, right? But now, he said, they are hidden from your eyes. Some call this a work of God, you know, to blind, but we all know that when we sin, we don't get better spiritual eyes, right? When we if we leave unrepentant sin in our heart, our heart gets harder, not softer. And the more times we disobey, the harder we get. How does someone become a hardened criminal? They just keep doing bad stuff over and over until now they don't even remember what doing good feels like. You know, they may help an old lady across the street, but their hearts are like stone. And uh in Zechariah 9 9, they they knew in Daniel, in Isaiah, in Malachi, there were there were tons of prophets who said, This day is going to happen. Why did you not see it? Right? And they're talking mainly to the religious folks here. Here's what Zechariah said, and tell me if this is not a pretty clear picture of what was happening. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, mentions the city. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation. Guess what? His name is Savior, right? Lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. One of the gospels says the mother of that of the foal was in front of the colt, and that that was what leading the colt, because the colt had never been ridden on before, and they threw their clothes on him, and Jesus sat on him, and he came into that city to be low, right? Not even a donkey, but a foal of a donkey, a little colt. Probably a little wobbly legged, who knows? But I did hear donkeys are pretty strong, they can bring you down a hill pretty well. I almost did that in Santorini once, but I took the escalator. I was like, no, no, I felt bad for the poor little donkey. I wasn't gonna do that. But whether we uh discount or disobey or reject God's words, our hearts continue to become harder and harder. You know, the best example I could see in scripture was uh Pharaoh of Egypt, right? Like ten opportunities, and each time he said, No, no, yeah, I'll let him go. No, I'm not gonna let him go. Yeah, I'll let your people go. No, I won't, no, I won't, no. By the end, his heart was so hard, his own son was taken, and he still would not let them go. He chased them into the Red Sea and lost his entire army that day. Not because he had a soft heart, right? The Bible says God hardened his heart, but his disobedience led to that hardening. Because when we disobey, it doesn't get better. So confess it right away. Get it out of there. There's junk in your heart today. We're gonna pray at the end. Just leave it here, leave it at the altar. And do me a favor, don't pick it up on the way out, you know. Just leave it here. He can take it, he can shoulder that burden for you and many others here too. We're called to shoulder each other's crosses in this life. Don't try to do this alone. Finally, you've heard of the Sermon on the Mount. I'm gonna close with this thought.

The Four Soils Of The Heart

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One day Jesus uh preached the sermon on the boat. Did you know that? The sermon on the boat. You don't hear too much about that one. But he didn't have a nice microphone speakers like we have here. So he had a multitude showing up, and they were on the beach, and he said, Hey guys, you got a fishing boat here. Let's put me on the boat and launch me out a bit, and I'm turning around, and now we have a megaphone, right? It was a calm sea that day, apparently, and my voice will carry and everybody will be able to hear the good words of the gospel. And he taught to them this parable that we call the parable of the four soils. And it's in reference to our hearts. I'm not going to read the whole parable, but I'm going to read to you Jesus' explanation of the parable, which is the key point, the spiritual significance. And I think it backs up what might have happened on Palm Sunday to Good Friday, somewhere in between there. Certain things happened, and we saw the result of it at the cross. He said, The seed that was sown is the word of God. Those that were sown by the wayside are the ones who hear. Then the devil comes and takes away that word. He snatches it out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved, right? Because that's all that's required for salvation in Christ. You must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who seek Him diligently, the Bible says. But the ones on the rock, so some were sown among rocky soil, and you know you don't plant much there, right? So here he said, When they hear, they receive the word with joy, right? They're shouting, Hosanna, they love him, but they have no root, right? Because you can't grow roots in stony in a stony heart, right? You have to get rid of the junk. You have to have better soil than that. And then the sun comes up, I think it was in the parable, and scorched that seed, and it never bore any fruit. Uh he said, These are those who, when they have heard, I'm sorry, um, who believe for a while, but in a in a time of temptation they fall away, right? When trials come, when the sun comes up, when you're outside of church, right? When you're speaking to a loved one or a or a or an enemy for that matter, and then pressure comes on you and you can't withstand it because you have no depth of root. We need to be rooted and grounded in the word of God, in him, in Jesus. We need to have a relationship with him that goes beyond here and goes beyond the grave. We don't want to go to heaven and have him say, Go away from me. I never knew who you were. You know, you never even introduced yourself to me. I know who you are, and I even know how many hairs are on your head. But I don't know you because you never opened up to me. You never shared a thing. And I'm here saying, I can do it all for you. I can sh you can share all your burdens with me. That's why I'm here. Uh just think about that. And the last was, and I think this is the American soil right here. The soil, the seed that fell among thorns, right? The thorny bushes. Not a great place to plant, right? But these are those who, when they have heard, they go out, right? They take the good word, but they're choked with the cares and the riches and the pleasures of this life, and therefore they bring forth no fruit to maturity. They might be able to hold on to it for a while, but they have too many other competing interests in their heart. I call these little idols, right? They never satisfy for very long. They can maybe temporarily fill a void, but they don't fill the whole. You know what I'm saying? That desire for what we really need, which is God Himself, the Holy Spirit living and abiding in us, that is joy and peace forever. There's just no way around it, right? He is that fruit, right? If you need the fruit of love and joy and peace, you have to have him to accomplish that, to sense that in your life. So it says, but there's one last, and this is this can be you today. There were some seed that fell on the good ground, he calls it. Doesn't mean we're good inherently, but we're we're dirt, right? I had a preacher that used to say came up from uh Texas, I think he said he was a traveling evangelist, and one day he He preached this little sermon. He goes, You know, Adam was made out of the dust. And he said, And I'm I'm made of dirt too. I'm just a pile of dirt, he would say. And he said, But I'm good dirt. I was like, Wow, that's kind of like slapping yourself in the face and patting yourself on the back at the same time, right? I'm good dirt. He goes, I'm just a lump of clay. And he was kind of a lumpy guy. He was very heavy set dude. His name was Bob Robin, so I never forgot that, you know. I mean, who else pecks in the soil for seed, for good seed? I saw one the other day, guys. Spring is coming. Just just saying. Those that fell on the good ground, those are the ones having heard the word with a noble and good heart. And as I was researching this, it just means a soft and a supple heart, one that is broken by its own depravity, one that recognizes at least that he or she is not God, but they need God, right? To lift them up. He said, If you humble yourself, I will lift you up. Do not raise yourself up, because you will be lowered down, right? Pride comes before the fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction. Don't let that be you. Here we are. The good soil, the good and noble heart, it says, they keep it. They are able to hold the seed. They have some root because they're digging down deep. They're plugged into a church. They have a life group that helps them. They call all the time. They they speak to God on their knees, on their feet, in their car. They have a relationship with him. Their heart is always cleansed because they are continually confessing as well. Anytime they fall away from him, they come back immediately saying, Lord, I know I shouldn't have done that. Please forgive me. And in his gracious heart, he does. And this is a heart that stays soft, right? And will always admit, you know, I am just another lump of clay. I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. Good dirt, sincere, right? Not faking it, not just praising when everyone's looking. Noble, right? Doing things right in a positive way. If you stole for someone, you return it, right? You you give even balance and measure. You treat people better than yourself, right? And uh you put people before yourself like Jesus always did. How do I develop a noble and receptive heart? As Jesus commended, so that uh I can bear much fruit in his kingdom. How can I avoid the pitfalls of the Palm Sunday crowd? And we got a pretty good crowd here today. Let's not have any pitfalls. Here's the scripture's answer for that, Isaiah 40 and verse

Prepare The Way And Final Prayer

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3. Yep, Old Testament. But John the Baptist quoted this passage in the New Testament as well. When they asked him, Who are you, John the Baptist? He said, Yeah, I'm nothing great. He said, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Here it is. Prepare the way of the Lord. How do we do that? He tells us right here, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. You gotta straighten some things out. You've got to deal with some stuff in your life. Even every valley shall be exalted, right? The potholes in your life. We've got to fill some stuff in. We have some emptiness. We need to put him there. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill brought low. If we have pride in our hearts, or a way that we go over people and not with them, that has to be brought down, right? If you're gonna flatten out that highway for the Lord, you've got to get rid of that foolish pride. It will only take you down anyway. Every hill brought low, he says, and the crooked places made straight. That's the stuff in your life that doesn't belong there and never did, right? You're stealing from Sam and borrowing from Frank to give to Joe, and it's not working well, right? We gotta honor the Lord with our living, with our giving, with everything we do. And he sees all these things. This is the way of the enemy, right? His way is crooked. The Lord's way is called the straight and narrow way. The rough places made smooth. We got a lot of people getting married in the next few months. Folks, get ready. That that spouse of yours, though she may be beautiful, though he may be handsome, they're gonna rub some rough edges off of you pretty quick. Say, bro, you had your way before, but now it's gonna be our way, not your way. It's our way. And guess what? I come first, honey. Now I'm talking mostly to the to the guys here, because I know how that is, especially if you're out on your own for long enough. You develop a lot of your own ways and they're not all that great. And you got a lot of roughness around you, you've got to smooth it out, right? If you want to get ready for the Lord to occur, for him to come into your life. And the end of that chapter says, so that the glory of the Lord can be revealed. And boy, what that that marriage would do, right? If that couple will attend to these things, God's glory will be shining all over you. People will not deny it. When you speak, your words will not fall to the ground. When you share with someone, they will know it's coming from some good dirt, right? From a good heart. So I guess summing up Isaiah, it's let's make some spiritual preparations. He's here. He's coming again. He's coming soon. Clear the worldly junk out of the way. Replace it with what I call the good furniture, right? Put some good things in there, mercy and truth, grace. Uh fill in those potholes and uh unattended hollow areas of your heart, you know, that you just kind of wave away. Maybe it's your apathy, I don't know. Kick down those mountains and hills, take those idols out of your house. Don't plant them in the yard, don't hang them by your rearview mirror. You serve the one Lord, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. His always his way is always perfect. But we sometimes need some prep. We need to get ready because he's coming. Anything that exalts itself above the God most high, as they chanted that day. Uh glory to God, in the highest he is. Let's get uh in the way of what God wants and get out of the way of what doesn't belong. Humble our hearts, develop a receptive heart today. Um, turn the crooked way straight. Repay. Repay what you stole. Remember Zacchaeus, he was called out of the tree. Jesus said, I'm having dinner with you tonight. He said, Lord, I'm gonna give back not only what I stole, but I'm gonna do it in multiple fold. I'm gonna make sure that my way is straightened out because you're coming to my house today. Close with last verse. Jeremiah 4 3. Now we're going a little lengthy today. Hope you have a good lunch coming right behind this. Break up your fallow ground, he wrote. And this is years before Christ came in the flesh, and do not sow among thorns. Wonder where that came from, right? So breaking up the fallow ground, that's dirt that's been left unused, unplanted. It's kind of hard. There's no rows in it. You ever see a good cornfield? They're in nice straight rows. You know why that is? It's because when you go to harvest it, it's a lot easier, right? You got wheels, wheel tracks for your tractor. Plow a straight row. Do it for the kingdom. Allow God to come in and do what he wants to do, but do some preparation. I congratulate all you young moms today. You got those kids ready for church. I used to do that. I had two boys. It was Friday was our preparation day. We started preparing on Friday for Sunday because you know, we couldn't just say, Oh, I'm missing church today. You know, I try that, but it doesn't work too well for me. So my kids had to have their stuff ready on Friday, you know, but uh, because we all know Saturday is a mess, right? No, let's let's do that today. As we uh close in a beautiful song, I'll come back and pray a little bit. Think on this ending challenge. Humble yourself, do it now, prepare the way in your heart. I'm speaking to myself to open up a way in your life so that the victorious Lord can return, because he is. He's coming back. It says he's coming back for a people who are looking, watching, and waiting for his return. Not those who are caught unaware, like a thief in the night, right? Don't let that be you. Today is the day, now is the time. Thank you. Heavenly Father, we thank you, our holy father, for sending your righteous son to remove our unrighteousness, to take it on himself. Help us, Lord, now to prepare our hearts for his soon return, that word, that good seed, the word made in flesh, and help us to do so today and not delay. We know your return is near. We see the signs of the end of the days piling up all around us. Lord, give us even today fresh opportunities. Open the way for us to share, to drop seed of your good word, your good news with someone this Passover season. And may we and may I never be ashamed of you, Lord, before men, so that you may confess our names one day before your Father in heaven. In Jesus' name we pray. Everyone said, Amen. Say Hosanna. God bless you all. We'll see you next week.