SPEAKER_01: God, come on.
SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord help me.
SPEAKER_01: How do I compete with that?
SPEAKER_01: I tell ya.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, David.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go ahead and open up in a word in prayer before we get started.
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, I just pray that you just take over this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Just take this moment and deliver the word as you intended to this audience.
SPEAKER_01: A specific word for this day, God, that will inform them but also motivate and encourage them in Jesus' mighty name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, well, good morning.
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Generations.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: For those who don't know me, my name is Nathan Reeves.
SPEAKER_01: My wife and family, we've all been coming here for almost a couple of years now.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll just tell y'all if you are a guest, you are coming out at a time where God is just making so many moves in this church.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just give God a little bit of praise on that one.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I could speak on and on personally in my own life, just some of the miraculous things that God is doing.
SPEAKER_01: And to some extent it can also be a little nervous because when God is moving you, you don't know the 100% end game, but that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: You know He gives you these milestones periodically that even if you don't know 100% where you're going, you at least feel it in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: You know you're going somewhere good.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I believe what's happening in this church, that something good is happening and it's boiling up.
SPEAKER_01: Which is why I'm going to talk about expectations.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we can expect a lot of things, especially with the revival.
SPEAKER_01: I know David has preached extensively on revival.
SPEAKER_01: How many of y'all believe that revival is happening in the world right now?
SPEAKER_01: I know it, I feel it, I see it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a history teacher by profession, and just being in public education, I can tell you with this generation, this new young generation, that revival has been stirred up.
SPEAKER_01: You've got a young generation.
SPEAKER_01: If anybody's Gen Z in here, I know I see some of y'all that there's a there's a stirring up within that that's happening, and God's doing it on purpose, because let's be honest, there's much in the world that has been going on that it is far from God's ways.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's a lot of ideology that seeks to go beyond God, and we see the end result of that.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's destructive.
SPEAKER_01: And so with all the things going on in the world, it seems like it's crumbling.
SPEAKER_01: That's actually the moment God is saying, Aha, now I got my chance, and I'm gonna use it with the new generation.
SPEAKER_01: He's done it before, right?
SPEAKER_01: Interestingly enough, that's exactly what happened on Palm Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, as Jesus, as Jesus told his mother as he was going, as he was about to go up to the cross, he said, Behold, I do a new thing.
SPEAKER_01: How many of y'all know God is a God about new things?
SPEAKER_01: And while we can expect that from God, sometimes because we don't know the full picture, our expectations might actually distort what God is really doing.
SPEAKER_01: Expectations distorting reality.
SPEAKER_01: And so I start things off with that question, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna let my teacher mode kick in.
SPEAKER_01: I always like to start a lesson off with a question, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And so this is my question to you, Church.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to take a minute just to chew on this for a minute, what do you expect revival to look like?
SPEAKER_01: What do you expect revival will be like?
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, you're you're having a whole bunch of ideas, right?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe for those who have been in ministry or have been in the church for years and decades, you've seen revival perhaps one way, and so you're thinking maybe along the lines of that.
SPEAKER_01: But then maybe you're younger, and your perception of revival will be based on an older perception.
SPEAKER_01: Or you might also be thinking, no, God, when He He's gonna do something new, He's gonna do it a different way.
SPEAKER_01: See, and I'm here to tell you, it's important that you start asking yourself that question because here's the thing we can sometimes be so deeply rooted in our own expectations that we miss out on what God's actually doing.
SPEAKER_01: Because it turns out what we are expecting is actually something that satisfies ourselves instead of actually fulfilling God's mission.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And on Palm Sunday, when Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, you know, there's all the celebration, and then there's there's the palm leaves being thrown down to the ground, and everybody's getting all excited.
SPEAKER_01: But when things start moving forward, it turns out their expectations were not reality.
SPEAKER_01: Which is why the very people who are crying out, Hosanna, Hosanna, as Jesus is coming through, they're gonna be the same people that will want him dead exactly a week later.
SPEAKER_01: And so we have to keep in mind of that.
SPEAKER_01: So on this Palm Sunday, I want to just dissect this moment, if you don't mind.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And to start it off, let me just, if you don't know what Palm Sunday is, let me just give you a brief summary.
SPEAKER_01: So this is the beginning of the end of Jesus' ministry.
SPEAKER_01: It's the Sunday before the death and resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is entering into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: There's praise, there's shouting.
SPEAKER_01: All of this you can find in the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
SPEAKER_01: I've got their verses there respectively.
SPEAKER_01: They all tell it just slightly different, but the story is pretty much straightforward.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus and the disciples, they're getting ready to go to Jerusalem, and on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus is wanting an animal to ride in on.
SPEAKER_01: And he does specifically specify a donkey.
SPEAKER_01: So the disciples say, okay, fine, we'll go out, we'll get a donkey, and they go and they find a man, and he's happy to give them one, and he hops on his stallion, and now he's going in, he's going into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: According to the Gospels, it was a spectacular entry, crowds upon crowds of people, each of them coming out and grabbing palm leaves, which from the culture of that time, that was a that was a symbol of honor.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: It was reminiscent to that of a king coming in.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Now, there's a good reason why they did this, because this is at the end of Jesus' ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody has already heard or maybe have witnessed his miraculous acts.
SPEAKER_01: They've been to his sermons, they went to see to hear his teachings, they've seen sight given to the blind, water turned into wine, even the dead being raised, like Lazarus.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus' reputation is already well known.
SPEAKER_01: He's done all these things, and you've got thousands of people flocking to him as he's entering into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: Indeed, it looked like a triumphal entry.
SPEAKER_01: But that's what makes this so odd.
SPEAKER_01: Because the thing is, when Jesus enters into Jerusalem, I can only imagine I could think these that these ancient Jews are believing he's about to do something heavy.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you some historical context.
SPEAKER_01: At this time, Jew Israel was under control of the Romans.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Now the Roman Empire, you could just open up any history book, you'll learn out real quick, the Romans were really good at one thing, and that was occupying.
SPEAKER_01: They had one of the largest empires in the world at that time.
SPEAKER_01: And for the ancient Hebrews, that was a big inconvenience.
SPEAKER_01: Because you see, it disrupted the way that they did things.
SPEAKER_01: Being under charge of the Romans, they always had to get their permission even to do their own sacrificial rituals.
SPEAKER_01: Now, for the Romans, they wanted to be in charge, so they were willing to give and take a little bit, but it was no secret.
SPEAKER_01: Roman occupation was rough.
SPEAKER_01: They would are, you know, you know, you can read through the gospel through the Gospels and look at characters like Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples, he was a tax collector.
SPEAKER_01: And tax collectors, they, especially if they were Jewish, they were considered traitors.
SPEAKER_01: So this was a tough time for Israel.
SPEAKER_01: They were being overtaxed, they were being told what to do, when to do it.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the Romans were just authoritarian.
SPEAKER_01: So when Jesus is walking in, the Jews, when they're crying, Hosanna, Hosanna, you need to understand that was them crying for help.
SPEAKER_01: And they're seeing Jesus as that help.
SPEAKER_01: But what they don't realize is the kind of help Jesus is going to give is going to be contrary to what they think.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, their expectations don't fit what's really happening.
SPEAKER_01: As that last note says, that's why he's going to be put up to die.
SPEAKER_01: He did not fit their mold.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what happened?
SPEAKER_01: What gives?
SPEAKER_01: Did they just ignore what was going on?
SPEAKER_01: Did they just not realize who Jesus was?
SPEAKER_01: He was speaking about it his whole life.
SPEAKER_01: Where did the message go wrong?
SPEAKER_01: It was real quick.
SPEAKER_01: For the Jews, the idea that the Messiah would be this military conqueror was deeply ingrained in their mind.
SPEAKER_01: And you don't have to look very far to see it.
SPEAKER_01: Throughout all of Scripture, that's what they were reading.
SPEAKER_01: All of the major books of the prophets spoke of this Messiah coming in, taking charge, and then restoring order.
SPEAKER_01: I could go through this exhaustively, but obviously for time, I'm going to give you just a few samples.
SPEAKER_01: We'll start with this, okay, in the book of Isaiah, chapter 9.
SPEAKER_01: This Messiah that's going to come will be from the line of Jesse, that's the father of David.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the first anointed king of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: So whoever this individual is, it would come from him.
SPEAKER_01: And when he does arrive, Micah chapter 5, he would conquer or slay Israel's enemies.
SPEAKER_01: The Jews always anticipated a savior because time after time again they were under bondage.
SPEAKER_01: By Jesus' day, it was the Romans, but before then it was the Assyrians, the Babylonians, a little bit later the Persians.
SPEAKER_01: So throughout all of Israel's history, one group after another, they were subjugated.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it was under the Babylonian captivity that a lot of these prophecies come up.
SPEAKER_01: One day you're going to be saved, but as I'll show you later, there's a deeper message to some of these prophecies.
SPEAKER_01: But whoever this Messiah is, they're going to eventually restore order.
SPEAKER_01: They're going to bring things as they should be, as God intended.
SPEAKER_01: And most importantly, that last note in Isaiah the wickedness of man would also be judged and punished.
SPEAKER_01: So back to Palm Sunday, Jesus is coming in.
SPEAKER_01: These Jews know about him.
SPEAKER_01: Most of them are they believe that he's the Messiah, but in their belief, they're expecting him to do a hostile takeover.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, this is what they're seeing.
SPEAKER_01: The image is kind of blurry, but uh by the way, this is one of those fun AI-generated images that I popped up.
SPEAKER_01: Give me a depiction of a messianic king according to the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: That's the kind of stuff you're gonna get.
SPEAKER_01: Looks epic, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Coming down from heaven, angels on high, got the sword and uh the bloodstained clothes really, really make it epic.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: But that's what the Jews were considering.
SPEAKER_01: That's what they were thinking.
SPEAKER_01: This had this is this is a time of bondage.
SPEAKER_01: Surely the one God sends to relieve us, it's going to be someone who's going to bring the house down.
SPEAKER_01: But as I keep but as I as I'm telling you, that's not what was really gonna be the case.
SPEAKER_01: It will be one day, as I'll speak on here in a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: But the truth is, that's actually what the Messiah's homecoming is going to be like.
SPEAKER_01: Another one of those AI generation generated images, the coming of the Messiah, as described in the New Testament, Jesus riding it on a donkey.
SPEAKER_01: A lot more meek than what the Jews were anticipating.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Much more meek.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: This is why we need to be careful with our expectations, because even if we're looking at the right stuff, even if if we're in our prayer time, we're reading through scripture, or we're listening to the most prominent theologians and and sermons, we have to keep in mind God has his agenda, he has his schedule, and some of the things that he's going to be doing are going to be contrary to the way we perceive them to be.
SPEAKER_01: It's like in it's like it said in Isaiah chapter 55, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
SPEAKER_01: There's always another angle to something.
SPEAKER_01: So we gotta be careful that we're that we're not expecting something that goes against the way God does.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want to just kind of go off script for a second to speak on revival, okay?
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of us that have an idea on revival.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's gonna be grandiose, it's gonna be spectacular, maybe it's whole cities with hundreds of thousands of people going out in the streets.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna lie, that would be pretty cool to see.
SPEAKER_01: And in some cases that is.
SPEAKER_01: But what if it's actually quieter than that?
SPEAKER_01: What if we're seeing a quiet revival?
SPEAKER_01: Would you be any less disappointed?
SPEAKER_01: And get this.
SPEAKER_01: What if some of the people that are leading the way in this revival don't necessarily fit the mold of what you think a revival should be?
SPEAKER_01: Let me hark on that a little bit, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Studying history, you learn about revivals.
SPEAKER_01: Two of the biggest ones in America were the first and great and second great awakenings.
SPEAKER_01: You want to know the funny thing about both of those events in history?
SPEAKER_01: The big name theologians out the day thought it was all in error.
SPEAKER_01: They didn't like the ministers running those revivals because they're getting out there, they're getting fiery, they're shouting and dancing.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't look like what should be going on.
SPEAKER_01: It's not looking calm enough, it's not looking, it's not looking professional enough.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, they didn't quote enough scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: The thing is, whatever revival is, it's speaking from the heart.
SPEAKER_01: It's not necessarily a script that you draft in the head.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, God has a history of ripping the script over and over, as he just did with Jesus, because scripts was not going to, we're not going to save mankind of its sins.
SPEAKER_01: If it follows the routine, if it follows the script or the structure, guess what?
SPEAKER_01: That actually gives the opportunity for the enemy to work because, as the Bible says, had they had known what had happened, what would happen to Jesus, they would have never crucified him.
SPEAKER_01: So let's get comfortable with the fact that God is always one step ahead.
SPEAKER_01: That means his ways are going to look and sound a little bit different.
SPEAKER_01: And I know this for a fact revival that's happening right now with Gen Z is by divine design different than what it looked like decades ago.
SPEAKER_01: Let's be comfortable with that.
SPEAKER_01: They're gonna say things different, they're gonna do things different, they're gonna throw in some phrases and slogans that might seem odd to us, but guess what?
SPEAKER_01: That's a generation that's on fire, and you know what?
SPEAKER_01: It's captivating audiences.
SPEAKER_01: Just go online real quick and you're gonna find there's this, there's a movement here.
SPEAKER_01: I've seen it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I'm a millennial, I've grown, I've grown up in this digital age, and I can tell you, for the first time in my life, I feel there's more Christian-based content now than ever.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_01: But while some ministers and theologians are looking at this and going, well, that's just not exactly the proper way to do it.
SPEAKER_01: God's like, I'm not in the business of proper right now.
SPEAKER_01: I got a message to give.
SPEAKER_01: My thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay if it looks different than what we think it will be.
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm gonna tell you, not only is it okay to think that way, it's a necessity because as you're seeing right now with Israel, because Jesus isn't meeting their expectations, they're gonna turn on him.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't see the way things are moving as God is intending, you might actually be counter-revival.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want anybody to get stung too much, but I I am kind of a victim of this because you know I grew up I grew up in a in a very conservative church tradition.
SPEAKER_01: Now I got a lot of good things from that.
SPEAKER_01: But as I'm seeing events unfold now, I have to learn I can't rely on that 100%.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that framework.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: I learned to dive into scripture from it, I learned to interpret scripture from it, I've learned that the basis of my thought life and prayer.
SPEAKER_01: It's a it's a grace to God that I was born into that.
SPEAKER_01: But if I just rely on that single mindset, okay, then I'm gonna miss out on everything God is trying to do now.
SPEAKER_01: So just so you know, I'm very much a part of this as well.
SPEAKER_01: Now back to the Jews.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Were there clues that they could have looked at so they wouldn't make the mistake?
SPEAKER_01: The good news about revival is yes, God always gives the clues.
SPEAKER_01: And it was in the very same books where Israel was looking to justify their military conqueror.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Isaiah, Daniel, Zachariah, all of them.
SPEAKER_01: You just go down the chapters a little bit and you'll see them.
SPEAKER_01: When revival's happening, yeah, God was gonna give you helpful hints, but the thing is, it takes a humble heart to realize that.
SPEAKER_01: This is why, as you read, when you read through the Bible, you have to look at it holistically, not individually.
SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, that's that seems to be what the Jews did.
SPEAKER_01: Case in point, take a look at this.
SPEAKER_01: Not only did the prophecies about that Messiah who's gonna come in and sweep in and take over, these were also the prophecies involved.
SPEAKER_01: Born of a virgin named Emmanuel, also from the book of Isaiah.
SPEAKER_01: Born from Bethlehem, Micah 5, 2.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the manger, which suffered for man's sins, Isaiah.
SPEAKER_01: I find it interesting that one in particular was missed because, well, that just doesn't sound like the military conqueror.
SPEAKER_01: Conquerors don't suffer, they get glory.
SPEAKER_01: Look at any historical individual, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoleon, all of them, they went into conquest to obtain glory.
SPEAKER_01: That's the kind of individual that the Jews thought would be.
SPEAKER_01: They thought the Messiah would come in and to them be the glory because they restore God's order.
SPEAKER_01: But the Messiah was actually going to be someone who was going to lay themselves up.
SPEAKER_01: Like it says in Isaiah 53, he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed.
SPEAKER_01: This was not going to be a hostile takeover, this was going to be a spiritual one.
SPEAKER_01: And the Jews missed that.
SPEAKER_01: But then there's the obvious would appear on a donkey, Zechariah 9 9.
SPEAKER_01: Symbolically representing Jesus' humility when he comes in.
SPEAKER_01: There's a reason why I went with those images because one shows them on the white stallion, right?
SPEAKER_01: Looks epic, but then in reality, Jesus came in on the donkey.
SPEAKER_01: It seems the Jews had someone coming in on a white horse as opposed to the donkey, so clearly they missed it.
SPEAKER_01: The issue then was not were the Jews expecting a Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: They certainly were, but they were expecting the Messiah as they saw fit.
SPEAKER_01: This was supposed to be their Messiah, and Jesus just did not fit the mold.
SPEAKER_01: Emphasize it one more time.
SPEAKER_01: Your expectation can skew your perception.
SPEAKER_01: We can't go based on simply what we know.
SPEAKER_01: Because if we're going based on what we know, then are we will then are we really yielding to God's judgment?
SPEAKER_01: God gave us a mind to work rationally, yes, and he wants us to use it, but he also gave it to us so we could discern his spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, Israel just was not doing that.
SPEAKER_01: They were thinking about their way, their identity, their national heritage.
SPEAKER_01: Just a quick reminder, okay?
SPEAKER_01: God kept his promises with Israel, not because they were anything special, but because it was a promise he made generations before.
SPEAKER_01: He makes this very clear in Deuteronomy.
SPEAKER_01: So, what exactly are the Jews hoping to save?
SPEAKER_01: Their eternity or just their national identity on earth?
SPEAKER_01: It seemed to have been the latter.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's what military conquest does.
SPEAKER_01: Not spiritual conquest.
SPEAKER_01: It could eventually lead to that.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus was going to make a spiritual takeover, and the Jews just simply missed it.
SPEAKER_01: Their expectation got them.
SPEAKER_01: This brings us to a Latin term, okay?
SPEAKER_01: So here in just a second, I'm gonna make y'all experts in Latin.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all ready?
SPEAKER_01: All right, you get all right, get y'all engaged a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: This is a Latin term, it's pronounced sensus plenior.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody repeat it after me sensus plenior.
SPEAKER_01: Any or.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, great.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: All right.
unknown: Fuller sense.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Fuller sense.
SPEAKER_01: She's a she that's a great student right there.
SPEAKER_01: Anyways, Latin for fuller sense, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And in other words, it's a deeper meaning.
SPEAKER_01: This is something that is implied in hermeneutics.
SPEAKER_01: This is the uh this is the art of interpreting scripture and pulling the message and meaning out.
SPEAKER_01: How many of y'all know that you can't just read through the Bible like it's a textbook?
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: The Bible doesn't work like that.
SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you firsthand, especially as someone in grad school right now, that's that's exactly how you approach things.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you look at it from an academic perspective, you look at it from a critical perspective, you're looking at it, and you're really nitpicking the details of it rather than seeking what's behind it.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01: And theologians understood this really since the days of the early church.
SPEAKER_01: We were actually, we actually had a lesson this morning about that, so I'll kind of pull off of that real quick.
SPEAKER_01: When it comes to, when it comes to Jesus and who he is and what he is, there was no doubt a lot of controversy about him, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And all the decent ministers would go to scripture to try to learn about him and and see who he was.
SPEAKER_01: And that also includes includes the prophecies behind him.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you go into the Old Testament prophecies and you read them, those scriptures that I that I gave you as references, I'll admit, they do kind of seem off and out there.
SPEAKER_01: But you see, that's actually how God works.
SPEAKER_01: Let's we've got to remind ourselves, God has a hindsight when he speaks to his people.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And while he may be giving a message specific for that day and time, as Paul says, that also can be a type and a shadow for things to come.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the early church understood that.
SPEAKER_01: And when the gospels were being written, those authors understood that what was written in the Old Testament, yeah, was partly about Israel in its bondage, but also about the everlasting covenant that would emerge during Jesus' ministry.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, that word everlasting meaning forever, that lets you know this is something enduring.
SPEAKER_01: So it may look like in a in a specific moment in Israel's history, whether it's in bondage by Assyria or Babylon, but it actually alludes to future events as well.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the deeper meaning of these passages.
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you an example right here, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 7.14, okay?
SPEAKER_01: This is a passage that speaks of the virgin birth.
SPEAKER_01: Now, as you're reading through Isaiah, you'll notice it's talking a little bit about Assyria.
SPEAKER_01: Well, when when Israel was under bondage in Jesus' day, it wasn't Rome, but Rome did historically conquer the lands that belonged to Assyria.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, Assyria wasn't necessarily about Assyria, it was actually about the power operating under the same spirit of Assyria, under control and under bondage.
SPEAKER_01: And this time it was the Romans, and we know this because it is recorded.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is born of a virgin in Matthew.
SPEAKER_01: That's sensus plenty or the scriptures are indicating something farther ahead than what you initially perceive.
SPEAKER_01: And so the Jews missed out on that.
SPEAKER_01: That's why they misunderstood Jesus when he went into Israel on a donkey.
SPEAKER_01: It's also why they didn't understand that when he entered into Jerusalem, the first order of business wasn't to go after the Romans, it was actually to clean house.
SPEAKER_01: Because when Jesus stepped in, he went right after the temple grounds, which should have been a place for worship and prayer, but instead it turned into a place of business.
SPEAKER_01: During this time, you had to have you had to have all kinds of animals to conduct sacrifices to atone for one's sins.
SPEAKER_01: But you had all these people that were there, and they were turning it into a gimmicky business.
SPEAKER_01: You had money exchangers there to convert currency, you had all these dance people throwing up advertisement, the finest lamb, the spotless lamb.
SPEAKER_01: I can only imagine what it would look like on a modern Facebook page with all the ads on them, because that's exactly what's happening during this time.
SPEAKER_01: And then Jesus shows up and he's like, My house is supposed to be a house of prayer.
SPEAKER_01: So no wonder he flipped the tables.
SPEAKER_01: And it was that moment that the Jews revealed their true hearts, their true intentions.
SPEAKER_01: They wanted business as usual.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the Romans were an inconvenience, but gosh, this is awful.
SPEAKER_01: You have to understand what Jesus did disrupted an entire system.
SPEAKER_01: The Romans relied on that in part to keep the Jews in check.
SPEAKER_01: But because of pressure to keep up with Roman tributes and taxes, they turned a holy institution into one that further bound the Israelites.
SPEAKER_01: How ironic! Because sacrificing for their sins was supposed to was supposed to atone for them.
SPEAKER_01: It was supposed to be an atonement.
SPEAKER_01: But instead, what they're doing is they're rebounding themselves over and over again.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus had to fix the system, but it's in that moment where the Jewish high priest realize, okay, this this guy's got to go.
SPEAKER_01: He's not the Messiah we expected him to be.
SPEAKER_01: It's time to get rid of him.
SPEAKER_01: And so they will conspire with one of his own disciples, which let me speak on Judas real quick.
SPEAKER_01: He's in the same boat here.
SPEAKER_01: In some sense, I read Judas's story and I go, How did you miss it, man?
SPEAKER_01: But when you consider the spiritual implications here, it makes more sense.
SPEAKER_01: Judas was thinking the Messiah was going to overthrow Rome.
SPEAKER_01: He'll feel guilty about it later.
SPEAKER_01: He'll hang himself because of it.
SPEAKER_01: But his heart was set on military conquest, not spiritual revival.
SPEAKER_01: And so he participated in it.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is then taken up, he's put on trial, handed over to the Romans, and then about a week later, from that triumphal entry that he made, he is going to be dying on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: But glory to God, how that was a part of the entire plan.
SPEAKER_01: That's what you call revival.
SPEAKER_01: Because the the neat thing about all of this is despite all that happened, God made his ways known and possible.
SPEAKER_01: There was no disrupting God's plan to bring everlasting life to all of humanity.
SPEAKER_01: How beautiful is that.
SPEAKER_01: To this day, in mainstream Judaism, Jesus was not the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: He's a blasphemer and a heretic.
SPEAKER_01: How many of us would like to see that turnaround happen?
SPEAKER_01: And I believe it's starting.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of events going on that's showing us that our Lord is coming back.
SPEAKER_01: And indeed he will.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, that's part of the inspiration behind the last book of the Bible, Revelation.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, because here's the thing the Jews weren't entirely wrong.
SPEAKER_01: When the Messiah comes, the Messiah's gonna come with military conquest in mind.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01: There's no doubt about it.
SPEAKER_01: But we have to understand it in God's timing.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus first came, it wasn't about conquest, it was about grace.
SPEAKER_01: And it was about breathing life into a world that had been dead for centuries since the fall of Adam and Eve.
SPEAKER_01: The second time, though, will be the conquest.
SPEAKER_01: And when it happens, everything is going to be set as it should.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your past.
SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 3, 5 through 6.
SPEAKER_01: As long as we don't get overly fixated with how we think God is going to do things, then I can guarantee you, church, this revival is going to have a profound impact on the world.
SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you right now, whole nations are just it that they're burgeoning to get their churches going.
SPEAKER_01: You see it right now, it's partly why all these events are happening.
SPEAKER_01: Even to a certain extent, Russia, because it's under a rough regime.
SPEAKER_01: It's under an authoritarian regime.
SPEAKER_01: God is wanting to take those down so that way his people can freely worship them and manifest his kingdom in those parts of you.
SPEAKER_01: Because I tell you this, technically, as Paul says it actually in 1 Thessalonians, you're not going to see that second coming until all the earth bows and surrenders to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So that should encourage us, ladies and gentlemen, that Jesus is coming, but we have to do our part.
SPEAKER_01: We've got to jump on board in this revival.
SPEAKER_01: We've got to do our part.
SPEAKER_01: And you want to know what?
SPEAKER_01: Who cares if it looks a little different than what other people may say?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Because as long as the gospel is being preached, the Spirit of God is going to handle the rest.
SPEAKER_01: Our job is just to get it out there and get it started.
SPEAKER_01: And I know for a fact that that's happening now in this nation and nations worldwide.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go ahead and turn the music up.
SPEAKER_01: So I hope now that you know a little bit about Palm Sunday, you have a better understanding of what the Lord is doing in this day and age.
SPEAKER_01: And hopefully that also encourages you to start walking into this more wholeheartedly.
SPEAKER_01: Catherine earlier was talking about a hesitancy, okay?
SPEAKER_01: The world has its way of doing things.
SPEAKER_01: The world tells you how things should be done.
SPEAKER_01: You know, she brought up specifically financial trouble, but this includes, this can be applied to anything, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Whatever situation or challenge that you're in right now, you're believing in this revival, but you're just wondering what part, what part do I play in this and how do I do this?
SPEAKER_01: That's the time to press into the Lord the most.
SPEAKER_01: Because I can almost guarantee you, what you think you should be doing, God might actually be telling you to do something different.
SPEAKER_01: It might not make sense at first, but you'll want to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's not move against this move of God that He's trying to do in the world, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Let's not let our expectations get the better of our judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Put those aside.
SPEAKER_01: Don't lean on your own understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you're letting your expectations dictate how you do things, then as Proverbs says, you're actually working like the wicked do.
SPEAKER_01: Don't want to be on that side of the fence.
SPEAKER_01: Also, if you're confused or worried that you about how all of this ends, take comfort in that because guess what?
SPEAKER_01: Nobody really does.
SPEAKER_01: We know in the end, when all is said and done, Christ reigns, he's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and this world ultimately will be back under his control.
SPEAKER_01: Our job isn't to know the intricacies on how to do that.
SPEAKER_01: We're just there to say, Yes, Lord, let thy will be done.
SPEAKER_01: I yield to your judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, Jesus came once.
SPEAKER_01: The word of God said he would.
SPEAKER_01: The word of God also says he's gonna come again.
SPEAKER_01: We've got a lot to look forward to, church.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, we just thank you for your powerful and uplifting word.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, God, for give us giving us a hope and a future to look towards.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you, God, for the pouring out of your spirit right now in this nation and in these and in this generation.
SPEAKER_01: Restoring, Lord, your dominance, restoring, Lord, your peace and your love, Lord, and foreshattering the kingdom of darkness so that way your ways can reign supreme.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go ahead and stand up all over this room.
SPEAKER_00: We're about to dismiss, but um, really, really excellent job, Nathan.
SPEAKER_00: Wasn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_00: I love the body of Christ because there's so much diversity in it, and we need those scholarly moments where things are broken down theologically for us.
SPEAKER_00: So thank you for that, and thank you.
SPEAKER_00: We honor the anointing on your life.
SPEAKER_00: We and we honor the gift of God on your life, we honor that teaching anointing and the God inside of you who is um who is really just releasing his plan for all of us through you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to just before we before we uh transition out of this, he said something that is so massive.
SPEAKER_00: If we can really grab a hold of this expectation.
SPEAKER_00: Say expectation.
SPEAKER_00: Say it one more time, expectation.
SPEAKER_00: The amount of people, I feel like, you know, we're not very old, but we're older than we've ever been.
SPEAKER_00: And we're getting older.
SPEAKER_00: So I we've been in ministry now, I can say, for 18 years full-time.
SPEAKER_00: So that's like long enough to kind of see some trends.
SPEAKER_00: And we've had the privilege of connecting with a lot of different local churches, and I can say this: the amount of people who I believe I've seen turn away from revival simply because of unmet expectations is mind-boggling.
SPEAKER_00: People coming in to an Americanized version of Christianity that says, What do you have to give me?
SPEAKER_00: instead of how can I serve?
SPEAKER_00: How can I be formed into the image of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: They come with these expectations, and honestly, they've built this God up in their mind that they've named Jesus, but I would say he's not actually Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He's not the Jesus of the Bible, he's a Jesus that has been crafted out of their own expectations, and there is not one person throughout the ages who God will ever change his character and his nature to match their expectations over his expectations of who he really is.
SPEAKER_00: And so in this season, God is being an uncompromising God, and he's coming to every generation, and he's saying, Are you willing to get rid of your own expectations so I can move again in your nation?
SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to get rid of this God you've created in your mind that doesn't actually exist because this God many of us have created in our mind caters to our own opinion, our own desires, our own promotion, our own expectation.
SPEAKER_00: And I just think he's never going to meet our expectations if they don't line up with the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And so I think this is such a valid moment as we remember that a king is coming in, that a king is still operating throughout humanity, but just like 2,000 years ago, religious people who were part of that modern-day church missed a move of God because of their expectations.
SPEAKER_00: We need to look at that as a sober warning.
SPEAKER_00: Oh God, may we not miss the move of God that you're doing now because of the expectations.
SPEAKER_00: What Nathan said of how he used to move, of how we want him to move.
SPEAKER_00: I have so many expectations in my personal heart of how I want God to move.
SPEAKER_00: But he even says in Corinthians, when it talks about the prophetic, that the first picture of God is rarely the full picture of God.
SPEAKER_00: There's so much that God wants to do in our lives, but we have to say, honestly, we've got to take a posture of humility and recognize where we have wrong theology, wrong expectations, and we say, God, you can do what you want with my life and my church and my children and my marriage and my finances and my business, every area of my life, you can be king and you can be Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And however it is that you want to come, if you never meet my expectations, if you never meet my desires, if you never do another miracle, I'm saying, God, I want you to be king in my life.
SPEAKER_00: God, we want you to be king in generation church.
SPEAKER_00: God, we want revival to break out, and so we just say, forgive us for putting you in the box of our unmet expectations and these expectations that maybe are our own agenda rather than yours.
SPEAKER_00: Can we just say forgive us, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: And we just say, help us to follow you in this season.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to wholeheartedly agree again with Nathan.
SPEAKER_00: Revival is breaking out all over the world.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember a couple of years ago when you know chaos erupted, and I thought, I've never seen anything like this.
SPEAKER_00: I've never seen so much sin being drawn to the surface, I've never seen so much chaos, while at the same time, I have seen a shift of the light of God being released over the nations, the presence of God being poured out on people.
SPEAKER_00: And so we just say in this church and in our lives, we're gonna be wide open to whatever he wants to do and however he wants to move and whatever he wants to build.
SPEAKER_00: So we say yes to that on this Palm Sunday, and we welcome the King of Glory even more into our midst.
SPEAKER_00: And everybody said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We love you guys so much.
SPEAKER_00: Just keep uh just so you guys know, this coming Wednesday, which we have our normal Wednesday service, it's gonna be a holy week service where we just come um and remember what God did on the cross, and we're gonna take communion together.
SPEAKER_00: So I would love it if all of you came and we just have that moment of remembering.