WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.799 This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.320 Helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:14.000 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit GrantProquay.org. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:15.759 We've come to bless you. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:17.920 We by nature curse you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:31.679 But evidence that God's at work in us is we take you take people who by nature curse you, and you change our nature to where we're people who want to bless you, who want to live our lives to the glory of God, not just the smallness of our happiness. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:36.399 We want to bow down before you and say that you're God and your word is truth. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:39.280 And so our lives are conformed around that, God. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:42.479 And that doesn't mean that we we're restricted, we can't do anything. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:44.240 What it means is we're really free. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:50.880 We believe the teaching of the Bible is that Jesus came to give us back the freedom that Adam and Eve forfeited in the garden. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:52.640 You said to them, You're free. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:57.679 And Jesus comes, and the Bible says, if the Son sets you free, you're free indeed. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:04.079 So Lord, let us live in love and lead in the freedom that you came to make real and available to us. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:11.519 Pray for anyone in this room today who doesn't have a relationship with Jesus, that today that the light would come on in their head and in their heart. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.400 They're not here to get a religious whipping with a guilt stick. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:18.719 They're here this morning to hear the truth that sets them free. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.120 Set us free now in Jesus' name we pray. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:22.959 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:23.760 You can have a seat. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:27.280 If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Luke chapter 19. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:28.640 Luke chapter 19. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.239 I'll start reading verse 28. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.159 And if you don't have a Bible, there's one on your row. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:34.000 I'm on page 878. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:38.480 And if you if you don't have a Bible at home, you can take that one home with you as our gift to you today. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:39.760 We'd be glad for you to have that. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:41.359 If you're a guest, let me say welcome. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:44.239 We're in a series right now entitled 40 Days to the Cross. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:51.040 We started about 36 days, 35 days ago, kind of looking at different things Jesus talked about. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:56.640 And so we've been preaching and writing and teaching about things that Jesus said leading up to the cross. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:03.040 We're going to read from Luke chapter 19, uh, and what we're going to read today takes place five days before Jesus dies. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.280 Jesus is going to be dead in five days. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:06.640 He knows it full well. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.879 The historians have determined on our calendar, this is March 29th, A.D. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:11.680 33. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:17.680 On the Jewish calendar, it was the 10th of Nisan, N I-SA-N, which is the first month of the year on their calendar. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:21.039 You say, why do you say tell us all that, Bill Nye Science guy? 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.719 Because I want you to know that Jesus was not a figment of someone's imagination. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:28.560 He lived chronologically in a real time in a real place. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.879 Now, we're going to read in just a minute, but I want to talk to you this morning about this question. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:34.159 What do you see? 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:35.599 What do you see? 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:38.639 Because I don't want you to fall into the habit of just reading the Bible. 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:40.639 I want you to see the Bible. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:44.479 We'll read and hopefully God will give us something to see. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:46.960 This is Luke chapter 19, starting verse 28. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.479 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:03:02.560 When he drew near to Beth Page, Beth and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you'll find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:04.240 Untie it and bring it here. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:06.879 If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it? 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:09.199 You shall say this, The Lord has need of it. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:12.879 So those who were sent away went away and found it just as he had told them. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:17.120 And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, Why are you untying the colt? 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:19.199 And they said, The Lord has need of it. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:23.919 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:26.800 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:43.199 And he was as he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:47.360 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:52.960 And he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:04:02.879 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:12.560 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:19.759 And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:21.600 Now this is Palm Sunday. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:28.879 It begins holy week here at Grand Park Way, and most of us have heard what's referred to in the Bible as a triumphal entry many times before. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:30.639 I don't want you to hear it this morning. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:31.680 I want you to see it. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.319 And if you see, there's four things that we see in the text. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:38.000 And the first one is simply this is that prophecy is being fulfilled. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:40.000 Prophecy is being fulfilled. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:42.079 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:44.959 Prophecy is a word that we the Bible usually use in church. 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:52.160 Basically, it's like God made promises or statements way back in the Old Testament, and years went by, and then they never came to be. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:05:03.839 It's like when you go watch a movie and something happens 15 minutes in, somebody looks a certain way, or they play that music, dun, dun, dun, and you're like, okay, something just happened, and I want to make sure I understood. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:08.959 And you don't understand it until almost the end of the movie because what they set up gets fulfilled over here. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:10.399 Well, that's the same way in the Bible. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:16.720 The Bible says of Jesus that all of God's promises, all of these things that God says in the Old Testament are gonna happen. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.120 They are yes and amen in Jesus. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.519 In other words, this kind of sets it up. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:23.120 He comes, he fulfills it. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:24.000 You say, What do you mean? 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:25.439 Prophecy is being fulfilled. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:33.279 When Jesus, by the simple act of riding into Jerusalem, he rides in, not on a white stallion like a war general, I'm here to conquer. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.240 He rides in like a king on a donkey. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:37.439 You say, What do you mean? 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:41.519 That's what when a king would come, just to kind of say, by the way, I'm now in charge. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:42.800 That's what they'd ride in on. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:47.839 The Bible prophesied this, or the Bible talked about this 520 years earlier. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.000 Now, before I read that, let me ask you a question. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:54.959 How many in this room have ever had somebody told you, I'm gonna do this and they didn't do it? 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.480 Or they said, I never do that, and they did it anyway. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:00.000 I see your hand. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:01.600 Sure, we've all had that. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:02.639 Now put your hands down. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:04.319 Now, the Bible, look, look at me. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.759 The Bible says of this of God. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:07.839 It says, God is not a man that he would lie. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:21.120 And so if you're here and you're suspect of religion, or you're suspect of organized religion, or you think church is a bunch of hypocrites, I understand that on some level, but yet it's kind of gets the more you say that, it becomes a cop-out because you're looking at people, not at God. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:23.680 Here's how honest and straight shooting God is. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:32.560 520 years before, what happens in Luke 19, back in the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9, the Bible records this. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:34.079 It's a prophecy or a promise. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:36.560 It says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:38.720 Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:40.560 Behold, the king is coming to you. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:42.959 Righteous and having salvation is he. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:47.600 Humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:48.240 Now stop. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:52.639 Now it circle in your mind's eye that phrase, righteous and having salvation is he. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:53.519 This is the Bible. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.040 The Old Testament is the Bible that the people of the New Testament read. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:58.319 And so that's all they had. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:00.079 They've been reading this for years. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:01.600 Oh man, here's the deal. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:03.680 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:07.759 Shout aloud, which is why they're going berserk when Jesus comes riding in. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.560 Hosanna, glory to God in the highest. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:12.000 They're waving palm branches. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:14.959 They're taking their coats off and laying them down on the road. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:20.720 Can you imagine men coming home from work this week and your wife and kids being in the driveway, taking their coats off and laying them down? 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:22.000 Dad, it's home. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:24.959 Hosanna, glory to God in the highest. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:26.879 And he brought Chick-fil-A. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:28.079 Yeah. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:33.439 You would be kind of like, this is creepy. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:35.279 You just put in reverse and back up. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:37.120 Clearly, I'm at the wrong house. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:38.560 Now, why do I say that? 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:41.199 I say that because no one thought this was creepy. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:54.879 Everyone had been living for years, for centuries, in light of one day, our Messiah's gonna come, and he's gonna come riding in righteous and having salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:58.720 And the people see this and they think they consume Jesus upon their lust. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:00.160 You know you can do that, right? 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:03.439 You can take the good things of God and consume them upon your lust. 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:09.120 For them, it's kind of like oh, finally, a political ruler that's gonna do what we want to do. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:12.560 They're gonna overthrow the Romans and they're gonna make it better for us. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:18.160 Or if it was modern day, it'd be like, yes, Ted Cruz is gonna run for president. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.399 Finally, a constitutional conservative. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:25.600 I'm not making light of politics. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:28.480 I'm just saying don't put your hope in that. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:31.360 Because they consume Jesus upon their lust. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:39.440 Because when Judas saw that Jesus wasn't gonna do what he thought Jesus should do, he betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:46.879 So Jesus comes riding in, just humble on the foal of a donkey. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:50.720 And by coming in, everybody knows Jesus believes himself to be the king. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:52.799 So the first thing you see, prophecy is being fulfilled. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:54.879 Secondly, history is being filled full. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.120 History is being filled full. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:58.960 Now you say, Well, what do you mean? 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:01.919 Jesus rides in on the 29th day of March. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.039 Back then, their calendar, the way the Jewish calendar was the tenth day of Nisan. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.120 This is the day that Passover is celebrated. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:07.440 Okay? 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:10.639 Now, if you've got a Bible, I want you to turn to the Old Testament, to the book of Exodus. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:12.159 If you don't have a Bible, just relax. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:13.440 It'll come up on the screen. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:20.000 The book of Exodus, because I said a minute ago something about all of God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:21.200 And I want you to see this. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.679 Because Jesus rides in on the day that lambs are being selected. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:26.720 You say, What do you mean? 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.080 Exodus chapter 12. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.559 Remember, history is being filled full. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.519 Exodus chapter 12, verse 1, the Bible tells us this. 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:39.120 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, This month shall be for you the beginning of months. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.200 It shall be the first month of the year for you. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:49.440 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to the father's house, a lamb for a household. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:55.519 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:59.360 According to what you can eat, you shall make your count for the lamb. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:02.080 Verse 5 says, Your lamb shall be without blemish. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:03.679 Mark that in your mind. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.279 There's no throwaway sentences in the Bible. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.480 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:20.639 You may take it from the sheep of or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:26.320 Now, God says you're going to select this lamb on this, you're going to select this lamb on the tenth of Nisan. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:27.840 You shall keep it until the fourteenth. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:34.399 So if you select it on the tenth, and you keep it till the fourteenth, that's 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:36.480 That's five days, correct? 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:39.279 Y'all are like, Really? 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:40.799 They pay you to do this? 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:41.519 Yes. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:42.799 Yes, I can count. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:44.000 Why do I tell you that? 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:49.840 Back to Luke chapter 19, because remember, all of God's promises are yes and amen. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:56.399 When I say history is being fulfilled, since that time when God institutes in Exodus chapter 12, what's called the Passover. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:07.279 They take this lamb, they have to keep it for five days, and they examine it to make sure it's without spot or blemish, because it cannot have any kind of defect, or it can't be sacrificed as a lamb. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:21.039 They sacrifice the lamb, they take the blood, they apply it to the doorpost of their house, and when the death angel comes, it's judgment upon Egypt, and God says, If I when I see the blood on the door, I'll pass over your house, and no harm will come to you. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.720 And so for years, Jewish people have celebrated Passover. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.559 Well, what's that got to do with history being filled full? 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:32.399 The day that Jesus rides into Jerusalem is the 10th of Nisim. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:36.399 It's the day everyone in Jerusalem is selecting their lamb to observe Passover. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:42.960 Jewish historian Josephus tells us that on that day there were as many as 260,000 baby lambs in Jerusalem. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:45.120 All you can hear is bleeding everywhere. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:47.759 And everyone's getting their lamb. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:49.120 They selected on that day. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:56.000 Remember when Jesus first comes on the scene, John the Baptist looks up and says, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world? 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:01.120 The Bible's so subtle that sometimes you miss what's really happening. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.519 Jesus rides in, everyone's selecting their lamb. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:07.039 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:08.159 What's that got to do? 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:10.720 He rides in on the tenth of Nisan, okay? 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.440 And for the next five days, things happen. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:19.919 He teaches a little bit, and then he gets uh betrayed, and he gets sent from this ruler to this ruler to Herod the Great. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:20.639 I don't have anything to do. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:21.679 Then they send him to Pilate. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.000 Remember when Pilate, here's how subtle the Bible is. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:25.919 Remember, the lamb has to be without blemish. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:32.879 He gets to before Pilate, and Pilate says, he washes his hands in front of everybody and says, I find no fault in him. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:40.000 Basically, what he's saying is, you now have a Passover lamb that you can sacrifice for the sins of the world. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:47.840 See, history, not only is prophecy fulfilled, but history gets fulfilled by Jesus coming into Jerusalem on this day. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:49.279 It's not without accident. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:56.720 He could have got there the day before or the day after, but God sets it all up so that the big picture of the Bible all of a sudden gets a little more clear. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:02.159 He rides in because God says, Hey, I am I'm the one that fulfills all the promises. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:05.120 So two things we see prophecy is being fulfilled. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:07.679 Secondly, history is being filled full. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:10.559 Without that, all we have is a bunch of empty religious rituals. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:15.039 You come to church, you go through the motions, you say some things, you do no. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:19.039 But because of the way God set it up, all of a sudden it has substance to it. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:22.559 Third thing we see is simply this that our greatest needs are being addressed. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:25.039 Our greatest needs are being addressed. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:28.000 Now, if you've got a Bible, I want you to turn to Romans chapter 3. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:30.559 And if you don't have a Bible, it'll come up on the screen. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:32.000 Because we have two primary needs. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:36.639 Number one, we need a sufficient sacrifice, and number two, we need a sufficient motivation. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:37.919 And we'll start with the first one. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.120 A sufficient sacrifice. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:39.840 What do you mean? 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.200 This is what the Bible says. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.919 Romans chapter 3, verse 20. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:51.279 It says, For by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:52.480 Let me just stop right there. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:54.799 We'll read more in just a minute, but hear that again. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:02.559 The Bible says in Romans chapter 3, verse 20, for by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in God's sight. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:03.679 Now, what does that mean? 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:08.399 That means that I can't do enough good things to counterbalance all the bad things I've done in life. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:10.799 I told the first service, I may as well tell you. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:16.720 If you're new to church, or maybe today's the first time you've been in a while, you looked around and when we sing, people raise their hands and stuff. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:19.759 Every once in a while I try to see church through the lens of somebody. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:22.000 It's like, hey man, I don't really go to church that much. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.960 You might look around and think, what are these people doing? 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:29.279 Let me take you back about, I don't know, 34 years. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.759 Uh, when I was 16 years old, I was not a Christian. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:33.440 I didn't become a Christian until I was 18. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:38.399 When I was 16 years old, on my 16th birthday, I was in the fifth row at a KISS concert. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:41.519 And all me and my brothers did the whole night was this. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:45.679 Wow! Through the warm-up band, through Kiss, through the whole thing. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.039 I came home and my mom's like, You boys smell like marijuana. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:52.960 I'm like, Mom, there was like a nuclear cloud of pot smoke above this thing. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.200 There was no way you cannot smell like marijuana. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:56.240 Let me smell your breath. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.399 I'm like, that's drinking, mom. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.720 You can't smell marijuana on your breath. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:01.360 I can. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:01.840 Come here. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:03.360 I'm like, all right, whatever. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:09.519 Now you may see, but I remember looking back at that concert, and just everybody around me was just wow! Why is that? 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:14.639 And if you press me, I could probably sing the entire song of certain kiss songs. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:16.639 And that's horrible. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:18.559 I'm your pastor, okay? 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:20.960 I'll give you another confession. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.720 Just the other night, I was flipping channels and I came across a documentary on the band Kansas. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:26.080 Anybody remember Kansas? 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:27.600 Oh yeah, baby. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:29.279 I stopped on that and watched the whole thing. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:34.159 By the way, Carrie Livgren, the guy, the blonde-haired guy, the guitar player, wrote muscle songs. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:41.679 He had a finger-picking exercise where he would practice the guitar, and that he was he would do this little routine, and his wife walked by and said, You should work that into a song. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:42.559 That's beautiful. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.120 That became the song Dust in the Wind. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:46.639 I was like, no way. 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:47.759 Let me tell you something. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:54.080 When they lit in to carry on my wayward son, I got my aim in flame barbecue lighter and lit it up on the couch. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:54.799 Whoa! 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:56.480 Take your shirt off, honey. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:57.759 We're at a concert. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:01.279 And my wife shook her head, like, Really? 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:03.200 You moron, you're a pastor. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:05.039 It's Kansas. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.519 I went out in the garage, got my broom, and jumped around for a little bit. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:12.960 My wife opened the door. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:14.399 Okay, come take a shower, big boy. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:15.440 It's about bedtime. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:17.600 Wow, what happened? 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.240 Same thing happened when I was 16 at kids' concert. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:21.360 It just got the better of me. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:22.799 I lost myself in the music. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.080 So let me say this. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:27.200 When you come to church, look around, you say, oh, they're raising the hand, sure. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:28.159 No, no, no, no. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.960 Sometimes people just lose themselves in the music. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.480 Like we sing that one song that says, See the true and better Adam. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:40.080 The Bible says that Adam, in the old first Adam, refers to Jesus as the second Adam. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:44.240 So when we say, See the true and better Adam, come to save the hellbound man. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:48.000 I'm just like, Yes! That's me. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:50.080 Because I never get over that. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:54.080 I was having dinner with some friends on Friday night, and one guy was telling about how he came to Christ. 00:16:54.320 --> 00:17:03.120 He said, There was a woman in my church, little church in Mississippi, that every Sunday night she met with me and two other boys, three boys, and just explained the Bible to us. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:08.480 And one night she just looked at us and she goes, I want to talk to you about how to give your life to what it means to give your life to Christ. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:12.799 And this cat's 62 years old, he choked up crying just the thought of it. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:15.279 And I was like, Yeah, I get that. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:17.039 Why do I tell you that? 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:24.160 Because when you realize what the Bible says in verse 20 of Romans 3, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:27.359 Since through the law comes knowledge of sin, what does that mean? 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:28.640 You know what that means. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:30.240 You just don't think of it in this terms. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:36.480 Since through the law comes knowledge of sin, in other words, the more you read God's law, the more you're gonna realize, uh oh. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:38.799 Man, I've done a lot of those things. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:42.720 Through the law comes knowledge of sin, which is here's what how I know you know that. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:46.000 Every time you see a cop, you instinctively hit the brakes. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.279 You're like, Mom, you're doing nine miles an hour. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:51.039 That's okay, you're never gonna be too safe. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:53.200 Speed limit 60, okay? 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:54.480 But the Bible goes on. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:04.559 Now, now keep in mind we're talking about our greatest need is a sufficient sacrifice because hey, the Bible says, hey, for by works of the law, we're no one's gonna get right with God. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:09.200 Then the question ought to come up in your mind, you're thinking, people, then how do I get right with God? 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.440 The Bible keeps talking in verse 21. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:15.599 He says, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:21.359 Although the law and prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:35.440 There's no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:41.039 This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the former sins. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:48.640 It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.640 The Bible speaks with such authority, it doesn't have to raise its voice. 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:59.440 Like that last sentence where it says, God did this so he could be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:05.519 If God was to look at the sin of humanity and just wink and kind of go, hey, everyone screws up, just do your best, he wouldn't be just. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:07.920 He wouldn't be a just God. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:18.400 And so the only way for God to be just and the justifier, the one who makes people right who were born wrong, is to come up with a solution on his own, not leave it up to us. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:28.720 The beauty of the gospel and the beauty why I say your greatest need is being addressed is that God didn't leave it to you and say, just try your best, and I'll grade on a curve when this all goes down in the end. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:33.920 No, the Bible says he put him forward as a propitiation, as an atoning sacrifice. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:38.400 It means that God is unhappy with sinners like me and like you. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:51.440 And we can't get right ourselves, and so Jesus comes right into Jerusalem on a donkey, and it looks innocuous and simple, but what God is saying is, I got an unblemished lamb that's gonna take away the sins of the world. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:57.519 And Passover is not gonna be a ritual anymore, it's gonna be a reality for all who have faith in Jesus. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:01.920 So the first thing that happens is our we have a sufficient sacrifice. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:06.160 The second thing, the greatest need is being addressed, is a sufficient motivation. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:07.680 A sufficient motivation. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:08.880 Let me ask you a question. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:12.319 I don't want you to raise your hands because this might get a little personal. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:19.119 How many of you have ever been in a situation where you knew the right thing and you knew what the wrong thing was? 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.880 But for some weird reason you just wanted to do the wrong thing. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.200 Some of y'all are like, I am glad we're not raising our hands on this. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:30.799 It's okay. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:31.839 It's great. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:33.839 So let me ask you another question. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:35.920 So, what determines what you do? 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:42.240 See, in riding into Jerusalem, Jesus is demonstrating for us what a sufficient motivation looks like. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:49.119 Because a sufficient motivation is not his love for people, it's not his love for humanity, it's not, hey, I want to do no no. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.559 Here's what motivates Jesus. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:52.640 The Bible tells us in John chapter 12. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:21:01.599 When you find yourself in a situation that's that you're just like, ah, what do you look to that ensures you're gonna do the right thing? 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.720 The Bible says this of Jesus in John 12, verse 27. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:06.720 He says, Now is my soul troubled. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:11.440 In other words, man, this is and what shall I say? 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:14.079 Shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:17.119 No, it's for this purpose that I've come to this hour. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:20.240 What I'm gonna say instead is, Father, glorify your name. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:22.000 And then a voice came from heaven. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.440 Jesus says, Hey, I I I'm betwixt and between here. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:26.480 My soul is troubled. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:27.519 What am I gonna do? 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:28.880 Shall I say, Save me? 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:29.759 I don't want to do this. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:31.359 No, I this is why I came. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:34.720 I came to give my life on the cross for people. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:36.559 So, God, glorify your name. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:41.279 And God speaks from heaven and says, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:49.119 Here's what I'm saying to you the glory of God is the only sufficient motivation that's gonna see you and I through when we come to that fork in the road. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:53.279 As a Christian, and I'll press it even further as a non Christian. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:55.920 If you're thinking, I don't believe all this stuff, this doesn't apply to me. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:56.720 Yeah, it does. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:57.599 Yeah, it does. 00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.680 And here's why you need a source of motivation. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.279 Outside of yourself. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:10.480 Otherwise, we will waste our lives obsessing over ourselves, how we feel, what we prefer, and we'll never live our life in consequence of the gospel. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:17.119 Here's one of the ways I know that I'm a Christian is that when I'm at a fork in the road, something in me says, not do the right thing. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:19.519 Not you're a preacher, not you're a dad. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:21.359 You want your kids to follow your example? 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:24.079 Something in me says, glorify God. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:26.240 Glorify God. 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:33.119 I'll explain this in a minute, but there's a bigness to the glory of God that we don't find in our own happiness. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.720 Because we live in a culture that says, hey, just be happy. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:37.680 Just be happy. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:38.799 You do what makes you happy. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:40.000 Whatever floats your boat. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:45.039 However that's coming out these days, it's the same message. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:50.240 But let me just say this: God's glory, this is the most controversial thing I'll say this morning. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:52.000 So get your pens ready. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.559 God's glory matters more than your personal happiness. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:00.000 It just does. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.480 It matters more than my personal happiness. 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:06.640 One of the ways that I know that I'm a Christian is that God's glory and my person. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:12.400 Now, I'm gonna tell you, I don't have time to preach this sermon, but but those aren't mutually exclusive if you're a Christian. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:14.559 John Piper, this preacher, said this. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:18.880 He said, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.960 So I'm gonna seek that which satisfies me with all my might. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.279 And you say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what does that mean? 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.440 That just you sound like you're contradicting yourself. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:27.839 No. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:29.519 Here's how I know that I'm a Christian. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:34.880 I'm not gonna seek that which dishonors God and robs God of His glory and makes me happy. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:46.000 If God is most glorified in my life, when I'm most satisfied in Him, then I should seek that which satisfies me as a Christian, the glory of God with all my might. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:47.759 With all my might. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:49.039 You say, What do you mean? 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.559 God's glory matters more than our purple personal happiness. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:24:01.759 This is only possible because the gospel, and without the power of the gospel manifesting itself in our lives, we'll only accomplish what we feel like. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:11.119 And you'll get to the end of your life, and I don't mean your deathbed, I mean the last five, ten, fifteen years of your life, and you'll have this gnawing sense that you could have done more. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:23.039 If every time you come to the fork in the road and the glory of God doesn't motivate you, and you just choose what will make you happy, there's a smallness to personal happiness that you should find offensive. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.480