PALM SUNDAY
Today is Palm Sunday the day we celebrate Christ's return to Jerusalem. His entrance met with loud hosannas as cries of praise and hope. John 12 12: On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13: Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. 14: And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15: Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 16: These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. Three and a half years he had walked among them showing them the way instructing them in the way, demonstrating repeatedly God�s mercy and Grace. He was so different from anything they had ever encountered before this man spoke of forgiveness, of love and had declared in public the Pharisee and their religion a disgrace to God. He knew exactly what this celebration would become and still He went willingly knowing that at the end of this road was the shame of the cross. He came for sinners each and every one of us and if we believe on him we shall be saved John 15: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. I used the whole passage because I wanted you to see there are no quantifiers there, no conditions except to believe. So often I hear when I�m ready to� and then what follows is a laundry list of what they think they have to do for this free gift. it is so simple just follow. Luke 9. 57: And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58: And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59: And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60: Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61: And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62: And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Put nothing first and follow Christ. Depend on Him and He will move you through all things You don�t have to do anything but believe. Nothing can wrest us from His hand Ask me how I know�ASK ME HOW DO I KNOW? He tells me John 10 27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29: My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30: I and my Father are one. Before I move on�Let me go to two words. I have been through several translations and Greek to English, English to Latin and No man loosely translates to no created thing. Satan is a created being he has no power to tear you from Christ�s grasp you are his from the moment you give you life to Christ. You are going to mess up you are going to go afoul. You are going to be outside his will so often you�ll wonder how he can put up with you. I�ll tell you how does it He loves you so much that he rode into the city willingly for you and I. He went for you and I so that we may have life abundant so that we may have forgiveness for our sins and be cleansed by his blood. He did not come for perfect people, Christ was know to hang out with the people that the religious leader of His time thought were unacceptable, the tax collectors, the poor and people who had to work hard just to stay alive, basically people just like us. LUKE 15 1: Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2: And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3: And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4: What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5: And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6: And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7: I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. We are who he came for and I myself am a sinner. Now then you wonder what am I doing up here? Because This is where He told me to be. I ain�t perfect I ain�t even close that dosen�t mean that I should not be trying to live a life acceptable to God. Being Christian does not make us perfect it just makes us whole. Once you give Christ your heart don�t look back don�t stop. You will fail time and again but Christ is always there to grasp your hand to pull you back to you knees where Christ�s love for you can again unfold in your life. I have put my back to the world and placed my eyes on the prize I refuse to let Satan confuse or distract me I will follow Him without reservation. If any of us could have been perfect he would have never had to come but he came to us to make us perfect in the eyes of the father. How could anyone ever live up to the standard of someone who would give His son for you. To let Him spend hours dying on a cross for one person. Not one of us is good enough that is why he had to come to literally save us. Because Isaiah 64:6 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; Not one of us is good enough and can never be Christ and His sacrifice stand between us and the father interceding on our behalf. Rom. 3:10, "As it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one...'" Rom. 3:23. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Without Christ�s sacrifice none of us are acceptable we are all sinners and can only be redeemed by the blood of the lamb and that�s why Christ died for you. Rom. 5:12, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." We were born into sin and as humans we are comfortable living as the world sees fit,� but if we fail to heed Christ�s call we will remain in sin,�. and miss the amazing walk God has planned for us here on earth, much less the life eternal promised by our God. Rom. 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This isn�t just about a natural death, but a spiritual death before Christ entered my life I was not fully alive. I wasn�t living for the goals Christ had in mind for me. Rom. 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." The Father knew us in our mothers womb, he knows each of us completely. He knew who we were before we even existed and He willingly went to His death FOR YOU AND ME. His last prayers before he was arrested were for those who would believe on faith alone. That�s us. Rom. 10:9-10, "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Rom. 10:13, "For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." Is it really that easy? Absolutely� becoming a Christian is easy it�s being one that�s hard. But not one thing I have ever done compares with what God is now doing in me. through me and with me. We must never forget who we are�but more importantly WHOSE we are. We are bought and paid for, we belong to the Great I AM. Not because we deserve it or by any work of our own, but by the wonder of the Cross. We cannot take credit for any of this we� as Paul says in Galatians boast only in the Cross of Christ and Him Crucified. Believe me when I tell you He allowed Himself to be delivered to the Cross. Christ willingly suffered scourging and humiliation and a death that was reserved for the most heinous criminal of the lowest social class. (He was brought low for our transgressions). We� you, me and every person on this planet placed Him there. We are the reason He had to suffer and die, God the Father gave us this amazing gift, his Son so that if we believe� not just saying the words or going through the motions, but with all our heart souls and minds we are forgiven, we have justified Romans 3 22: Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26: To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. When you look at the Greek word roots it is more than simply justified, we have been� if I might once more take a few liberties with the English language Righteousified made righteous, in the sight of God. Made righteous in the sight of God. A high price secured salvation for those who believe on Him who died for us. Consider the long drawn out death that was required to save us from sin death and destruction. If you can imagine� hanging there Iron nails the size of your index finger driven through His wrists and ankles. His shoulders are dislocated. He cannot pull himself up to relieve the pressure on His diaphragm to catch His breath, all He can do is push up on the iron nail driven through His ankles. Hours went by breath after painful breath, until finally mercifully He dies in conquest not defeat, I know he lives today a demonstration of His conquest over death. When Christ went before Pilate the major question of who he was, was established to those who were willing to believe. John 18:33-37 33Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" 35Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" 36Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." 37Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Once Pilate questioned Jesus we have to think a little bit about the custom of the time. If a man made a statement and then was witnessed by another then the statement was considered true. Pilate himself states that more than one person has told him that Christ was THE KING OF THE JEWS, Pilate was very close to understanding. Jesus went to the Cross for you, freeing us from sin death and destruction and the power of Satan over our lives. By his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus secured a place for all who will believe. Amen
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