Your King is Coming

Thanks so much. I'm so thrilled to be here.

If you know Tony, you love the guy, but is it just me or does

anyone wonder if that's kind of one of those fake Zoom

backgrounds? You know, I'm like, I think I

know how to do that on my computer.

I, I saw that this morning during the run through and I

immediately text him and I'm like, dude, you are not in DC.

It's a lie. Like I shot a video out there

and he sent a picture back of him and started.

He goes, he goes, don't tell anyone.

I'm in Hawaii, you know, but so I've just been talking trash to

him already today. You have a great pastor and Tony

and the other leaders here. It is such a blessing, such a

joy to finally be able to be here and put my eyes on the

great work of God. Tony is a dear friend.

I don't know if you know that, but it's not every city where

pastors are really friends and really heartfelt friends.

I cannot tell you how many tacos I've eaten at Nepal with Tony.

You know, it's just been so good over at his house with Sarah,

the kids. Wow, just lost my voice there.

It it's delightful and we've shared some ministry together.

I don't know if you know this or not, but John and Kelly Scotty

who were here and you've been investing in them.

We had a chance to to just like the apostle Paul talks about

labor on the foundation that is Christ and them also they now as

a lot of you know and support them.

They're in North Africa. You know, just the day after

Easter Sunday, I'll be heading North Africa with a bunch of

other pastors and I'll be hanging out with them and, and

show us what you're doing. And I can't wait, I can't wait

to do that. But it's been fun to really

cultivate relationship with with Tony, honestly, over these last

couple years. To have a true friend in the

Kingdom minded friend is, is a real delight.

He's come to our staff team and encouraged us.

And I hope I can be an encouragement to you real quick.

I just wanted to say something to you that I have been looking

forward to saying for the last couple years.

Thank you. I don't know if you know this,

but I sat down once with with Tony over lunch and he said we

took a Christmas offering and our custom is to give away a

percentage of that offering every year.

And we prayed as a leadership team, and God's LED us to give

away a percentage of that to Salt Company, to assault church.

And he slides an envelope across the table.

And you know. When that kind of thing happens,

you want to open it, but you don't.

Not right there, you know? And I thought couple 100 bucks,

man, that's really generous or whatever.

He left and I probably got to my car and ripped that open $7000

you gave to help another church in this city reach people for

Jesus. I I just want you to know.

Yeah. That's worth laughing about.

Thank you. I want you to know this, though.

No one does that. No one does what you did.

Churches get so competitive that they think they're playing March

Madness. You know, they, they think we

got to kill everyone out here and and they'll realize the the

world needs Jesus and there there needs to be more of us,

not less. And your church, listen, you're

going to forget almost everything I teach from the

Bible this morning. I get it.

I I forget almost everything I teach after a few days later.

I understand how that works. But here's what I don't.

Here's if you remember something, remember this.

You're setting a pace in your generosity.

You are a Kingdom minded church. You believe in the capital C

church even more than just like the little C, like just Vita.

And I'm saying thank you so much for being those kind of men and

women. God is using you.

And it has been such a blessing to us who's a part of this

bigger harvest field. We're just sort of in another

corner of it, you know, on the other side of Gainesville.

So so grateful for you guys. All right, enough sentimental

stuff about churches being friends.

Let's jump into our passage this morning.

Let me give you a little bit of context to where we're going.

The death and resurrection of Lazarus has just happened.

That just happened and that was taught about a little while ago.

But that is that is just previous to our passage where

Jesus goes to be with Mary and and Martha in their pain and

sees Lazarus raised from the dead.

Oh, I forgot to introduce one last thing.

Oh, shoot. Time out.

I didn't introduce you to my family.

I know it's way out of order. I I am married.

There's Jenny. I just looked at my notes.

I'm like, ah, my family. There's Jenny.

We've been married 30 years, and that's our youngest child.

No, that's just kidding. That's a grandchild.

Can you imagine? What a gap.

That's Josiah, my son on the left and then Claire and Ellie

and they're all in full time ministry in different ways and

in and in different places. And then Josiah, Michelle or

Mary, that's my son and daughter-in-law and our little

granddaughter Flora. So I know out of order we are

already into Lazarus and all that kind of stuff, but that's

my family. I actually am married.

So there you go. Hey, we'll jump right back into

it. Lazarus and the raising of

Lazarus just happened. Let me give you a little bit of

context from John 1134. And some of these slides are

just going to be up on the screen for you and then we'll

jump into our main text in a moment.

But here's a little context. If you didn't come, you know,

these last handful of weeks. The Bible teaches in John 1134

and he, this is Jesus said, where have you laid him?

Lazarus who had died, where have you laid him?

They said to him, Lord, come and see.

It says Jesus wept. So the Jews said, see how he

loved him. And then it goes on to say, many

of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what

he did, believed in him. So, so get this right before our

passage this morning, many Jews saw not only the power of Jesus

to raise the dead, but also the compassion and love of Jesus to

enter into people's pain. And there was something about

that that was so magnetic. It was winning the hearts of

many Jews. OK, so that's that's right

before our passage. Now getting a little closer.

The verse is literally right before our text.

John 12, nine. Let me read what else this adds.

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there,

they came not only on account of him, but also to see Lazarus,

whom he had raised from the dead.

So the chief? Priest made plans to put Lazarus

to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews

were going away and believing in Jesus.

All right, now I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

But I'm thinking, dude, you guys already killed Lazarus once and

you're going to try and kill him again.

Like, come on, let's at least learn from our mistakes.

Like Lazarus, they didn't kill him the first time, But like

killing someone that Jesus just rose from the grave, that's a

losing battle. You know, you're, you're not

going to win that you're just, you're going to lose more

people. I, I think that, you know,

insecure leaders just don't think straight.

And, and this is, this is them. But guys, with that backdrop in

place, with the resurrection of Lazarus, the anointing of

Jesus's feet, they married that whole scene, the power of Jesus

on display, the compassion of Jesus on display, Jews heading

towards him already with that backdrop, we we are at the

triumphal entry. This is literally a week before

Easter Sunday. Chronologically, it's found in

all four gospels. And let me read our passage for

this morning. It'll be up on the screen.

Also, if you don't have a Bible, John 1212 reads this.

The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast.

Heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, so they took branches

of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out Hosanna.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king

of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey

and sat on it, just as it is written.

Fear not, daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey's colt. His disciples did not understand

these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified then they

remembered that these things had been written about Him and had

been done to him, the crowd that had been with him when he

called. Lazarus out of the tomb and

raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.

The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he

had done the sign. So the Pharisees said to one

another, you see that you're gaining nothing.

Look, the whole world has gone after him.

All right, that's our text. I just want to slow down and

break it down kind of one phrase at a time.

The the Bible starts in verse 12 by talking about the the next

day, the next day that that's the day after the dinner with

Lazarus Mary, Martha held in honor of Jesus.

That's where where Jesus feet were anointed by by Mary's

perfume right That's so we're in the next day and notice this it

says that that there's a large crowd, a large crowd.

A large crowd had come to the feast.

Now there are two crowds. This is super important that you

see it. You have a smaller crowd and a

large crowd. This is critical that you see

this the large crowd. This is not the small crowd with

the Jews who had witnessed Jesus's love and the

resurrection of Lazarus. It's not that crowd.

This is not the small crowd who had made it to the feast held in

Jesus honor that saw his feet get anointed.

It's not that crowd. This is a different crowd.

This was the large crowd, the large crowd that had come to the

Passover feast. And it's very important.

You see, there's a small crowd and a large crowd.

Now this large crowd was enormous that would have come to

the Passover. Get get this.

This was a time of the year when Jews would return to Jerusalem.

Didn't matter if you didn't live there.

In fact, Jewish males 3 * a year were commanded to come back to

Jerusalem to celebrate some feasts.

The Passover is one of those 3 feasts and they often just

brought their wife, their kids, whatever.

It was like mandatory family vacation, but one you wanted to

be on. This is a great time.

And the city of Jerusalem that no one knows exactly for sure,

but had 10s of thousands of normal inhabitants, That city

would explode, but with an additional somewhere between and

this is a wide range, 100,000 to maybe a quarter million more

people. So the city just exploded in

inhabitants. I mean, you, you thought you

thought come fall, a lot of students come to Gainesville.

I mean, you talk about the roads getting congested.

I mean, Jerusalem just exploded with humanity and Jesus and his

disciples are some of those pilgrims coming into Jerusalem

to celebrate the Passover. So, so you have maybe 300,000

people jammed in this city all celebrating and Jesus is on his

way coming into that. And it says, I hope you notice

this, the large crowd, it says that they, they heard that Jesus

was coming to Jerusalem. They heard who told them, who

told them that Jesus was coming. It looks like the small crowd

that had been with him, with Lazarus.

Looks like the small crowd had been talking.

Looks like the small crowd been talking to the large crowd.

They let the world know. You got to check out Jesus.

You got to know about this Jesus verse 18 clearly says that's

coming up in our passage. The reason why the crowd, the

large crowd went out to meet and was they heard that he had done

this sign. They heard and here's kind of a

universal truth. You know what I know it.

We all talk freely about what we love most, don't we?

We can't, we can't stop ourselves.

It's like, did you see Hail Mary yet?

Aw, you got to go sit. Have you eaten at Noble Tacos?

You got to go. I mean, the whatever it is you

love, you talk most freely about and food's an easy one,

honestly. My wife and I found humble wood

fire pizza. Anyone like seriously, that's

and if you like mushrooms, the fungi pizza, that's your pizza.

That's where you want to be. And if you like burgers, DJs,

cast iron. You been there?

Oh, my word. Come on.

Are you kidding me? Like just the fry sauce alone.

I think I could just take a quart of that and just slowly,

but I'd probably get through it. It's so good.

Like, it is easy for me to talk about what I love most.

All of us do that. All of us do it.

Why? Because here's what we're doing.

Whatever we find ourselves most enjoying, we find even greater

joy when we can pull others in to the center of our joy.

Christians have a word for that. It's called evangelism.

When you love someone so much that honestly it would increase.

Your joy to pull them in to the center of that relationship you

love because that's what's happening.

The small crowds talking, they can't help it.

They've seen the love of Jesus. They've seen a Savior who

weaves, and they've seen his power to raise the dead.

You can't keep that to yourself. So they're talking and the large

crowd. Is there because the small

crowd? Was talking and look what they

did. Verse 13 says that large crowd

they took branches of palm trees.

They're thrown on the path like palms.

I don't know if those are just brought here for today or maybe

they're always there palms, they're just just throw them on

the path and it seems weird to us, but not to them.

Palm branches were a sign of victory, like a victorious kings

coming back waving palm branches.

It was like this is a sign of victory.

You know, maybe nowadays people are waving their cell phones and

lights and palm branches. That was the thing and throw

them down. In fact, we see them elsewhere

in the Bible. Look at this from Revelation 79.

Be on the screen as John records.

After this I look and behold a great multitude that no one

could number from every nation for all tribes and peoples and

languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,

clothed in white robes. And here it is.

With palm branches in their hands and the passage goes on

how they're declaring the greatness of God palm branches.

It shows up in the Bible. It's a sign of victory.

A victory they're assigning to Jesus in this moment.

We'll get into that more. But look, palm branches

communicate that their king is bringing victory, but listen to

how their words communicated the exact same thing.

What they said in verse 13 is Hosanna.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King

of Israel. Now you got to know this.

They are grabbing a hold of a prophecy of Scripture that was

forever pointing to Jesus from the Old Testament, Zechariah 99.

See, God's people were looking forward to a coming king, and

they're grabbing hold of that passage and assigning it to

Jesus. Listen to the prophecy from

Zechariah 99. It says this.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

That was a reference to Jerusalem.

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Behold, your King is coming to you righteous, and having

salvation. Is he humble and mounted on a

donkey? On a colt the full of a donkey.

So when they shouted, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord, even the king of Israel, they were quoting

that passage. They were saying, we're

connecting everything that the Old Testament said about Jesus

and we're saying we found it. We found it in this guy.

He is the king of Israel for so long in the book of John, you've

probably seen this. It's time to not come.

It's time to not come. It's time to not come.

It's almost like he's playing down his identity in front of

the crowds. And now this is the great

unveiling. This is the great aha moment

where he goes public to everyone.

The king is coming, the king of Israel.

After 3 1/2 years of public ministry, now he is finally

announcing it to the world. He is not just the king of

Israel, He is the king of all kings.

And this declaration galled. The religious leaders of the

day, they hated it. Even when Jesus would be

crucified the upcoming Friday, Pilate would nail that

declaration onto his cross in three different languages, that

Jesus is the king of the Jews, I think in Greek, Hebrew and

Aramaic and the Jewish news, like take that down he goes.

I've written what I've written. Just it just so disturbed them.

They hated the thought that a king was coming and that it was

Jesus. They wanted a king.

They wanted a different kind of king.

But look at what they shouted. The crowds, the masses shouted

when they saw Jesus again, with Zechariah in mind, they shout

this hosanna, which in Hebrew means this Please save or save

us. They're looking at Jesus, who

they see to be the God's king, coming to Jerusalem as the

Scriptures foretold. And they're yelling save us,

save us, save you from. What?

That's a good question to start with, the famous apologist, Dr.

William Lane Craig said this. Just listen.

Just kind of gives you a context of why they wanted someone to

save them. Israel labored under the

oppressive military dictatorship of a Pagan nation, Rome, the.

Jews chafed under the yoke of Roman rule.

Within 35 years of Jesus death, Jews would be in full scale

rebellion against Rome, finally resulting in the catastrophic

destruction of Jerusalem in 8070.

But in the meantime, this was a this was what was going on.

Israel was a seething cauldron of unrest.

Jews yearned for a Messianic deliverer who would once and for

all restored to Israel the throne of David and established

God's Kingdom in the land. When they said save us, Jesus,

they weren't thinking of sins at all.

They're saying save us from Rome.

Listen, people see in Jesus what they want to see in him, not

necessarily what he wants them to see and they saw in Jesus.

We we're really excited about you if you give us what we most

want. In fact, we're shouting Hosanna

so loud we're hoarse. But we're going to get our

voices back, and by Friday we'll be shouting crucified.

Because it didn't take long before they realized.

It's like he's not on my agenda. I want to be safe from some

things, but it doesn't seem like he's worked in my timetable.

They saw in Jesus what they wanted to see in Jesus.

See, they celebrated that he came to give them victory from

the nation of Rome, when instead he was coming to give them

victory over sin and death. And here's the incredible irony.

Jesus came not to save some from one nation, but to save.

Many people from all nations and I thought.

Man that makes us even more mad because they wouldn't have put

God bless the USA on their bumper stickers.

It just then God bless Israel and there's enough stories that

are Jonah like in the Bible that goes we don't care about anyone

else. And Jesus is like, you're not

like me, you're not like me. But they shouted Hosanna, they,

they, they shouted save us. And here's what I saw myself

just musing on Vita. As as we just consider this

passage, I found myself amusing on this.

What are you looking at Jesus to do when you hear Jesus and you

hear that he's a savior and Lord?

Do you think rightly about Jesus when he says that?

Because I think it's possible that some people who go, yeah,

Savior and Lord still don't know Jesus and are heading towards

eternal judgment. He came as a savior from sin,

not a savior from your life of boredom, from a failing

business, a struggling marriage. And get this, Jesus graciously

helps us with all of these things, right?

The real tears that we cry, that I cry in marriage when I can't

get along, like he meets us in those places and does rescue.

I'm not saying that he doesn't. I'm saying He came first and

foremost to solve a way bigger problem.

Look, we can have Jesus and want him as a savior and miss what he

came to save people from eternal judgment.

And then I and then I fear that some might get that part.

Oh, I want that. Yeah, I want Jesus as Savior,

but the. Lord part, Can we skip that?

I love the Savior part. I really want to go to heaven.

Who would not want to escape eternal judgment that they

deserve? I want that.

I just still want to be in control because we want a savior

and we don't want a Lord. And look, can we just see that

Jesus is Savior and Lord? Savior and Lord.

You can fully accept him as Savior and Lord, or you can

fully reject him as Savior and Lord.

But you can't have Savior and not have Lord.

You can't follow half of. Jesus, who he is.

This Sunday they're shouting hosanna because they thought

we'd love to be safe from Rome. Within the week they'd shout

crucify because they thought you don't fulfill my immediate

expectations. And then what's this bit about

Jesus making his grand entrance on a donkey?

On a donkey? And I would choose a better

animal than that. Wouldn't you like a donkey?

People love making grand entrances.

I was doing a little research online.

I didn't know this. I don't watch a lot of things

like this, but apparently Lady Gaga arrived at a granny's once

in an egg her grand entrance. Literally I saw this picture

these guys are carrying in. A.

Ginormous egg. She's in the egg somehow, I

don't know if it cracks or what. She comes out of the egg.

That's her. People make grand entrances in

odd ways. I was reading about all kinds of

different things. Tom Cruise, he, because he can

do this. He he flies in his grand

entrance. Oh, it's my helicopter.

I just flew it in like our president, Air Force One Marine

one motorcade, like grand entrances.

People make grand entrances to events and even back in this

state, no different. No different now.

Most people, ruling kings and prominent people, they would

make grand entrances and like, give me a strong animal, like a

War Horse. That's it.

Ride that thing in. That's awesome, you know, or

they would get pulled by a whole team of horses.

They'd like being a chariot, you know, getting pulled in history,

even records, though it's rare that in some shows of prominence

people would come in on an elephant.

Whoa, You're making an entrance, associating yourself with power.

I I'd at least go, can I get a Clydesdale?

Because those are big horses, but Jesus.

All of a sudden, here he comes on a donkey.

What I just it, I just wanted more, you know, and, and here's

the thing, had Jesus been heading to.

War. He'd have been on a War Horse,

but he is coming to make a different statement.

He was fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy in the Old Testament

that the king, the king was coming to declare not war, but

peace. He was coming to not bring war.

He'll, he will bring that soon, but peace, peace.

Now I just want to hit pause and go.

What peace did Jesus come to bring?

What peace are we talking about here?

And peace is sounding Jesus and we see it all over the

Scriptures. Now you have angels declaring 1

Angel declared this about Jesus when he came.

Luke 214 says, and you'll maybe recall this glory to God in the

highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is

pleased. Peace, the coming of Jesus would

bring peace now. Now, what is meant by peace?

Is it that kind of emotional tranquility that kind of pour a

bubble bath kind of finally the kids are out, you know, and

just, is that what's meant? Is that what the Angel said?

Jesus is coming to bring you a bubble bath?

I don't think so. You know, is that what's meant?

Now Jesus does come to bring emotional calm in the midst of

chaos. Listen to this just so you do

know that there is this side of things.

John 1633. This is as the disciples are

probably freaking out Jesus talking about I'm about to leave

you guys and he says at the end of this chapter, I've said these

things to you that in me you may have peace in the world, you

will have tribulation, but take courage I've.

Overcome the world. So Jesus does bring emotional

stability and calm and tranquility to our lives.

That's true. That's in the Scriptures.

But that's not what we're talking about right here.

That's not the peace that we most need.

We 1st and most importantly need the peace Jesus offers us

between our souls and the enemy of our souls, God.

Himself and you go. I think he misspoke.

I think the enemy of our souls of Satan.

Look, what I'm saying is, until we are forgiven by God through

Jesus, God is not father to us. We are his enemies, let us not

think too highly of ourselves. We can say my kids AI don't know

a plus student and got the school award.

Look, here's the reality. We are sinful.

Beyond our wildest dreams, our thoughts.

Our words, our actions. We are so depraved, so far lost,

that the Bible says that we are by nature objects of God's

wrath. We do not start off friends of

God, we start off enemies of God.

We need not so much peace from a bubble bath.

We need peace from the war that we are in with God Himself, and

we cannot initiate that peace. We have so offended the

greatness of God that we stand as objects under His wrath,

expecting an imminent judgment for sins we know we've done and

a judgment we know we deserve if we're just going to be honest

with ourselves. Come on, you know what you've

done. You know it's how you think.

I know what I've done. I know what I do daily.

We need peace with God. Our greatest issue is not

internal war, it is war with the Holy God.

How would we find peace there? And see, this is the beauty of

the gospel. But God's like you cannot, but I

can. And he sends a son.

He sends a son to live the perfect life that you and I

haven't lived. And not only that.

His. Son then goes to the cross to be

blasted with the full venting of the wrath that God has against

us, and He stands in the place of it and absorbs the wrath of

the Father on our behalf. I always.

Wondered as a non Christian, why did he die?

Why did Jesus die? Couldn't his father have rescued

him from the cross? He was dying to absorb the wrath

that we deserve on the cross, to make the ultimate trade.

His perfect standing and righteousness we get, our stand

in the judgement He gets, and we move from enemy to child of God.

And spoiler alert for next Sunday.

I mean, he didn't stay dead. I'm so sorry if I ruined it for

whoever's teaching after me. He doesn't stay dead like 3 days

later he beats the grave, just blows out of that.

Tomb and declares that He has risen, proving everything He

ever said and did was faithful and true.

He can be trusted. He has our path to eternal life

and He has our path to peace with God, who begins our enemy,

who desires to be our Father. That's what Paul meant in Romans

5 when he talks about peace. Romans 51 says, therefore, since

we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through

our Lord Jesus Christ. There's something else we we

just have to see right here. Maybe even before I hit it.

Honestly, let me just stop for a second.

I wonder if there's someone here this morning who doesn't have

peace with God. I don't mean like, oh, there's

unrest in my marriage or with kids.

We don't know how to solve this. I'm not talking about that.

I'm not talking about on a horizontal level.

What I'm saying is this. You know that you're guilty of

your sins and you don't know if you're forgiven yet.

You don't know if it's safe to die, whether you would go to

heaven or you'd go to hell. I'm telling you that today God

probably just brought you here to hear this.

Today you can be forgiven. Today you can finally make peace

with God. Jesus didn't come to condemn, He

came to save. You're already condemned.

He came to solve the problem that you can't solve, that I

can't solve. Jesus comes to open heaven for

us. Today you could be made a friend

of God. Today you could receive the King

of kings, the Lord of Lords. You could experience the peace

that he wants to bring you through the cross.

Today. That's your step, it's to go.

God, please forgive me. I deserve your judgment.

Please come into my life, forgive me and bring me peace as

I become your child. That's where you need to start.

But, but, but there's something more.

I'm going to go back to John 12, just 17 and 19.

They're at the very end. It says the crowd that had been

with him, with Jesus when he called Lazarus out of the tomb

and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.

This is a small crowd. They continued to talk.

The reason why the crowd went out to meet him, that's the

large crowd. The reason why that crowd went

out to meet him was that they heard he had done the sign,

heard it from who was the small crowd.

So the Pharisees said to you see that you're gaining nothing.

Look, the whole world is going after him.

Remember earlier how I said there's a small crowd, there's a

large crowd and they're talking. The small crowd had witnessed

Jesus tears, his love, his compassion, his power, and they

saw the raising of Lazarus. And what do they do?

The Bible says they bore witness.

Witness. I sat outside of a courtroom

this week waiting to be called in on the stand in a sexual

abuse case, and I don't know all the details, but I labor to get

my words just right of what I'd heard, an indicted piece of

evidence. That's it.

I was ready to bear witness. I don't know lots of details

about lots of things that are happening, but I know this much

and I'm ready to say it. When you Call My Name, that's

what we're talking about. Bear witness.

The small crowds, I don't know exactly where he came from.

He just rose the guy from the dead.

Never saw that before. You should probably go listen to

him. I don't know all what he's

about, but I remember this before he rose him from the

dead, which you would think would be the.

Most amazing thing I've ever seen.

He wept. He wept and he knew he was going

to raise him from the dead. He still entered into people's

pain even when he knew he could fix it.

What king is there like that? I don't know what they were all

saying, but they were just saying what they knew.

That's what a witness does. My friends at Vita, if you know

Jesus, God is calling you to be a witness, to bear witness.

You don't need to know everything.

No one knows everything. I guarantee you I don't.

I don't have some back in my Bible that's got some answers

that you don't have. Like I just trying to be

faithful with what I know. What a great challenge from just

that announcement time from Kurt this morning, he says.

Man, try and bring 3. Let's just be witnesses.

The small crowd is talking to the large crowd and people are

coming to see. Jesus, that's what he's calling

us to. OK, that might be your

application this week. It's like, that's what I need to

do. God might even in the service

bring a few people to your mind and you've just been putting it

off. God put them right around you.

He put them in your neighborhood.

He put them on your dorm floor. He put he put them right down

there in the cubicle. Next year's at work they're just

or he brings in mind this isn't a family member.

You're so mad at them for what they did at Thanksgiving.

Like get over it. Be a witness like God might use

you this week to tell someone in the large crowd, man, you got

you got to check out Jesus. Here's what I know.

The Gospels come to you on its way to someone else, and we need

to be witnesses of that. God's calling us as a part of

the smaller crowd to tell the larger crowd we're on one side

of the city. We're trying to tell them you're

on another side of the city. We're trying to tell them small

crowds, trying to tell a larger crowd that they need Jesus.

Are you telling anyone when's the last time you used the word

Jesus around an unbeliever? When's the last time you said it

outside of a worship song? Like we need to be talking about

him. Well, I said.

One truth is just true. You guys know it.

People talk freely about what they love most.

Here's my honest confession when it comes to talking about Jesus.

I do love him most, I think. I don't talk freely about him.

I guess I maybe just, I don't know, contradicted my universal

truth. I don't.

I mean, I want to, but in practice I struggle with talking

to people about Jesus, and sometimes I'd just rather not.

And that's how it was with this guy.

John, I don't know about you. I, I, I ride a motorcycle to

work and I get off of I-75, which is terrifying on a

motorcycle. I get off I-75 on the Newberry

exit and that's where I take a left hand turn to kind of sneak

up around where our building is AT.

And same homeless guys there all the time.

His name's John. And I don't know how you guys do

with homeless people on every corner.

I, I don't know how to think about this.

Sometimes I won't even pick the, the road next to them.

I'll purposely get in one row apart.

I don't know, just you're less likely to come up to me right

now. And then even when I'm parked,

I'm going. I don't know if Jesus is

anything like me. I don't know if I'm anything

like him. I bet he'd be talking to this

guy. And guys, I have stopped.

I've shared the gospel. I've taken out the meals like

I've done. Some stuff with homeless people.

But sometimes it just feels like I'm just, am I just buying the

next drink? I don't know.

I don't know how to think. Often times when I'm in those

places, I don't know what you do.

But this particular turn, I'm just there.

I'm in the left hand turning lane and John comes up to me.

He's got a sign, big old guy, you know, He comes up to me and

he goes, hey, I can tell your back tire is.

Looking a little. Bald, you might only have a few

more weeks. You're going to want to get that

changed. I thought.

This is getting so convicting. This is going the wrong

direction. Now the homeless guy is trying

to love me and I'm like, oh man, thanks a lot.

And I said, OK, all right, green light saved by the light.

And then I tell you, I take this path all the time and John posts

up at like 3:30 in the morning to get the spot.

People don't start giving him dollars until like 7 something,

but he posts up early. Otherwise he'll give up the spot

to someone else. Send me next time.

Hey, your tire. I've got some friends.

There's a shop just on the other side of I-75.

They're great. I think they would change your

tire for you. Thanks, John.

You know, just like the conviction and, you know, I

start a friendship with John. I didn't want to.

I feel bad that I'm even saying that in just all honesty.

But now John's my friend the other day, I'm introducing her

to Jenny because that that we were in her.

She's got a car. So we're in that one, you know,

and I'm like, this is Jenny and oh, and then Jenny's talking

about, you know, and you know, I invited John to Easter.

He goes, it's probably the best day of the year for me.

I can't be gone. And he'll tell you about how

he's trying to help. And I believe this actually, I

have enough relationship with with him now that I have learned

about his grandkid and trying to fix her teeth and all this kind

of stuff. And he's like, I just can't be

gone on that day. But guys, this Thursday, like we

we're kind of little messed up at salt church.

We do a Good Friday thing on Thursday it whatever.

But but this Thursday, I think he said we can go out to dinner

and then he'll come to our good Thursday.

And you know what, Here's what I'm saying.

We got a bear witness. And sometimes I don't feel like

doing the very things God wants me to do.

But I think the follow Jesus, we still faithfully do what God's

calling us to do. And I have found as a Christ

follower that most things God wants me to do, I don't want to

do. I wake up in the morning and

it's not like is it time to read my Bible?

Yay. No, I'm just like snooze,

snooze, snooze, like, but you know what?

There's never a time I've gotten up and gotten in God's word and

poured out my hearts and in prayer where at the end I

thought, I wish I'd have stayed in bed.

I go. I'm so glad I sought the Lord.

Same thing with money. Oh, it's hard sometimes to give,

but there's never a time where I went.

Wish I had that back. No, that you can't take it with

you, but you can send it ahead. You can invest in the Kingdom.

It'll last forever. Like almost everything.

Dirty dishes. Do you ever want to do them?

But you know what, the very things that I don't want to do

sometimes serve my wife or my family.

When I do them, I feel like more of a man, like I've just honored

the Lord and I'm blessed. I'm telling you, it's like that

sharing Jesus. There's times I don't want.

That I step into that place of awkwardness.

Here we go. And somehow, in the midst of it,

making a decision without emotions, it's like my heart

catches up. And the Lord blesses it.

What I'm saying is in this passage there is a small crowd

talking to a large crowd, one small crowd of people telling

another large crowd of people that peace with God is possible

through Jesus. That's the point.

Peace with God is now possible. The King is here.

You can be. Reconciled to him, and God is

calling us to that place. And I'm telling you, people all

around you need him. People all around us need him.

The harvest field is so large. We're in it.

Maybe in one corner of it over here, Salt Church, you're in

maybe another corner. We're cheering you on.

You're cheering us on. There's so many people in

between us who need the Lord. We have to speak up.

Small crowds talking to large crowds about Jesus.

And let me just say one last thing to motivate us in this

Jesus Christ, who rode that little donkey and who made that

great declaration. Jesus Christ will ride again.

You know this right? Jesus Christ will ride again.

Not on a donkey this time. Jesus will ride again on his War

Horse. And I want to motivate you.

As we look back to the triumphal entry, I want to let this

passage. Push your mind forward to the

next time. He's going to ride a horse.

It's the first time in the Bible we see Jesus not walking.

He gets on a donkey. There is another time where he

will ride. Listen to this.

Let me just read this over you. I'm going to ask the band to

come on back up and join me on stage as I read this closing

passage, Revelation 19, it will be on the screen, John says.

Then I saw heaven open, and behold a White Horse.

The one sitting on it is called faithful and true, and in

righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many

diadems. And he has a name written on him

that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped

in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God.

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and

pure, were following him on white horses.

Guess what? We get a ride.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down

the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

He will tread the wine Press of the fury of the wrath of God the

Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh

he has a name written. King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

I'm telling you, thank you, Vita.

Jesus will soon reign. He will soon rule.

He will destroy his enemies and he will do it alone.

And yet others will be riding with them, I think as

spectators. I think their clothes stay

clean. Meanwhile, he's in a robe dipped

in blood. And the the sword of the coming

out of his mouth. I think the how powerful his

words are. He just slays them with his

words, the picture, I think of judgment.

But until then, until he returns as conquering king.

Until then, Vita, let's faithfully bear witness.

It doesn't matter if you don't know a ton.

Say what you do now. Tell them that.

Peace with God is possible through Jesus.

They need that most. And may we find it in Him riding

on a donkey into Jerusalem. He declares as King of Kings,

peace with God as possible. May we find in him.

Let me pray for us.