Sermon
Hosanna to the King | John 12:12–19
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Well, good morning, everyone. Happy Palm Sunday. Did any of you guys get a palm or was that all just the kiddos?
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We should have some extra ones, so we'll be sure to distribute some of those palms to you guys.
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You know, it's a great time to be here, a great time to come to church and a great time for us to really just celebrate this wonderful time.
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We think of the words Hosanna, right? Hosanna to the King. Can we say the word Hosanna together?
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Hosanna, right? Hosanna. One more time. Hosanna, right? It's such we find in the gospel accounts, the triumphal entry where Jesus is riding in on a donkey.
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And this time what we're going to do, we're going to open the gospel of John and we're going to go into chapter 12, verses 12 through 19.
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And this is the John's account of what had happened. Some people use the gospel of Matthew.
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I realize I've used the gospel of Matthew for the past two years, but the gospel of John is actually a very interesting one.
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You know, it's great that we have four gospels giving us different perspectives of what was going on.
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Different perspectives. And so that's going to be on page 1068 here, the triumphal entry.
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And we're going to read the word together.
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And we're going to see something that's fascinating.
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Let's begin in prayer and we'll go right into it.
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Father God, we thank you for this time in this celebration where we say the words Hosanna.
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Hosanna to the King.
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It's a wonderful time for us to really reflect on the last days in which Christ was here on the earth.
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We think of the passion story and we think of how these people were laying down their palms as Christ was riding in on a donkey.
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It's a wonderful story for us to celebrate and for us to recognize that Jesus is the King of Kings.
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He is the Lord of all creation.
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And Father, we ask that as we open the word, that your word will speak to us this morning.
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We pray that there will be transformation, healing, as well as understanding.
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I pray that this message will be understood in such a clear way.
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And that it will motivate us to action, to live and love like your son, Jesus Christ,
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who is the way, the truth, and the life.
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Be with us together.
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Let there be transformation in our lives.
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It is in the name of Jesus that we pray and we all say together, amen, church.
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So this scene here, the crowd is crying Hosanna.
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And what's interesting as we'll see is you have Lazarus there in that scene.
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And there's something that is very special about that.
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The crowd crying Hosanna.
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Jesus riding in on a donkey.
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Jesus with Lazarus, the resurrected man beside him.
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And the people as they're proclaiming the word Hosanna.
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It is such a beautiful prayer.
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So let's turn to the text.
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It's going to be John chapter 12, verses 12 through 19.
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And that is found in page 1068 in your ESVP Bibles.
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Church, can we read this together?
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Let's read it together.
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Starting in verse 12, the triumphal entry.
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The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
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So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna.
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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel.
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And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it just as it was written.
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Fear not, daughter of Zion.
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Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.
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His disciples did not understand these things at first.
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But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
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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.
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The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
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So the Pharisees said to one another,
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Now when's the last time you've read that particular account?
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It's kind of a different one, right?
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You have this scene where, again, Lazarus, the resurrected man, is there with Christ.
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And that's something that is very interesting, right?
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They're saying the words Hosanna, which, a fun fact,
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When you proclaim Hosanna, it's saying the words, save us.
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Save us, we pray.
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What a fascinating understanding of that.
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Right?
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They're saying, they're praising, they're laying their palms down.
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And they're saying, save us.
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Well, when we think about the fact that Lazarus was raised from the dead,
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And you, they had heard about it,
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Just think for a moment.
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Jesus, I want that too.
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You have power.
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And I want to come to you.
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I want to lay down my palms, as it were.
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I want to lay everything down at the foot of Jesus for your honor and for your glory.
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And then you also have this scene where the Pharisees, they saw it,
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And they're plotting, they're scheming against Christ.
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Christ.
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It's also interesting that the disciples didn't understand it until after the fact.
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Until the resurrection.
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I always love when things, little pieces like that are in there, right?
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Which goes to show the importance of how things happen,
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Not only in the gospel accounts, but things happen in our own lives.
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How many of us, we may go through a certain situation,
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And we don't understand it at the time.
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I mean, we can be honest here and raise our hand.
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I know many times.
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I don't understand what's going on, but after the fact,
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I understand more so.
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And when we think about it,
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We have to remember
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That earlier in the gospel account,
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You don't have to turn your Bibles here,
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But if you have it open,
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And you would like to,
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It's not that far back,
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Where Jesus is telling Lazarus to come out.
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And that's something that should be noted, right?
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This is where there's that command to come out,
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And this resurrection that's happening.
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And in fact,
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Even when you look a couple verses before,
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In John chapter 12, verse 9,
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It talks about the large crowd of Jews that were learning that Jesus was there,
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And there's the plot to kill Lazarus.
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So there's a lot of movement that's going on here.
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The power of Jesus Christ,
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Who has power and authority over death itself.
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And people hearing about it and saying,
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We've got to put a stop to this.
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That's what's going on, right?
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With the Pharisees here.
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And so,
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It is very interesting to see
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That kind of thing that's going on.
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And so we have to ask ourselves then,
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The question is,
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Well,
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Okay, what does the text say, right?
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The first thing
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We have to understand, right?
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As I was mentioning,
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The words Hosanna means,
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Save us, we pray.
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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, right?
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A large crowd gathering had come to the feast.
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They heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, right?
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They have the palm branches.
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And just that connection with the word Hosanna
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Is actually found within Psalm 118, 25.
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It is a prayer of desperation.
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It is crying out, as it were, to the Lord.
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And so in this sense,
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When you have the scene of these crowds of people,
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They are crying out to Jesus.
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Much like how we find within the Old Testament,
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Crying out to the Lord.
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Psalms is a very good example
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Where you see David constantly on the run.
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He's constantly crying out to the Lord, right?
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And we can see the humanity of that.
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We can even think of how,
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In our own situations,
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There may be times where we are in trouble,
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And we've got to cry out to Jesus.
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Amen?
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It's very important for us to understand that.
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And so,
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That psalm from Psalm 118,
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I want to read it to you where it says,
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Save us, we pray, O Lord.
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O Lord, we pray.
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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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We bless you from the house of the Lord.
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Isn't that fascinating?
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It's almost a direct quote
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That is coming from the Psalms
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When Jesus is riding on that donkey.
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How cool is that?
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Save us, we pray, O Lord.
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And so the king is on the donkey.
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We have this fulfillment of prophecy.
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It's a direct quote from Zechariah 9.9,
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Where it mentions,
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Your king is coming,
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Sitting on a donkey's colt.
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And I always love when you find these little,
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Little tidbits.
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These little details that are showing
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The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
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And so it's important for us to know,
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The king is coming on to the donkey,
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Riding on in,
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And the people they need,
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In this moment,
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For them,
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And even for us to understand Palm Sunday,
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We need to understand the full story.
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How connected Palm Sunday is
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With the passion story.
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With the final words of Christ,
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And Easter celebration as well.
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And so,
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His disciples,
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They did not understand these things at first.
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It took time.
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And I mentioned this fulfillment of prophecy
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From Zechariah 9.
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It's the same thing.
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Isn't it interesting?
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Throughout all of scripture,
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People are looking for Jesus,
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And they find him in an unusual form.
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For example,
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When Jesus is being born in a manger,
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Well, people were expecting something different.
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Or in the case of here,
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People were thinking of Jesus as a revolutionary.
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One that would overthrow the government.
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And then even when we've talked in our study of Revelation,
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There was the part where John was looking for a lion,
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And had found a lamb.
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So we just see that very often,
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There's these kind of,
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You're looking for something,
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But Jesus is there,
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In an unexpected manner.
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It's very,
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Very powerful.
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And so,
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The text talks about when Jesus was glorified,
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After the resurrections,
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The disciples had to walk through those moments of Palm Sunday
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Without understanding fully what was going on.
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And so,
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We go on then.
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It's kind of interesting at the end of,
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Of chapter 12.
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Well,
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Towards the end of chapter 12,
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In verse 19,
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The Pharisees said to one another,
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You see that you're gaining nothing.
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Look,
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The world has gone after him.
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And it's kind of interesting,
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Because this is a scene,
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Where they're kind of complaining,
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Right?
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They're kind of grumbling,
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And they're saying,
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This is a bad thing,
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That the world is going after him.
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But it's actually a fulfillment of prophecy,
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If you think about it.
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That people are coming to their Messiah.
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The one that is going to change the course of history.
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The one that is going to usher in from the old covenant,
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Into the new covenant.
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And so,
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They are stating the obvious fact.
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And we can,
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We have the blessing of seeing that.
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But in that moment,
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What's interesting is that these Pharisees,
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When they're talking about this,
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The plot to kill Jesus,
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The plot to kill Lazarus,
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Was all because they wanted to maintain their power.
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And that's very interesting.
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They weren't,
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They might have easily been convinced,
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But they wanted to maintain to the status quo.
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And that's something that we should note.
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How sad it is,
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To love your power so much,
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That you're not even recognizing,
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What is really going on here.
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So the crowd had been with Christ,
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When he called Lazarus out of the tomb,
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And raised him from the dead.
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And it mentions that this is the reason,
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Why the crowd went to meet him,
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When they had heard the sign,
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Had been done.
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We think about that.
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I mean,
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Can you imagine if you had heard about someone,
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Who had been raised from the dead?
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I mean,
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Nowadays,
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You'd have so many,
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Controversy,
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Is that,
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Is that,
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Is that,
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You know,
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A deep fake or not?
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You'd have all this kind of stuff.
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But in any sense,
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It would be a lot of discussion going on.
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A lot of talk,
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A lot of photos and videos,
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And people would be kind of wondering,
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What's going on?
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And quite frankly,
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A lot of people would want to see,
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What's going on.
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And so they go over,
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And we can see that Lazarus,
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Is this living proof.
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What's fascinating is,
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Knowing that Lazarus,
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Is being resurrected from the dead,
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It's showing Christ's power over death.
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And for the Jewish people,
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They understood the resurrection.
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And they wanted to be resurrected as well.
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And we can see as well Lazarus as the living proof.
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So the they wanted to destroy the evidence,
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Is the Pharisees talking.
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They wanted to put an end to the movement that was going on,
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As it were.
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Even when it says,
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A few verses earlier,
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When it says,
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The chief priests made plan to put Lazarus to death as well,
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Because on account of him,
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Many of the Jews were going away,
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And they were believing in Jesus.
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So it's saying right there within the text,
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What is going on?
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They are losing their power,
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And they are losing their influence there.
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And so,
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Yeah.
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Very interesting to see with,
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With all of this.
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We have to ask ourselves the question,
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Right?
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As,
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Here at Ontario Community Church,
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We want to read the text,
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And see what is initially going on.
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The second thing that we do,
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Is we interpret it.
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What does this mean?
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Right?
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That's very important for us.
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And then the third thing is,
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What do we do about it?
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So the people came to be saved like Lazarus.
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Right?
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They're shouting the words,
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Hosanna.
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Right?
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Second thing being,
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Those in power feared the movement of God.
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And the third is that God works in ways,
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We may not understand until later.
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And so for that first point,
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The crowd heard what Jesus did.
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They came because of a sign,
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And they saw a man that was dead,
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And was raised to life.
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And they're saying,
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Save me, Jesus.
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Save us, Jesus.
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You saved him.
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Save me too.
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And not only,
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What's wonderful about this is,
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Not only is this crying out,
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Physical saving,
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But also the spiritual saving.
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And so we have to think,
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When we are crying out to Jesus,
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It's important for us to recognize,
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That we need Christ in our lives.
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That we have to receive salvation,
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And make that decision,
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To receive the greatest gift,
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That has ever been given to humanity.
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And that not only affects,
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Our physical lives here on the earth,
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But it affects our spiritual lives.
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Do you realize,
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That that single decision,
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Affects two lives essentially.
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That's a very powerful decision.
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It's much bigger than,
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You know,
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What college you're going to go to,
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What kind of car you're going to buy.
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I have a friend of mine,
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That just bought a brand new car,
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And talking about how,
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All the decisions,
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You know,
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What kind of seats,
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And what color,
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And what not.
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It's nothing,
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Compared to the greatest decision,
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That will affect,
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Those two lives,
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On earth,
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And in heaven.
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And so every Hosanna,
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We have to think,
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Save us.
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It is answered,
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By the cross.
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By the death,
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The burial,
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And the resurrection,
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Of Jesus Christ.
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That is just,
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Absolutely powerful.
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The second thing then,
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Is that,
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Those in power,
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They feared,
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The movement,
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Of God.
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Now,
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In that,
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It's important for us,
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To recognize,
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What is going on.
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In John,
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Chapter 11,
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Verse 48,
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You don't have to turn there,
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But it's very interesting,
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What the,
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There's the plot,
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To kill Jesus.
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In verse 47,
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The chief priests,
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And the Pharisees,
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Gathered the council,
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And said,
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What are we to do?
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This man,
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Is performing many signs,
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If we let him,
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Go on like this,
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Everyone will believe in him,
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And the Romans,
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Will come,
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And take away,
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Our place,
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In our nation.
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So when I'm talking about,
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The loss of power,
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They were truly afraid,
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That they would lose everything,
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That they had in place.
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A direct quote in that,
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And that's not even that far,
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From what we see,
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Within the triumphal entry.
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These people,
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Were afraid of losing their power,
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And it's interesting,
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Notice,
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The Pharisees do not deny,
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The miracles.
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They don't deny the signs.
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In fact,
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They recognize them.
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And,
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Despite that,
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They are fearing,
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The consequences,
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That will directly affect them.
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And I think that's something,
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That we should definitely,
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Take note of,
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When you have,
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The movement,
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Of the Holy Spirit,
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Movement in our own lives,
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Sometimes God works,
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In ways that is unfathomable.
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I know when I think,
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Of my own life,
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And how God has worked,
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Specifically in my life,
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The challenges,
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The people I've met,
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The journey,
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Has been remarkable.
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And when you think of,
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How God works in your life,
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There are going to be changes,
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That happen in your life.
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But when God is on your side,
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There is absolutely nothing,
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For you to be afraid of.
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And just know,
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You may very well change,
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The status quo in your own life,
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As well as other people.
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But there's nothing,
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For us to be afraid of.
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And in that sense,
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We can see,
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That these Pharisees,
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Are so,
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They're holding on,
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To their power,
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With everything that they have.
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And they care more about the power,
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Than the miracles that are happening.
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May we,
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Not be like that.
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When God is working in our lives,
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May we follow,
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Where he is calling us,
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What he would like for us to do,
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In our lives.
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And we have to think also,
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That specifically,
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I'm talking about power,
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That is depending,
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Not only on control,
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But resisting the movement of God.
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That's an important thing as well.
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Having hardened hearts,
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Is a very common thing,
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That many of the Pharisees had.
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And it's important for us,
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When we think of God,
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And how he calls us into salvation,
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He also calls for us,
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For our hearts to be softened,
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For our minds to be changed,
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And for our spirits to be renewed.
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All of these kind of things,
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It is part of,
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Being a new creation,
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And constantly being that work in progress.
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When we follow God,
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He is going to change us,
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In some remarkable ways.
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And the third thing then,
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Is that God works in ways,
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That we may not understand until later.
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How many of us wish we understood,
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Right?
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Then and there, right?
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Okay God,
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I know exactly what's going on,
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Everything will be good, right?
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I think at one point or another,
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We would all be raising our hands, right?
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I wish I understood what was going on,
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And then it's like,
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It's kind of like,
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Oh, wow.
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That's what you were doing?
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It's really remarkable in that.
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And as I mentioned,
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I keep going back to that verse 16,
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That the disciples didn't understand,
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These things at first,
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But when Jesus was glorified,
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They remembered,
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After the resurrection,
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They needed the full gospel story,
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To understand fully,
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What was going on.
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That's important for us,
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In the same way.
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God will reveal things to us,
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In his time.
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Much like how God answers prayer,
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In his time, right?
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We want things to happen instantly,
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Right?
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How many of you guys have ordered,
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A three hour delivery from Amazon?
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Let's be honest here, right?
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You pay the extra five bucks,
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And you're like,
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Eh,
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But I get it in three hours though,
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And you wrestle with that.
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Or my favorite is,
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When you have your ramen noodles,
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Right?
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They say it's instant,
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But is it really instant?
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No.
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We have all of these things,
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In this kind of culture,
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That we live in,
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That's based upon,
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What we determine,
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And what we say.
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That's not how it works,
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In the eyes of God.
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It's all about,
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His divine timing,
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And purpose,
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And trusting in that.
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And we see within scripture,
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The fulfillment of prophecy,
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The time frame in which God is working,
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Is far beyond our understanding.
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And that's okay.
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The mind of God is certainly beyond,
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Any of us here in the room.
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And any of humanity for that matter.
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And so,
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In that capacity for,
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The people,
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They didn't fully understand,
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Until the proper time.
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And we can see a direct link,
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Into our own lives,
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Of how we may not understand,
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Until the proper time.
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And so,
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In this,
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You saved him,
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Save us too,
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Right?
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Physical and spiritual.
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I mentioned that,
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That is the beauty of salvation.
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I talked about the Pharisees.
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And so,
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This leads us then,
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To our application.
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In every sermon here,
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It's important for us to read the text,
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Look at what's going on,
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And to learn the underlying lessons.
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But the third thing,
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That's also important,
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Is for us to have the question,
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What do we do about this?
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Sometimes,
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Sometimes,
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You may have experienced,
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Or you may be someone,
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Who likes to read,
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And get a lot of knowledge,
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Right?
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But it's also important,
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To live out that knowledge,
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Right?
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To be able to embody it,
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In your very lives.
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Especially,
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When it comes to scripture.
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Read the text,
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Let it move within your heart,
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Let it transform your life,
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And then you've got to act upon this faith.
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You've got to be able to live,
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And love like Jesus Christ,
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Knowing,
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That we are a,
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Work in progress.
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Now,
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I want to show you something that's,
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Remember when I mentioned,
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The word Hosanna,
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Save us,
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We pray.
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Isn't that a proclamation?
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Right?
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And so,
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Our application,
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Is understanding,
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Hosanna.
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Number one,
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Save us.
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That we cry out,
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To the king.
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Right?
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That we cry out,
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To Jesus.
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We ask him,
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To come into our very lives.
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The second thing,
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Is that we pray,
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We worship the king,
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Who has come.
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And we proclaim,
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We tell the world,
-
That he is here.
-
To cry out to the king,
-
Hosanna begins,
-
As a,
-
As a plea,
-
Save us,
-
Lord.
-
And we speak,
-
To the same Christ,
-
That that crowd,
-
Was speaking to.
-
We speak,
-
To the same Christ,
-
Who raised,
-
Lazarus from the dead.
-
Who performed,
-
These many miracles,
-
Who spoke,
-
In parables,
-
And is,
-
The fulfillment of prophecy.
-
The constant,
-
That we need,
-
In our lives.
-
And let me tell you something,
-
When we think of,
-
The world,
-
As it is,
-
The wars that are going on,
-
The rising gas prices,
-
The uncertainty,
-
That's happening,
-
Within the community,
-
And even within this nation,
-
And within this world,
-
We,
-
Place our trust,
-
In the living God,
-
Who is our firm foundation.
-
It is a time for us,
-
Not only to celebrate,
-
But to trust in God,
-
Fully.
-
Knowing that he,
-
Is our constant,
-
No matter how much,
-
We change,
-
Or however much,
-
The world changes.
-
Now can I get an amen,
-
For that?
-
It's important for us,
-
To recognize,
-
In times,
-
Such as this,
-
That we cry out,
-
To Jesus,
-
And we trust in him,
-
As that firm foundation,
-
As the anchor,
-
For our souls.
-
And we also have,
-
To think that,
-
For those of you,
-
Who are not Christian,
-
There's an invitation,
-
For you,
-
To be saved.
-
There's an invitation,
-
For you to respond,
-
By making that decision,
-
The greatest decision,
-
You can make,
-
In this life,
-
And directly affects the next.
-
For those that,
-
Are Christian,
-
Or maybe you've been distant,
-
Maybe you've had those moments,
-
Where you just had life,
-
Beating you down.
-
And,
-
It's still important,
-
To cry out to the Lord.
-
As I mentioned earlier,
-
How David was constantly,
-
On the run.
-
He had armies,
-
And enemies,
-
Rising up against him.
-
People that were plotting,
-
Against him.
-
He cried out to the Lord.
-
Go through the Psalms,
-
There's quite a few of them.
-
Psalms of victory,
-
And triumph.
-
Fear,
-
Abandonment,
-
Confusion,
-
Being alone.
-
All of these types of emotions,
-
No matter what you are going through,
-
May you,
-
Turn to the living Christ.
-
The King,
-
Of kings.
-
The one that is,
-
Riding on that donkey.
-
The one that we say,
-
Hosanna to.
-
Remember the heart,
-
Of Hosanna,
-
And remember that,
-
Jesus saves.
-
And so,
-
We think of this,
-
In here.
-
That famous Romans passage,
-
Everyone who calls,
-
On the name of the Lord,
-
To be saved,
-
To remind us,
-
That Jesus saves,
-
Right?
-
In this,
-
I want to go back actually,
-
We pray,
-
To worship,
-
The King who has come.
-
The crowd had laid palm branches,
-
And they lifted up their voices.
-
They're gathering together,
-
As an assembly.
-
They're gathering together,
-
Publicly.
-
In the same way,
-
May we be encouraged,
-
To come together,
-
To worship the living God.
-
Amen.
-
It's so important,
-
For us to gather together,
-
And to make efforts,
-
As best as we can,
-
Because there is something,
-
That is beautiful,
-
When we all gather together.
-
Not only,
-
Is there transformation,
-
That happens on an individual level,
-
There is also transformation,
-
That happens within churches,
-
Within church bodies,
-
Within households,
-
And even within communities.
-
For us to come together,
-
Worshiping God,
-
For us to sing songs,
-
And to hear from the word of God,
-
Also,
-
For us to be present,
-
With one another.
-
I cannot tell you,
-
In my own experience,
-
And maybe you've had,
-
A similar experience,
-
The people that you meet,
-
That help you,
-
On your spiritual journey.
-
The ones that can call,
-
Or text you,
-
Or visit with you,
-
And check in on you,
-
Celebrate with you.
-
It's just like,
-
When we celebrate,
-
When someone makes a decision for Christ,
-
Or when someone gets baptized,
-
Or when someone,
-
Is on the road,
-
To recovery from addiction.
-
Whatever it may be,
-
We build up one another,
-
Because we are part of the process.
-
We are part of the process of being,
-
We are in process,
-
Of being transformed individually,
-
As well as collectively.
-
It's very important for us,
-
To recognize that.
-
And so,
-
I want to tie in a little bit of revelation here,
-
As we've gone over revelation,
-
Just as those four living creatures,
-
In Revelation 4,
-
Were praising the Lord,
-
They were praising God,
-
Without ceasing,
-
May we continue,
-
To worship the Lord,
-
And may our worship,
-
Extend beyond Sunday,
-
Into the words that we speak,
-
Right?
-
Our word and our deed,
-
Our word and our action,
-
What we say and what we do,
-
May it be in alignment,
-
Don't let it be not in alignment,
-
That would be hypocritical.
-
We've got to have our lives,
-
In alignment with where God wants us to go.
-
And it's important for us as well,
-
We pray to the Lord,
-
But we also pray for transformation,
-
In our own lives,
-
The people that we know,
-
Certainly let this be a call for you,
-
To pray for those,
-
Pray for your community,
-
Pray for your city,
-
I love,
-
I think it's in 2 Timothy,
-
Where it says to pray for those,
-
Who are in authority,
-
Why is that in there?
-
It's important, isn't it?
-
Pray for those,
-
Who are in authority,
-
And it goes on,
-
So that you may live a peaceful life,
-
It actually explains,
-
Why you want to do that,
-
Right?
-
We pray for those in authority,
-
Whether that's city leaders,
-
Those that are on the school board,
-
It could be government,
-
Could be your boss,
-
It could be anybody,
-
But it's important for us to continue to pray,
-
Pray for your city,
-
Your family,
-
Your neighbors,
-
Pray that there will be transformation,
-
Do you realize,
-
You can pray for the heart of the governor,
-
Or pray for the heart of the mayor,
-
Or pray for the heart of the representative,
-
Whoever it is,
-
And I'm not trying to call anybody out in this,
-
I'm just saying,
-
Recognize how important it is,
-
I remember,
-
It was a couple years ago,
-
I went to a pastor's meeting,
-
And they had this sheet,
-
And it had,
-
Your governor,
-
Your representative,
-
Your mayor,
-
And it had a list of all of these people,
-
And I'm like,
-
I don't know,
-
I don't know all the people,
-
I don't know all their name,
-
They wanted you to write their names down,
-
So you specifically could pray for them,
-
That God would influence their life,
-
That if they weren't a believer,
-
That their heart would be transformed,
-
That they would receive salvation,
-
And that they would make good godly decisions,
-
It's important for that.
-
The third thing then,
-
We proclaim,
-
Tell the world that he is here,
-
And we think in this scene,
-
Of how these people had heard about Lazarus,
-
Right?
-
You probably have people who were there in the moment,
-
Seeing what's going on,
-
And rushing off and telling everybody,
-
Right?
-
Because it's talking in the text,
-
That the crowds were gathering,
-
Because of what had happened,
-
That kind of excitement,
-
For that kind of miracle,
-
Goes to show us,
-
The kind of excitement,
-
That we should have,
-
For Jesus Christ,
-
To not get caught up on,
-
Things that divide us,
-
But to get to the point,
-
And the point being,
-
We proclaim the name of Jesus Christ,
-
We tell people,
-
That Jesus is here,
-
We tell people the gospel story,
-
That Jesus died,
-
Was buried,
-
And he rose again,
-
We tell people our testimony,
-
And how God has transformed our lives,
-
There's many different ways,
-
And capacities,
-
In which we can tell the world,
-
That he is here,
-
In John chapter 12,
-
Verse 17,
-
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,
-
What a wonderful example,
-
What a wonderful story,
-
They didn't stop,
-
They had seen something,
-
Life changing,
-
I mean literally life changing,
-
Right?
-
They wanted to tell everybody about it,
-
And that's important,
-
The crowd came,
-
Because somebody told them,
-
What Jesus did for Lazarus,
-
And in the same way,
-
Think about the power,
-
Of the gospel message,
-
Think about the power,
-
Of your testimony,
-
Your story,
-
What Christ has done in your life,
-
Think of that as the palm branch,
-
That you lay before him,
-
You're laying down,
-
For him,
-
And when we think,
-
That the Pharisees had said,
-
The world has gone after him,
-
That's the point,
-
That's the mission,
-
We are called,
-
We are called,
-
To make disciples,
-
To tell the world,
-
That Jesus is here,
-
And that we proclaim,
-
The name of Jesus,
-
Ask yourself the question,
-
Who will hear the name of Jesus,
-
This week?
-
What an amazing time,
-
For us to,
-
Invite people,
-
To church,
-
Invite people,
-
To an Easter Sunday,
-
It is really,
-
A wonderful time,
-
And opportunity,
-
For you to do that,
-
And so,
-
Isn't that fascinating?
-
The actions,
-
That we can do,
-
Come from the simple word,
-
Hosanna,
-
Proclaiming it,
-
And asking God,
-
To save us,
-
And to continue,
-
To pray to the Lord,
-
And so,
-
In closing,
-
Lazarus,
-
The resurrected man,
-
He walked,
-
With Jesus,
-
Into Jerusalem,
-
If I was raised from the dead,
-
I'd be following Jesus,
-
All the way over there,
-
Absolutely,
-
You bet,
-
He better be following Jesus,
-
Into Jerusalem,
-
And the crowd laid palms,
-
And they cried out,
-
Hosanna,
-
Save us,
-
To the king,
-
Who is riding on the donkey,
-
And the Pharisees,
-
They panicked,
-
They're freaking out,
-
They're freaking out,
-
Because their hearts,
-
Are more focused,
-
On power,
-
They even recognize,
-
The miracles,
-
That are happening,
-
But they're not willing,
-
To give up,
-
That control,
-
The disciples,
-
Well,
-
They didn't understand,
-
Really any of it,
-
Until after the resurrection,
-
But it's in there,
-
And we gotta recognize,
-
God will reveal,
-
In the proper time,
-
The king has come,
-
And he is still here,
-
And this Palm Sunday,
-
We cry out the word,
-
Hosanna,
-
Save us Lord,
-
We pray the name,
-
Of Jesus,
-
And we proclaim,
-
We lift,
-
His name,
-
On high,
-
Hosanna,
-
So in closing,
-
Can we say the word,
-
Hosanna together,
-
Hosanna,
-
Let's say it again,
-
Hosanna,
-
One more time,
-
Hosanna,
-
Let's pray together,
-
Father God,
-
We proclaim the name,
-
Hosanna,
-
We proclaim,
-
Your name,
-
We lift,
-
Your name on high,
-
And we mean,
-
Those words,
-
That you save us,
-
For those of us,
-
Who have not made a decision,
-
Have not received salvation,
-
We pray a movement,
-
A stirring of the heart,
-
A changing of the mind,
-
To receive salvation,
-
To believe in the death,
-
Burial,
-
And resurrection,
-
May we be,
-
In prayer,
-
Praying for change,
-
Within this community,
-
Praying for change,
-
Within our families,
-
And certainly,
-
That people will come to know,
-
Your son Jesus Christ,
-
And certainly,
-
May we proclaim,
-
Your son's name,
-
In this Easter season,
-
May we lay down,
-
Our palm branches,
-
At the foot of the king,
-
And may we recognize,
-
That you reveal,
-
A full understanding,
-
Of things in the proper time,
-
We're so grateful,
-
For your son,
-
We're so grateful,
-
For who he is,
-
And what he continues,
-
To do in our life,
-
I pray that this message,
-
Was preached clearly,
-
That it may be understood,
-
But also,
-
That it may stir our hearts,
-
To live,
-
To receive salvation,
-
To grow in you,
-
And to be moved,
-
To live and love,
-
Like your son Jesus,
-
We love you,
-
So much,
-
And we thank you,
-
For this time,
-
And this opportunity,
-
For us to gather together,
-
It is,
-
In the name of Jesus,
-
That we pray,
-
And we all say together,
-
Amen,
-
Amen,
-
Amen,