In My Estimation - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. It is good to be in God's house.

It is Palm Sunday. We're excited about all that

God's doing. Welcome, welcome. It is one week

before Easter, Resurrection Sunday. And today

marks the end of our seven -day fast here at

LifeHouse. And our prayer has been this, as you've

gone through this time of fasting. Our prayer

has been that you hear from the Lord. sometime

during this fast. And I found out sometimes that's

a small way that you hear from God. Sometimes

it's a large way. For me personally, it seems

like God does this small adjustment. Anytime

I get into a fast in some way, God does this

small adjustment inside of me that translates

to something much bigger on the outside of me

later on. And I hope that whether that was small

or large or some experience in between, that

you took time and you got with God and sought

the Lord. Our prayer is that you just, that continues

to happen in your life. That continues to be

something that's a part of your spiritual walk.

And along with that, you were praying over invitations.

We're just trusting that God's going to break

out and do amazing things in your life and in

the future. Amen. You believe it with me? Come

on, it takes faith. God moves on faith, not just

my word, right? Or not just your word, but it's

faith in him. And we're believing for that. Well,

let me start today's message with a statement

that I know is true of me, could possibly be

true of you, but this is the statement I want

to make. There have been times in my life that

I have completely underestimated the person that

was standing in front of me. Anybody with me?

Did you ever underestimate the person who was

in front of you? Maybe I underestimated their

ability. Maybe I underestimated their talent,

their gift, right, their wisdom. Maybe their

savvy, even their intellect. Anybody ever question

somebody's intellect? You probably did that when

you were standing in front of me, right? You

underestimated, you know, what God has brought

them through or who they are in Jesus Christ.

Sometimes you just completely miss it with someone.

They're standing there. And I remember doing

this with our children, particularly our kids

when they were little. Sometimes I would underestimate

what they could do or what they could accomplish.

And I remember this happening one day when my

children were very young. Actually, when the

girls were five and under, both girls were five

and under at the time. I remember underestimating

something. And we tell this story often in our

family because it is a cautionary tale to never,

ever. ever underestimate a person that's standing

in front of you, even if they're under three

feet tall. Amen? It's true. And this is how it

went down for me. At that time, Dixie and I had

bought our first home, and it was in the metropolis

of Windburn, PA, which is a very small town where

we grew up. And we bought this little split -entry

house. And it had a very small yard. It was a

small house. And you came in the door. And if

you came in the door of that house, you would

go up a set of steps, right? It was split -entry.

There were stairs going down, stairs going up.

You'd go up the steps. You'd be looking at the

kitchen. There'd be a little kind of eat -in

dining area to the left. hallway that had one

bathroom and three bedrooms down to the right.

If you came in the house and went down the steps,

you went down into the lower level, which was

kind of the foundation, which we kind of had

a makeshift living room down there. And then

you'd make a right, you would go immediately

out the door into an integrated garage that was

on the lower level. That was it. That was the

whole house. And I remember it was a warm summer

day. And Dixie left. She went to run errands.

And I was in charge of the girls. My job was

to keep them alive and not to let them bleed

arterially. So she got home. That was my job.

That was it. And I took my job serious. But I

was in the garage, and I was doing some stuff,

and I was working. And one of my daughters came

in and said, Dad, I want a cookie. Now, remember,

they're five and under. So one of them came in

and said, I want a cookie. And I said, well,

no problem. I'm all about a midday cookie break.

Amen. Come on, that's spiritual. All right. And

I was like, no problem, but you cannot go upstairs

with your shoes on. We had just got some carpet

in the house. You're not allowed in with your

shoes on. You take your shoes off. You can go

up and get a cookie. I don't want to take my

shoes off. Well, you have to take your shoes

off if you want to get a cookie. I don't want

to take my shoes off. You have to take your shoes

off if you want to get a cookie. I don't want

to take my shoes off. Let me be clear. You have

to. How many of you got tired of kids three times?

I don't know why. All right. You have to take

your shoes off if you want to get up and get

a cookie. And she goes, okay. And she turned

around and went back outside. And she went out

and started playing. And I'm like, yes, I won.

Ha! You know? Got it. Nailed it. And I went back

to busy what I was doing. And I kept doing what

I was doing. And all of a sudden, 10 minutes

later, she comes back in again. She goes, dad,

I got a surprise for you. She goes, close your

eyes and hold out your hand. And I'm like, awesome.

You know? And I'm waiting. And I figure she's

getting, you know, like dandelions. She probably

picked a bunch of dandelions. She's going to

say it because I didn't. Weeding feed in my yard.

And I had a lot of dandelions. And, you know,

I figured she'd bring some dandelions, put it

in my hand, or maybe a rock or a frog or something

she found. I was like, I didn't know what it

was. So I am standing in the middle of the garage.

I'm like this, just waiting, right? Been over

waiting to get something in my hands. And I hear

some shuffling around. I'm like, oh, here it

comes. She's like, don't open your eyes, Dad.

And then all of a sudden I hear a doorknob and

ka -thunk. I'm like, and then nothing. A few

seconds later, I open my eyes. No child in front

of me. She went in the door to go upstairs to

get a cookie, and there's no shoes sitting at

the door. And I'm thinking to myself, I know

she's smarter than what I think she is, right?

I underestimated her, so I thought she's never

going to come back down the same way. So I tore

off out of the garage, I ran around the back

of the house, and I knew she'd come out the back

deck, right? Out the door, out the back deck,

out of the kitchen, and sure enough, a minute

later, pile of cookies this large, right? In

one hand, she's pulling the door shut, and I'm

like, hey! You know, cookies in the air everywhere.

And I can't remember if I scolded her or if we

just sat down and ate some cookies because it

was so funny. But one of the greatest mistakes

you can ever make is underestimating somebody

that's standing in front of you. And even the

bigger mistake is if you underestimate Jesus.

If you underestimate the Son of God, and I'm

not sure how we do it, why we do it, and sometimes

I do it. It's the most bizarre thing in my mind

that I underestimate the Son of God. I underestimate

the one who has all power, who has all knowledge,

who can be in all places at one time. Somehow,

I underestimate Him. Somehow I put him in this

strange human box, right? And pull him out and

think he has human characteristics and he's going

to do things like I'm going to do it, right?

And I place him in this unholy expectation of

God, the all -powerful creator of all things.

And it's the most ridiculous thing in the world.

And I have become painfully aware over the years

that it is a big, big mistake to underestimate

Jesus. And unfortunately, So many who surrounded

Jesus when he walked on the earth made this same

mistake. Even those who flooded into the streets

of Jerusalem and pulled out palm branches and

laid them down and weighed them and said, Hosanna,

Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord, the King of Israel. If you got your

Bibles, I want you to turn to John chapter 11

John 11 · chapter mention

this morning. We're going to verse 55. We're

going to start there. John 11, 55. And as you

go, I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray over

our ears and our heart to receive the word. Father,

God, as we turn in your word, God, I pray for

each person in the house. God, move upon us right

now. Move upon our ears. Move upon our hearts.

Move upon our heads. Lord, that we might receive

the amazing word of God. And Lord, that it might

change our thoughts, our minds, and our actions.

And Lord, we just give you praise and we give

you glory. And everybody said together, amen

and amen. All right, John chapter 11, verse 55,

John 11:55

and it says this, and the Passover of the Jews

was near, and many went from the country up to

Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.

Now, let me explain this just a little bit, because

you need to know what's taking place here and

what's happening. What's taking place is that

people are flooding into the city of Jerusalem.

And for Passover, they're there. The Jewish people

are coming in to celebrate Passover. So this

is an ancient biblical practice, and it actually

still takes place today. Passover was and still

is a major Jewish holiday, right, of the Israelites.

And it's the Jewish people celebrating God pulling

the Israelites or the Jews. out of Egyptian slavery

centuries before. And the festival and the celebration

lasts for about seven to eight days in length,

and it is in the spring of the year. And it is

characterized by a retelling of the story of

Exodus, and it's done over a meal called the

Seder. And the Seder meal or the festival takes

place, and they tell this story of God's deliverance.

And where we're at in Scripture today, they're

coming into the city of Jerusalem once again

to... celebrate Passover, and they're preparing

for Passover. And how they did it is they came

into the city, and there was a ritual cleansing

that would take place, a ritual immersion. It

was called mikvah. And it was a ceremonial cleansing

that would take place before Passover. So they

would get there a week early. And if somebody

had touched something that was dead previously

to Passover, They would come in. They would be

sprinkled with water that was mixed with ashes

from a red heifer. And that would happen on the

third and seventh day before Passover. And everybody

would come in for this cleansing that would take

place to get ready to celebrate Passover. And

so hundreds, maybe thousands and thousands of

people poured into Jerusalem in this period of

time. And it was a festival, right? There was

a buzz in the air. But this year was a little

different because not only was it Passover, but

there was a stir because news about Jesus had

circulated in Jerusalem. News about the man who

raised Lazarus, a town two miles away from the

dead. The prophet, the teacher, the healer, those

who believe that this possibly could be the prophesied

Messiah. And this particular Jewish crowd with

great expectation that Jesus could possibly be

the next Jewish king in line to lead them over

Rome in victory. Rome was ruling the area, and

they started to believe that Jesus, this guy

who could heal and call people back from the

dead. could be the one who leads him out from

underneath Rome. And these people weren't just

a bunch of starstruck individuals, Jewish people,

who were waiting for Jesus to come in, right,

and looking for to get a selfie with him. That's

not what they were after. They started really

believing that there was freedom on the horizon,

and Jesus could make the difference as he comes

into the city, and they would hail him as king.

And all this is taking place in the city where

Jesus is about to come. There's Pharisees. Now,

not everyone was looking for Jesus, and not everybody

was looking for him to be king. There were Pharisees

who were corrupt Jewish leaders, and they were

interested in taking Jesus down. As a matter

of fact, they had already been hatching plans

to take him out. And the first opportunity they

could, they wanted people, they were already

putting the word out for people to report back

so they could come and see Jesus. Rome is on

high alert because of the festival that's taking

place. They don't want any sudden uprisings.

They certainly don't want, you know, this news

of a king, a would -be Jewish king coming in.

First of all, that was illegal in Rome because

the only king they recognized was Caesar. Anybody

else who was recognized as king was considered

a criminal. and they would take him out. And

Jesus' disciples are among those who are around

Jesus getting ready to come in, and they don't

even know that there's a traitor among them at

this point yet. Here's the thing. While all this

is taking place, as Jesus is getting ready to

come in to the city of Jerusalem, everybody surrounding

Jesus, even his disciples, underestimate who

he is. Most are completely clueless of the enormity

of what he is about to accomplish. Their personal

observations are based on their personal preferences

or their personal experience at that moment.

They underestimate his power, his eternal impact,

God's eternal plan in all of this. And they're

so caught up in the moment of what's taking place

and their personal tensions that they completely

underestimate. A man who's actually standing

in front of him who is the son of God. That was

a long intro to get to the reading. All right.

John chapter 11, 55. I'm going to reread the

John 11 · chapter mention

first verse. And the Passover of the Jews was

near. And many went from that country up to Jerusalem

before the Passover to purify themselves. And

they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves

as they stood in the temple. What do you think?

Will he not come to the feast? Now both the chief

priests and the Pharisees had given a command

that if anyone knew where he was, he should report

it that they might seize him. Then six days before

the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus

was, who had been dead, whom he had raised from

the dead. Jesus and the disciples are on the

way to Jerusalem. They make a pit stop in Bethany

to see Lazarus, right, who he had raised, his

friend, who he had raised up a week or two weeks

earlier than this. And there they made a supper,

and Martha served, but Lazarus was one who sat

at the table with him. And Mary, one of the sisters,

took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard,

anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet

with her hair. And the house was filled with

the fragrance of oil. But one of his disciples,

Judas, This is the betrayer, Iscariot. Simon's

son, who would betray him, said, why was this

fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii, which

is close to a year's wages, and given to the

poor? This he said, not that he cared for the

poor, but because he was a thief and had the

money box and used to take what was put in it.

One of the saddest stories in all of Scripture

is of Judas, one of Jesus' 12 disciples, who

gets caught up in thievery. even while he walks

with the Son of God, and later sells Jesus out

for 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests

and the Pharisees. Judas ends up realizing that

he underestimates Jesus and takes his own life.

He hangs himself later on. Verse 7 says, but

Jesus said, let her alone. She has kept this

for the day of my burial. For the poor you have

with you always, but me you do not always have.

Now a great many of the Jews knew that he was

there, and they came, not for Jesus' sake only,

but that they might also see Lazarus, whom had

been raised from the dead. But the chief priests

plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because

on account of him, many of the Jews went away

and believed in Jesus. The next day, the multitude

that had come to the feast, when they had heard

that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches,

come on, grab your branch, took branches of palm,

right, trees, and went out to meet him, and they

cried out. Hosanna. Go ahead and say it. Hosanna.

Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord, the King of Israel. Then Jesus,

when he had found a donkey, sat on it as it is

written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold,

your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's coat.

His disciples did not understand these things

at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then

they remembered that these things were written

about him and that they had done these things

to him. Jesus rides into Jerusalem. He's met

by a crowd on the streets waiting for him. They're

waving palm branches just like you wave, right?

One of the gospel accounts says that they also

took their clothes, they took their outer garments

off, and they laid them in the streets as Jesus

rode in on this young colt. This was a sign of

a king coming into a city. And if a king was

on a coat instead of a horse, instead of a steed

of some kind, it meant that it was a king of

peace, a sign of peace, a peaceful king coming

in. And this group that's watching, right, they're

cheering. They have palm branches. They're bowing.

They're laying clothes in the street, yelling

out, Hosanna, Hosanna, believing that Jesus is

going to be the next Messiah and he's going to

deliver them. Some of them probably believe that

because they saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the

dead. Others of them, some of this group may

have known the ancient prophecies. They may have

known the prophecies from Daniel that actually

spoke about the number of days when the Messiah

would ride into Jerusalem. Actually, 383 years

to the day when Jesus would ride in. Whatever

convinced them, they believed that this was a

conquering king. But they deeply underestimated.

what Jesus was really up to. They thought that

Jesus was their king to take down Rome, but Jesus

was not just their king. He was the king. He

was riding in to take all of evil down for all

of time. And the people around him were clueless.

They underestimated. Days later, they would abandon

Jesus as he's crucified, as he's beaten, right?

And even his own disciples would become confused

and disoriented. They would abandon Jesus the

same at the crucifixion, not understanding the

greater plan. As you and I hold a palm branch,

we have one advantage. We're on the backside

of the story. We get to look back. But don't

underestimate the king who rode into Jerusalem.

Don't underestimate the plan of God that Jesus

was committed to complete, right? Don't underestimate

the enormity. of what Jesus would complete in

the next few days. Don't underestimate that all

of heaven was at work in this plan. Don't underestimate

that Jesus would make a kingdom without end.

And I'm just going to take a few minutes this

morning and give you a few things that Jesus

completed in those few short days following.

The things that he finalized once he went to

the cross, once he was betrayed, once he was

pulled from his cross, the Word of God tells

us that he was beaten for hours on end so badly

that they couldn't even recognize him as a human

being. They placed him on a cross at that point,

drove nails in his hands and his feet, put him

in a grave, and three days later, he comes out

of the grave. And when Jesus came out of that

grave, he accomplished some things, some things

that were much greater than just what the Jewish

people had in mind or even what Rome could have

even fathomed. They understood this. We understand

that they underestimated the completed work of

atonement. and forgiveness provided for our sin.

It's one of the things that Jesus did. Jesus

would bear the full punishment and the weight

of the wrath of God over sin. He would take your

sin and my sin, the punishment that we deserve,

the death that we deserve, He would take upon

Himself. I can tell you for certain, anytime

sin is in the picture, something dies. It's true.

We don't like to believe that. We don't like

to think about it. In fact, the Word of God tells

us if we die in our sin without Jesus, we're

dead, spiritually. Jesus came, and He died on

a cross. He rose to life, not just to be a Jewish

king, to take care of one slice of Jewish history.

He came to become the supreme sacrifice for all

of mankind, to give us opportunity to be free

of sin. pay for a meal for you. If you've ever

gone to a restaurant and somebody, especially

if it happens randomly, somebody comes up and

pays for your meal, it is a humbling thing, right?

It's a humbling thing to know that somebody would

pay the price for you to sit down and just have

one meal. But imagine how we should feel that

somebody died in my place. The sin that was in

my life, it should have been my death. And he

didn't just buy me a meal. He didn't even just

buy me a house or a car. He died for me. He died

for you. He pushed back all of the penalty of

sin for all of us. He was the king. We underestimate

what he accomplished at the cross. Hebrews 10

.1 says this, and every priest stands ministering

daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices.

This is what took place before Jesus. Priests

would bring sacrifice after animal sacrifice

after animal sacrifice, trying to satisfy, right,

the payment for sin. It says, which could never

take away the sins. But this man, after he had

offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down

at the right hand of God. From that time on,

waiting till his enemies are made his footstool.

For one offering, he had perfected forever those

who are being sanctified. We underestimate him.

Jesus left the fullness of heaven. He came down

in bodily form. Not like us. Not born into sin,

but born of a virgin. He's born, he remains sinless,

tempted in every way as we are, suffers brutality

because of the sin we deserved, and he pays the

price once and for all. They underestimated what

Jesus was doing for them. Hebrews 7 .26 says

this, For such a high priest was fitting for

us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate

from sinners, and has become higher than the

heavens. Who does not need daily as those high

priests to offer up sacrifices, first for their

own sins and then for the people's? For this

he did once for all when he offered up himself.

For the law points as high priests men who have

weakness, but the word of the oath which came

after the law points the son who has been perfected

forever. He willingly gives himself up to death

to preserve us from death. Don't underestimate

him. Don't underestimate him. They also underestimated

Jesus' power and victory over evil. They had

no idea of the transfer that was about to take

place as they placed Jesus in the tomb and in

the grave. They had no idea of the completed

work that Jesus would go and disarm, right? It

marked a time when he would go and literally

disarm all of evil. He would disarm Satan and

the powers of darkness. He would disarm and there

would be a transfer of power. What was broken

at the beginning in the garden when man sinned

initially, Jesus would come. It's his point in

time and authority and power transfer would take

place back to him. Colossians 2 11 says this

in him we were also circumcised the circumcision

made without hands by putting off the body of

the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of

Christ buried with him in baptism in which you

also were raised with him through the faith in

the working of God who raised him from the dead

and you being dead in your trespasses and uncircumcision

of flesh he made alive together with him Having

forgiven your trespasses, having wiped out the

handwriting of the requirements that was against

us, which was contrary to us, and which has taken

it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross,

having disarmed principalities, say principalities,

and powers, say powers, he made a public spectacle

of them, triumphing over them in it. You can

think of it as a weapon transfer. He took from

the enemy the weapons of warfare. He disarmed

hell and the grave. He placed and took back the

weapons that would destroy us. And we are no

longer powerless over evil. We are no longer

in a place. In Christ, we have power over the

enemy. In Christ, we have power over evil. In

Christ, we have power over the rulers of darkness

and the principalities and those who exude evil

across the earth. He holds the power, and there

was a transfer that took place. Do you know evil

has an expiration date? It really does. It has

an expiration. Because Jesus has the power, he

put an expiration date on evil. And some of you

might be thinking in your head, well, then why

is he waiting so long? Why doesn't he just do

it right now? Anybody ever wonder that? Anybody

with me on that? Anybody ever just like see somebody

really evil on TV and just like, Lord, just zap

them. Right? Like a bug zapper. Just get them,

Jesus. But then I think about, I was evil once.

What if he'd done that to me? I wouldn't be here.

Right? Why is there an expiration date? Why is

God waiting? Why is Jesus—the transfer took place

already. The authority's already shifted. Why

is He waiting? Because God has mercy. Because

Jesus has mercy. His mercy is waiting. There

are those who are steeped in evil, and they need

to repent. They need to turn back to God. They

need that. They need that time. But there's a

day. There really is. There's a day the judgment

is coming. There's a day when God's no longer

going to be patient. Evil has an expiration date.

All the power of evil will flip. Worship team,

if you'd come. There's a time of judgment. Last

thing we underestimate. We underestimate Jesus'

power to make all things new. 2 Corinthians 5

.16 says this, Therefore, from now on, we regard

no one according to the flesh, even though we

have known Christ according to the flesh. Yet

now we know him thus no longer. Therefore, if

anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old

things have passed away. Behold, all things have

become new. Now, all things are of God. who has

reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ,

and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is that God was in Christ reconciling the

world to himself, not imputing or trespassing

to them, and has committed to us the word of

reconciliation. We underestimate what Jesus did

at the cross. He came not just to patch you up.

So many times we think we're going to come to

Christ and we're going to come to God and he's

going to patch up a mess in our life, right?

You're going to be like it and stick it, you

know? I'm going to get band -aid on whatever's

going on and hopefully we can limp on through.

That is not what the word of God says. When he

came out of the grave on his own authority, right?

When he spoke life into himself and came out

of the grave, the word of God says that we become

new. creation. And let me tell you something,

the creation that's new is not just going to

stop with just, it's not a patch, it's not even

just going to stop with us. There is a cosmic

renewal that you're in the middle of right now.

It's in the timeline that God has laid out. There's

a cosmic renewal taking place, and it's not just

a simple reverse of the curse. It is a renewal

that is going to come in Christ. That first starts

in Jesus, and it is birthed with inside of us.

We become a new creation inside. One day, we

will be new creatures with Him. This body will

fade away, and I will have a redeemed body that

will have no limitations. I can't wait for that

to happen. I'm thinking probably just about like

the angels, you know, and it's going to take

place. And the Word of God, if you follow along

in the Word of God and you look into Revelation,

He's going to renovate this earth. Take a good

look around you. All this, He's going to make

this all new around us. We underestimate what

Jesus did. We underestimate what he can do. Amen?

It's true if you'd stand this morning. And I

said all that to say this. Don't underestimate

Jesus. Don't underestimate what he can do in

your life. He can make you a new creation. He

can change your heart and your mind. I sit with

people sometimes, and I listen to them, and I

listen to them in all their mess, because we've

all been a mess, like we've all been in sin.

And I'll sit and listen to their, what's going

on. And sometimes I just want to tell them, you

have, you don't understand. You don't have to

be in all this. He wants to make you new. He

wants to do a new thing in you. I know they don't

know what they don't know. That's why we got

to tell them. But He can change it all. He can

change your mind. He can change your heart. He

can change how you walk, how you live, how you

think. There's nothing else you will ever engage

in that can do what God can do inside of you.

How many of you in this house, as a testimony,

raise your hand. Our new creations in Christ.

How many of you could testify of the new thing

that God did in you that changed everything?

Come on. They had no idea who was coming into

the city and how big his plan really was. Even

his disciples didn't know. Lifehouse Church.

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