Sunday Message (2nd service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (March 29, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

want to thank you for joining us today, and we

hope you find today's sermon impacting as you

listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk.

To find service times and watch messages online,

see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. Let's pray a little

bit. I'd like you to open your Bibles to Psalms

118 after we get done praying. We're going to

get there in Jesus' name. That's my little marker

this morning. Father, I want to thank you today.

Lord, I want to thank you for your presence.

I want to thank you for your love. I want to

thank you for your goodness. Lord, I'm praying

today that you would help me, Lord, in delivering

your word. Let your grace come into this room

as you have been here all along. Lord, empower.

Lord, us to hear and receive. Lord, today is

a day of celebration, reminding ourselves this

was the time that you rode into Jerusalem. Palm

Sunday. Lord, the week before you rose from the

dead. Lord, we just simply take pause this morning.

Lord, we're not putting in our time. We're not.

getting a star for being here. But God, I'm praying

those that have come to this house this morning,

those that are watching online, Lord, there would

be a release of your spirit that would come to

feed them, come to strengthen them, and cause

them to pull and believe the words that you have

over them are both life and truth. We love you,

Jesus. And we magnify your holy name. And everybody

said, amen. It's great to see you. Go ahead and

open your Bible, if you would, to Psalms 118.

And go ahead and find that place. We're going

to be taking a look at this incredible psalm

in just a little bit. Emily's going to play for

me a little bit. I want to kind of just navigate

this this morning. Because it is Palm Sunday,

we're still on the theme, the Something More

Church. And one of the things that we've been

dealing with over the last few weeks, especially

as I've been in the pulpit, we've been dealing

with, and we did so specifically last week, dealing

with 1 Peter chapter 4. And we were talking about

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

some of the words that Peter was writing to the

church of dealing with humility. And understanding

the issue of what? Understanding that we have

to be sober -minded and self -controlled. That

first and foremost means you have to actually

have an understanding about yourself. Thinking

sober -minded. Being self -controlled. Those

two things recognize our weakness. What does

pride do? Pride totally overruns What we think

we can handle and what we think we can endure

and what we think of ourselves. Okay, there's

three of us in the room that are getting this.

Are you out there receiving this? Okay, you're

all scattered out. So don't make me bring that

pulpit out to you. Come on. All right, here we

go. So we started with an understanding of saying,

here's the deal. Jesus, as he operated. operated

in love and in service to the Father in every

single area. And I'll put this on the screen,

if you would. Jesus never bypassed the little

day things for the big cross experience. This

is important because if we don't, and I'm just

reviewing a little bit. If we don't understand

that, we will try to constantly put things out

in our future or make things in our life become

that big cross experience and miss what Jesus

is trying to form and do inside of us in a now

moment. So Jesus's perspective of being a servant,

Jesus's perspective of being the loving servant

from heaven had all ranges of, Of love and sacrifice.

Jesus embraced the will of the father. As primary.

Pleasing the father. Was more important. Than.

Just the big experience. That's what Jesus said.

If you love me. You'll keep my commandments.

How many know. That's a pretty. Big. Thing he

asked of us. There's times. when I feel like

keeping his commandments. And then there's times

when you don't feel like keeping his commandments.

Notice I took it off myself. You're right. There's

times when you feel like, man, I just, oh, it's

a pleasure to love and obey the Lord. And then

there's times like, oh, I just want to. Have

a small version of road rage. There are things

that cut cross grain in your will. And it's that

point where we find, are we sober minded? And

are we self -controlled? And that takes us to

the verse that we spent most of our time in last

week. And I'll just review by this. It says,

1 Peter 4, verse 7. The end of all things is

1 Peter 4:7

at hand. And because of that, therefore be self

-controlled and sober -minded for the sake of

your prayers. Meaning what? So that the grace

of God and the help of God can actually assist

you. That you actually are praying in the right

spirit. You're not praying out of fear. You're

not praying out of anxiety. You're not praying

out of what? You're a worm that you don't matter

to God, that you're measuring yourself by other

people's standards. You're looking at your life

versus theirs. Or you are asking God in a moment

of trial or crisis and get irritated with God

thinking that he should do how you want him to

do. We have all sorts of things where we can

step wrong, right? And the key is to what? The

key is to be self -controlled and be sober -minded

for the sake of our prayer because God wants

to answer our prayers. And then he says in verse

eight, and this is where we get this, and above

all, now in prayer and in service to the Lord,

what? Keep loving one another. earnestly. Or

the new King James says fervently, since love

covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality

to one another without grumbling. As each has

received a gift, use it to serve one another

as good stewards of God's varied grace. Or I

put there, God's varied or manifold multicolored

grace. That's what it means. And we looked at

this word earnestly and fervently. Love one another

earnestly. That word means what? To be stretched

out into full capacity. So when we're thinking

about being sober -minded, when we're thinking

about being self -controlled, we're doing so

for love's sake. Because what would normally

do what? Cause us to cross boundaries is when

we don't. really love. Love the Lord our God

more than ourselves. We do what? We don't obey

or we don't listen or we don't stay self -controlled.

We allow self to be loved more than him. Or when

we refuse to allow others and we choose to stay

offended, live in judgment. All of these things

do what? Hinder our prayer. But Jesus says what?

Be stretched out. Be stretched out meaning what?

Be earnest. Be fully extended. The power of serving

that Jesus modeled. In both prayer in that instance

at the Garden of Gethsemane where it says, and

he prayed all the more fervently. Means there

was another level of Jesus being completely stretched

out. The power of serving. Notice he wasn't doing

it just for him. He was doing this. He didn't

come to earth necessarily for him. He came for

us. So when the plan, of actually the cross was

before him, before the big cross experience became

the stretching out and the willingness to say,

out of love, it's going to take everything I

have to be stretched out for whom I was sent.

And in prayer and in stewardship of the grace

and the work that God gave Jesus to do, he modeled

that in love. And here's how he did it. In Matthew

4 and Luke 4, Jesus, and we could go to some

slides here, Jesus rejected the powerful ministries

that Satan actually presented to him. Whether

you realize it or not, those three temptations

were actually ways of doing life that were contrary

to the Father's. The temptation was, To do something

sensational. To do something spectacular. And

to do it speedily. In the flesh. In the fast.

In the flesh. Turn these rocks into bread. Hey.

Just. Worship me and I will give you all of this.

This is a speedier way to get this done for the

father. You don't have to go to the cross. If

you'll just acknowledge that I have the authority,

that the key that I got in the garden is legitimately

mine. Just acknowledge that and worship me and

I'll give you that. Every step, throw yourself

down. Listen, show the supernatural power of

God. He'll give his angels charge. It was the

miraculous. It was the spectacular. It was the

speedy way. All trying to get Jesus to do what?

Move himself out of the position of love and

obedience and a steward of being what? Self -controlled

and sober -minded about why the father had him

here. Jesus chose on purpose. Emily, you're doing

great. Would you tell Emily she did a great job?

Jesus chose on purpose the path of humility.

Think of it. He could have yielded to the sensational,

to the spectacular, to I'll bow and all of the

kingdoms of the world will come under my authority.

That isn't how it works. I'll show myself of

who I am as the son of God and I'll pull the

curtain back and reveal all of the host of heaven

at my aid. No, that isn't what the father wants

either. Jesus purposely revealed that he came

in humility. Now, just please work with me for

a second and think this through, okay? Jesus.

The Bible says he was the word of God, right?

John chapter one in the gospel, in the beginning

was the word and the word was God and the word

was with God and the word came forth from God,

right? And the word became flesh and we handled

him. We saw that, we testify that he is the only

begotten son of God. So when the word left, now

just, it's hard for us to grasp, but the word,

came forth from the Father. Meaning they were

so close, they were one, but yet they weren't,

they're one in spirit, but they were, Jesus lived

in heaven, in his eternal state as the word of

God. Okay? That is a serious demotion now to

come to the earth and take up flesh and blood.

Right? You live in an atmosphere of complete

holiness, purity, light, love. You're one with

the Father and near the Father, have never been

distant. When the Father thinks it or desires

to speak, you're the word that comes out of him.

And now you get to trade that in for life as

a human being. Okay? Here was the word of God.

and now you show up as an Asa. Okay? In the fact

of, okay, think of it this way. No one that goes

to heaven and experiences it wants to come back.

No one. Why do we think that Jesus didn't have

that emotion? The fact that he had, he created

it. He created heaven and earth. Then he watched

sin mar everything he created. And do we think

that he thought for a moment, oh, this is gonna

be great. Let me just put it in airline language.

You're in first class. You get bumped down to

coach sitting next to the restroom. That's the

largest demotion you could ever have, right?

You've now moved from having people serve you

constantly whatever you want to people opening

the door of a used restroom facility with that

nasty, whatever it is, formaldehyde smell and

everybody else that's used it and that is your

new place for the duration. Somebody ought to

be able to say with me this morning, okay, that's

a big demotion. Okay, when Jesus, the word of

God, took on flesh, he then, if that wasn't bad

enough, where did he go? Nowheresville. He went

to Nazareth. He was living literally in nothing

known really to man. Fact is, that's why they

would say, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Can you pick a town? That had a reputation of

having nothing. How about Harrisburg? See, this

is why Jesus loves this town so much. In fact,

Jesus' ministry. Did not take place in the city

center of Jerusalem. That was the pinnacle of

God's city. And everywhere you went from the

world. You went up to Jerusalem. As it said in

the scripture. He went to the sticks called the

region of the Galilee. Everything Jesus did.

He did. in humility. He did not, now just forgive

me because I'm going to go here for a bit. He

did not get on the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem

Instagram, Jerusalem Facebook, and Jerusalem

Marketplace and market himself or his meetings.

He didn't write books and series and market them

to draw crowds. Everything he did. Fact is, he

wouldn't even stay in one place long enough as

he moved from place to place. As soon as there

got traction in the spirit, he moved. Why? Because

it wasn't about building him. It was about what?

Serving the father in humility. You see, pride

and the mindset of man can totally mess up. the

way that God wants to move. Jesus embraced humility.

Now, why am I spending so much time on this?

Because I think we need to understand this being

Palm Sunday, how important this really is. You

see, especially in Roman culture, and because

the Romans had taken over Jerusalem, As far as

just Roman culture, Roman architecture, Roman

money, they allowed the... Jewish people and

the leadership to continue on with their synagogues

and the religious affairs. But when it came to

governmental issues and turning Jerusalem into

a Roman culture, that had happened. And one of

the things that they loved is they love their

Roman parades. Why? Because Roman parades always

became the emphasis of victory. You gave a parade

because you conquered and you won. And Rome at

the height of Jesus' time had taken territory

after territory after territory and was operating

in this magnanimous power that was just beginning

to crush things. And in the power of crushing,

they would display the victory and the spoil

from the other places they had taken. And it

would always happen as a type of military parade

where the generals or the rulers that won the

battle would always ride a steed. Mostly, most

of the time, a stallion that had been broken

and sometimes a white stallion. They would come

and lead the parade with the armies and parade

all of the spoils of the other generals and the

other army in front of them. And that was part

of the celebration. Look at the power of Rome.

Look at its might. Look at its strength. Look

at the people who were in charge, the generals,

and give honor to the homage to the power of

Rome. Well, the Jewish people, they like celebrations

too. All people groups like celebrations. And

as you get to Palm Sunday, what was everybody

on the planet going to do? Palm Sunday, that

we celebrate Palm Sunday, was now the very closeness

to Passover. And so everyone in the world, remember

what the Old Testament says. Three times a year,

you shall not appear before me empty -handed.

You shall go to the place where the Lord your

God dwells, and there you shall offer sacrifice

and worship and serve him. Where was that? Jerusalem.

And so three times a year, what are those three?

Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. So the

time of the year that Jesus was going to be offered

was going to be at Passover. That's why we have

the illustration in John chapter 13 of the upper

John 13 · chapter mention

room. That's where we get the feet washing. That's

where we get the table. That's where they get

go and prepare a place. Master, where do you

want us to go? You'll find a guy with a pitcher.

Follow the guy with a water pitcher and tell

him the master has need of the house. You'll

find it furnished and that's where I want you

to actually. prepare Passover for us. This was

the timeframe. So not only do you have a Roman

culture in the idea of victory and the ruling

power, but now you've got people coming from

all the known world. Now remember in Acts chapter

two, just 50 days later, they're going to come

again from all over the place and they're going

to bring they're gonna bring sacrifice again

because it's celebrating 50 days after Passover,

right? And they list 17 to 19 nations that come

in Acts chapter two. So just back up a little

bit, get there to Luke and John, and you begin

to realize every single place where Judaism had

spread, if they were able, was now making the

trek to Jerusalem to be able to pick out a lamb

and to be there at the time that the lamb should

be picked out, the time that the lamb would stay

for them, and the time for the slaughtering of

the lamb so they could have the Passover meal

and celebrate the great, awesome truth that God

did as a deliverer and a savior out of... the

land of bondage out of Egypt through the power

of the blood on the doorpost. So that's the backdrop.

If we could just say it in a nutshell, that's

the backdrop of how now we're looking at Palm

Sunday and Jesus coming into Jerusalem. But notice

Jesus, because he's doing this in humility, doesn't

ride in on a white stallion this time. Fact is,

the Bible tells us a little earlier in Matthew,

I believe it's 21. He says, go to this person

and you'll find a colt tied with its mother.

Untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone

asks of you why you're untying the colt and his

mother, you just say to them, now listen, the

Lord has need of it. Why is that important? Because

he didn't say the teacher had need of it. He

didn't say the evangelist had need of it. He

literally said your answer to receive this gift

in my name is the Lord. The one who has all authority

has need of it. The Lord. He was declaring that

he himself by that statement. The Lord has need

of it, is and was a king in his own right. And

as the disciples brought the donkey and the colt,

Zechariah had prophesied this in Zechariah 9,

9. And it says this, rejoice, O people of Zion.

Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look,

your king is coming to you. He is righteous and

victorious. Okay, there it is. Yet he is humble.

He is righteous and victorious. Yet he is humble,

riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt.

Now this is pretty incredible. Let's just look

at John 12 for a moment. The next day, a large

crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus

was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches

of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, crying,

Hosanna, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in

the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.

Notice Jesus declares, before the crowd gathered,

You tell them if anybody asks why you're untying

it and taking them for a purpose, you tell them

the Lord does it. Now we're reading in John's

account that the people are declaring in an atmosphere,

blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,

even the king of Israel. They're declaring something

that they don't even understand. Now, I don't

know about you. How many times have you quoted

something, maybe of a scripture verse, or maybe

you've heard some words from the prophetic word

of the Lord that has come in a now atmosphere,

and you agreed with it, but it didn't actually

dawn on you that you actually received it. You

said, yes, that's good, but it didn't stick with

you. All the way through service. Fact is it

left the first time you thought about what you

were having for dinner. Right? Sometimes the

Spirit of God brings something that God releases

in the atmosphere because people can't manufacture

it. He releases a grace and the people catch

it. It just depends on whether they will receive

it by perceiving and understanding. You see,

that's the beautiful thing about God's timing.

We march in this chronos time, but he marches

in kairos time. Days are like a day of the Lord

is like a thousand years. The apostle Peter wrote

in his letters. He knows the time, but the Lord

has what? Eternal time. And we call that the

kairos time. It means what? The God appointed

time. And I'm here to tell you how incredible

God was that in this moment when Jesus would

now enter Jerusalem, how many times had he been

in Jerusalem? Man, we read the story about his

young life. He had been in Jerusalem. Since the

time he was 12 years old that was recorded in

the Bible when he went on the journey. He sat

in the temple and argued and debated the scriptures

and they gave him a seated position among the

rabbis as one of the most learned of all people

being able to adjudicate the scriptures at 12

years old. So he'd been to Jerusalem time after

time. What had changed? The timing of the Lord.

The timing of the Lord had changed. And God was

releasing what? An atmosphere of recognizing

that a season was shifting and God was changing.

what he would now bring to humanity. It started

33 and a half years ago when he decided to give

up being the word of God that was with God and

came from God to be the word now clothed with

flesh. And now after 33 and a half years, the

timing was as important as the timing was him

being born on that night in Bethlehem of Bethlehem

of Ephrath where the shepherd saw his star. The

timing here is just as God appointed timing as

it was then. They began to take palm branches.

The people did. And they went out to meet him.

And they cried, Hosanna. Hosanna, blessed is

he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the

king of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey

and sat on it, just as it is written in verse

15. Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your

king is coming on a donkey's colt. Let's talk

about palm branches. Why did they pick palm branches?

Well, first of all, it tells us that in the Middle

East there, there was enough. trees that obviously

had palm branches. So that's kind of at least

gives you one perspective of geography. Number

two, palm branches, if you'll look at them, are

kind of like pom -poms or flags today. It's not

like they could run down to Jobab's quick mart

and buy a bunch of little Israeli flags and welcome

Jesus with kind of the star of David. So what

did they do? They picked What they knew was part

of what God had them do. You see, the feast,

the last feast of the year would be what? Tabernacles.

And they would do what? They would build booths

out of foliage and out of things to dwell under

as a representation that there was going to be

something that was temporary that was gonna give

way. So what did they do? They took palm branches,

which represents what? Just for the sake of it,

they represented what? Anytime you go to a parade,

you're seeing, I mean, we're going to have 250

years of America and people are going to celebrate

and our nation's going to celebrate and all of

that, and that's great. And you're going to see

the American flag everywhere, hopefully, right?

Well, in that day, they celebrated the nature

of the palm branch being a type of flag. And

when it says they sang, they said Hosea, they

didn't sing it. When they said Hosanna, Hosanna,

what were they actually saying? Hosanna means

save us now, we pray. So in essence, they were

recognizing that the spirit of God was released

in that atmosphere and they were now grabbing

something to declare, waving and saying it loudly,

Hosanna, Hosanna, save us now. Blessed is he

who comes in the name of the Lord, even our King

of Israel. What were they declaring? Prophetically,

they were announcing this is the Messiah that

we have waited for, yet it didn't set in their

hearts. They caught, listen, the Spirit of God

released that truth as a prophetic grace. In

the atmosphere, they yielded to it enough to

say it. They didn't yield to it enough to actually

allow it to change their thinking. Meaning what?

You can be in a worship service and you can yield

to the Spirit of God and you can go out unchanged.

Why? Because you heard it, you sang it, you repeated

it, but you didn't allow it to actually change

your thinking and actually bring an impartation.

Hmm. They're saying, blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord. Let me try to explain

how incredible this was, because we said in Zechariah,

the original prophecy, rejoice. Rejoice, O people

of Zion. Shout in triumph. You know what that

means, actually? Fact is, the King James says

it this way, and they rejoice greatly. The word

greatly means with loud celebration. He says

rejoice, shout, triumph. In Hebrew, and the connection

here is it's passed over into the Greek. What

is he saying? He's saying they were actually

means to spin around and to jump up and down.

Now, I'm not going to do this very good service,

but the fact is they're waving palm branches,

spinning around, jumping up and down. Hosanna!

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes! Okay? I mean,

you can almost hear the air band playing. That

is what is happening in the atmosphere. Now,

listen. You know the Spirit of God is moving

on people when that is taking place. Okay? And

then you've got this picture of, now just work

with me on this because we don't really understand

this because we read it in black and white and

we don't fill in the blanks. Jesus untied a colt

and its mother. A donkey. Now, I'm going to explain

this for the sake of those that aren't farm girls.

Okay? Some of you city dwellers just need a little

edumacation. Okay? A colt means that it's not

broken. By not broken, it means it has not been

trained properly to accept somebody, to be near

it, to put a load on it or weight on it, or to

even have it be saddled enough so that you could

ride it with confidence. So when Jesus told his

two people, he says, Go untie the donkey and

the colt. And if anyone asks what I'm doing,

just say the Lord has need of it. Now, I can't

preach this whole message because there's a whole

message in itself. But notice it was a colt in

whom no one had ridden and the generation before

it. Jesus is always looking to fulfill the word

of God that was part of the promise of the Old

Testament. Of what? In Malachi, he will turn

the hearts of the children to the fathers and

he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the

children. That will be part of Elijah's anointing.

What was the Elijah anointing? It was John the

Baptist's anointing that came to prepare the

way. And when Jesus took the colt. and the donkey,

he was saying, I am taking both of them because

they're going to begin to turn their hearts toward

one another in what God is doing. And I'm going

to bring back purpose and destiny for the generations.

God never deals with just one generation. Please

let me, please hear me say that. God never just

deals with one generation. He always wants to

deal with the generation above it and the generation

underneath it. Because he's the God of Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob. Oh, he may use a generation

that has more influence at that time, but he'll

never cut out a generation. Come on. And so when

you look at this colt and you look at this donkey,

that is the picture of humility. He's now riding

something that has not been trained. He's now

riding something that has not had any time to

prepare it to experience what riding an animal

might feel like. And now you take the idea of

having people lining the streets. In a parade

type victory session, under the spirit of the

Lord, raising palm branches and saying loudly,

spinning around is not a conducive environment

for an untrained, unbroken animal. So we gotta

get behind the scenes a little bit. That donkey's

eyes were wide. That's not what you put a general

or a king on. You never put a general or a king

on an untrained, unbroken, free -spirited animal

that has never sat someone of great importance.

Jesus did. Because Jesus wanted to actually be

the first, prophetically, to begin to sit. on

a generation with his lordship and kingship that

had never known the ways of another king and

the reason the mother donkey was brought along

is that the young donkey would feel some form

of comfort and safety because of the familiarity

of one that gave them birth so mom's generation

didn't get left out of it Mom and donkey rode

together. Now listen, donkeys, let's talk about

donkeys for a bit. Donkeys have, well, they've

got some personality. There's a reason that the

King James calls them by another name. They tend

to be stubborn. They tend to be can be mean -spirited.

I heard a story all growing up about my mom.

My grandparents decide to bless her. They lived

in the sweet home area and they had some acreage

up there and that's where I learned to fall timber

and drive cat and all that stuff. But they decided,

my mom was an only child and they decided to

buy her a donkey for a present. And that donkey

didn't like the fact that it was a present for

my mom. And the donkey's nature was it knew it

would get in serious trouble from grandpa. So

what it would do is it would allow mom to get

on the donkey for one round around the pasture.

And then it would immediately trot to the barn.

She would try to go more. It would immediately

then stop in front of the barn door hard and

then look back and then squeeze her against the

barn door and the wall until she fell off. Fact

is, if you think, well, I don't know if that's

donkey's nature. Well, you ought to look at Balaam's

donkey. Balaam's donkey didn't like what he was

doing to her and so she talked back physically.

The fact of the matter is that donkeys are not

the most stately of beings. Now, I'm not sure

why a political party would actually choose a

donkey. That's a side note. I mean, neither here

nor there. But the reality is nobody frames artwork

of beautiful donkeys. Now. Horses of different

kinds, from Arabians to thoroughbreds. There's

a whole different realm. But a donkey. Right?

If anybody that's seen the movie Shrek, you just

can't picture just the beauty of a donkey. Because

there is none. And that's why Jesus wrote it

in. It was to remove the fact that there were

any form of outside air of honor or dignity or

royalty that would come to him from a government

or a stately animal that someone prized. A donkey

was the symbol of poverty and a poor man's tractor.

And that's what it is today. If you look around

the world in third world countries, a donkey

is pure and foremost a beast of burden. All it

does is help with the load. It never gets framed

unless you pay in Mexico to have a picture with

one. Nobody takes a picture of a donkey. So Jesus

comes what? Riding this colt of a donkey and

the donkey's mother next to it. People spinning

around, yelling loud. Now listen, it's a loud

environment. Just some commentators believe that

potentially there was 175 to 200 ,000 people

in Jerusalem at that day. And it says that. In

fact, it's when you look at all the commentary

of all of the gospels put together that the scribes

and the Pharisees, remember their response? Do

you hear what they're saying? The whole city

has gone out after him. The whole world. So think

of it. The donkey is experiencing a parade route

of 200 ,000 people and something that it's never

experienced of taking Jesus on its back as people

are coming close to it, putting their garments

in front of it, wildly singing, Hosanna, means

what? Save us now, oh King of Israel, you are

the Messiah. And in the midst of that, What is

incredible is they were actually quoting and

they would have known this. This they would have

known. They were quoting Psalms 118. I told you

we'd get there. Psalms 118. This would have been

considered one of the most messianic prophecies

of the Psalms. Now even today, People don't understand

that Psalms 53, even when you talk to rabbis,

they will not equate Psalms 53, even the description

of the crucifixion that was written about Jesus

at that time. They can't get it. But they all

got Psalms 118, that it was a messianic future.

prophecy that God, whoever the Messiah would

be, would fulfill Psalms 118. And now out of

their own mouth, quoting scripture saying, Hosanna,

blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,

even our King. They are now quoting Psalms 118

as a messianic prophecy. That's why the religious

leaders were so stirred. Now, I don't have time

to read the fullness of the whole passage, but

if I look at verse 19, if you'll stop with me,

in Psalms 18, verse 19, it says this. Open to

Psalms 18:19

me the gates of righteousness that I may enter

through them and give thanks to the Lord. This

is the gate of the Lord and the righteous shall

enter through it. Okay, number one. How do we

worship the Lord now in righteousness? Don't

I what? Enter his gates with what? And into his

courts with? Notice what is happening. When the

Messiah comes, the gate of the Lord changes.

It's no longer I'm going to the dung gate, the

east gate, the water gate. I'm now going to what?

When the Messiah comes, he changes everything.

The gate that will open up in righteousness is

now with thanksgiving and gratitude. Now, what

else does it say? I thank you that you have answered

me and have become my salvation. Now they're

getting close here. The stone that the builders

have rejected has become the cornerstone. So

what's this prophecy saying? He's saying now,

the one who is salvation, he is the cornerstone.

And even though he'll be rejected, this is marvelous

in the work and the doing of God. Now, what else

does he say? This is the Lord's doing. It is

marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the

Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in

it. Here it is. Save us, we pray, O Lord. O Lord,

we pray, give us success. Verse 26, blessed is

he who comes in the name of the Lord. That is

a direct reference of Psalms 118 of what they

were saying. And then what did they say? We bless

you from the house of the Lord. For the Lord

has made his light shine upon us. And then it

says, bind the festal sacrifice with cords up

to the horns of the altar. For you are my God

and I will give thanks to you. You are my God,

I will extol you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord

for he is good. His steadfast love endures forever.

All right, now I'm gonna come down here and try

to spend the rest of the time just connecting

with you a little bit. Why is that so important?

We just heard Hosanna, blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.

And now we hear the same chapter and verses saying,

now bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the

horns of the altar. Any idea what that, why that

would be said? Okay, good. Okay, any idea? No.

Anybody have an idea of why it would be said

like that? Bind the festival sacrifice to the

horns of the altar. Things that make you go,

hmm. Well, I know you're probably thinking about,

you were just getting ready to say this, Kurt.

You said, Pastor Brad, Luke, or excuse me, Leviticus

4, 7 should be the first place you start to look.

I know you were thinking that. And Leviticus

16, because right there, it begins to tell us

of two things that should be done of why the

horns of the altar. Number one, first of all,

what altar? Well, the altar that they're talking

about is the bronze altar. The bronze altar was

the first piece of furniture that in the Old

Testament sacrificial system in the tabernacle

would have been what? Represents the place where

you brought a sacrifice to die and what had to

take place. You brought it to die. There would

be blood splashed upon the altar and blood. Now,

so can I use you as an example? You're gonna

have to get. give your stuff because it's going

to get a little physical. Okay. So Anthony, Anthony

represents, Anthony's going to represent the

horn of the altar. So here you have four horns

of the altar. What does that look like? Well,

it means that there was a, a, a rectangle altar

that was like probably about this long. And at

the corner, each corner, northeast, Northwest,

southeast, southwest, sorry. There would be horns

that would stick up above the altar. Those horns,

when we see them in diagrams, they really make

the horns small. They weren't that small. Why?

Because you had to be able to tie the sacrifice

to the altar itself, not because it would squirm

off of there, because it already, but to keep

it there for the fire and what you would actually

build underneath of it to actually consume it.

And so Leviticus 16 tells us, and so here's the

altar and here's a horn. Okay, no, just one horn.

Okay, it says in Leviticus 16 that if I sin unintentionally,

And remember, it says this in Judges, that maybe

you, when they got their lot lines given to them

from Joshua, he said, here's your inheritance,

this tribe of Israel, here's your inheritance.

But he said, when you're out doing wood, and

let's say you're chopping wood, and your axe

head falls off accidentally, and as you're swinging

the axe, Scott and I were out chopping wood,

and I swung the axe, and all of a sudden, my

axe head just drills him straight, kink, and

he's out, okay? Out. Okay. Then I realized that

something happened really bad. He's out. Larissa

is upset. She is sending now the kinsman redeemer

or the man that is going to avenge the blood

of her husband. I have one recourse. Stay. And

get righteously murdered by Larissa's upset family.

Or run to the altar. And grab a hold of the horn.

Okay. Now I'm grabbing a hold of the horn of

this altar. And as I grab a hold of the horn

of the altar. Yeah you can come back up. As I

grab a hold of the horn of the altar. I am saying.

I plead mercy. For what I did. I did not know

I was doing. I unintentionally lost that stupid

axe head. And so now, you and I are going to

have a whole new friendship. I now come to the

horn of the altar and I grab this horn. And by

the way, that horn was covered in blood. And

I'm grabbing the horn of the altar and saying,

this is my place to grab for mercy. And I cry

out for mercy on the what? The bronze altar.

Why was it bronze? Because bronze, keep it up

if you can. Bronze, bronze represented judgment.

And in order for God to deal with sin, he had

to judge sin at that altar. That altar, are you

ready for this? This is the amazing part. That

altar was made, you can put it down now. That

altar was made of acacia wood. What other ark

or other saving tool did God use in the course

of his revealing his mercy and his grace? It

was called Noah's ark, which was made out of

acacia wood. The same wood that was put together

and built for over a hundred years declaring

God's mercy and grace is the same wood that was

now overlaid with bronze and that would be the

place where blood would be poured out. It would

be a type and shadow of a cross where wood now

would take the sacrifice and where the stretching

out of the nails would bind the sacrifice to

the cords of the altar. Now Jesus, now please

hear me on this. Jesus is now riding in on an

untrained, lowly donkey and a donkey's colt.

Now if you understand a donkey's colt, it's not

fully developed. It possibly means that Jesus'

sandals were dragging. Do you understand? Now,

it's not like Jesus rode a dutch hound, a dachshund

to Jerusalem. But what I'm saying is, it wasn't

the full -sized donkey. It was still a colt.

Now, they grow fast and get close to adulthood.

So we don't know where in that growth it was.

But it's very possible that the load itself was

at maximum capacity. And that Jesus didn't have

a whole lot of clearance. Riding a great Lippin's

honor, white stallion, would have been what?

High up in the stirrups, running about 16, 17

hands high. A little donkey, there ain't even

close to 17 hands. There's maybe six to the lowest

of his belly, maybe seven to his belly. The reality

is Jesus is riding in humility. He's riding in

at the very time he tells the people to go get

the colt. He's riding in humility. And yet the

Spirit of God, as Jesus is living in humility,

begins to release an atmosphere of a prophetic

grace that people began to embrace or at least...

Begin to declare, begin to move to it, whether

they accept it or not. It's most likely it's

seen that they didn't for the most part. And

then here's the other mind blower. That day that

Jesus rode into Jerusalem would have been the

10th of Nisan. What does that mean? Well, on

the calendar year of the Jewish calendar. It

means that that was the day that they had selected.

They all came from all over the known world to

celebrate was the day they would pick out a lamb

that they would take to their house to stay with

so that in the next four days they would slaughter

that lamb and have Passover together. Now here

was what a lamb stood for. A lamb in that day

was good for up to 10 people. That's significant.

Why was that significant? Because it's telling

us that just like there were 10 plagues in Egypt,

that when that blood of that lamb was over the

doorpost, the 10th and the death angel had to

pass over. It's also representative that there

were 10 law commandments given on Sinai. And

that the blood of one lamb and the life of one

lamb would what? Satisfy the commandments of

God and declare someone justified by its blood.

That means that God was changing something in

the atmosphere. Thank you, Emily. It means that

no longer. Would they just keep doing Passover

after Passover after Passover without with just

being a token? It means that this time Passover

was going to be finished. And it means that the

one that was riding into town in humility was

the one that was picked for God's whole household.

That the power of the law, which the Bible says,

Broken law is the strength of sin. Jesus would

become the power of his blood as the sacrifice

would be the one selected for all of God's household

that whoever would eat of the lamb. That's why

he said in John 6, if you eat my flesh and drink

my blood, you'll have part of me. If you don't,

you can't have. Why? He became the lamb that

those who put their trust in him would forever

change. Meaning what? The power of the law and

the power of the curse of death was broken. What

else does it mean? In God's grace, four days

later, in John 19, 14, when Pilate had already

scourged Jesus and scourged him and found nothing

of him deserving of death, they would cry, crucify

him, crucify him. And the same lamb that would

be taken and killed and the blood would be put

upon the horns of the altar would now be the

lamb of God that would be taken outside the city

to Calvary, to a place called Golgotha. And he

would be killed outside the city and his blood

would do what? It would be the place where people

would run outside the city, no longer to Jerusalem,

but now to the place where the blood was shed

and grab a hold of the one who became a sacrifice

for them. You see, for most of us, for most of

us, when it comes to the cross, it becomes such

of a sober thing, and it is. But God in his mercy,

can take something so horrific that we're supposed

to understand the gravity of it, but then declare

prophetically. Even when we don't fully understand

it, he would say, when the sacrifice is chosen

and he was presented to Jerusalem, you are bound

to what? Celebrate, rejoice, and now bind the

sacrifice. with the cords to the horns. I'm gonna

come back over here to Anthony. Why is that important?

Because you're gonna work out. Because God never

lets Jesus do it alone. He did it alone and became

rejected alone. He took that part that we could

not do. But it says to us in Psalms 118, now

we're to bind. The celestial offering or the

sacrificial offering to the what? With the cords

to the horns. What are we saying? What is our

cords? Our cords are bonds of love. Our cords

are what? If I look at that Hebrew word, that

word means. There's multiple different definitions,

but one of the definitions is it means with the

bows that I brought to offer sacrifice. It actually

means that I help secure the sacrifice on the

altar. I bring my bows. I bring my, if I will,

my wood that creates a fire of my love and my

passion. And I'm now bound by love. with rejoicing

and sacrificial worship, I'm actually tying that

sacrifice down because it was done in my place.

That's why the horns of the altar are so important.

Because it's a place that is risen in God that

says, mercy speaks louder than judgment. The

horns of the altar speak to a place where I now

bring my sacrifice. That's why the Bible says

what? Willingly offer your body as a sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to God. This is your reasonable

service of worship. Two are better than one and

a three -stranded cord is not easily broken.

What am I doing? I am pledging my celebration.

My rejoicing. I am pledging my life to the one

that God selected for me. His blood, his life

now has come. When Jesus rides into the atmosphere

of my life, it is now one that I run to the altar

and I rejoice. Why? My rejoicing is I'm not under

judgment anymore. I'm not under judgment anymore.

That's what Palm Sunday is about. Palm Sunday

is about God selecting one for his whole household

that the blood on the altar, on the cross that

would be shed in four days is big enough to cover

every broken law that you have done or will do.

And you have access by rejoicing, rejoicing in

his love, rejoicing in his favor, rejoicing that

his mercy triumphs over judgment and that you

have found a place in God's family. Would you

bow your head and close your eyes with me for

a moment as we finish this up? Mercy triumphs

over judgment. For those of you that are Watching

online and those that are hearing the sound of

my voice as we move into this place of prayer.

In just a little bit I'm going to ask for a response

but I want to set the table this morning. My

job is just to release the message the same way

that Jesus and the Holy Spirit brought an atmosphere

to draw people in. He's still doing that now.

Jesus told A man named Nicodemus who came to

him at night afraid of his contemporaries and

his buddies that were high up in the Sanhedrin.

Jesus said to him, if I be lifted up, I will

draw all people unto me. That same grace is active.

I find it interesting that same, that was a picture

of what? The bronze serpent on a bronze pole.

Again. representing the judgment of sin. If I

be lifted up as the one they look to, Jesus is

being lifted up now by the Holy Spirit. He is

being lifted up in now in this room to everybody's

eyes and heart. And the question is, wherever

you're at, if you have not made Jesus Christ

your King, your Savior, he is drawing you to

himself. If you find yourself in a place of where

you've become lukewarm. As he said to the last

church in the book of Revelation, he goes, I

wish that you were either hot or cold, but because

you're lukewarm, I can't keep you. I've got to

spew you out. Why? You're not taking my word

with seriousness. You're in two camps. Your heart's

in two places. Or maybe you find yourself You've

not known the Lord. You're here today. You found

yourself lukewarm as you've known the Lord. Or

maybe you know you've walked away from the Lord.

You're in what we would call a place of backsliding.

You know you're in sin, but you know who Jesus

is. And yet, depending on what you're involved

in and who you're involved in, you found at this

moment the choices of... Letting go of what you've

liked have been too difficult for you. But today

the Lord comes to you and looks to untie you.

And he looks to bring you back into fellowship

with him. Wherever you're at in that journey,

wanting to know him, removing lukewarmness, or

coming out of a place of being sidelined and

backslidden. I'm gonna ask you to respond. If

that's you today in any of those categories,

would you be willing just to lift your hand up

right now above your head? I'm gonna send somebody

back to pray with you. We're gonna believe God

right now to begin to restore. Thank you in the

back. I'm gonna send a lady right now to you.

Yes, and in the back as well. Thank you. Anyone

else? Okay. Is there anyone else? Nathan's coming

to you. Thank you. There's three of us. Thank

you for responding. Anyone else before I move

forward? It's time to allow the Spirit of God

to begin to break those shackles, begin to draw

your heart to a place where those cords of love

would Bind your heart to his heart and the spirit

of rejoicing and celebration that God loves you

and is for you be released over your heart and

your mind. So Lord, this morning, Father, as

I pray for this congregation and as Pastor Trent

comes, I'm asking now in Jesus' name, you would

show yourself strong on behalf of those that

you have given yourself to. You've called. each

one of these people into the family of God. Lord,

you're doing so right now. You're forgiving them

as they repent of their sin. You're bringing

them back into relationship and you're bringing

the power and the love and the witness of your

Holy Spirit to reside inside of them. Let them

receive you in fullness. No reservations. Welcoming

your goodness and your kindness. For the rest

of us, Lord, we receive. That this day, as we

get ready to celebrate Easter this week, this

day would be a reminder. You have always taught

us that on the journey to the cross, we should

have joy and rejoicing and celebration. That

God did not leave us to our own, but he had a

plan for us and he loves us that much that we

would continually love. and enter joyfully into

his presence because his mercy triumphs over

judgment. Amen. Thank you for taking the time

to listen to this week's message. We are so grateful

for those who tune in each week and have given

generously to this ministry. If you would like

to give, click the link in the episode description

below. You can also help us by subscribing to

this podcast and sharing it with your friends

and family. Lastly, if you are in need of prayer

send us a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We

would love to pray with you.