A Lily Among Thorns

So in your hearts and your minds today, I want

to establish this fact that thorns represent

a fallen world. It represents, it is emblematic

of a world that now has sin and despair and sorrow

and brokenness and imperfection. So thorns symbolize

the very opposite of what God intended for us,

his creation, to enjoy. How many of you are following

me so far? So thorns are very symbolic of the

fallen state of the world, of sin and sorrow.

They are sharp. And you think about it, we can

even really examine just from a biological standpoint

how these thorns might represent penalty. Obviously,

they are dried up, and that's what sin does.

Sin dries things up. There's no life. The wages

of sin is death. So thorns represent what was.

There may have been a rose bush there one time.

There may have been a flower, but now it's all

dried up, and it's got these thorns, and they're

sharp, and they pierce, so they're painful to

experience. If you've ever just very briefly,

you know, encountered a thorn, maybe trimming

a rose bush in your garden or something, and

you just, I mean, they're as sharp as a knife.

They're so sharp, those thorns. And so they entangle

you. I mean, God forbid you ever step into one

of these things. It'll entangle you. It'll trap

you and web you. And so this is all emblematic

of the cause, or excuse me, the effects of sin

and how sin is sharp and piercing and it's entangling

and it's suffocating. And so this is what...

what the thorn represents. And so when we fast

forward to this moment in the gospels, as Jesus

is getting ready to go to the cross and to die

for our sins, it shows us in John there that

the soldiers twisted that crown of thorns and

they forced it onto Jesus' head and they placed

it there. And obviously it was to mock him and

to ridicule him. And the Romans had this thing

that they would do whenever they conquered a

king. You could study about it. When they would

conquer a king, they would do like a mock coronation,

if you please. They would give him certain symbols

that were meant to degrade him. That's what they

did to Jesus. They put a crown, not a real crown,

but a crown of thorns. And then they even adorned

him with a purple robe. And instead of a real

scepter, they gave him a scepter of a reed, a

a bush, not one made of gold. And so this was

all to make mockery of him. But even with the

devil's attempts to mock Jesus and even with

the devil's attempt to defame him and to ridicule

him, he was doing something that he had no intention

of doing, which was pointing to what Christ came

to do. As he was placing that crown of thorns

on his head, not only were they trying to mock

him, but it symbolized that Jesus came to take

all the penalty, the weight, and the effects

of sin upon his head and bleed for you and I.

Can we clap our hands today and let's give God

some praise. And you know, Jesus didn't resist

it. When they crowned him, they let him crown

him. He didn't resist. He accepted. He received

this crown of thorns upon his head. And there

are some powerful things, church, that begin

to happen when this crown is placed on the head

of our Lord and Savior. There are three, at least

three blessings that I've pointed out that I

want to point out to you today that come as a

result of Christ taking on that crown of thorns.

And the first is this. It is the blessing of

substitution. The blessing of substitution is

that he took Our place to save us. Someone say

amen. Jesus wore the crown of thorns. And as

he wore these crown of thorns, he was stepping

into our place. It was not simple mockery. It

was a divine exchange. The Roman soldiers had

no idea. They were oblivious to the fact. That

as they were placing this crown of thorns on

the head of our Lord and Savior, they were indeed

symbolizing or portraying a divine exchange that

was happening between divinity and humanity.

Between God and man. In that, God took the place

for humanity because it was humanity, mankind,

you and I, who deserve the piercing of those

crowns of thorns. But God. who is rich in mercy,

Jesus, the Lord, who came to dwell among us,

the Lamb of God, who come to take away the sins

of the world, came to take our place for us.

The innocent Lamb of God was wearing the very

emblem of our guilt and our shame upon Him. I'll

put it to you this way, if you help me preach

today. Hallelujah. The thorns that belonged,

they belonged on our head, not Him. If I'm going

to be honest, honest with you today biblically

it should have been you and it should have been

me to receive those crowns of thorns upon our

head it should have been us that died on that

cross why because we were found guilty we were

unrighteous we fallen short of his glory we deserve

the penalty of our own iniquity and sin but god

thank you jesus came and he took our place and

he took the crown of thorns that belonged on

our head and he allowed them to place it on his

head. Because of our sinful state, we should

have received those thorns. But Jesus, how many

of you are thankful he took our place? He took

our place. He did. He took our crown of death

and gave us a crown of life. I'll put it another

way. Someone say the lily of the valley. That's

who Jesus is. The lily of the valley became the

lily among thorns so that the lily among thorns

could become the lily of the valley. Jesus came

to switch places with us. He came to be like

us so that we could be like him. My God, he disrobed

himself of his glory and he put on humanity so

that one day you and I can disrobe ourselves

of humanity. My God, and put on glory. Oh, hallelujah.

And this is seen in him being placed with the

crown of thorns on his. He became the lily of

the valley, became like. The lily among the thorns,

so that the lily among the thorns might become

the lily of the valley. Paul put it this way.

The apostle said in Galatians 3 and verse 13,

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the

law, having become a curse. You know, he became

a curse for us. Hallelujah. For it is written,

cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Christ

has redeemed us from the curse of the law, from

the curse of sin. How? By becoming a curse for

us. There's an Old Testament picture of substitution

in Genesis 22. Right as Abraham was about to

sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, as many

of you may be familiar with that iconic story

in Scripture. Just as he was lifting the knife,

ready to sacrifice his one and only son in obedience

to God's word. Right then and there, he saw a

ram who was caught in the thicket and he was

caught of all places by his head. His thorns

got caught in the thicket. And when Abraham looked

over and he saw the ram's horns caught in the

thorns, he saw a substitute. And so instead of.

slain his own son instead of slaying his son

isaac he takes this substitute and this this

ram takes the place of his son this is the gospel

of the crown of thorns in that it should have

been us who were slayed and died caught dead

in our trespasses but thanks be to god there

was a ram My God, thanks be to God. There was

a Lord and Savior. There was a man by the name

of Jesus who allowed himself to get caught his

head with a crown of thorns so that you and I

could be here today with our sins washed away

by the blood of the Lamb. Somebody ought to give

God just a few moments of praise today. Somebody

ought to thank him. Hallelujah. That the Lamb

of God. How many of you are thankful for the

blood of the Lamb today? Lamb of God became our

substitute and he took our place so that instead

of us dying he died for us on that Friday at

Calvary Jesus took our place and he bore the

full weight of sin and rejection he bore it all

someone say he bore it all he bore it all And

that's why we praise him today. That's why we

thank God. And that's why what is happening in

the gospels, what is happening here on that day,

on that Friday, forever changed the world. The

second blessing is the blessing of endurance,

which is that he suffered to strengthen us. He

suffered to strengthen us. A lily among thorns

is an image of beauty surrounded by hostility.

Picture it, if you will, in your mind. It is

a lily. It is a delicate, beautiful, fragrant

flower that is surrounded by resistance, that

is surrounded by opposing forces, that is surrounded

by thorns that threaten its very existence. A

fragile flower in a harsh, That, my friend, is

a picture of Jesus Christ when he entered our

thorny world. And yet he remained without sin.

And yet he remained untainted by the things around

him. Jesus bloomed in the most unlikely soil.

Isaiah 53 in verse 2 tells us that he grew up

as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground.

A tender plant. And the image in my mind today

of a tender plant is one that is fragile, one

that is delicate. A tender plant, a root out

of dry ground, out of soil where... Such a plant

probably wouldn't be able to thrive. But there

was something different about this plant. Hallelujah.

Perhaps it was because it was the root of Jesse.

It was from the line from the tribe of Judah.

It was from a royal lineage. It was from, hallelujah,

the seed. The seed that was meant to come and

to redeem us and restore us. He was not raised.

Jesus was not raised in a palace. He wasn't born

into privilege. The general sentiment about him

was summed up when Nathaniel asked this question.

He said, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

He was not voted most likely to succeed. Nobody

thought anything of him. There was nothing about

because of the environment that he was coming

up through. And even his earthly popularity was

short -lived. The same crowd that cheered Hosanna

would soon turn against him with cries of crucify.

But through it all, I've come to announce to

you, I've come to preach to you today, that through

it all, despite the fact that he was a tender

plant, despite the fact that he was among the

thorns, a thorny world, a broken world, a world

that was against him, a world that was sought

to kill him, despite all of that, Christ endured.

Oh, hallelujah. Christ endured. He bloomed where

others would have withered. He remained where

others would have sown. Hallelujah. Even though

he was beaten, even though he was mocked, even

though he was crowned with many thorns, I've

come to announce today that Christ endured it

all. He still loved. He from the cross said,

Father, forgive them, for they know not what

they do. Why don't we just love the Lord today?

Hallelujah! He could have called upon all the

armies of heaven to deliver him out of the Romans.

He could have, at the snap of a finger, rejected

everything that was being thrown upon him in

his hour of crucifixion. But he endured it. You

know why he endured it? Someone say why. I'm

so glad you asked. Hallelujah. We read in the

Bible in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2. It said

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

this is the reason for the joy. Someone say the

joy. You see, this is why we have to endure sometimes.

It's not because I like what I'm going through.

It's not because I feel good about what I feel.

It's not because my emotions are telling me good

things right now. It's not because my environment

is all in working in my favor. But sometimes

it's for the joy that's coming, for the joy that

was set before him. He endured the cross, despising

the shame, and has sat down at the right hand

of the throne of God. I am so glad that Jesus

Jesus endured it all. Why? Because he understood

and he knew that his mission was one that would

produce joy unspeakable and full of glory. And

if Jesus was able to endure, every child that

is born into the family of God has got the same

Christ DNA living on the inside of us. How many

of you got the Holy Ghost today? If you've got

the Holy Ghost in you, brother and sister, then

you've got the endurance of God in you. I don't

know who I've come to preach today, but I've

come to tell you he wore the crown of thorns

and he endured so that you and I can endure.

The Bible says he who endures to the end shall

be saved. Come on now. Hallelujah. We're getting

ready to baptize someone today. Praise be to

God. But I got to tell my brother who's getting

baptized and anyone else who's thinking about

getting baptized, it's not how you start, it's

how you finish. Amen. Hallelujah. This is the

beginning of a new day. But brother, I'm not

trying to scare you. Lock the doors. We're going

to baptize you today. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

But you got to know there's going to be trials

and tribulations. Can I get an amen out there?

It's not all going to be easy, folks. It's not

all going to be easy. It's not all going to be

a bed of roses. There are going to be some thorns

every once in a while. Hallelujah. You ever heard

that saying, stop and smell the roses? They never

told you about the thorns you would feel when

you did that. Oh, my God. You stop to smell the

rosary and you puncture your thumb. My goodness.

I didn't know there were thorny people in the

church. Hello, somebody. I didn't know. I'm starting

to feel good now. Praise God. I didn't know there

were thorny people in my life. I didn't know

I had to deal with thorny people at work. Hey,

but that's all right. There's going to be some

thorns. But you have to endure like a good soldier.

You got to endure. Hallelujah. You got to take

a licking and keep on taking. You got to. You

say, why? Because if he endured so that I can

endure. Why? Because why? One day, there's going

to be a place in heaven. One day, I'm not living

for this world, brother. I'm living for that

world. Jesus said, if they persecuted me, they're

going to persecute you. There's going to be persecution.

There's going to be trials. There's going to

be trouble in this world. He said, but be of

good cheer. He said, I have overcome the world.

So Christ. Taking upon the crown of thorns teaches

us that you, all of us, can be a lily among the

thorns. Despite the thorns that are around us,

that are opposing us, that are contrary to what

we believe God wants for our lives. Oh, hallelujah.

We will make it. And Paul is a good example of

this. Oh, one of the prelate apostles of the

New Testament. He wrote about this thorn that

he had in his own life. He called it the thorn

of the flesh. prayed like we often do for God

to remove these thorns in our life. Lord, can

you please get this thing out of my life? It

is painful. It hurts. It's pokey. And it wounds

me sometimes. And I don't like it, God. Hallelujah.

Can you get rid of this thing? I don't know if

you've got some thorns that you pray, God, could

just get this thing out of my life. But he learned

a valuable lesson. Paul learned as a disciple

of Jesus. Hey, buddy, you're not always going

to get delivered from your thorns. You're not

always going to get, you know, a thorn -proof

life. But he says this to him. He answers and

tells his servant, but my grace, someone say

my grace, my grace is sufficient for you. My

strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul, there's

going to be thorns you got to deal with, just

like I had to deal with thorns, Paul. But just

know this, where you see thorns, you will also

see grace. Where you see pain, you will also.

see mercy. Where you see betrayal, you will also

see oh my God, you will also see love. I come

to tell somebody if you're going through some

storms in your life, be of good cheer. God's

given you the grace today. God's given you mercy

today. Number three, let me tell you as I get

ready to close, hallelujah, that we have the

blessing of transformation. The blessing of transformation.

Hallelujah. He bled. Someone say he bled. He

bled to set. Our minds free. Come on up here,

brother. I appreciate it. Hallelujah. He bled

to set our minds free. Isaiah 53 and verse 5.

Oh, hallelujah. I was meditating on this verse

this week. Oh, Lord. And I was just thanking

God for what he has done for me. Oh, thank you,

Jesus. You know, sometimes we complicate things

so much about the Christian life, but let me

bring it back down to ground zero. Let me tell

you what it all comes down to is that, but he

was wounded for our trust. He was bruised for

our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace.

Someone say my peace. My peace. Say it again.

Say my peace. My peace was upon him. And by his

stripes we are healed. He was wounded for us.

He was bruised. and the chastisement, the punishment

of our peace, our peace, our peace. Hmm, my God.

How many of you want peace today? I'm gonna ask

it again. Say, how many of you want peace today?

I want peace. I want internal peace. I want peace

right here. I want peace in my mind. Can I tell

you something? The world can be going to hell

in a handbasket. Everything can be falling apart.

But if I got peace right here. If I got peace,

I'm going to make it. Jesus, when you read the

gospels, he bled from five. Five major areas

in his body. His back. His hands. His feet. His

side. And his head. I'm going to do a series

one day on each one of those. Because they all

carry different significance. But let me just.

Let me tell you that. I think what we're looking

at here today may be the most profound of them

all. For the simple fact that the head is the

most sensitive part of our life. Both physically

and spiritually. Because the head represents

the mind. which is the seed of our thoughts,

our emotions, our will, our decisions, our identity.

It's all here. That's why when Paul writes in

Romans 12, 2 says, be not conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of. How do

I get my mind renewed? By thinking positive thoughts?

How do I get my mind free? By being a, just a

happy -go -lucky person? By being a cup, you

know, how do they say, a half cup, half fool

type of person? I mean, that's not going to help

you. How do I really get free from the tormenting

thoughts? The shame. The guilt. Hello, somebody.

The anger. The depression. The confusion that

comes a lot of times. The bitterness. Oh, God.

How does my mind get transformed? I'll tell you

how it does. 2 ,000 years ago. They twisted a

crown of thorns. And they placed it on his head.

And when Jesus bled from his head. The blood

that he bled for you and I. That was a sign to

us. That was a prophetic message to us today.

That he came to set our minds. You say, why can't

he just set my toe free? Why does it got to be

my mind? Because if he sets your mind free, he'll

set everything else free that comes with it.

This is how God works. This is how the anointing.

That's why the anointing starts at the head.

And when it hits the head, the whole body gets

blessed. It begins to run down. If your mind

gets free, if your mind gets delivered from that

fear today, that crippling fear, that depression,

would you stand with me this afternoon? Hallelujah.

From that anxiety, from that stress. Jesus was

crowned with thorns so that you could be crowned

with life. He came to set us free. Right there

where you're at. God wants to work. God wants

to work today. Hallelujah. On a Friday. They

placed that crown of thorns on him. And he felt

the piercing, the weight, the burden, the curse

of sin upon his head. And you know why he did

it? He did it for you. Would you close your eyes

in this place? I feel God's presence so beautifully

in this place right now. I believe that there's

somebody under the sound of my voice who just

wants, hallelujah, the blood of Jesus to wash

your sins away. You want the blood of Jesus to

heal you by his stripes. We are healed. You want

the blood of Jesus to set your mind free, your

heart free, to set you free from sin. Addiction.

Hallelujah. Bondage in your heart and in your

mind. Hallelujah. If you need that freedom today,

the king of kings is in this house. But this

time. Oh, I feel this. This time he's not wearing

a crown of thorns anymore. He's got a crown of

glory on his head. Oh, my God. He's got the crown

of glory. on his head. He's seated on the throne.

He's got the royal scepter in his hand. And he's

ready to work on your behalf. Right there where

you are, invite someone to open up your hearts

in prayer today. If you want to lift up your

hands, this altar is going to be open. Invite

the praise team to come up here and begin to

sing. But as they sing, listen, I want you to

just let God work in your life. If you need to

come and repent of your sins, if you need to

come and lay down those thorns at the feet of

Jesus today, I invite you to do that. At this

hour. I invite you. Give it over to the Lord

today. Say God. Here I am Lord. I lay it down

at your feet God. I lay it down God. At the foot

of the cross. I lay down God my pride. I lay

down this anger. I lay down this sin. I lay down

this vice. I lay down God this anxiety. I lay

down this fear. I lay down this depression. Come

on is there somebody right here today. That just

needs to lay something down. before God.