A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?" "You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today." The little boy replied, “Wow! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!"
This morning is known as Palm Sunday, The day, taken from the Gospels, where a whole city threw a parade for Jesus. As Jesus rode into the city, the people threw Palm branches in eagerness of his coming. This day marked a time of celebration where Jesus was the worshipped and praised.What happened on Palm Sunday?This day is Bittersweet because even as we read of the celebration we know that Friday is coming. The cross is coming. We know that many in this same crowd will within a few short days exchange words of praise to words of death. I want to center our attention on two services both which center upon Jesus, but with two different results. LK 19:36 Then the crowds spread out their coats on the road ahead of Jesus. MT 27:15, 16 “Now it was the governor's custom to release one prisoner to the crowd each year during the Passover celebration anyone they wanted. This year there was a notorious criminal in prison, a man named Barabbas.” One man I heard this week say that even people in church are in the hog pen just as the prodigal son was. There are people know what to say, how to say it, even how to act in it, but there is no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No salvation, just empty words. We see a perfect example of this in our two passages this morning. On Sunday Jesus rode into the city with the people shouting praises and praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. On Friday they are shouting give us Barabas, We want him, Crucify Jesus Crucify Him. Why the change? Well there are many possible reasons, but one simple reason is that their words did not match their heart. They possessed a casual not a committed faith. They had religion but they missed the person Jesus. So how can we have a committed faith? How can we be real and sincere?
The first Key is that a steadfast faith is not self-centered it is Christ-Centered. We often miss this by saying, “Listen God, this is my calendar and my plan. Now can I put you in here or here? We turn to God only when it is suitable or handy. We read the people praised Jesus as He passed by, but many of them praised him for two reasons. First it was because of his miracles. He had healed the sick, raised the dead. The second was because they saw Him as one that would deliver them from the Romans. Their praise was with the belief of what can you do for me Jesus? For them it was all about Me.
There is a legend about an ancient village in Spain. The villagers learned that the king would pay a visit. Excitement grew! "We must throw a big celebration," The villagers all agreed. But, it was a poor village, and there weren’t many resources. Someone came up with a classic idea. Since many of the villagers made their own wines, the idea was for everyone in the village to bring a large cup of their choice wine to the town square, “We’ll pour it into a large vat and offer it to the king for his pleasure! When the king draws wine to drink, it will be the very best he’s ever tasted!” The day before the king’s arrival, hundreds of people lined up to make their offering to the honored guest. They climbed a small stairway, and poured their gift through a small opening at the top. Finally, the vat was full! The King arrived, was escorted to the square, given a silver cup and was told to draw some wine, which represented the best the villagers had. He placed the cup under the faucet, turned the handle, and then drank the wine, but it was nothing more than water. You see everyone reasoned, "I’ll withhold my best wine and substitute water, what with so many cups of wine in the vat, the king will never know the difference!" The problem was, everyone thought the same thing, and the king was greatly dishonored. Today we can choose to honor Him as our great King, Jesus Christ by giving him our very best. A second key is that a steadfast Faith is relationship driven.
Many of those who assemble to throw their coats and palm branches onto the street and shouted praises did so because others were doing it. Perhaps some began doing it with heartfelt reason, but others soon did it because others were doing it. Later at the trial, shouting crucify Him was the thing to do. We can only have a committed faith comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. One where every day is fresh and new as he personally directs our steps. In order to have a committed faith we must develop and maintain a personal relationship with Jesus.
A third Key is that steadfast faith is not influenced or blocked by our personal testing and predicament.
At the trial if you spoke out for Jesus it could be death. Many come to Jesus expecting everything to go good and there might be some bad but not too much of it. If things go bad we ask God Why? If our faith is based on our circumstances or surroundings it will not show commitment. It will always be careless. A committed faith takes the good with the bad. Knowing that all we are ever promised is that in the midst of both our good and bad; Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. He will stand with us. A story is told of A little girl who while walking in a garden noticed a particularly beautiful flower. She admired its beauty and enjoyed its fragrance. “It’s so pretty!” she exclaimed. As she gazed on it, her eyes followed the stem down to the soil in which it grew. “This flower is too pretty to be planted in such dirt!” she cried. So she pulled it up by its roots and ran to the water faucet to wash away the soil. It wasn’t long until the flower wilted and died. When the gardener saw what the little girl had done, he exclaimed, “You have destroyed my finest plant!” “I’m sorry, but I didn’t like it in that dirt,” she said. The gardener replied, “I chose that spot and mixed the soil because I knew that only there could it grow to be a beautiful flower.” God has placed us exactly where we are. We must trust him. In the trusting we eventually see that He is using our pressures, trials, and difficulties to bring us to a new level of spiritual beauty. True Contentment comes when we accept what God is doing and give him thanks.
This morning is your faith casual or committed. As we approach this week in which Jesus suffered incredibly for us. In A week where our sins, past, present and future was the nails that hung him on that cross doesn’t Jesus deserve a second look? Doesn’t he deserve total control of your life? Doesn’t he deserve a personal relationship with you? This week consider it all and choose to give it all to him.
Blessings Involving the Holy Spirit EPH 1:12-13 In studying verses 4-12 we have seen the "spiritual riches" in Christ, we have seen blessings which involve the Father in that we are "Chosen by God", "Predestined by God", and "Accepted by God". In the Son "God has redeemed us,” "God has forgiven us," "God has revealed His Will to us," and "God has given us an inheritance" We want to look at the blessings that relate in particular to the work of the Holy SpiritI. He IS OUR "SEAL" (13) A. "SEAL" means to set a seal upon, mark with a seal, to seal" A "seal" was used for various reasons, including: To guarantee the genuine character, To mark ownership, and to protect against tampering or harm.B. HOW IS THE HOLY SPIRIT OUR "SEAL"? The Spirit Himself "bears witness" that we are children of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit is considered evidence that we are truly Christ's, ownership, it is by the Spirit of God that we "put to death the deeds of the body" so we can live. 2. He says that we were sealed by the Spirit "for the day of redemption." This means that until "day of redemption", the Holy Spirit is given to the Christian as proof that we truly belong to God C. WHEN ARE WE "SEALED" WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT? It is only AFTER we hear the word of truth, when we believe the gospel, when we become forgiven, and only when we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ that we are "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."
II. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR "assurance" (14) A. DEFINING "assurance" It is used to refer to "money which in purchases is given as a pledge or down payment that the full amount will subsequently be paid." B. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS An "assurance OF OUR INHERITANCE". God has given the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a "deposit." He is an assurance of what God has prepared for us. The blessing of the Holy Spirit working in our lives is only a foretaste of the glory that will one day be ours. And yet, as an example of what the Holy Spirit can do for us. RM 15:13 “So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit? EPH. 3:16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. GAL 5:22-23 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. C. HE SERVES AS SUCH "UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION"... 1. While in one sense we have been redeemed through the blood of Christ, in another sense God has yet to redeem those who are truly His. 2. Until that day, the Holy Spirit serves as an assurance that the FINAL redemption will one day take place. 1. So we have the Holy Spirit as a "seal" and an "assurance". What should our reaction be?2. For the third time Paul says these blessings are "to the praise of His glory"! Are you praising God for His wonderful grace and mercy?
