Is Jesus Worthy?

Introduction

Have you ever heard someone say something too flattering of you?

You felt unworthy of the praise you were getting?

We do live in a celebrity culture,

where we want to praise/look up to others.

Whether it’s in:

sports…

business…

home decor… (I feel like I never use examples of things that are relevant to women so I threw that in there)

No matter what the area,

we look for people to praise for their work/abilities.

The problem is,

when we take the credit for ourselves,

and don’t give God the glory!

Just look at King Herod…

Opening Illustration - King Herod in Acts 12

Acts 12:20–23 ESV

20 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. 21 On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. 22 And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” 23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

God punished Herod,

for receiving glory and praise he did not deserve.

Point

Only God is worthy of our ultimate praise/worship/adoration!

There is no person, or thing, or achievement,

that is worthy of our ultimate worship.

When we give our worship to other things,

that’s called idolatry,

which is the sin that all other sin stems from,

according to Timothy Keller.

In fact, Timothy Keller believed all sin stems from the failure to understand that point.

“Idolatry is not just one sin among many; it’s the reason we ever do anything wrong.”

“We never break the other commandments without breaking the first one.”

“Idolatry happens when our hearts deify something created and make it the center of our happiness, identity, and security.”

“An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought.”

Idolatry is the sin of worshiping/giving our devotion,

to anything but God…

making the pursuit of our hearts anything but God.

The truth is, that ONLY GOD,

is worthy of our worship!

Main Point of Sermon

But the question is:

Do you believe that?

Is Jesus Worthy?

We all know the right answer to that question don’t we?

YES!

But how that question is answered with the way we live our lives,

is a lot harder than just answering the question.

This morning we are going to see some pretty amazing examples,

of how worthy Jesus is.

We are going to see that:

Jesus Is Worthy of Your Devotion

Jesus Is Worthy of Your Defence

Jesus is Worthy of Your Declaration

My hope and prayer is that we will all be challenged,

to honour Jesus with our lives…

FOR HE IS WORTHY!

Prayer for Illumination

Lord…

Scripture

Announce

John 12:1-19.

Introduce

We have been going through the Gospel According to John…

Last week Pastor Jonah preached on John 11.

Raising Lazarus from the dead!

At the end of the passage Jesus went into the wilderness…

The Jewish leaders gave orders that if anyone knew where He was,

they should tell them so they could arrest/kill Him.

Read

John 12:1–19 ESV

1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” 9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Transition

The first thing I want us to see this morning is that…

1. Jesus Is Worthy of Your Dedication

The word dedication means:

to set apart and consecrate;

to devote wholly and earnestly.

This is the example we see from Mary,

who anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume,

and wipes it with her hair.

She understands how worthy Jesus is!

We need to learn to follow her example, because:

Jesus is worthy of you…

setting yourself apart to Him;

consecrating yourself fully to Him;

devoting ALL of yourself to Him!

EXPLAIN

John 12:1 says…

John 12:1 ESV

1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

We are now entering the final week of Jesus’ life.

After raising Lazarus from the dead,

the Jews were trying to arrest/kill Him.

so Jesus and His disciples went to the town of Ephraim which was near the wilderness,

But now that Jesus’ time is drawing near at the time of the Passover,

they begin heading back to Jerusalem,

and they stop in Bethany, where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

John 12:2 ESV

2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.

They decide to throw a dinner for Jesus.

It seems like it was in honour of Jesus,

and His raising Lazarus from the dead.

The scene is set for us:

Martha is busy serving,

while Lazarus is reclining at the table with Jesus.

Where’s Mary?

We find out in verse 3…

John 12:3 ESV

3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Mary takes this expensive ointment,

which we find out later is worth about a year’s wages ($35,000 at minimum wage in our day),

and she anoints Jesus’ feet with it,

wiping it with her hair.

It was a powerful display of humility on Mary’s part:

Washing feet was the job of servants

Jewish women did not usually let their hair down

She used a VERY expensive bottle of perfume

Mary wouldn’t have done this for anybody…

She realized who she was anointing…

Jesus, the Son of God, who was worthy of her dedication!

The fragrance of her worship filled the room,

but not everybody was happy about it…

John 12:4–5 ESV

4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

Judas’ words may sound noble from the outside,

but John fills us in on what was going on in his heart…

John 12:6 ESV

6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Judas is not concerned about being a wise steward with resources,

he is greedy, and is angry at the fact that

the perfume could have been sold for a large amount of money,

which he could then take from… FOR HIMSELF!

John 12:7–8 ESV

7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Jesus defends Mary,

revealing that her act of devotion had greater significance than she realized.

Mary was anointing Jesus for His burial, for He soon would die.

Jesus’ comment about the poor does not signify He doesn’t care about them,

but in the magnitude of this moment,

the Son of God about to die for the sins of the world,

necessitated this act of sacrifice and devotion!

SUMMARY

Jesus is worthy of the greatest acts of dedication!

Jesus is worthy of Mary’s sacrifice.

Jesus is worthy of the sacrifice of her expensive perfume; and

Jesus is worthy of her sacrifice of humble service in anointing His feet.

Mary doesn’t understand all that she is doing,

but she understands that JESUS IS GOD,

and she honours Him accordingly!

APPLY

We need to come to the same realization as Mary, that

Jesus is worthy of your greatest acts of Dedication!

It doesn’t matter what the sacrifice is,

Jesus is worthy of it!

If you sold your house (as they did in Acts in the early church) to give it to His kingdom…

Jesus is worthy of that sacrifice!

If you quit your job and gave your life to building God’s kingdom (like Paul did)…

Jesus is worthy of that sacrifice!

If you gave your free time, or opened your home to serve and minister to others…

Jesus is worthy of that sacrifice!

The thing is, those sacrifices don’t make sense from a human perspective,

just like Mary’s sacrifice DOESN’T make sense from a human perspective!

The truth is, if we’re honest, we kinda get Judas’ perspective right?

I mean, the first thought that comes to my mind when I read that is:

what could you do with a year’s worth of money?

It seems like such a waste to put it on someone’s feet,

and their just going to walk out of the house,

and get their feet dirty again!

It could have been spent to help the poor!

Wouldn’t that have been a better, more practical use of the perfume?

Mary’s sacrifice for Jesus is COMPLETELY IRRATIONAL…

from a human perspective.

But Jesus defends her, saying she did something beautiful,

in honouring Jesus as Lord before His coming death and burial.

Jesus is worthy of her sacrifice!

Jesus is worthy of your dedication!

Therefore, what I want to challenge you with today with is:

Dedicate yourself IRRATIONALLY to Jesus!

I don’t know what that means for you.

Maybe some of you need to hear that Jesus is worth sacrificing your job…

Maybe some of you need to hear that Jesus is worth sacrificing more money…

But ALL OF US need to hear that Jesus is worth sacrificing time spent in His presence!

How often do you just spend time in Jesus’ presence,

reading or hearing His Word;

calling out to Him in prayer; or

praising Him with singing?

And even if you have times,

is it easy to sacrifice that time for something that “feels” more productive?

ILLUSTRATE — My Bad Example!

I want to confess this sin in my own life.

Not because I want to,

but because I need to,

as an example to you,

and a way to humble myself.

At the beginning of this year we started a Bible reading plan.

I was disciplined in setting aside time in the morning,

to read, journal, and pray.

It was a time that the Lord blessed!

As the year went on, I began working at the golf course,

and initially I was able to keep my dedication to the Lord,

but then I began working more hours,

and my time with God began to shrink…

and eventually that time with God slipped away altogether.

It wasn’t that I stopped reading,

I would take the time somewhere else in my day,

but I sacrificed that time I had set apart for the Lord early in the morning,

for what?

A little extra money!

APPLY CONT.

Maybe you feel tempted in the same way.

You want to give God time,

but it’s hard to sacrifice in other areas of your life.

I can go to work earlier, get the job done faster, and make more money…

But then I can give more money to church!

at least that’s what we tell ourselves…

I am too tired and drained in the evening to read, I’ll just watch a show or the game!

and then tomorrow I’ll feel rested and spend time with God!

at least that’s what we tell ourselves…

I am too busy to serve the Church,

I just need to get through this season, and THEN I’ll serve!

at least that’s what we tell ourselves…

What we’re saying when we fail to sacrifice ourselves to Jesus,

is exactly what Judas was saying…

I don’t think Jesus is worth it!

That hurts… I KNOW!

But it’s true!

What I don’t want you to hear is that you’re a failure and you should give up.

I want you to hear how worthy Jesus is,

and take that conviction from the Holy Spirit and make a change!

That’s what I did this week!

Meditating on this passage,

I immediately put that time with the Lord back in place,

and have been setting aside time throughout the day to worship Jesus!

Our sacrifices for Jesus do not make sense from a human perspective,

because they seem irrational…

they seem like a waste,

but Jesus is worthy of it!

Where are you choosing money over Jesus?

Where are you choosing comfort over Jesus?

Where are you choosing productivity/efficiency over Jesus?

Where can you “WASTE TIME” to show Jesus how worthy He is?

Where can you “WASTE MONEY” to show Jesus how worthy He is?

Where can you “WASTE YOUR TALENT” to show Jesus how worthy He is?

It is a sacrifice…

that’s what the word means…

it’s giving up something you value.

Let’s seek to willingly sacrifice things we find value in for Jesus,

because He is worthy of our dedication!

Transition

The next thing I want us to see this morning is that…

2. Jesus Is Worthy of Your Defense

As people begin to hear that Jesus is in Bethany,

they come to see Him,

but also to see Lazarus,

who Jesus raised from the dead.

Lazarus is faithful to share His testimony,

and give his defense of Jesus,

which leads many people to follow Jesus.

We should follow Lazarus’ example,

because Jesus is worthy of our defense!

EXPLAIN

We pick up in verse 9…

John 12:9 ESV

9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

A large crowd of Jews find out that Jesus is in Bethany,

so they come to see Him…

But not only do they want to see Jesus,

they want to see Lazarus as well.

Obviously the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead,

had spread from those who had been there and witnessed it.

We know that many Jews came to console Mary and Martha after Lazarus’ death.

They saw his dead body and face,

wrapped in linen strips,

anointed for burial, and

placed in the tomb.

And they followed Jesus to the tomb,

they smelled the rotting flesh as they rolled back the stone…

they heard Jesus pray to the Father, and

call Lazarus to come out…

and then they saw him walk out!

Still bound in the cloths.

They witnessed a miracle!

Dead people don’t come back to life!

But Lazarus did,

and many people witnessed it.

They went and shared this incredible account with others,

and news of the miracle spread,

and many people wanted to come see Jesus and Lazarus,

to see and hear of it for themselves.

Transition

But not everyone was excited about this miracle…

John 12:10–11 ESV

10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The chief priests had already wanted for some time to kill Jesus,

and now they add Lazarus to their “hit list”.

Andreas Kostenberger, in his commentary on John said,

“When the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death, it betrayed an astounding refusal to allow their beliefs to be changed by undeniable facts. They would rather destroy the evidence than change their minds.” Andreas Kostenberger

The leaders could not deny that a miracle had been done,

but rather than believing on account of it,

they chose to try and murder Jesus and Lazarus.

WHY?

Verse 11 tells us…

John 12:11 ESV

11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

John MacArthur, in his Study Bible says…

“This phrase signaled both a conscious, deliberate move away from the religion of the authorities and a move toward genuine faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God.” John MacArthur

These leaders were jealous that

everyone was hearing Lazarus’ story,

and leaving them to follow Jesus!

Lazarus defense of Jesus pointed to Jesus!

The ironic thing is,

that’s exactly what these religious leaders were supposed to be doing…

faithfully leading God’s people to love God and follow His Word.

But instead, they were wicked, evil leaders,

who were only concerned about accumulating followers for themselves!

So, in their jealousy,

they have a growing list of people to kill!

But this doesn’t stop Lazarus from telling his story,

making his defense,

and pointing people to Jesus!

Jonah mentioned last week,

after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,

that he was going to eventually die again.

And if he kept defending Jesus,

that day could come sooner than he expected,

but he didn’t care!

He knew that

“Jesus was worthy of his defense!”

APPLY

Brothers and sisters,

this is an example that we need to follow!

If we are dedicating our lives to Jesus in an irrational way,

our lives are going to look different to those around us,

and they may come to you and ask:

Why do you pray before you eat?

I heard you say how much time you spend with your church,

and you tithe?

Why do you do that?

When you talk you don’t swear,

and the way you treat people is different…

Why?

Do you have an answer prepared?

Because if you don’t, you will be caught off guard,

and probably make yourself look good,

instead of pointing to Jesus.

This is your opportunity to make a defense for Jesus!

1 Peter 3:15 says…

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

This verse ties in so well with our passage today,

so let’s break it down:

If you’re honouring Christ the Lord as holy,

your life is going to look different,

and people are going to ask you about it,

So… you should always be prepared to make a defense.

You should be expecting it,

and use it as an opportunity to point to Jesus.

Yet… do this with gentleness and respect.

This isn’t something to beat people over the head with,

it’s an opportunity gently and respectfully defend Jesus.

So you think through your answers to some of those questions:

“I pray before I eat, because God has provided all of my needs,

including this meal, and I want to thank Him for it!

And the fact that I always get hungry again,

reminds me that I can never be fully satisfied in this life.

And my soul longs to be satisfied,

which is the hope I have in Jesus.

Would you mind if I shared more about that with you?”

“I spend time in church, and give money to the church,

because there is no more valuable way for me to spend my time.

The things of this world are fading away:

all money, all fame, all the stuff will rot and fade,

but what is done for God will last into eternity!

Can I share with you how you can have that same hope?”

“I don’t swear, because God’s Word tells us to be pure in heart,

and foul language comes from an angry heart,

and causes me to lose self-control.

It also confuses communication,

and creates a negative environment.”

Those are all reasons I came up with in a few minutes thinking on each topic.

It doesn’t take long, it just takes intentionality!

We should take the time to think through those things,

so we can be ready to make a defense for Jesus!

Another way we can make a defense for Jesus,

is through sharing our testimony.

Maybe you’re thinking that Lazarus had a miracle,

so obviously he shared it,

I haven’t had a miracle in my life!

Oh no?

I would argue you’ve had MANY miracles in your life,

you just don’t realize they are miracles.

The most important is your salvation.

Is there anybody in the room this morning,

who was dead in their sins,

but was born again by God’s Spirit,

and made alive in Christ?

PRAISE GOD!

You need to know your testimony.

What you were like BEFORE you were saved:

the sins you committed and had no shame about;

the desires of your heart (money/possessions/sex);

the way you spent your time.

Then something happened in your life:

You were born again… made alive in Christ!

What were you like AFTER you were saved?

At times you still sinned, but there was conviction from the Holy Spirit,

and a desire to obey God’s Word that wasn’t there before.

At times you still had desires of the heart for the things of this world,

but now you had competing desires from the Spirit to forsake the world and follow Jesus.

At times you still wasted time,

but now you had a desire to go to church, read your Bible, and spend time with other Christians,

growing in your faith together!

ILLUSTRATE — Jess and I Premarital Counseling

One of the great joys Jessica and I have together,

is spending time one on one with couples who are getting married.

We love connecting with them,

and just talking about foundational things for a good marriage.

One of the things we usually talk about is how God uses your spouse, and marriage,

to shape and mold you more into the image of Jesus.

Jessica will usually say something like,

“The Joe you see today, is not the Joe I knew at the beginning of our marriage!” HAHAHAHA

Summary

It’s a little humbling for me,

but I know it’s true!

There are ways God slowly shapes us over time,

that we don’t always see in the moment,

but if we take the time to sit down and think about it,

we can see how God is shaping us over the years.

APPLY CONT.

This is how we can make a defense for Jesus,

and point others to Him,

and how He changes people.

You need to know your testimony…

how God HAS and IS changing your life!

You should take the time to think on it,

and write it down.

And if that seems intimidating to you,

I have a very simple outline you can use.

We encourage our baptism candidates to use this outline.

PERSONAL TESTIMONY

BC — Before Christ

D — Decision

AC — After Christ

If you’ve been a Christian for a little while,

it’s good to talk about what God is doing in your life recently.

This is a great way for us to make a defense for Jesus.

Maybe you’re worried about what others will think,

and that’s what’s holding you back.

I get that!

But Jesus, our Saviour, was willing to be:

hated;

mocked;

disrespected;

misunderstood;

slandered;

and ultimately killed to save us!

We should be willing to defend Him!

He is worthy of it!

And God will use you to point others to Jesus,

so they can have hope in Him as well!

Transition

The next thing I want us to see this morning is that…

3. Jesus Is Worthy of Your Declaration

This is going to be similar to the previous point,

Jesus is worthy of your defense,

but it is slightly different.

Lazarus gives us an example of defending Jesus,

when people come to us.

Here in the next section,

we are going to see those who intentionally GO OUT,

to declare to others what Jesus has done.

Jesus is worthy of their declaration,

and He’s worthy of yours as well!

EXPLAIN

We continue in…

John 12:12–13 ESV

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

At the end of chapter 11 last week,

we learned that the Passover was near.

Passover was the remembrance of God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt.

The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn,

but God’s people who obeyed by putting the blood of the Passover lamb above their door,

were spared. The Destroyer “Passed-over” their homes.

Passover was a holy day once a year,

so Jews would come from far and wide to Jerusalem to remember God’s deliverance.

A large crowd heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem,

so they went out to meet Him.

They were waving palm branches,

and laying them on the road.

Palm branches had become a national symbol of the hope of the coming Messiah.

This is why we refer to this day as Palm Sunday.

And we understand by their cries that they understand Jesus to be the Messiah!

They cry out,

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

Hosanna means:

give salvation now; OR

save please.

And the reference to “he who comes in the name of the Lord”,

is referring to the Messiah,

especially with the statement, “even the King of Israel!”

As the people hear what Jesus has done,

they begin to believe that Jesus is the Messiah they’ve been waiting for,

and that He was going to deliver them from Rome at that time.

But we see what kind of kingdom Jesus is ushering in…

John 12:14–15 ESV

14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

While the nation would have expected the Messiah to come riding on a white horse,

ready to raise up and lead an army against their enemies…

Jesus intentionally comes into Jerusalem… riding a donkey!

This is fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9…

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus is declaring Himself to be the fulfilment of prophecy,

the fulfilment of God’s promise to save His people.

He wasn’t coming to destroy their enemies and give them freedom…

He was coming as the Prince of Peace,

who would set His people free from slavery to sin and death!

(Put Point Slide Back Up)

3. Jesus Is Worthy of Your Declaration

Verse 16 continues…

John 12:16 ESV

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

The disciples did not understand in the moment all that was taking place.

They were just as oblivious as the crowd.

But after Jesus was glorified,

and He showed them how all the Scriptures pointed to Him,

they understood how the OT predicted everything that happened to Him.

Then verse 17-18 gives us the reason this crowd went out to meet Jesus in the first place…

John 12:17–18 ESV

17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

The group of witnesses to Lazarus’ resurrection

were continuing to tell others what they saw.

As all the Jews were gathered together in the city of Jerusalem,

this presented the perfect opportunity to tell as many people as possible,

how Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead.

Many people believed therefore,

and went out to meet Jesus,

giving Him a triumphal entry as King!

But not everyone is happy about Jesus’ arrival,

and the people’s worship…

John 12:19 ESV

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

The religious leaders had been trying to arrest and kill Jesus,

trying to stop Him,

but now we get a sense of their frustration…

For all their effort,

it seems like they’re not getting anywhere.

Instead, it’s as if:

“the world has gone after him.”

Summary

What a scene this must have been!

This must have been a very large crowd,

welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem,

as it’s rightful King!

And we are told that the reason this crowd is there,

is because of those who had witnessed Lazarus’ resurrection,

who were boldly declaring it to others.

They were faithful to tell others what Jesus had done,

And “Jesus is worthy of their declaration!”

APPLY

We know that we can’t save people.

That’s the work of Almighty God,

working in a person’s heart,

drawing them to Himself,

causing them to be born again by His Spirit…

AND YET…

He uses the witness of His people to do that!

God used the declaration of those who had seen Lazarus raised from the dead

to stir the hearts of many others to come and worship Jesus for themself.

In the same way,

God will use your declaration to bring people closer to Jesus!

Do you believe that?

The truth is, oftentimes we don’t.

Maybe you think God won’t use you because:

“I don’t know enough”…

“I’m not good at talking about it”…

Or maybe you’re honest enough to say…

“I’m afraid what people will think of me”…

Maybe all of these things are true,

and yet…

Jesus is worthy of YOUR declaration!

He knows who you are,

He knows where you’re at in your faith,

and He’s not expecting you to be someone else.

He just wants you to be faithful where you’re at,

to the people He’s placed in your life.

Pray regularly to God for a desire to share about Jesus…

Pray regularly for God to give you boldness to share about Jesus…

(why do you think the believers in Acts needed to pray for this?

Because they didn’t have it!”

Pray regularly for God to give you opportunities to share about Jesus…

and the sensitivity and awareness to see them.

God is faithful, and will answer your prayers,

and the more time you spend with God in His Word,

the more time you spend in prayer,

and the more times you share about Jesus,

the more confident you will become.

You can’t get better at something if you don’t try it!

And what better thing to do,

than give glory to Jesus,

He is Worthy of Your Declaration!

Closing

At this point in Jesus’ earthly life,

He has spent the last 3 years,

walking among His people;

teaching about the Kingdom of God; and

performing signs that point to Him being the Son of God.

But now He comes to the end of His earthly ministry,

and enters the final week of His life.

He knew this was the plan all along,

and He willingly enters Jerusalem,

knowing that He is going to be:

arrested;

condemned;

beaten and crucified…

by His own people,

who He came to save!

There will be those from the crowds on Palm Sunday who were shouting,

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

who will change their shouts to…

“Crucify Him!”

But Jesus wouldn’t die because He was over-powered by His people…

Rather, Jesus willingly laid down His life to save His sheep…

John 10:17–18 ESV

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus willingly laid down His life,

to die as THE sacrifice for all sin…

He satisfied God’s wrath on sin,

and all who trust in Him WILL have their sins forgiven!

Jesus willingly laid down His life,

knowing he would rise again,

giving all who believe in Him,

the hope that we too will rise again!

THIS IS OUR KING… KING JESUS!

The question for you this morning is:

Do you believe that “JESUS IS WORTHY?”

Will you follow Mary’s example,

and dedicate yourself to the King who is worthy?

Or will you follow Judas’s example,

and find the things of this world of more value than Jesus?

Will you follow Lazarus’ example,

and defend Jesus and His power in your life?

Or will you follow the religious leaders’ example,

and find yourself of more value,

seeking to build a kingdom for yourself?

Will you follow the example of those who,

declared the glory of Jesus’ to others?

Or will you follow the religious leaders’ example,

of being frustrated and annoyed with those who follow Jesus?

Jesus IS worthy!

He is worthy of a life, dedicated to making His name great,

and building His kingdom.

Not only that,

but as Charles Stanley has said…

"God takes complete responsibility for the life yielded to Him." Charles Stanley

Where in your life can you give yourself more to Jesus?

No matter the sacrifice…

Jesus is worthy of it!

(Pray)

God…

we thank You for your love in sending Jesus…

Jesus…

we thank You for your willingness to die for us…

Holy Spirit…

we thank You that You dwell in us…

May it be our joy to live our lives for your glory,

knowing that You are worthy of lives that are surrendered to You!

It’s in Jesus’ name we ask and pray… Amen!