Do You Believe?
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
(NKJV): The Coming King
9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.’
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The Bible describes three entrances of the Lord Jesus.
The battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.’
The first entrance - born as a man
The second entrance- the just and lowly King.
The third entrance- the conquering General.
It is the second entrance of Christ that we are most interested in today, because after all, it is Palm Sunday, the Biblical description of the triumphal entry of Christ as king in Jerusalem.
The Biblical description of the triumphal entry of Christ as king in Jerusalem.
And in fulfillment of this prophetic verse in Zechariah, the scriptures tell us that the people were spreading their robes and waving palm branches on the path in front of Jesus, as He rode on a donkey into the gates of Jerusalem.
And in fulfillment of this prophetic verse in Zechariah, the scriptures tell us that the people were spreading their robes and palm branches on the path in front of Jesus, as He rode on a donkey into the gates of Jerusalem.
They were chanting and rejoicing over the coming king!
And yet, within one week, Jesus is falsely accused, denied, scourged, crucified, and buried!
What happened in one week to dismiss this wonderful and prophetic event we celebrate today?
Well, as with every entrance of our Lord, there is a common thread that runs through them-
I. The thread of unbelief!
I. The thread of unbelief!
Here are some reasons people have given as to why they can't or don't believe -
I cannot believe what I cannot see.
This is nothing but an excuse, because people believe in things everyday that they cannot see!
Extra Terrestrials
Big Foot
The Lochness monster
Evolution
Speaking on this one, a recent discovery in the Philippines unearthed a new human species which they are calling "Homo Luzonensis" or the Luzon Man after the cave he was discovered in. This incredible find substantiates again the evolutionary chain of mankind, and was all derived from seven teeth and six small bones. That's pretty good and obviously must be true, because after all the famous Nebraska Man unveiled in the Scope's Monkey Trial was formed and verified from one single tooth, later found to be the tooth of a pig. But that didn't stop the evolutionist from continuing to propagate fiction!
Think of how absurd it would be for an architect to display this home as once standing because they found 7 various length 2x4's and six sheets of deteriorated plywood in a vacant lot?
Why then do we believe it can be done at the DNA or even cellular level, which is Billions of times more complex than a building?
There's no need to believe because I don't need religion.
Yet, people are religious about most things in their lives:
Routines
Eating habits
Work out schedules
Even in matters of faith, people today are trusting in just about anything.
New Age Philosophies
Etc.
There's no need to believe because we are all basically good.
We can only find goodness in people when we compare ourselves to one another.
The standard God uses is not a human comprehension of morality but His own holiness, and man falls far short of it.
Jer
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
Although man is capable of doing good, He is settling for the consolation prize that in the end, will not pay off!
These are just some of the reasons people give for not believing.
But, there is another thread that runs through Jesus' entrances:
II. The thread of belief!
II. The thread of belief!
As we know some do believe.
But why?
They have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
They have been convicted about their own unworthiness.
hey have been convicted about their own unworthiness.They realize that Jesus is the express image of the glory of God, and is deity in the flesh.They know that Jesus alone is the mediator between God and men.They know that His meritorial sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection to life is everything they need.They know that they are utterly helpless without Him.
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
They realize that Jesus is the express image of the glory of God, and is deity in the flesh.They know that Jesus alone is the mediator between God and men. Heb.1:3
They realize that Jesus is the express image of the glory of God, and is deity in the flesh.They know that Jesus alone is the mediator between God and men.
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
They know that His meritorial sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection to life is everything they need.
They know that they are utterly helpless without Him.
But, there is one more thing -
They have been born again by the Spirit of God.
Jesus said to Nicodemus in "unless you are born again (or from above), you cannot see the kingdom of heaven."
This does not always sit well with people, but the cold hard facts of what Jesus said to Nicodemus are without apology:
"unless anyone is born again (or from above), he cannot see the kingdom of heaven."
You must be born again!
When the Spirit of God illuminates the soul, there is great joy!
And there is a supernatural reaction that cannot come form mere intellectual assent.
And so it was for those who witnessed the miracles of Jesus, for those who had been with Him, for those who were His disciples, and to those whom God enlightened.
They believed that the King had arrived, and they showed it in their celebration and cheering! even t the dismay of the religious rulers.
What do you believe?
What do you believe?