Your Only Hope

0:00 ...only hope. But for some people, it may be the fact that they've heard or come to understand it and understand him more clearly than ever before. And if that happens to you today, I pray that you'd make a decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. But today would be, and right now would be a good time for me to say that starting today, this Palm Sunday goes all the way through this week called Passion Week under Resurrection Sunday, that we're all very careful not to view these things in a common way. Meaning for us who are believers, yeah, yeah, it's another Palm Sunday. Watch out for that. Because these are the events, friends. Listen, I don't mean to be rude by no stretch. I'm going to be accurate. What we have in our hands as the Bible, and for those of us as believers, what we know from the Word of God and from history, nobody else gets to enjoy but those who believe. Can I hear an amen on that?

0:53 For those who believe in what? Well, I just believe... No, no, no, no. Your belief is to be founded upon fact, which brings you to faith. Our faith is not a blind faith. It is a factual faith. Jesus Christ, as we'll learn this week, has not only risen from the dead, but this week, starting today, Palm Sunday, was a remarkable announcement. And we're going to be hearing things about that today. And we'll read the scriptures together here in a moment. But 1,994 years ago today, Christ presented himself to the nation of Israel as Messiah. And again, as I said, we'll talk more about that in detail. The fact remains, though, that he presented himself to Israel as the nation goes.

1:43 The key today is that you as an individual, will you allow Jesus Christ to present himself to you? that's vitally important. Just setting the stage for this particular time in history and this week that we look at in history. In Mark chapter 10, verse 32, out of the New Living Translation, it's just, I don't normally use it, but it makes it very, very simple. Mark chapter 10, verse 32, this is by way of introduction to our series, Your Only Hope. It says they were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, that's our first emotion, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear, that's the second emotion. Taking the 12 disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him, and he said in verse 33, listen, he said, we're going up to Jerusalem where the Son of Man, speaking of himself, will be betrayed. I'm going to submit to you that's another emotion because Jesus, he knows what's coming. To the leading priest and to the teachers of religious law, they will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans.

3:05 They will mock him. That's an emotion. They'll spit on him, flog him with a whip and kill him. But after three days, he will rise again. Jesus is announcing this. Yeah, you can clap. He's announcing this in advance on the way up. And you say, well, Jack, how do you know? Because the authors of the scriptures wrote this down in advance. God gave this to them. It was written down in scripture. The Bible announces, and you'll hear it many times today, that Jesus Christ, according to the prophetic scriptures, was en route to be our only hope. that the cross was no accident, that this week in history, as we'll study it today, and then, I don't know, I think maybe tomorrow, maybe I'll go online and cover the events of what happened on Monday, and then maybe I should do that on Tuesday to walk you through the week, right?

3:57 Maybe we'll do that on Facebook Live or something. To walk you through the week, because this week in history, folks, listen up, doubters, because we're going to be speaking to you as well. Atheists too, not going to leave you out. believers, most of us, I hope, maybe some searching. This week in history, there's going to be more prophetic scriptures fulfilled in this week in history that will blow your mind. In fact, it's not going to be repeated until the second coming of Christ. Did you know that? Wow, amazing. So your only hope is not a declaration of, oh, no, we've come to the end, but it's a fact. In all of life, Jesus Christ is your only hope. And I'm not talking about some sort of once-a-year association. I'm talking about a living, breathing relationship with him. And so the scene is powerful, church.

4:53 It's a time that is greatly infused with noise, with excitement. Jerusalem now has swollen. Historians tell us, Josephus tells us, that 1,994 years ago today, Jerusalem now is swollen to 2.5 million people who have made the pilgrimage there. They're dwelling in beautiful makeshift tents. Families are together. They have made their pilgrimage from North Africa, from areas of what we know as Europe today and Asia, and they've all come to celebrate because it's Passover week.

5:36 But this is unlike any other, and yet it was recorded in the Bible. With that, I'm going to ask all of you to stand as we read the scriptures together. Luke chapter 19, I will begin reading in verse 29, and if you'll pick it up in verse 30, we are stepping back in time, and yet it has so much to do with our today and our eternity. Verse 29, And it came to pass when he, that's Jesus, drew near to Bethany and Bethany at the mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples. And if anyone asks you, why are you loosing it? Thus you shall say to them, because the Lord has need of it.

6:35 But as they were loosening, verse 33, as they were loosening the colt, the owners of it said to them, why are you loosening the colt? And they said, the Lord has need of him. Then, verse 35 says, then they brought him to Jesus and they threw their clothes, outer coverings, on the colt, that's the little donkey, and they set Jesus on him. And as he went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then as he was now, listen carefully, drawing near to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice, praising God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen. Saying, blessed is the King. Verse 39, And some of the Pharisees, some, I stress that, some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

7:43 But he answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. Now as they drew near, he saw the city, that's Jerusalem, and he wept over it. saying if you had known even you especially in this your day the things that make for your peace but now they are hidden from your eyes for days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you surround you and close you in on every side and level you and your children within you to the ground and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation. Did you hear that, everybody? Because you did not know. The word in Greek is you didn't recognize the day of your visitation. And then he went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it.

8:42 Saying to them, it is written, my house is a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of thieves. And he was teaching daily in the temple. That's all this week. That's ahead of us. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, these are all the spiritual national leaders of Israel, sought to destroy him. And were unable to do anything. For all the people were very attentive to hear him. And all God's people said, Amen. You may be seated. Dramatic, dynamic, no doubt about it, an incredible time. As we see in Scripture today, There's a chronological order to all of this that helps us very, very much understand the whole vicinity of what's been going on. Many of you might find it quite surprising that when you maybe think about Jesus, you almost automatically think about Jerusalem. But I want you to think this way instead. Think accurately.

9:41 Jesus, being a Jew, being a male, he lived in Galilee. That's about 88 miles north of Jerusalem. It's country. It's where you would probably live unless you love big cities. If you loved the big city vibe, you would live in Jerusalem. Jesus lived in the country. And there were three feasts of the year required for a male, a Jewish male, to come to Jerusalem. And the Bible tells us that Jesus, of course, would always go to Jerusalem for those feasts, for those gatherings. But what might surprise many of you is the fact that Jesus often avoided Jerusalem. He didn't often go there. And for good reason. but he found the countryside more open to gathering disciples and teaching the word of God and he let that word be committed to the disciples to go spread that word all around the land of Israel and Samaria and Judea and ultimately to the ends of the earth but the scene is this one Jesus Christ is on the back of a little donkey on this Palm Sunday.

10:58 And it's a beautiful scene because why a little donkey? Well, first of all, notice you read a moment ago that the Bible says there was a little donkey upon which no one has ever sat and it was with its mother. Which means it's not only a little donkey but it's not weaned yet from its mother. In other words, listen, I don't know anything about donkeys except my first name is Jack. That's about as close as it gets. I've never been on one. I don't plan on being on one. But that said, I've been told and I've read that you can't separate a little donkey from its mom. And if you try to sit on it, good luck, because you're going to get kicked off. And then after you get kicked off of that little donkey, the mom donkey will probably come over and give you another kick just to make sure. It's a big deal.

11:50 So what's going on? Here is Jesus Christ sitting on the back of a baby donkey, and there's no natural disruption to the scene. The donkey and the donkey's mom is in full agreement. Nature is in agreement. Why? Because its creator is sitting on the back of this little donkey. In fact, I submit to you today that nature seems to be in somewhat of agreement with the creation of God. Now, we live in a fallen world. There's earthquakes and volcanoes and floods and all that kind of stuff. I get that. But listen, it's mankind that's the problem. And especially mankind when he's supercharged with religion. He becomes a problem. Because religion will always exalt the human side of it and somehow communicate that I've arrived. Look at my robes.

12:42 I've arrived. Look at my status. Look at my degrees that are displayed on my arm or on the hem of my robe. You need to listen to me because I am a religious leader. And that was one of the dynamics that Jesus was up against. But the people, but the people. The Bible tells us over and over again that common people loved to come to listen to Jesus. Are you a common person? I'm a common person. and then the Bible says sinners love to come and hear him are you a sinner? I'm a sinner now the Bible says that publicans and sinners came and some people have wondered why one political party publican it's not republican and sinners it's republicans, democrats, independents all sinners we all need them Amen.

13:39 And in Matthew chapter 24, here's the setting. This is the dynamic of the week. Matthew chapter 24, the Bible tells us in verse 1, Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to show him the buildings of the temple, because they were spectacular. And Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you Not one stone shall be left upon another That shall not be thrown down None of us understand what this means fully Jesus is talking to his Jewish disciples And the very existence of God is wrapped up In that temple that is there in Jerusalem And Jesus is saying That's all coming apart What church do you attend normally? Or maybe it's this church Imagine if for a moment I were to say to you All of this is going to get blown up.

14:36 It's all going to fall apart. The earth is going to shake and it's going to swallow up all this concrete. If you think that's the end of worship, you got another thing coming, friends. Because God is not bound by any structure or any building. And Jesus is announcing, oh, guess what? You guys have associated the existence of your relationship with God to this building. I'm telling you, not one stone will be left upon another. It's all coming down. Why? Because there was going to be, and there was one greater than the temple, speaking to them. And so he says, not one stone shall be together, but shall be thrown down. Verse 3. Now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, Olivet, Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, and they asked him three questions. Tell us, when will these things be? Number two, what will be the sign of your coming? That is the second coming.

15:29 That is yet future. And the third thing is, and the end of the age or the end of the world. And Jesus said to them, this is key, the first thing out of his mouth regarding that three-part question is, take heed, no one deceives you. And I want to lay this out to you today, and I want you to think about it all week. Regarding Jesus Christ, beware, watch out that nobody deceives you. If I didn't know the Bible, I would have gotten deceived yesterday at Albertson supermarket. Because National Geographic has their publication this month about who the real Jesus is. That kind of insulted my intelligence because it implies that I have not picked up the Bible to read it. You think I need to read National Geographic to find out who Jesus is? My goodness, if that's the case, we're all in trouble.

16:23 I mean, let's just end the service now and go to the beach. Thank God the Bible not only reveals who Jesus is, but the Bible tells us from the very beginning. Old and New Testament that it's all about him. The Bible says, regarding Christ, behold, in the volume of the book, it is written of me. Remarkable. And so that's why he's your only hope. And that's going to be a question I'm going to be asking you and a statement I'm going to be making in this message today. By note-taking, church, by the way, did you guys see the QR code? Those of you who are new, you may not know this, but if you scan that QR code, you'll get all the notes that I have. And you'll see how horrible I am at sticking to my notes. because you'll get all my notes and it will go right onto your device. And it's kind of fun because you can make it your own Bible study. You can study it for yourself. And one of the things that you'll see there is the Harmony of the Gospels, it's called. The Harmony of the Gospels regarding Palm Sunday.

17:19 And I say this just for authenticity's sake. Matthew chapter 21, verses 1 to 17. Matthew covers this from his eyes, Matthew. And then Mark's gospel, Mark 11, verses 1 through 11. Mark sees it and records it through his eyes. And then Dr. Luke, medical doctor, the gospel of Luke. Luke from chapter 19, verses 29 onward, he records it. And that's the chapter or the book I've selected for today. And then, of course, John chapter 12, verses 12 to 19. John records it from his eyes. Why is this important? I don't want to get too much into this, except that the Bible says that before two or three witnesses, the truth shall be established. Which, by the way, if you're an attorney, or maybe you're a judge, or maybe you're involved in law, did you know that our jurisprudence of the United States of America is founded upon the biblical requirement of you not being able to be convicted without multiple witnesses?

18:24 Did you know our founding fathers got that from the scriptures? and God brings it on the stage and says, here are, watch this, here are three eyewitnesses that are going to record the events of other eyewitnesses and I've added a fourth, John's Gospel, and it's a beautiful thing to look at because we love, for example, quadraphonic sound. Remember those days? Some of us are old enough. They made stereos for our cars and we went out and bought them because they were quadraphonic. Well, God does it in what is known as the harmony of the Gospels. Various eyewitnesses from various angles reporting to various people groups the things that they saw. Eyewitness accounts matter. And by the way, I'm going to have you look at it this way. These eyewitness accounts, number one, we'll look at it in a moment, and that is what I'm calling the religious atheist.

19:25 We're going to see the view of the religious atheist. Maybe that's you today. You claim to be an atheist, but you're very religious about your atheism. No, you'll defend it. You'll argue for it. And you'll read everything about it. And you'll tell other people about it. About what? About nothing. Because you're an atheist. You're inviting us to believe in nothing. Anybody can do that. I would submit to you today, atheism is lazy. By the way, I've also learned this over my 68 years. People who are atheists can afford to be an atheist until life punches them in the face. And then they start reconsidering their atheism. So I'm not impressed by any atheists. just know this, that when life deals its blow against you, be looking for God.

20:21 And the next thing that we're going to see today in our study is the fact that there's the honest doubter. There's the honest doubter. Maybe we would call the honest doubter somebody who's an agnostic. Now, I deliberately avoided the word agnostic because do you know what the word agnostic means? I don't think you like it. If you're an agnostic, do yourself a favor. Never call yourself an agnostic again. The word agnostic comes from the word in Greek.

20:48 Agnostic, not to know, means to actually have access to knowledge and refuse to know it. It's where we get the word ignoramus. Comes from the word agnostic. Isn't that wild? So don't use that word about yourself any longer.

21:09 We'll also see today that there's those that are open-minded. I'm open. I'm open to think about it. I'm open to talk about it. That's great. And then I hope I cover most of us in this room today, and that is the confident follower. We have become confident in who we're following. We know why we follow Jesus. We know what he did for us at the cross. We don't follow feelings. This is not an emotion for us. And we're not members of some organization or some church. We have become convinced, and that's why we follow Christ. And then I'm going to end today with those that might be willingly curious. Willingly curious to the point that they're willing to move forward in thinking, but with some caution. So number one, let's dive into this. Your only hope is my argument, and it's this.

22:02 Your only hope, you who are religious atheists, is to consider the facts of this day that we look at in history. The Bible tells us in Matthew 21, verse 14, then the blind, look at this, then the blind and the lame came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he, that's Jesus, did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, Hosanna, that word means save now, save us, Save now to the son of David. Wow, son of David. That's the title of the Messiah. If you're Jewish today, you know what that means. This is reserved for Israel's Messiah alone. Hosanna to the son of David. Notice this.

22:55 They were indignant and said to him, Jesus, do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, yes. Wouldn't you love to have seen that happen? I think Jesus would have said, yep. Do you hear what these kids are saying? They're attributing you to being the son of David, the savior of the world.

23:19 Yep. Oh, I would have loved to have seen that. have you never read jesus said out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you that is god have perfected praise that's in the old testament listen up my friend if you are an atheist but you are very honestly religious because everyone has a religion just know this right now take a look at the facts jesus christ when he was challenged said you don't have to listen to me Go look at the Old Testament and see what it says about me. Judge me, Jesus is saying. Go and find out what's wrong with what is happening. And go back 1,994 years ago and find out what's wrong. If your atheism is true, then you can prove that Jesus is false.

24:15 Go ahead, knock yourself out. We encourage you to do that. Just know this. you'll be in a long line of people who gloriously wind up becoming disappointed in the end to find out that Jesus is none other than who he said he was. That he's the Lord, he's the Christ, he's the Savior, he's the Son of David, he's the resurrected King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That Jesus Christ invites you, the atheist, to come and bring your very myopic little belief system in an accident of things, explaining your existence to God, broadening your mind beyond what you can ever imagine to where he says to you, I am your creator. You're not an accident. Nothing in your life is an accident. I am the one who rules heaven and earth. And I'm working in your life. And all the time you thought that I was not real, all the time you've been fighting me. And I'm revealing myself to you. And God is announcing to you, even today. Look at the facts. Israel was to know the arrival of their Messiah on a very particular day. Previous years, I've gone through the mathematics of it all. I'm not going to do it today. It's in great detail. By the way, I kind of did it a few weeks ago in one of our studies regarding Daniel chapter 9. Down to the day, Jesus held them accountable to know this day in history.

25:39 They were supposed to wake up that morning and say, man, let's get going. You got up today, didn't you? Some of you don't go here. You came here because your grandkids are singing in the choir. And you came here. And I know it took a lot for you to get here, but I'm a grandparent too. It doesn't matter if this morning would have been held on the moon. You would have made it. Because your grandkids are involved. I get it. and you knew the date that you'd be coming here on this date today. Well, guess what? Israel knew the day that the Messiah was to come on Palm Sunday. Did you know that? The day. And Jesus held them accountable to know. Many did. Most didn't. They refused. The Bible tells us in Luke 19, verse 39, we read it a moment ago, and I stressed it, and I'll stress it again.

26:33 and some, you ought to circle the word some, and some of the Pharisees, these are the religious leaders. I'll explain more of this in a second. Some of the Pharisees called to him, to Jesus from the crowd, and they tell him, the rabbi, that's the word teacher, rebuke your disciples. What is the, look, I don't want to be mean about it, but this is what, can I say this? Will you forgive me in advance if your little ears are hearing this? because we're not allowed to say this around our grandkids. But this is for educational purposes.

27:09 Rabbi, tell your disciples to shut up. That's what they were saying. Think of the insanity of this. Think of this form of religious atheism. Rabbi means teacher of the word of God. Did they believe it or are they lying? I think they're lying.

27:36 They don't believe it. Rabbi, tell your disciples, those who follow you, to zip it, to shut their mouths. Tell them to stop it. that's what religious atheism is like these were the national leaders folks try to understand it this way in fact the best way we can in our world today ironically enough is the nation of iran right now there is a government in iran but over the government of iran is a religious hierarchy Are you with me? The Ayatollahs, the leadership, the clerics. And the clerics, the handful of the clerics, tell the government leaders what to do. And if you don't do what they tell you to do, you get your head cut off. And then they turn around and they tell the military what to do.

28:30 In very similar fashion, when we talk about Israel and the Jews and the Pharisees and the scribes, We're talking about a handful of religious leaders who were teaching and educating the people. They led the country, even though they were occupied by Rome. And it was a handful of religious leaders that dictated what the people heard and what they had access to.

28:58 And so when Jesus presents himself as king, king of what? King of Israel. King of the Jews. But the leadership rejected him. Are you hearing me, everybody? This is important. Not all the Jews rejected Jesus. And it even says here, some of the Pharisees. It means not all of them. Some of them believed. Some of them did not believe. But they're all religious. Isn't that interesting? You may be very religious today and be completely lost. What a tragedy that would be. I would encourage you to look at the facts. and the Bible tells us here a moment ago that all the children were rejoicing over the fact of Jesus being not only the son of David but of the great miracles that he had performed many miracles throughout his entire ministry career Jesus was raising the dead how awesome is that to know somebody who raises the dead have you ever known somebody who's got some sort of position like you have a friend that's like a manager of a Chick-fil-A Thank you.

29:59 now listen that is awesome because you know you think you can help us out a little bit you know whatever it might be. Can you imagine having a friend who raises people from the dead? Hey, I don't know what your schedule's like today. I know you're pretty busy, but my friend just died. Can you swing by? You know, I say it in our modern day vernacular, but that's what Martha and Mary did regarding Lazarus, their brother.

30:39 Jesus, your really good friend died, our brother. He's dead. Can you come and help? Jesus ruined every funeral. Jesus showed up, he ruined it. He raised the dead. and then those that had leprosy, which is amazing. Did you know you're never healed of leprosy? The Bible says you've got to be cleansed of leprosy. By the way, you're never healed of sin either. You've got to be cleansed of sin. Remarkable, right? What about those that are blind? Hey, listen, let me tell you this. Those that are blind, I cannot relate to, and I thank God that I have my eyesight. But when the Bible says that he healed those who couldn't speak, that's... Now that's where I come in. Because I used to stutter so bad into my adult life. And he healed me in an instant of time.

31:37 So listen, when that stuff, when you talk about that, I can talk about that. You say, Pastor, you talk so much. Listen, you've got to understand, man. My tongue didn't get healed until I think I was 23 years old. And I didn't talk. In fact, schools, principals, teachers would always send me to some class because they thought there was something wrong with my brain. Because I would never talk. But every time I would talk, back in those days, you got to make fun of people. It was like a rule. You have to make fun of people that have oddities. And I had a teacher. I'll never forget her, Miss Franz. Miss Franz. I can see her to this moment. I just hope she's not watching right now. I hope. I stuttered so bad that she thought it'd be great that she would have me stand on top of my desk and read to the class. Oh yeah, it was incredible.

32:30 There were no attorneys in those days when dinosaurs ruled the earth. But bullying was fun. And I just stuttered terribly. But Jesus loosed my tongue. And I've never stopped talking since. And I feel sorry for all of you. But I'm catching up. I've got 23 years to catch up on. But he healed. And what do you think about that? In your religious atheism, have you ever thought for a moment that Jesus could actually be who he said he was? How would you know? Because the Bible tells us this is how you're going to recognize the Messiah. Isaiah chapter 35, written 743 years before Jesus was born. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb sing.

33:29 Wow, that's what Jesus did. He said, I don't believe that. Why don't you go back and study world history and find out what happened during the life of Jesus and read the eyewitness accounts? Because listen, the scribes and Pharisees wanted to kill him because he was the Messiah. How did they know? Because Jesus not only said to people, your sins are forgiven you. Look, let's be honest. Anybody can say that. I could tell you right now, your sins are forgiven you. How do you prove that? You can't prove it. I could say to you right now, your sins are forgiven you. And you might go, ooh, wow, that's amazing. That guy's sin is forgiven. Jesus said, anybody can say that. But to make sure you know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on earth, I say to the blind, open your eyes. You see the connection?

34:24 You can talk about it all you want. But this same God that offers salvation backs it up by his miraculous powers. and somebody might say today, well, if I'm a religious atheist, I want God to do a miracle, and then I'll believe. No, you won't. The Bible says you won't.

34:45 Believing is seeing. You got that all reversed. Seeing is not believing. Believing is when you begin to see with your eyes wide open. Many people want to criticize following Jesus, but listen, we never get upset about that think about that if you came and attacked us for our faith we're not going to behead you we can take it you want to know why? we don't have to defend our God he's very able to defend himself he doesn't need my help look, if you have a God that needs your help you got to get a new God He's well able. but we can take the persecution we can take the mock and the ridicule because quite frankly we love you and you know not what you do I'm asking you to think about this.

35:49 The second thing is this. Your only hope, you, the honest doubter, is what you do with what you know. What do you know? Maybe it's a little bit. You're a doubter. That's okay. Listen up, everybody. Every one of us doubts. Doubt is a weird thing. When we think of the word doubt, we think that we've somehow lost our faith when we're doubting. That's not true. Did you know that you have to have faith to be, are you listening? You have to have faith to be a doubter. I'm gonna let that sit for a moment. This is kind of early, right? First service.

36:29 Let the coffee kick in. You cannot be a doubter unless you first have faith. Doubting is very different than atheism. you can go to LAX today and get on a big Boeing 777 or a Airbus 380.

36:58 That plane that you're sitting in has traveled hundreds of millions of miles. You never had any doubts about that plane before. And now because you're sitting in it, you're starting to wonder, are we going to get killed? Are we going to make it? Is this thing going to go off the end of the runway and take off? Or is it going to go right into the Pacific Ocean? Why do you have your doubts? Because you know that plane can fly. But will it fly for you? doubters every single one of us battle doubts from time to time based upon the dynamics of which we're going through are you listening to me some of you are struggling with doubt and yes it's true you need to read more of the bible the bible washes away doubts but listen with all the bible you could ever have in your life some of the greatest saints of god of all of god's working in the hearts of men, they had times of doubt.

37:54 John the Baptist had a great time of doubt. Are you the one or do we look for another one? Think about that. Are you a doubter today? I want you to be encouraged. Take what little faith that you have and build upon these truths of this entire week and know this, that Christ came into this world to die for sinners on the cross, the Bible says, and that on the third day, he would be resurrected from the dead. Here's the beautiful part about that. You weren't there. You didn't make it happen. You didn't align the stars or the cards to pull that off. I'm glad I wasn't there. I'm 2,000 years removed from it. But for all of these millennia, Christ has been transforming lives. And when I have my doubts, it's this way. Lord, am I loving you like I should?

38:50 even when I'm praying for the sick, I don't understand why. Sometimes people are miraculously healed in the moment. Sometimes they're healed that week. Sometimes they're healed over the course of time. Sometimes they're never healed at all. Sometimes they're totally healed by death. Think about that. Pastor, pray for me. I'm sick. They said I could die. Do you believe in Jesus? That's my first question. Do you trust Christ? Yes, with all my heart. Let us know, we're going to pray for you to get healed, but you could catch a cold next month. That's fine. That comes with the territory.

39:29 But if it's possible that the perfect will of God be lived out in your life, what if it's God's perfect plan that you not be physically healed, but he heals you totally by taking you to heaven? Now, the Christian is supposed to say something like this. Yes! Well, Lee just said it.

39:54 Yes. But then the doubt comes in. And the doubt is this. I wanted to see more of my grandkids. I wanted to see more of my children. Right? We're humans. We love life. This is not a death cult. We want to live. That's beautiful. He put that in us. But notice, the truth is, yes, let's go be with Jesus to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord. And yet at the exact same time, he's put the love of life within us. And we want to, in that proverbial scene, be the grandma and the grandpa in the rocking chair as you watch your generations play in front of you. God loves that. You understand that, everybody? But you and I live in a fallen world. All this stuff is falling apart. It's all going to burn up someday, the Bible says. People want to live forever.

40:48 Eat this, drink this, do the other. You know what? I don't know what. This guy, you know that doctor? I'm not going to say his name because he'll sue me. You know the doctor that now I'm convinced I can't listen to him anymore. Every time you go to watch something, he pops up and says, do you think that tomatoes are good for you? Think again. So then, honey, Lisa, no more tomatoes. and then he pops up again. Do you think bananas help you? You better think again. Have you heard this guy? Do you know who I'm talking about? This guy.

41:26 You know what he's saying. This is what he's saying. God didn't know what he was doing when he made all this stuff. And I found out, you found out, the only way that you're going to live forever is if you buy all of his stuff and you'll go broke, mortgage your home to pay for the whole thing, but you'll live forever homeless. And he'll live forever rich. But just know this, you can't eat anything but my pills. Wow, really? Who wants to live forever here? Oh, look around. You want to be here for long? Look around. I want to go today. Think about it. This world's crazy. But listen, if you don't know the Lord Jesus, you're saying, no, no, no, I want to live forever. Just know this.

42:18 You can live forever without having to live here. There's a big plus. Can you imagine? Just like you fall asleep at night and you wake up in the morning. Time's passed. You're not even aware of it. You just know it's a new day. Imagine you close your eyes in this world and you open your eyes up in the next and you're with the Lord Jesus Christ because you've trusted him, because you believe in him, because of all that he's done for you. You can doubt. Just listen. Get your doubts answered. Mom and dad, your kids are doubting? That's normal. By the way, I want to talk to the dads real quick. It's not in my notes. Must be inspiration from God. Dads, you need to lead your family, especially your kids, and the things of God. You know your kids are going to come up and say, Dad, what about this? What about that? What about the other thing? If Jesus is God, then when he died on the cross, how come the world didn't fly apart? That's a good question, coming from a teenager. You better know the answer to that. Because listen, dads are supposed to be the leaders of the home. And give them the answer. You should know the answer. Give your kids the answer.

43:24 take away their doubts with answers. And answers from the word of God. It'd be a beautiful thing. Now, if there's no dad in the house, and we know that 50% of America's homes have no dad, well then, mom, you step up. God will bless you greatly. But to the honest doubter, go with what you know. Start there. Might be a little bit, but take it. In John chapter 12, verse 16, the Bible says, his disciples, Jesus' disciples, did not understand. That's another term for doubt. They didn't get it. We don't understand these things at first. But when Jesus was glorified, that is resurrected, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him. Notice, folks, they were doubting. They did not understand, but when Jesus Christ rose again from the dead, then they began to look at the scriptures differently because everything became more clear. Folks, listen, everybody, every religious founder of all time, their bones, their dust, their box, their crate, their container, their whatever still remains except one. There is only one. We were supposed to be in Israel last week, and I was supposed to take 500 of you and have you go to the garden tomb and have you get in line and stand there for an hour while everybody takes their picture of an open hole of nothing. You fly 15 hours, you go up to Jerusalem, you go run to the garden tomb, you stick your head inside, you look around, and you say, why, what's, there's nothing here.

45:10 That's right. Hallelujah. He's gone. He's resurrected. Can you imagine if you went to Red Square today in Moscow? And Lenin, you know, he's entombed there. By the way, I've seen him many times. I've been there. He looks fantastic. He really does look great.

45:33 But since 1992, I think the last time I saw him, was like the 20th time in 2016. Or 2006. I don't remember. It doesn't matter. because why doesn't it matter? Because he never moved. He's like this. But you look like you could talk to him. It's like, hey, you look great. You ought to get up. The guy's dead. The guy's dead. They've got him embalmed. His body's there. Oh, but he's long gone. He's long gone. there's a world on the other side of this flesh and bone that you and I have now listen I hesitate to give you this quote because it took me honestly I pondered this quote for probably an hour of just absolutely overwhelming statement but you gotta and I'm sure I'm gonna fumble the ball right here at the end zone but this is a true statement are you ready for this this is a quote from Herbert Lockyer and I want you to see this.

46:46 All during his earthly life, I love that because Jesus had an eternal life before he came to this earthly life. Jesus avoided publicity and the spectacular. Now suddenly he appears in Jerusalem on one of the most conspicuous occasions and in the most spectacular manner Josephus tells us in his historical writings this guy is a Jew who was hired by the Roman Empire to basically record history for the Romans but also spy on Israel Josephus says there must have been over a hundred thousand people on the slopes of Mount Olivet with palm branches shouting Hosanna and Jesus allowed it. For those of you who do not know, Jesus, when he did his miracles, he would always tell people, now don't tell anybody I just did this. And then they tried to make him king, and he said, no, it's not my time. On Palm Sunday, 1,994 years ago today, Jesus not only did not stop them, he cooperated why did he do that?

48:05 because of the exact prophecies that made that day possible Zechariah chapter 9 it might be the best verse most important verse of this entire day that you hear Zechariah chapter 9 beginning at the latter end of verse 8 ancient prophecy Jesus is hundreds of years away from being born in the flesh for now I have seen with my eyes Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king, Messiah, anointed one, is coming to you. He is just and having salvation. Lowly, humble, riding on a donkey. And if that was enough, that was enough. But it goes deeper. A colt, the full of a donkey.

48:56 Wow. That causes doubt to evaporate. That causes atheism to go out the window. This ancient prophecy was fulfilled on this day in history. And what do you have to say to that? You should say, I believe. You should say, on the facts, I believe.

49:17 Remarkable. Psalm 118, the great messianic psalm. I read the whole psalm and I was going to have you all read it, then I realized we don't have the time. Let that be your homework today. Can you read Psalm 118? It's not long. It's just too long for this morning. I don't have the time. Can you read it as a family before you go to bed tonight? This is a psalm that if you're Jewish, if you're Jewish and if you're watching right now, if you're here right now and you're Jewish, you're saying, I know this psalm. This is the psalm of ascent. This is the psalm that has been sang for thousands of years. As you go up to Jerusalem, it's about the Messiah. Every Jew knows this.

50:00 Hosanna, that's what save now means. Hosanna, save now. I pray, oh Lord, by the way, let me change the words, but actually let me change them into accuracy, because this is English. Bible's not in English. Hosanna, I pray, oh Yahweh. Yahweh, Yah, Jehovah.

50:23 Oh, Yahweh, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh. We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahoshua, salvation. That's his name. this is listen this is the psalm one of many that announces the name of the God of the Bible friends please know that the God of the Jews the God of the Christians we know his name Yah which by the way in the Greek is Jesus same meaning remarkable by the way I want to give you that meaning just so you can write it down you take a picture whatever you want to do with this it's pretty awesome It means this.

51:28 A personal and proper name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The name of the God who is salvation. Salvation is his name and his provision. You can't separate salvation away from his name. We'll see this more clearly here in a moment. But think about this. Go with what you know. What do you know?

51:54 You don't have to be a theologian to know God personally. know him kind of remembering back the Christmas scene in Matthew chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 are you guys awake still? are you okay? I'm ahead of schedule so you guys need to be don't get tired on me now Matthew chapter 2 we all know this at Christmas time now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, watch verse 2, watch verse 2, saying, so these are wise guys, these are wise men. These are very highly specially trained magi. These guys are no joke. saying, where is he who has been born, what?

52:53 King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the east and we have come to worship him. Listen to this. I've got to tell you, I'm embarrassed. I never thought about this before. I've always known since I became a believer that Jesus was born King of the Jews. I always known about the three wise men in my nativity scene who came to worship the newborn king but do you know what? What's remarkable is that Jesus was born a king. what's your point my point is jesus was born a king because he was a king before he was born there are no earthly kings who have ever been born you say wait a minute what about the king what about the king of england he was not born a king he was born a prince Jesus was never born a prince Jesus was born a king because he's always been king and listen, as king, he was born the magi had it right I thought you would be really impressed with that I thought that was profound that was a ooh-ah moment right there The third thing is this.

54:19 Is that your only hope, you, the open-minded, is what makes sense? I'm going to ask you to challenge in your mind what makes sense. Because I'm going to ask you lovingly, sarcastically this way. What was the message? It's known as the gospel. What was the message of Jesus Christ anyway? What are we doing here? Come on, what makes sense? Let's be honest. in your life think now quickly in your life what's important to you I mean strip away the veneer strip away the veneer the stuff that really doesn't matter you know the stuff we focus on that doesn't matter take all that away what's really important to you? Love? Faithfulness? Relationship? Forgiveness?

55:10 Conscience? Cleared? things you cannot buy. And then you open up your Bible and you read that the Bible, the Gospels, have the answer to all of these things that I just said and more that you cannot buy. So let me ask you this. If the message of Jesus Christ is the Gospel, the Evangel, which means good news. what is it? think for a moment, just think Jesus Christ, the word of God, the Bible is the only book and he's the only one that answers the actual real things that you really care about and living in America, especially Southern California this is the hardest, this is a Herculean lift for me because you and I live in a culture that is highly pampered our weather look let's be honest things are expensive look you see the price of gasoline because of the war let's be honest you did exactly what I did yesterday I pulled up to the Shell station and I looked at the price of gas and I knew it was from hell because oh no I can prove it I can prove it because the price of gas over here at Shell was 666 a gallon you say jack you went to some other gas station right you didn't put like the devil juice in your car did you yes i did yes i did but i looked at that and that thing's that thing's pumping away and here's here was my thought i i got places to go that's exactly what you were thinking i can't believe the price of this gas. Load me up. Do you want to know why? The poorest here, the poor, what am I trying to say? The poorest of us live in Southern California.

57:12 this message if we take this message right now to Kenya or Sudan or Iran and tell them the good news of the gospel they'll devour it when you're facing death the price of gas doesn't matter it's the price that was paid by the blood of the lamb to take away our sins That's what matters.

57:45 One we can pay, one we can never pay. that makes sense to me did Jesus succeed or fail if he promised us all these blessings did he succeed or did he fail he succeeded depends on what makes sense to you if you think redemption is owning a Ferrari you're going to be disappointed in about a month especially if I pull up in my old pickup truck and run right into it maybe God will send me to run right into your idol I can see that happening in my mind, and I have to fight that picture right now.

58:42 Mark chapter 11, verses 9 and 10 says, Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying,