We're going to be looking at the subject of lessons from Palm Sunday. We're going to be looking at some practical lessons, especially, folks, where we are today in our lives, the circumstances that we are going through. I believe this great portion of scripture has a great deal to say to us. And therefore, I would invite you to take your Bibles and turn to this well-known scripture of Matthew chapter 21. And we're going to read together, not the entire portion, but verses 1 through 11 together, okay? And you follow along as I read, just follow along silently. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethpage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them unto me. And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say the Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, sitting upon an ass in a colt, the fowl of an ass. And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments on the way, Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come unto Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, who is this? And the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. We're going to be looking at seven lessons that we can glean from this great Palm Sunday event. Some of these are going to be practical lessons. Others will be theological. And I say that very carefully because theological principles are practical. principles. Theology, taught properly, is always practical. It always applies to our hearts and lives. Theology never ought to be starchy. It ought to be vibrant and presented in earnestness because God knows what our needs are. So the first thing we're going to look at is found in verses one through three in the passage that we have shared together. And that first principle is this, the Lord knows the pathway before us. You know, I remember as a young teenager, going to youth rallies. We always used to sing that chorus. My Lord knows the way through the wilderness. All I have to do is follow. My Lord knows the way through the wilderness. All I have to do is follow. Strength for today is mine always. The Lord knows the way through the wilderness. All I have to do is follow. Boy, I had to wipe out the cobwebs on that one. You know, the Lord knows about the future. Now, some of us have been naughty this last week because we've worried about the future. And we get all bent out of shape and all concerned about the future for various reasons. This narrative right here shows us. that God is already in the future. And we don't have to worry about the future because God is there. God sees everything in the eternal present. Time is his creation and he sees the end from the beginning. Doesn't Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 give us a good narrative on this? It says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Here, he gives instruction in verse two. Go into the village over against you. You're gonna find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose them, bring them unto me. And if anyone says, what are you doing? Tell them that the Lord has need and they will allow you. Here, the Lord is in control. And when he gives a command, it's not our fault. place to question why or how, but to just obey. Trust and obey. There's no other way. And you folks have been trusting the Lord for many years. Many of you ladies have trusted in the Lord when you were ministering to your children with fevered brow. Or your husband had to go overseas to serve their country and you were left alone with children or family. Or you saw your children go off to school and you had to commit them to God. All of the things that you've been through. Folks, listen to me. God is in control and he will lead us. We need to be obedient unto the Lord. You know, I like that verse in Isaiah 57. And verse 15, it puts it this way. The Lord inhabits eternity. Wow. He inhabits eternity. I sure don't. The Bible says that life is like a vapor for us that appears for a little while and then it passes away. It's like a weaver's shuttle, it says in the book of Isaiah. Life is short and it's brief and yet God inhabits eternity. Can't you find the certainty that we ought to have? He foreordains what is going to take place. Note Christ's instruction. He knows what's going to take place. We don't need to fear about men. God is in control. And we can pray for Brother Feghali as these people are coming together this summer to go to Egypt and be ministered to. We're going to pray for their safety. The angel of the Lord will grant by his power that the word of God will have free course and we trust in him. They need not fear as they obeyed the Lord in verses 1 through 3 because the Bible says God has not given us the spirit of fear but of sound mind. And I know that it's easy for you to look at that piece of paper in front of you that talks about churches in various locations and suggestions that were given and say, Lord, I don't know where you're going to guide, but you know what? The Lord will guide us and direct us and give us wisdom that we need. God knows the path that I take. And here's another lesson. God will fulfill every detail of his word. You know, it's amazing how skeptics will mock the word of God. But the word of God tells us in verses four and five regarding Zechariah. It says, all of this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. And then it quotes Zechariah chapter nine and verse nine. If you look at Zechariah 9.9, it says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy King cometh unto thee! He's just, having salvation, lowly, riding upon an ass, and upon the colt of the fowl of an ass. And the Word of God prophesied this over 700 years before it took place. Then if you look at Daniel chapter 9 in verse 25, the verse of scripture that Steve alluded to. You remember it says, know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks, 483 years The street shall be built and the wall even in troublesome times. So that was prophesied back in 445 BC by the decree of Artaxerxes to the presentation of the Messiah, the Prince, 483 years. You know, every one of you ought to have that book by Sir Robert Anderson. In his work, The Coming Prince, he deals with the prophecy. By the way, he worked for Scotland Yard. Did you know that he was one of the chief directors and one of the chief inspectors in the Jack the Ripper investigation in Great Britain? Sir Robert Anderson used his tremendous investigative skills to even give us the instruction and the prophecies that God's word would give us. And in April 32 A.D., prophesied, speaking all the way back to the decree of Artaxerxes, 45 B.C., we know the exact time that this was to take place. Yes, the word of God says He will fulfill every detail of his word. And some of you are worried about the future. Well, let me say this. In seeking a church, find one that teaches the word of God without fear or without compromise. Find a church that rightly divides the word of truth. And he will lead you and fulfill every detail of his word. Our part, principle number three, is to obey the Lord. And you know, in Matthew chapter 21 and verse 6, that's exactly what the disciples did. They went and did as Jesus had commanded him. They were told, there is going to be a location that you're to go to. And I've worked it out. And they went and they did. Just like Eleazar the servant in the book of Genesis, I being in the way, the Lord led me. Joseph was in the way of the Lord. Job was in the way of the Lord. Abraham followed the way of the Lord. And we can see over and over again that when we obey the Lord, he will guide and he will direct. And by the way, you're not always going to get all of the information You have to act by faith in God's word. That's very, very important. Then here's another lesson in verses 7 through 11 that we can glean together. And that is this, that the praise that the world gives is very, very fleeting. Many of you share your faith outside of the walls of this chapel. And I'm here to tell you that the parable of the sower and the soils is clearly accomplished many times when I share the word of God. How many of you have seen individuals that say, oh, that's wonderful. The plan of salvation is wonderful. They may be even willing to utter a prayer to receive Christ as Savior. With joy, they thankfully receive it. But then the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, other worldly concerns, the word of God says they don't follow through. It was never really sincere. Could it be that there's someone here or listening to this message on the internet? Oh, you've come to Christ for the convenience of it. It sounded good. You thought that if you came to Christ, you'd have health, wealth, prosperity, everything would go well for you, and you embrace it, but then the difficulties that may come in standing for the Lord are an offense to you. And I've had people come to me and say, even visiting our church in years past, Pastor What a wonderful church. The people are so friendly. And oh, we just love the message. And then all of a sudden, they're gone. And you go visit with them, and they have no interest or desire for the things of the Lord. And very often, it's because they saw an attractive girl at the church. or they might have seen someone that they had their eyes on, or else they were trusting in God's provision because they had a big decision to make, so they started coming to church to see if that would help them out. But when the things fell through, they just stopped coming to church. Well, look at verse 7 through 11. Here, a great multitude in verse 8, it says, came and they spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees, threw them in the way. The multitudes that were before followed and they cried, Hosanna. That's the Hebrew word in Psalm 118 verse 25. Save now. You see, they had their preconception of what they wanted him to do. You know, there are many times when we present the gospel in church, or you might present the gospel to someone in a supermarket, or in a bus, or in a doctor's office, and people will quickly respond to it because they have ulterior motives. Perhaps they're hoping that that lottery ticket might work out if they express faith in the Lord. or maybe they're looking for some temporal benefit. Well, these people here, their only interest, the majority of them, was that they wanted the material benefits that they thought the kingdom would provide. They saw Jesus provide bread and fish. This is wonderful. We don't even have to work. Guaranteed sustenance. Today, people are looking for all kinds of guarantees. Guaranteed medical care, guaranteed food benefits, whether you're willing to work or not. Times haven't changed. That's the way it was in Jesus's day. And if we allow Jesus to come in and throw off the Roman yoke of bondage that's upon our nation, he will come and everything that he did, universal healing, universal food, boy, this is gonna be a great society that we'll have. And they had the wrong concept. They saw that Jesus was a genie in a bottle. Just rub the side of the bottle, and he'll give you whatever you want today. You know, churches are filled with individuals that think that that's what Christianity is all about, and no concern at all about the will of God. As a matter of fact, it says here that they were crying out, saying, Hosanna! Son of David, they kept on crying is the idea here of the verb. They kept on, it was a chant. It was a time where they were being whipped up in a lather, yelling and screaming, Hosanna, he's going to bring in this wonderful kingdom for us. Well, the praise of the world is fleeting. We can all think of individuals, be they politicians, or family members that expressed faith for a short season, but then they showed forth their true colors. And just days later, the ones who said Hosanna later would say, crucify him. That's why Jesus said, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. True discipleship, true believers in Christ will persevere in the faith. And that is so important to understand. Here's another lesson for us. Lesson number five. That is that mental assent to spiritual truths is never enough. You can hear about Jesus. Virtually everyone that was here on this Palm Sunday were individuals that had heard about Jesus. You can hear and know facts about Jesus. Many of you might have even grown up in a Christian home. I went to college and had a roommate that was in a Christian school, and yet he never truly had received Jesus Christ as Savior. He conformed himself to the instruction of his parents, he conformed himself everywhere that he went, but yet he had never trusted in Christ, and it wasn't until a chapel service with Evangelist Paul Dixon that this fella got saved. Oh, how we have to be careful. The crowd wanted the lifting of Roman societal oppression, and they were not concerned about sin's oppression. in their own lives, how we need to be careful of that. You know, a lot of people are looking at Palm Sunday and the events of Palm Sunday and they fail to read a little bit further in the chapter. Have you noticed that verses 12 through 17 deal with the purging of the temple? Isn't it interesting that one of the first things that Jesus did when he went into the city was that he purged the temple. This was the second purging. Back in John 2, at the early part of his ministry, there was an initial cleansing. But here, it says he went into the temple and he cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, overthrew the tables and money changers and the seats of them that sold offs. You know what that tells me? God is more concerned about our internal condition than he is the frivolous verbiage that comes out of our mouth when we say, Hosanna, Hosanna, King of the Jews. In other words, lesson number six, the purification of the temple pictures the need of the cleansing of our own temple, the temple of our hearts. It's easy to come, and many churches are preaching on Palm Sunday, but what about the condition of our hearts in areas that are actually keeping us from truly knowing Christ as Savior? It could be possessions, It could be an attitude of wealth and popularity. It could be a person in your life that is keeping you from coming to Christ. And the Lord says, I will not share my glory with another. Are we willing to cleanse the temple of our hearts and make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives? A good lesson for churches as well that have given themselves over to the ways of the world and merchandising rather than the proclamation of the gospel. It says here, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. Oh, how we need to be careful. Remember what it says in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Is the Lord convicting you or me regarding areas of our lives that have not been yielded to the Lord on this Palm Sunday, where we've allowed fear to captivate us, or we're so desirous of doing things our way that we're closing the door to the Lord's leading in direction in our lives, and he needs to overturn that. Look a little further in the passage. Look at verse 18. You know, that was a picture of Israel. These events are a picture of Israel. Israel professed to allow Christ into the city, but within, in the temple, there was corruption, fruitlessness, barrenness characterized the nation of Israel. The Bible tells us when Jesus came unto his own, he was like a root out of dry ground. Jewish religiosity was dry and barren. and they were given over to externalities and legalism. And if we're not careful, we can keep the external trappings of religiosity and methodology and lose the heart of the Lord truly being in the center of our lives. Israel in Isaiah chapter 5, you recall, was a vine that should have borne fruit and did not. Jesus spoke about fruit bearing in John 15. You recall in verse 6 when he said, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abides in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing." So the lesson for us is obvious. Have we sincerely allowed Jesus Christ to enter into the city of our hearts? I ask you today, dear person standing before me listening to this message, are you born again? I didn't ask you if you were religious. I didn't ask you whether you were of high pedigree and culture. I asked you has the time come in your life where you realized that you were lost and bound for hell without any hope and that even at your best, you could never meet God's standard of perfection. Do you realize, dear one, that Jesus Christ is your only hope of salvation? Jesus Christ is the only one righteous enough to satisfy God. And you must come to Jesus Christ and let him Have a triumphal entry into your heart and life and call upon him. Lord, I am lost, but I believe that you are the Son of God who died on the cross, shed your blood, and I want to receive your free gift of eternal life. I need your righteousness, and that is the only righteousness that God will receive. I've been praying about a grave concern loved ones that I know that are religious but they're looking to their religion and their ritual thinking that that will impress God and you know the only way a person can ever get to heaven is to crawl to the cross needing the mercy of God revealed in Christ Jesus and the only righteousness that we can have is what Christ has imparted to us And if I were to die tonight and never preach another message and I were to stand at the gates of heaven and God would ask me, why should I let you in? My answer would not be because I've tried to be a good father of six boys and a good husband and a pastor and I've done this and that and tried to be this and that. My answer would be because I've received the righteousness of your son, Jesus Christ. and I am righteous in your son, Jesus Christ. Has the Lord had that triumphal entry? But you know, if he's going to enter into our hearts, there's gonna need to be an overturning of the idols and the ritualistic thinking. When Jesus Christ comes into our hearts and lives, he comes and he begins a great, great process of cleansing, if we will let him. And it's his power and his work. It's his power that produces the power. We need not be barren or unfruitful. Are we bearing fruit through Christ? And by the way, in Matthew 21, I suppose that you can add another principle here that we can apply, and that is this. In Matthew 21, Jesus offered himself in his first advent riding upon a donkey. But in the book of Revelation 19, Christ comes riding a white horse with his saints. And he's going to establish his kingdom by force. And one-third of Israel shall be saved, it says in Zechariah 13. Think of it. He will come as the lion of the tribe of Judah, not meek and mild riding upon a donkey. He offered himself as the lamb, but he'll come back as the lion of the tribe of Judah. And I'm thankful that I'm in the Lord's army. Are you? Will you be riding with the Lord when he comes to establish his kingdom? Oh, in the first advent, there sure was a purging in the temple. But in the second advent, there will be a purging as well. And the only ones that will enter into the kingdom will be those who have washed themselves in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ by receiving him as personal savior. Well, that's the true meaning of Palm Sunday. It gives us a warning, it gives us instruction, but praise the Lord, it gives us hope that when we come to Jesus Christ as savior, Yes, he's had to cleanse my temple and is still doing it. But praise God, we can bear fruit and someday we will be with him in heaven and then come down with him to establish his kingdom. And by the way, find a good dispensational church that teaches you that. There are many churches that do not teach the two aspects of Christ's coming. For his saints, but then with his saints. Many, many churches that lump them all together. Find a good dispensational church that'll rightly divide the word of truth, and the Lord will lead and direct. Let's bow our heads together and ask the Lord's blessing. Father, it's been good to be in the house of the Lord. Lord, how we've heard of men and women that followed you. And Lord, in many cases, as in the life of Jacob, that we saw in Sunday school, you bless them in spite of themselves. And Lord, we thank you that you are a merciful God. But Lord, you will also bring judgment upon those that Lord will reject your leadership, reject your word. And Father, I pray that everyone listening today will truly knows what it means to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior. And Lord, thank you for the peace that you provide to us and the confident expectation. Lord, bless our luncheon together and our time together, worshiping you in Jesus name, amen.