Luke 19:41-44 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Pastor Obie points out that even though Jesus was obviously fulfilling Messianic prophesy, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the promised King of kings, the One who would bring salvation to their souls was standing right in front of them, yet the people of that day missed it because they didn’t prepare. We, today, can learn from their mistakes and be prepared because Jesus is coming back. In John 14:1-3 Jesus told us,“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. In Acts 1:11 Angels said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
By the end of the week, Jesus would be betrayed, convicted in a mock trial and handed over to be crucified in an event called “Good Friday” because Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross paid the debt of the sins of the world in full, redeeming repentant sinners from eternity in Hell and exchanging for eternal life in Heaven, because Jesus rose from the dead three days later on Easter Sunday, defeating sin and death forever, proving that He was the Son of God. Now 40 days from the time of His resurrection Jesus, having appeared to His disciples, ascended into Heaven. Hebrews 9:28 confirms, “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Pastor Obie gave us four ways to prepare for the coming of the Son of God. First, by living in expectation that God will show up as promised. Luke 19:37-38 tells us that “the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “disciple” as: a follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another. Hence the constant attendants of Christ were called his disciples; and hence all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts.
Psalm 118:25-26 says, “Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. Hosanna means “save now, I beseech thee, O Lord” in Greek. The Lord Messiah’s disciples lived in expectation and were prepared when He showed up. Living in expectation of arrival changes the way that we foundationally live, handled money, interact with people, the way that you make decisions, approach life’s trials and pray. Living in expectation that God is going to show up, provide for your needs and lift you up should change the way that we live.
The second thing in preparing for the coming of the Son of God is to prepare your home by preparing your heart. Usually, people think of preparing for the Second Coming of Christ as thinking about the Rapture, the Tribulation, the end of the world, and Jesus coming to take His disciples to Heaven. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17explains, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
I say, prepare for the Son by preparing your home, which is different than preparing your house. A house is a structure. A home is the people within that house. That structure can change, fail or fall apart and you can move. But, your home will be with you forever. Many live their lives slaving away to provide, to remain and keep their structural house, yet completely neglect their home. Do not let your house take priority over your home; people matter more, so invest in preparing your home (spend time, effort and money maintaining your household, your family, your marriage, your children). Prepare your home by preparing your heart. Put in the extra time and money in your home relationships. Influence your family to put Christ first in their hearts. Lead and show them by example, Christ sacrificial love. The way that you love God in your heart or the lack thereof is the example that family sees and models. The answer to 99% of the world’s social and economic problems can be solved by having godly, healthy homes. This is a generational solution, so preparing your home is so important. That is why God set up the family unit to be father, mother, children - stable in love, honor and respect as God created and intended them to be.
Let's conclude Pastor Obie's Palm Sunday message in the next post. In Christ Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment