Episode 1

The Road to the Resurrection: Triumph, Tragedy and the Temple (North OC)

This sermon by Marcel Hall is the first in the new series 'The Road to the Resurrection.' Focusing on the themes of triumph, tragedy, and the temple, Marcel guides the congregation through key events in the Gospel of Luke, particularly the final days of Jesus's life leading up to his death and resurrection. The sermon explores Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the subsequent tragedy of the people's rejection of him, and the cleansing of the temple. Marcel emphasizes the urgent need for recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, responding to his call today, and keeping ourselves and the church pure. The sermon concludes with a call to partake in the faith journey and the anticipated joy of the resurrection.

00:00 Introduction: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Temple

00:07 Opening Prayer and Worship

01:17 Introduction to the Gospel of Luke

03:30 The Triumphal Entry

06:24 Jesus Declares His Kingship

11:03 The Tragic Reality of Rejection

15:00 Cleansing the Temple

18:56 Applying the Lessons Today

21:19 The Time is Now: Urgency in Faith

23:17 Modern Day Temple: The Church and Ourselves

28:39 Conclusion and Communion

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OC Church of Christ

Transcript
Marcel:

We're going to look at the triumph, the tragedy and the temple,

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the triumph, the tragedy and the temple.

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Let's go to father in prayer.

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Father in heaven, I thank you so

much for already this chance to

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build each other up to encourage.

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I know I've been encouraged.

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I've been strengthened in my faith just

in some few conversations and God, we're

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grateful that we can sing some songs, God,

and that we can think about who you are

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through the words that we sing out to you.

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We can be reminded of your promises

and your faithfulness to us.

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And Father, we're grateful so much for

the gospels that recorded your son's

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life, his death, and his resurrection.

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Thank you for the, uh, uh,

uh, example that Jesus set.

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Thank you so much that we can learn from

the scriptures and apply his teachings,

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his, his truth to our lives today.

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God, we ask for you to, to, to cast to

the side anything that would distract.

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So that we can focus in and commune

and hear from you this morning.

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In the name of Jesus, Amen.

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Amen.

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There's a, uh, we have a little handout.

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We'd like to do this for a series.

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Uh, we have a little handout.

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If you want a physical copy, you can

go and raise your hand and some of

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the ushers will go ahead and do that.

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But we're going to be going

through the Gospel of Luke.

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It's also in your, uh,

in, on the church app.

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So if you, uh, have the church app and

you go to the inbox there, maybe it

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already popped up as a notification.

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But, uh, you can go there and

there's a, a, a handout on there.

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But we didn't make a, a, a, a copy for

every single person because we know that

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as soon as you hit those doors, you are

going to fold this and throw it away.

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And so we gave you a digital copy

so you can look through it and

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you can get a little background

about the gospel of Luke.

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And so just real quickly here.

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The Gospel of Luke is really

a biography about Jesus.

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And so Luke was actually not, uh, he was

actually not a direct disciple of Jesus.

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He became a disciple of Jesus later

after Jesus's death and resurrection.

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He was actually a companion and

missionary of the Apostle Paul.

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And he was a doctor by profession.

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But as we can see through his work, he

also really was a great historian for us.

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Especially we reap the

benefits of his working.

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So he decided I'm going to research.

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I'm going to go to the eyewitnesses.

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And I'm going to interview them and

I'm going to go ahead and write out

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a biography about Jesus and he sent

it to a person named Theophilus and

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so we speculate as to who that was

and what all that was about there

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and in the context but it was written

approximately in the in the 60s A.

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D.

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Most scholars believe it was before 70 A.

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D.

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And so he writes this gospel so that

again we can know who Jesus is that we

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can trust in what we know about our faith.

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In Jesus, and so we're going to walk

through again the last couple of chapters

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of the gospel of Luke and we're going

to look at the final days of Jesus's

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life before his death and resurrection

and, and, uh, look at some of the days

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of which we call the passion week.

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And so this is from Palm Sunday, the

Sunday before Jesus's resurrection

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until the day of resurrection.

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That's what we're going to be

doing for the next several weeks.

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And so that gives us some context here

of our series and of the gospel of Luke.

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Church, are you with me?

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All right.

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So let's go ahead and let's get into it.

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We're going to actually start off

in Luke chapter 9 in verse 51.

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It says, as the time approached

for him talking about Jesus to

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be taken up to heaven, Jesus

resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

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And so we start there so that we

can understand so starting off

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from chapter 9 verse 51 all the

way until the rest of the gospel is

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talking about this travel narrative.

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And so Jesus is now so everything

you read from this point on all the

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way up until chapter 19 is Jesus on

his way to Jerusalem for the Passover

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feast, which is one of the three

major holidays for the Jewish nation.

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And so Jesus now, as we're going

to go here into the text, he's

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been on his way knowing this is it.

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This is what I came for.

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This is my mission and this is my purpose.

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And so he resolutely sets out

for Jerusalem, knowing what he

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will face, knowing he will face

the cross, but also knowing that

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he will raise on the third day.

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And so we take it up and we're going

to start off with the triumphal

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entry in Luke chapter 19 and verse

28 church Are you with me here?

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All right, let's go after Jesus had

said this he went on ahead going up to

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Jerusalem as he approached Bethphage

and Bethany at the hill called the Mount

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of Olives He sent two of his disciples

saying to them go to the village ahead

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of you And as you enter it, you will

find a cold tide there, which no one has

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ever ridden Untied and bring it here.

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If anyone asks you,

why are you untying it?

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Say The Lord needs it, man, you

gotta love that about Jesus.

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I wish I had that type of authority.

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Why are you doing this?

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Well, because the Lord says so.

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Okay.

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And then he says on, he says, those

who were sent ahead when and founded

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just as he had told them, as they were

untying the coats, its owners asked

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them, why are you untying the coat?

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They replied, the Lord needs it.

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They brought it to Jesus, threw their

cloaks on the coats and put Jesus on it.

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As he went along, people spread

their cloaks on the road.

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When he came near the place where the

road goes down to the Mount of Olives,

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the whole crowd of disciples began

joyfully to praise God in loud voices

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for all the miracles they had seen.

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The Gospel of John talks about how

Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead.

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So that was one of the

miracles that they had seen.

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And so if you had seen this,

you would be impressed.

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As well.

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And so as they're walking around,

they say, blessed is the King who

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comes in the name of the Lord.

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Citing an Old Testament verse, peace

in heaven and glory in the highest.

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Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said

to Jesus, teacher, rebuke your disciples.

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I tell you, he replied, if they

keep quiet, the stones will cry out.

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Let's stop right there.

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This is the triumphal entry because

this is Jesus declaring publicly that

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he is the long awaited King and Messiah.

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Up until this point in his ministry,

Jesus has really deferred or

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kind of dodged a lot of public

admit, uh, uh, uh, admiration.

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When people wanted to make him king

and they want to do some, Jesus

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said, no, we're not going to do that.

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But here and only here in this moment, he

allows this praise, this public display.

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To announce to all that the king has come.

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That the Messiah is here.

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And so Jesus makes this king's entrance.

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And he rides in on a donkey.

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And in ancient times, if a

king rode in on a donkey, it

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meant he was coming for peace.

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If he rode in on a horse,

he was coming for war.

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And so Jesus, as he rides

in, he's declaring, I'm the

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king who's coming for peace.

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And the peace that Jesus wants to make

is the peace between God and mankind.

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And so he makes this public display and he

rides in and he declares himself not only

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as the king of peace, but the long awaited

Messiah, the chosen one, the Christ.

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Who had God's people have been looking

for, for many and many years and searching

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and waiting for Jesus saying, I am him.

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And he goes and he fulfills one of

the prophecies in Zechariah chapter

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9 verse 9, which is a prophecy.

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And those in this and during this time of

Jesus knew and understood that this was a

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prophecy about the long awaited Messiah.

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It reads, Rejoice greatly.

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Daughter Zion.

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Shout daughter Jerusalem.

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See your king comes to you

righteous and victorious lowly

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and riding on a donkey on a coat.

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The foil of a donkey.

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And so Jesus is declaring

making it known everybody.

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The man is here.

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The Messiah is here.

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The king is here.

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And here's what's incredible about

it is that the gospel John tells

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us that hey there was actually.

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Jesus was a marked man.

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The, the, the leaders at this

time said, Hey, if you guys see

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Jesus come over to the Passover,

let us know so we can arrest him.

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And what does Jesus do?

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He doesn't come in hiding

and sneaking around.

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He doesn't come in talking about,

Don't call me Jesus, call me Jesus.

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Jesus comes in loud and we're talking

he's coming down from the Mount of Olives

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and he has to cross the Kidron Valley

and I've been in Jerusalem and so I've

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actually stayed in a hotel in the Mount

of Olives and so you come down and he's on

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a donkey so he's taking his sweet little

time and he goes in and the people are

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yelling they're throwing cloaks and we

know from the other part the other Gospels

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they're putting palm branches on the on

the ground that he walks in so everybody

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knows what's going on why because they're

shouting Blessed be the highest in king.

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And Jesus is declaring the king is here.

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Now some people get it

and some people don't.

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Some people understand.

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Some people think he's the Messiah but

they're thinking it's a political kingdom.

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Some people understand what he's doing.

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And now the Pharisees, they're upset.

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And potentially, they're maybe also

afraid that, hey, if you, they keep

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calling you this king and the Roman

officials are going to get upset,

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we're going to have a problem.

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Don't do that.

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Or they just know, man, you have the

audacity to allow these people to

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proclaim that you're the Messiah.

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You've got to stop them right now.

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And what does Jesus say?

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He says, even if they stop,

the stones will cry out.

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And there's so much that we can

learn from this, but that the

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praise for Jesus is appropriate.

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Jesus is saying, Hey, this praise

right now, it's appropriates.

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It's reasonable.

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Why?

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Because it's true.

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But also his kingship is a reality,

whether it is recognized by people or not.

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You see, Jesus is Lord, whether

you or those outside of this

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room recognize it or not.

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But he is the true, the one and

only Son of God, the Messiah, the

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King of kings and the Lord of lords.

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He said, even if we don't have a

worship service, I'm still that guy.

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So we continue to the tragic reality.

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As he approached Jerusalem and saw

the city, he wept over it and said,

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if you even you had only known on

this day, what would bring you peace?

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But now it's hidden from your eyes.

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The days will come upon you

when your enemies will build an

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embankment against you and encircle

you and hem you in on every side.

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They will dash you to the ground, you

and the children within your walls.

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They will not leave one stone on

another because you did not recognize

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the time of God's coming to you.

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There's a tragic reality here.

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As Jesus approaches, he looks out and he

sees the city and it brings him to tears.

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And why?

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Because God's people

don't recognize who he is.

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The people don't fully get it.

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They don't know that the Messiah, the one

that they've been waiting for, they've

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been praying for, that he is here and

he's not bringing a political kingdom.

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He's bringing God's eternal,

universal, spiritual kingdom.

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They don't recognize it.

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And he's saddened by it.

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And he knows.

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You guys have seen and you've heard the

miracles, but you missed out on who I am.

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Some think he's a political figure, a

false teacher, or just a miracle worker.

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But they rejected him as Lord.

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And now Jesus, knowing what's

going to happen, knows that there's

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judgment that awaits those who reject.

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And in this particular instance, he's

actually prophesying what would happen

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to Jerusalem and the Jewish nation at

this time is that in AD 70, the Roman

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Empire would go and destroy the temple

and that there is no walls that would

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stand for the people in Jerusalem.

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And so even to this day you have the

wailing wall and that was just the wall

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that would hold up the uh, uh, uh, the,

the, the, um, the, the temple there.

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And so Jesus knows it and he

said, he's like, man, this is

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just, it moves him to tears.

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Why?

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You're going to suffer the consequences.

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You rejected me because you

didn't recognize who I am.

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You didn't know that you

had peace available to you.

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Not only peace for this life, which I

believe Jesus offers, but eternal peace

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with God, the father and the people

forfeited by rejecting God's son.

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And so one of the things I think we

can learn is there's no peace with

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God for anyone who rejects Jesus.

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There's no peace with the almighty

for anyone who rejects Jesus.

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All because they did not recognize nor

accept God's coming through Jesus He

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says you didn't recognize the time of

God's coming to you God has been here the

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divine one has been here and you missed

out you forfeited and you rejected it

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and Now there's consequences for their

rejection, you know, the tragic reality

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Caused Jesus to weep what compassion?

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What's there?

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I know for me, I wouldn't have

had that type of compassion.

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I would have been like,

yeah, that's what y'all get.

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You acting up.

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You want to be stubborn, stiff neck.

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Mm hmm.

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Go ahead.

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But Jesus is still making

an appeal to the masses.

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The king is here.

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Please take advantage now.

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Because if you don't, you'll miss out in

this lifetime and in the lifetime to come.

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Tragic.

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Reality we go to the

temple clearing church.

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Are you still with me here?

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Says when Jesus entered the

temple courts, he began to drive

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out those who were selling.

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It is written, he said to them, my

house will be a house of prayer, but

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you have made it a den of robbers.

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Every day he was teaching at the

temple, but the chief priest, the

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teacher, the law and the leaders among

the people were trying to kill him.

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Yet they cannot find any way to do it

because all the people hung on his words.

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You know, I love this passage.

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Man, I wish I could see it.

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I went and did some research a

couple years ago, like, I wonder what

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movies, like, capture this scene.

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And, uh, there's one that was wild.

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Like, Jesus is like a samurai.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Like, they got this whip,

and he's like, Hi ya!

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Hi ya!

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Hi ya!

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You know what I'm saying?

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I was like, I don't

think that's how it went.

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But I love that imagery.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Cause sometimes we get Jesus like,

Oh, he's got the little lambs.

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You know, peace, peace, peace.

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Jesus came through like,

man, I'm wrecking shop.

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Man, y'all better get up outta here.

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Man, get, get, man, you better

get up outta here with that.

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He's with no punk, you

know what I'm saying?

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But he clears out the temple.

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Why?

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Because they dishonored and

misused the temple for themselves.

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They dishonored God's name and glory.

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You see this court where they were

selling was the court of the Gentiles.

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So all non Jews who worship God,

this was the area they can go.

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They couldn't go beyond that.

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And so this area is supposed

to be their area for worship.

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However, now it's a marketplace.

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Now it's a, it's a flea markets

and now things are being sold.

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And what also would take place

is there was exploitation.

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You had to transfer your coinage.

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And so, you had to have a certain coinage.

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And then, you had to purchase

animals for the sacrifice.

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And so, people would jack up the prices.

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Just like, you know, some industries do.

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They know, Oh, something big is in town.

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We're gonna jack up the prices.

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And so, people were doing that.

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And so, now you have exploitation.

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And Jesus can't take it.

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I know this has been going on.

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But we're gonna make a statement.

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And this is gonna stop here this week.

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And so Jesus, he defends God's

glory and he defends the people.

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Have you ever noticed what

Jesus gets upset about?

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When people defile God's name and glory,

or they misuse and mistreat people.

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What do you and I get upset about?

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Do we get upset about the same things?

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Or do we have a laundry list

to go in addition to that?

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You know, it's crazy when Jesus, when He

endured ridicule or people said negative

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things, He doesn't clear out the people.

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He doesn't get upset like this.

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But yet when people defile God's name

and glory, or when they try to misuse and

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exploit people, that gets them riled up.

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Ooh, how I want to be like Jesus.

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There's too much that I get upset

about because it's about me.

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And it's not about God,

and it's not about people.

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And it says that he, that

they clung to his words.

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You know, it's interesting, he clears

out the temple, and where does he teach?

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Right at the temple.

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He said, we're gonna have the

businessmen exit, and we're gonna

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allow the worshippers to come in.

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And this is gonna be my classroom.

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It used to be a marketplace,

but now it's my classroom.

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And I'm gonna teach.

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And he's going to teach powerfully

and they're captivated by it.

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They hung on his words.

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Wow!

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This is incredible.

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We haven't heard this teaching before.

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And so we see the triumph.

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We see the tragedy.

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And we see the temple being cleared out.

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What does that mean for you and me?

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What is that, how can we respond to this?

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How does this apply for

you and me today in:

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If you have something the Spirit's

ministering to you now, go ahead and

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write that down because God wants you

to take note of that and He wants you

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to think about that and allow that to

minister to you later so it can produce

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some type of fruit that He desires.

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I want to share some things, I'm going

to rattle off some things here that

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I believe that God wants us to apply

and think about in response to this.

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And the main thing that I believe

God is calling you and me to Is

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this, is that the time is now.

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The time is now.

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The time is now to recognize

who Jesus truly is.

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And I know I'm talking to

many who know who Jesus is.

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But we better recognize and we better hold

on to the truth of who Jesus truly is.

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We better see Jesus for who he is

and not something that he's not.

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Just like many people missed it.

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We don't want to miss it today.

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Jesus is not some miracle worker, not

a problem solver, a good guy, a moral

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teacher, or one of many historic figures.

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But he's the son of God,

the Christ, and the Lord.

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That's who Jesus is.

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And we better recognize that.

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We also know it's the time to

recognize the time of God's coming.

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The God's coming to you.

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People didn't recognize

that God had came to them.

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And Jesus is coming to

every one of us today.

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You know, God comes to

everyone giving all a chance.

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Some, he gives a number of

chances for a long period of time.

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And for others, it's fewer times.

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It's for a shorter period of time.

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And so the time is now

to respond to Jesus.

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The time is now to respond to Jesus,

not tomorrow, not next year, but today.

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And we better take advantage.

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And you and I, and I call you to take

advantage of your chance to seek God.

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Whether you have been a disciple

of Jesus for 30 plus years, or

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this is your first time hearing

about the gospel for 30 minutes.

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God is calling you to seek.

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Your chance to seek him out, because

if not, then you miss out on the peace

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that is available to you and you also

Unfortunately will suffer the consequences

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later That's what we saw, right?

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Jesus said hey, you you don't understand

peace is available to you If you don't

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get it now, man, you're gonna suffer

you're gonna miss out and you're gonna

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suffer consequence so if you and I If

we don't respond to who Jesus really is,

375

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then we're going to miss out on what's

available, but then we'll face judgment.

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And we're reminded again that

judgment is real and it will come.

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And it reminds me, I was, I was,

uh, this week, no, it was last week.

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Last week, as I was reading, I

was reading through the Gospels

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and I said, man, you know what?

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Am I urgent anymore?

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Am I urging in my repentance or do I go?

382

:

Uh, yeah, I'll just get open,

but I'm not really going to be

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urgent about dealing with my sin.

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:

And then I thought about my neighbors

and my friends and I go, yes, I

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:

have a heart and yes, I reach out.

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But am I urgent with getting

the good news out to people?

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Because the day of God's visiting

is there and he wants me to share so

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:

that they can know and have a chance

at a relationship with the almighty.

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But I'm thinking I'll give it next week.

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I'll get to it another day.

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I go, man, I need to be urgent.

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The time is now for me to respond

and work in conjunction with the

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:

Holy Spirit and what Jesus wants.

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Church, maybe you can't relate to that,

but that's what God ministered to me with.

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And so I want to repent and feel like

I've made a decision to repent now my

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deeds need to follow that decision But

here's the thing as well the time is

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now because Jesus he will clear out

hypocrisy and He's going to clear out

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the misuse of his name in his church

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You see the temple Was the place

that represented God's presence and

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the people gathered And so now, what

is the temple in modern day time?

401

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It's you and me.

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What do the scriptures teach?

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Let's go ahead and let's look

at it here real quickly here.

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:

You know what, for some

reason it's not clicking.

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Can you go ahead and click that

there, Eric, for me please?

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:

1 Corinthians chapter 3, the

modern temple of God is the

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:

church and it's us individually.

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Don't you know that you yourselves

are God's temple and that God's

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spirit dwells in your midst?

410

:

If anyone destroys God's temple,

God will destroy that person,

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:

for God's temple is sacred.

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And you together are that temple.

413

:

He's saying the church is the temple.

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It's not this building.

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No, we are the building of

God, which God dwells in.

416

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Then he also says this in 1 Corinthians

6, Don't you know that your bodies are

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temples of the Holy Spirit who is in

you, whom you have received from God?

418

:

You are not your own.

419

:

You were bought at a price.

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Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

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Your time is now that we make

sure that we keep the church

422

:

and ourselves pure and holy.

423

:

Because God's going to

clear any pollution out.

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And so we need to work in conjunction in

clearing out any pollution in our souls

425

:

and any pollution amongst God's people.

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:

We need to address and confront

sin and hypocrisy in our own lives

427

:

first and then in the church.

428

:

Oh, I only got a few amens on that.

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:

No, no, no, this is what Jesus does.

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:

If you're a follower of Jesus,

then this is what you do.

431

:

You make sure you deal with your own

hypocrisy, your own sin, your own

432

:

corruption, and then you work with

God to help others deal with theirs.

433

:

And you do it out of love, not out of

superiority, not to look down, but because

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:

I love God's name, I love His people, and

I refuse to allow that to be corrupted.

435

:

So I'm going to speak the truth to

you, brother, because I want you

436

:

to speak the truth to me, because

I don't want to see this corrupted.

437

:

How dare I let this happen?

438

:

How dare I let the temple

become a den of robbers?

439

:

It better be a place of worship.

440

:

And I'm talking about myself, and

I'm talking about the community.

441

:

You see, Jesus is gonna clear it out.

442

:

And it's either we're gonna

be, we're gonna work with him.

443

:

We're gonna be in conjunction with him.

444

:

Or we're gonna be recipients of judgments.

445

:

Oh, we don't want to hear that.

446

:

That's old school.

447

:

That's like that old school song.

448

:

Sorry, that's reality.

449

:

That's the tragic reality.

450

:

But what a great opportunity.

451

:

What a great opportunity to be with God.

452

:

To see things be purified

and be holy and righteous.

453

:

Isn't that what you want?

454

:

We all want that.

455

:

But we have to make a

decision that the time is now.

456

:

It's not for later.

457

:

It's for now.

458

:

And we must hang on to

every word of Jesus.

459

:

We must let Christ's teachings once again

be the central concern of our church.

460

:

We hang on every word he says.

461

:

We admire, we appreciate the word of God.

462

:

We get in conversations after

service over in the foyer

463

:

outside when we go out to eat.

464

:

And we're talking about God's word.

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Hey, how did it minister to you today?

466

:

Hey, what are you reading?

467

:

How was God ministered to you?

468

:

Hey brother, let me share this

scripture that can encourage you.

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:

Sister, let me share this

scripture that can help purify you.

470

:

We hang on his word.

471

:

We're captivated by it.

472

:

But we just don't admire it.

473

:

We don't just put nice little cool

tweets or Instagram photos with it.

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:

No, we live it out.

475

:

We're faithful.

476

:

We hold to his teachings.

477

:

That's how you and I are to

hang on to every word of Jesus.

478

:

I believe this is the only proper

response to Jesus, the king,

479

:

to Jesus, the Messiah,

the provider of peace,

480

:

the one who is holy and pure, the

one who purifies God's temple and

481

:

has the words of eternal life.

482

:

So as we can see, the triumph.

483

:

The tragic reality in the temple

clearing, it calls for you and me

484

:

to realize that the time is now.

485

:

So wherever God has ministered to you,

wherever you are in your walk, do not

486

:

allow it to just bounce off, but allow

it to penetrate, to produce God's fruit

487

:

that he wants in your life, so that

you can have a more faithfulness with

488

:

him and join him in his good work.

489

:

We're on the road to the resurrection.

490

:

The greatest day of all creation, where

the Messiah rose again, conquering death,

491

:

so that those who would believe could

have eternal life with the Almighty.

492

:

We're gonna close in communion.

493

:

Brothers and sisters, are

you still with me here?

494

:

The emblems that we take right

now represent Jesus body and blood

495

:

that, uh, were sacrificed so that

you and I can have an opportunity.

496

:

An eternal relationship

with God the father.

497

:

And as we go to the road, to the as we go

through the road to the resurrection, we

498

:

know that's also through the cross where

Jesus died and sacrificed himself for us.

499

:

And Jesus is the king who was

worthy of worship and praise.

500

:

And the cross of Jesus leads us to

praise, to worship, and to faithfulness.

501

:

And so we'll read again, Luke 19

verse 38, blessed is the king who

502

:

comes in the name of the Lord.

503

:

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

504

:

Let's pray.

505

:

Father, we thank you so much for Jesus.

506

:

For the road to the resurrection.

507

:

Thank you so much for his

teachings, his example.

508

:

Thank you so much, God, that we

have this opportunity, this grace

509

:

that you give us today to respond.

510

:

Father, may we be people that

respond now, that respond to your

511

:

goodness, that respond to your

grace, that respond to your gift

512

:

of mercy, that is all through love.

513

:

May we respond with faithfulness.

514

:

May we admire.

515

:

May we be in awe.

516

:

May it never become numb in our hearts,

but may we be grateful for who you

517

:

are, for how much you love us and how

we can even have the opportunity to

518

:

partner with you and your good work.

519

:

God, we are humbled and we are

grateful and we praise you.

520

:

Blessed be your name.

521

:

You are the highest.

522

:

You are the most, you are

the, the, the, the almighty.

523

:

You are God.

524

:

You are Savior.

525

:

You are King.

526

:

You are Lord.

527

:

You are inspiration.

528

:

You are purpose, our goal.

529

:

You are engine that drives us.

530

:

We are grateful.

531

:

We love you.

532

:

Thank you for today.

533

:

Thank you for the chance to hear.

534

:

And thank you that you do all

this in love, grace, and mercy.

535

:

We pray in the name of Jesus.

536

:

Amen.

537

:

Amen.

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