“The Full Armor” – Ephesians 6:10-18 – Part 1

The people are obedient.  God blesses.  Then what?  We all know that Satan then attacks, right?  We see it all through the Old Testament.  We see it all through the New Testament and we sure see it in our own lives and in the life of this church.  In fact, we have seen it in the life of this church for years now, even when we were in Runaway Bay.

How many of you were around this church when we were in Runaway Bay?  If you were here, or there, or part of this church when we were there, then you probably remember God allowing us to see this perfectly illustrated in a service one Sunday morning.

Now, I am all about illustrations.  I love a good illustration because they help me to understand and personalize a truth from God’s Word.  God illustrated through the prophets when they would do something dramatic to emphasize what God wanted the people to know.  Jesus used great illustrations called parables.  All the greats like Paul and Peter and John in the New Testament used illustrations and all the great preachers today use them.

But nobody can hold a candle to God when it comes to illustrating what He wants us to learn.  In March of 2012 I started a sermon series on the full armor of God based on Ephesians chapter 6 because I saw our church being attacked by Satan and I wanted us to realize that we were in a war and we needed to be prepared.  So, I stood up that morning and began to preach but just as I did, a visitor walked in the front door and walked down the aisle and whispered something to one of our ladies and they both got up and walked to the hallway where they began to have an argument – loudly.

The commotion quickly got everyone’s attention and since everybody was focused on the argument, I asked two other ladies to go ask them to be quiet.  Well, now we have four people arguing twice as loud so I asked two men to go out there and shut them up right now and they did and everything calmed down for a few seconds and everybody came back in and sat down except the visitor lady.

She got on her cell phone and started talking to somebody very loudly about how this just wasn’t working.  She then walked back down the center aisle straight toward the pulpit and said over the phone, “Hang on.  Let me let you talk to the preacher” and tried to hand me the phone.  That’s the truth!  I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.  Well you can imagine I did not talk on that phone but insisted she hang up and sit down.

She sat there on the front row for a minute or two but finally said real loud, “Well, I can’t wait.  I have to go.”  So, I lovingly encouraged her not to let the door hit her on the way out.  After she left, I realized that God Himself was illustrating my sermon.  I am not saying that woman was the devil or demon possessed or anything like that but I have no doubt that Satan was trying to disrupt our meeting that morning and used that woman to do it.

What Satan didn’t know was that he was being used as a tool by God to show us the schemes of the devil.  God allowed us to see that there really is a war going on and that old schemer, Satan, will try anything to get between us and God’s teaching and His Word.  1 Peter 5:8 tells us the truth that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking to see who he can destroy but the greatest trick Satan ever pulled was lulling us into thinking everything is okay and that there is no fight and no war.

According to the Barna Research Group, over half (52%) of evangelical Christians believe that Satan is not real but is instead just a symbol of evil.  Well, let me assure from the truth of the Bible that Satan is real and living and wants to kill you dead if God would only allow it and if he can’t kill you, then he will certainly tempt you and destroy you by any means necessary and you don’t stand a chance against him on your own.

He is smarter than you, tougher than you and he has been doing this long enough to be able to know just how to get you and your only hope is to put on the full armor of God and then stand.  So turn to the book of Ephesians, chapter 6 and let’s be reminded of what we need to do to be able to go to war with the devil.

Paul knew the cycle.  He knew that when he was obedient that God blessed and then Satan attacked.  He had seen it in his own life and in the life of the different churches he had started.  I believe that if Paul were here today, he would want us to go back over this passage because this church has been obedient.  This church was part of something amazing last week.  I don’t know how much of it you saw but God used this church starting late last week and then in the service Sunday morning and most definitely that afternoon when this church went to ground zero of the poor, the addicted and the incarcerated and fed them and loved on them like they had never seen before.

Do you think Satan is just going to let that kind of biblical obedience go by without attacking?  Most of you can vouch that is not going to happen so let’s read Ephesians 6:10-18 and see what our responsibility is in fighting this battle.

Finally, be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the LORD's people.

Look at verse 10 again.  Be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power.  How many of you want to do that?  Most all of us would agree that we want to be strong in the Lord.  But how many of us start out strong, on the front lines, waging war and engaging in battle and then a month or a year goes by and we find ourselves sitting behind a desk somewhere stationed in a comfortable base somewhere doing paperwork?

We are still in God’s army.  We still have our weapons and armor.  We are just not fighting in this spiritual battle like we once were.  It’s almost overwhelming when we realize that we really are going to have conflict.  Not jus conflict where we expect there to be but there is conflict everywhere.  Do you know what the problem is?  We are “being strong” … all wrong. 

It is important that we look closely here at the word Paul uses for “be strong”.  The original Greek word was endunamao and it literally means “to clothe oneself with power”.  In our translations, we may think it refers to self-effort but it really means to accept it from God, not build it from within.  For us, if someone says we should be strong then we think we should start working out, trying harder every day to build up and get in shape.  We know there will be conflict so we start doing everything we can to build ourselves up.

But look at what it says.  Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  It doesn’t say be strong, Todd, in your power.  It means to accept the power of God in your life which is often just the opposite of what we think of when we are told to be strong.  That same word was used of Paul in Acts when he was struck down on the road to Damascus.  He was taken to a house and there he received strength from the Lord.

In Romans 4, Paul describes Abraham as being strong in the faith; same word.  He got the strength from the Lord.  It wasn’t something he did or built or prepared.  It was not of himself that he was strong.  That may be hard for us to understand in a time where it seems that we have to look out for #1 and nobody else is going to.

But it is really a good thing that we don’t have to engage in this conflict in our own strength because while we will have conflict, the conflict is supernatural.  We will talk more about verse 11 later but go on to verse 12.  ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

If our conflict is supernatural or spiritual then these are the evil spirits.  These are the demons, evil angels, Satan’s minions, whatever you want to call them.  They are real.  There is a real war going on between the forces of darkness which is Satan and the forces of light which is God.  And it is waging all around us, all through the universe and it has since Satan and his angels fell from Heaven.

That first sin of Satan’s pride has led to an epic and universal war being waged and the consequence of losing the battle will be the price of your soul or your witness, not to mention your life.  With all that at stake many people still don’t believe there is even a war being waged and that is victory #1 for Satan.  If he can make you think there is no war then that means you won’t fight it.

The 10th chapter of Daniel is a perfect illustration of the spiritual warfare that is being fought.  I won’t read the whole thing but I encourage you to write it down and read it later.  In Daniel 10, Daniel has been praying fervently for three weeks but has not heard from God.  Three weeks go by and finally an angel comes to Daniel and says that his prayer was heard the first day and that he was sent by God to tell Daniel some good news but a demon had delayed him.  Evidently the battle was so fierce between the two that the angel said he had to go back and get reinforcements.  He went back and got Michael, one of the chief angels, to help him and finally, three weeks later was able to come to him and tell Daniel the good news.

Satan has a well-organized army.  A thorough study of verse 12 would show a hierarchy of evil from private to general all with the goal of giving heartache and pain, despair and death, tragedy and suffering.  All of this is going on all around us.  Do you want to face that kind of power on your own?  I don’t care how strong you are.  You are not powerful enough to beat Satan.  That’s why God says to be strong in Him.

So, because there is conflict, we will be strong in the power of the Lord, recognizing that the conflict is supernatural but also seeing that the conflict is personal.  Look at verse 13.  Read.  No, now wait a minute.  That’s not it.  Hang on.  I’ve lost my place.  I’m looking for a certain verse in here.  Hang on.  You know, it’s that verse where it talks about us going on the attack; where we advance against the enemy.  But all I see is “stand” and “stand your ground”, “withstand”.  And verse 11 says about the same thing as 13.  Take up God’s armor and stand.

If this conflict is personal, when do we ever get to attack?  Don’t we get to ever shoot back or go hand-to-hand, maybe do some karate?  Let me ask you, knowing who our enemy is, do you really want to go hand-to-hand him?  I Peter says he is a roaring lion.  He is called the accuser, the adversary, the beast, the deceiver, a dragon, the enemy, the father of lies, the evil one, a murderer, serpent, tempter, thief, and wicked one. 

The Bible describes us as witnesses, children, pilgrims, sheep, believers, even athletes but when it tells us to fight it says we are to stand.  Put on the full armor of God and stand.  Just like we don’t get in shape and be strong on our own, we also don’t put on our own armor.  If we did we would mess that up. 

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”.  Nowhere is that more literal than right here.  The devil is smarter than you.  He is stronger than you.  He has been around a whole lot longer and he will overcome you unless you do as this says.  Put on the armor of God.

Isaiah 59:16-17 Isaiah says this about God, “He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. 17He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.  18According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies.”

Do you want to fight Satan and his army of demons in your strength and in your righteousness or would you rather put on the armor that God Himself uses and then stand as God and the angels fight?  There is a conflict.  It is supernatural and it is personal but when you try to fight your battle; when you try to solve all your problems and rely on your own goodness and good looks then you sin exactly like Satan sinned that first time.  It’s the sin of pride and that’s when Satan gets a hold in your life.

He can work with pride.  He knows all about pride.  Good grief, he started it!  And when you try to figure out, scheme, connive and solve your spiritual problems or your physical problems or your economic problems, that’s when Satan wins that battle.

Instead, God wants us to come to Him and tell Him that we are humble enough to admit that we can’t do this and we need Him to do it.  When you tell God that you will go where He wants you to go and do what He wants you to do and say what He wants you to say but He will have to fight the battle…that’s when God gets the glory because that is when He wins the battle.

Do you see the person sitting next to you?  Now, look at the person on the other side of you.  Look at your family sitting around you.  Do you see them?  Those people are not the enemy.  I know if you are married to them, sometimes you might think they are, but they are not.  Your neighbor down the street who drives you crazy is not your enemy.  The Bible makes it plain that our enemies are real, spiritual and deadly and we are constantly battling them.

Satan would love for you to not believe that there is a battle.  And he would love it if you thought the person next to you was the enemy.  He gets a kick out of that, I’m sure.  He also loves when church folks battle each other.  That’s one of his specialties.  But that’s not going to work here, Satan.  We know I John 4:4 says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Is He in you?  Do you have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus?  If you don’t then you literally don’t stand a chance against Satan.  In fact, you are on his side.  Jesus died on the cross to be a substitute for you and to be the perfect sacrifice that was needed because of your sin and all you have to do to be able to stand against Satan is believe that Jesus is the only way.  Do that today.

“First Words / Last Words” – John 19 and Matthew 28

Famous last words have always fascinated me.  You may have heard the famous last words of a redneck: “Hey guys!  Watch this!”  We all hope that the last words we say before we die are powerful, insightful and worthy of remembering; not “Hey guys!  Watch this!”

Some people are recognized by their last words.  If I said the name, “Todd Beamer” you may not remember him but you will remember his last words as, “Let’s roll!”  He was the passenger on Flight 93 that was hijacked on 9/11 who led the other passengers to try to reclaim the airplane and saved so many lives.  Those words give me chill bumps still today.

Some people say the obvious when they die.  Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame said, “I’d rather be skiing.”  John Lennon said, “I’m shot.”  Spike Milligan said, “I told you I was ill.”  And one of my favorites is General John Sedgewick who bravely faced the enemy troops on the far side of the field and said, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist…”

But what about first words?  When a baby says their first word it is a joyful occasion.  I understand that the majority of time a baby’s first word is “dada”.  It’s supposedly easier to say than “mama” for a little one.  But whatever it is, it’s big news to the mom and dad and grandparents.  Phone calls are made.  Pictures are taken.  Mama writes in the scrapbook.

But have you ever been motivated by a baby’s first words?  Has a baby ever spoken for the first time and your life was changed forever?  Has it ever sent you on a lifelong quest to repeat what he said?  I hope not.  You need to get out more if that’s the case. 

We’re not told the first words of baby Jesus but I have to assume they were pretty much what any baby might have said.  Born of woman, Jesus, who was there at creation and who was and is and is to come, was born all human and all God.  I can’t explain that, of course, but we believe it.  Faith in Jesus as our Savior demands belief in his virgin birth as all God and all man.  And I don’t have a problem with that.

But this morning I want to look at the last words of Jesus as He hung on the cross and then His first words to His disciples after he arose that wonderful Easter morning.  His last words were profound and full of meaning and His first words after defeating death were profound and full of meaning and should send us on a lifelong quest to do what He said to do.

Please turn to the Gospel of John in the New Testament.  Matthew and Mark relate that Jesus cried out with a loud voice just before He died but only John tells us His exact words.  And while some people, in their last moments of life, may say something ridiculous and out of their head meaningless, Jesus cries out 3 words that changed everything!  He proclaims a simple phrase that literally means the world has completely changed.

It was a phrase that resulted in the great curtain in the temple being torn in two.  It started an earthquake and caused rocks to split and caused the nearby tombs to break open and the dead to walk out alive.  I challenge you to find anyone’s last words to be anything close to as powerful as the words Jesus chose to speak as His last.  Let’s read them in John 19:28-30.

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,“I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

“It is finished!”  No more appropriate words have ever been said in death or dying than those.  If you didn’t know better, you might think Jesus was talking about His life; that He was saying His life was finished.  And while it is true that His mortal life on earth was done, that is not really what He was saying. 

According to my concordance, the Greek word that Jesus proclaimed that we translate as “It is finished” would be “Tetelestai”.  Tetelestai!  It is finished.  It stands finished.  It will always be finished.  And yes, His sufferings were finished but this word means so much more.  Many of the Old Testament types and prophecies were now fulfilled, and the once-for-all sacrifice for sin had now been completed.  (Wiersbe NT Commentary)

It was a word that would be used by a servant in that day to tell his master that the work that had been assigned to him was completed in full.  When a priest would examine an animal sacrifice to verify its worthiness and then make that sacrifice: tetelestai!  When Michelangelo finished the Sistine Chapel ceiling: tetelestai!  When Leonardo da Vinci completed the Mona Lisa: tetelestai!  The job I set out to do or was commissioned to do is finished; completed in full.

But the most meaningful use of the word for us today and as Jesus would have intended it would be used by a merchant who had a debt owed to him.  When the debtor came to him and would pay the debt in full, that merchant would give him a receipt with the word “tetelestai” written across it in bold letters, meaning this debt has been paid in full; nothing else is needed.

Every now and then you may clip a coupon for something free at the store.  Not very often and rarely is it anything very expensive but sometimes you may get a free ice cream cone or small coffee or something if you bring in the coupon and redeem it.  You need a coupon to get your rooty-tooty-fresh and fruity breakfast at Ihop on your birthday.  But if you have the coupon, nothing else is needed.  You don’t have to pay.  You don’t have to wash dishes.  You don’t have to do anything else.  Just redeem the coupon.

Well, I want you to know, my dear family, that when Jesus said, “Tetelestai!” He went to God the Father and said “Here.  Here’s the cross as my coupon and I present it through my sacrificial death to redeem all of mankind.  I paid the price for sin and it is finished!  Nothing else is needed.  Good works are not needed.  Baptism is not needed.  The Lord’s Supper is not needed nor anything else.  It is finished!  Tetelestai!”

He did that because God said that the wages of sin is death.  God’s standard for being able to live eternally in Heaven is perfection so when you say you are a good person and so you deserve to go to Heaven, you have misunderstood.  Oh, sure, I have lied before.  I took God’s name in vain.  I looked with lust but, you know, I’m above average on that stuff.  I’m better than most.

Condemned!  That’s the word God is going to use when you come at Him at the great white throne and say you are above average.  And how else could a just judge rule?  If you have broken the law, you can’t expect a judge to say, “Well, you have broken fewer than most so don’t worry about it.”  But Jesus has redeemed you like a coupon, buddy.  You have been bought with a price; a great and painful price but it has been paid in full.  And all you have to do is believe.

John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.”  “Whoever believes…”  Jesus said to the Father, “When Billy Graham believes: tetelestai.  When Martin Luther believes: tetelestai.  When that punk kid with a bad attitude and stiff neck and a hard heart named Todd believes: tetelestai!  All he has to do is believe.”

But…the cross was for nothing; Jesus’ life was wasted and His sacrifice achieved nothing!  If not for Easter!  If the story ended there; if Jesus had died and stayed in the tomb and His corpse had rotted like every other god of every other religion then we are wasting our time here this morning and every word I have said might as well be in Greek and we should just all go to the bar and get drunk.  What else ya gonna do?

But everything changed 3 days later.  Jesus didn’t faint.  He didn’t swoon.  He didn’t sleep.  He was dead for 3 days.  But on that third day His eyes opened, His muscles contracted and He walked out.   He commanded the angels when He was on the outside to roll away the stone so people could see in.  And then He told one angel, “You sit there.  The Marys will be here in a few minutes.  Tell them I have risen.”

“He has risen!  He’s not here!”  When I get to Heaven I want to ask that ol’ angel how it felt to make that announcement; to say some of the most important words ever uttered; to say words the meaning of which would change the world forever.  He has risen!  Those words cannot be over-estimated.

But as important as those words are, those are not the words that Jesus wanted to be remembered for.  He didn’t go to the disciples and tell them to just go around saying, “He is risen.”  When Jesus first saw the disciples, the first thing He said; the most important thing He wanted to be remembered; the most urgent command He gave is found in Matthew 28.  Let’s read Matthew 28:16-20.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

There is just a little bit of this passage I want to concentrate on real briefly.  First, Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  The word authority means the right to use power.  The entire Gospel of Matthew stresses the authority of Jesus Christ.  He had authority in His teaching, in His healing, in his forgiving of sins.  He had authority over Satan.  He even delegated authority to the disciples.  And here at the end of the Gospel, Matthew wants to make clear that Jesus has ALL authority.

When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished. As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line. "Excuse me," Governor Herter said, "do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?"  "Sorry," the woman told him. "I'm supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person."
"But I'm starved," the governor said.
"Sorry," the woman said again. "Only one to a customer."
Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around.
"Do you know who I am?" he said. "I am the governor of this state."
"Do you know who I am?" the woman said. "I'm the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, mister."Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, pp. 5-6.

When someone has authority, there is no arguing with that.  And if Jesus has authority over all things then it shouldn’t matter what He tells us to do, where He tells us to go, or what He tells us to say, we can be obedient without any fear of the consequences.  It’s what the first church depended on.  It’s what gave Paul the power to stand up and preach.  It’s what gave Stephen the strength to forgive his attackers.  It’s how Peter slept in prison the night before he was supposed to be tried and probably killed.  If Jesus is in control, what do we have to worry about?

And the authority of Jesus is what this church depends on just like the first church.  I love the fact that it was this church’s idea to take the church to the Lake Road RV Park down the road when we found out that most of them couldn’t come to us for any number of reasons.  We have done it a couple of times before and we never know who is going to show up or what is going to happen or how we are going to be treated but I saw faith in this church; faith in the authority of Jesus Christ that allowed you to do what you were supposed to do, go where you were supposed to go and say what you were supposed to say!

And whether you thought about it or not, you were doing your part at that time to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus in this Gospel.  When Jesus says to “Go and make disciples…” it literally means, “as you go, make disciples”.  As you go, go intentionally.  As you go to the grocery store, as you go to the gas station, as you go to Dos Chiles after church today, be intentional about telling others what you know. 

Tell others about what Jesus has done in your life.  You don’t have to be an evangelist or a missionary to tell that.  Telling that makes you an evangelist and a missionary.  When Jesus said “tetelestai” on the cross, it was the end of His bodily, earthly ministry.  But it was the beginning of ours.  We don’t do it to work our way to Heaven.  We do it because the One who died and was raised again tells us to. 

But look at how Jesus ends this command.  The One who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death and then became the victor over death tells us that wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever we say, He is with us.  The One who is in authority; the One who defeated Satan and conquered death; the One who deserved to cry out, “Tetelestai! It is finished” is with us.

Do you know Him today?  Do you have a relationship with Him?  I’m not asking if you are a church member or who your family is what you have done, good or bad.  I’m asking if you have believed that Jesus is God and that He can take away all the guilt and shame of your sin just by asking Him into your life to be Lord of your life.

You remember the verse I read earlier from John 3:36 that says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.”   Rejecting the Son, Jesus, in this life means God’s wrath and the Bible teaches that His wrath results in a real place called Hell for all eternity.

We are not guaranteed another breath so come right now and accept the free gift of God’s grace because then you won’t have to worry if those are your last words because the first words you will hear in Heaven will be, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

“A Christian’s Life” – Matthew 21:1-11

Do you like parades?  Sure.  Everybody likes a parade, right?  When do we normally have parades in this country?  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, St. Patrick’s Day and 4^th of July are the most common, I think.  Now, imagine if you combined all those holiday parades into one and had this one parade in New York City on New Year’s Eve with Donald Trump on the main float.  In fact, it’s called the Trump Parade and the purpose is just to celebrate the fact that Trump is the president.

There would be millions of people there.  Some are there because they love him and some because they hate him.  Some are just there to party or to say they were part of that history.  It would be a Secret Service nightmare, that’s for sure.  They would have to protect him from just the sheer number of people who might want to just touch him, not to mention the wackos that wanted to hurt him.

We know that such a parade would never happen for any number of reasons but if you can imagine such a scene you might have an idea of what was happening 2000-plus years ago in Jerusalem when Jesus rode into town on a donkey.  Palm Sunday is still recognized today on the Sunday before Easter commemorating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and it is overflowing with symbolism.

There is symbolism from the Old Testament.  There was cultural symbolism.  There was symbolism in almost every aspect of it and I see symbolism for us even today.  I hope you have your Bibles with you but if you don’t you can find our text in the Bible in the back of the pew in front of you.  Turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, verses 1-11.

Now, today when we say something is symbolic we usually think that means it is worthless.  It doesn’t mean anything.  When Congress has a symbolic vote, it changes nothing.  If somebody gives a symbolic gesture, it holds no weight.  There is nothing to it.  But we need to adjust our thinking about symbolism today for this study because what is symbolic is how it is supposed to be.  It is how it is going to be and how God wants it to be so the symbolism is very important.

So, let’s read Matthew 21:1-11.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”  ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:  ⁵ “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”  ⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  ¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”  ¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

There may not be a lot of things that Jesus and I have in common, at least not enough things, but one thing He and I have in common is that neither one of us cares to spend much time in large crowds.  Sometimes it happened to Him but up until this point, we usually see Jesus choosing to spend time with just a chosen few or even all by Himself.  Something else we don’t normally see is Jesus making Himself the center of attention.  How many times did He perform some kind of miracle and then tell the person not to tell anybody who did it?  But today is different.  Today is special.

Jesus and His disciples are going in to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and they are doing so because all good Jews would do that if at all possible every year.  But this year is different.  Have you noticed that all through the Bible and even today that Jesus changes everything?  It’s never boring when He’s around.  This Passover there are even more people in town and, like the Trump Parade, some are there because they love Jesus and some are there because they hate Him and I’m sure some just wanted to see the spectacle.  We know from extra-biblical sources that there were probably between 2- 2 1/2 million people crammed into Jerusalem for this.

It was actually very dangerous for Jesus to come back here even if He had just slipped in unnoticed because there were some already who wanted to kill Him but Jesus could not have come into town any more conspicuous.  First, the donkey.  If Trump came to town, he would be riding in a big, custom, fancy limo with a huge entourage and flags with the presidential seal flying from each fender.  Everybody knows what that means.

In Jerusalem, this donkey would have been just as obvious of a sign that this man is claiming to be the Messiah.  Verse 5 is a quotation of Zechariah 9:9 and everybody would have known this.  Jesus was telling everyone He was the King.  We know now that lots of people misunderstood what kind of king He was going to be but nobody was confused about the symbolism and we know that because of how all the people were worshiping Him as He came in.

They are shouting, “Hosanna!” which means “Savior” or “Save now!”  They spread palm leaves on the ground in front of Him which is symbolic of a victorious king.  They laid their clothes on the ground for the donkey to walk over as a symbolic sign of love and obedience and honor to a king.  “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” would only be said of the Messiah.  There was no mistaking who Jesus was claiming to be. 

For the first time in a public place in front of literally millions of people, Jesus, the Son of God, for the first time accepts that symbolism and accepts the worship and openly proclaims His rightful Kingship, His Lordship, His Messiahship.  What a special day that was!

There is something special about symbolism when it comes to pass.  There is something incredible about a prophecy that comes true and there is more to this passage than just a historical parade.  The very life of a Christian is portrayed here as well.  Do you want to know how a Christian should live?  Do you want a template for your own life to see if you truly are a disciple of Jesus because just like there were a lot of people who came to see Jesus put on a show, there are lots of people today who basically come to church for the same reason?

The vast majority of people who, on this day hollered, “Hosanna!  Messiah save us!” would, just a few days later, scream for Jesus to be crucified.  We think about that and think about how hypocritical that is and how glad we are that we aren’t like them but our lives outside of church on Sunday morning practically scream the same thing.  Well, I want to know the truth.  I want to know what the life of a true Christian really looks like and if you do too then look first at the obedience of His closest disciples.

First of all, they are with Him and that may not sound like a big deal but they knew just how dangerous Jerusalem was for Jesus right now and that He – and they – had enemies who wanted them dead.  Don’t you know when Jesus told them they were going to Jerusalem for the Passover that they had a little pow-wow amongst themselves to talk this over.

We know they tried to talk Him out of it.  I’m afraid that I would have suddenly “remembered” that homework assignment I needed to finish or maybe I would have come down with a bad cold or something so I didn’t have to go.  But they went, not knowing what would happen, not knowing how it would end but fully trusting Jesus, knowing that He was somehow in control and that He loved them.

We see their obedience in how they didn’t question Him when He said to go get the donkey.  They just went and they went immediately.  That’s true obedience.  In those days, a horse was great for going fast or showing that you were a warrior but if you wanted to go comfortably and in style, you hopped on a donkey.  This young donkey was for them what a Cadillac convertible would be for us and Jesus tells them to “Just go get the keys and if somebody asks you about why you are taking their luxury ride just tell them I sent you.”  They were obedient.

Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet the Queen of England walking down the corridor. The queen recognized her friend Neil among the group and said, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees! 

They were immediately obedient to what they thought was a command.  Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love me, keep my commands.”  Can you imagine what would have happened if those disciples had not been obedient?  Do you think the parade would have been cancelled?  Would Jesus have had to walk into town and not fulfill the prophecy?  No.  He could have gotten somebody else to go get them.  He could have just whistled and the donkeys would have come to Him.  God’s will would still have been done but those disciples would have had to deal with BOOCOD, wouldn’t they?

There are benefits of obedience and consequences of disobedience.  (BOOCOD) There always have been and there always will be but a true Christian’s life will be marked by immediate obedience to whatever God says whether it is in His Word - the Bible - or by what He tells you through the Holy Spirit working in your life and through prayer.  It is easier to be to be obedient, no matter how hard it is, than to face the consequences of not doing it.  “The cost of obedience is nothing compared with the cost of disobedience.” (Richard Baxter)

The Christian’s life is obvious by their obedience as we see in the disciples in this passage but we also see their worship.  A Christian who doesn’t worship or rarely worships is not a true Christian.  Now, I think that there are lots of people who go to church every Sunday and participate in the worship service but that doesn’t make them a Christian but for somebody to claim to be a Christian and never really worship, that is not reality.

Go back and look at verses 8-9 of Matthew 21.  They have completely abandoned themselves to the worship of Jesus.  There’s no pride.  There’s no concern about what somebody else might think.  There’s no concern for what is going to happen to their clothes when the donkey stepped on them.  For us today, I’m afraid we would be too concerned about getting our clothes dirty or our hair messed up for that.  They didn’t care what else might be going on or what they were going to have for lunch.  All they cared about was showing love and adoration to the King.

If you went to opening day of baseball season and you and some of your friends got there and you had great seats right up close and the weather was perfect, you would expect to really enjoy that game, wouldn’t you?  But what if the announcer came over the loud speaker and gave the order that there would be no cheering today?  There would be no clapping, no hollering or laughing; no encouragement or heckling of the players.  Would you still enjoy and appreciate the game as much if you had to sit quietly?  No way.

Do you know why?  C.S. Lewis said, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.”  It’s the same way with our worship of God.  If you delight in God and He delights in you, then it will be evident in your worship.  That doesn’t mean you have to yell and dance or even raise your hands.  It’s not about the outward.  Only you know if you are truly worshiping.  It’s what is happening in your heart.

I love to hear my Mama pray.  I don’t think I have ever heard her pray, even if it’s just saying the blessing at dinner, but what her voice doesn’t crack and she starts to cry just a little.  I think for her there is just something about coming before the Creator of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords, knowing Who He is and knowing who she is, even to ask some little thing, that just overwhelms her.

 A true Christian’s life will be expressed in true worship; a worship that forgets the people around us and focuses only on God.  It may cost you something just like it cost those people in Matthew.  I’m sure some of their clothes were ruined but their lives were changed and Jesus got the glory so it was well worth it.

A little boy went home after church Sunday and when it came time for him to say his prayers that night he said, “Dear God, we sure had a good time in worship today.  You shoulda been there!”  Well, God is here and Psalm 22 says He inhabits our praise so the question is, are you really here?  Are you really worshiping or are you just checking the box that you went to “worship”?  Because a true Christian’s life is marked by true worship.

One last thing that marks a true Christian’s life is evangelism.  Do you know what evangelism is?  Look at verses 10-11 again.  “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”  ¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus!”

That’s all evangelism is.  All it is is pointing to Jesus, saying His name and giving Him the glory. When you are being obedient to what God wants and you are truly worshiping Him then your life WILL be different.  People will notice and sooner or later somebody is going to ask you about it.  They may think you are weird and that’s okay because we are all weird in our own way and the Bible tells us to be peculiar.

I Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.”  It means we are holy, different, separate and when you are that way, people are going to notice.  When they ask about it, say His name.  It’s good to say “God”.  It’s fine to talk about Christ Fellowship but use those as segues to speak the name of Jesus.

There is power just in the name.  Use it.  When something good happens to you, give Jesus the glory.  Yes, people will think you are strange.  Mission accomplished.  It doesn’t give you license to be an obnoxious jerk. Just try to make the most of every opportunity.  Be intentional about everywhere you go and everybody you talk to.

Now, this may sound like a dumb question but I’ll ask it anyway.  Do you know how to tell if something is on fire?  It burns other material.  It catches other things on fire.  Do you know how to tell if someone is a disciple?  They make other disciples.  Some Christians are a whole lot of smoke but no flame.  That’s not a true Christian.  That is not someone who has had a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

The young salesman was disappointed about losing a big sale, and as he talked with his sales manager he lamented, "I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." The manager replied, "Son, take my advice: your job is not to make him drink. Your job is to make him thirsty." So it is with evangelism. Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst for the Gospel.  (Preaching, November-December 1985)

(Hold up water bottle with half water, half tea – looks nasty) The problem is that too many Christians say, “Aren’t you thirsty?  Look how good my water is.  Don’t you want a drink of my luke-warm, dirty water?”  You do that by complaining about everything, gossiping about your neighbor, cheating on your taxes, telling dirty jokes and falling apart when bad things happen.  Non-Christians see that and it’s no wonder they don’t want your water.  Their water looks just as good to them as what you have.  If your life is no different than theirs, don’t waste your breath.  You make the water look bad.

Maybe today your life is no different than an unbeliever because you aren’t really a believer.  There are lots of people that walk an aisle, say the right words and get baptized and maybe even go to church for years who are not real believers.  A true Christian’s life will always be marked by true obedience, true worship and true evangelism.  If that doesn’t look like you, I need to talk with you today.

Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes as the music plays and let the Lord speak to you this morning.  Let Him draw you to Himself.  Accept His forgiveness of your sin and turn away from that sin, acknowledge Him as your Lord and Savior and ask Him to change your life as you start your real relationship with Him.  He died on the cross as a substitute for you because your sins had to be paid for and now that debt is completely paid in full.  All you have to do is believe.  Do that today.