Hello to You,
Had to take my sweatshirt off earlier. Getting a little warm. Oh yeah! Do a little grass cutting next week maybe. That’s what I’m talking about.
Anyway … on to “spiritual” things. 🙂
This week is what many regard as Palm Sunday. The event in the following text takes place several days before the crucifixion of Christ. They are celebrating what they believe to be their Savior and their salvation. The problem is that it seems many of the same people are just days later joining the masses and calling for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
- (Matthew 21:9 ESV) And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
- As to “Hosanna to the Son of David,” it should be noted that “Hosanna” means “save now,” or “save, pray.” The attitude of the people toward God was perhaps about as follows: “We beseech thee, O Lord, save now, grant victory and prosperity at this time, since because of thy goodness the appropriate moment has arrived (MacArthur Study Bible).
Jesus knows this, thus his lament.
- (Matthew 23:37–39 ESV) 37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
From the garden of Eden to this present day the same dynamic cycles through every generation of humans. God offers life as he intended and designed, but many people choose their own plan. And, not only do we choose our own plan, but we call it God’s plan.
In this week’s text, we will look at such a group. They chose their plan of salvation, and then they discover too late that they have missed the most important thing about salvation, that being – God saves only his way, only one way, only one plan, only one Savior.
There is only one plan that ends in life – God’s!
The tragic irony is that they did use the Bible to build their spiritual houses. They heard the words but didn’t do the words. When they read and studied, apparently they didn’t hear God speaking because they sifted and sorted until they found something to fit their plans. And if they couldn’t do it on their own, they found “teachers” to validate their choice.
But the person who hears God when he reads and studies doesn’t sift and sort. He obeys.
- Sift and sort: Build on sand.
- Hear and obey: Build on Rock.
Message Title: “Lord, Lord, save me … My way!”
Message Text: Matthew 7:13-29
Dave
