
00:00
00:00
00:01
ប្រតិចារិក
1/0
Turn with me this morning in your Bibles to the book of Mark's Gospel, chapter 11, please. Mark chapter 11. And this morning I'd like to read verses 1 through 11 of this 11th chapter of the book of Mark. And though you will not see the word palms or the word willows in this chapter, that's the title of my message, Palms and Willows. They are recorded in God's Word and I will share with you as I go through the message this morning what the palms symbolically represent because this is Palm Sunday. And it is the Passion Week of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when He was here upon the earth ahead of His time at the cross. But the willows are also important trees in the worship and service of God as well as are the palms. Would you stand with me this morning, please, in reverence to God's Word, as I read today from the book of Mark's Gospel, chapter 11, verse 1 through 11. And when they came nigh to Jerusalem unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go your way into the village, over against you, and as soon as you be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat. Loose him and bring him. And if any man say unto you, why do you this? Say ye that the Lord hath need of him, and straightway he will send him hither. And when they went their way and found the colt tied by the door without in the place where two ways met, And they loose him, and certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? And they said unto them, even as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. and they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple. And when he had looked round about upon all things, And now the evening tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve." Heavenly Father, we thank You this morning for Your holy presence that was in our song service and the ministry of the music and the melody of each lyric of song that we sang reminds us of the greatness of our God in loving us enough to send His only begotten Son to Calvary's cross and dare give His life a ransom for ours that we don't have to pay for our sin debts. I don't have the wherewithal and neither does anyone else have the withal, God, to pay for our sins. It required the sacrifice of precious blood, the blood of our precious Savior. May we never lose the sight of how precious the blood of Jesus Christ is. May we not do things that would trample it under our feet as though it means nothing to us. Lord, as many years as I have put my faith and trust in You and made a profession of faith, it feels new and fresh every day, and as fresh this morning, God, as it was on that very night when I received Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and my Savior. I am not worthy, God, that You should have saved me. If there is anyone that deserved to die, I did. As Ryan said this morning, God, when Paul said he was the chiefest of sinners, I feel just like Paul did. And even as a child of God, Father, in my effort to try to walk with You and serve You by faith, I know that I am not saved by any work that I do. The will is present with me, but how to do that which You desire of me, I can't seem to find it. And like Paul, I often cry out, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death? And Paul said then, I thank God that Christ Jesus is the one that will deliver us. I'm thankful too that he wrote, There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God. Father, it's the Spirit of life in your Son, Jesus Christ, that has given us this life and liberty in the faith. There's none of us righteous, no, not one, but our righteousness were like filthy rags. But on that day, God, when we gave our life to Jesus, we exchanged that for the righteousness of our Savior. God, I know that you love every soul that's watching by way of the live stream, as well as every individual soul that's in this house this morning. May You draw our hearts near unto You and help me today to teach and preach out of the 11th chapter and other places in the Bible about the palms and the willows of our lives. Forgive us where we fail You and be glorified and honored, I pray, in all things. God, if there's somebody here today that has never asked You to forgive them or ask You to save them, and today would be a day that they would decide to do that, God help them to make that decision and that choice. It will be the best decision and the best choice they've ever made. And I can promise them, God, that they would say this. I don't know why I waited so long. You're so wonderful to us and we love you for that. We thank you for this church family. We thank you God for everyone that makes up this fellowship. And God, we just thank you for the upcoming camp meeting. Lord, how we are trusting and believing that you're going to do supernatural things in our midst. Guide us and direct us now, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and all of God's people said, Amen. You may be seated. When I thought upon this week that we are embarking upon, and I thought about the time when Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, was here Himself, it was a time that was difficult for the Lord Jesus. He had had many victories. He had saw blinded eyes opened and deaf ears unstopped. And He had raised the dead to life again. Everything that was written of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures and in the Psalms was fulfilled. But now He was coming to that place in time where with anguish and heartache, Jesus Christ, the Savior, would suffer. He is embarking upon the Mount of Olivet in the text that I'm reading to you today. He was coming down to Jerusalem, to Bethphage, a village called Bethany that was nearby. And Jesus sent forth two of His disciples into one of these villages, and said unto them, Go, there is a colt tied. When you get there to where the colt is tied, He said, Loose him, and bring him. If any man says to you, What do ye? Say, The Lord hath need of him. Did you know today that as much as the Lord had need of that little colt that day, He has need of your life and mine. He wants our lives. He loves us. He did what He did at Calvary because of that great love for you and for I. And Jesus said straightway, that person will release that little colt, and you can bring him unto Me. They went their way as Jesus had instructed them, and they found tied by the door, without in the place where two ways met. Here we see the omniscient, or that is, the all-knowing ability of God to see all things in our lives. Did you know that God knows what it is that ties me and binds me? And do you know that God knows what it is that ties you and binds you? But the Lord has need of you, and if you would listen to Him today, He would loose you, and you could be of service for Him. They asked, What are you doing loosing the colt? And they said, Even as Jesus had commanded, the Lord has need of him. And they released the colt to take him unto Jesus. In verse 7 it says that they brought this colt unto Jesus, and they cast their garments on him, and they sat him upon this colt. No one had ever sat upon this little mule in their lives before. And the application of this is that God has not been in my life or in your life until we have been robed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and His blood has been applied upon our sins. So Christ would then begin His entry towards Jerusalem. And as He was descending this hill, something happened while those disciples was gone. Jesus looked out from the Mount of Olivet and He looked down on the city of Jerusalem. and all of a sudden his heart was moved. And here's what he said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if thou hadst known in the day of thy visitation the peace that belongs unto you, but you would not let me gather you as a mother hen gathers her little chickens under her wings. You know what God is saying to you and I when He looks out from His vantage point in heaven and sees our lives like He saw them that day? He could say to us, O children, O children, if only you knew in this day of visitation the peace that belongs unto you, the peace that passes all understanding, a peace that you'll never find in the world, a peace that you cannot work and attain, but a peace that comes from One who is the Prince of Peace, and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And these people, when Jesus began the descent from Jerusalem, He was doing this in fulfillment of Zechariah chapter 9 and verse number 9. The Bible says, Rejoice, O Mount Zion! Shout, O Jerusalem! For thy King cometh unto thee, having salvation, and He is just. He cometh lowly, riding upon the colt, and upon the foal of an ass. If those people that were spiritual in that day had known what they were looking at as Jesus descended the Mount of Olives into the city of Jerusalem, there should have been the shout, that's Him, that's the Messiah. That's the Savior, the Promised One that God said that He would send unto us. But you see, from Jerusalem's vantage point, there was nobody there in the city that was shouting that day or rejoicing that day. But Jesus had drawn a crowd out there. who had come and cut down branches from particular trees, and they strawed those branches in the way, and they laid their garments like a carpet for the Savior to descend, for He is indeed the King of Israel." They don't know that He's the King. They to this day don't know that He's King. But I'm glad that since the day that I gave my heart to Jesus and began studying this wonderful book, I know that He is the King of kings, and that He is the Lord of lords. He's the King of salvation, He's the King of mercy, He's the King of grace, and He's the King of liberty who sets me free. I am not ashamed of my faith in Jesus Christ, nor of the gospel which I preach, For therein is the power of God to set us free from our sins. So this is a very important week. And so as they were descending, people strew their garments in the way, laying a carpet for Jesus to come into the city. and they were crying the welcome plaudits to him, Hosanna, Hosanna, which means in scripture, save now and save now. But the problem was the people that were shouting that did not understand what they were saying because what they wanted for Jesus to do was to overthrow the power of the Roman government and to reestablish Israel as a nation and set them back up in their kingdom. But Jesus was coming to do a far more important work. He was establishing the eternal kingdom. He was not building a kingdom that would remain on earth, but He was preparing a kingdom that would always be with God forever and forever in heaven. And today, if you've asked God to forgive you of your sins, and you've invited Jesus Christ to come into your life, you have been birthed into that kingdom, you're a part of that kingdom, He is your King today, and you will forever and forever reign with Him in that kingdom. But here's what Jesus knew. He watched them cut down the boughs of the trees and strew them in the way. And He knew that those very people who was giving Him those plaudits of Hosanna today will on tomorrow give Him the cries of crucify Him, crucify Him. On this Palm Sunday, many around the world will carry a little palm branch with them to some churches that they attend. It is a symbol of victory and triumph and conquest. And one has to wonder that whether all who carry their palm branches to the church of their choice realizes the true significance of the palm branch. But there is a suitable meditation from the Word of God that's been given to the Israelites concerning the observance of the Feast of the Tabernacles. Upon the first day of the feast of the tabernacles, the people had to bring the bows and the branches of certain trees before the Lord, and to rejoice in His presence. If you were to read Leviticus chapter 23 and verse number 40, two of the trees that were important to this particular feast was the palm tree and the willow tree. The palm tree and the willow tree. And these are both symbolic of opposite experiences confronting us as we go through the journey of life. The Feast of Tabernacles, when they held it, they brought then these palm branches, and they waved these palm branches, a symbol of their understanding of the victories that they will experience in life. But then there was all souls that came in with the bows of the willow trees, waving them, a symbol of understanding that not only will there be the victories of life, but there will be the sorrows of life as well. Do you understand today that life is comprised of having victories, and life also is comprised of sorrows? But sorrow is the result of our sins. There's a distinctive meaning that I want you to consider. The biblical symbol of the palm is to rejoice with. and at one time it was found in all lands, and in the ancient times it furnished many necessities of life. Palm trees had over 800 uses that was ascribed to it, and it made it a renowned tree. Some unique things about a palm tree. They generally grow in the place where the strongest winds blow. If you go to the south part of the country of America, Florida and the East Coast, you'll see palms there. And we've been down there when after a hurricane had been through, those palms would bend almost all the way to the ground, but they would not break. After a period of time, because the sun would draw on them, because a palm tree grows as tall as they do, because they are constantly standing upright, and they're reaching up for the sun. There's this message to you and I there, that if we want to grow strong and upright in this world, We need to reach up unto the Son of Righteousness who has healing in our wings and who will heal us and help us in every storm of life. There are some things that will come along that will bend you, but they will not break you. It is said of a palm tree that you can take a machete and you can skin it with the bark, with the machete off of the skin. And you can come back there in a little while, and you'll notice that there's something happening, something changing. There's a resin within, something that God built within that tree. It will come to that scarred place, that wounded place on the tree. And it will begin to work the healing process. And within a year or two years maximum, you can come back and you'll not even see where that tree has been skinned. How many times has the devil charged your life? How many times has Satan tried to snare you and attack you? And sometimes we look like the scarred tree after Satan gets through. But God put something inside of every child of God when He saved them called the Holy Ghost. And that Holy Spirit is the healing, nurturing power of God that will raise you up and strengthen you. I was talking with one this week who's been through an extremely difficult plight of life. He's at the lowest ebb he's ever been in his life. And all he sees is the problem. And do you know that when you and I are having problems, that's all we see? And we see how big those problems are. But I said unto him, you're not looking in the right direction. You're looking at all the problems that you have, and they look insurmountable. But you need to realize you have a big God, a great A big God that's bigger than your problems. And you need to look up to that big God. He has healing for you. And all of a sudden he chuckled and he said, thank you for reminding me. I had soon forgotten that I had taken my eyes off of that great big God and got focused on my problems. Are you focusing on your problems today? Or are you looking to this big God? It's also said of a palm tree that you can drive a nail in it. And again, because of what's within the palm tree, day by day, the internal power that's in that tree will push that nail which pierced it back out, and it'll fall on the ground. So palms have a lot of unique qualities, and they are renowned trees. In fact, they have been called the prince of vegetation. They also carry the name as being king among the grasses. Victors in their conquests are often given a palm leaf in past history as a symbol of their reward. The royal palm grows majestically upward towards the sun, and it has become the emblem of gladness, renowned life in its best colors, and all of the brightness in life can be likened under the palm tree. When you have good days, have you ever said, I'm having a palmy day? You probably haven't. When I read that I thought, I ain't never said that. But it's what it means if you say you're having a palmy day, you're having a good day. And when the prospects of the righteous, when David was describing the prospects of the righteous in Psalm chapter 92 and verse number 12, David said that the righteous are like a palm tree. in the presence of an eternal God. That is the significance today of, or the distinct meaning, of the palm tree. It is the tree of victory. But let's look at the willow for just a moment. It is the symbol of sorrow, of humiliation, of captivity, and of death. You could say to me, I'm not in captivity, but if you're in sin, you are. You are the captive of Satan. You have believed his lies. You have allowed him to deceive you. He is the greatest deceiver on the face of God's created earth. He is a murderer. You know what He intends to do to you? He intends to destroy any faith or hope that you could ever have. That God could love you or that God could save you. But I hope you'll listen to me this morning. You've never done anything that could ever change the love of God for you. and you have not committed any sin, and you have not gone too long or too far, that God's hand is not reaching out to you with the desire to save you. If God didn't love you and didn't want to save you, tell me why He sent His Son to do what Jesus Christ did for every one of us on the cross of Calvary. And yet, we let Satan hold us in captivity. and He'll bring you to your end if you remain unrepentant, and you'll be destroyed, not because God wants to destroy you, but because you wouldn't let God save you. It seems as though God has built the willow tree to stand by the water courses and to weep. Have you ever heard the willow tree spoken of as the weeping willow? If you go down near the waters and look at their trees, Dad had one in his front yard. I never understood why anybody planted it there. They need to be planted by water. But that tree just looked like it was crying all the time. And we used to stand out there sometimes and look at it and say things like this, wonder if that tree could talk, why it's weeping. Well, you see, sometimes we don't realize God uses things in the Bible as symbols to help us see some things. God calls the saved the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. So He likens us unto a tree. And sometime back I told you, and I didn't realize that day until I started studying for this day, why God let me sit on my front porch and take fascination in that big tall tree standing on the corner of Oak Lane Church property. But here's what I thought when I looked out there. For no reason I looked out there and here's what come to my mind. That tree's been there a long time. How do you know it's been there a long time? Look how tall it is. It didn't get there overnight. That tree has went through all kinds of experiences. It's went through winter, spring, summer, and fall of the year. It's went through some of the most powerful winds, some of the hardest freezes that ever was. No doubt there's been all kinds of insects that's been on that tree. That tree's had birds in it, and you know what birds do when they sit in a tree? And you think you've been messed on pretty bad in life? And as I sat there, I kept contemplating that tree. And God said, what I'm looking for is a tree of righteousness who will stand and grow tall for me. Who will not let the weather, nor the elements, nor anything affect it. But it will just be what I created it to be. A tree. You don't need to be something great or something famous or something unique. You just need to be who God made you be. And you don't need to think that you've got to have some unusual experience. Because salvation is a unique experience, yes, but it's a simplistic experience. And a wayfaring man, even if they are fools, don't need to err therein. Jesus said it's just simply this. Do you believe that I loved you? Do you believe that I came to this earth found in fashion like a man? Do you believe that I lived without sin? Do you believe that I was sin for you, who went to the cross and offered Myself unto the Father? Do you believe My bloodshed was enough for your sins? Do you believe I was buried? Do you believe I arose again from the dead? Then would you call on Me, and if you would, I'll save you. Simple, isn't it? And that's what God's looking for is to be a tree. So I prayed on that front porch and said, God, if I'm a tree of righteousness, just let me be the tree for you that I'm supposed to be. When I came to this message, God showed me you've been a palm tree and you've been a willow tree for me. As a palm tree, you've had your victories and you've rejoiced. And if you counted your victories versus your willow trees, your sorrows, you've had more victories than you've had sorrows. But isn't it amazing the sorrows somehow seems to magnify themselves in our minds, don't they? And God said that I required both of these trees to be brought to the Feast of Tabernacles because I wanted my people to understand that in life you must learn how to rejoice, which is easy to do when everything's good. But you also need to learn that when there's willow trees, sorrows, that if you can worship then and praise me then, Then he said, those are the good things, there are good things that can happen to you. I found that close, there's a close association of these two trees. The palm and the willow were together, brought together because they grow together in human life and experience. God creates all human beings. I don't know what you believe about creation, but I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm gonna believe what God said, not what science says. I believe man was created from the dust of the earth. God breathed into that man's nostrils the breath of life. He became a living soul. And God created the home, Adam and Eve to Mary, and from there procreation happened. And every child born in this world is a part of God's creative plan into this world. And these two trees, when everyone knew what they was, every year had to bring them to the feast, and they waved the palms and they waved the willows. That day when Jesus was coming down from the Mount of Olives descending into Jerusalem to fulfill the prophetical scriptures and He was hearing those praises of Hosanna, already knew within Himself, tomorrow the willow trees come. Today, these are the palms. No matter who you are or what we are, life is a mixture of all that these trees symbolize. If you've been to a florist, you'll notice in the floor shop there are bouquets there and there's also wreaths. These have contrasting extremes to one another. The bouquet speaks of the union of hearts, a happy time when people are gathered together for a wedding. But the wreaths, on the other hand, are what we carry to the grave. They represent the separation of hearts, the grief-stricken multitudes. We go through life with a bouquet in one hand and a wreath in the other hand. And there are times when these two are not so very far apart. You ever had death after death after death in your family? We lived a lot of years in our family, a lot of years. I think it was nearly 37 years, which is no time at all compared to eternity, without a single member of our family dying. And we had taken for granted the last death that we all mourned at and was broken over. But over the years that our hearts healed, we never forgot the one that passed. And we're always mindful of them, but we had learned to embrace love and joy and happiness. We were having our palms, we were waving our palms. By the way, you got a palm whether you brought a branch or not. Look at your palm. Wave it at me. Now wave it at him. He's worthy of that palm praise, because he gave us victory from sin. But when death came to our family after 37 years, we were grief stricken. And we went from the bouquet to the wreath. Doubtless all of us have felt the velvet touch of the palm as we've had our days of success and our days of sunshine and victory and blessing. And our dreams, we've experienced them and we've conquered the difficulties of our lives. We've had good times. But then we've also had the willers. Have you been sick? Have you had sorrow? Have you felt separation? I think one of the worst separations there is, is when a parent, parents, lose a child. There's no words that can heal that broken heart. When a mom and dad is so full of joy at the birth of their baby boy or their baby girl, and it's announced unto them, you have a boy or you have a girl, you see the countenance on them light up as though it's a glowing light. But there's no heartache like the ones that I've experienced when I've had to go on into the family's home after a few days of having the child with them. And I've had them say to me, why? He just, or she just got started. Why? We're often asked questions that none of us can answer. Amen? You've got questions in your heart right now that there ain't a man walking on earth can answer. And the only thing that I could say in that moment is, I don't know why. I know that the Bible says, who has known the mind of the Lord. And perhaps, I said this, perhaps God could see something somewhere in time in your child's life that would be far worse than what you're feeling today. At that moment you can't possibly think of anything that feels worse or that is more difficult to deal with than what you're feeling that day. Can I tell you a few child grows up into life and they never know Jesus and suddenly one day they're snuffed out of life. And you know anything about salvation and eternal life, no matter how we often try to appease ourselves and make ourselves believe, maybe they got saved, maybe they cried out in that last moment. And I can hope with you and wish with you maybe that did happen. But friend, if it didn't, what happened to them then is far worse than what would have happened to them if it had happened in infancy. Why? Because in infancy they've not reached an age where they understand right from wrong, good or bad, and they'd be saved with God in heaven. And none of us like the willows that can come to our lives. But Isaiah speaks of something in chapter 15 verse number 7, that even though the children of Israel had had their great rewards and bound their treasures together, there came a day, he said, when they carried their treasures to the brook of the willows. Why? They carried all their joy, all their treasures that they collected in life, and they went down to the willows where the brooks was at, where the weeping and the sorrow was at. And there they wept in the presence of God. And can I tell you, if you've never had a willow tree experience, it's coming to your way sooner or later. Our pilgrim life is a remarkable combination of palms growing in the sun and willows drooping alongside the brook. Life is filled with smiles and sighs. It has its pleasures as well as its pains. Its triumphs and its tears are all intermingled. And do you know sometimes in the midst of your joy, pain touches you? I bet if we thought about it and somebody would admit it this morning, there's somebody sitting in this service right now, you've got some pain in your body. That's just part of what life is, isn't it? But I'm talking about palm trees and willow trees because Jesus Christ has to this point suffered nothing but just what people have said, which he just let roll off of him. And even though He's descending into Jerusalem, you'd think, well, this is a great day for Him. Why don't He rejoice? Why doesn't He appreciate what's going on? It wasn't that He didn't appreciate it. He knew He was fulfilling prophecy, and He knew He was on His way to Calvary, and He knew He was going to meet an experience that He had never, ever, ever, ever had. Now if you knew that there's an experience coming down the road, and you knew what the experience was, and you had the ability to know that you're getting close to it, would you feel dread for it? See, let me help you understand how this preacher functions. Sunday mornings, I get out of the bed quick, shower, get ready, come over here, I'm excited. I'm excited because it's the Lord's Day, and I'm going to get to see my family, my church family. I look forward to it. I go in and make me a cup of coffee and set it on my desk and it gets ice cold because I'm down praying. But I drink cold coffee anyway, once in a while. It's while I'm praying and touching the throne of God that I realize that in a little while I'm going to have to stand in front of you and give a message. And I start trembling. And I start getting nervous. And I start thinking about, wonder how I could get out of this. My back went out of place about two or three weeks ago. I think it's when we was doing these trees out here. And Brenda said, why don't you go to a chiropractor? I said, no, I'll work it out. And I twisted, and I turned, and I did everything under the heavens to try to get that back. She said, why are you suffering like that? I said, because if it pops back, I don't have to go to the doctor. If you'd like to go to the doctor, let me see your hand. Now, I ain't got mine up, because I like to go, because I don't like to go. I'd just as soon never go. But you know what, I couldn't get that thing back in and the pain started getting worse. And finally, there was no way I could fix it. And I went in and you know how long it took him? Probably less than a minute. He put his finger in a certain place in my back and he pushed it real quick and it went right back and the pain stopped immediately. And I thought, dear God, I've waited two weeks for that. What's your point brother Mike? The point is in life we have these terrible circumstances that come from sin that binds us and afflicts us and we do everything we think we know how to do to fix it and we can't fix it. And why don't you just take a little bit of time somewhere and get on your knees before God and in less than a minute He'll fix it. It's that simple. You say, you make it sound so simple that I ought to be saved. That's the truth. You really ought to be saved. We need to learn how to be grateful for both because they had to bring both the palm and the willow in the same feast to worship. Why are we grateful for the palms? One could be tempted to say that it's easy and it's natural when everything's good to worship, praise God. But do you understand according to Scripture that when everything's really good in your life, the best in your life, that's when you're the most vulnerable of failing God. There's a verse of Scripture in Deuteronomy 32, where God said to Jeshurun, which was Jerusalem, waxed. He said, Jeshurun, you have waxed fat. And then when you got all the bounty and the goodness and things that you wanted, you kicked against Me and forsook the rock of your salvation. If prosperity reaches any of us in this house today, may grace be ours to say, O soul of mine, never forget the palm tree that you planted in my garden. Don't let me, God, get so, or the willow tree that you planted in my garden, don't let me get so exalted with all the goodness that I forget that there's some problems that can come. We need to be grateful for the willows because did you know today that none of you or nor I would be what we are or who we are by character today if we hadn't gone through some of the things we've gone through. Let me say that again so you don't forget this. You would not be of the character you are today if you had not gone through some of the things you've gone through that's made you what you are today. And you're going to go through those things whether you're saved or lost. But can I tell you that when you're saved, it makes it a whole lot easier for you to go through those things. So Jesus hears them crying, Hosanna. And don't you know that He's hard thought? What do you think I've come for? I've not come to save you from the Roman army. I've not come to save you from the physical earth. I've not come to save you to live in your pleasures and die in your sins and perish. I am coming to save you. I'm on my way to Calvary. I'm going to Calvary. I'm going out there to be crucified. I will be tried in the Sanhedrin court. They will find no fault in me. Even the governor of this country will find no fault and wash his hands and say, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person. That doesn't free you from the guilt of your sin. You could be baptized every Sunday in the church, take communion every Sunday in the church, and still not go to heaven. But if Jesus Christ washes you in His blood from your sins and forgives you of your sins, you can't go nowhere else but to heaven, because that's why He came. Now Jesus knew that in a few days they would turn to the words crucified, very same crowd, and that's exactly what happened. So Palm Sunday didn't last very long, did it? Because Good Friday wasn't far from Resurrection Sunday. And when Jesus was hanging on the cross, dying for my sins and your sins, He finally came to the one hour that He dreaded more than any other hour. He prayed about it before He went to the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane. When He said, Father, let this cup pass from Me, Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. What was in the cup that Jesus was afraid of? Was He afraid of all the nasty, filthy, wicked, ungodly, unrighteous, unholy things that the world would ever commit? All that was in that cup. Jesus knew that that cup would be placed on Him. He would be made sin for us, that He that knew no sin would be made sin for us. You know, if you never get saved, here's what you need to remember. You're going to stand before the one that bear your sins. And you'll see that he took your sins, and you'll see the simplicity of all you need to do is just say, you did that for me, I'll accept you. And that's what will make eternity horrible, is that forever you'll go out separated from the one that you've seen how much he loved you. And what Jesus was fearing, not the cup of sin, not the crown of thorns, not the nails in his hands, not the cat of nine tails whip which beat him half to death. But there would come a moment, when God the Father would separate Himself from God the Son and leave God the Son there to die as a man dying with no God in his life. When I was studying this, there are some things fascinating to me about God and I asked the Lord about it to share it with you. Can you really understand the Godhead? The Godhead is three. The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. Agreed? We know God, the Father is a Spirit, omnipresent, meaning He's everywhere, present at once. You can't turn any direction, but God is there. You can leave the United States, but wherever you go, God is there. You can't get out of the presence of God. Every day of life you're living in God's presence, and you're living your life in the presence of God. That's a remarkable, amazing thought to my mind. In the originality, God the Son was God the Word. He was co-equal with God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Every word God spoke created the earth. But that word then became flesh, that's incarnate, made like us. There's another big thought. How did God, who is a spirit, then step into a human body, and was brought into the world the same way you was, born through the birth canal of a mother, who was a virgin, that did not conceive by seed of human nature, but conceived by the Holy Spirit Himself? And then when Jesus lived here on earth, this was the other thought God gave me, all of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost dwelt in Him, bodily. Now, that's not hard to understand, is it? Except when Jesus prayed, Father, I said what I said for the sake of the people, and God's supposed to be in Him, but from Heaven, God says, I have heard thee and I will honor thee. How did that happen? God is so remarkable. Now some of you will never get this because I never got it either. That isn't what matters to God. You don't have to understand Him. All God wants you to remember about Him is that everything He did was because He loved you. Everything. Everything. I don't have to know how He's everywhere present. I don't have to understand how He could become incarnate. I don't have to know how the Holy Ghost could be in Him, all the Godhead could be in Him, and He could talk to the Father in heaven, and the Father from heaven could answer Him. I don't have to understand that. And try this one on. If all of that dwells in Him, how does He die? Well, He don't. God cannot die. But the God-man, Jesus Christ, would die. because sin was what would bring about my death and your death. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God. We often focus on that the wages of sin is death. Oh, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ who gave his life for us. Can you hear a better message, not because I preach it, but there is no better message in this world than that God wants you to have eternal life. He ain't offering you no willow. You say, but there will be difficulties to be a Christian. You're going to have difficulties whether you're a Christian or not. But the good thing about being a Christian when you have difficulties, you have a divine helper, a holy helper, a helper that understands better than you do what's going on in your life. And so the thing that Jesus dreaded above all things was that separation. But here's what He said, not My will, but Thy will be done. Why did He say that? Jesus loved His Father so much, and He loved you and me so much, that if this is what it takes in order for the Father to be glorified, in order to save my life, Jesus will do what God the Father requires of Him. Now you tell me He don't love you? Why do you look Him in the eyes at the judgment bar of God? You can look me in the eyes and get over me, but you'll never look in the eyes of the sweet Savior and ever get over Him. And I'm speaking about me personally. You know what I don't ever want to do? is stand and look at Him in the eyes, having not received Him or known Him or repented of my sins. And Him have to say to me, depart from me, I don't know you. And for all of eternity I never forget what I saw when I looked in His eyes. And all it would have taken would have been a simple thing for me just to simply go to Him and say, I have sinned against you and I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me. If presently you have palms You need to be careful that you're not over-elated, but you need to walk humbly before God, because your willows may be around the very next bin. And if we are not to droop when those willows appear, we must accept that all good things with gratitude from Him as His blessings flow. I read a story, and I'm bringing this to a close. I read a story about a great Scottish preacher. And his name was George Matheson. He was a poet. He was blind. And Brother Matheson one day was musing over this palm tree and this willow tree. You know, I've been Christian for over 50 years. I've been preaching near 48 years. And when I was studying this week and God brought out these things, I've preached about all kinds of trees in the Bible. But I never looked at the palm and the willow together like I did this week. And I guess I came to the same experience that Matheson did. He mused at the dual aspect of life, which is he was considering how he has victories, how he has sorrows, and he started praying. Here's what he prayed. My God, I have never thanked Thee for the thorns. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but never once did I ever thank You for the thorns. In fact, God, He said, I've been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for the cross that you've required me to bear. But He said, God, I had never thought of my cross as itself being a present glory. And then He prayed, teach me the glory of my cross. It was said of Madison that some of the great songs that we sing today and the poems was born after this prayer. He never had light in His eyes to see, but He had the light of the Son of God living in, out of which He could see what with eyes we could never see. Amen? Have you thanked God for your sorrows and your heartaches? Have you thanked God for the thorns or have you complained to God? Have you bemoaned yourself as though God's made some terrible mistake by planting a willow in your life? God required the Jews to bring both, the palms to wave and the willows to wave. God wanted them to be taught, the palms are your victories that you're going to experience in life, but the willows is also your acknowledgement. God didn't say He asked you to like Him, He didn't say He asked you to enjoy Him, because you can't like Him and you can't enjoy Him. That would be dishonest, and God's not dishonest. But God does want you to acknowledge, God, I praise you anyway. Whether they be easy, whether they be not, I'm still praising you anyway. As Brother Ryan comes this morning, as we triumph in life, we can say with the Apostle Paul, we give thanks God to you for everything. And when we learn to do this, God can make us fruitful even in a land of affliction. We're living in a land of affliction today, and God can make us fruitful. Well, when I come to the conclusion, I paused and thought about heaven. And you know what there won't be in heaven? No willows. You never read anywhere in the Bible. I looked and looked and looked, and you never read anywhere in the Bible. What you do see in the Bible is in the book of Revelation, John saw the redeemed home. Remember I said a while ago in one hand we've got the bouquet, and in the other hand we've got the wreath. In one hand we've got the palm branch, and in the other hand we've got the willow branch. But when John saw the redeemed in heaven, he saw them with a palm in each hand. And they waved them and said, Thou art worthy. For thou hast redeemed us out of every kindred, every people, and every tongue. You know why we won't have to wave any willows? Because over there, there'll be no more sorrow. Over there, there'll be no more sickness. Over there, there'll be no more broken hearts. Over there, there'll be no more hurt children. Over there, there'll be no more crippled children. Over there, there'll never be no unkind words that'll ever be spoken again. And over there, we'll wave our palms to the victorious Lamb of God that redeemed us from sin. Amen? Stand with me. Father, I thank you this morning that on this Palm Sunday that you allowed me the privilege to bring this message about the palms and the willows. I don't know, God, if there was any justice in this, the way I delivered. But I hope that what people can take in remembering these two trees is that one symbolizes all the good that happens in our life, and the other symbolizes all the sorrows that we have in our lives. And they would take that and come back to the Scripture that are read where Jesus rejoiced in His Spirit and He had victory and He was the conqueror of all sicknesses and diseases. And above all, He would be the conqueror of sin. And as He started His descent that day, that Palm Sunday into Jerusalem and the shouts of hosanna was ringing across the valley, the Kidron Valley. Jesus knew that in a few days they'd also be crying, crucifying. So for that moment, He had His palm. But in the next hour, He will suffer the willow. And He would go to the cross and there offer Himself a sacrifice to His Father for my sins, my personal sins. And then giving of His life and shedding of His blood. The work wasn't finished there. Then He would go into the grave. and He would release them that were bound in the grave. And after His resurrection, they came out and ascended on high. And He has given the promise to this whole world that even though our loved ones are dead, yet in Christ shall they live. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with the shout and with the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. The key scripture there is in Christ. We're not in Christ until we accept what Christ has done for us by dying and resurrecting from the grave for us. And even being saved doesn't mean there won't be some willows along with our palms. But one thing is certain, God, that one day we will exchange the willow for another palm that we'll have for all of eternity, shouting the victorious praises of the Lamb of God. Lord, I know that you love sinners. Not only was it hard for me to get my mind around the Godhead, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and the unique things that He could do, but getting my mind around how that you could love such a one as I. And yet, on that wonderful night, when I knew I needed to go to the altar, my own conscience said, go, and it got louder and louder. And when I went, I've never been sorry since that day. And I praise you, Lamb of God, for forgiving my sins. It's simple today. I hope God, if someone's here that's never been saved, or if they have been saved and they know they need to repent of some sin, that they would just come and do that right now, as Ryan will sing in just a moment. And if there's folks here saved and happy, but they're going through a struggle, and they've never thanked you for their thorns, nor thanked you for their cross, maybe they'd just come and say, thank you, God, for giving me the grace through every trial that I face. And then, God, the victory becomes even sweeter. Bless now in the closing moments of this service, I pray, in the sweet name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
"Palms and Willows"
លេខសម្គាល់សេចក្ដីអធិប្បាយ | 42231545165806 |
រយៈពេល | 55:14 |
កាលបរិច្ឆេទ | |
ប្រភេទ | ព្រឹកថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ |
អត្ថបទព្រះគម្ពីរ | ម៉ាកុស 11:1-11 |
ភាសា | អង់គ្លេស |
© រក្សាសិទ្ធិ
2025 SermonAudio.