Amen. Let's take our Bibles, please, and turn to John 12. John 12. This is Palm Sunday. We'll be looking a little bit at that here. John 12, and we're beginning in verse 12. John 12, and verse 12. Amen. Brother Lucas, would you lead us in prayer, please, sir? John 12 and verse 12. On the next day, much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." So Palm Sunday gets its name from this verse right here. They took branches of palm trees and strewed the road with them as Jesus was coming into Jerusalem. It's called the triumphal entry. People are crying, Hosanna! They're ready to make Him king. But when he gets there, he has to cleanse the temple. He has to drive out all that are buying and selling. And so God wants this house to be a house of prayer. And so in this time, how much more should we be praying? And I'd like us to spend more time in prayer. So Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, Lord willing. Next Sunday will be Easter Sunday, celebrating Jesus' resurrection. We think about people giving Jesus the red carpet, but how many people give Jesus the red carpet today? And you know, that's like rolling out the red carpet for someone honorable to come. Do we do that to Jesus in our lives? Notice with me in Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20. Revelation 3 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me." Jesus is not going to break the door down to our hearts, is He? He's going to knock, but we've got to open to Him. Notice also in John chapter 1, So John 1, verse 12. We have to personally receive Him. We don't become a Christian because we have Christian parents. Praise the Lord for Christian parents. And you know, Christian parents would all love to be able to get saved for their own children, but they can't. It's a personal decision. John 1, verse 12. But as many as what? Received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." We can't choose what family we are born into, humanly speaking, but we can, spiritually speaking, eternally speaking. We must make that choice, or the choice is already made for us. And there might not be much time for people left to receive the Lord. And we've talked about the locust plague seeding. We've talked about these various rivers turning red unexplainably. We're looking now at this pestilence, the coronavirus. And I mean, these are things that God did to the Egyptians as he was bringing his people out. And so it makes us think, Why was God bringing all these plagues upon Egypt? Because He was going to take His people out of the world to the Promised Land. As the Scripture talks about, our salvation could be so much nearer than We can't imagine. So next Sunday, Easter Sunday. So notice in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, 2 Corinthians chapter 6. So we have an urgency to try to get the gospel to people. 2 Corinthians 6.1. We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee. Behold," what? Now is the accepted time. Behold, what? Now is the day of salvation. So, next Sunday celebrates Easter. What does Easter celebrate? the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But wait a minute. I thought Palm Sunday, we have Jesus riding into town and the crowd is ready to crown Him king. But to be resurrected, you have to what? Die. Well, what happened? You know, you talk about in our day and age, it's like mob mentality, isn't it? I mean, someone puts something online about something and everybody picks up on it and you have a whole mob mad. They don't even know what they're mad about. What happened? Well, you know the story. I'm talking more about that on Easter Sunday, but Judas Iscariot betraying the Savior. Betraying the one he walked with for over three years. And Jesus being arrested there in the Garden of Gethsemane. All night long, Jesus was tried before the corrupt Jewish leaders. All night long. And in the morning, they turn him over to the Romans, to Pilate, to be crucified. And we pick up on that in John 19. John 19 and verse 12. John 19 and verse 12. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not what? Isn't that strange? Caesar's friend. Are we supposed to be the friend of the world? These Jewish leaders now are questioning Pilate. Are you more of a friend to man than God? Is your allegiance more to man than God? They go on, whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover in about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king! But they cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified, and they took Jesus and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other with him on either side, and Jesus in the midst." Some unbelievable things would happen between this Sunday, Palm Sunday, and Easter Sunday. The mob would gather together Hold a secret court all night long That's why they wanted to find someone to where they could arrest Jesus apart from the crowd That's what they did. They got Judas to be trade Jesus to them. He's in the Garden of Gethsemane out of the of the limelight for the time being. And so they hold their court all night long, turn them over to the Romans first thing in the morning, so those who did believe on Jesus wouldn't rise up and stone the Jewish leaders. But some unbelievable things would happen. Jesus would give His life. Notice in John 10. John chapter 10. No, this just wasn't a hostage situation, and then the tragic murder of some helpless one. Jesus could have called all kinds of angels to help him. Jesus could have just said the word, and all those people would have been dead. But John 10, 14. Jesus said, I am what? The Good Shepherd. and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I what? Lay down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Well, verse 16, that's us. Verse 17, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I what? lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." So, we're not talking about some hopeless person that was trying frantically to get away. Jesus laid down His life. for us. What should we do? See when He laid down His life for us? Everyone should take the cup of salvation. Notice in Psalm 116. In Psalm 116 and verse 12. Psalm 116 and verse 12. The Bible says, What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will what? Take the cup of salvation and what? Call upon the name of the Lord. Sometimes people say, well, you don't read that anywhere in the Old Testament, to call upon the name of the Lord. What did we just read? I will take the cup of salvation and what? Call upon the name of the Lord. There it is. Something unbelievable happened. Events happened. Just like we are seeing now. We are seeing some unbelievable events happen in our lifetimes that have not happened in any person's lifetime, not even the oldest person. We're seeing something right now that is on a scale like World War II. only even greater. And I'm not saying the same number are going to die as in World War II. I've often wondered what it must have been like to live during the days of World War II. We're fighting two huge wars, one in the Atlantic over in Europe, one in the Pacific. I've often wondered how people must have felt during that time. Nothing, though, that we're facing right now is even faced on the scale during the Great Depression. I remember my dad telling me about certain things in that time. Gas was rationed. How many of you like the gas prices? We have something to praise the Lord about, don't we? Every time I go to the gas station, it's a little cheaper, and I'm taking a picture of it with my phone. Every time I go, I take a picture of the pump. How low is it going to get? My wife said the other day, she says, I think the gas is lower than when we got married 45 years ago. I don't know how low it's going to go. So there are some blessings out there. But my dad said in the Great Depression, they rationed gas not because gas was hard to get, but because rubber was hard to get and was needed for the military machine. So they rationed gas to save tires is what they did. But even during World War II and the Great Depression, I have never heard that the government issued a stay-home order during any of those times. I never heard that during the Great Depression or World War II that every non-essential business in the country was closed. I never remember hearing of such a thing. I never remember hearing that in the Great Depression and during World War II that every school and college in the nation was closed. I've never heard. If that happened, I didn't hear about it. I've never heard that during the Great Depression and World War II that most States in America Demanded that their churches be closed. I Think during the Great Depression and World War two I can only I'm only guessing now because I wasn't there and I haven't asked anyone But I imagine that during the Great Depression and during World War two Churches were filled with people praying praying for their loved ones in in Europe or in the Pacific praying that God would protect them and I imagine there was more people attending church then than ever before. Probably where it went wrong was then the later 40s and the 50s, where everybody came home and then everybody forgot about God. Then we end up in the 60s, just flat-out rebellion against God. So, I think we're seeing something right now that God is showing us in this generation. I don't think there's a living person that's ever seen what we are facing right now. I mean, you look across the globe. It's not just our country. Country after country right now, their borders are closed. All their businesses are closed, except essential ones, just like here. Their schools, their colleges are closed. It's something unprecedented. And as we talked last week, this was caused not by an atomic bomb, Not by a huge meteor. I've read about those. Scientists are getting worried about some of these meteors out there that are so huge coming close to the earth. And they're afraid if it hits the earth, you know, it's going to be mass destruction and maybe even knock the earth off its axis. That's what they are saying. That's not what I'm saying. That's what they are saying. We know in the tribulation period, there's going to be stars that fall to the earth. And a third part of the ships are going to perish in the sea. A third part of life is going to perish in the sea. So these are just a picture of what is coming. And I believe what God is doing is giving man a last chance. As I shared with you recently, even a lot of liberal news organizations are comparing the locust plague going on to a biblical plague. News people, journalists that don't even believe the Bible are likening these plagues to the Bible. I believe God is giving man a chance. And how did it come about? By a particle, something smaller than a cell, 1536 the width of a human hair. The coronavirus did all this. And that's exactly, it's a picture of sin, is it not? Eve took the fruit and sinned. What'd she do? It quickly spread. A very contagious sin is, isn't it? A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. It was very contagious. Eve hands it off to Adam. He eats. And then Romans 5, 12, it's passed on all of us. It's so contagious. It's even more contagious than coronavirus. Coronavirus... I don't know how many people get it that are exposed to it. I think they say like one to three percent die from it. Those people normally that have underlying conditions. But the matter of sin, everyone gets it. Everyone gets it. Notice in Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. There's nothing as contagious as sin. You know, you read about Mamas that are on drugs and they're expecting and have a baby. At the hospital, they have to wean the baby off the drug because the baby's addicted to it, because baby's in mama. Well, same way with sin. Romans 5.12, Wherefore is by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death, what? Passed upon. all men, for that all have sinned." We've all sinned, and the wages of sin is death. This coronavirus has brought another thing upon us, and that is isolation. And I was just meditating on that. How many people enjoy isolation? My brother Steve had a good idea. My wife and I could just go away for a while, isolate ourselves. I said that to Reese and Stacy. They got back from Honduras and they had to self-quarantine for two weeks. And I said something to them about, well, enjoy your unexpected two-week honeymoon. So that's nice in that sense. But how many of you really enjoy being isolated for an indefinite period of time. I mean, the first day or two, maybe even the first week was nice that you didn't have to get up and go to work. You get restless, don't you? I mean, you want to do something. I read about in Italy that they were letting people go out and walk and ride their bikes at first, but then it got so bad they forbid them to even leave their house. Do you know what that's a picture of? The coronavirus so contagious is a picture of sin. And you know what isolation is a picture of? Indefinite isolation. You tell me. Hell. That's what it's a picture. I think God is just giving us a little picture of eternity here. This disease is more contagious than I've ever heard of anything. And sin is that way. It has brought isolation, forced isolation upon the whole world. And that's what sin is going to do to people if they don't get saved. Notice in Isaiah 59. Isaiah chapter 59. It is sin that isolates us from Almighty God. What is He? He's light, John chapter 1. You know, that was one of the plagues that come upon Pharaoh that he couldn't stand. After three days of total darkness, he couldn't stand it anymore. I've read about people that were trapped in caves, and some of them just went berserk. They couldn't handle the total darkness, the silence, the lostness. Isaiah 59 verse 2. Let's read verse 1 as well. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save. Neither is it heavy, that it cannot hear. But your what? Iniquities have what? Separated between you and your God. And your sins, if it is faced from you, that He will not hear." To reject Jesus Christ and His offer to forgive us of our sins is to face eternal isolation. away from the light. Remember, when God created the heaven and earth, He created day and night, but He didn't create the sun until day four, and the moon, and the stars. He is the light. And to be separated from God is to face eternal darkness, the blackness of darkness forever. Notice in Luke 16, in Luke chapter 16, I think God has given America and the world right now A picture. We are facing pestilences, plagues of biblical proportion. And it's making people, even unsaved people, it's making them think of the Bible. God is trying to wake people up. In Luke 16, verse 19, There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared what? Sumptuously every day. I kept hearing before this hit, I kept hearing from the politicians, you know, America is going great. America is going great. Our economy has never been better. Our unemployment has never been lower. What happened? Something that is one 536th the width of a hair hit our nation and stopped it all. He fared sumptuously every day. Let us not think that that's going to continue forever. And it didn't. God's trying to wake us up. And there was a certain beggar named who? Lazarus. which was laid at his gate full of sores." So now the undesirable guy, the beggar, laid at the rich man's gate. He doesn't have that big-paying job the rich man does. He doesn't have the clothes the rich man, because in verse 21, "...and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." His clothes had to be pretty tattered for the dogs to be licking his sores. No one thought of Lazarus as someone important, but did you notice something? The rich man is just called the rich man, but we're given the name of Lazarus. That is important because in this life, most everyone knows the name Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and a lot of other rich people, Warren Buffet, But who knows the name of the poorest man on earth? No one. But in eternity, this man's name is given, but not the rich man. Verse 22, it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. I want you to notice the beggar, who sat alone, laid alone at the rich man's gate in life, The moment he dies, he's what? Not alone. The angels carry him where? Abraham's bosom. From the moment Lazarus closes his eyes in death, he is never alone. What a wonderful promise for us as Christians. While the world faces this isolation, We as Christians can rejoice. Our eternal end is not isolation. But the eternal end of the lost is. It's eternal, indefinite isolation. And the nicer the weather gets, and the longer this forced isolation is upon us, you're going to see more and more rebellion is what you're going to see. We don't have to face that as a child of God. Carried by the angels in Abraham's booze, in verse 22, the rich man also died and was what? Buried. We are facing something now that is unprecedented. In America, people are dying in the hospitals with no other family member there. Why? because of this coronavirus. They don't want to bring in relatives that might have it and spread it to someone else. What else do we have we're going to see in just a few moments? We're having weddings with no one there but the bride and groom and maybe a small nucleus of family. I just heard about the other day that someone was boasting their church was going to be full and they're getting married this weekend despite the state's regulations. And then they had the disclaimer. The church is full of cardboard figures. Because the bride and groom wanted the church full, so they made cardboard figures of people for every place in the church. They wanted a packed out church for their wedding. So that's what they did. But we're facing something unprecedented right now, where if you die right now, you can't even have A normal funeral. You can't even have a normal visitation. It's not allowed. But notice here, the rich man died and was buried. Oh, he had his burial. It never says Lazarus was buried. But, verse 23, in what? In hell he lift up his eyes, being in what? Torments, and seeth Abraham what? Far off. He's in isolation. He sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." Abraham, please. Please send someone to me. Lazarus. Even if he just dips his finger in the water and puts it on my tongue, please, please send me someone. Send me Lazarus. Just a drop of water, please. Verse 25, But Abraham said, Son, what? Remember. Just think of the memories that are going to haunt people forever and ever and ever in hell. They're going to have their full memory. Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is what? Comfort in and thou art what? tormented. And beside all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot." People can't pass from heaven to hell. Neither can they pass to us that would come from hence. That tells us there's no back door out of hell. There's no future way to get out of hell. It's eternal. It's forever. It is forced isolation forever and ever and ever and ever. I believe God in His mercy is giving people a picture of this right now. The plagues are coming. The judgments are coming. And if you don't receive Jesus Christ, eternal isolation is coming and torment. So much torment. Notice with me in Luke 23. Luke 23. The good news is it doesn't have to end that way. You know what? Palm Sunday is all about receiving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And if we receive Him as our Savior, we don't have to face the bad things we've been looking at here. In Luke 23 verse 43, And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me where? In paradise. Well, let's see what led up to that. Verse 39. And one of the male factors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us." Jesus is in the midst. There's a dying thief on each side of Him. And one of them starts railing on Christ, starts scoffing and mocking at Him. And of all the people in America and all the people in the world right now, all of those people are either in one of two camps, aren't they? They're either in the scoffing camp, The camp rejecting Jesus Christ, or they're in the camp of the next man. Verse 40, But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou what? Fear God. If a person wants to go to heaven, that's the first thing. Fear God. Have a holy, reverent fear for God. He goes on, Seeing thou art in the same condemnation. Verse 41, And we indeed what? Justly. That's number two. We must have a holy and reverent fear for God Almighty. He is our Maker. And we need to confess like this, that we are under condemnation because of our sin, and justly so. We can't shake our fists at God and say it's not fair. We deserve that judgment. He goes on, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man, he's pointing to Jesus, making reference to Jesus, this man hath done what? Nothing amiss. We have got to come to God on true terms. He is holy, pure, and just. And we are vile and sinful. Verse 42, And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And you may say, what does that mean? Remember, this thief is dying. This thief is dying. This Savior is dying on the cross. This dying, repentant thief is looking at Jesus, who is nailed to the cross and is dying, just like He is, and saying to Him, Remember me when I will come into Thy kingdom. What is he confessing? The resurrection. A dead person can't reign as king. Only a living person can reign as king. He's confessing that Jesus is going to rise again from the grave. And that's when Jesus said in verse 43, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. So there's the assurance. Let's go to Romans chapter 10. We'll close with this. Romans 10 verse 9. So that dying thief said more than just, Lord, remember me. That dying repentant thief, with his mouth, confessed that he had a holy fear of God. With his mouth, confessed that Jesus is perfect. With his mouth, confessed that he is a sinner. With his mouth, confessed that he deserved judgment. And with his mouth, confessed he believed that Jesus was going to rise from the dead and rule and reign. In Romans 10-9, "...that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath..." what? "...raised him from the dead, thou..." what? "...shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And I believe that God is allowing all of this upon not only America, but the world, because time is running out. I mean, this is Palm Sunday. By the end of this biblical week, Jesus would be crucified and Jesus would be what? Risen again. Jesus would give his life this week, this biblical week, for our sins and rise again at the end of the week. Do you realize by the end of this week, we as saints could be rising in the rapture? And then it could be too late for so many left behind. May the Lord help us and may this world wake up and receive Christ before it's too late. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness. Lord, we thank you that I believe you are just showing a picture of the plagues because you're getting ready to take your people to the promised land. And there might not be much time. I know, Father, that it was a year they spent out there and at the mountain. But then because of sin, it was 40 more years before they actually entered. So, Lord, I don't know. It could be today. It could be this week. It could be this year that the rapture could take place. It could be in 40 years. It's all in your timing, Lord, but you are no doubt giving people a chance to wake up, to repent, and to receive Christ. Oh, please, may there be a great turning to you. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.