Matthew 21. Matthew 21 and we're going to begin reading in verse one this morning. Matthew 21 and verse one. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem and were come to Bethpage unto the Mount Of Olives then sent Jesus to disciples. Saying unto them, go into the village over against you and straightway, you shall find an tied and a colt with her, lose them, and bring them unto me.

And if any man say unto you, you shall say, you shall say the Lord hath need of them and straightway he will send them. All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, tell you the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh under the meek and sitting upon an and the colt, the fold of an and the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them and brought the and the colt and put on them their clothes and they set him there on and a very great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before and that followed cried saying, Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest and when he came, when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved saying, who is this?

And the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee and Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves and he said unto them, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer but you have made it into a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. When the chief priest and scribes saw that wonderful, saw the wonderful things that he did and the children crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased and said unto him, hear us thou what these say? And Jesus said unto them, yea. Have you never heard?

I never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and then we'll continue this morning. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you Lord for all those who have come. Pray Lord that you would bless our fellowship that our worship today would be sincerely from our hearts and that you might move in our hearts and our lives to draw us closer to you.

We pray Lord that you would would be honored Lord and exalted in all that said and done. We pray if there be one here that's never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of their life. That you might open up their heart and their mind to understand and to receive the gospel today. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen.

So, what is Palm Sunday? What is Palm Sunday? When I was a kid, the church that I grew up in, I don't ever remember celebrating Palm Sunday. It was a little baptist church in the country and we we celebrated Easter or resurrection Sunday as I think it's more appropriately called but but we didn't make a make a big deal about Palm Sunday. Either that or I just missed it which that's possible too.

I was a kid but I'm not sure how everyone else celebrates or remembers Palm Sunday. But it does represent a specific and important occurrence in the ministry of Christ and the beginning of a very significant week in all of human history. It'd be kind of nice one year if we can have revival between Palm Sunday and Easter. Then, we could follow along each day. Wouldn't that be neat?

Well, you'd have to come but but it is one of the most significant weeks in all of human history because it leads up to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and apart from that, none of us could be saved and so, praise the Lord for this week and particularly for the person that is the centerpiece of it. The Old Testament scriptures revealed to the Israelites, the Jews, that one day their king would come. Isaiah nine six, six, for unto us a child is born unto us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. David? It's not on.

Alright. Now, it's on. Okay, good. Let me read the verse again. Now, I don't have to yell so loud, do I?

For unto us, a child is born, unto us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace. Verse seven, of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David, upon his kingdom, to order and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This Isaiah prophesied in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

And this is not the only passage. There are many, many, many passages in the Old Testament that foretell of the coming of the king of the Jews. A king of kings, a king who would rule over an everlasting kingdom, a perfect kingdom, a righteous kingdom with a righteous king, a kingdom based in Jerusalem as its capital. A king who would be the descendant of David, who would be born in Bethlehem, who would be born of a virgin. All of these things are foretold in the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Messiah, the king of the Jews, the savior, Jesus Christ.

In Zechariah nine nine, we read this, rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion. Shout, oh daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh under thee. He is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an and upon a colt, the foal of an an is a donkey, okay? I know that word we don't use too often today because of other things but we're talking about a donkey or a burrow and Zechariah told the Jews of the Old Testament how they would recognize the king.

How they would recognize the Messiah? How they would recognize Jesus Christ? And he says, he will come into Jerusalem riding upon the colt or the foal, a young donkey never having been ridden before, up into the gates of Jerusalem and this is how, among other ways, they would recognize him as this king who was foretold. In Daniel, though somewhat obscurely, we have an indication of when the king would come. Four hundred and eighty three years following the decree of King Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem.

This king would come to Jerusalem. Hence, on that very day or in the least very near to it, Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on the back of the foal of a donkey to the chance of a crowd gathered there at the gate to welcome him. Just as the Bible had foretold. Born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin, now riding into the gates of Jerusalem, just as the prophet had foretold. And as he rode up the street that day, the crowd rolled out as it were the red carpet.

Now, didn't have a red carpet. What they did have were clothes and palm branches. They strewed them, strawed them, laid them down on the road, and Jesus as he came riding on the donkey rode across them as it were a red carpet. To hail the conquering hero, in days of old, when a general had won a great battle, he would be welcomed back into the city with a parade, and they would do things similar to this as they did for Christ. It was an indication of their faith, their belief that he was the long foretold Messiah who would come to conquer their enemies and establish his throne.

Thus, they cried, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, praise, glory, and the highest. What a day it was. That that is what we celebrate or today as Palm Sunday.

And it was an exciting day. But it was not meant to be that he had come that day to take the throne. Instead, he had come to die on a cross. As the week, we see as the week wears on, that the fanfare of Palm Sunday was replaced by an angry mob, crying not for his exaltation but for his what? His execution, his crucifixion.

He did not dethrone the powers of Rome as they had expected but instead, he allowed himself to be arrested, to be falsely condemned, to be beaten badly at the hands of men, and brought forth humiliated before the crowd. The crowd who then denied him clemency and cheered as the soldiers led him away to be executed on the cross. There would be where he would die not for his sins but for whose? Ours. For ours.

Daniel nine tells us, he would die not for himself for he would die for us. Romans five eight, but God commended his love toward us and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We're told in Isaiah 53, again, prophecy, foretelling before he came but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of was for our peace was upon him and by his stripes, we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord hath laid on him that is Jesus, the iniquity, the sin of us all. There Jesus took the punishment that should have been ours. On the cross of Calvary. As he did not mount a throne that day, instead he mounted a cross. For his blood was shed for the sins of all humanity.

This has been called the Passion Week beginning with Christ celebrated yet humble entrance into the gates of Jerusalem and ending with his victorious resurrection from the grave. On what we term today Easter. Or more appropriately, resurrection Sunday. That's what Palm Sunday is about. It's about Jesus identifying himself as that foretold Messiah.

It's about the crowd praising him that day. But it's also about what was to come. For those praises would be brief and followed by a week of trial and suffering for all the sins of humanity. This is what we celebrate. Ending next Sunday with his resurrection from the tomb.

For the last several weeks, we've been studying the need to be holy as children of a holy God to bring him glory and honor and pleasure. But as he which hath called you as holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation because it is written, be you holy, for I am holy. God expects his children to be holy like him in every aspect of our life. Not just the aspect of when you come and sit in a worship service. Not just the aspect of when you have devotions in the morning but in every aspect of our life, we should bring glory to our God in heaven.

Whether therefore, you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. Yes, if you've been coming for the past week, you've seen these verses several occasions. That's a good thing. I'm hoping by time we're done, you'll have a memorized.

Because they are vital that we remember them. It is only right for God to expect his children endured with the power of his spirit to live holy lives distinct from the lost around us and set apart holy for his glory and for his purpose. And as we learn what that means and dedicate ourselves in every aspect of our lives to that pursuit, we will reflect the glory of our God and the holiness and the love of our God to a lost world around us that so desperately needs to see it. We must be distinct in our faith. The just shall live by faith.

The world needs to see. We don't live by sight. We're not living merely for the things that we will accumulate on this Earth but we are living for treasures that we are storing up in heaven someday. We are trusting in a savior that is there awaiting us. We must be distinct in our desires.

Love not the world. Neither the things that are in the world. But love God with all your heart. As Christians, our desire should be different and the world should be able to see that and glorify our father which is in heaven. We must be distinct in our dealings with others.

Our dealings with others should be righteous, honest, peaceful, kind, and respectful. Those are all attributes of who? Jesus Christ, our Lord and how he dealt with people and it's how we're to deal with people. It's not human nature, it's divine nature. It doesn't come naturally.

It comes as we draw close to who? The Lord and we spend time in his word and he changes us into his what? Into his image. Last week, we were reminded that we need to be distinct in our attitudes. Even our attitude should be what?

Different from the world around us. Even your attitude must be different. Can people see your attitude? Yes. Oh, yeah.

They can see your attitude. Matter of fact, one of the things we notice most quickly about people is their attitude. They walk in. Okay, what's wrong with you? I think I'll keep you at arm's length here.

We notice people's attitude in their face, in the words they say, in their body language, and how they react to things around them. And if we notice them, guess what? They notice who? They notice us. When our attitude needs to reflect the holiness of our God.

Last week, we looked at the need to have a faithful and loyal heart. A loyal attitude, an attitude of faithfulness. Willing to take responsibility for our actions. Faithful in all that we do. We sing a song great is thy faithfulness, oh God, my father.

You can count on the Lord. He is trustworthy. He is faithful. Praise the Lord. He is.

If he were not, then we would be without hope but he is faithful and he is trustworthy and others should be able to see that in our life. This morning, we're going to look at the next two that particularly relate again to the life of Christ and even to this week, the Passion Week and that is a humble and a forgiving heart. A humble and a forgiving heart. First of all, a humble spirit. Philippians two one through eight.

If you could turn there in your Bibles, Philippians two one through eight. I've been working up to this for a few weeks now. Philippians two one through eight. There's one scripture you recognize, should recognize that I refer to a lot. This should be one of them.

Well, let's start back in verse one. Usually, I start in verse five but to get the whole context, we need to start back in verse one here. Philippians two verse one, we need to have a humble spirit, an attitude of humility if we are to reflect the grace and glory and honor, holiness of our God. Philippians two one, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, of any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, in other words, if if if this is real, if if you are going to live for the Lord at all, verse two, fulfill you my joy that you be like minded having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in loneliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.

Now, does that come natural? Esteeming others better than yourself? You look at others all the time. Yeah, that person's better than me. Oh, that person's better than me.

Oh, yeah, that person's better than me. No, that doesn't come natural to us. We naturally think. Guess who knows everything? I do.

Guess who's always right? I am. Guess who needs to be the one in charge? I am. And that that's that's our nature.

That's our nature. Who deserves the honor? I do. That that is human nature. That is called pride.

Jesus had every reason, every right to demand that he be recognized for who he was. That he be worshiped, that he be honored, that he be served. But that was not what he did when he came to Earth Instead, he humbled himself. Amen. Verse four says, look not every man on his own things but every man also in the things of others.

Why did Jesus come? He came for who? For others. The others were us. Goes on to say in verse five, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death even the death of the cross.

That's what Jesus did. That's how Jesus came. We reflect the holiness of our God in our life by demonstrating that same humble spirit that ranks ourselves below others, that looks to the needs of others. That doesn't glory in our own accomplishments but glories in the accomplishments of others. That seeks not to lift up self but to lift up others.

That sets aside the honors that we think we are due to honor others. That's what Jesus did for us. A willingness to set self and selfishness aside to put others first, to esteem them more worthy than ourselves. Jesus left heaven where he was equal. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

Why? Because he was equal with God. He left heaven where he was equal in nature, in glory, in authority, and in power with the father and he came to Earth leaving behind that glory and authority and power which were rightfully his. He left those behind. Now, he didn't leave his nature behind by the way.

That remain the same He was still loving, kind, merciful, honest, just, pure, righteous. But he left behind that glory and that authority and he became a creature and he became a servant and then eventually, he became a sacrifice. Like that lamb. That the Jews had to sacrifice every Passover and like the sacrifice that they have to make every year at the day of atonement for their sins To cover them because they were sinners. Jesus Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Not just the Jews but the sins of the world. He became a creature, a human. He became a servant and eventually became a sacrifice. He was truly humble for he placed our needs above his own, his own glory and comfort. He brought himself down to our level so that he might what?

Lift us up. He suffered the humiliation that should have been mine. The pain and suffering that was fitting rebellious humanity. He suffered for us and the hell, the separation from the father. That should have been my end.

And not his. As he cried on that cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? For a moment in time, the father and son were separated. As God the father poured his wrath out on that cross on God the son and he bore it all there for me. You see, the worst part of the cross wasn't the nails.

The worst part of the cross was not the humiliation. The worst part of the cross was enduring the wrath of his father. Poured out upon himself. For our sins. And he is glorified in his children when we display the same attitude of humility and selflessness to the world around us.

He is our great example. Now, there's negative example in scripture. We call these negative examples the Pharisees. They were contemporaries of Christ. They were the religious leaders.

The ones who were largely to blame for his crucifixion and the ultimate bad example of humility for they were full of pride. They prayed long and complex prayers using their big vocabulary just to impress other people. They made sure everyone noticed them when they threw their money in the offering at the temple. So, everyone would think that they were sacrificing for God. They fasted twice weekly and went out in public in particular garb and with a weary face to make sure everyone knew that they were going without for God.

They also demanded the best seats at the celebrations and the most recognition. They looked down their noses at everyone else because they were just better. Or so they thought. Jesus said that they had their reward. That is the praise of men and that's all they would get.

For they would get nothing from God. For he could see their filthy and proud heart. And so it is no surprise that most of them hated Jesus as much as the world does so even today. When God looks at our heart, what does he see? Does he see a proud hypocrite?

Or a true and humble servant? Do we more resemble the proud Pharisees? Or the humble savior? I'm afraid if we're honest, sometimes we have to admit. That we resemble the Pharisees more than the savior and that should not be.

God is not glorified. When we are magnifying ourselves, he is glorified and we humble ourselves and magnify him and if we will do so, he will magnify us. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. There is coming a day when we will get our reward. The treasures that we have stored up in heaven will be ours to enjoy.

Amen. But our mission on Earth is not to magnify ourselves. It is to magnify our savior who humbled himself and who asked us to take up our cross and follow him. He was a humble savior and he was a forgiving savior. Ephesians four thirty one and thirty two.

Ephesians four thirty one and thirty two. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil be speaking be put away from you with all malice and be you kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. What kind of attitude should should Christians have? A forgiving attitude, a forgiving heart. Again, the example is Jesus Christ, our savior.

This verse reminds us that we can never forgive more than we have been forgiven by Christ. We can never forgive more than we have been forgiven. Yeah, Jesus illustrates it with a parable about a man that he owed the king, his master, more than he could ever repay in a lifetime and he went to the king and he said, oh please, please forgive me my debt. I can never pay it. And the king forgave him and he found one of his fellow servants that owed him a pittance and he had him thrown in jail.

How sad? How ridiculous? And just ridiculously, he had been forgiven millions and he wouldn't forgive a handful of change and had the guy thrown in prison. He did not show a forgiving heart. He had been forgiven much and he couldn't forgive little.

We have been forgiven much. Amen. Oh, please. Learn to forgive. As Christians, we need to reflect the heart of our merciful and forgiving savior.

Others need to see that. He is a god of justice, wrath. He's a god of love and mercy. Also. The gospel is all about forgiveness because if it weren't for the forgiveness of God, there would be no gospel.

If it weren't for the sacrifice of Christ, there would be no gospel and we don't deserve it. But he offers it to us anyway. It cost him his life just to make us the offer. What could be more heinous than the torture and execution of God's own son? At the hands of wicked people like us.

What could be more heinous than the sins of David which God forgave? Adultery, deceit, and murder. What could be more heinous than the imprisonment and execution of God's children whom Paul hunted down from city to city before he met Christ on the road to Damascus and was forgiven. Of all his sins. And what could be worse than my sin and yours?

You say, well, I haven't done this and I haven't done that. Should we go through the list of what you've done? Do you really want to do you want to reveal it all here? No, you don't. Neither do I.

No sin against men can even begin to compare with the multitude and multiplicity of sins we have committed against our creator. And yet he forgave us. He even died for us. And we can't forgive somebody for a bad an insult unkind word, a small death, not noticing us, not asking us to do this or that or maybe asking us to do something we didn't want to do or how many grudges we hold? And it's wrong.

Amen. And it doesn't belong in the life of a child of God. One way in which we can shine brightly for Christ and the effect, the effect, the lives of many on in untold ways is by showing true forgiveness to those who have truly and even maliciously wronged us. By having a merciful and a patient and a kind spirit in a world of hate and vengeance and abuse. We live in a world that is not forgiving.

We will shine brightly for Christ if we can learn to be different and we can by God's grace. Christ and Peter had a dialogue in Matthew 18. It went like this. Peter came to Jesus and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Till seven times, Jesus said unto him, I say unto you, thee, until set not until seven times but until 70 times seven.

Peter came to Christ and said, you know, if my my friend, my brother, sins against me seven times, should I forgive him all seven? Oh, Jesus said, oh yes, you should forgive him all seven. Matter of fact, you should forgive him 70 times seven. Now, how many times is that? Four ninety.

Are you keeping records on everybody? You say, okay, I've forgiven this person three twenty times. I've forgiven this person two zero four times and I've, no. Is that what Jesus meant? No.

He meant don't keep. Track. Track or don't keep count. Don't keep count. Don't keep count.

Just keep on what? Forgiving. Keep on forgiving. Amen. Now, we cannot always release another person personally from the wrong they have committed because they do not seek it or because they cannot be reached.

We may not always be able to relieve them of the consequences but we can have a forgiving spirit and heart that does not dwell upon the injury, that does not seek vengeance upon the perpetrator or wish ill upon the enemy. Instead, we can move on. Not eaten up with anger and bitterness but oozing with compassion and peace of Christ. Our God and our great example. Not everybody's going to come ask your forgiveness and some people that have wronged you, you will never see again.

But you can have a forgiving heart. And you can let it learn to let it go and move on. Holding on to it is only injuring who? Yourself. Amen.

It is only diminishing the light that should be shining forth from your life. It is only bringing destruction and hardship in your own heart. Learn to let it go. And trust the Lord. And when given the opportunity to say I forgive you, take it before the opportunity is missed.

There was a man by the name of Jim Elliot. He was a missionary. Him and some others went to down south to minister to bring the gospel to a remote group of Indians called the Alka Indians. They thought they had managed to communicate with the Indians enough that these very violent Indians, natives down there would receive them and they would be able to bring them the gospel. So, they landed their plane not far from the village and some Indians came out these natives came out to meet them.

And they thought everything was going good at first and then everything changed. A raiding party came and they killed them all. And their wives were left as widows. More than one of those wives, years later, went back to the same people in the same region. Elizabeth Elliot ministered and brought the gospel to the same people at least one of the men who actually killed her husband.

She led to the Lord. Amen. Now, you say, how can you do that? Not human nature but the grace of what? The grace of God.

And that's what Jesus did for us. That's what Jesus did for us. We have rebelled against him. We had sinned against him and we humanity actually went as far as to execute his son that he sent to us. And yet even in that execution, Jesus Christ was there dying on purpose for us and cried out, father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

What is the message this morning? The message is this, the king has come but he did not come to rule the first time. He came to die. He came to rule in your heart, not from a throne in Jerusalem. What is the message this morning?

The king returned to heaven. After his resurrection, he went back to be the father where he is our advocate, where he is pleading with you if you are here today and have never humbled yourself to receive him as the Lord and savior of his life. He is pleading with you from heaven. Accept me today. I give you this gift today.

Will you take it? And what is the message today? It's this, that same king that came and died on a cross, that same king that is up in heaven who is awaiting you today is going to return someday to take his place. Will you be with him? Will you be with him?

That choice is up to you. He did all the work but you have to make the choice. Do you want to be on his side or against him? Will you accept and receive him or will you reject him? Will you answer his call today and receive him as the Lord and savior of your life or will you put it off?

Another day. I plead with you. Don't put it off another day as we sing this hymn of invitation. Would you come? Would you come?

Let's pray dear God thank you Lord for all that you've done for us. The opportunity to reminded of that today. And Lord we pray. To be magnified in your children for those who are coming for baptism in just a moment. And and also Lord if there's one here that's never trusted Christ I pray as we begin this hymn of invitation that they would come to.

And can show them from the word of God how they might be safe today and know it. Thank you for what you did for us. May we magnify Christ in our life by our humility and a forgiving spirit like unto his. In Jesus name, we do pray.