Hosanna / Save Now

Moore's Corner Church

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Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

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Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

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D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

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If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

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There's never any statements from Jesus instructing people to celebrate

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Lent. Look at Matthew chapter 4, verse 1. They're trying to say it's based on Jesus and his temptation in the wilderness.

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There's no connection. Matthew 4, verse 1. Then Jesus was led up by the

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Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights afterward, he was hungry.

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Now when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.

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And he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

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This is actually a great verse showing that we follow scripture. We don't live by every tradition of man.

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We live by every word of God. And then the story goes on with no instruction whatsoever that we should give up something for 40 days.

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It's just not there. So while the Catholic Church and other churches might base this season of Lent on the temptation in the wilderness, there's no biblical connection.

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So based on this, if you want to give something up, go ahead. If you should give something up, amen, do it.

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But to make a religious vow, and that's what a lot of people do, they make a religious vow before God that,

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Lord, I'm going to give up whatever for 40 days. And you know what most people do, it's like a New Year's resolution.

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They break it. You don't want to make vows to God that you know or you think you might break.

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So this is actually, in that regard, it's a quite serious thing.

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One final comment, I promise. This time it's true. How many of you know what

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Mardi Gras is? You say, Pastor, what does this have to do with anything?

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You'd be surprised. It all ties in. When people hear

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Mardi Gras, they think of people going down to New Orleans, getting drunk, partying, and doing a bunch of other stuff they're not supposed to do.

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Mardi Gras is actually part of Lent. Mardi Gras is also called Fat Tuesday.

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So the idea is that you sin and you sin some more, you get all the sin out of your system on Tuesday because Wednesday is holy and now it's

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Lent and now we need to do the right thing. So sin it up on Tuesday and then now we're getting into Lent.

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Wow. It's true. It's hard to believe.

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You know what the devil does? He takes something that is good, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

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What does the devil love to do? He loves to corrupt it. And then if he can turn it into a Christian tradition, he just makes a mockery of the whole thing.

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Again, that's why we stick to the Bible and not man's tradition.

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Okay, now let's get into the text of Scripture. John chapter 12, turn there. John chapter 12 says,

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Then the next day, John 12 verse 12, Then the next day a great multitude that had come up to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and cried out,

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Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.

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Then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it as it is written, fear not daughter of Zion, behold, your

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King is coming, sitting on a donkey's coal. So people have come from far and wide to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.

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The Jewish leaders were already plotting to kill Jesus and he knew that.

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So during the Passover, Jerusalem was filled with large crowds and Jesus was actually very popular among the average person.

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Now the social elites, the people in power, they despise Jesus and his teachings. And it's kind of the way it often is in a place.

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It's the average people that tend to love Jesus or believe in Jesus, but those in power are not always the case.

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So that's the situation. The leaders were looking to kill Jesus, but they were afraid to arrest him because that wouldn't be a popular thing to do.

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That could lead to an uprising. And then if there was an uprising, then Rome would come in, crack down, it would be a bad situation for them.

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So when they finally arrested Jesus, when did they do it? They did it at night.

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They did it secretly. That way they could bring him to this kangaroo court, push it through and by the time

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Jesus was dead, by the time people found out, well, it's too late. What's done is done.

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So that was the plan. So they don't want to arrest Jesus in public during the day.

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But Jesus, he's not making it easy for them, is he? No, what does he do?

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He rides into Jerusalem in the middle of the day on a donkey, declaring himself to all the crowds because when

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Jerusalem was fuller than it had ever been, he comes in on the donkey, declaring himself that he is king.

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And then the people cry out, what? Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. And this is a quotation of two prophecies, Psalm 118 and Zechariah 9.

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Let's turn to Psalm 118 and we'll look at that. Psalm 118.

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And as you're turning there, I'll read Zechariah's prophecy, which is what they're quoting.

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Zechariah 9, verse 9 says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

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Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you.

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He is just in having salvation, lowly in riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.

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In most people's minds, a king should ride in on what? A white horse.

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Yeah, normally a king would ride in on a white horse. Jesus actually is going to come riding on a white horse.

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But that's the second advent. Revelation chapter 19, verse 11.

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When Jesus comes back in glory, he is pictured riding on a white horse. But that's

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Jesus in glory. That's Jesus as the conquering king. That's the second advent.

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In the first advent, he came as the suffering servant. He came lowly. That's why he comes riding on a donkey.

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And of course, this all goes back to King David. Before King David was the glorious mighty king of Israel, what was he?

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He was a lowly shepherd. And of course, David is a type or a foreshadow of Christ.

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Jesus is called the son of David. So the palm branches being laid out along the road is sort of like our modern equivalent of rolling out the red carpet.

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So that's what's going on there. Look at Psalm 118, verse 25. This is what they're quoting.

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Save now, I pray. Oh Lord, oh Lord, I pray. I pray, send now, what?

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Prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the

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Lord. This is what they're quoting in John chapter 12. They were essentially quoting

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Psalm 118 and then a mixture of that and Zachariah. You notice what he says.

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Save now. What do the people cry out in John? Hosanna. A lot of people think hosanna means praise.

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Well, it is a praise but hosanna means save now.

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So they recognize Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, the

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King of Israel, the anointed of God and the messianic prophecies as I already said speak of the

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Christ in two ways. The glorious conquering King and also the suffering servant.

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Guess what they were looking for? Guess what they were hoping for? Right. They wanted the conquering

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King. The problem with the average person because they were taught falsely.

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It really wasn't even their fault necessarily. But they focused on the glory and they basically ignored the parts about the suffering servant.

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The Christ's path to glory had to first go through what? Had to go through the cross. The cross is actually referred to as Jesus being glorified.

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Why? Because that's how people know Jesus. He died for the sin of the world.

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So the scribes, the Pharisees, the people of that day, they were looking for prosperity. Right. That's what a lot of Christians today.

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They're looking for prosperity. A lot of the preaching is about prosperity. Here's the thing. There's a little truth to every lie.

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Right. There is prosperity involved in the coming of Christ in the second advent, not the first.

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So the people, they wanted a conquering King. They wanted the Messiah to lead a revolution against Rome.

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So it was a political message they were preaching to some degree. Drive out the

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Romans, restore Israel's greatness as a world power. They wanted salvation from poverty, mediocrity, and oppression.

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They were not interested in salvation from sin. The more things change, the more they stay the same in some ways.

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So that's what they were interested in. That's why they cry out, Hosanna, bring prosperity.

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Bring prosperity. And then, only a few days later, instead of crying out

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Hosanna, because Jesus did not come through, because he did not meet their expectations, what did the mob cry out?

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Right. It goes from singing his praises to crucify him. Crucify him.

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This also fulfills the Psalmist prophecy. It's right in the same text, amazingly.

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Look at Psalm 118, verse 22. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

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This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

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So the betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus, that was the

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Lord's doing. Do you realize this was foreordained from the foundation of the world?

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The Jews wanted to drive out the Gentiles. God wanted to save the

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Gentiles. The cross was God's idea. This is his plan of redemption from the beginning, that God would become a man, that men might be brought near to God.

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The day when Jesus presented himself as the Passover Lamb, that is the day the

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Lord hath made. That's what we say every day. This is a beautiful day. This is the day the Lord hath made.

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This really is the day, every day is the day God has made, but this is a reference to the day

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Jesus was rejected and crucified. This is the day the

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Lord has made. It's good because we will rejoice and do what? Be glad in it.

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And again, it's called Good Friday because this is the day that Jesus accomplished our salvation.

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We're almost done. If you have never received that salvation, it's offered to you this morning.

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Whether you're sitting here or listening on the radio or online later on, if you would believe in your heart, if you would confess with your mouth the

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Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, the Bible says you will be saved.

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For whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

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Doesn't say you might be saved, you shall be saved. That is a promise from God's word.

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So in conclusion, just to speak for a moment to someone who might have a doubt, please don't be like the ones who rejected

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Jesus. Amen. Jesus is the only

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Savior. He is the rock. He is called here the chief cornerstone that was rejected.

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What did Israel do? They tried to build the house of God without him.

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And in doing so their house came to ruin. If you try to build your life without Jesus Christ, things might be going okay now, but in the end it will come to ruin.

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Don't reject his grace this morning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, which it all came true.

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All the prophecies about the first Advent came true. And Jesus fulfilled that prophecy by riding into the city and the people recognized who he was.

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And I pray that people today would recognize exactly who he is. He is the

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Christ, the son of the living God, the only Savior. We thank you for your mercy.