Michael Youssef - Palm Sunday, Discerning the Times
Now, if you'll turn with me to Luke chapter 19, beginning at verse 28 to 44, I'm gonna show you the relevance to Palm Sunday. I can tell you, from my heart, on this Palm Sunday more than any other Palm Sunday in my lifetime, the words of Jesus's warning are more relevant than ever before. These words are more urgent than ever before. These words are more poignant than ever before. These words are more critical than ever before. These words are more pressing than ever before. Why am I saying this?
Beloved, listen to me. Our world is on the brink. Our nation is in deep peril. Immoral people are occupying pulpits and even denominational leadership. Christians are openly persecuted in that traditionally Christian lands, like our land in the United States, and in England, and in Australia, and in Canada, like never before. And yet, in the midst of all of this, the vast majority of people are oblivious to these realities. The vast majority of people are so engrossed in their sports and entertainment and self indulgence. They are too preoccupied with their own needs and victimhood or even perceived what is truly going on.
Here, in these words of Jesus, you can truly sense... I don't know about you, but I've heard it over and over and over again. Every time, I sense the deep grief in his voice. You can sense the sorrow in his voice regarding the condition of apathy. You can feel Jesus's own sorrow over Jerusalem, refusing to face reality. Listen very carefully as I read the Word of God. "He saw the city and he sobbed over it. 'If you,'" yes, you, "'had only known on this day what brings you true peace, but now it is hidden from you.'"
All my precious friends, if there is a message that I wanna shout from the rooftop, if there is a message I wanna shout from the mountain top, it'd be this, the words of Jesus. Not my words, I don't have any words. Discern the times in which we live. Discern the urgency of the hour. Discern the danger of our time. Discern the importance of the time in which we live. Please don't misunderstand me. I know some people will probably will misunderstand me, but I don't want you to. Please, let me beg you not to misunderstand me. This is not a call to panic. No. We don't panic because we have read the last chapter, and we know we win.
This is not a call for us to store food or gold and silver. This is not a call to put your money under the mattress and live in worry. This is not a call to head for the hills. No, this is an urgent call of a spiritual nature. This is an urgent call to witnessing, and proclamation, and standing up like never before. This is an urgent call for us to be motivated to live for him and him alone. On that first Palm Sunday, Jesus wept over the fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem were not discerning the times in which they were living.
They were not discerning the opportunity for their salvation that had come to them from heaven. They were not discerning the rare opportunity that they have. They were oblivious as to necessity of believing in Jesus and believing Jesus. They were oblivious to their privilege of living in the days that many generations past have longed for for hundreds of years. They looked forward to, they were living in the days of being able to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears the anointed Messiah, the anointed of God, Jesus the Christ.
Had people understood the times, they would have become eternally saved. Had they understood the times, they would have experienced peace in the midst of turmoil. Had they understood the times, they would have recognized that Jesus was in their midst. The only Savior was in their midst. The only Lord King is in their midst. The only Redeemer is in their midst, that their only Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach, is in their midst. I'm not into speculation, but I wonder who knows if Jerusalem may have been spared the horrors of the AD 70. Read about it in history. Absolutely horrific. Less than 37 years since Jesus uttered those words. Had you understood the times, history would have been different.
Judgment may have been stayed. Destruction may not have befallen them. Dislocation might not have scattered them all over the globe. So, the question is, is Jesus saying anything to our generation? Is Jesus saying anything to our generation on this Palm Sunday? Absolutely, yes. Absolutely, yes. And may God give us spiritual ears and spiritual eyes to hear and see. Had you discerned the time, you would have refused to compromise your convictions. Had you understood the times, you wouldn't have sold your birthright for pittance and your churches been more Holy Spirit awakened. Had you understood the times, your pastors would have repented of their sins instead of baptizing sin into the church. Your churches would have been studying the truth of my Word instead of rewriting it.
Oh, my dear friends. It takes divine wisdom to discern the times in which we live. It takes sensitivity to the Holy Spirit of God to discern the times. It takes deep intimacy with God to discern the times. It takes closer walk with Christ to discern the times. Had you, even you, understood the times. I don't have to tell you that this is one of those times in history when our world, literally, is upside down. I think I've studied history, I'm interested in history, I know history, somewhat. The world is upside down right now and we are desperately in need of faithful men and women, boys and girls to recognize that we cannot just keep on our happy, merry ways, that we cannot pretend that we are in the '50s anymore. Why? Because trust has been broken, hatred has become the norm.
Truth is in a coma and almost dying. Our children under attack like never before. Had we known the times, had we discerned the opportunity. And don't ever forget, please don't ever forget, that the crowd on that first Palm Sunday, the crowd on that first, what we call Palm Sunday, they were caught in the excitement of the time. They were caught in the excitement of the day, the excitement of the moment. What was it? Oh, what they wanted, what they wanted. They were longing for a king to physically deliver them from Rome. They were focusing on the here and now instead of eternity.
And my friends, much of our churches today are either caught up in a mode of entertainment or dead rituals. Thank God for the faithful churches. And we're not the only one. I know there are so many faithful churches who are staying the course and staying on the road to faithfulness. But much of our churches today are focusing on making people feel comfortable in their sin. Much of our churches today are competing to see who's gonna entertain better. Much of our churches today are filled with people who are thinking of how they can come to church late and leave early.
Had you understood today, had you understood even today. And I have to wonder aloud. I must confess, I wondered aloud about how probably even some of the disciples, they were much larger crowd, when they heard Jesus and they were thinking, why is Jesus such a killjoy? Why is he not just live in the spirit of the moment? Why doesn't he just enjoy the party? We don't get that kind of acceptance every day. Why doesn't he just get into it? Get in the spirit of it? Why doesn't he revel for the moment? Why doesn't he just go along to get along? Why is Jesus turning happiness into sorrow? Why is Jesus turning triumph into tears? Why is he turning these festivities into a lament?
After all, people want a feel good message. After all, people don't want to face realities of life. After all, people do not want to think of a future that may be bleak. Oh, my friends. If there is one thing that I have learned through the years, and thank God I've learned a few things. I learned a few things as I get along. I learned a few things about the crowd. You know what I mean? The mob, the crowd. The crowd will be for you one day and against you the next.
You see, the crowd gonna applaud you one day, but then, if they hear you say something they don't like to hear, there'll be appalled of you tomorrow. The crowd may love you today, but they're gonna loathe you tomorrow. The crowd may sing, "Hosanna," today, but in 3-4 days' time, they will say, "Crucify". The crowd might crown you today, but they will place a crown of thorn on your head tomorrow. The crowd may praise you today, but they will disparage you tomorrow. Listen to me. The crowd always gets caught in the spirit of the moment. But that spirit of the moment turned 180 degrees only four days later. Why? Because Jesus did not meet their false expectations. Because Jesus did not accommodate to their selfish desires. Because Jesus did not give them what they wanted. Because Jesus failed to fulfill the desires of their flesh.
And they thought that he is a king who will overthrow the Roman oppression, that he will bring on a temporary happiness, that he will be the sugar daddy who's gonna give them material prosperity. There's nothing wrong against material prosperity. When God gives it to you, praise God and use it for his glory. You see, there is no virtue in wealth. There is no virtue in poverty. That he will be their Savior from their earthly troubles, not from hell. That he is going to give them temporary peace, not eternal peace. And that is why Jesus said, "If you knew what brings you real peace".
So, when their perceived need were not met, they turned on him. And that is why I could really weep of joy. I sometimes weep both ways. I'm not very discriminating. Sometimes I weep out of joy and sometimes I weep out of sorrow. But I can weep of joy as I look across this congregation and the faithfulness of so many of you. The biblical conviction that you have maintained through the years, your tenacity in hanging in there with me through thick and thin. That many of you have been here for a long time or even short time. That you've taken your biblical conviction seriously when others have departed because they couldn't take it. God knows I'm not into flattery. God knows my heart, but I'm on to truthfulness and the Bible said, "Give honor to whom honor is due," and that's what I'm doing now.
We, as a congregation, we have been here for 36 years, and here 36 years later, simply because of the depths of the discernment of so many of you. Just take it from me. Trust me. Through the past 36 years, I have never invited people to join the church under false pretenses or false hope. Never. Not one time. The opposite is true. I actually told people not to join the church because I perceive they have false expectations. And just in case there may be one person, has been living under a rock and doesn't know this, just might be one person, somebody might be watching online does not know, let me tell you what we're about. We're about the whole truth of the Word of God. We're about one and only gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're about saving souls from eternal damnation and hell. We're about taking as many souls to heaven with us as God allows us.
We're not about modern false gospels, or partial truth, or feel good Christianity, or prosperity gospel. We are not about adopting the secular, humanistic, false sympathies. No, and a million no's. Oh, listen, we can attract a whole lot more people. Pastors have told me that for years. Why? So I can water the message down and then they can curse me from hell? No, no, and a million no's. We're about seeking and inviting, seeking to please, seeking to serve only one person and his name is Jesus. Because Jesus said, "When I'm lifted up," of course, he's talking about the cross. But whenever Jesus is lifted up, he's the one who draw people to himself. Church doesn't, pastor doesn't, Jesus does. We're here about lifting Jesus and only Jesus.
Jesus is calling all of us to heed his warning. Had you understood the times. Why? Because Jesus recognized the danger of sentimentality of the crowd in relationship to the gravity of the situation, and that is why Jesus not just wept, he sobbed. He sobbed. He wept because he knew they did not understand the gravity of the coming judgment. My friend, please listen to me. I'm coming close toward the end now. Being serious minded does not mean that we are morbid, we're not. See, the enemies of the cross accuse us of being morbid. We're not, we're serious minded about the gospel. We're serious minded about Jesus. We're serious minded about the message of salvation. Being serious minded means they're being truthful. It does not mean we are unloving, as the enemies of the cross will like to accuse us.
You see, the opposite is true. It is because we are so loving, therefore, we are truth tellers. Because we are loving, we are truthful. Listen to me. Regardless of the world's response, we must stay the course. They can love us or loathe us, they can receive us or reject us, they can praise us or condemn us, they can accept us or reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. It makes no difference. It makes no difference. We must keep on loving, we must keep on giving, we must keep on serving, we must keep on inviting, and we must keep on rejoicing. Like Martin Luther, the great reformer, we can only say, "Here I stand, for I can do no other". Here I stand, for I can do no other. Say it with me: Here I stand, for I can do no other.
Lord Jesus, this is your church. This has been your idea. From the very beginning you have guided it, you have shepherded it, you've protected it, and we know that he who began a good work is gonna bring it to completion. Father, I pray for every person at the sound of my voice that this day be a day of commitment, be a day of becoming serious minded about who you are and about the desperate need that our world is in. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that you work among us in far greater way than you've done in the past. That you will lead us from one point of glory into another so when the time comes, and we all have the audience of one, we'll be able to rejoice in your presence and hear from your holy righteous lips, "Well done, well done, good and faithful servants".