 Palm Sunday. Well we all know what Palm Sunday is all about, but just some quick reminders of what it is. We do know that it was pretty much the last week of Jesus's life here upon earth. We know that right after this Jesus will then be crucified, buried, and then resurrected on the third day. This being the last Sunday of Jesus, there's a few things that I do want to know. For instance, now that Jesus is coming to his last week, I want you to know that his sermons are now behind him, and what not awaits him is his sufferings. Behind him were his parables, but ahead of him now is his passion. Behind him were his supporters of fellowship, but ahead of him now is his last supper of betrayal. Behind him was the the delights of Galilee, and ahead of him was dark Gethsemane. Prophecy was now to become practice. So Palm Sunday is the day in which we recognize Jesus last day, but at the same time it is a prophecy being fulfilled in which the Lord now, or our God, is going to pretty much tell the world that Messiah is here. Messiah is, Jesus is the Messiah, and we're gonna see the response of the people in a few moments. But we do know that at this time, which was April 6, 33 AD, we do know that at this time Passover was being celebrated. According to Exodus chapter 12 and verse 30, we do know it is a time in which in which God delivered the people of Israel from from the control of the Egyptians. If you remember with me, God told them and commanded them that they were to always remember that day, you know, through a feast and so forth. So they were gathering Jerusalem, and they will celebrate the Passover. That's when God said that the angel of death over the people of the firstborn, and they all died. And you guys remember the story. We do know that around this time, Josephus tells us that there were over 2.500 million people, so it was crowded. You could imagine. I don't know about you guys man, but you know, when I go to like Dodger games, not angels, because they suck, but anyways. But when I go to Dodger games, man, there's so many people, man, especially when you know, when it's opening day or you know, or a playoff. And I don't know about you, but I kind of hate crowds. But I can only imagine with all these people being there, they're getting ready to to celebrate. You know, I'm sure that the Roman soldiers are guarding, they're aware, they're looking around, making sure that no zealot stands up or radicals try to do something to over, you know, overrule, you know, the Romans there. But we know that there was this big thing going on. And the life of Christ, you know, the testimony of Christ has gone before him. We know that around this time, Jesus had left Capernaum, he's making his way down to Jerusalem, and people have heard of everything that Jesus had done and spoken. I mean, Jesus was doing great miracles. I mean, you know the life of Christ. He raised people from the dead Lazarus. He gave the blind their sight back. Those who couldn't hear, God gave them their hearing back. The people that couldn't walk. I mean, God made them walk again. I mean, Jesus was just doing a work for the Lord as he made his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. As I looked at that for a moment, I just want to share with you this quick application. I want you to know that if you are a Christian, we are to learn to follow Christ's footsteps. And that is that wherever we go, we are always to be ready to be used by God. Are you hearing me? Always be ready to be used by God, not just at church, not just at your home, but everywhere we're going. In fact, every believer, it's on call 24-7. That means that when you're laying down and you get a message on Facebook, you know what I'm saying? Hey, pastor, are you up? Oh, now I am. What's up? Well, I'm going through this and I'll begin to minister to them or get a phone call. Oh, in other words, wherever we go, as Christians, as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to be ready. So when our number is called, we can be faithful and respond to it. Jesus, everywhere he went, he left his footprints. Everywhere he went, he left, you know, a work. He allowed people to be ministered by him. So same with us. Everywhere we go, we need to make sure that we're in a position where God can use us for his glory. Now, going here in verse one, I want you to know something happened. I'm going to pull some applications, you know, so that you can use it in your life so that you can put yourselves in a position where you can be used by God also. This is now when they drew near Jerusalem to Bethlehem and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. He sent two of his disciples and he said to them, go into the village opposite and as soon as you have entered it, you will find a cult tied on which no one has sat on. Notice the command, loosen it and bring it. So we know from the gospel's account that Jesus and disciples were making their way into Jerusalem as I noted. Notice this is near Jerusalem. They come to this place called the Mount of Olives. The gospel tells us that. You know, near Bethany, Bethvegi and Bethany. Now, I want you to know that we're told that Jesus sent two of his disciples on a mission for him. Now, I say that because I want you to understand this, guys. I want you to understand that God has a task for everyone in this room, just like he had a task for these two disciples. When God called us, I want you to know that not only does he call you and he saves you, but he also equips you and he prepares you to do our work. God did not save you just to come to church and to hear Pastor David speak. If that's Christianity, oh man, boring. No, not that he's boring because he's awesome. You heard that, Pastor? What I'm saying that that's not the purpose why God saved us. He saved us so that he can use us for his glory. He saved us so that we can bring to the lost the message of salvation. He saved us so that we can bring hope to those that are without hope. He saved us so that we can bring healing through God's word to those who are broken hearted. We are saved for a purpose. We are called for a purpose. And the thing is that if we're not in a position where God can use us, then we are the ones that are missing out. But God wants to use every single one of you, including me. The question is this, will you be available? It all begins by first getting right with God and then secondly submitting to the word of God. As you begin to submit to the word of God, God then begins the transformation. As he begins that transformation, right? Now he starts putting in a position so that he can use you for his glory. God wants to use you. When you understand that when God uses us for his glory, that it comes with a reward in the end, trust me when I tell you this, you're going to do whatever it takes, man, because you want a big reward. But I learned something awesome, that when God uses me, I'm willing to be used by him out of gratitude. I'm willing to be used by him because of what he did for me. That's why the apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as what? As living sacrifices. And then he goes on and says, why? Because it's your reasonable service. When you understand the extent that Jesus went in order for you to have a relationship with him, but also to have all your sins forgiven, you're going to realize that what Paul was saying is this simple. Just because of what he did, this is the, this, you can at least offer yourself as a living sacrifice. You know, a brother came to our church, you guys know him, to our church and he gave this illustration that I want to give to you and hopefully, oh bless you, but he talked about this. He said, you know what? Reasonable service. He said, look, if I was to walk in and let me, let me, let me share it as I came up with it, okay? So I can get credit. But anyways, if I was to come up here right now and I come to the first guy here and I say, hey, bro, man, I had a long, long trip, man. My feet are aching. Can you take out my socks after you've taken off my shoes? I got some cream in my backpack and just massage my feet. Bro, you don't even know. I would totally appreciate it. If I will say him, I'll be like, oh, you fool, get away from me, man. I can take out my, take out your socks. Are you crazy? But, but, but let's say this. Let's say though, that if I knew that he would, he was in debt, he was struggling and I just came up to him and says, hey bro, what are you doing, man? Oh man, you don't know, man. I'm just going through his hard time. I owe about $500,000, man. They're going to possess everything. Whatever. And I can't, you know what, bro? Man, do your story. Move me, man. Here's a million dollars. Don't only just pay your debt, but you have another 500,000 so that you can live, you know, without that burden. You can be free, you know, just to enjoy life a bit. Now, if I was to give him that check and he realizes that there's funds in there, even though there's no funds in there like that, but we're imagining here, right? But if I was to do that, I would say, hey, bro, can you take out my shoes and just massage my feet? Don't even put cream. He'll be like, hmm, he did help me out, man. And he blasts me. You know what? I can't, I can't do that. I can't do that. You take out my shoe, spray a little bit, some, some Febreze. Maybe he has it on him. I don't know why you have Febreze on you, but, but he'll do a little, a little massage there because he's, you know, that's the least he can do. But let's just say that if we're walking out here on the parking lot and, you know, some of you guys will start speeding and you accidentally are heading towards someone's child. And I run and I jump in and I get the full impact of that car. And then I'm hospitalized. And then you find out that, that I will no longer be able to walk. And you come and visit me. And you're pouring out your heart saying, man, you don't even know how appreciative I am. If it wasn't for you, my little baby would have been dead. How, what can I do for you? And if I say, you know what, man, I can't move. Can you do me a favor and can you take me as a sponge bath? I'm sure because of, of the gratitude that he has towards me because of what I did, he's going to say, bro, no problem, bro, not even when I give you a sponge back, whatever you want, you want me to feed you, I'll feed you. Why? Because of what I did. When you understand how much God loves you and that he sent his only begotten son to die for your sins and forgive you of all your sins, past, present, future. When God tells you, hey, I want you to do this for me. The heart that has, that is the gratitude will respond. You point the direction, Lord, and I will go. I will go. See, the thing is this, God wants to use us, understand that he has a purpose for us in which he will be glorified. You're going to benefit from it. And we're going to talk about that in a few moments. But the thing is this, God saved you with the purpose. God has a task for every single one of you guys in this room. Don't let the devil tell you, tell you, you know, no, not you, man, because you can't even pronounce these words. No, not you, man, because you don't even have an education. Oh, not you, because you're too old, not you, because you're too young. Man, the devil's a liar and wants to keep you from doing the work of God. But if you can rely on the word of God, trust the word of God, believe the word of God and use the word of God to fight these, this nonsense that he's throwing at you. Oh, man, you can, I'm telling you, you can only imagine what God can do through you. I mean, you're looking at one right here, right now. But God has a specific task, just like he had with these guys. These two guys, all he wanted for them to do is to go and to get a call for him from this place, opposite of them. God chose you for special tasks as well. First Peter two nine says, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous life. Listen, we are his special people, and he has called us to proclaim his praises. Are you being faithful to God? I said earlier that God didn't save you just so you can sit in these pews. He saved you so you can be a light. He saved you so that you can proclaim his truths. He saved you so that you can worship him and honor him and bless him. Do you know that God gets blessed when you worship him? He gets blessed when you praise him. You know, I was sharing in the first service how as a papa, I kind of understand a little bit in some of your parents know exactly what I'm what I'm talking about when I share this. When I was little, man, I'm not me. My kids were little. When my kids were little. They used to love to flatter me with their words, especially my daughter. She will sit next to me and she'll say, Daddy, you're so handsome. I know, mama. It's me. El guapo loco. Daddy, you're the best dad in the whole wide world. I'm your only daddy in this whole wide world. I mean, I know what she's saying, but her words that she used to praise to praise me and to bless me, brought joy, put a smile in my face. Don't you think God loves when you worship him, when you praise him, when you say, Lord, you're awesome, Lord, you're amazing, Lord, you're good, right? So why not do that and let the world see that? So when they come and ask you, what are you talking about? You can say, here, let me tell you about my God, who is good. But here's the thing. The only way those praises can arise from your heart is when you're experiencing the faithfulness and the goodness of God. And that happens when you're walking in obedience to the Word of God. You can't experience such things if you're not doing nothing for God, but not only that, your faith increases. So now that when you're speaking, have you ever talked to somebody and you know their line? You're like, yeah, whatever. Maybe that's the line. Okay, look me in the eye. But when someone is talking in there and they're believable, I mean, you're like, they got you right there, right? They got you hooked because they're speaking with passion, conviction. They're speaking like, man, these guys are, you know, like if he actually went through it and you're like, I did. And not only do you grow as you're walking with God, doing his will, but others are attracted to it. Now they want to know. And notice how God then begins to use you. You know, I remember when I first started my walk with the Lord years ago now. I remember, man, when when I got a call from San Diego. Hey, bro, can you come up here? My daughter is really sick. They only gave her a few hours to live. And I remember thinking, you know what, I'll be there. Just send me the address. I was staying in Southgate at that time and me and a few other people. We ended up going up there. And the whole time as I'm driving up there, you know, I'm not expecting to see what I was about to see. You know, I'm thinking, you know, she's, you know, she's a 15 year actually she was about 14, 15 year old girl. You know, they gave her a few days to live, a few hours to live. I'm sorry. I'm going to go over there. I'm going to pray and then I'm just going to leave. But when I'm going through there, you know, I'm thinking, man, Lord, please help me to have the right words to come for the family and so forth. So I get there and, you know, at the Children's Hospital, I'm standing with the parents and you can see the pain that they're going through. That their little precious princess has only hours to live. I didn't, I didn't have much to say. I mean, what, what can you say other than, man, my heart's with you. So I asked, where's your baby? Oh, this way. So I walked behind them and, and when I enter into the, this room, this, you know, this room, she's laying there and her poor little body is swollen. You couldn't even see her face. And there was a picture of her there, you know, and she looked nothing like her picture. She had this pipe coming out of her heart and some other pipes helping her breathe. And I remember thinking, Oh my goodness, this is crazy. Lord, give me the faith to believe. And I remember praying for her. And I said, Lord, your will be done. And you know, we prayed afterwards. I comforted the family and I had to drive back. And I remember getting the call as we got closer to Los Angeles. Bro, you're not going to believe what happened, what happened. She opened her eyes. I'm like, what? Are you serious? Oh, I'll call you back. Click. They hang up, right? I like, dude, come on, man, you left me already, you got me all excited. Three hours later, Pastor Dave, what's up? You're not even going to believe it. She's talking. And then a couple of hours later more, Pastor, she's walking. I'm like, what? Are you serious? That's insane. It's the Lord. And then here's the crazy thing. Yeah, praise the Lord. Give him all glory and honor. And then I remember after that, we had a little picnic and they wanted to drive from San Diego because the little girl wanted to talk to me. So they came all the way when we had a picnic and she walked up to me and she told me, thank you, Pastor David. She goes, you know, when I was in that coma, she said, I heard your voice. And I just wanted to say thank you. That was the task that God had for me. But could you imagine if I would have doubted? Can you imagine if I would have said, no, you don't understand, man, I'm trying to watch a Laker game over here. Can you imagine if I would think about it? I would have never been in a place to receive from God. I would have never been in that place, not only to see God work in such a miraculous and powerful way, but I would have missed out on an opportunity. To grow in the knowledge of God. That he is faithful, that he is powerful and that God still works the same way he did back then. God has a task for all you guys. You hear me? You're saved and you're, you're all brought into the family of God with a purpose. These disciples had a purpose at this time in their lives. And notice, Jesus said to them, go into the village opposite you. So he's taking them out of their comfort zone. You guys really think I wanted to go L.A. once I knew I was called? I wanted to stay here in Ontario. I mean, Chino. Sometimes the God calls us, he calls us outside of our comfort zone. And as soon as you have entered it, entered it, you will find a call tied on which no one has sat, losing it and bring it. He tells them, losing it and bring it. So he's giving them instructions. We got a task and then we're giving instructions. God has called us. He gives us specific tasks. And then he'll give you instructions that you may be able to do what he has called you to do. But here's the thing that I want you to understand. When God gives you a task, be sure that the enemy is going to do whatever he can to get you to doubt that call or that task. You know what he used for me? My background. Dude, you graduate. You never even graduate. You never went to Jewier High, if we're going to say. You're dumb. You're titty titty. So we use titty. And then and that weighed heavy on me until I read first Corinthians chapter one, verses 26 and 31, where it said that God uses the fullest things. And then I said, Lord, I'm that fool. And then God said, you know what? You know why, David? I go, why Lord, keep reading. And I read so that he can get all the glory. And I get nothing. But notice he caused them to go, go. The word goal there, it basically tells us that it demands action. We need to get up, stop being lazy. Are you hearing me and start doing what God tells you to do? You get up and you go and watch God work. Here's the thing. But what do I do? Well, there's two things that we already know. Jesus Christ, you know, told us to do. Number one is found in Matthew in chapter 28, verse 19, where he said, go and make disciples out of men, baptizing them, right? And then they're teaching them how to observe God's word, to do everything that Jesus told them, commanded them to do. So that's the first thing you're saved. What do I do next? OK, start discipleship, but you don't get it. Pastor Roni, we only meet on Tuesdays. Come on. That's not what he's talking about. Befriend that person. Start hanging out with the person. Start talking about God. Start allowing your life to be, you know, to be an open book to that person and show them how to walk. After Christ's footsteps. So through your lips, you show them and through your conduct, you show them. You make disciples. You know, when I got saved here in Chino, the brother who brought me, I followed him and that guy had a heart to preach. He will go anywhere and just preach the gospel. Guess what? I got that from him. Make disciples, teach someone how to be like Christ. Teach them how to obey God, you know, by reading your word in front of them, by preaching in front of them, by praying in front of them. Dude, that's one task there for all of us. Here's the other one in Mark 16, 15. He says, go and preach the gospel to every creature. The word preach means proclaim, declare it. Audibly, let people know that there's a God who loves them. Let people know that there's a God who can heal the broken heart. Let people know that there's a God who gives everlasting life. There's a God who forgives sins and removes that guilt that we may experience true joy and peace in Christ. I mean, dude, you have the truth, you have the word, you have the spirit. Why aren't you doing more? He gives us a task. He gives us specific directions, just like he did there. Go opposite, grab this cold, you find it tied up. No one has sat on it and bring it. God will give you specifics. And I've learned that even with me, as God gives me a vision, God's put something in my heart. I don't just jump right into it. I got to pray to God, make sure he's in it. First, number two, got to make sure I do it his way. If not, you're just wasting energy, time and money. And I did that for years. And to find, I said, Lord, I got in your way. God said, you think so? Come on, David, I've been telling you this for 14 years. What are you doing over there? It's because Lord, I thought I thought I knew better. Really? And in the process, you hinder the work of God in you and through you. All right? You hinge it. So if you do it right in the beginning, or start doing it right now, then you're gonna see God complete the work that he had purposed in your life. Just like right here. He brought these two men, gave them specifics, and they did it. Now notice Jesus said regarding the quote on which no one has sat. No one has sat. So there was this pony untamed that Jesus was gonna ride. Now here's the thing that I wanted to share with you. Believe it or not, sometimes God uses things or people to get his work done. We know you guys, I mean he uses, where his instruments that God uses, he equips and then he uses for his glory. But God also uses things to get our attention, doesn't he? I mean, you know what God taught me through my little chihuahuas? Unconditional love. For those who have pets, you know what I'm talking about, right? You come home and they leave you a surprise. You get a little upset. You start kicking it around a little bit. Just a little bit. And then out of nowhere, you're going, you sit down, you're mad. I do that all the time. And I can't believe you're a little dumb, little much, a little, you know, animals from hell, you know, whatever. And then you sit down and you go, you know what I'm talking about? They start licking you, they love you, regardless how bad you treat them. I learned that through an animal. And God said, look, just like that little pet loves you, even though you're a mess up, imagine my heart, imagine my love for you, even though you're a mess up. You know, with that, I can share this story. I think I shared the story a while back, but let me share it again. But I remember, man, when God used my chihuahua to show me who I was, because God uses things to do his work. And God wanted to do a work in me, but in order to do that work in me, he had to show me who I was first. And he did by using my chihuahua. Well, I come home to a smell, pretty bad smell. Look, did I realize that just the night before, when we were eating steak, was not steak, man. L.A. steak is like flat. Canasada, call it. And we just drip it in A1 sauce. My kids decided to give my chihuahua A1 sauce steak, with steak. It's a bad idea, man, because I come home and I'm like, man, what is that? Sonia, nah, I didn't say that. Don't tell her, please. And I remember like, man, what is it? And I started following the smell. That's how strong it was, like it was going, come, right? And I make a, I connect with the problem and I see it and I can follow it. Like, oh my goodness, I see it, I see it. And it goes up my stairs and into my room and boom, there it is. And I'm like, cookie, cookie. I realized that if I yell, she won't come. So I come down, cookie. Cookie pops out of the bed. You stupid dog and I kicked it and she ran from me. Dude, I've never seen a chihuahua run so fast and then she did like a little slight underneath the bed. I got under, got the broom that was there started trying to hit her. I was bad. She got up, she ran into the kitchen. I mean, that kitchen's a bathroom. I ran right after her. She, I corner her and I'm like, what's up now, fool? And she's looking at me. Now she's on the defensive mode. Forget, he's my owner. Now he's trying to kill me type of thing. So she's giving me attitude. I can see it in her face like, what's up now punk? I'm like, what's up monthly? Why are you mad dogging me? What's all right? Here's the thing. I didn't realize that I was conversing with a dog. I did what Balem did. Remember when Balem was talking to the donkey? I mean, he was so into his rebellious that the donkey's telling him, what are you doing? Man, couldn't you see the angels dying in front of me? Remember that? The donkey tells him, come on, why are you beating me? I've been faithful to you. Oh, you don't understand. He's cracking my feet when he's crying with you. He's talking to a donkey. If a donkey ever talks to me in human words, I'm running. Right, I'm running. He's possessed. I'm out of here, right? Choo! But I remember as he begins to bark at me, and I'm like, what, what, what? I can hear God say, through cookie, mean, mean, repent, repent. That's what I was hearing. I didn't hear it literally, but you know what I'm talking about. That I had to stop and say, oh my goodness. I'm a bad man with a bad attitude. And God showed me, in order for him to do a work through me, he first has to work in me. Before God can do a work through you, he has to work in you. And you have to allow him. The more you say, no, no, that's not me. You know what? The longer it'll take, and you hinder God from doing, what he wants to do. Have you ever thought about it like this? How many of you guys don't raise your hands, but you know, an invisible hand if you got one? But how many of you guys have been praying for loved ones? I know most of us here, the majority of you guys. But I wonder how many of us are living hypocritical lives. We're still cursive, we're still drinking, we're still smoking, we're still losing our temper, we're still doing all this stuff. And have you ever maybe wondered that what they're thinking is they're watching you act this way? Well, come to church with me, you need to come to church, come on, you'll be awesome, the worship is amazing, Jared is cool, whatever, right? Have you ever noticed that sometimes they'll look at you and say, nah, it's okay, but what if God was to one day open their thought life to you, and you can hear them say, they're going to church, man, but look at you over there cursing, you're over there drinking, you're over doing this. That look ain't going to you, you hypocrite. Think about it. So here God's trying to reach them, but because of your compromised life, you're hindering the work of God in them. And don't you realize you're pushing them further away from God? Because what happens when someone comes and tries to tell them about the Lord? All Christians are hypocrites. And now you make it hard for us to reach them. Guys, before God does a work through you, he then needs to do a work in you. You have to allow him. So that's the thing, notice, but here the disciples are given a task, are given specifics, and notice, and in verse three, and if anyone says to you more instructions, why are you doing this? Say the Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it here, immediately. But notice how it says that the Lord has need of it. This was to be said if anyone would question them as they took the call. Now the question has to be asked is, why would the creator of the world need anything? The answer is simple, he doesn't. But he gave an opportunity for that man, or these men to serve him for such an important part in the life of Christ. I understand that, man. God doesn't need me, God doesn't need you. But the fact that he will consider us, and then call us, that in itself should give your heart of gratitude. That God, you will entrust me with your word. God, that you will entrust me with these souls. God, that you will entrust me, and God says, I trust you. I want you to do that for me, would you? Why do you think that when I teach the word of God, I don't take it lightly? I prepare, I study. Why? Because I wanna make sure that I'm faithful to what God has called me to do. And it's not just teaching the word of God, it's in everything, being a father, being a husband, being a good worker. I wanna be faithful to the things that God entrusted me. But God doesn't need you, but he'll use you so that you can play a big part of his plans. Isn't that crazy? When I see people respond to the saving gospel of Christ, and usually when I give an altar call, my eyes are closed, because I'm praying. Because I know the devil's working. I do, or self is working. So I'm praying, but then I'll do a little, I scan the room to see who came forward. I don't do it so I can, I don't fight people, I'm like, Lord, I'm not anointing no more. I don't do it for that reason. The reason why I do it is because I get excited. Oh, that person right now has just been pulled from the strong grip of the enemy. And it's about to get right with you, Lord. That is so cool. I understand, to some extent, the responsibility given to me. God's giving you responsibility too. We're a body, and we're given the opportunity to serve. So if that opportunity is given, if that responsibility isn't trusted to you, can I encourage you to be faithful? Be faithful, and I promise you that when you stand before God and you hear him say, well done, my good and faithful servant. Oh, dude, it's gonna bless your heart. You know, when I used to work down, or any job that I used to work, I used to love when my boss used to say, good job, David. Thank you. Thank you, I appreciate that. And I will walk on like, good job. Now imagine when Jesus tells me, well done, I'll be like, I don't know what I'll be doing, man, but I'll be so blessed to hear the creator of the world who entrusted me with his word and his people, to hear him say, well done, to hear him say, well done. Dude, I can only, I long for those words. Do you? Do you? Well done, my good and faithful servant. May we be faithful. Notice he also states, Jesus says, and immediately he will send it here. You're asked, you're gonna send it. Now, one commentator knows that the phrase properly translates like this, he will send him back. And a quick point, listen, that is the way God works. Anything we offer him, whether it be our energy, our money, or our time, our abilities, whatever it is, God will return it to us with interest. Don't ever forget that, whatever you do, whatever, whether it's a word of encouragement, whether it's anything that you offer, God. God's gonna reward, I'll return it to you with interest. Trust me, guys, some of you guys know exactly what I'm talking about. You're so blessed because you're been giving. I wonder how many of you guys, when I said money, you know, there goes President there, talking about money again, all these preachers want to do is money, money, money. Oh, stop it. Let me tell you something, God don't need your money. God will use whatever it is. And if that's causing you to question, then keep it. But when you understand that whatever you give, whether it's finance, whether it's your time, your energy, God is gonna bless you. In 1 Corinthians 15-58, Paul said that your labor is not in vain. Your labor is not in vain. We're all, we're told throughout the scriptures that Jesus is gonna reward us for our faithfulness. When you understand such things and you start doing what it's called you do, expect. Here's the thing, expect God to reward you. I tell God, Lord, all I want is to fly like Superman in heaven. I do, man, I've always liked. Where's David? Where, Lord? Shh. I would love that, man. Of course, everything else that comes with heaven, like God being there and hanging out with him, what makes heaven heaven is God will be there. But everything that you give to the Lord, energy, money, time, abilities, you'll return it with interest. Verses four, six, notice. So the disciples go, notice, they obey, Jesus gives them a task. He gives them specifics. So they went, they obeyed. That's the key there. They went their way and found. So as they went, they found, they realized, they saw exactly what Jesus said was gonna happen. They're tied by the door. Can you imagine? Jesus says, okay, I want you to go to this place opposite the city. I want you to go to, you find this man. There's gonna be a, I think, and here's the thing. They have to believe him first of all, right? Okay, now they're going. You think it's gonna be there? I don't know, bro. You're asking me, what if it's not there? What if we find there, and there's a cat? What do we do there? You know, like, what do we do? I don't know, just shut up and come, you know? And they go up there and then they see it. Oh, this is crazy. How did Jesus know that? At that moment, their obedience is allowing them to see exactly how God works at that moment. They're realizing, oh man, he's all knowing. I wonder if that's what the conversation is about. He knows it all, man. Man, that's crazy. We can't do anything because you don't know it all, man. I don't know what went on right there. But I'm sure something happened in the heart. You know, sometimes God asks us to do something simple like that? Or how about something like praying for someone? Here's another quick story, man, and I don't want to bore you with my stories. I can tell, I don't, so I'll say it anyways. But there was this one kid, and then with Stephen, he was an exchange student from China, right? And he came, he was staying in our house for one year. You know, we housed him. As a pastor, my goal was I'm gonna reach this kid to the Lord, you know? Oh man, this kid was strong. You know, he was an atheist, self-proclaimed Atheist. And I remember, I tried to share the gospel with him, and he wouldn't do it. Finally, he admitted, look, Pastor David, he said, the reason why I won't do that, because when I go back to China, I want to be part of the army there. And if I believe in Jesus, that's what he told me. I don't know if it's true or not. He said, but if I believe in Jesus, it's gonna mess up my chances. I said, oh, that's gastro, man. What's gastro, Pastor David? So make a long story short. You know, he decided to be a basketball player. He wanted to join the basketball team. This guy did not know how to play basketball at all. He couldn't even play baseball. I mean, we tried to, he goes, he passes through, he goes, can you teach me how to catch? I'm talking about, we're doing okay like this, you know? And he still dropped it. That's how bad he was. He tried to join basketball. He went and played basketball, and his ankles got messed up. And we laugh at it, you know, when someone gets crossed over and they break their ankles. You know what I'm talking about? Well, someone broke his ankle. They did a crossover. He kind of went like this. He came home. Oh, Pastor David, pray for me. Oh, no, he didn't say pray for me. He just said, oh, Pastor David, oh, this hurts so much. Oh, this hurts. And his foot was like this fat. I mean, it looked like an elephant's foot. It was big, man. And I'm like, dude, what happened? And we started bagging on him. Hey, you dumb, bro, come on, man. And I go, no, don't laugh. Please, it hurts, it hurts. And the Lord said, pray for it. So I said, hey, Steve, do you mind if I pray for your foot? Oh, whatever, Pastor David. I said, let's make a deal. Whatever, Pastor David. I said, okay, if God heals your ankle, would you believe that he's real? And would you give your life to God? Yes, yes, I promise you. I promise you. Okay, I said, Lord, I pray that you will heal him. The next day, he's walking. And I go, oh, that lay. He comes in from school. Hey, what's up, Steve? Oh, so God healed your foot. What's up now? Remember that deal? No, Pastor David, no, man. No, I'm sorry, man, no, no. So you're not gonna believe? No, I'm not. Lord, I pray that you will bring that ankle back. The next day, hey, my daughter, my sons, their witnesses, they were there. We were all tripping out. The next day, his foot was back like that. Pastor David, why are you doing that? Pastor David. I said, don't mess with my God. See, he's real, man. That allowed me to have more confidence in God, that even in little things like that, if it's from the Lord, he'll perform them. I believe it. If God wants to open MacArthur Park's lake, he'll do it if he wants. If God wants to stop the sun, healed like Joshua days, he'll do it. I believe it. Do you believe that? It all happens by you being obedient, getting past the doubt, and just doing it because he said so. This is what they did. And exactly as Jesus said, as they follow to the team, the Lord was faithful. See, guys, God will always be faithful to his word. Always. Always. So notice the verses 4 and 6, they found the call as they trusted in the Lord's words, as they followed his words. There he was, tied up exactly as was said. As Jesus said it, what happened, it happened. As the disciples through the call, men confronted them. But Jesus' disciples said exactly what Jesus told them, so they were allowed to take the call. There in verses 5 and 6, notice, for some of those who stood, they're said to them, what are you doing, loosening the call? And they said to them, just as Jesus had commanded, I would underline that, just as Jesus had commanded, so they let him go. Here's the thing, you ready? Stop misinterpreting the Scripture. Stop watering it down. Stop trying to make it sound good. You just speak it the way he spoke it. I believe in the power of the Word of God. The Bible says it's alive in Hebrews, sharper than two-edged sword. Think about it. Do you believe that? I believe that. Even if I get up and I'll say, Jesus loves you, come to the Lord. He died on the cross. That is enough to bring about a revival in our land. I believe it. I do. If you believe God's Word, you're going to see, and you act upon it, great things happen. But here's the thing, never, never misquote his Word. And I'm not saying, okay, sometimes we paraphrase it, you know, I do that a lot, man, because I got a bad memory. But I'll say, the Word of God says this, and I paraphrase it, or I'll quote it, but I will never change it. In Revelations, you know that there is a warning for those who add or take away from his Word. I'm aware of that. I fear that. Oh, I ain't going to do that. And sometimes what I can't explain it, I'll just read it and say, there, God told me to tell you this, man. When I meet with couples that are fighting and struggling, I'll tell them, you know, they're like, but, but, but, going here, and I'm just kind of turning to the pages and then I go to Ephesians. You guys are Christians? Yeah, okay. There you go. Read that right there. Oh, so what do I do? Right there? Cancel? The meeting's over. God bless. So easy, man. Easy stuff, right? Just, they did exactly. They said exactly. And they were able to see God work progress. So they, they, they let them go. So again, verse seven. So they brought the coat to Jesus and threw their clothes on it and sat on it and many spread their clothes on the robe and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Those who went before and those who follow cried out saying, Oh, Zana, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom of our Father, David, that comes in the name of the Lord. Oh, Zana in the highest. And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when that they, when he had looked around all things as the hour has already late, he went on to Bethany with the 12. And a couple and a few hours there, Jesus will be betrayed and, and you can go on and read and you have the Last Supper and then you have the betrayal and then you have the crucifixion of the Lord. But for this moment here, he fulfilled the prophecy. He fulfilled the prophecy of Zachariah 99, the Masiatnik scriptures to Daniel chapter nine, 24 to 26. Jesus is saying, listen, I am that Messiah, the Lamb of God, the one who will come and reign. He fulfilled it. This was big in Israel. In fact, what we just read, Oh, Zana, blessed is and so forth there in verse nine and 10. It was actually, they were actually quoting Psalms 118 verses 25 to 26. So it was a scriptural praise. And here's something quick. How do, how do we need to praise God scripturally? We need to come to the Lord using our words. As Isaiah talked about in chapter 14 verse two, we are to praise him with a song. Psalms 100 verse two. We are to lift up not only our voices, but our hands Psalms 134 verse two. We are to praise him according to his word. Now that's important guys, because some people come, don't come early enough and please don't get me wrong. I'm not questioning your loyalty or your love for God, but for me, this is me. I love worship. You know why I kept coming here after I gave my life to the Lord? It was because of the worship. I used to get in fights with my wife. Just to come listen to worship. I would come over and I miss worship. You know, we'll be fighting. Hurry up. I'm getting the baby. I don't care. I'm going without you. And there I was to praise you Jesus. I was in working progress, right? But here's the thing. I love worship to this day. I love worship. My church will tell you second service. I come out and I sit with my wife in the front and I worship him scripturally with my voice with a song and with my hands lifted high because I love him because he's worthy of it. I don't want to miss worship. Why do we see it as less important than the word? I think we need it all, right? The worship. It's a time we come and we sing our love songs to the Lord. It's a time that we come or if someone has said before and we smother our Lord's faces with our kisses through our worship. It's a time that we come and we bless him after he's blessed us all week. Why not come and sit at his feet before we receive from his word and just lift up our holy hands without caring what this person's going to say and what this other person's going to say. Just spread out and say, Lord, thank you. The only time you should not lift your hands is if you didn't put on deodorant. But other than that, you worship God and you bless him for who he is because God wants us to worship him. Well, the people did, but here's the thing and this is what I want to close with. Now, these are the same people that in a few hours or so, actually days, it's all within that week. They yell, crucify him, the same people that said, Hosanna, Hosanna, oh, save now. Are the same ones who would say, kill him, crucify him. Have you ever wondered why? Well, let's think about that for a moment. They were being influenced by the religious leaders, the teachings and so forth, which is all good. But they began to build up these expectations of Jesus, a Messiah, that in their pursuit of such blessings of Messiah, they began to kind of alienate those scriptures that talked about the suffering Messiah. So when Jesus didn't meet their expectations, they wanted to be delivered out of the people of Rome. They didn't want to be under the power. They wanted to reign once and for all. They're in Jerusalem. So when Jesus comes talking peace and love, they're like, God, chalice, man, we want reign. We want someone to control, to once again allow us to be on the throne, give us our temple. We worship its arts. We're in control. When that wasn't met, they turned their backs on God, the Son of God. I wonder how many people are here today like that. I was one of them. When I first came to the Lord, I had these high expectations of the Lord. And I'll be honest with you, I wasn't really knowledgeable when it comes to the scriptures. I'm still learning. Don't get me wrong. I'll say, I know the Bible completely. I don't trust me, you know, but I'll tell you this. I began to read, but I started reading those passages that talks all, you know, talks about the goodness of God and how God makes us prosper. Psalms, what one of you be like that tree by the waters? You're going to, you know, you're going to be healthy and you're going to produce fruit and so forth. You know, I read all those prosperity. I love it. And when I read, you know, if you desire to be God, you suffer persecution. That's how I read it. You remember the next morning, I want the good stuff. Give me the good stuff. So guess what happened? I started building this person. God's going to give me, he's going to give me this. So when I hit a wall, when I began to struggle, when I began to get persecuted, I forgot those passages, but all I can think is, what happened, God? What happened? You said that if I give my life to you, that you were going to give me a whole set of new friends. You said that you were going to bless me, that you were going to provide. Now I can't even get this and I don't have this. I'm tired and you heard me say this before. I'm tired of eating Capitan Serial. I want Captain Crunch. Why not bless me with at least that Lord? Come on. Capitan Serial, oh man. And I started getting to the point where I started doubting God and I stopped serving him. At least wholeheartedly. When me and my wife were having some serious issues to the point where we were almost divorced, thank God I'd listened to the devil. Thank God I didn't. I would have missed out on what my wife is today. She's in Boston right now speaking at a conference. I'm like, whoa! And she's a way better speaker than me, so I give her props, man. But here's the thing. I remember when I walked out the house, ready to give up. I remember my cry to God. I've been serving you. And I just spit in my hand. I've been serving you for five years, thankfully. And you still haven't changed my wife. I'm done. And I told her, don't call me. It's over. There was more to the story. Some of you guys know my testimony. If not, email me. I'm just joking. But I'll tell you this, and I started blaming God. And I even told my wife. I called her and I told her, you know, forget God, forget you. It's over. I don't want to ever come back. I'm gone. I'm moving on. That was my heart. And I love what God did. God put my son Isaac. Johnny was different. Johnny was like, can I play PlayStation? Or we don't have PlayStation. Nintendo? That can I play with this? Isaac was the most, dad? What's up, Mio? Are you coming home? I said, of course I'm coming home. Were you? Dad, I love you. I love you, daddy. I said, okay, Mio, put your mom back on the phone. And I told her, you know what? I can't believe, before you say anything, I didn't tell him a thing. He picked up my phone and he called you. I said, well, I'm coming home just for them. But I'm leaving soon. I'm still married, man. God, it was the Lord. It was the Lord. And here's the thing. Those decisions that I made, and there were some bad decisions that I made in my life. Bad ones. It's because Jesus didn't meet up to my expectations. Listen, don't let the enemy build those false expectations of God in your life. Those things are true of God. But there's more to God. You've got to read the Word. Get a proper understanding of His Word. Apply it even when you don't want to. You know, my brother-in-law just got murdered a month and a half. And to see my wife, she mourned. But to see her faith, she went to Israel and God spoke to her there. And then after that come, and immediately started teaching women's conferences and retreats, I can say God is so good because even when she went through this trial, God remained faithful to her. God helped her. God strengthened her. And now God is using her even more. And she'll tell you, you know what? This is what she would say, God's going to work it out. God's going to work it out for His glory. And you know what's crazy? He did. He's with the Lord. Punk. Beat me. But on that Saturday, when I got up there and spoke and I gave an invitation to see all those hands that we've invited so many times to church and they would say no. It was because of a tragedy that God turned around for His glory. See, I understand. Amen. I understand to some extent that God will do whatever it takes that He may glorify Himself. But at the same time, whatever He allows in my life, I know that I'm going to benefit from it. I will. Even though it hurts, I'm going to benefit from it. I'm going to benefit from it. And it's just God working in me and He's not done with me and He's not done with you. You just got to obey, trust and follow Him for who He says He's in Scripture. And don't set up expectations for yourselves. Just simply trust, obey and let Him work in you that He may work through you. Amen.