 And Luke chapter 19, so keep your place there. We'll get there in just a minute. But we're on the run up to Easter here and we're gonna be looking at a certain story that happens at the end of Luke chapter 19 here, which I'm calling the entrance to Jerusalem. This was, when I was a kid, this was kind of celebrated as Palm Sunday, this event here at the end of Luke chapter 19. But this is basically when Jesus comes into Jerusalem for the last time before, a few days before the Passover. And everybody is rejoicing and they are celebrating Him as the Messiah, calling Him a king. All the disciples are around Him. Of course, the naysayers, the Pharisees are there as well. But if you look down at Luke chapter 19, look down at verse number 28. Let's look at this story this morning and see what we can take away from this, this morning. And I wanna point out something that is kind of a valuable lesson for us personally, a valuable contrast of what Jesus says here, His attitude towards coming into Jerusalem, especially knowing what is gonna happen. But look down at verse number 28, where the Bible says, and when He had thus spoken, He went before ascending up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass when He was come nigh to Beth-Page and Bethany at the Mount called the Mount of Olives. He sent two of His disciples, saying, go ye into the village over against you and in which you're entering in, you shall find a colt tied wherein yet never a man sat, loose him and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, why do you loose him? Thus shall you say unto him, because the Lord hath need of him. And they went and they were sent their way and found even as he had said unto them, as they were loosening the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, why loose ye the colt? And they said, the Lord hath need of him. And they brought him to Jesus and they cast their garments upon the colt and they set Jesus there on, turn to Zechariah chapter number nine, if you will. So this is a prophecy, this seems like kind of a random story in the Bible here where Jesus tells them to go and get this young donkey here for him to ride on. And you say, why is that important? Why is that in the Bible? Well, it's the fulfillment of a messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. If you look at Zechariah chapter nine and verse number nine, the Bible says, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass upon the colt, the foal of an ass. Go back to Luke chapter 19. So all that to say this, that story is in the Bible because it is a further proof that Jesus is the Messiah that the Old Testament was prophesying, that the Old Testament. Of course there's dozens of these prophecies and Jesus fulfilled them all but I just wanted to point that out. So Jesus is coming into Jerusalem and look at the scene here and this is really what I wanna focus on this morning. If you just picture the scene of verse number 36 and beyond here and it says, as they went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent to the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen. So this is at the end of Jesus's ministry. All these miracles have been done. He's raised people from the dead, healed the sick, healed the blind, all these things. He has this massive crowd of people that are following him into Jerusalem and they are saying, look at verse 38, this again is matching up that prophecy in Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine where it says saying, blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And then of course in verse number 39, some of the Pharisees from among the multitude sent unto him, master, rebuke thy disciples. So of course, they're calling him Lord, they're calling him the king, they're calling him all these great names acknowledging that he's the Messiah and the Pharisees again are saying, rebuke these people, they're giving you this deity title, they're giving you this title of the Christ. Why aren't you rebuking them? And of course, Jesus knows that they're correct. Look at verse 40, it says, he answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. So Jesus again is saying, they're correct, they're writing what they're saying, I am the king, I am the Messiah, I am a deity, I am God. So the scene here is there's this great celebration, Jesus fulfilling this prophecy, writing in on this cult and it is this massive celebration of Jesus entering in Jerusalem. Look at verse number 41 and then we see this in verse number 41. So imagine the scene, Jesus knowing what is gonna happen sees all these people that are celebrating him, all these people calling him the Messiah, all these people calling him king, all these people that love him, that are with him. The Bible literally says that these people are his disciples, meaning they are followers of Jesus. Yet Jesus knows what is going to happen in the coming days. It's kind of like, you know, he knows, I mean obviously it's the purpose that he's there, but it's kind of like, you know, him knowing something that's already happened basically is the way Jesus looks at this. But then look at verse 41. In verse 41, Jesus says this and says when he was come near and beheld the city and wept over it, saying, if thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day that the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes. What is he saying in verse 42? In verse 42, he is saying, he's crying again. He's weeping over the city of Jerusalem and he's saying, you don't know what is going to happen to you. You don't know, he's weeping over what he sees happening to the city. So he's not weeping over what's gonna happen to himself in the next few days. He's weeping over what's gonna happen to Jerusalem. This is a prophecy of the 70 AD destruction of not only the temple but of the city of Jerusalem which we know took place. Look at verse 43. Then Jesus says what's gonna happen. He says, for days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee encompass thee round and keep thee on every side and they shall lay thee even with the ground and thy children within thee and they shall not leave in the one stone upon another because thou newest not the time of thy visitation. This is such an interesting thing here. You kinda have to be like a little bit more of a one dimensional thinker to kind of understand what Jesus is saying here but he is basically saying that you know and I understand that there's some end times prophecy things here but what he's, I wanna focus on is what he's basically telling them is they're gonna be destroyed in 70 AD and by the way this is one of the biggest proofs in my opinion that the entire New Testament was penned, was written down before 70 AD because Jesus not only prophesied the destruction of the temple but he prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem itself which all happened in 70 AD and if that had happened during the writing down of the New Testament they definitely would have put that down as a fulfilled prophecy so we know that the New Testament was written before 70 AD otherwise it would have been already a fulfilled prophecy of what Jesus is saying here in Luke chapter 19 but look Jerusalem is going to be destroyed and that is what Jesus is talking about so Jesus is going to his death he knows he's going to his death he knows he's going to be betrayed by not only the people in Jerusalem not only the Romans, not only the Pharisees but also all of these people that are currently celebrating him as the king he knows that no one is going to stop what is gonna happen to him none of these people are really even going to be there when he is in the worst trouble of his life and yet he cries over the city he cries over the city's destruction and he tells you why it's going to be destroyed in the last part of verse number 44 he says because why is it going to be destroyed he's prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem and he tells you why he says because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation because you didn't recognize the Messiah coming and he's still sad over it though so they're being judged it's a judgment upon the city itself however he's not happy about it he's not rejoicing in this as a matter of fact he's very sad about what is about to happen to Jerusalem in the coming really decades in the coming decades so look Jesus wasn't looking to be saved he wasn't looking to have his life spared and he knew he also wouldn't be spared because this was the purpose of his life but turn to first Peter chapter number two it must have been very hard I mean I can't even imagine the mindset that Jesus had where he knew he was about to be stabbed in the back by everyone friend and foe alike and yet he still had this attitude of compassion towards the people of this city turn to first Peter chapter number two turn to first Peter chapter number two and then we're going to go to Psalm 32 right after this but this is why the Bible says this about Jesus first Peter chapter two verse number 21 is talking about Christ look at verse number 21 it says for even here on two were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps so yes Christ was the Messiah in order to be saved in order to have salvation you must trust on him but he is also an example to us one of the problems with Christianity today is they put forth Jesus as only an example no Jesus is an example but he's first the Messiah but yes he is also an example for us to follow all right so it says leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps what kind of example look at verse 22 who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth now turn to Psalm chapter 32 and verse we'll just start at verse number one but turn to Psalm chapter 32 right in the center of your Bible you'll find the book of Psalm go to Psalm chapter 32 so the Bible here is saying that in Christ's mouth was no guile what does that mean it's like nothing bad came out of his mouth nothing bad came out of his mouth nothing wrong came out of his mouth nothing really guile means deceitfulness no deceitfulness came out of his mouth no just unrighteousness at all came out of Jesus's mouth ever so first Peter chapter 2 in verse 21 and 22 is talking about Jesus having no guile in his mouth but then look at Psalm chapter 32 in verse number one it says blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered now this is talking about you this is talking about the saved believer here in Psalm chapter 32 look at verse number 2 blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputed not iniquity it doesn't say that blessed is the man that hath no iniquity it's saying that because of Christ's righteousness the Lord will not impute iniquity to you but then look what it says and in whose spirit there is no guile so what the Bible is saying here in first Peter chapter 2 in verse 21 it's saying Jesus had no guile in his mouth and then he's saying that you should have no guile either in verse number 32 so it's saying Jesus is an example for us and then Psalm chapter 32 just backs it up saying you should follow the example of Christ is what Psalm 32 it's kind of cool how those two things match up where first Peter chapter 2 is talking about Jesus but Psalm 32 is talking about you talking about how you should be so with this story this great contrast of Jesus coming into Jerusalem coming into this terrible situation where he knows he will be abandoned and betrayed by everyone I want to give you three thoughts this morning I just want to give you three thoughts on God's mercy I want to give you three thoughts on God's mercy versus our mercy versus what we think deserves mercy and does not deserve mercy I want to give you three things to think about this morning with just this extreme case where Jesus going into this bad situation with all these bad people all these people that were going to abandon him even the disciples even Peter himself was going to walk away from Jesus in the coming days to save their own lives for fear of the Romans fear of the Jews look at Luke chapter 23 look at Luke chapter number 23 look, I mean the bounds of the mercy of God are beyond our understanding let's put it that way but look at Luke chapter 23 and verse 34 it even goes further when Jesus was being crucified on the cross he still had no guile in his mouth look at Luke chapter 23 and verse number 34 he's going to be crucified and he's being beaten and tortured and verse number 34 it says then said Jesus Father forgive them for they know not what they do and they parted his raiment and cast lots even at the point of his painful death on the cross Jesus was still asking God the Father to forgive the people that were involved in this he's like they don't know what's going on they don't know what they're doing so the first point I want to make tonight or this morning is this in our lives with following this example of Christ there is no place in our lives as Christians meaning people that are following the example of Christ there is no place for bitterness at all there's no reason for it there is no Jesus if anybody had an excuse to be bitter it was Jesus Christ as he came into Jerusalem it was Jesus as he was on the cross yet he was not he was not so the first thing is there is no place for bitterness none whatsoever turn to Hebrews chapter number 12 what does that mean? it means that you should not get jaded in your life ever you should not be a jaded person look even if you've been legitimately burned Jesus had every legitimate reason to be bitter if there is a legitimate reason if there's a legitimate reason to be bitter and have guile he had it yet he did not have that so that shows us that there is no place for bitterness you say well you know I've been burned you know I mean I got somebody did me wrong that still does not give place for it should not give place to bitterness you say why is that? turn to Hebrews chapter 12 look some people let legitimate bad things define their whole lives and you know this is true people let legitimately bad things look bad people did bad things to me and they let that define everything in their life going forward this is wrong look at Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 14 Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 14 look and it's easy to let it creep in it is easy to let bitterness define you it's easy to get bitterness look at Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 14 the Bible says follow peace with nice people the Bible says follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord look at verse 15 it says looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any what? any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled so there's a lot of things to learn at the very end of that verse right there the Bible says who will bitterness trouble? say well I've been wronged I've been legitimately wronged but the Bible says that bitterness if you become a bitter person and it says springing up meaning bitterness starts small and it grows it takes root and then it grows but bitterness only hurts you bitterness only let me say that with different emphasis bitterness only hurts you there is nothing that bitterness will do for you that is positive that is good there is nothing that bitterness will do for those around you that is good so why would you ever want to be bitter? wow it feels good at the moment yeah it's you going with the flesh literally damaging yourself and thereby many be defiled meaning you're gonna damage all the people that are around you your family, your children, your wife you say well somebody did I mean it makes no sense somebody did me wrong so I'm gonna damage myself I mean when you put it that way if we just think logically and not emotionally all the problems go away I mean somebody did me wrong so I'm gonna ruin my own life I'll show them turn to 1 Corinthians chapter six look at verse number seven and look I've said this many times I've said this many times there's two different ways to handle problems there's two different ways to handle somebody that does you wrong you can either let it go look at 1 Corinthians chapter six and verse number seven 1 Corinthians chapter six and verse number seven the Bible says now therefore there is utterly fault among you because you go to law one with another why do you not rather take wrong why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded so the other way to handle someone that did you wrong is to confront the situation in the Matthew 18 process just go to that person individually and talk to them but here's the thing folks in this day and age that we're living in more people need to let more things go I mean you should be suffering yourself to be defrauded like 99 plus percent of the time just let it go I mean if you have to just because we are living in a time where people are being trained to be hypersensitive about everything I mean this culture that we're living in and I get that it's a wicked culture but look it can rub off on Christians too where everybody's just I mean you got all these social justice warriors out here that are offended over you know they're offended for other people that aren't even there they're offended for all I mean who probably aren't even offended I mean think how silly that is to be offended for someone who's not you who's not even there and even if they were they wouldn't have been offended people need to let more things go look this can rub off on Christians you can get this attitude where everything offends you and look we just need to let more things go in our lives and we'll have better relationships but all these things can lead to bitterness this whole idea of you wonder where like this manosphere came from in the last couple years with all this mig-tow stuff popping up all the Andrew Tate garbage coming out and you say where did all that come from well they claim and these people look it's all formed it's all based off of bitterness that's what it is it's all run from bitterness and guess what if you're a bitter if you're gonna jump onto that bitter bandwagon bitter young men will just end up bitter old men you say how did that guy get to be a bitter old man well you ever met a bitter old man it's just angry all the time like over everything just screams at everyone constantly well he was bitter like that for a long time he didn't just become bitter last year he's been bitter his whole life has been defined as bitterness so this manosphere Andrew Tate all these wicked people pushing all these things they'll look at things like feminism and all these things that are legitimately wrong but then they go and they embrace bitterness no wrong answer they embrace bitterness and they're like no you need to adopt a life of bitterness it's like that will ruin you that will ruin you and it will ruin all the people around you if you need to be like turn to James chapter three look I mean people are mean people are rude I mean just if you get offended over every little thing you're gonna have a hard everyday life when I mean go ask you know ask Jacob after the service like when we're out working and we're working on something I'm not the nicest all the time maybe I should be but I'm not you know but you can't be offended at every single thing that happens sometimes things need to get done we need to get to work we need to get things done right the first time all these things is like you know oh you know you mean to you Garrett told me a couple of years ago he's like man if I could work for you I could work for anybody good good that means I did it right that means it worked you can't raise these kids to be these kids where somebody just blows on them and they just fall over because that's what's happening today because even Christians are embracing this attitude that if somebody wrongs me I can just get bitter I can just get upset like no just get over it let it go look at James chapter three and look at verse number 14 here's another reason people get bitter if anybody had reason to get bitter it was Jesus Christ and he did it and we're supposed to follow that example look at James chapter three and verse number 14 but if you have bitter envying look at that and strife in your hearts glory not and lie not against the truth look here's another thing that can make you bitter somebody else has something that you don't have that should not make you bitter look there's ways there's two main ways to find out who your real friends are the first way is it's very intuitive it makes a lot of sense like when I'm in a bad place and I'm really in a bad spot a true friend somebody that really loves me somebody that's my brother my sister in Christ that's going to be somebody that's going to come to my aid when I'm in trouble look I got a lot of friends like that well I shouldn't say a lot but look those are real friends like when you're in real trouble and somebody really takes action to come and help you that's a real friend right there and you will never you will never forget those times you will never forget those times as you live on this earth I mean the times where I've been in real trouble in my life and I had a brother in Christ that came to my aid I will never forget that until I'm dead and I'll still remember in heaven I'm sure but it's a long lasting thing you can say that is my friend but here's another way you can identify your friends a true friend will be happy when you are in the good times a true friend will see something good happen to you and they will truly be happy for you it is not a friend where something good happens to you and they get envious and they get bitter towards you because something good happens to you because look you're gonna have good times these are great these are two great ways to find out who your real friends are because look there's a lot of people out there that will pretend to be your friends but will they actually come and take action when you're in trouble and when you're having good times are they happy for you or are they bitter that is a terrible thing to have a friend a friend where they're having good things happen to them and you sit there and say that should have been me that's not a friend that is not what a true friend should do turn to Colossians chapter number three so those are two great tests of who your friends are I put how much how much weight do I put in words when it comes to friends none you're the best and that's the greatest and whatever and all this stuff now actions how are you when I'm in trouble and how are you when things are going well that's how you can tell who your friends are actions not what people say because what people say that's James chapter two right there what people say is nothing what people say is there's no profit there profit comes from action look at Colossians chapter three look at verse number nineteen we're talking about you know being bitter we're talking about not letting a root of bitterness come in if anybody had reason to be bitter this is just the point point number one this morning if anyone had reason to be bitter it was Christ and he wasn't he was not bitter he was the opposite of it look at Colossians chapter three verse number nineteen you know I mean it's interesting that you know the bible brings this up it it seems like unless you've been married for a while this must seem like a strange verse right here but look what it says it says husbands love your wives of course the verse before it is wives submit to your husbands but then it says husbands love your wives but then you get this last part and you're like and be not bitter against them like what? that kind of seems odd that seems kind of like odd place in there but no it is saying it is telling husbands here it is telling husbands how to lead their families it is telling the husband how you should lead your wife wives submit to your husbands husband loves your wives love husbands love your wives you think he would just end the verse there he says no but be not bitter against them what does that mean? it means that you know maybe your wife's not going to do everything exactly the way you want her to do it every time maybe that leading your wife is not going to go perfectly all the time and look maybe she's going to do the wrong thing sometimes it is saying don't lead in a bitter way it's saying don't be a negative leader I cannot stress enough how important it is to be a positive leader in your home I woke up this morning and I was not feeling good I'm still not really feeling that great but I got up and I think everyone could tell that I wasn't really feeling good and I kind of had something creeping up on me in the last couple days and I said you know what? and I feel this way it was true so it wasn't just like you know making something up but I said look I'm not really feeling that great but I'm excited to go to church today and I feel that way I'm excited to be in church today even though I'm not a hundred percent I'm excited to be here but if I just be like oh man I don't feel good we should all stay home we got to go though people are going to show up you know but you know I joke but do you know the effect that that would have on my family do you know the effect it would have on my family if I went home on sunday night and I just sat down at the dinner table with all the kids and my wife and like did you believe this guy? did you believe this lady? did you believe that? did you believe that? I was just negative all the time my family would hate coming here my family would hate church my family would despise these things you know why? because I'm planting seeds of bitterness everywhere in them I'm allowing that root that is taking hold inside myself to just be planted everywhere I'm spreading weeds in my household think of it that way the bible here is saying love your wives lead in a caring way it's not saying your wife is going to do everything perfect all the time your wife is going to mess up and so are you but lead in a positive way even when people in your household who you're leading are not doing the right thing say my kids don't do the right thing every time they don't but you have to lead in a positive way you can't allow bitterness to allow bitterness inside the walls of your house is a disastrous move for a leader and that's why God puts it at the end of this verse husbands love your wives and lead them in a positive caring loving way turn to Proverbs chapter twenty two bitterness like you can have reasons where you think you're justified to be bitter but there is no justification for allowing bitterness to grow inside you there is none you say well my wife did this and and I don't think you know she apologized good enough or whatever just let it go let it go pull out the route that's growing that's what happens to marriages that and after fifteen years that and after twenty years i think i was telling the kids are somebody that i believe all no it was it was that we had some people coming up on i won't mention names with some people coming up on a one-year anniversary this year and i was like well after one year you've made it like all you have to do is get to that i'm joking but you get to that one-year point and you're good it's successful no no problem but i remember how surprised i was when a friend of mine who was way older than me got divorced after twelve years of marriage i was like twenty three i've been married for like two years at that point and a friend of mine got married after twelve years and i remember thinking as a stupid twenty year old twenty three-year-old man when are you good the problem is bitterness can set in in year seventeen of the marriage in year twenty eight of the marriage in year thirty five of the marriage you just have to constantly manage bitterness you can't allow bitterness to set in in your marriage women or men there is never a justification for it so if you find yourself getting better get rid of it how do i get rid of it let it go ninety nine percent just let it go look at proverbs chapter twenty there's never a time for bitterness but you say what about in the worst possible cases where the worst possible people have done someone wrong look at proverbs the bible covers that too look at verse number twenty two of proverbs chapter twenty what if somebody just completely evil some evil reprobate hurts someone that you know and love what about that but look at this the bible says in verse number twenty two look this i i get it this takes faith i get it this takes faith but the bible is clear here the bible says say not now i will recompense evil but wait on the lord and he shall save the even where there is a hater of god that hurt someone it is god who will recompense it is god who will take vengeance it will it is god that will make it right and you have you had better believe and it takes faith but the bible is clear vengeance is mine god will make it more right than you could ever there is no place even in those cases for bitterness because bitterness will hurt and do damage to you and the people you love and the people you care about it makes no sense to allow bitterness to enter in here's the second point so the first point is there's no place for bitterness i've got to hurry up here i've got two more points the second point is this jesus looked at jerusalem and he cried he looked at jerusalem and he cried turned to matthew chapter twenty three but you say what in the world i don't understand and look people you have to believe the reprobate doctrine or you can't understand the bible it makes no sense look at matthew chapter twenty three and verse number fifteen the second point is this most people are not beyond redemption what do i mean by that most people are not reprobates thank god but most people are not reprobates look at matthew twenty three and verse number fifteen you say but jesus yelled at the Pharisees all the time he said the worst possible things to them look at verse number fifteen as an example of matthew twenty three he says woe unto you stripes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte when he is made you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves he's literally calling the Pharisees the jewish leaders here that did not believe on him some Pharisees did believe on him he's calling the mainstream jewish leaders here children of hell is there more uh... is there a worse thing you could call someone than a child of hell but guess what folks you say why would he cry over this group of people that are children of hell, but guess what not only a jerusalem was a Pharisee as a matter of fact that was the extreme minority of people when he looked at the city even though even though none of those people in that city would do the right thing none of those people in that city would stand up for jesus would stand there even at would even be there for his execution on the cross would stand with him even peter didn't do the right thing but guess what be careful that the reprobate brush doesn't get too wide because jesus had he had compassion on this city that was about to abandon him i mean it's it's arrogant to think that because someone doesn't get saved when i talk to them that they're beyond salvation i mean what that's an arrogant thing to think that oh you know somebody i gave this person the gospel they just flat out rejected it reprobate now that's an arrogant thing many people they just they don't get saved the first time they hear the gospel i didn't get saved the first time i heard the gospel it doesn't mean they never will get saved it doesn't mean but let me ask you this now let me ask you to think a little bit you had to think let's let's go a couple stages of thinking again what if somebody never get saved what if we look back from heaven in the past and we say well that person uh... that person was given the gospel when they were twenty five they were given the gospel when they were forty five they were given the gospel on their deathbed when they were ninety five and they still didn't accept is that equivalent to that person being a reprobate no it is not it is not it is not because god had not given up on them and that is important that is important because it matters how we treat people it matters if there's somebody whom god has not given up on we are not to give up on them most people most people will have until their last breath to accept christ most people look people turn to luke chapter nine i'll give you an example of this even from the disciples people are too quick people are too quick to condemn condemn entire groups of people look at luke chapter nine even the disciples even james and john did this look at luke chapter nine verse number fifty two people are too quick to condemn like i have this neighborhood's no good i have this every time i've even had that thought we end up getting somebody saved look we all do it we all have this tendency to want to just condemn groups of people but that is not correct because if anybody could have condemned groups of people it was jesus and he didn't do it look at luke chapter nine verse fifty two and he sent messengers before his face and they went and entered into the village of the samaritans to make ready for him and they did not receive him because his face was as though he would go to jerusalem and with his disciples james and john saw this they said lord we'll talk we command fire to come down from heaven consume them even as a lies did but he turned and rebuked them they're like hey you know we didn't get any saved in this neighborhood let's burn it up let's burn it down and jesus is like whoa calm down he turned and rebuked them and said you know not what manner of spirit you're up he's like this is not the kind of attitude that you were supposed to have that i need you to have for the son of men is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them that's what we are there to do that's us we can put ourselves now that jesus is risen and gone to heaven we can put ourselves in that place we are not here to destroy men's lives but to save them through the power of the gospel and the power of the saving grace of jesus christ and they went on to another another village look people are people are way too quick to condemn entire groups of people and i did that the podcast with pastor mehia he made a comment that i thought was really interesting because he said you know he said he's like for some reason people from outside california are super quick to tell me about the problems that i'm dealing with living in california and let me tell you something that is so true i've had that happen to me so many times and if you know people outside of california i bet you've had it happen to you too we've got people outside of california i can't tell you how many times i have heard the phrase california just needs to fall into the ocean from conservative christian people what in the what a what a wicked thing to say there are thirty nine million people here people get so worked up over a place that they're not even act and they condemn the entire group of people over what over the actions of a few wicked leaders kind of sounds like jerusalem did jesus condemn the entire city over the actions of a few wicked leaders no he wept over it he cried over it he had compassion for it it's exactly the same as the situation jesus was in how many people are getting saved in california every single year how many churches are starting in california how many churches are growing in california there are more bible-believing christians here than any other state fall into the ocean what are you talking about there are more people here that are willing and need to hear the gospel than any other state what are you talking about we should get rid of it all there are more children that need to be that need to hear the gospel that need to be homeschooled that need to be brought out of this trash garbage culture that's in every state by the way there's more children here than any other state christians should be rushing here they should be running here saying this is where the help is needed this is where the people need to hear the gospel the most of them anyway out of all the states it's the most there's more i've never met more bible-believing christians than in this state people are too quick to just paint with this broad brush and just condemn entire groups of people if anybody could have done it it was jesus and he didn't and he's our example so that's point number two turn to second chronicles chapter nineteen point number three is this point number three is this and it's maybe a cousin of point number two but this is something that we need to remember through the example of jesus as he went into jerusalem and he had such great compassion on this city the third point is this our enemies are not his enemies look some of our enemies might be his enemies but just because i have an enemy does not mean that is an enemy of the lord look enemies of the lord look at second chronicles chapter nineteen enemies of the lord i get it look at second chronicles chapter nineteen verse number two a prophet rebukes jahosaphat for helping someone that hates the lord and jayhu the son of henniah the seer went out to meet him said king jahosaphat shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the lord therefore is wrath upon thee from before the lord but now go to matthew chapter five verse number fourteen and i have a reference to matthew chapter five verse forty four two second chronicles chapter nineteen verse number two because you have to contrast these two and i told you earlier that if you don't believe the reprobate doctrine you can't make sense of this you can't make sense of these two verses the bible has no contradictions but look at this so henniah the seer the prophet of god told jahosaphat you shouldn't love them that hate the lord wrath god is mad at you because you love them that hate the lord that you helped somebody that hated god now look at matthew chapter five in verse number forty four but i say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despise despitefully use you and persecute you you're like what am i supposed to love my enemies or or hate my enemies what is it no you hate god's enemies and you love your enemies because your enemies are not exactly god's enemies though unless you're making yourself god those two lists are not exactly mutually exclusive to each other not everyone that hates you hates the lord i hate to break it to you i mean look it's easy to identify the haters of the lord all the evil wicked weirdos and perverts out there i mean it's it's easy to identify it i mean if there's a blessing it's that it's easy to see it's easy to see who hates the lord but you are not the lord even those and even to those that hate the lord you know don't help them you know we don't have to love them we're not to love them recompensing is still the lord recompensing is still up to the lord we are here to save not pursue vengeance so the point is this we are here we are here here's the point for these three points in this example jesus gives us there is no place for bitterness in our lives there's no place at all if there was a place jesus would have found that place here he wouldn't have had compassion over this city that was about to kill him that was about to abandon him even down to his own disciples no one did the right thing and i get it he was he that's the point of his life was to come here and die for the sins of the world but if anyone like no christian should be a bitter negative person it will only hurt you you'll raise bitter negative children no one will be around will want to be around you i mean i've met people like that before you don't even want to you don't even want to talk to him you don't even want to ask ask him questions about anything because it's just it's just negativity bitterness it's just ugh you don't even want to hear what they say because you just know it's bad no matter what's going on just carry a negative cloud with them everywhere they go i mean i was talking to one of the guys out soul winning yesterday and look the thing is this life is too short life is too short to be this bitter person life is too short to not have mercy and passion i mean this life this life is a timed event it's a spend it in this negativity and doing things the wrong way by like being bitter is just take over our lives is it's terrible the lord himself had the most legitimate reason to have gyle in his mouth and to have bitterness in his heart all those people were fake to one degree or another it was a wicked thing they're calling him king they're calling him king they're laying down their clothes in front of the the the ask that he was riding on days later he's killed and everyone except a few women is gone if anyone had reason to be bitter it was him we have no excuse at all and here's the thing folks there's no upside none at all other than it maybe makes your flesh feel good for a moment then it is long-lasting damage to you and those around you is a great example of showing us that we need to have mercy as the thing that leads us in our lives as christians let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer