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Prince of Peace · Rick Manis Ministries Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Palm Sunday.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to use that today because it kind of, you know, it does mark a series of events that lead up to a crucifixion and then the resurrection, which everybody's going to be celebrating for sure next week.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And this was sort of the beginning of things that week.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of where things were set in motion.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I want us to, I want to sort of set the stage as we as we look at the first Palm Sunday.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And let's remember that Jesus at this time, I mean, this is the last few days of his life.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus at this time is at he's at the apex.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: He is a big deal right now.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's being talked about all over Israel, throughout Judea.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Nations around are talking about what's going on here and about this person.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: We know for three years he's he's been doing a lot of things that have got a lot of people's attention.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And not only did he have a lot of people following and many believing in him, as the Bible would say over and over again, many believed on him, many believed on him, many believed on him.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Also, even many, uh, we see in one place where it says, even it says, many.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: It says, many of the uh of the of the leaders, and it's talking about those in the among the Pharisees.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it says, many of the leaders believed on him, but they were afraid of the Pharisees, so they kept it to themselves.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: He was a big deal.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um then there was the raising of Lazarus from the dead, and this really catapulted things.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: And um, as we come into the story here, um, we see that uh six days before uh the Passover, uh, Jesus goes to Bethany to go to uh Mary and Martha's house, and that's where he was going to stay for the week.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Some would come into the city and they would stay somewhere in the city, or some would camp out, or whatever.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, luckily he had friends nearby, so he was coming, he would stay at their house, and he was going back and forth from there to Jerusalem that week.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So he goes there, and then and Lazarus was there, and it says that they're eating dinner, and Lazarus was eating dinner too, and Lazarus had been dead at one time.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And here's this man that was dead, and now he's alive and eating.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And also the Bible says there in John chapter 12 that that um that, yeah, many believed on Jesus, but they and they wanted to see him.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: It says they heard that he was there, and so they wanted to see Jesus, but it says they wanted to see this Lazarus too, because they'd heard about this.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because the fame of this big miracle of raising somebody from the dead uh had gone out, and they wanted to see for their own eyes, they wanted to see this man who was dead, and he's now alive.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so he's there, and people are already coming because he's a big deal.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: We want to see Jesus, and we want to see this Lazarus.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And uh in John chapter 12, verse 12, we jump into the story of what's called his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so he's coming in, and it's you know, supposedly like a like a king, triumphant.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he's a big deal.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, that there was the Lazarus thing, and there was, I mean, Jews believed it, oh, and Greeks it even says.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: You read there, read a lot in that chapter, and it talks about how even Greeks, even outsiders, that they came to this festival of the Jews in Jerusalem, and they wanted to see Jesus.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it says some of them they found uh uh found Philip and they said, you know, can you take us to Jesus?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Well, I don't know where he's at, and he goes and he finds Andrew, and they said, you know, let's find Jesus.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: These guys want to see him.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So Jesus was this really big deal.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And and also remember that the Romans, they're already on high alert anyway, all the time, especially at this time of year when there's so many people in the city, and you know, things have all have been on edge for a while anyway, because there's there's always the threat of uprising, and sometimes it happens.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: So the so there's Romans on horseback, you know, going back and forth all through the city, and they're at they're at high alert.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they know about this Jesus too.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: They know what kind of noise he's making.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then the noise starts, and Jesus starts making his way towards towards Jerusalem, and people, the people heard about it.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And uh verse 12 says, The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees, and they went out to meet him, and they cried, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, King of Israel.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Hosanna means, of course, save us, or come and save us.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Save us, be our salvation.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And they said, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, King of Israel.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're declaring him as a king, laying out the palm branches, which is like rolling out the red carpet, which is something you do for a king.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: This was how people were seeing him now.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: They'd heard about the things he had done, many had seen the things he had done, they knew that he was different, they knew he was a man of power, they knew that he was a man that could raise somebody from the dead, and he did far beyond any other supposed messiah or leader or captain or anybody had ever done.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is the one they've been looking for, and they said, You are the king of Israel.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the last thing the Romans wanted to hear, and it certainly wasn't anything that the religious people that opposed him wanted to hear, but he's coming in and it's his triumphal entry because the people are believing in him, the people are wanting him, they're ready for him to be whoever he is.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: We receive you.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: King of Israel.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 14.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: As it is written, and this is from Isaiah, fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's coal.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Notice he didn't just get a donkey, even a big one, he got a little one.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And think of the contrast here, and this is what I want to get to.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Think of the contrast here because anybody else but Jesus, anybody else with this kind of fame, with this kind of notoriety, anybody else except Jesus with this kind of reception would not have deliberately chosen what Jesus did to come in riding on.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now, we know that one reason he did that was to fulfill a scripture that Isaiah said.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there it was.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Isaiah said it would happen a long, long time ago, and this day, here he comes riding on a cult.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: But the significance of that is because anybody else would have been coming triumphantly in on this gallant steed, this beautiful horse is what I imagine.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm coming as your leader, I'm coming as your king.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: If he was really that kind of king.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: But he comes on purse on purpose, he comes lowly.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, Zechariah verse, uh excuse me, I said it was Isaiah, but it was Zechariah, is where he's quoting from.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9 says it this way.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king is coming to you.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Your king, your king.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: He is just in having salvation.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hosanna, come save us.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Lowly or meek and humble, riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and I will cut off the horse from Jerusalem.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: The battle bow will be cut off, and he will speak to the nations.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I'll cut off the battle bow and the chariot.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: These are these are these are emblems of war.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus coming in on a colt, which is really an animal of peace, comes in as the Prince of Peace.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: He came in nothing as a destroying warrior or king or leader, but he came in with something else.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And his intention this week is to get to a cross.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, he had told his disciples one time, you know, if you want to follow me, well, this was in Matthew 16 when he told, you know, uh uh after Peter declared, You're the Christ, the Son of the living God, then Jesus started to tell them what was going to happen to him.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's the first time he told them, he started telling them about the cross.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And Peter rose up and he said, No, we'll never let that happen to you.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: And Peter and Jesus, of course, rebuked him and he said, Get behind me because you're thinking of the things of men and not the things of God.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, And if anybody wants to follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because he said, This is where this is going.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Any other leader, anybody else but Jesus, doesn't say, take up your cross and follow me.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason he said that is because I'm going to a cross, is what he's saying.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Any other leader would have said, take up your sword.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, many did.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: There were many leaders.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: There were many that would rise up here and there.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted one.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And they'd rise up against Rome and they'd lead an army against Rome, and then Rome would defeat them, and then a little while later, somebody else would rise up, and you get another one, and you get another one.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: This happened before Jesus came, it was happening after Jesus came.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: That same kind of leader.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And what they told the people was, let me lead you, take up your sword and follow me.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Take up your sword and follow me.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And this one who can raise the dead, this one who did all that Jesus did, this one they were believing in, did not say, take up your sword and follow me.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Take up your cross.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: He said, This is where this is going.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to follow me, you're going to follow me to a cross.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't say you're literally going to be crucified, but he says, This is where this is going.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to a cross.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he came as the Prince of Peace.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that cross speaks something to us, doesn't it?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: We sang about the song, the Son of Suffering.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful song.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: The Son of Suffering, shedding his blood, dying on that cross, and everything about that cross, what does it speak to us?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: If it's if that cross takes care of sin once and for all, and it does, doesn't it?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't it?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Aren't you glad?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's something that needs to be settled.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think a lot of people in the church world uh think it's settled.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: To me, the cross is very blatant.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: It speaks loud and clear to me.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Look at the blood that was shed once for all for all of us.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: No more sacrifice for sin.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: That whole thing has been put away, for Jesus came to put away sin.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the Bible says now in Christ there is no sin.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Makes me wonder why did I preach about sin so many times in my past?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't looking at the Prince of Peace.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't looking at the one who died on the cross and declared peace to us, first of all, between us and God.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: That bloodshed says peace.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sin shall not have dominion over you because they come to put that thing away.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: That won't be the issue anymore.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: As it seemed to be an issue on page after page, especially in the in times of old, it seems to be an issue in so many cultures, it seems to be an issue even in modern American Christianity way too much.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: When we have a king, a savior, a prince of peace who who went to these lengths and said, Look, I'm dying here.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't come to raise up the sword and and and and and and to bring war and to do something.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I came to do the opposite.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I came to bring peace to you.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: The war between God and man was over.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody dying on the cross, like we heard during the worship.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, made himself like you know, like the animal sacrifices were, which they all were accustomed to, and which they all knew about, and which they even came to do on that Passover week.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: They say hundreds of thousands of animals were being slaughtered, sheep were being slaughtered for that for that for that uh for the sacrifice of that festival, and Jesus comes as the one, slain, once and for all, and says, Now, do you get it?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's not an issue.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's nothing between you and God.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's absolutely nothing between you and God.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Go and preach the good news, the good news of the kingdom.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's a father that loves you.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: You're the offspring of God, and you belong with him, and you're loved, and this is the kingdom of God, you and him together.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that, all is well.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: He declared peace.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, our gospel is called the gospel of peace, having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: He calls his covenant uh in Isaiah, the Isaiah 54, the covenant of peace.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is called in Isaiah 9 the Prince of Peace.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: The New Testament says that the very God of peace will keep your heart and your mind.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus declared, came and declared peace.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: In Jeremiah 31, we see a picture of this in verse 33, where God is talking about what would happen when Jesus comes and after Jesus comes.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 33, he says, Now this is the covenant that I'm gonna make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna put my law in their minds and in their hearts.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be their God, they'll be my people.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Can I just say something about this here?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna put my law in their hearts and in their minds.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know what that means?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: It means you are going to have a living internal authority for your life.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: That means you don't need external authorities.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have the highest eternal authority in your heart and in your mind.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: I will be your God, you'll be my people.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: No longer, watch this.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever read this?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is this is how always amazed me.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: No longer will they teach their neighbor or say to one another, know the Lord.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: I went to a church where every Thursday night, this is what we they taught us to do: to go knock on doors and tell people, know the Lord.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not against evangelism and spreading the good news.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: We do that, but he but look what he said the result of this is gonna be.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: He says, they won't, he says, no one will say to one another, know the Lord, because they're all gonna know me.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine that?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine this world with all this trouble, and I know that, see, the negative has a way of really screaming and grabbing attention, doesn't it?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to a lot of brothers and sisters in the Lord, and they're like, I know these things, it's it's it's it's really wonderful, but but just the current events are hijacking my mind, and I know that that happens.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: But look where this whole thing goes, look where it culminates.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: He says, they're all gonna know me.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: From the least of them to the greatest.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: That means the best ones, the bright and shiny, happy ones, and the and the and the worst of all of them.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Declares the Lord, because I will forgive their wickedness and I'll remember their sins no more.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see on the cross.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna know me because of my goodness, they're gonna know me because the sin issue won't be there.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's not gonna be about a remembrance of sins, it's not gonna be about holding somebody's, somebody's bad work against them.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't this a good thing to celebrate.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: See, now next week we'll get to the resurrection part.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's a whole other wonderful thing.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: But look at where we're going this week.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's the cross.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that cross is wonderful, it does speak so much.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, you know, Paul loved the preaching of the cross.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: He knew about the resurrection and he talked about the resurrection because it's amazing, powerful, it's life.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: We get to preach it, you know, next week all over the world.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that resurrection says, Do you see everything's gonna be all right?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: All is well.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Death is defeated.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you got some temporary things going on right here, but all is well.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Look at this.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the cross says, All is well between you and God.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: You're at perfect peace.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: We should put a billboard out somewhere that says that God is not mad at you.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't that be a great idea?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: We look at Genesis chapter 6, verse 3, we see God way back then, way back in Genesis 6, talking about this.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 3 says, And the Lord said, My spirit will not strive with man forever.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: For he is indeed flesh.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, um that word strive is a word that's pronounced dun, d like d-un or d-o-o-n.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it means and it means, and the, and I don't, I don't, I'm not one of these that that looks through a hundred reference materials till I find the definition I want.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can find this in the first thing you crack open, the first reference material you crack open, it'll give you this definition.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: That word strive means I will not judge forever.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: I will not contend with man forever.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And where and it says, for he is indeed flesh, uh, it reads uh in the Greek inner and excuse me, in the Hebrew, it says, for he is, for though he is flesh.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that word flesh, when you look it up, it's not what I think of, it's not like the physical part of part of man.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: That word there means though he errs or he is deceived.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, I'm not, it's not, there's not gonna always be a striving.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's not always gonna be this contention between God and man.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: It won't be a thing where God is disappointed with you, it won't be a thing where God is peering over a judge's desk looking at you, it won't be a thing where all these things that you've done wrong are counter.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: It won't be a thing like that.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: We're celebrating day after day of our lives, every time we think of Jesus, mention the name of Jesus, sing about Jesus, read about Jesus.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Everything, in fact, it's in Him that we live and move and have our being, and we live with a liberty because there is absolute peace with us and God.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there's not any striving at all.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, we have weakness, and weakness is not flaws.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: We were made weak in this flesh.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Who we are is complete in Him, but we're in this flesh experience and we're experiencing weakness.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: And do you know that that weakness can be a blessing to you?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because some of you are finding out that it's in that weakness that you're learning a depth of grace that you could not know without it.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: That you're learning how unlimited a love is that you wouldn't know if you didn't have those weaknesses.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: For it's in those weaknesses that the perfection of God is touching you.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's in those places of weakness and times of weakness that you're finding out how merciful and how good and how patient and loving and everything that God is.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's not just a yeah, Jesus loves me, this I know.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that has woven into you, it's a part of you.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody has been good to you, somebody has been patient with you, somebody has mentored you, your father, somebody has nurtured you, somebody has cared for you, somebody has comforted you in your weakness, in your weakest times.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: It feels hard sometimes, I know, but it's a good time, and all is well, and we're at peace with God.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And God says, I'm not gonna be striving with you.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he was gonna send Jesus, and one of the greatest things to me about Jesus is what it says to us.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: What it says to us about the Father, the Father's heart.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we if we look at verse 5 right there, Genesis 6, it says, Then the Lord, watch this.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Then it goes on and it says, and he says, so it made God sorry that he had made man, he said, so I'm going to destroy all flesh from the earth.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me throw throw this out there because you know there's a lot of things, especially when you read the Old Testament, that can make people confused about God.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing I want to say about that is the Bible talks about those things being a shadow, but Jesus is the very image.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're ever confused and you're like, well, I don't know about it, always look at Jesus.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because he came and revealed the Father.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: But we see something in here, and I'm gonna I'm just gonna give you definitions.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: There again, you can look this up, and every reference material will show you this.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: That word where it says wickedness of man and where it says his heart.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Heart was on evil.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Continue.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: The same word.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're the same Hebrew word pronounced Ra'ah.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it means this.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: It means adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, grief, ill favor, and sorrow, among other words like that.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know the definition, when I read that and think about the wickedness of man and his heart on evil, I'm thinking about them being so I don't know.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just thinking of the worst heinous crimes that man can commit, just going on 24 hours a day by every single person on the earth, and I'm thinking of evil actions.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: But with this word Ra'a, it says that God saw that the Ra'a of man, that the adversity of man, the affliction of man, the sorrow of man, the calamity and the distress of man was great, and his mind, his thoughts were on the Ra'a, his mind was on adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, grief, sorrow.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: If I see somebody whose mind is on sorrow, calamity, distress, and grief and adversity, I've got nothing to condemn them for.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I feel bad for them and wish I could do something to help that.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we know that after the whole Adam issue, the ground was cursed because of what Adam had done for his sake, because he had he was on his own.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it was hard.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: And God does something with Noah, whose name means rest, and Lamech named him rest because he said, My people, he's going to give my people rest from the labors of their hands.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because they had been working hard and the ground's not producing well for all this time.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Life is hard.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: You think life is hard now?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you think life was hard after the days of Noah, whatever it was, and I can't imagine, it was harder before, and the thoughts of man's heart were on the distress and the adversity and grief and the sorrow continually.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm going to give them rest.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so with the whole Noah thing, it says, he tells Noah after the whole flood, he says, the ground will never will no longer be cursed for man's sake.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was a new issue, a new covenant, if you will.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was a new a new deal.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to do away with that whole thing, and I'm going to make it better.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, Noah, one of the first things he does is he plants a vineyard.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: It grows.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: It grew.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: We know it grew because he got drunk on it.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: But that's a beautiful thing when you look at it.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: And we see Adam, who was a gardener.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: We see Noah, a gardener.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: And we see Jesus, a gardener.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, they thought he was a gardener after his resurrection, right?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: But he planted a vineyard also, and that vine that he planted was himself, that seed in the ground.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: And from that vine we have life.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: And we have true and complete and absolute rest.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now in the world, he said you still have tribulation.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm talking about.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've overcome all that.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because in me, you find peace.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: So be of good cheer.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: I've overcome that world.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: And in the temporary pains and sorrows that we do feel in this temporal situation, in this temporal life that we deal with, many of you here have found out that there's a comfort that supersedes that.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: You found out that there is a peace that overshadows all of that.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: You found out that there is a reality of a daddy who loves you and cares, and the reality of that thing is stronger than that temporal thing that has come against you in this life.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: For he is that prince of peace, and what he did really brought peace to our lives.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: The whole work, not only what he said, did, and taught, not only what he did on the cross, but coming to live inside of us, putting himself, his laws in our hearts and in our minds, ruling and reigning in us and with us from the inside.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: That really makes us rule and reign over the issues of life in this time.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: In Noah's day, God gave rest from the labor of their hands, just like Lamech said they would.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Seed time and harvest.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: The gardens will grow, the crops will produce.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, He said, Now come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Prince of peace.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Take my yoke on you and learn of me, because I'm gentle and lowly in heart.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm humble.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find rest for your souls.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: His gospel is called the gospel of peace.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that peace, first of all, is between us and God.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: And and please be aware of this, that if peace has been shown to us, if peace has been declared, we really learn that peace by learning Him.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I say it all the time.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is why the good news about God's grace as it's expressed through the gospel of Christ, His grace is something that cannot be preached enough.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be trumpeted, declared.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: People have to know about that amazing grace.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Not a logical grace, which says, yeah, God has grace, but I'm talking about an amazing grace.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Some people call it a radical grace.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when you can begin to know Daddy's heart.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: When you can believe that maybe he's that gracious, maybe his love is that big and it's that unlimited.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that the way he's looking at you is not with, certainly not with anger, not even with disappointment.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because all is well and you have peace with Daddy.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're like that prodigal, and you came home.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you got into this hoping to be a servant, but you found out that Daddy was better than that.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: You've tasted and seen his goodness, and there was peace.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then I often say the next thing that happens is you make peace with you.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: In all your weakness, and all your whatever else you've got going on.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're at peace with you because you're lovable and you're loved, and you found that out through God's goodness and his grace.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, we want to do well, we want to treat people well, we want to we want that.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: But there's no condemnation in Christ because we're at peace.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know about you, but I can see where this thing goes and I see how it's going to work.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: And for that reason, I don't have an eschatology of destruction.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you do.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: And one good thing about this place is we don't have to have a monolithic thought on everything around here.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: God's loving us all.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: But my eschatology, my belief, and how things get wrapped up, I don't see a bunch of destruction coming from Daddy's heart.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see, I don't see the kind the type of vengeful judgment that people talk about coming from Daddy's heart.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to him about it.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: I see it happening.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: I see, I see God wrapping it all up.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: I see, I see uh God being all in all.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: I see, I see a beautiful, wonderful kingdom of God that's whole.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: With no darkness, no evil, pain, calamity, but I see that happening through his love.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: I see it happening every day.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: I see it, I see it being spread from one heart to another.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's happened in me.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've come to peace, and that peace.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: Judy and I talk about, I often say this, that it's it's the greatest treasure that I had because I wanted it for a long time.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I know all is well between me and daddy.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: All is well, even though I I do so many things that are not good, but all is well between me and daddy, you and daddy, and all is well between me and myself, because I'm lovable and I'm loved.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it's starting to make me think that all is well between me and you.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: And not just because you happen to be one of the good guys that go to church on Sunday, but all is well with me and the ones that are not.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm finding myself coming to peace with God's creation.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: Not that everything done is peaceful or beautiful or even good, it's not.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: But that peace tells me, you know, it's not about the works of man, it's about the preciousness of mankind.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I see a loving father that I know our daddy has made peace not with just the nice people, not with just the ones that are that are on the right side of debates.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's made peace with a world that he loved.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: He has reconciled us to himself.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible says he's reconciled the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's made peace.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: And our good news, our gospel is a gospel of peace, isn't it?
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I always tell them right there, I I you know I give the cue for the musicians to come because that's when I'm gonna quit, but it seems like I don't quit.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think they mind.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: I hope I don't wear them out.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: But he says, come to me, for my burden is easy.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: My my yoke is easy, my burden is light.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: Would you all stand up?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: People, all is well.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: I give you good news of the kingdom.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome home.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome home to Daddy, welcome home to love.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome home to the fulfillment of mankind.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the kingdom of heaven.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: All is well.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you for first of all your goodness, and I thank you for reality.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I pray and thank you for the ministry of your Holy Spirit to each and every one of us here, all those within the sound of my voice in this house and those watching online.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you for the spirit of wisdom and revelation and knowing you.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you for the peace that flows like a river and overflows like a flood.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Father, for that peace that's greater than anything that's in this world.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you for the reality and the joy that comes from such peace and rest.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: I pray for those that are dealing with things that are trying to bring you an unrest.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's very understandable.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: But your God is real, and you are loved, and you're cared for, and you're in the safest place you can be, and all is well with you.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: All is well, and I bless everyone here in the name of Jesus.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.