Happy Palm Sunday, everybody. When we get into Holy Week and we start to think about these three days, I want us to get out of the American way of thinking about things where it's just another holiday and it's just this time of year again. I want you guys to really start thinking about these holidays in a different way. See, when I think about this week, to me, it's a time that we can put ourselves and imagine ourselves that we were there with the disciples. Imagine ourselves, these seven days, there's such a progression of events that happens, and we can imagine ourselves walking with the disciples. We can imagine ourselves going and being with Jesus. We can imagine everything that they both went through, all the confusion, and in the end, all of the victory. Amen?

You see, I think about the disciples, and I think about what they must have gone through. Right? Jesus had spoken a little bit about where He was going to go, but they didn't understand. And then it comes, and Good Friday comes, and He dies, and He's crucified. Can you imagine how confused they must have been? That this God, they were finally starting to get it. They were finally starting to understand, and all of a sudden, this God's gone. What do they do? Do they go back to their old life? Do they start collecting taxes and making tents again? What do you do at that time? And they must have been sitting there together in such anguish. Not knowing what to do and so confused and just being so broken in that room altogether. But praise God that we do not serve a dead God. Praise God that we serve a risen God. Amen?

And all this week, it all starts with today, Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus walked into Jerusalem with people lining the roads, proclaiming Him as king. We all know that the people's hearts weren't truly in it. We all know that what was coming out of their mouths wasn't necessarily what was in their heart. But I'll tell you, when I was preparing this sermon, God said something to me. He said, “Kris, it's the church's job to make up for what Palm Sunday was meant to be. You see, where the crowd fell short, where the crowd only did it with their words, you today are going to do it in your spirit.” Where they proclaimed Him as King, but He wasn't truly king in their hearts, we today are going to proclaim Him as King in our spirits. We're going to welcome Him in, and may He make a triumphal entry into this room. Amen? I want to talk about the Kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to talk about what the King is meant to be. I want to talk about how the King is supposed to be walking to a room and how we are supposed to receive Him.

So I'm going to be reading from Luke 19:35-41. It says, “They brought the donkey to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people lined the streets and spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes.’”

You see, this is such an important time for Jesus. He knew His ministry was coming to an end. He knew what was happening. You would think, other places in the Bible when people called Him King, there was almost an excitement in Jesus' heart. No, He got joyful when people recognized Him. But you see, that joy wasn't here. When people line the streets proclaiming Him as King, you'd think He'd be excited. You'd think He'd say, “Wow, my ministry is not in vain. Look at all these people. They finally recognize me. They finally know me.” But the truth was they didn't know Him. The truth was that Jesus does not read people with His eyes, but He is a reader of hearts. And He saw that they were not sincere in their proclamations or in what they were doing in their actions. We need to come to know the King this day. So we're going to talk about three ways that we need to know this King.

And the first of those being that we need to see the King. For some of us, you might say, “Kris, that's an easy thing to do. You can see Him all over the place. He's in movies. He's on statues. He's even on t-shirts.” Right? Jesus is all over the place. You can find Him anywhere, and many in the crowd would agree with you. If you told them they had to see Jesus, they'd just say, “I have to walk out of my house and go down and find Him. I can see Him anytime I want,” but even though Jesus was right in front of them, and this happens today, even though Jesus was right there in front of them, they truly did not recognize Him. They truly did not look past the flesh and see into the Spirit and see that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords was inside of that heart. All they saw was a meek guy and a donkey.

"God...wants a Church that can see the Spirit of God and see His Kingship."

Lately, we've been taught a lot about being able to see. Pastor Jeff spoke about the year of the favor of the Lord. Being able to see our sin is God's favor. Pastor Janeth spoke about how we need an infilling of the Holy Spirit so that we can really truly see Jesus. It's very purposeful that we've all been talking about this. These are all spiritual things, and they can only be seen with spiritual eyes. And we need to recognize that today. Seeing Jesus Christ as King, knowing our sin, being able to look at the state of our hearts, these are all spiritual things, and the world doesn't see them. The world is blinded to these things, and the Church is not meant to be blinded to it. We, as the Church of God, need to take the blindfolds off, have them removed. God does not want people that look in the flesh. God does not want a Church that is made up of the crowd that line the streets of Jerusalem. He wants a Church that can see the Spirit of God and see His Kingship.

You know, I came to understand this truly. You know, the other day I was at work, and you know what's something everybody says when they get arrested? Male, female, young, old. You know what everybody says? “I'm a good person. I don't deserve this.” Every single time. “I'm a good person. I don't deserve this.” And it's funny because you look at them and say, “Didn't you just get caught stealing? Didn't you just get into a fight and hurt somebody? Didn't you lie, steal, cheat, and do all these things?” And they say, “Yeah, but I'm a good person. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve the punishment.” And I came to understand, you know, I thought at first people were just being difficult on purpose. But the truth is that people can't see into the spiritual. People can't see the state of their hearts. People in the world are not able to see the spiritual things of this world, like crime and punishment and sin and getting what your sin deserves and justice. Those things make no sense to the carnal man.

And we as the Church need to not be carnal people, but be able to see into the Spirit, be able to see the state of your heart, even if you're not getting arrested. I'm talking about the sin that is offensive to God that goes in our heart day after day. Amen? The truth is that we will never be able to see all these things if we can't see Jesus Christ as King first. The day that your eyes are unblinded, the day that the blindfold is taken off, you know what the very first thing in the Spirit you will see? The Lord Jesus Christ as King. The truth is that we can't have freedom from what we cannot see. We can't be transformed if we don't know our state. And we cannot serve a God that we know only by name. We need to see Him as King. See past the flesh. See past the Jesus Christ on a donkey that walked meekly to His death. That is not the God that I serve. He did that one time humbly to go to the cross and die for me. But now He is exalted and is in heaven and sits at the right hand of God. And all authority has been given to Him. Amen?

When our eyes are open, we see the things that stand in between us. We see this King on the throne high above us. And anything that stands in between us, we see because our eyes are open to the spiritual. We see God as holy and awesome and powerful. And you see Him so majestic. Guess what happens when you see the things of your heart, the dirty, sinful things? You say, “Oh my God, I cannot let these things stand before such a holy and awesome God.” Seeing Him as King causes transformation in your heart. And it's time the Church no longer looks in carnality, but looks into the spirit, sees Jesus Christ as King, sees their heart, and rids themselves of all sin in His holy presence. Amen?

So we look at this story. Jesus walks in. Many people saw Him with their eyes. They saw a political leader. They saw freedom from oppression from the Romans. They saw somebody who could put food in their stomachs and clothes on their back. And because of all these reasons, they cried, “Hosanna, Hosanna, glory in the highest, who can give me everything I want and make things better for me. Hosanna to the King, my King, who I'm going to make King but won't be King unless I say so. Hosanna, glory in the highest.” But the truth is, if they saw past the flesh, if their eyes were opened and they put on their spiritual eyes and looked in and seen the glory, seen the majesty that was held in that flesh, they wouldn't have been able to stand. The Bible talks about a time when He will make Himself plain to see. When all the world will see Him for who He is. And what does the Bible say? That every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is King. But I'll tell you, He's not looking for a Church filled with people who He has to make Himself plain to see. He's looking for a Church with spiritual eyes. Ones that can see Him today. Ones that see Him now.

You see, 2,000 years later, after this, we're still running into the same problem. People see Jesus with their eyes, with their carnal fleshy eyes, they see Him as a title. They see Him as rules, they see Him as a thing to get what they want, they see Him as a ritual. But none of them see Him as the King of Kings who had victory on the cross, who is seated at the right hand of God, and who has been given authority over all of heaven and all of earth, and even over all of hell. This is the God that we serve and because people only see Him in the flesh this is why we have what we have. This is why people can sin without a thought. This is why people can take the most vile of curse words and put it next to His holy name. This is why people can call Him King yet continue to rule their own lives. Few see the Creator of heaven and earth because if they did, what would happen? They'd have to bow down. They would have to bow down to who He is.

The Bible is full of stories of Jesus walking and people only seeing with their eyes. Let's look at that verse again. Verse 37, “When He came near the place where the road goes down to the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen…” Not for the King. Not for the King of Kings that was in their presence. Not because they saw the holy, holy God in their presence. They were worshiping because of all of the miracles that they had seen. Because of all Jesus could do for them. They knew that they needed a healer to be saved from maybe a fever. But they didn't know they needed a savior for their souls. And all throughout the Bible, it's the same thing. But you know, there were a few men and women who recognized Jesus.

You know, when Jesus was a baby, Mary took Him and brought Him to the temple to be dedicated. They walked into the temple together, and everybody else just saw a regular baby. Everybody saw just another kid. But you know what happened? There was a guy named Simon, and a prophetess named Anna, that the second they saw this baby, they dropped down to their knees and began to worship and say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Look, the King of Kings has come!” Can you imagine how ridiculous they must have looked? To see these two respected people in the temple, down on their face worshiping a baby, where everyone else saw just a regular baby— They saw the King of Kings. They looked past the flesh and looked into the Spirit and saw what was held within that fleshy body. Or how about Peter? Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Each disciple had a different answer. But you know what Peter said? Peter said, “You are the Messiah and the living God.” and Jesus said to him, “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood. This was not revealed to you by your carnal eyes. This came from my Father in heaven.”

"Religion is crying “Hosanna,” yet three days later crucifying Him."

How do you see Jesus today? Is He a statue? Is He a painting? Is He an ideal? Is He something, someone that you go to when you need someone? Is it somebody who gets you out of a jam or is He the Lord of Lords and King of Kings? Because it's time the Church puts down the idols, puts down the images of God and comes to serve and see the Kingship of God. And this is what Pastor Janeth's been talking about religion so much. And you know, when I asked the Lord about it, you know what He said to me? He said that religion serves an image of God, but relationship serves the Kingship of God. And that is the truth. Religion serves what they believe God to be. But relationship—He's not your homeboy, He's not your buddy. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And when you have a relationship with Him, the first thing you come to know, and you will always serve for the rest of your life, is the Kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, religion is being able to see Jesus without seeing self. Religion is crying “Hosanna,” yet three days later crucifying Him. Religion quotes verse after verse, but it never causes true transformation in their own heart. Religion can maybe admit to wrong, but never has a King above them leading them into deeper truths about themselves. Religion is about doing, but never about self-sacrificing to accomplish something for this King. They see an image of God, an image of who this Jesus is, yet they never see past the flesh.

Look at verse 41. “If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Let's not miss it, Church. Let's not miss it. Jesus Christ, He is in our presence. The only way He could probably be here more would be if it was in the physical. He is here in our presence. Open your eyes to see. Take the blinders off. Say to God, “I no longer want to be blind. I no longer want to go through life with my eyes covered. But God, reveal the Kingship of God to me.” We need to worship Him in spirit and in truth for the Kingship of who He is.

If you guys have ever taken a psychology class, you know they talk a lot about this. That if you have multiple witnesses to one crime, the main story will be the same, but everybody has little details that are different. If you talk from person to person, witness to witness, you'll always find that the main story overall is probably correct, but there's always little details that are changed from person to person. And you know, this is what we have in the church today. This is what we have, that maybe the overarching story is similar, but the details are all changed because man sees with their eyes. They are witnesses with fleshy eyes, but not with their spirit and not with their hearts. And all of a sudden you have little details changed from person to person, from church to church. And all of a sudden you have everybody worshiping their own God and their own revisions of God. And you know what truly happens? Their eyes, when they see with their eyes, the vision is skewed to what they want. The vision is skewed to their flesh. And now we have everybody worshiping a different Jesus Christ. But let me tell you today, that man can never change Jesus Christ. Amen? But Jesus Christ, He can change a man.

In Honduras one year, I was really just coming in to know who this God was, and I remember going on the bus, and I remember praying and saying, “Lord, you know, you got to open up my eyes. I want the blinders taken off.” There's times in my life where I don't think I really knew what I was asking, and that was one of those times. It sounded good. I was excited about it, not really knowing what I was asking. And I remember one night going to the church, and my eyes being opened, and seeing all the spiritual oppression around us, all the darkness. It was so heavy, and it was so big, and I was so taken back, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?” And then I remember walking up the road. It was like something out of a movie. The lights are going off. We're walking up the road. Luke has the guitar, going up the hill worshiping. And you know what? God gave me a vision that I will never forget for the rest of my life. He gave me a vision of angels surrounding us, five, six stories tall, wing to wing, completely surrounding us in the glory of God. And you know what? When I saw that bright light, when I saw that they just had a piece of the majesty of God, all of a sudden that darkness didn't look so big. All of a sudden it wasn't so oppressive. All of a sudden I saw the Kingship of God. That was my first view of seeing Jesus Christ as King. That was my first time getting rid of all my images that I've had in the past. All my thoughts of who Jesus was, they were shattered in that moment, because in that moment I saw the Kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've never been the same.

We need to come to see Him as King, not as Jesus riding a donkey. Not the meek Jesus that comes second place to whatever's in your heart. We need to see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen? So once we're able to see Him, then we're able to come to know the King. You know, there's a common theme in Christianity, I hear all the time, and it's the concept of blind faith. People say all the time, “How could you follow this Jesus? How could you follow this God with such blind faith?” I'll tell you today—my faith is not blind. Does it take some faith? Yeah, because He's not in the physical and you can't reach out and touch Him. But my faith is far from blind. You see, no one could ever convince me that my God is not real. Why? Because I have seen Him. I have felt him. I have come to know Him. I have heard Him speak. And because I have come to know the personality of this King. It’s not blind faith. No, it's faith in the Kingship of God that has revealed Himself to me. “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, Peter, but by my Father in heaven.” The truth is that Peter did get a revelation of who Jesus was, and he saw Him, but he still denied Him a few days later, right? Didn't he deny Him three times later at the cross? The thing is, seeing Jesus is very important, but knowing Him is what really counts. When did Peter get transformed? When did Peter all of a sudden get bold? When did all cowardice leave Peter? The day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God came upon his heart and he began to preach and thousands were saved. Thousands were brought into the Church. Why? Because he didn't only see the King. The King came in and made a dwelling inside of him and he knew this King of Kings. We need to know this Jesus. Not know about Him, but know this Jesus.

So we look at that verse again. Jesus walking in on a donkey. You know there's another gospel that talks about how He had a horse with Him also, yet He chose the donkey to ride in on. Why? Because He was showing them that I'm not the King that you think I am. I'm not the King that you want me to be. And He humbly chose that. And what happens? They would come in and they're waving palms in the air, right? And they're laying down their coats on the ground. These are all things that you do for a king. You see, they were doing all the right things in the flesh. They looked so good. It looked like they were finally getting it in the flesh with fleshy eyes. They wanted to make Jesus a king. They thought they were going to exalt Jesus. They thought they were going to take Jesus's hand and lead Him to the throne. They didn't know that He was already the King of Kings. They didn't realize that He was already seated on a throne. They didn't realize He already had all authority. Amen? They thought they were going to instill a flesh king.

And I automatically thought about the story of Saul. Before the story of Saul, there was God in heaven, Yahweh. That was their only God. They didn't have a man of flesh to lead them, but they decided, “we need to see our king. We need someone who looks good to lead us into all battle.” So they installed a fleshy king. But you know, I think God was very purposeful here. You see, they thought, again, that they were going to institute a fleshy king. They thought, again, that they were going to institute a man to lead them. They thought they were elevating a man in the flesh, but God was ready to exalt Jesus in the spirit. Amen? You see, they didn't realize that in a few days He would die to His flesh. They didn't realize that in a few days He would rise again as a spirit. God was instituting what it was meant to be in the beginning, where there was a king, but He was not a king of flesh, but He was a King in the Spirit. We too need to come back to that.

The Church needs to go back to where it was in the beginning, no longer serving flesh, no longer serving our wants, or our desires, or our sin, but serving a King that is seated in heaven, a spiritual king, a king that rules from heaven and that we follow here on earth, that leads us in all truth and power and justice, that leads us every day into victory after victory. How do we come to know this King? It's when He makes an abode in your heart. I need you guys to understand something today. Jesus Christ is King. He was humble once so that I could be saved, but He is exalted in heaven and will one day come back with fire in His eyes and His tongue as a sword. He is the King of Kings. I serve a King. How does He come into our hearts? It's only on the throne. We need to understand that this King will not take second place. He will not take the back seat. This King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is seated in the throne at the right hand of God in heaven will only come inside of our hearts if it is on the throne, if it's on the throne of our hearts, if He is the ruler, if He is the King. That's how we come to know Him. Not know about Him, not see Him at a distance, but come to know the King this day is when He is inside your heart, seated upon the throne.

You see, people think that this Christian life gets you nothing but rules, but you know what it gets you? It gets you a God in heaven interceding on your behalf day and night. It's a God leading you into all righteousness. It's a God who leads you day after day down the narrow roads, closer and closer to our God in heaven every single day. So we look at the crowd. How were they trying to make Him king? Remember, the Lord said that what they failed to do in the flesh, we are going to continue to do in our spirits. They laid down their coats, right? They laid down their coats on the floor before Him. What does that mean for us? He's not asking you to take the coat off the back of the chair and lay it down. He's asking you to do it spiritually this day. What are our coats? Our coats are those things that keep us warm at night. Our coats are those things that we feel exposed when we take off. They're things like pride, and lies, and jealousy, and religion. These are all these coats that we like to keep on. But the Lord is asking you to take it off, lay it at His feet, that He might trample over it this day. Amen?

And they wave the palms in the air. They wave the palms in the air as a sign of victory. When a king would go to war and come back victorious, they would line the streets and wave the palms as he was entering into the city. Or an Olympian, they got a crown of palms when they won. It's a sign of worship, and we need to institute true worship. Waving the palms, not because of who we want Him to be, not because of what He has done for us, but because He is the King of Kings. We need to wave the palms today, and I remember a few Palm Sundays ago, Pastor Janeth had us waving palms, right? That's what God wants to do in your spirits. Wave the palms. Give Him victory. Talk about the victory that He had on the cross and the victory that He had in your lives. Wave the palms in the air because He is victorious and He sits on the thrones of our heart. What they fail to do in the flesh, we today are going to accomplish in our spirit. The Church of God has to pick it up. The Church of God has to lay down their coats and wave the palms in the air in victory. Amen?

And things begin to change. When you can institute true worship like that, when you know Him as King, things change. The sin you used to struggle with, falls away because there is a God seated higher. The broken relationships and the lack of love, they fade. Why? Because God is seated on the throne, and He is love, and He lavishes all love upon us. The constant defeat, and the constant failure that you have experienced will be broken. Why? Because He is the King of Kings and He will lead you into victory after victory. We need to know this King. See, God doesn't lead the blind and He doesn't lead the stubborn. He leads those who make Him King over their hearts, who say, “God, I surrender myself to You.” That is how we come to know the King.

So once we see the King, once we know the King, then we can come to start living like the King. You know, when I read this, it hits my heart. This is an example of exactly how we should be living. You think about Jesus who walked obediently. Remember, He was a man, and He walked obediently. He had all the same temptations. He had all the same thoughts as any other man would, yet He continued to walk in obedience into those city gates to head to His pain, to His suffering, and to His eventual death. How could it be that Jesus had the opportunity when He turned that corner? He knew it was going to happen. How could it be that He didn't turn around? How could it be that He didn't say, “Lord, let this pass for me. We'll figure it out a different way. We'll figure out something that will work better for the both of Us. God, we need to find a different way. I'm going to turn away from this.” How could it be that He took step after step, walking to the city gates, heading towards His death? How could it be that He did that? And as He's walking, He turns that corner and sees those people lining the streets and something amazing happens. When I say this, don't get me wrong, Jesus knew that their hearts were not there. But I believe that it was very purposeful that they were lining the streets like this. And I believe the Father was revealing something to Jesus at that point. When He turned and He saw all the people waving their palms and laying down their coats, You see, the Father was giving Jesus a glimpse of the reward that was stored up for Him in heaven. Amen? He looked and He saw. He knew their hearts weren't there. But you know what? It was a small glimpse of what was waiting for Him in heaven. It was a small opening for Him to see what it was going to be like when He returned to His throne in heaven. Because of that, it reinforced His decision and caused Him to move forward, step after step, heading into the city gates because He knew the reward that was waiting for Him.

Let's look at this verse together, Revelation 7:9. It says, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count. From every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb, they were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” You see, this was a vision of what it was going to be like in heaven, a small glimpse of Jesus's reward. What was His reward? It was the reward of many sons coming to know the Father. Of every nation, of every tribe, of every tongue, all of these people would no longer be with Israel, but for the entire world, redemption was available to them. This is Jesus' reward. And even as we were up here worshiping together, the Lord said to me, “That is my reward right there.” We are His reward. And because of all these things, because of the reward that was waiting for Him in heaven, He continued to walk forward.

"We need to live like the King who...continually walked step after step in obedience."

You know, in youth group, we talk to the kids about living with a hope stored up in your heart. What does Ecclesiastes say? It says, live, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. And that's how the world lives. Only looking right in front of them, never looking forward. Only looking at their current circumstance. Only looking at their current situation. Ever trying to hold on to that elusive dream of happiness. And every minute is spent trying to hold on to that contentment of what they're in. But they're never looking forward. We talked to them about living with a hope stored up in your heart of what is awaiting you. And the truth is that we need to not be like the world, only looking right in front of us, only looking at the circumstance and what is right in our face, but we need to continue to look forward. We need to live like the King who knew that there was a hope stored up for Him in heaven, who got a glimpse of what was to come and continually walked step after step in obedience.

You see, when God gives you a glimpse of what is to come, it will cause you to take step after step of obedience every single day. You need to know what's stored up for you. What is stored up for you in heaven? It's the ability to live like Jesus did. It's being reconciled back to the Father. It's a slice of the heavenly power that is in heaven. It's for the Holy Spirit to come on to you and empower you to do supernatural works. It's love and joy and patience and peace. And it's a seat at the table of God to be with Him forever. That's what's stored up for you today. Why, if we don't have that, why not live like the world? Why not go and live like the world does? Why separate yourself and strive for holiness every day? Why give up every Sunday morning and miss the football games? High school kids, why miss the parties? Why miss the drinking? Why miss everything that goes along with that? Because we know that there is something so much greater than what is, amen? There is something so much greater stored up in heaven. And you see, those things of the world, they look very appealing when you only compare them to the other things of the world. But compare them to the heavenly things. Compare them to the spiritual things. Compare them to the godly things that He has stored up for you today. The inheritance that He is holding for you. And all of a sudden, I promise you, those things don't seem appealing anymore.

Pastor Janeth said something that really hit my heart. She called us “sons of the resurrection.” Sons of the resurrection. What does that mean? It means that we know that our lives have been bought at a price. That we know that there is a King who humbly came down off of His throne, took off all of His glory, went into a man, sat on a donkey, walked willingly to His suffering and death, all so that I could be saved. And He rose again and is seated on the throne, and I will live my life as a son of the resurrection. I will live my life every day knowing His Kingship. Amen? And we know that this life has hardships. We know it's not all butterflies and rainbows. We know things are going to happen, but you know what? To see God's Kingship today will cause you to walk in obedience. When things are so hard, when your marriage isn't going good, when you have to look inside your heart and see the sin, and it wrenches you at your soul, you will continue to walk forward in obedience because there is a King in heaven, who has stored up an inheritance for you that is so much greater than what is. You see, it should cause endurance, and it should cause strength.

Hebrews 12 says, “Let us run with endurance that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” See, it caused endurance. We need to live looking up, not looking down. Not looking at what's right in front of you, but live your life looking up to what is to come. And I don't mean in death. I don't mean when you eventually die and go to heaven. The truth is that just as God gave Jesus a small glimpse of what it's going to be like in heaven, the Father is doing the same thing for us today. He is giving us small glimpses of what it's going to be like in heaven. I need you guys to understand that the world holds nothing good. There is not one good thing that comes from the world. The world beats you down and brings depression and brings shame and brings brokenness. But only good things come from heaven. Only good things come from God. So we look at what we're surrounded with. We look up here, all the people worshiping together. Look at your kids that are finally worshiping God. Look at the Spirit of God descending. These are slices of heaven. These are small glimpses of what it's going to be like in heaven.

You see, love is not from this world, yet He will lavish it upon you. Joy is not of this world, yet He will make it overflow. This world beats you down and breeds brokenness, yet God will bring you victory upon victory. We're not resurrected in death. You are resurrected today. You are resurrected here. When we die, we're just going up, which our spirits have been doing the entire time. You are resurrected today, and God is giving you small glimpses of what it's going to be like in heaven. God is pouring out these small measures of who He is, and they should open up your eyes to see a storehouse in heaven waiting for you, and they should cause you, just like it did to Jesus, to step forward in obedience, walking the path that God has set out for you. We need to live as sons of the resurrection in eager expectation of what is to come. That causes us to walk in faith. Why rid yourself of sin? Because you know that it will be replaced with Jesus Christ. Why be counter-cultural with your kids and lead them into Christ every day and hold that line? Because you know the inheritance that you are bringing them into. Why walk this Christian life? Because you know that this path leads you down the narrow road and eventually to heaven.

Let's read verse 41 again. “As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city He wept over it and said ‘if you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes.” People of God, let's not miss it. Let’s not miss it. Let's not let Jesus walk down the road and pass us by and us in our spirits not recognize Him as King. Let's no longer look in the flesh and only see what's right in front of us. But I pray that your eyes would be open so you can see, your ears would be unplugged so you can hear. Amen? I pray that you would see Jesus Christ.

You know, when I was going over this with my wife, she had brought up something that really hit my heart. She spoke about Mary Magdalene, how Jesus, and it was the verse right before this one, where Jesus walks into the house and she breaks the bottle of perfume and anoints Him with it, and takes her hair and cleans His feet and wipes His feet. And what did everybody around her say? “Woman, what are you doing? We could have sold that perfume and given it to the poor.” You see, they were saying what looked good in the flesh. But Mary saw something more. Mary saw more than just this man that was in her house. She saw the King of Kings and knew. And what did Jesus say? “You'll always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” She saw unto the Spirit. I pray that the Church would be like that today. That it wouldn't take His presence for granted. That we wouldn't let Him walk by and think nothing of it. And we have been so often taking God's presence for granted. You see, God doesn't come just anywhere. God doesn't fall down like He does in this place just anywhere. And people think that they can just go wherever they want and the Spirit of God will follow them. Well, let me break it to you today—Jesus Christ is King over all of the universe. He is King seated at the right hand of God. He is a King in heaven and He is calling us to be His subjects; to follow Him and to come underneath the shadow of His wings.

So I pray that you would ask God, “Lord, open up my eyes that I may see this day. I don't want to serve an image of God anymore. I don't want to serve a god who I think is god, I want to serve the King of Kings. I want to serve the God that is at the right hand of God. I want to serve the Lord that has been given all authority over heaven and earth. I want to serve the God that had victory on the cross.” Lord, You are not that Jesus on a donkey who is meek and went to the cross. You did that to die for man and then You were seated, You went back up to heaven as a spirit and were seated on a throne. You are King, Lord. You are King and we need to see You as that King today. Take the blindfold off of our eyes God. Tell God right now, “Lord take the blindfold off of my eyes that I may see who You truly are.” To serve the King means that we no longer sit on the throne of our hearts. To know the King means that we no longer rule our lives or He comes second place to our sin or our flesh or whatever our wants and desires. To serve this King means He is seated on the throne. Lord, I put You on the throne of my heart today.

Lord, I surrender to You. I surrender to You right now, God, that You might be on the throne. You walked down that aisle. People were waving palms and laying down their coats. You walked willingly into Your death. Why? So people could come to know You as King. So people could see You as King. And so people could live like You, the King. Open my eyes this day, Lord. Don't let it pass me by. May I not be like all the other ones that watched You go by and watched you walk to Your death. Lord give me the heart of Mary. Give me the heart of Mary that saw who You were, that saw past the flesh, and saw the Kingship that was held within and broke the perfume at Your feet and washed with her hair. Oh Lord, I want to know You like that. I want to serve You like that, Lord. I want to worship You in spirit and in truth this day. Praise You Lord, hallelujah. Praise You Lord.

”Who will willingly make themselves My subjects? Who will take Me and make Me a King? Who will make themselves My reward? I went to the cross and I died so that I might have a reward in heaven. And they are many sons and daughters, every nation and every tribe, every tongue that will come and know Me. Who will make themselves My reward? Who will make themselves My reward? Where is My reward in this place?” Say, “Lord, it's me, God.” “Where is My reward in this place?” Say, “Lord, I am here. You are my King. You are my King, Lord. Hallelujah. Praise you, Jesus.”