Mercy Hill Church Sermons

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey. He is presenting Himself and is even momentarily received by the people as King. But it will not last. Ours is a fickle faith, a petty praise. But He is not done with us. Just as the stones in creation and in the temple will sing out in adoration, so too the Savior is able to soften our stone hearts and set them to song. Oh Jesus let it be so!

(Some audio problems near the beginning of the recording.) In our text, Jesus is attempting to help us navigate the tension, we often experience when what God says and does seems to collide with what we would have otherwise expected and wanted —when things from God's end don't "feel" good and loving to us. In these moments, too often we become like a toddler trying to tell his daddy how to run the house. We think we know better. Instead, we ought to recall all the wisdom, strength, and goodness God has already shown us, and determine to trust Him-even in the midst of current confusion, even on the near side of comprehension.

We are created for deep, interactive fellowship with the Triune God, and to this end, he wills and works, in and for us, before the foundation of the world. He pours out blessings upon blessings upon us, so that we are conformed to his image.

Jesus is approaching Jerusalem. The people are expecting the kingdom to come in full force immediately. Instead, first the King must die. He will give His life in love for sinners like you and I. He will come again in glory, but not yet. This parable describes life as it should be lived in the space between the two comings of Christ. We are servants, stewarding His resources for spiritual gain.

God can break the attachments our hearts have made with money and wealth. God can lift Satan's spell that has had us so enchanted with the things of this world. God can get the camel through the eye of the needle. God can do the impossible. And He's about to do it with this man Zacchaeus. Has He done it for you?

We are created for deep, interactive fellowship with the Triune God, and to this end, he wills and works, in and for us, before the foundation of the world. He pours out blessings upon blessings upon us, so that we are conformed to his image.

We are unable in and of ourselves to break free from the enchantment of money and material wealth. Such things will always seem more important to us than Jesus, His cross, or His kingdom. But what we could never do on our own, God Himself does for us in Jesus. The life, death, and resurrection of Christ is the means by which God drops dynamite into our souls, thereby snapping our heart's attachments to mammon and re-igniting our affections for Himself!

Jesus doesn't want this rich ruler's money. He wants his heart. And He wants his heart because He wants what's best. Those idols we set upon the throne of our hearts will ultimately undo us in the end. Jesus knows it. But we often don't. So He is ruthless in His call for surrender. It's a severe mercy, a caustic kindness. He will stop at nothing until He becomes our everything.

The words to Joy to the World were penned by Isaac Watts now 300 years ago. In the first verse of this carol we are encouraged to prepare room for Jesus in our hearts. Such a thing proves to be more difficult than we first imagine, but, when once we truly taste of His love and grace, it becomes the only fitting response.

There's something in the fallen hearts of men and women that prizes autonomy, self-sufficiency, and independence. But such things run counter to the kingdom of God. Indeed, they will keep us from ever truly entering it. Jesus says that the kingdom belongs to the likes of infants-people who have nothing to offer but their great need and nothing to hold out but a beggar's hand.