Message Ideas and Outlines

For February 22^nd, 2004
(the Sunday before Ash Wednesday)

Two possible sermon ideas have emerged:

Seeking God (Psalm 85),

     OR

Praying in Hope and Humility (1 Timothy 2:1-8)

For April 4^th (Palm Sunday)

Note: Below you will find three different message outlines (Don't try to preach them all on one Sunday!) along with some general remarks about Palm Sunday. The general remarks will serve as an important introduction to any of the message outlines below. Carefully read pages 4-5 of Seek God For The City 2003 for more insights about Palm Sunday.

Seeking God  •  Psalm 85

1. Looking Back: To Recall God's Reviving Ways - vss 1-3 God has revived His people many times (vs 1-3). A two-fold difficulty and move of God: Our sin (vs 2) as well as God's dismay and disappointment (vs 3). When God moves in reviving grace, he deals with longstanding social sin (iniquity) and He also stirs Himself to rejuvenate lapsed friendship, restoring His presence and life among people who have turned away from Him.

Revival is so much more than dealing with sins. A revival is not a round of sin management, in which we get cleaned up for another cycle of misdeeds. Revival is relational. Friendship with God is revived. Revival is a turning of God's life and presence toward people so that He dwells in the midst of people and they live open-faced righteousness to Him. Perhaps review previous revivals, Josiah, Hezekiah, Nehemiah, and perhaps the American Great Awakenings.

Remembering how God has restored and revived entire cities and nations will force us to lift the horizon of our concern beyond our private affairs or problems. You are called to hope and joy as part of a people before God, not merely as an individual. We dare not approach God for a little bit of personal renewal and think we have been seeking for a great thing.

2. Seeking God: To Sense God's Desire and Destiny - vss 4-8 The psalmist indicates that once again, the people of God have slipped into sin. He speaks with a sense of identity with every person throughout the land. He does not try to exonerate himself personally. Revival is ultimately not a private religious experience, but a community-transforming relationship with God and entire communities of people.

a. Seeking God: Yearning for restored relationship It's often been said that we need to seek God's face rather than seek God's hand. Such is the case in this Psalm. Although the prayer is a cry for help, it does not hinge on sin clean-up alone. The heart of our plea is that God would turn again toward us relationally. Because of the love of God forever shown in Christ, many Christians presume that they are experiencing the delightful love of God. When Christians participate in the iniquity of the land, it isn't true. But even though this Psalmist knows of God's salvation (vs 4) and God's lovingkindness (vs 7) he presses into God, seeking that an entire people would actually experience God so that they rejoice in Him (vs 6).

b. Seeking God: Receiving what God gives The heart of seeking God is listening to what God will declare concerning His desires (vs 8). Verse 8 is the heart and soul of seeking God. There is a confidence that God will move and will disclose Himself to those who seek Him. The psalmist says that God will declare peace. What is this peace? It is not a mere greeting. It is not a mild improvement of circumstances. It is a profound outpouring of heaven's order on the earth. This peace is the relational splendor of God's anger turned away, with all of His healing, joy-giving presence bearing down with lovely, growing intensity. To seek God is to listen to what God decides to do regarding your family, your city, your nation. It is really up to Him. The answer to every one of our deepest requests is an outpouring of His nearness.

In this case there is an individual pursuit. "I will hear..." But the individual desires to hear what God says to the people "...to His godly ones." It's much like "He who has ears to hear, let him (individual) hear what the Spirit says to the churches (plural; the corporate people of God).

c. Seeking God: Fearing the folly that foreshortens revival "But let them not turn again to folly" (vs 9). This powerful resolve is a desperate cry: "Let us not sink into another cycle of sin and need for further revival!" Must God always help us through cycles of revival? Will there never be a day in which His presence is established so thoroughly that people will follow Him with undying passion and joy? Are we doomed to pray through cycles of revival for God to "Revive us again"?

3. Looking Forward: To Seek the Final Revival - vss 9-13 Revival has well be described as "an approximation of the consummation." We have never hoped wrongly if we have hoped biblically for all of Christ's glory to be manifest on the earth. Why not seek that the next revival be the culminating revival?

The poetic expressions of vss 9-13 depict God's glory actually dwelling on the earth. They are powerful and they are to be believed. This is the scale of revival that we are to pray toward. Anything less is good, but is a mere improvement. We pray our best if we pray toward the final revival. If we truly listen to the peace that God wants to bring forth, we will see something like vss 9-13. God's own presence teaches people how to walk in righteousness, like father stepping out footsteps for his following children in deep snow. God's own goodness is abundant. God's own glory is manifest.

That's why we are seeking God during these forty days of February 28 to April 8, for the hope of God's life on our land, our cities, and our families. Praying through lists of requests is okay, but during these days, we will lay hold of the highest hopes, and open our hearts to confess our deepest needs as a people.

We have never prayed awry when we have prayed toward God's promise of hope. Will you join thousands of others in forsaking the folly of going through sin management cycles? Will you seek God earnestly for the renewal of vital, face-to-face friendship with God, so that you genuinely rejoice in Him? Will you pray with expectancy of an inbreaking of His presence so that God's own righteousness characterizes our life as a people following Him?

Praying in Hope and Humility  •  1 Timothy 2:1-8

1. First things last? Getting every person prayed for. (vs 1) God wants every person prayed for: "on behalf of all people (a non-gender word for people in general). This is supposed to be the uppermost on our agenda of church life together (this is the first of many injunctions about different aspects of church life, mission and order throughout the book). We're going to pursue this during this forty day period, not as a one-time task, but because of God's heart. Every which way we can pray (all the different words for prayer) should be offered for every person throughout our community.

2. Praying in Hope: God's delight in open worship and godly lives. (vs 2-3) This passage has more to do with praying that the government will leave God's people alone so that they can live out a holy beauty and open devotion (The words for godliness have a Greek usage that speaks more about open worship and devotion). This is a passage about God being openly glorified and honored by His people. This is good and pleasing (worship language) in the sight of God. The bottom line is always God's greater glory. We are to pray for God to be glorified by our lives in the midst of the communities of earth, no matter who is in charge of the governments.

3. Praying in Hope: God's desire for all to come to the knowledge of the truth. (vss 4) Whatever one's view of atonement may be, the text declares the enormous desire of God. God desires all to be saved. That's hard to understand, but a biblical fact. What is easier to envision, but still astounding is that God wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth. This may be different than being saved. Could it be that there will come a day when every breathing person on earth will have some measure of a knowledge of the truth? Could it also be that many of them will yet turn from God and not be saved (breaking the huge heart of God who desired otherwise?) Herein is the force of our best praying: We are to pray toward God's desire being fulfilled rather than merely praying about our problems being solved. In fact, the most unfulfilling experience may be praying only about one's problems. Get involved in the adventure of pursuing God's white hot desires. He wants all. Our minds can't comprehend how God could desire that greatly, but one thing is sure, we are not to pray when we feel like it. We are to pray because God's yearning is alive and always great. Ignite your prayer for others at any moment, like placing the candle of your heart next to the on the blast furnace of God's own passion.

4. Praying in Humility: One Mediator, Many Advocates (vss 5-6) God has one (count them) mediator. We are not called to be "go-betweeners" in this sense. When we pray, we are never to look at ourselves as mediators. Advocates or court-appointed lawyers perhaps, but we are never the ones who mend the relationship with God. Instead we are to revel in the all-sufficiency of the one, marvelous, altogether-living Lamb of God. He died for people's sins. We can never die for someone's sin, but we can identify with other people's sins. In this sense, we are to pray "on behalf of all people." It's not hard to pray with a sense of linkage and connection with the people of our community who are struggling with many of the same problems and nagging sins that we have recently, or are still wrestling with. God is named in this text as "God OUR Saviour" but that does not mean that He is finished saving us. We have plenty of room to identify with the yet-to-be-saved of our city.

5. Praying with Responsibility: Many Servants in Special Times (vss 6-7)

The text uses the Greek word kairos in a plural form: "the testimony [to be given] in its times." All times are not equal in God's economy. There are great harvest times. We are seeing these times in many lands, but not yet in the USA. We often see God raising up prayer as the preparation for times of great harvest. Now is the time to pray. Soon comes the time for a great wave of gospel harvest. Paul says that he was appointed in the three ways that God loves to allocate His people: as communicators (preachers), as founding leaders (apostles), and as instructors (teachers). These are not necessarily exclusive to the initial church founders. These are exactly the kind of leaders that are needed in days of great ingathering. Don't be surprised if you find some ordinary folks in our church family begin to grow as communicators or as leaders or as trainers and disciplers.

If we pray in hope for God's glory by open worship and many new followers, then we will find ourselves happily eager for the changes God may bring about in our lives. If we pray well, we won't be content with the status quo of our city or our lives. We'll cry out for God to bring forth one of the special seasons, and to prepare us to be the servants in the midst of it.

General Remarks (useful background for anything you might present on Palm Sunday)

Palm Sunday may be the most ignored event of the main occasions in Jesus' life. If Palm Sunday has something to say about the culmination of history, it deserves our attention. If Palm Sunday has anything to do with the ultimate act of worship in all of history, then it deserves our attention. If Palm Sunday has something to do with the revival that we are praying toward, then it deserves our attention. If it has something to do with Christ's greater glory in the midst of movements of praise and prayer which eventually transforms entire cities, then our hope may have an anchor in this extravagant outpouring of worship.

The events of what we call Palm Sunday may be worth more attention than we have given them. Note the unique characteristics of this amazing occasion:

It was the only crowd that Jesus did not flee.

It was the most public hour of Jesus' life.

All four gospels come to a crescendo with this event. By comparison, the Christmas story is found in only two of the gospels.

The donkey ride alone is enough to show that it was intended, and even planned by Jesus. But at the same time, he refused to restrain whatever was spontaneous (the extravagant praise and gestures of reception).

It was a day of great joy, and yet Jesus weeps openly.

It was a time of great reception and favor, and yet Jesus caps the day with an outburst of violence that moved his enemies to form an alliance against him.

Jesus knew very well that the accolades of praise were directed toward him. He knew that the people recognized him as God's chosen Messiah. And yet he did nothing to hinder the out-and-out worship that was accorded him.

Palm Sunday actually extended for days. Jesus led the entire procession to the temple. The crowd kept coming to meet him for days at that very place. The praise continued for days. Jesus continued to do nothing to tone down the adoration.

The features and paradoxes of this event should move us to understand what it meant to Jesus and what it means for us today. The account clearly states that his followers failed to grasp the enormous significance of the event. "These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him" (John 12:16). This verse tells us how to look at the event. It was a time when things had been done "to Him." We usually are looking for ourselves as we read scripture. When the topic is not our sin or our salvation or our relationships or our blessing, we lose interest. We are so sure that we understand Jesus completely if we grasp what he came to do for us. But let's look again at Palm Sunday. Something wonderful took place for Jesus. What really happened for Jesus? Why did Jesus plan this event? What did Jesus intend to accomplish by all the weeping, rejoicing, temple cleansing, and donkey riding?

Was Jesus fulfilling prophecy? Of course. He fulfilled more than Zechariah 9:9. Psalm 118 was shouted and sung. Several other scriptures in Jesus' Bible were alluded to and fulfilled. Jesus himself quoted from Psalm 8, Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 7 to explain what was unfolding.

I think Jesus was doing more than fulfilling prophecy. He was prophesying. He was taking the truths and imagery of Zechariah 9 and other scripture and projecting them in historic 3-D reality as a way of fixing in the minds of any of his followers that he will be received as a majestic king. Can you imagine Jesus woodenly attempting to act out verses from his bible? Such stagecraft would only serve to prove a small point that he thought himself to be messianic material. What was on Jesus' mind, with great emotion, was the fact that many of the leaders of Jerusalem were missing "the hour of [their] visitation" (Luke 19:44). Those who were acclaiming his place as king would find that themselves betrayed by their leaders. The point is that Jesus was looking toward the day when God would redeem people from tyrannical evil and transform entire cities so that the promised kingdom of God on earth would be a reality. God would do this through a leader, and he was that leader. The question was no longer who the leader would be. The question became a matter of when an hour of visitation would be recognized, and when God's people would welcome, not only their Messiah, but when they would welcome God's work of drawing people from every people to be part of the phenomenon of God's worship house.

Message 1: Ultimate Praise

Jesus was asked to hush his followers. What they were shouting was a politically incorrect statement. It amounted to insurrection. Everyone could get into a great deal of trouble. But Jesus refused to cooperate. He let the adoring crowd shout on. "Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" (Luke 19:39-40).

It's important to note that he said this about what the people were saying at that very time. It was not a generalized teaching about praising the Lord. What was this particular praise and what does it mean for us?

"As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

1. Joyful thanks. "...to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen..." The praise was joyful thanks for a huge move of God upon entire communities. The joy exploded when they added up all the different acts of God's hand which had come about by Jesus and the people he had sent to pray in his name (John 12:17-19). The raising of Lazarus triggered the gathering of people to Jesus. It was probably then that people began to recount all the stories of what had been done in Jesus' name. It wasn't just miracles heard about. It was miracles seen. Miracles, which are simply answered prayers, matter. God intends to be glorified by prayer in Jesus' name. This is the reason God loves to operate in conjunction with our prayers. He is glorified. This is why we are not mistaken in following Christ's leading to pray for everyone in our community. Our prayers may lead to a critical mass of answered prayers, which can detonate with a city-shaking outbreak of glory.

2. Passionate welcome. "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord" The crowd did the best thing that can ever be done regarding the Messiah. They were not making a messiah, they were shouting their recognition that God had given them a messiah. This crowd was not trying to force him to be king, or elect him as king by a voice vote. Jesus had seen that kind of mob before (John 6:15) and had disappeared almost instantly. This was not a king-making crowd. Instead, they recognized that he came to them "in the name of the Lord." In this situation the phrase "who comes in the name of the Lord" meant that they saw that he was coming to them as the messiah that God had sent. They were quoting Psalm 118:26, which is laden with messianic hope. Psalm 118:27 says "The LORD is God, and He has given us light." I think God gave them enough light to see who Jesus was. A verse just before (verse 24) says, "This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it." They saw the crescendo of history unfolding. Finally a day, a season, a time, when God would redeem the people. They certainly weren't trying to hustle Jesus into play-acting as a leader that he wasn't. Instead the Psalm they were quoting says, "This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes." I think the crowd was moved, by the light that God gave them at that time, to see that the kingdom would be the Lord's doing. They saw it and counted it a marvelous thing. We need to rejoice in the same kind of way. Do you see a coming day of God? It's going to unfold by God's own doing. We need his light to see it. In the day of God's glory, we will find that what was rejected becomes the most precious. May God give us light to see his coming messiah. May we not be those who miss an hour of his visitation.

3. Peace and glory. "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" It sounds like all the action is happening in the heavenlies. But the main point is that there is both peace and glory. The place where these people longed to see peace was the earth. That's certainly how Luke 2:14 reads. It is possible to translate the phrase "By heaven peace and glory in the highest." But however the poetic words were to be understood, the people saw God's peace on the way. The people saw glory coming to God in the highest. This matches God's purpose to glorify his Son (that's the glory) and to bless the nations (that's the peace).

Why talk about rocks? Jesus' statement about rocks crying out can only mean that this kind of praise must come about. It was not just good, it was destined. Such praise befits the crescendo of all history. Ultimately, there will not be occasional and sporadic answers to prayer. God will answer prayers on a city-wide scale. But He will not do so anonymously. His praying people will naturally become a praising people. This people will begin to thank Him for far more than the personal benefits they have received. They will praise Him loudly for ALL that He has done.

God will not impose the governance of his Messiah by force. Instead, there will be a rising movement of loving devotion, welcoming Him.

And finally, God will not bring his day of peace and glory as a happenstance of good economies and decent elected government leaders. Instead, there will be widespread recognition that all of heaven is moving on all of the earth.

The reference to rocks crying out is corroborated by the Palm Sunday praise that continued in Matthew 21:15-16. Jewish leaders objected to the praise. Jesus quotes Psalm 8, not only about children being worthy worshipers. The Psalm speaks clearly about the entire purpose for humankind being fulfilled as people offer their praise to God.

What can we learn from this praise?

First, we need to be the kind of people who are focused on the hope that God is giving us. God wants us to be busy praying for our city in Jesus' name. If we give Him many prayers to answer, He will sooner be able to answer many thousands of prayers at the same time frame, and again bring about a situation similar to that which we find on Palm Sunday morning. Many prayers answered, and the people who had prayed them among the most jubilant.

Second, we should find as well great confidence that Jesus will manifest his kingdom and his leadership so greatly that we will acclaim him as the leader God is giving us. When we pray for his kingdom to come, we are really crying out that he will come. Ultimately our hope is not WHAT will happen. It is WHO will make it happen. This way of focusing our hope on the one who comes in the name of the Lord will move us to do deeds of the kingdom in his name, like garments laid on the ground before him. The garments and palm branches laid down didn't make Him come, but they beautified his coming. It is so liberating and invigorating to realize that he has given us something to do to signify His kingdom, but ultimately this will be the work of God.

Finally, we can find ourselves emboldened in hope that Christ will change things so drastically that heaven will feel the reverberations of peace and glory. Palm Sunday becomes an assurance that God does not intend to do what we might call "dead-end miracles" or feats of supernaturalism just to astound our friends and his enemies. God loves to answer prayers so that great outbreaks of glory may come. And we can look forward to the day when the earth will reverberate with the recognition of His overcoming peace.

Let's not make the rocks cry out in our day. If God is intending great glory to come to his Son; and if God is going to do great miracles; and if God is going to bring about peace and glory, then we need to fulfill what we were made for as people: To be the people of prayer and praise, and to celebrate in hope with Lord with history-culminating joy.

Message 2: Jesus Comes Before He Comes

Palm Sunday is a portrait of the revival we seek. It is a sure anchor of hope at the crescendo of history. Jesus dramatized the surest hope that we can ever look forward to: that God will come among the communities of earth, healing, renewing, restoring and establishing His dwelling with people.

It's a realistic picture of the culmination of history. Palm Sunday does not present a utopian dream. In fact, Jesus weeps because many of the key leaders still reject him. Jesus had always had those who opposed him from diverse corners. There were different groups of Jewish leaders. Just after Palm Sunday, when he had cleaned out the temple, his enemies coordinated their efforts (Matthew 22:15 and others). Eventually they plot in ways that involve the Roman imperial forces, which in turn, involved the Herodian government structure which had done away with John the Baptist. Palm Sunday is anything but a rosey picture of prolonged church services. If the event portends any kind of aftermath of great open movements to Christ, it suggests that evil powers unite and do their worst when Christ's manifest presence unites people in transforming, healing power.

In every agree to work together So great was opposition that they

Every major revival in history, we have seen a few features repeat. The paramount feature of revival is the manifest presence. Those who have been alive in seasons of great transforming revival describe the presence of God throughout the community. Even those who reject Christ often admit that He is present during those kinds of days. Palm Sunday is the most ample description of the presence of Christ amidst His people during days of revival. What do we have to look forward to?

1. His instruction. Jesus went to the temple daily. He was teaching them day after day. People got up early to squeeze into the temple to hear him. Jesus was not presiding over a renegade worship service. He endorsed and supported the true worship that was being done (see below for what he did oppose). He was teaching. The main feature was the theme of God's house of worship consisting of people drawn from every people. No doubt Isaiah 2 (and the parallel Micah 4) came to the minds of many who were part of those gatherings. Isaiah 2:2-4 is one of the pinnacles of hope in all of scripture. His teaching, or law, will go forth from the mountain of the Lord. Many peoples will surge up the mountain, like rivers running up hill. His leadership, expressed in the language of judging, will have effect everywhere. Entire societies will change. What a marvelous hope! And it has expression on Palm Sunday. Did the crowd buy into the teaching? I think so. The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus feared the crowd would rise up in rioting if Jesus was harmed. But in fact, they did not. They were the core of the movement fifty days after the Passover who eventually stood their ground without anger or rancor against great hostility. Jesus had taught them about laying down weaponry. They had learned his ways.

What can we expect? Days of Christ instructing His people in His ways so powerfully that the very structure of society will be altered.

2. His healing. The account says that the blind and the lame came to him and he healed them (Matthew 21:14). This is in line with all that he had done before. But there is something special about this mention of the blind and the lame. Many think that people were seeing what Christ was doing as a great re-enactment of the exodus, a great returning of God's people from exile to the land and to the temple. Jeremiah 31:7-9 mentions specifically the blind and the lame as those who would usually be ignored, but signify the grandeur of the return.

What can we expect: Days of Christ's healing will involve people who would usually be considered to be beyond help. There will be a sense of journeying together with Jesus into a new day. People we would normally disqualify for such adventures of passion for God will be restored. Those blind to God will gaze upon Him. Those immobilized to follow Christ will find their spiritual feet and join the band of those who love God.

3. His leadership bringing the nations to worship God. Take seriously where Jesus was going. His destination was the temple. The cleansing of the temple was not an outburst of anger against mercantile enterprise as much as it was a removal of obstacles hindering the nations.

He quoted Isaiah 56:7. Please read this phrase in context, reading the verse before and the verse following. It says that God will bring people from the earth's peoples to his house of worship, making them joyful in his house of prayer. The word for prayer is a wide word in the Hebrew language. It means more than just petionary prayer. It speaks of just about every kind of prayer and worship. And that's what the context describes. Burnt offerings and honor offerings will be accepted. Not just petionary prayer. Worship prayer.

The phrase "house of worship of all the peoples" speaks more about the house being open to worshipers FROM all the peoples instead of praying FOR or ON BEHALF OF the peoples. I'm all for prayer. We need to pray for the nations. But this passage tells us more what we are praying toward than it tells us anything about our prayer meetings including items from distant lands.

When Jesus cleansed the temple of the sacrifices for sale, and the money changers that were offering the required currency to make an offering to God, he was clearing away the religious clutter that not only insisted that people offer the offerings that were for sale, they made money doing it. People, even decent Hebrew-speaking Jewish people, could no longer bring their offering into the temple and find God pleased with it. They would have to exchange whatever they brought for one of the approved offerings that was for sale. And there was no way they could pay for such things with their own money. They had to exchange it for the currency that was approved. How could the nations ever find their way in to the temple?

No wonder Jesus was so insistent and passionate!

What we can expect during days of revival: Jesus will upset our cultural standards and our religious systems. We may be blind to how greatly our traditions exclude people coming to God with offerings of worship which are from their heart. We aren't talking about generalized relativism, in which any way you would like to get to heaven or to worship God is okay. We are speaking of the cultural patterns which restrain people from singing to God in the idiom and style of their culture.

When Jesus cleansed the temple, it was an act that basically opened the doors of worship to the nations. We need to expect that Isaiah 56:8 will be fulfilled in greater measure: "I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered."

Message Three: The Jacob Generation

Palm Sunday often explodes with quotations of Psalm 24:7-10

The ancient gates in Psalm 24 can be understood in different ways, but one approach would be to see them with the background of Genesis 28. This makes sense with Jacob's name serving as a pivot point for the Psalm in verse 6. With Genesis 28 as the background, the gates are a portal for heaven's outpouring of God's blessing and kingdom on the earth. Jacob saw the economy of God flowing up and down a grand staircase (Genesis 28:12). He said of the vision that he had beheld the house of God, the very "gates of heaven" (Genesis 28:17). He was not speaking at all about gates TO heaven. He was speaking of God's ordained portal bringing heaven's life to earth. They are gates FROM heaven. God himself said that he would break out from there to all the peoples of the earth, bringing blessing through the people of God (Genesis 28:14).

God will come to fill the earth (Psalm 24:7-10) which is his (vs 1-2). God has ordained an invitation to rise from His people.

As His people come to Him, by the purity of heart and integrity that He gives them (vss 3-4), they become those who seek for and obtain the blessing of Abraham, the blessing of all the peoples of the earth (vss 5-6).

It's important to examine the text of Psalm 24:6. It says "Selah." Perhaps we should think about it in every way possible. NIV reads "Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob." But the New American Standard translates it this way: "This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face ?[even] Jacob." The word "even" is added. The Hebrew simply says, "who seek your face, Jacob." It can best be translated as "who seek your face, even as Jacob."

What is amazing to note is that there will be a generation who will seek God with persistence and ambition for great blessing, just like Jacob sought throughout his life, but without Jacob's deception and lack of integrity. Could this pure-hearted generation be the final generation?

On Palm Sunday we are not performing a commemoration. We stirring ourselves to utmost anticipation. We have biblical grounds to aspire to the pure hearts that Christ gives, and approach God. But let's go further, following the persistence of our father in faith, Jacob. He cried to God while wrestling in darkness, "I won't let go until you bless me!" (Genesis 32:26-30). Such is a generation which is likely to see God open heaven's doors and fill the earth with His glory. When He comes He will be recognized by those who sought Him in the darkness of early mornings and late nights. They will know who He is, answering the question "Who is the King of glory?" What a welcome they will offer, acclaiming Him, "The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory."

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

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