Consequently, when Christ came into the world,
he said, "Sacrifices and offerings thou hast

not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for
me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou
hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Lo, I
have come to do thy will, 0 God,' as it is
written of me in the roll of the book."

Hebrews 10:5-7

Most of the crowd spread their garments on the
road, and others out branches from the trees
and spread them on the road.  And the crowds
that went before him and that followed him
shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered
Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying,
"Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is
the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee."

Matthew 21:8-11

On the surface it looks as though everything is fitting
together .... Jesus comes in triumph, the city is alive
with joy and praise. But beneath the surface it's the
beginning of the final sifting of Jesus' flesh-and-blood
ministry.    In this city which appears so unified around
Jesus, there is no unity. Everybody but Jesus is

intent on doing his own thing.

  - The multitudes are shouting praises because

    they think they've found a king to throw off

    the Roman yoke.

- The religious establishment, watching this

  display of joy, hardens into a decision,

  "This guy's got to go ... he must be killed.

  This cannot be allowed to go any farther."

- The disciples are rejoicing because they

  are sure now--that  they bet on the right

  horse. They're in on the ground floor of

  a new regime.  

Judas, with the shrewdness of a serpent,

can see that things are about to fall

apart.... "I'm getting out ...I'm getting

off this boat before it sinks."

And in every case, except Jesus, the question that
governs this action is: What's in this thing for me?
                                 Am I being fulfilled?

         Are my needs being met?

One man in this heaving sea of humanity ... one man is

being led on by the prayer which has ruled his heart

since the beginning,   

 "Your will, Father..

I have come to do your will.

I'm on my way to fulfill your purpose..

I see the cross up ahead and I chose it.
I chose it because I know that it is
your will Father."  

A week from now this city will have put itself under
judgment...judgment from which Jerusalem has not
recovered in 20 centuries .... and will not recover
until once again it says,

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord."

A week from this Palm Sunday celebration the only
life in this city ... the only life...will be the life
burning and shining in the glorified body of  this
man who will have passed through his baptism of fire
and come out the other side as the First-Born of the
New Creation.

He will have resurrection life,

           incorruptible life,

    contagious earth-shaking life, because he

     went to the cross saying,

"Not my will, Father, but your will.   I've come
 to do your will."

And he will gather his little band of disciples and

raise them from the dead by washing their sin in his shed
blood and by teaching them to live the prayer he lived...
 

"Lo, I come to do Your will, 0 God,"

teaching them to carry their crosses as he carried his.
 

In simplest terms ... the only ones who survived Palm
Sunday, who got beyond the hosannas without sinking into
a night of judgment that followed them to their graves,
were those who learned to repent of their arrogance and
be washed in his blood, and who were willing to get
under Jesus' yoke and pray with him,

"Not my will, but your will: ... your will.

I have come to do your will 0 Lord,"

and to live that way. These were the ones who received

the Spirit, fulfilled their calling and changed the face

of this earth and are still changing it.

The Christian world in 2002, especially in this country,
is very much like that first Palm Sunday. Everybody's
saying,

"Hosanna! Praise the Lord. Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord."

It looks great ..... Christian radio,

                   Christian T.V.
    Christian book stores,
    Christian rock concerts,
    Christian counseling services,

     Christian sex manuals,

     Christian church buildings all over the
land. But the driving force in Christendom is,
 

"What's in it for me?   Is it meeting my needs?"
 

Hold up the cross to Christendom and it runs the other
way.

Meanwhile, Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever,
is calling for disciples who will follow him on a very,
very, very different road ..... a road 

- that leads to life,

- that leads into the Father's presence,

- that leads to much fruit and unspeakable joy.

 
But the immediate destination of the road on which Jesus
calls us is a cross ... his cross and our cross.   And the
only ones who follow on that road are those who get
under the yoke with Jesus and say,

"Lo, I come to do your will.
Not my will, your will,
whatever the cost."

Consequently, when Christ came into the
world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings
thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou
prepared for me; ^.in burnt offerings and  sin
offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.
Then I said, 'Lo, I have come to do thy
will, 0 God,' as it is written of me in
the roll of the book."            Hebrews 10:5-7

   "Lo, I have come to do thy will, 0 God.   I
have come to do your will."

Jesus died on that cross,

   rose from the grave,

   sent the Holy Spirit,

   sends the Spirit among us now so that we can forsake
forever the, "what's in it for me?" world and enter the
Kingdom of God where every citizen of the kingdom lives
the prayer of the King,

"Lo, I have come to do your will."

1.   I have come to do your will because your will is the
door to real life....

"He who saves his life loses his life and he
who loses his life for my sake keeps it for 
eternal life,"

And this is the testimony, that God gave us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He who has the Son has life; he who has not
the Son of God has not life. 

1 John 5:11-12

To have the Son is to walk in his will.   To believe in

the Son is to walk in his will. Peter was a dead man

until he left his old life to follow Jesus....that was

the day of his birth into life. Matthew was a dead man

until he left his old life to follow Jesus...that was

the day he came alive. Mary Magdalene was a dead woman

until she forsook her old ways to follow Jesus....that

was the hour she began to live.

Jesus is the will of God. And walking in his will is life.
It's like stepping out of prison...it's like coming out of
our grave. And you only begin to experience resurrection
life when you start living the prayer,

"Lo, I have come to do your will!"

2.   I have come to do your will because Your will is
unspeakable joy from the beginning to the end of

the journey.   

It's not hard...it's easy. Much easier than the way of
self. Much easier than the way of sin.

Much easier than the way of pride.
Much easier than the way of vanity.

Much easier than the way of greed.
Much easier than the way of hatred.

"My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

"If you keep my commandments you will abide in
my love, just as I have kept my Father's com-
mandments and abide in his love...if you do
my will ... these things I have spoken to you
that my joy may be in you and that your joy
may be full."

The will of God is not grief,    - but joy,

                   not loneliness,   -  but joy,

                   not frustration,   - but joy.

To say, "Lo, I come to do thy will 0 God," is not
sacrifice ... it's joy.   Joy every day.

         Joy in all seasons.

         Joy in the fat years,
         Joy in the lean years.,..
always joy.

3.    I have come to do your will because your will is a
cross that frees me from myself , and from all my
fears, from all my compromise, from all my useless
anger....

.....a cross where self dies and my anger and my fear
and my compromise fall into the grave...sink down under
the Lamb's blood.

"Don't be afraid to deny yourself, take up
your cross daily, and die with me," he says.
"It will set you free every day."

The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified....
where?....at Calvary! Any gospel,

         Any prophet,

                              any preacher who offers you glory
apart from a cross .... Jesus' cross and your cross .... is

   deceiving you, cheating you. The place where the glory of God comes to rest upon us is
   that place where we die to ourselves with the Lamb of God.

"For while we live we are always being given

up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life
of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal
flesh."                 II Corinthians 4:11

4.    I have come to do your will because your will is the
resurrection power that frees the captives,

                  heals ^. the sick,

      raises the dead.

Jesus didn't go to seminars to learn how to heal the sick.
Jesus did the Father's will and healing gushed out of him
like a river of living water.

"Lo, I have come to do your will,"

and as he did it, the poor heard the good news,

      the captives were freed,

      the blind received sight,

      the oppressed were delivered.

We carry resurrection life simply by doing the will of
the Lord. His will is healing,

          life,

          grace and peace.

And so, this Palm Sunday while Jerusalem rings with
hosannas from the lips of multitudes who will soon be
crying for his blood; while the driving question in
Christendom is, "What's in it for me? Is it meeting
my needs? Will it fulfill my life?" will you dare to
pray the prayer of the Lamb,

"Lo, I have come to do your will 0 God...."

....your will, not mine.

- How long are you going to sit there and lick
your wounds?

- How long are you going to nurse your hurt
feelings?

- How long are you going to use your loneliness
as an excuse for doing nothing?

- The door to life is open .... enter it.

- Will you take one step in the will of
  God as the Spirit leads .... and he will
  lead.

- Will you receive the yoke of the Lamb, 

   the Spirit of the Lamb, and press on to

   answer the call of the living God that

   burns in your heart right now?

"Lo, I have come to do your will 0 God!"