One of the best explanations of the Gospel by Paul Washer.

"The gospel is about God and His eternal glory. That is where it starts, and that is where it takes us in the end. Preached rightly, the gospel convicts and humbles every human heart. It underscores the exceeding sinfulness of our sin. It rebukes even our most laudable works of righteousness." -- Dr. John MacArthur

Growing up, I lived relatively close to the ocean. There were ports in my area, and for every port, there was something called the Port Authority. This government organization has full authority over the port. If you wanted to do anything at the port you had to get the permission from the Port Authority.

As the Port Authority has total authority over the port, we shall see today that the authority of everything and everyone in this world is under the authority of what God says.

As the Scripture shows us again, as we talked about last week, “All of Us Deserve God’s Wrath”, but thanks be to God we commemorate this day because Jesus of Nazareth has guaranteed that “He Shall Turn No One Away.”

Today we celebrate Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Still, I sometimes think we, well, at least I know I forget that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to die.

He is coming to Jerusalem to save His people, but to save His people from what. What have they done? It is vitally important, especially the week before we celebrate Resurrection Day, that we understand intimately why we all need the Savior.

In our modern culture—especially in America—many families have little sense of heritage. We may have some family traditions, but most Americans don’t even know the names of their great, great grandparents. In contrast, genealogies were a deeply integral part of Jewish society at the time of Jesus. Land was inherited based on family lines, and those who could not prove their ancestry in Israel were considered outsiders.

We left off last week with the entire town begging Jesus to leave. Crazy as that sounds, it is true. However, it turns out there is one lone sole who is begging Jesus as well, but this person is not begging Jesus to leave, but is begging Jesus, to follow.

Have you ever tried to help someone, and they didn’t want your help?

It was in their best interest, but they didn’t see it that way. And the more you tried to help, the more they wanted you to leave them alone.

Can you imagine this happening to Jesus?

Well, imagine no longer, as we will see people from the entire region coming out to our King begging Him to leave.

Last week, we saw Jesus’s total command over nature while they were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a storm. We talked about how the disciples still were not at the point where they really saw Jesus as God—the One who is in total control of everything.

Once He calmed the sea, they could proceed to the other side of the sea. As soon as they landed, a different sort of tempest ensued—not of the natural variety but of the supernatural. Here again, Jesus shows that “All Shall Bow.”

In life we are going to have storms:

"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” -- John 16:33

It is a promise.

The question is how do we respond to these storms in our lives.

It is difficult to comprehend here in the early 21st century here in the west, that someone would be thrown in jail, for calling for people to repent and be baptized. However, on second thought, maybe not. The city of Houston a few years ago called for pastors to turn in their sermons to be reviewed by the city before they could preach. In England if you pray to close to an abortion clinic you can now be arrested.

So if we are to proclaim the gospel and call people to repentance, remember we are going to need to be BOLD.

When John the Baptist talks about repentance, he’s not just referring to feeling sorry for sins—he’s calling for a complete change of heart and behavior. This means a sincere, inner transformation that leads to visible, ethical, and loving action.