Out to lunch. Daydreamer. Head in the clouds. Out of touch with reality. This is truly the human condition. We refuse to face reality. By nature, we pretend that everything is fine: "There's nothing to see here." This condition is more clear to me than ever before in my lifetime.

Most people are oblivious to the dangers we are facing. Just as they were on that very first Palm Sunday (see Luke 19:28- 44). The inhabitants of Jerusalem were burying their heads in the sand. They were so blinded with their own ideas, expectations, and fantasies that they refused to discern the signs of the times in which they were living. As He rode into Jerusalem, Jesus uttered an urgent warning even for us today: "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:42). These words are more poignant, more critical, more pressing than ever before.

As I read about how the crowd praised Jesus and laid their cloaks on the road and about Jesus' response to their rejoicing, I must confess, I wonder about what the Twelve might have thought when they heard Jesus' words and saw Him weeping. Perhaps they thought, "Why is Jesus such a killjoy? Why doesn't He just enjoy the party? We don't get this kind of acceptance every day. Why is Jesus turning triumph into tears? Why is He turning these festivities into a lament?"

I have learned a few things about the crowd—the mob. You see, the crowd will applaud you one day, but then, when you say something that they don't like, they will be appalled by you the next. The crowd may love you today, but they will loathe you tomorrow. On that Palm Sunday, the crowd sang, "Hosanna!" But a few days later they cried, "Crucify!"

The crowd always gets caught in the spirit of the moment. But that spirit of the moment turned 180 degrees only four days later because Jesus did not meet their false expectations. He failed to fulfill the desires of their flesh. They thought He would be the king who would overthrow their Roman oppression, who would give them material prosperity and save them from their earthly troubles.

They did not see that He came to save them from the pit of hell—to bring them real, eternal peace. So, when their perceived needs were not met, they turned on Him.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew on that Palm Sunday the danger of the crowd's sentimentality, as they honored Him, in relationship to the gravity of the situation. And that is why Jesus didn't just weep; He sobbed. He knew they did not understand the gravity of the coming judgment. Do we?

Our world is on the brink. Our nation is in deep peril. Immoral people are occupying pulpits and even denominational leadership. Christians are openly persecuted in traditionally Christian lands like the United States, England, Australia, and Canada. The news media is conspiring openly to muddy the Truth and propagate lies. Yet, the vast majority of people are oblivious to this reality. Most are too engrossed in their sports and entertainment and self-indulgence, too preoccupied with their own needs and victimhood to even perceive what is truly going on. In Jesus' words in Luke 19, you can truly sense His deep sorrow over the human condition of apathy—He wept for the inhabitants of Jerusalem who failed to discern the times, who missed the opportunity for salvation. I pray we won't miss it as they did! We must discern the urgency of the hour, the importance of the time in which we live.

This is not a call for Christians to store food or gold or silver, to hide our money under the mattress and live in worry. This is not a call to head for the hills. No! This is an urgent call of a spiritual nature. This is an urgent call to proclaim salvation by grace alone through faith in Jesus alone. This is an urgent call for us to live for our Savior and to bear witness to His redemptive power at work in our hearts.

You see, just like on that first Palm Sunday, people are oblivious to their need for Jesus. They are oblivious to the privilege of living in the days that so many generations longed to see—the day of salvation—for the Savior has come.

If people would understand the times, they would become eternally saved; they would experience peace in the midst of turmoil. But it takes divine wisdom to discern the times in which we live. It takes sensitivity to the Holy Spirit of God and a closer walk with Christ to discern the times. That's why the lost need the church of Jesus to faithfully and courageously proclaim His Kingdom.

If Christians would but discern the times, we would refuse to compromise our convictions. Our churches would be more Holy Spirit-awakened and not woke; our pastors would repent of sin instead of baptizing sin into the church. Our churches would be studying the Truth of God's Word instead of rewriting it. Christians need to be about the whole Truth of the Word of God—about one and only one Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To be faithful, churches need to be about saving souls from eternal damnation and hell—about taking as many souls to heaven with us as God allows us.

We cannot promote modern, false gospels or partial truth or feel-good Christianity. We cannot be about the prosperity gospel or the poverty gospel, the black gospel or the white gospel, the social justice gospel or the woke gospel. We must not adopt secular, humanistic sympathies. No and a million nos! God's true disciples must be about inviting people to come and see the Savior; we must seek to serve and obey only one person, and His name is Jesus. And He has called us to understand the times.

Being serious-minded does not mean that we are morbid. The enemies of the cross accuse us of being morbid. We're not. We're serious about the message of salvation; we are truthful about reality—the seen and unseen. And being truthful does not mean we are unloving, as the enemies of the cross accuse. Because we are so loving, we are Truth-tellers.

Regardless of the world's response, we must stay the course. People can love us or loathe us; they can receive us or reject us; they can praise us or condemn us; they can accept or reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter what, we must keep on loving, giving, serving, inviting, and rejoicing. Like Martin Luther, the great reformer, we must say, "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise."