Good morning. Alright, our text
is in Mark chapter 11 verses 1 through 6. Now when I sat down to read this
passage yesterday, looking over it to get a message, I was struck
by the peculiar language of the Gospel in these first six verses,
where we see Christ exalted and in the salvation of the sinner. That's what I see when I look
at this. I see Christ exalted in the salvation of the sinner. In the context, Christ is entering
into Jerusalem, and he's going to Jerusalem to save his people,
to work salvation for his people. He's going to go up to that cross,
bearing their sin and shame before the Father, and as the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God, he's putting away, he will put away the sin
of this people, and make them righteous to stand before holy
God. That's why he's going. And we
come to this passage here. Now, this passage actually is
introducing us to another prophecy that Christ would fulfill, because
Christ came with a purpose, and when he came, he fulfilled everything
written of him in the Old Testament. He knew exactly what he was doing
and what he did, it was with purpose to fulfill the word that
we would know this is the Christ who God has sent to save his
people. And in Zechariah 9, verse 9,
this is the prophecy that he's about to fulfill with this cult,
with this young donkey's baby, this ass of a cult there, or
the cult of an ass. And it says, Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just, and having
salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt,
the foal of an ass. And so, when Christ sends these
disciples into the city to get that cult, that's what the purpose
is for, because he's going to fulfill the scriptures that declare
him to be the Messiah, the Crescent of God, to save his people from
their sin. And so, Christ's time in the
flesh, on the earth, in the flesh, it's short. It's a short time. And so, he's always teaching
his disciples. He's always making known to them
their need of salvation, and now He is the provider, the sufficiency
for the sinner's salvation. He's the one who saves His people,
all right? And it's not just to these disciples
walking with Him here, but it's recorded for us to teach the
church throughout all ages so that we can see everywhere in
the scriptures, the declaration of Jesus Christ and the salvation
of sinners. That Christ is sovereign over
our salvation. He's Lord, He is King, doing
as it pleases Him, and sinners You who hear this word, it's
for your good. It's for your deliverance. It's
to deliver you and to give you eternal life, those for whom
he has shed his blood. All right, so he's soon going
to ascend to the Father, and we're gonna study his word, right?
He knows that his, he can direct his people to study his word,
that we might know him and serve him in truth. And so as we hear
this gospel, the spirit attends that word, ever revealing the
truth of our salvation, that it's in Christ Jesus alone, not
our works, and so he's separating us and revealing unto this gospel
and revealing this gospel word to us. So you who are here this
morning, be thankful. Don't assume that you're not
one of his people just because to this point maybe you haven't
heard it or you've heard confusing things or you don't believe it
currently. Listen, because God has brought
you here for a purpose, to hear this word of his salvation, how
he saves sinners from their sins. So it's not just, I know that
we rejoice. Last week we saw in Psalm 3 and
looking at 2 Samuel, we saw how in the Old Testament pictures,
we see types and shadows declaring to us Christ. But even here in
the New Testament, we see these things. We see in the record
given to us in the New Testament, we still see pictures and types
of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, as I hope to show
you in this passage, these first six verses of chapter 11. Even
while we've seen what Christ is actually doing to go to the
cross, to work salvation for us, we see pictures of his salvation
for his beloved church, the people of God. Alright, so we're going
to focus this morning looking to see this salvation of Jesus
Christ in the loosing of this cult. the loosing of this cult,
alright? And our title is Loose Him. Loose Him. And we'll have three
divisions. First we'll see how it's Christ
that sends the witness. He sends the witness for his
people. It's Christ that looses the sinner. Loosed by Christ
will be our second point. And then we'll behold Christ's
authority. Christ's authority to do this,
to loose the cult, to loose the sinner and set them free. Christ
has the authority to do that. Alright, let's read verses 1
and 2 again. Mark 11, 1 and 2. And when they
came nigh to Jerusalem unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, go your
way into the village over against you, and as soon as ye be entered
into it, He shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat,
loose him, and bring him." Now first, who is it that's sending
these disciples? Who is sending these disciples? Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ
who's sending these disciples to go fetch this colt. What we
understand is that if Christ didn't send them on this errand,
if it wasn't for Christ saying, go there and bring this colt,
loose this colt, they wouldn't have done it. They wouldn't have
gone. They weren't looking for a colt.
They would not have gone into the village and brought this
colt. But only because Christ sent them to do this work, that's
why they went. So they're sent of Jesus Christ. And so it is in the churches.
We want to hear from a man that is sent by Christ. Not just any
man. We don't care to hear what anybody
says about how we're saved and made righteous. If we're here,
gathered in his church, we want to know, all right, God, did
you send this man or didn't you send this man? That's what we
want to hear. The reason is because when Christ sends the man, when
Christ sends the man, well, that man's going to be sent with the
authority to say the things that he's saying, right? I'm going
to declare to you salvation. So it's of the Lord. From God's Word, we'll see it's
of the Lord. And we trust that if the Lord has sent him, the
Holy Spirit will attend that word with power. that the Spirit
of God would help me to hear this Word, to reveal to me my
need of Christ, and to make His blood effectual to me, to wash
me of my sin, that I may go home rejoicing today, knowing that
it's Christ who has saved me and put away my sin. In Matthew
28, verses 18 through 20, that's where, Matthew 28 is the last
chapter of Matthew, so this is after Christ has been crucified,
after he's buried in the grave and risen from the grave by the
power of God raising him up, and Christ now, before he ascends
to the Father, he speaks to his apostles, those whom he's made
and called to be apostles in his church, and he gives them
what we call the Great Commission. He speaks a commission to them.
What that means is he has authority and he's giving them authority.
He's giving them a charge to speak this word, to declare this
gospel, which is good news to the sinner who can't save themselves,
this gospel to the world, to all those God sends them out
to to speak. And it reads this, Matthew 28,
18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you." What did Christ
command us? He commands us to believe Him.
You who know that you're a sinner, and hear that Christ is the Savior,
and you believe that the Spirit works faith in your heart to
know I'm the sinner, and Christ is the Savior. He says, believe
on me. Trust me. Believe me. And what else? To
love your brethren. Believe me and love your brethren.
That's the command of Christ to us. And lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. Now I'm thankful for
that because we're still going and the Lord has given us this
command to continue preaching and declaring his gospel for
what he's done for sinners. So without Christ, Without His
charge, without His authority and power, we can do nothing. We can do nothing. But with Christ,
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Without
Him I can do nothing, but with Him I can do all things through
Christ which strengthens me. So, the disciples must be sent
by the Lord, and He's the one who stirs up the heart, in His
people and those whom He's separating unto this work, He stirs up their
heart, He burdens them with a burden for the people. They hear being
taught by the Spirit, having it revealed, this gospel to them,
to know, I'm the sinner saved, and I love this Lord, and I love
His Word. It delivered me from my debt
and my bondage. He loosed me. And he stirs up
the heart of some men, giving them that gift, and they go forth
preaching this word, declaring how that God saves sinners by
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's gathered you here today
to hear that very word. Oh, what a blessing that is.
All right, now. The next thing we see here is
two disciples. Two disciples are sent. What
are these two disciples? Well, what I see in it is that
one represents the preacher of the gospel. You only need one
man to preach the gospel. So one of these men represents
the preacher of the gospel, and the other represents the Holy
Spirit that makes that word effectual to the hearers. Because it's
one thing to just preach and talk about what God has done,
it's another thing for that Holy Spirit to attend that word and
make it effectual to your hearts, to cause you to hear it. So the
Gospel is spoken by a man, it's spoken by a man, but it's revealed
to the sinner by the Holy Spirit. Spoken by a man, but revealed
by the Holy Spirit. Or I could say it this way, one
is just an earthen vessel. with absolutely no power in himself. I've got no power to make you
to believe. But the other is the Holy Spirit
of God who has infinite power and is able to bring this word
home to your heart, causing you to hear it, giving you faith
to believe what is being spoken to you now concerning yourselves
and concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you this.
Turn over to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. If you don't have a Bible, I
encourage you to get one from the back there and then you can
follow along and it will help you to see, I want you to see
what the word says because you don't want to take my word for
it. You want to know, is this what God is saying? Because your
very souls depend upon it. It's life or death for you, alright?
So 1 Corinthians 2, verses 12 through 13. Paul writes, Now, and we're gonna look at
a couple verses right here in this area. So now Paul says,
we have received not the spirit of the world. We already know
what the world says. We already know the thoughts
that we have naturally, which we come forth thinking about
ourselves and about God and how to be good people in this world,
things like that. We haven't received the spirit
of the world, but the spirit, which is of God, that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God. And one of
the things that we see there is that the preacher can only
speak of what he knows. I can only speak to you what
God has revealed to me. So the Spirit has to reveal to
me the Gospel and how Christ saves. Why Christ saves? What
does that mean? Why is He saving me? He's revealing
to me that I'm the sinner. I've offended God. I'm the rebel. I need His salvation. And then
He reveals how He saves, by the Lord Jesus Christ. And knowing
that and understanding that, now I can go and speak to you
and say, we're all sinners. That's what He reveals to us
in His Word, and He's revealed His salvation is not in us doing
better at our works, doing more of this and less of that, but
salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why He was sent
and why He came to this earth in the flesh. And that's what
Paul says, which things also we speak. I can't speak it unless
God has revealed it to my heart. Not in the words which man's
wisdom teacheth. I'm not telling you what the
world's telling you, which is do this better, stop doing that,
do a little more of this and God will accept you. That's man's
wisdom. That's the carnal teaching of
this world It's death. It will not save you. Being more
moral and a better person is not going to save anyone. We're
all wicked sinners, dead in trespasses and sins, and need the power
of God to deliver us from that bondage and thinking that's how
God saves us. So it's not what man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. So being taught ourselves, we
preach it to others. We declare what God has done
to others. So it's spoken to you by a man. God sends a man to speak it to
you. But what does the Holy Spirit then teach? What is He revealing
to us? Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 23. 1 Corinthians 1.23. You're going
to know what we're taught because you're going to hear it, what
I'm saying. That's how you're going to know. If you know the
Word of God, then you're going to know if I'm speaking according
to the Word of God or if I'm speaking according to the flesh.
If I'm turning you back to your flesh to do something, then I'm
speaking according to man's wisdom and not the Spirit of God. But
if I'm directing your hearts to look away from yourself to
Christ, to trust Him, He came to put away sin, then you know,
all right, that's what this Word is saying, and He's speaking
according to the Word of God, not according to man's wisdom. And that's what He says in 1
Corinthians 1.23, but we preach Christ crucified. We preach Christ
crucified. What does that mean? We're preaching
the gospel. It's the gospel. It's the good
news because sinner, God is showing us over and over and over again
in his word that man always comes up short. He can't keep the law. Not one single Jew in the Old
Testament kept that law. Everyone sinned. Even Moses sinned
and perished not being able to go into the promised land. Even
Moses perished before going into the promised land by his own
works. So none of us is saved by our
good works and being good little boys and girls. That's not how
God saves. He's proving to us we all come
up short. but it's Christ. Christ is the
one who saves. That's why He came in the flesh
to work perfect righteousness for His people, going up to the
cross, bearing their sins, shedding His blood to wash us of our sins,
wash us of our guilt, wash us of our filth, that we might stand
before God. Not that this flesh is any more
holy or better than it used to be. It's still wicked and dead
and corrupt, but We have the Spirit of Christ revealing Christ
to us that God's not looking at my sin to hold me accountable
for that. Christ was held accountable for
that. Christ bore the penalty of my
sin and put it away. And He's made me to look to Him
and trust Him and rest in Him so that now I'm not afraid and
fearful to die and stand before God because I'm thankful for
what Christ has done for me. He's revealed it to me. He's
made me to know this. He speaks about the reaction
of two types of hearers. He says, unto the Jews, he's
a stumbling block. And unto the Greeks, preaching
Christ is foolishness. So to one, the Jew, what's the
Jew? The Jew represents that religious
person. So those people that we all know
that are religious people, maybe that's us ourselves, that are
religious people. They are looking to their works. And so a man comes preaching
that God isn't looking to your works. He's not holding you accountable,
sinner. He's put the debt on his son,
Jesus Christ, for his people. Christ came to bear that sin,
to bear the penalty, the debt that we've accrued and worked
up, to put it away. To put it away for his people. And so the Jew hears that and
says, Are you saying to me that there's nothing I can do to contribute
to my salvation? Are you telling me to rest wholly
in Christ? Yes, that's exactly what I'm
saying to you. Well, I can't hear that. There's surely something
that I have to do. Surely God requires something
of me to add to the salvation to show that I'm serious and
sincere and that I have some part in it. And so he stumbles
over Christ, over Christ crucified. He doesn't hear it, he's offended
and he stumbles. And then the Greek, well, that's
that person who is just full of this world's wisdom, right? They think believing in God,
that's just silliness. That's foolishness. You're telling
me that there's a God above? You're telling me that God raises
people from the dead? That God really cares about it?
Even if there is a God, you're telling me that he cares? Why
is there so much wickedness and corruption in this world? I can't
hear that. That's foolishness. So that's
this world's wisdom, and they don't hear it. But, there's a
third kind of hearer. There's a third type of hearer,
one who will hear it, and that's the one whom God sends us to
preach. That's why we go out preaching,
because among those Jews and among those Gentiles, the Lord
has a people, among them, that are His, that He's going to deliver
out of that deadness, out of their corruption, and bring them
into the truth of Christ. bring them under that blood to
know what God has done for them. And he says in 1 Corinthians
1 24, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he's going to save his people. His blood is effectual,
and He will not be refused. He cannot be denied. He is the
sovereign King over all flesh. None can stay His hand or say,
what doest thou? All that are His are going to
be delivered and brought out of death and destruction. That's
why the angel told Joseph, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for
he shall save his people from their sins. He will not be refused,
he will not fail. And that's good news for the
sinner who knows how wicked and corrupt their heart is, and how
hard they are, and how cold they are, and how dead they are, and
trespasses and sins. That's good news because if you're
his, He's going to save you. He's going to bring you out to
Himself. Alright? And so the man preaching
has no power or ability to make you believe. Alright? It doesn't
matter how sweetly I say it, how wonderfully I say it, how
nice I am to say it, or anything like that. It doesn't matter
who I am. it's not going to be refused when Christ makes it
effectual to your heart. He's the only one that can turn
your heart and cause you to hear Him. And that's what Paul says
back in 1 Corinthians 2.10. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. So God's got to reveal it. It's
a spiritual regeneration because we all come forth dead. All we
have is flesh. That's all we have is our flesh,
and the flesh doesn't know the things of God. But the spirit
gives life, gives spiritual life so that we can hear and know
the things that God has done, what he's teaching us through
this gospel. I said earlier that one is just
an earthen vessel with no power or strength in himself, And the
other is the Spirit of God with infinite power, able to turn
the heart to the living God, to believe on Him. And that's
exactly what we see in our text. Look at Mark 11, verse 3. Mark 11 3 says, And if any man
say unto you, Why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need
of him, and straightway he will send him hither. So a man speaks
according to what Christ has revealed to him, what Christ
has told him to speak concerning this gospel. And it's the Spirit
of God that brings this word to His people with power to hear
it, and they shall obey the Lord. They shall believe and follow
Him. Alright? That's our first point.
So Christ sends the witness. Now let's look at being loosed
by Christ. Being loosed by Christ. Alright?
So one thing that dead religionists or dead religion does, what they
miss, is that Christ's atonement is effectual. It's Christ that
saves apart from the sinner. The sinner doesn't have to do
anything to make this salvation effectual. Just as Christ did
all the work on the cross, it's Christ that's going to make sure
that his people hear it and believe it. Christ is doing all the work. of salvation. Christ didn't go
to the cross, bearing the sins of people, hoping, oh, I just
hope that somebody believes on me. And then he's frustrated
and wringing his hands and getting all upset when people don't believe
him. That's not the Christ of the Scriptures. Christ knew exactly
for whom he was sent. Christ knew exactly whose people
were, and he took up their sins, bearing their sins in his body,
and shed every drop of his blood for them. to put away their sins. So all for whom Christ died shall
be saved. He didn't shed his blood for
anyone that goes to hell. None of his people will ultimately
slip away and get away and go to hell. If that's what happened,
then Christ didn't accomplish the salvation of anyone. And
he's a liar and a failure and we ought not to hear him because
he's not the true and living God. Either he effectually saved
his people or he didn't. Either he effectually saved his
people or he didn't. Look over in Isaiah 53. Isaiah
53 and we'll look at verses 11 and 12 together. Isaiah 53 verse
11. says, he shall see of the travail
of his soul, this is speaking of the Messiah, speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he shall see of the travail, the work
of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. That many for whom he justifies
he's bearing their iniquities. Not all and everybody without
any knowledge, just hoping that some of these people will believe.
No, but it says that he's satisfied. He's satisfied. That means he
knows exactly for whom he's giving his life. And he's satisfied
because he knows and sees and understands, I accomplished it.
I did the work that my father sent me to do. Their sins put
away, they are mine. I redeemed them and delivered
them to myself. And now in time, they're going
to hear the gospel and they're going to believe it. They're
going to receive it. They're going to hear it. He's accomplished
salvation. And we're told there that Christ
justified them. It's done. They are justified,
right? My righteous servant shall justify
many. And we're told there it's many,
not every single individual person. but many. He knows it's a specific
number that He's come to put away their sin and bring them
to Himself. And therefore, the Lord says,
therefore, because Christ did this work, will I divide Him. I'll divide Him. He's our inheritance. He's our portion. I'll divide
Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoiled
with the strong. Well, that great And that strong
are made great and made strong by the Lord Jesus Christ, because
he calls the weak things of the world, the foolish things, the
things that the world says, not them. We don't need them. They're
of no value to us. He calls us who are worthless,
low and nothing in ourselves, to know Him who is everything."
And altogether lovely that the power of God would be evident
that it's not just the charismatic, it's not just the hyper-intelligent
and the super wealthy that have life, but rather the weak and
the lowly and those that the world says, I don't want them.
Just like they reject God, those are the ones that God is so often
pleased to bring this word to. You that are weak and broken
and sorrowful, see your own weaknesses, see your sorrows, and know that,
Lord, I have nothing to give to you. That's whom God sends
this word graciously to. kindly to bring you to himself
through the work and the word which he has done. And the reason
why he does this with the great and the strong who are made great
and strong by him is because Christ hath poured out his soul
unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he
bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. If you're not a sinner, you have
no part in Christ. Christ came to save sinners. If you're not a sinner, we have
no part in Christ if we're not a sinner. And he reveals to us,
we're the sinner. I'm the one who's offended God.
I'm the sinner. So he's going to make us to know
that. But vain dead men only speak of Christ's failing to
save all men. Because they think that, the
reason why they say that Christ failed to save all his people,
because they think he shed his blood for all people. And the
reason why they think that is because they think it's a decision.
If you don't make a decision for Christ, if you don't make
the good choice, then you're going to perish in hell. You've
got to make His blood effectual by your own decision. That's
what they teach men. That's not what God teaches in
His Word. It's not your decision. Christ
will bring, He did the work, His people are justified and
saved, and He will bring that Word so that you hear it. He'll
cause you to hear it, not just from the man, but even in the
heart by the Holy Spirit making known to you I'm the sinner. And Lord, you provided salvation
by your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, wash me, cleanse me, receive
me, take me, Lord. And so we're the beggars asking
Him. It's not Christ begging you to believe on Him. We're
the beggars saying, Lord, save me, have mercy upon me. And all
who call upon Him, all who know they're sinners, He's not making
you jump through any hoops. Has He revealed to you that you're
a sinner? Has He shown you your need of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Believe on Him. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. That's why He was sent. Come. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. If He's given that to you to
show you that you're a sinner and that you need Christ and
that Christ alone is the salvation, He's given it to you. Believe
on Him. Rest in Him. Walk in Him. He'll teach you
and keep you and grow you in Him. He gives His Spirit to know
it in the first hour and in every hour after. All right? So it's
all salvation is of the Lord. So we don't preach a powerless
Christ who's hoping that maybe you'll just believe on Him. We
preach the Christ who saved His people effectually and works
this salvation in their hearts to break them out of their prison,
break them out of their darkness, and bring them to Christ, to
faith in Christ. So all men are like this cult
in the text. They're all like this cult. Look
at verse 2. Christ saith unto them, verse
2, Ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat, loose
him, and bring him. Now this cult, this is what I
mean by all are like this cult. This cult wasn't looking for
Jesus. This cult didn't know anything about Jesus. This cult
wasn't even able to free itself from being tied. This cult is
just doing what this cult is doing. It can't loose itself.
And that's a picture of all of us dead in our trespasses and
sins. We're not looking for Christ. We're not looking for His salvation.
We don't even know or understand Him. There's no love for Him. There's no desire for Him. We're
just ignorant of the things of God. We're ignorant of the things
of what pleases God. We're ignorant of how to worship
God. And that's man. That's all of
us by nature. We don't know how to be accepted
of Him. We don't know what He's looking
for. We don't understand. We see dead religion. It says,
well, you just fix some things. Start working at it. And God
will receive you. That's man's religion. But that's
not God's. That's not what He's revealing
to us. We see in the Scriptures that
there's none righteous, no not one, there's none that understand
it, there's none that seek it after God. So no one is making
a decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the true God of
the Scripture. None are making that decision.
They might decide to follow fake Jesus, bogus Jesus, the lie. They might follow Him because
He needed their help for salvation. But the Christ of this scripture
doesn't need your help to save you. He doesn't need you. He
will work that faith in your heart to believe Him. He'll do
that. And that's why Christ said, it's
in that same chapter, you know, that famous verse, John 3, 16,
for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. All right, whosoever. In that
same chapter where that verse is, that's so well known by people,
that's where Christ said in John 3, 3, except ye be born again,
ye cannot see the kingdom of God. And what he's saying to
us is, if you who are that whosoever that believeth in him, It's because
the Spirit has given you life in your heart. He's made you
born again to know I'm the sinner. I can't save myself, but He sent
His Son that whosoever believeth in Him, and if He's pricked your
heart and given you life, you'll believe in Him because you'll
see He's the Savior. So if you believe Him, you don't
have to wonder and be looking for things inside yourself to
see, well, am I good enough? Can I really believe on Him?
Did He die for me? Did He shed His blood for me?
Are you a sinner? And do you know that He is the
Savior? That God has sent Him for that
purpose? and believe him. Believe him. Whosoever believeth
on him shall not perish but have everlasting life in the Lord
Jesus Christ." So, no one's ever going to believe except Christ
sends the preacher, right, and he's going to send that Holy
Spirit, those two, they're going to be the preacher and the Holy
Spirit's going to attend that word and he's going to give life
to the sinners so that they hear and say, Lord, thank you. Thank
you for your mercy. Lord, help me to stop looking
to my flesh, because I see it's corrupt and dead, and it ain't
doing nothing for me. Help me just to look to your Son, and
keep looking to Him, and just trust Him, and believe Him. And
Christ said in John 6, 44, No man cometh to Me, except the
Father which hath sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up
at the last day. Christ must raise them up. We're
not, the grave's not gonna hold us. Christ must raise us up because
he fulfilled everything required for their salvation. So he raises
them up and it says, it's written in the prophets, and they shall
be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. The reason why it's so certain,
the reason why he says this and it's so certain that all who
are taught of God, they shall come to him is because it is
Christ's work and not man's work. If you're looking to your own
works, you're always going to be uncertain and unsure and doubting.
But if it is Christ's work and he's showing you that it's his
work, That's why it's certain, because it's his work. He's the
one doing it. So all men are like that cult
in our text. They're just bound, destined
to be a beast of burden. They're tied to the post of the
law, destined to perish under the burden of the law. That's all that we are, just
like that cult where on Neverman sat. showing that we're unbroken. Naturally, we come forth unbroken,
untamed, hard to the things of the Lord, cold to the things
of the Lord, dead to the things of the Lord, serving under that
burden of the law, just serving under that burden, trying to
do better, trying to do those works that will please our Master. And all we are, like that colt,
is that good for nothing, just need to be whipped, and beaten
and kicked and prodded and pushed and pulled and forced to do those
things because that's what it is when we're in the flesh. That's
all the fleshly religion can do is just force you to do what
you need to do because you're just a wicked corrupt sinner
in the flesh. But salvation, Christ says, my burden is light. My yoke is easy. Look to me. He did all that work. He delivers
us like that colt. He unties and looses us from
the law to thinking that the law is our righteousness and
that we have to follow the law perfectly or else we'll be cut
off. That's for the wicked. That's
for the unrighteous. That's all they have. Do that
and maybe you won't sink down as far into hell as the other
guy who isn't trying to do it. But you're never going to be
saved under the law. You're just a beast of burden and all that
can be done for you is whipping you and beating you and kicking
you around and pushing you around and forcing you to do that which
is contrary to your flesh because it's weak. But Christ came and
he shed his blood and provided salvation for his people to draw
them out to bring them to himself with a light and easy yoke. Look
to Him. Believe Him. Are you a sinner?
Is He the Savior? Believe Him. Believe Him. Trust
Him for His work. So we can't untie ourselves and
we're not looking for the Lord Jesus Christ. But Christ is the
one who sends the preacher, right? He sends that preacher with that
message that He's given Him to say, And he sends the Holy Spirit
to attend that word, to bring it home with power. And so they
go out to a particular cult, right? Not just any cult, but
a particular cult does the Lord send them to. It's very detailed.
Look at verse 2. He sendeth forth two of his disciples,
and saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against
you, and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a cult
tied. You're going to find him bound.
He's going to be bound up whereon never man sat, lose him, and
bring him. Right? Go preach the gospel to
those that I send you to. I'll bring them to you. You just
go there and preach. Preach what I tell you to preach.
Keep preaching the gospel. Keep lifting up the Lord Jesus
Christ and to all those that Christ brings in here to hear
this word. Tell them, sinner, you can't
save yourself. You're not going to be able to
set yourself free. Try as hard as you will, and
you can never make yourself righteous enough to stand before God. But
here's the good news. That's why God sent his own darling
son perfect. taking upon him flesh, the weakness
of our flesh, he submitted himself, came as a servant, lowly, fulfilling
all righteousness for his people, who can't do the work, because
we can't do the work. And he bore that burden of our
sin, went to the cross, suffered under the fiery wrath of God,
being poured out upon him and consuming him, and Christ bore
that debt, paid all the debt, every single thing that his people
owed, to put it away perfectly. He did it perfectly and he sends
his spirit to make it known to you. Do you see that you're the
sinner? Do you see that Christ is all
salvation? That's what He does. And those
that hear it, that hear by the Spirit, they're loosed. Separated
from the law. The law has nothing more to say
to them. The law can't keep you anymore. You're not the devil's
anymore. You're not your flesh's own anymore.
You're now Christ's. He's loosed you from that death
and that deadness of the law. So Christ accomplished salvation,
and by his power were delivered from our bondage, as it says
of him, to deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. That's how we come forth, all
subject to bondage like that quote in our text. And so being
sent of Christ with this message to loose the cult and bring the
cult to the Lord, we read in verse four, they went their way
and found the cult tied by the door without in a place where
two ways met and they loose him. They set him free. He was set
free through the preaching of the gospel. He was delivered
as the Lord delivered him, as the Lord sent them to deliver
him. All right, now, let's look at our third and final point.
Let's see, Christ's authority, Christ's authority. So both the
preaching of Christ and being made alive and loosed by Christ,
it's only done, it's only made effectual to you because he has
the authority to do it. He's the one who has the authority.
Remember, we saw earlier in Matthew 28 that commission where he went
to his disciples saying, all power is given to me. He's got all power and authority
in heaven and in earth. Therefore, go, go and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever.
I've commanded you and lo I am with you always even unto the
end of the world So this is Christ the Lord and he tells us that
he has the keys to hell and death He has the keys to unlock and
deliver us from our bondage and and he told them beforehand there
will be opposition Someone's going to say to you. What are
you doing loosen that coat? How are you doing it? He said, you
just tell the truth and they will let you go because they
have no authority to stop you. They're going to do what I said,
right? He said, if any man say unto you, why do ye this? Say
ye that the Lord hath need of him, and straightway he will
send him hither. He'll let him go because I've
given you authority to do this. And I control his heart, too,
and he won't stop you. So what enemy? is going to prevent
us? What enemy is going to prevent
you from coming to Christ? Is it going to be the devil?
Are you fearful of the devil, that he'll stop you from coming
to Christ? No. Christ said that he compares
him to a strong man, and he says, I've bound up the strong man.
In Christ's death, he bound up the strong man and went into
his house, where all of us were. All those that are slipping into
hell and all those that are Christ were in his house. And Christ
bound him and goes into the house and says, I'll take him. And
I'll take her and I'll bring this one and that one and all
of those that are mine from eternity and I'm bringing them out of
the house. They are now my purchased possession. I bought them with
my blood and you can't say anything, Satan. He can't stop it. He can't prevent it. Is death
or the grave going to stop Christ? Does Christ have authority over
the grave? Yes, he does. He himself rose from the grave. He was raised up from the dead,
never to die again. He's the first man to rise from
the dead, never to die again. So the grave and death have to
hear him. They can't prevent it. They can't
stop Christ from having his own. And he put away this The sting
of death is sin, and you put away our sin. And the strength
of sin is the law, and he satisfied the law perfectly. So death can't
hold us and can't prevent us. What about my flesh? Is my flesh
going to resist him? Am I going to be so hard and
prevent him from saving me? No. For who hath resisted his
will? Romans 9, 19. None of us can
resist his will. When you're his and he sets his
mark upon you, he shall have you and bring you to himself.
Turn over to Romans 8. Romans 8, 34. Romans 8, 34, and
we're going to read down to verse 39. And here Paul, the Apostle Paul,
speaking of this, he says, Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ
that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God and also maketh intercession for us. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? Is that going to prevent us?
He says, as it's written, for thy sake we are killed all the
day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. And what he's saying there is they're already killing
us. They're already persecuting us and killing us and taking
our lands, and yet people are still believing. People are still
hearing the Word we're preaching, and they're coming to Christ.
They believe Him, they trust Him, even though they're killing
people. So that's not going to prevent
them from coming. Nothing can stop us, can stop this gospel
from going forth. Nay, in all these things, verse
37, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So all for whom
Christ died and shed his blood, they shall hear, they shall believe,
they shall be brought, they shall be loosed from their burden and
brought to the Lord Jesus Christ. All his chosen seed are going
to know what he's done for them, they're going to believe. For
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. And then in our
text, verses five and six, when that resistance came, it says,
and certain of them that stood there said unto them, what do
ye loosing the colt? And they said unto them, even
as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go. So when Christ is
preached and he attends his word with power, that cult, his people,
will be loosed. And nothing's going to stop them.
Nothing's going to stand in their way or prevent them. Why? For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
upon whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth. That cult, He wasn't even thinking
about the Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him. It's not of Him
that willeth. He doesn't need your will and
your decision to follow Him. He'll overcome that. Nor of Him
that runneth. The colt didn't loose himself
to come to Jesus. The gospel came and they loosed
him through the power of the gospel, through the power of
Christ. What he's done, being made effectual by the Holy Spirit,
they were loosed. That quote was loosed and brought
to Christ. It's of God that showeth mercy. It's all in the Lord's hands.
He's the one who does the work. If there's any cults that are
here, any here that are bound in their sin, bound by the law,
dead in trespasses and sins, but you've heard that Christ
is sent to put away your sin. And you hear it and you believe,
I'm the sinner, I can't save myself. But you sent your son
Jesus Christ to do this work? I believe he is the only Savior. He's done this work and he's
effectual for his people. You who hear that, believe. Come,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust Him, rest in Him. That's
why this word has been sent. That's why you've been gathered
here this very day, to hear that word. I pray that the Lord will
loose you, set you free, and deliver you from your bondage
and your sins. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you, Lord, for your mercy, for your salvation. Lord, help us to hear to know
that we are the sinner and that you have come to do this work
and you have put away our sin effectually forever. Lord, we
ask that your spirit would attend this word. that you would bring
it home to the hearts of your people, giving us faith to hear
it and to believe that Christ has done this work for us. Lord,
deliver your cults that are here, yet tied to the post, yet bound
in their sin under the law. Deliver them, Lord. Deliver them
from death and from trying to work a righteousness for themselves
and cause them to be settled and to rest in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We thank you for him and for
his blood and his righteousness and your power, Lord, that delivers
us from death and darkness. It's in Christ's name we pray.
Amen.