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Paul Mahan

The Lord riding the Unridden

Luke 19:28-40
Paul Mahan August, 8 2021 Audio
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Gospel of Luke

In Paul Mahan's sermon titled "The Lord Riding the Unridden," the main theological topic addressed is the significance of Christ's humble entry into Jerusalem as depicted in Luke 19:28-40. Mahan emphasizes that this event fulfills Old Testament prophecies, particularly Zechariah 9:9, highlighting Jesus as the sovereign Lord who uses even a tied-up colt to accomplish His purposes. He argues that just as the colt, who was wild and unbroken, needed to be loosed and brought to Christ, so too do sinners require divine intervention to be freed from sin and brought into submission to Christ. The preacher also draws parallels to the necessity of preaching as the means through which God draws His elect, asserting that the Gospel's proclamation is crucial for liberation. The practical significance of this message is a reminder of the grace and power of God to change lives, calling believers to recognize their dependence on Him for transformation and freedom from sin.

Key Quotes

“He went before them everywhere... He went before us to the cross.”

“The gospel finds God's people wherever he puts them.”

“The Lord sent these two men to loose... to point you to Christ.”

“He rides the unridden, breaks the unbroken, subdues the unsubdued, saves sinners, calls His people, and they come.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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Go to Luke 19 now, and also you
can turn to Mark chapter 10. This story is told in three of
the Gospels, but one verse, and this is one way, one of many
ways we know this is God's Word. is that one verse, one line,
contains so much glory, so much truth, so much wonder, so many
amazing things concerning our Lord and the Gospel. And look
at verse 28. It says, When He had thus spoken,
He went before them, ascending up to Jerusalem. Go to Mark chapter
10 with me. I want you to see this. what
Mark says about that. Mark chapter 10. What a word
this is. My, my. What a verse. Mark 10,
verse 32. You have it? Look at that. They were in the way going up
to Jerusalem. And so are we. We're His disciples.
And He went before them. Oh, my. Our Lord went before
them everywhere. He went before us. He faced Satan,
didn't He? And his temptations. He went before them in the Garden
of Gethsemane, didn't He? If you seek Me, let them go.
He went before us to the cross. He went before His disciples
to the cross, didn't He? He went before us to the tomb. before His disciples into the
tomb, went into the grave. He's the forerunner, Brother
John. He went into the veil, didn't
He? Oh, He went before them. And verse 32 says, And they were
amazed. Can you see these disciples following
Him? And they were amazed. I stand amazed. Don't you? In the presence of Jesus of Nazareth. And they followed. That's what
sheep do, they just follow. And they were afraid, amazed,
following, and afraid, fear of the Lord. And He took them, the
twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto
them. He'd been telling them all along and He told them again
what He had come to do, what He was going to accomplish, how
He was going to rise from the grave. What a verse that is. And I go back to the tape. What
a verse. And I preached on that by itself.
I just did. Our Lord, from the cradle, now
He went up, He was going up to Jerusalem. From the cradle, He
was going to the cross, wasn't He? From the womb, He was ascending
to Calvary's cross where He would be lifted up. He said, If I be
lifted up, I'll draw all men, my men, my people, unto myself.
given to me of the Pope, where he'd be crucified as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness. So all who were bitten by sin
should look to him. Dying sinners look to him and
live and be saved. And then he ascended but first
descended. What is it? That he that ascended
is first he that descended. He descended into the grave where
he took our sin. It separated them as far as the
east is from the west. A fit man took it out of the
widower's deposit and escaped it. And then he ascended. He came out of the grave. He
came up and revealed himself to us. And then one day the disciples
were standing on a hillside. He was talking to them and they
saw him go higher. Much higher. A cloud received
Him out of their sight. Where did He ascend? The heaven. The second heaven. The third
heaven. All the way to the right hand of the majesty on high.
And that's where He sits right now, reigning and ruling over
all. Yes, He went up. From the cross
He went higher and higher until God gave Him a name which is
above every name. All right, here's the story.
The Lord and Master, One who calls, subdues, and saves His
people, all of which are like this wild ass's cult. You read
it with me, okay? Verse 29. It came to pass when
He was come nigh to Bethpage and Bethany, and everything significant,
the house of dates, the house of figs, fruit. We'll not go
into that. The amount of olives. Our Lord
is that olive tree. These two men are representative
of the two olive tree. But he sent two of his disciples
into a village, a little place, not Jerusalem, a little village. Two preachers. These disciples
were preachers. That's what the Lord called them
to do, didn't He? Go into all the world and preach. That's
what these disciples were chosen to do. To preach. Our Lord had
chosen them. He had called them. He had equipped
them. He sent them to preach. Preach the gospel. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Now, how shall they believe on
Him whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. How shall they call on him whom they have not believed?
How shall they believe on him whom they have not heard? How
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? The Lord sent these two men to
preach. This is the means that God uses. And we keep pounding this nail,
don't we? We keep emphasizing this, don't
we? Because it's under attack today.
There are even some professing believers that are trying to
hold on to an old profession. If you haven't heard the truth,
you haven't heard the gospel, you haven't believed, you haven't
confessed the true Christ. And it says in 1 Corinthians
1.21, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. This colt would
not have come had the Lord not sent these two men to loose him. Right? He would not have come
unless Christ had sent them to loose him. Now did they loose
him? No, the Lord sent word. All they
said was, Thus saith the Lord. Now I'm getting way ahead of
myself. But the point is, the Lord sent two preachers, then
and now, then and now, and brothers and sisters, those of you who
have been loosed, whom you've heard the gospel, does not the
gospel still loose you, free you, set you free, and bring
you to Him? Does it not keep you coming and
looking to Christ? If you weren't here, you wouldn't.
You just wouldn't. Even me, I need this. I'm the
preacher, but I still need it. Alright, the gospel finds those
to whom he sends. Look at verse 30. Go into the
village over against you, into which at your entering you shall
find. Go, you shall find. A colt tied, you shall find. Now why was this colt there? The Lord put him there. And so
the Lord said, now this is going to fulfill God's word. We just read it. It has to happen. God's word is true. Not one word,
not jot or tittle going to fail. Everything he says is going to
come true. All right. The Lord put this cult there.
The master, whoever owned it, decided I'll go outside and tie
this cult up and then I'll go in and have some dinner. No,
the Lord told him to do that. All right? The gospel finds God's
people wherever he puts them. Now, people argue all the time
that if only the elect are saved, why not just preach to the elect?
They said that, and you know, only the elect will be saved.
That's right. God's sheep, Christ's sheep will
hear my voice. Christ said that. My sheep hear
my voice. And he said to some Pharisees, you believe not because
you're not my sheep. If you were, you'd hear my voice. He that is of God, heareth God's
word. That's true in the elect. But
God has chosen this me. And they say, why preach if only
the elect be saved? They said that to Spurgeon one
time. He was a clever man. They said,
why don't you just preach to the elect? He said, I would if
they had an E on them. If I could see an E on them,
I'd tell everybody else to leave. But they don't. I can't see it.
They do. They do. God sees it. They have
blood on them. Like Rahab and her house. How did those men know who to
go in and get? There was a scarlet line in the
window. It's the same with every one of God's people. The elect.
But we preach because Christ said to. And because Christ said,
my sheep are going to hear my voice. One time Paul went to
Corinth, and it was a city just given to idolatry. And he wanted
to leave. And everybody disputed with him. He was going to leave, wasn't
he? You remember that? And the Lord came to him at night
and said, No, I have much people in this city. You stay there. I have people here. They're going
to hear you. So he stayed there 18 months,
wasn't he? Oh, and Corinth was a huge church.
But this is proof of his power, proof of his call. And they must
hear the Gospel because isn't it so with you? He said, in whom
you trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation. You didn't know him, you didn't
believe him, you didn't trust him until you heard the word. So he said, you shall find, the
gospel finds us, finds his people where he puts them. Up a tree. Zacchaeus was up a tree. The
Lord planted a tree, the Lord put him in it. Lord Doug got
well and he came and was waiting on the woman. She's coming. She's
coming. So, yep, you shall find. You shall find. Lost and found. What did he find? A wild ass
is coming. He said, I am come to seek and
save the lost. Tame the wild. You shall find. Verse 30, here's what he found.
When he came, entering in, he'll find a coat tied whereon yet
never man sat. Nobody has ever been on this
coat, this ass. Nobody's ever sat on him. He
won't submit to being ridden by anybody. He kicks against
every prick. And they got him tied down. They
got him They've got him down. He's tied
up. Here's what you do. You go in
there and you lose him. You turn him loose and you bring
him to me. Oh, brothers and sisters, I'm
out. In Mark's Gospel, here's what
it says about that colt. It said he was the foal of an
ass. In other words, his mother, the
mare, was an ass. I know what we say about our
mothers. But this is what the Scripture says. She's just as
lost as the colt until the Lord's danger. Every human being is like this. And Isaiah 1, do you remember
what the Lord said about his people? His people. He said,
the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint, from the sole
of the feet to the top of the head, no sound in the center.
He said, the ox knows its owner, and the ass knows its master's
creed, but my people don't give me a thought. They're worse than
an ass, wilder than a, we say a Red River stick, tick, buck. Like a goat. Butt. Butt. That's how you'll find them.
Wild, unbroken. Now this is a colt. What's a
colt? It's an ungilded male. It's a donkey. What is it? Donkey.
What good is a donkey? I know you animal lovers think,
well, it's a sweet little lamb. No, it's not. Brothers and sisters,
animal lovers, human lovers, Men lovers, lovers of... There
is no good such thing as a good anything until God makes it good. The only good donkey, the only
good ass, the only good horse or mule or dog for that matter,
or human for that matter, is one that is broken. Some do. Brother Kelly hears
this all the time. Well, she's a good horse. Oh,
you're right. She'll kick your brains out. Well, she's a good
dog. Oh, really? She loves me so much. Then open up and let her go.
See what she does. Is she going to come to you?
Is she going to stay home? She's going to run off. By nature. Isn't that right?
Doesn't want to be subdued. Doesn't want anybody right over
her. That's human beings. It's all of us. An ungilded male
is a wild, an ungilded male, an unbroken animal will hurt
you, will kill you, and will end up killing itself every time. A halter, a yoke is a good thing. Restraint is a wonderful thing.
If you ever find out that it perpetuates the inside of you
to still be a wild ass's coat, you'll be thankful for the restraining
grace of God. You say, put that yoke on me
and don't shorten my leash. I mean, don't let out the leash. Don't give me the reins. Don't do it. Put a bit in my
mouth and don't let go. A rope around my neck. Right?
Prone to wander. Don't let me go. Wow, that's just cold. Oh, man. Man will not submit to God to
be enruled, will not be ridden or reigned over. Man, human being,
young people live for sin, live for themselves, and in the end
are fit to be destroyed. That's right. But God says, go into that village
and you'll find one of these. How many wildcoats were there? How many? How many asses? Huh? How many? Everywhere, everywhere,
everywhere. He said, go in there and you'll find one, one I've
chosen. And you took him and you loose
him and bring him to me. Mark's gospel said he was by
the door where two ways met. He's tied up by the door. He's
not inside. He's by the door. He won't go
in it. If you let him go, he's going to run. He's where two
ways meet. He's by the door. He's not in
it. He's like Barnabas. He's by the wayside. He's not
in it. He's by the door. He's where two ways meet. And
there is a way that seems right to man. The end is what? Death,
destruction. He lets us go our way, it'll
be destruction every time. But the Lord sent these two men
with the truth, with the gospel, to this tied up, this bound,
wild asses colt, and He said, you bring them the way, and bring
them to me. Christ said, I'm the way, the
truth, and no man cometh unto the Father. So they went and they found him.
Oh, may Christ put our lost loved ones in the way. He's tied up. Somebody owns him. An animal
that's tied up is owned by someone, right? And he's bound, isn't
he? He's bound up. He wants to be
loose. But he's bound by this owner.
Who owns? Who are all men under until the
Lord loosens them? The law. The law. Christ came to loosen them. Satan, whom the God of this world,
Paul wrote to Timothy, holds captive at his will. He said,
go preach for adventure and recover themselves. You're bound. They'll
hear, they'll believe, they'll come by the grace and mercy of
God. Young people and old people alike
are bound by sin, by self, by nature, by the world, by the
dictates of this world, by the God of this world and following.
They're following everything, the God of this world and their
own hearts. make them do, thinking they're
free. Thinking they're free. Look around
you, young people. Look around you. Why are people
mutilating their bodies like this? Why are people doing what they're
doing? To show their expression of individuality? It's because
everybody else is doing it. Free. I remember the 60s, 70s,
you know. I'm free. It was free. Free. Free. There's nobody more bound
by what everybody else is doing and saying. And the God of this
world is laughing, scoffing, mocking. Free. You're doing what
I tell you to do. You're doing what everybody else
tells you to do. And when the Lord sends the truth,
He makes you free. It's the only thing that will
free us. Only one will free us. No one is free from following
everybody else until the Lord, until they begin to follow Christ.
Brother Barnard is the one that said, the only free man is the
Lord's servant. Then he's free from the law,
free from sin, shall not have dominion over, free from the
world. He's not going to listen to the world, he's listening to
Christ. Oh, that is where it's good to bear the yoke. This is
the yoke you want. And you know, he makes you will
and you let the leash out. Still has the leash. Still has
the lead rope, but he can let it out. You know what you'll
do? And if he opens the door, you know what he'll do? He'll
come back. You'll come when He calls you. People come when they're called.
Loose Him. He sends these two men to loose
two men, the law and the prophets, witness of Christ, the apostles
and the evangelists, pastors and teachers. You know what I'm
sent to do? Loose you. Point you to Christ. Not bind
heavy burdens upon you, but to send you to Christ who will lift
it. Make you look to Christ. Try to make you look to Christ.
Who frees us from the law. Free from the law. Don't you
love that? Would you sing that every time? O happy condition,
the Lord Jesus has died and there is remission. Cursed by the law.
Bruised by the fall. Free once for all. Christ hath
redeemed us once for all. Our Lord said bring him to me.
Bring him to me. Now can't you hear their argument?
Lord, they say he's wild. Nobody's ever been on him. Hmm. He won't submit to being ridden
by anybody. Hmm. He will. He will. Because this is the
Lord and master of his people. You remember what he said to
his disciples? You call me Lord and Master, and you say, well,
so I am. Aren't you glad, John? Aren't
you thankful he's Lord, not a figurehead? Really, Lord? Reigning and ruling
what he sovereignly wills happens. Aren't you glad? Aren't you thankful?
Saying to my people, the Lord reigneth. He is God. Our God is God. To Him belongs
salvation. Aren't you glad, Kelly Pendry?
Aren't you glad that He's God? Whew! If He's our God, we're
His people. It's all good, buddy. It's all
true. And all we have to say is, Amen. Lord and Master. He's Lord and
Master. Look at verse 31. I love that.
He says, You'll find a colt tied whereon yet never man sat. Loose
him and bring him here. Verse 31, If any ask you, Why
do you loose him? Why do you loose him? Thus shall
you say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. That's
all you say. That's all you do. You go tell
him what I told you. That's it. The Lord hath need
of him. Do you think the Lord needed
this coat? Come on. He could have chosen anybody.
Does he need this little coat? He could walk anytime. He could
hire the finest chariot or whatever, couldn't he? The disciples would
have carried him. He doesn't need this coat. God
doesn't need anybody. That's what false religion tells
the converts to get them to come. The Lord needs you, needs you,
needs your money. Our Lord over and over said,
I don't need you. You don't have any money. It's
all mine. He said, if I were hungry, I wouldn't ask you. Cattle
on a thousand hills is mine. Now what's this saying? The Scripture must be fulfilled.
The Scripture that you read in Zechariah 9 verse 9 was written
saying He's coming on a coat, the foal of an ass. He's going
to come riding in with salvation into Jerusalem. He's going to
come. That's what the Scripture is prophesying. It must, needs
be. He must fulfill every jot and
tittle of the law of the Scripture. He must. He needs. He needs to
come into town on this coat. Why? To prove who He is. To prove the Word. To prove His
power. For His glory. To the praise
of the glory of His sovereign Word and power. He said, go into
that town. This is what I decree. This is
what was decreed of me long before. Go into that village and say,
thus saith the Lord. And loose Him and bring Him to
me. And if they ask you, what are you doing? He said, the Lord
said. And He will come. They will let him go. Why? His glory is at stake. His power
is at stake. His word is at stake. His promises
are at stake. His love is at stake. His covenant
is at stake. If one thing fails from anything
he said, he's not the Christ. He needs this cult. You understand
what I'm trying to say? When religion everywhere is saying
God loves everybody and some people are damned, Then what
good is His love? Huh? No, no, no. This is to the praise
of the Lord. When this is all over, everybody's
praising Him. And He said, this is what you're
going to find. You go, you say, you'll find,
and He'll come. He will come. And he did. They did. To the praise of his power, of
his word, of his sovereign call, go loose. The gospel is by command. The gospel is not an imitation.
I hate that word. The gospel is a command. David
didn't send those two men. Once again, two men sent down
there to fetch a lame man. You can't get a lame man to come. What if they said He won't come?
I didn't tell you to ask Him. The Lord didn't tell these fellows
to go in there and ask the cold if He'll come. He's not going
to come if you ask Him. The owner's not going to come
and loose Him if you ask Him. The leather's not going to let
Him go. But if Christ gives the Word, He'll come. Everyone of
you. When I preach, Because it's the
power of God. And when the day of God is pleased
and the fullness of time, God will send forth that Word in
power and that wild ass's coat will come. And count on it. His glory is at stake. It needs to happen because His
glory is at stake. So, look at this. They came in
and they found, even as they were sent to do, they found,
even as it said, and they were starting to loose the coat, and
the owners thereof said, why are you loosing that coat? You
can't do that. Stop loosing it. And they said,
let's say it to the Lord. And you know, the law, our Lord
faced the law, Brother John, didn't He? And what's the law
a schoolmaster to do? Bring us to Christ. When Christ
faced the law, like Boaz faced that kinsman near him, he took
his shoe off and said, this is yours. And Christ faced the law,
and the law says, take him. He's yours. You must fulfill
it for him. He did. And Satan is not going to give
up easily, is he? But buddy, when a stronger than
he is, counts. When a gospel that's much stronger
than this, pitiful false gospel is preached today. Whenever one
of God's sheep actually hear the God of heaven and what they
are and who Christ is, a savior of sinners, he'll leave captivity captive.
A stronger than he will bind that strong man and take his
goods from him. And they won't go back. I believe
this colt stayed with him from then on. I don't think he's a
colt anymore. Cut him! Well, he can't look at it. Verse 34, they said, The Lord
hath need of him. And they just repeated what the
Lord said. That's all they did. They just
said, Thus saith the Lord. When Moses went in to Pharaoh,
and you know who Pharaoh is? Most powerful man on earth. He's
the God of the world. And Moses went into him. And
this is what the Lord told him to say. Go in there and say,
Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go. What Pharaoh did. The most powerful man on earth.
Who humanly speaking could have said, I'm going to kill all of
you. Much unarmed slave. He could have. He didn't. You
know what Pharaoh did? Let them go. There we are. Our Lord's power is at stake.
So they brought Him. They brought Him to the Lord,
to Jesus, to the God-man. And they cast their garments
upon the colt. And look at verse 35. And it
says they set Him, set Jesus thereon. They brought this wild
ass's colt. Now, The Lord may have put a yoke
on him. Do you reckon? He may have. Didn't he say, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me? My yoke is easy. My burden is
light. Didn't he? He may have. Maybe
not. May put a haystring on him. Maybe didn't put anything. But
he got on it. Now have you ever seen a wild
coat? Ever been around one? I have.
One time, I thought my little colt was broken. He's a good
little colt. My daughter's little colt. Good
little colt. And I'd handle him and petted
him and give him treats all his life. And I said, he's a good
little colt. Oh, he's a good little colt.
He's so pretty. One day, when nobody's around,
I thought, he stopped. And I'd been putting a blanket on him,
putting a saddle on him, putting a bit in his mouth, putting all
that on him, but nobody had ever ridden it. You know what's coming
next? I didn't see it coming. He's
a good little horse. No, ain't no such thing. He ain't
broke. But I got on his back. Next thing
I remember, I'm lying on the ground, on my back, flat on my
back, thinking, I broke my back. I broke my back. Good Lord. No, he's not. And he's broken.
And I had to send him somebody to break him. He ended up being
a good whore, but not till he's broken. And that needs to happen to all
of us. And you know what'll happen when you break a whore? Before
you break it, that head happens. I'll tell you what'll happen.
Snort, paw the ground on it, kick. Try to get in there and
kick them. Try to clean their hooves and
kick at you, you know. Hold that head. Those ears, pin
those ears back. See the white of their eyes and
all that. Kelly's ridden some and not ridden
others. Okay, but you know what happens
when you break them? Those pinned back ears are listening to you. So they
brought this wild ass's coat, pinned back ears, neck held high. They brought him. As soon as
he came to the Lord, those ears went forward. He's listening
to the Lord. He's looking at Him. Licking
those lips. And all of a sudden, he drops
that head. And that back softens. And they
put the Lord on him. And you know what happened? He
just walked like a 15-year-old. Where do you want me to go? This
is great. This coach is thinking, I've
got the Master on my back. What a privilege. What an honor.
You know what this coach's purpose in life is? To hold forth his
Lord and Master. To lift him up for all to see. This is the one. This is the one that called me.
This is the one that saved me. This is the one that chose me.
This is my Lord. This is my Master. I'm not my
own. Praise God. I belong. I'm bought with a price. And he went riding into Jerusalem.
And you read with me. Everybody is saying with a loud
voice, Praise God! With a loud voice, Blessed be
the King! It cometh in the name of the
Lord, peace in heaven, glory in the highest. You know, that's
what they said when Christ was born, didn't they? That's what
the angels came. Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth,
goodwill toward men. Here He comes into Jerusalem
where He's going to, the decease He's going to accomplish, the
Scriptures accomplish, riding on this unbroken, unridden horse.
And they're saying, glory to God in the highest. He's here.
He rides the unridden, breaks the unbroken. subdues the unsubdued,
saves sinners, calls His people, and they come. You see, you're calling for it. Why didn't the Lord choose a
big noble steed? Why didn't He come into town
riding on a great big white Andalusian? Instead, He rode an ass. Huh? Why didn't he choose something
mighty and noble and glorious? Because there's nobody in that
town, not one single person is looking at that donkey. They're giving all the praise
of the one that's riding there. And when we get to heaven, we're
not going to say, look, there's Moses. No, no, no. He's going to be standing right
beside of us with Abraham, and Isaac, and Daniel, and Joseph,
and Simon Peter. We're all going to be saying,
look at the Lamb who's been slain. The one that broke us all, that
chose us all. Glory to God. Great things He
had done. Oh, He's chosen the nobodies
and nothings, asses. To give him all. That's. OK.
Number.
Paul Mahan
About Paul Mahan
Paul Mahan has been pastor of Central Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, Virginia since 1989; preaching the Gospel of God's Sovereign Grace.
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