Let's go to Zachariah chapter
9. Zachariah chapter 9. Oh what a Savior we have. Oh
Lord give us more grace. Give us more grace just to trust
you more. Zachariah chapter 9. The name
of the message is Behold thy King. Behold thy King. Zachariah chapter 9. We'll read
verses 9 to 11. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion. God's people were commanded to
rejoice greatly. Rejoice greatly. Shout, O daughter
of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto
thee. He is just. He's perfect. He's just. He's the just one,
beloved. Verse 9 of chapter 9. And having
salvation lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal
of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot
from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem and the battle bow
shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the heathen. Peace. Oh, what peace He speaks
to us! Peace unto the heathen, and dominion,
and His dominion shall be what? From sea even to sea, and from
the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also,
by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners
out of the pit wherein is no water. Oh, we were prisoners
in a pit. We were prisoners in a pit by
our natural birth. Now God gave to his prophet Zachariah
the exact description of our Lord Jesus Christ as he entered
into Jerusalem to accomplish our salvation. And this was 550
years before it actually happened. Turn if you would to Matthew
21. Matthew 21, this is one of the most striking predictions
concerning the Messiah, the Savior of God's people. The Savior of
God's people. And the fulfillment of this scripture
is stated in the following passage of the Gospel by Matthew, verses
21, or Matthew 21, verses 1 to 11. Matthew 21. And when they drew nigh unto
Jerusalem, and were come to Bethage, unto the Mount of Olives, then
sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village
over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and
a colt with her. Loose them, and bring them unto
me. And if a man say, And if any
man say, Ought unto you, you shall say, The Lord hath need
of them, and straightway he will send them. Look at that. The
Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them. And all this
was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet,
saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh.
Exactly what we just read. Unto thee, meek and sitting upon
an ass, and a colt, the fall of an ass. And the disciples
went and did as Jesus commanded them, and bought the ass and
the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they sat Him thereon. And a very great multitude spread
their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from
the trees and strawed them in the way. And a multitude that
went before and followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of
David! Hosanna. Blessed is he that comes in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And our
Lord, our Lord Jesus came in the name of the Lord. He was
sent by the Father. Remember we saw that this morning? He was
sent by the Father. And the Father spared not His
own Son. Spared not His own Son. Sent Him here to die. Brother
Roy and I were talking about that today. We're talking about
that tonight. About how Christ was sent into
this world to die, beloved. Look at that though. Hosanna
to the son of David. Blessed is he that comes in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Give
him all the praise and glory, beloved. Behold thy king. Behold thy king. And when he was coming to Jerusalem,
all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? There was a stir,
and a multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth,
of Galilee. This is God incarnate in the
flesh. Behold thy king. He comes meek and lowly, doesn't
he? Meek and lowly. This is the very one who spoke
the world into existence. This is the very one that gives
them the breath, the cry, Hosanna in the highest. This is none other than God incarnate
in the flesh. Behold thy king. Whether one
recognizes him as king or not, he is your king. He's your king. We saw there in Zechariah, his
kingdom stretches from sea to sea. Vast domain. We know it's even bigger than
that. All things visible and invisible are under his dominion.
Remember in Isaiah when it says his train filled the temple?
That's a representation that when a king, back in the old
days, the longer their train was, the more dominion they had.
His train fills the whole temple in Isaiah's vision. Because,
beloved, He is master over all. Behold Thy King. Behold Thy King. This is none other than God incarnate
in the flesh. Christ is called the King of
Glory, the King of Israel. The king of kings. God says of
him by David, I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. He's king. And he was typified
by Melchizedek, David, and Solomon. He's the king of kings and the
Lord of lords. Jeremiah says of him, a king
shall reign and prosper. The king shall reign and prosper. He reigns and he's prospered,
hasn't he? Oh yes. Daniel says a mighty king shall
stand up to rule. He is a mighty king. No king
is even close to him. He's the Almighty. Then Zachariah in our text proclaims,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy king cometh unto thee! Behold thy king. Behold thy king. Oh my. And think in our minds that day
when they, when he came in on that, on that, that colt and
the donkey. That, just, just think of that.
Think of, think of how they were saying Hosanna in the highest. You know, they were rightly giving
him the glory that he deserves. Think of how the angels fall
down before him, before he even came here. Holy angels have to
cover themselves to be in his presence. That's the one who's
spoken of, beloved. That's the one who became a man.
That's the one who the Father sent. And remember, spare not his son. He delivered him up for us. to appease His wrath and to appease
His justice. Behold thy King. Behold thy King. Rejoice. Beloved
of the Lord, rejoice. For with the eye of faith, behold
thy King. Seated right now at the right
hand of the Father. Behold Him with the eyes of faith. We have here a very vivid description
of who He is. Let's look at six points from
our text here in Zechariah. Oh, Jesus Christ, and may the
Holy Spirit give us an understanding, and only He can illuminate the
Scriptures that we might understand the precious truths that are
set here before us. Number one, Jesus Christ is the
King of our salvation. He's the King of our salvation,
beloved. It says here, behold thy king
cometh unto thee. There he is. Behold him, thy
king. And we know he's the king of
our salvation, don't we? We know that only through him
do we have eternal life. Only through him do we have the
forgiveness of sins. Only by his shed precious blood are we
redeemed from all our sins. Behold thy king. Behold, look
with the eye of faith and behold our king. Behold Him. The wise men asked, where is
He that is born King? They said, where is He that is
born King of the Jews? You know He's King in glory before
He even came here? King in glory before He even
came here. And then the wise men asked, where is He that's
born King of the Jews? He's born King. No one made him
king. He's already king. And Zacharias says, behold, your
king cometh. He's coming. Said this 500 years before he
even came. He's coming. And I tell you right
now, our king's coming again. He is. Because that's what the
Scriptures declare. He's coming again. He is. In His time, and any man tells
you they know the hour of the day, they're lying. Because no
one knows. But we can rest assured, beloved
of God, He is coming again. Because that's what the Scriptures
declare. And we believe what the Scriptures
declare. And one day we'll either see Him at His coming, or we'll
see Him at our death. And either way, it's going to
be a glorious time. Then we're seeing face to face. No longer
with the eye of faith. Think of that, too. No longer
will we look for him with the eye of faith. We will behold
him. Can you imagine what that's going
to be like? Can you imagine what it's going
to be like, Brother Neil, to look and to see our king? To
look and to see him. To see him like we see each other.
to behold him on his throne, to have the privilege to sing
with the other blood-washed saints, worthy is the lamb. We could
say, worthy is the king, couldn't we? Worthy is the king. Oh, he's
the only one worthy. Worthy is the lamb to receive
glory and honor and power and blessing. He is the only one
worthy. He's the king of salvation. That's
why the blood-washed saints in glory sing worthy is the lamb.
Because they know the only one who made them to differ, remember
between the unjust that we looked at this morning, the just and
the unjust? The only one that made them to differ from the
unjust, because they're called the just ones, is God. In any wonder they sing worthy
is the Lamb? He's the King of our salvation.
And don't we sing that even while we're here on this earth? Don't
we praise His mighty name as Brother John bought out in song?
Oh, we do, don't we? We praise His name. He's the
King of our salvation, beloved. He's the King of our salvation.
Revelation even says that, doesn't it? Or it says that He's King
of kings and Lord of lords. It says this, And He hath on
this vesture and on this thigh a name written, King of kings
and Lord of lords. I love that scripture. That's
two of his names. He's King of Kings and he's Lord
of Lords. That means everything, everything
is subject to him, beloved. Everything. You'll find that
in Revelation 19.16. That's what it says. And these titles belong to the
Lord Jesus Christ in him alone. In Acts 2.36 it says, Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Both Lord and Christ. God made
him that. You ever hear people say, just
make Jesus Lord of your life? God beat him to it. God beat him to it. Acts chapter
2. Verse 36, therefore again, let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Lord and the Messiah right there
is being said. Lord over all and the Messiah. That's what he is. God made him
so. God made him so. He's sent by
the Father, isn't he? He's sent by the Father, boy.
And He willingly came, as we looked at this morning. He willingly
came. He's sent by the Father. We know that from our study in
1 John. He's sent to be a propitiation for our sins. To appease the
wrath of God, that means. And He did it, didn't He? Therefore,
not a drop, just like, think of this, all those who were in
the ark, right? That rain was beaten upon that
ark. Just beaten upon that ark, wasn't
it? That picture's the wrath of God, beloved. But you know,
not a drop fell on those inside. Not one drop. Why? Because that
pitch, which was within and without, pictured the precious blood of
Christ, beloved. And not a drop of that rain fell
inside that ark. Not a drop. But oh, outside,
it just got plummeted, didn't it? That picture's Christ in
our place, beloved. He bore the full wrath of God
for us. That's such a picture. Never
forget that. That's such a clear picture. Such a clear picture. My! Jesus Christ is the King of our
salvation. The King is considered as the
head of a nation. When kings ruled, they ruled
with absolute supreme dominion. You said something about the
King, they knock your head right off your body. My, how longsuffering is the
Lord, eh? Think of that before we were
saved. How longsuffering was the Lord with us? The King of
kings and the Lord of lords. And the kings in those days,
they didn't answer to anyone. They had advisors, but they didn't
have to answer to anyone. No. They ruled supreme. In the
scripture we read there in Revelation 19, which is, And he hath on
his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings
and Lord of lords. This proclaims that Christ is the supreme one.
No king in this world compares to him. None. He's Lord over
all. God hath made him so. God hath
made him so. Now, this should give us great
comfort in light of what we see in the news and in the things
going on in this world. Have you ever noticed the world
is just like this, ebb and flow? And have you ever noticed, have
you ever noticed that the news feeds on fear? Fear. Oh, they just whip people up
into a frenzy. But you know the scripture says God has not given
us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be aware of what's going on,
but don't let it control you. Be aware though, be aware of
what's going on. It's wise to be aware, but don't
let it dictate. Because there's one who's sovereign.
There's one who's lord over all that. And everything's happening
according to His plan and His purpose, even though we do not
understand it, do we? But it's all falling out according
to His plan and His purpose, beloved. Jesus is the head of a spiritual
kingdom. Now through the years, there have been many men who
have been greatly exalted in the Church of God. Moses, Elijah,
Solomon, Paul, Peter, John, But Jesus Christ is Lord of that
house in which Moses was a servant. And he is Elijah's Lord too. And he's the one who's greater
than Solomon. Never vault a man to a place
where he's in competition with the Lord. No one compares to
the Lord. No one. None of the great Bible
characters, and it's amazing what the Lord did with them,
but they worship the same Lord we do. My, oh my. He's Lord of all. He's fairer
than the sons of man, and greater than the angels, and in all things,
he hath the preeminence. Remember John bowed down before
that angel, he said, no don't do that, I'm a servant just like
you. And that way, that's what he said. Don't do that. Don't worship me. I'm but a servant. Oh my. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter one. There is one who is supreme,
only one. And he is the king of our salvation.
and beloved of God, behold thy King." Behold Him with the eye
of faith. Behold Him. Behold Him with the
eye of faith. Hebrews chapter 1, it says this,
God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times
past unto the fathers by the prophets. Fathers by the prophets. Look at this. Hath in these last
days spoken unto us by His Son. Christ Jesus, we know that's
Christ Jesus the Lord. Whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Christ is the creator. Who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person. That's why he
said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. He's the express
image of his person. And upholding all things by the
word of his power. Look at that. So the very ones
who were nailing His hands on that cross, the very ones who
were nailing His feet to that cross, He was upholding even
them by the word of His power. You ever think of that? That's
amazing, isn't it? Oh my. Because He must save His people
from their sins. He must. That's what the scripture
says. He upholds all things by the
word of His power. when He had by Himself purged
our sins. What a glorious word. Purged.
They're gone. They're gone. Purged them. Right? Remember? As far as the east
is from the west. Gone. That's a great salvation. That's a great salvation. Purged our sins. He sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The high priest never
sat down in the temple. Our Lord, after He finished the
work, He sat down. There's nothing else to do. The
work of salvation is complete. The way into the Holy of Holies
is Him, which is the presence of God. There's no more divide
and curtain. We have one mediator, and that's
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Those high priests just pictured
the high priest of God who would come. They were but types and
shadows of Christ. He's the substance, remember?
They were shadows, but he's the substance. You've heard me say
that before. My shadow's right here, but here's
the substance. And if I was coming around the
corner and one of you were standing in front, you'd probably see
my shadow first, and then would come the substance. That's what
that means. They were but shadows. But here's
the substance. The Lord Jesus Christ. And he's
now sat down on the right hand of majesty on high, being made
so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they. Oh, he's the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. He has a more excellent name than they, because
he's God. He's God. Now some will acknowledge
Christ's kingship or His sovereignty over nature, but they will deny
His kingship and His sovereignty over sinners. I've met people
like that. Oh yeah, God's sovereign over
all the things you see. Oh yeah. But when you tell them
that Christ is sovereign over the salvation of a sinner, oh
my, they recoil. What about man's will? What about
man's free will? I'm gonna say this, I've said
it many times, there is only one free will in all the universe. And that's God's will. That's
the only one who has free will to do whatever he pleases. How
do we know that? Well, from the scripture that we saw this morning.
He does what he wills in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, none.
Does whatever he pleases. Our will is bound by our nature.
We have a sinful nature when we come into this world. He's
holy and righteous. His will and purpose are done.
We're seeing that in the life of Joseph, aren't we? In our
study in the life of Joseph, we are seeing that very clearly.
That God's will and purpose will be done. And there's no one who
can stay His hand. Absolutely no one. No one who
can tell him, what are you doing? We know that the Father has given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou has given him, John 17, 2. And as king, he has power in
salvations of the Lord. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob of our love,
but Esau of our hated. What shall we then say? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, there goes free will right out the window. That's
what the scripture declares. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, there goes works out the other window. But of God that showeth mercy.
Again, what we looked at when Paul wrote, I have obtained mercy,
every single believer says that. The reason that I stand before
you as saved man, the reason that you are saved, who profess
Christ and are one of His people, is because God showed us mercy.
And His love is set upon us from eternity. It's incredible. And hear not turn away one who
comes to Him. Hear not turn away one who comes
to Him by faith. And we know that faith is God-given
faith. He's not turned away one who's
cried out to Him. Someone says, you don't know how much of a
sinner I am. Well, I know how much of a sinner I am, and God,
by His grace, saved me. And as John Newton said, if He
saved me, He could save anybody. That's the man who wrote Amazing
Grace. And every believer says, amen. Amen. And He saves all who come to
Him, doesn't He? To the uttermost. To the uttermost. Oh, what a
Savior. What a Savior. So God is King
and Sovereign in the salvation of His people. And Jesus Christ
is the King of our salvation. Behold thy King. Behold thy King. The next point in our text is
Jesus Christ is the just God. Look at Zechariah 9.9 again.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just. Just. That means He's righteous in
all His ways. That's what that means. It means
He's righteous in all His ways. He's holy in His character. Stephen
and Peter called Him the Just One. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
3. Peter and Stephen both called
Him the Just One. That means he's righteous. That
means he's holy in all his ways. And what are we? What does the
scripture declare of us? We're the unjust ones. We're the unjust ones in our
natural state. But God's people, after the Lord
saves them, after they're born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
they're the just ones. Made just by Christ. Made just
by Christ. See, by nature, we're born unjust. The total opposite of Christ.
And when we're born again by His almighty power and by the
Holy Spirit of God, then we're called the just ones. My, look
at this in Acts chapter 3 verses 12 to 15. When Peter saw it,
he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel
ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on
us, as though by our own power or holiness we made this man
to walk? Remember the man at the gate
called Beautiful. Silver and gold have I none, but such as
I have, I give thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk. These folks thought it was Peter
and John doing all the work. But Peter says, no, it's not
by our power or holiness. No. The God of Abraham, and of
Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified
his son, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence
of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied
the Holy One, look at this, and the just. The just. The one who's righteous in all
his ways. Righteous in all his ways. And
desired a murderer to be granted unto you. And killed the prince
of life. The prince of life, what a title.
Whom God hath raised from the dead where we are witnesses. Now turn to Acts chapter 7. Acts
chapter 7, look what Stephen says here. Acts chapter 7. Think of it, our Lord, He's perfect,
He's holy. He's absolutely sinless. Perfect
in thought, perfect in deed, perfect in word, the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God. Acts chapter 7, it says this
in verse 52, Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which
showed before the coming of what? Of who? The just one. The just
one. Same thing that Zachariah would
be said of our king. He's the just one, righteous
in all his ways. See, we're unjust in our natural
state. We are unrighteous in all our
ways. In all our ways. But again, those
who are born again, those who are clothed in the perfect, spotless
righteousness of Christ, are now called the just ones. And
we are called the just ones because of another. Because of this one
right here. The just one. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Of whom you have been now the
betrayers and murderers. Oh my. Even his enemies attested. Judas said this, I have sinned
in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. The wife of Pilate said this,
when he was sat down on judgment seat, his wife said unto him,
saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man? For I have suffered many things
to this day in a dream because of him. And Pilate said, I am innocent
of the blood of this just person. Even his enemies proclaimed that
he was just. I find no fault in him at all. And remember what the Lord said
about Satan. He said, Satan cometh, the prince
of this world cometh, but finds nothing in me. Nothing in me. He finds lots in us, doesn't
he? Before we're saved and even after, we're still sinners. He
finds nothing in Christ, nothing. Which ties into what we looked
at too this morning, where he offered himself up, why? Without
spot. Even in his death, beloved, he's the perfect, sinless, spotless
Lamb of God. In his birth, in his life, and
in his death, he knew no sin. And our sins were imputed to
him. And He bore the punishment that was due us for every single
one of our sins, and not just we who are in this room who are
saved, but all the sins of all the elect, of all the ages, and
He bore it! The full wrath that was deserving
us fell upon Him. And He cried with a loud voice,
it is finished. King of our salvation, beloved.
Behold our King upon that cross, crying out, it is finished. It's done. And the death of Christ was a
display of justice, beloved. Here we know it was the greatest
manifestation of love that this world has ever seen, but it was
also a display of justice because Christ died to justify the law
and the room instead of his people, God's law and the room and place
of his people, the unjust ones. He is the only substitute for
sinners. And his kingdom is based on justice,
beloved. His spiritual laws are all based
on justice. His kingdom is righteousness,
peace, and joy. And he makes all his subjects
just. All his people are just in him. We were born unjust. And we saw,
by the mercy of God, we are saved. and now we're called
the just ones. You ever thought, stop and think
that through the week. Stop and think that now, if you're
a believer, you're called just. You're one of the just ones before
God. And God looks upon you and he
sees Christ. He sees the precious blood of
Christ, the robe of Christ's righteousness. My, what a Savior. Next point
I'd like us to look at is, again, Jesus Christ is the only Savior.
Look at our text here in verse 9 again. Rejoice greatly, O daughter
of Zion! Shout! Oh, praise His name! Shout! Don't disobey! Praise His name! Shout! O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh! Behold thy King. He's just, and
look at this, in heaven salvation. He's obtained eternal salvation
for us. Eternal redemption. He's not
only a just God, He's also our Savior. Now the definition for
Savior is this, Rescuer. Rescuer. I ask you, are you in
need of being rescued? I pray that if you don't feel
like you are, that God would show you that you are in desperate
need of rescuing. You are floating in a sea, drowning
in a sea of sinfulness. And every one of God's people
were drowning in our own sea of sinfulness. But Christ rescued
us, didn't He? He rescued us, beloved. He delivered
us. He delivered us. the definition
again is rescuer, somebody who rescues somebody or something
from harm or danger we were in a pit of our own making pit with no water we could not
get out help must come from above it must come from above and we had no hope or ability
to save ourselves, but that which is impossible with man is possible
with God. Paul often calls Christ God our
Savior. In Titus chapter 1 it says, Paul,
a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to
the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth
which is after godliness, and the hope of eternal life which
God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. But hath
in due times manifest his word through preaching which is committed
unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior, God our Rescuer,
beloved. God our Rescuer. And He alone is salvation, is
only in Him. It says, neither is there salvation
in any other. Now think of that, in Acts chapter
4, it says, neither is there salvation in any other. So what
can we deduce from that? Well, there's no salvation in
Muhammad. There's no salvation in Buddha. There's no salvation
in Mary. There's no salvation in all these
woods and stones and pieces that people bow down to. There's no
salvation in the gods of people's imagination. It don't matter
what they say or think, there's no salvation in them at all. None. That's what that text means. Neither is there salvation in
any other. No other human and no other figment of man's imagination. That's what that means. Neither
is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." It's
stated so plainly and clearly there in Acts 4, verse 12. No
other name. The only one who can save a sinner
is Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's His name. Jesus Christ,
our Lord. The God-man. who came to save
his people. Brother Roy and I were talking
earlier about this verse, Matthew 121. Why did Christ come? And
she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Right there. It's not he may be. It's not,
well, man will help him, is it? No, he shall save his people. He shall do it, beloved. That's
why what we believe burns religious man. Because it exalts God into his
rightful place as sovereign in salvation, in providence overall. And it abases the pride of man.
It puts man in the dust. Men don't like being in the dust.
But God's people do, don't we? Preach Christ high. You can't
preach Him high enough for me. Can a preacher ever preach Christ
high enough for you? No. Just preach Him in all His
power and magnificence. And God's people, by God-given
faith, say praise His mighty name. We say like the Hosanna
to the highest. Oh, praise His name. Never preach
Christ high enough. Oh, He's incredible. He's absolutely
incredible. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church of God. And we want to feast,
don't we? We want to feast on the Word,
which He hath purchased with His own blood. That's in Acts
20, 28. So we see that Christ Jesus is
the only Savior. Next point is Jesus Christ is
identified with our humanity. Look in this text here. Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just, in heaven,
salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt,
the foal of an ass." Look at that. Lowly and riding upon an
ass. He's identified with our humanity,
beloved. Think of the condescension here
before us in this verse. The King of glory. The King of Glory, the Word of
God becomes a man. Lowly and riding upon an ass. He didn't come in pomp and circumstance,
did he? You ever think that? The scripture
says there's no beauty in him. There's no beauty in him that
we should behold, that we should even desire him. He's an ordinary looking man. To God's people, there's beauty
in him, isn't there? Oh, we see him, he's so beautiful. He's
so beautiful. And He tells us to come unto
Him. Why? Because He's meek and lowly.
He's meek and lowly. And His yoke is easy and His
burden is light. You know, trying to work your way to heaven on
your own, that's hard work. It'll get you
nowhere except to hell if God lets you perish in your sins.
But it's a hard way. Ask anybody who's come out of
religion, it's a hard way. It's hard. You all know. You guys have experienced
some of that. But when the free grace of God
is preached and proclaimed, oh, such a freedom. Such a free. And sometimes we can't even,
we can't even fathom the freedom that we have in Christ. We are
absolutely set free in Him. Glory to His name. Glory to His
name. Come to set us free, beloved.
Without controversy, greatest and mystery of God in this God
was manifest in the flesh and His name is Jesus Christ. justified
in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on them in the world, and received up into glory." 1 Timothy 3.16.
And a word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory. John writes this. We beheld,
we saw him. Just like we see one another.
Just like we hear one another. John saw and heard him. Beheld
his glory. Remember, he was one of the ones
on the Mount of Transfiguration, too. He had that glory manifest. Could
you imagine how we would feel if that happened to us? You'd
never stop talking about him, would you? We wouldn't. We'd
just keep talking about him. That'd be something you'd never
forget. Well, he manifested himself to us, didn't he? We who are
his people. And we're never being the same, have we? We've never
been the same. My goodness. Christ also hath once suffered
for sins the just, turn here if you would, to 1 Peter 3.18.
We've got to look at this, since we see that he's the just one,
and since we know that we are unjust, look at this one verse
here. Look at this verse here in 1
Peter 3.18. Look at this. It says, for Christ
also, 1 Peter 3.18, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
and remember, he's the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. Look what
it says here, the just for the unjust. The just for the unjust. That he might bring us to God.
Reconciliation. Paul said his ministry was a
ministry of reconciliation. Be ye reconciled to God. Being
put to death in the flesh, but quickened again by the Spirit.
The just one, it says very plainly and clearly here, died for the
unjust. So we see here his humanity too.
His great condescension. The fact that he became a man,
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, yet sinless. Next point is Christ is our peace
with God. Look again at Zechariah 9, look
at verse 10. Zechariah 9, verse 10. And I
will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem,
and the battle bull shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace
unto the heathen. Peace. Peace. And his dominion shall be from
sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the
earth. You know that we would be considered
heathen by the Jews of old. Heathen. We're Gentiles, beloved. Every one of us in here is Gentiles. And he shall seek peace to the
heathen. He spoke peace to this heathen. I know it's so from you too.
You who believe, He spoke peace to the heathen, didn't He? Oh
my. No one else has the authority
to speak peace unto a sinner but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And we can only find peace with
God through the Lord Jesus Christ. How could we who are enemies
with God, when we come into this world, make peace? How? How? By our supposed good works? Well,
none of our works will justify us before God because it says
there's none good, no, not one. By us seeking God? Well, the
Scriptures declare there's none that seek it after God. By our
own supposed righteousness? The Scripture declares there's
none righteous, no, not one. So in other words, there's no
way for us to gain merit and favor with God by anything we
do. By anything we do. So we see
then that man is in a helpless, hopeless state. He's a bankrupt
sinner. Turn, if you would, to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians
chapter 1. He's a hopeless, bankrupt sinner. But who does the believer find
hope in? The Lord Jesus Christ, right? The Lord Jesus Christ
in him alone. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand
and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Romans 5, verses
1 and 2. But look here in Colossians 1. Look at this. Christ Jesus made
peace with God for His people through His precious blood. Colossians
1. Look at this scripture. For it
pleased the Father. It pleased the Father. That in him should all fullness
dwell, and having made peace through
the blood of his cross. By him to reconcile all things
unto himself. By him I say whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. I love this. This just hits home. Remember
where it says, he shall speak peace unto the heathen? Again,
he spoke peace to this heathen here. Look at this. And you,
he's writing to believers now, and you, that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by the wicked works, yet
now hath he what? Reconciled. Peace. How? in the body of His flesh
through death to present you, look at this, this is incredible,
to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. Those are precious words. It is Christ who not only has
redeemed us, who not only do we have peace with God only through
Him, but He will present you Me, and you if you're a believer,
holy. But I'm unholy in my natural
state. We're sanctified in Christ, which
means we're made holy in Christ. I don't feel that way, do you? But the scripture says it's so.
It says it's so. I know I'm a sinner. Still, after
being saved, I'm still a sinner, but the scripture says he's gonna
present you holy and unblameable. Remember, who can bring any charge
to God's elect? Unblameable. There's nothing
that can be brought up against you if you're one of God's people.
Nothing. Because the law that once had
a rightful claim on us, right? You want a picture of something
grabbing ahold of you with a rightful claim? Has no right to us anymore. It's wonderful. No right, because
it's been satisfied. It's been fulfilled. The holy
justice of God, which again had a rightful claim upon us, has
been satisfied by the finished work of Christ. Unblameable and
unreprovable in God's sight, in his sight, in God's sight. That is absolutely incredible.
The unjust are made just in and through Christ and Him alone. The last point we'll look at
is Christ is our Deliverer. Look at verse 11. In Zechariah 9, 11. As for thee
also by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners
out of the pit wherein is no water. Is no water. Scripture declares, the spirit
of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. To the poor. Are you spiritually bankrupt? I pray that God would show you
you are. If you don't believe it, I pray
that he would show you that you are. He has sent me to heal the
brokenhearted. To preach deliverance to the
captives. in recovering of sight to the
blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised." Luke
4.18. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
3. Our Lord came to set His people
free. He delivered us from our own sin. The just one dying for
the unjust. Do you know He delivered us also
from the curse of the law, beloved? He's the great deliverer. He
delivered us from our sins and He delivered us from the curse
of the law. I ask you, and anyone who will hear this message, can
you deliver yourself from one of your sins? Just one. Just
one. Let alone the billions we commit
in a lifetime. Just one. Well, we know the answer
is no. I can't save myself. I can't
save anybody else, but I proclaim the one who can save all who
come to Him. And we know, we know that those
who come to Him are made willing. Look at this in Galatians though.
Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3, verses 10
to 13. For as many as are the works
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. A person wants to live
by the law, they have to fulfill every single
one of them. We can't fulfill even one. But that's what the Scriptures
declare in there. They want to live by the law, they've got
to live by them all. You can't pick and choose which ones you
want and which ones you don't want. And people who act like that
and think like that are unaware of their own self-righteousness,
because they can't fulfill one. Look at how clear this is. But
that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. We could
just stop there, couldn't we? No man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. That means that not one of us,
me, you, not one of us, not one person in this world can justify
themselves by the law in the sight of God. Because we're sinners. And the law is not a faith. Well,
let's finish that in the sight of, it is evident for the just
shall live, what? By faith. And we know that faith
is given to us by God. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And the law is not of faith. The law is strict, beloved. It
says do this and live, and if you don't do this, you die. That's
what the law says. Oh, it's unbending, just like
the justice of God. It's unbending. The man that doeth them shall
live. Look at that. And the law is not of faith, but the man
that doeth them shall live in them. Look at this wonderful
words. Christ, and this is again written
to born-again, blood-washed believers. Remember the Galatians were being
bewitched by them Judaizers. They were telling him, you've
got to be circumcised to be saved. And Paul said, we won't have
nothing of that. Nothing. Look at this. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, curse is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. The soul that sinneth,
it shall die. You break one of the laws of
God, the Scripture declares you shall die. And that's talking, we know that's
talking, that's talking the second death. As well, sin kills, doesn't
it? But that's talking about the
second death too. Eternal death. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on the tree. What a great Deliverer. He's delivered us, beloved. He's
delivered us. Revelation 1.18 says this, I
am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
and have the keys of hell and death. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace, Paul
writes the Romans. Sin will no longer have dominion
over you. We still struggle with sin, but it doesn't have the
grip on us that it once had, beloved. We're not under the law, but
we're under the grace of God. Praise His mighty name. So we're free from the bondage
of sin. We're free from the terror of death, because our Lord holds
the keys of hell and death, and we're free from the grip of the
devil, beloved. As in the book of Hebrews it
declares this, for as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, He also likewise took part of the same, and through
death that He might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil, and deliver them, who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Do you remember how
before you were saved, Brother Tim and I have talked about this
before, before you're saved, I was terrified of death. I was
terrified of death. Absolutely terrified. I'm not
afraid anymore. God's people, we don't fear death. Again, it's
but a doorway into the presence of our King. Oh my. But those who fear death, they're
subject to bondage. Subject to bondage. So rejoice,
beloved of God. Rejoice. Romans 11.26 says this, and so
all Israel shall be saved. That's talking spiritual Israel,
beloved. They all shall be saved. And remember, every born-again,
blood-bought child of God is an Israelite. is a spiritual
Jew, a spiritual Jew. And so all Israel shall be saved,
as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer,
and oh, what a Deliverer he is. And shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. So I proclaim to you, behold
thy King. Behold thy King. Heavenly Father,
again we thank you for allowing us to come together. We know as we read things in
the in the news and so many again have nowhere to worship or they
worship under fear and under fear of death. But oh Lord, we
have the privilege to sit in here and to hear thy word preached
and proclaimed. Oh Lord, I pray that you would
give us the spiritual food that we need for this week. That we
can feast on the words which we've heard today. Oh, that there
be sustenance for us, O Lord, that You'd feed Your people in
the green pastures of Thy Word, and that something we heard to
this day we could take and would bless us through the whole week
and we could hold on to, O Lord. What a glorious God You are,
having taken us out of the pit which we could never get ourselves
out of. We were prisoners to our own sin. But yet you've delivered
us. And oh, what a mighty deliverer
you are. And we preach and proclaim the
gospel to all, not knowing who your people are. You know who
they are, oh Lord. And only you can make the words effectual.
We pray, if it's your will, that you take the words preached and
proclaimed tonight and today and use them for your glory,
oh Lord. Oh, we'd be grateful and thankful if you drew in one
of your last sheep. But we know that your word will
go out and will accomplish your will. It will not return unto
you void. And we just lift up this time
that we've had together. To the oh Lord, and thank you
and praise you for giving us the opportunity to be here, given
us an opportunity, given us a place to come and worship Lord. We
pray that you would guide and direct us in the church here. Oh Lord, this is your work and
we are your people. All by thy amazing grace. Glory
to your name and honor and praise in Jesus name. Amen.