looking today at our continuing
study in the Gospel given to us by God's faithful servant
of the Lord. His name is Luke. In Luke 19,
we want to try to look at verse 28 down through verse 40. And I'm taking the title for
the message from verse 38. Luke 19, Luke verse 38, saying, Blessed, blessed be the King. He is God blessed forever, is
he not? Blessed be the King that cometh,
and he cometh in the name of the Lord Jehovah, God Almighty. Blessed, blessed be the King
that cometh in the name of the Lord. That will be the title
of the message. Now, no doubt, The Lord Jesus
Christ is the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, God, Only,
Wise, from Eternity, from Everlasting to Everlasting, Thou art God,
He said beside me there is no other. He is the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords by the eternal, unchanging decree of God. He's Lord, not by something we
have done, but rather by God's eternal decree. God had made
that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ, Peter declared
in Acts chapter 2. When he came here, as God manifests
in the flesh, he was born king, right? The wise men came and
they said, where is he that is born king? When He lived among
men as a God-man mediator, He demonstrated and revealed that
He was and is and always will be King. King of providence,
King of creation, and King in salvation. He demonstrated that
He was King when He dwelt among men. You remember when the disciples
were in the boat and the storm came up? And the boat started
taking in water, the boat started sinking, and they were fearful,
and the Lord was over there sleeping, knowing he's in charge of all
things. And they woke him up and said,
Lord, don't you care that we perish? Remember he arose and
he rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. And
they said, Behold, what manner of man is this, that even the
wind and sea obey his voice? You see, he is God Almighty,
King of all things. When he came before Pilate, Pilate
said, Behold your King. They said, away with him, crucify
him, we have no king but Caesar. Pilate even introduced him as
the king of the Jews. The soldiers in the judgment
hall, they mocked him in what character? Remember they planted
a crown of thorns and put it on his head and put a purple
robe on his shoulders and a staff in his hand and they bowed the
knee and they mocked him, hail, king of the Jews. They even mocked
him. in his character as king. And when he died to save his
people from their sin, he died as our king. Remember that sign
above the cross? This is Jesus, king of the Jews,
written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, so that all could see
that he died as our king. And when he ascended to glory,
when he walked out of the tomb that third morning and ascended
to glory, he sat down on the throne of God as King. When he by himself purged our
sin, he sat down on the right hand of God. And my friend, when
he comes again, He'll come back as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. When he comes back, every knee
will bow, every, excuse me, every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord and the glory of God the Father. As King of
Kings and Lord of Lords, we are accountable unto Him. He is King. To this end, to this purpose,
he died that he might be Lord of all men, the dead and the
living. I trust that this is your confession.
I trust this is your hope. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
our sin as the God-man mediator. I trust you can say with the
Apostle Thomas that he is my Lord and my God, my Savior, my
salvation. Blessed be the King. Is that
your hope? Blessed, blessed be the King,
the Lord Jesus Christ. David, that was his hope. He
said in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that
is within me, bless His holy name. Now, notice verse 28, Luke
19, when he had thus spoken, He went before ascending up to
Jerusalem. Now the Lord of Glory has set
His face like a flint. He is marching toward the appointed
hour from all eternity. The appointed hour the Father
had given to Him that He would lay down His life a ransom for
His people. Look back at chapter 18 verse
31. Remember, He took unto him the twelve,
and said unto them, Luke 18, 31, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,
and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the
Son of Man shall be accomplished, for he shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spit it on, and they shall scourge him, and put him to death, and
the third day he shall rise again." The Lord Jesus Christ knows exactly
what He's doing, where He's going, what is going to take place,
and what He is accomplishing. Now think about it. He's going
there to accomplish our salvation. This is the hour of salvation
appointed of God. As the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world, this is the time that He would give
His life for His people. This event of the Lord entering
into Jerusalem, this is the last time He goes to that city. He's going to ascend on the third
day after his death and he will come back again one day. This
event of the Lord entering into Jerusalem as the Lamb of God,
as our King, as our God and our Savior is given by all four of
the Gospel writers. In Matthew 21, in Mark 11, Luke
19, and in John chapter 12, all four of the gospel writers, the
narratives of the gospel, all four writers give this unto us
because this is a special event. This is a special day. All history
and all humanity revolves around that day. Christ and Him crucified. Few events of the Lord's earthly
ministry are recorded by all four writers, but this one is,
because it's such a special day. It is such a special time. Remember,
all this was done that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Remember,
He dies for our sins according to the Scripture. Now, it says
in verse 28, of Luke 19. And here's the first thing that
caught my attention. When he had thus spoken, he went
before. He went before ascending up to
Jerusalem. The Lord always goes before his
people, preparing the way for us. You remember he said, I go
away and prepare a place for you. And I'm going to come again
and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may
be also. The Lord always goes before,
preparing the way for us. He Himself, He is that way. Remember in John chapter 10 verse
4, When He put forth His own sheep, He goeth before them,
And the sheep follow him, and they know his voice. He gives
unto them eternal life, and they shall never, never perish. You remember from our study in
the book of Hebrews, the Lord Jesus Christ is called our forerunner. He entered in for us into the
heavenlies. Listen to this verse. The forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, may the High Priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek. He enters into glory for us.
He occupies the throne of glory for us. He is seated in the heavenlies
and we are seated in Him. Already! I can't explain that, but it's
so. We read in Hebrews 9, for Christ did not enter into the
holy places made with hand, which are figures of the true, but
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Look at verse 28 again. And when
He had thus spoken, He went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the
heavenly Jerusalem right now, interceding for us with His precious
blood. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him, saying He ever lives to make
intercession for us. Here's the second thing I would
have us notice in verse 29 down through verse 34. Notice as well,
the Lord Jesus Christ has all knowledge, all power, over all
things, all events, he's in complete control of everything, demonstrating
that he is Lord of heaven and earth, demonstrating that he
is God and King of all the earth. And it came to pass when he was
come nigh to Bethany, at the mount called Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples. Now, he's not on this high mountain
here looking over into the village and seeing, well I see a donkey
over there and the coat there. He's not with an eye physically
seeing this and then telling and commanding his disciples,
now I see you over there. No, He knows all things, controls
all things, and decrees all things. This has been decreed from all
eternity. He knows the events of all things
because He has decreed all things. He commanded His disciples where
to go, what to do, and they found, even as the Lord had said, saying,
verse 30, Go ye into the village over against you, in which you
are entering in, which at your entering in you shall find a
coat tied, whereon yet never a man said, Loose him, and bring
him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do
you loose him? Thus shall you say unto him,
Because the Lord hath need of him. and they that were sent went
their way and found even as he had said unto them. And as they
were loosing the coat, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose
you the coat? And they said, The Lord hath
need of him. You see the Lord in complete
control over all these events. He commanded his disciples where
to go, what to do, and they found even as He said. I love what it says there in
the last part of verse. 32, and found even as he had
said unto them, We can take the Lord at his word, we shall find
everything even as he has said. All things are naked and open
before the eyes of the Lord. His foreknowledge of all things
and all events is based upon his eternal decrees of all things. We read in the book of Acts chapter
15, known unto God are all his works from the beginning. He
said I've spoken, I bring it to pass, I purpose, I will do
it. We are told that in one place
the Lord knew their thoughts, the thoughts of the enemies,
Luke 6, 8. We're told in another place that
He knew what was in man, need it not that any should testify
of man, He knew what was in man. We're told in another place He
knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who
should betray. How do you know all these things?
He has complete knowledge of all men, all things, and all
events. Such knowledge like this is a
peculiar and particular attribute only of God Almighty. Passages like these are meant
to remind us that the man Christ Jesus is not only a real man,
but he is also the God-man mediator, God-blessed forever. How does
he know all these things? He's God. God over all, blessed
forever. Here's the third thing. We have before us a gospel spiritual
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ calling out his people. In the
Lord loosing this wild coat, bringing him to the Lord, and
the Lord sitting upon him where it says, never a man sat. You see that in verse 30? This
was an unbroken coat where never a man had ridden. This story
before, this story, is given to us by our blessed Lord riding
the wild coat through the city, and is a picture of His sovereign
power, His electing and fetching grace, and His irresistible grace. That's what is pictured in the
Lord bringing that coat, sitting upon that unbroken coat, and
riding that coat. It is a picture of the Lord calling
us, breaking us, sitting upon us, riding us, and reigning and
ruling over us. We see the Lord's display in
His mighty omnipotent power over all things, His providence, His
power, He arranges all things, His power over the wills of men,
When they ask the owners of the ass and the colt, when they ask,
what are you doing? The Lord hath needed him. Okay,
okay, you can have him. He has power over nature, power
over the wills of men and animals. He rides into town on this wild
ass's colt. Now, what can we learn from this? He has all power to save sinners. The Father has given him power
over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given to him. He will conquer all his people,
overcome them, break them, arrest their stubborn will, and ride
them. and rule and reign over them. The Lord is nigh them of a broken
heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of His power." You remember from
Luke 19 verse 10, the Lord came to seek and to save that which
is lost. He's going to ride every one
of His lost sheep. and make them His own, and reign
them in. We can safely rest and trust
our great God and Savior. With God all things are possible. We can be assured He is mighty
to save. None too difficult for the Lord
of glory. For with the Lord all things
are possible. Remember? Look back at Luke 18. Luke 18 verse 26. The apostles
asked this question. Lord, who then can be saved?
And he said, things which are impossible with men are possible
with God. Never despair of God's power
to save any. If He saved me, He can save any
sinner, for I'm the worst. I'm the chiefest of sinners.
Now, here's something else I want us to notice. The Lord's voluntary
poverty and humility as the Son of Man. Notice, for example,
look at verse 35. They brought him, that is this
coat, this ass's coat, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they cast
their garments upon the coat, and the Lord Jesus Christ sat
upon this coat, upon their garments. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
ride into Jerusalem on a white stallion with a custom-made saddle
of silver and gold, did he? He rode into town on a borrowed
ass's coat with a saddle made of borrowed clothes. You see
something of his meekness, something of his humility. Think about
his poverty for a moment. He said, for example, in Luke
9, foxes have holed, the birds of the air have nested, the Son
of Man, the Son of Man, You remember the rest of it? He has nowhere
even to lay his head. When he was born, he was born
in a cow barn, in a cow stable. When he was born, he was laid
in a borrowed manger. He never owned a piece of land,
not one. When he crossed the Sea of Galilee,
it was in a borrowed boat, and when he died, He was buried in
a borrowed tomb. You see his humility, his lowliness,
his meekness, and yet as God Almighty he owns all things are
his. Psalm 50, for every beast of
the forest is mine, the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know
all the fowls of the mountains, all the wild beef of the field.
He says, they're mine. If I were hungry, I would not
tell thee, for the world is mine and the forest thereof. Yet as
a God-man mediator, you see his lowliness. He willingly impoverished
himself as a God-man to accomplish our salvation. What love! What grace! I love this verse. I've quoted often 2 Corinthians
8-9. You remember? For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. He became poor, impoverished
with our humanity, impoverished with our sin, that we might have
the richness of his grace and the richness of his righteousness.
He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but yet he
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross." That's Philippians chapter
2. We see... as God Almighty owning all things
and yet he impoverished himself with our humanity and with our
sin to accomplish our salvation. That's grace, is it not? That's
love, is it not? Something else we see, the king's
entrance into the city is a very public manner, is it not? Look
at verse 36, and as he went, They spread their clothes in
the way. They gave him the red carpet
treatment. And when he was come nigh, even
now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude
of the disciples began to rejoice, began to praise God with a loud
voice for all the mighty work that they had seen, saying, Blessed
be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven. Glory in the highest. And he
arrived in Jerusalem and all the disciples, they do all these
things. They start cutting down palm
tree branches and waving the branches and throwing their clothes
out on the ground. The Lord arrived in a most public,
public manner. Public manner. Now, oftentimes
we've seen the Lord of glory avoiding the large crowd, right?
Seeking seclusion instead of being in public. He was often
in the wilderness, in desert places. He never sought the public
eye or called attention to himself until this day, until at this
time. But now, you remember many times
I tried to take him and make him king, but he said the hour
has not yet come. Now the hour has come. Now is
the time when he would accomplish our salvation in the most public
way. Remember, he prayed in John 17.
He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy me with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. Now, in a most
public way, he enters into Jerusalem as the king to accomplish our
salvation. All the city was moved. Look
back at Matthew 21, if you've got a bookmark over there in
Matthew 21. All the city was moved at him. Verse 9, the multitudes went
before that followed, cried saying, Hosanna to the son of David.
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna
to the highest. What does that mean? Hosanna.
And when he was coming to Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying,
Who is this? And the multitudes said, This
is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." Oh, he is a prophet,
but he's so much more than the prophet. All the city was moved
saying, who is this? Everyone sat up and took notice. Some were moved with wonder,
some were moved with joy, some were moved with envy and anger. The Pharisees were very displeased
and wanted the Master to rebuke those who began to praise the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel, now here's the application
for us today, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has the same
effect on all those who hear it today. Some are moved with
wonder, some are moved with joy, some are moved with envy, and
anger and malice. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is either to you a saver of life unto life, or it is a
saver of death unto death. There is no middle ground. Our
Lord said, if you're not with me, You're against me. There is no neutral ground. You're
either for him or you're against him. He that believeth on the
Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
hath not life, but the wrath of God abides on him. May God give us grace to own
Him as our Lord and as our King. The Lord of glory arrived into
Jerusalem on this occasion, and He did so to fulfill all Scripture. You remember back over here,
turn back to Matthew 21. Verse 4. He does this. Why does he come just not walking
into town? Why must he ride on this ass's
coat into town? Because everything he said and
did and everywhere he went, he did all these things to fulfill
the Scriptures. Matthew 21 verse 4. All this
was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet
saying, and this is Zechariah, tell you the daughter of Zion,
behold thy king cometh unto thee, he's meek, sitting upon an ass,
and a coat, a fold of an ass. Now, I want you to turn to Zechariah,
and it's easy to find. You find, you're right there
at Matthew, turn to Matthew, and then the last book of the
Old Testament is Malachi, and then Zechariah. So it's easy
to find. Zechariah 9, 9. I want to read
this together with you. Because the Lord is fulfilling
all scriptures for us. And this is very important. How
He died for our sin according to the scripture. Now, Zechariah
9, 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion, and shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, Behold, the King cometh
unto thee." He is just. He is a just God and Savior.
He is holy. He is having salvation. He is
our salvation. He is lowly, riding upon an ass,
upon the fold of an ass. Read on now, verse 10 and 11, the chariot from Ephraim, and
the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off,
he shall speak peace to the heathen, and his dominion shall be from
sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth, he
shall speak peace to the heathen." That's us. We have peace with
God through Christ. Verse 11, As for thee also, by
the blood of thy covenant have I sent forth thy prisoners out
of the pit wherein there is no water. He delivered us from the
pit of sin and ruin and corruption by the blood of that covenant
of God's grace. You see how he fulfills all Scripture
for us. That's good news, is it not?
I've got a bulletin article I'm going to put in the bulletin
next week from that verse, Zechariah 9, 9, 10, and 11. Now, here's
the last thing I want to give you as we close the message. I want you to notice the praise
and worship given unto the King of kings. and the Lord of Lords,
the multitude that went before followed and cried, saying, Hosanna
to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord! Hosanna to the highest!" Now,
this is very familiar. Turn back to Luke chapter 2.
Remember what the angel said at the announcement of the coming
of the Messiah? In Luke chapter 2, verse 13,
And suddenly there was an angel with the angel, a multitude of
heavenly hosts, praising God, saying, Glory to God in the highest,
on earth peace and goodwill toward men, doesn't say man or mankind,
men. He is the one mediator between
God and men. Glory to God in the highest.
Now, who's worthy to receive all honor and glory? None but
Christ. Worthy is the Lamb to receive
all honor, glory, power, and blessing both now and forever. Now, what does this word, Hosanna,
mean? What does it mean? Hosanna. Here's
what it means. Oh, save us. Save us. This is what all of us are in
great need of. Salvation. What does a sinner
need? He needs a Savior. We have a
Savior. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from their sin. Oh, we have a great Savior. How
shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? You know, David prayed that in
Psalm 118. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord.
I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the
house of the Lord. Oh Lord, save us. Isn't that
exactly what the public can cry? Oh Lord, save us. Oh Lord, have
mercy upon me, the sinner. May we all approach him right
now, in our heart, as mercy beggars. and plead for salvation, the
salvation and pardon of our sin, and plead for mercy, and receive
salvation by faith, that we might worship Him in spirit and truth
as God our Savior. You know, the Lord says to every
needy sinner, come to me, I'll give you bread. Come to me, I'll
give you life. Come unto me, all you labor heavy
laden. and I'll give you rest for your soul." You see, we have
not because we ask not. You need pardon? Ask Him. I've never read one time in Scripture
where the Lord has turned away a mercy beggar. Come unto me,
He said. Oh, everyone that's thirsty,
come to me and drink. Come to me and drink. I'll leave
you with this last thought. Notice verse 39 and verse 40
of Luke 19. Some of the Pharisees from among
the multitude said, Master, rebuke thy disciples. Now here's that
self-righteous crowd who would not give Him the glory, who would
not honor Him as God our Savior. And He answered and said unto
them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the
rocks and hills, the stones, the mountains, the ground would
break open and all creation would cry out, glory to God in the
highest, glory to God in the highest. The Pharisees were always
about discrediting the Lord and destroying His ministry, were
they not? Trying to prevent the people from worshiping Him, they
tried to prevent that. But notice, He must have all
the honor and glory. Even if people don't praise Him,
all creation will. Do you know what the whole theme
of eternal glory will be? The whole theme of eternal glory
with God and His elect. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive all honor, glory, power, and blessing both now
and forever. You see, in all things, the Lord
Jesus Christ must have the preeminence, the first place in all things. Well, that's a great story, is
it not? We're going to continue in Luke
19 next week, Lord willing.