The notices for the week are
as follows if the Lord will. Your pastor will preach here
next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Prayer meeting will
be on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. There will be no service on Thursday
evening and the Good Friday service will commence at 10 o'clock when
your pastor is due to preach. The collection will be for the
Oak Tree Homes Trust. We'll commence the worship of
God with hymn 1005. The tune is 858, Nativity. Come
let us join our cheerful songs. With angels round the throne,
ten thousand thousand are their tongues, but all their joys are
one. Hymn 1005. I love you. I love you I love you. The time to live, the time to
die, shall be forever more. There are two portions of the Word
of God we'll read together this morning. Firstly, from the prophecy
of Zechariah, we shall read chapter 9. The ninth chapter in the prophecy
of Zechariah. The burden of the word of the
Lord in the land of Hadrath. and Damascus shall be the rest
thereof, when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel,
shall be toward the Lord, and Hamath also shall border thereby. Tyrus and Sidon, though it be
very wide, And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, And heaped
up silver as the dust, And fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her
out, And he will smite her power in the sea, And she shall be
devoured with fire. Ashkelon shall see it, and fear. Gaza also shall see it, and be
very sorrowful, and Ekron. For her expectation shall be
ashamed, and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall
not be inhabited. and a bastard shall dwell in
Ashdod and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines and
I will take away his blood out of his mouth and his abominations
from between his teeth but he that remaineth even he shall
be for our God and he shall be a governor in Judah and Ekron
as a Jebusite and I will encamp about mine house because of the
army because of him that passeth by and because of him that returneth
and no oppressor shall pass through them any more For now have I
seen with mine eyes. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion, and shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, Behold thy King cometh
unto thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an
ass and 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 and his dominion shall be 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 have I sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit
wherein is no water. Turn you to the stronghold, ye
prisoners of hope. Even today do I declare that
I will render double unto thee, when I have bent Judah for me,
filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion,
against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty
man. And the Lord shall be seen over
them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning and the
Lord God shall blow the trumpet and shall go with whirlwinds
of the sound and the Lord of hosts shall defend them they
shall devour and subdue with sling stones and they shall drink
and make a noise through wine and they shall be filled like
bowls and as the corners of the altar and the Lord their God
shall save them in that day as the flock of his people for they
shall be as the stones of a crown lifted up as an ensign upon his
land for how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty. Corn shall make the young men
cheerful, and new wine the maids. We'll now turn to the Gospel
according to Matthew, and we shall read a few verses from
chapter 21. the Gospel according to Matthew
chapter 21 and we'll read down to verse 11. And when they drew
nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethpage, 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 any man say, Ought unto
you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them. And straightway
he will send them. 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 unto thee, meek,
and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass, And
the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought
the ass and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they
set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread
their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from
trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that
went before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the
Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when
he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who
is this? And the multitude said, this
is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. May God bless those
portions of his precious word. May he help us in prayer. Most gracious God, We pray that
thou wilt humble our hearts as we gather to worship thee. For we are poor sinners on this
earth and thou art in glory, now at the right hand of the
Father. And we have come to worship thee,
Lord Jesus. Oh, send forth thy Spirit, we
pray, into the hearts of thy dear children, that we might
truly worship thee in spirit and in truth, that we might know
what it is to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. And Lord Jesus, thou art the
beauty of holiness. Oh, increase our faith that we
might see and feel it. We pray that thou wilt come amongst
us this day, making thyself precious. Lord, thou art precious. Thy
word declares it. Thy dear people believe it. But
oh, to feel it, the preciousness of thy love. the preciousness
of thy mercy and compassion. We do pray that thou wilt have
compassion upon us as we gather this day. Compassion on us have
we prayed and send us empty not away. Lord come thyself through
the power of the Spirit and make Thyself known amongst us. And may we be led and taught
by Thee and upheld by Thee. Lord, as we gather for worship,
we would gather to praise Thee, thank Thee for Thy faithfulness,
for Thy mercies, for all that Thou art to Thy dear people.
Lord, thank Thee for every blessing The Lord, we're surrounded with
them, open our eyes to see. For mercies, Lord, as the sand
which daily we receive, we would thank Thee. And thank Thee for
the mercies of Thy free grace. And may free grace be known and
felt here as we gather together. Pour forth blessings from heaven,
we pray. Once more we gather round thy
precious word. We pray, Lord, that thou would
send forth thy Spirit to guide us into thy truth. And not only
guide us into thy truth, but guide thy truth into us. Lord, may hearts be enriched
and know the truth as it is in Jesus. Bless us with Thy wisdom,
that wisdom from above, which is first pure, then peaceable,
easy to be entreated. Grant it to us, we pray. For
Lord, by nature we have none. We are but poor, blind, ignorant
sinners. But O, if Thou dost enrich our
hearts with Thy grace, and instruct us from Thy Word, how enriching
that is. We pray that Thou wilt make Thyself
precious as we meditate together in Thy precious Word Come Holy
Spirit, dove divine, and grant thy clear work in our hearts
through thy precious word. Deliver us from the flesh, it
can do us no good. But Lord Jesus, come thyself,
move amongst us. May thy word be made precious
to poor needy sinners, Lord, may it be suitable to the needs
of thy dear children. May the bread of life truly be
broken among us from heaven. May we feast on heavenly food. Lord, we thank thee for our earthly
food, but our poor souls need more than that. We pray that
they won't feed the hungry. strengthen the weak, help the
helpless, enrich the poor. O may the poor have the gospel
preached unto them, to remember each one, Lord young and old,
O that thou wouldst have mercy and compassion upon us. Lord, we pray that thy quickening
spirit might awaken hearts, open eyes, cause the legs of the lame
to walk. Let thy work appear, we pray
thee. We do pray for those who are
sad and mourning. We think of the sad loss of dear
Mrs. Fields, that Lord a member taken,
taken home to glory and as thou hast taken one home we pray that
thou will gather in another or many if it could please thee
to fill that empty gap do comfort the family Lord Jesus we pray
and comfort the church Oh, to know that thrice comfortable
hope that calms our stormy breast. So comfort the dear friends. Do bless the ministry of thy
dear servant, our brother, in his labours here, his labours
at Matfield today. May our labours be in the Lord. Lord may they be blessed. Lord
may there be that that remains both there and here. Oh may the
unction of salvation supple every conscience well, breaking down
the strongholds of sin and Satan, building up for sinners in Christ
Jesus. delivering us from evil in every
evil way, causing us to cleave to Thee. So bless Thy word, Lord,
not only at Matfield and here, but to the very ends of the earth.
So may the name of Jesus be made precious from the rising of the
sun to the going down again of the sea. Bless thy precious word,
help thy dear servants as they labour. Lord enable them to venture
forth in the fullness of the gospel of the dear Lord Jesus. Blessing the word, comforting
thy church, helping thy dear people. Lord we pray for our
nation in all its sin and wickedness We would not point a finger at
them, Lord, for once we were there and loved it. We do thank thee for delivering
mercies, and we pray that they will yet deliver more from the
bondage of sin and the dark, dark days of Satan that hold
poor sinners where they are. Oh, may the gospel break in. and that will do us good. We
do pray for those who reign and rule over us. We especially think
of the royal family, the king in his sickness and the princess of Wales in
hers. We do desire that these things
might be sanctified too. that if it could please thee,
Lord Jesus, it might be a voice to them. Lord, they are poor sinners under
the sentence of death, but may they know the place of life,
even thee, Lord Jesus, for thou art life eternal, life everlasting. Oh, could it please thee so to
teach and instruct them Teach and instruct us each, Lord, that
our days are numbered, hastening on. One thing matters. That one thing is Thee, Lord
Jesus, the one thing needful. How needful Thou art, Thy precious
blood to cleanse away our sins, Thy glorious righteousness to
clothe us completely. For Lord, we can neither cleanse
ourselves nor clothe ourselves. That Lord, we're like Adam and
Eve in the garden, naked. May sinners be brought to thieving.
And but for Thy mercy, Lord, they would have remained unclothed.
But Thou made provision for them. Oh, we see Jesus there. that
robe of righteousness, a sacrifice. Lord, may our hope ever be there.
And may poor sinners be brought to rest there and there alone. So bless us together. Be with
us now, Lord Jesus, as we turn to thy precious word. Be wisdom
and strength. We need it from Thee in heaven.
We pray that Thou would have mercy upon us. Do forgive our
many, many sins. We plead Thy precious, sin-atoning
blood and ask these blessings in Thy name. Lord Jesus, Amen. will continue the service with
him 414. The tune is 838, Seek Him. I long for a concert of heavenly
praise to Jesus my God, the omnipotent Son. My soul should awake in
harmonious lays. Could it tell half the wonders
that Jesus has done, in 414. Holy, holy, holy, Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord be with you. In all the beauty, beauty of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave to the rest of the days of your
life. you. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ? The hills which he called home ? ? The
starry mansions of infamous men ? It's time to say good-bye. In ancient Navarra, where the ancient gods,
where the ancient gods, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Happy birthday to you. Happy
birthday to you. You will find the word on my
spirit this morning in the prophecy of Zechariah, chapter 9. And we shall read verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee. He is just, and having salvation,
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of
an ass. The prophecy of Zachariah, chapter
9, Verse 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee. He is just, and having salvation. and riding upon an ass, and upon
a coat the fold of an ass. This beautiful prophecy, as we
read in Matthew, speaks of Christ only, and He has completely fulfilled
it. fulfilled it to the letter. It
was spoken by Zachariah in troubling times. I'm sure you noticed that
in her reading. It says that Tyrus did build
herself a stronghold, heaped up silver as the dust, buying
gold as mire of the streets, and behold the lot Lord will
cast her out He'll smite her power in the sea, she shall be
devoured with fire, Ashkelon shall fear, Gaza shall see it
and be very sorrowful. And surrounding the text there's
nothing but trouble. And yet, in the midst of all
this trouble, we have this beautiful promise.
You might say, well, what does it mean? Beloved, for the laws, dear people,
it means this, that the gospel is established
in troubleless times. It will be till the end of time. And this alone, What we have
in our text was to be the hope of God's ancient people and nothing
else. Their hope and the hope of the
godly was fixed on Christ alone. One thing that marks out every
true prophet of God was he prophesied of Christ. The false prophets never mentioned
it. And Christ is the hope of his
dear people from Adam's day to the end of time. And sometimes we fondly look
and perhaps fondly think, well will the world be converted in
masses? Wasn't it in the Old Testament? Note that the ancient Church
of Christ was constantly in the midst of troubled times. And when Jesus came from heaven
to earth, it was constant trouble in the world, wasn't it? To whom did he come? A nation
that was governed by a foreign power, Rome. And divine wisdom came there. And we never hear the Lord complaining
of it. He performed the work of salvation
in the midst of it. And really we have a picture
here in Zechariah chapter nine of just that. Did Jesus have an easy life in
this world? No, he didn't. He was assaulted. He was reproached. He was ridiculed, wasn't he? The Gospels made that clear.
He was in trouble at times. I know what it is. I used to
fondly think, well, perhaps this will happen and change the whole
country. This is what changes everything.
Nothing else. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is so ordinate. Sometimes
we get fumbly, at least I speak for myself, you get fumbly and
you think it's carried away. It's troublous times. And yet in the midst of these
troublous times, the Lord's dear people rejoiced greatly. Zechariah and those ancient ones,
they were building the old temple, they were working, weren't they,
in the ruins of it. What a beautiful word of encouragement
for them. You're not labouring vain. One
day this glorious king is going to come. One day this glorious
king will ride in. One day the glories of salvation
will be finished. One day the wonders of redemption
will be displayed. It was an encouragement to them
later on. And to the church today, this
glorious King is coming again. Isn't that our hope? It's Christ only. King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords. This mighty savior is the foundation
of real rejoicing to the daughter of Zion, that is the church,
the Lord's dear people. So as we look at our text in
context, we see the days of trouble that surrounded Zechariah as
he labored and prophesied. And we see just the same thing
the prophecy was fulfilled. If ever a country was in trouble,
it was Jerusalem. Their power was taken away. The
Romans ruled. They labored under their tribute. Their money was being taken back
to Rome to support that empire, that really a wicked empire. Things haven't changed. And they're
not going to. Now as I speak, I remember as
a little boy walking down the high street in Westley where
we lived with my father. I don't know what had taken place
in the world. I cannot remember as a boy, but
I can remember a woman saying to me, oh Mr. Rand, isn't it
awful? Isn't it dreadful? We see dreadful
things today, don't we? Awful things happening. Isn't
it awful? Yes, my dear, he said it is.
But he said, read the Old Testament, you'll find worse. And we do
today, don't we? And it will be so. But the Gospel,
beloved, the Gospel will be established. And Christ will be exalted in
the hearts of his dear people. If you turn or read on after
our prophecy. He shall speak peace unto the
heathen, and his dominion shall be 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 where there is no water. There's the gospel
going forth in the midst of a troubled world. And nothing will stop
that, beloved. Nothing. It will be, it's dominion
shall be from sea even to sea. Every nation, tribe, kindred
and tongue will be gathered in. And nothing will delay it. Nothing will stop it. It will
be in the midst of a troubled, fallen world. The wonder of it. Child of God, this is our comfort. This is our hope. Well then let's
look at our text. Let's look at what the church
is called to rejoice over. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion. O ye daughters and sons of Zion. Here's the foundation. What is
it? Thy King cometh unto thee. He is just, and having salvation,
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of
an ass. What a description, and how beautifully
it was fulfilled in our reading in Matthew. really beloved that there's only
one king that reigns in Zion and that
truly reigns in this earth and it's Jesus he's the king of kings and the
lord of lords he was born king Where is he born king? No man is born king in an earthly
sense. They may be born to be king,
but Jesus was born a king. He came forth from the father,
king, thy king. It speaks of the reign
of Jesus. Tell me, Let's be honest with ourselves. Who is reigning in our hearts
this morning? What is it that reigns? Well
by nature it's sin. By nature it's the carnal heart
of man. We have to confess to that. But when Jesus enters in, Just as he entered into Jerusalem,
so by the Spirit he enters into the poor sinner's house. And he takes over. That's the
King. You know, yes, Jesus is a priest
to intercede. He has some glorious offices,
an advocate, so on and so forth. But what about the office of
King? to totally reign over. He takes control. Many, many
years ago, I remember being in Scotland, and we went to a kirk,
as they call them up there, and there was a wonderful old preacher,
and I can remember him, in his sermon, there were quite a few
children there, and he particularly turned to the children. And he said, you know, he said,
I was walking down through the village and I saw the baker in
his old van. And he stopped the van and he got out to take the bread
round somebody's house. He said it wasn't long, he said,
before his dog, he said, that was sitting in the passenger
seat jumped in the driver's seat and sat behind the wheel. And he said, as I walked I looked
and back come the baker. As he approached the van and
opened the door, he said, the dog jumped in, he said, and the
baker took control. He said, that's what happens
when Jesus comes. We have to get out of the driving
seat. He takes over. It might be a
simple message, but I haven't forgotten that. How true. Who's
our guide? Our counsellor? Is it King Jesus? If he's in the church, thy King
cometh unto thee. Oh, just as he come now over
2,000 years ago, he still comes. And he comes into the heart of
his dear people. And he takes There is no king
like Jesus. No king at all compared to him. He was born king. He was proclaimed king when this
prophecy was fulfilled. We read that together as they
rejoiced and so on. And he hung on Calvary's tree
and he died king. And now in heaven and glory he
lives, Sion's king, thy king. Is he your king? Is he my king? What then further are we told
about this king? He is just. totally just. That is completely
holy. Faultless. That's what the word
means in scripture. To be just is to be holy. I know
the great doctrine of justification unfolds. For the just shall live
by faith. But we are speaking of Christ,
who is utterly and completely Just. His whole life as a real
man. This is the King that reigns.
In all his works, in all his ways, in all that he says, in
all that he does and has ever done and still does, he's perfect. He's perfectly just. And it is so in the work of the
hearts of his dear children. It's a just holy work. He can
do nothing but He is just. He is just. Again another thought
beloved, He is just, He is utterly righteous. There is no imperfection in Him.
He is the Holy One. of his works and ways but we
think also of his righteousness that he wrought for his dear
people. Here the prophecy is prophesying the end of his life. But for about 33 years before
he had lived a completely holy just perfect life. And he was eternally just and
holy. Who was that holy life for? That righteous life? That's for
his people. But is that your hope, child
of God? Are this glorious King? I'm what he is. We've got no
holies. We're unholy needs no proof.
We sorely feel the flaw and do even still at times. Oh, to know something of that
wonderful life he lived. Here's the person that was riding
into Jerusalem now 2,000 years ago. He's just. Gloriously just. He is just. Who can plummet the
depths of these words? Mortal tongues are dumb at best. We must die to speak of Christ,
but to see a little of his holiness, his perfection, how he has kept
the law, made it honourable. How all that God demands of man,
he has met it for his dear children. Thy King cometh unto thee, He
is just. The second thing is having salvation and having salvation. Christ is salvation. You go back right to the beginning
of the gospel, before the dear Lord Jesus Christ was born, when
the angel came to Joseph and spoke to Joseph concerning the
child that Mary was to bear, what did he say? Thou shalt call
his name Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sins. He's salvation. Yes, as he rode
into Jerusalem, he was going to the cross to save the church. The point here, beloved, that
I discerned is this, that Christ is salvation, and that Christ
alone can give salvation. It is the hope of Israel. There was no salvation in all
the types and shadows in ancient worship. They were but what they
were. Types and shadows, as Paul speaks
in Hebrews. But Christ is salvation, it belongs
to him. He has it. Having salvation. And he alone can give salvation. He alone can save. It's Jesus only. You know, I was only speaking
to a minister recently, and we were both troubled on one point,
that poor sinners were resting on something other than Christ
himself. There's only one person who is
salvation, it's Christ, and only one person who can give it, and
it's Christ. And that's where the Lord's dear
people are brought to seek after it, because they feel lost. He has it. He alone can give
it, He alone can give grace. He giveth grace and glory. He's
the Saviour. this sacred saviour. Now he's at the right hand of
the Father, beloved, but this truth is just the same today. And if there's any one of you
here feeling lost and ruined and finished, oh beloved, may
the Holy Spirit break your hearts to this glorious person in heaven
who has salvation and who alone can get it. and seal it into
the heart. My mind goes back to when I was
seeking now many a long, long year ago. I can remember one
night in the depths of sin and shame and wickedness I felt before
my God. Yes, we'd had to leave the world,
but that doesn't forgive you. That doesn't take away your sins,
I can tell you that. The repentance that Jesus gives
turns us to Him. But what I was going to say was,
I think my Bible was open and the hymn books were open. Oh,
I was a seeking, searching sinner then. But suddenly I realised
that I needed salvation from Jesus. And I remember shutting
the Bible and every hymn book and all the books and everything.
And I fell on my knees before Jesus. Save me. Save me or I die. Only He has
salvation. And blessed be God, He gives
it. Seals it in the heart. He is this glorious, blessed
Saviour. Having salvation. As He went to the cross, He had
salvation. It was treasured up in Him. The
Father placed it there. He was going to Calvary. What? To finish the work of salvation. Who? For the daughters of Zion.
He didn't need it. It was His church who He loved
that needed His daughters. And He went and procured it there.
That's what happened on the cross. the work of salvation when he
cried it is finished he finished the work of salvation eternally in that he bore away all the
sins of his dear children Oh, when you think of salvation,
you have God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, all
involved, the one God. For the Father took, as only he could, all the
sins of his church, from Adam's day to the great burning day,
he gathered them up, Oh, you see his foreknowledge
there. And he laid them on his beloved son in Gethsemane. And
the dear Redeemer went to Calvary with their sins. You know, I
remember last year I was preaching, and I was in that psalm, Jesus
speaking prophetically, where he said, what David said, didn't
he? Mine iniquities. That was Jesus speaking prophetically. Oh how sweet that is. Mine iniquities. Not yours. They're mine now. They're laid on me. They're mine to suffer for. They're mine to die for. They're mine to wash away in
my blood. They're his. Oh, the work of
salvation, how deep, how glorious, that Christ has totally taken
away the sins of his people and prepared them for heaven. And
that work takes place by the Spirit in their hearts on this
earth. having salvation. Will the Lord
ever bring us to realize that? So he's King, he's just, he's
holy, he's perfect. He alone has salvation. Christ only. He has the divine
right to give it and he will give it to all his dear children
and bring them to rest on him for it. The land is lowly. How different from the kings
of this earth. Lowly and riding upon us. What do the kings of the earth
ride on? Well I know today they're riding
Rolls Royces and all manner of wonderful vehicles. What does man put it all around? I thought driving across here,
I've seen pictures, you probably have seen them too, these rajas
in India on magnificent elephants all decorated up and riding forth
in regal glory and things like that. That's man. But what did Jesus choose? An
ass. An ass. Or we might say a donkey. The lowliest of animals. The lowliest. He was king. Now he humbled himself and made himself of no reputation. I thought as we read the account
in Matthew together. He didn't have a regal saddle
and royal things on it. He had a few coats cast over it. that then he rode forth to the
cross to Calvary lowly he humbled himself
and made himself of no reputation the last thing that man would
want to do is lose his reputation You could take a lot away from
poor fallen man, couldn't you? Be honest with yourself. Touch
a reputation. Begin to touch the quick. He made himself. No reputation. He came from heaven to earth. Where did he choose to be laid?
In a borrowed manger. This king of glory rode into
Jerusalem. Upon what did he choose to ride? A borrowed ass. After salvation's work was finished, where was he laid? A borrowed
grave. He made himself no reputation
took upon him the form of a servant what humility that's the effect
of grace in the hearts of his sons and daughters humility that's the robe the church has
to wear on this earth humility. Takes me back, beloved, now,
I don't know, must be 50 years ago. I'll tell you a little story
and then I'm going to sit down. Well, I'm sitting down already.
I'm going to finish. The evening before I was baptized. It was
a Sabbath evening, I was baptized on a Monday evening. It was an
evening service at Luton Bethel. And in the afternoon, late in
the afternoon, I went for a walk out of the village, pondering
over the next evening being baptized, following my Lord and Saviour.
It's a solemn step, a sacred one. And I walked out of the village
to the outskirts. The old parish church stood on
the top of a hill. There's a path that goes up to
it. It's on the slope, so there's
a bank on one side, it fell away on the other. I walked up that
path, full of thoughts. I still remember it. I turned
and leaned upon a fence post and I looked down and there were
a few donkeys in the field just below as I
looked down and it came just like this into
my soul that thy Lord and thy Saviour rode into Jerusalem on an animal like that. I can
remember leaning on that post and weeping at the humility of
Christ. That he should stoop so low to
save such a wretch. Oh the wonder of it. that the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords chose that lowly animal and the sight of it broke my
heart I walked on up the path and it wasn't long before over
the hedge on the higher side the most beautiful black horse
come over the top stood still And I said in my heart, Lord,
that's what I would have chosen. And we would, wouldn't we, Harold
Carver Hartz? It was the most beautiful beast. As if the Lord set before me
the humility of Christ. He could have chosen that, but
no. I remember thinking if I had
to go through the village and was told to choose which one
I'd ride through, my entire heart would say the big black horse. But humility has to choose the
humblest path. And oh, the wonder as we went
up that path. As I walked on up the hill, pondering
everything, I can still remember it. Thy Lord and Saviour, He rode
to the cross. I would have liked to feel it
more beloved but I felt it then for you. To Calvary for you. So this text this morning is
a special one to me. I hope it's a special one to
one here. When I got to chapel that Sunday
evening my dear old pastor knowing glory He took this for the text. He knew nothing about me. And
all I thought up that path he preached. And what I've tried
to say this morning, much the same, is Christ only, the foundation
of our salvation, the foundation of our hope, the only way to
do The only place of forgiveness and peace with God is this glorious
King. Now in heaven, all that he has
done. May this be our resting place,
our home. I can tell you, perhaps one or
two of you can say this thing. This is happiness. This is peace. This is heaven on earth. What's
in this little, this text, this glorious text, is everything. May we know it. May poor sinners here be brought
to seek after it, and may seeking souls be shown the sweetness,
the beauty, and the glory of Christ only. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold thy King cometh unto thee,
he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass,
and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Our closing hymn is 540. The tune is 38, Keswick. Jesus the Lord is King and be
his name adored. Let Zion with sweet pleasure
sing the honours of her God. In 540. It's such a beautiful day. I can't say no more. And with tears I'll share with
you all the love of God. ? And fill it with her blood ?
? And make sure to understand ? ? That in her holy Christ ? O'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Now may thy grace, dear Lord
Jesus, and the love of God, the communion of the Holy Spirit,
rest and abide with us each, now and for evermore. Amen.