Okay, so we'll be in Mark 11,
as our brother just read, looking at verses 1 through 11. The earlier
ones being more by way of review, since we looked at the first
six last week. We saw last week how the focus
was on the loosing and the bringing of the cult to Christ, and how
that revealed to us, it showed us a picture of Christ's loosing
of us and bringing us to himself, to serve Today, I want us to
build on last week's message, seeing further the authority
of Christ to do this, that he is the Christ sent of God, and
it's to our salvation. He was sent for our salvation. So our focus this morning is
going to be more so on Christ our King, Christ our King and
his glorious work of salvation for his people. Our title is,
The King Enters. We'll first look at Christ's
authority, then we'll see Christ's rule even in poverty, and then
Christ the Lord cleanses his temple. So let's first look at
his authority, Christ's authority. So everything that Christ has
been doing as he's walking in the flesh among his disciples,
he's demonstrating to his disciples and to us today that he is the
Messiah. He is the son of David that was
promised that should come. That he would come and sit and
rule upon the throne of David, even as was promised to David
and the people of God. It's as Isaiah 9-7 when he wrote,
the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end
upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it
and to establish from henceforth or here forward,
even forever. And it's the zeal of the Lord
of hosts that will perform this work. So Christ here in this
passage, he's demonstrating this now to his disciples and to us
that are looking at this passage that he does have the authority. He is the king and he has authority
to save his people. He has authority to do as he
pleases. He's not the future king. He's
not waiting to become king when he returns again. He is the king
now, as this is happening. He always was the king. He's
the king now, and he's the king even today, to this day, ruling
and reigning as he pleases in his kingdom. He's doing exactly
what he intends to do in his kingdom. Now, as we saw last
week, He has authority over all things, including the hearts
and the minds and the will of all men, even those that aren't
following Him as His disciples. We saw in Mark 11 verse 3, He
said, If any man say unto you, Why do ye this? and loosen the
coat, Say ye that the Lord hath need of him, and straightway
he will send him hither. And so it was when the disciples
went and loosed that colt, it was exactly as the Lord said.
And they said what the Lord said. And it all unfolded in that way. It says in verse 5 and 6, certain
of them that stood there said unto them what do ye loosing
the colt and they said unto them even as jesus had commanded and
they let them go so we see that christ does he he rules and reigns
over the hearts of all men but even more than that you know
even more than just the hearts of the the owners of the cult
that were questioning this, we see the willingness of the disciples. This was a help to the disciples
and the Lord was revealing his will, making his will known to
them. And you think about it, the Lord
says, go over here and you'll see a cult there, untie them
and bring them to me. Now, if one of us said that to
the other person, go and fetch me a colt. This person's donkey
over there in the field over there, we would rightly question
it and say, what do you mean? I'm not going over there to take
another person's colt. But the Lord addresses their
concern even before they ask it. He's wise, and he knows all
things, and he knows what we think. And so he outlines for
them. He says, you're going to find
it right here in this location. and they're gonna say this to
you, and you're gonna say that to them, and they're gonna let
you go. It'll all be as I said it to
you, so that he answers the very question of our hearts. He's
able to answer the very question that's in our heart. He's able
to reveal to us what we have need of knowing, even before
we know we have the question, even before we think to ask it,
and the Lord reveals it to us, so he brings it home to our heart,
that we would know, indeed, this is the Christ. This is the King. He is God and He rules over all. And our Lord said of His Father,
and we see it even so of Him, when He said, Your Father knoweth
what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. And because the Father
and the Son are one, Christ addresses that very thought of their heart,
Lord why How can these things be? And He addresses it and convinces
them so that they have what they need, the strength that they
need, the confidence that they need to go out and to do His
will. To trust Him that everything
will work out and unfold for their good just as the Lord said.
And I've no doubt that when they did that, I'm sure it was so,
again, as it says in Mark 7, verse 37, that beyond measure
they were astonished, saying, he hath done all things well.
They must have been just amazed at how could he know these things? Surely he is the Christ. Surely
he is sent of God to do this work. It's this Lord that speaks
to you and me today, that speaks to us still to this day. Even
as He spoke to the disciples, you know, after this, when they
were in the upper room, the Lord was teaching them. He was still
teaching them to know Him, to trust Him, and to believe Him.
And He said in John 14, verses 1 through 3, He said, Let not
your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you, and I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And so Christ speaks this, he
reveals this to us in his word, in his gospel, through the preaching
of the gospel, he's teaching us and he works this faith in
our hearts to know he does know all things and he does care for
me and he has provided for me and he's using us in his kingdom
as he sees fit and he gives us peace and the assurance to know
that He is the Son of God, that He is our salvation and our peace
and our joy. So He gives us this word that
we're His and He tells us what He's done for us. He makes known
to us that He is our very salvation, that He is our very inheritance. that we, that our hearts not
drift back into this world and he keeps us by his spirit so
that this flesh just doesn't rise up and overtake us but he
keeps us ever looking to him and so Christ obtains this cult
and it's in order that He would fulfill that prophecy spoken
of Him, and Christ, in Christ alone, is the only King that
ever did this. He's the only King that ever
entered into Jerusalem in this manner, to make known that He
is indeed the Messiah, He's the King that was promised before
in the prophets, hear Him, listen to Him. And it's what Zechariah
said in Zechariah 9.9 when he said, Rejoice greatly, O daughter
of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just. and having
salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the
foal of an ass." And so, this is Christ in Christ alone. Other
kings may have rode into Jerusalem, but it was on a stallion, it
was on something mighty and strong, and he comes lowly on a foal,
the foal of an ass, on a colt. Alright, the next thing that
we see in this, in Christ coming on this little cult, this small, weak, feeble, young donkey. He comes riding in on that, and
what it shows us is that he owned nothing. He was in complete and
utter poverty. He owned nothing in this world,
and yet he accomplished our very salvation. He accomplished all
things that he was sent to do in poverty, having nothing. And that's an encouragement that
this one who accomplished our very salvation is able to do
all things even with us who have nothing and have so few things,
so little gifts and are so weak in ourselves. He's able to work
his will and to do as he pleases. Alright, now in verse 7, Mark
11, 7 it says, And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their
garments on him, and he sat upon him. And it's just amazing when
you stop and you think how he owned nothing. He didn't own
this cult. He didn't own the coat that he
even sat on when sitting upon this cult. He had no saddle or
anything like that and yet it was all provided and it was all
there when he needed it. And so Christ didn't come with
great possessions and he served the Lord the whole time that
he was here utterly poor. and desolate. He had no place
to lay his head. He had nothing of his own and
yet divinely he provided all things. He trusted the Father
and the Father provided all things for him and gave him everything
that he needed. You think about it, you know,
when all the times he crossed over to the other side of Galilee,
it was always in a borrowed ship. It was never, he didn't own the
ship, it was always in a borrowed ship. And when he fed the thousands,
he borrowed two small fishes and a few loaves of bread to
feed thousands with that, and to give back to that child who
gave them to him. When it came time to pay taxes
for him and Peter, he pulled it out of a fish's mouth to have
those things. And so everything that was needed
was provided by his divine power. And Christ the man had nothing. had nothing and he was often
hungry and weary so weary and tired that he could fall asleep
in a boat that was filling up with with water and you know
that would wake you up and he was asleep through it and he
suffered the rejection and the hatred of his own countrymen
he suffered that that persecution and foolish questions and trying
to trap them in his words that they could betray him they all
that was done against him, and yet he remained faithful, trusting
the Lord. And, you know, even when he was
born, he was born into a manger that was borrowed. And when he
died, he was buried in a tomb that was borrowed. He had nothing. nothing, and yet accomplished
all things for his people. Paul said to the Corinthians,
Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through
his poverty might be rich. And so, you know, Christ's poverty,
It shows us one thing about this world's riches, doesn't it? It
reveals to us that he didn't attach himself to one thing that
this world counts valuable and says these are treasures. These
are the riches that a person aspires to have. And Christ used
it as though none of it was lasting or necessary or anything. used
what he needed to use and just moved on. And it shows that what
must have Christ prepared for us in heaven that the riches
of this place were nothing to him. He didn't hold on to them
at all. And it just shows to us that
what God has prepared for them that love him nothing here in
this world can compare to that. That the Christ himself being
our inheritance and the joy and the fellowship and the peace
of knowing him and being one with him and being where he is
is a great comfort and an assurance to us that nothing that we see
here is what it'll be like for us. We'll rejoice and be glad
in what God gives to us there. in heaven, alright? So, Christ,
just the way he handled things shows us that nothing here even
comes close to the riches that we have in Christ before God. And Moses saw this, even Moses
saw this, right? He saw the power of Christ back
then, and it's the power of Christ that makes us to know it, and
to believe him, and to trust him. As Paul said, I've committed
all things to him against that day. I'm trusting him to provide
everything and committed everything to Christ against that day. That's
my inheritance there, that day. So if I'm sacrificing and giving
up things here for his service in this kingdom, so be it. And
Christ set that example for us and so did his apostles and many,
many other servants. Like Moses, it says in Hebrews
11 verses 24 and 26. That's that chapter of faith
where we see our brethren who came before us and believed,
who gave up their own lives in service to the Lord, and Moses
being one of them. And it says in verse 24, by faith
Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."
He trusted the Lord and he believed the Lord and he waited for the
Lord and said, you know what, yes I can spare my life, yes
I can comfort myself and pamper myself a little longer, but The
people of God are being called over to here now, and I want
to go with them. I'm going to go with them and suffer with
them, even if that's what that means. So it doesn't mean that
we just subject ourselves to utter poverty and things like
that, but when we're called upon it, should we be called upon
to endure hardships? Remember, our Lord did it. He
gave to Paul to do it, he gave to Moses to do it, and many of
the brethren who were called to do it. And he'll give that
grace in that day, in that hour, he'll enable us to do it and
to see, you know what, I need to go with the people of God
in this time, in this hour, and be with them. So he calls, but
he'll give that word, he'll give that comfort in that hour to
you to go with him and to be with. with his people. And so
Christ is showing us that nothing in this world can compare to
the riches and the grace and the glory of God. And so we also
see though in this and what Christ accomplished is he doesn't need
what the elite of this world have, right? And what man uses
to influence people and to attract people and to retain people and
keep them. He didn't need any of that. He
didn't need that stardom and that power and that kind of wealth
to do amazingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think. And so, whom this world esteems,
Christ hates and passes them by. He doesn't use those things. And those whom this world hates,
that's whom draws to himself and brings to himself. And so
for them, for them he shed his blood. For that, the poverty
of this world, for the poor of this world and those who have
nothing in this world, who have no righteousness of their own,
who have no riches of their own, who have nothing to give or to
make a difference in any way, Christ through them makes a difference
and Christ for them, shed his blood and washes them clean from
their sin by his own blood, giving them his spirit, the preciousness
of having his spirit to reveal to us, to know the God who created
us, the God who formed us, the God who loves us and calls us
to himself. So he did all that and Paul wrote
to the Corinthians again, He shows how he takes that which
is poor and the offscouring and makes them his jewels, his precious
jewels in his crown that are trophies of his grace and his
glory. And Paul wrote to the Corinthians
in 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26 through 28, and he said, For
ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the
wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of this world to
confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the
world, and things which are despised hath God chosen. Yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught things that are. And so Christ
takes those with nothing to show his great power and his great
mercy and his great kindness to do for them what they can't
do for themselves and it silences the world, you know, and that
which they esteem, you know, that they esteem the things of
this world to be greater than God and God shows to us and reveals
to us that no, the things of God are greater than the things
which men esteem in this world and hold highly favorable. God
turns the hearts of his people to behold what he looks upon
and to rejoice in what he rejoices in. And so, brethren, another
thing we even see in it is that there's nothing shameful in poverty. There's nothing shameful in that.
The things that are shameful are the things that men will
do to make themselves poor, right? Like drunkenness and gambling
and things like that. Those things are shameful. Nobody
should do that. But to work hard, to have a skill or to go and
to work hard and yet be poor, there's nothing shameful in that.
Nothing at all. No one that maybe does well or
has a good job should ever look down on a person who does well
and does their job but still doesn't have a lot of money because
they're doing what they've been called to do. No one was as poor
as Christ. Christ himself was just as poor. So to despise the poor is to
despise your Lord and your Savior in the flesh. And so there's
nothing dishonorable about having little and being in that poverty. And so if you don't have much,
there's no shame in that. Only if you put yourself there
through foolish means. You do those shameful things
that put you there. So, a man who thinks himself to be something
when he's nothing, they'll be ashamed in that day, that day
of judgment. They'll know what it is to suffer
in that great day, no matter how much they've acquired or
have in this life. They'll suffer. In Matthew 25,
verse 32, our Lord said, it'll be in that day when the Lord
shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided
his sheep from the goats." Right? He'll put the sheep on his right
hand and the goats on his left and he'll separate them that
are his from them that are not his. Whether they think themselves
to be his or not, he'll separate them apart and it says, these
on the left shall go away into everlasting punishment but the
righteous into life eternal. And so they'll see, you know,
that They had the riches and abundance in this life for 70,
80, 90 years, 100 years. That's nothing in comparison
to the riches that Christ gives his sheep, that work for whom
he's prepared it in that very day. So, this king now, our Lord
Jesus Christ, he rides into Jerusalem and he's doing that to minister
to the poor. to the weak, to them who have
nothing before God, to them who are bankrupt sinners in abject
poverty when it comes to righteousness. And Christ, who is righteous
and holy and perfect in all things, He's the one coming into Jerusalem
now to do that very work, to make them rich in Christ, to
make them rich in Him. And then we'll see that he's
going to leave those that are rich in themselves, rich in their
own righteousness. He'll leave them. We'll see that
in a bit. So, for further comfort for the
believer, Christ provides all things and the peace that that
gives us is because we know, as he's teaching us by his Spirit,
we have nothing. to give to him. We can't give
back to him, we can't make up for it, we can't, there's nothing
we can do and yet Christ freely gives us all things in himself
and it's by his grace and not by anything we've done to earn
his favor. Alright, and so rather what Christ
does is he strips us, he strips us of those things that we hold
on to thinking these are the things that make us rich. in
righteousness. These works that I'm doing, he
strips us of those that we might truly be poor and poor in righteousness
that we would find that righteousness in Christ alone. And he does
that work for us. He delivers us from that kind
of vain riches that's natural to the flesh and what we come
forth hoping in and thinking in and believing in. And Paul
said, The reason why he does that, the reason why he brings
us nothing, the reason why he chooses them that are weak or
he makes them weak in themselves or he chooses them that are poor
or he makes them poor in themselves is so that the flesh should not
glory in his presence. And so, if he chooses to do that,
it's for grace. If he brings us to fear and tremble
in our own selves and to see what we are and to see our need
of him, it's in grace. It's in mercy that he does that
for us. And then he says, but of him,
of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it's written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And so our Lord, our impoverished
Lord in the flesh, He comes there with nothing, He rides into Jerusalem
and He's turned the hearts of these people that are following
Him and that He's coming upon. He turns them, some even in grace
He turns their hearts, but you have all these inhabitants from
Jericho that have followed him out of Jericho and they went
up with him up to Jerusalem and you have all these other people
that are coming out of Jerusalem and they're meeting him and they're
all seeing this one. They're seeing Christ coming
on this donkey. And it's to know that this is
the promised Messiah. He's arrived. He's come to us. This is the day which the Lord
is coming now to enter into his kingdom. And it says in Mark
11, verses 8 through 10, We read, And many spread their garments
in the way, and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed
them in the way. And they that went before, and
they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna! Blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our
father David that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in
the highest. And so Christ here is bringing
all this attention to himself. He didn't normally bring this
kind of attention to himself, but here he He's doing what he
needs to do to bring this attention to himself because he's letting
the chief priests and the scribes know, I'm here. I'm come. I am the Messiah. I've come to
do this work of salvation. And he's saying to all Jerusalem,
he's saying to the people, your king has entered. Your king has
arrived. He's come to the city. Behold,
your king. And so these people, they're
When it says they're throwing their garments in front of the
donkey, that's humility. They're saying, my possessions
and what I have are nothing compared to your comfort and to you, Lord. And they're throwing down their
coat. I can't even imagine throwing down my coat just so a donkey
could walk across it. It doesn't even enter my mind
to doing that. But their hearts were turned,
and they did that. They were bowing. They were showing
humility to Christ as the King. They were saying, you're the
King. and I'm nothing before you. You are everything." And
so they're shouting, Hosanna, saying, Blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our
father, David, that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna
in the highest. And so Christ bent their wills
for this purpose. He turned their hearts to do
this, to make it known, loud and known, what's going on, that
the king is entering into the city. And it reminds me of what
the psalmist wrote in Psalm 24, 9 and 10. where the psalmist
writes, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye
everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is
this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the
King of Glory. And so, that which Israel looked
for, that which she was to be looking for in the hope of her
salvation, the Messiah, she was to be looking for Him. And these
few people were turned and they're shouting to bring attention to
know, alright, that Christ is here. He's here to do this work. And it pricked. It got to the
the chief priests and the scribes. They got the message and they
knew what was going on and it was all working towards them
saying we've got to do something about this guy. They're all,
the whole city's turned in their hearts toward him and they're
all going to go after him and then we're going to have nothing.
So they began to plot and scheme how they're going to to destroy
him. Alright, so our Lord comes into
Jerusalem and he's riding on a colt that was never even ridden
before. Alright, look at verse 2, Mark
11 2, Christ told his disciples, ye shall find a colt tied whereon
never man sat, loose him and bring him. And so this isn't
just to show us that Christ has power over animals and they can
do it because we know It's not easy to, like, you don't just
sit on a cult that's never been ridden before, never been broken
before, and expect to have a smooth ride. And for them to be obedient,
they have to be broken. They have to be broken and submit
to their master and their lord. But here, Christ sits on it,
and that donkey, it obeys. It obeys. Christ conquers the heart. He's the king of his people and
he turns our hearts. He turns us to serve him to be
willing and obedient to Him. Now, man-made religion, with
religion, how do they force people? Well, they force people, I mean,
I kind of gave it away, but how do they control people? They
do it through the law, through whipping and beating of the law,
through threatenings, and through making them and trying to force
them to bow to their will. But we see that Christ Christ
is the one who turns the hearts of his people and that's why
we preach the Lord Jesus Christ and why we stay upon Christ because
I'm entrusting your very souls to him because I can't do anything. I can't do that. I don't want
to turn to the law and to whipping and beating you because I know
so what? That's just the work of the flesh.
That hasn't changed your hearts. but in preaching Christ and glorifying
Him and lifting Him up as the Savior, He's the one that works
on your heart. He's the one that turns the heart
and bends the heart to desire Him, to willingly bow before
Him in grace and faith because He's the one that circumcises
the heart, right? Not just the flesh like man can
do where all they can do is cut you into flesh and deal with
the flesh, but Christ goes to the heart and he's the one that
turns our hearts through him, through his power and his gospel.
Now, our Lord said to us, that's why he said to us, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart
and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. And seeing this here, what he's
doing is it shows us the proof of that. Christ got on that little
colt. It didn't buck or fight or try
to throw him off or go the wrong way. None of that. Because Christ,
He's a gentle Savior. He's able to turn that heart.
And look to Him. He gives everything that's necessary
to His people to turn to Him and to believe Him. Alright,
now I want you to go over to Matthew 21. Before we finish
up in the last verse, of Mark 11. I want to look first at Matthew
21 verses 10 through 17. And one of the things that we
see here, this is one of the corresponding passages, and what
Christ is showing us is that man-made worship, man-made religion
is vain, it's showy, it's just in the flesh, it only goes flesh
deep, it doesn't get to the heart of the matter. And you see it
because they're just making merchandise of the worship of Christ, of
God. They're just making merchandise
of worshipping Him and seeking God and worshipping Him. If you would be holy, if you
would be righteous and holy before your God, look to Christ. Don't
look to the works of your flesh. Don't look to the law. Don't
seek to worship God in the flesh. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Cry out to Him. Beg Him. He said, those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, they shall be filled. He's the
one who turns the heart to seek Him and to hunger and to thirst,
knowing, Lord, I'm sinning. I'm not right to sin myself.
Lord, I see it. I am the sinner. He's the one
who turns the heart to see that and to know that that's true,
all right? So here, Christ comes into Jerusalem. It says, and
when He was coming to Jerusalem, verse 10, all the city was moved,
saying, who is this? And the multitude said, this
is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into
the temple. Christ the king doesn't go to
an earthly court. Christ the king comes to the
temple to set his temple in order to show I'm the king of my people. And it says, and he cast out
all them that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the
tables and the money changers and the seats of them that sold
doves And said unto them, It's written, My house shall be called
the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. Right? It was a marketplace. It was
a place for them to get gain for their own selves. They weren't
interested in the worship of God. They weren't interested
in praising and worshiping the Lord. They were just interested
in what they could get out of this, right? And it says, and
the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed
them. He healed them. So that all that
is false, all that is the works of proud, vain, arrogant man,
Christ thrusts that out. Christ will not accept our works.
Christ will not receive that which we do in the flesh to earn
his favor and to earn a righteousness with him, and that's what he's
showing us, but in throwing those things out and driving that out,
those works of man and the works of man-made religion, he receives
those that are broken, those that are poor, those that are
weak and blind and lame, and he heals them. So he drives out
the pride of our flesh, but he receives that which is broken
and contrite. and humbly comes to him seeking
for help, seeking him for mercy and forgiveness. So the self-righteous
though, those that say, that can't be, I'm good, I am righteous,
I can work the works of God, I can do those things that will
please God, and make right what I've done wrong, I'll make that
right before God, and I trust that, surely God is looking to
me do something. He wants to know that I'm not
just being lazy and that I'm doing some part of it. And so
they keep looking to their works. And they hate grace. They hate
Christ. They don't want to hear of what
Christ has done for them. They want to hear what they can
do for Jesus. Right? That's what they want.
They speak of them lightly. They speak of them as just Jesus,
and not as the Lord, the King, the Christ-Sent of God. And so, having no spirit, and
because they have no life, they hate it. And that's what we see
here in Matthew, Matthew 15. And when the chief priests and
scribes saw the wonderful things that Christ did, and the children
crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David,
they were sore displeased. They were sore displeased. They
weren't pleased that the men and women were glorifying God,
that they were giving thanks and praise to God. They hated
it. They were sore displeased. And
so, that's why even men today who preach the law, right? They preach the law for righteousness. They speak to your flesh and
try to rule over your flesh. That's why they hate the preaching
of Christ, even to this day. They despise the preaching of
Christ. How can you speak of him? How can you speak of only
him? The people need the law. The
people need this for their righteousness. They need to do these things.
And so they get angry because in preaching Christ, there's
nothing for the flesh to glory in. and you're left hoping and
looking to Christ and saying, Lord, have mercy on me. Save
me, Lord, don't leave me to my own works. I'm a dead man if
you leave me to my own works. All right, number 16. And they
said unto Christ, hearst thou what these say? And Jesus saith
unto them, yea, have ye never read out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise? And isn't it true, the
simplicity of Christ. That baby talk. You know the
simplicity of just preaching Christ is exactly what his babes,
what his children rejoice in and are thankful for. Lord just
tell me again how you've done this for me. Lord tell me again
how You love me and have forgiven me of my sin through your Son,
Jesus Christ. Lord, wash me afresh in the blood
of Christ. Lord, draw me again to your Son,
Jesus Christ. Make me to love Him and not keep
loving this world or looking to this world. Save me from this
world. So out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, that simple
message of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has perfected praise. That's
how we worship God. That's how we praise God, saying,
Lord, Don't, don't receive, don't call me to yourself looking to
my works, but look to the work that the Lord Jesus Christ has
done. Receive me in his work, in his blood, in his righteousness
and not my own. Alright, but these, you know,
these babes, they, that are ignorant and poor and have nothing, they're
the ones that are rejoicing in the Messiah, but to the rich
and the self-righteous he leaves them. They're cast out. And look,
that's what it says in verse 17. And he left them. He left them. Left them to their
own riches, left them to their own righteousnesses, and left
them. And he went out of the city into
Bethany and lodged there. Alright? Not, he didn't leave
true Jerusalem, he left that outward dead city of Jerusalem
and left them to themselves. Alright, now I said I wanted
to go there, but let's go back to Mark 11 now. I want to look
at that last verse. Mark 11, 11. Because this is
how Mark records it. Mark 11, 11. It says, And Jesus
entered into Jerusalem. This is the same thing now, so
Matthew went a lot more expanded. But Mark just says, And Jesus
entered into Jerusalem. and into the temple, and when
he had looked round about upon all things, He had looked round
about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went
out unto Bethany with the twelve." So certainly you notice Mark
doesn't get into those details. He doesn't lay out everything
that we just saw Mark, I mean that Matthew said, because Matthew
laid it out, right? He said he went in there, overturned
money changer tables and sent them out and people were praising
him and he received the lame and the blind and he healed them.
And the chief priests were all upset about this and angry, but
Mark just says, he looked round about upon all things. And what we see in that is that
Christ, he's the one that works righteousness in his people,
right? Christ is the one who's doing all these things, working
this righteousness in his people, driving out vain, dead works
of religion. and healing that which is broken,
healing the lame who can do nothing, healing the blind who can't see,
He makes us to see, to walk in Him, to grow in Him, to know
Him. He does all that work. And what Mark, what we see just
by what Mark says is that whatever the Lord does, and bringing you
to see Him. Whatever He's driving out of
you, whatever He's separating you from and casting out of you
and driving it from you through the preaching of the gospel,
and how He's restoring you and healing you and making you whole
in Him, whatever pain you suffer in the flesh, you won't even
remember it. It's nothing compared to the
riches the grace of Christ. And that's why Mark just says,
it'll be like he just looked around, straightened a few things
out, and now you grow and you go off in him and grow in him
and know him. And so all that pain and pushing,
driving those things out in the flesh, it's nothing compared
to the glory and the riches that we have. in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, all that sorrow and that
pain will soon be forgotten in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just trust
Him. Trust Him. He knows what He's
doing. He's the King and He's faithful
and He's gentle and He's wise in what He does and how He's
healing you and restoring you in His kingdom and using you
to serve Him in His kingdom. It's for your good and it's for
His glory. It's for His glory and His honor. to his praise, and so trust that. So Christ in wisdom enters into
Jerusalem to fulfill all that the prophets had said. He's demonstrating,
as we saw, in loosing that colt, he's demonstrating salvation
to us, how he saves his people, that he's the one that looses
us and brings us to himself. and he's notifying us who are
self-righteous and trusting in our own works. He's making us
to know that's not how God saves. God does not accept these works
of man, but this is whom God receives, the broken, the weak,
those who have nothing, those who who have been shown, not
my works Lord, I can't work this for myself. And then we see how
he faithfully goes on, we'll see, he's the one who faithfully
goes on and does that work of salvation for his people. brings
it home to our hearts. So I pray the Lord will bless
us in Christ our Savior, our Lord, our King, our glorious
King, and make us to rejoice in Him, to shout Hosannas to
His name, and the glory and praise to His name, because He's the
one who does all this work for His people and in His people.
All right, let's close in a hymn, and then we'll close in prayer
after.