Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee,
would like to invite you to listen to a message of Sovereign Grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. I would
like to speak to you today from Matthew 21, if you would like
to read along with me, Matthew chapter 21. And I want to begin
by telling you what the title of this message is. I've titled
it, The Most Important Question on Earth. That is sincerely what
this is. the most important question on
earth. Let's begin by reading some verses
here in Matthew 21, and I will point our question out when we
get to it. Matthew 21, verse one, it says, And when they drew
nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount
of Olives, Then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them,
go into the village over against you, and straightway you 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, you 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 the 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, And here's our question. Who
is this? All the city was moved with this
question. Who is this? Who is Jesus Christ? What think ye of Christ? Who do you say the Son of Man
is? Who is this? Who is this? Before we answer that question,
I would like to point out that this multitude right here tried
to answer that question, but they got it wrong. They missed
it. And that is quite often still
happening today. Multitudes of people throughout
various religions, they believe that they have an answer to that
question. But sadly, their answer is wrong because they missed
it. They just missed it. Now look
with me at verse 10. It says, 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. They missed it. They missed him. Now, was his name Jesus? Yes,
it was. But his name is so much more
than that. So much more than that. He is
not merely Jesus. That's his name of humility.
That is his name of humanity. If we only know him by that name,
many people only know him by that name. They only refer to
him and only think of him as Jesus. And if we only know him
by that name, we have missed him. We have missed who he is. Who is this? This is the Lord
Jesus Christ. That is not just his full legal
name. That's his authority. That's
his office. That's his declaration of accomplishment. That's who he is. That's what
he has done. In stating that name, that's
who he is. That's what he has done. When
we call him Lord, we're calling him God. God. The name Lord means, if you look
it up, the name Lord means sovereign God. That's what it means. It's
his name of deity. When we call him Jesus, we're
calling him man. It's his name of humanity. It's his name of humility. When
we call him Christ, we are calling him the fullness the fullest
degree of both. Now that's the amazing thing
about the God man. He is not half God and half man. He is 100% God and 100% man.
That's amazing. Verse 11 says, the multitude said, this is Jesus,
the prophet. Now, was he a prophet of the
word? Yes, he was. But he is infinitely
more than just a prophet of the word. He is the word himself. He is the word of the prophets. He didn't just speak the truth.
He is the truth. There's a big difference. Verse
11 says, the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of
Nazareth of Galilee. Was he of Nazareth? Yes, he was.
But he wasn't just of Galilee. He was of God. He wasn't just
from a place on this earth. He was from before the foundation
of this earth. He wasn't just from Israel. He
was from eternity. We can preach truths about him
and still not preach the truth concerning him. That's so. You know, you can tell half of
the truth and still be telling a lie. We can live in error and
lies just by not saying the whole truth concerning this man. And
I truly don't want us to live in error and lies. I don't. I do not want us to go through
this life in error, listening to, believing lies. I pray God
will reveal the truth of who this is to us today. I pray that he will. So that's
the question. Who is this? Now, there are so
many places in the scripture we could find the answer to that,
who Christ is. I wanna find our answer straight
from this text. From these verses right here,
we can clearly see who this is. I have five things that stand
out to me that declare who Christ is. And I pray that our eyes
will be open today to see this. I truly do. All right, five things
from this text that will clearly tell us who Christ is. Look with
me at verse one. It says, and when they drew nigh
unto Jerusalem and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount
of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples saying unto them, Go
into the village over against you, and straightway you shall
find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them
unto me." Who is this? This is the commander. This is
the master and commander. This is the one who gives the
command. Now think about this. Really
think about this. You know that most people believe
that he is standing there waiting on man to give him the command. That's what many, many people
believe that he's just standing there waiting on man to give
that command that says he can save them or he can help them
or he can do something for them. That is not so. That's not so. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
willing servant of God the Father, but he is not the servant of
man. He is the master and Lord of
man. He said, you call me master and
Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. Everything that he has
to say to mankind is a command. Everything. Everything that he
says is a command. When he says, come unto me, that's
not an offer. That's a command. It's not an
invitation. It's a command. When he says
bow, when he says to a heart, bow, that's not good advice.
That's a command. When he says believe, if a soul
is going to believe on him, it has to come from him giving the
command. Believe. When he says that, that's
not an option to take it or leave it. It's not something out on
the table that you can accept or reject. That's a command. It's a command. When he says
to the wind and the waves, peace, be still. That's a command. What is the end result of his
command? When he said, you know, he walked
out to the bow of that ship, the disciples came and they said,
we're going to die. And he said, peace, be still.
What happened? He says, there was a great calm. And that doesn't
mean that everything just slowly settled down and there was peace.
That means it went from raging storms to in one moment, dead
calm. So much so the disciples marveled. They'd never seen anything like
this. They said, who is this man? Who is this man? When he said to David in Psalm
27, seek my face, what happened? David said, thy face, Lord, will
I seek. When the Lord told these disciples
to go get that colt, what happened? Verse six. The disciples went
and did as Jesus commanded them. Commanded them. That's who he
is. We need to know that. That's
who he is. In Isaiah 46, he said, I declare
the end from the beginning and from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done. saying my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country.
Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I've purposed it. I will also do it. Period. He said, if I say it, it will
be done. Period. That's who he is, he
is the commander, he is the master. That centurion came to him and
said Lord my servant is sick and the Lord said I'll come to
your house and heal him and the centurion said that's not necessary,
you don't have to come to my house, you just speak the word
only and it'll be done. That's who He is. That is who
He is. Right here in Matthew 21, He
commanded them to go get this colt. And verse three, He said,
Who is this? Who is this man right here? This
is the sovereign over all things. This is the sovereign, not only
over everything, but the sovereign over every
man and woman on this earth. This is every man and woman's
sovereign. over in Mark chapter 11. This
is Mark's account of what we're looking at here. And it says
in Mark 11 verse one, when they came nigh unto Jerusalem, unto
Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sendeth forth
two of his disciples and saith unto them, go your way into the
village over against you. And as soon as you be entered
into it, you shall find a colt tied whereon never man sat, loose
him and bring him. And if any man say unto you,
why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need
of him, and straightway he will send him thither. And they went
their way, and found the colt tied by the door without, in
a place where two ways met, and they loose him. And certain of
them that stood there said unto them, What do ye loosing the
colt? Now Luke's account, which we
will read in just a moment, says it was the owners of the colt. It wasn't just random people
watching all this happening saying, now wait a minute, I know that's
not your colt. What are you doing? Luke's account says it was the
owners of the colt. They thought this colt was their
property. What this proves is everything
is God's property. Everything belongs to Him. Everything
belongs to the sovereign. He said the cattle on a thousand
hills are mine. He said, every beast of the forest
is mine. He said, the fowls of the mountains
and the wild beast of the field are mine. He said, the world
is mine and the fullness thereof. That's Psalm 50. These men just
thought the colt was theirs. So verse five right here, certain
of them that stood there said unto him, what do ye loosen the
colt? And they said unto them, even
as Jesus had commanded and they let him go, they let him go. They said, the Lord has need
of him. The master, the sovereign has need of him. And I can envision
these men being some pretty rough men. And when they heard that,
they said, absolutely take him. They let him go. Our Lord does
not try to do anything. He does not hope to do anything. All of his purposes come to pass. Everything works together in
the accomplishment of his will. Everything. Nothing stands in
his way. No one stands in his way. People talk about us ruining
his plans or the adversary, the devil, ruining his plans. No
one and no thing hinders him. not even the adversary, no one. This is the sovereign. Everything
that he does is sovereign. That's who he is. That's who
he is. Now back over in Matthew 21 verse
four says, 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. That is quoting Zechariah
9 verse 9. And it says that all things,
all of this was done that Zechariah 9 verse 9 might be fulfilled. Now, who is this? Who is this? Who is Jesus Christ? Here's the
answer. He is the fulfillment of all
scripture. He is the fulfiller of all scripture. Everything that we see in the
scripture, Christ is the fulfillment of it. Every requirement that
God laid on his people, Christ is the fulfillment of it. Every
responsibility given in God's word to God's people, Christ
is the fulfiller of it. Every time that we see this is
what God demands, this is what God desires, Christ is the fulfillment
of it. Every time a man made this statement
one time, this is such a good statement. He said, when we understand
that all of the ifs, the ifs in the Bible, every time you
see the promise of God, if this is God's promise to you, if he
said, when we understand that all the ifs in the Bible hang
on Christ, then the believer can claim them all as promises. And what he's saying is, the
moment we realize that all the demands of God's promises have
been fulfilled in Christ, all of the ifs have been fulfilled
by Christ, that's the moment we will realize that all of those
promises will come to us in Christ. by the work of Christ, not in
ourselves, only in Him. So who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He is the fulfillment of all Scripture. He died according
to the Scripture. He was buried according to the
Scripture. He rose again according to the
Scripture. And everything else concerning
Christ was according to, it was in the fulfillment of the Scripture. So verse four says, 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. Thy king cometh unto thee. Who
is the Lord Jesus Christ? He is the king. He's the king
there in Zechariah 9 it says he is the just one. He is the one who has and holds
salvation. All authority is in his hands.
He alone is the one who is worthy to be glorified and magnified
and honored and praised for who he is. and for what he's done,
for what he's done for his people, and the reason is because he's
the king. He is the king. But this is the amazing thing.
Though he was king, though he was the majestic one, he came
to his people meek and lowly. Meek and lowly, he humbled himself.
Though he was rich, he became poor because that's what his
people were. Meek, lowly, humble, poor sinners. He joined himself to us. It was
said in one of the commentaries, one of the commentary writers
on this portion of scripture, it said, great persons rode on
horses. Only poor people rode donkeys. He did that for us. He joined
himself to us. He came to be the substitute
for us. Who is this? He's the substitute. The substitute for his people.
That same commentary writer said donkeys were reserved for burden
carrying. He came to bear our griefs and
carry our sorrows on the cross of Calvary. And at that moment,
that's where he was headed. The cross of Calvary. Verse four
says, 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 the 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. Who is Jesus
Christ? He is the one who alone is worthy
to be glorified. He is the one who everything
on this earth exists for the purpose of glorifying him. That
cult was glorifying him in riding him into Jerusalem. Those garments
and those palm branches were glorifying him in being laid
down in the way of his entering into Jerusalem. Those people
were honoring and glorifying him by crying, Hosanna, blessed
is he that cometh into Jerusalem. And Luke's account mentions one
more thing that's not mentioned right here. Over in Luke chapter
19, in verse 33, it says, As they were loose in the cult,
the owners thereof, the owners of the cult, said unto them,
Why loose ye the cult? And they said, The Lord hath
need of him. And they brought him to Jesus, and cast their
garments upon the cult, and set Jesus their own. And as he went,
they spread their clothes in the way. 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 and praise God with
a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying,
Blessed is the king that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace
in earth and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from
among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto
them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the
stones would immediately cry out. Don't you love that? They
said, we're tired of this. Those Pharisees, they said, we're
tired of hearing them cry out. You make them hush. He said,
if I told them to stop crying, it wouldn't do any good. He said,
all the rocks would start crying, glory to God in the highest.
That's amazing, isn't it? Who is this? He's the one who
everything on this earth exists for the purpose of glorifying
him. Now, back in Matthew 11, Verse 8 says, A very great multitude
spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches
from the 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. That
word Hosanna means, Oh, save. Oh, save us, Lord. You're our
only salvation. You are our only hope. Redeem. Redeem us. Redeem us by your
blood. We are crying out to you. Who
is this? This is the Savior. This is the
Savior. He is the Redeemer. He is the
only deliverer from our sin. Lord, save us. Master, Commander,
Sovereign, Fulfiller, Accomplisher, King, our glorious Savior, all
of our hope, save us. Save us because of who you are. Because of who you are, for your
name's sake. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save. For your name's sake, have mercy
and save. Now, did he? He most certainly
did. When he said, it is finished,
it was finished. He's not only the author, he's
also the finisher of our salvation. That's who he is. To him be the
glory. Amen. You have been listening
to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can call
or write to the number and address on your screen or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.