Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I'd like for us to look this
morning at a wonderful passage of Scripture in John chapter
12. This is such a glorious event. And I wanna begin by reading
two verses here in John 12. Let's read verses 12 and 13. On the next day, much people
that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was
coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went forth
to meet him, and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel
that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, blessed is the
King of Israel. What a glorious event. Can you
picture that in your mind? Can you picture our Lord coming
through town And all of these people, they start running and
they're cutting down palm branches, throwing them in His way, crying,
Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel. I love the glory of
God. I love thinking about the majesty
of God. Look at Luke chapter two with
me. Luke two, verse seven says, And
she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one
to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known
unto us." What a glorious event. Could you imagine that sight?
Could you imagine that? Seeing the heavenly host praising
God. crying with all of their being,
glory to God in the highest. The king is here. The king is
here. Peace has stepped foot on the
earth. Goodwill has come to man. Glory to God in the highest.
That one who came is the king. He is the king. He is our king. He's my king. And he's a king
like no other. He is the king of kings. And back over in our text in
John chapter 12, his subjects are throwing palm leaves in his
path, crying, Hosanna, blessed is the king of Israel, while
he rides triumphantly. with his face like a flint straight
into the heart of Jerusalem." Now, why were they crying that?
What was he doing? Well, this chapter begins with
our Lord having dinner with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. In John 12,
verse 3, it says, then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard,
very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet
with her hair. And the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment. Then said one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why
was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given
to the poor? This he said not that he cared
for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and
bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying
hath she kept this." What was he doing? He was going to die. That's what he was doing. He
was going to die. The King came on purpose with
a purpose. The King came on a mission, and
that mission was to die. Back in Isaiah chapter 50, the
heading at the top of my page for Isaiah 50 says, Patient suffering. And now this is Isaiah 50. This
is back in the middle of the Old Testament. I thought Christ
didn't come until the New Testament. No, no, no. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. This Old Testament is pointing
to one person, Jesus Christ. Just like the New Testament points
to one person, Jesus Christ. Every word in this book is about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 50 is all about Christ.
And it says in verse five, the Lord God hath opened mine ear. This is Christ speaking. He said,
the Lord God hath opened mine ear and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters. and my cheeks to them that plucked
off the hair. And I hid not my face from shame
and spitting. For the Lord God will help me.
Therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint. And I know that I shall not be
ashamed. He is near that justifies me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him
come near to me. Let him come near to me. Hosanna
means oh, save. Our Lord set his face like a
flint. as he rode straight into the
heart of the battle. And God opened his ears, and
he heard his people crying, Oh, save. Oh, save us, Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel. This King came for the purpose
of redeeming his people. He came to die. Back over in
John chapter 12, verse 7 says, Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying
hath she kept this. For the poor always you have
with you, but me you have not always. I'm going to die. And
I'm not gonna be ashamed. I shall not fail. Verse nine says, much people
of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not
for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also,
whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priest consulted
that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason
of him, many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. If a man declares the truth,
the truth of the King, if a sinner declares how great things the
Lord hath done for him, he is going to be persecuted for that. He is going to be. They wanted
to kill Lazarus because Lazarus was going around telling other
sinners what God did for him. And men and women started believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they said, we're going to
kill him for that. Verse 12 says, on the next day, much people
that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was
coming to Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees and went
forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna. Blessed is the King
of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed is
the King of Israel. This King came to save. He came to die and redeem. The question I have is, Who did
He come to redeem? Isn't that a vital question?
Shouldn't we all know the answer to that? Who did He come to save? It says, blessed is the King
of Israel, doesn't it? That's who He came to save, Israel. Who is Israel? Jacob is Israel. God changed Jacob's name to Israel. Do you mean the sinner? Jacob,
the sinner, the trickster, the supplanter, that's who he came
to save? That's exactly who he came to
save. He came to save sinners. The seed of Israel, the spiritual
Jew. And listen to this, this Word
of God says, He is not a Jew which is one outwardly. He's a Jew which is one inwardly.
It's of the heart, in the Spirit. And do you know what that verse
of Scripture is saying? This is what He's saying. Jacob was
a sinner. The seed of Jacob, they're nothing but sinners.
And what that verse of scripture is saying, he's not a sinner
which is one outwardly. Every person on the face of this
planet knows he's a sinner outwardly. Every person does. If a person
does not believe he's a sinner, then he is lying to himself and
he's lying on God. Everybody knows he's a sinner.
Every person knows they have not kept God's holy law perfectly,
and they've not kept the laws that have been placed on us in
this land perfectly. We're sinners. We're transgressors
of the law. But He's not a true sinner, which
is just one outwardly. Yes, I've done this. Yes, I've
done that. No, He's not a true sinner, which
is just one outwardly. He is a true sinner, which is
one inwardly. in the heart, in the spirit,
in the soul. Not just what I've done, what
I am. What I am. In and out. Well, this King is the King of
sinners. True sinners. True Jews. Look with me over in Matthew
27. Matthew chapter 27 verse 11 says,
And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying,
Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou
sayest. He said, Are you the king of
the Jews? And our Lord said, You said it. It came out of your
mouth. Verse 29 says, And when they had plaited a crown of thorns,
they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand, and
they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail,
King of the Jews. That's what they acknowledged
him to be, the King of the Jews. Verse 37 says, And they set up
over his head his accusation. This was all they could accuse
him of. They tried to find fault with him and they couldn't do
it. This is all they could accuse him of. They set up over his
head his accusation written, this is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. That's who this is. And verse
42 says, He saved others. This is what all the people were
reviling Him, saying to Him. He saved others. Himself He cannot
save if He be the King of Israel. If He is the King of Israel,
let Him come down from the cross and we'll believe Him. if he's
the king of Israel. No, he can't do that. He cannot
save himself. That's what they said. He saved
others. Himself he cannot save. He cannot save himself, not if
he's going to be the king, not if he's going to be the redeemer,
the savior, of Israel. This king came to save sinners. Now back over in John chapter
12, verse 14 says, And Jesus, when he had found a young ass,
sat thereon, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold thy king cometh sitting
on an ass's coat. Now the glory of this is in verse
14. There's one little word in there
that is so glorious. It's the word young. Young. When he had found a young ass. Look with me over at Luke chapter
19. This is the account of our Lord
bringing that cult to him. Luke 19 verse 29 says, And it
came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage, and Bethany
at the mount called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his
disciples, saying, Go ye into the village over against you,
in the which at your entering you shall find a cult tied. Whereon
yet never man sat, loose him and bring him hither. And if
any man ask you, why do you lose 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 colt, the owners thereof said unto
them, why loose ye the colt? And they said, the Lord hath
need of him. The Lord hath need of him. And
those owners let that colt go. Now no man had ever ridden this
colt. No man. What that means is it
had never been broken. Never. When a king is gonna come riding
in, whenever a king is gonna be put on parade and come riding
into a city, usually they're gonna find the most tame animals
they can find. They don't want any disruptions,
no problems out of those animals. But nobody had ever ridden this
colt before. And these disciples, they came
to the place where the Lord told them to go and they started unloosing
this colt. And the owners said, what are
you doing? And the disciples said, the Lord
has need of him. the master has need of him. And
the fact that the Lord made those owners willing to let the disciples
take the coat, that was their property, that was their money. But the Lord made them willing
to let the disciples take the coat. They were probably saying,
you can have him. They were willing for the disciples,
they wanted the disciples to take him. And I would imagine
them saying, you can have him. No man can ride him anyway. He's
nothing but stubborn and rebellious. There's not one good thing about
him. He's not a good one for the master.
If the master has need of him, he's not a good one. That's the
worst one we have. He's wild as a buck. Now I have
an old broken one back here that seems like he'd be a much better
fit for the master. If the master's gonna ride him
into town, I have one that seems like he'd be so much better,
seems like he'd be the one the master would want. The disciples
said no. The master said this one, the
wildest one. The vilest offender. You know, Christ came to save
sinners. I do mean sinners. The worst
of the worst. The chief of sinners. Christ said, bring him to me. I'm gonna sit on him and he's
gonna be broken. and I'm gonna ride him and lead
him in a plain path straight to Jerusalem. This king came
to break and conquer rebellious sinners and turn them into submissive
servants. He came to make his enemies his
footstool. That's the glory of this, the
absolute glory of this. And back over in John chapter
12 verse 14 says, Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat
there on, as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold,
thy king cometh sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood
not his disciples at first. But when Jesus was glorified,
And then remembered they that these things were written of
him, and that they had done these things unto him. This king came to die and redeem. This king came to break and to
conquer. And this king came to fulfill
every single thing that was written in the scripture. That's what
he came to do. He came to die and redeem. He came to break
and conquer. And he came to fulfill every
single thing that was written in the scripture. John chapter
18 verse 37 says, Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king
then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that
I'm a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice." He said, to this end was I born. This is
why I was born. This is why I came into the world,
that I should bear witness unto the truth. that I should fulfill
every single thing in God's word that sinful man could not. I'm
here to bear witness unto the truth. Back in John 17, verse
17 says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Verse 19, he said, for their
sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified
through the truth, through the truth. I'm here to bear witness
of the truth. So back in our text, John chapter 12, verse
16 says, these things understood not his disciples at first. But
when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things
were written of him. and that they had done these
things unto him. This king came to be glorified. It says when Jesus was glorified,
after his work was accomplished, after he was risen from the grave,
after he ascended back to his father, after he was glorified, Our Lord came that the Son of
God might be glorified. Every single thing He did was
to the praise of the glory of His grace. Every single thing. Verse 16, these things understood
not His disciples at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then
remembered they that these things were written of Him and that
they had done these things unto Him. The people, therefore, that
was with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave, and raised
him from the dead, bear record. For this cause the people also
met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.
The Pharisees, therefore, said among themselves, Perceive ye
how you prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after
him." They were so upset. so upset
they said the world has gone after him. The whole world? Has
the whole world gone after him? No. The world of believers. The ones that our Lord died for. The ones he redeemed. The ones
that he broke and conquered. The ones he fulfilled the word
of God for. Fulfilled the law for. The ones
who He caused to give Him all the glory. This King came to
gather His kingdom unto Himself. That's why He came. It's unto
every nation, tribe, kindred, tongue, generation, the world. Not just the Jews, the Gentiles
also, the world. but that world consists of all
that the Father has given him. Now I'll close with this verse
of scripture over in Ephesians chapter one, verse nine says,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will. He's made
known unto us why he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, everything he
went to accomplish. Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, According to His good pleasure. Every bit
of this is according to His good pleasure. He did all this because
He wanted to. He was willing to. According
to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself. Everything that God does is according
to His purpose. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of times. He might gather together in one
all things in Christ. Every bit of this was in Christ. Both which are in heaven, which
are on earth, even in Him. Even in Him. To God be the glory
Great things he hath done. What do God's people say to this?
Those who believe on what he came to accomplish for sinners.
What do we say to these things? There's only one thing we can
say. Hosanna, blessed is the king. Oh, save us, Lord. That's why you came. Glory and
honor be to thy name. Blessed is the King. Until next Sunday morning, may
our Lord bless His Word to our hearts. 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 write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.