The name of the message today
is The King. The King. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
19. We'll read verses 28 to 40 to see the
context of the verses that we'll look at today. Our King, beloved
all, never forget that Jesus Christ our King, He was King
in eternity, He was born King, and He's King right now. There
has never been a time when he's not been king. Sovereign. God Almighty, as we saw last
week. God of all power. He reigns.
Remember last week? He reigns. In Providence, he
reigns in all aspects of salvation. He's God. And even when he was dying upon
Calvary's cross, he's still the king. He's the almighty king
of glory. He's become a man so that he
could die for our sins and redeem us with his precious, precious
blood. He's done that. So let's read
about our great king's triumphal entry into Jerusalem just before
his death. Now he's going to be going and
dying on the cross, and this is right before Before he goes
there, look at this in Luke chapter
19, verse 28 to 31. And when he had thus spoken,
he went up before ascending up to Jerusalem. And it came to
pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage in Bethany, called
the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. Now look
at this. They haven't wet yet. And he
says this, saying, go ye into the village over and against
you, into which at your entering you shall find a colt tied, where
unto yet never man sat. Loose him, and bring him thither.
And if any man ask you, why do you loose him? You shall say
unto him, because the Lord hath need of him. Now, let us glean
from these words here. Now, some might just read these
words and say, well, the Lord's just given them a command, tell
them to go over and do this. But also what the Lord's telling
them is what's going to happen. He's telling them what's going
to happen. Now, this brings forth the fact of the perfect knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He knew what men were going to
do to him when he went to Jerusalem. He knew they were going to hammer
him to a cross, nail him to a cross. He knew that. He knew they were
going to mock him and beat him and scorch him. He knew that.
But he did that for us, didn't he? And look at this. Look how his perfect knowledge
is shown here. He sends two of his disciples
into a village. He hadn't been there yet. He
sends two of his disciples into the village. He tells them that
they would find at the entrance of it a cold tide. Now, if I told you to go to Emily
City and to go to, I don't know, somewhere,
and there'd be something, that wouldn't even be true, would
it? Unless I already had someone
set that up. He hadn't even went to the village
yet. And he's telling them, you're
going to go and you're going to find a cold tide where no
man ever sat. And then we see him describing
what they would see and hear with much confidence. He's just telling them, this
is going to happen. This shows us his knowledge. This shows us who He's God. Only
God can know that. My, He's really God in the flesh,
beloved. He's describing to them what
they would see. He's describing to them what they would hear.
He's describing to them the question that the man would ask them. And then He says, just tell them
the Lord hath need of them. So what's the Lord going to do?
Well, he's just going to go, whew. What did he do to the Egyptians?
What did they give all the Jews? All he had to do was just turn
their heart a little bit. And they gave up. Do you know
all that gold and all that stuff, the jewels and all they give
to the Jews? Do you know that spoiled Egypt? Like an army would
come in and spoil them and take all their riches? That's what
the scripture says, isn't it? It's spoiled Egypt. So for the
Lord to have a cult, a man who owns a cult, to give that cult
to him, nothing for him, is it? Think
of how he acts upon us. Think of how the Holy Spirit,
when we got something in our mind and we know it's not right
to do it, and we get convicted all of a sudden. And then by God's restraining
grace, sometimes, right? The only way we're restrained
is by His restraining grace. A friend of mine used to say,
God will either release you to that or restrain you from it. Off we go. If He just takes His
hand off us, we go right into sin, don't we? You don't have
to do nothing. Just take His restraining hand
off us. That's all He's got to do. But He doesn't do that for us,
does He? He restrains us, doesn't He? He keeps us. Now we fall
into sin, but it doesn't catch God by surprise. He's already
made a provision for us. And then this is important too.
Don't ever stop confessing your sins to Christ. We know our sins
are all forgiven, right? But the scripture says that He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from
all. But we confess our sins to Him, don't we? I like what
Henry used to say. He said, we're saved, we're being
saved, and we will be saved. It's the same with repentance,
right? We've repented, we repent, and we continue to repent. It's
something we do for the rest of our lives upon this world.
Confess our sins. Lord, I don't deserve this. I
don't deserve this mercy. I'm such a sinner. And the more
we grow in grace, what do we see? The more we see ourselves
as sinners. We don't see ourselves getting
better. We see ourselves getting worse, don't we? To me, that's
growth and grace. Because Paul did the same thing.
He said, I'm the least of all saints. And then at the end of
his ministry, he said, well, I'm the chief. I'm the chief of sinners. And
John was the one who wrote that we should confess our sins to
Christ, to God. So let us never forget doing
that. But look at this. He describes
with much confidence what they're gonna see and hear, and even
what the man's gonna, just tell them the Lord needs the cold. Just tell them that. Now this
should leave us in awe. This should leave us in wonder.
In other parts of the Gospels, we're told in one place that
he knew their thoughts. He knew their thoughts. He knew
exactly what they were thinking. I'll tell you what, only God
knows what I'm thinking, same with you, right? Now we can verbalize
our thoughts sometimes, but God's the only one who knows
what's inside this noodle, right? My oh my, I'll tell ya, he knows
the thoughts, and he even knew the thoughts of his enemies,
didn't he? They were plotting against him and he even knew
it. We don't know when people are plotting against us until
something comes about. But He knew. He knew. He knew
what was in them. This is our Savior, beloved.
This is our Redeemer. He's proving right here before
us in this text that He is God. No one but God could know all
this. Again, He's not even reached
the village yet. He sends somebody else to go
in, two other people. And this type of knowledge can
only be attributed to God, only to him, can only be described
to him. So passages like this are meant
to remind us that the man Christ Jesus is not only man, but he
is, he's God blessed forever. That's what he is, he's God blessed
forever. He's the God man. Look at verse 32. And they that
were sent went their way and found even as he had said unto
them. Just what he had said, it happened. He's God in flesh. Oh, it just thrills my soul when
I read portions of scripture like this, because it just, he's
just reaffirming his deity. Who he is, he's God. And now
let's note that the conversation is just like that which our Lord
said. Bringing forth, again, God's perfect knowledge. Bringing
forth who Christ is. He's God. And his perfect knowledge. I had someone told me once, well,
he had to learn why he was coming, why he came here, why he did
all, he knew why he came here. Before he was even born, the
angel appeared and now shall call his name Jesus. For he shall
save his people from their sins. He made a covenant agreement
with the Father and the Holy Spirit that he would come down
here and redeem his people. And the scripture says a body,
there was a body made for him. Right? He's conceived of the
Holy Spirit of God, isn't he? Oh my! My oh my, he's God in
a flash. Look at this, in Luke 19, 33
to 37. And as they were loosing the
colt, the owner thereof said unto them, why loose ye the colt? This is his colt. And they just
walked out, they start undoing it. You imagine somebody come
over there and start grabbing your geese? You'd be like, what
are you doing? Right? That's what I see this
guy doing. Why are you losing my coat? And they said, the Lord has need
of him. You don't hear him say anything
else after that. Isn't that amazing? And they
brought him to Jesus and they cast their garments upon the
coat and they set Jesus there upon. Now, in these times, kings
would ride into cities on a colt. Look at this. And they bought
Jesus, and they cast their garments upon Him, and they set Jesus
thereon. And as He went, they spread their clothes in the way. That's showing great homage to
who He is. And when he was come nigh, even
now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude
of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works that they had seen. Oh my. Now the thought of Christ's
perfect knowledge should alarm sinners. Should alarm sinners. Sinners who are still dead in
trespasses and sins. It alarms we who are safe sinners,
doesn't it? But I'll tell you what. It has a different effect upon
us now that we're the redeemed of the Lord. The great head of the church
knows all their doings. Some folks think, I'm getting
away with everything. He knows everything you're doing. There's
nothing that's going to escape his view. The judge of all sees everything
continually and marks down all their ways. Scripture says this,
no darkness, there's no darkness where the workers of iniquity
can hide themselves. That's Job 34, 22. There's no
place. No place where the workers of
iniquity can hide themselves. If they go into a secret chamber,
the eyes of Christ are there. If they privately scheme and
plot wickedness, Christ knows it all. He knows it all. We're
not getting away with nothing. He observes it, and if they speak
secretly against the righteous, Christ hears it all. If they
speak against His church, He hears it all. Vengeance is mine,
saith the Lord, I will repay. He hears it all. They may deceive
man all their life, but they cannot deceive Christ. As the
day is coming when God will judge the secrets of man by Jesus Christ
according to the gospel. Now the thought of Christ's perfect
knowledge should comfort us as believers. It should terrorize
the unsaved and should comfort we who are God's people. We who are the born-again, blood-washed
children of God. You know why? Because it gives
us a reason to praise Him. He knew all our thoughts. He
knows all our ways. And yet, He saved us. Oh, praise
God. Praise His holy name. That He
would have mercy on a sinner such as I. My See, it causes
us to praise, and so rejoice, and also rejoice in this, beloved
of God, that God's eyes are always upon us. Always. Always watching
us in love. Always. He knows what our daily,
think of this too, He knows what our daily trials are. When we're
sitting in our chair, I got an easy chair at home, I sit in
my easy chair there, and He knows every thought that's running
through my mind. He knows the cares that's going through my
heart. He knows the souls that's going through me. He knows the
joys and the peace that I have too. He knows it all. So rejoice,
beloved God. He knows it all. That's why we're to take things
before Him. And I don't care how small it is either. Take
anything to Him. Anything. He already knows it.
Do you know that? Before we even ask Him to help
us, He already knows what we need. He already knows the problem
we're going through. It's not a secret to Him. That's
why John said if we sin, when we sin, because it's not a matter
of if, it's when, we should confess our sin to Him. Because He already
knows it. It's washed under the blood of
the Lamb, but we still say, Lord, oh, please forgive me. Please
forgive me, Lord. The thing is not to let it drag
us through the mud. Not to let it keep us down. We
confess it and we move on. That's the hard thing for us,
isn't it? Oh my. It's already been bought
and paid for, beloved. Oh my. My, oh my. He knows our daily trials. He
knows. He knows exactly what we need.
He knows the trials that we go through. And this blows my mind.
He's already made provision for them before they even happen.
Because His mercies are new every morning, isn't it? I remember one dear, dear sister. She's gone home to be with the
Lord now. I met her in Montana, and she said, yesterday's manna
is not sufficient for today. They had to go out and collect
fresh manna. We go to Christ daily, don't we? We go to Christ
daily. Isn't it wonderful? His grace
is sufficient. Oh, it's so sufficient, isn't
it? But we go there for that daily food, don't we? That manna. That's Christ. He's the bread
of life, isn't He? So He makes provisions for us
and His mercies are new every morning. So let we who are the
redeemed of the Lord, take courage. Let we who are the redeemed bless
his holy name for all that he does for us. We can rejoice saying, thou Lord,
who knowest all things, knowest that I love thee, just as Peter
said. Remember, Peter, do you love me? Lord, you know. Peter,
do you love me? Yeah, you love me. No, you know, Lord. You know. You knowest all things, Peter
said. That's proved in this verses,
isn't it? He knows all things. He has perfect knowledge. We
have imperfect knowledge. He has perfect knowledge. That's
our Redeemer. That's our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And our Savior was the one who
redeemed us by his perfect sin atoning work on Calvary's cross
on our behalf. He's absolutely sinless. and
he dies in the sinner's place. And we can't save ourselves,
but we marvel that God, we marvel, don't you marvel that God sent
his son? And I mean just in the quiet
of our own homes and where we are, don't you sometimes marvel
that God sent his son for me? That God redeemed me? Yeah. And that right now, we're
saved? Right now, we're blood-bought
children of God? And our inheritance is secure
in glory? And we can't mess it up? Isn't that wonderful? That's
wonderful, isn't it? That's good news. That's good
news, beloved. God Himself, God in the flesh,
gave Himself a ransom for our souls by redeeming us with His
precious, precious blood. So is it any wonder then? Is
it any wonder that we who are the people of God feel such peace
with God? Well, that only comes through
Christ, right? That only comes through Him. And is it any wonder that we
who are the people of God praise him because of this? It's just
incredible. He's done that which we could
never do. He saved us. He redeemed us out from the slave
block of sin. And then we're born again, given
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Wonder of wonders
that God's done this for sinners such as we. It's just amazing. I'd like us to consider verse
38 and 40 to 40 this morning. Three points I'd like us to see
from this, if the Lord allows us to see. A wonderful proclamation
from the disciples of Christ is the first point. Then the
enemies of God wanting the followers of Christ to be silent. And then
a rebuke of the Pharisees by he who is God incarnate in the
flesh. My oh my. Let's read verses 38
to 40. My oh my. Here's the disciples,
all the followers of Christ, not just the twelve, but all
these followers of Christ who've seen the wondrous works of Christ.
And it says this. What are they saying? Blessed
be the King. Blessed be the King. There's
the title of our Lord. the king, the, notice, the king,
not a king, blessed be the king, that cometh in the name of the
Lord. He's the one who, he's the sent one of God. He's the
one that comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and
glory in the highest. And here comes the religious
fellows, oh my. And some of the Pharisees from
among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. Basically, Master, shut him up!
And they're calling him Master. He's not Master in their hearts. They were trying to set him up,
beloved. And look at this. Look at this
rebuke. But look how marvelous this rebuke
is. And he answered and said unto
you, I tell you, I tell you that if these should hold their peace,
if all these people who are crying this out should hold their peace, the stones would immediately
cry out. All of creation praises God. I'm going to give you an illustration
that Spurgeon said in a book I read one time, and it's never
left me, I'll tell you why. And I've said it a few times
here, and it's worth repeating it. He says the birds, and you
see the birds flying around, and they dip down their heads
to drink water, and then what do they do? Lift their heads
up. He says they're praising God. giving thanks for the water.
And then he said, the ocean. You ever been to the ocean? Or
even the lakes here. Even the lakes do the same thing here, the Great
Lakes. You've been to the ocean though, Pacific or? And I'll
tell you what. He said, those waves come in
and they clap in adoration to the Lord. And I'll tell you what,
I've been to the ocean. I've been to both. I've had the
privilege of being on both oceans. And when them waves come in, they
just hit the land, hit the rocks, and he says, the waves are just,
the sea is clapping in adoration to the Lord. And then this is
one, this just blew me away, because in Canada we had lots
of pine trees and stuff, and he was talking about pine trees,
and he said, and there's the pine trees up there, and they're
waving in the wind. He said, they're waving in adoration
to the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? Man, I'll
never look at trees in the wind the same ever again, I'll tell
you what. And listen to the birds, I hear
the birds, oh, they're singing under my king. I don't get up
that early, but you get up around 5.30, and you step outside, and
I'll tell you, there's a choir like you've never heard in this
earth. or you know, human, these birds, all different ones just
chirping away. Oh my goodness, it's just wonderful. I've got up a few times just
to hear it. And it just, it just leaves you. Oh, just amazing
to hear that. My, but isn't that amazing? All
of creation praises the Lord, gives glory to the Lord. And
the Lord said, if those people hold their tongues, the stones
would immediately cry out. Oh, my. Now, he's using an allegory
here, but he can do whatever he wants, can't he? He's God.
Could he make the stones cry out? Yeah, if he wanted to. But there's something about them
stones that we're going to find out. Those stones are lifeless,
right? They're dead. They can't sing. Oh my. And several commentators
said these stones represent the Gentiles. Represent the Gentiles. And my oh my. What a blessing. My oh my. So again, is it any
wonder we praise him? Is it any wonder we lift up our
voice and praise? So the first point I'd like us
to consider is this wonderful proclamation
from the followers of Christ. Look at verse 38. What are they
saying? Saying, blessed be the King,
the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest. So rejoice, beloved of God. These
disciples proclaimed what is in the heart of every true believer. You ever find yourself sometimes
just something will happen you say, bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise his name. Man, just let it out. Oh my, it's wonderful. Our Lord Jesus, He's the great
King and He's identified here. Blessed be the King. They're
talking about the Messiah here. They're talking about the sent
one of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He's a
great King. Scripture says, and He shall bear the glory and shall
sit and rule upon His throne. He's on His throne right now.
He's the King. He's never, even when He came
to earth, He didn't give up His kingship, did He? No. How do we know that? What happened
to the waves and the wind? Oh my, yeah. Peace be still. What happened? It was like glass,
wasn't it? Oh my. He never ceased being
king, beloved. And imagine that a king would
give his life for his servants. For the people that he rules
over. There's never been, as far as
I know, there's never been a king on earth done that. Except for
Christ. So consider a few aspects of
the Lord Jesus Christ as being king. He's the one true sovereign.
He's sovereign over all. He's the only sovereign. The
only sovereign. The one true sovereign. He's
king. He's the great one. He's king over all the earth.
And for the believer, he's my king. He's my king. That's what we say. He's my king. He's my sovereign. He's my lord. My, he's my king. He's God's king too, isn't he?
He's God's king. And what a great and glorious
king he is. Oh my. He's a king greater than David. who was a man after God's own
heart. And he's a greater king than Solomon, who was the wisest
man on this earth. He's a greater king than them.
And he is a king incomparable. There's no king on this earth
that's ever even come close to him. My, no earthly king Can never
be compared to him because this king, the king, the Lord Jesus
Christ, his wisdom is infinite. His knowledge is perfect. His
ways are just and holy. My. In his wisdom, his knowledge
knows no bounds. Think of that. We're bound by
what we know, what we've learned. He knows everything. And even
things that we couldn't even comprehend. Whenever there's
a breakthrough in stuff, I always thank God, whenever there's a
medical breakthrough or something, I always thank God for giving
those people the knowledge. That's where it comes from. That's where it comes from. Donnie
Bell says that all these medical breakthroughs are for God's luck
and everybody else gets the residual effects. It's true. To keep us until that
day we're appointed to go home to be with the Lord. It's amazing. And his empire, think of this
too, his empire is universal. There's nothing visible or invisible
that's not within his domain. Nothing. We can't fathom that,
can we? But it's true. All things, the scripture says,
are put under his feet. All things. All things. Whether people believe
it or not, right? All things are under his feet.
And his subjects are innumerable. Think of that. His subjects are
innumerable. There's a multitude of angels,
isn't there? But more so, there's a people he's redeemed that no
man can number. His subjects are innumerable. And to think that we, each one
of us who are born again, blood-washed saints of God, we're part of
that number. That's incredible. Absolutely
incredible. His subjects are innumerable
like the dew drops of the morning or the sands on the seashore.
And then His resources are boundless. All we need comes from He who
is boundless. His riches are boundless. His
power is boundless. His grace is boundless. His mercy
is boundless. We've tasted that, haven't we,
as believers? We've tasted that. And this is my king. Is he yours? Oh, bless his name. He's wonderful. He's holy, and his laws are just
and holy. Holiness, justice, and judgment
are the bases of his throne, beloved. Our king's reign is
eternal. He shall rule forever and ever
and ever and ever. There'll be no end to his rule.
If there's no end to his rule, then we're going to be with him
forever and ever and ever and ever, aren't we? Because where he is,
what do you say? Where I am, amen, there you will
be also. You're going to be with me. Isn't that wonderful? What peace
floods the soul. when we glean this wonderful
truth. My, and to we who are the redeemed
of the Lord, he is wonderful. I'll tell you, he is absolutely
wonderful. He's one, he's, he's, he's inexplainable,
isn't he? How wonderful he is. How merciful
he is. He's a wonderful, one hymn earlier
said, He's a wonderful, merciful Savior. He is. To we who are the redeemed, He
really is, isn't He? He's wonderful. He saved my soul. He's merciful. I'm a sinner. I deserve damnation. He saved me. So for you, too,
if you're a believer. Is He not wonderful? Is He not
merciful? Oh, what a king. He's the king
supreme. He always was king and always
shall be king over everybody and everything, all by virtue
of Him being God in the flesh, too. He's God over all, even
while He's in the flesh. Now let's read verse 38 again,
saying, Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Notice the words
that cometh in the name of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the sent one of God. We saw that in our study in John
17. He's the sent one of God. He came from the Father. The
Father sent him into this world to save you and I. He's the sent
one. He come in the name of the Lord.
He came in Jehovah's name, didn't he? He said, not my will, Father,
but thy will be done. Oh my. And these words are taken
out of Psalm 118, which says, blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the
house of the Lord. Blessed be his name. Blessed
be his holy name. He's the sent one of God. So
with these words spoken by the disciples of Christ, it's an
acknowledgment of who he is. He's the Messiah.
He's the king. He's the long-awaited Messiah. And they're giving him blessing
and praise. They're calling him the king,
the sent one of God. How do they know that? Only by
God revealing it. That's the only way, just like
we. Only by God revealing it. So he has authority then. If
he's the Messiah, then he has authority from God. And we know
he has all power too. By God the Holy Spirit revealing
to us by his grace, he has all power. All power. Again, he's the sent one God.
Christ represents the Father in fulfilling his covenant engagements,
remember? He was sent, part of his covenant
engagements was the shedding of his blood and the redeeming
of his people. and the fulfilling of the law
perfectly for us, and the satisfying of God's justice. See, those
were all covenant engagements that Christ had made with the
Father, saying, I will do this for the people you've chosen
in me. When did all this happen? Before the foundation of the
world. It's spectacular, isn't it? It's
spectacular. My, oh my. Think of this, the
law and the prophets testify of him. So we see in the words
of Psalm 118 that I read earlier, it's being applied to Christ.
That verse then applies to Christ. That's part of the part where
he said the law and the prophets, they testify of me. Again, it's
Psalm 118, 26, I'll read it. Blessed be he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the
house of the Lord. He came in the name of Jehovah,
didn't he? So that's one of the verses that he said testifies
of him. You know, oftentimes I used to
say, I wish I had been a fly on the wall with those two on
the road to Arimaeus. But he said the law and the prophets
testify of him. We have it right here. We just ask God, please show
me that. Well, he's showing us one today, isn't he? He's showing
us one in Psalm 118, 26. My, let's read verse 38 again. They said, blessed be the king
that comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory
in the highest. Look at these wonderful words.
They end in praise and adoration to he who is the Messiah. Peace
in heaven and glory in the highest. All true peace comes from God.
It doesn't come from nowhere else. And man's constantly trying
to make peace, right? What happens? They break it,
because we're sinners. Only true peace comes from God.
And we have peace with God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the only way we have peace with Him. Well, what do we say?
Glory to His name that we have that, eh? Oh, what a Savior. And they're here praising Him
who is the King. They're praising the Messiah.
He was called, what's one of His titles? The Prince of Peace.
And look what it says here. Peace in heaven and glory in
the highest. The Prince of Peace is here. So they're rightfully praising
Him, aren't they? You know, they're praising the only one who's worthy
of praise. The old-time preachers used to
always say that in their messages, and I love it. They always used
to say, he's the only one worthy of our praise. There's no one
else worthy of our praise, except for God. That's why if you come and tell
the preacher you were blessed, we'll say glory be to God. Right? He's the one. We're just mouthpieces,
aren't we? But praise be to God. I'm thankful you were blessed
by it. That's a blessing. It's wonderful. Wonderful. My
oh my. So these are just wonderful,
wonderful words. Peace with God only comes through
the sent one. Only comes through the one who
comes in the name of the Lord. Only comes in the one who came
to do the Father's will. And that's Christ. So our great
father in heaven sends he who is called the prince of peace,
the word of God to earth to redeem chosen sinful men and women.
And this is wonderful news. Isn't this glad tidings of great
joy? Remember those angels appeared?
I'll bring you glad tidings of great joy. This is glad tidings
of great joy, isn't it? Christ died for sinners. Wonder of wonders, what a king
we have. Harp, 10,000 harps and voices, sound the note of praise
above. Jesus reigns and heaven rejoices.
Jesus reigns, the God of love. See, he sits upon the throne.
Jesus rules the world alone. Second point I'd like us to consider
is that the enemies of God want the followers of Christ to be
silenced. That's not changed. That's not
changed. That's still true today. Look
at this. Look at verse 39. And some of
the Pharisees came from among the multitude. They had strategically
placed themselves within the multitude, beloved. They were
always trying to catch our Lord. Always trying to catch Him up,
always. That was like, that was the first thing on their mind.
How can we get rid of this man? You know why? You know what it
all boiled down to? A following. They were jealous
that Christ had a following. They were jealous that he was
getting more recognition than they were. He's God! But they
have no clue. They think he's just another
man. They just think he's another.
Look at this though. And some of the Pharisees from
among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. Shut your disciples up, basically
is what they're saying. Shut them up. Here comes the
religious people. They're jealous again of the
attention that the Lord Jesus Christ is getting, and their
hatred of the Savior is coming right out in these words. They
want Him to shut up His people. And He's the rightful King that
they're praising, isn't He? But here, these Pharisees, they
don't have any idea. And they're just like religious
folks who tell God's people to shut up. There's no difference. There's no difference. Don't
tell me salvation's by grace alone. There must be something
I have to do. Nope. Nope. There's nothing you have
to do. Just look to Christ. Look and live. And I know if
you look, it's by God-given faith, right? Right? Oh, yeah? My. So in other words, they want
the disciples of Christ to shut up. But you know something? You know what God puts in the
mouths of his people? Praise. We didn't praise the
Lord before the Lord said. Yeah, but now, the name we curse,
we praise. We praise the name. We give glory
and honor and praise to the almighty Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's wonderful. He puts praise in the mouth of
His people. And He's King and He's Savior.
He's the Redeemer. That's why we praise Him. He's
our King. He's our Savior. He's our Redeemer. He's our God. No wonder we praise Him, beloved.
No wonder we praise Him. Man. But natural man does not understand
the joy and peace that true born-again believers have in their hearts.
They don't understand it. Don't understand? I didn't understand
it before the Lord saved me. I thought, who are these folks? And I sought joy in things that
would take things away for a little while, but crash me down right
away, afterwards. No joy. And I'll tell you what,
the joy I have in my heart is better than anything in this
world. that men used to soak their sorrows
up. The joy that comes from Christ
is a joy springing up deep in our souls, isn't it? Oh, it's
wonderful. That's a gift from God, isn't
it? It's wonderful. So natural men, they don't understand
the true born-again, blood-washed child of God, the fact that our
Savior's redeemed us and how it makes us want to praise Him
now. You don't understand it. And may we observe here how some
of the Pharisees, several commentators said they probably placed themselves
within the crowd, like I said earlier. Placed themselves within
the crowd so they could watch and listen, just to catch them
up on something. They know the scriptures. They
know what these folks are saying praising to. Oh my, that's what's burning them.
He's already told them he's God, and they deny him. Right? Oh, my. They think he's a blasphemer. So they put themselves in this
multitude to watch and listen, to see what may be done, that
they might find something to reproach him on, that they may
find something to charge him on, because we already know they
were plotting to kill him. We can just get something on
him. Little did they know who he was. He's the sinless, spotless
lamb of God. And how brash are they here. Master, he's not their master. And then how brash they are.
Shut him up. They're telling God to shut his
people up, to praise him? And the praise of Christ as a
Messiah, the sent one of God, I'll tell you what, it was driving
them bonkers. It was. They couldn't handle
it. They couldn't handle it. They were all worked up. They
were all worked up. They were, like my mommy said,
they were in a dither. Right? You ever been in a dither? My oh my. We can get ourselves
pretty worked up, can't we? My oh my, they were all, they
were, they were just wound up. Wound up. And they perceived this praise
as blasphemy, because they didn't believe he was the Messiah. But
here, this is the only one who's worthy of the praise. Because
he is the Messiah. He is, he is the one sent from
God. And they had no clue. No clue. And we'll look at his amazing
reply to the men in the last point. The last point I'd like
us to look at is here. A rebuke of the Pharisees. A rebuke of the Pharisees by
He who is God incarnate in the flesh. Let us never forget who's
speaking here. The one who has perfect knowledge
as we've seen earlier in the text, right? The one who is the
Messiah is rightfully praising Him. He's the Messiah. We know
that He's the sent one of God. He's God the Son, right? The second person of the Trinity
in the flesh. He has all power. He has all
might to do whatever he wills. Whatever he wills. And look at
this in Luke 19, 40. And he answered and said unto
them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, if these
beloved ones of mine should hold their peace, the stones would
immediately cry out. Oh my, I just can't get over
that. The stones would cry out. So the Pharisees tell him to
shut the mouth of his disciples who give them praise and adoration.
And he proclaims, I'll tell you, if these hold their peace, the
very stones would cry out. Oh my. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Beloved God, whether men praise
Christ or not, he will and shall be and must be praised. He will
and shall be and must be praised. And we see that in this wonderful
verse. He says, if I silence them, even
the stones are going to cry out. He must be, He shall be, and
He will be praised. My. It's incredible, I'll tell
you. If these should hold their peace
and proclaim the praises of Messiah and of His kingdom, If they were
to hold their peace, he says, the stones would immediately
cry out. Oh my, I'll tell you, our Lord,
he's just amazing. So he's saying, rather than me
not be praised, if I silence them, then these would cry out. My, oh my. Remember creation? Remember the trees waving in
adoration? You never look at a tree again
the same way. Oh my, it's beautiful. Turn if you
would to Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3. Matthew Henry brings forth that
back there in Luke 19.40, that this was in fact literally fulfilled
when upon man's reviling Christ upon the cross, instead of praising
him and his own disciples sinking into profound silence, the earth
did quake and split apart. So he said, Matthew Henry said,
that was even the earth crying out. My, oh my. So beloved God, the
Pharisees would silence the praises of Christ by his people. But
they cannot, as we see, for God can call up stones and raise
up children unto Abraham. Do you know that? My oh my. So if he can do that,
can he not put perfect praise in our hearts and our lips? He
can, can he? He's taking the rebel here. As Dave said, I was one of them
fellas, too. I used to curse his name to my shame. And he's
taken this rebel, and now I praise him. Amen. Glory be to God. It's all Him.
It's all Him. It's all Him. And He's done the
same for you. When we stand up and we sing
praises, it comes from our heart. It comes from a redeemed heart,
doesn't it? Oh, my. Don't ever worry how you sound
when you're singing. You're praising God. Right? It's a song unto Him from our
hearts. And I'll tell you what, when
we get the glory, we're going to have perfect voices. Hallelujah.
We're going to have perfect voices. We're going to have perfect voices
and sing in praises to our great King. That'll be wonderful. And
then we'll be able to sing without sin. Then we'll be able to adore
Him without sin and praise Him without sin. Oh, it's going to
be glorious. It's going to be glorious. Look
at this in Luke chapter 3, verses 3 to 9. John the Baptist is speaking
here, and it says, And as it is written in the book
of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, the voice of one crying
in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his
path straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain
and hill shall be brought low. That's us. We were raised up
in pride at one time. What happens? God brings us right
down to the dust, doesn't he? And look at this. The crooked
shall be made straight. That's us. We fell in on them. Now we're clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. Oh, it's just amazing. In the
rough ways shall be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation
of God. Then said he to the multitude
that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth,
therefore, fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves,
We have Abraham to our father. See, the Jews, they were very
proud of their heritage in Abraham. Look what John the Baptist says
here. And again, remember, stones are dead, right? Stones can't
do anything. But God says, I make them praise
me. But stones are just inanimate objects, aren't they? See, what
he's saying, I think it was John Gale said that what he was saying
actually is using an analogy that he can make that which is
impossible for man to be possible by God. See, we are like those dead stones. No, we're like those stones.
No life in those stones, right? I'll tell you. And several commentators
said when he makes a comment about the stones, that's the
Gentiles. That's a hint of the conversion of the Gentiles. Who,
I think it was Gil, said that the Jews just consider them nothing.
They're just dead. He said they're like a bunch
of stones. They don't have any care for them. My oh my. Look at this, he says so here.
For I say unto you that God is able. Now there's, God is able. If you remember three words,
let those ring in your heart and soul this week. Meditate
upon those. God is able. What's he able? He's able to do anything he wants,
right? He saved us. He's showing us that he's able.
Couldn't save ourselves, but he saved us. God's able. He's
able to save anyone who comes to Christ, anyone. Don't matter
how blocked their sin is, don't matter. He's able to save the
vilest of sinners. He saved me. He saved you. If you're a believer,
we can say to other sinners, we're just safe sinners. We can
say to other sinners, he saved me. He can save you if it be
his will. Oh my! Oh my! See, but man in the pride will never come to Christ unless
he makes us well. And praise God he made us well
in the day of his power. Oh, I'll tell you. Oh. So he says here, for I say unto
you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham. You see your Abraham seed? God's able to raise up
Gentiles. Stones. Oh my. Look what it says. And now also the axe is laid
upon the root of the trees. Every tree therefore which bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. How do we bring forth good fruit?
Is it something we do? Nope. Amen, sister. It's the
Holy Spirit working in us. It's called the fruit of the
Spirit, isn't it? It's called the fruit of the
Spirit. So the meaning of this expression
is simply, do not think that God will not have a people to
show forth his praise. That's what John the Baptist
is telling the Jews there. He says, don't think, don't think
that God won't have a people. He can raise stones up to worship
him. You have the people. You always
have someone praising them. And if he cuts you off, he's
talking about the nation of Israel, and does not save you. Even if
you were all cast out, he could raise up a family for himself
of two believers from these stones. So we've got to remember the
context that he's talking to. He's talking to the Jews. my oh my let's go back to verse
40 in Luke chapter 19 he answered and said unto him
I tell you I took this is this is God in the flesh saying this
I tell you let's get our attention just like that right this is
God speak there's no mere man speaking those are in red in
my Bible right I tell you that if If these should not hold their
peace, or these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately
cry out and hold their peace. They were silent. If they were
kept silent, the very stones would cry out in praise to him. Oh my. So in verse 40 here, we
see a hint of the Gentiles conversion. John Gill brings forth that the
Gentiles might be compared to stones. compared to stones, especially
in the opinion of the Jews. And also think upon this, that
all the people of this world, all the people of this world
were mined out of the same quarry of humanity. We're from the same rock. We're from the same quarry, saved
or lost. We all come from the quarry of
humanity, don't we? When I was little, my dad took
me to one of those stone quarries because he was working on some
trucks and stuff that a fellow wanted him to work on. And I
got to the edge of that and I looked at that quarry and it went down,
down, down, down, down. But you know the furthest rock
down there was mine from the same place, the same quarry as
the rock that was on the side there. All from the same place. all from the same quarry. And think of this. God the potter
takes the clay, and he makes one vessel unto
honor. He takes the same clay. He takes
a lump out of the same clay, right? And he makes a vessel
unto dishonor. Who's the one who made them differ?
They're from the same clay, aren't they? God makes one a vessel of honor
and one a vessel of dishonor. Who has the power there? The
potter or the clay? It's obvious, isn't it? The potter
has all the power. That's who Christ is. He's the
potter. He's the potter. Praise the name of Jesus. He's
made our lips to praise him. And scripture declares that our
God, he's a great God, a sovereign king who rules and reigns upon
the throne. He's a sovereign majestic king
who reigns in heaven right now, right now. And he says, if you
want me to keep these folks silent, even these stones would rise
up. Dead, lifeless stones. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. We were lifeless spiritually.
Physically alive, but spiritually dead. Lifeless. Graveyard dead. If you read in
Ephesians when it says, when we were dead in trespasses and
sins, that word is graveyard dead. It's not mostly dead, it's
graveyard dead. We were dead. But God, who's rich in mercy,
oh, he quickened us, didn't he, beloved? By the power of the
Holy Spirit of God, we're born again. And then he says, for
by grace are you saved through faith, and not out of yourselves.
It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
you are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Created in Christ Jesus. Isn't
that wonderful? My, created in Christ Jesus. This is our Lord, beloved. This
is our Savior. The one who says to them, oh,
even these stones would cry out to me, is God in the flesh. That's the one who went to the
cross and died for us, gave his life for us. My. In his rule, his rule is
supreme. It overrules all governments.
I'll tell you what, we see stuff going on in the world right now,
God's rule's over it all. Don't be alarmed. Everything's
happened according to God's purpose. See, that's where we go, I don't
understand this. But we don't have to understand,
we live by faith. We walk by faith. If we try to
understand what's going on, we're not God. There's a reason, think
of this too. I want us to think about this.
He says that all things, all things work for His glory
and for our good. I mean all things. We don't understand
that, do we? There's times we're going, Lord,
I don't understand how this is working for my good. But it is
somehow. And on the other side, we're
going to find that sometimes, even on this side, when we come
out of that situation, we go, now I know why you did that,
Lord. I didn't understand before, but
now I do. You meant it for my good. And you meant it for your
glory. My, oh my. And he rules by love,
beloved. Our king rules by love. Pure,
holy love. He rules by decree. He rules
by power. He has authority to reign. He
has might to exercise that reign. He rules by wisdom, as he is
the highest wisdom. There's no one more wise than
our king. No one. And think of this. The kingdom was put under his
care. Right? The kingdom of God was
put under his care. It's his charge from eternity.
And he reigned all through the Old Testament. He walked with Adam and Eve in
the garden. He appeared to Moses as a burning
bush. Moses said, who am I going to
say something? Tell him I am sent you. I am that I am. And then, in John 8, he says,
before Abraham was, I am. There he is! God in the flesh. That's our Redeemer. That's our
Savior. That's our King Beloved. That's who he is. Oh my. When my heart is overwhelmed,
let me just rejoice in you, Lord. Let me just think about you.
Let me set my mind upon you. Please give me the grace and
strength to do so. And to think, to think that the
king became a man, to think that the king became
a man, to die for me, for you, if you're the Lord's people. Blessed be the King that cometh
in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in
the highest. Savior, hasten your appearing.
Bring, O bring, the glorious day. When the awful summons hearing,
heaven and earth shall pass away. Then we'll sing with voice loud,
glory, glory to the King.