Who is this? Who is this? I had Brother Brian read the
portion of scripture for us so that we could just dig right
into the portion that we're going to look at. And these verses
bring forth and describe our Lord Jesus Christ's entry into
Jerusalem for the last time. This is happening five days before
he'll be crucified. So this is the last time that
he's entering into Jerusalem. And remember, He's entering in
knowing what He has to do. Knowing that He is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And knowing that He must save
His people from their sins. And He must do it by His own
death. And He knows this. And He's willingly
going right in. Remember how the Pharisees and
all of them, they sought to kill Him? Well, He's going to make
a very public entrance into Jerusalem. A very public entrance. So much
that the whole city is moved. And when that says that, I was
reading Weist on that in the Greek, and he said, the word
there is not strong enough moved. He says, it's like an earthquake.
People were trembling. What is happening? The voices
were so loud. Praise in our great God. And again, these verses bring
forth and describe our Lord's entry into Jerusalem. And this
sounds like, Some royal conqueror coming back from a battle. And it says, a very great multitude
accompanies him. And he's coming in like a Roman's
head of triumph. He's coming in like that. Look at verse 8. And it says,
and a very great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others
cut down branches from trees and strawed them in the way. That's on the road. They put
them in the road. Some commentators estimate that
there could have been 300,000 people with him. That's what
some commentators, I don't, scripture doesn't give us a number, it
just says a great multitude. And that would make sense that
it was a large amount of people, so much so that Jerusalem trembled. They were saying, who is this,
what's going on? Oh my, huge amount of people
with him. A great multitude of people,
it says there in verse 8, a very great multitude spread their
garments in the way. And you know what? Oh, this was
wonderful. When they're taking off their garments, and that's
me, just taking their coats off and stuff and putting them down,
one commentator brought forth, I think it was Brother Jack Shanks,
Preacher Jack Shanks, he brought forth, that's us laying everything
at the foot of the cross. Laying everything in Christ for
Christ. Setting aside all our filthy
garments of righteousness and just laying them down. Oh Lord,
you're my all in all. You're my all in all. Oh, just a beautiful picture,
isn't it? Just a beautiful picture. Look at verse 10. And there was
so much, so many people and the cries of praise were so loud.
And they were heard so clearly. that we see in verse 10, that
Jerusalem was moved, it says. And when he was coming to Jerusalem,
all the city was moved, saying, who is this? Who is this? And the Greek word there for
moved in verse 10 means to agitate, to shake, with the idea of a
shock or an earthquake, to cause to tremble with fear or a concussion. My, who is this? What's going on? Could you hear
the people in Jerusalem? They wouldn't know what is going
on. Oh, my. So loud praises are heard. And
they're so loud that all the city was moved. The city trembled
at these loud praises. And Robert Hawker brings forth
again that this was five days before our Lord's death. And
as we look at the scriptures through these studies, there
was a lot that happened. I was looking forward. In Matthew
here, there is a lot that happened in those five days before the
Lord went and was crucified. There was a lot that happened.
So we'll look at some of those situations. And let's look here again. Let's
read verses one to five. We'll see our Lord's triumphal
entrance into Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ says, and
when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem and were come to Beth-Age, unto
the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples." So he sends
two forth and he says to them, go into the village over against
you and straight away you'll find an ass tied and a colt with
her. Loose them and bring them unto me. As far as we know he didn't talk
to anybody, has he? He didn't go and talk to that
person before. Oh my! And if any man say, I don't you,
you shall say, the Lord hath needed them. Look at who he declares he is.
Not an I, the Lord. He's just declaring his deity
right there. The Lord hath needed them. And look, and straight
away, he will send them. If God needs something, he will
get sent, won't he? according to His will and purpose.
And all this was done, look at this, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken to the prophets, saying, Tell ye the daughter
of Zion, behold, the king cometh unto the meek, and sitteth upon
an ass and a colt, the foal of an ass. Turn, if you would, to
Isaiah 62. Isaiah 62. And also Zechariah,
Zechariah chapter 9. We'll just look at two verses
here in Isaiah, or three verses, actually, in Isaiah. And then
we'll go to Zechariah 9, and I want to break that down a little
bit, see if we can unpack some of that. It is Isaiah 62, verses 10 to
12. It says, go through, go through the gates, prepare ye the way
of the people. Cast up, cast up the highway,
gather out the stones, lift up the standard for the people.
Behold, the Lord, that's Jehovah, hath proclaimed unto the end
of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation
cometh. And who entered in that day into Jerusalem? The salvation
of God's people, right? The Lord Jesus Christ is our
salvation, isn't he? Behold, Zion. Remember, that's
the church. Behold, Zion, your salvation's
coming. Behold, his reward is with him.
He's obtained eternal salvation for us, hasn't he? In His work
before Him, He must go to the cross, doesn't He? He has to
go to the cross to save us from our sins. And they shall call
Him the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be
called sought out, a city not forsaken. You know God sought
us out? He chose us in eternity. We were
a bunch of lost sheep, weren't we? And the Holy Spirit sought us
out. He knew where we were. He come and found us, didn't
we? They remind you of Mephibosheth, right? He's out there in Lodomar,
far away from David as he can be, and David says, go fetch
him. That's called fetching grace, beloved. That's a picture of
the Holy Spirit coming and fetching us and bringing us to Christ.
And he brings, remember David's men bring Mephibosheth before
David, and David says what? Fear not. What does God say to
us in Christ? He seeks us. Right? Holy Spirit fetches us, fetching
grace, brings us to Christ. And what does the Father say
to us in Christ? Fear not. We're standing before the King
of Glory. The King of, the Sovereign Lord of all. He says, fear not.
You're mine. I made you. I redeemed you. You're mine. Oh, what a great God we have,
beloved. We're a city not forsaken. He didn't leave us where we were,
did he? David didn't leave Mephibosheth and Lodabar, did he? Nope. And Mephibosheth probably
thought, he's going to kill me when I get there. Nope. Because
of a covenant that Jonathan and David made way before Mephibosheth
was even born. Who made a covenant for us before
we were even born? See the picture? It's beautiful.
Father, Son of the Holy Spirit, covenanted that God's people
would be saved by Christ before we were even born, before the
foundation of the world. It just gets even more wondrous,
doesn't it? It just gets even more wondrous. Now let's turn
to Zechariah 9, and we'll see here where the prophecy comes
from, which speaks of in Matthew there, And this was, all this
was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet
saying, tell you daughter of Zion, behold, thy King cometh
under the meek sitting upon an ass in a colt and a full of an
ass. Look at this here. Zachariah chapter nine. We're
starting verse nine and here's the actual prophecy. Rejoice
greatly old daughter of Zion. So believe beloved of God, rejoice,
rejoice. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee." There's our King. He is just. Look at that. He's
sinless. He's just. In heaven, salvation. Who's our salvation in? Christ
and Christ alone. Lowly. Oh, He's meek and lowly.
He left the glories of heaven to come to this sin-cursed world
to save us. And riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the fall
of an ass. So there can be no doubt that
these words refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we've seen
that in Matthew chapter 21, verse 4. It proclaims that. And notice
the sweet character of our Lord. He's just. He's just. He's sinless. He's the only man
who's ever been just, isn't he? Because we're all born sinners.
He's conceived by the Holy Spirit of God. He's just. He's sinless.
He's sinless. And we're just in Him, aren't
we? We're the just men saved in Christ. And we're only just
because of Him. Only because of Him. And He has
salvation. Oh, He has salvation for all
who come to Him. He's got salvation. It's in His
hands. He's obtained it. And He gives it to whomever He
pleases. And He gives it to those who the Father chose in Him before
the foundation of the world. Oh, my. He has salvation, and
salvation's in no other but Him. So clearly set forth here, having
salvation. There's salvation in no other.
All those gods that people worshipped during those times, the rock
and stone in their imaginations was all false gods, just like
people do today. They worship all kinds of things,
don't they? All false. They actually put the creature
above the Creator, which they did back then, too. The Egyptians
had multiple gods with multiple animals. Isn't that incredible? We're so dead in our sins, And
I was there, so I can't say anything. We're so dead in our sins that
we're bowed down to a piece of statue, a piece of stone. Praise God. Scripture says, but
God revealed Christ to me. Didn't leave me there. Hallelujah. Oh, He didn't leave us with a
God of our imagination, did He? He revealed Himself to us. And
we've been in awe ever since. Oh my. There's no salvation outside
of Christ. And it says there, he's lowly.
Well, he was lowly when the scripture speaks of his humiliation, right?
That's what they call his coming to this world, is his humiliation. Think he's God. He's in heaven. He's ruling and reigning. And
he sets aside his majesty and comes down to this world. You
ever know a king that would do that? You ever know a king that
would die for the peasants? See, but he doesn't just look
at us as peasants, does he? We're his jewels. We're his beloved. My, oh my. Ain't nothing innocent
cause him to love us that way, is there? But He loves us with
an eternal love, unchanging, unchanging. In this time of His
humiliation when He was lowly is speaking of His humanity,
beloved. And His earthly ministry is soon
drawing to a close, isn't it? Five days from this time, He'll
be hanging on a cross, dying. The hour of His death is rapidly
approaching. when he must finish the work,
when he must finish the work that he came into this world
to do. Oh, the precious blood of Christ,
beloved. It's so precious. It's what cleanses us from all
our sins, and we know the life of the flesh is in the blood.
You drain someone of their blood, they're dead. The life of the
flesh is in the blood, and he willingly gave his life for us. Have you ever known such love? You know, you think of how much
our moms love us. Doesn't come close. Doesn't even come close. My. Incredible, isn't it? Absolutely incredible. So the
hour of his death is rapidly approaching. It's coming fast.
And his last great climactic work was before him. There was
nothing for him to do except make atonement for our sins. And in being at atonement, He's
redeeming us, isn't He? He's purchasing us, wow, with
His precious, precious blood. Think of that. The cost of our
purchase. Think of us like slaves on the
slave block, because that's what we were. We're a slave block
to sin, weren't we? We were sold out to sin. We were chained by
sin. And think of that. When the slaves
used to be purchased, they were purchased with money. He purchased
us with His blood. You're mine. I love you so much that I'm going
to give my life for you. Greater love hath no man, the
Scripture said, than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friend. Christ is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother,
isn't He? Oh, my. Oh, and He knows that this time
of His death is coming fast. offer himself up as a sacrifice
for the sins of his people. And he willingly does it, doesn't
he? He's entering into Jerusalem knowing he's going to die. Knowing
that in five days, because he knows the end from the beginning,
knowing that in five days he's going to give himself up and
allow these men to nail him to a cross. And more so than Then those men
nailed him to the cross, he's going to cry, my God, my God,
why has thou forsaken me? God forsaking God. And you know
why? So that we'd never be forsaken.
So we'd never be forsaken. My, what love. What love. And having assumed our nature
and humiliated himself, having fulfilled all the things written
in the book of God concerning him, The Lord Jesus Christ must
now finish the work. There's no other way for us to
be saved. That's why scripture says, remember it says he set
his face like a flint to Jerusalem and Isaiah? That's like a stone. Immovable. I must do this. And here he is, entering in to
do that. Entering in to do that. He must shed His blood, His precious,
precious blood. He must die to redeem His people
as our substitute, satisfying God's law and justice in our
place. He must do this by the sacrifice of Himself. So search
your own heart and ask, is Christ your King? Is Christ your King? Do you know Him as the Just One
and as the Holy One? And is He all your salvation?
Is He all your salvation? If not, I pray God to make it
so. And if He is, if He is all those things to you, rejoice,
beloved, rejoice! Thou has eternal life in Christ,
rejoice! Look at verse 10 of Zechariah,
it says, and I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the
horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bull shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace unto the heathen, and his dominion
shall be from sea to sea, and from river even to the ends of
the earth. Speak peace to the heathen. He spoke peace to this
heathen. The heathen, they are the Gentiles, beloved. Oh my, isn't that wonderful? Oh, peace! Remember? Mephibosheth? Fear not. Fear not. Oh, it's wonderful. And note
here, we have another description of the character belonging to
the Messiah. And remember, this is a prophecy of the Messiah.
And here's one of his characters. As we see that his kingdom is
not set up with sword or battle bow. Look at this and I will cut off
the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem and
the battle bull shall be cut off he doesn't He doesn't need
an army To accomplish this He's the captain of the Lord's house He can do it all himself candy
he's God and He shall speak peace unto the heathen His kingdom
is not set up with sword or bow, and yet we see the extent of
His kingdom. There shall be no end. Look at
this. For He shall speak peace unto the heathen, and His dominion,
His kingdom, shall be from seed even to sea, and from river even
to the ends of the earth. What does the scripture say?
That He is a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. There it is. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful,
beloved. Look at verse 11 of Zechariah
chapter 9. As for thee also, by the blood
of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the
pit wherein there is no water. Look at this. How sweetly and
how blessedly is the office of mediator brought forth here.
The mediation of Christ for his people. He's the only mediator
between God and man. And think upon how fully this
promise has been answered in the instance of every poor sinner
whom the Lord makes willing in a day of his power. He makes
us willing, doesn't he? Yeah. Look at this. I have set
forth thy prisoners out of the pit. What makes us come out of
the pit? Thy people shall be made willing
in a day of thy power. He makes us willing, doesn't
he? He takes us out of the pit wherein there is no water. My, and Jesus Jehovah remembers
his everlasting covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, and he
receives the reward of his service. Look at that. Pit wherein there's
no water, there's no salvation. And that's where we were in our
natural state. We were in a place where there
was no salvation. We might have thought we were gaining favor
with God, but we weren't. The only way we can have favor
with God is in Christ. And because of what he's done.
He said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. And
he's pleased with those in Christ. Wonder of wonders. Well, it's said of the Messiah,
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thy
hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people
for a light of the Gentiles. to open the blind eyes to bring
out the prisoners from the prison and then set them in darkness
of the prison house. Oh, we've been set free, beloved.
We were in the prison house of sin, weren't we? We were there. There's power in the blood, beloved.
There's power in the blood of the covenant. It's the blood
of the God-man. Remember that. The blood that
was shed at Calvary's Cross by Christ is the blood of the God-man. It's like no other man's blood.
It's blood like ours, but yet, oh, it's God's blood. Because
he's God and man, isn't he? And he paid the ransom for our
souls. And think of this. When he died on that cross, he
paid the ransom price that God demanded for all the elect of
all the ages. He did it all right there. They're mine. They're my beautiful
bride. Just think of that this week.
He's redeemed us with His blood. If we get down this week, just
think of that. I'm redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb. Hallelujah. What a blessing. Purchased by Christ Himself.
And the purchase price is His life. And He did that for me? Oh yes. That's what the scriptures declare
for God's people. God's people are set free. We're
set free by Christ. We're saved from all our sins.
We were prisoners by nature to our sins, weren't we? But we've
been set free, beloved. We were in a pit. We were truly
in a place where there's no salvation and no water, right? He's the
water of life. My. Now look at verse 12 here. Turn you to the stronghold. Oh,
my. Turn you to Christ. Turn to Christ. Ye prisoners of hope. That's
us. Prisoners of hope. Even today
do I declare that I will render double unto thee. I'll ask you
this. What is a stronghold but salvation
in Christ and Him alone? That's a true stronghold, isn't
it? That's a true place where you can find a refuge. My. Who can turn into this stronghold
but souls made willing in the day of God's power? Says there,
turn you. We're going this way and the
Lord, what does He do? He turns us around and now we
start going that way. made well in the day of his power.
And it's glorious. It's absolutely glorious. He
gets all the honor and praise. And note this promise, I'll render
double unto thee. Who promises this? It's Jehovah promising this,
isn't it? Wow. So great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised. Do you know the Lord's hand will
never be stopped? It will never be stopped. So if he says, you're mine, I'm
going to save you, can his hand be stopped by mere
men? Nope. Will the Lord not get one of
his sheep because one of his sheep say, well, you know, I
think I might have to stay there and make a decision for a while? Nope. Why? Because they're made
well in the day of God's power, right? And then what happens
to them? Then they run to Christ. They run to Christ. Why? Because
they've been given faith to believe on him. They've been turned,
beloved. Who turns us? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He turns us. Turns us to himself,
doesn't he? Oh my, the trumpet of the everlasting
gospel shall be heard all through the world. And the whole work
of salvation is of the Lord. Now, we looked at in Sunday school
what a hope we have too, don't we? We have a hope in Christ
and Him alone. And what a hope that is! Salvation
in and through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saved
by His mercy and grace, all according to His will and purpose. What
a hope! There's so many people in this
world that are hopeless, but what a hope we have! What a hope
we have. It's wonderful. So we see fulfilled in these
verses. Let's go back to Matthew 21. We see fulfilled in these
verses that which we just looked at. I'll read it again in Zechariah.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just and heaven salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal of
an ass. So let's read verses 2 to 5 with
that in mind again. Matthew 21, verses 2 to 5. Saying unto them, go into the
village over against you, and straightaway you shall find an
ass tied in a coat with her. Loose them, and bring them unto
me. And if any man say, ought to
you, unto you, you shall say, the Lord hath need of them. And
straightaway he will send them. All this was done that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, again,
what we just looked at, tell ye daughters of Zion, behold,
thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and
a colt, the foal of an ass. So do you know that the prophecy
that Zechariah made was made 550 years before this happened? 550 years. And we see it fulfilled
to the T, don't we? You know why? Because God knows
the end from the beginning. And what he's ordained shall
come to pass. What he's ordained shall come
to pass. Christ literally rode into Zion
on an ass, didn't he? He literally came in on a donkey.
And all this was done, we see in verse 4 of Matthew 21, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. So we
have here a clear picture of prophecy which proclaims the
first coming of our Lord into Jerusalem, right? And we see
it fulfilled. We saw in Zechariah, the proclamation
made 550 years before this occurred when Christ came into Jerusalem.
And Christ fulfilled it exactly as it was said. So consider this then. Consider
this. We have a right to expect the
prophets to respect the second covenant of our Lord. That they
will be literally fulfilled. He is coming again. We have no
idea when it is. If any man says he has an idea
of when it is, he's lying to you. Because no man knows the
hour of the day except for the Father. But He's coming again,
I'll tell you that. He said He was. The angels said
He was. Remember, they said the same
man you see likewise going up. He's going to come back again.
He's coming again, beloved. We've seen this prophecy literally
fulfilled. So then all the prophecies about
his second coming, they'll be literally fulfilled too. Oh,
it's wonderful. He came to this earth literally
in person the first time, didn't he? He came. He said he's coming.
He came. Well, he'll come to earth literally
in the person the second time then, won't he? Because that's
what the scriptures declare. He will. My. He came in his humiliation
once literally to suffer. Well, here come in his glory
again to reign, won't he? He will. Oh, my. Every prediction of things accompanying
his first coming was literally accomplished. And it'll be the
same when he returns. Everything shall be accomplished.
Everything shall be accomplished. Look at verses 8 and 9 of our
text here. It says, And a very great multitude
spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches
from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes
that went before in fall cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! Now that
portion in Zechariah 9.9, that was a prophecy about the Messiah
coming and so Christ comes in that exact way we know he's the
Messiah then don't we and by faith we know he's the Messiah
but you know what they're declaring here with the name son of David
they're declaring that he's Messiah and see the word Hosanna in our
text I always thought that was like praise be to God I always
thought that it doesn't mean that It doesn't mean that in
the Greek and it doesn't mean that in the Hebrew, but that's
what I always thought. I don't know, for some reason, I always thought
that. The word Hosanna in our text
is translated from Greek to Hebrew or from, from Hebrew to Greek.
And it's always hard when you're translating some, several commentators
said it's always hard to get the full sense of the meaning
when you're translating from another language to a, to a,
like, so from Hebrew to Greek. But the Hebrew word is Hosanna. You know what that means? Save
now, we beseech thee. Save now, we beseech thee. Well,
in the Greek it means save now. So they say, save now, Messiah. And what's he going to do, beloved?
He's going to save his people from their sins, isn't he? I
just marveled at that when I saw that this week. I just sat there
for a while. I had to pick the phone up and call my wife. I
was so excited. Save now, Messiah. Oh, it's wonderful. Just wonderful. Save now, we
beseech thee in the Hebrew. Oh, what a wonderful term. And
son of David again. Son of David is a term for the
Messiah. That's a name of the Messiah,
which the Jews were, the Jews were, that was a name that they
gave to the Messiah, son of David. Now they're crying, O son of
David, save now, O son of David. Save now, Messiah. My, what could cause this to
happen except the work of the Holy Spirit of God, right? Oh, we see here, blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest,
don't we? We see that right there. We see that right there. So let
songs of praise be given to our great God in the highest heavens. And let us praise Him for His
shed blood which has redeemed our eternal souls. And notice
in verse 10 of our text we see that this is not like at other
times. Remember other times the Lord would say, don't say anything
to the leper. He said, don't say anything to
any man. Just go and present yourself to the priest. But he's
not doing that this time, is he? This is a very public entrance. Very public entrance into Jerusalem.
He knows his hour's coming. He knows his time is short. And
Christ will never do anything in secret, will he? No. That's why we say the second
coming of Christ is a very public event. It's not gonna be a secret.
It's very public. He comes and here he is, the
son of glory. Everyone will know it. My. Oh, so let us praise him for
his goodness and his grace. Look at verse 10 here. It says
here, when he was coming to Jerusalem, all the city was moved. Again,
that was trembling, shaking, saying, who is this? Who is this?
Who is this? Oh, they didn't even know him,
did they? He'd done miracles among them. They don't even know
who he is. They've never seen him in such
a way. They can't understand. Those who have not seen him cannot
understand what the big fuss is about, right? What's going
on? And he enters into the city amidst
the shouts and acclamations of so great a multitude. And it
seemed to affect them in the city. They were moved. And fill
them with concern, astonishment, and fear. And the answers to
the question, who is this then, is clearly set forth in this
passage. He's the king of kings and the
Lord of lords. He's the Messiah. He's the Messiah. He's a great
king who is distinguished from all others. No other king is
like him. He makes his entrance in humility. He comes in with these people
shouting, but there's no soldiers giving him an escort into the
city, is there? There's no trumpets playing and
announcing, the king is here. But there's a shout from people
in there. Oh, my. And who is he? Who is he? He's none other than
the Son of God. He's none other than God incarnate
in the flesh. He's none other than the Word
of God, the second person of the Trinity. He's none other
than the Ancient of Days. He's the God-Man Mediator. He's
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's who He is. Sovereign God incarnate in the
flesh. And praise His mighty name. He
comes in, makes a very public entrance, doesn't He? My. So what's the reason for
this public entrance? Well, again, he's near the end
of his earthly ministry. He must go into Jerusalem for
the last time. His life is drawn to a close. He's going to know, he knows
that he's going to die for his people. He knows this. His last journey
has been accomplished. So knowing all these things,
there's no need for secrecy, is there? No need for him to
say, don't tell any man, you go to the priest. No need for
that. Before the great sacrifice for
the sin of God's people was offered up, every eye should see the
victim. They're seeing. All Jerusalem
was moved. The atoning blood of the Lamb
was about to be shed. God's Lamb. God's Passover Lamb. His blood was about to be shed.
Five days later, He died and bled for the sins of His people
on Calvary's cross. This was not to be done in a
corner, was it? Very public. Now there's some practical lessons
here for us to find in these verses? I'll give us three. Number
one, the Lord's perfect knowledge. And these will be real quick.
The Lord's perfect knowledge. He sends those men, those two
disciples, to go and to get the donkey, right? And he knows that there'd be
no dispute in it. So this shows us his perfect
knowledge. He sends two disciples into a
village, tells them that they'll find the donkey there that he's
to ride. And he even tells them someone
will inquire what they're doing. And he says, just tell them the
Lord has need. And they're just going to give it to you. Oh my,
he has perfect knowledge, doesn't he? And all this happened exactly
as he told them, didn't it? Could you, they went there, they
got They got themselves a donkey, they came back. Wouldn't you
think they would have told the other disciples? Everything that
he said happened. Oh my. Turn if you would to John
chapter 1. You know, there's no secrets
with the Lord, right? We can't hide anything from the
Lord. We can't hide anything. Do you know we're never out of
his sight? We're never out of his sight. This ought to restrain
us from evil. Knowing that, right? Knowing
that we're ever in the sight of the Lord ought to restrain
us as believers from evil, from sin. And remember, how do we
overcome sin? By the blood of the Lamb, by
the word of His testimony. Oh, just keep looking to Christ.
Now, we struggle with sin all the time, don't we? But look
at this. This is amazing. John chapter 1, verse 47 to 49.
There's a fellow here called Nathaniel. One of the disciples had come
to Nathanael and said, see, we found the Messiah. Well, he found
them, right? And he said, can anything good come out of Galilee?
Out of Nazareth, can anything good come out of there? And look
at our Lord here. He knows everything. He knows
everything. John 1, 47 to 49. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him and saith unto him, behold, an Israel indeed, in whom is
no guile. Nathanael said unto him, once
knowest thou me? He says, how do you know me? He's never met him, right? How
do you know me? And Jesus answered and said unto
him, before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree I saw thee. Now several commentators think
that he was sitting under a fig tree talking to the Lord. No
one else was around. And look at Nathaniel's response. Nathaniel answered and said,
Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Thou
art the King of Israel. And that's it. He follows him. Oh, my. I don't know what Nathaniel
was talking to the Lord about, but it was something, wasn't
it? Oh my goodness gracious, look
at that. He knows everything, beloved.
He knows everything. Oh my. And the second point I'd
like to bring out, but we've already looked at it, so I won't
elaborate more on it, is the prophecies of the Lord are sure.
We saw that. Zechariah, there was a prophecy. It was totally
fulfilled in Matthew. And again, that was about his
first coming. We can be sure the prophecies
about his second coming are true, too, and they will come to pass,
beloved. And think of this, too. He'll either come for us at our
death or at the second coming. So either way, we're going to
see him either way, which is, for us as believers, a great
blessing. And the third point is a striking example of the
worthlessness of man's favor. Now, some of the commentators
said this multitude came with Christ into the city We don't
know if they were residents of Jerusalem, but we know that the
residents of Jerusalem turned against Christ, right? So they
saw him, his entrance, they saw and heard all these praises going
on. And what happened? Of all the admiring crowds who
thonged around him as he entered Jerusalem, none stood by him.
None stood by him. When that crowd cried out, crucify
him, crucify him, none stood by him. All the sheep were scattered,
weren't they? Yep. Smite the shepherd and the
sheep are scattered, right? My oh my. Those who cried Hosanna
four days later cried crucify him, crucify him. Oh, the fickleness of man's praise. This is why we don't seek man's
praise, do we? Gospel preachers don't seek man's
praise. We preach the gospel. Give all the glory to God. Praise
His mighty name. He's wonderful. So may we not
seek the favor of man, but may we seek the favor of Him who
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In what we saw here
today, we can rest assured that the Lord's promises are true
and that what He says will come to pass. Scripture says He's
obtained eternal salvation for us. And the scripture says, to
be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So
when we die and leave this body, we're going right home to be
with the Lord forever. Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely
wonderful. So remember, too, this week,
that we saw here Christ going into Jerusalem, and He's going
to die for you and I. Let's think upon that this week.
He's entered into Jerusalem. Five days will come to pass,
and He'll be dying on the cross. And He did that 2,000 years ago
for we who are the people of God. Isn't it amazing? All we can say is glory to His
name. Heavenly Father, we thank You.