Thy King Cometh

You think about in the Lord's perfect providence how this all happened. He brought from the people's lips the question of all questions. Who is this? Who is this? If you can give an honest answer to that question, then I can tell you what all your other doctrine is. can tell you everything you believe. And we know that this is the question of all questions because our Lord asked the same question of his disciples in Matthew 16, 13 through 15. And you know the story there when the Lord asked them, who do men say that I am, that I the son of man am? And they said, some say you're Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets And then in a deliberate separation, in making a deliberate distinction between his disciples and all other people, he said, but who do you say I am? Who do you say I am?

And the answer to that question is the answer to the question in our text. Simon said, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. And you remember here in our text, where we read just now in verse 11, men say that you're one of the prophets. And they said in verse 11 of our text, and the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet, of Nazareth of Galilee. That's what they were all saying.

But there's another answer to the question in our text. The Lord told everybody a long time before from the book of Zechariah is that quote, behold in Zion. And the answer to the question there and what the Lord has told every human being on this earth, your king is coming. It's your king. Why did our Lord ask the disciples that question in chapter 16 of the book of Matthew? Who do you say that I am? He asked them that question because that's the only thing that matters. It's the only bit of knowledge that makes any difference in this world.

Remember why, as we refer so often to the book of John, remember why John said there that the Bible, the book of God, the scriptures are written, the whole purpose that God has a book for. These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Who is this? This book answers that question. That's the reason for the book. It's not a guidelines for life or your, you know, how to act and all that. That's, you know, you can learn that in there too. But the point of this book is who is this person whom God sent to this earth? Who is this? that everybody is throwing these palm fronds down in front of, who is this one that men say is a prophet, they say he's a good man, they say he's one of these other men, great men of God from the Old Testament, reincarnated. These scriptures are written that you might know who he is.

That's it. That's it. You've heard other preachers probably, and me too, refer to this as a hymn book. It answers that question, that's all it does. It just answers it very elaborately and very over and over. It teaches one thing, who is this? And then I'll finish John 20, 31, that you might believe.

The book of God is written, the point of it, not to get people saved, not to lead people to the Lord, you know, with some picked out Roman road scriptures. No, it's simply to be declared so that people might know who this is that we're talking about. We preach a person and what he did for sinners. Christ, the anointed one of God sent to redeem his people, and that believing you might have life through his name.

You think about that. John gives us two addendums to the answer to the question, who is this? He's the Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, God in human flesh, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in a body, All right, and listen to the rest of it. He says, God wrote this book to answer that question rightly, to tell people, to tell forth, to reveal to sinners, who is this?

And secondly, that unless you can answer that question from your heart rightly, you can never have life. You can never have life. believing you might have life, but not that you won't. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

Now this is the confession that we're to make. Paul said this is the confession that we make unto salvation when we answer that question in our hearts from God's Word. When God tells us the answer, reveals the answer, shows us who Christ is, then what's our response? Look at Romans 10. Romans 10, 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.

For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. And what do they need? Not to just learn a little bit better knowledge, they need to be saved. That's how you know who he is, is by being saved by him. Not by just learning more knowledge. They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. And Paul's prayer and harsh desire is not that they just, you know, get smart, but that God would save them. Save them. That's how you answer this question right. That's how you know in your heart who this is. God saves you.

For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them." Now, the question that has to be answered and dealt with is righteousness, a matter of righteousness.

You don't have any, and God requires perfect righteousness. But the righteousness which is of faith, verse six, speaketh on this wise, say not in your heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee. God told everybody in Zechariah who this was. They're saying, oh, he's a prophet, he's from Galilee, I think. No, no, the Lord told you a long, long time ago who this is. He's the king. He's the King of Glory, the King of Righteousness, the King of Salvation, the King of the Universe. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach, the Gospel, the answers in the Gospel.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, what? When the question is answered in your heart, what do you say? Lord, Lord Jesus, when you confess with your mouth, who is this? Not what I know now, not my doctrinal statement, who is this? The Lord Jesus. And shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession." Confession of what? The Lord Jesus is made unto salvation.

So, God already answered it a long time ago, didn't he? What is our confession of faith? Is it a person, or is it some facts that we know? He answered it in our text there by quoting in the quotation of Zechariah 9, 9, verse 5 of our text, tell you the daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee. Meek. They didn't reckon that he didn't look like a king. He didn't look like a king to this world. And sitting upon an ass in a colt, a foal of an ass. That's what Paul said there in Romans 10.

When you believe on Him in your heart, you'll confess that He is your Lord, your King. Verse 5 of our text is a quote from Zechariah 9.9.

You can turn there if you'd like to, Zechariah 9.9. And I'll read you the passage. It's just 9 through 11 of Zechariah chapter 9.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. Who is this? He is a prophet. He is the priest. And he is the king. And having salvation. That's Zechariah 9, 9. Thy king cometh unto thee, he is just, he's holy, he's righteous, and having salvation. Lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass, and I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak, Peace! unto the heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth his dominion. He hath dominion over all the earth.

And as for thee also, listen, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. He has salvation, and that salvation is in the blood of the covenant, the blood of the Savior, Christ crucified, the gospel that we preach. This is God's answer to the question, who is this? And he answered it a long time ago.

He is the king, lowly as signified by him riding on a donkey and not a stallion, not a war horse, but nevertheless the king, the king, On the cross, he looked the least like a king that he ever did. God made sure it was declared in three languages. This is Jesus, the king. The government, Isaiah said, shall be on his shoulders. Not the government of Israel, not the government of any nation, but the government of God's kingdom. The government of the only kingdom that matters. Remember in Psalm 2 where God declared in verse 6 of Psalm 2, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

That word yet in that verse refers back to the first part of the chapter where sinners say we're not going to have him rule over us. We don't want his bonds upon us. We're going to cut free from his bonds and we're going to do as we please. Yet, in spite of it, in spite of man's so-called free will, I put my king on the throne. Yet, though the heathen rage against him and try to break away from his authority, their rebellion, God said, I'll laugh at it. I'll mock you for it. He's the king of creation.

Without him was not anything made that was made. Listen to what he said to Job in Job chapter 38. Or turn there with me, if you will. Job 38, verse 4. This is the King speaking now. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest, or who hath stretched the line upon it?

We can't even figure out what God did, much less do we have anything to do with it. We're still studying things in this world that we don't have the slightest idea about. We'll never reach the bottom of the ocean. We'll never see every creature on this Earth, no matter how hard we try.

Whereupon are the foundations thereof facet, or who laid the cornerstone thereof? Yeah, I saw a beautiful rainbow recently. I think it was the folks in our friends in Australia sent it, I believe. And it was one of the very few full rainbows I've ever seen. And I thought, God put that bow in that sky.

And scientists will say, oh, well, that's just the way that the light reflects through the water drop. Well, why in that shape? Why does it look like a star? Why does it look like something else, a bird? No, it's a bow, because God said, I will put my bow in the sky as a covenant unto you.

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened, or who hath laid the cornerstone? When the morning stars, verse seven, sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Or who shut up the sea with doors when it break forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it, and break up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days, and caused the dayspring to know his place?

God, the Lord Jesus Christ, without him was not anything made that was made, and he did so sovereignly. He didn't consult with anybody. He made everything the way that he did, and it's what he declared was done, and the rules that he set upon and the boundaries that he set are unmovable, unchangeable. He's the king of providence. David said, worshiping God, he said this to God, you open your hand and satisfy us the desire of every living thing, Psalm 145, 16. You think about that.

How does everything get what it needs to live? Air, water, food? How do the little birds find food in the field? They'll fly in sometimes into your front yard, won't they? There's like a big old flock of them and they're looking around in the grass together. They find something to eat, why?

Because God opened his hand. Where is your next meal gonna come from? Where have all of your meals that you've ever eaten in your life come from? He opened his hand. He's the King of Providence. Well, I get up early every morning, I go to work, and I work hard, and I earn everything that I get.

If God does not open his hand to you, you will have nothing. You will die, you will starve, and you will die. You won't have a job unless he opens his hand. You won't have any strength to perform it unless he opens his hand. You won't even have the will to perform anything unless he opens his hand.

The lot is cast into the lap, Solomon said, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Man sits there and shakes the dice that blows on him and appeals to lady luck. But God's going to determine what comes up every time. Proverbs 16.33, the king is the sovereign disposer of all things. There's no luck, there's no chance, there are no contingencies, there are no odds.

There is the king on his throne who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. The earth he turns, the scripture says, David wrote in the Psalms that he turns the heart of kings of the earth in his hand as the rivers of water that he created. And I like the last part of that verse, whither so ever he will. Hearts of kings, the rivers of water, He's the king of providence. He's the king of salvation.

Zechariah said that he hath, in verse nine of Zechariah nine, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. If he doesn't come unto thee, you won't be coming unto him. That's reason for rejoicing that he came to me. and he is just and having salvation. Having, he has, it's his, he owns it. He is himself salvation and he gives it to whomsoever he will.

He said in that one passage of scripture that we love to refer to, everybody expected him to say, you know, rise up, take up your bed and walk, and he did later. But before he said that, he said, your sins are forgiven. And he said, I deliberately did it that way so you'd know that the son of man has power. Power.

He's the king of salvation. If he says your sins are gone, they're gone. If he doesn't, they're not gone. He is the sovereign king of salvation. He said in John 5.21, What's the definition of a king? He does as he pleases. He doesn't have to consult with anybody. David said, My God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Who is this? Who is this? In verse 11 of that text, we see how he has saved his people, where we read there in Zechariah a while ago. How has he saved them? As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. How does God save us from the pit?

The blood, the blood, where he hung on that cross and God declared to the whole world, this is my king, this is my king. That's what Paul said in Romans 8 33. Listen. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth?

It is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God. The throne, he sits on the throne, the right hand of power. who also maketh intercession for us. It's the precious blood of him that died. It is Christ that died. He sovereignly saved me, he saved whom he will, we see that in the beginning of Romans 8, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, and call, and justify, and glorify, and all of that is accomplished by the blood of that covenant.

Why am I uncondemnable? before heaven and earth because it is Christ that died, because of who this is. That's the question of all questions. That's what this book deals with. That's what every sinner is going to have to deal with one way or the other. The precious blood of Christ has saved us, redeemed us from our sins.

There's no condemnation because of the answer to the question, who is this? The king of salvation is the Jesus of religion. If he dies for you, then you may or may not be condemned depending on what you do. Paul said, if this king of salvation died for you, you can never be condemned. Who is this? Paul answers the question this way, I know whom. What's the question? Who. Who is this? I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded of what.

What is it that makes our God God alone, different from all other gods. Why is there no God beside him? He is able. He's the king. He does as he pleases, when he pleases, whom he pleases. He's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. God answered the question from heaven, didn't he? In Matthew 3, 13 through 17, instead of turning there, let's think about it. You know that passage.

When the Lord said, it behooveth us to fulfill all righteousness, and he was baptized by John, God Almighty spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved son. As he was fulfilling all righteousness for us, the Father declared who he is. He fulfilled all righteousness and by the blood of His covenant He washed us from our sins. That's what Zechariah meant when he said he had salvation.

It's his to give. Do we need salvation? Is salvation just something that happened a while back and we're just on our own now doing as we please? No, salvation, if you want to talk about when it happened, it happened in eternity. But also, what happened in eternity is the cause of what happens every day for his people.

Every day. He saved me today, just like he did yesterday. There's only one that has it. He has it. Ask and you shall receive. He's the one that you must bow before and own as the Lord and King, submit to Him. There's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. He's the only one that has salvation. And the scripture says, ask and you shall receive. Ask. Don't decide, ask. Don't demand, ask, don't claim. You have no claim upon his mercy. Ask. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You'll receive.

Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord, whose name? shall be saved." Not whosoever can answer the questions right when they come down to the front of the church. It's whosoever cries out to the God of salvation. It's not the calling that saves, it's the one upon whom you call. Psalm 24, 7 through 10, let's turn to that one together, please. Psalm 24, 7-10. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. And here's the question, the same question, the question.

Who is this King of Glory? You remember what the blind man in John 9 asked? When the Lord said, do you believe on the Son of God? He said, who is he? Who is he? Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory.

In Acts 17.1, it says, Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica. where was a synagogue of the Jews.

And Paul, as his manner was, went unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. Who is this? He's the Christ of God.

Mary knew the answer, didn't she, when Martha was cumbered about with much serving? To her, this was her expression of it, he's the one thing that I need. He's the one thing I need. I believe the leper in Matthew 5 knew to whom The Lord Jesus came down out of the mountain and met. Christ was the one who, if only he would. Could make him clean.

I believe that centurion in Matthew chapter 8 knew verse 80. It says the centurion answered. It said Lord. I'm not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof. But speak the word only. And my servant shall be healed. He knew who it was, didn't he? He knew who it was. God said, your king cometh. And that centurion said, I'm a man having authority, and I'm a man under authority. And I know this about you. If you just say the word, my servant will be healed. The king, all he has to do is speak. and it's done. Thomas was a doubter. Are there any doubters here? Are doubters listening to this? He said, I will not believe. He flat out refused to believe.

But when the Lord Jesus appeared to him and showed him that he's the king of salvation, showed him the scars in his hands and in his side, and bid him come and put his finger into the nail holes and thrust his hand into his side. His response was simply this, my Lord and my God.

Who is this? All of scripture answers that question. God answered it a long time ago. And still people are saying this and that about him. What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? When the Lord asked the religious Jews that question, they didn't dare ask Him any more questions after that.

That's the question. May God answer that question in our hearts. May He reveal to us who His Son is. And all through His Word, the answer is this, He's the King of glory, the King of creation, the King of Providence, the King of salvation. He's sovereign in all things. He gives life to whom He will. And He bids sinners ask. He bids you come. Come and find in Him your all in all. Amen. Let's pray.

Thy King Cometh

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Thy King Cometh

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