This morning is found in the
first 11 verses of Mark chapter 11. And the subject of these verses concerns the King of Israel. And before I go any further,
let me give you the chapter and verses of the other Gospels that
has this lesson in them. What we're gonna study here in
Mark chapter 11 is in Matthew 21, in the first 11 verses of
that chapter. And in Luke 19, and also in John
12, there's a short reference to it. So if you will, found
your places there in Mark 11, read along with me as I read
these 11 verses. And when they came nigh unto
Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and he saith unto them, go your
way into the village over against you, And as soon as you be entered
into it, you're gonna find a colt tied whereon never man sat. Loose him and bring him. And if any man say unto you,
why do you this? Say ye that the Lord hath need
of him, and straightway he'll send him hither. And they went
their way and they found the colt tied by the door without
in a place where two ways met. And they loosed him. And certain
of them that stood nigh said unto them, what are you doing? What do you? Loosing this colt, what are you
doing? And they said unto them, even as Jesus had commanded. And they let him go. And they
brought the colt to Jesus and cast their garments on him. And
he sat upon him. And many spread their garments
in the way. And others cut down branches.
Now we're not talking about branches off of oak trees and things here,
we're talking about palm branches. Strawed them, they put them out
before him as he rode into Jerusalem. They strawed him in the way.
And they that went before and they that followed cried, saying,
Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed
be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name
of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem
and into the temple, and when he had looked round about upon
all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out into Bethany
with the twelve. Now I titled the lesson this
morning Behold, Thy King Cometh. If you'll read the other versions,
you'll see that Matthew, that's exactly what he quoted in Old
Testament scripture that said those very words. My goal is
always is to lift up our Lord before you and to show you his
sufficiency to save. And his glory to be worshiped
and his lordship to be bowed to, submitted to, and his grace
to be thankful for. and his person to be loved. And there's much to be said from
this account of our Lord's life upon this earth and upon this
time recorded here, but I'll just try to limit my remarks
this morning to four things. 30 minutes is not a very long
time when you start getting into these studies of the scriptures.
And the first thing I want you to see in these verses that I've
read is the omnipotence of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
you read that account, and in your head, you're seeing this
vision, this man, he's not dressed like a king, he don't have on
the royal robe, he doesn't have any of this paraphernalia on,
he doesn't have a big entourage, and he's coming into Jerusalem,
and these people are crying Hosanna to the king. The kingdom of our
father David is coming in the name of the Lord. And they're
praising him and singing to him and he just looks like a shepherd. He's just got on plain clothing
and he's riding on a foal of an ass. And here's all these
people and they're throwing all these things down. But this is the king and he's
omnipotent. And there's much to be said from
this account, but these are the things that I want you to see.
I want you to see his omnipotence. Jesus Christ, by virtue of his
person, he's the son of God. This is God coming into the flesh.
This is not just a man coming in the name of God. This is God
himself and man in one person. and every attribute that God
has, he has. Isn't that what the scripture
said? He that thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. This
is God. This is the one who made the
world. Read John chapter one. Nothing
was made without him. He made all things. Read Colossians
chapter one. All things were made by him and
for him, and by him all things can sit. This is the omnipotent
God. He's the God-man. He always will
be omnipotent. You know, on one occasion, he
said something negative to the Jews, that God would set them
aside and save Gentiles. And boy, they, They were so angry,
they were gonna take him out and throw him off the brow of
the hill. That city was built up on a hill
and they were gonna take him and just throw him over the cliff.
But it says he turned and walked right through their midst. Right
through that lynch mob. Just walked right through, because
his time was not yet. These few short hours before
his death, he displays to all all who were gathered there to
see his power and dominion over all things. Scripture said he
sent two of his disciples into a little village called Bethphage. And he told them that as soon
as they entered into the city, there's gonna be a foal, the
coat of an ass, it's gonna be tied up to a tree. How'd he know
that? Huh? because he arranged for
that coat to be tied up there, that's why. That coat was tied up there,
it was waiting for him. He'd arranged his providence
in such omnipotence that, and it's easy to look back on your
life and look back here and say, boy, look at this, you know,
the Lord arranged this so I could hear the gospel, and you start
looking at all those different events that you just quarreled
about and fussed about happening, but if it wasn't for them, you
wouldn't have come to that circumstance. Well, this is his omnipotence,
and he displays it every day, but most men don't have eyes
to see it. What if I tell you, Russell,
run down here to Stamps, there's gonna be a colt tied to a tree
down there. You just get him, don't worry
about it. If the owner's standing there, just ignore him, just
go down there and untie him. Colt walked away. If he says
anything, you tell him I had need of it. Well, you wouldn't
even go down there. I ain't going down there. But
I don't have the authority like he did. He's omnipotent. He sent them down there to Bethphage.
He told them as soon as they entered into the city, they're
going to find this Colt, this foal of an ass tied up. And they
said, bring it, and if anybody questions, you just tell them
I had need of it. So that's what they told him. And lo and behold,
they said, we'll go in. Now here's two total strangers. These men had never seen them.
There's no reason for me to believe that these men were believers
or knew anything at all about Jesus of Nazareth other than
what they maybe heard, the gossip. And they said, what are you doing?
They said, the Lord has need of it. I don't need to expect men to
do that for me. But he did. And they did. That's omnipotence. And only
he who has authority over all providence, over all the animal
kingdom, and over all the very minds and hearts of men could
have brought these things to come to pass. No other explanation
for it. He arranged for this coat to
be in this very spot. and for its owner to be willing
to part with it, and for all this to happen at an exact time,
at an exact time. And none but the sovereign Lord
of glory could have brought these things to pass. And not only
this, but these events that took place, that's astounding, that
these things took place according to his word, What's even more
astounding to me is that the prophets foretold this a thousand
years before it ever took place. Your king, he said, will come
riding in on a colt, the foal of an ass. That's exactly what
scripture said. And how'd he do it? He rode in
on the colt, the foal of an ass, just like the scripture said. Our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ has total control over the wills and minds of men. They shall be willing, the scripture
said, in the day of his power. And they will be. Every one of
them. You know, back in Exodus 9, 34,
Moses went in and delivered the message of God to old Pharaoh,
and it said, and Pharaoh hardened his heart. He hardened his heart. After
the hail and the thunders were ceased, Pharaoh hardened his
heart, Exodus 9.34. But then in Exodus 10.27, it
says the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. Both are true. Both are true. And then think about this. He
had such control of that foal. And he tells us in our text,
this thing, never a man sat on this. This is a wild ass' coat. And nobody's gonna climb up on
this thing and ride it. But he did. And this thing acted
rustled like an old mare. Been broke years ago. He was
just as gentle as he could be. They threw their clothes on him
for a saddle and lifted the Lord up, set him on there, The thing
didn't buck, it didn't resist, it took him right through town. And then what of the Pharisees
and the Romans? Nobody did anything to hinder
his entrance into Jerusalem. Nobody did anything. And they
swore if he come anywhere near Jerusalem, they was gonna kill
him. And they would eventually. when
his time was coming and when his purpose was ready to be fulfilled.
Then they'd do it. But just imagine such an omnipotence that controlled even the minds
and the hostility of those who hated him and despised him. You think he still has control
over them? You bet he does. But then imagine such an omnipotence
bringing salvation to needy sinners. See, that's the thing. They say,
well, why do you even care about his omnipotence? I care about
it because that omnipotence is what brings salvation to me.
And I tell you, when things get bad, and I'm talking about really
bad, out of your control, out of the doctor's control, out
of the government's control, you'll be glad if you know the
sovereign Christ. because he still sits on the
throne. And everything's going exactly according to his purpose.
He's mighty to save, the scripture says, over and over. And then
the second thing I want us to see in this passage is the absolute
poverty that such a king chose to live in. He said, The birds of the air
have nests and the foxes have holes, but the son of man hath
nowhere to lay his head. He didn't own a house. He didn't
own a tent. He didn't own anything. He didn't
own the clothes on his back. They've given to him. But he
never wanted for anything. He never wanted for anything.
It's almost a contradiction of terms to set forth one who's
Lord of all, but one who has nowhere to lay his head. He lacked nothing, he wanted
for nothing, yet everything he had was given to him as he needed
it. It was provided. When he sent
forth his disciples, he said, don't take two pair of shoes,
don't take two cloaks, just take what you got on your back. All
these things, they'll be taken care of. You don't need any.
You don't need any script, you don't need any money, you don't
need any anything. It'll all be given to you. Now
get out there and pray. Not us, though. See, we won't
sit around. Well, y'all offer a 401k or? You gonna get me a, what size
house you gonna get me? You know, that's the way we talk.
Here's our example. He ain't known anything. He just went. Well, I'm gonna
tell you something. When we believe he's absolute
sovereign, absolute sovereign, then we'll take that same attitude.
We don't have to believe it. Here he is, he chose to live
in absolute poverty. The king made his debut on a
borrowed bowl of an ass, didn't even have a saddle on it. They
threw their old garments on there and let him ride in sitting on
those garments. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul
said, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. All the cattle on a thousand
hills is mine, why would I tell you? Now you correct me if I'm wrong,
but religion talks about Jesus Christ as though he was a beggar. He needs this. He needs that. He needs this. He needs for everybody
in America to send him $100 for this or that. That's foolishness. Foolishness. He's rich. That's what Paul said. Yet for
your sakes he become poor, that you through his poverty might
be made rich. He come down and took our place
as our representative. Under the law, under the justice
and judgment of God, bore our sins and his own body on the
tree. I love that scripture over in
Philippians chapter two. He said, let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus our Lord, who being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation. took on him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion
as a man, this is God now and he's condescended to robe himself in human flesh
and walk among men and now it says, being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and become obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Kingdom of our Lord is a spiritual
kingdom. In answer to the question, he
looked at Pilate and he said, if my kingdom was of this world,
then my servants would fight, but my kingdom ain't of this
world. I could call on my father right
now, he'd send 10,000 legions of angels down here. But my kingdom
not of this world. And I'll tell you, after accomplishing
the redemptive will of God, it says, our God then highly exalted
him and gave him a name above every name, that at the name
of Jesus of Nazareth, every knee's gonna bow and every tongue's
gonna confess him to be Lord to the glory of God the Father. The Lord of glory. He glorifies
his father as he rides into Jerusalem as our substitute and redeemer.
And he displays his very glory in his poverty. Isn't that something?
I find that absolutely amazing. And then thirdly, I want you
to see the harmony of the word of God surrounding all these
events. In Matthew 21 for it said, all this was done that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. Saying, tell you the daughter
of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon
an ass and a coat the full of an ass. Thousand years before
he did it. And I'm gonna tell you something
else. We couldn't have any confidence at all in Jesus of Nazareth except
for the testimony of these prophets. You wouldn't know who he was.
There'd been men crying, this is the Christ, this is the Christ. They'd been talking about that
since, who knows? For all times, been talking about
it. So how do I know that Jesus of
Nazareth is the Christ? because of the scriptures. Scriptures
told you exactly who he is, what he would say, what he would do,
where he would live, how he would die, why he would die. Tells
us everything about him. He said, if you don't believe
me, you believe me for my very, for the word's sake, you believe
me. And for the work's sake that
I came here to accomplish. You remember the disciples after
Christ died, they were walking down that road to Emmaus, and
they were all sad, heads hanging down, and the Lord appeared to
them along the way, but he didn't reveal who he was. He just appeared
to them as a stranger. And he said, what's the trouble? Why are you all sad and down
in the mouth? What's going on? And they said,
where you been? Jesus of Nazareth, whom we thought
was the Christ, been crucified. And to top it all off, somebody
stole his body and these crazy women come and told us that he
was raised from the dead. And you know what the Lord did?
He went all the way back to Genesis and the books of Moses and Psalms
and all the prophets And he declared unto them who he was. And the
scripture said, then opened he their understanding that they
might understand the scripture. That's how they knew who he was. He said, ought not Christ to
have suffered these things and enter into his glory? Oh my. And then the Apostle Paul, when
he preached Christ, there was no New Testament. Him and James
and John and Peter, they would write the New Testament, but
it wasn't written yet. And Paul said he preached to
the Corinthians that Christ died for our sins. Now listen, according
to the scriptures. Men are saying everywhere that
Christ died for your sins, but they're not saying according
to the scriptures. They're saying he died for everybody.
Did he? That's not according to the scriptures.
Scripture said the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. His death was according to the
scriptures and his resurrection was according to the scriptures. He was the Word made flesh. He's
the incarnate Word of God, and there's a harmony from Genesis
to Malachi concerning his person and work. And this is pointed out repeatedly
in the Gospels. This happened that the Scripture
said, what Jeremiah said, and what Isaiah said, and what Moses
said was gonna come to pass. That's why this happened. Says
it over and over and over. And then lastly, I want you to
think about the magnitude of this entry into Jerusalem. Here
he comes and he's gonna, they kept waiting on this moment.
They just knew at any moment that he was gonna reveal himself
as the Christ and they were gonna put a crown on him and he was
gonna run those Romans off and reestablish the Jews, and the
nation of Israel, and all these things were gonna take place,
and they were totally ignorant of what he came to do. Totally
ignorant. But you think about the magnitude,
and this man, he gets on the fold of an ass with borrowed
clothes, and shepherds clothes on him, and rides into Jerusalem,
and everybody says, here comes your king, here comes your king. The magnitude of what, do you
realize that everything, including creation, everything in eternity
culminated right here in Jerusalem in his death? And he comes riding
into town on a foal of an ass. And when you consider the magnitude
of what's going on, boy, it'll make you go back and examine
all the details. Why did he do this? Why did he
do it this way? I'm gonna go back and look, because
this is where everything came together, right here. Paul said,
I've determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Everything else revolves around
this. Everything in creation, providence,
and salvation was about to display the reason for their being. And everything in eternity's
hinged on his coming to Jerusalem and his death, burial, and resurrection
there. He said in his prayer, he says,
now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour. To this hour came I into this
world. I don't have the words to describe
magnitude of these events. Normally, our Lord just shrunk
away from this kind of thing. He shrunk away from the multitude. He went out into a desert place
alone. They're gonna take him by force
and make him king, and he just walked through the midst and
went off by himself up in the mountain. Oftentimes, he did
that. He'd leave them, go off into
a solitary place. But not this day. This day, everybody
in Jerusalem participated. They were all out there chopping
down palm branches and throwing them out in the road. Had no
idea what they were doing. No idea. Crying hosannas to the
king. Of course, they thought, literally,
that he was coming there to be crowned and gonna announce himself
to be the Christ. And they thought another David
was coming. but his kingdom's a spiritual
kingdom, and this is the way he chose to enter into town. They even threw their, says they
threw their garments in the way, and straw these pine branches,
and they cried, Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord. When the scripture talks about
the son of David, what's it talking about? It's talking about the
Christ, the promised redeemer, that one who would come, the
Messiah. Israel didn't think of it that way. They didn't think
that he was coming to accomplish redemption. They thought he was
coming to reestablish a kingdom on this earth. The kingdom that
he wants established on this earth was just a picture of the
real kingdom, the spiritual kingdom. with Christ as its head. And
this is what he came to Jerusalem to accomplish. And it's amazing,
this man did all of this work, displayed the very glory of God,
and that whole outfit did exactly what God purposed to be done
from the beginning, and didn't know what was being accomplished.
Isn't that something? That's something. All right,
that's enough. Thank you.