us in Matthew 21 that he came
to the outskirts of the city, Bethphagia. That was a little
suburb close by the main part of the city. And he said to two
of his disciples, go to this little village over near you
and you'll find an ass tied to a tree and with a coat. You loose them. Take the rope
from the tree and bring them to me." And he said, if anybody
stops you or says to you, what do you think you're doing? Well,
you just say to that person that the Lord has need of them, and
he'll let you bring them. So they did as the Lord commanded
them. They went over and got the ass and the coat, and they
brought them to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it didn't have a
saddle. Here you've just got a mangy, long-eared donkey. and with no saddle. And the Lord's
going to ride that donkey. So the disciples took their coats
off, took some of their clothes off, and put them over the donkey. And they lifted Christ up and
sat him on that donkey. And they began the procession
into the city of Jerusalem. It was a special time. The Passover
was coming up. the feast day, the celebration.
People were there from everywhere. They were there from everywhere.
There were Jews there from all over the world. And here our
Lord came with his twelve disciples. Here the Lord's coming and these
twelve disciples, poor, ignorant fishermen, and people began to
follow Him. People began to come. Some, I'm
sure, knew Him. They knew about Him. They knew
what he had done, they knew him as the healer, some of the poor
people, their relatives and friends, and perhaps they had been healed
by him, and they began to join the procession. And finally they
began to cry, Hosanna, Hosanna to the son of David, Hosanna,
blessed is he that cometh in the name of the highest, Hosanna,
and they began coming into the city. Now this would have been
a ridiculous display if it hadn't been prophesied by the prophet
Zechariah. I want you to turn over. Zechariah
is not difficult to find. Zechariah chapter 9. It's next
to the last book in the Old Testament. But what I'm saying is this.
Here is the Lord Jesus Christ seated on a donkey. No saddle
even. And he's sitting on a donkey
followed by twelve disciples and the riprap and rabble and
poor of the streets. There's hundreds of them. And
they're all singing and yelling, blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Hosanna to the son of David,
King David. He looked like anything but a
king. And they were taking off their ragged clothes and their
ragged robes and garments and throwing them in front of him.
Some were getting up in the trees, cutting palm branches down and
scattering them in front of him. It would have been a ridiculous,
gaudy display had it not been prophesied by the prophet Zechariah. There's meaning here, there's
depth here, there's greatness here, there's glory here, there's
God here. Look at Zechariah 9, verse 9.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! O daughter of Jerusalem, shout!
Behold the King, your King, the King coming unto thee. Kings don't come this way. This
one did. Kings come in beautiful chariots
with crowns on their heads, followed by the servants of the state,
followed by people in silk and satin with diamonds and jewels. And this is the way kings come,
followed by mighty men, by armed men, by an army of men, by generals
and captains and lieutenants and many men of valor. Not this
king. Your king cometh unto you. Listen. He is just. He has salvation. But he comes
lowly, riding upon an ass. and upon a colt the foal of an
ass. I can't explain why there are
two of them. I know some of the theologians
and commentators have gone into great detail that the ass is
the nation of Jerusalem and the colt is the Gentile, and Christ
rode on one a while and on another a while, but if you're not careful,
and this is the thing I constantly warn you about, Don't get bogged
down in too many details. When you're trying to interpret
the scriptures and preach the scriptures, you see, I've already
interjected this question in your mind. And you'll be thinking
about, here there are two. There's an ass and a coat, the
foal of an ass. And it says here he's riding
upon indicating two are involved. And they are. And some of these
secret things, Brother Jay, we'll just have to wait and find out.
Even the disciples didn't understand. Our Lord said to his disciples,
I've got many things to say to you, but you're not ready for
them. You're not able to bear them
now. So will you please be like a disciple and say, Lord, I know
I'm not ready for a lot of things and a lot of things I don't understand,
but I understand this right here. Here, this gaudy, ridiculous
display had a threefold purpose. Our Lord came riding into Jerusalem,
into the great city, in the midst of a great feast time, when there
were people there from everywhere, riding on a donkey, followed
by a crowd of people who were shouting things that they really
didn't mean, because a few days later they were crying, Crucify
Him! Crucify Him. We'll not have this man reign
over us, but it's a threefold purpose. Number one, to fulfill
the Scriptures. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. You see, this prophecy of Zechariah
was written hundreds of years before Christ came. Before this
incident ever took place, before this riding of the donkey ever
occurred, hundreds of years earlier, Zechariah prophesied in the name
of the Lord, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Rejoice,
O daughters of Jerusalem! Rejoice, O daughters of Zion! Your King comes unto you, lowly,
meek, humble, riding on a donkey. But he's got salvation, and he's
just. So it's to fulfill the Scripture.
Secondly, It's to show that He is a King. He is a King. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a King. Somebody said He's the Savior.
He is that indeed, but He's the King. He's the King. This is
the way He came into Jerusalem, as a King. A King comes riding,
not on a donkey, I know, but this King did. You see, all of
this, from the time our Lord came into this city, as a king
riding on the donkey. Behold your king coming. The
way in which he was tried had reference to his office as a
king. The way he was mocked by the soldiers as a king. When he appeared before Pilate,
what was the question? Are you a king? When he was nailed
to that cross, the charges written above his head, what were they?
He's a king. You see the whole thing as a
king. And I'll tell you this, it is as a king that he's rejected
today. This world will take the benefits
and blessings of a savior, but they're not going to take the
scepter and sovereignty of a king. They're not going to have them.
He was rejected in that day as king. We'll take your benefits,
we'll take your feeding, we'll take your healing, but we won't
have your scepter. When the soldiers mocked him,
what did they put? A crown of thorns on his head. When they
mocked him, what did they do? Put a robe of royalty on his
back. What did they do? Put a scepter in his hand. And
then they bowed before him and said, Hail King! Hail King! And Pilate looked at him and
said, Are you a king? Are you a king? So our Lord is
truly a king. He came riding into that city
in this mock parade, in this masquerade, in this display,
Our Lord came as a king, fulfilling the scripture, and thirdly, watch
this now, to show that his kingdom, his kingdom is not an earthly
kingdom, and his kingdom does not consist of the fading riches,
the gaudy splendor of this world, or the simplicity of this processional. I tell you, when kings are crowned
in England, I'm telling you, they pull out all the stops.
Brother, all of the riches and all of the splendor and all of
the so-called praise and gaudiness of this world, everything, the
crown jewels are brought out, everything's brought out, the
army's at its best, the people at their best, parliament at
its best, everything at its best, the kingship and the kingdoms
of this world consist in these things. When they're gone, the
kingdom's gone. When gold and silver and the
dollar's gone, this government's gone. That's what it rests on,
that's its foundation. Its foundation is power and fear
and money and materialism. Our Lord came riding on a donkey
without even a saddle. With no gaudiness and no riches
and no, he didn't, there's not one person of any influence in
that parade. There's not one person of any
earthly power, not one person with any earthly riches, there's
not one person the Son of Man doesn't have anywhere to lay
his head, and that outfit with him didn't either. Everything
they had was on their backs. Now that's what it is, and our
Lord is showing that his kingdom does not consist of the splendor
and fame and gaudy riches of this world. Now that's what it's
for. That's what it's for. Here he
comes. Here he comes. Stand and behold, your stranger
in the city of Jerusalem. Stand and behold, here comes
a man sitting on a donkey without even a saddle. He's sitting on
an old worn coat provided by a friend. And he's followed by
twelve fellers. And they don't look like much.
Everybody who was anybody had turned thumbs down on every one
of them. And around him was a multitude of simple peasants crying, Hosanna,
Hosanna! And people scattering palm branches
and scattering their clothes in front of him. And as this
processional came through the city, people began to be agitated
and say, Who is this? Who is this? Who in the world
is this? Who does he think he is? Who
do they think he is? Just who is he? Well, it's no
new question. When I was preparing this message,
I ran into it several times. Who is this King of Glory? Psalm
24, 10 and 12. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Well, who is He? Who is this
King of glory? Isaiah 63, verse 1. Who is this
that cometh from Eden with bloody garments, with dyed garments? Who is this? Matthew 8, 27, when
our Lord stood and raised His hands, and the sea calmed down
at His feet like a pet dog, and the wind stopped, the disciples
looked at one another and said, Who is this? Who is this that
even the winds and the seas obey Him? Who is this? Who is He? In Luke 5, verse 21, one day
our Lord spoke to a man and said, Your sins are forgiven you. And
the disciples' eyes widened and they looked at one another and
they said, Who is this that speaks blasphemy? Don't you know only
God can forgive sin? Who is this? Who is this? And these people,
religious folks, had come to Jerusalem to worship, they'd
come to keep the Passover, they'd come to keep the Sabbath day,
they'd come to get some assurance and confidence that they were
God's people. And here they're confronted with
a parade. And out in front of it, followed
by all these simple peasants. crying, Hosanna to the son of
David, Hosanna to him that cometh in the name of the highest, Hosanna.
And they said, who is this? Who is this? Well, some folks
took upon themselves to answer. The people down in Nazareth,
there were some folks from Nazareth there. They had come up to the
feast. And they said, well, we know
him. They said, we know his mother. Didn't say anything about his
father. Somebody said evidently Joseph had been dead for some
time because when they said we know his mother and brothers
and sisters, nobody said we know his father. Is not this the carpenter
whose mother we know and whose brothers and sisters we know?
Yeah, he had a business down in our town. We know him. He's
the carpenter. He's the carpenter. He came and
preached one time at the synagogue. I was there that morning, that
Sabbath morning. He came and preached, and he
said that he was the Messiah. He said he read Isaiah 61, and
he said that this day the Scripture's fulfilled in your ears. And he
got to talking about how God was sovereign, and He'd feed
whom He pleased, and heal whom He pleased, and save whom He
pleased. We threw him out of town. We weren't going to listen
to that. And we got rid of him. We got rid of him. And then somebody
else is standing over there by one of the priests, and they
said, who is this? Who is this? And the priest said,
he's an imposter. He's an imposter. He's a blasphemer. He casteth out devils, they say,
but he does it by the power of the devil. He's the son of the
devil. We live in the temple. And we
serve about the things of the temple, and he's an imposter.
He's a wine-beber, he's a gluttonous man. We fast. He doesn't fast,
nor does his disciples. Some of the Pharisees were standing
around, and they said, he's a sinner, and he's a friend of sinners. Well, I saw him eating dinner
with a fellow the other day that's nothing but a publican, a fellow
named Zacchaeus. Actually, he was in that man's
home. I saw him there. I saw him sitting right at the
table. Yeah, I saw him sitting there. I saw him sitting there. I saw
him sitting right there with those sinners. And I'll tell
you another thing I saw. I was in this man's home where
Jesus of Nazareth was having dinner and there was actually
a harlot came in and that woman actually kissed, he let her kiss
his feet. How would you think about that?
Now she did. I saw it. I wouldn't have believed
it, but I saw it. He's no prophet. Why, he mingles
with sinners. He's a friend of sinners. Look
at those fellows following him. They never had any education.
Not a one of them ever finished college. Why, not a one of them
got a degree. They're nothing but a bunch of
fishermen. They're nothing but a bunch of shepherds. The only
fellow in that whole bunch that knows anything is Luke, and he
don't know much. He's just a doctor. Why, he's an imposter, he's a
blasphemer, he's a sinner, he's a wine-dipper, he's a gluttonous
man, he's a friend of sinners. There's another crowd standing
over there, real superstitious. Real superstitious, real religious.
And one of them says he's, I believe he's John the Baptist, come back
from the dead. I've heard that. Oh, John the Baptist, his head
was cut off by Herod. But he sure is the world free
and he's come back. That's who he is. I bet you he's
John the Baptist. None said no. I've read the Old
Testament scriptures, it says Elijah was coming back. It says
in the last days there's going to be two prophets, and that's
who he is. He's Elijah. He's Elijah, one of those two
prophets. I've read that. See, I know what's
going to happen in the last times. I know when it's going to be
and what's going to happen. And that's who he is. He's Elijah.
Sure as the world, that's who he is. He's Elijah. Well, there was a woman in town
that was having some dreams about him. And later on, she sent her
husband a note and said, I don't know a whole lot about him, I've
really been troubled in my dreams. You better not have anything
to do with that just man. He's just a man, but he's a just
man. It may not be anything to his
claims. It may not be anything to these prophecies or anything
to what he claims, but he's just. He's just. And old Pilate, he
did everything in his power. They said, who else is there?
Pilate said, I don't know, but I don't want anything to do with
him. So I'm just going to wash my hands. I'm going to be done
with the whole thing. I don't know who he is, but whoever
he is, I don't want anything to do with him. I'm just going
to declare neutrality. I'm just going to wash my hands
and be done with the whole thing, and I'll tell you what you fellas
do when you write his charges against him and put them over
his cross. Put on there, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews, and write it. And one of those old Pharisees
said, don't write he's the king of the Jews, write he said he's
king of the Jews. Pilate said, you shut your mouth.
What I've written, I've written. Well, we've listened to all these
folks. I'd like to know who he is, wouldn't you? I'd like to
know from somebody that knows. So I'm going to ask somebody,
I'm going to hear from somebody who knows, not just has an opinion,
but has a revelation. And I'm going to turn the clock
back a little bit. There's a little Jewish maiden sitting in her
home. And she's engaged to be married
to a man named Joseph. And she finds out she's got a
baby in her womb. She's pregnant. And an angel
comes to her. And she says, what is this? Who
is this? And the angel said, Mary, The
Holy Ghost has come upon thee, and the power of the highest
has overshadowed thee, and who is this in your womb? That holy
thing is none other than the Son of God. That's who that is. That little unborn baby, that
little mass of flesh right there in your womb that you're carrying,
maybe that's the Son of God. That's the miracle of all miracles.
The evolutionist has a hard time with Genesis 1, 1 through 3,
but brother, if he has a hard time with that, what will he
do with God in human flesh? How can he believe that? How
can you believe that God, without the aid of man, without the seed
of man, can speak and create a life in an empty, lifeless
womb? And that life not only be life,
but be the life of God in human flesh. Now you figure that out.
And I'll tell you this, if you ever come to believe that, you
won't have any trouble with the sun standing still. You won't have
any trouble with a fish swallowing a man. You won't have any trouble
with an art floating on water. You won't have any trouble with
the world being conceived and created out of nothing. You won't
have any trouble with that. And then this woman takes this
baby. She's a Jew. And unto the Jews were given
the prophecies and the promises and the laws and the types and
the shadows and all of the pictures of salvation. And the promises
of the Messiah. There was a Messiah coming. It
was said to Moses that the Lord will raise up one out of the
brethren, among the brethren, like unto you, and to him shall
you hearken and listen. He is God in the flesh. And all
these prophecies and pictures, see, she's a Jewish woman, and
she has that little fella circumcised on the eighth day like they're
supposed to, the token of the covenant. And then she brought
him to the temple at a certain hour, a certain time, for her
purification vows and so forth. There were certain ceremonies
through which the baby had to go and the mother had to go.
And so she brought this infant to the synagogue like she was
instructed of Moses in the Old Testament. And all of these instructions
are, they say something. They reveal something. Well,
in that temple was a priest by the name of Simeon. And God Almighty
had said to Simeon a long time ago, Simeon was now an old man,
stooped of shoulder and slow of step. But he was waiting,
waiting, waiting. for the consolation of Israel,
for the revelation of the Messiah, for the coming of God. And God
had told him, Simeon, you won't die until you see the Messiah.
I promise you. I promise you. And that old man
was hanging on to life, and hanging on to hope, and hanging on to
that promise. And he was walking through that temple and he saw
that Jewish girl with that baby. And she brought that baby to
him and put it in his arms, that little boy. And when she laid
that baby in the arms of that priest to do after him according
to what Moses had commanded, he took one look at him, and
his heart leaped, and his eyes brightened, and his mind whirled,
and he lifted his eyes to heaven and said, I can die now. Who
is this? It's God's salvation. I've seen
thy salvation. Now let me die in peace. Who
is this? Simeon knew. And then he came
to be baptized. And God Almighty, the Heavenly
Father, spoke from heaven. When he was in that water, God
spoke from heaven. Who is this? At the baptism of John, people
were coming to participate in the baptism of repentance. He
talked about the coming of the Redeemer. The Pharisees were
over there scoffing and mocking, would not submit to the baptism
of John, and here walks a man into the water. And God said,
John, back before this, he said, John, when one comes to you to
be baptized, see John was supernaturally born when his parents were old,
he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, he was
the greatest man born of woman, Christ said that himself, and
God spoke to him. And said, when one comes to you
upon whom you see the Holy Spirit descend, that's my son, that's
the Messiah. So John was standing in the water
baptizing, in the water. Why won't we let God's words
speak for itself? There was much water there, it
was a river. John was baptizing, he was showing forth the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ, of which he knew quite little,
I'm sure, but knew some. He's picturing redemption, death
for sin, resurrection by the power of God, baptizing men unto
repentance. And they walked one down that
shore, and John said, who is this, John? This is the Lamb
of God. And when he was baptized, the
Spirit of God came down upon him as a dove. And then the boy said, this,
who is this? This is my beloved son, in whom
I'm well pleased. One day our Lord was in a certain
village, a certain town. There was a man there possessed
with demons. I don't know a lot about demons.
I've read a book on demonology. I've listened to people talk
about demonology. But I'd say this to you, and
I know there movies about demons and people casting out demons,
and I know there are preachers who put their hands on people
and they pass out and they cast out demons. Let me say this to
you. Demons are a reality. No question
about that. God says so in his word. Demons
are here in this world. We have examples of them in the
scripture, of our Lord casting them out. Demons are from Satan. They're forces, principalities,
powers of evil. Terrible evil. They're powerful
forces. Don't deny them. But let me warn
you, let me give you some good advice. Don't have too much to do with
them. Don't have too little to do with them. Just don't give
yourself to a study of demonology. demons. When you look for something
you might find it. You be careful. You be careful. Don't challenge hell. You better
let God do that. And I know our Lord cast out
demons, but our Lord is the Lord of glory. And I know his disciples
with special powers and special abilities, special gifts cast
out demons. But this fellow here is no match
for a demon. And you know what the angel said when he was confronted
with Satan, with Lucifer? He said, the Lord rebuked thee,
Satan. The Lord rebuked thee. You're
in God's hands, and that's what you better do where demons are
concerned, where evil spirits are concerned. They're not almighty,
but they're stronger than you are. They're stronger than you
are. And let me tell you something.
Over there in the book of Acts, I don't, 19 or somewhere in there,
they were the sons of Seba. And they were going to play around
with casting demons out. They saw Paul cast out demons.
And they saw a man possessed with demons. And it may be you've
experienced the same thing. You may have seen someone, you
can't identify it, you can't define it, but you know that
they're there, God says they're there. Angels are here, did you
know? I've never seen an angel, but
they're here. God says they're here. Angels are heavenly messengers. They're sent to minister to the
heirs of salvation. They're here. Demons. We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, my friends, but against principalities
and powers and rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness
in high places. But these sons of Seva, they
were going to cast out some demons. And you know what happened to
them? You read it, the demons attacked them. The demons attacked
them. And they ran out of the building
screaming, bloody, ragged, stripped. And you know what the demons
said? The demons said to them, Jesus we know, and Paul we know,
but who are you? Who are you? Better be careful. Better be careful, and I know
it's interesting, and I know it's mysterious, and I know it's
challenging, but you study Christ. You feed on Christ. You study,
you ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, and the Holy Spirit to
head you about, and the Holy Spirit to honor his word, and
the Holy Spirit, don't fool with evil spirits. You may look around
in the corners and find you one, Charlie. Isn't that right? You
just might do it. And let me warn you, you're no
match for him. You don't want any dealing with
him. I know a preacher that's in an institution studying evil
spirits. So the evil spirits possessed
this man. They were there. And our Lord
came into the town. And these evil spirits, who is
this? Who is this? These evil spirits
began to cry, we know who you are! We know who you are! This man, they spoke through
the voice of this man. We know who you are! And you
know the devil speaks through the voice of men today? Satan
has his preachers. That's right. Messengers or ministers
of righteousness. He changes himself into an angel
of light. Just as there are men speaking
for God today, there are men speaking for the devil. They
come in their own name. Our Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees,
you are your father the devil. You're his messengers. He's your
daddy. He's a liar and you're a liar.
That's what he said, didn't he? But these demons spoke through
this man and they said, we know who you are. You're the son of
God. You're the holy one of Israel.
You're the judge of all evil. Have you come to torment us before
our time?" Oh, my friend, and then our Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified and arose from the tomb, and the angels, as they
stood at his birth, and said to the shepherds of Jerusalem
and Judea, they said, unto you is born a Savior, Christ the
Lord. They stood at the empty tomb,
and when the women came there to anoint the body of Christ,
they said, He's not here. He's risen. Watch it. Why do you seek the living? Who
is He? He's the living. He's the living
one. He's life itself. That's who
he is. Who is this? He's life eternal! Why do you seek the living among
the dead? He is risen! Who is this? I ask myself. I'm going to ask two questions
now. I ask myself, then I ask you. You see that processional? You see that display? You see
those people laughing? You see them ridiculing? Who
in the world is this? You see those poor superstitious
peasants, Hosanna, Hosanna, a little while later, crucify him, crucify
him. Who is this? In the Old Testament, there are
seven compound names that reveal who he is. and all that he means
to the sinner from his state of guilt and sin to his state
of glory. I'll just briefly give them to
you. If you have a pencil and paper you can jot them down.
These are worth looking up and reading because these are the
seven compound names of Jehovah. Seven compound names. And they're
given in the scripture. This is who he is. And in these
seven names are revealed all that I need from the state of
sin to the state of glory. Number one in Genesis 22, 13,
14. Genesis 22, 13, and 14. He's Jehovah. Jehovah Jireh. J-I-R-E-H. That's what Abraham
said. He called the name of the place
Jehovah Jireh. That means the Lord will provide.
The Lord will provide himself a sin offering, a sacrifice,
an atonement. That's what I need. And he will
provide. Genesis 22, 13, 14. You got it? Jehovah, Jireh, J-I-R-E-H. And that means the Lord will
provide. When you look it up, you'll find
it in the margin of your Bible. It'll be right there beside Genesis
22, verse 13 and 14. Then in Exodus 15, 26. Exodus 15, 26, he's called Jehovah
Rapha, R-A-P-H-A. You know what that means? The
Lord that healeth thee. The Lord that healeth thee. He
forgiveth all thine iniquities. He healeth all thy diseases.
And brethren, my physical diseases are the least of my worries and
problems. It's my soul that needs healing. Christ healeth my soul. My sins and sorrows and sicknesses
and distresses He heals. Exodus 17 15. Exodus 17 15. He's called Jehovah Nisa. N-I-S-S-I. Jehovah Nisa. Exodus 17 15. You know what that
means? Jehovah Nisa. N-I-S-S-I. The
Lord our banner That's when Moses' arms were held up, you know,
and while they were held up, the victory was accomplished.
When his arms dropped, the enemy prevailed. When his arms went
up, Israel was victorious. Well, let me tell you, there's
a war going on right in here. And there's a war going on right
out there. It's a battle between the flesh and the spirit. And
you know what your victory is? It's not that resolution you
made last January the 1st. It's not the strength and power
of your own morality and your own decision and your own fighting
and effort. The Lord's your victory. The
Lord our banner. He's our banner. He's our ensign. Our allegiance is to Him. The
battle is the Lord's and He's our victory. They overcame by
the blood of the Lamb. in Judges, Judges 6.24, look
that up when you have time, Judges 6.24. He's called Jehovah, S-H-A-L-O-M,
Shalom. You know how the Jews greet one
another? Is that the way you pronounce it? Shalom? What does
that mean? Peace. Who is your peace? The
Lord's my peace. He hath made peace with me by
the blood of his cross. Therefore, being justified by
Christ, I have peace with God. He hath reconciled me to God.
He's my peace. Jehovah Shalem, Judges 6, 24,
the Lord our peace. Psalm 23, 1. Psalm 23.1, he's
Jehovah Rehah, R-A-A-H. Jehovah Rehah, R-A-A-H. What's that mean? The Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want. Brother Herman quoted in Bible
study yesterday morning, I'm old, I've been young, I've never
seen, though the children of God forsaken, nor his seed begging
bread. He lead me by the still waters.
He lead me in paths of righteousness. He lead me in the green pastures,
because He's my shepherd. He's my shepherd. All I need.
And then Jeremiah 23, 6. Here's the sixth one. Jeremiah
23, 6. He's Jehovah. Here's a long word, but it's
not too difficult. It's spelled T-S-I-D. K-E-N-U Jehovah Sid Kenu T-S-I-D
K-E-N-U What does that mean? Huh? The Lord's my righteousness. Oh, I tell you. He's my atonement.
He's my banner. He's my healer. He's my peace. He's my shepherd. He is my righteousness. I tremble when I hear people
talk about their holiness. I know we've got to preach holiness
and righteousness and we've got to preach godliness and practical
righteousness and practical imparted righteousness, but brother, let
me tell you something. The best deed I've ever performed has
enough sin in it to send me to hell. You look on the outward
countenance. We're subject to base our decisions
on what we see and what we know and that's limited to the flesh.
God looks on the heart and oh what he sees. Aren't you ashamed
of what he sees? I'm ashamed of what he sees and
I thank God he doesn't just look at my heart, he looks at Christ
in my stead. And He's my righteousness, He's
my holiness, He's my sanctification, He's my acceptance. Without Him,
I'm nothing. Christ is my righteousness. And
then last of all, Ezekiel 4835. That other one was Jeremiah 23.6,
Jehovah Sidkenu. Now the last one, the seventh
compound name, Ezekiel 4835. Jehovah. Shema, S-H-A-M-M-A-H, Shema,
Jehovah Shema. I love this. You know what that
means? The Lord is present. He's present. He said, I'll never
leave you. You go into the operating room
and the darkness closes about you. He's there. You go into the funeral home,
and you've got a loved one lying there, and it's so lonely, but
he's there. He's there. And you're there
at home by yourself, and your husband's dead, and you dear
ladies who are widows, and your children are gone, and nobody
much seems to care anymore. He's there. He cares. He cares for you. You never had
anybody that cares for you like he does. You never had anybody
that loves you like he does. I'll never leave you. And your
mom and daddy died, and you're an orphan child, and nobody wanted
you, and you're put on the mercies of the public in a foster home
or somewhere. Your parents may have forsaken
you, but David said, God will take me up. He's there. You're not alone. I'm all alone.
No, you're not. You belong to him. I just don't
have anybody. Yes, you do. Would you trade
him for anybody? Now, come on now. Would you give
up Christ and have somebody else back? Not for a million worlds. Would you take your parents back
and cease to be an orphan and lose Christ? Not for a million
worlds. What would you give your health
back and give up Christ your Redeemer? How would you? Not
for a million world. So he's there. The Lord is present.
Now I ask you in closing, who is this? Let me ask you. See
this processional? Who is that? And the burden is
upon you to answer that question. What think ye of Christ? It's alright, you do what you
will. You're going to answer it someday. Our Lord's already
decreed that every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going
to confess who he is. God's already decreed that. And
I'll tell you something else, you can get bogged down with
foolish questions if you want to. You can spend your time debating
like the Pharisees of old on which is the greatest commandment,
and is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, and should a Christian
vote, and whose wife will she be in the resurrection, and what's
right premillennial or amillennial. Get on bogged down with all that
you want to, but the question is, who is this? Who is this? Will you at this time restore
your kingdom? That's not for you to know. This
is for you to know, who is this? Grant that my sons may sit on
your right hand and your left hand, that's not mine to give
or yours to ask for. But here's the question, what
think ye of Christ? You may be bogged down on the
details of the days and the laws and here's a man carrying his
bed and the disciples see him carrying his bed on the Sabbath
day and they say, what you doing carrying your bed on the Sabbath
day? They wring their hands, you know, you can't eat without
washing your hands. Oh, my dear friends, who is this? I'm enamored. I'm overcome. I'm possessed with who this is. I don't care what day is it.
Who is it? I don't give a hoot what day
it is, but I do want to know who this is. I want to know who
this is. I don't care what's going to
happen tomorrow. Who is this? If this is the king,
I want to march with him. If this is the Messiah, I want
to live with him. If this is the accepted one,
I want to go in with him! Don't you? Oh, I'm so sick of
religion. If I didn't have Christ, I'd
quit the whole shooting match, wouldn't you? If I didn't have
Christ, who is this? Who is this? Well, I'll tell
you who he is. He's all that God says he is. And I found in
him a resting place, and he's made me glad. Have you? Our Father, bless the Word. Thank
you for the promises.