If you will, turn in your Bibles
with me today to Mark chapter 11. Mark chapter 11, we're looking
at the first 11 verses today. And when they came nigh to Jerusalem
unto Bethphage, and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sendeth
forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go your way
into the village over against you. And as soon as you be entered
into it, you shall find a colt tied, whereon never man set,
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 will send him hither. And they went
their way and found the colt tied by the door in a place where
two ways met, and they loosed him. And certain of them that
stood there said unto them, why do you, or what do you, loosing
the colt? And they said unto them, even
as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go. And they brought
the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him. And he said
upon him, and many spread their garments in the way, and others
cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.
And they went before, and they that followed cried, saying,
Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed
is 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. When he had looked
round about upon all things, and now the even tide was come,
he went out unto Bethany with the 12. Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, each one of the gospel narratives record Our Lord's
triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the week, the beginning of
the week in which he was crucified. He's presented in each one of
these gospels as prophet, first as prophet. In Mark chapter one,
he came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Now he's
presented to us as the king, and next he will be presented
to us as the priest, as the mediator of the covenant of grace, as
the mediator between God and man. He is these three. He fills these three offices,
prophet, priest, and king. But this morning we're looking
at this passage of scripture which especially speaks to him
as the king enters into Jerusalem. And there are three truths about
the Savior's entry into Jerusalem that I want to point out to us
this morning. First of all, His triumphal entry
into Jerusalem was directed by him. His entry into Jerusalem
was directed by the Lord Jesus Christ. And in his directing
his entrance into Jerusalem, we see his Godhead. Now I like
to use words that the translators used when they translated the
scripture, and that term, Godhead, is one of them. In Colossians
2 and verse 9, the scripture says, For in him dwelleth the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. What does that mean? In him dwelleth
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It means that Jesus Christ is
God. That all that is true of the
Father is true of the Son. The Godhead, the essence of God,
His eternality and every attribute, every characteristic that the
scriptures reveal to us about God, He is God. The fullness
of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Christ. It means that Jesus Christ
is God, God manifest in the flesh. That the eternal Son of God took
into union with his person, that body and soul, that God the Holy
Spirit had prepared for him of the Virgin Mary. We call this
his incarnation. John chapter 1 deals with this,
doesn't it? In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then in
verse 14, and the Word was made flesh. The word, the eternal
word, God the Son was made flesh. He took into union with his person
that body and soul that was prepared him by God the Holy Spirit. He did not cease to be what he
had always been. God cannot change. as the eternal
Son of God, He is immutable as the Father and as the Holy Spirit.
God doesn't change, so He didn't cease to be when He came into
this world as a man, manifest in the flesh, He didn't cease
to be who He is, who He's always been, and who He shall always
be. Let me point these things out.
I said that in His entry, His triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
He directed it. He directed His entry. And we
see His Godhead, that is, that He is God in these things that
are recorded here. First of all, we see His omniscience,
that is, that He knows all things as He directed these two disciples. This is what you will find, He
told them. You will find a colt tied. This is what you will find. As
God, He knows all things, His omniscience. And this is what you will be
asked. He told His two disciples, this
is what you're going to find. You're going to find a colt tied
there. And this is what you're going
to be asked. Why? Why are you taking the colt? We also see His sovereign rule
as God over all things. We have in this gospel seen Him
exercise His rule over the wind and the waves that night on the
ship when His disciples awoke Him because they were afraid
they were going to be destroyed in that storm and the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke to the wind and stilled the wind. and the waves. We see his sovereign rule over
all things. We see his sovereign rule when
he exercised his creative power in feeding 5,000 men. And that was not counting the
women and the children, taking just a few loaves of bread and
two fish and multiplying that to feed them. Here we see Him
exercise His rule over the hearts of men. You see what I'm saying? The Lord directed His entry into
Jerusalem. And we see His Godhead, especially
in this, His deity is manifested, His omniscience. He told them
what they would find, what they would be asked. And we see His
Godhead also here, He exercised his rule over the hearts of men. When those men ask you, why are
you unloosing the colt, you tell them the Lord hath need of him.
And immediately, the scripture says, straightway the owner of
the ass will send him. Now, the Bible teaches us, the
Bible tells us, that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord,
the king's heart. Now we like to think of that
as the kings and the rulers of the nations, the presidents and
prime ministers. And we think of that, especially
concerning them. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it wither so
ever he will. But that's not only true of the
king's heart. It's true of your heart. It's
true of my heart. Every man's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. He is the one who directs our
steps. He guides us in the way. It's
not just the kings, the leaders, the rulers whose heart is in
the hand of the Lord, but all men. Our hearts are in his hand,
and as the scripture says, as the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. In other words, who's in control
today? Is Satan in control? Well, if
you listen to some men, you would get that idea that Satan somehow
is greater than God, that Satan is in charge, but that's not
so. This is God's world. This is God's creation. We are His creatures. He's the one who made us and
not we ourselves. And God did not make us. God doesn't exist for our benefit. This is something I think people
have lost sight of in our day. Most people believe that God
just exists for our benefit, for our good. No, we've got that
just backwards. Man exists for the glory of God. That's the reason He created
man, for His glory. And everything that happens in
this world somehow ultimately is going to be for His glory,
the praise of His grace. And we see the Lord exercise
rule over the hearts of men in this matter. The prophet, the
minor prophet Nahum, made this statement about the Lord. The
Lord hath his way in the whirlwind. His way. The laws of nature,
that's what men would tell us today. The laws of nature direct
the hurricanes and the tornadoes and the dust storms and the ice
storms. No, no. God is in control. These laws
He created. And He's in control of everything
that takes place in His creation. And He's working all things after
the counsel of His will. Here we see Him exercise His
rule over the animal creation. This cult had never before had
anyone to sit upon it. And most of us know, some by
experience maybe, that when you set upon a colt of an ass or
a horse or anything like that for the first time, they don't
just gently let you set upon them. But this one did. He exercised his control over
the animal creation. He's the same one who prepared
that giant fish to swallow up Jonah. And not just to swallow
him up either, but to vomit him out on the shores of Nineveh. God said to Jonah, go to Nineveh. Jonah said, I ain't going. Oh,
yes, you are. Oh, yes, you are. You may go
by way of the fish, but you're going. And he did. And he prophesied
against Nineveh as God had commanded him to do so. This cult had never
been written. Did you know in the scriptures,
man, lost men and women without Christ as their savior are pictured
to be like a wild asses cult. That's true of all men without
Christ. Like a wild ass is cold. Nobody's
going to tell me what to do. No one's going to run my life
just like a wild ass is cold. And you know, we see a very stark
example of this in that demoniac of Gadara. They tried to chain
him. But the chains could not control
him. People take the law of God sometimes
and try to force man and make man act in a certain way, but
man breaks the chains. He disobeys the law of God. Why? Because he's like a wild
ass is cold, that's why. But then when he met the Lord,
or when the Lord met him, that is, that demoniac of Gadara,
the next thing we read about him, no longer like a wild ass,
his coat, but now he's fully clothed, in his right mind, sitting
at the feet of Jesus. And did you notice here in this
text, this coat, that our Lord directed his disciples to bring
to him was tied, the scripture says, where two ways meet. Notice that in verse four. And
they went their way and found the colt tied by the door without
in a place where two ways met. Have you considered The truth,
the truth, that there are only two ways. Every person here today, each
one of us, we are either in one way or the other way. They're
not three ways. They're not 10 ways. They're
two ways. If you want to look with me in
Matthew chapter 7, our Lord dealt with this in what is called the
Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 7 and verses
13 and 14. Enter ye in at the straight gate,
for wide is the gate, and here's one of those ways, broad is the
way, broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there
be that go in thereat. Now here's the other way, because
straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it. Isn't that so obvious, so
very clear that there are only two ways that every one of us
here today, think about this, let this sink in, please. Every one of us here today, we
are in one way or the other. We're in the Broadway. You say,
what do you have to do to be in the Broadway? Nothing. We're
born in the Broadway. We're born, we come into this
world in the broad way, and that way leads to destruction. What about the other way? The
other way has a narrow gate, and that gate is Christ. He is
the way, the narrow way. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life, No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Either we're in the wide way
which leads to destruction, damnation, or we're in the narrow way which
leads to life everlasting. Which way are you in today? Don't put that question off.
Don't shrug that off as just a preacher preaching. I like
what the little boy said one time about his pastor. He said,
I like to hear him preach, said he'll preach a while and then
he'll stop and tell us something. Well, I'm trying to stop and
tell you something. Which way are you in? In or in? What did our Lord say? Because
straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it." You say, well, preacher,
how do you enter into that narrow way? Repentance and faith. You say, well, God has to do
a work of grace in our hearts. I understand that. I believe
that. I preach that. I proclaim that. But I'm here to tell you this
morning, my friends, that you must enter in to the straight
gate, that God doesn't believe for you. Yes, faith is a gift
of God, no doubt about it, but you must believe for yourself.
You must repent. Our Lord said, except you repent,
you shall all likewise perish. You say, what is repentance?
Well, it's a change of mind. That's the definition, but change
of mind about what? About sin, first of all. about
who I am, what I am, and how I have offended God. A change
of mind. And then faith is to rest in
Christ and in his finished work. Well, here's the second thing
I want to bring to us. First of all, his triumphal entry
into Jerusalem was directed by him. Second, his triumphal entry
into Jerusalem was foretold in prophecy. In the book of Zechariah,
chapter 9 and verse 9, you can turn if you want to. I'll read
the scripture. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king cometh unto
thee. He is just and having salvation,
lowly, riding on an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. The first thing I want to say,
this prophecy says rejoice greatly. His coming, his coming into this
world is the cause of great rejoicing. Had he not come into this world,
there would be no cause for anyone ever to rejoice. Had he not come
into this world, there would never be any cause for any man
anywhere ever to rejoice. Why? Because it is appointed
unto man once to die and after this, the judgment. Had he not
come, There would be no cause for rejoicing. There'd be cause
for dread. There'd be cause for fear to
face God Almighty. But there'd be no cause for rejoicing. But because He came, there is
a call to rejoice, to rejoice greatly. Notice the prophet said,
He comes unto you as just. Behold, thy king cometh unto
thee, he is just. That means he's righteous. He's
a holy one of God. He came, he had no sin of his
own. He did not inherit a sinful nature
because he was born of the virgin. He had no sin of his own. He's
God's beloved son. He's the son that God spoke from
heaven twice saying, this is my beloved son. in whom I am
well pleased. Think of all the men, all the
men that have walked on the face of God's earth over these many
years since creation. And there's only been one that
God could say, in whom I am well pleased. Because everyone else,
we had all gone astray. And our father Adam, we had sinned
and disobeyed God, but he came, he's just, he's righteous, he's
the holy one. Even the demons recognize that. We know who thou art, thou holy
one of God. He came to bring in an everlasting
righteousness. And second, the prophecy said,
he comes unto you having salvation. That was his purpose, is his
purpose I should say. That is his purpose in coming
into this world. He didn't come into the world
to condemn the world. The world was already condemned.
And he didn't come into this world to reform the world. As
we see and as we live and our experience is, the world isn't
growing better. And it's not going to, improved
till the Lord comes back again. He didn't come to reform this
world. He came for one purpose, and
that was to seek and to save that which is lost. This is a
faithful saying, Paul said, and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world. Why, Paul? Why did he come into
this world? To save sinners. To save sinners. That's his purpose in coming
into this world. In the covenant of grace, salvation
is a principal part of the covenant of grace. And he's the surety
of that covenant. And God looked to him. for satisfaction
for all of those that he was given. He was given a people
in that covenant of grace and the father looked to Christ to
satisfy his justice for all of those that he had been given,
his elect, his chosen people. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
to fulfill every surety ship obligation. And he did. He did. It is by his obedience
and death that he and he alone is the author of eternal salvation. As the apostle Peter said, neither
is there salvation in any other. The prophecy went on to say,
not only is he just, he comes unto you having salvation, he
comes unto you lowly, the prophet said. He confessed himself to
be meek and lowly. And as an emblem of being meek
and lowly, he came into Jerusalem that day riding on the foal,
the colt of an ass. In the book of Esther, remember
the king wanted, he asked Haman, what could be done to the man
that the king desires to honor? He said, well, put a royal robe
on him and let him ride on your horse and someone lead him through
the town. That would be, you see kings
like today, the presidents, When our president, the president
of the United States, when he travels to another country, they've
got those airplanes that take his limousines. They get there first. And when
he comes into town, flags are waving. People are on the sides
of the street. You know, he comes driving in
in that big, beautiful car, bulletproof and all of that. And every country,
no matter what their status is, their kings, their leaders are
lifted up. But the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is meek and lowly, came as a king riding upon an ass, the foal
of an ass. Even in that day, They would
be riding on a stallion, a horse, or something beautiful and prancing
and something that would show great respect and honor. But
the Lord Jesus Christ came into Jerusalem on the fall of an ass. Matthew Henry brought out a beautiful
application of this to encourage men to come to Christ. And I
quote, he said, Zion's king comes riding, not on a prancing horse,
which the timorous petitioner dares not come near, or a running
horse, which the slow-footed petitioner cannot keep pace with,
but on a quiet ass that the poorest of his subjects may not be discouraged
in their access of him. Another part of his triumphal
entry into Jerusalem was also foretold in this prophecy, and
we read about it in Matthew 21, verses 15 and 16, but the children
crying in the temple, Hosanna to the son of David. And our Lord told the Pharisees
that day when they said, don't you hear what they're saying?
They shouldn't be saying that. Our Lord said, have you never
read in the prophecy, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies? In other words,
this had been prophesied of old, that when he came, there would
be rejoicing and there would be singing and the children would
be shouting, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord. And our Lord, according to Luke's
gospel, our Lord told those Pharisees this. He said, I tell you, I
tell you that if they should hold their peace, these children
here, if they should hold their peace, the stones would immediately
cry out. In other words, God's word is
true. And God's word is fulfilled,
will be fulfilled. If these children didn't cry
out, you say, could God make the stones inanimate? Stones, could God make them cry
out? Well, of course he could. And
the fact, the point is that God's word is so sure of fulfillment. It's going to be fulfilled, whatever
the Lord has said. You know, faith is not the product
of feelings. Some people get mixed up, and
some days they feel saved, and some days they don't feel saved.
And as Martin Luther, I believe it was, said, feelings come and
feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. Faith is not based
on feelings. It's not based on emotion. The
scripture says, faith cometh by the word. In other words,
by hearing the word of God. Faith comes. We don't have faith. We're not born with faith. Faith
is a gift of God. And God gives faith as men hear
the word of God. And faith is based upon the word
of him who cannot lie. upon God, and we have even something
more secure than the Word of God, we've got the oath of God. This is what we read in Hebrews
6, that by two immutable things, That is, His word and His oath
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation. That is, those of us who have
fled to Christ for refuge, we might have a strong consolation. Why? Because we've got God's
word and because we have His oath. But two immutable things. which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Well, the last thing, and I'll
close. His triumphal entry into Jerusalem
is in stark contrast to his second coming. He entered in that day
meek and lowly, and soon he would be crucified. Just a few days
later, But my friends, when he comes the next time, his second
coming, he's not going to be coming as the meek and lowly
one. In fact, the scripture says,
when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him, then shall he sit upon his throne of glory. What's going to happen when the
Lord comes again? Well, look in 2 Thessalonians. He's not going to be coming like
he came the first time, like he entered into Jerusalem that
day. If you look in 2 Thessalonians
1, in verse 7, the apostle said, and to you
who are troubled, rest with us. Are God's people sometimes in
trouble? I thought if you were saved,
if you had faith, that you'd be healthy and wealthy and never
have any problems in this world at all. Well, that's not what
the apostles said. You that are troubled, troubled,
rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God. and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. How do you obey the gospel
of Jesus Christ? You believe. You believe the
gospel. If you don't believe the gospel,
you disobey. This message is sent out into
all the world. Go into all the world, preach
the gospel to every creature, our Lord said. Whosoever believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Whosoever believeth not shall
be damned. Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his power. when he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because
our testimony among you was believed in that day. When the Lord comes
again, he will come in glory, the glory of the holy angels,
and those who have disobeyed, who disobey the gospel, shall
suffer eternally. But those who know Christ, No
God in Christ shall be saved with an everlasting salvation,
shall enter into the joys of the Lord. What a day of rejoicing
that's going to be. Now, I want us to sing another
hymn before we're dismissed. Number 231, Jesus saves.