If you would, take your Bibles with me to the Book of Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew, and we'll be looking there in Chapter 21, the 21st chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Now, in our portion tonight, we read an important question there in the latter part of verse 11, or rather verse 10. It says there, just three words to this question, Who is this? Who is this? When the Lord was coming to Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? Who is this? Now this is a question of the utmost importance. It's the most important question we can ask because The only way any of us here tonight can have spiritual life, the only way any of us can be saved, is by knowing and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we must know who He is, and knowing who He is, we're made to know, ever so blessedly, what He's done. What He's done. And so this is a question of the utmost importance. Who is this? You see, what we believe is not as important as who we believe. And asking someone, if I ask you, you ask me, who is this you believe? That's the right question. But to ask, what is it that you believe? Well, that's the wrong question. Because if you want to have the right doctrine, If you want to believe what's true, then you'll start with the Lord Himself. And if you hear Him, if you believe on Him, you'll understand exactly what I'm saying. You see, we're not saved by having a right knowledge or a right series of facts. That's not it. Rather, we're saved by who we believe. The gentleman that was here just this past week in Bow, he said he was encouraged by how we identify ourselves on the website. We don't tell people what we believe. We tell people who we believe. And why is that? Because salvation's not found in a what. Salvation's found in a person. And he's the Lord Jesus Christ, God's well-pleasing Son. And if we know Christ, and if we believe on Him, everything else that we believe, all the truths that adorn His doctrine, sooner or later will fall into place. We're not here to put people's doctrine in order. We're here to preach Christ and him crucified, and the Lord will teach his people. Isn't that what he tells us in John chapter 6 verse 45? As it is written in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God, and all who hear the Father and learn of him come to me. What a blessing. What a miracle just to park there and savor that and know the reason why you know a little bit of who he is and you know a little bit of what you are. I like what we heard in a conference a few years back by our brother and our friend. He reminded us, even without notes, I believe, oh, the writer of the hymn Amazing Grace. Now who is that? John Newton. Yeah. John Newton, towards the conclusion of his time stayed upon the earth. A man who penned a wonderful, wonderful stanzas, you know. And we shall be there, and when we've been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun, we'll have no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. And that man, our brother, his faculties were failing, and he didn't remember a whole lot. Maybe he couldn't even recite a verse of the Bible. But he said, I know two things. I'm a great sinner, and the Lord Jesus Christ is a great Savior. And over time, I guess we can meditate on that, and you can say, He's the greatest Savior. He's a greater Savior. He's our all in all. And so that's what we're preaching here tonight. We're not preaching a theological position to get into a debate over. We don't have an issue. We have a person, and we're preaching Him, Christ and Him crucified. You see, my friend, salvation is knowing a person. It's believing Him. It's resting in Him. It's a oneness with Him. I can't explain it, but it's so. We are united to God's Son. And so this is the most important question anyone can ask. Who is this? And that's what the whole Bible is about, is it not? The whole Bible is written to tell us who Christ is. And so we'll confine ourselves to this text this evening to examine five truths that are set forth here about the Lord Jesus Christ. So who is this? Who is Jesus Christ? Well, first of all, he's the Sovereign Lord. Look what it says there, beginning in verse 1. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, under the Mount of Olives, then sent the Lord Jesus to disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway, immediately ye shall find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them unto me. And if any man say odd unto you, ye shall say, the Lord hath need of them. And straightway he will send them." Who else but the sovereign Lord could speak with such authority? Remarkable, is it not? The Lord, as a man, knew where everything was. I was meditating on that. I mean, who else but the Lord could tell someone to catch a fish and say there was going to be a coin in his mouth? And just the same thing here. He knew exactly where this ass would be tied and the colt with her. Beloved, our God reigneth. Isn't that what the prophet Isaiah says? Saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Now, we're not told exactly how far this village was. Perhaps it was just a couple of miles journey, but the Lord knew exactly where that ass and that colt should be found. Now, as a man, he couldn't see them. As a flesh and blood man, he could not see them. So that begs the question, how exactly does he know where they're to be found? Well, he knew where they were because he's the one who determined for them to be there. That's why. You see, he knew that they would be there because he was the one who put them there in the first place. And we know that because when the disciples got there, we read here, they found things exactly like the Lord told them. He said, straightway you shall find an ass, a donkey, tied and a colt with her. And they found it immediately as he said they would. And that's because he's sovereign over everything and everyone. And that's the second thing we notice. How that the men who own this colt and ass, these were, I mean, just think about the context of this time. To have a donkey there and a colt, well, that would have been very valuable. And now he's seeing two men he'd never seen before start to lead them away. What would you do? I mean, it'd be like somebody walking up to you, taking your keys and getting into your car and then start to drive away. I mean, you'd try to stop them, would you not? You'd say, hey man, have you lost your mind? What are you doing? That doesn't belong to you. And that's, without doing any damage to the text, we don't want to presume about anything. But I don't think it's hard for us to... I mean, it seems evident to me that the owner of these animals would have thought something like that. But notice, all it took for him to let his valuable animals to be taken away by two men he'd never seen or met before, was to hear, the Lord has need of them. And he said, okay, well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Take them, they're yours to do with as the Lord wants. Now clearly, the only one who can make that happen is the one who's not just sovereign over everything, but so too is sovereign over everyone. He's sovereign over the thoughts and the actions of all men, and so clearly he's the only one that can make that happen. He's a sovereign God, the Almighty God, God with us, and yet we see in this passage he was also set forth as a real-life flesh-and-blood man. He told his disciples, when somebody stops you and asks you about where you're taking the animals, you tell them, The Lord, as a man now, as the eternal Son of God, He has no needs, but here in this passage we learn that the Lord has need of them. And He had that need because He was the Word made flesh. You see, He came to be the representative of His people, and so He had to take to Himself a limited body like yours and mine, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. And He did that so He could be our representative. And so who is this? Well, who this is is most amazing, is it not? He's a representative man, the representative of God's elect, a real flesh-and-blood man, but so too he's also the sovereign God. That's who he is. He's the sovereign God who always does his will. And that tells me he's a successful Savior. So, my friend, we should trust him. and believe on Him. You see, whatsoever He does prospers. Whatsoever He does is... What does it say in Psalm 1, verse 3? Whatsoever He does is prosperous. And so He's to be trusted. And so, firstly, who is this? He's the sovereign Lord. And secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all Scripture. Notice Matthew 21, verse 4. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass, a donkey. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of every picture, every promise, and every prophecy of the Old Testament Scriptures. Every prophecy that you and I can find in the Old Testament Scriptures was fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we find them fulfilled in the Gospels, and so there can't be any doubt about it. He's the promised Messiah that God sent to redeem his people from their sins. He fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy, and not just anybody could have done that. Oh no, he fulfilled all scripture because he's the very one whom Moses and the prophets testify. You see, to him give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever, Allison, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. Now, from where they were, it's clear the Lord could have walked to Jerusalem. I mean, they walked everywhere they had the physical strength to walk to. But he didn't walk to Jerusalem. Rather, he rode this ass, this donkey, with this colt walking alongside. And he did that to fulfill prophecy. You see, he didn't do this because he didn't want to walk. He did this to fulfill Scripture, in particular to fulfill this prophecy, so as to reveal Himself to His people as their Savior, as their King. If you turn to Zechariah 9, we read there in Zechariah, beginning in verse 9, And, of course, we read here our reaction to His coming. There's only two ways to react to the gospel. You're either going to get glad or you're going to get mad. You're either going to rejoice or you're going to just despise Him. But here we see the reaction of His people coming. Verse 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just 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, unto the nations, and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein there is no water, wherein is no water. Now this is the Savior coming unto thee, beloved, He's lowly, he's meek, but notice, he's thy king, he's thy sovereign, and he's just. He's the righteousness of his people, and he came to fulfill God's law on their behalf, to be their righteousness, the righteousness of his people. And so too, he came to satisfy God's justice for them by dying in their place. That's how he's going to fulfill the covenant, by the blood of the covenant in his blood, and he's going to fulfill the covenant of God's grace. And notice in this passage we learn he's meek and he's lowly, but notice he's bringing salvation to his people. He's bringing peace with God to his people. He's lowly and he's meek, but he's also establishing a dominion from sea to shining sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth. So who is this? Beloved, he's the Savior that's been promised by God. He's the very Savior that God's promised in all of the scriptures. He's the fulfillment of every Old Testament promise, and that makes God's people to rejoice. You see, we don't rejoice in a what, or this verse backed up by that verse, or this issue, or that issue. And we don't even rejoice in the blessings I mean, we don't merely rejoice in the blessings that God's given us. It's much more than that. You see, beloved, we rejoice in a person. We're rejoicing in Christ and Him crucified. We're rejoicing in His righteousness and His blood, and He's coming to His people. Now, here's the third thing. Who is this? The Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, is thy King. Matthew 21, verse 25. Verse 5, excuse me. Matthew 21, verse 5. Now the scene here is one of a triumphant king And we'll read here about this, his coming into the city in just a moment. But the scene here is of a triumphant, victorious king. And he's returning to the city from a great battle. He saved the city. He saved all the inhabitants of his kingdom from being destroyed by an enemy army that he went out against. And that enemy seemed like they could not have been defeated. And yet, he bravely went out and faced them alone. And he's got himself the victory over a great enemy of the city. And he destroyed every one of them. Every one of those enemies. And now we see here he's returning back to that city. The city is safe. The city is prosperous. And he's spoiled the enemy. And the king rides back into town. and he goes through the town, he's being cheered as he's going through the town by all of his adoring subjects. And oh, how happy they are to see this victorious king come to save them from certain annihilation, certain destruction. Now, what we see here certainly is a departure, is it not? I mean, it's a departure from the way the Lord's done things up until now. Remember, previous to this, every time the Lord performed a miracle and healed somebody, he would tell them, see that no man know it. See that no man know it, Matthew 9.30. In effect, don't tell anybody, because every time the people wanted... I mean, every time he had some kind of notoriety that went amongst the people, the people wanted to take him and make him king. And he departed from fence and hid himself from them. And in just five days from this account that we're reading of right now, just five days, when he's talking to Pilate, and Pilate asks him, Are you a king? But in this context, it's different. For on this day, the Lord allows everyone to cheer him and to hail him as the savior, as the king, come to his people. So why is this day different? Well, because, beloved, on this day, the Lord is riding into Jerusalem to suffer and die. For just five days from now, the rest of the book of Matthew leads up to the very crucifixion of our Lord. It just takes five days, and he's coming to town. Now, he's been there before. He's been to Jerusalem before, but this time he's coming to town to fulfill the commandment that the Father gave him to do. Remember, he said, no man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father." You see, this time he's coming to Jerusalem to offer the sacrifice that he came to offer. He's come now to honor every attribute of God by his sacrifice for his people. He's come to honor God's justice by being made sin and dying to satisfy the justice against that sin. but he's also coming to magnify God's grace, and he's going to suffer and die in the place of an undeserving, sinful people, giving them undeservedly eternal life. You see, he came to honor both God's justice and his grace. He came to honor God's truth and his mercy, and at the same time, righteousness and peace are going to kiss each other. We read in Psalm 85, verse 10, How that in the sacrifice of Christ, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. And in five days, he's coming to put away the sin of the people that the father gave him to save. So those people who were separate from God and Adam can be brought back to the father. Now that's something to rejoice over, is it not? I mean, that's something to celebrate. Thanks be to God, his son ought to be celebrated, and he should be honored, he should be adored as our conquering hero and king. And he should announce himself as king, because when he comes into Jerusalem, this time he's beginning to come into his kingdom. and he's going to come into his kingdom through his suffering and his death for his people, and that in just five days. Now, you already know what's going to happen, and I'm pretty certain that those thieves that were crucified on either side of him, well, by this time they would have been in prison, and so they wouldn't have seen all this taking place. But that dying thief, in unimaginable pain and agony, and yet, By God's grace, he was made to know that this is God's king. What did he say? What did that thief say? Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And what did our Lord promise that thief? Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. What a miracle that we can rejoice in what the Lord said to our brother. Have you ever had to suffer somebody debating this verse, Gary? Somebody hung up on what today means and the separation of the words. No, most assuredly right now our brother is with the Lord right now in paradise. And we know what paradise is, do we not? It's to be in the very presence of Him who loved us and washed us of all our sins with His precious blood. And so we see the Lord coming into His kingdom through His suffering and through his death, and that's why he's coming to town, that's why he's allowing these people to hail him as king, as he's coming to defeat every enemy of his people once and for all, so that those enemies can't harm his people anymore. And so he should be honored, he should be adored, should he not? And so who is this? Beloved, he's our conquering king to be praised, but so too, and don't forget it, beloved, he's our sovereign king to be obeyed. Notice verse 6, Matthew 21 verse 6. And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. Now, when the Lord said, go get this ass and her colt, he wasn't asking. He wasn't suggesting. Oh no, he commanded them. And you know why he commanded them? Because that's what kings do. They command. and his disciples obeyed and did as he commanded them. And so, my friend, if you and I are disciples of the king, we're going to do as he commands, are we not? I mean, if we're his disciples, we're going to obey him. And how is it that we obey Christ exactly? Well, it's simply this, by doing what he said. Remember, he said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come unto me, believe me. Trust Me. Rest in Me. Beloved, this is how we obey Christ, our King. It's by trusting Him to be what He says He is. My friend, He's the Savior of sinners. And we obey our King when we believe Him. We obey our King when we trust Him to be everything that we need for our salvation. And here's how I can tell if I believe Christ. Is everything I need to be saved already done by Him? Is everything I need to be reconciled to the Father already finished by Him? You see, if I believe on Christ, then I'll know that nothing on my part needs to be added to assure the salvation of a sinner like me and a sinner like you. You see, Christ is our all in all, beloved, and we obey our King. We obey our King when we trust Him to be our righteousness. We obey our King when we trust Him to be our peace with God. We trust Him when we're made to know that He is the only way we can be accepted of the Father. You know, one of the most offensive verses in the Bible for the worldling is one of the most blessed verses for the believer. It's John chapter 14 verse 6 and he tells us, It is a blessing to hear him and rejoice in what he said. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man, no one cometh unto the Father except by and through me. You see, if I believe on Christ, then I'll know for certain there's nothing on my part required, because He's a Savior who saves to the uttermost. He said on the cross of Calvary, it is finished, and in glory, He says, it is done. It is done. And because He's our King, beloved, we obey Him. We obey Him. So who is this? He's our King and Lord that we obey, we bow to, that we adore and praise and worship. Again, who is this? He's the Lord Jesus Christ, the one to be worshipped, the one to be praised. Now look at verse 6 again, Matthew 21 verse 6, And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, verse 7, and brought the ass and the colt and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way, Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitude that went before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Now this custom of someone coming into town and the people spreading their garments before them, this is what people refer to as Palm Sunday. And so they cut the branches of these palm trees that must have been there and they put those branches down in the road so as to adorn the path of this coming dignitary. And the people would do this custom as a sign of respect. Now, they wouldn't just do this for anybody, as this is the way that they would show their submission and obedience. And so this was a custom that was reserved for a special person, like, say, a newly crowned king. And so this is the way of saying to that king, this dignitary, I'm your loyal subject. I'll obey and recognize your authority over me. But what we have here is much more than welcoming an earthly king or an earthly monarch. For this is the welcoming of the Savior King, the Savior King. Now certain it is that most of the people in this crowd didn't know exactly what they were shouting. I mean, there must have been a lot of men like Caiaphas in that crowd. Remember Caiaphas? Do you remember? Caiaphas preached one of the best gospel messages on substitution that you'll ever hear. And yet he didn't believe Christ, much less know him. And by that I mean he didn't know the first thing about Christ being the substitute for his people. And yet he said, it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish not. And so certain it is that these people were blind just the same. And there's reason for us to believe that, because you see, in just five days, this very same crowd will be shouting, crucify him, execute him, give us Barabbas. Remarkable, is it not? The very same crowd that now shouts, Hosanna to the Son of David, praise the Messiah, praise the Christ of God, the Savior King, announcing to everyone who could hear them, this is the promised Messiah, the Son of David. And when they said Hosanna, It's a remarkable word that they're using there. They were exclaiming in effect, come and save, come and save thou son of David. And by their shouts they were showing who this is, that this is the Savior King of God. Now when they called him the son of David, though they may not have believed it themselves, but this is what they're telling us tonight. how that this is the Savior, the Son of David, and they cried to the Son of David, Hosanna, come and save, come and save, come and cover my sin. You see, that they would cry out to him, Hosanna, not only does it honor him, but so too, beloved, this is the cry of a beggar. This is the cry of a mercy beggar. Come and save, come and save me, be propitious to me, the sinner. In effect, that's what they're crying here, save me, be propitious to me, thou son of David, come and save me, thou promised Messiah of the Lord. You see, beloved, this is the one that we're to worship, and the best way any of us can worship the Lord Jesus Christ is by begging him to save us. Save me, the sinner, be merciful to me, the vile, wretched sinner that I am. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for Christ's sake. For His glory, save me." And so, beloved, this is the best way any of us can worship the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only by begging Him to save me. And to trust Him to do that very thing. That's worship. You see, true worship is not found in the right form or in the right ceremony or it's not even found in... well, it's not found in any of those things. It's not found in the right order of service. It's not found in the way that we do things. Oh no, beloved, true worship is from the heart. That's right, true worship is from the heart. And true worship, now, true worship is begging God to save me and trusting Him to do all the saving. not some of the saving, all the saving. Often, in the four Gospels, you'll see someone come to the Lord and they're diseased, they're sick, they're in need of help, and they're in dire straits without a hope of any self-remedy whatsoever. Or if they're not sick, they have a child who's sick and dying, and so whatever their situation, they're in dire straits. And always, Scripture says they come to the Lord worshipping him. Worshipping him. Acknowledging and confessing before him, Lord, I can't do anything to make you do what I need. I can't obligate you. I can't force you to do anything. I'm just a beggar. I'm begging you because of your word. I'm begging you because of the promises you've made to sinners. Have mercy on me, the sinner. I'm begging you because of the promise that Paul writes to Timothy, a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation by everyone. Now we won't accept it unless God does a work of grace in our heart. But he does write to Timothy and he says, a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And he said, of whom I'm chief. That's a great encouragement to cry out and beg, save me, the sinner, the worst one here tonight. Save me, Lord, else I perish. Makes you, well, makes one think of that leper, right? The leper that came to the Lord Jesus Christ and worshipped him. Matthew records there, Behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. You can make me pure, Lord. And that's true worship. And what happened next? Do you remember? Our Lord put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. My guilty sinner friend, trust Christ for he's willing and able to save sinners. And he'll keep his promise to save. Remember he said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. So my friend, are you weary of trying to keep the law? Are you weary of discovering again and again and again that you just can't? Remember, the standard is perfection. It's not your best attempt. God's law requires perfection. Are you weary of running on the treadmill of life and face-planting over and over again, of failing, of not getting anywhere? My friend, you can't keep the law. None of us can, save one, God's well-pleasing Son. I don't have this verse in my notes, but oh, what a blessing to park there just for a bit. Look what it says in Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 21 This is speaking about the father Speaking of his son. I mean in in Matthew chapter 3 we hear the father saying from the cloud from above This is my son and whom I'm well pleased here ye him and in Matthew 17 5 the same thing and where we actually come to that latter part. This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. And here in Isaiah 42 verse 21, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. This is speaking about Christ now. We can hear the interchange between the Father and the Son. My Son will magnify the law and make it honorable. And beloved, He didn't do that for Himself. He did that for His people. He did that for His people. I pray the Lord would grant us all tonight to worship Him in spirit and in truth. And that true worship is coming to Christ and believing on Him. And should He make you willing to do that, should He make me willing to do that, should He make us willing to do that, He'll give us rest. And He'll give us rest because, beloved, He's done everything for us. And when He gives us that blessed rest, again and again, every Wednesday, every Sunday, every moment of our lives, we worship Him again. We worship Him again. It doesn't have to be a Wednesday, it doesn't have to be a Sunday. When He brings to your mind again, by His undeserved grace, to take your eyes off of your sorry selves, when I take my eyes off my sorry self, and once again I have them set, on the captain of my salvation, God's champion, who has performed all things well for His people, to know that He's a sovereign, successful Savior, that we can hear, and it's right here in Isaiah chapter 42, verse 4, He shall not fail. You're trusting the Lord Jesus Christ with all your salvation. Let me tell you, by God's grace, you know this. He shall not fail. He shall not fail to be all your pardon. He shall not fail to be all your perfection. He's the surety of the covenant. He's not only the sacrifice beloved. He's the surety of the covenant and he performs all things well for his people. And so true worship, true worship now is trusting Christ's once and for all sacrifice. How that his blood is all it takes to cleanse me from all my sins. True worship is trusting that Christ's righteousness, his obedience is all it takes to truly make me righteous in God's sight. True worship, beloved, is trusting that Christ will finish the work of salvation that He's begun in you. And my friend, once He's begun it, He'll finish it. He'll finish it. What have we been studying in the Sunday class? We were talking about Advocate this past Sunday, but we also know He's the author and finisher of our faith. He's the Alpha and the Omega of all our salvation. And beloved, when we bow, when we truly bow, God's grace enables us to lay everything at his feet, everything, trusting him to care for us. You know, not as our brother reminds us from time to time. Not that he cares about us, beloved. He cares for us. And so who is this? Who is this Jesus? Beloved, He's the sole object of our worship. And I'm thankful to the Father for Him, aren't you? I'm so thankful He's come and that He's my King and my Deliverer. And He's the sole object of our worship. Oh, wretched, miserable man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, I shall be delivered from the body of this death. And we see here in this portion how he's coming into his kingdom, and he's going to be a sovereign, successful savior. And we see here also the Lord Jesus Christ is that prophet. Look what it says in Matthew 21, verse 11. And the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. This is the prophet. But you know the Lord Jesus Christ is not just any prophet. He's not a prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah or any of the Old Testament prophets. No, this man is that prophet. The very prophet that Moses said would come. And Moses was so frustrated with Israel. I mean, isn't that what we learn as we study his experience? Dealing with Israel, a stiff-necked people. They never listened to him. They never did what he said to do. And from the first, they just would not listen to them. And we read in Deuteronomy 18, beginning in verse 17. I'll read it to you, but I thought I'd make mention of the reference so you can make a note of it. Deuteronomy 18, verse 17. This is what Moses said. He said, The Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require of him. In effect, Moses says there's a prophet coming that shall speak unto you, and he's the one who has the message from God for his people. Here is how God saves sinners. Here I am, he said. This is it. This is God's salvation. And he's no mere prophet. He's that promised prophet. And there's never been another prophet like him. Yes, beloved, he's that prophet. But he's also the subject and theme of the message. You see, he's the teacher and he's the lesson. And he's also the fulfillment of God's message. And he's also the salvation of his people. He's the promised prophet of God that brings the message, and he's the subject of the message, and he's the salvation of that message. Indeed, he's salvation itself, and he's called here the prophet of Nazareth. And he's the Nazarene. And you know about the Nazirite, the Nazirite vow. There were Old Testament men that were Nazirites for a while, Samson was a Nazirite for a while. Now, I don't believe being a Nazirite was a lifetime thing, for that Nazirite vow was impossible for a man to fulfill, really. So the Lord Jesus Christ is the only true Nazirite. You see, he's the only one that kept his vow to God. We read in Psalm 65 verse 1, Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. And that speaks of Christ, beloved. It doesn't speak about me and it doesn't speak about you. It speaks about Christ being the surety of the covenant. For certain it is, none of us has ever paid our vow. I mean, how many times have you thought to yourself or prayed, Lord, if you just get me out of this, I'll do this or I'll do that. Or Lord, just spare me and then I'll do whatever you want me to do. And has anyone, really any of us, ever kept a vow to God? Not one time. There's only one who's ever kept his vow to God, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He did that keeping of the vow for his people. You see, he came to this earth and he separated himself in doing the will of his Father. And he vowed, he promised that he would do it, And he did it. In John chapter 17, what is it that we hear him say in his prayer to the Father as our Great High Priest? Father, I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. He did it. He kept his vow. He did what he said that he would do, and he fulfilled the will of the Father concerning the redemption of his people. Now, as we come to the close of our time together, look with me in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, and I'll begin reading there in verse 5. It says there, And I'll amplify it a little bit. I won't be doing any damage to the text. I pray not. When the Son of God cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not, Father, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O Father God. Verse 8. Above, when he said, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings, and offerings for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said the Eternal Son of God, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first testament, the first covenant, the covenant of works, that he may establish the second covenant of God's grace. by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. You see, he fulfilled all the will of God in everything. But the will of God is the redemption of his people. And he did it all. He made them perfect by his obedience for them. And he sanctified them by washing them of all their sins with his own precious blood. And he did it all so that his people would be saved. That was the Father's will, that He save all of His people from their sins. And beloved, that's exactly what He did. Now, He's the Nazarite come to Jerusalem to fulfill every last clause of the covenant of His vow that He promised His Father in eternity. You see, the covenant of grace is a binding contractual agreement between the Godhead, between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You see, in the covenant agreement that the father made with his son and the spirit. The father elected a people, and he promised to save those people by the obedience and by the sacrifice of his well-pleasing son. And in covenant engagement, the son promised he'd get the job done. And he did, beloved. He most certainly did. He promised the father, I'll come in the flesh, I'll be made of a man, and I'll come in the body that is prepared for me. and I'll do what my people cannot do for themselves. I'll perfectly obey the law for them because my people are a sinful people, but I love them and I'll sacrifice myself for them to put their sin away to be remembered no more." I love all the places where God kind of sends to emphasize things in his word. How many times do we read in Ephesians chapter 8, by grace you are saved? Not once, but two times. And then in the book of Hebrews, how many times do we hear, your sins and iniquities will I remember no more? Two times. Hebrews 8.12, Hebrews 10.17. I'm so thankful that he condescends to encourage us in such a tremendous way. He says on the cross of Calvary upon the earth, it is finished. And in Revelation 21.6, he condescends to tell us again, a sinner like you and a sinner like me. What does he tell us? It is done. Everything that a sinner like you and a sinner like me needs to be saved, He's accomplished. He's gloriously accomplished. We don't read or we don't receive one thing of the Lord's hand now, do we? We receive double of the Lord's hands for all our sins and iniquities. This gospel is about Christ and Him crucified. It's about His righteousness and it's about His blood and nothing else. and to hear again and again how he's put away our sins and our iniquities to be remembered no more. What a blessing. What a blessing. You see, beloved, he's promised the Father that he would do that, and now we see in this portion he's come to do it. He's the Nazirite, he's that prophet come to save his people from their sins. And as we cry Hosanna from the heart that he opened, come save me Lord, come save me. Know this beloved, we call his name Jesus because ever so blessedly we know this. This has been revealed to us from above by the new birth. We know this. He shall save us from our sins. How else could we rejoice with our brother David unless he taught us that? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I shall not want for pardon. I shall not want for perfection. Why? Because the Lord is our righteousness. And then we conclude with our brother. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.