We turn once again in the word of God tonight to John 12, John 12. And once again, we're going to be reading the first 19 verses of this chapter, but this time we'll be considering verses 12 through 16 of this chapter. Again, we are not going to read those verses again. So pay particular note of verses 12 through 16 as we read this passage. They're going to constitute our text tonight. We begin reading in John 12, verse 1. Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone. Against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not always. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. Now here begins our text, 12 through 16. On the next day, much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king cometh sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him. The people, therefore, that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead bare record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they had heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how we prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him." This far we read God's Word. Again, our text tonight is found in verses 12 through 16 of this chapter. John's account of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on the first day of the last week of His life is, at best, sketchy. The other Gospel accounts give a much more detailed accounting of His entering into the city of Jerusalem. John's account is perhaps sketchy because, after all, he was the last of the men to write his gospel account. And perhaps he had even read the other gospel accounts and found that he did not need to add to the details of those accounts either. But John, in keeping with his particular gospel account, has a particular perspective to this event that the other gospel accounts do not carry. John's purpose, you understand, in writing his gospel account is to prove that Jesus Christ was the divine Son of God and therefore the promised Messiah. We find that in the passage we consider tonight, that that particular perspective of John also reveals itself. In verse 12, we find that John is concerned, once again, with the time element. He informs us that Christ's entry into Jerusalem took place the next day. Now that day was probably the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday. Jesus would not have traveled into the city of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day itself because that was not according to the laws of Moses. You didn't do that on the Sabbath day. And Jesus being a good Jew and observant of God's commandments, no doubt himself would not have traveled on the Sabbath day, the last day of the week. The next day, therefore, had to refer to Sunday, the first day of the week, the day after the Jewish Sabbath. It could very well have been that it was the next day after the feast that they had celebrated in the home of Simon the leper. That could have taken place on the Sabbath day. But nevertheless, we know that it's the first day of the week because of the other gospel accounts as well. It was on this particular day that many of the pilgrims now were making their way to the city of Jerusalem in order to prepare themselves for the celebration of the Passover feast. That's why we find in the account before us that there's a rather large procession of people following Jesus from Bethany to the city of Jerusalem. The purpose of these people becomes evident. they were out to make Jesus their king. Now the kingship of Jesus Christ and his kingdom again comes to the foreground in John's account before us tonight. In fact, the more that one studies the gospel accounts, people of God, the more we see that this kingship of Jesus Christ and the kingdom and his kingdom become an issue. You see, the Jews thought that they had this special right as a Jewish people to rule the whole world. And that when their Messiah came, he was going to be that earthly son of David that would give them the victory over all of the nations of the world and lead them to that worldwide empire of the Jews. In my estimation, that was a bit conceited of the Jews because the Jews themselves as a nation were very insignificant and very unimportant to the world, it seemed, at this point anyway. But after all, it seemed to them that that's what the prophecies of old had spoken concerning their Messiah. They believed fervently in that particular cause, that the Son of David was going to come into this world that he was going to lead the Jewish people and save them from their enemies and give unto them the kingdom of David once again. John in the account before us and in all of his gospel account teaches us that the kingship of Jesus in the kingdom of Christ is different than that. And John does this having been made to see by God's grace and by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon him later, what the true kingdom of Christ is and was. Christ is not an earthly king. He never was. He never will be. The Jewish nation no longer holds a special place in the economy of salvation, but on the contrary, Christ gained his kingdom and his kingship by means of his death and his subsequent exaltation. So we're going to bear that in mind tonight as we consider the words of our text under the theme, The King's Lowly Entrance into Jerusalem. really says it all. Christ is a king, but he enters into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. The king's lowly entrance into Jerusalem. In the first place, we want to find that his entrance there is by divine control. Secondly, we're going to find the divine reason for his entering into the city of Jerusalem in the way that he did. And then finally, the divine praise, the praise that we give to God himself as that God of heaven and earth. So the divine control, the divine reason, and the divine praise. The order of events that took place in Jesus' entrance into the city of Jerusalem really begins in verse 14 of our text tonight. We find there in Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat there on, as it is written, sat there on the young donkey. John informs us that Jesus found that young donkey on which to sit. That is indeed true. Jesus did find that donkey. Now, it wasn't as if Jesus, now while he was journeying to the city of Jerusalem, stumbled upon this donkey along the way and decided to sit there upon the back of that donkey. But Matthew, in his Gospel account, and all of them do, but Matthew always does a good job of explaining all of the details of these events. Matthew informs us of just how it was that Jesus found this donkey and then sat upon him. We read in Matthew's account, Matthew 21, verses one through three, and when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, in other words, they were on their way now to the city of Jerusalem, they had left Bethany, when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus to disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, the Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them. And then in verses six and seven, and the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. It was not as if these two disciples were sent to Jerusalem to search out and find that particular donkey, but Jesus himself sent them there, knowing already that that donkey was placed in the particular place where they would ask of the owner and they would take that donkey and its mother. John, of course, just says it's a young donkey, that's all. But the fact of the matter is it was a colt very young donkey, and he couldn't separate that young donkey yet from its mother. So they took the two of them with them to Jesus, and they put their clothes on the colt, the young donkey, and Jesus sat there on that colt of the donkey. The point is is that Jesus now had already left the village of Bethany and was on his way to Jerusalem. He had reached another little village along the way, not that far away from Jerusalem itself, near the Mount of Olives, a village called Bethpage. And it was there that he sent forth his disciples now to bring that donkey to him to ride. In the meantime, there was a multitude of people. that were following him from Bethany. These were all pilgrims now that were on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast, and they followed Jesus along that way that led to Jerusalem. But when they reached Bethpage, and Jesus, of course, sent forth these two disciples into Jerusalem, word went forth with them. that Jesus was now on His way to the city of Jerusalem. And when that word went forth, then we find that there were pilgrims already in Jerusalem that were asking the question, is Jesus going to come to the feast? They were all waiting for Him there. They wanted to know if He was going to show His face. And when they heard that Jesus was on His way, they came forth out of the city in order to meet Jesus at Bethpage too. So you had a multitude following Jesus, another multitude coming out of the city of Jerusalem. John of course intimates at that in the passage we consider when he writes this, on the next day much people that were come to the feast, they were at the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him. They went of the city of Jerusalem in order to meet Jesus along the way. Now perhaps proceeding any farther we ought to take note of the fact that the disciples had a hand in all of this. John makes mention of that in the last verse of our text, verse 16 tonight, and that's why we want to take note of that too. The disciples were sent by Jesus to get the colt. they came back with that colt. They took their robes off and they put it on that young colt and Jesus sat on him. They probably led that colt and its mother along the way. And we ought to know, too, that the disciples were just as excited as everybody else in this multitude. Their king, Jesus, finally is coming to his own. And so they rejoiced together with the people as they now started to lead Jesus to Jerusalem. Try to imagine that once, people of God. Try to imagine that. This wasn't something that was planned or orchestrated by the people. It was strictly spontaneous on the part of the multitudes. Everyone became, well, they became caught up in the moment. And the frenzy grew as Jesus now traveled toward that city of Jerusalem. We read once again in verses 12 and 13 of our text, on the next day much people that were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." Hosanna! Literally, take note of that, we'll come back to it in a moment. Literally, save now! That's what that word Hosanna means. blessed is the king of israel that comes in the name of the lord the multitude increased the closer it came to jerusalem shouting these words and with those shouts pulling down the palm branches from the trees that grew along the way to jerusalem and wave them in the air because palm branches you see were a symbol of peace and of victory, raised them in the air and then laid them on the ground so that the hoofs of that donkey could now walk on palm trees. And when they ran out of the trees, they took their garments and they laid those along the way too, all the way to the city of Jerusalem. By the time they reached the city of Jerusalem, you had this monstrous throng of people. Hosanna! Blessed to the King of Israel. Blessed be the name of the King of Israel. All shouting praises to him. So much so that John takes note of the fact when the Pharisees saw that, they had to make the comment, behold, the world has gone after him. They were pretty scared. We can well understand why this journey to Jerusalem that marked the beginning of the week of suffering is referred to as the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It seems Jesus had at last, well, he had at last received the honor that was due him. Even though the elders of the people wanted to destroy him, the people at this point seemed that they were going to have their way. And neither ought we to overlook now Again, the disciples in all of this, they took part in that exaltation, perhaps even led in that exaltation. Now, John calls our attention in particular to one prophecy that was fulfilled in this event. But in reality, there were two prophecies that were fulfilled in this event. First, it's fulfilled by the words that the multitude now shouts out to Jesus and about Jesus himself. In fact, it could very well have been that those who started this chant knew exactly that they were quoting verses out of Psalm 118. We read there in verses 25 and 26 of Psalm 118, "'Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord! O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity! Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord!' I told you to take note of the fact that hosanna means save now. The Hebrew words, and there's two of them, that are translated as save now in that psalm were hoshina, hoshiana, hosanna, hoshina. That's what they were shouting in the Hebrew language. Hosanna, you see, and those words literally mean save now. Psalm speaks in prophetic terms, therefore, of the kingdom of Christ. By repeating the words of this psalm, as did the multitude, we find that that is one prophecy, Psalm 118, that is being fulfilled in this particular event of Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Then John calls particular attention to the second prophecy that was fulfilled when he quotes that prophecy in verse 15 of our text. Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king cometh, sitting on Annas' colt. And the particular prophecy now to which he calls our attention is Zechariah 9, verse 9. So there's two prophecies. One is Psalm 118, and it is being fulfilled in this. And the second one, he says, is Zechariah 9.9, notice the words of that prophecy. 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. John says, listen, prophecy was being fulfilled as Jesus was now riding on that colt of a donkey into the city of Jerusalem. John points out in verse 16 now of our text that these events in actually fulfilling this prophecy were not events that were planned at all by the disciples. If you read verse 16 of our text, John says this, these things understood not His disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, that means He had now ascended into heaven, had sent forth His Spirit to dwell in the church, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they, the disciples, had done these things unto him." It wasn't before that. What John means to say is this, when that multitude started shouting out the words of Psalm 118, they were not doing that, because well the disciples had prompted him to do that to make it seem as if Jesus was the coming Messiah they didn't know it they didn't know anything of it that they were shouting out the words of that Psalm at that particular point the disciples didn't When the disciples themselves went to get that colt of a donkey and Jesus was put upon his back and they led that donkey on the way to Jerusalem, John says, we didn't know anything about that. We didn't know we were fulfilling prophecy. We didn't know that. Not until after Jesus died and was then glorified, that is ascended into heaven and sent forth his spirit and that spirit of truth now entered into our hearts and we understood the scriptures. Then we knew of it, but not at the time. We weren't, as disciples, trying to make it seem as if Jesus now was fulfilling these Old Testament scriptures. That wasn't our purpose in the things that we did. They didn't even understand what was going on at the time. Now that that's true reveals to you and to me, too, very important truths that we may not overlook in the passage that we have before us. First of all, It reveals exactly what the Apostle John is attempting to teach in his Gospel account. That Jesus Christ is the very Son of God and therefore the promised Messiah. The Son of God come into our flesh even as God now had promised of Him. All the Old Testament prophecies that heralded the coming of that Messiah pointed to the fact that Jesus was the Messiah. We cannot begin, of course, to quote all of the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus fulfilled. Matthew does that, by the way. You look through Matthew's account sometime. All of this was done according to the Scriptures. quotes an Old Testament passage. All of this was done to fulfill what the prophet said in the Old Testament. Constant references you see to the Old Testament scriptures. The Old Testament scriptures predicted the birthplace of Christ, predicted who Christ was going to be, predicted the fact that he was going to be crucified by evil hands. Read Isaiah 53 sometimes. All of these details that took place in Jesus' ministry and in his death were all spoken of in the Old Testament. And now John is saying, listen, this triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, it came exactly according to the fulfillment of these Old Testament passages, which proves one thing. Christ is the Messiah. And John just didn't want to do that for the sake of the church, to confirm them in their faith. But John does that in his Gospel account, beloved saints, because he wants others to know and to realize this. Take a look at the Old Testament Scriptures. They speak of Jesus Christ. Look at the events that took place. Look at the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Everything that He did was a fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, and that's evident proof that Christ is the Messiah. He's the Savior sent by God into this world. as Jesus himself states in John 5 verse 39 concerning himself, search the scriptures, and what he meant by that is the Old Testament scriptures, search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Old Testament scriptures testify of me. That's one outstanding truth. Now, the other outstanding truth Well, it might be easily overlooked, people of God, but we better not overlook it. If this triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem was prophesied hundreds of years before it actually took place, it is evident that God had planned this event from all eternity. Of course He had. If all of these things happened to Jesus according to what was prophesied hundreds of years before this, then it's obvious that all of this was taking place according to God's plan for our salvation. And that not only had God planned all of these things, but every little detail was carried out by God in His providential control in order that Jesus might walk the way that led to His death. God is sovereign over all things. It was God who sovereignly laid the foundations of the earth in the creation. It was God who was sovereign over the fall of man into sin. And it was God who is sovereign in sending forth His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world in order to save His people from their sin. And it is sovereign of our God that He leads that church unto eternal glory. Nothing is taking place by chance. No will of God is thwarted by anyone, not even Satan himself. God fulfills his will as he has planned from all eternity. And if we are left with anything tonight, let it be that fear and that reverence of almighty God, the majestic one who controls all things in his power. But there is more revealed in this event and the prophecies that we need to consider, too. The first is this. Jesus is the King of Israel. The passage clearly teaches that, doesn't it? Notice the shouts of the people. Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." They weren't lying when they said that. That prophecy was fulfilled in Christ. Here was the King of Israel that had come in the name of the Lord. Or then that prophecy, too, in Zechariah. Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy King comes sitting on Manasseh's colt. Christ, the royal Son of David, was now entering into the city of Jerusalem. In the words of the angel Gabriel when he announced the birth of Jesus to Mary, in the words of that angel Gabriel in Luke 1 verses 32 and 33, He shall be great. And shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David. And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. as long last the king of Israel had now arrived. And God through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah had promised, fear not, O daughter of Jerusalem or a daughter of Zion, behold, your king comes. Well, that king had come. And he came to rule over the house of Israel, the daughter of Zion forever. Forever. What? Christ didn't fulfill this prophecy, did he? He's not the king over Israel. I don't see Christ sitting on a throne in Israel. How did he now come and fulfill this? He's not the king of Israel. The daughter of Zion, that endearing name that was used for the church in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel, she didn't see her king coming on that colt. He never established his, he never went to the palace of Herod and usurped the throne and the rule away from Herod and sat down there and now is ruling over the king as the king over Israel. And since when does this Christ reign over Israel forever? I guess Christ wasn't the Messiah that John was speaking of here, was he? But he is, people of God. He is. But we have to understand the kingship and kingdom of Christ to realize this. Christ is, in fact, of the royal line of David. He, in his flesh, is David's son. The son that God had promised would come out of the line of David, that for sure. The daughter of Zion, the church in the Old Testament, need not fear. The church then, who many years prior to this entry of Jesus into Jerusalem heard this prophecy, and who at that time were yet looking for their Messiah, need not fear. They can rejoice because their king was coming. In fact, now, their king had come. He had come. And he came in the person of Jesus Christ. When the saints along the road to Jerusalem shouted that, you and I can shout that right along with them today. Our King has come. And Christ is the King of Israel. No, no, no, no, no. He's not the King of the earthly nation of the Jews. He's king of the elect Israel that God has chosen from eternity as his own people from the beginning of time to the end of time. That church, Israel, the elect Israel, Christ came to be the king over that chosen church. And Christ reigns. He's reigning, people of God, right now. He is reigning over that church. Not on some earthly throne in Jerusalem. Why would we want a king to rule on some earthly limited throne here in this present world? That's not something for the Church of Jesus Christ to look forward to. Jesus Christ now, by means of his death, by means of his ascension into heaven, is sitting at God's right hand and he rules the nations. He's king. He reigns as king, not on earth, but in heaven. His kingship is always heavenly, is always spiritual, and is eternal. And the reign of Jesus Christ, it's not an earthly reign, it's a reign right here. He reigns in the hearts. all of His people, wherever they might be in this present world. And He leads Israel, He leads His church, even now. Hosanna! Blessed is He that has come in the name of the Lord. Hosanna! Save now! Or, grant salvation. Oh yes, oh yes, the people thought that at this point Jesus was going to enter into Jerusalem and save them. Save them from their enemies, which was at that time the Roman Empire. Deliver them from the hands of these other nations that seem to have the rule over them. Save them from foreign domination. Deliver them now from their earthly foes. And that this Christ would now ascend unto that throne in Jerusalem, and that's where it would all begin. Behold, your King comes, however. Sitting on the colt of a donkey. He didn't ride into Jerusalem with a crown on his head, on a white stallion before an army in order to take over the city of Jerusalem, usurp the throne from Herod, and now rule over this kingdom of Jews, the earthly Israel. He comes in all lowliness. Zechariah's point. comes in all lowliness riding on a young donkey." Does that, children, look like a mighty conqueror who was coming into the city of Jerusalem to take over the throne there? He came riding on a little donkey. That Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt reveals how Christ was going to attain unto his kingdom. The only way Christ's kingdom could be established was by means of his death on the cross. The only way. This is what the disciples could not as of yet understand fully. This is not, this is what the crowds that were leading Jesus into Jerusalem at this time, they could not yet fathom, they could not yet understand that Jesus' kingdom wasn't going to be an earthly kingdom where he sat on that throne in Jerusalem, but that it was going to be a spiritual kingdom established in the hearts of his people only by means of his death and his resurrection. They couldn't understand that yet at that time because they had this Jewish dream, you see, that Jesus was going to be their earthly king. Save now. Grant salvation. That's what the people wanted. That's what the disciples themselves wanted. That Christ did. He now enters into Jerusalem for the first time on that last week of his life. He had set his face steadfastly to enter into Jerusalem to die. To die. You and I could not attain unto the kingdom of Christ, people of God. We couldn't be citizens of that kingdom of Christ unless Christ died for us. Because you see, you and I were subject to the rule of sin in our lives. We were slaves to sin and unbelief. We were unable to wrestle free from the hold that sin had on you and me. We were shackled with it in our lives. And we were in a horrible state. Having sinned against the Most High Majesty of God, we were guilty before God and doomed to eternal destruction as punishment for the sins that we have committed against Him. Certainly we needed salvation. Certainly we need deliverance. Hosanna! Not from a foreign empire. God's people needed to be delivered from that hold of sin on us. and had to be delivered from that punishment that was due you and me on account of that sin. And sitting on some earthly throne, well, it wouldn't accomplish that. Christ had to suffer. Christ had to die. Because it was only in that way, you see, that Christ could pay the price for our sins and then overcome the power of sin also in our lives. Even now Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem to establish his kingdom. He was traveling to Jerusalem to establish his spiritual throne. How could Jesus achieve that by means of his death? How could dying achieve this spiritual kingdom? Because having paid the price for sin, having humbled himself low, even unto death, he earned the right to be exalted at the right hand of God. And that's what God did. He highly exalted Jesus Christ. through his death earned the right to rule over the world. Christ would rise from the dead. Christ would then ascend into the heavens. Christ would then take his rightful place because he had earned that at God's right hand. And Christ would there rule over all that will take place from the time that he ascended into heaven until the end of time and even unto all eternity. And then at the end of time, Christ is going to come again to judge the people and then establish His kingdom as a heavenly kingdom of righteousness and perfection forever in heaven. But all of that could be achieved only by Christ humbling Himself unto death. Paul explains it all for us in such beautiful terms in Philippians 2. We read there in verses 6 through 11, Christ being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. I can't help but seeing him riding on that colt of a donkey. He humbled himself, lowly, sitting there, going into the city of Jerusalem. Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." You see, through his humility, through his subjecting himself to the Father's will, which was to die for us, God glorified him. And he now sits in heaven. That must be seen now in the event of Christ's entry into the city of Jerusalem. As we consider this event, it brings to the believers' lips a shout of joy and praise. This reveals itself already in the prophecy of Zechariah. When John quotes it, John says in his Gospel account, Fear not, daughter of Zion. But in reality, Zechariah writes this, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! We have no reason to fear. The saints in Zechariah's day had no reason to fear their king was indeed coming. Our king has come. But we don't have to fear that Christ is coming again either. He is, he's coming a second time, you know. No need to fear, rejoice greatly because even as he came that first time, he's coming again at the end of time. So we rejoice. Christ's a victorious king. He's won the battle against sin and Satan, against our enemies, and he sits victorious in the heavens. And we truly have reason to wave palm branches, don't we? Christ, the Prince of Peace, comes all victorious. He won the victory at the cross and there he saved us. Hosanna. We rejoice in an accomplished salvation and there is great reason to have joy in our hearts. But not just joy. Shout. You and I sit in church. And we're pretty quiet, aren't we? That's the way it should be. I mean, we're showing reverence to God, to his word. We don't want to distract from that. And yet, nevertheless, if we were to be sitting in basketball playoffs or a hockey playoffs, and our team scores a goal, it's quite a shout that we let forth, don't we? So it's not as if we don't know how to shout. especially for victory. Well, people of God, when we see the cause of Jesus Christ exalted in this world, when we look at our victorious King, we have reason to shout because we can rejoice in our salvation. And so we receive the instruction of the Word of God before us tonight, too. We should say it. Hosanna! Hallelujah! Praise the name of our God, Most High. And praise be the name of that Savior who came into this world and gave us the victory over sin and death. Praise be the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Christ is our King. And He reigns over us. All victorious. Amen. Father in heaven, we praise thy name. And certainly, Father, we shout thy praises in our lives, because thy name is glorified in all of the earth. And even in the account that we have before us tonight, we pray that thy name may be praised in our midst, and that thy name might receive all honor and glory. We thank Thee that Thou art our God. We thank Thee for the salvation that Jesus Christ has earned for us through the cross. We pray that Thou will go with us also in this week to come, that we might live in that rejoicing and in that great joy. Forgive us of the sins that we commit. We're thankful for the blood of Christ that was shed for us. We thank Thee that we can go forth as Thy servants. Thou go with us, and keep us therefore, and preserve us in Thy grace. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.