Sermon for Lord's Day May 29,2022 "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD"

Luke’s Warning of Jerusalem’s Desolation

17 and Luke 19 as well, as you recall, that we have been in this short section of Scripture, really, verse 31 through 35, for some weeks now, and today we are going to look in depth at verse 35, and really, if you want to put a title on the heading of your notes, we are going to be looking at just what the Scripture says as our title, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So you'll recall, in verse 34, just one verse before the text this morning, we hear basically the passionate cry, the passionate plea for Jerusalem, which the Lord pronounces, which the Lord gives, and he said, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to it, and he says, how often I would have gathered you, gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.

And then in verse 35, he says, behold, or as a result of this, your house is forsaken. And Jesus said, I tell you, you will not see me. Remember, he's looking forward to going to Jerusalem. That is what's in view here, and he says, you will not see me.

Jerusalem will not see me until Jerusalem as a city, as a group, as a whole makes this statement, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And we see in the text, as we're going to look through the text today, we'll see that once again, Christ's word proves to be true.

In our text today, we'll be examining what is referred to as the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Now, chapters 14 through 19, because I want to say this up front, we are going to skip ahead through this today.

Chapters 14 through 19 are a big parenthetical account of events that leads to the triumphal entry. From verse 35, from 14 .1 to chapter 19, we see Luke's accounting of events that took place from this moment to the moment that he enters into Jerusalem.

So this is a big 14 through 19, or a big parenthetical account of events that lead up to the triumphal entry. Now, for ease of understanding, what we're going to do today, we're going to pick up in chapter 17 and in chapter 19, and we're going to read Luke's narrative report of Jesus as he actually makes his way into Jerusalem.

Next week, we will of course resume back here at chapter 14, but for today, we're going to jump ahead because this will be beneficial for us in gaining clarity and understanding the context of what Jesus said here in verse 35.

Christ Leaves the Temple Desolate

Now, Matthew Henry stated it this way in his commentary on verse 35. He said this, the house that Christ leaves is left desolate. The temple, though richly adorned, though greatly frequented, is yet desolate if Christ has deserted it.

He leaves it to them. They made an idol of it and let them take it to themselves, he did, and to allow them to make their best of it, but Christ will trouble it no more. Christ justly withdraws from those that drive him from them.

This is borne out in the epistle by James. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. The scripture states as well, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Matthew Henry is very correct in his statement here, but he says, he goes on, he says, they would not be gathered by him and therefore, saith he, you shall not see me.

That's what Christ said. Jesus said, I tell you, you will not see me until Jerusalem cries, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now, what's amazing about just that portion that we have here in Luke's account is this, they would not be gathered by him and he said, you shall not see me or you shall not hear me anymore.

And this is just as what Moses, what we have in the account of Exodus, that Moses said to Pharaoh when he forbade him his presence. For in Exodus chapter 10, verse 27 through 29, the word of God states this, the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let them go.

This was after the ninth plague. And then in verse 28 of Exodus 10, then Pharaoh said to him, get away from me, take care never to see my face again, for on the day that you shall see it, you shall die.

But Moses said, as you say, I will not see your face again. Now, this was an empty threat that the Pharaoh gave because the Pharaoh held no sway nor power over God and his people. So again, we see yet another Old Testament reference that Jesus makes because those to whom he is speaking would rightly recognize the terminology that he is using.

It very well seems to be one of the most effective ways to get your point across when you are speaking, to speak in familiar terms to your listeners. A lot of times, I mentioned this last week, but I felt it necessary to repeat this statement, a lot of times we as Christians think that we should somehow speak in parables and riddles because it somehow makes us seem more spiritual to those that are listening to us.

But in reality, we should speak plainly. We should speak plainly and we should speak in a manner that is easily comprehended both by child and by adults. The Puritan gives us some advice. William Grinnell said this, to preach truths and notions above the hearer's capacity is like a nurse that should go to feed a child with a spoon too big to go into its mouth.

How true that is. So with that being said, let's look here at the text of Scripture, but let's do it with a reasonable sized spoon. So if you remember week before last when we read from 2 Samuel chapter 4 concerning how the glory of God departed from Israel in relation in connection to Jesus' statement concerning that their house had been left to them desolate, it would be beneficial for us here to consider that God is faithful.

God is faithful. God is faithful in both His blessing and His cursing. God is faithful in salvation and God is faithful in judgment. And so, as we have the Apostle Paul as he gives it to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 through 10, the Apostle Paul puts it this way, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love.

He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ. Why? According to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to what?

The riches of His grace, which He has lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ. He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on the earth.

The Kingdom the People Expected

So here in verse 35 we read the words of Christ, spoken to the people that should have gladly received His words. But, nevertheless, they refused and they rebelled against their Maker. Be certain of this today as we enter into this text today, that God is your Maker.

Believer or unbeliever, God is your Maker. The breath that is in your body is in your body because God has given you that very breath as a gift of His grace. It is a common grace that men have to breathe and to live and to function.

It is a saving grace for men to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, to be regenerated and to be born again by the Spirit of God. There is a very real difference in common grace and saving or special grace.

So, as we look here at the text concerning the triumphal entry of Christ, as we look at this and we see in the text, as you turn over to chapter 19 here in Luke's Gospel, as you see in Luke's text, there are a great many people that are gathered together here.

They are gathered to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem. It is important for us to keep in mind here. Here is another signpost if you want to put this down. It is important for us to keep in mind that the kingdom that people were expecting was not the kingdom that Jesus was bringing.

The kingdom that people were expecting was not the kingdom that Jesus was bringing. Hopefully, that will be made clear as we go along. So, as we gain insight, by way of contrast, let's go ahead here and look at chapter 19 and let's begin really in verse 11.

For those of you that texted and asked for the reference, I told you 28 through the remainder of the chapter. I changed it just a little bit. We are actually going to look from 11 to the end of that chapter because April and I last night while we were having supper, we were at the table and I told her I was just overwhelmed.

I was overcome because the Scripture just kept unraveling. Every time I pulled a string, there was just more that kept coming out of it. I don't want to neglect the text of Scripture, neglect the context of the Scripture, just so that it can be a little bit shorter or a little bit easier for us.

We need the Scripture. We need this context. So, in verse 11, picking up there in verse 11, minding verses 1 through 10, we have the account of Zacchaeus, right? Zacchaeus, everybody remembers the song.

If you don't, maybe it's good to learn it. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man was he. He climbed up in the sycamore tree right for the Lord he wanted to see. As the Savior passed that way, he looked up in the tree and he said, Zacchaeus, you come down for I'm going to your house today.

There you have a summary of verse 1 through 10 in song. But the Scripture says here in verse 11, as they heard these things, so Jesus says, the Son of Man has come to seek and the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost.

The Scripture says in verse 11, as they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

Remember, the kingdom that the people were expecting was not the kingdom that Jesus was bringing. And so Jesus gives a parable here to make it clear about what's going on. And in this parable, verse 12, Jesus said, a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then to return.

Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten men and he said to them, engage in business until I come. But his citizens hated him and they sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us.

When he returned, having received his kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him that he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him saying, Lord, your mina has made ten mina more.

By the way, a mina is about three months wages. And he said to them, well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities. And the second came saying, Lord, your mina has made five mina.

And he said to him, and you are to be over five cities. Then another came saying, Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you because you are a severe man.

You take what you did not deposit and you reap what you did not sow. And he said to him, I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant. You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

Then why did you then not put my money in the bank and at my coming I might have collected it with interest? And he said to those who stood by, take the mina from him and give it to the one who has the ten mina.

And they said to him, Lord, he has ten minas. Human nature right there, right? I tell you that to everyone who has, Jesus said more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

But as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me. Again, Christ is speaking. Though he is speaking in a parable, he is speaking in very plain language.

The trouble with the folks who were hearing this, they likely may not have understood the fact of who the nobleman was, who were the citizens of that country. The citizens of that country, of course, are the people of Jerusalem.

As in our Sunday school book here, the Jewish religious leaders often referred to John as the Jews in the various places. This group was variously made up of Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and teachers of the law.

So this was this group of people to whom he is speaking. John Gill, in his commentary, states this concerning the nobleman who went into a far country. He said he went to receive for himself a kingdom by which is intended not the kingdom of nature and providence concerning Christ.

The nobleman is Christ, not the kingdom of nature and providence, for that he already had and he did not receive it from another. It was of his right and by nature, nor was it the kingdom of grace that was set up in the hearts of his people and which was already within many of them.

Nor was it the kingdom of glory prepared for them before the foundation of the world, though into this he entered at his ascension and he took possession of it for himself and them. But a more visible display of his mediatorial kingdom he received from his father and which upon his ascension became more manifest for when he ascended he dispossessed Satan, casted him out of the Gentile world, converted large numbers of his people, both Jew and Gentile, and by ruling in their hearts and by subduing their enemies and by protecting and defending them and by thus reigning till he has gathered all in them, either in Judea or in the whole world, and then he will come again and return.

I know that was a mouthful, but I want to add to that and clarify that by saying this. Let's make a clarification right here. There are only two scriptural teachings of Jesus physically coming. Two. There are not three, as the dispensational view teaches, that Christ came once at the incarnation, that he'll come again at a certain period of time, and that he'll come again.

There are two physical comings of Christ, the first of which was his incarnation. Physically came to earth. Emmanuel, God with us. The second physical coming of Christ will be, according to the scriptures, like in 1 Thessalonians 4, when Christ comes with the shout and the command and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.

That is for the second physical coming of Christ. But we had this taught to us throughout the scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 states, finally then, brothers, Paul says, we ask and we urge you in the Lord Jesus Christ from us how you ought to walk and how you ought to please God just as you are doing and that you do so more and more.

The coming of Christ, our expectant looking to and for the coming of Christ ought to have a sanctifying effect on our lives as believers. It ought to have a sanctifying and a cleansing effect on us as believers, which is what Paul points at.

He says, for you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God. You want to know God's will for your life? This is the will of God for you, that you should be sanctified, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and in honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgress and that no one wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

For God has not called us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God who gives his Holy Spirit to you. We see this connection right here, the sanctifying effect of the expectation of looking for Christ.

Now, concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. For that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia, but we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more and to aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your own hands as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and that you may be dependent on no one.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, those that have died before. We do not want you to be ignorant about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

For since we believe that Jesus died and that Jesus rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the cry of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, those of us who are left, will be caught up together with the Lord in the air to meet the Lord so that we will always be with the Lord.

Encourage one another with these words. I wanted to make that statement because we must be clear on this matter of Christ's coming. He came once in the incarnation. He will come again physically a second time at the end to call us home to meet and so we'll ever be with the Lord.

The reason that I wanted to communicate that is because remember, as we're looking at this text, what we're looking at contextually is Christ certainly, as he has been speaking, of coming in judgment.

It's not a physical coming in the form of the second coming, but it is a very real coming because his judgment is going to be brought forth. His coming, his judgment is going to be brought forth. So as John Gill went on to state, he said, either to destroy the Jews, the doing of which fully proved he had received his kingdom, was vested with power and authority, and was made or declared Lord and Christ.

So in his coming judgment, he was going to prove that he was who he said he was, that he was the only begotten Son of God, holy, harmless, and undefiled. Gill went on to say this, he came to show that his personal glorious kingdom on earth or his kingdom in its greatest glory here will not be till he comes a second time.

So John Gill, one of the great theologians of church history, has verified this, that his greatest glory will not be till he comes a second time, and to engage diligence in his servants in the meanwhile, and to keep up the faith, hope, and expectation of his second coming.

John, earlier, between Sunday school and church, John came to this point, he fell down on his little belly, and he looked around expecting someone to pick him up. The preacher just looked at him and said, get up.

Christi standing beside him, I thought she was going to shed tears, felt bad for him, he jumps up, he runs to Christi, he realized Christi is not his mama, he sees his mama and starts to reach for his mama, he had an expectation of help.

And my friends, our help comes from the Lord. He is the one to whom which we look for and to whom we look to. John Gill, in closing, Gill's statement there, he said, it came to pass that when he was returned, I'm sorry, I read all that, but this, knowing this in closing, though the time is fixed and certain concerning Christ's return, it is unknown.

It is fixed and certain to God, unknown to us, and will be a sudden and unexpected event, but will not be till after the gospel has had a general spread over all the world, and the Jews are converted, and the fullness of the Gentiles brought in, and then will Christ come.

Christ’s Judgment on Jerusalem and the True Meaning of the Triumphal Entry

So what does that have to do with this text of Scripture, this passage, this particular passage here? Remembering Christ is that nobleman, right? The citizens of the country who hated him are the people who were supposed to be worshiping him, and loving him, and looking for him, and seeking for him, and yet they denied, rejected, and refused him.

And as a matter of fact, they went so far as to, guess what, send a delegation after him as Jesus stated in his parable. Jesus states it clearly in the parable there. Jesus had made clear at this point the reason he was going to Jerusalem, which was, by the way, he was going to suffer and die and rise again on the third day.

The kingdom that they were expecting was not the kingdom that Jesus was bringing. Matthew chapter 16 and verse 21, the gospel writer Matthew puts it this way, from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and that he must suffer many things from the elders, the chief priests, the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again.

The kingdom that they were expecting was not the kingdom that Jesus was bringing. The kingdom, the people who in Jerusalem themselves were crying out, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, were not expecting the kingdom of Christ as Christ had set it up.

They were expecting an earthly kingdom. They were expecting an immediate overturn, they were expecting an immediate overthrow of the Roman government, and that the kingdom of God in physical form was going to be set up right then and right there.

The kingdom that they were expecting was not the kingdom that Jesus was bringing. In Luke chapter 17, if you go back two chapters here, Luke chapter 17 beginning in verse 20, notice what the scripture says, being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say look here, or look here, look there, there it is.

For Jesus said, behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. The kingdom of God was standing before their eyes, for the king of the kingdom was there. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, Lord, as it is in heaven.

That is the statement of the scriptures. But if you read on further there, in 17 verse 22, and he said, Jesus said to the disciples, the days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

They will say to you, look there, or look here. Do not go out or follow them, for as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Over and over and over again, Christ lays out before the people, both the believing and the unbelieving, the plain fact of the matter. He goes on, just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

People were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, right? Until Noah entered into the ark and the flood came, and notice the word here, and destroyed them all. Destroyed them. Jesus is still talking about the judgment to come upon the people.

He goes on to say, likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and it destroyed them all, so will it be at the days when the Son of Man is revealed.

We see this clearly laid out. Going back over to 19 very quickly here, back to chapter 19, so we see this parable. We see in verse 27, but as for these enemies of mine, Jesus said, who did not want me to slaughter them before me.

Judgment language, very clear here. We read, the people expected the kingdom to appear immediately, but the kingdom the people were expecting was not the kingdom that Jesus was bringing. Notice as well in verse 14, actually back up in 14 there, 19, 14, notice what the scripture states, his citizens hated him, and they sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us.

So when he returned, he received his kingdom. We see this, and earlier I stated this, remember, you are here by the grace of God, by the common grace of God. And by the way, when I read this statement, this quote that I'm about to make to you, at first, at first it rubbed me a little bit the wrong way, but my friend, I realized this, that it is sound in its voice.

John MacArthur stated this, everybody belongs in his kingdom, Christ's kingdom. You may reject Christ, you may hate Christ, but he owns you. You may be an atheist, you may be a Muslim, a Buddhist, but Christ owns you.

You live in his country, for he made this world. It is his, and he made you by creation. He owns you. I think this is a message that people don't quite understand. They think that if they reject Christ, then Christ has nothing to do with them.

But you reject Christ, and he has everything to do with you. You do nothing with Christ, and he still has everything to do with you. You are in his world, you reject him, you can ignore him, does not change the fact that he owns you.

And he owns me. So we have here now, in verse 28, this triumphal entry that he makes. So in Jericho, where he calls Zacchaeus, likely about 15 to 20 miles outside of Jerusalem, so 15 to 20 miles past, don't know how long that is in time, but 15 to 20 miles past, in verse 28, when he said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem, and he drew near to Bethpage, at Bethany, in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives.

He sent two of his disciples saying, go into the village in front of you, and where on entering you will find a coat tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it, you shall say this, the Lord has need of it.

So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. By the way, this is a fulfillment of the prophet Zechariah. He went away and found it just as he had told them. Somebody asked, why are you untying the coat?

And they said, the Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the coat, they set Jesus on it, and as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road, as he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice, for all had seen the mighty works of God.

And they said, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. God is faithful. God is faithful in salvation. God is faithful in judgment. And some of the Pharisees and the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples.

He answered, if I tell you, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out, praise unto the Lord. It's been said before by plenty of old-timers, but I don't want a rock to have to cry out for me.

I don't need a rock to cry out for me. A rock can understand what it is to be created, but a rock cannot understand what it is to be redeemed. And my friend, if you are a child of God, you have been redeemed by God.

And therefore, praise ought to be upon our lips. It ought to be coming out of our mouth in the songs that we sing, in the words that we say, and in the lives in which we live. And here in verse 41, when he drew near and he saw the city, the scripture says here, he wept over it.

Oh, he was looking and already broken inside of Jerusalem and kills those that are sent to it. And Jesus here says, it's saying, would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace.

They should have been well aware of the thing that made for peace. For the prince of peace stood before, heard this, peace in natural terms. It's right before your eyes. It is said, missing the forest for the trees.

Christ said, they are hidden from your eyes. Who does the hiding? Christ does the hiding. He reveals himself. He spoke to Nicodemus in John chapter 3. He spoke to Nicodemus. He said, you must be born again.

How can a man be born again? How can a man enter a second time into his mother's womb? Jesus said, are you a teacher of Israel and do you not yet understand these things? It's the same principle as a figure.

Nicodemus was a representative figurehead of the entire nation of Israel who could not see Christ for who he was. But thanks be unto God that he still opens blinds eyes, that he still loosens the deaf ears, that he still gives us dead and crippled people, sinners the grace and the strength to stand and to run to him with all that we have within us which he has given to us.

For the days will come, Jesus said, upon you. The days will come upon you, again very clear language, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

So keep in mind, we're not talking about the second coming. What the scripture is talking about is the coming in judgment upon Jerusalem. That was certain. It was certain. You'll be hemmed around on every side.

You'll be torn down to the ground, you and your children with you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation. Earlier in the Gospels, Christ had reminded folks about the importance of taking up their cross and follow him.

He reminded them of the fact that they must be willing to consider the cost. Jumping into saying, I want to be saved will not save you because, my friend, time will bear out the truth of whether or not you are saved.

It's the condition of the soil of your heart. The Gospel is good seed. It is perfect. It is pure. It is powerful. But, my friend, time will bear out if you are saved, if you are a child of God. Fruits of sanctification will be borne out in your life because the work that the Holy Spirit has done in us.

And we will have an expected looking and coming in the coming of our Lord and our Savior. But Christ here, in closing, verse 45 through 48, he entered the temple and he began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, it is written, my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

You have made it a den of thieves. And he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do for all the people were hanging on his words.

Oh, church, today Christ cried in Luke 13, 35, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills those that are sent to it in stones, the prophets, how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing.

So we see Christ's passion, please, in 13, 35, and we see the fulfillment of this in Luke chapter 19. And we see, as we continue to move along, as we jump back to 14 next week and we move our way forward again, we see that this is looking toward that great and dreadful day of judgment that was to come, that did come upon Jerusalem in AD 70.

And we can be certain that God is faithful in all his ways. He is just in all his doings. So what is our application here? Our application is this. What is our exhortation application? It is this, look unto Christ and be saved.

Look unto Christ and be born again today through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, for you cannot be saved on your own. But Jesus has said, those who come to me, I will in no way cast out. But all whom Jesus said, come unto me, all you who are labored, all you who labor and are heavy laden and weary.

And Jesus said, I will give you rest. He offers you salvation today. Come while it is still called.