The Joy and Pain of Providence (Luke 19:28-44, Jeff Kliewer)

Father, thank you so much for all that is happening here at this church. We thank you for the mission team that's been sent off to West Virginia as they are there now ministering.

Lord, we pray that you would use them. We thank you for all the missionaries around the world that we have a part in supporting.

We ask that you use them on this Lord's Day. And God, we pray also that you would speak to us here in this place on this

Lord's Day, that we would know you more, that we would rest in you, trust you more, speak to us,

God. We are listening. In Jesus' name. Amen. Many of you know that this is the 500th anniversary this year of the

Protestant Reformation. It began in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg.

But there was some providence of God which behind the scenes was working to make that Protestant Reformation happen.

To make it take off. The printing press was invented in the late 1400s.

And by the time that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church door, printing was available.

So that within two years of that event, Martin Luther had become the most published author in the world.

By 1522, he had produced a hundred and sixty writings that went to publication.

It turned out that his short treaties and his pamphlets that he was writing were perfect for the printing press.

But think about this. God was the one who behind the scenes was ushering everything into place so that the

Protestant Reformation would be launched when the time came. It was not unlike when the time

Christ came that everything was set in place for the gospel to run around the world.

The Pax Romana. The peace of Rome. There was no war.

Everything was at peace. And the Roman roads that had been built just in time for the gospel to begin to run.

Plus the language, Koine Greek, that had begun to dominate across the world. God's providence put everything in place so that the gospel could triumph and move across the

Roman Empire quickly. The providence of God. This morning we're talking about the providence of God and as we jump into it,

I want to say two words for you to write down and to remember. Theology matters.

Theology matters. Theology matters.

If you have a deficient view of God, it will affect all of your life.

Theology, of course, is the study of God. Theos, God, and ology refers to study or knowledge of God.

The way we view God and think about him affects all parts of our lives.

There are those who have a deficient view of God's sovereignty, of his providence in the world.

And as a result, they're constantly seeing in what ways they are being victimized by secondary causes.

There is a rampant victim mentality in our land. And much of that is owed to the fact that people do not understand that we have a

God who is overall and is sovereign overall. He is the primary cause such that whatever happens from secondary causes, is secondary.

The first one with whom we have to do is God himself. Right now there's a controversy stirring in the

Christian world around an apologist named James White. James White is the one who taught me the term theology matters.

But he went to a church on a weekday and had a conversation with a

Muslim imam. And so many Christians have become enraged almost about his choosing to do that.

That he would sit down with an imam to talk about theology and to talk about God. The controversy against James White is saying that, well, the imam is really radical at heart and is not the moderate he claims to be.

And James White never should have sat down with him and had a conversation. So many are criticizing him and attacking him for that.

Theology matters. You see, even if Muslims are planning to do evil things, and and there are of course extreme

Muslims who have evil designs, even if that's the case, Christians who understand the sovereignty of God and the providence of God do not operate in a spirit of fear, but in peace and a sound mind.

And even if there are secondary causes going on around the world where Christians and Americans are are under threat from Muslims, that's no reason to pull back in fear.

What James White has done in sitting down to talk to an imam and share the gospel with him and listen to what the imam has to say is not compromising the gospel, rather it is resting in the sovereignty of God.

Many people are afraid in our land today because of the threat of terrorism.

And it makes sense because terrorists will from time to time strike, won't they? There's no way to stop it.

And yet a Christian who understands the providence of God, that it doesn't only include the good things, like the invention of the printing press right in time for Luther to nail the 95

Theses and distribute that across Germany, or even the foundation of our country, wasn't

God's hand of providence evident in the founding of America? The first Great Awakening that swept through the colonies, that prepared the people spiritually, the confluence of so many great minds coming together to draft the

Constitution of the United States of America. The time was ripe for the founding of this country.

The providence of God in the founding of America, especially as you study the American Revolution and some of the things that happened in the

Revolutionary War, it was amazing. The providence of God has always been on this country.

But his providence is not only in the good things. His providence also governs the bad things that happen.

His hand is present in the good and in the bad. And coming to understand this on the macro level, in things like American politics, or in debating with Muslims in the case of James White, or dealing with fear on the macro level, or on the micro level of your own life when something bad happens to you.

Understanding God's providence in in both ways, it's crucial to becoming a mature

Christian. A mature Christian recognizes the hand of God and is aware of his providence even in the hard times.

So you don't come undone. You don't become afraid. You recognize that God has a purpose, a plan, in whatever things come to pass under the

Sun, whether good or bad. This morning, I believe that the thrust of Luke 19, as you study this portion, this pericope of Scripture from verse 28 to 44,

I think the thrust of it is about the providence of God. His unseen hand that's guiding the events of this life, both good and bad.

And so the message is entitled, the joy and pain of providence. We're talking about providence.

So turn with me, if you will, to Luke 19 verses 28 and following.

Awareness of God's providence is key to glorifying God, and to finding joy in this life, and to enduring pain in this life.

When I say the word providence, one way to think about it, to help get a handle on what that word means, is comparing it to miracles.

A miracle is an unusual occurrence. Providence, by contrast, is an unceasing occurrence.

In both cases, miracles and providence, it's the hand of God at work in the world.

When Jesus opens blind eyes, when he heals a leper, when he raises a dead person, this is a very unusual occurrence.

And some of these unusual things still happen today in the name of Jesus. Miracles still happen. But providence is that unceasing hand of God that sometimes goes unnoticed.

Providence is the rising of the sun every single day to give light to this world and to make plants grow.

And the rains that come that water the earth. It's the oxygen that's provided to our lungs, without which we can't breathe.

Providence is the hand of God that's active in the world. The opposite of Christian theism is deism.

Deism says that God created a world, he spun it into existence, and then he stepped back away from the world.

And he doesn't govern the world actively. He simply creates natural laws and lets it run.

And so when bad things happen, hey, God's not responsible for that.

He's not in control of that. It's just a victimizer and a victim.

Or a natural disaster and a victim. And hence a victim mentality.

That's deism. That God has stepped back, but Christian theism says that God is actively involved in the world.

And we're going to see that in the text right now. So Luke 19, 28 and following. And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Remember that phrase that's been reoccurring? In chapter 9, verse 51.

He sets his face to go to Jerusalem. So from that point in the text until now, he's on a mission to go to Jerusalem.

He set his face to go there. Following verse 29. When he drew near to Bethpage and Bethany, at the mount that is called

Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt 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.

Providence. And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them,

Why are you untying the colt? And they said, The Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus.

And throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. This is a story about the providence of God.

Providence, when we see it and recognize it, brings glory to God.

In his providence, he governs the world. And in recognizing that, we glorify

God for his activity in the world. Looking back at verse 28, he's on a mission.

Setting his face indicates that he has a purpose. Chapter 9, verse 51.

He has set his face to go to Jerusalem. And here, he's leaving

Jericho, about 25 miles left to go through that winding road, making the ascent up to Jerusalem from the east.

Jesus is on the move with a purpose. He draws near to Bethpage and Bethany at the mount that is called

Olivet. He sent two of the disciples saying, Go into the village in front of you where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever yet sat.

Untie it and bring it here. Why is Jesus sending two disciples to go find a donkey?

Well, those of us who have been familiar with the scriptures and studied, we recognize Zechariah 9 -9 at this point.

The prophet Zechariah, second to last book of the Old Testament, four to five hundred years before this event takes place, says,

Behold, your king comes having salvation, humble, gentle and riding on a donkey.

Even the colt, a foal of a donkey, a young donkey on which no one has ever yet sat.

And so Zechariah 9 -9 prophesied this event. Notice also that he's coming in from the east.

He's arising from Jericho on the east side of the city, coming through Bethany and Bethpage to the east of the city and going over the

Mount of Olives, which extends almost the entire range of the east side of the city.

Climbing one side and going down and entering through the eastern gate. What significance is there to the

Mount of Olives? Well, Zechariah also tells us in chapter 14, verse four, that when the king comes, he will set his foot on the

Mount of Olives and it will split from east to west. Pushing to the north a higher mountain, to the south a higher mountain as Messiah, as the king sets his foot on the

Mount of Olives. In this first entrance into the city, this doesn't happen.

But at the second coming of Christ, when he comes to reign as king in Jerusalem, his foot will split in two at the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ.

He's coming. But there's more to this eastward movement from Jericho up into Jerusalem.

The book of Ezekiel comes at a time of exile. And just before the exile, when the people are taken away into captivity in the east in Babylon and Assyria.

At that time, Ezekiel gets a vision. Chapters 8 through 11.

I've given you the references here in the notes. You can look them up later. But Ezekiel in his vision sees what is called the glory of God.

The glory of God in the temple of God. But in Ezekiel's vision, because the nation has hardened their hearts against God and moved away from God, the glory of God begins to depart.

And we see this happen in stages. From the temple of God, it goes from the holy of holies.

This glory goes to the threshold of the temple. And then in a second stage, it moves from the temple to the eastern gate of the city of Jerusalem.

And then it departs over the eastern mountain. What we call the

Mount of Olives. And is gone. So the departing of the glory of God pictures

God removing himself from the temple because of their apostasy. In his judgment, taking away that visible manifestation of his glory.

Now, that visible manifestation of his glory was often called the Shekinah glory.

Shekinah actually doesn't appear in the scriptures, but it's a combination of two Hebrew words that mean to dwell. Shekinah.

God was dwelling or tabernacling amongst the people of Israel. And often, that glory was displayed in a physical cloud.

A cloud that they could see. Remember how they were traveling through the desert.

They would go once a year hovering over the mercy seat where the wings of the cherub statues were surrounding the mercy seat.

There was the visible presence of God. The Shekinah glory tabernacling with the

Israelites. The glory of the Lord departed.

So here is the fulfillment that we see. Look now at verse 29. When he draws near, he's coming in from the east near Bethpage and Bethany.

He sends for the donkey fulfilling Zechariah 9 .9. Coming over the Mount of Olives prophetic of Zechariah 14 .4.

But Ezekiel is showing the departing of the glory of God. Now the glory of God is coming.

And what I'm trying to say to you is that Jesus Christ is the glory of God.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3. Titus calls the appearing of the glory of God the appearance of Jesus.

Chapter 2 verse 11 to 14. Jesus is the glory of God who comes to prepare a people for his own possession.

Jesus comes. The glory of God coming to the temple. And if we continue to read this story we'll find he comes from the east over the eastern mountain through the eastern gate across the threshold and into the very temple of God where he cleanses it of apostate religion.

Jesus is the glory of God. And he's fulfilling prophecies as he comes. See, the greatest indication that God is ruling all things is the fulfillment of his own word.

His word given and then fulfilled is evidence enough. Many people are looking for evidences that God is real.

They want signs from heaven. They want miracles. But we have his word.

And in 39 books of Old Testament prophecy we come after fulfillment in the

New Testament in the life of Jesus Christ. His providence fulfilling all things.

And notice how it unfolds verse 31 and following you see providence even in how he carries it out.

He sends disciples in verse 31 to untie a donkey and if anybody asks you why are you untying it you shall say this it does me.

Can you imagine if I said guys go to the parking lot at the mall and when someone's getting out of their car just casually shake their hand and just grab their keys.

And when they say well what are you doing? You say the Lord has need of it and then you just take the keys and get in the car and drive away.

How would that go? Not too well, right? You're going to get hit in the face or someone's calling 911 and the cops are chasing you as you drive off in a

Maserati or a BMW. So what is

Jesus doing in this verse? Anyone who says to you why are you untying it you shall say the

Lord has need of it. When we see in verses 32 and following that this results in just an acquiescence the providence of God was going before them to retrieve the donkey.

The providence of God was there first. Verse 33 its owner said to them why are you untying the colt and they said the

Lord has need of it that is enough said.

Why? Very likely this Jewish man had just been reading

Zechariah 9 .9 and heard about the coming of this Jesus who claims to be

Messiah claims to be King and he said yes.

You see the Lord had prepared his heart and providentially made him ready to give away his donkey.

God's providence displaying his glory. Now let's keep moving in the text the second thing I want us to see is that when we see providence it is the seed bed for our greatest joy.

There is no joy like seeing the glory of Jesus Christ. Now the world will tell you the opposite right?

The highest joys of this life are the things that most satisfy me. Chasing fulfillment and satisfaction will never result in true satisfaction or true joy.

The highest joys that you will experience in this life is the experience of God's presence.

His providence working in your life as you recognize it and you see that it will well up in you something that this world cannot reproduce or mimic in any way.

Watch what happens. 36 and following and as they rode along they spread their cloaks on the road

I mean that's just throwing down your own possessions not worried about yourself it's trying to give glory to the one who's riding on that donkey.

Verse 37 Verse 38

Verse 39 Verse 40 Verse 41

Verse 49 Verse 51 Right in the front of the pack throwing their coats down to let that donkey ride across it and yelling at the top of their lungs

Hosanna, I'm glad we sang Hosanna in the highest today. Save now calling out praises to Jesus Christ.

He gives us joy by revealing his glory. Colossians 115 make note of that verse it's crucial that all things were created by him all things were created by Jesus and that verse ends by saying and for him all created things are for him.

We were made for this purpose to worship the Son of God and if we don't the stones will cry out.

Verse 39 The Pharisees in the crowd said to him Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

He answered I tell you if these were silent the very stones would cry out.

The universe was made for the glorification of Jesus Christ.

The people that he calls forth to be his own possession we were dead stones dead and yet he made us alive and makes us cry out as living stones.

1 Peter 2 to that cornerstone Christ Jesus the rock we cry out to him because we were made for this and if we didn't the very stones of the wall of Jerusalem would be shouting his praise.

The whole universe is for his glory. This is where our joy comes from. So recognizing the coming king hey this is the fulfillment of Zechariah the glory of the

Lord is coming to the temple they rejoice in Christ and that brothers and sisters is where your joy will come from.

Have you been lacking joy? Have you been recognizing the providence of God in your life?

When I sit back and think about the providence of God in my life it never fails to give me joy.

To think about everything that has fallen into place to provide the things that I need and bless me with things that make me say like David who am

I and what is my house that you have blessed me like this?

The joy of the Lord is shared with us as we recognize him and his providence in our lives giving thanks for the things we have.

That's not the end of the story. One last thing to say the providence of God also includes hard providence pain suffering when pain and suffering happen to us recognize

God is not out of control. It's not that his providence only extends so far hindering him whether it's human free will or any other thing that keeps him from accomplishing his purpose and therefore we suffer.

That's not the case. His providence does include the hard times of this life.

Let's look at it in the text verse 41 through 44 the last point here we'll stop at 44 but we need to press this for a minute and when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it.

This is a moment of heart wrench not just getting misty eyed this is doubled over and heaving and weeping like he was at the graveside of Lazarus he weeps over the city of Jerusalem saying would that you even you had known on this day the things that make for peace but now they are hidden from your eyes for the days will come upon you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground you and your children within you and they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Hard providence for the city of Jerusalem within a generation we all know this within a generation these very words come true the

Romans surround the city on every side and tear down the walls and ransack the city and destroy the temple so that even the temple not one stone was left on another it was thrown down and great suffering happened in that city and the

Jews went into diaspora until they were finally regathered into their land in 1948 a great and terrible devastation happens here does it look like Jesus was out of control in this text no he's prophesying it he's foreknowing it how does he foreknow it because it has been foreordained to happen just as it was foreordained that he ride in on a donkey that he come in from the east that he set his face see

Jesus is the lamb slain this is his plan

A from the beginning of time that Adam and Eve fall and that the son of God the lamb of God come to redeem a people for his own possession yes he's riding in and he could have set up his throne he could have split that mountain the

Mount of Olives on his way in and reigned as king he could have done that he had the power to do that but he says no one takes my life

I lay it down willingly according to plan why for it is written he said in chapter 18 just one chapter ago it is written that the son of man must suffer all of these things if it is written it is

God's purpose he's written his purpose and his plan and you say well wait a minute doesn't that make

God the author of sin of pain and of suffering here's a word

I'm going to write it down alongside theology matters compatibilism the scriptures plainly teach that God is sovereign over all that he has a plan that he is working out and it can't be thwarted and it's not hindered by humanity and yet humankind is responsible for sin and held responsible for sin and evil the fall of Adam and Eve although known by God and for ordained by God is the responsibility of Adam and Eve not of God God is not the author of sin according to the scriptures and this is a tension that the scripture presents us with the compatibilism of human freedom and God's sovereignty but what we tend to do is sacrifice the sovereignty of God on the altar of human autonomy we tend to so cling to our human free will wanting to vindicate

God that we sacrifice what the scriptures plainly teach which is that he is in control and he's working out his plan

Acts 2 .23 says the same thing about the crucifixion of Jesus the most wicked and evil thing that this world has ever seen the innocent son of God laid down as a lamb and sacrificed

Acts 2 .23 tells us it was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God see it's not an either or it's a both and God is sovereign over all and in his hard providence he allows evil and it's part of his plan that this happen it's part of his plan that the son of God be sacrificed that's the glory of his plan the lifting up of the son of God to display his justice in punishing sin but also his love in that the death of the son of God now redeems a people that his blood is substituted for sinners like us that's the plan and it's a good plan and so I'll say to you who are suffering because that's all of us in this room and in severe ways the hard providence that God allows you to go through has a purpose it has a plan there's a reason for it he is working all things together for the good of those who love him

Romans 8 .28 this is the destruction of Jerusalem in our text today notice another thing that's compatible with God's sovereign plan his emotion

God having emotion is compatible with his sovereignty some would say well if he already knows everything and it's all going to work out how could he really grieve with us our text tells us that Jesus wept over the city in verse 41 when you're going through something and you feel like you can't hold on know that you are crying out to a

God who cares even though you can't see him and you don't know why he keeps leaving you in that spot for so long this is a

God that loves and weeps God has emotion Jesus here demonstrates that he is

God in the flesh so in summary this is how mature disciples are made by the word of God and the word for today recognize the providence of God over all things and how that donkey was brought to Jesus to carry him into Jerusalem in the way it was taken without objection because God had in his providence gone before to make that way delight when you see his providence in your life and take some time to recount those things it's not a coincidence that you ended up in this building hearing the word of God today or any day how it was that you came to salvation as I think about that in my life it's nothing of me it's all of him he's at the bottom of it all in the parents that he gave me in the teaching of the word the opening of scriptures that I would hear and somehow believe all the glory goes to him and in the pain this is how you endure pain recognizing the providence of God even over your suffering he has a plan for it and I can't tell you what it is that's not made known to us secret things belong to the

Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong to us Deuteronomy 29 29 that's a life verse for you we don't always know what the purpose is but we're told that there is a purpose so we're going to call on Michael to come up and close us with a worship song the joy and pain of providence let's pray and ask

God that he would implant this word deeply in our hearts the application here the go and do is to take time to consider the providence of God recognize and rejoice in Christ and to endure hardship as a good soldier recognizing that there's a purpose for it there's a plan that God is working out let's pray

God thank you for your word we've read this story about the triumphal entry of Jesus and how he came in riding on a donkey and how people threw their coats on the ground and rejoiced and sang out praises and it stirred up the

Pharisees to try to rebuke them Jesus you said that if they didn't cry out the very stones would cry out and then you turned the corner and looked out at the city and there you saw the walls of Jerusalem and you doubled over weeping over the city it's kind of God that you are you have determined all things but it's a soft determinism compatible with our responsibility you are not the author of sin but you are in control and so we trust you

I pray in Jesus name that this morning you will make us more mature so that we are not controlled by a spirit of fear constantly looking at ourselves as victims of some secondary cause but rather trusting you for your primary cause that we would be more concerned with our relationship with you the one with whom we have to do the one we will stand before on judgment day and give account of ourselves it's you

Lord everything else is fading away so this morning

Lord give us good theology theology matters

Lord help us to trust you to rejoice in you and to endure pain encourage us today

Lord make us strong today Lord I pray for us as Christians that we would not be shaken moved by every wind that blows through but secure in you strong in your love thank you for the blessings in our lives but thank you also for your hard providence teach us to trust you in the middle of the storm we rejoice today in Jesus Christ our

Savior blessed is he who comes blessed is the

King riding on the donkey the King who's coming again this time in power and great glory whose foot will split the

Mount of Olives blessed is the King we trust you more today than we did before thank you for your word in Jesus name