Behold, Your King Comes to You — Erlo Stegen

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as the Promised King

Let's read from the Bible and we read from Matthew chapter 21. Let's read from verse one. Now when they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethpage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.

Loose them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them.

And when they came to Bethpage, they said to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to me. And when they came to Bethpage, they said to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.

Loose them and bring them to me.

Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold your king is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and sent him on them.

And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the name of the Lord! Now this text which I've read to you is so rich in content that we could never complete it and finish it in just one hour.

It is a beautiful text. It is so wonderful and it shows how the things of God, we cannot reach the highest hearts of it. And it is so full that we can never explain it all. The theme of this message is, Behold your king comes to you.

The Natural Man Cannot Grasp the Things of Heaven

It is a pity when people are blunt regarding the things of heaven. The natural man cannot understand and cannot grasp the things of heaven. The things of the earth are very clear and close to them, but very distant are the things of God.

Actually, it should not be the case. That is wrong. Instead, it should be that the things of heaven are close to us and the things of the earth are strangely dim.

It should not be the case. That is wrong. Instead, it should be that the things of heaven are close to us and the things of the earth are strangely dim.

It should not be the case. That is wrong. Instead, it should be that the things of heaven are close to us and the things of the earth are strangely dim. It should not be the case. That is wrong. Instead, it should be that the things of heaven are close to us and the things of the earth are strangely dim.

It should not be the case. That is wrong. Instead, it should be that the things of heaven are close to us and the things of the earth are strangely dim.

But I say to you, person, you who are possessed by the lists of this earth and you don't see the things of heaven, you've lost even your humanity. Instead, perversion and bestial nature takes over. You're not a person, you're an animal.

And you're not speaking a human language anymore. You're speaking the language of just animals. In the Bible, we hear about a beast that is in opposition to Christ. An awful, terrifying dragon. You speaking his language.

Every human being should be speaking the heavenly language. But instead, they're not. They're speaking the language of God and the earthly things and that's all that they can see. You'll find that the same person who reads the Bible with no understanding, nothing goes in, is quite confident and completely at home in reading something pornographic.

That's what gets to him. If you can understand the heavenly language, you would marvel and burst out with praise that your king says to you, that you say, my Lord, are you really coming to me? As the king of heaven, what is an earthly king?

He is just a person like you. He will die like you will. He eats food just as you do. But this heavenly king who comes to you.

He eats food just as you do. But this heavenly king who comes to you.

The Heavenly King Comes as Bridegroom

Behold him who was once in a manger, grew up, he lived, he died, he was crucified and he was raised from the dead and now is ascended in glory and majesty and power. He comes to you.

He comes to you. He comes to you.

He comes to you. Who does he seek to come to? You. And he wants to come to you as your bridegroom, you being his bride. He is the bridegroom. He is the bridegroom and the Bible says, behold the bridegroom cometh.

Let the bride ready herself and put on the wedding garments. I don't know how to describe it more clearly, the enormous meaning that we find in this, that your king comes to you. Let me take an example of Abraham sending his chief servant Eleazar to fetch a bride for his son.

To make, just to summarise the story, he took ten camels. Loaded the camels with treasures full of gifts to go and to seek a bride for his son. I come to you as the Lord's servant today, as the one who comes on behalf of the king, of the bridegroom, coming to say that he wishes your presence.

I have served you for many Sundays, Sundays after Sundays and yet you still do not turn to him, you still do not repent. What else do you want? Or do you want me to stand up in accusation against you one day and have to say to God, I preached to them Lord, but they did not convert.

You who have converted, repented, surrendered your life to this bridegroom, this heavenly bridegroom, you have agreed to become his bride. I say to you, hold on, hang on, keep your promise of faithfulness to your bridegroom.

As it says, till death do us part, remain faithful to him. Eliezer came heaped with presents and gifts. When he came to the predestined place where God said to Eliezer, this is the place, this is the person.

He took out gifts, gold, a ring and gave it and put it upon her. He put it on her, saying I have been sent by Abraham, I have come to seek a bride for the only begotten son of my master.

I say to you, hold on, hang on, keep your promise of faithfulness to your bridegroom. I say to you, hold on, hang on, keep your promise of faithfulness to your bridegroom. I say to you, hold on, hang on, keep your promise of faithfulness to your bridegroom.

She brought him to the home and he then unpacked the loaded camels full of treasures and riches and gifts. If I had to weigh up the treasure that Eliezer brought for Rebecca, I say today as I examine the treasure of that time and the treasure that I speak of now, our treasure far outweighs the treasure for her.

If I say your king comes to you, your king, he wants you to be his bride, then that what Rebecca got is next to nothing. What I give you now in the Lord's name is ten thousand times more. You can't buy it with money.

If I say your king comes to you, your king, he wants you to be his bride, then that what Rebecca got is next to nothing. Through this heavenly bridegroom, you receive forgiveness of sin. If you just think of the awful load and the heaps of sin that you have, how disgraceful, how shameful, the quantity higher than mountains, like the muddied shores full of filth.

One can hardly imagine how big our sin is.

But if you just think of the awful load and the heaps of sin that you have, how disgraceful, how shameful, the quantity higher than mountains, like the muddied shores full of filth. How disgraceful, how shameful, the quantity higher than mountains, like the muddied shores full of filth.

With forgiveness, the treasure that he brings, the abundant life, so I say to you, the Son of God comes to you and He woos you today, are you going to deny Him? What an honour, what a privilege, how can we describe in words the greatness of His coming to you, not even your coming to Him, but He comes to you.

Just think of the enormity of it, how great is the honour that He should come. With Him comes eternal life, treasure, He who is our Creator, He who is life eternal, has no beginning and has no end. He comes to you with this proposition.

Repentance and the Cost of Rejecting the Bridegroom

He comes to you, you who have sunk to below earth, He comes to you with a bestial nature, He comes to you with this wonderful treasure, He who has trampled the serpent with His heel, He who has conquered the devil, He comes with you, how can you deny Him?

He comes to you, you who are living in your filth, in this bestial nature, with these terrible, wicked, perverted desires which you indulge in day by day, He comes to lift you up with this invitation.

He comes to lift you up with this invitation.

He whose heel was bruised, who by it trampled and squashed Satan, conquered him completely, why do you still wallow in your sin? Why do you allow these wicked cravings and evil thoughts where instead He wants you and invites you to stand next to Him as His bride?

You should be adorned with beauty from Him, adorned with all the wonderful beauty that a bride has as she enters in, think of an earthly bride as she enters in, everybody stands up in honour and amazement and adoration at the beauty that she displays.

That's how He wants you to stand before Him. So I declare to you, do not kick this great privilege that the King of Kings comes to you with and trample it underfoot. Just these days I was reminded by somebody, somebody asked me, do you remember the first sermon you preached in 1951?

My theme was the blood of Jesus and I asked that very small congregation, just a few who were there, where is the blood of Jesus in your life? Is it in your heart having cleansed you or is it under your feet in rejection that you've trampled His grace underfoot?

I don't know how to describe and complete the picture to you, this offer, this proposal that He comes to you, that you would make your vows, an oath of allegiance to Him or do you still trample Him underfoot in rejection?

Well you say, Lord Jesus, I agree, I say yes, that I'm not like a person who has lost their humanity and their... He comes to you in such a way that and He comes often, how can you deny Him? He comes to you with the first offer, maybe you've heard Him offer this to you and appeal to you so often, how can you go out with your drug addiction, your lust, whatever it is that you are still holding on to?

Often. Often I've often acted as a go-between where a young man gives a proposal and wants me to propose to a young girl on his behalf and often the young man would come back and say, has she answered yet?

One would say, it's been a whole year, is there still no answer yet? In one case it was four years, how long has the Lord Jesus been sending His message to you and have you denied Him still? Till this day, have you become beyond feeling like a stone that has got no humanity?

The Prophet Isaiah said, a donkey knows its owner, an ox knows its place where it comes, the animal knows where to come at night, but my people do not know me. But if you deny and resist Him, if you resist Him, you reject Him, you turn your back on Him, what is the alternative?

Do you want to live a life and an eternity without God? Wouldn't you rather say with Peter, Lord, where else can I go? Who else has the words of life but you? Today, I have tried with all my might to describe to you this wonderful invitation that the Bridegroom extends to you, how His outstretched hand reaches out to you as your Lord, your King.

The Bride of Christ and Personal Surrender

Do you know that Jesus wants to become your husband, that you are His wife? He means you, yes, very personally and uniquely you.

Do you accept it in a general way? We are the Bride of Christ, but have you ever made it personal that you are the Bride of Christ? Are you conscious of that fact? Do you feel that? Do you know that? Do you see that?

You personally are the Bride of Christ. Has it become real to you? It doesn't mean anything. The world means more to you than anything else.

And what do we feel about Jesus? You have become blunt, insensitive, and you are able to go to bed at night. Whether you pray or not, it now makes no difference to you. You have gone beyond the point of feeling.

You don't even feel your sins. You feel it when you have a bad tooth that is painful. You feel it when you have a headache. You feel that pain in your side and you can cry because of the pain. Have you ever cried?

Truly wept because of your sins? When last did you cry, shed tears because of your sins? Maybe never, because you are dead.

You are not a child of God, you are a child of the devil. Without repentance nobody can be a child of God. And if you haven't experienced repentance, where you cry and shed tears because of your sin, like Peter did, King David did.

Have you ever felt that sin was more painful than anything else in the world? And if you haven't felt it, no wonder that you are carrying on like a heathen. Carrying on with your sin from one year to the other.

You are still living in that evil mess of yours. Being cheeky to your husband, tomorrow you will be cheeky again. Being unkind to your wife, tomorrow again. You don't know repentance. You haven't felt anything concerning sin.

If you have felt something, something will happen. That godly sorrow will bring forth repentance. Without repentance you can't be a child of God. You are a liar. You are a hypocrite. Every dictator in here calls himself a child of God.

But few of those are really children of God. Some have never, never felt their sin. They have never shed tears because of their sin. Without repentance you can't enter the kingdom of heaven. It's a lie.

You are hell bound. You are a hypocrite.

Instead you live the life of the hypocrite, of the Pharisee. Believing without repentance. As the Bible says that even the devils believe, but they tremble.

You believe just as Satan does. Did you understand that? The devil believes as well. And if you are a good child, believe the way he believes. That's why you can live the way you live. That's why you can lie.

That's why you can cover your sins.

Christ Knocks at the Door of His Church

Let me return to this point. Daughter of Zion, your king comes to you. Who is the daughter of Zion? The daughter of Zion is the bride of Jesus, the church, his bride.

She is the bride of Jesus, the church, his bride.

Jesus comes to you. He comes to his people. He comes to his bride. As it is in Revelations, he comes and says, I'm knocking at your door. He doesn't say that to the unbeliever, but to the church, to his people, and says, if you'll only open for me and let me inside.

For you, the bridegroom. For you, the bridegroom. For you, the bridegroom. For you, the bridegroom. For you, the bridegroom.

For you, the bridegroom.

For you, the bridegroom. For you, the bridegroom. For you, the bridegroom. For you, the bridegroom.

For you, the bridegroom.

For you, the bridegroom.

Confess your sin. Come back to him. Come back to him, confessing your sin. For you have confessed it in the past, and you've gone back to the very same sin, like a dog going back to its vomit, or the pig to wallow in the mire again.

But let me leave that point. I don't know whether you've heard, or you've missed it. Let me go to another point. When he says, your king, when the text says, behold, your king, your lord comes to you, you daughter of Zion, it was literally coming towards the days of his crucifixion.

You're speaking to Jerusalem, to the daughter of Zion. He had come to Bethpage.

He had come to Bethpage.

He had come to Bethpage. He had come to Bethpage. When he got there, he said to two of his disciples, now go up and go to the village which is on the opposite side of the hill. Bethpage, meaning the house of figs, he said, now you go there, you go to that village that is on the other side, and you'll find there a donkey, and the foal of a donkey tied to it.

We don't know exactly who these two disciples were. If you're going to die and go to heaven, remember to ask the disciples, ask who these two disciples were. But it's not revealed to us who it is. It's not revealed to us who they were, but exact instructions were given to them, and they are very clear.

You will find there, at that house, you'll find a donkey and a colt, the foal of a donkey, and if anybody says, asks you anything, you say, the Lord has sent me. The Lord has need of it.

Just see. The Lord has need of it. The Lord has need of it.

Just behold the wealth of information, of treasure that we find in these verses. Just consider this point, ponder upon it, that the Lord says, if they ask anything as to why you are there, say, the Lord has need of it.

And the Lord says that He has need of you. Just imagine it, that He says, I need you. You may say, I need and I remember so much my wife or my son or my family, but He remembers you. He needs you.

And if you turn your back on Him, your end will only be disaster. Because of the slap you've given Him on His face. He needs you. He's got something for you to do and woe to you if you don't fill that gap.

Hell is yours. If you don't come to Jesus and say, Lord Jesus, here I am, I've heard you need me, may it be written on your tombstone, hell is His and hell is hers forever and ever.

Now, Shiloh Ganjalo, why do you say that the Lord has need of you? And why do you say that He has need of you?

Because the Lord has need of you. And He has need of you.

Faith Obeys Christ Beyond Human Reasoning

Now, this is beyond your own brains, beyond your understanding, for faith is not just a matter of brain power. These two young men who were sent by their Lord to that village did not trust in their mind.

Because if you had to start debating the issue, and these disciples would say, now let's just think this thing carefully through. How can He know what's on the other side? Can He see what's invisible?

How could He possibly look right through the Mount of Olives and see to the village on the other side and see there a donkey and the foal of a donkey tied up there? These disciples were wonderful, they did not use their mind, they didn't lean on their mind.

They didn't ponder to ask the logic of this and to say, but how can the Lord say this? How would He possibly know what's on the other side? And after all, you could be thinking, that donkey doesn't belong to us, neither does the cult.

How could we dare to go and untie these donkeys, to loose them like common thieves? We will be accused of being thieves, and does a thief go to heaven? Won't the onlookers, those who see it happen, say, look, there are thieves.

Maybe there are some who will see us, who know us, who we are. Maybe there are some who are strangers to us. But what will they think, what will become of us? If we are seen taking away the donkeys that belong to an owner.

But the Lord said, anybody with questions, you simply say, the Lord has need of it. You see, they didn't trust in their evangelist. They didn't trust in their ability to think, in their own brain power.

Their trust was not in that, in their own mind, but it was faith. Some people, they live trusting only in their mind and they are busy with criticism and with critical thoughts all day long, day and night.

Some believers, their Christianity and their belief is just in their mind, that's all.

However, they heeded the word of the Lord. They did what Paul says to the Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 5. I think it's 2nd Corinthians, sorry, chapter 10. Ten verse 5. Casting down all arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against, sorry, the knowledge of God.

And the second part, taking into captivity every thought into obedience to Christ. They made captive, like a slave, their own mind, every thought. Every thought being made captive to the obedience of Christ only.

These disciples were diligent to listen and to obey every single command that the Lord was giving to them.

Dear friends, obedience to what Jesus says is the highest form of wisdom. There's no greater wisdom. You can be a professor, you can be a doctor, you're the biggest fool in this world, if you haven't learned to be obedient to what Jesus says and tells you.

If you haven't learned to be obedient to what Jesus says and tells you.

If you haven't learned to be obedient to what Jesus says and tells you. If you haven't learned to be obedient to what Jesus says and tells you.

You are not clever, you are not wise, even if you have a BA or Masters or Doctorate, if you are disobedient to Christ and what He says.

You are not clever, you are not wise, even if you have a BA or Master's or Doctorate, if you are disobedient to Christ and what He says and tells you.

Instead, some say, I've got to use my mind after all, use your brains. There's no wisdom that surpasses this ultimate wisdom of obedience to Christ, doing what He says. A real life of faith is simply obedience to Christ.

What He says, that you believe it.

You believe what He says so much that you're obedient to it. They found it exactly, precisely, in Jesus Christ. As the Master had said, He could see what happens in the invisible realms. After all, wasn't He the creator?

Isn't He the maker of that mountain? That's right. That is why Paul could confidently say, everything else I have put behind me, I consider it as dung, as absolute rubbish in comparison to the greatness of knowing Christ.

Or are you mixing things up? You're still bound by your rock music. Perhaps it's a type where it's the rock beat and you've put Christian words to it. That's still of the world.

It's just a hyena in sheep's clothing. They're inside sheep's clothing, outside the hyena. Rock music with Christian words.

Now, when Jesus had spoken, it was sufficient. What He had said was enough. If you ask beyond what He has spoken, you're asking for knowledge that is beyond you. Then it becomes information that is for demons.

And when they got there, things worked out exactly as the Lord had said. It was precisely accurate. And they were able to say exactly those words. The Lord has need of it. They could have a new confidence, a new delight in trusting Him, in being obedient to Christ, for wonderful is the faith.

You're able to say with joy, it's glorious to be His bride. Just for Jesus' sake, just Jesus is sufficient and so great, far greater than anything in this world, that we should deny all for Him. So, they brought then this fall of a donkey.

Surrender and Obedience Illustrated by the Donkey

Now, you know what a cult, a fall of a donkey can be like, what it is like by nature, when it's never been broken in?

It's like when you go to the temple, and you pray, and you say, Jesus, our Lord, Jesus, pray for me, and Jesus will come and heal you. It's not like that. It's not like that at all. It's not like that.

It was recently that I mentioned what the character is like of a donkey that hasn't been broken into, how wild it is, how it can kick in all directions, and release bad wind in every direction, and I said how terrible it is, it is just uncontrollable.

But in this case, this donkey was completely settled and at ease with the Lord. It also mentions that it's a female donkey. It says the foal, it was the cult of a donkey, which only emphasized that, you ladies, you like to be stubborn.

It is just a characteristic.

I said young girls. And sometimes young women as well. And sometimes elderly women as well. You can be cheeky, pig-headed, stubborn.

This cult was completely at ease and obedient in submission to Christ. It did not resist Him. It did not stubbornly kick in every direction. And don't tell me that you're on the way to heaven. If you're busy kicking in every direction, heaven will just say, Hey, foot sack, out of here.

It was utterly surrendered to Him. No resistance, no grudge, no bitterness, but completely obliging to Him. And the people around put on their garments, because if you sit on the back of a donkey, it can be sore.

And so they wanted to give Him their best. You hear, you unbeliever, or you disobedient believer, what it should be like. They didn't think of themselves, their own comfort, or their own luxury.

As long as He is satisfied, as long as He is comfortable, that Christ is home, that the Lord will be happy with me.

Some broke branches and waved these branches, which in the Middle East would be palm fronds, as to a victor, which was the custom at that time. If a person had come back from military battle, and come back the conqueror, that is how they would greet the conqueror.

And also it was as adoration and worship before the Lord, and saying Hosanna. And that means originally, Lord, save us.

And the people around put on their garments, because if you sit on the back of a donkey, it can be sore. And so they wanted to give Him their best. Some broke branches and waved these branches, which in the Middle East would be palm fronds,.

As to a victor, which was the custom at that time. And so they took their very own garments, their robes, and laid it out before Him, so that the donkey would be able to walk. Even the richest of robes, it doesn't matter what wealth had been put into the buying of that robe, down before the donkey.

Their good clothing and expensive clothing were just like filthy rags to them. Let the donkey walk on it. In our righteousness, the Bible says, are like filthy rags. Yes, like filthy rags. Where you get...

You get to the point of...

You get to the point of... Utter surrender, total surrender, that everything is beneath the feet of Jesus, in submission to Him, under the feet of the cult of this donkey. And where you say, even my righteousness, I throw that away.

Even what I think was good, I confess it all, and I see the ugliness of it. I'm willing to confess it, not secretly hiding it in my room, and just being isolated there. What are you hiding there after all?

Final Appeal to Receive the King

Time has gone. Much more could be said about this marvelous matter. He who has... He who has an ear to hear, let him hear. And if you are disobedient, and you don't want it, well, if you entirely reject it, that's your decision.

But you should rather bring everything in submission to Him. The Son. Who says, Who says, Daughter of Zion, your King comes to you, and just see how they received Him, in adoration and worship, without doubt.

So, we are thinking, we are thinking God. See, the attitude of these disciples, without doubting in absolute surrender and faith in Him, they said, that this is what, when they were questioned, the Lord has need of it, that the Lord needs you.

Let me ask you, are there some in our midst here, that you girls, you ladies, you boys, you men, that you haven't repented yet? Have you heard the voice of invitation, where you say yes? Where you say, where you accept his invitation, his proposal to you, and accept that ring, that offer, were you completely surrendered to him, or do I need to make an alter call?

Is that what you need to tie the deal, to say yes, I totally accept? Or to you, as the bride, you who are a Christian already, that you say, Lord this revives my faith, this revitalizes me, Lord, I make those vows again, and I say, I will promise myself to you for eternity.

Daughter of Zion, he listens, and he awaits your response. He sees exactly what your response, what your attitude, what your answer is to him. Let's stand to our feet, and we bow our heads. Oh Lord, open the eyes of the blind, to see this which you say, to see the King coming to us.

Work, oh Lord, for you know the need of everyone here. But Lord, it's not our need that matters, but it's your need, that you have need of us to come to you. Oh Lord, help us, help us, help us that we truly say Hosanna, Lord save us, that we truly mean it.

That there would be a radical transformation of things in our lives. That each one would truly be your bride, and do what you say. Amen.