In this sermon, the speaker discusses the fulfillment of prophecy in the book of Zechariah regarding the arrival of the king, Jesus. The speaker emphasizes that Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey is not just an outward appearance, but a reflection of his humble and meek nature. The sermon highlights the importance of evangelism done with humility and without arrogance, so that people can truly recognize and proclaim Jesus as the king who comes in the name of the Lord. The speaker also emphasizes the need for believers to take on the yoke of the Lord and learn from him, in order to live a total lifestyle of honesty, truth, love, faith, and dependency on God.

Well, I thought tonight to bring a certain subject, but it's just not in me to do it. I have a much softer mood tonight. You remember that Paul prayed, he said, Pray for me that utterance would be given, that I might speak the mysteries of Christ as I ought to speak. How ought we to speak? Sometimes very loudly, and sometimes very softly. Not as our temperament will dictate, but as the Lord will dictate. I have to honor the moods of the Lord. What? You didn't know that he had moods? And my moods are not my own. This is not a matter of human temperament. It's a matter of all that comes down from above. Both the words and the manner in which they ought to be spoken. Amen. So we've been speaking about the King of Glory coming in. And I believe that today some bolts were unloosed and the gate is open for the King to enter. How many of you have received from the Lord some sense of God that you never had before by what you did today in confession and humbling yourself? Raise your hand if the King entered today. Did you experience that? Hallelujah. So I want to continue further about this King. The King has appeared to us personally. He stands at the gate of the church, ready to enter in full. And then through the church, into the nations and the world itself. How shall the King appear when he comes? This is a very special King. Not in the way of worldly kings. Not with pomp and ceremony and human grandeur. But thy King shall come unto thee, just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, upon the colt, the foal of an ass. Zechariah 9.9 The King shall come unto thee, meek and lowly. Thy King shall come unto thee, meek and lowly. Riding on the back of an ass. This is a very special king. And I want you to turn to the Gospel of Mark and the 11th chapter. And also the Gospel of Matthew in the 21st chapter. And here are two accounts of one episode. The triumphal entry of King Jesus into Jerusalem. He sent his disciples, it says, to go into a village in 21, the second verse. And you shall find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them unto me. And if any man say unto you, he shall say, The Lord hath need of them. And straightway he will send them. It was time for the king to announce and to reveal himself to his people. The Jewish people knew the prophecy in the book of Zechariah. This is the same Jesus who began his ministry by coming into the synagogue in Nazareth and saying, This day are these scriptures fulfilled in your ears? Messiah means anointed king. And now the king is coming to the conclusion of his earthly ministry. He had spoken in parables and revealed himself discreetly. And now comes the full announcement that he indeed is the king that Israel has been awaiting. That's why the fourth verse says, All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, Saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the full of an ass. So they brought the ass, and they laid garments upon him, and they laid garments in the way, and they cut branches, and they strew them in the way for Jesus to come riding down into Jerusalem. So they brought the ass, and they laid garments upon him, and they laid garments in the way, and they cut branches, and they strew them in the way for Jesus to come riding down into Jerusalem. You need really to clearly see by the Spirit this sight. He came down the slopes of the Mount of Olives through the gate and into the city of Jerusalem. If you have never been to Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives is a very steep slope. It is very difficult even for a person to walk down and to maintain his posture and his dignity. Picture what Jesus must have looked like that day. He was seated on the colt, the full of an ass, upon which it says in another Gospel, No man had ever sat. This is a young baby animal, immature and weak itself. And here is this full grown man of full stature seated on this little animal, going down this steep slope into Jerusalem. I wonder what we would have said if we had stood there that day to see it. How many of us would have laughed at this pitiful sight of foolishness and absurdity and weakness? How many of us would have shouted, Hosanna for the King? This is not the kind of King that most men prefer. Men want kings in their own image. Of great stature and worldliness and pomp and ceremony. They want a motorcycle cavalcade and open Mercedes Benzes and all of the things that attest to power in the earth. But here comes this man on this pitiful little animal, jerking and sagging its way down the slope of the mountain. This is the way the King must come if the Scriptures are to be fulfilled. Meek and lowly, thy King shall come to thee, meek and lowly. There is no other way that he ever will come. And when they saw him, they shouted, Hosanna for the King. Hosanna means salvation is coming with the King. There are nations in the earth that are waiting to give that shout again. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, it says. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. This was an intuitive cry that came out of the depths of this Jewish people. And there is a mankind that is waiting to make that same cry. Blessedness will not come in any other way. But in the name of the Lord. We ought to repent just right now for this. We ought to repent right now. You say, for what brother? For the cheap and easy way that we have used the phrase, in the name of the Lord, in the name of the Lord, in the name of the Lord, in the name of the Lord. What do we think it is, a magical phrase, an abracadabra? You think we are rubbing genie lamps and spirits are going to come out if we say the magical formula? What does it mean, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord? Because the name reveals the character of God. And this act reveals that God. I remember one day I was looking through a book of Christian writings and I came to a certain essay with one title and I was stopped dead in my tracks. I have never recovered since. It was a three word title, God is humble. I knew that we were expected to be humble, but I didn't realize that God is humble. I knew that we were expected to be humble, but I didn't realize that God is humble. Because we are expected to be humble, Jesus came to the door and was knocked down. Of course, Jesus can even break through the door. But in the name of the Lord, that is not the case. Jesus came to the door and was knocked down. Your king shall come to thee, meek and lowly. Matthew 11 says, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Matthew 11 says, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly of heart. For nothing has ever broken my heart more than this revelation. And what my king is, the mighty architect of the entire universe, the creator of heaven and earth, the God of all power and authority, is lowly and meek of heart. This isn't some affectation that he puts on. This isn't some outward appearance. This is what he is in his heart. Now listen to this, children. Japan is not going to cry out, Hosanna for the King, until they can say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. If our evangelism comes with arrogance, if it bristles with human self-assurance, if we express any subtle kind of spiritual superiority, we shall not hear this deep Hosanna. There's nothing more important than we should learn of him. We might be as he is. But how is this done? Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. How many of us tonight are wearing the Lord's yoke? My brother came to me about 15 minutes before the meeting, and wanted to know what my message was, and I said, I can't tell you. He said, How come? I said, The Lord has not given it yet. I'm not at liberty to give my own messages. And I've got plenty. But I can't use them at my will. I'm yoke to the Lord. And even my moods are not my own. This is the path to humiliation. Have you ever been in a meeting where everybody is having a wonderful time, and leaping and jumping and clapping their hands, but you are sorrowful and mournful? What's wrong with you? Why can't you enter into the merriment that everyone else is enjoying? Or sometimes it's worse, you have a heavy, brooding spirit. And you cannot explain it. You have only to bear it. And what is worse is to speak out of it. To speak to men through that mood. What is worse is you have to speak in that mood. I've seen this happen many, many times. And it makes you feel like a freak. A strange, lowly piece of scum. Different from all the others. What's wrong with you? I remember standing up before a large congregation that was in one of these happy, boisterous moods. I said to them, one of two things has to take place tonight. Either I'm going to submit to your mood, or you're going to submit to mine. And I believe that my mood is God's. They were shocked and offended. But before the night was over, the Lord proved that I was right. He was not in a boisterous mood that night. He was solemn. He was not in a boisterous mood. He was solemn. Are you yoked to the Lord? You cannot take one step ahead of Him, nor one step behind. Your thoughts are not your own. Your moods are not your own. Your speaking is not your own. You have no alternative but to act as the Lord requires. Even when men will not understand you, even when your wife will not understand you, and she will also be offended at you, it's the way of humiliation. But it's also the way of glory. Are we willing to walk in the way of the King? Are we willing to walk in the way of the King? Are you yoked to the Lord? Are you under His actual authority? Oh, despite all of your lofty spiritual vocabulary, in actual practice, how are you yoked to God? In what actual way are you yoked to His authority? Can you name the elder to whom you are submitted in the body of Christ? Are you submitted to the authority of your parents? Is there an actual literal way in which the authority of God can be affected in your life? Or are you some free-wheeling spirit doing your thing in the name of the Lord? You might get some measure of excitement out of that. It might make your life more interesting. But you'll never hear Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Are you a person under authority? Is your will submitted to God through men? Do you know what it means to wear the yoke? And it doesn't mean that you have to agree with what is being required of you. You might actually be opposed to what is required of you. And you think that you are not and you think that you have a better understanding of the Lord's mind because you are more spiritual than that person who has the authority. But there is a greater issue than who is right. It's the issue of actual authority which is so little known among God's people. I can't think of anything that would more quickly teach us humility than to be submitted to the will of another whom we think to be wrong. And we need to learn this in our experience. My life is not my own. And it's not just what I think the Lord is saying to me. It's what men think with whom I am related in the body of Christ. It is what other men think with whom I am related in the body of Christ. It is what men think with whom I am related in the body of Christ. It is what men think with whom I am related in the body of Christ. Brother, I think that the Lord is saying this to me but do you witness this also? For example, I am one of three elders of our fellowship in Minnesota. We don't believe that one man should run the entire show. We believe that the plurality of elders is a biblical principle. Men who need to be submitted one to another. In other words, men who need to be submitted one to another. Of course, it is much easier if just one man says what we ought to do. But our fellowship has the deep confidence that they are more assuredly led by God because the will of God needs to come through all three men perfectly. Yes, but brother, what if they don't agree? Then we don't act. The Lord is one Lord with one mind and one will. The Lord is one Lord with one mind and one will. And if we cannot find agreement with each other, something is wrong with us. Some man has exalted his opinion over another. And so we will not act until we are in perfect agreement together. This is a tension relationship. Yes, but that's why God gives love that the glory of the Lord might be revealed. When I go to East Germany or Yugoslavia or Egypt, I want to know that I'm being sent of God. And if my brothers have not the assurance that this is God, I don't want to go. Be submitted one to another in the spirit of Christ the scripture says. This is being yoked to the Lord. But the whole spirit of the world is completely opposite. Do your own thing. No one is going to tell me I know what I'm doing. I'm spiritual. The king is at the gate waiting to come in. And there's a dying mankind waiting to shout Hosanna for the king to him who comes in the name of the Lord. We need to come in that spirit. It's interesting what happened once he got into the temple in the city. It says in the 12th verse Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold the money changers and the thieves of them that sold doves. Well brother, do you call that meekness? The first thing that he does when he arrives he's violent. He throws over the tables he disturbs the money he looses the animals. He shouts, this is the house of prayer not a den of thieves. Do you call that meek? Yes I do. You say, what then is your definition of meekness? I thought meekness was walking on eggshells. That's a false worldly definition of meekness. That's false humility. Oh not me, I'm not a public speaker don't call on me. That's not the meekness of the Lord. You know what meekness is? Total dependency upon God for everything moment by moment. He wants you to bleat like a lamb you bleat like a lamb. He wants you to roar like a lion you roar. But when the Lord calls you to roar and you say well I don't want to be loud or offend people they'll not understand that isn't meekness that is arrogance and rebellion. Listen, Jesus was 33 years old when he overthrew the money changers tables. He had seen that foul practice every year of his life as an adult in Jerusalem. Why didn't he turn the money changers tables over earlier? Because it was not the Father's moment. Meekness is total obedience to God moment by moment. We need to have a sensitivity for the timing of the Lord. That's how I felt about tonight. Yes, there was something else I could have spoken but it was not the time. The Lord was in another mood. He wants to reveal to us the character of the King. You know why? Because in the Gospel of Mark in the 11th chapter, they shouted in the 10th verse, Blessed be the kingdom of our Father David that cometh in the name of the Lord. It's not just the King, but the kingdom that comes in the name of the Lord. There's a blessed kingdom coming. A total spiritual society. It has government, it has social structure, it has its own economic system. Come on, we're clever enough to understand what a kingdom is? We're not speaking about some fanciful phrase. A kingdom is a social entity, a political reality. It has a king, it has authority, it has a culture, it has a way. That's why the Lord told his disciples to pray, Thy kingdom come on earth and be as it is in heaven. Are you expecting a kingdom? Are you building the kingdom? Are you already an expression of the kingdom? Yes you are, if you're yoked to the Lord and under his authority. Then the government of the king is already here. In the earlier years of our ministry when we sent out the newsletter, we used to include an envelope in the American evangelistic way that people would send a response. It wasn't long before the Lord said, that's a no-no, you cannot do it. Others can, you may not. But Lord, we're way out there in northern Minnesota. It is 50, 60 below zero. It's colder than Alaska. Lord, it's cold out here. It's freezing. We're in a remote place. We could perish if we don't get money. We need fuel. We need food. We need... no envelopes. Lord, at least let us write in the newsletter that we have certain needs. Nothing doing. Make your needs known to God alone. But Lord, we have pregnant women in a sub-zero environment. This could be a matter of life or death. We have pregnant women in a sub-zero environment. This could be a matter of life or death. What's sub-zero? Sub-zero. Below zero. If your faith is not a matter of life or death, is it really faith? The just shall live by faith. Not by the world's devices. God is already beginning his kingdom. These are painful experiences of faith. And God is beginning the suffering of Being under his government. In our community, we can't even go into a car when we want to to go into town. We have received voluntary restrictions on our lifestyle. We have received voluntary restrictions a contraction, a narrowing of our lifestyle. But out of it, a kingdom is coming. And we believe it's going to spread throughout his people. This is something more than Sunday Christianity. This is a total lifestyle. And its origin is in heaven and not in the earth. It's a painful adjustment to go from earthly to heavenly things. But it's all for one ultimate purpose. That people can cry out, Blessed is the kingdom that comes in the name of the Lord. For as the kingdom is, so also is the king. The kingdom is what the king himself actually is. Total honesty, total truth, total love, total faith, total dependency. The total relationship of a people as a society of God together in the earth. Are you building that? In the spirit of humility? Of a king who comes down on the back of an ass? The weakness and humility. But it is also the key to power. In his authority he overturned the money changers' tables and he cast out them who sold and bought. And then we come to the beautiful 14th verse of Matthew 21. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. Come on children, wake up out of your sleep. This is more than just a little historical description. This is an eternal and universal formula of the way of God. You want the authority of God? You want the power of God? You have to come in the humility of God. For he will not share his glory with another. Learn of me, I am meek and lowly of heart. I can't think of anything more imperative for us now. May we welcome the Lord to search our hearts. Show us the subtleties of our rebellion. Show us where we are arrogant and superior. Show us where we are proud and self-exalted. Break our hearts. Bring us down. Work your life in us. Because humility must come down from above. It's God's own character. Man can't manufacture that on the earth. It is not in man. It never can be. There's nothing more foolish than someone who tries to be humble and boasts about it. Look, I'm the first one in the neighborhood to be humble. It is very God. And when the world sees it, they will know that it is God. Jesus said to his disciples, go up there and you'll see the animals tied up where two ways meet. Loose them and bring them to me. That was no accident. We have to choose also where two ways meet. The way of human striving and self-assertion, or the way of humiliation and weakness. Have you made that choice? Do you really desire this kind of a king? Have you allowed him to ride down into your heart and come into your city and abide there? He said you'll find an ass where never a man sat. Loose him and bring him to me. Tell them that the Lord has need of it. So does he. To this very day he has need of something upon which never man sat. He'll not touch what man has employed. He doesn't need worldly devices to help his kingdom. He'll only use that upon which never man sat. You'll find it where the two ways meet. Loose him and bring it to me. If any man should ask you tell him the Lord has need of it. These are haunting words. They echo eternally. There's something in my spirit that is waiting to hear a cry out of Japan. Hosanna to the kingdom that comes in the name of the Lord. It's got to come in his name. It's got to come in his character. It comes from above. Humility comes down to earth. And will be imparted to as many as are yoked with him. That his kingdom might come. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. May we determine once and for all never to come in any other way. Would you rather know in advance what you're going to speak? Would you rather have the security of knowing in advance what you're going to speak? Ask him the question. Would you prefer to have the security of knowing beforehand what you're going to speak? Or would you just come trusting? What do you prefer? Human confidence or a trembling faith? The way of the king is the way of humility. Humiliation. Are you willing to come that way? Japan is waiting to shout Hosanna. The king is at the gate. Waiting to come in. The king of glory for his people. That he might come in the name of the Lord. I want to pray for us. That humility will characterize the church of Jesus Christ in Japan. Because Japan has chosen from the other way where the two ways meet. Human philosophies, human thinking, human understanding. It celebrated their imperial dynasties and their government and their culture. And it brought them destruction and devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But there's another way. There's another way. It's the way of humility. God is humble. And it needs to be revealed to this nation. That it might shout and cry Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the kingdom that has come in the name of the Lord. Precious Jesus, Lamb of God, we ask your mercy. Forgive us for our arrogance and our presumption. Forgive us for our self-will. Forgive us for our independent mindedness. Forgive us, my God, that we wanted to have human security and confidence in ourselves. But we are unwilling to appear weak. Unwilling to appear foolish. Make us like the king. Break our hearts. Come into our hearts. Come riding into our hearts. And overthrow the money changers table in our own hearts. Cast out of us that spirit that buys and sells. That employs the devices of men in the world. And make this temple a house of prayer. And establish your throne there. Be the king of our life. That we might be like you. From this night forth. Help us to walk in the way. The way of humility. The way of our king. I left out one last point. In Mark 11, 18 we read this. And the scribes and the chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him for they feared him. This was the beginning of the end for Jesus. From that time forth they determined to destroy him. I must add this to give the complete picture. First humility then authority. Then power and miracles. And then they sought to destroy him. Then persecution and martyrdom. Are you ready for that? Will you receive that? This is what happens with the way of the king. The greatest scandal of modern Christianity has been the absence of persecution in the church. What's wrong with us that we are so well accepted? That we don't seem to cause the world any difficulty. No one feels so bitterly about us that we must be destroyed, that our presence cannot be tolerated. So long as our Christianity operates in their arrogance they will allow us to continue. So long as our Christianity operates in their arrogance they will allow us to continue. But the moment that it reveals the king that's why Jesus was crucified. Are you the king of Israel? A real authority with real power in the earth? This cannot be tolerated. When they shouted Hosanna to the king, this cannot be tolerated. Religion, yes. The powers of darkness of the world will not tolerate another king. And over the cross in three languages they had Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. That's the point of offense in the world. You can play religion all you want to play. You can have your evangelical fun and games. Your schools and your charismatic conferences. But start bringing forth the kingdom of the king. And you'll begin to experience a new kind of persecution. This too is part of the way of humiliation. And for some of us in this room, it's going to mean suffering and death. Oh brother, you're getting dramatic now. I don't think so. I'm not expecting to die in a bed. I will be very surprised. I'm prepared to go the way of the king. And the world hates it. And will seek to destroy us as it sought to destroy him. You still want to follow this king? Shall I seal you for this king? Shall I bless you for this king? Shall I pray like that? Lord, seal these children for your kingdom. Seal these children who are prepared to go all the way in the way of humility. You're ready for that? Willing for that? If we die a thousand deaths because we're not prepared, what of the greater death that awaits us? Are we willing? It's the humility of the king. Hallelujah. I love such a king. Hallelujah. The privilege of having such a king. And walking in his way. He's the king of glory. And he shall come in. Precious Jesus, I seal these children tonight. I dedicate them to the kingdom of God. Children of the king.