In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of going out and spreading the word of God. He compares the act of evangelizing to untying and loosing people from their sins and bringing them to Jesus. The preacher also uses the imagery of a donkey and a coat to represent different types of people encountered during visitation work. He highlights the need to reach both the hardened and rebellious individuals, as well as those who are satisfied with their current spiritual state. The sermon concludes with a reference to Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the fulfillment of God's plan for salvation.

This morning I'm going to depart from my messages in the Epistle to Jude next few Sundays, today on Easter Sunday. I would like to talk about some of the things in connection with the season, and especially today in reference to the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Now, beloved, we have termed it a triumphal entry. Actually, there was no triumph in it. Within the week, he would die on the cross, crucified by the same people who shouted Hosanna. And it really was a triumph of tears, because just before he had been coming down the Mount of Olives, and when he had seen Jerusalem, he had looked at Jerusalem, and it said, and he looked upon the city and he wept, for Christ knew what was coming. And so, the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem was rather a macabre thing, in that it was just before his death. He knew his death was coming. He knew all that was to proceed at this point. He had spoken to his disciples about it. And so this, I call it a triumph of tragedy, really, because it was a tragic triumph, something that had to be, because of prophecy. It was a necessary thing. It was a necessary thing that Christ be recognized as King before he died. And so, all of the prophetic utterances of the Old Testament had to be fulfilled before his time came to pay the penalty for man's sin. And so, this morning, I would like to deal with that side of it somewhat, the prophetic utterances, in reference to, if you turn with me to Luke. As I said before, each gospel records the entry of Christ into Jerusalem. This is unusual in itself. Not all the Gospels record everything, but it does record the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem in each of the Gospels. It is the only time that he ever rode on anything. He always walked. I guess if we were to look at Christ's ministry, his weariness, the depth of that weariness at times, his weariness in Gethsemane, when his disciples slept, and he said, could you not just watch with me for one hour? I've often associated that with worship on Sunday, you know. Not here, of course. I realize you never fall asleep, but his disciples fell asleep, and his question to them was, could ye not watch with me even one hour? How they should prick our hearts, isn't it? To make sure that as the Word of God, as we speak from it, as we delve into it, that our hearts are keen. You know, some people wonder, these are just asides, not part of my message, you know. But some people wonder why I don't go out on Saturday night, you know. But the reason I don't go out, unless it's some very special thing, like I had to speak the other week at the Belrose anniversary. But I never go out on Saturday night because I feel that the preacher of God's Word must be fresh on Sunday morning. I feel he has to be in that place that God wants him to be, both mentally and physically, that he may speak for Jesus Christ. But to get back, Jesus never rode, and yet this time it tells us that he had in the record in each of the Gospels, he had called upon certain things. If you'd look in Luke 19, beginning of the 28th verse, it records here to the 38th verse, the similar portion that we read in Mark, just slightly different, but I'll read it to you. And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethpage and Bethany, at the Mount called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. Bethpage and Bethany were about a mile from Jerusalem, to give you some idea of distances. Saying, Go ye into the village over against you, in the which at your entering you shall find a coat tied. How tremendous to see the foreknowledge of God, his knowledge of all things. He knew beforehand. He knew where the coat would be. He knows all about you, you know. He knew the moment you'd come to Christ as your personal Savior, or whether you would not. But this has nothing to do with fatalism. God being God must know. He must know the eventual destiny of everybody in this room. He knows whether you're lost or saved, and whether you're going to stay lost or saved. He must know, that's not fatalism. Merely God looking upon the heart of man. He says man looks on the outward things. Man looks upon the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, and sees everybody in the church, and says everybody's going to heaven. God says it doesn't work that way. He looks upon the heart, you see. He knew. He told two of his disciples, I want you to go into the city. I'll tell you exactly what you'll find. He's way outside the city. He says, go into the city, in which at your entering you shall find a coat tied. Imagine, whereon yet never man sat. And loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, why do you loose him? Thus shall you say unto him, because the Lord hath need of him. And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them. And as they were loosing the coat, the owners thereof said unto them, why loose ye the coat? And they said, the Lord hath need of him. Notice no questions were asked. And they brought him to Jesus. And they cast their garments upon the coat, and they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, and glory in the heights. May God bless this portion of his work. Now, it's recorded in all the four Gospels, as I said, and it's very unique in character, because for the first time, Jesus thrusts himself publicly before all men. Prior to this, he has not. Prior to this, Jesus has hidden himself away from the public. He has preached, he has healed, but continually he says, Mine hour is not yet come. Matthew 16, 20. Go and tell no man. Matthew 12, 19. He did not cry or stress or strive, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. John 6, 15. When Jesus perceived that they, the multitude which he had just fed, would take him by force and make him a king, he departed unto a mount all by himself. He wanted no public manifestation of who he was. And so now, the whole scene changes, and Christ wants to be known as king. Before, he didn't want him to know. If he healed, he would say, Go into the city and tell no man. Why? Why did he do it when he fed them here? Because he knew, all you have to do is to go into the populace. Mark my words, if a man were to come now, upon the earth, if Antichrist were to come and offer mankind all sorts of great benefits, food for all and bread for all and no starvation, and you don't have to work, what a following he'd get. Why? They'd all walk with him. And Jesus has just fed them, taken the loaves and the fishes and multiplied them. They saw the miracle. The crowd, sure, why not follow him? He can turn anything into bread. Follow him for the physical blessing. He'll sustain us. He'll feed us. We won't have to worry about starvation. We won't have to worry about food. We don't have to work. I think that really hits man the hardest. We don't have to work. I'm not going to be critical of the social welfare problem, but I have to tell you that, what are there, 890,000 people in New York now on relief? One-tenth of the population? Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Many? It's necessary. But you can rest assured, there are many who just don't want to work. Thank God that it helps those who cannot work. But, beloved, there'll always be the crowd who can go along and not work and be fed. And Jesus says, now, I don't want you to say anything. Don't go in. I don't want you to take me and make me a king. I know why they're following me. They're following me, not because of who I am, not because I'm the son of God, not because I'm the king of kings, not because I'm the Lord of lords. They're following me because I will feed them bread. And that's all. Now, if you came to Christ as your personal Savior, and that's all you were looking for, you had an idea, when I come to Christ as personal Savior, everything's going to clear up. I'll never have a problem again. I'll have money. I'll have everything I need. It'll be a rosy bed right down to the grave. God help you. You haven't understood the gospel of Jesus. Because he calls us to tribulation. He says, in this world, my beloved ones, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Paul says, if we suffer with Christ, we shall be glorified with him. This is not a life of glib joy down to the grave. It's a life of inner joy because you have Christ as your personal Savior. But it's a life of inner joy and all the trials and the problems of life. And if you think that this is some rosy, huge journey to heaven, then you haven't understood the call of Christ at all. Christ calls us to suffering with him. Paul says that I might fill up behind what? The pleasures of Christ. No, that I might fill up behind the sufferings of Jesus Christ. And so, Christ has called us to suffering. And so, beloved, when we think of these here, these men going out and the taking of this, this prophetic utterance of finding just what God says, we may have an idea that, you know, we're in the plan of God. And therefore, since we're in the plan of God, everything is going to be just perfect. Well, I want to tell you, in this case where they went to pick these two, to pick the ass here and to bring this one back to Jesus, it was because God had planned it perfectly. Jesus knew beforehand and he sent his disciples and said, you go get them. And if someone says to you, why do you lose him? Just say the Lord has need of him. You don't have to worry. They won't say another thing. And I want to tell you, when God's hands upon your life, you don't have to worry about a thing when you're in the center of God's will. I believe a man's life is immortal until his work is done if he's in the center of God's will. Now, if you get out of God's will, I can't say anything. I don't know what'll happen to you. God may have to take you home by death if you're out of his will. Let me be frank with you, because he did that and he tells us in the Lord's Supper, the reason some of you sleep and some of you are weak and some of you are sickly is because you've come to the Lord's table unworthily and it's been necessary. It's been necessary that I take you out of the world and take you to myself, because your life's not fit to be called a Christian. You go to church on Sunday and you go through all of the observances, but your life is not fit to be called Christian. And I'm going to take you home to myself. But if you're in the center of God's will, these men went forth, they were told what to do, he'd be there. And so they go and they take him. Now, may I say this, the whole scene is changed here by this tremendous fact that Jesus now presents himself as King. Why? Why must he do this? Because the prophetic scriptures said he had to do it. It was an absolute necessity. Now, if I can take you just quickly to some of the scriptures that are very, very important. If you would turn with me, first of all, over to Genesis, the 49th chapter. Genesis 49. You know, the prophecies of God are tremendous. Oh, I hope you feed upon the tremendous thing that God has to say in his word. Now, these are the prophecies. Twice prophecies are used. Number one, by Jacob as he dies. Jacob, his name is changed to Israel. Jacob's name means supplanter. Jacob was always trying to work things out his own way, like some Christians. They pray and then go about doing it the way they want. They may come for counseling to the pastor. The only reason they come is they hope he may agree. If the pastor did not agree, they still have to determine what they're going to do. Predetermination. And so it is as we look at these prophecies of God. That it is setting before us the very thing that God wants us to see concerning his son, Jesus Christ, and everything is placed in perfect order by these prophecies. Jacob was a supplanter. His name was changed to Israel because he did what he wanted and God changed it to Israel, which meant a prince with God. This was the great change. Change from this man who always was trying to work things out his own way and then made Israel. And he becomes the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, he makes certain prophecies concerning Christ and the types of Christ. And Moses also makes prophecies later on which are rather wonderful in the book of Deuteronomy. But I want you to notice the prophecy here in the 49th chapter of Genesis, the 10th and 11th verses. Here's what he says. The scepter. Now, the scepter means the tribal rod in the Hebrew. The tribal rod shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. And Shiloh is peacemaker or prince of peace. It shall not depart until Shiloh come. Remember now, we're way back in Genesis and we're already speaking about Christ. But we spoke about Christ before this in Genesis. We spoke about Christ back in Genesis 3.15, where it tells us that Satan should bruise his heel. But Christ would crush the head of Satan one day. The seed of the woman should crush the head of Satan. So, it's not new. And so, here he's telling us that he's the one, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Who? What people? The people of Israel. This is what we're talking about now. This is Judah. Judah, Jews. This is what it's telling us. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's coat unto the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. And you remember in the book of Revelation, it speaks about the Lamb of God with his robes, his clothes dipped in blood, speaking of the glorious blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin. Now, number one, notice this, that it tells us that the lawgiver shall not depart from between his feet. The tribe of Rod shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet. This is the law of Moses. The law of Moses is to remain. For the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Christ is the end of the law. The law shall not depart from between his feet until Shiloh, the prince of peace, come. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by who? By Jesus Christ. And so we see this glorious prophecy that tells us that when Christ comes, the law shall depart. But it says more than that. It says, and unto him shall the gathering of the people Israel be. And thus it was. For the ten tribes were dispersed into Assyrian captivity, and only two tribes were left for Babylonian captivity, and these are the two. Listen, don't let anybody tell you that England or Britain are the lost ten tribes of Israel. I don't know how many of you listen to Mr. Armstrong, but this is what Mr. Armstrong believes. Mr. Armstrong believes that Britain is called British Israelism. That Britain is the ten lost tribes of Israel. Some people listen to him, you know, and he's got good messages. It's like listening to several of the different sectarian groups you can listen. There are twenty lessons they send you. Nineteen are good, and the twentieth, God help you, they've got you hook, line, and sinker by the nineteenth, and on the twentieth they give it to the whole business, because they know on the first nineteen they got you. How do I know this? Listen, I walked into one of your homes one day, and there was a man in there, and that woman is here today, and I just walked in, and there, for a half hour, he's given a long spiel on the most beautiful set of books you ever want to see. A dozen books, gloriously printed, wonderfully imprinted with colored pictures of Christ and all the rest, and all going down, all through it, and when I came in she was just ready to sign the contract. She said, past the most beautiful bunch of books I've ever seen, look at these glorious pictures, and I said, could I see it? I saw him trying to, you know, go like this in his collar, so I took one look at it. Watchtower Society. Publishers. Jehovah's Witnesses. I didn't say anything, I looked at him and I said, let me ask you a question, did you tell her that you're Jehovah's Witnesses? He said, what difference does it make? Picked up his book angrily and walked out the door. But you see, the deceit, beloved, the deceit. Oh, beloved, when we think of Christ in this portion, him, beloved, notice, it speaks of him here, the Prince of Peace, the gathering of the people unto Israel. Here, now, it speaks of a gathering of people unto Jesus Christ. But, beloved, they were not true followers of Jesus. This is speaking of that day when Israel should be gathered to him, on that day when he would walk triumphantly into Jerusalem as the King. The Lord giver will not depart from between Judah's feet, and then unto him the gathering of the people will be. Prophecy must be fulfilled. There will be a final great culmination, but this is not here. This is that of which he speaks when he says that the Lord giver shall not depart. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. And the Lord giver would depart, and then the people, beloved, would gather unto this Christ. And they would shout, Hosanna in the highest. Do you know what the word Hosanna means? Save now! It's the meaning of the word Hosanna. Save now! These very people who are singing Hosanna to the Lord, Hosanna to the King, are the people who within one week will crucify the Savior. Do you know the prophecies? Only two tribes were left out, and that was Judah and Benjamin. That's the only two tribes. All the other tribes went into captivity, Assyrian captivity. But Judah and Benjamin were left out. Now here it speaks of Judah. What an amazing thing. I want you to notice what it has to say about Benjamin. Would you turn over just one page there, maybe in your own Bible, over to Benjamin. 27th verse. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf, in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. In the morning he shall devour the prey, in the night he shall divide the spoil. Beloved, may I remind you that when Paul comes into his claiming his distinction as a Jew, he has one thing to say. I am of the tribe of Benjamin. Why? Let me show you. Because he went and he sought a prey of Christians, he slew them. But at the night, oh beloved, notice what it says. At the night, it says that he, I'm just looking for the verse here, oh I turned my page back, I'm sorry. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. In other words, during that time, that great light struck him down on Damascus road, and then he began to divide amongst all the people that which God gave him. He killed in the morning, but then when he found Christ, he began to divide out all that which came into his hands, the spoil. He gave out and came to God for forgiveness for all those sins which he had committed when he was a Jew and slew the Christians. How do I know that? Turn over to Deuteronomy 33 with me. Deuteronomy 33, and here you see the glorious prophecy of Moses as he speaks about this same tribe. Marvelously so, 33. Notice the twelfth verse, here's Moses speaking, and of Benjamin he said, the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him. Think of Paul. How do you think the beloved of the Lord is dwelling safely in Jesus Christ? The words of Paul the Apostle. Paul wrote half the New Testament. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Paul, the beloved of the Lord shall watch. Notice it, read it. The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him, and the Lord shall cover his beloved all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders. Why do you think when Paul speaks to himself, he says, I am of the tribe of Benjamin? The prophecies of Moses and the prophecies of Jacob are fulfilled in me. Because the beloved of the Lord are dwelling in safety only by the epistle of Paul to the Romans and Galatians, I would remind you, that's your whole life. And without it, you would hardly know the safety, since Paul's epistles are just as much God's words as the words that Jesus Christ spoke himself. So the prophecies are clear. There's so much else here I could speak about. Damn that they think he may be the one that will be the Antichrist. But so much for these prophecies that concern the passing of the Lord. The Lord shall be between Judah's feet. And then he would gather himself unto his people. They must recognize him as king. If Moses is passed away, then Christ must be established. Listen to Hebrews. There is barely a disannulling of the commandments whence went before, because of the unprofitableness thereof. For the law could make no one perfect, but the coming in of a better hope did. Listen to Colossians. He hath blotted out the writing of handwriting of ordinances which was against us. Notice that. Which was against us. He hath blotted them out completely, because he hath cleansed us in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So if the law is to be done away with, it must be replaced by something else. And the law is between Judah's feet until Shiloh shall come, and then the gathering of the people shall be unto him. So it's changed. Now may I say this. Daniel 9 gives further prophetic utterance concerning the same thing. Daniel 9 tells us that 70 weeks shall be determined upon Israel. 70 weeks, 7 years of peace, 490 years. 7 weeks shall be spent, Daniel says, in rebuilding Jerusalem. 60 and 2 weeks there shall be until Messiah is cut off. Daniel 9, 25-27. 69 weeks total. 7 weeks, 60 and 2 weeks. 69 weeks and 70 weeks are determined upon the whole history of Israel. The 70th week has not occurred yet. 69 weeks, Messiah is cut off. Crucified. Now better men than I, if I can say this, so I don't have to go through the mathematical computation. But Sir Robert Anderson, the greatest expositor of the Prince which is to come, has written a book, if you want to read it, which shows that on Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, was the absolute day and time when he must enter as King. Because he figured the days right up to his being cut off and the week previous was the day upon which Christ must enter into Jerusalem and be cut off one week later. The book may be in our library. Tremendous book. Recognized by all the theologians as the greatest treatise on the Prince of Peace. Sir Robert Anderson. But mathematically he pulls it right down to show that Palm Sunday is the precise day when he must gather himself to his people, when he must enter Jerusalem, for one week later Messiah shall be cut off. And the 70th week of Daniel is yet to come in the great tribulation of Israel which we see so close at this moment as we see all of the East shuddering, wondering what's going to happen next, not recognizing the battle, somehow determining politically whether it's Nixon or Russia or France or England that we're going to set up the plan. Four great nations will set it up and say, Israel, here's what you've got to do. Pull all your lines back. Give back everything you've taken. And this will settle the problems. Beloved, I would remind you that the scripture is most clear. That what you're seeing in Israel today is the beginning of sorrows. It's not the end of it. It's the beginning of sorrows. When you see these things beginning to come to pass, Jesus says, look up for your redemption draws nigh. Israel is in that position today where all the politicians in the world will never settle their problems because it's a family problem that has to do with Abraham and his children and whether the children of Abraham through Sarah or the children of Abraham through Hagar shall possess the land. Both saying, Abraham is our father, therefore we own it. And where there's a family fight, I want to tell you something, politicians don't settle it. Secondly, Daniel makes known the very day and the year when Messiah would present himself as their king right to the day. You know, prophecy is tremendous. Then Zechariah sets before us the manner of his entrance into Jerusalem, which we just read about. Zechariah 9, 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. Notice, he is just the Holy One of Israel. And having salvation, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. He has salvation in his hands, lowly and riding upon an ass, hundreds of years before, and upon a coat, the full of an ass. Number one, he prophesied that the law would pass from Judah, remember, only when Shiloh came. Praise the Lord. The law is not the means of our salvation. For by grace he is saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast. Paul says the law was a ministry of condemnation and death. Romans 8, 3 and 4 says, for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through your flesh. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and forced him, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness which is of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit of God. Now Matthew records this too. Matthew records the whole thing and says, he came in lowly and riding upon an ass, and also upon a coat, the full of an ass. Now may I say this, and I say this carefully, most theologians believe that it was possible that in the prophecies that Jesus coming down the steep incline of the Mount of Olives was on the ass. This was the older one. This was the old beast of burden, if I might say. May I say this, Israel never rode horses. They were denied to ride horses. I don't know if you realize that. It was a sin to take horses. Israel could never use horses. Israel could only use oxen as beasts of burden, that's all. Any king must ride on an ass. This was the height of royalty, to ride in on an ass. You'll notice here that it says, the coat, the full. And the theologians believe that he undoubtedly came down the Mount with the old one, the solid one, the sturdy one, taking him down the Mount, and then before he entered Jerusalem, he got upon the coat which had never been sat upon by any other man. There was a reason for this. It was going to carry God's great sacrifice for sin. And so like Jesus in so many other places, it says he was placed into a tomb where never man was laid. He was always individual. And in the sacrificial system, the beast that was slain must be perfect and never a beast of burden, and no one must ever have sat upon him. And so the perfect sacrifice of God, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, says, I fall a coat upon whom no man sat, and he came in. And so the glorious prophecy hundreds of years before is speaking in its completeness that the law must go from Judah, that he would gather himself to his people, that they would declare him as king. Therefore Jesus thrust himself out. He says, I must be recognized as a king. And so it's all prepared beforehand. The ass will be there. The foal, the colt will be there. You don't have to be concerned. Just go and tell them the Lord hath need. There'll be no question. You'll bring it to me. And so here we see gloriously set before us these wonderful prophecies upon which no man sat. Having salvation, lowly, he humbled himself and was obedient even unto death, the death of the cross, the humble Savior. Do you know him? You know, I have a lot more I'd like to say to you about some practical things. Well, let me just say this. If we were to take, let's say here we take Christ. He sends two of his disciples. We go two by two and we go on visitation. He sends two of his disciples out. Here it tells us there was an ass and the colt of an ass. And if I might use this sort of as characteristic typology of mankind. Here are the witnesses. We go in, we meet two types of people. We go and we meet the old. You know the stolid ones, the sluggish ones, the hard of heart, the staid ones were such creatures of prejudice and tradition and habit, dullness and yet beloved, well satisfied with our present condition. Mark the visitation, you go into this type, they're hard and they're stolid like that old ass by himself, the stolid one. Take him first, he's the hard one, the rough one. To deal with, you know, you go in, well, I don't know. I've been going to church for 40 years now. Don't intend to change. I'm perfectly content with what I have. You can't fudge me. You know how they put the little fire under, you know, when you see those pictures putting fires under donkeys, you know, to get them to move. You can't fudge me. Christ sent out two of his disciples. What does he say? He says, tell them, untie them and loose them and bring them to me. And that's exactly what we do when we go out to see people. We untie them, loose them from their sins and bring them to Jesus. On the other hand, take the coat. Ah, what is the coat picture? He pictures, you know, the unbroken and undisciplined one, the one that's rebellious, nature unbridled, lustful, full of desires, youth on fire. I don't see where any change is made in the way you approach him. It's still the same. You untie them, loose them from their sins and what? Jesus says, bring them to me. So if there's any typology that shows what visitation work faces when it goes out, it's to see the ass and the coat and to realize one is the solid, staid, hard one that says, I live a good life. I've lived it for 25 years. I've been doing my best. I don't intend to change. If you want to talk to me, you can talk to me. I don't mind, but you won't change my mind. Don't even worry about it. You can't convert me. I belong to so-and-so. And we got the inner road. On the other hand, you go in sometimes and it's the other thing. Listen, you've got to live. Why, this kind of a thing you give us, it's going to hold us down. We're part of a rebellious group. We're broken loose from the establishment. We're on a journey. Nothing you can say to us. What does Jesus say? Listen, untie him and loose him and bring him to me. Because I want to tell you that anybody that's brought to Jesus, whether they be the hard and the rough and the rebellious and those who claim self-righteousness and all of their ideas of stolidness and they've been moral and they've been good, can't possibly understand the grace of God. For it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. And then to the rebellious, to those who are filled with lusts and desires and passions which we so often associate with you, but which can be part of older age also. All these who want to have a good time, who want to rebel against the established way that God has set in his plans, they come to the same end. They must be loose, untied and brought to Jesus. Now lest you think that that typology is not the kind of typology that God uses, may I tell you the greatest theologians in the world claim that typology is perfect for man's rebellious nature. And book after book brings it to light. Glorious what Christ can do for the human heart. Oh yes, it was the entrance into Jerusalem. It looked like such a great triumph, didn't it? They were moved by God, it says, to surround Jesus. God, what did Jesus say? The Pharisees and the scribes said, stop these people from coming to you and call you a king. Do you know what his answer was? If I should stop them, the stone would cry out, I am king. So beloved God moved upon the people and those who were going to crucify him came and cast palms in front of his pathway. One week later, watched him and sneered at him and spat upon him when God's restraining hand was removed from them and they fulfilled the most heinous moment in all history. Yet, to their salvation. For it was no accident, but God's consummate plan, as Peter says, ye have taken and by wicked hands have slain him whom God from the foundations of the world hath determined should be your savior. I have often thought if the Jews hadn't slain him, the Romans would have, because he called himself a king and Pontius Pilate got it off his dirty hands by throwing it at the Jews. But the fulfillment of prophecy was that the Jews should fulfill that which they did. O beloved, may we recognize the great prophecies of God, right to the moment on the great day when he should enter Jerusalem. But oh, then may we see ourselves typed so gloriously by God when he says, untie them and loose them and bring them to me. And what does he say? For the Lord hath what? Needs of them. The Lord has need of you. You don't think so? Let me tell you, his whole plan involves you and you and you and you. He has need of you. If this nation is to be swept of this neighborhood, if there is to be a change in this great nation we love, he needs you, young people. He needs you, older folks. He needs you dedicated to Christ. He needs you on fire for himself. He needs you conscious of the prophetic word. He needs you conscious of the divine word. He needs you conscious of the consecrating and dedicating word. He needs you to live out Christ's life upon this earth. For it says, I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. To do what? To will and to do of his good pleasure. Is that so with you? Let us pray. Now Father, we thank thee for thy blessed word, Lord. How blessed are thy prophecies, that thou didst pinpoint the day, so that none could ever say, the prophecy is too general. Anybody could have said that. We say that about some of the present day prophets. They have a 50% chance of being right. We see that about the woman by the name of Dixon. But Father, we're so thankful your prophecies are not like that. Hundreds and hundreds of years before, you've told us exactly what would happen. Why? So that there'd never be any doubt in our hearts about who Jesus was. That he was the one who came. That he was the one of whom Isaiah spoke. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father. Now Father, we thank thee. We pray this morning that our hearts will rejoice in the Christ, who came triumphantly into Jerusalem. But more than that, he paid the penalty for our sins on Calvary. And we thank thee for it, in Christ's name. Amen.