Services/Sermon in Longview 02.12.2018

May the love of God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever. Amen.

Let us quieten this morning in opening prayer and thanksgiving. Dear Heavenly Father, we as your children come before your holy face this morning. With much thanks, dear Father, we thank you that this morning we can wake up to a new day of grace. That this morning, dear Father, we yet travel as your children on the way that leads to heaven. And that this gift you have given us, dear Father, this gift of faith, this most precious gift has been made possible through that work of your beloved Son and our Lord, our Savior, Jesus. Jesus, whom you have given, dear Father, as that perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. And for those who have faith and believe, travel as your children, have a living hope to live in heaven forever one day.

Father, here are thanks this morning, dear Father. And as we enter this Advent season, this time of waiting for Christmas where we pause and celebrate the birth of our Savior, your beloved Son, the little baby Jesus. Jesus, grant each one of us this peace of Christmas in our hearts. And help us, dear Father, as we journey in faith to battle against sin, to battle against the enemy of soul and this world that we live in, this threefold enemy, our sinful flesh, the world and the enemy of souls. So many times we are overcome. Help us, dear Father, to continue and give us strength to believe. And when we fall into sin, as we so often do, help us to hasten to the mercy seat, to go and hear, to a brother or sister, where we may hear and believe the message of the gospel, to hear and believe our sins forgiven.

We pray that you would bless our service gathering this morning, dear Father, wherever your children may be gathered. Open the word to your servants and give ears to each of us as listeners and hearts to believe. Protect all of your children wherever they may be gathered this morning at services, at work, in sick beds, serving in our military and faraway places. Help each one of us as your children in our journey of faith.

And we pray that you would, especially even this morning, dear Father, we remember those prodigal sons and daughters and all those on the outside of your kingdom. While there is yet time, prick their heart and conscience that they could realize their condition and find your kingdom here on earth and come unto repentance where they also could hear and believe the gospel and travel then on the way that leads to heaven.

We enclose all of our prayers in that perfect prayer of your dear Son, our Lord Jesus. And we say, dear Father, that our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

For a text this morning we'll read from the Gospel of Matthew. One of the calendar texts that's been set aside for our first Sunday in Advent. And we'll read a few verses before that as well. But the calendar text is from the 21st chapter, verse 1 through 11. And we'll read a few verses from the prior chapter as well. And we read these words in Jesus' name as follows. Verse 1 through 12.

Verse 2. When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, under the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them. And straightway he will send them.

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, and the foal of an ass.

And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them. And brought the ass and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. Amen.

First of all, in the beginning, I'd like to bring warm greetings of loving God's peace from our home congregation there, my home congregation in Seattle. And also from North Sound, our sister congregation. They certainly remember you brothers and sisters here in Longview and share those warm greetings.

This text that we have or that we read is one of those texts set aside for this first Sunday in Advent. And we could ask that, what is Advent? Advent. And it's described in this way as a time of waiting. This time, today is the first Sunday in our new church calendar year. And we have these four Sundays leading up until Christmas. And this is a time that we all wait and prepare for Christmas.

And we could say as believers that we also live in a time of Advent all through the year. For we as believers traveling in faith, wait for that time when Jesus will come again to bring us to heaven.

And this morning we already were able to hear you children starting our practice for the Sunday school program. And it's a special time of year. You children were singing so nicely there. It's the same in our home congregation there in Seattle. All of the different areas are beginning our preparations for the Sunday school program. It's so touching to hear you little children sing.

This text that we have, we started out a little bit before where Jesus came into Jerusalem. He was at this neighboring city, Jericho, which was a ways away from Jerusalem and not real far by car. It's about 18 miles or so, 18, 20 miles or thereabouts. And there's quite a difference in height. Jerusalem sits up higher. Those of you that have been there would remember this. It's probably 2,500 feet or so. Jericho's a ways below sea level.

And Jesus was there. It says, right before, it says, As they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And here's where He came to these blind men. Two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

We already sang that familiar and special hymn for our opening of Advent about Hosanna, Son of David. And this is that same message that was here so many years ago at the beginning of the time of the New Testament, the time of Jesus.

And these blind men would have been sitting by the wayside, and I'm sure they heard the multitude coming by. They could hear this crowd coming by. You can imagine if your eyes were closed, they couldn't see Jesus. But they must have known. They did know. It tells us here, because they cried out for Him. Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. They were crying for help.

It tells us how the multitude or the crowd rebuked them because they should hold their peace. I'm sure they were telling them, Just quiet down. Quit crying out here. Quit bothering Jesus. Stay by the wayside, you blind men. But they didn't listen. It says they cried the more. It means they probably cried louder and more desperate. Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

And we can see what happened then. It says that Jesus stood still and called them. So He was traveling. In those days, they would have been walking. This trip from Jericho all the way up the mountain would be like going up the mountain pass. A familiar pass to us. Going up Soquammy Pass, perhaps. But in a shorter distance, going up to Jerusalem, He stopped and He heard them and He asked them, What will ye that I shall do unto you? In other words, what do you want me to do?

They say unto Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So they knew it was Jesus. And they wanted Him to help them. To give them sight.

We can imagine then how it must have been. This was a miracle that Jesus did. It says, So Jesus had compassion on them. In other words, He cared for them. He showed them love. He didn't just keep walking by and say, Those blind men are just going to be left to themselves. But He helped them.

This is the kind of Jesus that we have, dear brothers and sisters. Our Savior is a helper. And He didn't leave them there. He touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed Him.

So in a physical sense, we could see He did this miracle. He touched their eyes like that and immediately they could see. And we don't know their thoughts, but we know that they followed Him. I'm sure we could imagine that they were happy. Jesus had helped them.

In a spiritual sense, this is a picture too of how Jesus helped them not only see physically, but they had eyes of faith to realize this was their Savior. And so they traveled with Him then into Jerusalem.

This is the, we know it was the Holy City. And when they came outside of the city, not too far away, Jesus sent two of His disciples telling them to go into the village and to go and bring these. It says, Ye shall find an ass tied in a colt with her. So He gave them these specific instructions. He wanted them to be brought unto Him.

And then if any man say, Ad unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them. So if any man asks any questions, well, why do you need these baby donkeys? The Lord hath need of them. And then straightway He will send them.

And it tells us here that this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. So already, hundreds of years before, the prophet Zechariah had had this prophecy about how the Savior would come into the city.

And in Matthew's version here, it tells us how He came. It says, Behold, the King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, and the foal of the ass.

So, this is this prophecy from the Old Testament being fulfilled. So many years before, those Old Testament travelers, they had the same faith that we have this morning. They traveled believing that one day God would send a Savior, this little baby, to be the Savior. And they traveled this way by faith.

And this Old Testament prophet, he was one that God gave these gifts, as He gave many of them, this ability to be able to see the future. To see many years ahead what would happen. And He spoke about this, how this event would come to be.

And so it happened just as God planned. Jesus came into the city here, riding upon this donkey. And this was a lowly way to enter the city during the time that Jesus lived.

We remember from the Christmas story how there was the King Herod and the rulers of Jesus' time. The leadership or the government was in Rome, which was far away. But these rulers then around Jerusalem and where Jesus was living, the kings, they were kings of His time. They traveled with much splendor. They were very rich and wealthy.

So when they came into a city, they came with great big horses, probably several of them. We picture this string of, a group of horses, herd we could say. And a chariot with wheels and a carriage, a big fancy vehicle that they used to travel with and to bring them around. And everybody knew then that this was indeed the King, a powerful person.

But this wasn't how our Lord and Savior traveled. He traveled on that baby donkey or that tells us here. Meek, sitting upon an ass and the colt the foal of an ass.

And the people then, they brought their clothes and they set Him thereon. So this was the way that they wanted to recognize Jesus. They laid their clothes and the palm branches in front of Him as He entered the city.

And this was really a picture of humility, humbleness. And Jesus was obedient to the Heavenly Father even in His work.

Later on in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians, the believers in Philippi, he wrote about how about Jesus and how Jesus was being humble. If we can find that portion how Paul wrote that, it relates to this meekness and Jesus traveling in this way.

Here in the Paul's second chapter of Philippians, it says the example of Jesus. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, and that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So we see this example of how Jesus was born in the flesh. He was just like we are as people, except there was a difference. Jesus was perfect without sin. But in every other way, he was like we are. He knew what it was like to be hungry. He knew what it was like to be thirsty and tired. To feel pain.

I'm sure some of those walking there, I'm sure walking with their sandals, their feet would get tired, dusty. But yet, Jesus was without sin. and he was obedient to this will of the will of our Heavenly Father.

So he came there in this city and the people laid their clothes down. And we think of these two most special holidays of Christmas time and Easter time. And this Advent text is for both. We have this on Palm Sunday before Easter and also here in our time of Advent.

Advent. And when the great multitude spread their garments in the way, others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. So they laid them down in front of Jesus and many of them thought perhaps that Jesus would be this earthly king. That he would come to establish his kingship here in Jerusalem there and perhaps then they would be under Jesus temporally and not under Rome. The leadership from Rome but this wasn't part of God's plan that Jesus would be a temporal king.

Jesus was the king of the kingdom. God's kingdom here on earth and in heaven. and he had a duty to save all of us to die there on the middle cross to pay that sin debt that as believers then when we have faith we have this hope of heaven.

So even this morning we can be joyful and happy as we enter this Advent season that we wait to celebrate once again the birth of our Lord Jesus. We'll celebrate that in the future and remember how those shepherds were there on the field watching over their sheep and that good news came that the Savior was born.

We have such a Lord and Savior, your brothers and sisters that He knows all of your cares and worries and it's secure that we can place all of our cares and worries on Him. The Bible tells us that He knows even when the smallest one would go astray and He would leave the ninety-nine sheep and go and find the one that's beginning to wander.

God would say to us. We see here in this text when they laid down their clothes in Matthew's account it doesn't tell us but in Luke's account it tells us that when the people began to lay down their clothes in these palm branches that not everyone was happy with this. The Pharisees actually asked Jesus to stop this. They didn't like to hear this rejoicing.

And so when they witnessed this when they saw that what was happening and the people were so happy they asked Jesus they said in Luke's account it says it says the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all 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 highest and some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him master rebuke thy disciples they didn't like to hear it just rejoicing it made them upset and perhaps even angry but Jesus answered them and he said unto them I tell you that if these should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out meaning that there was no way to stop this joy that bubbled forth from those believers when they beheld their savior fear what is it that brings us this joy isn't it this when dear brothers and sisters we can travel with our this message that dear brother dear sister sins are forgiven in the name and blood of Jesus us and when we hear and believe this message it brings this joy in our heart and we're able to see for a glimpse of heaven at these times but then hasn't it been so often where that weight of sin can come back and we fall and we're way down again but hasn't it also been this blessing that the instruction from God's word is that to lay aside this weight of sin that so easily besets us we can go again to the grace fountains and hear and believe the gospel this morning yet uplift your hearts leave all sins and doubts forgiven in Jesus name and precious blood be of good cheer we never tire of hearing of this gospel we live of the gospel each and every day and moment by moment and it's not then that we travel in this way that we have to try to dig for matters and find sins we care for those matters that bother our heart and conscience and it's as simple as this at the same time then we don't use this gospel as a quote that we could go out and willfully commit sin that the enemy would come to tempt us from this way that well you can just get it forgiven later it's okay go ahead and do this thing or that matter when you're tempted that we know our conscience is telling us that no don't do that that's sin Paul in his letter to the Romans speaks about this that he said shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid and we wouldn't use the gospel in this way as a cloak to go and commit sin but when it bothers our heart and conscience we can go and hear from a brother or sister and we even from the pulpit here when the gospel is preached we can believe that sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood and when we find that there's those name matters that still would bother us we have this freedom this grace gift of confession as we've visited about it that we can then go to a brother or sister a fellow believer and speak of matters and hear and believe the gospel.

This kingdom that we dwell in many times remember those brothers and sisters in faraway places Ecuador and Africa and such but on the one church over there in Africa the temple do pardon that's probably not the right pronunciation but the translation is the church of the forgiveness of sins this is the kingdom that we dwell in the church of the forgiveness of sins and this power isn't from any of us through the power of the Holy Spirit it's not the believers themselves that are doing the forgiving God is forgiving through these messengers through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so as we even come this morning to the Lord's Holy Supper to partake of this sacrament of communion this is also a gift that Jesus has given us that we can come here to receive strength for our weak faith to remember the work that Jesus did to partake of his body and his blood to receive them this strength.

We don't just by partaking of the body and blood receive forgiveness but we remember this work that Jesus did and we can hear from the communion from a brother or sister at communion or the communion server we can hear the gospel and believe.

So as you come this morning dear fellow travelers to communion yet come with uplifted hearts sins are forgiven in the name and blood of Jesus and in this way we travel simply toward heaven.

And it's the time we know that we live of there's been difficulties and struggles at times even in God's kingdom but God is our heavenly father a loving heavenly father and he knows all and will be able to help us help each one of us and it's our prayer that each one of us could remain as humble little children in his kingdom just as this example of our Lord Jesus in humility came here to the to the city of Jerusalem for that last time.

This was the last time he was traveling to the city because he knew the people didn't realize but shortly after this this was that Palm Sunday the week before Good Friday that he was going to be crucified he was fulfilling the work of our heavenly father to the to the very end and he shed those drops of blood there on that middle cross and we as believers travel then in faith gathering those blood drops of Jesus following him and traveling on the way that one day leads to heaven by faith.

So we can be thankful this morning for this most precious gift that God has given us we can make those new promises that yes I still though I'm poor and sinful as a child of God I still want to believe I still want to make it to heaven in this way we day by day and moment by moment continue on the endeavor and we enter this Advent season with joy it's a happy special time of Christmas time we have so much to be thankful for God knows our every footstep and our every moment and he'll help each one of us all the way to heaven one day in Jesus name amen amen.

And before we close with the benediction dear brothers and sisters I also desire to hear and believe the gospel can you bless me also I want to believe along with you in Jesus name amen.

Let us close this morning service then in closing benediction saying the Lord bless us and keep us the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious unto us the Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost amen.