“The Second Triumphal Entry”
This message was presented on Palm Sunday... the Sunday before Easter.
The day that we remember
the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into
You may have wondered how it is that we determine
which Sunday of the year to celebrate Easter...
It is actually kind of
interesting... but... it can be a little confusing...
Ú Three different calendars
are involved...
— So... you will get a
different answer depending on who you ask!
The calculation is different
in the western Christian Church from the eastern or Orthdox Church.
Ê In the Eastern
calculation... Easter must follow the Jewish Passover...
— Not so in the west.
Y Passover on the Jewish calendar is moveable
and it varies as much as a month according to the fluctuations of the
number of lunar months in a given Hebrew year...
There are seven leap
months during the 19 year cycle of the Jewish calendar.
· The 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th,
14th, 17th, and 19th years are leap years in this cycle.
à To add to the differences between the east and
west...
The Eastern Orthodox Church still uses the old Julian
calendar while the west uses the Gregorian... there is a 12
day variation between the two.
â For us, in the western
tradition... commonly called the Catholic tradition...
Catholic in the literal sense of the word... meaning
universal...
not necessarily Roman Catholic...
Ú Easter Sunday falls on
the first
Sunday after the first full moon following the
Spring Equinox, which normally occurs on MAR-20... on our calendar.
˜ Coincidently... today (3/20/16) is the vernal or spring equinox...
the first day of spring.
m There will be a full moon this Tuesday (3/22/16)... and so...
V We celebrate Easter the next Sunday (3/27/16).
J Aren’t you glad you asked? Actually; maybe you didn’t ask.
— Anyway... today we
remember the so called Triumphal Entry...
The day that Jesus Christ rode into
Riding over palm branches and garments that had been
laid down on the road before Him like a red carpet to honor His
coming into the city for the Passover celebration.
Ø Jn.12:12-16 – On the
next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus
was coming to Jerusalem
13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet
Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE
LORD, even the King of Israel.”
14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written,
15
“FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION
16
These things His disciples did not understand at the
first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things
were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.
Ú So today is the day that
we set aside on the western Christian calendar... to remember the occasion...
It is important that we
remember this major event in the life of Christ...
Ñ But the key to understanding the
significance of what took place that day...
Is not found in determining the exact
day on the calendar that it took place...
† The true importance
of the day is found in verse 15 of this text...
â This event was actually
the official
public revelation... of the
Coming
of the promised Messiah King to the nation of Israel
As you know... He was initially received......
with shouts of... joy and adulation!
As the adoring
crowd declared Him to be their King!
— Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO
COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King
of Israel.”
L But then... just a few short days later...
the chants and shouts changed... as He stood bound and beaten... before the
jeering crowd... crowned with a bloody crown of thorns...
This time their shouting voices were filled with hatred
and rejection for their King...
N As the cried out for His blood and for his
crucifixion on a cruel Roman cross!
Ø Mk.15:12-14 – Answering
again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
13
They shouted back, “Crucify Him!”
14
But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?”
But they shouted all the more, “Crucify
Him!”
Æ The triumph of His entry into
the city on that Palm Sunday 2,000 yrs. ago was short lived...
But... that past entry
into Jerusalem
I want to talk about The King’s next Triumphant Entry
into the Holy City
à Last week we completed our survey of the Gospel of
Mark...
We concluded with the resurrection and ascension
of the Lord Jesus Christ...
For the past several weeks
prior to that... we had been looking... in some detail... at the undeniable
fact that many of the events that took place during the Passion Week...
Were in direct fulfillment of long standing prophetic
revelation given in the Psalms and the Prophets...
And we saw that that the
timing and the details of the events were in astounding fulfillment of
beautiful types and foreshadows contained in the Law!
è So we have been highlighting the great importance Bible
prophecy... in the life and work of Christ... And the major
role that it plays in the word of God...
& Scripture says that God does nothing without first
telling His prophets...
· Who of course in turn are
commissioned to tell the people!
Ø Amos 3:7 – Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals
His secret counsel
To His servants the prophets.
To His servants the prophets.
† If we take the Bible to
mean what it says literally... and we... here do...
Then we understand that all
unfulfilled prophecy must come to pass in the future...
Just as it has in every case... literally...
in the past... as it did so precisely concerning the 1st
coming of Christ!
Believers who understand this fundamental truth and
hold to this hope of the...
Future fulfillment of all the promises and
prophecies contained in God’s word are called Futurists.
ÿ We here at Bible Baptist... believe and teach the Futurist
position.
The big question for those of us who believe what the
Bible has to say... literally is...
— Where do we stand right now... today... in
the flow history...
Concerning what the
Scripture has revealed through prophecy?
Well... to
state it simply... we stand between those events that were
predicted that have already happened... and those that are
predicted that have not yet happened... but will happen.
The most significant of those events are... the 1st coming of Christ and the 2nd
coming of Christ.
It seems pretty
obvious when you say it that way... I think...
– But there is even more
to it than our just living between the two poles of prophetic
fulfillment... past and future.
We are currently
living in days of active prophetic fulfillment!
· Now... in a
certain sense... one could say that all of history occurs
within the broad realm of prophetic fulfillment...
But I am talking about specifics
in our day... not generalities.
è Some specific examples of recent and
current major prophetic fulfillment include...
1) The gradual re-gathering of Israel
2) The re-establishment of Israel
3) Israel
This is being fulfilled daily in the news... It is
so common that we don’t think it’s anything special... But folks... we need
to remember that this has not even been possible for 2,000
years! Not until our day!
4) The resurgence and rise of anti Zionism and anti
Semitism... Jews once again being the focus of so much hatred throughout
the world... in the United Nations, the European Union, American college
campuses, and the entire Arab world!
This is in fulfillment of prophecy... and it continues and
is growing... just as predicted!
5) The political and military alignment of specific nations
against the nation of Israel
The regions, peoples and coalitions that are calling for
Jewish annihilation today are the very ones named in detail... and predicted to
join forces at the end of days!
6) Another prediction for the end times is the rise of lawlessness
and the spirit of anarchy in the world...
Our major cities are just a microcosm of this world
wide phenomenon... that is growing in our day!
7) The growing apostasy in the nominal
Church... called the great falling away...
Along with the breakdown of Christian ethics and the obsessive
focus on materialism...
Were all predicted for our age.
8) The current rise of the spirit of antichrist throughout
the world... which is manifesting itself with the suppression of Christian
freedoms and values and actual genocide against Christians...
is unprecedented
in recent centuries and right on time according to the
prophetic time clock!
â This is just a partial
list of some of what the Bible predicted would occur in our
day and at this time... as we approach the end of the age and
the 2nd
coming of Christ!
Today we will look at some of the next
events on the prophetic calendar....
According to what the scripture forecasts...
˜ I want to hasten to say... it’s not all bad news!
In fact the forecast contains some of the best
news we could ever hope for!
There are tremendous Bible prophecies and promises...
that will be fulfilled!
Things concerning the end times, the Second
Coming, the subsequent millennial kingdom
of Christ
All these things are awaiting final fulfillment... as
promised by our faithful God!
â First of all... the
next event ... the blessed hope...
that the Church... is looking for is...
ÿ The rapture of the Church!
Which will be the coming
of Jesus Christ in the clouds
for His
Bride...
Also known as... The catching away of the
saints...
Ú Then... following
shortly... after the taking away of the Church of Jesus Christ
Will come the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” upon the
entire earth, this is the 70th week of Daniel... Known as the Tribulation
Period!
The closing
event of the seven year Tribulation will be the 2nd coming of
Christ... To the earth... He will come with His Church... from
heaven...
To set up His
eternal Kingdom on earth... it begins with the thousand year reign on
the temporarily
renovated earth... The Millennium...
And then His reign continues forever... in the new
creation... that immediately follows!
E This next time when
the King enters the world...
~ It will be a true
Triumphal entry in every sense of the word!
This time the all Israel
I call this the Second Triumphal Entry! The real
triumphal entry!
Ø Rev.1:7 – BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and
all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
This time He will not be riding on the colt of a
donkey...
This time He will be riding on a magnificent white
horse...
He will be dressed for battle in glorious array
with angelic and saintly armies following Him out
of heaven!
Ø Rev.19:11-16 – And I
saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are
many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except
Himself.
13 He is clothed with a robe
dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14
And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in
fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may
strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He
treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING
OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
~ I think you will agree... that will be a Triumphal
Entry indeed!
Ø Zech. 14:3-9 – Then
the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He
fights on a day of battle.
4 In that day
His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount
of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very
large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the
other half toward the south.
5 You will flee
by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to
Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah
6 In that day
there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.
7 For it will
be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will
come about that at evening time there will be light.
8 And in that
day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem
9 And the LORD
will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and
His name the only one.
S This time as He approaches the city of Jerusalem
• But it will be the blood of His enemies that will
be spilt!
He will not be wearing grave cloths stained with His
own precious blood...
But His garments will be glowing red with the
blood of wicked enemies of God!
Ø Is.63:1 – Who is this
who comes from Edom
2
Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like
the one who treads in the wine press?
3
“I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from
the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My
anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on
My garments, And I stained all My raiment.
4
“For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My
year of redemption has come.
5
“I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was
astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation
to Me, And My wrath upheld Me.
6
“I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them
drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
When He will triumph over the forces of evil that so
afflict the world today!
Ø Rev.11:15 – “The
kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His
Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
˜ It is at that time that Jesus will take His place on
His throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
My friends... we have so much to look forward to in
Christ!
Ø 1 Cor.2:9 – But as Scripture says: "No eye has seen, no ear has
heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who
love him."
Ø Eph.3:20-21 – Now to Him who is
able to do far more abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works within us,
21 to Him be the glory in
the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
With Christ... Isn’t that
good news!
It is the best possible
news my friends!
And so let us be encouraged and endure with patience
and in hope...
The things that we are
called to suffer while we await the consummation of all things.
Ø Phil.1:29 – For to you it has been granted
for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
Ø 1 Pet.4:19 – So then, those who suffer according to God's will should
entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
& The scripture says we have need of patience
while we wait...
36 For you have need of endurance,
so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised
Ú But we need more than
just patience as we wait... we need to be about the Lord’s business!
We need to share all this good news!
The good news about the saving power of the
gospel...
And the good news about the glorious future to come
for the children of God!
In order to do that... we
need to live purposefully and walk circumspectly in this troubled
world.
God has called us to a different kind of life
from those who are of the world
We are in the world...
but not of the world!
Ø Jn.17:14-16 – “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them,
because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
15 “I do not ask
You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
16
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of
the world
V We are to be a testimony to the world... both for
conviction and for encouragement... as we live in
the world but separate from it.
Ø 2 Cor.2:14-16 – But thanks be to God, who always
leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the
knowledge of Him in every place.
15 For we are a fragrance of Christ
to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
16 to the one an aroma from death
to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for
these things?
Æ If we will yield to and
follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives... then two very important things
will be accomplished...
Our lives will be a living testimony for God and we will
grow in grace and knowledge of Christ...
We will be transformed daily more and more into the
image of Christ!
And we will glorify God!
The wonderful promises and prophecies that we
discussed today are meant for our encouragement while we work and wait!
â This is the promise that
I will leave you with today...
Y Take it to heart and let it fill you with hope and
peace...
We will be there to
witness first hand that glorious and majestic
Second Triumphal Entry ... when the
King returns...
To rule and reign in
righteousness...
Never to leave again!
Maranatha!
Even so... Come quickly Lord Jesus
